//------------------------------// // 79 - Remaking Friends // Story: A Penny for your thought // by Damaged //------------------------------// Penny, Hay and Stick were up bright and early, the three having breakfast together in the common dining room. Things seemed more intimate now, more relaxed, for all three since the dinner. Penny reflected that it almost felt like that was a wedding in and of itself. She was now bound not only to her mares, but also to their families. It was a warm feeling. "Penny, hello?" Stick had been feeding the mare when she just seemed to zone out completely. "Okay, time to get serious…" The lunar unicorn jumped, blushing furiously. "Stick!" She sounded upset, but there was a smile on her snout still. "Gotcha, okay, so we need to find Jenny and get her somewhere sorted to live." The changeling bumped the next mouthful of breakfast against Penny's lips, the mare opening her mouth and eating it, but needing a kiss from the changeling to clean away the little mess there. "Oh, there she is now." Hay lifted a hoof and gestured to the human, looking rumpled, confused but at the same time a little distracted. "Jen!" The woman's head turned at her name and she waved before walking over. "I have you to thank for getting me a nice bed for the night?" Hay beamed and nodded. "Hope you didn't mind, it was mine before, well, moving in with my marefriends… I guess I should move my things." Jen sat down beside the three and seemed to shift a little in place, oddly. "Oh, best night I have ever had. Raised a few things though." The human was desperately trying to keep wraps on a giggle that threatened to drown out her words. "Uh, first is, Sablee. Not a boyfriend, I take it?" This had Hay blink in surprise. Penny cleared her throat. "Coltfriend, Jen, just talk like you were in full cosplay at a brony convention." The human lost her control and did giggle at that. "But yeah, coltfriend?" Hay shook her head. "No, we were friends, and he wanted… more. I just don't swing that way…" Penny had a hoof around the mare's withers, supporting her. "Figured. He came into your room, seemed a little confused there was a human there. Think he figured things out by the end of it though." Jen had that giggle back under wraps. Penny was getting a little suspicious. "There you are!" Sablee had come into the dining area, his mane looking all kinds of mussed up. Trotting to the table he climbed up in a seat beside Jenny and blushed, right up until his brain registered who else was at the table. "I… what happened…" Stick froze in her feeding of Penny, the food trembling in the air. Penny had to lean forward to catch it. "Did they… would it…" She seemed shocked, amazed and suddenly giggly. Penny had to wonder if what Jen had was catching. "Was damn fun and lets leave it at that." Jen booped the stallion on the nose, making him blush more. "But I think at least two ponies here need to apologize to each other. Hay, Sablee?" Both looked to her, Hay was first to react. "What do you mean?" Jen stole an apple from the bowl in the middle of the table. "You should have told him no, that you weren't into him as anything more than friend; stallions can be a little slow working those kinds of things out." She turned back to Sablee. "And you, she wasn't completely open about it, but you knew that she wasn't into it; you lied to yourself in the hope that you could get her to be more than friends." The whole group stared at Jenny. Hay looked past the human, to Sablee. "Sablee, I… I am sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you, or lead you on. I just prefer mares…" This news hit the stallion, Sablee finding at least closure and in some way encouragement. "I am a blind stallion. I never should have pushed like that but you were so beautiful, I just wanted to be closer…" He lifted a hoof across to Hay. "Still friends?" "Of course." Hay smiled and lifted her own hoof, clopping against the one offered. "And here I thought there would be weeks of silly escapades and shenanigans until they made up." Penny couldn't help but smile as the two friends made up. "What?" Jen had been chewing the apple. "You think this is a tv show?" If the universe had a laugh track, it would have played then. Thankfully it didn't and Discord was far too occupied to be able to assist. "So." Stick leaned back from her empty plate. "You two a thing now?" The changeling was looking past Hay, to Sablee and Jenny. "He is good fun, might see where he takes me. A girl can't tie herself down to the first stallion she meets in a new town, though." Jen was relaxed, this was banter and it would test how Sablee thought of her. Sablee, for his part, blushed a touch. "It was fun, and you are a good pony." He reached out and rubbed Jen's shoulder with a hoof. The human didn't quite lean into it, but she certainly didn't pull away. "Right, lets play it by ear and see where things go. Besides, I need to get somewhere to live, a job…" "That is the plan for today. Princess Luna herself asked it of us." Hay was excited, she felt as if a weight had been lifted from her heart, and she had Jenny to thank for it. "Well, I'll just get my backpack and we can head out?" Jen ran her fingers through her hair, not for the first time. It was clear to the mares present at least, that the human lacked some things. "No, first we need to clean up, there is a nice public bath just down the road. You game?" Stick was stacking their plates together, leaning in to kiss Penny's cheek and, under the table, rub the mare's belly. A look of relief flooded Genevieve's features and she smiled thankfully at the changeling. "That would be good." She finished eating the apple down to the core and set it on an empty plate. "Shall we go?" Everypony nodded to her. Rising as a group, Jen noticed that Sablee moved a little closer to Hay. "So, I was wondering, would you like to work on our projects, like we used to?" Sablee blushed a little. Hay Cart nodded. "Of course, I kinda missed that." Her reply emboldened the stallion and he reached behind him, pulling out some notes. "Oh, you got this far already? Here, let me see what I might be able to help with…" Jen walked closer to Penny, the mare starting their conversation. "Thank you." At the bemused look from the human the unicorn continued. "We were all too close to the problem, all of us staring past the elephant in the room. Did you… uh…" "A girl doesn't kiss and tell, but maybe we did." Jenny reached down, almost instinctively, rubbing the ears and mane of the pregnant mare. Penny was a bit startled at the touch, to begin with. After a moment she had to pull back from the human. "Sorry but I need to ask you not to do that…" She was blushing hard, really hard. The sensation started again but this time Jen's hands were well away and a telltale glow was surrounding Stick's horn. "I just… even when I was human, brushing or playing with my hair was always a turn-on." It was Jenny's turn to blush, realizing her faux pas. "Uh, sorry I probably should have asked. Why is your horn two different colors? I never saw anything like that… well, like you, in the show." Penny's blush had died down, it was an entirely different thing when your mate does something that turns you on. "Luna made me, you know the… well, bat-winged ponies? Please, don't ever call them that, they are 'lunar pegasi'. Well, she made me as a unicorn version of one of them. She made the lunar ponies a long time ago and, well, she is continuing such. We are continuing such." She looked to Stick and the two shared a little kiss that was more of a peck. "I… see." Jen walked along easily, everything felt so much more amazing when you were seeing it from the inside. She recognized some parts of the city, from the show, but actually being IN Canterlot was way different. "But your horn?" "That was an accident, a horrible one. I burnt it with magic, part of the reason I have to study and learn things properly." Penny walked so her flank and shoulder touched Stick's. "Okay, I gotta ask, how was it?" Jen almost bounced as she walked. "Amazing! So big and when he-" She stopped, realizing that all four ponies were now listening. "Okay, I can't help it, I am a pegasister and proud of it. I draw naughty pictures of ponies and now, getting to experience life here? Totally worth not having a computer." Penny lifted a hoof, offering it to the human. Jenny didn't hesitate, she balled up a fist and bopped it against the hoof. "And I bet you have been dying to do that?" The giggle and nod from the human was more than enough to make her smile. Poor Sablee, however, was left blushing hotly. His brain was fighting a war with itself. Part of it was giddy with happiness at having his best friend back. Another part, most of it what he would call 'stallion', was proud and played back all the words Jen had used so far, as well as pulling up reference pictures of the previous night. The main part, what Sablee thought was 'himself' in it's purest form, was just happy. "So, what about your project?" He turned back to Hay, trying to ignore what 'stallion-Sablee' was hinting at, but he was prancing a little despite himself. Stick noticed the prance and couldn't help but grin. She knew that feeling all too well and silently wished the stallion luck in his endeavors. "Humans. If you still had those hand things we would totally not be getting married." Penny looked at her mate, consternation giving way to mirth, Stick's sense of humor was almost as twisted as her own. "What about if I had two extra arms, with hands, then I could return ear-rubs much easier." Penny did return the affection, her magic reaching to rub at Stick's ear in return. "That… might be acceptable. But anything hands can do, a horn can do better." Stick adjusted her position and Penny started stepping a little bit more carefully herself. "See?" "Stick!" Penny was blushing and trying to fight the sensation of a light stroking down the insides of her thighs. "Stop that!" "Make me!" Stick was feeling her oats, puffing her chest a little. The changeling suddenly looked mellow again, her eyes widening and then she grunted. "Okay… okay you… oh you win…" Stick all but melted against Penny. "Just what I thought. When we get some private time, though, I think we will do some play with magic." Penny kissed the cheek of the suddenly cuddly changeling. She had channeled a strong burst of magic, using the new reserves her training had given her. "Okay, as an interested party, I have to ask, what did you do to her?" Genevieve tilted her head, trying to work out what was going on between the pair. "Little bit of a mix up in my horn. When I channel magic, it leaks into my emotions." Penny was still channeling, she felt a second grip on her heart and sighed a little as Hay started to feed on her too. "Basically, I am about the best thing a changeling mare could have, food wise." "Cadance is yummy too." Stick was so distracted and besotted, she left off the princess' title. "But her love wasn't directed at me… not as sweet as Penny…" "What's it feel like when she feeds off you?" Jen sounded intrigued. Stick looked up at her, a grin on her snout. "Why? You want a try?" The human blushed hotly but nodded. "Okay then, relax, think about something you love." The human closed her eyes, focusing on her art and, in particular, the piece she had drawn of Sablee earlier in the morning, while the stallion was still asleep. She opened her eyes again. "There, did you feel it?" Jen blinked and shook her head. Penny grinned and reached out her magic to grasp the woman's hand. "Don't sweat it, Stick is subtle at first, unless she is being overt, you won't feel much at all." "Oh…" Jenny looked a little saddened. "Uh, can you… well, be overt?" The feeling of tension within Jenny grew explosively, a feeling she didn't even know she was feeling revealing itself to be fangs, teeth, a bite into some part deep inside her. It stopped quickly and left her panting in shock. Stick helped to steady her other arm with her glowing green magic. "The easiest way to avoid feeding a changeling is to focus on something other than love. Was that fear?" Jen shook her head. "Just shock, you came on fast!" "No, Fast comes on fast." Stick grinned at the confused human, getting a laugh from Penny.