It had been another long, thankless night for Luna. Her night court had been very busy as of late, with noble after noble trying to bring their trivial complaints to her. It had been amusing the first few nights, but now each night seemed to be a test of whether or not she’d bring back the death penalty.

We swear if We even SEE a ‘noble’ when we awaken there will be Tartarus to pay, she sourly thought as she slogged down hallway, trying her hardest not to just plop down in the middle of the hallway and fall asleep out of sheer exhaustion.

“Just a few dozen more feet and We will be able to finally get some rest,” she muttered with a wry smile before a frown replaced it. “Back to that cold, lonely bed of ours…”

Even though she wouldn’t admit, she had almost been counting down the days for when she could finally get off her blue fanny and go and get her stallion—and his mare—so that she wouldn’t be the only one to warm her bed at night. As the days dragged on, the thought of her just going to the empire with a bouquet of flowers seemed like a better and better idea.

Nay, she thought, giving her head a tired shake, We promised Ares and Cadence that we would wait and We are a mare of our word. We have a mode of transportation to see them easily when we want, We have the perfect place picked out to take them to, and We have even had a dress commissioned for the event of our first date!

Ignoring a pair of saluting guards, Luna turned and corner and smiled slightly when she saw the promised land: her bedroom. With an almost relieved sight she picked up her pace, just ready for a nice bubble bath and her bed.

Everything is prepared; all We need to do is wait a little longer and follow the plan. Within the harvest moon, We will have somepony to go to at night.

Now with a genuine smile on her face, Luna trotted toward her bedroom door and threw it open. Whistling a happy tune, she walked through it, closing the door with her rump before giving her room and once over.

Humming, she muttered, “Maybe we could acquire a snack before beginning our bath,” she mused. “Then we would—“

Knock Knock!

Luna looked over her shoulder at her door, frowning gently. “Who could that be at this hour?” She pondered aloud, reaching for the door with her magic. “We are sure that most ponies know that we sleep during the day and the punishments for disturbing us.”

Ready to tell the would-be intruder to kindly shove off, she walked over and turning the doorknob. She almost hopped backward in surprise when the door was thrown open, revealing a slightly disheveled Shining Armor, who trotted into the room with a white box caught in his magic.

“Good morning, princess,” he said, dipping his head in the most pathetic bow that Luna had seen in a week before trotting past her and putting the box on a table.

“…Good morrow, Sir Shining,” she said after a minute confused as to why he was here and what he wanted with her. “It is good to see thee again... Thou looks that thou haven’t gotten a wink of sleep in a while.”

Shining nodded, throwing open the little box and sticking his head in it. “Yeah, I didn’t get any sleep last night. I was too nervous to talk to you, so I just spent the night walking around my guest room instead.”

He popped out from the box with a donut in his mouth. “I went out this morning and got you a box of donuts,” he explained, taking a big bite out of his. “You and I need to have a talk, but first you should eat one of these. I got them from Pony Joe’s; they’re cream-filled.”

@~~@##@~~@

For once in a rather long while, Ares woke up without a pink alicorn having to poke, prod, bribe, or threaten him, and boy was he not happy about it. Grumbling to himself, he cracked open an eye and looked around the too-bright room.

Man, fuck me, he thought, debating whether or not to throw the covers over his head and go back to sleep when he noticed that Cadence was still asleep with her hooves wrapped around him. I got like four hours of sleep and I got my ass kicked yesterday! Why and the hell don’t you want to get some rest, body?

His stomach just growled, making him wince. Aw, you’re hungry, he mused, smiling when he felt Cadence sleepily nuzzle her nose into the nape of his neck. Leaning over and kissing her, he closed his eyes. Well, you can wait for another hour or two; I’m still tried as balls and I think I deserve some sleep. His stomach responded the only way it knew how, by rumbling even louder.For about ten minutes, Ares was able to ignore it, until his patience finally snapped.

Fine, FINE! I’ll fucking get up! He thought, his eyes snapping open. Trying not to groan, he kissed his favorite pink pony’s forehead. Man, I didn’t get anything to eat after my ass kicking yesterday, his stomach growled again, I’m so hungry I could eat something horse-sized.

If he was careful he could rush to the kitchen, stuff his face silly, and get back to snuggle-time before Cadence woke up, so, trying to exert some sort of willpower, he slowly tried to force himself to rise. Grunting, he started to unlace Cadence’s hooves from around his neck. “Alright Candy, just let me go for a minute… gonna get some pancakes or something…”

He just about had her off when she growled. “Nooooo,” she muttered, her hooves re-wrapping themselves around him. “Staaaay!” Nuzzling his cheek, she grumbled a bit before she went back to her quiet snoring.

Ares closed his eyes, one of his hands reached up and started playing with her mane while he cursed his bad luck. “You’re lucky I don’t have to take a piss, Candy,” he muttered, reaching into his pillow with his other hand and grabbing the book that he had hidden there, “’cause if I had to, your pony ass would be waking up…”

Cadence frowned for a second, almost like she had heard what she had said, before her face was back to looking peaceful while she sleepily kept nuzzling him.

Even though he felt a little bad about not showing Cadence any of these books—the look on her face would have been worth the embarrassment… probably—he still kinda wanted to do the whole I-learned-about-pony-sex thing on his own.

Looking down, he spent a minute admiring his filly friend’s slender body. It was almost a work of art, or to put it in perspective, a vehicle, and he had to read the manual to push the buttons right. At least this isn’t some thousand-page book, Ares thought, gently stroking her side while he leaned down and kissed her on the nose, because I’d rather just ask Cadence about this than reading that much shit!

Sighing to himself once again, Ares cracked open the book and started reading… And reading…. And reading, until he realized something; actually he realized quite a few things.

Just looking over that little black book for an hour or two had shown him just how different mares were from human women. Different ways to show affection, subtle changes in mood, the list had gone on and on and on, so much so that it had made him more than a little nervous… not that to would admit that to anybody, including himself.

He smiled slyly, watching as one of Cadence’s ears twitched. You know… I could try something that the book talked about, he thought, reaching for her ear and gently grasping it. She might appreciate me waking her up like this instead of just shoving her…

A neat little thing that he had learned during his late-night reading last night--while Cadence was asleep of course-- was the sensitivity of a pony’s ears.

You see, during pony-to-pony mating a stallion, while ‘doing his duty’, would usually either bite onto the mare’s mane or one of the ears to get a better hold of her so he could thrust easier and deeper. So, due to this happening for tens of thousands of years, the pony mare adapted so that instead of pain, biting, pulling, and stroking of the ear produced pleasure. A lot, if what the book was saying was true.

Trying to beat the smile off his face, Ares very gently pulled Cadence’s ear into his mouth and started to nibble on it. Well, let’s see if this works, he thought to himself, starting to play with her belly after a moment’s consideration. If this is some stupid hooky-kooky bullshit then I’m gonna—

He raised an eyebrow when Cadence started to squirm, nuzzling deeper into his neck while her ear tried to flick its way out of his mouth.

“Pink is the new yellow…” Cadence sleepily muttered, one of her wings twitching at her side.

…What the hell are you dreaming about? Rolling his eyes, Ares grabbed his marefriend’s other ear and started to tug it, not hard enough to wake her but hard enough to be felt. The pink alicorn’s breath started to quicken, her grip tightening around him when he bit her a little harder, and he could swear that she had whispered his name.

Stroking her cheek with his free hand he hummed to himself, looking down so he could see her expression.

A mild blush was working its way into Cadence face, the mare’s eyes rolling behind closed eyelids while she continued to mutter nonsense to herself. After a few minutes, Ares started playing around with the biting and tugging, seeing what his sleeping marefriend liked or disliked. A hard nip on the ear got one of her hind to legs buck slightly, throwing the blanket off her and him. A gentle flick coupled with a bite got him a sleepy moan and a kiss on the neck.

Ares frowned when that oddly familiar bubble gum aroma wafted up to his nose. There that is again, he thought, giving her ear another flick and enjoying the almost whisper-like moan that he received. Where the hell does that keep coming from?...

He looked down and noticed that Cadence was rubbing her hind legs together and her tail was slapping against the bed. Taking what little he had read from that little black book from his, and making a few simple guesses on where the smell was coming from, Ares couldn’t help but blush.

…Her mare mayo smells like bubble gum? He asked himself, quickening his actions to see if he could get more and louder squeaks and groans and moans out of her. That’s pretty weird... And note to self: never think or say the words ‘mare mayo’ again; it really throws the mood.

“Hmm~” Cadence hummed, giving his neck a sleepy lick. “The postman is churning the butter…”

Ares had to spit her ear out, and bit his lip hard to keep from laughing. “What the hell are you dreaming about?” he asked her, only getting another sleepy nuzzle in response.

Smiling, he started a trail of kisses starting at the base of her horn and slowly went downward, Cadence’s quick breathing turning into panting as she ruffled her feathers, flapped her wings, and moaned; loudly.

@~~##~~@

I always enjoy those little gems that you get dreaming every once in a while. Not that one dream where you’re falling, or the dream where you don’t have your homework and the teacher sends you back the magic kindergarten, I’m talking about a plain ol’ sex dream; the kind that makes your hooves curl even after you wake up.

I while I rarely had such dreams—unfortunately—when I do they were doozies, like ‘I have to get up and change the sheets’ kind of doozie. This particular dream… I’d rather not tell since I’m in polite company, but what I will tell you was that it got me worked up, so much so that I think a moan jolted me awake.

I slowly cracked open an eye, quietly groaning and using a spell to shut the blinds from across the room. “Too bright,” I grumbled, nuzzling into the warm snuggliness that was my human. I could go for a few more hours of sleep, I thought, closing my eyes and wiggling myself under Ares’ arm.

It was then that I noticed a few things. One: the covers were nowhere to be found—I had probably been moving around a little too much during my dream. And two: I had absolutely, unequivocally soaked myself, the sheets, and a good part of Ares’ lower body with my… juices.

With a quiet ‘epp!’ I magicked our blanket over our bodies to hide the mess. Sweet Faust, did I pee the bed? That fear was dispelled when I smelt bubble gum, but then it brought on an even more disturbing/confused/whatever you want to call it question:

Did I bucking cum like five times?!

To be fair, the only other time I had ‘relieved’ myself was back on the train, so I could have been a bit pent up sexually, but you should have bucking seen the mess I made! I bet you if we go to my room right now you could still smell bubble gum on that bed!

…Don’t look at me like that…

Anyway, there I was, trying to keep calm, trying not to panic or lose it or wake up poor Ares, who was…’

“Why the hay are you nibbling my ear?” I wondered aloud, looking up at him. Even though it felt great, I couldn’t remember my human ever doing that before. Sure, some sleepy kisses I’d get once in a while or maybe he’d pull me back into the bed, but never the ear biting. His teeth were really doing things for me too...

Anyway, pleasure aside, due to the face that I didn’t want Ares waking up to something like this, I honestly hoped that the was a one-time thing… At least until we were together sexually, then I would be happy to be woken up with ear bites any day, but not when we were still trying to figure things out.

I sighed when I felt something nudging my backside. “It looks like you got the both of us worked up,” I muttered, gently getting my ear out of his mouth before leaning up and nuzzling his cheek. To my delight, he hummed happily, his arms slowly tightening themselves around me.

“Sweet Faust are you cute,” I told my silly sleeping human, crawling on top of him and placing my head on his chest. The little voice in the back of my head told me that I probably should be getting up so I could get some new covers, clean up myself, and get Ares and I ready for the day, but I just wanted to spend a few extra minutes enjoying Are’s warmth.

Speaking of my favorite human, his ‘little Ares’ seemed awfully insistent that it be given some attention, since it was digging into my flank and all. For a second I debated whether or not to relieve him—relieve us might have been a better way to say it-- but I thought better of it. I’m really going to need to have a conversation about that, I thought, biting my lip as I ground my hips a little, rubbing myself against little Ares. I had to bite my lip harder when I felt it twitch; he must be as excited as I was...

That really made me want to wake up my human with a ‘special’ good morning present, but I once again beat it down, untangling myself from his arms sitting up in the bed. “We’ll have all the time in the world to do that once I figure out how to bring it up with him”, I said aloud, looking over my shoulder at Ares’ sleeping form.

“I’ll let him sleep a little longer.” I hopped off the bed and made my way toward the bathroom. “He had a long day yesterday and he did kind of get beaten up,” I tapped a hoof against my chin in thought, “I’ll go and get the two of us breakfast after my shower, then we can have breakfast in bed before we go back out to the festival.”

@~~@@~~@

By some miracle, divine or otherwise, Ares had somehow become the greatest ninja/actor/ James Bond guy in the history of men trying to fake-sleep in front of their girlfriends the instant that Cadence had moaned herself awake. Throwing the book that he had been holding under the bed, he closed his eyes and pretended that he was asleep. When he felt Cadence stift around, he decided to throw out a quick prayer to anyone that was listening to help him lame this out; and imagine his surprise when it worked.

Sure, he had a raging stiffy and Cadence wasn’t making that any easier, but at least he didn’t have to try to explain to her that he had pretty much had sex with her while she slept.

Not opening his eyes until he heard the shower turning on, Ares sighed explosively, running his fingers through his hair. “Sweet Buddha that was close,” he muttered, quickly grabbing the book from under the covers and placing it back into its hiding place. “I can’t believe she didn’t know that I wasn’t sleeping…”

At least that little stunt got some answers that he was kind of looking for; in more ways than one. Now that he knew--pretty much-- that Cadence was ready to jump his bones as it were, he could make certain that he had a few surprises for her when the candles were set and the pony Barry White was playing.

“I guess that we’re gonna have that little conversation sooner than you think, Candy,” Ares muttered, looking down at the sheets. Raising an eyebrow, he carefully pulled it down the covers and eyed the wet patch near his left leg. “Jesus, that ear nibbling thing worked a hell of a lot better than I thought it would.”

Every breath he took, the scent of bubble gum invaded his senses, so, after a second of thinking about it, he reached down and touched the wet patch. Making sure to get his fingers nice and damp, he popped two of them right into his mouth, his eyes widening at the flavor.

“Holy shit, it actually tastes like bubble gum,” he muttered in confusion, popping his fingers out of his mouth after he had licked them clean. “…What the hell do these ponies eat?”

#!@#$@#!

This hadn’t been the first time that Luna had had somepony practically burst through her door with thin excuses so they could find out what she was planning for them. And while most of the accusations that were brought before her were utter nonsense, she could, at the very least, humor Shining for a little while. He had been—and still was—one of the family… And he had brought donuts, so she could at least have the decency to listen to what he had to say before she threw him out and took her bubble bath

Shining himself looked like he had had a very long night. He had bag upon bags under his eyes, he looked paler than usual, and his eyes would droop every few seconds before he shook himself to stay awake; all-in-all he looked like a walking trainwreck. Luna had been just about ready to shoo him back to his room so he could actually get some sleep before she was his eyes.

That fire, that determination to find answers… There is a good chance that We are going to be blamed for something, she thought, eyeing Shining as he sipped the coffee that a maid had brought in. Though We cannot blame Sir Shining; it DOES appear that we are using him to one that doesn’t inspect every little detail…

To be fair though, she might be using him just a teeny tiny bit. A stallion with as much raw magical power as Shining brought to the table could help ensure the security of the Crystal Empire and its subjects for years to come. Coupled with him and the Sergeant and Cadence, the Empire could see its former glory within decades, so it could almost be forgiven that she might be using him to make sure that Ares was kept safe.

Was it a little much to have so many protecting one little human when no one was rearing to attack him? Maybe so, but it never hurt anyone to be prepared for everything.

“So thou said that thou wished to speak to us about a few things?” Luna calmly asked before taking a sip of her own coffee.

She grimaced, forcing the distasteful beverage down her throat. It may make our sleep that much shorter but We need to be alert for now, she thought, watching as Shining’s tired brain tried to chug out sentences. Hmm, it is not the usual decaf that We get; when We awaken the maid will be made known of her error.

“I just wanted to know something and maybe get some advice,” Shining said, obviously trying to hold back a yawn, “If that’s alright with you, princess.”

Luna nodded once. “We will do everything in our power to answer your questions to the fullest of our ability,” she answered, mildly surprising Shining with how seriously she was taking this. “Please, ask your questions.”

Exhaling the breath he didn’t know he had been holding, Shining looked her right in the eye. Don’t beat around the bush, just bucking ask her, he thought, staring into those big blue eyes of hers and trying not to blink. You were up all night, you brought the donuts; it’s time to kick flank and take names and get your answers!

“Princess, why the hay did you send me that letter?”

@!#$%

Since it was the second day of our little party, and since Ares and I had slept in and had decided to take our sweet time getting ready, it was almost noon before we went out to go see my ponies. I let Flash take the day off because he was still get over the lumping he got the other day, and instead decided to take the Sergeant, who looked adorable in her toga, so she could watch over us for the day.

I can tell you with the utmost certainty that Ms. Echo was not a happy camper after being out there more than an hour.

“So if you’re not a bat, how come your ears and teeth are like that?”

To my amusement--well, mine and everyone watchings amusement-- the little ones seemed particularly fascinated with the bat mare, so much so that a whole little group of them had been hounding the poor mare for about thirty minutes with their silly questions.

Echo looked over at me, then at one of the children who was trying to touch her ears, before biting her lip. “Will you just trust me kid?” She pleaded, trying to push away a filly that was grabbing her tail with a wing. “And could you little mon—er, I mean little guys, please give me a little more space?”

I giggled, looking over at Ares, who had a bag of popcorn in his hand. “Where did you get that?” I asked, looking around the various vendors.

“I got it by the basket making guy,” he answered, nudging his thumb in that direction. “Why, you want me to get you a bag of something?”

“Do they have any candy popcorn?” I asked.

“I’m sure they do.”

“Then could you get me one of those please?”

He nodded, leaning down and giving me a peck on the cheek before looking over at the Sergeant. “Hey kids,” he called, all of the children stopping what they were doing to look at him, “you know what a bat horse loves the most?”

“What’s that, Mr. Cuddle Monkey?” one of them asked.

Smiling, Ares spread his arms wide. “Well, random child, what a bat horse loves the most is to be jumped on by kids, so guess what you can do!” It took them, Echo included, a few seconds to process that, but when they did they all jumped into action. Echo, wide-eyed, spread her wings, trying to fly off, but the filly’s and colt’s were faster.

“HUG THE BAT HORSE!!!” one of the kids yelled, jumping into the mares back.

“Get off me you little—urk!” With an adorable battle cry, they all swarmed her.

“BUCK YOU, ARES!” Echo cried, shaking a hoof through the pile of children at him.

Me, along with almost everyone that could see them, started laughing, Ares giving me a wink before he went to get me my popcorn. What should we do now? I thought, biting my lip to calm myself. We don’t really have anything to do today… Hmm, we could go and see the jousts or just walk around until we got bored or—

“Oh Mi Amore! Honey!” My eyes couldn’t even widen in horror as my face was pressed against an overly chubby mare’s chest. I tried to get away from the crazy pony, but her iron grip held me in place as I was rocked back and forth. There was only one pony in my kingdom that would assault me with hugs like this. The head of the High Riders: Shining Higher.

A mare well into her fifties, and somepony who would either heckle everypony in the room, buy something for everypony in that room, or do something horrible to them, depending on what mood she was in, Mrs. Higher was one of the friendliest, wealthiest, and most terrifying ponies in the Crystal Empire. Not because she was mean or cruel or anything—though she could be if you happened to get on her bad side—it was because of how she had this bad habit of smothering ponies in hugs.

Me included in that unfortunate number.

“Urk! Hello… Mrs... Higher,” I rasped, forcing myself off of her to get in a breath before I was once again smothered. “It’s… nice… to see… you… again.”

I could hear her chuckle before she released me, giving me a quick look over while I tried to get some air back into my lungs. “It’s good to see that you’ve returned from Equestria safe and sound,” she said brightly, smoothing my mane out with a hoof, “and you’ve gained a little weight too!” She winked when I blushed in embarrassment. “Ohhhh! There’s nothing to be embarrassed about! You were too skinny anyway; it wasn’t healthy, honey!”

One of her guards, a serious-looking stallion decked out in the colors of house High Rider, bit his lips to keep from laughing at me while the mare continued to poke and prod. Please let this be over soon so I can see what she wants, I thought desperately, trying to keep a smile on my face.

I would have been babied over for the rest of the day if Mrs. Higher had a say in it I’m sure, but Ares, like a knight in shining armor, swooped in to save me.

“What the heck is going on here? He asked, looking at us ike we had all grown a couple of heads.

Mrs. Higher looked him up and down with an inquisitive smile on her face. “Oh, you must be the one that everyponies been talking about,” she said, slowly making her way over to him. “The ‘cuddle monkey’ something or other, if I remember correctly. You’re the princesses’ new courter, yes?”

“…Yes I am, Mrs…”Ares said carefully, offering her a hand.

The mare chuckled, shaking her head. “You can call me Mrs. Higher, honey; momma if we get to know each other well enough,” she said with a wink. “Now how about you put that paw of your’s down and give me a big ol’ hug as a hello!”

Ares eyed me for a second, probably trying to figure out what was going on, but I could only shrug helplessly, take my popcorn out of his hands and mouth ‘hug her’ to him.

For some reason, Mrs. Higher really hated hoofshakes—something about her being afraid of what other ponies run around in—so she just simply hugged anypony and everypony as a greeting. To refuse the hug would’ve been bad, so it was better that Ares get this over his so I could find out why Mrs. Higher had graced us with her presence.

With a little shrug, Ares leaned down and picked the mare up, getting an excited squeal out of her and a slightly upset look from her guards. “My, my,” Higher almost purred, wiggling in my human’s grasp and wrapping her hooves around his neck tightly, “I can see why so many ponies gave you that silly little nickname of yours…”

“My name is Ares, ma’am,” Ares politely said, gently putting the chubby mare back down onto the ground after holding the hug for a second, “and it’s really nice to meet you… I guess.”

Higher almost looked disappointed that her hug was over, her ears drooping slightly for a moment, but then she was back to her old cheery-looking self. “Well, Mr. Ares, it’s very nice to meet you at last,” she said, nudging him toward me with gentle push. “You can’t believe all the rumors I heard the other day about Skully beating the hay out of Mrs. Cadenza’s mate!” She jiggled in place as she shook excitedly. “I was so enraptured about that little tale I decided to come down here to see my princess and you young stallion.”

Ares smiled while I tried to hide my frown. “Flash and I didn’t get beaten that bad the other day,” he said, chuckling awkwardly to himself as he rubbed the back of his head. “I’m not too beaten up, and I’d like to think that I threw that big knight around a bit.”

Higher nodded encouragingly, patting his thigh with a hoof. “Skully told me that the both of you fought better than he was expecting,” she said kindly before turning toward me. “Now, princess, how about you show this old mare around?” She gave me a grin that I didn’t particularly like. “I can tell you what’s happened in your kingdom while you were away and your new mate and I can get to know each other a little better.”

I was trying to think of a way to politely say no so Ares and I could get away from this mare, who obviously had some other motive, when my human gave her a big smile. “Um, Mrs. Higher?”

“Yes, dear?”

“I’m guessing you know a lot about this city, huh?”

Higher nodded, giving him another wink. “My family’s been in this city since the very beginning, Mr. Ares,”’ she told him. “The High Rider clan has owned many of the cities stores for over a thousand years,” she chuckled. “‘We are the lifeblood of the people’, some brown nosing ponies like to tell me when they think I’m in a bad mood or they want something from me, but all we are is a few shopkeepers that like to see our city grow.”

That’s a load of horseapples if I’ve ever hear it, I thought, placing myself in front of Ares protectively. While she was technically true about owning a lot of shops; there was a slightly darker reason as to why the High Riders had become one of the city’s most powerful families: Deception, spying, blackmail, and assassination .

The lower level ponies of the clan, those who were the actual shopkeepers, kept an open ear out for any juicy information that could be valuable to anypony, which they would then send up further up the food chain to see if they could use the information. I heard the back in the day, and some ponies still whisper that it still happens once in a blue moon, that the clan might have toyed with the dark arts to get information from ponies; deepest, darkest secrets, fears, hopes, dreams, things like that.

But, from what I heard, Mrs. Higher had largely pushed her family away from that kind of stuff. And compared to some of the other clans, the High Riders weren’t really all that horrible, but I was still a little nervous being around a mare who probably knew more about what I did this morning than I did. Hopefully Ares would pick up on that unease that I was feeling and he’d—

“I guess I can tell you a little about me, ma’am, but I’d like to talk about looking for a job around any florists places, if that’s alright with you?”

Higher squealed happily while my eye twitched, the chubby mare giving Ares’ leg a nuzzle before brushing past us and walking toward her guards. “Fantastic!” she chirped happily. “How about I take you two to a nice little diner down the street? We’ll have a nice, quiet little place to talk and I’ll introduce you two to a couple of my granddaughters that happen to work there!”

I guess that the Sergeant had finally wrestled herself away from the children, because she was by my side as Ares followed the mare down the street, listening intently to whatever she was chatting about.

“Where is that bucker?” she growled, looking around. “I’m going to break his bucking jaw!”

“He just went with one of the ponies that might have him killed if she doesn’t like him,” I answered.

Echo blinked, all the anger draining from her face. “…Oh,” she said lamely. “I better go and watch him then, huh?”

I sighed, rubbing my temple with a hoof. “No, we are going to go and watch him,” I corrected her. “Come on, let’s go see where we’re being taken…”

@~~@@~~@

For a second, Shining was almost afraid that he had been a little too blunt about his questioning as Luna calmly looked at him, the Princess of the Night not breaking eye contact as she took a long sip of her coffee.

Just keep a straight face, he thought, trying not to sweat. You just keep asking until—

“Did thou knowest that our sister dislikes her job, Sir Shining?” Luna calmly asked him.

Shining blinked in confusion. “Um… no, I didn’t…”

Luna nodded, placing her coffee mug on the table. “Tis true,” she said, leaning over the table until their noses were almost touching. “Tia hates dealing with the nobility, she hates sending out ponies to protect and guard and maybe die in her name.” Luna frowned, her eyes turning slightly sad. “We know for a fact that she hated what she had to do to us.”

Luna sat back in her chair, much to Shining’s relief. “My sister hates all of these things about being one of noble blood but she continues to rule his land, continues to protect her little ponies, and do you know why she does?”

Shining bit the inside of his lip; he honestly didn’t know if he wanted the answer to that question.

“My sister does this: ruling this kingdom, raising the sun, and keeping ponies safe, because she feels it is her duty.” Luna got up from her seat and stood before Shining, her wings slightly spread. “One may not enjoy their duty, in fact they may hate it with every fiber of their being, but only cowards or those that have weakness in their hearts forswore it.”

She looked away from him. “It is difficult; We will readily admit that we are one of those who has been corrupted by weakness, but we know that thou art strong-willed, sir Shining.” She tapped his chest with a wing. “My sister named you captain for a reason, thou art a good stallion, and We knew that thou needed somepony to give thee a gentle nudge in the correct direction after what happened to thee.”

“But I—“ Shining tried to say, only to be cut off.

“However thou feel about Young Cadence and Ares is moot; thy place is in the Crystal Empire, helping bring it into the modern era and possibly back into greatness.” She gave him a kind smile, placing a hoof on his shoulder. “We understand that thou are still confused and angry and thou don’t know what to do, but thine duty is what should matter the most to thee: a soldier’s duty to their princess.”

Shining looked away from her. “She’s not my princess anymore…” he muttered.

Luna forced him to look at her by placing a hoof under his chin. “Even though Cadence is no longer thy lover, she is your princess still,” she told him. “She and the empire are what thou should be focusing thine attention on, not wallowing in a pit of despair!”

Luna could see that she had him by that little spark that she saw in his eye, so she decided to push him further. “You wish to find a new path in life, you wish to stop the pain and hurt, and We feel that thou need to do that in the Empire, Shining; not here, not somewhere else, but in the empire.” With a small nod, she turned around and sat back down in her seat.

“That being said, thou are not sworn to us, and thou art an adult, so the decision must be made by you and only you. Tia or I will not order thee anywhere; from this day forth thy path in life is of your own choosing.”

She watched the stallion process that while sipping her coffee, Shining looking up at her with slightly narrowed eyes. “And that’s the only reason why you want me to go up there, princess?” he asked.

“Nay,” she said, not bothering to lie.

“And could you tell me any other reason why you want me to go up there?”

“We will simply tell thee that there is no ill intent in our actions, but that is it.”

Shining nodded again, slowly getting out of his chair and making his way toward the door. “Thanks for talking with me, princess,” he said gratefully. “You’ve given me a lot to think about, so I’m going to hit the hay so I can think through this with a clear head.”

Shining’s hoof was on the doorknob when Luna said, “Did thou know that Ares still beats himself up about what happened?” Shining looked over his shoulder at her with a raised eyebrow. Luna shrugged. “Many a night we have looked into his dreams, Shining, and We can tell you with the utmost certainty that he’s just as afraid as you about what the future will bring.”

Shining looked at her for a moment longer before turning the doorknob and opening the door. “…I’ll try to see you and Princess Celestia before I leave to go where ever I’m going to go.” Without waiting for an answer, Shining left the room.

Luna finished her coffee with a final gulp. He will do whatever he thinks is the right thing to do, she thought, closing the donut box and making her way toward her bathroom. What he thinks is the right thing might be the pressing matter unfortunately.

!@$#$%$

You know, after spending a whole day with a hyper-dangerous pony, it was nice just to snuggle up with Ares on our bed. I had the blanket over the two of us and my eyes were closed, and I was getting closer and closer to drifting off to dreamland.

At least Ms. Higher promised Ares that she’d look around to see if she could get him a job, I thought, taking a deep, content breath. Sure, whoever he’s going to be working for will probably be in Higher’s pocket, but at least Ares will get to work with flowers like he wants to.

Said human was leaning on the bed post and was running his fingers through my hair. He must not have been all that tired or he’d be—

“…Candy, are you awake?”

My ear twitched but I kept my eyes closed. It didn’t sound like Ares was asking me for anything; he probably just needed to go to the bathroom of something, and I was pretty much asleep anyway, so I just laid still, waiting for him to get out of the bed so he could do his business.

I frowned gently when he gave me a light shove. What the hay are you doing? I thought, shifting around under the blankets. Just go and pee already; you don’t have to see if I’m asleep or not… My ear twitched again when I heard the very quiet, but distinct, sound of pages being turned.

Ares is reading something? I thought, confused. When the hay did he get a book? I knew it was a book because I had spent years watching Twilight, a mare who, as a filly, would stay up all night reading, so I knew pages turning when I heard them. That confused me even more, because I knew that Ares wasn’t much for reading.

Overcome with curiosity, I very slowly rolled over and cracked open an eye, my tiredness draining out of my body as I read the bold black print on the front of the book:

THE PONY SUTRA

“Well…that’s a relief,” I said aloud. Ares almost jumped out of his skin in fright while I looked up at him. The blush on his face and horror in his eyes made me laugh quietly as he looked down at me.“I thought we were going to have to dance around that for weeks, but here you are, making this a thousand times easier for me.”

Getting up with a little grunt, I leaned up and pecked my horrified human on the cheek. “Oh, is that the eleventh edition? You could have just looked over at the counter there; I have every edition, including ones for different species.”

I hummed thoughtfully, leaning against Ares, who still hadn’t moved an inch. “In fact, you might actually want to go and read the third edition before—Ares?” I waved a hoof in front of his red face. “…Ares, Honey, are you doing okay there?”

I patted his cheek with a hoof and sighed. “Alright, you’re not okay…” I hummed, looking down at his book. “I wonder if this thing has a chapter about fixing petrified coltfriends…”

After thumbing through a few chapters, I found out that it, in fact, did not.

Author's Notes:

unedited version; my editor has some real life stuff he has to do so I'm on my own for maybe another update.