Roll for Love (Clop, Shining Armor x Anonpony, Incom.)

“… So, again, thanks so much for agreeing to this! I hardly see my old group nowadays, since we left school, I married into royalty, and started the whole ‘running the Crystal Empire’ thing.”

That’s the fourth time Shining has thanked you for coming to his one-on-one game of Oubliettes and Ogres, and you haven’t even finished bringing out your rulebooks and dice bag. He seemed pretty adamant when he asked that you were the only person he knew who he could play with, although you find it hard to believe that there was absolutely nobody else in the Crystal Empire for him to roll dice with.

“Have you tried teaching Cadence to play?” You ask, smiling politely. Shining Armor grimaces briefly and looks down behind his screen where you can still hear him scribbling notes.

“Oh, no, she definitely knows how to play. She’s a horrible metagamer though, and powergames like a motherbucker.” He looks up at you again and smiles warmly for what feels like an unusually long moment. “It will be a relief to spend some time with someone who actually knows how to roleplay, as opposed to ‘rollplay’. Did you roll up your character already, like I suggested?”

You remove a couple of sheets of paper from your saddlebags, which you then slip off onto the floor as you take a seat opposite Shining Armor and his imposing O&O screen, adorned with snarling beasts, muscular stallion adventurers in plate armour, and scantily-clad mares clad in insufficiently protective chainmail underwear which somehow manages to be more alluring than the everyday sight of a mare walking down the street wearing nothing at all. Not that you ever took any notice, to be honest.

You pass the sheet to Shining, who suspends them in front of his face with magic, and skim-reads, mouthing to himself as he reads your character details and checks your arithmetic for any obvious discrepancies. “A unicorn rogue, huh? Pretty sensible build, although I prepared some more combat-focussed encounters, so you’ll have to use some of your wits and cunning rather than attacking head-on if you don’t want to get completely wiped.” You nod sagely, as he keeps reading “… Has anybody told you your spelling is a bit off?”

Your eyebrows furrow in surprise, and you frown at him defensively. “My spelling is just fine, Shining.”

“Sure, sure.” He smirks at you as he passes the sheets back. “Although ‘rogue’ is spelt ‘R-O-G-U-E’. ‘Rouge’, on the other hand, is the colour your face is turning.”

You scowl slightly, but can’t quite stifle a giggle. “Alright, okay. So are we starting this, or what?”

Shining, beaming with excitement, levitates a swarm of tiles and character models from behind his screen onto the table in front of you, setting up the entire scene in only a few seconds. “Sure, great. Although I just want to check I read it right on your sheet- what was your character’s name again?”

“Purr Loins?”

“Right, yeah. ‘Purr Loins’, the cat burglar rogue with high charisma. You’re hilarious. Okay.” Shining Armor clears his throat “Our story begins in the proud citadel of Stablereach, a beacon of civilisation situated at the peak of a mountain-“
You chime in with a smile. “Missing Canterlot, Shining?”

Shining Armor rolls his eyes. “It’s at the peak of the mountain, not just, like, one face. And, if you would let me finish, this illustrious capital of the Prosperous Unicorn Empire is-“

“Are you serious? The ‘Prosperous Unicorn Empire’?”

Shining Armor rolls his head back in exasperation. “Celestia damn it! Cut it out! New houserule: if you interrupt my narration, I’ll charge you ten experience.”

You lean forward to tease Shining a little further. “We’re starting on level one. I haven’t earned any experience yet.” Shining leans forward too to meet your challenge, over the brim of his screen, and narrows his eyes. A sly smile curls his muzzle.

“Then I’ll just have to gag you with magic. For the good of the narrative, you understand.”
You’re not quite sure if he’s serious or not, and waggle your eyebrows, calling his bluff. “Kinky.”
You detect a slither of what you think is amusement as Shining Armor breaks the staring match and lays back again in his seat. “Sit down and shut up, or I’ll sit you down and shut you up. Last chance.”

You toy with the idea of finding out how far Shining is willing to go with this, but decide to reign it in and try and get immersed in the game. Shining nods happily, seeing you sit back down and cross your hooves to wait for his monologue, and begins again.

“Our story begins in the proud citadel of Stablereach, a beacon of civilisation situated at the peak of a mountain, rising up above the wild and untamed wilderness that stretches in all directions for many hundreds of miles.

Other settlements exist, but Stablereach is the capital of the empire, and the largest of all of them. The roads are perilous for the unprepared, though trade is prosperous for the aristocracy and merchant classes, as those who can afford it have their goods flown to and from the city.

This is, however, just one indicator of the terrible divide between rich and poor in Stablereach and the Empire at large. The rich, powerful and influential unicorn families live in comfort and security at the highest points of the city- separated from the slums of the other races, who work menial jobs for menial pay, frequently go hungry, and often must resort to theft or smuggling, banditry in the wilderness, or, uh, more degrading work. Resentment of the unicorns from the other races is high.
So! As a unicorn, you’re likely to have been born to at least a moderately wealthy family. But then, why would you be a thief?”

“Rogue.”

“Yeah, you know what I mean. So did you lose your money, or do you just do it for the thrill, or are you a sort of ‘Robin Hoof’ character, or what? And what are you doing in the city when the story begins?”

You think on this for a moment, but make your mind up quickly.

“Purr Loin definitely does it for the thrill. He’s actually one of the heirs to an influential aristocratic family, but finds it dull, and resents all the rules and etiquette. When on the job, he wears a hood to hide his horn. And his noble heritage.”

Shining Armor scribbles something behind his screen. “And what are you doing in the city when the story begins?”

You shrug slightly. “How about planning a heist?”

Shining Armor glances down at his notes. “A heist, huh? Yeah, I can work with that… Ooh! Hold on!” Shining opens his copy of the Oubliette Manager’s Guide with a glimmer of magic, and starts to blow through the pages. “I’ve got a table for this! You’re trying to steal…” There’s a rattling of dice being rolled behind the screen.

"... Ah, hold on. Magical item table next."

More dice are rolled, and all of a sudden you're sure the room has gotten subtly, imperceptibly more awkward. "What's my quarry, Shiny?"

Shining looks up and raises an eyebrow.
"... Shiny?"

"You wouldn't be thinking of... Rerolling whatever you've just got, would you?"

Shining Armor looks almost offended at the suggestion. "I'll have you know that's not the way I run my games. There are only two forces I yield to- the will of my wife, and the will of the dice."

You put both fore-hooves behind your head.
"Then spit it out."

"You are planning to, uh... Acquire the... Um... 'Tail Bow of Charm Pony'." Shining hurriedly rifles through some papers and continues, seemingly trying to justify it for you. "The resale value is around nine-hundred gemcoins, which is the value of the average treasure horde about two levels above you. You've got a fencer of... Niche magical treasures ready to pay you in cash as soon as you can retrieve it for him."

You spend a moment enjoying Shining's obvious discomfort, seemingly most afraid of weirding you out, and gently egg him on. "Okay, and where am I stealing the Tail Bow from?"

Seemingly relieved at your nonchalance, Shining Armor rolls another couple of die, which thud gently as they bounce off his side of the screen.

You watch carefully as Shining's eyes travel up and down the table in the book in front of him, then widen. His pupils constrict ever so slightly from nerves, then flick to look straight at you, and then down at something behind his screen.

You think you see a single bead of sweat on his furrowed brow, and you could swear that he seems to sink in his chair slightly.

"It's in a, uh..." Shining mumbles something with a 'buh' and an 'el' under his breath, far too low to make out.

"Sorry?"

"I said... You're stealing the Tail Bow of Charm Pony from a... From a brothel. A brothel controlled by, uh, the Stablereach earthpony criminal underground."

Poor Shining Armor's practically crumbling from embarrassment, but you can't help but snicker. Still, he's obviously so eager to impress you and make sure this game goes smoothly, that you resolve to put his mind at ease.

"Cool. Awesome."

Shining sits up in his seat, and seems to visibly brighten. "Cool... Awesome?"

You smile, and decide to let some creative juices flow for a bit of exposition of your own. "Although I'm neither renowned nor clumsy enough for them to know, the earthpony organised crime syndicate have unwittingly cut into my territory and my profits many times, putting the squeeze on merchants who happen to fence for me, and hospitalising the few slum guards I have convinced to look the other way.

The Tail Bow of Charm Person is one of their favourite tools for getting blackmail material against members of the guard, and the odd member of the unicorn political elite. When not in use, it's sealed safely away beneath their most frequented and well-guarded illicit establishment.

I, Purr Loin, have decided that the best way to send a message that the earthpony syndicate is not the only criminal power in Stablereach, without revealing myself or my true identity, is to steal the Tail Bow of Charm Person from under their very noses- dealing a significant blow to their operations by doing so."

Shining Armor listened intently as you spoke, first relieved, and then excited. When finally you'd finished, he grinned at you, eyes sparkling.
"I couldn't have put it better myself. Very well then, Purr Loin, what do you do to prepare for the heist? How do you approach your goal?

You lean forward and rest your muzzle on your hooves, deep in thought. You think aloud and test the waters for your scheme carefully, very carefully.

“So, as you said, the brothel is likely to be heavily guarded, with many patrons coming and going, making straight-forward stealth difficult. Also, physically, my character is… Built for dexterity, not might. Slim, nimble, flexible- I could take out a single sentry, maybe even two or three if I had the drop on them, but a full frontal assault is out of the question.”

Shining Armor affirms your reasoning without looking up, scribbling notes and flipping through pages of the Monstrous Manual II, seemingly preparing the interior of the brothel and what you will find inside. “Uh-huh, of course.”

“Getting inside the building isn’t an issue. With my lean, agile body, I could easily climb through a window, or look for entry from the roof. But inside, I can’t rely on there being many open spaces with opportunities to move about unseen with my acrobatics. Fortunately, my character is oozing with charisma, and trained in the social skills, including bluff. So it seems to me that getting a disguise and infiltrating the brothel is the way forward.

It would be trivial to get in posing as a patron, but my movement would be limited, and I would be scrutinised if I delayed in hiring a… Lady, for her services. But similarly, with my unimposing figure, passing as a bouncer or other criminal thug would be difficult. I’d expect there to be some kind of penalty to my checks, at least.”

Shining Armor nods slowly as he works. “Yeah, you took the words out of my mouth. So what do you propose?”

You smile. “Simple. With some make-up and some easily-obtained alterations to my outfit to protect some-but-not-too-much of my modesty and leave the rest to the imagination, I can infiltrate the brothel disguised as a mare of the night.”

Shining finally looks up to stare you in the face, with a neutral expression you can’t quite read. For a long, horrible few moments, you think you might have blown it.

“Are you saying you’re going to sneak into the brothel… Dressed as a whore?”

You determinedly swallow the sudden sickening wave of embarrassment and don’t break away from Shining’s big, blue eyes. You’ve obviously pushed this too far. It’s time for damage control.

“Well… Yeah. But only if, like, you know, it’s not… But don’t worry, never mind, I can just-“
“Cool. Awesome.”
“Cool… Awesome?”

Shining smirks a smirk you might dare to describe as ‘coy’, and rustles some papers behind his screen. “Do you mind if we skim over the acquisition of the make-up and outfit? Just roll for streetwise against a difficulty class of… Oh… Ten? And we’ll add the margin of success to your bluff check. The cost of the ensemble will be that margin of success, multiplied by ten in gemcoins.”

You’re slightly stunned, your heart still racing a mile a minute, but you still take a couple of twenty-sided dice from your bag and toss them down the table- the rumbling of plastic on wood like a drumroll.
“What’s the margin?”

You are yanked from your reverie of disbelief by the most beautiful pair of digits any roleplayer can encounter in a d20 system like Oubliettes and Ogres, and raise your hooves above your head and yell in triumph.

“Natural fucking twenty! Get in there!”

Grinning that beautiful grin of his, Shining stands to lean over the screen to check your die.
“Magnificent. And what’s the margin?”

It’s your turn to grin, leaning back self-assuredly in your chair, all nerves forgotten.
“Twenty, also. It’s not quite min-maxing exactly, but with these characteristics and my ranks in streetwise, I was already looking at a flat plus-ten modifier.”

Shining Armor laughs softly to himself and shakes his head, checking something in his notes. “I don’t think you’re going to have any problem rolling bluff against anyone to appear to be a courtesan. If anything, I’d have to give you a bonus to diplomacy, when… Dealing with the opposite gender, for as long as you maintain the disguise.” He sits up straight and magically places a miniature on the tiles to represent you- a female, you notice. “Although I’ll warn you now that the bonus to bluff won’t apply for anything other than appearing to be a prostitute, and your critical success may mean… Unwanted attention, in the future.” For a moment you think you see him wink, but you disregard the thought, as he still seems to be scanning through his notes.

“Anyway. You are, in short, the essence of alluring femininity. The sheer, exotic fabric of your dress is a scandalously cut crimson silk, prepared by one of the finest tailors of the unicorn elite to the measurements you provided, but subsequently pinched before it's 'recipient' could pick it up. A heavier red hood hides your horn expertly in its folds, leaving your expertly painted face very visible. Exotic (yet suggestively tantalising) golden jewelry completes the outfit- earrings, bracelets, a necklace, and so on.” Shining Armor looks up, into your eyes, as he finishes. “You are beautiful, and stunning, and you rightly draw the adoring gaze of any nearby stallions.”

You break away, trying furiously to suppress a blush and a nervous laugh. You wish you knew what was going on in Shining’s head right now- whether he’s just getting into the game, or… If he could possibly be…
“All in all, the entire thing has set you back a grand total of two-hundred gemcoins; just under a quarter of this job’s payoff, and enough to feed a starving family of earthponies and pegasi- of which there are many. It’s a good thing you’re just doing this for kicks.”

You both share a chuckle, before Shining clears his throat, indicating it's finally time to get started with the nitty-gritty.

"It is late at night, and the time has come to rock the Stablereach criminal underworld to it's core. You are however far away from the front entrance to the brothel that is necessary for you to see but not be seen, surveying the scene and turning down unflattering propositions from passing stallions. A single burly pegasi bouncer mans the front door, letting in those who can produce and show their hard-earned spending money brought for the mares, and turning away the marginally poorer who just wanted to try their luck at talking their way in.

There is also a back alley you could slip into, though from here you can't tell whether there is a way inside that is clear, or you could take an indirect route across the flat, bleak rooftops and find a window to slip through. How do you make your approach?"

You make a frank, pouty expression. “Well, I paid enough for this disguise- might as well get as much use out of it as I can. Purr Loin struts up to the bouncer, ignoring the line entirely but shaking his flank enough to ensure nobody minds, and tries to walk right past him.”

Shining Armor speaks up. “All right. He steps into your path. He is thickly built, with pronounced, bold muscles, and towers over you.” Shining Armor stands from his chair and leans across the small table to peer down at you, emphasising this. “He says, in a thick, deep voice ‘if you’ll ‘scuse me, miss, I don’t think I’ve seen you workin’ ‘ere before’”.

You’ll play his game. “Purr Loin leans closely into the bouncer’s body, brushing his neck with his mane.” You stand from your chair too, leaning into Shining before he can react, and whispering into his ear. Just for emphasis. “Purr Loin then says ‘oh, it’s only my first day. I was told I needed to go talk to the man in charge first… I’m sorry I’m a little late - you won’t tell anybody… Will you?’”

Shining leans his head back, so that your faces are inches apart, and looks you dead on with his own narrowed eyes and a crude, confident smirk. “Maybe. ‘Ow ‘bout you give me a lil’ kiss to remember you by, an’ let me know when you get off.”

Shining Armor is obviously playing chicken with you, and you’ll be damned if you’ll break character first.

Leaning forward, you press your lips into his, sliding them together as you turn your head sideways and close your eyes, experiencing the sensation as keenly and intensely as you can manage. Shining Armor reaches one hoof up to stroke your cheek, his own white coat brushing warmly over yours, and lowers it down, past your jaw, to rest between your neck and shoulder, holding you steady.

His lips part and a slick, warm pressure builds against your own. With only a moment’s pause, you open your mouth to let his tongue inside, meeting him with your own, putting up only token resistance before letting his tongue dance with yours, and begin to explore your mouth at his fancy.

Too soon, he withdraws, leaving his taste behind- the ghost of his presence. He sits back in his chair, obviously pleased with himself, and you do the same- though panting with desire for air, and something else. “I get off… Quick. And hard.”

Shining laughs again, laying back in his chair, finding some paper or some rulebook to occupy his attention for the moment. “I think… That’s definitely worth a bit of roleplaying experience. Take ten, plus fifty for passing the encounter.”

You do a wavy, rhythmic half-dance in your chair, in triumph, and pencil in the gain. “How about a roll for thievery to see if I lifted anything from him during the… Exchange?” You roll a d20 before Shining has even nodded in the affirmative. “Huh. Nine total. Is that going to be enough?”

Shining glances at the die, and back to you. “You get a plus-five modifier for the… Expert distraction. You find that the coin-purse you lifted with the magic from your concealed horn and carried in with you beneath your dress contains twenty-two gemcoins- most likely from the evening’s bribes.”

You note the additional gold on your sheet along with the experience. “Anything else?”

He thinks for just a second. “Oh, yes actually! Before letting you go, the bouncer tells you to speak to the bartender, who will show you where to find the manager. You follow the corridor from the front entrance to a large hall, probably taking up most of the building above-ground. It’s decorated in deep reds and crimsons, with impressive masonry, exotic-looking dark woodwork, and an exquisite brass chandelier.

The floor is variably spotted with futons, armchairs, loveseats, and enormous cushions where male patrons of all sizes, shapes and colours are drinking and being entertained by female company- before being dragged to one of the adjoining rooms for their money’s worth. You note, with a small degree of pride, that none of the mares here even compare to you. Most are dressed in gaudy but clearly low-priced clothes, inexpertly plastered with cheap or excessive make-up, and a few more are approaching middle age.

Your form turns heads, and expressions of male desire and female jealousy follow you everywhere. You note maybe a dozen thugs standing around the room, looking for signs of trouble- though some are plain-clothed in a painfully obvious attempt to blend in, none of the mares in the room are bothering with them, and they all stick out like big, swollen hoofs.

You see the long bar, seemingly ripped whole from some prosperous upper-city inn and transplanted here, and the bartender- and the bartender sees you. He’s the only unicorn staff member you’ve seen here, and one of the few unicorns in the room, along with a handful of middle-class merchants with enough money that they’re probably here spending it often, and not enough reputation that it would be a risk for them to be seen in a place like this.

He’s the handsome, well-groomed type- but big enough that he’s clearly seen his own share of fights, and come out on top. What do you do?”

You scratch your muzzle for a few moments, assembling words into sentences in your head, and narrate back at Shining.
"Purr Loin leans on the bar, and meets the bartender's eyes. In a sultry, alluring feminine voice he says 'hey there- what's a big, handsome man like you doing on the wrong side of the counter?', and gives him a coy smirk."

You follow this up with a coy smirk of your own, which Shining Armor returns as he slips into character.
"Well, earth ponies and pegasi may know the best way to throw a rowdy customer out on his ass, or run a gentlepony's club such as this one like a well-oiled machine, but mixing drinks is one thing that is best left to those with a magical touch... And there are a few perks to the position- not least the opportunity to meet such visions of loveliness as yourself."

You find yourself blushing, despite yourself, but quickly get a handle back on your character.

"Well, you'll be seeing a lot more of this vision of loveliness in the future, if that's the case. I was told you could show me the way to the manager so we can discuss my employment." Shining Armor pouts and frowns in a mock display of disappointment, presumably matched by the Bartender.

"Well, I certainly could, but it would be nothing short of self-harm to wilfully deprive myself of your... Bewitching presence, my dear lady." Shining leans over his screen and across the table to whisper in your ear, and you lean forward to oblige him. Though outwardly oozing the confidence and charm of a veteran roleplayer, this close to him you can detect his subtle shivers of nervousness and anticipation. "... But perhaps I could bear the burden of parting with you, if you were to slip beneath the bar for a few minutes and... Give me something to remember you by, hmm?"

Your heart lurches, but you hide it behind the disciplined, in-control façade of Purr Loins, master thief... Behind the façade of a radiant, sultry mistress-for-hire. The two of you sit back into your chairs, but you go even further, pushing your chair away ready to drop down beneath the table. Seeing you do so, Shining can't contain his excitement and disbelief at his own good fortune, and an eager, hopeful schoolboy grin cracks through his suave masquerade. It's the last you see of his face before disappearing, but not the last you see of him.
"A few whole minutes? I'm almost offended..."

Thankfully, you don't have to crawl more than a foot or so before your face is mere inches from Shining's already rock-hard member- and oh Solaris, yes, you can smell his musk from here. Gently touching the tip of your muzzle to the meeting point of his plump, full sack and throbbing rod, you gently, slowly, run your nose up his length, over the medial ring, right to the tip of his flared head, sniffing in deeply- and feel an electric jolt leap through his body, and a short gasp from Shining, somewhere above you. The thick, cloying scent of this astonishing male specimen gradually fills you up, sending a warming tingle of anticipation and need to every tip of your being, and you let out an audible, rattling sigh of satisfaction. You idly wonder how long he's been gaming with a raging erection, before noticing Shining's left leg shivering violently.

You still his involuntary shudders with a hoof, and Shining jumps again with surprise and anxiousness. He really does need to just relax a bit... And you're going to help him with that.

You place your other hoof on his other hind leg- another, much smaller jolt this time- and push them apart, widening the gap between them until Shining is sitting practically splay-legged in his chair. You scoot forward again, as far as you can go, until you're entirely knelt between Shining's legs, with your head, arms and torso out from beneath the table and practically in his lap. Then, inching forward, you plant one, long, audible smooch on the end of his cock, moist lips pressed keenly onto his sensitive, throbbing flesh slick with musky, slightly-salty pre. The kiss drags on, and you look up with puppy-dog eyes at Shining- so incapacitated by pleasure and relief that his eyes are rolled back and flickering, mumbling as he struggles to wrap his mouth around coherent words with anything approaching the skill with which yours is wrapped around his dick.

"Y-Yes... Oh... Oh, S-Solaris, yes..."

There's a surge of real, pure joy in your heart at seeing him so contented that fills you with a warmth like intense sunbeams, in such a way the so, so delicious but completely physical smell and taste of him could not. You've wanted to see him like this, for you, for so long now... You wonder just how long it has been since Shining has been truly satisfied?

Enough games.

Casting your eyes back down at your task, you throw your head up, take a deep breath, and throw your face down onto him.

You make it about half-way down his thick, hot, meaty, pulsating shaft before resistance forces you to stop. And all of a sudden, the flavour- oh, the flavour- washes through your mouth, exploding over your tongue as intensely as pleasure must be exploding through Shining's suddenly quivering body. Above you, Shining Armor half-gasps, half-moans, and half-screams in overwhelming ecstasy and you can't help but smile around the steaming hot slab of flesh occupying your mouth and poking into the edge of your throat. That taste, you remind yourself, is the taste of Shining Armor...

You linger, savouring it for just a moment before pulling up again, feeling as Shining's stallionhood slips through your lips, caressing over your tongue and smothering it with that flavour, and sliding over the inside of both cheeks, on account of it's truly remarkable breadth. It's definitely not your first time with another stallion, but you've never been with one like this before. You've never felt like this before.

You pull up enough to comfortably slip another breath through your nostrils, before forcing yourself back down- deliberately, persistently- feeling, with satisfaction, the head of Shining's cock as it pops through the entrance to your throat, and slides with a relative lack of difficulty down, down your throat. You note the peculiar sensation of your throat physically bulging as it progresses, and internally thank the prince of the night that you were blessed with extraordinary lung capacity, after many, many long nights of practice. You knew all those evenings spent at the pool would pay off when you grew up, but perhaps it was not in the way you expected.

Finally, all you can see is immaculate, fuzzy white fur, and a close-up of Shining's flat belly as your nose presses into it. Boop.
Bottomed out completely on Shining Armor's spear of flesh, your mouth and throat hugging it in it's entirety, you revel in the feeling of fullness- and then, first lifting your head up and back until Shining's flared head has almost left your throat, you then slam your face back down, swallowing it down entirely again. And then again, faster. And again, faster still.

The response from Shining is continuous, pronounced and very, very audible, his frenzied moans reverberating around the room accompanied by the lewd slurping and smacking noises of your mouth on his member- then, with a momentary surprise, you feel both of his front hooves wrapped around the back of your neck. For a moment you think Shining is face-fucking you, but you then realise it's as much as he can do to hold on for dear life as he is pistoned in and out of you, his entire body convulsing uncontrollably with pleasure.

All too soon, desperate, pleading words emerge through his symphony of carnal bliss.
"I-I can't... Can't... Gonna..."
You withdraw in one swift motion, the sudden wave of stimulation pushing Shining over the edge with a final orgasmic cry of ecstasy, and as you do so you wrap your forelegs around the breadth of his cock and squeeze it close, firmly. You pull yourself back far enough for his flare to slip free of your throat, but not from your lips, and start furiously pumping him to fruition in the love-hug between your crossed hooves and your chest. You resolve that you are not going to waste a single drop of this stallion's seed- not one.

His rigid length shudders and tenses in your embrace, you're aware of his balls clenching violently, and then a flood of hot slimy, creamy, salty, white nectar surges forth into your mouth, filling it in moments with a taste so intense you almost believe you'll be unable to taste anything else but this ever again. You swallow it down furiously, barely in time before another whole mouthful is spurted into you to replace it, and then another. You drink it all down, desperately, feeling the blazing fluid spilling down your gullet and filling you up inside. Your cheeks swell out close to bursting, and you scrunch your eyes shut in concentration, as the moments drag on and Shining pours more and more of his seed into you, and you consume it dutifully, greedily.

Finally, the torrent subsides, and a twitching, spent Shining Armor lies slack in his chair, panting quietly as you let his rapidly-softening member loose from your mouth and rest your head on his thighs, also gasping, but managing to gently lick him clean with your tongue between bids for more air. You rest like this for a while before anybody can summon the effort to say anything.

"... I think... that's worth fifty extra experience for roleplaying..."

"... Uh... Huh..."

"... And it's fifty... For the encounter... So... One hundred total..."

"Swee-... Sweet..."

"And let's say ten more... For swallowing."

With time, the two of you disentangle yourselves and, unwilling to make the effort to make the effort to go out for lunch or cook something yourselves, agree on ordering pizza. Not wanting to pick up the game again until you can be sure you won't be interrupted by a delivery pony ringing the doorbell, you wait in relative silence. Not awkward silence, or regretful silence- simply the satisfied silence of nothing needing to be said.

Or so you do until, looking into the middle distance and smiling at nothing in particular, Shining decides to share his thoughts.

"I never imagined it like that."

You turn to face him from your position laid back against the arm of your beaten and worn grey-blue sofa and smile softly, not sure what you can really say in response.

"I mean... I never imagined it making you feel so... Well, incredible." Shining shifts uncomfortably in your favourite armchair, with the look of someone already embarking on a line that they knew sounded better in their head. "Y-Your mouth, I mean. Any mouth. But not, like, any mouth, just... You know. A mouth."

You frown slightly, certainly not in disapproval but rather in uncertainty, reading into his words. "Shining, you don't mean that was the first time someone... Well, sucked your dick?" You sit up slightly, waiting for some indication from him, but his silent wince and ambiguous wiggling of the head from side-to-side is all the confirmation you need. "Are you serious? Didn't you fall in... Well, you know, hook up with Cadence in high school?"

Now it was Shining Armor's turn to make an incredulous expression. "What, you're talking about Cadence the alicorn princess? Eventual ruler of the Crystal Empire? That Cadence?"
You audibly scoff and fix Shining's gaze with disbelief "Yeah, and princess of love, or whatever! Do you honestly mean to say she's this chaste, proper, regal figure even when you're alone together?" Shining Armor breaks away from your stare, and looks the opposite way as he talks.

"I guess it all looks rather perfect from the outside, right? A beautiful princess, and a brave, honourable, strong, virile royal guard- heck, captain of the royal guard." You frown harder, but more sympathetically, trying to discern where Shining is headed with this. "Stuck together tightly through all adversity and conflict with forces of Evil, joined in wedlock, we even have a kingdom of our own now. An empire." You listen silently as Shining pauses, and eventually he carries on. "All that's really missing from the picture is a beautiful baby colt, or filly. Or both. And not for lack of trying, and we did try, many times- although only the heavens themselves know the... Physical difficulties we've had to overcome to even get that far." He chuckles, almost bitterly. "Evidently not difficulties I have when I'm with you, though. Just my body betraying me... In more ways than one, as it turns out."

You're stunned, and can only sit and listen as it all comes pouring out. You detect a quiver in Shining's voice, but nothing more emotionally telling than that for the time being.

"In the end, it was just bad luck, the doctors said. Nobody's fault- certainly not mine. They said I was probably born that way, and never had reason to suspect. It's almost funny, really. I'd vied for her, fought for her, would have died for her... But in the end, she didn't get the last thing she needed from me. The one thing I couldn't give her- that I actually, medically, never could have given her." You hear him sigh, and mutter under his breath. "Bad luck."

It's now your way to turn your head away with embarrassment, just trying to process the information Shining has just offloaded on you- and the astonishing trust he's demonstrating he has for you.

"You were going to say I fell in love." You look back, responding slowly, and blink uncomprehendingly for a moment. "When you said we hooked up in High School. You were going to say that's when I fell in love with her." His voice seems softer now. More tired. For the first time, you find yourself considering just how big a risk Shining took... Playing with you. How big a scandal it would be if it got out.

"Well... Didn't you?"
"Undoubtedly. Mi Amore Cadenza is the only mare I have ever loved. The only one I have ever had feelings for."
His words sting more than you, reasonably, know they should. "... Yeah..."
"No. No, you don't get it- I really mean it. She was the first, and the last, mare I ever felt like that for. The only mare."
You look at him straight on, mouth open slightly, unsure if what he's saying is deliberately meant to hurt you.
"... But not the first pony. Absolutely not the first pony. I had my stupid boyhood crushes and flings like anybody else. Quietly, of course. Never amounting to much. Then, out of nowhere, it was her. And only her. The most confusing and conflicting time of my life."
You stare at him in concentration, still lost, but starting to piece together the first coherent shapes of meaning.

"So... What does that mean?"
Shining shrugs, and slumps lower into the armchair.
"That our attraction, our love, the foundation for our marriage- some would say the truest, most beautiful, and most ideally matched marriage in memorable Equestrian history- sprung out of nothing, practically at first sight? And now has faded, almost as suddenly and unpredictably, as soon as it became clear that I could never give her the last thing she really needed from me?"
He bows his head, resting his chin on his chest, and obscuring his eyes from your view behind his vibrant blue mane.
"... And I can't help but think of the way I've seen her use her magic on people. Strangers, people who had never even met..."

You jolt up in your seat, propping yourself up on your forehooves. "Shining, you're not implying-"

The doorbell, a chirpy novelty tune that seemed like a funny idea when you had it installed, rings throughout the house suddenly- bringing your blood to boil with the injustice and inappropriateness of it's timing and it's joviality. You leap to your hooves and storm towards the door, possessed by a sudden righteous, directionless anger, and Shining gets up too and canters up to stop you, placing himself between you and the door with a hoof on your shoulder and a kind, grateful smile.

"Wait, wait, hold on. I'm paying for it."
You try to hold onto your anger, but you feel it melting away at his touch.
"L-Like Tartarus you are!"
"It's your home. You let me have the game here. It's the least I can do. Please."
You hear as that infuriatingly stupid, stupid tune dances around the house again. You smile up at him, fighting back tears on his behalf.
"... I'll get plates."

You trot back towards the kitchen and do as you said, hearing dimly as Shining Armor opens the door, and just registering the words 'twenty bits, plus tip'.