It’s almost like Rarity can’t help herself. “I thought you specifically weren’t the Princess of Sex?”

“Yeah.” And, apparently, neither can Twilight; the distraught alicorn burying her head in Twilight’s side garners little sympathy. “And I distinctly remember, when the map called you to Seaquestria, you and Shiny… getting some.”

Cadance just hugs Twilight tighter, muffling her sobs.

Twilight immediately feels bad, and from the way Rarity’s muzzle draws tight it’s apparent she does too. “I mean, um, I’m sure he has his reasons.”

“That’s the worst part!” Cadance exclaims, as she pulls away, her large, expressive eyes puffy and red. “I can’t even get mad at him, because he’s right! That one time, when he really let loose?” Another weeping cry sends her into a blubbering wreck. “He b-b-battered away at m-me, and afterwards I was so sore, and when he thought about what he nearly did, if he had pushed too hard?”

“I-I didn’t realize,” Rarity says, trying to be reassuring. She surreptitiously glances at Twilight, asking with her eyes.

Twilight wishes she didn’t know this, but nods; yes, her brother really is that big. Rarity, to conceal her vivid reaction, takes the time to inspect the various objects decorating the room, spending an awfully long time on the glass cabinet containing Shining Armor’s commendations and awards.

Cadance sniffs, long and hard, as she wipes away her tears. “And here I am, overreacting to every little thing. It helps, when he’s just with me, laying by my side. It even helps when Nighty is here, or you.” She gives a cautious smile to her sire-in-law, now standing at the doorway to the kitchen with a worried look on his face. He must have heard Cadance crying out, and came to investigate despite the uncomfortable topic.

Twilight’s eyes turn white as she again engages her mage-sight. She, Rarity, and Night Light shine pale pink, light blue, and pale blue respectively, no trace of the foal inside the two mares - a discrepancy resolved by a similar scanning spell Celestia taught her, developed by her former student Sunset Shimmer as a way to detect Doug’s abnormal foals. Cadance, on the other hoof, has an angry yellow buried in her cornflower blue, which is closer to how other pregnant mares present. What isn’t normal is how the miniscule aura inside pulses Shining Armor’s rose. Except it isn’t pulsing out, it’s drawing in, the thaumic currents inside Cadance straining to keep up.

She wishes she knew what is causing this, and at the same time knows the answer: the spell she used to drain Shining Armor’s seed of its unicorn magic, letting it safely combine with the alicorn, a spell also devised by Sunset Shimmer. Now that magic is seeping back in. Perhaps it would be more accurate to say she wishes she knew what to do about this; it sounds like a very similar (if opposite) problem that Doug’s foals face, where a portion of their magic goes to suppressing the ‘human’ aspects that might otherwise problematically present themselves. The unicorn magic is trying to make itself known, to integrate with the alicorn, but that has always resulted in an abrupt and unavoidable termination.

Cadance turns back to Twilight, her wistful gaze intensifying. “It feels so good when he’s with me, like the baby can sense her sire is close. There’s this sense of relief, and replenishment, and… Oh, it’s like taking a drink after a long and thirsty day. Do… Do you think Doug would have any advice? Or do you?”

“I-I’m afraid Doug has never had that… particular problem,” Twilight says, suddenly acutely aware of her sire listening in. The thought creeps in, wondering if it is a problem her sire shares, but just the idea of asking him (or checking for herself!) colors her cheeks with a furious blush.

Rarity steps in, Twilight incredibly thankful for the more experienced fashionista. “Have you tried a different position? One where his… length is not able to fully come into play?”

“We talked about it,” Cadance explains, “but this was after, and…”

Her ears swivel, locking onto the front door. A moment later a knock comes. Night Light answers, revealing a blue-maned and currently unhelmeted guard with a goofy grin on his white muzzle.

The change in Cadance is immediate and apparent. Weariness falls from her face like rain off her coat, her light purple eyes show no trace of her tears, and even her sweeping mane loses its mangy appearance to slicken and regains its attractive curls. The relief is palpable, the lifting of a great weight off her withers. She bounds forward, limp gone, and embraces her husband, peppering him with kisses and moans and what Twilight desperately hopes isn’t actually an invitation to take her then and there.

“Careful, Cady,” Shining Armor warns, weathering the barrage of kisses with a stoicism that might leave Twilight infuriated if she was on the receiving end of such reservation. “I love you. But I’m still on the clock.”

“It’ll be quick,” Cadance promises, enticing the stallion with flicks of her voluptuous tail. “I’ll be on my back, and-”

A flash of anger crosses his face. “Human-style?” He finally acknowledges Twilight’s and Rarity’s presence with a glance and curt nod. Hey, L-S-B-F-F. Rarity. Dad. Sorry I can’t stay, but I need to get back to patrol. I just had to make sure somepony-” he turns to Cadance, offering her a genuine smile and quick kiss that she obviously wishes was longer “-was okay.”

“They really need you that badly?” Rarity asks, halfway to a demand at their (Celestia’s?) unreasonableness.

When Shining Armor returns a steely nod Rarity’s face scrunches up in confusion. He asks, incredulous, “You haven’t heard?”

Rarity shakes her head.

Shining Armor takes a deep breath. “Radiant Hope and Tempest Shadow have been spotted at various large events.”

A chill runs down Twilight’s spine. “Sombra’s back?”

Shining Armor grimaces. “Officially, these are only rumors. Somepony seeing a shadow and jumping to conclusions. But we do have at least one confirmed case of him appearing before a crowd and speaking.”

“Speaking?” Rarity says, almost offended by the lack of significance. “That’s all?”

“So far.” Shining Armor glances up at the sun and frowns. “A few minutes ago, Rad and Shad were spotted outside the Pitmare Arena. I need to get there, make sure they aren’t causing another disturbance.” He gives Cadance’s mane a fond stroke, holding her close. “But, just in case something happened, I wanted to stop by and say how much I love you.”

Twilight recognizes the arena, but only from maps of the underground part of the city: it is where the Canterlot Miners and the Canterlot Castles play hoofball. There is a game scheduled for later today, part of the reason she wanted to see Rarity’s parents early.

Twilight and Rarity exchange worried glances. “Another disturbance?”

Shining Armor huffs, made difficult by how closely Cadance is holding him. “I wish we could book them on disturbing the peace, or incitement, but it’s always been the crowds. They want Radiant Hope to take a look at them, but they don’t want to listen to what Tempest Shadow has to say.”

“And,” Rarity says, miffed at the vague explanation, “what has she been saying?”

Shining Armor offers Cadance a sly smile as he replaces his helmet. The enchantment washes away the color of his mane, and even some of his bulk, leaving him indistinguishable from any other guard aside from the captain badge on his chest. “You could join me, hear for yourself.”

“Of course we’ll come along,” Cadance assures, grateful to not have to leave her husband’s side. Twilight confirms with a nod, curious if this is why the map sent them. “We should monitor the game, too, in case something happens there.” Her eyes light up. “We could use the Princess Box!”

“We would need to get there quickly,” Rarity says, far more familiar with the stadium’s procedures than Twilight. “They’ll have raffled it off otherwise.”

“Quickly quickly?” Twilight asks, readying for a group teleport. She could locate the large cavern that makes up the Pitmare Arena with a series of scanning spells, but would rather not take the risk. “Or just a fast trot?”

Rarity peers outside, muzzle tightening. Twilight’s not sure if it’s because of the deadline or the possibility of running into her parents. Regardless, she decides she better not leave anything to chance, and trots to her sire to give him a quick hug. It feels a little awkward, but she chalks that up to nearly being the same size and things not lining up like they used to. “Love you, daddy.”

“Love you, too, Twily. I’ll tell mom you said hi.” Night Light pulls away, stifling a yawn. “You kids have fun, but some of us need to sleep for our night shift.”

“Thanks for keeping Cady company,” Shining Armor says, giving a quick wave before departing.

The others hurry behind, his quick pace taking them underground almost immediately. They don’t bother to take any of the lifts, those mostly reserved for ponies going up, and rush down Screw Friendship, one the six spiraling tunnels collectively known as The Screws that can take a pony from the surface all the way down to the lowest levels or even the base of the mountain. The broad passageways are tall enough to accommodate pegasi flying in both directions while earth ponies and unicorns trudge underneath (though most pegasi prefer to live somewhere - anywhere at all, really - with an outside commute).

Twilight never really had a cause to visit the lower parts of Canterlot before, and finds she doesn’t regret this in the slightest. The top of the tunnels are the most crowded; the crush gradually lessens, fewer and fewer to rush past in their hasty descent, until two twists down a mass of ponies blocks the wide entryway to the stadium. Hundreds throng about, maybe more, all restlessly shifting, their attention trained on a single spot even as their bodies orient along a meandering path. At first she worries it might be the beginning of some sort of brawl between rival teams, but the few guards are on the outskirts, more looking for trouble than directing traffic. A lone voice competes against an agitated din, the odd shout sometimes hushed and sometimes joined by other complaints.

Twilight wonders what they are in line for; she spreads her wings to take off, to get a better view. The nearest few ponies automatically compress against each other even as they grumble about doing so, though to little avail, as the crowd is easily a dozen deep. The limited airspace is likewise blocked by pegasi hovering wingtip to wingtip, clustering in a manner Twilight has never seen before, making it impossible for her to see deeper into the crowd.

A young colt sheds his crutch as he peels off from the front of the ‘line’, accompanied by a mare Twilight assumes is his dam. He looks emaciated, with the skin around his nose raw and eyes red, but has a bright smile that reminds Twilight of Cadance just after Shining Armor showed up. The others step back in awe as he prances to a partly filled sign that lists diseases and symptoms. Some are common, such as reins, the spurs, or a sprained wing. The others are ones Twilight would expect to see at the palliative care ward or hospice, the sort of incurable illnesses only the most scurrilous of scoundrels would claim to treat, much less cure: horsentery, encephalomyelitis, or the Clydesdale fur blight. The colt grabs a marker and writes “Strangles”, an infection that certainly belongs on the second of those two lists.

Twilight, curious what could be the cause of the colt’s elation, takes a deep breath and plunges into the crowd. Shining Armor follows closely behind, then Rarity, with Cadance taking the rear, her wings puffed a few inches from her body. The gap closes behind, packing them in as they get closer to the center.

Twilight stops at the edge, stunned by the sight of a fully horned Tempest Shadow pacing back and forth with every eye and ear trained on her.

Next Chapter: Ch. 173 - Spirit Guards, Part Three Estimated time remaining: 4 Hours, 48 Minutes