Dreamwalker's Tale: An Anthology

I stopped at yet another shop window and regarded the items on display with disinterest. Sashes, scarfs, satchels and saddlebags. They were masterfully crafted, colorful and positioned in a way that one could really see all the minor details their creator had implemented. I still cared little. My eyes were instead drawn to the reflection of the mare that came to a stop beside me. Her purple eyes danced across the display very much in the same superficial fashion mine had done before they settled on my reflection. And her playful smile returned.

“Would it help if I mentioned that we have free dental?” she joked.

I snorted and shook my head. I had not seen that one coming. “Cadance, I’m not moving to the Crystal Empire. Besides, the Night Guard cares for their folks.” I honestly had no idea if we actually had ‘free dental’ ourselves, my dentist had never mentioned any issues. But that was beside the point anyway.

She was not about to let it go that easily, of course. She had pestered me about this for maybe half an hour. More or less the entire time ever since we exited the museum. I had to give her credit for persistence, at least. “I know, I know,” she replied with that very same smile still plastered on her muzzle. “All I’m saying is: If you ever want a change of scenery, if you want to get out of your trot, just say the word. You might make for a good cupid one day. And I wouldn’t mind bolstering my ranks with somepony Sunburst gets along with so well.”

The thought of the seemingly continuously befuddled scholar made me smile. We had hit it off quite well. We both knew a lot about magic theory, even though I could not quite compare to the vastness of his knowledge, and we both were rather weak when it came to its practical application. We both had an interest in history and its many artifacts and we were both more on the timid side.

I even looked around for him for a moment, even though I knew that he had already gone back to his room in the castle. No matter how well we got along, I would never gush about Starswirl the Bearded the same way he, Twilight or Shining did. The trio had been de-aged several decades as soon as we stepped hoof into the museum. They ran from display case to display case, excitedly exchanging their knowledge and stories and they squealed a little before they ran off to the next one.

And the adults smiled patiently and followed slowly. It was really weird to count myself as one of the adults for once. But I cherished the opportunity to have a nice little chat with Night Light and Twilight Velvet. The former regaled me with a story from the astronomer’s guild that must have taken place years ago. But I did not mind. He seemed to enjoy this particular retelling quite a lot and it seemed to be his favorite story, judging by the tired and exasperated groans of both Twilight’s mom and Cadance.

And Twilight Velvet was as tight-lipped as ever. That was not to say that she did not speak with me. Our conversation was just noticeably one-sided. She got to ask all the questions and I had to answer. Rare was the instance that I actually got a straight answer out of her. I still did not know what she actually wrote. I knew she was an author of some kind. But everypony just seemed to make a big deal out of it. This huge and nebulous mystery I was not allowed to unravel.

I would have reacted with my trademark shrug of indifference had this day not presented me with such a prime opportunity to finally get the answer, only to then present me with her iron wall of silence and misdirection. It was clear that she enjoyed it. Very much in the same fashion Rarity enjoyed her little games. And just as with Rarity, I could not help but ask myself: Did it really provide that much fun to play against someone who was barely able to defend himself? Or barely willing.

We walked a few streets further on our arduous journey home. The home of Twilight’s parents, anyway. Cadance and Shining were only visiting for a few days and had decided to stay there instead of accepting the offered guest rooms in the palace. I could understand why. Shining seemed to be very close to his family and I guessed he missed them a lot. And it was not that much of a deal for Cadance to just go along with his wishes.

We stopped in front of yet another shop window. Curiously enough, it was empty. The shop behind the window presented books on shelves, but it did not feel like a library or conventional bookshop. They were displayed like treasures. Each book got its own little spot on the shelves, sat on a pillow and carefully leaned against the wall. This is Canterlot, I reminded myself. Maybe it was just an ordinary bookshop and the presentation was supposed to legitimize an outrageous price tag. Presentation was crucial after all. Rarity said as much every now and then.

“And Shining would not mind having another friend around either,” Cadance continued her assault. “He is an avid player of Ogres and Oubliettes, you know?”

It bubbled in my throat and I tried to swallow it down. And I failed. My smile quickly grew into a grin and shortly after, I quietly laughed. And shook my head again. “Would you cut it out already?” I asked her while I tried — and failed again — to recompose myself. “You made your point the first couple of times. I’m grateful for the offer, but I’m not interested. I have everything I need right here.”

Everything I need. My gaze was involuntarily drawn away. Back the way we came from. Back to Twilight. I felt myself smile fondly. There she was. My little peanut. She flapped her wings a couple of times to reduce the distance between herself and her fleeing brother. A few quick shots from her horn evaporated on the shield he had conjured right behind his rear as he ran along the street and laughed like a madpony. She yelled something about how he would take that back. Whatever ‘that’ was. But she smiled so tenderly, even as she shot another salvo directly onto his behind. He yelped as his shield broke and one shot actually connected. And for a brief fraction of a second, her entire demeanor actually changed to genuine worry. Had she hurt him? Was he okay? And while she tried to dote over him, she failed to see that mischievous grin on his muzzle as he tackled her to the ground and started to relentlessly tickle her. She howled in laughter and tried to squirm away from him.

Somewhere in the back of my head, I realized that I was doing exactly the same as their parents did. They stood maybe two dozen feet away from the unruly scene and just watched the pair. With pride and love and joy.

Maybe we should have been more conscious about our surroundings. We were in the middle of Canterlot streets after all. On an afternoon no less. Enough ponies milled about all around us. Several watched the spectacle at least in passing, while others stopped and added to the audience.

But they did not care. And neither could I bring myself to do so. None of the passersby dared to complain. Because it was a Princess of Equestria being unruly, after all. Who would dare?

My mind was not put at ease. It had never left its current state of utmost serenity. I watched as she teleported above Shining and tried to tackle him in turn, but he was quick with his shields and she stuck to a half-dome above him with a pout. It was adorable. I chuckled quietly and watched her wings flap. She made the same gestures she would when making a snow angel.

She could be so silly sometimes. I loved her. I loved that about her.

The mental slip did not matter much. Either was true. My attention was only drawn away from them when I heard a faint, but quite content sigh at my side. I looked over and noticed Cadance. She had watched them as well, I was pretty sure. But right now, she looked at me. With a fond smile that was hard not to answer in kind.

“What? Something on my face?” I asked in jest and stuck my tongue out. “I’m allowed to ogle her!”

She giggled softly. “I know, I know. Would it surprise you to learn that you inspire me? That you give me hope on some less fortunate days?”

I furrowed my brow and my smile slowly drained away. “I—… yes. Yes, that would actually surprise me.”

“It comes with the domain that I see so much love,” she explained and shifted her attention back to the spectacle not too far down the street. “I see warmth in ponies’ hearts and the love they share. But I have to deal with the many instances of miscommunication as well. With incompatibilities. With the many pitfalls that devour relationships. None of us are ever safe from making mistakes, from hurting the ones we love. But with romantic love especially, there is something of an… evolution. Many different stages such a bond passes through over many years. And it is so exceptionally rare to see somepony like you. Somepony who, years and years into a relationship, still has these moments of being utterly smitten with his partner with the same vigor as in those precious first days and weeks.”

While she studied the sibling ‘fight’, I studied her. And while it was hard to get a proper read on her, I still only saw genuine joy and gratefulness. And of course I immediately felt undeserving. But that was not the point. I followed her gaze and watched Twilight again. I had not noticed it before, but Cadance was right. Seeing her goof around with Shining was exciting. Seeing her laugh and smile made my heart flutter and put an entire swarm of butterflies in my stomach. It made me smile. It made me want to kiss her so badly.

I poked Cadance’s shoulder with a hoof. “You’re welcome, I guess,” I mumbled quietly. I had no idea what else to say. It felt weird to think about how I inspired a princess. Cadance no less.

She smirked for a moment before she turned around. Twilight and Shining had apparently sorted out whatever they had fought about and dusted themselves off to continue on their way. Our way. So Cadance and I formed the head of our little retinue again. Night Light and Twilight Velvet covered our retreat and made sure we did not lose the kids on the way. Those playful little ones were such a hoofful after all.

“You know—“ Cadance started again and I immediately shook my head and interrupted her.

“No. And if you insist on it, I feel entitled to warn you: I will set Luna on you!” I grinned as I imagined my little kitten chewing Cadance out for trying to coax me away. Knowing Luna, it would be loud.

Cadane laughed and put a hoof to her chest. “Oh no! Not Luna! Whatever shall I do!”

I chuckled. “You’ll be less of a loudmouth once we get to it.”

She merely grinned in response. Maybe she dared me to try it. After a moment, she shook her head though and pointed to a little side alley. “Let’s go that way.” I shrugged and changed direction. “What I actually tried to say before somepony rudely interrupted me was: You know of this little theater in this alley?”

I looked around for a moment, but I failed to recognize any of the buildings surrounding me. The street sign offered the name of the alley of course, but I was just plain horrible at navigating with street names. I usually referred to familiar sights. And this part of town was one I rarely visited, if ever. “Can’t say I do.”

She nodded and we stopped in front of a little corkboard next to a surprisingly unassuming entrance. A few fliers were pinned there, and the theater's program. Clearly the newest addition to the board was a big, flashy advertisement, though. Cadance nodded towards it, so I shrugged, stepped up to her side and gave it a read.

The usual empty phrases made my eyes glaze over. I skipped them as best as I could to get the gist of it. Apparently they were a very small theater. Privately sponsored. Barely known. But good production values. And they announced the premiere of their latest piece. ‘The Ballad of Sunset Shimmer’.

Well isn’t that a surprise, I mused.

I knew the name, if barely. Sunset had been one of Celestia’s students. The one before Twilight. And… that was about all I knew. She rarely talked about her prior students and I rarely had reason to ask.

I looked down the alley, back to the entrance where we had come from. Twilight and Shining were coming in our direction, but they moved slowly and were still a good distance off. Cadance had known about the theater. And maybe about the premiere as well. A premiere that was advertised for the following evening. I looked at her and was not all that surprised to see that very specific playful twinkle in her eyes. I sighed, but smiled anyway. “You’re plotting something.”

She fake-gasped and put a hoof to her chest for emphasis. “Me? I would never.”

For a brief moment, she reminded me terribly of Rarity. I chuckled. “You know who Sunset Shimmer is?”

Cadance shook her head. “I know that she was a former student of Celestia and little else. Although, coming to think of it, she always gets terribly emotional when thinking about her.”

Terribly emotional, she said. So what was the plan here? What was her plan anyway? If I wanted to crack Sunny’s mask, I could find other ways. I did not need her help to do it. Or easier still, I could simply ask her to discard it. She barely wore it around me anyway. No, there had to be a different ulterior motive behind her suggestion.

She did want me to take Celestia to this premiere. I was quite certain of that much, at least. Because I knew that Sunny loved theater and while I rarely enjoyed a stage play as much as she did, I mostly gleaned my enjoyment from seeing her reaction to it.

“On a completely unrelated note,” Cadance piped up again with a chipper tone, “Do you happen to know if Twilight still writes these cute little friendship reports to auntie Tia?”

I furrowed my brow even more. Twilight? My eyes were drawn back to her and back to the pamphlet after that. Luna appreciates the theater, I remembered. Twilight did as well, but more or less on the same level I did. It was a nice little change of pace, but one she rarely favored given other options.

My eyes grew wide as a random thought struck me. She knows!

My head snapped around and I stared at her and lo and behold, she grinned smugly. Oh I was such a fool! She was The Princess of Love, how could she not know?!

To this very day, I still did not know what kind of feelings Twilight harbored for Celestia. I had poked and prodded her a few times, but she kept the lid on it and I did not want to pry. And it was the same on the other side as well. Celestia was clearly fond of Twilight. And ever since we had been to the Forbidden Jungle, I knew that she loved her as more than just her prime student or her surrogate daughter. But she stubbornly refused to act on it. My best guess was: Out of fear to lose her or to make it awkward. And no matter how much I tried to bolster her confidence, to reassure her of Twilight’s faith and devotion, she would not budge.

So Cadance had decided to take an interest in this as well?

I stared at the premiere advertisement again and subconsciously chewed my bottom lip. I could hear Twilight’s and Shining’s voices draw closer.

Terribly emotional, Cadance’s voice echoed in my head.

A previous student, lost or gone or whatever happened there. A missed opportunity. Her mask cracked. Her emotions running wild. Desires, regrets, hopes bubbling to the surface. And Twilight was nothing if not supportive, right? She was always there for her ‘mentor’, for her ‘Princess’.

I heard a relieved sigh as I grabbed the advertisement in my telekinesis and pulled it from the board. I neatly folded the sheet of paper and put it into my saddlebags. “You know,” I slowly turned to address Cadance, “I think I have never been on a double date. Celestia has become more comfortable with our weird little relationship constellation over the years and maybe we all grew a little complacent. She wanted each relationship to be separate to some degree. And we never truly talked about that again. Maybe a double date would be a nifty idea to test the waters. See how we deal with, well, seeing the others.”

Cadance smirked and nodded. “That is such a nice idea. I’m sure it will be a lovely evening.”

I laughed quietly. Even more so when she shot me a wink. “You are a devious minx!”

She raised her head proudly and puffed out her chest. “Why thank you!”

We both had a good laugh and continued on our way before the siblings behind us could truly catch up. After all, they apparently already bickered about the next thing and we did not wish to be involved in that. We were reasonable, responsible adults, after all. We kept our urges in check until we were home, where nopony would hear them scream…!

A few hours later.

“So you’re in?” I asked Luna with a grin so wide that my cheeks ached.

“Are you kidding me? Yes, I am in! I am so in! I have never been so in before!” she half-yelled in my face.

Her exuberance made me grin even wider. Somehow. Maybe Pinkie-smiles were infectious after all. I lunged forward and gave a surprised “Oof” as she unexpectedly did the same. We met in the middle and hugged each other for a good moment. “Oh I can’t wait for it. This will be sooo good,” I babbled.

“Do not count your chickens before they are hatched,” Luna warned me. But I could hear her smile from ear to ear as well. She was betting a lot on this just the same way I did. Just the same way Cadance did, I suspected. Was it not curious? How we all had to band together to once again overpower Celestia? Back then, it felt like we had recruited half of Equestria to convince her to take a day off. One day. In two weeks. Hopefully this time, we would need less to achieve more.

“So you talk Twilight into this and we’ll see each other tomorrow?” I asked again, just to be sure. The impulse to pull away from her and see her answer was there, but it had no chance to overpower my enjoyment of her soft, fluffy coat on my cheek. I nuzzled against her chest, greedily inhaled her scent and just felt whole for a moment and I was utterly unwilling to give that up any sooner than I had to.

I felt her nod. That would suffice. She tightened her embrace for a moment before she gave me free. That obviously did not serve to actually dislodge me and I continued to cling to her. I heard her giggle quietly. “If you wish for this plan of ours to commence, you ought to let go of me.”

“Nnno,” I defiantly mumbled. I angled my muzzle enough to place a couple of little kisses on her chest and felt adventurous enough to give her a little nip as well.

She giggled again and let her primaries trail along my back. Their soft touch made me shudder in delight. “We could obviously just stay here as well,” she mused aloud. “Sister would understand, I suppose. It is rare that I am the one missing our shared meals, but then again, I would merely have to mention that I received a most delectable little morsel as breakfast and wink at her to make her blush furiously and she would drop the topic like a hot potato.” I felt how she shifted slightly and leaned down. And I felt her hot breath on my ear a second later. Felt her tongue trace along the edge. Felt that little nip on its tip. I sighed and pressed harder against her. “Night Court rarely sees the same hustle and bustle as her beloved Day Court. I am inclined to think that they would not mind, maybe not even notice if I were to miss one night. Just to utterly exhaust my little firecracker…” She softly moaned right into my ear. I trembled a little and failed to stifle a needy whine. And just as I thought she could hardly be more of a tease, I felt her magic tightly wrap around my emerged member. I pressed my eyes shut as my hip involuntarily bucked a little. “Of course the whole plan would fall apart at that point,” Luna ruthlessly continued, “but I suppose there are going to be other opportunities. This will not be the last visit my niece undertakes. And my beloved sister is not exactly suffering loneliness either. She will be fine for another few weeks.”

You are cruel, kitten.

I sighed deeply. She was right. Cadance came by every so often. But ruling the Crystal Empire was serious business. It took a lot of her time. Visits for a couple of days, like this one, only came around every few months at best. Sometimes only once per year. And no, Celestia was not lonely anymore. But I had been the one arguing that, while everything was well and good, it could be better.

Was I really willing to postpone Sunny’s chance at even more happiness for maybe a year or possibly even more just because I was so incredibly horny right now?

“You’re a monster,” I complained quietly. Luna snickered, but she did not disagree. Her magic faded from my nethers, her hot breath retreated from my ear and I finally pulled away from her.

“If it is any consolation,” she offered, “not pouncing on you right now takes a great deal of effort. You have the most adorable pout and I feel in need of a cold shower myself. Sadly, I will not have the time for one. Breakfast calls, and my sister is waiting.”

I sighed and shot her a wry smile. “No consolation to be found there. I don’t like letting you go out there unsatisfied. Don’t grumble in Court too much, hm?”

She grinned. “I will try.”

I sighed and watched her retreat. She left her chamber and closed the door behind herself. But not before she shot me a final wink as a goodbye. And I did see her lick her lips ever so faintly as her hungry gaze traveled down my barrel.

I sat on the floor for a few more seconds and sighed into a silent and empty room. Her enticing warmth was gone and there was nothing for me left to do here. Well, aside from waiting until my erection was gone. I looked down at it and grumbled a little under my breath. “Come on. We have stuff to do.” Two minutes later, I left Luna’s chambers as well. I nodded my usual greeting towards the night guards posted at the door and quickly made my way over to Celestia’s chamber.

She was supposed to be at dinner. Or breakfast for her sister. Even though Luna was running a little late. That should give me a few moments to prepare and once I was searched by the guards in front of the door and had entered, I looked around and quickly realized: I had no idea what to prepare.

This was not her study. She had a tea set in here as well, of course. But this was not exactly the kind of ‘I need to convince her and I am willing to employ desperate measures’-scenario. So I merely retreated to her bed and lounged on it with the advertisement positioned on her bedside table.

I let myself fall onto my back and as my head landed in the middle of the bead, the impact sent a little gust up. And I inhaled her scent. Images flashed before my eyes. Her warm smile, her magnificent wings spread wide, her goofy, relaxed grin after preening, her incredible elegance when she lowered the sun in a little, private show for me. Those more innocent moments were followed by the rather obvious sign that I was still very much horny. How she laid down on her back and presented herself to me. How her wings encased me and pressed me more tightly against her beautiful form as I came inside her. Her eyes glazed over as I watched her mind drift off the moment the tremors took over her body.

When Celestia entered her chamber a few minutes later, I lolled around on the bed like a cat in season. As soon as I heard her fail to stifle a giggle, I stopped dead and blushed furiously as I quickly grew self-aware. “I-I… uhm… I-I’ve been waiting for you,” I mumbled.

She slowly discarded her regalia onto the ponyquin in the corner and occasionally shot me a mirthful grin. “Oh, I have seen that, yes.” Once she was naked, she came over and sat down on her belly beside me. “It was delightful to see you so… relaxed,” she teased and leaned in for a proper greeting.

I gladly kissed her, but to my surprise, she did not immediately retreat. She instead tilted her head ever so slightly and deepened our kiss further and I was all too happy to let that happen. However, my eyes shot open the moment I heard myself moan.

We were just kissing! Come on!, I chided myself.

Sunny seemed surprised as well and her smile grew into a knowing grin. “Is somepony a little pent up, maybe?”

I grimaced. Somehow, I did not trust my own voice right now. So I tried to refocus. I tried to stick to the plan. I tried to hold onto what Luna had told me. But as I remembered her hot breath on my ear, it was immeasurably harder to focus on what she had said over how she had done so.

I quickly grabbed the flier and levitated it in between us like a shield. “G-Go on a date with me?” I hastily blurted out.

She softly pushed the sheet of paper down just enough to glimpse over the edge and I could see both her mischievous playfulness and her eager desire promise me that this would only postpone the inevitable ever so slightly. She then proceeded to actually read the thing. “I do not believe I have ever heard of that theater. It must be a new one. And neither have I heard of this piece.”

Talk about theater. That’s safe, I told myself. My heart raced and my nethers throbbed and I tried to ignore both. “Well, it is the premiere. And if it’s a new theater, visiting the premiere might do some good for a few new thespians, right? I stumbled upon it this afternoon and I thought: Hey, maybe we could make it a double date? I know that Luna loves stage plays as well as you do. So we could all have a nice evening and talk about it afterwards a-and such… uhm…”

She slowly and carefully overpowered my magic and took hold of the flier. Once I gave up, she put it back down on the bedside table and thus, my shield was gone. And that hunger in her eyes had not diminished at all. I gulped and smiled shakily. “S-So, how was your day? Has Court been—“

I cut myself off once she shook her head with a less intimidating smile. “Court has been taxing, as usual, but I did manage to get a good deal done in my study afterwards. My sister has already sold me on the idea, love, so you do not need to attempt it as well.”

“Oh. Uhm, right. I could—“

As soon as I attempted the offer, she put a hoof to my muzzle to silence me once more. She softly shook her head and closed the distance between us. A soft kiss helped me relax a little. I sighed and felt… at ease. When I opened my eyes again, she smiled at me. “Don’t,” she asked. “It is rare enough that I may care for you in a manner like this. Let me. Please?”

I sank into her eyes for a moment. I shakily sighed once more and nodded ever so slightly. And with that, I rolled over onto my back. She scooched a little closer and I closed my eyes as she leaned down and placed her lips on my cheek. My jaw. My throat. It felt heavenly. My breath already trembled again, but I could not stop enjoying the sheer love and dedication she showed me. She took her time and slowly made her way down my barrel, her hooves and wings occasionally joined her efforts and every time an unexpected touch made me shiver, I moaned ever so quietly. I tried to take deep breaths every now and then, to calm down a little, to steady myself. But that was an uphill battle and I knew it.

I would not last long. And despite the realization, the thought did not bother me at all.

The next day.

I was not nearly as enthusiastic about stage plays as either Celestia or Luna. Funny enough, despite once upon a time being called the Matron of the Arts, even Luna did not get into theater as much as her sister. That being said, I quickly grew to like this particular one.

Building a royalty-only-box, usually in the upper stories, was more or less standard for most theaters and concert halls as far as I knew. In Canterlot anyway. And this theater apparently really was relatively new, I could smell it. The upholstery of the seats, the finish of the wooden railings, the immaculate carvings on the doors, everything felt new and fresh.

But what really sold me on this theater was how they dealt with unforeseen circumstances and mistakes, if one were to call it that. They had several VIP-boxes, sure. Plus the royalty-only-box. What the architect had not accounted for was a plus one.

The box was not small by any means. Nice and big and spacious, but it only featured a single seat on the left side and a single seat on the right side. Both featured the stylized cutie marks of the sisters, and there was a neat, heavy curtain on a pole that could be drawn shut to separate both parts of the box from each other if desired. But neither Twilight’s nor my attendance were accounted for. Or that of any other guest they might have brought along.

It got a little bit chaotic of course. Not only because nopony expected three princesses to show up without further notice, but that obviously kickstarted the entire whirlwind. A lot of stammering and stuttering later and they had acknowledged our intent, had finally accepted the gosh-darn bits — we were not thieves, after all! — and led us to the box. Only to then fall into chaos once again as they realized the situation.

I was not quite sure how many employees the theater had. But I guessed that most of them were swarming around us as they tried to figure something out on the fly. In the end, a quick-thinking mare ordered the other headless chickens to retrieve a couple of chairs from the VIP-boxes that would see no use this evening. She also ordered somepony to put a note on her desk to fix this issue in a more appropriate way as soon as the premiere was done.

They even brought us little side tables and drinks.

I could not stop grinning even several minutes after they had left. We had arrived half an hour early and there was still some time until the play started, so I had a moment to calm down. I knew for a fact that, had I been in the horseshoes of any of these poor sods, I would have died. Due to embarrassment or a sudden heart attack. Or both. But at the same time, I had to admit that it was a bit funny as long as I was not involved directly. And hey, they had managed to cobble together a really quick and decent solution. Those VIP-chairs were comfy and I could sit close enough to my love to softly lean against her.

Celestia had obviously weathered the storm with her usual serene smile. She denied apologies from those around her, she tried to calm them down and she attempted to help organize them. While the latter did not exactly turn out all that fruitful, her effort surely was appreciated nonetheless. Twilight on the other hoof would probably have been able to actually do something. She could have fashioned chairs out of nowhere. She could have conjured them, crafted them, summoned them. She could have organized the entire workforce in an orderly machine working like clockwork.

That is, if Luna would have let her.

Luna for her part seemed to share my amusement about the whole ordeal and watched these ponies do their job. And after everything was said and done, she ordered our drinks which seemed to further put the employees’ minds at ease. And she settled on the other side of the box with Twilight tightly embraced with a wing. When I raised an eyebrow at her for keeping Twilight this close to herself, she dared stick her tongue out in my direction.

I was not about to let her get away with it, so I lit my horn, sent a tendril of magic over to her and grabbed the tip of her tongue in my magic. She effortlessly pulled her tongue free and decided to keep it firmly inside now. And she did not even retaliate as I mimicked her gesture.

“Do I have to close the curtain on you two?” Celestia asked with a playful undertone.

“No,” both Luna and I replied in unison. We even went for the same sheepish-repentant tone and I had such a hard time not to laugh about that.

I felt my love shake her head slightly and decided to turn my attention to her. Not before exchanging a wink with Luna, of course. Our plan was on its way.

I nuzzled into the crook of my love’s neck and gave her a little peck. “We still have a few minutes before it starts,” I whispered so as to not disturb the conversation Luna and Twilight seemed to share in an equally quiet fashion. “Mind giving me a quick rundown? Who is Sunset Shimmer?”

There was the faintest hint of unease as she briefly shifted a little in her seat. But she quickly resettled and after another moment, she answered. “Sunset was a student of mine. My personal protégé in very much the same fashion Twilight became years later. When she entered her entrance exam, the jury was less than impressed with the magical talent she displayed. Her cutie mark was a sun intermingled with a symbol for balance. She interpreted her own talent as a specialty in manipulating light. And indeed, she was quite impressive with many spells that are based upon sunlight. However, the jury did not deem it enough to let her attend my school. That day, I felt a tug. It was just the softest, faintest touch. But in all my years I never felt something touch my sun. It took me a week to figure out what had happened. A week after her rejection until I stood in front of that door and asked her to become my personal pupil. I had never considered it possible for another pony to be born with access to celestial magic in all my years. But there she was. Given time, maybe she would have been able to move the sun one day.”

The further she regaled me with her tale, the more her voice grew thick and heavy. Emotions bubbled in her throat and the surface that covered them grew thinner by the minute. It worried me, if I was being honest. I knew the vast extent of her self-control. I knew the ease with which she could hide any and all emotions from prying eyes. Doubt inevitably creeped in. I wanted this plan to work, of course. But I started to feel that maybe, this was the wrong way to go about it. She sounded more like it would hurt her. But why had she agreed to come with me to this premiere then?

Because she’s a glutton for punishment, a nasty voice in my head offered.

Shut up, I replied and sighed. I could not deny that despite my wish to console her, my curiosity burned a hole in my brain. “What happened?” I nestled against her as best as I could. To offer support and comfort, to make her aware of my presence.

The play hasn’t even started yet.

“If only I knew,” she replied with a tired, sad sigh. “Sunset was a problematic young mare in many ways. She was incredibly smart. She rarely had to sit down and study something. She just understood. That made her arrogant in certain regards. But at the same time, she was socially inept. She distanced herself from the other students. She was ambitious and driven and confident. And reckless, as a result. One day, she simply did not show up for her lesson. I searched for her and could not find her. I cast a tracking spell that turned up with nothing. So I cast it again and extended the radius from that one tower to the entire castle. Nothing. I cast it again to search the whole of Canterlot and I still got nothing. In the following years, I employed ritualistic magic I had not used in centuries to extend the reach of the tracking spell further and further. But she was not in Canterlot’s surrounding area. She was not to be found in the whole of Equestria. Or beyond it. Five years after she had vanished, I cast it one final time. She is not in this world anymore. I employed several other divination spells and the results were confusing at best. It is as if she had never existed. When I took her on as my pupil, she was a young adult living by herself. I never learned if she had any family. Certainly none stepped forward when I made a call throughout Equestria.”

My eyes fell down to the thick and heavy red curtain that currently still obscured the stage from view. The Ballad of Sunset Shimmer. Her voice had made it abundantly clear that this was still an issue weighing down on her mind. Something she had never been able to close the book on. Maybe she hoped for some clues. “Have you told Twilight?” Maybe it was cheap to say that. Whenever some issue came up that looked unsolvable, it was always my first impulse to turn to Twilight. Because she just made the impossible possible. It was kind of her thing.

My love’s wing softly brushed down along my side. “Thank you.” For what? “She is not ready yet. I have considered telling her about it, but right now, she can do little I have not considered or done already. In a few years time, she might be able to break the limitations I was confronted with.”

I remained silent for a couple of minutes. The lights were dimmed down and eventually shut off. The stage was illuminated. But the curtain remained for now. “We are here to enjoy ourselves and have a good evening… right?” I dared to ask. I just had to know. I needed to know that she was not torturing herself. Again.

“You do not have to worry about me,” she replied. “I am fine.”

I sighed and nuzzled her. “That’s not what I asked, love,” I insisted.

She hesitated, but eventually complied. “We will have a nice evening, yes.”

That’s as good as it will get, I realized. I could feel the tension building up inside her. Anxiety due to the topic that would be presented on stage in—

Right now, apparently.

The curtain was drawn back.

Here goes nothing, I sighed internally. I tried to focus my attention on the stage, but found it incredibly hard to do so. My focus shifted back to her time and time again and I watched her mask slip and break as the play went on. Sunset was introduced as this brash, gruff mare that deemed herself better than others. Slight misrepresentations were inevitable when molding a performance to mimic real life. Most of them she could stomach just fine. A rare few lines of dialogue irked her enough that she grimaced. Celestia the Immaculate, Celestia the Ever-Patient, grimaced.

It was a good thing then that the writers of the play had apparently done their homework. The material was sufficiently researched and a — or some — very talented writer had managed to sprinkle little scenes of uplifting comedy throughout. And those were written well enough that even my love took a couple of easier breaths here and there and allowed herself the occasional smile.

But as the play went on, I could feel the buildup. The pressure rose, everything lined up and whatever the climax of the play would be, I suspected that it would tear down whatever walls of composure remained.

I hated to leave her like this.

But we had a plan.

Stick to the damn plan, I berated myself.

Celestia and Luna had at some point drawn the curtain and separated our double date into a regular one. I highly suspected that both of these theater enthusiasts did not appreciate the occasional question or remark Twilight and I made. And while Celestia seemed fine with mine and Luna seemed fine with Twilight’s, everything beyond that was unwelcome.

It was fine. It actually played in our favor. “Love?” I whispered. Her wing rustled ever so slightly. It was all I needed to know that she heard me. I looked up at her. Her composure failed her. Her eyes glazed over, tears threatened to well up. And I had to fight to get those next words out. “I… I have to excuse myself for a moment. Stupid juice has awful timing.”

She merely nodded and retracted her wing. And I pulled myself away from her side. I walked a few steps to the exit of the box and looked back and it almost broke my heart to see that little shiver. I swallowed that lump in my throat, but it stubbornly refused to budge. So I went around the curtain to the other side and carefully poked Twilight on her shoulder. Luna immediately noticed my presence and before Twilight turned, I nodded in her direction. It’s time, I told her. And she replied with a nod of her own and retracted her wing around Twilight.

“Hey, uh, sorry to bother. I really need to go to the bathroom quickly. But Celestia isn’t doing so well. Could you maybe keep her company for a moment? Just make sure she’s not alone, okay?”

Twilight did not mind the interruption. She was fascinated by this new information presented by the play, but she studied it more like a historian would study a contemporary script of dubious credibility. The moment I mentioned Celestia being unwell however, her entire demeanor changed. A switch had been flipped. Her smile vanished and in its place, concern rose. “Of course I will,” she quietly replied even before she exchanged any glances or words with Luna to make sure that she was fine with that.

It's just another sign that we’re doing the right thing, I tried to tell myself.

Twilight stood up and walked around the curtain in the front. I waited for a couple of seconds until I heard nothing but the voices of the actors on stage and finally made my way over to Luna’s side. I sat down, allowed myself a shiver and nestled against her in search of comfort. “That was hard,” I quietly whispered into her soft coat.

“We are doing the right thing,” she reassured me equally quietly.

Then why does it feel so wrong…? But I remained silent. My ears were trained to the left side, towards the curtain. I listened intently for any sounds from the other side. I expected to hear sobbing. And I knew that it would break my heart. That I could not do anything about it. That I should not.

But the other side remained silent as well.

And Luna tried her best to take my mind off of things. But her efforts were in vain. So maybe it was a good thing that her attention was split between my moderately miserable state and her desire to follow the play. It was fine. She should enjoy it as much as my presence could allow for it.

And my heart ached.

Maybe half an hour later, the actors went on stage and bowed. They bowed once towards the royalty box, once to the audience, and then once again towards us. Luna had at one point explained this specific order to me. The first bow was towards the Matron of the Arts if she was in attendance. But they even bowed towards the box when she was not there. The second bow was towards the general audience, and the third one towards the princesses. Celestia had established over her last millennium that she was the lesser of the two when gratitude needed to be expressed between royalty and the general public. It very much sounded like her.

Applause was given, the actors bowed once more and the stage lights dimmed down lightly while the other lights came back to life. I pulled away from Luna just enough to look at her. Do you think we should—?

She hesitated and we both stared at the curtain for a moment. Neither of us had heard anything throughout the entire third act. What would we find?

Lucky for me, Luna was not exactly a patient mare. Her hesitation stopped her for a few seconds, maybe half a minute, before she slowly and quietly lifted the curtain back. With every inch my dread grew and it culminated in such incredible relief once I saw them. Celestia sat on her chair, all regal and composed. A perfect picture of serenity. And right there nestled against her side was Twilight, enveloped in a pristine white wing. The only sign that turmoil had befallen my love at any point was the tightness with which she held Twilight to her side. But neither of them seemed to mind much.

It was a good sign. No reason to congratulate each other just yet, but it was a good sign.

The rest of the evening was a little bit of a dud though.

Neither of them asked about where I had been or why I was with Luna at the end of the play. We simply reunited, I went back to Sunny’s side and Twilight went back to Luna’s and we went on with our program. Our little excursion to the Tasty Treat for a late evening dinner was enjoyable as far as food was concerned and the service was immaculate as usual. But despite Luna and I hanging back a little in hopes of any indication whatsoever, Celestia and Twilight merely discussed the play and the quality of the acting, the props and at some point even the plushness of the upholstery. I was not sure anymore if we had been successful. Maybe they were just toying with us. Whatever the case might have been, we retreated back to the castle late in the night and bid our farewells to each other in the hallway before Celestia and I went to her chamber and the other two went to Luna’s.

I sighed deeply as the door closed. And I watched Celestia stretch her rear legs a little. “I could help with that,” I offered.

She half-turned and smiled wryly in my direction. “Thank you, love, but I fear I am not exactly in the mood.”

I quietly snorted and shook my head. “I figured as much, don’t worry. Not every time I offer you a massage is meant to end in sex.” Her playfulness returned for a brief moment as she smiled and raised an eyebrow at me. And I might have pouted a little. “What? It’s true! I would bet that less than half of them ever do—Oh you know what, forget it!” I poked her rear with a hoof after I walked over to her and saw her grin. “You get your beautiful plush rump into the bath. Soak a little, will you? I will fetch somepony from the kitchen and ask them to send us a couple of strawberry cheesecake slices. And I will massage you after your bath, and you will enjoy that, and we can retreat to bed and sleep after that. Sounds good to you?”

Her eyes lit up the very second I mentioned her current favorite comfort food. In all those years, it had always been something sweet. But what kind of dessert changed every so often. Once a year, more or less. Last year's favorite was blueberry muffins. This time, it was strawberry cheesecake. ‘A couple of slices’ was more or less code we used with each other. It meant two slices, one for each, and she would get half of mine as well. I cherished our little routines greatly.

She sighed and looked down at her right rear leg. “It… yes. It sounds lovely.”

I felt a little bit bolt and nodded with enthusiasm. “Great! Off to the bath then, atta girl!” And I gave her luscious flank a soft smack. She yelped quietly in surprise and I chuckled as I turned and made my way back to the door. Flagging down a member of the kitchen staff was actually not that easy at this hour, but I managed. And it left her more time to properly soak in a hot bath.

When I returned to her room, I quickly informed her that she had another half hour. I even waited outside for her, on the bed. Just to leave her some space if she needed it.

Celestia returned right on time as I thanked the servant at the door, pulled the trolley in and closed the door again. “Ah, great! Make yourself comfortable,” I asked and gestured towards the bed. I took the two plates in my levitation and brought them along behind me. And I quickly got to work. I placed one play right in front of her and the other one a little bit to the side before I sat down alongside her and started to work out all the kinks and knots she managed to collect.

A few minutes in and my guilty conscience became a little bit too much to bear. “I, uhm… I wanted to apologize,” I offered quietly.

“What for?” she replied while she hummed appreciatively. I could not tell if it was due to my massage or due to the last pieces of cake she busied herself with. The last pieces of my slice of cake. But I did not mind. I honestly had expected as much.

“I wasn’t—… I hadn’t—… I would have chosen something else. I did not realize how it would affect you.”

She piled the empty plates, put the forks on top and levitated it over to the bedside table. And a quiet sigh escaped her throat as she craned her neck to look at me. “And how could you have known? You made the offer and I gave you no indication that…”

She cut herself off. I waited for a few seconds, but quickly realized that she would not finish that sentence — no matter how much I wanted to hear the rest. I finished my massage within the next few minutes in relative silence before I settled at her side. She pulled me even closer with her wing. “Despite what you might think and despite how it might have looked like, I still had a wonderful evening. Thank you, love.”

I knew that. I had seen it plainly written on her face all evening. The latter half, that was. Her genuine smile when she talked with Twilight about little details. Her occasional glances in my direction, always full of loving warmth. It was the same warmth she regarded her beloved sister with.

Family.

I knew the value of that. I knew that she craved it as much as I did. Maybe it really was just my knowledge of our ulterior motives that made me feel bad about the theater. I shifted around a little to place myself behind her. It felt wrong to be the little spoon tonight. And she did not object to it either. While I slightly shifted around until I properly held her, she levitated the blanket on top of us.

“Have a good night, love,” I whispered and kissed her neck.

She hummed appreciatively. And we both drifted off.

Luna was already waiting for me in the dreamscape. “Twilight?” I asked.

She shook her head. “Not a single word. After we retreated to my chamber, I offered to stargaze with her for a little bit. She fell asleep on me not too long ago. Celestia?”

I sighed in defeat and shook my head as well. “Same. Admittedly, I sent her to take a bath and did not accompany her. Luna, I feel bad for this charade. I know we’re trying to do something good here, but I just… I don’t like seeing her hurt. And I hated leaving her like that.” I sighed deeply. “Anyway. I got her her favorite cake and massaged her, but she wasn’t all that talkative.”

We both stood in the midst of the sea of floating dreams for a while. Each of us silently followed their respective thoughts. Luna eventually spoke up again. “I have a proposal. However, with you constantly harping on about ‘privacy concerns’, I can almost guarantee that you will not like it.”

That was obviously already all the information I needed to know exactly what her idea was. And yes, of course I had issues with that. However, that did not mean that I was not willing to consider it. Because I needed some positive feedback at this point . Some form of reassurance that this had not been for naught. Maybe it was folly to hope that I would feel less bad about everything when it turned out that our plan had actually worked. But I could not not take that risk.

“Urgh. Fine. Let’s do it. Where do we start?” I relented.

Luna giggled like an excited little filly and clopped her hooves together. I actually had to chuckle as her mirth was just so infectious. She quickly summoned the first dream. “We start with my sister. If her subconscious responds to the evening’s events, her dream will reflect so early on. Her dreams sadly still revert to the usual later on.”

The usual. I hated that term. It was such a nice, inoffensive description of what happened to my love each and every night. Sure, it got better. Luna said so. Her nightmare slowly lost its bite. It slowly fainted. Night after night, year after year. Luna’s predictions had gotten better and better as well. She initially assumed it would take Celestia decades to get rid of that one night she kept dreaming about. That had been scaled back to a few years by now. But we were already a few years in and had a few more years to look forward to.

It was infuriating. And sad. So incredibly sad. I wished I could do something, anything, but Luna strictly forbade me from ever entering my love’s dream without her supervision. Because it took her a mere thought to shun me out of it. And she did not trust me to not interfere too much. I could not even argue against that point.

We entered Celestia’s dream simultaneously and were immediately greeted with a familiar sight. Canterlot Castle had many hallways such as this one. Nondescript long corridors, broken up by banners and artwork on the one side and high, narrow windows on the other side. The red carpet muffled hoofsteps and the occasional door led into neighboring rooms.

We made ourselves invisible. Only two ponies beside us were currently in this hallway. Celestia and Twilight. And it was easy to spot our success now.

Twilight was timid and shy. She sported a deep blush as her raspberry magic held a book aloft. Luna and I carefully trotted close enough to catch a glimpse of the title. ‘The Art of Seduction’.

“What an interesting choice in literature,” Celestia almost purred as she stepped alongside Twilight. “I see you make good use of my permit to enter the more… mature sections of the Archives.” Her wing extended ever so slightly and she let her primaries trail along Twilight’s back.

Twilight shivered in response and tightly pressed her lips together to forbid any noise from escaping. “Mhm,” she tersely replied.

Celestia sped up just a little bit. Enough to walk in front of Twilight. And of course her tail swished ever so slightly. Enticingly. “I know that you technically graduated a long time ago, Twilight,” Celestia started with an almost regretful sigh, “but maybe you are still interested in a more private lesson?” And just for emphasis, she shamelessly lifted her tail high up and to the side, putting herself on wide display.

Twilight’s eyes bulged and she unconsciously licked her lips. She even leaned forward ever so slightly and her nostrils flared. “I-I wouldn’t m-mind that at all, Princess…!”

Celestia stopped walking and Twilight inevitably bumped muzzle first into her nethers. She mumbled an apology while she licked her lips, but Celestia simply looked back at her with a familiar hunger in her eyes. “Now, now, Twilight. Don’t be coy.”

You’re staring, I realized. I squinted and tore my eyes away from the spectacle. We should have stopped a long time ago. The very moment we had seen the setup of the scene should have been enough to tell us, should it not? But somehow, I had fallen victim to my voyeuristic tendencies. I had not even known I had those!

What really baffled me was Luna’s reaction.

She kept watching.

I heard Celestia sigh in pleasure and knew that this really was far enough. I grabbed Luna and pulled us out of the dream and back into the dreamscape.

“Everything looks good on her end,” Luna simply stated as if nothing had happened.

I noticed how careful and deliberate you’ve chosen your words, kitten. Surely she had not been about to remark on a certain ‘end’ looking good. Right?

“Uh, kitten, can we maybe discuss how you stared at your sister’s erotic fantasy and didn’t so much as bat an eye?” I chuckled and shook my head. No wrong way to fantasize. An old motto of mine that came to mind. The dreamscape was more or less the place for wish-fulfillment. We were honest and free in our dreams. Which meant that from time to time, there was the occasional surprise waiting here.

Luna merely shrugged. “What is there to talk about? I have seen my sister too many times in too many scenarios, Dream. You know that. We have been side by side for some of those in the last few years. I know you usually concentrate on the issue at hoof and give barely any attention to the dream itself, but surely you must have noticed how popular she is?”

I grimaced. “I noticed,” I tersely replied and I felt that little pang of jealousy. It was inevitable when being with a public figure such as her. Many dreamed of her. Of having what I had. And more. And it rarely failed to rub me the wrong way.

I started to feel uncomfortable with the topic and dropped it quickly. “Right. Do we still take a look into Twilight’s dream?”

Luna nodded. “We should. Just to make sure that the bridge will connect in the middle.”

I sighed. She said that with gravitas and purpose, but I could not shake the feeling that she was just curious. I watched her summon Twilight’s dream and we entered this one just as easily. And we were immediately drenched by rain. “I hate it,” I remarked with a frown. The rain was heavy. Thick droplets hammered down. It was loud, and icy cold.

It was dream-rain. Whenever it rained in a dream, the dreamer rarely imagined a soft pitter-patter or a faint drizzle, oh no. It was always a freaking cloudburst. And it was always cold.

We quickly teleported inside the castle entrance, since it was the only detailed feature nearby. Twilight stood right behind the door and read a book with a title I could not make out. The text within the book seemed unintelligible as well. Before I could even remark on the peculiarity of her reading here, a heavy knock on the door followed.

I considered if she had a nightmare, maybe, until she opened the door and a bedraggled, utterly drenched and shivering Celestia stood right outside. “H-Hello my f-faithf-ful student… I h-hope I do not disturb you t-this late?”

“Oh no, not at all! Goodness, just look at you!” Twilight ushered Celestia inside, closed the door and quickly summoned an entire stack of towels. And she immediately proceeded to rub her down.

I chuckled quietly and leaned over to Luna. “If she’s going to ask why there’s hay on the floor, I’m convinced that my imagination is more creative.”

Luna looked around and furrowed her brow. “But… there is no hay on the floor?”

I sighed and let my head hang. Right. Why would she get that reference?

“I’m still cold, Twilight,” Celestia announced with a shiver.

“Oh! Don’t worry, I can get more towels. And I can make a fire in the fireplace. And I could get Spike to make us some hot cocoa. And—“ Celestia slowly advanced on her. Twilight retreated until her rump hit the wall and she stared up at Celestia with wide eyes. “P-Princess?”

Celestia smiled like a wolf. “How many times have I told you not to use my title anymore, Twilight? We are equals now. And do not bother with the towels, I know exactly which kind of warmth I need. I crave.” And with that, she leaned in and pressed her lips to Twilight’s.

It was not exactly a surprise. The entire setup had basically screamed for this outcome. So I found myself less focused on the scene unfolding before me and more on Luna. And that distinct look in her eyes as she watched her sister kiss Twilight. And it was just that. She watched her sister kiss Twilight. She did not watch Twilight kiss her sister, even though that happened as well.

Was that longing in her eyes?

I sighed and once again played the undesirable part of the buzzkill. I pulled us out and back into the dreamscape. “Have you ever kissed her?” My mind was a mess. It usually was, and it only got messier from there. But I did not give myself enough time to fret over how to best address this at all. Because I knew that Luna would move on every second now and I wanted to know.

Luna furrowed her brow and nodded. “Of course.”

I raised an eyebrow. She tried to evade the topic. I could not imagine her actually being dense about this. “I mean Celestia.” She grimaced a little. Former element of honesty. Gotcha.

What I did not understand was the timing. Why now? If she had fantasies about that, I did not mind. But why did it only become so apparent now? We had patrolled the dreamscape for years, we had seen all kinds of debauchery and perversion and she had always remained unfazed.

Was it about Twilight? After all, she had initially agreed to try if ‘us’ could work to circumvent feeling left out. To handle her jealousy. Or maybe this was something older? Everypony had desired her sister before her banishment. Everypony. Her included?

Luna sighed after a longer pause. “You will keep this to yourself?” she asked.

The sheer sincerity and vulnerability on display was enough to lodge any quip in my throat. I nodded. “Of course.” You can trust me, kitten.

“I cannot say that I ever have,” she answered my question belatedly.

“And you sound disappointed about that,” I remarked.

She did not object. “After my return, I… I felt lost. This new time, this new day and age, everything was alien and foreign. But there she was. She helped me. She tried so hard for my sake. She offered me all the time she had, all the knowledge she had. Her shoulder to cry on, her books to read, her embrace for comfort. I lost count of how many nights I crawled into her bed and she held me until I stopped crying and shivering. Long before Twilight helped me acclimate even further, she was the one solid foundation I built my reintegration upon. And I was grateful. And maybe I was a little more grateful than I really should have been. I suppose it is a callback to a time before my fall. The few weeks and months before it, we shared so little. So little time. So little common ground. So little conversation. And it hurt so much. I missed her. And every night, I saw these ponies defile my sister. Her love for them was so pure, but they…” She sighed and fell silent.

I walked over to her side and nestled against her. I nuzzled her shoulder and stroked her back with a hoof. “It’s alright. The past is the past. And there’s no wrong way to fantasize.”

She shot me a wry smile. “Few would share such a… generous opinion.”

I snorted and shrugged. “Probably. Do they matter though? The many?”

She closed her eyes for a moment and sighed again. And she sat down on her haunches and pulled me in for a hug. “Not when I have you. And her. And Twilight.”

We sat there for however long it took. When I felt that she had sufficiently calmed down, I prodded her softly. “I remember what you said early on. That you care about her more than I probably ever will. That you want her to be happy and well just as much as I.” I craned my neck a little to look at their dreams. They still floated around nearby. They twirled and wobbled and I slowly realized that they danced with each other. It made me smile and gave me a devious little idea. “You know… we could meld their dreams.” It would ensure that neither of them forgot its contents. More importantly, it would most likely assure that Celestia would not dream the usual, because in a melded dream, all participants influenced the events.

Luna giggled light-heartedly. I was relieved to hear such a precious sound right now. “I like the idea. Let us do it!” So she got up again and we worked as a team. I kept the dreams close-by and steady and had an eye on any potential interlopers while she used her magic to slowly fuse both dreams.

And two became one.

We both stared at the dream. It would only hold this night. But with what we had seen already, we both doubted silently that it would take more than that.

“You are curious,” she noted with an amused smile.

“Oh, right, I’m curious. You totally aren’t,” I shot right back.

She grinned and we exchanged a bashful nod before we simultaneously placed a hoof against the bubble. We had invaded the most private parts of ponies close to us all night already. What difference would it make to pile one more layer on top?

We entered invisible again and found ourselves in one of the many bedrooms of Twilight’s castle. It might have been her bedroom. The bed looked slightly off though and all the paraphernalia littering her room was missing. But it was too detailed and decorated for the usual guest rooms.

Twilight grinned as she pushed me onto the bed. Me being a dream-version of myself. Dream-me let himself fall onto his back and grinned like a love-struck colt.

“Do I really look that goofy?” I quietly asked with a sigh.

Luna snickered beside me. “I actually find it very endearing.”

“Yeah but… she’s mounting me. I’m pretty sure this isn’t the right time to be ‘endearing’,” I grumbled a little.

Twilight kissed dream-me passionately while she stood on top. Our tongues mingled, her tail swished from side to side in excitement and the scent of her arousal quickly permeated the entire room. Funny enough, the way she envisioned her scent and therefore the way her dream replicated it was not the same as I remembered it.

Dreams are weird.

I laughed quietly and poked Luna in her side. “You’re drooling.”

“Can you blame me? The two ponies I desire most on full display like that, entangled in passion? You cannot tell me that the sights and sounds and scents do not lure you as much as they lure me.“ She grinned in reply and dared to walk a little closer to the action. She stood behind Twilight, slightly off to the side and watched Twilight lower herself onto dream-me’s member in one fell swoop. And she grimaced. “That… only works in dreams.”

Even I grimaced a little. It was possible, just… not that easily. Then again, we had no idea how much foreplay we had missed. Now, the interesting part was the fact that so far, Celestia was nowhere to be seen. “The merge was successful, right?” I asked just in case. And I decidedly ignored her previous question. Because honestly, I could feel a little tingle downstairs that I tried to ignore as best as I could.

Luna concentrated for a moment and nodded. “She’s here,” she replied.

Twilight and dream-me started to moan. And I pouted. “She’s never that loud with me,” I grumbled slightly.

Luna stumbled and looked over to me. “She is not? Huh.”

Oh now I pouted even harder. I had half a mind to make myself known to Twilight and ask what that was all about but before I could, Twilight cried out as her first orgasm rocked her body. “Breed meee!” she yelled.

Luna’s eyebrows rose as she looked over to me once more. I blushed furiously. “W-We… uh… we had recently talked about foals, but… nothing came of it so far.”

Luna giggled and watched as Twilight overflowed with dream-me apparently having untold reserves somewhere. “Maybe you should bring that up again? She looks quite eager.”

I felt myself stiffen and nodded. “Maybe I should,” I babbled as I watched Twilight’s belly bulge ever so slightly. “Goddess, this is hot,” I whispered. I wondered, though. Luna had gone to great lengths to ensure certain limitations were kept. Why was she aroused by this, instead of angered? Was her jealousy truly held in check just by the knowledge that this was ‘fake’? Because right now, at least in Twilight’s mind, it sure was not.

Before I could get too deep into that, Luna materialized literally out of thin air. Dream-Luna, that is. She stepped into being right behind Twilight and the real Luna quickly took a step to the side to not interfere with the dream. After all, the last thing we wanted was to get busted.

Dream-Luna walked up to the bed and therefore Twilight and dream-me. “Didst I not bid thee to shareth? Didst I not bid thee to waiteth for me?”

I chuckled and watched Luna blush a little. “She really likes it,” she explained.

It was rare to see her being shy about anything, so I cherished this moment even more. I finally dared to walk closer as well and stood at her side and we both watched as dream-Luna grabbed Twilight’s tail in her magic and lifted it to the side.

“It seems a little punishment is in order,” dream-Luna announced. She lit her horn and a spell washed over her body. I swallowed as I recognized what now stood proud and erect below her belly. It was… quite accurate as well.

“See something you like?” Luna teased me. I was about to make a snarky quip in reply when she lit her horn as well and gripped my own member and started to stroke it.

I gasped and bit down on my lower lip. Hard. “L-Luna!” I hissed, “C-Careful! I need my concentration to stay i-incog—… inv—... h-hidden!”

She leaned down and softly bit my ear before she whispered and let her hot breath tickle me. “Oh so you mean to say that this is a good exercise for your willpower then?”

“N-Not f-funny…!” I replied, quickly followed by a quiet moan as my knees buckled ever so slightly. I was both incredibly relieved and incredibly frustrated when her magic faded. I took a deep, deep breath and refocused my attention on… Twilight getting double-teamed by both of us. Dream-Luna pressed her newest addition into Twilight’s rump and every time she was at the halfway point, she grunted and pushed a little bit deeper. And Twilight cried out in pleasure over and over as dream-Luna slowly increased her speed.

“So we’re both really into that… huh,” I mumbled as I watched in fascination.

Luna giggled faintly and traced her tongue along my ear. “Oh yes, very much, my little firecracker.”

I tried hard to focus, but it got increasingly tougher with the excessive moaning of familiar voices and the all-encompassing smell of sex in the air. I loved those moans, I loved to hear them, I never got enough of them because I was greedy beyond belief and I wanted her, them, both of them so much right now. And I simply got drunk on that unique mixture of scents I had never experienced before.

And that was the moment when our last participant finally arrived.

The doors to the bedchamber were gripped in a soft, golden magic and were flung open. Celestia strode in despite seeing exactly what she was getting herself into. But at least she had the decency to close the doors behind her. “You three have been at it for hours,” she chided us. “It’s the dead of night, some ponies want to sleep!”

Twilight, dream-me and dream-Luna held still and looked even a little bit ashamed. “You’re just cranky because you feel left out,” dream-me boldly accused.

I grimaced a little. That was unnecessarily harsh. But apparently it was something Twilight, Celestia or both of them could imagine me saying.

Celestia puffed out her cheeks in indignation, but dream-Luna lit her horn and physically dragged her larger sister over to the bed. “I was in the middle of—“ she attempted to explain.

“—Twilight,” dream-me quipped.

Twilight blushed furiously, but both us and our dream-versions had a good chuckle about it. “That too,” dream-Luna continued with a wide grin and pressed a couple of inches deeper into Twilight’s rear, eliciting another deep, throaty moan. And I saw the unbridled desire in Twilight’s eyes as she moaned. As she stared Celestia directly in the eyes. I almost chuckled as I saw Celestia bite down on her lower lip in reply. “What I meant to say,“ dream-Luna continued, “was this: I was in the middle of administering some much needed punishment. If she is too loud, sister, how about you see to that?”

Celestia lowered her muzzle to look at dream-Luna’s bulging, throbbing erection. Or whatever part of it was not buried in Twilight’s rump. And an almost frighteningly wicked smile spread on her muzzle. “A marvelous idea, dear sister.”

Celestia’s horn lit up, she copied dream-Luna’s spell and an erection of impressive size dangled below her a moment later. All five of us gulped a little. Celestia climbed onto the bed and positioned herself in front of Twilight. “Open wide, my faithful student.”

Well at least she didn’t remark about an oral exam.

Twilight somehow blushed even more. “Yes, Princess!”

Wow, that sounded needy, I noted and watched as Twilight almost raced to meet Celestia. The very next moment, both dream-me and dream-Luna apparently saw no reason to hold back any longer and continued to mercilessly rail Twilight.

I dared to look to my side and saw even Luna sporting a deep blush. She had her tail tucked between her legs and with so much arousal filling the air anyway, it could have been hard to tell. But I simply saw how drenched she was, because I could see her inner thighs. A little dark trail indicated where her coat was already soaked. I could not hide my own desires all that well at all. Even less so than her. I wished I could just mount her here and now. But I felt my gaze drift back towards the scene on the bed. Twilight had become the new lynchpin of this entire… constellation. And indeed, everypony was quite vigorously pinning her.

We should probably go, I noted. It had taken considerably longer for me to realize that and there was no small amount of resistance to the idea. This entire scenario was so incredibly arousing. I never had much interest in threesomes or even something like this, but watching it unfold was beyond words.

Dream-Luna buried her entire length with each thrust, Celestia moaned in such a familiar way whenever Twilight gobbled up inch after inch of her length and dream-me continued to fill her up. I even noticed my dream-version craning his neck ever so slightly to tenderly lick at Celestia’s balls, only further increasing her pleasure.

And then Celestia lunged forward, pulled dream-Luna’s head with her magic closer and kissed her.

My jaw figuratively hit the floor. And I saw the same reaction, plus something extra, on Luna’s face.

“The dreams are melded… right?” I faintly whispered with a breathy voice.

“Yes.”

I nodded and gawked. “So… that really is her…?”

“Yes.”

I nodded again. I could not not stare. Celestia tilted her head slightly and engaged dream-Luna in a fierce and passionate tongue-play. “So she really is making out with—“

“Yes,” Luna interrupted hastily. As I looked over, I noticed her legs trembling ever so slightly. And she had a hoof between her thighs. “I told you it is always the quiet ones…!” she reminded me with a strained voice.

I knew that voice. She was not far off from, well, getting off. “Are… are we talking about Twilight… or Celestia?”

“Yes.”

I nodded. I almost felt like a bobblehead at this point. I had no smart replies. No quips. No nothing. I just stared at Celestia expressing such untold desire towards her sister while she rammed her oversized erection down Twilight’s greedily waiting throat. I watched myself pump into my little peanut’s womb and fill her up time and time again. It watched dream-Luna moan in such deeply felt satisfaction as Twilight’s sphincter contracted around her member every time Twilight came, every time dream-me came, every time Celestia thrust forward again. I heard the slick sounds from the bed, and from right beside me. It was just too much. It was overbearing, it was an overload, a sensory assault.

Buck reason.

She’s only capable of one answer anyway.

“You want to join, don’t you?” I asked Luna.