“Honey... I think I’m bi-sexual...”
The room was dark. Cold. But not empty. A lone stallion sat on the edge of his bed, murmuring to himself. His white coat almost glowed in the dark, and his cutie mark--a shining shield--stood out against his flank.
Shining Armor rubbed his hooves together nervously as he sat on the bed, waiting, practicing what he was going to say over and over. Tonight was the night. Tonight he’d tell her everything, he’d tell Cadance everything he’d been feeling, the stuff he’d found out about himself--every little detail he could. He owed her that much.
In the years following Twilight’s ascension as official Princess of all Equestria, he and Cadance had taken a step back from their royal duties, focusing more on themselves and raising Flurry Heart into a young mare. Cadance had opened a fertility clinic, finally using her old college doctorate, and he had returned to the Royal Guard, working as a trainer and instructor for the recruits. Some of the guard who remembered him still called him captain, though.
His forty fifth birthday was right around the corner, just a couple of Saturdays away, and for the past two months, he’d been... struggling. Certain things just seemed more appealing to him now. He found himself looking more at his fellow stallions in the streets, and at the gym he had to fight to hide his arousal once in the locker room. He never went back there.
He thought he liked mares, after all he’d been married to Cadance for... nineteen years now. And since they were in high school, they’d always been paired up together. He thought she was what he wanted, that how he felt around and about her was ‘it’. But something had changed. After a night out to celebrate his returning to the guard, a particularly attractive stallion had flirted with him, and it... excited him. He’d had an awakening, and now, with his royal duties reduced and his job... he’d been thinking, his mind had begun to wander. Was he still attracted to Cadance? Yes, he was, one hundred percent, but more as a friend now. Did she stir the fire in his heart like the image of an attractive stallion did? Not quite. In fact, he didn’t even know if she had ever given him this feeling before. It was new and exciting. And from the few... late night adventures he’d had out to certain clubs in Canterlot... he’d liked it. He’d really liked it.
Perhaps he liked it so much because of one stallion in particular. A very attractive pegasus with a pale coat, and hair so light it was almost white. And the way they’d spoken and danced and held one another, it felt... for lack of a better word... Right. He winced, wringing his hooves together. The guilt was tearing him up, the confusion, the worry, the fear.
“Fuck... Cadance, I... I’m, uh-” he began, practicing his speech again.
When he heard the door downstairs open, however, he froze. They’d long since moved out of the palace at the Crystal Empire, and returned to a nice townhouse in the Canterlot Upper City, closer to his parents. He waited, holding his breath as he listened to Cadance chat with Flurry, laughing and joking. Their little girl was getting big now. It was almost hard to believe her eighteenth birthday would be in a few months.
“Shit...” he muttered. He wouldn’t just be leaving Cadance if he went through with this, but he’d be breaking up his family. Because what, he suddenly liked stallions? Because he’d always been like this and only just realised it now? He felt tears sting in his eyes again and out his head in his hooves. “Damnit... damnit...”
He could hear Cadance coming up the stairs. Flurry went off to her bedroom, he could tell by her hooves growing quieter, and his wife was approaching fast. This was it. This was it. He sat up and rubbed his eyes. Deep breath before the plunge...
The door opened with a creak, spilling out a ray of light onto him from the hallway. Cadance jumped about a foot in the air when she flicked the light on and saw him. “Oh my--Shining!” she gasped with a shaky laugh. “You startled me. Why are you sitting in the dark, honey?”
Shining swallowed. Why does she have to be so loving, he thought. Couldn’t she be cold? Mean? Something so at least he wouldn’t feel so guilty. No. She was the perfect mare. And that made this all the more awful.
“Shiny?” He looked up as she took his hoof in hers, a worried expression on her face. “What’s wrong? Have you been crying?”
He had, but he wasn’t going to tell her that. He didn’t need to, clearly. “Sit down, Cady, I... need to talk to you.” His voice was shaking.
She did, and sat down beside him. Her wings rustled gently behind her back. He had wings, too. Damnit.
“What’s wrong? Talk to me, my darling, you’re scaring me. What’s wrong?”
Alright. Here goes. His mouth opened.
Except he couldn’t say it. He couldn’t bring himself to say the words he’d been practicing for so long as he looked into her wide, shining eyes. He willed himself to, using all his might, all his stopping power, into saying this one thing, just get it out there, like ripping a band-aid off.
“Cadance... I’m bi-sexual.”
There was nothing that followed afterwards. The dreadful, awful silence filled his ears and his head. He closed his eyes, taking slow, deep breaths, listening to Cadance’s. Her hoof squeezed his tightly, and she rested her head on his shoulder. Oh fuck, what have I done, he thought. She was going to kill him. Shed hate him forever and ever-
“No, Shining,” she said softly. “You’re gay.”
Shining opened his eyes and blinked. He turned to face her. “What?” he murmured.
His darling wife, the Princess of Love, the Third Alicorn, the mare Ponies magazine called the prettiest mare in Equestria for the past three years, smiled at him. “You’re gay, honey. I’ve known for a while now.”
“Wh... what? How?”
Cadance chuckled quietly. “I’m the Princess of Love, Shining. I have a sense for this sort of thing.” She touched his chest gently. “I only wish you’d told me sooner, my love, I’ve hated seeing you struggle so much.”
Shining’s head began to spin. This wasn’t how this was supposed to go. They were supposed to argue, have a fight, and he would be thrown out a disgrace and he could slink away into the night. But this was unprecedented... she was nice, understanding. He loved her, very, very much. “I...” he whispered, his voice catching in his throat. “H-How long?”
“I think I've always known, sweetie. Even when we were young I felt... something, like you didn't look at me like any other colt did, but I was so smitten with you I didn't care. If I wasn’t the Princess of Love, I found a couple of your magazines a few months ago--it’s okay-” she quickly adds when she sees his horrified expression and feel him tense up. “It’s okay. Look at me. At first I thought you might have just been experimenting, we all do that at some point in our lives. I did in college, after all. But then I felt it, deep in my heart what you were feeling, what you were discovering about yourself. It’s not your fault, so don’t you even dare think that way.”
“Why didn’t you say anything?” he whispered, unable to look her in the eye, his cheeks burning red.
She stroked his cheek and kissed his nose. “I needed you to tell me yourself, my darling. I couldn't make that decision for you.”
Shining’s heart pounded in his chest. She knew. Of course she knew, she knew him better than anypony else, even Twilight. He didn't deserve her.
“Have you met somepony, can I ask?”
He froze. A chill crawled all the way up his body and into his horn. He thought about the pegasus. His smiling face appeared in Shining's mind. His name danced on the end of Shining’s tongue. Could he really tell her? A choked gasp escaped his throat. “Yes.”
Cadance beamed at him and pulled him into a hug. “Then I’m happy you’re happy, my darling.”
“You aren’t mad?” he whispered, his hooves coming up around her. “You don’t hate me?”
“How could I be mad?” she laughed. There are tears in her eyes. He felt them on his shoulder. “You’ve found who you are, Shining. And I could never hate you. Never. I love you, Shining.”
“I love you too, Cadance,” he whispered in reply, feeling the wave of relief wash over him. The pressure he’d been feeling, the guilt, all of it washed away in this one, long, endearing hug she was giving him.
The alicorn smiled at him as they pulled away from one other. She cupped his face in her hooves and kissed his nose again. “If you would like to go tonight, I understand. Really,” she said softly.
Go? He could go? That was an option? He bit his lip. No. Of course he wasn’t going to leave her. “Cady-”
Cadance put her hoof over his lips and shushed him. “I want you to be happy, Shining. More than anything. The love I feel for you is like... something out of a romance novel, or a movie. You’re my soulmate.” Her eyes welled up with tears and her lip quivered as emotion overcame her. He quickly put his hooves around her and hugged her tight. “Gosh, I’m sorry,” she sniffed. “I promised myself I wouldn’t cry-”
“Shhh...” Shining whispered, gently rocking her side to side. “I will always love you, Cadance. Always. And--and nothing’s gonna change with Flurry, I want you to know, I’ll be there, whenever you or she needs me. I’m... I just don’t know how we can explain this to her.”
“You’d better,” the princess laughed, sniffling. She rubbed her nose as they rested their foreheads together. “She’ll understand, honey. Flurry’s a big girl and she loves her dad.”
It didn’t feel real. It felt like some dream he was having, but no. It really was. He’d come out to her, and she still loved him, she accepted him. Shining felt a certain feeling in his chest well up for her as fresh tears pricked at his eyes. “I’ll... pack up tomorrow and find an apartment. Maybe I’ll stay with my parents for a while.”
Cadance nodded at him understandingly. “You don’t want to go tonight? Like I said, I totally understand-”
“No, baby. No, I.. I need to be here tonight. With you.”
“Shining-”
“Please. Let me be here. I can’t leave you. Not yet.”
Cadance felt her heart melt for him. She took his hoof in hers again and raised it to her lips, planting a soft, tender kiss on him. “I love you, Shining Armor.”
“I love you too, Mi Amore Cadenza.”
She let out a small laugh and wiped her eyes, and drew him into another hug. They sat like that for a while. Just sitting, holding one another, taking comfort in each other’s presence.
In the quiet of the night, Shining Armor felt a mix of emotions swirling inside him. The weight of his confession lifted from his shoulders, replaced by a sense of acceptance and understanding from Cadance that he hadn’t dared to hope for. As they sat together in their shared embrace, he couldn’t help but feel grateful for her unwavering love and support.
With each passing moment, the knot of fear and uncertainty that had gripped him began to loosen. He knew there were challenges ahead, conversations to be had, adjustments to be made--but in that moment, none of it seemed insurmountable with Cadance by his side.
As the night drifted on and the moon cast a soft glow through the window, Shining Armor found solace in the simple act of being near his wife. Their bond felt stronger than ever, fortified by honesty and raw vulnerability. And as they held each other close, he knew that no matter what the future held, they would face it. Together—separate, of course… but together, united in love.
The stallion lay on the bed, sprawled out on the comfiest, silkiest Saddle Arabian sheets he could afford and fluttered his eyes open. His mane, light blonde, almost white, flowed down his neck and onto his back. Some said it was extensions, like his tail, but to them he just smiled and batted his eyelashes.
His coat was a light brown, dappled every so finely with lighter spots, and two large wings sprouted from his back. His hooves were always neatly polished, and from a distance, many would assume he was in fact not a stallion, but a mare.
Meet Bright Star. A twenty five year old stallion with a job at a local artistry shop, and whose paintings lined his modest Downtown Canterlot apartment in the heart of the city. He loved to draw and paint—anything from a sunset, to a bowl of fruit, from scribbles to works of art. It was perhaps appropriate that his hobby was painting, as most males he encountered viewed him as a work of art himself, something to be admired.
The latest stallion visiting him was different. Yes, there was a very obvious sexual attraction there, but it was more than that it felt nice, it felt… right. For the very first time, Star experienced a feeling of being truly needed and wanted, not just simply desired.
He sighed happily, aching only slightly from last night’s strenuous activities, and swished his tail from side to side. “Shiny?” he called out, his soft voice holding the slightest Hooflyn accent to it. “Where are ya?”
The stallion in question emerged, rubbing a towel over his neck, drying it, and smiled. “Hello, Star,” he chuckled, raking his eyes over the younger stallion’s body. “I didn’t realise you were awake. Sleep well?”
Star yawned, nodding. “Sure did, baby,” he chuckled. His wings immediately began to flutter of their own accord when he spotted Shining, indicating both his happiness, and his arousal at such a sight. “Girls, down,” he quickly said, trying to stop them as his cheeks turn a nice shade of pink.
The older stallion laughed. “I think they like me.”
“Don’t encourage ‘em,” Star deadpanned, giving his wings a sharp look. “Girls!”
The wings atop the pegasus’s back stopped, folding neatly to his side. He huffed and brushed some of his hair out his face, and smiled. His eyes were light blue, matching the shade in his stallion’s hair. He was older, sure, by a full two decades, but that only added to his appeal. And he wasn’t just a stallion, he was The stallion: Shining Armor.
The Prince of the Crystal Empire. Father to Princess Flurry Heart. Brother to Princess Twilight Sparkle of all Equestria. And very recently separated from his wife, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza. A lot of guys would have seen these fancy titles and been terrified, but not Bright Star.
He, just Star to his friends, saw an attractive, lonely looking guy and sauntered up to him. A quick hello and some encouraging to dance later, and there they were, holding each other close, swaying in time to the music. And after that, well… a week later here they were.
Star stretched his legs and cracked his neck. “You really did a number on me last night, baby,” he cooed happily.
Shining blushed and sat down next to him, brushing some hair out of the pegasus’s face. “Heh… sorry. You said you could handle it.”
“I did, didn’t I?” Star laughed, rolling over onto his back, holding his legs close to himself.
Shining chuckled, admiring the playful twinkle in Star’s eyes. “You definitely did. You’re quite the wild one, aren’t you?” he teased, running a hoof through his own mane.
The pegasus smirked and sat up, leaning in closer to his bedfellow. “Only with the right company,” he purred, tracing a hoof along Shining’s chiselled jawline. “And I gotta say… you’re definitely the right company.”
The compliment made Shining blush, and he felt a warmth spread through him as Star’s touch lingered. He couldn’t resist leaning in to capture those soft lips in a tender kiss, savouring the warmth and gentleness of the younger stallion.
“Mmmf…” Star moaned softly into his mouth before they broke apart.
They sat there in silence for a moment, simply basking in each other’s presence. The room was bathed in the soft glow of the morning sun filtering through the curtains, creating an intimate cocoon around them. Star felt a sense of contentment wash over him, a feeling he hadn’t experienced in a long time. It was more than just physical attraction; there was a genuine connection between him and Shining Armor that went beyond the realm of casual encounters. As they broke apart, Star gazed into Shining’s eyes, his own filled with unspoken emotions.
But Shining coughed into his hoof and stood up. “I have to go…” he murmured.
“Aw so soon? How come?”
“I have… responsibilities. Things I need to take care of. A job, those recruits don’t train themselves, you know.”
Star nodded, sighing wistfully as his hoof travelled down his body. “Yeah okay,” he murmured, watching Shining stand up. “I guess I’ll just wait here, then. All alone. Defenceless…”
Shining slowly turned around, seeing what the pegasus was doing to himself. All he could muster as a response was a simple, quiet: “Oh…”
Star chuckled again, his hoof gently stroking his cock. “You really sure you can’t stay for another… fifteen minutes?” he mewled.
The unicorn swallowed. His eyes said yes, the tongue in his slightly parted lips said yes. “Maybe ten,” he whispered, unable to contain himself as he felt himself get excited.
“Yeah?” Star breathed, his hoof rubbing faster.
“Yeah,” Shining murmured back, his heart racing as he watched Star’s movements. He couldn’t believe how much he desired this pegasus, despite knowing better and that heh ad to leave very soon. But there was something undeniably alluring about Star, about this new kind of desire in his chest, and he found himself unable to resist.
Star grinned, a wicked glint in his eyes. “Ten minutes it is, then,” he said, his voice low and seductive. He could feel himself getting harder just thinking about having Shining all to himself for a little while longer, even without the assistance of his hoof.
Shining crossed the room in just a few strides, his eyes never leaving Star’s. He kneeled beside the bed and reached out, slowly taking Star’s cock in his hoof and kissed him deeply. The pegasus gasped at the sudden touch, arching his back slightly as Shining began to stroke him gently.
“Oh, fuck, Shiny,” Star moaned, his breathing growing heavier with each passing.
“You like that?” Shining whispered, kissing his neck. His hoof increased in speed.
“Mmm, yes,” the pegasus purred, his wings fluttering underneath him as he felt the pleasure building up. “Oh, more, Shiny... please...”
“Turn over, then.”
Star quickly hopped to it as Shining released him and turned around, angling his flanks towards the older stallion. He bowed his head and lifted his tail, exposing himself. He bit his lip as he waited for what he craved for. “Come and get me…”
Shining’s eyes sparkled with desire as he looked at Star’s exposed body. He could feel his own cock getting harder by the second, twitching at the thought of taking the younger stallion. The softness of his flanks practically melted in his grasp. He leaned in close, his breath warm on Star’s skin as he leaned down to kiss those wonderfully soft flanks. He placed his hooves on either side, pulling Star closer to him.
Star moaned in his grasp, putty in his hooves.
A deep and lustful growl left the larger stallion, as a grin covered his expression. He traced the delicate wings across the pegasus’s back, watching as they began to flutter. “You want it so bad, don’t you?” he growled, his eyes burning with lust. “You want me to take you. To make you mine.”
Star whimpered, his wings fluttering faster with each word. “Yes, please, Shiny,” he begged, his voice barely above a whisper. “Take me. Please.”
Shining traced his hooves down Star’s spine, gently massaging the muscles as he went. His touch sent shivers down the pegasus’s body, making him whimper with pleasure. Shining then slowly slid his hooves down further, reaching the base of the pegasus’s tail. With a gentle caress, he guided it aside, making sure not to cause any pain, to properly admire the view.
The younger stallion gasped and shivered at the sensation, his wings fluttering uncontrollably in excitement and need. “More,” Star begged, clutching the sheets beneath him as his body arched towards Shining. “Daddy…”
In an instant, Shining forgot entirely about the time limit they had, and leaned down to grab the same bottle of lube they’d used the previous night to quickly squirted some onto his hoof and applied some to Star. He climbed onto the bed, resting the top of his chest against the smaller stallion, ready and willing, waiting for him.
With a deep growl, he slowly teased the entrance, pushing into Star, until he filled him completely with his length. The pegasus cried out in pleasure and pain as Shining started to move inside him, each thrust sending waves of ecstasy through him.
“Oh… fuck…” Star moaned, biting into the pillow.
Shining moved with purpose now, his hooves digging into the sheets as he thrust in and out, each movement more forceful than the last. It was unlike anything he’d experience before, this primal desire, this lust. Not even with Cadance had he felt like this, and he certainly hadn’t felt this young in ages. Star’s wings fluttered wildly, as if trying to keep up with the intensity of their encounter. The younger stallion was lost in a haze of pleasure, his body reacting to every thrust from the stallion above him.
“Oh, yes… fuck me, Shiny… harder!” Star moaned, his voice hoarse with desire. He reached underneath himself, masturbating.
Shining complied eagerly, his eyes locked onto Star’s neck as he leaned down and bit it. His thrusts became more frenzied, his body slapping against Star’s in perfect harmony. The room began to fill with the sounds of their lovemaking; heavy breaths and cries of pleasure.
Star’s wings were fluttering wildly, adding to the rhythm of their lovemaking. His hooves slapped the sheets with each thrust, his breath ragged as he felt himself move closer and closer to release. The stallion above him was a force of nature, a whole Tartarus of lust and desire that he couldn’t possibly resist.
“I’m gonna c…” he gasped.
Shining smiled, feeling waves of pleasure building up inside him as he watched Star’s tongue loll out of his mouth. He increased his pace again, his hooves wrapped around the stallion beneath him, pulling him closer with each thrust. He could feel it himself, that age old sensation of release slowly building up within him. He leaned down and bit the pegasus’s neck, grunting and chuffing softly.
“Oh fuck… oh fuck…” Star moaned as he arched into his lover. “I’m gonna... daddy… don’t stop…”
Shining grunted, his hooves tightening around Star as he felt himself reach the edge of the abyss. “I won’t,” he growled, thrusting harder and faster into the younger stallion. His eyes locked onto Star’s, watching as the pleasure built up inside him, bringing them closer to their shared climax.
The air in the room was thick with the scent of lust and desire, their bodies moving in perfect sync, each thrust bringing them closer and closer to the edge. Star’s wings fluttered wildly, his breathing growing deeper and more ragged with each passing second.
“Fuck… Shiny…” Star whined, his voice barely a whisper as he gasped for breath. “I’m so close, baby… I’m gonna cum…”
Shining smirked, his hooves reaching around Star’s chest, feeling the softness of his coat. “That’s it, baby,” he crooned. “Cum for me… cum for your daddy…”
Star felt a surge of electricity run through his body at the whispered command, his muscles tightening as the pleasure built up inside him. His hooves clenched the sheets, his wings fluttering wildly as he cried out in passion, “Shiny! Shiny, Shiny… don’t stop… daddy, daddy, fuck…”
Shining watched the younger stallion’s face contort with pleasure, watched as his eyes grew wide with rapture. He felt it too, that familiar sensation coursing through his body. It was too much to bear. With one final thrust, Shining let out a loud growl and held Star tightly, feeling himself release inside him.
“Oh baby!” Star cried out, his body arching in ecstasy as he came as well, his own seed spilling onto the bedsheet below. His wings fluttered wildly as he felt wave after wave of pleasure wash over him, his vision blurring as he dropped his head down.
Shining held Star close, his breaths ragged as they both came down from their intense climax. He kissed the top of the younger stallion’s head, loving the way Star felt underneath him.
“That was... incredible,” Star managed to murmur, his voice hoarse from his cries.
Shining chuckled, a small smile on his lips as he slowly pulled out of Star, adoring how the latter squeaked and quivered with each inch. “I think that’s an understatement,” he replied, reaching over to grab a pillow to place beneath Star’s head before he fell.
As Shining settled beside him, Star couldn’t help but let out a content sigh, feeling more relaxed than he had in ages. Shining’s touch felt like a warm blanket on a cold winter night—comforting and safe. “Mm… Daddy...” he whispered, snuggling closer to him, feeling like everything was finally coming together for him now that he had this older stallion here with him.
“That word…” Shining murmured with a far off look in his eye. “Oh that word does things to me…”
Star looked up at him, a soft smile on his face as he traced a hoof over Shining’s strong jawline. “Then I’ll have ta say it more often, won’t I?” he teased, his voice barely above a whisper.
Star’s delicate features held the attention of the unicorn for a moment before he leaned in and pressed a gentle kiss to his forehead, displaying a look of adoration. “I never knew I could feel this way,” he whispered.
“I thought you were married?”
A pensive expression crossed Shining’s face. “It’s different with you. I can’t deny that.”
Star looked into Shining’s eyes, seeing the sincerity there. “Different how?” he asked, curious to know more about the older stallion’s thoughts. “How d’ya mean?”
Shining hesitated for a moment before speaking. “With Cadance, it was... it was a duty. We were partners, yes, I loved her and I love her still, but... there was no passion, no... need,” he explained, his voice barely above a whisper. He felt rotten actually saying it out loud for the first time. Downright despicable, even with how understanding Cadance had been.
"So how come you married her?"
"I've always only ever done what I was supposed to do. Lead the guard, marry the princess, be strong, be heroic. I never once stopped to ask myself... is this what I want?"
Star nodded thoughtfully, processing what Shining had just said. It broke his heart a little to hear, it sounding all too familiar with how he grew up. “And me?” he asked, wanting to understand where he stood with this older stallion.
Shining’s gaze never left Star’s face as he replied, “With you... with you, it’s different. It’s like... I feel alive when I’m with you. You make me want things I never thought I wanted before,” he admitted, his heart pounding. “I never knew I liked stallions until very recently, as well.”
“Wait…” Star said, sitting up. He shivered and rustled his wings. “Are you sayin’… I’m your first?”
The unicorn nodded. “Yes. I haven’t… had sex with another stallion before.”
Star stared at him for a few moments. “Get outta here,” he laughed. “Really?”
Shining blushed and stroked his hoof across the pegasus’s back. “Yeah… really.”
“Huh. Good instincts, then, I guess.”
Star couldn’t help but feel a mixture of surprise and excitement at the realization that he was Shining’s first stallion partner. He had always been drawn to older, more refined stallions and definitely felt something with Shining, but he never expected to be the one to introduce him to this new facet of his sexuality. It gave their relationship an added layer of intimacy and meaning that he found both flattering and thrilling.
“Oh, shit I have to go,” Shining said, suddenly noticing the time. He gave Star a playful scowl as he sat up and smoothed his mane down. “You… that was more than ten minutes.”
Star just grinned back and turned his ears back. “Aha… sorry, daddy.”
“Ohhh, don’t you start that again.”
Shining quickly smoothed his mane back and made himself look presentable, then hurried to the door of Star’s apartment. He stopped before he reached it, however, his hoof outstretched for the handle.
Star looks up as Shining returns, surprising him with a passionate and deeply affectionate kiss. The pegasus’s eyes flutter closed as his wings tremble with joy. When the kiss ends, Shining departs, leaving Star still savouring the taste on his lips and keeping his eyes shut for a few moments longer.
“Go get ‘em, baby,” he murmured, slowly opening his eyes to see Shining’s tail dip out behind the door as it closed shut. He blew out his cheeks and sank into the bed. “I am so gonna paint that pony...”
He kicked the sheets off properly and stood up, cracking his back as he floated over to a nearby easel and began whipping up some paint, struck with plenty of ideas for inspiration.