//------------------------------// // Chapter 14 // Story: And They Call It Puppy Love // by kudzuhaiku //------------------------------// Screwloose lay in the bed, listening to the rain. The bed was somewhat crowded. Mint was in the bed with her, napping, pressed up against one side, while Fleagle was against the other. Faint snores came from his black and ginger speckled nose. Grey clouds were visible through the window. Laughter came from the main room, quiet, muffled, the sounds of ponies trying to occupy their time while trying not to disturb others. Her skin crawled when there was a faint knock coming from the front door. The sound of laughter died. The cabin fell silent. Screwloose whimpered and began to shake Mint. “Wake up, somepony is knocking.” Screwloose cried in panicked tones. Mint twisted and rolled in the bed, getting to her hooves and dropping to the floor. Her horn glowed. Fleagle worked his way free from the blankets. He shook himself, his loose drooping skin flapping around wildly. Mint blinked a few times, trying to clear her head. There were four pegasi in the front room. More than enough to get a good fight started. She didn’t want another fight. She looked at the window, wondering if she could get Screwloose out of it, and how far they could run. “Fleagle can carry Screwloose.” Fleagle said, reading her mind. There was a squeaking squeal as the front door was opened. There were faint voices. Whispers. Mint’s ears strained. Her muscles spasmed. “Mint?” Thunderlane called. “Yes?” Mint replied, her voice scratchy from fear. “We have guests.” Thunderlane announced. “How did you find us?” Mint said, staring at Pinkie Pie and Rarity. “My Pinkie Sense. I set it to hunt for the ponies in the most trouble.” Pinkie chirped. “Where you followed?” Mint said, still scared out of her wits. “Nope.” Pinkie answered. “My Pinkie sense would have warned me.” “Darling, you look awful. How could those horrible brutes do this to you?” Rarity said, shaking her head in confusion as she looked at Screwloose. “Hello again Fleagle. I do wish we met again under better circumstances.” Screwloose settled herself into a lumpy couch. “You’re in the paper.” Pinkie said, pointing to a large basket sitting on the floor. “Oh, and we packed you some food.” She began to bounce in place. “Rumble told Sweetie Belle that he has the most awesome brother ever.” Rarity said with a fetching grin. “Some ponies from the asylum came by my shop. They asked questions. They also stopped by Sugarcube Corner. Scared the Cakes something awful.” Pinkie’s eyes narrowed. “Yeah.” She muttered darkly. “They barged in there and acted like bullies. Made the twins cry.” Several curls went limp. “Pinkie dear, mind your curls.” Rarity said. Pinkie continued to scowl. “What about us?” Flitter asked, her voice full of concern. “Are we mentioned?” Cloudchaser asked, opening the basket. She pulled out the paper and gasped. “Damn.” Parasol muttered, seeing Cloudchaser’s expression. “How bad?” “All of our pictures. They used me and my sister’s yearbook pictures.” Cloudchaser said. Thunderlane pulled the paper away from Cloudchaser. “Oh damn. They used my mugshot from my drunk and disorderly.” He scowled, staring at the paper. “I hate that picture. I look like a drooling moron. You have one weekend bender in Canterlot with some school friends, trying to catch up on old times…” “We cannot stay here forever.” Mint said. Eventually, they will do something like check property records or something for our families. Sooner or later, we will run out of luck and we will be found here. There is also the matter of food. We need to flee Ponyville and this area completely.” “No.” Said Pinkie Pie. “Nopony is running away.” “What?” Parasol replied. “We can’t stay here.” Rarity scowled. “My beloved Pinkie Pie is right. You can’t run away. If you run now, you’ll never be able to stop running. We have to face the music.” “What are you saying?” Mint demanded. “I do not know yet.” Rarity said, making a dramatic gesture with her hoof. “I need time. To be creative. But nopony is running away just yet. I will not allow this to happen. I have powerful and influential friends. Twilight Sparkle is away, but Pinkie and I are not without our resources. I ask that you give us time. A few days at least. We’ll bring more fresh food. We will fix this somehow.” Rarity said, her lips protruding in a thoughtful pout. “And what if this gets smoothed over somehow and they just snatch away Screwloose again later?” Mint Jewelup said, giving voice to her fears. “Not that this can be smoothed over. We sprung her from an asylum, brought injury to several asylum staff, did property damage, and fled into the night as fugitives.” “I am so sorry.” Screwloose said, her voice raspy with emotion and pain. “I never wanted this to happen to you all. I feel so awful.” Fleagle bounded to the couch, flinging himself onto Screwloose, nearly knocking her over. He said nothing, but hugged her fiercely. She hugged him back, wrapping her legs around him, pulling him closer, burying her face under his snout. “I wouldn’t change a damn thing.” Parasol said. “You stick by family.” Mint gazed at her marefriend, her eyes wide with a flood of emotions. “We got involved because we love Thunderlane.” Flitter said. “And by extension, we care about those that he loves. We don’t want to see him hurt. So we’re all in this together.” Cloudchaser nodded, wrapping a wing around her sister. Pinkie Pie was humming, looking pensive and thoughtful, bouncing from left hooves to right hooves, her tail and mane bobbing as she moved. Mint went over to the couch and sat down with Fleagle and Screwloose, leaning onto them, wrapping her forelegs around them both. “She shall have to find a way.” Rarity said. “We shan’t succumb to this brutishness.” “We need to throw a party.” Pinkie said. “What? Pinkie dear, please say something that makes sense.” Rarity said, turning to look at Pinkie with half lidded eyes. “I really need you to make sense right now.” “We need to throw a big party. Pinkie said. “And we are going to need a lot supplies for the party. Rarity, we gotta go. You’ve got work to do.” “Pinkie, dear, once again you are not making sense. Are we going to have to have a talk about this again?” Rarity said, cocking her head to the side. “Will the talk end like it did the last time?” Pinkie said seductively, licking her teeth with her orange tongue. “Cause if so, I need that talk. I’m a naughty filly. I need to be lectured.” Rarity turned a shade of bright pink, nearly matching Pinkie’s own cheer inducing coat. “Woo.” Flitter said. “This got interesting. So… Somepony is a control freak and somepony else represents a threat to order.” Pinkie Pie nodded. “She tries to organise my chaos…” giggled Pinkie, “but all we manage to do is make a mess.” Rarity was turning an ever brighter shade of pink. “Breathe Rarity.” Parasol said. “You’re in fine company. In this room, we have a tangle of polyamorous relationships, one gay mare, one pansexual love demi-goddess who has the hots everyone in this room probably, one interspecies romance that has caused no end of trouble for everypony involved, one straight stallion, and two sisters who are the victims of vicious rumours, gossip, and outright lies just because they are brave enough to love the same stallion, but never at the same time because no matter what other ponies say, they're not into incest. And you’re worried about being a dom and a sub. Trust me, whatever kink you think you should be ashamed of, it is barely noticeable in this mess.” Rarity nodded slowly, her blush still intensifying. “An excellent summary of our situation.” Cloudchaser said, nodding. “Ponies say the most awful things about my sister and I.” “And we have such a good working solution. One of us foalsits Rumble, allowing the other a little uninterrupted playtime with Thunderlane. Everypony involved gets to be happy.” Flitter said. “Why are some ponies so mean?” “I miss my little brother.” Thunderlane said, beginning to sniffle. “This has got to be awful on my mother, trying to deal with this all alone. I feel awful. I left my mama in a tight spot.” Flitter and Cloudchaser moved to comfort Thunderlane, standing on either side of him. “Come on Rarity, we need to go. We have a party to plan and we need to talk. I have an idea.” Pinkie Pie urged. The friends and lovers sat crowded around the table, eating the food from the basket. Baked goods, fresh fruits and veggies, stuff to fix salads, bottles of cider and strawberry soda, one bottle of grape soda, fresh bread, and a large wedge of cheese. “So Pinkie has an idea.” Screwloose said. “It couldn’t hurt to wait and see what is going to happen.” Thunderlane said. “We can hold out here for a few days more I think. I just hope that trouble doesn’t find us.” “Those two seem so happy together.” Mint said, sighing, feeling a tiny bit drunk on love. “It was just the other day that they let everything out into the open.” Screwloose said. “What is the term, ‘in the closet’ I think. They came bursting out. We were in Sugarcube Corner together. The day before I was taken…” Screwloose’s words died in her throat. “Enough of that!” Flitter scolded. She shook her hoof at Screwloose. “Yeah, no more of that!’ Cloudchaser added. Screwloose smiled, one ear twitching slightly, her blinking almost synchronised. “I wonder what Pinkie is up to, throwing a party.” Parasol said, tearing apart a head of lettuce and tossing it into a bowl. “Will we ever be safe?” Fleagle asked, his wrinkled face furrowed with worry. Thunderlane broke off a large chunk of cheese and hoofed it over to Fleagle. “No clue. But for right now, we have each other.” “And that’s enough to get me through.” Mint Jewelup said, slicing a cucumber and some carrots all at the same time. She tossed the slices into a bowl with her magic. “Tossed salad.” Parasol said, looking into the bowl as it filled with vegetables. “Nopony has tossed my salad in a while.” Mint lamented. “I do what I can to make other ponies feel loved and happy, but I have my selfish moments.” There was a collective blush that ignited around the table, Fleagle being the only untouched survivor. “Salad tossing?” Fleagle said, raising an eyebrow. Screwloose leaned over and whispered something into Fleagle’s ear, giggling and snickering the entire time. Her heavy breathing seemed to be causing Fleagle some distress. He looked flustered and distracted. “Fleagle do that sometimes.” Fleagle muttered. “Hard to stay clean.” A collection of gasps, grunts, and shocked noises filled the air, with Screwloose completely collapsing onto Fleagle, seized by the giggles. “Nothing wrong with self love. Or being clean.” Mint said, looking around the table. “If I could reach back there, I’d be doing the same thing. You have to love yourself before you can love anypony else.” “Ugh.” Thunderlane said. “Oh come on.” Mint said. “If you could reach, I know you’d try it.” Mint said, looking Thunderlane directly in the eye. “You’re adventurous.” “Adventurous?” Flitter and Cloudchaser said together. “That was ONE time and it was your birthday!” Thunderlane said, his voice high pitched and squeaky. He cast his glance downward at the table. Flitter and Cloudchaser began to titter together. “I know what happened. I know what happened.” Parasol sing songed. Thunderlane let out a strangled cry. “Now now Parasol, a lady never pegs a stallion and tells.” Mint said, winking. Screwloose fell apart completely, clinging to Fleagle, chortling and guffawing, her legs right around Fleagle’s middle, her face buried into his side. Flitter and Cloudchaser gasped in unison. Thunderlane sat in stony silence, his face unmoving, his eyes not daring to meet anypony elses. He began to tap on the edge of the table with his hoof. “Peg?” Said Fleagle. “Mint made Thunderlane her mare for the night using a toy.” Parasol said. “Oh.” Said Fleagle. “OH!” He said again, his eyes flying open wide, the whites becoming visible. “OOH!” He reached back with his paw and rubbed his backside thoughtfully. “Fair is fair.” Mint said. On Thunderlane's birthday, I became his fudge turnover. On my birthday, Thunderlane became my fudge turnover. It was a mutual exchange of anal virginity.” “I’ve never fudge turnovered.” Flitter said. Cloudchaser shook her head no. “Mint fudge turnovered me by accident one night.” Parasol said. “She slipped out of the right hole and right into the wrong one. Thankfully, there was a lot of lube. Or else that would have been much, much worse.” Mint nodded. “Still feel bad about that.” “Well, we were playing pony rodeo. Kinda my fault as well.” Parasol said. “You spent several days sitting on bags of frozen veggies.” Mint Jewelup reminisced. “Tell you what. We get out of this somehow, and get back to civilisation, we’ll dig through my toybox, lather up one another with lube, and I’ll become your fudge turnover for the night.” “Not my thing.” Parasol said, shaking her head. “But we might play pony rodeo again if we ever get out of this. Besides Mint, you know that I like being done, not being the doer.” Mint fanned herself. “I could give you such a doing right now.” “I’m going outside for a bit. To visit the pump. Need cold water.” Thunderlane said, shuddering. “I’ll be outside for a bit.” “Need help?” Flitter said, giving Thunderlane a saucy wink. “No.” Thunderlane said, disappearing out the door. “Darn” Flitter pouted. “Mint Jewelup?” Cloudchaser said, her voice low and filled with a faint hint of fear. “Yeah Cloudy?” Mint said, adding more vegetables to the salad bowl. “If I was, say, curious about mares, do you think you could walk me through my first time? I’ve been meaning to ask for a while now. Never seemed like the right time to say anything. Everything has gone crazy though, and I don’t know what is going to happen, but I don’t want something to happen and cause me to lose my chance to ask. Even if it doesn’t get a chance to actually happen, I’d like to know if you would.” “Of course I would. I collect virginity.” Mint said. Screwloose’s laughter died suddenly. “Screwy, love, you alright?” Mint said, suddenly concerned. “I wonder if I am a virgin or not.” Screwloose said. “I have no way of knowing.” A terrible silence settled around the table. Fleagle squirmed, pulling Screwloose even closer, one paw rubbing up and down her spine, trying to sooth her. Mint cleared her throat. “Want me to try and collect yours, just to make sure?” Screwloose gave a weak smile. She rubbed her forelegs up and down Fleagle’s ribs. “Sorry Minty, but on the odd chance I am, I already have somedoggy in mind.” “I know.” Mint said, nodding. “But I had to try. I love you Screwloose.” “I know you do. And I love you back.” Screwloose replied. The room was dark. A faint trickle of moonlight came through the window. Screwloose squirmed, feeling Fleagle entwined around her, his legs wrapped tightly around her body. The other bed was empty. Parasol and Mint had gone off elsewhere to give Screwloose and Fleagle some privacy. Not long after the sun had set, Screwloose had made her move, pulling Fleagle close to her on the bed, whispering, begging, asking him to give himself to her, not knowing what the future might bring. The bed was still damp. The blankets clung to her pelt. Fleagle’s fur was slightly tacky in places. Fleagle didn’t know very much about what he was doing, but he was truly gifted with his long tongue, the rough bumpy texture soothing against Screwloose’s delicate and still somewhat irritated skin. She had endured several explosive climaxes. And then afterward, when they had writhed together, it happened again, when they were a tangle of legs and squirming bodies. And then Fleagle had knotted inside of her, unable to pull out, leaving them locked together for nearly a half an hour, cuddling, snuggling, whispering together, trying to comfort one another over whatever it was that the future might bring. The occasional tug of his knot as they shifted, trying to get comfortable, had sent her over the edge several times, each time she squeezed him, her legs pulling at tight as possible, grinding her hips against him. Fleagle’s breathing was heavy and deep. One long ear had fallen over his eyes. His mouth was open and his tongue lolled out. Whatever was about to happen, Screwloose felt ready.