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A Cuddly Conversation (Princess Cadance and Shining Armor)


Hippo

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What a day. Shining had just removed himself from a late night briefing of the military status in the Crystal Empire. The status? Nominal. Not really much too it really. Although a boring and quiet military was always the best kind. In the morning, Shining would have to look through the numbers to determine if guard ponies should move around or be cut from the draft system they had placed after Sombra's defeat. Common changes, all for the purpose of maintaining a realistic lifestyle for all the crystal ponies involved. Not a problem.

To retreat from the event that Shining would refer to as boring beyond belief, he decided to put all that drowsiness to good use, and try to finally get some rest. Fortunately for him, he didn't have any important meetings in the morning, so the stallion could afford to sleep in if he wanted to. And if Cadance would let him, of course. And as Shining walked into the bedroom, there she was. The mare of his life. The Princess of love. The light on his candle. The Crystal Empress. Mi Amore Cadenza. Shining sighed happily as he walked out of the wash room, fresh from cleaning his teeth and washing his face. Carefully, he pulled open the covers and tucked himself in next to Cadance. Laying on his side, he brought his hoof around Cadance's shoulders and pulled himself closer to her. When Shining got comfortable, he exhaled softly at the moment of relaxation, where he could spend the night with his wife in a mutual cuddle. It gave him peace of mind, and not a couple minutes later, Shining Armor fell asleep in his embrace of the pony he loved more than any other.

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Normally after a hard’s day work of ruling a Crystal Empire, Princess Cadence enjoyed the luxury of spending the evening with her beloved husband, Shining Armor. No matter the difficulties that came beforehoof, all it took was the companionship of the greatest stallion a mare could ever ask for to make everything worth it all. Whenever the two found moments of solitude, there was no such thing as the rest of the world. All that existed was Mi Amore Cadenza, and the Prince-Captain who ignited within her the flames of joy and passion.

 

Reality frequently had other plans in mind, however, and tonight it decided that Shining Armor was to attend a late night meeting. Why the ridiculous scheduling for the meeting, who knew? Not knowing when her husband would be out of the meeting, Princess Cadence decided that she might as well turn in for the evening early. Beauty sleep came in handy to prepare oneself for the vigors of the next day.

 

Sometime in the early morning, when not another soul stirred in the Crystal Palace save for those on watch, the Crystal Princess awakened from a very peculiar dream. It was one of those once-in-a-while changeling dreams again, except instead of the usual nightmare of being trapped underground, Cadence vaguely remembered brushing the mane of Queen Chrysalis. It was most bizarre indeed, prompting the alicorn to regain consciousness.

 

It only took seconds to register the feeling of Shining Armor’s legs enveloping Cadence in an embrace of pure love. Signing in contentment, the princess pushed herself further into her husband’s warm mass, deriving much pleasure from the intimacy involved. A feat an alicorn of love could only achieve with a stallion of pure heart and body.

 

Yet ten minutes after turning Shining into her new pillow, Cadence remained wide awake, her attempts at falling back asleep not succeeding. Unable to stand the silence any longer, the pink alicorn did the only thing she could think to do. “Shiiiiiining...” Cadence turned her head sideways, delicately whispering to the sleeping unicorn; “Ohh Shining Armorrrrrrrrrrr.....” If all went well, this would be all it took for the princess to retrieve her husband from the world of dreams.

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Shining is a hard sleeper. His rock solid build served as a wieght to overcome if the stallion was to wake up, even a little. He was a good sleeper though, able to function well with short sleep in the event that he had too. It was just the initial push for him to wake that the effort really took place. And when Cadance struggled to return to her sleep after a strange dream, she tried to wake him up. After the first uttering of his name, he did not budge, even a little. The second attempt to whisper his name to wake him, triggered inside Shining a mental reaction that could only happen on what seemed to be random occasions. He flinched shortly, and then twisted his head a little before muttering, "Mm. No, I don't want to go to the barracks." He yawned in his half-sleep dialog. "It's too boring." After his lips stopped moving, an irregular snore inhaled through his snout.

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  • 2 weeks later...
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Princess Cadence pouted; that didn’t work as well as originally intended. Clearly, something else needed to be done to wake up Shining Armor. The princess needed to think; what would make a stallion want to wake up in the wee hours of the morning. Food was one good answer, but that’d require disturbing the palace staff, not to mention untangling herself from a valued source of bodily warmth.

 

However, there was one other thing that Cadence alone was uniquely qualified to provide. Squeezing one foreleg in between Shining and the bed, the pink alicorn wrapped her husband in an embrace of her own, Cadence’s soft belly pressing against the firm muscles of a true Equestrian hero. Next, the princess moved in to give Shining’s muzzle a sweet gentle kiss, providing him with the taste of alluring love. If this didn’t wake up the Crystal Prince, then nothing would.

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Shining was dreaming about something great. Only something greater would really wake up such a magnificent dreamer. Fortuntely for Shining, he was no longer tortured by bad dreams. It mostly ended around the time he and Cadance got engaged. Whenever Shining was within the embrace of his dear wife, however, there was never a bad night in dreamland it seems. Of course, if you asked him about his dreams in front of the Princess council, he would offer praise for Luna providing a much safer dreamscape that Equestria has ever seen.

But in a strange contradiction of dreaming enjoyment, Shining was rushed out of sleep by a magic that could not be ignored. A soft loving kiss from Cadance caused the stallion to yawn a waking smile. His eyes drifted open, and in only a couple seconds, he acknowledged the princess alicorn of love giving him the best gift in the world. But at the cost of a good dream, Shining knew that it must be important, even while he was still half asleep. "Hi, Princess. What time is it?" Shining stretched his legs in random directions as he tried to gain a new relaxed position cuddling with the best mare in the world.

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  • 3 weeks later...
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“What time is it?” Princess Cadence nervously rolled her eyes towards the ceiling, not sure if Shining Armor would appreciate being dragged from his slumber this far into the night. The alicorn quickly decided however that honesty was the best policy. “Oh, it’s only about three in the morning,” Cadence sheepishly responded; “I’ve been up for several minutes but couldn’t get back to bed. And I was feeling lonely, so... I decided to awaken somepony else to talk too!”

 

Cadence’s nose rubbed against Shining’s nose as a sort of apology; a loving signal to indicate that sacrificing bedtime for his wife was extremely worthwhile. “So, is there anything you’d like to talk about right now, honey?” If the pink alicorn had her desire, they’d be discussing how their marriage was coming along. That topic more and more ate at Cadence’s mind now that the two of them spent the vast majority of their time serving the needs of the Crystal Empire instead of each other. However, the Crystal Princess thought it too overbearing to simply force that issue onto the prince she just woke up, so maybe they could slowly come to that subject.

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As Shining rubbed his eyes, Cadance revealed that it was three in the morning, kindly regretting that she couldn't fall asleep and that she was feeling lonely. Shining wouldn't take lightly to her concern, but being as tired as he was, he couldn't help but state the obvious. "Three in the morning? You know, Cadance, you're not the Princess of the Night. That's Princess Luna's job." Shining Armor grabbed hold of himself and straightened up so that he could properly talk in bed, his head now leaning against the top of the head of the bed. "Alright. I'm up. Let's talk." Shining yawned and smacked his lips a little before staring into the dark room. Though his eyes were well adjusted, several of the items in the room were still not identifiable, though he knew exactly what they were on memory. "So, something to talk about... Well. I think the Empire's hoofball team is going to be really good this season. I know our 1-11 record last year didn't turn any faces, but I'm confident that our star player Prism Break is going to play well and lead our team to victory. Right after his hind leg break heals. Isn't that nice? I made sure we get the royal box seats for the opening game. You'd think we wouldn't have to work so hard to get them, but they like to sell them when we aren't there."

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  • 2 weeks later...
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Typical Shining Armor; the first thing he wanted to talk about was hoofball, hoofball, hoffball. And oh, it looked like Princess Cadence and her husband would now be making a royal appearance at the opening game too. Cadence figured it wasn’t all that bad though; hoofball meant a lot for Shining, and at any rate, the crystal ponies always got a rise from seeing the beloved royal couple together in public. Those positive thoughts prevented the alicorn from rolling her eyes.

 

The losing record of the Crystal Empire’s hoofball team sadly was not an issue that even a princess could fix. It did not help that Cadence herself was not the enthusiast of the sport like Shining was. Still though, as she moved to sit up in bed, the pink princess tried coming up with something to contribute to the conversation. “Well, as long as the rest of the team has heart and works together as one unit, they’ll do fine enough while Prism Break’s sidelined.”

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Shining laughed out loud. "Heh, yeah, I don't know, Honey. Our secondary forward, Spectrunner, he's a good sport, but I'm putting it generously when I say he can't kick the ball in the right direction to save his life. During the midseason tournament, he kicked the winning goal, into our own goal." Shining exhaled as he jokingly admitted the failure of his team. It was ok though. Shining had been through several more humiliated experiences.

Shining was glad to see Cadance respond with a slight eagerness towards the sport. But he wasn't fooled. He knew she didn't care about it that much. Although, he always hoped that when the Crystal Empire earns that magical sports season, than she will fall in love with the sport with Shining. Interest in sports always turned a colt on.

Shining continued to stare into the blackness of the room, and he slowly inadvertently started closing his eyes.

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  • 2 weeks later...
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Oh yeah, Spectrunner kicking the winning goal into his own team’s goal was a thing last season. With that in Cadence’s mind, it will likely take years for the Crystal Empire, only recently exposed to the joys of hoofball, to field a competitive team. “Well, they’ll get better sooner or later,” the princess meekly responded. No response came, and the conversation between husband and wife briefly sailed into a doldrums of silence.

 

Now came the right time for Princess Cadence to get to the subject she really wanted to talk about. She slithered on over to Shining Armor’s side, gently wrapping her slender forelegs around the mighty stallion’s neck. “Shining, my love,” cooed the alicorn; “As long as we’re still up, why don’t we talk about us. You know,” Cadence nuzzled Shining’s cheek with her own; “How we think our marriage is working out.“

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“As long as we’re still up," Shining snorted a half-snore and re-opened his eyes. "Why don’t we talk about us. You know, how we think our marriage is working out.“

Shining sighed pensively. "OK. I think," Shining spoke slowly at the pace of his alertness, "I think our marriage is great, don't you?" Shining admired Cadance today the same way he did when he first met her. Except today, he respects her a lot more as a pony, and cares deeply about her well-being and protection. Each day that passes brings more passion and will for Shining to protect the ones he loves, and since the day her and Shining said their vows, she has been at the top of that list. "It's great how we trust each other with things," Shining yawns, "and stuff."

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Shining Armor could not trick his wife that easily. That wasn’t to say that he compulsively lied on a nonstop basis; the stallion was actually one of the most honest ponies Princess Cadence knew. In fact, Shining showed his honesty right now by indicating his unwillingness to think deeper about the current state of their relationship. Cadence conceded that 3AM really wasn’t an ideal time for serious discussions, so she forgave Shining without a second thought. Unfortunately, the princess still felt wide awake, unable to bring herself back under her blankets anytime soon.

 

Still clinging to her prize champion, Princess Cadence gently nudged their chat in an effort to make Shining Armor open up. “Shining, do you think we’ve been... spending enough time with each other lately, ever since the two of us came to the Crystal Empire?” Surely the Prince-Captain also thought the same way, assuming he stayed awake long enough to dig deeper.

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Cadance asked a good question. And due to the seriousness of the topic, not to mention an expansion of the first question, he knew that she meant business, and also that she couldn't sleep. Was something bothering her? "Well, no, I don't. But I'm not sure what we can do about it. I always had this hope that one of these days the jobs we do wont be so hard, and we can spend more time with on another, but we are often too busy for each other." It's then he realized how important this particular time might actually be. Tiredness aside, Shining got to spent the rest of the early morning with the love of his life, and who knew when he would get another chance at that, especially if he upset her.

"Do you think things in the Empire are moving too slowly? Should we be further ahead by now? I know there are some ponies in government that suggested we should appoint leadership that will make decisions for us, but then we would just be show ponies on a stage. And these Crystal ponies are practically our children, and I don't know how I would feel if we abandoned what I always felt our duty was." Bit of a long winded response out of no where, but at least he was awake. "What do you think?"

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"Well, no, I don't. But I'm not sure what we can do about it. I always had this hope that one of these days the jobs we do wont be so hard, and we can spend more time with on another, but we are often too busy for each other."

 

“Yeah,” the melancholy princess sighed; “Somehow, I don’t think our jobs are going to get any less busier as time goes on.” Even though Mi Amore Cadenza spent years of her life training for a role of royal leadership, none of it adequately prepared her for the significant strain it would have on all her relationships. More than ever, the pink alicorn guessed that this was among one of the reasons why Princess Celestia apparently never bothered to even consider finding a special somepony.

 

".....I know there are some ponies in government that suggested we should appoint leadership that will make decisions for us, but then we would just be show ponies on a stage. And these Crystal ponies are practically our children, and I don't know how I would feel if we abandoned what I always felt our duty was....."

 

No matter how unfulfilling her love life got, Princess Cadence would never allow abandoning her duties to become an option. “The day we leave the Crystal Empire,” the mare proclaimed, expressing 100% determination; “Is the day when our subjects release us from our duties. Still, I wonder... what do you think Princess Celestia would do in our situation? She’s managed to last a thousand years running Equestria without going insane from all the work. We could sure use her secret now.....”
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  • 3 weeks later...

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Sitting up awake in a dark bedroom with his loving wife discussing time management and political duties. Yup, this is actually not too far off from what Shining was expecting a few years ago when he finally proposed to the princess. Although, he had always hoped his suspicion was wrong and that he and his future wife would be able to live in a castle with ample time to love each other, share joys crafting memories, and ultimately raising a family that would become one of the most iconic families in all of Equestria. This could all still be the case, but the subconsious issue of a giant clock hanging over every pony's head that reminded them of how much time they don't have for the things they want to do. Heck, often Shining doesn't have enough time to do the things he has to do.

Cadance expressed the same concern, but then voiced about how Celestia might do it. "Well," Shining suggested with a blunt voice that could come off snarky but had no intention as such. "Maybe you should ask her."

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  • 4 weeks later...
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Not tending to be quick to anger, Princess Cadence never felt the urge to be combative unless a truly grave situation called for it. Regardless, the princess thought she detected negativity from Shining Armor concerning her proposal to ask Celestia for advice. It wasn’t that sort of “your idea is stupid” negativity; more like “well geez do it already.” For Cadence though, it was enough to make her slowly let go of her husband, meaning the two now simply sat side-by-side in their bed.

 

“Maybe I will then,” the mare mused while staring to the front of her, sighing in the process; “Perhaps when she comes for the upcoming Princess Summit.” That event wasn’t far-off now; there ought to be a time then when Celestia could pull her cherished mentor aside and have a private conversation about the matter.....

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  • 4 weeks later...

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A few moments passed. It was strange. Shining wasn't sure if he should say something else, or wait for Cadance to process another question. But the meditation got to a point where Shining needed to speak up and be honest. "Well, if that's it, I'm going to head to sleep again, OK? I don't want to oversleep." Ending with a yawn, Shining kissed Cadance on the cheek and tucked himself back under the covers on his side of the bed, awaiting Cadance's silence, or her interjection with his request.

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  • 1 month later...
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With Princess Cadence buried in her thoughts, the still-sleepy Shining Armor used this moment to properly kiss her goodnight. Unable to think of an additional reason to keep the nocturnal conversation going, Cadence figured that she might as well let her husband get some sleep; he could certainly get as much shuteye as he could. “Goodnight love,” the alicorn kept her last words to Shining simple, giving him a peck on the cheek once he tucked himself in. Perhaps now Cadence could make another attempt at falling asleep.....

 

*THE END*

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