As soon as they stepped onto the train, Shining headed to the aft. "Where are you going?" Twilight asked.

"The trains of Equestria have special caboose cars for royalty and VIPs. I thought we would be riding there," he said.

"We could look at it at least," Twilight Velvet said. They opened the door to the caboose. It was much like the one he had ridden in down from the Crystal Empire. "It's very nice!" She said. "But as big as it is, I don't think we can all sleep in one bed." She smiled.

"We've already booked a sleeper car for the trip," Night Light said.

"And I've already made arrangements for a sleeper sofa in the reading car," Twilight Sparkle said.

"You would," Shining said.

"So I guess you'll have this one all to yourself," Velvet said, turning on her heel and following her husband to the sleeper car at the forward end of the train, Twilight not far behind. The door closed behind him, leaving him alone in a box on wheels for the second time in as many days. But Shining was not the pony in a box that everypony was gathered for.

At the funeral in Fillydelphia, the Sparkle family met the rest of Night Light's extended family. Each pony who knew his mother got up in turn to say a few words about the mare and the impact she'd had on their lives. Last to go was her son, Night Light. "Thank you all for being here. I know that many of you had to travel a great distance to be here. Especially my son," he said, extending his hoof to Shining, who was sitting between his mother and sister. Prince Shining raised his hoof for his more distant relatives who hadn't seen him since he was a foal. Night Light continued. "The tradition of the wake isn't for the sake of the dead. But for the living left behind," he put his hoof on her casket.

Night Light talked at length about her. Shining and Twilight never really knew her very well, but she sounded wonderful. After the wake, everypony went to the cemetery for the final part of the funeral. It was a perfect day for it. Overcast with just a sprinkle of rain. April showers. They all ended up at one of their relative's house. A great aunt something or other. Shining wasn't really sure. Mostly he just felt uncomfortable. By the time it was all over, the sun was getting low in the sky and they needed to get going to catch the train back to Canterlot.

On board, Night Light turned in early. It had been a long day for everypony. But for him, burying his mother, it was longest most of all. Shining and his mom sat in a couple of empty seats in coach while Twilight read her book at the other end of the car. He sat there, glad that the whole ordeal was over and that they were heading home. "None of that looked fun," Shining thought, grateful that he didn't have to do it. And then the bottom of his stomach dropped out. The icy realization that one day he would have to do it for his own mother. He leaned over and wrapped his hooves around her. Less a hug, and more a fearful embrace as though he were afraid that somepony would take her away this very moment.

"Hey. What's all this about?" She asked, hugging him back. He fought back the misty sensation at the corners of his eyes.

"Promise me you'll never die," he said.

"Shining," She started. He just squeezed harder. "Okay. I promise I'll never die," she humored him. It was a lie of course. She knew it. He knew it. But they both pretended to believe it. After a few moments, the gripping knot in his chest passed. His mind relieved him of pondering his mothers mortality and went back to disregarding it. He took a deep breath and made an attempt at small talk.

"So, what's new?" Shining asked. "I haven't really seen you since Twilight's coronation last year."

"Not much really. Writing, getting the garden ready."

"Any plans for Mother's Day?" He asked.

"Not that I know-" She caught herself halfway through her sentence, looking up at his eyes. His eyes put far more implication into the question than the simple words relayed. His hoof landing on her leg confirmed her suspicion. "Not that I know of," she finished, putting her hoof on his, keeping it from moving any further north, but at the same time, not making any real effort to push it away either. "I imagine you'll be spending it with your wife?" She said, putting emphasis into the word. Casually reminding him that he was now married.

"I'm sure I could slip away for a couple days," he said, grinning slightly, shifting his hoof a little. Velvet increased the pressure on his hoof with hers, halting his advance. She cut her eyes to the side, directing his to Twilight, sitting at the other end of the car. He looked back at her. "What? We're just talking," he said, leaning in to whisper beneath the din of the train rolling on the tracks. "She can't see my hoof." He tried to move again, but she held him firm.

"Shining!" she scolded him as quietly as she could. "This is hardly the time or place!"

"But I miss you," he said with a hint of a whine. "We haven't..," he trailed off, "in years. I don't want to wait until Mother's Day."

"Shining, don't you understand? That can't happen. Night L- your father isn't going away this year, or ever again," she said. "I know it's been years. But I thought that you had grown out of it and found a mare of your own. Don't you love Cadence?"

"Of course I do."

"Then you shouldn't be doing this sort of thing behind her back. I raised you better than that!" She said, pushing his hoof away completely. Shining sunk his shoulders, dejected. "Now go to your room. I'll see you in the morning."

"Okay mom." Shining got up from his seat. "Goodnight. I love you."

"I love you too, sweetie," she said. "You too, Twilight. It's getting late."

Shining stirred in his bed to the sound of his cabin door opening. It was the middle of the overnight trip and it was dark except for the pale moonlight streaking in through the window. He peered into the darkness, trying to make out who it was, without giving away that he was awake. They crept silently across the room beneath the constant noise of the train on the tracks. As she walked through the moonlight he could see the shape of her mane, cut into neat bangs. But he was still unsure if it was his sister or his mother.

Her pale fur in the moonlight was too light to be Twilight Sparkle's. That narrowed it down to one. She stopped beside his bed and just looked at him. Both of their faces were hidden from the light, but he could just feel her eyes on him as she scanned him up and down. Shining tried to keep his nervous breathing controlled and steady, unsure of what she was going to do. She slowly, gently, sat at the edge of the bed next to him, still laying on his back. There was enough space for her to sit comfortably without sitting on him. For what felt like quite a long time, she just sat there, as though pondering what to do next.

He was all but certain that she could hear his heart pounding in his chest as he watched the silhouette of her hoof move over him, and taking the covers in her grasp. At an agonizing pace, she slowly peeled them back, uncovering him. He couldn't see what exactly she was doing without moving his head and giving himself away. But he could feel it when she put her hoof on his stomach. Gently at first, just letting it rest there. But not for long.

After a moment she moved her hoof to his sheath, barely touching it. Shining involuntarily took a sharp inhale at the contact. She froze in place, afraid that she'd been caught. When no more reaction came from him, she continued. She just rubbed him softly, occasionally bushing her hoof against his balls. It was all the coaxing 'Little Shiny' needed as it started to extend from its sheath.

Shining braced himself, but couldn't help but feel his fur stand up as she placed her hoof on his exposed shaft for the first time. She was amazed that he didn't suffer brain damage from all his blood leaving his body to fill the massive appendage. She grasped it in her hoof and felt to come to full rigidness, the weight even more than last time. She brought her other hoof over to help, cupping his heavy balls while she started to slowly stroke his length. Shining could see his dick in her hooves through the tiny slit between his eyelids. She lifted his length upright and brought her lips to his swollen head, taking him into her mouth.

Shining was no stranger to oral affection, but this was something else entirely. She took more of his shaft in her mouth as she worked on what was left outside with her hooves, using the copious saliva that was dripping down. Shining absentmindedly reached out and grabbed her supple flank. Velvet shot upright at the contact, letting him slip from her mouth and falling with a wet slap against his belly.

"Shining!" She gasped, trying to pull away from him. Before she could say another word, he opened his eyes and put his other hoof on her other hip. He looked her in the eyes, making no attempt to continue the masquerade any longer. He pulled her on top of him, grasping her mane in his hoof, pulling her face down to his as he leaned upwards to meet her in a kiss. At his hoof's direction, she brought her leg across his body and straddled him. She rolled her hips forwards and back, grinding her wet marehood against the veiny ridges of his throbbing shaft.

"Shining, I'm sorry, I just-" she moaned. "I just needed to see it again,"

"Shhh," He hushed. "It's okay." He grabbed her ass with his hooves and lifted her upwards, letting his hard erection spring upwards toward her opening. It glowed a faint pink as she guided it with her magic while he lowered her onto it. The glow vanished along with the rest of him inside of her when her ass finally came to rest against his hip.

"Oh my gosh!" she moaned, putting her hoof on the bulge in her belly. "It's so big! I've never felt so full before in my life!" She lifted herself once more with her strong thighs before Shining grabbed her hips and thrusted upwards into her. Letting gravity do half of the work, he let himself fall out and rebound off of the coils of the mattress while Velvet tried her best to keep steady, hovering over her son while he was jack-hammering her from beneath.

On a particularly powerful thrust, she lost her balance, slipped off of him and tumbled over his shoulders onto the bed behind him. Without losing a tempo, Shining rolled out from under her and was behind her in an instant. Before Velvet even knew what was going on, she could feel one of his hooves grabbing her flank and the other pulling her tail aside. Her breath left her lungs as she felt his slick cock easily slip back into her hot pussy. Velvet grabbed a hold of the pillow and just held on as he ravaged her from behind, his hips slapping hers in a steady rhythm, his balls smacking against her clit. Shining could feel her pussy making little constrictions with each shock to her sensitive nub. Velvet turned her head to the side trying to speak between gasps for air.

"I want to- Ah! I want to look into your eyes," She moaned. Shining backed up a little, letting her roll over while he was still partially inside her. The feeling was incredible for them both. As soon as she was on her back he picked right up where he left off, fucking her with wild abandon. He leaned over her, wrapping his hooves around her and holding her close in embrace.

"Oh mom," he moaned, feeling himself getting closer to climax. The train began a wide turn. The moonlight moved across the room onto the bed. Shining leaned in to kiss her. He felt her constricting tighter around him, driving him over the edge. "Oh OH, I'm cumming!" Shining felt his cock twitch and spasm as he pumped spurt after spurt of white spunk.

"Yes! Cum inside me!" Velvet cried. "Fill me up with your cum!"

Shining opened his eyes as the morning sun poured through the window. He was still thrusting against the pillow. The shock of his orgasm had awoken him from the dream. He extricated himself from the sticky sheets and stripped the bed, stuffing the linen into the hamper. The incline of the train on familiar tracks told him they were fast approaching Canterlot. He hopped into the small wash basin and gave himself a sponge bath to get the musky reek of semen off of him.

At Canterlot Station, Shining bid farewell to his family. He had to switch trains to take the Crystal Line back to the Empire. Twilight stayed behind waiting for the next train to Ponyville. He missed his family. His mother most of all. He hadn't had a 'special' Mother's Day visit with her since before he'd joined the Royal Guard and married Cadence.

"Cadence," He sighed to himself as he watched Canterlot roll away behind him. He had to do something about all of this. But his mom was right. He shouldn't be going behind her back with these sort of activities. He shook his head. For now, he was heading back to the Empire. To his wife.