From Free Tears to Bound Joy

*Two Weeks Later*

Shining Armor looked up from his novel, taking in the still empty seat at his daughter's place at the breakfast table. "Still no Flurry." He turned to his wife with a sigh. "Has she talked to you at all in the last two weeks? I know Rap and Ruti burned her bad, but this is too much."

Cadance let out a sigh of her own. "She's let me talk to her once or twice, mostly when I put food in front of her face. She's warded her room so heavily that none of the servants are able to get in." She shook her head. "Ruti's asked me to give her a letter, but I don't think she'd be willing to read it. Rap I think made plans to move back to Equestria."

"Good riddance to the asshole. I never liked that Flurry dated him anyway." Shining grunted around a bite of egg. "No stallion is good enough for my filly, but she really fouled up with him." His expression softened before he added "not that I'm going to tell her that. I'm not about to put salt in my filly's wound."

Cadance smiled "I'm glad you've realized that much, as you'd spend the next year on the couch if you said anything like that in her hearing." She took a bite of her own. "How do you think we should try and cheer her up? I'd say watch her favorite movie with her, but I know for a fact she watched it multiple times with both Ruti and Rap."

"I never got any specifics on why Rap broke up with her, just that he cheated on her with Ruti. Did she happen to tell you?" Shining asked, grasping for a way to help his daughter out.

Cadance nodded. "Yeah, the first night she told me. Apparently she likes BDSM, and Rap found it too freaky for his liking." She snorted derisively. "Stupid bastard, I don't think he realizes how many stallions would give their left nut for a mare that likes kink."

Shining Armor's fork fell onto the floor along with his jaw. Forcing it closed, he let out a low whistle. "What. A. Stupid. Fucker!" He picked up his fork and cleaned it with a quick spell before continuing his thought. "I can understand not enjoying kink, the mare I dated before you was as vanilla as ice cream after all, but cheating on her?!" He started to pace around the table. "No wonder she's been so devastated! Not only was she betrayed by two of the people she loved most, her entire view of herself as a sexual being was wounded!"

Cadance let out a small snicker at that last bit. "Oh Shiny, I love it when you talk like that, it shows just how long you've been around me." She stood up and gave him a peck on the cheek. "I think you're right, by the way."

"So her sexuality has taken a wound, how do we heal it?" Shining asked as he sat back down, a faint smile on his face from the kiss.

"So, we need to find one or more people who find her in her entirety sexually attractive, and persuade her to have fun with them. Preferably in a setting that isn't familiar to her, but with enough familiarity that she isn't totally out of her comfort zone." Cadance stated as she began to plan on her fingers. "So not here at the Palace or the Empire in general."

"I'm with you so far. But who do we know that can possibly help her like that? All of Twilight's friends are taken and what kids they have are too young for her, she hasn't ever shown any sexual interest in non-ponies, and Twilight herself is almost asexual." He continued to think out loud. "In fact, the only people who might fit the bill are us, and she'd never go for that."

Cadance arched a perfectly styled eyebrow. "Not going to rule us out because we're her parents, and it'd be incest?"

He shook his head. "If it helps my daughter get over her pain, I'd do it in a heartbeat." He stopped and looked down at his fingers before adding "and while I'll admit that I wouldn't entirely do it for her, I do think anything I got for helping her like that would be a bonus." He looked at his wife, a little bit fearful after that last statement. "Not going to yell at me for that, are you?"

Cadance walked over and pulled her husband into a hug. "Shiny, love is love, no matter what form it takes. You were open and honest with me just now. If you were to go behind my back and fuck her, I'd be in the exact shape she is right now, though I think you'd be getting off less lightly than Rap did."

"I'd deserve it for being that stupid. So, do we try and take our daughter on a trip and I do my best to seduce her?" Shining asked, scratching at his head.

Cadance shook her head. "No, we'll seduce her together. We'll show her that she's normal, and that her tastes are completely fine!" She kissed her husband on the lips before adding "I'm thinking sun and sand over Hearts and Hooves Day, what do you think?"

Shining thought about it for a moment, then nodded and gave her a thumbs up. "It'll be a little tight to plan it and arrive, but I think we can do it." He relaxed with a chuckle. "I mean, what's the use of being a Empress and Emperor if we can't use it to get a last minute vacation?"

Cadance smiled before laughing along with him. "I don't disagree, Shiny. Now then, let's get everything planned and get Flurry over this bump in the road."