> Red Shoe Diaries: Equestria
>  by Vic Fontaine
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Episode 1 - Old, New, Borrowed, and Blue (Fluttershy-Big Mac)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Dear Red Shoes,

It's a timeless phrase - ‘Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue’.

Besides good weather, every mare is supposed to have these with her on her wedding day, or so they say. I never really understood their importance among the millions of huge tasks that go into planning a wedding, but the funny thing is, you feel like something is missing until you have those four little details in hoof...





I had it all planned out; my grandmother’s locket around my neck as I walked down the aisle in a shimmering white dress that only Rarity could have designed… My mother’s snow-white, sheer veil hiding my cyan eyes and my furious blush as each hoof fall brought me closer to the stallion of my dreams. As for the blue… Well - oh, I really shouldn’t be writing this down at all - let’s just say that Rarity would have made sure I had a coordinating piece to go with the garter. Put simply, it was the wedding of my dreams. Years of stolen glances and missed opportunities finally became a lunch date, and after three years and a proposal on the banks of our favorite creek, it was all only two months away.

Then the letter arrived, and our plans were swept away in an instant.

The Diamond Dogs had formed an alliance with the Timberwolves, and they were attacking towns and villages all along the borders of the Everfree forest. The Royal Guard had been mobilized, but the sheer size of the forest and its borders would have forced the Guard to sacrifice one town’s protection in order to save another. So, for the first time in generations, the Princesses had activated the Kingdom Guard to aid in Equestria’s defense.

The Ponyville unit was to report in less than a week.

I went from frenetic and worried to panic and tears in an instant. I- I would have been so embarrassed, if I wasn’t a sobbing, blubbering mess. He must have assured me a thousand times that he would be alright, that the Kingdom Guard played more of a support role, rather than fight on the frontlines. I believed him, truly I did. 

But I knew he couldn’t really make that promise; I abhor violence, yet even I knew that anything can happen in a war; that no matter how careful he was, all of our plans - all of our dreams - could be broken forever. I brushed a lock of my tear-stained mane from my face, and as I stared into his seemingly endless green eyes, I think we both knew exactly what to do next.

        A few frantic hours later we were trotting in the doors of the Town Hall with less than an hour to spare before they closed for the day. We pledged ourselves to each other in a dress borrowed from the back of Rarity’s studio and the only suit in the tailor’s shop that he could afford, surrounded by Mayor Mare and as many friends as Pinkie could gather on a moment’s notice.

        To call it crazy would be an understatement, and it definitely wasn’t what either of us had in mind, but we were married - and that’s all that I wanted to focus on as I stared at my reflection in the bathroom mirror.

“I’m sorry it wasn’t everything you wanted.”

I sighed gently as I felt his, no, my husband’s hoof lay across my withers. We both stared into the mirror, and for a moment, the world seemed to freeze in place. All I could feel was the strong rhythm of his heartbeat against my side, his warm breath gently tickling my long mane, his soft lips planting tiny nibbles on the tips of my ears.

“Hmm… Not exactly,” I whispered, “but it’s enough.” His kisses continued down my ears to the base of my neck, and I could already feel my coat warming under his touch. 

His hooves began to play softly over my body with a grace and precision that belied the rough farm work that they performed every day. Brute force was his tool of choice for nearly everything, but as a divine mixture of kisses and caresses made their way onto my back, he felt as gentle and meek as one of my animal friends. 

I stared at him through the mirror and soaked in the view as his lips and hooves took their time dancing over my yellow coat. His delicate touch enacted a kind of erotic torture on me, passing just close enough to the base of my wings to send blood rushing to them before pulling away again. A shiver ran down my spine as I slowly opened a wing and draped it over his neck, drawing his warmth closer to me.

“Mmm… Ohh…” I couldn’t help but moan as his hooves brushed through my secondary feathers before teasing my primaries. I never flew more than I needed to, so my wings were not nearly as broad or strong as most other pegasi, but under his touch, they turned into arrays of concentrated, raw pleasure in mere seconds. “O– Ah!” A shot of electricity shot right through me as he drew a hoof down my belly and brushed my nipples, and it took nearly all of my willpower to not collapse on the spot.

My tail began swishing back and forth as he continued his slow, almost reverent assault on my body. A haze of pure love and lust clouded my mind more with each touch, each kiss, each nibble. We had - oh, I shouldn’t write this either - we had been intimate before, but not like this. Not as husband and wife, bound together forever. Before, it was always rushed, but now… Now we could let go and fall completely into the depths of passion that we held for each other.

He stepped behind me as his hooves traveled past my still-tingling wings and down my lower back. “Mmhm…” I whimpered and moaned as each touch of his lips sent another shiver up my spine. My heart was racing faster than I had ever felt, my nerves were on fire, and my wings were nearly frozen in place with arousal, but - Celestia help me - it felt so good. 

“Yes… Please don't stop…” I leaned my rump into his chest to draw him closer still, and as he leaned further over my back, my tail dipped underneath his barrel to brush the tip of his member. He was already unsheathed, and I could feel his shudder reverberate through me as I let the end of my tail brush along his entire length. He was ready, and judging by the dribble of arousal I could feel flowing onto my inner thighs, I was as well. 

“O-oh… Y-yes!“ I nearly melted on the spot as he planted a deep kiss on my flank while his free hoof brushed across my already-dripping marehood. The desire to lean onto the vanity and present to him right there was nearly overwhelming, but somehow a moment of clarity broke through the back of my lust-filled mind, and I managed to find my voice for a moment.

“W-we never got anything blue, you know.”

He turned me around and looked right into my eyes. My breath caught in my throat as I stared back, our eyes lost in a mixture of barely restrained passion and endless love. “Nnope. Got it covered.” In one motion, he scooped me up onto his broad shoulders and carried me to the bedroom. He turned to the side as he entered and I saw a luxurious, blue blanket laying across the modest bed.

“Miss Rarity told me that seeing your dress beforehand was bad luck, so I wandered to Lyra’s store to pass the time while you tried on dresses. She didn’t have any garters,” he chuckled as he kissed me, “but I thought this would still count.”

I smiled and kissed him back, slowly parting his red lips with my tongue. “Mmm, that's very sweet- Eek!” I squeaked at the sudden movement, but his grip never faltered as he rolled me off his shoulders and slowly lowered me to the bed. The blanket’s soft, light-blue fabric felt like silk against me as I nestled my back into it and let my wings unfurl once more. My hind legs parted instantly as he slowly lowered himself onto me. My breaths were nearly ragged from the adrenaline racing through me; the raging fire in my veins - and the heat from my soaked core - screamed as one for release. As our hooves entwined, I looked up into my husband’s gentle, powerful eyes. "I love you, Macintosh Apple."

He wrapped a hoof through my mane and raised my lips to his in a slow, fiery kiss, and I whimpered helplessly as my very being surrendered completely to his loving embrace. He broke the kiss with a final twist of his tongue and looked down at me with a smoldering gleam in his eyes.

"And I love you, Fluttershy."

I pulled him closer and kissed him again. My entire body - from my wings to my hooves - quivered as my hips flexed against him, and a tidal wave of unbridled love tore through my veins as my center brushed against his erection. “Please, take me. Now.”

My heart exploded as I felt him enter my glistening core and fully claim me as his own, and as a cry of ecstasy ripped through me, I couldn't help but smile as one final thought crossed my mind...

Something blue indeed.





Thankfully, the war was short-lived, and peace was restored to the lands around the Everfree in a few months. We never did get around to holding the formal ceremony that we had been planning, but looking back on it, I'm glad that we didn't. That borrowed dress, the used suit, and of course the new, blue blanket... They mean more to me - to us - than any fancy party or custom-tailored suit.

Perhaps what 'they' never said though, is that sometimes it's not the items themselves that are important, but where they came from...
> Episode 2 - Fringe Benefits (Cadance-Shining Armor)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Dear Red Shoes,

Most ponies think that having a foal-sitter available is a win-win for everypony; except for the sitter, of course. Parents get a night on the town, older siblings have an excuse to go out with friends, and the sitter is left to handle the cranky, tired foals. But if you think about it, the sitter gets a free meal, extra bits to spend, and plenty of quiet time when the foals are put to bed.

And, if you're really lucky, you also get to spy on the older sibling that always seems to have nowhere to go when you're around...





As Friday nights go, it had been a pretty typical evening for me. Come home, do some homework, freshen up, and head to the Sparkles' house to foalsit while they attended a board meeting at the Canterlot Observatory. For most ponies in the senior class at Canterlot High, this would sound a like a punishment worse than a three-hour lecture from Mrs. Harshwinny. But for me, it was no problem at all. Twilight was the easiest foal-sitting assignment I had ever had; she rarely misbehaved, ate all of her food, and seemed more interested in her dad's book collection than her huge bin of toys. In fact, the only time she'd ever get cranky is if I put her to bed without reading at least two stories to her - and tonight she was insisting on three.

I had just left her room to grab a book from the downstairs library when I noticed a light coming from the door at the other end of the hallway. "Hmm... I guess Shining Armor is still up." 

I had first met Shining when I transferred to Canterlot High two years ago, and while we were friendly with each other, most of our conversations occurred when I came over to foalsit his little sister. He was Captain of the Hoofball team and by far the most popular pony in our class, so you'd think he'd run out with his buddies the second I showed up, but Shining was different. He'd often stay home to play with little Twilight, or tidy up the house while his folks were away. Sometimes he'd just come downstairs and chat for a bit, just to get his mind off of his homework. He was really quite charming - and he had looks to match the charm too. The smooth voice, the bright blue mane, those broad, toned flanks... It was easy to see why every mare in school wanted to be with him, myself included.

I shook my head to regain some focus before creeping down the hall, stepping gingerly to avoid the two creaky spots in the wooden floor. Shining's door was all but closed, with just the thinnest ray of light glowing through the gap between the door and its frame. I thought I could hear him talking as I drew near the door, and I guess my curiosity won out over my manners, because instead of turning around, I stopped and leaned my ear close to the door...

"My Dearest Cadance- No, that's too melodramatic. Hmm... Dear Miss Cadenza- No, no, no; that sounds like a form letter..."

I quite literally had to bite my tongue to keep from gasping out-loud. Surely, I misheard that. My rational side insisted that I had misheard Shining's voice, and added rather emphatically that eavesdropping on other ponies was beyond rude. But I had to be sure. Even the possibility that I had heard that correctly was just too tempting to ignore. I cast a muffling spell on my hooves and leaned in as close as I dared.

"Come on, think Shining, think! You know what you want to say, just say it!" He paused then, and I could hear him tapping a hoof on what I could only guess was a desk or table of some kind. I had to remind myself to breathe while the seconds ticked by like hours.

"Alright, no fancy stuff; just stick to what worked before." I heard a quill clink against the side of an ink well and he began to think aloud as he wrote. "To the mare with a heart of gold..."

Oh stars, it's true! I thought as my eyes went as wide as dinner plates. Shining Armor was the pony leaving love notes in my locker the past couple of months. He could have had any mare in the school that he wanted - probably more than one if he was so inclined. Yet here he was writing love notes to me... It was almost too good to be true. I knew that if I stayed there too long I'd be discovered, or Twilight would start calling after me. But he kept talking, and I could only keep listening.

"I think about you nearly all the time, yet it is only through these letters that I have been able to express my feelings. Thoughts of you occupy my mind all day, like the most beautiful of distractions..."

My pulse grew quicker with each word from his mouth, each scratch of quill on parchment.

"Yet I am almost afraid to know what you'd say if you knew the truth. What would you do if I told you that I long for much more than just idle conversations between classes?"

I was stunned; not only was he behind the letters, but he was serious. He wanted me. My heart was hammering in my chest; it took all of my willpower to stop myself from running in there and kissing him without a single word. But I knew if I stayed much longer, Twilight would start crying, and I'd be exposed in an instant. I reluctantly turned away, but before I stepped back, I heard his voice one more time.

"Could you even look at me if I told you that visions of you - of us - fill my every fantasy?"

I glanced back at the door and smiled. Oh, I could, Shining. And then some.





My heart began racing the minute I heard Twilight's bedroom door click shut behind me. She had insisted that she could make it through a third book, but as I expected, she fell asleep only fifteen minutes into Starswirl: the Lost Chapters. Satisfied that she was sleeping soundly, I quietly made my way down the hall to Shining's room. The light was still on, but I couldn't hear anything else as I pressed an ear to the door once again. My rational side was yelling at me on the inside, trying to talk me out of going in there, but my heart - and my haunches - would not be denied; not after what I had learned earlier. Before I could second-guess myself, I took a deep breath and nudged the door open.

Shining was still at his desk, presumably still working on that same letter. I stood there for a moment and watched as his quill danced across the parchment, secured gently in the glow of his magic. I couldn't see his face, but I could tell he was deep in thought. The quill never stopped moving for an instant, as if he were pouring out his every thought onto that piece of parchment. Still, I couldn't just stand there all night. Shining has questions, and I'm more than happy to give him an answer...

"Hey, Shining." He nearly jumped out of his chair as he turned his head, and when he saw me, his jaw about hit the floor. "C-Ca- Cadance? Oh, hi! Wh-what are you doing, er, wai-" He was stammering a mile-a-minute as he tried to hastily stuff a pile of parchments and some ink into a drawer at the same time. It was actually kind of cute, and I couldn't stop a small snicker as he flailed about for a moment. "S-sorry, I just wasn't expecting you. I thought you'd still be reading to Twilight."

I chuckled a bit at that. "I was, actually, but she fell asleep. Happens every time she asks for three stories."

"You really are great with Twily, you know," he said as tried to shove the last few pieces of parchment into his desk and turned his chair to face me. "You're almost the unofficial big sister now, as far as she's concerned."

"Aw, thanks." I crossed the room towards him, trying to hide my true intentions behind an innocent smile. "Really though, Twilight's a joy to watch, and your parents are super easy to work with. I really can't see myself foalsitting anywhere else now." I stopped and looked straight at him.

"Especially not when my secret admirer is only a few rooms away."

His breath caught in his throat and for a moment, he just sat there with a dumbstruck look on his face. "Wa- wait, how did you? You know? But, I never told a soul! How did yo—?"

"By all rights, I shouldn't have known, Shining." I jumped in before he went completely off the rails. "I was going downstairs to get a book for Twilight when I heard you talking in here. I know I shouldn't have, but I kind of sneaked down the hall and listened for a moment..." a pang of guilt flashed through me as I spoke, "and I guess I heard you thinking out loud as you wrote a letter."

I could see him nearly shaking as he sat there, still dumbfounded at the situation. Finally, he just sighed and slumped down in his chair a bit.. "Cadance, look, I... I'm sorry. Really, I am."  "W-when I left that first note, it was kind of on a whim, you know? Like a flash of courage that's gone as soon as it arrived. But when I didn't see you storming through the halls demanding that the pony responsible come forward, I- I guess I thought I could try another... Then another, and another after that." He gave me a weak, almost sheepish grin. "I guess I got carried away."

I stepped closer and placed a hoof on his shoulder to calm him. "Sorry? Shining, what are you sorry for? You meant no harm, and the notes were actually really sweet."

He stopped and looked up at me again. "They were? Y-you really liked them?"

"Yes, of course!" I replied. "And to be honest," I added with a grin, "I had always hoped it was you behind the notes." 

Surprise mixed with joy in his eyes as a huge smile crossed his lips. "Well, that's... Wow... I-I'm not dreaming this, am I?"

"I don't know, Shining..." I darted forward and kissed him before I could even think twice about it. "Does this feel like a dream?"

He took my hoof in his and drew me back towards him, our muzzles coming within inches of touching. He raised his other hoof and brushed a lock of my mane from my cheek as he stared straight into my eyes. "If this is a dream, I don't want to wake up." He caught me in a slow, passionate kiss, and I eagerly melted into his embrace. His hoof slid further up my cheek to brush the tip of my ear, and my knees nearly buckled in an instant. This state of bliss continued for a few more moments before the need to breathe became to urgent to ignore, and I reluctantly broke the kiss.

"Shining, th- that was incredible," I panted.

"Y-yeah," he replied with a hurried breath of his own. "Even better than I had imagined it."

"Speaking of which," I said with a wicked grin, "what else happened in these fantasies of yours, hmm?" His eyes widened for a moment at that.

"Well, lots of things, I guess. But, do you really want to hear about all of that? I mean, that'd be a bit weird, right?"

Little did he know, more talking was the last thing on my mind now. "You're right, I don't want you to tell me about them..." I gave him a smoldering look as I stepped forward and sat in his lap, placing my hind legs to either side of the chair and my forelegs around his neck. I leaned up and brought my lips to within inches of his ear before dropping my voice to a bare whisper.

"I want you to show me."

The words had barely left my mouth when he kissed me again. I offered no resistance to him, and eagerly opened my lips to his probing tongue. His large but smooth hooves wrapped around my back and squeezed me even tighter against him as our tongues danced around each other. A few more moments passed before the kiss ended, leaving us both panting and out of breath.

"Oh, stars... Shining... I-I want this so badly, but—"

"My parents won't be home for two more hours, if that's what you're worried about," he replied with a devious smile. 

He was about to lunge for another kiss when I stopped him with a serious look. "That's great, but we're not alone in the house, you know." Unfortunately, I had a point there, too. Getting Twilight to go back to bed if she woke up would be a messy affair, but that would pale next to explaining to Night Light and Velvet why their daughter heard ponies yelling and screaming in her brother's room late at night. A million ideas raced through my head, but finally, one stuck - and it was as much a stroke of genius as it was irony.  "Hmm... Let's play the quiet game then."

Shining barely stifled a laugh. "Seriously?"

"Shining, if it can work for a hyper-active foal, surely it can work for two horny high-schoolers, right?" I traced a hoof down his neck and onto his chest. "Unless..." My hoof traced further down his belly until it just brushed the tip of his member, "you don't think you can do it." I saw his horn light up for a second, followed by a soft click as his bedroom door closed. He turned back to face me and I swear to Luna, the look in his eyes could have melted the sun. Whatever inhibitions I had left in me were thrown to the wind as I kissed him once more, and it didn't take long for the heat between us to build into an inferno. A sheen of sweat was already matting our coats as our hooves and tongues roamed freely together; we had barely begun, and already the urge to whimper and moan in pleasure was nearly overwhelming. 

The mutual pleasure - and the involuntary silence - was getting to Shining as well, and when his quickly growing erection brushed against my barrel, I broke the kiss and buried my head in the crook of his neck to muffle a long moan. The feeling of his member against my barrel, coupled with the hooves that were now tracing circles around the base of my unfurled wings, nearly broke me right there. I shuddered helplessly as the fire in my core spilled over, sending rivulets of arousal running down my thighs. 

We were both quivering, panting messes, but still we stayed silent, excising our moans of pleasure in any other way we could think of. I shifted my weight further into his lap and began toying with his ears, taking special note of the way he twitched every time I'd nibble the tip of his right ear. I heard the barest hint of a moan escape his lips as I ran my tongue in circles around the base of his horn - a devious trick that he quickly repaid by squeezing a hoof in between us to brush my soaked marehood.

My every nerve was on fire as raw desire raced through me like a tidal wave. Shining was fully unsheathed now, and I didn't need to see him to know he was well-endowed for a unicorn. I felt him shift beneath me, and I barely held back a wanton cry when his length slid along the edges of my outer lips. I threw my head back and stared right into his eyes while I began to rock my hips back and forth, sliding his erection against my soaked lips over and over again. 

I was so close it was unbearable, and I had no idea how much longer I could hold out. He must have sensed it too, because he suddenly dropped his hooves from their position around my waist and gripped my flanks like a vice. He pulled my hips forward to allow his full length to slide through my soaked lips, and the moment he touched my exposed clit, my body was sent hurtling towards the edge. I rocked my hips faster and harder as my orgasm built inside me, and it was only sheer force of will that kept either of us from screaming out each other's names.

His body began to shudder beneath me, and I knew he was close too. He pushed my hips again, but this time I pushed back and ground my marehood against the base of his cock while his tip pressed directly into my clit. The twin sensation drove us both over the edge, and I buried my tongue in his mouth as orgasms ripped through both of us. I could feel his cock spasm against me as he spilled his seed across my stomach, and that only drove me further into bliss as I rode out wave after wave of my own orgasm.

When we finally came back down, I leaned back and couldn't help but chuckle as I looked between us. We were both covered in cum and sweat, our manes were messed up terribly, and Shining's chair was in dire need of a cleaning. I leaned up and kissed him again, and he gave me a devilish grin. 

"So, when are you scheduled to foalsit next?"





These days, I get a lot of questions from young ponies about what they can do to earn a few bits during the summer or on weekends, and I always recommend foal-sitting as a great option. It may not always be the most glamorous job in the world, but it can be very rewarding.

And the benefits are outstanding.
> Episode 3 - Sugar Rush (Pinkie Pie-Bon Bon)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Dear Red Shoes,

Do you remember your first date, or the first time you held hooves with somepony? What about your first kiss, or even the first time you shared another pony's bed? We all remember those moments, but even if the details get hazy, we never forget the rush that we felt. The adrenaline, the joy, the feeling of euphoria that can only come from real, physical fulfillment... It's like a carnal drug.

And when you've gone far too long without it, well, that just makes the next dose that much more powerful...





It was nearly seven o-clock in the evening when I strolled up to Sugarcube Corner. I probably could have waited until the morning to make this delivery, but I didn't have anything else to do that evening, and knowing my luck, my roommate - and occasional marefriend - Lyra would swipe enough of the chocolates that I'd have to make more at the last second. And I've made that mistake too many times already, I thought as I knocked on the door. The bakery closes at six, but I knew Pinkie would still be there cleaning up. Still, it took her only seconds to answer the door.

"Hey, Bon Bon, it's super great to see you! How are you?" Pinkie asked as we bumped hooves in greeting.

"Good to see you too, Pinkie, and I'm doing okay. I hope I'm not coming by at a bad time, but I thought I'd deliver this stuff tonight instead of tomorrow." I nodded my head back to my saddle bags, which were filled to the brim with tightly packed boxes of, shall we say, 'special' chocolates. Pinkie's eyes lit up at the sight of the goods she had ordered, and somehow, even more energy seemed to rush through her face.

"Oh, you mean those chocolates? Then yes, you most certainly can bring those in!" Pinkie stepped to the side and waved me in. "Just head right for the kitchen and put them down in there. I'll be right behind you."

I nodded in agreement as I wove through the array of well-worn tables and booths and slipped behind the counter and into the kitchen. It took me a second to find an empty counter to place the boxes on, as nearly every available surface was covered with mixers, baking trays, or finished pies and cupcakes that were awaiting wrapping and storage for the night. "How does she do all of this herself?" I muttered.

"This? Oh, this was a slow day!" Pinkie's voice made my jump a bit as she bounced - and I mean bounced - into the kitchen through the door on the opposite side of the room. "Then again, Tuesdays are usually a bit slower than most days. Besides a few pie orders and a tray of muffins for Ditzy, I've mostly been working on the stuff for Berry Punch's party. Speaking of which," Pinkie said as she crossed the room towards me, "did you really make them?"

"Of course!" I popped the lid on one of the boxes and hoofed it over to Pinkie, who squealed with glee. "When would I let the only other baker in town down?"

"Wow, Bon, these look amazing! You even made them in the shape of presents!" She eyed the box with delight. "Did you really make all of the varieties that you were planning on?"

"Yep, sure did," I answered with a chuckle. "The chocolates are filled with either Applejack Daniels, Saddle One, Equestrian Crown Royal, or Filly's Irish Creme."

Pinkie's eyes were as big as dinner plates as she stared into the box. "Wow... That's amazing..."

"Definitely  a different project for me," I replied. "Then again, most ponies don't get birthday parties quite like Berry Punch." We shared a hearty laugh at that. "Besides, you should have seen the look I got from the cashier at Barnyard Bargains. Poor mare thought I was on a bender or something."

"Ha! I bet that was a riot by itself!" Pinkie exclaimed with a laugh. Is there anything she won't laugh at? I added as an afterthought.

"Any particular reason you brought them by now?" Pinkie asked. "Berry's party isn't until Thursday."

"I know you're going all out for this party, so I wanted to give you one less thing to worry about." I couldn't help but grimace a bit as the other reason for my early drop-off came to mind. "Well, and I wanted to get them out of my place before Lyra ends up eating half of them and not telling me until the last second."

"Seriously?" Pinkie frowned slightly. "That's a bit rude of her. I thought you two were getting along well again?"

I huffed a bit as I leaned against the counter. "We were, for a while at least. But now, things are slowly falling back to where they were before. We don't talk a whole lot, as she's always busy with her crackpot experiments or out wandering the woods looking for portals to alternate dimensions."

Pinkie scrunched up her nose a bit. "She's still going on about those?"

"Yep, unfortunately, so that leaves me to take care of everything; including her portion of the rent."

"Aw, I'm sorry to hear that, Bon." Pinkie draped a hoof over my withers and offered a sympathetic smile. "You two used to be so close too."

"Heh, don't get me started on that," I answered softly. "Let's just say that we haven't been close in a long, long time, if you know what I mean."

Pinkie blushed for a second when she processed what I was really referring to. "Oh- oh... Hmm... Well, for what it's worth, I'm probably in the same boat there."

I glanced over at Pinkie with a look of surprise. "You? Pinkie, you're one of the most popular ponies in Ponyville, and an Element of Harmony besides!" I bumped her in the shoulder a bit. "You should be swamped with ponies asking you to dinner or something."

Now it was Pinkie's turn to sigh in frustration. "Yeah, you'd think that, right? Well, I did have that one blind date with the mare that runs that asparagus stand... But that just wasn't going to work out." Her eyes glanced down to the open box of chocolates and I could almost see the idea pop into her head. "Say, Bon, how many extras of these chocolates did you say you made?

I paused for a moment as I did a bit of math in my head. "Hmm, I made about three dozen or so, so we probably have an extra ten or twelve; maybe more if you don't cover the entire cake with these."

Pinkie smiled mischievously. "Works for me! I say we crack into these." She winked at me as she took the first box and bounced toward another counter. "Think of it as a miniature, chocolate-flavored bender!"

I couldn't help but laugh at that, but a slightly sobering thought came to mind as I followed behind her. "I'd love to, Pinkie, trust me. But, I doubt the Cakes' want their little ones to see us popping booze-filled candies in the back room."

"Oh, no worries there," Pinkie called over her shoulder. "The Cakes are out of town for the next few days.  One of Cup Cake's relatives is getting married, so they're in Vanhoover for the wedding. They won't be back until Friday at the earliest."

I jumped up a bit and sat on the edge of the long metal counter that spanned the center of the kitchen. Only two boxes of chocolates sat between me and a very excited Pinkie. "So," she said as she picked up a piece and passed a second to me, "Want to start with the Irish creme?"

One hour, a ton of gossip, and an extra helping from Carrot Cake's stash of whiskey later, we were laughing like school-fillies as yet another burst of alcohol-laced chocolate ran down our throats. "W-wait a second, Pinkie, you seriously did that with a spatula?"

Pinkie continued to laugh hysterically as she swallowed the last of the chocolate. "Ha! Well, like I said, when you've been on this long of a dry spell, you'll try anything!"

"I can understand the dry spell, trust me," I replied as I surveyed the vicinity and noted - rather hazily - that we had nearly polished off our third box of chocolates. Wait, how many extras did I make again? I thought... Or at least I tried to think, anyway. There wasn't much alcohol in any one chocolate, but I hadn't had dinner yet, and the various alcohols floating in my gut were quickly catching up to me. "But..." I gave Pinkie a playful 'bedroom' look, "the important question is, did it work?"

"Heh, I wish it did," Pinkie answered with a snort. "Well, I guess it technically did, but it just didn't feel, well, you know, good." She looked down at the counter for a moment as she continued.  "There's quite a difference between relieving some pressure and actually feeling satisfied."

"Indeed." Pinkie and I looked at the box at the same time, each of us eyeing the two remaining truffles.

"W-well, Bon, I suppose we can't just leave two candies all by themselves. They might get lonely, you know?" Pinkie gave me a sly grin before laughing at her own joke. Is it just me, or does she get even funnier when she's tipsy?

"Definitely don't want that," I answered with as straight of a voice as I could manage. "But hey, we're two mares with an entire bakery to ourselves and a pile of shared frustrations between us. So, I think we can take one for the team." I winked back at Pinkie as I passed one of the last two truffles to her. "To friends and chocolate?"

Pinkie smiled and tapped her truffle against mine in a mock toast. "And to each of us getting what we really want once in a while."

"Cheers!" I replied with a laugh before popping the chocolate in my mouth; at least I thought I had, but the quizzical look on Pinkie's face as she swallowed her truffle had me worried that I had instead put my piece right into my mane instead. "What?" I asked.

Pinkie scooted her rump closer to me on the table. "You silly filly, the truffles are supposed to go in your mouth, not all over it. Here, let me get that for you."

Before I could even process what she had said, I felt Pinkie's tongue on my cheek. Wait, what is she- Did I get chocolate on my... Whoa. My mind was going a million miles a minute and in a million different directions too. Did Pinkie just kiss me? Was she really just playing around, or more tipsy that I thought? I felt a shot of her warm breath wash over my face as she very eagerly licked my entire cheek.

"P-Pinkie... What was that for?" I stammered out the only question that I could think of.

"That? I was just trying to help a mare out, you know? You had chocolate all over that pretty face of yours, and it looked a bit silly, even for me." She gave me a sly grin as she scooted closer still. She was right beside me now, our flanks mere inches from touching. "Hmm, looks like I missed a spot too-" She darted forward and kissed my cheek again; I could feel her lips momentarily lap at my fur, and I had to admit, it sent electric shocks through my body. It had been so long since I had been kissed at all, even this brief - and not entirely unwelcome - contact set my heart ablaze in an instant.

Pinkie pulled back and for a moment, all I could do was stare into her eyes. She looked back at me, and I think we both knew exactly what was tumbling around inside of our heads at that point. Maybe it was a bit of the 'booze-laced chocolate' talking, but I had a surprisingly easy time letting my next words come out of my mouth. "Pinkie... I still think you missed a spot."

She leaned over some more, putting her muzzle mere inches away from mine. "Where?" she whispered.

I raised a hoof and touched the tip of my lips as I looked right into her now half-lidded eyes. "Right there, if I'm not mistaken."

The distance between us shrank to a hair's width, and I shuddered as I felt her lips graze mine. "Oh, I see," she whispered again. Her cheery, playful tone was gone, replaced by a deep, almost husky quality. "That's a tough spot, Bon. It might take a bit of work to get that one."

I smiled as I brushed my lips against Pinkie's; the contact was gone as soon as it began, but I could hear her breath catch in her throat. "Oh, Pinkie, I think you can manage," I slowly brushed my muzzle against hers, "after all, you do have a knack for knowing just what a pony needs."

Pinkie nuzzled me in return, and I nearly lost myself in her crystal blue eyes. "Or in this case, what we both need."

Our eyes closed, our lips met, and my nerves were on fire. Pinkie wrapped a hoof through my blue and pink curls and pulled me closer to her as our lips melted into each other. Her lips were so smooth, yet there was an energy behind them that seemed to permeate her every movement. Oh, stars, she's good, I thought as I shuddered in Pinkie's embrace. I was never a fan of the sudden fling, but in that moment, we were two mares that knew exactly what we needed - and did we ever need it.

I traced my tongue along the edges of Pinkie's lips, and as soon as they parted for me, I lunged forward into another kiss. I brushed the edges of my hooves up and down Pinkie's sides, tracing small circles around her nipples and through her fur as I crept further up her chest. We both mewled into each other as our tongues met, and it felt like getting hit with lightning again and again. We held onto each other as tightly as we could, our tongues and hooves intertwined for what seemed like hours.

The heat between us was growing hotter by the second; my nose could already smell the arousal mixing with the scent of chocolate and booze in the air, and it only drove more lust into my veins. I shifted my weight on the counter and broke the kiss just long enough to catch my breath and cast a smoldering glare at Pinkie. "Shall we continue?"

Pinkie swept a box of baking sheets and the empty candy boxes onto the floor before leaning back on the counter, using her forelegs to prop herself up. She parted her hind legs slightly, offering me a glimpse at her smooth - and already wet - outer lips. The look in her eyes was as hot as the sun. "Yes, please."

I needed no further invitation before fully climbing onto the counter and crawling on top of Pinkie's waiting body. I had never looked at Pinkie in a sexual way, but as I began peppering her neck and chest with kisses and licks, I had a whole new appreciation for just how sexy she was. She may not have the lithe form of a model or the toned features of an athlete, but she had a truly feminine form. Curvy in all the right places, nothing out of proportion to each other, and her hips... Oh, stars, I was jealous of her hips. So smooth and curvy, with gorgeous flanks to match. Needless to say, I lavished attention on Pinkie's lower half, and her increasingly loud and insistent whimpers and moans made it clear that she relished the attention.

"B-Bon Bon, don't stop... Oh, that feels so good- Oh!" She let out a luscious squeal as I pressed a hoof into her cutie mark while burying my lips into the crease of her inner thigh. The scent of Pinkie's arousal was flooding my nose the closer my lips got to her center. Her's was a typical Earth pony scent, but there was a layer of sweetness to it that was driving me wild - and I had to have more. I lowered my muzzle to within inches of Pinkie's core and let her arousal flood my senses. Her lips were nearly soaked already, and at that point, even the alcohol in my system had taken a back seat to the desire that was rampaging through me.

"Please, more, Bon! D-don't stop!" Pinkie wrapped her hooves trough my mane and pressed my muzzle closer still; I smiled wickedly at her as I let my hot breath wash over her haunches, sending a visible shudder through her entire body. Finally, I snaked my tongue out and gave her blazing hot pussy a long, deep lick.

"Ahh! Yes! Oh, stars, yes!" Pinkie moaned openly as she parted her hind legs further. Her hooves clamped around my head like a vice while her hips flexed up, pushing more of her haunches into my muzzle - and I was more than happy to reply with deeper and faster licks. Pinkie's moans grew louder and more wanton with each lick. The heat coming from her haunches was like nothing I had ever experienced. Tastes as good as it looks I smirked at the thought as I lapped up yet another wave of Pinkie's juices.

"Bon, you're... You're so good!" Pinkie moaned in pleasure as I continued to lick every inch of her marehood. A puddle of her juices and my drool was already forming on the counter beneath her, and judging by the desperate look in her eyes, she was quickly building towards orgasm. I slowed my assault on her body and quickly worked my way back up her barrel and to her waiting lips. She whimpered as our tongues met yet again, but this time I pressed the advantage and leaned all of my weight into her. Pinkie responded immediately and wrapped her hooves around me as she laid back onto the counter. We drowned in each other's kiss for a few more moments before the need to breathe forced us to stop.

"How... How close are you?"

"Very... So very close," Pinkie replied as she stared up into my eyes. I could have stared into those endless pools of blue all night, but my haunches were nearly dripping, and they would not be denied.

"Hmm, well then, you might have to help me play a bit of catch-up then." I lifted myself up on my hooves and spun myself around in the opposite direction. I lowered myself down to Pinkie's chest again, only now my haunches were sitting mere inches away from her muzzle. I flicked my tail off to the side as I looked back over my shoulder. "Like what you see?"

"Yes. Very much." Pinkie punctuated her words with a small kiss to my swollen marehood, sending an incredible shiver down my spine. "Now, where were we?"

"I— Ahh, yes!" Whatever I was going to say turned into a cry of pleasure as Pinkie's tongue dove straight into my haunches. Her tongue was as gentle on my nether lips as they were on the rest of me and I quickly turned into putty under her ministrations. "Oh- Ah! Don't stop Pinkie!" Her only reply was to drive her tongue deeper into me, snaking right past my inner lips and into my molten core.

Pinkie's tongue seemed to caress every inch of my insides as she swirled her tongue in circles inside of my pussy. Wave after wave of arousal screamed through me like wildfire, and it took more than a bit of concentration to begin returning the favor to Pinkie's still soaked core. I drove my tongue as deep as I could into her marehood, lapping up every bit of her delicious juices while I very lewdly ground my haunches into her eager muzzle. We cried and moaned into each other for what seemed like a blissful eternity as the heat between us turned into an inferno of lust and arousal.

"P-Pinkie, I'm getting close! Deeper, oh- Oh yes! Deeper!" I barely managed to get the words out before Pinkie's tongue sent another shot of lightning raced through me.

"Me too! Make me cum, Bon! Now!" My lust-addled mind needed no further invitation; I dropped all of my weight onto my haunches and slammed my pussy into Pinkie's muzzle, while at the same time, I clamped my hooves onto her cutie marks and wrapped my tongue around her exposed clit. The last bit of resistance crumbled away in my mind, and the rush that I had nearly forgotten about came roaring back like a runaway freight train.

"Pinkie, I- I'm cumming!"

"Let it go, Bon! Let it go!"

"Ahh! Yes! Yes! Yes!" My whole world exploded as an orgasm ripped through my body. Pinkie's hit seconds later, flooding my ears with her cries of pleasure - and my mouth with wave after wave of her cum. It was the most erotic thing I had ever experienced, and as we rode each other's orgasms as far as we could take them, I couldn't help but smile as that old feeling of euphoria washed over me one more time.



 

I ended up having to make nearly an entirely new batch of candies for that cake, but I didn't mind. In the end, everypony got what they wanted. Berry got a delicious birthday cake, Sugarcube Corner got another successful party in the books...

...And two mares found a place to satisfy their cravings.
> Episode 4 - Nothing to Lose (Rainbow Dash-Spitfire)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Dear Red Shoes,

Ponies are very risk-averse creatures. Whether it's courting another pony, buying groceries at market, or even deciding whether to go out in the rain, we like to play it safe. Well, most of us, anyway. Me? Let's just say that risk comes with the line of work I keep - both official and otherwise. In the right situation though, even this risk-taker will step outside of her limits... Especially if it's the last thing I thought I'd ever do.





"Hey! I said, hey! Meathead!"

Heh, he's trying to ignore me. What a louse.

"Hello! Anyone home out there? Sleeping on the job again, Meathead?"

I could hear the tapping of a hoof a few feet behind me. I knew she was getting impatient; probably wanted me to just shut up and sit back down. No, wait, that's not her 'impatient' tap, that's her 'I'm just waiting to see how this blows up in your face' tap. And when does Rainbow Dash let her Captain down?

"Oh, I see, you just can't hear me, right?" I began tapping my hoof loudly against the iron bars that caged us. "Well, can you hear me now? Or are those ears as small as whatever that is hanging from your fat gut?"

I heard a chair scrape across the floor and a set of keys jingle against the lock to the outer door. Ha, that got his attention.

The door opened with a cringe-inducing squeal and the rather rotund guard stormed right over to the cell door. "Oh, my sincerest apologies, ladies. I'm so sorry for the slow response time. That's certainly not the type of service that you deserve from the Hotel Revolution."

"Hotel Revolution? Really?" I asked with a laugh that quickly turned into a cackle. "You guys can't even think of a cool name for your makeshift prisons, much less your little revolution." I glared at him again as anger rose in my throat for what felt like the millionth time since our capture. "What do you think you're going to do, huh? Overthrow Celestia? Ha! You couldn't take over Dodge Junction, much less an entire kingdom."

He struck his club against the bars hard enough to make my ears hurt. "We must not be that bad; after all, we did capture two of Equestria's best spies at the same time."

"I told you, we're not spies-"

"Save it, rainbow-mane. We know what the Wonderbolts do when the curtain goes down. While you're busy wowing the stupid crowds with your air shows, you're sneaking around behind their backs, doing the dirty work that Miss Goody-Four Hooves Celestia doesn't want anypony to know about." The unicorn guard sneered at us, his ugly yellow teeth showing themselves again. "Well, everypony's going to know, now that we have you two."

I turned that over in my head for a second before I realized what he was referring to. "Oh, so the grand plan is to ransom us to Celestia? You know she's not going to pay you, right? She'll burn this place to the ground before she gives you idiots one rusty bit for trying to usurp the throne."

"You fool," he retorted as he leaned his nose to the bars. "You think we want money? Ha, we have no need of it, not with our mole in your Treasury laundering bits to us every month. No, we just need you to make a point; to send a message."

"If you wanted a mouthpiece, you could have just hired a spokespony with all of those funds you're supposedly taking from us."

"Oh, we won't need words to send the message we have planned for Dear Celestia. The only thing we'll be sending her are your wings." He unsheathed a long knife from the holster on his foreleg and ran it up one of the iron bars; the sound was like hooves on a chalkboard, only much, much worse. "Right after we cut them off, that is."

I wanted to blanch in horror at the very idea, but I was seeing too much red to care. I turned and bucked the cell door, the bars stopping my hind legs just inches from his ugly face. "Go ahead, do it! You'll never escape Celestia after that. She'll hunt you to the ends of the world."

"That's just what we're counting on, feather-brain. We're counting on both Princesses leaving their posh castle to chase us... And by the time they realize what's really happened, we'll have already changed the locks on the castle doors."

I flared my wings and snarled at him in response, but he smiled all the more as he backed away from the cell. "Have a good night, ladies. And do try to get some rest. We don't want you falling asleep right before we hack you to bits... It won't look nearly as good in the pictures we'll be sending to every newspaper in Equestria."

He chuckled like the ass that he was while slamming the outer door in my face. My rage got the better of me and I screamed out after him - only for my voice to bounce right back at me, dropping me back to my haunches. "Ow! What the-"

"Standard silencing spell. Guard fat-flank cast it on the door as he left; you'd have noticed, if weren't trying to needle him all night."

I whirled around with a bit of anger still in my vision. "What was I supposed to do, huh Spitfire? Bat my eyes, play nice, and hope he lets us go because we're so charming?" A second later, my mind caught up to my tongue and I realized to whom I had just lashed out. Oh, buck. "Um, m'am."

Spitfire - or I should say Captain Spitfire - sat against the back wall of the barren cell, her half-broken sunglasses twirling in her right hoof. She looked at me for a moment before laughing a bit. "All these years later, and you still didn't mellow out much, did you? I mean, you just talked to me the same way you did when you stood in my office and berated me for making you wing pony instead of lead pony." She stood and smoothed her torn, dirt-stained uniform as best she could. "If you were anypony else, Dash, I'd bust you down to Private for that outburst; heck, I'd have done it long ago to be honest, but you're too good at what you do."

I smiled at that, but it was short lived. I huffed in frustration before moving to the seriously uncomfortable bed that was the cell's only furnishing. "Yeah, well good didn't cut it, did it? Princess Celestia sent us to gather intelligence on this group of crack-pots, not get caught and sentenced to an early grave." My shoulders sagged as I leaned back against the cold brick wall. "We're really screwed, aren't we?"

I looked over to Spitfire, who just stared ahead for a second. I could tell she was lost in thought, but managed to hold my tongue for a second. "Hate to say it, but you might be right on that." She sighed as she ran a hoof through her orange mane. "Only Celestia knew about this covert op, and by the time we miss our next scheduled report, it'll be too late anyway."

"Don't remind me," I muttered as I pushed off the useless bed and paced the cell in a small circle. After a moment, I turned back to Spitfire and offered her a small salute. "I'll just say it now. It's been a pleasure and an honor, Captain."

She returned my salute with a smile. "Likewise, Commander Dash, likewise."

I was racking my brain for something else to say when she beat me to the punch. "So, any regrets?"

That was an odd question, especially coming from the always straight-laced Spitfire. "Regrets, m'am?"

"You can drop the rank now, Rainbow; I think we're well past titles at this point. But, yes, regrets; things you wish you had done before kicking the bucket." She idly waved a hoof in my direction. "Or did you manage to manage to check off your life to-do list in ten seconds flat as well?"

"Hmm..." I made a show of mulling that over, but in truth, I was torn. Do I make something up, or tell her the truth? I knew what I really wanted to say in response, but how would she react? Would she laugh at me? Or laugh at me before doing the executioner's job for them? That's when it hit me like a sack of apples. I was a dead pony come morning. We came in alone, and any backup or rescue would never get here in time. Got nothing to lose now...

"Actually, I do." I turned to Spitfire as I let my deepest, and probably longest-held secret spill out. "I wish I would have tried to kiss you."

I just stood there and looked at her, studying her face for any sign of a reaction. I had spilled the beans big time, and for a moment, the air felt like a hundred pound weight on my head. Finally, Spitfire stood up, tucked her glasses into her shirt pocket, and walked over to me. I shuffled back a bit but quickly hit my rump against the wall, leaving me nowhere to go. She stepped right up to me, leaving less than a foot between us, and stared at me for a moment. "Is that so?" 

Words failed me then, and I could only nod my head in response. Every part of my body tensed as I braced myself for the tirade - and the slap - that I was sure was coming any second. Then, out of nowhere, a wicked grin crossed her face. "Well, it's a pity then that we won't make it back to base."

"W-why's that?"

She leaned in close enough for me to feel her breath across my nose. "Because Soarin owes me a hundred bits now." Before I could even process what she said, her lips were on mine. My mind froze for one second in shock, then quickly melted into a delirious haze. Spitfire wasn't just kissing me, she was kissing me; and Celestia help me it felt so good.

Finally, my brain caught up with my pulse, and my lips began to return the favor. For as hard-edged as Spitfire was normally, in that moment she was as soft and pliable as a cloud. I could feel a gentle heat behind her kiss, and it was incredible. My wings were jittering at my sides, threatening to unfurl in a very obvious manner. Then she broke the kiss with a flourish, swiping the tip of her tongue against my lips as she pulled back.

"W-wow, that was... I mean-"

"Heh, of all things to finally leave you speechless..." Spitfire smirked a bit as she looked me over. It was only one kiss, but I was already a panting mess. My pulse was racing, my entire body was tingling from surprise and more than a bit of adrenaline, and my wings were barely staying close to my sides. Finally, my voice found its way back.

"Y-you had a bet?"

"More like a friendly wager," Spirfire replied. "Plenty of cadets and Bolts have given me more than a passing glance over the years, but none of them ever had the guts to act on it. That is, until you came along."

"Me?"

"Soarin figured that the only pony to ever walk into my office, berate me, and quit would show a similar lack of compunction in making a pass at me. I told him he was joking, and we decided to make a friendly wager." She licked her lips in satisfaction. "And I must say, I'm very glad that I won."

My heart skipped a beat. She wasn't just okay with it, she enjoyed it! And if the look in her eyes was any indication, she might not mind another kiss, either. Before I could second-guess myself, I stepped closer to Spitfire and looked right into her bright orange eyes. "Permission to speak freely?"

"Granted." The husky tone in her voice was unmistakable, and it spurred me to continue.

"You know," I said quietly, "fraternizing with other Wonderbolts, especially junior officers, is clearly against the rules."

"Hmm, you make a point there, Rainbow. In this case though," She turned her head and whispered in my ear. "I'll allow it."

The next thing I knew, my back was against the wall, Spitfire's lips were plastered against mine...

...and I was in heaven.

Where her first kiss was smooth to the point of gentle, this one was hard and passionate. Her lips felt like hot coals against me, and I melted into her without hesitation. She paused for a half-breath and I took full advantage of the opening, wrapping a hoof around her head and pulling her lips back to me. Our tongues seemed to meet in the middle as I kissed her as deeply and passionately as I could. My heart was racing, my mind a haze of delirious joy. 

Yes, Spitfire was my commanding officer, but damn it all she was gorgeous. I had pined for her since my first day in the Academy. I thought it was just a celebrity crush at first, but as time went on, all I saw in my dreams was her. Not Spitfire the Captain, not Spitfire the Wonderbolt, just Spitfire the pony. The beautiful, graceful pony that occupied my every fantasy.

In the back of my mind, I knew we were both doomed come morning, and maybe, just maybe, this was an act of mutual recklessness. But at that moment, with the mare of my dreams crushed against my chest, her scent in my nostrils, and her tongue entwined with my own, I couldn't have cared less.

"Oh, wow..." I panted like crazy as the need for air finally overcame my desire to not stop. "You're too good."

Spitfire ran a hoof through my mane, her eyes as smokey as I had ever seen them. "That? Heh, we're just getting started, Dash."

I opened my mouth to respond, but all that came out was a low groan as Spitfire's lips snaked through my mane to the base of my neck. If not for her weight against my chest, I'd have collapsed onto the floor from the sensory overload. Her lips left a trail of fire down my neck, while her hooves began tracing down my primaries. We pegasi have pretty obvious hot buttons, if you know what I mean, and she was hitting them all at once it seemed. My wings went stiff as a board under her expert touch, and I could already feel the heat building in my haunches. "P-please, don't stop- Oh!"

Spitfire's lips crossed the hollow of my throat and began a slow but steady trail of kisses and nibbles down my chest. I dropped my hooves onto her shoulders and shuffled my hind legs out from the wall for more stability. My back arched out on its own, as if inviting, no begging her to continue. My eyes were glazed with lust as I watched Spitfire work her way down my barrel, nipping, kissing, and licking nearly every inch of my belly. Her hooves finally left my wings and traced down and around my sides before brushing my already rock-hard nipples. Desire, lust, passion... They all mixed together to send me into overdrive. Sweat was dampening my coat, arousal was dripping from my haunches, and all I wanted was more. "Oh, yes! Don't stop, please!"

"That excited already, are we?" Spitfire cooed as her hooves continued to trace lines through my fur and down my sides. "Too bad it took getting captured to get to this point." A debilitating shudder raced up my spine as her hoof ventured crossed the crease of my inner thigh and towards my haunches. "Tell me, Rainbow..." The tip of her hoof grazed my soaked outer lips. "Any last requests?"

I looked down at Spitfire with nothing but lust in my eyes. "Make me cum, please."

"Well, don't say I never did anything for you." Spitfire planted her tongue into my haunches, and my heart nearly exploded. She went straight for my marehood, parting my soaked outer lips in one smooth motion. If I was on the verge of overload before, this sent me flying over the edge in an instant.

"Aahn, yes! D-don't stop, y- Oh!" The rush of adrenaline and raw arousal racing through me was beyond intense. I cried out all the louder as the mare I lusted after for years explored every inch of my center, and all the while, her hooves never stopped caressing my nipples or massaging my cutie marks. My nerves were on fire, every feather on my body was standing on edge, and as I felt Spitfire's tongue dart past my inner lips, I nearly crumbled into her hooves.

"I... I'm so close- Oh, yes, don't stop!"

"Hmm..." She only hummed contentedly as she pressed deeper into my core, lapping up my juices like it was her last drink. I could feel an orgasm racing through me, building and building like a runaway train, and there was no way in Tartarus I was going to even try to stop it. I simply cried and moaned all the more, arching my back to give Spitfire's eager tongue as much access to my dripping center as possible. Finally, her tongue found my clit, and the orgasm ripped through me in an instant. 

"Aahn, YES!" My whole body tensed as wave after wave of pleasure shot through me like lightning. I don't remember if that silencing spell was still active, but I didn't care. All my lust-crazed mind could focus on was riding that orgasm as far as I could take it.

Finally, Spitfire stood up, and I nearly collapsed into her hooves. "Oh... O-oh my, I, just... Wow."

Spitfire kissed me again and smiled. "I'd say you owe me one, Dash, but I think under the circumstances, I'm willing to give you a rain check."

We sat back against the wall and held each other after that. Little more was said, and at some point we must have drifted off to sleep, because the next thing I remember after sitting down with her was awaking to the sounds of somepony shouting.

The shouting was coming from the outside hallway, where the fat, snobbish guard was supposed to be. More shouting, then some banging sounds, and for a second, the small light coming from beneath the door turned a neon green. A moment later, the outer door was ripped right off its hinges as if it were nothing. The room filled with smoke and the distinct smell of spent magic, and despite the sudden lack of relatively clean air, instinct kicked in and we adopted defensive stances.

A figure emerged through the haze, and while I couldn't make out the face, the bright blue and gold of the Wonderbolts flight suit was unmistakable.

"Sorry, ladies," Soarin's voice called out, along with the jingle of a set of keys. "But we're checking out early."

I looked over to Spitfire, who returned my relieved smile with one of her own. "When we get back," I said with a wink, "I'm cashing in that rain check."






We got home safe and sound, much to everyone's relief, and I cashed in that rain check as soon as possible. That extra hundred bits bought the two of us a nice dinner too... To celebrate a successful rescue, of course.
> Episode 5 - Solo Session (Lyra)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Red Shoes,

We all want things that we can't have, do we not? For some, it's a bigger house, a noble title, or even more bits. For others, it's an extra hour of sleep, or even an extra appendage on their forehead. Having the object of your desires out of reach is bad enough, but it's even worse when it's only a few feet away from you nearly all of the time. You see, the thing that was just out of my grasp wasn't a thing at all, but a pony...





"Ugh, what a day." As soon as I cleared the threshold of my dorm room, I shrugged my saddlebags off my shoulders and very unceremoniously dropped them in the corner. I thought I saw a notebook and a pen fly out and slide under my dresser, but at that point I was too brain-dead to care. Winter finals were approaching in less than two weeks, and as usual it seemed as though every professor at the Canterlot Academy of Music was going out of their way to cram as much stuff into these final days as possible. 'I swear, they do this on purpose.'

At least I wasn't alone in that feeling. Many of my classmates were all but burnt out, and we still had finals to take too. I had heard the rumors that second-year was the true 'weed out' year at the Academy, and so far, it had been living up to its reputation. 'And then some,' I added as an afterthought. My stomach growled a bit and I looked over to the small clock on my desk. "And of course, no dining hall for another two hours." I turned my head to glare at the golden lyre that adorned my flank. "Some days, I wish you were a newspaper... Or at least something less stressful."

My inner grousing continued as I slumped onto my bed. I stretched out immediately, grimacing in relief and pain as more than a few kinks worked their way out of my neck and back. "I really need a massage," I muttered. "I really should take Octavia up on her suggestion to visit Aloe and Lotus when the massage therapy school is holding a 'work-study' day."

'Octavia...' Just saying her name gave me a moment's pause.

Octavia Melody. Third-year student, top of her class, cellist prodigy... And my roommate. A native of Trottingham's rich musical heritage and only child of two first-chairs in the city's famed orchestra, the musical world was calling her the 'next Trotelier' before she had even stepped hoof on campus for the first time. When I first received my dorm assignment for the year, I thought I'd have to contend with throngs of ponies parading in and out of the room as they jockeyed for her attention, or an autograph. Yet nopony ever came. Then again, Octavia never sought them out. She preferred to 'work alone', as she was fond of saying, and if she wasn't on campus for class or a rehearsal, she was in our room doing more of the same. We got along just fine, and we both knew the other would help out if something was amiss, but otherwise, we were like two trains passing each other on the tracks time and time again.

And it was driving me crazy.

It was no secret that I preferred mares over stallions, and this particular mare had me captivated as much by her musical skill as her looks. The long, silver-streaked mane, piercing violet eyes, and a pristine grey coat, all wrapped around a form that was toned but still very feminine. Even being in the same room with her would raise my pulse a bit, and when she returned from the communal bath in our building, I'd silently bask in the scent of her honey and jasmine infused shampoo. There were plenty of good-looking mares on our floor, or even on campus, but I'd have given my right flank for one night with Octavia.

Yet for as close as she was to me, she felt so far away. After all, she was a third-year student, and halfway to stardom already. I was but a second-year student, not even close to the top ten in my class, and certainly not from any rich or famous family. "Like she'd even go for me anyway." I grumbled a bit as I rolled over and looked across the room to her empty cello stand. She'd occasionally practice in here, especially if she wanted a second set of ears on a new piece she had written, or a new tuning setup she made to her cello. Those were the most tortuous moments of all.

Not because of the music - which was divine - but because I had to watch her play. If she was beautiful walking or standing still, Octavia was a goddess when she played. The focus, the intensity in those violet eyes was hypnotizing; it was like she was looking at another realm in front of her, where only she and the cello existed. Her mane and tail would sway just so as she drew the bow over the strings, her hooves moving slow, then fast, then slow again as her cello sang to the heavens.

It took a great deal of concentration to sit through her entire piece without either drooling on myself or becoming so aroused that it was impossible to hide it. If not for the risk of damaging her prized cello, I'd have tackled her onto my bed and begged her to take me right there. 'Oh, I can just imagine...'

A wave of very dirty thoughts ran through my mind just then as I imagined my roommate playing in front of me, her hips swaying like a metronome with each sonorous measure... Then falling onto my bed as I poured out my feelings to her. I involuntarily scooted closer to the far edge of the bed, as if I were making room for her next to me. My face turned scarlet beneath my minty green coat, and the first wave of warmth spread through my legs. "Well, she won't be back for hours, and I'm not that tired I suppose." A quick flick of my horn wrapped the deadbolt in a golden glow and flipped it to the locked position. 'Just in case.'

Room secured, I laid back, closed my eyes, and let my mind wander right back into the proverbial gutter. In my mind'e eye, I could see Octavia laid out on the bed next to me, her back snuggled up tight against my chest. "Hmm, nice and warm." I felt a warm shiver roll through my chest, as if I really was snuggling something - or somepony - close. I imagined holding her close, yet the sensation was so soft and gentle... I nuzzled the back of her head, and for a moment, I could almost smell the familiar scents of jasmine and honey. Truly, I could have laid there with her for hours, nuzzling her, holding her, stroking my hoof through her silken mane. But my increasingly dirty mind wanted much, much more.

I felt my tail swish against the bed, and as I looked back, I could see my hind legs rubbing themselves together a bit already. 'I like my imagination sometimes.' I dove right back into my depraved mind, and I could almost feel Octavia snuggle even deeper into my chest before rolling her head back to look at me with her gorgeous eyes. I caught her beautiful gaze for a moment before leaning in and kissing her. I literally shuddered as the image of her kiss filled my mind. Her lips were softer than silk and so incredibly warm.

"Mmhm..." I hummed contentedly as I melted into her kiss. I felt her hoof run through my mane and grasp the back of my neck to pull us closer still. I reciprocated by sliding a hoof between Octavia's neck and the pillow, and as I cradled her head in the crook of my leg, I let my tongue slide teasingly against the edge of her lips. Another flash of heat ran through my spine as I saw her part her lips and invite me in, and I barely held back a groan as our tongues met in an intricate, slow dance. The increasingly small conscious side of my mind noted rather loudly that I was nearly making out with my pillow, but the voice of reason was quickly silenced by the beautiful cellist that was filling my mind with desire and lust. 

"You... You don't know how long I've waited for this," I heard her say to me between kisses. I saw Octavia gently nip my ear before running a hoof through my mane again, this time letting the long green and white strands frame the right side of my face. "Why didn't you say anything?"

I kissed her again, grabbing her tongue with my own for a moment before pulling away with a flourish. "I- I don't know," I whispered. "I guess I never thought I'd be good enough for you. You're known across Equestria, and have high-class ponies fawning over you." I stroked her cheek and tried to hide a frown. "How could I ever measure up?"

A gentle warmth overcame me as I felt Octavia roll over to face me, our chests mere inches apart. She reached her hooves out and embraced me like I could disappear in an instant. "Lyra, no. Those are the exact ponies that I don't want." Her voice was a gentle whisper in my ear. "They want me for my music alone, or to be seen next to me. What I want is real friends, real companions..." she gave me a smoldering gaze, "...and perhaps, a real lover too." Without another word, she rolled further towards me, and with a gentle nudge, pushed me fully onto my back. 

I brought my eyes up to look at her and I gasped. Octavia was hovering above me, her hind legs straddling my body and her forelegs resting on my chest. Her violet eyes were nearly glowing as she stared down at me, and it was all I could do not to melt into my bed and through the floor. A casual observer would have seen me rubbing my hooves all over myself, but in my increasingly lust-addled mind, I was tracing lines up and down Octavia's barrel, savoring the silken feel of her coat against me. I watched in awe as she reached behind her and popped the clasp on her trademark bow-tie. She let it fall from around her neck, catching it expertly with a hoof before throwing it to the side. My heart was thundering in my chest, and the warmth in my body was quickly spreading through my lower half. "P-please... Please take me." I managed to whisper.

An instant later, she was on me. Octavia's chest was crushed against mine, our lips locked together in a heated, all-consuming kiss. This time our tongues met without a second thought, and for a few moments all I could feel was her hot breath on me as we explored each other's mouths. "Oh, yes... Yes..." I moaned into her ear as our she broke the kiss just long enough to move down my cheek and down my neck. She kissed and lapped at my fur, her breath washing over me like a burst of steam. "Don't stop..."

Our bodies continued to move against each other as hooves, lips, manes, and even tails became entwined. I returned as many kisses and caresses as I could, but I quickly became a whimpering mound of putty under Octavia's passionate assault. A sudden burst of nerves struck me, and I thought for a moment that she had kissed me too hard; I concentrated just enough to open my eyes and immediately realized that it was my hoof that disrupted my dream when it grazed my nipples just a bit too hard. Still, my blood was racing, and even the momentary lapse in my fantasy was not enough to dampen the arousal running through my haunches. My eyes closed again as I dove headlong into what was easily my most vivid fantasy yet.

"Mmhm... Yes, Octavia..." I imagined her slowly kissing and nibbling her way down my barrel, her lips and hooves leaving a hot trail all over me. My hooves were roaming all over my body now, and I could already smell my arousal filling the air around me. My hind legs spread further apart as I envisioned Octavia inching closer and closer to my haunches. I shuddered again as my hooves - her hooves - ran up and down the soft fur on my inner thighs. "Oh, yes, don't stop..." I pressed my back further into the bed and lifted my hips, doing whatever I could to bring this gorgeous, sultry fantasy to the next level.

Finally, it happened. The first touch. I felt the edge of a smooth hoof glance across my outer lips, and I couldn't help but utter a lusty, throaty moan as I felt my juices run down my lips and into my tail. "Oh, yes! That feels so good!" I may have been too loud, but I didn't care if others heard us. As far as I was concerned, the mare of my dreams was in my bed, pleasuring me like nopony ever had before. 'And I want more.'

I felt my lips part, and I saw her hoof slip further into my tender flesh. "Oh, stars... Yes!" My eyes were full of adrenaline and pure lust as I stared down my chest at Octavia, her eyes locked onto my soaked pussy. Her hoof moved as smoothly over my flesh as it did her cello's strings, and in took only a minute for my body to sing in response. Fast, then slow. Up, then across. A light touch, then a deep, heavy pressure. Like her music, it was always new, always varied, yet all perfectly timed to make pure perfection. I moaned all the louder, lewdly grinding my soaked haunches against her now slick hoof. "Aahn, y-yes! I'm getting close, oh don't stop!"

A second sensation hit me like a lightning bolt, and I arched my back even higher. I shifted on the bed, giving my free hoof enough room to massage my erect nipples while my other hoof - Octavia's hoof - continued its sensual assault on my marehood. I could picture Octavia's lips on me again, eagerly licking and sucking on my nipples like they were candy. My whole body was covered in a sheen of sweat and arousal, but that only drove my heart faster. I shuddered and moaned as Octavia's eager tongue pressed deeper and harder into my nipples while her hoof continued to tease my wet folds, drawing every last drop of arousal from my core as I begged and pleaded for still more.

It only took a few more minutes for the orgasm to begin rushing through my veins. I could feel it coming on like a tidal wave, and I rushed headlong towards it. "Yes! Yes! I'm so close! D-don't stop!" I swore I felt Octavia's tongue encircle a nipple as her hoof moved deeper into me and part my inner lips again.

Her hoof brushed right over my swollen clit and my world exploded around me.

"Aahn! Yes, Tavi, yes!" I nearly screamed her beautiful name as an incredible orgasm raced through me. "Oh, yes! Y- Aahn!" I wildly ground my pussy against her hoof, drawing the orgasm out as long as I possibly could. My chest heaved as I basked in the sheer euphoria; I could still feel the echoes of the orgasm rolling through me over and over again, but I just laid there and let myself be washed away in the tide of ecstasy.

In the corner of my mind, I thought I heard a fairly loud knocking sound, but it wasn't followed by the tell-tale thunk of the deadbolt, so I ignored it. Finally, my mind began to return to the present and I opened my eyes. "W-wow..." I looked around and had to chuckle a bit. My mane was a mess, my coat was matted and sweaty, and my sheets were definitely going to need to be changed. I turned again to the empty cello stand across from me, and for a second, I saw Octavia playing a beautiful, deep composition... While she stared at me like only a lover can.

"At least I'll see you in my dreams, Octavia."





When all you have are dreams and fantasies, I suppose you can make them as detailed - and as hot - as you want them to be. Nopony came to me to complain about my little solo performance that day. But, as I found out later, I wasn't playing to an entirely empty house either.
> Episode 6 - Spa Day (Twilight Sparkle-Aloe-Lotus) [Guest Author: Loyal]
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Dear Red Shoes,

I've been a long-time reader of your work, and if your reputation is to be believed, your ability to draw secrets from nearly any mare is matched only by the discretion you show with the stories that they tell you. To be honest, I never thought I'd be adding a story of my own to your pages. But for a pony in my position... Well, let's just say that I don't get many chances to relax - much less really indulge myself.

But when the opportunity does arise once in a blue moon, I tend to go all out...




 
The wind rippled through my mane and over my flanks as I soared through the cool morning sky over Ponyville. Lately, I had developed a habit of taking mid-morning flights around town as a way to re-energize myself, maintain good cardiovascular health, and further memorize the layout of the town from the air. Well, okay, it was really just a way to de-stress, but all of those other reasons were perfectly valid... Or at least valid enough to get me out of a few meetings now and again.

This morning’s flight was a bit of a departure from even that, however, as I had somewhere to be. I spotted my destination and began to make a leisurely loop of the town square, avoiding a nasty thermal rising from Sugarcube Corner’s chimneys that could have easily sent me careening through the roof of Rarity's boutique, which was just down the street. "What a way to say ‘thank you,’ right?" I chuckled.

The thing about Rarity is, sometimes she lives up the name of her Element a little too well. I know she means well, but her constant prying can become a little tedious, particularly when it comes on top of the other hundred or so things that had been stressing me as of late. Rarity's habit of nosing around had hit a fever pitch too, after she stumbled upon evidence of some of my less-than-ladylike stress relief routines. It was at her insistence (and with no small amount of funding, I was sure) that I now found myself making my way to the Lotus Leaf Spa.

This appointment had been planned for weeks, thanks again to Rarity. She was the spa's most loyal and generous customer, which the spa's owners repaid by allowing her to occasionally book the entire spa for herself. Rarity had confided in me that she and Fluttershy had once enjoyed the all-day treatment together, which would have explained one particularly mysterious absence when the two of them hadn’t shown for a book club meeting.

Putting that aside, Rarity insisted that I take a day to de-stress, relax, and get away from the worries of Ponyville’s emerging government. Aloe and Lotus agreed immediately upon hearing that Rarity wanted to treat me to the ‘Supreme Package,’ and had sent several correspondences expressing their mounting excitement. Truth be told, I was excited as well. Nervous, but excited. I had visited the spa a few times over the years, but those visits had always been in the company of my friends, usually as a precursor to whatever social engagements we had managed to finagle our way into.

Today, though, it was just me.

A million thoughts raced through my mind as I set hooves to pavement just outside of the spa. Many of those thoughts were about the odds of a national emergency breaking out while I was off getting a hooficure, while most of the others were about my own safety, as well as that of the spa and its owners. I haven’t had a magical accident in ages, but putting myself squarely in the hooves of two ponies – professional or otherwise – had me concerned for my inner stability. Plenty of documentation existed on relaxation techniques for unicorns, most of which focused on how its improper use could lead to sporadic spell-casting, bouts of uncontrolled telekinesis, or even group teleportation to some unsavory locations.

The other mounting issue I had was, well, to be frank…

I was in heat.

A mare’s heat is more often than not a private affair, especially if she’s not romantically involved with a devoted partner. For me, I had managed to mitigate much of the stress involved with such a debacle with spells, seclusion, and distractive reading. But since the whole debacle with Tirek and the quite unexpected promotion that came out of it, I hadn't had one. This was my first, and it was not going to be pretty.

Normally, I would have cancelled all plans for at least the next day, secluded myself in some wayward library, and read about the extrapolative theories of telluric resonances in Saddle Arabian enchantments. Instead, my original correspondence with Lotus and Aloe had returned with a 100% guarantee that my, um, ‘condition’ would not affect the spa treatment in any way. They alluded to some therapeutic benefits from aromatherapy and bathing rituals, but I was nonplussed.

Nevertheless, I had come this far already, and I owed it to Rarity to at least give it a try. So, I swallowed the small lump in my throat and made my way into the spa.

“Good mornink!” Lotus Blossom’s cheery voice was the first thing to greet me, laden with a thick, exotic accent. She was a gorgeous mare in her own right, with that cobalt-blue hide and bubblegum-pink mane that reminded me only distantly of Pinkie Pie. Her twin, Aloe, stood right by her side, looking a mirror of her sister with a pink coat and blue mane. Both of them were beaming graciously at me, and their warm reception sparked a smile of my own.

“Good morning to you, too, Lotus; Aloe. It’s good to see you again.”

“Vee haff missed joo!” Aloe bubbled as she swept forth, unceremoniously tossing her hooves around me. Hugs and displays of affection were no uncommon occurrence in Equestria as a whole, but in light of my predicament, I immediately felt awkward in returning the embrace. She smelled like her namesake; like crushed aloe leaves mixed with a hint of… Was that peppermint? Mingling with my own faint musk, I felt immediately ashamed for associating the two. I almost turned around and left right then and there.

Until I heard the distinct click of the door locking behind me. I turned my head just in time to see Lotus flip the spa's window sign to 'closed' and draw the curtains.

“I-is that really necessary?” I asked. Lotus caught my glance, returning the look with another warm smile.

“Vee haff the whole day reserved for joo! Eet vould be highly unprofessional if vee accepted any other customers today.” She waggled a hoof out to the street. “They can wait. Today is all about joo!” Aloe’s hooves left me, but she pressed up against my right side, with Lotus occupying my left. Before I could voice any concerns, the twins ushered me out of the lobby and deeper into the spa.

Despite having visited this place a few times before, I found myself struck with a little bit of first-timer’s anxiety. The short hallways and frosted-glass doors seemed oddly alien to me. I had forgotten my right hoof from my left, let alone what lay beyond which door. Some small part of my brain kept screaming at me, telling me to relax, to take it easy and enjoy myself; that nothing was going to go wrong, and Equestria could survive without me for a day.

But the majority of my brain was torn between staving off an anxiety attack, suppressing the 'need to rut' instinct that came with my heat cycle, and basking in the lingering scent of Aloe's gorgeous blue mane. My mind was still in a hundred places at once when I was ushered through one of those frosted glass doors and into a rather plain-looking locker room.

“Normally ve haff customers who haff things with them,” Aloe began explaining, her accent a slightly deeper alto from her sister’s. “They can store their things here, but ve almost always begin with a shower.”

“O-okay.” I stuttered, following their lead past the low wooden benches and stacks of small lockers that lined the walls on either side of the room. Beyond that was what looked to be a communal shower room, judging by the array of shower heads and the sunken-in floor. I had fully expected the twins to leave me to my business, but I was shocked when they turned the water on, adjusting the temperature to their liking, and ushered me under the stream themselves. They got soaked right alongside me, their hooves pulling at my mane and tail in equal measure.

“H-hey, I- woah!”

“Relax, darlink!” Aloe crooned behind me, her hooves working on my tail with smooth, even pulls. “Ve haff to relax ze follicles!”

“Y-yeah, but you know I’m- AAH!” The smooth tugs quickly undid whatever progress I had made in quelling my raging hormones, instead cranking them up to a roaring blaze inside of me. I could feel my clitoris winking lewdly, further cementing the idea that this was a panic-worthy occurrence, and I most certainly would not be enjoying myself.

“Ve know, darlink.” Lotus chimed in, her voice lower since it was closer to my ears. She was indeed leaning in, her mouth a few inches away as she raked her hooves through my mane. “Und ve apologize. Ze arousal will stop, I assure you, once ve move on to treatments. Trust me, joo aren’t ze first mare in heat ve haff... serviced.”

The continued tugging on my tail, combined with the way she used the word 'serviced' had me reeling. Aloe’s hooves dug into the strands of my tail right by the dock, putting firm pressure on parts of my anatomy I had only explored in teenage flights of fancy.

I've never been much of a sexual pony, to be honest. My erotic exploits consisted almost solely of masturbation, and even that was done merely as a way to relieve heat-related stress. I did have a brief fling with a cute stallion in my class back in Canterlot, but it lasted less than a month. We had hardly moved beyond simple kissing before we agreed our studies were more important than romance.

Thus, with no clear way to relieve myself of the heat and two (admittedly gorgeous) mares pulling on me end-to-end, I felt more than a little trapped. But, just as soon as I felt the panic rising to uncomfortable levels, it was over. The twins cranked the shower off and went to fetch towels. I stood on the wet tile, shivering from something that wasn't the cold, and halfway tempted to cast a quick pleasure spell to blast away the anxiety. As soon as I cemented my resolve, however, they returned and began toweling me off.

On any normal day, I’d have insisted I do it myself. But that small part of my brain begging me to relax won a rare victory over my nerves and I surrendered myself to the sisters' fluffy assault. I found myself tongue-tied as their towel-shod hooves fluffed my mane and tail, giving only the slightest bit of pressure to my more sensitive areas. After the firm tugs from earlier, the toweling was a cakewalk. The little boost of confidence made a huge difference for me at that moment, especially when Aloe announced that the next treatments would do much to alleviate my arousal.

First up was a mud bath. Rarity used them regularly, but I had never had the opportunity. Then again, I so rarely did things that were outside of my comfort zone; yet there I was standing on the edge of a pool filled with a viscous, syrupy concoction that somehow smelled much better than it looked on first glance.

With a bit of an assist from Lotus, I gingerly stepped into the pool of mud… And oh my, what a relief that was too. As soon as my haunches sank into the mud, the fire in my nether regions was snuffed out in an instant. The mud did feel a bit squishy as it worked its way up my lower half, but the cooling effect it had on me was worth all the odd sensations in the world.

I sank back into the tub with a long sigh, keeping my wings tucked tight until only my face and forehooves remained above the surface of the mud. I thought I’d have to shift and adjust until I found a comfortable spot, but I found myself sinking into its embrace like a ship with a slow leak in the hull. It seeped its way into my joints and around my body, slowly sucking me in until I settled on the bench beneath the surface.

The combined effect had me more than a little zoned out. I closed my eyes and let my mind drift while Lotus and Aloe began one of their famous hooficures. They stayed completely silent as they worked; I could barely even hear the rasping of their files and polishers as they lavished attention on each of my hooves in turn.

“Princess?” It took me a moment to even register that somepony was talking to me. Shaking myself, I looked up at a beaming Aloe, who stood at the foot of the tub. “Ve are done with ze mud bath. Come, and ve vill rinse you off.”

“R-right.” I was loathe to leave the mud, but the physical act of standing up and out of the tub was quite interesting to my inner scientist. The mud slid off of my body as if I was shrugging out of a silk bathrobe. From my neck to the tip of my tail, I felt the mud sluice off, its weight leaving me feeling light and airy afterwards.

I could still feel thick globs of mud sliding down my body as I made my way to another tub on the opposite end of the room. This one mystified me a little when I first saw it. It appeared to be an empty tub with a long table set in the middle. It was flanked by two smaller tables, one to each side. In fact, the only parts of the tub that seemed to be for actual bathing were to the far left and right sides, but there were small tables at those points as well, each of which had a type of garden hose attached to their legs. Finally, a large rack sat behind the entire apparatus, its shelves stocked with dozens of bottles of oils, creams,and other products I couldn't even try to identify.

Then I realized with a small bit of horror that I had mud in some rather unsavory places. I knew from experience that a regular bath was in order somewhere down the line, and it wouldn't do for me to trek mud into them. Which was likely why this table was here, to rinse the mud from my body. The tables, I realized, would be for my mud-laden wings. And the indents were for Aloe and Lotus to stand. So they could rinse the mud from my wings… And my body…

…And my haunches.

“Zis…” Aloe grimaced faintly at me. “May be… debilitatink.”

“R-right.” I returned the look, feeling my core muscles flex in nervous anticipation. “S-should I just get on, then?”

“Zat vould be best.” Lotus led me into her portion of the tub, standing comfortably in the indent on my right. Aloe took the one on the left, both of them offering hooves to help me stretch out. The table in the middle was sloped and rounded, so that my torso rested mostly on-level with the twins. My haunches, however, would dip downwards and into the same recess that Aloe and Lotus shared. If the tub were full, my head would be just above the level of the water, with my haunches well below the surface.

I stretched out on my stomach, my forelegs curled underneath my chin. Aloe and Lotus carefully guided me until I was situated. It was surprisingly comfortable, though my mind was too busy trying to calm itself to really notice.

’Here it comes, Twilight. Just control yourself. They’re professionals, and you’re a Princess. You have a problem, and they have the solution. Just relax.’

Maybe it was the mud bath, or maybe it was that little inner monologue that finally did it, but I found myself relaxed at last. The water started, filling the immediate air with steam and droplets.

“Is ze temperature okay?” Lotus asked softly, spraying the stream against my foreleg experimentally.

“It’s fine, actually. Thank you.” I nodded my approval, watching as my coat emerged from the layers of caked-on mud. The rivulets of dirt cascaded off of my body inch by inch as the twins began rinsing me off. They prioritized my forelegs, neck, and mane, which actually felt rather nice. The hot water was like a highly focused massage of its own, though I knew a more thorough one would be coming later on. That was a whole other barrel of stress that I’d just as soon not think about just then, and thankfully enough, I didn't in favor of focusing on the rinsing process. Aloe and Lotus were careful and tender, using the firm streams to buff out any dirt from my upper body.

After my forelegs and head were clean, I was allowed to lay them down. I crossed my hooves and rested my chin on them as the water then shifted to my shoulders and chest. The twins took a few moments to spread my wings out as well, and after holding them in for the mud bath, spreading them like that felt absolutely divine.

“Ooh…”

“Hehe.” Aloe chuckled slightly. “Somepony hasn’t been preenink herself.”

“Ooh, not good!” Lotus gave a soft ‘tsk’ing noise at my side, guiding her own water hose over the dirt-caked feathers. “Ve shall include one for joo!”

“Oh! I, uuh-“

Allow me to explain. Preening for pegasi was an incredibly intimate thing. I had only truly preened myself a few times since gaining my wings, and each time had been a surprisingly eye-opening and refreshing – if mildly arousing – experience. Rainbow Dash had instructed me the first time on how to do it properly and what to avoid. I asked her why she didn't do it for me, when she nearly slapped me. I remember her words almost hauntingly well.

“I like you, Twi, but I’m not INTO you! Sheesh, egghead, get yourself a stallion to do that.”

I had found out shortly after that why. Preening tended to stimulate several minute nerve-endings in the wing’s nervous system that were linked almost directly to the spine, and as such, the tail dock. Putting such minute pressure on those nerves resulted in wing-flares (or, as I’d heard them unceremoniously referred to, ‘Wingboners.’) Wing-flares were a traditional pegasus mating sign, one to be displayed only to romantic partners. Since then, I had only preened myself in private, and only when I was sure I could handle the inevitable arousal myself.

“Relax, darlink.” Aloe patted my neck gently. “Eet’s fine by us. Joo are getting the Deluxe treatment, after all! Ve haff done zis plenty of times before.” Her low voice had a certain mix of ‘sultry’ and ‘confident’ to it that I couldn't help but acquiesce to. Part of me wondered just HOW many times they had done it, to be honest.

’Buck it. I’m already here in heat, what more could possibly go wrong?’

“Okay.” I sighed, closing my eyes and relaxing once more. I couldn't quite see it, but a soft noise told me that both the spa sisters had smiled at my agreement. Thankfully enough, the preening didn't start right away. They had to rinse off the majority of the mud first. That was another thing I was a little thankful for. Part of the incumbent magic that came along with flight was the way our wings repelled water. Half of it was the oil we secreted (not unlike a duck or other waterfowl) but the magic also kept moisture from building up where it might freeze at colder, high-altitude temperatures. As the twins guided their hot streams of water over my wings, the mud flowed off of them immediately, leaving the amethyst feathers looking pristine and flawless underneath.

“Zere ve go.” Lotus smiled as my wings were rinsed off, leaving only my lower half exposed. “Ve vill do zem next. Ve haff to get the rest of zis mud off!”

I could almost feel my heart plummet into my stomach. My eyes snapped open as the water caressed its way up onto my barrel, and began working down my back.

“Uuh…” If I were to voice my discomfort, neither of them heard it. I managed to quiet myself as the streams worked down my spine and over my cutie marks. Thankfully, they seemed to be avoiding the delicate flesh between my legs, at least for the moment. I heard them shift about to face my rear end, placing their brightly colored tails to either side of my own head. One of them focused on buffing the water out of the long, luxurious strands of my own tail while the other worked on my hooves. It started innocently enough, but as the moments stretched on, I felt those hot streams inching higher and higher.

The faint scent of my arousal hit my nose again, making me cringe inside. Honestly, I was more ashamed that I was unable to control myself. The hot water massaged the inside of my thighs, inching ever-closer to the epicenter of–

’Wait just one moment…’ I thought. ’There’s still mud and water covering me down there. How could I possibly be smelling my own- ohhhhhh…’ The realization came with a furious blush.

It wasn’t my arousal I was smelling just then.

“Uh, are you two–“

“Just relax, darlink.” One of their voices came to me as if on a cloud, wafting through my ears with a siren sound. “Ve vill take care of joo.”

The water finally met its goal, spraying directly against my tail dock and vagina. My muscles contracted immediately, expelling a thin bit of fluid and making me whimper out of embarrassment. The water rinsed away the mud completely. Not that I could tell, I was too busy feeling the hot pulses go into me. Whichever one of them was doing that was evil. Evil to no extent. I felt my chest quake, my wings stiffening out to my sides as the water gushed against my pussy, reducing me to a sloppy, dripping mess back there.

If this was the twin's way of helping me 'take the edge off', it was working to perfection, and I surrendered immediately to the first pulses of an oncoming orgasm. I just laid there and let the hot streams of water coax a long, slow burning climax from me. Tongue lolling out of my mouth, I felt the muscles in my haunches send my tail thrashing against the tub, whipping Aloe and Lotus with the long, sodden strands. Not that they seemed to mind, if the insistent jet of water was any indication. It continued to pulse away at my pleasure hole, riding out my orgasm with a continued stream of blissfully-hot water.

“Oooohh,” I melted onto the tub’s table with a sigh, my eyes fluttering closed as sweet, blessed relief flooded my senses. Never mind that this was my first orgasm with another female, or that I, a Princess, had been reduced to a helpless blob of pony flesh by two gorgeous mares. Those thoughts and all the others that had haunted me since breakfast that morning were banished to the moon, eclipsed, then banished again to some other far-off celestial body whose light took millennia to reach Equestria.

I was in Elysium, and it was glorious.

“Zere ve are. Much better, no?” Lotus’ perky voice drew me out of my euphoric haze. The water had stopped, and as far as I could tell, I was completely free of the mud now. Squirming my haunches together betrayed no alien sensation of leftover mineral between them, and flexing my core muscles assured me there was nothing inside. I was clean again, and thankfully so.

“Y-yeah, actually… I feel much better.” I had to admit. The first orgasm of a heat cycle is always just a teaser, though. I knew in a few minutes, maybe as much as fifteen, I’d be eager for another.

“Mees Rarity was right, zen.” Aloe purred, her lips surprisingly close to my ear. “Joo really do need our ‘Deluxe’ treatment.”

“Curse that mare for her lack of surreptitiousness.” I moaned playfully, trying hard to ignore the soft sensation of air pulsing over my ear.  “I-if you don’t mind my asking, though… What is the ‘Deluxe’?”

“Oh you shall see, darlink.” Lotus returned, nosing the feathers of my still-stiff wing. “Just trust us ven ve say you’ll leaff here feelink very…” She leaned in, pressing her muzzle right to the base of the wing. “Relaxed.”

“Uuhn…” That was the only sound I could muster as she began working the base of my wing. The muscle structure of a pegasus’ wings are critical to flight, but they are also one continuous erogenous zone. The zones varied in intensity, but under a skilled hoof, they could be manipulated to drive any pegasus wild in a matter of minutes. Lotus wasted no time in nosing and massaging the primary joints, hitting all the spots that sent electric jolts of pleasure down my spine and to my haunches almost immediately. My tail thrashed through the air, my mouth hanging open as I moaned helplessly.

“Zere ve are.” She cooed, her hoof rising up to the bones of my wing, gingerly guiding it down. “Eets good to get ze ving aroused before a preening. Eet makes ze feathers easier to manipulate, no?” She giggled playfully, the soft exhalation sending several more hot pulses of air directly across the damp feathers. I whimpered thinly, my thighs squirming together as the sporadic muscle twitches returned in-force. To top it all off, Aloe joined in on the fray, doing the exact same thing for my other wing. They both snapped open, quivering with anticipation as shudders of pleasure raced up and down my spine like electricity. I was squirming on the table now, and half a moment away from biting my foreleg to keep from crying out.

That’s when the preening really began.

Aloe’s lips wrapped around the first feather, using the soft tissue rather than her teeth to give it a small bit of pressure, enough to straighten it out and set it in place. I gasped as the first jolt of ecstasy shot through my core, expelling a thin bit of liquid arousal from my twitching cunt. I had felt a similar burst of pleasure during my own preening attempts, but holy stars was it another sensation altogether coming from somepony else. And they were good at it.

It seemed almost like they were alternating, one or the other using their lips to set my large primary feathers straight while smoothly stripping away the smaller downy feathers that sat in between the primaries. The downy feathers were expendable and new ones would quickly grow to take their places. Each one produced a little jolt of pleasure as it was caught in the twin’s skilled lips, but the bigger ones, the primaries...

Woah nelly.

My tail became a whirlwind of excitement, and I found myself actually rising up on my knees each time they set a new one straight. The shots of pleasure were rocking through me like lightning, as if they were working on my clitoris instead of my feathers. Panting openly now, each new straightened feather made me emit a thin stream of feminine cum and every few feathers, I could feel another mini-orgasm rush through me. Each one flooded my nose with the smell of my own musk, and my senses with another wave of pure euphoria. I was totally powerless to even try to stop them, and I think I lost count somewhere around twelve.

Twelve twitching, panting, musk-filled orgasms brought on solely by my wings. Oh how blessed I felt to have wings in that moment.

“Zere ve are.” Lotus cooed, her hooves rising to my spine, gingerly massaging the muscle between the two joints. “Zat vasn’t so bad, now, vos it?”

“N-no,” I moaned, my tail still twitching eagerly. Orgasms from wing-stimulation are lovely and all, but they had done little to assuage the fire in my gut. They hadn't even touched my vagina, save with the water, and here I was riled up and wetter than an April rainstorm.

“Ve haff only just started, darlink.” Aloe chimed in, her lips coming right next to my ear. “Now ve get on to our favorite part of ze ‘Deluxe.’”

“A-and that would be…?”

Both mares leaned in to whisper into either ear.

“’Ze massages.’”





A few minutes later, I found myself on another long table, supported by a series of white cushions that had a very curious consistency and feel to them. The twins explained that the material used in them allowed for easy clean up, as the 'deluxe' massages often got a bit messy. Part of me couldn't decide if that was due only to the massage oils, or liquids of a more intimate nature.

Nevertheless, I found myself stretched out on my stomach once more, resting my head on my forelegs, and two beautiful mares standing on either side of me. The difference between this table and the other one was that Aloe and Lotus could sit on their own haunches while they used their hooves to massage.

And oh what a massage it was. They weren't shy with the oil application, as I felt a torrent of it wash over my back and wings. They started with the latter, using tiny mouth-held brushes to spread the oil evenly onto each feather. Gone was the electric shocks that had reduced me to a cum-flecked, whimpering mess previously, replaced instead with a low, insistent hum that made my entire body feel like I was caught in a thunderhead. If I closed my eyes and focused, I could almost feel the electricity running between my oil-soaked feathers.

Following that, the twins laid their hooves on my neck, starting high up enough to massage the joint of my skull. Immediately, I felt a rush of blood to my head, making me dizzy. The twins ‘tsk’d’ again, and I could imagine them shaking their heads disapprovingly.

“So tense, Princess. Joo need to relax more often. Eets not good for joor health!”

“Joo need to learn better de-stressink techniques. Ve can recommend some after we’re done here.”

“Ah huh.” I moaned, feeling more like a blob than I had before. It was like all coordination had gone from my muscles. In the aftermath of the buzzing wing-oiling and the preening, I could feel each nerve ending as their hooves manipulated and massaged the minute muscles in my neck, but I couldn’t control them if I wanted to.

They moved on down my back, massaging the flight muscles again. This time, there was less of an erotic undertone to it, and more of a tender, professional one. Sure, I got the flares again, my wings throbbing almost painfully as they massaged minute circles into the bundle of muscles right at the joint. But it wasn't the tail-thrashing, panting arousal from before. This was the ‘low-groaning-heavens-help-me-I-need-a-rut’ sort of arousal. Yet afterwards, I felt a strength in my wings I hadn't known existed. They felt powerful and full, like if I flapped now I’d move maybe twice as fast as I had previously.

It made me wonder if Rainbow Dash’s comment on getting stallions to do pegasi preenings had any impact on her flight ability.

It also made me wonder if I’d get any more orgasms before this little spa trip was up. That little wonder found its way to the fore of my mind as the twins made their way down my forelegs, paying extra-special attention to my thigh and calf muscles.

“Joo haff very good muscle structure.” Aloe commented halfway through the foreleg massage. “Eet’s no vonder joor ze talk of ze town.”

“I’m what?” I asked, half out of interest, half just to hear that sultry alto voice purr through my ears a little more.

“Come now, Twilight. Ze shy librarian suddenly becomes Princess? Und she’s single? Don’t you zink zere are more than a few stallions und mares viz their eyes on you?”

“You don’t say…” This was certainly a new development. I had entertained thoughts of pursuing a romantic relationship in Ponyville before, but had elected not to in interest of other things, like saving the world on a bi-monthly basis. Oh, and reading, of course. Still, I was more than a bit intrigued by this bit of news. For better or worse, it made sense for others to be talking about me; it had only been a few months since Tirek's defeat and the appearance of my new, absurdly large castle. But to hear that I was apparently Ponyville's most eligible mare as well was another thing entirely.

Suddenly, some recent (and admittedly stressful) events were thrown into relief. There had been several suitors with gifts of a romantic variety at the castle, which I had attributed at first to the vicinity of Hearts and Hooves day. I was grateful for the gifts, and I’d like to think I accepted them graciously, but the stallions and mares who had given them were suddenly more than just well-wishers.

And then there was Rarity, whose increasing interest into my personal life had been perhaps the oddest occurrence of them all. I’d catch her wearing wonderful dresses every time she came to visit, or going out of her way to cover even the most menial of tasks for me. Before, I had thought them coincidence, or perhaps a bit odd. Now, I could see the real reason behind it.

I was extremely flattered, but still not sure what to make of one of my closest friends harboring romantic feelings for me.

But I knew exactly what to think of the hooves that were roaming my prone form.

“Oh, that feels divine.” I moaned as Lotus and Aloe left my relaxed forelegs behind and moved on to my barrel. They massaged up and down my sides and along my ribs in a methodical – and borderline erotic – rhythm. They slid as far down as my cutie mark, spreading more massage oil as they went; so much so that my nostrils were flooded with a heady combination of jasmine, lavender, and sugar. My coat quickly became slicked and matted under their care, and the pillows beneath me were utterly soaked.

But frankly, I didn't care at all. In fact, it seemed those small, niggling doubts that kept cropping up had decided to call it quits. I could care less about the state of the cushions, or Equestria’s safety, or even the torrent of obvious suitors at that moment. I couldn't even be bothered to think about the hooves roaming down to the base of my tail, or how said tail was thrashing wildly with the need for satisfaction.

What I did care about was the impending orgasm I was about to receive. The twins’ hooves dipped between my thighs, indenting the flesh deviously close to my flared core. I let loose a thin whimper, drawing my lip between my teeth as the first tantalizing shudder of pleasure rocked through me. That little taste wasn’t all that I got, either. The twins began massaging where their hooves lay, and despite my efforts to keep the area flexed and pent-up, I found myself relaxing into their touch. My hips sagged and my tail shot straight up, flipping over my back to stick to the oil-laden hairs of my coat. I was totally exposed to them, and for once, I didn't care at all.

But Lotus and Aloe? Oh, they cared, and in the best way possible. The tingling sensation of the oil and their expert touch had me so relaxed, I could hardly tell exactly where their hooves were. But I knew they were doing some devious things to my outer lips and the tender flesh surrounding them, if the rush of ecstasy in my veins was any indication. They had me reduced to to a moaning, whimpering lump of pony flesh disguised as a princess, and I was loving every second of it.

Then the next orgasm hit me like a runaway train, and I could barely contain my voice at all as I cried out in pleasure. I could hear the sound of my liquid orgasm spurting forth, pitter-pattering onto the pillows and table beneath me, joining the multitude of oil and lotion that had been spread all over my backside. The smell of my own cum mixed with the lotions and oils to produce a truly intoxicating aroma that could best be described as the smell of raw lust.

“Oooohh yess…” I hissed the breath out through my teeth, sagging onto the table even further than I already had. The twins continued to tenderly massage my flared labia, though I was sure I had just cum enough times to wear me out for at least the rest of the day.

Oh how wrong I was.

“Haah!” I inhaled suddenly as pleasure ripped through my entire lower half, making my torso shoot up, arching my back as my wings snapped out hard enough to fling droplets of oil all over the room.

I tried to turn my head to see what the twins were doing to me, but Lotus appeared before me, her half-lidded eyes betraying lust and hunger. Before I could react, she pulled my face towards hers with both hooves, plastering out open mouths together. Her tongue invaded me, wrestling against mine until even that part of my body had been reduced to a useless lump. I drooled listlessly, my own eyes fluttering half-closed as Lotus kissed me with an amount of pressure that was both tender and powerful at once. It was unlike anything I had ever experienced before in my life. Her lips were so hot, so full of wants, needs, and lust… It was the kind of kiss I would imagine in the deepest depths of a masturbatory fancy, where orgasm is the goal and it’s close enough to taste.

We drooled on each other helplessly, slurping and kissing in a way that would have made me run away screaming just yesterday (or even earlier that morning.) All the while, the waves of pleasure wracked my lower half, turning my legs to putty and making me drip uncontrollably. From the erotic, wet noises behind me, I could only guess what Aloe was up to, be it her hooves, her tongue, or some combination thereof.

When it ended, I lay sprawled on my stomach, with Lotus kissing the side of my face tenderly, leaving stray patches of saliva from the corner of my mouth up to the tip of my ear. Behind me, I could finally feel specific things again, and Aloe’s tongue was busy lapping up the mess I had made.

“Zat vos good.” Aloe’s low voice finally reached my ears, now that her tongue wasn't occupied. “Joo came so much; I feel almost cheap charging Mees Rarity for zis!”

“Oh darlink, joo must let me taste her.” Lotus’ lips left my face, and from the way I was turned, I could just barely see the twins meet off to my left for another heated kiss. Just watching them riled me up, the blood returning to my system eagerly. Their tongues undulated back and forth, their eyes shut sweetly so. I couldn't help it. Watching those two kiss like that triggered something in me. I rolled onto my back, spreading my wings and legs both, my front hooves dipping between my oil-and-cum-slicked thighs.

Watching the twins, my hoof buried between my thighs, I let a hot breath pulse out of my mouth, which alerted the two mares to my predicament.

“Are joo…?”

Yes, yes I was. I was clopping to the sight of the twins kissing, and so help me, it was incredible. Not like earlier, when I had no input (or cognitive idea) what exactly was happening to me, I could feel the sensations of my hoof grinding against my core. It stoked the flames back to ‘roaring’ again in an instant, my entire body buzzing with pleasure.

“Zis vill not do.” Aloe purred, nice and low. “Ve cannot haff you pleasing yourself visout us! Lotus, darlink, give her some assistance.”

“Vis pleasure.” Lotus reared up between my legs, grinning down at my deviously. “Zis is my favorite zink to do… Just hold steel and let me…” She poured even more oil on me, her hooves spreading it all over my stomach and pubis. The extra oils flowed down my already-soaked fur like a waterfall, covering my haunches in a fresh mixture of oil and cum. Without another word, Lotus straddled my hips, adjusted her legs, and pushed us together. Our cunts met with a wet squelch, slippery and wet and oh so erotic. Just as she started to move, though, I was robbed of the sight of her for something equally erotic and debilitating.

“Forgive me, my darlink.” Aloe purred, her hips hovering right above my face. “But ve do enjoy ourselves when we’re like zis… Could you return ze favor?”

“Y-yeah– hmmn!” I hardly had a moment to respond before she shoved herself onto my mouth. I had never even thought of tasting another mare like this, but with Lotus panting and moaning the way she was between my thighs, with the fire of my heat rampaging unchecked through my gut, and the several orgasms I had been subject to already, it was the furthest thing from my mind to deny her.

And what a taste it was. Aloe's juices had a very prominent smell... A good deal of musk, but with an intoxicating spike or peppermint and her namesake plant. The musky taste of it lathered my tongue, filling my senses completely. I could taste her, smell her, feel her, see her, and even hear her as she matched Lotus’ throaty, breathy moans. The whole situation blurred over for me, and after a while, I couldn't remember which of the twins was eating me out as if my pussy was her last meal, and which one had her marehood plastered across my face. We explored each other for what felt like ages. Tongues, hooves, hips, and tails, everything seemed to move perfectly against each other as we drew unbelievable amounts of pleasure from each other.

I wasn't sure who came when, or how it all ended, but I know that when I finally came-to, Lotus’s legs were thoroughly tangled in between my haunches, and Aloe was laying somewhere above my head, panting and shuddering like she had just run a marathon in a desert. I worked my tongue in my mouth, tasting the beautiful aftermath of my first time with not just one but two mares.

“So, ladies… What else comes with the ‘Deluxe’?”

The twins shared a grin.





Too often we find ourselves wrapped up in the minutiae of day-to-day lives. For some of us, like my easy-going Apple friend, the days are easy, save for the physical stress. For others, like my crushing dressmaker, they’re filled with tedious details and headache-inducing stressors. Others still have hard days with unruly animals, too many bakery orders, or weather schedule time-crunches.

But I've found it’s one hundred percent worth it if you take a day for yourself. Lay back, take it easy, and let someone else have the reins, so to speak.

It’s a good way to… Relax.
> Episode 7 - Delicious Duet (Lyra-Octavia)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Dear Red Shoes,

I never thought I'd be writing one of these, to be honest. I've known about your work, of course. Who hasn't, really? But for the longest time, I turned my nose up at the entire idea behind this diary of yours. I mean, who in their right mind would air their dirty laundry for half of Equestria to see... and to a stranger no less? It felt like everypony was suddenly a kind of peeping colt, eagerly drooling over some other mare's misfortunes, or in many cases, their debauchery.

At least, that is, until I suddenly had a story of my own to tell.  And what a story it is...





"Of course the lift is broken. Again."

I slapped the call button a few more times in rapid succession, as if sheer force of will would somehow bring the infernal thing back to life. As I expected, the call light stayed on just long enough to tempt my sense of hope, only to wink out a moment later. Clearly, it was mocking me.

"Stupid pile of–" I bit back some very unsavory words before my temper got the best of me. If word got back to Mother that I had thrown a fit in public – and believe me, it would have – I'd have to endure a week of remedial lectures on ladylike behavior. And with the week I had been having, another lecture was the absolute last thing that I needed.

I glared at the call button before hanging my head in defeat. "The stairs it is then."

Four flights of stairs, to be exact. My talents and my family name had opened many avenues for me over the years, including a near automatic acceptance into the esteemed Canterlot Academy of Music. But apparently that was still woefully insufficient to secure a room on the first floor of the dormitory for the year. It was a minor nuisance normally, but with fifteen pounds of cello on my back, those stairs had become a pain in my flank before I reached the second floor.

Five minutes and two near misses from ponies running down the stairs like idiots later, I alighted onto the fourth floor. After catching my breath for a second, I readjusted my cello case on my back and headed down the hall. I was just passing the room next to mine when I heard a random voice.

"Oh, yes..."

I froze mid-step, ears turning every which way to locate whatever that was.

"Yes..."

'Oh, for buck's sake.' I cringed inside as I realized what was going on. Romantic rendezvous were certainly allowed in the dormitory, though most ponies took such carnal activities to one of the many inns around town, or at least kept themselves relatively quiet. Whoever this was though, was being anything but quiet.

"Don't stop..."

"No, please do," I muttered under my breath as I began to move again. I was just about to my door when the voice called out again.

"Mmhm... yes, Octavia..."

Everything around me stopped, as if my cello's strings had been cut mid-performance. The voice came from inside my room. 'Lyra?!'

"Oh, yes, don't stop..."

The slight North Trottingham accent was unmistakable. That was indeed my roommate.

And she was calling out my name while pleasuring herself.

I couldn't decide if I should be horrified, furious, or both. How long had she been doing this? Weeks? Months? The entire year? Could she have engineered her room assignment just to stalk me?

I scanned the hallway around me, silently thanking Celestia for the lack of other ponies in the area. Late afternoon classes hadn't let out for most students, and if Vinyl Scratch was even in her room at the end of the hall, she was likely passed out on her desk with her face resting in an empty pizza box.

Still, I had few options available to me. I could just barge in there and berate Lyra. After all, it was my room too, and I really wanted to get this cello off my back and take a shower. But, that would surely cause a scene, and with finals approaching in a few days, it was far too late in the semester to get a new roommate. Standing in the hall like a fool was risky too, but even if other ponies saw me, I'd at least have a chance to hoof wave them away. 'Maybe I'll just tell them I heard her throwing up in there–'

"Aahn, y-yes! I'm getting close, oh don't stop!"

Apparently, I'd arrived just in time for the crescendo of Lyra's, shall I say, solo session. And if the continued moans and whimpers from behind my door were any indication, she was enjoying whatever it was she thought I was doing to her. 'She must think I'm pretty good too... Wait, what?'

It was an errant thought, but it stopped me in my tracks. Surely, I couldn't be interested in this gross display, right?

Right?

I answered my own question by quietly shuffling as close to the door frame as I could get without blocking the light that filtered beneath it. My ears perked up, and for the next few minutes I just stood there and listened while Lyra drove herself crazy. I heard my name more than a few times, yet instead of stoking my indignation, it began poking at the back of my mind.

'She must really be into me if she's moaning like that. Does she really think I'm that sexy? Can a hoof even move that way?' All these questions and more flitted through me as the debauchery continued behind that door. I have to admit though, hearing my name cried out like that was getting to me... and in ways I hadn't expected in the least.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not totally asexual. I've dated mares and stallions in the past, and have enjoyed the time spent. One one particular occasion, I shared a bed with a stallion for a night as well, though I assure you it was purely for mutual stress relief before a particularly grueling orchestral performance. But, I had never really given much thought to a physical encounter with another mare, especially one that already slept in the same room with me.

Then again, Lyra was by all rights a comely mare...

"Yes! Yes! I'm so close!"

And I was legitimately stressed out over the solo piece I had to perform for next week's final...

"D-don't stop!"

And I'd be lying if the image of Lyra's admittedly lithe form sprawled out on her bed wasn't entirely unwelcome by my mind's eye...

"Aahn! Yes, Tavi, yes! Oh, yes! Y- Aahn!"

"Wow..." I whispered to myself as Lyra undoutedly reached an orgasm. Whatever I did to her in her imagination must have worked wonders for her, and if my rapidly beating heart was any clue, it was getting to me too. So much so, that I didn't feel the cello case slipping off my back until it was too late.

I nearly leaped back to counter-balance the case, but not before the back end of it knocked against the edge of the door frame. I barely suppressed a panicked yelp before backing away from the door as quickly as I dared. I thought for sure Lyra would poke her head out the door and find me loitering, but by some miracle the door remained closed. I turned immediately for the stairwell and went back downstairs before my luck ran out. "Besides," I muttered, "I've got some thinking to do."

After sneaking downstairs, I grabbed one of the empty tables in the back corner of the common lounge and went to work processing the situation I found myself in then. Unbeknownst to me, my roommate was not just into me, but had given to fantasizing about me in a very visceral way. I had no idea if this was a new thing for Lyra, or just another in a long running obsession with me, but the more I had listened to her lustful moans, the more enamored I became with the idea that somepony wanted me – and not just for my musical talent either. Lyra wanted me, not the cello prodigy; she wanted Octavia Melody, not the semi-famous scion of musical royalty.

She just wanted me.

And despite my usual reticence, I liked that idea very much. The only question left to ponder now was, "How do I let her know?"





My little travel clock showed it was nearly seven in the evening when I finished arranging my sheet music on its stand. "Okay, everything's ready. Now, will she show up?" 'And can I really go through with this?' I added as my mind replayed the events that had led me to this point.

I had been mulling over my options in the common lounge for nearly an hour when I heard Lyra's voice in the distance. I half-hid behind a book of sheet music that had been stuffed in my cello case while I looked out for her. Thankfully, she was conversing with some others from our floor as she walked, and never even glanced in my direction. Lyra and the others veered to their right, undoubtedly headed for the cafeteria, whose marginally appealing scents had just begun to waft into the lobby area.

Knowing that she was a slow – and chatty – eater, I made a beeline for my room as soon as she was out of sight. A million 'must do' things were running through my mind as I entered the room, but I couldn't help but stop and stare at the exceedingly crumpled sheets on her bed, or breathe in the potent smell of sex that filled the air in the small room. I have to admit, the knowledge that the messy sheets I saw, the musky air I was breathing, and the loud moans I heard were all for me gave me a warm fuzzy feeling in places I hadn't thought about in a long time.

After a quick shower, I re-styled my mane, dabbed on a bit of perfume, and grabbed my black 'performance day' dress from the closet. I scrawled a quick note for Lyra and headed across campus to the concert hall. It was near closing time, but I cajoled the desk attendant into letting me check out one of the dozen or so rehearsal rooms that were spread across the building. These purpose-built rooms were spartan to say the least, with a table, two chairs, a mirror, and a music stand their only furnishings. But, they were also fully sound proofed and comfortably lit, so musicians and singers alike took frequent advantage of them to practice their crafts with good acoustics, and no disturbances.

And I definitely did not want to be disturbed tonight.

I was so focused on re-checking my surroundings, the soft knock on the door startled me. "Oh! Um, come in!"

The door opened slowly, and Lyra poked her head in. "Good thing I caught the front desk attendant before he went home. Otherwise, I'd still be checking each room to find you."

And good on her for that too. Had she taken that long to find me, I might have let my nerves and my self-conscious sense of decorum talk me out of what I had planned.

"Thanks for coming," I said, waving Lyra into the room. "I hope I'm not keeping you from anything important."

She just waved off my comment. "Nah, it's been a long day, so I was planning on taking the evening off from exam prep. Besides, you know I love to watch you work your magic with that cello," she added with a slight smile.

Given what I had just semi-witnessed a few hours ago, Lyra's comment took on an entirely different meaning than it once had for me. Nevertheless, I returned her smile warmly. "Thank you, Lyra. It's nice to know that you enjoy listening and watching."

"It's the highlight of my day, believe me," she replied. 

Her eyes had that 'oh, that could be taken the wrong way' look for a second before settling down again, but I decided to needle her just a bit. "Oh, I can just imagine."

Her mouth fell open for a second as she stammered for a word. "O-oh, you ca– I mean, heh, I'm sure you can, Octavia!" If Lyra's coat had been white, I'm pretty sure her blush would have shown through easily. "So, uh... why here though? All the way in the concert hall? And dressed up too?"

"Oh, this?" I replied with a wave of a hoof for emphasis. "Well, the big solo exam for the bowed strings section is in a couple of days, so I wanted to simulate the exam environment as much as possible, including the audience of one." I smiled and winked at her. "So, consider this a dress rehearsal."

We looked at each other for a moment; I couldn't tell if the gleam in Lyra's golden eyes was there because she had me figured out and was just playing along, or if she was letting her imagination run wild inside of her. 'Well, let's find out.'

I stepped over to the music stand and reared up on my hind legs, tipping my cello from its stand towards me as I did so. (It's easier than it sounds when you've done it a thousand times, trust me.) Once set, I took the bow in my free hoof and rested it against the strings. "Ready?"

Lyra moved a few steps away and sat behind the small table. "As our instructors might say, 'you may begin.'"

I steadied myself, took a deep breath, and closed my eyes. 'Well, here goes.'

My trusty cello came to life with a long, low sigh as my bow grazed the strings one-by-one. This would be a slow piece, with a long build and a tempo to match... and that was exactly what I wanted. If I was right, Lyra had spent weeks, perhaps months, watching me practice while keeping a lid on a deep longing in her heart. Had I not stumbled upon her in our room a few hours ago, I'd likely never have known that she harbored any feelings for me beyond simple friendship. And armed with that knowledge, I played my heart out to her.

Normally, I keep my movements fairly minimal while playing, but this time, I just let myself flow with the music. My body swayed with every pull of the bow, as if I were but a blade of grass caught in a spring breeze. I could feel my mane shifting around my shoulders as I played, the loose wave I had styled unwinding itself as I played. I could picture how I must have looked at that moment, and if I'm being honest with myself, I felt... I felt beautiful. I've played for ponies hundreds of times before – family, friends, instructors, and packed concert halls. But playing for a specific pony, one that I now knew had feelings for me... that was something I'd never done before. And in that moment, I daresay I felt more into my performance than ever before.

I opened my eyes as the piece hit the short pause at its midpoint, and at first glance, the chair in front of me was empty. Panic raced up my spine only to be cut off when my eyes caught a flash of green to my left. I twisted my head around and found myself staring right at Lyra. She had moved from her chair and was standing mere feet away from me with an intense focus in her eyes. 

She stared back at me for a moment, and for the first time, I really looked into her eyes. They were like endless pools of sunlight; so deep, so bright, I could have stared into them forever. I was enraptured. My focus waned, and only muscle memory kept me from grossly scratching the bow across the strings like a rank amateur. She smiled at me, and I at her, but I think we both saw the growing desire that sat just below the surface. I continued to play, only now I kept my eyes locked on Lyra. I like to think that music speaks in its own way, and in that moment, both the music and my eyes were saying the same thing – 'Me too.'

An exhilarating rush washed over me as the final stanza sang out from my cello, and were it not for the presence of gravity, I think Lyra was ready to float off to the clouds. Seeing the music captivate her like that had me buzzing with adrenaline, and I hadn't even touched her yet. I drew the bow across the strings a final time, drawing out that last note as long as possible, and when it ended, we just looked at each other in silence. All I could hear was the sound of Lyra's quickened breathing, and the pounding of my own heart.

Her eyes darted from the cello to me as I leaned the instrument back into its stand and settled myself on all four hooves. I secured the cello in place and turned to Lyra, who still had a look of magic in her eyes. "That was beautiful..." she whispered, "but that piece is fifty years ahead of the period you said your exam covers."

"I know, but that piece wasn't for the exam." I leaned closer until our muzzles nearly touched. "It was for you."

Before she could react, I closed the small distance between us and pressed my lips to hers. It was over in a flash, driven partly by my desire not to push my luck, and partly by the fact that I had never kissed a mare before. I pulled back a bit and studied Lyra's expression for any sign of reaction. Her eyes fluttered open again, and in them I saw a wild mix of shock, joy, and disbelief.

"Oc– Octavia, wha–"

"I know, Lyra... I know."

Her eyes widened. "Y-you do? But I never said any– oh, no, don't tell that was you in the hallway!"

I blushed a bit at the memory still fresh in my mind. "I think I arrived when you were about halfway through."

The poor mare's face turned ghost white. "O-oh my gosh, Octavia, I'm so sorry! I, um, you weren't supposed to hear that! I—"

"Shh, it's okay, calm down." I touched a hoof to her lips to quiet her. "I'll admit, I was a bit, well, surprised, when I realized what you were doing, but I'm also flattered." Lyra opened her mouth to respond, but I waved her off. "You didn't have to hide it, you know. You could have just told me how you felt."

I drew her eyes to mine. "I might not have said no automatically."

I could almost see the explosion of hope in her eyes. "Are you saying yes now?"

"I don't know..." I leaned in and kissed her again, but instead of pulling back, I raised a hoof to Lyra's cheek and pulled her closer. My lips played across hers for a few moments before we slowly broke apart. "...what do you think?"

Time seemed to slow just then, and for a moment, the rest of the world seemed to fall away. All I could feel was the adrenaline rushing through my veins, the pounding of my own heart, and any final doubts I had about the wisdom of this endeavor melting under the heat of Lyra's gaze.

"I'll take that as a yes." The words had barely left her mouth before Lyra lunged forward and swept me into an all-consuming kiss. If her lips were warm a second ago, they were on fire now. Sure, I had only kissed a couple of other ponies in my life, but never like this. There was a desperate hunger behind Lyra's kiss, as if a dam inside of her had just busted open.

I was caught off guard for a moment, but worked quickly to make up lost ground and return her advances in earnest. My hooves wrapped around her neck, just as she had embraced me, and I pulled her closer still. She was clearly better at this than I was at the time, but that didn't stop me from trying to keep up with her. Seconds ticked by like centuries as I tried to savor every ounce of emotion that was running through my mind, and the slowly building glow of an arousal that had been dormant for far too long.

The need for air eventually became too great, and we parted for but a moment. "W-wow, that... that was–"

"Amazing," Lyra finished my sentence for me, and I couldn't have agreed more. It was amazing. More than I had ever thought kissing a mare could be. It was like taking the first sip of your favorite drink on a hot day; it satisfied you, but left you instantly wanting more.

I pulled Lyra close again and kissed her even deeper than before. I had never even tried a so-called 'Prench kiss', but I knew it involved the use of one's tongue. I opened my mouth a bit and let my tongue graze the edge of Lyra's lips. I had no real clue if I had done that right, but a second later, I felt her tongue tracing across my own lips in response. "Mmhm..." she whispered in between breaths.

She squeezed me tightly against her chest and drew my tongue into her waiting mouth. The feeling of having my tongue inside another pony's mouth was a bit shocking to say the least, but the moment I felt her tongue wrap around mine and tease the inside of my lips, I instantly knew why ponies enjoyed this so much. Tongues entwined, lips on fire, and hooves roaming through manes, we were both panting for breath in a minute. Shudders of pleasure raced up and down my spine as we continued to explore every inch of each other's mouths. 

Lyra pulled back just long enough to plant her lips into the crook of my neck, and I saw stars. She must have hit every bundle of nerves along my shoulder and up my jawline, her lips and tongue working as one to leave a trail of fire along my coat. "Lyra, that– oh, wow, h–how are you doing that?"

"Hmm, you mean this?" she replied while peppering my neck with more kisses. "Or this?" she gently nipped my skin at the base of my neck, and my hind legs nearly collapsed beneath me.

"Y-yes, both... both of those..." My nerves were buzzing like a tuning fork already, and I was still flying blind, so to speak. "I've never done that before."

Lyra caressed my mane and looked at me. "You've never done that? Or never done this at all?"

My inexperience was exposed, and I couldn't help a bit of a shameful blush. "No, I've done it once before, but... well, I've never been with another mare; at least not past a first date."

Lyra just hugged me and lifted my chin to meet her gaze. "Then let me take it from here."

"If I'm not mistaken, you're the one pining after me," I replied. "Isn't this a bit unfair to you?"

"Don't worry, you'll get your turn." Lyra replied, casting a bedroom stare right at me. "But first, let me show you what you've been missing." She kissed me again before taking my hoof and leading me to the small table. "Hmm, ruining that dress would be a mood-killer though, so let's get that off of you."

"Oh, right. Just a sec–" I stopped mid-sentence when I felt a magical glow envelope me. I turned to Lyra and saw her horn ablaze in a golden light, her face etched with concentration. I felt a tendril of magic snake around my upper body before settling on my back. Lyra stepped forward and nuzzled me. "Allow me."

She gently kissed my cheek and her magic went to work. She manipulated the golden tendril with a precision I had only seen from her when she played her lyre, and it took her seconds to undo the metal clasp that routinely took me a few minutes and no small amount of curses to get. 

Then slowly, oh so slowly, she drew the magic down my back, taking the dress's zipper with it. I could hear the click-click of the zipper as it came undone, as well as the soft hum of Lyra's aura as it worked around me. All I could do was watch in the mirror as Lyra methodically undressed me like she was unwrapping a new instrument. My dress was a simple one, really; a modest, fetlock-length number, done in plain black and worn by dozens of students for their own performances and examination periods. But in that moment, under Lyra's magical embrace, I felt as beautiful as Celestia herself... and as aroused as a teenage filly at her first school dance.

When the zipper reached its end, Lyra walked to my right and offered a hoof, gesturing for me to lift my own legs one at a time. I followed her lead and raised one foreleg at a time while she gently slipped the front of the dress past my shoulders and off my upper body. With a final burst of magic, she lifted the dress off of me and hung it from the coat hook on the back of the door.

Dress secured for the moment, she turned to me with a wild gleam in her eyes. She walked towards me, her body moving not unlike a cat that was stalking its prey. She met me with a hot kiss, pushing me backwards until my rump hit the edge of the table. I somehow took the cue correctly and hopped up onto the table, leaving my hind legs to dangle off the edge. "Are you ready?" she asked.

I drew her closer, letting her rest her forelegs on the table to either side of me, and looked into her eyes with a fiery gaze. "Yes."

She smiled and kissed me, and I could see the same fire building in her own eyes. I had no idea what I was in for just then, but what Lyra did to me was beyond description. If everything else could be called a teaser, this... this was surely the crescendo.

Lyra's lips never left my coat for a moment as she began peppering me with kisses. "Oh, my gosh, wow..." 

Lips, neck, shoulders, chest... she was everywhere, and I was loving every second of it. The waves of pleasure rolling through me were like nothing I had ever experienced, and when she'd gently nip me in all the right places, oh stars, I was on fire already. Lyra was playing me as if I were a lyre in her hooves, and my body was eager to sing for her. "Lyra, keep go– oh, yes, keep going."

"Mhmm, as you wish," she mumbled between planting deep kisses along my sides and down my barrel. I was squirming like crazy on the table, whimpering and moaning as her sensual assault continued. I nearly yelped when Lyra's tongue found my nipples. I gasped over and over again as she took each of them in her mouth and slowly nibbled and sucked on them. By now there was no hiding the twitch in my tail, or the smell of my own arousal, but that only seemed to spur Lyra on all the more.

"Oh stars, Lyra, do that again, please..." I hissed between panted breath. She responded immediately, only this time she began teasing one nipple with a hoof while she sucked on another. The twin sensations nearly shot me off the table; I slumped back against the wall and arched my body towards Lyra, begging her to continue. She kept it up for what felt like ages, licking, sucking, and teasing my lower half. I couldn't see my haunches, but I could tell that they were more than a little damp now. "Oh, you're too good... oh don't stop, please."

"Hmm..." Lyra hummed as she lowered herself further and further towards my nether region. "...then Tavi, I think you'll really like this."

"Like wha– Ah! Oh!" Whatever I was trying to say turned into a cry of lust when her lips hit my marehood. Lyra set the same methodical but consistent pace, licking, kissing, and nibbling every inch of my haunches as if I were an ice cube in the desert. "O-oh, wow, Lyra... Lyra don't stop– ah!"

Lyra's hooves hooked themselves around my hips and nudge me forward, hanging my back end almost completely off the table. I was fully exposed to her now; twitching tail, soaked haunches, and all. At any other moment, I'd have been mortified at this, but not now. Not with those beautiful yellow eyes staring wantonly at me. Now, I wanted her to see it all, touch it all, taste it all. "Lyra, please, don't stop."

Her only response was to drag her tongue across my entire vagina while planting her hooves firmly on my cutie marks. My heart nearly exploded in my chest as a bolt of pleasure rocketed through me. I could feel my juices dribbling from my core, soaking the thin fur around my haunches. The smell of my arousal filled my nose, though now I picked up a lighter, almost minty smell on top of it. Clearly, I wasn't the only one dripping at the moment.

Well, I was dripping, until Lyra's tongue parted my outer lips and began exploring the inside of my pussy. "Ah! Y-yes, yes!"

Crescendo, meet climax.

This was better than the stallion I had once been with, and miles better than my own clumsy attempts with my hoof. This was divine. This was elysium. This was pure, raw ecstasy. And as Lyra's tongue probed my inner walls and circled my exposed clit like a lollipop, I surrendered myself completely to the greatest release I had ever felt. "Lyra, Lyra I'm so– so cl... oh stars yes!"

An orgasm ripped through me like lightning; only Lyra's iron grip on my flanks kept me on the table, and I daresay only the soundproofed walls kept the entire campus from hearing me scream Lyra's name as I cried and moaned with wild abandon. "Yes! Yes! Don't stop! Yes!" Lyra just kept toying with my marehood, sucking nearly every bit of my juices up like water.

It must have been a minute until I began to come down from what was easily the best orgasm of my life. I could barely breathe, much less form a coherent word. Lyra kissed the top of my clit a final time before slinking her way up my body and plastering her cum-soaked lips onto mine.

She broke the kiss after a moment before sauntering over to the chair, sitting down, and spreading her legs to expose her already wet marehood to me. "Up for another dress rehearsal?"

I just smiled at her as I slid off the table. "Let's take it once more, from the top."





Needless to say, it was a long – and very steamy – rehearsal that went well into the night. But in the end, it opened up new avenues for both of us. I found a relationship and a love that had been hiding in plain sight. And my roommate? Well, she began taking a very keen interest in combining cellos and lyres in all of her future compositions.
> Episode 8 - Confessions (Twilight Velvet)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Dear Red Shoes,

Your diary means something to every pony that writes to you. If it didn't, nopony would open their closets to your pages, after all. Whoever you are, you represent something different, something unique, to each mare that has come to you. A friend for some, an outlet for others, and a faceless confidant for many. But me, well, I don't need any of those, for they are beyond the capacity to help me. 

What I need, Red Shoes... is a confessor.





The bedside clock read a bleary eight forty-five as I slid out from beneath the sheets. My legs still felt like so much pudding, and I could already feel the beginnings of a kink in my lower back. Standing alone felt like a monumental achievement, especially with my brain still half asleep, but I somehow stumbled into the bathroom without stubbing a hoof on anything.

I reached a hoof around the door frame and blindly fumbled for the light switch, though I sorely regretted the idea the second the bright artificial lights waged war upon my still sleepy eyes. I retreated a step and turned away, focusing out into the adjacent bedroom to wait out the bright spots in my vision. My eyes were drawn immediately to the bed, and the sleeping pony that still laid in its warm embrace. If I listened carefully, I could hear a light snore from the other side of the massive king sized bed. He always snored after strenuous activities, and the dull ache in my hind legs was a quiet reminder that last night had been filled with very strenuous activities, if you know what I mean.

Normally, this would have made me smile. Somewhere inside of myself, I'm sure I did smile then. But there was just one problem.

This wasn't my bedroom in Canterlot.

And the stallion that I had been sleeping next to was not my husband.

My stomach churned like a storm-wracked boat, sending me lunging toward the marble sink in the bathroom. I think I turned the water on while I dry heaved a few times, but really, I don't remember. I was too busy keeping my gut inside of me as the weight of the previous night began to run me down like a rabid timberwolf. I tried to ignore it, but I knew the voice, that voice, was coming.

'You did it again.'

"But this is the last time," I muttered. She was there, I could hear it.

'That's what you said last time too.'

"I know, but... but this time will be different. I'll end it–"

'With him rutting you one more time before you leave? That's what you want, isn't it?'

I looked up into the mirror, water dripping coldly from my muzzle. My conscience – if I could even call it that anymore – was there, glaring, sneering down at me as if I were mere dirt beneath her hooves. "Stop it."

'Stop? If anypony should stop, it's you. Then again, 'stop' doesn't seem to be in your vocabulary. At least not when he's pounding–'

"I said stop it. Stop mocking me."

'Face it, you can't stop. You won't. You're a whore.'

"W-what?!" I seethed at my reflection. "How dare–"

'How dare I? How dare you, you little harlot.'

Cold, bitter tears joined the last rivulets of water on my cheeks. "You're cruel; pathetic."

The gleam in her eyes was sickening. I had left her an opening, and she took it. 'What's pathetic is you jumping on his cock the second you step off the train, like a druggie who can't wait for their next hit of crack salt. And cruel? Cruel is what you're doing to your family. You do remember you have a family, right?'

Rage began to take hold. At her. At myself. "Of course I remember, you... you–"

'Bitch? Slut? Whore? Homewrecker?' She leaned forward and pressed her muzzle to the glass. The look in her eyes spoke of nothing but contempt. 'They're all true of course, though after last night I'd add 'Expert in fellatio' and 'Future rodeo champion' to the list.'

"Go to tartarus."

She backed away from the mirror and sneered back at me. 'Okay, but remember, my little cum dumpster... if I go, you go too.'

"That's a fine way to say good morning."

I nearly jumped out of my skin in surprise. How long had he been standing there? Did he hear anything? Or Everything? "Don't scare me like that, Spell!"

Spellbind draped a hoof over my withers and stepped closer. "Hey, hey, I'm sorry, alright? I just thought I heard something, and saw the light was on, so I came to check–"

"How much did you hear?" I asked him. Alarms were going off in my head, adding to my already pounding headache.

"Well, I, not much."

"How much?" My eyes were still red from sleep and angry tears, but I had to know.

"Just the end, I promise," Spellbind looked right at me as he spoke. Celestia's flank, those eyes. Such a deep, luscious red. They were like two priceless garnet stones, accented by a smooth horn, framed by a beautiful sky blue mane, and covered by a deep charcoal coat that could have been cut from the night sky itself.

But those eyes got me every time. Just like they did the first time I saw him three months ago. I was in Manehattan to attend a series of meetings with some publishers and other industry contacts to plan the next year's publication schedule when I saw him at a bar. He looked at me with those deep red pools, flashed a warm but unassuming smile, and before I knew it, I was telling my life story to a total stranger. Some hours and countless drinks later, we stumbled back to his uptown apartment, and well, you can figure out what happened next.

That was the first time. I swore then I'd never buck up like that again, that it was all a stupid, drunken mistake.

Two weeks later, I was back in Manehattan for more meetings. I looked him up and met him at a coffee shop to apologize for my role in that debacle and try to send us both away with at least some of our dignity. The next morning, I woke up next to him again, covered in dried sweat, massage oil, and all manner of other substances.

And the worst part of all? I enjoyed it. I enjoyed letting my inhibitions run wild, to let him have his way with me, and I with him, in ways I could never dream of. He was everything a mare could want: Tall, dark, highly educated, and so incredibly handsome, with a body that perfectly blended the strength of an earth pony with the sleek lines of a unicorn. He was as much an intellectual as he was a smoldering hunk of stallion flesh. But, he wasn't my husband. He belonged to nopony, but I most certainly belonged to another. Yet I could not deny the way he made me feel, the way he satisfied my most carnal desires.

After I returned home, I choked down my shame, washed my traveling clothes three times in a row, and concocted a tale of boring meetings and lonely nights to satisfy my husband's inquiries. But those red eyes never left my memories. The smell of that blue mane never left my nose. The memory of his weight upon my back, his hooves around my chest, his breath in my ear, his long, thick cock buried to the hilt inside of me... I couldn't stop thinking about all of it.

Even as I made love to my husband, I saw him in my mind's eye. It was wrong, so very wrong. But I craved more. I needed more. Maybe I was the druggie that my reflection said I was after all. I made it three silent, tortuous weeks at home before I gave in and scheduled another 'planning meeting' to Manehattan. 

Now, we had graduated from overnights at his uptown apartment to secret rendezvous in one of the swankier hotels in the city. It was as much to avoid arousing suspicion from his neighbors as it was to keep me as anonymous as possible. After all, nopony would question who 'Velvet Star' was when she checked in as a guest at the Waldorf Trotoria. Nopony would look twice at the middle aged mare taking the lift to the suite level with a dashing stallion, or act surprised when she spent half the night filling the upper hallways with her wanton cries.

Of course, the only 'planning' we did was to decide what to order from room service. An entire three day 'business trip' spent rutting like hormone-addled teenagers, trying every position we could think of, and some that I thought only existed in books. I lost track of how many orgasms I had at his hooves, or how many times I had screamed his name while riding his member until I nearly collapsed. The echoes of passion rang through me like gongs.

"More!" "Faster, Spellbind, faster!" "Deeper!" "Harder!" "Yes! Yes! Yes!"

Loud, painful gongs, each one bringing another lust-filled image to my mind, and another icy stab through my heart. I leaned onto the vanity and tried to hide my face in my forehooves. "Oh, what are we doing..."

"Exactly what you wanted to do, Velvet," he said quietly while he shuffled in closer. "Besides, this hotel thing was mostly your idea, and well, you do still want this, right?"

I looked at him through the mirror, my blue eyes catching his deep red stare. I saw her looking at him too, from the other side of the mirror. She was disgusted, angry, confused. At me, at him.

At us.

"I– I don't know anymore, Spell," my tail brushed his leg, "I just don't know."

He gave me a pensive look. "Right, I get it. I know your situation's a bit more, um, complicated than my own, but that hasn't stopped us yet. Besides, you said it yourself at the coffee shop–"

"I know what I said," I grumbled, "my life's not the picture-perfect marriage I might imagine it to be, but that still doesn't excuse what I've done, and you know it."

"Perhaps," he said smoothly, "but what I do know is that you're a different mare when you're with me. You're vibrant and full of energy. I've watched you get on and off that train, and it's like night and day." Spell leaned over and kissed the back of my neck, right where he knew it'd give me a warm shiver.

"Your home might be in Canterlot, but your eyes tell a different story," he kissed a bit lower on my neck, "to say nothing of what that gorgeous flank told me last night."

"Do they?" I turned to meet his gaze and had to consciously keep my heart from fluttering on its own. "What do you see, Spell? Because all I see is a mare past her prime who's well on her way to destroying everything."

"Hmm, well..." he lifted my chin with a hoof and pecked me on the lips and damn me I couldn't help but shiver from the contact. "...if you run into a mare like that, you let me know. Because what I see is a beautiful and smart mare with no kids at home, a spouse that's always working instead of being a husband, and more than a few desires that have yet to be satisfied."

He was wrong. So wrong, I wanted to slap him, to throw him out of his own hotel room while I tried to pick up the pieces of myself.

But he was right too. So right, I wanted to throw myself on the floor and beg him to take me again, to suck my horn just like he did last night, then do it all again and again until I passed out in his hooves.

"You make it sound like it's an easy choice," I whispered.

He stepped closer and nuzzled me. It made me shudder in horror and pleasure. "It's only a hard choice if you make it one. In a way," he slowly traced a hoof up my cheek and brushed my forelock away from my eyes, "you made your choice already."

His eyes met mine, two red orbs of lust staring through my own eyes as if they were mere glass. "Question is, do you want to change your mind?"

I raised my muzzle to stare back and I could feel everything. His breath across my muzzle. His hoof resting on my shoulder, the lingering musk on his coat. I just stood there and looked at him while fire and ice waged war in my heart. Regret and guilt wracked my conscience while lust and a twisted, tainted love filled my gut.

Family against lust. Fidelity against betrayal. Dedication against pure debauchery.

It should have been an easy choice, and he was right, it was.

Who knew a soul could be condemned for eternity with a single kiss? Because the moment I grabbed his muzzle and drew his lips to mine, I swear I heard whatever demons lie in Tartarus laugh manically as they gained yet another future resident. But at the time, I was too focused on running my tongue across every inch of his mouth.

I had taken him by surprise, but only for a moment. Spellbind pressed back against me, and soon his tongue was invading my mouth with a purpose. His hooves wrapped around my neck and pulled me closer to him. He was a good deal taller than me, but I loved having to lean up and into him to kiss his smooth lips. I sagged into his embrace readily, craning my neck up to accept as much of his tongue as I could.

Only the need for air broke our kiss, though he stopped just long enough to draw air before his lips went to work on my neck and the tips of my ears. My tail was already twitching with excitement, knowing what was to come, and I could already feel my haunches warming up. A faint hum of magic caught my attention, followed a second later by the sound of running water.

"Mmm, ready for a shower?" He hummed between kisses and gentle nips.

"O-oh, mmhm... won't we get dirty again?" I squeaked as another shudder ran down my spine.

He stopped and looked at me, making sure to let a hoof drift over my cutie mark. "In that case," he whispered into my ear, "I'll just have to soap you up twice."

Spellbind was hot on my heels as I stepped into the oversized rainforest shower. His hooves and lips roamed freely across my back and down my sides as the hot water cascaded down from the ceiling. I turned on him and nearly leaped into him with as hot a kiss as I could muster. I pushed my lips harder and harder into him, panting with near desperation for his touch.

"Mmph, wow you're good..." he moaned while I began nipping and biting at his neck, "but I can take it from here."

He kissed me quickly before turning me around again so I was facing away from him and toward what amounted to the front wall of the nearly alicorn-sized shower. He slowly ran his hooves over my flanks while his magic reached out to a small duffel bag across the room and retrieved a bottle of jasmine and rose scented shampoo and a very soft shower sponge. The sponge hovered beside my head while he slathered the shampoo all over me, the thick but cool liquid running slowly through my fur.

Encased in his light red aura, the sponge began a meticulous journey over every inch of me, buffing away the sweat, the pheromones, and the dried semen. Somewhere, what little was left of my conscience begged to be cleansed as well, to be freed from the black stain that even now was tightening its grip around my very being. But it's pleas for mercy went unheeded as his hoof began tracing faint circles around my dock and across my marehood. "Oh, yes... that's wonderful..."

"Isn't it?" Spell cooed while the sponge continued working its way down my barrel. "When was the last time you indulged yourself like this, hmm?"

I couldn't even remember, to be honest. All I could do was hum contentedly and lean back into him while my tail began slowly swinging back and forth. "You like that, I see. Should I stop?" The question was punctuated with another pass of his hoof across my outer lips.

"N-no, don't stop..."

Between the steam, the heavenly smell of the shampoo, and the quickly growing dampness beneath my tail, I was totally lost to everything else. My tail began rising all on its own and I squirmed back against him, silently begging him for more. The sponge worked its way over my nipples before softly cleaning every inch of my haunches. I whimpered and squirmed under his touch, and all the while, his free hooves were massaging everything they could reach. It didn't take long for me to become a soapy, dripping mess of putty in Spell's hooves.

My tail was whipping back and forth like crazy, the soaked strands of hair whipping against his sides more with every passing second. The sponge finally retreated while he nudged the shower head enough to rinse the remaining suds from my body.

Not that it mattered, because the sponge was quickly replaced by his tongue.

"O-oh yes! Aahn!" With my tail already out of the way, Spell's tongue went straight for its prize. His tongue was consistent but deliberate, and like the sponge, he left no piece of my cunt unexplored.

"Uhn, yes– Yes..."

I could feel my juices flooding my system as fast as the adrenaline was filling my veins. He brought a hoof under my barrel and massaged my nipples while his tongue found new ways to delve deeper and deeper into me. He had gone down on me before, but not like this. Not with hot water falling over both of us, our faces all but lost in a haze of steam, soap, and seduction. It took great effort to keep from collapsing right there as endless shudders rocked through me.

Somehow, I focused enough to ignite my own magic, and soon a tendril of my own magic was flitting across his body. I couldn't fully see him over my shoulder, but I knew exactly where I was headed.

"Sss... Oh, w-wow!" He sputtered when my magic hit home, wrapping around his sheath like a piece of silk. I moved very slowly at first while I stabilized the magic to provide light but tangible pressure, and soon I had his balls wrapped in a slow magical massage. "V-Velvet, don't stop..." he called between panted breaths.

I whipped my tail against him again, and that spurred him back into action. If my soul could have seen me then, it would have been horrified at what it saw. There I was in the middle of a shower, magically fellating another stallion while lewdly grinding my now thoroughly flared pussy against his mouth. His cock quickly emerged from its sheath, and it was harder than I had ever felt. My body shuddered at the thought of his thick member impaling itself in me, sending another rivulet of arousal flowing out onto his waiting tongue.

"Spell, I want you. Now– Aahn! Now, please." I moaned in between waves of raw pleasure.

Just then, I glanced through the gold frame of the shower door, and I saw her. She was still there, watching; and judging by the contempt in her eyes, she had seen it all.

'See? What did I tell you? One more rut before you go, you whore.'

My eyes widened in shock, then narrowed in anger, then widened again as his tongue found my clit.

'What's the matter, Velvet? No glib remark? No pithy comeback?' she leered at me while I arched my haunches further into Spell's mouth. 'You're too horny to even reply now, aren't you. You disgust me.'

Her words stung like dry ice on fur, or was that just another shock of pleasure? I couldn't even tell anymore, I was so far gone. Suddenly, Spell backed away and stood up, causing my magical tendril to sputter and die. I tried to form a question in between hurried breathes, but I felt his blessed, accursed hooves embrace me immediately, and I just melted into him again.

"Just follow my lead."

He nudged me forward until my muzzle was nearly touching the wall in front of me. His hooves dipped under my shoulders and lifted me up; I thought he was setting up for me to sit on him like I had last night, but he stopped me halfway and gently leaned me forward. He shuffled behind me and began to lean against me in a similar fashion, but as I looked out to the mirror to watch, I saw her again, half-hidden by the haze of steam and pheromones.

'I almost feel sorry for you,' she muttered, 'after all, one should feel empathy for the lowliest among us, right? I think you wrote that in your self-help book last year.'

His hooves ran up and down my sides as he positioned himself behind me. My nerves were on fire the moment his erection slid up under my belly.

'But I can't feel sorry for a mare that has no decency, no shame.' She continued to whisper, but all I heard was the pounding of my heart, the roar of adrenaline and lust in my veins, and the slap of my tail against the glass door.

'You'll lose it all. You know that.'

He was right there. I could feel his tip brushing my outer lips, moving like a lecherous snake, just waiting for the right moment to strike.

'Your husband. Your family. Your career. All of it, gone.'

I squirmed desperately against him, my hind legs shaking with anticipation.

'It might not happen immediately, but don't you dare think you'll get away with it.'

He slipped past my outer lips and I cried out. With my front half nearly flat against the wall, his fully engorged shaft slid into me like an iron from a forge, pressing in deeper in one stroke that I had ever felt. I nearly collapsed right there from sheer overload.

'One day, it'll all come back to burn you.'

"Yes, right there! Don't stop– Aahn! Oh stars, yes!" I ground my pussy against him, drawing him as deep as I possibly could. I all but exploded when his hooves joined mine on the wall, pulling me back against his chest while he slid in and out of my soaked cunt with smooth, long strokes.

"More, Spell, more! Rut me!"

'And you'll be left with nothing.'

"Y-yes! Oh, Spell, yes! Yes! Aahn!" I screamed as he buried himself fully inside of me, filling every inch of my flared pussy. His strokes shortened and I could feel the ring inside his penis rubbing against my upper walls every time he moved. It only took a few seconds of that to send me hurtling toward the edge. "I-I'm so close! Don't stop, don't stop, don't stop– Yes!"

'And that's what you deserve, you slut. Nothing.

He wrapped his hooves around me and pulled me tighter. I could feel him shuddering against me, his breathing ragged, his movements quickening by the second. "Don't stop, Spell! Cum with me!"

Out of the corner of my eye, I could barely make her out in the foggy mirror. I couldn't see her whole face, but the sadistic gleam in her eyes said it all. Just before a wave of steam covered the mirror completely, I heard her say one final thing.

'I'll see you again, Velvet. Among the ashes of your existence.'

It was almost poetic justice that we chose that very second to reach our orgasms. His cock flared like never before and I screamed his name as the first shot of liquid fire coated my inner walls. My muscles clamped around his shaft and milked every drop of seed it could, as if it were a carnal ambrosia. I ground my haunches against him as we rode out our orgasms, and as I cried out to the heavens, I couldn't tell if it was a cry of ecstasy...

...or a cry for salvation.





And that, Red Shoes, is my confession. My lurid, sordid confession, laid bare for you and your readers. I'm due to see him again next month, but Celestia help me I'm going to end it. I can't go on like this. That voice, from a pony I used to know as the real me, she was right. I should have stopped long ago, and I've only dug myself deeper. I'm not even sure if I can really save myself when all is said and done.

I just hope that when the fire returns to exact its toll for my misdeeds – and I know it will – I hope it spares my family.
> Episode 9 - Special Delivery (Applejack-Soarin)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Dear Red Shoes,

Everypony fears something, whether they like to admit it or not. You kinda have to, I think. My folks always said that fear is a good thing, because without it, ponies get reckless, and reckless ponies get themselves into a heap of trouble eventually. The work that I do, not to mention the many adventures I've been swept up in, have helped me get over a lot of the things I used to fear as a young filly. All, that is, except one: Flying. Been scared to death of it as far back as I can remember. Heck, just the thought of careening through the air with no safety net makes we cringe inside.

Oh, and did I mention that I have a thing for stallions of the pegasi variety? Trust me, the irony isn't lost on me. Still, all the magic in Equestria couldn't get me in the air unless my life was on the line.

Well, that, or receiving a delivery order from the most eligible pegasus in Equestria...





"Are you sure about this, Applejack?"

I had been in the library fifteen minutes and Twilight had already asked me the same question five times.

"Yes, Twilight, I'm sure." I waited for her to turn around before rolling my eyes. "That horn of yours has saved the world at least twice, so I'm not worried over a simple cloud walking spell."

Twilight looked over her shoulder at me while her magic snagged two more books from a high shelf. "But that's just it; a cloud walking spell?" She walked back toward me, books hovering behind her head in a purple glow. "You've never asked for me to put this spell on you. Not once in all the years I've known you."

"Well, you did cast the spell on me when we went to visit Rainbow at that fancy Wonderbolts camp a while back." Ah, the Wonderbolts. Just saying that name reminded me of who I was after, and had been after from the moment I saw him.

"Hey, AJ? You alright?" Twilight's voice snapped me out of my mini-trance – one filled with grey wings, blue manes, and sharp uniforms.

"Me? O-oh, yes, I'm fine, sugarcube. Just let my mind wander, is all."

"If you say so," Twilight replied, "though I'll remind you that I cast that spell on all of us when we visited Rainbow, not just you." She arched an eyebrow at me as she continued. "And as I recall, you cowered in the basket of my hot air balloon the entire way up. So, you'd understand my curiosity when a pony who loves the ground even more than Fluttershy asks for a cloud walking spell and has a ticket for the afternoon air transport to Cloudsdale in her saddlebags."

Well, she had me there. Even I'd be curious if our roles were reversed. Still, I couldn't let Twilight see my cards. I had an extremely lucky break in my hooves, and I couldn't afford any distractions now. 'Think quick, AJ. Clock's tickin'.'

"Can't blame ya, but it's like I said. Soarin ordered some apple pies, and since he's nursing a sore wing at the moment, he requested that they be delivered." 'Oh, they'll be delivered, alright.' I added as an afterthought.

"Well, I suppose that makes sense," Twilight said as she flipped through the books she had retrieved until she stopped on what I assumed were the pages she needed. "Ah, there it is. Cloud walking spells." She glanced to the pages briefly before looking up from her desk.

"Okay, I think a standard level spell should take care of things, so whenev—"

"Wait, 'standard', you said?" I asked with a bit of manufactured concern in my voice. "Doesn't that mean there's a 'deluxe' spell or somethin'?"

"It's actually called the 'superior' spell, but yes, there's a stronger spell I could use. Though I don't think you'll need it, since the regular spell is good for eight hours."

"Eight hours? Well, that's mighty fine and all, but, um," I gave her a sheepish grin, "how long does this 'superior' spell last?"

"A full twenty-four hours." Twilight answered matter-of-factly, but I could see the gears turning in her head already. She was going to ask a follow-up. 'Oh no, don't ask me—'

"Oh! Are you planning on taking a tour of Cloudsdale while you're there? I know we didn't have much time to see much the last time we were all there, but I've heard there's a ton of things to see. The Cloudesium, the Pegasi War Memorial, oh, and don't forget the Stratogarden! They say the entire garden is actually suspended from some of the oldest clouds in Equestria!"

My mind unwound a bit as Twilight prattled on with tourism ideas. I just nodded along, with an occasional "eeyup" or "mhmm" to keep up appearances. In truth, I did planning on touring Cloudsdale... or at least the body of one of its residents. Finally, Twilight reached the end of her guided tour of Canterlot's must-see attractions.

"Sorry, I guess I went off on a tangent again, heh. So, superior spell it is. Ready when you are, AJ."

I snugged my hat on my head and nodded. "Fire away!"

I'd been subjected to a number of Twilight's spells over the years, so I was well-prepared for the warm tingling sensation that washed over me while the spell was applied. As I expected, Twilight's face was totally focused on the task at hoof, and it took her barely a minute to complete the spell.

"All set, AJ." Twilight smiled at me as the remnants of her purple aura vanished from my vision. "The clouds are as solid as the ground for a full twenty-four hours."

"Well, thank ya kindly, Twi. I appreciate the help." I stepped forward and gave her a friendly hug, which she gladly returned. I made my way to the front door, stepping carefully around a few stacks of books without jostling the two apple pies that sat in one half of my newly enchanted saddlebags.

"Safe travels, AJ, and have fun up there!"

"Will do, Twi!" Thankfully, Twilight couldn't see the devious glint in my eyes. 'Will do indeed...'





Mercifully, the forty-five minute airship ride to Cloudsdale was pretty smooth that day. Getting me off the ground was one thing, but turbulence? Eh, let's just say that if the ride were bumpy, I'd have spent my time in the washroom hunched over a toilet instead of primping my mane and coat. Sure, I wasn't getting dressed up all fancy-like, but when you're going to see the stallion of your dreams, even a country-mare like me needs to get dolled up a bit, right?

Primping completed, I stopped by the small bar on the ship's promenade for a drink. I needed some water, but given the circumstances, I opted for a shot of what one of my more boisterous friends might call 'liquid courage'. That settled my nerves a bit for the rest of the flight, though it did little to calm the butterflies that flitted about my insides like rubber balls. 

Sure, I was doing a job and delivering product to a paying customer, but Soarin was no ordinary customer. He was a senior Wonderbolt, second in command to Spitfire herself, and did I mention how bucking good he looks? He could swoon half of Canterlot with a single smile, and that was before the real fan fillies got to him.

So, you can't blame me for nearly swooning myself when I met him for the first time. It was my first trip to the Grand Galloping Gala, and up to that point, the entire evening had been a disaster. Through dumb luck and I swear some help from Discord, everything that could go wrong did go wrong. Food, music, decorations, everything went sideways at once. Even the dance floor wasn't safe from the hurricane of destruction that was my friends.

But everything changed when he walked up to my little apple cart. Crisp uniform, smooth light blue coat, perfectly trimmed mane framing the brightest emerald eyes I had ever seen... just looking at him made my heart skip a beat. It took me a second to even realize he had asked for one of the pies I had on display, distracted as I was by his physique. To call him 'svelte', if that's the right fancy term to use here, would be selling that stallion short. He was just plain sexy, from head to hoof.

I watched him go after buying the pie, savoring the chance to watch his hot flank walk away. I figured I'd never see him again, but to my shock, he came back to my cart at the end of the night and asked for a second pie! He slipped me a Wonderbolts' card from his pack, said he'd be getting in touch later on about more pies. And he was right to; apparently he loved them so much, he setup an order schedule so he could pick them up from the farm every time the show rotation brought him near Ponyville.

Sure enough, when the tour did come through, he'd always stop by for his pies, and those were the times I enjoyed the most. Not only could I be near the hottest stallion I'd ever seen, but I could see the real Soarin; the pony the fans don't get to see. And with the lights out and the crowd absent, he was something else entirely. Smart, mild-mannered and, to my surprise, a bit shy as well. To hear him tell it, he's more comfortable flying in front of thousands than he is talking to a single pony on a street corner.

Fortunately for the both of us, I'm a pretty easy pony to talk to, so I encouraged him to stay and chat a bit. He was a bit reserved at first, but the more we talked, the more he opened up. And I just crushed on him harder each time. As the weeks and months went by, the conversations became longer and more open, and kind words gave way to a little flirt here and there. I shouldn't have been surprised to see he was a true gentlestallion too, or that many of my more suggestive comments flew right over his head. But after a 'accidental' slip on my part sent me falling into his hooves, I think he finally got the hint.

The surprise kiss I gave him as thanks for 'saving me' may have helped drive the message home, of course. But judging by the kiss I got in return, I think he understood loud and clear.

Needless to say, Soarin came by as often as he could after that point. Conversations got longer, and much more personal. A stolen glance here, a hoof hold when we were sure nopony was around, and perhaps a few more stolen kisses (and more) when I needed his help getting something down from the barn's upper loft. But we never went, you know, all the way.

Here's where Soarin was too much of a gentlestallion. He was adamant that if we were going to cross that line, he'd want to be there more than just once in a while. That a serious relationship like that required time that he just couldn't afford to give, and splitting his time would be unfair to me. He was sincere about it, and Celestia bless him I was honored that he cared that much. I wish all stallions cared as much as him.

But I was head over hooves for Soarin, and I wanted him. Badly.

He wanted me too. Trust me, a mare can tell, and stallions are never that good at hiding their intentions, if you know what I mean. But getting that much time alone with him would be tough, especially around the farm, where I was never truly alone for more than five minutes if I wasn't sleepin'. Then a week later, I got a note from him with a request to delay his next order a couple of weeks, as he was stuck at home with a sprained wing.

"Jackpot."

I whispered to myself as I trotted up to the front gate of Soarin's home on the outskirts of Cloudsdale. Given his celebrity status, I was surprised to find his address took me past the glitzy sections of the floating metropolis, around the high-rise – and surely high rent – cloudominiums, and out to a quiet section near the far border of the city. Even his house was more plain than I'd imagined; a simple two-story cloud house with only a few fancy touches to accent the outer facades. 

'Well, that's one way to get some peace and quiet.' I opened the front gate and started up the short walkway to his door. The butterflies tried to stage another revolt in my stomach, but I tamped them down with a grunt. I'd come all this way, and flown no less, so I was not about to turn back. Not when I was this close to making my delivery to a well-paying customer... and hopefully getting the 'alone time' that I needed with the pony I was admittedly in love with. I made my way up the last few stairs and knocked on the door before I could second guess myself again.

A few seconds passed by, and I was beginning to think he wasn't home. I raised my hoof to knock one last time when I heard a lock click and the door slid open.

"Good after— A-Applejack? Well, this is a welcome surprise!"

He stepped out of the door and wrapped me in a hug, one that I was more than happy to return. He began to step back but I caught him with a look and a wink. "Heh, I came all this way and all I get is a hug?"

Soarin grinned a bit before looking past me, head turning this way and that. "Well, I think we can arrange that, but come in first. Never know when the ponirazzi will jump out of nowhere."

"Even at your home?"

"They'd follow me to the showers if they could, trust me." 

'Can I follow instead?' I grinned at the image in my head as I followed him quickly through the door, which he shut and locked as soon as I cleared the threshold.

"Now, about that kiss—" I turned to meet his voice, only to be met with his lips. He'd tell you he was a average kisser at best, but believe me, he was way better than average. Even those few seconds touching his soft lips was pure bliss.

"Hmm, hello to you too," he said as the kiss broke, "I'm glad to see you, Applejack. But, I didn't know you were coming."

"Heh, well, neither did I to be honest, Soarin." I let my hooves fall away from around his neck as I stepped back. "You'll recall that flying's not exactly my favorite thing to do."

"Indeed I do, which makes me really curious why you came all the way up here."

I just smiled and turned my head back to flip open my saddlebags, revealing the short stack of apple pies within. "Nothing big, just a special delivery for Sweet Apple Acres' most famous customer."

If I had a camera, I'd have taken a picture of his beautiful face, because it was lit up like a Hearths Warming Tree. "Oh, wow! Seriously?"

"Eeyup, seriously," I replied with a smug grin.

"Wow, thank you so much!" he was bouncing on his hooves like a foal, he was so excited. Gotta admit, it was pretty dang cute too.

He looked at me for a moment, and I think we both had to fight the urge to stare too long. "W-well then, um... let's get those off your back, shall we? Here, just follow me."

I followed behind him past the foyer and into what looked to be the living room. A light, almost floral smell wafted past me just then. It reminded me of a spring sky after a lightning storm. That's when I noticed his darker than usual coat and his still damp tail. 'I caught him right out of the shower?' 

My mind was running wild instantly, debating whether to apologize for catching him at an awkward time, or asking if he needed help toweling off. As it was, I had a hard enough time remembering to walk straight, seeing as I was staring intently at his retreating form while he led me into the house. His tail was still a bit wet, as evidenced by the few wayward strands that still clung to his rump. 'And what a rump it is...'

I was so focused on his rear end I didn't even realize he had stopped walking until I bumped into him. "O-oh, gosh, I'm sorry! Wasn't watching where I was goin'." I stammered like a filly caught with her hoof in the cookie jar; hopefully my orange coat could hide most of my intense blush.

Soarin looked at me with a smug grin. "Taking in the scenery, are we?"

I didn't have a mirror, but I'm pretty sure my face was as red as my brother's now. "U-uh, um, why yes!" I made quite a show of looking around the sparsely decorated main level while trying to act as natural as possible. "Just, uh, never been in a cloud house for more than a minute or two, so this is all pretty neat!"

He laughed and draped a hoof over my withers, sending a warm shiver down my spine. "As you can see, not every cloud house is as, hmm, how should I put this, 'fancy' as your pal Rainbow's is."

"Ha! Well, Rainbow is many things, but subtle is not one of them," I quipped in return. We shared another laugh before he gestured toward the kitchen.

"Gotta agree with you there. Now, kitchen's just around the corner here, so this way."

I followed him into the small but well appointed kitchen. A long counter with built-in stove and oven filled the wall to my left, while a shorter counter with a sink and more cabinets took up a portion of the right-side. A simple table and chair sat in the middle of the space, just a few paces past the entryway. A few pictures dotted the walls, while a small shelf near the table held what looked like some trophies and a few knickknacks.

"Hmm, no fridge?"

"No need, actually." He pointed toward the door at the back of the room. "I just put the perishables in a chest out back, then swing up about a thousand feet to get some frozen cloud matter every few days. Stuff those into the chest and bam, all the refrigeration a pony could need."

I let that sink in for a moment while he cleared some clutter off of the closest counter. "Okay, here we go. Should be enough space for the pies here." He stepped to the side, gesturing with one wing. I noticed his left wing hadn't budged yet, so I assumed it was still injured.

"Thanks, and by the way, sorry about your wing." I stepped towards the counter and began pulling the first pie from my saddlebags. "Hopefully it's nothing serious."

"Eh, nothing too bad, just a mild sprain." Soarin stepped over and unfurled his left wing to gently wave it in front of me. "Pretty much back to normal already, so I should be clear to fully practice again in a few days."

"Well, that's good to hear. Glad you're on the mend." With his beautiful plumage waving in my face, it took a great deal of concentration not to drop the last pie that I was trying to set down. 'I'd rather have that wing in my mouth than this pie tin.'

"Care for a drink?" I heard the clink of glasses tapping each other and turned to find him half reared up and rummaging through one of the upper cabinets. Stretched out as he was, I could see the toned muscles working under his skin, and my mind raced into the gutter faster than I could buck a tree. The way his wings fidgeted to help him balance, even the occasional twitch of his tail, it was just mesmerizing. A good looking pegasus was my thing, and at the moment, I was looking at the finest winged creature in all of Equestria.

He leaned back from the cabinet, two glasses and a bottle cradled in his hooves. Soarin looked over his shoulder and I know he caught me staring, but I was past the point of caring about getting caught looking. Our eyes met and I could tell from the look I got back that he wasn't unappreciative of the attention. He flashed a wry smile and turned back to prepare whatever drink he had retrieved. The swish in his tail was anything but accidental now, but I was more than happy to soak up every second of the view.

Finally he turned around, two glasses containing an amber liquid balanced on his right wing. "Here we go— two glasses of whiskey at the bar. Mares first, of course."

I nodded my thanks and grabbed one of the proffered glasses. With an amazing amount of dexterity, he slid the remaining glass to the edge of his wing before wrapping it with a wingtip and holding it up with as sure a grip as I had with my own hoof. 'Hmm, I wonder what else that kind of fine touch is good for...'

"Cheers, and thanks." I returned the gesture and after tapping our glasses together, we each took a drink. I don't mind a strong drink, but that stuff had a definite kick.

"Whoo! Wow, that's got some bite," I smiled and took a whiff of the drink's strong but enticing aroma.

"Cloud Nine distilling's ten year aged." Soarin grinned over the edge of his glass before taking another sip. "Gets the extra bite from the strato-barrels they use for the last eighteen months of aging. It's a limited run, so they don't distribute much of it outside of Cloudsdale."

I took another sip, savoring the heat that spread down my throat to add to the already simmering fire in my gut. "Well, I'd say the final product came out pretty dang good. Definitely more bite than the stuff us land-lovers can get though."

"If it's too strong for you, I can get you something else." Soarin began to move, but I stopped him with a hoof.

"No need," I gave him a bedroom stare before knocking back the rest of the drink in one gulp, "I like things with a little bite to them."

I saw his wings jump just a bit away from his sides. 'That got his attention.' He just stood there for a second looking at me, perhaps trying to decide what to make of the situation. 'Time to up the ante, AJ.'

I slipped out of my hat and saddlebags, grabbed my glass, and made my way over to the counter, taking extra care to let my tail brush along his side as I did so. "Another round?" I asked over my shoulder.

The bottle was in my hoof when I felt his wing on my shoulder. I glanced to my right and saw his muzzle mere inches away from me, and so help me the urge to jump him right there was nearly overwhelming. "That depends on what we're drinking to."

I didn't even try to hide my blush this time while I poured two more glasses. "Don't rightly know. What should we drink to then?"

Soarin reached around me and snagged one of the glasses, making sure his feathers brushed over the back of my neck in the process. A warm shudder ran through me, one I know he felt through his wing. He swirled the dark amber liquid in his glass for a moment. "How about we drink to health, happiness," he looked up at me with a devious glint in his eyes, "and to living in the moment."

We each took a healthy draw from our glasses, knowing smiles plastered across our faces. I shuffled closer to him, pressing my side against his. "Did I ever tell you about the super special apple pie that we have on offer at the Acres?"

Soarin leaned over and lightly nuzzled me, sending sparks across my coat. "Hmm, no, I haven't. Sounds tasty though, and pretty rare." He nipped the top of my ear and whispered. "Any chance I could try that sometime?"

I leaned into him with a quick, passionate kiss. "Sure thing, sugarcube. In fact—"  I pulled away and slipped the tie out of my mane before stepping over to the kitchen table and planting my forelegs on top. I peered over my shoulder at him, eyes full of wanting and desire. "As a matter of fact, I brought some samples with me."

His glass touched the counter and I could hear his hoofsteps coming toward me. My heart raced faster and faster the closer he got. I heard him stop behind me and slowly untie the bow near the top of my tail. Once removed, he began running a wing through my tail, letting the long blonde hairs flit through his feathers. It felt like a million little needles pricking me at once, sending waves of sensation straight through my tail to my dock. 

Soarin kept this up for what felt like ages, running hoof and wing through my tail, around my dock, and across my rump. For such a built stallion, he had an incredibly fine touch. And I was loving every second of it. "Mmm, that's nice..." The warmth of his touch combined with the whiskey had quite a warm glow building in my gut already, but I wanted so much more than a simple tease.

I swung my tail a bit to catch him on the tip of his muzzle. "Not nice to tease a lady like this, you know."

He smiled and playfully batted my tail away. "Well, that's no way to treat a customer either, you know. Besides," he let a wingtip brush my flank and I barely suppressed a whimper, "doesn't the customer always get what they want?"

My heart skipped a couple of beats this time. "In this case, the customer can have anything he wants."

He brushed a wing up the inside of my hind legs, inching closer and closer to my haunches. "Anything?"

I flicked my tail fully to the side, shifted my weight further back, and shot a 'come hither' stare over my shoulder. "Anything."

My hind legs braced a bit in anticipation. He was a stallion after all, so I figured he'd go right for the prize, if you get my drift. So you can imagine my surprise when the next thing I felt wasn't his weight laying on my back, but his lips on my fetlocks. "O-oh, mmhm..."

"You did say anything," Soarin muttered between kisses, "and since I might not get to try something this nice again, I might as well savor it."

And savor it he did. The precision that he and his fellow Wonderbolts needed in the air came through in the methodical and oh so delightfully tortuous way he worked his way up my legs. A kiss of the lips, a lick of the tongue, and even the occasional nip to my skin. Each one sent a different kind of shiver up my legs, and he kept me guessing each and every time. I was no stranger to a stallion's touch, but Soarin was something else entirely.

His lips worked further and further up the insides of my legs, though now the kisses were a bit deeper, his lips a bit more insistent. Of course, my continued mewls and whimpers, to say nothing of my swishing tail, did more than enough to spur him on. My legs nearly buckled when his lips touched the crease of my thigh, though with him slowly crawling beneath me, I'd have welcomed that result.

"W-wow, oh..." I moaned a bit louder as his hooves joined his lips in caressing my thighs and the underside of my dock. I was squirming under his expert touch; we had only just begun and Soarin had me wound up like a top. His hoof wound through my tail and gave it a gentle tug, sending another wave of arousal pulsing through me. 

"Don't stop, please." I dropped my hips a bit to bring him closer still, and he reacted just the way I wanted – with the first of many kisses all around my lower belly. I yelped each time his tongue drug across my nipples, and all the while his hooves were tracing lazy circles around my marehood. I could feel my juices beginning to flow out of me now, dampening the thin fur around my core. Soarin just kept going though –  different patterns, different intensity, different everything. He was pushing all my buttons at once, and I was growing hotter and more aroused by the second.

"S-Soarin, you– oh! Oh, you're too good..." I could barely speak through the adrenaline that was racing through me, and he hadn't even touched my outer lips directly. Only the table kept me from collapsing into a pile of soaked mareflesh right there; all I could do was whimper and moan while he continued to dance circles around my haunches with his lips.

"Hmm, this is definitely a treat," Soarin hummed from somewhere beneath my tail, "and I most certainly like what I see." His tongue slid gently across my outer lips for the first time and I nearly jumped off the table. My entire body was shaking like a branch in a storm, arousal and pure 'buck me now' lust roaring freely through my veins.

"But I won't be a pushy customer." His tongue, his lips, his everything suddenly left me, and I whimpered like a foal that had just had her toy taken away. 

"W-why'd you stop?"

He stood up and walked around to my right side. "Applejack, we've been here before, and heavens knows I want you, but—" the tip of his wing reached around and brushed my soaked lips again, "—are you sure? About this, or us?"

Maybe he was just playing the gentlecolt card to seal the deal; maybe he really was that chivalrous, or whatever that frilly term is. But really, I didn't care at the moment. I just wanted my dream stallion, the most perfect pegasus I had ever seen, to make me his mare. My eyes met his, two different shades of green staring through one another. I definitely saw the want in his eyes, but mine, they screamed need, desperation, and frankly, some bare-bones lust right back at him.

"I'm more than sure." I managed to lift a hoof off the table and wrap it around his neck, "Now kiss me." I drew his lips to mine and kissed him as hard, as deeply as I could. 

He squeaked in surprise but quickly returned the kiss. His tongue teased the edge of my mouth and I let him in without hesitation. Our tongues twirled around each other, probing, twisting, exploring each other's mouths with wild abandon. If I was turned on before, now I was in a near frenzy; and if the slowly stiffening wing I saw extend from his right side was any indication, so was he. "Do what you want to me, please."

He broke the heated kiss, taking the opportunity to nip the edge of my lips with his teeth. "Who am I to refuse a lady her wish?" He stepped out of view and a second later, I felt his forelegs come to rest to either side of my head. I could feel his breath tease the back of my mane, the weight of his chest settling gently on my back, and most importantly, the touch of his member against the inside of my leg.

"You ready?" he asked before shifting my mane over and kissing the side of my neck.

I just pushed my rump out further toward him in response. "Take me. Now."

His hooves closed in around me as his weight shifted further up my back, and I could feel his dick pressing against my swollen marehood. "Oh, yes... aahn..." I pushed my hips against him as he leaned forward and I couldn't help but cry out as I felt him part my inner lips and slip inside of me.

If there's such a thing as Elysium on Equestria, this was it. It was no secret that pegasi stallions weren't quite as well-endowed as their earth-bound brethren, but sweet heavens did Soarin know how to use it. His movements were as smooth as his lips, as precise as his tongue work. Every time my body shifted a bit he responded perfectly. My back arched and he brought his cock further up against the top of my core; I leaned back and he pushed deeper in response. 

"Yes, yes... oh yes, don't stop." We fell into a smooth and consistent rhythm, one that kept me riding the edge of release without going over it. He dropped his muzzle over my shoulder and began kissing and nipping all over the back of my neck, each touch eliciting more whimpers and moans from me. I could feel our coats growing slick against one another from our mutual heat, but that only let him glide across my back with increased ease.

Arousal was flooding my system more with each measured stroke, with each shove of my hips against his groin. Pheromones, sweat, arousal, and a slight tinge of ozone filled the air around us, clouding my lust addled mind even more. I turned my head enough to lock him in another kiss as his cock continued to work an entirely carnal form of magic on my insides.

"A-are you close?" I whispered between two more loud moans.

"Depends... how close are you?" He asked in return, and as if to prove his point, he pulled almost all the way out of me, leaving only his flared head inside. He shifted his hips only a bit each way, as if he were caught in the slightest of breezes, but all that did was run the edge of his tip against the hyper-sensitive flesh around my inner lips. "Very cl– Aahn! Y-y-yesss! Aahn!"

The sensation was like a million pin pricks and a shot of lightning combined into one, and all he had to do to summon another hit was move an inch. That alone drove me so close to the edge I had no idea how I didn't melt into a puddle of my own cum right there. "I-I'm right there! Just rut me, make me cum, please!"

He let his weight fall forward again and I cried out as his dick pushed all the way to the hilt inside of me. Then he pulled out and did it all over again, three more times, each one drawing louder and louder screams of raw pleasure from me. He grunted into my ear with each push, and every time he went forward I bucked my hips back against him.

Finally, his hooves wrapped fully around my barrel and he somehow pushed deeper into me. "A-Applejack, I'm gonna cum."

"Yes! Cum with me! Yes! Y– Aahn!" I clamped my muscles down on his cock like a vice and slammed my hips back as bone-rattling orgasms rocked us both. My inner walls clenched around him over and over again, milking his twitching cock for every last drop of his white hot cum while seemingly endless torrents of pleasure raced through me.

When it finally ended, we both nearly collapsed off the table. A mixture of our juices ran past my lips and down my leg, but I ignored it entirely, instead using what strength I had left in my legs to shift myself around enough to kiss him like there was no tomorrow. I looked up into his eyes and smiled.

"S-so, what did you think?"

He smiled and kissed me again. "Can I sign up for a regular delivery schedule?"





Despite all of that, I'd still say the ground is where my hooves belong. I'm just not going to love the air the way my winged friends do. But I have gotten over much of my basic fear of flying. Of course, having non-stop service from my home to the mile high club does make the experience a lot more pleasurable than a crowded airship.
> Episode 10 - Parting Gifts (Rarity-Spike) [Reader  Request]
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Dear Red Shoes,

It's one thing to lose a love that was already safely in your hooves. But ignoring a love that was right in front of you, and then only recognizing it when it's nearly gone... I'm not sure which is worse. Either way, it wasn't easy then, or now. Then again, if it was easy, you wouldn't have placed that ad in the paper, and I wouldn't be adding my own heartache to your mailbox.

The ironic thing is, I spent the prime of my life searching for some prince charming when the love of my life was literally next to me nearly every day. He pined for me from the moment we first met, but I never returned his feelings in kind. At least not in the same way. It wasn't like I was opposed. I... I guess I thought it wouldn't work, or it was just a phase, or any number of excuses that I clung to as time went on.

To my shame, it wasn't until he was set to walk out of my life forever that I gathered the courage to say something. I had let us both linger for far too long, words unsaid, actions not taken.

I knew then that I couldn't let him leave without telling him the truth and, heavens willing, leaving him with something to remember me, and us, by...





The clock had just struck six o-clock when I heard a knock on the door. I set the teapot on the stove and lit the burner.

"It's open!"

The familiar sing-song of the door chime rang out a moment later, followed by a soft click as the door closed again.

"Rarity?"

That voice was so different now; deeper, smoother, and far less scratchy. It seemed like another lifetime ago when that voice could easily blend in with my little sister and her band of friends as they played outside. Now, one could easily assume it belonged to a smooth-talking stallion.

"Ah, there you are, Rarity."

Well, they'd have been right on the smooth-talking part, anyway.

"Spike! Please, come in, come in!" I checked the teapot to ensure it was heating properly and turned around. Spike was standing in the doorway, or, as much as he could anyway. His growth spurt had been slow to come on, but when it did, he filled out quickly. The small, pudgy welp I remembered meeting all those years ago was gone, replaced by a tall, lanky dragon who had to stoop a bit to avoid hitting his head on the doorframe.

Spike smiled warmly as he stepped through the door and dropped a small pack from his shoulder onto the nearby table. "Brought those old romance novels that I had borrowed from you." He opened the pack and spread out a half-dozen books on the table. "I didn't know if you wanted them back or not."

I had totally forgotten that I had even given them to him, but there was definitely no forgetting just how cheesy and contrived they were to read. "Oh, there was no need to, darling. You can keep them if you want."

"Sure thing. Wouldn't mind some reading material during my trip anyway." Spike sighed and picked up one of the books. I caught a glimpse of the cover, where a blushing mare was being ravished by some dashing stallion, the title Seduction in Seaddle emblazoned above them in bright red print. "Either way, these won't do me much good once I get there anyway."

"Why do you say that?" I asked, curious. "Don't tell me dragons give up reading when they grow up."

Spike chuckled and waved the book in his claw. "No... but they do like to use them for target practice."

"Target practice?"

"Fireballs. Paper goods don't leave much of a mess behind when they burn."

I took a moment to process that. "Ah, I see. Well, I suppose the world will not be severely deprived by the abcense of these particular books."

"Ha! Don't let Twilight hear this, but—" he stepped closer and lowered his voice to enhance the effect "—these might be the one set of books she'd allow to be harmed."

I tried to hold back a laugh but snorted instead, which sent us both into a fit of laughter that was broken only by the whistling of the teapot. "Oh, I'm afraid all I have at the moment is chamomile. Is that alright?"

"Sure," he replied, taking as much of a seat as he could in one of the kitchen chairs. "If you have any honey though, that'd be nice."

"No worries, darling. Give me just a moment." I set my mind to the task, magicking two cups, honey, and other accouterments from their respective cabinets. I poured the water slowly, both to keep the worn out catch spout on the pot from leaking, and to buy time to collect my thoughts.

You'd think I wouldn't have had the need. I only had the last decade or more to ruminate on things, and the last month or so rehearsing this very night in my head a hundred different ways. In my mind, it sounded like a fool-roof plan, a design that could do no wrong, as I like to say. But as I steeped the tea and stirred in a dollop of honey, I felt like I was nearly back at square one.

Whatever happens, happens... I put the kettle back slowly and stirred his tea a final time. At least he'll know.

"So, did they find somepony to takeover your apartment?" I set the steaming mugs on the table, quickly following with the silverware, sugar, and whatnot. "You gave Filthy plenty of notice, after all."

"Yep, finally." Spike took a small sip and set the mug back down. "But, yes, they found a tenant a couple of days ago. A newly married couple from Foal Mountain, I heard." Spike lifted his cup and blew on it a few times before taking another tentative sip. "Tea's great by the way."

"Good, I'm glad you're enjoying it." I took a sip of my tea and smiled, quietly thanking myself for not over-steeping it in the midst of my earlier fretting. "Hmm, I don't recall ever meeting anypony from Foal Mountain, especially way out here in Ponyville. Pinkie would know for sure though, since she has a record of every party she's ever thrown."

Spike chuckled over the rim of his mug. "I don't doubt it. Speaking of which, I need to stop by Sugarcube Corner before I leave. Gotta get some treats for the road."

Leaving. The thought sobered my heart instantly. Half the town was still recovering from the 'Farewell Spike and Good Luck in Dragonville Land' party that Pinkie had thrown a little over a day ago. Everypony had turned out and partied until dawn. Even Celestia and Luna traveled in from Canterlot to say their farewells. Left unsaid though was the fact that except for the princesses themselves, nopony present was likely to see Spike again. His first 'maturation nap' alone would take about eighty years, give or take a decade.

I asked the question that sat on my tongue, already knowing what the answer would, no, had to be. "Are you sure you have to go? You're already in your twenties, and you seem to be doing fine." If Spike picked up the hint of guilt in my voice, he never let on. "Sure, we may have to modify some doorways, but you know Ponyville would keep you forever if we could."

Spike leaned across the table, taking my free hoof in his claw. It had been a long time since I had actually held his claw for any reason other than a quick hoofbump or two, so I was surprised at how smooth the texture was. I guess I was expecting something rough and hardened, but it was quite the opposite. He looked at me for a moment, seemingly lost for words.

"If I had a choice, Rarity, believe me, I'd stay. You, our friends, everypony, are all a part of my life, and I'll miss you all." He sighed, his lips pursed. "But, how can any creature fight who they are? All dragons eventually journey to their ancestral home, no matter where they are..." his eyes began to move towards me before snapping back to the tablecloth. "...or what they have to leave behind in the process."

I saw a pang of regret in his eyes, but I never said anything.

I was about to let fly everything in my mind then, but I bit it back at the last moment. I at least had to get through the more practical reasons for my calling him here before I dove off an emotional cliff. "I know, Spike, and nopony blames you in the least. We'll all miss you terribly, but we'd be more upset if you stayed and suffered because of it." I reached out my other hoof and patted his arm; even in that brief contact, I could feel the warmth under his scales.

I let my hoof linger on his arm for a moment, but not so long as to imply anything else. For now.

"More tea?" A simple question, just enough to break the short silence, and get my mind back mostly on track.

"One sec—" Spike paused long enough to down the rest of his tea in one gulp and smile victoriously. "—yes, more tea please."

I gave him a mock glare before bopping him on the nose. "Well, since you asked so nicely, I suppose." I returned to the stove with cups and saucers in tow... and a little extra hitch to my hips for good measure.

I took more time than was really necessary to refresh our mugs, if only to give Spike a few more seconds to try his best not to stare at my tail. I glanced at the curved reflection and allowed myself a faint smile. Not only are mirror-finished kettles more chic, they also make a great mirror when you need it.

Fresh tea at the ready, we fell into idle chatter for a while, rehashing memories of one adventure or another, sharing the latest gossip from around town, even debating the reason why Pinkie can seemingly pull any object out of her mane at will. More than two hours had passed by the time I glanced back to the clock, and suddenly, the cold dregs of tea in my cup seemed more a prod to get moving than an invitation to another refill. I glanced at Spike's cup, which had run dry as well, and began to rise from my chair.

"Uh-uh, you sit." Spike wagged a claw playfully at me. "Least I can do is pickup for you."

He grabbed the mugs and stepped past me towards the sink. I was about to follow him when I felt the tip of his tail brush my fetlock, sending a warm shiver straight up my leg. Either that was a coincidence or a very subtle payback... I swiveled in my chair just in time to catch Spike's head turning forward again, as if he had been peering over his shoulder. I gave no other reaction, but inside, I was nervous and excited at once. Perhaps this isn't a fool's errand after all.

After a quick clean up, I led Spike out of the kitchen and through the boutique's lobby area. I passed right by the showroom and turned toward the staircase, drawing a questioning look from Spike. "Oh, the items I mentioned are up in my room. Didn't want to risk leaving them out for a customer to find and mistakenly think they were for sale."

We reached the top of the stairs and Spike stopped for a moment. He was looking past me to my bedroom door as if it were a solid gate. That's when it hit me: Spike had never been inside of my boudoir. At least not in my presence, anyway, a few games of hide and seek with the crusaders notwithstanding. And in light of what had just transpired in the kitchen, I wondered if he was entertaining the same questions I was: Where could this lead? Was there still a chance? Was that even on the table right now?

Was it ever?

I beckoned him with a hoof and a disarming smile. "I won't try to give you a makeover, if that's what you're worried about."

He snorted and broke into a hearty laugh. "I— Ha! I'm sure that'll impress the elder dragons so much, they'll just put me in charge immediately. Any chance I can get my claws done too?"

"I'm sure Lotus and Aloe can squeeze you in before you go," I teased, reaching out to fluff the tufts of hair behind his ears. "Perhaps we can dye your hair a new color too—"

"Oh, no. Not again!" Spike twitched his head away playfully before pulling my hoof down. And for a second time, I couldn't help but notice how warm and surprisingly soft his skin was. I wonder how that might feel wrapped around me, or spread atop me, or— I shook my head a bit to refocus before my thoughts ran away from me.

We entered the bedroom, Spike a few paces behind me and walking carefully to avoid knocking anything down with his tail. If not for the Prench doors I had installed when I renovated the boutique, he might not have fit through the door at all. I was about to ask him to have a seat anywhere he liked, but I held back for a moment and just watched Spike's eyes roam the space around him. His eyes were wide but focused, like he was recording every detail he could and locking it away inside. 

"You know..." Spike commented as he turned in a slow circle "...they say that the bedroom is a good reflection of the pony that sleeps there."

I moved to stand next to him, just close enough to ensure he could sense my presence without brushing against him. "So, what do you think? Are they right?"

He turned and smiled down at me. "Absolutely."

The glimmer in his eyes said everything his words did not, and I had to fight back a blush of my own. "Well, I'm glad you approve, Spike, and thank you. Now, just one moment while I get something."

A couple of minutes later, I emerged from my walk-in closet with two packages, which I quickly floated ahead of me and set down on the floor near Spike. "Wow, Rarity, yo—"

"Ah, yes I did, Spike." I shushed him with a wave of a hoof. "Chipping in for a group gift is one thing, which I was happy to help with, of course. But after everything you've done for me over the years—" I stepped closer and looked directly at him "—Not giving you something more personal was simply out of the question."

I grabbed the larger of the two packages in my magic and pushed it towards Spike, who made a show of shaking the box and inspecting its bright red wrapping paper. "Quality check", he said with a grin. After a moment, he set the box down in front of him and unwrapped it as carefully as his claws would allow.

"Oh, swanky!" Spike was all smiles as he lifted a stack of clothing from the box, each article separated by a sheet of tissue paper. He pulled a coat from the top of the pile and held it up in front of him. "This looks great, Rarity. Thank you!" He carefully sorted the other items, which amounted to a mini-wardrobe complete with shirts, pants, scarves, hats, and even a suit.

"Rarity, these are wonderful! Thank you so much!" He leaned forward and drew me in for a hug, which I gratefully returned. If his claws had been smoother than I expected, his chest was like hugging a heated blanket. So soft and warm, I could have wrapped myself in it for hours. And I still might I added in my head.

"I'm glad you like them, Spike." I leaned back after a moment, quietly savoring the warm spots that were lingering along my back and shoulders. "If nothing else, you'll be the most fashionable drake in all the land when you arrive." I added with a wink and a nod.

He chuckled at that. "Heh, probably, considering dragons wear clothes even less than ponies do." He lifted the suit up and turned it in his grip. "I just hope I don't outgrow these so fast that I can't wear them."

"Which is why I enchanted the stitching in just the right places." I pointed to the inside lining of the blazer to draw his attention. "So all of these will be able to grow along with you, at least to a point."

Spike looked again at the lining and smiled. "That's awesome!" He looked over again, eyebrows raised. "I know you put spells into your clothes all the time, but where'd you get this spell from?"

I offered a coy smile. "Oh, just a bit of research on dragon biology..." I looked away innocently "...and a little bit of spell-craft help from a certain princess." We shared a laugh and another hug, this one lasting a bit longer than the first. I felt one of Spike's claws rest on the back of my neck and I barely suppressed a warm shiver.

"You're quite welcome, Spike," I said as we broke our embrace, though I let my hoof linger on his shoulder for a moment longer. "Besides, I learned more about dragons' physical nature in the last few weeks than I ever knew before. And it proved quite valuable too."

"Oh? Expecting more fashion-conscious dragons in Ponyville in the future?"

"Not exactly." I let me tail just brush his side while I re-stacked the clothes and set them and the packaging remnants to the side. "Like I said, it was just good to know." I was still playing the tease angle extremely lightly, but I could already tell it was beginning to work, if the flush in his face was any indication.

But there was still one more package to go, and the butterflies were already starting up again in my stomach. I put on a well-practiced poker-face and slid the second package over to Spike. This one was much smaller and wrapped in deep purple and silver paper. "Now don't shake this one, please. It's a bit more fragile than the clothes." Much, much more fragile than you know, Spike.

Spike nodded and unwrapped the package slowly, eventually extracting a rectangular felt box. "Hmm..." He flipped the box open and gasped. "Oh— Oh, my gosh..."

He turned to look at me and I could see the question already forming on his lips. "Yes, it's exactly what it looks like, Spike."

I looked again at the pendant lying safely in the box... and the brilliant heart-shaped fire ruby that sat in its center.

"But, isn't this..."

My horn glowed and sent a string of magic toward my nightstand, from which I drew a second, larger jewelry case. "No, I'd never give that one up." I opened the case before him to reveal the fire ruby that he had given to me all those years ago. "But I wanted you to still have one of your own."

Spike's eyes bounced back and forth between the two pendants as he looked them over. "Y-you did an amazing job too." His eyes continued to appraise the two pendants side-by-side. "The gold frame, the facets, the coloring. Even I'd have a hard time telling them apart." He pulled the pendant closer to his eyes and stared at it like it was a new hatchling. "Let me guess, more research?"

"Yes, and lots of it. I wanted to do this one myself, so I borrowed the books from the library and went to work. It wouldn't have felt right to do otherwise." I set my jewelry case down, released my own pendant from its case and slipped it around my neck, taking care not to trap my mane in the clasp. The pendant's weight felt just as comforting and welcome on my chest as it had each time I had worn it. At the moment though, it felt like I was quite literally wearing my heart on my sleeve.

"Now, if you'll allow me." I slid the other pendant from its case and slipped it around Spike's neck. The chain was significantly longer and thicker than my own, but it sat about where I had thought and allowed the pendant to rest against his chest low enough to it would not poke him if he lowered his chin.

I stepped back to check my work, but I was immediately taken in by the look in his eyes. They were simply radiant. I had never seen them that bright, that focused.

That molten.

Even the most innocent of my friends would know that look and the intentions behind it. I had played these next moments out in my head dozens of times; sometimes with a hoof between my legs as well. But this was reality. Now. And I could only hope I wasn't reading too much into things.

Time to find out.

I shuffled forward and stood to my full height. The temptation to simply throw myself at him was nearly overwhelming, but there were still things that I had to say.

"Spike, you gave this gem to me in the spirit of friendship and generosity, and I'll always cherish that. But I know there was more to it." I heard his breath catch, but I placed a hoof to his mouth to stop him. "Deep down, you were trying to express your feelings towards me. I always knew you did, and in many ways I egged you on for years. I thought it'd pass, I thought—" I swallowed my heart back down my throat. "—I thought a lot of things, a lot of excuses, but as time went on, I never stopped to consider that I might actually feel the same way."

His eyes went wide. I could almost feel his skin growing warmer next to me. "Rarity?"

"The truth is, Spike, I waited too long. Far too long, as it turns out. I'm not so naive to not see how foolish this must look now. The gifts, the teary confession at the eleventh hour, the—"

My babbling was cut off by his lips. His soft, warm lips. My brain was so overwhelmed, by the time it processed what had just happened, it was over.

"I know, Rarity, and it's okay." Spike's voice was but a whisper, his hot breath washing over my muzzle like waves of steam. "I'm at fault too, you know. I could have said something myself, but I made as many excuses as you did, I promise."

I raised my head and nuzzled his cheek as best I could. "But all this time lost." I barely held back a few tears. "All these years we let go by."

"Shh, it's alright." Spike drew me into a deep embrace and I felt his arms wrap around me. One of his claws ran gently up and down my back. The slight pressure on my coat felt like a pinpoint massage. "I'd still have to leave eventually... and right now would hurt even worse for both of us."

With my ear pressed against his chest, the thrumming of his heart echoed in my head like one of those huge speakers that the local DJ uses for parties. I shifted a bit and gently kissed his chest before leaning back and giving him a half-lidded stare. "Then perhaps we should make the most of the time we do have."

A moment later, his lips were on me again, and this time I kissed him back with everything I had. His muzzle was longer and wider than my own, but I found it surprisingly easy to adjust. Though that may have been helped along by the hot tongue that was already exploring every inch of my mouth. I moaned through another kiss and thrust my own tongue out to meet his. I nearly giggled at the strange but pleasurable feeling as my tongue ran across his taller, more pointed teeth.

It was only when my mind began to scream from a lack of air that I forced myself to break the kiss. "O-oh, wow... I, mmhm."

My eyes never left Spike, who seemed as wowed as I was. "That... that just happened, right?"

"Hmm, let me check—" I raised my lips and kissed him again. "—yes, I do believe that it did, darling."

Spike brushed his cheek against mine and looked at me with equal amounts of awe and lust in his eyes. "Good, just checking."

He kissed me again, but more slowly than before. I sagged into his tight embrace and let my mouth meld to his. It was like kissing a hot stone wrapped in silk, and goddess I wanted more. I would have been content to let Spike kiss me forever, but the growing heat in my gut definitely wanted more than that. I released the kiss, took hold of one of his claws, and began to slowly back up. My rump hit the side of the bed and I reared up, pulling him closer to me. The extra height allowed me to drape my hooves around his neck and pull his lips to mine, a move he was all to glad to oblige with another fiery kiss that left my hind legs shaking.

I finally broke the kiss, adding a slight tug on his lower lip for good measure. "Hmm, let's move this somewhere more comfortable, shall we?"  I let my hooves drop past his shoulders and I pulled him forward, letting his weight topple me back onto the bed. Spike did his best to let his arms fall either side of me, though I couldn't suppress a small squeak as much of his weight landed on top of me.

"Oh! Sorry." He lifted himself up a bit and blushed. "Didn't mean to do that."

I gave him a bedroom stare like none other. "But you can do it again if you like."

He smirked. "Yes m'am."

I scooted towards the center of the bed to give him more room, and soon Spike was laid out across my entire body. The difference in body length wasn't quite as extreme as I had feared, but my queen size bed still felt barely adequate. That didn't stop us though, as we began exploring each other's mouths once again. Lips smashed together, tongues intertwined, hoof and claw groping everywhere within reach, breath coming in heated gasps.

Soon Spike's lips moved from my lips down my cheek and onto my neck. Each kiss was punctuated with a shot of hot breath, enough to leave a steam-like effect on my coat everywhere he went. Between my growing arousal and the heat from his mouth, my bed began to feel like a carnal sauna. His teeth grazed my collarbone and I squealed with delight. "Oh!"

Spike stopped and looked at me, worried. "Too hard?"

I shook my head. "No, not at all. Though I'm sure my fur isn't quite as tough as a dragon's skin. Speaking of which—"

"Don't worry. I think I know what I'm doing," he replied before kissing my quickly.

"Mhm... oh, you do?" I said between panted breaths.

"Oh, yes. Remember, Rarity..." Spike brushed a claw up my neck and brought his lips within inches of my ear, his voice barely a whisper. "...you weren't the only one dreaming about how a night like this would go."

If there was any part of my mind still thinking of holding back, of not galloping off the edge with a dear friend who was still half my age, it was silenced by his words. I tilted my head towards Spike's ear and gave him the only response I could.

"Then show me what you had in mind."

Nearly everything became a blur of pleasure and emotion after that, and everything I thought I knew about dragons' native strength was turned on its head by Spike's gentle touch. I was more than prepared to be ravished like the mare on the cover of that trashy novel, but this was far, far from it. Spike wasn't just deliberate, he was methodical.

My coat was already damp with sweat, yet every touch of his lips felt like a hot stone massage. His teeth and claws worked an erotic torture on me, riding the razor edge between tickling me and driving me wild. I panted, I moaned, I arched my body into him, urging him to continue his tender ministrations. "Spike, th— Mhmm... that's wonderful. Keep going, please."

He looked up from my left side, where he was tracing more lazy circles in my fur with his tongue, and smiled. "I never could tell you no anyway." Spike went right back to teasing me some more, only now his free claw began caressing my stomach, gradually moving further and further down my barrel. By now the combination of his steamy breath and my arousal had filled the air with the heady, intoxicating scent of sex. I didn't know if dragons had pheromones like ponies do, but the still growing heat beneath Spike's skin told me he was definitely liking things as well.

Spike leaned up to capture my lips once more, but his claw continued to drift lower on my barrel. I could feel one of his talons feathering the tender skin around my nipples, drawing more lusty whimpers from me. I squirmed beneath his touch, trying to draw his attention further down my body. "D-don't stop, Spike— Oh, yes..."

His claw slowly encircled my nipples one at a time, playing with one while his lips teased the other. I shuddered and moaned as he continued to play my body like an instrument. "Spike, that's so good—" I sucked in a breath as his tongue wrapped around a nipple and sucked it gently between his teeth "—oh, wow! Yes, mmhm..."

It was all I could do but lay there and let Spike have his way with me, kissing, licking, and teasing my nipples, my skin, my inner thigh, my stomach, everything. He left no inch of me untouched, and by the time his lips made contact with the soaked flesh around my nethers, I was already seeing stars.

My eyes opened long enough to take in the scene, and it was better than I had ever imagined. Spike's long body was stretched out at a slight angle, giving me full view of his smooth underside – a view I was more than delighted to soak my lust-addled eyes in while he continued to tease and caress my haunches. I could feel my juices dribbling out of my pussy, soaking into my skin, the sheets, everywhere... though Spike's long tongue was doing a very admirable job lapping nearly all of it up.

That's when an idea hit me. Why is he doing all the work?

I reached out with a hoof and began stroking his belly. I kept it up for a few seconds before he turned back to me. "Should I stop?"

I took a second to catch my breath. "N-no, not at all... I–I just had an idea is all. Something I had thought about in those dreams, if you know what I mean."

His ears perked at that. "Oh? What was it?"

I let that specific scene play out in my mind again, thinking on how best to approach it. "Oh, you'll see, and I think you'll like it. Just come closer to me." Spike slid around so that he was laying fully on his left side, with his belly facing me and his tail poking through one of the spaces in the headboard. I mirrored his motion, rolling to my left and pressing my chest up against his belly.

I shifted my hips a bit and spread my hind legs, fully exposing my soaked marehood to him. "Now, where were we?"

Spike didn't answer verbally; he let his tongue do the talking, and soon I was a melted pile of flesh under his soft touch and his hot breath. The new angle let him explore every inch of me, while the growing heat from his underside bathed me in a radiant heat that put a summer day to shame. I gazed towards Spike's lower half, across his long, soft underside, until I found the general spot I was looking for. Now it's my turn...

I draped a hoof over his side and drew his lower body closer to my head, while my other hoof began rubbing small circles all over his belly. My lips touched his underside for the first time, I felt like I was kissing the surface of the sun. And I loved it. I began peppering him with kisses, some short, some long, all of them hotter than I ever imagined. My lips and hoof began exploring every inch of him that I could reach, and the slowly increasing hums and moans I heard from the other end of the bed told me I was hitting all the right spots too.

"Good?" I asked between kisses along the crease of his hip.

"Mmhm, yeah..." came his muffled voice, just before licking my pussy from top to bottom again, leaving me breathless. "If you're looking for something though, it's— Oh!"

"Right here, perhaps?" If only he could have seen the wicked grin on my face as I ran a hoof back and forth along the crease between his abdomen and his tail. I could see and feel the shudders racing through him already, to say nothing of the wild twitch in his tail.

"Y-yeah! Oh... Rarity, that's... how'd you know?"

"Let's just say I did a bit more research on dragon biology than was strictly necessary." I punctuated those words with a deep kiss right on that same spot, eliciting another long moan from him, and another lap of his long tongue against my lips.

We fell into a rhythm then, trading licks, kisses, and moans while we each explored the other's nethers. Spike's lips and tongue continued to lap up every drop of my arousal, while my own lips continued to nip and tease that soft, red-hot crease along his belly. After a couple of minutes, the seam began to open like an oyster, and the pearl I had been searching for emerged.

And what a pearl it was.

About as thick as an earth-stallion's penis, but a decent big longer... and much, much smoother. Where most stallions have a thick skin around their members, Spike's was sheathed like a velvet glove. The skin was taut and smooth, and nearly devoid of the ridges and creases that I was used to seeing on a stallion. Instead of a blunt, flattened head, Spike's member was tapered, coming to a soft, rounded point at the end. As a piece of anatomy, it certainly looked compatible, and as it quickly rose from its hiding spot, I had no doubt that it was 'ready to go', so to speak.

I ran the edge of my hoof up and down the shaft, relishing it's silky texture. I traced up one side and down the other, paying particular attention to the spots that made Spike's leg twitch, or his body tense. Those were the spots I came back to over and over again, touching and caressing, kissing and licking, and all the while, I whimpered and moaned through my own carnal pleasures, as his tongue continued to explore every soaked inch of my marehood.

The fire in my haunches had become an inferno, and I knew I couldn't hold out much longer. "I-I'm getting close, Spike, don't stop. Keep— Aahn! Keep going!"

I felt his free arm wrap around my rump and pull me closer, and I was more than happy to arch my haunches closer to his eager mouth. I shifted my upper body around a bit to get more leverage, and took the tip of his member in my mouth for the first time. He twitched hard, so I did it again. And again, and again, before slipping my tongue up one side of the long shaft and down the other. Spike shuddered against me and grunted.

"Stars, Rarity... that— oh, yes..."

I smiled and wrapped my lips around his head, and let my tongue swirl around it like an erotic lollipop. I brought my hoof over to caress his shaft while I licked and sucked every inch of it that I could, leaving him as much of a shuddering, moaning mess as I was. His tongue parted my inner lips and dove straight into me, before pulling back and wrapping around my engorged clit. My hips bucked on their own, grinding my pussy into his tongue over and over. "Yes! J-just like— Oh, yes! Don't stop!"

I wrapped my lips around his dick and sucked for all I was worth. A second later, his tongue found my clit again and I saw stars as an orgasm hit me like a lightning bolt. "Aahn! Aahn, yes! Mmhm!" I could feel the waves of cum flowing out of me, but Spike's tongue was right there to lap it up like water, and I rode the tidal wave of pleasure as long as I could.

When I finally came down from that high and opened my eyes, Spike was laying next to me, his eyes inches from my own. "That was amazing."

"Mmhm, that's putting it mildly." I leaned in and kissed him again, taking extra time to savor the taste of sweat and my own cum mixing on my lips.

Spike rested a claw on my chest. "I... I can't thank you enough, Rarity."

I glanced down the bed to his penis, which was still fully erect, and clearly ready for more. "Oh, you can thank me later, when I've repayed you in kind. Besides—" I swished my tail over my flank and brushed it along his erection, making him shudder and whimper "—I know neither of us envisioned a night like this ending quite that soon."

Spike smiled and pulled me closer, nuzzling me affectionately. "So," he whispered, "back to your dreams then. What did you have in mind?"

In truth, I had never felt more loved in my life than I did at that moment.  Part of me wanted to just freeze time right there and stay in his warm embrace forever, but neither time, nor my haunches, would tolerate any delays. "Roll over onto your back, darling."

I rolled over to give him room to adjust, and once he did, I stood on the bed and carefully stepped over him, straddling his body with my own. He carefully held my sides as I lowered myself on top of him. My whole barrel was resting against his belly, and it felt like I had laid down on a hot stove. His body heat was amazing, and it felt even more so.

Our lips met in a slow, deep kiss, and from that moment on, I focused solely on treating Spike as gently and lovingly as he had me. I took my time lavishing his face and neck with kisses, licks, and nibbles. His claws ran slowly through my mane, across my withers, and down my back, holding me close while I drew on every seductive trick I knew on his body. The heat between us was growing once more, and the smell of fresh arousal soon flooded my nostrils.

Slowly, I shifted myself down his frame one kiss at a time, moving my rump closer and closer to his erect member. Spike's breathing grew sharper the closer I got, as did the thundering of my heart, and when I felt his long penis slide against my belly for the first time, I was nearly shaking in anticipation. A quick adjustment brought his head inches from my outer lips, and my pulse to a frenzy. I was about to lower myself onto him when his voice stopped me.

"R-Rarity?" his quiet voice drew my eyes. "I have to ask... are you sure?"

I was momentarily stunned. Not just by the question itself, but the sincerity behind it. Here he was sharing a bed with a mare he had loved from first sight — his every dream become reality — and still Spike was nothing but a gentledrake. I looked up at him, and at the glimmering fire ruby that still hung against his chest. I touched a hoof to the matching gem that rested against me, and that's when the completeness of our connection came together for me. We may have been far too late in opening up to each other, but in that moment, I think I felt what so many of my friends have called true love, or the touch of a true companion and soul mate.

My next words flowed from my lips like water, as if I had said them a million times before. In the back of my mind, I was already wishing that I had done so.

"I love you, Spike."

I'll never forget his joyous look in that moment, or the way his green eyes seemed to pierce my very soul, or the slight tremble in his lips when he said the words that I'm sure he thought he'd never be able to say.

"I love you too, Rarity."

I kept my eyes locked onto his as I pushed my rump down, and the moment I felt him enter me was like touching elysium. "Oh, w-wow... Mhmm..." My eyes rolled back in my head as a wave of pleasure rocked me like never before; even remembering to breathe was suddenly a chore. I just froze myself there for a moment, letting the sheer euphoria soak into me.

My mind slowly regained some measure of control over my limbs, and I began moving against his cock, gradually taking a little more of him each time. My hooves draped around his shoulders for support while my hips fell into slow, rhythmic motions. Spike's long arms wrapped around me like a cocoon and held me close, leaving no space between us. I cooed and whimpered as his claws drew long, wandering trails across my neck and down my sides, each little jolt stealing more of my breath and spurring me to take more of him inside of me.

Spike leaned his head up and drew me into a deep kiss, a move I repaid with a particularly deep thrust onto his cock. "Rarity, t-that's amazing." His grip around me tightened like a vice and he thrust upwards to meet me; I couldn't have held back a very unladylike groan if I had tried.

"Aahn, yess..." I lifted up and he met my downward motion again. I could outright hear the small squelch from my haunches as he slowly plunged into my dripping pussy again. "S-Spike, Spike, oh, don't stop..." My heart thundered against my ribs, my body felt like it was bathing in a pool of fire, but it just made every slow thrust, every measured flex of our bodies more sensual, more meaningful, more erotic, than I could have imagined.

I leaned up just enough to look at him with every bit of love and lust I could spare. "Make love to me. Please."

The next few minutes became a haze of sweat, arousal, and intense, all-consuming lust as we all but melted into each other. Words had failed us both, replaced entirely with stolen breaths, whispered nothings, and increasingly raw groans of pleasure. I could feel another orgasm bearing down on me, but there was one more thing I had to try. I leaned up and planted both forehooves on Spike's chest for balance before sitting back on my haunches as far as I could.

And my world exploded around me. "Aahn, yes!"

With my hind legs spread across his width and my back at a more upright angle, my entire weight dropped down onto his cock at once. I didn't need to see to know that every last inch of him was buried inside of me. I had never been filled so completely, so thoroughly. I made no attempt to stifle the almost feral groans coming from my mouth as my inner walls flexed and stretched around his rock hard erection. The tapered shape of his dick worked perfectly in that position, and every push down onto Spike felt like another firework exploding inside of me.

Spike could only stare up at me as I slowly, rhythmically impaled myself on his cock over and over again. His claws wrapped around my hooves and held them tight, while his eyes glazed over with lust at the scene before him. "Rarity... that— Yes, don't stop, don't stop!"

Another wave of arousal flowed past my lips, and instinct completely consumed me. My body began moving like a perfect wave, each pull a little higher, every push little harder, every moan a little more desperate. "Deeper, Spike— Aahn! Deeper!"

We pushed against each other hard, and we nearly roared like wild animals. Raw, unfiltered lust raced through me like lightning, sending me hurtling toward the edge instantly. I pressed my front hooves down on Spike's chest while my hips did their best to swallow every last inch of his member inside of my soaked pussy. "Yes, Spike! Harder! O-oh, stars, I'm so c-close!"

I felt him shudder like a mountain beneath me, and his eyes went wide. "R-Rarity, I-I—"

My eyes were blazing now, wholly consumed in the greatest joy I had ever felt. I shifted a hoof up his chest and wrapped his pendant around it. My entire body was on fire, mere seconds away from exploding, but I forced my voice down from its pleasured heights one last time. These last words, they were for him and him alone.

"Take me, Spike. Make me yours."

Spike grabbed a hold of my flanks right on my cutiemarks and pushed one more time. I clamped my inner walls around his cock with every bit of strength I had, and the greatest orgasm of my life hit me like a runaway train. "Aahn! Yes, Spike, yes!"

"Rarity!"

His whole body tensed beneath me for a second before Spike let go a thunderous growl and filled me like I had never been filled before. It felt like my core was being filled with molten lava... and it was magnificent. We cried each other's names into the night as wave after wave of pleasure rocked us both. And through it all, we never took our eyes off each other. Spike kept pushing – and my walls kept flexing – until we had exhausted every last bit of energy we had, and I had milked every last drop of fiery seed from his body.

My back muscles finally surrendered to fatigue and I collapsed onto his chest, panting for breath. Spike just wrapped his arms around me and cradled me like a pony-sized gem, his claws running through my matted and sweaty hair. "That was... I mean..."

I leaned up enough to just catch the edge of his lips with a kiss. "Everything you dreamed of?"

"And so much more." He kissed me back and slowly slid me off of his belly to rest my head against his shoulder. Out the corner of my eye I saw him lift his pendant from his chest and stare at it. "We'll never be here again, will we?"

The thought sobered me, and I snuggled closer to Spike, letting his radiant heat wash over me again. "Perhaps not, but we'll always have this moment to look back on. And that makes me happy."

He turned his head and kissed me softly. "You've given me more than I deserve, Rarity. Then, and especially now."

I chuckled. "Well, I am the element of generosity, you know."

"In that case," His claw ran down my side and rested against my cutie mark, sending a hot shudder down my back. "what was all of this then?"

I placed my free hoof on top of his claw and looked into the eyes of my best friend, my companion, and for one glorious night, my lover.

"Consider it a parting gift."





I joined my friends to see him off at the train station a few days later. I brushed off everypony's fawning over his new matching ruby pendant, but inside, I was bursting with pride and joy. To everypony else, the matching pendants were a thoughtful and fashionable gift.

But for he and I, they were symbols of a love pulled from the longest of shadows and consumed in a single magnificent, passionate fire, avatars of a bond that only our two souls would ever know.

A memento of a love that I know I'll never experience again.
> Episode 11 - Indelible Ink (Vinyl Scratch-Coffee Bean [OC])
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Dear Red Shoes,

I’ve seen the power music can have on a pony. With the right rhythm or the perfect notes, it can bring sheer joy, or terrible sadness. It can help them solve a problem, make new friends, grieve a loss, or make art of their own. Heck, I’ve even seen music draw ponies together in physical love; just ask two of my college dorm mates.

Of course, this all makes sense to me, at least. I literally have a piece of music on my flanks, after all. I guess the ironic thing is, I never realized how much music could change me in turn...





Neon lights flashing, music blasting, bodies dancing. Seven hundred ponies filling a dance floor meant for half that, in a building that literally shook with every bass drop. Rolling fog banks permeated the room, leaving a thick film of sweat, booze, hormones, and wubs on everything it touched. The speakers screamed to the crowd, and the crowd screamed back.

A chaotic scene for some, but for me, it was just another Friday night in the booth.

I was entering the second year of my residency as the headline DJ of one of Manehattan’s premier clubs, and so far, things had gone even better than I had hoped. The club was enjoying near record crowds every weekend, and my new pieces were selling like wildfire all over Equestria. I was even getting booking requests from places as far away as the Griffon territories. It was tiring work, even for this night owl, but as long as the ponies out there were happy, I was happy.

And right now, they were very happy.

“Are you ready Manehattan?!” I bumped two sliders on my board while my magic grabbed a couple of switches. “Hooves up! I wanna see you bounce! Three two one— Go!” The strobe lights kicked in on top of another bass drop, and the place went nuts. I slid my headphones down off my ears for a sec and joined in while my magic went to work prepping the next transition.

Now normally, it’s all but impossible to see much outside of the booth. Between the fog machines and the constant light show, everything looks like a neon-colored blur; it’s hard to see the back of the room, much less any specific ponies in the crowd. Yet despite that, when I glanced up from the sound board again, my eyes were drawn to something, or rather somepony, just to the left of the booth.

I couldn’t see clearly; whoever it was appeared and disappeared as fast as the strobe lights blinked. I could kinda make out a horn, a light, maybe cream-colored coat, and definite short black hair. All covered nicely in a shimmery, and very form fitting, black dress.

The ‘freeze frame’ effect from the strobes was especially maddening now, and whatever the markings on her legs were, they were hypnotizing to watch. They seemed to have a glow all their own, like they were leaving faint trails of light in their wake as she danced.

Then she turned, and my breath caught in my throat. I had never seen eyes like hers, ever. Even the tint from my trademark glasses couldn’t take away from those vivid, piercing teal eyes. Black liner and mascara deepened the contrast even more, making them shine like gems amidst the chaos around her.

And the look on her face… it was like magic. Everypony on that floor was happy and having fun, but she– she was in heaven. I didn’t need the strobe light to see the joy running through her every move. Every swing of a hip, every twist, every turn… every twitch of that surprisingly short – and sexy – tail was that of a pony who had fully enveloped themselves in the moment.

“Wow…”

I couldn’t help but raise my glasses a bit, just to get a look with my own eyes. I blinked a few times to adjust, and when I focused again, she was looking right at me. Our eyes locked. I smiled at her, and she froze. Her eyes widened for a moment, then began fluttering like crazy. She raised a hoof in my direction as if to point; I could see her mouth moving, but there was no way I could hear what she was saying.

Who… is that? 

I had played to huge audiences in all sorts of places, but I had never become that distracted by any crowd, much less one pony. But I was definitely distracted at that moment– so much so that I came seconds away from completely missing the transfer to the next track, and trust me, that would have brought the party to a halt real quick.

But when I looked back again, after rescuing my set from disaster, she was gone. I even leaned over the edge of the booth to get a better look, but her spot had already been taken by some random stallion with four left hooves.

“Damn.”

I played the rest of the set, and as usual, the finale literally rocked the house. Hearing the rafters shake never gets old, you know? But the second I was done, I made a beeline out of the booth. First to make a quick stop in the washroom, then out to the floor. I shook hooves, took pictures, and grabbed more than a few drinks passed my way, but my focus was elsewhere, scanning every face, every bit of movement, in an attempt to find her. But she was nowhere to be found.

As I made my way home that night, I began to think that maybe I just imagined the whole thing. Perhaps the strobe lights really were playing tricks on me. “Or maybe I should stop drinking vodka with Red Horse before my sets,” I muttered to myself.

Speaking of which, the last of the caffeine buzz wore out just as I collapsed into my bed. Synthesizers and hoof shaking beats filled my dreams… as did a pair of piercing green eyes.





        Images of that mysterious mare were still floating around the back of my mind as I climbed out of bed the next morning. Who was she? Where did she come from? And where’d she learn those moves? Those questions and more flitted around my head as I fought to wake up. Thankfully, a cup of coffee and a hot shower had me bright-eyed and, thanks to my failure to buy more conditioner, very bushy-tailed.

My minimal primping concluded, I headed outside with saddlebags and errand list ready. Pay the rent, mail off a signed contract for a show I’d be doing next month in Vanhoover, pick up my spare synth board from the repair shop, and of course, buy more conditioner… and after a leisurely lunch at my favorite Neighponese joint, I had a full belly to go along with a cleared checklist. Well, clear of ‘responsible adult mare’ tasks, anyway.

And with six hours to go before I was due back at the club for my next show, I decided to see what was still sitting on my ‘not at all responsible adult’ checklist.

A cab ride across town and a few minutes of walking later, I found myself standing outside the door of Permanence – the first, and so far only tattoo shop in Manehattan.

The idea of a tattoo had always intrigued me, ever since I met some ‘inked’ zebras on my last tour. I’ll admit to being a bit skittish hearing them explain the process to me, since I don’t have a super-high pain tolerance. But they assured me it’d be no trouble, if I found a good tattoo artist to do the work. I couldn’t understand the tribal symbols that adorned the zebras’ fur, but I could appreciate quality artwork when I saw it.

So when I heard that a tattoo shop was opening up in the city, I was interested from the start; doubly so when I also learned that the proprietor, a mare from Ponyville no less, had a bit of a reputation as a good artist.

It was late in the afternoon, but the open sign was still out, so I ginned up a bit of confidence and walked in. The door closed behind me with a soft click and a final jingle from the bell mounted above it. “Hello?”

“Oh! Just a second, be right with you!” A voice called out from somewhere out of view. I could see a counter on the far side of the room, with a walled partition a bit further back. There was a door there too, partially open. I guessed that’s where the voice was coming from.

“Sure, no problem,” I replied as I headed for what looked to be a small waiting area. A pair of benches flanked a small coffee table, which itself was fairly covered by an array of magazines and catalogs. Flipping through some of them revealed striking images of ponies, zebras, even griffons and minotaurs, all adorned with tattoos, body piercings, and many other things I couldn’t even begin to describe. And I thought my idea would be a bit out there…

I half-heard a door closing and hurriedly tried to put the magazines back in some semblance of order again.

“Welcome to Permanence. How can I help y— Oh my.”

The abrupt shift in tone caught me immediately. “Sorry, I was just loo—” I turned my head and froze. “It can’t be…” Oh, it was. It had to be. There was no mistaking those colorful leg markings, or those bright teal eyes.

We just stared at each other for a second, mouths moving but no words coming from either of us. She broke the silence first.

“DJ PON-3?”

“Last time I checked, at least.” I smirked as I walked forward and extended a hoof. “And you are…?”

“Oh, I’m, um… My name’s Coffee Bean. I run the place.” She bumped my hoof in return, and the way she looked at it afterwards, I was beginning to think she was on the verge of ‘fangasm mode’, as I like to call it. But there was something else to her; I could sense it; like she was just as nervous as she was excited.

“Well, nice to meet you then. I, uh, hope I’m not coming in right before closing time."

That seemed to shake her back to reality for a second. “Oh, no, not at all! I’m still here for another thirty minutes, and my last appointment for the day finished up about an hour ago.”

Convenient! I thought. Take the plunge on this, and hopefully find out something about last night.

“I see. Think you might have time for a walk-in then?”

If not for the physical limitations of the equine body, I think her eyes would have popped out of her head. and a good lookin’ one at that I added. “W-wow, I mean… sure! I-I’d be honored to, Miss… er, PON-3?”

I laughed a bit at that. It had been a long time since anypony had called me “miss” anything. “No worries. Vinyl Scratch is the name, but you can just call me Vinyl.”

She shook her head a few times and seemed to refocus. She slipped past me and flipped the sign in the window to ‘Closed’, then latched the door. “Well then, Vinyl Scratch, you get to be the last customer of the day.”

“You sure?” I asked. “I don’t want you to go out of your way or anything.”

She looked back at me with a playful wink. “Hmm, I think I can close up a bit early to accommodate my first real VIP customer. And you can just call me Coffee, by the way.”

“Can do, Coffee.”

I followed her back to the counter, which sported a register and additional design catalogs to peruse. I spent the next few minutes scribbling my name on some mandatory safety forms and acknowledgements while Coffee Bean pointed out some of the dozens of customer images that lined the wall behind her. Everything from small, simple tattoos to designs that covered nearly half of a pony’s body. And that was before the extra piercings were added.

“It’s beautiful work,” I mused as my magic scribbled out signatures on the last two forms and slid them across the counter. “Did you do all of these yourself?”

“Just the stenciling on these early ones, when I was still apprenticing in Zebrica.” She turned and pointed back to a few of the older pictures. “But after that, it’s all me.”

“They taught you very well, then,” I replied as I scanned the rest of the wall. “Gotta admit, I never thought you could draw on a pony’s skin like that.”

Coffee Bean flipped through the papers, quickly adding her own signature next to mine, and filed them away. “The body is just another type of canvas, is it not? In a way, we’re both artists; we just use different materials.”

“And a priceless one at that,” I mused. “Speaking of which, I suppose I should have asked about your prices before now.”

“This one’s on me.”

I choked on my next words. “R-really? Um, gosh that’s really generous, but you don’t have to—”

She gently waved a hoof at me and smiled. “I know, I know, but seriously, it’s on me. Besides,” she added with a chuckle, “consider it a repayment for so many great albums.”

“Aw, thanks. I deeply appreciate it.” I offered a slight bow and another hoofbump.

“So, do you already have some designs you’re interested in?” Her horn glowed to life and a wisp of light green magic quickly retrieved a fresh stack of catalogs. “If not, there’s plenty of ideas in these catal—”

“Actually, I was really interested in your legs.”

I let those words hang a for a second- which is about all it took for her face to turn as red as an apple. “More specifically, the wavy pattern that’s on your, um, cutie mark?”

Finally, she regained her composure and stepped out from behind the counter. “Oh, you mean these?” She glanced down at her hind legs, which were covered nearly from hoof to flank with those beautiful teal waves that had me hypnotized the previous night. They’re actually not part of my cutie mark at all.”

“Really?” I asked as I craned my head a bit to get a better look. “Oh, I think I see. So they’re just additions to your real mark then.” I gestured to what looked to be a paint brush of some kind on her flank.

“Well, sort of,” she replied, “But I’m…” her voice dropped to a whisper. “A blank flank.”

I couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow at that. “Huh, wow. So… this image—”

“Is the first tattoo I ever got. A Zebrican master did it for me as a present after I finished the first stage of my apprenticeship with him.” She raised one of her legs a bit to give me a closer look. “The extra markings were added later. They represent some of his tribe’s ancient symbols and artistry.”

“Wow indeed. That’s just awesome.” My hoof twitched but I stopped and gave Coffee Bean a look. “Uh, may I?”

She looked surprised for a moment. “Oh! Um, sure thing.”

I reached out gently and let the tip of my hoof brush over her fur. The first thing I noticed was how well the various colors and gradients meshed with her coat. The second was the near electric jolt that ran up my leg the second I touched her. I didn’t need a mirror to know my cheeks were likely a bit flushed right then, though seeing the same on Coffee Bean’s face made me smile all the same.

“I gotta admit, that’s bucking awesome.” I pulled my hoof back down– after one more touch than may have been strictly necessary. “So, do you think you could replicate some of that style on me?”

“I don’t see why not,” she replied. “What did you have in mind?”

I had a few possibilities bouncing around in my head, but I settled on the lowest risk option for starters. “I’m thinking something small and simple, at least to start. First time and all, you know.”

“Really? Well then, Vinyl I’d be honored to be your first.” Coffee Bean’s ears twitched playfully, flashing a glimpse of two small piercings near the top of her left ear. “Follow me.” She threw a wink over her shoulder as she began to walk away.

Wow… My mind was still processing how to take that, but the spike in my pulse made it obvious which context the rest of me was hoping for just then. I shook myself out of my stupor and hurried after her.

I followed her through the open door and entered into what had to be the heart of her studio. Coffee Bean was already busy magicking some supplies and inks out of a couple of cabinets. “Make yourself comfortable, Vinyl. I’ll just be a minute...” Her voice trailed off as she returned her focus to her preparations.

After hanging my saddlebags over a nearby hook, I let my eyes wander the room. At first glance, it was a very inviting, almost homey atmosphere. There were wood cabinets and a counter along one wall, while supply cabinets and equipment racks covered another. Polished wood floors and warm paints gave the room a homey, relaxing air, as did the various soft light fixtures. But if the room’s decor was meant to be warm and relaxing, its centerpiece was quite the opposite.

I looked carefully at the huge chair-like object at the center of the room. Polished metal and black leather seemed to comprise its entire makeup, and it stood on a solid round base, like the chairs I sit in at the salon. Head and leg rests stuck out from either end, and I lost count of the number of extensions, flaps, or other objects that protruded from its frame. Really, it was hard to tell if it was a chair, a bench, or something else entirely.

By far though, the most interesting item in the room was the mare across from me. As I watched Coffee Bean continue to check equipment and organize inks and stenciling tools onto a small cart, I couldn’t help but admire her attention to detail, to say nothing of the way her rump swayed as she rummaged through one cabinet after another.

The more I looked, well, stared, the more I saw the beauty in her body’s color pallette. Under more normal lighting, the contrast between her raven hair and her cream-colored coat was much stronger, but also perfectly balanced out by the subtle streaks of grey and blue that weaved through her mane and tail. Add in those gorgeous teal eyes, and legs that seemed to go on forever even without the tattoos, and I was looking at one of the sexiest unicorn mares I had seen in a very long time.

The things I’d do to her… I thought as my mind wandered toward the proverbial gutter. If for no other reason than to prolong the view, I tried to reopen the conversation.

“By the way, I was wondering if you enjoyed my set last night.”

Her ears drooped a bit and she glanced over her shoulder at me. “Ah, I guess you did see me then.”

“Sure did,” I smiled. “Hard to miss those tattoos, strobe lights or not.”

She gave a sly grin of her own. “Heh, got me there. But to answer your question, the set was amazing. I’ve been a fan of your work for quite a while, but seeing you live was something I couldn’t pass up.”

I threw her a small wink of my own. “Consider this a private encore then.”

Her breath hitched in her throat. “O-oh, hehe, of course!”

One innuendo each now. I thought while I smiled at her bit of flustering. My confidence in where this whole situation was leading was growing by the minute, but I couldn’t let my hormones run totally wild – yet. Just keep playing the cards in your hoof, Vinyl.

After a few more moments, Coffee Bean seemed to have regained her composure. “Well then… I’m ready to begin if you are, Vinyl.”

“Then let’s get going, before I have chance to change my mind.” We both chuckled at that one before she motioned to the chair-bench thing in the middle of the room.

“Just hop on up there and make yourself comfortable.” A light green glow enveloped her horn as she pushed one of the metal carts alongside her. As she stepped up, a burst of magic hit several of the chair’s levers, and in seconds it transformed from a big recliner to a nearly flat bench. “And, uh, lie down on your side if you could.”

It took a bit of shuffling around, but I managed to arrange myself well properly. I had about put my head down when I stopped. “Actually…” I removed my glasses and floated them over to the nearby counter. “I’ve fallen asleep on my synth board enough to know better.”

Coffee Bean laughed, but stopped abruptly and focused her gaze on me. “So… the rumors were true. They are red.”

I feigned shock for a moment. “Ah! My secret is out!” I even threw a hoof over my forehead for good measure. “My whole persona is ruined!” I peeked an eye open and looked at Coffee Bean, who managed to maintain some composure for a few more seconds before bursting into laughter.

"Clearly, I can never buy any of your records ever again. It just won’t be the same!” She fell back into laughter for a moment, and I right along with her. Finally, we both calmed down a bit and looked at each other again, and I noticed she was really looking at me intently now. “Have they always been red?”

“Since the day I was born.” I propped myself up a bit on a foreleg so I could more directly face her. “And all natural color too. No spells or trickery here.”

Coffee Bean drew closer and leaned in to get a closer look. “They’re beautiful, really,” she whispered as a smile crossed her lips. “Good thing you don’t take the glasses off at your shows; it’d distract the audience.”

I wasn’t sure what was driving me crazier in that moment – being able to see her teal eyes that close in return, feeling her breath on the tip of my nose, or the urge to lean forward and close the small gap between our muzzles.

“Hey now, you’re gonna make me blush over here.” In truth, she very nearly had. Not that there was anything wrong with that, of course. Then a thought hit me; a way to turn the tables a bit, so to speak.

“So, now you know what’s behind the purple glasses. You even beat the tabloids to it,” I added with a chuckle. “Now, anypony who knows me knows I like to keep things fair and even. So, if you know one of my secrets, then it’s only fair to return the favor.”

Coffee Bean hesitated for a moment, like she was scrambling for any words at all. “W-well, I, um, oh, geez— I don’t know...”

“Don’t know which to choose maybe?” I playfully tapped her shoulder. “Don’t worry, if my secret’s safe with you, your secret’s definitely safe with me. Remember, as far as Equestria’s concerned, I never talk anyway.”

I kept my eyes locked to hers. It took a moment, but I could almost see her hesitation melting away inside of her, as if she had crossed some sort of threshold in her mind.

“Well, there is one thing…”

Coffee Bean trotted out of the room, and returned after a few moments with a small black pouch suspended in her magic. A quick flick of magic untied the pouch and a fairly small rectangular object floated into view.

“A portable music player,” I observed. “Wow, that’s much smaller than they used to be too.”

Coffee Bean smiled. “A Neighponese model; latest and greatest. Very hard to find on this side of the ocean, but I lucked out when I found this one.”

“What’s the ‘secret’ part of it though?” I gave her a curious look. She was holding something back, but I couldn’t tell what it was. “Did they give it to you for free or something?”

“Ha! I wish,” she chuckled. “But no, this cost me some bits, trust me. The secret though, is its rather unique capabilities.”

“Like what?”

I watched as another object, this one multi-colored and with a deliberate curve to it, emerged from the pouch. A wicked smile crossed Coffee Bean’s lips as she turned it over in the air in front of me.

“Let’s just say it creates a very, shall I say, immersive experience for the listener.”

My eyes were as wide as dinner plates. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

She hovered the object over and set it down next to the music player. “Care for a demo?”

I lit my own horn and retrieved my headphones out of my saddlebags. I eyed the now trio of objects in front of me, then looked up into her eyes. “What do you think?”

--------------------------------------

“Mhmm… W-where’d you say you found this?”

It had taken me three attempts to ask that simple question; though in my defense, it quickly becomes hard to speak coherently with a vibrator buzzing away inside of you.

“At a specialty store in Horseshoe Bay.” Coffee spoke in a low voice as she slowly paced around me, watching me. “I was down there for a small convention aimed at body artists when my cycle hit a week early. I needed something to help take the edge off, and another artist recommended the place to me.”

She caressed my fetlocks as she passed in front of me. The shiver it sent up my hind legs was only amplified by the vibrator. “I had used vibrators before, of course, but never one that works with music. It wasn’t cheap at all, but I was hooked after one try.”

“I-I’d say it was worth… Mhmm… every bit spent.” I let my eyes flutter closed as I continued to melt into the chair.

I was no stranger to bedroom toys myself, but this was a whole other experience entirely. The toy itself was not wildly different than others I had seen, but everything from the soft-touch material to the flowing lines and comfortable grip showed the extra attention to detail that Coffee’s bits had purchased. And the two-tone purple and white color was a nice touch besides.

But that’s where any similarities to more conventional toys ended. In addition to the usual plug that would be used to recharge its internal mana battery, this toy could be plugged into most any type of music player, from record players to the newest portable devices from Neighpon. Once connected, the toy could literally react to whatever song you played, altering the strength, intensity, even the pattern of its vibrations as the song progressed.

And right now, my own music was making me incredibly horny.

“This is… just… mhmm yes...” I managed to open my eyes a bit between one moan and the next, and looked right into Coffee Bean’s smiling face– and very hungry-looking eyes.

She leaned down and slipped one headphone off my ear. “I hope you don’t mind, but I’ve always found your tracks to work the best,” she whispered as one of her hooves began stroking my fur. “Needless to say, I’ve become very familiar with your almost your entire library.”

“You feel every nuance of every song in a whole new way. Wouldn’t you agree?” She must have been able to hear the music a bit as well, because she softly nipped the tip of my ear right as a drop hit in the song, giving me a jolt through both ends of my spine. “Hmm, I think you do.”

“You… you could say that,” I managed to speak while trying to keep any kind of check on the fire that was quickly building in my gut. “I gotta say though, I– Mhmm… not sure why this has to be so secret. Th—” a final pulse from the toy at the end of the song took the words out of my mouth. “Why hide this?”

Coffee Bean stepped closer, her eyes falling into a sultry, half-lidded gaze. “Because for me it’s not just the music. It’s the gorgeous mare who creates it.” I felt one of her hooves slide across my flank and slip into the crease between my hip and my inner thigh, stoking the fire inside of me even more. “It’s imagining her in the booth, on stage, playing to an audience of one, rocking my world with every beautiful beat.”

She leaned in closer, leaving only inches between our lips. “It’s giving myself over to the music, then to you; to let you play my body in the same way your music plays on my soul.”

Then her lips were on me. Soft and tentative at first, but any shock on my part vaporized under a surge of hormones and I quickly reciprocated. I felt the tip of her tongue tease the edge of my lips, as if asking to be let in. A soft sigh escaped my lips as I snaked my free hoof around her neck and pulled her closer, eagerly inviting her in. Our tongues met instantly, and I could almost feel the surge of adrenaline coursing through her as our kiss deepened. Only the inevitable need for air interrupted that moment of bliss.

“Wow… that was…”

“Amazing.” Coffee Bean finished my thought as she leaned back and licked her lips. Her eyes were awash in a lusty haze, and I didn’t need a mirror to feel the same fog building in my own mind.

I still hadn’t fully processed how I went from deciding to get my first tattoo to putting a musical vibrator inside of me and making out with a beautiful mare at the same time. But that was a question I could investigate later. Right then, the only thing I wanted was more. More music. More scintillating pulses from that vibe. And most importantly, more of her.

“So…” I sat up a bit to fully reorient myself, watching with bemusement as the vibe slipped out of me and plopped onto the chair, leaving a trail of lube and my own arousal in its wake. “Besides fantasizing about getting very intimate with my music—” I pulled her in for another kiss, “Any other big secrets I should be aware of?”

I felt the edge of her hoof brush the inside of my thigh before dragging just across the edge of my haunches. “Maaaybe...” Coffee Bean’s voice had dropped into a low, husky tone that sounded like music all its own. “But if I told you, I believe that’d make it two of my secrets to your one.” Her hoof moved squarely across my outer lips, drawing another needy moan out of me. “And as I recall, you like to keep things even.”

Such a tease, I thought, but she does have a point.

“Got me there, but you’re right.” I fought for some level of control over my thoughts, if only for a moment. “Would it count if I told you that I originally went to the Academy of Music on a piano scholarship?”

Coffee Bean sat back for a second, playing at thinking on this long and hard. “Well, that is pretty interesting, and I wouldn’t have pictured you as a pianist at all, but I don’t know, personal fetishes against university classes…” she waved her hooves up and down, as if weighing her options.

I blew a raspberry at her in return. “You can continue to think about it from the VIP seats at tonight’s show. How about that?”

She sat up and smiled before leaning in and kissing me right on the nape of my neck. “Mhmm… I guess that’ll work.” She added a little nip for good measure.

“Alright, so now you get one more secret from me, and it has to do with your show last night.”

That got my attention. “Oh?”

“I know you saw me dancing. We made eye contact right as your third track hit its apex, remember?”

“Absolutely. Tight black dress, horn lit up, short black hair, and a damn nice sway in those hips if I might add.”

“Heh, thanks for noticing.” She turned slowly in front of me, making sure to swing her tail out of the way as her rump came into view. Yeah, her hips aren’t the only smooth things on her.

“So besides the obvious,” I gave her a wink, “what didn’t I see while I was thoroughly distracted from my set?”

Coffee Bean gestured to the vibrator, which still lay between us. “That.”

I arched an eyebrow at that. “You mean the music player?”

“Yes, that was involved as well.” She replied with a wicked grin. Now I was really curious what she was after here.

“The vibrator reacts to whatever music the player sends to it, right?” I nodded my head. “And the player has a nifty feature that lets it record sound and pass it through to whatever is plugged into it.”

She paused and sat back a bit, a smug grin plastered on her face; like she was just waiting for me to figure it out. “Got it yet?”

“Hold on…” I tried to focus on what she had said, instead of the light flush in her cheeks, or the lingering smell of arousal in the air, or the way her tattoo cutiemark hugged those flanks so well. “You had the player on you somewhere, recording the music…”

“Yes…” she answered, egging me on.

“And the vibe reacts to whatever the player is doing…”

Coffee Bean slipped off the bench and began resetting into a flat surface once again. “Uh huh. Getting warmer...”

“And you implied that both of them were with you last night…”

She giggled like a schoolfilly. “Getting very warm there. Almost there…”

“Then how did you get away with th—” The puzzle pieces clicked together in my head and I stopped mid-word. “The dress…” I looked to Coffee Bean, who was giving me the hottest set of bedroom eyes I had ever seen. “That look on your face when—” My blood turned molten as the images raced through my mind. “Dear Celestia, that’s hot.”

She gently laid me flat on my back before slipping the snug headphones back onto my ears. “Whoops, I guess my secret is out. You won’t tell anypony, will you, Vinyl?” She punctuated that with a deep, slow kiss that brought the fire in my nethers roaring back to life.

“Of course not,” I panted. “But you might need to convince me again, just to make sure.”

“Gladly.”

The next thing I knew, I was looking at the top of Coffee Bean’s head, as her muzzle was buried in my haunches. “Oh! C-Coffee, yes…”

Any other words I had in mind turned into whimpers, moans, and squeals of delight as she licked, kissed, and nipped her way across every inch of my nethers. I was too far away to reach a hoof behind her head, but arching my back and pushing my marehood into her face more than did the trick to spur her on.

“Th— Mmhm, yes! So good… Aahn!” An especially loud cry burst forth when her tongue found my clit, then slipped inside of me to lap up every drop of the arousal that was flowing out of me. She kept this up for some minutes of pure bliss until she came up for air– and a hungry, tongue-filled kiss.

“Ready for one more song to close out this little set then?” It was hard to even try to think of a witty response with her hooves tracing lazy circles around my nipples and up the tender skin on my belly.

“Absolutely,” I finally managed.

She grabbed the music player and flipped it back on, then reached for the vibe. No lube was needed by then; she just slowly rubbed it up and down my swollen outer lips until the tip of the vibe was as soaked in arousal as I was.

“Any requests from the audience?” She added with a wink.

“Mhmm… how about DJ’s choice? She seems to know all of the right notes to play anyway.”

She flashed me a knowing smile, then used a wisp of magic to flip a couple of buttons and knobs on the player. “Ready?”

Moments later, my ears were flooded with sound. She had picked one of my newer tracks, a remix I had done for another artist from Scandineighvia. It was a slower, more ‘chill’ track than I was usually known for, but the final product was smooth as glass, and the crowds loved it.

And interpreted through that devious vibrator, it was taking its sweet time blowing my mind. One transition after another, a series of high notes mixed with underlying lows had me reeling. “Oh, wow— Ah, yes!” Then the first bass drop hit, and the vibe pulsed hard inside of me. “Aahn! Oh, buck!”

The same seamless integration from one section to another that made the track so sublime now left me with no reprieve from the vibrator’s sultry wishes. Arousal was flowing out of me like a tiny river, adrenaline was racing through me, touching every nerve at once. And that was before I felt Coffee Bean’s lips leaving a trail of fire down my barrel, around my nipples, and back again.

“Come on now, audience, let me hear you.” Her words made it through to my brain right about the time she began flicking one nipple with her tongue while her free hoof drew tight circles around the other. My body obliged fully, arching my back while a long, loud moan burst from my lungs.

Even for me, I was on nearly overwhelmed with sensations; the music in my ears, Coffee’s lips and hooves all over my body, the dulled buzzing from the vibe as it enacted an erotic torture on my inner walls. I was so wet, I had to keep clamping my muscles down on the vibrator just to keep it inside, which only made the next burst that much more powerful, and the resulting growl that much more raw.

The song was beginning its slow crescendo now, and the vibe was picking up every little uptick in the tempo, hitting me a little faster with every note. I could feel the release building in my gut, and I knew once it really came on, there’d be no stopping it. But there’s no way I’m leaving her totally out of this.

I leaned my head up just enough to catch her gaze, and I beckoned her up with a hoof. “Please… up here.”

“Up there?”

“T-the audience— Aahn!” Another bass hit, another surge from the vibe that stole the words from my lungs. “Wants to show their appreciation.” I gave Coffee Bean the best ‘come hither’ stare I could. “The DJ has earned it.”

She gave my nipples a final lick before standing to her full height. “Well then, what the audience wants, the audience gets.” I watched her intently as she flipped a few more levers on the sides of the bench, causing two more wings to unfold that added even more width to the bench. She clambered up, positioning herself right above me, then slowly lowered herself down.

Our bellies were pressed together, and I now had a perfect view of her unbelievable smooth – and very aroused – marehood. Words weren’t needed. We just acted. I wrapped my forelegs around her flanks and pushed her rump down, and she went right back to teasing every inch of my body she could reach.

The rush came on strong after that; the music building into its crescendo more and more, raising the tempo and the intensity with every beat, my tongue slipping deeper into Coffee Bean’s snatch with every stroke, her lips sucking on my swollen nipples as if they were candy.

“So g-good, Vinyl… don’t— Aahn! Yes!”

Her moans joined my own, and the smell of her arousal mixed with my own to fill the room with an intoxicating mixture of sex, sweat, and pheromones. And all the while, that beautiful tune rang in my ears, and that devilish toy buzzed away inside of me, driving me closer to the edge with every beat.

“I’m getting close, Coffee. S-so close— Ah! Oh, buck!” I felt Coffee’s tongue flick over the top of my clit and I nearly lost it right there.

The track was nearing its apex, and the toy made me feel every last thump along the way. My walls were squeezing the toy for all it was worth, making every surge feel like a lightning strike to my system. My mind was all but gone now, totally lost in a fog of sex, in the taste of this beautiful mare’s juices, in the heart-pounding rush that was ready to explode inside of me. All I could think to do was squeeze harder, push my haunches closer to Coffee Bean’s waiting tongue, and lap up every drop of nectar flowing from her core.

The vibe paused for a split-second, as did the music. That one last, single pause before the final, monstrous drop. I didn’t even try to brace for it, and neither did she. We both knew what was coming, and we rushed headlong into it.

The drop hit, the track peaked… and so did we.

“Yes yes yes yes Coffee yes! Flick my clit— Aahn!”

“I’m cumming Vinyl! D-don’t stop— Oh buck yes!”

Mind-numbing orgasms rocked us both to our cores. I drove my tongue as deep into Coffee Bean’s soaked folds as I could while her free hoof hilted the vibe inside of me. My walls clamped down on the vibe like a vice, and I could feel her inner walls do the same to my tongue. 

We pushed each other’s bodies as far as they could take us – drawing out every moan, lapping up every drop of each other’s juices, begging each other for one more jolt of pleasure. And we didn’t stop until the song was finally over, and we had been reduced to shaking, panting, marecum-covered heaps of equine flesh.

Finally, we somehow untangled ourselves and Coffee Bean managed to slide down from the table without falling over. She righted herself and leaned back in for a long, tender kiss.

“Now, about that tattoo…”





That next night at the club, I got a lot of compliments about my ‘fresh ink’ – a teal green outline around my cutiemark, and a small set of wavy shapes that curled around it as if to embrace it. But that was only the part that everypony could see. A big chunk of the full artwork was inside my chest, tattooed on my heart.  And the rest?

It was under my tail, happily buzzing away while a certain mare in a black dress looked on and smiled.
> Episode 12 - A Taste of Home (Sunset Shimmer-Flash Sentry)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Dear Red Shoes,

Sports camp, summers at grandma's, long vacations to far off places. If these have one thing in common, it's that at some point, you'll get homesick. Have you ever experienced it? That weird mix of sadness and nostalgia that creeps up on you a little more with each passing day?

Pretty soon, you almost want to go home early, just so you can feel the embrace of the familiar once again. And when you're as far away from home as I am, well... let's just say that you start to miss even the most basic of things…




 
I opened my eyes as the portal’s magical field dissipated, and only one word came to mind:

Home.

Or should I say, my real home; the one I was born into. The last time I had seen this version of Equestria, I was literally running away from it. I always assumed that if I ever did go back, it'd be with my legs in shackles and a spear nudged against my back. Looking back on it, that's probably what I deserved too.

But then Twilight happened.

I had always known she'd come looking for me at some point. What I didn't expect was for her to offer me friendship and healing, instead of extradition and punishment. After that, my life became one big rebuilding project. Twilight left me in the care of five awesome and extremely talented girls, and they're all becoming the best friends I could ever hope for.

But when it comes to all things equine though, Twilight's the only person, er, pony, who can really understand where I'm coming from. We’d talk almost daily through the magical journal that she gave me. I'd tell her what life was like over here, and how my friendship lessons were going, while she'd catch me up on the happenings on her side of the portal.

It didn't take long for me to start missing home. A lot. The hustle and bustle of Canterlot's shopping districts, the beautiful skyline of my native Trottingham, hunting for candy on Nightmare Night. I still laugh every time I think of our many failed attempts to send some of Pony Joe's chocolate eclairs through the portal.

Being a human does have its perks, of course. The fingers alone would make any pony jealous with their flexibility and versatility, to say nothing of the cars, telephones, and fried foods that I take for granted over here. But for as cool as all of those things are, they aren't really natural. At least not from my perspective. My appearance says human girl, but my heart, my mind, my soul are equine mare. And there's some things this displaced mare just can't get in a world of mostly hairless bipeds. Like hay fries, a full-body brush down, a long gallop through sun-kissed fields…

Or a good hard rutting.

Remember those fingers I mentioned? Thanks to some ‘womanly advice’ from one of the girls, I discovered that they were useful for much more than grabbing things or making snapping noises. That helped take the edge off, so to speak, but it also left me wanting the real thing even more.

Unfortunately, humans are, shall I say, much less casual than ponies when it comes to their more basic urges. What Equestrians would shrug off as simply relieving a purely biological need, many humans would characterize as utter promiscuity. “Hookups”, I believe was the term they often used. I knew that some students participated in these activities regularly, but the low regard that nearly everyone else held for them was more than enough to scare me off of trying it out myself. I had just begun to make real progress at rebuilding my own reputation, so taking another wrecking ball to it was out of the question.

Needless to say, my fingers began to get very familiar with the inside of my thighs.

I figured I’d be stuck in this sort of sexual rut forever, but that all changed when Twilight came back over for a visit a few weeks ago. Somewhere between our second ice cream sundaes and our third rented ‘chick flick’, I let slip my, er, carnal frustrations.

To my surprise, Twilight and I shared a bit of common ground in that department. While I was too skittish to really try and pursue romance as humans practiced it, Twilight was having quite the opposite problem – she couldn’t get the stallions to leave her alone. Well, at least the ones who only wanted under her tail to curry favor with the crown.

Superficial, one-track minded males. I suppose some things never change, even in alternate dimensions.

Anyway… There was one stallion, Twilight had said, who stood out from the crowd, who wasn’t pining after her for political or business reasons. He was still pining though, and in a major way too. And because he was part of the Royal Guard unit assigned to her castle, Twilight saw him nearly every day. Twilight liked him well enough, and certainly valued him as a friend and dedicated guard. But that’s it. I fully believed Twilight when she claimed to have run a full compatibility analysis to determine she wasn’t the best match for him.

However, Twilight also said that because he was so eager to impress, this particular stallion would do anything for her. Anything.

Click

And as the large door on the far side of the chamber began to open, I could only hope that there really weren’t any limits to this guard’s sense of duty.

“H-hello? Anypony in here?”

“Oh! Um, yes...” I had to pause to collect my thoughts. How long had it been since I had heard another pony’s voice? “Please come in.”

The door opened wide and a pegasus stallion entered. Already I could see that the Guard’s uniforms hadn’t changed since I left. Reinforced gold-shoes, matching armor across chest and barrel, and of course the helmet… even the poofy blue crest looked the same. He quietly closed the door and turned to face me.

“I take it Princess Twilight told you to come here?” I asked.

“Yes, she did.” He crossed the room at a very guard-like pace and stood before me. His electric-blue eyes stood out even under the shadow of his helmet. Had I seen them before? “And I take it you are the pony I’m supposed to meet here?”

“I-I think so. Unless you’re expecting something else to come through this mirror, of course.” He looked at me for a second, then began to laugh. I laughed too, though partly in relief that one of my normally lame jokes didn’t fall flat again.

“None on the guest registry for today, anyway,” he replied with a smile. He definitely wasn’t as hard-muzzled as the guards I remembered. Not as gruff sounding either. “Speaking of guests, the Princess didn’t exactly tell me who would be meeting me here. Miss…”

“Sunset. Sunset Shimmer.” Please don’t arrest me, please don’t arrest me, pl—

“Sunset. Ah! I recognize the name. You’re on special assignment from Her Majesty, right?”

“Heh, yeah, you could say that.” I chuckled nervously. How much did he know?

“Well, any friend of Princess Twilight is a friend of mine,” he replied as he reached up with a wing and loosened the clasp on his helmet. “Gosh, where are my manners–” he offered a quick hand, er, hoofshake “Pleasure to meet you, Sunset.”

He removed the helmet and I froze. Yeah, I had definitely seen those blue eyes before. Just not in Equestria.

“I’m Flash Sentry.”

That moment of shock on my face quickly melted into a very sly grin. Oh Princess, you do know how to make a mare happy.

“Trust me, Flash...” I leaned in closer and gave him a wide smile. “the pleasure is all mine.”

I don’t know which was cuter: the little hitch in his next breath, or the way his wing muscles twitched beneath his armor. He may have been in a different body, but this Flash was clearly just as quick to blush as the one I used to date. And hopefully he’s far less of a prude too.

“So… um...” he finally stammered out. “The Princess said you needed some assistance with something?”

“That I do, Flash.” I backed up a bit to give us both a bit of room. “And it’s a matter of some urgency too. You see, I’ve been on assignment for a pretty long time, and due to the distances involved, I’ve always filed my reports to Princess Twilight remotely.” I glanced back to the portal, which now looked every bit like a normal mirror. “In fact, it’s been nearly a year since I’ve set foo— er, hoof in this castle, much less Equestria.”

If Flash noticed my near slip, he didn’t seem to react to it, thankfully. “A year? Yikes!” He let out a long whistle. “And I thought my three month assignment to the Crystal Empire was roughing it. You must have gotten homesick after a while.”

I chuckled. “Flash, you have no idea.” But you will very soon.

As if to hammer the point home, a slight tingle ran down my barrel and through my rump, causing my tail to twitch ever so slightly. I knew Flash saw it too, because his eyes suddenly darted to the polished stone floor. Clearly, it was time to get the real show on the road. “I’m glad you mentioned being homesick, Flash, because that’s exactly what I need your help with.”

“Oh?” He looked a bit puzzled. “Well, as long as it’s not home cooking, I’m your pony. How can I help?”

“Don’t worry, no kitchen required. But I am hungry.” I added with a slight wink.

“Ah, so you want to go out then? I can certainly escort you, if that’s what you’re after.”

I tried to hide a giggle with a hoof. “Well, not exactly that either.” I shuffled forward and lowered my voice. “You know, it might be better if we discussed this somewhere a bit more… private.”

My mind flipped through memories of the castle’s corridors until it hit a particular area. “It’s been a while, so I might be totally wrong here, but are those guest quarters still on the level above us?”

Flash raised an eyebrow at that. “Uh, yes. One level up, north end of the hallway.”

“And the small reading room that’s tucked away in that dead-end that everypony thinks is empty?”

“Y-yes, but how did y—”

I silenced him with a hoof to his lips. “Let’s just say that I spent a lot of time here before my assignment began.”  We locked eyes for a second, and I could almost feel the nostalgia hit me. It was so easy to get lost in those eyes. And I knew that if I played my cards right, I’d be drowning in them very shortly. “Shall we go?”

“As you wish, Sunset,” he replied before turning to the door. “If you’ll follow me…”

“Actually—” I placed a hoof on his shoulder to stop him, and I could feel him shiver through his armor. “I was hoping to be a bit more discreet.”

“How so?” he asked as he looked back to me.

I lunged forward and wrapped my hooves around him as a magical glow began building around my horn. “Like this.”

“Wha—”

We were gone in an instant.

Seconds later, we reappeared inside of the reading room. While Flash gave his armor a once over, I quickly surveyed the room. Little had changed since I had last seen it: fine rugs dotted the wood floor, a well-used writing desk sat in the far corner, dark cherry bookcases lined the walls, and a small array of plush chairs and chaise loungers offered many comfortable places to read… or do other things.

My horn flared again, and wisps of magic made quick work of checking the latch on the door, pulling the shades across the room’s lone window, and after a bit of tinkering, dimming the light coming from the wall sconces.

“Perfect.”

“Perfect for what?” Flash asked.

“For our concentration,” I replied in a honeyed voice. I turned away from the door to face him, taking care to let some of my mane fall across my neck just like I knew my Flash liked. “If we’re going to solve my little problem, we’re going to need to focus. Intensely.”

I crossed the room with slow, measured steps, and more than a little sway to my hips. “You see, Flash, I’m homesick for more than just hay fries or a hooficure. When you’ve been away as far and as long as I have, you start to miss the most basic elements of pony life.” I closed the distance and walked a tight circle around him, making sure to brush my sides against him, and to let the end of my tail drag across his fetlocks. “Very basic elements.”

Whatever effort Flash was putting into keeping his cool were already being betrayed by the deepening blush in his cheeks, to say nothing of the now constant twitch in his wings. “I-I see… that’s– wow. Um… I don’t mean to be rude, but I’m not sure I’m the right pony for you to be talking to right now.”

I giggled a bit as I lifted a hoof and drew his face toward me. “On the contrary, Flash, you’re exactly the pony I need to be talking to.” I continued talking while feigning ignorance to the tendrils of my magic that were crisscrossing Flash’s body in search of the clasps that held his armor in place.

“You’re intelligent, strong, and kind.” I finished unhooking his chestplate and lifted it away. “Dedicated to your job, and totally loyal to crown and kingdom.” The plating over his back was next, followed by the lighter armor that wrapped around most of his barrel. My eyes drank him in the entire time, and if the increasing warmth in my haunches was any indication, they liked what they were seeing. A year away really makes you appreciate the equine form even more, and this version of Flash made a damn fine example.

“And most importantly,” I added while gesturing for him to step out of his hoof bracers, “you know how to treat a mare right, no matter the circumstances.”

Despite his orange coat, his cheeks were bright red now. “T-that’s very kind of you to say, but how’d you know that if we’ve never met?”

I draped a hoof over his withers and drew in close. My tail came to rest against his and I could feel him shiver. “Twilight told me, of course.”

Flash almost recoiled in surprise. “The Princess? S-she said that about me? I… well, I guess I should have expected that she’d keep good notes on all of her guards, but I— whoa!”

I grabbed his attention back with a small kiss to the back of his neck. “Indeed she does.” His scent filled my nose, and I let my muzzle linger for a moment longer. His was a interesting mixture of coat conditioner, guard uniform, and a hint of what I guessed was some kind of body spray. I inhaled again and smiled before leaving another kiss on his fur. “And from what I see, I’d say she’s one hundred percent right.” I was about to say more when I felt a wing drape gently over my back. My next words died on my tongue, replaced by a contented sigh as I happily slid fully against him. The sense of urgency in my mind then was almost as palpable as the quickly smoldering fire in my haunches, and I was not about to let the moment go to waste.

“So…” I spoke quietly, “I guess you understand what my, um, problem really is now.”

The tip of his wing moved down my right side before tracing a gentle line along the edge of my hip. A warm shiver ran down my leg and back up, and I couldn’t help but paw at the floor with the edge of my hoof. “I’ve got a pretty good idea now, yeah,” he added with a final brush of his wing, and I all but melted into him. “Pretty direct solution here too, if you don’t mind me saying.”

“Direct is just fine here, trust me. In other circumstances, I’d be fine with some wining and dining, so to speak. But right now, after a year away from the touch of another pony—” I ducked my head back and planted a few kisses inside of his wing joint, making him squirm all over again. “I’m more than okay with skipping to the really good parts.”

He offered a sly grin of his own as he maneuvered himself to face me again. “Far be it for me to leave a good mare disappointed.”

The next sounds to come from either of us were breathy moans as our lips met for the first time. We started slow, thanks to my nerves and his likely abundance of caution, but that all began to melt as our kisses grew longer and deeper. Flash wrapped a hoof through my mane and drew me closer, and I was more than happy to sink into his embrace.

To borrow a human phrase, I quickly found that kissing another pony was like riding a bike; you never really forget how to do it. And it didn’t take long for the more intimate side of my equine nature to fully reassert itself. Tongues danced, hooves and wings roamed freely, and the space between us grew smaller by the second.

“You don’t know how good this feels right now…” I whispered as he began to pepper my jawline and neck with kisses. “How long I’ve yearned to feel like this again, even for a moment— mhmm!” My last words turned into a moan as his tongue began leaving a hot trail up my neck and behind my ear. I repaid him with a few nips and licks behind his own ears, drawing a moan out of him in turn.

We’d barely begun, and my pulse was already racing. Each kiss, each nip or lick, stoked the flames even further. The swell of adrenaline and arousal was building quickly, and it wasn’t long before my nose picked up the first wave of musk from my haunches. One look at his wings though, which were already stiff as boards, told me Flash wasn’t far behind me.

“Gotta admit,” he said before letting his lips travel back down my neck and across my chest, “part of me is afraid I’m going to wake up any second now.” I playfully grabbed a tuft of his mane and pulled him into a deep, smoldering kiss.

“Then don’t wake up.”

The heat between us was growing, as was the fire between my legs. I could have kissed and caressed him for hours, but my body’s urges were screaming for attention now. I broke off from another deep kiss and began moving toward the chaise lounger. With my hips swaying and my tail raised completely, I didn’t need to turn my head to know his eyes were locked onto my fully exposed rump.

I reared back a bit as I neared the lounger and planted my forelegs onto the dark green upholstery. My hind legs spread out to give me balance, and I wrapped my tail up and around my flank to fully present my glistening core to him.

“Like what you see?”

“V-very much.” he replied between hurried breaths. I heard hoofsteps moving closer, and soon I felt him right behind me. His forelegs joined mine on the lounger, and I could feel some of his weight resting on my lower back. Heavens he was so close now, I could feel the heat radiating off his coat, and the beads of arousal dripping down my lips.

Flash draped my mane to one side and left one, two, then three kisses up the back of my neck that left me breathless – and a final kiss right to the base of my horn that nearly collapsed my legs.

“Y-yeah, you do know how to treat a mare…” I managed between pants. “Please continue.”

His answer was the tip of his tongue sliding up and down my horn as if it were a lollipop. If not for his wings wrapping around my barrel, I’d have melted into a puddle of bliss right there, but as it was he just kept going, one devious lick at a time. His wings soon joined in, taking advantage of their position beneath me to gently rub circles all over my belly and around my nipples.

Either this world’s Flash had a lot of experience, or he was a natural talent, because he was playing my body like a lyre. I didn’t need to urge him on with words; my pleasured moans and growing arousal did all that and more.

In the back of my mind, I could recall similar scenes like this from the human world, only in them, the scene would always end right about where the two of us were right now. Horny as all tartarus and worked up into a frenzy… but still never quite getting there. Remember those ‘social norms’ I talked about before? Yeah, those. They’d always stop us just short, like a mental wall that we couldn’t climb. Truthfully, I was afraid I’d be labeled as one of the ‘sluts’ I’d hear others whisper about, and he was understandably cowed by the risk of becoming a father at the ripe age of seventeen.

Thankfully, Equestrians have no such social qualms, and thanks to some research from Twilight, I knew that the lingering effects of the portal would delay any latent heat cycle by at least a month.

Which was really good right now, because after his lips had moved all the way down my back and began lavishing kisses on my cutie mark, I wanted nothing more than to shove him inside of me and leave him there.

“Oh heavens that feels so good. Don’t stop– Ah!” A wing tip brushed up the back of my legs and came to rest just above my mound, mere inches from my swollen clit, while his lips continued to nip and lick all around my flanks. My heart was pounding, my pulse racing a mile a minute, and the thin fur around my haunches was thoroughly soaked in arousal. I wanted him to keep up this blessed torture for hours, but a bigger part of me wanted the rest of him. Now.

“Flash… I’m ready.”

“You sure?” he asked between kisses to the inside of my hind legs.

“Y-yes, I’m— Mhmm! Very sure.” To punctuate the point, I summoned a wisp of magic and directed it around his barrel to his member. He was already erect, but a few caresses with my magic had him rock hard and whimpering just as much as I was. “Hmm, you seem more than ready yourself,” I cooed before squeezing him just enough to make him moan.

“I want you inside me, Flash. Now.”

He began to reposition himself, but not without leaving a final kiss on my cutie mark. His forehooves came to rest near mine again as some of his weight came down on my back. I adjusted my posture to match and shifted my weight to my hips, and soon enough his cock was resting against my belly.

Another adjustment and he was right there. I could feel his tip hovering at my entrance, leaving a trail of pre-cum each time it brushed the edge of my lips. “Ready?” he whispered in my ear before gently nipping the tip of it.

“P-please… make love to me.” My words were barely a whisper now. Lust clouded my mind, arousal filled my senses, my body quivered in anticipation. My hips flexed against him in tiny, sporadic motions, anything to close that final distance.

“Yes ma'am.”

He pushed forward and I saw stars. I could even hear a small squelching sound as his head slipped past my outer lips. “Oh, yesss…” I moaned. He pulled back a bit and pushed again, but this time my lips refused to budge and I let out a squeak instead of a moan.

Flash froze in place. “Oh! You okay, Sunset? Did I hurt you?”

“No no, I’m good. Just—” I tried to push back into him to no avail, and I grunted a bit in frustration. “Been far too long, clearly.” I thought for a moment about switching positions, but an even better idea hit me. “Actually, you just stay right there, and let me do some of the work.”

Flash let a bit more of his weight rest on my back for balance, and after lining him up again, I put my shapely rear to work. A small push to get him past the edge of my lips, then small, slow circles to draw myself further onto his member. Clockwise at first, then back, over and over again. All the while my inner walls clenched and released, glazing his cock with more of my juices only to pull him a bit deeper with each stroke.

We fell into a near perfect rhythm, with my haunches doing their best to devour every inch of him and his lips continuing their passionate exploration of my neck, ears, and shoulders. Soon I could feel the tip of his penis pressing up against my inner lips. One more push would send him deep into my inner sanctum, but the constant grinding on his cock was almost too good to stop. So I didn’t. In fact I began to go faster and harder, grinding my cunt into him with more gusto than before.

“Y-you like that?” I sputtered as I continued my shameless display.

“Yes! Oh S-sunset please—”

That he was moaning my name over and over in my ear only spurred me to keep going, to ride that edge as far as I could. But my willpower was quickly crumbling before the waves of raw lust racing through me. The heat between us was beyond intense, as if our bodies had become their own saunas. Sweat matted our coats, his saliva slicked my ears and neck, and my arousal was running down my haunches in rivulets. The combined sensations broke whatever patience I had left and sent my body racing toward the peak.

“Flash, I-I’m getting close,” I panted while my walls continued to squeeze his rod. “Touch me.”

He let up from nibbling my ear. “How?”

“My clit. Flick my clit.” I leaned forward just enough to nearly release his cock, then slowly slid back onto it. “Please.”

I felt one of his wings snake around my rump and down toward my cunt, and it didn’t take long for him to find the right spot.

“Yes! Aahn! Right there!”

Flash responded with another light flick that sent a shudder through my entire body. “Keep going!”

He didn’t stop and neither did I. The tip of his wing traced all manner of patterns across and around my clit while I ground my pussy into him as if there was no tomorrow. In the back of my mind, I recalled not casting a soundproof spell on the room before, but I doubted that would have silenced the almost feral moans coming from both of us.

“S-Sunset… you’re t-too good. Yes!”

“Faster, Flash. Faster, plea— Aahn, yes! More!”

A slight shift let his wing dive fully underneath my clit, and my heart nearly leapt out of chest. “Yes! Right there right there right ther— Oh I-I’m gonna cum!”

One more touch and my body ran headlong over the edge. “Yes yes yes yes!” A year’s worth of cold nights and lonely fingers vaporized under the most all-consuming orgasm I had ever experienced. My every sense was lost in a fog of lust, but I did still know one thing.

It was his turn now.

I lifted up until just the tip of his head was inside of me, but this time I let all of my weight drop back onto my hips. I cried out as his head parted my inner lips and plunged to the very depths of my core. My walls clenched around his shaft like a vice while my hips continued to impale myself on his cock over and over again.

“Aahn! Aahn! Yes!”

I didn’t need a verbal response. I got his answer when he thrust back against me as I came down on his cock again. Then he did it again, and again, and again, each time driving a bit deeper into me, and drawing ever louder cries of passion from the both of us.

I braced my forelegs on the top of the lounger and pushed back as hard as I could. “Take me, Flash! Rut me!”

There’s not a stallion in Equestria who won’t respond to that request, and Flash did just what I hoped: He wrapped his legs around my barrel, threw any pretense to tartarus, and rutted me. I closed my eyes and surrendered to the raw nature of the moment; his balls slapping against my haunches, my juices running down my thighs; the feel of his full weight on my back, his muzzle buried in my mane and his hard cock buried to the hilt inside of me; the feel of his breath across my neck, the sound of him moaning and whispering my name as he plunges into me over and over again.

The beautiful, wonderful, all-consuming ecstasy that only a Equestrian mare knows when a mate is claiming her as his own, even if only for a moment.

And that moment came rushing upon both of us in an instant.

“I-I’m gonna cum… yes! S-Sunset—”

“Cum with me Flash, please! Pl— Aahn! So close! Cum for me!”

We pushed as hard as we could and my world seemed to explode around me.

“Sunset!”

“Yes Flash Yes! Aahn!”

A tidal wave of raw lust raced through me as wave after wave of his cum filled me. My walls clenched around him as fast as he could thrust, as if to milk every beautiful drop out of him. Our bodies shook like leaves against each other as we basked in every last bit of the afterglow.

Finally, my forelegs all but collapsed, and I flopped onto the lounger. Flash slipped out and plopped down on the floor in front of me. Sex and pheromones filled the air, and I could feel a small river of arousal and cum dribbling out of me, but I felt too damn good to care about the furniture.

“T-thank you, Flash. That… was amazing.”

Flash looked up and smiled as he tried to catch his breath. “Heh… you’re welcome. I’m, um, glad I could fix your problem. If it happens again, at least you’ll know who to call.”

I laughed at that. “Indeed I do.”

We sat there for a while longer, chatting, kissing some more, and cuddling a bit. After a while, he looked up at me again. “I’ve been wondering… the other guards will eventually ask why I was pulled from my regular shift tonight. What should I tell them?”

        I thought on that for a second, then smiled. “Tell them you were escorting a guest of the Princess for the evening.”

        “And when they press for details?”

        I leaned in and kissed him deeply.

        “Say you were just giving them a taste of home.”





        Unfortunately, the nature of my work forced me to leave home again the next morning. But not without a parting orgasm from my loyal guardspony… and a promise to setup a regular ‘home visit’ schedule with my superiors.

        On second thought, Red Shoes, maybe being homesick isn’t so bad after all.
> Episode 13 - Baile de la Pasión (Roseluck)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Red Shoes,

Wow, so I'm really doing this then. I guess I'm not sure what surprises me more - that I'd even consider reading any of the entries that you've posted over time, or that I'd one day be adding one of my own. I went from dismissing your ads as tabloid trash to sitting here at my kitchen table, trying my best to recount the details of one of the greatest—and by far the most erotic—experiences that I've ever had.

I believe you wrote once that you and your ex-wife loved to go dancing, just for the fun of it. Fitting then, as my story involves a lot of dancing... and believe it or not, a pair of red shoes.





"Those are a dancer’s shoes, are they not?"

A simple pair of red shoes, to be exact. Specially designed for flamenco, but nothing fancy about them, really. Yet the random mare that I met earlier noticed them right away, and from that alone knew exactly which directions to give me. She all but disappeared before I could respond to her, but as I ran through the balmy night air, I dearly wished to thank her. Without her keen eye, it might have taken me half the night to find the Tablao Rosa.

And if I hadn’t found the Tablao Rosa when I did, I wouldn’t have found him.

The lights of the tablao were far behind us, as were the sights and sounds of Marecelona’s entertainment district. But the swishing tail and toned flanks in front of me were more than enough to keep my attention as we darted through side streets and criss-crossed one plaza after another. I wasn't sure what to expect once we reached where ever it was that he lived, but if it involved anything close to the baile we had just performed—or the incredible kiss that followed it—I'd have run all night to get there.

Past another plaza, he slowed to a stop at the entrance to a narrow street that seemed to run off to the left, and slightly uphill. I pulled up right in front of him with a mile-wide grin on my face.

"Don't tell me you're lost." I asked with a wink.

"Me? No, not at all, senora." His voice was just as smooth as his figure. If he wasn't dancing, I could have listened to him talk for hours. "But, are you sure that you’re not lost? You do seem to be following me quite insistently."

"Well, I admittedly was lost a few hours ago..." I sidled up closer and looked into his eyes. "But at the moment, I think I'm going your way."

He chuckled and brushed a hoof across my cheek, and I had to fight the urge to swoon all over again. "Well, in that case, let's continue on. Are you ready?"

I leaned in and kissed him deeply, letting the tip of my tongue play along the inside of his lip as I drew back. "What do you think?"

"Hmm..." he licked his lips and smiled. "I'll take that as a yes."

The next thing I saw was his tail swishing across my snout as he took off down the street. "H-hey! Wait up!"

And he did wait up... just long enough for me to race up the small front porch to his flat and rush through the front door. Because the moment I crossed the threshold and kicked the door shut behind me, he twirled around on his heels and swept me up into his embrace. The sudden change in momentum pushed me back enough to press my rump against the door.

"So— Mmph!" Whatever I was thinking of saying was overwhelmed by his kiss. I thought his kiss before was hot, but this one was molten. I gladly melted into his embrace as our tongues danced together. Years of training had taught me to avoid sensory overload when performing, but none of that mattered against the haze of pheromones, sweat, and cologne that permeated the air around us. I couldn't have resisted it if I tried.

"Mhmm..." As I moaned into another kiss, resistance was the furthest thing from my mind.

Finally, the need for oxygen forced us to pull back, leaving us both panting for breath, and smiling like two horny teenaged ponies on prom night.

“H-how long can you stay?” he asked.

His question hit me like a splash of ice cold water. This whole night had been so right, but so fast too, and knowing that it would have to end almost as quickly as it began nearly stopped me in my tracks. My ears lay back, and I had to look away for a moment before finding my voice again.

“I… I head back tomorrow." I glanced back at him, regret written all over my expression. "The next passenger ship won’t be here for another three days otherwise, and I'll unfortunately need to be back before then.”

He opened his mouth, then paused. I swore I could see his heart clenching inside his chest. He took a deep breath, and then looked right at me. “Then in whose name should I remember this fleeting moment?”

I just smiled as I stepped out of my red shoes and kicked them off to the side. “You may call me Rose. But tonight—” I slowly stepped up to him and placed a hoof on his chest. “You can also call me yours.”

What happened next shocked me. He didn't rip off my dress, or drape me over the couch, or even shove his tongue under my tail. No, none of that.

He hugged me.

It was gentle, but firm. Like being wrapped in a warm blanket on a chilly day. He held me close and rested his muzzle across my withers, and I returned the gesture. His breath washed through my mane just as I took a deep breath of my own, reveling in his scent. I wasn't a total stranger to intimacy, but I had never experienced such, well, manners from any stallion. Especially not a stallion in the presence of a willing mare. And judging by the quickly smoldering heat under my tail, I was very willing.

"You're a beautiful mare, Rose. I am fortunate to share this evening with you," he whispered in my ear. My cheeks turned as red as an apple.

"Hmm... I bet you tell all the mares that."

He gently kissed the back of my neck, sending shivers down my back. "Just the ones who truly catch my attention."

I returned the favor with a kiss to his neck, and I could feel him shiver as well. "And how many of them do?"

"A rare few, to be honest," he replied. "But none like you, believe me." He leaned back and stared into my eyes. "There's something different about you, Rose. I could feel it the moment you stepped hoof onto the dance floor. One night together feels like far too little."

In any other circumstance, I'd have dismissed what he'd said as pandering from a horny stallion. But just as he saw something different in me, I felt similarly about him. There was just something so pure about this pony. Something good. Something right.

"I agree," I said. "One night is far too little time."

He nodded and smiled. "Then we shouldn’t waste too much time then, should we?"

He kissed me again then turned and led me further into his home. After a brief stop in the kitchen to take the rose out of my hair and place it in some water, he led me up a short flight of stairs to the upper level. It was a warmly-lit loft-like space, with the typical array of furnishings and a large bed facing out to a trio of windows that had a good view over the city. Just to the left side of my view was the bright neon glow of the entertainment district, and off in the distance to the right, I could just make out the lights of the port terminal.

"Nice view, isn't it?"

"Yes, it is. I was just thinking that it reminds me a bit of—" The rest of that sentence died in my throat, because the view when I turned around took my breath away.

He was in front of a standing wardrobe, with his back to me. And he was taking off his clothes. All of them.

I couldn't tell if he could see me in the reflection of the nearby mirror, but I wouldn't have cared if he did. I wasn't about to tear my eyes away from the sight before me. He untied his green scarf and let his mane flow freely across his shoulders. Half my friends would kill for hair like that.

Next came his dark green shirt, followed by his black pants. Watching him slide out of both of them, the only thing more impressive than his hooves' dexterity was the sight of him au naturale. His ensemble hadn't played any tricks on me before; he really did look that damn good. Broad shoulders and withers, but not bulky like most Earth ponies.

My eyes glazed over as they roamed his body, down his smooth neck, past his chest, and down his side, all the way to the most perfectly toned flanks I had seen on any pony. I could see the muscles beneath his fur, but where Earth stallions are usually all bulk and no form, he was as svelte as any unicorn. Without the clothes, his black and green mane stood out even more against his light silver coat, giving him an alluring air that I'd never expect from an Earth stallion.

He was simply beautiful. That's the only word I could think of when I had stepped onto that stage, and right now, with him standing naked in front of me, 'beautiful' seemed like a massive understatement.

"Reminds you of what?"

It took me a second to realize that he had turned around and asked me a question. "Wh– oh! Um, yes..." I was pretty sure I was blushing from head to hoof now. "Actually, now that I really look—" I paused and let my eyes take him all in again, "I don't think I've ever seen anything like it."

“You flatter me, Rose,” he replied with a sheepish grin, and a slight blush in his cheeks. “Though clearly, I can say same the same for you as well.”

Now it was my turn to look away and blush. “Heh. That’s probably just my dress messing with your head, giving you a false impression of what’s underneath it.”

“Oh, I doubt that.” He crossed the room at a deliberate pace and stood in front of me, our noses mere inches apart. “But it does make me wonder—” He leaned forward and left a slow, soft kiss just behind my right ear. “Just what is beneath this beautiful dress.”

I turned my head a bit so I could whisper in his ear. “Only one way to find out.”

“Mhmm…” His kiss sent a warm shiver down my back. My heart was fluttering in my chest, and he hadn’t even touched me yet. I was sure there was a small part of my mind that was having a small panic attack about going from ‘checking off a travel bucket list item’ to ‘letting a stranger undress you’ in a matter of hours, but for once in my usually risk-averse life, I ignored that voice. I had already satiated one passion when I stepped into that tablao. Now, in this stallion’s embrace, I was going to satisfy a much more carnal desire.

He stepped around to my right side and my pulse picked up even further. My tail twitched beneath my dress, so sure was I of his destination now. But he stopped after only a few steps, and laid a hoof across my withers. Then this mysterious, gorgeous stallion surprised me once again, and in a way I would never have expected.

Using my withers for support, he reached up with his other hoof and gently pulled one of the bobby pins out of my mane. If he noticed my small squeak of surprise, he didn’t respond. He just continued sifting through my mane, pulling each of the pins and clips without so much as tugging on my mane. And I thought his hoofwork on the floor was good…

The last pin came out, and my mane fell out of the small updo I had forced it into. I felt him turn a hoof sideways and fluff my mane a bit, letting it fan out into its more natural state. “That was… unexpected,” I said over my shoulder.

He paused. “Should I stop?”

I shifted my weight to lean further into his touch. “Absolutely not.”

His reply came in the form of a small kiss to the back of my neck. Followed by another, and another, and another. His free hoof began to slowly traipse down my back, each movement followed closely by another kiss. His other hoof dropped back to the floor, only to wrap itself around my fetlock, as if he were holding my hoof. Finally, his muzzle reached my lower back, and he paused. I knew the zippers that held the low-back dress together could be a pain to get, especially for those of us without magic, but he didn’t miss a beat. I felt the edge of his teeth grasp the top zipper and slowly pull it down. The zipper came to a stop at the top of my rump, just above my dock. Just having him that close to my haunches was stoking the fire in my core like crazy.

He gently kissed the top of my rump before moving on to locate the other two zippers. I craned my head to look back and watch him work. “You know your way around a dress,” I smiled. “Don’t tell me you’re a dancer and a tailor.”

“A simple tailor, I assure you,” he replied before lavishing more kisses along my lower back. “Solving wardrobe issues between sets has become my specialty over time.” He chuckled softly before grasping the next zipper with his teeth. Never had the sound of an opening zipper sounded so erotic to me, but every inch those zippers moved, that much more of my coat was exposed to his eyes. And I didn’t need to be able to see him to know that his eyes were on me.

With the zippers undone, and both of my flanks peppered from top to bottom in small kisses, he slowly circled around to my front again. We kissed again, and this time I made sure to thank him with a slip of my tongue into his upper lip. His lips moved to my cheek, then my jawline, and across my neck, and it was all I could do to stay upright. He reached around my neck with both forehooves and unhooked the small clasp that held the front of the dress up. The twin straps fell down around my neck and bounced against my chest.

“There we go.” He stepped back and looked at me with a warm smile. “May I take that, Rose?”

That he was being such a gentlestallion melted my heart even more. “Please do,” I sighed. And me as well.

After a few false starts that left us giggling like school fillies, he had maneuvered the dress off of me and carefully hung it in the wardrobe. It’s the moment he returned to my side and looked at me that it hit me that I was now as naked, as exposed as he was. And if the almost electric glow in his eyes was any indication, he liked what he was seeing as much as I did.

I could feel his gaze pouring over me, soaking in every detail he could; from the two-toned waves in my mane to the tips of my hooves, and everything in between. I’m not normally one to flaunt or preen, but I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t feel like a goddess just then. And I returned his stare in full, taking in his gorgeous, lithe form one more time. The more I stared, the hotter my blood ran, and the more heat I could feel building in my haunches. He circled around me and I could feel the tip of his tail graze against my sides, then my lower legs, and up the inside of my thighs.

He came back around to face me, and my tail was already twitching back-and-forth in anticipation. The scent of his musk was beginning to tease my nostrils, while the first drops of arousal were seeping into my haunches. I grabbed his muzzle between my hooves and kissed him as deeply as I could. When I finally pulled back, I gave him the most alluring stare that I could muster. “Any other moves you’d like to show me?”

I could almost feel the fire behind his eyes as he stared back at me. “Just a few.”

Our lips met, and the room around me became a blur. All my senses focused on him, on us. Our tongues staged a little dance of their own as they explored each other’s mouth. Hooves roamed freely, touching everything they could reach. At some point we pulled each other down to the floor, our lips parting for but a moment as we fell into the soft embrace of the large plush rug that lay at the foot of his bed.

We lay side-by-side for as few minutes, with our bellies pressed together and our legs intertwined. I let a hoof rest against his chest as I kissed him as slowly and passionately as I could. He brushed a hoof across my cheek on its way to wrapping around my neck, and he returned my kiss in kind. I moaned into his lips, and gladly opened myself to his tongue and his hooves.

When the need for oxygen forced us to part, he leaned further into me and rolled me onto my back. My hind legs parted without hesitation, allowing him room to maneuver himself on top of me without putting his full weight onto my chest. I gazed up into his brilliant blue eyes, and my cheeks flushed crimson. My breath caught in my throat. I opened my mouth to speak, but couldn’t find more than a pant of breath as every fiber of me ached for his touch once more.

“Keep going,” I finally managed. “Please.”

He started with a kiss. A deep, passionate kiss that quite literally took my breath away. His tongue danced with mine gradually, twirling around it in circles, each one a little deeper, and a little harder than the last. Then his lips moved down my muzzle and up to the tips of my ears. He kissed each ear in turn before playfully nipping them just enough to send warm shivers down my spine. I couldn’t stop a squeal at the sensation, which only encouraged him to do it again, leaving me laughing and panting for more at the same time.

“Mhmm…” I moaned as I wrapped my hooves around his neck. “You do know how to treat a mare.”

“Oh, that?” He quickly kissed me and smiled. “That was just the warm up.”

What happened after that… it almost defies description. It was beautiful, passionate, loving, sensual, tantalizing, methodical—

And hotter than the surface of the sun.

My eyes fluttered closed as he left gentle, peckish kisses along my jawline and down to my neck. My head turned up and to the side, and I soon felt a deeper, heavier kiss that left me breathless again. Each touch of his lips sent warm shivers through my body, as if I were slowly floating away on a sea of pure bliss.

He let out a satisfied hum as his focus moved down to my chest. Each kiss felt like a touch from a hot stone, while every lap of his tongue against my skin felt like a cool bath. The contrast was exhilarating, far more so than any trip to the spa, and the more he kept it up, the wetter I was getting. In minutes I became like putty in his hooves, and the more arousal flooded my senses, the more I surrendered everything to his whims.

My forelegs fell to my sides and I arched my back, pushing my chest further into his carnal embrace. “Yes don’t sto— Mhmm…” I could barely form a coherent word and he hadn’t even touched my haunches yet.

His lips moved down to my lower belly, and that sea of bliss began morphing into a maelstrom of lust. He was moving just as slowly and methodically as before, but now he was pushing nearly all of my buttons at once. While his lips teased my soft underbelly, his hooves were gently caressing the inside of my thighs, and when his hooves were drawing lazy circles around one nipple, his tongue was suckling the other like a lollipop.

Most any stallion would have surrendered to their instincts and abandoned foreplay long ago, but not him. I could tell he intended on savoring the moment, and every inch of me. And my increasingly loud whimpers and moans, to say nothing of the arousal dribbling from my core, made it clear that I wanted more.

And by the heavens above did he give it to me.

I felt his tongue brush across my soaked lips and I nearly cried it felt so good. “Aahn! Yes!” My heart nearly leapt out of my chest with every touch of his lips, every sweep of his tongue. If he was methodical before, this… this was a divine torture. And stars help me, I couldn’t get enough. “Mhmm, y-yes… don’t— Aahn! Don’t stop!”

He responded by hooking a free hoof around my flank and pulling my rear even closer to his waiting muzzle - a motion I gladly aided by bucking my hips into him and spreading my hind legs as far as I could. My hips began flexing over and over, pushing my drenched marehood as deep into his embrace as possible. Every nerve in my body was tingling with pleasure as his tongue circled my clit over and over again. His free hoof began teasing my nipples at the same time, and it didn’t take long before I could feel an orgasm bearing down on me. “Yesyesyes– F-Faster!”

He quickened the pace, sliding his tongue up and down in long, broad strokes. “Just like that, just like— Aahn!” His tongue dove past my inner lips and I was right at the edge in an instant. “More! Y-yes!” His hooves came up to rest on my belly, and when my hips flexed again, he tightened his grip on me and held my rear end in place, just off the floor… giving him a perfect angle to lap at my clit like a piece of candy.

“I-I— Aahn!” My entire body tensed as I came hard and fast. His tongue didn’t stop at all, flicking my clit and lapping up every drop of my arousal like it was nectar. As my orgasm began to recede, he slowly let me down, and the moment he did, I sat up enough to grab his hooves and pulled him into a deep, almost desperate kiss. I moaned and whimpered into his lips, savoring my taste on his tongue. I pulled him back down with me and showered him with kisses until I was forced to breathe again.

“I want you,” I panted, trying to catch my breath. “I need you.” I nipped at his neck, taking the chance to lick at his coat as well. The slight taste of sweat and pheromones hit my tongue, and I couldn’t help but lavish some more attention on him as well.

“Mhmm… I’d say so,” he sighed while I continued to pepper his neck with kisses. “And—” His free hoof reached back and brushed against my nethers, spiking my pulse in an instant. “So do I.”

“Good. As you said earlier—” I snaked a free hoof under his belly and brushed it along his sheath. Now it was his turn to gasp for breath. “I didn’t come all this way just to watch.”

After a bit of shuffling to untangle ourselves, we managed to get back on our hooves. My hind legs were still tingling with the echoes of my orgasm, but that just gave me more reason to lean into him as we moved from the floor toward his bed. He reached the bedside first, and turned to face me.

He opened his mouth, but I cut him off with another kiss, and a very obvious wink. I pushed him backwards until his rump hit the bed, but I kept nudging him further still. He took the hint and lifted himself onto the bed, taking a position on his back. I crawled up onto the bed after him, and I had to stop to just soak in the view. By the stars…

There he was, laid out before me, fully exposed to my hungry gaze. The light coming through the windows framed the scene perfectly, while the glow of the nearby lamps caught the sheen of sweat on his coat, giving it a kind of sensual, soft glow. I kept my eyes on him as I crawled up the bed and lay atop his chest, our muzzles almost touching. “This time, I’ll lead.”

Whatever response he may have planned withered into a satisfied groan as our lips met. I kissed him with everything I had, intent on returning his passion in equal measure. His lips opened readily, and our tongues resumed their intricate dance. Now it was his hooves that wrapped around my neck and held me close, spurring me on. And I was more than happy to oblige.

My lips wandered across his neck and down to his chest, peppering him with kisses and licks just as had done to me. My free hoof began traipsing up and down his barrel, leaving him gasping for breath. “R-Rose… oh, wow…” Hearing him melt under my touch sent my heart soaring; feeling his cock brushing against my belly re-lit the fire in my core in an instant, and it wasn’t long before I could smell my arousal building again.

I shuffled further back, leaving a trail of kisses and licks all over his belly the further south I went. A gentle kiss to the tip of his member—just enough to make him gasp again—and then I passed right by it, instead lavishing kisses and nips all over his lower belly and onto his haunches. “Y-you’re such a t-tease— Mhmm!” he gasped between moans.

“Am I?” I punctuated the question by dragging the tip of my hoof all the way up his length. A more than adequate length at that, I added to myself.

“Y-Yes…” He squirmed beneath me; already I could feel his cock twitching against my skin, anxious for more.

“Hmm... “ I sighed contentedly as I continued brushing my hoof against him. “Takes one to know one, right?” I kissed his medial ring, sending a shudder through his body, then quickly followed with a long, slow lick all the way to his tip that left him breathless. But I wasn’t nearly done with him yet.

A slight shift to my left and I dragged my tongue back the other way, all the way to the base of his cock. Then I shifted some more and did it all again. And again, and again. I kept licking, kissing, and caressing him, and I didn’t stop until he was quivering beneath me, gasping for breath just as I had under his magnificent tongue.

And the entire time, I never took my eyes off of him. I wanted to see his reaction when I took him into my mouth. I wanted to see his eyes flutter when my tongue swirled around his tip as if it were a lollipop. I wanted to hear him moan and whine and beg for more as I lapped up every drop that oozed out of him.

Part of me wanted to lavish attention on his nethers all night, but the rest of me—especially my thoroughly soaked haunches—wanted all of him. I gave him a final lick before kissing my way back up his chest and almost lunging into a heated kiss.

“Sit up a bit,” I panted between kisses.

His tongue swept across the inside of my lip as he pulled back. “W-What did you have in mind?”

“You’ll see,” I replied with my best bedroom voice.

That spurred him into action, and after a bit of squirming and a nudge or two from me, I had him right about where I wanted him. “Like that?” he asked.

I looked him over while brushing some of my now thoroughly frazzled mane behind my ear. He was leaning up against the headboard now, similar to how a pony would recline to read a book in bed. Except for his very erect cock bobbing in the air, of course. “Hmm…” I hummed.

I crawled all the way up the bed, until I could lower my upper body onto his chest, and brace my forelegs against the headboard. “Actually, that’s perfect,” I whispered. My hind legs slowly bent as if I were sitting back, and I slid my rump down his barrel until I felt his tip brush the entrance of my marehood. I licked the tip of his ear and smiled.

“Just perfect.”

The world seemed to glow as I pushed myself onto him. Feeling him glide past my soaked outer lips, and then with only a small nudge, part my inner lips and truly fill me was beyond amazing; like touching perfection and having it touch you back in the most erotic way possible.

My hips flexed a bit, and he let out a low moan. I dropped one of my hooves from the headboard and placed it on his chest. The extra leverage let me roll my hips backward, taking him in a little deeper. I squeezed my inner walls ever so slightly as a shudder raced up my spine. The rhythm was coalescing in my mind now, just as it had before. I could feel it in our every motion, hear it in the thundering of our hearts, taste it in every passionate kiss.

Our lips parted, but he held me close. His eyes were almost blazing with raw passion. Had the room been totally dark, they might have glowed. It was all I could do to return his stare and not melt on the spot.

“Rose, I…” His voice trailed off, but his eyes—those entrancing blue eyes—said it for him.

“Shh…” I whispered, and kissed him again. “I do too.”

I let my full weight fall into his lap, hilting him inside of me, and I nearly cried out in sheer joy.

Words failed both of us after that. Well, coherent words, anyway. Everything became lost in a beautiful haze of pure, unbridled passion. If our first dance was a roaring storm, our second was a slow rain. The kind that seemed to go on forever, soaking through everything it touched. Each step was met not with a thunderous crack but a slow rumble, and a plea for more, and more, and still more.

We didn’t need a DJ, or a band. Not then. Our bodies were the instruments, the sound of our lovemaking was our song. Stifled moans and shuddering breaths were the verse, wrapped in a refrain of wanton cries and whispered pleas.

Our bodies moved as one, as if we were masters of each other’s every detail. My walls squeezed around him and he would push back just enough. My haunches slid up, and his hips rose to meet me. The base of my tail was drenched in arousal, and I could feel more of my juices dribble out onto both of us with each push. Our manes were a mess, our coats slick with sweat and musk. Every breath I took was filled with pheromones and sex and lust and dear Celestia I could have made love to him for eternity and never had enough of his touch, his voice, his cock, his everything.

I didn’t know if it was possible to fall in love in a single night, but any remaining doubts were vaporized the moment he put his hooves on my cutie marks, held my rump in place, and pushed into me with everything he had.

“Aahn!” I threw my head back and cried out. “Yes!” He pushed again and I didn’t even try to stifle a near-feral growl of pleasure. Adrenaline raced through me like lightning, setting my every nerve on fire. “Oh stars yes!”

I leaned forward again, almost flopping onto his chest. My mane spilled around my neck, forming a curtain of sorts to either side of our muzzles. My hooves wrapped around his neck for leverage, and when he pushed again, I shifted as much weight to my hips as possible to push back.

“Yes, Rose. Yes!”

Of all the immense pleasure I had experienced that night, it was that one moment that sent me hurtling over the edge. There was a real passion, an almost palpable devotion in his voice, the kind you don’t hear from any heat-buddy or one-night stand. Knowing that this beautiful stallion’s heart was as real, as exposed as mine was in that moment set my very being on fire.

I didn’t say anything, and neither did he. We just knew, somehow. I pushed into him, and he pushed back. Once, twice, three times. I felt him shaking beneath me, his breath ragged. My inner walls gripped him like a silken vice, and his eyes went wide. His whole body tensed up for a moment, and as our eyes locked in that split-second between reality and elysium, I swear I saw our very souls merge.

“Rose! C-Cumming!”

“Yesyesyes! Cum with me!”

My body shuddered as a mind-numbing orgasm roared through me like a tidal wave. He cried out again, and the first wave of his cum flooded my core like lava. I dropped my muzzle into the crook of his shoulder, held onto him as tightly as I could, and ground my marehood into him, flexing and squeezing until he was out of cum—and we were out of breath.

We stayed like that long after our orgasms had subsided. Just feeling our barrels pressing against each other, heaving from labored breaths and covered in sweat, cum, and arousal, was more than enough.

After some time, we retreated to the bathroom, where he pampered me like I had never been pampered before… and demonstrated just how easy it can be to make love while standing up in a shower. He changed the sheets while I combed my mane and tail out, and we cuddled up on the bed. Sleep took us quickly, but I’ll never forget his last words to me before I drifted off.

“Thank you, Rose. My beautiful dancer…”


⁂


Leaving that next morning was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. Deep down, I knew that if I waited to wake him up, I’d probably miss my ship. Not because I wouldn’t make it back to the port in time, but because it’d be all but impossible for me to look into his eyes again and still walk away.

I managed to slip out of bed and back into my dress without waking him from his rather cute snoring. But it was then, with my hooves literally halfway down the stairs, that I realized that I had never gotten his name. Not even once. I quickly looked around the room for something, anything with his name on it, but found nothing. Then an idea hit me.

With soft steps, I slipped downstairs and plucked the rose from its vase, then returned to the bedroom. I reached into his closet and pulled his green scarf off of its hanging loop, and nestled the rose into its place instead. I wrapped the scarf around my neck, smiling at the faint scent of cologne that wafted past me.

As I left, I placed a gentle peck on his head.

“You’re welcome... “

I turned to give him one last look before going down the stairs.

“My love.”





Every time I go dancing now, whether for practice or for a show at the local dance hall, the scarf is around my neck. I told my friends that it’s a lovely gift that I received from a pony at the tablao, and technically, that’s correct. What they don’t know is how personal this gift really is for me.

Still, it’s amazing that the key to my whole story, the one thing that made what I'm sharing here possible, is a literal pair of red shoes. If that somehow wins me a prize, Red Shoes, I'll take a one-way ticket back to Marecelona. Even now, months later, I can hear the music—and that stallion—calling to me.

And this dancer wants an encore.
> Episode 14 - Dive (Cheerilee) [Guest Author: Grimm]
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Red Shoes,

I have a secret. That’s probably not surprising; all the ponies who write to you do. I think everypony has at least one real secret  – even if they never send them to you, their deepest and darkest truths all neatly wrapped up in an envelope. Something they want and need to keep hidden, something they couldn’t bear anyone else finding out.

It’s the guilt, I think. A guilty little secret, one that gnaws at them, that they know they shouldn’t indulge in but they always do anyway, because when push comes to shove they just can’t help themselves. They could never help themselves. And all it costs is a little bit of guilt, and what is that in the grand scheme of things?

For me, though?

The guilt is just part of the fun.





The bar is mostly empty. These kinds of places always are, seeming to exist in a near-permanent state of ‘mostly empty’. It’s got that smell to it, too. You know the one. The smell of long spilled drinks and ancient cigarette smoke, air that has never managed to escape the bar’s dirty walls, air that’s always been trapped beneath these dim, hazy lights; ever recycled, never changing. And something beneath that, too. Some reek of sleaze and desperation and loneliness, sweat and tears and blood. Faint, but always there, lingering underneath the rest. These bars are all the same, and they all have that smell, and they all have the same kind of clientele.

It’s what I’m counting on.

I look out of place. I know this. This is not the kind of place one should find a prim and proper mare like myself – a school teacher, an upstanding member of the community – but I’m here all the same. I draw some looks as I saunter over to the bar, not necessarily unwelcoming but certainly not friendly. That’s okay. I want them to look.

The bartender doesn’t judge, at least. They never do. He takes my order without a word, slides a glass across the counter and fills it with a hearty measure of something dark and fiery. It’s the only drink I’ll let myself have, so it better be a good one. The only one I’ll buy for myself, anyway. There’ll be a second one later, and that’s the one I’m really waiting for. That’s the one I’m here for.

But I can’t let myself get too out of control, so one drink. Enough to calm the nerves and relax and unwind and make things smoother, easier. But not so much that I start to lose focus, that I’m not myself. I want to be myself for this. I need to be. I need to be in control.

A dark-furred stallion steps up beside me. “Same again, Whiskey,” he says to the bartender, his voice gruff and ragged around the edges, just like the rest of him. I realise Whiskey is the bartender’s name, not the drink, and I imagine that must get confusing.

The stallion turns to me as Whiskey makes his drink, eyeing me with a slightly glazed look, and it’s as if he can’t quite tell if I’m real or if his addled mind is just playing tricks on him. Eventually he comes to some conclusion, and I think I can actually hear the gears in his head clunk into place. “Can I get you a drink, darlin’?” he asks, and I can’t help but wrinkle my muzzle. I could probably light his breath on fire.

But I push that revulsion to one side, and I smile and answer in my best attempt at a sheepish tone. “No, thank you.” I wiggle my glass, and the ice rattles. “I’ve already got one.”

I can do far better for my second drink.

The stallion shrugs, throws a hoofful of bits onto the countertop, and then slinks away to nurse his refilled glass in a dark corner of the bar. These places seem to be entirely dark corners, and there’s never any shortage of ponies to sit in them.

I take a sip, careful to pace myself as it burns its way down my throat. One drink, never drunk; that’s important. Losing control is part of the thrill, but there’s a knack, a balance. Just far enough to feel like you’re losing it, but never actually stepping over that line. There’s something almost primal in wanting that, I think. A feeling we’ve nearly forgotten in the time since we stopped running from manticores and dragons and settled down to hide away behind stone walls, and everything became so easy. But we still need that thrill, that excitement, and everyone has their own way of getting it.

This is mine.

My glass drains. The bar remains mostly empty. The smell lingers, settling into my fur.

A few stallions approach over the course of the evening. They sneak glances when they think I’m not looking, their eyes gleaming in the dim light. I ignore them. Some of them talk to me anyway, but I quickly dismiss them and they shuffle off to soothe their bruised egos. None of them are what I’m looking for. None of them are good enough to be my second drink.

And then I’m down to the dregs in my glass and the ice has almost melted and I’m about to give up on tonight as a failed attempt when another stallion drops down onto the stool beside me.

His fur is tan, and he’s a big stallion, bigger than most. A large maple leaf adorns his flank, and when he speaks the room almost seems to rumble. “Bourbon,” he says, but Whiskey is already pouring him one. The big stallion gives me a cursory glance, and then his gaze flicks down to my almost empty glass. “And one for the mare,” he adds.

“Oh, no, I’m fine,” I say. “Thank you, though.”

His eyes find mine. They say everything he needs to. “One for the mare,” he repeats, simply, and a little shiver darts down my back.

I’ve found my second drink.


***


We don’t make it to the bed. We almost do, we’re so close, but then our lust finally gets the better of us and we tumble to the carpet together in a sprawl of limbs. His hooves are so strong, and he effortlessly holds me beneath him, and as he pins me down and his lips find mine and he takes as much as he wants I can’t help but appreciate him, my own hooves tracing over the toned muscle of his chest.

He’s one of the better second drinks I’ve had, and he understands this arrangement perfectly. He knows why I was at the bar, he knows why I chose him, and he knew from the moment he bought me a drink that I’d be going home with him tonight. He knows it so well that we never even shared our names (although mine would have been fake, and his probably would have been too). He’s just a stallion, any stallion, and I’m just a mare, and tonight I need him to rut me until I can’t think straight.

And with his kiss he promises that. It’s demanding and heated and raw, barely giving anything but taking as much as he wants. I can tell that he always knows exactly what he wants, who he wants, and most times I’m sure he gets it. A lot of stallions don’t; it’s why they call it ‘getting lucky’. Lucky the mare said yes, lucky they were in the right bar at the right time, lucky the mare they were eyeing up was in heat and horny and desperate.

I prefer stallions who don’t believe in luck.

I do wonder if he knows what this is to me, though. It probably doesn’t matter to him – it usually doesn’t. But I wonder if he knows this is my escape, my freedom, my thrill. I wonder if he knows the mare gasping beneath him and kissing him back so needily is the last pony anyone would expect to be here. He could tell I was out of place, surely, just like everyone else could, but maybe by now he’s realised I’ve done this before. Many times. Maybe by now he’s realised that looking out of place was intentional, and in reality I could call that bar or any one like it my home just as much as he can.

Maybe.

Maybe it doesn’t matter. No, I know it doesn’t matter, and just like our names don’t matter neither do our circumstances. He won’t ask. He won’t care. And I won’t, either.

I won’t ask why this house is too big for a lone stallion. I won’t ask about the picture I spotted on the wall with him smiling brightly next to a gorgeous mare, the small filly between them bearing a striking resemblance to the pair. I won’t comment that the picture is old, but unlike the rest of the house has been kept meticulously clean.

Divorced? Maybe. Dead? Perhaps. Gone? Almost certainly. It doesn’t matter. I won’t ask. I never ask.

And so as he gets irritated with the floor and he lifts me in those big hooves of his and I feel so tiny in his grip, I just giggle and kiss his neck until he drops me onto the bed and I bounce against its creaking mattress. He wastes no time in mounting on top of me again, holding me down as if I’d wriggle free if he didn’t. We both know there’s no risk of that. We both know I want him to hold me down like that anyway.

His cock is hard, and I can feel it press into my fur, feel it throb with his heartbeat, desperate to plunge into me and rut me as hard as he can. And I want it too, I want him to do just that so badly. I’ve been wanting him to do it since he bought me that drink, since we walked back to his place together, the knowledge of what would happen when we got there permeating through every moment. And now we’re here, now he’s ready, now I’m ready, and all he has to do is spread my legs and this stallion I’ve never met before and never will again can fuck me however he likes.

But he doesn’t, and I can feel the corners of his mouth curl upwards when I whine in horny frustration.

“Easy,” he mutters in that rumbling voice of his that only makes me want him even more. “Ain’t no rush.”

But there is, there should be. I don’t want foreplay, I didn’t come to him to be wound up and teased and put on edge. That’s not what this is. The bar was my foreplay, the second drink his. This isn’t supposed to be slow, or gentle, or caring. It’s supposed to be hard and rough, wild and dangerous.

For a moment I wonder if I was wrong about him. If I picked badly. It wouldn’t be the first time a second drink couldn’t deliver all he promised.

And then he climbs up onto the bed, standing over me, and his thick length takes up all my vision and his musk swims through my head, and any doubts I had are quickly put to rest.

“You want it so bad?” he asks, although we know he doesn’t need my answer. “You can taste it.”

And I do. Without hesitation.

I lean forward and take him deeply into my mouth, no licking, no teasing. And not just because I don’t care for foreplay on nights like this, but because I need it. His taste, his heat, his thick stiffness making me open so wide my jaw almost aches. And so I wrap my lips around him and my tongue plays against his sensitive head and I can feel him twitch, hear him grunt, watch his tail flick impatiently as his hips buck forward a little, trying to push further into my mouth.

It’s hard, though. There’s so much of him, and it’s already difficult to take more. But I still try. And even when I can’t get him further I make sure to lavish his length with attention, to please him and worship him. Two hours ago we’d never even met, and now I’m on his bed, his cock between my lips, pleasuring him like the slutty little mare I always am on these nights. The slutty mare that lives for this.

Not Cheerilee, anymore, not really. Or, perhaps, more myself than I ever am. Because that’s the truth, isn’t it? We partake in these flights of fancy, in these secrets and guilty pleasures, because this is who we are. We pretend they’re moments of losing control, moments where we’re not really ourselves, but that’s just to make us feel better about them after they’re over. The truth is that I’ve never felt more alive than in these moments – than when I can forget Cheerilee the school teacher, Cheerilee the respectable and nice pony, the wouldn’t-put-a-hoof-out-of-line pony, and instead I give myself to him and he grunts as I take him ever deeper and I love every second of it.

“Fuck,” he murmurs under his breath, but I know he still wants me to hear it. “Been so long since I’ve had a mare as eager as you.”

I can’t reply except to hum happily around him, and he shudders at the sensation. There’s no chance I believe what he says though, as nice as it would be. I’ve fucked stallions like him before.

I don’t go for second drinks who can’t get any mare they want. I don’t go for second drinks who have been out of the game. Yes, there’s a picture of his (probably) ex on the wall, yes, he says it’s been so long, but I can say without a doubt that I’m not the first mare he’s brought back to rut on this bed. I’m not the first one to be underneath him, pleasuring him like he needs, like his twitching length demands. And it won’t have been long since the last time, and any mare he’s ever brought back would be just as eager for him as I am.

So it’s for my benefit alone, and even though I know this I can still feel the dampness beneath me, that little twinge deep inside that signals how desperate I am, and I can feel my cunt winking for him even though there’s no chance of him seeing it from this position. My own scent is starting to fill the air now, too – I can smell it even through the thick musk as I take him ever deeper, relaxing my throat to let him in.

He can smell it too, he must do, as he starts to shift impatiently even with my lips wrapped around him and my tongue playing against the hot stiffness as I try and swallow as much as I can. But still he’s impatient, because it’s not the same as bending me over and rutting me, because he has to hold back and let me set the pace, because he’s not quite comfortable with choking me on it. 

But that’s his fault – he’s the one who said there was no rush.

And so I don’t rush, even though I want to. I don’t pull back and raise my hips and tell him to rut me already, even though that’s what I’d usually do. And when his hoof rests on the back of my head and his hips thrust forward a little – wordlessly ordering me to go further, harder, take him a little more into my throat – I resist the urge to obey him. I resist, and I go at my own pace, and I make sure it’s slower than he would like even as he grunts and his cock twitches and he’s coated in my spit.

He’s still almost fucking my mouth, though, just the last shred of his restraint holding him back, and I struggle to keep him in, although my splutters only seem to make him harder, make his hoof press even more firmly against the back of my head, a tight grip on my mane. But I’m at my limit, and even though I’m fairly confident in my capabilities there’s still so much of him that I can’t take, can’t touch and adore with my tongue no matter how rough he is, no matter that he tries to thrust instinctively with a frustrated growl. I can’t take all of him, and that’s disappointing to both of us. Mostly to him.

Finally he admits defeat and pulls me off his cock, and I’m left gasping for air that’s thick with his scent. I can taste the excitement he left on my tongue, and despite myself I’m a little disappointed I didn’t get to make him cum so I could taste everything he has. That wouldn’t be enough for me, though, and I didn’t go to all this trouble to leave here unsatisfied. Otherwise I wouldn’t be so particular about my choice.

“Okay,” he breathes, and it’s heavy – my ministrations have clearly gotten to him. “Hold still.”

As if I wouldn’t, and when he slides down the bed again until he can align himself with me, that deep and needful ache inside me grows ever more gnawing. I thought I wanted him before, but now every inch of me is begging for him, and he can tell because his eyes burn when they meet mine, and they say Don’t worry, I’m going to give you everything you need, everything you’ve been waiting for, everything I promised. And his hoof goes between my legs and pulls them apart, and that lustful fire in his eyes burns brighter as he sees me, all of me.

And it’s that fire that’s dangerous, wild. It’s that fire that comes from a place before we had walls and were safe from the dragons. It’s the same that burns behind my own, as well. And so when he carefully positions himself and starts to push into me with another growl, another possessive kiss against my neck, I sigh and throw my head back and gasp as he starts to fill me up.

He doesn’t stop, not until he’s all the way in and I throw my hooves around his neck to hold him tightly. I kiss him again, and it’s full of those flames – passionate but not loving, not caring. Not gentle.

He doesn’t hesitate, doesn’t wait to let me get used to him spreading me open. And why would he? He’s gotten a taste, now, and I picked a stallion who takes what he wants. So he does just that as he begins to fuck me, letting out a growl that resounds deep in my chest, and my heart flutters with a burst of excitement, and I tighten around him instinctively and it does absolutely nothing to slow him down as he pulls back before thrusting all the way back into me hard enough that it almost hurts when his hips slam against mine.

I wonder if he thought of this moment when he sat down next to me at the bar, if he picked me out across the room and decided that tonight he would have me beneath him and begging for him to fuck me harder, faster, deeper. I wonder if he’s been as impatient as I have, if despite his earlier reassurance that we didn’t need to rush it was as hard for him to hold back as it has been for me.

I hope so.

But there’s no waiting anymore, and it’s exactly what I needed, exactly what I wanted, and with every thrust I moan loudly and hooves clutch at his chest and I let him know exactly how much I need it, need him.

There’s no love here, no affection. Not even the barest glimmer in our kisses. Nothing but pure, primal lust, the most base of needs. It’s perfect. I’ve done caring before. I’ve done loving. And it’s nice, I would never suggest otherwise. It’s special.

But it’s not dangerous.

And that thrill is the reason I’m here. Not how good it feels to have him rut me, not how much my body craves his touch and my moans urge him onwards and his teeth grit with effort. All of that is secondary. I’m here because deep down I know I shouldn’t be, that this is no place for a good mare like me, and so it’s exactly the place I want to be.

And I let myself get swept up and lost in the moment, the one moment that matters. I let him rut me, and my hips rise to meet every thrust, my body begging to take him deeper and rougher. His grip on my waist so tight, his kisses filled with the frustrations that he’s trying to forget, just like I am.

Because they’re all the same, my one night stands. We’re all the same. We’re all trying to escape, all trying to seize back some of that freedom we’ve forgotten, any kind of excitement. And so we find a pony as lonely and bored as we are and we fuck until we’re both exhausted and oh so satisfied and we fall asleep together and we can forget that we’re not supposed to, that it’s not how everything is supposed to work anymore. We forget that we’re supposed to date, meet for coffee, have awkward conversations that go in circles before trailing off into empty silence. Later have uncomfortable sex where neither really knows what the other wants and our teeth clack awkwardly together as we kiss because they kiss differently from the last pony we were in love with, and then when it doesn’t really fulfil either of us we just shrug it off and say we enjoyed it even to ourselves, and maybe there’s another date or three and always sex after, but then we stop and fall out of contact and it’s on to the next one, all over again. Rinse and repeat.

Until it gets too much, and we find a second drink instead.

Or maybe that’s just me. I don’t think so, though, because I’m sure that every time this stallion bucks his hips he’s trying to forget the exact same things. He’s trying to live in the excitement too, chasing it, just like I am. Running from the picture that’s hanging on his wall. I don’t have a picture, so it’s different, but instead I’m running from the lack of one. Because I probably should have a picture like that by now, shouldn’t I? My home should be adorned with family pictures and I should be picking the foals up from the daycare after school to bring them back and wait for the stallion I should be married to by now. But instead none of those things. Instead an empty house and bare walls.

And instead I go out and find a second drink.

He snaps me back to the bedroom with a grunt, his thrusts growing ever more wild, ever more rough. Sweat rolling down his forehead, my mane plastered to mine. He kisses me again, and I taste the alcohol and the lust, and he must do too. I lose myself in him.

“Yes,” I gasp, and it’s as much for my own benefit as his. I don’t like the silence, I like the grunts and the moans and the murmured exultations and then the much louder ones too. Silence can be dangerous; the wrong kind of danger. Silence gets me tangled up in my thoughts like I just was. “Oh fuck, just like that.”

Each thrust so deep, so perfect – bestial, instinctive. Each rumbling growl making me shudder and moan in answer, and not just to keep the silence out.

He’s close, now, I can feel it. His length twitches, his flare presses against me, his thrusts get faster, more erratic. His hot breath against me, his kisses filled with ever more fervour, ever more want.

He lifts my hips a little so that he can get as deep as possible, drawing out another shudder, another moan. A gasp, tightening around him as I pull myself up and press my forehead to his. I don’t always do that – sometimes it can feel too intimate – but tonight I do. And he doesn’t seem to mind, if anything he seems to enjoy it too, giving another twitch inside me.

I’m close, too, but not close enough, and so I trail a hoof down between us to reach for my clit, sending a little shockwave of pleasure darting through me when I find it. Sometimes the stallions don’t like me doing this. Sometimes they take it as a personal affront, like I’m saying they’re not good enough. Usually the younger ones. Tonight, though, my stallion doesn’t seem to mind. It’s been a while since the last time one got upset; I must have gotten better at choosing them.

And so together we rush towards our climax, and all the things we’re running from fade into the background, into obscurity, into irrelevance. All the things we’re chasing are brought into perfect focus, and it’s wild and almost angry, and dirty and frustrated and perfect.

He’s about to cum. I can always tell just before they do. His breathing quickens – sharp inhales, quieter exhales. The build up. The final charge to his orgasm. His thrusts slam into me, only drawing back just enough to be able to bury it back into me again, all the way to the hilt every time, and it flares inside me and he lets out one last growl. A tight grip on my waist, a final thrust, plunging forward in an explosive release, twitching and burying himself as deep as he can, his instincts demanding he do all he can to breed me even though we both know that’s not going to happen.

And I redouble my efforts, pushing myself quickly towards my own peak before his climax is finished and he loses interest. I’m close enough that as his satisfied grunts start to taper off, as he starts to regain his senses and leans in to kiss me one final time, I crest over the top.

Jolting pleasure darts across my skin as I moan into his kiss, shivering and shuddering and sighing in long-overdue satisfaction. Heat, warmth, lust, desire, fucking. Everything washing over me at once in a swarm of sensation, all the night’s tension and frustration and perilous silence draining away in the instant of release. No more pictures, no more running. Just sex. Just pleasure. Just him, and me, and the bed creaking beneath us. Just this moment.

Just dragons and manticores.

And then it’s over, and I break the kiss and collapse back down onto the bed sheets. He takes a moment, gazing down at the well-fucked mare beneath him, his cock still buried inside me, and I wonder if he’s trying to savour the sight, if it’s something he’ll try and remember later, if it’s something he doesn’t want to forget.

Personally, I always forget. Forgetting is part of the appeal.

Whatever he was looking for, he either finds it or gives up as he pulls out of me and flops down beside me. Not touching, making sure to leave some space between us. We lie like that for a while, in silence, staring up at the ceiling. My eyes trace the cracks and stains.

“Where’s your bathroom?” I ask, eventually.

“Down the hall, second door on your left,” comes the answer.

He doesn’t watch me as I cross the room. I didn’t expect him to, and he’d be disappointed if he was hoping for a good view, anyway – all the sway has gone out of my step now that it’s no longer needed. And I always feel too dishevelled after to try and be sexy. Sometimes my second drink wants another round in the morning, and while I’m never against the idea, I’m always too conscious of my mane being a mess and my morning breath to truly enjoy it. That’s because I’m becoming grounded, again, of course. It’s the echoes of awkward dates where those things actually matter.

It takes a few minutes to decipher his shower, and a few more to clean up. I always like the showers after. When I ache in all the right ways and the water pouring over me washes away all the sweat and everything else besides and just leaves the good bits – the memories and the slight, somehow satisfying stiffness, the kind you might have after a long run, the kind that still hurts a bit but you don’t feel bad about it. I’m always a bit sensitive afterwards, because the stallions I pick are never gentle. They should never be gentle.

By the time I get back to the bedroom, the stallion has blown out the lanterns and rolled onto his side, and in the gloom I can still make out him staring at his bedside table, the framed picture atop it lying face down against the wood. I don’t need to see it; I already know who it is.

And then I climb into bed with him and we make sure that space stays between us. We’ve gotten what we needed, and the space is important for both of us. We can’t have the other thinking there was anything more to this than sex. There wasn’t. There never will be.

And so instead I lie in the dark and let sleep start to pull me away, and in the morning I’ll wake up beside him but still keep that space in the middle of the bed and then it’ll be back to my empty house, back to my job and my life and my everything. Back to reality, back to hiding behind stone walls.

I sigh and try to focus on the aches.

It doesn’t really help. 





And that’s my secret. It’s not as grand as others, not as depraved perhaps, but it’s mine, and it still makes me guilty. It has to. If it didn’t there wouldn’t be any point. If there’s no risk of the dragons, you’re still just behind the walls.

And as much as I enjoy my second drinks, they’re always so short lived, such a temporary respite, such brief excitement. And then it’s over, and I’m just in some strange stallion’s bed where my thoughts can’t help but drift to why I keep ending up there, why I can’t just find someone proper and right for me and settle down and stop skulking around dive bars looking for one night stands, for sex that doesn’t mean anything with stallions whose names I never ask for.

And the answer, Red Shoes, is that every time it’s over I’m already looking forward to my next one. I’m already planning my next escape.

Maybe one day the dragons will get me after all.
> Episode 15 - Tell Me Sweet Little Lies [Mrs. Cake]
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Red Shoes,

I must admit that I was very happy to read that your inbox was once again open to submissions. I had finally mustered the courage to try and write this letter a while back, but you seemed to disappear all of a sudden. But, whatever kept you away, I hope you’re ok and I’m glad you’re back too. Because you’re the only pony I can send this too without feeling like I just destroyed my entire universe. Well, here goes, I suppose.

Lies are a funny thing. When you’re a filly, you get punished every time you’re caught, but you quickly figure out that the punishment scales with the size of the lie. The bigger the whopper, the longer you’re grounded.

As you get older though, you realize that it was the small lies that posed the real danger all along. The smaller the lie, the easier it is to make – and get away with. And once you get away with the first one, the next one becomes just a bit easier to make, and the one after that, and the one after that. Worst of all, you get so used to it you never notice anything is wrong; not until you’re completely ensnared in a web of your own deceit.

Take it from me, a housewife trapped in a web of lies so deep, so multilayered, that undoing even one string would destroy both her marriage and her family.

And it all started with one sweet little lie…





The first lie was literally saccharine sweet. 

It was barely six in the morning. We both should have been downstairs by then to prep the bakery for the morning rush.

“Mhmm… that’s really good…”

Instead I was crouched down on the bathroom floor, slathering my husband’s dick with a little bit of whipped frosting and a lot of my tongue. With his forehooves propped up on the counter above me, I couldn’t see his reactions. But I didn’t need to, really. His continued moans and grunts, to say nothing of the little twitch he gave every time I teased his medial ring, told me I was hitting all the right spots.

“Right there honey; o-oh yes…”

I knew if I kept up such a torrid pace he’d finish pretty quickly. Normally I’d love to tease him to no end, but at that moment a quick finish was exactly what I needed. I curled my tongue and swirled it around his shaft in quick, rapid circles. After a few seconds I felt his whole body tense up like a coiled spring, just he always does right before he—

“C-Cumming!”

With a practiced ease that came from having done this more times than I’d cared to count, I gently grabbed his dick and lined it up with the measuring cup right as his head flared and shot out the first of many thick ropes of cum.

“Ah, there you go, my love. Let it all out for me.”

Unfortunately for my rather heated nethers, there wasn’t enough time for him to return the favor. But we shared more than a few kisses as we cleaned up.

“You really think this will work?” he asked with a toothbrush half lodged in his mouth.

“I have high hopes,” I replied, offering him the most reassuring smile I could. “Besides, at this point, what do we have to lose? Nothing else has worked.”

“Mhmm,” he hummed while he continued to brush. After he finished up he turned and grabbed me into a hug, which I gladly returned with everything I had. “Then I’ll have hope too, Chiffon. Still, kinda weird that they’re making you do all of this in person. Usually you can just mail samples in and they send the potion or whatever back to us.”

“I know, I know,” I leaned back a bit to look at Carrot. “It is different, but apparently their process is especially time sensitive, so speed is key to optimal results, or so they say. That’s why I booked the morning train to Neigh Orleans, and the overnight train back. In other words,” I pecked him on the lips. “Faster I get home, the faster we can put the potion to use.”

The time-sensitive part wasn’t entirely a lie. Time really was of the essence if I was going to make this work. But for entirely different reasons.

I waited for Carrot to go downstairs before carefully pouring half of the sample into a small glass jar. I tightened the cap until I heard a soft click, at which point a small magic capsule affixed to the underside of the lid activated, preserving the jar’s contents for travel. This was supposed to keep the jar’s contents safe for twenty-four hours at most, so the clock was ticking in more ways than one.

Sample secured, I finished dressing and packing my bags, then headed downstairs. I could only spare a few minutes to assist Carrot with some kitchen prep before I had to trot over to the train station. Mercifully, nopony else at the station tried to talk to me, and I was able to slip onto the train relatively unnoticed.

I took a seat alone by the window, and waited for the horn blasts that signaled the train’s departure. A few minutes later I felt the train lurch into motion, and the town began to slowly recede into the distance.

The first string of the web was laid out.





The moment I stepped off of the streetcar I sorely wanted to jump back onboard. Sure it would be heading back the way I came, but at least the breeze would be hitting me again. Without it, the air hung over me like a wet towel. A soaking, impossibly humid towel to be exact, one that had been draped over me from the moment the train had arrived at the city’s central station.

“Honestly, how does anypony live here? Ugh…” I futilely tried to fan myself with my hat while I waited for the streetcar to switch directions and begin its return journey to the far northern end of the tree-lined avenue. Once the crossing signal turned green, I trotted away from the main street and entered the heart of the Prench Quarter.

My first visit to Neigh Orleans was for an international cooking competition and convention, but that was over ten years ago now. I was fresh out of culinary school, newly married, and brimming with confidence. My souffles didn’t quite make the cut, as it turned out, leaving me just off the podium in fourth place in my group. But looking back, it wasn’t a bad start at all for a newcomer. And, since the competition partly subsidized travel for the invited contestants, it gave Carrot and I an opportunity for a bit of a honeymoon that we otherwise couldn’t have afforded.

As I tried not to lose myself in the maze of streets and side alleys, my mind got more than a bit lost in the memories of that trip. Soaking in the music and culture of this vibrant city, voodoo shamans, sidewalk psychics, and more than a few drinks with enough potency to knock out an alicorn. “We were both so green behind the withers back then…”

I laughed a laugh that morphed into a sigh. Things were so different back then. We thought we had it all figured out too. Two talented bakers with stars in their eyes, and visions of a culinary empire that stretched across Equestria, and then all of Equus. A grand legacy to leave our foals.

All these years later, we were still madly in love of course. And despite a shaky start in a small town, we had pretty much made it. Maybe not worldwide, but we were profitable, and shipping goods to most of Equestria. But there was still one piece missing – foals.

Believe me, it wasn’t for a lack of trying. We both knew we wanted foals from the very beginning, so extra rounds in the bedroom… or wherever the mood struck us? You didn’t have to ask us twice. But as the years – and the fertility cycles – went by, the worry began to creep in.

There were books and guides. Lotions, potions, and everything in between. After a while I had just assumed that I was the problem, as it unfortunately so often is with these things. So needless to say, we were shocked when the hospital called us in and told us the results of the tests we had finally found the bits to pay for. Neither of us were sterile, but, poor Carrot… I’ll just say the parts that counted weren’t quite as potent as his hormones.

In a way, I almost wished one or both of us had actually been fully sterile. At least that would have saved us from another year of hope and heartache. We knew the odds were almost non-existent, but because they weren’t actually zero, we kept trying anyway. As I trotted past one of the Quarter’s ubiquitous gambling rooms, I couldn’t help but think that we had something in common with the players inside; losing time and again but rolling the dice again anyway because this time we might just get lucky.

The straw that broke the pony’s back came in the middle of an incredibly rushed quickie twenty minutes before the lunch rush was due to start, all because the thermometer said my core temp was just right for the next few minutes. My mind had become so disconnected from the moment that I completely forgot I was bent over a kitchen counter, smearing flour and cookie crumbs all over the place while my husband was rutting me with all the enthusiasm of a soggy souffle.

And as a final buck in the teeth, when we finally talked ourselves into dusting off the foster-adoptive application we had tucked away in a drawer years ago, we were kindly informed that we had ‘aged out’ of eligibility for consideration.

“And so here I am.”

I stopped across the street from my intended destination – a stately two-story home tucked away just two blocks removed from some of the Quarter’s most tourist-laden streets. Red brick construction, with a trio of windows on each level, each framed by light green shutters. An intricate rod iron balcony extended from the second level, providing great views of the street below, and precious additional shade to the matching porch on the ground floor. A large tree, branches thick with dangling moss, towered over the house from the back, giving the entire place a look that would have been equally at home among the well-preserved mansions that the streetcar passed by on the way here.

Only the small sign out planted in the front yard, “Rising Sun Fertility”, gave any indication that this wasn’t just a normal residential property.

I took a deep breath and willed my hooves forward across the street before I could second guess myself. As I opened the front door and heard the small bell above it chime, I could feel another piece of web closing in behind me.

“Welcome to Rising Sun, my dear. Please come in, come in!” I looked to the opposite end of the small welcome area, where a well-dressed unicorn mare stood behind a desk, waving me forward.

The old but well-polished wood floor creaked beneath me as I walked, and I tried not to cringe too much. “Um, hello,” I finally said as I came to a stop in front of her.

“Likewise. My name is Magnolia, but most everyone calls me Mags. Again, welcome in. Now,” she lit her horn and raised a small notebook in her magic. “Might I ask if you’re here on an appointment, or just dropping by?”

I was so lost in my own thoughts that I nearly missed her question entirely. “O-Oh! Um, yes. Er, I have an appointment. Under Chiffon?”

She flipped a few pages before setting the notebook down. “Ah! There we are, Chiffon Swirl. A lovely name, by the way.” She eyed me briefly. “Fitting too. Your mane is just divine, dearie! You simply must tell me how you get that style to hold.”

“Oh, this?” I chuckled. “Well, no magic with me, as you can see, so it’s mainly just a lot of pins and some manespray. It can be a hoof full some days though.” I shuffled to my right a bit, to get myself a bit more into the path of a small gem-powered fan sitting on a nearby table. “Not sure how it’s going to do in this humidity though.”

She laughed at that. A light, crystal laugh that somehow put me further at ease. “Lived my whole life here, y’know, so you get used to it. Now, why don’t you go rest your hooves in the parlor over there and I’ll be right back with some cold tea and just a bit of paperwork.”

She directed me to a well-appointed and cozy room to my right, and I found a seat on one of the many plush chairs while she excused herself, returning a few minutes later with a clipboard, a folder, and a tall glass of tea in her magic. Magnolia gently set the glass down on the coffee table in front of me before taking a seat opposite me. “You look a bit parched sweetie. Have some tea, then we’ll chat.”

I grabbed the glass and took a sip. A wonderfully cold blast of tea and sugar exploded on my tongue, and I couldn’t help but lean back and sigh. “Oh gosh, that’s just perfect.” I took another, longer sip, relishing the refreshing sweetness. For a brief moment, it felt like the oppressive summer heat melted away. “Ok…” I finally said, “how about a trade. I will tell you how to duplicate my mane style if you tell me how you get sweet tea to balance this well. I’ve tried adding it to my cafe’s menu so many times but I can never get it right!” I laughed.

We shared a laugh. “Sounds fair to me, honey,” she replied. “It’s my grandmare’s recipe, actually. Just something I learned growing up. But I’ll jot it down on a card for ya before you leave.”

“Now, let’s get the logistics out of the way, shall we?” I watched her slip into a more business-like demeanor like a pony changes clothes. “Do you have a sample jar for me?”

“Yes, sure do.” I pulled my saddlebag over from the other end of the couch and carefully retrieved the jar. Before placing it on the coffee table. “Got it this morning.”

Magnolia lifted the jar in her magic and examined it for a second. “Perfect! This should be more than enough.”

“Good to hear,” I chuckled. “Quantity has never been an issue for my husband, at least. I presume you received all the other information I sent?”

“Absolutely, as well as your deposit.” Magnolia brought a file folder into view and deftly laid out its contents on the table between us. It was indeed all there. A couple of photos of Carrot, a small bag containing a lock of his hair, and a card detailing his physical description. “The genetic sample is, of course, the last piece of the puzzle that we needed,” she added.

“R-Right.” Seeing his photo there, with his kind eyes and wide smile, almost tore at me. Magnolia seemed to sense my sudden discomfort and shifted over to sit by me.

“Y’all ok, dear?” Talk to me.”

“Last minute jitters, I guess.” I took a deep breath and slowly let it out, trying to calm my nerves. “I’ve already had to lie to my husband more than once just to set all of this up, then make the trip down here. Part of me still can’t believe I’m doing this, but would you believe me if I said I was out of options?”

“You don’t need me to believe you, Chiffon,” she said. “You just need to believe it yourself.”

“I suppose that’s true, isn’t it?”

Magnolia patted me on the shoulder. “If it helps, I’ve had this same conversation many, many times before. With ponies and non-ponies alike, from all walks of life. Ours is a rather, shall we say, unique service, but like I tell every creature, the fact that you’re here at all tells me you’ve determined the end goal is worth the risk.”

“It is,” I replied. “As much as I want this, I know we want it just as bad, if not more. And if this all ends with us cradling a new family, I’ll bear whatever burden I have to.”

“And we’ll do our utmost to make that a reality for you, Chiffon. Now, there’s a bit of paperwork left to complete, but while you do that, tell me a bit about yourself if you want to. How’d you find us anyway?”

I spent the next few minutes doing just that, re-telling a somewhat sanitized version of my story between checking boxes and signing forms. If this Magnolia had heard similar stories a hundred times over, she didn’t show it. She seemed engaged with me as if she were talking to an old friend. Maybe it was just her natural charm, or maybe it was a well-practiced act as part of her job. But either way it put me a bit at ease, at least for a minute.

“As for your last question,” I continued as I re-stacked the completed forms and put them back on the clipboard, “I found out about this place thanks to Playcolt.”

“Oh?” Magnolia’s eyebrows raised at that. “Do tell.”

“Well,” I chuckled, “it’s not quite as juicy as you might imagine, but anyway… as you can probably imagine, this isn’t the first time my husband’s dick has been on the other end of a specimen container instead of my rump. Well, sometimes we’ve been so busy with our day jobs that I can’t always be there with him to, er, collect the samples. So he has to take care of it himself. And, well, like any stallion sometimes he needs a bit of motivation.”

“Ah, I see now,” Magnolia nodded.

“He was so embarrassed by it all too. Took a train all the way to Canterlot just to buy it there instead of the store local to us, just to avoid seeing anyone we knew. Anyway, he kept the magazine tucked away in the bathroom cupboard, and one time when I was reorganizing in there, I decided to flip through it when he wasn’t looking.”

Magnolia chuckled. “Scoping out the competition then?”

“Hehe,” I laughed in return. “They’re pretty, I have to give them that. Still, I don’t worry about him, believe me. So as I was flipping through, I saw your ad on one of the last pages. I sent in a request for a brochure, and well, here we are now.”

“I see, I see.” Magnolia lit her horn and floated the clipboard and the folder back in her direction. “Well, I’m glad you’re here, Chiffon. I think everything is in order on my end. Any last questions?”

I chewed on that question a bit before shaking my head. “No, I’m ok.”

Another little lie, another bit of the web laid into place.

“So, what happens now?”

“Now…” Magnolia stood up, lifting both the clipboard and the jar in her magic, “you get to relax while we get everything ready for you. You said you came in on the morning train from where again?”

“Po— er, let’s just say central Equestria.”

“Fair enough,” Magnolia glanced at a nearby clock. “Tell you what; Lagniappe’s is barely a five minute trot from here. Great food, nice vibe, not too many tourists either. The chef, Mirepoix, is an old friend of mine, so tell ‘em I sent you and he’ll make sure you’re taken care of. Give us about… let’s say an hour or so? We’ll be set for your treatment then, so just swing back in when you’re ready.”

Just then my stomach decided to growl a bit and my cheeks turned pink with embarrassment. “Er, guess I am a bit hungry, hehe.”

Magnolia saw me out with a friendly hug and directions to this restaurant. It was indeed easy to find, and as a restaurant owner myself, I could tell right away that this was a place that only the locals knew about. It had that worn but well-loved feeling that you just don’t get in the kitschy tourist trap places. Being a bit past two in the afternoon, the restaurant was relatively quiet. But there were enough tables occupied to keep things lively, and I was quickly shown to a nice table near a window, with a view out to a lovely garden that filled the small courtyard separating the restaurant from the adjacent buildings.

Everything on the menu sounded delicious, but with the butterflies in my stomach still stirring here and there, I opted for a light meal – a cup of some absolutely delicious gumbo, and a fresh salad topped with some blackened fish. I did as Magnolia asked and mentioned to the waiter that she had sent me, and not a minute later did Mirepoix come out from the kitchen to greet me… and make sure I got my hooves on one or two of his restaurant’s signature cocktails. It was a twist on something called a sazerac. I wasn’t sure what all was in it, but it sure tasted good.

Even here, amongst these friendly ponies, I began to layer the lies. Why I was in Neigh Orleans to begin with, how I knew Magnolia, what hotel I was staying at. I made it all up on the fly, parsing every word to try and see if Mirepoix saw right through me or not. I hated having to lie to him like this, but I also knew that if I couldn’t get through something as simple as this, with a stranger no less, I’d have no hope for what lay ahead of me.

I left the restaurant a little over an hour later with my hunger curbed and my conscience dulled just enough by the two drinks. Magnolia greeted me upon my return, and showed me around the clinic’s treatment areas while final preparations were being completed. It turned out that this house was a residence for a long time, but went up for sale when the younger members of the family who had cared for it through the generations picked up stakes and moved west. The clinic bought it, seeking a larger, more comfortable space for their operations.

To say the place had been transformed was an understatement. Smaller bedrooms were combined to make larger ones, or partially merged with parlors and sitting rooms to create rooms that better suited modern style and furnishings. The rear most section of the house, specifically on the upper floors, had been converted into a mini-spa of sorts, complete with jetted tubs, large showers, a small sauna, and even a relaxation room. It reminded me a lot of the spa back home, just more compact. Yet despite all the modern touches, the wooden floors and period woodworks were retained, lending the whole place a wonderful balance of old and new.

Charming indeed, for a house where lies were literally born.

Magnolia ended her little tour at a rather large bedroom, one that could easily pass as a suite at one of the swanky hotels nearby. Warm colors and subdued lighting created a comforting atmosphere, set off by plush rugs and furniture, as well as a bed that was clearly big enough to accommodate creatures of nearly any size.

“So, here we are,” Magnolia said as she showed me inside. “We’ll begin shortly, but if there’s anything else you want or need, just let me know. Also,” she added, “just a quick reminder about a couple of things.”

“First, above all else, you’re in control here. You get to dictate the treatment plan, and you can change your mind at any point, even mid-treatment. Second, each treatment room is sound-proofed, so don’t worry about noise, if you catch my drift. And of course, feel free to make use of the spa area once you’re done. Take as much time as you need.”

“Thanks,” I replied. I sat back on the bed and sunk into its pillowy top layers. It was admittedly more comfortable than my own bed at home.

“Ready?”

“Yes,” I nodded.

“Good.” Magnolia stepped over and gave me a friendly hoof bump. “Get comfortable and relax. You’re in good hooves with Copper, I promise. He’s one of our best.”

With a final nod, Magnolia took her leave, and I was alone. About a minute later, a soft knock on the door startled me from my racing thoughts.

“Yes, you can come in.”

The door opened, and in stepped my husband.

No, that was a lie. It was Copper… whatever his last name was. I didn’t know for sure, since the clinic protects the names of their staff just as well as their clients. For all I knew, the pony in front of me wasn’t really named Copper. For all he knew, my name wasn’t Chiffon at all.

But despite his appearance, I knew the stallion before me wasn’t Carrot. He looked like him, from the square jaw to the long, lanky frame. He had a bit of scruff in his coat just like him, wore his mane just like him… and as he stepped towards me, I noticed that he even smiled just like him.

“Hello,” he said. “It’s good to see you, my dear.”

In truth, the only thing truly setting him apart from my husband was the small gem he wore around his neck. Brilliant green in color, it not only matched his eyes, but it was also the key to the illusion. The magic embedded within suppressed everything about the pony wearing it, and instead created a near copy of somepony else. This Copper… he could be an earth pony like me, or a unicorn, or a pegasus. But right then, he looked just like my husband. The brochure wasn’t kidding when it said the Masquerade option was the next best thing to a Changeling.

I stood from the bed and slowly approached him. The height difference between us was spot-on too; my muzzle came to just under his chin, just like it should. “Nice to see you too…”

“My love.”

And with that, the web took form. In my mind I crossed a kind of threshold. No going back now. For however long this lasted, I was with Carrot, and he was with me, and I was going to see this literal charade through. Like Magnolia said, I just had to believe it myself.

So I did. I chose to believe.

I chose to believe that the stallion I leaned into and kissed was my husband. I chose to believe it was him returning that kiss, and another, and another dozen after that. It was his hooves running through my loosened mane and gently caressing my withers. It was his tongue wrestling with mine as slowly, ever so slowly, we built up some momentum.

The more we kissed, the more we touched each other, the more convinced I let myself become. I began trailing kisses down his neck, toward the top of his chest. I stopped and stared into that necklace, momentarily losing myself in its subtle green glow. I planted a small kiss on it as I crossed the top of his chest; half for good luck, and half for absolution.

I broke the next kiss just long enough to sit back on the bed and beckon him closer. He laid next to me and took the initiative, kissing me all over. Hooves and tongues explored each other, and soon I found myself flipped around in the opposite direction, with my nethers in front of his face, and his cock in front of my own. I let my hooves trace little circles around the two small birthmarks on his belly, just like my husband. And just like him, this stallion quivered and twitched every time I slid my tongue across his medial ring.

For my part, his technique was a little different than my husband’s, a bit more methodical than fervent. But damn it all it felt so good I quickly ceased to care. The way his tongue explored my haunches, the way he teased my nipples, it took most of my concentration to keep returning the favor to his body at the same time.

He kept teasing me and pushing me closer to the edge, one lick, one kiss at a time, until finally an orgasm washed over me like a slow-rolling wave. I moaned and cooed as I rode out the waves of pleasure, all the while sucking on the head of his dick like it was candy. The heat between us was as thick as the air outside, and all I could smell was my scent and his delicious musk blended together. He had a slightly different scent than my husband but I chose to believe it was the same. Maybe by that point I was too horny to care. But I sat up all the same, flopped onto my stomach, and presented my swollen nethers to him.

“Take me,” I whispered. “Please.”

He wasted no time mounting me, and I immediately felt the bit of extra weight on my back compared to my husband. But like his tongue work, this stallion was slow and gentle, allowing me to set the pace. It took me a bit of adjusting to get the angle just right, but once I did I saw stars.

“Oh… my gosh… yesss….”

He sank into me perfectly, hitting all my most sensitive spots with every slow movement. I pushed my hips back once, twice, three times, turning my rump in a slow circle until I felt his medial ring slide past my inner lips. He pushed forward a bit at the same time, and grunted as I felt him slide fully inside of me. His forehooves planted on the bed to either side of me, keeping the pressure on my back to a minimum, and I took advantage of that extra freedom to work my nethers over his cock in every direction I could, drawing all sorts of pleasured groans out of the both of us.

By the time another orgasm overtook me, I was totally lost to the moment, to all the lies. I needed my husband to cum; I wanted him to cum, right there, right now. So without hesitation, I turned back to cast him a wanton gaze and said, “Rut me, Carrot. Hard and fast.”

And that’s exactly what Carrot did. All pretense abandoned, no subtleties to give. I let him push me down and mount me like any horny colt would a mare, and rut me silly. His dick plunged into me again and again, going from the tip back to the hilt in powerful, lustful thrusts. I yelped with pleasure each time he bottomed out inside me, I squeezed him with my walls as tightly as I could, reveling in his scent and his touch and the unbelievable way he was fucking me. Carrot was pleasuring me like never before and I was putty in his hooves.

“Yes, Carrot. Faster, faster, f-fast— oh yes!”

I felt his whole body tense around me and I knew he was close. “Cum for me, my love. Fill me up!”

I shoved my rump back into him as far as I could and moments later he exploded inside of me. I felt his hot cum rush inside, filling me up like never before. “Yes, yes! Don’t stop, Carrot. Give it all to me!”

He kept pumping into me, not stopping his thrusts until we had both gone limp, entirely spent. Slowly he slipped out of me and dropped onto the bed beside me. I grabbed him and kissed him deeply, and kept kissing him until the need for air became too much to ignore.

“Are… are you ok?” He finally asked.

I took deep, slow breaths to try and calm my racing heart. “Y-yeah. I’m ok. I love you, Carrot.”

For a split-second, I saw a mote of surprise in his eyes, like somehow it was I who had pierced the illusion. But it was gone just as fast, and he simply smiled at me. “I love you too, Chiffon.”

After checking on me one more time, he quietly slipped out of the room to allow me time to recover. I laid there on the bed, breathing in the heady mixture of lust and bodily fluids that filled the room. Finally, biological needs forced me up, and I took Magnolia up on the offer of the spa area. I quickly showered, then took a brief turn in the hot tub before showering again, taking extra care to scrub away any traces of my debauchery.

Refreshed and rehydrated, I returned to the bedroom to retrieve my saddlebags, where next to them I found a small bottle and a notecard. The bottle looked similar to a fancy perfume you’d see for sale at a store, in this case filled with a light blue liquid. I set it down and picked up the note.

As promised, here is the Couple’s Elixir you ordered. The specimen you provided is part of the mixture, and should be taken by your spouse immediately before sexual activity. He’ll be ready to go in no time, trust me. Though the container is protected for travel, remember to use it within 48 hours for maximum effectiveness. I wish you a safe trip home, wherever that may be, and I hope this experience leads to the outcome you both desire.

-Magnolia

After securing my things, I returned to the lobby, where Magnolia greeted me warmly once again. We made small talk while I wanted for the taxi she had called for me to arrive. She bid me farewell with a big, warm hug, and the recipe card she had promised. The trip to the train station went by quickly, and soon enough I was on the last train of the night, bound for home - and the consequences of my decisions.

As far as my husband knew, that elixir was the golden ticket we had been searching for. He eagerly drank it up the moment I got home, and we proceeded to rut like teenagers on prom night. He wanted me to be on top that time, and normally I’d be happy to. But that time I had to say no. I needed him to get behind me and rut my brains out the old-fashioned way. Why? Because, I told him, the elixir needs every chance it can get to work its magic. And him on top, driving his cock into me like nature intended, was the best way to do that.

That too… was a lie.

The elixir was just an amped up aphrodisiac, and after what I had done just hours before, I couldn’t look my husband in the eye that night. Maybe tomorrow, or the next day, but not that night.





So there you have it, Red Shoes. Lies stacked upon lies, topped with deception and infidelity on a scale I could never have imagined was possible for anypony to reach, much less myself. But was it worth it? The two smiling foals sitting in the next room while I write this are proof enough, I think. The fact that two earth ponies managed to have one pegasus and one unicorn for foals was chalked up to the vagaries of the elixir, or any of the other parade of magical treatments and procedures we had subjected ourselves to. We were just happy to have healthy foals in our hooves.

Remember what I said earlier, about the lies becoming easier to tell after a while? I can assure you, they become very easy to tell. So easy, in fact, that you eventually forget you’re lying at all. The reality you’ve concocted becomes your truth. The hard part comes in living with the ever-increasing risk of being found out, and the dire consequences that await you if that happens.

But I will learn to live with it.

Because I can live with it.
> Episode 16 - Love/Hate Relationship (Daring Do-Dr. Caballeron)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Red Shoes,

I don’t know who you are, but I should probably start by saying ‘welcome back’. Much as I hate to admit it, seeing your latest missive announcing that your inbox was open again made me smile. Reading all these sordid, heartfelt, and at times painful letters had become a huge guilty pleasure for me over time, and I was quite disappointed when they stopped for such a long time—

Wow. Looking at what I just wrote there, it’s such a microcosm of the story I’m about to share with you, Red Shoes. You see, in a way, I hated the misfortunes that unfairly befell some of the mares who wrote to you. A small part of me hated the fairy-tale endings some of them got in the end too, since I know that’s something I’ll never have now. But at the exact same time I loved reading their stories anyway. I couldn’t get enough! The lust, the passion, the scheming and subterfuge. It was glorious and scandalous and everything in between, and I wanted nothing and everything to do with it at once.

That realization inspired me to send you my story too. You see, I’m in a love-hate relationship of my own, and it’s not just with your diary. It’s with the stallion I thought I’d one day marry…





I shoved the door to my employee locker closed and let out a long, frustrated sigh.

I hated this assignment. Hated it before it even started, really. 

Not because it was especially dangerous, mind you. Danger was part of the job anyway, and compared to a lot of the adventures I’ve been on, this would be a trot in the park, with not a single trap door or sketchy looking lever anywhere in sight. I didn’t hate the assignment because of the location either. A few days in the tropics when the weather back home was smack in the middle of winter sounded perfect to me.

Even the cover I had to assume wasn’t that bad. Sure, I wasn’t technically a certified masseuse, and I generally avoided the spa altogether until my wings were way overdue for a preen and oil, but believe me when I say I’ve had to dress way, way worse than this to get the job done.

No, I hated this assignment because of its target – a criminal mastermind wanted by authorities across Equus for countless acts of theft, larceny, fraud, bribery, and more. Those with an affinity for history and archaeology, myself included, see his crimes as especially heinous. So much knowledge and priceless pieces of history had already been lost to him and his band of thugs, stolen from collectors, museums, and even tombs, and sold to the highest bidder.

His name is Renanto Caballeron.

And he’s also my ex.

A lifetime ago it seemed, we were huddled up in our shared apartment off campus in Canterlot, cranking out our PhD theses, juggling post-graduation fellowship opportunities, and dreaming of doing it all together as a couple. Looking back on it, the only thing I loved more than my archaeology trivia was Renanto. We were academic equals, often trading places at the top of our department rankings. But in many ways, we completed each other too; his charm and charisma and my bookish, shy attitude somehow meshed so well – I was attracted to his brain as much as his body. One minute he’d be teasing my brain with some obscure fact, the next he’d be teasing my flank with that silver tongue of his. And I’d do the same to him.

Sadly, that was all gone now. Burned in the fires of anger, betrayal, and charges of theft after a pair of ancient scrolls dating back to the early Somnambulan Kingdom went missing from the university archives. I had talked him down from other such stunts a few times before – attempts to swipe the answer key in advance of a math test, for example. Or skirting the plagiarism rules too closely for comfort on some research reports, or tweaking data sheets from dig sites to make his results look better than another student’s. 

But when I discovered he had the scrolls at all, much less his plans to duplicate them, then sneak the fakes back into the archives while selling the originals to the Diamond Dogs, I knew then there was no way I could look away from his actions anymore. 

So I didn’t.

I’ll never forget the night it all ended. Mere weeks after graduation, both of us sporting shiny new PhDs behind our names. He had insisted we stay in and cook dinner – spaghetti and wheatballs, made just the way his grandmare used to. He was midway through the windup to what I was sure was going to be the marriage proposal I had always wanted when the knock on the door came.

I’ll also never forget the pained, broken look on his face when I pointed the guards right to the small safe he kept in the back of the closet. Nor will I forget the sound of the engagement ring pinging off the floor after he threw it at me just before the guards dragged him away in irons.

The university rescinded all of his degrees, not that it ever stopped him from claiming the title anyway. They hailed me as some kind of hero instead. Maybe I was, I don’t know. But my broken heart wasn’t helped when all those fellowship committees offered to give his spot to me as if the legitimate work he had done before never existed at all.

I loathed him so much back then, and rightly so. He had brought it all on himself, after all. But I loved him so much anyway, and losing him broke my heart. And if I’m honest, it breaks all over again every time I have to chase him down and stop another one of his schemes, which is why I found myself in one of the biggest vacation spots in the tropics dressed in what had to be an intentionally snug-fitting white uniform, so I can save yet another priceless piece of history from his greedy hooves.

The small clock on the wall chimed, signaling a quarter until the top of the hour. He’d be here soon then. I stepped over to one of the full-length mirrors placed around the room and looked at myself again.

No matter how many times I did this, it was always a bit unnerving to look in the mirror and not see, well, me. 

I was still a pegasus, but my normally light-gold coat was an almost icy blue, with dusty white coloring the tips of my wings. Gone too were the many shades of grey in my mane, replaced with whites and more light blue, with a single pink streak at the outer edges. My rose-colored eyes showed an ocean blue instead. Even my cutiemark, which I briefly checked after lifting the hem of my uniform skirt, was different, with a trio of peony flowers in place of the usual compass rose.

And it was all thanks to the small teardrop pendant around my neck; a gift from my, shall I say, employer, imbued with both a transformation spell and a masking spell that made the whole setup impossible to detect to any but the most skilled magic wielders. “So far so good,” I said, if for no other reason than to confirm the vocal elements of the transformation spell were still working as designed. And they were, rendering my Vanhoover accent as something more attuned to Equestria’s central plains instead.

I smiled and nodded at my reflection. Just like all the other times I’ve foiled his plans before, he’d have no idea I’m here.

“Alright,” I muttered. “Show time.”

I left the locker room and headed for the front of the spa. After double-checking the afternoon’s schedule with my colleague at the reception desk, I took a deep breath and stepped out into the waiting room.

“Renanto? Is there a Renanto Caba—”

“Yes, right here.”

I didn’t need to look up to know who it was. I’d know that silky voice anywhere.

“Ah!” I replied, waving him over with my best ‘customer service’ smile on my face. As he weaved in between the assorted chairs and couches scattered about the cozy waiting area, I noticed he was pulling a small suitcase behind him, and had a saddle bag strung across his back.

“Good afternoon,” he said, bowing with just a bit of flourish as he spoke. He was laying on his Esponian accent rather thick too – something he always did when he was meeting a mare he wanted to impress. And I would know, because it’s the exact same tone he used on me when we first met all those years ago.

I simply smiled in return. “Good afternoon to you as well. Welcome to the Four Petals Spa, Mr. Caballeron.” Our eyes met for just a moment, but thankfully I saw no spark of recognition in his eyes. Good, my disguise was working perfectly then. “Please follow me.”

I turned on my heel and led him down a narrow but warmly lit hallway. “So, what brings you here, Mr. Caballeron?” I asked over my shoulder.

 “Oh, just treating myself a bit before heading home later this evening. Been here for almost two weeks on a rather grueling business trip.”

“Ah. Sounds like a lot of meetings then? Heaven knows those can drag on forever.”

“That they do,” he laughed in that warm laugh he so often used. I tried to ignore the little twinge of a memory that pinched me just then too. “Though I dare say I would have preferred endless meetings over digging through boxes and climbing ladders. My back is killing me.”

“Oh, you poor thing. I’m sorry to hear that,” I replied softly. “But don’t you worry, I’ll have you feeling as good as new by the time you leave.”

“Wonderful. I can tell already that I will be in very good hooves, señorita.”

“Hmm, we do aim to please.” I didn’t need to look back over my shoulder to know that his eyes were on me, and very likely on my rump too. Renanto was a smooth talker, but he was never the most subtle stallion in the world either.

After a few twists and turns, I stopped in front of a pair of doors. “This is the guest locker room,” I said, using my wing to point to the door on the right side of the hallway. “There’s storage for your smaller items, as well as showers for you to use after your treatment if you’d like. This…” I unfurled my other wing and pointed to the opposite door, “is set aside to store any larger items guests may have with them when they arrive, such as luggage.” I took a step forward and gestured toward his bags. I’d be happy to secure your things while you get re—.”

“Oh no no, that is quite alright, señorita.” He quickly cut me off, while at the same time shuffling in place to keep his bag just out of my reach. “I’d prefer to just keep them with me.”

“Oh!” I quickly stepped back, a slight blush in my cheeks. “My apologies, I didn't mean to intrude, sir. It’s just that, well, the lockers, they are not big enough to fit your luggage. Only your saddlebag. And while we have never had any issue here at Four Petals of course, it would be irresponsible of me to let a client leave their belongings out in the open. I can assure you, both the lockers and the room to our left are locked at all times.”

“I see. Hmm…” While I waited for him to decide, my mind was already at work planning my next steps. His immediate reaction confirmed my suspicion that he’d have the artifact with him. He was always wary of others carrying his things, even me. He’d obsess over just sending Hearth's Warming gifts because that meant the item left his sight. So, it was no surprise to me that even now, he had the most critical piece of his latest heist close at hoof.

“Alright then, I will take your recommendation,” he finally said. “I will keep my saddlebag with me if you don’t mind, but–” he took a deep breath, probably forcing himself to break his habit here. “I shall entrust you to look after my other luggage.”

I smiled broadly and nodded in assent. “Very good, Mr. Caballeron. I would be happy to secure that bag for you.” I reached out and took the bag into my grip as he gently rolled it towards me. “In fact, if you could wait a moment—” I pulled a key from one of the pockets on my uniform and held it up to his view. “I’ll secure your bag right now.” I quickly unlocked the door, stowed the bag, and re-locked the door, very obviously slipping the key back into place in my pocket.

“See? All locked away, I have the key, and—” I stepped a bit closer to him and smiled warmly. “You’ll have me in your sights the entire time you’re here, so you have nothing to worry about.”

He looked at me and I could see the beginnings of that telltale twinkle in his eyes. “I see nothing to disagree with, señorita. Everything looks… quite wonderful actually.”

Like I said, he was a smooth talker.

I directed him to the locker room while I prepared the treatment room just down the hall. While I was waiting for the water vapor diffuser to warm up, I set the small record player in the corner to a soft instrumental tune

Just then, I heard a light knock on the door. “Yes, come in!”

Renanto walked in, and I directed him toward the massage table at the center of the room. He shed the fluffy white robe and gave it to me, and as I stepped away to hang it up, I caught a glimpse of him laying himself out on the table. Seeing him like that reminded me all too much of the times I’d do my best to help him work the kinks out of his back at home. The next hour or so was going to be tougher on me than I thought.

“All comfortable, Mr. Caballeron?” I asked while I made some final preparations. “Anything you need before we get started?”

“No, I am quite comfortable, señorita,” he replied, his voice a bit muffled by the fact his head was looking at the floor at the moment. “And please, call me Renanto.”

“As you wish then, Renanto.” I stepped over to the table, turned on the steam diffuser, took a deep breath, and began. I combed him from head to hoof with a series of brushes to smoothen his coat and remove stray hairs or tangles, before repeating the same process to his mane and tail.

I remembered us pampering each other just like this countless times. We didn’t have any fancy spa tools either; just the need to be near to each other, and make the other feel loved. I wanted to be angry at myself for still holding onto moments long past like that, but a part of me loved the feelings attached to the memories anyway.

“Doing okay so far?”

“Yes, this is lovely,” he said, sniffling his nose a bit. “Is that… rosehip I smell?”

“Oh, you mean the steam? Er, yes, I did add some rosehip essentials to the water, actually. Along with a dash of vanilla oil to spice things up. If it’s not to your liking, I can always change it.”

“No no, please leave it. It smells divine,” he replied. “I always did like the scent of rosehips.”

It took a lot of focus not to drag the stiff brush I was currently holding across his tail so hard it’d make him yelp. Of course he loves the scent of rosehips; they were the main ingredient in the perfume he used to buy me all the time, the one that I grew to love because he loved the way it wore on me.

“Ah, well that is good then,” I said as I finished brushing the ends of his tail. “There we go, all nice and smooth. Now, you booked the deep tissue massage with hot stones, yes?”

“Mhmm,” he hummed in reply.

“Excellent. The stones should be ready in just a minute. While I get them, is there a specific scent you’d like for the massage oil? I do have a few options.”

“Anything is fine, my dear. Surprise me.”

“A surprise it is then,” I tittered. “Just a moment then.”

I quickly stepped well out of any possible view he may have, towards the sink. I quickly adjusted the heat setting on the gem-powered heater that was warming the stones, then began preparing the massage oil. I selected another scent I knew he’d like, one similar to the cologne I knew he liked to wear to special occasions. A heady mixture of amber and musk, with hints of what could best be described as ‘rainforest’. The moment the scent hit my nose my mind leapt back years and years, to campus dances and formal dinners, steamy lovemaking in his cramped dorm room and more. I normally turn my nose up at anything even close to that scent now, but there my heart went anyway, trying to gallop down memory lane. I shook my head and refocused. I had a job to do, and a villain to stop.

From my other pocket I quickly grabbed a small vial of clear liquid, which I added to the mixture. The oil took on a light pink hue for a split second before reverting to its normal clear state. No noise, no fuss, but that was enough to tell me the extra ingredient was properly activated.

A surprise indeed.

Just then the timer on the heater dinged, telling me the stones were ready. I carefully grabbed them and set them on a plate, and I carried them plus the oil over to the table. “Alright, everything is set now. Are you ready, Renanto?”

“Very.”

“Excellent.”

Without further word, I reared up on my hindlegs and shuffled forward until I could let my weight fall onto the table’s built-in side-supports for non-unicorn users. I grabbed the oil container and, after pouring some over the stones themselves, I slowly poured some oil down the middle of his back. Then, taking up the hot stones into the specially made holders, I put one in each forehoof and went to work, starting with the withers and shoulders.

A few minutes passed in relative silence, save for the whisper of the steam diffuser, and the occasional pleased hum of my client. “Everything good so far?” I asked. “How is the pressure?”

“Mhmm, great so far, señorita,” he replied. “This oil you are using… you must be able to read minds, because it is one of my favorite scents.”

“Oh?” I said as I moved the stones down onto his upper back, adding a bit more oil as I went. “I thought amber might suit you well. Strong but layered at the same time.” I worked the stones in small circles as I went back and forth across his back. “I’m glad you like it.”

After a few more minutes, I switched to a second set of freshly warmed stones, then began working his middle and lower back. All the while I was keeping my breathing in check, trying not to let my mind wander too much into sordid thoughts about the criminal but still incredibly handsome stallion in front of me who was all but covered in warm oil now.

As I closed in on the smallest part of his back, I quietly worked my way towards a spot that I knew would get a reaction out of him, and I pressed down with a bit more force than was technically required.

“Ah!” he noticeably flinched the moment I hit it, just like he always did.

I quickly removed my hoof, feigning surprise. “Oh! Are you okay, Renento? I am sorry.”

“N-No, it is alright, señorita. That spot has bothered me for quite some years now. But it always catches me off guard anyway.”

I gingerly felt it with the pad of my hoof and yep, that knot was right where it always was when it got riled up. It was especially tight to the touch too. “Ah, I see, I see. With your permission, I’ll work on it as best I can, though that would mean I’d have to apply more pressure.”

“That is fine,” he grumbled. “It often prevents me from sleeping well, so even temporary relief would be nice. By the way,” he asked, “I do not believe I caught your name.”

“Peony,” I replied.

“Peony,” he repeated. “A lovely name to be sure. And fitting for your coloration too, if I might add.”

I blushed even though I knew he couldn’t see me with his face still planted into the headrest. Those words… again they were so similar to the compliments he gave me back then. Part of me wanted to be angry at that, because if he’s saying it here right now, how many other mares did he say that to? Was I just the one foolish mare who stuck around with him for a long time? But on the other hoof a small part of me wanted to swoon like it was our first date all over again.

Finally, I regained most of my composure. “Hehe, you flatter me, Renanto. But thank you. Now,” I said as I shuffled back into place, “this might hurt a bit more, but I’ll do my best.”

I tilted my hoof inwards just a bit, allowing me to use the harder edges instead of the softer pad in the middle. And I began rhythmically pressing on the knot, alternating from the left hoof to the right, then back again, in a rhythmic patter.

“Mhmm… oh t-that’s great…” I heard him mumble, his voice broken up a bit by the constant tapping on his back. I kept it up for a minute more until I felt the knot finally begin to noticeably loosen.

“There we go…” I whispered while I began to lighten the pressure. “Got the worst of it, so the rest should be easy now.”

“Phew,” he breathed, “that’s so much better already. Thank you, Peony.”

“I’m glad to hear it. Shall I continue?”

“Yes—” his reply was cut off by a big yawn. “Oh, excuse me. I mean, yes, please. I am putty in your hooves.”

“Falling asleep on me already?” I chuckled.

“Heh, I guess so.” He stifled a second yawn before continuing. “I guess I was more worn out by this trip than I thought.”

“Then it is a good thing you came here then,” I replied as I continued down his sides with lighter pressure and a fresh dribble of oil. “You said you were doing a lot of digging, I think? That is surely quite taxing on one’s body.”

“There was some dirt involved, yes,” he muttered, “But even more digging through boxes and crates, unpacking storage, and on and on. All to find just a few needed things for my clients.”

“My my, that does sound like hard work.” Now I knew for sure the secret ingredient was working its literal magic. He was getting very relaxed, and a bit more talkative too. Exactly what I needed. “I hope your search was successful at least, for all the actual pain it’s put you in.”

“It was, yes,” he answered. “We eventually found what we were looking for.”

I smiled, and promptly put together another little piece of the plan in my head. “That is good to hear. If you don’t mind my asking, what do you do for work?”

It was subtle, but I felt his muscles tighten up just a bit at my question. I took a deep breath, hoping I hadn’t overstepped too much.

“It’s… hmm. I suppose you can say that I’m an explorer of sorts. Ponies and other creatures ask me to find things, and I go and find them.”

“Then whoever sent you all the way out here must really want whatever it is they asked you to get. It’s at least 2-3 days to the closest Equestrian port, even by airship.” I chuckled. “I hope they at least paid for your travel ticket.”

“Oh, they did,” he laughed in return. “The harder the request, the higher my fee.” After a moment’s silence, he spoke again. “May I ask you a question, my dear Peony?”

“Um, sure,” I replied as I moved around to the other side of the table and began running a fresh pair of warmed stones up and down his right side.

“Is there any chance I’ve bumped into you before?”

I kept my hooves moving but couldn’t help slowing down a bit at that question. I nearly bit my tongue to keep myself marginally calm. Was he on to me? I glanced up into the mirror, and that blue pegasus with light hair was still looking back at me. Okay, my disguise hadn’t failed, but I had to be careful here.

“Hmm, I don’t believe so. If I may be so bold, I doubt I’d forget a name as unique as yours,” I added, turning on the charm a bit to hopefully distract him.

“Why thank you. I’m the third in my family’s long line to carry the name, actually. But back to the point…” he paused to yawn a bit again. “I often avail myself of some pampering when making long trips such as this, so I’ve had more than a few spa days, so to speak.”

“Mhmm,” I replied, keeping my hooves moving the entire time, now down to the top part of his flank.

“Out of them all, yours has been far and away the best massage I’ve had. It’s as if you have my poor back memorized.”

I do, as a matter of fact. And I can’t decide if I should be suppressing a shiver of disgust right now, or a shiver of warm fuzzies.

“That’s incredibly nice of you to say, Renanto. Thank you. I’ve only been doing this professionally for a few years now, so I’m sure you’ve been helped by far more experienced ponies than me.”

“Perhaps,” he replied, sighing as I worked another one of his chronic knots out just above his cutiemark, “but you do have the magic touch. Not since—” he suddenly paused and cleared his throat. “Er, I mean that it’s been quite a longtime since I’ve had a massage that made my back feel this good.”

I wanted to cry, melt, and scream all at once. That of all things, he remembered my clumsy but slowly improved attempts to unkink his perennially sore back, amazed me. Another part of me wanted to scream at him, to club him over the head until he came to his senses and rejoined the civilized, non-criminal world. And still, despite it all, a slowly smoldering part of me desperately wanted to kiss him over and over again, as if sheer force of will would bring back the pony I loved. That I still loved. Or at least the idea of him.

“W-Well…” I finally whispered, “if you ever see that masseuse again, you’ll have to let me know how we measure up to each other.” I smiled through the strain on my nerves. “Maybe they can teach me a few tricks too.”

He laughed, but sighed just as quickly. “I doubt I’ll see that particular pony again.”

“Oh? Why’s that?”

“Well, they weren’t a masseuse, really. At least not as their job. She… was my marefriend at the time.”

“Oh, I see. You said ‘at the time’, so does that mean…” I knew the answer, but I wanted to hear how he’d spin it.

“Yes. It was sudden, after years of being with her too. And angry, and bitter, and all the worst ways to end something like that.”

I kept my mouth shut and let him keep talking as I applied a final thin coat of restorative conditioner to his mane and tail.

“I suppose, looking back, it was inevitable. Life was taking me onto the path I’m on now. To put it simply, finding things is what my family has done for generations. It’s a… rough business. Quite dirty, in fact.”

Okay, now I couldn’t resist any longer.

“So, you had to choose then.”

He sighed. “For a moment, I thought I could have it both ways, you know. The job and the mare. But I should have known better. She would never thrive in this line of work.”

“Oh?” I pressed on just a bit more. “And you can sit up now if you’d like. I’m all done.”

I stepped back and let him return to a relative sitting position, which also allowed me to actually look at him again. I hated how good he looked in the dim lights, still shiny from the conditioners and oils.

“I mean,” he continued, don’t get me wrong. She was an incredible pony. Amazingly smart too. But… well let’s just say she wouldn’t approve of the methods you sometimes need to employ to succeed in my field.”

“You must miss her a lot then,” I replied, simultaneously curious and fearful of his answer.

“Yes and no,” he said after a moment’s thought. “I really did love her, and I miss so much about her. But also no, because I know she’d hate what I do now. Who I work for. And why.”

“Love and hate have a weird way of coexisting, don’t they?”

He yawned again. “Hmm, that they do.”

Again, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to punch him or kiss him. He regretted it so much, yet here he was continuing to do it anyway? I wanted to scream so badly just then.

At that point, all I really needed to do was keep him talking for a few more minutes. Ten, maybe fifteen at the most. By then the spiked massage oil would have pushed him into a nap no matter what he was doing at the time. Then it was as simple as retrieving the artifact from his locker, tossing the uniform, and making my escape.

But the things he said, the way his skin felt underneath my hooves, the endless memories that stampeded through my heart… it triggered something in me. Like an old light being turned back on after a long silence.

I was going to absolutely loathe myself tomorrow. But that was future me’s problem. Today’s me needed to feel that connection again, if only for a moment. My heart demanded it, and I hated and loved it for what I was about to do.

Looking at the small clock next to the sink, I began collecting some of the supplies from around the massage table. “Well, it seems we finished just about on time. But, it turns out there is not an appointment immediately after yours, so…” I made a point of brushing the tip of my tail across his back legs, which were dangling just off the edge of the bed. “Is here anything else I can do for you?”

“Really?” he asked, that sly tone sliding right back into his voice immediately. “I have already been thoroughly pampered, my dear Peony. What else did you have in mind?”

“Well,” I put the now cool stones in the sink and looked over my shoulder at him, “there are a few, well, ‘off the menu’ services I can offer.”

“Other serv—” He raised an eyebrow. “Ah, I see, I see. Peony, you surprise me! I did not think an establishment such as this would entertain such debauchery.”

“And it does not,” I replied, casting him a smug look of my own. “This is just between me and you.”

And it was. In more ways than he realized.

“Suppose I was interested,” he chuckled. “What’s on this unofficial menu, hmm?”

“Just another massage,” I said. “A bit more vigorous this time though. Really works the last of that pent up stress out of you.”

He leaned forward a bit and smiled. “Why miss Peony, are you trying to seduce your client?”

“Am I?”

“As a matter of fact, yes.” He looked me up and down, his eyes undressing me more by the second. “Yes, you are.”

“Should I stop?” I whispered as I stepped right up to him, putting my nose just inches away from his.

“No.” He leaned forward, our lips met, and I felt equal parts ashamed and thrilled at the same time.

Maybe I thought it’d be a salacious way to get some revenge on Renanto. Give him a taste of what he’s missing without him knowing it. Another part of me thought that betraying the modicum of trust he had placed in me to keep his stolen goods safe would be just one more log on the stack of defeats and indignities he had suffered at my disguised hooves since throwing it all away. And, I was ashamed to admit, there was a third part of me present in that moment. The little piece of me that was still madly in love and clinging to hope that somehow, she could pull this stallion back from the darkness.

But in the moment, my attention was increasingly drawn to his lips, which were slowly drawing me deeper into his kiss. I reciprocated and leaned in, letting our tongues gently brush against each other for a moment.

“Mmm…” I hummed as I leaned back, casting him a tawdry look. “Did anypony ever tell you that you’re a great kisser?”

“Heh,” he chuckled, leaning closer again. “Once or twice.”

More like a few hundred or so, as I very distinctly recall.

We kissed again, this time letting tongues and hooves start to wander. I couldn’t risk tipping him off completely, but I did use a couple of little tricks that I knew he liked, like curling my tongue and dragging it across his bottom lip, or nipping in just the right spots behind his jaw. Contorting ourselves half on and half off of a table not really designed for this briefly brought back memories of us making out on our cheap dorm room furniture, and trying not to move too hard or too fast, lest it break more than it already was. As it was, the massage table creaked more than a little as we half-climbed over each other.

Finally, we broke for a moment to catch our breath. “My my,” Renanto whispered, “your lips are as skilled as your hooves, Peony.”

I smiled and hummed in response. “I’m just getting started.”

“Are you now?” He smiled and kissed me again. “Well then, what did you have in mind?”

I slid off the table and gestured with a wing. “Lay back down on your stomach.”

While it’s technically correct to say that massage tables like this weren’t designed specifically for sex, that doesn’t necessarily mean that they can’t be used for that anyway. Take the oval shaped cutout in the top surface of the table. It’s there for a simple and practical purpose – to give male clients somewhere to place their, well, ‘equipment’ once they lay down on top of the table. But it also means that, if one were to crawl under said table, you’d have a stallion’s balls literally in your face.

And that was just perfect.

I ducked down just as he was getting himself situated again, quickly disappearing under the long table skirt that framed the table, hiding the entire underneath section from view.

“Peony?” I heard him call. “Where did you go?”

“Down here.”

I saw him look down through the hole in the middle of the headrest, where his snout would normally go, and I greeted him with a smug grin.

“Well…” he laid his head down now, letting his nose poke through to the underside. “this must be quite the unique massage you have planned.”

“Hmm, maybe. But I think you’ll like it” I twisted my body a bit, coming out of my crouch just enough to reach my own head up to kiss him. “Now just relax and let me work out every last drop of stress.”

I shuffled forward until I was directly beneath his haunches, and once I found my balance, I reached out with both wingtips toward his sheath.

“O-Oh!” I heard him hum the moment I made contact.

“Like I said, I think you’ll like it.” I spent the next few minutes letting my wingtips wander, brushing and teasing every part of him that I could reach. It didn’t take too long for his body to respond, and soon enough I had his quickly rising penis cradled in my forehooves.

“Oh my,” I said, playing up the moment with my voice. “What do we have here, hmm?”

“The source of my stress, apparently,” he replied. “Do you have anything that can help?”

I hummed contentedly. “I think so.” I stretched my head up just a bit and began planting gentle kisses along the base of his shaft. I turned a bit, dragging the tip of my tongue along the sensitive skin before repeating those little kisses on the other side.

I didn’t need to ask if it was working. The quickly stiffening cock in my grip told the entire story. Still, I couldn’t resist egging him on just a bit.

“Working so far?”

“Oh, very much, my dear. Please, keep going.”

And so I did just that, lavishing kisses and licks up and down his shaft until it was as hard as the floor beneath my rump. And all the while, I let my hooves and wingtips wander, caressing his balls, or teasing his haunches. I loved that I still knew all the little things that made him squirm and gasp in pleasure, but I hated that his was the touch that part of me still yearned for, even after more than a decade apart.

Still, I was close to my goal, and based on the heavy breathing I heard from behind me, so was he. I shifted again, this time dragging the flat part of my tongue all the way from his balls to the tip of his shaft, before taking him into my mouth and sucking him like a lollipop. I set a deliberate but constant pace, pushing him more and more with each lick, while my wingtips took turns teasing the base of his shaft even more.

He didn’t tell me he was about to cum, but he didn’t need to. The deep, rumbling groan I heard him make was enough. It was the same sound he made every time. I loved that I still knew that, because it gave me just enough time to scoot my head out the way enough to not get blasted in the face. But I hated it too – not just because I still knew all that, but because part of me wished I was fully on the receiving end of his passion, just like I was before. Just like I thought I always would be.

I kept stroking him with my wingtips while he finished, coating the floor behind me with ropes of hot, sticky cum. “There we go, Renanto, just let it alll out.” I gently kissed his shaft a few more times, enjoying the extra mewls and whinnies of pleasure it coaxed out of him as he rode out the moment.

After a couple of minutes had passed, I shuffled out from beneath the table, straightened my uniform, and quickly threw a towel down over the mess left behind.

“Are we all relaxed now, my friend?”

It took me a moment to realize he had not answered me. I stepped around the table, carefully leaning to get a glimpse of his face – and that's when I heard him lightly snoring away. Just as planned. “You always did fall asleep too fast afterwards, you know,” I whispered.

I quietly stepped away and left the room without looking back. It took but a few minutes to slip into the locker room, pick his locker with a manepin pulled from my mane, and find the trio of ancient gems he had squirreled away in his saddlebags.

It wasn’t until I had left the building through the back service entrance and flew to the outskirts of town that I found a secluded spot to remove the pendant, instantly dropping the transformation spell and restoring my normal look. And as I began to fly off toward the town’s airship hub, I strangely found myself wondering how long I’d have to wait for my next opportunity to outwit my ex.

Maybe these weren't such terrible assignments after all.





So there you have it, Red Shoes. I love to hate him for who he is, but I hate myself for still loving who he was – and who I don’t think I’ll ever stop wishing he would be again. Maybe one day I’ll figure out which side of that equation wins out.

What about you, Red Shoes? Which side would you choose?