“Tonight?”

“If you have time, yes please.”

Shining and Sunburst were back down in the royal archives, surrounded in the soft bouncing red light of the crystals, once again sifting through artifacts. Sunburst and his team had determined that a few of the artifacts from the first group were likely part of sets, so they were searching for the accompanying objects in the sea of shelves and old instruments and dusty tomes underneath the royal library.

“You’ve always said I needed a hobby.” Sunburst was already on a solid track as he spoke, Shining knew where he was going with it.

“Yeah, I said it would give you more confidence,” Shining responded, defeatedly. He hated when people took his advice at his expense.

“If you and Cadance don’t have time to come down and try my cooking, then I really don’t want to impose.” Sunburst was already shrinking back into his cloak, hiding himself a bit behind the book he held in his aura.

“No,” Shining made sure his voice cut through the air a bit. He didn’t like seeing Sunburst retreat like this. Well really, most of the time he didn’t like it, sometimes it was funny. Either way, he wanted his friend to be proud of his new hobby: historical cooking. There was a problem, however…

“Is there a problem?” Sunburst has such an apprehensive tone of earnest in his voice. It made Shining’s cheeks heat up to think about how much his friend just wanted to cook a nice meal for him and his wife.

“Cadance is leaving for the next few days with Flurry Heart.” The two of them gently set the odds and ends that they were sorting through down, facing each other to talk. “Celestia and Luna want to see Flurry before they go to Yakyakistan as a royal envoy. She won't be back until Friday.”

“So you have tonight and tomorrow alone then?” Sunburst let his voice trill a bit at the end of the sentence.

“Yeah.” Shining wasn’t too concerned with being lonely, but he felt the empathetic note in Sunburst’s voice.

“I hate it when I have to spend days alone.”

Shining was very aware of the implication under that sentence. While the two of them had spent time together on Monday and Tuesday, Shining hadn’t seen hide nor hair of Sunburst all of Wednesday. The stallion was no doubt in his personal study for the day, working hard, trying to make a name for himself in his new position. Alone.

“That means it will just be me and you,” Shining let the hopefulness leak into his voice.

He turned to look directly at Sunburst, at the blue in his eyes. It was only for a moment, but the pure joy, the genuine and warm excitement that the stallion seemed to feel for the idea, was so piercing that Shining found himself smirking. However, an inevitable, invasive through also creeped into his mind: Cadance. Not just Cadance, however, but Cadance as Sunburst, lapping away at him like a horny schoolmare, looking up at him with Sunburst’s bright, blue eyes. His heart skipped a beat.

“We need to hurry up and find the mouthpiece for that flute,” Sunburst began, his voice dropping to a melodramatic low, “If we at least find that then I can get back to my quarters and find the recipe.”

***

It wasn’t a bad idea. Shining had at least come to trust himself enough to believe that. He trusted himself a lot more. He was surely still uncomfortable with all the recent developments, but he was still starting to feel better. Even so, he couldn’t shake the feeling that he was playing with fire.

His quarters were painfully empty without his family, even in his pride he could admit that. The wide, cold chambers, the high ceilings and spanning arches, the wide columns that could make even the burliest earth pony feel small, they were all ignorable when he had his child in his hooves or his wife by his side. His family made him feel larger than life, and without them, left on his own in the massive palace, there was no way not to feel small.

Guard duty was easy this morning. The cadets were shaping up well. His time in the archives was also relaxing. In fact, despite the fact that Cadance wasn’t here, called away unexpectedly at the whim of her aunt, he had had a great day. He had seen all of his friends, had good conversations, life seemed to be turning up. He knew that he would be thinking of asking Sunburst the whole night.

It was unavoidable. With the offer on the table from Cadance, he knew that it would be on his mind. Since he was able to admit to himself that he found Sunburst attractive he had been thinking about the mechanics of sleeping with a stallion more and more. He had remembered all the times that Cadance had been a bit more frisky, approaching the back door in her adventures, and wondered what more he might enjoy if he let himself try. He remembered all the times he had been in locker rooms, all the times he had seen stallions exposed. It seemed so queer now, wording intended, that he had never questioned his own responses. Seeing all the toned, muscular, attractive stallions that he had, he distinctly remembered always thinking “that sure is nice, but it isn’t for me.” Evidently, that isn’t what a straight pony would think.

Now it was all before him. He could try. Not only that, he could try without hurting his wife. All that stood between him and what could be the apotheosis of his sexual development was a very awkward conversation with his friend. A very very awkward conversation with his friend.

He stared at himself in the mirror. The better half of a week without shaving meant that the scruff on his chin, at the very ends, was just starting to take up the same blueish tint as his mane. Speaking of his mane, he had styled it a bit, nothing fancy, just making sure that it was groomed well. His coat was clear and he had trimmed his fetlocks earlier today. He looked as good as he always did.

The walk to Sunburst’s quarters always made him feel just a bit guilty. It was only 10 minutes across castle grounds. He should visit more. He was visiting now, he reckoned, so it was at least a start. It wasn’t until he was making his way across the inner grounds, walking through the yard, Sunburst’s hut coming into sight, that he realized that he didn’t remember the small dormitory even having a kitchen.

“Hey!” Shining jumped nearly out of his fur at Sunburst’s voice behind him. Tripping over his own hooves, Shining plunged forward, smacking his broad chest softly into the well kept grass of the lawn, sending his hind-end up in the air as he skidded hoof over head before plopping over on his side. He didn’t even look back towards Sunburst from where he laid, choosing instead to stew in his own embarrassment at having been scared. “You okay?” Sunburst put just enough inflection in his voice for Shining to be unsure if he was teasing.

“Yeah.” He mumbled, letting his cheeks redden at Sunbursts sniggering. The evening air was cool in the waning sunlight. Still giggling, Shining could hear Sunbursts hooves pad through the grass until he was standing over him from behind. A few thuds later, Sunbursts back pomphed against Shining’s and the two sat there. Their backs to each other, both looked off into their respective sides of the horizon, Shining facing the twilight, seeing the mingling hues of the sky in the clouds. Sunburst squinted his eyes into the Sunset, seeing the horizon gradually overpower the sunlight as the night came.

He could feel Sunbursts back shift with every breath as the two of them just let the receding light warm their sides. His breathing soon matched. It was nice, he thought, to be dragged back out of his own solipsism. He loved his friend. Just as Cadance had reminded him time and time again, emotions were simple, it was how a pony chose to act about them that was complicated.

“We gonna just lay around all night?” Shining let the words destroy the silence.

“The meal is quick.” Sunburst spoke with a calm matter-of-fact.

That was all the assurance Shining needed to lay for a bit longer. The grounds had some activity around this time. Recruits were out on late drills, less active than their early morning routine, but still lazily doing exercises while chatting. Staff were out in the mess area, an open air shelter with tables set out, having dinner before some went to their quarters on castle grounds and others went back home to the city. Birds were quiet, having settled in for the night long ago. The material of Sunburst’s cloak felt nice on his bare back and the grass, freshly cut, tickled at his side and flank.

As the sun dipped under the rim of the walls. The yard slowly cleared. Cadets went back inside, the mess area cleared, and slowly the whole area quieted itself as the last beads of sunlight leaked their way out of the sky through the horizon.

“Have a good day today?” As Sunburst spoke Shining could feel the soft hum of his voice through his back.

“Yeah, actually. Relaxing and short.”

“Time going a little quicker without Cadance around?” Sunburst’s voice produced a surprisingly deep and pleasant timbre against Shining’s back.

“It’s more that there isn’t much to do without her around.”

They were under the soft gradient purple of the sky, stars beginning to poke their heads in through the haze of the atmosphere, as the sun had finally retreated for the day.

“I had to wait for the mess area to be clear.” Sunburst began, rolling away from Shining and hefting himself onto his hooves lightly.

Shining rolled over to lie on his legs, looking up at Sunburst as he stood, “Do you always use the mess area to cook?”

Sunburst looked down at Shining, his horn lighting up to an offering glow, aura lightly picking Shining, helping him to his hooves. “My hut doesn’t have a kitchen,” was the only answer he offered. Once Shining was up, Sunbursts aura, which Shining had decided to call cinnamon-smelling even though it was just off cinnamon, swept down and brushed some of the errant grass from Shining’s chin and chest. He was very dextrous with his aura, seeming to try to make it emulate personal touch, rather than just serve a function. “Go choose where you want to sit, I’ll run and get the ingredients real quick.” There was a zen in the way that Sunburst spoke. It seemed like taking a moment to just lie in the sun together had melted away some of the more fidgety anxiety that he knew his friend would often have. He turned and began to trot away, moving with a limbered out grace that conveyed his loose mood.

Shining watched him go for a moment, smiling at himself in consternation as he took note of the outline of Sunburst’s rump in his cloak. There is time to think about any of that later. He trotted over to the empty mess area, dragging a bench over to the bonfire pit, angling it so that they could both sit together with a nice view of the castle grounds. In surprisingly little time, Sunburst came cantering back over the open grass between the mess and his hut, his aura carrying a cast iron skillet and a small sack, presumably of ingredients, and two plates.

“So, Sous Chef, what historical dish is on the menu?”

“A simple one,” He chimed, setting the sack down on the bench and beginning to take ingredients out, “grilled cheese.”

“That’s it?” Shining winced at exactly how harsh his tone came off.

“I know it isn’t very exotic, but my hope is to make it authentic. I got some real cheese, made exactly how it would’ve been made 600 years ago, real butter, and some bread from a historical bakery that has been making bread the same way for nearly 200 years.” The excitement began to bleed back into his voice. Shining would lovingly call him a spas right now, if not for his genuine interest.

“Rising Dough’s?”

“Huh?” Sunburst seemed like he had been reminded not just that Shining was there, but that other ponies existed as a concept as he looked up from his ingredients. “Oh, yeah, Rising’s. I forgot that you were from Canterlot. I ordered it a few days ago, should still be fresh enough.”

The cheese, a deeply colored hunk, looked as old and...chunky, as a good piece of cheese should as it sat on some wax paper on the bench. The butter, an equally amorphous lump, but lighter and softer looking, sat next to it on the paper. A few slices of bread, admittedly very fluffy looking, were placed on the paper too.

Shining just enjoyed the show of Sunburst working. Once the firepit was lit, a simple spell, he enthusiastically spread the butter on the pan, plopping the bread and cheese down in the skillet and frying away. He procured a few spice shakers and seasoned the grilled cheeses as they simmered. Shining enjoyed the way that he seemed to dance a bit with each of his actions. Just like when he was doing research. However, there was a greater range of motion, more chances for him to add flourish, a little sway to his hip, a little flick of his ears, a little sashay to his tail, all showing the level of genuine passion he had for the moment.

Shining found himself starting to recognize the loose, scatological rhythm that Sunburst seemed to move on, gaining some semblance of a beat to each of his sways and jitters. Demure as his friend seemed, Shining found himself infinitely drawn in to moments like this, the times where Sunbursts sheer enthusiasm and energy seemed to be too much for him to handle. The moments where his voice gained its higher, chirpy pitch, the moments where all 4 of his hooves just couldn't seem to stay on the ground, the times where his rump seemed to wiggle on its own, all of this gave off just how impassioned and fervent Sunburst could be, if only Shining could coax him out of his shell more often.

“I do want you to ask Starlight out.” Shining spoke from the heart to the mouth, realizing his words as he said them. He did mean it, he realized, but he hoped that Sunburst didn’t take it harshly.

“I know. And I know that I want to.” Sunburst spoke in an up-beat tone, flipping the second sandwich off of the skillet and on to the place, serving Shining 2 authentic, historical grilled cheeses, while taking his own plate of two for himself. “There’s no point in dancing around the fact that I’m nervous about the idea.”

Shining took the plate in his own aura, holding the plate out and letting the steam sway and shimmer off of the food, airing it to cool before he dared take a bite. The sandwiches looked fantastic, golden toast and cheese drizzling from the edges, crispy looking and shimmering with the butter and seasonings.

“Why are you nervous? You already know she liked you back at some point. Even if she isn’t interested anymore, there is no way she would be mean about rejecting you. She is still a friend.” Shining watched his food cool in front of him, aware of how chilly the night air was becoming.

“I’m nervous because I’m a nervous person.” There was a starkness in the way he spoke that struck Shining. He picked at his friend further, scooching closer to the fire a bit to warm himself. He just sat in suggestive silence, knowing that Sunburst would assume he wanted elaboration.

After a moment, listening to the quiet crackle of the fire, Sunburst took a bite of his grilled cheese and sighed deeply. The cheese hung down from where he bit invitingly. It looked good.

“That looks good,” Shining said.

“Then take a bite of yours.” Sunburst let his inflection rise sarcastically at the end of the sentence.

“Oh.” Shining took a big bite. He was hungry. It was delicious.

His thoughts got a bit simpler with food. It let him bring his mind back down to the carnal. The two munched for a while, both clearly enjoying the meal, before Sunburst, swallowing a bite, began to speak again: “I haven’t ever interacted very well with ponies.”

“You interact just fine,” Shining’s face showed his concern for how his friend put himself down.

“I do, most of the time I do. That doesn’t mean I like doing it. I’m just a nervous person, like I said. I’ve never really even had a marefriend. There’s just a lot I don’t know, especially when it comes to what other ponies are thinking and it just all makes me...nervous.”

Shining could hear the hurt that lay under his voice. This was an issue that, at least from how Sunburst sounded, ran deep. Again, the two sat quietly and ate. Shining shivered for a moment, the fire was starting to get smaller and he couldn’t lean in any closer without getting off of the bench.

Sunburst looked over at him for a moment, his blue eyes infinitely darker and deeper under the clear night sky, the moon still far behind the two of them rising from the horizon. He fidgeted a hoof under the back of his cloak and procured a fleece blanket.

“I remembered you were cold last time we hung out.”

He shifted over towards Shining in a single motion, bringing them sitting flank to flank, and leaned his weight into Shining, having his shoulder caress into Shining’s upper arm, shorter than Shining as he was, and used his aura to drape the blanket gently over the two of them. There they sat, Sunburst lightly nuzzling his smaller, sleeker body into Shining’s side. Shining couldn’t help but find himself blushing at the sudden contact.

Sunburst took another bite of his food. Swallowing, he spoke, “You can help...by the way. You do help. I notice how you like to push me a bit. It can get on my nerves, but it does help. You’re a good friend. You really are.”

Shining took a slow, deliberate bite of his sandwich. His face was hot. There was even a heat behind his eyes. Judging that he could only ruin the moment by saying anything further, he contented himself with a simple, “thank you.”

“I haven’t had many friends, either, if you couldn’t infer that about me--”

“Stop.” Shining could feel the resolve hook onto his voice as he spoke. “Stop doing that to yourself, please. It makes me...It makes me feel really sad to hear you put yourself down.”

He wasn’t looking at Sunburst as he spoke, he was only looking at the embers of the fire. He felt a tug in his chest. Sunburst’s head slowly came to rest on Shining’s shoulder. Again, the two just sat, feeling the touch of each other. They ate quietly for a while. The air was still and cool. The sky seemed to slowly paint itself in a panorama above their heads. Shining finished his second sandwich as Sunburst finished his first. He sat his plate down, saying, “I’ll save it for lunch tomorrow.”

“They were really good.”

“It’s mostly the ingredients with any grilled cheese,” Sunburst responded, looking up into the shimmering stars being reflected from the façade of the castle. “These were really good ingredients.”

“I just want you to feel better about yourself.”

“I know you do. I do too. It’s hard having a friend that seems like he loves me more than I love myself.” Sunburst’s voice sounded like it was wavering.

“Sunny…”

Sunburst giggled. “My mom used to call me that. Starlight did too. Getting to feel better about myself is slow work. It’s hard, but I am trying. Thank you for helping me.”

The two never turned to face each other during all of this. Instead, Shining could read all the little intricacies of his friend’s body language through touch, feel him breathe out with a little shudder, feel him shift, feel each of the little responses that would be on his face, were he looking.

Neither felt the need for more words after that point. The night had changed into a more somber tone, but Shining knew that he didn’t mind, and it didn’t seem like Sunburst did either. The blanket was warm and Sunburst’s side, still draped in his cloak, felt nice against him. Both of them settled their breathing into each other. The night carried on as the embers continued to glow softly in the ever darkening night.

“Do you want to play a few rounds of The Wizard and the Duel?” Sunburst’s words seemed to drift through a haze to reach him, to be a part of the almost meditative state that he was in.

“Sure. It isn’t too late yet.”

***

It really must be the intimacy of it that made Shining get hard. The intimacy of the small shack with the soft light. The intimate smells of the area that Sunburst stayed in, slept in, his fur on every surface, his presence was everywhere.

The games were going fine, Shining and Sunburst had more stalemates than anything now, since the two of them were starting to get a deep understanding of the admittedly poorly balanced rules of the game. However, the excitement, the banter between them, the lingering sword of Damocles that was the question, all made Shining deathly aware of the exact moment when his head dropped from his sheath, the heat starting to grow in his groin.

They were sitting across from each other, there was no way that Sunburst would notice unless he looked, and the odds of that were slim.

“So are the boners a weird nerves thing?” Sunburst noted the situation.

“Ah... hmm...I’d say probably, yeah.” Shining could feel himself drop a bit more from his sheath, the attention exiting him as much as it embarrassed him.

“Well I hope you remember what I said,” Sunburst went on.

“Yeah, I know. You were right. I’ve been in locker rooms, I’ve seen dozens, I need to not be embarrassed around a friend.”

“Good. I haven’t been in locker rooms, but I’m glad I don’t have to be embarrassed that it happens to me too.”

That isn’t the color Shining thought that Sunbursts head would be. His cock had started to protrude too. It was a dappled pink, much different from the auburn that Shining had noticed that his balls were.

“Actually, I hope you aren’t embarrassed by that. I have a weird question.” Shining saw this as the perfect moment.

“What a way to make me nervous,” Sunburst said, his eyes drawn up in concern.

“Don’t worry, it isn’t weird. Well it is, but...well...just hear me out.” Shining eased the tone, leaning back a bit, letting his own cock sit a bit more freely as it hung limply out of its sheath, it’s length drooping down to touch the floor. “Me and Cadance want to make things a bit more interesting.”

“Oh Stars!” Sunburst shrank immediately.

“Nonono! Not anything about bringing you into the mix...per se. She has this transformation spell, but it can only recreate ponies that already exist, she can’t just make up a new pony. Since you are a close enough friend we were wondering if you were okay with us using your form in the bedroom?” Shining kept his more laid back posture, trying to keep his own member on display as it stiffened to make Sunburst feel less alone about his own hardening dick.

“That’s...hmmm. It’s just my form, right? I wouldn’t feel anything?”

“Nope. It would just be a powerful illusion, at least if what Cadance tells me is true.”

“Huh. Y-yeah, I guess I’m fine with it. I’m kind of flattered that Cadance would want to make you look like me for sex, even if it is just for variety, like you said.”

Shining leaned forward a bit. There was no easy way forward. There really wasn’t. This was the turning point. It would have to be.
“Yeah, but I don’t know, it will be interesting to be you, I guess.” Oh no. Why did he lie? He didn’t mean to lie, he really didn’t.

“So does that mean that you’re already gonna see everything? Since, you know, It’ll be yours?”

“Heh, actually, the spell can only replicate based on things that I know.” Shining felt himself quiet mentally. He was still admonishing himself for lying, so he barely even noticed when Sunburst shimmied himself out of his cloak.

“Wanna have a better look?” Shining looked up to see Sunburst’s bright red face, blushing. His eyes were bright, apprehensive, and surprisingly earnest.

“A-are you sure?”

“I mean, sure. If you are gonna ‘be me’ then it’s no more awkward to know exactly what you are being, I guess. I don’t know. Heh. Here.” Without much more warning Sunburst stood and leaned himself back onto his bed, rolling to leave his whole undercarriage exposed. This was happening.

Splayed on the bed, Sunburst looked up at Shining with apprehension from where he lay, his face still red. Shining stood slowly, much less aware of himself than before. It was almost like a painting, the way the haze of his mind coated the scene before him.

The bed lacked a blanket, it was the blanket Sunburst had brought outside with them. On the bare mattress Sunburst was spread, his hind legs down dismissively, his forehooves drawn up to his chest, covering himself on reflex. His long, slender, wiry frame produced such subtle curves, little pits for the light to bounce gently onto, that Shining found himself staring at his bare torso before anything else. He could see his ribs just slightly framed against the skin of his barrel, and his muscles, lithe as they were, pushing their outlines through his fur.

He drank in the sight of the soft light drawing out every detail, rendering it for him beautifully. Finally, obviously, and inevitably, his eyes drifted between Sunburst’s legs. The skin around his groin shaded itself down from his standard orange to a dark auburn, Shining noted first. He knew the moment was slow, lethargic, and so he didn’t rush himself to observe any further. He stepped forward to where Sunburst lay, hovering his head only a foot or so away from his friends groin.

“Are you okay if i look closer?” Shining’s words hit like hammers, the blood in his ears rushing as it was.

“S-sure.”

They both appreciated the pause. Shining leaned in even further, mesmerized. He knew that his hot, heavy breath would have an effect. Bringing himself only an inch or so from Sunburst’s balls, he could see his cock twitch and stiffen in place from his periphery. It was true that this was nothing Shining hadn’t seen before, nothing he hadn’t seen on dozens of guards in his time in the service. However, in the quiet hut, the acoustics killed by the old wood so that the only sounds were the nighttime wind and Shining’s heart, he felt different this time. He took a deep breath in through his nose, letting Sunburst’s scent, the clean but skinny musk of his groin area, fill his nostrils.

He let a forceful second breath out, this time seeing Sunburst’s whole body wiggle at the stimulus. The tense way he moved, Shining didn’t even have to look up to see how aroused he was.

His cock wasn’t anything inherently surprising. The auburn stretched uniformly up to his medial ring, and then a dappled pink began to wrestle more and more control until it got to his head, which was wholly that pearly pink. It was about what Shining expected, size wise: solidly average for a pony. His head drifting and hovering around it as he looked, Shining wondered if Sunburst was embarrassed about the precum.

He really was worked up. A vein running from the medial ring half way up the left side was pulsing just a bit as his cock twitched with every light breath from Shining. His head flared fully, the ridges striking out painfully in need of release. There was a single pearl of precum that seemed intent to mosey its way through the crease of his head, holding itself just at the edge, refusing to quite be willing to drop off and roll down the top of his shaft.

Shining didn’t even notice how vocal Sunburst had become. Not quite moans, not even whimpers, but more like purrs. His friend, keeping his head turned firmly at the ceiling, obviously hesitant to look down at such an embarrassing situation directly, mewled obliviously, his right hoof up to cover his face.

Shining evaluated the situation. Sunburst was laying before him, perfectly submitted to the scene at hand, his cock on ends, ready for release. Shining could smell the sex off of him. More than the musk of his balls, he could smell the skin of Sunburst’s dick, he could swear that he could smell the bitter bead of precum.

“I think I got a good look.” Shining decided that enough was enough. “I think,” He swallowed, aware of how dry his mouth had become, “I think I know all I need.” Shining backed his head away, sitting on the ground, aware of how almost painful his erection had become.

Sunburst lay there a moment, breathing heavily, shuddering, his leg twitching as his cock continued to sway. He calmed his breathing slowly, having his cock come a bit to ease, but still stayed up prominently. He brought his back legs up a bit, allowing them to partially shield his body, letting his hooves fall from his face so that he could meet Shining’s gaze. His mouth was curled up at the ends in a messy, restrained, almost satisfied smile. His cheeks almost glowed with blush as sweat rolled its way down his brow.

“Hah. Yeah. Glad you got a good look. Is that all you need?” Sunburst rolled over on his side, facing away from Shining on the bed.

“Y-yeah. Definitely. Sorry if I got a little close, I--”

“No no, don’t worry about it, you’re fine. I think I just want to turn in for the night; you might want to too, I’m sure.” Sunburst had twisted himself and gestured to Shining’s persisting erection. The implication was clear.

“Yeah, sure. Thanks, Sunburst. I had a lot of fun today.”

“Me too.”

Author's Note

A little late, but that's mostly because the chapter is long. I'll try to keep more to the Monday or Tuesday releases. (Edit) Busy busy life right now, so possibly a whole week of hiatus ahead. Shouldn't be more than that though.