After stalling for time as much as she could, Celestia brought Cadence to Mark’s room.

"Oh, I can't wait to see him again." The Princess of Love could barely contain her excitement before looking at her aunt with some sorrow, "I’ve been meaning to apologize for a falling out we had back in the Empire."

"What happened?" Celestia asked, intrigued.

"Oh well, you know how I can get with relationships. The poor dear clearly was still feeling lonely, scared and was unsure what to do in life. Naturally I wanted to help but I may have come on a tiny bit strong."

"Cadence what did you do?" She asked in worry.

"Nothing bad I promise, I just thought a little hook up would make him feel better, the poor thing was so shy around mares at the time, so I brought him to places to help him chill and well...I will tell you later, it’s kind of a long story." She then proceeded to knock on the door a couple of times, before stepping away.

"Oh boy I hope he really got lucky. Do you think he has more than one mare in there?"

"What? Cadence!" Celestia scowled at her as her mind was delved into dirty territory.

"I'm sorry I can get a tiny bit dirty when I’m excited but in all seriousness, I think he could handle the herd life. I have a gut feeling about those things. And the moment I met him I knew Mark was a generous lover."

Celestia wanted to rebuttal but didn't want to risk anything so she just kept it as a nice memory.

Huh, well I bet her gut feelings nailed that part at least. Very generous. She went briefly off to la-la land remembering how attentive he was with her petals even when he started to inflict pleasurable pain.

After a couple of seconds Cadence knocked again. "No response, that is good sign, that means he is trying to hide his shame." Her excitement kept increasing as Celestia started to wonder what was taking him so long.

"Mayor Mark?" Cadence knocked a third time, "Can I come in? It’s Princess Cadence, I need to discuss some matters with you." It was obviously an excuse and as quietly as she could she leaned into the door to see if she could hear anything. But she got confused when there was only silence.

Celestia was doing the same, equally confused as to what was going on.

"Your highness...es?" A passing guard startled the two as they turned to look at him "Are you looking for the mayor?"

"Yeah, we are. Do you know if he is in his room?" Cadence quickly asked before the guard shook his head.

"The Mayor left his chambers about twenty to twenty-five minutes ago. He is probably at the dining hall by now." He explained as the two mares took to surprise before opening the door to discover how it was empty and clean.

"That early?!" Cadence stepped inside. "It’s seven in the morning, who leaves his room this neat so early in the morning?" She questioned quietly to herself as she sniffed the air before sighing in disappointment.

Better question would be how he managed to cover his tracks so fast? Celestia questioned silently with equal surprise before looking at her niece.

"Sorry Cadence, I don't smell any musk either. Seems like the Mayor didn't have any guests sharing his bed." She placed a hand over her shoulder, "But honestly, I’m glad he didn't. Heat week is a moment of weakness for mares, and a danger to a stallion’s wellbeing. Not a dating gathering."

Cadence let out another sigh, "I know Auntie, that’s why I'm glad the dome prevents unexpected breeding, but I at least had hope. Maybe this whole experience would help him relax and maybe even be more proactive looking for that special somepony. I know he wants that, and I regret pushing so hard, so I have been trying so hard to make things right again between us."

Celestia smiled and nodded, "I'm sure he would forgive you dear, and you don't need to play matchmaker to do so. You two just need to talk. And who knows maybe that special pony is closer than we think."

"By the stars I hope so. I really hate when my work doesn’t pan out."

"I know Cadence, I know. Come, let’s see if we can catch him before he goes to work." She pointed at the door and the two headed to the dining hall in search for the Mayor. To their relief said Mayor was there, fully dressed in his work clothes and with his cast back on as he enjoyed his breakfast while inspecting his schedule on his scroll.

On hearing the doors open he turned to look at the Royals, and stopped what he was doing. He stood up and gave them a short bow with a smile, "Good morning your highness." Standing tall he remained composed and respectful to the rulers, much to Celestia’s cringe and Cadence’s slight sorrow. Yet she would not let that slow her down as she approached the table alongside Celestia.

"And good morning to you too. But please Mark, there is no need for formalities, I told you. You can call me..."

"With all due respect Princess Mi Amore," His gaze hardened a little as he followed her with his eyes. She sat in front of him as he continued, "We are NOT there yet, so it will suffice to be respectful for now."

She let out a sigh and looked down making the whole situation more than tense throughout the room. "Fair enough, baby steps."

"Thank you." He took a sit once more and Celestia place herself on the head of the table between the two "So,...Mayor Mark, I must say I’m quite impressed. I didn't take you for such an early bird." She tried to break the ice as she took a glance over his whole ensemble, trying and failing to find anything done in a rush.

Talking about going the extra mile. I was counting on him to cover his tracks, not go all work mode right away.

He smiled calmly at the comment and nodded, "Always have been Ce-" He stopped when Cadence looked at him in surprise and hurt that he would be so informal with her aunt but not her. "It has always been that way with me your highness, don't know why but it’s very hard for me to wake up late in the mornings. And by this point it’s almost routine for me. Helps me check my schedule and prepare for any surprise, and these days in particular demand my full attention."

He then took a glance at what Celestia was wearing. "In contrast I envy that it seems to not be the case for you." She was wearing a more informal attire with black sweatpants, a long old shirt showing a bit of her pink bra and her mane and tail still a bit messy, causing him to raise an eyebrow. "Today is a slow day at court?"

"Y-Yeah today is one of those rare occasions where my morning schedule isn't as packed as usual so I can relax a little bit more." She called for one of the maids who arrived in short order with her usual coffee before heading to fetch her breakfast. Same with another mare that served Cadence a grape juice.

"I can see." Nodding, he turned to Cadence. "So how are things fairing at the Crystal Empire your highness? Haven't heard of Mayor Quasar in a while. Is he still in service?"

"No, his eight years of service will end pretty soon. And elections are on their way as we speak. We have two prominent candidates at the moment, Amethyst who has a strong campaign in improving the housing for the less fortunate and increasing the quality of food, and Garnet who has very innovative ideas for improving the Empire in the future. And like me she is a strong believer of free and open love no matter the gender, race or species. It will be a close call to see which of those mares will be the next Mayor."

"I see. Indeed, it seems like a tough decision. I'm going to miss old Quasar but he did indeed have a long run. And like you say, it’s time to elect a new Mayor by the looks of things."

"So how about you?" Once their food arrived, Cadence started to cut some of her eggs while eyeing the Mayor in curiosity, "Has anything interesting happened to you recently?"

Mark stopped and looked at her with a deadpan expression, "Princess I think all of Equestria is aware of what happened to Snake Eye and my house. The scandal and so on. Other than that, why would you think anything else of note has happened?"

"Oh, I know all of that. Like you said it’s in all the papers." She dismissed him with a hand before pointing at him with a butter knife, "I mean what the papers didn't say. Has anything happened?"

"Cadence?" Celestia warned her, but her niece pressed on.

"Come on Mr. Mayor lay it on me. Do you have any juicy gossip to share, hmm?" She asked with an eager smile trying to crack a little bit the barrier between the two.

Looking up he hummed in thought "Well there is something."

"Yeah?"

Celestia looked at him with worry.

"It happened a couple of weeks before the heat."

"Yeah?" Cadence leaned forward.

"And it involved a new friend I made, another Mayor too. Great girl that apparently is a big fan of mine."

"Really?" Cadence was virtually at the edge of her seat in anticipation, "Tell me more."

"Well, I don't know how it happened but apparently a magazine told how I was eligible and that mare was kind enough to explain how that caused some mares to look at me...differently so to speak. It was a bit flattering, not gonna a lie."

"Uh-huh, and? What happened next?"

"Well, we start talking, we hit it off rather quickly and before I knew it..."

Cadence was trying her contain her giggles and was starting to shake from the excitement.

"...another friend of hers stepped in and joined the conversation, apparently he was feeling jealous. Apparently he had a crush on her for a while now. The two bared their hearts and long story short they are in a relationship now."

Cadence froze and Mark almost cracked as she slowly retracted back to her chair while Mark laughed. "You don't say?"

"Can you believe it? I witness the beginning of a relationship. What are the odds am I right? Oh, Princess, I bet you would have loved to see that happen."

He took a glance at Celestia who wasn’t pleased and just shook her head in disappointment glaring at him for leading Cadence on, as he silently uttered 'she asked'

'Still wrong' She replied with equal silence.

"Would have loved to see another thing happen." She mumbled to herself.

"What was that?" Mark asked with the same smile.

"Nothing! Nothing! Just mumbling to myself." Cadence cleared her throat and took a sip of her juice. "So, anything else?"

"That love story isn’t enough?” He said with exasperation, “The other friend is also a royal guard, It’s the start of a love story between a royal guard and a Mayor. I thought you would relate?"

"No, no, I can relate and I love it. I would like to meet the happy couple later on for sure." She quickly added, "I was just wondering if there was something else? Maybe something that happen to you more recently maybe?"

"Hmm, nope."

"Really? Nothing comes to mind, nothing you would like to share with the Princess of Love, nothing at all?" She asked begging to be thrown a bone at this point.

"Sorry your highness, I don't know what else to tell you. Well maybe there is one thing but, nah you wouldn't be interested."

"No, no, tell me! I would love to hear!"

"Are you sure? It’s kind of an awkward subject. And it can get a bit personal."

"Mark, I'm begging you, now you are just leading me on. Whatever it is you can count on me."

"Well, there are these mares that I have been meaning to talk to." Celestia almost choked on her coffee at that comment as she looked at him in surprise.

"Uh-huh!" She nodded eagerly once again.

"I have seen them before but the heat really revealed things I never expected to see..."

"Oh, I think I understand where this is going." She smirked with a knowing smile, "You want me to clear the air for you?"

"Well yeah, but are you sure that would be okay?"

"But of course, I would only stay a couple of days but for my job I would be more than happy to help you out!"

"Awesome! I will pass you their meeting right now." He sent an email to Cadence who got confused and then surprised when he passed her a meeting of "Anonymous Shame. A gathering specifically to clear air about any miss interpretation and forgive actions that would never happen during rational thinking. A notion that clearly deflated the princess.

"Oh an A.S. meeting then." Cadence said as she deflated back to her normal self.

"Yeah, there are a couple of guards scheduled to go there in shame for almost...well I have issues using the R word, but they really felt bad for what happened and are considering quitting. I really don't want them to do that, and I don't hold any ill will toward them. I bet they will listen more to the princess of love than me. I could say that some of the things I saw would keep me up at night, but I don't want to be slapped either. So, thanks for talking with them instead for me Cadence, you are a life saver."

"Sure...no problem." She replied with disinterest as they heard an alarm going off on Mark’s scroll. "Oh! That is my quo, better get moving.” He stood up at the same time as Princess Celestia.

"Mr. Mayor before you go, a moment please?"

"Sure." They both left the room and closed the door.

"Don't you think you were a bit cruel to my niece?"

"I'm not a lab rat Celly, and she keeps trying to set me up."

"I know, I know she can get intense at times, but her heart is in the right place and just wants to help you be happy. Could you at least try not to be so hostile with her?” She grabbed his hand, “For me?”

His anger quickly evaporated once he took a look at her magenta eyes, "Oh I can't stay mad when you look at me with those eyes. Okay my little sunshine. For you, I will make the effort and go easy on her."

Celestia giggled at the nickname before sharing a small kiss. However his glare returned, "But you are not off the hook either missy, as soon as we can we will have a serious conversation about your ex's and this "agreeing to blind dates" deal." He reminded her as a second alarm started to go off.

"Crap! Now I'm getting late, take care and I will play nice with Cadence." He give her a final peck on the lips before rushing away through the hallways and heading to city hall.

Waving goodbye Celestia watched him go before returning to the dining room as Cadence was still staring at the message Mark sent her.

"Sorry it didn't work the way you wanted Cadence. Mayor Mark is simply to focused on his job to think on dating."

"He is playing hard to get auntie I know it!" She looked back at her in determination "That human is my Mount Everhoof. But I'm wearing him down. Did you see how at the end he called me Cadence? He is slowly forgiving me." She smiled in determination and stood up. "And he still needs my help he just doesn’t want to admit it yet. I'm telling you auntie he wishes to find a special marefriend. NO! marefriends, plural. Yeah, he seems like herd material.”

"This by far would be one of my biggest projects, I'm so close to finding him that special lady I can almost touch her." She let out a sigh as she shook her head with a smile. "But I should be careful, that poor colt probably never had a mare before. I bet he is shy in bed." She thought about it as she stepped away. Meanwhile, Princess Celestia had to use all of her will power to not laugh right then and there.

Then the doors opened again, and from it a much more awake Twilight. With messy mane and pajamas similar to Celestia but with a blue shirt, she walked in.

"Cadence!" Twilight faked surprise as the two reunited, doing their usual greeting.

Meanwhile Celestia could only sigh in tiredness and disappointment.

And this niece is why you and Mark are in a tense situation. These are going to be some very long days.

Author's Note

Happy New Year everybody! Later I hope I can post a more clean version of this. Expect another chapter by the strike of midnight