//------------------------------// // A Steady Heart - part 2 // Story: Mark My Words // by Goldfur //------------------------------// “Her name is… Marklestia.” My eyes shot open wide and I froze up. “Me?!” I squeaked. Steady looked away, stepped out from under my unresisting wing, and stopped after a couple of paces. Without turning around to face me, he sat down on his rump and began speaking in a defeated tone. “It’s a completely ridiculous situation. When I first learned about your ability to change to Marklestia, I thought it was bizarre that you seemed okay with it. But after a while, I reckoned that you were doing it just for kicks, and seeing that you always changed back to a stallion after you’d had your fun, I put it down to harmless silliness. But then you got stuck as a mare during mating season, and I blamed myself for letting Crimson stop me from helping you when you needed help the most. You spent over a week like that with your mare friends, coping with the heat exactly as they had to. That’s when it sunk in that you weren’t just playing at being a mare, you were one hundred percent female.” Steady threw up his forehooves in supplication to a non-existent audience in front of him. “But what did you do not terribly long after that? I thought you would stay away from being Marklestia for a long time, if not permanently, but no, you didn’t. You went right back to being that mare and enjoying it. It finally made me realize that Marklestia was not merely a pleasurable pastime, but your female side given free rein. You were still Mark Wells but with a feminine slant. My best stallion friend was just as much my best mare friend, and when I got that through my thick head, I started looking at Marklestia in a different light. In you, I saw everything that I liked in both genders, plus my… physical reactions to a beautiful and very sexy mare. That’s when I lost my heart to you. That’s why I started coming with you to Ponyville on the weekends whenever I was able. That’s why I always came to Rarity’s fashion shows. And that’s why I suggested the photography sessions. If I couldn’t have the mare I loved, I could at least share as much of her life as possible. And there are three photo albums, not just your two.” Steady finally turned to face me and I saw the tears that were streaming down his face. “And now you know why I can never be with the mare I love. I hope you’ll forgive me for taking advantage of you this way. I’ll leave now if that’s what you want.” I said nothing. Frankly, my mind was in such turmoil that I did not know what to say. However, I became self-conscious of the fact that I was standing in front of a stallion who had the hots for me in some of the sexiest lingerie in my collection. I hastily adjusted my wings to cover a lot of it, but I’m sure the image was already burned into Steady’s mind. While I was still dithering, Rarity spoke up. “What makes you think that Mark would reject you, darling?” We both looked at her with shock on our faces. “Say what?!” I exclaimed. My fashionista mate started undressing me as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened. “Mark, dearest, do you really think that your herdmates were unaware of Steady’s feelings for you?” I recalled Celestia’s calling him my future husband a while back, not to mention some teasing comments from my other herdmates. And then there was the way Rarity had steered the conversation to get Steady to reveal his secret. “You knew! I suppose Chrysalis must have noticed his emotions at the fashion parades.” Rarity smiled. “Don’t underestimate your other wives, darling. It was Penny who first caught on. She did consult with Chrysalis who not only confirmed it but also informed her of the depths of his feelings which she had been savoring. Our changeling herdmate had noticed it long ago but, as is her wont, she chose to keep it to herself. Penny, of course, had no hesitation in telling the rest of us, and we’ve been waiting ever since for what would happen next. I confess that I got a little impatient and hurried things up a bit tonight, but the quiet drama was getting too much to bear.” “How did Penumbra catch on?” Steady asked. Rarity giggled. “Those physical reactions that you mentioned earlier? You weren’t as good at hiding them as you thought you were. Once she noticed them, she began observing you more closely. However, it’s not as if the rest of us mares were blind to your attraction to Mark, although we had not been aware of the depths of it. I, for one, was pleased with your response to the fashions Mark was modeling.” Talk about physical reactions made me remember the first time that I was stuck as a mare during mating season and I had inadvertently smelled Steady’s scent on my saddlebags. The surge of desire I put down entirely to hormones, but I couldn’t say I was immune to the allure of stallions either. But I was not in estrus now. “Rares, you know that I’m sexually attracted to mares in either of my forms.” Rarity had finished undressing me and she patted me on the withers condescendingly. “Mark, my love, almost all ponies are bisexual to some degree. Please note that I did not exempt stallions. It’s one of the things that gives us such a large variety of personalities. I find both sexes equally desirable, as you have had ample opportunity to find out for yourself.” I blushed fiercely as she so blithely stated this in front of Steady. It was true, but still…. Rarity continued, “Penny finds mares more attractive, but she certainly enjoys her stallion. And Celestia prefers males but nevertheless relishes making love with her other herdmates occasionally. You are no exception, and before you deny it, your wives will all back up what I’m telling you. You can and do react differently to stallions, although you are obviously unaware of that fact. It’s been quite noticeable to me since Penny informed us, but you respond subconsciously to the stallions in the audience of the fashion parades. But it’s Steady who brings out the most in you. Mark, darling, Steady was correct when he said that you are completely a mare when you are in this form, and you are sexually attracted to stallions too. It’s no surprise that you find your best friend to be the most desirable.” I wanted to deny it, but one glance at Steady with that revelation in mind and my objections were quashed. He was sexy, and I liked what I saw. But that did not mean we had that sort of relationship! “No offense to Steady, but I’m not about to jump into bed with him and make love!” “Nopony expects you to. Mark, my love, you may have had the ability to change into a mare for a few years now, but at the most, you have spent a couple of days a week as one, not counting the Mating Season instances. You have not experienced and learned everything there is about being a mare. It’s time to change that. I suggest you ask Steady out on a date.” I blinked and gaped at her. “Are you saying that you want to see me in a relationship with a stallion? What would the others think?” “We’ve had ample time to discuss this among ourselves. We decided to wait and see if it works out between you and Steady. We will proceed from there.” “So, my mares have been talking about this behind my back for ages. When will I be included in these discussions?” Rarity smiled. “When you fully accept every aspect of being a mare, then you will not need to ask.” I wanted to argue but I was uncomfortably aware that she was right – I didn’t know everything about being a mare. I looked over to Steady who gazed back hopefully. Perhaps it was time to find out for sure either way. I swallowed as my throat suddenly felt dry. “You have the entirety of Sunday free,” Rarity said helpfully. I threw up my forehooves in exasperation. “Okay! Okay! Steady – I like you a lot and think you’re hot. Wanna go out on a date tomorrow?” Rarity sighed and facehoofed. “So much more to learn,” she murmured. Steady, though, looked like a drowning pony who had been thrown a lifeline. “Yes, Mark, I would very much like to go on a date with you. And I want to make you feel every bit the wonderful and sexy mare I know you to be.” I was starting to feel a lot better about this and I grinned. “You seem to know me better than I do myself, so better not disappoint me. We’ll begin right after breakfast tomorrow. Speaking of food, I’m starving. Let’s go join the rest of my sneaky wives and have dinner.” “But we haven’t finished photographing the remainder of your outfits,” Steady objected. I chuckled. “No more ogling this mare’s sexy body until we figure out how we stand, stud.” “Fair enough,” he agreed, although not without obvious disappointment. What I didn’t say was that I did not want his now open feelings toward me to color my reactions. Tomorrow, I was going on my first date as a mare, and I wanted to go into it with an open mind. As we exited my room, Penumbra was standing guard in the hallway opposite the door. One eyebrow rose upon seeing us. “Aren’t you a bit early? I wasn’t expecting you for another twenty or thirty minutes.” Rarity replied, “Steady confessed his true feelings to Mark.” Penny gaped then frowned. “And I wasn’t there to see Mark’s face when he did?! Damn it!” “Suck it up,” I said. “You’ll get plenty of opportunities to have laughs at my expense tomorrow while I’m on a date with Steady. Oh, wait – it’s your day off, isn’t it?” I added slyly. “Change of schedule,” she replied promptly as she fell in next to us as we headed down the hall. “Besides, who better to save you from over-amorous stallions?” She smirked at Steady who cringed a little. Somehow, I didn’t think she or any of my wives would be doing much ‘saving’. More likely compiling a thorough gossip report for the others. I was beginning to wonder if I was doing the right thing, but I wasn’t going to back out now. Steady parted ways with us before we joined the rest of the mares. Frankly, I don’t blame him, knowing quite well what they would subject him to. That privilege was entirely my own. Needless to say, my wives had plenty of suggestions, many of which I was going to ignore. It would be up to my new coltfriend to bring out the hetero mare in me, although I resolved not to fight it. If my herdmates were correct, the attraction would happen naturally and not be forced. I did have one idea that I needed Rarity’s help with though, and it fitted in with my own sense of my female alter ego. I was eating my breakfast when Steady turned up wearing a sports jacket. Unusual for him, but this was a date after all. He looked at the mares gathered around the table and gave them an apprehensive “Good morning”. Aside from returning the greeting, they merely gave him knowing grins. I think that might have made him even more nervous than a barrage of questions which he could have spent half the night preparing for. But then his eyes settled on me and I smiled and shifted so he could get a good look at me. Steady’s eyes widened and his jaw dropped. His gaze was riveted on me as I sauntered over and planted a light kiss on his cheek. “Hi there, stud. Like what you see?” “Oh, wow! You look great! But why that size?” I had used my newly discovered ability to regress my pink-maned Celestial form to the same age as my normal stallion form. Because Celestia was an alicorn, that meant I was still a little bigger than Steady, but not to a gross degree. Closer to Fleur de Lis with Fancy Pants in comparison. “I’m not going to date a stallion who’s half my size. I’d feel like I was with a foal. I’m a lot more comfortable this way. And Rarity was thrilled to put together this outfit for me for the occasion. Like it?” For habitual nudists like ponies, dressing up always had significance, and the style of clothing clearly indicated its purpose. The ones that I was showing off for Steady told everypony that I was trying to impress a coltfriend, just as any typical mare looking for a mate. I needed him to know that I was taking this seriously, and I wanted to look nice while doing so. The open-back summer dress allowed freedom of movement for my wings, and the light-yellow material with light-blue trimming on the hems complemented my coat and mane. Steady smiled and said, “You look beautiful. You take me back to the days when I was barely older than a colt and the mares were making moves on me.” “And yet, none of them landed you. Lucky me,” I said with a giggle that surprised even me. Steady shrugged. “Even then, I was looking for more than good looks. I wasn’t sure what I wanted from a relationship until I met you.” I snickered. “I bet you had a lot of fun finding out though.” He blushed. Yep, not a virgin, that’s for sure. “Sit down and have your breakfast. Our date doesn’t start until after we’ve eaten, and you have a full day ahead of you to impress me.” With the ice broken, Steady was able to settle down and eat a full breakfast. He even managed to answer some of the questions my wives asked. He refused to tell them anything about his plans, however, wanting me to find out as they unfolded. I said my farewells to my wives and Steady and I strolled out into the Canterlot castle gardens. Due to the fashion show and other unforeseen events, I was not in Ponyville as was usual for a weekend. I enjoyed the crisp morning mountain air as we walked among the flowers and let our food settle. After a while, I said, “As pleasant as this is, did you have something else in mind?” Steady nodded. “I know you enjoy flying with Rainbow Dash on the weekends, but she’s not here and I am. Would you like to have a leisurely flight to Ponyville, or would you prefer we do something more strenuous?” I grinned, feeling the competitive urge grow in me. Yeah, he had me pegged. “How about we race there? First one to touch Twi’s castle wins?” He returned my grin. “You’re on.” We took off simultaneously and headed in the direction of my home away from home. For several minutes, we flew neck and neck. I was a power flyer, but Steady was an endurance type who knew how to pace himself. There would be no guessing who would win this race, but then again, who cared? I glanced at him and his gaze met mine. We started sky dancing. No ground-bound pony will ever know the thrill and joy of an aerial ballet. We gamboled and twirled, pirouetted and swooped, hooked our forelegs to spin around, and generally had the time of our lives. We were both panting hard when we at last landed on the balcony of Twilight’s castle. I didn’t notice which of us touched down first and, frankly, neither of us cared. When I got my breath back, I said, “As Dash would say, that was awesome. You ought to spend some time with her.” “Where do you think I learned some of those moves?” he replied with a grin. “Oh? How did you convince her to teach you?” “I told her that it was to impress you. For some reason, she was pretty enthusiastic about it after that.” Either my rainbow friend wanted me to get more practice and up my game when she and I got together again, or Dash had guessed the stallion’s motives too. I suppose I’d find out later when I thanked her. “Well, that was a great start to the day. Was there any reason why you wanted us to come to Ponyville in particular?” “Yes, actually. There’s a concert being held in the arboretum this morning. I thought we could take it easy for a bit and enjoy the music.” I’d known about the concert and had planned on asking Trixie and any of my other herdmates if they’d be interested in going to it. This was another point in Steady’s favor. “Sounds good. Let’s go.” We freshened up a bit first in the castle, but we were still a little early. However, that allowed us to get good seats for the performance. We spent the intervening time conversing with the locals. Most were surprised at my diminutive form, but as soon as they learned why, they were quite enthusiastic about it. As Steady had said yesterday, I was completely a mare in this form, and going on a date with a stallion was not only completely normal, it was well nigh inevitable in their eyes, my normal male self notwithstanding. I even overheard one mare tell another, “See? I told you he was into her!” It seemed even the citizens of Ponyville knew before me. The concert was every bit as enjoyable on that fine morning as I thought it would be. By the time it concluded, it was nearing lunchtime, and due to my earlier exertions, I was feeling quite peckish. When I asked Steady if he had any food plans, he nodded. “I’ve arranged with Spike for a picnic lunch to be packed for us. We just have to pick it up at the castle.” “Why get Spike to make it? We have cooks to do that for us.” “Because he and Sweetie Belle will be joining us. You and he don’t get together much outside of Magic the Gathering night, and a picnic is nicer when shared with friends.” I thought about it. It was a little too soon yet to want a simple picnic to be an intimate occasion, and he was right when he said that Spike and I didn’t have much opportunity to chat. The dragon was spending a lot more of his free time with his marefriend lately, so it was a good excuse to meet and have a leisurely conversation. We flew over to Twilight’s castle and found the two waiting for us. I gave Sweetie a hug and a nuzzle before giving Spike a hug too, minus the nuzzle. Instead, I grinned and said, “So, now it’s a double date?” The dragon chuckled. “Seems so, Mark. When Steady told us what he had planned, Sweetie and I thought it would be fun. Besides, after all the ribbing you’ve been giving us about our lengthy courtship, it will be great to turn the tables on you now that you and Steady are an item.” “It’s a bit too soon to say that, Spike. We’re just trying it out to see if a relationship could work out between us,” I protested. “Uh-huh. Right. Sure,” he replied with a smirk as Sweetie giggled. Did everybody think that Steady and I were a done deal? Because Sweetie could not fly, we chose to stroll to the park for the picnic even though her boyfriend was more than capable of carrying her. Again, it allowed me to talk with my Ponyville friends along the way, but they politely left us in peace when we spread the blanket on the grass and settled down. We had a leisurely lunch and caught up with the news. Spike and Sweetie had set the date for their marriage, at last. They were currently making their plans and invitations were due to be sent out in the near future. When the dragon put a wing around the mare lovingly, Steady hesitantly moved to do the same with me. I allowed it and found it to be quite pleasant. We spent a couple of hours altogether on that picnic before our friends said that they had other plans and they needed to get going. I asked Steady what he had in mind for the rest of the afternoon. “There’s a play that recently opened in Canterlot called The Phantom of the Opera. I thought you might like to see it.” I blame one of my wives for this. On one of our rare trips to Earth, I took my wives to see the long-running musical as a bit of human culture. While they all enjoyed it, Celestia was the one to suggest adapting the play for an Equestrian performance. Months later, it had premiered in Bridleway, but only now had the production made its way to Canterlot for a limited season. Of course, I had to see the Equestrified version. “You’re right, I’d love to go,” I told Steady, omitting to tell him about why. It was too late to fly to Canterlot, and neither of us wanted to turn up tired from the flight. Of course, Steady had counted on us being able to use the portal in Twilight’s castle to get us to Canterlot promptly, and we were more than early enough to be on time for the start of the show. Not that we headed to the theater immediately. Steady had already purchased tickets in anticipation of me agreeing, and I wanted to spend the least amount of time with the nosy public, especially some nobles I’d rather not explain myself to. I must admit that I thoroughly enjoyed this version of Phantom. Surprisingly, the titular character was played by a griffon named Gerard, and he had a magnificent voice. His obsessive love was played by a mare called Golden Voice. The rest of the ensemble was also very talented and I would be recommending the play to my herd. As Steady and I walked out of the theater, I asked what he had planned next. “I’ve booked a table at The Fig Tree for dinner,” he replied. “So, back to Ponyville?” “We’ve got plenty of time if you want to do something else before then.” “How about dropping by Sweet Apple Acres? I’d like to see Breezy and Suncrisp and get their reactions to this form.” Steady smiled. “You love those foals, don’t you?” “I may have been just the stud to sire them, but I consider them no less my children. With Applejack’s and Rainbow’s blessing, I can visit them at any time, and they love playing with me.” “Do I detect maternal feelings?” he asked as his grin grew. I gave him a flat look. “Don’t get ahead of yourself, lover-boy.” He laughed and we took off for the portal to Ponyville. The foals were at first stunned by my smaller size, but that quickly changed to joy as they realized that I was more “fun-size”. I knew I’d have to do so again for future visits. All too soon, we had to leave for our dinner date. My mares and I had dined at The Fig Tree many times. It had earned a deserved reputation for fine food and great atmosphere. But this was the first occasion where I was being dated as a mare, and somehow it felt different. I think it was because this was the one thing that we had done today that specifically said to me – you’re a mare being wooed by a stallion. I deliberately tried to think of my male self being here with my best friend, but the initial impression kept returning. And I liked it. I decided that it was time for me to do more than just react to Steady’s plans, and I asked him what his hopes and dreams were for the future. Unsurprisingly, they predominantly featured me. No mention was made of foals, but it was clear that he wanted to play a greater part in my life. Maybe it was the wine that was speaking, but it all seemed like a pleasant idea. We finished the evening with a moonlit stroll through the Ponyville Gardens. We were hardly the only ones to do so, and yet it felt like it was only we two enjoying Luna’s night sky. Eventually, we made it back to Twilight’s castle and portaled back to Canterlot. I paused outside my room, stopping Steady from accompanying me. “This is where our date ends tonight, Steady. You’ve shown me a wonderful day, and I give you full marks for it. However, while I enjoyed myself immensely, I’m not making life-changing decisions after just one date. I’m going to be thinking over this day for the rest of the week. Next Saturday, we can have another date, if you want. I still need to be sure that we both understand the mare that I am before committing one way or the other.” Steady smiled and nodded. “I agree. I’ve waited this long for this chance and I can wait a bit longer if that is what it takes to prove that we belong together.” I chuckled. “There’s confidence speaking. Goodnight, Steady.” I impulsively leaned over and kissed him. I’m really not sure why I did that. After trying to gently tell him that we’re not a done deal yet, I went and spoiled it with that kiss. Too bad we both liked it and lingered over it before I pulled away and headed into my room. Steady touched his lips with his hoof, smiling at the memory of the kiss. Turning to head to his quarters, he almost walked into the thestral who had been shadowing them unobtrusively all day. Penumbra smirked. “You’ve hooked her; do you want to know how to reel her in?” # # # # # # # # #