The first clue Night Light had that something was very off about that evening was the absence of the pair of door guards usually stationed in front of the Princess’ quarters. It was a spot where Night Light was always sure to post his best soldiers; but when he arrived, they were nowhere to be found. Seeing them missing in action was abnormal and a little unnerving. They wouldn’t simply wander off…

With somewhat heightened nerves Night Light approached the door to the sun goddess’ chambers and knocked. He waited perhaps only a couple of seconds before it opened, and Princess Celestia herself stood just inside to greet him.

“Night Light,” she said with a cordial bow of her head and a warm smile. “Please, come in. We have much to discuss.”

“Yes, your majesty,” Night Light answered, bowing low to the ground in return before stepping inside. The room behind the door was surprisingly simple, something he had noticed before on his rare glimpses of it. There was a bed against one wall, some bookshelves against another, a fireplace, a balcony, and not much else. His eyes instinctively swept the place for potential threats, of course finding none, and so returned their attention to the room’s other occupant. “Princess, your guards outside, they--”

“I dismissed them,” Celestia swiftly answered as though she’d expected the question. “I want there to be no possibility of being overheard.”

As if to accentuate her words, the door magically swung closed and locked, and Night Light just barely stopped himself from flinching. “I assure you, your majesty,” he began, “my troops are entirely trustworthy, and wouldn’t dream of--”

“Nevertheless,” Celestia interrupted him again, “I asked that nopony else know for a reason. What I’ve asked you here to talk about, I do not wish to be made public. Can you promise me that?”

“Y-yes, of course your highness…!” Night Light hastened to answer. “You can count on me. I won’t breathe a word to anypony.”

Celestia however did not seem satisfied with that. When she looked at him, he saw hesitation in her eyes. Uncertainty. And as she approached him, he discovered his second clue that something was very strange about that evening. Because when Night Light focused his gaze a little more closely on his Princess, he was surprised to realize that she didn’t look so good. Her usually-pristine and flowing mane was subtly frazzled. Her face was flushed, just enough to be barely visible through her pure white fur. Her eyes looked tired, and yet restless at the same time. She looked… stressed. Haggard, even. Was she ill? Was that even possible for her? Did goddesses catch the feather flu sometimes?

“Your highness, are… are you alright?” Night Light couldn’t stop himself from asking. “You look a little, erm… under the weather, at the moment.”

“I’ve… felt better, certainly,” Celestia admitted. “And please, call me Celestia. This is not a formal meeting.”

Night Light blinked slowly in confusion. “I… don’t understand.”

Celestia knelt down until her gaze was level with Night Light’s. “What I mean is, this is not a meeting between a Princess and a guard captain, but rather merely one adult to another. There will be no orders given this evening, Night Light. Your presence here is a request, nothing more, and you have every right and freedom to walk right back out that door at any time.”

Night Light blanched, as if the very idea of walking out of a meeting with the Princess terrified him. Which, on some level, it probably did. “Your majesty, I would never--”

“Night Light,” Celestia firmly interrupted him once more. “I told you, I am not your princess tonight. Again, please… call me Celestia.”

Night Light gulped and hastily nodded. “As you command, Celestia.”

The Princess, however, sighed with some noticeable frustration. “No, Night Light, it is not a command. You are off-duty, and my tasks for the day are complete. This is strictly a conversation from one pony to another.”

Night Light fell silent, though his confusion remained palpable. What was going on? Why was the Princess insisting on such odd protocol? Was he being assigned a controversial mission, and being given the option to refuse it? Well, order or not, Night Light was not a pony that refused the Princess.

“Your maj--… I mean, Celestia… whatever it is, you don’t need to ask. On or off duty, I am always at your service. Just say the word, and it will be done.”

“While I appreciate your enthusiasm, Night Light, perhaps you should hear me out first, before you make that commitment.”

Celestia paused, letting the young stallion ponder that for a few moments. While he said nothing else, though, his attention was immediately drawn back to her when her gaze pierced into his again.

“Do you know why I appointed you Captain of the Royal Guard, Night Light?” she asked, her words slow and deliberate.

Night Light took a thoughtful pause of his own at the question, tapping a hoof against his chin for a moment. “I… well… I suppose my service record is--”

“Admirable, yes,” Celestia nodded. “But many of my guards may say the same. What is more important to me, Night Light, is trust. Your late father before you was the pony I trusted above and beyond all others… and I knew, watching you rise through the ranks, that he passed on to you all the same honor and values he himself held. You are not merely an admirable guard, or even an admirable captain, but an admirable pony, too. You are the pony… the one pony… whom I feel I may trust with anything.”

“T-thank you, your high--… Celestia,” Night Light stammered, and again he felt a swell of pride surge through him. The most trusted pony of Princess Celestia, like his father before him… what an incredible honor…

“Which brings me back to my original question,” the Princess finished. “What I’ve asked you here for tonight… I do not divulge lightly. So I will ask again… not as your princess, but as one pony to another whom she trusts above all others. Can I trust you to keep this meeting secret?”

Night Light gulped again, nerves beginning to show through to the surface in the form of a slight quiver in his limbs. He still had no idea what exactly the Princess could possibly want from him in such secrecy, but it was rapidly becoming apparent that whatever it was, it was an extremely important matter. And Celestia wanted to trust him with it. It was not as though he had any intention of refusing anyway, of course, but even if he did, how could he not, at the very least, hear her out?

“You have my solemn word,” Night Light answered with a nod. “If you don’t wish me to, I won’t breathe a word to anypony… but, Princess…”

“Celestia.”

“Celestia,” he echoed, “what could possibly be so dire as to require such secrecy?” He stopped to audibly gasp and lurch forward a bit as a dreadful thought occurred to him. “Y-You’re not… dying, are you…?!”

To his relief, Celestia actually laughed, her flushed appearance growing just a touch more so. “Oh, goodness, no, nothing nearly so dramatic. I assure you I’m perfectly healthy. But thank you for your concern nonetheless.”

“Well then… why do you look like… like…”

“…Like a mare in heat?” Celestia offered.

Night Light instantly flushed himself, and his mouth was half-open with an apologetic denial of such lurid thoughts on the tip of his tongue, but something about the Princess’ tone made the words die before they could be voiced. There was neither reprimand nor jest in her words. Either she had an incredible poker face, or…

Night Light flushed deeper. Or WHAT? He was forced to wonder. Surely a Goddess didn’t need to…?

“Er… t-that… isn’t quite what I was going to say,” he finally stammered aloud, as diplomatically as he could.

“No, I don’t imagine it was,” Celestia agreed. “After all, why would you have any reason to believe mating season is upon us before I have formally alerted the ponies of Equestria that it is approaching?”

Night Light, however, did not find these words particularly relaxing. There was ‘explaining the joke,’ and then there were ‘leading questions,’ and Night Light was rapidly getting the sense that it was the latter. It was about that time of year…

“Are… are you saying that… that it’s time for…?”

Celestia nodded. “Yes. Mating season is upon us, Night Light. It will begin in earnest for most ponies by this weekend, and I will be announcing it to the public tomorrow morning.”

Night Light somehow managed not to blush again at the information, now pondering a dozen new scenarios in his mind. Was this the big secret? The reason she had called him here for such an apparently important private meeting? Did she need his help, somehow, in stirring the estrus cycle in ponies across Equestria? It was possible, he supposed, though as far as he’d always been aware, the Princess always powered that particular magic on her own. He’d never heard of the Captain of the Guard playing any sort of role assisting the Princess with it. Then again, if it was this big a secret, he probably wouldn’t have. And if that was the case, he could see why. Having any involvement whatsoever in the private, intimate lives of everypony in Equestria was… a very weird thought. Still, it was a natural thing, he understood, and it was by the Princess’ will that it happened at all, so it could hardly be considered a bad thing.

“I see,” Night Light finally responded when he realized Celestia was watching him expectantly. “Er… that’s good to know… I suppose. But I don’t see what that has to do with me, or what’s so secretive about it. You cast that spell about this time of year, every year… at your discretion of course…”

“Spell…?” Celestia asked curiously, before suddenly groaning and sighing as if she’d realized something unpleasant. “Oh, no… no, Night Light, magic has nothing to do with mating season. I have no control whatsoever over when ponies feel their estrus phase approaching.”

That finally cracked Night Light’s composure. “Wh-what?!” he burst out with a wide-eyed, full-bodied jerk. “But… but you inform us year after year without fail! Days in advance! I-I thought… I was always told…”

“A common misconception based on my position, that anypony with extensive studies in biology would be able to correct you on,” Celestia said with another strangely sad sigh. “I do not directly cause estrus. The sun does.”

“The… the sun?” Night Light raised an eyebrow in disbelief. “The sun makes everypony… er… it makes them…?”

“More or less,” Celestia nodded, her eyes closing. “Again, this has been a part of the nature of ponykind since before even my sister and I were born. Put simply, longer days, and more exposure to the sun, trigger a very specific reaction of hormones in the pony body. It creates an urge to be closer to one-another… to mate more than usual, and to bring forth new life, as is the natural way of things. Because the days are longest near the end of spring, that is when the urge is triggered, and so estrus begins then. Which is to say, now. And since it is caused by the sun I control… well, you can see where ponies would think me personally responsible. It’s hardly the first time more has been assumed of my magic and my nature than what is actually true, and I doubt it will be the last.”

Celestia paused and looked up at him again. “I’m sure that was a lot to take in at once for somepony unfamiliar with the subject, but… I do hope that all makes sense?”

Night Light did his best to absorb this wealth of new and startling information as quickly as possible and take it in stride. “I… believe I understand, yes. So then… that’s why you can alert us in advance? Because, since you control the sun, you know when that time is approaching?”

“Partially,” Celestia confirmed, “but it’s more than that. The truth, Night Light, is that because I am so closely tied to the sun… I am the first to feel its effects. I know ahead of time when my ponies are going to go into heat because… it happens to me first.”

The young stallion’s cheeks flared immediately and his jaw fell momentarily slack. It hadn’t been a joke after all, he finally realized. The unevenness in her mane, the flush in her cheeks, the unease in her eyes, they were all traits he’d seen before on other mares; mares smack in the middle of those vaguely uncomfortable two weeks or so in late spring who stuck just a bit closer to their colt-friends than normal or gave single stallions like him far more second-glances than he was used to receiving. Dodging the eye of Twilight Velvet especially was always twice as difficult during that time, no matter how busy he tried to ensure he was. But this? This was another beast entirely.

Princess Celestia, the immortal ruler of Equestria, was in heat.

It sounded insane just to think that sentence.

“Y-you… you’re… really?” he stammered aloud, as if hoping vainly that she might correct him.

But it was not to be; Celestia nodded her head without hesitation. “Yes. I am as susceptible to nature and biology as any other pony, including estrus. My connection to the sun simply means its effects reach me before the rest of my ponies, and affects me well after they have returned to normal. What is a cycle of about two weeks for everypony else is, for me, more like three or four. As you can imagine, it’s a little… trying, sometimes.”

Night Light gulped down the breath that was caught in his throat. He couldn’t believe it. Pommel had been right. Goddess or not, Princess Celestia was still a pony. A pony that apparently dealt with all the same awkward problems every other mare in Equestria suffered when the magic (biology, he had to correct himself) of estrus hit them. She had it worse, in fact, if what she said was true. He’d heard stories about how uncomfortable it could be for a mare, and if the Princess had to endure it for half again as long as normal mares, maybe even twice as long, he felt bad for her already. Then again, he had never seen her seem uncomfortable before…

Augh, why am I even thinking about this?! She’s the Princess, it’s not proper, what’s WRONG with you, soldier?! Don’t think about it. You CAN’T think about it. That’s right. Calm down and don’t think about it, he chanted to himself. He could deal with this. He was the Captain of the Royal Guard, he’d faced far worse than this without flinching. As long as he didn’t think too hard about it, he’d be fine. He still didn’t quite get why any of this was information he personally needed to know, but he could handle it. After all, mares in heat weren’t stark raving lunatics; more forward than usual perhaps, yes, and he understood – in an academic sense – that estrus was quite a driving force when present, but they certainly weren’t bending over in the streets with their tails flagged. They could conduct themselves more or less normally. And if the average mare in the crowd could discreetly seek out a stallion and take care of business, then surely a goddess would have no trouble finding a--

Wait.

Wait.

Night Light’s eyes surged wide and his pupils shrank to tiny dots, his brain helplessly following one single, horrifying train of logic.

Princess Celestia, the immortal ruler of Equestria, was in heat.

A condition in which mares discreetly sought out a stallion specifically for sex.

And she was telling nopony else but him.

Oh, buck me.

“I see you’re beginning to understand just why I’ve asked you here.” Celestia was looking over him as she spoke, clearly reading him like a book. And despite her cool demeanor, what had been an impossibly faint blush was growing more visible. “As I said, you are free to say no and leave if you choose; if so, I won’t bring it up any further. And even if you agree, you will be more than able to pursue your own relationships. I couldn’t possibly court another pony romantically in my position. This would simply be a trusted confidant fulfilling a particular need. However, if you feel you are willing and able…”

She paused, and finally the blush became a full crimson bloom across her entire muzzle.

“What you’re thinking is correct. I would like to have you as my mate this season.”

Night Light’s train of thought derailed entirely and ground to a complete standstill. It refused to move another inch, refused to think, refused to even attempt to process what he’d just heard. Because there was no way in all of Equestria that he’d heard Celestia correctly. It had to be an insane hallucination, it just had to be. He’d imagined this entire evening. He had gone out to the bars with Velvet and Pommel after all, and this obvious mirage was a lively product of his drunken stupor. There had never been a scroll bearing a secret summons interrupting his plans. The Princess of Equestria didn’t go into heat, she did not invite him into her bedroom in complete privacy, and she sure as the flaming pits of Tartarus did not just look him straight in the eye and ask him to have sex with her.

But no matter how vigorously he shook his head and rubbed his eyes, the mirage stubbornly refused to evaporate, and Princess Celestia remained politely seated in the center of the room, her room, her bedroom, watching him and waiting for an answer to the impossible question. And the longer the vision persisted, the longer that mind-rending proposal hung in the air and was allowed to sink in past his centers of logical thought… the more it began to tickle that instinctual corner of his brain that Twilight Velvet was far too good at tickling already.

Ironically Pommel had been right about this, as well. Princess Celestia was perhaps the only mare in Canterlot – in all of Equestria, even – that rivaled Twilight Velvet’s beauty. It was difficult to even describe. She was the very definition of physically attractive, the perfect mare, the pony to which all other measures of beauty were ultimately compared.

And that wasn’t even taking into account her more sexual characteristics.

Not that Night Light ever had done so before, of course. It had always been in a platonic sense that he admired Celestia’s beauty. He never dared picture his Princess in any sort of directly sexual manner.

At least, not until now.

Now that he knew she was in heat.

Now that she was literally offering herself to him.

Now that she was effectively forcing his brain to realize she wasn’t featureless in the sexual anatomy department, and did in fact have incredible flanks and a curvaceous rump.

Now that he was unable to ignore the very real probability that Princess Celestia just might, in fact, possess a vagina.

“Night Light?”

The Princess’ gentle probe snapped him out of his daze and broke him free of the death grip that train of thought had been throttling him with. It had nevertheless left him feeling mentally exhausted, though, and so he fell back on his rear into a sitting position to try to calm his mind and get it caught up with his body.

Unfortunately all this did was make it blatantly obvious just how far ahead of his brain his body was.

“My, well, at least you’re considering the idea,” Celestia said after a soft chuckle and a glance down his body that Night Light immediately noticed. She politely didn’t stare, but it nevertheless got the point across: he was helplessly sporting a full-on erection, and she was most definitely interested in it.

Night Light swallowed hard and did his swift best to hide the offending appendage from view with his hooves. “I-I… you can’t be…”

“Serious? I certainly am, Night Light. I wouldn’t joke about this,” Celestia confirmed.

“Buh… but… but you… I…!”

“But you what?” Celestia asked, her expression honestly curious. “If you’re concerned about siring illegitimate foals, I assure you all necessary precautions have been taken.”

Somehow the absurdity of that statement actually calmed him down a bit. “Er… no, actually, I wasn’t, but… that’s good to know, I suppose…”

“Ah, my apologies… that’s occasionally been a bit of a sticking point in the past.”

“In the--?” Night Light gave an involuntary jerk. “You’ve… done this before?”

Celestia raised a bemused eyebrow at him. “I am well over one thousand years old, Night Light. Surely you don’t believe through nearly as many mating seasons that I’ve been celibate until now?”

Goddess help him, his first reaction to that was actually anger. Anger that somepony had dared violate the pristine purity of the crown, of the Princess, of his Princess. It sounded wrong, so utterly, damnably wrong, no matter how clearly she was implying that any such violation had happened entirely at her own invitation--

Stop thinking about it!! he shouted inside his head.

“Princess, I--”

“Celestia,” she insisted once more.

“Nnhh, no, that not--…!” Night Light sputtered. “You are the Princess! I-I couldn’t… I wouldn’t dare… i-it’s not…”

“…Not what, Night Light? Not ‘proper?’” Celestia gently pressed with another strangely sad sigh. “…Yes, that’s been a bit of a sticking point in the past as well.”

Despite his indignation, at the sight of his princess’ reaction, Night Light was given pause. The dejected sigh was bad enough, and the sad frown, too, ate at him something fierce. But just like the unfortunate rookie Steadfast all those weeks ago, it was the disappointment in her eyes that cut him deepest.

Night Light gulped, terrified now that he’d said something deeply wrong. “Princess, I… I apologize if I--”

“No, Night Light, you’ve done nothing wrong,” Celestia assured him, and for once did not correct him, but she was no longer looking at him either. “You’re right. I am the Princess, aren’t I? I have been for a long time. So long, in fact, that you revere me as an immortal, all-powerful goddess. So much so that to even consider me as having the slightest of mortal qualities is mind-boggling, if not outright offensive. Is that what you were trying to say?”

“…I… s-something like that…” he slowly admitted, and for some reason Night Light shifted uncomfortably in his hooves as he did so, as if hearing his defense out loud, coming from the princess herself, made it sound… insulting.

“…But I’m not, Night Light,” Celestia went on, looking back at him again. “I’m not a goddess. I’m not immortal. And I’m certainly not all-powerful. Whatever power I do have, and whatever heavenly bodies I may be responsible for because of my position… at the end of the day, I am still just another pony, like the rest of you…”

“…With all the same wants and needs we have…” Night Light heard himself finish the sentence for her.

Celestia smiled again at last. “I take it you’ve had this conversation before.”

Night Light slowly hung his head in embarrassment. “…Just today, actually. Pommel, he… that is, Second Lieutenant Pommel, of the Night Guard, I’m not sure if you--”

“I’m quite familiar with him,” Celestia confirmed, “and I’m not surprised you heard it from him. I consider Pommel a good friend.”

“Y-you do?” Night Light gasped, darting his head back up to look at her in surprise. “You’re friends with Pommel? But… he never mentioned to me--”

“It sounds to me as though he’s been trying to, and you haven’t been listening,” the Princess softly chastised. “But yes, Pommel is a friend. Pleasant to talk to and a delightful sense of humor. He has made many a long, dull night much more enjoyable.”

Night Light grimaced and again hung his head in shame. “Yes, he… certainly does do that, doesn’t he?” He sighed at the floor. “…So he was right… and I was wrong… again…”

“It’s alright, Night Light…” Celestia said, lifting his head back up to face her with one hoof. “As I said, you’re hardly the first pony to have held these misconceptions about me, or to hold on to them so stubbornly. We all have our flaws like that. Even me. And I apologize if I’ve presented myself so impassively until now. Sometimes I simply have to be, as the leader of Equestria. But I promise I am a real, living, breathing pony underneath my crown. And I’d like it if you and that pony could get to know each other properly.”

Night Light internally heaved a sigh of relief. She wasn’t mad at him for being so foolish, thank heavens. Quite the contrary, she wished for them to get to know each other, to be friends. He had the chance to really get to know the Princess--

No. Not the Princess. He knew her already, he’d blindly worshipped her all his life.

This was a chance to get to know Celestia. The real pony behind the crown. The pony who got happy and sad and shared jokes with his best friend during long boring nights and endured a worse heat cycle than any other mare in Equestria with a more brave face than any he’d ever seen. How she handled it for upwards of a month in perfect poise and grace baffled him, but here she was calmly talking to him about it and asking quite politely--

Night Light flushed all over again. Oh right. That whole thing, he suddenly recalled. He’d almost managed to forget about it.

Almost.

“Erm… when you say ‘get to know each other…’” he warily ventured.

Celestia actually outright laughed at that. “Ahh, now you sound a bit more like Pommel! No other pony yet has dared have such an off-color sense of humor around me, it’s quite refreshing.”

“I, uh… I wasn’t…”

“I know you weren’t,” Celestia added with a smile. “My apologies, I was simply trying to ease the tension. I suppose even after all this time, it’s still a little embarrassing to ask such a thing of somepony no matter how badly I want it. But I can’t hardly keep up my good reputation by simply taking anypony I want, now can I? Asking, at least, is the civilized thing to do. I’d be disappointed in a no, I suppose, but I’m not a tyrant. I’ll manage another lonely season with grace and civility.”

Night Light’s brain, and a certain other choice organ, were stubbornly stuck for a full few seconds on the bit about how badly Celestia wanted a mate, imagining all over again the myriad of implications that went with that; but her last sentence snapped him back to reality. “Lonely season? You mean you don’t… you don’t have any other… erm…?”

“Options?” Celestia shook her head. “No. It’s you or nopony, Night Light. I told you before, as much as I wish to keep rank and crown out of this… you are my Captain of the Guard. You are the only pony I feel comfortable trusting with anything. …Including my body, in intimacy.”

The organ between his legs gave another involuntary twitch, and Night Light felt his brain starting to concede. Princess Celestia wasn’t merely offering herself to him; the fulfillment of her heat cycle was entirely dependent on him. If he said no…

Night Light felt a shudder race through his very core. That was the clincher. Despite everything that had been said that night, the pony before him was still his Princess, and she was in need of his help. Saying ‘no’ to her now was just not something he could do.

He nodded to his Princess. “Alright. I’ll do it. Whatever you need, Celestia, I’ll… I’ll do it.”

Celestia beamed at him, her mood visibly leaping upward, and reached out to hug him with her front hooves. “Ah, wonderful! Thank you Night Light, I’m more grateful than you know…”

“A-anything for you, Celestia,” he answered with a nervous chuckle as she let him go, thanking the heavens that his stubborn erection hadn’t jabbed his monarch in the stomach. Although, considering, she probably would have seen it as a compliment.

“Mmhh, so… does that mean I can stop?”

He looked at Celestia, trying to figure out both a response, and the reason her voice had abruptly gone a full octave lower. “Stop… what, exactly?”

“Holding back. Restraining myself. I am in heat, have been all day, and there is a virile, willing stallion right here. But I can’t just throw him… er, you, onto the bed and go wild without a word. That would be… unbecoming of me. So may I please, please stop keeping up this rather thin layer of self-control?”

Night Light doubted he could blush any harder than he already was, but if he could, he felt certain he would have just then. He’d heard stories – mostly from Pommel – about what mares in heat could get like once they finally did have their stallion of choice alone in the bedroom, no matter how calm and in-control they seemed in public. In that sense he was actually rather impressed with Celestia. He hadn’t even guessed at the depth of the underlying desire her most recent words exposed; for a ‘thin layer’ of restraint, it had certainly been a convincing one. But it was cracking now, and with barely a word he could break it completely. It was slightly terrifying, actually. But on the other hoof, he was sure – mostly sure – that Celestia would not break him in return.

At least, not in any way that couldn’t be fixed.

Night Light steeled himself, took a deep breath, and nodded. “Y-yes. Go ahead.”

There was a crisp snap sound like a match being struck (or perhaps he only imagined it?) and then a wave of literally solar heat and golden magic gathered him up and flung him, spine-down, toward the bed across the room. In mid-air the gold light continued to work, stripping him of his armor in a matter of seconds and sending it out of sight. He landed in the buff on her bed with a strangely soft pomf and looked up at his monarch, who had followed his flight with uncanny speed. “W-what are we going to do on-”

She pounced, leaning into him with her entire massive form, and at this proximity, with her mask abandoned, it became clear at last just how heavily affected she really was. The edges of her mane crackled with white lights, her horn cast off errant sparks that barely made it off the surface, and the warmth of her body was like somepony with a fever. The natural scent of her estrus, something that she had somehow masked and hidden as well until now, suddenly assaulted his nostrils in a single incredible haymaker, and the more primal corners of his brain flared to life and screamed at him, as only hormones could, the confirmation that yes, this was an extremely-in-heat mare.

Her muzzle dipped down and she began to nip and tug at his coat, rough yet cautious, making him groan in an instant. This wasn’t his first experience of this kind, but… between the sheer minor scale of his former escapades, and Celestia’s raw intensity, he was already moaning and twitching more than he had ever expected to. The solar monarch was clearly not even started, lowering herself completely onto him and pressing tight, the distance between them gone in a few scant seconds. His erection, already wet at the tip, was squeezed against her coat, and he could feel a positively stunning heat poised above one of his hind legs. Occasionally he would even be distracted from a particularly fierce bite when something wet splashed against his leg, one tiny drip at a time. Night Light felt dwarfed beneath her, like a colt again instead of a grown stallion. The magnitude of space between her experience and his only made the difference more obvious, and he whined with pleasure when she bit a particular spot, his cock trying to twitch but failing as it lay pinned between them.

“So, then… does my eager little pony want to get the first round out of the way?”

Night Light’s eyes bulged. “F-first?”

Her expression grew serious for a moment, although no less passionate or wild. “I did warn you. My heat cycle is by no means less intense than a normal mare’s by being stretched out longer; if anything it’s more so. I’m not saying you’re going to need to chain yourself to my bed for days at a time…”

He sighed with relief.

“…But I’m not saying it would be unreasonable, either.”

The sigh caught in his throat before she eased his worries with a breathy laugh.

“I kid… mostly. But in all seriousness, I need you, and soon.”

In his dazed arousal, he could only nod. Another strong wave of golden magic washed over Night Light (was it his imagination, or did Celestia’s power actually squeeze his cock as it passed?) and lifted him back to his hooves, behind the mare he served day in and day out. Her flowing aurora of a mane and tail were both constantly whipping and twitching in the air, and past her tail, he caught occasional glimpses of hot pale flesh, literally steaming in the cool air of the room...

And then Celestia dropped all pretense, flicking her tail up over her back, and his glimpses became one prolonged stare. She winked at him over her shoulder… and then winked at him again, in a very different way.

“Hurry.”

Night Light’s throat went dry, his eyes refusing to even blink. If his brain was capable of rational thought, it was wondering to itself how it could have ever been so stupid as to not realize what a sexual being the Princess could be. Oh, he would never be making that mistake again. He would never again be able to not notice how incredible her rump looked. He’d never again assume that she was a featureless action figure beneath her tail. And he would absolutely never, ever forget the sight meeting his eyes at that moment, of his Princess, of her swollen lips, her flushed clitoris, the breathtaking drip – drip – drip of liquid either running down her stifles or falling straight onto the sheets, abruptly ending his case of dry throat and making his mouth water for a taste of the sweet nectar. Oh goddess, but he couldn’t dare do such a--

Oh, right. He could, actually, now. That and so much more.

His cock twitched again.

“Night Light, perhaps I wasn’t clear enough? Please, don’t make me wait any long--AHH!” the Princess’ sentence was cut off and replaced by a moan muffled in her pillows as Night Light sprung at last, running his tongue up the inside of her thighs, once on each side. Immediately he was licking his lips at the heavenly taste of her moisture, and wanting to waste no more of his or Celestia’s time, his next lick dragged straight over her flushed mound. His tongue slid upward deliberately slowly, from clit to anus, and both parties shuddered and groaned from the pure sexual thrill. Night Light wanted more, and he was reasonably certain Celestia needed more, and so he licked again, this time pressing his tongue between her folds and receiving an impressive blast of heat to his muzzle as he did so.

Halfway through his third lick however, he felt Celestia’s magic engulf him again and tug him backward.

“Night Light,” the Princess called his name again, and this time it was incredibly strained, hovering somewhere between begging and ordering. “Any other time I would praise such selflessness and savor it at great length, but I’m not kidding, I need you inside me. Now, please.”

“Oh! Y-yes, of course, sorry…” he stammered. “I-I’ll just… er… just…”

Night Light trailed off then, again staring blankly straight at the shameless offering before him, but this time for a very different reason.

He was literally staring straight at it. Standing upright, her backside was at eye level with him. In mounting position he doubted his hooves would even meet her wing-joints. And as much as he liked to think his equipment was of satisfactory size, upon sudden comparison, he wasn’t sure Peg A could so much as reach Slot B, let alone fit it.

“Night Light…!” came Celestia’s insistent voice again. “Please!”

Night Light gulped down a shaky breath, terror sweat running down his forehead at the prospect of suddenly failing to please his Princess. “H-how…?”

“What?” Celestia nearly demanded, whipping her head back to face him with near-desperation written all over her face. It softened, though, when she realized exactly what his eyes were now darting back and forth between. “Oh! Oh, goodness, I’m so sorry, it’s been years since I last… I’d completely forgotten…”

Forgotten that I’m barely half your size…? he thought incredulously. And then, a moment later, It’s been years since she last had a mate? No wonder she’s so… intense.

“Thankfully, this is a problem I’ve had… essentially every time before this. Normal stallions only grow so large, of course.”

He looked off to the side, somehow embarrassed by the idea. “Well, I would fix it if I could, but… I have no idea how I’d even start.”

Celestia’s voice managed to return back to something like her normal level of manifest calm, each word laid into place like brickwork. After what he had seen already, he wondered how much of that was natural, and how much was simply self-control and her public outer face. “Not to worry, I have that handled. Just hold very still for a moment; I’m going to use my magic on you somewhat more… directly. There will be no long-term effects, and if you ask me to stop, I will.”

He nodded, allowing her to start. He’d expected the feel of her golden magic when it engulfed him, having been flung around by it quite a bit already. What Night Light hadn’t been prepared for, though, was the sudden heat, impossibly strong and dry, like parching winds in high summer, radiating out from his core. There was a brief moment where he didn’t think he could handle whatever this spell was, but then the heat… shifted. It went from dry and oppressive to an almost molten warmth, still strong but now inviting and refreshing. There was a long pulling sensation in his limbs, like waking up and moving into his daily stretches… and then nothing.

“There. Does that seem better, from your angle?”

He looked down at himself… and kept looking, further down than he was used to. His body was several hooves higher off the bed, all his limbs looked longer… all of them. Especially that one, now that he thought about it; perhaps Celestia’s spell had a bit more of an extra purpose behind it. Night Light didn’t mind, certainly, although he did not know how long it would take him to get used to--

“I believe your body should naturally adjust to the difference,” she said, as if reading his mind. “I spent quite a bit of time developing that spell for ease of use in the, heh, ‘heat’ of the moment.”

“R-right…”

“And speaking of which, if you would be so kind…” she added with another playful nip at his coat and-- nope, he hadn’t imagined it before, her magic was most definitely giving his cock a thorough squeezing this time, making him gasp and bite his lip against an embarrassingly high-pitched whimper. “I think that is the last distraction I can stand.”

Right. Of course. He still had a job to do.

Night Light reared up high on his hind legs and landed his front hooves as delicately as he could on top of Celestia’s rump, which she was once again presenting to him. She was still larger than him despite the magical size-change, but they were much more comparable now, at least. He was finding it a little hard to focus enough to make exact comparisons, though; Celestia’s magic aura was still giving his cock an impressive – and aggressive – massage, and the blood-flow that their brief intermission had allowed to return to his brain was swiftly being redirected somewhere further south once again.

A bare few seconds of that was all it took to knock rational thought out for the rest of the evening, and now Night Light wanted inside her almost as badly as she wanted to put him there. He rocked his hips forward a bit, his first attempt missing its target and scraping the head of his more appropriately-proportioned member across Celestia’s underbelly, and more significantly, dragging its length against her engorged lips and flushed clitoris. Both mates again let out a synchronized groan and a shudder, and when Night Light reared back for a second attempt, much of his cock was freshly coated in Celestia’s sweet secretions.

This time when Night Light’s hips swung forward, Celestia’s magic surged again, giving his cock one last encouraging squeeze before unraveling, not so much gripping him anymore as guiding him – a nudge to the left, an inch or so of lift, a tap back to the right – and then it let go completely, and Night Light was there, pressing at those lips, forcing them apart even as they enveloped and kissed and welcomed his pulsing stallionhood. His knees went weak for a moment and he practically fell forward across Celestia’s back, driving himself the rest of the way inside her in one swift, harsh motion that made her cry out something extraordinarily unladylike, and then at last they were joined.

He’d expected heat. He’d expected wetness. He’d even expected it to feel pretty damn good. He just hadn’t expected how much of all three things it would be. He felt like he’d stuck his dick directly into a sauna. A sauna that had been cranked up to maximum temperature, and was also a massage parlor, kneading and clenching around every inch of him. Perhaps it was because Celestia’s spell had given his cock a bit more extra proportion than the rest of him, or perhaps she was just tighter than he would have expected from a pony with a thousand or so years of even just occasional experience, but either way she felt wonderfully snug around him, like being wrapped up tight in a soft, velvety blanket. Made of hot, pulsing wet mare pussy.

Another shudder ran through Night Light. That was really no exaggeration, was it? He really was laying across his Princess’ back, front hooves hooked over her shoulders with his breathless face resting on the back of her neck, buried to the hilt in her pussy.

He was officially mating with Princess Celestia.

Dear goddess he nearly blew his load right then and there.

“Are you… uunnhhh… alright back there?” Celestia asked. Her words were stilted and halting, and her face was impressively flushed, but her voice was floating, thick with the relief and satisfaction of a terrible itch being properly scratched.

“Y-yes, your highness…” Night Light grunted, and it was a testament, he realized, to the strength of the affliction she suffered that she no longer bothered to correct him.

“Ah, good… then please, do continue.”

Night Light nodded fervently in agreement. His hind legs straightened and stood strong again as the weakness in his knees faded, and his forelegs followed suit as he rose further upright, hooking his hooves as far up her body as he reasonably could reach and still thrust – though even at his new size his grasp was only just at the base of her wings. And then with a grunt and a snort, instinct took over.

In a more stable and coherent state of mind he would have started out slower, more gentle and methodical than average, and would have probably balked at the idea of doing anything that resembled power-fucking the ruler of Equestria. But like most of his expectations about her lately, they were being swiftly subverted, as Celestia refused to let him go that slow. Little impatient huffs cut through her moans. Her rear pushed insistently back against his cock quicker than he was moving, forcing him to repeatedly pick up his own pace to match. Her body-language pleaded for speed, for power, for intensity, all within his first few thrusts, and so with each one he gave it a little more effort. He put a little more force into his motions, pulled just a little harder on her wing joints, smacked their hips together with just a bit more of an audible slap, until by the time she at last seemed satisfied, power-fucking the ruler of Equestria was pretty much exactly what he was doing.

The payoffs were quick and obvious. Celestia’s heavenly moans rapidly reached a fever pitch, so far gone already that she was rendered speechless beyond her incessant pleas for more of everything he was doing, and every sound was massively turning him on. So too was the fact that her marehood was drenching itself, more than Night Light thought was possible. Her fluids coated his dick with enough lubricant that his thrusts were without resistance, while the rest streamed down her thighs or smeared across her rump so copiously that there was soon a distinctly wet quality to the sound of their hips vigorously slapping together. He’d never seen a mare get so soaked – not that he’d ever seen any mares like this anyway – and it made his heart race that much quicker to see it, to see Celestia so insanely hot and wet that it soon felt more like his dick was locked in a steam room than a sauna.

And still none of this, as incredibly sexy as it was to the overwhelmed stallion, said anything of the actual pleasure of the experience.

Probably because Night Light couldn’t really think of words to describe it beyond simply that sweet merciful goddess it felt amazing.

He had no idea if sex was always like this, or if being in heat made a mare that much more enjoyable – or if it was just because it was Princess bucking Celestia – but regardless, it was light-years beyond any solo venture. The pulsing, warm wetness of her pussy engulfing his shaft was pure bliss, welcoming him eagerly on every thrust in and squeezing him tight as if never wanting to let him leave on every thrust out. It was sheer discipline that kept him from climaxing in the first minute, and halfway through the second even that much was starting to fail him. He could feel his muscles tightening, his thrusts losing their rhythm, the head of his cock flaring; he was going to come any second.

“Princess…! I… ahh! I can’t hold it…! I’m going to--GHHH!”

His eyes surged wide as Celestia’s magic flared to life once again, yanking him forward until he was hilted inside her again and held him there, and as if her magic or her pussy squeezing his cock individually hadn’t been incredible enough, now he could feel both wrapped around him and squeezing with twice the intensity.

“I’m counting on it,” she hissed.

Night Light’s limbs stiffened, his face fell and buried itself in her back right around where fur became feathers, and with one last trembling whimper, he tipped over the edge. His seed spilled out of his cock in thick, copious spurts, bolts of pleasure wracking his body with every powerful shot he sent flooding the deepest parts of Celestia’s pussy he could reach. Fortunately it was deep enough, Celestia’s spell had seen to that. Her cry of relief echoed throughout the sealed bedchamber, shocking Night Light with her intensity so deeply that it took him a few moments to realize that her cry was orgasmic as much as it was relieved. Her hips spasmed, jerked, and shook for several prolonged seconds. Her pussy drowned his cock in a fresh surge of juices, as if it hadn’t done so enough already, and clenched down even tighter around him as if trying to squeeze out every last drop it could gobble up of the viscous white goo still bursting from his flared tip.

But somehow more telling than any of those things was the look on Celestia’s face; she was grinning, not merely smiling but grinning from ear to ear like he’d never seen from her before. Her cheeks were more flushed than ever, so fully it even made her fur itself look a bit pink, but it was a beaming, glowing blush, one of deep, immense satisfaction. It was the face of total, complete ecstasy, and even when they’d finally finished coming, and the raw orgasm-fueled pleasure trailed off and left her, the satisfaction and relief remained etched onto her face, warming the whole room with her joy as she flopped limply onto the soaked mattress. Celestia’s heat, at least for the moment, had been quelled.

He’d done it.

Thank the bucking goddesses. He didn’t even want to think about if had he failed.

Night Light collapsed to the bed right beside Celestia a moment later, the exhaustion from his exertions hitting him all at once. His head barely hit the pillows, though, before Celestia hooked a hoof around his shoulders and pulled him into an embrace, and now suddenly his body was gently nestled against her chest. He could feel her body heat engulf his easily, a radiant, solar warmth that he could scarcely believe was natural, that for a moment he thought simply had to be divine in nature. But at the same time, when he laid his head down in her fur, there was still a heartbeat underneath. He could feel its gentle pulse, rapid at first after their vigorous mating but gradually slowing and relaxing into a steadier rhythm. She really was just like any other pony, he knew now.

Even if she was a bit… larger than life.

“Thank you, Night Light,” Celestia finally spoke up, and the stallion was happy to hear she sounded quite normal again. “That was everything I had hoped for.”

“You’re welcome… Celestia,” Night Light replied. “I’m glad I could be, erm… of service.”

Celestia’s warm smile turned wicked for a brief moment. “I do hope you are prepared to continue being of service for a while longer.”

“Heh… heh…” Night Light chuckled nervously, giving her a tired smile. “I’ll… do my best.”

“I’m sure you will.” Celestia laughed softly along with him. “But for now, rest. You’ve earned it. We’ll talk in the morning.”

Night Light no longer had the energy – or desire – to do anything but nod along and obey. His eyes drooped closed, and lying comfortably in his Princess’ hooves, he passed out in seconds.