Author's Note

Hey everyone. You asked for it and here it is. The next instalment of the Lovers series. Never intended for this to be a series when I released the first one, but you guys seemed to want it. So here it is. Hope you like it.

Chapter 1: The Parade

In the city of Canterlot, the royal alicorn known as Celestia had just finished her work for the day.

The tall busty mare was exhausted, having been making final preparations for a festival that would be taking place in a few days. Said festival was going to be a chance for many ponies in Canterlot to enjoy themselves, along with any pony that planned to travel there to see it. And hopefully, it would pump up the economy a little bit.

Part of the festival would involve a parade, where multiple performers would show off their skills and five alicorn princesses would be riding upon a large float and waving to the crowds. Celestia wasn't sure how exciting such a thing would seem to the ponies watching, but many of the organisers were adamant it would be a big spectacle.

Of course, this meant they would need a bunch of extra security. Guards from multiple other stations would be travelling to Canterlot, to make sure nothing terrible would happen. Celestia hoped the extra security would be unneeded, but she would rather be safe than sorry.

As she made her way through the castle, she turned a corner and spotted somepony who really shouldn't be doing what they were doing. "Luna!" Her sister jumped, accidentally dropping the lavender she had been floating up into a plant pot.

"Good evening, sister. Has your work today gone well?"

"Don't try and change the subject. You should be in bed, resting."

"I'm fine," Luna told her. "I've been doing nothing but resting almost the entire week. If I didn't get out of that bed, I would have gone stir crazy. Besides, I'm not even that far along yet." She placed her hand on her slightly bloated stomach, her three month pregnant belly very noticeable under her skin tight dress.

"Even so, you shouldn't push yourself. Your little one is taking a lot of your energy to grow. You need to make sure you have enough strength to help it become healthy." Luna rolled her eyes. "If you need somepony to do your duties for you, why not have the father fill in."

"Very funny," Luna told her. "You just want me to reveal who it is."

"Yes," Celestia nodded as the pair began to head towards Luna's bedroom. "I still don't understand why you won't reveal the father's identity. Ponies have been making rumours about his identity ever since you revealed your pregnancy. A lot of them are suggesting it's a married stallion."

"It's not," Luna stated. "And those ponies can make all the rumours they want. I don't care."

"Maybe," Celestia frowned, "but why won't you tell me? I'm your sister, for me's sake. If you don't want anypony to know, I won't tell. But don't I deserve to know who got my little sister pregnant?"

"Maybe. But what if I told you and you had the father brought to you and made to answer for what he did."

"I wouldn't do that. Not unless he forced himself upon you." She gave her a questioning look and Luna rolled her eyes, shaking her head as she did.

"No, he did not force himself on me. If anything, I forced myself on him. And that's all you're going to get out of me. I'm not going to have him give up his life. To become the stallion that knocked up the princess of the night. He'd never get to have a normal life if his identity was revealed."

"Don't you think he deserves to make that choice? He must know that he's the father, considering the news was in every paper in Equestria. Don't you think he should have a choice about being in his child's life?" She pointed at her stomach. "And what about the child. What will you tell it, when it gets old enough to ask questions? It's going to want to know who its father is eventually."

"And when that time comes, I'll tell it. But until then, the father's identity remains my secret." Celestia sighed, knowing she wasn't going to be winning this argument.

"Fine." They reached Luna's chambers. "Just don't stress yourself too much. We've got a big day soon and you'll need all your energy for it."

"I'll be sitting on a float. I think I'll be fine. Besides, Cadance will be the one who needs all the energy. She's getting ready to pop. She'll be more exhausted than I will." Celestia nodded, as Luna opened the doors of her quarters. "Good night."

"Good night, sister. And good night, little one." She smiled at her sister's stomach, Luna smiling back before heading inside.

Celestia waited for the door to close and prayed Luna wouldn't attempt to use her dream magic. Battling nightmares was one thing. Battling nightmares whilst pregnant was another. And there was no telling what going into a dream would do to an unborn child.

The princess of the sun began to make her way towards her own chambers, whilst also wondering about what the future would hold.

There was a good chance Luna's child would be an alicorn and if Flurry Heart had been any indication, its power would be insane. Having three alicorn babies, did Flurry still count as a baby at her age, wouldn't certainly make Equestria's future interesting.

As she turned a corner, she placed a hand on her own stomach. Seeing her sister's belly swell, made Celestia imagine what she would look like in that state. And that made her sigh

She had once believed she would one day become a mother and raise her own child. But after Luna's banishment, her solo ruling of the kingdom had turned Celestia into something more than just a ruler in the eyes of Equestria. They practically saw her as a god and no matter how much Celestia tried, they would not see her in any other way.

Of course, that meant every stallion in Equestria refused to even consider her as a potential mate. She had heard rumours spread that if any man attempted to bed her, they would be burned alive by her magical divinity. Divinity she didn't actually have.

Celestia could only sigh, wondering if she would go her entire immortal life without knowing what it meant to be treated like a mare.

All this thought about being with a stallion, made Celestia suddenly feel very hot under the collar. So, as she reached her chambers, she quickly cast a silencing spell around it. Now, no matter how loud she got, nopony would hear her. Which meant she could pleasure herself all she wanted.

Stepping into the room, she locked the doors and began to undress. Removing her silk dress and letting it fall to the ground, as she stood there in her bright yellow undergarments.

The alicorn walked by a mirror and looked herself over, as she magicked her bra and panties away to reveal her G cup tits and tight pussy. Despite being over a thousand years old, Celestia's breasts had no sag to them. Large, with bright pink nipples sticking straight forward. And her pussy was neatly trimmed, a small strip of blue green and pink hair above it. She was every stallion's wet dream. She didn't need to be a dreamwalker like her sister, to know she had likely been the star in many jerking fantasies.

Flying over to her bed, she reached into a drawer that was locked with magic and pulled out a nice long dildo.

If anyone in Equestria knew she had this, her reputation would be ruined. But a mare had needs and this was her best option. A blue plastic sex toy, roughly the length of a banana, which she quickly placed at the entrance of her pussy and started slowly rubbing into it.

She moaned at the sensation, whilst playing with her nipples and imagining a real stallion. This made her even wetter and she groaned, feeling her dildo slide into her with her magic. "Oh," she groaned, "yes!" She closed her eyes and as more and more of the length filled her tight cunt, she started to imagine a real stallion was actually fucking her.

In her mind, said stallion was as tall as she was and buff. A strong pony who could make her feel safe and loved. She imagined him, leaning over her and thrusting his hips back and forth. A powerful male, who was driving her to insanity.

Though she was still playing with her nipples, she imagined it was actually the stallion doing it. In her mind, her hands were up at the foot of the bed. They were secured to the headboard by some thick rope and her legs were equally bound to the other end, the thought going through her mind causing her to get even hotter and pant.

She imagined the stallion fucking her bound and helpless body for all it was worth, the dildo magically moving in and out of her at incredible speeds. "Fuck! Yes! Oh my!" Her ships thrust upwards to meet the cock, as Celestia felt her body getting closer and closer to its climax. And eventually, she couldn't take anymore. "OH...FUCK!" Her body shook as overwhelming pleasure rocketed through her.

The cock went all the way into her, almost kissing her womb as she thrashed about on the bed. Celestia's imagination went wild, as she thought about her lover staying in her and unleashing his seed within her body. Seed she imagined would meet an egg and take the first steps to making her a mother.

Eventually, her orgasm came to an end and she stopped thrashing about. She panted, her body exhausted but satisfied.

She let go of her nipples as the dildo slid out of her cunt, the alicorn bringing it up to her mouth and beginning to suck upon it. The taste of her juices was amazing and she couldn't help but moan, as she sucked the toy clean.

She stayed like this for another few minutes, still basking in the glow of her orgasm. But then, she placed her sex toy back into the drawer and locked it up with magic. After that, she performed a quick cleaning spell to remove any evidence of her nightly gratification.

Once the sheets were clean, she quickly grabbed a night dress from her wardrobe and got dressed. The pink see-through fabric was soft upon her skin, helping her drift off to sleep. But as she did, she looked back at the draw and frowned. She loved every second of her playtime, but still wondered how different a real cock felt.

Maybe one day she would learn.

A few days later.

The city of Canterlot was bustling with activity, as the festival was in full swing. Ponies everywhere, were enjoying different stalls and games. Music performances were on every other street and all the stores were making serious pay dirt. But not everypony was getting to enjoy the festival, like the guards.

Flash Sentry stood ready in the castle, he, Cluster and Runestone having been brought over from the Crystal Empire as the escorts of Cadance, Shining Armor and Flurry Heart.

They weren't the only guards, but they would be watching the royal family closely. Along with all the other alicorns and ponies on the float. But right now, he and the others were in an area where the floats were having their last minute checks down.

Cluster yawned, bored out of his mind. "Wish we could have gotten the day off. What's the point of coming to a festival and not getting to enjoy it?"

Runestone rolled her eyes. "If we weren't working security, we wouldn't even be here. Just shut up and keep yourself looking presentable. We have a job to do today and if we look sloppy, ponies will think Shining Armor isn't training us properly."

"I doubt it," Cluster shrugged.

The two continued to bicker, as Flash rolled his eyes and kept a careful watch on the surrounding environment. As beloved as the princesses were, some individuals didn't enjoy how they were ruling the kingdom. Nobody ever said it publicly, but many were upset with the way things were done.

Flash was sure that some of these ponies were those in big business, wanting the kingdom to grant them subsidies instead of using those bits to help feed the lass fortunate.

Whenever a pony Flash didn't know got close to the throne, he kept a close eye on them to make sure they didn't try anything. He didn't know if he had stopped an attempted saboteur, but he liked to think he had.

It wasn't long before the parade was about to start and all the guards stood to attention, as the royal ponies stepped into the garage. Celestia stepped in first, followed by Princess Twilight Sparkle.

Flash smirked, remember the few times he and Twilight had run into one another. Or, more specifically, she ran into him. And when she spotted him, he noticed her looking away and trying to hide a look of embarrassment.

Flash would have wondered about that, but his attention was pulled towards the other two princesses. The two pregnant princesses, who were carefully moving whilst cradling their bellies.

As they approached, Flash's mind drifted back to two nights in particular. When he had slept with a mare that made herself look just like Princess Cadance, or possibly Cadance hiding her true identity, and a night when he had the best wet dream of his life. One starring Princess Luna, Flash's mind wondering about her magical dream walking abilities.

Shining came in with his daughter, Flurry, in his arms.

Celestia stepped up to the float and smiled at the guards, who nodded as she climbed up onto it. Twilight followed suit, as Cadance and Luna looked at the short step up like it was a ten mile cliff they had to climb. "Your majesties." Flash stepped up and offered his hand, Cadance smiling and taking it.

He helped her up onto the float, Twilight helping once they were up there. He then flew down and helped Luna, who could climb up much easier since her stomach wasn't as big.

Shining stepped up next to Flash and handed him Flurry without even a thought, Flash happily holding her as he climbed up and got on the float. "Thank you," Celestia told him once he gave Flurry back to them.

Flash bowed before flying down, as the mechanics did one final check of the float. As they did, Celestia turned to Luna.

"I hope you're ready for this. The last time you had to smile all day, you couldn't quite handle it and that was when you weren't pregnant." Luna pouted at her sister, as the others laughed.

Flash also smirked, but made his face stoic when Twilight looked down at him. He wanted to make sure he looked as professional as he could. This was his chance to impress all the royal ponies. Not just Shining and Cadance, who were already very happy with his work. If he managed to impress Celestia of all ponies, that could be a serious career move for him.

Soon enough, the float began moving and Flash marched alongside it with the other guards. It wasn't moving too fast, so they were able to keep up with it easily. And whilst Flash was sure flying after it would be easier, we was meant to keep his hooves on the ground unless his actions were needed.

the float left the hanger and rolled onto the street, the sound of ponies cheering filling his ears as they began to make their way along the parade route. As they did, the royal ponies started waving to the citizens of Equestria.

Flash chanced a glance over at them and noticed Flurry on Shining's lap, her father helping his young daughter wave to all the ponies. Flash doubted she would be as excited as she was right now, in about twenty minutes.

They turned a corner onto the main street and even more ponies were on either side of the road, several earth ponies and unicorns climbing up places to get a better look. The pegasi were simply hovering in the air, cheering as loud as they could.

Flash heard a noise coming from above and looked up, the other ponies doing the same and seeing the Wonderbolts flying overhead. The performers shot through the air, leaving a trail of smoke behind them as they flew. They flew in such a way that they ended up making a pattern in the air, Flash smirking at the sight of an alicorn made of clouds.

The parade continued throughout the city, with more and more ponies seeing the alicorns and cheering.

But about halfway through the march, just after turning another corner, Flash's eyes suddenly caught sight of a flicker coming from a nearby building. When he looked up towards it, he realised the light of the sun was reflecting off of something. Something reflective and angled enough to shine the light into his eyes.

Flash squinted, using his spear's blade to try and block some of the light. And as he did, his powerful pegasi eyesight was able to determine what it was. An arrow.

Flash's brain went into overdrive, as he realised someone was aiming an arrow out of a nearby building. Aiming it straight into the parade, which made Flash realise who the target was. "SNIPER!" He yelled pointing at the window and making all the other guards jump to attention and look over at the window.

The guards all agreed with Flash's outcry and the pegasi prepared to take flight, but it was too late. The sniper had realised he had been spotted and went for broke, shooting the arrow towards the royal float.

It was moving at an incredible speed. Too fast for most ponies to react to it. There were only two types of ponies that could possibly stop it. Wonderbolts...and Flash Sentry.

Flash's cutie mark was a shield with a lightning bolt on it. He had gotten that mark, when he had protected a kid from being bullied by other kids. When they had thrown a rock at him, he had found himself moving like lightning. His special talent was being able to move at super speed, but only for a split second.

As such, the pegasus called upon his special talent and flew towards the float. The arrow was drawing closer and closer, Flash seeing it would definitely hit one of the ponies on the float. It wasn't either of the pregnant mares, thankfully. But it was somepony Flash didn't want to see hurt. Twilight.

Flash saw it was milliseconds away from hitting her, as he reached the float. Though he could possibly catch it, he wasn't sure he could stop its momentum before it stabbed into Twilight's chest. He only had one other option.

He slammed into Twilight and pushed her out of the arrow's way. She fell to the ground and was safe, but Flash hadn't been able to move himself out of the way in time. And so, a blinding pain struck his side right between the crutch of his armor. Flash Sentry. Super speed, terrible luck.

As Flash hit the ground, the pain in his side was almost overwhelming. He heard many screams and voices, as he slowly began to lose consciousness. His clothes were feeling soaked and he realised he was losing a lot of blood.

"FLASH!" He heard a voice cry out, unsure who it was. He felt something touching him, around the area where the pain was coming from and it only increased the pain he was feeling. This was the straw that broke the camel's back and he was unable to handle anymore pain, his mind completely shutting down.

Celestia was feeling a lot of stress, as she made her way through the castle.

The last few hours had been a blur to her, as she thought about everything that had happened. The emotions she had felt that day were intense. First the joy she had felt during the parade, then the horror and fear she had felt about everything that had happened afterwards.

As soon as Flash had gone down, Shining Armor had put a shield around them. Which was good, because another arrow soon followed and bounced off his barrier. The guards had then flown up and attacked the area where the sniper had been hidden, said sniping being an earth pony that had tried to escape.

When he was cornered, he had tried to fight his way out. This had resulted in him receiving a deadly injury that he hadn't survived, meaning any chance of finding out why this had happened had been lost.

After that, the festival had pretty much ended. The entire city had been put on high alert, with the guards having the streets cleared as soon as possible. Celestia didn't like it, but there was no telling if this was an isolated incident or the start of something else.

Celestia had been stuck in cancel meetings ever since, discussing why this possibly happened and any reports that might help them uncover the truth. But they had nothing. They hadn't even identified the pony's name yet.

With nothing else able to be done, Celestia had ended the meeting and sent everypony off to rest. No doubt, things would be getting crazy tomorrow. And Celestia needed to make one final stop before trying to get to bed.

She arrived outside the door to the castle's hospital wing, where any injuries or ailments were dealt with. And outside, she found Twilight, Luna, Shining Armor, Cadance and Flurry Heart waiting. Flurry was fast asleep and Cadance looked like she was fighting off exhaustion, whilst Shining held his daughter with a stoic expression on his face.

Luna was sitting on another chair, looking oddly worried despite not knowing the pony they were waiting on the condition of. And Twilight, who did know the pony, was pacing in front of the door and already starting to wear a hole in it.

Shining was the first to notice her, as she headed towards them. "Did you find anything out, about why this happened?" He asked, the others turning to her. But she simply shook her head.

"No. We don't even know who this pony was. Until we have an identity, we won't be able to determine his actions." Everypony looked upset, as Twilight kept pacing again. "From what the guards were able to tell, the crossbow he mad was a special order. That might help us identify him."

"Do we know if he was planning on hitting a particular target?" Cadance asked, rubbing her large stomach. But Celestia shook her head again.

"So we don't know if I was the actual target." Twilight stopped pacing again. "Or if I was just the first one he got in his sight before Flash called him out." Celestia nodded, the alicorn seeing the look on Twilight's face. She knew the young princess was hating this. She prided herself on her knowledge. Not knowing something must have been torture for her.

Or was it guilt, because of what happened. "Twilight, don't blame yourself. This isn't your fault."

Twilight looked close to tears. "If Flash dies, it will be my fault. He got hit saving me."

"Twily," Shining frowned. "Flash knew what he was doing. He chose to save you. Because that's the duty he took when he joined the guard. Putting his life on the line, to protect others. If he had been shot protecting Cadance, would you have said it was her fault?"

Twilight frowned, seeing Shining's logic. But she was still clearly upset about what had happened.

Just then, the doors opened and a unicorn doctor stepped out of the room. "How is he?" Celestia asked, the others looking just as eager to find out what their saviour's condition was. The doctor took a deep breath, worrying them.

"He's lost a lot of blood. If you hadn't gotten to him so soon, he would have bled out. We were able to remove the arrow without doing anymore damage, seal up the wound and give him replacement blood. Luckily, his blood type is very common so we were able to fix him up."

Everypony sighed in relief. "So he's gonna be okay?" Twilight asked.

"Yes. We were ordered to use whatever resources we had, so we used one of the special potions we had in stock. One that instantly hears up wounds and serious injury. There's gonna be a scar, but he'll live and won't have any serious complications."

"That's good to hear," Cadance sighed. "I didn't know we had any healing potions?"

"It's something we acquired from a healer in Ponyville. One Princess Twilight introduced us to. The potion is difficult to make, so we don't have a limitless supply. But I don't think anyone would deny it was the right call to make." They all nodded, glad that Flash would be alright. "All we have to do is keep an eye on him for any side effects."

"Side effects?" Luna asked. "What kind of side effects?"

"Apparently, they can be different depending on the pony who takes it. Anything from itching to..." He looked over at Flurry, her parents realising his worry with Shining making a soundproof bubble around her head. "Erectile problems." They all frowned at this.

"What do you mean...problems?" The way Luna said that seemed odd to Celestia.

"Don't worry. Any side effects will be temporary. He could have an issue...getting it up, or he could even have the opposite problem. Like I said, it's different for everyone. We'll continue to keep an eye on him and do a proper physical once he's had time to rest."

"Can we see him?" Twilight asked.

"I'm sorry. He's currently sleeping. He was unconscious when he came in, but he started coming around once his wound was closed. I cast a sleeping spell on him, to help with the recovery."

"How long will that last?" Celestia asked.

"Hopefully, until morning. But some ponies are known to be able to shake it off after a few hours. Since we'll be checking on him, we'll know if he wakes up. For now, I suggest you all get some sleep. It's been a busy day for everypony and two of you need all the rest you can get."

"I don't know if I'll be able to sleep tonight," Twilight frowned.

"Would you like me to cast a sleeping spell on you?" The doctor asked. "Or I can cast it on something for you to drink. Warm milk, maybe." Twilight didn't seem sure about that, as the group began to make their way out of the hospital wing. They didn't like leaving Flash in the state he was in, but they didn't have a choice.

As Celestia glanced back at the door leading to his room, she thought about the young stallion that had risked his life to save her precious student. She felt as guilty as Twilight, wishing she could have found a way to prevent this all from happening.

She prayed Flash would come out of this situation alright. And when he did, she was going to make sure he got the reward he deserved.