Tickling is Magic

by Player 4

Story 4: You're Not So Bad After All (Ponies and Dragons)

Spike hopped off the train at a destination he did not in any way call home. His goal today was not to return home to Ponyville right away, but rather, take a little trip to Appleloosa. At some random time on the ride, he figured paying a visit to a town he doesn't often go to could help him unwind and lighten his mood. Applejack was also in Appleloosa at the moment and Spike hoped to see her. He just had that urge.

Spike did enjoy the country-western sights all around him. The fiddle music at the train station was pretty good, there was
a line of ponies delivering cartloads of apples to the grocery store, and you'd be darned to find somepony without a Stetson. But... Spike couldn't drive what happened earlier today out of his head. It was powerful. Really powerful.

While Spike had no courage to ask any of these strangers around him for help, he kind of did hope that one of them would notice his glum face and reach out, you know? That would be nice.

Meanwhile, a certain brown-coated mare who had just completed her work day was on a similar (lack of) rush to get home. A lifelong Appleloosa resident who could never get enough of the city's environment, buildings, music, and residents, she chose to relax on a bench for a little while. The town made her smile, as it also did to everypony else in her vicinity.

Well, almost everypony else, that is. This mare, while nonchalantly looking to her left side, noticed a little dragon, colored green and purple (who she suspected to have met before), kicking rocks as he walked forward, hands behind his back, and just looking really sad.

He wasn't even bothering to try and hide it! For as much as this dragon may be scared if I do a surprise reach-out, I can't leave this situation alone. the mare thought.

"Hey."

The dragon looked in every direction possible, including towards the pony. She used that opportunity to speak more.

"You, uh, you don't look good there. Forgive me, I know I'm kind of a stranger to you and this probably feels weird, but I couldn't bear to leave you like this. Is something wrong?

The first thing on Spike's mind wasn't the question at the end. "Uh, what do you mean 'kind of a stranger? Have we met before?"

"Well, you look familiar to me." the mare said. I'm one of Applejack's cousins and I do remember seeing a green and purple dragon at that apple festival in Ponyville."

Spike put the pieces together. Applejack's cousin, apple festival... "Oh! You're Autumn!"

"Yep!" Autumn said. "Yeah, we've met before. Even if only a bit."

"Yeah, yeah, right." Spike said. "I do know you. Now as for what you were asking, uh, well, yeah, I'm really stressed out right now, Autumn." Spike paced back and forth. "The thing is, the dragon you're looking at right now, who has been called the 'noble dragon'; let's just say that other dragons aren't so noble. A couple years ago, I found out the hard way that the vast majority of dragons are bullies. Straight-up bullies."

"And for some reason, I decided to check up on them today! Had they changed? Oh no. Not a bit."

Autumn was clearly paying attention. How many times did she even blink?

"I knew that I had definitely made a mistake by choosing to join them on their migration that one time. Ponyville, and my pony friends, are the right choice for me." Spike said, continuing to pace. "But there's just something unsettling about knowing that your own species is full of jerk-faces! I, like, I want dragons to have a good reputation!"

Autumn nodded. "I do get where you're coming from, Spike. It would be nice if dragons were, well, nice."

"Exactly!" Spike said, holding out his arms. "And today, I feel so strongly about it that I almost feel like I have to resort to some kind of convoluted measure! It's almost like those dumb 'dragons' will have to be tricked into doing something nice for a pony! Cause their hatred is just so strong that..."

"Hey, hold on, Spike." Autumn interjected, standing up off the bench. "Tricked into doing something nice for a pony? Now that sounds like a great idea!"

Spike paused. "Really? You think so?"

"Sure I do!" Autumn said. "And I, for one, happen to know of a totally perfect thing to trick them with!"

"And what's that?" Spike sat down on the bench next to Autumn. Perfect thing to trick them with? What was he about to hear?!

Autumn tapped her chin. "I feel like playing a guessing game with you. What's something that happens in the world that often gets the word 'torture' attached to it, but that I really, really enjoy?"

Spike's mind wasn't clicking anything together. Attached? Torture, but not?

"Uh, more hints?"

"What's that thing the CMCs did to you that time you tried to block the train door? That time you were chasing a disobedient bunny?"

Spike, declining to inquire how Autumn knew about that day, muttered under his breath. "Oh! Oh, yeah, you mean tickling!" Spike said. Autumn nodded.

"Yeah, now I remember." Spike said. "I may not know you that well, but I have heard you love to be tickled. So, what's your plan?"

Autumn's voice took on its rare confident tone. Here was a moment for her. "We go to dragon land, with me undisguised. The dragons will be able to see that there's a pony in their land. But I pretend to be on their side, and offer them to tickle torture me."

"'Cause, like, , since I love being tickled, I won't experience it as torture, but the dragons will think I am. We'll be giving them exactly what I bet my hundred bits they've always wanted to do! Bully a pony. Make them miserable."

"It won't be until the end that I'll reveal my love for being tickled and tell them what they did was fun. They'll have had fun as well, so... you see what I mean?"

Spike pumped a fist in the air and saw the shining golden light of opportunity. "Autumn, you may go down in history."

There was a blush. There totally was.

---

The never-seen-before pair of Autumn and Spike continued talking about their plan as they walked around Appleloosa together. Spike could swear this day may become one of his best now, because Autumn's plan was just perfect! How would the dragons find anything to argue around?! With Autumn being who she is, what could be more useful in this strategy than tickling?

Maybe more tickling?

"Hey Autumn, do you think I could join in on tickling you?" Spike asked. "Let it be known that I would like to do it to you." he said, pointing an index finger.

"Sure you can! That'd be great!" Autumn said, high-hoofing Spike. "The thing, though, is that you'll have to avoid blowing your cover. Make sure to pretend that you agree with the mean dragons. Like, when tickling me, say crude, fiery things. On the lines of them."

Spike paused and sighed. "That's gonna be really hard to do."

Autumn rubbed Spike's shoulder. "I know. You don't want to say things like that to me. It will hurt."

"I would advise to think of it as acting. Try to have the mindset that you are not yourself, but rather an evil clone. Stage actors do play characters that are evil, when the actor themselves is most likely nice, right?"

Spike looked up at Autumn's warm smile. She was right; it was called pretending for a reason, and while pretending to hate someone could still hurt their feelings, for sure, Autumn was very much in on this. After all, she was the one who suggested it in the first place.

"I'll try." Spike said. "And, uh, could we also practice?"

"Sure!" Autumn said. "Where to?"

"How about back to Twilight's castle. Lots of space there."

"To the train station, then the Castle of Friendship!" Autumn decreed, pointing a hoof forward.

This afternoon was also getting interesting by virtue of the fact that these two barely knew each other. Autumn Apple was a name Spike only recognized by virtue of ponies talking about her every once in a while. She's related to Applejack, so that helps, but what else had Spike known about this mare besides her name, family connections, and love of tickling? Not really anything, to be honest.

...

The duo arrived at the sparkling castle. "Twilight's not home right now. Attending some royal event in Canterlot, apparently." Spike announced. "Good thing she gave me this spare key."

As the gold front door opened up, this was a brand new experience for Autumn that came out of nowhere. All because she happened to notice Spike's sad face and he elected to talk to her. Wow. What an unexpectedly memorable day this was turning out to be.

"I've never been here before, Spike. Thanks for inviting me." Autumn looked around and admired her royal surroundings.

"My pleasure." Spike said. They entered the entry room... without a plan.

"Uh, where exactly should we go for this practice?" Spike questioned. "There are just so many rooms in this castle."

"It is big." Autumn said, observing the area more. "But I have an idea. Perhaps in addition to the fake insults, you should practice tickling me too? How much experience or skill have you got with it?"

"Quite a lot, actually. I am kind of into tickling, if I'm being honest." Spike said, his cheeks turning pink. "I've used it to have fun with Twilight and her friends, and in fact, just a little while ago, I happened to come across Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack having a tickling party, and I joined in."

"Oh yeah, Applejack told me about that!" Autumn said. "She did say you were a good tickler. So now I'm thinking you don't need practice. Unless you want to do it, hehe. But otherwise, let's go and do the insults." Autumn began to walk forward.

"Wait, wait." Spike said. "I've still never tickled you, Autumn, so like, where are you most sensitive? What tickles you the hardest?"

Autumn had to giggle. These questions were fun for her. "I would say my belly is the sweetest spot, regardless of technique, but you can go even more powerful by blowing raspberries on it. Hehe. Though, the margin is fairly insignificant; tickling my sides, neck, back hooves, and under-foreleg pits also gets me laughing. A lot."

"Good to know! I'll try to tickle you everywhere." Spike said. "Now how about specific tools? Which ones do you like?"

"Brushes, feathers, tails, raspberries; I'd say I like them all equally except raspberries, 'cause that one's my favorite. Heehee! Now as for you, well, you have fingers. Those should be effective."

"Yeah! You're right." Spike said, looking at those digits of his.

Autumn giggled. "So, do you still want to practice, or are we good to go?"

"I'd say we save the tickling for the actual event now." Spike responded. "For now, let's focus on the insults. If we must."

"Let's do it." Autumn said.

...

"...I just don't know how I'm going to do this." Spike said.

"Well, I actually have an idea now." Autumn responded. "I feel like you could make standard comments and it would suffice. Like, you don't have to call me names or anything, just point out that I deserve the 'torture.' Or congratulate the dragons when my laughing gets really loud. I doubt they'd get suspicious with that."

"Also, if the situation calls for you to take it further, look at it this way: we're in a more controlled environment with this practice. Once we actually put this plan into action, it shouldn't feel so unnatural, 'cause it's being used as intended. I experience this with my musical performances; I might think my playing is subpar during practice, but then I nail it during the actual show."

"Let's hope." Spike said.

Autumn sat down. "Now go ahead. Say something along the lines of what I was talking about."

"Uh... hmm... let's see... you can't get away, Autumn! This tickling is under our control and you. deserve. the brutality!" Spike shouted as he walked closer and pointed at her with the accentuated ending line.

Autumn smiled and clapped her hooves. "Good job! That sounded fierce and right on par with the plan, buddy. That shout was just like how you sound when you really are feeling it! You'll do great!" She rubbed Spike on the head.

After exiting the room, they boarded the Friendship Express once again and embarked on a fairly long ride, as the dragon land wasn't exactly close to Ponyville. The length did give these two time for getting to know each other better. Exploring different topics such as favorite desserts, the train conversations were much more casual compared to the strategy planning, which they saw as a much-needed break.

---

Here they were in Spike's nightmare land, hopefully to change that status. Hiding behind a tall, pointed rock before making their appearance, Spike and Autumn could see a busy area of a dragon town right then and there. It was time for their big moment. Would they succeed or would they fail at this sneaky idea? How many possible outcomes were there? Spike's heartbeat wouldn't calm down.

"Don't worry too much, Spike. I'll carry the dialogue." Autumn softly assured. "I already have in mind what I want to say; you can add comments in between if you want, but you don't have to."

"Thanks, Autumn." Spike whispered. He was still nervous; what if the bad dragons found out about their trick before any tickling took place? That could increase the bad blood's temperature even more, creating a bigger nightmare for Spike.

But they had to do it. High risk, high reward, and Autumn's warm demeanor helped Spike get out there and do it.

The pair stepped out right into the open, where a large and diverse set of dragons were congregating. This appeared to be some sort of downtown, with there being rows of business buildings.

From here, they just wait. And they didn't have to wait long.

"What the-- a pony?" a female blue dragon called out, looking directly at the pair.

"What in the dragon lord's name are you doing here?" an orange and purple dragon said, crossing her arms. "We don't like ponies!"

"Oh, I see what you mean." the mare began her trickery with. "I'm Autumn, and the reason I am here is to join your side. I want to get away from the pony life and integrate with yours."

The dragons didn't even make a sound. What? Was this pony really on their side?

"It's true. After Spike here sat down with me and made some good, reasonable points, I have come to dislike my own species." Autumn fake-said to the dragons. "You're right; we are namby-pambies. So I'm here to learn how to be like a dragon, and I figured the best start was for me was to be tortured, by my worst fear."

"Since you dragons were so right and wise all along, I figured it'd only be fair if y'all got to unleash your dragon wrath on me as the first act."

Autumn had to try hard to suppress the giggles; these things she was saying were across the moon from reality.

The two dragons looked at each other confused, but eventually pumped and bumped fists. Finally, a pony had agreed with them and joined their side! And they get to take out their hatred! Satisfaction incoming!

Ember began walking forward. "Just follow us to Smolder's dungeon, Miss Autumn. Oh yeah, that's her name, by the way. And I'm Ember."

A short group walk later, the entrance to said dungeon turned out to be right at their hoof level. Autumn and Spike were led down a gray, twisted staircase winding into the underground, lined with a brick pattern and torches of orange fire on the walls. Autumn had to admire the dragon-like decor and eerie compatibility with this being the way to a torture dungeon.

A solid few circles of stair walking later, Smolder opened a brown, wooden door sparkled with gold at the handles, to a rather snug brown room with plain wood walls, as well as, of course, a platform to lay down on.

"This is my chamber." Smolder proudly said with a smug look on her face.

Things would continue to be difficult for Autumn. She really loves to be tickled, a lot, so her natural reaction was to smile and say "Let's do this!" while laying on the platform without any request to do so. But no way, no how could she give herself away. The dragons wouldn't find it believable if they didn't give commands.

"Alright, Autumn. We're gonna need you to lay down on your back. On this platform right here." Smolder said.

She nodded and obliged. For being in a torture chamber, the platform was actually pretty comfortable. A thick layer of cushion under the leather coat could be felt beneath her.

Autumn got her body situated with her back legs stretched out to the end of the platform and her forelegs hanging above her head at the other end, as she laid back-down.

"Oh, we are going to go all in on you." Smolder said. "Ready, everyone?"

Ember lined up in Autumn's upward view while Spike called out from behind, "Can I join in with you guys too?"

"Well, you seem to have come to your senses as well, so, sure." Smolder said. "Let's bring in the triple tickle attack!"

"Oh no." Autumn said, continuing to fake it.

"What are we waiting for?" Smolder said.

"Uh, we probably should cuff her first." Ember answered.

"Ah, yes. Right." Smolder flipped over the platform's attached silver metal restraints across Autumn's four limbs and pressed them in place. Good thing Ember sent out that reminder; the dragons couldn't leave her able to resist!

Now Smolder and her orange fingers, coming from the right, got to shoot right in and tickle Autumn's right side.

"Heeheeheehee!"

Ember joined the action and placed her hands on Autumn's soft tummy. Her blue fingers skittered from left to right, up and down, making Autumn trigger noises at the cuff area. She knew this was her sweetest spot.

As if that wasn't enough, Smolder joined in on that sweetest spot. A quartet of hands did vigorous dances all over her helplessly exposed tummy, handing the dragons their long-awaited thrill.

"HAHAHAHA! Tha-that tickles! HAHAHA--y-you two are powerful! HAHAHA!"

"We most certainly are powerful." Smolder proudly said. "Come on in, Spike! Get her good!"

Autumn's laughter was literally shaking some of the decorations hanging from the ceiling; Spike wanted to be careful not to tickle her too much, but shoot. The other dragons had him pinned. He couldn't blow his cover. So he reached in and wriggled his fingers into the mare's under-foreleg pits, as Smolder and Ember's hands stayed on their brown dance floor.

"HAHAHAHA! O-oh my! HAHAHA!" Autumn laughed out.

"We sure are getting her good." Smolder said.

"We are. And it's just what she deserves." Spike said, playing along.

Ember nodded and walked south. Smolder followed suit and they both used their hands on Autumn's hind hooves, one dragon for each hoof, adding to the laughter as Spike continued to tickle under her forelegs.

"Heeheeheehee! Hahaha!" Now Spike had to try and avoid cracking a wide smile, as he thought Autumn's laughter was cute.

The dragons ramped up the hoof-tickling speed while Spike walked over to Autumn's midsection, using his hands to tickle her right side for a few seconds, before blowing multiple raspberries on her belly. That, combined with the two dragons waving and swerving a pair of large, pointy, fluffy feathers on her hind hooves, Autumn laughed silly. She couldn't do anything except laugh. Good thing this was the natural response to tickling regardless of whether you like or not, because Autumn was sure enjoying this. She hoped they'd continue for a while.

That they did, at least for now, as Ember moved back up forward and started tickling all over Autumn's belly. Using her hands to go left, right, and left again, Autumn's eyes got a bit teary from the intense laughing as Smolder and Spike attacked each of her sides with two soft brushes.

Autumn was in absolute hysterics, and she saw that as accomplishing their cause. The more evil the dragons felt they were dishing out, the more effective this all would be.

Ember and Smolder tested new waters, in that they both took deep breaths and gave Autumn big raspberries, simultaneously. Spike tried to keep up the cover by skittering his fingers all over her right side as well. Despite the intensity, Autumn felt she could take quite a bit more. It's always been quite difficult to get her to request that the tickling stop; her tolerance level was up in the clouds.

However, she felt that she probably should pretend to beg for it to stop. Help out the strategy more. She hadn't been doing that earlier, because, well, she wasn't used to it. But as her sides, tummy, and hooves continued to feel the treatment, with one dragon now in each of those three areas, she started. "HAHAHAHA! Ple-he-hease stop! HAHAHA!"

"Oh, we ain't stopping 'til we feel like it." Smolder said. Good. That was the response Autumn was looking for.

"And you're restrained!" Spike said. "What are you going to do about it?"

As Smolder handed Spike a pair of feathers and he stroked across Autumn's right side and under her foreleg, Spike still was concerned about getting too rough on her. Autumn told him prior to this event that she had a high tolerance, but what if it came to a point where she really did need a break? Surely the other two wouldn't give her one upon request.

Or, wait...

"Hey, uh, guys, I'm going to let you two handle this for a bit. My arms are getting tired." Spike said.

"No problem." Ember said.

Well, Spike had lied, his arms were perfectly fine, but that was the only way for him to bail out. From the sidelines, he watched as the other dragons started up a feather attack, waving those soft points all over Autumn's body, bouncing from one area to another in just a few seconds.

As that happened, the laughter volume did change, even if it was subtle. Both feathers moved from Autumn's sides over to her belly, after which Smolder noted "I think we've found her tickle spot."

"You did. Congratulations." Spike said sarcastically.

"Sweet. And is there any sort of technique that makes it extra ticklish for her?"

"That would be raspberries." Autumn herself said. "That's my biggest weakness."

Anyone could guess what was happening next. The dragons leaned in and blew with their lips together as hard as they could, again and again, while also moving their heads around to cover the entire area. Autumn, without any way to protect, could feel the endless attack of buzzers, and she reacted accordingly.

"HAHAHA! That tickles! HAHAHA--I-I ca-han't take it no more! HAHAHAHA!

"Really now?" Ember said evilly. They continued to blow.

They did so for a solid minute, followed by using a mix of fingers and feathers, then bringing back the brushes, all still on Autumn's tummy. The dragons wanted at her most ticklish spot, and truth be told, Autumn still wasn't tired of it. One could only imagine how much tickling would need to be done on her before there would be actual pleading for it to stop. I could use more, she kept thinking to herself.

As Autumn expected, the only thing that eventually ended the tickling was the dragons themselves getting tired. "Whew! Okay, my hands are really sore now. I think we can call it off here."

"Sure thing." Smolder replied.

They only used their hands a little bit more, for the purpose of freeing the captive mare. Autumn sat up, stretched, and began speaking. Here came the moment she and Spike were waiting for.

I really this was worth it! Spike thought internally.

"Heehee! Good job, you two! That was really fun!" Autumn said to Ember and Smolder.

The room fell dead silent after that. Autumn and Spike knew. They knew what the dragons had to be thinking, and knew that yes, it was worth it.

...

"B-b-but that was torture!" Ember shouted.

"Not torture to me. Really. I enjoyed that a whole lot." Autumn said. "Being tickled is one of my favorite things in the world and I had lots of fun with you two doing it!"

Smolder and Ember were pinned. They really were pinned. Just as Spike and Autumn had intended. Because, like, they had fun. It was an enjoyable experience to dish out that tickling. And now, since that feeling was reciprocated, had they really just, like...?

Ember felt like there was a blood vessel in her head that needed to burst. She desperately wanted to cling on to the nasty dragon view of Autumn's species, but she. just. could not. agree with any perspective besides the one that was given to her and Smolder. They had fun with a pony. They played together. With a happy pony in the room as the aftermath, thanking them for what they'd done.

In some time, Ember let out a sigh and hung her head down. "Alright. I guess you're not so bad after all."

"What can I say?" Smolder added. "She let us do this, and from there, gave out compliments. She's given out many of them, in fact. Remember her admiration of the decor down here?"

"So thanks, Autumn. You're a... you're a cool pony."

"Aww. Thanks, Smolder. And you're a cool dragon."

Smolder couldn't help but smile. This really did give her a different perspective on things. What else would it do? She couldn't deny that ponies and dragons can get along with each other, because here she was, getting along with one! At this point, Smolder could only like Autumn. She even envisioned a situation of other dragons trying to harass this pony, and Smolder defending her! That is genuinely what she was thinking in the moment.

Ember finally talked more. "On behalf of everypony in Ponyville, we owe you an apology. It was never right to judge and insult your species like that, just because you're different from us."

Smolder nodded. "I really can see now that us dragons have been caught up in a toxic superiority complex. And I feel... I feel gross for being a part of that." she said, rubbing her shoulder.

"And are you ready to change that?" Autumn said.

The two dragons were both thinking the same thing, and it came out that way. "Yes." they said simultaneously.

Author's Note:

This was certainly an unusual tickling scene for me to write. Yeah, Autumn did enjoy it, but this situation was still different from where all parties view it as lighthearted fun. That style is what I'm used to and what I had always done prior to this chapter.

So yeah, writing out the word "helpless", as well as the ticklers getting excitement out of believing they're making the ticklee miserable; yeah, it felt strange, if I do say so.

By the way, if you don't know, Autumn Apple (the pony in this story) is an original character of mine, who has an ongoing series of stories featuring her as the main character. This is the first time I've used her outside of that main series.

Another fun fact: Despite Autumn's love of tickling being well-established in my mind and spoken about in her main series, this is the first time I've actually had her get tickled inside of a story. Took quite a while.

Comments

[TurboTheGameGuy]

Mind if I make a request for this story?

[Player 4]

11186700
Sure. What have you got in mind?

[TurboTheGameGuy]

11186805
Ok, I'll send you a dm about it

[GhostRider1996]

Player 4,

Any chance you can make a chapter where Pinkie Pie tickles Twilight completely silly? I’d really like to see more tickle stories with Twilight on the receiving end (and enjoying it, for that matter).

[Player 4]

11324570
I'd love to see more stories like that as well. I'll try and think about a way to add it to this compilation

[GhostRider1996]

11324926
Sounds great! I have a suggestion for the setup. Maybe Twilight came home from her royal duties feeling bad about how it went. Thus causing her to feel depressed. And then Pinkie Pie shows up to attempt to cheer her up.

[Player 4]

11325197
I will consider that 👍