Princess Celestia sat at the breakfast nook table in her private study. Before her was the checkered pattern of the chess board. Upon it, the many pieces that had been carefully moved over the course of the match. Celestia took a small, polite sip of her morning tea as she regarded the board. Her eyes glanced up at her opponent. The other pony moved a black piece to defend some territory in the center of the board.

Celestia moved her piece to counter. It could easily be taken, but as the pony tried to take it out with their queen, Celestia chided her.

"Ah ah, Twilight," Celestia said, pointing at the exposed king. "That move would put you in check." She moved the piece back and made a different, less favorable move. The white rook in the center was unassailable for now. Celestia counted the steps in her mind. Twilight made a steeple of her hooves in front of her nose as she tried to anticipate her mentor's move. Celestia moved up her bishop to fork the black king and queen, putting her in check. Twilight couldn't retaliate with her own queen without leaving herself in check from the other rook now. All she could do was move to block with her knight.

Celestia's hoof made just the tiniest nudge of her pawn into the back rank, promoting it into a queen. She didn't even have to say the words. Twilight could plainly see it. Check mate.

"Mate by promotion. How appropriate. But then you always were the chess master."

"With time and planning, pawns can become anything. Even queens," Celestia said with just the hint of a smile. "One mustn't underestimate them."

"No... One mustn't," Twilight Velvet said. "So now that you have two queens in the game..." she trailed off and took a sip of her tea. "What do you plan to do with them?" Celestia gathered up the pieces and regarded the promoted pawn.

"I suppose I never really needed a second one," Celestia said. "But you and your brother presented me with an opportunity too good to ignore."

"Lucky you," Velvet said.

"In my experience, there is no such thing as luck," Celesta said. "Where ponies see luck, I see the meeting of preparation and opportunity." Celestia glanced over at her desk. Upon it was her journal pertaining to Twilight Sparkle, emblazoned with her student's cutie mark. The mark of the Tree of Harmony. "Where others see coincidence, I see... providence."

"You haven't answered my question," Velvet said.

"Quite right."

"What do you plan to do with my children?"

"Do?" Celestia asked with faux indignation. "I don't need to do anything more. All the pieces are already in place. Twilight has proven to be a valuable asset to Equestria, even without wings. Her ascension was just a bonus. I've already given her some 'royal princess duties' for the upcoming Summer Sun Celebration. Pretty much the same stuff as last year, but now she get's to make a cameo on the stage during the sunset. Shining and Cadance are married. Their foals are simply a matter of time. A colt, sooner or later."

"What's your endgame, Celestia?" she asked with a stern expression. Celestia's soft smile never wavered.

"Velvet..." Celestia said as she swept the rest of the pieces off the board. "You disappoint me." She leaned down to pick up two. "Still haven't figured it out, have you?" She placed the white queen in the center of the board. "Still using all the muscles accept the one that matters?" She placed the black king on the board beside the white queen.

"The end game... has already begun."

Twilight Sparkle's heart pounded in her ears, thundering over the huffs and puffs of her labored breathing.

"Faster! Harder! Keep going! Almost there!"

Twilight did as she was told, focusing on the effort she was putting into her movements.

"Harder! Just a little more before the big finish!"

"I'm coming!" Twilight cried out. She flapped her wings as hard and as fast as she could, trying to gain a bit of height up to where Rainbow Dash was coaching her flight lesson.

"You gotta really flap 'em hard!" Rainbow said. Their friends watched from the ground as Twilight put a sudden burst of effort into her wings, sending her careening into a tree. "Maybe not that hard," Rainbow advised. Twilight tried again, but ended up crashing semi-gracefully into the ground.

"Looking good up there Princess Twilight," Applejack said.

"Applejack, you know you don't have to call me that," Twilight said.

"Why do you protest so?" Rarity asked. "You've already given up wearing your crown all the time. The least you can do is embrace your new title."

"If other ponies want to address me that way, I suppose it's fine. But not my friends. It just doesn't feel right. And neither does all this flying business. The Summer Sun Celebration is only two days away. And I'm never going to be ready to perform my part."

"Not if you spend all your time down here, you wont!" Rainbow Dash said. "Now get up there and show everypony the big finish!"

Twilight took off into the air again. It was getting easier with practice, but it was not easy by any means. One of the things she failed to anticipate was interacting with clouds. Before she would move right through them as if there was nothing there. But with her new pegasus magic, she struck the cloud as soft, yet, semi-solid objects, sending her reeling through the air in a tail spin before crashing again with much less grace.

"Wow, that was a big finish!" Pinkie Pie said. Twilight groaned and got up to dust herself off.

"To be fair, the air is a bit thinner up here on Canterlot Mountain," Fluttershy said. "I'm sure it will be a lot easier for you to fly around back in Ponyville."

"I think that's enough flying lessons for now," she said. One of the castle staff trotted out to the group.

"Princess Twilight," he greeted with a curt bow before delivering his report. "The artisan is finished."

"Thank you," Twilight said. He excused himself and she looked at the rest of the group. Rarity was doing her best impression of Pinkie Pie, grinning from ear to ear as she hopped up and down in excitement. "Fine," Twilight huffed. "Let's go look at it."

They all walked together to go inside Canterlot Castle. They walked through the main hall leading to the throne room. The walls were lined with stained-glass windows depicting the major historic events. The window that once had the scene of Celestia banishing Luna had been removed. Celestia was only too happy to destroy it herself and never again have to look at it. In its place was a new frame of Twilight Sparkle, complete with her crown and new wings.

"You look amazing, darling!" Rarity said. "They've really captured your regality."

"I suppose."

"Don't be so modest," Rarity said. "It's everypony's dream to someday wear a crown and a coronation ceremony preserved in stained glass for all to see."

"I don't know if its every pony's dream," Dash added.

"We better get going. We don't want to miss our train," Fluttershy reminded everyone.

"If the mayor wasn't so desperate for our assistance, we would most certainly stay here in Canterlot," Rarity said. "And of course we do understand that your royal duties must come first."

Twilight accompanied her friends to the train station and made their farewells. Returning to her castle suite, she and Spike went over their Summer Sun Celebration checklist. Spike was pleased to find that they were actually ahead of schedule. Twilight was being her usual ball of anxious, obsessive compulsiveness.

"These are the first royal duties Princess Celestia has given me. I can't risk letting her down!" Twilight said.

"And I'm sure you won't," Celestia said from the doorway.

"Your Highness!" Spike said giving an exaggerated bow. Twilight followed suit with a bow of her own, if only out of habit.

"No need for that now, Princess Twilight," Celestia said. "I must admit that it is wonderful to actually be looking forward to the Summer Sun Celebration."

"What do you mean?" Twilight asked.

"For my subjects, it has always been a celebration of my defeat of Nightmare Moon," Celestia explained. "But for me, it was just a terrible reminder that I'd had to banish my own sister."

"I guess I never really thought about it that way," Twilight said.

"But now it has become a wonderful reminder of her transformation back into Princess Luna, and our happy reunion. I am so pleased that you'll be playing a role in the festivities. You may no longer be my student, Princess Twilight, but I hope you know that I will always be here if you need me. Just as I hope that you will always be there when I need you." Celestia nuzzled her cheek against Twilight's, assuaging the new princess of her worries.

"Spike, where were we?"

"About to call it a night?" he suggested.

"We should probably go over the checklist one more time," she said.

"I knew you were gonna say that," he groaned.

"I'll leave you to it," Celestia said, excusing herself.

She walked back to her own bedchambers feeling yet another weight lifted from her shoulders. Not only that the holiday was no longer about the defeat of Nightmare Moon, but now that Twilight was stepping up to take over more responsibilities, she would be all the more ready when the time came for her to assume the rest of her work. Her mind wandered as she fantasized about what it would be like to retire one day. Within the safe walls of the castle, she let her guard down.

Celestia shrieked when something seized her leg. What she thought at first was a snake was actually a sentient vine coming up through a crack in the floor. She easily incinerated it with her magic. But another one quickly grew in its place. She dove through the hallway window and took off into the sky to escape its reach.

From outside, she could see another tendril of vine wrapped around Luna's tower. She flew up to her sister's balcony. Inside, Luna was likewise handling the intrusive vine with ease, if also with annoyance.

"Tia! Is this you?" Luna asked accusingly. She flew outside along with Celestia. Another blast of Luna's magic vaporized the rest of the vine down to its roots at the base of her tower. "I can appreciate a good prank, but Plunder Vines are dangerous!"

"This isn't me, I assure you," Celestia said, looking at the rest of the castle, which appeared to be untouched. They flew away from Luna's tower and landed on a different spire. New vines began to sprout at the base and creep up towards them. "They seem to be specifically coming after us."

"Coming from where?" Luna asked.

"I don't know yet. But until we find out, we have to lead it away from the castle, and Canterlot."

They flew away from the castle, out to the edge of the city. They each went in opposite directions, circling Canterlot mountain. Luna spotted it first, and called to her sister. She pointed at the long vine running up the side of the mountain. Together, they burned it away with their magic, following it backwards to find its source. Deep in the heart of the Everfree Forrest.

"It's coming from the old castle," Luna said, as they flew toward the familiar location.

"No, not the castle," Celestia corrected once they arrive. "From under it."

"But that means-" They flew down to land in the cavern under the castle. Plunder Vines had wrapped themselves all around the Tree of Harmony. "The vines are suppressing its ability to control the Everfree Forest. It will soon start to encroach on the nearby- Gah!"

One of the vine wrapped itself around Luna's leg while another vine attempted to 'pollinate' her, plunging into her marehood and thrusting vigorously. With a flash of magic, Luna vaporized the vine, and lofted back into the safety of the air with a beat of her wings. Her horn charged up for another volley of arcane fire.

"Together we can eradicate this menace once and for all!" she said, looking to her sister for support.

"Well, let's not be too rash." Celestia hesitated for a moment, as her eyes scanned over the many phallic flora below them. "After all, this could be a teaching moment for the new princess. We can't be saving the day for her all the time now, can we? And... remember that vacation we always talked about?"

"Sister, surely you are not suggesting that we abandon Equestria in it's hour of need!"

"Not abandoning, no. Just... delegating. And besides..." Celestia landed on the ground beside the Tree of Harmony. Several vines wrapped around her, holding her in place. Two began to probe into her marehood and anus, thrusting in opposition. "I've had less cordial captors," she moaned, enjoying the attention. "I'd say we've earned an evening off."

Luna was dubious at first. But she knew that either of them could easily destroy the vines at any moment with their magic. So there was no real danger. And she could not deny that it looked like her sister was enjoying herself as she watched the thick vines moved in and out of her. She landed on the opposite side of the tree. She winced as she felt the vines snake up her legs again. She gasped as one slipped into her marehood again, twisting and curling inside her. It was as though the vine could sense what was giving her pleasure and focused on those movements. Luna glanced at the entrance to the cavern.

"You should at least set the sun before it gets too late," Luna shouted. Celestia's horn glowed as she struggled to concentrate amid being ravaged so thoroughly. Luna joined her with her own magic. Celestia had the sun halfway down as Luna's moon was about to pass on the way up. Vine wrapped around each of their horns, grounding out their magic with its secretions. The sun and moon halted together in the sky. Luna tried to blast away the vines to right it, but it was no use. The vines absorbed whatever magic she could gather. "Tia!" she shouted. A flower bloomed in front of her, spraying her face with a mist. Luna's vision faded to darkness as she fell unconscious.

Far away, in the Frozen North, the position of the sun and the moon had little bearing on the land of eternal twilight. The Crystal Empire was it's own temperate light and climate amidst the barren tundra. It was the same time of 'evening' there as in Canterlot, but one would only know by looking at a clock. Time passed no more slowly there. But for some, it felt that way.

Prince Shining Armor sat in a waiting room in a long coat, hat, and sunglasses. He was dressed incognito as he did whenever he was out without his personal guards. It was both for his safety and to avoid unwanted attention. Especially when it came to personal matters. He sat there, nervously turning over the appointment card in his hooves.

Dr. S. E. Dink. Psychoanalyst.

Shining hated waiting rooms. He hated waiting in general. It was a relic from when he was in the service. 'Hurry up and wait' was a common occurrence there. The commander would call for everypony to be in formation at 0900. So the master sergeant would tell the staff to have everyone there by 0830 to be ready. And then the staff sergeant would tell the everypony to be there by 0800. And of course, everypony would get there by 0730 to be early for the formation. Which resulted in standing around for ninety minutes just to have the commander pop in for 30 seconds to let everyone know that weekend leave had been cancelled.

Shining hated waiting. In the service it was because it made him feel indignant. But now... it was because it gave him time to think. About himself, his life, everything that had happened, and was still happening. He was a married stallion, having an affair. Bad enough on its own. He was fucking his sister nearly ever time she saw him. Something he knew was illegal in Canterlot. And now that he knew that Tartarus was a real place, he feared that he would surely be going there if it ever got out.

He was a prince now, married to an alicorn princess and he was banging his alicorn sister. It was taboo enough without all of the notoriety. But together, the stakes were just so much higher. It just seemed so unreal at times. Like a massive house of cards just waiting to collapse at the slightest mistake. It was enough to make any pony feel like they were losing their mind. Sitting in a physiologist's office felt particularly appropriate in that moment.

"Maybe I am going crazy," he wondered. The receptionist opened the door to the office hallway.

"Doctor Dink will see you now," she said. He followed her inside and she directed him to walk inside the open door at the end of the hallway. The office was simple. A few pieces of practical furniture. A couple filing cabinets a filled bookshelf, and a desk. On the wall above the desk was a framed doctorate in psychology: Dr. Shrink E. Dink. Behind the desk was a rather plain-looking earth pony mare. Her fur was a color that of faded denim. She looked up at him with brown eyes from under her olive green bangs.

"Good morning Mr. A," Dr. Dink greeted, getting up from behind her desk to shake his hoof.

"Morning," Shining replied. He remained standing there in the middle of the room after she returned to her desk.

"Please, have a seat," she offered, motioning to the plush, upholstered chair. He turned on his hoof and sat down and she looked him over. Even with the disguise, there was much about him that was telling.

"Royal Guard?" she asked.

"Former. Retired, I guess. Why?" he asked.

She smiled.

"The way you went to parade rest at exactly two paces from the exact center of the front of my desk was the first clue. And the precise execution of that little about-face when you turned to go to sit... Suffice to say I've seen enough service ponies come through that door to know one when I see one."

"Huh. So what else do you know about me?" he asked, nodding at her file folder.

"Not much." She opened the folder for him to see. There was only the referral slip inside for 'Mr. A'. "I only got a referral from your primary care physician, and made an appointment for a 'Mr. A'. Not uncommon as many ponies prefer to not make it know that they are seeking psychiatric help. It is unfortunate that such a stigma exists. So to be clear, Mr. A, I know only that you are- or were a royal guard pony because you just told me so." She held up her notebook. There simple read 'royal guard', and that was all.

"Now then, what brings you here today?"

"I... I think I might be going crazy," he said. She smirked.

"It's a mad, mad world, Mr. A. We all feel like we're 'going insane' at some point. But I like to keep things a bit more precise than overarching hyperbolic terms like crazy or insane. No problem is so large that it can't be broken down into manageable-size pieces. So, if I might ask, what was the initial problem that you had gone to your doctor about, for which she referred you here?" she asked. Shining Armor had learned his lesson from the last time he was in a doctors office.

"I've been having trouble getting an erection," he said plainly. She made a quick note in her notebook.

"And what made her think that this was not simply and physiological issue?"

"Well, I can get hard just fine. But... just not with my wife," he admitted. He winced as he felt his throat choke up. It hurt to hear himself say that. Dr. Dink's expression remained neutral and she wrote.

"Do you not find your spouse physically attractive?" she asked. Shining felt a pang of indignant anger, but held his tongue. She was just doing her job.

"No, it's not that. She beautiful! She the most beautiful and sexy pony in the world!"

"Is it a matter of your orientation?" she asked.

"My what? No! I'm not gay!" he snapped.

"There's no need to get defensive. If you're having trouble with... that, then we need to eliminate the basic trouble-shooting issues. You would be surprised how many homosexual ponies are living in a sham hetero marriage due to family and social pressures."

"Really?" he asked. She nodded.

"Yes. Now then, ruling those factors out, we can safely assume that you do indeed find your partner sexually arousing?"

"Yes."

"But this doesn't give you an erection?"

"No."

"And this is specific to her? You can get physically aroused from other sources like pornographic magazines and other attractive ponies?"

"...Yes," he muttered. The nature of his response did not go unnoticed.

"And how does that make you feel?"

"Bad."

"Ashamed?"

"Yes."

She tapped her notebook with the end of her pen as though she had just finished a crossword puzzle.

"Shame, Mr. A, is a powerful force. It is a behavioral stressor more potent than physical torture. Stress can erode the will of your psyche, and coincidentally, the functionality of 'Mr. Happy'."

"So I can't get hard because I'm ashamed that I can't get hard?"

"To over-simplify, yes."

"Well that's fucked!" he said in frustration. She gave him a soft smile to try to comfort him.

"I know it may seem like the key lay inside the safe. But I assure you, no problem is insurmountable. Do you recall when this problem first started?"

"A couple months ago," he said. "When we got married."

"Is the fact that you are married a turn off?" she asked.

"No, it's not that. I'm glad we're married! But the wedding..." He shuffled his hooves below the chair. "It went badly."

"How badly? On a scale from one to changeling invasion?" she asked. He blanched. "A hat and sunglasses only go so far." He looked over at the office door nervously. "I assure you, whatever you tell me is safe within these walls. I'm legally bound to-"

"Yeah yeah, confidentiality. I know." He took off his disguise.

"Your Grace," she greeted the prince.

"Please don't."

"As you wish. So, the wedding. I wasn't privy to the details of the events aside from what little was in the newspaper. 'Changelings invade Canterlot during royal wedding. Repelled by newlyweds'. What about it led to this? Was it the tramatic stress of the event itself or something else?"

"Something."

"..."

"..."

"Mr. Armor, this doesn't work unless you talk to me. What happened?" she asked. Shining swallowed hard and took a deep breath.

"Before the wedding, the changeling queen trapped me in a cave under Canterlot and took my place. She was going to- she was feeding off Cadance's love for me to gain strength."

"Did that make you feel helpless?" she asked directly.

"Yeah. Kind of."

"Impotence literally means 'without power'. That feeling of powerlessness can translate to physical impotence when it comes to intimacy. What you need to do is work on moving past what happened and focus on the end result. You did manage to escape after all and save the day."

"Actually I was rescued."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. I had been down there for almost three days without food or water. I was certain that I was going to die down there near the end."

"A harrowing experience, I'm sure. One doesn't not easily forget such an ordeal quickly."

"No, but it more than that. Worse than that. When she lured me down there, the queen, she was disguised as Cadance. And we-" he swallowed. "We made love."

"Intercourse."

"Yeah, that's what I said."

"No. You said 'make love'. And there is a difference, yes? You make love with somepony that you care about. You have intercourse when you rent a prostitute, or when you're raped. There is no love involved."

"But it was! I loved her when we had sex."

"You love your wife, Mr. Armor, the concept of her, her image in your mind. Not the bug that was wearing that image when she raped you."

"Raped..." he muttered.

She looked at him over her notebook. She put it, and her pen down on her desk and waited. She waited for the term to sink into him.

"But I- I did the... intercourse-ing- fucking! I did the fucking! She didn't fuck me. I fucked her! She didn't do anything! She looked like Cadance and just stood there while I did it."

"Did you give informed... consent to have intercourse with a changeling queen?"

"No! Obviously."

She raised her hoof in an implying motion. She spoke softly, slowly, and purposefully.

"Mr. Armor... Sex without consent... is the very definition... of rape."

"But I- But how can it be if- if I-" he stopped himself. He realized that he was crying.

She waited. Her grabbed a couple of tissues from the box on the table beside the chair. He wiped his eyes quickly and composed himself.

"How can it be rape if I enjoyed it?"

"Enjoyment notwithstanding, sex without consent is rape."

"But I enjoyed it! It was amazing sex! The things that she made me feel! Everypony thinks that I was under a spell, and that it wasn't my fault. But I wasn't. It was me, and I enjoyed it."

"And how does that make you feel?" she asked.

"... Horrible."

The clock chimed the hour. The poor stallion looked like he had been put through the wringer, utterly deflated.

"I'm so sorry, But I'm afraid that's all the time we have for today. But I think we've made a lot of progress towards treating your neurosis. I'd like to see you again soon." She flipped through her appointment book. "I can pencil you in for two weeks from today."

The next morning, things were going badly for Princess Twilight Sparkle. Although 'badly' was a relative term, compared to being ravaged by vine tentacles or having an existential psychological crisis. But if one were to ask her at the time, she would have preferred either to waking up to the sun and moon both being stuck in the sky, and the Everfree Forrest invading Ponyville. With Princess Cadance in the Crystal Empire, Twilight was the ranking Princess, and she wasn't taking any chances with the fate of Equestria at stake. Taking a page from her past experience, she gathered up her friends in Ponyville and armed them with the Elements of Harmony.

"Half day, half night. Strange weather patterns. Out-of-control plants. I think I'm starting to get a pretty good idea of who we're up against," Twilight told her friends. Amid the town under siege from the vines, the six friends formed a circle and used the Elements to summon the Spirit of Chaos himself, Discord. Discord was his usual self. Which was to say, less-than-helpful.

"Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love what you've done with the place," Discord said. "But I couldn't possible take responsibility. I'm reformed. Don't you remember?"

"This has got your cloven hoof prints all over it!" Rainbow Dash said.

"Such accusations. And here I thought we were friends. Would I lie to you?"

"Yes!" they answered instantly. Even Fluttershy gave a dubious "Maybe."

"What if he really is telling the truth?" she asked everypony else, giving him the benefit of the doubt.

"If you're not the one responsible, then help us figure out who is." Twilight said.

"I suppose I could. But after all the hoof pointing, and besmirching of my good name, I just don't know if I'm up to it. Why don't you ask your zebra friend."

"Why are you saying it like that? Putting so much emphasis on the fact that she's a zebra?"

"Because that's what she is."

"And? What do you have against zebras?"

"Ponies who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones, Twilight. Just last year all of you were terrified of her, and thought that she was a cannibal. So don't even try to high-road me on this one!"

Twilight narrowed her eyes at him.

"You win this round, Discord."

Twilight and her friends trotted over to help Zecora with her things.

"From my home, I've had to flee.
The forest has grown too wild, even for me."

"Any idea why all this is happening?" Applejack asked.

"I'm afraid it is a mystery to me as well.
But I may have something that, if combined with a spell..."

Zecora took from her cart an ornate potion flask with a purple liquid sloshing around inside.

"I do not dare to use it myself, the result would be tragic.
It only responds to alicorn magic.
Princess Twilight, you can turn the potion from purple to white.
After a sip, you may see why the sky is day and night."

Twilight's alicorn magic did exactly that. She regarded it for a moment as she held the flask in her magic. One of the first things she learned in potions class at Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns was that you never drank a potion that you didn't make yourself. It was a lesson that the nerdy bookworm had learned the hard way, as the butt of many a practical jokers. Unfortunately, she was out of time, ideas, and options. A potion prank that gave her a funny voice, polka dot fur, or a floppy horn for a few days was the least of her concerns. But she would still have some choice words for her striped acquaintance that was nudging the flask closer to her muzzle. She drank the potion as Zecora looked on with what could be described as a sinister smirk.

The white potion was still warm from her magic. It was thick, creamy, and suspiciously salty. And most telling of all-

"It doesn't seem to be working-"

Twilight's words were cut off as her wings went stiff and her eyes turned into pools of iridescent white. She began mumbling to herself. After a few moments she started sobbing. An impressive feat given that her glowing eyes remained unblinking.

One of the town locals stumbled by. Berry Punch was a dark purple mare with grapes and a strawberry for a cutie mark. She made wine for a living, and taste-tested it thoroughly for a hobby. The sun and moon both being in the sky were of little consequence to her. She was in that weird part of her day when she would find her way home from wherever she woke up. She looked at the potion flask, and then at Twilight's glowing, crying eyes.

"Yikes. And ponies think I get weird when I drink."

A minute later, Twilight snapped out of her trance and looked at her friends staring at her.

"Why are you all looking at me like that?" Twilight asked.

"It's just, you were mumbling to yourself..." Applejack said.

"Ooh, and don't forget the uncontrollable sobbing," Pinkie Pie added.

"We were really worried about you." Fluttershy said.

"I, for one, found it delightful," Discord said. "Sort of a one-pony theater piece if you will. You should really consider taking it on the road."

"Did you find out whose rump we need to kick, and where we can find them?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"I saw something from a long time ago, but it didn't explain what's happening now," Twilight replied.

Zecora presented the potion to Twilight again.

"Perhaps farther back still are the answers you seek.
Another sip of the potion will give you a peek."

"Are you sure about this?" Spike asked. Twilight nodded.

"Oh I do hope she breaks out into a song this time," Discord said as Twilight drank some more of the potion.

Twilight stood frozen as before with her eyes glowing, sans the crying this round. Much to Discord's disappointment, there was no song.

"Fine. Next time I'll sing a song then," Discord said.

"So what did you find out?"

"I still don't know what happened to Princess Luna and Princess Celestia. But I think I know why the Everfree Forest is acting this way. Something's happened to the Tree of Harmony."

"The Tree of what now?" Rainbow asked.

"It's where Princess Celestia and Princess Luna found the Elements. I think it's in danger," Twilight said.

"Well alright then. Let's go save a... tree," Applejack said. "Uh, where is it, exactly?"

"I think it's in there," Twilight said, pointing at the Everfree Forest.

"And that was how they all died..." Rainbow Dash muttered.

"Seems like only yesterday we were heading into the Everfree Forest to get the Elements of Harmony," Rarity said as the group headed down the familiar path into the woods.

"Seems like only yesterday I was foolish enough to think I should go after them on my own," Twilight said, happy to have her friends by her side. Discord stayed behind in Ponyville, enjoying the chaos.

"It may be some time before these vines go away.
Might you have a place for me to stay?" Zecora asked him.

"Look, just because I gave you that alicorn flashback potion doesn't mean that we're buddies," he said. "It was just a Deus Ex."

"I do not know what will come next.
But I'll never say no to a day o' sex."

"Are you- flirting with me... in rhyme!?" he asked. She smirked.

"The flask you gave me, packed in my trunk,
purple or not, it smelled like spunk.
You can claim you were helping some.
But you just wanted her to drink cum."

"And it would have worked just fine. I already cast a spell on the flask to give her the flashbacks. I turned it purple to make it not as obvious."

"I doubt to trust a chaos demon,
but which stallion's is that semen?"

"Shining Armor," Princess Cadance greeted, whispering into his ear. "Good morning." Shining Armor blinked awake, still in bed. Cadance was laying on top of him with the covers draped over them both.

"What time is it?" he asked.

"Don't worry about it," she said. "You seemed really tired when you came home last night from your appointment, so I figured I'd let you sleep in a bit. But now that you're up..."

"Not yet," he said, still laying in bed.

"That's not what I meant," she said as her hoof slid down along his chest to his belly and then to his... "It would be an awful shame to waste this morning wood."

"Cadie, I just woke up."

"It's okay. You can just lay there. I'll do all the work."

"You don't have to-"

"Shining! I need this!" she said, taking his dick in her hoof and rubbing the tip of it against her marehood. She was already dripping wet with very-evident need, indeed. She made no pretense at foreplay or pacing. Just as soon as it it was even barely wet enough, she slid herself down onto it. "F-fuck!" She threw off the blanket and sat upright on his lap. Shining looked down at wife's pussy, wrapped snugly around his erection as she bounced up and down on top of him.

"Fuck!" Shining echoed. He was hard. It may have been involuntary at first. But he was hard for her now. It had bee far too long since he had properly fucked this pony he loved. His hooves moved to her hips and he began thrusting up into her, meeting her rhythm.

"Oh my gosh!" Cadance cried out, feeling her husband taking control. This was the stallion she married.

He thrusted aggressively, venting his frustrations. This was all they needed, just one good session to break the dry spell of disappointment, regret, and shame. One good opportunity of fortunate timing, and Cadance had seized it quite literally. They'd fuck, put this whole chapter behind them, and finally have their happily ever after.

Cadance grunted and leaned back. His erection was an unyielding iron rod, hitting hard against her g-spot, and making a bulge in her abdomen. Her pussy gripped him as she started to cum, spurting her wetness out from between them as she bottomed out against him.

"Cadie, I- ah!" Shining could barely breathe, let alone speak. He felt himself tensing and his back arched as his hips bucked up into her one final time. "Cumming!" His cock pulsed and throbbed as he pumped into her as hard as he could. It felt like he was cumming harder than he ever had before.

Cadance collapsed on top of him, waiting to come down from her climax. She laid there, panting along with him as she was lifted and lowered on his heaving chest.

"Good morning to you, too," he said with a smile as wide as a mile.

"I think you needed that even more than I did," she said. He could feel his fur was matted with her marecum.

"I think we both needed that a whole lot," he agreed. His eyes flittered a little.

"No, no. Don't go dozing back off to sleep. We still have things we need to do today, and you've already slept in," she said.

"Can we just stay like this for a bit?"

"No. We need to take a shower. Especially once I..." Cadance started to lift herself off of him. They both knew what was coming next. Cum. Shining was always a prodigious stallion. They looked down between them and braced for a pint of sticky jizz to pour out of her and make a mess of their sheets and fur. He pulled out of her with an audible 'plop' and then...

Nothing.

Cadance didn't say anything. She didn't want to call him out on it. She knew it would only make the issue worse. If he couldn't cum, she could understand that. But it hurt her that he would fake an orgasm with her. She climbed out of the bed and headed to the bathroom without another word.

Shining just sat there and looked at his own dick in shock. He had cum. He felt it. He had felt it hundreds of times before. He had cum, and yet he didn't. Where was the spunk? It didn't make sense.

"What fun is there in making sense?" Discord chuckled at the several fresh ounces that materialized in the flask. He may have been reformed, mostly, but he had since come to realize that one needn't turn an entire town into absolute havoc to create chaos. Sometimes all it needed was just a rudimentary teleportation hex on a very specific set of testes and an enchanted flashback artifact. He glanced over at the Zebra loitering alongside him amid the vines. There was one last loose end to tie up.

"Can't have you blabbing to Twilight about my little prank now can I?" She looked at him to say something, but with a snap of his fingers, her eyes glazed over and went unfocused for a moment as all memory regarding the flask evaporated from her mind. She looked at him after a moment, as though meeting him for the first time that day, and headed into town with her things.

The vines he was lounging on evaporated from beneath him, presumably from Twilight and her friends saving the Tree of Harmony. He fell to the ground in surprise and brief disappointment. He'd have gone either way with Twilight's success or failure. It was of little consequence to him. Letting Plunder Vines take over the entire town of Ponyville, in the long run, was just peanuts. He watched the sun and moon get corrected after Celestia and Luna were 'saved' from their consentacle vacation.

There were much bigger gears in motion. And he was looking forward to throwing a wrench into them.