Every Prince Deserves a Princess

"Nnngh... call me a Prince..."

"Oh, my powerful, a-almighty prince," she sang, her perfect rump slick with sweat as I continued my assault, my breathing ragged. It had been far too long since I'd had this opportunity, and seeing the soft pink fur bent over my desk and panting in ecstasy was a sight I had certainly missed. No power or control... what did they know?

A moan passed through my lips as my hips rolled forward, driving myself inward as my chest heaved with effort. I reached out a hoof to massage the wings of the beautiful, panting princess before me, watching with a confident smile as the soft feathers, tipped with a light magenta unfurled at my touch. I controlled her. I owned her on this night.

"O-oh, Prince Vladimir... the things you do to me...," she cooed. The tiniest whimper escaped her as I slammed myself forward, pinning her up against the desk as I let out a low growl, spurred on by the familiar voice. Lust hung heavy in the air, and the musky smell of sex made breathing almost a chore as the scent of lilac swirled up into my nostrils while I kept a grip on her tail.

"C-cadenza... oh, how I've longed for this..." The mare didn't reply, her hooves almost white as she gripped onto the desk frame, her purple and creme mane bouncing with each thrust as she continued to whine and roll along with my movements. My powerful hips overwhelmed her senses as she cried out in release, and I instinctively reached the hoof resting between her wings down to her cutie mark, rubbing hard as she let herself go, submitting to my will as she was lost in the throes of passion. My own climax came soon after, and I leaned over top of her, pressing my chest to her back as I wheezed with effort, both hooves digging into the edge of the desk. Several seconds later, it was over, and the only sounds in the room were the twin beats of my breathing and hers.

"The best... you're always the best..." My voice was scratchy, my throat dry as I reached a hoof up to stroke her silken mane, watching carefully as she turned to face me. She had the magenta eyes, part of the mane coloration, the sexy, two-toned wings... but upon her forehead, where a horn should have been, there was only flesh.

"T-that's why you pay me, Prince Vladimir," she replied, managing a weak grin. The pegasus was much too small to be her, and didn't have the same sweetness... but she let me call her Cadenza, and from behind, she was almost enough to believe in it.

"Indeed I do. Good money, I might add." I reached a hoof across the desk, fumbling a bit as I snatched the velvet coin purse, dragging it to myself as my breathing began to calm down. I carefully counted out the coins, lingering atop the mare as she looked up at the clock, silently calculating. She didn't need to. I would never waste a cent.

"Here," I said as I tossed the coins before her and dismounted, relishing the squishy noise followed by the clacking of my hooves against the tiled floor. Instinct commanded me to reach for my bow tie and vest, though I stopped myself short, letting the garments linger upon the desk as I looked down at my sweaty chest. A shower was most definitely in order... but first, the usual pleasantries. What a chore.

"Thank you as always, madame. I needed that more than I can say. Not a word to anypony."

"Of course not, Prince Vladimir. You know I'm a professional," she finished with a quick peck upon my cheek. She didn't even have the heart to charge. More proof that I wasn't just another.

"I'll letter you when you're needed next." I held the door like a gentlecolt as the mare whose name I honestly couldn't remember began to trot out the door, my eyes glued to her flank the entire way. As she moved through the frame, a niggling thought crossed my mind, and I simply couldn't hold it back.

"...wait. Wait, you live in the poor district, don't you? You do a lot of business on the streets?"

The whore had the audacity to look offended as she turned, twirling a lock of her deep purple and creme mane around her hoof. "...the apartments, yes. I see my fair share of the corner. Why?"

"Have you ever run into a homeless lout named Creeping Moss? About yea high, fur a mottled green, deep blue mane?" I held my hoof at the appropriate height, doubting the would-be Casanova was anypony even remotely important, even among the homeless and street-faring scum of the city. For about the fiftieth time that night, I was wrong.

"Creepy?" she asked with a coquettish little laugh. "Of course I know him. Most of us do... and my sisters and I don't even charge. He's done us some favors your bits can't touch." She winked and smirked before hurriedly trotting down the hall, leaving me with my mouth agape and mind blank. That runt needed a good, hard throttling. I wouldn't let him outfox me at every turn, even here. Who was this street-faring colt that decided to waltz into my life and make it even more difficult? Something about him rubbed me entirely the wrong way, but I was never one for conjecture and suspicion. Conviction and sentencing was more my style. At that moment, however, cleanliness and saturation would have to do.

I stood under the shower for far longer than necessary, merely thinking as I watched my own fluids mix with those of the shower as the mess swirled down the drain. The shower was always my safe place, really- the one location I could stop and just think. There, I could stop being Prince Blueblood, and just be Vladimir, mulling over the events of the day and not having to make sure that those around me knew their places in my stead. I never could decide whether I loved or hated this time to myself, but I did know it was something I absolutely needed.

Tonight, only one, solitary thought continued to play through my mind- the look on Cadenza's face when we spoke in the hall. Auntie Celestia gave me that look quite often, and I never cared. What was it about that younger, softer face that actually made me stop and reconsider? Why was it that when she was around, and it was just her and I, that I wanted to be her hero? The noble pony she envisioned me as? The savior and strongman, the one loved by all instead of reviled? Why couldn't I just be like... Shining Armor?

I furrowed my brow, scoffing to myself as the ridiculous thoughts swirled in tandem with the water, shampoo, and other liquids below me. Be like Shining Armor. What a ridiculous, childish notion. Never in my life had I met such an arrogant, self-absorbed blockhead like he was. The only thing he had going for him was the muscles, where I had... still muscle. My muscle was just less... muscle... and more out-of-shape bulkiness. That was all.

I snorted a bit as Cadenza's sweet voice replayed through my head, telling me to be nicer and less judgmental. Oh, how many times I'd been told to do so. Every time I did, I'd been mocked relentlessly and told to piss off. Only Auntie Celestia, Cadenza, and... though I loathe to admit it... Shining Armor would ever give me the time of day when I stopped having my back up. Perhaps I needed to see her and get some clarification...

The water turned off with a dull hiss as I let my hoof linger upon the dial, the cascading sound replaced by several slow, staccato drips against the marble below. A deep breath of steam surged through my lungs as I inhaled, the warmness almost cleansing as it flooded through my body- a baptism within. Tonight, I would be reborn, if only for a few hours. Tonight, I would play Cadenza's little game, and see if it won me any more of her favor. Tonight, I would seek her out, and show her my nice side.

The very thought made me want to vomit.

The shower door slid open with a thunderous bang, chased by heavy footsteps as I trudged out onto the tile. With a quick swirl of cerulean magic, the pink towel across the room flew from its rack and slithered around my chiseled form, hugging every curve and causing my stomach to jiggle only slightly as it passed down and around my undercarriage. Being a unicorn was so convenient. I really had no idea how the other two thirds of the population lived with themselves.

The cloth found its way over the shower bar as it was tossed backward without a care. I had far more important things to attend to- namely, putting myself back in my princess' good graces. Nothing could stop me from my goal as I headed straight for the door, wrenching the handle backward with more force than necessary. Nothing, that is, except the wall of white and blue meat waiting on the other side.

"...Vlad." There stood Shining Armor, wearing his full namesake as he blinked, one hoof raised to knock upon the door that was no longer there. I stared directly into his eyes for a good few seconds, my mane still dripping and sending rivulets of water down my neck in the awkward silence.

"...Armor. Did you need something?"

The burly stallion slowly reached up and removed his helmet, cupping it beneath a foreleg as shook out his mane. "Yeah, I just wanted to let you know that the prisoner you brought in is safely down in the dungeons. I kinda checked his records, and he's got one hell of a rap sheet. Almost the entire thing is theft, but he's damn good at it. Can I come in?"

My left eye twitched involuntarily at the suggestion, but I kept my cool as I stepped off to the side with a sigh. "By all means. You are basically family, at this point."

"For better or worse," he joked, clapping me lightly on the shoulder as he passed. I hated it when he did that. It was like we were part of some juvenile sports team, or as if he was trying to reassure me. Let's not forget who outranked who, here. Still... no better way to win Cadenza's favor than to treat her meathead- husband, rather- as though he wasn't something I'd found stuck to the cup of my hoof.

"...can I get you anything? Pinot noir, beer, a simple water...?" A juice box, you little tw-

"Water's good. Thanks, man." Shining set his helmet upon the table and his rump upon a recliner, stretching out as his neck popped. For all of the tension between us, I could at least admit he was a hard worker, and did his job well. That, and for whatever reason, he didn't seem to despise me. That feeling wasn't mutual.

"So a record, you said? What exactly has this little... pony gotten himself into in the past?" I called back as I walked into the kitchenette, headed for the tap. Basic plumbing was a wonderful thing, though only the richest could truly afford it.

"Like I said- mostly thievery. I don't understand why he doesn't show up as tagged with any known organizations, though. The kid's a professional."

"Kid? He's your age," I quipped while walking back with his water. He accepted the glass with a small nod and a grin, crossing his hind legs as he leaned back.

"And you think I'm a kid, don't you, Uncle Vlad?"

"Piss off. 32 isn't old."

"You're only as old as you feel," he replied before taking a sip.

"Platitudes mean nothing. Simple words for the simple-minded. What exactly was he stealing?"

"Little of this, little of that." He took another sip, making a refreshed noise, as though it was the first drink he'd had in days. "Mostly gemstones, from what I understand. He used to peddle things on the black market quite a bit."

My teeth ground together absently as I considered the words, wondering how deep into the criminal underground this pony had ventured. Suddenly, something clicked.

"...wait, that's not right- the guards who confronted him with me said he was a first-time offender. Where did you get this information, if they weren't privy to it?"

"Simple. He gave it to me himself." Shining drained the water before setting the glass down beside his helmet. "Doesn't make a lick of sense, but he just wouldn't shut up about his past heists once I had him behind bars. We had a bit of a conversation, and he gave me quite a few names, without prompting. Confirmed a lot of suspicions we've had for years, now."

I blinked. "You're joking."

"Dead serious."

"So he just... volunteered all of that, whilst playing it up like this apple was his first conquest?"

"Seems that way. Something's weird, here... and what's more, he specifically asked me to come to you. He wants to talk to you, tonight or tomorrow."

The convict wanted to speak to me? I had absolutely no idea whatever for, but I had to admit- I was slightly intrigued. What with this whole runaround that we'd been lead on, and this new information, something needed to be done. I'd been accused of being a layabout far too often for my liking, and so, I took it upon myself to work out this situation. Come morning, though... I would be right back to snapping at these foals and making sure they knew what was what.

"Hm. I've a few hours before I retire. Perhaps I'll pay him a visit." I rose from the chair in tandem with Shining, watching as he offered a hoof. Reluctantly, I grasped it, and offered him the most artificial smile I'd put on in the past week.

"Good luck."

I was unable to hide my sneer as I moved for the door, beating him outside as he closed the entrance behind us. That arrogant ass, thinking I needed something so base as luck. The only luck tonight was that the conversation ended when it did. Otherwise, he'd have been dealing with the wrath of a prince.

I offered him only a backward wave, not bothering to turn as I trotted down the hallway and toward the spiral staircase leading down to the lower floors. The muffled sound of a helmet resting back atop a mane and the sensation of a pair of eyes upon my back were the only reply.