Shining Armor was soaking wet. After the workout Spring Cleaning had put her through, he'd needed it. "You actually blasted through my shield."

"What? No. I blasted around your shield. Your defense against physical and direct magical attack is way too much for me, but not if I cast through a loophole." Spring was damp too, she'd just had a little more time to fluff her coat out after their shower. "The trick is to pin the spell to a physical object, in this case a rock, and then teleport it through the barrier."

Staring at Spring for a moment, Shining shook his head. "I can't believe it was that simple."

"Simple? It was never simple. You try wrapping a stone in a magic-disruption spell and then push it through a teleport without setting it off." Spring rubbed her side against Shining's, feeling like she wanted to prance. "Did you hear? Cadance and Storm are going to Canterlot for the weekend."

It was common knowledge that the pair were taking things slow and steady. Shining was delighted to see them more comfortable with each other, but he also knew why they were going to Canterlot. "Storm wants to ask Cadance's mistress if he can dominate her. Uh, Cadance that is."

"This is a big thing for them, isn't it?" Spring asked.

"Yeah. Cadance isn't comfortable with doing certain things with him without talking to—to her mistress. Those just happen to be the things Storm enjoys doing most." Shining proudly wore two red stains around his rear cannons proclaiming how much he enjoyed letting Storm take control. "I've been trying to keep that side of him satisfied."

"When you're not letting me beat your flank around the practice ring, right?" Spring started prancing a little faster, barely pulling ahead of Shining before he built his own motion up to match.

Spring and Shining exchanged nibbles at a trot all the way back to the palace and up the stairs. When they entered the royal bedroom, it was just in time to see Storm and Cadance packing the last things they needed into cases.

"Almost done?" Shining asked.

"Our train leaves in ten minutes." Storm was giving a case the fight of its lifetime to get it closed. When he finally had the latch fastened, he bound it closed with ribbon.

"Our train will wait," Cadance said, using her magic to close three other cases. "And now we're going to go meet it."

Shining and Spring waited by the doorway and each got two kisses on the cheek from each of them.

Storm, would couldn't help inhaling Shining's scent, sighed softly as he chased Cadance out of the room.

With the two gone, Spring let out a little sigh. "The room seems so much larger without them in here."

"I know what you mean. When Cadie isn't around, it feels like part of me is missing." The part that was missing, Shining mused, wasn't anything tangible. It was an absence of someone important to him, someone so close they were more like a mirror of his very self. Distracting himself from deep thoughts, he nuzzled at Spring's neck and jaw.

Letting out a happy sigh, Spring tilted her head up and to the side to let Shining have full access to her neck. "You're so tactile. So many stallions I've been with just want to climb your back. You—You make love to all of me."

Setting his horn afire with pink magic, Shining picked Spring up off the floor and carried her to the bed. "Well, then, how about I keep doing that and you decide when or even if you want me to 'climb your back'?"

Squirming to get comfortable, and to entice Shining, Spring watched him bring his snout down and kiss her belly. She wasn't showing yet, but the action stirred a delight in her at the simple act of his acceptance of her pregnancy—and of her foal. The kisses strayed down, the soft fluff of her belly sensitive to not just his lips but his breath too.

When Shining reached her teats, more pronounced than a mare who hadn't had a foal in the past, Spring closed her eyes and arched her spine. A long, low, and drawn out moan left her in a guttural expression of the longing need his lips inspired. He kissed, licked, and nibbled at everything he could reach and it all sent sparks of pleasure through her.

Shining had a good amount of experience pleasuring mares and it wasn't all climbing backs, as Spring had put it. He explored. Finding the places that made Spring squirm and cry out. Building a map, he started to focus on the places one after another, seeking to bring as much pleasure to Spring as he could without so much as touching her vulva.

It took the last shreds of Spring's self-control to keep from loosing her magic along with her orgasm. She trembled and shook, making soft whining noises while Shining barely let up. He worked her body up to her orgasm, through it, and when the paralyzing pleasure receded, he was still nibbling away at her.

"W-Wait. Let me catch my—heee—breath!" Spring squirmed and tried to shift away, but Shining was already moving to give her a breather. Using some meditative training she'd gotten in the Guard, she slowed her heart rate and brought her breathing under control. Shining was standing up and looking along her body at her. "You look intense."

"I'm waiting."

"Waiting for…?"

"For you to be recovered enough to continue." Shining smiled wide at the look of surprise on Spring's face. "Just say the word."

Staring at him for a moment, Spring bit her lower lip. "This time, when I'm close, please, mount me."

"Maybe give the foal already in there a twin?" Shining reached a hoof out to gently rub at Spring's belly. The flare of her eyes and the raw look of hunger on her face told him everything he needed to know about her feelings toward role-playing that. He knew she wouldn't be receptive yet, but that didn't have to stop the fun.

Spring's libido was attaining new heights. A stable home and a stable family did wonders for her desire for foals, and apparently this stud"You big, rutting, stallion. You'd just love to put me through that, wouldn't you?" Before she could come up with another word to deepen the little role-play, he bowed his head to her belly again, kissing it, then moving back along her underside without the little line of kisses. She was about to ask him what he was doing when he licked her slit from end to end.

The howl his lick induced made Shining hard again. After Spring's first orgasm, he'd gotten rock hard and then deflated a bit due to the lack of further action. Now, though, with her scent in his nose, Shining wouldn't be going soft until he either came in her or rubbed one out himself. Another lick, another cry. Another lick, this time she squealed and writhed.

It was too slow and not penetrative in the least. Springs moans turned the needy whimpers. She focused as best she could to ask, "Just get in me, please?"

"You really want another foal that bad?" Shining asked. When she nodded, he didn't waste any time at all. Stepping up, placing a leg each side of her body, he walked forward until his hips lined up with her and he crouched just enough to press his shaft to her entrance.

On her back, Spring had no way to hurry him up or get that shaft inside her. She had to suffer through a long and slow penetration that stretched her out and made her insides squeeze and try to milk him.

Shining would have liked to take his time and make the rest of his rutting as slow as could be, but he didn't have a hope of it with such a sexy mare under him. The moment his thighs met her rump, he started to buck into her.

When he started fucking her in earnest, Spring let out a long moan that was punctuated at intervals by Shining's plowing deep into her. It was paradise, and the silly role-play had set her up to fantasize about getting with a second foal—and just the thought of that was driving her fast along the path to another orgasm.

Feeling her body tense up, Shining kept his pace up as Spring plunged into her orgasm. Nuzzling at her neck, Shining clamped his teeth into the flesh of her throat—careful to grip .

Spring felt as Shining bit down on the loose skin of her throat. It reminded her of Storm so much that she could almost believe that he was there with them. She tried to squirm and buck, but Shining's weight on her and the bite at her throat reduced even her warrior trained body to a quivering and impotent mass while she came hard.

After a moment, when she could catch her breath enough to realize that Shining was still going, Spring managed to ask, "Are you close?"

Letting go of her neck, Shining tilted his head lower so his mouth was by her ear. "Yeah. Was waiting for you to come down a bit. I like seeing the look of surprise on your face when I give you everything." If there was one thing his wife had taught Shining, it was that loving good ponies was a good thing. He'd been raised in a family already quite free with its perceptions on love and sex, but Cadance had taken that to a new level. "I love you."

The words, combined with a hot rush of seed inside her, made Spring tremble and wrap her legs around Shining. It wasn't an orgasm, more like an aftershock, but it was her head and her heart that were feeling the brunt of the release.

She clung to him, holding him on her and herself to him, while his hips tried to continue what little motion remained to them as he came. As was normal with him, though, there was a lot of blast to his hose. After a few moments she started to squirm, then wiggle more, and finally she moaned loud as the pressure became too much and escaped around his shaft.

Feeling the warm, pooling substance on her dock, Spring finally came back to reality, grabbed Shining's muzzle with her magic, and pulled him into a kiss. She didn't linger too long, breaking away and smiling as she said, "I love you too."

The loving words, coming from anyone but his wife, were new. They fit, though, and tied nicely with him having said them. He nuzzled her cheek and started kissing along Spring's jaw and down her neck.

A sound of doors opening surprised both ponies on the bed and each turned to look and see Cadance standing in the doorway, a huge—almost manic—grin on her face. "You said it!" Cadance said, bouncing on the spot in her excitement.

Shining and Spring looked from Cadance to each other. "She teleported to the outside of the door?" Shining asked.

Nodding back, Spring said, "She couldn't have made the big entrance if she'd teleported into the room." Turning her head and looking at the buzzing princess of love, Spring said, "Yes, Shining told me he loved me and I said the same back."

Rushing the pair, Cadance wrapped her wings around them and squeezed them to her in a tight hug. "I'm so glad you could take this step! You're getting—" Lifting her left wing, Cadance stared at the dripping mess that was now stuck to her feathers.

Spring barely managed to say, "That's how much he loves me," before she broke into a stream of giggles—followed shortly after by Shining and then Cadance.

Storm had noticed a difference in Shining and Spring. They moved far more comfortably together and both seemed completely fine with the other in their personal space. After several days of noticing it, he realized he was jealous.

The sex was still amazing, both Spring and Shining shared him, but he felt distant from them both. Finally he realized things weren't improving for him. "I need help."

Cadance looked at Storm. She'd been enjoying their dates and how things had been building—until he stopped asking her out. "What's wrong?" Her magic told her it was something to do with love, but it was silent on an exact reason.

"I don't know. That's the thing. Everything seemed fine and then—then one day they seemed closer to each other." It felt terrible to have to admit. He saw something between Shining and Spring and, though it was beautiful, it was something he didn't have. "I—I'd like to request to be transferred back to Canterlot."

Cadance froze up, staring at Storm. "You're really that unhappy here?"

Nodding, Storm let out a breath he didn't know he'd held. "They have something now. They have a bond that they don't share with me. I tried to be part of their lives still, but nothing I do pulls me into that bond."

"I…" Unable to find the words to use, Cadance stopped and focused on what Storm had said further. "I'm glad you came to me to talk about it. You mean a lot to me, Storm, and I don't make this offer lightly, but if you'd wish to become part of my harem, I would be honored to have you." It took one look to see that he was both surprised but also uninterested. "Then, for at least a week, please stay somewhere in the city while I get to the bottom of this."

"Alright. I owe you that much. No, I owe you a lot more, but I need to think about myself too." Storm stood up from the couch he'd been on, chatting with Cadance. He felt a little better about things, but there was a new pain, a raw pain. He was going to leave and walk away from probably the best time of his life. "Thank you for trying."

He walked out of the reception room, leaving Cadance staring after him. She had to count to ten to get her emotions under control enough to leave too. Walking to the throne room, she spotted the usual two guards at the door and approached them. "Have either of you seen my husband today?"

One guard shook his head, but the other cleared his throat and said, "Practice grounds, ma'am."

The walk out to the Guard's practice grounds was a reminder of how much Storm had taught her to enjoy flying again. Finding her husband giving a lesson on magic, Cadance waited for him to finish and made her way to the officers' area.

With the room going silent at her entry, Cadance found a spot to sit down and await Shining. When he looked in, and saw her, she saw (and felt) all the love her husband was capable of rush out in a hurricane targeted at her. "Shiny, do you have more classes today?"

"Nothing I can't put aside if you need me, Cady." Shining walked up to Cadance and gave her a warm smooch, not caring at all if anypony saw it.

"Perfect. Do you know where Spring is today?" Standing up and giving an appreciative wicker for the kiss, Cadance started for the door. "We need to talk."

Spring had been doing a light workout in the form of a run around the city, and it was only by luck that she'd spotted Shining and Cadance on her rounds. With no explanation other than we need to talk, she let herself be led all the way back to the castle and a private room. All the way home she had to fight from the urge to brush against Shining and give him the kind of affection she wanted to in a less public location.

"So," Shining asked, "what are we talking about?"

"Storm." Cadance had everything as straight in her mind as she could make it. "He came to me earlier almost torn apart emotionally, and requested a transfer back to Canterlot." Her words, she was glad, had a lot of impact on Shining and Spring.

"Wh-What happened to him? What's wrong? Why didn't he come to me?" Shaking a little, Shining looked to Spring and then back to Cadance. "Where is he now?"

Cadance had been careful not to find out exactly where he was staying precisely so she didn't have to lie. "He promised me he wouldn't leave before the end of the week, which is why I wanted to get your side of things. He believes he is being neglected."

"We have been spending a little more time together, Shining," Spring said. "Storm has been—I guess he felt more distant too."

"But we were—That was because we admitted our love for each other. Spring and me, that is. Storm—It never came up with him." Working through the problem, Shining couldn't see why things had happened the way they had. "We just hadn't had a chance to share that with him. Is that why he left?"

"We got distracted with each other. Shining, we have to find him and fix this because—because I love him too." Spring looked at Shining, waiting for his reply.

"It's been harder with him. Don't get me wrong, I feel love for him, but it's harder to say it. I'm still getting used to being with stallions and that—that might have made me do something stupid."

Cadance smiled. "Now you need to tell him that. I'd suggest asking around and trying to find him before he realizes he doesn't need my permission to return to Canterlot and finds the train station."

Shining nodded to Cadance. "I think I know what I need to do. Where is he staying for this week?"

"You'll need to find him, Shiny. I offered him a place, he refused." Raising one eyebrow at her husband, Cadance dared him to hunt out Storm.

Leaving the castle, Shining looked around for the ever-present guardponies that kept watch at the entrance of the castle. They were, of course, flanking the door he'd just left. "Did you see which way a bat pony went?"

"That way, to the south, sir."

Spring had to gallop after Shining, her hooves flashing as she caught up to and kept pace with him. "That was the easy part. Now we have to find whatever temporary lodgings he's found."

Two hours later they'd finally narrowed down to just one bed and breakfast to which they approached carefully. "Have you worked out what you're going to say?" Spring asked.

"I've been in a panic since we left the castle. I screwed up and it screwed us all up. How does Cadance manage to not go crazy? She has five mares in her harem!" Trying to calm himself wasn't working. Shining felt himself start to Twilight and once he reached that state, he knew, he wouldn't be able to get back to being sane for some time.

"I won't say relax, but you need to calm down and let your heart do the talking. We also need your authority to ask which room Storm is in." Spring led the way to the entrance and opened the door for Shining.

Stepping into the entryway, Shining looked around for somepony to ask about Storm, only to see his target sitting on a couch through an open door to what looked like a living room. "Storm?"

Jerking his head up, Storm spotted Shining and then Spring as she walked in behind him. Panic, worry, terror, and hope were the more intense of the emotions he felt. He watched the big stallion walking toward the room with trepidation before remembering he'd been talking to somepony. "S-Sorry, I need to go and talk with some friends."

"Listen to their hearts more than their words."

The last words from the older mare didn't surprise Storm, and he wanted to follow them given the time he'd spent unloading his heart to her. Approaching the doorway, he looked at Shining. "Cadance told you?"

"She told me what you said and I figured out the rest—I think. Can we go somewhere and talk?" Shining, suddenly, had no clue what he was going to say. Words seemed hard when all he wanted to do was hug Storm and beg him for a second chance.

Unsure what it was that would help, Storm nonetheless nodded and led the way down the hall and to the bedroom he'd rented. The bed was stiff and there was a slightly dusty odor to the room he couldn't ignore, but it was a safe place. Walking in, he had to bite back some worry at inviting Shining and Spring into it.

There was a small desk and an appropriately sized chair, a bed, and little else for relaxation in the bedroom. Shining was huge, Spring wasn't a small mare, and Storm wasn't a tiny specimen either. "I'll sit down over here to give you some room," Shining said.

"And if I said I don't want room?" Storm was surprised at his own words. "I want—"

When he didn't continue, Spring waited for a bit before asking, "What do you want?"

"You. Him. Happiness. I just—" Storm met Shining's eyes and he ached to hear the stallion tell him those words he spilled to Spring so easily. For over a minute he tried to say what he needed, but it didn't come out. At last, when his anxiety was distracted with the extended silence, he whispered, "I want to be loved."

Shining relaxed a little. This was something he could help with. "You are loved."

Realization dawned on Spring. She gasped and then let out a weary breath. "We're idiots, Shining. You have to tell him that."

"I just did!"

Watching the argument, feeling his heart twist, Storm froze when Spring walked up to him. She looked intently into his eyes as she got into his personal space. He bit his lip and—tasting a little blood—sucked on his breath when Spring's lips parted.

"I love you, Storm."

For Storm, hearing those words was like a huge crack appearing in the wall he'd put up. He didn't want to get hurt, but opening up to the pair—without love to bind them—would only hurt. Tears sprang to his eyes and he turned to look at Shining while Spring nuzzled his cheek.

"Tell him, Shining," Spring said after a moment. "You have to tell him too."

"He—Storm, you know I do, right?"

"Shining!" Spring turned around and glared at him. "You said it to me earlier. Tell—Storm—you—love—him!"

It didn't feel wrong, it felt strange. If it had felt wrong, Shining would have said so and backed away from the problem. He would have gone to his wife and said how it felt wrong and why he didn't want to go through with it. Since it felt strange, though, it was a problem that should be solvable.

"That's it." Storm felt all the tension and emotion he'd been dealing with come to a head. He stomped over to Shining and got in his face. "If you don't tell me—if you can't tell me—I'm walking out that door right now. You—You'll never see me again."

Panic slammed into Shining's straight stallion sensibilities. He felt rattled and scared that he would lose Storm because he couldn't say—"I love you." The three words had tumbled out of his mouth in a moment of complete defenselessness. He sucked in a breath as tears started to fill his eyes. "I love you, Storm Slice. I love you so much it hurts that I couldn't say it. I love you like plants love rain. I—I need you in my life and I'm so sorry I couldn't say it until now but it just—I don't know why it was so hard to—" He was silenced, finally, by a kiss.

Staring into Shining's eyes, Storm started to accept that Shining had said it. His own vision became blurry when, in a moment when their lips weren't touching, Shining repeated the words. "I love you too, but why didn't you say it earlier?"

"I couldn't. I mean, I wanted to, but it didn't make sense. I just—" Shining was halted by another kiss, this time from Spring. There was mirth in her eyes that he had questions for. When she stopped kissing, though, she started talking.

"You've been with mares exclusively, right?" Spring asked, and when she got a nod she continued. "You thought you were straight—that mares were for you?" When Shining's eyes strayed to the side, Storm's direction, she cut him off before he could reply, "Before Storm and before you shared your bed with him."

Realization hit Storm. Of all the things he'd thought might be motivating Shiming's reluctance—"I never considered that. You were straight as a die before me?" When Shining blushed, Storm let out a giggle. He couldn't help it. "I was your first."

"Y-Yeah. Cadance tried to get me with stallions in the past, but it was never—It only worked when I was with her, and only then because I focused on her. Storm, I want to be with you." Burning with need to express his love, Shining kissed Storm, closing his eyes and inhaling deeply the scent of him.

The willingness, the revelation—it all worked to reassure Storm. His feelings were real, and he was still awash in all kinds of emotions that would take time to analyze and sort. When the passionate kiss ended, he was left gasping and hungry. "C-Can you take me home?"

"First I have to say one more thing," Shining said, nuzzling at Storm's cheek. "I love you, Storm Slice."

Storm's legs wobbled all the way back to the castle. He had Spring on one side and Shining on the other, both nuzzling him, rubbing their flanks against his, and making it hard to think about anything but the words they'd both said.

He needed time, though, to process. When they reached the castle, he kissed each. "Can we just snuggle? No sex, I mean. I just want to think about all this and get my emotions under control—but I still want the reminder of what you both told me."

"Of course. Want to hear it again?" Shining asked.

Storm couldn't help his excitement, and it showed. Dancing in place, he nodded.

Circling around, forcing Storm and Spring to stop before him, Shining looked into Storm's eyes, looked across to Spring, then back to Storm. "I love both of you so much. Storm Slice, I love you. Spring Cleaning, I love you too. I love you both and I want to hear you say it back so much it hurts."

Looking to Spring, Storm smiled and darted in to kiss her cheek before saying, "I love you both too. I've never loved a mare as much as I love you, Spring, and this hunk here getting over his inherent straightness to say those words means a lot—I love you too, Shining."

Retiring upstairs, they selected the master bedroom for some cuddles and Storm contented himself with relaxing between Spring and Shining, just like he'd asked. Laying there, reassured of their love by their presence and whenever he asked for them to affirm it, he sorted out his emotions.

First, he felt his own hurt wasn't as justified as he'd thought. Yes, he deserved to hear the words earlier in their relationship, but he could see that it was partly his fault for not seeing Shining's situation.

The next part was all the extra emotions he'd felt prior to hearing those words. He'd thought his situation was hopeless. He thought he had nowhere else to go but back to Canterlot. He was wrong, of course. Cadance would have let him do anything he wanted in the Crystal Empire. She was as much his friend as Shining was his lover. This was all on him. These emotions were his own fears and doubts splintering into nightmares he couldn't even justify at the time.

When Shining nuzzled at his neck, Storm couldn't help but let out the bat pony equivalent of a happy sigh—which was only marginally different from a wheezing screech.

"Something wrong?" Spring asked.

Storm shook his head. "Something right. I let a lot of emotions fester. They blinded me to things I should have seen clearly enough to know that there was more to this than my hangups."

"You know Cadance has meetings with her harem? They spend time talking through their feelings. I always thought that was a bit much, but I think I see why now. Feelings seem to be more complicated the more partners in a relationship." Shining reached a foreleg over Storm's shoulders and tugged him closer. "Do either of you have a problem with Monday nights?"

"Monday? That's—Okay, I have a few days to get myself organized before I have to externalize." Storm had to tilt his head back to look up at Shining, but doing so left his breast stretched and unprotected for Spring to nuzzle.

Groaning under the assault, Storm flopped sideways under Shining, giving Spring more access to his sensitive breast. He tilted his head forward but kept his neck stretched up, looking at Spring rub her cheeks against him repeatedly.

The door of the bedroom opening didn't do much to distract the three from their cuddles, but as Cadance approached the bed, it was like their feelings for one another intensified a dozen fold. "Dare I ask what happened?"

"Well—"

"You see—"

"I was—"

All three of them froze as they started talking at once, then looked at each other and giggled.

"Storm, you first," Shining said.

Clearing his throat, Storm related what he'd said to Cadance before he'd left the castle. "And, with all that self-doubt and pain, I ran. I ran from all the best things to have happened to me because I couldn't see that I needed to help someone.

"Shining was struggling with his own feelings toward me. I should have noticed it but I was too tied up in a pity-party made for one."

"Spring?" Cadance asked. "What are your thoughts?"

"I was too passive. I got so caught up in how Shining was treating me that I was blinded to how I should have been treating Storm. We were still having fantastic sex, but I didn't see how much he was hurting." Pressing her nose against Storm's fur, she took a deep breath and bathed her olfactory sense in his personal scent.

"I should have been focused on both my loves." Shining nibbled at Storm's ear just a little. "I wasn't able to properly put my feelings into words for another stallion and it almost cost me somepony I care a great deal for. I was overcompensating my confusion with Storm with Spring. I threw myself at her every chance I could get so I didn't have to admit to my fragile ego that I loved another stallion."

"And now?" Cadance stopped beside the bed, letting her presence spill over without a care as to which of the three it touched. That it connected with all three of them was a sign to her that they had connected again.

"You have Thursday nights, so I figured we could have our discussions on Monday nights." Shining hooked his legs around Storm's back and, rolling back and to his side, he pulled the smaller stallion against his belly. "I don't exactly know how things will work, but we're going to talk about our feelings for each other."

Nodding, Cadance leaned over and gave Shining a little nip on his dock. "That's a good start. I might suggest finding somepony more expressive and understanding for your harem's next position. Such a pony will act as the lubricant in the relationship. Even if they aren't a member for sex, the improvement to the dynamic will be significant."

"More?" Shining lifted his head and looked back at Cadance. "Won't more ponies complicate things more?"

"Other way around. More ponies means more forgiveness and more love to share. There are still pitfalls, but with understanding and an open heart, you will find it gets easier." Cadance had to fight her desire to jump on the bed too. The three looked so cozy and relaxed together that their love was like a beacon to her.

Author's Note

So I do this "Ask X" thing. X can be any character within the story. You can ask them anything and they will definitely, hopefully reply. Keep the questions appropriate to the age-rating of the stories, and they will answer the best question in the author notes of the next chapter. The more votes a comment has the more likely I will get it to the right character to answer. Try to keep it to one question per post!

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