The Prince's Predicament

Shining's vertebrae popped as he leaned back into Pyre's chest. It took him a moment to remember where he was, but when he did, he settled into the embrace. Pyre responded by wrapping his hooves even tighter around Shining and leaning forward.

"This is about the time when I send you home and go to bed," whispered Pyre. "I'll make an exception, though, because it's your first time. How ya doin'?"

"Good, good," breathed Shining. "Better than I thought I would be, at any rate."

"I told you I'd keep you comfortable."

"I never doubted you. That's why I came to you, specifically."

"I saw that," smirked Pyre. "You came twice."

"Don't be gross," chuckled shining, pushing back with his hoof. "Anyway, the nap you suggested was great."

"No scary dreams, ironically or otherwise?"

Shining shook his head. "But, uh..." he gestured down to the pool of semen they'd left. "Is that going to wash out nicely?"

"Of course," scoffed Pyre. "The number of ponies I've brought back here to do this have left behind so many fluids, and it all just disappears in the wash. This isn't my first romp."

Pyre picked himself up and walked over to the "kitchen." The pear he'd pulled out earlier, he tossed to Shining, and grabbed a pomegranate for himself. "Have something to eat. It's a few days old, but should still taste fine."

Shining bit into the pear. He knew it was just a pear, but he also knew that the natural sugars would energize him. They would act as electrolytes, and the juice would help rehydrate him, which he needed right now. "This is delicious."

Pyre scoffed and emptied his pomegranate seeds into a bowl. "It's a pear. It has all the flavour of a fresh pear, plucked from a tree, washed and left raw." He took a deep breath. "How do you feel, vis-a-vis the reaming? Any thoughts telling you to do anything else?"

Shining shrugged. "Well, there's one telling me to shower, but otherwise, no."

"Everything feel okay?"

Shining stood up and stretched. "I feel great, actually. Like I said, when I do what it says, I feel good after, just... ashamed. I'm trying to combat that last part, because so far, it hasn't made me do anything inherently wrong. Just things that feel wrong based on what I was led to believe."

"It's hard to break through those thoughts sometimes," nodded Pyre. "Still, even though I grew up hearing about all of this being wrong, all it took to change my mind was a bully ripping down one of my friends. I decided then that this is a good hill to die on, and even if it kills me, I will hold this position for all the ponies that can't hold this position, but need it. I may not do it myself, but I'll support anypony else's right to suck my dick. Stallions, mares, even the odd gryphon. Beak's a little chilling, but sure, they can do their best."

"Wow."

"Yeah, I'm a selfish arse. But I'm honest about it."

"That you are..." Shining took a deep breath. "Hey, can I ask you for a favour?"

Shining returned to the castle, late for dinner. One of the guards directed him toward a dining room where Luna and Cadance were waiting for him. "So sorry," he huffed, sitting down. "I was rushing all over town trying to organize something important."

Luna nodded knowingly. "Are we to presume that your gift shall come tonight, then?"

"It took some convincing, but yeah." He turned to Cadance and took her hoof. "Cady, I have something I need to tell you after dinner, before we go to bed. It's very important."

Cadance nodded. "There's something I need to say to you, as well."

Luna rapped her hoof on the table. "While we appreciate the apologetic mood, perhaps it is best if we were to have Prince Shining Armor begin this one."

Shining looked at Luna. "I'm not ready yet."

Luna nodded. "We are aware. And yet, we are also aware of what the apologies entail. If Princess Mi Amore Cadenza were to speak first, we are not sure if all would be well."

Luna knew full well what Shining had planned for tonight. Knowing what he'd prepared, she did not wish to ruin what was meant to be a pleasant evening, not for Cadance, and not just for Shining, but for the other ponies he'd brought in. Shining had been working on tonight's fun for over a week, and it was a task that would take a regular stallion at least a month. Granted, he had help, but she was not going to let that effort go to waste, even if it was undeserved.

"Well, I... I guess we should eat, then," shrugged Shining. "How'd your investigation go, Luna?"

Wordlessly, Luna levitated onto the table a glass jar with a few grey clumps in it. Some of them had rubbed against each other and left an ashy dust at the bottom.

"What's that?"

Luna scooped a miniscule amount onto a spoon. "Taste this, but do not swallow. Immediately rinse out your mouth with water."

Shining did as he was told, spitting the foul powder into a spare glass. "That's the stuff, alright."

"Typically, this mixture is cut with ordinary, run-of-the-mill sugar, and then encapsulated. It is an uncommon, but still fairly often used mixture that can slip suggestions into dreams. It is a very risky operation, but trained psychologists are able to plant ideas in the minds of their patients to inspire empathy, alter perspectives or, in some malicious cases, force them to their will. The actual medication is heavily regulated, of course, but it is possible to synthesize a bootleg version of it. This is the bootlegged version. It tastes awful, is slightly less effective, is usually mixed better than this and comes with an extra side effect."

Shining swallowed hard after rinsing his mouth profusely and scrubbing his tongue with a towel. "Muscular degradation?"

Luna shook her head. "If the subject desires something in tandem with the suggestions being provided, the concoction will start changing the body's chemistry to make it happen. If their goal is to lose weight, for example, it will reorganize their body chemistry to increase their metabolic rate." She snorted. "Had we known in advance, we never would have agreed to your plan. We thought it was a spell, an enchantment, or some malicious being with access to dreamwalking as we had. We did not anticipate this exact scenario. For our part in making this worse, we profusely apologize."

Shining took a deep breath. This was a lot to take in. "So, what can we do about it?"

Luna smiled. "Thankfully, there's little to actually do. While you did end up taking far more than you should have, due to the imprecise nature of this being unregulated, all that must happen now is for the psychological aspects to wear off on their own. We cannot say how long that will be, but they will begin to diminish shortly, as long as you don't ingest any more of this, and we have seen to that."

Shining looked down at his body. "And the physical changes?"

"You are no less healthy than you were. If you feel that you are not..." Luna smirked, "We believe you have installed a gymnasium. We have faith in you."