Shining Armor's Isekai Adventure, but From Celestia's Point of View and skipping a lot because that's how these things seem to go in light novels so that's how it goes here also shining is a cuck but not really and is this even Shining? I'm not sure!

Chapters

The Morning After
After Party, but without the party.
It's later now
Dissonant discussion
One possibility checks on the rest
A brief respite
The weight of time
The blind sun
Words aren't enough. You need paper, too.
Blind Obedience
Sunset comes before Twilight.
What makes the sun bright?
The night before the Nightmare
The night of the full Moon.
Wait, is this the end?

The Morning After

Celestia looked up from her little sister, tears still in her eyes. This wasn’t possible. This was too much, far more than she’d hoped for and certainly far more than she’d asked. Luna clung to her leg, bereft of both her power and of her nightmare, begging for forgiveness with tears in her eyes. Of course, Celestia had given it. She’d given it over and over, and would again a thousand times over.

She had her sister back.

The sun shone in the distance, the birds chirped, and the six collapsed mares started to rise from the floor. Celestia paid it no heed. The whole world was her sister.

She held Luna close, remembering something as the tears continued to fall. She had to thank him. Her plan had been to use the elements to end or re-seal Luna. Shining was to be used as an avatar for them. She’d never imagined he’d find a way to purify her.

“Where is he? Where is Shining?”

One of the mares heard what she’d said and stood up, looking around in a daze. Celestia blinked the tears out of her eyes, focusing on the mare, and quickly recognizing her.

“Twilight?”

Twilight wore a tiara with her family crest on it. The symbol of magic. Celestia looked at the other mares, noting the elements they wore as they woke up. This was entirely off her plan. Where was Shining? Who were these mares and why did they bear the elements?

Twilight smiled the first genuine smile that Celestia had ever seen on her face. Then she bowed, remembering she was technically in public. “Princess.”

Celestia clung to Luna desperately, still trying to piece together what happened. Shining Armor was nowhere to be seen. Instead there was, “Twilight Sparkle?” Celestia’s voice still rung in disbelief.

Twilight maintained her bow, and slowly the other girls all bowed the same. There was some bouncing from the pink one, but soon enough all six of them were prostrate. Luna spoke up, her voice wracked with sobs as well, while Celestia was frozen in confusion. “Our saviors, Sister. We beg of thee, address them.”

Something happened that hadn’t happened in eight hundred years. Celestia, tears still streaming from her eyes, stuttered. “B... Bearers of the E... Elements of Harmony. Please, arise. You are never to bow to us again.”

Twilight raised her head first, comfortable hearing proclamations from Celestia. Celestia continued to stare at her in wonder. Twilight’s smile was still there, and still genuine.

Celestia glanced at the others as they rose, and Twilight introduced them one at a time, along with their elements. Pinkie Pie was Laughter, Rarity was Generosity, Rainbow Dash was Loyalty, Applejack was Honesty, and Fluttershy was Kindness. Last of all, Twilight had represented Magic. Five stars. Five friends. Five names and faces forever etched into Celestia’s heart.

Celestia had never been so happy to be so utterly and completely wrong about a cutie mark before.

There was still the matter of her student. “Twilight, what of your brother?”

Twilight’s smile widened, warmly. “He’s still in town. He said that he’d prepare the welcome party.”

Everyone in the room looked at Twilight in confusion.

Applejack spoke up first. “He… skipped on fighting Nightmare Moon to organize a party?”

Dash was next, “Are you kidding me?”

Pinkie shouted in glee, “Yippee! A party!”

Rarity frowned. “That seems terribly irresponsible, dear.”

Fluttershy’s answer was just a quiet, “Oh my…”

Twilight looked back at them, nonplussed with their confusion. “Well, yeah. He said we’d need one. He didn’t say why.”

Celestia felt the same dizzying sense of disorientation as when she saw Shining as a guard. It wasn’t possible that he’d predicted this outcome. There were too many variables. Conversely, it also wasn’t possible that he’d sent Twilight on a suicide mission. She was the most important thing in his world. Twilight had known that, and decided to trust her brother against all odds. He’d likely told her to go fight Nightmare Moon with no given reason whatsoever, and she had. He possibly hadn’t even given her any direction. She had acted in pure, blind, loving obedience.

For all her depravity, she was far too innocent.

Celestia softly laughed at the absurdity of it all, hugging Luna close. Whatever happened, whatever reasons he had, she had Luna. “We’ll have to judge his actions by the quality of his celebration then.”

Twilight nodded, her smile slowly fading, before asking a strange question. “So… does this make us even?”

Celestia crossed her eyebrows in confusion. “Twilight, whatever do you mean?”

A nervous frown grew across Twilight’s face. “You know… since you don’t like me.”

Everypony else went quiet as Celestia struggled to respond. “I… Twilight… I have never disliked you.”

Twilight looked up, her eyes wide. “You never call me Shining’s sister. You’re nice, but you always say my name like it’s unpleasant. And you never talk to me during our lessons…”

Celestia balked. She hadn’t realized she’d been doing that. She thought of the lessons as Shining’s lessons. She thought Twilight was only attending to stay close to Shining. She’d assumed Twilight was always intently watched Shining because of her warped upbringing, and silent because she didn’t care. Now, Celestia saw a different possibility. One where Twilight was simply avoiding the gaze of a harsh teacher that didn’t like her and looking at somepony that gave her strength instead.

“I… have done you a disservice, Twilight. One I will do anything in my power to correct.”

Twilight’s smile returned as she looked up with pure hope in her eyes. “So, am I allowed to fuck Shining again? It’s been a long 24 hours, and I am way overdue for a good dicking.”

The room went silent.

Celestia nervously laughed.

Applejack took a step back from Twilight, and lowered her hat to cover a blushing face while Rarity fainted on a red couch that miraculously happened to be in the room. Dash crashed to the ground, her wings refusing to flap as Fluttershy hid her blushing face and muttering behind hers. Pinkie’s eyes went wide. “Oh… Oh! Ooooh! …Kinky.”

Even Luna had paused her affectionate hugging to look at Twilight in apparent confusion.

Celestia sighed, then clapped her hooves together to get everypony’s attention. “Okay. So… for our first order of business, Twilight,” Celestia worked very hard to say Twilight’s name with love, and not disgust. She hoped it came through. “Yes. You can go back to your… relations… with Shining.”

Twilight hoof pumped in glee, shouting her exuberance. “Yesss!”

Celestia ignored that, and continued. “Second off, I’d like to ask the rest of you to treat this as something of a ‘Royal Secret’. Twilight has some unique circumstances, and I would really appreciate if you all stayed quiet on the matter of her relationship with her brother. It would be very… ah… damaging to their reputation if this was to get out.”

The mares stared back at her before Applejack shrugged, grumbling in frustration. “Been accused of that half my life, and of course it’s the unicorn from Canterlot that actually does it. But yeah, I can keep a secret. I’m one to mind my business when it comes to that sort of thing.”

Pinkie Pie nodded with a disturbingly large grin. “Pinkamena Diane Pie can keep a secret! Even if this one is a doozy!”

Rainbow gulped, still land bound. “Uhh… Sure. This is weird, right?””

Rarity slowly sat up from her couch. “Yes, Rainbow Dash, this is indeed ‘weird’. I can keep a secret, if the Princess wishes. However, if we are to be friends then I shall need the morbid details, Twilight. Even if I can’t share this…” She waved her hoof in front of her face, as though she was fanning herself, ‘gossip.’”

Fluttershy mumbled from behind her wings. “Oh… okay…”

Celestia smiled, finally wiping the tears from her eyes. She couldn’t make them keep their word, but hopefully they understood the potential fallout from breaking it.

Luna spoke quietly, seemingly to herself. “What sort of world hath Equestria became whilst we have been confined on our moon?”

Twilight spoke up, sounding hopeful again. “I like these ponies. Can my friends have sex with Shining, too?”

Celestia’s grin grew thin as the girls went dead silent. Pinkie’s eyes were large, and she looked like she was about to explode when Celestia decided to reign in this conversation. “Twilight, that’s not an appropriate question for friends you’ve just met. What if you and I start some private lessons on the nature of friendship?” Celestia thought for a moment before adding, “Or perhaps basic socializing, since it appears that’s been neglected in your tutelage.”

Twilight’s eyes began to twinkle and water. “You mean, I get my own lessons?”

Celestia nodded, suddenly feeling incredibly guilty. “Of course. You are one of my personal students, after all.”

Twilight blinked. “Can… my brother come?”

Celestia smiled as gently as she could. “Only if you want him to and he wishes to join you, but these lessons will be primarily for you.”

Twilight’s grin grew and she began to hop in pure glee. “Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!”

Celestia had never noticed exactly how alarmingly cute the mare could be.

Twisted or not.

Author's Note

Days, minutes, hours. Time is an illusion. Have another chapter.

After Party, but without the party.

The parade had been suspiciously well prepared. Amazingly, they even had “Welcome home Luna!” signs adorned with her complete and un-corrupted cutie mark. Celestia’s mark was visible on some decorations, but the majority of the hastily made decorations were clearly for Luna.

Waiting to meet them had been a small crowd lead by Shining Armor. He had been attempting to greet Celestia and Luna properly when Twilight tackled him to the ground.

“Shining! It was amazing! The girls and I did so much, and Rainbow Dash is awesome, and Applejack is so cool, and Rarity is wonderful, and Fluttershy is really kind, and Pinkie is so fun, and I missed you, but now we’re here and Celestia said I get my own lessons and Luna is back and…” He put a hoof on her mouth, silencing her instantly, but her eyes were still filled with glee.

Celestia noted that she secretly kissed his hoof, but did it furtively enough that most ponies probably didn’t notice. Twilight was fairly good at discrete affection when she actually tried. Still, Celestia had something important she needed to do, so Twilight’s due reward would have to wait a short bit.

“Twilight, I know you’re happy to see him, but do you mind if Luna and I have a private conversation with Shining? It will only be a moment. I’m sure you and your friends would love to partake of this celebration.” Celestia would be damned if she was going to let Luna go off on her own quite yet, even to enjoy her own welcome home party.

Twilight looked to Shining for permission, and he nodded.

Celestia sighed. That girl was far too dependent on him. He’d done awful things to her. Perhaps unforgivable things.

Twilight and her friends went to explore the party, and Shining stepped into Celestia’s carriage. She promptly and silently warded it with every privacy ward in existence.

As soon as the wards were stabilized, she glared curiously at him. “I ultimately tutored you for one job. You are far more powerful than Twilight and yet she is the one adorned in the elements. Explain what has happened, and why you sent her on a suicide mission while you dallied here. I’m in a forgiving mood, so do not spare any details.”

Shining merely smiled, his grin a borderline laugh.. “I told you before, didn’t I? I needed her to do it. I meant what I said.”

Celestia paused, thinking back on their conversation. She’d thought he meant that he needed her in order for him to do it, but what he’d actually said was… “You… had told me, hadn’t you?”

“Of course, Princess. I am your faithful student, after all.” Shining slouched comfortably in the seat, the sunlight distorting through the privacy shields across his coat to create ever warping rainbows. “Although, Sometimes I do wish you’d put a little faith in me too, you know?”

Celestia stared at him, trying to read his face. He was relaxed, completely not worried about her response. And why should he be? The outcome had been far beyond what she expected, and he knew it. He was fully aware that in this particular case, she valued the outcome infinitely more than the method.

Luna stayed silent, observing the interaction between the two.

Celestia spoke slowly, trying to figure him out. “Shining Armor, I do trust you. It’s just that the situation with Twilight is far more compromising than a simple black mark on your record.”

He nodded. “I’m assuming that I won’t get away with claiming it’s just incest then, will I?”

She affirmed. “I know what you did to her. How you… trained her from a young age. I understand the depths of your abuse, and you understand the fact that any other stallion would be rotting in Tartarus for what you’ve done to her. I had decided that it was a worthwhile trade if you could…” She glanced at her sister, then back to him gritting her teeth as she finally said out loud what she’d thought for years. “bear the elements when the time came. I decided to overlook your one, incredibly damning, sin.”

He smiled back calmly, shrugging. “Your decision turned out to be correct. You gambled on me and won. Though I sinned with Twilight far, far more than one time, and you know it.”

Luna frowned, but did not speak.

Celestia closed her eyes. This was hard. “I’ve always been aware that you know far more than you let on. Right now, I truly feel as though I can trust you. You’ve done me a favor unlike any other. Tell me your crimes were part of some plan. That you needed to do those horrible things to her. I’m just as guilty as you are. She has had no friends until now, largely because I kept her isolated in fear of your relationship being discovered. She thought I hated her. If you tell me it needed to be, that it was necessary for her to suffer in this way in order for Luna to return, then I won’t ask anymore. I’ll simply accept that you did what needed to be done.”

Luna’s expression hardened in thought.

Celestia hoped he would lie.

He frowned, speaking slowly. “I’ve told you before that I’m on your side, and it’s still true. It always will be. Up until now you have been making a mistake. You thought I was a piece in your game. A piece is not on your side, it is on your board. A piece is not an ally, but a minion. I am your ally, but I do have my own, selfish agenda. I am not a piece on the board Celestia, I am a player with my own board as well.”

Celestia opened her eyes, forcing herself to meet his gaze, her nausea growing.

“And what does that mean, Shining Armor? What agenda could you have that would require you to horribly abuse your own sister?”

He sighed, finally showing some semblance of embarrassment, or perhaps even shame. “Well, if we’re going to be playing games together, I suppose I should put all of my chips on the table.” He tapped his cheeks nervously. “You can do this. Gambate!”

Celestia looked at him as though he’d grown a fifth leg. That word was foreign, in some other language than Equestrian. Stranger still, she’d never seen him nervous. Perhaps his shell was breaking. She decided to push, taking advantage of this rare opportunity.

“What, exactly is your agenda, Shining Armor? And how is it you are, as you said, a player? You are just barely not a child.” Thinking back, some situations suddenly made sense. There had been diplomats who had become agreeable, problems that dissipated, and solutions to be found when thinking back on her daily lessons with Shining. She’d chalked it up to coincidence, or perhaps that talking to him cleared her mind. Shining had been manipulating things behind the scenes, outside of her notice and sometimes even in clear conversation with her without her notice. He likely had been for some time. If he was to be trusted, he was her ally.

He was also infinitely more clever, and dangerous., than she’d given him credit for.

His loyalty was a big “if” right now.

Shining looked up, still visibly nervous. “The truth about Twilight is even worse than it seems. I didn’t realize how badly I messed her up until the cutie mark incident. She was supposed to get her cutie mark as part of a magic test, in a display of power. Instead she got it when I, uh, splattered my cum over her flanks.”

He covered his eyes, looking down and hiding his shame. “We thought I’d stained her fur or something with those stars when she got her cutie mark at the same time. When she realized the cum stains had become permanent, she was… ah… very happy.”

Celestia stayed silent, thoroughly disgusted by him. Was his remorse fake? Did it matter? Bile rose in her throat, and she had no idea how to handle the situation. The light from the privacy ward continued to illuminate them in distorted rainbows of color that danced around the cart, and she noted how she and Shining had the same white coat color underneath the sickening rainbows.

They both were truly terrible ponies.

“By the time you picked me to be your student, it was too late for her. I’d already changed her fate, if not yet her mark. I’ve been working to change her fate to something better than… well, just being my toy.” He shuffled nervously. “I’ve had a certain amount of success. I cajoled into you making her your student along with me. I made sure she attended every class with me. I encouraged her love of books. And now, she’s finally on track for something greater.”

Celestia swallowed her disgust to mull it over later, forcing herself to be practical. “You mentioned her fate twice. Can you read fates, then? Are you a seer?”

He gazed up, looking into the sun through the distorted ward and letting the dancing light fill his unblinking eyes. “It’s something like that. I have some unique skills, you might say. It’s how I knew about Luna.”

Celestia shifted uncomfortably in her seat. That unblinking look of his was not natural. “And now, what do you think your fate is going to be?”

His eyes slowly closed, as a small defiant smile formed. “I don’t need to see the future to know you’re disgusted with me, but you also know I’m useful enough to keep around. Even after what I did to Twilight, you’re still happy enough with the outcome.”

Celestia hated that he was right. “I… yes.”

Shining looked back across at Celestia. “What’s done with Twilight is done. I really didn’t intend to change her fate quite so much, but I did and she’s mine now. I’ll manage her future.”

Luna spoke up for the first time. “Shall thou be married? Is this allowed?”

He shook his head. “No. I can’t marry her. I said I’d take care of her. I’m going to help Twilight become the best Twilight she can be under the circumstances. Unfortunately, that Twilight isn’t married to me.”

Luna nodded, quietly accepting that answer.

Shining Armor continued. “The best outcome for her now is to be in my harem. She will be my number one harem waifu.”

Luna nodded again, sagely accepting that answer.

Celestia blinked. “Say that again, please? I believe I may have misheard you.”

Shining rapped on the wooden carriage floor with his hooves to punctuate his answer. “She’ll be happiest if she’s in charge of my harem.”

Luna continued to nod. “It makes sense. ‘Tis a wise answer.”

Celestia glared at the foal sized Luna. “Luna, please don’t encourage this nonsense.”

Luna looked back at her intently, her tiny eyes brimming with energy. “Tis in no way nonsense, Sister. Twilight yonder is wholly enamored with him, stallionhood and all. ‘Twere a heartfelt declaration that we known with our own ears to seek his carnal affection. To forswear her this would break her, his guilt or not. If marriage is not an option, then happily content concubine seems the answer for us.”

Celestia stammered. “The implications of having a harem are that there will be other mares! Everything else aside, I cannot allow you to do to other mares what you have done to Twilight!”

He nodded. “And I wouldn’t. The other nine or so mares that I have my eyes on are all quite a bit past the age of getting their cutie marks.”

Celestia nearly screamed as the conversation finally and completely spun out of her control. “Nine? Nine! What the buck is wrong with you?”

Shining leaned back, shifting his butt in the seat. “Nothing is wrong with me, exactly. It’s just that, well, my secret agenda is that I’m a complete and utter hentai. It’s total cringe. I’m completely hopeless.”

Celestia stared, wordless. She simultaneously didn’t completely understand his strange language and couldn’t believe his sheer audacity.

Luna tapped her own chin. “Hmm… Nine doth reek of greed. Although, it is not unheard of. King Delemaine was rumored to hast a harem numbered of dozens. Others hadst moe. As it seems thou hast secretly orchestrated our saviors, we see’st no harm ‘i granting such a boon.”

Celestia slowly turned to her sister. Luna couldn’t encourage this mad stallion. “Lu~… Your input is appreciated, but you do not know the social situation nowadays. Everything is very different than a thousand years ago, and such a harem would be unheard of and borderline criminal.”

Luna tapped her chin again, then looked down in a concerned and quiet worry. “Haply thou art right, mine sister. It merely seemed an appropriate boon for mine life.”

The response was like a slap in Celestia’s face. Luna had addressed her formally, and refrained from using the royal we. Verbally, she was deferring to Celestia’s judgment while belittling herself and her value. The realization hurt far more than Celestia had expected. Shining probably hadn’t noticed, since Luna was using the ancient parlance. Celestia glanced at him, and he was staring seemingly aghast at Luna with one eyebrow raised.

Or maybe he had.

Celestia internally cursed her student. Had he foreseen this as well? There was only one pony she would concede everything for under any circumstances. One pony and one pony only. Shining had apparently taken advantage of that fact the whole time he’d been her student.

Why would he stop now?

“Luna, look here. We, you and I, are equals. Time has passed, but you’re right. I’ll make this work, okay? You are worth more to me than anything.”

Luna looked back up, and Celestia saw tears in her eyes. Celestia spoke up again. “No. Not like this. Not again. We’ll do this Luna. Together. Please have patience with me. It’s been a thousand years for me without you. It’ll be some time for me to adjust to your return. But I’m never letting you go again, okay? Never.”

Celestia waived Shining away. “You win, Shining. Write me a letter with your demands, and we’ll coordinate. I’ll arrange for your nine mares.” She didn’t care anymore.

He continued to sit. “No need. I’ll take care of it. Like I said, they’ll have informed consent. Not a royal decree.”

Celestia glared at him, temporarily finding him distasteful and mentally willing him to leave her and her sister alone. “Then what do you want?”

He nodded at Luna and at Celestia. “Permission. Twilight and I would like to stay in Ponyville. I’d like to have the basement of the library refurbished into comfortable quarters where we can host many overnight guests and entertain them—room for nine or more. I’ll take care of the privacy enchantments. You can do Twilight’s friendship lessons by mail, or by visiting us. She’d love if you made the time to visit her, and you’re the one with wings.”

Luna looked quietly and longingly up at Celestia, as if asking permission to speak.

Celestia almost cried at her sister’s sudden meekness. She shouldn’t have corrected her. She should have simply agreed. It was Luna’s first proclamation since her return, even if it was in private. It was for one of her saviors no less.

Celestia bowed her head in deference to Luna. “Luna, this stallion ultimately saved you. I trained and expected him to… end you. He somehow returned you to me instead. I beg you, grant him whatever boons you feel are needed. Please, do not ask for my permission. We are equals.”

Luna’s eyes glinted in gratitude. Celestia closed her eyes, not wishing to watch the coming exchange and merely held her sister.

“Permission? It is granted, savior of ours. What else doth thou summon?”

Shining’s voice came back quickly. “I would like to get in touch with Cadence again. All I ask is that I am allowed to communicate freely with her, with no royal intervention this time.”

Celestia’s ears wilted. That certainly didn’t make her sound good, in retrospect.

Luna’s “Granted” was extra emphatic, and nearly scandalized. “What else?”

His voice was slower this time. “My next request is more complicated. It will require both of you individually to accept. It is not a royal request, but a personal one.”

Celestia kept her eyes shut, and held her sister tightly. “My sister speaks for me.” Nine mares. Of course, two would be her and her sister.

Luna squeezed her back. “Allow us hark to thy crave.”

Shining blinked, momentarily confused before he slowly continued. “I intend to make Twilight an alicorn princess.”

Celestia opened her eyes, and looked at him in confusion. Luna answered first. “We regret that this canst not be done. We alicorns each represent an essence. Twilight bears magic. Magic is powerful, yet is not an essence. Moe so, ‘tis not her deepest nature.”

His smile widened, and Celestia realized that he knew something they didn’t.

“Indeed. Nonetheless, this is what I intend. As I said, I want her to be the best Twilight she can.”

Luna seemed confused. “Then what is thy crave?”

“I wish to make an accordance. Within three years time, I will ensure Twilight ascends.”

Luna’s answer was slow. “What thou offer is yet another boon to us. To hast another eternal would be… delightful.”

Shining Armor shifted again, as though he was uncomfortable on the deep cushion. “I know. That’s why I’m asking you both, personally, for a boon in return—this accordance. Should I be successful, and Twilight ascends within three years, you two will join my harem.”

Celestia’s jaw tightened. It was close to what she expected. Truthfully, she was surprised he didn’t demand Luna and her to immediately perform as his concubines. She had been actively avoiding thinking about it after his confession. Luna looked him up and down in appraisal, then shrugged. “Thy offer for an accordance is one sided. While we hast no complaints, on this we shall not speak for our sister.”

Shining continued shifting in his seat, moving his rump around behind his forelegs legs. “There’s more on the table, of course. Celestia? Should I fail, I’ll agree to be the piece you want. I’ll even give you all my pieces in the process.”

The wood in the carriage was slick, oiled to perfection, but the plush cushions sank quite a bit when one put their weight on them. Celestia sank more than a little while she thought in silence.

“What you suggest for Twilight is impossible.” She stared at him, then sighed. “However, you have already accomplished the impossible once, so I’m led to believe there is a chance.”

He answered frankly. “I certainly believe so, but definitive predictions that far out are difficult for me. I am aware of certain forces I can harness to this end, but it will be dangerous work to use them. If Twilight and I spend the whole time simply having sex, then we’ll certainly fail. To create steel, you need a crucible.”

Celestia sucked in a breath. This did not bode for a peaceful three years. “And you see the fire coming then, do you?”

“I do. Whether she and I are to be burned to cinders, or she is to be tempered, I cannot promise.”

Celestia grew silent again and mulled over the possibilities.

Luna spoke up, her small eyes glinting happily. “We look forward to joining thy harem, Shining Armor. 'I deference, we shall refrain from seeking carnal liaisons till the noted hour. As our preference tends towards mares, should'st thou be successful then thy lauded member shall be the first to grace our honor for many tens and hundreds of years.” She grinned wide, almost playfully. “However, such a bold crave shall be met 'i kind. Should'st thou fail, and survive, we shall compose use of thou as our plaything. Belike we shall woo thy sister and causes thee watch our couplings? We doth receive this to be the moe like issue.”

Shining Armor bowed his head while sitting. “It’s a date, your highness. If I fail and you ah… ‘seduce’ Twilight,” he chuckled slightly, as though the idea was absurd, “you can NTR me all the way. Either way, you and I shall get to know each other more closely.”

Luna looked at Celestia. “What is ‘en-tee-are’?”

Celestia shrugged back. She had no idea. Sometimes Shining used words with no apparent meaning. Like Hikikomori, or neet. Still, she had to give her answer.

“Shining Armor, in this matter I think your task is impossible. However, I cannot fathom how failing this task benefits you, and I admit that the birth of another alicorn is tempting, even given your ludicrous price. I will agree to your terms. I must note that unlike my sister I am much less enthusiastic about your proposal.” Celestia sighed and glared at Luna. “I hope my sister realizes that your potential success will lead to sexually intimate moments between her and I. Not to mention with our potentially new and immortal alicorn niece.”

Luna suddenly blanched, and stuck out her tongue. “This issue didst not occur to us.” She wrinkled up her nose at Celestia, then glared back at Shining. “However, the accord hath been struck. For putting such unfortunate imagery 'i our pate, we now pray thou fail.”

Shining Armor only laughed.

“Don’t worry, your highness. Fucking your sister is more fun than not. I should know.”

Luna huffed, seemingly angry, then leaned forward with a devious smile.

Celestia was appalled by Shining’s ‘offer’, but her disgust melted into joy at seeing her sister’s playfulness. Luna truly looked like she was having fun bantering with him, even stuck in her smaller form. Luna before her banishment would never be so seemingly carefree with one of their ponies, and may have even punished him for his audacity. Celestia hoped she wouldn’t be so cruel to Twilight and Shining, but her little sister certainly had a mean side. The threat to cuckold him was likely real, and since Shining was sure to fail, he must be fine with this. Or perhaps he was confident that Luna couldn’t seduce Twilight? Celestia quietly considered the possibility while Luna continued her game.

“Fie towards the fates, then. 'Tis 'i thy hooves. What else doth thou summon?”

Shining smiled. “Well, it would seem to be fitting for both of our interests if you made time to visit Twilight was well, Princess Luna. It would make it all the easier for you seduce her should I fail, and all the more familiar to her should she ascend. I suppose my request is a regular, weekly visit for her from you personally.”

Luna smiled. “We hit together with thy reasoning. Our presence and thy hope is granted. Although, thou shall anon see that we want never to meet Twilight to woo the lady. We prefer visits 'i the night, though. Is that content?”

Shining smiled back, just as evenly. “Then we’ll see just how well my dream warding magic holds up. Night time is perfect, as long as you don’t mind occasionally finding Twilight and I in compromising positions.”

Celestia snorted in disgust. He meant balls deep in Twilight and smelling of sex. Those two never really stopped, apparently even for a planned royal visit. It wasn’t just obscene, the comment was actually disrespectful towards her sister.

Luna, however, seemed appalled about something else entirely. “Thou would forswear us our sacred dream guarding office?”

He smiled. “If you want to seduce my sister, you’ll have to do it in person. It will be much more agreeable for all involved. I’ll continue to manage her dreams as I always have.”

Celestia stared back, suddenly deeply disturbed. He’d been managing Twilight’s dreams? Did the mare even have the peace of sleep in her own mind to call her own? Even now Celestia had underestimated the depth of his manipulations.

Luna grumped, missing or perhaps not caring about his strange admission. “It had been a great honor and joy for us to ease her rest.”

He only laughed. “What kind of NTR would it be if it was only in your dreams?”

Author's Note

I'm pretty sure this chapter is what killed the one pre-reader I got. I'm so sorry. I'll miss you forever, pre-reader. PM me or comment somewhere where I get notified if you want to be actually recognized, and are still alive.

Hopefully it didn't get too many of the rest of you. If it did, you will be missed.

It's later now

Celestia sat on the cold stone throne and stared at the letter. Luna had kept her promises so far. Celestia had not, not entirely, but Shining hadn’t complained. Almost three years had passed since Luna had been rescued and Shining had made his audacious requests. Shining Armor’s harem was now seven ponies. All five of the other element bearers had joined, along with Cadence. Celestia was still upset about Cadence’s joining, and had made her opinions clear. Shining seemed to have forgiven her, but Cadence had not.

She still didn’t understand how it had come to pass. Wasn’t Cadence supposed to be the alicorn of love?

It had started with letters. After only a month of exchanging letters, Cadence decided to visit Shining and Twilight in Ponyville. She had yet to officially leave from the first visit, and it had been over a year now. Cadence now lived full time with Shining and Twilight, unlike the rest of his “Harem”. The other girls all had lives of their own, and often only met a few times a week. Cadence lived in their library and happily played homemaker with Shining while Twilight went on adventures with her friends.

It was an absolute waste of an alicorn, and Celestia had made her complaint known. Cadence hadn’t taken it well.

Shining spent nearly as much time alone with Cadence as he originally had with Twilight. Apparently they never ran out of topics to discuss with each other. Whenever the element bearers returned from a mission, they’d celebrate with Shining and Cadence.

In their basement. With a series of powerful privacy wards set up. All together at once.

Celestia preferred not to think about that too intently.

Luna had mostly returned to her former glory, and stood above the rest of their ponies with Celestia. She made regular time to meet with Twilight, as promised to Shining, and was honoring her silly self imposed promise to stay chaste. Celestia didn’t know why Luna bothered.

Celestia was hardly worried that Shining would succeed in his task. Twilight was a very impressive mare, and had improved dramatically socially, but was nowhere near ready to be an alicorn. If anything, Twilight had proven time and again that she simply wasn’t ready.

Now, though, she needed Luna’s agreement without delay. The letter had been direct. The yaks had some overly egotistic demands of her sister, but this missive would clear up the last of the mess left over from Luna’s return. The Yaks had really not liked having their day and night cycles flipped, and had demanded recompense. Most of it was easy. A few bits, the return of an old yak relic from the vault, dropping the charges of vandalism against their last diplomat—all very easy payments.

Except this one.

They wanted a yak constellation, and demanded a response before midnight. Celestia hated arbitrary diplomatic deadlines, but she was also ready to put this behind her. This was the final diplomatic mess from Luna’s return, and finishing this would start a clean new chapter in their lives.

There had been a strange energy coming from the far north, and Celestia wanted to be able to focus on that. The actual problem was likely weeks, or months, away, but these sorts of things were better of nipped in the bud. Perhaps she’d found something to send Cadence to investigate.

It was unfortunate, but tonight she’d have to interrupt Luna’s “Twilight Time.”

Hopefully Luna wouldn’t mind.

Author's Note

This is too short for a daily chapter... Hmm...

Dissonant discussion

It was almost time for Twilight’s lesson, but Celestia was far more nervous than she’d ever been for one of these one on one lessons. Instead of teaching Twilight, she was planning on using this time to discuss the incident with Luna. She hadn’t wanted to think about it again, but Luna had been troublesome since that night.

Celestia was once again at a loss, and this time she hoped that Twilight had some information for her. A few months ago, she may have asked Shining for help, but lately all he seemed to do was read. Speaking of which, when she entered the library she found him buried in a book.

“Good morning, Shining Armor. How is the day treating you so far?” She smiled and greeted him, as he hadn’t seemed to notice her entry.

Shining looked up from his book, confused for a moment before rapidly putting it down. “Oh! Good Morning, Celestia. I’m terribly sorry, but I didn’t hear you come in.”

Celestia’s smile slowly deepened. She didn’t often see him flustered, and in the moment he reminded her of the hopeful young student she once knew. “It’s no trouble at all. That must be a good book.”

He nodded, slightly blushing. “It’s a bit on ancient history. Old spells and such.”

Celestia chuckled. “Surely you know everything inside it already. I’ve seen some of the spell work Twilight has learned from you, and I doubt you’ve stopped learning since you lived with me at the castle.”

Shining sighed. “I’m… well, I’m looking for something. I’m afraid I can’t ask you about it, as it’s in relation to the, ah, bet.”

Celestia’s smile faltered. She didn’t like thinking about the bet, and the creepy smile Shining had worn when he’d asked her to join his harem. It slightly soured her mood, and a disappointed tone crept into her voice. “I see.” She thought for a moment before slowly asking, “How much does Twilight know about the bet?”

He shrugged. “Just the potential fallout. She doesn’t know what it’s about, but she knows that if I lose then I’ll work for you more directly and wholly. She also knows that if I win, you and Luna will be joining us in the basement on occasion.”

Celestia needed to be careful in her wording. “I know my sister visits often, but I do not know the nature of her visits. Does she not already join you in your… revelry?”

Shining’s answer was lackadaisical. “Nope. She usually visits Twilight up in Twilight’s room. I’m not entirely sure what they get up to, but I doubt it’s much exciting than astronomy or some of Twilight’s experiments. I wouldn’t mind if she did join us, but she does seem to be maintaining her vow of celibacy.”

Celestia’s heart beat rapidly in her chest. Holding knowledge about Shining’s Sister that he did not was a novel sensation. Still, years of practice kept the momentary excitement from flashing on her face. “I see.”

He continued. “Sometimes she chats with me; I’d say we’re friendly at least. Perhaps even friends. Every once in a while she’ll join us for dinner, or talk with one of the girls. After the first Nightmare Night fiasco, they all get along fairly well with her.”

“Even Cadence? She still isn’t talking much to me.”

Shining frowned. “I’ll talk to her about that. I’m terribly sorry, but she’s still hurt about the wedding.”

“She should be. It wasn’t my place, and I’ve done more harm to her than good in that regard.” Celestia frowned. “Lately, I’ve felt that way about many of my decisions involving you and Twilight.”

Shining bit his lip, looking suddenly guilty. “That’s… I’m…”

Celestia continued. “I’m not sure why. I’m certainly not wrong regarding you and Twilight’s relationship. It’s against the very fabric of decency and natural order. Yet, every action regarding you two that I’ve taken seems to cause distress, and nopony else seems concerned about the horrific reality your relationship.”

Shining coughed awkwardly, but did not say anything. She’d been quiet about this lately, but was on edge after the other night.

“How am I to reconcile you? The kind and caring Shining Armor, who is also a horrible purveyor of a particularly damning sin. You knowingly raped a child. I wouldn’t believe for an instant that you were a naive youth simply fooling around.”

She glared at him as she continued, almost growling with her simmering anger. “Somehow, everything you touch twists and turns until you come out on top with a glowing success. You say you’re on my side, but you’re also a criminal of the worst kind. You claim to love and care for me, and in most cases actually seem to, yet you fully intend on raping me when the opportunity arises. Against all logic, against all possible reason, you somehow win over and over again.” Celestia glared at him, her frustration burning the air around her, causing a wafting scent of charcoal.

“You undoubtedly have fate and perhaps even harmony itself on your side. But why? Why would harmony choose to favor a monster like you? I tolerated your grievous crime because I needed you for my sister. Does fate need you for some other task, just as I did, so desperately that it would allow a rapist such as yourself to live a charmed life?”

Her gaze drifted down in contemplation, as her anger faded. Another likely reason was even more unsettling. “Or has the very soul of our world changed and you are not needed by harmony, but rather idealize the new incarnation of it? If so, should I continue to defy you and your values? Am I defying fate itself by fighting to avoid becoming your plaything? Is this why, deep in my soul, I still consider you a friend when my moral compass is antithetical to your own, and I should find your very presence repulsive?”

Shining closed the book, looking incredibly pale. “Celestia…”

She shook her head and held up a hoof in exasperation. “I don’t want any answers from you, Shining. I don’t expect anything you say to help me work through this. I’m here to speak to your sister, but you sometimes cause my thoughts to spiral down an uncomfortable path. Usually I can keep it to myself. I apologize if I’ve distressed you. Aside from my horror and disgust over your sexual behavior, I do think you are an amazing stallion. Against all reason, you are a close friend of mine. I’m locked in an unbreakable cognitive dissonance regarding you.”

Celestia forced a smile as she reminded herself that they were, in fact, friends. He saved her sister. She was complicit in his crimes. Friends were bonded by circumstance as much as mutual interests, although they did share a love of history and magic. Beyond that, they both deeply trusted each other.

Of course, she trusted his behavior with Twilight and his harem to be thoroughly disgusting, but that was just another disturbing angle of their friendship.

Shining took a deep breath, as though he was nervous. “Can I tell you a secret?”

Celestia nodded.

He spoke deliberately, as though considering every word carefully. “You’re right. I’m a rapist. In more ways than you realize. Ever since I’ve… woken up… I’ve known far more than I should. I can influence outcomes sometimes. I’ve used that knowledge and power in an unfair way. Other ponies don’t realize what they’re dealing with when they talk to me. I can always get what I want from them. Even with you. There will always be a power imbalance when I’m involved, and it’s not the one you’re used to.” He glanced nervously at her, gauging her reaction.

Celestia kept a stoic mask as she listened, managing not to be betrayed by her roiling emotions.

“You can at least see it. You only know a little of what I’ve done, but you realize exactly how messed up it is. You’re the only one. Everyone else just accepts it. Even Twilight Velvet and Night Light.” He looked like he was about to cry. “Even Cadence… actually believes in her loving heart that I am a good pers… pony.”

She wasn’t sure what he meant by all that. Celestia had accepted him, in her own way. She just weighed the gravity of his crimes, and the stopping of Nightmare Moon. It had been no contest, and in the end he’d even returned her sister. From that moment forth, he was guaranteed a blind, or at least clouded, eye from Celestia for the rest of his life. She’d always assumed his parents had been as complicit as she was, but perhaps they were oblivious. Maybe even victims.

He shuddered. “I’m the bad guy, Celestia. An utter villain. I always have been, even before this pony thing. But now no one will stop me here because I’m supposed to be the hero in this life.”

She tilted her head slightly, confused by what he said. What did he mean by “before this pony thing?” More importantly, did he want her to stop him? “Do you want to be stopped? I could stop you, if you wish.” In a way, she’d be relieved. It would only take a moment to burn him to cinders. One moment of sin, to feel a sigh of relief. For all this to go away.

He deflated. “No.”

Celestia frowned, frustrated. “Then, once again, what do you want from me, Shining?”

He glanced down at his book, and then back up to her with tears in his eyes. “I guess, I just want everypony to be happy.”

She glared coldly at him, remembering her own sister’s naked flesh. Luna had always been amorously adventurous, but had that depraved moment been due to his influence even if he wasn’t aware? Was he the new Harmony? “That’s not all, is it? You also want everypony to suck your cock and lift their tail.”

He laughed nervously. “Well, just sucking my cock would be boring, but yeah. You get the gist of it. I do want under everypony’s tail. That’s about right. I really like sex, you see.”

Celestia continued to stare at him, remembering their secret conversation and his audacious bet when Luna had been returned. Her mind churned with uncomfortable possibilities, while she kept her face passive. “What of Twilight?”

This time he closed his eyes and let out a deep breath. “Twilight is probably the only reason I’m not ten billion percent evil. If she was even slightly less powerful, I’d have gone off the deep end immediately after Luna’s return. Instead I’m somewhere in between impossibly evil and, uhh, much less evil. She’s the only thing keeping me in check.”

Celestia answered slowly, not betraying her roiling emotions as she dug deeper. “Here I thought she was simply your pet project—an absurd and debauched demonstration of your influence and pride.”

Shining actually smiled, the nervousness fading into confidence. “She’s far more powerful than you give her credit for; and I’m not just talking about her magic. In a way, she’s already beat me more soundly and fully than simply killing me.”

Celestia didn’t doubt Twilight’s magical capability, but the mare was otherwise unimpressive. “Oh? I guess I haven’t spent much time with her outside of her lessons.”

Shining’s confidence dropped, and he looked almost haggard—as though her comment had hurt his soul. Celestia had an idea as she watched his mood swing. She needed something to use against him. Friend or not, savior or not, she understood his danger. A little bit of social leverage might go a long way.

“I know you say Twilight is your anchor, but I am of the belief that she will not act without your input. I’m still suspicious that she is just your doll somehow, and this talk of her influence is merely an excuse for you to save face.”

Should she do it? The time with Twilight might ultimately be wasted, but it might help Cadence forgive her.

“I had a task I was going to ask directly of Cadence, but since she’s still frustrated with me, I’m wondering if I can entrust it to you and Cadence together. She’d enjoy the extended private time with you, while I could spend the time you’re gone getting to know Twilight. It’s possible that spending more time with Twilight when you are not around would change my mind on the matter.” Celestia held her breath. He might count this as meddling, rightly so, and turn down her offer.

Shining blinked as though he just remembered something, and then nodded. “Oh. Yeah. It’s almost time for the Crystal Empire arc, isn’t it? I suppose that’s one way to get it started.”

That was not the response that Celestia expected, but she decided to push her point. “Would you and Cadence take care of this for me?”

Shining smiled. “Only if you actually spend the time to take care of Twilight, and not shove her off to Luna or something. You don’t have to worry about doing anything sexual with her, the girls will take care of that, but if I’m gone then she’ll need somepony to keep her calm. She can get a little neurotic, but there’s nopony she trusts and respects more than you.”

Now that was an odd tidbit. Against her better judgment, Celestia asked about Twilight’s sexuality. “I thought she was mostly straight? Won’t she prefer a stallion during your absence?”

Shining laughed. “If she does, she’ll find one. Unfortunately, the only stallion she seems to be interested in is me.”

Celestia raised an eyebrow at his phrasing, but didn’t push. “That aside, I doubt I’m the pony she respects most after you. Truth be told, I think she has to try to makes herself interact with me. Luna might be a better caretaker in case she has a panic attack. They seem to get along well.”

Shining firmly shook his head. “No. Luna is a close friend of hers, and I’m sure they’d enjoy their time, but she adores you.”

“Adores? That seems a little extreme.”

“Adores is probably not extreme enough. She practically worships the ground you walk on.” He tapped his horn, signaling that this was a secret to keep from Twilight, “It’s why she’s so completely awkward around you.”

Celestia balked. Twilight knew her well, and as far as Celestia could tell, was acutely aware of Celestia’s flaws. “Why would she possibly feel that way?”

“From her perspective you raise the sun, run the Equestrian government, appear as a living goddess, have an absolutely drop dead gorgeous body, and know more about magic than any other living creature. Not to mention, you’re my mentor and she greatly values my estimation of ponies.”

Celestia blushed, unsure of how to take this flattery as her mind worked in overdrive to deal with this new information. “That all sounds lovely, Shining, but does she really feel that way?”

“That and more. You know how she feels about siblings, and she knows how much you were willing to sacrifice for your sister. You are the faithful sister, willing to do anything to for your sibling. She sees herself in a… similar situation, and all but worships you as her goddess.”

Celestia frowned and glared accusingly at Shining as an icicle of guilty realization poked coldly into her mind. “I doubt she knows exactly what and whom I’ve sacrificed. I wonder if she’d be so forgiving if she knew it was her.”

Shining smiled. “If she knew you sacrificed her to save your sister, she’d feel like some martyr. She’d probably start a cult, honestly.”

Then she blinked and chuckled, the cold thought suddenly gone. “You know, I haven’t had a cult in a few hundred years. Perhaps Luna and I shall start one together and Twilight can be our apostle.”

Shining rolled his eyes as he chuckled back. “If you leave Twilight in charge, it will be a sex cult.”

Celestia pursed her lips. “While it’s not my favorite way to be worshiped, it’s not the worst either. I suppose it would also make Luna and Twilight happy enough.”

Shining leaned forward, conspiratorially. “If not sex, then what is your favorite way to be worshiped, since you have so much experience in being deified?”

Celestia licked her lips. “If you must know, I prefer offerings of baked goods. Although, poetry can be nice.”

Shining smiled. “I’ll let Twilight know.”

The room had a sense of incompleteness, as though a heavy fog had filled it and hidden the exits. Celestia was enjoying the light banter, but the uncomfortable topics still weighed her down. Shining was her friend, but he was a rapist. Were all the girls in his harem all victims?

Should she have protected the element bearers from his influence somehow?

The mental dissonance was almost painful in its intensity, and she brought her hoof to her face. Usually she was happy to talk with him for a while, but today it was too much to bear. It was time for her to find Twilight.

Twilight was a victim. Shining was her abuser.

“I promise that I’ll take care of Twilight while you are gone, Shining. Will you find Cadence to let her know of my request? I doubt she wants to see me just yet.” Celestia kept her eyes closed, trying hard not to see the friend (the villain. the monster) that was making her feel so dizzy.

Shining’s voice was quick, but curious. “Of course. She’s just downstairs, after all.”

Celestia spoke before she could stop herself. “Can you ask her for forgiveness, on my behalf? I still have my reservations, but I will not oppose her wishes. Tell her that this request is… something of a wedding gift. A honeymoon, in a way.”

It hurt to ask that. Cadence was her niece, and Shining had somehow wrenched the younger alicorn away. The need to ask Shining to convey her message was an admission of utter defeat, and a cold acceptance that if she wanted to be in Cadence’s life, she needed to accept Cadence’s choice.

Shining politely didn’t acknowledge Celestia’s obvious pain. “While I’m sure she’ll be happy for the gift, especially considering what it will turn out to be, I’ll skip the part about this being a honeymoon.”

Celestia gingerly opened her eyes, the pain still present but manageable. “I see. Well, you always have your reasons. If that’s the case, would you like to bring a guard contingent? Both Cadence and you are allotted a personal guard, you know. Not that either of you need them.”

Shining seemed to think for a moment. “Actually, a small contingent of guards would be helpful. Mostly for organization and managing the survivors.”

Celestia blinked, the pain forgotten with this new tidbit. “There are survivors? After all these years?”

Shining just smiled and winked, ignoring her question. “Thank you for the guards. Cadence and I will leave tomorrow morning. You should go talk to Twilight while I discuss your generous gift, and more importantly your apology, with Cadence.”

She wasn’t sure what the two would find. At best, she’d hoped to recover the crystal heart. At worst, she expected them to find Sombra. Cadence could beat the warlock, especially if the heart was to be found. With Shining in tow, there was no way they’d have any real trouble. Even if that vile old king had managed to fully survive somehow.

An image of Shining, captured by Sombra and forced to wear one of his masks flitted through her mind. The thought was simultaneously pleasing and unsettling. Sombra and Shining were very similar in some ways, but what Sombra did with a mask, Shining did with a smile. Admittedly, even Sombra’s masks paled when compared to one of Twilight’s supposed toys.

There was a loud click as Shining opened the door to the basement, and she watched him making his way downstairs, frowning at his shamelessly obvious erection without commenting on it. It was remarkable how such a powerful, charismatic, and normally kind creature could be so openly disgusting.

Her stomach soured at the sight, and she sighed. At least they were friends.

Author's Note

Lots of diologue. Does anybody mean what they say? Does anybody say what they mean? Are they mean? Can I say?

One possibility checks on the rest

Celestia was sitting with Twilight in her room, thankfully at a different table than the one from the incident with Luna. Twilight had that other table tucked into a corner with all her astronomy tools on it, while a tube from the strange suction machine slightly poked out from underneath it. The leather bands and the mask were likely hidden under there as well, but Celestia had yet to see them.

The room looked innocent at first glance, but there was the faint smell of something musky and sweet. Some of that was Twilight herself, but there was a lingering scent of something darker. Celestia had a few guesses as to the source, but also wondered if perhaps it was her own mind playing tricks on her. In a way, she worried that she’d find evidence of debauchery merely because she expected to. The thought was eating her mind, and needlessly distracting her from the purpose of her visit.

Celestia hadn’t been able to keep her eyes from drifting to the table, and decided that she needed to directly address the situation. The pleasantries had passed, and now it was time to talk. She hoped that Twilight wouldn’t be upset by the change in plans.

“Twilight, I know that today we had a lesson planned, but I’m afraid I have some other matters to discuss. Do you mind if we put your lesson on hold? I promise I’ll make it up to you.”

Twilight relaxed slightly, keeping her little mouth tightly pressed into a line. “It’s fine, Princess. I was secretly hoping we’d get a chance to talk about your last visit.”

Apologizing for a mistake was always awkward, and this particular one had snowballed into something far more strange. “I suppose I should start with an apology to you. I should have knocked and waited. Please forgive me.” Celestia bowed her head.

Twilight waited a moment, and sighed. “Apology accepted.”

Carefully, Celestia peeked up from under her mane. “Although, I do have several questions.”

A small and amused smile formed from Twilight’s tightly pressed lips. “Of course.”

Slowly raising her head, Celestia started with the most pressing one. “Ever since that mistake, Luna has been needlessly distant with me. It’s only been for a few days, but I don’t like it. I’ve caught her fooling around before, but I’ve never stayed to watch. If what you said is true, then it was her choice to keep me there. Personally, I’d have rather left you to your own devices. Do you know why she made me stay?”

Twilight frowned. “Luna is my friend, and if I did know her exact reasoning, it would have been told to me in confidence.”

Celestia cast her eyes down. “I… see.” It was not the answer she’d hoped for.

Twilight quietly observed her for a moment before slowly speaking. “Although, if I had to guess, it would be because she was angry that you didn’t value her privacy.”

Celestia looked back up, hopefully. This seemed counter intuitive, but perhaps Twilight knew more than she let on—like her brother often did. “Her privacy is so important to her?”

Twilight nodded. “Yes. Privacy is an extension of trust. By not valuing her privacy, you reminded her that you didn’t trust her. That probably made her a bit mad, and she felt the need for a little prank in return. Similarly, she trusted me to act a certain way for her prank. I think I met her expectations.”

Celestia paused a bit. “Do you think she deserves that level of trust, with what you and her are doing behind Shining’s back? I love my dear Luna terribly, Twilight, but you have to realize that she’s abused my trust in the past and even gone so far as to lead an attempted revolution against me. I want to trust her, I really do. When I find her breaking one of the precious few promises she’s made since her return, even if it is something silly, then putting trust in her is hard. Especially considering the trust your brother has in you that you’ve apparently broken. I can’t tell if she’s corrupted you or you’ve corrupted her.”

Twilight angrily glared at her, then took a deep breath. “I can see how it looks like that. I promise you that Shining either knows exactly what we are doing, or has guessed something close. He trusts me. This time, it means he trusts me to try everything possible to get under Luna’s tail. He knows Luna’s self imposed rules as well as I do, and there is no possible world in which he hasn’t come to the same conclusions as I did on how to get around them. He thinks about sex more than I do, and I think about it almost every waking moment.”

Celestia frowned. “I’m not sure I believe that. He’s quite possessive of you, and Luna made a very aggressive and inappropriate comment about her intentions for your… future. Her apparent sidelining of those rules, silly as they are, is probably related to achieving her goals. And if I know her, it’s almost certainly with the intent of deceiving Shining. She sees the lives of ponies as a game, sometimes. I doubt he’d appreciate the situation if he knew of it.”

Twilight smugly smiled. “You mean her goal of stealing me away from Shining and locking me up for her own personal use as her pleasure slave? I know that’s her intent if Shining fails in his task. She does have a bit of a malicious streak, as we saw when you visited.”

Celestia gaped. “That does not bother you?”

Twilight shrugged. “She’s the princess of the night, not the princess of kindness. I’ll admit that I even find the… hmm…” Twilight licked her lips as she thought of a word, “finality… of it alluring, in a way. I’ve never been truly treated like that, and the prospect is exciting. If Shining fails then I’ll give myself to her, mind and body. Assuming, of course, that she makes Shining watch every us so often.”

Celestia stared blankly, unsure of what to say. This sounded like an utter betrayal of Shining, and Twilight had stated it so casually.

Twilight shrugged again. “Didn’t you wonder why he mandated Luna come in person and not use her dream magic? He wanted me to get physical with her. I don’t know his task, but my guess is that he needs the threat of failure to be real. My full entertaining of Luna’s desires makes it so.” Twilight tapped her hoof on the table lightly and smiled confidently.

“He’d lose you.” Celestia was having an incredibly hard time understanding Twilight’s position. She’d thought that the siblings were far and away the most important things in each other’s lives.

Twilight snorted back a laugh. “Don’t worry about him. He’d enjoy Luna permanently wrapping my legs around her horn more than you think. He’d get off knowing that I was once his pet, but Luna stole me from him.” Twilight nodded, and glared, momentarily very serious. “Make no mistake, I’d let her steal me. I’d do it whole heatedly, in every way. Partially to entertain him. At least at first…”

Celestia gulped, while Twilight licked her own upper lip, seemingly lost in thought. She blinked, and then shook her head. The room smelled noticeably sweeter, and Celestia coughed. Twilight shrugged.

“He’s weird and pathetic like that. One of his favorite pastimes is to watch the girls all have a go at me one after the other. Sometimes we spend all night and he never even touches me. He just watches as they each exhaust themselves, using me in turns until morning and leaving me a panting, mindless shell. He even let a quintet of stallions have at me while he watched, once.”

Celestia blinked, wide eyed and alarmed.

Twilight kept talking, frowning at the memory as Celestia’s mind raced to keep up. “He was way more into that than I was. They didn’t last nearly as long, and weren’t very nice to me. We both liked their roughness, but they just didn’t know how to work a mare, you know? And their stamina was laughable. After they left we decided to stick to his official harem. Aside from Shining, I much prefer mares. If we want the stallion experience nowadays, we just use magic to give the girls…”

Celestia’s mind finally engaged and she coughed again to interrupt. “You’re oversharing, Twilight. We’ve talked about this.”

Twilight shook her head, her purple eyes glaring from under her straight cut mane. “No, not this time. This time it’s necessary information to explain to you why my behavior isn’t in any way betraying Shining’s trust. I don’t know what grand thing you tasked him with doing, but he’s considered failure a possibility. Even so, he’s not obsessed about failing. Therefore, neither am I. Instead, I’m pursuing Luna because I like her, she’s interested in me, and I want to. It’s a case of mutual interest and opportunity. Shining understands that entirely, and would be disappointed in me if I didn’t seek out my own happiness, all other reasons aside.”

Celestia stared for a moment at Twilight’s outburst before begrudgingly accepting the reasoning. On one hoof, Celestia was glad that Twilight had an independent streak, as odd as it was. On the other, this whole conversation was deeply unsettling for her. It was certainly not how she chose to live her own life, but Twilight had a deep enough conviction that Celestia was willing to drop the subject.

Worse, now she couldn’t get the image of five different stallions just having their way with the little mare before her. She scrunched her face, trying to wipe the image of Twilight splayed out and wrapped around five large and throbbing…

“Fine. You’ve convinced me. Neither of you are betraying his trust.” The logic was unpleasant for Celestia, but made a certain sense. Did each stallion aim for a star? Did Twilight take all five at once? How much did they stretch her little body? More to the point, she had to not think about it. She still needed an explanation for Luna’s current behavior.

“Why do you think Luna is still being distant? She had her little prank already, and yet she still refuses to look at me for longer than an instant.”

Twilight leaned forward, and spoke low and slowly. “I’m not sure, but I think that she feels guilty. She’s second guessing herself and in her heart probably feels like she made a selfish choice that hurt you. I’d re-iterate that she’s also still a little mad at you.”

Celestia nodded, trying to pry out what Twilight really thought. Twilight had seemed eager to continue that night, and didn’t appear to feel any guilt on the matter. That would have been odd for any other mare, but then again, this was Twilight. “Do you think she made a selfish choice?”

Twilight quickly nodded. “Absolutely. You were obviously uncomfortable being there, while I was panicking and acting without thinking. When I saw you come in, I had a flashback to when you burst in on Shining and me years ago. In my panic, I might have been a little overly eager to share everything with you. She was in charge, so she could have reigned me in or calmed me down. I’m sure she noticed the change in my behavior.”

Sighing, Twilight’s ears drooped. “Everypony was very uncomfortable, and that was her choice first and foremost. I wasn’t going to act against her wishes, and she knew it.” She took a deep breath. “Luna was cruel to both of us, and I don’t believe she has apologized to either of us.”

A frown grew on Celestia’s face. Twilight should have had the sense of mind to not participate in anything sexual that made her uncomfortable, but considering Twilight’s history, Celestia decided not to comment on it. A healthy adult should not give up agency and responsibility to another like Twilight had with Luna.

Twilight was far from healthy.

Worse, Celestia hadn’t considered the possibility of Twilight panicking. She especially didn’t like that it was from trauma that Celestia had caused years ago. “I’m sorry that memory causes you so much anxiety, Twilight. I never meant to betray your or Shining’s trust.”

Twilight slowly shook her head. “No, it wasn’t that. We were new at the castle, and you didn’t know us. Everything that happened in that moment was very easily forgivable. But I…“

She looked away and took a breath.

Clearly this was hard for her to say.

Twilight struggled to get the words out, keeping her face turned so Celestia couldn’t see it while she mumbled. “I thought I was over this… I guess I need to say it out loud. Can you give me a moment?”

Celestia nodded. “Of course. Take all the time you need.”

There was silence, and then Twilight spoke emotionless and mechanically. “The look of disgust on your face when you saw us. When you saw me… I haven’t been able to forget it. I don’t think I ever will.”

Celestia didn’t know what to say, so she waited awkwardly until she heard a sniffling noise.

Twilight was crying.

Immediately, Celestia stood up and rushed around the table to comfort her. Wrapping her in a large, feathery hug, Celestia soothed her. “Twilight, no. It wasn’t at you. I’m so sorry. I was disgusted with myself. I still am, but not at you. You’re the only one in that room who was not to blame.”

The little purple mare felt delicate in her hooves, and began to shake as the tears became sobs. “I was there. I saw it.” Twilight accused, almost shouting with her cries. “Ever since then you couldn’t even look at me without me seeing the disgust in your eyes. I had to save your sister before you would acknowledge that Shining and I are siblings. For years, I wasn’t even a real pony to you. You’re so nice to everypony, but you hated me. I was less than dirt.” Twilight looked up, her rant fading off into a quiet admission “Only me.”

Celestia held her tightly, and whispered sweet lies. She wasn’t sure if they were for Twilight or herself. “Not you, Twilight… Never you.”

They held each other for a while, until Twilight slowly stopped crying.

Celestia snuck a quick, affectionate kiss to her forehead, just to the side of Twilight’s horn. “Please forgive me Twilight. I am so terribly sorry.”

Twilight kept her head tucked into Celestia’s chest, refusing to look up. After a few quiet moments, she whispered with something between a chuckle and a sob. “I’m pretty pathetic, aren’t I?”

Celestia continued to hold her. “No, Twilight. You’re strong.”

Twilight gave an empty laugh. “Strong? One pony doesn’t think the world of me, and I collapse. That’s not strong.”

“Shining mentioned that you think rather highly of me. I think your respect is misplaced, but I intimately understand how it feels when somepony you respect seems to look at you in scorn.” Celestia remembered Luna’s betrayal and paused a moment.

The memory of the first time she saw Nightmare Moon’s hate still hurt.

“That destroys a pony. It’s a festering fear that anchors into your very soul, and nips at your hooves while you sleep. The fact that I’ve unintentionally tortured you so is in and of itself proof that I do not deserve your respect.”

Twilight spoke quietly into Celestia’s chest. “There’s another reason Luna isn’t allowed into my dreams.”

Celestia stayed quiet, letting the pained mare speak.

“I see things in them, like my brother does but different. I dream that I am your student. That we send each other letters. The dreams feel real. The girls are there, and they’re mostly the same. You’re there, but there’s no pain when we talk. I have a little dragon named Spike. Everything is almost the same, but Shining is the most different. He’s the captain of your guard over there, and he’s married to Cadence.”

Celestia’s blood turned to ice, and she started to feel dizzy once again.

Twilight spoke quietly into Celestia’s fur. “Last night, in my dreams, you sent them up north. You’re going to send them away soon, aren’t you?”

Shining Armor’s ability to see the future must be blood related if Twilight could do it as well. Or maybe Shining was guiding her in her dreams, as he insinuated once. Celestia spoke, but it felt far and away. “He asked me to watch over you while he was gone. We aren’t sure how long that will be.”

“He knows exactly how long, I’m sure.” Twilight let another quiet chuckle out. “Heh. I’m a full grown adult and I still need a babysitter.”

Celestia had opinions on that, mostly denigrating Shining, but kept them to herself. Instead she decided to see what Twilight thought. “Does it offend you?”

“No, I can’t sleep unless there’s somepony with me. He’s right. I need somepony to calm me down sometimes. It’s usually him or Cadence that holds me.”

Celestia stiffened. “I can keep you company, but I won’t do anything sexual with you, Twilight.”

Twilight sniffed. “I don’t need anything like that. Just… Somepony to talk to and be near.” Twilight shivered, then slowly pulled away as she seemed to remember exactly who was holding her. “Actually, don’t worry about it. You’re too important to waste your time with me. I’ll ask the girls for a favor.”

Celestia re-grabbed Twilight, pulling her close once again and refusing to let her leave their hug. “You are absolutely not a waste of my time. Shining asked me to help and, against all odds, I do consider him a friend. I also sincerely consider you my friend, Twilight, and would love to spend time with you.”

Twilight stayed mostly quiet, waiting for her tears to stop.

Celestia rubbed her back slowly as she thought out loud. “We can treat this like a sleepover. A normal sleepover. It might be healthy for you to spend time with a pony that you don’t have sex with. I’ll go about my daily business, and assign a carriage to you for travel. Just four guard pegasi on a rotating shift.”

“You shouldn’t waste their time on me, Princess.”

Celestia chuckled. “I daresay they’ll enjoy the assignment. Guarding you and providing transport to and from Ponyville will be far more interesting to them than standing at attention in front of a few castle doorways all day.”

Twilight didn’t respond.

Celestia was cheering up just thinking about it. It had been a while since she’d had somepony to properly dote on, and Twilight felt so fragile and precious in her hooves right now. “It will be fun! Luna and I will treat you like a little princess until Shining gets back. You’ll have a royal guard, we’ll invite you to our meals, you can even participate in court proceedings if you’d like. Although, normal court is quite boring.”

Twilight looked up, her eyes were still teary, but a small smile of wonder was on her face. “That’s too much.”

Celestia’s smile grew large as she looked at the little mare. “I’m sorry, Twilight, but this is a royal decree. Until Cadence and Shining return from their trip, you’ve been conscripted to public duty.”

Twilight blinked away the last of her tears. “Public duty?”

“Yes. You’re going to be, temporarily mind you, Princess Twilight Sparkle.”

Twilight smiled brightly, and she hugged Celestia back.

The world started to spin, and Celestia saw double. There was the little frail Twilight shaking in her grasp, the one who up until recently was too timid to properly speak to her. Standing behind her, glaring at the little mare with a concerned and deathly serious face was something wholly different.

Princess Twilight Sparkle was easily as large as Celestia, and radiated magical power far greater than even Luna’s at the height of her nightmare. She wore a tiara embedded with all of the Elements of Harmony, and stood with the bearing of a warrior, an academic, and a matron. Her mane was aglow with raw elemental power as both the stars and the sun could be found within.

The vision intimidated Celestia on a primal level. This princess apparent was more than Celestia had ever been, and ever would be. The only reason Celestia did not immediately bow in deference to the imposing specter was the tempered look on its face. The vision radiated love and concern as it stared intently at the younger, smaller Twilight. Without thinking, Celestia tried to protect her little Twilight from the terrifying power, wrapping the small mare completely in her wings. The imposing princess’s eyes flashed with incomprehensible magic before she looked up to meet Celestia’s protective gaze, locking eyes with her.

Celestia froze as Princess Twilight Sparkle smiled lovingly and faded from existence.

Twilight spoke up. “That sounds… nice… Princess, but why are you shaking?”

Celestia’s world slowly stopped spinning as she held held Twilight like an anchor.

“I’m still…” She was still what, exactly? She didn’t know. “It was just a dizzy spell. I think that I may ask you to keep holding me for a few moments, just to be sure that it’s over.”

Twilight happily did.

Author's Note

Another chapter. Another day in the life of Celestia. I should write a story with no dialogue next. Yeah, that's my next pet project.

A brief respite

Celestia looked over the sleeping form of Twilight. It had been a week, and truth be told it had been nice.

Twilight had been chaste over the time, keeping her more lascivious proclivities to the little library in Ponyville. The one exception, at least as Celestia assumed, had been when Luna had asked to be her companion for the night and invited Twilight to her room.

Twilight had even shyly asked for permission from Celestia to spend the night, as though Celestia was her mother or something. Celestia had told her that she was a grown mare, and also temporarily a princess herself. She could spend the night with anypony she chose, although Celestia asked her not to bring too much attention to her outlandish sexual habits.

Celestia’s primary concern over Twilight was how dependent she was on other ponies. Without Shining around, she constantly checked with Celestia for permission to do various things. She’d even asked for permission to use the bathroom. When Celestia had commented on it, she’d admitted that she understood Shining enough to know what he’d approve of and wouldn’t without asking him. With Celestia, she was still unsure.

Celestia kept trying to re-enforce that Twilight didn’t need permission to do anything. If she wanted to raze a small chunk of Equestria to the ground, she could. She’d simply have to live with the consequences, which in that particular example would be quite dire.

The more time she spent with Twilight, the more her fury at Shining Armor grew. He’d taken so much independence from the mare, stifled her growth in unseen and unknowable ways while altering her tastes to fit his perverse interests. All just to twist this beautiful mare into his obedient little plaything.

Worse, Celestia’s anger at herself grew. She’d been entirely complicit in this tragedy and needlessly forgiving of Shining’s crimes for her own selfish reasons. By now, there was no way for her to correct her mistakes. She couldn’t punish Shining, and she couldn’t save Twilight’s psyche. The best she could do would be to guide and teach Twilight to a better future, as Shining claimed to be doing.

Sometimes Celestia remembered the imposing vision of Princess Twilight Sparkle, and felt sick. Was that the mare that could have been? Would that regal princess ever exist after all of Shining’s disturbing machinations? Shining claimed to want help Twilight ascend, but Celestia wasn’t following how he intended to accomplish this. At best, he’d taught Twilight to make friends.

Since they’d moved to Ponyville, almost every time Celestia had given him a task he’d shuffled it off to Twilight. For instance, she’d told him to remove a sleeping dragon, and he’d sent Twilight and her friends. Twilight hadn’t even directly solved the problem, instead relying on her shy pegasus friend.

In almost all cases, the other element bearers were the ones that actually resolved the situation. The only time Twilight herself had done something directly was that whole ursa minor fiasco, and that hadn’t been at Celestia’s request.

She’d almost been central to the changeling event last year, but nopony, not even her friends, had believed her claims that Cadence was the changeling. She hadn’t even tried to convince Celestia, but truth be told Celestia likely wouldn’t have believed her either. Ultimately, she just released Shining from Chrysalis’s spell for him and Cadence to save the day with magic. Celestia was quite sure that Shining had been caught intentionally by the changeling queen, but had no idea why he would bother if he and Cadence were just going to resolve the situation themselves.

That event was also why Cadence didn’t like talking to Celestia. Celestia had meddled again, attempting to postpone the wedding after the near changeling takeover and Cadence had proclaimed that she was interfering with true love.

Celestia still didn’t understand it. If Shining truly loved anypony besides himself, it was Twilight. She’d tried to tell Cadence as much, but Cadence would have none of it. Eventually, it led to quite the spat between them. The whole situation just felt wrong, but Celestia had no idea what to do.

She was actually glad that she’d finally accepted their marriage. The Crystal Heart had to be found by Cadence, but Shining’s presence was entirely unnecessary. Hopefully, after this little vacation Cadence would speak to her normally again. Celestia would ignore her professed feelings with Shining, and simply smile and nod when it was brought up—like a mother humoring their foal.

How Shining had fooled the Alicorn of Love was beyond Celestia, and frankly she didn’t care anymore. Cadence could take care of herself in her own domain, and Celestia should simply not interfere at this point.

Until their return, she would continue to care for Twilight. Celestia enjoyed the current arrangement far more than she should. At night, she would welcome Twilight into bed and simply hold her. Twilight would talk about her day, and Celestia would enjoy the conversation and closeness. Eventually, Twilight would fall asleep in Celestia’s hooves where Celestia would watch her sleep for a while before drifting off herself. The little mare felt delicate, like a paper statue that Celestia could break if she wasn’t careful.

Not once had Twilight tried anything untoward with Celestia.

The worst that had happened was Twilight having an erotic dream that Celestia pointedly chose to ignore, simply inviting Twilight to bathe with her in the morning. Twilight wasn’t embarrassed at her sloppy state, and likely wouldn’t have considered it a problem even had Celestia decided to comment on it.

Twilight’s odd innocence was strangely frightening. Celestia was a bit worried that Twilight might say something completely inappropriate in public, but so far it hadn’t happened. All those lessons on social interaction had payed dividends. When Twilight chose to attend court she usually stayed quiet, but during social engagements she would carefully, and usually appropriately, speak up.

Most surprisingly, Celestia had seen her turn down a potential suitor, Prince Blue Blood. He was known to be a bit of a boor, but he was still a prince descended from Princess Platinum herself. He hadn’t taken the refusal well, and had one of his usual pouting sessions after. When Celestia asked Twilight about it later that night she’d said that Blue Blood wasn’t interested in her. He was interested in getting closer to Celestia, and Twilight didn’t want to be a tool wielded against Celestia.

Celestia had felt a warm glow in her chest, and commented that Twilight’s decision was surprisingly astute, causing Twilight to snort a giggle. She claimed to be more aware of motivations than other ponies gave her credit for. Celestia had agreed that perhaps that was the case. Twilight had been the only one to identify Chrysalis, after all.

Her plan to grow close to Twilight was succeeding, but not as she’d imagined. Every day she learned something new about the mare, and in some small way her affection grew as well. For instance, she always knew that Twilight was loyal, but the depth of her loyalty was astounding. At the moment, she was loyal to Celestia and was actively working to know exactly what Celestia expected of her, while immediately fitting to meet it. The only exception was the few hours a day she spent in her library enjoying the company of the rest of Shining’s harem.

Truth be told, Celestia had never expressed displeasure at that behavior, either. She’d long ago decided that Twilight’s sexual habits were not her business unless they interfered with her in some way.

The little mare was so much more than Celestia had ever realized, and her thoughts over the young lady were in turmoil. A whirlpool of emotions surrounded Twilight in Celestia’s heart, and the whirlpool grew stronger every day. Celestia had a desire to protect Twilight. Celestia was angry with herself, and with Shining about Twilight’s misspent youth. Celestia adored Twilight’s intelligence and curiosity. Celestia was disgusted by Twilight’s hobbies. Celestia was impressed by Twilight’s ingenuity. Celestia loved simply holding Twilight.

This maelstrom of emotions surrounded one mare, eating up more of Celestia’s mind as it grew into an obsession. In the morning, she wondered how Twilight was feeling. In the afternoon, she was slightly sick as she morbidly worried about who was putting what under Twilight’s tail. In the evening, she thought about whether Twilight would like to stay up and talk, or simply fall asleep in Celestia’s hooves. After Twilight fell asleep, Celestia would watch her and wonder what she was dreaming of or simply ruminate on the mare.

Like Celestia was doing right then.

In short, Celestia was quite aware that she was falling in love. She simply didn’t know if she wanted to fight it, or even how she could.

Author's Note

Ehh, early am is another day. What am I doing?

The weight of time

Celestia’s time pampering Twilight had lasted just one more week. The cursed message had come in the morning, via magical means. At first, Celestia had balked at what she had to do, but now she’d done it. Twilight had just left. Celestia had shown her a dark, dangerous magic and warned her about the consequences of failure.

For the sake of the specter of Princess Twilight Sparkle, Celestia had decided to test little Twilight. She’d agonized over the decision, knowing full well that it could end in absolute tragedy. When she’d paused, thinking to send a small army instead, she’d remembered Shining’s words from way back. To make Twilight into an Alicorn they needed a crucible, and the situation was turning into a fire unlike any other.

According to the letter Shining’s magic had been sealed, Cadence was deathly exhausted, the heart was nowhere to be found, and Sombra had returned. Worse, Shining’s mention of survivors had turned out to be an understatement. The entire capitol city of the Crystal Empire had survived, and thousands of ponies that had been lost to time had suddenly re-appeared, and were about to become Sombra’s slaves once more.

Luna didn’t approve of the decision, claiming that Twilight wasn’t ready and was deeply worried that she would die. Celestia had quietly listened to her concerns, then comforted her while telling her that this must be done. Luna was furious, and Celestia hoped that she would forgive her.

Both of them would be devastated if they lost little Twilight.

Twilight had eagerly left while taking the rest of the element bearers with her. Celestia had instructed Twilight that this test was for her, and her alone, but that her friends could support.

She needed to have Twilight accomplish something, anything, to show signs of ascension. Celestia hoped that it hadn’t been a mistake.

Quietly, she stared at the empty throne room as Luna and she sat together staring into the vacuous court, each lost in their own thoughts. They’d canceled proceedings for the day, but not left the symbol of their responsibility. They would not, until the Crystal Empire’s fate was known.

Luna emanated a cold fury as she finally spoke. “Sister, should you be wrong, and she is not ready, then I worry what I shall do.”

Celestia slowly leaned on her, ignoring her fury and instead cherishing her sister’s reluctant support. “I worry as well, Luna, though not about your actions.”

They stayed quiet for a while before Celestia quietly spoke up. “Should I be wrong, I shall take full responsibility.”

Luna held eerily still.

She dreaded the coming days. No matter how this turned out, her bed would be cold. Should this fail, Celestia would likely throw herself at Sombra, turning the frozen north into a glass wasteland and ending his threat with an ancient power she’d once vowed to never use. She’d slink back, broken and disgusted with herself, and beg her sister to take Equestria from her.

Hopefully Luna would, and Celestia could quietly support her from the back.

Of course, should Twilight succeed, things would change as well. Celestia didn’t see how Twilight would become that regal specter, but was now sure it was a possibility. Twilight’s success here would point to that possibility being a certainty. No normal pony had ever stood against Sombra, allies or not. Even when Celestia and Luna had worked together to corner him, he’d performed some grand magic to remove himself and what was left of his conquered empire from the very fabric of time itself. Celestia had assumed he’d died in the formless void.

Clearly, she’d once again terribly underestimated Sombra’s power.

If Twilight was truly to become the Princess Twilight Sparkle, Celestia would do everything in her power to fulfill that. As Luna had once mentioned, another immortal alicorn was a boon beyond any other.

Shining would be paid in full, his price disgusting or not, and live out the rest of his life in royally sanctioned and even facilitated debauchery.

At the moment, Celestia wasn’t the slightest bit disturbed that this was her dearest wish.

Author's Note

These are both pretty short. I'll toss another up later today. It'll be short as well. Whoops. Too many short chapters in a row...

The blind sun

Celestia and Luna stared at each other. The matter was not dealt with.

Luna was radiating an uncharacteristic cheer. “She succeeded, completely.”

“Not quite, Luna. Just like every other time, her friends did it. She freed Rainbow Dash from the spell, and sent her to help Cadence. Rainbow and Cadence retrieved the heart and defeated Sombra, while Twilight was trapped in one of his fell magics.”

Luna snorted. “So? You sent her to save the Empire, and Sombra is now broken. The means are not important. This was her task, and she completed it as necessary.”

Celestia sighed. “Rainbow is the ‘Hero of the Crystal Empire’, and Cadence has taken the role of empress. Twilight just… helped. Like she always does. How is that an effort worthy of becoming an Alicorn?”

Luna frowned. “T’is not. This is not what she shall ascend for. This was merely proof. Proof, may I add, that I needed. She is far stronger than she seems. You believed in her when you sent her, why does your faith falter now when she is clearly victorious?”

Celestia stomped her hoof, frustrated. “Because she has done nothing! Once again, one of her friends is the victor, and Twilight herself is merely present. Every task I send her to, every world ending event, she either needs her friends’ help or they entirely accomplish it.”

Luna smiled deviously. “And yet, time again they are victorious, Sister. I think I am beginning to see something which should be obvious. Of course, being who you are, I would guess that it probably eludes you.”

Celestia was angry. “This is not time for games, Luna.”

Luna shook her head as her smile and cheer became downright gleeful. “No, t’is not. I am now certain that T’is time to plan on how we shall integrate into Shining’s Harem. I quite think to have my own room added beneath their library. It shall be a pleasant retreat from our duties here.”

Celestia growled angrily. “That is the least of our concerns right now.”

Luna ignored Celestia’s anger and laughed. “Perhaps you shall share my quarters then? I suppose we will have to learn to be comfortable with one another. Shining enjoys debauching siblings, and I highly doubt we will be exempt from his lechery. Do you like to be on top, or on the bottom, sister of mine? Normally I prefer to be on top, but for you I will happily accommodate your desires.”

Celestia shot a scornful glare at Luna. “Don’t be crass, Sister. If it comes to pass, then we’ll do what we must, but I will do so reluctantly.”

Luna tilted her head in mock confusion as she raised a curious eyebrow. “Wherefore are you on about, Sister? I was merely suggesting how we might arrange our bunk beds.”

Celestia growled as Luna cackled.

Author's Note

A small update. Don't know why I wrote such small chapters here. Must have been all I thought I needed.

Words aren't enough. You need paper, too.

Shining had come to visit. Celestia hated talking to him nowadays, but his time was running out and he’d requested a private audience with her.

She could guess why, and decided to take his audience in her personal chambers.

“Shining, It’s… rare to see you lately.” She didn’t like to lie unless she had to, so instead she chose to be cordial.

He sat himself down and stretched. “I have been busy, haven’t I? Preparing the Crystal Empire for the Equestria Games is a lot of work! It’s also worth mentioning that I’m helping Cadence get settled in as Empress. That should be a full time job in and of itself.” He settled down, and smiled evenly. “Plus, I know you don’t like to see me.”

Celestia was calm in her answer, and even smiled serenely. Perhaps she would have to lie to him. “Why ever would you think that? You’re my friend and student.”

He shrugged. “Envy. Maybe jealousy, depending on your perspective of the situation. Perhaps a little fear. I can’t actually know what you’re feeling.”

Celestia frowned, speaking more directly. “Only what I will do, then?”

Shining nodded. “Something like that.”

She felt a small fire of rage burning at his indifference, but squashed it. While she could incinerate him in a moment, that wasn’t an acceptable way to solve this. It would be better to talk to him and understand him. “You never speak of your limitations. That’s the first time you’ve let slip a shortcoming. Are there any more you’d like to share with me?”

Shining nodded. “A few. For starters, I’m pretty easy to manipulate. Lift a little tail, and I’ll move mountains. Twilight figured that out pretty early on.”

Celestia’s little fire of rage started to burn the air around her. She really could incinerate him, and he was actively antagonizing her.

“Next is my arrogance. I’m pretty confident in my luck so far. So much that it should be easy to convince me to make a mistake.”

Celestia was aware of these personality traits, and likely he was aware that she was aware. So instead of letting him waste time, she interrupted him.

“I saw her, you know. It’s why I’m angry with you as of late.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Her?”

Celestia glared at him. “Princess Twilight Sparkle. Of course, she felt more like a queen or an empress. Far more so than Cadence ever will. She was larger than me, and even more powerful.”

Shining looked confused, and slightly concerned. “How odd. I wonder if it’s breaking…”

Celestia snorted. “I don’t know what “it” is, nor why it would break. I do know that the pony I saw is who Twilight is supposed to be. I also know that you’re supposed to be in my royal guard, a loyal captain. Do you have anything to say about that?”

Shining blinked, looking at her. “You’re right. I am supposed to be your captain of the guard. At least until I was supposed to be married to Cadence. Then I was to be a prince consort.”

Celestia sighed, deflating. “I fought you both on that one, didn’t I? Is that why she’s so madly in love with you even though you treat her like any one of your concubines?”

Shining seemed offended. “I’ll have you know that I do love everypony in my harem. They’re all my waifus.”

Celestia looked up with dead eyes, having a flashback to a much earlier conversation. “And Twilight is above the rest, as your number one waifu, if I remember?”

Shining smiled contentedly. “That she is. That Twilighticious purple smart is the best flavor in the skittle bag. She’s just adorkable, isn’t she?”

Celestia continued to stare, the fire coming back. “I don’t know those words, Shining. But I understand the meaning. Unfortunately, the meaning is the problem. She was never supposed to be yours to have, was she?”

Shining continued to smile. “Perhaps not, but now she is.”

The fire raged. “And now, because of your selfishness, she risks not becoming the princess I saw. You didn’t help her save my sister, she saved my sister in spite of your meddling. Now you’re struggling to make her ascend on the proper timeline. That’s why you made this bet.”

Shining’s eyes gleamed with excitement. “Oh?”

“You said it yourself. You can see the future, somehow, but that doesn’t mean it will come to pass. You specifically stated that if you and Twilight spent the whole time fucking then you’d fail with your goal. You needed an incentive.”

Shining continued to smile. “And you and Luna are part of it. You’re good at this. As I said, I’d move mountains to lift some tail. Flaws can be virtues if you look at them from the right angle. All it takes is a little extra dimensional thinking.” He tapped his head with his hoof a few times to emphasize the thinking.

Celestia frowned, her heart beating wildly in anger but her voice remaining calm. “I believed you when you said that you were on my side. I didn’t have any reason to, but I did. I had faith, Shining. Was it misplaced?”

His exuberant smile fell and he sighed. “I still am. That wasn’t a lie.” He took a few deep breaths. “Sometimes I get caught up in my game. It’s exhilarating, you know? I used to be so average and now I can keep pace with, or even out maneuver the Great Celestia.”

She sighed, unsure of what to say. “Captain of the royal guard is hardly average, Shining.”

He snorted. “Yeah, something like that.”

“So if you are on my side, why all the debauchery? I truly just don’t understand. All of this is hardly the desire of a healthy pony.”

Shining laughed. “I’m not healthy. I’ve said before that I’ve got my own goals. It just so happens that my goals and your goals have a wonderful intersection. That’s where I want to take us.”

Celestia hung her head. “I’m not feeling like your forwarding my goals very much, Shining. Twilight would have ascended without your interference, all you seem to have done is corrupt everypony I love.”

Shining glared deviously. “And there, right there is the intersection. That’s the money shot, as it were. Every pony that you love.”

Celestia glared up at him. “I don’t see how that’s relevant.”

Shining smiled darkly. “Do you know how your relationship is supposed to go with Twilight Sparkle?”

Celestia narrowed her eyes. “Tell me.”

“It’s mentor and student. Just mentor and student. Eventually, you retire and leave the whole mess of Equestria to her. You live a long, healthy eternity with just yourself and your sister.”

Celestia huffed. “That doesn’t sound particularly bad.”

Shining kept smiling. “A lonely eternity. Twilight moves on, focused on ruling and raising her own students. Cadence is married to me, and we have a family that takes all of her time and energy. Luna grows to resent you once again, feeling as though the opportunity to lead was once again taken from her by your selfish desire to retire. All the while she stays timid and would never say no to you. Nopony ever would.”

Celestia stayed silent.

“I altered your relationship with Luna as soon as she returned. I had you nip her meekness in the bud early on. Luna and you really do treat most things as equals nowadays, and she has no problem voicing her dissent. That was not part of the original plan, and it’s better for you both.”

Celestia ground her teeth.

“Cadence and I might have a family, but now that you two have had that tiff and gotten over it, things are better than ever. Aren’t they? Now you’ll be closer than ever to our family, won’t you? If you’re part of my little harem, you’ll even be treated as a second mother to little Flurry when she’s born. Now Cadence thinks of you as an equal as well, and that makes you happy.”

Hot air blew from her mouth as she thought, mulling over his words.

“Lets not forget the harem. Lonely nights wont be your eternity. Aside from the regular sex, you’ll have ponies that truly want to be with you. These girls are all the real deal, literal elements of harmony. They won’t want your attention for your power or body; they’ll love you purely for you. That’s something you haven’t had in a long time, isn’t it?”

Celestia lowered her eyes, telling herself that she wasn’t considering these options. She hated how Shining always made her lie to herself.

“That’s one of the reasons you love your sister so much. Speaking of sisterly love, my sister has had her eyes opened wide to the world of romance and paramours. The original plan for Twilight is a mare so chaste and innocent that it would be incomprehensible for her to even consider a special somepony. You’d have to find a Twilight from a world where they’re all horny high schoolers to even see that hinted at.”

Celestia closed her eyes tightly.

“But this Twilight, my personal little fuck toy of a sister, is so full of carnal and romantic love that she’d ecstatically share any amount of it with you. All you’d have to do would be to join my Harem and she’d give you everything you want and more. That powerful, intimidating mare? She will love you from the depths of her heart like no other. You can have her coddle you when you’re lonely, sad, or even horny and she’ll fucking love it.”

He leaned forward, whispering. “You could even snuggle her at night, safely wrapped in her wings whenever you want.”

Celestia’s eyes opened slightly. She’d always considered the specter of Princess Twilight Sparkle as somepony separate from her delicate little Twilight, but it wasn’t, was it? That was the same Twilight. If that Twilight was already in some sort of love with her, then Princess Twilight Sparkle…

Oh no.

He chuckled as her wings slowly spread. “That’s what gets a rise out of you? Snuggling a bigger mare? I guess that makes sense. Not many ponies for you to look up to, are there?”

Celestia forced her wings down and shook her head. “That’s none of your business, Shining.”

He smiled again. “It might be soon, I don’t see any harm in doing a little research first.”

Celestia glared.

“Maybe you’d like to have her hold you down. Instead of just snuggling, she could press you down, nip at your neck, and lick your horn until you feel like jelly. I bet you wouldn’t fight her at all if she tried that, would you?”

Celestia’s mind was filled with things that distinctly were not snuggling, and she nearly choked. She had to put an end to this. “Enough, Shining. Enough. You’ve made your point. My desire’s don’t matter as we both know that you have me trapped in this situation regardless. I can let you fail, and we all suffer; most of all Twilight. Or I can help you succeed and this nonsense comes to pass where only my dignity suffers.”

Shining smiled. “So, will you help me fill the world with nonsense then, your soon to be undignified majesty?”

She slunk down, looking at him sideways as she asked in an exasperated tone, asking him one more time. “What do you want from me, Shining?”

Shining’s smile seemed too wide, and his eyes too narrow. He didn’t look like a pony when he answered, instead looking like something far more alien. “It’s real simple, and it’s something Twilight loves. I just need a book.”

Author's Note

Getting close to the end. Gotta decide how I chunk this up....

Blind Obedience

Celestia didn’t mind the mask. It made sure no one saw her eyes, and it dulled her senses. She didn’t have to see Shining’s surely ridiculous expression, could barely hear his obscene grunting, and it kept her quiet in her suffering.

The mask allowed her to be completely silent as she gracelessly swallowed more of his dick. Fellatio was a skill that she’d never been particularly gifted at, and Shining’s monster of a cock didn’t make the task easier.

While it was true that she was choking, and couldn’t breathe, the experience wasn’t wholly unpleasant. The mask kept her comfortable, and conscious. Also, somepony was gently nibbling at her and doing a thoroughly enthusiastic job, although Celestia feared it might be her sister.

Of course, it might also be Twilight.

She felt a shiver run through her spine at the possibility. Twilight had been growing quite handsomely since she’d ascended, and soon would be as big as Celestia. Perhaps even bigger.

Shining didn’t usually allow her to know who had been with her, instead leaving it up to her imagination. Once, Applejack had commented later that Celestia had been “mighty strong”, and she’d felt a rush of relief that it hadn’t been her sister and disappointment that it hadn’t been Twilight. Still, she’d asked Applejack to cuddle later, much to the congenial farm pony’s amusement. Applejack had been sturdy, and Celestia had enjoyed the happy post coital snuggling more than she’d ever admit to Shining.

Deep down in her soul she was still conflicted over her emotions. The worst part was that Shining had been completely right. The mares were nothing if not accommodating to each other’s needs, herself included. The only times she wore the mask on was when she was dealing with Shining, and though he certainly had a cruel streak he’d yet to deny it to her.

Perhaps one day she’d forgive him enough to fully face him, though she strongly doubted it would be before his demise. Shining had simultaneously given her everything she’d ever dreamed of, and taken so much more that she hadn’t considered. Needless to say, her emotions regarding him were complicated.

Celestia had long ago came to the realization that he was an absolute monster. Recently, she’d determined that he must not be the pony that had originally been “Shining”. He had to be some demon from some other world that was merely inhabiting Shining’s body and using his memories. He often spoke in a strange language, and knew things that went well beyond the powers of prophecy.

Sometimes she wondered what happened to the original Captain of the Royal Guard. She worried that this Shining had killed him, or consumed his soul or some such thing. Hopefully, at least, his soul had some sort of rest and wasn’t forced to watch this monster as it feasted on his wife, his sister, and the princess he’d sworn to protect. Cadence was pregnant, and Celestia feared for the foal, but she couldn’t fight against this Shining, her faithful student.

Not anymore.

He owned her and her sister now, and she’d compromised her morals originally just for the sake of her sister alone. She should have crushed him when she found out about his twisted habits. Maybe Nightmare Moon would have spared her, and she’d be living quietly chained up in Luna’s dungeon instead of ignobly choking on his dick several times a week.

At least it usually tasted like Twilight when she first licked it.

She shuddered again, feeling her wings spreading as he violently thrust down her throat. Unconscionably, she began to swallow and tease his length with her tongue. Some unbidden desire to please him still occasionally rose within, and she never truly fought it. If she was to be his sex slave, there was no reason she couldn’t be passable at it.

The shudder from remembering Twilight’s taste turned into a spark, and Celestia guiltily trembled. The pony between her legs noticed, and dug their snout deep into her. Celestia’s spark grew into a moist fire as her depths spread pleasantly wide.

She hoped it was Twilight. The mask had been tailored just for her to confuse her sense of identity, and it dulled all of her senses except for touch, making identifying the mare currently in her depths impossible.

Celestia slurped over his thick and throbbing cock, feeling it spasm and shake down her throat as the mask silenced her wet ‘glurk” noises. Shining slammed into her face with a heavy thrust, using his hooves to lock her snout firmly into his musky groin. A moment later, she gagged as a pulsing sensation down her throat informed her that Shining had finally cum. She waited as a warm glow filled her stomach, and slime oozed around his cock. He used a sigil to improve his stamina, his load, and his refractory period, so the amount of cum he drained directly into her stomach was always absurd. This time was no different

Whoever was behind her took advantage of her stillness, and Celestia tried to cry out around his throbbing dick. Their tongue lapped hungrily around her clit, and their lips pulled her wide apart for the rest of the harem to see. Celestia, too, now had a sigil of Twilight’s design on her inner thigh. Much like Luna’s, hers provided many boosts to her sexual capabilities. Unlike Luna’s, it didn’t prevent her from cumming.

Contrarily, it made the experience much easier to achieve and far more intense. Ever since Twilight had carefully burned it into her flesh, Celestia hadn’t been able to restrain herself once somepony started to touch her. She was learning to enjoy the inevitable throes of her now paralyzingly powerful orgasms.

She briefly wondered what had become of her decency and poise. Had Twilight taken it? Or had Shining? The thought made her even more wet, and she silently cursed as her body succumbed to the Sparkle sibling’s humiliation once more.

Her hips bucked, and she collapsed to the floor crying into the mask as she helplessly squirt over her mysterious benefactor. Tears built in her eyes and were banished instantly by the magic in the mask as she wordlessly choked from the unnatural bliss. She twitched around his softening cock, feeling it pull messily out of her mouth, the veins dragging across her softened tongue. She wanted to cough and throw up, but the mask didn’t let her.

Instead, she squirmed as her unrestrained fluids continued to drench the still hungrily licking pony behind her.

She knew Shining was manipulating her. She knew she was being trained to be his toy. Fuck, it felt so good.

Celestia let go of all her resistance under the mask, crying out her pleasure and weeping for her lost sense of identity all at the same time. A cage of euphoria held her hostage, keeping her from moving beyond autonomous kicking.

Shining’s voice sounded faint, dulled by the masks power. “I think it’s time to take off her mask.”

Panic filled her, nearly ruining her continuous orgasm. He couldn’t. Her face was still slick with his cum, the pony behind her wasn’t slowing or even stopping, and she couldn’t form a sentence or even a coherent action.

The light was blinding, and she coughed the moment the magically sedating mask was lifted. A huge glob of sticky white fluid was splattered on the ground, and the tears gathered in her eyes. Groaning, she looked up to see Shining staring down at her.

“Welcome back, Celestia. Did you enjoy your vacation?”

Celestia wordlessly nodded, only managing a guttural groan as she pressed her hips backwards into the searching lips buried under her tail. She was less than an animal, pawing helplessly at the ground as she stayed otherwise paralyzed from the sudden rush of sensations.

“Watch closely.” He smiled evilly.

Celestia blankly stared as Twilight stepped into her blurry, tear filled vision. Then Celestia saw Shining climb on top of the mare. They moved close, close enough that his dick, dangling limply underneath before it quickly hardened, and Twilight’s shimmering pussy was just in front of her face. She could smell them both. She could see them.

His cock mercilessly speared Twilight’s cunt, the throbbing member still slick with her saliva and white from his own seed. Twilight groaned, moaning in bliss as Shining plunged it into her, the white frothy saliva smearing all over her labia as he thoroughly hilted within her in one thrust. She watched his balls press tightly up against Twilight’s winking clit.

Celestia couldn’t look away, paralyzed by the automatic convulsions of her orgasm until Twilight’s gorgeous body was bucking back into Shining. Celestia’s tongue lolled in exhausted pain as she watched their tails entwine while she was forced to orgasm one more time.

Twilight moaned, and Celestia could feel the love in her voice. “Shining! I love you!”

Shining’s response was cruel, “Hell yeah you do! Fuck me, sis!”

Celestia blinked, tears forming in her eyes as she wordlessly groaned. “uh… h… oo…”

Twilight’s tail twitched wildly, and she began to buck upwards into her brother’s thrusts. Her response was focused, and devoted. “Yessss…”

Shining just grunted into Twilight’s hair as they kept fuckng, and he pressed into her hard. It had only been moments, but Twilight came just as hard, spraying her marecum backwards in an obscene and impressive jet.

“This is for you, Shining!” Twilight screamed as she came, without breaking her stride, or even pausing to catch her breath. Celestia swallowed hard, helplessly getting a few wet droplets on her face and blinking them out of her eyes. The smell of Twilight was overpowering.

Twilight really was thoroughly practiced.

Celestia groaned, cursing herself for the burning fire rising within her. Twilight was gorgeous, even being flaunted as Shining’s plaything. Celestia cried out, still riding the tail end of her previous release. The sigil’s magic flared through her, and she finally and willingly begged it to allow her another release.

She almost didn’t care when she glanced behind her and saw ethereal strands of midnight blue mane intermingled from under her own ethereal tail.

Almost.

Author's Note

Ehh, go for it. I'll just post what's left for this. Then I don't have to change the tag.

Sunset comes before Twilight.

Celestia laid on her back as Shining crawled over her, his lecherous grin still unsettling her after the last few years of seeing it up far too close.

He grinned in the light of their concubine chambers. “You know what we haven’t done, Celestia?”

She honestly did not. Twilight ruled Equestria now, and Celestia and Luna spent most of their spare time in Shining’s castle basement. Since Cadence was managing the crystal empire, and each of the girls had mostly gone on to their own thing, it usually fell on Celestia and Luna to fulfill his daily lusts. Of course, Luna liked her sleep. So it mostly fell on Celestia as of late.

Admittedly, The nights were very nice. Applejack, Fluttershy, and Pinkie would always stop by. Sometimes they’d stay the entire night, snuggling up close and comfy. Rainbow and Rarity would manage to make time when they could. Twilight would also always make some time for her brother, and lately more and more time for Celestia. They’d talk, discuss the intricacies of running a country, and sometimes Twilight would ask her for more intimate company.

Nowadays it was much more than chaste cuddling. Celestia cherished when Twilight decided to spend time with her, and her alone. Regardless of how the time was spent.

Celestia was truly and thoroughly pleased with her nights, just as Shining had promised her she’d be years ago. Her only real complaint were the days. Day in, and day out of pleasuring Shining Armor and his endless insatiably cruel lusts. Just her and her Sister, who was catching another quick nap at this moment.

“No.” She sighed, watching him warily as she flexed her still sore and leaking pussy. His last, almost violent, assault had been mere minutes ago. Hardly long enough for her to clean up, let alone get back into her book before he demanded she lie on her back across their overly large pleasure bed. “What obscene thing haven’t we done?”

His smile went from lecherous to serious as he lowered his mouth to hers. “Kiss.”

Celestia was taken aback as he gently lowered his snout and pressed into hers, his surprisingly gentle lips causing a slight tingle down her spine.

She accepted the gentle kiss, pressing back into him and closing her eyes as he slowly claimed the inside of her mouth.

Luna continued to quietly snooze as Shining made out with Celestia in an uncharacteristically gentle manner.

For her part, Celestia wasn’t sure if she’d fallen asleep herself and this wasn’t some strange dream. Timidly, she wrapped her wings around him like he was one of the girls. They usually kissed her, he most certainly did not. They loved her, and made love. Shining had always… fucked. She’d never given it much thought, it had simply been they way they interacted.

The recognition of her quickly beating heart, and slowly spreading wings didn’t disturb her. By now, she was comfortable with her own arousal, and tenderness was what she craved. Her body responded to it warmly, and she was always happy for it.

She had simply not expected any from Shining.

After the kiss, he leaned down on her, laying belly to belly while he rested his snout in the crook of her neck. She gently stroked his back, unsure of how to proceed merely because she couldn’t read him at this moment.

She couldn’t tell if wanted to fuck her again, or just talk. She’d accommodate him either way, and for once she was almost eager to feel him shuddering within her depths.

He whispered into her ear. “Do you know what I like about you, Celestia?”

She nodded. “You get a thrill out of my power, and you’ve been very thoroughly clear that you find me physically attractive. You also seem to enjoy debasing me.” Which was something that she did not enjoy.

He nipped her ear slightly. “True, but there’s more. Twilight is far more powerful than you. Already she controls both the sun and the moon, and you’ve given her your kingdom. Rightfully so, might I add.”

Celestia continued to stroke his back. If this was his idea of pillow talk, it wasn’t very effective. “I see. Then perhaps only for my beauty?”

“No. You’re pretty, for sure, but so is every mare in my harem. Dare I say that Cadence is far and above the most beautiful.”

Celestia was growing cross. He’d had her in the mood, however briefly, and now he was squandering it. If this continued it would soon lead to another dreadful blow job where he ejaculated on her face and laughed at her messy state.

That had only happened once, mind you, but the memory was more than enough to give rise to a sudden wave of very real anger. Clearly he knew how to be gentle and how to properly treat a mare. He’d done so with the rest of the girls many times over while Celestia had been forced to watch. It seemed to be just Luna and herself that he never cared for.

“Then I’d suggest you quickly tell me why you treat me so.” Her voice was sweet, but the tone was clear. She was giving him a chance, if only for slight tingling sensation still on her lips. He’d best not waste it.

Shining slowly raised his head to look her in the eyes, his gentle smile still there. Celestia’s anger slightly soothed at the sight. There was still a rumbling sense of dissatisfaction, but his handsome and easy grin had bought him some time.

He lifted a hoof and tapped her forehead, just below her horn. “You mean why I treat you like a cum sock?” He leaned down a little tapping her again as his eyes narrowed and the smile dropped. “Why I pound your pussy raw day after day, and treat your insides like my own personal cum canvas?”

Celestia’s anger had come back, and she returned his glare. “Yes. That.” She hadn’t liked his description, but that had been due to how accurate it had been. There was hardly a moment during her days where she wasn’t either getting violently filled with his semen, or carefully expelling it. She’d taken to napping with the sensory deprivation mask on, in the hopes that when he used her it didn’t wake her up.

It had worked as often as not.

He tapped her head again, the angry glare softening. “That’s a separate reason, and still the same I suppose.”

She didn’t say anything, instead just glaring at him.

“You see, I got… inside… all the other girls. I have skills, titles, abilities, all kinds of things that help me when I want to have sex with a pony.”

Celestia frowned, completely confused. What the buck was he talking about? Titles? Skills made sense, in a way. You could grow skilled at a task if you worked on it, and he certainly worked on bedding mares.

He sighed. “But none of them seemed to work on you. I tried seduction level 10, manipulation level 10, diplomacy level 10, and nothing. No response from you whatsoever. So I had a peak at your titles, and that’s when I saw it.”

His eyes gleamed, and Celestia was uncomfortable in her confusion. Had he gone mad?

“You had quite a few titles, like ‘Dyarch of Equestria’ and ‘The Last Alicorn’ but one stuck out: ‘The Indomitable”.”

He tapped her forehead again and laughed. “The Indomitable! What a title! It makes you immune to my skills. It is an absolutely OP skill, let me tell you. A true monster to get around.”

Celestia shuddered when he said that, feeling dizzy. She recognized this sensation now, when his otherworld knowledge caused her to feel faint. It meant he was altering fate or something, she wasn’t quite sure. But at this point she was so far off the path meant for her, would it even matter?

“So I didn’t get around it. Instead of relying on my skills, or my stats, or even my titles, I had to treat you like an equal for years. I had to barter and deal with you. I had to accept your silly missions, and even save your sister. Best of all, you could tell! You knew I was doing something, but you didn’t stop me. As time went on, and I got more and more aggressive, yet for some reason you never stopped me!”

She growled in frustration. “What was I to do, Shining? I still don’t know what you truly are. Some demon? Even though you are disgusting, even though you are abhorrently evil, you held true to your promises. You saved my sister, and Twilight has ascended. You’ve been critical in saving Equestria many fold over. If I have to debase myself and raise my tail for your cock every day for the next 100 years, I will do so gladly.”

Celestia leaned up, angrily challenging him to defy her. “I hate this. You know I do, and yet it has been a worthwhile trade.”

Shining seemed briefly taken aback by her outburst, but then she felt his growing erection against her lower body.

Celestia threw her head back, sighing in exasperation and disgust. “It seems I have aroused you. Do what you will. My mood is ruined, but I am still slick with the remnants of your prior lust.”

His hoof grabbed Celestia’s horn, and forced her to look back at him. He was smiling widely, somewhere between a hungry gaze and an excited child. His voice was surprisingly high. “And that’s what I love about you, Celestia. Never once have you truly given in. You willingly partook in this world of debauchery, even though it utterly disgusts you.” He leaned down licking his lips eagerly. “Doesn’t it?”

She wanted to look away, but didn’t want to rip her horn free. Instead she let her eyes drift down, taking in the length of their bodies. His white fur was pressed into hers, both of them were mussed and ragged. His erect black spotted penis was poking between them, resting between her teats and barely visible. While she was larger, he was much more physically defined. In another life, his physical form might have even graced her fantasies.

Still, this whole mess of white fur and messy flesh was truly and wholly described by one word.

Disgusting.

“Yes.”

His smile faded, as he contemplated something. “I love you.”

Celestia glanced back at him, once again surprised. “What?”

He ignored her and continued. “Your body is my toy. Hardly better than a doll. But your mind has been working as my partner, willing or not. You thought to fight me, but never managed. You helped me in my plans. Sure, you capitulated here and there, but you also demanded things from me here and there. Even now, even years after I won and I own you…” His head dipped lower, and he kissed her briefly. “You still aren’t mine…”

Celestia’s lips tingled once again, and she stayed quiet, contemplating the quick kiss.

Shining didn’t say any more, instead burying his head into her shoulder and kissing her neck.

Autonomously, Celestia spread her legs wide and stretched her tail out. It took a moment to realize what she’d done, and another further moment to realize that he hadn’t taken advantage of it.

His lips pecked at her neck and shoulder, and she shifted uncomfortably under him. Everything felt hot.

Celestia sucked in a breath as he nibbled up her chin, and placed a tender kiss on her lips once more. Cautiously, she opened her mouth and he slipped in. Their tongues danced, and he gripped her in his hooves.

She was reminded how strong he was, and how gentle he could be. When he so chose to.

Celestia felt her mind slipping, forgetting why she was angry and simply relishing his sudden affection. Kiss after kiss peppered her, and soon her wings were spread wide on the bed.

Her heart was racing, he breath was quickening, and she relented once more.

Perhaps she was in the mood.

The only pony in recent memory to declare their love for her had been Luna, and that hadn’t been quite like this. Over the last few years they’d certainly shared more than a few intimate moments, but took care to not declare their love for one another during their passion. Twilight had declared Celestia a “close and personal friend”, but other than that had not made any statements of love. The other girls certainly did love her, in their ways, but not loudly declared such as this.

Was this romantic? She felt her heart beat.

Celestia kissed him back, feeling a growing passion in her breast. She could enjoy the affection of this Shining Armor. Glancing over, she noted that Luna was awake and quietly watching their intimacy with a small smile. Luna quickly winked, and Celestia blushed as her cheeks heated.

The sudden bout of bashfulness surprised her. She’d been having an obscene amount of sex in front of, and sometimes with, her sister for a few years now, and nothing as passionate as embarrassing as this.

Celestia surprised herself by moaning into him, wrapping him in her wings and hooves, slowly pushing him down her body to fill her growing need.

He fought. Of all things, he fought to stay and kiss her instead of fuck her.

She laughed, returning his kisses as her now wet pussy grew to ache in need. She wanted to feel his cock buried within her. She wanted him to softly and slowly fuck her like he sometimes did with Twilight. She was slick with her heated arousal mixed with his cum, and she needed him inside.

Had she finally became a slut? Or had she been that starved for attention?

Celestia pulled him away from his tender, lingering kissed, and plead. “Please. I need it.”

He ignored her, and went to her ear, breathing heavily as he nibbled. “I love you.”

Celestia groaned, feeling weak. She tried to push him down, to put his erection between her legs so it would fill her, but her arms were weak and her magic was unresponsive.

Shining stayed still, using his hooves to gently hold hers away from their bodies. “I love you.”

She shuddered, the heat growing intense and unbearable. The sigil pulsed, causing her eyes to shoot open and an erotic shock to run to her winking clit.

“Please…” Why did it burn? She felt dizzy and strange.

He let his hoof trail down her side, and gently pet in the tender area beneath her wing. “I… Love… You…”

She cried out, lifting her hips to meet his. He wasn’t there, she needed him.

Celestia begged, her head swimming in lust. “Please, please, just fuck me.” The sigil pulsed again, and she shuddered. The need was painful in intensity, and she felt like she’d do anything to stop it.

Shining slowly leaned up, an evil grin in his eyes as he tapped her head.

He whispered to her. “I got in, you just let me in…”

The heat burned her legs, and she felt dizzy and confused. “What?”

Shining laughed, his voice crackling with cruel glee. “Fucking finally! Now lets change your stats.”

Celestia felt a sense of vertigo like she had never had before, and the world went black.

Author's Note

I had lots of adjustments to this, and I still don't like it. This is a big one for why it took so long to post the story. Definitely could have used another set of eyes, but wasn't motivated enough to get one.

What makes the sun bright?

Celestia stared at the sleeping form of her sister, her eyes narrowed in indecision. Something told her to stop, some quiet little voice from deep inside begged her to just lay down and go to sleep. She could wait until Twilight got home.

Her hungry tongue licked her lips, tasting the sweat that glistened her face. After hours of masturbating, she was exhausted. Worse, she was still burning with need. Celestia’s hooves were hot and heavy, throbbing from a day’s exertion and wrinkled from being soaked in her ever-flowing arousal for hours on end. She needed something… more.

Anything to hold her over until Twilight came home tonight, or better yet Shining. She blinked, gasping for breath as she once again felt her orgasm slipping from her grip.

“Fuck…” Celestia groaned in frustration. She knew she couldn’t do it. Not since… sometime. She knew what she had to do. What he wanted her to do.

Biting her lip, Celestia tasted iron. She should quit, go to sleep. Fighting this wasn’t worth it.

Or she could let him win. He always wins. God, she loves it when he wins.

Celestia heard her voice ring out, almost playfully. “Oh Luna~! I need you to suck on my pussy until we both pass out. How does that sound?”

Luna lifted her head, seemingly awakened by Celestia’s call. Twilight’s mask kept her actual expression hidden, but her wings fluttered and her back stretched.

Celestia swallowed dryly, watching her beautiful sister rise. Even trapped in the mask and wrapped in enchanted leathers, Luna was sexy as hell. Perhaps more so. Celestia idly tried to remember if Twilight put a want it need it spell on any of Luna’s accouterments, and quickly gave up. Celestia knew she’d fuck Luna naked.

She had yesterday, afterall.

Luna’s response was quick, seemingly eager to play with her. Celestia decided that if Luna did a good enough job, she’d let her cum today. Shining had taught her the trick to flipping her little Luna’s sigil around and turning the pet sister gimp into a pet sister fountain years ago. She just loved watching her little sisters cunt spray all over the room after a week or so of being pent up.

Love and Luna. Something about that gave her pause. Oh well, she certainly loved giving Luna her release.

That intimate moment usually fell to Celestia nowadays, Shining was rarely ever around anymore. Not that it bothered her. Slutty little Luna was always right there to fulfill Celestia’s aching need during the day. Twilight would come by at night to cuddle for a bit, then really sate her desires. It didn’t take much, if anything at all, for Celestia to convince the deliciously stronger mare to fuck her absolutely silly.

When Twilight got serious, Celestia was as weak as a foal against her rough, and sometimes violent advances. The thought brought an uncontrollable shudder to her legs as Luna dipped her snout under Celestia’s tail.

Sometimes she wondered if it had all been worth it.

Shining hadn’t lied to her. She’d been happy since becoming his harem member all those decades ago. Day after day of relentless fucking was exactly what she needed after a thousand years of morose moping for sending her sister to the moon. It was a wonder she never realized it earlier.

It all really started after that one incident that she didn’t remember well. She’d been getting wonderfully intimate with Shining, and he’d pinned her to her back and made her feel like never before. It was the first time he’d made her pass out with his affection, and it was something she dearly wished she remembered. Celestia shifted her legs as the imagined memory warmed her cunt as much as her sister’s wanton tongue.

“Keep it up, Lu~! I’m really worked up. I’m particularly horny today. You can get your rest tonight. Do a good job and maybe I’ll ask Twilight to lick you, too…”

The gentle ministrations of her sister geared up further, causing Celestia’s legs to quiver. Oh, this was going to be good.

“I love you, my little sister slut.”

Luna only aggressively licked in response, the mask sealing any other form of communication from her.

Celestia moaned, leaning back into her sisters hot tongue. Minutes passed, maybe hours. It was hard to tell. Everything felt so nice.

Luna’s tongue was soft, and eager. The heat from her body warmed Celestia’s core, and the pressure made her whole body tingle with glee. Luna was covered in straps and piercings, some jingling as she licked. The chorus of wet sounds mingling with the soft, rhythmic chiming and Luna’s heavy breathing was pure delight to Celestia’s ears.

Shuddering, she pressed Luna’s head deep into her, stretching herself around her sisters snout.

More. She needed more.

Carefully, Celestia lay down on her back, gently twisting and resting comfortably on the soft cushions around the love nest. Luna managed to keep up her ministrations, nibbling and gently licking Celestia’s pussy lips as Celestia sunk into the luxurious cushions.

Celestia groaned, luxuriating in her euphoria as she mentally checked the time. She had a few hours till nightfall. Luna’s tongue wouldn’t get tired until long past. Her magic sigil flared up, eager to cause her more pleasure and shooting a rush of pleasure to tingle through her spine.

She let her hooves wander down to play with Luna’s gorgeous hair. “I love you, Luna…” Celestia spoke gently, tenderly even as Luna lapped at her folds like a thirsty dog at a river. Celestia briefly admired Luna’s extra long and thick tongue, wondering if it had always been so engorged. It’s not like Luna used it for talking much, so maybe it had simply adapted, becoming the perfect tool to lick her cunt.

They were both clearly made to please each other, each designed to perfectly compliment the other’s needs and desires.

This was love. Celestia sighed contentedly as her first squirting orgasm coursed down her body. “Ah… Sis… Sister… I… Ah!”

Luna quietly lapped at her flesh, dutifully suckling and drinking it in.

Celestia giggled as the euphoria passed, watching her sisters lips seal perfectly with her own lower ones. She didn’t know why some mares liked being cuddled and cozied while they fucked. Mouth to pussy was so much better. Cuddling was for before or after.

Celestia grunted once more, thrusting into Luna’s face.

“Yesss… keep doing that.” Celestia praised her, not that Luna needed the direction. Luna knew exactly how to get Celestia to cum, and cum again now. She had for a long time, really.

A vague memory of something… important… shook her mind as her hips rocked and another convulsion caused her to shake. “Have we kissed in a while, ~Lu? Come up here and kiss me.”

Immediately, Luna crawled up Celestia’s body, leaving her still quivering organ to slowly leak between the two and into the cushions. Celestia felt Luna’s body, relishing the heat as she climbed. Hadn’t Luna been cool, once?

Flexing her cunt, Celestia wrapped herself around Luna, and ground her pussy to Luna’s body. She wished Luna had a dick, to fit the memory that she couldn’t remember, but then remembered that there was a spell for that.

Luna’s mouth didn’t wait for permission, instead slipping into Celestia’s like it belonged. In a way, it did. Celestia tasted herself on Luna; salty, raw, and wet was how Luna should be. She nibbled at Luna’s hot lips, using her wings to press Luna into her body. Celestia stared at the mask, Twilight’s cutie mark emblazoned and glowing in her face.

Having the mask so close to her face again made her shudder.

No questions were asked when Celestia wordlessly charged a spell, Luna’s tongue still mingling in her mouth. The spell arched from Celestia’s horn to Luna’s head, shocking her and causing her shudder.

Luna pulled back, knowing that Celestia liked to watch the spell take hold.

Celestia licked her lips, staring hungrily as she desperately begged from her sister. “Don’t stop. Don’t hold back. If you’re rough enough, maybe I’ll let you cum.”

Luna began to writhe in wordless pain. The spell wasn’t normally too terribly uncomfortable, but it usually made the target cum to lubricate the process. However, since the mask augmented sensations, and Luna’s sigil prevented her from orgasming, the change was likely very painful. Maybe she was feeling some kind of blockage as well.

Her midnight blue hair waved as her head shook violently from side to side, and her wings fluttered, pinned tightly to her side by Celestia’s stronger grip. She ground into Celestia’s belly with her cunt, and Celestia was sure she’d scream, if not for the mask. Slowly, her pink flesh grew longer and looser, smearing her arousal across Celestia’s tight belly.

“That’s a good ~Lu… That’s it. I love you…” Celestia encouraged her, pulling her face back down into a deep kiss.

Luna dove into the kiss, pushing her jaw into Celestia’s in an almost painful intensity. Celestia suckled her hot flesh, enjoying the quivering mare as she twitched on her belly. Soon enough, her sister’s twitching slowed down into occasional twinges as her body adjusted to the painfully engorged clit.

Pulling on Luna’s hair, Celestia separated their faces. Luna couldn’t see her, but she could hear. The mare quietly and dutifully watched her sister. “~Lu… You know I love you. It’s time for you to love me…”

With heavy breathing and without out hesitation, Luna slowly drug her giant clit down Celestia’s belly and in between her legs while Celestia pushed her down.

Luna’s spell-warped flesh was fattened like a worm, long hot and raw. It nearly burned with heat as Celestia felt it thrust into her, filling her body like it filled her unconscious. The quiet voice, the unsettled sensation silenced as Luna declared her love to Celestia. Over, and over again. Exactly how Celestia liked it.

Author's Note

Almost there.

The night before the Nightmare

Celestia’s eyes traced across the gilded walls of her sitting room, refusing to look at the source of her frustration—her stubborn student. He’d never completely denied her before, and she wasn’t sure how to respond to his sudden and unfortunately timed defiance. The fireplace flickered and cracked, illuminating the pair and casting dancing shadows as she evenly drew her breath to maintain her calm demeanor.

As tactfully as she could, she attempted to simply be direct and polite once more. Perhaps, against all odds, he was misunderstanding her. “Shining, this matter is far more important than you realize. You can’t take… your sister… with you.”

She hated calling that mare his sister. While they were technically brother and sister by blood, the reality was far more twisted, and the title of sister only stood to remind Celestia of the sheer perversity that she’d actively ignored.

Twilight Sparkle was indeed Shining Armor’s younger sister by birth, however, the relationship between the two was anything but familial. The most positive light that Celestia could cast on their relationship was that Twilight enjoyed being his willing concubine. Unfortunately, that would be an incredibly generous assessment of their relationship. The reality made Celestia shudder in raw disgust. Not many things still got under Celestia’s skin, but this was definitely one of them.

Shining stood defiantly with his blue eyes glinting in the firelight. “No. Twilight has to come.”

Celestia sighed. For the first time in a long time, she had no idea what to do. He’d been willing to leave Twilight in the castle for overnight diplomatic trips before; there was no way she could have foreseen his sudden and seemingly nonsensical impudence on the matter. Celestia wracked her brain, trying to determine the source of his out of character insubordination. The fire crackled, spitting a glowing spark into the air like a burning fairy of doubt.

She had been lenient about the tragic fate of Twilight Sparkle in deference to Shining’s raw magical strength, sheer potential, and otherwise flawless personality. One innocent mare had suffered so that many more would live. There was even a chance that Celestia could get lucky and…

No. That sort of wish was too much, and she was once again justifying her uncharacteristic leniency with an impossible hope.

It wasn’t that Twilight was treated cruelly, far from it. Shining always doted on the mare, going so far as to bargain for her to attend his personal lessons with Celestia as a secondary personal student. He regularly demanded that any boon or benefit he was to receive was duplicated for Twilight, or he wouldn’t accept it. Outside the three of them, Twilight was treated as much a royal Student as Shining was.

Maybe his current reluctance stemmed from far more a mundane problem. “Is she pregnant? I can take care of her while you’re gone.”

He shook his head calmly. “Of course not.” Blinking, he tilted his head slightly sideways and pursed his lips. “Look, neither of us have time to argue about this. I’m on your side. I always am. I know what you need me to do, and I need Twilight to do it.”

Celestia snorted, suddenly angry. Why was she putting up with this? This foal was trying to order her around just so he could have his little pleasure piece. This was far more important than he could possibly realize. He presumed too much, and her patience was wearing thin. “You don’t need to get your dick wet to check up on a few tasks, My Student. You will leave her here. She will be fine, and you can come back to her the day after the Summer Sun Celebration.”

Shining merely rolled his eyes at her uncharacteristic outburst, maintaining his unnatural calm. “We both know that’s not why you’re sending me.”

Celestia glared at him, the dimming anger still beating in her chest as her mind raced. Just how much did he know? “Oh? Then why am I sending you, my faithful student? Why don’t you enlighten me as to my own motivations?”

He used his magic to open up his saddle bags, tossing an old book to her hooves. She looked down, recognizing it immediately. It was a foal’s fairy tale. More importantly, it was one about her sister.

The one she needed Shining to kill tonight, because she could never bring herself to do it.

Her anger quickly turned to an icy dread as a similarly unnatural calm took over her. “This is… just a fairy tale.”

Shining’s response was quick, as though he expected Celestia’s cold dismissal. “Then for the sake of this fairy tale of sisters, allow me to bring my own.”

The dread grew into a hollow feeling, and within that hollow something dark was smoldering. How dare he compare them. “Your sister is nothing like mine was.”

While Celestia’s sister was currently a monster who had been beaten low by the tides of eternity, Luna had once been regal and just. In her prime she was a paragon of justice, and one of the few ponies Celestia had truly and deeply loved. The little mare known as Twilight was a debauched pervert molded and corrupted into something foul by Shining’s own hoof.

The comparison disgusted her, but there was at least one disturbing parallel between the two mares. Twilight’s pathetic state was entirely Shining’s fault, much like Luna’s current state was Celestia’s. Shining had raised Twilight from the moment she hadn’t needed diapers. Their parents worked full time, for the crown no less, and had allowed him to eagerly take little Twilight under his metaphorical wing before she could even talk.

From the time she was a young filly, he had been teaching her… things. Things that should have sent him to prison and the young filly to therapy. Had anypony else been aware of the actual depths of Shining’s manipulation and abuse of Twilight, that certainly would have been the outcome.

Celestia sometimes fantasized about quietly imprisoning him and throwing away the key. She could simply abandon this project and instead use her remaining time and energy to prepare Equestria for a smooth transition when she cedes to her mad sister. Shining would certainly make a nice looking statue. As tempting as it was, Nightmare Moon’s return was a far greater threat to her little ponies than one empowered sexual deviant who had already done the worst of his damage.

Shining approached Celestia, and gently put his hoof up to his chest in a salute, almost like one of her royal guard. “Celestia, I swear that Twilight and I will take care of this—but I need her to do it. Please, trust me.”

She glared at him, the rage and fury focusing her attention. Instead of incinerating him, she observed him. He really did look like one of her royal guard. Perhaps he could have made guard captain had she given him the proper training. To his credit, he didn’t wither under her dangerous glare. He never did.

All her plans, hopes, and dreams depended on this. He didn’t know how fully she was already committed to him. He didn’t realize the sacrifices she’d made for tonight, exactly how deep a price she had already paid. She’d known that she’d have to trust him. She’d molded him to be nearly perfect and, honestly, she did trust him.

She just did not trust his obsessive slave.

Celestia hated that she’d let the situation with Twilight get so awful. Celestia had chosen to be complicit in his crime. She had known what was happening the moment Twilight joined in their first magic lesson and “nuzzled” up next to Shining. A young filly shouldn’t nuzzle quite so intently, and Twilight had been very young then; not even old enough to get her cutie mark. Most ponies wouldn’t have noticed, or perhaps chalked it up to poor social skills, but Celestia wasn’t most ponies. She’d seen behavior like that before, usually just before deciding the unfortunate fate of some abusive stallion or mare.

Celestia had politely paused the lesson, and stepped out of the room to run a simple and cold calculus in a few moments of privacy. She’d told them that she needed to use the restroom. The math was unfortunately one sided. Shining was far, far too powerful to waste as a pawn. Especially considering the timing of the upcoming millennial anniversary. If ignoring what he was doing to Little Twilight was all it would take to keep him obedient and focused, then Celestia could ethically afford to expend the filly as a sacrifice. One pawn would suffer so Celestia’s board could have a queen. She’d made sacrifices for the greater good before, but this particular one had emotionally gutted her.

There was no time to find a replacement for Shining, and Celestia couldn’t find somepony as powerful. When Nightmare Moon was exhausted from imprisoning Celestia, somepony else would have to stop her. Only Shining could do it.

She groaned. There was no choice. She couldn’t convince him, and she couldn’t intimidate him. He wouldn’t go without his pet. “Fine. But only on the condition that you two not fool around. You and Twilight will not do anything even remotely sexual for two days.”

Shining nodded, raising his hoof from his chest to his forehead in a true royal guard salute. She blinked, disturbed by how practiced and fluid the action looked.

“On my honor, Princess.” He even had the proper response of a guard captain.

She ignored the strange sense of deja vu and redoubled her orders. “Aside from the obvious, that means no kissing, no nuzzling, no groping, no needy looks, and for everypony’s sake, make sure Twilight keeps her tail down. She has a habit of flashing you when she thinks nopony else is looking. I am dead serious, Shining. There will be no quickies, and no secreting away; I don’t even want you to touch each other unless it’s absolutely necessary. You will have separate rooms in the library hosting you, and you will each sleep in your own.”

“Yes, Princess.” Shining was now standing at attention, exactly like a trained soldier receiving his orders.

Celestia felt dizzy from seeing him, almost as though it was causing a strange sense of vertigo. She closed her eyes, and immediately felt better. “Shining Armor, if you do not manage this, I will be very displeased. If you fail due to a dalliance with… her… then I will remove that temptation from your future. Permanently. Do you understand?” It was more likely they’d all be dead by her mad sister, but Celestia couldn’t say as much.

This confrontation, and verbal admission that she tacitly allowed the situation made her feel sick. Celestia normally stayed quiet on the matter, choosing not to think about it most days. She allowed Twilight to participate in their lessons, and even moved the two of them into their own tower together. Sound proofing enchantments had been added to their door, and a privacy enchantment added to their windows. She’d only verbally chastised their closeness once, coldly advising them to “not be so affectionate in public” when Twilight’s nuzzling became a little too frivolous.

Shining had nodded in clear understanding, and it hadn’t happened since.

The worst and most damning evidence had been when Celestia barged into their room, through the privacy wards that she’d set up for them. She had wanted an immediate clarification on an answer he’d written, and she’d not thought to send a magical notification, or even warning.

The smell of sex had been overwhelming, and seeing a far too young Twilight’s glistening vulva hovering over her student’s impressively erect and equally wet penis had left nothing to the imagination. Worse still, Shining’s response had been truly harrowing.

He hadn’t been bothered, or even surprised by, the intrusion at all. Instead, he calmly asked what she needed while pausing his upwards thrusting. His unflappable temperament was one of the traits that Celestia usually favored, but a perfectly calm response from a teenage colt caught red hoofed mid coitus, with his under age sister no less, was soul chilling. On the other hoof, little Twilight had immediately shot Celestia a death glare that had taken a full five days to fade from her face.

It was quite literally the only emotion she’d ever seen on the placid mare besides pure adoration for her brother, or a neutral and studious face. Celestia had never seen the little filly the same after that, always instead seeing through Twilight’s calm mask and into how much she obsessed over her personal time with her brother.

At the very least, the incident had proven that both siblings were the only two ponies in recent memory willing to openly show share their displeasure with her. She supposed that, regardless of their relationship, they were clearly related.

Shining’s hoof stepped firmly back on the floor, creating a loud smack and refocusing Celestia from her daze. Celestia decided to open her eyes. It was just her student there, not that strange and dizzying royal guard, or the sexually deviant teenager she’d caught years ago.

His smile was an oddly amused smirk, quite a strange response to an uncharacteristically hostile ruling and threat from Celestia. “Of course, Princess. If things don’t work out, it’s not like we can all just… start over until we get it right.”

Celestia watched him intently, unnerved by his manner. Sometimes Shining made her skin crawl. As he turned to leave, she wondered how exactly she’d ever explain this when he was inevitably caught by the public.

While she had never caught them in the act again, it was mostly due to care on her part and not theirs. Somehow, everypony else seemed completely oblivious to their incestial situation. Even the meaning behind Twilight’s cutie mark had been embarrassingly obvious to Celestia.

The day Twilight had gotten her mark had left Celestia morbidly questioning the necessity of her choice to not intervene. She’d opened up a particularly old cask of wine that night, and drained it to the bottom while she contemplated all possible interpretations. She’d ordered another cask when she had narrowed it down to one.

Cutie marks were a personal thing, and only the bearer knew exactly what they represented. Celestia wasn’t an exception to that rule but she had more insight than most; she’d seen so many hundreds of thousands of marks over the years that she usually understood their symbolism far better than the marked themselves. Since Twilight received her mark after Shining Armor had, Twilight’s mark was downright obscene. Of course, you’d have to completely understand the nature of marks to see that. Celestia was likely the only one who could notice.

It happened, occasionally. A young filly or colt might worship a particular pony and get influenced by them enough to have it show up in their mark. Sometimes it was a family member; usually it was benign. Rarely, though, it was a sign of abuse. In Twilight’s case, she’d been forever marked as Shining’s thing. The tilted mark denoted corruption, or outside influence. In this case, Shining’s. The encased mark was about devotion, or faithfulness. In Shining’s mark it designated that he was devoted to protection. In Twilight’s, she was devoted to him.

The presentation of the marks made the closeness of their relationship clear, but the layering and positioning suggested just how truly depraved it was. Of course, both marks had far more meaning than just their relationships. Shining’s devotion to protection was augmented by remarkable magic, and the presentation of smaller stars around the whole design represented his influence on the world around him.

Twilight’s further interpretation was some magical connection to fate. Celestia was suspicious that since her surrounding stars were white, the strings of fate were tied closely to her brother. Far more likely, they might actually represented Twilight’s preference for being marked with his seed. Harmony usually saw fit to camouflage truly obscene marks as something vague, like fate.

After the cutie mark appeared, Twilight had grown even more slavish and obedient towards Shining. She constantly stared at his body with unabashedly focused and hungry eyes. Now, she was fully an adult and any semblance of self sufficiency or even self identity was seemingly gone. All that was left of the bright but awkward little filly was a very eager, and at this point incredibly well practiced, concubine. Twilight was studiously silent during lessons, and Celestia had absolutely no doubt that the only thoughts left running through Twilight’s head were how to better please Shining Armor between lessons.

While Twilight’s thoughts on Shining were plainly obvious, Shining himself was a little more inscrutable. Celestia had once asked Shining what he planned to do with Twilight when his studies were over and he was on his own. She was morbidly curious if he’d at least marry her, as socially unacceptable as that may be. He’d said, with a completely neutral and straight face, that he’d keep her.

The words had echoed around Celestia’s mind for weeks.

He’d keep her. Like some kind of object, or toy.

Celestia had been thoroughly disgusted, but hid it well. She’d smiled kindly and stated that “Twilight would probably like that.”

In every other aspect of his life, Shining was a complete gentlepony. He was impossibly intelligent, kind, a genius with magic, and a gorgeous physical specimen. Aside from his truly horrific relationship with his sister, he was the perfect stallion. He stopped to help strangers, he was understanding and compassionate, and he even remembered the castle staff’s birthdays.

Most interestingly of all, his magic power was comparable to her own. With only a few more decades of practice, he’d be on her level; whether he managed ascension or not. She couldn’t waste this opportunity over the fate of one unfortunate filly.

So she hadn’t.

The sacrifice of Twilight had not been in vain. Shining had advanced alarmingly quickly and across all fields of magic with Celestia’s tutelage.

His growth hadn’t gone unnoticed by the noble ladies vying for familial power, either. Luckily, he had little interest in mares that weren’t Twilight. The only time it had looked like it might become an issue, Celestia had quickly intervened. Afterword, she had warned him in no uncertain terms that no one was to find out about Twilight’s relationship with him while he was her student.

The end result was that Celestia had been forced to politely chase Cadence away from him, for fear that the younger alicorn would discover his horrible secret. It was a shame, they would have made an excellent pair in another life. Celestia occasionally had a flash of panic that Cadence had figured it out, and was working her own devious purposes. If Cadence had, she hadn’t said or done anything about it. Sometimes Cadence was more clever than she let on, but Celestia doubted she would allow this level of perversion to continue as Celestia had.

Celestia took a few meditative breaths, reconstituting her calm exterior and collecting her rampant thoughts before she returned to court for the day. The worst of it was almost over. She just needed one or two more days of faithful effort from Shining Armor, and then… well, he would still be an excellent pawn, but he wouldn’t be a necessary pawn. She could re-evaluate the Twilight situation then.

Assuming all parties were still alive.

Author's Note

Chapter 1. Entire story is about 30K words. Already written. Gonna publish a chapter a day or so. Maybe more. Dunno. Haven't posted anything in a while. Don't know who will like this or even what it is. Good luck, weird story. I'm counting on you.

The night of the full Moon.

When Shining had directed Celestia up the stairs and to Twilight’s room, Celestia had assumed that would mean she didn’t need to knock. She’d assumed every room in the house would be protected by various privacy wards simply due to the proclivities of the library’s inhabitants. The wards on Twilight’s door hadn’t stopped or even slowed her down.

When she opened the door, slipping through the wards and stepping inside, she realized that perhaps she should have knocked.

“Sorry to interrupt, but I need Luna’s input on…” Celestia couldn’t continue her interjection as she had to immediately close her mouth and process what she was seeing.

Her dear sister was at least partially hidden behind Twilight, but the smell of sex was unmistakable. Celestia had interrupted again. Twilight’s death glare was already upon her, but the glare quickly softened.

“Princess Celestia.” Was all Twilight said, though very calmly. She seemed to wait a moment to consider something while Celestia took in the sight, unable to turn away.

What Celestia saw was startling, and also terribly confusing. Luna was strapped with her back on some table, and had her hooves restrained slightly in the air. All four of her hooves were wrapped in some material, and linked to the ground, pressing her flat against the white, cloth covered surface. Twilight was positioned in between Luna’s legs, standing in front of the table. Had they been the same size, Twilight would be blocking most of the view, but Twilight was a much smaller mare. Her head barely hid Luna’s nethers from Celestia’s view, and Twilight’s glistening wet snout was a clear indication of what had been happening. Luna’s wings were unbound, and spread wide against the table, ever so slightly flapping.

Celestia’s mind was focused on the fact that it couldn’t be particularly comfortable to be strapped down like that.

After a few moments, Twilight shrugged and smiled softly. “It’s funny. I warned her that the only pony who would barge in on us without knocking was you. She said that if you did, that you deserved what you got. Apparently, she honestly believes that.”

Celestia looked over her shoulder. “I… I’ll go and give you a chance to clean up…”

Twilight shook her head from side to side. “No. Luna hasn’t asked me to stop.”

That wasn’t something that Celestia expected to hear. This was about to get a whole lot more awkward. “What do you mean?”

Luna’s wings softly fluttered against the table, but Twilight answered. “Luna and I have a system. If she wants me to stop, she knocks three times. Can you demonstrate the knock Luna?”

Luna’s fore hoof slammed firmly against the table, startling Celestia with the loud noise. “Crack. Crack. Crack.”

Twilight nodded. “Thank you, Luna.” Twilight turned and gave Luna’s leg a quick kiss, causing the wings to stretch. “That’s the noise she makes if she wants me to stop. She hasn’t made that noise unbidden, therefore, she does not want me to stop.”

Celestia caught a glimpse of Luna’s twitching pink flesh when Twilight turned, and immediately blushed. She didn’t need to see that. Perhaps she’d imagined it.

Luna’s bits were pink.

Pink.

“I… see… But that doesn’t mean I need to stay. I’ll simply wait for you to finish…“

Twilight frowned, and Celestia saw a brief flash of that angry glare from before. “No. I don’t think so. Whatever you need is obviously important enough for you to fly from Canterlot, then interrupt us during our time.” Twilight took a deep breath, appearing to calm down. “And I know and trust you enough to realize that it’s probably very important.”

Celestia nodded. “It… is.”

Twilight looked back at Luna’s prone body before she answered. “So it seems that Luna is the one who is being bad. Luna, are you being naughty?”

Two quick raps came from the table. “Crack. Crack.”

Twilight turned back to Celestia with a sly grin. “She claims she isn’t. I think she’s lying, and will need some coercion.”

Celestia frowned. “Why does she not speak?”

“The mask is a magic gag. It allows her to breath fine, but keeps her from talking. It’s very effective to keep her from asking questions or telling me things she shouldn’t.” Twilight walked around the table to Luna’s head, revealing the whole obscene view of Luna’s quivering underside in the process. “Since apparently she has some secrets that I shouldn’t know.”

Celestia quickly looked away, but not before seeing more of her sister’s bruised buttocks and wet flesh than she intended to. Luna certainly had secrets that Celestia wished she didn’t know.

Twilight spoke up, attempting to get Celestia’s attention. “Here, see?”

Celestia slowly turned her head back, unhappy at Twilight’s request to look towards her sister’s vulnerable form.

She saw all of Luna once again, and now Luna’s head was being lifted by Twilight so Celestia could see her face as well. Luna was wearing some sort of purple mask that covered her snout and eyes, clearly blinding her. The mask pulsed with magic, and had Twilight’s cutie mark emblazoned on it. Celestia ignored the rest of the obscene scene, and focused on the spell work.

“That’s an impressive artifact, Twilight. The sealing magic involved is honestly terrifying. I’m not sure I could break through.”

Twilight smiled deeply, embarrassed and pleased by the compliment. She sucked in a breath as though that had never occurred to her. “Oh… I suppose not. It does keep Luna at bay when she gets… passionate. Though, it’s not much. You should see what I made for Cadence. She’s got a whole suit. The real magic I made for Luna is over here, come take a look!” Suddenly excited and smiling, Twilight was almost hopping with joy as she walked back in between Luna’s legs and gestured frantically to something between the bound mare’s legs. Twilight was acting like a foal presenting a report card of excellent grades.

Uncomfortably, Celestia approached. She wasn’t sure what to do, and was completely out of her breadth of experience—which was a scary thought, all things considered. The magic in the mask was truly impressive, and Twilight seemed so happy to show it off that Celestia would feel incredibly guilty turning her down. Especially since Celestia was the one who was interrupting.

Against her instincts and better judgment, Celestia steeled her mind to stare at her sister’s genitals where the next charm seemed to be located.

As she approached, she noticed another layer to the setup that she couldn’t see from the door. Luna’s teats were covered by some glass cups that had little tubes coming from them. The tubes ran off the side of the table and underneath to some hidden contraption or storage. There was a gentle pulse of magic, and the cups were half with flesh as they were slightly sucked upwards. Luna softly shook against the table.

Celestia tried to ignore the smell, but it was strong. The scent was indescribably Luna, but far more musky than usual. There was the heavy scent of sex and sweat, and another sweet smell that lingered. Celestia just barely smelled Twilight, but that was normal. The filly always had the faint scent of arousal about her.

Awkwardly, Celestia stood between her sister’s legs. “Well sister, I did not expect to see you like this.”

“Knock”

Twilight chimed in. “Luna agrees.” Then she pointed her hoof at a little speck in Luna’s inner thigh. Far to small for Celestia to see clearly, but far too close to Luna’s very wet pussy for Celestia to approach any closer.

“Look at this one! This is a real work of science and art. It took me weeks to come up with the design, but it’s probably unbreakable. Luna and I have tried, and you’re the only pony with stronger magic than her!”

Celestia squinted. There was a small glowing dot there, wasn’t there? It looked vaguely like some sort of sealing magic, but it did more. “That’s… interesting spellwork… Twilight. What exactly does it do again?”

Twilight smiled broadly. “You have to get closer to see it, but it’s a more complex sealing spell. Can you figure it out?”

This had to be a bad prank. No pony could possibly be this clueless to Celestia’s discomfort, while simultaneously being this nonchalant about sex.

Celestia glanced at Twilight and saw her face filled with pure hope and nearly unlimited glee.

No, this was just Twilight being Twilight. Celestia internally cursed—her sister sure as Tartarus knew exactly what she was going through, and was probably dying from laughter underneath that cursed mask.

Steeling herself once more, Celestia moved her face forward until she could make out the design. Trying her best to ignore her sister’s overpowering musk and twitching flesh, Celestia finally noted the details in the little glowing copy of Twilight’s cutie-mark that appeared to be painted on the naked flesh just outside of her sister’s outer labia.

It was more sealing magic, but this one was focused on Luna’s nervous system. There was also an enhancement charm or two, a sustenance charm, and a powerful divination charm. The whole thing was impossibly well constructed. Celestia knew she couldn’t create something so exquisitely detailed, and quickly found herself enthralled with the spellwork itself while completely forgetting Luna’s obscene canvas.

“This is absolutely amazing Twilight… I daresay even beautiful. I couldn’t guess the function, but I recognize the skill. You’re suppressing part of her nervous system, enhancing other parts, sustaining her, augmenting some senses and dulling others, while protecting her from harm. Where did you learn this?” Celestia tore her eyes away from the creation and focused on Twilight’s beaming face.

“Shiny described the concept to me, but I had to make it. His magic isn’t fine tuned enough for the delicate work, and I had to create the circuits for what I wanted.” Twilight’s cheer was overflowing.

Celestia had a moment of panic. The charm didn’t have to be this small. Twilight knew that, and she knew that. Twilight had gone out of her way to miniaturize this so as for it to be unnoticeable. Shining probably could cast this, or something similar, but it would take a whole suit of armor to carry it. Or you could shave a pony and cover its back, she supposed. Still, the military applications were tremendous, and the mass application of a modified charm to her guard would be happening the moment he failed in his quest. She’d probably ask him earlier, but tasking Twilight with applying the charm to the castle guards before then would surely count as interfering with his plans for her.

“Twilight, I can tell this is utterly ground breaking magic. But what exactly does it do?”

“It dulls pain, protects her body from most harm, provides water, carbohydrates, and proteins as she needs them, increases blood flow to keep her aroused, increases specific hormone flow to make her even more aroused, augments her mucous production to keep her lubricated, and keeps her from cumming!”

Celestia stared blankly back at Twilight. In the moment, she’d forgotten this was a sex toy. “Keeps her from what now?”

Twilight smiled brightly. “Prevents her from cumming. You know, orgasms?”

Celestia did know what that word meant. What she did not know was why that function was on a sex toy. She assumed the point of sex was to have said orgasm. “But… why?”

“Because of the rules! Luna can’t have intercourse, or seek out sexual gratification. I’m not allowed to penetrate her either.” Twilight’s smile was wide, and she looked proud.

Celestia looked over her shoulder, wondering if it would be acceptable to simply leave at this juncture, but decided that she was already this far down the rabbit hole. In for a bit, in for a bushel. “So why is she… like that then?”

Twilight ran her hoof up Luna’s thigh, smiling affectionately. “The rules don’t apply to me. I can seek out sexual gratification all I want. So I am.” Twilight gave a quick and affectionate kiss to Luna’s inner thigh. “Luna and I figured out that as long as she never asks me for anything, and doesn’t cum, it doesn’t count.”

Celestia still didn’t understand. “How did she get like this without asking for it?”

Twilight continued to rub her thigh affectionately, staring at Luna’s pussy as it quivered. Twilight’s voice lowered, softly and affectionately. “The same reason you stayed in the room.”

“That doesn’t make any sense. Luna never asked for me to stay.”

Twilight’s smile turned wicked as she brought her gaze back to Celestia, basking in her own cleverness. “She didn’t have to. She could have tapped ‘no’ for me when I said your name, or tapped three times if she wanted me to take off her mask to talk to you. She didn’t. The only thing she couldn’t do was tap once, because then she’d be asking for something. Instead, she did nothing. Therefore, she wants you in the room.”

That thought was alarming. Celestia glanced at Luna, whose back arched and wings fluttered. “Perhaps she was indifferent?”

Twilight ran her hoof down Luna’s leg, keeping eye contact with Celestia as she gently flicked Luna’s clit. Twilight’s voice was low and sultry when she spoke. “I highly doubt she is indifferent to this situation.”

Celestia gulped.

Luna’s back arched again while her pussy oozed out fluid like a slowly overflowing teacup. There was a single knock as Luna’s hind leg quivered to Celestia’s left.

Twilight’s evil smile turned affectionate, and she gave a light kiss to Luna’s knee. “She seems to agree with me. I’d trust her on this.”

Celestia took a step back, her eyes wide and panicked.

Twilight laughed. “I’ll count this as pay back for interrupting us.”

Celestia’s voice quivered as she tried to understand the situation. “Does Shining know about this?”

“Nope. I don’t tell him about these visits, and he doesn’t ask. He knows I made runes for the rest of the harem, but not for Luna. He also can’t spy through these wards. As far as he knows, we talk about astronomy all night. He’s not entirely wrong. I do spend plenty of time studying the moon and the stars.” Twilight briefly frowned. “Are you going to tell him?”

Luna quickly tapped twice.

Celestia groaned. “I suppose not. At least it means that this little show was accidental on Luna’s part.”

Luna tapped twice.

Twilight smiled. “I guess not.”

Celestia glared at Luna, not that she could see. “Be this… nonsense as it may…” Twilight frowned when Celestia called it nonsense, “I still need an answer from Luna immediately.”

Twilight continued to frown. “Okay. But this is Luna’s court right now. She’s in charge, and I am her attendant. As such, you will present your case to Her Majesty, Princess Luna.” Twilight gestured to Luna’s quivering cunt.

Celestia sighed. This was insane. “She very much does not seem in charge. Please release her, so that she may speak directly to me, Twilight.”

Two taps.

Twilight frowned, and glared defiantly at Celestia. “No. She is in charge. This is her time. I ask her for permission, and she allows it or she does not. Right now, in this room, she is in charge. I am her attendant. You aren’t supposed to be here, so at best you’re a courtier.”

Celestia was done with this. “Twilight, this is absurd. This is about that stupid bet she made with Shining. She’s just try…”

She was interrupted by two very loud raps.

Celestia stopped. If this insane game was how Luna planned on seducing Twilight, then she shouldn’t interfere. “It’s… not my place to complain. Enjoy your time with her, Twilight, though you’ll likely have much more time in the future.” Celestia glared at Twilight in frustration. Luna seemed to be making quite the progress towards her goal. “I suspect she’ll have you wearing that mask soon enough.”

Twilight laughed. “Maybe, though, I doubt it. If she puts me in the mask, I won’t be able to eat her pussy.” Then she lowered her gaze to Luna’s aforementioned anatomy while quickly licking her lips. “And she really likes me to eat her pussy, doesn’t she?”

There was a silent pause, and then Twilight lowered her face. “Your wish is my command, Princess. I will worship you while the courtier presents their case.”

Celestia stood and awkwardly read the missive to Luna while Twilight obscenely… worshiped. Occasionally Luna knocked once or twice, and sometimes Twilight paused her task to clarify. All the while, Luna quivered and Twilight noisily slurped. Twilight had gotten alarmingly good at reading Celestia’s sister when she was bound and gagged. Celestia knew Luna better overall, but Twilight clearly had more experience in this specific matter, and Celestia was willing to defer.

When it was done, Luna had agreed to create a constellation. It would be a yak smashing a pot. Simple, and representative of Celestia’s emotions.

Utterly and completely destroyed.

As Celestia took her leave, she watched Twilight’s slavish attention to her sister. It wasn’t a method Celestia would approve of, but Luna clearly had the mare wrapped around her hoof. Twilight had defended Luna from Celestia with all the vigor that Shining had once demanded she attend Ponyville with him—all while shoving her snout in Luna’s pussy. In a perverse way, it saddened Celestia to see her dedication straying from Shining. “You are a very determined concubine, Twilight Sparkle. I’m impressed at your ferocity in meeting Luna’s desires.”

Twilight looked at her in confusion before wiping her snout off. “No, I’m a very determined friend.”

Celestia stared at her, unsure of what to say. Twilight’s friendship lessons had seemed to be going well, and there was little chance she was confused.

Twilight walked quickly towards her, and from her tense expression, Celestia expected to be slapped or some such thing. Instead, Twilight leaned up to Celestia’s ear and whispered to her. “You should trust your sister more.”

Celestia froze before whispering incredulously back, “Excuse me?”

“Luna wouldn’t be here like this if she didn’t trust me. She’s far more powerful than I am, and she is not wearing any magic inhibitors. You shouldn’t have needed me to tell you that she was in charge. This whole time it hasn’t been me teasing you, it’s been her. I don’t know what’s going on between you two right now, but please think about that. You’re both my friends, and I love you both, but this is her time and not yours.”

Twilight kept surprising her in new ways, but in this case she had been right. Celestia and Luna’s relationship had been oddly tested here, and Celestia had kept second guessing Luna and her motives at every turn. Supposedly, Celestia trusted Luna and Twilight.

Supposedly they were friends.

Suitably chastised, Celestia answered. “You’re right. Thank you.” Celestia bowed her head in deference, or perhaps gratitude for the correction. Ponies usually weren’t willing to correct her when she made a mistake, especially one involving her sister. For a brief moment, Twilight’s willingness to help her warmed her heart.

She kept her head bowed as Twilight leaned in again. Celestia waited patiently to hear another line of friendly wisdom.

Instead, her ear was nibbled, and Twilight whispered hotly. “Everypony in Shining’s harem gets my full attention when it is their time. You will, too.”

Celestia mechanically lifted her head from the bow, clumsily turned around, and wordlessly stormed from the room. She nearly got stuck in the doorway as her wings were stretched to their limit.

Author's Note

Oh hey. Something vaguely approaching porn in one of my stories. Hopefully I made it awkward enough to where it's not actually arousing. Then again, nothing I write is, so there is little worry about that!

Wait, is this the end?

The night was dark, but Celestia was warm. Twilight’s wing draped snugly over her back, holding her tight. This was the most comfortable place in the world, but something wasn’t right. Celestia opened her eyes, unhappy to be awake. She remembered something. Was it a dream?

“Twilight?” Celestia nuzzled Twilight.

“Yes?” Twilight’s answer was slow, and sleepy.

“Do you miss him?” The question had been burning her. She didn’t know for herself, and wondered if maybe Twilight knew. The mare seemed to know everything nowadays.

“Of course.” Twilight’s answer was immediate.

Her answer was a whisper, “Me too.”

Celestia waited a while. Almost long enough for Twilight to fall back asleep. Had it been long enough yet? Was it too soon? “Do you… hate him?”

“No.” Twilight was awake fully now, searching Celestia’s eyes with deep concern.

Celestia looked over the room, at all the sleeping mares. Each one had come to worship. She didn’t know how many it had been over the years. He was gone, but the cult had continued, and the mares and stallions that once might have been friends and lovers were now somehow less. Legs were splayed awkwardly. Flesh was warped by spells into obscene members. Fluids coated it all, creating a uniform sheen that made it difficult to tell the inside of a pony from the outside anymore.

Somewhere in that pile of macabre flesh lay her sister, entwined and conjoined into one soulless flesh beast with others who refused to slumber. When she parted to find new partners, she would never even have known their names.

At the top of its debauchery, overseeing all from the altar was Celestia. The room was saturated with the stink of sex. She glanced down the gaudy altar, noting its smooth, golden surface and she felt pains from hunger.

She focused on two things that seemed vitally important, but could not place why. There was not even an epitaph engraved upon the monument, and she couldn’t remember when she had last eaten.

The cathedral, full of warm ponies and her closest loved ones, was empty and cold as a frozen tundra.

“I do.”

Author's Note

I mis-counted and lied I guess. This is the end. I thought I had another chapter in there, but it looks like I didn't? I'm pretty confused right now, but since I can't even remember what the chapter was, I think that maybe it never existed. Whoa. I need to start doing drugs. Then I'd have an excuse for my idiocy.