It took a little bit longer to calm the doctor down—and for me to stop laughing—than I would have liked, but eventually everypony had calmed down. Sure, I had to use my magic to keep the doctor, and nurses—who were still looking at me like I was going to attack them—off him, and I was still glaring at the Sergeant for her ‘help’, but everything was nice and calm right now.

I was helping Ares get his jacket and extra thick mittens off while the doctor kept fussing over him like a mother hen, forcing him to sit down so he could “catch his breath.”

“It doesn’t look like you’ve developed any signs of frostbite. No red-ish, irritated skin, nothing turning black.” She sat down in front of Ares, leaning forward and asking, “Do you feel any discomfort, any icy or burning sensations?”

I could tell that Ares was starting to get a little tired of being swarmed. Flash wouldn’t stop asking if he was okay, we all had to stop Ares from lunging at the still-laughing Sergeant, and I, happy that he was okay, wouldn’t stop nuzzling him. I’m sure if I had to deal with all of the poking, the giggling, the baby-talk, and the hugs, I would’ve snapped and asked for a little personal space too.

So imagine my surprise when he just patted her on the cheek. “I’m fine, doc,” he said, wiggling out of his coat with a determined look.

Ms. Scalpel sighed in relief. “Good, good.”

My human gave the doctor a big, hammy grin “I gotta say, doc, I didn’t know you cared that much. Miss me, did ya?”

She snorted. “I’m just simply making sure that my investment survives,” she said, waving a hoof dismissively. “I’ve been writing a paper on you; a little tid-bit that will probably win me the Star Swirl award for medical excellence.”

“…What’s it about?”

The doctor took off her glasses, pulled out a little hanky, blew on her lenses, and started to clean them. “Oh, nothing you’d understand, I can assure you,” she playfully sneered with a little smile while she got back to her hooves. “Come on, let’s get you back to the castle. Half of the empire is out ready to greet their princess and favorite human.”

She looked at everyone before nodding and muttering to herself.“I’ll let the nurses here take you to the castle.” She turned away, Ares and I watching her go. “I have some … things to do.”

I smiled, wrapping my forelegs around Ares’ neck and kissing his cheek. “Come on, Ares,” I said, giving his side a little tickle with a wing tip. “My little ponies await.”

He rubbed his cheek against mine as the doctor retreated down the path with a little pep in her step. “Alright, but you’re gonna have to get off me, Candy. Flash, be a bro and come over here and help my fat ass up.”

I let go of Ares and picked up his jacket as Flash trotted over to help him up. Turning toward Ms. Echo, who still had a smile on her face, I said, “Alright, Sergeant, thank you for helping ensure that Ares made it through the tundra alright.”

The batpony nodded. “It’s my job, Princess,” she said simply while I matched her grin.

“Well, since it’s clear that he’s going to be alright, could you go and get our bags?” I asked innocently. I watched the Sergeant’s smile vanish from her face.

“Sweet Faust, Ares, how much do you weigh?” Flash grunted as he struggled to get Ares up.

My human grunted. “It’s not my fucking fault I have to wear all of this stuff to keep warm.” He looked down at his massively thick pants in disdain. “I can barely move with all of this stuff on.”

“Too bad you don’t have a coat like we do, huh?”

“You guys may be warmer than me, but at least I don’t have to worry about shedding.”

I know that it was a little mean of me, but I almost let out a little giggle as Echo looked out at the tundra and shivered. “As the princess commands,” she finally said.

My smile grew. “Thank you, Ms. Echo, I appreciate it.” I watched her turn toward the barrier before adding, “Oh, and Sergeant?”

The mare turned back toward me, an eyebrow cocked. “Ma’am”

I looked over at Ares. “Try not to help a doctor shock my coltfriend back to sub-consciousness or stab him in the chest when he’s perfectly healthy next time you’re in that situation, or I promise you that a little cold will be the least of your worries, alright?”

She paled just a little bit when my look turned slightly angry. “Yes, ma’am.” My sweet smile back on my face, I trotted over toward Ares, putting his coat in his hands.

He gave me a little wink before looking over and watching the Sergeant hurry through the barrier. “What’s wrong with her?” he asked, sounding puzzled.

I rubbed up against his side and ruffled my feathers. “Oh, she’s fine,” I brightly told him. “She and I just had a little conversation about keeping you safe and sound and not stabbed with an adrenalin shot.”

He chuckled, mussing up my hair. “I didn’t know you had it in you, Candy.”

I stuck my tongue out at him playfully. “Nopony messes with my colt friend,” I said, before tapping him with a wing. “Come on, let’s go and see how everypony’s doing.”

@~~##~~@

While I love my subjects, and I wouldn’t trade them for anypony else in the world, since they had been sealed away from the world for a thousand years, they weren’t exactly … up-to-date with everything.

In some aspects it was adorable, like when I first showed them a bean bag chair, but other more official things, it was a little tedious, like trying to explain to them how horrible their medicine was and why they should be going to doctor Stitch and not some priest when they had a cold.

They also had the ability to scare the heck out of me. Their jousts, how their nobles were always ‘challenging each other to duels’--i.e. yelling and getting into hooffights with each other--their really crazy love of violence; these cornerstones of their culture that made them who they were, took a lot to get used to. In fact, I was still trying to get used to it all.

As soon as Ares, Flash, and I had set hoof in the city, at least thirty ponies, all in their best togas, saw us and yelled, “It’s the princess!” They began slamming their hooves against their chests, making this horrifying thumping sound that made me think of soldiers marching.

Ares rushed over and picked up one of my ponies, who looked at the human with a happy squeal. “Aw, did you guys miss me?” he asked, while somepony else yelled something about the ‘cuddle monkey’ being back. With a yell, my ponies rushed my human, tackling him to the ground.

I shook my head and looked over at Flash, who was chuckling. “What am I, chopped oats?” I asked him jokingly as Ares gently tossed around a few ponies, laughing as they tried to force him back down to the ground.

“At least you’ll get them when they're tired, princess,” Flash said as more and more of my subjects appeared, smiles on all of their faces as they looked at me. “Should we—”

“WHAT THE HAY’S GOING ON?!?!”

Everypony, and I mean everypony, stopped what they were doing and looked at a fuming Sergeant Echo, who was in turn glaring at the group piling on Ares. She dropped all of our bags onto the ground. “You lot put him down right—”

My subjects gasped, slowly making their way toward the mare. “What in the name of the gods are you?” one of them asked, causing Echo to back up, a wary look on her face.

“I’m the human’s personal bodyguard,” she said, her chest puffing out while she bared her fangs, trying to keep what looked like a hundred ponies away from her. “The name’s Sergeant Echo, now why don’t you—”

“You look like a bat!”

I was really trying not to laugh when the batpony’s eye twitched in irritation. “They’ve never seen a thestral before,” I managed to mutter to Flash, who nodded.

“I don’t think that Princess Luna brought any last time she was here,” he responded, as Echo slapped away a hoof that was trying to poke at her.

She looked like she was about to reach for the sword at her side, and from this distance I could almost hear her hissing in anger. “Will you all bucking back up and give me some breathing room?!”

“But we just want to touch your wings!” Somepony cried, the group getting closer and closer toward her while Ares started laughing.

“Looks like you’ve got some groupies, bat horse,” he said in amusement.

A filly cocked her head in confusion and looked up at her mother, “Mommy, what’s a bat horse?”

Her mother leaned down and nuzzled her. “You heard the cuddle monkey, sweetie, that mare is a bat horse.”

Flash had to keep me from falling over when I finally burst out laughing.

@~~#~~@

The castle was just as I remembered it, big and blue and clean-looking, and its floor made this neat tapping sound that you could almost dance to whenever you walked on it. The crystal heart was floating under my castle, shining brighter than ever, as I looked up at it.

Ares—the Sergeant and Flash had made their way to the barracks—whistled in appreciation. “Looking at that thing never gets old,” he said breathlessly, reaching up and starting to scratch my ear.“Doesn’t it look brighter to you?”

I leaned toward his hand while I closed my eyes in bliss. I wish I had hands, I thought while I let out a little coo. “The heart’s shining shows how happy my subjects are,” I said, leaning against his leg, “how much love they carry in their hearts.”

He got up on his tippy-toes to get a better look at it. “You know, it’s a little hard to believe that you nuked the last ruler of this place with this thing. It’s neat, floating and stuff, but I still have a hard time believing it.”

“I couldn’t believe it either when it happened,” I said, my smile dampening a little at the mere thought of Sombra, “but it did happen and everypony is better off for it; Sombra was a monster …”

I shook my head, clearing myself of dark thoughts, and nudged him. “Come on, we can look at the heart in the morning.” I yawned, covering my mouth with a hoof. “The two of us are going to have a pretty big day tomorrow, so we should get to sleep early.”

I giggled when he picked me up, cradling me like a filly. “Yeah we do!” my human said excitedly. “A feast, some Olympic games stuff—”

“I still can’t believe that they wanted to do that,” I mused almost to myself, and swatted him with a wing when he pinched my flank.

“They’re happy to see their princess, Candy.”

I blew a raspberry. “They’re having three days worth of games and feasting just because I got back!” I exclaimed.

Ares chuckled, rubbing the space in-between my wings. “What would Celestia or Luna get if they had just gotten back after being gone from Canterlot for months?”

“That’s not the same!” I argued. “I’m not them! And Canterlot wouldn’t do something like that.”

He kissed my neck. “Well, good thing for us your people are awesome enough to entertain and liquor us up for three whole days.”

I tried to keep my frown. “There’s no need for it,” I muttered. “A simple parade would’ve been alright.” I know that that sounded a little … elitist of me, but ponies, honestly, wanted an excuse to have a party or a parade and nobles coming or going was the best time for it. If I told them I didn’t want one, they’d just ignore me and have a party anyway, or they’d have one in secret.

“You’re being a baby,” Ares told me while he carried me up the steps of the castle and through the main doors.

I scoffed. “I’m not!” I argued, crossing my forelegs. “What if we have a bad winter or something? The food that we’re going to waste these next few days could be needed to keep us from starving!”

My human stopped in the middle of the hallway, a thoughtful expression on his face. “You know, since I have no idea how your food is grown and your economic stuff is handled, I really don’t know if you’re right about that or not.”

I smiled.

“But that still kinda sounds like shit to me … you baby.”

I pushed his shoulder with a wing as Ares turned a corner. “I just don’t like these festivals,” I admitted, blowing my mane out of my face.

“Sure, they’re fun and everything, but then there’s the clean up afterward. You have to get ponies to clean up the garbage that’s left, you need to see if there’s any damaged or defaced property.” I waved my hooves around. “The list goes on and on and it’s just a pain for everypony involved in the end, and I don’t want to be the one that causes it just because I finally decided to bring my flank back home.”

Ares whistled. “Boy, Candy, I didn’t know you hated parties that much.”

“… I don’t hate parties.”

I playfully snapped at his hand when he tried to pinch my cheek. “Your subjects want to show you how much they missed you,” he said. “Stop being such an old lady and have some fun.”

I smiled and nuzzled his shoulder. “I don’t even know if the party is for me,” I said mockingly. “Did you see how excited everypony was when they saw the ‘cuddle monkey’?”

Ares chuckled. “That’s the cutest name that I’ve ever been called in my life.” He started rocking me back and forth like a foal. “Cuddle monkey.”

I squirmed out of his grasp, shaking my head and ruffling my feathers when my hooves touched the ground. “Did you even know where you were going?” I asked, looking around. “It looks like you brought us to the southern part of the castle.”

My human shrugged. “It’s been a while since I’ve walked around here, Candy, of course I didn’t know where I was going.”

“Then why did you start walking around without asking me for directions?” I asked, shaking my head.

He bopped my nose. “I thought that I could just bullshit my way around until I found something that looked familiar.”

Why don’t stallions just ask for directions? I lamented, turning around so we could retrace our steps and I could get us into the main hallway. I don’t see why not knowing where you’re going is better than just sucking it up and asking somepony where to go.

“We could have been in the bedchamber ten minutes ago,” I muttered, looking up at him with an eyebrow cocked. “Now we’re going to have to work until the sun’s down to get all of your clothes put away.”

Ares placed a hand on my neck and gave me a little tickle. “I asked you the other day if I could just leave most of them back with the other princesses, so don’t try to guilt me with that.”

“If we did that then you’d have to get all of your other clothes remade,” I pointed out. “You know, if you didn’t wear them every day then the Sergeant wouldn’t have had to make all of those trips back to the train.”

He shrugged. “It’s not my fault that I have this silly human skin and not your fur.” He flicked my ear. “And I don’t remember bat horse having to go back to the train that many times since you made Flash go and help her.”

“No, Flash offered to help her out,” I responded quickly, which earned me a nudge.

“And you giving him those puppy dog eyes of yours didn’t sway him at all?”

I looked away from him, trying not to laugh. “I’m sure that Flash was doing that out of the kindness of his heart, and I don’t use doe-eyes on a stallion when I want something; I’m a princess, I could have just asked him to do it,” I said in amusement.

“You liar, I saw you and your quivering lip,” Ares joked.“Hey, do you know what I just realized, now that we’re back here for probably ever?”

I couldn’t help but smile when he said that he was going to stay here with me forever. “What?” I asked, cocking my head up at him.

He stopped for a second, looking around the hall while I stopped to see what he was doing. “What am I going to be doing here to keep myself occupied?” he finally said.

My mouth opened in an O expression. “You want a job?” I asked.

He nodded, opening and closing a hand while he looked down at it. “I can’t just lay around and do nothing,” he told me, while I walked back toward him. “You’re going to be doing Princess stuff, Flash has a job, even bat horse is going to be working.”

I patted his back with a wing understandingly. “And you don’t want to feel like you’re doing nothing?”

He grimaced. “I don’t think that I could keep myself from working.” I gently started to lead him back down the hall with a wing. “When we were back in Canterlot I always had something to do: mess with you or one of the princesses, go see the doctor, bother ponies, but here? I have no idea.”

“Why don’t you go out and look for a job then?” I asked. “I’m sure that somepony could use a six foot tall human for something.”

I could almost feel the relief coming off Ares. “I thought that you were going to offer me a job at the castle,” he mused.

I frowned. “What would be wrong with that?”

“I’d feel weird having you as my boss,” he said while I let out a little unamused snort. “You’d yell at me for breaking a vase or something and then the two of us would go to bed,” he paused, shuddering slightly. “I don’t think you’d want that; I know that I really don’t want that.”

“You don’t want a mare to be your boss, is that it?”

He leaned down and kissed my nose. “You can boss me around all you want, Candy.” He reached up and started to play with one of my ears. “But I want to feel like I earned the job. I guess I just don’t want to feel like you hired me because I’m dating you”

I couldn’t beat down the grin that came to my face. “You think that I’d hire you because of that?” I laughed quietly. “The castle has a very strict hiring system, Ares. Everypony goes through lots of training before they can get a job here: my guards, the maids, even the cooks. Even if I wanted to make you a janitor you’d probably want to quit after a few days because of the workload and training.”

He looked down at me with a puzzled expression. “Is it really that bad?”

I nodded. “Two-thirds of the ponies that try out for a job here quit in the middle of training,” I told him. “And the training here is nothing compared to what they have to deal with when they try to work for aunty Celestia.” We finally made it to my bedroom, me sighing before I started to open the door.

This was the last place where you told Shining that you loved him…

“So I’ll go and look for a job outside the castle then,” Ares said, pushing open the door and walking past me while I just stood there, mouth agape. “It looks like they got our bags in—Candy, are you okay?”

It was the same as I remembered it, back when Shining and I still … loved each other. Our old bed with the purple covers was still as nice and neat as it was when I made it before we left for Canterlot. I could almost see us still sitting at the table in the corner, eating breakfast, finishing paperwork, or just talking at the end of the day.

Seeing the inside of this room kind of felt like getting slapped in the face at the end of a fight. Sure, the worst is over for you, you’ve taken the brunt of the beating, but it’d still sting. I didn’t regret what I did—I felt bad for Shining, but I wasn’t going to give up Ares—but the sight still made me think of him.

Look … there’s a picture of me and him on the tab—

I stiffened when I felt Ares wrap his arms around me, hugging my neck while he knelt down. “Cadence?”

I leaned into his hug. “I’m alright,” I whispered, my eyes still scanning around the room, “I was just thinking of everything Shining and I did in here.” I placed my head on his shoulder. “And how much everything has changed.”

His grip on me tightened. “Do you want to talk about it?” he asked, while I wrapped a wing around him.

“No no, I was just overwhelmed for a second; I’m alright.” I may need to change those covers though, I thought privately to myself

I nuzzled his cheek before breaking the hug. “Come on, let’s get your clothes put away, then we can do a little dusting.” I crinkled up my nose a bit. “I can almost smell all of the dust in the air.”

He looked at me carefully for a few seconds before giving me that smile that I really, truly loved. “Alright, where’s the closet?”

…

It was nice going through my room, looking over pictures on my counters and my old clothes in the closet. It almost had this therapeutic quality to it, like learning to play a guitar or whittling, and it helped brighten my mood so much that I kept joking with Ares, swatting him with my tail whenever he passed me and trying not to laugh whenever he yelped in surprise.

I wonder what Shining’s doing right now, I idly thought, while Ares tried to shove a few more socks into an already stuffed drawer. I hope he’s doing alright… wherever he is.

“Alright, that’s the last of it, Candy!” Ares said brightly, wiping a bead of sweat from his forehead. “Everything’s put away that needs putting away.”

I put down the rag that I had been using to dust. “I think that I got most of the dust off of everything,” I said, stretching while taking off my crown. “How about we hit the hay? Like I said, we’re going to be getting up pretty early tomorrow.”

Ares looked toward the balcony, nodding when he saw how dark it was outside. Yawning, he said, “Alright, let’s see how comfortable this bed is.” With a grin, he raced toward the bed taking a final big step before launching himself through the air and landing on his new bed… and sending up a cloud of dust.

“Son of a bitch!” He cried, and I had to watch as he got a mouthful of dust.

I winced as he went into a coughing fit. “Oops,” I muttered, using a spell to open the balcony door. “I forgot to clean the bed.”

Ares, trying to get the dirt out of his eyes, rolled out of the bed. Gasping, I used a spell to catch him before he hit the ground. “You *cough* think?” he rasped, while I set him in a chair.

“Are you okay there, Ares?” I asked, using a wing to send the rest of the airborne dust through the balcony door while casting a spell to clean up the bed.

He opened an eye, looking down at his blackened body. “Did the maids even try to clean up in here?” Grunting, he started to pull the shirt off his body, and used it to try to clean the soot off his face. “It’s like no one was in here for a hundred fucking years.”

I giggled quietly when he threw his shirt to the ground. “It looks like someone needs to take a shower,” I said teasingly.

He nodded and looked away from me. “Yeah,” he muttered, getting to his feet. “Hey, Candy?”

“Yes, my dirty human?” I was about to giggle at my little joke name, but then I saw him wince, nervousness clear on his face. Taking another step toward him I softly added, “What do you need?”

He rubbed his arm, a blush slowly starting to spread on his face. “I was wondering,” he cleared his throat, “how about you join me in the shower?”

He almost looked like he was about to jump out of his skin when my eyes widened. “Not in the way you’re thinking,” he quickly added, frantically waving his arms around. “J-just for cleaning each other off and—“Groaning, he covered his head with his hands. “Never mind, just forget I said anything, I—”

“Ares.“

“—just thought that it wouldn’t be such a big deal when I thought it in my head but now I that I said it outlouditseemsalittleshittyofmeand—”

“Ares.”

“—Ijustthoughtthatwecoulddoitbecauseit’snotabigdealsinceyou’renakedallthetimebutIunderstandif—”

I giggled. Oh, look how red he’s getting, I thought, levitating a pillow from the bed and gently whacking him in the face with it. “Ares,” I calmly said, taking a step toward him. “Calm down and take a breather, okay?”

He nodded, clearing his throat before taking a deep breath and running his hand through his hair. “Alright, just give me a second,” he muttered.

Trying hard not to grin, I trotted toward him, getting on my back legs and putting my front legs on his shoulders. I cooed when he flinched, my human’s face redder than a hearth's warming eve decoration. Aw look at him, I thought, bopping his nose with mine.

“Oh, look how flustered you’ve gotten yourself,” I teased, rubbing our noses together. “I don’t understand why you’re getting so worked up about asking me to take a shower with you.” He tried to back up and look away, but I just followed, awkwardly taking a step forward while I mushed his cheeks together with my hooves. “We’ve been sleeping together for almost two months after all.”

He winced slightly. “It just means,” his face scrunched up in thought, “more to humans I guess? Back at home you’ve got to be in pretty deep to ask them something like this.”

I nodded understandingly, a smile coming to my face. “Well, I’d be happy to,” I told him while he gave me a relieved smile. It must have taken him all day to work up the courage to ask me that, I thought, trying not to giggle. Sweet Faust does he look cute right now.

I remember how uncomfortable Ares had looked when he and I bathed with my aunt. Though he tried to hide it, he must still be uncomfortable being out of his clothes around me.

I then realized that, other than the time when the two of us were almost too drunk to stand, and that time with my aunt—though Ares was pretty much clothed the whole time—the two of us hadn’t showered together before.

But he’s trying to change that, I thought to myself, ushering Ares into the bathroom. He wants to get more intimate with me. My eyes widened at the thought, almost forcing me to sit down while my human walked into the shower, turning it on and hopping out before he was sprayed with cold water.

“Alright, Candy,” he said, almost keeping a little squeak out of his voice. “Let’s get cleaned up.”

You need to make this more comfortable for him, I thought, taking off my horseshoes and chest plate and putting them in the counter before giving myself a little shake. Remember to let him take this at his own pace.

“Alright, Ares,” I said, resisting the urge to glance back as he quickly hopped out of his pants and boxers, now as naked as I was. Keep your eyes above his waist, no flirting, let him lead this.

I flinched when the water pattered against my face. “Too cold,” I muttered, using a spell to turn the shower knob to make it a more comfortable temperature. I looked over at Ares, giving him a gentle smile as the water cascaded down my back. “Could you get my wings, Ares?” I asked, giving my wings a little flap. “It’s always hard to clean these things by myself.”

He nodded jerkily, taking a deep breath that I pretended not to notice before stepping into the shower with me, taking the wing conditioner and a rag from me while I spread a wing halfway.

Just look ahead, I instructed myself, shivering slightly when I felt him pour a dollop of conditioner on my wing, putting the rag in the middle of my back while he scrubbed the soap into my feathers with his hands. He’s used to doing things with your wings. He should be a little more at ease when he’s done with them.

I sighed happily as Ares stretched my wing out a little more, his fingers delicately splaying over every feather, all the way down to my wing joint, before he poked my flank with a finger.

“That one’s done, Candy, now move over a little bit so I can get at the other one,” Ares said, sounding a whole lot calmer than he had a minute ago. I did as he asked, spreading my other wing while I let my mind wonder.

Other than the party tomorrow, I’m going to have a lot to do for the next couple of weeks. I giggled when I felt Ares touch a ticklish part in my wing. I’m sure the council has a lot for me to sign and look over. New laws, new sanctions, building permits..

I looked over my shoulder to sneak a peek at Ares, who had his tongue stuck out in concentration. I might not get to spend enough time with Ares. I shook off that thought violently, gritting my teeth. No, I’m not going through another situation where I can’t see my special somepony because of paperwork!

I didn’t care if I had to hire a dozen secretaries, set up a lower council, hop around dressed as a bucking clown, I was going to make darned sure that me and my human were going to spend some bucking time together. I wasn’t going to let paperwork run my life like last time; I had learned my lesson the hard way.

I’ll go talk to some of the nobles, I silently promised, not able to resist the urge to rub myself against Ares as he knelt down and started scrubbing my side, I'll See if they have any ideas on this.

I hummed thoughtfully. I’ve been trying to run this kingdom the same as Aunty when there might be a better way. The council was able to do my job for months without me really having to do anything, so maybe I could set something up where they look over the laws and I have the final word.I smiled when I felt Ares give my neck a little kiss.

I could even ask Ares about his world’s politics. I couldn’t contain a snort at the thought of Ares, sitting me down and trying to explain alien governing systems to me. We’d either be at war in a month or ponies would complain, I mused with a giggle, while Ares stood up back to his full height.

“Alright, Candy, you’re all squeaky clean,” he said while I looked up at him with a pouty face. While it was a bit disappointing not having my colt friend run those hands of his over my body anymore, I saw an opportunity to return the favor.

Smiling, I grabbed another rag and squirted a bit of soap into it. “Alright,” I said cheerfully, after washing myself off. “It’s time to get you cleaned off. Turn around so I can get your back first.”

Remember not to pinch him, you don’t want him jumping through the ceiling, I thought, starting to scrub his shoulders in small, circular motions, humming a happy little tune. You can play grab-flank with him in the shower another day.

“Thanks for this, Candy,” Ares said quietly, trying to keep still while I scrubbing him all over.

I chuckled, taking a moment to trail the muscles in his lower back with my rag. “No, thank you, Ares,” I said gratefully. “I know you must have been nervous asking me to do this.” I smirked. “And seeing you blush like that was cute.”

He grumbled while I took a step backward into the water. “Alright,” I cleared my throat. “I need you to turn around, Ares, so I can get your front.”

He paused, statue-still, while I patiently waited for him. He might just want to do it himself, I thought, ready to just give him the rag. Let him— I blinked in surprise when he suddenly turned around, giving me an eyeful before I wrenched my gaze upward.

Ares chuckled when he saw a blush coming to my face. “Aw, don’t be bashful, Candy,” he said with a little grin. “I could just do it myself if you’re uncomfortable.”

Brave enough to tease me now, huh?

I responded by beginning to scrub his chest, trying not to grin when his smile faltered. “I’ll be done in a minute,” I sweetly told him, getting his arms when he spread them. “And after, we can go to bed and you can preen my wings.”

“You know,” I continued, going lower. “If you're comfortable with doing this again, we can use the bathtub tomorrow instead of the shower. I know it’s not as big as Auntie's, but it’ll get the job done.”

Ares winced when the rag touched his lower stomach. “If you want, Candy,” he said with a wink. “You can break out the rubber duckies and the bubbles and we can have a grand ‘ol time.”

I giggled. “I do have some bubble-making soap somewhere around here…”

I 'snuck' a look at the odd patch of hair around his manhood. Huh, I wonder why that’s there, I thought in confusion, ignoring the look that he was giving me for openly gawking. The rest of him is pretty hairless then… all of that. I shied away from scrubbing in that particular area because he was looking a little uncomfortable, just quickly cleaning his legs before brushing past him.

“Alright, get watered off so we can dry off and go to bed,” I commended, giving him a little wink… and maybe just a teeny-tiny flank wiggle.

“Alright, hold your horses… Aw, you get the joke? Cause you’re a... alright then, I’ll just get this soap off.”

@~!!~@

“You know,” I said to Ares’ sleeping form, draping a wing over his body as he wiggled closer to me, “I don’t know how someone so much bigger than me could look so cute when they’re sleeping, but you're pulling it off pretty well.”

I couldn’t sleep myself, too many thoughts running through my head; the little situation with the shower had forced me to try to answer some questions. How well was my kingdom getting along and how could I help make it prosper now that I was back? How was I going to deal with Luna if Celestia couldn’t?

…How was I going further my relationship with Ares?

I’ve never dated anything other than a pony, and Ares didn’t even have any other species' that he could date except humans, so we were pretty much stumbling around in the dark on this. The two of us were going good for now but what about when we got into the deeper parts of a relationship… like sex?

What were my subjects going to say when they found out that I had let Shining go and that I was dating their ‘cuddle monkey’? Then there was even further than that; how the hay would the world take it if we ever got married?!

I resisted the urge to groan, closing my eyes and taking a deep breath before looking down at my colt friend. It doesn’t matter, I finally thought, leaning down and gently kissing him on the lips. “If he’s willing to fight for us then I’m more than happy to.”

It didn’t matter, whatever the world was going to throw at us, whatever weird, freaky secret things we learned around each other, I was going to try my darndest to make sure that the two of us were going to live happily ever after.

“Sweet dreams, Ares.” I wrapped my hooves around his neck and pressed my body up against his. “We have a long, strange couple of weeks ahead of us.