In The Comfort of Her Majesty

The morning sun was beginning it's trek through the sky, its bright rays shining through the castle windows. The rays shone upon the eyes of the still sleeping Thunder Shock, rousing him from his deep slumber. With a mighty yawn, he carefully sat up in bed and began to stretch his wings and body.

'Wow, that was a good sleep. Didn't realize how hard my old bed was...' he drowsily thought.

He pulled himself out of bed and trotted around to fully wake himself up. He headed out onto the balcony to see the whole of Canterlot bathed in the hazy sunlight. 'What a view. Well, might as well get my day started.'

He trotted into his bathroom and firmly turned the knobs on his shower. He quickly hopped in as the hot cascade of water wet every inch of his body. After fifteen minutes or so of washing, he hopped back out and dried himself off. He then trotted over to his sink and opened the medicine cabinet. He grabbed a stick of deodorant and carefully ran it under both of his forelegs. He then pulled out a toothbrush and toothpaste and proceeded to thoroughly brush his teeth. His work complete, he gazed into the cabinet's mirror and looked himself over.

'You know, I'm not that bad looking of a stallion, am I?' he thought.

"Well hey there." he said; his voice taking on a air of huskiness. "Who am I? Oh, nopony special. Just the royal consort. Oh yeah, I keep the princesses nice and happy. What's that? Dinner? Well, If you insist..."

A sudden knocking at the door made Thunder jump with an audible gasp.

"C-Coming!" he called out.

He trotted over to his chamber door and quickly opened it to find a maid standing patiently outside.

"Yes?" he asked.

"Master Thunder Shock. The princesses have requested your presence in the dining room for breakfast in about an hour." said the maid.

"Oh sure. I'll be there." he responded.

The maid humbly bowed and trotted back down the hall as Thunder closed the door. Having about an hour to kill, he started to organize his things in the opulent room he had been granted. Taking care not to scratch any of the finely polished wood the furniture was made of, he put away his clothes in the dresser and neatly stacked his books on the coffee table. After about an hour of this, he quickly trotted out of the room; only stopping to look at the picture on his nightstand.

"Wish me luck guys." he whispered.

He trotted out of his room and proceeded down the hall towards the dining room. Opening the door and heading inside, he found Celestia and Luna already sitting at their places at the table.

"...and it will be so nice to see her tomorrow." said Celestia as he trotted towards the two.

Luna began to notice his hoofsteps and turned her head towards him. "Ah, Thunder Shock. Good morning to you. Did you sleep well?"

"Yes I did. That bed is really-" Thunder began, his voice falling silent as he took in the startling sight before him. The two princesses were dressed not in their regalia, but in simple silk robes with colors corresponding to their body fur. Also, their hair was no longer flowing ethereally in the wind but draped around their shoulders, Celestia's being a single shade of pink while Luna's was a simple light blue.

"Um..." he muttered.

"Is something wrong, Thunder?" Celestia responded.

"N-Nothing. It's just...your hair..."

"Oh. These are our natural colors. Normally, our hair is enchanted by the power of our celestial bodies. When we relax however, we just prefer to wear it like this."

"Indeed. We do like to... Um, what's the phrase? Ah, 'let our manes down' on the weekends." Luna chimed in.

Thunder shrugged his shoulders and took his seat in front of the regal pair. Soon after, a very studious waiter came trotting towards the three with a small notepad in his hoof.

"Is everypony ready to order?" he asked.

"Let's see. I will have...three dozen banana pancakes, sixteen...no...seventeen scrambled eggs, five sliced grapefruit, and two pitchers of orange juice please." said Celestia.

The waiter listened intently and wrote down the order with speed. "And for you, Princess Luna?"

"I shall have two dozen whole wheat waffles with butter, a loaf of toast with strawberry jelly, a dozen oranges, and a gallon of milk please." she said.

After her order was taken down, the waiter turned his attention to the stunned Thunder. "And for you Master Thunder Shock?"

"Are...Are we having a banquet or something?" he choked out.

Celestia giggled and turned towards Thunder. "No no no. We are very big ponies who wield vast amounts of magic. As such, we need a lot of food to keep our strength up."

"Moving the sun and moon takes a LOT of magical power, so we need all of the energy we can get." replied Luna.

"Oh." Thunder remarked as he turned to face the waiter. "Um...just some oats and tea please."

The waiter took down his short order and quickly trotted back towards the kitchen.

"Oh, by the way, did the guards resolve the incident in the main hall yesterday afternoon?" asked Luna.

"Actually, Thunder was able to talk Mr. Hopper down. I had to use the weather adviser identity a little sooner than planned, but it seems that he's OK with the situation for the time being." said Celestia.

"Again, I'm really sorry for that. Sky's always been a bit of a troublemaker. It's the reason why he got suspended after all." Thunder replied.

"Suspended? How?" Luna inquired

"Well, it was about a year ago..."

The park was bustling with activity as the wedding staff and guests prepared for the big event. The two young nobles were hard at work practicing their vows while the staff dutifully handled the growing chaos. Above them all, the local weather ponies were clearing and moving clouds, making sure that the sky was to everypony's liking. Sky and Thunder were pushing clouds towards an empty spot in the park, Sky sporting a look of sheer frustration.

"Dude, I swear if I have to move this cloud one more time..." Sky muttered under his breath.

"Come on Sky, They just want their wedding to be perfect. Not to mention their families are making a big donation to the weather service for all of this. So try and be nice?" Thunder responded.

"Fine." Sky conceded.

The two continued to push their clouds when the bride came galloping up behind them.

"Excuse me! Mr....Sky was it?" she called out.

Sky took a very deep breath and turned to face her; a forced smile painted on his face.

"Yes ma'am. How may I help you?" he said.

"I hate to ask, but could you move that cloud back over the craft services table? I don't want the cake to melt in this heat." she replied.

"Of course ma'am. Right away." he responded.

The bride quickly galloped away, leaving Sky to push his cloud yet again. After a few seconds though, a new idea entered his mind; his face now sporting a devilish grin.

"Oh, I'll move it over there all right..." he slyly said.

He flew behind the cloud and gave it a rather forceful buck, sending it flying back across the park stopping over the table.

"Sky! Are you insane?! What if you started it up?!" Thunder exclaimed.

"Relax, it's empty. Look." Sky replied as the two looked at the cloud, still hovering gently over all of the carefully prepared food. "See? No harm, no fou-"

Suddenly, a loud crashing bellowed across the park as the humble cloud began to pour out a torrent of water. The cake utterly disintegrated under its massive stream.

"MY CAKE!" the bride shrieked.

The duo hovered in utter despair as Sky uttered the only thing that could come to his mind.

"Oh, crap."

"Ah." Luna remarked.

"Needless to say that both families weren't too happy with Sky. Lightning Titan, our office manager, pulled Sky into his office and told him EXACTLY what he thought of everything. He suspended him from all major duties until he cleaned up his act. I'm surprised he kept his job at all after what he did." said Thunder.

"He does appear to be a bit brash. He's very lucky to have you as a friend." added Celestia.

"Look, Sky can be a bit...rough around the edges. But he does have a very good heart. Always been there to look out for me."

A few moments later, the kitchen doors flew open and trays upon trays of food were carried in by waiters and maids. They quickly filled the table to its limits while one quickly trotted to Thunder and sat down a simple bowl and teacup.

"Excellent. Thank you all very much." Celestia said as they finished their duties. They politely bowed and trotted back into the kitchen leaving the three to begin their breakfast. The two sisters carefully picked up their utensils with their magic and began to eat.

"So, how was the day court yesterday? Did anything interesting happen?" asked Luna.

"Oh, nothing special. Nobles arguing, delegates feeling cheated and outraged, a normal session. The defense minister thought I was pulling a prank on him when I announced I was trimming the military budget by one hundred thousand bits. The look on his face was priceless." said Celestia as she hovered a piece of pancake into her mouth.

"That's hard to believe." replied Luna as she drank her milk.

"I know. I swear, every time I touch the military budget..."

"No, I mean the idea of you actually pranking anypony."

"Luna! I'll have you know I can prank very well."

"Name one."

"Well...let's see...AH! One time, during a brunch in Ponyville, I tricked the Cakes into over pouring my cup of tea."

"Oh my stars! Call the Equestrian Gazette! Surely this is the story of the century!" said Luna as she flailed her hooves in the air.

"Ha." Celestia dryly quipped.

'Wow. They're acting like...sisters.' thought Thunder while he sipped his tea.

The three continued to eat until nothing was left but empty plates and very full stomachs.

"MMMMMM. Delicious. The cooks really outdid themselves this time." said Luna.

"I have to agree, this was very delightful." replied Celestia. She gently turned to face Thunder and brought her head down to meet him face to face. "Now, I'd like to introduce you to someone very special Thunder. Please come with me."

"Who? I've meet almost everypony in the entire castle, haven't I?" he inquired.

"Oh, this isn't a member of the staff. It's someone a little closer to me."

"Well, I should be going then. I really must work on my language lessons today. I've been slipping here and there a little too much." added Luna as she trotted out of the room.

Celestia and Thunder left soon after and quickly trotted out of the living quarters. After a few turns here and there, they found themselves on the other side of the castle in front of a pair of wooden double doors with a rose emblazoned upon them.

"Here we are." said Celestia as she began to open the door.

"Where is here exac-" said Thunder as he was amazed at what he saw next. The sunlight streaming down on the garden illuminated the many trees and flowers there, many of which he hadn't seen before.

"Wow." Thunder murmured.

"I'm glad you approve. I really wanted her playground to be as radiant as possible." said Celestia as she gently trotted further in. "Now where is she? Come out now. It's alright." she called out.

"Um, who are you talking to?" inquired Thunder. Suddenly, a small rustling came from a nearby rose bush. He cautiously trotted up to it and examined the area. "Hello? Anypony there?"

The rose bush then shook violently as a flaming aura came erupting from it and flew high into the sky. Thunder fell flat on his flank while he watched the aura fly towards Celestia and land carefully on her extended foreleg.

"Oh there you are! You really shouldn't hide like that Philomena!" she scolded.

Thunder nervously rose to see what this 'Philomena' was exactly. As he came closer, he saw a bird that appeared to be ablaze in ethereal flame.

"What...what is that thing?" he inquired.

"This is Philomena, my pet phoenix. Say hello Philomena." said Celestia as the bird sang out a sweet crow.

"...what's a phoenix?"

"A phoenix is a fabulous bird that is magically attuned to fire and energy. When they get sick or are near death, they burn into ashes and rise up good as new. I found little Philomena here at the edge of the Everfree Forest many years ago injured and alone. I nursed her back to health and had this little garden built for her to play in. Since then, she's been a welcome addition to the family."

"Well, she certainly does look amazing."

"Would you like to hold her?"

"Um...sure."

Thunder timidly held out his right foreleg as the phoenix quickly flew from her hoof to his. The bird quickly nestled herself onto his leg and sang out a contented squawk.

"Uh...who's a good phoenix? Yes you are. Yes you are." he said while carefully stroking the bird's belly. Philomena gently cooed and began to nuzzle his neck, his face turning a deep red as she did so.

"Aw. She likes you. That's a very good sign." said Celestia. The consort and the phoenix continued to admire each other while the bright morning sun shone brightly upon them.

The evening maid staff were just finishing up their duties as Celestia and Thunder came trotting back into the living quarters. As they went further in, she quickly stopped in her tracks and turned to face him.

"Excuse me for a moment Thunder. I have to go powder my nose. I won't be long." she said.

"Oh, of course." replied Thunder.

She quickly trotted off towards her chambers, leaving Thunder alone with the maids. A few seconds later, they hurriedly finished their work and ran down the corridor in dread.

'Huh, Wonder what got into them?' thought Thunder.

"Well well well, if it isn't our newest house guest." a menacing voice called out behind him. He quickly turned around and saw a well dressed unicorn stallion with wavy blonde hair. "Oh, where are my manners? Prince Blueblood, esquire."

"Um...nice to meet you sir. Thunder Shock, national weather advis-"

"Oh save your speech. I know full well that you're the new consort." said Blueblood as he began to trot around the befuddled Thunder. "So, this is the 'oh so gracious and kind' stallion that they've chosen. If it were up to me, I would have picked a better lineage."

"E-Excuse me?"

"Oh don't get me wrong, I'm sure that you would do well helping out...lesser mares and such. But here dear colt, I'm afraid you're out of your depth."

"Now you listen here-"

"NO! You listen you little...commoner." Blueblood growled as he met Thunder face to face. "I have no idea what the princesses see in you. But if you start getting any funny ideas in their heads about changing things around here, I swear I will do everything in my power to-"

"Prince Blueblood!" Celestia called out as she trotted back towards the pair.

As she did, he quickly threw a foreleg around Thunder and drew him in close.

"O-Oh, good evening Princess! I was just giving Thunder Shock here a warm welcome and wishing him the best of luck!"

"I'm sure you were. Tell me, do you know exactly how Thunder fits into the royal hierarchy now?"

"Well...not exactly. But I'm sure that the royal consort has its privileges here and there. You're one very lucky colt, Thunder!"

"Oh indeed he is. Did you know that with his new title he now wields even more power than yourself? Quite an interesting fact; wouldn't you agree, Honorary Prince Blueblood?"

The blood immediately drained from Blueblood's face; rendering him a shaking pale wreck in front of the solar diarch. "R-Really? Well...may I say what an honor it is to have a stallion of your caliber included in our illustrious..."

"Leave. Now." said Thunder sternly.

"Of-Of course sire. You both have a very pleasant evening." whimpered Blueblood as he dashed out of the living quarters.

Celestia quickly knelt down to Thunder with a look of concern. "I am so sorry, Thunder. Are you alright?" she asked worriedly.

"I...I'm fine. What was that all about?" replied Thunder.

"A little while after gaining his title, Blueblood developed a condescending attitude towards those he feels are 'below' him. He comes from a common family himself and doesn't like to be reminded of it. He's been getting worse ever since the Grand Galloping Gala..."

"Then why did you give him his title in the first place?"

"Because I respect his parents greatly. They've helped feed and shelter thousands of ponies who are less fortunate and are a beacon of light in Canterlot society. They refused to take any titles or power for themselves; only wanting something better for their son. I felt like I owed them something for their hard work. How a pony like Blueblood ever came out of them is beyond me."

"Eh, life's funny like that I guess." A audible yawn quickly escaped from his mouth. "Well, it's getting late. If you or Luna don't need anything else today, I'd like to turn in for the night."

"Actually, I would like for you to sleep with me tonight."

"...what?"

"Well, we haven't gotten to see too much of each other so far. I think this is as good a time as any to get more familiar. Come along, let's get ready for bed."

'Does...does she want to...?' Thunder thought with dread. Quickly trotting behind her, they entered her chambers while Celestia gently hummed to herself. A gentle magic field quickly enveloped the doors; closing and locking them in a single motion.

"Now, let me slip into something a bit more comfortable..." she said as she trotted towards her dresser. She began to carefully slip off her robe, causing Thunder to quickly turn around and blush heavily. From behind his back, he could hear the faint rustling of clothes being slipped off and put away.

"S-S-So, did you have a good day Celestia?" he muttered out while trying to control his rapidly beating heart. 'Don't faint! For the love of all that's holy don't faint!' he screamed in his mind.

"Oh yes, we had a good breakfast, played with Philomena, the weather was spectacular; all in all a very good Saturday. You can turn around by the way." she responded.

Thunder did so to find the Princess attired only in a small smile, her pink hair cascading over her back. Thunder's blush deepened; he hadn't expected her to face him essentially naked.

'Tell her she looks nice!' he mentally chastised himself. ""Y...you look lovely." he stammered out. Very r-radiant. I mean..."

"Relax Thunder. I don't need you to make love to me tonight." she said with a smile.

'THANK YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO...' he mentally squealed in utter relief. "Well, I-If you're just not up for it, you're just not up for it. I can manage."

Celestia giggled softly and carefully slid into bed; the left side hugging her body in softness. "Don't be afraid, Thunder. It's quite comfortable." she said with a yawn.

Thunder quickly climbed into the other side and felt his body immediately begin to relax. "Well, I gotta admit, this does feel really good." he whispered contently.

Celestia then lazily wrapped her forelegs around his body and brought him close to her chest, her beating heart slowly thumping in his ears. Another flaring of her horn extinguished the light in the room; leaving them both in darkness.

"It's been so long since I shared my bed with another pony. It's always a pleasure sleeping with someone you trust, don't you agree?" she whispered in his ear.

"I-I wouldn't know. I always just sleep alone." he whispered back.

"I know. You've led a very lonely life, haven't you?"

"...yeah."

"I know you still have anxieties about intimacy. Most ponies often do. I assure you, they will pass in due time."

"I hope so. Thank you for...everything."

"You're very welcome. Goodnight, Thunder Shock." she said as she drowsily closed her eyes.

"...goodnight, your majesty." he replied while his closed in kind. The two tired ponies began to breathe slower and slower as they drifted peacefully to sleep.