This time, when Shining Armor headed for the training grounds, he was waylaid by one of his commanders – Ruby Blaze, the commander of the Crystal Mare Corps – before he was able to join any of the regiments he usually trained with on a daily basis.

“Sir,” she said, giving him a snappy salute that she managed to work into a way to brush her stark-red mane out of her face. “May I request your presence with the Mare Corps today?”

He paused for a moment, looking her over dubiously. The Mare Corps of the Crystal Guard wasn't very large. There weren't even as many mares in the Crystal Guard as there were in the Canterlot Royal Guard. Usually, he did his regular workouts with an entire cadre of the Guard, at least a hundred of them, trying to spread it out fairly among the troops. They always seemed to do better when he was there. He'd never gone with a group so small ... but he had worked out alongside the Mare Corps before. They were part of the specialist cadre, which he'd joined many times on the training grounds before.

But Ruby Blaze looked entirely serious, standing there at attention and waiting for his answer.

“Why?” he asked, immediately regretting how casual and unprofessional the blurted question sounded.

She didn't seem to mind. “The Mare Corps is due for an immediate inspection, Sir.”

“An inspection? But didn't you have one just last week? Isn't that the responsibility of Captain—”

“No Sir. The inspection order came directly from Princess Cadance before her departure. She insisted that you perform the inspection yourself.”

“From Cadance...?” Slowly, things clicked into place inside his head. No ... Cadance couldn't possibly have arranged that, could she?

Shining Armor gave Ruby Blaze another look – an entirely different sort of look. Despite the curt and no-nonsense way she addressed him, there was something about the way her soft red mane flowed out from her helmet ... or maybe something about the delicate curves of her cream-colored body he could see through the translucent crystal armor. It was well hidden, deeply buried, and maybe Ruby herself wasn't aware of it, but he had the feeling that this apparently hard-edged mare had a sensuous side, and that was exactly the sort of thing Cadance was so skilled at uncovering in a pony. Cadance really had arranged an 'inspection' with the Mare Corps for him, hadn't she? But just how far would this inspection go? He'd have to play along with it and always let them make the first move. He couldn't risk the damage to the troops' morale that might come if he overstepped his bounds with the Mare Corps.

“In that case, I would be glad to inspect the troops, as requested.” He gave her a knowing nod that she seemed completely oblivious to. “What section of the training grounds is the Mare Corps scheduled in today?”

“We're in the private briefing room in the Palace, Sir.”

“An inspection ... in the briefing room?”

“Princess Cadance's orders, Sir.”

Well, wasn't that ... interesting? He gave another of those nods, then followed it up with a wink. “Let's head up there, then. I wouldn't want to keep them waiting.”

To all outside appearances, that nod and wink was absolutely wasted on Ruby Blaze. She gave a snappy salute, spun smartly in place, and began trotting off toward one of the four staircases leading up into the Crystal Palace.

There was one little crack in the smooth façade of her professional demeanor, though. As he followed her up the glittering stairs, he could see right through the crystal barding around the back of her armor. And underneath that indestructible crystal plate, Commander Ruby Blaze's pussy winked open again and again, flashing him with a secret pinkness almost as vivid as the red of her tail.

He struggled to keep his cock from slipping out of his sheath as he climbed the stairs behind her. It wouldn't do to show up in front of the entire Mare Corps with his pride swinging out for all of them to see, now would it?

* * *

When he arrived in the briefing room, it was almost as if this would actually be a routine inspection. The line of twelve mares snapped to attention when him and their commander entered the room. They were already arranged in a precise row, from tallest to shortest, even though their heights didn't vary all that much.

There was just one missing detail, though... “Um, Commander?”

“Sir?” Ruby Blaze replied.

“Where are their uniforms?”

She looked over her own troops for a few moments, as if slowly pondering this question of immense importance. Finally, her answer came: “Unknown, Sir. I will ensure they all receive demerits for this oversight.” Only a pony who'd been with guards as long as Shining Armor had could have noticed the near-imperceptible reaction the word 'demerits' sent rippling through the line of mares.

He held a hoof up. “Well, maybe not just yet. The, um, inspection hasn't even truly begun yet, has it? Lack of uniforms is a major oversight ... but if the rest of the inspection goes well, it doesn't necessarily equate to a demerit, does it?”

An imperceptible easing of the mares' bearing then – standing just a tiny bit less stiffly. Good. The last thing he wanted to do was make these mares uncomfortable. If Cadance really ordered this inspection, she hadn't ordered it out of a genuine desire to root out defects in the Mare Corps. And the guard uniform wasn't easy to entirely forget. The lack of uniforms had to be intentional. The only question was whether it was Cadance's idea or Ruby Blaze's.

“Should we begin?” he suggested.

Ruby nodded, then marched smartly over to the head of the line of mares. She snapped into a salute and stared straight ahead, just like the rest of them. “Commander Ruby Blaze, Sir. Reporting for inspection with the Mare Corps, Specialist Cadre, Crystal Guard Division Six. Twelve guards assigned, twelve guards accounted for.” A small, clear drop fell to the floor between her squared-off hind legs – Shining Armor pretended not to notice.

He returned the salute, allowing her to drop her own, then gave the command, “At ease.”

All thirteen mares instantly spread their front hooves wider into a more normal and more comfortable stance, their hind legs still held square and perfectly straight – the standard 'at ease' position. Shining Armor had been in their place plenty of times before, and he knew how tiring standing at attention with front legs stiffly together could be. And if things here were going the way he thought they might be, the last thing he wanted was for these mares to be stiff and tired. At ease wasn't that much better, but it was the best he could do while preserving the expected formality of a troop inspection.

Slowly, he paced his way down the line of mares, starting at the shorter end and working toward the taller end where Ruby Blaze waited just as stoically as the rest of them. It had been quite some time since he actually performed a troop inspection himself. Not since Canterlot, and before his promotion to Captain of the Royal Guard, at that. Inspections like this were usually carried out by the division captains, not by the Prince, not by the Commander in Chief.

Honestly, he was a bit rusty at this. He was supposed to be looking for adherence to the uniform code, the upkeep of mane and tail grooming standards, and professional bearing among the troops... But these mares weren't even wearing their uniforms, and the mane and tail standards for the Crystal Empire were different than Canterlot's Royal Guard. He knew the Royal Guard's standards by heart ... but he now realized he'd never fully memorized the Crystal Guard's standards of uniform and appearance.

Still, all twelve of these mares seemed impeccably in place. There was nothing obviously wrong, and he could certainly get away with simply pacing past each one of them, giving them a piercing look, and moving on. When he reached the end of the row, he'd simply report that he discovered no defects – except for the lack of uniforms, which he'd pardon since Cadance probably ordered it that way – and that would be the inspection. Easy.

They were a nice bunch of mares, really. Most of them a bit more muscular than most, but that was probably just a result of the guard training regimen. That certainly didn't hurt their looks. As he passed by them, he snuck glances at their flanks. Not the best angle for checking them out, but what he did see was pretty impressive. How had he not noticed the mares in the Mare Corps before?

Thirteen wasn't that many, so he reached the end of the line much sooner than he would under a normal troop inspection. “This is a fine group of mares you have here, Commander Ruby Blaze. Aside from the lack of uniforms, I didn't find a single violation.” He leaned in a little closer and whispered, “I'm guessing Cadance had something to do with the missing uniforms?”

“Actually, Sir, the Princess included more instructions than just that.”

“Huh?”

“She requested that this inspection be extremely thorough.” Ruby Blaze turned to the twelve mares in her command. “Attention! ... About face!”

All twelve mares snapped back upright, then turned around smartly. Shining Armor's eyes went wide as he was suddenly presented with twelve gorgeous and well-built rumps. He gulped, and he couldn't help the way his cock began to bulge out of his sheath a little bit.

“Tails up!”

Twelve tails swished upward and to the left in unison. Suddenly, there was far more on display for him than just their curvacious rumps. From this angle, he couldn't see quite everything, but he could see hints from each of the twelve – pussy lips peeking out from between those chiseled ass cheeks.

“C-commander,” Shining Armor stammered. “This... This is...”

“The Princess did insist that this inspection be as thorough as possible.” Ruby Blaze turned around herself, lifting her tail as much as she could, given her armor. Through the transparent crystal, he could see nearly as much of her as any of the others. “Would you do us the honor of continuing the inspection?”

Shining Armor gulped. “Of ... of course.”

Why was this so difficult? These were hardly the first mares Cadance had set up to toy with him while she was gone. So why did the multicolored line of parallel curves punctuated by sweet little crystal vulvae send his hooves tingling and his chest fluttering?

Slowly, he passed by the first mare. She remained solidly in place, studiously staring at the wall behind her, not moving a muscle. Bluish-grey, this one, with a generously bulging pussy that showed just the tiniest sliver of pink down the center of her slit.

Then it hit him. It was something about the way she stood so stiffly at attention. The other mares he'd been messing around with were all in administrative or housekeeping roles, and that was something he tended to think of as entirely in Cadance's domain. As inaccurate as it might be, he saw them as Cadance's staff, not his. But these mares... These were Crystal Guards. These were mares he'd worked with and helped train. These were his mares. His role in the Guard and his role in the bedroom had never intersected before, and that was what made him so nervous.

Why should he be nervous, though? Cadance must have been comfortable with this if she set it up, and these mares all knew they could refuse any order that went against Crystal Guard guidelines. In fact, wasn't the Mare Corps supposed to be significantly larger than just thirteen ponies? This couldn't possibly be all of them. It must be only the ones who agreed to it...

He passed by another lovely round flank, held high and stiff in front of him, and he gave this one a deeper glance, appreciating the smooth skin around her vulva and the delicate pout of the pussy lips themselves.

Yes, he'd enjoy this. How far would it really go, anyway? It wasn't as if Crystal Guards would agree to anything too lewd, would they?

By the time he reached the end of the row, his cock was swinging freely underneath his belly. What other possible result could there be from making a close inspection of twelve lovely mares' backsides?

He turned back toward Ruby Blaze. “They're lovely, Commander. Absolutely wonderful, each and every one of them.”

Ruby turned and met his gaze with an unexpected fierceness. She only glanced under his belly for a moment before regaining her impeccable composure. But her cheeks were beginning to redden to match her mane. “With all due respect, Sir, I'm not sure you can come to any real conclusion without touching any of them.”

“Touching?” Shining Armor's eyebrows rose.

“Yes Sir.”

Experimentally, he raised a hoof, placing it softly against the curve of the last mare's ass cheek. She was the shortest, but no less muscular than the rest. The transparent flesh under his hoof was firm and tight. “All of you are okay with this?”

“Yes Sir!” they all shouted in unison.

It had startled him so much that he'd yanked his hoof away from the shortest mare. Once he realized that, he gingerly touched her green crystal fur again, this time rubbing in little circles around the tightest part of her curves ... nearer and nearer to her pussy.

It was quite a nice little pussy, actually. He wondered if... No. Certainly they wouldn't let him do that...

But he had to try, didn't he? Ever so slowly, he moved his hoof in closer, each little rub getting a hair's breadth nearer, until he was all but touching this mare in her most intimate of places. His hoof froze in place for a moment as he realized he didn't even know her name.

But his hesitation meant nothing – though the short mare had so far not been moving a single muscle as she stood at attention, there were certain muscles a mare couldn't quite control, especially when she was being teased like this. Her pussy winked open, and her wet clit came out to kiss against the softest part of Shining Armor's hoof.

He pulled away, staring down at the clear strand of mare nectar that hung between his hoof and her pussy. She winked again, and the strand broke. A throb ran through his cock; it twitched upward.

Then his eyes drifted over to the remainder of the lineup. Eleven more mares – twelve counting Ruby Blaze – and all of them presenting for him. As he looked a couple of the ones in the middle winked almost in unison, just from sheer anticipation.

Well, if this was going to happen, why not enjoy it a little?

Smiling, he moved on to the next mare in line. This time, he wasn't tentative or shy about it. He went directly in and touched her pussy right away, savoring the odd kind of firm, substantial softness that only a mare's vulva could have. Nothing else in the world like it. She didn't respond to his touch as quickly as he touched her, though. It was only after a few moments of rubbing and gently teasing her pussy lips apart that she finally began to wink at him. But once she did, it came in a rapid flurry of winks, her feminine juices dribbling down with each one and coating his hoof.

But then the next one in line winked, showing him a big pink clit that seemed too huge to fit in her petite pussy. He just had to touch her as well...

In what seemed like no time at all, Shining Armor found himself at the end of the line. His cock was ragingly hard, his hoof was soaked with the juices of a dozen mares, and his muzzle was coated in the juices of half that many. The lovely mares of the Mare Corps seemed to enjoy his lips and tongue even more than his hooves, and how could he disappoint them after discovering that fact?

Ruby Blaze, though, still wore her armor. He could see right through it, of course. Her pale pussy was winking insistently underneath that crystal barding, and the inside of her uniform was already soaked.

Maybe that meant it was time for a little initiative on his part. “Commander, could you please remove your armor? It's interfering with my inspection.”

She gave him a sultry glance over her shoulder. “I thought you'd never ask, Sir.”

It was truly amazing how dextrous these crystal ponies could be with their hooves. Shining Armor would have needed longer, even with his magic, but Ruby Blaze managed to unstrap and whip off her armor in what seemed like only the blink of an eye.

Shining Armor was nearly too stunned by the sudden appearance of Ruby Blaze's pussy to do anything ... but by this point certain things had become automatic. His hoof found her hot, eager slit almost as fast as she'd removed her armor. His mouth followed just a moment later, adding Ruby Blaze's bitter tang to the bouquet of mare flavors already on his tongue.

“Are you enjoying yourself, Sir?”

“Mm-hm,” Shining Armor enthusiastically hummed back, his lips still planted against Ruby's pussy.

“Which mare in the Corps has the best pussy?”

That froze him in place for a moment. His mouth drifted from Ruby Blaze's nethers just far enough to mumble out an, “Uh... Well, um, it's not easy to, um ... choose.”

Ruby Blaze pressed herself back against him, regaining contact between his muzzle and her soft, inviting pussy lips. “Of course, Sir. You haven't gathered enough information to make a real choice yet. How can you determine which is the best when you're only experiencing the outermost parts of each? To really make any decision, you'd need to experience what it's like to be inside each of us.” Her pussy gave a particularly insistent wink at the word 'inside', thrusting her clit across his tongue.

That word made him jerk back, though. “Inside? Really?”

“Please, Sir.” Breaking her professional bearing, Ruby Blaze altered her at-attention stance, spreading her hind legs further apart and arching her back downward a little so that her pussy winked right up toward him.

“Should I, um... Do you want to go first?”

“It would be an honor, Sir.”

He took a deep breath to steady himself. Okay, he could do this.

Actually, it was pretty easy. Once he mustered the will to rear himself up and place his forehooves on Ruby Blaze's flank, his body all but took over. Instincts set in where his own will faltered, and after a few prodding tries, the tip of his cock met Ruby Blaze's blazing hot pussy, sinking slightly into her mid-wink.

He had to rein his instincts back in, though. As hot and wet as Ruby was, his cock was still dry ... for now. Carefully rocking his hips back and forth, he slowly worked his way into her Ruby's eager, inviting pussy. With every extra inch that slid inside her, this felt more and more natural. The aura of strangeness surrounding doing such inappropriate things with a Crystal Guardspony gave way to the simple pleasure of feeling a needy mare's inner walls rippling over his shaft with each new thrust into her.

He'd barely managed to hilt himself inside her, though, before she twisted her head around to look him in the eye. “I hope you're enjoying my pussy, Sir.”

Nodding dumbly, he pressed himself all the way into her again, enveloping his entire cock in her delicious tight warmth.

“But I do need to look after the needs of my troops, and there are twelve more mares here who need to be personally inspected.”

Shining Armor glanced at the next mare in line – the tallest. She, too, had broken her at-attention stance. She held her hind legs almost exactly like Ruby's, except spread a bit farther in order to bring her pussy lower and more accessible for him with her height advantage. She stared at them ... or more specifically, she stared at where she could see his cock inside her commander's transparent body. The lust in her gaze was so blatant he could practically see the reflection of his deeply embedded cock in her eyes.

He'd assumed that Cadance must have had a hard time finding volunteers for this. Maybe it hadn't been that difficult after all...

He pulled himself out of Ruby Blaze – not without a great deal of reluctance, but the next mare's inviting warmth was only a couple steps away.

Mounting her, he slid his cock deeply and easily into her pussy, aided by her commander's juices and the mare's own lust. So soon after Ruby, he could tell that this mare wasn't quite as tight, but the soft squeezing her pussy gave was an experience all its own – one he eagerly gave himself to.

And then it was time for the next mare in line. And the next. And the next. He'd never even dreamed of anything like this. As soon as he began to grow accustomed to the feel of sinking himself into one mare's sweet pussy – as soon as he learned the sound of one mare's slight moans – it was time to move onto the next. Each one came easier and easier, his cock slickened by the juices of the ones before, all mixing together as he moved his way down the line.

He moved over to the next, recklessly plunging his cock into her, all inhibitions gone. Her pussy squeezed open just barely fast enough to accept his thrusting cock, and he shoved all the way inside her with the very first thrust, holding his forehooves around her firm flanks and hugging her against himself.

Only two more to go, and he could already feel himself getting close. This mare – a light blue guardspony with a white mane – was tighter than most, but gloriously wet on the inside. Her juices splashed against his balls every time he hilted himself inside her and her inner walls squeezed tight around his shaft. That pressure! The squeezing of this guardspony's pussy blended right in with the growing pressure at the base of his cock. He knew he wouldn't last long if he stayed with this one. And he desperately needed to get a taste of all thirteen of them.

So ... on to the next!

He moved over to the next mare in line. She whimpered slightly as she felt the tip of his cock under her tail.

“Are you okay?” Shining Armor whispered to her before going any further. “If you're not okay with this, I wouldn't want to—”

“Just... Just put it in, Sir. Please!” She pressed herself back against him, her pussy spreading open around the tip of his cock. As she shuddered, she whispered again, “You have no idea what it's like, seeing all those other mares get it, hearing their little moans ... and just standing here, waiting for your turn. I can't wait any longer! Please, just put it in me now!”

Shining Armor obliged her. He plunged his cock into her desperately winking pussy, quickly filling her up entirely.

“Yes!” the mare moaned breathlessly. “Finally!”

His own body might have been saying the same thing to him, if it had a voice. The urge to give himself over to it, to cum inside this eager mare, was nearly overwhelming. The delicate little gasps she gave every time he pressed himself as deeply as he could inside her came right along with tightening throbs from his cock, eager to give her what she wanted.

But could he stomach being responsible for getting a guardspony pregnant? And what about that last mare in line, the shortest one?

When he felt the tip of his cock swelling into a flare inside this guardspony, he knew it was time – beyond time – that he moved onto the next. The small, pleading “No...” she gave as he pulled his flare out of her pussy mirrored his own feelings. Maybe he'd come back to her sometime when they were both ready for it, but this was not the time. He had one more mare, and as much as both of their bodies wanted it, getting this mare pregnant was not a good idea.

The last mare in line was the shortest and smallest ... which didn't exactly work out well for a frenzied stallion and his already-flared cock trying to get inside her. He fumbled around her flanks, the swollen, slickened tip of his cock sliding all over her rump. Even when it pressed against her winking pussy, the flare was too wide to easily slide into her. Whenever he tried to apply enough pressure to overcome the tight fit, his tip just slid away between her tight little ass cheeks.

It wasn't until Commander Ruby Blaze stepped in that he made any progress. Ruby Blaze held the tip of his cock firmly against the last guardspony's pussy and looked up at him. “There, Sir,” she said. “She's ready for you now.”

Holding his forehooves around the smallest mare tightly, he thrust hard. His flare squeezed down; her pussy stretched open wide. With a sudden lurch, he plunged into her. This mare all but screamed as his oversized flare bludgeoned its way deep inside her pussy, but it wasn't a scream of pain, at least not entirely – her high-pitched voice carried notes of satisfaction and accomplishment, along with the sheer overwhelming sensation of being so suddenly filled.

Now that he was on – and in – the very last mare, Shining Armor felt his willpower wavering. He knew he still shouldn't get any of these guardsponies pregnant, but now that was the only concern. He'd now been with every single one of them, and as much as his mind told him he shouldn't impregnate the troops, his body only had one message now, and it was the exact opposite.

Once again, though, it was Ruby Blaze who came to the rescue. Just before he met the point of no return, Ruby grabbed his flanks and forcibly pulled him off of the last mare in line. He was only able to give a startled yelp of surprise – the Commander was strong!

He fell unceremoniously on his rump behind the mare he'd just been inside, with Ruby Blaze standing over him. Panting for breath, he tried to come to grips with what had just happened, his cock throbbing and feeling cold and lonely exposed to the air.

“Alright, troops!” the Commander shouted. “You remember Princess Cadance's orders – any mare who gets the Prince's cum inside her gets a commendation bonus. Have at him!”

Shining Armor's eyes went wide. Before he could pick himself up off the floor, he was hit by an avalanche of amorous mares. They bowled him over. Goddess, they were so strong! Two of them took each of his forehooves first, pinning them to the floor by sitting on them and grinding their sopping-wet pussies on him. Two more took his hind hooves ... but only held them, licking and caressing his fetlocks. Another two came up to either side of his face, kissing and nuzzling him as they whispered dirty little things in his ears.

That left six, along with Ruby Blaze. And that left his flared cock bobbing in the air as he was pinned to the floor. Between the two mares nuzzling his face, he watched as all seven of them arranged themselves. They moved so efficiently ... had they actually drilled and practiced this?

First, there was one mare for each of his balls. They squeezed down tight between his outspread legs, making room for the others, but that didn't seem to hamper their ability to lick and gently suckle each of his balls, making him tingle from his horn to his hooves. The remaining four guardsponies managed to all wrap their mouths around different parts of his shaft, moving in unison up and down, their tongues rippling over his veins and medial ring as they licked each others' juices off of him. For the final touch, Ruby Blaze herself squeezed in. She couldn't take the wide flare of his tip entirely into her mouth – it was just too big. But she still spread her lips across the broad surface of his flare and licked with her tongue, coaxing him toward climax.

And that climax wasn't far off. He'd already been close inside the last few mares. And this... It didn't matter where he paid attention to – every body part was being caressed, licked, fondled. His ears were full of the murmured cajoling of the mares – the ones with their mouths unoccupied at least – urging him to empty himself into their commander's mouth. Anywhere he looked, he met glittering crystal pony eyes that seemed to know exactly what he wanted to do ... and begged for him to do it to every mare in the room.

With a crying moan – the loudest he could ever remember making – he finally let himself go. His cock throbbed powerfully, pumping the first huge spurt of cum straight into Ruby Blaze's mouth.

As more and more followed, Ruby didn't take her mouth away from his tip. She only narrowed her lips to seal directly around the hole, letting it stream in steady pulses into her. She didn't swallow it, either – she just let her cheeks swell with the ever-increasing load as she collected it inside her mouth.

Shining Armor tilted his head up a little, staring into her eyes as his cum gushed into her mouth. He could see through her, see the white mass of it growing as her cheeks stretched. And the look in her eyes, oddly enough, wasn't lust for him ... though it did seem to be lust for something. She looked like she had a plan, like she knew exactly what she was doing. And, of course, all throughout it, the other mares didn't let up. They kept teasing and coaxing him, making sure to draw as much cum as they could from him.

Finally, Shining Armor pumped out his last drop. Something inside him had expected to see Ruby Blaze triumphantly swallow her prize, but that wasn't at all what happened. Instead, she made a waving motion with her hoof, and all her guardsponies instantly leapt up off him, forming a neat line in front of their commander.

He watched, mouth gaping, as one mare after another came up to Commander Ruby Blaze and kissed her. Each mare received a generous little dollop of white when they parted their lips for Ruby's tongue. He could see it through each shimmering muzzle. As she worked her way through the line, Ruby's cheeks slowly became less and less swollen ... until, finally, the last mare had gotten her sloppy kiss and their commander was left with hardly any more than any of the rest of them.

They all stood in a line in front of him now, each with a little blob of white visible in their closed mouths.

Ruby Blaze stomped her hoof once, and in unison, all thirteen mares swallowed. Shining Armor's eyes bugged out a little as he watched his cum – quite visible through their crystal bodies – slide down thirteen throats at once.

Ruby Blaze licked her lips and smiled at him. “It looks like we'll be needing thirteen commendation bonuses written up, Sir.”

He could only nod as he picked himself up off the floor. That was going to be quite a bit of paperwork ... and he hoped that Cadance had thought ahead about how to phrase the commendations, because he had no idea how to both adequately thank these mares for the irreplaceable experience they'd just given him and prevent that experience from being public knowledge.

Author's Note

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