In The Comfort of Her Majesty

On Saturday...

The week had gone by well enough: More language lessons with Luna, good meals, and even another visit the castle garden. As another fine morning came upon the land, the consort was going about his day.

Thunder's toothbrush hung haphazardly in his mouth while he stepped out of his bathroom. Sensing it about to fall, he quickly grabbed onto it and continued to brush his teeth. He went out onto his balcony and took in the beautiful summer air, warm and humid on his skin. In the horizon to the east, the mighty flying pegasus city of Cloudsdale was slowly drifting across the sky.

'Huh, Cloudsdale's moving south now. I swear, that city wanders around more every day!' he thought as he gazed at the floating town. He then went back inside and finished his morning routine, his teeth now feeling bright and clean. He sauntered over to his bed and gently laid down, his mind adrift in thought.

'OK. What to do today? I could ask what Tia's doing and...' He then flipped onto his right side as a realization came to him. 'You know, I've been so focused on Tia, I haven't spent that much time with Luna. I really need to start paying more attention to her. She deserves it too...'

His thoughts were interrupted when a rapping came to his chamber door. He got up from his bed and opened the door to see a maid standing dutifully out in the hallway.

"Yes?" Thunder inquired.

"Master Thunder, Princess Luna has requested your presence in her chambers." she replied.

"I'll be right there." 'Perfect! More time to spend with Luna! Gotta show her I care for her too.' he thought excitedly. He quickly trotted out of his room and up the stairs to the bedroom of the lunar princess. He knocked loudly on her chamber door and waited for her response.

"Come...Come in!" Luna called out breathlessly.

Thunder trotted in to see a most perplexing sight. The nocturnal princess was pushing herself up off of the tile floor, her mane done up in a ponytail and large sweatbands covering her hooves and forehead. Beads of sweat glistened on her body and her mane slightly damp from her exercises. After catching her breath, she turned her attention to the stunned pegasus.

"Ah. Thunder. Good to see you. I..." She stopped as she saw the consort’s face contorting as he struggled with his expression at the sight before him, a smile finally stealing onto his face. "What?" she asked while tilting her head slightly.

He bit his lower lip, desperate to avoid letting the growing feeling inside him escape, but it was a futile attempt. He fell to the ground with a thud, snorting and laughing ferociously at the sweaty alicorn.

"Hey now! I don't look that silly!" she exclaimed in a huff.

Thunder rose to his hooves and desperately attempted to catch his breath. "I...HAHAHAHA...I'm sorry! It-It's just...you just don't SEE this! HAHAHAHA!" he guffawed. Eventually, his expression returned to normal and his laughter ceased. "S-so. What's with the get up?"

"Well,” said Luna, torn between annoyance at his laughter and embarrassment at the reason for it, “I've been eating a bit too much sugar lately, so I need to work off a little extra weight. I was wondering if you'd care to join me…if you can keep from laughing."

It was Thunder’s turn to be embarrassed, and he hung his head briefly. “I’m sorry, really; it just took me by surprise.” He took a deep breath and smiled gamely before continuing. “And of course I’ll be glad to exercise with you. I could stand to work off a few pounds myself." He then moved up next to her and stood straight up on his hindlegs. "Let me stretch for a bit." He extended his wings to his sides and began to touch the tips of them to his hooves. He then brought his forehooves down and attempted to touch the floor with his chest. He continued to stretch until his body was nice and limber.

He fell back to all fours and looked up at Luna. "OK, all set. What do you want to do first?"

"Nothing too strenuous to start. How about...jogging in place?" she replied.

"Sounds good. Ready when you are."

She nodded and began to jog, her knees coming up to meet her face. Thunder quickly joined her and attempted to keep pace. As they continued, Thunder occasionally looked over at the exercising alicorn and felt a twinge in his heart. Despite his earlier amusement he thought Luna looked very cute in her workout gear. The two jogged for a half hour or so until they both came to a stop.

"Whew. Starting to feel the burn already. What next, Luna?" said Thunder.

"How about some situps? W-I need to work off my belly fat after all." The nocturnal alicorn said as she laid down on her back.

"Alright. Not too many though. I haven't done this in a while." Thunder then laid down on his back and wrapped his forelegs around the back of his head. They then raised their crunched torsos up to their hindknees, their stomach muscles tightening with every lift. A hundred of these seemed to pass in several sets when both ponies fell to the floor on their backs, their bellies on fire from their efforts.

"Let's see...to finish...how about some pushups?" said Luna after some time to cool off had passed.

"OK. Just...just a few..." Thunder panted.

The two quickly got onto all fours and pushed themselves up against the hard tile floor. As they continued their workout, Luna’s gaze drifted down Thunder’s body from shoulder to flank. Watching his muscles clench and ripple under his coat while he thrust himself up and down sent a warm feeling through her, and her eyes drifted back to stare intently at his flexing flank. She felt a responding twitch under her tail as she thought of other types of exertion, accompanied by a touch of dampness that was not due to the sweat on her coat. She blushed as her rhythm faltered.

"Luna?" he said looking up at her while trying to catch his breath.

She looked up sharply at his question, and with her careful balance broken, Luna tumbled over onto the consort with an audible thud. The two yelped in pain and surprise as the princess desperately attempted to reorient herself.

"Thunder! I-I'm so sorry! I didn't mean-!" she pleaded.

"It's alright. I'm not hurt." he said from underneath her. "Though I would appreciate it if you would get off of me..."

"Oh! Of course!" She quickly rose to her hooves and brushed herself off, turning away to hide the flush on her cheeks. "I-I think that's enough for now."

"Agreed." the consort complied while rubbing his aching back.

As Thunder got to his hooves, there was a gentle knock at the door.

"Yes?" Luna called out, her lungs still aching for air.

The door opened and Celestia came trotting in, attired in her casual robe. "Good morning you two. How goes your workout?" she said warmly.

Luna turned to face her sister, having regained her composure. "Oh, fine. We just finished in fact. It feels like I worked off those pounds I was worried about in one session."

"Well done!” said Celestia with little chuckle. She then looked down and addressed the blue pegasus. "Thunder, if you don't mind, I would like to see you in my chambers in a few minutes."

"Why? Is everything alright Tia?" Thunder asked with worry.

"Oh yes. I just have a bit of a surprise for you." the princess replied with a smile.

Thunder felt the shaking in his body from exercise increase as some of his old anxiety returned. He looked back up at Celestia. "OK. Let me get cleaned up and I'll meet you in a bit." Celestia then nodded and trotted out, leaving a slightly aching Thunder with the younger alicorn. "Well, if there's nothing else..."

"I-I'm fine for right now. Thank you for joining me. You should go and get ready."

"As you wish, your highness." Thunder then politely bowed and headed back to his chambers.

Now alone in her room, Luna took a moment to curl up in her bed and replay her memories of the consort’s toned, sweaty body. As the images rolled through her mind, she could feel herself trembling at the possibilities of what they could do together. Making up her mind, she picked up a quill and some stationery with her magic and began to write...

After taking a quick shower, Thunder made his way through the halls to Celestia's chamber and gave the door a firm knocking.

"Celestia? It's me Thunder." He called through.

"Come in. We're ready for you." she replied.

As he entered the room he was perplexed by Celestia’s response. 'Wait a minute. We? Who's we?'

Once inside he saw the princess sitting on the floor with a visitor, a whitish blue pegasus with a silver cloud cutie mark. The two seemed to have been there for a while; a silver tray of half eaten sandwiches and coffee lay next to them. The visitor turned his head and looked at the blue pegasus, a look of pure joy coming over his face.

The consort tilted his head in confusion as he neared the pair. "Sky? What are you-"

The visiting pegasus galloped to him and wrapped his forelegs around him, squeezing hard. "Thank you Thunder! Thank you SOOOOOOO much!" Sky called out.

Struggling to breathe, Thunder flailed his forelegs wildly in the air. "Sky! Stop! Choking... me!" he managed to blurt out.

Sky then eased his grip ever so slightly. "S-Sorry, I...I'm just...DUDE!"

Finally able to catch his breath, Thunder unlatched himself from his friend and looked at him with confusion. "Uh, I'm gonna need some context here..."

"Bro, I'm off suspension! Well, technically I'm on probation now...but whatever! I can go back on active weather duty again! Just gotta keep my nose clean for a few months and I'm fully reinstated!" the whitish stallion said with pride.

Thunder blinked his eyes a few times in disbelief. "What? How did THAT happen?" He glanced over Sky's shoulders at Celestia and his eyes widened at her smirk. 'Ohhh right...'

"This guy..." Sky gave the bewildered pegasus a playful punch in the shoulder. "Celestia told me all about how you fought for me. Practically demanded that I get off of suspension or things would get messy."

Thunder again looked over at Celestia and raised an eyebrow at the sun princess. She subtly nodded in confirmation, and the consort smiled at her in thanks. "...Of course I did! I wouldn't leave my friend hanging! You should have seen it Sky. My argument was just... epic."

"That's what I'm talking about! Wingmates for life!" Sky said as he pumped his forelegs in the air. "I don't know how I can make it up to you dude..."

"Just...promise me you're gonna behave better this time. Please?" said Thunder as he clasped his hooves together.

"You got it dude. You're looking at a new weather pony right here! All the nobles are gonna rave about me, you watch!"

"Good deal." said the consort as he brought his foreleg in for a brohoof. Sky returned his gesture in kind, the two laughing together afterward. "Hey, whenever you have some time off, why don't you stop by for a visit? I'd love to show you around. That is, if the princesses will allow it..." he said with a smirk that faded only slightly when Celestia raised an eyebrow at him.

Celestia held Sky’s eye for a moment longer just to see him twitch a bit. "That would be fine.” she said, relenting with a smile. “Just write to us beforehand so that we can expect you."

"No prob! I got some time off next week. I may take you up on that offer then." Sky flitted out onto the balcony, flapping his wings rapidly as he came to the edge of it. "Well, I gotta get back home. See you later Thunder! Thanks again!" he said as he took to the air.

After his friend had cleared the castle walls, Thunder turned back to the solar princess with pure astonishment. "Why did you do that? You hardly even know him."

"Because you basically asked that I do so, and because he is important to you. And from what I've seen and heard, he does seem truly sorry for his actions." she replied plainly.

"Still, I don't want you to think I'm trying to manipulate you. I don't want to take advantage of what I have here. I'm not that kind of pony..." Thunder said while hanging his head low.

"Oh Thunder, I know for a fact that you are NOT that kind of pony. I just like doing something nice for you...as a friend." Celestia replied with a smile.

"...thanks, Tia." said the consort, a smile now coming across his face.

"No problem." The solar princess then rose to her hooves and looked down at the consort with gratitude. "You may return to your room. I'm fine for right now."

"As you wish." The pegasus politely bowed and headed back through the halls to his chambers. Once inside, he noticed a small blue envelope sitting on his coffee table. He sat on his couch and opened it to find a midnight blue note inside, the message written in flowing script in bright white ink.

Thunder,

Your presence is requested in my chambers this evening. I would be most pleased if you arrived well groomed and rested. I eagerly await you and wish to know you well.

Luna.

He lay the note back down on the table, his eyes widening as the full implication of the message came to him. 'Oh boy. Well, this was gonna happen eventually. If I'm gonna do this tonight, I better get a nap in. I'll need all the strength I can muster.' He then crawled into bed and closed his eyes, the sweet blanket of sleep soon coming over him...