(A bit of warning. This chapter includes a rather awkward adult situation. I kept it from being too graphic and hope you'll groan along in dismay at poor StarStep.)

StarStep hesitantly ran the hoof-brush through Luna's ethereal mane for the first time. His hoof was shaking, not helped by his frayed nerves from earlier. The only thing he could compare it to, was running his hoof through a swift moving brook. There was a fluidity to her mane, with just enough resistance to slow the brush's passage through it.

As the pegasus swept the simple brush, strapped to his hoof as it was, through that field of blue. He noticed how tendril-like hair acted more like smoke. It would dance about in the brush's wake, curling, separating and reforming in seamless design. Stroke after soft stroke, he could feel his nerves calm, his tension from the earlier drama melted and drained away. The simple act of grooming the Princess in such a way, relaxed him more than any hot bath could dream to.

Pausing to shift closer to Luna's side, he noticed her eyes closed, head held up and a soft humming sound coming from her. It reminded him a little of a lullaby, the faint notes just on the edge of his hearing. “Princess, will you sing for me?” he asked as he fought with the dancing end of her mane. She smiled broader and opened her mouth.

It started soft, in a language he did not understand, but it was a haunting melody. Sad, and comforting. It brought to mind the image of a mare singing to her crying children. He didn't understand why it threatened to bring tears to his eyes. He did not know the lyrics, but with Luna's voice, the song had it's own life.

On he brushed the ruler of the night, stroking smooth her starry mane as she sang. Sometimes when he brushed too hard, his leg would sink in and the mane would lightly grasp and pull at his coat. It chilled the flesh and warmed the muscles beneath. No other word than 'soothing' would describe it. The song ended and she returned to her gentle humming, eyes still shut, enjoying the light pampering from the colt. He assumed he'd brushed the entire length and width of the blue, wavering field and set aside the brush. At a bit of impulse, he reached out with both fore-hooves to press into the mane between her ears and stroked down, rubbing the dancing blue along her neck, shivering as the curling tendrils of sky grasped at his fur. Luna gave a very soft coo of delight. Emboldened by her reaction, he did it again, curling the mane around his forelegs, stroking and caressing it and the neck area it flowed from.

Intent as he was in this new found way of making Luna give pleasurable sounds, he did not notice her open her eyes and glance back at him with an eyebrow raised. He noticed even less when he decided to take it a step further and lean forward to rub his nose through the starry blue field. Her expression at that point was a mix of shock and amusement. inhaling her scent, he was remind of blueberries and snow. With eyes shut, he pressed his face a little further into the mane, feeling it part and curl about his features. The sensations forced an involentary shiver and a soft moan of pleasure. Star wanted to stay there forever, lost in the tingle of cool and warmth.

Time passed, he wasn't sure exactly when he had stopped moving, or Luna stopped humming, but he felt something stir between his legs. Then it was an urgent bulging against the grass under his belly. He recoiled from the mane and immediately laid down, hiding his rapidly growing erection with his legs and body. He glanced up finding Luna watching him curiously.

“Is anything the matter, StarStep? Thy cheeks seem flushed.” He shook his head, fighting off a blush as he hunkered down on his belly, mentally willing his arousal to go away. “Art thou sure? Perhaps we should continue down the path to cool off?” She smiled warmly enough, but Star felt there was something...off...about that look.

“No thank you, Princess. I'm just tired from all the excitement earlier, I think I'll just rest here I bit.” She raised an eyebrow.

“Truly? I knowth a few massage techniques I can use on thy limbs to work out the stiffness. Though, perhaps a quick hard romp through the garden would clear thy head?”

Star blushed harder. She didn't know, she couldn't know. He was confident it was all hidden under his body quite well. He shook his head, “Thank you so much for the offer, Princess. But I'll be ok, really.”

She clapped her hooves together excitedly, “OH, yes, I know. perhaps I can groom thy wings? As a favor for thy brushing?” Her eyes twinkled with merriment and Star had to use all his willpower to keep his wings from rising at the thought of her nibbling through his plumage. Unfortunately, it was the only body part listening to reason. His colthood was practically throbbing for release, ground into the grass whenever he had to shift.

“Art thou sure? I do so need to make up for my earlier transgression.” She tilted her head curiously, wearing a grin like a cat with a rat. She leaned closer and whispered into his ear, her breath felt like a cool winters breeze, “Perhaps a nice hot bath together instead? Wet, warm water in which to sink thyself into? Relaxing all of our tensions away. Doth that not sound pleasing? I'll scrub your wings, if thou whilst scrub mine.” She giggled softly in his ear and pulled back, still with that teasing grin. " Last chance, art thou sure thou feels fine?"

StarStep whimpered and resisted the urge to rub himself on the ground or pounce the Lunar tease. “I'm fine, Princess Luna. I'll be ok, really. Perhaps next time?” What the buck was going on? He tried to call up the most un-sexy images he could think of. Dragons, roadkill, Lighthoof in a dress, Sargent Hardknocks licking ice-cream seductively. None of the usual stuff was working. He was painfully still hard under his body.

With a soft giggle, Luna stood, stretched out, making sure he got an eyeful of her sleek flank, before trotting off the knoll. She paused at the edge of the the path and glanced over her shoulder, “StarStep, my dear brittle blade.” She stuck her tongue out playfully and bounded around the corner of hedges.

Part of him thanked his lucky stars Luna left him without discovering the embarrassing arousal between his thighs. The other half wanted her to ravage him. He rose and quickly made he way down the knoll. It wasn't easy to for a stallion to walk with this problem, compounded by the thought of the Princess being around every corner. He eventually made his way through the darkened gardens without incident, detouring to pick up his helmet and crept into the low-lit hallways of the castle.

As he made he way, awkwardly walking from one shadow to the next, he would repeatedly recall any un-sexy image he could think of. This was one of the first things colts learned in puberty. It wasn't proper to get so excited in public. Accidents happened, and often ponies would ignore it for the sake of the poor colt's dignity. But there was something clearly unnatural about this. Then a thought struck him. Was this a result of nuzzling Luna's mane? Was this a side-effect to her ethereal hair? Shaking off the thoughts he rounded a corner and nearly bumped into a pair of Night-guards,

The pair of unicorns jumped back in surprise. The night guards were adorn in black armor, the designs a relic from pre-Nightmare Moon. They recognized Star's Sun-guard armor and saluted, then their eyes glanced down, and they balked, “Whoa, whoa, Put that weapon away!”

Star felt his cheeks reddened as he tried in vain to hide his embarrassment with his forelegs, “Yeah, really sorry, fellas. Was just about back to my quarters. You know, filly waiting for me and all. So uh, yeah, let me get out of the way.” They glanced at each other, and pointedly looked at the top of StarStep's head, “Hey, no worries, happens to the best of us. Carry on and have fun.” He backed up, letting the two pass by and groaned as he trot-waddled the last hundred feet to his door. He fumbled with the lock in his haste, constantly watching over his shoulder. At last a satisfied click was heard and he tumbled in, slamming the hard wood door back into place. He gave a sigh of relief in the moon-lit quarters before looking down at his fifth leg and groaning.

Carefully making his way to the restroom, he jumped in the shower and cranked it to high-cold and stood there, letting the chilling water wash over him. Minutes passed, then he looked down and whimpered. He was still hard. What the buck was going on? Twenty minutes like this so far Concern gnawed at his thoughts. So the pegasus flopped back on his haunches and did his best to ease the tension. A few minutes of frantic efforts and nothing was happening, other than he was now sore and slightly scared.

As a last ditch, hail-Mary, he jerked his rain-weather poncho from it's hanger, slipped it on and trotted as fast as he could in his awkward situation. At least the odd clothing would save many ponies and himself extra embarrassment. There was one last pony he could talk to at this hour for help. And he knew exactly where she'd be.

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“Pssst, Princess Celestia!” a voiced hissed in quiet, urgent tones from around the corner of the mess hall's exit. The Sun-goddess flicked her ears to the sound, pausing with her magically held fork half-way to her mouth. A piece of gooey banana cream pie dangling on the end of the utensil. She was clad in a soft pink robe, and pink fluffy slippers. Her common attire for wandering the palace way past waking hours. “Princess, please, I need your help.” The voice pleaded. She gave a gentle sigh, a forlorn glance to her half-eaten pie and rose to gracefully walk to the archway of the mess hall's exit.

As she approached, a blue-grey colt's head leaned out of the shadows and smiled awkwardly at her. “Princess, I'm so very sorry to disturb your snack, but I think I'm in a bit of trouble and I really don't know who else could help at this hour.”

She beamed a motherly smile at the pony, “StarStep, quite a surprise at this hour. How may I be of service?” She started to walk around the corner.

“No no wait, Princess no!” It was too late, she'd walked around, looked down between his forelegs and raised her eyebrow at the sight bobbing between his thighs. He groaned and slapped a fore-hoof to his forehead, realized he was exposing himself more and quickly returned all his hooves to helping hide his shame. “I'm so sorry Princess. You weren't exactly meant to see that.”

The regal alicorn smirked, “I suppose not. Is this your...problem that you need my help with?” he nodded, “Before I jump to conclusions, care to explain?”

“Ah well, I was with Princess Luna earlier, and she asked me to brush her mane. So I did. And she sang for me and all was pretty wonderful. Then I finished brushing and out of curiosity, started to stroke her mane with my hooves...”

Celestia nodded, her smirk deepened. “Continue, my not so little pony.”

StarStep paled, stuttered, then coughed, “Um...so...then...I sorta nuzzled into her mane for a bit, then I started feeling...odd. This showed up and Luna started teasing me. I think she knew what was going on and I've tried my hardest to make it go away. Please don't think I'm sort of sick pervert. Please Princess, I mean no disrespect!”

The white alicorn giggled and placed a pink slipper to her muzzle, her eyes twinkling in amusement, “Oh dear. Lu-Lu.” She composed herself, as well as anyone can in a pink robe and fuzzy slippers, “A question before I answer, to better judge the situation.” the colt looked up expectantly, “Did she ask, or did you ask, before nuzzling into her mane?” StarStep blinked, the the realization of how forward he was with Luna struck him.

“No...no I didn't. Oh, I'm such a foal.”

She nodded knowingly, “Second question. When she teased you after you started to feel strangely. Did you at any time, admit to what you were feeling?”

StarStep's eyes went wide, “What, how could I? I mean...sure she asked if I was ok a couple times, but I couldn't admit to such an embarrassing thing.”

“So you lied to her? More than once?” Celestia's amused expression took on a slightly stern glare.

“No, not exactly. I just waved it off as being tired. I...” He melted under her gaze.

“I'm sure she warned you about being truthful to her, did she not?” he nodded, ears laid back. She sighed and sat back on her haunches, “Oh, dear StarStep. So young, so much to learn. My sister is a terrible tease, and incredibly playful. She loves pranks and can seem very silly at times. A lot of times she uses her jokes to teach ponies a lesson. You are not the first to suffer this particular aliment. Your biggest mistake was lying to her. I assure you, that if you had admitted the problem when she asked, she would have harassed you a bit, told you what you did wrong, and inform you of the cure. Do you know what you did wrong?”

Star nodded sadly, “I nuzzled into her mane.”

The Princess shook her head, “No, you did not ask first. Then you lied to her. That is why you are suffering.” She sighed, placing a fuzzy clad hoof on his shoulder, “Star, my sister does like you. You are helping to bring back the more playful Luna from our days past. However, in your stumbling, you seem to be bringing out the rather vindictive side of her too. Cease the lies, no matter your dignity or pride and she will respect you more for it. Do you understand?”

The pegasus nodded firmly and looked up at the Princess, “Thank you. I'm sorry I'm such a foal.”

She giggled, “It is not I you need to apologize to. I know tomorrow is your day off so I will offer this bit of advice. She likes dark chocolate and mint and will probably be on that grassy knoll at the sunset. She feels she gets the best view of the moon rising from there. And that, my little pony, is the only free advice I shall give on the matter. Are we clear?”

He nodded quickly, “Thank you Princess. Um...one last thing. Since Princess Luna did this...thing to me, can you help me get rid of it?”

Celestia balked, shook her head and laughed, “Oh, no. I am sorry Star. I forgot you don't know the only cure for it.” her cheeks flushed for just a moment, “The only cure, is to have somepony else relieve you.”

StarStep stutter as he realized what he had just asked the Princess to do. She laughed off his strangled apology and sent him on his way. Then she returned to her banana cream pie and vowed to force Luna to give up that wicked spell.

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StarStep wracked his brain on what to do. His problem was starting to ache, painfully so. His mind raced to options. It was far too late for any cute maids to talk into it. What the buck was he thinking? He wasn't some sex crazed colt. Was he? Well that thing bouncing between his legs wasn't helping that argument. Scootaloo was Celestia-knows-where, there was no WAY he'd ask Luna to help, and the only other mare he knew more than a passing hello was....Sherry. That was it!

He made his way, thankfully without incident, to Lighthoof's door. Sure enough, a blue sock was stuffed onto the door handle. He knocked firmly on the door. Nothing. He knocked harder, with more urgency. Still nothing. As he reached to pound a third time, the door slung open and Lighthoof glared out, “What the bucking buck do...oh, Star. Damn, dude, kinda....you know...busy? What the buck has you all...Whoooooa, dude, put that thing away.” He had glanced down and away awkwardly.

Sherry leaned her head around his shoulder, “Light, who is is, hun? OH, hello Star I...oh my.” She blushed hotly, but instead of looking away, she studied it for a moment before glancing back up.

“Listen you two, here's the short and sweet of it. Luna got mad at me, pulled a prank to teach me a lesson and here it is. This...” He frantically gestured downwards, “Wont go away unless somepony else deals with it. So Sherry, I accept your proposal and will help you with your fantasy on one condition.”

Sherry giggled and danced on her hooves, nuzzling into Lighthoof's neck, her face plastered with a grin. “Ok hun, what's the condition?”

“For the love of Luna, you take care of my little problem first.” He pleaded. She nodded gleefully and nudged Lighthoof to the side, kissing her colt-friend all over as they let StarStep slip inside. It wasn't the best plan, but it was his only plan. For a moment he thought about getting Luna back with a prank of his own, but then he realized, this was his own fault. A consequence to his actions. Though one he thought was a might overkill to teach a lesson. He just prayed to the sun and the moon, that this didn't damage his friendship with Lighthoof.

(The next chapter is Mature and clearly marked. While not required reading to continue the story, it will be fun. Feel free to move on to Chapter 10 if this isn't your thing.)