Garroted Harmony

“Urgh.”

Princess Cadance, Empress of the Crystal Empire, chokes on her husband’s meaty cock as it wedges halfway down her throat. Her muzzle is tantalizingly close to his engorged balls; the only time she’s seen him so full was a year ago - moments before Flurry Heart’s conception - and the heady rush of a repeat performance is impossible to contain. It fills her with excitement, past the point of bliss and into joy, that they might again make their love manifest in the world.

It is no coincidence that they are set up in what will be the new foal’s room, given how… tumultuous their first bundle of joy has been. Fortunately Auntie ‘Tia and Lulu are watching the pack of foals and graciously allowing them the full day to share with each other.

“H-hey, love?” her devoted husband asks from above. Worry drips from his voice as delicious pre-cum drips straight into her stomach. She regrets not getting to taste it, the tantalizing licks she snuck in before devouring him not nearly enough. “Cady?”

“Mmghh,” she gargles happily, his thick cock obstructing any more nuanced speech.

“Okay,” Shining Armor says, understanding her perfectly. It’s not the first time they’ve carried on a full conversation tongue to testicles. “I just didn’t want to hurt you.” He gently strokes an armored hoof along her back, sending tingles down her spine. “Sweet Celestia you’re tight.”

She forces herself forward, eyes rolling to the back of her head as she relaxes her throat and stretches her tongue; no way she’s going to let thoughts of her aunt distract her lover!

“Ugh,” Shining Armor moans in pure ecstasy, hooves losing purchase on her flanks. His flare bulges, begging for release.

She won’t give it to him, not yet, not in this position. No, his seed belongs inside her womb, not her belly!

“Hey, girls!” comes the deep voice of her once foal-sittee, now fellow Princess, from outside the room.

Cadance twists her head from under her husband’s belly, his cock spasming in her throat (she’ll need to remember that motion!), to watch a raspberry aura spring the double doors open. A regal lavender alicorn strides inside. It’s amazing how far the curious unicorn has come, from playing filly games in the gardens of Canterlot to saving Equestria multiple times over.

She can’t help but check if not-so-little Twilight Sparkle is again with foal. But, alas, her sister-in-law is not, and Twily would claim it is ‘due to the intrinsic technical difficulties inherently associated with targeting this sadistic siphon’. The unfortunate reality of twisting dark magic to benevolent ends, and Flurry Heart stands (well, crawls and flies, when she isn’t haphazardly teleporting) testament to their triumph over the previously insurmountable hurdle of alicorn infertility.

Her muzzle spreads to a goofy grin, garbling a cheery, “Hlluh!,” as the other alicorn pauses, a hoof halfway to meeting the floor. It takes Cadance half a second to realize why, and by that time it’s too late to pull away. It can’t be too bad, right? Besides, she reassures herself, Twilight got intimately acquainted with the process they are about to go through when Flurry Heart was conceived a year ago. It’s not like it’s anything she hasn’t seen before!

“When you said you wanted me here early,” Twilight deadpans, “I kind of thought you’d let me get set up in the back before you two started going at it.” She flicks her mane at her saddlebags and the coded tome inside. She carefully steps around the two, about to disappear out of Cadance’s line of sight.

“I-it’s…” Shining Armor strains, and Cadance can feel him throb inside her. The competing scents of two mares in heat must be driving him crazy, and yet he stoically keeps his cool. “Not like that?”

The air shifts in the room from how hard Twilight rolls her eyes.

“Hhay!” Cadance calls, waving at the retreating purple legs. She can barely spot the pink aura around his pristine white coat, his supporting shield blending into her chest. She raises both forehooves invitingly, an innocent (well, as innocent as possible, given the circumstances) smile on her muzzle.

Twilight stops, with an ominously slow clop of her shifting hooves. Shining Armor has the good sense to stay silent, and Cadance wouldn’t give this up for the world.

“You’re serious,” Twilight says, biting back that sarcastic streak.

“Lok-a hrr ahahh,” Cadance grunts out. Shiny chuckles nervously.

Twilight bends down to better look Cadance in the eyes, gaze never straying to her brother’s equipment. “You know how rude it is to talk with your mouth full?” She points a hoof at Cadance’s face. “You taught me that.”

“Hhf!” Cadance shouts, the effect muffled. “Shlp mh, Hwlhh, Ll hrn yor flnhs reh lfew lonh greh meh hrohrly!”

Twilight glances quizzically to her brother. “What did she say?”

“She said she’s serious,” Shining Armor impassively states, staring at anything in the room but his sister. He nervously shifts from hoof to hoof, Cadance’s body swaying underneath him.

Twilight lets out a long, exasperated sigh at how many syllables he didn’t translate. “Fine.” She awkwardly reaches her hooves to meet Cadance’s. She lightly taps, voice devoid of emotion, “Sunshine, sunshine-”

“Hhf!” Cadance would have spat the words out, but she can’t. She crosses her forelegs across her chest. “Hoo ih righh!”

“Wow, I understood you that time.” Twilight glances up at her brother. “How much practice…”

He pointedly stares at a particular section of wall, counting the divots.

“Actually, never mind.” Twilight drops back down to Cadance and takes a brief moment to compose herself. Her voice fills with happiness this time, playfully reaching forward just like when she was a filly. Cadance matches the motions, gleefully meeting hoof to hoof as she sings along. Even Shining Armor can’t keep his stoic persona going, sliding up and down her throat to the catchy beat. It doesn’t bother Cadance in the least.

“Hunhine, hunhine, lawyhng awahh! Hlah yor hoohs n hoo a lihhl shay!”

Cadance beams at Twilight’s nimble spin that sticks her gyrating rump just below her brother’s silly grin, tail tickling his nostrils. She’s once again astonished at how that uncoordinated filly has grown into a graceful and lithe mare, more and more alike her mentor and herdmate every day. And not just in regal stature, or the elegant long lines of her wings, but in her motherly warmth and carefree yet caring attitude.

Shining Armor, to his credit, merely backs up and out, the bulk of his wife’s body blocking Twilight’s view. “Now, we know you’re busy,” he says to Twilight while he beams into his wife’s eyes. She knows that look, how he has eyes only for her, that if they were the only two ponies in the room he would ravish her into oblivion. And, if she isn’t careful, he won’t care that they aren’t alone.

“Aww, I always have time for my BBBFF,” Twilight Sparkle croons as they trade nuzzles. She giggles, growing even louder when he teasingly ruffles her mane just like they were foals.

Then she takes a deep breath as she looks at Cadance, and it’s not so much the moment is over but transformed. She has a job to do, just like Cadance, and nostalgic reminiscing won’t get them any closer.

“Now,” the lavender alicorn continues, adopting that lecturing tone she uses for research proposals or thesis statements on ‘Why My Bedtime Should Be Thirty Minutes Later’, “this spell isn’t just dangerous, it’s downright deadly.” She pulls a parchment from her saddlebag.

“Aww,” Cadance whines with a recalcitrant roll of her twinkling eyes. Yes, the spell sucked magic from anypony and anything in range, unless Twilight took pains to exclude them, which made it take an inordinately long amount of time to cast. Yes, she (Cadance) would have to bolster the newly conceived foal’s magic with her own. Her body tingles at just the mere thought: her new foal. “Didn’t we go over this yesterday?”

“Come on, Cady,” Shining Armor says placatingly, nuzzling his little sister apologetically. “You know how much Twilight loves her lists.” He leans over, stage whispering, “Plus, it’ll give her something else to think about while she’s waiting.”

“I suppose,” Cadance agrees with a satiric smile.

Twilight stops scanning the list to unamusedly stare at her brother. “Well,” she states, rolling the scroll back up, “I understand you both remember this well enough?”

“I could recite it word for word,” Shining Armor says, grinning confidently.

“Ready, stud?” Cadance purrs with a flick of her flowing mane. She spins around, readying her body for her stallion’s weight as her tail slips to the side.

“Aaand that’s my cue to exit,” Twilight draws out, smirking. “Just say my name when you’re… ready.”

“Sure thing, Twily.” Shining Armor says. He waits for her to sequester herself in the bathroom before turning to Cadance. “I’ve been waiting for this.” He takes a solemn step toward her, letting the dull clang of his shoe fade before he lifts his hoof again.

Cadance’s heart beats faster at his reserved approach, the anticipation sending shivers down her spine. She loves the timber of his shoes, the metallic clang of her zealous protector. Tiny flexes of her flanks send ripples along the crystal hearts, enticing him ever closer.

“I thought,” he continues between stoic steps, growing more and more bombastic, “that having a foal with you would be the pinnacle of my life. A crowning achievement. That I might die and be happy.” He solemnly raises a hoof to his chest, bowing contritely as if mourning.

Thought? Cadance’s breath catches in her throat worse than any time his cock lodged itself there. The idea that he, her one and only stallion, had changed his mind threatens to overwhelm her.

Shining Armor leans forward, his muzzle taking a long, heavy draw of her scent. He smacks appreciably at her soaked outer lips. “But having climbed that particular peak?” His forelegs press into both hearts on her flanks, his hard shoes unyielding yet tender. “I find myself disappointed with my shortsightedness. Because, having reached my goal, I can see how many other peaks there are. Peaks that I’m honored to get to climb with you.”

Cadance’s heart soars at his words, at the promised future together, not just of them but of their family, their life. She cranes her neck; their lips meet as his stallionhood meets her marehood, a gentle caress in both places that yearns to be something more.

Something much, much, more.

“Every time I hold her,” Cadance whispers, stalling the inevitable conclusion of their joining, “our foal, our precious Flurry Heart, I’m so happy that it worked. That we made it work, that our love was brought forth into the world in such a beautiful bundle.” She smiles softly as they trade nuzzles, her gaze straying to his mane. The constant state of dishevelment is gone, now brushed just like the day they were married. The day Flurry Heart was conceived. Not what most ponies would get for an anniversary present, but since when were they most ponies?

She can sense his impatience, that building and burning desire, and blows a kiss as she ceases her teasing. Her head slowly pulls away, entreating him to follow, and pursue he does with reckless abandon. Every hooflength she pulls back is a step into her most precious of places. It’s not until his hooves are at her withers does she stop, his entire length engulfed by her, filling her not just with girth but with the promise of things to come.

It feels wonderful, of course, just like it always does, like the two of them were made for each other and only the other. He rests a moment, letting her adjust, but that tell-tale intake of breath comes earlier than she expects.

A brief spurt of worry flashes across Cadance’s face as she stares into her stallion’s eyes. Foaling had… loosened her, in ways unrecoverable. Perhaps there existed potions, or rituals, or dark magics that might reverse the changes no cock or toy could duplicate. But doing so would deny what she had gone through, who she is, and she knows her Shiny would never accept that. And so, while he might love the tight confines of her throat and the cherished memories of the tighter squeeze of her marehood, he would never trade what she, what they, had gone through.

A brief nuzzle from her beloved confirms that fact, leaving her breathless as he pulls away. She wishes they could stay nuzzling together forever. But after a while Twilight would get curious, and she would come into the room and be forced by her very nature to investigate, which would involve all sorts of awkward questions and probes and covert glances. And so she giggles demurely, a coy wink at her lover.

While his slow withdrawal sends shivers down her spine, his return shoots sparks throughout her body and soul. She moans as her head raises, the only thing she desires behind and above. Back she goes, lips again finding his and locking in place.

Then comes the implacable push, the steady rhythm of his cock slipping against her walls, drawing tingles of pure pleasure tinged by her heat.

She loses track of how long they spend in that position. It isn’t days, or Twilight certainly would have come looking. It isn’t hours, either; her neck doesn’t have a cramp in it when she pulls away. But she can’t keep count of the minutes when her entire body seizes up on her, when her mind goes blank and the only thing keeping her from dropping is the seal of his lips around hers. Like the seal that he makes in her and with her, and the other seal he breaks in her as every passionate thrust drives him against that final barrier.

Frantic kisses pepper every spot she can reach as he pierces into her womb, begging him to fill mouth with tongue as he fills womb with seed. And it comes, a torrent filling her to the brink, those engorged balls dumping load after load into her, a million possibilities for the beacon shining inside.

“You didn’t hold back,” she says breathlessly, feeling liable to burst at any moment. She moans happily. “Not afraid we won’t need a second shot?” She winks seductively, shaking her hips while he’s still inside. The tiniest slip sends jolts of pleasure coursing through her, her walls tightening around him yet again.

“There was never a doubt in my mind,” he consoles, taking a deep sniff of her fragrant mane as he takes a half step back.

“Wait,” she says before her Shiny has a chance to escape her clutches. A mischievous smirk crosses her muzzle as she nuzzles him again. “Twilight will be okay.”

“Y-you’re sure?” Shining Armor asks, chancing a peek at the bathroom door.

“I heard my name.” The purple alicorn’s voice comes moments before the door opens. She strides inside, eyes a brilliant white and horn ablaze. If she notices their compromising position she doesn’t show it, mage-sight singularly focusing where flanks meet wings.

Cadance stands tall. She has prepared herself for this moment, ever since they discovered their workaround for alicorn infertility might cease to function. Harmony willing, this won’t be the last foal she and Shiny are able to conceive. But that is the crux of the matter; that the remorseless force of nature they equipomorphize as Harmony has never, until their trickery with Flurry Heart, allowed unicorn and alicorn magic to mix. She smirks as she feels him settle against her back; she will not be satisfied with a mere two foals with him, not when Chryssy might give him that many a year!

Even the brief thought of her… herdmate sends shudders across Cadance’s body. Not that the reformed changeling is evil, per say, not any more, but every time she sees the bloated broodling - which she makes as infrequent as possible - she’s reminded of her week long imprisonment and almost losing her Shiny to the herdwrecker. It was only through Twilight’s subterfuge that they beat Chrysalis at her own game, earning them the changeling’s begrudging respect - and herself a second mare she can barely stand on the best of days.

“You can see it?” Cadance asks, a hint of worry staining her voice as she tries to put those thoughts out of her mind.

“Mhm,” Twilight replies curtly. “I have a bead on the frontrunner. It will be easier if I isolate her.”

“Leave them,” Shining Armor says, a hoof caressing his wife. “I know it’s harder, but we want to give each a chance.”

“Mm,” Twilight replies with a touch of disappointment.

“I love you,” Shining Armor whispers softly into Cadance’s ear, his bulk laying across her back. It’s a comforting weight, one she finds easy to carry, and a weight she wouldn’t trade for any other.

“I love you, too,” Cadance whispers in return. A hoof slinks back to lovingly stroke his side, finding one of those ticklish spots he would very much rather nopony know about, then gently pats her belly. “And I’ll love her just as much.”

“Please try to not move,” Twilight asks tersely. “It’s hard keeping the magnifiers lined up, especially dual focus and moving.”

“Sorry,” Cadance whispers sheepishly, glancing back to her husband with a wink. She wants to waggle her flanks, but that would just draw another reprimand from the pony she does not want to distract. For his part Shining Armor goes still above her, the two content to watch the Element of Magic at work.

After several long minutes Shining Armor idly asks, “How much longer?”

“Judging by the rate?” Twilight’s brows furrow, her horn flaring brighter. A series of equations and graphs spring into view. She reads distractedly, “Twenty seven minutes and six seconds from… mark, with a ninety percent probability and half second error. I’ll have it down to a twentieth of a second window, hopefully, by the time I’m ready to cast, and I’ll scrub it and try again if it has even a one percent chance of failure.”

It’s the same thing they went through with Flurry Heart, and Twilight getting the timing perfectly on the first cast inspires confidence that she won’t need that second try. Not that Cadance minds, and she knows her Shiny won’t object, either. He’ll be here all night if he has to! She smirks to herself, the two ready for the long haul; he probably will anyway.

About two minutes before the projected conception and Twilight begins taking long, measured breaths. Cadance watches with growing excitement as a palpable sense of calm fills the room, an anticipation for things to come. Her husband’s hoof rubs into her withers, and it’s all she can do to not reach up and grab hold of him. She wants to squeeze him tight, to reassure and convey her hope of their coming joy.

With one minute and thirteen seconds to go the light of Twilight’s horn shifts. Starting at the tip her cheerful raspberry morphs into a bubbling black miasma that threatens to drip off at any moment. Yet it merely enlarges, wispy tendrils flicking toward any and all sources of magic. Twilight holds them back through sheer willpower, constricting and binding them toward a singular target.

Cadance knows it is more dangerous by having her Shiny next to her, by not clearing the rest of the sperm assaulting her egg. For this spell is not Tirek’s drain. No, it is an unconscionably more dangerous version that would not leave a pony on the brink of death. It goes past that, leaving a magicless - and thus lifeless - corpse. And it is this dark magic that Twilight wrangles so expertly, so deliberately, to target the single sperm at the very moment it breaks into her egg. Thus leaving alicorn magic to combine with nothing, resulting in a healthy alicorn foal.

And then the spell goes off with an anticlimactic withdrawal of the oppressive atmosphere. Light and color return to the room as the darkness disappears, leaving Twilight panting. She slumps to her side, finally showing the mental and physical exhaustion from denying the dark magics their originally intended purpose.

Cadance barely notices as a new elation fills her very soul. She can sense her! The tiny, miniscule cell that will divide and grow and in some eleven months join the rest of her family!

She wonders what Flurry Heart will think, if the precocious one month old will remember what life was like alone, or if all of her memories will be of the two of them, two sisters joined by a common bond.

With Flurry Heart, there had been an inkling of doubt in her mind. That, despite the success of the other three alicorns - though their circumstance was different - she might be left bereft and bereaved, as she had on her singular attempt before her Shiny came into her life. Never able to cleave hers to her husband’s. Instead forced to rely on a surrogate sire, her Shiny a mere consort and not the title of Prince Consort they so desired. It was only through her Shiny’s stalwart refusal to accede even a seed of doubt that she was able to pour her love for him and their foal, Flurry Heart.

She pours out her love again, unrestricted, a bountiful waterfall of pure joy enveloping the newest addition to their family.

“It worked?” Shining Armor whispers, the barest hint of uncertainty.

His question stirs Twilight, if momentarily. “Yes,” she ekes out between heavy, wheezing breaths.

“That’s my LSBFF,” Shining Armor says with a wink. He steps off his wife, pulling out and joining her. They both slowly lower to the floor, trading soft nuzzles. His hoof massages her side, drawing small circles in the pink coat. “What should we name her?”

“Hmm,” Cadance ponders, resting her head in the crook of her husband’s neck. She adores the closeness, the comfort, the promise they share.

“How about Hurricane?” Shining Armor asks with a twinkle in his eye.

Cadance scoffs playfully. “There’s already a famous Hurricane. Try again.”

“Hurricane Heart?” Shining Armor offers jovially.

“So we can have Hurry Heart and Flurry Heart? I don’t think so.” Cadance smirks, rubbing her head against the rippling muscles. She feels protected just being next to him, invincible. Like the Crystal Heart could shatter, and their love would shelter them and the Empire from the biting cold! “Blizzard?”

“That is a classic,” Shining Armor agrees; a swish of his tail against her cutie mark sends Cadance reeling with passion. “Blizzy Heart?”

“You keep adding Heart to these,” Cadance teases. “You must be trying to tell me something.”

“Only how much I love you.” Shining Armor playfully nips at her ear, drawing a giggle. “What about Storm Heart?”

“Storm Heart.” Cadance tries out the name, and it rolls off her tongue easily. She flexes her jaw, still a little sore. “Stormy Heart. I like it.”

“It’s a lot better than ‘the baby’,” Twilight remarks from behind. She covers her muzzle when the two glance back at her. “Oh! I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt.”

“No, Twily, it’s quite alright.” Cadance nuzzles her Shiny again. A part of her, swelling like her belly will swell in the coming months, wants to reward her stallion for his hard work and effort. And she knows just the thing that will please him, even if she is again relegated to the party’s box of bandaids.

“Glad to hear it,” Twilight says, a poorly contained smile overriding her professional demeanor. She tries to keep her composure and distance. “I’m so happy for you.”

“Oh, none of that.” Cadance motions for Twilight to come close. The purple alicorn happily dives forward, hugging tightly. The three rest there, content.

Until Stormy Heart breaks, her precious life snuffed out in an instant.