“Excuse me?!” Princess Cadance squawked, cantering backward an awkward half step away from the changing table and a giggling, currently diaper-less, infant alicorn.

Sunburst, to his credit, managed to keep his soul connected to the mortal plane and stood in place as still as stone.

Former Princess Luna, however, grinned like a canary-fed house cat. “He called me many other things too, in the throes of passion, but I rather enjoyed it when that particular phrase bubbled out.”

“B-but…WHY?” Cadance shook her head, used foal dressing dangling from her magical grip doing dangerously the same.

Luna laughed softly and took a seat on the nursing room floor, cheshire grin still in place, and lifted her wings in a shrug. “Methinks, it might have something to do with his fondness for attractive older mares. ‘Milf’ is the modern term, I believe. And there are scarcely any mares older or as attractive as me.”

Cadance frowned, flicking her ears forward. “I have a child, Luna, I’m familiar with the term.” She stomped a hoof on the wastebin lever, popping open the lid to safely dispose of the mess. “I mean why on Celestia’s Equestria would you even tell me that in the first place?!” Her nostrils flared and her teeth snapped for emphasis. “I may be the Alicorn Princess of Love, but I do NOT need to know the details of my subjects’, nor palace employees’, sex lives!”

“Oh.”

Sunburst glanced at Luna, the only movement he could manage outside a slight tremble while two of the most magically mighty mares in existence discussed him like he wasn’t even in the room. Luna’s bravado had left her in a seeming instant, eyes downcast and shoulders sagging. He could see she was legitimately thrown by the Empress’ verbal rebuttal. Storied as the Alicorn of the Night was, there were times when her thousand years of social exile reared its ugly head. The Canterlot Times broadsheets were replete with secondhand accounts of it from the courts and Luna’s social appearances in the years between her return and semi-official retirement. Empress Cadance knew about this quirk of Luna’s, obviously, but they were also essentially family, which sometimes creates a blindspot of sorts in one’s knowledge base.

As the Court Wizard to said Empress, it was his duty and pleasure to fill her in on things when she needed it. So with the sudden loss of all good sense, he opened his mouth. “I believe, Your Highness, that Her Highness Luna was simply making conversation triggered by Her Highness Flurry Heart calling you ‘Mommy’. As a foal does. In her happiness, perhaps, rather than poor taste, you understand.”

Cadance continued to frown, but her brows shifted towards thoughtfulness. “I...see…” She drew in a deep breath and shot a look at Sunburst before turning back to her daughter and continuing the process of changing a diaper. She roughly cleared her throat. “I’m sorry, Luna. I did not mean for that to sound...as angry as it did. It just...came out of left field and startled me.”

Cadance tilted her ears back, focusing them at her two guests while she kept her face at task. “And while it’s very much not my business, I am the Princess of Love and I’m curious nonetheless. Just how is that my Court Wizard came about calling you that, Luna?”

Sunburst licked his lips. “Well…”

Surging back to her hooves, Luna practically skipped forward, her smile back in place and on full blast. “It is a simple tale, but quite stimulating! Here! Let us paint thee a picture!”

Ponies Equestria over will speak, at great length unless stopped, on the beauty and majesty of the Crystal Heart and the chambers it calls home when not on its publicly accessible display pillar. These ponies are not lying, it is truly breathtaking, but only when there happens to be less than two living, breathing, ponies in there with it. Which is a rare sight indeed. But as one of the most privileged ponies of all time, newly post-princessing Luna was one of the few that could glimpse that beauty.

The Crystal Heart rested under another layer of crystal in a case of brushed and polished fossilized sandalwood gilded in glittering quicksilver when in its semi-private storage. Gemstones to make a dragon drool covered the ceiling like entire galaxies of stars and the walls are coated in frescos by the most talented painters ponidom could produce, depicting the many points in history where the Heart was most significant. Plus the lighting was very tasteful and subdued, with a faint scent of incense pumped in through the vents to tie the whole experience together. But space was always limited. So crowds of pony tourists with their flash photography and loudness kind of ruined it.

However, Luna got to hide in the empty chambers after hours away from the press of other ponies. Which was clearly the proper way to enjoy historical artifacts. No crowds. No questions. No well-intentioned family members to mar the memories of the Heart and all its yada yada.

Except the privilege wasn’t Luna’s alone.

Just as she was finished with checking her reflection in one of the Heart’s many facets, running her tongue over her teeth and hunting down any left over horderves from dinner, the door to her little pilfered sanctuary opened and spilled the bespeckled Imperial Mage into her evening. Luna blinked at him. He returned the silent greeting similarly. She cleared her throat. He did not leave.

Normally that worked.

“Erm...Your Highness?”

“Yes?”

They continued to stare, pushing awkward silence at the other until somepony broke down and had to deal with this surprise social interaction like an adult. They were both professional avoiders, but Luna had far more experience. With a slight sigh of defeat, Sunburst forced himself to stand straight and give a nod of deference to the former Princess.

“Hello, Your Highness. I was not expecting anypony to be here when I came to dust off the Crystal Heart. To what do I owe this pleasant surprise?” Sunburst stepped forward into the small room fully, gently closing the door behind him with a push of his hoof. “Isn’t the Empress entertaining both you and your sister this evening?”

“She was,” Luna let out a breath she’d been holding, “but I left at the earliest convenience. Celestia can deal with the formalities. I required...a break.”

“Ah.” Sunburst blinked, looking Luna up and down. The mare looked a little drained, the color of her coat a shade pale and her starry mane more hair than spectral void. “I know the feeling. The etiquette requirements of Court weigh on my mind often. I find I prefer time to myself more than prosiding over any duties that actually require a court mage. Especially since most of them don’t actually require a mage. Any unicorn could do half of what I do.”

He trotted deeper into the room, aura lashing out to open cleverly hidden panels that hid mundane cleaning supplies. Out of the corner of his eye, Sunburst saw Luna’s lips curl downward thoughtfully as she nodded in apparent solidarity. “I honestly treasure these little moments where I can get away from the rest of the Court and just spend some time quietly with an important piece of history.”

“And that is why Cadance’s wizard is here polishing this overgrown rock, and not some maid?” Luna smirked. “I think I could envy you that. That you actually get ‘little moments’ away without a raised eyebrow or probing question upon return. But now that I am technically free from my position, I suppose I shall eventually,” Luna spat the word out like curse, “get to experience that myself.”

Sunburst paused, spray bottle and cloth in his magical grip. “Well, you are free now. You can do as you please, right? I swear I shall never tell a soul.” Sunburst smiled at Luna, her ears perking up a moment before she smiled back. “So, Miss Luna, what is it you want to do in this brief window of no responsibility nor consequences?”

Luna remained silent, her thoughts suddenly racing at the prospect of what was laid before her. It wasn’t a lot of time to work with. She would need to return and check in with Celestia eventually. She looked down at her hooves, then back up at the stallion. “I want to live!” She cleared her throat to make room for the flood of words she could feel rushing up. “I want to dance, to sing, to literally stop and smell the flowers! I have been a princess or a prisoner of war for my entire life, and finally I have the chance to do things. But my sister is always there, and though I care dearly for her, I want time to myself. Time to be a mare on her own, you know? A mare no longer in her sister’s shadow. I need to get in trouble. I need to fail and learn. I need to be goofy and a clutz! I need to kiss all the stallions and experience true passion! I have to do these things and soon, or else I may go crazy, and we all know how well that went last time.”

Luna clicked her teeth together, muzzle twisted into a grimace of awkward needing. She sagged forward, her head drooping, ears swiveled back. “And I can’t do any of that right now. So I’ll settle for just being on my own by my own will.”

Sunburst blinked, robotically squeezing the trigger on the cleaning solution bottle to bathe the Crystal Heart’s enclosure with a fine mist. “Except now you aren’t on your own. I...uh… I apologize for that.” Luna said nothing more, so he turned toward his work and quickly wiped the cloth over the glass. “I’ll finish up as fast as I can! That way you can get back to being alone!”

“But I don’t want to be alone.”

Luna’s voice was whisper quiet behind him. Sunburst turned his head slightly, just to where he could catch sight of her out of the corner of his eye.

“I want to be away from what I’m used to, and I want to do something I choose without suffering immediate negative repercussions. But I don’t want to be alone. I’ve had enough loneliness to last generations.” Luna sighed, pulling herself together, rising back to her hooves and stepping up alongside Sunburst. “I welcome your company...er…” Luna worked her jaw, searching her memory. “Uhmmm…”

“Sunburst, Your Highness.” He grinned, setting down the spray bottle and holding out his hoof. “We have actually met several times now since Princess Flurry Hoof’s Crystalling.”

Luna took the offered hoof, daintily shaking it while color blossomed on her cheeks. She leaned over closer, lowering her voice to whisper hiss at him. “I know that! I’m terribly sorry! I’m sure your name has been told to me before, but in all honesty, I’m just always thought of you as Cadance’s wizard with the cute beard. Please forgive me this faux pas.”

“Cute beard?”

The princess nodded, openly glancing down at Sunburst’s chin and the curly tuff of his beard that swept gracefully out from it. “It is quite stylish. They were all the rage in my younger days. I believe it enhances a stallion’s majesty, don’t you agree?” She looked back up into Sunburst’s startled eyes. “Oh...is that not so? Are things dif—what is—have I made a mistake again?”

Luna’s face dropped again. “It seems I have a lot to apologize for this time. It was not my intent to insult, I truly do find your beard quite attractive.” She sighed heavily. “It’s always so when my age shows.”

“Nonono! Princess, please!” Sunburst placed both of his forehooves on Luna’s shoulders, forcing her to look back up at him. “You merely caught me off guard, Your Highness. I didn’t think anypony would know the history of stallion chin tuffs! I read about many years ago, and I have to admit when I tried to emulate the style in my younger years that it was an ugly, pathetic thing. But I kept with it and now? It’s something I’m rather proud of. I simply resigned myself to the knowledge that no other pony would care enough to even think about it. It shouldn’t surprise me that you know though! You were there when this was the height of fashion!”

Luna giggled softly. “Well, I do not know about ‘the height of fashion’ but I did always prefer it.” She lowered her ears and glanced at Sunburst's arms around her and their closeness. Her cheeks felt suddenly warm, but she was comfortable here. “I like this,” she whispered.

Sunburst raised an eyebrow. Then he too noticed their closeness and how he was holding her. A lesser stallion would jerk back, he thought, stammer through an apology for such forwardness, or yet some third party would burst in at just the right moment to take the situation completely out of context. That’s what happened in most of the books he read, or the plays he read about in the papers later. But no one was going to barge in. And he wasn’t some caricature of a pony, so he held on and gave Luna a half smirking smile.

Sunburst lowered his voice. “I’m happy I was able to help, Your Highness. And thank you, for the compliment.” She smiled back. It was a friendly smile that did nothing to hide the hunger behind it. Now he felt a tinge of trope-ish nervousness. He swallowed, his voice as quiet as Luna’s whisper. “Didn’t you say something about ‘kissing stallions’ and ‘passion’ a moment ago?”

If he was expecting a nod from her, Luna refused him and instead darted forward, pressing her lips to his in a quick, final, ice-shattering kiss. Just as fast, she pulled back. “Is this okay? With you?” Luna angled her ears forward, focusing on Sunburst entirely. “I am aware of our disparity of position and power and some ponies find such things distasteful in a physical encounter. I am not Luna the princess in this moment, just Luna the mare that hasn’t had somepony hold her like this in a very very long time.”

He smacked his lips slowly, forcing his nerves back down out of his throat. He nodded then, slowly. “I’m...I’m very okay with this. So long as you are?”

“Aye.”

Sunburst grinned a sharp bark of laughter escaping him. “Then please, Your Highness, let go of your reservations. I’m very willing and able to be the first of many pleasant encounters for you.”

Luna’s hooves slipped up to rest gently on his chest and she leaned in closer, their noses gently touching. “If the rest of you is as cute as that beard, this won’t be the last encounter with me for you, young wizard. But be warned, alicorns are well known for the depths of their stamina and desires.”

“Show me.” He barely got the words out when Luna pushed him backwards, spilling him onto his back there on the floor in front of the Crystal Heart. She followed him all the way down, her lips on his, her tongue finding his, her hooves exploring his body in a rush of sensations. He twisted, giving Luna room to spread out his cloak and his mane. The floor was hard against him, but Luna was soft and hotter to the touch than her midnight blue color palette would suggest. She was somehow both gentle and rough all at once, experienced and out of practice at the same time. She stole his breath away without trying. If he wasn’t vigilant, she’d steal his heart right along with it.

Luna kept them together until her lungs started to ache. Only then did she let go, pushing back and looming up over the disheveled unicorn. His hair, already a bit wild, was splayed every which way. His glasses hardly held to his face over those baby blue eyes. His cheeks were flushed, he was gasping for breath, and with but a glance down she could see where his coat parted and showed the cutest set of balls she’d laid eyes on in what felt like a lifetime. Sunburst’s sheath flesh made her drool. She reached for it with a hoof then a thought occurred to her. “You ARE sure this is alright, aren’t you? Besides positions, I am much older than you, Sunburst. I don’t want you to suspect me of robbing some theoretical cradle.”

Sunburst laughed, full and loud. He blinked up at Luna, tilting his head to see her through one lense of his askew eyewear. “I’m an adult, princess! I told you I was more than okay with this. And besides, older mares with younger stallions are all the rage these days.”

Luna giggled and sat down hard between Sunburst’s legs, using her forehooves and wings to trace a set of trails along his body from shoulders to hips. “Well then, now that all consent is clear betwixt us, do you mind if we skip further foreplay? I am sooo thirsty for dick.”

Sunburst adjusted his glasses, righting them on his snout just in time to see Luna’s mouth open wide and plunge down his barrel and between his legs. It wasn’t like he was a stranger to receiving a little oral action, but this was the first time a mare had swallowed his sheath before he was hard enough to peek the head out. Wet heat blasted the stretchy, pliable, flesh there while at the same time tingling bands of magic snaked around his balls. Luna’s telltale aura cupped and pulled the boys away from his body until his scrotum grew taut, the pressure clamping down with just enough force to skirt the very edge of pain.

It was enough to make him whinney through his teeth, his forehooves grasping spasmodically at the smooth floor. Then the magic holding his balls started to writhe and knead. “Oh-hoOO! Sweet horses, what in al-all ta-tartarus!?”

Luna lifted her head slowly, letting the sheath in her mouth slip out between her teeth to slap back against Sunburst’s belly. “What? Is this not how a mare shows a stallion a good time these days?” She smirked, horn flaring brighter as she maintained her grip on his testicles and extended another narrow tendril of magic down the seam to circle the rim of Sunburst’s rear. “Surely there couldn’t have been that much advancement of technique over the years?”

“Oh nonono!” Sunburst squirmed, blinking back tears. “If anything, the-ey have re-re-regressed!” He panted. Short, fast, breaths as the magic teasing him spiralled in closer to his ass. “I-I haven’t done this for awhile now, Your Highness...please forgive m-me if I yell!”

“Call me Luna.” She smiled warmly, dropping the seductive bedroom look for one of open enjoyment. “I doubt anypony shall hear us in here, so please, be as loud as you wish. I know I shall be!”

Luna snorted playfully, narrowing her eyes back onto her target. In the moment since she’d stopped nibbling Sunburst’s sheath, the skin had pulled back, revealing the head and first few inches of dark piebald dickmeat. He wasn’t fully hard by any means, the resistance of his coat enough to bend it. Her magic reached further, kneading his balls and slipping inside him in search of a prostate to stimulate. Luna licked her lips briefly, then engulfed Sunburst again, filling her mouth all the way to the top of her throat in a single draw. The stallion under her hooves bucked; the dick twitching, swelling, tipped past her tonsils. Luna’s brows furrowed as she fought off her gag reflex for a moment, holding her breath until the sensation morphed into something approaching euphoric. Her nose hit his groin and she held there, savoring the feeling of his cock bottoming out nearly half way to her stomach. She couldn’t breathe if she wanted to. Nor could she swallow though her body tried to down the expanding monster in her. Luna shook, trying to cough. But she kept Sunburst down until she thought he’d grow no more, drool dribbling down her chin. Only then did she reverse directions and come up for air and join Sunburst in erratic panting.

“Oh,” Sunburst’s head lolled weakly to the side, his mouth hanging open, “I...I have no...no words…” He grunted, tightening his core until he could prop himself up enough to look past his own wobbling cock at Luna. “Are...are you alright there, er, Luna?”

She nodded and coughed. Then she hooked a hoof around his dick and pulled it close, tapping the wet head against her cheek. “I am more than alright, I’m in for a treat if you can keep this up long enough! Mares these days are blessed to have monsters like this walking amongst them.”

Sunburst grinned. “I’m legitimately relieved! I thought you were about to choke there for a moment.” His eyes softened. “Forgive me for doubting what you said about alicorn appetites!”

Luna chuckled, smiling for a moment before she gave Sunburst a kiss just under the edge of his flared head. “Think nothing of it! Hopefully I’ll continue seeing that look of terrified joy on your face. It compliments you. Shall we keep going?”

“Oh momma, please!” Sunburst coughed out another bark of laughter, resting back on his elbows. Luna’s eyebrows shot up at his choice of phrasing and he decided then and there that pleasured tinted surprise was a good look on her as well. So he told her so.

“You like surprises? Then let me show you another thing I perfected once upon a time.” Luna growled and slid forward, trapping his dick between them and stroking it with the entire length of her body until it popped out and sprang up past her butt. Her wings spread out, laying gently to either side of them in support as they rested belly-to-belly. Luna’s horn reignited and her aura drifted back to wrap itself around him again. His cock slapped back against Luna’s inner thighs, the tip swinging around to tag her right on the Cutie Mark. She wiggled her knees and repositioned herself microscopically until the dick sat perfectly in the middle her clit pressed up at his base, the head poking into the starry cosmos of her tail, while the hot shaft hit every inch along the way.

Luna licked her lips and lifted herself up slightly, keeping Sunburst’s member pressed against and between her thighs. The friction was heavenly on her sex, saliva and her other leaking fluids helping to keep the process smooth. She lifted her hips into the air, going until clit hit tip, then down again pressing them together. She did it again, over and over, up and down, building up a steady rhythm. “How is this, young stallion? Have you ever had such an experience before?”

From the look on his face, Luna guessed not.

Sunburst groaned, back arching, his forehooves hooked over Luna’s wings as she slid down to meet him. Her marehood glided silkily smooth along his entire length, but when the press of her thighs and dock pushed him against her ponut, the tip caught there. Hot—sensitive—flesh rubbed together for a moment sending a bolt of lightning from one head to the other before she passed it only to catch again, harder on the medial ring.

“I’m not going to last much longer…” he moaned, his whole body almost vibrating.

“That’s,” Luna’s voice was as hoarse as his own, “okay. Do it for me. Show me what a modern young stallion can do when pushed to the edge.” She bit her lip, magic and muscle holding Sunburst’s dick in place as she humped, hotdogging it, tip and ring catching the rim of her ass over and over.

He whimpered again, swallowing before he blew out a rumbling whinney through his nose. Sunburst held tighter on to Luna and thrust upward with his hips. He doubled their speed in a desperate burst, building friction as he went. The room filled with the sounds of their gasps and the pounding of bodies like some muffled jackhammer. Luna’s overflowing juices and his pre kept things slick until he hit his limit.

Sunburst fell back, leaving Luna still up, his dick coming free as he blasted rope all over the princess’ belly and nipples, the glossy white stuff standing out against her dark coat like the ethereal stars in her mane and tail. He clenched his teeth, riding the orgasm as much as it was riding him, dick bouncing as spurt after spurt arched between them. He gazed up at Luna the whole time, watching her go from surprise to squealing joy as she watched him paint her tummy.

At that very moment, he couldn’t think of a prettier mare in the entire world.

“Ah! Now that is what I wanted!” Luna giggled, turning a little to get a better look at her own cum-soaked underside. “Such passion packed into one moment, released all at once!” She grinned slyly and turned back to regard Sunburst’s sweaty face. “Thank you.”

Luna lowered her head to his, brushing his lips with her own. “I don’t suppose, in all the advances of the modern world, stallions have narrowed the gap between one climax to the next have they? My throat isn’t the only place I’d very much like that dick of yours planted fully.”

Sunburst lifted his head and looked down his body at where his dick was drooping and dribbling slightly. “Only somewhat, Your...er...Luna. I will need to catch my breath after that. You drained a lot out of me than I expected.”

“That’s too bad.”

Sunburst’s horn lit up, his aura forming around his sweat-smeared glasses, and lifted them completely off his face. Folding them and setting them well out of harm’s way, Sunburst waggled his eyebrows. “This part still has strength to give.” He stuck out his tongue, running it as far down his chin as he could and flexing the tip at Luna.

“Ooh,” Luna giggled, her flush inching up higher, “your mother did raise you right!” She laughed, still fighting for air, and stood up. Carefully turning around, she sat down again. On his face.

“Mmmm...momma…” Sunburst managed.

Luna yelped, twitching wildly as soon as the tongue found its way to her—

“Okay, that is more than enough!” Princess Cadance barked, going rigid, her ears pinker than normal and standing at attention. “No more! I do not need to hear any more from either of you two, is that clear?” She paused long enough for them to nod bashfully. “I’m sorry I asked. Remind me later to not challenge you or Celestia to a game of princessly Truth or Dare.”

“I shall.” Luna sniffed, somehow looking both proud of herself and properly admonished.

Sunburst cleared his throat.

“What.” Cadance replied sharply, frowning and turning with calculated slowness to look at her court wizard. Sunburst said nothing but pointed his hoof past her.

Cadance blinked, then looked back at her child. Flurry Heart, who had been quietly cooing to herself in the background while the adults told torrid tales, looked back at her from under a pile of baby powder as tall as her own wingspan. She was diapered. Sideways. And diapered again around one wing.

“Oh futz.”