In The Comfort of Her Majesty

Canterlot was still and quiet in the early morning's darkness, the moon having long retreated over the mountainside. High in the castle in the bedroom of the solar princess, two ponies were still blissfully asleep in each other's warm embrace. The first to awake was the princess herself, her eyes blinking wildly trying to adjust to the darkness of the room. As her senses returned to her, she felt a weight bearing down on her chest, a slight snoring coming from it. She looked down to see her consort, still asleep and his forelegs wrapped around her.

A small smile etched across her face, enjoying the moment so peaceful and calm. She peered through the darkness and looked at the clock on the nightstand; both hands were pointing straight down. Her duty calling her, she flared her horn as her magic began to move the sun. It steadily rose in the east, its rays casting down onto the city and valleys below. Her work complete, she laid her head back down and nestled close to the pegasus, wanting to enjoy the precious time she had left with him.

Some time later the consort finally awoke from his slumber, his nose twitching as he did so. He rose up in bed with a mighty yawn, blinking blearily.

"Good morning Thunder. Did you rest well?" asked Celestia gently.

"Y-yeah. No nightmares." he said while trying to shake the last bits of drowsiness from him. "Still a little sore, but can't complain. How about you, Tia?"

"About the same." She replied warmly. She rose from the bed and stretched her wings and body. After working out her morning kinks, she trotted around to the consort's side of the bed and addressed him with concern. "Are you alright? I admit I was surprised, though very pleased, at your...rapid turnaround.”

Thunder lowered his head and began to search his soul. Despite everything that happened, he actually felt good. Better than he had in years even. "You know... there's a part of me trying to say that I should feel dirty or ashamed or something for what we did. But I don't. I'm glad that we had that time together."

"So am I. You're growing into your role quite well, Thunder." the solar alicorn replied with a smile.

"I suppose." His nostrils flared as the dried scent of sweat and lovemaking still coating his body wafted towards his nose. He winced at the strong smell, his eyes slightly watering at its strength. "Woo! I really need to clean up."

Celestia leaned in and sniffed her own fur, a similar smell tickling her nose. "So do I. Would you like to shower with me this morning?"

"Thank you, that would be very nice." he gratefully replied. The two made their way into Celestia's bathroom and into the showering area. They spent around an hour washing and soaking their bodies, making especially sure to scrub away the pungent scent of sex. Every so often one would playfully rub up against the other, their laughter echoing around them in the steamy sanctuary.

Eventually, they finished their cleaning and trotted out, refreshed in both mind and spirit. "Ah. Much better." said Thunder as he made his way to the bedroom door. He looked back one more time to see the still damp mare looking radiant in the morning sun.

He then firmly turned the handle and began to move into the hall. Suddenly, his head bumped into somepony else’s and he reeled back in pain.

"OW! What the...?" he exclaimed. As his vision cleared up, a small purple alicorn was furiously rubbing her bumped head for relief.

After a few ginger touches of her head she finally collected herself and gazed back at him with a look of confusion. "Uh, Thunder? What are you doing in Celestia's chambers?"

"Well...uh...the princess and I had a day out yesterday and when it was over she...wanted me to stay with her for the night. I...er...didn't want her to be lonely." said the consort while desperately attempting to force a smile across his face.

Twilight analyzed his expressions, looking for any sign of dishonesty or insincerity. Finding nothing, she happily carried on. "O...kay. Anyway, I'm actually glad I found you. I need your help with something."

Thunder quickly looked around, making sure she was not addressing the sun princess by mistake. "Me? What for?"

"I'm still studying pegasus magic and I need somepony to talk to. Can you help me?"

Thunder nervously shifted on his hooves as he looked into Twilight's eyes. "I... I guess. If the princesses don't need me that is..." he humbly replied.

She quickly looked over him towards her mentor. "Celestia. Is it alright if I borrow him for a while?"

"I don't see why not." said Celestia with a shrug.

"Great! Let's go!" Twilight called over her shoulder as she trotted off.

"H-Hey! Wait a minute!" Thunder exclaimed as he raced down the hallway after Twilight.

Now alone in her room, Celestia's horn flared as her magic shut the door. She then trotted towards the center of the room and gently laid down on the floor. Opening her nightstand, she levitated a small blue notebook along with a quill and inkwell in front of her. She opened the book to an empty page and began to write:

Things to do this week:

1. Send 'donation' to The Canterlot Bistro.

2. Send letter to Spike, inform him to keep an eye on Twilight and not to let her work herself sick.

3. Send recommendation letter for Sky Hopper to Equestrian Weather Service - Canterlot Office.

Her reminders written down, she put the items back in the nightstand and stood up. She trotted out of her room and downstairs towards the dining room. Going inside, she found her sister devouring three small towers of waffles covered in butter and syrup. she quickly sat down at the table and ordered her breakfast from a nearby servant.

"Morning Luna. How was your dream walking last night?" the white alicorn asked.

"Morning Tia. About the same. Normal ones, nightmares, some oddities here and there." Luna replied while remembering a stallion's odd dream about swimming in a ocean of grape jelly. She then sat her utensils down onto the table and looked at her elder sister inquisitively. "So, How was your date?"

The waiter brought out a small cup of orange juice and sat it in front of the older sister. She began to quietly sip from it as she recounted her date. "Well, we traveled around the city and ate at this wonderful little bistro. Then we came back and..."

"Did something interesting happen?" Luna interrupted excitedly. Her older sister continued to sip her juice rather forcefully while steadfastly avoiding her gaze. "Oh come now Tia! You've already been with him. What could you possibly be embarrassed about?"

Feeling suddenly shy, the sun princess sat her cup down and tried in vain to look her sister in the face, barely able to hide her feelings beneath her usual strong demeanor. "He... He found my..." she said with a whisper, her cheeks coloring.

Luna blushed as well, bringing her hooves up to her mouth to stifle any squeaks of excitement. With a visible effort Luna managed to calm herself down enough to speak. "So, I see that our consort is getting over himself."

"That he is. It's been so long since I was treated so well. In spite of his protests otherwise, he certainly does know how to take care of somepony." Celestia giddily replied. Her food then arrived: a very large bowl of oatmeal with at least thirteen bananas worth of slices sitting on top. She began to eat the gooey delight while Luna rested her hoof on her chin.

"Well, since you've had your fun already, perhaps I should spend some time with him. Where is he now?" asked the lunar diarch with a knowing smirk.

"He's with Twilight."

"Um, he's...with her?" said Luna while cocking an eyebrow.

The elder sister shook her head excitedly then readdressed her sibling. "Oh no! She's still studying pegasus magic and needed someone to assist her. Thunder was the closest one available."

"Why did she not ask you or one of the guards?" Luna inquired.

"She's never been one to ask me for too many favors. Besides, I think she views the whole thing as a personal issue. She's probably too flustered to talk to me directly about it."

"Hm." the younger sister replied as she hovered another piece of waffle into her mouth. The regal sisters continued their breakfast in relative silence until Luna's eyes turned to the floor.

"Is something wrong Luna?" the sun princess asked with worry in her voice.

"May I speak freely for a moment?" asked the lunar alicorn.

"Of course."

"Sister, do you think that Twilight will ever need the services of the consort?"

Celestia then drank the last few drops of her orange juice and smiled. "I don't think so. I know Twilight, and she doesn't think about that kind of thing. She isn't exactly the most passionate of ponies."

"You underestimate your faithful student. She's not a little filly anymore Tia, she's the princess of magic. She does have... needs, whether she realizes them now or not."

Celestia carefully sat her cup down and cleared her throat to speak again, her voice emanating wisdom. "We shall cross that bridge if and when we come to it. In the meantime, there's nothing to worry about. I'm sure they are getting along quite well."

"Uh, Twilight...I'm feeling a little exposed here."

"Just a little longer Thunder. I've almost got everything I need."

In the center of the library, among the works of pony scholars going back hundreds of years, Twilight was carefully examining Thunder's body and wings. The pegasus stood still as best he could, his wings extended out as far as they could go and beginning to cramp up. Every so often, Twilight would poke and prod the stallion and write a corresponding note down on her notepad. After a half hour of this, she then grabbed an anemometer from her work table and sat it on the floor away from the bookshelves.

"OK, I need to get a reading of your wing strength. Give them a quick flap." she respectfully asked.

Thunder grunted as he shook out the near-cramp, then complied and gave his wing a strong flap, the tabs of the device rapidly spinning in the wind.

With the test complete, Twilight wrote down a series of numbers down onto her notepad then looked back at the blue pegasus. "Alright, got it! You can let your wings down now."

Thunder did exactly that, relieved that the ordeal was over but wincing in pain as his wings came down to his sides. Twilight galloped back over to her work table overflowing with scrolls, books, notepads, quills, inkwells, and measuring tools.

As the pegasus began to relax, he looked over at the table to see the alicorn student furiously cross reference her findings with her other information. "Twilight? How much material do you have there?"

She quickly looked over her table and took a quick inventory. "Let's see...an ancient scroll or two, a biology book, two 'how to fly' manuals..."

"Don't you think that's a little much?" Thunder replied with a perplexed look in his eyes.

Twilight then flailed her hooves around excitedly, knocking a few books off of the table. "I'm a princess now! I've got to figure this out! No matter what I try, I can only get airborne for a few seconds at a time. I can feel the pegasus magic in me. If I can just tap into it..."

"Whoa whoa whoa!" Thunder quickly trotted in front of the purple alicorn and waiving his hooves toward her. "Look, no offense, but you're thinking about this WAY too much like a unicorn."

"What do you mean?" said Twilight, trying to keep control of herself.

"Pegasus magic isn't something you can 'call forth' or manipulate. It's...a part of us. It flows through us and we flow with it. We like to think of it like the air itself: It blows ever onward, moving across the land free and unbound. We can never truly capture it, we move with it in order to fly. We and the air in the sky are one, such is the way of the pegasi." the stallion replied.

Twilight looked at him with a sense of awe and wonder overtaking her. "Wow. That was really poetic."

"Yeah, well our society isn't all about spears and pointy helmets." The consort said with a grin. He then cleared his throat and held his hoof in the air toward her. "Now don't get me wrong, wing health is important too. You really need to keep them in flying shape."

"I know." She then turned around and showed off her plumage to the pegasus. "They must look like a mess huh?"

"Eh, they aren't that bad. Mind if I take a closer look?"

"Um...sure." she nervously replied

Thunder trotted behind the petite alicorn and carefully ran his hooves up and down the underside of her wings. He lifted and stretched them carefully, not wanting to hurt her sensitive appendages. "Hmm, nice wing span. Strong bone structure. Your muscles are a little small for a mare your size though." He then noticed that her lower set of flight feathers had been trained upward in the style and flair of a show mare. "Who's been teaching you to preen?"

"O-One of my friends." Twilight squeaked out, her face turning a slight shade of magenta.

"Well, they clearly have a thing for style over function; this preening style is just showing off. You really should mat these lower feathers flat until you can get the basics down tight. It'll help get you airborne and stabilize you in flight."

"G-Good to know." she replied. As he continued to stroke her wings, she couldn't help but look back and watch how his hooves tenderly embraced each wing and moved it gently up and down. She felt her blush deepening while the feeling of his hooves on her echoed through her body.

"Twilight? Is something wrong? You're starting to shake a little bit." he asked concernedly.

She then noticed her wings nervously trembling in his grasp. "N...Nothing. It's just...nopony touches me there..."

"I'm sorry. Do you want me to stop?"

"I-It's fine. Just be careful." she replied, her voice wavering as she did so.

"I know where you’re coming from. Most pegasi have a thing about others touching their wings. I've had it happen to me a few times before. Trust me, it's a perfectly normal reaction." His once over complete, he dropped back to all fours and moved back in front of her. "Well, aside from your muscles, I'd say your wings are good to go. You just need to increase your mass there a bit. When I have time, I can teach you a few good wing exercises, if you'd like."

"T-Thanks Thunder." Now realizing that he could see the red in her face, she turned away and headed for the door. "I...I've gotta go." She quickly grabbed her materials in her magical field and galloped out of the library.

Thunder stood alone in confusion as he saw the petite alicorn leave. 'Weird mare. Cute, but weird.' He then trotted out of the library and back towards the living quarters. He went down the stairs and saw a maid standing close to his chamber door. "Miss?" he called out.

The lime colored maid's ears perked up at the noise as she turned to face him. "Do you need anything, Master Thunder?" she replied.

"Just a cup of tea please. And let the other maids know I don't wish to be disturbed unless the princesses need me."

"Of course, sire." The maid then politely bowed and trotted into the dining room while Thunder went into his chambers. Once inside, he breathed deeply and headed towards the coffee table.

'I've had just about enough craziness for a while. Now, let's see how Daring Do gets out of this one.' He grabbed the heroine's book off of his table, laid down on his bed, and began to read:

As the water continued to pour in, Daring desperately attempted to keep her head above the freezing cold water. Thinking quickly, she grabbed her trusted whip and...