The Prince's Predicament

Shining shot upright so quickly that he nearly knocked Cinnamon out of bed, had he not been holding on. His chest was heaving, and he grasped the sides of his head, just below his ears as he tried to catch his breath.

"Was that your nightmare again?" asked Mustard, picking Cinnamon up and placing a hoof on the prince's shoulder.

Shining swallowed and nodded.

"You need to talk to Princess Luna. This isn't normal, and it's not okay."

Shining nodded again as he tried to slow his breathing to a more relaxed level.

"It's really weird that you keep having the same nightmare," hugged Cinnamon. "You'd think it would change, at least a little bit."

Shining stopped. It had changed. It wasn't the same. That time had been different and was a far cry from the original. "There was... an extra bit at the end this time," he said, catching his breath. "And there was more light. I could see my surroundings better. And there was a bed."

He had their rapt attention. "What was the extra part at the end?" demanded Cinnamon.

Shining took a deep breath. Could he tell them? If the alicorn that was rubbing one out to his abuse was closely related to the stallion, then it had to be Cadance. In his dream, Cadance was encouraging him to force himself on another stallion, one that he'd been inhabiting. Shing had never failed to confirm the consent of the mares he had relations with, though it now occurred to him that they might have said "yes," not because they wanted to, but because he was the prince and they'd been too afraid to deny him.

He shook the thought from his head. "I can't tell you all of it, because I'm afraid of what it means, but... I'm now very afraid of the stallion."

Mustard climbed up behind Shining and wrapped his hooves around his chest. "He's not real, you know."

"He is, though," answered Shining. "I've seen his face. Like I said, there was more light this time."

Cinnamon crawled onto Shining's lap. "Did you recognize him?"

"Not at first, but put his face in a mirror and turn the lights on, and I would."

"I can investigate him for you," offered Mustard. "See what he's up to. I won't draw a lot of attention."

Shining shook his head. "That won't help. I know he's clean. He wouldn't do anything like this. Not consciously, anyway."

"Maybe he's being coerced? He could be the victim of blackmail, or he might be bribed, and too afraid to ask for your help because he's being watched?"

Shining shook his head. "No. Whoever's behind this, he doesn't know who it is or how they're manipulating him."

"We can make him stop. Make him stop and pretend that he's still doing this."

"Can't do that, either. He doesn't know how to stop."

"How can you be sure?"

"Because it's me."

Their jaws simultaneously dropped as Shining held his head in his hooves.

"I've been the one forcing myself to do these horrible things. I don't know why, but I've wanted it to stop, and I've sought help, but it just keeps happening. I can't..." Tears began to stream down his face. "I don't know why this is happening, and I don't know how to stop it. I don't want to hurt anymore, but I'm the one hurting myself. I don't want to hurt anypony..."

Mustard pulled Shining back down into a reclined position, with Cinnamon climbing on top of them both, sandwiching Shining into a group hug. "It's okay," whispered Mustard into his ear. "You're going to be alright."

"Nopony here wants you to be hurt," added Cinnamon. "We want you to be happy."

Shining sniffed. He was lucky to have friends who cared about him. While he was still afraid to tell them that Cadance was there encouraging the act, he still had to figure out what the rest of it meant. That part at the end, the new section, made it sound like whoever it was Shining was inside of had agreed to it. If whoever it was was into BDSM, then all of this was only a nightmare because he didn't want it. That would also explain why the smell of testicle was better. It wasn't supposed to be a nightmare, it just was because he was resisting it.

If everything in the dream was meant to be lawful and consenting, then the version of himself that he had been seeing was a better version of himself. He wasn't just okay with stallions, he was excited to have sex with them. That was better than his current state, being afraid to be with them.

"Perhaps the dream will go away if I do what it says," he reasoned.

Cinnamon looked up at him. "You're going to sexually assault another stallion?"

Shining shook his head. "I refuse to commit such an act. I'll do what he did, but with a consenting stallion."

Cinnamon shrank back a bit. "Count me out. I don't like whips."

"And I have panic attacks when I'm tied up," added Mustard. "I don't even like tying up criminals. It feels like an abuse of power, even though it's sometimes necessary."

Shining nodded. "I'll not ask either of you to feel what I have. I don't want to hurt you. If it would make you uncomfortable, we can try something else, instead. I'm sure I can find a stallion that likes that sort of thing if I looked hard enough."

"Try something else?" smiled Cinnamon. "Does that mean you feel like fooling around some more?"

Shining couldn't deny that he wanted it. Even with his own discharge on his chest and chin still warm, he felt himself beginning to stiffen. He couldn't deny it if he tried; he wanted to mess around with them again.

"Shining," chuckled Cinnamon, "Does Cadance let you play with pool noodles in bed?"

"No," answered Shining, "I'm just happy to see you."

Shining could feel Cinnamon's dick pressing against the inside of his thigh, and Mustard began climbing up his spine. Not only was he happy to see them, but he could feel that they were happy to see him. This would be a fun morning, no question.

"So, what would you like to do this morning?"