"Your turn," said Cadance, trying to hold back more laughter.

Shining put a hoof to his chin and thought of a secret. Then he said, "I've... hmm. Remember that algebra class in the first year?"

"Pffft," she muttered. "Barely." She had hardly even noticed the question.

"I might've cheated on one of the tests," said Shining sheepishly.

This got a single sudden burst of laughter out of Cadance. "Oh really."

"It was really frustrating!" cried Shining. "I was never exactly a [i]pro[/i] at math, but that one was ridiculous!"

"Okay, okay," said Cadance. "If you say so. Always took you for more of a history student." She planted a loving kiss on his neck. "My turn?"

Shining's ears perked up. "Aw yeah! This'll be another juicy one."

"I kissed another filly once," she nearly whispered, teasingly. "Quite a few years ago, before we met."

Shining blushed as if on command. "D-did you like it?" he asked.

"Not really," said Cadance in a matter-of-fact way. "She was nice, but I didn't really get anything out of it. It was really weird, because I thought it'd be like kissing a colt, but it just wasn't the same."

Shining squirmed just a little bit, then said, "I guess it's my turn now."

"Yep," said Cadance.

"Um..." Shining hesitated, and Cadance saw his blush deepen. "I've never kissed a colt before."

A few seconds passed in silence, and all Cadance could think was, [i]Wait, that's it?[/i] 

"That's not much of a secret," she said dismissively. "Most colts I know have never kissed other colts."

"N-no," said Shining. "What I mean to say is that I've [i]wanted[/i] to kiss a colt, but... uh... I never could."

[i]Now hold on just a second...[/i]

Cadance raised an eyebrow and said, "So let me get this straight. We've been dating since pretty much the start of high school—"

"Almost three years, y-yeah," Shining muttered.

"And in all that time, you never thought to tell me you were also into colt-cuddling?" Cadance, if she was being honest with herself, felt a lot more perplexed than annoyed.

"H-hey, that's not fair," Shining retorted. "I've never done any colt-cuddling myself."

Cadance's nose scrunched up. "But you [i]want[/i] to."

"Only occasionally," said Shining. "Usually I'm more than happy to be with you!" He sounded sincere, if also defensive about it. "It's like an itch, you know. A mild one, but still."

All Cadance could do in that moment was sigh.

[hr]

Being with Shining became considerably more awkward after that point.

For several days, Cadance wandered around her personal library, thinking over how she could've treated her boyfriend better under the circumstances. "Ugh," she griped. "I might've given him the wrong impression."

[i]Yeah, duh[/i], she thought to herself, or rather against herself.

"It's not that I mind the fact that he's attracted to colts. I know he still loves me," she said with confidence. "Oh yeah, I can [i]feel[/i] that he loves me."

[i]You'd think the Princess of Love would be okay with ponies who swing both ways.[/i]

"I [i]am[/i] okay with that!" she protested. "I just don't like the fact that he never thought to make it known to me. It's like he was hiding a part of himself from me or something."

[i]You don't like it when it's a colt who likes another colt.[/i]

"No," she said firmly. "I want to make him feel better. He never got to kiss a colt. He doesn't know what it feels like—how it feels different. I mean, [i]I[/i] know what it's like to kiss a colt, but I'm a filly, so it's not the same."

[i]Would you let him experiment? Maybe open up the relationship?[/i]

Cadance chuckled. "Please." But then a moment passed, and an idea popped into her head. "Unless... I could make it work in some other way. To let him have that experience, but without having him be with somepony who isn't me." She thought about all the spells she knew, and more importantly all the spells she [i]didn't[/i] know. Anything was possible with magic, so there had to be some kind of solution.

[i]Good thing I'm a genius[/i], she thought with a grin.

[hr]

Cadance had to resist the urge to clear his throat as he knocked on Shining's door. [i]The things I do for love[/i], he thought. Ever since the spell took effect he thought he had come down with an abnormally bad cold with how he sounded; it was indeed strange, sporting a baritone now.

"Uh, Shiny?" he said hesitantly. "It's Cadance." He coughed again.

Shining opened the door, and immediately his face distorted in semi-disbelief. "Um..." He looked up and down Cadance's form with heavy skepticism. "Is this a joke? Am I being pranked right now?"

[i]This was a mistake[/i], Cadance thought, his heart sinking.

"No, Shiny, it's me," said Cadance. "Can I please come in?"

After an agonizing moment, Shining let his—boyfriend?—inside, and it occurred to Cadance that he was a good deal taller than Shining now. Whereas previously the two had met at about eye level, one side now clearly dominated the other.

Cadance sensed his boyfriend eyeing him intensely, as if waiting for him to make a wrong move. He then said, "Ever since you said you never got to kiss another colt, I considered a few things..."

"So it [i]is[/i] you," said Shining, slightly baffled. "Wait, what the heck did you do to yourself?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Cadance examined his own muscled shoulders and forelegs. "I'm a colt now. For about ninety minutes, according to what the spell book said."

Shining's cheeks rushed with blood, and suddenly his demeanor changed. "How does it... um... feel to be like that? Does it feel any different?"

"[i]Really[/i] different," admitted Cadance. "This is uncharted territory for me, and let me tell you, it feels so weird. But not in a bad way. I'm still me, after all." Without thinking, Cadance leaned in and gave Shining a brief peck on the lips, which normally wouldn't have meant much—except...

Shining stood in place, as if frozen, for a few seconds.

Cadance realized what he did and said, "Oh, I'm sorry! I thought that I'd make your first colt-on-colt kiss special, and... I think I just blew it." [i]Not even sure if that kiss felt good[/i], he thought bitterly.

But then Shining composed himself and said, "You can do that again. B-but... not as quick."

"Okay." Feeling his heart speed up, Cadance pressed his lips against Shining's, with more care this time. At first he worried Shining wouldn't reciprocate, but then he felt the tip of Shining's tongue gently push apart his lips. The air in the room grew quite humid, and Cadance's heart sped up even more as his tongue started intertwining with his boyfriend's, their heated breaths intermingling. Cadance started feeling a sensation he had literally never felt before—an immense heat in his loins that made him want to [i]take[/i] Shining.

And he would. He could smell the pungent scent of his own sweat, and he loved it.

At some point during their kisses, Shining said quietly, "W-we can keep going." He practically melted in Cadance's hooves, more submissive now than he had ever been in their relationship up to this point.

Cadance said nothing in return, instead taking command and guiding Shining to his bedroom, where the two colts would explore each other's bodies.

[hr]

Much later, after all was said and done, Cadance would think to herself, [i]Wait... do I [b]like[/b] being a stallion?[/i]