I was out for a few seconds at most. When I opened my eyes again, Mia had her arms around me protectively, clutching my head to her breast. James stood beside us, knife in hand, bracing to do I don't know what to the first bug that reached us. I appreciated his bravery, but I think we all knew how it would end.

As much as I wanted to just lie there in Mia's arms and pretend everything would be okay, a shrill bug cry came from the entrance demanded my attention. I twisted slightly in her embrace to see.

Silhouetted in the strange orange glow, an insect monster rushed towards us... and right on past, skittering away with its ass literally on fire. I gaped speechlessly as it staggered beyond the dead queen to collapse in a burning heap on the dirt. The rushing sound resumed, and another monster reeled past in flames, flailing its tentacles and screeching until it too fell to the ground.

I stared back towards the tunnel mouth and a long jet of fire blew past it, eliciting further squeals of pain from unseen monsters, mixed with the thumping sound of hundreds of overgrown insect feet scampering away in a panic.

"What the hell?" James asked.

Just then my heart leapt with joy as a Pegasus pony with a flamethrower walked into sight past the entrance of the cavern, followed by another. The hidden monsters in the hall screeched with rage as the two soldiers torched them without mercy, jets of roaring napalm lighting the room in that flickering orange-yellow light. It was one of the most beautiful things I could ever recall having seen.

"Hey! Over here!" I called out, sitting up and waving my hoof.

The nearest Pegasus waved back curtly, then continued past the mouth of the cavern. The stuttering orange light coming from the hall and the squeals of the burned creatures faded as they moved on.

Another pony moved into view, and suddenly a blinding light beamed into our faces. "Are you all secure?" a youthful female voice shouted to us.

"Yes!" I yelled back. "All secure!"

The light lowered and the pony outline approached, walking erect on her hind legs.

As my eyes recovered from the blinding light, I saw pink and gold coloring, then a horn and wings, with a tank strapped securely between them.

And a flamethrower grasped in two gold-shod hooves.

"Princess Cadance!" I exclaimed, exhilarated by the sight of our rescuer. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Mia's mouth hanging open loosely as she gaped at the newcomer.

The Alicorn princess gave us a warm smile. "You're the ones who asked for backup, I take it?" She paused and frowned at a still-twitching monster off to the side. "Excuse me a moment, please." She stepped towards it and sent out a sweeping jet of flame, burning it to a screeching cinder. I noticed the smoke wafted towards the ceiling and disappeared through some unseen ventilation shaft. At least we wouldn't inhale it.

"Extra crispy," James said cheerfully. "Just the way I like 'em."

Cadance returned to stand in front of us. She put a hoof on her hip thoughtfully, the flamethrower aimed at the ground in a comfortably relaxed manner, wrinkling her nose a little. "Smells awful in here. Well then. Where was I?" She sounded as if she were trying to remember what kind of jam she wanted on her toast.

"You were saving our butts," James supplied. "And for this we are deeply grateful, believe me."

Cadance smiled again, swinging her flamethrower nozzle up onto her back and into a set of clips while she dropped lightly down on all fours. "Ah, yes. It is entirely my pleasure. These filthy creatures have proven to be a problem in several areas of Equestria. In fact, my husband is out with a task force taking care of another colony at this very moment."

"It's a good thing you got here when you did, Princess," I said. "We were about to buy the farm. Thank you."

"I came as quickly as I could. I brought a Pegasus squadron. We put tanks on flew our rumps off." She looked at Turf's wife and foals. "Is everypony okay?"

Turf grinned. "Yes ma'am, and we owe it all to these guys, and yourself of course." He gestured towards the three of us. "I shudder to think of how things would have turned out without them!"

Mia finally found her voice. "Princess Cadance?" she squeaked.

The Alicorn smiled gently at her. "That's me." Her smile dropped off upon taking a closer look at Mia's bedraggled hair, scratches, and torn clothes. "Goodness. Are you injured?"

"No. I mean, I'm okay, thank you. Uh, ma'am, er, Your Highness? "

"I'm merely a Princess," Cadance said, scanning the walls with her eyes. "Take it easy with the titles, you're making me nervous."

"Yes ma'am. I, uh, I'm kind of a fan of yours."

Cadance beamed. "Well, I'm flattered. I don't hear that often."

"Ma'am! Teams have swept the hive and are ready to place demolition charges!"

We all looked up to see four Pegasi with large backpacks trotting towards us.

"Excellent, please do so," Princess Cadance replied. She turned back to us. "I believe it's time to bail on this party, don't you think?"

"With pleasure, ma'am," I said earnestly. "But we need to gather our things first."

"Very well. We need to get the little ones out of here, though. Are you ready?"

"Yes Princess, let's go," Turf replied, tossing the foals onto his back and nudging his wife forwards.

"Daddy ride! Daddy ride!" the little ones cheered gleefully, seeming to have already forgotten the awful experience they had just gone through.

"Follow me, then, I'll have some of the soldiers lead you out." Cadance turned and trotted out to the tunnel, disappearing from sight with the family in tow.

While the demolition ponies planted charges around the chamber, we collected our SBRS and checked for any dropped items, then we made to follow Cadance.

"I can't wait to get back to the hotel," I began, but Mia let out a small yelp of pain as we reached the momentarily deserted corridor.

"What's wrong?" I asked, instantly worried. I was feeling especially overprotective of her, for obvious reasons

"I stepped on a sharp rock," she moaned. "I lost my shoes."

I looked down, realizing she was still barefoot, her tender little feet suffering once we left the soft dirt of the cavern for the rough tunnels.

"You can't walk around like that!" I gasped in horror.

"I don't have a choice, I don't have my shoes."

"Here. Use mine." James began to gallantly remove his own boots. "They may be big on you, but-"

"That won't do, then you'll be injured!" I said quickly. "Keep your boots on. I'll take care of this." I pushed myself up against Mia. "Get on."

She looked at me in confusion. "What?"

"Get on my back. I will carry you."

She blinked and looked at me again, in disbelief now. "You mean ride you? Like an animal?"

"Just do it, Mia. I'm strong. I can hold you easily."

"No! I couldn't possibly do that!"

"I want you to."

"It doesn't feel right, Eris!"

"Mia, stop screwing around and ride me!"

"I can walk, I'll be okay, I won't complain!"

"Are you going to force me to act like your boss? Because I will. I'm not letting you cut your feet because you're too stubborn to let me help you!" I hesitated as a sudden embarrassing thought came to my mind. "Oh crap. Is it because... oh no. I stink terribly, don't I? I'm sorry Mia. I... I peed. I wet your skirt."

"I-I, ahhh, that's not it, oh, just come here," she sighed, all the fight gone out of her. She carefully pulled herself onto my back with James's help. I felt her thighs on either side of me, and I knew her crotch was rubbing against my spine through her thin panties. I felt an unexpected but familiar tickle of arousal between my own legs, and I shifted my hips underneath her.

She leaned up against me, her head close to mine, her hair brushing against my face. "Am I too heavy?" she asked. "And you don't smell bad to me. I stink much worse."

"N-no," I replied. "Not at all. In fact you're very light. And I don't care if you smell. We can be stinky together."

"By the way, I wasn't being stubborn, dear," she whispered in my ear. "I felt, I mean, I feel wrong about treating you like some... some pack animal."

I pushed my head up to talk softly back to her. "It feels good having you there. I like you being close to me."

She gave me a gentle squeeze. "I, ah, like this too."

"It's actually making me a little horny," I confessed.

She giggled. "You're not the only one." I felt her hips knead slightly against me in a suggestive thrusting motion. "And you dirtying my skirt turns me on."

"I'm going to wet it again if you keep talking like that," I said, biting my lip. "I think I'm about to start dripping."

"Does this help?" Mia pulled her skirt up and ground her hips forward vulgarly, eliciting a soft, involuntary moan from me.

"S-stop it!" I hissed. "This place smells like burned bugs, I don't want to be horny here! How are you even feeling this way after what just happened?"

"I'm sorry babe, this just makes me so, oooh!" Mia giggled and rubbed herself on my back again.

"Sorry to interrupt anything," Cadance snickered, returning to us.

Mia froze mid-hump, and we all stared at the bemused Alicorn like deer in the headlights. Her eyes swept over us, and locked onto the massive boner visible through James's shorts. His subsequent efforts to hide it were utterly futile.

Cadance smoothly continued without so much as a blush. "Blasting charges have been set. It's time to go, then we raze this place into the ground."

We stayed frozen. Finally she came closer. "Hey, I'm the Princess of Love, you know. It's not the first time I've seen, ah, a non-standard relationship."

"Is it really that obvious?" I asked lamely.

"Well, I have a practiced eye." She stared at Mia's dirty hiked skirt and arched stomach, my slightly trembling thighs, and James feebly trying to keep his tented crotch turned away from her. "Okay, yeah, it's pretty obvious." She grinned. "But you guys are so cute together . Even if you do smell like a clogged sewer."

I felt my face heating up. "It was a long night, and, uh..." I couldn't think of anything else to say, so I just kind of trailed off awkwardly.

"They clean up real nice, though," James said eventually, giving up on hiding his erection and standing up straight, his shorts tented out in front of him.

"I've no doubt of that," Cadance observed, looking at his crotch with an approving smile. "Lucky girls."

James grinned sheepishly. I don't see him blush often, but that did the trick.

"Anyway, let's get out of here." The Princess motioned for us to follow her, then she turned and began moving away up the tunnel.

Carrying Mia easily on my back, I walked alongside James, retracing our steps to exit the hellhole we had spent the night in.