Outside the bathroom, Moonlight Shield and Swift Scabbard were standing at attention. The mare glanced over at the table where the illusion of Thomas was fiddling with a straw. As he prodded the piece of plastic with his tiny fingers, she couldn’t help but imagine what else those fingers might be capable of.

“Ah’hem,” Swift coughed, startling Moonlight. The stallion flared his nostrils a bit and she got the message. She’d allowed her mind to wander and it was arousing her. If even one of the restaurants other patrons caught a whiff of her being turned on while on duty…

Moonlight inhaled deeply to calm herself and clear her thoughts. I’m a guard, a proud member of Princess Luna’s house guard. It would be terribly inappropriate for me to be caught imagining her… and him… No! They are two consenting adults engaging in perfectly acceptable adult activities… secretly… in a public restroom… the immense alicorn looming over Sir Thomas’ small colt-like body, no doubt dominating him to her whims which he most likely enjoyed. No! She shook her head violently. Must focus. Must not let mind wander to the possibility of Princess Luna, nude, blushing with heaving breasts, as she manipulated Thomas’ slender and supple body between her… NO!

**********

Luna had been leaning against the sink counter for nearly five minutes as she regained her breath. Thomas lay draped lifelessly over her lower back and bottom, using her flowing tail as a makeshift pillow as he panted heavily. He’d managed not to slide off her through a combination of sticky sweat, his cock still firmly held in her tail hole, and even her buttocks hugging its lover close.

“Three times,” Luna stated proudly. “Three times in a public restroom.”

“I know,” Thomas gasped, obviously not as recovered as the much older and more experienced mare. “I guess I need another day off to recover more.”

“You’ll live,” Luna chided with a grin as she straightened herself up. She unclenched her bottom and felt Thomas slide to the ground, his member exiting her hole with a soft wet pop. Luna stood to her full height and turned her back to the mirror. To her amusement, her anus was still open, as if shocked to have its companion leave so suddenly. Seeing her lover’s seed begin to fall, Luna’s horn lit as her magic closed up her rear entrance, sealing the warm substance inside. She rolled her rump around and felt the still hot seed slosh inside her and send a new wave of warmth through her body. Lingering a moment in front of the mirror, Luna gave her rump a firm smack and watched it jiggle from the vibrations.

“See anything you like?” Thomas asked between much more even breaths as he sat up.

“Yes, actually,” Luna answered proudly. “The royal flank is quite the sight to behold.”

“She says to the only other person who probably knows this better than her,” Thomas said to himself with a roll of the eyes.

Luna began laughing. “Indeed. How silly of us to forget just how… acquainted you two are.” She continued to laugh until Thomas couldn’t hold back any longer and joined her.

When the pair had sufficiently recovered, Luna’s horn lit and a small black hole appeared before her. She reached in and pulled out a small spray can that read ‘Insta-Clean’. It was a form of liquid magic that operated along similar rules to the enchantment that kept the bathroom clean, instantly expelling unwanted odors, liquids, and other things from the body. The reason such a product hadn’t become more popular was because it was ridiculously expensive. Thomas once heard a guard comment that a single can would cost him three month’s pay. Essentially, the product that only the rich could afford was used to help the rich engage in dubious behavior without getting caught as easily.

Luna gave herself a thorough spray down before beckoning Thomas over. The human stood with his arms out and legs parted in preparation for his treatment. “I still think I can do this myself.”

“Nonsense,” Luna dismissed as she began spraying around his torso. “Thou can barely stand still. Clearly thou art still too fatigued to properly clean thyself. And was it not thee who complained about being embarrassed? How embarrassed will ye be to be surrounded by mares and stallions able to smell thy pungent aroma?” For emphasis, she began spraying around his groin. “Besides,” she said before taking a deep inhale through her nose. “This scent belongs to Luna.”

Thomas gave a conceding huff and stood silently while the Princess continued her work. When they were both clean, Luna tossed the can back into her pocket dimension before retrieving her dress. A pocket dimension is a hole in reality that the unicorn, or alicorn, could summon up wherever they were in need of instant access to storage.

“Why is it that you make me carry your bags around when you shop when you can just toss them in there?” Thomas asked as he slipped on his shorts.

“To put it simply,” Luna began as the dress encased in her magical aura slowly slid down over her. “It makes you look cute.”

“Great,” Thomas groaned. He waited until the dress was snugly back in place before closing the distance to the Princess. “Shall we?” he offered his elbow up to her.

“We shall,” Luna locked her arm with his and they left.

**********

After paying the bill, the guards cleared a way to the exit as Midnight Grill waved them off as they departed the restaurant. The moon was still high in the sky, meaning the night was far from over as Luna’s entourage followed her to their next destination.

“Wasn’t this supposed to be your free period for tonight?” Thomas asked the alicorn.

“Indeed it is,” Luna nodded. “Normally we” tap, “I would normally spend such time… relieving stress, but I think we might have been a bit preemptive back at the restaurant.”

“Premature? Speak for yourself,” Thomas scoffed.

“In any case, I believe I’m in the mood for something a bit more relaxing. Moonlight,” Luna called.

“Yes, Princess,” the guard answered from her position behind the human and alicorn.

“I am lead to believe that you and dearest Thomas ventured to the local park. Dost thou,” tap, “do you remember where it was?”

**********

The walk to the park was uneventful. Away from the lights of the city, the shadows of the trees danced beneath the light of the firefly lamps. The grass smelled freshly cut and there were even a few birds out tonight. While not nearly as lovely as the gardens around the castle, all in all it was a nice and romantic setting.

While the park was much more packed than yesterday, most ponies saw guards and kept their distance. Still Thomas would catch the occasional whisper commenting on the spectacle before them. Most were talking about how good Luna looked and wondered if she were doing anything important. But a few took notice of Thomas and whose arm he was locked with. They wondered what he was, where he came from, and what exactly he did to earn the right to walk hand in hand with the Princess. Others were not so benign, wondering if he was a flat-chested female or an underdeveloped colt, calling him various monkey themed insults, sneering at how such an unattractive thing must surely have been corrupting the Princess somehow. Worst of all were the paparazzi that, while keeping their distance, never ceased their torrent of pictures.

“We’re going to be all over the newspapers tomorrow, aren’t we?” Thomas bemoaned.

“Unlikely,” Luna consoled. “A Princess parading about the capitol with an alien for company shall likely be the focus of media attention for some weeks to come.”

Now painfully aware that every move he made was being documented, Thomas glared up at the Princess out of the corner of his eye. “Was that your plan all along, just to use me to get attention?”

“Oh, dearest Thomas,” Luna shook her head while smiling warmly. “This night was conceived for multiple reasons: a slow schedule to unwind, a lovely outing with a friend, allowing the commoners to become more comfortable with their Princess of the Night, perhaps a little bait for the media, and a number of other things. Tis a refined skill of royalty to plan several steps ahead so as to ensure that things may work out for us in multiple ways.”

Thomas gave Luna a sly grin. “Now’s who’s stealing words from Attentive Eye’s lips?”

“And now who is it that sounds jealous?” Luna retorted playfully.

Before Thomas could come up with a decent rebuttal, a mauve pegasus with a gray mane flew up, only to be blocked by Moonlight Shield. “Princess. Princess.” The stallion called over Moonlight’s shoulder. “Lucky Pen with Canterlot Canter News. Care to share your thoughts on the status of the new night court?”

Luna seemed hesitant at first, but the mention of her night court crushed all skepticism. “I suppose, since you were so well behaved during lunch, the papers have earned a few minutes of ou-my time.”

Thomas nodded approvingly at Luna’s catch before releasing his grip on her arm and elected to stay behind. Swift Scabbard kept his position one step left and two steps behind the Princess, while Moonlight took a step forward to be closer to her charge. The pair watched in silence as Luna delivered her impromptu interview, noting how she was trying to suppress her own excitement as she described the many successes and benefits of the night court.

“She seems happy,” Thomas whispered to Moonlight who merely nodded silently. It was clear she had no intention of speaking at the moment. While Thomas’ position afforded him a bit more leeway with the rules, he was still expected to follow certain protocols; in this case, to know when to be silent.

“And what of the creature behind you, your Highness?” Lucky Pen injected while Luna had paused to search her memory for any details she might have left out. “Rumor has it that you recently acquired an exotic pet, but it can speak and I see its wearing clothes like a regular pony. What can you tell our viewers about this fascinating animal?”

Thomas felt his blood run cold at the prospect of being interviewed by the press. He had enough trouble talking to new ponies at the castle where there was a general sense of professionalism. The idea of talking to the press and potentially embarrassing himself, and by extension the Princess, was entirely out of the question. At least it was until Luna beckoned him over. He tried to tell her with his eyes that he didn’t want to do this, but an assuring smile from the alicorn later and Thomas found his legs moving on their own.

I really am just a trained dog. No wonder the guy thought I was a pet.

“This here is Thomas,” Luna began as she wrapped an arm around his shoulder. “He is a human, a legal citizen of Equestria, and a good friend, not a pet. You shall show him the same courtesy as you would any other Equestrian.”

“Human?” Lucky Pen repeated before turning his attention to Thomas. “Can’t say I’ve ever heard of anything like you before. Would you care to elaborate on what you are, where you came from, and how you came to meet Princess Luna?”

Thomas was frozen in fear. He’d been specifically ordered by both Princesses not to tell anyone about where he came from, lest they run the risk of exposing his knowledge of the future and leading to who knows what kind of international scandals or threats to national security. Besides, given that Thomas had been legally recognized as an oracle, his visions were classified as a general rule. On top of all that was the natural fear of exposing his personal life to a sensationalist media that would surely tear him apart if he so much as said ‘anybody’ instead of ‘anypony’. “I… uh…”

“Tragically dearest Thomas has no clear knowledge of how he arrived here,” Luna answered. “We are not even certain where the human country is relative to Equestria. He was found along the city outskirts some months ago and brought to… me for care. As Princess of the Night, I took this unique creature into my custody for the protection of him as well as the citizenry at large. In time I learned that not only is he of no threat, but he is also a very sweet and gentle creature.” Luna said proudly.

“Fascinating,” Lucky Pen exclaimed. “My sources also say that this, human, has been seen wearing what seems to be the official uniform of a royal concubine. Care to elaborate?”

Thomas felt Luna tense, but she continued. “Indeed. Sir Thomas is Senior Concubine of my royal harem.”

Lucky Pen’s eyes bulged as his hand continued to write while he stared at them.

“As with any other in my sister’s harem, I took a fancy to him and now he is mine. As such, he is owed the same respect as any of my sister’s concubines,” she added with the slightest hint of a threat.

Thomas fought against the urge to sigh in relief. Luna had told more truth than lie, omitting only the dangerous details and not embarrassing either of them in her description of their relationship. Surely the media would be less inclined to misrepresent the word of the Princess. And it was rather heartwarming the way she said that he was hers. Maybe I’ve been overthinking this whole herd thing and what Luna plans for me in the future.

“A foreigner in the harem,” Lucky Pen nodded with a grin. “Truly these are exciting times we live in. But on that note, might there be any plans on expanding your harem in the future? I can think of quite a few mares and stallions who’d love to know.”

Or not.

“To be quite honest, matters with establishing the night court have been most time consuming, granting little time to conduct the necessary interviews for the positions,” Luna explained frankly. “Even so, such interviews are of a most personal matter, so I’m afraid I cannot offer further details. Simply know that there are plans to expand eventually.”

The remainder of the interview had been focused on Thomas, much to his displeasure. Lucky Pen jotted down the details with a somewhat sinister glee. Thomas was forced to speak for himself in describing that the ‘human country’ was a democracy, giving only the most benign of details while omitting the more unpleasant aspects of history and current policies. Upon learning that he was an omnivore, Luna emphasized that he was no different than their griffon allies, or other meat eating citizen, in how he required protein from ‘non-intelligent’ animals. She stressed the non-intelligent part as if sensing how the media could warp such information to make him look like a wild predator. She did the same regarding that Thomas had no magic and that he was an adult whose body was already fully developed.

“Yes, yes. I see,” Lucky Pen said with his pencil pressed against his note pad. “Then perhaps I could have a photo for our readers to see the latest inclusion to the night court?” he asked as he lifted up the camera hanging from a strap around his neck.

“Certainly,” Luna agreed.

Before Thomas could respond, he found himself lifted into the air by the Princess’ powerful arms as if he were no more than a child. He didn’t even have time to get his bearings before his vision was consumed by Luna’s face and he felt her warm lips against his own. The comforting warmth of her touch instantly assuaged all fears and Thomas leaned into the kiss, closing his eyes as he wrapped his arms around Luna’s neck. The peace of the moment was broken almost instantly as they were bombarded by a series of flashes from the camera. Thomas did his best to focus on the alicorn and tune out the rest of the world.

Eventually the flashes ceased and Luna set Thomas back on the ground. Lucky Pen thanked them both for the interview and departed, leaving the human to wonder just how badly he had messed up and how badly he was going to mess up later.

Moonlight lets her mind wander to some very naughty things. Thomas and Luna don't get a lot of time to themselves before the press shows up and Luna, somewhat sporadically, decides now is the time for Thomas to be revealed to Equestria. She'll explain her reasons in the next chapter, but for now her little human is having an understandable freak out.

Also, I have been told that the best way to learn how to write good stories is to read good stories. I have been reading a number of sex, romance, and adventure stories, so I think I have those mostly down. The adventure won't be relevant until much later any way.

I'd appreciate if you guys could help by recommending some stories for me. For now, I want romance + slice of life stories; sex is optional but shouldn't be the focus. I don't want ponies falling in love or having their first passionate night together. I want ponies having already fallen in love and just living life together. They're not necessarily going on great adventures or dealing with romantic problems, though that is optional, but just living life together. It goes without saying that polygamous relationships would be preferable.