It was nice not to have to wear the armor; it had become Shining's daily burden now. He relaxed in bed, in the dark room, and rolled to his back. "Let's start with the top and work down." Inability to see was just what he wanted, Luna's gift was low in the sky, almost ready to set for the morning.

With a gulp, Shining reached up to his horn. There were sharp edges it never had before, the point actually was a short curve of sharp blade. Down from that it had jagged shifts in direction. The stallion trembled, he had felt a horn like this before—Her horn.

Back when he had been with Chrysalis, she had used her magic to shove the fire from him, the anger and strength. He had all three now. His hoof didn't shake, he never pulled away. "This is mine, not yours."

"Shiny? What's wrong?" Cadance reached out to her stallion, her husband. She pressed her forehoof to his barrel, felt his heart beating strong and even.

"Taking stock, Cady." Shining rubbed his hoof along his horn, getting a feel for it. Of course, the horn was every bit as sensitive as his old one, combined with being a stallion first thing in the morning, meant he soon felt his wife's touch at his shaft. "Well, I knew that was still there." He turned his head, his snout bumping Cadance's as they kissed.

Cadance slowly started working her hoof along her husband. Their kiss broke after a few strokes. "Should I get the list so we can make changes? Do you feel any different?" The hoof kept going.

"Maybe, but I want to check things out in the dark, first." Shining kissed her lips briefly again. He brought his hoof down, feeling around his head, his mane. There was no crest growing, and his ears still felt normal. Opening his mouth, he pushed the edge of his hoof in. Two pricks of his fangs touched the soft flesh of his leg, he tilted and felt the matching pair. "Top and bottom fangs are longer, sharper." His hoof roamed his body, working down one foreleg, then up the other.

Waiting patiently for Shining's self-exploration, Cadance contented herself with embracing a very base nature of her destiny, she brought her husband pleasure. "How are you holding out, champ?" She nuzzled down his body, adjusting her position a touch. Shining knew what was coming, even before she kissed his tip. "Hey…" The hoof stroking him halted and, immediately, Shining reached down to work out what caused his wife to stop. Stroking himself, he felt what she referred to. "Little ridges, I wonder if changelings have those?"

Pink light bathed the room and Shining half curled around on himself, examining his stallionhood. "Can't really see them, but they are there." He ran his hoof over the ridges, just below the end of his shaft. "Cady-" The moment he said her nickname she had him wrapped in all four legs and her wings. He was held tightly, snugly, his wife nuzzled around his face. "I love you, Cady."

Cadance was not averse to just hugging her stallion, but he sounded like he needed it. "You are changing, you will keep changing. Do I really need to keep telling you, showing you, that I am always going to accept you?"

"Yes?" Shining had a half smile as he admitted it. "Cadance, I can't believe how lucky I am to…" He trailed off, the feel of her body against his, with his raging shaft, brought other feelings to the fore. But he was on his back.

"Let me show you, then." Cadance released her tight grip a little, leaned forward along her husband's body, before shifting gears and pushing back. She knew just where he would be, he was already at the right height for her to impale herself down upon him. "Still feels like my Shiny."

Shining's magic snuffed out, his focus broken by the simple act of his wife taking control of the situation. She rocked forward, then back, her body now only felt instead of seen. Shining breathed in, pressing his snout to Cadance's fur, letting her smell fill him.

As she rocked, Cadance started to feel a little more stimulation than normal, she knew just what it was. The ridges were, for wont of a better word, quite nice. It only encouraged her to speed up, to feel him as fast as she could. Neither would last long at the manic pace, but neither cared. The feel of his surging body inside her drove Cadance beyond her own limit and she slumped down, pushing back onto her lover.

Shining wrapped his forelegs around Cadance's back, hugging her down to him. He couldn't see her, but he didn't need to, to know she was smiling at him. "Now that is how we start the day." He kissed where he hoped her snout was, caught her cheek, drew back and re-aimed. They giggled as their efforts at aligning a kiss failed a second time.

"Maybe we should get up, get the list and start making sure we have everything right." Cadance ran through the changes in her head. "Your horn is different, but not completely unlovely. Did you notice one of the curves," Cadance took hold of one of Shining's hooves, guided it up to feel, "this one, notice the angle?"

Shining's hoof found the little bump of horn. "Is it really shaped like a love heart?"

"Not particularly, not by looking at it. You can feel it, can't you?" Cadance giggled as Shining nodded his head, bumping his horn around in the dark; with her hoof on his, she could feel the motion. "I like to think it means something, even if we are the only ponies that know about it."

"And I like to think that it is your influence." Shining jerked his hips, hearing a happy gasp from Cadance. "I love you, Cady."

"And you know I love you too, but if we keep doing this, we are going to miss Aunty's little morning party." Cadance took the initiative and leaned forward then rolled sideways. She gasped as she pulled off of her husband and hoped they hadn't made any mess in the bed. Brilliant blue light lit the room, Cadance set a more constant light up with her magic before reaching to her things. The scroll with her list on it came out and she started making more notes. "Did your horn itch, or feel strange? Do you have any sensation of emotion through it?"

"It tingled a little, but apart from that… and the look, it feels fine. Careful said if I am going to start feeling emotions, and eating them, it will be soon. If my unicorn magic stops feeding through my horn, I will start to get hungry."He climbed up from the bed and stretched. Heavy muscles worked under his skin as he limbered up and put on a show for his wife. When he glanced over, he caught her grinning and looking away. Gotcha.

"Does your penis feel any different?" Cadance froze and got a worried look on her snout. Shining watched her rush for the bathroom. Her husband was quite prolific and she really didn't want to make any more mess than was strictly required.

Shining's ego was fed quite nicely, he knew what his wife was up to. "Too much, Cady?" He trotted to the bathroom to find the pink alicorn already in the big tub, warm water filling it. "That reminds me, I need to talk to Careful about a few more things."

" 'This' reminds you?" Cadance glared at her husband from the tub. "You are a wonderfully strange husband, did you know that?" She cleaned herself from their shared mess with some magic and hot water, then set the tub to filling properly.

"I want to know if I can still fulfill my full duty as your husband, even if… if I become a queen in the full sense. If I transform, what would happen to any foal? Could there be a foal?" He used the facilities and climbed into the big tub beside Cadance.

"The real question, Shiny, is would you lay eggs like a queen?" Cadance had a wing over her husband's back right away, she knew he might react. "The fact is, Shining Armor, we could be having a lot more foals than we first thought."

"Eggs?" Shining was so over panicking for the morning. "I don't know how to feel about that. I guess it would be strange, but I would be a mare?" Shining used his magic without thinking, picking up a brush and starting to work over himself. He was almost done when it dawned on him that he might accidentally use up the last of his unicorn magic in the bath.

Cadance looked up at her husband as she heard the splash of the brush he had been using. "What's wrong?" She reached her wing out again to hug Shining.

"Using up my unicorn magic, it might be my last." Shining heard how silly it sounded. "It sounds silly, I should just burn it off, see if I really am going to be living off love." The urge was strong and Cadance hugged him more. "What?"

"It is up to you, but if we are going to burn it off, at least make sure we have a changeling with us, to help explain how to feed properly." Cadance watched Shining's expression turn thoughtful. "Let me finish this off, you just relax." Retrieving the brush, Cadance couldn't help but add, "My big stud."

Being brushed by his wife, and getting such compliments, saw Shining through the rest of their morning activities with just nuzzling and kissing. At last, dressed and ready, the two opened their bedroom door to find a very alert-looking Royal Guard stallion waiting just outside. Shining hadn't seen a guard posted at their door and, without a word he rushed them.

It was meant to be simple. Gilt would follow the royal couple to the secret meeting and listen in from the door. Being suddenly rushed by Shining Armor wasn't in his play book. "Sir?" He tumbled to the floor under the heavier weight of the other stallion.

Finally this damned armor is useful. Shining leaned on the other pony. "What is today's pass-phrase?" He knew it, of course he knew it, he was still officially Captain of the Guard. Even in absentia.

Gilt Wings sighed in relief. "Pink Rose Silver Bucket."

"Huh…" Shining stood up, hefting the plate armor around him and leaving Gilt with only his normal armor to recover under. "Sorry, can't be too careful."

Cadance reached out a hoof to help the guard up, but it was refused. "Are you here to escort us to the sun-raising?"

"I am, Your Highness!" Gilt Wings stood up proud. "If you would follow me, I can take you right there."

"Then lead on, we will keep back a little ways." Cadance smiled and leaned into Shining. Her voice was low as she whispered, "They are a changeling."

He was not only safe but he now had the perfect excuse to be present at this "sun-raising". Lifting his hooves high, Gilt led the way, leaving the royal couple to lag fashionably behind. A sensation hit him, it was an odd one for a changeling—he was full.

"I wonder if Twily will be there?" Shining spoke out loud, wanting to keep some conversation going. "I would love to see my little LSBFF." He leaned over and kissed Cadance, a complicated maneuver in armor, but one he had been getting much practice with. "You felt them drink?"

Cadance nodded. "Perhaps we should visit her again? Ugh, I hate having the Empire be so busy, so many new faces of late." She recognized the hallway they were in, it was the one leading to the garden main entrance. Inhaling deeply, she smelled the garden air wafting into the castle and simply followed that to their destination.

Soft, magical lights illuminated the grounds but shone no higher than anypony's body, Luna's Gift did the rest. Silvery light flickered down from the last of the moon, revealing Celestia, Luna, and a few ever-present guards. "Aunty!" Cadance sped up, passing Gilt and reaching the two immortal alicorns. "Luna, Celestia." She bowed in a stately manner. Cadance berated herself, she shouldn't be stooping to them, but at this moment in the day, the Princess of the Sun and the Princess of the Moon both seemed like near-deific presences.

"Stand up, niece." Celestia smiled and spotted Shining Armor. "And here is our prince to be?"

Shining froze, shook his head. "You know I don't like that title. Can't I stay being the Captain of the Guard?" He huffed a little, disliking the sore point. "I worked hard to be Captain, I don't want to be thought of 'the prince' for marrying into it." He leaned into Cadance, giving his wife a kiss. "Not that I regret that day, my hero."

A cough was heard among the guards, Cadance flicked her eyes that way for just a moment. The stallion who had brought us is there. "I do hope we aren't late?" Cadance turned and looked up at the dark sky. "It was such a lovely night and my husband has a habit of keeping me up late." She really wasn't fishing for blushes, Cadance was trying to bring back memories of the evening, letting them mingle with the morning's activities. The cough came again.

"Yes, well…" Luna looked up and reached her power out. "We will start bringing the moon down." Energy flowed like a torrent, Luna closed her eyes to better direct it. As she gripped down on the moon, she felt an equal strength reach out for the sun. Cool silver and hot white magic laced through the heavens, the moon and the sun were in the sky for three heartbeats together, then the moon took its leave and left the brightening sky to its sister.

Cadance watched with a joy and wonder that never failed her. The love she felt for Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, for maintaining the very keys for existence, was that which every creature held. She leaned over and kissed Shining Armor under the rays of the new sun. She felt the light press against her fur, warming it. Focusing on her love for Shining, Cadance worked her own element into a burst of power.

Shining drew back from the kiss with his wife and turned. A changeling was passed out, among the guards. "You were right, Cady. Excuse me, Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, we have a new friend to talk to."

Author's Notes:

Cadance, Princess of Love, Empress of the Crystal Empire, wife of Shining Armor: was already laid down in the middle of the stage, reading a book. She waited, sometimes flipping a page, until everypony had become seated. "All here? Very good." She smiled around, inhaling deeply, taking in the atmosphere and ambiance. "You want to know if I would welcome a changeling in my bed? Of course not, never. I would welcome my husband, no matter what form he wore." A hint of smile pulled at the mare's lips. "One does not gossip about such things, but one does talk to others who might know a sample of what one is letting oneself in for. Ahem, I believe things will be perfectly pleasant." Her smile had become so wide, the Cheshire Cat would be jealous.

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So I do this "Ask x" thing, x can be any pony within the story. You can ask them anything and I they will definitely hopefully reply. Keep the questions appropriate to the age-rating of the stories and of course, I They will answer the best question(s) in the author notes of the next chapter. The more votes a comment has the more likely I will get it to the right pony to answer, try and keep it to one answer per post! I They will pick one question per chapter.

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