Her Majesty's Secret Service

Chapters

Chapter Two: Dr. No
Chapter Three: For Your Eyes Only
Chapter Five: Never Say Never Again
Chapter Six: Die Another Day
Chapter Seven: GoldenEye
Chapter Eight: Skyfall
Chapter Nine: Pussy Galore
Chapter Ten: Diamonds Are Forever
Epilogue: Tomorrow Never Dies
Chapter One: Shaken, Not Stirred
Chapter Four: You Only Live Twice

Chapter Two: Dr. No

Chapter Two: Dr. No

“Hey Night Light, come out to the bar with us tonight!”

“No thanks.”

“Aww, come on, why not? You never come out with us anymore!”

“Because I know exactly what’ll happen, Pommel. You’re going to get incredibly drunk again, Velvet is going to hit on me, again, and I’ll be so worn out foal-sitting you two that I’ll be late for my shift in the morning. Again.”

“Are you seriously still sore about that? It happened once, like three months ago.”

“Once was too much.”

“Oh don't give me that, Night Light, what’s being a little late once or twice gonna hurt? Jeez, when’d you become such a stiff?”

Night Light gave the charcoal-grey Pegasus beside him the best exasperated eye-roll he could muster, not slowing his patrol through the halls of the Royal Palace by even a single stride. “Pommel, we’ve been over this. Several times. I’m Captain of the Guard. I can’t just go out and party all night on a whim anymore, I have responsibilities; and so do you two. You’re lucky the Night Guard isn’t under my jurisdiction, or I’d have a hay of a lot more to say about how often you’ve been late for shifts. And frankly I think you’re being a bad influence on Velvet, too. She’s apprenticing under the librarian of the Royal Archives, for goodness’ sake, she shouldn’t be out drinking every night…”

Pommel scoffed and flared his featherless, leathery wings to jab one of their oddly sharp points at Night Light’s flank, keeping pace with him effortlessly. “Oh please, what are you, her mother? She’s a big girl, she can have fun after work if she wants to. Besides, it’s not every night…”

“It’s close. And every time I go out with you two she gets so… so…”

“Flirty?” Pommel ventured a guess.

“Touchy-feely,” Night Light said instead. “Like she has no concept of ‘personal space’ when I’m around.”

“See, that’s the other thing I don’t get,” Pommel marveled suddenly. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a stallion be less excited by a mare hitting on him so blatantly that she might as well be hiking her tail up in front of you and saying ‘please have sex with me.’ Out of season, even, Lighty!”

“Pommel!” Night Light hissed, his eyes darting around the halls to assure himself that nopony else had heard, and thankfully finding their current patrol route empty except for them. “How many times do I have to tell you, don’t talk about our friend that way!”

“Why not? It’s the truth.” Pommel shrugged, walking on as if nothing unusual had happened, until Night Light was left staring at the small, gleaming sword adorning his flanks – pommel-up, fittingly – and had to jog a bit to catch up. “She wants you. She’s wanted you since she met you. I know it, you know it, the whole freaking palace knows it.”

“That’s not the point…!”

“And if I were you I’d be all over that. She’s gorgeous. Perfect white coat, that cute little horn, those baby-blue eyes… the things I’d do to that backside…”

“Pommel, I don’t think--”

“You disagree? Night Light, that is blasphemy. You’d have to be gay to not think she’s the hottest pony in Canterlot, next to the Princess.” Pommel paused. “…Not that there’s anything wrong with that. If you are.”

“Subtle.”

“Well, a stallion spurns a mare’s advances for long enough, a pony starts to wonder…”

“I’m not gay, Pommel.”

“Well then what’s the deal? Why are you shutting down Velvet?”

Night Light grunted and sighed in frustration. “Look, it’s not like I don’t like her, I just… don’t think it’s a good idea to get… involved right now, for either of us. We have careers opening up in front of us, we can’t be getting distracted by--”

“By what? Friends? Having a life? Getting the girl?” Pommel shook his head almost disappointedly. “What’s happened to you, Night Light? You’ve been acting like a completely different pony lately.”

Night Light snorted, blowing away loose strands of his mane. “Don’t be ridiculous, I’m the same pony I’ve always been…”

“Doesn’t look like it from where I’m standing. You’ve changed, Night Light. I think that Captain gig has finally gone to your head. You take everything way too seriously these days, you’ve abandoned any pretense of a social life, and you’re completely ignoring a gorgeous girl you admit to liking who likes you back. And for what? For Princess Celestia? Am I the only pony who sees a problem here?”

“Princess Celestia is our ruler!” Night Light swiftly countered. “It is my sworn duty to serve and protect her above all else!”

Now it was Pommel’s turn to roll his eyes. “See, that, that right there. That’s exactly what I’m talking about. The Night Light I used to know never talked like such a tool.”

“Hey!”

“Well, it’s true,” Pommel stood his ground. “Were you even listening to yourself? You sounded like some kind of… cultist. You need to get it in your head that Celestia is just another pony like all the rest of us.”

“‘Just another pony?!’” Night Light blanched. “Pommel, how can you even say that?! She raises the sun and the moon every day and night! She’s the pony who is single-hoofedly in charge of all of Equestria!”

“Those things aren’t mutually exclusive. Sure, yeah, she has the whole ‘with great power comes great responsibility’ thing going for her and all that junk, but she’s still just a pony, with all the same wants and needs we have.”

“…What are you saying exactly, Pommel?”

“I’m saying that you need to stop acting like she’s some holy deity made flesh and come down to Equestria to rule over us lowly mortals, and that serving her has to consume your whole damn life. She’s not a god, Night Light, and she doesn’t like being worshipped. She’s a grown mare that can take care of herself if you don’t happen to be at her beck and call twenty-four-seven.”

Night Light stared, dumbfounded at his longtime friend. He could barely believe what he was hearing. It was ridiculous, it was absurd, it was… it was borderline blasphemous. Princess Celestia was far, far more than just a regular pony. She had been around for well over a thousand years, many times the lifespan of even the longest-lived pony on record, and yet looked no older than thirty. The skies themselves bent to her will, literally. If she wasn’t a god, then she was very close. And it was his sworn duty as Captain of the Royal Guard to serve her above all others. If Pommel couldn’t see that, then… well, to blazes with him and his opinions, then!

“I’m sorry, Pommel, but the answer is still no,” he said, his tone one of absolute finality. “I can’t just go out drinking with you whenever you’re in the mood for it. My duty has to come first. If you don’t like it, then… then maybe you should start looking for somepony else to be your drinking buddy.”

Dead silence fell over the otherwise-deserted castle hallway. Even their hoof-steps ceased echoing off the walls as Pommel froze in place and Night Light stopped beside him, though he couldn’t bring himself to look over at his friend and see the obvious hurt and frustration etched onto his face.

“…Fine. Message received,” Pommel finally said after several agonizing seconds of silence, all friendliness gone from his voice and replaced by only stiff formality. “See you on shift tomorrow. Captain.”

Then just like that Pommel left, tipping his helmet cordially to his superior officer before his bat-like wings snapped open and carried him out the nearest open window, and it was all Night Light could do to simply watch him go and feel a troubling pang of hurt and guilt in the pit of his stomach. It had been the right thing to do, putting his hoof down like that, hadn’t it? He was almost positive of that. So why did he feel like he’d just made a horrible mistake?

In truth, Night Light suddenly worried that that was exactly what he’d just done. Pommel was one of his best, oldest friends. They’d known each other since primary school; Night Light had been a star student and jumped a couple of grades, and as a result had been relentlessly bullied by classmates years older than him. Pommel was the only pony who made him feel welcome in his new grade level, if for no other reason than the fact that he was an outcast too, thanks to his being born with the rare ‘bat-wing’ mutation that seemed to be the trademark of the Night Guard. But Night Light had appreciated the friendship nevertheless, and it had held strong for the fifteen years that followed, going through school together, through boot camp together, climbing the ranks of the Royal Guard together, even befriending Twilight Velvet together. Fifteen years, and now Night Light was pushing him away for a job he’d only been at for a matter of months? He took the job seriously, certainly, and perhaps he had taken a little perfectly justifiable offense to Pommel questioning the value of his duty to the Princess, but was that one sleight really worth their friendship ending?

Or, on the other hoof, was his friend drifting away from him? Was he hanging onto that care-free, party animal, no-longer-a-teenager-but-not-quite-an-adult mindset a little too long, and Night Light was outgrowing him? Was that even possible? Did ponies really outgrow friends that they’ve had for more than half their lives? He didn’t like to think so, but if Pommel refused to eventually grow up at least a little bit…

Well, whatever happened, he wasn’t likely to be able to do anything about it for a little while. Pommel was a reasonable enough pony, but he was a bit of a hot-head too. He just needed a bit of time to cool off, and then they could have a nice, calm discussion where Night Light laid all his duties out on the table and let Pommel know once and for all how things needed to be now that he was Captain of the Guard. Fun had its place, but drinking themselves into a stupor just wasn’t going to happen in the middle of a work week, and sooner or later Pommel needed to realize that and take his own job more seriously. With any luck perhaps he could finally instill the sense of duty and responsibility that was sorely lacking in that lazy colt. And maybe, if he was really lucky, it would rub off on a certain other pony they knew…

“Night Light! Hey! Night Light, wait up!”

Speak of the devil, Night Light thought with a grimace and a hint of a blush, both of which he hid quickly behind a polite smile before he turned to face the mare’s voice calling out to him.

Twilight Velvet was, as much as Night Light hated to admit it, every bit as pretty as Pommel (frequently) pointed out. From her two-toned silver and purple mane to her off-white coat and triple-star cutie mark to those damnably adorable eyes as bright and blue as a summer sky… she was the very embodiment of an attractive young mare. And unfortunately for him, she was also every bit as shamelessly flirty with and obviously attracted to him as Pommel (regularly) informed him. She always put a little extra sweetness in her tone than normal whenever she talked to him or said his name; she groomed herself even better than usual when she knew she was going to spend time with him; she even walked with an extra bit of wiggle in her hips when she knew he was behind her, or just happened to be looking her way. Twilight Velvet wanting Night Light was as obvious as the horns on their heads, and dodging her advances, something he’d been doing practically since they’d met, was harder than ever now that she worked at the palace too. He would have accused her of getting a job here just to tail after him, if it weren’t for the fact that she was a damn good librarian more than deserving of the opportunity to apprentice at the Royal Archives. As it was, it just made her that much more frustratingly sexy and difficult to resist, especially when she was so clearly offering herself to him…

“Good afternoon, Velvet,” Night Light greeted her, swiftly banishing those last few thoughts from the front of his brain. “How are you today?”

“Well, I’m fine,” she responded with a flirtatious giggle, “but you and Pommel don’t look quite so cheery.”

Night Light visibly winced. “Oh, you… ran into him, did you?”

“No, I just saw him fly by all scowley, and now here you are looking all sad and forlorn. Did you two have a fight or something?”

Night Light sighed softly. “That… nnnhhh, it’s nothing, really. Pommel’s just annoyed I don’t want to go out drinking with him every other night.”

“Aww, is that all?” Velvet practically cooed, sliding up uncomfortably close to him in no time at all and brushing her flank against his as she circled his body. “Well, he’s not the only one going… is there anything I can do to convince you? Anything at all…?”

Night Light just barely held in the blush that was threatening to give away his body’s interest. No small feat when she was flicking the tip of her tail tantalizingly across his nose, but he managed it. He couldn’t give in even an inch, or else he knew it would be all downhill from there. “I don’t think so, Velvet,” he finally said, his tone impressively level.

“Aww, you’re no fun, Night Light.” Velvet giggled again. “Come on, there has to be something that’ll get you out of this stuffy castle with us. What if I make Pommel promise not to get drunk this time?”

“I’d say that would take a small miracle,” Night Light answered, earning a full-on laugh from the young mare. Night Light had to gulp down a chuckle of his own and fight another telltale blush at the sound; her laugh was as adorable as it was infectious.

“Okay, fair enough,” she admitted, “Pommel not making a drunken scene of some kind is probably asking the impossible. But still, it’s been way too long since the last time we all hung out together. A couple of weeks, at least. It’s not like you have homework when you’re a guard, right? You can spend one evening out with us, can’t you? Pleeeeease…? For me…?”

“I really shouldn’t,” Night Light insisted, “and frankly neither should you, Velvet. Don’t you have more important things to do than go out partying? You have just as much on your plate these days as I do, if not more.”

“What, are you talking about the library?” Velvet smiled and waved a hoof dismissively. “Oh, it’s fine, Night Light. They’re just books and scrolls, they’re not going anywhere. I’m sure everything will be right where I left it when I get back tomorrow morning.”

“That’s completely missing the point, Velvet!” Night Light argued. “It’s not just books and scrolls, it’s the Royal Archives! It’s the biggest, most prestigious collection of knowledge and magic in Equestria! And you’re the pony who was talented enough to get a position there! Do you have any idea how many ponies would stampede right over you for a chance to be the Librarian’s Apprentice in the Royal Archives? You have an enormous opportunity here that you’ve earned for yourself, through hard work and dedication! You can’t come this far and then squander it all away now by putting in the bare minimum amount of work and partying every other night!”

For the first time Velvet’s smile faltered, and her giggling voice turned a bit tense. “Heh, hey, come on, Night Light, it’s really not that big a deal. I’m getting everything I need to do done, just because I’m not staying overtime doesn’t mean I’m not taking it serious--”

“Velvet, you’ve wanted this position your whole life! You should be putting the extra time in! Your superiors are going to look for that kind of thing, that’s how positions this high up work! Do you really want to lose your chance at a dream career so you can go gallivanting around town, drinking with Pommel and hitting on me every chance you get?!”

Velvet was getting visibly flustered now, and rightly so; it was the first time he had ever actually acknowledged her attempts to catch his eye, and it threw her, badly. “N-no, of course I don’t, but it won’t--”

“Then you need to put in the work to keep it!” Night Light cut her off. “You need to take more responsibility for the commitments you’ve made instead of… of wasting your time trying to get me between your legs!”

The soft pressure of her flank against his vanished instantly. When Night Light next met her gaze, she had recoiled several feet away, her eyes were filled with shock and anger and maybe even a little sadness, and her warm smile had disappeared completely. “…Is that all you think our relationship is? A waste of time…?”

“We don’t have a relationship!” Night Light found himself shouting.

“Well we’re friends, aren’t we? That’s a kind of relationship!” she fired back. “Or at least I thought we were…!”

“I didn’t say we…! That’s not what I…”

Night Light sputtered and fumbled for a coherent response, but to his surprise, Velvet turned away from him before he could form one, without the slightest trace of a mane-toss or a tail-flick or even a hip-wiggle. She just turned, and walked away.

“Velvet? Where are you going?”

“To meet up with Pommel, like I said I was going to. Just because you don’t want to see your friends doesn’t mean we’re going to call off the whole night,” she said without looking at him, her tone almost as chilly as Pommel’s had become. “If you change your mind, you know where to find us.”

And without so much as a goodbye or a coy wink or even a simple, platonic smile, Velvet rounded the corner at the end of the hallway and was gone, leaving Night Light to wonder dazedly how he had managed to anger his two best friends in the whole world to the breaking point within ten minutes of each other.

Something was very, very wrong here, Night Light knew that for a fact now. Pommel’s reaction alone, he could have overlooked; it was more dramatic than his friend normally got, but he didn’t have the best temper in the world, and by itself Night Light would have just written it off as a particularly short-tempered day for the guy. But Velvet… he couldn’t remember a single time she’d ever gotten truly upset with him before now. It just wasn’t something she did. She was always cool and collected and composed. Seeing her react like he’d just slapped her across the face… between that and Pommel’s especially grumpy response, Night Light had to wonder again, harder this time, if perhaps he was mistaken in his assertions.

Did they have a point? Was he really ignoring them? He didn’t have the free time he used to, none of them did, but they still seemed to find time to spend having fun. Was he, by contrast, blowing them off? Making excuses just a little too often? Throwing himself a bit too completely into his duty?

Velvet was right about one thing for certain, it had been a long time since they had all spent time together outside the palace. A couple of weeks had probably been an understatement; it was likely closer to a month or more. Would it really hurt anypony if he took one night off instead of working late? He’d be technically off-duty around sunset anyway, and Captain of the Guard though he might have been, he was certainly not the only guard-pony in the whole castle. There were more than enough of his own soldiers and the Night Guard present to handle anything that came up, and they could always summon him in the event of a true emergency. Surely he could spare just one evening away from the palace, to make his friends happy… the Princess would understand…

But just as that thought crossed his mind and brought him to the brink of relenting, a shadow passed over his head and dropped a scroll on his muzzle.

“Guh…? What the…?” Night Light muttered, ignoring the scroll for a moment as it bounced off his nose and rolled to the floor, and looked up instead at the offending shadow. A shock of fiery plumage and a soft caw of greeting told him all he needed to know; it was Philomena, Princess Celestia’s pet phoenix, swooping back over his head and cawing again before soaring out the same window she’d entered from, toward the Princess’ personal chambers atop one of the castle’s tallest towers.

Night Light was paying the bird no further attention, however; the moment he’d recognized the creature, his focus had shifted to the scroll on the floor. If Philomena was bringing him anything, there was only one pony whom it could possibly be from; and sure enough, when Night Light plucked the scroll from the floor in a blue haze of Unicorn magic, he saw that it was bound by the royal seal of Princess Celestia herself. Not from an intermediary, not from the royal court, not from anypony else; it was her personal seal. It was a message directly from her.

Night Light felt a jolt of trepidation, wondering what could possibly prompt the Princess of Equestria to message him directly, but his rigorous training ensured no such nerves showed through to the surface. Without further hesitation he broke the seal and unfurled the scroll in a single fluid pulse of blue magic, revealing the elegant quill-strokes of his ruler.

Night Light,
There is an important matter I wish to discuss with you.
If you are available, please meet me in my chambers following the sunset.
Inform nopony else.

- Celestia

Night Light frowned a little, reading over the short letter twice more to make sure he had absorbed every word before rolling it up again and tucking it safely inside his armor. It was an… odd request, to say the least, and not merely because it was the most informally-worded royal missive he’d ever read. It was after his shift would normally be over, even though Princess Celestia had never before requested anything of him beyond that time no matter how late he actually remained on duty. Further, generally only the most trusted of the Princess’ service staff were ever allowed in her private chambers; the guards remained outside those doors at all times. Even he himself had only been inside a scant hoof-full of times, and strictly by her instruction only. The secrecy, too, was unusual. The Princess was not normally a secretive pony, from what he had experienced in serving her so far. No more than any other pony, in any case. What could she need from him that nopony else was allowed to know about? There weren’t many reasonable possibilities coming to Night Light’s mind.

It must be some sort of important national secret, he ultimately decided. It had to be. There was no other sensible explanation. He couldn’t even begin to imagine what that secret might be – undercover treaties with the Griffon tribes? Threat of a Changeling attack? An attempt at blackmail against a member of the Princess’ court? – but whatever it was, it was clearly important.

Night Light couldn’t help but feel a swell of pride and vindication roll through him; he’d been absolutely right to hold to his duty, that was obvious now. There was no way in the world he could have gone out partying on a night when the Princess herself was directly asking for him and placing her trust in him, and he couldn’t believe that he had nearly done so, that he had nearly been guilt-tripped into ditching his duty. How many ponies could say they had the implicit trust of Princess Celestia? Blowing off a gesture like that for a night of foal-sitting his drunken friends was unthinkable.

Night Light glanced out the nearest window at the slowly setting sun. It would be fully beyond the horizon and replaced by the moon within the hour. Just enough time to finish his rounds. With an urgent spring in his step now, Night Light resumed a brisk trot and got back to work.

Chapter Three: For Your Eyes Only

Chapter Three: For Your Eyes Only

The first clue Night Light had that something was very off about that evening was the absence of the pair of door guards usually stationed in front of the Princess’ quarters. It was a spot where Night Light was always sure to post his best soldiers; but when he arrived, they were nowhere to be found. Seeing them missing in action was abnormal and a little unnerving. They wouldn’t simply wander off…

With somewhat heightened nerves Night Light approached the door to the sun goddess’ chambers and knocked. He waited perhaps only a couple of seconds before it opened, and Princess Celestia herself stood just inside to greet him.

“Night Light,” she said with a cordial bow of her head and a warm smile. “Please, come in. We have much to discuss.”

“Yes, your majesty,” Night Light answered, bowing low to the ground in return before stepping inside. The room behind the door was surprisingly simple, something he had noticed before on his rare glimpses of it. There was a bed against one wall, some bookshelves against another, a fireplace, a balcony, and not much else. His eyes instinctively swept the place for potential threats, of course finding none, and so returned their attention to the room’s other occupant. “Princess, your guards outside, they--”

“I dismissed them,” Celestia swiftly answered as though she’d expected the question. “I want there to be no possibility of being overheard.”

As if to accentuate her words, the door magically swung closed and locked, and Night Light just barely stopped himself from flinching. “I assure you, your majesty,” he began, “my troops are entirely trustworthy, and wouldn’t dream of--”

“Nevertheless,” Celestia interrupted him again, “I asked that nopony else know for a reason. What I’ve asked you here to talk about, I do not wish to be made public. Can you promise me that?”

“Y-yes, of course your highness…!” Night Light hastened to answer. “You can count on me. I won’t breathe a word to anypony.”

Celestia however did not seem satisfied with that. When she looked at him, he saw hesitation in her eyes. Uncertainty. And as she approached him, he discovered his second clue that something was very strange about that evening. Because when Night Light focused his gaze a little more closely on his Princess, he was surprised to realize that she didn’t look so good. Her usually-pristine and flowing mane was subtly frazzled. Her face was flushed, just enough to be barely visible through her pure white fur. Her eyes looked tired, and yet restless at the same time. She looked… stressed. Haggard, even. Was she ill? Was that even possible for her? Did goddesses catch the feather flu sometimes?

“Your highness, are… are you alright?” Night Light couldn’t stop himself from asking. “You look a little, erm… under the weather, at the moment.”

“I’ve… felt better, certainly,” Celestia admitted. “And please, call me Celestia. This is not a formal meeting.”

Night Light blinked slowly in confusion. “I… don’t understand.”

Celestia knelt down until her gaze was level with Night Light’s. “What I mean is, this is not a meeting between a Princess and a guard captain, but rather merely one adult to another. There will be no orders given this evening, Night Light. Your presence here is a request, nothing more, and you have every right and freedom to walk right back out that door at any time.”

Night Light blanched, as if the very idea of walking out of a meeting with the Princess terrified him. Which, on some level, it probably did. “Your majesty, I would never--”

“Night Light,” Celestia firmly interrupted him once more. “I told you, I am not your princess tonight. Again, please… call me Celestia.”

Night Light gulped and hastily nodded. “As you command, Celestia.”

The Princess, however, sighed with some noticeable frustration. “No, Night Light, it is not a command. You are off-duty, and my tasks for the day are complete. This is strictly a conversation from one pony to another.”

Night Light fell silent, though his confusion remained palpable. What was going on? Why was the Princess insisting on such odd protocol? Was he being assigned a controversial mission, and being given the option to refuse it? Well, order or not, Night Light was not a pony that refused the Princess.

“Your maj--… I mean, Celestia… whatever it is, you don’t need to ask. On or off duty, I am always at your service. Just say the word, and it will be done.”

“While I appreciate your enthusiasm, Night Light, perhaps you should hear me out first, before you make that commitment.”

Celestia paused, letting the young stallion ponder that for a few moments. While he said nothing else, though, his attention was immediately drawn back to her when her gaze pierced into his again.

“Do you know why I appointed you Captain of the Royal Guard, Night Light?” she asked, her words slow and deliberate.

Night Light took a thoughtful pause of his own at the question, tapping a hoof against his chin for a moment. “I… well… I suppose my service record is--”

“Admirable, yes,” Celestia nodded. “But many of my guards may say the same. What is more important to me, Night Light, is trust. Your late father before you was the pony I trusted above and beyond all others… and I knew, watching you rise through the ranks, that he passed on to you all the same honor and values he himself held. You are not merely an admirable guard, or even an admirable captain, but an admirable pony, too. You are the pony… the one pony… whom I feel I may trust with anything.”

“T-thank you, your high--… Celestia,” Night Light stammered, and again he felt a swell of pride surge through him. The most trusted pony of Princess Celestia, like his father before him… what an incredible honor…

“Which brings me back to my original question,” the Princess finished. “What I’ve asked you here for tonight… I do not divulge lightly. So I will ask again… not as your princess, but as one pony to another whom she trusts above all others. Can I trust you to keep this meeting secret?”

Night Light gulped again, nerves beginning to show through to the surface in the form of a slight quiver in his limbs. He still had no idea what exactly the Princess could possibly want from him in such secrecy, but it was rapidly becoming apparent that whatever it was, it was an extremely important matter. And Celestia wanted to trust him with it. It was not as though he had any intention of refusing anyway, of course, but even if he did, how could he not, at the very least, hear her out?

“You have my solemn word,” Night Light answered with a nod. “If you don’t wish me to, I won’t breathe a word to anypony… but, Princess…”

“Celestia.”

“Celestia,” he echoed, “what could possibly be so dire as to require such secrecy?” He stopped to audibly gasp and lurch forward a bit as a dreadful thought occurred to him. “Y-You’re not… dying, are you…?!”

To his relief, Celestia actually laughed, her flushed appearance growing just a touch more so. “Oh, goodness, no, nothing nearly so dramatic. I assure you I’m perfectly healthy. But thank you for your concern nonetheless.”

“Well then… why do you look like… like…”

“…Like a mare in heat?” Celestia offered.

Night Light instantly flushed himself, and his mouth was half-open with an apologetic denial of such lurid thoughts on the tip of his tongue, but something about the Princess’ tone made the words die before they could be voiced. There was neither reprimand nor jest in her words. Either she had an incredible poker face, or…

Night Light flushed deeper. Or WHAT? He was forced to wonder. Surely a Goddess didn’t need to…?

“Er… t-that… isn’t quite what I was going to say,” he finally stammered aloud, as diplomatically as he could.

“No, I don’t imagine it was,” Celestia agreed. “After all, why would you have any reason to believe mating season is upon us before I have formally alerted the ponies of Equestria that it is approaching?”

Night Light, however, did not find these words particularly relaxing. There was ‘explaining the joke,’ and then there were ‘leading questions,’ and Night Light was rapidly getting the sense that it was the latter. It was about that time of year…

“Are… are you saying that… that it’s time for…?”

Celestia nodded. “Yes. Mating season is upon us, Night Light. It will begin in earnest for most ponies by this weekend, and I will be announcing it to the public tomorrow morning.”

Night Light somehow managed not to blush again at the information, now pondering a dozen new scenarios in his mind. Was this the big secret? The reason she had called him here for such an apparently important private meeting? Did she need his help, somehow, in stirring the estrus cycle in ponies across Equestria? It was possible, he supposed, though as far as he’d always been aware, the Princess always powered that particular magic on her own. He’d never heard of the Captain of the Guard playing any sort of role assisting the Princess with it. Then again, if it was this big a secret, he probably wouldn’t have. And if that was the case, he could see why. Having any involvement whatsoever in the private, intimate lives of everypony in Equestria was… a very weird thought. Still, it was a natural thing, he understood, and it was by the Princess’ will that it happened at all, so it could hardly be considered a bad thing.

“I see,” Night Light finally responded when he realized Celestia was watching him expectantly. “Er… that’s good to know… I suppose. But I don’t see what that has to do with me, or what’s so secretive about it. You cast that spell about this time of year, every year… at your discretion of course…”

“Spell…?” Celestia asked curiously, before suddenly groaning and sighing as if she’d realized something unpleasant. “Oh, no… no, Night Light, magic has nothing to do with mating season. I have no control whatsoever over when ponies feel their estrus phase approaching.”

That finally cracked Night Light’s composure. “Wh-what?!” he burst out with a wide-eyed, full-bodied jerk. “But… but you inform us year after year without fail! Days in advance! I-I thought… I was always told…”

“A common misconception based on my position, that anypony with extensive studies in biology would be able to correct you on,” Celestia said with another strangely sad sigh. “I do not directly cause estrus. The sun does.”

“The… the sun?” Night Light raised an eyebrow in disbelief. “The sun makes everypony… er… it makes them…?”

“More or less,” Celestia nodded, her eyes closing. “Again, this has been a part of the nature of ponykind since before even my sister and I were born. Put simply, longer days, and more exposure to the sun, trigger a very specific reaction of hormones in the pony body. It creates an urge to be closer to one-another… to mate more than usual, and to bring forth new life, as is the natural way of things. Because the days are longest near the end of spring, that is when the urge is triggered, and so estrus begins then. Which is to say, now. And since it is caused by the sun I control… well, you can see where ponies would think me personally responsible. It’s hardly the first time more has been assumed of my magic and my nature than what is actually true, and I doubt it will be the last.”

Celestia paused and looked up at him again. “I’m sure that was a lot to take in at once for somepony unfamiliar with the subject, but… I do hope that all makes sense?”

Night Light did his best to absorb this wealth of new and startling information as quickly as possible and take it in stride. “I… believe I understand, yes. So then… that’s why you can alert us in advance? Because, since you control the sun, you know when that time is approaching?”

“Partially,” Celestia confirmed, “but it’s more than that. The truth, Night Light, is that because I am so closely tied to the sun… I am the first to feel its effects. I know ahead of time when my ponies are going to go into heat because… it happens to me first.”

The young stallion’s cheeks flared immediately and his jaw fell momentarily slack. It hadn’t been a joke after all, he finally realized. The unevenness in her mane, the flush in her cheeks, the unease in her eyes, they were all traits he’d seen before on other mares; mares smack in the middle of those vaguely uncomfortable two weeks or so in late spring who stuck just a bit closer to their colt-friends than normal or gave single stallions like him far more second-glances than he was used to receiving. Dodging the eye of Twilight Velvet especially was always twice as difficult during that time, no matter how busy he tried to ensure he was. But this? This was another beast entirely.

Princess Celestia, the immortal ruler of Equestria, was in heat.

It sounded insane just to think that sentence.

“Y-you… you’re… really?” he stammered aloud, as if hoping vainly that she might correct him.

But it was not to be; Celestia nodded her head without hesitation. “Yes. I am as susceptible to nature and biology as any other pony, including estrus. My connection to the sun simply means its effects reach me before the rest of my ponies, and affects me well after they have returned to normal. What is a cycle of about two weeks for everypony else is, for me, more like three or four. As you can imagine, it’s a little… trying, sometimes.”

Night Light gulped down the breath that was caught in his throat. He couldn’t believe it. Pommel had been right. Goddess or not, Princess Celestia was still a pony. A pony that apparently dealt with all the same awkward problems every other mare in Equestria suffered when the magic (biology, he had to correct himself) of estrus hit them. She had it worse, in fact, if what she said was true. He’d heard stories about how uncomfortable it could be for a mare, and if the Princess had to endure it for half again as long as normal mares, maybe even twice as long, he felt bad for her already. Then again, he had never seen her seem uncomfortable before…

Augh, why am I even thinking about this?! She’s the Princess, it’s not proper, what’s WRONG with you, soldier?! Don’t think about it. You CAN’T think about it. That’s right. Calm down and don’t think about it, he chanted to himself. He could deal with this. He was the Captain of the Royal Guard, he’d faced far worse than this without flinching. As long as he didn’t think too hard about it, he’d be fine. He still didn’t quite get why any of this was information he personally needed to know, but he could handle it. After all, mares in heat weren’t stark raving lunatics; more forward than usual perhaps, yes, and he understood – in an academic sense – that estrus was quite a driving force when present, but they certainly weren’t bending over in the streets with their tails flagged. They could conduct themselves more or less normally. And if the average mare in the crowd could discreetly seek out a stallion and take care of business, then surely a goddess would have no trouble finding a--

Wait.

Wait.

Night Light’s eyes surged wide and his pupils shrank to tiny dots, his brain helplessly following one single, horrifying train of logic.

Princess Celestia, the immortal ruler of Equestria, was in heat.

A condition in which mares discreetly sought out a stallion specifically for sex.

And she was telling nopony else but him.

Oh, buck me.

“I see you’re beginning to understand just why I’ve asked you here.” Celestia was looking over him as she spoke, clearly reading him like a book. And despite her cool demeanor, what had been an impossibly faint blush was growing more visible. “As I said, you are free to say no and leave if you choose; if so, I won’t bring it up any further. And even if you agree, you will be more than able to pursue your own relationships. I couldn’t possibly court another pony romantically in my position. This would simply be a trusted confidant fulfilling a particular need. However, if you feel you are willing and able…”

She paused, and finally the blush became a full crimson bloom across her entire muzzle.

“What you’re thinking is correct. I would like to have you as my mate this season.”

Night Light’s train of thought derailed entirely and ground to a complete standstill. It refused to move another inch, refused to think, refused to even attempt to process what he’d just heard. Because there was no way in all of Equestria that he’d heard Celestia correctly. It had to be an insane hallucination, it just had to be. He’d imagined this entire evening. He had gone out to the bars with Velvet and Pommel after all, and this obvious mirage was a lively product of his drunken stupor. There had never been a scroll bearing a secret summons interrupting his plans. The Princess of Equestria didn’t go into heat, she did not invite him into her bedroom in complete privacy, and she sure as the flaming pits of Tartarus did not just look him straight in the eye and ask him to have sex with her.

But no matter how vigorously he shook his head and rubbed his eyes, the mirage stubbornly refused to evaporate, and Princess Celestia remained politely seated in the center of the room, her room, her bedroom, watching him and waiting for an answer to the impossible question. And the longer the vision persisted, the longer that mind-rending proposal hung in the air and was allowed to sink in past his centers of logical thought… the more it began to tickle that instinctual corner of his brain that Twilight Velvet was far too good at tickling already.

Ironically Pommel had been right about this, as well. Princess Celestia was perhaps the only mare in Canterlot – in all of Equestria, even – that rivaled Twilight Velvet’s beauty. It was difficult to even describe. She was the very definition of physically attractive, the perfect mare, the pony to which all other measures of beauty were ultimately compared.

And that wasn’t even taking into account her more sexual characteristics.

Not that Night Light ever had done so before, of course. It had always been in a platonic sense that he admired Celestia’s beauty. He never dared picture his Princess in any sort of directly sexual manner.

At least, not until now.

Now that he knew she was in heat.

Now that she was literally offering herself to him.

Now that she was effectively forcing his brain to realize she wasn’t featureless in the sexual anatomy department, and did in fact have incredible flanks and a curvaceous rump.

Now that he was unable to ignore the very real probability that Princess Celestia just might, in fact, possess a vagina.

“Night Light?”

The Princess’ gentle probe snapped him out of his daze and broke him free of the death grip that train of thought had been throttling him with. It had nevertheless left him feeling mentally exhausted, though, and so he fell back on his rear into a sitting position to try to calm his mind and get it caught up with his body.

Unfortunately all this did was make it blatantly obvious just how far ahead of his brain his body was.

“My, well, at least you’re considering the idea,” Celestia said after a soft chuckle and a glance down his body that Night Light immediately noticed. She politely didn’t stare, but it nevertheless got the point across: he was helplessly sporting a full-on erection, and she was most definitely interested in it.

Night Light swallowed hard and did his swift best to hide the offending appendage from view with his hooves. “I-I… you can’t be…”

“Serious? I certainly am, Night Light. I wouldn’t joke about this,” Celestia confirmed.

“Buh… but… but you… I…!”

“But you what?” Celestia asked, her expression honestly curious. “If you’re concerned about siring illegitimate foals, I assure you all necessary precautions have been taken.”

Somehow the absurdity of that statement actually calmed him down a bit. “Er… no, actually, I wasn’t, but… that’s good to know, I suppose…”

“Ah, my apologies… that’s occasionally been a bit of a sticking point in the past.”

“In the--?” Night Light gave an involuntary jerk. “You’ve… done this before?”

Celestia raised a bemused eyebrow at him. “I am well over one thousand years old, Night Light. Surely you don’t believe through nearly as many mating seasons that I’ve been celibate until now?”

Goddess help him, his first reaction to that was actually anger. Anger that somepony had dared violate the pristine purity of the crown, of the Princess, of his Princess. It sounded wrong, so utterly, damnably wrong, no matter how clearly she was implying that any such violation had happened entirely at her own invitation--

Stop thinking about it!! he shouted inside his head.

“Princess, I--”

“Celestia,” she insisted once more.

“Nnhh, no, that not--…!” Night Light sputtered. “You are the Princess! I-I couldn’t… I wouldn’t dare… i-it’s not…”

“…Not what, Night Light? Not ‘proper?’” Celestia gently pressed with another strangely sad sigh. “…Yes, that’s been a bit of a sticking point in the past as well.”

Despite his indignation, at the sight of his princess’ reaction, Night Light was given pause. The dejected sigh was bad enough, and the sad frown, too, ate at him something fierce. But just like the unfortunate rookie Steadfast all those weeks ago, it was the disappointment in her eyes that cut him deepest.

Night Light gulped, terrified now that he’d said something deeply wrong. “Princess, I… I apologize if I--”

“No, Night Light, you’ve done nothing wrong,” Celestia assured him, and for once did not correct him, but she was no longer looking at him either. “You’re right. I am the Princess, aren’t I? I have been for a long time. So long, in fact, that you revere me as an immortal, all-powerful goddess. So much so that to even consider me as having the slightest of mortal qualities is mind-boggling, if not outright offensive. Is that what you were trying to say?”

“…I… s-something like that…” he slowly admitted, and for some reason Night Light shifted uncomfortably in his hooves as he did so, as if hearing his defense out loud, coming from the princess herself, made it sound… insulting.

“…But I’m not, Night Light,” Celestia went on, looking back at him again. “I’m not a goddess. I’m not immortal. And I’m certainly not all-powerful. Whatever power I do have, and whatever heavenly bodies I may be responsible for because of my position… at the end of the day, I am still just another pony, like the rest of you…”

“…With all the same wants and needs we have…” Night Light heard himself finish the sentence for her.

Celestia smiled again at last. “I take it you’ve had this conversation before.”

Night Light slowly hung his head in embarrassment. “…Just today, actually. Pommel, he… that is, Second Lieutenant Pommel, of the Night Guard, I’m not sure if you--”

“I’m quite familiar with him,” Celestia confirmed, “and I’m not surprised you heard it from him. I consider Pommel a good friend.”

“Y-you do?” Night Light gasped, darting his head back up to look at her in surprise. “You’re friends with Pommel? But… he never mentioned to me--”

“It sounds to me as though he’s been trying to, and you haven’t been listening,” the Princess softly chastised. “But yes, Pommel is a friend. Pleasant to talk to and a delightful sense of humor. He has made many a long, dull night much more enjoyable.”

Night Light grimaced and again hung his head in shame. “Yes, he… certainly does do that, doesn’t he?” He sighed at the floor. “…So he was right… and I was wrong… again…”

“It’s alright, Night Light…” Celestia said, lifting his head back up to face her with one hoof. “As I said, you’re hardly the first pony to have held these misconceptions about me, or to hold on to them so stubbornly. We all have our flaws like that. Even me. And I apologize if I’ve presented myself so impassively until now. Sometimes I simply have to be, as the leader of Equestria. But I promise I am a real, living, breathing pony underneath my crown. And I’d like it if you and that pony could get to know each other properly.”

Night Light internally heaved a sigh of relief. She wasn’t mad at him for being so foolish, thank heavens. Quite the contrary, she wished for them to get to know each other, to be friends. He had the chance to really get to know the Princess--

No. Not the Princess. He knew her already, he’d blindly worshipped her all his life.

This was a chance to get to know Celestia. The real pony behind the crown. The pony who got happy and sad and shared jokes with his best friend during long boring nights and endured a worse heat cycle than any other mare in Equestria with a more brave face than any he’d ever seen. How she handled it for upwards of a month in perfect poise and grace baffled him, but here she was calmly talking to him about it and asking quite politely--

Night Light flushed all over again. Oh right. That whole thing, he suddenly recalled. He’d almost managed to forget about it.

Almost.

“Erm… when you say ‘get to know each other…’” he warily ventured.

Celestia actually outright laughed at that. “Ahh, now you sound a bit more like Pommel! No other pony yet has dared have such an off-color sense of humor around me, it’s quite refreshing.”

“I, uh… I wasn’t…”

“I know you weren’t,” Celestia added with a smile. “My apologies, I was simply trying to ease the tension. I suppose even after all this time, it’s still a little embarrassing to ask such a thing of somepony no matter how badly I want it. But I can’t hardly keep up my good reputation by simply taking anypony I want, now can I? Asking, at least, is the civilized thing to do. I’d be disappointed in a no, I suppose, but I’m not a tyrant. I’ll manage another lonely season with grace and civility.”

Night Light’s brain, and a certain other choice organ, were stubbornly stuck for a full few seconds on the bit about how badly Celestia wanted a mate, imagining all over again the myriad of implications that went with that; but her last sentence snapped him back to reality. “Lonely season? You mean you don’t… you don’t have any other… erm…?”

“Options?” Celestia shook her head. “No. It’s you or nopony, Night Light. I told you before, as much as I wish to keep rank and crown out of this… you are my Captain of the Guard. You are the only pony I feel comfortable trusting with anything. …Including my body, in intimacy.”

The organ between his legs gave another involuntary twitch, and Night Light felt his brain starting to concede. Princess Celestia wasn’t merely offering herself to him; the fulfillment of her heat cycle was entirely dependent on him. If he said no…

Night Light felt a shudder race through his very core. That was the clincher. Despite everything that had been said that night, the pony before him was still his Princess, and she was in need of his help. Saying ‘no’ to her now was just not something he could do.

He nodded to his Princess. “Alright. I’ll do it. Whatever you need, Celestia, I’ll… I’ll do it.”

Celestia beamed at him, her mood visibly leaping upward, and reached out to hug him with her front hooves. “Ah, wonderful! Thank you Night Light, I’m more grateful than you know…”

“A-anything for you, Celestia,” he answered with a nervous chuckle as she let him go, thanking the heavens that his stubborn erection hadn’t jabbed his monarch in the stomach. Although, considering, she probably would have seen it as a compliment.

“Mmhh, so… does that mean I can stop?”

He looked at Celestia, trying to figure out both a response, and the reason her voice had abruptly gone a full octave lower. “Stop… what, exactly?”

“Holding back. Restraining myself. I am in heat, have been all day, and there is a virile, willing stallion right here. But I can’t just throw him… er, you, onto the bed and go wild without a word. That would be… unbecoming of me. So may I please, please stop keeping up this rather thin layer of self-control?”

Night Light doubted he could blush any harder than he already was, but if he could, he felt certain he would have just then. He’d heard stories – mostly from Pommel – about what mares in heat could get like once they finally did have their stallion of choice alone in the bedroom, no matter how calm and in-control they seemed in public. In that sense he was actually rather impressed with Celestia. He hadn’t even guessed at the depth of the underlying desire her most recent words exposed; for a ‘thin layer’ of restraint, it had certainly been a convincing one. But it was cracking now, and with barely a word he could break it completely. It was slightly terrifying, actually. But on the other hoof, he was sure – mostly sure – that Celestia would not break him in return.

At least, not in any way that couldn’t be fixed.

Night Light steeled himself, took a deep breath, and nodded. “Y-yes. Go ahead.”

There was a crisp snap sound like a match being struck (or perhaps he only imagined it?) and then a wave of literally solar heat and golden magic gathered him up and flung him, spine-down, toward the bed across the room. In mid-air the gold light continued to work, stripping him of his armor in a matter of seconds and sending it out of sight. He landed in the buff on her bed with a strangely soft pomf and looked up at his monarch, who had followed his flight with uncanny speed. “W-what are we going to do on-”

She pounced, leaning into him with her entire massive form, and at this proximity, with her mask abandoned, it became clear at last just how heavily affected she really was. The edges of her mane crackled with white lights, her horn cast off errant sparks that barely made it off the surface, and the warmth of her body was like somepony with a fever. The natural scent of her estrus, something that she had somehow masked and hidden as well until now, suddenly assaulted his nostrils in a single incredible haymaker, and the more primal corners of his brain flared to life and screamed at him, as only hormones could, the confirmation that yes, this was an extremely-in-heat mare.

Her muzzle dipped down and she began to nip and tug at his coat, rough yet cautious, making him groan in an instant. This wasn’t his first experience of this kind, but… between the sheer minor scale of his former escapades, and Celestia’s raw intensity, he was already moaning and twitching more than he had ever expected to. The solar monarch was clearly not even started, lowering herself completely onto him and pressing tight, the distance between them gone in a few scant seconds. His erection, already wet at the tip, was squeezed against her coat, and he could feel a positively stunning heat poised above one of his hind legs. Occasionally he would even be distracted from a particularly fierce bite when something wet splashed against his leg, one tiny drip at a time. Night Light felt dwarfed beneath her, like a colt again instead of a grown stallion. The magnitude of space between her experience and his only made the difference more obvious, and he whined with pleasure when she bit a particular spot, his cock trying to twitch but failing as it lay pinned between them.

“So, then… does my eager little pony want to get the first round out of the way?”

Night Light’s eyes bulged. “F-first?”

Her expression grew serious for a moment, although no less passionate or wild. “I did warn you. My heat cycle is by no means less intense than a normal mare’s by being stretched out longer; if anything it’s more so. I’m not saying you’re going to need to chain yourself to my bed for days at a time…”

He sighed with relief.

“…But I’m not saying it would be unreasonable, either.”

The sigh caught in his throat before she eased his worries with a breathy laugh.

“I kid… mostly. But in all seriousness, I need you, and soon.”

In his dazed arousal, he could only nod. Another strong wave of golden magic washed over Night Light (was it his imagination, or did Celestia’s power actually squeeze his cock as it passed?) and lifted him back to his hooves, behind the mare he served day in and day out. Her flowing aurora of a mane and tail were both constantly whipping and twitching in the air, and past her tail, he caught occasional glimpses of hot pale flesh, literally steaming in the cool air of the room...

And then Celestia dropped all pretense, flicking her tail up over her back, and his glimpses became one prolonged stare. She winked at him over her shoulder… and then winked at him again, in a very different way.

“Hurry.”

Night Light’s throat went dry, his eyes refusing to even blink. If his brain was capable of rational thought, it was wondering to itself how it could have ever been so stupid as to not realize what a sexual being the Princess could be. Oh, he would never be making that mistake again. He would never again be able to not notice how incredible her rump looked. He’d never again assume that she was a featureless action figure beneath her tail. And he would absolutely never, ever forget the sight meeting his eyes at that moment, of his Princess, of her swollen lips, her flushed clitoris, the breathtaking drip – drip – drip of liquid either running down her stifles or falling straight onto the sheets, abruptly ending his case of dry throat and making his mouth water for a taste of the sweet nectar. Oh goddess, but he couldn’t dare do such a--

Oh, right. He could, actually, now. That and so much more.

His cock twitched again.

“Night Light, perhaps I wasn’t clear enough? Please, don’t make me wait any long--AHH!” the Princess’ sentence was cut off and replaced by a moan muffled in her pillows as Night Light sprung at last, running his tongue up the inside of her thighs, once on each side. Immediately he was licking his lips at the heavenly taste of her moisture, and wanting to waste no more of his or Celestia’s time, his next lick dragged straight over her flushed mound. His tongue slid upward deliberately slowly, from clit to anus, and both parties shuddered and groaned from the pure sexual thrill. Night Light wanted more, and he was reasonably certain Celestia needed more, and so he licked again, this time pressing his tongue between her folds and receiving an impressive blast of heat to his muzzle as he did so.

Halfway through his third lick however, he felt Celestia’s magic engulf him again and tug him backward.

“Night Light,” the Princess called his name again, and this time it was incredibly strained, hovering somewhere between begging and ordering. “Any other time I would praise such selflessness and savor it at great length, but I’m not kidding, I need you inside me. Now, please.”

“Oh! Y-yes, of course, sorry…” he stammered. “I-I’ll just… er… just…”

Night Light trailed off then, again staring blankly straight at the shameless offering before him, but this time for a very different reason.

He was literally staring straight at it. Standing upright, her backside was at eye level with him. In mounting position he doubted his hooves would even meet her wing-joints. And as much as he liked to think his equipment was of satisfactory size, upon sudden comparison, he wasn’t sure Peg A could so much as reach Slot B, let alone fit it.

“Night Light…!” came Celestia’s insistent voice again. “Please!”

Night Light gulped down a shaky breath, terror sweat running down his forehead at the prospect of suddenly failing to please his Princess. “H-how…?”

“What?” Celestia nearly demanded, whipping her head back to face him with near-desperation written all over her face. It softened, though, when she realized exactly what his eyes were now darting back and forth between. “Oh! Oh, goodness, I’m so sorry, it’s been years since I last… I’d completely forgotten…”

Forgotten that I’m barely half your size…? he thought incredulously. And then, a moment later, It’s been years since she last had a mate? No wonder she’s so… intense.

“Thankfully, this is a problem I’ve had… essentially every time before this. Normal stallions only grow so large, of course.”

He looked off to the side, somehow embarrassed by the idea. “Well, I would fix it if I could, but… I have no idea how I’d even start.”

Celestia’s voice managed to return back to something like her normal level of manifest calm, each word laid into place like brickwork. After what he had seen already, he wondered how much of that was natural, and how much was simply self-control and her public outer face. “Not to worry, I have that handled. Just hold very still for a moment; I’m going to use my magic on you somewhat more… directly. There will be no long-term effects, and if you ask me to stop, I will.”

He nodded, allowing her to start. He’d expected the feel of her golden magic when it engulfed him, having been flung around by it quite a bit already. What Night Light hadn’t been prepared for, though, was the sudden heat, impossibly strong and dry, like parching winds in high summer, radiating out from his core. There was a brief moment where he didn’t think he could handle whatever this spell was, but then the heat… shifted. It went from dry and oppressive to an almost molten warmth, still strong but now inviting and refreshing. There was a long pulling sensation in his limbs, like waking up and moving into his daily stretches… and then nothing.

“There. Does that seem better, from your angle?”

He looked down at himself… and kept looking, further down than he was used to. His body was several hooves higher off the bed, all his limbs looked longer… all of them. Especially that one, now that he thought about it; perhaps Celestia’s spell had a bit more of an extra purpose behind it. Night Light didn’t mind, certainly, although he did not know how long it would take him to get used to--

“I believe your body should naturally adjust to the difference,” she said, as if reading his mind. “I spent quite a bit of time developing that spell for ease of use in the, heh, ‘heat’ of the moment.”

“R-right…”

“And speaking of which, if you would be so kind…” she added with another playful nip at his coat and-- nope, he hadn’t imagined it before, her magic was most definitely giving his cock a thorough squeezing this time, making him gasp and bite his lip against an embarrassingly high-pitched whimper. “I think that is the last distraction I can stand.”

Right. Of course. He still had a job to do.

Night Light reared up high on his hind legs and landed his front hooves as delicately as he could on top of Celestia’s rump, which she was once again presenting to him. She was still larger than him despite the magical size-change, but they were much more comparable now, at least. He was finding it a little hard to focus enough to make exact comparisons, though; Celestia’s magic aura was still giving his cock an impressive – and aggressive – massage, and the blood-flow that their brief intermission had allowed to return to his brain was swiftly being redirected somewhere further south once again.

A bare few seconds of that was all it took to knock rational thought out for the rest of the evening, and now Night Light wanted inside her almost as badly as she wanted to put him there. He rocked his hips forward a bit, his first attempt missing its target and scraping the head of his more appropriately-proportioned member across Celestia’s underbelly, and more significantly, dragging its length against her engorged lips and flushed clitoris. Both mates again let out a synchronized groan and a shudder, and when Night Light reared back for a second attempt, much of his cock was freshly coated in Celestia’s sweet secretions.

This time when Night Light’s hips swung forward, Celestia’s magic surged again, giving his cock one last encouraging squeeze before unraveling, not so much gripping him anymore as guiding him – a nudge to the left, an inch or so of lift, a tap back to the right – and then it let go completely, and Night Light was there, pressing at those lips, forcing them apart even as they enveloped and kissed and welcomed his pulsing stallionhood. His knees went weak for a moment and he practically fell forward across Celestia’s back, driving himself the rest of the way inside her in one swift, harsh motion that made her cry out something extraordinarily unladylike, and then at last they were joined.

He’d expected heat. He’d expected wetness. He’d even expected it to feel pretty damn good. He just hadn’t expected how much of all three things it would be. He felt like he’d stuck his dick directly into a sauna. A sauna that had been cranked up to maximum temperature, and was also a massage parlor, kneading and clenching around every inch of him. Perhaps it was because Celestia’s spell had given his cock a bit more extra proportion than the rest of him, or perhaps she was just tighter than he would have expected from a pony with a thousand or so years of even just occasional experience, but either way she felt wonderfully snug around him, like being wrapped up tight in a soft, velvety blanket. Made of hot, pulsing wet mare pussy.

Another shudder ran through Night Light. That was really no exaggeration, was it? He really was laying across his Princess’ back, front hooves hooked over her shoulders with his breathless face resting on the back of her neck, buried to the hilt in her pussy.

He was officially mating with Princess Celestia.

Dear goddess he nearly blew his load right then and there.

“Are you… uunnhhh… alright back there?” Celestia asked. Her words were stilted and halting, and her face was impressively flushed, but her voice was floating, thick with the relief and satisfaction of a terrible itch being properly scratched.

“Y-yes, your highness…” Night Light grunted, and it was a testament, he realized, to the strength of the affliction she suffered that she no longer bothered to correct him.

“Ah, good… then please, do continue.”

Night Light nodded fervently in agreement. His hind legs straightened and stood strong again as the weakness in his knees faded, and his forelegs followed suit as he rose further upright, hooking his hooves as far up her body as he reasonably could reach and still thrust – though even at his new size his grasp was only just at the base of her wings. And then with a grunt and a snort, instinct took over.

In a more stable and coherent state of mind he would have started out slower, more gentle and methodical than average, and would have probably balked at the idea of doing anything that resembled power-fucking the ruler of Equestria. But like most of his expectations about her lately, they were being swiftly subverted, as Celestia refused to let him go that slow. Little impatient huffs cut through her moans. Her rear pushed insistently back against his cock quicker than he was moving, forcing him to repeatedly pick up his own pace to match. Her body-language pleaded for speed, for power, for intensity, all within his first few thrusts, and so with each one he gave it a little more effort. He put a little more force into his motions, pulled just a little harder on her wing joints, smacked their hips together with just a bit more of an audible slap, until by the time she at last seemed satisfied, power-fucking the ruler of Equestria was pretty much exactly what he was doing.

The payoffs were quick and obvious. Celestia’s heavenly moans rapidly reached a fever pitch, so far gone already that she was rendered speechless beyond her incessant pleas for more of everything he was doing, and every sound was massively turning him on. So too was the fact that her marehood was drenching itself, more than Night Light thought was possible. Her fluids coated his dick with enough lubricant that his thrusts were without resistance, while the rest streamed down her thighs or smeared across her rump so copiously that there was soon a distinctly wet quality to the sound of their hips vigorously slapping together. He’d never seen a mare get so soaked – not that he’d ever seen any mares like this anyway – and it made his heart race that much quicker to see it, to see Celestia so insanely hot and wet that it soon felt more like his dick was locked in a steam room than a sauna.

And still none of this, as incredibly sexy as it was to the overwhelmed stallion, said anything of the actual pleasure of the experience.

Probably because Night Light couldn’t really think of words to describe it beyond simply that sweet merciful goddess it felt amazing.

He had no idea if sex was always like this, or if being in heat made a mare that much more enjoyable – or if it was just because it was Princess bucking Celestia – but regardless, it was light-years beyond any solo venture. The pulsing, warm wetness of her pussy engulfing his shaft was pure bliss, welcoming him eagerly on every thrust in and squeezing him tight as if never wanting to let him leave on every thrust out. It was sheer discipline that kept him from climaxing in the first minute, and halfway through the second even that much was starting to fail him. He could feel his muscles tightening, his thrusts losing their rhythm, the head of his cock flaring; he was going to come any second.

“Princess…! I… ahh! I can’t hold it…! I’m going to--GHHH!”

His eyes surged wide as Celestia’s magic flared to life once again, yanking him forward until he was hilted inside her again and held him there, and as if her magic or her pussy squeezing his cock individually hadn’t been incredible enough, now he could feel both wrapped around him and squeezing with twice the intensity.

“I’m counting on it,” she hissed.

Night Light’s limbs stiffened, his face fell and buried itself in her back right around where fur became feathers, and with one last trembling whimper, he tipped over the edge. His seed spilled out of his cock in thick, copious spurts, bolts of pleasure wracking his body with every powerful shot he sent flooding the deepest parts of Celestia’s pussy he could reach. Fortunately it was deep enough, Celestia’s spell had seen to that. Her cry of relief echoed throughout the sealed bedchamber, shocking Night Light with her intensity so deeply that it took him a few moments to realize that her cry was orgasmic as much as it was relieved. Her hips spasmed, jerked, and shook for several prolonged seconds. Her pussy drowned his cock in a fresh surge of juices, as if it hadn’t done so enough already, and clenched down even tighter around him as if trying to squeeze out every last drop it could gobble up of the viscous white goo still bursting from his flared tip.

But somehow more telling than any of those things was the look on Celestia’s face; she was grinning, not merely smiling but grinning from ear to ear like he’d never seen from her before. Her cheeks were more flushed than ever, so fully it even made her fur itself look a bit pink, but it was a beaming, glowing blush, one of deep, immense satisfaction. It was the face of total, complete ecstasy, and even when they’d finally finished coming, and the raw orgasm-fueled pleasure trailed off and left her, the satisfaction and relief remained etched onto her face, warming the whole room with her joy as she flopped limply onto the soaked mattress. Celestia’s heat, at least for the moment, had been quelled.

He’d done it.

Thank the bucking goddesses. He didn’t even want to think about if had he failed.

Night Light collapsed to the bed right beside Celestia a moment later, the exhaustion from his exertions hitting him all at once. His head barely hit the pillows, though, before Celestia hooked a hoof around his shoulders and pulled him into an embrace, and now suddenly his body was gently nestled against her chest. He could feel her body heat engulf his easily, a radiant, solar warmth that he could scarcely believe was natural, that for a moment he thought simply had to be divine in nature. But at the same time, when he laid his head down in her fur, there was still a heartbeat underneath. He could feel its gentle pulse, rapid at first after their vigorous mating but gradually slowing and relaxing into a steadier rhythm. She really was just like any other pony, he knew now.

Even if she was a bit… larger than life.

“Thank you, Night Light,” Celestia finally spoke up, and the stallion was happy to hear she sounded quite normal again. “That was everything I had hoped for.”

“You’re welcome… Celestia,” Night Light replied. “I’m glad I could be, erm… of service.”

Celestia’s warm smile turned wicked for a brief moment. “I do hope you are prepared to continue being of service for a while longer.”

“Heh… heh…” Night Light chuckled nervously, giving her a tired smile. “I’ll… do my best.”

“I’m sure you will.” Celestia laughed softly along with him. “But for now, rest. You’ve earned it. We’ll talk in the morning.”

Night Light no longer had the energy – or desire – to do anything but nod along and obey. His eyes drooped closed, and lying comfortably in his Princess’ hooves, he passed out in seconds.

Chapter Five: Never Say Never Again

Chapter Five: Never Say Never Again

“What do you mean, ‘He’s on duty?’”

Private Steadfast flinched for a moment, awkward hoof-steps echoing on the marble floors of the castle hallways, but her gaze remained level and focused. “Sorry, Captain, sir.”

“Steadfast. I’m off-duty. You don’t need to salute and call me ‘sir’ and all that, I’m just asking a question.”

“With all due respect, sir, I’ve never seen you off-duty since I met you in person.”

Night Light rolled his eyes, wondering if this was how Celestia had felt when dealing with him early that first night. He could definitely see how it would get annoying. “Well, you’re right, I haven’t taken much of a break since then, and I’ve been a bit overworked, so I’m taking a little time off. So please, just… speak freely.”

Steadfast stared uncertainly back at him for a long moment. But eventually the words seemed to sink in as she visibly relaxed her rigid posture and slipped off her helmet, which almost looked too big for her now that she’d cut her blonde mane down to barely a few inches in length. “Understood, sir. Ah… I mean, Night Light.”

“Thank you.” Night Light breathed a sigh of relief. “So, back to my question. You said Lieutenant Pommel’s actually on-duty? Right now?”

“That’s correct.”

“…You realize he’s part of the Night Guard.”

“I do.”

“And that it’s currently noon.”

“Yes sir. Night Light. Sorry.”

“So what the hay is he doing on-duty now?”

“…To be honest I don’t know for certain, that information wasn’t given,” Steadfast admitted. “But we’ve been following his orders directly, and considering now what you just told me, I think he’s probably covering your time off.”

“…Oh.” Night Light groaned to himself. “Great. Well, at least now I know where I can find him… although now he’s really not gonna be happy to see me…”

“He won’t? I… would have thought that was a good thing,” Steadfast wondered aloud. “Being trusted to fill in for a superior officer?”

“Covering my shift on top of his own?” Night Light gave a grim laugh and shook his head. “No, Steadfast, that’s a punishment.”

“…He seems to get those a lot.”

Night Light laughed outright at that. “Yes, he can be a bit of a troublemaker…”

“I’ve noticed…” Steadfast murmured somewhat darkly. A second later, though, she jolted back to attention. “Ah, sorry, sir, that was out of line…”

“It’s alright, Steadfast.” Night Light gave her a reassuring smile. “We… all have our flaws. But they don’t make us bad ponies. Pommel can be… especially rough around the edges, but once you get to know him he’s really not so bad. Celestia wouldn’t trust him as her personal bodyguard most every night if she didn’t believe that despite his troublemaking, he’s a good pony at heart.”

“I… suppose that’s true,” Steadfast admitted.

Night Light laid a gentle hoof on her shoulder. “I know being a member of the Royal Guard can sometimes seem to demand perfection… but if there’s anything I’ve learned from Celestia while serving under her, it’s that we’re all still ponies under our armor. We make mistakes sometimes, and we do our best to make up for them. Us especially, because we represent all of Equestria. But at the same time, we can’t work so hard at being as close to perfect as possible that we forget that it’s okay to let our manes down and be real ponies, too, sometimes. Does that make sense?”

Steadfast gave a slow, hesitant nod at that, and self-consciously ran a hoof through the very short new cut of her own mane. “I… I think it does, yeah. We shouldn’t let this be our whole life, and have no time for anypony else… I mean, anything else.”

“Something like that,” Night Light agreed, and gave her another smile. “Anyway, I really do need to go find Pommel. Thanks for the info. I’ll see you next time we’re both on duty.”

“Oh, yes… sure thing.” Steadfast smiled back this time. “Thank you, too, Night Light.”

“You’re welcome.”

Night Light waved, rather than saluted, and Steadfast eagerly returned the gesture before returning to her rounds in higher spirits. Satisfied, Night Light turned the other direction and began the short trot through the castle halls, to where he knew Pommel must surely be at the moment: Night Light’s office.

Reconciling things with Pommel was obviously going to require a drastically different approach than with Twilight Velvet. He was quicker to anger, probably running on fumes from doing double duty, and was likely not in any better a mood than Velvet had been. But on the other hoof he was also not harboring a couple of years worth of pent-up and unfulfilled romantic feelings that would severely complicate the whole ‘Celestia’s mate’ issue. So that was a plus. He just had to figure out the right words to quell Pommel’s temper.

Fortunately he had some idea of what those words might be.

A moment later Night Light was at the door of his office. He hesitated only for a moment as he took a long, deep breath to calm his nerves, and then braced for the worst as he pushed open the door. Sure enough, his best friend Pommel was sitting at Night Light’s desk, a scowl on his face and his leathery wings twitching irritably as he attempted to sort through his superior officer’s usual stack of paperwork, without his superior officer’s usual advantage of magic.

It wasn’t going well.

“What?” he growled without looking up, his attention obviously still on the scrolls in front of him. “Goddess-damned paper-pushers… how the hay does anypony expect me to fill out this manure by hoof, there’s a reason Unicorns usually do this kind of crap…”

“Careful there, Lieutenant, that sounded just a little bit racist,” Night Light couldn’t help but snark at him.

Pommel’s wings twitched again as he darted his head up, pale yellow eyes glaring at the familiar voice immediately. “What in Tartarus are you doing here?”

“Hello to you too, Pommel.”

“Do you have any idea how rude it is to come in to work when you’ve taken a day off and bug the guy covering for you?”

Night Light stepped fully inside and closed the door behind him. “What, can’t I just come around and say hi to my oldest friend?”

“No. I’ve been on duty thirty-six of the last forty-eight hours thanks to you.”

Night Light managed a small laugh. “Okay, okay, in my defense, I didn’t know you were covering for me until I’d already come looking for you anyway. Somepony else took care of making sure I was covered, I didn’t assign it to you.”

“Good, I would’ve bucked you in the face for pulling that shit on me, after the shit you already pulled.”

Night Light’s chuckle quickly died. “Er… yeah. About that…”

“Yeah? What is it now?” Pommel grunted, returning his attention to the pile of scrolls. “You founding the First Church of Celestia and you wanna convert me?”

Night Light rolled his eyes. “Jeez, do you always talk to your superior officers like this? No wonder you’re in trouble so often.”

“No, but luckily for me, you’re not in uniform today, so I can talk to you however the hay I want.”

“Likewise,” Night Light agreed. “Being on-duty would make this a lot more awkward.”

“I’m not joining your cult, Lighty.”

“I’m not founding a cult, damnit.” Night Light sighed in exasperation. “I’m here to apologize.”

“Oh really?” Pommel snickered suddenly and his eyes lit up in interest as he leaned back in his chair, grinning ear to ear now. “This should be priceless. Go ahead, I’m all ears.”

Night Light rolled his eyes again, but otherwise bit his tongue for the moment; he probably deserved a few barbs like that before this was all over. “I’m sorry, about that fight, okay? It was really, really stupid, and I said some things I shouldn’t have said. I didn’t mean them, and I’d like it if we could still be friends.”

Pommel raised an eyebrow. “…That’s it?”

Night Light nodded. “Pretty much, yeah.”

“It took you four days to figure that out? You’re even thicker than I thought.”

“I’m sorry, it’s been a hectic couple of days, I’ve… had a lot of things on my mind lately,” Night Light said.

“Well I hope one of those things is making nice with Velvet, too, she’s been having about as miserable a time as I have.”

“It is!” Night Light swiftly assured him. “Or, I mean, it was. I mean, I… talked things out with her yesterday. We’re… we’re good now.”

“Yesterday? So it took you three days to pull your head out of your butt and apologize to her too?”

“I told you, I’ve been… busy.”

“Busy with what, kissing Celestia’s hooves some more?”

Night Light blushed suddenly. “Er… well…”

“Or have you moved straight on up to kissing her ass?”

“…Uh… well, technically…”

“Oh my goddess, you can’t even take a joke anymore,” Pommel groaned. “It’s official, my best friend is dead. Maybe I should submit a report that he’s been replaced by a Changeling.”

“It’s not like that!” Night Light insisted. “It’s just…”

“Just what, Night Light?”

“Just… it was more like her inner thighs.”

Pommel frowned at him in confused silence for a moment. “…What?!”

Night Light covered his mouth and forced a cough to mask the smile that was forming on his face. “Just saying. I definitely wasn’t kissing her ass. It was… a bit lower. Smelled nicer, too.”

Pommel stared vacantly at Night Light, who was positive he could see Pommel’s brain working behind his stare, trying to process his words.

But eventually Night Light could no longer hide his amused smile, and Pommel finally cracked one himself. “Hah! Okay, now I know you’re a Changeling. Even when he wasn’t a Celestia-worshipping tool, Night Light never made jokes like that.”

“It’s… not a joke, actually.”

“…What?”

Night Light cleared his throat, glancing around as if ensuring their privacy. “…Seeing as you’re on-duty right now, I want to emphasize this is strictly off the record.”

Pommel’s surprised stare returned, more pronounced than ever. “…What the hay did you do, Lighty?”

“Off the record?”

“Fine, off the record! What the hell are you going on about?”

“…the only reason I didn’t come right after you and Velvet after that fight was because Princess Celestia called me up to her bedroom before I could, and asked me to be her partner for mating season. I spent three straight nights rutting her so hard it broke bedsprings.”

Pommel’s jaw dropped and hung comically-wide open. “…Bullshit,” he promptly accused.

In fairness, Night Light thought, that was a pretty reasonable reaction.

“It’s not bullshit, Pommel, it’s the truth,” Night Light confirmed. “Celestia wanted a mate for this season and she asked me. That night you and I argued was the start of her first active period.”

Pommel gawked at him, completely floored. “No way. No bucking way.”

“You can keep saying that, but it won’t make it stop being true.”

“It is not freaking possible for you to be that goddess-damned lucky.”

Night Light blushed a little. “I don’t know if I’d call it luck, exactly--”

“No, that’s a bunch of horseapples, it is completely the best luck anypony could possibly have, and that’s why it’s bullshit. No one stallion could be lucky enough to have the two hottest mares in Equestria wanting to ride his dick.”

Night Light couldn’t help the embarrassed smile that grew on his face. “Apparently I can, because it’s the truth.”

“Goddess I hate you so much right now.”

“Does that mean you believe me?”

“I’m still on the fence.”

“Gee, thanks.”

“Hey, cut me a little slack here, it’s not exactly your usual M.O. to go mounting mares in heat, I watched you dodge Velvet like the plague three years running. Although I guess for freaking Celestia you’d fall all over yourself to do it, wouldn’t you…”

“I nearly didn’t.”

That finally seemed to give Pommel pause. “Seriously? Why not?”

Night Light sighed a bit. “You were right about me, Pommel. I was getting carried away with this whole… ‘service to the crown’ thing, and putting Celestia up on a pedestal. To be honest… I kind of freaked out when she first asked me.”

“…No shit?” Pommel marveled at him, sincerely surprised.

“Yeah,” Night Light confirmed. “She made this whole big deal about how it wasn’t an order or anything, that she wasn’t even addressing me as a Princess and her Captain… and I couldn’t wrap my head around it. I kept thinking, no, this isn’t right, she’s special, she’s better, she can’t possibly, blah blah blah… I’m sure you’ve heard me say all that crap before.”

“It’s come up now and then, yeah.”

Night Light rolled his eyes, but let it slide. “But when I said that stuff, she… she looked almost… hurt. And then… what you told me that afternoon… she says the exact same damn thing.”

“At the end of the day she’s still just a pony?”

“Yeah… and I don’t know, it was like… it finally clicked, I guess. I finally saw the real Celestia, under all the power and the crown. I really… really saw her.”

“Saw a whole lot of her, from the sound of it.”

Night Light flushed and chuckled. “I uh, heh… I guess so, yeah.”

“Lucky asshole. Speaking of asses--”

“The point is,” Night Light quickly talked over him, “I really owe you an apology. You were right about her… and about me. I should have listened to you.”

“Yeah, yeah, okay, I get it, sheesh,” Pommel actually blushed for once. “Enough with the mushy stuff. Apology accepted, if you promise never to be such a sap around me again.”

“Heh… thanks, Pommel,” Night Light said, heaving a relieved sigh.

“Forget about it,” he said with a wave of his hoof. “…I can’t believe you didn’t tell me sooner you were fucking Celestia.”

“I can’t believe you didn’t tell me you were friends with her,” Night Light shot back. “If I’d known that, I might’ve listened to you sooner.”

“Yeah, well, at the time I didn’t think you’d be keen on hearing about me and your god-queen trading dick jokes,” Pommel snickered, glancing at the clock on the wall as he did so and suddenly jumping out of his seat. “Ah, damnit, you made me late, Lighty, I’ve got lunch plans with Velvet to get to. Oh, wait, shit!” he suddenly burst out, stopping and staring wide-eyed at Night Light. “Does Velvet know about--?”

“Yeah, I told her,” Night Light nodded. “She’s… surprisingly okay with it.”

“Seriously?”

“Yeah. She was asking for details.”

“You lucky asshole. Well come on then, let’s go get some details.”

“Huh? Wait, you mean--”

“Yeah, you’re coming with me,” Pommel insisted, head-butting him toward the door. “We have to talk about this. In thorough detail.”

“Hey, hang on, I didn’t agree to--!”

His protests fell on deaf ears, however, and a moment later he was forced out of his own office and herded out of the castle.

As it turned out, Night Light being dragged along was a definite plus. The café owner recognized the Captain of the Royal Guard as soon as he and Pommel walked in, and promptly offered them a private, secluded booth. The waiter scurried off as soon as they were seated and comfortable to collect Twilight Velvet from wherever she had been left waiting, and Pommel wasted no time in taking advantage of their privacy.

“So on a scale of one to ten, how hot was it?”

Night Light rubbed his muzzle in exasperation. “Gee, I don’t know, she’s the Princess of the sun, Pommel, how hot do you think it was?”

“Har har, smartass. Seriously, though, she’s been around for like, ever, right? So you gotta figure she gets pretty freaky after a few hundred years, just to keep things interesting…”

“It was not ‘freaky,’ jeez…” Night Light groaned. “It was… I don’t know, it was sex. Normal everyday sex.”

“That’s all you’re gonna give me? Puh, leave it to Lighty to make banging a Princess sound boring.”

“She hasn’t had a partner for years, Pommel, I’m pretty sure she wasn’t going to make it even harder on herself by throwing a bunch of… kinks into the mix.”

“You’re shitting me, years? But she could have pretty much anypony she wants.”

“Yeah, but she still has standards,” Night Light swiftly defended her.

“And what the hell makes you so special, then?”

“She… well…” Night Light blushed a little at the memory. “She trusts me.”

“She trusts me, too, but I don’t see her asking to fuck me.”

“It’s different, though,” Night Light went on. “It’s not just how she trusts her guards to protect her. She said… as much as my service record’s been basically spotless, that wasn’t why she made me Captain. She did it because she trusts me completely. With anything. Everything.”

“…Dude.”

“I know what you’re thinking,” Night Light swiftly interjected, “and don’t. She was very clear it’s not a romantic thing, it’s just an estrus thing.”

“Uh… yeah. Good. It better not be. If Velvet didn’t kill you, I would. You know how she feels about you--”

“I’m well-aware, thank you,” Night Light said. “I’m getting to that. My point is, Celestia doesn’t just go around getting rutted by whichever random ponies she grabs off the street. Mating season or not, sex is still a pretty private thing. She wanted somepony she could trust giving her body to intimately at a very… vulnerable time. Not to mention be discreet about it.”

“I think you’re failing that part here, Lighty,” Pommel observed.

“Well… it’s different with you guys. She encouraged me to talk with you about it. As long as, you know, you don’t go spreading it around to the public. She’s entitled to keep her sex life private just like anypony else is.”

Pommel nodded his agreement. “I guess I can keep that quiet.”

“Thank you…”

“So she made you Captain ‘cause you’d treat her right in the bedroom and then keep your mouth shut about it, huh?”

Night Light once again rolled his eyes. “If you want to grossly oversimplify it, and completely belittle what I actually do, then yeah, sure.”

“Well what would you call it, then?”

“A family legacy!” Night Light smiled broadly. “This whole ‘being Celestia’s mate’ thing was a secret, Pommel, it’s not why I got into the job. My father was Captain before me, and he was my hero. I always wanted to follow in his hoofsteps, it’s why I became a member of the Royal Guard in the first place. He was the best, and I wanted to be the best too. And I guess it showed. Celestia said she saw a lot of my father in me, she saw he raised me to be as good and noble a pony as he was, and that was a big part of why she promoted me.”

“Oh yeah, I forgot your dad was Captain,” Pommel said, thoughtfully stroking his chin. “…Heh, hey, you think that means Celestia was banging your dad too?”

“……”

The smile dropped from Night Light’s face immediately, staring at Pommel in blank horror as his brain was suddenly forced to think far too hard about that frighteningly plausible statement.

Pommel offered a slightly nervous chuckle of apology. “…Heh, what? Just saying.”

Fortunately, he wasn’t forced to think about it for long, as Twilight Velvet was finally escorted to their table and served as a welcome distraction, smiling broadly at Pommel, who she’d seen first, and hugging him.

“Hey! Look who escaped from behind the desk!” Velvet observed, nuzzling his cheek briefly before pulling back.

“Likewise,” Pommel answered. “You’re looking like you’re in a good mood for once.”

“I’m in a great mood, thank you!” she beamed, turning to take a seat across from Pommel, only to finally notice Night Light sitting there with a sheepish smile. Velvet jolted in surprise and froze for just a moment, but her smile swiftly returned, accompanied by a pleasant blush. “And it just got even better. Hey there handsome… didn’t know you were joining us.”

“Ah-heh… well, Pommel insisted, so…”

“Well wasn’t that nice of him… guess I get to see you again even earlier than I thought,” Velvet cooed, sliding into the seat beside Night Light and grinning at him shamelessly.

For once, though, Night Light didn’t resist her flirtatious behavior, instead allowing her to slide up against his side and even hold hooves with him. “Y-yeah, real nice…” he stammered, smiling back at her. “H-hi, Velvet…”

“Hello, cutie,” she answered, locking eyes with him so closely their horns were nearly touching. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

Night Light blanched momentarily. “Oh, uh… it’s nothing, really. Pommel was just telling me a… a scary story.”

“Aww, well don’t worry, Night Light, I’ll chase the ghosts away for you tonight,” Velvet assured him with another giggle and gave him a swift peck on the lips, which Night Light gladly accepted and added to, pressing his lips forward even as hers moved away. Velvet let out a tiny squeak of surprise that quickly melted into a happy sigh, and she too let the kiss linger, resting her gentle weight on Night Light’s shoulder. It still ended before too long, though; Night Light could still smell estrus all over her, and it was not the time to cave into that, not yet. And so, after just a few seconds, they mutually pulled back; reluctantly, but with knowing grins.

Pommel, understandably, stared at this display in dumbfounded surprise. “…Well. That was, uh. Different.”

Both ponies looked over at him, offering apologetic smiles. “Sorry,” they managed to say together, before stopping and chuckling at each other.

“Is there something you two wanna tell me?” Pommel asked, an amused smirk growing on his own face.

“Like I said, I was getting around to it, eventually,” Night Light answered. “Velvet and I, uh…”

“He finally asked me out,” Velvet said for him, cutting right to the chase.

“No kidding.” Pommel’s smirk grew wider. “Took you bucking long enough.”

Night Light shrugged helplessly. “We had a nice, long talk about everything, and, well… Velvet was nice enough not to completely hate me, so we decided to give a real relationship a try.”

“We’re going on our first date tonight!” Velvet finished, almost bursting with excitement.

Pommel gave them both a satisfied smile of his own. “Well I’ll be damned. No wonder you’re in a good mood. Congratulations, you two. Knew you’d figure yourselves out eventually.”

“Thanks, Pommel,” Night Light said, giving Velvet’s hoof a gentle squeeze.

“Yeah, thanks for sticking by us,” Velvet agreed. “We both really appreciate it.”

“Don’t mention it,” Pommel said with a dismissive hoof wave, looking toward Velvet. “So, tonight, huh? Does that mean you finally finished all your make-up work?”

“Ugh, yes, thank Celestia,” Velvet heaved a sigh of relief. “Took me two late nights and most of the weekend, and I’ll probably still need to put in some overtime here and there to keep my boss happy, but I think I’m okay now. What about you?”

Pommel grunted in distaste. “Should be getting back to normal after this shift. Because Night Light’s done with his little vacation after today, isn’t that right?”

“I swear, Captain’s honor,” Night Light chuckled, raising his free hoof upright. “I told you, though, I didn’t put you on my shifts.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know,” Pommel shook his head. “I’m bitching about it, but honestly, it’s my own fault. We got pretty blasted that night without you around to be the responsible one for us, Lighty. Backlash the next day was harsh.”

Night Light shifted a bit uncomfortably in his seat. “Yeah, I uh… I figured it was punishment duty you were doing. And I’m sorry, again, about everything, I should have been there to--”

“No, Lighty, shut up. It wasn’t your fault. I mean, yeah, you were kind of a dick, but--”

“Pommel,” Velvet cut him off with a stern stare before turning to smile at Night Light. “What he means is, you weren’t the only one who was in the wrong about all this. Maybe we do get a little too carried away sometimes when we go out, and we shouldn’t have been so hard on you for trying to be the responsible one, even if you were going overboard with it.”

“Yeah,” Pommel agreed. “Don’t feel guilty for the trouble we got in, that’s squarely on our own heads. I promise, we’re never gonna let it get that bad again. With or without you, we’ll try to be more responsible from now on when we’re out together. Deal?”

Night Light smiled proudly at his friend. “Deal. Thanks, Pommel, that’s very mature of you.”

“Gotta grow up sometime,” he admitted with a shrug and a smile. “Don’t worry though, I’ll be the same old jackass, Celestia willing.”

Velvet abruptly giggled again and grinned from ear to ear. “Hehehe, hey, Pommel, so, speaking of Celestia…”

Night Light swiftly groaned and buried his face in his hooves. “Oh come on, really? We’re doing this again?”

“Yes. Yes we are.” Velvet cackled and looked at Pommel. “Did he tell you?”

“Yes, he told me, the lucky little wiener.”

“Hehehe, oh, from what I heard, Celestia made sure it was quite the opposite of ‘little’ before she had her fun.”

“Oh my Goddess, are you serious? This asshole gets a giant magic cock now too?”

“Well, more like a giant magic everything. He’d have to, she’s so huge!”

“Oh yeah, she is, huh? Hah, oh hell, now I’m picturing him trying to mount her from normal size, pfftthahaha!”

“Hehehehe, oh gosh, he probably tried, too! I bet he couldn’t even reach her wings!”

“HAH! Like a little foal trying to climb up on his mom’s back!”

“Hehehe, I know, right? Seriously, no wonder she sized him up.”

“Yeah, you’re right, she’d have to. Even if he could reach, it’d be like throwing a cucumber down a canyon.”

“I’m right here, you know!!!”

Velvet snickered and patted Night Light soothingly on the back. “Oh come on, Night Light, it’s just a joke.”

“Yeah, lighten up, Lighty.”

“You’re comparing my… junk, to cucumbers!”

Pommel shrugged carelessly. “Hey, I didn’t say it had to be a small cucumber. It could be the Equestrian record for biggest cucumber ever, but that’s still a canyon…”

“It was not like a canyon!” Night Light countered in an indignant hiss.

Velvet immediately grew a wicked grin. “Oh really? Well then, please, if you’re so eager, tell us what it was really like.”

“Yeah, Lighty, sounds like you’re dying to tell us all about exactly how tight it was in Celestia’s p--”

“Public café, for pony’s sake…!” Night Light hissed again before he could finish. “Jeez, do you want the whole restaurant to hear you?”

Pommel laughed and smiled sincerely. “Ahh, now there’s the Night Light I remember. Nice to see you’re still as uptight as ever when you wanna be.”

“I am not uptight, I just have a little respect for Celestia’s privacy…”

“She told you it was okay to talk about though!” Velvet prodded him, both figuratively and literally.

“And I told you, I don’t think I need to get into the intimate details,” Night Light once again insisted. “I mean, what if it was you? Sure, maybe you wouldn’t mind ponies knowing generally if we had sex, but would it really not bother you at all if I went rambling to Pommel about every last dirty detail of all the nasty sexual things we did together?”

Pommel raised his hoof, ignoring Velvet’s abrupt blush. “For the record, I’m in favor of this idea--”

“Shut up, Pommel,” the other two again said in unison.

Both of Pommel’s front hooves came up this time, waving back and forth defensively as he chuckled. “Okay, okay, point taken. Whatever you guys wanna keep behind closed doors is none of my business.”

“Thank you,” Night Light muttered as he sighed in relief and refocused a smile on Twilight Velvet. To his surprise, she was still very flushed and off-guard from Night Light’s rather bluntly-made point. Clearly she was still very much not used to hearing Night Light turn her forwardness back on her, and her playful attitude had been thrown for a serious loop. He’d have to remember that for the future; she looked extra adorable when she was embarrassed.

A snicker from Pommel interrupted his thoughts. “Damn, whatever it is she wants to keep behind closed doors must be pretty crazy. I’ve never seen Velvet blush like that.”

“Oh, stuff it up your ass, Pommel,” she quickly retorted.

“Whoa-ho, the claws are coming out!” Pommel reared back, over-exaggerating the motion for all it was worth. “Guess that’s my cue to hoof it on outta here.”

Night Light raised a curious eyebrow. “You’re leaving? But we haven’t even eaten yet.”

“I’ll grab something to go. You made me late getting here as it is, and the last thing I need right now is to be late to duty again.” Pommel nudged the other stallion and gave him a knowing wink. “Besides, I can tell when I’m not wanted. I’m sure you two are eager to start your date.”

“Date?” Night Light flushed and glanced back at Velvet. “What, you mean… right now?”

Pommel shrugged. “You’re already here together, and you’ve both got the whole day off. Why not make the most of it?”

Velvet finally seemed to recover at that, curling a front leg around one of Night Light’s and smiling again. “For the record, I’m in favor of this idea.”

“Told you.” Pommel grinned his smuggest grin and lazily saluted them as he turned to go. “Have fun, you two. And for the love of Celestia don’t buck it up or I’ll kick both your flanks.”

“Love you too, Pommel,” Night Light called back with an amused smile and a shake of his head. A second later his friend was gone, and Night Light turned his full attention back to Twilight Velvet again. “He’s a real charmer, isn’t he?”

“About as charming as a mud puddle,” Velvet giggled. “But at least he has good intentions.”

“Yeah…” Night Light cleared his throat and smiled nervously. “Speaking of which… I guess that means we’re… officially on our date.”

“Mmhmm.” Velvet grinned and nodded, their already-interlocked hooves curling together just a bit more so.

“Heh, that’s a relief… I was kinda sweating the part where I stand on your porch waiting for you to answer the door.”

“How lucky for you that you get to skip that part.” Velvet scooted just a bit closer to him, grinning wider. “So… how would you like to start the date instead?”

Night Light considered saying something touching and romantic for approximately half a second before both of their stomachs gave a mighty grumble, and he could help but chuckle. “I’m thinking lunch.”

Velvet chuckled right behind him. “Read my mind.”

The two shared another quick laugh, and then put their heads together over the menu, stealing kisses from one another every few seconds and holding hooves just a little bit tighter again.

The date was on.

Chapter Six: Die Another Day

Chapter Six: Die Another Day

“I’m not sure I can handle this.”

“Oh come on, you big baby, don’t tell me you’re getting cold hooves?”

“I’m not, it’s just… this isn’t exactly what hooves were designed for. I’ve never tried to hold anything this big before. Or this heavy.”

“Should I go tell Pommel you’re afraid of big heavy balls now?”

“I am not afraid of--… eww, Velvet!”

“You thought it, not me!”

“Well you set me up for it!”

“Will you stop whining and throw the dumb ball?”

“Okay, okay, I’m going…!”

Night Light stepped up onto the slightly-raised platform in front of his and Twilight Velvet’s seats, carefully attempting to walk forward on just three hooves while awkwardly cradling the first of his two fifteen-pound balls against his chest with the last hoof. Ahead of him, his target: ten pure, innocent, curved rods at the end of one long, oiled stretch of hard wood, flanked on either side by polished metal chutes just waiting to suck those rods, and his balls, into the dark mechanical throat beyond.

Night Light sincerely hoped not everything on this date would sound quite so nasty as bowling apparently did.

Carefully he positioned himself in the center of his lane, his ball lined up precisely with the first and front-most pin, which sounded perfectly logical to Night Light. Actually getting the ball there, however, was proving a bit more complicated. The ball was perfectly round and his hoof was pretty much flat, there was no way it would stay put if it wasn’t cradled against his chest. So eventually he decided his best bet was to angle his body a bit, and heave the ball straight outward like an oversized shot put ball.

“Wait, no, not like--!”

Velvet’s cry reached him too late. The ball was thrust forward through the air, landing on the wooden lane with an incredibly loud thud that made even Night Light wince and immediately realize that it had been the wrong move. The ball bounced just a little and then veered off course almost immediately, crashing straight into the left gutter barely halfway to the pins and rolling leisurely the rest of the way down the alley into the ball return.

“…that,” Velvet finished lamely.

Somehow Night Light refrained from going completely crimson under the bewildered stares of other nearby bowlers. “Uh… I get to try that again, right?”

Velvet sighed and smiled at him as though he were a foal asking a ridiculously simple question. “Here, let me show you,” she said, picking up the second ball and cradling it against her chest as he had. “I promise not to sabotage your second shot.”

Velvet didn’t wait for Night Light’s answer, walking right up to the bowling platform before he could object, and as Night Light watched from behind in idle curiosity, Velvet leaned forward, the ball kept tucked against her chest, but lower than before. Her front leg shifted around the ball, so that it was still curled around the heavy thing, but a little further underneath it, while her hind legs shifted a bit further apart to widen her stance for increased stability. And then at last her foreleg swung back, releasing the ball from her chest and at the same time thrusting her leg forward again, low to the ground. The end result was the ball rolling off the end of her hoof and gently onto the wood floor, yet still being propelled by the swing of Velvet’s leg. Her aim was nearly perfect, the ball striking just off from the front-most pin and knocking eight of them straight to the ground before the machinery took over and swept away the rest.

“And that is how it’s done,” Velvet finished with a smirk.

“Couldn’t we just throw the balls by magic?” Night Light wondered aloud.

“Right, because that would be fair to everypony who didn’t have magic, wouldn’t it?” Velvet chuckled at him. “Besides, past that fault line there, it’s a magical dead-zone, to prevent cheating. So you might as well learn to bowl without magic in the first place.”

“I guess so,” Night Light admitted.

Velvet picked up her own ball, passing it over to him. “Now here, you try again. Only fair you get one of my shots.”

Night Light nodded as he took the ball, stepping up to the lane to take another shot at it. He ran it over in his mind again exactly what Velvet had done: tuck the ball to her chest, lean forward, spread her hind legs a little… pretty sure she wiggled her hips a bit… maybe even flicked her tail up for a second…

Gah!

Night Light flushed and shook away the image of Twilight Velvet’s backside, and grasped desperately for another thought to focus on instead, hurrying through the motions of tossing his ball down the lane in some awkward fusion of his initial technique and Velvet’s. Thankfully the ball didn’t land with such a thud this time, and managed to get all the way to the end of the lane before rolling off into the gutter, just barely nicking a pin in the back corner enough to knock it over.

Velvet let out a quiet snort from behind him, clearly trying not to laugh. “Well, that was… a little better.”

“S-shut up, it’s my first time,” Night Light muttered.

“Alright, alright,” Velvet eased off, picking up her ball again from the ball return and nudging him aside. “Now back up and let me try to save my own frame.”

Night Light obediently stepped back to let her bowl, watching her again as she went through her motions and--… yep, he hadn’t hallucinated. She wiggled her rear and flicked her tail a bit right before she threw the ball, drawing his eyes to the region like flies to a garbage can. He wasn’t sure if it was intentional or not – she honestly seemed unaware she was doing it – but knowing her as he did, it was probably at least a little of both.

The crash of a bowling ball into a wall of pins snapped him back to attention just in time to notice Velvet cheering to herself, the entire triangle at the end of their lane obliterated.

“Yesssss, picked up the spare!” Velvet spun and grinned at Night Light. “Isn’t this fun? I used to bowl all the time as a teenager, when they first built this place. Kind of fell off for a while with my studies, though, all this automated stuff is new to me… but the bowling itself is the same, and I guess I’ve still got it!”

“Eh-heh, y-yeah, you sure do,” Night Light agreed with a strained smile.

Velvet picked up on his awkwardness like a hawk. Not that it was hard to anyway. “Something wrong, Night Light…?”

“Uh, no, nothing, just…”

“Just…?”

Night Light cleared his throat and sighed internally, doubting she’d let this go until he fessed up. “You just kind of… wiggle. Your hips, I mean. And flick your tail. When you bowl.”

“…Oh…?” Velvet actually blushed, which surprised Night Light. Apparently she had been less aware of it than he’d thought, but the implications hadn’t been lost on her either. She took it in stride, clearly pleased at the attention, and sidled right up to him, their faces suddenly inches apart. “And… did you like what you saw…?”

Night Light gulped slowly for air. “W-who said I saw anything?”

“It’s okay if you did, you know… I might’ve been checking you out a little myself, while you were bowling, if we’re being honest… and I know I sure liked what I saw…”

Velvet’s forehooves were fully around his shoulders in the next second, and once again, at close proximity, the scent of estrus hormones reached his nostrils. Oh, Goddess, she was in the mood already. Barely a couple of hours into their day together and she was beginning to crack. Night Light had to admit, it was sorely tempting to forget the rest of the night and indulge her… but he’d promised her a proper date, and this was hardly a proper place to be getting frisky anyway, and so he tried desperately to control his body’s immediate reactions before his instincts could get the better of him. Unfortunately, he knew even now it was going to be a losing battle, that sooner or later they’d be buried in her bed bucking the night away, and even though he still had solid control of his actual urges, he couldn’t stop himself from--

“Hey, takes it outsides, youse two!” a loud, gruff voice bellowed from an even gruffer-looking pony behind the cash register. “Nopony’s poppin’ stiffys in my bowlings alleys!”

Velvet grinned wider and giggled, seeming no less pleased with herself despite the interruption. “Come on, Lighty… we can go do something else. Wouldn’t want to distract you.”

Privately Night Light couldn’t help but agree.

Bowling was a pretty dirty sport anyway.

With their first idea a bit of a bust, Night Light and Twilight Velvet settled instead on a peaceful stroll through Canterlot Central Park. It was a bit of a misleading name, actually; the park was much closer to the edge of the city, at the opposite end from the Royal Palace that was right up against the mountainside.

Naturally this made it so the main attraction of the park was not the foal’s playground, or the ornate fountains, but the view. The park overlooked what seemed like all of Equestria, and Night Light and Velvet stood at the edge of the park’s outer balcony just admiring the country as the soft orange light of the early evening sun bathed the landscape in its glow, as far as the eye could see.

“Now this is romantic,” Velvet sighed dreamily, resting her head on Night Light’s shoulder. “Have you ever seen anything more beautiful?”

“Oh… maybe a couple of mares I know,” Night Light swiftly replied.

Velvet immediately blushed and giggled at him. “Good answer.”

Night Light couldn’t help patting himself on the back for that one, and decided not to push his luck, letting silence settle again as Velvet resumed enjoying the view of the countryside. Night Light however found himself looking at Velvet herself. He hadn’t been exaggerating at all, he would rather gaze at her over some landscape any day. It had occurred to him before, of course, how pretty he thought she was, but it still felt… different, now that he was actually allowing himself to act on it.

And goddess above, did he ever want to act on it.

It was a little surreal, actually. Lit up in the evening sunlight as she was, the breeze in her mane and a smile on her face, it made him want to lay her down on a bed of roses and make sweet love to her like newlyweds. And then he got a whiff of her, like at the bowling alley, a hint of the distinct scent of estrus pheromones that drew his eyes helplessly to her rump, and suddenly he was more compelled to shove her to the dirt and rut the stuffing out of her instead. It was a surprisingly potent conflict, considering they were really just two different paths to the same conclusion.

He still couldn’t give in to that urge, though, not yet. Even if they were more or less an ‘official’ couple now. He sternly reminded himself yet again for what felt like the tenth time already that day; he’d sworn they would do this date the right way, the romantic way. The gentlecolty way. Not the estrus way.

Still. The signs of it remained all over her. It was kind of hard not to notice or think about. Hay, he could smell it in the air practically everywhere he went, now that mating season had hit the bulk of the population.

In fact, now that he was thinking about it, the smell was getting stronger, even.

Night Light looked up curiously at their surroundings, and he realized that as the sun was setting, the park was quickly becoming more popular. There were at least three times as many ponies in the park now as there had been when they’d arrived. And not a single pony was there alone. Colts and fillies, mares and stallions, even ponies that looked as though they could be grandparents… everypony was there with somepony else. Some even with multiple someponies, Night Light realized as he observed one particularly bewildered-looking stallion being flanked by a couple of mares that he could swear were twins.

What a lucky little bastard.

“Uh, Velvet, maybe we should go somewhere else,” Night Light finally spoke up.

“Huh?” Velvet jerked her head up in surprise, having been busy enjoying the view a moment ago. “Why? I like it here.”

“It’s just, uh… the park’s getting kind of… full.”

“It is?” Velvet looked away from the balcony and back out to the park itself, soon noticing what Night Light had. “Oh, wow… this sure turned into a date hotspot.”

“Heh, well, you know… ‘tis the season,” Night Light chuckled.

“Sure is… and this place does set the mood pretty well… oh wow, is that guy here with twins? What a lucky little bastard.”

Night Light almost choked on his next breath, coughing harshly to clear it out. “V-Velvet…!”

“What? They’re cute.”

While Night Light took a moment to attempt to recover, and perhaps wonder if his new marefriend was somehow psychic, Velvet returned her attention to the view. “Can’t we stay just a little bit longer?” she said. “I really do like it here. It’s a perfect evening, not a cloud in the sky…”

“Except for all those clouds with Pegasi snuggling on them,” Night Light observed with a blush.

“Yeah, all two of them,” Velvet chuckled, her gaze drifting gradually down over the edge of the balcony. “…okay, three, there’s a couple kind of hiding their cloud under the balcony here--… oh my goddess, Pommel!”

“W-what?! Pommel?!” Night Light swiftly followed Velvet’s gaze just in time to notice a familiar charcoal-grey stallion jolting upright at the sound of his name and looking up at the balcony, his leathery wings flared and his front legs planted awkwardly in front of him as though hiding something.

“Oh. Uh. Hey Lighty. Hey Velvet,” Pommel slowly said, his eyes wide and stunned, one of the very few times Night Light had seen that look on his face.

“Oh my gosh, Pommel, I thought you hated romance-y places like this!” Velvet marveled, craning her neck further over the railing to try to see the rest of his cloud. “Hehe, are you trying to impress somepony? Who is it? Anypony we know?”

For some reason Pommel’s gaze darted toward Night Light at this, and at the whim of morbid curiosity the Guard Captain felt himself leaning over the railing as well to get a better look at--

“Private Steadfast?”

Night Light’s jaw dropped comically-wide open, staring. Indeed, his subordinate’s equally-shocked face was the one staring back at him, frantically tucking her tail between her legs and straightening out her mussed blonde mane, which had somehow grown at least triple its length since he last saw her early that afternoon, now a happy medium between her former super-short trim and her original flowing locks. Both of them were looking deeply uncomfortable and more than a little sweaty, and Pommel had smears of lipstick on his mouth and neck, none of which gave Night Light very good ideas about what they had been doing cuddled up under the balcony.

“Ah-heh… g-good evening, Captain,” she stammered. “L-lovely night…”

Night Light glanced rapidly back and forth between her and Pommel. “You… you’re here with…?”

“Hey, I’m as surprised as you are,” Pommel admitted. “She just asked me out all of a sudden as soon as we were off duty.”

“But… he… you… why…?” Night Light eyed Steadfast now, as if demanding her share of the explanation.

Steadfast simply blushed and smiled. “Just… giving him a chance. You know… getting to know him?”

“Getting to know--?” Night Light stopped short, vacantly recalling that particular snippet of conversation from earlier that day. “…Oh. Uh. Right…”

Pommel, naturally, caught this. “What do you mean, ‘Oh, right?’ …Did you say somethin’ to her about me, Lighty?”

Night Light smiled helplessly and rubbed the back of his head. “Uh… I… might have said… something to the effect of you being a pretty good guy, yeah… I didn’t exactly intend that to mean she should go ask you out, but…”

“Hey, I’m not complaining,” Pommel waved away the rest of the explanation. “Heck, I should thank you for sending a date my way. She’s not half bad.”

Steadfast immediately frowned at him. “‘Not half bad?’ That’s the best you can do?”

“Well, I was going to say ‘smoking hot,’ but I wasn’t sure that would go over so well either,” Pommel added, immediately silencing Steadfeast and sending her into a blushing fit.

“She’s certainly cute,” Twilight Velvet chimed in with a giggle. “Isn’t she cute, Night Light?”

For some reason all three of the ponies around Night Light seemed especially interested in hearing his response – for different reasons, all, he was sure. He’d have to be careful here.

“…You saw an alterist,” he noted as diplomatically as he could, taking another glance at her longer mane.

Steadfast shot a hoof up to her mane, brushing through it almost self-consciously. “O-oh, heh, y-yeah, I did…”

“…It looks good. Not too short, not too long. Perfect balance.”

“Aww, that’s sweet Night Light,” Velvet cooed and nodded along. “I agree, it looks cute. Very… business-casual.”

Steadfast swiftly smiled, apparently satisfied by that. “T-thank you for noticing… that’s exactly what I was going for.”

Pommel rolled his eyes. “Alright, alright, enough trying to sweet-talk my date, Lighty. If you don’t mind, we’re trying to watch the sunset here.”

Velvet snickered and gave him an over-exaggerated wink. “Suuuuure, that’s totally what you were doing.”

“Oh, go suck face with your boy toy.”

Velvet stuck her tongue out and blew a raspberry at him for a moment before turning back to Night Light. “Come on, Night Light, they can have the sunset. Let’s go see a movie.”

“O-oh, uh, alright,” Night Light jolted into motion and waved a farewell to his fellow soldiers. “See you guys later, I guess. Uh… don’t… do anything that would embarrass the Royal Guard, alright?”

“Y-yessir! I mean, Night Light!”

“Why the buck are you still talking to us? Get outta here. And give it to ‘er good, Lighty. She needs it.”

Night Light flushed and swiftly hurried away to catch up with Velvet, leaving the park behind them.

“Symphony, I’ve been such an idiot…”

“No, Woodwind, I’m the one who’s been an idiot, it was my jealousy that drove you away…”

“Only in the wake my own jealous behavior… but those mares meant nothing to me!”

“Those stallions meant nothing to me! You’re the pony who holds my heart…”

“Oh, Symphony…”

“Oh, Woodwind…”

“Oh, brother,” Night Light groaned.

“I know, isn’t it just awful…?” Velvet agreed in a breathy giggle.

“Shh! Some ponies are trying to watch the movie!” a voice shushed them from elsewhere in the darkness.

Night Light rolled his eyes and returned one eye to the movie on the screen before them, only really half-paying attention to it. It was some mindless, raunchy romantic comedy two weeks past its release date that Velvet had picked out, mostly as an excuse to make out in the back of the theater without many ponies around to notice or care. It was about some young couple in love, forced by circumstance to spend estrus season apart, and attempting to remain faithful to each other. Naturally, it didn’t quite work out that way, and after a bit of drama the lovers were now reconciling, not holding the antics of estrus season against each other. It was a tale as old as time, one Night Light had heard a thousand times before, and this particular movie was about as cliché as it got. So Night Light didn’t feel like he was missing much by snuggling with Velvet in their seats, stealing quick kisses at first and then graduating to heated make-outs by the time the on-screen stars hit their first of many infidelities.

There was one thing he had to give the movie credit for though, Night Light thought distantly as he watched the final scene play out. The plot was old hat that everypony had seen before, but the timing was impressively relevant. Not many movies about estrus season dared to actually release during estrus season. Of course, Night Light doubted the producers were trying to send any sort of meaningful message in doing so; it was still a pretty mindless sex comedy. But it did at least do a good job of setting the mood. Maybe even more so than their stroll in the park. Night Light had probably gotten at least four or five separate erections over the course of the movie, starting with a rather gratuitous butt shot from the lead mare ten minutes in, and finishing with his most recent make-out with Velvet to carry them through the boring drama just before the movie’s climax. Velvet, naturally, didn’t fail to notice a single one of them – they were pretty much impossible to hide, as close as they were snuggling – and every time he felt himself perk up, he saw an intense hunger building in her eyes, and the scent of her particular blend of hormone-cocktail grew stronger. She was close to cracking. Hay, he was close to cracking. He’d really need to rein himself in if he wanted to get her home without anypony seeing him sticking out in the open, announcing his plans for the evening to the entire city.

Unfortunately for Night Light, the movie was taking its turn again in renewing his erection, as the actors on-screen decided to turn things up a notch. In the midst of their reconciliation they had found their way to their bedroom, clearly intent on making the most of the last throes of that season’s heat. Again, nothing really out of the ordinary; most movies on the subject (that had happy endings, anyway) usually ended with the protagonists finally getting to spend the last of the season together.

Unlike most movies on the subject, however, and to Night Light’s immense surprise, this one wasn’t fading to black. In fact their make-out was only growing more intense.

“Whoa,” Night Light whispered aloud, his full attention on the movie for the first time.

“Hehe…” Velvet giggled, right in his ear, so that he could hear every breathy word. “Wow, this is saucier than I thought it’d be…”

The actors fell to the bed, panting and flushed and still kissing.

“…A lot saucier,” Velvet murmured, surprise leaking into her tone as well.

The mare finally broke the kiss, not to settle into a tender embrace, but to squirm and twist until she fully rolled over.

On her stomach.

With the stallion on top of her.

“Oh my goddess…” Velvet gasped, as wide-eyed as Night Light now. “That’s mounting position…”

Night Light was now bright red… and at full mast. “T-they’re not actually going to… a-are they?”

They were.

It didn’t last long. Perhaps a minute and a half, two minutes tops. And the camera was very, very careful; it never drifted behind the mare’s waist, showing nothing further back than the barest edges of her cutie mark, instead mostly centering on the couple’s flushed cheeks and hot breaths and frantic kisses. Not a single shot or angle hinted at blatant genitalia. But nevertheless, there was no mistaking the rhythmic rocking of the stallion’s body, or the labored moans of the mare beneath him. Either they were extremely convincing actors…

…or Night Light was quite literally watching two ponies have sex.

And he was reasonably convinced it was the latter.

Either way, though, it was hotter than anything he would have ever expected to see in a movie, and his erection screamed for attention in response. Getting it to go down before they left the theater was going to take a tremendous effort now; goddess above, first the butt-shaking at the bowling alley, then everypony at the park, and now this? Was the universe trying to get him to hurry up and drag Velvet to bed?

Then he felt a hoof, her hoof, plant itself directly on the base of his shaft, and sliiiiiiiiide up the entire length of it right to the tip, drawing an embarrassingly loud yelp from his throat before he could clamp a hoof over it. And then Night Light was suddenly certain the answer was ‘yes.’ Yes, that was exactly what the universe was doing.

“Night Light,” she whispered, taking one of his front hooves in her remaining free one and pulling it toward her.

Rein it in, damnit, rein it in! he tried to order himself. They were still on their date, he couldn’t give in yet, he couldn’t give in, he couldn’t--

Shlick.

“Unnhh…!”

Night Light went completely crimson all at once. Velvet’s hoof had pulled his all the way down between her hind legs while he’d been distracted chanting to himself, and she was now pressing it… pressing him…

Oh goddess.

He was touching her pussy.

Sweet mother of Celestia, he was touching Twilight Velvet’s pussy.

And as little as it should have surprised him, Night Light was nevertheless stunned by the incredible heat and wetness he felt there, already permeating through his fur. He wasn’t sure if she had been like this all along, or if the movie had pushed her arousal to the same new heights as it had Night Light, but it didn’t matter. She was drenched, and she was horny.

“Take me home,” she finally finished whispering in his ear. “Now.”

Night Light would later swear that at that exact moment, his resolve had snapped so hard he had actually heard it. But at the time, he could think of nothing else but obeying Twilight Velvet as immediately as possible.

They were gone before the credits even rolled.

Slam!

Night Light had barely gotten the two of them inside Twilight Velvet’s house with a shred of dignity intact before Velvet bucked the door closed full-force and shoved Night Light’s back upright against it with all her strength. She threw herself into his lap an instant later, smashing their lips together with no preamble or subtlety whatsoever, hugging her front legs tight around his neck and grinding her soaked nethers against his raging erection. Her moans, her kisses, her movements, all of them gave off an air of near-desperation, like she would go completely insane if she wasn’t kissing and touching and humping him as hard as she could. The scent of her estrus was incredibly strong; a heavy, damp, all-encompassing aroma that surrounded what felt like her entire body now, blotting out every other scent nearby with a cloud of pure sex so thick Night Light could barely breathe through their heated kisses as he hugged and humped right back at her.

Not even Princess Celestia had felt quite like this, the stallion marveled. Even when she had finally cut loose and made him aware of how affected she was by her own estrus, it always felt as though, ultimately, she had control of it. She was the master of her primal instinct, and simply chose to allow it to run rampant and free once everything was in order, able to yank its leash and pull it back under her wings at a moment’s notice if she needed to.

Twilight Velvet, on the other hand, felt nothing like that. She did not have decades and centuries and even millennia behind her in which to learn poise and control. Her estrus was a wild, untamed beast, a bucking bronco which Velvet herself was just barely hanging on to. Or perhaps more accurately, it was like four years of building, pent-up desire, some volatile cocktail of love and desire, of romance and lust, held back by a dam that had finally shown a crack, and her primal brain wasted no time in tearing it the rest of the way open. It was a raging, frothing river of hormones now, impossible to control even if Velvet wanted to, and she was making it clear she didn’t want to.

And if he was being honest, Night Light didn’t particularly want her to anyway.

“Bedroom,” she managed to hiss at him, and Night Light again hastened to obey, hoisting them both off the carpet in front of her front door. Awkwardly they made their way through the house, both of them propped up on two legs in a shaky balancing act because neither of them really wanted to let go of or stop making out with the other. Their shoulders slammed into corners, picture frames toppled to the floor from their backs dragging across walls, and Night Light was sure at least one vase got swatted by a thrashing tail and smashed on the floor, but neither of them cared. Getting to Velvet’s bedroom was the only thing that mattered.

They made it to the entrance of said bedroom before pausing for breath, leaning heavily against the doorframe, Night Light sandwiched between it and his marefriend as they panted against each other’s muzzles. It was a brief reprieve, but for a moment at least Night Light had time to think, and speak.

“Velvet,” he murmured, “I’m sorry… if we didn’t exactly finish our date properl--”

“Shut up, Night Light,” she interrupted him, her tone both firm and tender. “It was a wonderful date and I had a fantastic time, don’t you dare feel guilty about this…”

“But I--”

“But nothing,” Velvet stopped him again, and firmly nuzzled his cheek. “Night Light, with or without mating season I had every intention of doing this… I promise it’s not just the estrus talking.”

Velvet paused and moved her face back in front of his, and to Night Light’s shock and surprise, leaned her forehead toward his, until the tips of their horns gently touched together and sent a deep-violet crackle of unfamiliar and yet very welcome magic through his body.

“I want this, Night Light,” she whispered. “I want you.”

Night Light’s heart suddenly felt like it was beating twice as fast, and attracted to her twice as much. Touching horns was not something Unicorns did lightly. Each of the pony races had such gestures; he’d known Pegasi to be very selective about who they allowed to preen their wings, and Earth Ponies who wouldn’t dare accept a hoof massage from anypony but a lover. It was a very personal, very intimate gesture, and irrefutable proof that this wasn’t just the estrus talking. Even though she was pent-up, tense and practically shaking from the hormones pulsing through her body, Twilight Velvet wouldn’t touch horns with him unless she truly, deeply wanted this with him. It wasn’t exactly making it any easier to decide whether he was going to make love to her or fuck her brains out, but at least now he knew for sure there was no wrong answer.

“Now for goddess’ sake, get me on that bed and rut me senseless.”

Night Light felt his cock twitch and throb.

Well, that was that decision made.

His energy renewed, Night Light slid his front hooves low and underneath Velvet’s rear, hoisting her clear off the ground. She let out a soft squeal somewhere between surprise and arousal, and in one last, astounding display of balance, Night Light wobbled to the bed and tossed his marefriend face-down on top of it. Velvet moaned in absolute delight, immediately hugging her pillows and raising her hind end to the sky in the most shameless display of presentation Night Light could have imagined. Her tail was already flipped up and draped over her back, her legs slightly apart to draw an inverted V-shape up her thighs, and--

Goddess, Night Light hadn’t been ready. He hadn’t even been close to ready. He might never have been ready. But there it was. There she was. Displayed like Night Light had never seen before.

Twilight Velvet’s pussy.

Twilight Velvet’s flushed, hot, pink, soaking, winking, dripping pussy.

If Night Light wasn’t as hard as diamonds before, he sure was now.

“This is so much hotter than Celestia…” he murmured, gawking.

Velvet didn’t respond, but Night Light knew she had to have heard him, because she grinned just a bit wider and shivered extra hard as soon as he said it. Then, as if she hadn’t been clear enough already, she shook her rear back and forth before his eyes and gave him the most seductive look she could manage.

“You coming…?”

Night Light jolted in place and hurried to join her on the bed, though his eyes never left her backside, examining and admiring every detail of this new, no-longer-forbidden view. She wasn’t quite as large and round in the hips as Celestia, of course, but that was to be expected; Velvet was much more his own body size, maybe even a tiny bit smaller. If anything that just meant she would probably be tighter, a thought that gave his cock another excitable twitch. Her clitoris was a little smaller, too, even relative to body size, but still flushed and swollen, making it an easy target regardless. What really had Night Light amazed was the wetness. He had thought Celestia was a particularly juicy mare, but Velvet surpassed even that. Droplets of thick fluid streaked down her thighs and pooled between her legs, or dripped straight from the source, more copiously than Celestia at her wettest, making the stunned stallion’s mouth water for a taste. Oh, sweet ponyfeathers, he wanted to taste her so much.

“Bit for your thoughts…?” Velvet cooed softly, obviously watching his stare.

“Guh… g-goddess… h-how long have you been waiting for me…?” Night Light stammered distantly.

Velvet sighed the most longing sigh she could muster. “Years… almost since we met… and I can’t wait another minute, Night Light… I need you, please…”

Night Light shuddered, taking that as an open invitation, and couldn’t resist licking his lips at the thought of licking hers. He had to, he just had to have a taste.

He slid forward across the bed, snaking his hooves around Velvet's hips and tugging her the rest of the way toward him. Just as he'd done with Celestia, he dipped his muzzle low and ran his tongue ever so slowly up her inner thigh first, lapping up a generous helping of the thick fluids running down it. Velvet immediately trembled and moaned at him, and Night Light did the same thing to the other side in response, licking right up the length of the opposite thigh with torturous slowness as he took in a mouthful of her secretions. The taste of her was incredible, a hot, sweet and tangy flavor that was so intoxicating, Night Light couldn't help but lick his lips once again as he drew back, barely an inch from attending to her honeypot. Velvet instantly shook her hips and whined about it, but she wouldn’t have long to wait; Night Light was already craving another taste, another lick, another mouthful.

When he dove back in a second later, it was with gusto. His muzzle shoved itself between her outer lips, instantly coating his nose in aromatic girl-cum as he spread her open, and he was immediately rewarded with a blast of damp, stifling heat in his face, as if he needed any more confirmation of her condition. Velvet was already crying out again for more, and Night Light swiftly gave it to her, his tongue shooting out and dragging over her inner walls. Her body responded immediately, her walls clenching tightly and trying to ensnare his tongue before it could slip away, as if Night Light’s tongue was the stallion cock her body so desperately craved. But of course Night Light had no trouble slipping away to lick elsewhere; his tongue was nowhere near as big as the potential cock she was trying to squeeze, and so the most Night Light felt of it was her lower lips repeatedly winking against his normal lips, until her juices were dribbling down his jawline.

Night Light half-expected Velvet to do as Celestia had done at this point, and forcibly put a stop to his attentions with a demand that he hurry things along. Velvet certainly seemed horny enough for it, at least, and he was already so hard it actually kind of hurt. But she made no effort whatsoever to stop him, and when he glanced up from her rump to look toward Velvet’s face, she was panting and flushed and whimpering some incoherent nonsense, all of which suggested full steam ahead to Night Light.

Which was fine by him. Velvet’s pussy was delicious.

He dove right back in, a little faster this time, giving her longer and broader licks from clit to anus, without quite touching either. Velvet seemed to especially like this treatment, gasping out loud moans at each stroke of his tongue and gyrating her rump in the same rhythm. On his next lick, though, Velvet shifted her hips a bit early at the last second – perhaps intentionally, perhaps not – and instead of hitting the edge of her entrance, the flat of his tongue landed on her flushed, engorged clitoris, and dragged directly over it.

Velvet shrieked as if a slasher movie villain was after her, and immediately came like a fire hose. Night Light barely had time to be surprised by how quickly it had happened before his open mouth took the brunt of it, causing him to stumble back and nearly choke as the spray of sweet juices ran down his throat. He took a moment to compose himself, wiping his face of her expulsions with one hoof, gulping down a few jizz-laden breaths, and trying hard not to get totally overwhelmed by the fact that holy manure Twilight Velvet just came right in his face.

He very nearly failed that last part, because holy manure Twilight Velvet just came right in his face. Not being overwhelmed by that was asking a lot. It was the stuff of his most vivid masturbatory fantasies. And now it was really happening. He was really, actually seeing Velvet’s curvy, pert rump quivering in ecstasy; her sweet, sweet mare-honey all over him, her, and the bed beneath them; and her half-lidded eyes locking with his, speaking volumes to him long before her mouth ever opened to confirm it.

“Rut me right bucking now, Night Light.”

Oh would he ever.

Night Light reared up over her back and planted his hooves on her rump, just at the base of her tail, and without even a struggle his needy erection lined up perfectly with its counterpart, twitching excitedly at the prospect of finally getting some proper attention. He could feel Velvet winking still, brushing the tip of his cock as he rested at her entrance and trying desperately to suck him inside. He could have teased her a little bit longer if he really wanted to, he supposed, but… well, he didn’t really want to at all. He pushed forward firmly, ensuring he wouldn’t slip away from his target, and instead slid right between those perfect, puffy lips where he belonged.

He’d been right about Velvet being tighter than their solar monarch. Not impossibly so, thankfully, her wetness alone was making sure of that, but he couldn’t simply fall forward and sink into her all at once this time. He eased his way in, letting her channel naturally adjust to his girth, and despite her body’s desire to throttle his cock to death and never let go, it eventually gave way at the promise of even more cock filling her, until he was hilted in her drooling pink hole and held there incredibly tightly by her clenching muscles. Velvet herself gave no sign of protest or discomfort at being stretched so, in fact she was already whimpering nonsense again, pure bliss etched into her expression.

Night Light let the rest of his body fall forward over her back now, brushing her tail off to one side so it wouldn’t get pinched under his weight, and planted his front hooves on the bed on either side of her shoulders. Velvet’s face was currently buried in the pillow she was hugging, but he was able to coax her out of it with a quick, forceful nuzzle to the back of her neck. She immediately twisted her head around, straining to reach him for a kiss, and Night Light met her halfway, locking their lips and shoving their tongues down each other’s throats.

“Heh… just… like the movie, huh…?” Night Light managed to whisper.

“You know what else happened in the movie?” she grunted back. “The stallion shut his mouth and fucked her.”

Night Light nodded fervently; he’d stalled long enough.

The muscles in his hips and hind legs tensed and flexed, and still hovering with his face directly above hers, he began to fuck her in earnest, warming up with slower, more deliberate thrusts that saw him draw a whole three-quarters of the way out of her before hilting himself again. Velvet squealed into the pillow on the first thrust, and then fell into a rolling moan that spiked with every thrust that followed. Her muscles still seemed intent on strangling his cock as tightly as they could – not that Night Light was complaining, in fact he was already seeing stars, she was so wonderfully, blissfully tight around him – but they gradually relaxed as he worked her over, enough for him to soon build past the warm-up stage and really start moving. His weight settled down more fully across her back, his front hooves picked up off the bed and wrapped snugly around her torso, and his head laid down behind hers, resting in her mane just behind her ears. Slowly instinct started to take hold, his hooves tightening around her belly, his breath coming out in sharp snorts, and his thrusts, in addition to faster, soon growing harder as well.

“Oh, fuck…” Velvet muttered.

This was still nothing at all like with Celestia, Night Light marveled through his sex-driven daze. He completely dwarfed the young mare beneath him now, for one, as much as Celestia had dwarfed him even after she’d changed his size. But more importantly – and far more enticing besides – was simply that this was Twilight Velvet beneath him now. With Celestia, he had been performing no more than a service, albeit a particularly enjoyable one. But this, this mare right now, underneath him, taking his cock for essentially the exact same reason, could not have felt more different. This was Twilight Velvet. This… this was his mare. And that made all the difference in the world, made him want to cuddle and caress and kiss her nonstop one second and cum the most epic load of his life into her sopping wet cunt the next. Preferably both, before the night was over.

“Oh, fuck…!”

Harder and faster he drove himself into her, like a stallion possessed. His hips smacked audibly against her now, sending ripples across her gorgeous rump every time his body struck her ass with a firm, wet slap. The whole bed was beginning to shake, and even the pictures framed on the walls wobbled as the bedposts rocked and whacked the walls with the force of his thrusts, a couple of them falling clean off and hitting the floor with a thud indistinguishable from the smacking of bedpost against wall or of stallion hips to mare rump.

“OH, FUCK!!!”

Velvet shuddered and spasmed beneath him following her last expletive, his hips drowning in a fresh burst of mare-cum, and Night Light knew she was riding another massive orgasm, but from the hungry, needy whine that followed it, he also knew it was an ultimately unsatisfying one. He could only imagine what kind of torture that was, to feel the most potent release one’s body was capable of alone and find no actual relief whatsoever. Thankfully, though, she wouldn’t have to endure it for much longer; he could feel his own climax boiling toward the surface, his cock flaring in preparation to dump a soothing dose of stallion seed inside her, and he did nothing to resist it.

“Night Liiiiiiiight…!” Velvet whimpered.

“I know… I know, Velvet, I’m almost there…!”

“Hurry, Night Light, I can’t stand it anymore!” she gasped. “Please Night Light, please please please fill me up right bucking now!”

He did. He bucked forward one last time and hilted himself with a mighty groan, Velvet’s desperate and incredibly sexy pleas still ringing in his ears as climax overtook him. A moment later the first string of thick, pearly cum fired from his flared tip with what felt like lethal force, painting the depths of Velvet’s pussy white and making her instantly scream in some intense mixture of shock and pleasure. Countless shots followed it – Night Light sincerely lost track of how many exactly – but it felt like he came for hours, adding spurt after spurt to the growing pool inside her.

“Aaahhhnnn, yes! Yes yes yes yes yes YES, NIGHT LIGHT!!!”

Velvet squealed uncontrollably throughout his orgasm, the most pleasured expression he’d ever seen in his life frozen on her face, as if the feeling of his semen hitting her womb was more satisfying than any orgasm. Which, in a way, it sort of was. And Velvet clearly didn’t want it to end; she was audibly begging for more, every “yes” both a whoop of delight for one pulse of cum and a plea for the next, and her inner walls clenched rhythmically around his twitching shaft, equally intent on milking him for every bit of seed he was worth. Seed he was more than able to provide, as Velvet’s squeezes and pleas easily coaxed two or three extra bursts out of him before he finally stopped coming, certain he’d given her twice the load he’d given Celestia.

Finished at last, the pair slumped down flat on the bed and rolled to one side, and this time Night Light was the one to hold his partner to his chest as their heart rates slowly caught up to their oxygen needs and settled down. For a while the both of them just laid there in silence, other than their heavy, tired breaths, reveling in the afterglow of the frantic rutting session that still had them both seeing stars.

“Wow… just… wow,” Velvet panted at last. “I don’t even… I can’t feel my anything…”

“Are you alright…?” Night Light murmured back. “That wasn’t too… uh… too intense?”

“Goddess, no, Night Light, that was exactly the right amount of intensity…” she swiftly assured him. “I feel so much better. You knocked that estrus clear into next week…”

“Heh, that’s… kind of the idea, yeah,” he chuckled softly back at her. “I’m glad it worked, though. Uh, sorry about, you know… all your stuff, with the walls and the vase and--”

“It’s just stuff, Night Light, you don’t have to apologize. Besides, that was worth it. Everything about today has been absolutely perfect…”

“Ah-heh… good, good…” Night Light smiled in relief. “So you’re… good, then?”

“I’m good. Great even,” she insisted. With a gentle pop she pried herself off of his receding erection and turned around, so they were face to face. “Thank you Night Light. That was the best heat-sex a mare could hope for.”

“Likewise,” Night Light agreed with a tired smile.

“Is it too soon to say ‘I love you’?”

Night Light blushed deeper than at any other time that night. “…You love me…?”

“It’s okay if you’re not ready to say it yet,” Velvet told him. “I understand if you’re still sorting this all out for yourself… but I’ve felt something for you almost since we met, and this pretty much cements it.”

Velvet hugged him tight and kissed his nose. “So… yes. I love you, Night Light.”

Night Light felt himself smile, completely unbidden by any conscious thought, and answered her right back like it was the most natural thing in the world.

“I love you too, Twilight Velvet.”

“Really…?” Velvet’s whole face lit up in delight.

“…Yeah. Really,” Night Light confirmed, after his brain had a chance to catch up to his heart. “I should’ve admitted it ages ago. I’m sorry I was such a foal about it.”

Velvet cooed happily and hugged him even tighter, nuzzling under his chin. “It’s okay, Night Light… better late than never.”

“Heh… yeah, I guess so,” he admitted, finally letting go of her, and flopped lazily to his back to stare at the ceiling. “Mmhh… hell of a day, huh…?”

“Hehe, yeah, it sure has been.”

Night Light closed his eyes with a tired smile. “I think I could die happy right now…”

Velvet giggled quietly. “Well can you do me a favor and die another day? I’m not done enjoying this one yet.”

Night Light frowned curiously at that, feeling Velvet shift her weight over on top of him at the same time, and opened his eyes to find hers gazing down at him. A second later she moved in for a kiss, lighter and softer than anything they’d been sharing while she was saddled with estrus, but somehow still with all the same love and passion and desire. Her body was laid fully on top of his now, and she was gently rocking back and forth as she kissed him, in a slow imitation of their earlier activities, which caused Night Light’s arousal to perk back up attentively at the reminder.

“Velvet…?” he mumbled into her lips with a soft groan. “What are you doing…?”

“What does it look like…?” she whispered back. “I want to make love to my new coltfriend.”

Night Light flushed at his freshly minted title. “Uh… heh, not that I’m complaining, but… didn’t we just--?”

“That wasn’t lovemaking, dummy,” she giggled as she lined herself up with the tip of his member. “That was… that was wild, nasty heat-sex.”

“Is that… bad?” Night Light ventured warily.

“No, but it sure wasn’t lovemaking. That was for the estrus.”

Velvet slid herself carefully down and backward, easing his renewed erection into her waiting marehood and eliciting a quiet groan from both partners.

“This…?” she murmured, nuzzling him gently as she settled herself in place, fully enveloping him. “This is for us.”

Night Light could definitely see what she meant. Her body was cradled up against his, both of them lying with their limbs and tails twined together or wrapped around each other, and although the physical pleasure of it was certainly there and more than a little exciting, suddenly it seemed… less important. Secondary. An afterthought, even.

Then Velvet was leaning forward once more, giving him a tender smile as she tipped her forehead, and touched her horn to his for the second time that night. Again Night Light felt the same sharp, pleasant tingling of shared magic as her violet aura mixed with his own pale-blue one, and this time she stayed there, letting the almost electric sensation surge through them for several long moments, connecting them, like he had never felt connected with anypony else in his life. It was like a magic spell, the most potent one Night Light had ever before felt or tried to cast, literally sparking above their heads and centered where their horns touched, filling the room with its warm glow.

“I love you…” she repeated once more.

“I love you too,” Night Light echoed her.

“Make love to me, Night Light…”

“For as long as you can stand it, Twilight Velvet…”

He rocked his hips once, eliciting the most pleasant shiver from her, and then they were both in motion again, kissing for what seemed like hours – and in reality, in fact, it was – working together, moving together, even climaxing together as they held each other and made love, again and again, all through the night.

Chapter Seven: GoldenEye

Chapter Seven: GoldenEye

“…Now, don’t get me wrong, I’ve seen some wild shit in my time--”

“A fact I find entirely unsurprising,” Night Light said between casual sips of the hard cider mug in front of him.

“--but this takes the gold bucking medal.” Pommel swung his own mug in a wide arc across the bar from the stool next to his friend. “I’m telling you, Lighty, this mare is crazy in the sack, it was the most ricockulous thing I’ve ever seen in my life.”

Night Light rolled his eyes, but saw little else he could do other than humor his friend. It had been two whole days since they’d seen each other, after all. Night Light’s weekend off had ended at last, unpleasantly soon after his wild day with Twilight Velvet; and Pommel, done with his punishment of covering for Night Light and free for a weekend of his own, had apparently opted to spend his days off with Private Steadfast. So when the two best friends finally did get a chance to see each other at the local officers’ hangout between the end of Night Light’s shift and the start of Pommel’s, the bat-stallion was naturally going to be eager to update his best bro on all the details of his weekend exploits.

Especially the nasty ones.

“So we get back to my place, right? And she’s totally into it and going like ‘Oh Pommel, take me, take me right here in your filthy bachelor pad--’”

“You could at least try to make this story sound plausible,” Night Light snorted.

“Shut up, I’m summarizing. So we’re getting going, right? And it’s pretty hot, ‘cause, y’know, it’s freaking heat-sex, that shit gets seriously X-rated--”

“Also, I really don’t know if I want to hear about you rutting one of my subordinates. And neither does the rest of the bar.”

“It’s not even about that, just--let me finish, damn, this isn’t even the important part. So it’s getting down to the wire, right, and I’m like, ready to just flood this chick--”

“She has a name, Pommel.”

“Stop bucking interrupting. So I’m on the edge, here, right? And then just before, like, one or two more good thrusts is gonna finish me, she’s like ‘Wait, stop, pull out!’”

Night Light finally paused mid-sip; that was unusual. “…What, did she forget protection or something?”

“No, I… what? Dude, come on, we were really thorough about that, gimme at least a little credit here. No, she just straight up doesn’t want me to come inside her all of a sudden, and before I even know what’s happening she’s got her mouth on my cock instead and I’m blowing my load there--”

“Pommel, holy horseapples, I don’t want to hear about your load.”

“--instead of in her pussy like any sane mare in heat craves like fucking oxygen.”

Night Light raised an eyebrow. “…Okay, yeah, that is a little… different. How does she expect to settle her estrus without--”

“Exactly. Dude. Your little fan-filly is totally into heat-edging.”

“She is not my fan-filly. And what the buck is heat-edging?”

“…Did you just, like, completely skip all the fun parts of college?”

“If by ‘fun parts’ you mean ‘sleeping my way through a quarter of the campus like a certain tail-chaser I could name,’ then yes, Pommel, I skipped it.”

“Hey, they came to me, it’s not my fault if they wanna get through spring term without heat season hanging over their heads. I just made myself available.”

“Made yourself available? Is that what you call hitting on every mare you laid eyes on freshman year with that atrocious pick-up line?”

“Hey, shut up, it was a stroke of genius!”

“‘I am the Heat-Seeker, and this is my missile?’ That’s your idea of genius?”

“It worked sometimes! Plus, chicks totally dug the whole ‘dark, mysterious bat-pony’ thing.”

“Pommel, there’s nothing mysterious about you except how you haven’t been court-marshalled yet.”

“Anyway, I basically just described heat-edging word for word. You have sex, and then you don’t finish inside her.”

“…what.”

“I know, right?! It sounds insane! But I mean, think about it, if you don’t give her the big finish and shut off her heat, what happens? She’s still in heat, dude! She’s still totally crazy-horny! And no matter how hard she got off before, she’s like, ready to just fucking go all over again!”

“…You’re telling me some mares actively try to stay in heat just to keep their sex drive going?”

“Exactly!”

“That sounds like torture.”

“More like awesome. It was the best sex I’ve ever had!”

“I meant torture for her.”

“Hey, I told you, she was into it, it was her idea!”

Night Light couldn’t help blushing as some very particular memories of his own first week as an active participant in mating season surged forward. “Yeah, but… how is that even… satisfying? You have all that sex, but there’s no… release.”

“I dunno, she was releasing pretty damn hard.”

“No, I mean--”

“In fact she released all over one of my dress uniforms. I gotta requisition a replacement.”

“Uuuugghh…!” Night Light groaned in disgust. “Why would you think I wanted to hear that?!”

“I’m just saying, she might not be stopping the heat, but she’s still having about a dozen bucking orgasms back to back to back with practically no downtime. Which is pretty much the whole point.”

“Can she even really enjoy them at that point, though? I mean Velvet sounded like she was almost in pain before--” Night Light abruptly froze and jammed a hoof in his own mouth. “I mean… n-never mind.”

“Oh hay no, I totally wanna hear this story.”

“It’s private, Pommel.”

“Dude, I totally just gave you the scoop on my thing.”

“I never asked you to tell me about your thing.”

“Come on, give the softcore version, at least.”

“No, Pommel. I told you, it was… private. And special.”

“I’m not gonna say anything to her, I swear! She’ll never know!”

“Know what?” Twilight Velvet asked.

“AHH!” Pommel nearly jumped out of his seat, spinning around to face the off-white mare that had just joined them at the bar, saddlebags slung over her back stuffed full with papers and scrolls that suggested she’d come straight from work. “Goddess-damnit, Velvet, scared the crap outta me.”

“Well you deserved it,” Velvet said with a smirk. “Pestering my Lighty for naughty stories about me? For shame.”

“Out of purely scientific interest, I assure you.”

“Scientific interest, huh? Interest in what?”

“Those bangin’ hot flanks of yours, what else?”

“Uh-huh.” Velvet smirked again. “Don’t you have a shift to get to?”

“You guys suck,” Pommel grunted, sliding off his bar stool. “Fine, I’ll go to work like a good responsible officer. Damn Mondays…”

“It’s Wednesday, Pommel,” Night Light observed.

“Well it’s Monday for me, smart-flank.”

“So we’re hot-flank and smart-flank now, are we?” Velvet joked.

“Yeah, you two are a perfect pair of assholes,” Pommel shot back with a smirk as he turned to leave. “Later, lovebirds.”

A moment later Pommel was gone, and Night Light smiled more easily at his marefriend. “Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it,” Velvet said, sliding into the stool Pommel had just vacated, and leaned over to lay a soft kiss on his cheek. “What was he so interested in, anyway?”

Night Light fought an instinctual eye-roll. “Nothing I was gonna tell him. You know Pommel, he’s all about the dirty details.”

“Really? About me?”

“Well, he’d talk about any good-looking mare’s undercarriage given half a chance. By the way, I now know way more than I ever needed to about Steadfast’s personal life.”

Velvet giggled at that. “Aww, poor Night Light, having to listen to sexy stories about cute mares. It truly sucks to be you.”

“Yeah, well, I draw the line at him involving that kind of talk and you in the same sentence…”

“Does he do that a lot?”

Night Light groaned. “Goddess, if I had five bits for every time I had to tell him to stop talking about what he’d do to your backside…”

Velvet giggled again. “Gosh, I didn’t know he was so into me. He never really tried to ask me out or anything.”

“Pretty sure the only reason he didn’t was because he knew I liked you,” Night Light admitted with a blush. “…I’m glad to hear he didn’t actually try to hit on you, though.”

“Aww, is that retroactive jealousy I hear?” Velvet teased, nuzzling him comfortingly. “Don’t worry, I wouldn’t have said yes anyway.”

Night Light smiled and nuzzled her back. “Really?”

“Nah. Like I said, I had my eye on you pretty much as soon as we met.”

“Heh… yeah, I guess I kinda did, too…”

Velvet beamed contently at that and sat back in her stool properly, hailing the bartender for a drink. “So, you get back into the swing of things at work?”

“Oh, yeah, no big problems,” Night Light said, finishing off his own mug just as Velvet received hers. “A few hiccups here and there, but you know how it is with mating season, it tends to be a little disruptive no matter how far ahead of time you know about it.”

Velvet lifted a fresh mug of hard cider to her lips in the deep-violet aura of her magic, taking a long sip. “Mmm… I hear Princess Celestia’s considering a trial run of some new regulations for businesses and public services during estrus season.”

“Yeah, there’s talk of businesses closing early and schools shifting to half-days until estrus passes. Can’t really cut back on fire or hospital services or anything like that, obviously, but they’re talking about doing increased staffing for shorter shifts during those weeks instead.”

“That might be nice. It’d help everypony deal with it a little more smoothly.”

Night Light shrugged noncommittally. “Yeah, but the Princess is just talking about a trial run for now to test it out. There’re some critics that don’t really think it’s worth changing regulations over. Everypony’s pretty understanding if things are a little out of sorts this time of year anyway.”

“Puh, not in my department,” Velvet abruptly scowled. “I swear, that mare has a permanent bug up her butt…”

“Who, your boss?”

“Ugh, Ms. Feather Duster, yeah,” Velvet nearly spat. “She’s awful.”

“She’s not still punishing you for last week, is she?”

“No, I don’t think so, but she definitely has it out for me now. She’s been on my case for three solid days because she thinks I’m working too slow. ‘You’ve still got a lot of catching up to do, young lady, pick up the pace and stop limping around,’” Velvet quoted, in a snooty mockery of her superior’s voice.

Night Light, however, was more concerned than amused. “Why were you limping?”

“Oh… heh…” Velvet swiftly blushed. “It’s not a big deal. I’ve just been, you know… sore.”

“…Sore?” Night Light echoed.

“Yeah…” Velvet leaned close to him again, almost right up to his ear as she lowered her voice. “You know, from that epic rutting you gave me…?”

If Night Light still had cider in his mouth he would have choked on it right then. Thankfully his mug was long-empty, so instead he simply let out a strangled cough of surprise, turning to her with a bright blush on his cheeks. “I, uh… you… you were sore because of… of how I…?”

“Don’t you even think about apologizing,” Velvet ordered. “That was the best night of my life, and I wouldn’t take back even a moment of it.”

“Buh… but… but you…” Night Light stammered dumbly.

“It’s a good kind of sore,” she assured him with another nuzzle, and this one swiftly grew more and more affectionate despite their public setting. “Besides, I’m a lot better today… the soreness is almost all gone.”

“Oh… heh…” Night Light chuckled in reply, at once nervous and relieved. “W-well, that’s good, then…”

“In fact…” Velvet went on, pushing her muzzle even more firmly under his chin, “I was thinking we could go back to my place again tonight…”

Night Light’s blush steadily built on itself the longer she nuzzled him, until he could have no illusions whatsoever about what she was suggesting. “Y-you… want to…?”

“Mmhmm…” she cooed, pulling away just enough to bat her eyelashes at him with the best bedroom-eyes he’d ever seen.

“But… I thought you were out of…? I mean, didn’t we… take care of that already…?” Night Light wondered aloud.

Velvet giggled again, running a playful hoof along his thigh. “Night Light. Just because I’m not actively in heat doesn’t mean we can’t have sex anytime we want.”

Night Light immediately felt a growing excitement beneath his tail, and his throat abruptly went dry. “A-any… anytime we…?”

Velvet’s hoof curved inward, between his hind legs, smiling like she knew what she would find there. “Anytime we want.”

Night Light’s breath caught in his throat. Somehow, in the nostalgic aftermath of his first night with Velvet and the hectic game of catch-up he’d been playing upon returning to work, that little detail had never quite had the chance to settle in his brain and take root. But it was there now, spreading and seeding throughout his primal brain, alive with the possibilities born from those simple words.

He could have sex with Velvet anytime they wanted to.

Any. Time.

He didn’t want to objectify the mare, he really didn’t. But oh wow, was that ever an appealing thought.

“So is that a yes…?” Velvet whispered in his ear as if she could read every thought that just tore through his brain. Not that they were hard to guess; his loins were quickly gaining steam, helped in no small part by Velvet’s probing hoof, and Night Light had to clamp his hind legs together around it to keep himself from popping free for everypony in the bar to notice.

“Okay… okay, yeah, let’s go,” Night Light finally whispered to her in a hurry.

Velvet grinned victoriously and drew her hoof back long enough to down the rest of her drink and slap a few bits from her saddlebag on the bar for it, and then she and Night Light hopped off their stools, racing outside together. Velvet didn’t live far away, perhaps only two blocks from the bar, and it wouldn’t be long before they were safely and privately locked inside.

Unfortunately, they’d only made it one of the two blocks before Night Light’s evening took yet another detour.

“Hey, what’s that…?” Velvet abruptly wondered, pointing above and ahead of them. “It’s fast…!”

“H-huh…?” Night Light looked up distractedly after a moment, but was too late to see anything except a rolled-up piece of parchment hitting him in the face with a gentle whap and bouncing to the sidewalk. “What the…? Mail? Now?”

“That’s no mailmare,” Velvet murmured in awe. “Oh my gosh, that’s a phoenix…!”

Uh-oh.

Night Light felt a sudden tightness in his chest as he darted his eyes back to the sky, and saw that there was indeed a phoenix – a very familiar one, in fact – circling over their heads briefly before soaring away again toward the castle.

“I didn’t know there were any phoenixes in Canterlot except--”

Velvet abruptly stopped, frozen for a moment, before looking at the scroll on the sidewalk, and then to Night Light. “…Except… for Philomena…”

“Y-Yeah…” Night Light said, nodding, though his eyes never left the scroll lying at his hooves. “The Princess’ pet… that’s her.”

“Then… oh my gosh, is… is that what I think it is?”

Night Light didn’t respond out loud, instead reaching out with his magic and encasing the scroll in a pale blue glow. Slowly his magical aura lifted the scroll up to his eyes, and with a slightly-brighter flash of blue light he broke the seal and unfurled the scroll. As he’d expected, a brief note in elegant, looping quill-strokes met his gaze.

Night Light,
The Royal Garden has grown quite parched. It requires a thorough watering.
Please meet me at the castle after the sunset.

- Celestia

PS: Don’t forget the hose.

Night Light read the letter three times over, blushing deeper each time.

Well. That was certainly… subtle.

Twilight Velvet meanwhile was leaning in close to read the letter over his shoulder. “Oh my gosh, it is, a letter directly from Celestia…! And she wants you to… water her garden? Why does she need you to--…oh. Oh!” Velvet’s cheeks exploded with color. “Oh wow, is it time for… I mean, is she… active, again?”

Night Light swallowed hard, letting the letter slip free of the pale blue glow of his magic and fall into Velvet’s hooves. “I-I guess so…”

“Yeah… oh goddess, yeah, that’s definitely… wow, and… and the hose is your… wow, that’s… creative.”

Night Light felt like he was shrinking. “I, uh… guess she’s really happy to have a mating season partner again…”

“Yeah…”

Awkward silence fell between them for a long moment as Velvet continued to stare at the letter, or the ground, or pretty much anywhere but at Night Light all of a sudden, and Night Light very nearly did the same, unable to bring his eyes higher than her hooves.

He’d known it was coming, of course. It was a week ago tonight that Princess Celestia had first approached him. The next wave of her cycle was back, right on schedule. Maybe even a little early. But he definitely hadn’t expected it to arrive just as he and Twilight Velvet were aiming to catch up on some much-deserved loving. What was he supposed to do now? Ignore Celestia? Or leave Velvet hanging? Neither option sounded even remotely desirable, and for a long few moments he simply stood there agonizing over which mare he was suddenly going to be forced to disappoint.

Whether blessing or curse, however, the decision was soon made for him, as Velvet finally looked up at him, a more subdued smile than before on her face.

“Well, what’re you still standing around here for?” she said. “Go on, she needs you.”

Night Light’s gaze flew back up to meet hers in return. “W-what…?!”

“That’s what this is about, right?” Velvet reminded him, holding up the little scroll for a brief moment before absently sticking it out of her way somewhere in her packed saddlebag. “She’s in heat, you’re her mate, and she’s looking for you. It’s pretty straightforward.”

“Y-yeah, but…” Night Light stammered, “t-that was before… I mean, now that you and I are… I’m only supposed to be…”

“With me? Oh, Night Light, I don’t mind…” Velvet insisted. “You made that arrangement before we got together, it wouldn’t be fair to call it off now.”

Night Light’s eyes widened in honest bafflement. “You… you don’t care?”

“Psh, no way…!” Velvet scoffed, waving a hoof and puffing her chest out in a sudden attempt to channel Pommel. “Night Light, what kind of terrible friend would I be if I stopped you from getting laid by Princess freakin’ Celestia?”

“The… kind that’s my special somepony?” Night Light not-so-subtly reminded her.

Velvet hesitated at that, and for a second Night Light was certain he saw the cocksure grin on her face falter and crack, exposing it for the mask he suspected it was. But the moment was swiftly gone, and Velvet looked at him with a sympathetic smile.

“That’s sweet, Light, honey, but we’ve been dating for all of half-a-week, I don’t have some kind of all-encompassing claim on you. And besides, like I said, you made a commitment to see Celestia through this estrus season. You’re not backing out of that just for me.”

Night Light couldn’t argue with that; he had indeed made a commitment to Celestia, days before anything had happened with Velvet, and in almost any other situation he wouldn’t have hesitated to stay true to his word. Still…

“Velvet, I…”

“What? Am I wrong?”

“No, you’re not, but… we were… I mean, we had… you know… plans…”

Again he saw a crack in her composure for just a fraction of a second, a flicker of doubt in the back of her eye with a twinge of disappointment, but again it vanished as swiftly as it appeared. “It’s really not a big deal… so we don’t get to mess around for one night, so what? We can do that anytime, remember? But Celestia’s in heat now. I think that kind of supersedes me just being in the mood.”

Night Light wasn’t sure he agreed with the idea that anything, or anypony, even Princess Celestia herself, could supersede his marefriend, but nevertheless, she had a point once again. Celesta was in need right now. Velvet was apparently okay with it, and she would be here for him afterward, and anytime after that. She could wait. Attending to Celestia was the logical choice. It made sense.

So why didn’t he like it?

“Are you sure about this, Velvet?” he finally asked.

“Of course I’m sure,” she insisted a bit too quickly, dipping her head and giving him a firm nudge onto the road toward the castle. “Go on, get out of here, give that mare a good pounding! She’s waiting for you!”

Night Light still wasn’t completely convinced, but Velvet was insistent enough that he no longer questioned her. “Alright,” he hesitantly conceded, “but as soon as she’s taken care of--”

“You’ll be back. I know. Don’t worry, I’m a big girl, I can take care of myself for one night.” Velvet leaned in and pecked his cheek once before once more nudging him in the opposite direction. “Now go already. I’ll see you tomorrow, alright? Later, Night Light!”

Night Light nodded his agreement, turning to return the kiss no matter how small it was. But to his surprise and dismay, she was already trotting home, rounding the corner at the end of the block and vanishing from sight a second later before he could even say his own goodbyes, forcing an unpleasant deduction to spring to life.

Twilight Velvet was a lot of things, but ‘A Good Liar’ was not one of them.

Yeah, Night Light realized, this is definitely bothering her.

A deep sigh escaped his lips, but there was nothing he could do about it now. The decision had been made. He felt lousy about it, but that would have been inescapable. Had he insisted on sticking with Velvet (or had she insisted on it herself), he would be lamenting right now on the guilt of disappointing and ignoring his Princess instead of leaving Velvet to spend the night alone. There was simply nothing to be done about it except move on, take care of Celestia, make it up to Velvet tomorrow, and pray to the heavens that this conflict of desires didn’t come up again later in the season.

Heaving another heavy sigh, Night Light turned away from the route to Velvet’s house, and broke into a steady gallop toward the castle. He had an appointment to make.

Half an hour later Night Light was in the royal palace, at the highest room of the tallest tower, knocking on Celestia’s bedroom door. Once again the guards usually stationed there had been dismissed early, and once again when Celestia opened the door to greet him, she was just a little bit off in appearance: a hint of unevenness in her mane, the most miniscule beads of additional sweat on her coat, and a tiny splash of color in her cheeks, small enough details that Night Light only noticed them because he knew to look for them.

“Good evening, Night Light,” Celestia greeted him with a warm smile. “Do come in.”

Night Light nodded, stepping inside wordlessly and glancing around the bedroom. Celestia was a bit better prepared this time; a proper ponnequin on which to hang his armor stood in one corner, a washbasin with fresh water and cloths to clean themselves up with sat near the bed, and she had even stacked a set of clean bed-sheets nearby.

“I thought perhaps it might be nice not to have to sleep in our own filth,” Celestia commented as she watched where his gaze swept, chuckling slightly.

“Right…” Night Light murmured with a somewhat helpless blush, having figured that part out rather quickly and moved right on ahead to wondering how much dirtier Celestia was planning to get than things had already been.

“I trust my note reached you, then…?” the Princess gently probed.

Night Light’s blush swiftly grew. “Ah… y-yeah, I got it… it’s, uh… why I’m here, after all…”

Celestia giggled a bit louder. “I hope you didn’t find it too ‘scandalous.’ It’s been such a long while since I’ve had a steady mate, and it’s left me feeling a bit… extra playful.”

“O-oh… heh, I see… that explains it…” Night Light offered a weak chuckle of his own in return.

“So…?” she went on, leaning a bit closer to him and giving him a soft, and yet sultry and enticing smile. “Did you bring your hose…?”

Night Light flushed deeper still, but couldn’t quite bring himself to laugh with her, his eyes casting awkwardly toward the floor.

Celestia’s smile vanished as she swiftly caught on to his distant disposition, her own playful demeanor soon replaced with gentle concern. “Night Light? What’s wrong?”

Night Light started, his gaze jumping back up to meet Celestia’s. “H-huh? Wrong? Nothing! Nothing’s wrong!”

“Are you certain?” Celestia pressed. “You seem… distracted.”

Night Light opened his mouth at first to explain himself, but a flicker of thought went off in his head that gave him pause, and a moment later he closed his mouth again. Perhaps he was a bit distracted, yes, with the way things had been left with Velvet still on his mind… but Celestia didn’t need to hear about all that. She had enough on her mind with her estrus cycle being active at the moment. And besides, he felt guilty enough about the whole thing as it was; he had no desire to make Celestia feel guilty about it as well by telling her exactly what she’d pulled him away from. Or worse, if he were to compound his own guilt by way of making Celestia feel guilty enough to call the whole thing off and suffer her estrus in solitude. It would be the start of a vicious cycle, one that Night Light was not eager to set in motion.

No, he didn’t need to tell her… it would just complicate things, right?

“…Night Light?” the Princess urged him again.

“…Yes, I’m certain, your majesty,” Night Light finally answered. “My apologies… I, uh… I guess I’m still just… not entirely used to, um… seeing this side of you, that’s all… n-not that that’s unpleasant, of course… heh…”

“Oh…?” Celestia smiled after a moment, seeming to accept that. “Well, that’s alright, Night Light… I’m sure we can get you back into the swing of things quickly enough.”

Her horn shimmered over their heads, and a wave of her warm, golden magic swept over him, whipping his armor smoothly off his body and sending it over to the ponnequin across the room. A second surge of magic followed it, wrapping around him yet again and sinking much deeper this time, into his very fur and flesh, the magic saturating every inch of him with a dry, stifling heat for a few seconds. He recognized the sensations by now; she was using her growth spell on him, swelling his limbs – and a certain other appendage – to a size more appropriate for serving her needs. When Night Light next looked at the solar monarch, they were just about at eye level with one another.

“There we are… finished,” Celestia announced, briefly looking over her work. “Does everything seem in order…?”

“I think so…” Night Light nodded his head, looking over himself as well.

“Are you sure…?” Celestia pressed, her voice turning sultry once again. “Perhaps I should conduct a more… thorough inspection?”

Night Light briefly wondered what that was supposed to mean, but then he suddenly found himself seated forcibly back on his haunches, Celestia’s hooves were grasping his rapidly-hardening dick, the scent of her estrus-driven arousal was slamming into his nostrils… and for a while, all he knew was bliss.

It was still bothering him when he woke up the next morning.

He was up before even Celestia, to his surprise, and so the sky outside was still as dark as night when he came to. He was buried deep in Celestia’s bed, both it and her seeming to dwarf him so greatly as to nearly swallow him whole, as Celestia had removed her size-changing enchantment before they’d fallen asleep this time, in the course of washing up after their debauchery. All in all it made him feel rather embarrassingly tiny, though he’d been too exhausted to complain at the time. On the other hoof, however, now that he was up, it made it rather easy for him to wriggle out from within her hooves and slide over to the edge of the bed, touching down as lightly as he could on the floor of her bedroom so as not to wake her.

He felt supremely weird about sneaking out of Celestia’s room like this after the kind of night they’d had, and more than a few of Pommel’s wild stories ran through his head at the thought and made him feel just a bit disgusted with himself, but frankly he couldn’t bring himself to care very much. Leaving Velvet behind last night continued to eat at him, more strongly than ever after spending the evening mating with Celestia while Velvet had been stuck at home alone. There was no way he was going to spend his whole shift today dwelling on this; he needed to go see her as soon as possible. She would be at work right around sunrise; if he hurried, he was sure he could find her a nice bouquet of flowers and catch her at the Royal Archives before she got into the swing of her shift.

First and foremost though, he needed to get dressed. He charged his horn, dragging his armor as quietly as he could off the ponnequin in the near corner of the room, and floated the pieces over to him in an aura of--

…golden magic?

Night Light raised his eyebrow for a moment in mild surprise, glancing up at his horn in his peripheral vision. Sure enough, it, as well as his armor, were radiating not his usual pale-blue telekinetic aura, but a pale gold one instead.

Huh.

That was… odd.

Night Light had no interest in dwelling on it at the moment though. Velvet was still first and foremost in his mind, and his magic otherwise didn’t seem to be acting strangely at all, and so he resolved to worry about it later, instead securing his armor over his body and hurrying out of the room.

One realization that no shop in the city was open this early, a trip through the Royal Garden (the real one), and a bribe to the groundskeeper later, Night Light was at the doors of the Royal Archives just as the sun was finally rising, gulping oddly nervously with a small bouquet of flowers clutched in his magical grip. He knew he had to look a little ridiculous like this; he was the Captain of the Royal Guard, after all, and here he was all tense and flushed and holding a bunch of flowers like a teenage colt ringing his first fillyfriend’s doorbell. He was truly thankful that none of his troops were around to notice.

A second later he walked into the massive library hall, and to his fortune he spied Twilight Velvet right away at the front desk, yawning as she pulled scrolls and books from her packed saddlebags to lay them out on the counter. Hovering over her was an older mare with a graying mane done up in a tight bun and a pale tan coat, her cutie mark bearing an elegant replica of her namesake made with the finest Pegasus feathers. The mare was giving Velvet direction at the moment, droning in that special tone of voice that seemed designed to send school-age foals into a catatonic stupor.

“…Now when you’ve finished transcribing these spell-scrolls to books,” the older mare said, “I’m going to need a full two hundred copies… and don’t think I won’t be checking your work personally. These texts are going to be the backbone of Princess Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns, Miss Velvet, and I’ll not have any mistakes. If even so much as a single syllable is garbled, you’ll be starting the whole thing over again.”

Velvet stifled another yawn. “Yes, Ms. Feather Duster, understood…”

“I sincerely hope so.”

“Velvet!” Night Light chose that moment to chime in, jogging up to the front desk.

Velvet jerked her head up toward the voice, blushing in shock. “…Night Light?! What are you doing here…?!”

“Miss Velvet, what is the meaning of this?!” Feather Duster snapped. “Personal visits are not allowed while you’re in this library!”

“I didn’t invite him!” Velvet insisted, somewhat indignantly, though she nevertheless gave a rather apologetic look to her coltfriend. “Listen, Night Light, can we talk later? I have a lot of work to do…”

“This’ll just take a minute, I promise, it’s important…” Night Light said. “I just wanted to--”

“Oh my goddess, what happened to you?!” Velvet suddenly burst out, pointing a hoof wildly at him.

“H-huh?” Night Light stammered, his train of thought derailed for the moment as his gaze followed her hoof to the bouquet in his magical grip. “Oh, the flowers? Uh, s-sorry, I might have nibbled on them a little bit, I was kind of nervous coming over here--”

“Excuse me, Captain, you are distracting my apprentice--!”

“Not the flowers, your magic!” Velvet exclaimed, ignoring Feather Duster entirely now.

“My--? Oh! Oh, right, that…” Night Light realized, his attention returning to the gold glow the flowers were gripped in, rather than his usual blue. “Yeah, I noticed that earlier too, I’m not really sure what the deal is with that, but everything’s working fine--”

“Night Light, have you even looked at yourself?!”

That gave him pause. “…Er… no… should I?”

Velvet dug frantically into her saddlebag, the papers inside flying as she yanked her hoof back out and pushed a small mirror over the counter, her gaze locked onto him. “Your eyes, Night Light… look at your eyes…”

Slowly Night Light picked up the mirror, morbidly curious now, and as he lifted it to meet his own reflection, it quickly became obvious what had Velvet so freaked out suddenly.

His eyes were glowing gold.

That… was decidedly not normal.

Well, to be fair, his eyes had always been gold, of course. But this wasn’t quite the same thing. It was a brighter shade, much more noticeable than his usual duller gold color. Oh, and the glowing. That was a new one too. He was pretty sure eyes weren’t normally supposed to do that. But there it was. In fact, now that he was looking, the glow was about the same shade of gold his magical aura had become.

“What in Equestria did you do to yourself…?” Velvet demanded, her face a mask of shock and worry.

“I-I didn’t do anything!” Night Light insisted. “I just… woke up like this, after--”

He froze.

After being with Celestia.

After she used her magic on him again.

Golden magic.

His eyes bulged, the glow behind them seeming stronger for a second in his reflection.

The golden glow.

Just like hers.

“I… I need to go,” Night Light murmured, turning without another word and bolting out of the Royal Archives.

“Wh--hey! Night Light, wait!” Velvet shouted, leaping over the counter in a flurry of scattered papers and chasing after him.

“Miss Velvet, get back here this instant!” Feather Duster demanded, but it was too late. Both young ponies were long gone.

And so neither of them noticed a short little scroll with a broken royal seal, thrown free of Velvet’s saddlebag, flutter to the ground and land directly at Feather Duster’s hooves.

Chapter Eight: Skyfall

Chapter Eight: Skyfall

“Night Light! Night Light, damn it, wait up for a second!”

The words fell on deaf ears. Night Light was in full gallop, his one over-riding thought being to find Princess Celestia, immediately. He had no idea what had happened to him, or how, or why, but Celestia would know. She’d have to know. She’d have to have answers. In all likelihood she herself was probably central to them. It was the only thing that made even the tiniest amount of sense.

His magic had turned gold.

His eyes were glowing gold.

And not just any gold. The exact same shade of gold as Celestia’s personal magic aura. The same shade of gold that she had stripped him with, guided him with, grown him with, groped him with, on four separate occasions now. She’d always peeled the magic away in the end, of course, but… had she accidentally left something of it inside him this time? Was it dangerous, whatever it was? And more importantly, would she be able to fix it? Or was he going to be stuck like this for a while? Possibly a long while? Maybe even for life?

No, no, that was silly, Celestia wouldn’t do something like that to him, she wouldn’t risk permanently affecting anypony like that. He didn’t think it was possible for her to cast an irreversible spell. And whatever had happened, it certainly didn’t seem harmful. There had to be a perfectly simple, reasonable explanation, and an equally simple and reasonable solution…

“Night Light, I swear to Tartarus, if you don’t wait up, I’m going to kick your flank!”

Night Light stumbled to a halt just in front of his destination, the massive double doors that led into the castle’s throne room, and glanced behind him at the distant voice that had finally managed to register in his ears. At the other end of the hall his eyes found a panting, gasping Twilight Velvet sprinting toward him, and then jogging, then trotting, and then nearly collapsing against his chest as she finally reached him.

“Velvet? What are you doing?” Night Light wondered aloud. “You should be back at work.”

“Screw work… this is… an emergency…” she gasped. “Holy buck, you’re fast…”

“Emergency?” Night Light tensed up. “Do you know what… what this is?”

“I have an idea,” Velvet nodded frantically. “I’m not completely certain, but--”

Unfortunately for Night Light, she was cut off just then by the throne room doors being thrown open from the inside and a familiar, tired-looking bat-pony stepped out toward them.

“What the buck is all the yelling out here about--? Oh, Lighty, hey!” Pommel’s annoyed glare swiftly brightened. “You here to relieve me personally? Don’t mind if I buckin’ do!”

Night Light blinked confusedly for a moment. “What? No, Pommel--”

“And Velvet too? Damn, Lighty, you start bringing in conjugal visits on duty and the rest of us are gonna have no choice but to follow your example. Which I’m totally in favor of, by the way, so… hint-ity-hint-hint.”

Night Light groaned deep in his throat. Pommel might have been his best friend, but his crude humor was the last thing he needed right now. “I’m not here to relieve you, smartass,” he answered. “I need to--”

“Holy horseapples, dude, what’s up with your face?” Pommel interrupted him again. “Did you know your eyes are freaking glowing?”

“Yeah, I noticed,” he said in a rush. “That’s why I’m here, I need to speak with Princess Celestia about… about this.”

“Celestia? What does she have to do with anything?”

“It’s… nnhhh…” Night Light blushed, glancing around to make sure nopony else was in earshot beyond the three of them before continuing, and lowered his voice regardless. “It isn’t just my eyes, it’s my magic, too. It’s gold instead of blue suddenly. I think it might have something to do with Celestia’s magic, it’s the same color as hers…”

Pommel raised an eyebrow. “How do you figure that?”

“Because, I… she was using it on me, when I was… with her, last night, and--”

“Whoa, seriously?” Pommel interrupted with a grin. “No wonder she wasn’t around at all last night. How’d that go?”

“None of your business!” Night Light growled.

“Jeez, okay!” Pommel shrunk back a bit. “Just asking, damn. Can’t blame a guy for being curious. Least you coulda done though is let me know at the bar there’d be nopony to guard last night so I coulda gone back to sleep.”

“Nnhhh, Pommel, I swear, you are the laziest pony…”

“Wait, hang on, last night? I thought you went home with Velvet last ni--”

Pommel abruptly stopped mid-sentence under the death glare Twilight Velvet leveled at him before he could finish, gulping slightly and putting up a shaky smile. “…Uh, you know what, never mind. I’m shutting up now.”

“Thank you,” Night Light sighed, not failing to notice Velvet’s obvious anger. This was turning into an even more sore subject than he’d feared. Something was pushing her well beyond her earlier acceptance of the issue, and there was no way things were going to continue as they were without some kind of change. He had no idea what that change would be exactly, but regardless, they’d have a lot to talk about once this magic anomaly business was dealt with. Him, Velvet, and Celestia.

Speaking of whom…

Night Light craned his neck over Pommel’s shoulder, looking toward the throne room. “So can we go inside, please? We need to speak to Celestia, urgently.”

“Uh… sorry guys, you actually just missed her,” Pommel admitted, moving aside and revealing the empty throne at the back of the room.

“Just missed her?!” Velvet burst out. “Where the hay did she go?!”

“Back to her personal quarters, I think,” Pommel said. “She came in to raise the sun, and then said she was still feeling tired and left again. She actually looked pretty distracted, come to think of it…”

Velvet spun away from Pommel and stared straight at Night Light. “Take me there.”

Night Light hesitated for the briefest of moments. “Velvet, I can handle this, you should really get back to work before--urk!”

Velvet grabbed him in one hoof by his horn, cutting him off and yanking his face forward until it was pressed muzzle-to-muzzle with hers.

“Take me there. Now.”

Night Light gulped. Goddess above, that was a really difficult tone of voice to argue with.

“Psst. Lighty. This is where you smile and nod and say ‘Yes, dear.’”

“Shut up, Pommel.”

Velvet ignored the exchange entirely, staring at Night Light expectantly even as she released her grip on his horn. It was obvious she wasn’t going to budge on this. She had a bone to pick, and clearly Celestia was going to be on the receiving end of it. Not after work. Not after his magic issue was addressed. Right now.

Well. At least he wouldn’t be stressing it for the rest of mating season, Night Light thought with a humorless internal chuckle.

“Fine,” he finally said out loud. “Come on, it’s this way.”

Velvet nodded, falling in step behind him, and against his better judgment, Night Light led her away from the throne room and toward Celestia’s tower.

“Hey, what about my relief?!” Pommel shouted after them. “I’ve got beauty sleep to catch up on!”

Neither of them bothered to respond.

A few minutes later they reached the top of the castle’s tallest tower, facing the doors of Princess Celestia’s private quarters. The night shift guards had of course been dismissed long ago, and the day shift hadn’t quite arrived yet, and so there was nopony to impede them as Night Light tentatively knocked on the door.

“Uh… Princess Celestia?” he called out hesitantly. “It… it’s Night Light. I… I need to speak with you, please, it’s urgent.”

There was a long few moments of silence, and briefly Night Light recalled what Pommel had said, that the Princess had claimed tiredness and seemed distracted before returning to her room. Was that simply normal estrus symptoms? It had taken him three days to knock it out of her last week, it was possible she was still feeling it today. Or, on the other hoof, perhaps she was upset, Night Light realized with a sinking feeling in his gut. Upset that he had snuck out of her room without a word before she even woke, and left her alone. He hadn’t worried much about it at the time, he’d been so focused on setting things right with Velvet, but now it made him hang his head in shame just thinking about it…

There was another few moments of silence, during which Velvet had set her face into a bit of a snarl and looked ready to pound on the door herself, but the door swung open on its own before she could, and Princess Celestia stood in the doorway to greet them.

“Good morning, Captain,” she said rather formally to Night Light, who couldn’t bring himself to meet her eyes just yet. “And… Twilight Velvet?” she added curiously upon noticing the other mare. “What brings you to my chambers this morning?”

“I wanna know what the buck you did to my stallion!” she barked immediately.

Celestia understandably jolted and recoiled just the tiniest bit at the outburst, clearly unused to hearing ponies speak to her with such ferocity. “I… beg your pardon? What are you talking about?”

“I’m talking about this!” Velvet shouted, jabbing an emphatic hoof in the direction of Night Light’s face. Night Light could feel Celestia’s gaze turning toward him in response, an unspoken question on her lips, and finally he forced himself to lift his head and return her stare. The glow in his eyes was still quite visible even in full daylight, and he allowed his magic to flicker to life as well, just for good measure, further illuminating the tower hallway with its golden magical light which now mirrored that of his Princess.

Celestia’s own eyes widened almost imperceptibly, and her lungs sucked in an equally tiny gasp as she looked over the new change in her Guard Captain. For a moment he could almost see her brain scrambling to process what she was seeing, to figure out exactly what it meant, and to come up with the answer that Night Light prayed she would have.

“Ponyfeathers…” she muttered under her breath at last, an embarrassed blush suddenly blooming across her muzzle before she spoke up again. “…Please, come inside, both of you.”

Night Light was all too eager to comply, trotting swiftly into her room once more. Velvet tailed close behind and spun to face the Princess again as soon as she was seated in the center of the room, the harsh glare on her face not budging. Celestia meanwhile closed and locked the door behind them, and to her credit did not flinch again when she turned and met the anger in Velvet’s eyes.

“Well?” Velvet stared at her expectantly. “What did you do?”

Night Light winced. “Velvet, honey, calm down, you’re being rude… I know it’s weird, but I feel perfectly fine, I’m sure it’s nothing dangerous--”

“You don’t know that!” Velvet shot back.

“No, but I do,” Celestia calmly interrupted her. “I understand your anger and your fear, Twilight Velvet, but I assure you the condition Night Light is currently affected by will have no negative effects on his health whatsoever.”

“How can you be so sure? It looks to me like Magical Overload!”

Celestia nodded calmly. “It is, yes. But not of the sort you’re worried about.”

Night Light couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow. “What the hay is Magical Overload?”

“A condition with symptoms matching the ones you are exhibiting,” Celestia answered. “It usually results from the use of dangerous, unstable magical artifacts that often overwrite the user’s own magical energy and replace it with their own. This can and often does have a very detrimental and corrupting influence on the user, potentially even driving them mad with power. There are many thoroughly-documented cases of this sort of Magical Overload, which I’m certain a mare as well-read as you, Twilight Velvet, have heard of, and I’m equally certain are the source of your fears. However, that is not what’s happening here. This is a much more benign case.”

“How do you know that?” Velvet demanded.

“Because I know for a fact the source of the overload is no Inspiration Manifestation or Alicorn Amulet,” Celestia said, and then gestured to herself. “The source, obviously, was me. And for that I apologize, to both of you, for frightening you. It was not my intention. It is a common side effect of the… magical enhancements I bestowed upon you, Night Light. When a pony is exposed to such powerful transfiguration frequently enough, the caster’s residual magic begins to remain in their body for a time, even after the spell is removed.”

Night Light fought a blush as he looked up at his own horn in his peripheral vision. “So that’s why it was gold like your magic… it literally is your magic…”

“Yes,” Celestia admitted, her blush returning for a moment. “But as I said, it is nothing like the more widely-known form of Magical Overload. This is completely benign, and it will dissipate on its own after a little while, no more than a day or so. If anything your magic will be more potent than usual during that time, though I wouldn’t advise being obvious about it.”

“I wasn’t planning to anyway,” Night Light answered, breathing a sigh of relief and smiling at Velvet. “There, see, Velvet, it’s totally harmless. I’m not going to be warped by evil magic. Everything’s fine.”

“Everything is not fine!” Velvet shouted over him, still glaring at Celestia. “Don’t you think you should have mentioned it a little sooner if it’s a common side effect, instead of waiting for it to happen so we could freak out about it?! It could have been anything as far as we knew! Do you have any idea how worried I was?!”

Celestia slowly shook her head. “I’m afraid I don’t, Twilight Velvet, but I can certainly imagine. Again, all I can say is that I’m sorry. Night Light is exhibiting the symptoms of Magical Overload a bit sooner than usual, I was not expecting it to come up quite yet.” Celestia hesitated, again shifting her gaze to Night Light, although she didn’t quite meet his eyes. “…I had intended to warn you about it earlier this morning, actually… but… you had already gone when I woke…”

Night Light winced again. “O-oh… uh, about that…”

“You don’t have to explain yourself, Night Light,” Celestia responded quietly. “I’m sure you had your reasons…”

“No, Princess, don’t say that, I feel awful enough… I’m sorry I took off like that without saying goodbye, I… it’s just, I had to apologize to Velvet…”

“And a fat lot of good that did!” Velvet abruptly rounded on Night Light. “You probably got me fired dragging me into this stupid mess!”

“Wh--…me?!” Night Light recoiled indignantly. “I didn’t drag you into anything! I’m the one who told you to go back to work! You’re the one who insisted on chasing me down!”

“Well excuse me for being a little freaked out! I gave up my plans with you and went home lonely so you could go and mount her instead, and this is what happens?! The next time I see you she’s gone and… infected you with some leftover magic?! What was I supposed to do?!”

“She did not infect me with anything, it’s harmless!”

“Well I didn’t know that! I was scared!”

“That’s enough! Both of you, stop this!”

Celestia’s voice cut into the argument like a lightning bolt, freezing Night Light’s voice in his throat before he could take it any further. Velvet, too, abruptly found her jaw clamping shut, and dead silence filled the room almost instantly as both young Unicorns stared at their ruler in shock, neither of them having ever heard her raise her voice before. But much more telling was the deep pink blush in her cheeks, her calm and collected mask nowhere to be seen, shame and embarrassment written all over her face.

“Please,” she went on, quieter once again. “Do not direct your anger at one another. The blame in this matter is entirely mine. And I owe you both an even greater apology than I have already given. But it must wait until later. Night Light’s condition is not directly hazardous to his health, but it is not without potential consequences.”

Night Light’s eyes surged wide, the argument swiftly forgotten in favor of renewed fear and worry. “C-Consequences?”

“I thought you said it was harmless!” Velvet burst out, right back to shouting.

“It’s completely harmless,” Celestia repeated with a firm nod. “However… you were out in public like this.”

Night Light gulped. “In pub--? Y-you… are you saying it’s contagious?”

Celestia shook her head. “Not contagious, no… but your condition is very unique. Anypony who knows you – and many ponies in Canterlot know you – would notice the change in your magical energy. It’s possible… unlikely, but possible… that somepony could take a particular interest in or concern over the change. Questions would be asked, facts would be uncovered, connections would be made… and eventually, secrets could be revealed…”

And then Night Light got it. “You…y-you think somepony could figure out that you’ve been… t-that we’ve been…?” he stammered, going slightly pale.

“It’s possible, yes,” Celestia confirmed. “It wouldn’t be so terrible as though the sky were falling, but… I don’t think I need to tell you that I would prefer it does not happen.”

No, Night Light thought, she most certainly didn’t need to tell him. He could imagine the consequences just fine on his own. His reputation, tarnished. The validity of his position, questioned. His name, the butt of every dirty joke for years to come. Ponies whispering behind his back wherever he went. And it wouldn’t just happen to Night Light himself. Not even Celestia would be immune to the backlash. They would be forever labeled as a ruler who fraternized with her subordinates, and a guardpony who slept his way to the top…

“Wait, that’s all you’re worried about?”

Night Light whipped his head around to stare at Twilight Velvet. “What do you mean, ‘that’s all?!’ That’s a serious problem!”

“Yeah, it would be, if it had any chance of happening,” Velvet continued, looking back and forth between them. “Look, I understand that you don’t want this to get out to the public, but… I mean, how many ponies could have possibly seen you this early in the morning besides us?”

Night Light thought very hard about that for a moment. “I… well… there was Pommel just now, and he never shuts up--”

“Pommel knows where the line is, he wouldn’t betray your trust like that,” Velvet countered, her tone ironclad confidence. It was well-placed; she was completely right, and everypony in the room knew it.

“Well…” Night Light kept thinking aloud, “I talked to the old groundskeeper for a couple of minutes, he might have noticed my magic was a different color…”

“He has kept deeper and greater secrets than the details of my personal life. He won’t cause trouble,” Celestia answered.

“…Uh…?” Night Light stared at her quizzically.

Celestia apparently saw no need to qualify herself further, however. “Well,” she pressed on, looking thoroughly relieved, “if those are the only ponies you encountered, then perhaps Velvet is right, and we have nothing to worry about… we will simply ensure you aren’t seen by anypony else today. I will call for somepony to cover your absence, and you can take refuge somewhere private until the Magical Overload wears off--”

“Hang on, there was one more pony,” Night Light interrupted, looking to Twilight Velvet. “Your boss, that Feather Duster mare. She was right there when you noticed I was like this.”

“The Keeper of the Royal Archives?” Celestia asked. “She saw you?”

“Well… yes,” Velvet admitted hesitantly, “but she wouldn’t… I mean, why would she care?”

“Maybe because we kind of freaked out right in front of her?” Night Light reminded her.

“Yeah, but…”

“It would indeed be wise to speak with her about the matter,” Celestia said. “Feather Duster is a very intelligent mare with a keen eye, and access to the largest collection of knowledge in Equestria…”

“But, no, that’s ridiculous!” Velvet insisted. “She saw his face is glowing, therefore she can deduce he’s sleeping with the princess? Who could possibly make that leap in logic without knowing something in advance?”

“It’s just to be safe, Velvet,” Night Light reminded her. “It would make me feel better if we knew she wasn’t going to cause trouble. Besides, you really do need to get back there, if we hurry then maybe we can still save your job…”

Velvet groaned miserably, as though that were the absolute last thing she wanted to deal with right now, but eventually she conceded, nodding slowly under Night Light’s pleading gaze. “Fine… but I’m probably already fired anyway…”

“These are exceptional circumstances involving the health of somepony very close to you,” Celestia reminded her. “I’m sure she will understand that much. Come, we mustn’t waste time.”

The three ponies filed out of the Princess’ quarters and made their way toward the Royal Archives at a brisk trot, Night Light leading the way and Twilight Velvet reluctantly dragging her tail in the rear. The sun was out in full force as they reached the archive’s doors; although it felt like he had only just been here a few minutes ago at the break of dawn, in reality it had been at least an hour of frantic scrambling around, maybe more. Whatever else happened, Feather Duster was not going to be happy about that span of absence…

Night Light lifted a hoof to push the doors open, making a conscious choice to avoid doing so by magic for the time being. Unfortunately it wouldn’t have mattered; the door didn’t budge except to bump against the tumblers that kept it locked shut.

“What the…?” he murmured.

“Locked?” Velvet echoed his confusion. “Why would the library be locked? We were already open for the day…”

“I… don’t know. Maybe she was worried about what happened this morning, and locked up and left to look for you?” Night Light suggested.

Velvet snorted dismissively. “Feather Duster? Worried about me? Not likely. She barely says two words to me that aren’t orders, and that was before I was on thin ice. If she went anywhere it’s to get the forms she needs to fire me…”

“Regardless, either she is here now, or she will return here shortly, and so here is where we must be,” Celestia reasoned. She dipped her head for a moment, bringing her horn to bear, and tapped the tip of it against the doors, right between the handles. A small bead of golden magic remained behind at the spot she’d touched, which dissolved into the crack between the doors, and after a brief flicker of light the three ponies could hear the satisfying click of a lock as it came undone.

The front desk was abandoned when Night Light stepped forward again to push the doors open. It looked exactly as they’d left it an hour or so ago, actually; various scrolls and papers, Night Light’s bouquet of flowers, Velvet’s saddlebags and a healthy portion of their contents lay strewn across the desk, as well as the floor on either side of it. Feather Duster apparently hadn’t attempted to clean up the mess at all before going… wherever it was that she’d gone, which seemed odd to Night Light. He didn’t know the mare personally or anything, but from what he’d heard of her through Twilight Velvet, Feather Duster didn’t sound like the type of pony that would tolerate messes in her personal space. In which case, either she’d left to demand some poor soul come and clean up the mess, or something had occupied her focus completely enough to push the mess from her mind entirely.

Like your Magic Overload resulting from your illicit royal affair that she could expose to all of Equestria.

Night Light shook his head and cursed the intrusive thought away.

“Jeez, she really closed this place up tight,” Velvet said, stepping past the front desk into the oddly dark library. “All the curtains are drawn. I know I opened them this morning…”

“Perhaps she wished for privacy,” Celestia deduced.

“Privacy for what?”

Celestia narrowed her eyes at something far off in the darkness, tension growing upon her expression. “Research.”

Night Light followed the Princess’ gaze, and swiftly noticed what she had; a tiny, flickering glow of light from a distant candle or two at the far end of the room, barely noticeable around all the bookshelves between it and them, and the only source of light in the room aside from the scant slivers of sunlight peeking through the closed curtains.

“Oh ponyfeathers,” Velvet murmured. “Celestia’s right. She is in research mode.”

“How can you tell?” Night Light wondered aloud.

“That’s just what she does. She shuts out the rest of the world as completely as possible so her studies have her absolute, undivided attention. I’ve seen her at it before, it’s intense.”

“And unless you two have drastically reorganized the archives, that candlelight is coming from the medical journals section,” Celestia added, starting down the main aisle at a brisk trot.

Night Light let out a tense groan. “Three guesses what she’s researching,” he muttered, breaking into stride beside her.

“You guys, there’s no way she could…” Velvet started, jogging after them. “The leap of logic it would take to come to a conclusion like that is… is astronomical in size…!”

Neither Celestia nor Night Light responded, the both of them rounding the corner of the last bookshelf between them and the candlelight. Sure enough, the grey-maned librarian sat at a desk in the center of the aisle, a quill grasped in her off-white magical aura and scrawling notes across parchment with incredible speed. A lit candelabra hung from the ceiling overhead, illuminating the small stacks of books she had arranged neatly around her like a foal building a fort. Only a few titles were visible in the dim light, but they were all Night Light needed to confirm their earlier suspicions: Feather Duster had surrounded herself with what must have been every reference book, medical journal and professional research paper the library owned on the subject of Magical Overload.

Celestia seemed to notice the same thing, and though Night Light couldn’t be sure, he thought he saw a growing blush on her cheeks again in the flickering candlelight. Nevertheless, she stepped forward, announcing herself with a gentle clearing of her throat. “Ms. Feather Duster?”

“Princess Celestia,” Feather Duster replied, stiff and formal, barely even looking up from the desk. “I am sure you noticed, seeing as you would have had to undo a lock to get in here, but the library is closed.”

“I did indeed notice,” Celestia said, nodding slowly. “May I ask why?”

“I’m afraid I simply did not have enough hooves around to run the place,” Feather Duster answered. “My former apprentice chose to abandon her post and chase after her coltfriend rather than remain here where she was needed.”

Velvet’s whole body jerked, the words hitting her so hard even Night Light felt it. “Former apprentice…?”

“Oh yes. I’m sure there is plenty you’ve all come here to discuss, but I think we can easily establish that first and foremost, Miss Velvet, you are fired.”

Velvet jerked again like she’d been kicked in the face, falling back on her rear in shock. “Wh… n-no, ma’am, please, that’s not fair…”

“I agree,” Celestia began to add. “Twilight Velvet is--”

“I am sorry, Princess Celestia,” Feather Duster interrupted, “but you have already vouched for her once before. I listened to you at the time, against my better judgment, and she proceeded to misbehave yet again. I will not change my mind this time.”

“I would not blame you, were that the case,” Celestia countered, “but Twilight Velvet has done nothing wrong. She was merely--”

“More concerned with her coltfriend’s shenanigans than her obligations,” Feather Duster cut her off again. “I have no need for an apprentice who cannot set her personal life aside when it comes time for her responsibilities.”

“That’s a bunch of manure.”

All three mares turned, looking at Night Light in surprise. For a moment he wondered why, until his brain caught up with his mouth and he realized the words had come from him without even consciously thinking about it.

“Ex-cuse me, Captain?” Feather Duster snapped.

Night Light felt himself flush, but his tongue was surprisingly calm, and he could feels the words coming, and so he didn’t fight them. “Look, nopony knows better than me that there’s a time for fun and a time to be serious and responsible,” he began. “But there’s a limit. Responsibility can’t win out over having a personal life every time. If you can easily just close the library for a while like this when you don’t have the staffing you need, then it’s hardly as big a deal as you’re making it out to be when somepony has to leave for personal reasons. And I think being legitimately concerned over the health of her best friend and… and c-coltfriend, is enough to take priority over a couple of hours of work.”

Velvet’s hooves rose up to cover her mouth in awe. “Night Light…”

“And by the way,” he added, “I’ll thank you not to interrupt the Princess when she’s speaking to you. It’s rude and disrespectful.”

Night Light could swear he actually saw Celestia blush harder, and for a moment he feared she would scold him again for being too defensive of her, until she gave him a thankful smile, and he knew he’d been right to say so. As much as he’d learned that there was a time to treat her like a normal pony, she was still Equestria’s Princess, their leader, and there was still a time to treat her like the Princess she was. Now was one of those times, and this Feather Duster mare was being awfully rude about it.

In fact, she didn’t seem moved by his words at all. “Are you quite finished, Captain?” she said, her expression as stiff and deadpan as ever. “You’ll forgive me if I’m not in a hurry to put much stock in your words, given your transgressions.”

Night Light hesitated. “…Transgressions? What are you talking about?”

“Ah, we’re going to feign ignorance, are we?” Feather Duster asked, though Night Light was pretty sure it was a rhetorical question. “Very well then, I’ll just have to air out your dirty laundry myself. You mentioned your health was in question this morning. Care to elaborate?”

Night Light felt a knot growing in the pit of his stomach. “Uh… er…”

“No, of course you wouldn’t. Well I’m sorry to say, Night Light, that anypony with eyes could deduce that you are suffering from Magical Overload. And judging from the shade of magic overwhelming your own, it looks as though the source of the overload is Princess Celestia.”

“Y-you… you can tell that?” Night Light stammered.

“I can tell a lot of things, Captain,” Feather Duster answered. She stood from the desk for a moment and turned, briefly displaying the magical imprint of her namesake on her flank. “A lot of ponies see this cutie mark and think that my calling in life is to be a housekeeper. Somepony who loves to keep everything neat and tidy. But while it’s true that I appreciate cleanliness, in reality my cutie mark has nothing to do with cleaning or housework. It is about attention to detail. I observe, Captain. I can see and keep track of things that few other ponies are able to even notice, much less recall when pressed. It’s what got me where I am in life. It’s what got me this job. And it is what let me figure out all of this.”

“All of what, exactly?” Velvet demanded.

“Hmph.” Feather Duster turned her nose up at Night Light, sitting down again and returning her gaze to her books and notes. “I hate to break your heart, Miss Velvet, but your coltfriend here has been fraternizing with the Princess.”

“Bullshit.”

Night Light had already started going pale, and he was sure Celestia’s blush was getting stronger than ever, but Twilight Velvet’s expletive stopped both in their tracks. The mare had leapt to her hooves and set her face in an angry snarl like she was ready to tear her ex-boss a new tailhole. What the heck was she doing?

Feather Duster, again, was not fazed. “It’s the truth, Miss Velvet.”

“No, I am calling bullshit on this!” Velvet snapped. “Celestia accidentally gave him Magical Overload, therefore they’re having sex?! That’s complete guesswork and an absurd leap of logic, you have no proof whatsoever!”

“I have all the proof in the world, Miss Velvet. I could point out the guilty expressions on their faces right now, or the fact that you’ve come here to question me at all, or even the obvious scent of estrus coming from the Princess as rather telling evidence already, though admittedly circumstantial and inconclusive at best. But really,” she added, lifting a small scroll off the desk with her horn, “this is all the proof anypony would ever need.”

Night Light’s eyes went as huge as saucers.

It was Celestia’s note.

Oh buck no.

“Night Light,” Feather Duster held the note out in front of her and began to read it aloud.“The Royal Garden has grown quite parched. It requires a thorough watering. Please meet me at the castle after the sunset. Celestia. PS: Don’t forget the hose.” The scroll furled up in her magic aura again and tucked itself away among the rest of the librarian’s notes as she faced the stunned trio, giving them all a droll stare. “Honestly, even a simpleton would pick up on innuendo that unsubtle.”

Night Light quivered in his hooves. That was it. She knew the secret, and nopony in the room could deny it any longer. Even Velvet’s righteous fury had been cut off by such irrefutable proof, her expression blank and frozen. Her one true argument was gone. There was no absurd leap of logic here. Feather Duster was right, any idiot could have figured out what that note really meant.

“H-how in Equestria did you find that?” Celestia spoke up again at last, an ever-so-tiny waver in her voice, and even in the dim light there was no more hiding the deep crimson blush beneath her fur. “That was a private missive meant for him alone.”

“Your ‘underling’ was careless enough to leave it lying around where anypony could find it,” Feather Duster answered. “No doubt he dropped it in the midst of his panic attack when he realized what you’d done to him.”

I dropped it? Night Light wondered to himself. That didn’t sound right. He hadn’t even been carrying it that morning. At least, he didn’t think he was. What had he done with that note, actually? He’d shown it to Velvet last night when he received it, and then… then he couldn’t remember, he’d been so distracted by his ‘two mares’ dilemma. Had he stuck it inside his armor and it somehow fell out when he arrived at the library? But then why hadn’t it fallen out long before that, when he’d been undressed entirely in Celestia’s room…?

But no, he couldn’t worry about that right now. However it happened, she’d found the note, and she now knew everything. That was the part he needed to address.

“Ms. Duster,” Night Light spoke up, “I’m sorry you had to… get involved in this--”

“Believe me, I’m not happy to learn of it myself,” Feather Duster agreed. “But if it means exposing the truth about centuries of scandal, it’s a burden I’ll bear.”

“…What? Centuries of scandal?” Night Light echoed. “What are you talking about?”

“Hmph. Now that sounds like honest ignorance this time,” Feaster Duster said, throwing a dirty look toward Celestia. “Then again I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised that she swore your father to secrecy, even from you.”

An unpleasant memory tingled in the back of Night Light’s brain. “My… father?”

“Feather Duster, that is enough,” Celestia snapped, crisp and firm suddenly despite her hot cheeks.

“No, Celestia, it is not enough,” Feather Duster countered, just as firmly. “It’s never really ‘enough’ for you, is it?”

Celestia’s lip twitched. “Orion Sparkle was an admirable pony, rest his soul, and I will not stand for you speaking ill of him.”

“Oh yes, I’m sure he was innocent enough,” Feather Duster agreed again, more dismissively this time. “It’s not him or his son here that’s to blame. Really this is about you.”

Night Light was thoroughly confused now. “Princess, what is she talking about? What does my father have to do with… with…?” he trailed off unable to finish the thought.

“You see, Captain, your Magical Overload isn’t unique,” Feather Duster spoke up when Celestia didn’t, her jaws having clamped shut and apparently at a momentary loss for words. The librarian swept one of the books piled on her desk out into mid-air before them and cracked it open to a page near the back of the book, revealing some sort of scrapbook Feather Duster herself had apparently made, clipping together a long list of what looked to Night Light like medical records, with one in particular highlighted and underlined with fresh ink.

Night Light peered at it closely, reading the blurb that she had highlighted. “Orion Sparkle… admitted to Canterlot General Hospital with possible symptoms of--” he gasped.

“Yes. Magical Overload,” Celestia abruptly found her voice again.

Feather Duster looked up in surprise. “Oh? So you’re actually willing to admit to your part in this scandal?”

“I have always been, despite what you have apparently assumed about me,” Celestia said. “But you are sorely mistaken if you believe this is some sort of ‘scandal.’ These are secrets of personal privacy, Feather Duster, not national security. But since you have insisted on dragging my secrets out into the open, I suppose we have no choice but to discuss it now.”

“Yes, lets,” Feather Duster agreed, an annoyingly smug smile of victory blooming across her muzzle that Night Light immediately felt an urge to smack off. “Now where was I--”

“You will be silent,” Celestia interrupted her again. “It is not the time, nor the place, nor could it ever be, for you to explain that kind of thing to my Captain. The truth shall come from me, and me alone, as I have always intended it to, before you forced my hoof early.”

Feather Duster was swiftly shocked into silence, and so Celestia took the floor without objection, leaving Night Light gazing up at his ruler in similar shocked awe. “Princess…?”

“It’s true, Night Light,” Celestia nodded. “Your father was recorded as contracting a case of Magical Overload himself, some thirty years ago, according to Canterlot General’s records. The case was swiftly withdrawn and closed, and anypony looking at it under normal circumstances would dismiss it as a false alarm that was quickly found to be something else. But Magical Overload is usually such a serious and potentially dangerous condition that any reported case of it, whether proven false or positive, is permanently archived. And before he withdrew from the hospital, Orion Sparkle was reported to be showing symptoms such as an ‘abnormal change in magical aura color.’ From blue to gold, specifically.”

Celestia unceremoniously yanked the scrapbook out of Feather Duster’s magical grasp with the superior power of her own, and flipped through the pages backward one by one, each page revealing another entry outlined in fresh ink. “As Ms. Feather Duster has apparently noticed, there are dozens of entries almost exactly like it, going back several hundred years,” she went on, poking a hoof at each of the marked entries and reading them aloud. “Gleaming Shield, complained of his magic turning gold, withdrew from the hospital a day later. Brilliant Ember, admitted one day at two o’clock in the morning with eyes glowing as bright as sunlight, was gone by midday. Ah, and here’s one she seems to have clipped from law enforcement records. Dusk Shine, was discovered looking for food in the royal kitchens by the Night Guard and mistakenly arrested as an intruder when a gold magical aura and an abnormal size of, quote, ‘twice that of a normal pony,’ left him unrecognizable. Sent to Canterlot General for evaluation, was released perfectly normal and with a full apology the next morning. Ah, we had a good laugh about that one…”

Celestia looked up for a moment toward Night Light, though her gaze was distant and not quite directly on him. “I’m sure most of these ‘symptoms’ sound familiar to you. As do many of the names, more importantly.”

Night Light gulped and slowly nodded. “Those are… my predecessors… and they all… they all had…?”

“Yes. Everypony on this list Feather Duster has collected was, at one time or another, Captain of the Royal Guard… and more privately, somepony I took as a lover in mating season. And because of the potency of my magic in particular being involved in assisting with that objective, nearly all of them at some point contracted a mild case of Magical Overload.”

Celestia now locked eyes with Night Light, sending surprised shivers down his spine under the sheer intensity of her gaze. “I told you that first evening, Night Light, I do not trust just anypony with my body at such a vulnerable time. They must always be a truly exceptional pony… one that I can trust implicitly, with anything. Only then could I even consider being intimate with them. Believe me when I say that I have never, and will never, abuse my station or yours for sex.”

“Of… of course I believe you, Princess,” Night Light stammered immediately. “I never thought otherwise.”

“Well that’s a nice sentiment, Celestia,” Feather Duster finally cut in again, standing stiff and incensed. “But it’s not that simple!”

“It is most certainly that simple,” Celestia countered, turning and frowning sternly at the elderly mare. “Who I choose to mate with is nopony’s business but my own.”

“Dress it up in whatever nice words you like, Celestia, but it still boils down to you choosing half your history of Guard Captains based on which candidates you’d rather take to bed with you!”

A shocked blush filled Celestia’s muzzle all over again at the accusation. “…Excuse me?”

“You heard me!” Feather Duster nearly shouted, making Night Light rear back a bit in shock himself. Feather Duster was hitting the crux of the axe she had to grind with Celestia, and it was coming out louder than he would have thought the old librarian capable of. “The Captain of the Guard is a noble position charged with protecting all of Equestria, and you are carelessly defiling it by making a final criterion out of whether or not they get your tail flagging! How many ponies who dreamed of the position have you denied because you weren’t interested in rutting them?! How many deserving ponies never reached that dream because they didn’t have the… parts to satisfy your heat cravings?! How many relationships and marriages and families have you hurt or destroyed by seducing stallions away from unwitting mares like--?!”

SMACK.

Feather Duster’s muzzle twisted to one side, the deep welt of a hoof-print rapidly forming on her cheek as the library fell silent, save for the echo of the slap to her face. She whipped her head back around a moment later, her expression livid, no doubt ready to rip into Celestia more aggressively than ever.

But it was not Celestia that had marched up to the desk to literally smack some sense into her.

“For somepony who claims to be super clever and observant, you’re being pretty bucking stupid right now,” Twilight Velvet said, shaking her hoof out a bit and dropping it back to the floor.

Feather Duster seethed, her teeth audibly grinding. “How dare you--!”

“No, how dare you!” Velvet cut her off, shoving her face up against the other mare’s. “What kind of petty, vindictive, stuck-up little snot-rag goes to this kind of insane effort to dig up a massive smear campaign against somepony who’s done nothing to deserve it?!”

“She has done everything to deserve it!”

“I don’t believe this, she’s the Princess, for pony’s sake! She’s done nothing but good for Equestria for centuries! How can you possibly think so little of her as to believe such garbage about her?! How can you villanize her for something as basic as having sex in mating season?!”

“How can you stand there and defend her?!” Feather Duster countered. “You should be thanking me, Miss Velvet! I am doing this for mares like you! She has been fraternizing with your partner behind your back and it deserves to be outed!”

“They are not fraternizing behind my back, you dense old lunatic!!!”

Feather Duster recoiled from Velvet’s furious shriek, and Night Light couldn’t help doing the same, shrinking back a bit against the floor. By the goddess, that mare was scary when she got angry. Harsh tone and earsplitting volume aside, her hooves were stamping on the floor, visibly fighting the urge to pop up and clock the old mare in the face again, and her horn was flickering and flashing violently with magical discharge, casting creepy and almost frightening shadows through their dimly lit corner of the library.

“M-Miss Velvet,” Feather Duster finally stammered when she found her voice again, “I think you are becoming a little unbalanced, and more than a little in denial. I realize you don’t want to believe something like this about your coltfriend, but the note from Celestia he dropped is impossible to argue with--”

“He didn’t drop it,” Velvet snarled, silencing her. “I did.”

Night Light gasped. Of course. That was it, wasn’t it? She’d taken the note to read it last night, and then… and then stuck it out of the way in her saddlebag and forgotten about it. She’d probably dropped the whole bag and gone to bed, and picked it right back up the next day and brought it back to work, where she’d knocked it over right in front of Feather Duster while chasing after him. Something must have caught her eye about the note – the royal seal, most likely – and she’d investigated from there…

Feather Duster meanwhile was starting to turn pale as she processed this new information. “I… I beg your pardon?”

“Yeah, you’d better be begging for my pardon!” Velvet snapped. “I know damn well what’s going on between Celestia and Night Light. I’ve known since mating season started. You know how I know? Because they told me.”

Feather Duster backpedaled a few paces, bumping against the bookshelf behind her. “But… but confessing the affair doesn’t excuse--”

“Oh my goddess, there was no affair!” Velvet shouted, marching after her until they were nose to nose again. “Night Light and I weren’t even together yet when Celestia asked him! And yes, she asked him! She did not seduce him away from me, she encouraged him to pursue me regardless! And when he did, and he told me what was going on between him and Celestia right up front? I was okay with it! When he got that note while I was with him? I could have said no and taken him home with me instead. But I didn’t. And if I had? If I said at any point that it bothered me? Celestia would have backed off immediately and dealt with estrus alone. She would have done the same if any of her past mates or their real partners had objected even once! As a matter of fact, she has done exactly that before! Because she is a good, honorable mare that deserves better than to be thought of as some kind of two-bit stallion thief by ignorant, stuck-up, know-it-all old nags like you!”

Feather Duster had shrunken down flat to the floor by now, wilting completely under the assault of Velvet’s words. But Velvet wasn’t finished yet. With a sharp jerk of her head as she aimed her horn, her crackling magic finally focused and burst out toward Celestia. Night Light very nearly jumped out in front of the violet beam on pure instinct, but it stopped short of the monarch, instead striking the scrapbook of ‘evidence’ Feather Duster had collected that still hovered in front of her. There was an angry flicker of effort as Velvet’s magic overtook Celestia’s without resistance, and then the entire book ignited in white-hot flames, turning every page to ash almost instantaneously. The magic vanished almost as quickly, and the book fell to the floor, nothing more than a pile of ash and the scorched remnants of its cover.

Feather Duster let out an incensed gasp. “You… you burned a book… you burned one of my books--!”

“I burned trash,” Velvet corrected her. “These are not your secrets to tell. So keep your mouth shut and don’t you dare try to drag Celestia or my coltfriend’s names through the mud again.”

“Y-you… you…”

“And by the way? Don’t worry about firing me. If this is the kind of pony you want me to be if I wanna become the head librarian someday, I don’t want it anymore. I quit.”

Velvet at last turned her back on the stammering, sputtering librarian, and walked back to rejoin Celestia and Night Light, who followed her in silent, wordless awe out of the dark library and back into the welcoming daylight filling the rest of the castle.

“Wow, Velvet,” Night Light was the first to speak up, picking up his pace a bit to trot beside her. “That was… I mean, I can’t believe how you stood up to her like that!”

“It wasn’t a big deal,” Velvet muttered, her anger slowly burning out. “I’ve wanted to give her a piece of my mind for weeks anyway.”

“Nevertheless, we are indebted to you,” Celestia added, a thankful smile on her face. “It may take a bit of time for your words to sink in, but I think you may well have saved the both of us from a rather embarrassing public incident. I am deeply sorry it came at such a cost to you.”

“I said it’s not a big deal,” Velvet repeated with a shrug of her shoulders.

“Are you sure?” Night Light couldn’t help but press. “I mean, the librarian job, that was your dream, wasn’t it?”

“Yeah, well…” Velvet shook her head. “Sometimes dreams aren’t all they’re cracked up to be. And living under her was no dream, it was a nightmare.”

“But what will you do now?”

Velvet shrugged again. “I don’t know. Maybe I’ll write books instead of stock shelves with them. I’ve always kinda wanted to write a good adventure story…”

“I would be happy to personally see that you are published,” Celestia offered, “as thanks for what you’ve done today.”

“Don’t thank me yet,” Velvet stopped her. “We still have a lot to discuss. All three of us.”

Celestia paused her stride, glancing curiously down at Velvet. After a tense moment of consideration, Celestia gave her a slightly more strained smile. “Yes… I suppose we do, don’t we?” She nodded, stepping forward to take the lead. “Very well… come with me, Velvet… and you too, Night Light… and let us talk.”

Night Light gulped, and wordlessly followed the other two mares back toward Celestia’s chambers, uncertain fear and tension shooting through his mind and body.

Perhaps he wasn’t quite out of the woods yet after all.

Chapter Nine: Pussy Galore

Chapter Nine: Pussy Galore

In what felt like no time at all Night Light was once again locked inside Celestia’s private tower, sitting on a cushion in the center of the royal bedroom in a loose circle with the two most important mares in his life. Twilight Velvet sat to his left, her eyes trained on the floor without really seeing it, a look Night Light recognized as her being lost in deep thought. Her earlier anger was gone now, but her posture was still tense, as though something was still on her mind, preventing her from relaxing. On his other side sat Princess Celestia, as tall and regal as ever, her own eyes closed in quiet meditation. She too had calmed from her earlier whirlwind of emotions, and seemed mostly in control of them again, but when Night Light looked closely, he was pretty sure he could still see an odd sadness on her face.

“So,” Celestia broke the silence after several minutes. “Here we are.”

“Y-yeah. Here we are,” Night Light echoed, his voice thick with tension.

Try as he might to rationally think things through, the stallion had no idea what was coming next. Was Velvet still mad? Was she going to put an end to his arrangement with Celestia, despite what she’d said in the library? Would Celestia agree to that? Who was he kidding, of course she would. That was about the only piece of this puzzle that was obvious. Celestia had made it very clear that she had no intention of interfering with anypony’s love life. If Velvet really was mad, if she decided she really couldn’t handle seeing him go to quell another mare’s heat now that they were together, Celestia would step aside immediately. There was no question in his mind about that. But then that left Celestia back to where she’d been a week ago, years removed from any sort of satisfaction. Night Light was young, he had a long life ahead of him and no intention of quitting his position as succinctly as Velvet had done. If he stayed Captain of the Guard until even just the earliest possible retirement age, it would be a good thirty, thirty-five years before another Captain would take his place. A whole generation before Princess Celestia even had a chance at finding another mate. A whole generation of nothing but lonely, unsatisfied heat seasons. It sounded horrible. And surely Velvet, as a mare herself, knew that even better than he did. Would she really still put a stop to it anyway? And if she did, was there really nopony else at all whom Celestia could trust enough in his place?

“Are you alright, Night Light?”

Night Light jerked out of his own thoughts, looking up at Princess Celestia at the sound of his name. “Ah, yes, of course, I’m fine.”

“Because I was asking you a question and you did not seem to react at all.”

Smooth, he berated himself, shaking his head sharply. “Sorry, sorry. Just, uh, a little lost in thought, I guess…”

“Understandable, all things considered. We all have a lot on our minds here,” Celestia assured him. “I was merely asking, if it was alright with you, that we do as we’ve done in previous meetings and dispense with titles. I have no desire to be spoken to or treated like a Princess right now. We are all just ponies in this matter, and I want you both to feel free to speak your mind honestly.”

“Fine by me,” Velvet said. “Not like I have a title to dispense with anyway…”

“Y-yeah, of course,” Night Light agreed as well.

“Thank you,” Celestia said with a small bow. “Then let me begin with an apology, to both of you. Velvet, you did not deserve to lose your job the way you did, regardless of the fact that you’re at peace with it now. Even if the circumstances that led to it weren’t my fault to begin with, and I think we all know they assuredly are… Feather Duster is in my employ, and as the pony responsible for her staff, I am sorry for how she treated you. And Night Light… none of this would have happened if I had told you sooner about the side-effects of my magic on your body. It is difficult for me to predict when they will reveal themselves, as it varies from pony to pony. You in particular, Night Light, showed symptoms well ahead of the curve. And aside from that, some ponies in the past simply did not take the news well, even as harmless as the effects are.”

Celestia paused for a long breath, hanging her head a little lower. “…But those are just excuses. The truth is, I was just too embarrassed to admit it. It’s an imperfection in my spell-work that I’ve never been able to correct. I am afraid this leads me to procrastinate longer than I should in being forthcoming about it, and it tends to come back around to bite me. As you surely noticed from those medical records, you aren’t the first pony to discover the symptoms before I have explained them. So… I am sorry for putting you through all this, and scaring you with the unknown.”

“It’s okay, really,” Night Light assured her. “It all worked out, more or less.”

“Yeah, forget about it,” Velvet agreed. “Just promise you’ll do future generations a favor and be more up front about it from now on.”

“I agree,” Celestia said, nodding swiftly. “I will learn from this, I promise you.”

“Good,” Velvet nodded back, blushing a little now. “And I’m… I’m sorry I dropped your… your note, where somepony else could find it. I’d forgotten I even took the thing, much less still had it. Feather Duster would’ve had nothing without that, she never would’ve gone as far as she did if I hadn’t dropped it at her hooves. R-really I shouldn’t have even read it in the first place, I mean, like you said back there, obviously it was meant for Night Light alone, I just happened to be right there with him at the time and--”

“It’s quite alright,” Celestia said, blushing briefly herself. “Accidents happen, and I encouraged Night Light not to keep our arrangement secret from you anyway. Which brings me to the second thing I wish to say. A question, for you, Twilight Velvet.”

“Me?” Velvet rubbed the back of her neck uncertainly. “What about me?”

“You said earlier, both in this room and to Feather Duster, that when Night Light received my note, you and he were intent on spending your evening together.”

Night Light squirmed uncomfortably the second the words were out of Celestia’s mouth. The reminder of their earlier fight was bad enough, but the reminder of that agonizing decision last night was just torturous. Why was she bringing that up?

Velvet meanwhile nodded, looking more than a little uncomfortable herself. “I… yes, I did say that…”

“And that upon receiving the note… you told him to instead respond to me, and you yourself went home lonely.”

Awkward tension was now rapidly filling the room, and it was a long moment before Velvet again nodded. “Yes…”

Silence again, as not one eye in the room met another for what felt like forever.

“You really meant that, didn’t you?” Celestia finally asked.

“…Yes.”

The odd sadness Night Light thought he noticed earlier on Celestia’s face grew more pronounced for a moment, before it vanished completely under her regal mask. “Then I believe there is nothing else that needs to be said. Night Light, our arrangement is terminated, effective immediately.”

Night Light stiffened and went wide-eyed. “W-what?”

“What?!” Velvet shouted right behind him.

“I have no desire to interfere in any way with your relationship,” Celestia replied with a firm shake of her head. “And I am deeply sorry to the both of you for having done so already. I never, ever wished for you to have to choose between myself and each other, let alone give up your time together to tend to my selfish needs--”

“Isn’t that our decision?”

Celestia stopped, turning her surprised gaze on Twilight Velvet. “What do you mean?”

“Velvet?” Night Light echoed her, subtly inching his way closer to his marefriend.

Velvet flushed a little now that she was the center of attention again, but she pressed on, scooting herself a little closer to Night Light as well, until they were near enough to hold hooves. “Look, Celestia,” she began, “when I said those things today, I… I was mad. I was fired up. I was worried about Night Light. And then I was even madder at Feather Duster. I may have meant what I said, but I think you got the wrong impression of what exactly I meant.”

“…What exactly did you mean, then?” Celestia asked, watching her with polite curiosity now.

Velvet gave them an embarrassed sort of shrug. “It’s just, I was angry about the other stuff, you know? And that sort of seeped into the whole ‘you and Night Light’ thing without me meaning it to. So… yeah, I admit that maybe it was a little more unpleasant to go home alone than I let on to anypony, but… I didn’t want you two to feel all guilty about it and beat yourselves up for no reason. Does that… I don’t know, does that make any sense at all?”

“…Plenty, actually,” Night Light admitted, squeezing her hoof in his. “I didn’t want to say anything to Celestia last night either, for the same reason.”

“I wish you two would not feel that way,” Celestia pleaded, shaking her head. “I told you, I don’t wish to be an obstacle in your relationship--”

“And I told you, it was our choice to make,” Velvet insisted. “We talked about it, together, and we made the decision that Night Light should take care of you while you really needed it. Yeah, it was a sacrifice on my part, but you guys agreed to be seasonal mates before I had a say in Night Light’s love life anyway. What kind of selfish jerk would that make me to step in and cut you off while you’re in the middle of a heat cycle? I can have Night Light all-year round now… maybe even for the rest of our lives. I can give up a few days at a time in mating season.”

Night Light gulped a bit despite himself. “R-really? The rest of our lives?”

“…We’ll talk about that part later.”

“…Ah-heh, right…”

Celestia still didn’t seem convinced. “Velvet, I appreciate your willingness to make allowances for me, but--”

“But nothing,” Velvet stopped her again. “I promise it’s fine, I can deal with it--”

“He is your special somepony, you should not have to ‘deal with’ another mare who cannot keep her urges to herself--”

“Hey, no! Stop that right now!” Velvet abruptly turned angry. “I wouldn’t have said all that stuff about you to Feather Duster if I didn’t mean every word of it. You are the most amazing leader Equestria could possibly ask for. You’re kind, honorable, fair, gorgeous…”

“Velvet, really, I--… gorgeous?”

“…and you’ve been nothing but respectful to your mates in the past,” Velvet carried on, ignoring her blush as though nothing had happened. “You’ve probably spent five times as many years alone as anypony else has been alive, because you’re just that respectful to ponies when they turn you down. You are anything but some selfish mare who can’t control her libido. And if you ask me, somepony as wonderful as you should never have to spend a season alone.”

“I would rather be alone for the next thirty seasons than let you suffer the same even once because your beloved was laying in my bed instead of yours.”

For once, Velvet hesitated. “…Like I said, I can deal with a night without sex here and there--”

“Velvet, please,” Celestia said, and now it was her turn to sound harsh and firm. “I applaud your generosity… but I make a promise to myself every time I take a mate in estrus season that I will never come between him and anypony whom his heart desires. The fact that I interrupted your intimate plans together last night means that I have broken that promise. I do not wish that to happen again.”

“It wasn’t that big a deal! It was a regular night, I wasn’t even on an active cycle!”

“This time. Can you say with any certainty that that will not happen before the end of this season? Or next year’s season? Or the year after that? What will you do if you are in an active heat cycle and I come calling?”

“I… w-well, I…” Velvet stammered, pausing for a long moment. “We… we’d find a way to make it work. Y-you’re a genius, I’m sure we could think of something…”

“That is not good enough,” Celestia countered with a sad shake of her head. “I’m sorry, Velvet. I am grateful for your open mind and willingness to help, and I am truly flattered that you think so highly of me, but I will not budge on this matter. I refuse to take your special somepony away from you, even for just a night.”

Both mares fell silent now, at last out of things to say for the moment, and Night Light let out a tense breath, looking back and forth between the both of them with utmost concern. He might not have known exactly where this conversation was going to go, but he certainly hadn’t expected this. Velvet wasn’t mad after all, or forbidding him and Celestia from continuing to be mates for the season, but despite that, Celestia seemed intent on falling on the sword anyway and putting an end to the whole thing, no matter how willing Velvet was to let them carry on. Was that really the right answer? It didn’t feel like it, not at all. He loved Velvet, he wanted to be faithful to Velvet and put her first, but he couldn’t stand to watch Celestia resigning herself to misery for the next thirty or so summers. It just wasn’t fair.

“Celestia?” he spoke up, breaking the silence. “I really… think you should reconsider.”

Celestia again shook her head. “I’m sorry, Night Light, but my mind is made up--”

“Look, you two just spent a good fifteen minutes arguing about who I will or won’t be sticking my dick into for the foreseeable future, don’t I at least get a say in the matter?”

Celestia’s eyes bulged and her cheeks once again turned a brilliant shade of pink, and Twilight Velvet had to clamp a hoof over her mouth to suppress a snort of shocked laughter that morphed an instant later into horrified embarrassment. Both mares composed themselves rather quickly, though, and hung their heads a bit lower.

“I… apologize,” Celestia replied. “You’re absolutely right. This concerns you as well. It was not at all my intention to discuss you as though you were…”

“…A piece of meat,” Velvet offered. “Yeah… sorry, Night Light. Go ahead, if you wanna say something.”

“It’s okay, don’t worry about it,” Night Light assured them, focusing back on Celestia. “Celestia, I agree with Velvet. After everything you’ve done, not just for us, but for everypony, for all of Equestria… you deserve a little happiness. I’m going to be your Guard Captain for… hopefully a long time. I don’t want to stand there by your side for the next twenty or thirty years and watch you be miserable every summer until I retire.”

“I’m sure I’ve told you that I’ve done so before,” Celestia reminded him.

“I don’t care if you’ve managed it in the past, you shouldn’t have to. Nopony should, but especially not you. And I’m not just saying this to try to… get with you some more,” he added with a brief blush. “If you absolutely can’t be with me anymore under any circumstances, then fine, I’ll accept that, but… is there really nopony else in all of Equestria you could trust?”

“…Perhaps there might be,” Celestia slowly admitted. “I have certainly found the intimate company of other ponies from time to time, in situations outside of mating season. But I’m sure you understand that there is a noted difference when heat is involved. I told you before, Night Light, that estrus affects me more powerfully than normal ponies. You have seen it yourself, you know better than anypony just how true that is. I may be well-practiced in controlling it, but when I let it out…” she paused and glanced away, not even trying to fight her pink cheeks anymore. “Maybe it’s silly, but it is… harder for me to allow ponies to see me like that. Perhaps with time I might find another stallion I can put that level of trust in, but as things stand now, there is no other such stallion.”

“There has to be a compromise somewhere,” Night Light said. “Velvet’s more than willing to make one, if it really has to be me or nopony.”

Celestia heaved an exasperated sigh. “Night Light…”

“No, really, he’s right,” Velvet chimed in again. “There’s no reason for you to martyr yourself like this, I’m telling you, I’m completely okay with you being seasonal mates.”

“Yeah, she doesn’t mind at all,” Night Light scrambled to support her. “She’s completely supportive of it.”

“Completely.”

“And there’s absolutely no hard feelings or jealousy or anything like that.”

“None at all!”

“If anything it actually gets her going! Last time she was asking for details!”

“Yeah, if anything it--… wait, what?!”

Night Light froze and gulped down a sudden lump in his throat as Velvet grew another shocked blush and stared at him, wondering what in Tartarus had compelled him to spill that little detail. But it was far too late to take it back. It was out there on the table now. And Celestia…

…was blushing again too?

“Velvet?” she asked, slowly and delicately. “Is this true?”

“Ah-heh… w-well, uh…” Velvet stammered, trying to smile at Celestia and control her suddenly-fidgeting hindquarters and throw a death glare at Night Light all at the same time. “It was… I mean, no offense intended, of course, I wasn’t trying to pry or anything, I was just… curious, you know, what it was like, being with Princess Celestia, even straight mares would wonder…”

“Wonder what it would be like to mate with me?” Celestia echoed in increasing surprise.

Something clicked in the back of Night Light’s mind – whether it was a stroke of genius, a perverted impulse, or blind stupid luck, he never figured out as long as he lived – and his mouth opened again light years ahead of his brain. “She was doing a lot more than wondering,” he said. “I think I gave her a serious case of wandering hooves, I could smell her from across the room while I was telling her about us. Heh, I bet she probably wished she could have been there herself.”

Celestia turned a shade of red that Night Light had only seen her reach when she was on the brink of orgasm, while Twilight Velvet stared at him with a look that could melt diamonds. But just as Night Light was about to worry that perhaps he’d gone too far, Velvet stopped and blinked twice rapidly, as something seemed to click for her too. And in that moment, the fire in her eyes… changed. It was no longer the pinpoint laser beam of fury commanding him to shut the fuck up already. No, it was spreading now, and fast, filling her face, making her sweat and fidget and take quicker, panting breaths. Her skin was flushing from head to hoof and straight through her off-white fur, her eyes flicked rapidly around as her thoughts whizzed through her head a mile a minute, and when Night Light looked down her back, he saw her tail twitching and thrashing like it was trying to flag itself out of the way of her nether-regions unbidden by any conscious thought on Velvet’s part.

“Night Light, I think that’s enough,” Celestia admonished once she’d composed herself a little. Barely. “Look at the poor girl, you’re going to give her a panic attack if you--”

“No, he’s right,” Velvet blurted out, almost more to herself than the other ponies in the room. “He’s… he’s absolutely right.”

Celestia stopped, and stared at her again. “He… is?”

Velvet met Celestia’s gaze and nodded frantically, her face exploding with color. “I told you I would compromise… so, here’s my compromise. You said you don’t want to take Night Light away from me, right? Well… what if you didn’t have to?”

Celestia kept staring, eyes wider by the second.

So did Night Light, for that matter.

“I said I’m willing to share him,” Velvet pressed on, blushing as deep as her name implied but refusing to wilt under their stares, in fact she even seemed to be gaining steam. “What if… what if instead of sharing him separately… we could both… be there? At… at the same time?”

Night Light couldn’t move. Couldn’t speak. Couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t do anything at all except stare slack-jawed at his marefriend like she’d gone insane, no matter how stable and even her gaze was. There was no possible way that she could have just said that with anything resembling a sound, stable mind. Directly propositioning the Princess, not just one on one but for a trio was… there wasn’t even a word for the level of sheer lunacy that entailed.

Except… she wasn’t the Princess at the moment, was she? Night Light remembered that now. She didn’t want to be treated that way. She wanted to be treated like any other pony. And if Celestia was just ‘any other pony’ right now, well… it was hardly unheard of among normal ponies for more than one mare to share a single stallion when mating season rolled around; he’d seen that first-hoof, days prior at the park. Nor did it sound unreasonable for one of those mares to be that stallion’s special somepony, offering some much-needed relief for a close friend who didn’t have a stallion of her own. It was probably an arrangement normal ponies made sometimes. But still, for that stallion to be him, for those mares to be Twilight Velvet and Princess Celestia… he almost didn’t dare think about it.

Almost.

Part of him, however, couldn’t help but think about it.

A rapidly hardening part of him.

Celestia meanwhile was matching Velvet blush for blush, unable to hide that the proposal had her utterly floored. It was incredible, really, to see Celestia, a pony who’d lived for centuries numbering in the double digits, be so completely thrown by something. It was almost refreshing, actually, knowing that even now she could still be surprised, that she hadn’t seen everything there was to see, that she really was a pony just like any other. But that of course didn’t mean she was going to say yes. In fact all evidence pointed to her saying no. She’d been very stubbornly against continuing to see Night Light up until now, and as far as he was aware, she wasn’t interested in other mares. Granted, that wasn’t saying much; she’d had a long life before him in which it could have happened, and she did say she’d taken other lovers aside from the stallions that were sort of necessitated by mating season. She hadn’t explicitly stated that those other lovers were also stallions. Could Celestia have ever been interested in mares? Had Celestia ever been with other mares?

Oh goddess, he was picturing Celestia with other mares now.

Oh goddess, he was picturing Celestia with Twilight Velvet now.

Oh Tartarus he was so fucking hard now.

“Velvet, I…” Celestia nearly whispered, her eyes locked on the other mare and completely ignorant of Night Light’s vivid new fantasies. “I truly don’t know what to say…”

“Just say ‘yes,’” Velvet insisted, seeming to grow more confident by the moment, even if she was squirming and thrashing in her seat. “Something tells me being with another mare isn’t completely foreign to you, and… a-and it’s certainly not a problem for me. Not with a mare as amazing as you. And it’s obviously not a problem for Night Light, I mean holy crap, look at that thing.”

Both mares paused to look over at the raging erection that Night Light had no hope whatsoever of hiding, and there was no mistaking the increasingly thick scent of wet mare pussy filling the room, nor the hunger in both sets of eyes so intense that he almost did feel like a piece of meat right then, albeit an extremely willing one.

“See, he’s clearly onboard,” Velvet went on, almost boldly now. “It fits, doesn’t it? Everypony gets what they want this way. And higher standards in mating season or not… I think I’ve proven that you can trust me.”

A slow, shaky smile crossed Celestia’s face. “…Yes. You’re quite right about that. You have done more than enough for both of us today to earn my trust. And it’s true that being intimate with another mare is not foreign to me. I have shared my bed with mares on occasion…”

Night Light suppressed an involuntary groan and tried to ignore the extra eager twitch in his loins.

“In fact, I must confess,” Celestia continued, “your… suggestion, crossed my mind as well not long ago, before I rather hastily dismissed it…”

Velvet’s confident momentum faltered, just for a moment. “…Dismissed it? Why?”

A more sheepish smile bloomed across Celestia’s face. “I thought it was rather presumptuous of me, and, well… I was almost certain you would refuse.”

“…Oh!” Velvet let out a relieved chuckle. “Oh gosh, are you kidding? No, I… I’d be thrilled to… experience that with you. I mean, if… if you think that’s a compromise we can make?”

Celestia’s smile slowly grew larger. “I think that would be a most agreeable compromise.”

Night Light’s jaw fell slack. It was impossible. There was no way. This could not be happening. And yet here it was, both mares gazing at each other with relieved smiles, looking happier with the idea than Night Light could have ever reasonably imagined.

“You really… really think it’s okay?” Velvet asked one last time.

“I do,” Celestia confirmed, bowing her head to the other mare. “And I thank you, Twilight Velvet, for doing this for me… you are truly an exemplary mare, and I am in your debt. Night Light is very lucky to have you.”

Lucky. Hah. That was the understatement of the year. Night Light would have been completely unsurprised if Pommel personally strangled him in a jealous rage when he heard about this. Or any straight stallion in existence for that matter. And Night Light wouldn’t particularly blame them, either.

“Speaking of, I assume we won’t need to try very hard to convince him?” Celestia wondered aloud.

“Eh-heh, no, probably not…” Velvet chuckled, and turned her smile on her boyfriend. “Well, Night Light? Are you in?”

Slowly, and without a word or the slightest change in his dumbfounded expression, Night Light nodded his head.

“Great, it’s settled then,” Velvet announced with no small amount of excitement, leaping up from her cushion, and Night Light swore there was a literal trail of thick and sticky fluid suspended in the air between the wet spot on the cushion and Velvet’s backside. “So then, um… how should we…”

“Begin?” Celestia finished the thought, standing as well. Night Light couldn’t see the condition of her seat, but he very much wanted to imagine it was in a similar state. “Well, with a threesome of this particular composition… the usual etiquette is that the established couple is free to… ‘go first.’”

“Are you sure?” Velvet asked. “I mean, aren’t you still in the middle of an active cycle?”

“Yes, but Night Light has already cooled it somewhat. I can wait a bit longer, and you have been kept waiting long enough. Besides, it will give me time to make some preparations. Please, enjoy yourselves. I will be back to join you in a few minutes.”

Celestia bowed to them both and turned to trot swiftly out of the bedroom, leaving Night Light and Velvet alone inside.

“You’re completely insane, I hope you know that,” Night Light told her as soon as the door closed. “I cannot believe you just propositioned Celestia for a threesome. Successfully.”

“Like you didn’t set me up for it, mister ‘Blab my dirty thoughts about Celestia to her face,’” Velvet shot right back, offering him a wry smile. “You’re lucky I didn’t completely freeze up.”

“I’m sorry! It just sort of came out, I wasn't thinking…”

“Not with your head, obviously.”

Night Light knocked a hoof against his skull and smiled. “Heh, not with this head, no…”

“Mmm… speaking of which,” Velvet said, rubbing herself against his flank, “Celestia was right… I’ve been waiting long enough…”

Night Light shivered all over and nodded his consent, turning to capture his marefriend’s lips in a swift and savory kiss as they blindly made their way to Celestia’s massive bed. The moment the kiss was over he hurried to strip his armor and toss it aside in an unceremonious pile at the base of the ponnequin it was meant for, and then climbed up onto the bed first, rolling toward the middle of the mattress and settling himself at the head of the bed, upright and leaning against the headboard. Velvet followed a moment later, and settled herself much lower than Night Light had expected, draped loosely across his lap with her nose nuzzled against his aching stallionhood that still stood proud and erect.

“Uh…heh, Velvet…?” Night Light murmured. “What are you doing down there? I can’t really, uh… reach you, for anything…”

“Oh, it just occurred to me that when we were together the other night, the ‘giving’ portion was a little… one-sided.” Her front hooves slipped up to hug and cradle his shaft between them as she spoke, and her tone dropped a full octave suddenly. “Thought I might return the favor…”

Night Light’s eyes went as wide as Velvet’s mouth was opening. “Ah, t-that, that’s really not, I mean, you don’t have to do thhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaoooooooohhhhhhhh, well, if you ins-sist…!”

Velvet smirked and winked at him, but Night Light didn’t really see it. His eyes were already drooping back down into a half-lidded and hazy gaze of pure bliss as his marefriend’s mouth closed itself around the tip of his shaft and began to suck on it, immediately drawing happy, heavy groans out of him.

Night Light couldn’t help but once more summon up explicit memories and compare his current position to an earlier, similar moment with Celestia, and marvel all over again at how dramatically different the sensations were. Celestia had offered a fairly straightforward and traditional approach to oral pleasure, taking a sizable portion of his dick into her mouth and bobbing back and forth on it in a slow but satisfying imitation of normal thrusting motions, and as a nice little twist, seemed to challenge herself to swallow more and more of the eager appendage each time she descended upon it. She was clearly experienced at doing so, too; she’d actually gotten within two inches of hilting on him completely before he had to warn her to either stop or be force-fed semen (she chose the latter, he recalled with gleeful delight), and could have probably have finished the job if he hadn’t finished first.

Velvet on the other hoof was a bit more creative. She didn’t take anything more than the thicker, flared bit of his cock into her mouth, but she used her tongue to much greater effect, dragging it lavishly over the flat tip and coaxing out a steady, copious drip of his personal lubricant for her to lap up. Her hooves, too, were getting in on the action, hugging the bulk of his shaft between them and stroking it like a masturbating colt would stroke himself, except so much more exciting because it was the silky-soft fur of his marefriend’s hooves cradling his excited prick instead. Even her magic found a way to be useful, encasing his heavy sack in a dull violet glow that sent pleasant shudders down Night Light’s spine. She didn’t even need to actually do anything with it, really; the almost electric tingle of her magic simply surrounding his balls was giving him fits of excited pleasure.

He wasn’t about to say her technique was particularly better or worse than Celestia’s, though. They were merely different, and he wouldn’t say no to either.

Unfortunately it was not meant to last; Night Light felt a familiar, dull pressure building somewhere deep in his hips, and reluctantly dragged himself back to reality, placing a gentle but firm hoof on Velvet’s shoulder.

Velvet looked up at him in mild surprise and released his dick from her mouth, with no small amount of drool and pre-cum still connecting them. “Something wrong?”

“Close,” he managed to bite out, panting as he willed his excitement levels back down a bit.

Velvet raised an amused eyebrow. “Already?”

“S-shut up, you’re really good at… at that.”

Velvet’s grin grew. “I don’t mind, you know… if you want to finish--”

“I do, I really do,” Night Light groaned, “but I’m not sure… how many times I can…”

“I wouldn’t worry about it. Something tells me you’ll have plenty of ammo today,” Velvet said with a soft snicker. “But alright. Save it, just in case. Maybe I’ll finish this one later,” she added, winking again.

“That… would be really nice,” Night Light agreed, stifling a groan.

“Now come here, big guy…”

Velvet took just a moment to wipe her mouth clean and then tugged on Night Light’s back legs, pulling his body away from the headboard of the bed. He went willingly, letting himself lie flat on his back beneath her as she crawled fully on top of him, and though he couldn’t see it, he could definitely feel the thick, wet heat of her marehood starting to slide over his length, straddling him, coating him with one more layer of lubricant, this time from his girlfriend’s incredibly soaked pussy.

“Goddess, Velvet…” he said, gazing up at her with his laziest grin. “I can’t believe… how drippy you get…”

Velvet actually blushed a little. “Pretty sure most mares get like that…”

“Not like you,” Night Light insisted. “You and Celestia both, it’s incredible… mmhh, and delicious…”

Velvet’s blush grew, but a smile swiftly joined it. “Yeah? Hehe… gosh, no wonder you were so eager to eat me out that night, you kinky stallion…”

“Mmm, it was admirably his first thought with me as well,” another voice chimed in.

Both partners looked over at the sound to find that Celestia had silently returned and was already standing at the bedside. She looked significantly different now though. Her royal regalia had been entirely abandoned; from her hoof-slippers to her crown and everything in between, it was all gone, and for the first time Night Light saw his monarch completely bare. It did far more than Night Light would have ever guessed toward making her seem more like a normal everyday pony, and was thoroughly shocking and exciting all on its own. But somehow far more noticeable than even that was the fact that she really did look simply… normal. Gone was the tall, intimidating stature and the unnaturally shiny, almost ethereal look of her mane. She now stood probably only a few inches taller than Night Light, and the pale pinks and greens and blues of her mane looked like actual hair now, hanging long and loose around her muzzle. Were it not for the blazing sun cutie mark still stamped on her flanks he almost would have mistaken her for another pony entirely.

“I thought perhaps it would be more appropriate this way, as long as we’re dispensing with titles,” Celestia said, answering the unspoken question on the two lovers’ lips.

“I-it suits you…” Night Light stammered as he stared, his eyes drinking in this whole new example of feminine beauty.

“You’re not gonna make Night Light all… big?” Velvet wondered, almost sounding disappointed.

“I would have to do the same for you,” Celestia reminded her, “and I would rather not prolong Night Light’s Magical Overload anyway, after today. This is… simpler.”

“I’m completely okay with that,” Night Light insisted. “You look amazing this way…”

“Thank you, Night Light…” Celestia said, punctuating it with a soft giggle. “I’ve made arrangements so that we won’t be bothered for a while. The day shift door guards have been relieved, and Lieutenant Pommel graciously volunteered to cover for you today.”

Night Light groaned briefly. “Fuck. He’s gonna kill me for this…”

“Oh, he likely won’t mind too much. I may have… sweetened the deal, so to speak, by posting one Private Steadfast at your office.”

Night Light blinked and imagined the potential results of that for a few seconds. “…Oh goddess, there’s going to be cum everywhere.”

Velvet chose that moment to flex her thighs around Night Light’s cock, drawing a sharp and sudden moan out of him. “You got that right, mister…” she cooed at him.

That was more than enough teasing for Night Light. He was hard, she was wet, and they were ready to go. Night Light clamped his front hooves over the triple stars on either side of Velvet’s butt and gave her a short yank forward, dragging the length of his cock one last time across her outer lips until just his tip was poking at them. And before the strangled moan was even halfway out of Velvet’s throat, Night Light flexed his cock upward and shoved Velvet’s hips back to where she’d started, driving himself into her oh-so-seductively warm and inviting pussy. Velvet cried out her immediate and vehement approval, her back arching until she sat fully upright, and didn’t even wait to get used to the mammoth member invading her body before she started bouncing on it, front hooves planted on his chest for stability as her butt drove itself into his lap over and over with a series of wet and deeply satisfying smack sounds.

“Goodness, not wasting any time, I see,” Celestia teased, her eyes alight with excited desire as she watched the two lovers settle into a rhythm. “What happened to that generous stallion who was so eager to service his mares before himself?”

“Uhh… guh… I… buh…” Night Light flushed and struggled to form words. It was an oddly difficult question to ponder when his marefriend was in his lap taking him balls-deep.

“Oh he’s still in there,” Velvet beat him to it, giggling through her gasps of pleasure. “The way I heard it, you’re the one who stopped him when he tried it.”

“Regrettably so,” Celestia admitted. “I was far too eager to get to business. I believe I said ‘at any other time I would praise such selflessness and savor it at great length.’”

Night Light got the hint despite himself. “Would… would now be… a good time?”

Celestia broke out into a grin. “Now would be a delightful time.”

Night Light would have patted himself on the back if his hooves weren’t still firmly attached to Velvet’s butt. Instead he allowed a proud smile of his own, which only grew as Celestia at last joined them on the bed. For a moment he wondered about how they would make this work, logistically, but he didn’t have to worry for long, as Celestia was way ahead of him. She paused briefly to give each of them one more swift nuzzle of thanks, and then did precisely what Night Light almost didn’t dare hope she would do.

She faced Twilight Velvet, swung her tail and one hind leg over Night Light’s head, and sat down on his face.

There was literally only one downside to this arrangement, and that was that Night Light could no longer see his girlfriend riding his dick. But he could still feel it, and that was enough, because everything else about this was making his boner even more diamond-hard than it already was. His vision was completely filled with Celestia’s incredible and shapely ass, only the barest slivers of daylight peeking in at the very peripheral edges. Off to either side he could see a couple of the sunbeams from her cutie mark stretching out toward him. Above him, a curtain of pink and blue and green tail hair thrashed back and forth eagerly. Toward the lower end of his gaze he saw the very faint and subtle mounds of her teats, punctuated by pale pink nipples just barely peeking through her fur. And a bit above that, dead center in his vision, was his primary prize; smaller than he remembered, thanks to her size change, but no less enticing of a pussy, pink and hot and moist and already winking at him invitingly.

Night Light was not about to pass up an invitation like that.

His hooves left Twilight Velvet’s flanks at last, and planted themselves on Celestia’s ass instead, quite close to her nethers, so that when he got a good grip and pulled, her outer lips spread open and exposed even more enticingly wet, pink flesh further inside. Night Light made this his target, nosing his muzzle up against her soaking, winking folds and drove his tongue forward for a long, lavish lick inside her pussy. Somewhere far above his head he thought he heard a shaky, floating moan, but he didn’t care right then. Everything about Celestia’s pussy was immediately overwhelming to him; the scent, the heat, the wetness, the taste, all of it was mindboggling, robbing him of any conscious thought except for the fact that he wanted more, and this time he would not be denied. His hooves held tighter to Celestia’s flanks, refusing to be dragged away after only a few licks, but really he knew that wouldn’t happen. Celestia was more than content to let him bury his muzzle in her honeypot and eat his fill, and Night Light would do no less.

It was getting more difficult, however. Conscious thought might have been absent at the moment, but his sex drive was rapidly getting caught in a tug of war for his attentions between the hot and drippy mare pussy in his face, and the hot and drippy mare pussy on his dick. He was taking deep, personal gratification in eating out his glorious monarch’s even more glorious snatch, but the feeling of his marefriend riding his cock, taking him to the hilt with no trouble at all and even speeding up now, was nearly impossible to compete with. His attention was rapidly splitting, less gusto behind his licking and kissing of Celestia’s marehood, and instead was starting to give Velvet a few thrusts in return, making their hips meet with a bit more force.

To his shock, though, Velvet took just a few of them before her hooves pressed even harder on his chest and stopped their motions. A second later he felt her laying down across his belly, and just barely saw her flushed, smiling face peeking at him from the sliver of light beyond Celestia’s teats.

“You just focus on that pussy in your face,” she whispered. “She deserves the attention, and I wanna ride you myself.”

“You are far too generous…” Celestia said, her voice shaking already.

“Shut up and enjoy the tongue in your twat.”

Celestia swiftly went silent, and Velvet disappeared from view, starting up her bouncing rhythm again. And though Night Light very much wanted to keep fucking her back, he obeyed Velvet’s request, letting her work his cock on her own and returning his full attention to Celestia. His hooves shifted up to grip her cutie marks directly, and his tongue began making broader strokes over the entirety of Celestia’s intimate areas, reaching nearly low enough to suck her teats and dragging all the way back up, over her engorged clitoris, through her lips that were leaking a tiny waterfall of sweet mare-honey, and even ringing a circle around her tail-hole, before dragging his tongue back down and doing the whole thing again in reverse. Every pass he completed drew a thick moan out of the mare, stronger and stronger with each one, until by about the dozenth pass or so she was as incoherent as that first night, whining and begging in nonsense words for Night Light to grant her release.

Night Light sincerely hoped he could do so soon; that pressure was building in his loins again, thanks to his marefriend’s relentless grinding and bouncing. He still couldn’t really see it, but he could absolutely feel Twilight Velvet’s insides clenching and constricting around him and growing hotter than before, and the strained cry and the very wet splash on his lap that immediately followed it confirmed that she’d won the race for the first orgasm of the evening. Not that that stopped her; if anything it spurred her on, making her buck and grind in his lap harder than ever to keep hold of her euphoria as long as possible. Night Light bit his lip against a groan; if the throbbing in his balls was any indication, he would be right behind her at any moment, with her squirming and jerking and squirting the way she was, and he’d be damned if he let himself finish before either of his mares. He squeezed his eyes shut and willed himself to hold back, futile though it was, and focused his best efforts on attacking Celestia’s clit directly, wrapping his lips around the swollen nub and sucking on it like a foal to a nipple. A near-shriek reached his ears a moment later, no doubt from Celestia, and he prayed it was the cry of climax, because he was at his limit, any second now he would be--

“C-coming…!”

Celestia’s gasp of warning was far too late to be effective. It wasn’t even half a second out of her mouth before the trickle running over Night Light’s nose became a jet stream, dousing his muzzle with thick, warm juices. It wasn’t for long, perhaps only a second or so at a time for just a few seconds in total, but it was enough for him to get a very generous taste of mare-cum, sweet and tangy and borderline-intoxicating. A hot, sick swoop of pleasure shot down his spine as he opened his eyes again to watch Celestia’s pussy gush, and just like that it was the last straw for him as well. His eyes rolled back, a desperate groan escaped his throat, and he came, the boiling pressure in his loins bursting upward through his cock and into his marefriend. Her pussy clamped down even tighter than before as he filled it, as though the torrent of semen was sending her own orgasm to even greater heights, and Night Light didn’t deny her, pumping and spurting and coming with everything he had, holding Velvet down tight to his lap so none of it would escape.

Unfortunately it was a futile effort. Velvet soon rolled off Night Light and flopped to her back in exhaustion beside him, and the second his cock dislodged from her slit, his load was dripping right back out of her, more full of his semen than she could possibly hope to hold in.

“W-wow…” Velvet whispered, amazed. “Guess that’s what I get for teasing you so hard first, huh…?”

“S-sorry,” Night Light stammered. “I couldn’t hold back, I didn’t want to hold back…”

“I’m glad you didn’t…” Velvet sighed pleasantly. “It felt amazing… I think we’ve already ruined Celestia’s bedspread, though…”

“Hm-hm-hm, don’t worry about that,” Celestia assured them both, chuckling and positively glowing with happy energy as she crawled off Night Light’s face. “Sheets can be washed and replaced, and this time of year I always stock extra.”

“You and every other mare alive,” Velvet chuckled.

Celestia smirked back. “And speaking of this time of year… I believe it’s my turn to receive a belly full of stallion seed.”

“Uh…” Night Light glanced down between his legs, his cock still out to full extension but much less rigid than before, and smiled apologetically back up at her. “I think I’m gonna need a few minutes first…”

“Naturally,” Celestia said. “Although I hope you don’t mind if I attempt to speed up the process? I’m sure you remember how good I can be at providing… encouragement.”

Memories of Celestia’s blowjob came screaming back to him once again, reminding him that yes, Celestia was indeed very good at encouraging him. “N-no, I don’t mind at all,” he said aloud. “I-I mean, if you want to do that, that is, I wouldn’t force you to… t-to do that for me…”

“Actually I thought I’d offer a different sort of encouragement this time…”

Celestia approached the head of the bed again before Night Light had a chance to wonder what that could mean. But she did not crawl over Night Light again; this time she loomed over Velvet, who was still flat on her back, and knelt down in front of her.

Night Light’s body went stiff and wide-eyed. Surely she wasn’t about to--?

“Don’t worry, Twilight Velvet…” she said, putting her front hooves on Velvet’s back ones to push them apart, and dipped her head even lower. “I will be gentle.”

Oh yes. She was most certainly about to.

Night Light’s dick was already twitching again.

“Mmmnnnfff…” Velvet bit her lip against a moan, squirming with anticipation and not resisting for a moment as her legs were spread far out to her sides. “I-I’ve never done this with a mare, you know…”

“It’s been a lifetime and then some for me as well,” Celestia said. “I think I remember the basics well enough, though.”

Celestia winked at both partners and got to work. She started out gently, as promised, leaving Velvet’s more sensitive bits alone while they recovered from her orgasmic high, and instead licked and kissed her way up Velvet’s inner thighs. She took her time, more than Night Light thought any of them would have the patience for, and stopped to lick her lips and coo in delight every few seconds. It took Night Light a few rounds of this to remember that Velvet had had a very wet orgasm too, and realized with yet another eager twitch in his dick that Celestia was now licking up her juices like ambrosia, drawing out cute little moans of excitement from his marefriend as she got closer and closer to her true target. It was inches away now, still dripping with the overflow of Night Light’s ejaculate, and for a moment Night Light wondered if that would dissuade her from continuing further.

“You really did give her a generous helping,” Celestia observed aloud suddenly as she appeared to notice the same thing. “More than she could handle, really. It would be a shame for so much to go to waste.”

Night Light stared, unblinking, as Celestia moved in closer still and made one long, slow stroke with her tongue, from the bed-sheet below Velvet’s hips to the crack of her rump, over her tail-hole and right to the outer lips of her quivering cunt. And every single glob of cum running down that trail came up with it, pooling first on Celestia’s tongue and then flowing past her lips, until every bit of the sticky, creamy substance that had leaked from Velvet’s nethers was inside the other mare’s mouth.

Night Light swallowed, hard.

A second later Celestia did the same.

“Mmhhh,” the Princess moaned and licked her lips, looking satisfied with herself. “Delightful. You two make a wonderful flavor together…”

Night Light was now so hard it was literally painful.

“Are you g-gonna sit there and be a c-cum connoisseur or are you going to g-get to the actual meal?” Velvet demanded, as firmly as she could despite her body shuddering with desire. She was no better off than Night Light, it seemed, her body already aching for another round. All of them were, really. There was no reason to delay any longer.

“I most certainly will get to the main course,” Celestia said meanwhile, dipping her head again. “Just making the most of my opportunities to keep our friend stimulat--OH!”

Celestia gasped as she suddenly felt the firm grasp of Night Light’s hooves on her flanks lifting them up into proper mounting position, and the gentle slap of his full-sized erection against her belly. She turned away from the drippy snatch in front of her, much to the displeasure of its owner, and gave the stallion a surprised stare instead. “Night Light? I… I didn’t think you’d be ready again this soon!”

Night Light grunted and squeezed her hips, right over her cutie marks as he started to rear back and line himself up for penetration. “I just watched you lick my last load out of my girlfriend’s pussy. Name a stallion who wouldn’t be rock hard after seeing that.”

Celestia let out a hitched moan and a teasing smile. “Well, there was this one rather squeamish stallion who--”

Night Light never found out any more about that stallion, because at that moment his cock found its target and sank smoothly inside his monarch’s tight, soaked channel, and Celestia’s words were cut off by a much louder and more forceful moan that was itself buried and muffled when her head fell back to the bed and landed muzzle-first in Twilight Velvet’s waiting pussy.

“Thank you,” Velvet said with a dreamy sigh, planting her front legs around Celestia’s head to make sure she stayed there.

Not that she could back up if she even wanted to. Night Light was hilted inside her other end, keeping her in place, and he was in no hurry to move just yet. If he did, he was liable to cum again immediately. He didn’t know if it was because he was attempting to rut her right after she’d orgasmed or their special arrangement had her extra excited or her size change had simply adjusted her proportions or some mix of all three, but whatever the reason, her cunt was absolutely throttling his cock, pressing hot, slick and silky flesh into every inch of him. And the view wasn’t bad either; Celestia’s rump was still a delight to behold, and now when he looked past it he had a perfect view of her muzzle deep in his girlfriend’s folds, fishing her tongue playfully into those soaked nether-lips and drawing still more gooey droplets of semen back out with her to gulp down. Adding that to the heady scent of both mares’ arousal still in his nostrils and their uncensored moans and the taste of girl-cum still on his lips, it was very nearly a total sensory overload for Night Light, and it was with no small amount of surprise and pride that he managed to start thrusting into Celestia at a more or less steady pace without becoming a one-minute-wonder.

Even so, it was a struggle to keep things going. By minute two he was breathing like he’d galloped a mile and his hips were seriously feeling the burn. By minute three his balls were churning and it felt like the tip of his cock was permanently flared. And by minute four he was so indescribably desperate to cum again that he had to close his eyes and block out the wondrous view of Velvet getting her cunt devoured, for fear that the slightest little tickle of extra pleasure would shatter his resolve and bring a white, sticky end to round two. That simply could not happen. Not yet. Not before the girls were done. He was a gentlecolt, for pony’s sake, he would hold out, he would not finish first, he would--

“Night Light, would you please hold my tail out of the way?” Celestia interrupted his thoughts, her voice floating like it was on a heavenly cloud.

Night Light grunted distractedly, opening one eye again. “H-huh…? What about your tail?”

“I’m very close… and I’d rather not get it too messy…”

Thank fuck. That was one mare. He could only hope Velvet was this close. Night Light hastened to accommodate her, wrapping one hoof around her colorful tail and pulling it up to eye level in a single bunch so he could clamp his teeth around it. He wasn’t quite sure why it was necessary, though; didn’t most mares just hold their tails up or aside naturally? Sure, Celestia had a lot of tail, but--

“Now pull.”

Night Light blinked.

Oh.

Oh.

Oh, that was hot. That was really hot.

Too hot.

Night Light shuddered and groaned, feeling an unmistakable spasm in his dick. The fight was lost; he was officially past the point of no return now. It was all he could do to give Celestia what she wanted in his final moments. With his last conscious thought he bit down firmly on Celestia’s tail, and yanked his head back on his final thrust, holding her on his hilt and pulling her tail as hard as he could.

Celestia’s moans skyrocketed, in both volume and intensity, and Night Light felt his hips convulse in response, her ecstatic wails the perfect sounds for him to cum to. His head rolled back a bit and held her tail taut as he met his boiling climax, pouring his second load of the day into the depths of her estrus-wracked body. Her cunt took it in hungrily, greedily, clenching him and squeezing him and sucking the semen right out of his cock until he’d given it everything he had, feeding her desperate need as only natural instinct could. Again Celestia sounded like she was in heaven, floating lighter than air on her orgasmic high, and Night Light did the best he could to help her stay there, holding her tail nice and tight while she rolled through the satisfying climax of a well-soothed heat cycle. She didn’t soak him nearly as copiously as she had with her first orgasm, but she still left him coated in a second layer of sweet mare secretions by the time he let go of her tail and pulled out.

His hind legs gave out almost immediately after he was done, and so he dropped to his rump and laid back against the corner bedpost, dripping with sweat and juices. His cock was rapidly going limp again, and it was by sheer force of will that it stayed even half-erect instead of vanishing back into his sheath. He normally wouldn’t have bothered fighting to stay hard after finishing Celestia off, but in today’s case, something told him he wasn’t quite done for the day.

And it turned out he was right. When he regained enough of his senses to look at anything other than Celestia’s well-serviced hindquarters, he saw to his surprise that Twilight Velvet was sitting up at Celestia’s other end, a half-foot or so removed from her. The Princess had apparently fallen away from Velvet’s nethers at some point in the midst of Night Light’s rutting, and one look in her eyes told him she hadn’t joined them in a second orgasm.

Night Light offered an apologetic smile, silently cursing himself for failing to take care of both mares. “Heh, was I, uh… too distracting?”

“Guess so,” Velvet agreed, somewhat breathlessly. “But hey, I already knew you were pretty damn good, so it’s no big surprise.”

“Haha, w-well still,” Night Light stammered, “sorry you were left hanging…”

“Mmhh, my apologies as well,” Celestia murmured as she caught her breath. “I’m afraid I lost myself in the moment a bit, and Night Light indulged me with flying colors… thank you for that, by the way, Night Light. I haven’t felt a good tail-yank in ages…”

“N-not a problem,” Night Light said, modestly rubbing the back of his head.

“And Velvet,” she added, “I’d be more than happy to resume and make it up to you, if you like.”

“…Actually, I’ve got another way you can make it up to me,” Velvet countered.

“Oh?” Celestia sat up on slightly shaky limbs, taking a few more deep breaths. “Mmmh, very well… what did you have in mind?”

“You got Night Light the day off, so it doesn’t matter if he gets a little more residual magic buildup, right?” she asked, smiling mischievously at her stallion. “I wanna see what he looks like when he’s all... you know… big.”

Night Light gulped a little. “You… do?”

Celestia matched Velvet’s sly smile almost immediately. “I think that is something I can do. Night Light, hold still for a moment.”

“H-hey, wait, I didn’t--!”

The protest fell on deaf ears. Night Light was swiftly struck with a blinding burst of gold magic that filled his body with a familiar and pleasant warmth for a few seconds, and when it faded enough for him to see clearly again, his limbs seemed twice as long as they were a second ago, and everything around him seemed a bit smaller. Including the two other ponies on the bed with him.

“Oh wow,” Velvet marveled, looking shamelessly over Night Light’s grown body. “You’re almost as big as Celestia usually is.”

“Y-yeah, I guess I am,” Night Light admitted. “But Velvet, why did you want to--?”

“What, you expect me to hear all about Celestia making you huge so you can rut her properly and then not want to see it for myself? No way,” Velvet said. “And speaking of huge, holy horseapples, is that really your--?”

Night Light followed her gaze, already pretty sure he knew what she was checking out. Sure enough, her eyes were locked on to his semi-erect cock, easily twice as big as it had been before in both length and girth. It was probably about as long as her entire leg now, and as big around to boot. He was getting hard again, too, just watching her stare at it, rising off the bedspread to point right at her, and despite two climaxes already, the hungry look in her eyes made him feel like he could work up a third. Velvet was right, back at the beginning; he had plenty of ammo to spend today.

“Tell you what, handsome, I’ll make you a deal,” Velvet said with a lick of her lips, as if reading his thoughts. “You finish me off, and I’ll finish that blowjob I started earlier…”

Night Light’s cock twitched skyward. “Deal,” he groaned instantly.

Velvet was on top of him in a heartbeat, shoving her sopping wet cunt against his lips, and Night Light didn’t keep her waiting. Immediately he ran his tongue over her, marveling at how much more of her he was able to cover at his new size. It was like licking a slightly miniaturized version of his marefriend; the flat of his tongue could completely cover her vagina and still be able to tickle her clit with the tip of it, which was exactly what he did. Velvet squealed her fervent approval of the move, and rewarded him right away with the heavenly feel of her warm mouth closing around the tip of his cock once again, making Night Light’s knees tremble. It was amazing, incredible even; he was twice as big now as he had been when she first did this, and still she was managing to suck his cock like a champ, running her tongue over his flared tip just like before, just like he liked. Her hooves, too, were resuming their previous duty, wrapping themselves around his thicker shaft and hugging tight, all four of them stroking with playful eagerness--

Wait, four?

Yes. Four. He could very much feel four distinct hooves curled around his swollen shaft. Two of them were up near his tip along with Velvet’s mouth, obviously belonging to her. But her hind hooves were currently wrapped around his head, holding his muzzle in her rump. That could only mean the other hooves currently stroking down near his balls belonged to…

Night Light lifted his head a few inches to take a peek over Velvet’s rear, confirming his suspicions. Celestia had joined in, her hooves hugging and stroking the base of his shaft and even running her tongue up the underside. As he watched, Celestia carried the lick all the way up his dick, slipping right between Velvet’s hooves, until her tongue flicked over Velvet’s muzzle. Velvet twitched and drew back from Night Light’s tip in mild surprise, once again only connected to him by a few strands of drool and pre-cum, but she quickly relaxed and smiled, and an unspoken agreement seemed to pass between the mares, because now they were both kissing and licking his tip from either side, sharing the eager flare and taking turns licking up the steady trickle of clear fluid from his tip.

Night Light shuddered, another hot, sick swoop of pleasure shooting through him. Silently he thanked the goddesses for whatever he’d done to earn this moment, and redoubled his efforts to keep his end of the deal, lapping at Velvet’s juicy cunt with more gusto than ever. Her nectar flowed freely now, encouraging him and spurring him and leaving him punch-drunk on her heady scent and flavor, and briefly he fantasized about fucking her again like this. He knew it wouldn’t work, of course, he couldn’t fit any more than the tip of his tongue inside her at this size, taking his dick right now would be impossible.

But that didn’t mean it wasn’t insanely hot to imagine her trying.

Velvet came without warning a few seconds later, right as Night Light dragged the entirety of his enormous tongue over her clit. Her ecstatic shriek hit his ears at precisely the same moment her pussy pumped a waterfall of mare-cum down his throat, and Night Light didn’t miss a beat, expecting it, wanting it, needing it, drinking deeply from her quivering flower while the leftover juices ran wildly over his cheeks. It was two mouthfuls before she finished coming and pulled away, and now Night Light literally felt drunk, dazed by her intoxicating body and aroma and taste, jerking his hips upward and thrusting through both sets of hooves and lips tending to his cock.

“Gonna come… gonna come, gonna come,” he chanted breathlessly, barely resisting the urge to add his own hooves to the equation.

“I’ve got you, honey…” he heard Velvet whisper, making him look up. Celestia was still there, helping stroke and lick him to his finish, but it was Velvet who was again alone at his flare, shaking with orgasmic aftershocks but smiling at him ear to ear as she kissed his dick.

“Go ahead,” she murmured, and closed her lips around his tip.

That was all he needed.

Night Light threw his head back with a mighty groan, and gave in to his third and final orgasm, his hips jerking and his dick spasming with incredible pleasure before spurting once, twice, three times into Velvet’s mouth, his semen coating her tongue and throat impossibly fast. His orgasms had obviously doubled in size with the rest of him, and Velvet had to pull back for just a second to breathe and swallow. The next two shots burst forth in the meantime, drawing a pair of thick cum lines across her cheeks and down her muzzle, and then she went right back for more, the next shot landing in her open mouth before her lips closed around him again and he pumped the last of his load down her throat.

That was officially enough for him. The moment he finished expelling his seed, his dick retreated, slipping free of Velvet and Celestia’s hooves and lips and shrinking back into his sheath. Thankfully both mares seemed more than satisfied, and so Night Light slumped down flat on his back, content to just pass out right then and there. Velvet dropped atop his chest to join him a moment later, tiredly wiping her face off in his coat, but Night Light couldn’t bring himself to care about the mess after what she’d just done for him, and they’d all need baths before rejoining the rest of the world anyway. Instead Night Light gingerly draped his hooves around Velvet as she nuzzled against his chest, and hugged her snugly into place, engulfing her almost completely with his oversized body.

Celestia giggled, apparently finding this very funny. “Here,” she said after a moment, “let me make you a bit more comfortable.”

Another wave of gold magic passed over Night Light, and he felt his body shift again, shrinking back down to proper size and floating hoof-in-hoof with Velvet into a more natural cuddling position, lying on their sides at the proper end of the bed. Celestia then turned the same magic on herself, and when it faded, she too had returned to her proper size, and was laying down with them as well, her body curled around them both like a protective mother.

“Thank you so much, both of you, for sharing this with me,” Celestia said as she settled down.

“Thank you for turning a crummy day into an amazing one,” Velvet said back. “That was so much better than I could have imagined.”

Celestia let out a tired chuckle. “You’re quite welcome…”

“So, what does this mean for… you know, the future?” Night Light couldn’t help but ask, sincerely unsure to which mare he should be directing the question.

As if having the same thought, both mares exchanged a brief look of uncertainty.

“Well,” Celestia spoke up first, “I still don’t wish to come between you two during an estrus cycle… and I wouldn’t dream of imposing upon you outside of mating seas--”

“You know what? Forget all that imposing and mating season and getting-between-us crap,” Velvet interrupted, smiling. “As far as I’m concerned, you’re welcome in our bed anytime.”

Celestia swiftly smiled back. “Twilight Velvet, you are a truly exceptional mare. Thank you, I--…” Celestia paused, blinking at her curiously. “…Anytime?”

“Yeah,” Velvet agreed with a quick smile at Night Light. “Anytime.”

Night Light would’ve sprung another erection right then if he had anything left to give at the moment. “Have I mentioned that I love you?” he said instead.

“You could say it a few more times,” she replied with a tired giggle of her own.

“…Anytime, then,” Celestia agreed, beaming brighter. “Although I still insist--”

“On not coming between us, I know,” Velvet finished for her with a slight eye roll. “Fine then, ‘anytime, as long as we’re both involved.’ Happy?”

Celestia nodded. “That is most acceptable.”

Night Light blushed and laughed, unable to restrain himself. “Not that I’d mind if you two just wanted to--”

“Oh shut up, ‘Pommel,’” Velvet teased right back.

All three of them shared one last laugh, and then fell into a comfortable silence as they laid there in each other’s hooves and drifted off into the best nap any of them had ever had.

Chapter Ten: Diamonds Are Forever

Chapter Ten: Diamonds Are Forever

“I tell ya, Lighty, I’m gonna really freakin’ miss this mating season.”

Night Light didn’t even bother opening his eyes, reclining under a shady tree in the late afternoon sun. “You say that every mating season, Pommel.”

“Yeah, but this time I really mean it,” Pommel added, reclined against the same tree right beside him.

“You say that every mating season too.” Night Light paused for a long moment of thought, and then smiled. “But you know what, Pommel? For once, I feel the same way.”

“Yeah, of course you do,” Pommel said, slugging him in the shoulder. “For once, you actually won mating season.”

“Oh shut up, mating season isn’t a competition.”

“Says the stallion who got to bang two of the top three hottest mares in Equestria. At the same time.”

“Are you going to make me regret telling you about that every day for the rest of my life?”

“Probably, yeah.”

The two stallions shared a brief chuckle and fell silent for a moment, basking in the warmth and beauty of their mutual summer day off. The weather was just right: warm enough that the two friends weren’t wearing anything more than matching white, semi-casual shirts, but cool enough that they could at least wear that much without soaking them through with sweat. Canterlot Central Park was mostly calm around them; the busy evenings of ponies gathering with their mating season dates had passed with the last days of spring, and the park was a haven of peace and quiet once again.

When Pommel wasn’t carrying on about mares, anyway.

“So I’m guessing number three is that Steadfast girl you were seeing all season?” Night Light spoke up curiously, opening an eye at last to look over at the bat-pony.

Pommel shrugged. “Number one, actually, but yeah.”

Night Light raised an impressed eyebrow. “Wow, really? You liked her that much?”

“Damn straight,” Pommel confirmed, grinning his cockiest grin. “Told you, that girl is freaky in the sheets. You three aren’t the only ponies who had the best season of their lives this year.”

“You say that every year too.”

“Yeah, but this time I--… damnit, shut up.”

Night Light laughed softly to himself. “So you really like this mare, huh? For real?”

“Yeah, I already told you--”

“No, I mean do you really like her?” Night Light clarified. “Mating season’s been over for a couple of weeks now… are you still seeing her?”

Pommel went from smirking to squirming in record time. “Screw you, dude, that’s personal.”

“Aww, come on, it’s just an innocent question.”

“I seem to remember a certain evening at the officer’s club when I asked about you and Velvet, and you told me to shove it,” Pommel snorted at him.

Night Light waved a dismissive hoof. “That’s totally different, you were asking about my sex life.”

“Is it a crime to drill you about who you’re drilling?”

“Yes. It carries a life sentence on conviction,” Night Light drolly joked. “And you’re changing the subject.”

Pommel groaned and rolled his eyes. “Ugh… fine, yes, we’re still hanging out, okay? We’ve got a dinner and theater date in half an hour.”

Night Light smiled victoriously. “There, see, was that so hard to admit?”

“It’s not that big a deal, dude, so what if I’m still seeing her?”

“It’s totally a big deal,” Night Light insisted, his smile growing almost proud now. “I’ve never known you to settle down with any mare before, you’re the biggest tail-chaser I know. Damn, Pommel, you must really like her.”

“Yeah, yeah, keep your friggin’ voice down before you ruin my reputation,” Pommel admitted under his breath.

“Wouldn’t that be a tragedy,” Night Light said with a snicker. “But seriously, Pommel, I’m happy for you. You’re a good stallion under all the smartass. You deserve a nice mare.”

Pommel actually blushed for once. “Ugh, come on, Lighty, you promised you’d never get this sappy with me again.”

Night Light had to laugh. “Alright, alright, shutting up…”

“Thank you,” Pommel said. “…So are you ever gonna give me the details about the threesome thing?”

“Nope.”

Pommel threw up his hooves in exasperation. “Oh, thanks. I open up to you a little and this is what I get back? Some friend you are.”

“It was a special night, Pommel.”

“You boned each other for the rest of the season, you lying little twat.”

Night Light went rapidly red. “How do you figure that?”

“Uh, hello, Celestia’s personal night guard?” Pommel said, tapping a hoof to his own chest. “It was pretty obvious whether you were banging her on any given night, when I’d come in and find an empty throne there’s not much else she’d be doing. And even if it wasn’t obvious, what do you think we talk about all night when she is there?”

“She… talks about it?” Night Light asked.

“Oh yeah. You must give it to her crazy good, too, ‘cause she always has a big goofy smile on her face when she’s on the subject.”

Night Light groaned and covered his face in his hooves. “Well then why the hay are you grilling me about it too?”

“Just looking for some perspective!” Pommel laughed. “She only really talks about how it was for her, she doesn’t say much of anything about you and Velvet. Something about what little respect for your privacy she can blah blah blah.”

“Well that’s something, at least…”

“But yeah, it’s pretty obvious you three boned all season, so really you might as well just tell me about it.”

“Can’t you ask anything about how we’re doing other than in our sex lives?”

“That’s not nearly as interesting.”

“Ugh… I don’t know what you want me to say, Pommel,” Night Light replied with a helpless shrug. “It’s not like we were doing anything totally crazy. It was… well, a threesome.”

“Several threesomes.”

“Whatever. My point is, it’s not like it’s a complicated thing to imagine. Half the time I’m with Velvet, half the time I’m with Celestia. Sometimes I do other stuff to them, sometimes they do other stuff to me, sometimes they… do stuff to each other,” he finished with a deeper blush. “That’s really all there is to it. Any more than that and I’m just giving you a blow-by-blow.”

“Yeah, I bet there was--”

“--A lot of blowing, yes, thank you, Pommel.” Night Light groaned and rolled his eyes. “Velvet beat you to that joke weeks ago, by the way.”

“Damn. Guess I need better material.”

“You never had good material in the first place,” Night Light said with a smirk. Pommel had no response to that, and so he let silence settle back in for another brief stay.

“…So alright, I’ll bite,” Pommel eventually spoke up again. “How are you guys doing? Other than your sex lives?”

“Thank you,” Night Light said with a relieved sigh. “We’re doing good. Really good. We’re living together now. Velvet started writing. She’s got a lot more free time for it these days too, she loves it. And Celestia promised to get her first book published, so she’s really excited to finish it.”

“That old librarian broad never tried to get her back, did she?”

“They haven’t spoken a word to each other since she quit, actually,” Night Light said, with no small amount of surprise. “I think Feather Duster’s more scared of her than the Princess now.”

Pommel let out a low whistle. “Damn, remind me never to get on Velvet’s bad side.”

“Yeah, it was scary to see,” Night Light agreed.

“So she gave up trying to, uh… expose you guys?”

Night Light nodded. “Seems that way, yeah. Celestia said they had a long talk about it a little while ago. I think she feels really stupid for making such a big deal out of somepony’s private life. She still doesn’t like the whole ‘Celestia’s Guard Captains are also her private lovers’ thing, but I think she understands now that I’m her Captain of the Guard way more than I’m her…”

“Consort? Love slave? Sex toy?”

“…Sure, something like that,” Night Light said with another eye-roll. “Anyway, I don’t think she’ll be making trouble for us again.”

“That’s good,” Pommel said. Another long pause settled before he spoke again, this time with a coy smile. “…So, uh… if Celestia really did get frisky with her past Guard Captains--”

“Stop right there,” Night Light immediately interrupted.

“…I’m just saying--”

“No, Pommel.”

“I mean you gotta wonder--”

“No I don’t.”

“You’re not even a little bit curious how you compare to--?”

“Nope.”

“But you could totally ask Celestia--”

“Not thinking about it.”

“But it’s like, biologically encoded that every colt wants to surpass his dad one day--”

“Pommel, I swear to Tartarus I’m gonna geld you if you don’t shut up.”

Pommel jerked upright, waving his hooves frantically for a moment. “Whoa whoa whoa, let’s not say things we can’t take back.”

“How is any of this about me and Velvet?”

“I’m sorry, that was boring!”

“Is sex the only thing that isn’t boring to you?”

“No, but come on, dude,” Pommel said, slumping back against their shady tree. “We’ve been friends with her for years and you’ve been into each other the whole time. You were practically dating already. I pretty much know all the shit you guys have been doing together. Unless you’re getting married or something, nothing you’d tell me would be new and interesting. Therefore, it’s boring.”

Night Light immediately went quiet, and red in the cheeks. “Uh… well…”

“…Oh shit, are you getting married?”

“No, no!” Night Light hastily corrected. “I mean… not yet. I was… I mean, I’ve been thinking about, you know, asking…”

“See now, this is interesting.” Pommel sat upright again, looking over at his long-time friend. “You seriously started thinking about it?”

Night Light blushed sheepishly. “Yeah… a while ago.”

“How long?”

Night Light fidgeted in place, sitting up himself. “Ah… well…”

Pommel raised an eyebrow, and smirked. “…You already have a ring, don’t you?”

Night Light gulped and smiled helplessly, slowly producing a tiny box from the chest pocket of his shirt. “…Yeah.”

“So you’re not thinking about asking. You are gonna ask.”

Another slow nod. “…Yeah. You’re right, it feels like we’ve already been together for years anyway, and I know I love her, so…”

“So basically you’re just procrastinating at this point.”

“Yeah, I--… wait, what?”

“You’re scared and squirming in your fur over it, so you’re putting it off ‘til you grow the balls to speak up.”

“I’m not scared. It’s just… it’s a big step, that’s all!”

“Well if you’re not scared, then get to it, Lighty. You’re meeting her here to go to dinner tonight, right?” Pommel said. “Why not ask her when she gets here?”

“I can’t just… ask her out of nowhere!” Night Light exclaimed. “I have to… wait for the right moment!”

“Yeah, you’re procrastinating.”

“I am not procrastinating!”

“Yeah? Then ask her when she gets here.”

“Maybe I will!”

“‘Maybe?’”

“Fine, I will, period!” Night Light insisted. “As soon as she gets here, I will ask her!”

“Ask me what?”

“AUGH!” Night Light leapt a foot in the air with an embarrassingly high-pitched yelp, whirling around to find Twilight Velvet had crept up on them again, and hastily hid the little box back in his pocket. “Goddess, you’re way too good at that…”

“I don’t even try to do anything, I just walked right up to you,” Velvet said, giggling to herself and sending ripples through the thin violet evening dress she was wearing. “You two just get so wrapped up in bullshit you forget the rest of the world exists.”

“S-sorry,” Night Light said, calming down enough to step up and give her a quick kiss and a nuzzle. “Didn’t mean to ignore you. You look great tonight.”

“Thank you, hehe… and you weren’t, don’t worry, I just got here,” she assured him, returning the affection. “What’s this you were you gonna ask me?”

Night Light swiftly blushed. “Oh… uh…”

“He’s got something real important to tell you, don’t ya, Lighty?” Pommel said, snickering.

“Shut up, Pommel…” Night Light hissed back.

“Heh… something important, huh?” Velvet echoed, and suddenly blushed a little herself. “I, uh, actually… had something important to tell you too.”

“Oh, really?” Night Light said. “What, uh… what is it?”

“Nuh-uh, you go first this time,” Velvet insisted. “Mine’s kind of a big one, anyway.”

“W-well, uh, mine’s… kinda big too,” Night Light countered.

“I’m preeeeeetty sure mine’s bigger,” Velvet argued.

“Oh shit, she’s gonna dump you Lighty! Better act fast!”

“Pommel, shut up!”

Velvet giggled again. “I swear, sometimes listening to you two is like listening to a couple of teenage colts.”

“Pfft, I wish I was still a teenager!” Pommel cackled.

“Pommel, will you get out of here already?!” Night Light snapped.

“No way, I gotta make sure you actually do it.”

“Do what?” Velvet asked.

“If you don’t say it, Lighty, I will.”

“Pommel, don’t you fucking dare.”

“Whoa, hey, hey, calm down,” Velvet cooed, giving her coltfriend a soothing nuzzle. “It’s okay, take your time if it’s important.”

“I’m giving him a minute and then I’m saying it.”

“Is this punishment for something? Have I wronged you somehow?”

“Just ask her, you big baby. Fifty-five seconds.”

Night Light groaned, rubbing his muzzle and shaking his head. “This is so not how I imagined doing this…”

“Doing what?” Velvet gently pressed. “What’s all this about, Night Light?”

“Forty-five seconds.”

“Nnnhh…” Night Light squirmed in place for a moment, doing his best to focus on Twilight Velvet instead of Pommel’s asinine antics. “Velvet, we uh, we’ve known each other for a long time now, and…”

“Thirty-five seconds.”

“…and, well, we’ve been, er, together, these last couple of months--”

“Thirty seconds.”

“--but, well, we’ve known each other for so long already, it feels like we’ve been dating for years…”

Velvet was already blushing and starting to smile. “Yeah, I know exactly what you mean. Definitely feels like we’ve been dating for more than just a couple of months.”

“Twenty seconds.”

Night Light jolted and threw a snarl and a glare at Pommel. “I swear to Celestia, if you say another word--”

“Don’t waste time talking to me, talk to her. Ten seconds.”

“Just ignore him, Night Light,” Velvet said, as soothingly as she could. “Come on, what are you trying to say?”

“Five seconds.”

“Nnnhh…” Night Light squirmed and shuffles his hooves again. “Velvet, uh…”

“Four.”

A bead of sweat ran down Night Light’s brow. “Well, Velvet, I’ve been thinking about this for a while now, and--”

“Three.”

“--you’re really special to me, and--”

“Two.”

“--there’s nopony else I’d want to be with but you--”

“One.”

“--s-so, uh, I was thinking…”

“…One-half.”

“--if you don’t think it’s, uh, too soon, that is…”

Velvet was smiling ear to ear now; she probably knew what was coming, if she was as smart as Night Light gave her credit for, but she kept playing along anyway. “Yes, Night Light…?”

“…One quarter.”

Night Light gulped down a heavy breath. “Would you….maybe…”

“…One eighth.”

“Want to…uh…”

“…Oh come on. One sixteenth?”

“…”

Both Night Light and Velvet stopped and turned, raising an eyebrow at Pommel.

“…Don’t make me get to zero,” Pommel warned, jabbing a wingtip toward them. “Because I will!”

“…Skknnt…hehehe…” Velvet snorted and cracked into a fit of giggles. “You’re such a doofus, Pommel…”

“One thirty-second…th!”

“Ugh…” Night Light rolled his eyes and heaved a sigh. “Where was I? Nnnhh, never mind, lemme just start over--”

“Oh fuck that, zero!”

“FINE!” Night Light bellowed frantically. “Velvet will you marry me?!”

Velvet squealed immediately and threw her forehooves around Night Light’s neck, kissing him all over his face. “Oh, Night Light, of course I will!” she agreed without an ounce of hesitation. “I’ve been waiting to hear you ask that since the moment I met you!”

“Oh thank Celestia…” Night Light sighed in relief, cracking a broad smile.

“Yeah, you better thank Celestia for smacking enough sense into you to ask me out,” Velvet reminded him, smiling coyly.

“Among other things she did to you…” Pommel snickered.

“I’ll be sure to send her a thank you gift,” Night Light countered with another eye-roll. “Are you about done ruining the best moment of my life?”

“Don’t you mean ‘making it more memorable?’”

“Right. I’m sure Steadfast will appreciate that explanation for why you’re late for your date.”

“Oh pfft, I’m not late, I’ve still got a few--” Pommel froze momentarily at the distant echo of a clock tower sounding off the hour. “…Motherfucker.”

“Time flies when you’re being an asshole,” Night Light said, smirking.

“Have a good night, Pommel,” Velvet said. “Tell Steadfast ‘hi’ for me. Oh, and tell her we’re still on for lunch tomorrow.”

“Yeah, sure, if I’m not sleeping on the couch tonight,” he muttered. “Alright, I’m outta here. Oh, hey, uh… for real, sorry about that whole--”

“Forget it, dumbass, just go!” Night Light shooed him away.

“Heh, right. And hey, congrats, you two, you’re gonna be great togeth--”

“GO!”

“Going!” Pommel chuckled and turned tail, streaking off as fast as his wing-assisted hooves could carry him.

Night Light shook his head and chuckled as well. “Dunno what he was thinking, waiting ‘til the last minute like that.”

“Pretty ballsy of him,” Velvet agreed, nudging Night Light’s flank. “Almost as ballsy as proposing without a ring.”

Night Light blanched. “Oh buck me,” he muttered, swiftly turning apologetic. “I’m sorry, I have a ring, really I do, Pommel was just riding my ass and it slipped my mind--”

“It’s okay, really,” Velvet giggled. “I figured as much. I wouldn’t mind seeing it now, though.”

“Heh, r-right,” he hastily agreed, and removed the little box from his pocket again, letting it float toward her in a soft glow that was thankfully no longer gold, but his own midnight blue.

“I thought I saw you hiding something when I walked up,” Velvet said, grinning wider still. “No wonder you jumped so bad.”

“Eh-heh… yeah, you kinda looked like you knew what I was getting at…”

Night Light levitated the box just under Velvet’s nose and popped it open. She immediately gasped at the sight of it, which Night Light chose to take as a good sign.

“Oh my goddess, Night Light…”

The ring inside was a fairly standard band of gold designed for a Unicorn horn, but what really caught Velvet’s eye (he hoped) was the centerpiece: a dozen tiny, off-white diamonds, fitted tightly into a rounded square around a much larger central gemstone of the finest amethyst, a near-perfect match for the two tones of her mane and tail.

“What do you think?” Night Light asked. “You want to try it on?”

“Absolutely…” Velvet whispered.

Night Light plucked the ring from its box and sent it floating above Velvet’s head, slowly letting it settle down over her horn and rest just above the base, gleaming in the early evening sun.

“How does it look…?” she asked.

“Perfect,” Night Light answered. “Do you like it?”

“I love it, Night Light…” she said, pulling him into another embrace, and this time touching their horns together so that a pleasant tingle of shared magic filled them both. “Thank you. I can’t wait to wear it on our wedding day.”

“I can’t wait to see you in it,” Night Light agreed, kissing her forehead.

“Mmmh… wow, I’m so glad you went first now,” Velvet said, sitting back on her rear. “This would’ve felt kinda weird if I’d said my thing first.”

“Heh, you weren’t gonna break up with me, were you?”

“Hehe, no, of course not…” Velvet assured him. “It’s much nicer news than that. Just, well…”

“…Just what?” Night Light gently pressed.

“…” Twilight Velvet suddenly took Night Light’s hoof in hers, and pulled it slowly south while her other hoof lifted her dress, like she’d done a dozen times by now to get him petting her nether-lips.

Night Light blanched briefly. “Uh, Velvet, we’re kind of in public right now, maybe we can wait ‘til we’re back--”

Velvet stopped, holding his hoof in place over her stomach, somewhere between her navel and her teats.

“…home?”

Night Light blinked curiously, looking back and forth between her stomach and her face. “…Velvet?”

Velvet’s cheeks were bright pink, a happy smile on her face that nevertheless looked nervous and uncertain as well.

“Night Light…” she said in her softest voice. “…I’m pregnant.”

Night Light’s eyes bulged instantly and shot back down to her belly. “W…W-what?”

“I’m… pregnant. We’re pregnant,” she repeated.

Night Light’s brain went blank. Every conscious thought in his head had vanished, left, completely shut down in shock. And even though his mental faculties slowly rebooted themselves one by one in the evening that followed, in that moment something else awoke inside him. Something he had never felt before. It was not unlike his military instincts and training, actually, but this ran much deeper, more raw, more primal. This mare before him was no longer merely his friend-turned lover, or even his fiancé. As of that moment, she was the mother of his foals. And with that knowledge came a protective instinct more intense than anything else he had ever felt, a burning, fiery passion to guard her from anything that could possibly harm her. Not even his dedication to guarding Celestia felt as strong as this sudden instinctual desire to keep her safe. Her, the foal, and any future foals they had.

And there would absolutely be future foals. Of that he was suddenly certain. He had no idea where it was coming from, but the fact that she was pregnant with his foal suddenly made him want her more than ever, made him want to wrap her up tight in his hooves not just to protect her from harm but also to rut the stuffing out of her, to fill her with his seed, to ensure that she would bear his foals, that he would have a family with her.

Yes, there was no doubt in his mind now. He was going to marry this mare, protect this mare, raise kids with this mare, grow old with this mare… and spend every night he possibly could along the way making hot, sweaty, passionate love to her. Starting right now.

“…Night Light? Are you okay?”

Night Light shook his head sharply and found Velvet’s eyes again. “Y-yeah, I… I’m fine.”

“Are you sure?” she pressed, sounding worried now. “You went all quiet and rigid for a second. I didn’t freak you out, did I?”

“No, no, nothing like that, I… I just…” Night Light swallowed hard. “…Are you sure? That you’re pregnant, I mean?”

“Oh, well… not a hundred percent, no, I’ve got a doctor’s appointment tomorrow to look into it. But all the signs are there, and we weren’t exactly using any contraceptives all season. So I’m not completely sure yet, but I really--OH!!”

Night Light abruptly swept her off her hooves and tossed her over his back. “Let’s go home and make sure.”

“Make--?” Velvet gasped slightly, going pink again in an instant. “You mean… you want to have--?”

“Twilight Velvet, I want a hell of a lot more than just to have foals with you,” he interrupted, craning his neck to nuzzle forcefully under hers. “You want to know what I was just thinking about?”

Velvet groaned immediately at the affection. “Tell me…”

“I was thinking there is no doubt in my mind that I am going to marry you, protect you, raise kids with you, grow old with you, and spend every night I possibly can along the way making hot, sweaty, passionate love to you.” He kissed the corner of her mouth. “Starting right now.”

“Mmhh, but what about dinner…?” she muttered, already starting to hump his spine like she knew their previous plans were a lost cause.

“Don’t care,” he grunted in swift confirmation, moving at a brisk trot toward home. “Taking you home and making babies.”

Velvet shuddered and threw her forehooves around Night Light’s neck again, nuzzling near his ear. “I so want to make babies with you…”

“Glad you agree,” he replied, picking up speed.

“Mmhhhh,” Velvet murmured, squeezing her thighs excitedly around his body as he ran. “Although you know, I really am probably already pregnant… and mating season’s over, so even if I’m not, I’m probably not gonna get pregnant ‘til next summer…”

“Then it’ll be good practice for the second one,” Night Light answered coolly.

“You think there’ll be a second one?” Velvet cooed in pleased surprise.

“There will if I have anything to say about it.”

Velvet’s grin reached ear to ear again. “…Have I mentioned that I love you?”

“You could say it a few more times.”

The two lovers giggled together and kissed once more before bolting at full gallop the rest of the way home.

Epilogue: Tomorrow Never Dies

Epilogue: Tomorrow Never Dies

“…tell you what, it was the best night of my life…”

Night Light’s ears perked up, the sound drawing his attention away from the kitchen sink full of soapy dishes in front of him. His wife’s voice was wafting through the window, just barely slipping through the crack where it was slightly ajar. Curiously he tugged it open halfway and took a look outside.

“Get out of town… you two? And Auntie Tia?!”

Night Light blushed just a tad at the sight he saw. Twilight Velvet was outside their house, sitting at their patio table on the back porch just beyond the kitchen window. She was giggling rather mischievously and holding a drink floating in mid-air beside her horn, or more specifically, where her horn would have been, if it weren’t currently covered by a cone-shaped hat. Huddled closely beside her with a drink of her own was a bright pink mare sporting both a horn and wings whom he recognized as their favored foal-sitter, Cadence. She too was wearing the same silly little paper hat, but just behind her much larger horn, rather than over it. At the moment she was gawking at Twilight Velvet in shock, and judging from her last words, Night Light had a good guess as to why.

“Well the ruler of Equestria has her feminine needs too, you know,” Velvet was saying now. “Mmhh, my Lighty was so virile… still is, come to think of it, hehe…”

Cadence’s shocked gasp would have been audible even if the window had still been closed. “You mean you three still--?”

“Oh, no, no, not so much anymore, not since last mating season,” Velvet answered. “I think those days are pretty much over, now that Night Light’s retired. Hehe… but like I said, that’s hardly stopped us… I’ve got half a mind to sneak upstairs for a quickie before we cut the cake.”

Night Light blushed swiftly. A quickie. Right. He’d heard that line a few times, right before losing several hours to a marathon of fast, filthy fucking. No, they’d hold off at least until after the party this time. He half-wished his wife wouldn’t regale their son’s marefriend with stories of their sexual exploits so easily, either, but for that part, he couldn’t really blame her; estrus season was fast approaching once again, and Velvet always got a little excitable when she knew it was near. And it was kind of nice hearing about how awesome he still was.

“Why you two, though?” Cadence was saying now. “Out of all the ponies in Canterlot, in all of Equestria, even?”

“Because she trusted us, of course. Well, I grew on her later, once Night Light and I were together… but she trusted Night Light more than anypony at the time. For something as intimate as putting herself in somepony else’s hooves in heat season, there was really nopony else she could have trusted more than her Guard Captain--”

“Hi mom, hi Cadence! What are you girls talking about?”

Twilight Velvet snapped her mouth shut as a teenage filly darted over and joined them, her coat a pale lavender and her eyes as bright and sharp as a nail in sunlight. “Nothing little fillies need to hear, Twilight Sparkle,” Velvet deflected the question. “It’s grownup stuff.”

“Moooom, I’m almost fifteen, you can’t use that line on me anymore!” the young filly protested.

“Well here’s one I can still use: go comb your mane, young lady. It’s your brother’s birthday and you look like you fell asleep with your muzzle in a book again.”

“Did not…” the younger Twilight argued half-heartedly, grumbling in defeat and turning to scamper back inside.

Night Light couldn’t help but chuckle under his breath. “You wouldn’t want to know anyway, honey,” he said to himself, returning his gaze to the sink full of dirty dishes. Dinner had consumed more plates than any of them had expected, and they’d need a few clean ones for serving the cake--

“Hey, uh… dad?”

Night Light looked up again as yet another voice caught his attention. It was his son Shining Armor this time, standing at the kitchen door and looking at him from behind a shaggy, electric blue mane. Like Cadence, there was a silly conical hat on his head just behind his horn, except his was far larger and much more absurd-looking.

Night Light smiled ear to ear. “Hey, there’s the birthday boy! Having a good party so far?”

“Oh, uh, heh, yeah,” Shining Armor replied. “Thanks for the, uh… the new fetlock trimmers,” he added, glancing at the pure white and much-too-long hairs of his coat around his hooves. “Real subtle.”

“Blame your mother for that,” Night Light chuckled. “You know she prefers the clean-cut look.”

“Y-yeah, heh, I know.” Shining Armor fell silent for just a moment as he closed the kitchen door. “…Dad, uh, can I talk to you?” He glanced briefly at the open window. “…Privately?”

Night Light looked to the window, where the two elder mares had gone back to gossiping in hushed voices, and decided he’d probably heard quite enough of it already. “Sure, son,” he said, sliding the window closed again. “What is it?”

Shining Armor fidgeted for a few seconds, shuffling his hooves in an awkward dance that Night Light hadn’t seen from his son since he managed to ask Cadence to their senior prom. “It’s, uh… it’s about work. Sort of.”

“You’re not still letting those tabloid rags get to you, are you?”

“I--w-what? No, dad--”

“Shining, son, everypony who matters knows you didn’t just inherit your position from me. You can’t listen to what a bunch of pop-sensation newspapers say about it,” Night Light urged. “All they care about is selling a story to sell papers, no matter how far-fetched it sounds. Sure, yeah, twenty-four might have been a little young, but you made Captain of the Guard because you earned it, and no two-bit corner store gossip sheet can take that away from you.”

“I know, dad, I know, enough with the motivational speech, sheesh,” Shining Armor insisted. “This isn’t about that.”

“…Oh.” Night Light swiftly went red. “Sorry. That’s good though, that, uh… that it’s not bothering you.”

“No, no, that’s fine, this is something else…”

“What is it then?” Night Light asked, taking a seat at the kitchen table.

Shining Armor sat across from him, not meeting his eyes. “…Dad, did you ever… that is, did Princess Celestia… ever ask you to…”

Night Light immediately went twice as red as before, glancing hastily at the window again. “…Have you been listening to the girls talking?”

“What?” he muttered distractedly. “No, no, I…well, it’s just… I uh… I sort of got this letter from Princess Celestia yesterday asking me to meet her after-hours, and… when I went to talk to her, she… well, she, uh…” the younger stallion trailed off, squirming and pink in the cheeks.

Night Light was still for a long moment as he closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths. He’d known this was coming for a while now, the moment Shining Armor had been appointed Captain of the Guard in his place the previous winter. Celestia had even been polite enough to speak to him about it directly, though on some level it had already occurred to him even then, knowing his son was a candidate. His own father might have passed away before ever speaking to him of Her Majesty’s Secret Service, as he and his friends had jokingly come to call it over the years, but Night Light was still very much alive to see the position fall to Shining Armor. He knew that Celestia would one day trust his son with the same secret. And so, as horrifyingly awkward as it had been to consider or think about, Night Light was actually prepared for this. One hay of a birthday present you’re offering him, Tia, he thought wryly to himself.

“Did you?” he said aloud instead.

“…Did I what?” Shining Armor echoed.

“You know what.”

“…” Shining Armor gulped, staring at his father in some mixture of shock, relief, and embarrassment. “N-no. S-she said, uh… to take some time to… to think about it.”

“Good,” Night Light said, sighing in some slight relief of his own. “Shining, son, I’m going to give you three pieces of advice.”

The younger stallion swallowed another heavy breath. “O-okay?”

“First, there’s nothing weird or unusual about what she’s asking. I know it seems sometimes like she’s larger than life, but she’s still a pony just like any other, with all the same wants and needs we have. Including seasonal hormones. And there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that.”

Shining Armor slowly nodded along with his words, seeming to calm down slightly. “Yeah… y-yeah, you’re right. Everypony does it, it’s not weird for her to… yeah, okay. Yeah. But, dad…” he went on suddenly, and more concernedly now, “she has to know I’m with Cadence, right? Why would she ask me if she knows I’m not--?”

“Which brings me to my second piece of advice: don’t hide it from Cadence. Involve her in it.”

“W-what?! But dad, she’ll totally freak!”

“I have a pretty good feeling she’s already got some idea that it’s coming,” Night Light said, glancing one more time at the window facing the back porch. “Trust me, son, if you love her, you can’t hide this from her. Even if you say no.”

“Are you… are you saying you told mom about it when you--?”

“Right after Celestia’s first cycle.”

“…‘After?’”

“Well, I wasn’t dating her yet at the time. But you are dating Cadence, and Celestia knows that. I’m sure that’s why she sent you home to think about it.”

Shining Armor silently chewed on that for a while. “…So you told mom. And she was okay with it when you weren’t dating yet.”

“After we were dating, too. We were very open and honest about it every year.”

Shining Armor jolted almost all the way out of his seat at that. “Every year?! How many times did you do it?!”

“Every season of my career.”

Shining Armor’s jaw dropped. “And mom was fine with it every time?!”

Night Light blushed and smiled awkwardly. “…Your mom was a lot more than fine with it.”

“…” Shining Armor’s eyes bulged comically wide. “You… you and mom…?!”

“…Yeah. Pretty much every time.”

“…” Shining Armor slumped fully back into his seat. “I think I need a drink.”

“Thank goddess one of us said it.”

Night Light lit up his horn and flung open two cupboards and the freezer. A moment later two glasses, a few ice cubes, and a big black bottle combined themselves in front of the two stallions, and together they each threw back a mouthful of bitter, throat-burning liquor.

“Guh…” Shining Armor grunted. “I think I prefer cider.”

“Ditto,” Night Light agreed.

“Jeez, dad. I dunno whether I should be impressed or grossed out. How the hay did that end up happening?”

“It was your mother’s idea.”

Shining Armor snorted. “Bullshit.”

“Language.”

“Sorry, but… seriously?”

“Look, son,” Night Light said, “the last thing Celestia wants to do is get in the way of your relationship. And it was the same with us. So much so that she’s willing to spend decades alone to avoid interfering. We hit a bit of a snag there early on, and… well, your mother thought that would keep everypony happy. And by goddess, it did.”

Shining Armor’s blush suddenly doubled in strength. “…So… when you said I should… involve Cadence…” he began, boyish, reverent hope creeping into his tone.

“I’m saying… that you’d be surprised how many doors open up in your relationship when you’re open and honest with each other,” Night Light finished as diplomatically as he could.

“…W-wow,” Shining Armor murmured, his cheeks beet red as his imagination took over.

“Trust me, Shining, openness and honesty goes a long way,” Night Light repeated, driving the point home. “Your mother and I were open and honest with ourselves and with Celestia that first season together, and it turned into something magical. Heh, in fact, that’s sorta the whole reason you’re here, that was the season you were conceived…”

“…Eeeeeeeewwwwwwww, I did not need to know that!” Shining exclaimed, chuckling despite a shudder of disgust.

“Heh, then don’t ever ask Uncle Pommel and Aunt Steadfast about it, they’ll tell you way worse stories. But yeah, I think that’s about all I want to hear about my son and his girlfriend’s sex life,” Night Light agreed, laughing along with him. “Now go on back to the party, I’m almost done washing the plates, and then we’ll have cake, alright?”

“Alright… thanks dad, that really helped a lot,” Shining Armor said, the relief in his tone palpable. He headed back toward the kitchen door, but stopped just before opening it. “Oh, hey, what was number three?”

“Hm?” Night Light glanced over as he returned to the sink.

“You said you had three pieces of advice,” Shining Armor reminded him. “What was the third?”

“…Oh. Right.” Night Light paused for a long moment, training his eyes rigidly on the sink. “…She likes to have her tail pulled.”

“…”

Night Light glanced back toward his son, and gave him a tiny, almost invisible wink. “Just so you know.”

“…Eh-heh… r-right. T-thanks, dad… I think,” Shining Armor stammered, and vanished through the door a second later.

“I think you handled that pretty well.”

“Gah!” Night Light jerked and whirled to face the window. His wife had opened it again somehow, and she was smiling mischievously at him through it. “Velvet?!”

“Hehe… so Celestia finally sent him the invitation, huh?”

Night Light frowned slightly. “Dear, that was supposed to be a private father-son moment!”

“Oh, so you weren’t listening in on our girl time out here?”

“…That was purely accidental.”

“Uh-huh.” Velvet giggled. “Well if it makes you feel any better, I think you did a wonderful job of steering him in the right direction. And after seeing Cadence’s reaction, I think they’re going to be just fine. Celestia will be in capable hooves.”

Night Light heaved a slight sigh of relief. “Good… I’m glad. She deserves it.”

“It’s a shame it’s out of our hooves now, though,” Velvet lamented. “It’ll be weird not having her around in heat season anymore.”

“Yeah… I’ll miss her too,” Night Light agreed. “…But like you said… that won’t stop us from enjoying ourselves, right?”

Velvet shot him her best bedroom eyes. “Damn right it won’t.”

Night Light met her saucy gaze with one of his own and wrapped her up in both his hooves and his magic, heaving her through the window with both. “In fact,” he added over her squeal of delight, “I’m so trained to please two mares, I’ll have to rut you twice as often to keep from getting backed up.”

“Oooh, that’s a big promise to keep,” Velvet said, tumbling down to the floor with him. “I’m not sure you can do it.”

“Mmhh, hey, I’m not too old to plow you through the floorboards just yet…” he growled back, rolling himself firmly on top of her and kissing her lips.

“Prove it, handsome…”

“Ewww, Shiny, mom and dad are making out in the kitchen!” Twilight Sparkle abruptly shrieked from the door, and could be heard fleeing at full gallop in the next instant.

Night Light stopped and blushed, rolling his eyes helplessly.

“Foals will be foals,” Velvet said, offering a similarly helpless shrug.

“Yeah,” Night Light murmured in mild disappointment, but didn’t lose any of the fire in his eyes that remained locked on his wife. “After the party,” he promised.

“After the party,” she agreed, and kissed him one last time before they hopped back up to their hooves and moved to finish the dishes together, giving each other the best bedroom eyes they could muster every step of the way, as if daring each other to see who would crack first.

It was going to be a long night.

Somewhere in the lofty metropolis of Canterlot, in a cozy three-bedroom house facing the sunset five hours later, a Unicorn stallion and mare named Night Light and Twilight Velvet fell asleep in quivering ecstasy.

The End

Author's Note

A thousand thanks to my dedicated pre-readers, editors and sounding-boards for all the assistance and motivation you provided over the far-too-many months it took me to finish this story. Couldn't have done it without you.

Thanks as well to everyone who read and enjoyed this story, and didn't forget about it when I went months without updating. It's my highest-rated story to date, and I owe it to you guys. So thank you.

--CG

Chapter One: Shaken, Not Stirred

Her Majesty’s Secret Service

Chapter One: Shaken, not Stirred

Somewhere in the lofty metropolis of Canterlot, in a high-rise apartment complex facing the dawn, a young Unicorn stallion named Night Light awoke in crippling agony.

Sunbeams bored into his weary eyes even through tightly clenched lids. Every muscle in his body felt sore and exhausted. Nausea loomed dormant in the pit of his stomach, waiting to lurch at the slightest unkind movement. His mane was an absolute mess, his fur was damp with sweat, and he was pretty sure he could both smell and taste vomit. But all of these facts were distant and secondary compared to the white-hot, skull-crushing ache in his forehead, centered somewhere just behind his horn.

With an audible whimper of pain Night Light brought a hoof to his head, gingerly rubbing the area around his horn, and rolled away from the window so his pupils could adjust to the searing light of the sun. Or enough, at least, to allow him to open his eyes and start trying to figure out just what the hell had happened.

He was in his bedroom, for starters; that was a welcome and relieving sight. Whatever had happened, at least he had ended up safe in the familiar embrace of his neatly-hung uniforms and his finely-polished armor stand and his too-stiff mattress. There was a distinct stench of alcohol, though, mingling with the already potent smell of regurgitated stomach contents, and a quick glance down at the side of his bed told him why. It appeared somepony had been sick into a mop bucket; and judging from the rotten taste in his mouth, Night Light guessed that pony was probably himself.

By now Night Light had a pretty good idea of why his head was in such crippling pain. In a general sense, at least. The specifics were slow to come back to him, but evidence so far suggested that it involved him and his friends having far too much to drink the night before.

Fighting the nausea still remaining in his stomach, he sat up and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, memories of the previous night gradually coming back to him. He remembered a bar, obviously… no, he remembered two bars. Three? No, it was definitely two… the third place had a bar, but if the amount of scantily-clad pony flesh he suddenly remembered seeing was any indication, the bar had not been the main attraction. There had been a toast, at some point too, for…some reason…?

“Pommel, I really don’t need…”

“Night Light, shut your mouth, I don’t take orders from you on or off duty. I will toast this whole room if I damn well feel like it and there is not a Goddess-blasted thing you can do about it.”

“Nnhh… well could you at least watch your mouth around the lady?”

“Pfftt--hahaha! Velvet, did you hear that? He’s calling you a LADY now. What a humungous LOAD.”

“Aww, I think it’s sweet, Pommel, shut up. Go on, Night Light, tell me ALL about what kind of lady you think I am…”

“W-well… uh…”

“Excuse me, Miss Bookworm, I was making a toast here!”

“Oh sheesh, fine, ruin my fun…”

“As I was saying! Ahem. Let us all three lift our mugs in honor of our noble accomplishments on this fine day! To Mister Night Light, in celebration of his first six months as Captain of the Royal Guard…”

“Heh… come on, it’s really not THAT big a deal…”

“It SO is! I bet you’re doing an amazing job, Night Light.”

“Y-yeah, well… I try, I guess--”

“Still toasting here!”

“Oh, well then, by all means, please, continue.”

“Ahem… to the lovely Miss Twilight Velvet, for her promotion to the – HIGHLY desirable, I’m sure – field of Apprentice Librarian to the Royal Archives…”

“Yeah, congratulations, Velvet, you really earned it!”

“Hehe, oh stop, Night Light, you’re making me blush…”

“…And last but not least… a toast to me! Because I’m just always that awesome.”

“Pommel, you’re not supposed to toast yourself, you enormous tool.”

“You WOULD know about enormous tools, wouldn’t you?”

“Hey, I said watch your mouth around her!”

“Hehe, I love it when you go all knight in shining armor for me. Maybe that’ll be the name of our first foal! What do you say, Night Light? We can get started right now…”

“U-uh… h-hey, uh, how about the next round’s on me?!”

“Good answer, Lighty! Another round over here!”

Night Light groaned and muttered obscenities to himself for a moment, the snippet of memory trailing off again into hazy blackness. That’s right, he recalled, his best friend Twilight Velvet had just gotten her promotion, and their other best friend Pommel had insisted on a celebratory night out. A celebration that had clearly gotten away from them somewhat. He needed to clean himself up, badly.

Night Light dragged himself lethargically out of bed and made his way across his apartment to the bathroom. His head hurt a little too much to use magic just yet, so he was forced to haul the used mop bucket along with him by his teeth, and he was nearly sick all over again just from the smell. Hastily he emptied the bucket in the toilet and rinsed it thoroughly in the sink, ensuring every trace of the vile contents had been flushed away so he could breathe clearly again, and then spent the next five minutes swishing and gargling what felt like half a bottle of mouthwash to clear vomit from his senses entirely. He spent another five minutes brushing his teeth, too, just for good measure, before reaching into the shower and turning it on. One nasty sensory assault dealt with, one still to go, he thought with a disgusted sniff of his own coat.

While he waited for the shower to warm up, Night Light returned to the bedroom next and dragged his tangled, sweaty bed-sheets off the mattress. He deposited them in the laundry bin, making a mental note to wash them once he was more fully awake, and then trotted back to the bathroom. The shower water was nice and steamy now, and it was with no small amount of eagerness that he leapt right in, groaning in immediate satisfaction and relief at the pleasant, cleansing warmth as it soaked through his midnight-blue mane and tail, through his lighter-blue coat, all the way down to his skin. Screw coffee; who needed that stuff when a good shower had him feeling loads better already?

After a minute of just soaking, he finally felt his headache had subsided enough to try some magic, floating a bar of soap and a washrag to himself in a pale-blue aura with, thankfully, minimal trouble. He sat back on his rear and hind legs and began to scrub his coat clean by magic, leaving his front hooves free to sweep his body for anything unpleasant that might have gotten stuck in his fur; it certainly wouldn’t have been the first time he’d gotten drunk with Pommel and Velvet and woken up with brambles or half-eaten hard candies or dried mustard stuck somewhere. To his luck, he seemed to be clear this time, which was a bit surprising, actually. He was no night owl, no matter what the twin crescent moons on his flanks suggested; this was probably the worst hangover he’d ever had. He’d never before been so drunk that he couldn’t remember what had gone on, but even after a good twenty minutes to wake up and recover, he still remembered so little about the previous night, which felt more and more troubling the longer he thought about it.

Shaking off the frown that was starting to form on his expression, Night Light refocused on the task at hoof, and ran the washrag down to his undercarriage, blushing a bit embarrassedly as he realized he had a bout of morning wood to contend with. He glanced down at himself as he did so, purely by chance, and froze instantly, dropping the soap and washrag completely in his surprise.

There was lipstick on his dick.

Why in the flaming pits of Tartarus was there lipstick on his dick?

“U-um, Velvet, I don’t mean to be rude, but, um… do you think you could, maybe…”

“Whaaaaaaaat? I’m not doing anything…”

“Nnhh… jeez, Velvet, come on… t-this is a little too touchy-feely, even for you…”

“Night Liiiiiiiight, relaaaaaaaax… I’m just resting my head… in your lap… under the table…”

“Oh jeez, c-come on… you’re not THAT drunk are you?”

“Noooooooo… I mean… okay, maybe a little… but your lap is so comfy…!”

“Nnhh, Velvet… t-there’s this thing called ‘personal space’…”

“Aww, quit complaining, Night Light… your little friend down here obviously doesn’t mind… hehe… he seems pretty friendly…”

“Ghhnn…! Okay, seriously, Velvet, we’re in public, stop it…!”

“Whaaaaaaaat…? You mean this…? Mmmmhhhh…”

“Ghhaaahh!!!”

*THUNK*

“OWWWWwwwwoooohhh my head…”

*THWUMP*

“Oh… o-oh goddess, Velvet, are you okay?! I’m sorry, you just… and I just reacted, and… Velvet? …Velvet? …You just passed out, didn’t you? …Velvet? …Shit.”

Night Light’s face flushed horribly. That’s right, he remembered, she had gotten thoroughly drunk too… Pommel had stumbled away for a few minutes for… some reason, and Velvet had taken the opportunity to… well, to try to suck him off, frankly. And he had, quite understandably, jerked out of his seat in shock, accidentally thwacking her head against the table in the process and knocking her out for the rest of the night.

Well. That was a memory he could certainly have lived without.

Night Light suddenly shifted the shower’s temperature to cold, trying not to think too hard about Twilight Velvet sucking him off in any context, and hastily scrubbed himself clean of any remnants of her lipstick. Silently he thanked the goddesses he’d maintained his mental faculties enough to ensure she hadn’t been successful, or who knew what else might have happened. The last thing he wanted to do was knock up his best friend in a drunken grope-fest. With any luck, he could simply pretend that moment hadn’t happened. Night Light had barely remembered it himself, and as bad as his hangover was, he had easily been the least drunk of the three ponies in their party. Velvet probably didn’t remember the night at all. He really hoped she didn’t, anyway. For both their sakes. Even a pony as forward as her would be embarrassed to remember… that.

Flushing again despite the cold water, Night Light again shook the images from his head as quickly as he could. He really couldn’t afford to dwell on this sort of thing, he had to finish cleaning up and get to--

Work.

His eyes bulged.

Oh buck.

Night Light slammed the faucet off and leapt from the shower, passing up the towel rack entirely and barging back into the main body of his apartment. With a feeling of dread in his chest he eyed the alarm clock on his bedside table, and sure enough the hooves on its face ticked along as regularly as ever, denoting the damning time of day. He was late. Two hours late.

“Oh, buck,” he repeated, out loud this time, and didn’t even bother drying off before grabbing his armor and bolting out the door.

Somehow he slipped into castle without incident; he’d felt the door guards’ curious eyes on him when he approached the front gate, surely wondering why his mane and tail were damp and un-groomed and his armor wasn’t fitted on his body quite right, but he strolled right past them as if nothing at all was out of the ordinary, and they reacted in kind, silently allowing him passage inside. He encountered nopony else once inside, an absolute marvel this late in the day, and a few brief minutes later he was in his office, heaving a relieved sigh as he sat down behind the desk. It didn’t look like anypony had come looking for him; no urgent messages, no extra paperwork, no fellow officers standing around waiting for orders. By some miracle, it seemed he was in the clear…

Knock knock.

…Almost.

“Come in,” he called, doing his best to spruce up his appearance in the few meager seconds he had before the door opened, and a pale-orange young Pegasus mare walked inside. She wore the armor of the Royal Guard, but the blank, unadorned state of her chest-plate, in contrast to the highly-decorated matching piece of his own armor, informed him that she was very new to the job; a Private, a rookie, probably barely out of cadet academy. Hadn’t even learned to keep her mane and tail trimmed short yet, instead allowing the blonde locks to overstuff and spill out of her helmet or drag on the floor. He was fairly certain he had no idea who she was, but all the same there was something familiar about her…

“Captain Night Light, sir,” she greeted him and saluted.

Night Light automatically returned the gesture. “What is it, Private?”

“I have the citation you requested, sir,” the mare announced, one dexterous wing extending to offer him a small piece of rolled-up parchment.

Night Light took it from her and unrolled it with a curious frown. “What citation?”

“For public indecency. We spoke about last night, sir.”

A muscle somewhere between Night Light’s cheek and eye twitched at the phrase ‘last night,’ and his gaze darted back up to the mare. “…We did?”

“Er… yes, sir. Don’t you remember?”

Night Light’s gaze darted rapidly back toward the citation in his hooves, wracking his brain. Why in Equestria would he have asked for a public indecency citation? And for who? He peered at the offender’s name on the formal little parchment, intent on determining just that. It was a surprisingly large fine, quite possibly the largest allowed by law for the crime; somepony must have really screwed up bad--

He gasped. He scanned the line a second time, hoping he’d misread, but it stubbornly refused to change. The name read, quite clearly, ‘Second Lieutenant Pommel.’

Oh, horseapples. That’s right. He’d lost track of Pommel at some point just before Twilight Velvet had pounced on him, and Night Light had gone looking for him… what had he gotten himself into? Something involving the cadet, he was sure…

“Screw you, lady, I wasn’t hurting anypony!”

“Sir, if you don’t calm down I’m adding resisting arrest to your charges.”

“Arrest me? You can’t arrest me, I’m an officer of the guard!”

“Sure you are, sir.”

“What the hay is going on out here…?! Pommel?!”

“Night Light! Thank Celestia, I--… whoa, is that Velvet out cold on your back?”

“Sir, please step back, this is official Canterlot business.”

“Damn, Lighty, I didn’t think date rape drugs were your style.”

“She’s not drugged, you moron, she just… hit her head! I was going to take her home once I found you.”

“Perfect, you found me, now will you tell this ROOKIE to get her feathers off my ass?”

“Sir, I said step back, please!”

“Ugh… Pommel, what the hay did you do?”

“I didn’t do anything! I stepped outside to take a leak and this NAG jumped me!”

“Mnnnhh… I’ll take it from here, Private.”

“Excuse me? …Oh goddess! I mean, I’m sorry, Captain Night Light sir, I didn’t recognize you--”

“It’s alright, Private. I’ll make sure he sobers up, just… take the cuffs off.”

“Sir, he was urinating on a mailbox.”

“…On or in?”

“ON, for the love of Celestia, Night Light, I’m not THAT flexible!”

“…Let’s call that a confession of guilt and co-operation, Private. No need for an arrest. A citation will suffice. …A HEFTY citation.”

“Sir!”

“He’s a good officer, Private, there’s no need to drag his name through the mud. He’ll feel the hit to his bits more than he’ll feel a night in lockup.”

“Gee, thanks, Lighty, you’re a real pal.”

“Wait, he’s… he’s ACTUALLY an officer?”

“Oh, so you believe HIM, but not ME?”

“Shut up, Pommel. Private, you have your orders.”

“…Yes sir.”

“…Sir?”

Night Light snapped out of the dazed rush of memories suddenly hitting him, and swore to himself to royally chew Pommel out the next time he saw that bum. “Yes, sorry, I remember now. Just took me a moment. It was a long night.”

“I could tell. Sir. Is the lady alright? The one you were carrying?”

“Yes, she’s fine. She’ll have a nasty headache when she wakes up, but she’ll be fine.”

“And Lieutenant Pommel?”

“Also fine. Significantly poorer after I process this, but he could stand to lose his recreation budget for a while anyway. Thank you for asking, er…”

“Steadfast, sir.”

“Thank you, Private Steadfast,” Night Light saluted her. “You’re dismissed.”

Steadfast returned the salute, and Night Light dug into his desk in search of a quill to begin processing Pommel’s citation, but when he found one and glanced up again, the mare was still standing at attention in front of his desk.

“Was there something else, Private?”

“…Sir? …Is it always like this?”

It was her expression that did it. The words already stung far deeper than they had any right to by themselves, traced with dejection and disbelief, and worst of all, disappointment.

But when Night Light saw all that and more in the mare’s eyes, it broke something inside him. She really was a fresh-faced rookie. Probably right out of training. That could have very well been her first night on patrol. He remembered how he had felt himself at the time, full of boyish enthusiasm, ready to serve his country and his Princess, to really make a difference. He saw all that in her eyes, now that he really looked. But it was darkened now. Diminished. As if some of her reverence for her noble calling had been lost. And really, when he thought about it, how could Night Light blame her? Her first exposure to the job was to happen upon a couple of her superior officers stumbling drunk out of a bar that may or may not have been full of ponies exhibiting themselves, carrying blacked out mares on their backs, relieving themselves on public property, covering for one another’s buck-ups and finally sneaking into work the next morning two hours late without getting even a word of reprimand. This was what he was telling the poor mare to expect. This was what he was showing her was in store for her future. This was the example he was setting.

Him.

Night Light.

The Captain of the Royal Guard.

Dear Celestia, what was wrong with him?

“…No, Steadfast, it’s not,” Night Light finally answered. “You have my word. This will never happen again.”

Chapter Four: You Only Live Twice

Chapter Four: You Only Live Twice

It was another three days – and two more nights of rutting Princess Celestia senseless – before Night Light saw either of his two best friends again. Until then he had spent the rest of the week in a perpetual daze. By day he went about his duties practically on autopilot, though that thankfully worked out well enough; his duties were so standard and repetitious that he barely had to think about them anymore. Which, actually, was a good thing. Because throughout it all, his mind was thoroughly occupied instead with his new duties by night, as though he were suddenly leading a shadowy, secret double life. Heck, for all intents and purposes, that was pretty much exactly what he was doing.

Celestia hadn’t been kidding. Her heat cycle was intense and relentless. She admitted, the morning after that first insane night, that she was already feeling the urges creep back into her, and it would probably take them at least another two or three rounds of frantic hip-slapping before the first wave of her cycle was truly quieted and would lay dormant for a while. Unfortunately they both had duties to attend to that made staying in bed all day impossible, and so after a hasty clean-up (and a cancelling of the size spell that Night Light had entirely forgotten about until he tried to put on his armor and found it comically small for him), they put on their public faces once more. Celestia, as promised, went to announce to Equestria at large that it was finally ‘that time of the year,’ but Night Light, for his part, was already well aware, and didn’t bother listening for the formal address, he was so inwardly focused. Part of him spent the routine of his daily duties wondering if perhaps he really had dreamed up the whole evening, but it was a thought that never really gained steam. For once again, a calm, friendly missive came to him from the Princess via Philomena near the end of the day, inviting him to meet her privately. Once again within the hour he was in the bedchamber of an extremely horny monarch, and once again he quickly found himself at least twenty percent larger, reared over Celestia’s back and fucking her into the mattress while she begged ravenously for every bit of it.

It wasn’t until the third time this process repeated itself and Night Light spilled every drop of seed he could muster into Celestia’s waiting womb before at last it seemed to take for real. This time the urges were gone the next morning entirely, and that could only mean that her heat cycle had gone properly dormant. It would of course flare up again at least once or twice more, as it always did for even normal mares, and probably no more than a week from now. But temporarily, at least, Celestia was back to her radiant, un-frazzled, perfect old self, though she remained much more friendly and informal with Night Light while they were in private together.

When they’d again washed up and returned Night Light to his proper size, Celestia had insisted he go home and have the weekend off, as a small thank you for everything he’d done for her. And as amazing as it had been, Night Light was a bit grateful that they were done for the time being; aside from the fact that he was exhausted, he also hadn’t been able to think straight for a solid seventy-two hours. “A weekend off will do you a world of good,” she had said. “You’ll be here often enough in the coming weeks as it is. Get some rest. Clear your head. And… see your friends again. I know you miss them, and I’m sure they wish to see you as much as you wish to see them. I daresay you’ll all have much to talk about now.”

Night Light found that part to be especially surprising. Celestia had made herself clear right from the outset that their meetings were to remain a secret from everypony. The last thing he wanted to do was start blabbing to the rest of Equestria about what they’d been doing and sully her reputation, not to mention his own. Not that there was any shame in it, of course, everypony did it. But they were nevertheless very public figures – Celestia a hundred times more so, but still – and news like that spreading around would absolutely generate talk and rumors about the both of them. His soldiers would never see him the same way again. At best he’d be the butt of a million jokes among the lower ranks for years to come; at worst it would call into question the validity of his position entirely, if ponies decided to believe Celestia had only appointed him Captain because he slept with her. Goddess what a P.R. nightmare that would be.

Celestia, however, had simply smiled and calmly informed him that while she agreed he shouldn’t spread it around to the general public, the privacy she had asked for was merely the normal privacy anypony was entitled to about their sex life, and that within close, trusted circles, she didn’t mind him sharing. “I know this has been a bit of a jarring perspective shift for you, and I think you could use somepony to talk to about it that’s not… well, me,” she’d reasoned. “As long as you trust your friends to keep your confidence, I believe you should share with them. There is a certain magic in friendship, Night Light, and it would be a shame to diminish that magic with something as silly as keeping secrets from one another.”

After spending the rest of that Saturday morning off, Night Light found he honestly couldn’t disagree with her. Despite having a (mostly) clear head at last, those few evenings with Celestia were still almost all he could think about, bubbling over in his brain and desperate for some kind of outlet, so much so that he doubted he could keep the whole thing to himself even if he’d wanted to. Which he definitely didn’t. He wanted to talk to his friends again. And not merely so he had somepony to vent to about Celestia, but because, he realized, he still owed them each an apology. And so, after a long morning and afternoon of, for once, doing absolutely nothing, he set out before any more of the day could be wasted, determined to find his friends.

Not together, though. Goddess, no. That would be shockingly inappropriate of him. Perhaps when he told Pommel, then Twilight Velvet could be there as support, but he knew without a shadow of a doubt in his mind he needed to talk to Twilight Velvet first, and alone. He owed her that much. He’d known for a long time now that she had feelings for him, and despite his own interest he had long-insisted on keeping her at a certain distance, for the sake of his career. Not even during past mating seasons had he allowed their mutual interest to crack through that particular barrier. If anything he was more resolved than ever during those times; if someday he was to let their relationship blossom, it sure as heck wasn’t going to start with a mating-season-fueled grope-fest. And now here he was fresh off doing almost exactly that with Celestia instead? Velvet was not going to be pleased, no matter how carefully he broached the subject, and she was going to want answers. To a lot of things. And with Celestia’s last words still ringing in his head, he knew they were answers he’d owed her for a while now.

He found her in the palace’s library, which came as a bit of a surprise. She normally had the weekend off as well, and he’d expected to find her at home, or maybe at Pommel’s house. But no; she was right there in the same castle he’d started the day in, sitting at a desk buried in the depths of the Royal Archives and surrounded by piles of books and scholarly papers and research notes. A quill encased in her magical aura was scribbling on a piece of parchment in front of her at breakneck speed, writing whole lines of words in seconds and stopping only to replenish its ink and move to the next line on the parchment. Night Light almost didn’t dare interrupt her concentration, but to his luck she reached the end of her current sheet of parchment in a few more moments, and when she moved to pull out a fresh one, he took the opportunity offered.

“Velvet?”

Twilight Velvet jolted out of a daze, as expected, and Night Light thanked his observational skills for not making her do so with a quill to parchment. A second later she whirled around to face him, and for a few moments, time froze.

“…Night Light?”

She looked tired. Exhausted, actually. Maybe as much as he himself had been. But a different kind of exhausted; the kind that came not from excessive exertion, but plain old lack of sleep. Like she’d been awake all night, or most of it. There were dark circles under her eyes, her coat and mane were a bit on the unkempt side, and she seemed to have trouble focusing her gaze on him without her eyelids drooping. She was as beautiful as ever, as Night Light never failed to notice, but admiration was swiftly replaced by worry and concern.

“Velvet, are you alright?” Night Light asked, taking a step toward her. “You look… completely wiped out.”

Twilight Velvet was silent for a long time, staring at him with an unreadable expression as she stood up and moved out from her collection of tomes and scrolls to walk right up in front of him. Night Light became quickly afraid the nearer she got that she was going to chew him out again, or send him away, or even smack him, all reactions he was sure he’d entirely deserve. But instead, Velvet did something that Night Light had never in his life seen her do before.

She flung her front hooves around his shoulders, buried her face in his neck, and burst into tears.

“Gah…! V-Velvet…?” Night Light stammered, lifting a hoof to catch her weight and return her embrace. She was warm to the touch; not quite as warm as Princess Celestia, but significantly softer, traits only more noticeable now when he didn’t have his armor separating them, and he had to fight a little harder than usual to focus and not blush at the contact. “Velvet, what’s wrong?”

“What’s wrong…?!” she growled into his coat, limply beating on his shoulder. “You mean besides you practically disappearing for three days, you big jerk?! I thought… goddess, after that stupid fight, I thought--”

“Hey, hey, calm down, it’s okay…” Night Light reassured her. “It’s a long story… we’ll talk about that eventually. I’m worried about you right now. What are you doing here on a weekend? You look like you haven’t slept at all.”

“I haven’t…” she admitted. “I… ugh, I feel so stupid…”

“For not sleeping? Heh, yeah, that’s… kind of important.”

Velvet managed a tiny laugh, barely. “No, I mean…” Velvet stopped, groaning and shaking her head. “Mmmhhh, actually Night Light, can we maybe have this little heart to heart somewhere more comfortable…?”

Night Light gave her an agreeable nod. “Sure. Here, I’ll pack up your things for you, why don’t you climb on my back and I’ll give you a lift home?”

The words were barely out of his mouth before Twilight Velvet was gratefully crawling onto his back, front hooves hooked around his neck and her head resting atop his, buried in his mane. He wasn’t even half-finished packing up her quills and notes before he heard her soft, sleepy snores fluttering against his ear.

Night Light chuckled and blushed. She must have really been exhausted. She hadn’t passed out on his back like this in months. Not since that night he’d accidentally knocked her out after she tried to--

Well. He wasn’t going to focus on that part.

Fighting off a sharp jolt in his aching loins at the memory, Night Light hastily finished packing up Velvet’s things in her saddlebags and carried her out of the library.

Note to self, Night Light thought as he fiddled with Velvet’s keys while no less than five of her neighbors stared at them. Walking up to a mare’s house with her passed out on your back in broad daylight is exactly as inconspicuous as it sounds.

With a sigh of relief and an apologetic smile to the small group of ponies stopped at her front walk, he finally found the correct key and swung the door open, kicking it closed and locked again the instant he was inside. The saddlebags full of her things were quickly abandoned at the door; getting Velvet comfortable in bed in her own room was his only priority right now. Not that she looked uncomfortable at the moment, but he was sure a mattress was more comfortable than his back.

Alas, it was not to be. The moment he reached her bedside and knelt down to slide her off his back, she began to stir, grunting and grumbling as though she were a foal hugging a teddy bear that was being taken from her while she slept, and the implication was not lost on Night Light that he had been playing the role of the teddy bear.

“Unnhh… Night Light…?” Velvet asked as her mumbles eventually became coherent.

“I’m here,” he responded as quietly as he could manage without quite hitting a whisper.

“Where are we…?”

“I carried you home.”

“Oh… How long was I out for?”

“Probably no more than an hour. I carried you straight here from the library. So you should really go back to sleep if you were up all night…”

Velvet shook her head at that and sat upright in bed, rubbing sleep out of her eyes. “Mmnhhh, no, I’m fine, I feel a lot better already.”

“But Velvet--”

“I said no, Night Light, it’s already late afternoon, if I sleep any more now I’ll just be up all night again.”

Night Light bit his lip and chose not to argue with her. “Well, can I get you something to eat, then? You look like you haven’t done that either.”

Velvet’s growling stomach answered miles ahead of her mouth. “…I guess that would be okay. Thanks.”

Night Light nodded and headed swiftly to her kitchen, his magic calling to him everything he’d need to make them a couple of sandwiches. Velvet tailed close behind, plopping her head down on the dining table with a weary groan.

Night Light gave her a worried glance again. “Are you sure you don’t want to go back to sleep?”

“No, I really don’t,” she confirmed. “I promise I’ll sleep like the dead tonight. Right now I want to eat, and then I want to sit here and talk, because what I really want is to know what the hay’s been going on with you and disappearing since Wednesday.”

“Oh, come on, it’s not like this is the first time you’ve ever gone a few days without seeing me,” Night Light said with a slight eye-roll.

“Not right after a stupid fight, I haven’t…”

Velvet swiftly went quiet again at that, and Night Light too took a careful pause to think about his reply. “I told you before, we’ll get to that eventually. Right now I’m way more worried about you not sleeping or eating, and sitting in the library on a Saturday looking like you’re having a last-minute cram session for a final exam.”

“Hey, I asked first…”

“Technically, I asked first, before you passed out. Also, I’m perfectly healthy. You’re starving and sleep-deprived. I think your story warrants priority.”

“…Fine,” she relented. “Just… tell me one thing first. Are you mad at me?”

Night Light nearly dropped the loaf of bread in his magic aura straight on the floor, gawking at her in surprise. “What? No, of course not. Why would I be mad at you?”

“I don’t know, maybe because the universe hates me at the moment…?” she guessed with another weary and almost miserable groan.

This only worried Night Light more, and so he hastily finished throwing together a couple of daisy sandwiches and brought them over to her on a plate so he could sit and talk to her properly. Velvet however seemed to be in no hurry to elaborate, as she wasted no time in grabbing one of the sandwiches and devouring the whole of it in three bites.

“Fanks,” she managed, spraying him with crumbs rather impressively for a single mangled word.

“…You’re welcome,” Night Light said, absently brushing the crumbs off his face. “So, do you want to tell me what’s wrong?”

Velvet groaned again. “…I messed up, Night Light.”

“Messed up? What do you mean?”

“That night, after we… argued,” she clarified with a blush. “Pommel and I went out anyway, and… we got carried away. Woke up with a horrible hangover and two hours late for work.”

“…Oh.” Night Light winced sympathetically. “That’s… not good. I definitely know what that’s like…”

Velvet snorted and sighed at him. “Yes, well, unlike you, I didn’t get off practically scot-free. The head librarian was furious. She had to cover for me until I got there, which apparently made her late for a meeting with a VIP.”

“Oh…” Night Light grimaced again. “I hope you didn’t get in too much trouble…?”

Velvet actually laughed, though it was the saddest laugh he had ever heard. “Trouble? I almost got fired.”

Night Light jolted right out of his seat. “What?!”

Velvet gave a grim nod. “I would have been fired, if it weren’t for the fact that her VIP meeting was with Princess Celestia.”

Night Light couldn’t help blushing and leaning forward in suddenly-heightened interest. “…O-oh? Celestia? You… saw her there?”

“Yeah. She was waiting pretty patiently, and… I guess she heard me basically begging to keep my job, and stepped in.”

“Stepped in? Wait, you mean…?”

“Yeah.” Velvet hung her head. “It’s because of Celestia that I’ve been working extra all night and half the weekend instead of… browsing job listings. If it weren’t for her vouching for me and asking that I be given another chance, I… I probably would’ve been toast.”

Night Light shuddered from horn to tail. He didn’t even want to think about that possibility. This was a position that Velvet had dreamed of and worked for all her life. The thought of her losing her dream career over one mistake… it made his heart ache. She must have been shaking in her fur, coming so close to that being a reality, and only being saved at the last minute by the dumb luck of Celestia happening to be there.

…Then again, maybe it hadn’t been ‘luck’ at all. He had confessed the troubles with his friends to the Princess, the morning after their first night together. That would have to have been barely an hour before the scene Velvet had just described. Celestia had to have known. Or at least known enough to make a difference when she overheard Velvet’s pleas.

“So I guess… you were right.”

Night Light jerked out of his thoughts. “Sorry? Right about what?”

Velvet’s head remained hung low, not meeting his eyes. “What you said the other day. About not taking my job seriously enough, and… wasting my time trying to…”

Night Light winced, his ears drooping a bit. “…I’m sorry I said that, Velvet. I was just being stubborn, I didn’t mean to imply our friendship was a waste of time.”

“No, you said trying to get you between my legs was a waste of time.”

Color exploded across Night Light’s cheeks. So, here they were, at the real issue between them. That hadn’t taken long. “…Er… right, um, about that…”

“And I want you to know, I understand,” Velvet went on. “If you’re not interested in me, I should just respect that and stop trying to push you into a more romantic relationship.”

“Uh… Velvet?”

“No, really, it’s okay… it’ll be hard for a while, but I’ll get over it, and I’d really like it if we could still be friends.”

“Velvet…”

“I mean, I kind of wish you’d said something definitive sooner, because now I just feel like a moron for all those years I’ve been trying, but I guess I probably should’ve taken the hint a while ago anyway, so that’s probably partially my own fault…”

“Velvet.”

He took her front hoof in both of his this time, and that seemed to at last derail her. She immediately fell silent and looked up from her lap, finally meeting his gold eyes again with her own brilliant blue ones. They were beautiful to look at, but the idle curiosity they were filled with now would surely be replaced by anger in a matter of minutes, and Night Light shuddered to think about it being directed at him. Not that he didn’t deserve it at this point.

Oh well, it didn’t matter now. The can of worms had been opened, and there was no going back until every last wriggling little issue had been dealt with.

“…You’re right, Velvet,” Night Light finally said, after what felt like a small eternity of silence. “I should have said something clear and definitive a long time ago. I guess I thought that I could keep putting you off and putting you off longer and longer, and avoid the issue until I was ready to deal with it. I didn’t think about how frustrating that probably was for you, and I’m sorry for that. You deserve to hear the truth.”

Velvet tried to look away from him again. “It’s really okay, Night Light, if you don’t feel that way about me, that’s just how it is…”

“But see, that’s… kind of… not how it is.”

Velvet’s eyes instantly snapped back to his, and much wider. “What? It’s not?”

A blush and an apologetic smile filled Night Night’s face. “Velvet, I feel the same way you do. I would have loved to make our relationship a… a romantic one. But…”

Velvet’s mouth hung open, working to try to make words come out, and her hoof he still held between his own was shaking suddenly, but both of those things froze at his last word. “…what do you mean, ‘but’?”

“…Velvet, we were starting careers. I was working toward Captain of the Guard, you were competing for your apprenticeship in the Royal Archives… stuff that was really important to us, that we’d dreamed about and worked toward since before we even knew each other. At the time I thought to myself… the next couple of years were going to shape our whole lives. Having a romantic relationship then would have taken up so much extra time. Time that neither of us could really spare. It would’ve been… a distraction.”

Velvet’s hoof yanked out from between his, and her fur visibly bristled and stood on end as if he’d thrown some vile slur at her. “A distraction? You thought of me as a distraction?!”

“N-no, no, not you personally!” Night Light frantically corrected her. “It was perfect, being friends with you! We were great together that way! I never thought of you as a distraction, or… or a waste of time, Velvet, I never regretted a single minute I spent with you.”

“Oh really?” Velvet snorted and gave him a surprisingly strong look of angry disbelief. “So the last couple of months where we barely saw each other outside of the castle, that was ‘not regretting’ hanging out together?”

Night Light winced again; even knowing it was coming, Velvet’s angry gaze stung deep. “I was being stupid, Velvet, I know that now. We had one bad experience, and I… over-reacted.”

“A ‘bad experience?’ What are you talking about, what bad experience?”

“You know, that time three months ago…? To celebrate you getting the apprenticeship?”

“What, you mean when you were late to work, once, and nopony even noticed? Come on, Night Light, that’s weak, even for you…”

“It was a lot more than that and you know it, Velvet.”

“It really wasn’t.”

“Wh--… yes it was!”

“No, it really wasn’t. We went out, we had some drinks, we stumbled home, and you were too sloshed to remember to set your alarm, end of story.”

“Me?!” Night Light exclaimed. “I was too sloshed?! You and Pommel were twice as drunk as I was! I found Pommel taking a piss outside on a mailbox! Right in front of a guardspony! I had to step in to save his ass from getting thrown in jail! Never mind what you did!”

“Me?! What the hay did I do?!”

“You tried to suck my dick! In public, Velvet!”

All the anger in Velvet’s gaze vanished instantly, replaced by wide-eyed shock and horror. She recoiled back into her seat, hooves flying up to cover her slack jaw and her bright-red cheeks. “…No. Wh--…no, I… I did not, I--”

“Yeah, you did,” Night Light confirmed. “You really don’t remember? You crawled under the table at that last bar, because you wanted to use my lap as a pillow.”

“Oh no…”

“And then you started… poking me.”

“Oh my goddess…”

“I told you stop, and you blew me off. And then you tried to suck me off.” Night Light paused for a long moment, fighting an embarrassed blush of his own. “Erm… and then I sort of accidentally knocked you out trying to get you off me and I had to carry you home passed out on my back.”

“Oh goddess…!” Velvet echoed, hiding her eyes too behind her hooves now, her whole body burning with humiliation. “Night Light, I am so sorry, I had no idea that even… I don’t remember any of that, why didn’t you tell me sooner?”

Night Light sighed, slowly calming down and already kicking himself for digging up this particular dead horse and beating it. “Probably because I really didn’t want to have this conversation. I figured it was best left forgotten, but… I, uh, got a little carried away there.”

“No, no, it’s okay, I’m glad you told me,” Velvet insisted. “It… explains a lot, actually…”

“Maybe, I guess, but it doesn’t excuse anything,” Night Light said, eager to get away from that memory as quickly as possible. “I shouldn’t have talked to you the way I did the other day, Velvet, and I shouldn’t have been pushing you away and avoiding spending time with you just because of one bad night out. And I really should have told you a long time ago how… how I felt about you…”

Velvet’s cheeks continued to glow, but thankfully in a warmer light now, her embarrassment fading and swiftly replaced by cautious hope. “So you… really don’t think I’m a waste of time?”

“Never,” Night Light confirmed. “To be honest, this stuff was already starting to hit me after fighting with you and Pommel back to back. I was tipping over the fence right then and there, actually, another couple of seconds and I would’ve been chasing after you, but… well, something… came up. Something important. And I know that’s not what you want to hear right now,” he swiftly added, already seeing the annoyed protest forming on her lips, “but at the time I thought it was more important than any of us. Like ‘matter of national security’ important. I mean, how often does a pony get a summons directly from Celestia herself?”

Velvet, for her part, thankfully seemed to realize the gravity of that statement, her mood swiftly morphing yet again to one of wary curiosity. “Celestia called for you personally?”

“Well, it was more of a request, really, but I was still on duty at the time, and she said it was important, so…”

“What was it about?”

“It was, uh… well… she had a… a job for me, to take care of on my off-hours, that I, uh… that I agreed to do. A pretty, um… big one. Something that’s kept me occupied for the last couple of days. That’s why you haven’t seen me since we last talked.”

“A job? On your off-hours? Is she even allowed to do that?”

“W-well, like I said, it was really more of a request, that uh… that I agreed to…”

“What kind of ‘job’ was so important that she called you up like that, but not important enough to order you to do it?” Velvet wondered, suspicion starting to creep into her tone.

Night Light swallowed hard as he wracked his brain for the best way to phrase it, picking up his sandwich that had lain forgotten on the plate until now and stuffed it in his mouth to stall for time. It did him no good, though; no miraculously painless solutions appeared before him. No matter how he did it, this was going to be the most difficult part of the entire evening, so perhaps, he thought, it was best to just get right to the point.

“…Night Light?”

The stallion gulped down the sandwich and took a deep breath. “…Celestia’s in heat.”

Velvet’s expression went slowly blank, staring at him as though not comprehending what he’d just said. A reaction Night Light could relate to, actually. He’d felt more or less the same way, after all. She said nothing, though, so Night Light pressed on. “I’m sure you heard the announcement the other day, that it’s just about time for mating season… you might even be feeling it yourself already, heh… but, uh, the thing is, I always thought it was Celestia herself casting some spell to make that happen, since she always tells us in advance, but I guess it’s actually the sun that does it somehow? And, uh, since she controls the sun, she sorta… goes into heat before anypony else, and that’s how she knows it’s coming--”

“Celestia has an estrus cycle?!” Velvet abruptly burst out.

“I know, I was as surprised as you!” Night Light exclaimed, a wave of relief hitting him at Velvet’s initial reaction. If she understood his own shock and surprise at this bit of news, then maybe she’d be more understanding about the rest of it. “She said it was something about… longer exposure to the sun, and hormone reactions, and--”

“No, I knew that,” Velvet cut him off. “I meant I didn’t think Celestia actually… that she’d ever have to… I mean, she’s…”

“She’s the Princess,” Night Light filled in.

“Yes, exactly!” Velvet agreed. “She’s been around forever… although I guess Pommel’s always saying she’s just a normal pony when you get to know her, but… there’s never been any suggestion that she… I mean, you’d think somepony would have seen her with a mate at some point, if she really did have to, right?”

“I guess most of the time she just sort of… goes without,” Night Light said. “She doesn’t want to impose herself on anypony, and she definitely doesn’t want to make a big public deal out of it if she ever does find a mate. She told me herself it’s been years since she’s actually had a partner, I felt really bad for her.”

“Oh, good goddess, yes, it’s miserable going through a cycle alone!” Velvet groaned. “Believe me, I’ve done it.”

Night Light perked up in surprise. “You… have?”

“Yeah… a lot, actually,” Velvet admitted. “I don’t think I’ve spent a cycle with anything but meds and an ice pack between my legs for… goddess, years.”

“Really…?” Night Light marveled. “Why? Why would you do that to yourself?”

“Mmnnh… well…” Velvet blushed. “Call me old-fashioned, but I’m not really a fan of just scratching the itch wherever I can get it. Especially not since I’ve… had my eye on somepony specific for a while now.”

Night Light swiftly matched her blush, and for a moment an awkward silence fell over the two of them as Velvet trailed off and Night Light sat dreading what was sure to come. Velvet was a smart girl, she wouldn’t be distracted for long. Any moment it was going to hit her…

“Anyway… so Celestia’s in heat, huh?” Velvet said, on track again right on cue. “Earlier than anypony else?”

“Yes…she is,” Night Light confirmed. “It hits her first and it hangs around longer. Her cycle’s probably closer to a month long instead of the two-week average.”

“Ponyfeathers, that has to suck, going that long by yourself… I hope she at least finds somepony to help her out once in a while.”

Night Light braced himself. Here it comes…

“Heh… gosh, Night Light, Celestia must really trust you if she just called you up one night to tell you all th--…”

Velvet froze stock still.

Night Light swallowed hard again, but didn’t dare say a word, or meet her eyes. He could see, though, out of the corner of one eye, that she was gaping at him in wide-eyed disbelief.

“…You?”

Night Light slowly nodded.

“She asked you?”

He nodded again.

“And you said--?”

“Yes.”

“That’s what her job for you was? The last couple of days, that’s where you--?”

“Yes.”

“…You’re telling me--”

“Yes.”

“--in complete seriousness--”

“Yes.”

“--that you’ve been having sex with Princess Celestia?!”

“Yes! Okay?! Yes…!” Night Light exclaimed tensely. “Celestia asked me to be her mate this season and… and I said yes.”

Night Light still couldn’t meet Velvet’s eyes directly, but he did chance a sidelong glance at her again. She was still staring at him, the shock evident all over her face, and the anger he’d expected was certainly there in her expression… but to his own surprise, it was not the dominant emotion she was expressing. It wasn’t even close. In fact beyond the shock her expression was nearly unreadable. If she was about to blow up on him, he had no idea it was coming. Maybe she was just really good at concealing it…

“I don’t believe this…” Velvet finally whispered. “You… and Celestia… holy horseapples…”

Night Light gulped down a heavy breath. “Are… are you mad?”

“Well… a little, yeah!” Velvet exclaimed. “Hay, Night Light, you knew I… that I was interested in you all this time, you could’ve… I mean, I guess I can understand what you meant about not having time for a relationship, but it’s not like hooking up in mating season automatically equals a commitment. You couldn’t even spare me a second glance then? Just as a little note that ‘hey, I really am interested, even if I don’t have time right this second,’ just to reassure me? But no, I think that was when I saw you the least! But Celestia asks you and you jump in bed with her at the drop of a hat?”

This, at least, was a reaction Night Light had more or less expected, and mentally prepared himself for. “Velvet… I’m sorry. You’re right; I did avoid you during mating season in the past. I knew you were interested in me, and I knew those feelings would be stronger than ever when you were… like that. It would have been so easy to just say a few choice words and… take you home with me and go crazy. And… goddess, there were times where I wanted to. I wanted to so bad. But…”

“…But you didn’t,” Velvet finished the thought, quieter now, and nodded along with him, curiously leaning closer; she was catching on quickly. “Why?”

Night Light shrugged helplessly. “I guess you can call me a little old-fashioned too. If you and I were ever going to get together… I didn’t want it to be because you were sex-crazed through no fault of your own and I was thinking with my dick at the wrong moment. It would have been easier if you were just some mare that needed relief, but knowing how much you actually liked me… it would’ve felt like I was… using you, or… taking advantage of your feelings to get laid. You’re worth so much more to me than that, Velvet. I wanted us to get together the right way. I wanted it to be… real.”

For a long moment there was silence again. Night Light closed his eyes, praying to whoever might have been listening that she understood, and shaking in fear of what might happen next if she didn’t. And then…

“…Real, huh…?” Velvet echoed, smiling slightly. “I… actually kind of like the sound of that, when you put it that way.”

Night Light peeked out at her through one eye. “You… do?”

“Yeah.” Velvet’s smile grew a bit broader. “It’d be one thing if we were just two ponies in need, but… you’re right. As much as I care about you, I’m glad we didn’t only hook up because of some hormone-fueled rutting session.”

Night Light blushed twice as hard at her wording, but still, he couldn’t help but nod in agreement. “Y-yeah. Me too…”

“So then… the thing with you and Celestia…?”

“Definitely not romantic,” Night Light swiftly assured her.

“Good.” Velvet let out a sigh of relief. “That’s… very good to know.”

Night Light nodded along agreeably. “Yeah. She wants me to be free to, uh… heh… ‘pursue my own relationships.’ She’s not looking for romance, she made that very clear, and I’m not interested in her like that anyway. It’s just… you know…”

Velvet smirked at him. “A hormone-fueled rutting session.”

“Eh-heh…” Night Light flushed right to the tips of his ears. “That’s… not quite the phrasing I’d have used.”

“But that’s basically what it is.” Velvet shook her head a bit and gave him an impressed stare. “I guess I can’t really blame you for agreeing to it, though. I mean, my goodness, Night Light, even if it’s just a seasonal thing, that’s one hay of a badge of honor. Princess Celestia’s mate… how many ponies can even say that?”

“Well, she’s been around for a millennium and change, so probably more than you’d think,” Night Light said, and managed a weak laugh.

“Still! At most maybe one pony a generation, out of how many millions of ponies who’ve lived throughout the last thousand years? Out of everypony alive right now, you’re the only one? That sounds pretty lucky to me. I’m actually kind of jealous.”

Night Light gave her a look of sincere surprise at that. “You’re… jealous?”

“Well, yeah!” Velvet said, and when her gaze met his, Night Light saw she was indeed watching him with an almost reverent awe now. “You get to see a side of the Princess that nopony else gets to see, ever! My goddess… what was it like?”

Night Light nearly choked on his next breath. “Wh… what do you mean, ‘what was it like?’ You want… you want to know about--?”

“Definitely!” Velvet exclaimed, a bit too eagerly. She seemed to realize as much on her own, though, and swiftly reeled herself in. “I mean, if you’re comfortable sharing, that is. If she’d prefer for you not to talk about it…”

Night Light was already going bright red, and all the memories of his last three days spent with Celestia, despite his best efforts to keep them entirely separated from anything having to do with Twilight Velvet, were swiftly rushing back to the forefront of his brain. Particularly a moment from that very morning…

“Well… actually, she… encouraged me to talk about it with you guys,” Night light admitted. “Although I’m not sure she meant, uh… giving a blow-by-blow account…”

“Hehe, yeah, I bet there was a whole lot of blowing…”

“…Uh…”

Again fresh memories exploded across his mind’s eye, recalling images of Celestia, of that particularly gut-wrenching moment their third night when he’d been so worn out before even entering the Princess’ bedchamber that he hadn’t been sure he could perform at all, until Celestia had offered some deeply stimulating encouragement--

“Oh my goddess, I was joking!” Velvet gasped, clearly watching his flushed reactions like a hawk. “She did not seriously--?!”

“I really don’t think that kind of detail is what Celestia had in mind when she said to share…!” Night Light interrupted her in a slight panic.

“…So that’s a yes?”

“Velvet!”

“Nnnhhh… okay, okay, fine, no super-focused details,” Velvet reluctantly agreed. “But general stuff, that’s okay to talk about, right?”

“I-I… well… I guess?” Night Light stammered, his brain scrambling to sort out the surprise assault Velvet was bombarding him with. She actually wanted to know what sex with Celestia was like? Why?

“Okay, great, so spill, what was it like? How did she compare to normal mares in heat?” Velvet pressed, seemingly unwilling to give him time to adjust.

Night Light’s answers, by consequence, began to simply spill out uncensored. “W-well, I don’t really know much about what a normal mare in heat is like, but… she was actually very polite about it until we got going… and then once I agreed, she got… intense…”

Velvet was leaning forward by now, elbows propped up on the table and her head in her hooves, looking more fascinated by this story than Night Light had ever seen her. “Intense, huh…?” she repeated. “How intense?”

“As in ‘hurling me across the room by magic’ intense. ‘Jumping on top of me before I can so much as finish a sentence’ intense. Made me feel like a teenager again, having her hover over me like that, she was so… huge…”

“Oh my gosh you’re right, she’s enormous, isn’t she?” Velvet realized. “How did you even do it like that?”

“Size-change spell,” Night Light answered swiftly. “Evened things out a bit. I wasn’t as big as her, but I was definitely, you know… big.”

Velvet cast a sly look toward Night Light’s lap, even though it was, thankfully, hidden beneath her dining table. “Big, huh…?”

“Big everywhere,” Night Light swiftly amended. “…Maybe a bit extra big down there. …Just a little bit.”

Velvet hid a giggling blush behind her hooves. “I’d sure like to see that spell in action…”

“Heh… y-yeah, I’m sure you would…”

Velvet laughed again, and thankfully let the point go without further prodding. “So were you a gentlecolt about it…? You know, taking care of a lady’s needs first…?”

Night Light flushed again. “Well… not… not really. I tried! But she actually… stopped me.”

Velvet snorted out a little laugh. “Oh gosh, were you that bad at it?”

“N-no! I mean, I don’t… think so?” Night Light stammered. “S-she sounded like she liked it, just… she couldn’t wait anymore, that’s how bad she needed, you know, the real thing.”

“Wow, really? So from there you just… got right to it?”

“P-pretty much… yeah.”

“And how was that…?”

“…Hot,” he decided, after a moment of thought.

Velvet snickered. “Well duh, I’m sure it was.”

“No, I-- well, yes, but I meant literally, temperature-wise. You know, solar monarch and all. It was like having a July afternoon lying on top of me. Or uh… under me.”

“That sounds pretty hot. And dry.”

“…Well, uh… it was definitely not dry…”

“Hah, no, I didn’t think so. I haven’t met the mare yet that didn’t have to wash her tail twice as often in-season… especially if they haven’t had it in years? Guh, she was probably just dripping…”

Night Light struggled to reign in his body’s reactions, but re-living even just that first night, let alone all three of them… well, it was no wonder that his aching loins were at full mast again. Any stallion with an eye for mares would get an instantaneous erection if they saw the sights he’d seen. Celestia face-down and hips-up with her tail in the air. Celestia on her back with her hind legs spread. Celestia lying on top of him and straddling his twitching cock. Celestia, regardless of position, exhibiting her sopping wet pussy and pleading for it to be filled. Not even the most stoic stallion could have resisted her, no mare even compared to her.

Well, except maybe…

It was kind of funny; as much as he liked Twilight Velvet, he normally didn’t dare imagine her in a graphically sexual light, much like he used to approach thoughts of Celestia as well. But for once, just for a moment, he let himself fantasize, about what it might be like, to replace Celestia in all those scenes in his mind’s eye with Twilight Velvet, to re-enact them with her. To see Velvet shaking her hips in his face, to hear her beg for his cock inside her, to listen to her wails and cries and screams of ecstasy…

Night Light was blushing again, and swiftly shook the filthy thoughts from his brain, berating himself for even thinking them in the first place, let alone letting them renew his stubborn erection. Guiltily he shot a brief glance at Velvet, still sitting there across from him with her hoof under the table. What would she think of him if she knew he was thinking such nasty thoughts about her? Even a mare as forward as Velvet would be disgusted by--

Wait. Hoof under the table?

Night Light’s blush tripled. Velvet was still watching him with immense interest, but at some point her hoof had wandered downward between her legs, as if completely independent of any conscious thought, and suddenly Night Light detected a very telling scent in the air that made his primal instincts scream.

Mare in heat.

MARE IN HEAT.

TWILIGHT VELVET IN HEAT.

Well. Maybe she wouldn’t be so disgusted with his dirty mind after all.

Contrary to his instincts’ demands, Night Light leapt from his seat and backed away, forcing a nervous smile. “W-well! Uh, that’s probably enough talk about my sex life for one day, I should really get home…”

Velvet jolted out of some kind of daze, blushing sharply as she finally realized where her hoof was, and hastened to wipe it clean as she stood as well. “W-wait, Night Light, you don’t have to go yet, I’m sorry if I made you feel awkward…”

“I-it’s fine, really,” Night Light insisted, retreating toward her front door. “It was, uh, a good talk, really, but you need your sleep…”

“Night Light…”

“I-I’ll come check on you again tomorrow, see if you need any help with your extra work or anything,” he talked over her, magically tugging her front door open. “So, uh, yeah, we’ll talk more tomorr--”

“Night Light.”

Velvet’s magic overwhelmed Night Light’s and slammed the door shut again, and before he could do anything about it Velvet was right in his face, his flanks backed up against the solid wood.

“Er… V-Velvet, I really--”

“Night Light, I’m not stupid,” she cut him off. “I know what time of year it is, we’ve been talking about it all afternoon… and I know you can smell me.”

Night Light gulped down a nervous breath. “…Uhm.”

“And I’m not blind either, if you think I can’t see your dick practically dragging over my carpet.”

Night Light blanched, his mouth working for something, anything to say, but all the practiced nonchalance he’d hid behind for so long when facing her in the past was nowhere to be found now. She was past his defenses, seeing his true reactions for the first time, body and mind, and it was motivating her something fierce.

“I understand your reasons for why you’ve put it off so long. Really, I do. But I’m done tiptoeing around it, Night Light,” she informed him. “I’m done playing coy, I’m done dropping hints, and I’m done waiting until you’re comfortable with the idea. …I want you, Night Light. And I know you want me. We’ve liked each other for a long time, we both want a relationship, we’re both… seriously hot for each other… we’ve waited long enough. Why are we still holding ourselves back?”

Night Light swallowed another tense breath and briefly contemplated an answer. But apparently it had been a rhetorical question. Because a second later she was kissing him.

A strained grunt escaped Night Light’s lips, a momentary protest against the surprise move, but it was the only one he offered, the only resistance that hadn’t been stripped down and tossed away. In another instant he was kissing her back, and for the next thirty seconds it felt as though every delayed feeling and emotion and desire that had been hovering between them came roaring forward and spilled out at once. With his weight on his seated haunches, his raised his front hooves to pull her into a more full embrace, and Velvet responded immediately, lifting off her own hooves and throwing them around his body, and her weight against him, if anything, helped her kiss him harder. The tip of his erection was jabbing her in the stomach now with a complete lack of subtlety, and both of them knew it, but neither of them cared right then, or at least, Night Light didn’t. The kiss was all that mattered; the feel of her wet, parted lips, of her tongue dancing with his back and forth between their mouths, of her warm, gentle breaths as she sighed in deep satisfaction.

Princess Celestia, he had noted in idle observation at one point, had never kissed him. She’d nip at his neck and fur, she’d lick his cheek, she’d even take his cock to the back of her throat. But through three whole nights, she never kissed him. It didn’t bother or offend him or anything, but he had noticed, and wondered. And now, with Velvet’s lips on his, he knew why. This was a lovers’ embrace. Frantic, heated and with more than a little lust behind it, but nevertheless tender, passionate, and intimate. This kiss, her kiss, their kiss, was for them, and them only. He didn’t want to share it with anypony else, and when they finally pulled apart and gasped for breath, he was already craving more.

“W-wow…” he stammered instead. “That… that was…”

“A long time coming,” Velvet answered, her voice husky and barely above a whisper.

“Yeah… way too long…”

Night Light grunted and grimaced, forcing himself to pry their bodies apart. Velvet whined in protest immediately, but despite everything, Night Light held on to just enough self-control to resist the sound. He couldn’t do it. He just couldn’t. No matter how bad he wanted her, it just wasn’t going to happen. Not like this, anyway.

“Night Light, come on…”

“Velvet,” Night Light stopped her, though even in his most firm tone his voice was shaking. “I know, I know you want to, and goddess help me I want to just as bad, but…”

“No, Night Light, no more buts! How long do you expect me to keep waiting for you to be ready?! I told you, I’m sick of it…!”

“I am too,” Night Light agreed. “I’m sorry it took me so long, and I know… we both want this. But I have to ask you to wait just… a little bit longer.”

“How long, Night Light? Another year? Two years?”

“…Tomorrow.”

Velvet stopped and stared in surprise. “I--…what?”

“…If we’re doing this, we’re doing it right, remember?” Night Light reminded her. “…Let’s go on a date.”

“…A date?”

“Yeah. Just you and me. A real date. Like a real couple goes out. And then…”

“…Then…?” Velvet echoed hopefully.

Night Light took a deep breath, his face crimson all over again. “…Then… whatever else happens from there… I guess it’d be okay…”

Velvet shifted on her hooves and bit her lip, obviously reluctant to wait while she was straddling the beginnings of her estrus cycle. But eventually she relented, taking a deep, calming breath and reigning in the desire that their kiss had unleashed. “Sure… I’d love to go on a date with you, Night Light.”

“Yeah…?”

“Yeah.” Velvet smiled and nodded. “I’ve waited to hear you ask me that for years, I’m not going to let a little estrus make me greedy. I can wait a bit longer…”

Night Light beamed. “Great. Soooo, I’ll… come pick you up sometime late afternoon?”

“You’d better, mister. After this much waiting, I’m expecting one hay of a date.”

“Heh-heh… I’ll do my best,” Night Light promised.

Velvet smiled wider. “I’m sure you will.”

Night Light blushed a bit as he smiled back, and turned to magically open her front door once again. He made it as far as her front porch this time.

“Hey, don’t I get a goodnight kiss?”

Night Light stopped and turned back to face her again. “Eh-heh… a goodnight kiss? Isn’t that supposed to be after the date, before I walk home in a happy daze?”

Velvet giggled and pulled him close again with one hoof, pecking his lips gently. “Aww… how cute. You think you’re going home tomorrow night.”

Night Light twitched again. “W-wha…?”

Velvet winked at him over her shoulder as she stepped back inside. “See you then…”

And with another pleased giggle at his expression she closed the door, leaving Night Light awestruck and uncomfortably erect on her porch.

“…Goodnight…”