> Taking Chances
>  by Dusk Melody
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Chapter 1 - Cloud's Silver Lining
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was a typically beautiful sunny Friday morning in Ponyville. The weather pegasi had worked hard and cleared the azure blue sky. Ponies went about their business; families had picnics in the parks, merchants opened their stalls in the marketplace. Everything was right in the small sleepy backwater town.

Almost everything.

One earth pony mare, who was busy warming a bench in the near side of the town’s south park, wasn’t right at all. She cracked open an eye and yawned, quickly waking from her sleep on the impromptu bed. She stretched and swore, cursing to nopony in particular at how yet another night under the stars had left her aching more than when she fell asleep the night before.

At least there hadn’t been any rain.

The mare slipped off the bench and, prompted by the rumbling in her belly, decided it was time to eat. This presented her with a problem. Nopony in this wretched little town would serve her. If she was honest, they didn’t even look at her. That though was a problem easily solved, when she looked around at her surroundings. The park she had chosen had in it many fruit trees in it, and they were all filled with apples, oranges and pears. 

Hunger wouldn’t be a problem, then.

Shelter, or lack of it, was a problem. Still, she decided to worry about that when it was more of a problem than it currently was, The summer day was pleasantly warm, and the shade of the apple tree she had taken several apples from made it all the better.

Better still was that the locals seemed to be avoiding the park she was currently calling home, though she knew that was down to her presence. Whatever the reason, at least she didn’t have to worry about awkward questions and the like. No, all she had to contend with was the looks she was being given. Looks ranging from nervous, to worried, to scared and to downright hostile. All were levelled at her in equal measure, even cast at her from over the low hedge that separated the park from thoroughfare beyond it.

She shook her head and sighed, instead turning her attention from the townsponies to her apples. As long as they left her alone, they could throw all the looks at her they wanted, for all she cared.

One such pony, who was busy casting the strange mare a look of an inquisitive nature was none other than Cloud Blossom. To say the pegasus was having a strange morning would be an understatement, and a big one, at that. Hours earlier, she had been happily cleaning out her sculpting studio in her home in Canterlot, when the mailmare had delivered quite the perplexing letter from her Aunt Pinkie Pie.

The letter in question had directed her to Ponyville, to collect a certain item of clothing from her Aunt Rarity. Though unexpected, Cloud had learned long ago – like every other resident of Ponyville – not to question her aunt. She wasn’t the only one to be surprised. When she had arrived at Carousel Boutique, she found her Aunt Rarity had indeed crafted the item she was there to collect, though the fashionista had no idea why she had made it, only that Pinkie Pie had told her to.

And ponies didn’t question Pinkie Pie’s Pinkie Sense.

So here she was, stood at the hedge border of South Park – affectionately known as Apple Park – using the wide brim of her white sunhat to hide the fact that she was staring, no ogling was a better word, the sky blue earth pony eating the apples that gave the park its name. 

She was perhaps a hundred feet or so away from her target. Even at that distance Cloud Blossom could tell the earth pony was incredibly attractive. That was what had caught her attention. What held it was the details. The shockingly unruly, almost scruffy, magenta mane and tail, the definite musculature under the sky blue coat, to say nothing of the various tattoos that covered almost her whole body.

The more she stood and looked, the more Cloud Blossom was sure it was these markings that was causing the ponies walking past her to give the strange mare such nasty looks. 

Prison tattoos didn’t bother Cloud Blossom in the slightest.

After another few moments spent admiring the unknown pony, Cloud Blossom made up her mind. Spreading her powerful wings, the pegasus flapped twice, and she was over the fence and landing carefully on her three legs. 

Hearing the loud snap of several twigs on the ground nearby, the earth pony looked up sharply from her ‘breakfast’ of fruit and immediately she zeroed in on the source of the sound. She eyed the pegasus as she neared her with suspicion, but let out a derisive snort when she saw the pale green mare had just three legs. Deciding she wasn’t a threat to her, she went back to eating the last of the apples she had picked from the tree.

“You are lucky my mother gave those trees to the town,” Cloud Blossom selected her very best upper crust, prim and proper accent for the greeting, smiling broadly as she got closer. “It means you don't owe anypony anything for the apples you took.”

“Wow,” the earth pony said dryly after taking the time, slowly, to finish off the last of her morning meal, “how magnanimous of the town for that. Only decent thing to happen to me so far in this miserable place.”

“Why do you say that?” asked Cloud Blossom, who defensively smoothed an imaginary wrinkle from the long white sundress she wore.

A bitter laugh was the earth pony mare’s reply. “You're the first pony here that has done more than turn their nose up at me.” She adjusted her seated position on the park bench so that the pegasus could see her cutie mark.
 
“Two musical notes,” Cloud Blossom noted the cutie mark, at the same time she admired the mare’s toned tight looking flanks. Not a hint of fat there or anywhere else on her body for that matter. She smiled her warmest smile and took note of the extra tattoos and, in her finest Canterlot, asked, “You are a musician? I think ponies are avoiding you because of your extra cutie marks. Perhaps they are worried you have the cutie pox?” she rolled her eyes though when she saw a ‘buck life’ tattoo that went from the mare’s jawline all the way down her neck. “I do hope I'm not being too forwards, but what is so wrong with life that it needs bucking?”

“Right,” the mare snapped sharply, her voice carrying with it a thick Vanhoovan accent to it, “for one, I'm here because nopony knows me. So two, to chase you off, I've been bucked by my bucking life, having finally gotten out of prison!”

Instead of being scared away though, Cloud Blossom hopped up onto the bench and stared intently at the various crude tattoos. “Hmm,” she studied the mare’s left foreleg, “you served fifteen years inside, if I am reading the meaning of these chains correctly, and at Vanhoover State Penitentiary too no less. Not an easy stretch. This is supposed to chase me off?”

The sky blue pony was amazed. In fact, she was stunned. “How in Tartarus do you know that?” she asked bluntly, looking warily at the newcomer.

“You are not the only mare I know who has served time for a mistake she made,” replied Cloud Blossom, saying no more about the misadventures of her beloved sister for the time being. She simply pointed to the shark fin tattoo lower down her left foreleg. “Only Vanhoover uses the shark. That, plus your delightful north western accent, tells me where you are from. May I ask, how long have you been warming this bench?”

“There’s more than one bench in this town!” exclaimed the earth pony, before a pronounced red tinge coloured her blue cheeks. Quieter, she muttered, “This park is my current home going on three days.”

Cloud Blossom couldn’t help but giggle, both at the exclamation and at the blush that followed. “I do apologise, for the lack of hospitality shown to you. I am on my way home, as it happens. If you think you can survive roughing it in Canterlot, I have a spare room available if you would like it?”

“Right,” the earth pony deadpanned, “are you stupid, ignorant, some do gooder out to save Equestria or a mix of all three?”

“I have been accused of being too naive, in my time,” conceded Cloud Blossom with an incline of her head. “Forgive me, and perhaps I have misjudged you, but you looked like you could use a little kindness and generosity, is all.” With that, she hopped off of the bench and smoothed out her sundress. “The express leaves for Canterlot in an hour. I will be at Sugarcube Corner until then, if you should change your mind.”

The name meant nothing to her. “What in Equestria is a Sugarcube Corner?”

“You see the large candy covered building, just there on the corner of Mane and Canter?” Cloud Blossom pointed out the building not far away with a wing, “there will be a maple and haybacon donut and a coffee waiting for you, if you are bored of apples.” Saying no more, the pegasus walked off, her yellow tail swishing side to side with each carefully measured step she took.

Not quite under her breath, not that it mattered, the sky blue mare muttered, “yeah, like they will let me past the door…”

As it happened, Cloud Blossom did hear the mutter. Just. Instead of going back though, she just looked back, smiled over her shoulder and winked as she walked, giving her tail a bit of an extra swish. She knew if it weren’t for the dress she wore, the mare would have a treat of a view.

Still on the bench, the earth pony stared at what she knew to be a crazy mare until the pegasus was out of sight. She watched her fly over the hedge and disappear, leaving her sat alone. “What the actual buck was that?” the mare said to herself. Try as she might, she couldn’t work the mare out. Did she have an angle? Was she a Celestial do gooder? Was she just mental? She had no idea. What she did know, she reflected with a sigh, was that she was the only one in three days who had approached and spoke to her like she was a pony, and not trash. “Donut and coffee does sound good, though,” she admitted to herself, convincing herself to do…something.  

With a snort of defeat, she stood up, swung her saddlebags over her back and she headed for the weird looking building. 

As she entered the bakery cum diner, Cloud Blossom couldn’t help but wonder if she had done – and was doing – the right thing. After all, she had invited a strange mare into her home, and all she knew about her was that she was a homeless ex-con. She didn’t even know her name! Still, she’d cast the die now, hadn’t she? 

Thankfully, Sugarcube Corner was almost empty. Cloud Blossom couldn’t recall a time when the place was as empty as it was. There was no trouble finding an empty table over at one of the large windows that gave a decent view of the town. “Good morning, Aunt Pinkie!” she called out.

Where there had been nopony behind the counter, all of a sudden there was Pinkie Pie, like she had been there all along. “Hi Cloudy!” she waved energetically. In a flash and a blur of sheer pink energy, Pinkie all but teleported over to the window table. “Here are your two haybacon maple donuts, one milky coffee with two sugars, and an ice tea for you. Enjoy!”  

Cloud Blossom watched her Aunt stow the tray back in her huge poofy hair and snickered, then she laughed to herself, knowing she judged right, and marvelling at how her Aunt just knew things she shouldn't possibly know. 

A few moments later and the front door opened. A moment after that, and the sky blue earth pony nervously walked in. She ignored as best she could the open stares from the couple of diners and when she saw the pegasus, she moved over to the table looked down, pointing at the steaming hot coffee. “What's that?”
 
“That,” Cloud Blossom ruffled her feathers as she took a sip of her ice tea, “is definitely yours. Zebran coffee with two sugars, how you like it.”

The mare tilted her head, trying and failing to work out how the pegasus knew how she liked her coffee. “Um, okay…” giving up trying, she sat on the vacant seating pad opposite her and took a hesitant sip. “Wow,” as soon as she had ‘the taste’, the sip became a drink. “Hmm, real coffee,” she then took a bite out of the donut. “That is real good.”

“My name is Cloud Blossom,” the pale green mare introduced herself after daintily setting her tea cup down, “and I am very pleased to meet you.”

Awkwardly, the earth pony swallowed her mouthful of donut. “I’m Claves. Um,” her voice was thick from the maple syrup, “I guess it’s a pleasure to meet you, too.”

“A beautiful name,” ‘For a beautiful mare,’ Cloud thought to herself, feeling a blush colour her cheeks as she lifted her ice tea up for a second sip. “Have you considered my offer?”

“Does Canterlot have parks with better fruit trees?”

Cloud Blossom shook her head. “There are no better fruit trees in Equestria than Apple family trees. It does however, have a warm bed and a shower, if that can sway you.”

In all honesty, Claves didn’t know what to think. Bewilderment and confusion warred with suspicion at the strange pegasus and her even stranger offer. For inspiration, she looked around the diner. Curiously, she saw a middle aged pink earth pony nodding like a certified mad mare. “Why?” was all she could think to say. Ponies didn’t go out on a limb for her. It just didn’t happen. “Why me?”

“Because I believe everypony deserves a second chance,” explained Cloud Blossom after a third – longer this time - sip of her tea. “You made a mistake. Unless I am very much mistaken, it is a mistake you do not intend to repeat.”

“Sweet Celestia no,” Claves affirmed definitively, “but you have no clue who I am, what I did or what I can do.”

“The same can be said for you,” shot back Cloud, setting aside her now empty tea cup and favouring her donut. “Also, if I may make an admission, I find you a very attractive mare, so I am 'taking my shot', I think is the right term.”

“Maybe you're just...” as she spoke, a very big, very golden bit slowly began to drop in Claves’ mind. “Aaaah!” the bit at last dropped all the way. “Three legged pegasus, Cloud Blossom. You're that sculptor!” when she had been good enough to earn privileges inside, Claves had read Vanity Mare magazine. Now she recalled seeing the mare on the cover a few times.

Without warning, Pinkie appeared out of nowhere with refills for their drinks and another donut for them both. “She's a smart one, Cloudy!” gleefully, Pinkie vanished as quickly as she had arrived. 

The broad smile had returned to Cloud Blossom’s face. “Indeed, I am that sculptor pony.” She then took a large and very un-dainty bite out of her second donut and hmmm’d her pleasure at the flavour hit.

In contrast to the pegasus’s happy look, Claves let out a most despondent sigh. “I'm a con artist, a grifter, and I’m all out of options. Canterlot it is.” That said, she started on her second donut and coffee like somepony was going to take them away from her. “This is a good place,” she judged the diner, now that she wasn’t being stared at.

“Ponyville is a good place, and it has good ponies in it. They are just wary of new arrivals, is all.” Cloud Blossom then took another, more ladylike bite of her donut and giggled, “It also has the best MiAC store around.”

“Pfft,” snorted Claves, who had drained almost all of her coffee, “I'm not into self pleasure. So, how do I get to Canterlot? I doubt you can fly me there.”
 
“I could fly you there,” Cloud Blossom was in no doubt her powerful well used wings could do the job, “but I believe we would both be more comfortable in the first class car of the Friendship Express, no?” 

“So, I'm more than a charity case to you?”

Cloud Blossom tried her best to not show the offence she felt on her face. “I do not think you are a charity case, Claves. I am attracted to you and, I hope you feel likewise. If you do not, then the offer of the spare room still stands.”
 
“Okay,” Claves made up her mind, though she was still uncertain about the mare and her intentions towards her. “I can commit to that.” After that, they both finished off the donuts and their drinks, Cloud Blossom paid the cover and they left the diner together. 

As they walked side by side along the street, Claves did notice a distinct change in the townsponies they passed on the sidewalk. Namely, there weren’t nearly as many hostile stares coming her way. Correctly, she attributed that to the mare beside her. They walked in comfortable silence until they entered the train station. “Cloud, I have like, fifteen hundred bits to my name.”
 
“Then it is a good thing my private car is already paid for,” Cloud Blossom summoned her nerve and, as the colourful steam train pulled into the station, she laid her left wing on Claves' back. “Do not worry. I am not after you for your money, Claves.” 

Instead of the smile she was certain the pegasus was expecting, Claves rolled her eyes and shied away from the hug, leaving the mare to take her wing back. “No, I think you just want what’s under my tail. Am I on the street once you get it?” 

“I may live in Canterlot,” Cloud Blossom retorted with a sniff and her nose in the air. She didn’t even try to hide the hurt she felt this time, “but I am not that shallow just to want ‘what is under your tail’, as you so delicately put it.”

As they alighted the train, Claves did feel a little guilt at causing that look to cross the other mare’s face. After all, she had done nothing but be kind to her and tell her exactly how she felt. And, if she was honest, the pegasus was very, very easy on the eyes. “Sorry, not sorry. I thought it was best to squash that thought right away. All right, miss sculptor pony,” she said with a warm, genuine smile on her face, “I'm your live in guest till you kick me out.”

“That's better. You have a beautiful smile. Come, the car is this way.” Cloud Blossom was still offended at the thought that she would take advantage like what had been suggested, but she stomped on that thought and shoved it all the way to the back of her mind. 

Following Cloud Blossom’s yellow tail, Claves was feeling far more cheerful than she had been since she had left Vanhoover almost a week ago. It helped the mare she was following was a cutie. “This will be my second visit to Canterlot,” she remarked as they passed cabin after cabin. 
 
“Oh?” Cloud Blossom glanced back over her shoulder on the way to the first class car. She was most pleased to see Claves staring at her rump and her tail. “Do tell.”

“My release officer got me a ticket to Canterlot or Manehatten. My choice. I thought I could do better at the capital. The guard that greeted me…” she trailed off with a deep, sad sigh, before she continued, “she said I'd have to wear a fetlock bracelet. I never left the station. I took the next train out, didn’t care where it was going. Ended up in Ponyville.”

Cloud Blossom was appalled. “Whyever would you need to wear such a ghastly unsightly thing?”

“I was to report to a parole officer, wherever I ended up. I didn't know about the bracelet. Got my flank down to Pony town and I reported to the Mayor Mare there. She looked at me once, said 'good luck', then had her security show me out.”

“Wow. Just, wow.” Cloud Blossom shook her head in disbelief and she led the way to the front of the train and into her large luxurious fist class cabin. “Claves, I am sorry you've had such a rough start.” As she dropped her saddlebags, she pointed with a wing to the selection of seating pads arranged around a low table. “Please, get comfortable.”

Claves shrugged off her bags and allowed them to drop to the floor where she stood. Not that there was much in them. “I guess Ponyville was okay. Nopony messed with me, until you came along. I think that Mayor thought me harmless there. Only guards I saw was around that fancy castle. I stayed away and that was that.”

“That sounds like Ponyville, alright.” The pegasus was about to seat herself on the nearest seating pad, when an idea occurred to her. “Do you want anything to drink on the way?”
 
“Um, yeah,” Claves then blushed hard, for she realised she’d gone a decade and a half since she’d last had any alcohol. As such, she knew exactly what she needed. “Aah do you have any semi-sweet wines?” she asked hopefully. 
 
“Uuum...let me check the mini bar, here…” Cloud Blossom quickly turned her back to her guest so she wouldn’t see her sweat and she checked out the little fridge’s contents. “Uh, there's a few…” she recognised words from her reading classes. Some were easier than others. Obviously she knew beers from wines, that was easy. The wines though all had strange names. Ultimately she picked one and hoped for the best. “They have a Moscato,” she said after practising the word silently several times, “Is that satisfactory?”

Fortunately, for her, she had guessed right.

“Oh, yes!” Claves was so excited to have a taste of her favourite wine in so long that she was clapping her forehooves together.

“Then here you go!” happily she removed the small bottle and accompanying glass from the fridge and passed them both over to Claves. “I think...this red will do nicely for me.” All the other wines had strange Prench names she wasn’t even going to try and read. She knew hers was red due to the colour of the label. That would have to do.  

“Thank you,” Claves treated her host to a second warm smile as she watched the pegasus take a seating pad next to hers. “Thank you for your kindness.” She couldn’t wait any longer. She just had to pour herself a glass and have a long overdue sip. “Ahh, the good stuff!”

“I couldn't look my mother in the face if I did not show you kindness,” Cloud Blossom giggled at the image of Fluttershy admonishing her, “So,” she decided to try and make small talk, “what is there to you besides hot tattoos and Moscato?”

It took all of Claves’ self restraint, but she managed to drink her wine with small sips like a lady. “I thought I told you, already. Con artist, grifter and gang runner. Oh, I can play a piano better than most.”

“You told me of your past,” Cloud Blossom pointed out, “but that does not have to be your future,” she added with a smile. “I have a piano at home. Perhaps you'd like to give it a try?”

“I shall do my best to entertain you,” laughed Claves, who felt more and more at ease, particularly when the train began moving. “When I came to Canterlot it was with a vision of playing piano in an upscale club. A silly dream, but your place sounds nice.”

“I certainly hope so. I think it is a good make. Bluthner gifted it to me in return for a statue I made of him.” Cloud Blossom took the time drinking from her glass to organise her thoughts. She wanted to flirt, and to help, but it had been a while since she had done either, so she didn’t want to make a donkey’s ass of herself. “You know, there is always Trixie's Place. It is not the most upmarket club, but there are musicians that perform there on the ground floor.”

“I did say 'sort of' I think. Trixie’s has other avenues to follow,” Claves added, with laughter in her voice, “but I don't know if I want to be employed there for that. Can never be sure of who the client might be.”

“You do not have to work the upper floors to work at Trixie's,” said Cloud Blossom with a smile, for she believed she was helping still. “I must admit, I do like to frequent the establishment, on occasion.”

At that, Claves narrowed her eyes and looked her host over with a most critical eye, like she was sizing her up. “I got word of the place while on the inside when the Vanhoover branch opened a few years back. Upper floors pay more. She has subs and doms on staff. Can you guess which I'd be hired for?”

“I am rather hoping you would be a dominant, to be honest.” Cloud Blossom didn’t know how she got her words out, she was blushing so very, very hard.

Claves nodded once to confirm she would indeed be a dominant pony, she had her own suspicions about her kindhearted host. A suspicion she decided to test by setting down her now empty glass. “Fill that,” she ordered simply in her finest ‘dom’ voice.

“O-Of course…” Cloud Blossom, oblivious to Claves’ heart beating out a tattoo in her chest, scooped up the empty glass in her hoof and duly filled it with the bottle held in her wing before she passed it back.

Claves took care to keep her face neutral as she took a sip of her refilled Moscato. Internally she was cheering. “Thank you,” she kept her voice even, “Is that what you were hoping for when you walked up to me?”

“One can hope for many things. At first, all I wanted to do was help a pretty mare.”

“You must like the tomcolt look then. I can style my mane, but...” Claves gave up on the clearly ridiculous lie. Her mane had never ever been styled in her life. It wouldn’t allow it. “Nope. Okay, we can talk boundaries on the ride. I don't want your charity, but I'll be happy to work you over for my stay.”

“Your look is most attractive, Claves. And, it really is not charity. I am...lonely. And, you are hot,” she felt her cheeks getting warm, and Cloud Blossom wondered if she had ever blushed so many times in one day, ever.

Claves looked around where she was sitting, making it obvious what she was doing. “Kind of lonely over here,” she said as she sipped some more wine.

“What?” Cloud Blossom blinked once, while her brain processed the earth pony’s words. “Oh...oh!” admittedly not the quickest on the uptake, the pegasus got it and she flapped her wings. In an instant she was over by Claves’ side, sharing her seating pad.

“That's better. Now, let’s talk boundaries. You are a mare of importance, and I don't want to be the idiot.”

Cloud Blossom didn’t see any reason to blush or be embarrassed any longer. The cat was out of the bag, as the saying went. “Well, I enjoy being tied up. And spanked, with hoof and crop, and hairbrush. Also, I really like hooves. Being pinned under them, and held down by them, and being made to worship them…” she paused for a much needed breath, her chest heaving.

Claves was on board with the rope play and the spanking, but hoof worship was a new one to her. Not that she would ever kink shame, she just didn’t see her hooves as good for anything besides walking about. To test what the pegasus had said, she reached over and dipped her left forehoof deep in Cloud Blossom's wine glass. She swirled it there, watching as flecks of dirt and bits of grass swam in the red liquid. After a minute she pulled it out of the soiled wine and looked at it. “Hoof worship? Really?”

“Yes, really. But not that one, not yet. Forgive me, but it is frightfully dirty.” Cloud Blossom flew over to where there was a small towel on top of the mini bar. Snatching it up, she came back and reverently wiped Claves’ hoof clean. “Much better,” she declared once it gleamed, and she placed a kiss on the toe of the hoof.

That sealed the deal as far as Claves was concerned. She was worried the pegasus was one of those spineless submissives who did whatever was ordered of them, no matter how much it hurt or damaged them to do so. “Okay, I'm in. You should empty the glass too. I like boundaries. I don't want to cross a line. It is lonely on the inside, and I’m not going back.”

“I know it is,” Cloud Blossom went over to the small sink in the corner of the cabin and upended her glass, draining the soiled wine and swirling the glass out with water to make sure it was clean. “I am really not a fan of bodily fluids. Blood and uh...vomit, and scat, are a hard no, for me.”

“Okay, I accept that, but a spanking can break a welt. I'll try to be careful.”

“Is there anything you are interested in that has not been mentioned?” asked Cloud Blossom as she once more regained her place beside Claves and refilled their glasses.

“Sweetie, you had me at bondage. A pony like me can appear invisible in society,” Claves went on, “so I do like to do things in public. You, I don't think an invisibility spell can do that to you.”

“No,” Cloud Blossom agreed, then she countered with, “but it is amazing what can be hidden by a dress. A sundress, for instance, like the one I am wearing. And I do like to wear dresses.” As she spoke, further gears were turning in her head. Gears connected to her Aunt Pinkie, the letter to go to Ponyville and the item she had to collect. “I did not just get this dress on my visit to Ponyville. My aunt Rarity made me this fetching bridle too…”

Claves’ eyes went ever so wide and she leant back to take stock. “The only Rarity I know of in Ponyville is the element bearer. Generosity, I think. Like who lives near that fancy castle.”

“Please forgive me, but I did not want to be a name dropper. Fluttershy and Applejack, the elements of kindness and honesty, are my parents. The other elements, I consider them to be my Aunts.”

A deep sigh escaped Claves’ mouth. “Okay,” she breathed, “so I don't think you're out to get me. You passed that test twice. Celestia knows what will happen to me if I cross the line again.” She burst out laughing, “Does Tartarus have any cells with a pool, by any chance?”

Shaking her head, Cloud Blossom giggled, “I am afraid not. You will have to make do with the pool at my place.” That said, she got very brave and kissed Claves on the cheek, before looking away. “Can I show it to you, the bridle, I mean?”

Tenderly, Claves lifted the pegasus’s chin, and pulled her in close to her side. “What you can show me is a peaceful ride, more good wine, and a nice meal.” She placed a soft and gentle kiss on her host’s lips. “Your wine is dry, but your lips are sweet.”

Cloud Blossom’s blush intensified, to the point she felt her whole face was on fire. She was sure she was red as a tomato. Slowly she extended her wing out over Claves’ broad muscular back. “I can do all of those things for you.”

“I know,” Claves kissed her mare affectionately, “and I believe you think you could do more. Let's keep this at first date level for now. Anypony going to be waiting for you at the station?”

“No. My mothers are busy back in Ponyville with the Apple farm, and my sister has her life over in Manehatten, so it's just me.”

Claves rolled her eyes in such a manner she made sure the action was heard. “I meant your staff.”

“Oh, I see.” Much, much too late, Cloud Blossom saw her error. “Again, no. It is my maid's day off. Dusty, I mean, Feather Duster, is taking in the opera tonight at the Sun and Moon theatre.”

“You have a staff of one?” Claves was incredulous. “I just thought...” she shook her head. “It’s nothing. Must be your kindness to give your maid a day off and sneak out of town.”

“There are mansions in the Upper Noble Quarter staffed by armies of servants waiting hoof and tail, and populated by nobles happy to let them.” Cloud Blossom sniffed, “pretenders, every last one of them. I have a villa, I live comfortably, but I am not an alicorn in waiting. Dusty cleans for me and keeps me company.”

“Hey there, I meant no offence,” Claves kicked herself and offered up a nuzzle to say sorry. “I thought you'd have at least five. Maid, Cook, Butler, Gardener, and a Personal Assistant. Not an army. Your sculptures are like, everywhere.”

“Blame Dusty.” Cloud Blossom couldn’t be mad when she was being nuzzled like that. Especially when she was being nuzzled like that. “She takes pride in being my one mare army. I honestly would be lost without her. She cleans, cooks and organises my days for me. She chose the gardener and pool cleaner for me too.”

“So in reality she is your Personal Assistant but one who wears many hats.” Claves understood, and she leant in close so she could whisper in her mare's ear. “Do you think she'd like to watch?”

“You could say that,” before she could say anything else though, Cloud Blossom was struck by an instant wingboner. “I am absolutely sure she would,” even her yellow tail flagged upwards at the thought, making the pegasus look like she was in heat.

Claves’ laugh was bright and clear, like the finest crystal. “Well then, Lady Blossom. I shall prove my worth to you. And…oh my, it seems that my glass is empty again. Oh, the donuts seem to have worn off, too.”
 
“Might I then suggest the dining car? Or, if you would prefer, I can have food bought to us.”

“I would like to be served here,” Claves’ confidence seemed to waver momentarily, then she giggled brightly once more because a wing stretched over her and hugged her tight in a feathered embrace she was starting to become enamoured of. “The world isn’t ready for my presence just yet,” then she added, “I've had enough stares lately.”
> Chapter 2 - Growing Closer
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Steam vented noisily from the engine as Claves followed Cloud Blossom off the Friendship Express. She was most reluctant to leave, the first class carriage had been the most luxurious thing she’d ever experienced. “Now what?” she asked, shooting daggers with her eyes at the guard who had stopped her before.

“Well,” Cloud Blossom checked the time by the large round station clock, allowing other passengers to leave ahead of her. It had just turned eight in the evening. “I'm thinking of getting a taxi to my place, unless you'd rather walk?”

“Nice of you to be walking with me,” Claves smiled while she watched the crowd of milling ponies around them thin out. She guessed her companion wasn’t a fan of being crowded and pushed and shoved. “You could hover fly if you like. I don't mind walking.”

“Thank you!” almost like she had been waiting for permission – something that didn’t escape Claves’ notice – the pegasus spread her wings and hovered a few feet off the ground, keeping pace with the earth pony walking by her side. “So much better,” she giggled, “c'mon, this way.”

At the exit of the station, Cloud Blossom paused and hovered in place. “Oh, it seems we are taking a taxi after all,” she pointed a hoof to a rather no-nonsense looking cream coloured unicorn mare with a slate grey mane in a typical maid's dress standing by a zebra cab. “That's Dusty.”

“My oh my,” Claves stared wide eyed at the very attractive middle aged pony waiting for them. She was a stunner, and she wore the maid’s dress exceptionally well, particularly the skirt. It framed her hind quarters nicely. “It is good I already have a marefriend.”

As she landed, Cloud Blossom coloured up in a deep red blush. She felt a lot like she’d just been busted sneaking cookies from the kitchen, her hoof literally in the jar. “Dusty!” she smiled too widely, “Hello, uh, good evening! Isn't today your day off...I mean, thank you for meeting us!”

“If this is your day off outfit,” Claves couldn’t stop herself from staring long and hard at the unicorn. She wore middle age like she wore the dress. That is to say, beautifully. “I can't wait to see your day on outfit. I'm Claves, and I will be around for as long as she keeps me.”   

Cloud Blossom was more and more flustered, especially when Claves pointed her hoof at her and hugged her tight right there. She didn't like it. “Ah, yes, Dusty, this is Claves, we're uh, she's my...marefriend, now.”

Claves smiled a great big cheesy smile, loving running the scene that was unfolding. “I'm sure with all the dust she creates chipping at stone, her feathers need regular dusting, am I right?”

“Yes, they do.” answered Feather Duster, not bothering to keep the dry tone out of her voice or her eyes. She had heard about this new pony that her employer had encountered, and so she eyed her up accordingly. “Madam lets the dust get everywhere.”

“Um,” Cloud Blossom disguised smoothing out her white sundress as a moment to collect herself and regain her composure, “not that I am ungrateful, Dusty, but why have you met us?” 

Feather Duster treated Claves to a long, appraising look, one she was pleased to see the earth pony not shy away from. Indeed she seemed to puff herself up, daring the unicorn to find fault with her. “My presence was requested by Madam Applejack,” she explained, stepping aside and holding open the cab door in her magical aura.

In concentration, Claves scrunched her eyes tight shut, “Applejack. Isn't she one of the element bearers?”

“Yes, Honesty, and one of my mothers,” Cloud Blossom sighed, and she realised she should have expected some degree of interference from her parents. “Aunt Pinkie must have told her I met you.” Politely, she stood to one side so that Claves could board first.

As she passed the pegasus, Claves gave her a nuzzle and alighted the cab, making straight for the backseat. “So, how does this Pinkie know about me?”

“You recall the maple haybacon donuts we shared at Sugarcube Corner?” asked Cloud Blossom when she too was inside the cab and seated next to her marefriend, “The pink mare there, that was my Aunt Pinkie.”

“Oh, so everything…” Claves let loose an impressively despondent sigh. She had a moment of dread, worried this good thing was going south before it had a chance to go north. “So, what if your moms don't think I'm the right fit for you?”

Cloud Blossom couldn’t help but giggle, easing s little of the tension she suddenly felt from nowhere. “If they were really worried, they would be greeting us instead of sending Dusty.” 

Feather Duster stood a little straighter, making herself a little bigger. “Madams Fluttershy and Applejack thought it prudent you be escorted home, madam,” she inclined her head respectfully to both the mares in front of her. 

“And you getting gossip straight from the source did not influence you at all?” asked the pegasus, pleased to see she got a blushing smile from her maid and confidant. 

As Feather Duster stepped in to the cab and seated herself on the seat facing the pegasus and earth pony, Claves asked quickly, “So, you don't a statue of her yet?”

“I have offered, but...” 

“It wouldn't be proper, Miss Claves,” Feather Duster harpooned her employer’s sentence, then she turned over her shoulder addressed the driver. “Four, Mountainview Villa, Upper Noble Quarter, if you please.”

“Proper?” stated Claves in the way that the question wasn’t really a question. Amusement alive in her eyes. “Proper is doing what makes you happy without making others unhappy.”

“And sculpting you would make me so happy, Dusty.” 

Feather Duster was about to mount a valiant defence, then she saw the double offensive, the dual attack that was the devastating pout from Cloud Blossom and the smug grin from Claves, and she sighed, admitting defeat. “Very well, I suppose,” she relented, “But I’m afraid it will have to wait. A commission has arrived today from the palace.”

“The royal couple together?” Claves arched an eyebrow suggestively, “Could use some more art like that.”

“Dusty, I am shocked!” Cloud Blossom lifted a hoof to her chest and wafted herself, “You checked my mail on your day off?” 

“It ceased to be my day off, madam, when I was contacted,” Feather Duster commented, resolving to keep the pegasus’s secret, though she did look aside and blushed. “It's Lady Octavia's birthday in three months. Princess Luna would like a bust of her to gift to her wife.”

“You do have a feisty assistant,” purred Claves right into the pegasus’s ear, pleased to see it flick in her direction and the mare it was attached to giggle like a filly. One ticklish spot filed away in her memory. She then turned to the unicorn. “We need to do coffee.”

“I'm sure we do, and we will,” Feather Duster found herself warming up to the earth pony the more time she spent in her company. She was brusque, she said what was on her mind and she didn’t mince her words. In short she was her kind of mare. With an incline of her head, she said, “I'm an excellent assistant.” 

“Take it easy, Dusty,” Cloud Blossom, as oblivious as she was, could tell there was a rapport developing between her maid and her marefriend already, after just such a short time. There was a sense of easy banter in the cab. Feeling comfortable, she snuggled up to Claves on her seat, hanging a wing over Claves’ broad back.

Now it was Claves who giggled, “I already told you, when I saw her it was a good thing I have a marefriend. Still,” she added, leering suggestively at the older pony, “I do need to learn where all your tickly spots are.”

“I should be happy to tell you where madam's tickly spots are, over coffee, miss Claves,” Feather Duster made up her mind finally about Claves. She was an attractive mare, she had a past, but so did everypony, herself included. In short, she was a ‘perfect fit’, for her beloved employer. A devilish smile crossed her muzzle, “amongst other things that madam keeps in her spare room…”

“It's a date!” Claves clapped her hooves, “While she is searching for Lady Octavia in stone we can have coffee in this delightful city.”

“Heh,” Cloud Blossom nervously rubbed one foreleg with the other, “Dusty, I am sure you don't need to tell her everything...”

“Miss Claves,” Feather Duster cut across the pegasus like she hadn’t said anything at all, “madam has told you already of her 'preferences', I assume?”

“Oh, Cloudy was more than upfront with all of that on the train ride,” Claves loved the slightly embarrassed look on the pegasus’s face, she knew she had the artistic mare. “Of course, when she was reeling me in, she dropped some hints.”

“Good,” Feather Duster had an amused look on her own face. She suspected it wasn’t Cloud doing the reeling. “Madam does have a habit, on stressful days, of tying herself up in her play room. I am her safe out. Am I to assume you will be taking a dominant role to her in your relationship?”

“That is the near term plan, yes,” agreed Claves, who was feeling more and more at ease as the cab wove its way along the old Canterlot streets, “I may take a more active role in her enjoyment.”

The amused grin on Feather Duster’s face became a far more genuine one. “I'm very pleased to hear it. How would you like to join me at a charming little cafe for lunch tomorrow? I can tell you everything.” 

Sitting next to Claves on the back seat of the cab, Cloud Blossom wanted the earth to open up and swallow her. Sadly, no such respite would make itself known. No such help was coming. “I am right here…” she mumbled, resorting to hiding behind the wing she had draped over Claves’ back.

“I think that would be very nice,” Claves duly ignored what Cloud Blossom had mumbled barely audibly. However, she wasn’t about to have her hide, not behind a wing or anything else. She reached out a hoof, turned her head, and kissed her fully on the mouth. “I'm sure you will be somewhere other than here.”

When she was able to breathe next, to say nothing of speaking, the smitten pegasus whimpered something that sounded a lot like, 'yes ma'am'. 

“Madam,” Feather Duster spoke up the luxurious villa she called home came into view at the end of a wide avenue flanked by towering trees, “I'd like to take tomorrow as my day off, since I worked today.”

“That's fine, Dusty,” Cloud Blossom’s words were a little slurred as, while she was trying to speak, Claves was busy placing kiss after kiss directly to her lips in between each. 

Smirking, Claves whispered a little too loudly, “Feisty indeed.”

“Dominant recognises dominant,” Feather Duster smiled broadly as she watched Claves utterly own the pegasus’s mouth so effortlessly. She had to admit she was a little jealous, of both mares. “Madam needs a firm hoof to get things done, miss Claves.”

Reluctantly, Claves turned away from her deliciously submissive marefriend. “There are some finer details we will need to work out. Though, I’m sure I could help with deadlines. Does she have any problem with those, Ms. Dusty?”

“Madam does indeed, Miss Claves,” acknowledged the unicorn with a nod of her head, “To say nothing of not knowing when to stop sculpting and rest or even when to feed herself.”

The smile that crossed Claves’ muzzle was positively predatory. A shark on the hunt would’ve been complimentary of it to the point of intimidated. She lightly tapped her mare on the nose. ”I do have a plan for that.” Before either pony could say anything else, she looked out of the taxi cab window and let out a low whistle. “Nice place.”
 
As the cab pulled up alongside the large one storey white walled villa, with its angled red tiled roof, Cloud Blossom smiled with justifiable pride. Her home wasn’t the largest of the seven mansions on the avenue, nor was it the most expensive, but it was hers. “I was rather hoping you would like it,” she beamed while Feather Duster got out ahead of them and held the door open.

When they were stood on the sidewalk in front of one of the huge trees, Claves nuzzled Cloud Blossom’s cheek. “Thank you for the rescue from the park bench. I didn’t want another night under the stars.”
 
Affectionately, Cloud Blossom returned the nuzzle. “You are most welcome, although the stars do look nice tonight,” she grinned, for during the cab ride, evening had given way to the full velvety blanket of night, the deep dark pinpricked by millions of bright stars. “Come on, I'll give you the tour,” she led the way across the small sidewalk while Feather Duster paid the cab driver.

“I'll bring your saddle bags, madam,” called the unicorn, who was engaged in a little light conversation with the zebra. 

“Thank you, Dusty,” Cloud Blossom acknowledged her maid with a wave of her wing, then she opened the side gate and proceeded up her path to her villa. Even at night, she could make out her large swimming pool to the left of her house.

“She does love you,” Claves stated matter of factly once they were inside. “It’s hard to find such loyalty.”
 
“I did her a solid favour three years ago,” remarked Cloud Blossom, as she stepped into the shallow hoof wash situated just inside the door. She made sure to thoroughly wash all three hooves, then she made way so her guest could do the same. “She was lost, and in need of kindness. Kindness I offered her.”

Claves was about to question the hoof wash, until she saw the vast expanse of pure cream coloured carpet. She guessed, correctly, that Dusty never allowed a speck of dust or dirt on that carpet. Not wanting to garner the unicorn’s ire, she thoroughly used the hoof wash. “I'm glad to see that kindness continued. So, where do I sleep? May as well get that out of the way.”
 
“In my opinion, the world could use a little more kindness,” she offered her guest another nuzzle once they were both on the carpet. “Well, sleeping arrangements. I was originally going to offer you the second spare room, but after the train ride, I ah...um...I was thinking, uh, you might share my bed?”

Claves smiled. She resisted the urge to look all around her at the large portraits on the clean white walls. She assumed they were various family members. Right then, she only had eyes for the pegasus. “Oh, I'll be happy to take your bed, but punishment may put you in that second spare room.”
 
The wink she caught made Cloud Blossom turn the reddest shade yet. “That is why I cannot offer you the first spare room, you see, it is what my Aunt Rarity calls a 'play room'.”

At that, Claves’ eyes widened to the size of saucers. “Well, that puts an end to that thought. I was going with Dusty had the first room. Sill, we should start with room two, then the main bedroom, and after the rest of the house, conclude with that first room.”
 
“Oh, Dusty doesn't live in, though sometimes she does stay in the summer house in the garden.” She led the way through a very modern white and chrome living room, with its cream coloured carpet. It was large enough for two faux white leather sofas around a glass coffee table and a wooden dining table in the side, to a small hallway. There, she walked past the first and second rooms, to a third door, which she opened to reveal the second room. It was a large twenty foot square space, which had the basic furnishings of a double bed, wardrobe and dresser.

By her side, Claves took the things her gracious host said in her stride. She had never been rich, or even well off, Tartarus be damned, she’d never had any money at all. But, Cloud Blossom hadn’t rubbed her wealth in her face, so she couldn’t complain. “Main bedroom?” 

Leaving the second spare behind, Cloud Blossom turned to the left and went back down the hallway to the first bedroom. Her bedroom was just as big as the one they just saw, though the carpet here was a pastel pink rather than cream. Everything was pink, and the furniture of a finer more grand make and design. Centre stage in the room was a mighty four poster bed replete with gold finials. “This is my...I mean, our, room, if you like it, that is.”

Taking in the pink room, Claves nodded. “Yes,” she said eventually, “this is almost what I envisioned. Comfortable.”
 
“Almost?”

“No three tier marble operating fountain.” 
 
At the threshold to her bedroom, Cloud Blossom shuffled her forehooves like she had been caught out. “That’s in the garden...ahem! Anyway, you wanted to see the rest of the house. You have seen the majority. My sculpting area is in the basement, if you want to go down and see that?”

Thinking she was being the most clever and quick witted comedian in the history of Equestria, Claves quipped, “Leave no stone unchipped!”
 
For a brief moment, a moment that stretched on forever, Cloud Blossom stopped and looked straight at Claves. She blinked twice and then she burst out laughing. “That's good! I like that! Oh that’s very good!” she giggled, and that became a laugh, which turned into a snorting belly laugh. “No stone unchipped! Oh wow!” 

Still giggle snorting, the pegasus led the way through back to the living room, and from there to a staircase in the far corner going down. As they descended, a series of automatic floodlights turned on, illuminating a massive basement that was easily three times bigger than the bedrooms. It was lined with wooden walls, one such wall covered in various carving tools. There were several plinths located in a circle around the centre. Some had statues and busts on them. One bust was of a severe looking unicorn mare, clearly finished, but the face had been roughly chipped away. In the far corner of the sculpting room was a luxurious bathroom set up, and the opposite had a goods lift.
 
Claves took her sweet time in looking around. She tried to look everywhere at once like her head was on a swivel. Some of the more obvious tools she knew, like the mallet and chisels, while there were some less obvious in their usage. Those she asked about, being genuinely curious. She ended up at the 'damaged' unicorn. “What’s the story behind this?”
 
For once, Cloud Blossom's face darkened at the mention of the bust. “That. That…was for a mare called Amethyst Glory. She ran a care home not far from the Lower Noble Quarter. She has since been found to run an abusive institution and has been arrested for her crimes.”

“I’m sorry, I don't really follow the news.” Claves looked once more at the defaced bust, knowing better than most that corruption was everywhere. “I'm going to ask a question, to which I think I know the answer to.”
 
“Please do,” Cloud Blossom approached the bust and she gingerly ran the tips of her primary feathers over the bust like it might burn her. “Of course, I can re-purpose this. No need to waste resources.”

“That’s what I was going to ask, but not the answer I was expecting.”
 
“Oh?” she then pointed with a wingtip to the many stone and marble blanks and blocks carefully stacked around the side of one wall. “Those are mined from the bottom of the mountain, some come from as far as the east coast. I even have griffon marble. I cannot afford waste.”

Claves shrugged at that. “I thought you can see what’s inside before you land the first hammer blow. The stone's soul, right? I didn't think you could change that. Well, other than to make gravel out of it.”
 
“That is true, of course,” Cloud Blossom smiled broadly, “I am pleased you know so much about the artistic process. When I said repurpose, I meant for a student to practice on, of course, rather than as a piece for sale. She led the way over to the bathroom area, which held a large four pony sized sunken bath with spa jets inside and wall mounted fans, framed with tiles on the two walls of the corner. “Dusty insisted I install this.”

Bearing a thoughtful look on her face, Claves could easily see why the maid would insist on the installation of the bath. “Then, I insist we verify its operation!”
 
Cloud Blossom kept the wide smile that so recently adorned her muzzle. “Yes ma'am!” Damn, it felt so good to be in the presence of a dominant pony! Eagerly, she pressed a button on the edge of the bath with a hoof, and hot water flooded the tiled bath.

As one accustomed to sleeping on benches and ‘bathing’ in a Ponyville pond when nopony was looking, Claves wasted no time whatsoever getting into the steaming hot water. The sigh that left her lips felt like it came from the dawn of time. “Please do my mane, and will Dusty be joining us?”

“Yes ma'am,” carefully, the three legged mare got into the hot water and she started to wet the earth pony’s unruly magenta mane. “No,” she said as she scooped hoof full after hoof full of water onto Claves’ head, “if I know Dusty, she will be preparing dinner for us.” Once she was happy the mane was wet enough, she picked up her shampoo bottle. “Is lavender satisfactory?”

“It will do, for now.” Claves tried to keep up her dominant façade, but under such treatment, she didn’t care what Cloud Blossom used on her. “I'll get some sandalwood later. Next question, where do you think she dropped my saddle bag off at?”
 
Cloud Blossom gently worked the lavender shampoo into Claves’ untidy mane. “She will have placed it with mine in the nook just after the hoof wash.”

Letting out a long breath, Claves relaxed in the hot water with a soft giggle, “And I thought she would be presumptuous enough to put it in your room.”
 
Smirking, Cloud Blossom affected her maid’s voice as she spoke, “There is a place for everything, madam, and the bedroom is no place for saddlebags!” she joined her guest in a giggle and she rinsed out the shampoo only to work in more to properly clean it. “You do have a beautiful magenta mane. Has it always been so unruly and hard to work with?”

Claves’ laugh was long, loud and bright at the excellent imitation of Feather Duster’s voice. “My mane? All my life. That’s why I just leave it with the 'wild' look.”
 
“I think it suits you,” Cloud Blossom opined as she switched to a lavender scented coat shampoo. That, she worked into her marefriend’s body with her hooves. She was only too happy to slowly massage it into the earth pony’s shoulders and back.

If it was possible, Claves relaxed even more than she already was. “You're a keeper…”
 
“Why thank you, ma'am, I am pleased you think so,” Cloud Blossom worked the shampoo into Claves’ skin, going ever lower to the mare’s tight toned flanks. There was not an ounce of fat anywhere on her body. It was like massaging sheer muscle. “I do have a question. You do not have to answer, but I am curious.”

“Hmmm?”
 
Cloud Blossom had reached the dock of Claves’ tail – which was just as shockingly unruly and as hard to tame as her mane - after sensually massaging the mare’s music note cutie marks. She duly switched over to a tail shampoo. “May I ask what you did, in Vanhoover, to get arrested?”
 
Claves had been afraid that this subject would eventually arise. She supposed it was better it came up sooner rather than later. “Back home, when I was younger, I was a latch key filly,” she spoke with her eyes closed, content to enjoy the pampering she was getting. “My folks were away a lot, working or whatever. I hardly saw mom, dad, I dunno. I ended up running with a gang. I was a lowkey asshole for a few years, till I became a teenager.”

She took a moment in her story to pause for breath, and to collect her thoughts in order to carry on with the telling. It wasn’t very often she spoke of her past. It wasn’t like anypony was ever interested. All they saw were her tattoos. “Anyway, when I was seventeen, I mugged this stallion. It was supposed to be nice and easy. Intimidate him with my gun, get his money. But the guy was an ex-royal guard. He put up a fight. My ‘partner’ unicorn magically pulled the trigger. I got arrested for assisted homicide and the judge made an example of me. I got fifteen years.” 

“The gang was family to you, I understand,” said Cloud Blossom as now she started to wash Claves’ front, starting at the mare’s neck and working her way down, she hovered over the 'buck life' tattoo.

“Family is way too strong a word for what they were,” remarked Claves, “they gave me shelter and a purpose. I didn't care if that purpose was for good or ill.”
 
“Claves against the world?” Cloud Blossom had heard a variation of Claves’ story many times over the years, from the various ponies she had helped. Some were unrepentant, some actually wanted to be better. She could tell Claves was the latter. “I do hope you do not carry guilt for the stallion's death,” she said as she worked in the shampoo over the many tattoos.

A shrug of the shoulders answered the pegasus. “I did at first, when I was inside. But I didn't kill him. That said, I was holding the weapon that did. Trancer is still in prison. My debt has been paid. Then again, Luna hasn't seen fit to purge if from my dreams...”
 
Sensing it was necessary, Cloud Blossom moved in and kissed Claves long and hard on the lips. She even used her tongue. She was so emboldened that she sucked on her marefriend’s tongue! Naturally, Claves returned the kiss with interest, easily dominating her submissive partner. “Now, it’s my turn to check out your body.”
 
Cloud Blossom’s breath hitched in her throat. There was ‘something’ about the way the earth pony half growled, half purred those last nine words. She laid back in the bath, and attempted her best 'sexy eyes' look. “My body is yours, ma'am.” 
 
Hearing the pegasus say that got Claves so wet between her legs it was a good thing she was in the bath. To have a sub give themselves up like that was the biggest turn on for her. She could have pounced the mare right then, but she restrained herself. She was determined to treat Cloud Blossom right. She deserved her very best. Gathering up the lavender shampoo, she started at the mare’s mane and worked her way down to the shoulders. “I'll have you know, I don't know a thing about preening. Yet.”

As she was washed and cleaned, Cloud Blossom was aware of a few things that she hadn’t been before. One, she enjoyed being cleaned by somepony else. Two, she loved that somepony else to be Claves. Three, she was utterly amazed that such a strong and muscular pony could be so gentle. Four – which was connected to three – she was astounded that her hooves had such a soft, almost velvety touch to them.

“Oh, but I would be more than happy to teach you…” Cloud Blossom let out a relaxed 'hmmmm', letting her wings splay out by her sides in the bathwater. She purred like a kitten when Claves reached her wing joints. They were powerful, the muscles where the wings met the body were well defined and strong, even for a pegasus. “I love how soft your hooves are. I could worship them all day long!”

“Earth pony magic,” was all Claves said to that. Her forehooves glowed with a magical light as she channeled her magic through her legs to her submissive’s pliant body. Claves briefly worked around the wing joint, but she stayed away from the leading edge and feathers. In such a fashion, she massaged her way down to her hind quarters. “What’s the story about your missing leg?”
 
“Hmmmm, I wish I could say it was a fight with a dragon, or an ursa minor, but it is really boring.” Cloud Blossom didn’t mind talking about her disability, she just wished it wasn’t so dull a tale to tell. “Before I was born, the umbilical cord wrapped around it and stopped my leg growing. It was so atrophied that after birth it was amputated.”

With such incredible care and softness born from her pony magic, Claves ran a forehoof over the hip of the missing leg. It was perfectly smooth, no hint of a stump or scar. The doctor must have been skilled indeed, she assumed. “This is always you. A you that has overcome what this could have been.”  
 
Cloud Blossom shivered happily and sighed, utterly relaxed as Claves turned her attention to thoroughly cleaning her only – right – hind leg. “We have both overcome adversity in our lives to be where we are right now.”

With a mischievous smile on her face, Claves moved back up the toned hind leg, where she performed an unnecessarily meticulous and comprehensive hoof and tongue cleaning directly under the pegasus’s dock.
 
“Gaah!” yelped Cloud Blossom, who – involuntarily – made the most unlady-like noise thanks to where her dominant partner had just licked and prodded her with her hoof and tongue. “W-W-Would you like to know what I was doing in Ponyville?” she asked, her breath ragged, when the earth pony resurfaced.

Smirking like the villain in an old Saturday morning cartoon, Claves moved forward a little bit so she could ensure the quivering pony’s nipples were all clean. One had to be sure, after all. “Let me guess,” she grinned, “you were trawling your net for cute hot mares?”
 
“Oooh...oooh my stars...” Cloud Blossom arched her back, at the same time her wings and feathers were splayed wide open. It had simply been too long since she had been pleasured like this! “I was getting a choker...well, a collar, from my Aunt Rarity. Aunt Pinkie told her to make it, and called me to go pick it up. Now I know why.”

After feasting on her marefriend’s rock hard nipples for a few seconds, Claves felt the need to breathe, and so she came up for air. That didn’t mean she was done though. Like Vanhoover’s national animal, the shark, she surged forwards with a toothy grin the namesake would’ve been proud of, where she made sure the underbelly and chest were clean. “That Pinkie is a scary mare, for sure. So, care to tell me what colour the collar is?”
 
“I have learnt not to question Aunt pinkie,” stated Cloud Blossom, panting deeply in between each word she spoke. “When she knows, she knows, simple as that.” She leant forwards and tenderly kissed her lover. “The collar and leash are a beautiful sky blue and it has rubies around it similar to your magenta mane.”

“Was the collar another reason you stopped to talk with me?” asked Claves.
 
“No, actually,” admitted Cloud Blossom, “I honestly did not make the connection till we were on the train. What caught my eye were the ponies avoiding the park. I was curious and, when I saw beautiful mare in need of kindness, I had to talk to you.”

Claves sealed that with a tender loving kiss. “Thank you. I should also thank the scary mare, Pinkie, too.”
 
“Oh, by now she will have planned you a party, I am sure.” Smiling warmly, the pegasus looked over Claves’ wet body. “I believe I missed a couple spots when I cleaned you.” With that, she ducked under the rapidly cooling water, where she licked and sucked at the earth pony’s hard nipples.

“It’s a good thing I pointed those out to you,” moaned Claves, only too happy to be tended to in such a fashion. When her host broke the water, she let out a long, tired yawn. “I think an inspection of your bed should be next on the agenda if you don’t mind. After my stint warming the park bench, I am exhausted, and I’m certain the pillow will knock me out!”
> Chapter 3 Beyond Written Words
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The next morning, Cloud Blossom woke at what was for her an average time, though she was sure her momma Applejack would’ve whipped her hide if she was still in bed at ten. Groggy from her slumber, she sat up and blinked the sleep from her eyes. “Uugh…” she gagged at her morning breath and did a stretch that caused a few muscles to pop.

Claves, who was already awake and had been for an unknown number of hours, giggled at the bed head stricken pegasus as she yawned herself fully awake. “When you sleep in the open, you learn to wake up quickly and quietly,” she explained to her mare’s questioning look. “Are you the breakfast chef?”

“If I know Dusty,” Cloud Blossom started with a shake of her head and a hoof running through her tangled mane, “she's left us something nice in the fridge. It is Friday, so I expect a fruit salad.”

“Sounds very good,” Claves found her empty belly agreeing with her judgement. “I'll lounge here while you fetch us breakfast.”

“Have a morning breath kiss then, ma'am!” Cloud Blossom delivered said kiss, and she was surprised that Claves didn’t try to stop her. She was sure if she exhaled too vigorously, she could cut through a lead lined bank vault. Giggling, she was up and hovering her way out of the bedroom.

Fifteen minutes later, after inspecting the refrigerator and emptying some of its contents, she came back carrying a tray in her forehooves consisting of two bowls of mixed fruit, a bowl of squirty cream and a large pitcher of orange juice, complete with two glasses.

Conspicuously, there was also a folded letter on the side of the tray with the words, ‘to Claves, from Dusty’ written on the reverse.

In the pegasus’s absence, Claves had prepped the bed for breakfast. She was half sitting, half laying on her back against the fluffiest, most comfortable set of pillows she had ever experienced. “My, chef and mail carrier. I am blessed.” When she lifted up the note, the earth pony caught sight of a long narrow box that she knew could only contain one thing.

A thing that excited her to no end.

“Multi tasking, ma'am,” giggled Cloud Blossom, and she carefully set the tray down with the little legs straddling her lover. Then, she landed softly on the bed next to her.

While Clod Blossom landed, Claves busied herself with pouring the orange juice for both of them and she banished her own rancid morning breath with a much needed drink. That done, she reached for and opened the note she had been left. “Dear Miss Claves,” she had no problem reading it aloud, “I hope the day finds you well, and that the fruit salad is to your satisfaction. Your saddlebags are in the nook by the hoof wash station. I took the liberty of placing the collar box where Madam can find it. I hope she gives it to you with this note. I shall be at Cafe Diem, two pm, for our lunch date. Dusty.”

Smirking broadly, Claves folded the note and placed it on the bed by her side. “I've got a date!” she laughed, “And you are a good girl.”

“Thank you, ma'am,” Cloud Blossom just loved the way being called a good girl made her feel. It was, she reflected as she took a delicate bite of her salad, a feeling she wanted more of. In contrast to Cloud’s reserved and ladylike manner, Claves was eating her fruit salad like she was scared somepony might steal it from her. “Hungry?”

There came a pause, and with it, a blush. “Um, yeah, a bit,” Claves made an effort to slow down, but not by much.

“There's more in the fridge, if you want seconds. Dusty made plenty for us both.”

“No, it’s not that,” Claves looked down at her almost empty bowl. Fortunately she hadn’t licked the pattern off the bottom. “I...food wasn’t easy to come by, on the inside or the outside. Maybe you can help me break that habit?”

“I understand, Claves. Let me help,” Cloud Blossom demonstrated her method of helping by taking up a couple pieces of her fruit in her mouth and transferring them to Claves by way of a light little kiss.

“Well,” Claves snickered after she had swallowed the bits of banana and mango, “that just proved you took all the sweetest fruit for yourself.” As she ate the rest of her breakfast at a more normal pace, she was aware that some of her hidden tension had faded.

Missing the slight slump in her lover’s shoulders, Cloud Blossom giggled, pleased with herself. “Aren't I naughty?” she asked, before returning to her bowl, where she ate a little faster, even getting juice on her muzzle.

Seeing an opportunity, Claves leant over and licked the pegasus’s muzzle clean. “Yeap, you got the sweetest fruits, alright.”

“I got you, babe,” Cloud Blossom blushed bright red at her own cheesy line, and to cover, she thrust her face deep into her bowl.

Claves snorted out a brash laugh, “And just what type of fruit do you think I am, hmm?”

“A pineapple.”

At that, Claves almost spat out the orange juice she had just taken in her mouth. Thankfully, for her pride and for the bedsheets, she managed to swallow it down. Then she turned a rueful, deadpan glare to Cloud. “Yes, you are indeed naughty.”

Cloud Blossom burst out laughing, loud, and unreserved laughter. “You are spiky on the outside and sweet on the inside. Like a pineapple.”

“Hmm,” Claves considered that, and truth she heard couldn’t very well be denied. “I might let that one pass,” she snickered as she finished up her fruit and her half of the pitcher.

As she too finished off her morning meal, Cloud Blossom was feeling rather happy with herself. “Allow me to take the tray away, ma'am,” she said once they were both completely finished.

“First things first,” Claves stopped her from moving, and she looked at the collar box. It remained unopened, for now. “You say your aunt Rarity had this waiting for you?”

“Yes ma'am,” Cloud Blossom nodded her head eagerly, “I got a message from my aunt Pinkie to go pick something up from the boutique, and that was waiting, along with a bridle, when I got there. Aunt Rarity was as surprised as I was.”

“As am I,” Claves’ eyes went wide when she opened the box and beheld what was inside, held in the velvet lining. It was a magnificent creation, made by hoof, not horn. She could tell that much. “I’m surprised as to how much it matches the colour of my coat.”

“When Pinkie knows, she just knows,” Cloud Blossom spoke sagely from past experience. “It does not pay to try and work her out. That way madness lies.”

A loud nicker left Claves’ lips. So she was quickly learning. “Well, she did have my drink order right. Do you have a clue what this means if I were to put it on you?” she asked, lifting the sky blue collar reverently out of its box.

Again, Cloud Blossom nodded her head, just as vigorously as the first time. “I know it means you would own me. For me, it means security. That I am loved by you, and that you will look out for me, you would make sure no harm comes to me.”

“And if I'm the one that does the harm?”

“Then that is fine,” responded Cloud Blossom, who knew a fair bit about BDSM from watching her mothers partake in their chosen lifestyle, “as long as it is harm we both agree on. If anything should exceed that, then I have a safeword that will end what we doing.”

“Which is?”

“Pineapple!”

“I thought that was me?” laughed Claves, who approved greatly of her mare and her choices. She was grateful she knew as much as she did, and more to the point, she understood what she knew. “Well…” she was then interrupted by the door bell. “That was good timing. Expecting company?”

“No ma'am,” Cloud Blossom checked the little clock on her dresser, and was informed it was just half past ten. “It is too early for the mail mare. If you will excuse me?”

“No,” Claves was going to dismiss her, then she changed her mind. “I shall accompany you, to run off the bothersome encyclopaedia sales stallion.”

“Thank you for being my salvation!” Cloud Blossom was sure that’s what the interruption was. She certainly wasn’t expecting anything or anypony else. She hopped up off the bed and glided to a landing, then she led the way through the villa.

Now that she was rested and more awake than she had been the previous night, Claves took note of the many family photos and portraits that adorned the white walls. Applejack and Fluttershy she recognised of course, but there were others she didn’t know. The other pegasus mare she assumed was her sister, though they were much younger than she was at present.

At the door, Cloud Blossom opened it barely enough to see out through the gap. “Can I help you?” she asked a stallion whom she vaguely recognised from a society function or other. He was certainly too well dressed to be a sales pony.

“Greetings to you, madam Blossom,” the stallion pompously greeted her, and in so doing, he confirmed her suspicions, though he didn’t know it. “I've been sent from the Pennyworthy estate with an invitation for you to attend an artist ball. My name is Mercury, and I'm to await your reply.” Introduction given, he passed over a scroll.

“Oh...um...thank you…” as she took the scroll in her left wing, Cloud Blossom’s nightmare became reality. “Won't you come in, save you waiting at the door.” She took a few steps backwards and unfurled the scroll with her other wing. Then she blushed and felt a familiar sense of cold dread and anxiety overtake her when she looked at the fancy calligraphy.

“Allow me to show the gentlestallion the sitting room and arrange a drink while you format your reply,” thinking quickly, Claves ushered Mercury through to the sitting room. “Would you like some tea or water while you wait?”

“D-De-ah, dear Cloud Blossom, you are co-cord-eal...cordially in...vited...” Cloud Blossom squinted hard to try and read the rest of the missive, though it wasn’t easy. Not at all. She ended up reading and re-reading sentences several times, and she got more and more frustrated every time, eventually her anxiety was overpowered by her anger at her own shortcomings. “Oh, ponyfeathers!” she exclaimed, stomping a forehoof into her carpet and she tried again.

Walking past her, Claves took pity on her struggling lover. “Follow,” she said simply, and headed on through to the kitchen. Grunting, Cloud Blossom snatched up the scroll in her teeth and followed the earth pony to the kitchen, her shoulders slumped and her tail tucked down. “Sit,” Claves commanded simply, “I'll deliver this tea and be back to help you with your reply. It’s good that Dusty left the tea at the ready.”

Alright,” as she hopped up on a seat, Cloud Blossom had the same feeling of being stupid that she remembered having while she was at school. She hated it then, and she hated it now. Despondently, she dropped the scroll at the table. “Of all the days for Dusty to have her day off…”

Presently, Claves returned to the kitchen. She found the pegasus where she had left her. “Mr. Mercury is comfy with tea and cookies. So, what is in that?” she pointed to the scroll.

“I don't know!” cried Cloud Blossom, allowing her posh Canterlot accent to give way to something far more 'low Ponyville'. “You know I don’t know! It's an invitation, that's all I can make out.” She shoved the scroll over to Claves with a hoof, like it might suddenly catch fire.

Claves did know, and she was very sympathetic to the artistic pegasus. She wasn’t the first pony she had encountered who struggled to read. “Wowsers,” she breathed, eyes wide as she opened the scroll. “It looks like a lawyer wrote this. From the train, I take it reading is not your strong suit?”

“I can't read,” sighed Cloud Blossom as she slumped on the table until her head was held up by a forehoof. “Or, I can't read very well. Pick one, whatever.” Her ears were slicked all the way back. “Wait, you knew on the train? Uuugh!” feeling worse, she drooped her head down to the table.

“You sounding out the letters was cute,” Claves wanted to put a hoof on the pegasus’s shoulder, but she was worried it would be seen as patronising, so she didn’t do that. “This scroll has been flourished in spades. Bottom line is, it is a fund raiser by the Pennyworthy family for the arts endowment for Canterlot artists. It seems your presence will draw more doners. You have a lawyer? This looks legit, but one can't be sure with nobility. You know this family?”

“I know of them,” admitted Cloud Blossom, “would be a more accurate term. Upper Crust and his wife, Jet Set, live in the mansion at the end of this boulevard.” She waved a hoof in the air, “Dusty usually fields things like this for me.”

“It says nothing about any others being invited,” announced Claves as she scanned the long winded document once more. “You may be the only one, or one of many. Do you normally go to these things?”

“Sometimes,” Cloud Blossom replied, though her tone was still maudlin, “if it's for a really good cause and not just to keep my image up. Usually it's not just me, there'll be others there. When is it for?” she asked, her brain working in spite of her mood, “I am allowed a plus one. That's Dusty, but if you want to come and keep me awake, that'd be fun too.”

Claves took note of the change in her marefriend’s voice. Not just her glum tone but the dropping of her upper crust Canterlot accent. She judged that this was the ‘real’ her. “Where does Dusty do your writing at?”

“In the study, just off the main living room.” Cloud Blossom pointed with a hoof to somewhere in her home. “She has a whole writing table set up in there, with scrolls, inks, quills, wax seals, you name it.”

“Okay, I'll go take care of that. You can return the scroll and see if you can get some info out of Mercury about the event.”

“Alright,” as she stood up from the seat at the table, Cloud Blossom ran a hoof through her mane and shook herself off. She used the brief walk back through her villa to hitch an almost real smile on her face by the time she reached Mercury. “Here is your scroll, kind sir. My...valet, is writing a reply. I say, could you tell me what the event is in aid of?”

Mercury, who had been enjoying the hospitality of the tea and excellent cookies, looked a little taken back by the question. “It is to raise funds for upcoming artists to cover living expenses as often their work is insufficient to make a living wage.”

Listening intently, Cloud Blossom had enough Honesty in her to know that he was hiding something, or at the very least, he wasn’t being completely up front with her. “And?” she probed politely, “While that is a noble cause, to be sure, I cannot help but think there is more to it than that.”

All of a sudden, the unicorn broke out in a cold sweat. “It is why Lord Pennyworthy is doing this...” he explained hesitantly, “um, one of those upcoming artists is a mare named Silver Bit. She is, well, the daughter of Silver Mint, who is Lord Pennyworthy's estranged daughter. He is looking for a way to help out his grandfoal without running afoul of his daughter.”

“I see.” Cloud Blossom rolled her eyes. Nobles and their politics and games. “Another noble cause I can get behind. In fact, I am aware of Silver Bit's work. I have seen her featured in a few journals of late.”

“She won't be the only one,” Mercury continued, “She is part of that artist commune on the east side of the Lunar quarter. I think there is about twenty that will receive some of the funds.”

Just then, Claves entered the little ante chamber armed with a meticulously written scroll. “Here you are, good sir. Madam Blossom's reply for the cause.”

As he took the scroll in his magical aura, Mercury noted that it wasn’t sealed. He held it like he was about to open it, then he paused. “If I may?”

“Certainly, Mr. Mercury, by all means.” She wasn’t sure why Claves had left it unsealed, but it must have been for a reason.

Permission given, Mercury opened it and after he read the contents, he closed the scroll up in a tight roll. “Thank you for your understanding, Madam Blossom. Lord Pennyworthy looks forward to your attendance this Friday.”

“You are very welcome, Mr. Mercury,” Cloud Blossom politely waved him out of her home while Claves went and showed him out.

After he had gone, Claves returned, a wry little smile playing across her muzzle. “For stuffy noble, they do have nice servants. Get anything out of him?”

When Cloud Blossom commented, it was back to her 'low' voice. “Yes, it's to help his grandfoal without upsetting his estranged daughter. And twenty or so other struggling artists.”

“Family is good motivation. If I had that, we might have never met.”

“Well, I'm glad we did meet. So,” Cloud Blossom walked past the earth pony who was standing at the entrance to the kitchen and she slumped face first into her couch in the living room, “you can mock me now, that's what usually happens at this point, so let’s have it.”

Claves though, did not mock her. Nor did she laugh or even tease her. Instead she walked up to the couch and prodded the forlorn pegasus hard in the ribs. “I'll have a beer, and get a drink for yourself.”

Cloud Blossom was several minutes before she replied in any meaningful way. When she did, she gave Claves a deadened stare before she took herself off to the kitchen. She came back with a chilled bottle of water and a bottle of stable hopper, which she knew was Dusty's preferred beer and a glass. “I hope that's one you like.”

As the beer was passed into her waiting hoof, Claves couldn’t resist a sly teasing smile. “I’m not sure, what is it?”

“Ha, ha.” Cloud Blossom snarked with all the sarcasm she could muster. “I know it's Stable Hopper, because Dusty doesn't drink anything else.” She took the beer back and opened it, even going so far as to pour it out for her dominant partner.

“What brand of water is that?”

“Canterlot Special Spring,” Cloud Blossom answered without missing a heartbeat. “Straight from the faucet and into my fridge.”

Claves laughed out long and loud. It was her belly laugh, harsh and barking, but full of mirth and humour. “Sorry, I forgot to mock. You mad that I can do what you can't?”

“No,” the pegasus spoke truthfully, “I'm just glad you can. I'm more mad at myself for not being able to do it.”

“Most of the inmates couldn't read or write as they never had a chance to learn,” explained Claves as she took a seat on the couch that she would come to designate as ‘her’ spot. “They couldn't trust the lawyers or guards to read or write for them. I was the popular scribe on the inside.”

“That's commendable though. Me...” Cloud sighed, wishing she was anywhere else but on her couch next to her marefriend at that moment. “I spent more time in hospital than I did at school. They even had a room set aside just for me, I was there so often. How crazy’s that?”

“Sounds like a missed foalhood.” Claves tried to place her hoof comfortingly on the pegasus’s thigh, and she was pleased that she didn’t flinch away or try to remove it.

“Hmm.” Cloud’s affirmative was humourless and dry. “Courtesy of my twin sister. She...” a deep breath was required before she could tell this story, “she resented me when we were very young. She hated I got more attention due to my leg, especially from our parents. It festered in her, became hate. We'd argue and fight, like all siblings, and then it would turn violent. It always turned violent. We'd smash the homestead up, and I'd fight, I really would, but she always won. And I'd be at the hospital, with broken ribs, or a jaw, or a fractured wing, whatever you care to name.”

Claves looked at the many family photos and portraits on the walls. The ones of the two pegasi caught her attention. Cloud was obvious. The other one, she didn’t know. “I guess she is the dark yellow looking one in the pictures?”

“She's the burnt orange pegasus with the pink mane,” nodded Cloud after she had taken a long cold drink of her water. “Apple Honey. I hated her for a long time for what she did to me. Even after she was arrested.” She made more of her water disappear, “Of course she wasn't arrested for beating me on a daily basis, no, aunt Twilight arrested her for beating up aunt Rainbow. She very nearly paralysed her.”

“Well,” chuckled Claves as she drank her beer, “at least me and Dusty can pass notes to each other without you snooping in.”

“I suppose there is that,” agreed Cloud Blossom as she drained the rest of her bottle. “You mean, you're still interested, in me, after all that?” she held her breath, not daring to hope for the best.

“If baggage is an issue,” Claves commented, “then it should be I asking if you're still interested in me.”

A very deep sigh escaped the pegasus as she studied her empty water bottle. “I'm sorry, it's just...this has followed me around for a long time. 'Cloud the idiot', 'stupid Cloud who can't read' and more unpleasant taunts than that, from school and even now.”

“Well,” Claves shot her lover a sly look out the side of her eye, “when I write something on your hooves with a feather, you'll have to guess what it was.”

“Oh my...” she was so aroused by that idea that she spoke with a mix of her Canterlot accent and her Ponyville voice. “Oh, yes, we were talking about the collar when we were interrupted.”

Claves too was keen as mustard to get back to that. “And I left the box on the bed. Fetch it for me.”

“Yes ma'am.” Cloud Blossom sounded a lot happier when she said those two words. Gone was the self doubt, gone was the indecision and the lingering self loathing. There was a little more pep in her step as she got up from her couch and went to the master bedroom. She came back with the slender box in her mouth, and presenting it to Claves, she knelt before her on the floor.

“Will I be the first?”

“Yes. Or, to be more specific, you’ll be the first I haven’t paid for. At Trixie's, I mean!” Cloud Blossom quickly added that caveat, because otherwise it sounded like she regularly employed ‘mares of the night’, which she absolutely did not.

Claves couldn’t help but smile at how adorably dorky her marefriend was being. “I was speaking of owner, but you have another collar on order?”

“No, you are my first proper owner. The only one I want.”

“And what awaits us at Trixie’s Place?”

“They have everything I have in my 'playroom', as Dusty likes to call it, the only difference is I haven't actually used most of the things I've bought.” Cloud Blossom definitely wanted to use the things in her playroom.

Sure of what she was doing, Claves took the sky blue collar and she placed it loosely around the pegasus’s neck. “Shall I fasten this?” she asked with a smile, “or shall I put it back in the box?”

“Oh, yes please!” Cloud Blossom didn’t need but a second to think. She knew what she wanted, what she needed. It was that collar. Around her neck. “Fasten it and lock it, please!”

“Lock it?” that made Claves examine the collar much closer than she had before. At the back, there was a tiny padlock that would make unfastening it very difficult, if you didn’t have magic. “Your aunt is kinky.” Claves approved. She buckled the collar just tight enough, but she left off the lock. For now. “You can take that off when needed and put it back on. I do want you to have that freedom.” She held the tiny lock in her hoof. “I will add this fashion accessory when I don't want you to remove it.”

Grinning ear to ear, Cloud Blossom ran a hoof along the blue collar, shuddering and fluttering her wings in sheer delight. “Thank you, ma'am. May I show you the last room you haven't seen yet?”

“Can you cook?” asked Claves, who for the moment was far more concerned with filling her belly. The fruit salad had been nice, but she needed something more.

“Yes ma'am. Not to Dusty's standard, but I can do most things.”

“You shall prepare a lunch for the two of us. See if I have enough strength to visit the last room after that.”

“Yes ma'am!” bearing a beaming smile, Cloud Blossom took to her wings and she flew through the villa to the kitchen, where she knew there were pre made bacon hayburgers in the fridge. She pulled them out and started to cook them, along with some veggie fries.

Claves was happy to remain where she was, nursing her beer and enjoying the smell of frying hayburgers. After prison food, it was heaven to her nose. When Cloud Blossom reemerged from the kitchen, she had even put together a basic salad of cucumber, tomato, lettuce, fresh cut grass and red onion. She carried them with the cooked burgers and fries on plates, along with fresh water and beer, all on a tray, and carried it to the living room table. “Brunch is ready, ma'am.”

Eagerly, Claves moved from the couch to the table at the speed of a hungry pony. “Yeap, you're a keeper!” she sat, her eyes devouring the food before her. “Are there any formalities to observe before we eat?”

Cloud Blossom blushed at the praise, her fur and feathers fluffed up like a peacock. “No ma'am, just tuck on in and enjoy!”

After a few mouthfuls that satiated her rumbling belly, Claves had the good grace to at least slow down from her performance at breakfast. “I wasn't sure if you did a prayer, like 'Thank you moms for keeping us safe from the current monster of the week', kind of prayer.”

Claves broke down in a fit of giggles, which Cloud Blossom was only too happy to join in with. “Oh that, that's like a background prayer thing that's always in effect.” She smirked, “is it good?” she asked, looking hopeful at Claves opposite her. “The burgers are store bought. The salad comes from my little garden out back.”

As a sign of how good the food was, Claves kept on eating. The burgers were sent straight from heaven, and the fries weren’t shabby either. “Matters not where it came from as it was prepared by your hoof. Nice to have garden fresh stuff. We kept a garden in the prison.”

“What was it like?” the moment she asked the question, Cloud’s face reddened in a picture perfect blush. “I'm sorry if you don't want to answer, I um, just wondered, if it was as bad as I'd heard.”

“Bad was trying to buck the system.” Claves had no problem talking about her stay at Celestia’s pleasure. “Trying to game the system was mixed results. Playing the system did work for me. I went in for accessory to murder. I learned to fight dirty in the streets and I could hold my own on the inside. Being a jailhouse lawyer for others did put me in the 'untouchable' group.”

“Hmm…” Cloud Blossom mulled that over as she ate her burger and fries, “I mean, we've all heard the horror stories of the Vanhoover cannery gangs and such,” her face got redder, so red it reached the tips of her ears. Suddenly, her salad was very interesting indeed.

Claves let out a chuckle. “Cannery gangs? Where did you hear that?”

“On the news, a few times. Inmates who tried to escape or those that were uh, bucking the system, were moved to the cannery teams as punishment, and as an example to the others.”

“They got that story wrong,” Claves corrected her after taking the time to polish off her fries. “The problem ones were put on cannery clean up detail. You learned quick to not be a problem. The cannery was a work release program for those that could do the work. I tried, but it wasn't for me. I liked my easy job of fake lawyer. But gangs? They were like cliques. They found a path out and were very protective of it.”

“Vanhoover did have gangs,” the earth pony continued, her voice thick with food, “but they were on the outside, till they did something stupid to join us on the inside.”

“I see. I'm glad you weren't a problem then. I'm also pleased you're away from all that. Now, you just have to navigate the muddy waters of Canterlot noble wannabes and their political games.” Cloud Blossom snorted derisively and proceeded to follow her lover’s example and she stuffed the last half of her burger into her mouth.

Claves then delivered the most fake over the top Canterlot accent that Cloud Blossom had ever heard. “I,” she snarked, “as your most faithful retainer, shall allow you the lead in navigating the rancid swamp of nobility.”

Cloud Blossom snorted and laughed so hard that she almost choked on her last bit of burger. “Oh,” she laughed, pounding the table with a hoof, “oh my, that was priceless! I find the best way is not to get involved with court intrigue and drama. It’s easier that way.”

“I do hope this event on Friday has no drama. Oh,” added Claves almost as an afterthought, “I wrote that you would be accompanied by two retainers for the event.”

“So do I,” added Cloud Blossom sincerely. “Then, most of the drama is reserved for the Day and Night courts.” Since she was finished, the pegasus sat on her seating pad, all subservient. “Thank you, for writing the reply for me.”

“Thank you for trusting me to do so. Has that ever not worked out for you?”

“Before I had Dusty...there were less...reputable staff. Some of them thought I was a soft touch, some thought they could rip me off. None of them got away with anything. Most I saw through straight away. The clever ones, well they got caught in the end.”

Claves could easily believe that. In the short time she’d known Cloud Blossom, she had quickly worked out all on her own that she wasn’t a mare to take lightly or underestimate. “I shall strive to be the cleverest of them all. By leaving nothing to be caught for. I have a happy tummy. So, my little tour guide. I think there is another room on the agenda, yes?”

“I know I can trust you, Claves, that's all I need.” The benefit of having an equal dose of Honesty and Kindness in her blood was that she got a pretty good read on most ponies. The meal over, Cloud Blossom first gathered up all the dishes back onto the tray and she took them back to the kitchen.

Coming back, she led the way out of the living room down the short hall to the last room. Hoofing open the double doors, she displayed a collection that would humble most MiAC stores.

“I hope you like it,” the pegasus stepped aside to reveal the wonders inside. The walls were covered in wooden panneling, and lacquered hard wood made up the floor. Whips, gags, hoods, all manner of other props hung on hooks along one long wall. There was a basic four poster bed in one corner, and there was a tiny functional shower in the next corner over. In the centre of the large room stood the upturned wedge of a wooden pony, a horizontal X, and a chair that looked like it was from the Lunar Inquisition, with strategically placed holes and bumps to make the sitter uncomfortable.

The most important thing of all, the object that caught Claves’ eye the most, was a large box of medical supplies situated near the shower. That alone above all other things told the earth pony that her new sub wasn’t playing around. She whistled as she looked around, taking in every detail. “Did you steal something from Princess Luna's dungeon?”

“No,” Cloud Blossom rolled her eyes, “but the wooden pony was a gift though. Everything else I've collected over the course of a couple years. I haven't used anything except the hoods, the ropes and the vibrators.” She pointed a hoof to the wall section where they all hung neatly on their hooks. “Dusty caught me one time, tied up on the bed. I'd messed up an ice lock...”

Claves interrupted her with a light boop to her nose. “You will not use anything in this room without supervision,” she used her best authoritative voice, and she added a wink for good measure. “I may give Dusty the authority to supervise.”

“Thank you, ma'am. Dusty forbade me from using any of the big stuff,” she pointed to the wedge of the wooden pony and the rather sinister looking bondage chair, “on my own.”

“Ice lock.” Claves ran the term around her mouth like she was sampling it and seeing how it tasted. “Sounds like you read one to many romance novels. I need to do a bit of research, I'm not sure what all this stuff is for.” As she said that though, it was fairly obvious what the things were for, but it always paid to be prepared. “But I do have this figured out. On the bed. On your back. Try to center yourself.”

“Yes ma'am!” Cloud Blossom was so eager that she just about tripped over her own hoof. She made it to the bed, and in a flash she was on her back. Again she was over eager the first time, and she had to shuffle her ass back to the middle of the four posts.

She looked up to the mirrored ceiling directly over the bed, and saw a very needy, very aroused pegasus looking back at her. She wanted so badly to touch a hoof to her swollen pussy, to take care of her winking clit, but she hadn’t been told she could.

Claves had called her a good girl, and she was determined to be a good girl for her Mistress. A Mistress that was advancing on the bed with rope in hoof and a smile that could make her cum in a heartbeat.