Outside, Velvet huffed and fumed, stomping right past Night Light, waiting for her by the main entrance.

"Ma'am," he greeted on instinct. Velvet fumed as she stormed down the limestone stairs. "Hey!" he called after her as he trotted to catch up. "Hey! What is it? What's wrong? You don't look too happy."

"It's nothing."

"It's obviously not nothing," he said.

"It's nothing!" she barked at him. He moved away a little. He knew mares well enough to know when to not press an issue.

"So... where to?" he asked.

"Home. I need to finish the damn transcription for Her Royal Highness!" she growled. "And then I need to finish my term paper for Her Royal Highness!"

"...Okie dokie."

Night Light followed after Velvet. They made good time getting back to her room. She stormed in and stomped across her room to her desk. She brought her hoof to one side, ready to sweep everything off. Just as she was about to, she stopped herself. She looked at the bonsai tree on her desk. She put her hoof down on the floor again and sighed. She pulled out the chair and slumped at her desk.

For a while, she did nothing but stare at the clutter on her desk. She focused her anger into her work. She worked as fast and as hard as she could to get her paperwork done if only to just be done with her transcription and term paper. It wasn't her best work on her term paper. But she was already head of her class and didn't mind settling for a B- for this one. Finished, the angry energy finally finished burning off. Her anger gave way to confusion.

Why? she wondered of Celestia. Why, after all this time, make this the thing that she puts her hoof down over? It doesn't make any sense. Velvet sat and replayed the event in her mind. All she wanted Night Light to do was pretend to be her date. Show up with her, maybe have a dance. And that was it. She hadn't even considered actually dating him. Velvet turned and looked back at her bedroom door. She hadn't even considered actually dating him... before.

Velvet got up from her desk and walked over to her door and opened it. Just as before, Night Light stood at attention just outside.

"Ma'am," he greeted. She groaned loudly. "Velvet," he corrected. She just stood there for a minute with her hoof holding the door half-open. She looked at him, standing there at attention, guarding her door.

This is stupid, she thought to herself. There's no way that she would ever actually date him. What with his stupid uniform and his stupid, strong jawline and those stupid amber eyes and his stupid toned flank.

"UGH!" Velvet yelled in frustration and slammed the door closed. She paced around her room. We have nothing in common! He's a guard and I'm an academic. And he likes fiction! She shuddered. His skill set is standing out there and staring at a wall by himself. She looked at herself in the mirror. I, on the other hoof am busy with the pursuit of knowledge in here!

"... by myself," she said to her reflection. Velvet walked back over to the door and opened it again.

"Velvet," He greeted correctly. "Are you okay? Did I do something to upset you?"

"UGH!" Velvet yelled in frustration and slammed the door closed again and ran over to her mirror. "Stupid!" She scolded her reflection. "Just talk to him!"

She opened the door again. Night Light waited a moment in silence, unsure of what he was doing wrong.

"Velvet," he greeted in a stoic, even tone. Velvet sashayed a bit in her doorway and flipped her mane with her hoof as she batted her eyelashes at him. His eyes never wavered from facing straight ahead at attention.

Just look at me, you idiot!

"Look at me," she said. He turned to face her. Velvet flipped her tangled mane into her face as she rapidly blinked while she tried to sashay again and tripped over her own hoof, sending her reeling.

"Oh my gosh, are you okay?" he asked in concern, reaching out to help her up. "Are you having a seizure?" She slapped his hoof away.

"I'm fine!" she yelled as she got up and dusted herself off. She ran back into her room and slammed the door. She ran over to her mirror. "Why are you like this!?" She just stood there and stared at herself in disgust. She had taken out three armed thugs only days ago, and now here she was, paralyzed in her own bedroom like a scared little foal. "Are you just going to stand there?" she asked herself. She ran over to her door and threw it open.

"Vel-" She cut him off before he could greet her.

"Are you just going to stand there!?" she asked impatiently. He turned and faced her, unsure of how to respond. It was a yes-or-no question. And his standing orders were to guard her door until instructed otherwise.

"... yes?" he hazarded. She visibly grit her teeth and turned to go back inside. "Velvet," She stopped in her tracks. "I'm not a mind-reader. If something is wrong, if you need something, you need to tell me."

"I'm an adult! I can do what I want!" she cried.

"I... never said that you couldn't," he said.

"Shut up! I- No, I mean, it's not you! I just- UGH!" Velvet stomped back inside, leaving the door open. She flopped onto her bed, burying her face into her pillow. After a second she rolled over and looked at the open doorway. "Are you just going to stand there?" she yelled.

"Uhhh..."

"Get in here!" she commanded. Night Light appeared in the doorway and stepped inside the room, if only just. "Close the door." He closed the door.

"Yes?" he asked, awaiting her direction. "What do you need?" Here he was, in her room, looking at her. It was what she wanted, wasn't it? And now? She hadn't planned this far ahead. She cursed herself for acting so foolishly and impulsively.

"I wanted... I wanted... to apologize," she said. "I didn't mean to snap at you. I'm not mad at you. I was mad at somepony else."

"The Princess?" he asked. Velvet jumped off the bed and ran over to him.

"What!? Why!? How do you know? What did she tell you!?" she yelled. He recoiled a little.

"What!? Nothing!" he defended. "I might not be a detective or have telepathy, but it was pretty obvious from the way you were acting earlier today. What happened?"

"She- she said that I couldn't..." Velvet trailed off and looked at him. "I just don't like being told what to do. Or, actually, what I can't do. How do you... how can you stand it?"

"What? Being told what to do? Well, the Guard is a volunteer force. Nopony made me join the Guard. I chose to. I chose to serve. To serve a purpose greater than myself. And I knew going in, that it meant being told what to do for at least four years. And really, it's not so bad. And, no offense," he glanced at the paperwork on her desk, "I prefer this, to a desk job."

"I could never resign myself to being told what to do like that," Velvet said.

"Well, we all have to, to some degree," Night Light said. "If everypony just did what they wanted all the time in their own interests, we would be no more than the savage beasts in the wild. Ponies have to be able to put aside their own selfish desires from time to time to be able to compromise and work together. Otherwise we would never be able to build a house, or a castle. Or a city for that matter. It would be anarchy," he said. Velvet settled onto her bed again and regarded the soldier.

"You... are a lot brighter than I originally gave you credit for, Night Light."

"Well, you don't graduate at the head of your class from the Royal Guard Officer Academy by just being able to do a lot of push-ups and running really fast."

"Even though you like fiction," she said. Night Light chuckled.

"Yeah. Even though I like fiction." Velvet smiled and rolled over on her bed, grabbing the book from her night stand.

"Read to me?" she asked, holding the book out to him.

"What? Like a bedtime story?" he asked.

"Yeah." He looked out the window. The sun was just barely setting.

"It's a long time until bed time," he said. Velvet looked at the side of the book.

"It's a long bedtime story," she said. He didn't reply. But the expression on his face was one of objection. She could command him to read to her. But after her little fit of complaining about being controlled, she felt it would be incredibly hypocritical. "Please?" He rolled his eyes.

"Fine." He took the book from her and pulled her chair from her desk to sit beside her bed.

"Thank you." Velvet pulled back the covers of her bed and climbed inside. She laid there with just her head poking out from the covers as she looked at him anxiously, waiting for him to begin. He sighed and settled into the chair, making himself comfortable. All things being equal, it sure beat standing at attention in the empty hallway. He opened the book to page one and cleared his throat.

"Ahem, A Knight in Satin. Chapter One: A Changing of the Guard. It was a cold winter evening when Princess Satin received the news that her knight had perished on the battlefield. She mourned for him. He had served professionally, and faithfully until the very end. But now she needed a new personal bodyguard. And that was when she met him. A strapping young knight was presented to her. He had proven himself worthy on and off of the battlefield, and was, in the Princess's opinion, rather easy on the eyes...."

Night Light continued to read to her long after dusk, illuminating the pages with the light from his horn.

"... were still on the run from the marauders perusing them. The knight hurried his princess into the ruins of an abandoned village to hide for the night, and to seek shelter from the coming storm. He hastily gathered what he could to put together a makeshift bed for her. There was nothing he wouldn't do for his love. He was finally able to admit it to himself. Even if he would never be able to tell her how he felt about her. It was not his place. And it never would be. He was not a prince. He was just a knight, and her sworn protector."

Night Light turned the page.

"The princess tried her best to make herself comfortable on the coarse pile of hay. They had been on the run for so long she could not even remember the comfort of her silken sheets of her royal bed. The icy wind screamed outside. And the drafts cut through the tiny room unhindered by windows. 'I'll freeze to death tonight,' the princess said. The knight said nothing. He only pulled the cloak from his back and laid it over her thin, tattered dress. Leaving his fur bare to the cold. 'You must be freezing!' she said. 'I'll be fine,' he replied."

"The princess's eyes ran over his exposed body, taking in every detail of his muscled physique. She pulled his cloak closer to her, smelling his scent on it, on her. She could not deny her own lust for him any longer. Even as she shivered in the bitter cold, she felt a rush of heat wash over her body. Beneath the cloak, her hoof trailed down to her..."

Night Light paused and read ahead silently, going ahead to the next several pages.

"Um, this gets... really really graphic," he said. He looked at Velvet. "Are you sure you want me to-"

"Yes!"

"Uh, okay." Night Light returned to the page where he had left off. "Um, let's see. So, beneath the cloak, her hoof trailed down to her..." Night Light struggled with his embarrassment in saying the word. "princesshood. Her hoof making small circles as she looked at her knight standing guard, and enjoying the scent of his cloak. Her knight could not ignore peculiar movements his princess was making, nor could he ignore her-" Night Light paused again, reading the word silently. His nostrils flared. Was it just his imagination, or did he really...

"Nor could he ignore her scent filling the room," he continued reading. "To his princess's pleasure, the effect of her musk had an evident effect on the bare knight. He could feel her eyes on him as his... spear emerged, silhouetted against the moonlight. 'Surely in such a state, you will suffer frostbite, my Knight,' the princess said. 'Please, come and join me in the bedding.' But the knight remained where he was, fighting his own, internal battle. 'I can not,' the knight said. 'I must stand guard.' The princess whimpered. 'But I need you to guard me against the cold,' she said. 'I need your warmth. I need your body against mine. Please!' she begged. The knight could not ignore her desperate command. 'As you wish.' He laid beside her in the hay, close, but facing away. She lifted the cloak to cover them both. His senses were flooded with the scent of her arousal. He felt his spear grow yet more rigid. 'Hold me,' she pleaded as she leaned her back against his. Before he turned hold her, he said, 'Please forgive me for bringing a drawn sword to your bed.' He turned to lay his hoof across her body, careful to keep the rest of him away. She moved closer to him, he tried to move again. 'Do not move away. I need you to touch me.' She moved against him and felt his dagger pressing against her flank. She reached down between her legs, taking his weapon in her hoof. 'Your Highness,' the knight tried to object. She aimed his shaft at her princesshood. 'I need it,' the princess said. 'I need you to-"

"Put it in!" Velvet moaned into her blanket as she shuddered. Night Light froze. Her eyes shot open. "Did I just... think that out loud?" Night Light put the book down on the night stand and got up.

"I- I should go! It's late and... I should go!" He made a quick march to the door.

"Wait! Night!" she called out. In rare defiance, he ignored her. Velvet jumped out of the bed after him. "Wait! Stop!" She blocked his exit. The suddenly-too-snug armor he was wearing made him physically stagger.

"What is it!?" he asked, desperate to remove himself from the situation as fast as possible before something happened that they would both regret. Velvet panicked, trying to think of something, anything to say to keep him from leaving.

"It's just that... you have something on your face," she said.

"What?" He turned to walk over to the mirror. Velvet grabbed his cheeks with her hooves and pressed her lips against his. His body went rigid in catatonic shock, unable, or unwilling to neither stop her, nor allow himself to indulge in the act as she whispered to him.

"Me."

She let him go after a long moment, breathing quickly. His eyes were as wide as dinner plates and his mouth was slightly ajar, as though he were staring down the shaft of an archer's drawn bow and arrow.

"We... can't," was all he could manage before he quickly ran past her, closing the door on his way out. Crazy crazy crazy! This mare is crazy! he thought as he ran down the hallway.

Velvet stood there in the middle of her room, waiting for this bad dream to end.

"Good night, Light," she said to herself. She turned and walked back to her bed, catching a glare from her reflection in the vanity mirror. "And don't you start." She climbed into bed and blew out her candle.

You're going to be late, Velvet thought to herself as she stared at the ceiling. The morning light was pouring into her bedroom window. She had been awake for some time. But she had been unwilling to leave her bed. Let alone her room. I could always call in sick, she said. Maybe I could even use it as an excuse to get out of going to the Grand Galloping Gala. I could stay home, and Night Light would have to stay with me for the evening.

"As if he would ever want to see me again," she muttered. "He's probably already asked to be reassigned." Velvet got up and walked over to her mirror. Her mane was a fright. Her eyes were tired. She had been restlessly tossing and turning all night. She quickly brushed her mane out and grabbed her things. She walked out into the hallway.

"Velvet," Night Light greeted. Velvet jumped.

"Whoa! I wasn't expecting to see you here this morning," Velvet said.

"I am your assigned guard. I would not be anywhere else," he replied.

"Uh, listen, Night, about last night... I uh-"

"You're going to be late for class, Velvet," he informed her flatly.

"Yes. Right." Velvet trotted to Celestia's school, with Night Light in tow. She occasionally glanced back at him over her shoulder. His face was the very picture of stoicism. As though that statuesque resting expression were carved from marble.

"Same time this afternoon?" he asked as he stopped at the school entrance.

"Yes... Night, I-"

"See you then," he said before he did an about-face, and quickly trotted away.

"See you then," she said under her breath.

"...and if we extrapolated the data we see that we can infer from the statistics-" RRRRRING!Celestia was cut off by the school bell. "Alight everypony, I need your term papers on my desk on your way out!" she announced. The students formed a line passing her desk, placing their papers on the surface as they passed, eager to start their weekend. Velvet stayed after, as usual, placing her paper last. "You were late this morning," Celestia said as she began to grade the papers.

"I was on time," Velvet defended.

"But you are usually fifteen minutes early. In fact, you are always exactly fifteen minutes early. I can set my hourglass by it," Celestia said.

"I- I didn't want to come. I wasn't feeling well this morning. I didn't sleep well last night."

"Were you too excited about the Gala tonight?" Celestia asked.

"The Gal-? Uh, yeah! Yeah, I was too excited. About the Gala."

"Well, why don't we work together to get these papers graded? We can get out of here twice as fast and get ready for the evening." Celestia picked up Velvet's paper first, reading it over. Velvet sat opposite her and worked on grading another pony's paper. Velvet's participation in the classwork was a formality to avoid the appearance of favoritism. In reality, she was leagues beyond the material covered in the classroom. Now, she functioned more as a teacher's aide. Celestia's eyebrows went up as she read Velvet's paper.

"This heliocentric model of the cosmos seems a bit... sycophantic, don't you think?" Celestia said with a grin.

"I think Clopernicus was onto something, based on the relative motion of the moon and the stars, and the phases of the moon and the way the seasons work, it only stands to reason that-" Celestia raised her hoof to cut off Velvet.

"I appreciate your reverence. But I assure you, the sun is hardly the center of the universe," Celestia said. Velvet frowned. She was certain that her math was correct. She had double, and triple checked it. "The only things you need to worry about is right here, on terra firma," she said as she patted the desk. Velvet sighed and took up a pen to help grade papers. "Still though, you cited your sources and showed all your work. A- for effort."

"Thank you," Velvet said without looking up from the paper in front of her.

"..."

"..."

"Have you a dress picked out for tonight?" Celestia asked.

"Yes."

"Is it the same one as last year?"

"Yes."

"The same one you've worn for the last two years."

"It's comfortable."

"It's plain."

"The ponies aren't there to see me," Velvet said. Celestia frowned.

"I will be," she said. Velvet stopped and put down her pen for a minute.

"Thank you, Princess."

"Of course! And thank you for the help."

Night Light greeted Velvet at the school entrance and walked her back home. In her room, Velvet got into her Gala dress and stood in front of her mirror. She turned in place and looked at herself to make sure that the fabric was laying nicely. The pale-yellow dress had a bit of off-white trim at the bottom. The whole thing was lacking in pattern and texture, resembling more of a bed sheet.

"Night Light," she called out. The door opened and her guard walked in.

"Yes, Velvet?" he asked.

"How do I look?" she asked, giving her dress a little twirl.

"Beautiful," he said. "That's a lovely dress."

"You don't think that it's too plain?" she asked.

"Not really. But I'm hardly an expert on fashion. So, take it with a grain of salt I suppose. It looks more comfortable than some of the crazy, frilly and feathery ensembles I've seen around the castle," he said.

"It is comfortable," she said. "What about your armor?" she asked, looking at the polished, brass metal of his helmet, boots, and body armor. "It looks very fetching. But you can't tell me that it's very comfortable."

"It's actually not too bad," he said. "It's a little heavy at first. But you do physical training with it, so you get used to the weight. The Pegasi Corps have lighter armor to be able to fly. And it's actually pretty comfortable. Like I said, it's lined with velvet to guard against extreme temperatures."

"Let me see," she said.

"Um, okay." He took off his helmet and showed her the inside. Sure enough, the lining was very soft, and nicely broken in from use.

"Can I try it on?" she asked, looking at the rest of his armor.

"It's uh, a little big for you," he said.

"I know. I'm just curious," she said as she peeled off her dress.

"O-okay..." Night Light took off his boots and undid the clasps of his armor with practiced efficiency and laid it out in front of her. It was the first time she'd seen him undressed. There was no taboo to it, since it was the natural state for ponies to be without clothing. Still though... Velvet though as her eyes wandered over his body. She wondered if he enjoyed seeing her in the same way. She tried to not linger on the thought too long. She picked up his armor and tried to step into it, struggling a bit. "Uh, no, you have to-" Night light tried to guide her. "Actually, you're doing it backwards. You need to-"

Velvet tried to slide it up her body like a dress, rather than putting it on over her head. Her tail snagged inside the hinged joints and pulled upward as she got caught inside, missing the holes for her hooves. She tumbled forward onto the floor with her hooves pinned to her sides. Her legs tried to lift her, but she only managed to prop her butt up into the air with the armor firmly pulling her tail up and away, putting her marehood on full display to him.

But it wasn't like he had never seen one before. In a mostly nude society, ones privates were hardly that. But it was just an unspoken courtesy to avert ones eyes if the wind should cause a tail to fail in keeping a pony's modesty. The burden fell more onto the mares as they, and their peers entered puberty. Colts that hadn't yet mastered self control over their biological reactions were easy to spot. They stuck out like a... well, they stuck out.

Velvet struggled to right herself. The flexing of her muscles caused her light grey marehood to pout and wink at him. A small tuft of lavender fur lay just under it. And just like that, with this mare on such a lewd display before him, Night Light was back in middle school.

"A little help!?" Velvet groaned. Night Light shook his head and moved to help her, careful to keep out of her line of sight, and his lower half a safe distance from touching her. He quickly disentangled her from the armor and held it, using it to hide himself.

"Uh, here's your dress back!" he said, throwing her dress at her head to give him enough time to get into his armor. Velvet quickly pulled the fabric off of her face. She opened her mouth to say something but instantly forgot the words. He had his armor on over his head as he began to slid into it. But below, she could plainly see the reason for his abruptness. From between his legs, his blue shaft was pointed at her, mottled with dark blue patches that matched the color of his scrotum. It was big. At least, it looked big to her. Being the only one she'd seen outside of an anatomy book. Her societal imprinting took over as his mane appeared from the top of his armor suit, and she quickly looked away, getting dressed herself.

She pulled her dress on, feeling just a bit of dampness in her fur from his sweat in his armor. It smelled like him. She zipped up her dress and flattened it again, making a particular effort to not look at him. But the mirror allowed her one last glance at his stallionhood beyond his notice before he tucked it away inside of his uniform. She bit her lip and tried to ignore the twisting feeling in her gut. She turned back to face him, now that they were both decent again.

"I should get going," he said nervously. "I'm on duty tonight. Princess Celestia will accompany you to the Gala. Have fun. I'll... see you tomorrow." He turned to leave.

"Wait." She stopped him with her hoof.

"Yes?" he asked.

"It must get... so lonely in the guard." She stepped closed, pursing her lips. He put his hoof up between them.

"No. We can't," he said with obvious disappointment in his voice.

"Are your lips broken?" she asked.

"We shouldn't!" he corrected. "I was explicitly told that guards can't get involved with their charges."

"Do you always do what you're told?"

"Yeah. It's kind of my job," he said.

"Fine then. I command you to answer me, honestly. Do you want to kiss me?"

"Vel, we can't!"

"That's not what I asked."

"We shouldn't!" he said. Velvet stepped closer.

"I don't hear you saying 'no'."

"I have orders from the princess!"

"And you have mine. And she said that you are to obey them as though they were from her own mouth. And I am ordering you to kiss me." He raised an eyebrow at her. "If... you want to," she added.

"Vel-"

"Shhh." Velvet closed the distance and kissed him. He didn't pull away. He didn't push her away. He just stood there and let her kiss him.

And then he kissed her back. Slowly, nervously at first. She felt a burst of warm air on her cheek from the breath he'd been holding. She melted into him as he relaxed into the kiss. He was enjoying it. And she could tell. She parted her lips and he felt her tongue on his. His tongue joined hers. She moaned into the kiss. He felt her pawing at the buckles of his armor, struggling to undo them. He put his hooves on her and pushed her away. She looked at him with pleading eyes. He looked back and frowned.

"Vel, how do you think this is going to end?" he asked. "Do you think that we can keep this up and have ponies not notice? Do you think Celestia won't find out about it?"

"I don't care."

"You're not thinking clearly right now," he said.

"Do you not like me?"

"Of course I do. Yeah, you're a little wild and weird. But you're smart and interesting and-"

"Pretty?"

"Definitely pretty," he said. She smiled. "And if you or I were any other pony..." he trailed off. She frowned again. "It would be a different story."

"..."

"I look forward to being with you, crazy as you are. But as your guard, okay?"

"...Okay," she resigned. He smiled.

"Have fun at the Gala. I'm sure you'll meet another stallion that gets you. One that you'll be allowed to date." He turned to head to the door. "I'll see you in the morning."

"Good night, Light."

"Good night, Velvet."

He opened the door.

Princess Celestia stood on the other side.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJNHn4e2NiI