The changeling stallion was pulled from his dazed rest, a slight movement and lack of warmth warning him of movement in reality. He opened his eyes to find Celestia missing. He raised his head, looking around the room in confusion only to find the alicorn sitting on a balcony.

He rose and stretched, moving out to see her while keeping a blanket wrapped around his form. The nights were fairly cool after all. No sense in letting all of his hard-earned body heat fade.

"I cannot seem to rise without waking you, can I?" Celestia asked quietly as he walked out the small doorway.

"It has to do with the body heat. You're warm, so I notice when I'm no longer sleeping next to you. Same goes for Luna. Would you prefer to be alone or-"

"No, you may stay. I have merely been thinking."

"Didn't hurt yourself, did you?"

She chuckled, rolling her eyes.

"I shall have you locked in the dungeon and seen to only by stallions. You will never see a female again."

"Ouch, might as well just cut mine off and mount it on your wall as a trophy. You may upset some ladies with either situation, actuallly," he said, taking a seat beside her.

Celestia sighed, her wings sagging as her thoughts rambled, a blurring kaleidoscope of emotions radiating from her. Regret, anxiety, fear. She was thinking of the future and the past though, not of him. Those would have been much more potent to his senses if she had been focused on him.

Pressing up to her side, he smiled.

"You know, Luna was a mess of anxiety a few weeks ago. I told her it tastes terrible, that if I didn't know anything about emotions and what it's like I'd probably avoid her with that kind of an aura."

The mare winced, but like Luna perked slightly as she ran his words through her mind.

"And since you understand them you wish to help."

"Everyone has fears. Fears, regrets, worries of the future, things we're uncertain about, you won't find a single person out there who doesn't. Except maybe the old Discord. This new one I saw, he was familiar with fear. He'd learned what pain was.

"I have regrets, as well. I'm not happy with how things went with Luna. That first night, I could have said no. I was scared though, and the emotions rolling off of her were so good. Now I just have to try and develop what should have been there before we crossed that line."

"And our relationship?" The mare asked.

"That depends on you. This was for you, Tia. You were convinced that something was wrong with you, and I was convinced that it was merely mistreatment. Now we know the truth and you can sleep easily. Luna will back off for now, but the only reason she pushed the flock was because it makes her feel safe and she could tell you feared something. She's worried, but she's trusting us. Trusting that you can watch yourself and trusting that I can help you if you need it. She even said so last night; that she'd rather know that you were willing to talk to me than to know what was wrong."

"She always tried hugging me if she thought I was upset," Celestia sighed, turning back to stare at the dark horizon. "I didn't understand how she could tell sometimes. It was like she had a second sense for it. Even if I tried to hide it.

"She made excuses for me after the thing...happened. I was surprised when my greatest emotion was fear, and not for myself. Fear that he'd come after her. I made sharp sticks and put them in various places where I could get them if I needed. I taught Luna where to strike ponies if they tried to hurt her. She learned the movements quickly enough, she was always happy to learn what I taught her. But she always felt so clingy."

Celestia smiled wistfully.

"It's the Pegasus blood. The families are very close. It was what she knew, so it was how she expressed her concern. Unicorns are not so close...perhaps that is why they were the last to attempt to integrate their tribe. Theirs has always been a more solitary existence. Your family was all that truly mattered. Your blood kin."

"Do you remember who your parents were?"

Celestia frowned.

"Vaguely."

"Have you ever have thought about looking for them?"

The alicorn became silent, her face falling into a frown as she thought on his words.

"Starswirl was adamant that we not worry about such things. That it would complicate things needlessly."

Max raised an eyebrow.

"Did Starswirl have a family?"

"Not that I can remember. His work was his life."

"Well in that case it sounds like someone who never had something telling you that it's not needed," Max replied. "You don't even need to talk to them, just find out for your own benefit. Heck, we'll be visiting nearby towns in the future, right? Keep an ear to the ground while you're looking around."

Celestia nodded, a small smile coming to her face as she recalled her family.

"Sunshine Scryer was my mother, and Sky Caller was my father. He had a spell, when he called us you could hear it for miles around. They called him Shouty in town. Mother was a seer, though she could never see the fates of my family. It was her curse, she called it, knowing the fates of all you met but never knowing your own. I had sisters as well but they were young. I do not remember them."

"Your Dad sounds like he'd be easy enough to find. A unicorn like that develops a reputation after all," Max said, envisioning an old unicorn dragon-shouting foals off his front lawn. "A seer is something kingdoms often pursue as well. It never ends well, but in this case we don't want to use her, just say hi. She may be known outside of her home town as well."

"Do you really think we could find them? That we should?"

"Tia, I don't think there's much you couldn't do if you put forth the effort. You are the literal embodiment of the phrase 'Carpe diem'; seize the day. There is nothing to stop you in the long run. You have all the time in the world and many here, even some of the Knights and servingponies, who would love to see you succeed. Or did Ace being willing to lose his wings like that mean something else to you?"

"Crack had to amputate the other wing. Poor Pegasus managed to get an infection and it was going to kill him. Hopefully he heals up. Big strong stallion like that ought 'a draw in all the ladies.

Max beamed, tapping the discolored part of his shell, right near the shoulder.

"After all, all the cool kids have scars. And his are bigger than mine. That...is the only time you will hear me admitting that."

Celestia burst into laughter, amusement tinting her emotions.

"See? That, you need to do that more. Laugh, smile, enjoy life. It's going to be hard, it's going to have its rough spots but that's why you have friends and family. To pull you through those. We're not family, but I'm here if you need me."

"Luna wants us to be family."

"Luna wants the mare who took care of her to be safe and to her a family is a safe place. It makes sense, honestly. She already considers you family, she just wants it to be official."

"Which is a step I am not ready to take," Ceelstia admitted with sorrow. "I barely trusted you but just last night I allowed... I couldn't even tell Luna."

"Because you were protecting her. You still are."
Max looked over the countryside below, still bathed in darkness.

"How long before sunrise?"

"It is still several hours away. I just found myself unable to rest. I would do this sometimes, before our ascension. Just sit on the roof of the cottage and stare at the stars."

The changeling nodded.

"If you end up being sleepy later on don't be afraid to call it a day early. You and Luna both have the nasty habit of staying up much too late and then getting up early regardless. It's the opposite issue I used to have."

"But-"

"The problems won't go away. Besides, the two of you have some heavy lifting to do today. The dogs are working on that new tunnel so we should be good to start filling in the cavern...right after Luna and Crystal pull out some titanium. We can use that."

"What would we need that for? It is incredibly hard to be sure, but it is also heavy."

"Arrow heads, bolts for a crossbow, blades for weapons, we could even plate a wagon with it. Make the first armored vehicle. It also doesn't melt easily so we can use it as a set of smithing tools for softer metals. Not to mention the trade value. That stuff is a deep ore, so ponies have a tough time finding it. We have several chunks that Luna can rip out of the ground, just one of which could probably purchase and furnish a forge. We need surpluses, Celestia. Without those we have to trade things we need."

The alicorn nodded.

"I understand. Perhaps we should do a full check before we fill in the cavern. It seems strange to wish to pull more out, but perhaps we could begin with the very bottom and excavate what we require before beginning to fill it in."

"See? Now your thinking like a gamer. Never ignore resources. Even if we can't use it now, we may find a use for it later," the changeling said, poking her side. "You always need more stuff. I have to show you some of the games I know. In most survival games, resource management was key. Do I plant my saplings or use them for fuel in my furnace? Do I use my stone for narcotics to tame dinosaurs or use them to build walls?"

"Speaking of resources, Crystal saw some dirt patches down there. What did you two do with the dirt? We could use that."

"We uh, washed it away," the mare answered, her cheeks flushing with embarrassment.

"You washed it..." he trailed off, his thoughts jerking to a halt. "Celestia, that would have been several tons of dirt! You don't just wash away several thousand cubic feet of dirt, it's just too much."

"We used the river nearby," she explained. "It took time but we used the water to wash away the dirt in the form of mud. It took a while so that we didn't merely block the river, but we managed to dispose of most of it. The rest we used to level the area the castle is sitting on."

"But that, that's even worse! You took the time to muddy it so the current would carry it away instead of just throwing it in a large hill somewhere? That takes more effort then a dirt hill off to the side! Oh god, why," he muttered, burying his head in his hooves.

"No, don't worry about it," he finally said, taking a calming breath. "More important things to worry about. How are you feeling?"

Celestia smiled once more, a genuine smile that he was beginning to see more of.

"I am well. Though I thought I had said as much after..."

"I'm not going to take an answer from a mind-melted mare. It was a lot, wasn't it? The pleasure?"

She looked around as if to confirm they were alone before nodding.

"That's what you're supposed to feel. Being with someone you really love makes it, I think it makes it better. You learn their sensitive spots, how to play their body like an instrument. You learn what their reactions will be and you can hold them at that peak, you can hold them at the cusp of climax for just a little longer. That extra time, it can make the peak so much more powerful.

"Any questions now? You've experienced the real thing now, so how do you feel about sex?"

"Do we have to talk about this?" the white mare asked, her ears perked for any sounds beside their own.

"Tia, I need to know. If there are any unanswered questions I want to hear them now. We still have a few hours if you need me to answer any other questions and there likely won't be a better time than this. You know sex isn't as bad as you had originally thought. Do you have any intentions of finding a stallion of your own? Of starting your own family?"

"I do not know, I haven't really thought of it," she whispered, her eyes glancing to him.

"Do you, will you teach me something?"

"Anything you like."

Celestia shifted, scooting closer.

"Can you teach me how to kiss? I've seen you kiss with Luna and it's nothing like the simple kisses i know. Other ponies do that as well, and if I do decide to, um, find a stallion I don't want to mess it up."

Max nodded, twisting his neck to face her before tilting his head slightly.

"Angle, Tia. Needs to be at an angle. Opposite of my own."

She complied, watching their movements carefully until his lips just barely touched her own. With a smack of a kiss he pulled back, noticing only afterwards that she was frowning.

"You sure you want the full thing? It includes tongue, most deep kisses like that do. It takes some getting used to but I make a goal. Run my tongue around their mouth or wrestle it against their own. Keeps me from doing nothing."

He chuckled at the heat coming off of her face and leaned back in, his lips slightly parted. She looked him over before following suit once more. Burning with nervousness as he licked against her sealed lips. They hesitantly parted and he licked against her teeth, causing her to shudder and break the kiss.

"I, I can't do this out here. Inside."

Celestia ducked back into her bedroom without another word, though Max did get a glimpse of her tail flagging slightly. Was it just the kissing, the prospect of being caught, or was it running the night over in her mind again?

She sat on the bed, motioning for a spot in front of her while she fluttered her wings and settled them at her sides.

"I didn't expect you to ask for this, actually. It's something most couples fumble through for the first time," he remarked as he stepped into the bed with her.

"If you say so. I still would like to know."

The shape shifter nodded, moving in and pressing his slightly parted lips against hers once more. She once again hesitantly opened her mouth, her eyes closed as she focused on his movements. He touched her teeth, moved over them and began prodding at her otherwise immobile tongue, then wrapped his own tongue around it and pulled it into his own mouth where he clamped his teeth gently onto it.

"Y'll g't eh ba' whin you pert'cip'te."

She stared in confusion before moving her own muscled organ, carefully touching his back teeth and moving on. He released her from his grasp and sealed his mouth around hers again, letting her do as she wished. Max was about to join in again when he noticed the mare was turning blue. Breaking the kiss quickly he inwardly cursed as the mare began sputtering and coughing.

"Breath through the nose, Tia. Don't hold your breath."

"I'm sorry, I-"

He placed a hoof on her muzzle.

"Shh, this is why you practice, right? So Luna doesn't get a chance to make fun of you. While this would make perfect blackmail, I won't tell her. That was up there with a mare getting confused by the term blowjob."

"And what, pray tell, is a 'blow job'?" She asked.

"It's the mare doing to the stallion what I did to you last night. Using my mouth and tongue to make you peak. Sometimes a mare will hear the term, want to do it to make the stallion happy, but not know the details. When you hear that term, what does it sound like you'd do?"

Celestia frowned, her ears still burning with nerves but feeling secure in the privacy of her room.

"It, I would assume it has to do with...blowing on him?"

"Not quite. Not sure where the term comes from, but you do just about everything but blow on it. Heck, if you think it will help you can. It's about stimulating the male with your mouth and tongue. Mostly, this includes licking or taking him into your mouth."

"Has Luna, done this with you?"

Max raised an eyebrow.

"This isn't a game of outdoing her, Celly. You don't have to prove yourself to anyone. I'm just explaining things. Are you good to give the kiss another go?"

She nodded, moving forward a bit more eagerly this time. Max suppressed a laugh, seeing her focus on breathing as their lips met. he tapped against her teeth and she opened her mouth, this time her tongue moving to meet him. He poked and moved around it, chuckling into the kiss as he pushed her back into her own mouth in an improvised game of dominance.

The alicorn took up his issued challenge to his surprise, using her own muscle to shove him out of her mouth before pursuing him back into his own muzzle, she pushed forward into the kiss, doing her best to pin his thinner and more agile organ in place. He eluded her though, laughing into the contact as he slipped past her back into her own mouth.

Max was enjoying the game for a while, keeping one step ahead of her in an otherwise obscene wrestling match. Maybe he'd use this method to teach Crystal how to tongue-joust? It ended suddenly though, Celestia finally pushing too far in her quest for leverage and tilting the two of them over into the bed.

As they broke the contact, both began chuckling at their game.

"See? You're not half bad. It just takes a little time and motivation. My motivation tends to be thinking of your mouth as similar to another thing I'd like to explore."

The alicorn mare giggled uneasily, her emotions burning with the slightest hint of lust at both the extended kiss and his words.

"Is there a way to um, experience this later? Without you?"

Max raised an eyebrow as he looked at the female currently resting on his barrel.

"Are you asking about solo performance? Doing this on your own?"

She nodded and he smirked, rolling his eyes.

"Can't believe I'm teaching you this. Alright get off of me and get on the bed. Rear legs straight up, front legs trying to touch your rear hooves."

Tia complied, taking the awkward pose and looking to him curiously. He circled around to her flank, looking at the distance to see if it was physically possible.

"I know Luna used magic to help get herself off, but you can do something else."

He reached down, taking a hoof and bringing it up between her legs.

"Just rub the outside lips, the part you felt me licking last night. Do that and focus on the pleasure. A good amount of it's mental anyway."

"What do you mean by that?"

Max moved into her field of view and sat down, closing his eyes in concentration. He spread his rear legs to give her a view as he ran sexual encounters through his mind. With no outside stimulation, he was bobbing in almost no time.

"A lot of this is in your head. It's possible to get this far, maybe farther with just thinking about it. It's the same for you. Just think about how you felt last night and let your hoof wander.

He let her sit there for a few moments, her eyes unfocused as her mind burned with slowly building lust. His horn lit up after a while, grabbing her hoof and circling it gently over the now-sensitive mare-bits.

"Come on, Tia. You need to be able to multi-task. Think sexy thoughts and rub the bits that feel good."

The mare whined as she took over, her pace picking up as she explored her own nethers. He offered hints or encouragement but otherwise enjoyed the show, her growing comfort with her own body making him smile.

'If I ever run into that bastard I'll show him what humans think of when they hear the term cruel. Bastard made her scared of her own body.'

Celestia's horn glowed, her clit lighting with the spell as she continued to vigorously rub herself into bliss. With a pillow-muffled shout she finished, a few weak drizzle of her fluids now trickling down her legs and covering her hoof.

"See? Only thing hard about this whole situation is me. And that's easy enough to fix. Any other things you want to know?"

"Have you and Luna, have the two of you been trying something new every night?"

Max tapped a hoof to his chin.

"Not every night. Sometimes we just can't be bothered, other times we're too horny to hold back. Crystal further complicates things as she was focused on the results of my orgasm; the emotion-saturated seed. To a starving changeling it was a feast. I think it has to do with making sure the eggs are properly supplied with nutrients, or in this case emotion. We won't know until she goes through her final molt."

Celestia nodded, having picked herself up on shaky legs. Worrying her lip, she tapped a hoof on the bed and fluttered her wings.

"Tia, I'm here for the night. If you want to know something, ask."

"Could you, would you be willing to allow me to experience the entire encounter, from beginning to end? It was pleasurable but it was so shaky. I know you will not take advantage so, will you treat me as you believe I deserve? As you have said I deserve to be treated."

"Full experience, no stops? Are you certain?" he asked. "I could do that, may give me a chance to really enjoy that wonderfully squishy flesh of your flank. Seriously, if I never saw you again I may have to shape shift just to get to look at those again. They're magnificent. Anyone who says otherwise can shove their wrong opinions up their own asses."

Celestia nodded and the stallion pulled her into a deep kiss, pushing into her mouth and exploring it in earnest this time. He grabbed at her with his forelegs, pulling her tightly against his own barrel even as he pressed his advantage, breaking the sensual kiss and beginning to trail nips and kisses along her neck and shoulder. Confusion shifted to anticipation; her body's nerves starting to light up at every touch while she felt her heat return. Wrapping his neck around hers and lowering his head by a good bit, he gently gnawed on her wing, just by the base.

"Oh stars," she whimpered, feeling her back arch at the intense sensations.

He raised his head to her ear, snickering at her reactions.

"I'm going to play your body like a harp, you beautiful thing, you. And what happens when you play a harp?"

He kissed her again, using a bit of magic to squeeze the base parts of her wings. It drew a muffled moan from her lips and she flushed, though she didn't look away.

"It sings for you," he whispered, moving back to her neck.

She moaned again as he worked her neck, Pushing her onto her back and moving down her body in a thorough manner. Her forelegs, her belly, her teats, hell, she seemed more sensitive there than any of the other mares. He enjoyed it, a part of his brain that was still human finding the soft flesh desirable in a way that just didn't make sense otherwise.

The alicorn was indeed singing for him, having coated the walls in a longer-lasting privacy spell and sealing the doors once he'd began. She squirmed underneath him as he suckled on a teat, pulling back in a way that grazed the tip with his fang. She shivered but the burst of anxiety died almost as fast as it arrived. He began to trail his explorations lower still and she looked down her barrel at him with fiery anticipation. She wanted the whole experience as it was meant to be, and that meant she knew what was coming.

He didn't rush, taking his time playing with her sun-stamped butt with playful nips, even servicing the cutie mark a bit and drawing a confused mewl from her throats when she began to feel overly sensitive to his touch. A small trail of kisses back around her flank and he aimed low, trailing to the base of her tail and nibbling the small visible portion that her flowing tail connected to.

Her legs tensed slightly as he licked in one smooth motion, coming apparently a little too close to the pucker of her ass before all thoughts fled her mind. He'd reached her sex, finding it already swollen with need. He nodded as he kissed her lower lips, lifting his head and waiting for her to make eye contact.

"Already looking ready. I think it's time I was able to enjoy this as well."

He hopped off the bed, pulling her close the edge and allowing himself easy access to her slowly trickling heat. He planted his front hooves on either side of her, just under her still spread wings as he guided himself into her body. Her back arched the moment she felt him pushing in, the fire in her belly demanding he finish what he started.

"D-do it, make me feel-"

Her words died on her lips, her sex clamping down on him repeatedly as he slowly pushed inside. Shifting his rear legs for better leverage and using his forelegs to hold her tightly he kissed her again even as her body trembled underneath him.

"I shouldn't have to make you feel beautiful. This, ha, this is why I thought you were being silly. You didn't need to do anything for...me. Just being able to explore you, your body; that was enough to prepare me for this."

The stallion nipped her neck, pulling out and giving another hearty thrust into her now-winking nethers. She shuddered, a brief glimpse of her impending climax telling him she was already close.

"Don't finish, Tia. Try to hold it back. I'll, I'll tell you when. Just hold it back."

Max grinned as she squirmed in his grasp, whining needily even as he gripped her wings again. A shift of his magic and her cutie-marks were being massaged, another shift and it was her teats. The mare Twisted under him, her forelegs already having a grip on him, pulling him tightly against her. The hind legs soon joined them, the white alicorn holding him with every bit of her strength. It was coming but she was fighting it with every fiber of her being, trusting that he knew this subject.

"Almost," he grunted, thrusting deeply with every motion. He felt her quitting, felt his own legs tensing, it was close and-

Celestia squealed, her body locking up as the pleasure became to much. Her vaginal walls gripped and stroked him, desperately milking him for anything he had to offer. After a few moments of this treatment, just as she was coming down from her peak, he grunted.

The mare gasped, this time aware of emotion-soaked fluids being pumped into her body. She shivered, feeling each tensing of his form and knowing it was another spurt of fluid. She felt the pressure in her depths build slightly, the male's rings keeping the seed inside her as he gave her his all.

Max growled as he pulled tightly against her body, feeling her relaxing into an exhausted heap. His wings buzzed as if the additional thrust would drive him deeper but all he managed was to destroy her slowly recovering sense of self, his mate locking up a second time as his entire length vibrated deep inside of her. Her mind blanked again, spasms of pleasure running up and down her body. Her legs were shaking and her head lying limply on the bed. It was just too much at this point.

Max slumped, no small amount of pride bringing a smirk to his face. It wasn't intentional but he'd honestly forgot about the wings. A sad situation seeing as it meant he had a built-in vibrate mode.

It took time for her to recover, much longer than the peak of her first orgasm that night. Even then, her mind was a driveling mess of pleasure and happiness.

"That," he finally whispered as her mind recovered "is what a beautiful thing like yourself deserves. Anything less is not good enough for you."

Celestia finally managed a response, a tired giggle as her right wing spasmed with her still-fading aftershocks.

"P-powerful."

"Well, when you hold back that tends to help," he said with a smile, nuzzling into her neck.

"That was, if that had been what I first experienced...I believe I would have become as bad as Luna and Crystal," she finally wheezed out. "I still feel tingly."

"I know," he responded, nipping her neck. "Still inside, remember? Every time you clench I feel that. I'm glad you trusted me with this. If you ever have any questions about anything, no matter how strange, you feel free to come to me. If it means waiting until midnight before you feel safe to speak in the security of your own room, I'll wait as long as I need to."

She nodded before hiccupping, surprising him as joyful tears started streaking down her cheeks.

"I know. I know, and I love it. I don't remember ever having anypony I could..."

"Well now you do," he assured, cuddling into her barrel. "Anything you need, no matter how silly you may think it is. Crystal as well. You know she won't betray you, and if you need to you can use her as a relay. I can even talk through her. It feels weird but it works. So even if I'm not there, you can use her if you need."

"Now, I need you to let go."

Celestia grimaced, looking down her right side as she tried to figure out how to do that. She still felt ripples running through her spine and she knew what he meant. An irritated buzz turned into a curse though, her body clenching once more at the vibrations he channeled into her.

"Do I have to?" She whined, looking at him pleadingly before giggling. A few deep breaths and they came apart, Max wincing at the abuse m his stallionhood had been put through. It had felt great but the mare squeezed him pretty tightly after every climax and for a time after that as well. It left him feeling a bit tender.

Sidling up beside her he relaxed into the bed, enjoying the scent of their efforts. It tickled something primal inside him, made him even more driven to hold her to him. he was tempted to use shape-shifting to grant himself wings, a way to hold onto her as they rested, but he ended up dismissing the idea. He'd had trouble walking in this form, he'd likely only smack the mare in the face with a wing before twisting it incorrectly.

It wouldn't have mattered anyway. Celestia rose not too long after she'd recovered, stepping off of the bed and stretching once more.

"I believe I know what else I want. A bath, a preening, and a little practice in the yard. I have been neglecting my exercise lately."

"You've been out of your mind, lately. I think that's a good excuse for not exercising," he shot back, standing in the bed and rolling his neck. "Nobody's going to fault you for taking a break."

"I stopped exercising long before that. I'm uncertain when exactly it was, but I stopped soon after we finished creating the castle and the nobles arrived."

Max chuckled as he followed her into the bathing room, the contempt she felt at the mention of those ponies breaking through what little control she'd managed to reassert over her feelings.

"A true princess wouldn't be practicing with a blade, that's what the knights are for. A princess does not tarnish herself with such menial tasks as removing bandits. A real princess wouldn't be worrying about the crops, that's somepony else's job. No, princess, I'm certain things are going well. Yes princess, of course you are doing well. Ha! It was more along the lines of 'Yes, Princess, you are doing exactly what we wish for you to do!' Curs, stealing from my stores while doing nothing in return. They did not even oversee the addition of a well to the town! It takes less than a day with the proper use of magic!"

The alicorn continued to vent, her horn lightning as she activated at few crystal lights and warmed the prepared water. She stepped onto the steaming water only to jump back out again.

"Damnation!"

Max sat down behind her, pulling her into his chest and holding onto her.

"Relax. Breath. The water is just a little warm, we can either wait for it or you can use another spell."

"The only ice spell I know would drop the temperature of the pool too low."

"Than cast it on something else. Like a small bucket of water. That way it doesn't cool as much water at once. Freeze a bucket of water and we'll dump the ice in the bath."

She did so, tossing the bucket-shaped chunk of ice into the too-hot water and watching it quickly melt away. It only took two of those ice chunks to cool the water to a reasonable level. And by reasonable, the water was still steaming but would no longer cook Max inside his shell.

Celestia sighed, dozing slightly in the warm water while the changeling washed her down.

"I'm sorry I snapped earlier."

"You were venting. I did it all the time back home, even about things that didn't really matter. The fact that these issues are things you feel are important and you were wronged just amplifies the issue. Done, now stand up, I want to make sure we didn't miss anything."

"What are you searching for?"

"Dried fluids. Water will wash most away but Tia, your tail was caked. I want to make sure I got it all. Don't need ponies seeing that, right? You get to check me afterwards, make sure my tail's clean. Should be, but better safe than sorry."

Max moved the mare's tail around, wiping down anything that could be unseemly. While the solar alicorn's white coat was gorgeous, it was a lot harder to clean after sex than Luna's. On the blue mare, such stains were obvious.

"Oh stars, the maids will..."

"You could always burn the sheets if your worried. Open the windows and air the place out, throw your dirty stuff into Luna's pile and change them yourself. I wouldn't worry too much though. Most of the nobles are going to be too busy to harass you about that. And besides, didn't you try that already? Keeping to their rules?"

She once more flashed with anger before smothering it, slapping the water in frustration.

"You'll get yourself back under full control soon. Your doing better every day."

"It is still frustrating. I feel as though I should avoid diplomacy for now, lest I snap at the ponies I am entreating with," she grumbled, shifting in the water as she began wiping him down.

"Well, that's why you rule with Luna. And in the future, you two can plan vacations around each other," Max suggested, washing himself down as best he could. A tug on his tail caused him to wince, and her turned to look at what Tia was doing.

"This is so foul, does it always end up everywhere?" She asked as she ran a scrub brush though his matted tail.

"Well, usually I have a chance to soak before washing and that makes it easier. Also doesn't help that we did it at two different points, so it's a double layer of ick. At least only one of us needs preening, right?"

Celestia nodded in agreement.

"That and the rest of this...mess seems to not stick to your shell. That is remarkably convenient. Much easier to clean than my own mane and coat."

"Well, juries still out on how I feel about the shell. Molting is hella' weird."

"I want to see it again. Next time you molt, I mean. Would you object?"

The changeling rolled his eyes.

"If I'm not out of it, no. I don't mind. I'll likely still want a safe, quiet place for that. Crystal will as well, once she molts. Not sure how that will work. So do you want to grab a bite to eat before we head out or what? What's the plan, man?"

"The plan, as it stands, is the have breakfast, which hopefully is quite grand. After that I shall go to the training yard and learn to stand, against my foes before joining Luna as we fill in the cavern like an hourglass with...sand."

"That was painful to listen to."

"Oh hush," she giggled, pulling him off balance and dunking him in the water.

Celestia dozed in her bed, clean sheets already spread over the mattress while the windows were open, helping to airate the room. Max was beside her, carefully preening her wings and not allowing her to participate, citing it as much needed practice as well as a chance to learn the difference between the wings of the alicorns. Celestia didn't not mind too much. It was relaxing. More so than she remembered it being, in truth.

'Likely because those fangs have been in much more sensitive places and nothing happened,' she though in amusement.

There she went again, her mind shifting to the topic of fornication. Not three days ago she couldn't even say it. She'd look around, once she was recovered. Look at the stallions around the keep and see if any caught her eye. If she had questions she could always ask Max. Even if he didn't know, she could get him to ask the embarrassing questions in her stead.

She barely held back a giggle at such an abuse of his willingness to help. He'd do it, too. He'd even tell the ponies he was asking something silly, like he was looking for a stallion to keep him company. She finally did giggle, the mental image of the changeling jokingly attempting to woo a knight and sending the stallion scurrying away too much.

Max didn't slow in his self-appointed task. When she looked to him, all he did was smile through her feathers before returning his focus to his work.

She sagged into the blankets, an odd feeling of total contentment rolling over her. She still had several hours before sunrise, she would just close her eyes for a bit...and...