I feel someone holding me tightly as I wake up. I open my eyes to see Cadence to my right with her arms and right wing wrapped around me.

I then remember her confession last night. She said she was falling in love with me... I sigh and frown. I knew something like this was going to happen. It was only me helping her have her own child. I didn't expect her to react like this.

She shuffles slightly and grips me tighter, a sad expression on her face.

"Cadence?" I ask her and shake her slightly.

She mumbles and blinks her eyes open. "Adrian?" she asks and looks around. Her expression deepens as she looks back at me. She lies her head on my chest and sniffles a little. "What am I going to do?" she asks me quietly.

I rub her side gently with my right hand. "We're going to have to talk to Shining about this. Leaving it bottled up is just going to make matters worse," I tell her.

She then starts sobbing onto my chest. "B-But I don't know what to tell him... I love him... but I l-love you too," she replies.

I'm not sure what to tell him as well. 'Oh hey, Shining. How's your day been so far? Me? I just found out Cadence loves me! Isn't that great!' I think sarcastically to myself.

"I want t-to stay with him... but I w-want to be with you as well... I'm so c-confused," she tells me and continues to sob on me.

Shella slowly wakes up and stares at us. "What's the matter?" she asks.

"Cadence doesn't know what she's going to do about how she feels about me and Shining..." I tell her.

"How do you feel about them?" Shella asks her.

"I've known Shiny s-since he was a colt... we've only been t-together for seventeen months... b-but I've enjoyed m-my time with him... He makes me smile, laugh and feel loved, but Adrian treats me j-just like any other *hic* mare. Not some prize or symbol of status, he doesn't even boast h-how he's married both Celestia a-and *sniff* Luna, and you... I've had h-hundreds *hic* of marriage proposals over the years... and *sniff* I still get them now and then," she tells us.

"I treat them as equals because that's how I would like to be treated in return. I don't see titles or status. I see the person underneath them," I reply.

"And t-that's what I *hic* like about you, and w-when I'm near you *Sniff* I feel safe. More so than with Shiny," she tells me.

She feels safer with me? Is that what Celestia meant when she said mares want strong mates? Is it instinctual? I look at the clock and see it's eight in the morning. "I think we should get up and go for a bath. We can find Shining and get this sorted out after we've had breakfast," I tell them and pick Cadence up as I get off the bed.

She yelps and wraps her arms around my neck. She hums softly and buries her cheek into my neck. We enter the bathroom and Shella turns the taps on. I continue to hold Cadence until the bath is ready. Once drawn, I place Cadence into the tub and climb in after her, Shella joins in on my right side and we scrub each other down.

Once clean and dressed, we head down to the Dining Hall and order a quick breakfast of pancakes. Cadence eats hers quietly, I guess she's not looking forward to our talk with Shining.

After we finish breakfast, I ask a guard if they know where Shining is. He tells me he returned this morning and is at the Barracks. I thank him and make my way out with Shella and Cadence.

We walk into the Barracks and I knock on Shining's door. "Come in!" he shouts from inside. I open the door and let Shella and Cadence inside first, I then enter behind them and shut the door. "Cady!" he smiles warmly at her. He then looks at us. "Adrian, Shella. Do you need something? I've been going over these new forging techniques the dwarves use in their metalwork all morning," he says and shows us some papers with the dwarven forging process on it.

I look over to Cadence who looks terrified. I sigh and guide her to a seat. "You, Cadence, and I have something we need to discuss," I tell him.

"Is something wrong?" he asks.

"You could say that," I reply and nudge Cadence lightly.

She sputters and whines as tears start forming in her eyes. Shining gets up and walks around his desk towards her. "Honey? Are you alright?" he asks her. I saw her cringe when he called her 'Honey'.

"I... I-I..." She looks at me sadly and I give her an encouraging smile. She smiles faintly and looks back at Shining. "I... I'm in love with Adrian," she tells him and closes her eyes tightly. "b-but I love you as well... I don't know what to do anymore!" she yells and starts crying into Shining's chest.

Shining looks at Cadence with a worried expression. He looks at me and I can only give him a sad smile. He turns back to Cadence and sighs. "I know," he tells her.

I raise an eyebrow at that. Cadence looks up at him with a tear stained face. "Y-You knew? How?" she asks him in surprise.

"Well... the last two times we made love... You called out his name. I don't think you even noticed," he tells her. I look stunned as he said that. He kept quiet about it and never mentioned it to her?

"I... I did?" she asks horrified.

Shining nodded. "Yes, but I don't hold it against you," he replies and sighs. "I had a feeling this would happen. Ever since your heat, you've slowly been falling for him. I notice it whenever he walked by, you would stare at him. You talked about him a lot and even asked me about him and how he's doing in his training," he says.

Cadence frowns. "Oh Celestia, you're right... I have..." she says and covers her mouth with her hands. "I've been fawning over Adrian i-in front of you," she mumbles and begins to cry into her hands.

"It's alright, Cadence," Shining says as he hugs her. "Adrian is a great stallion, any mare would love to be with him. He's strong, kind, caring, and makes a great punching bag," he tells her.

I just chuckle quietly at his final part about me.

"B-But what do we do? I don't know w-what to do now! I want to stay with both of you. I-I'm good at helping others w-with relationships, but I've never dealt with t-this kind of problem before!" she cries out.

Shining strokes her hair gently. "Remember what Adrian and I talked about in the hallway where you caught us?" he asks her. She nodded at him and sniffles. "Then be with Adrian... I've always known trying to be with you would be a huge challenge. At first, I thought I could make it work, but over the time we've been together, I just can't keep up with you, Cadence. Our little... 'Fun' times together leaves me beyond exhausted, I can't even train or do my job properly because I feel so sore and tired most of the time," he tells her.

Cadence looks upset at that. "B-But I love you, Shiny..." she mutters.

Shining cups her chin in his right hand and gently makes her look at him. "I love you as well, but I want you to be as happy as you can be... As much as I want to, I can't give that to you. Adrian was the one to give you your foal, not me. He can satisfy you ten times over more than I could, and as much as I hate to admit it, he's stronger than me and can protect you better than I ever could... I watched as he took down a monster taller than a fully grown dragon and win without so much as a scratch during the battle at Elysium," he tells her.

Cadence is crying non-stop at this point. She's hugging him tightly as he rubs her lower back. "B-But I don't want t-to leave you," she mumbles into his chest.

"I won't be going anywhere, Cadence. We can still be friends and hang out with each other like when I was a colt, right?" he reassures her.

She looks up at him with red puffy eyes and a quivering lip. "P-Promise?" she asks him. The tone in her voice is heart breaking.

He smiles warmly at her. "I Pinkie promise. Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eyeoOWCH!" he yelps as he pokes himself in the eye.

Cadence giggles a little but frowns sadly. She leans up and kisses Shining slightly and pulls back. "I'll always l-love you, Shiny," she tells him.

"I love you too, Cady," he replies.

She begins to sob again but stands up and walks over to the door. "I... I need to b-be alone for *sniff* awhile," she says and leaves.

Shella gets up and follows her. "I'll go comfort her," she says and leaves.

I stare at the door for a few seconds until I hear sniffling to my right. I turn to see Shining trying to hold back his tears. "Shining, you alright?" I ask worried.

He wipes his tears away and looks at me sadly. "Y-Yeah, remember what I asked you?" he asks me. I nodded. "Make sure she stays happy for as long as you can... give her what I can't," he tells me.

I walk over to him and give him a sideways hug and pat his shoulder. "I'll do the best I can... I'm sorry this happened. I never wanted to come between you two." I tell him.

He sighs. "I knew this was a possibility. I'm upset, don't get me wrong... I love her, but in the end... I'll just leave her behind and she may never find love again, her happiness means more to me than mine. This way, she can be with somepony she loves and not worry about time taking him away from her," he tells me.

I frown sadly. "Still, for what it's worth, I'm sorry... How about we go out for a drink tonight? My treat," I ask him.

He chuckles lightly. "Sure, I could use a drink after this," he replies.

"Alright, what time do you want to go?" I ask him.

"Around six after dinner sounds good," he tells me.

"Okay, I'll see you then. I got to ask Celestia a few things," I reply and head for the door.

I open it and Shining speaks up. "Listen, I don't hold this against you. Just... treat her well, okay?" he tells me.

"I will, I'll see you later alright?" I reply.

"Yeah, see ya later," he says and I head out to find Celestia.

But as I leave, I can barely hear Shining trying not to breakdown.

---

---

I'm laying in one of the guest room's beds since my room reminds me too much of Shiny. I cry into the pillow as my conflicting emotions war against each other inside me.

I hear the door open and close as hoofsteps make their way closer to me. I look up and see Shella with a sad smile on her face.

"Shella... *sniff* Do I really j-just leave Shiny to b-be with Adrian?" I ask her.

She sits on the bed and rubs my shoulder. "I don't know the answer to that. You love Adrian correct?" she asks me. I nodded in reply. "You feel Adrian can keep you safe right?" she asks again.

"Y-Yes," I stutter my reply.

"And Shining did say you could still be friends," she says and I nodded again.

"A changeling Queen's first reason to find a mate is so he can protect her and her eggs while she's pregnant with them, though that is mostly done through mind control. This was only the second reason I wanted to be with Adrian. He saved my Hive from starvation, he even fed and healed me when we first met when I was still just a hatchling. He didn't have to do that, he told me the reason why he was there, he could have just left or even killed me, but he didn't, he showed me kindness when there was so little," she tells me and smiles with her eyes closed. "As I grew and matured into a Queen, I felt an emotion we changelings only felt with other changelings, I began to fall in love with him. The male who saved and protected me from my old Queen who drained me and left me for dead. He could have left with Luna and the others that day... but he begged Luna to take me with them," she says and looks at me.

"He helped a complete stranger and a race who were seen as monsters," she tells me and spreads her arms and wings. "Look what he has done for me, for my Hive. He's given us a free source of food, a safe place to call home, and a new appearance. I love him with all my heart and I will spend the rest of my days by his side," she tells me with a bright smile.

I smile back at her. Adrian did all that for somepony he didn't even know, and I know I would have done the same. I wipe my eyes and hug her. "Thank you," I say to her.

She hugs me back. "You're welcome. As far as I see it, you're already a part of our herd," she tells me.

I begin sobbing again and hold her tightly. She just sits there stroking my mane.

---

---

After twenty minutes of searching, I found Celestia and Luna taking a break from court playing chess in their Lounge Room. The white pieces look like the day guard and the black pieces look like the night guard... Must be a new chess set they got.

"Tia, Luna. I need to talk to you," I tell them.

"If this is about Cadence last night, we know," Celestia replies with a giggle. "Check," she says to Luna who groans.

"Then this makes it a little simpler. Cadence told me she loves me. Shining, Cadence, and I just had a talk about it... and they've just broke up," I tell them bluntly.

They both gasp. "Cadence has broken up with Shining Armour? We did not think it was possible..." Luna says and takes the rook threatening her king.

"I believe I'm to blame for that. As I said, Cadence has been falling in love with me since her heat and I think she wants to join our herd," I tell them and sit on the couch.

"I see," Celestia says and moves her queen across the board. "Checkmate," she says and gets up, she walks over to the couch and sits to my right.

Luna sighs and flicks her king on it's side. She then makes her way over and sits to my left.

"And what dost thou think of it?" Luna asks me.

"I don't want to bring them apart, but what Shining told me just makes sense," I reply.

"And what did he say?" Celestia asks.

I just hold my hands out to them. "Why don't you see for yourselves?" I reply.

They both take my hands and close their eyes as their horns glow. After a few minutes, they open their eyes with sad expressions.

"He does have a point. Lulu and I never looked for a mate for that same reason. Losing Luna was extremely painful and I lost my will to love anypony intimately after that. I only felt close to that when I was teaching Twilight, and when Luna returned to me, I was the happiest mare in the world. Until our wedding day that is," she tells me.

"Then what made you give me a chance before Solaris and Galaxia made me ageless?" I ask them.

"Over the centuries, ponies just wanted to marry me for my status or wealth. I saw your past, your personality. You didn't care if I was a Princess or a Beggar, you saw me for me. So I wanted to give you a chance, I was so surprised when you were the one to ask me. It's usually the mare who ask the stallion out," she tells me with a giggle.

I chuckle along with her. I then look to Luna. "We may have... fallen for thee a little too quickly we admit, but thou were the first pon... person, to treat me so kindly since my return. Tho... you saw me as the lonely, hurt mare I was. You 'hung out' with me as the foals say nowadays, when you didn't have to. You kept me company in the evenings and watched my stars with me," she tells me and kisses me. "I just had to have you with me," she says, dropping her archaic speech and leans her head on my shoulder.

I wrap my arms around them and hug them closely. "Thank you. You both are the reason I live and fight now. I don't know what I'd do if I lost you or Shella," I tell them.

"What about Cadence?" Celestia asks me.

I smile. "If she does join our herd, I still need to take her out on a proper date," I reply, making them giggle.

"You can do that tomorrow," Luna says.

I just sigh and hold them close. As complicated as my life seems to have gotten, I wouldn't change it for the world.

---

---

After dinner, Shining and I went to a bar he and some of the guard visit now and then. As I promised, I paid for all of our drinks.

I kept myself limited to three drinks while he got himself drunk. He kept making me promise to treat Cadence like the Princess that she is and to give her all the love she deserves, or he'd geld me. I had to look up what that meant when we got back to the Castle... I made sure to keep that promise burned into my head once I found out.

We even played a game called darts. The rules were simple enough, but even drunk he still beat me... His aim didn't suffer at all.

After two hours of drinking. I helped him back to the Barracks where the guards took him to what they called the 'What did I do last night?' room. Apparently, coming back drunk was not uncommon for the guards and they knew how to deal with the after effects the next morning.

I returned to the Castle and decided to work out in the gym for an hour before bed.

I step out of the shower while drying myself off, I worked up quite the sweat. I leave the room in my gym shorts, tank top, and sandals and head down the hallway towards my room where I open the door and walk in. I see Celestia, Luna, and Shella all on the bed waiting for me. I smile, undress and join them in bed. They cuddle up to me but I notice Shella lying on top of my right side and partially on Celestia. I frown and was about to ask why when the toilet in the bathroom flushes.

I look to the bathroom door and see Cadence walk in naked with a heavy blush on her face... Ah, that's why.

She stands there looking away cutely for a few seconds as I lift the covers for her. "Come on, Cadence." I tell her.

She shuffles on her hooves for a few seconds before slowly walking over to the bed. She yelps as a golden glow surrounds her and places her next to Shella on top of me.

Cadence looks at me with a nervous expression. I smile and lean forward and kiss her. She closes her eyes and leans into the kiss.

I pull back and continue to smile at her. "Goodnight, Cadence," I tell her.

She smiles back. "Goodnight, Adrian," she replies and rests her head on my chest with a small smile on her lips.

"Goodnight, girls," I say to the others.

"Goodnight, Adrian," they reply and we all bask in each other's company as we fall asleep.

Next Chapter: Chapter 53: A Date with Cadence Estimated time remaining: 10 Hours, 2 Minutes