1 - A Journey's Beginning

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The sun slowly crested the hills to the east of the small grove, the treetops glowing with the morning light as the golden orb rose from its nightly rest. Had a passerby walked through the forest and looked around the ancient circle, they would have seen nothing but broken branches and fallen leaves. Yet, if one happened to turn their gaze upward, a completely different sight would behold them, and a sight it would be that would fill any unlucky adventurer’s heart with fear.

Coiled around the branches of the tremendous trees, shining in the sunlight like jewels on the forest’s crown, were lamia, dozens and dozens of them in all sizes and colors. Yet in the weak heat of the morning, none were moving, save for one.

My emerald gaze watched in awe as the sun rose over the forest my clan called home, the golden light spilling over the canopy as the heat slowly began to warm my scales. I sighed in contentment as I closed my eyes for a moment, letting the life-giving warmth soak into my body as my black and dark blue tail hung about the branches below me. As much as I wanted to have my entire body curled up around the tip of my family’s tree, I knew my weight would be too much for the thin branches to handle if I did so. Thus, I had the lower half of my body curled around the branches near the trunk, roughly ten hooves below my pony half.

Oh, I’m sorry, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Sapphire Scales, and I’m part of the Shimmerscale Clan, a band of lamia that call the Great Forest home. I’m roughly thirty hooves long from muzzle to tail tip, and my mane is a duo of bright colors that Fama says match my eyes well. Bright lime green and lemon yellow might not be great for camouflage, but it definitely made me proud of my looks when it came to beauty. Then again, most of my kind didn’t really pay attention to our pony halves when it came to looks. For most it was all about the tail, what color combination was it, how well did the pattern mold to the curves, and above all, the length and thickness from waist to tip.

I was a bit unique in that regard. I liked my tail, just as much as any other lamia should, but I preferred my pony half to the cold-blooded scales that made up the majority of my body. It just felt more unique in my eyes to have a mane and hooves that could be so many more combinations of color and shape instead of the same old scales day after day. Yet my opinions were not very well received within the clan, as many of the other younger lamia would tease me or murmur rumors behind my back about my unique tastes. I made it no secret what I found attractive, both within myself and in others. It was just a shame that the less accepting of our kind would feel fit to beat me down for my opinions.

“Sapphire!” A voice called up from below, “You should come down from there, you’re going to get sick to your stomach if you forget to go hunting today. It’s been half a week since your last hunt, so I know you’re going to need food today.”

I rolled my eyes as I turned my pony half towards the ground, “I’ll get on it in a moment, Fama. Just let me enjoy the heat for a bit before I have to get going.”

“Alright, but make sure to get something large enough to last you for a while.” She replied, “The hunting grounds are getting a bit thin right now, so we’ll need to cut off our patrols for a few weeks to let the prey return.”

I rolled my eyes but nodded all the same, “Sure thing, Fama. I’ll be right down.”

I took a moment to enjoy the morning heat for a bit longer before I turned my body around and began working my way through the thicker branches towards where my family usually slept.

Now, I’m certain you’re a bit confused why I called my mother Fama. Well, in lamia culture, we use two different terms to describe our parents, given that in actuality, all lamia are female. The only major difference is that when two lamia want to have a hatchling, one will use her innate magic to grow a temporary organ from her body that acts very similarly to the male reproductive system, only instead of semen it takes one of the female’s eggs and deposits it inside her lover. The two eggs fuse and grow into a hatchling, which is then born about eleven months later. We refer to the one who receives the egg and who carries the hatchling as our Fama, while the one who gives the egg is called our Ohma.

My Fama is a beautiful ruby red mare with bright blue eyes and a deep lavender mane. Her pony half is slim and supple while here tail is marked with the same black diamonds that run along my own spine. She was curled up in the middle section of our tree with her eyes locked on the branches above, watching me with a soft smile as I made my way down to her. My Ohma, as usual, was curled up on the branches near the ground, her loud snoring nearly shaking the tree itself as her black scales rose and fell with each breath. The only thing that could be easily seen when it came to my Ohma was the bright green spots that ran down her spine, along with the single yellow stripe that ran through her navy mane. Other than that, the only other distinguishing trait most lamia noticed upon meeting her were her eyes. They were deep pools of violet that seemed to peer into one’s very soul, but only if you managed to get on her bad side. Most of the time those pools of purple fire were soft and caring, like whenever she would look at me when she wasn’t trying to act cool and tough like how she believed an Ohma should.

“Good morning, my sweet.” Fama said as I made my way down to her, holding my head with her hooves as she nuzzled my cheek with her own, “How was your sunbathing?”

I couldn’t keep the smile from my own lips as I replied, playfully shoving her hooves off of my face, “It was going great until you called me down. I was just getting nice and warm, too.”

She ruffled my mane with one hoof, much to my annoyance, “Then you would have fallen asleep again and I would have had to wake you up, so you could go hunting before the rest of the clan awoke.” She shook her head in mock admonishment, “Oh where did I go wrong to raise such a lazy hatchling?”

I snorted as I rolled my eyes, “You’re calling me lazy when you have that big lump snoring below us as your mate?”

She cast her gaze downward for a moment before sighing, “I suppose you’re right.” Her frown quickly turned back into a smile as she lovingly gazed at my Ohma below, “But that’s part of why I love her so much. She’s always so eager to please that she tires herself out doing everything she can to make our lives better. I can’t fault her for needing to rest now and again.”

“More like every chance she gets.” I muttered under my breath. It was a well-known fact in the clan that my Ohma was one of the laziest lamia in the entire forest, although one should be careful not to ever let her hear it spoken aloud, or else the speaker would most likely find themselves with a broken muzzle or a black eye for their trouble.

Any further conversation was interrupted as my pony stomach gave a loud grumble, followed closely by my larger snake stomach echoing the complaint. I blushed as my Fama hid a smile behind a hoof, her soft giggle making me grumble under my breath in a similar fashion to what my gut had just uttered.

“You’d better get going if you want to beat the rest of us to the hunt.” She stated softly, shooing me with a hoof as she curled her tail back up underneath her pony half and rested her weight on the soft coils, “I’ll be along later, so don’t worry too much if you come back and I’m not here.”

I nodded, feeling the slight surge of energy that came with the anticipation of every hunt, “I’ll be back soon, Fama. Don’t wait up for me.”

She nodded through a yawn as she folded her forelegs under her chest and rested her head on a coil, her smooth breathing indicating that she had fallen back asleep in short order as I made my way down the tree to begin my hunt. I passed by my Ohma as she lay haphazardly about many of the lower branches, her tail in all kinds of crazy loops and curls while her pony half hung completely upside down from one of the thicker limbs, her mane hanging below her head like a flag while her forehooves dangled like limp noodles. I chuckled under my breath as I worked my way through her tangled tail, finally breathing easy once I had made it all the way to the ground.

Here on the forest floor, the warm light of the sun barely reached the soil and grass because of the thick canopy, meaning it would be far easier to stay hidden in the mottled shadows as I made my way through the brush. I opened my mouth and tasted the air for a moment, my long, forked tongue flicking for any signs of prey. There were precious few scents on the wind, so I knew I would probably have to go some ways before I could find anything substantial.

Working my way through the thick foliage, my forehooves carefully moving sticks and other debris from my path as my eyes scanned the brush for food, I was suddenly hit by a very strong and very tantalizing scent. Acting on instinct, I ducked down low to the ground and followed my nose towards the prey, hearing the tell-tale crunching of plants being eaten as I slowly made my way forwards. My eyes and muzzle were the only thing that peered through the brush as I gazed upon my prey, and my mouth watered at the sight of what I had found.

Standing in a small clearing, munching on the grass below its hooves, was a young female deer. It couldn’t have been more than four years old, although given most deer only lived to be twelve to fifteen it was well into its prime.The creature was easily a quarter of my size, although I had taken down larger prey before by myself. This would keep me fed for upwards of a month if I could catch it. Now I only had to wait until the perfect moment to strike.

The doe was completely unaware of my presence, although given it was still young enough to not know it had stumbled into lamia territory was a good thing in my book. It made it all the easier to take down. It slowly worked its way across the clearing in my direction, and I silently bunched my tail below me in preparation for my attack. Just as it got within a few hooves of the bushes I was hiding in, it seemed to sense something was wrong.

As its head came up and its ears snapped to attention, I leaped from the bushes with a loud hiss and tacked the deer with my entire body. The poor doe screamed in instinctive terror as my tail wrapped around its body, immobilizing it in a matter of seconds as my pony half came to rest just above its heaving chest. Its legs thrashed around in my tightening grip, and I wasted no time grabbing its head with my hooves and brining its line of sight up to my own. Bringing down prey this large would be impossible for any normal snake because the prey’s strength would be too much to handle. But lamia like myself had a secret weapon that allowed us to take down larger or more dangerous prey with ease.

As soon as I had the doe’s eyes locked with mine, my eyes began to tingle as my kind’s signature ability kicked into play. Bright pink, purple and red rings erupted from the center of my eyes, barraging the helpless creature’s mind as my hypnotic power overrode its fear and self-preservation instinct. In two seconds, maybe less, the large eyes of the deer were mirroring the swirling pools that were glowing within my own, its struggles falling limp as its mind and body were subverted to my control.

I licked my lips in anticipation as I slowly began to unwind my tail from the deer, knowing now that I had it under my spell, it wasn’t going anywhere. I moved my entire body off of the helpless creature and then beckoned for it to stand, the poor thing almost stumbling over itself to do as I commanded. I ceased the rings in my own eyes, now that the deer was well and truly gone, allowing me to focus as I worked my tail around its hind hooves and up to its haunches. Coil after coil wrapped around the mindless creature, allowing me to lift it up as the back half of its body was encased in my tail’s muscle. I unhinged my jaw as I lifted the deer over my head, opening my mouth impossibly wide as I directed its head into my waiting maw.

I closed my eyes and savored the taste as the deer slowly entered my mouth and throat, the spell over its mind making it think it was being held in a warm embrace as it was slowly fed into my waiting gut. Its forehooves were folded against its body as my jaw worked past its shoulders, my pony stomach letting it pass through without pause as it worked down into my much larger snake stomach. Normally my pony stomach would help to kickstart the digestion process, but with a meal this large, it wouldn’t be able to hold it without risking injury. So, it allowed the large lump in my throat and chest to pass through unhindered as I got my jaws past the halfway point on the deer’s torso.

I allowed my tail to uncoil from the deer’s legs as I worked its hips past my law, letting gravity help me to slide the rest of it in without effort as the large lump slowly traveled down my body until it came to a pleasant stop around the midpoint of my tail. I let out a sigh of relief and pleasure as the gentle wiggles of the deer sent ripples of pleasure up my body, and I curled up around the bulge in my midsection as I gently caressed the shifting mass with a hoof.

“Thank you for being my prey,” I said softly to the bump in my gut, knowing fully well that the prey inside couldn’t understand me.

Still, it was a sign of respect to thank the creatures that gave their lives so we could live, or else we would be no better than the monsters that called the forest home alongside us. We gave our prey a peaceful end, unlike the terrors that awaited our prey should they run into something far less merciful.

Yet, all was not as calm as I had first thought. Something inside my mind suddenly seemed to latch onto something, pulling my attention away from my meal and into the forest beyond our territory borders. My body acted of its own accord and I slithered a few hooves before I was able to wrestle my mind free of whatever had grabbed my attention.

I shook my head to clear it, my thoughts confused as I stared into the unknown, that sixth sense still tugging at my mind like an incessant insect buzzing in my ear. Not certain on what was going on, I made my way back to my family’s tree, my mind full of questions as I slowly made my way back up and into the midsection of the tree. Fama was still there, although the haphazard tangle of my Ohma was dutifully ignored as I gently shook my Fama awake.

She let out a jaw-splitting yawn as she opened her bleary eyes and looked up at me, “Oh, Sapphire, back so soon?” Her gaze traveled down my body to the large lump that hung between two branches, “Ah, I see you got something big on your hunt. Tell me, how was it taking down large prey after so long?”

“Fama,” I said carefully, “I need to ask you something.” She must have noticed my serious expression, because she immediately pushed herself into a more comfortable position and nodded for me to continue.“I finished my hunt without any problems, but then I had this strange feeling come over me, like something was pulling me towards something. I don’t know what it is, but it’s like there’s something in my head, calling for me to come and find it. Do you know what it is?”

Her face lit up like I had just given her the most amazing news ever, “Oh, sweetheart, this is wonderful!” She hugged me and I gagged as she cut off my air with her tight embrace, “My daughter feeling the Mating Pull for the first time.”

Confusion clouded my thoughts as I pulled out of her grip, “Mating Pull? But I thought lamia only felt it once during there lives. Are you saying we can feel it more than once?”

“Oh, that’s not what I meant, sweetie.” She said as she pulled back and smiled at me, “I simply meant that you were feeling the effects of the Mating Pull for the first time because you haven’t shown any interest in the other youngsters up until now.” She leaned in and held her hooved up to her mouth as her eyes sparkled with anticipation, “So, do you know who it is you’re being pulled towards? It is one of the mares that live nearby?”

I shook my head, “That’s just it, Fama, when I first felt the Pull, it was telling me to head away from the clan, not toward it. I think, that my destined mate is somewhere outside of our clan’s hunting grounds.” I paused for a moment as I thought about the direction it had been trying to get me to go, “The thing is, I don’t remember there being any lamia clans to the West of us, or anything else for that matter. All that lies in that direction is uncharted forest and the Great Swamp. I don’t know what’s going on, but for some reason I think that my Mating Pull could be trying to take me to something that isn’t a lamia.”

She held a hoof to her chin as she lowered her gaze in thought, “That could be possible, I mean I’ve heard of the Mating Pull directing others to non-lamia in the past, but it’s just so rare I never really thought it could happen to my own daughter.” She looked up at me and must have noticed my dejected expression, “Oh don’t worry about it too much, honey, I’m certain you’ll be able to find your mate sooner or later. You’ll just need to go searching for a bit longer than most of us have to.”

“But what about the dangers of the forest?” I countered, “What if I run into a manticore or a hydra? I wouldn’t be able to find my mate if I’m dead and eaten.”

I felt my Fama’s hooved gently wrap themselves around me as she held me to her chest, “I know it’s hard to imagine, but your Mating Pull wouldn’t be directing you otherwise unless you were destined to be together. You’ll just need to be strong in the face of such a challenge, and know that no matter what, fate will guide you to where you need to be. After all,” she chuckled as she glanced down at my Ohma, “it’s what brought me and your Ohma together and we’ve been happy ever since.”

I chuckled as I pulled back, “Thanks Fama, I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

She returned my smile as she hugged me again, “Good luck, my sweet, and always know that we love you. Make sure to say goodbye to your Ohma before you go. She’d be terribly upset with us both if you left without telling her.”

I nodded, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek before turning back down the tree, “I love you. I’ll come back and visit once I find my mate and we get things settled between us.”

She waved with a hoof as a single tear ran down her cheek, “I love you too, my little Sapphire. Safe travels, and good luck.”

I wiped my eyes as tears threatened to fall and directed my gaze back down as I climbed through the tangled mess that was my Ohma’s tail. Finally, I made it to where her pony half was hanging free, and I poked her in the muzzle before speaking, “Ohma, it’s Sapphire. Are you awake?”

She grumbled for a moment before opening her eyes, “You had better have a good reason for waking me up, little gem.”

I nodded, “I felt my Mating Pull today. It’s telling me that I need to head West, out of our hunting grounds and into the forest beyond. I don’t know when I’ll be back, but I have to go and search for my mate.”

“WHAT?!” She cried, her eyes flying wide open as her tail lost its grip on the branches around us, causing her to fall several lengths before hitting her head on a thicker branch below us. Her tail followed suite and formed a living pile of black and green scales as it all landed on top of her pony half.

I quickly made my way down to her, worried that she might have been hurt, only for her hooves to force their way through her tangled coils as she popped up from her tail like a fern between leaves, “You’re doing what and going where?!”

“Now settle down Obsidian,” Fama said calmly as she joined us with a calm expression on her face, “we knew this day was going to come sooner or later. Now we need to supportive of our daughter and show her we care, not go flying off the canopy with worry.”

“But you heard what she said, Ruby,” Ohma replied with a nervous expression as she pointed at me with one hoof, “she’s going out beyond our hunting grounds looking for who knows what in the middle of the most dangerous part of the forest. You tell me I shouldn’t worry, but I’m asking you why we should not be worried when she could very well get herself killed out there!”

Any further argument was stifled as Fama pressed her lips against Ohma’s pulled back after a moment with a smile still on her face, “Because I trust in fate to lead our daughter to where she needs to be, and I know in my heart that she’ll be just fine on her own.”

Ohma grumbled under her breath but didn’t comment, “Fine, but know this.” She jabbed a hoof in my face as she pierced me with her most serious glare, “You get yourself killed out there, and not even Tartarus itself will be enough to stop me from bringing you back to life just so I can kill you all over again for being a bloody fool.”

Fama and I giggled at her overdramatic bluster, and even Ohma’s hard glare only lasted a second before she wrapped me in a hug and ran her hooves through my mane, “Be careful out there, little gem. I don’t want to lose you just because of some Mating Pull telling you to get yourself into trouble.”

I smiled, feeling fresh tears run down my face and I pulled her even tighter against me, “I will, Ohma. I promise I’ll come back to visit once I find my mate.” We pulled apart enough so I could look her in the eyes, which were also glistening with tears, “You have my word I’ll make you proud. Both of you.”I added as I turned my attention to my Fama.

She joined our group hug and I could feel the love and tenderness of their embrace.It was almost enough to make me not want to leave, but I knew if I was going to find my mate, I had to go.

I pulled back and gave each of them a kiss on the cheek, waving farewell as I made my way back to the forest floor. “I’ll be back soon. I can’t wait to show you my mate and tell you all about my adventures.”

“Stay safe, sweetie.” Fama called as she and Ohma waved from the branches above.

“Yeah,” Ohma added, “and don’t forget to give your mate a big kiss when you meet them. You can only make one first impression and it needs to count.”

I chuckled as Fama bopped Ohma over the head with a hoof, the two of them devolving into a playful argument as I made my way through the brush towards the edge of the clan’s hunting grounds. It took me several hours, and by that point the sun was high overhead as I came up to the blaze marks that carved the clan’s territory border into the bark of the surrounding trees. Beyond those marks lay the great unknown, with only my Mating Pull to guide me and no other plan of action to fall back on. I cast one last look at the familiar forest behind me, and then set my jaw in a resolute line as I slithered past the border and into the wilds beyond. I had just begun a journey that would change my life forever, and I just knew that from this point on, nothing was ever going to be the same.

2 - The Lone Wolf

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For three days I traveled along broken game trails and through thick brush, never once shifting from the path my Mating Pull set for me. Yet as I got further and further from my clan’s hunting ground, I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was watching me. It was like the sounds of the forest life were hushed into fearful silence as I passed by, but not because of me, or at least not from what I could tell. No, there was something else in these woods, and it was getting closer by the day. Some instinctive intuition told me I would be in for a fight before the sun set today, and I felt my tail tip twitching in anticipation as I came into a small clearing, the bright sunlight shining down on the long grass as it slowly swayed in the breeze.

As I came up to the edge of the clearing, the feeling of being watched grew suddenly stronger, and I knew in my heart as well as my gut that as soon as I moved into the open, I was going to find out exactly what had been trailing me for the last two days. Taking a deep breath to calm my nerves, I slithered into the open, my pony half raised upright to provide a better view of my surroundings as I turned this way and that in an attempt to spot my stalker.

I didn’t have long to wait, because the bushes on my left rustled for several seconds, my body coiling up under me in preparation for a fight as a small, mottled form stalked out of the bushes and into the open.

My eyes widened in shock at what I was seeing, not out of fear, but because of how impossible the being before me should have been. Standing only about half my height, and probably only weighing a fraction of my own weight, was a pony, only it wasn’t like anything I had seen back in the clan, at least comparing it to the upper halves of the rest of my kind.

Instead of just fur and hooves, this creature was covered partly in what appeared to be bark and leaves, the dark brown and tan color of her coat rippling over her body like the patterns of a tree’s fibers. Her hooves were also different, given that they also sported a set of wooden claws that looked sharp enough to cut through even my tough scales. Her teeth were bared in a challenging snarl, her fangs glinting in the light as her emerald eyes looked my body over. Even her mane and tail were different from what I knew, a dark brown with leaves and twigs seeming to grow right out of the tangled masses, their sharp earthy scent washing over me as she slowly began to circle around my tense form.

“Pony-snake make good prey.” She growled in a surprisingly clear voice, even if her grammar was absolutely terrible, “Feed Swift Willow and pack for many days.”

I hissed out a challenge, even though I knew I wasn’t going to be able to catch the smaller creature in my well-fed state unless she got in close, “Try it you little runt. I’ve taken on adult Timberwolves three times your size and won. What makes you think you can make a meal out of me so easily?” That was a lie, but the little hybrid before me didn't know that.

My words were met with a snarled retort, “Swift Willow not care about past hunts. Swift Willow will prove pack wrong by bringing down mighty prey to bring back to den. Then pack see Swift Willow is not helpless runt.”

For a moment I actually felt sorry for the little thing, given she apparently wasn’t very welcome with her own kind, although given what she was that might have been a bit of a misnomer. I didn’t know what the story was behind how the little timberpony before me came to be, but if she planned on making a meal out of this lamia, then she had another thing coming.

I hissed again as I whipped my tail in challenge, “Bring it little pup, and I might spare your life if you put on a good show.” That was a bluff, but she didn’t need to know that. I didn’t plan on killing her if I could help it, but I would defend myself as needed to continue my journey unhindered.

Willow growled before bunching her legs beneath her body, “Swift Willow make mince meat of snake pony. Insulting Willow is insulting pack, and Willow will not allow insult of pack to stand.”

With a mighty howl, Willow charged at me, her fangs and claws bared in attack as she leaped through the air in an attempt to slash and bite at my more vulnerable pony half. Yet she forgot one thing in her full-body charge, and that was in order to get to my pony half, she had to first pass over my snake tail.

I smiled to myself as Willow sailed through the air over my tail, her eyes so focused on my face she was unaware of the rapid movement my tail was making directly beneath her. In the blink of an eye, my tail formed a trio of loops that I quickly lifted into Willow’s path, the timberpony’s eyes widening in shock and surprise as she sailed straight into the waiting trap. Unable to stop her forward momentum midair, Willow was carried by her own attack straight into my waiting coils, her snarl of fury changing into a yelp of fear as my tail tightened the noose around her body. As my tail closed in on her body, they trapped her in a cocoon of coils that pinned her front and back legs against her barrel, securing her head in place as the rest of my tail locked around her neck. In mere moments, Willow had gone from being the aggressor to becoming helpless in my grip, my tail poised to squeeze the life out of her at any point of my choosing. Yet I had already chosen not to kill the pup now struggling in vain beneath my coils, and I tightened the cocoon around her body just enough to prevent her from moving anything besides her head.

I moved Willow closer to my face so I could look in her eyes as I spoke, my own gaze narrowed in a threatening glare as she whimpered and tried to free herself from my grip, “I could easily kill you right here and now, but I’m not going to do that because it would be a waste of my time and energy to do away with you.” I pressed my muzzle against Willow’s as her eyes shrank to pinpricks of terror, “But if you so much as look at me the wrong way again, I swear the next time you’re in my coils, you won’t come out of them alive. Do I make myself clear?”

Willow attempted to snarl at me, but a quick tightening of my coils turned it into a wheeze as her air was forced out of her body. I held her like that for a moment as her face turned blue, before releasing my grip and allowing her to breathe again.

Willow gasped as her lungs refilled, taking a moment to cough a few times before looking up at me with a dejected expression, “Willow understands. Snake pony is not prey. Willow will not attack snake pony again.”

I nodded, lowering the cocoon to the ground before releasing the mare, allowing her to flop to the ground as I moved my tail back under my own body, “Good, then you can go back to your pack and tell them the same thing I told you. If they try and attack me, I’ll make them wish they never messed with a lamia right before I turn them into leaf litter.”

I turned and began to slither away, my head held high and my back straight as an arrow, only to come up short as the soft sounds of sniffling came from behind me. Against my better judgement, I turned around to see what was wrong, only to stop short as my gaze fell on the shivering form of Willow, her eyes running with tears and her entire body shaking with sobs as she buried her face in her front hooves.

“Willow can’t return to pack.” She wept, “Pack gave Willow task to complete. Returning without food means Willow takes prey’s place.” She looked up at me, her eyes streaming as she spoke, “This was Willow’s chance to prove worth to pack. Without prey, Willow is no use to pack. Alpha said either come back with food or be hunted down in its place. Please,” she crawled towards me and hung onto my tail like it was the only thing keeping her alive, “take Willow with you. If Willow can’t return to pack Willow has no place to go.”

I tried to resist the puppy eyes I was being given, especially because of how I had met this strange hybrid, but after hearing what her pack had in store for her and given the fact I just couldn’t sit by and do nothing, I relented with a long-suffering sigh.

“Alright,” I said slowly, “you can come with me,” I held up my hoof to stall her cry of delight, “but on one condition. You have to do whatever I say when I say it, or else you are on your own again. I’m trusting you not to bite me in the throat while I sleep, so you’d better remember who spared whose life just now. You owe me your life, and now I’m taking you in to prevent you from getting eaten by your own pack. Make one step out of line and I’ll do more than send you running for the hills. Is that understood?”

Willow’s nod was so fast it seemed to rattle her brains a bit, her eyes shaking a few seconds longer than her head as she beamed with joy, “Oh thank you.” She leaped at me and licked my cheek several times before I was able to pry her off with my tail around her waist. “Willow will never forget this. Willow will be best beta snake pony has ever had.”

“And another thing.” I added, wiping my cheek to get rid of the slobber, “My name is Sapphire, Sapphire Scales. If we’re going to be traveling together then you must call me by my name, not ‘snake pony’. Besides, I think you could use some help learning how to speak properly anyway, so you might as well start with that.”

Willow’s face scrunched up slightly in confusion, “Willow not understand point in learn to talk, but will do as new alpha asks.” She bowed her head in her elevated position as her ears folded against her head, “Sapphire is new alpha, and Willow will do anything Sapphire asks of her.”

I nodded, lowering her to the ground once more before turning back the way I had been facing originally, “Good, then let’s go. We’ve wasted enough time here as it is, and I would like to get a bit further today before the sun sets.” I jerked my head towards the west, “Come, Willow, we have a long way to go, so we might as well get at least some of it out of the way today.”

The timberpony’s tail wagged behind her as she trotted along beside me, her ears perked upright, and her mouth parted in a happy smile. For a while, we simply moved along in silence, before Willow looked up at me and asked a question I had not expected.

“So, if Sapphire is on journey,” she asked slowly, her head tilted to one side as we moved along, “what is Sapphire searching for?”

I smiled at the thought of my future mate, my heart warming at the very idea of it as we travelled towards the source of my Mating Pull, “We are searching for my destined mate. Lamia only get one in their lives, but when we come of age, we receive a magical bond that pulls us towards the one we are supposed to be with.” I glanced down at Willow as she cocked her head the other way, her ears directed towards me and her eyes locked with mine as I spoke, “Just a few days ago, my Mating Pull started up, drawing me out of my clan’s territory and into the great unknown, so I did the only thing I could do. I followed my heart and now I’ve got you to accompany me on my journey.” I turned my gaze towards the forest ahead of us, wondering what else might be out there in store for me and my new companion, “I just hope we can get to my mate before something else tries to get in our way.”

Willow snorted in a very pony-like way, “Monsters try to stop Willow and Sapphire. They not know what they getting into fighting Timberwolf and lamia.” She made a few false swipes with her front legs as she clawed at invisible enemies, “We make short work of anything that tries to hurt us.”

I smiled at her antics, the little pup already showing great spirit even in the face of such overwhelming change. She had just lost everything she had ever known and was forced to join me in my quest with no idea of where we were going or what the future held for us.She had to be very brave in order to keep her optimistic attitude after facing all of that.

I paused as Willow made another swipe, only to mistime her step and trip on an exposed root, her muzzle digging into the dirt as her rear end flipped up and over her head until she landed flat on her back. I rolled my eyes as she jumped up and began growling at her would-be attackers, not even realizing the culprit was right under her hooves.

“Then again,” I muttered to myself as we continued on our way, “she could just be a moron and doesn’t know any better. I’d better keep an eye on her just in case we get into any more trouble along the way.”

With that we carried on through the rest of the day and into the late hours of the night, only coming to a stop as the moon rose high overhead. I climbed one of the larger trees and curled up my tail under my pony half in a makeshift bed as I had done previous nights, only to hear a high-pitched whining coming from below me as I settled in to sleep.

I looked down and saw Willow looking up at me with her haunches planted on the ground, her eyes wide and pleading as she puckered her lower lip.

I sighed in resignation and lowered my tail tip, hooking it around her middle as I hoisted her up and into the tree with me. She immediately perked up as she came to land on my coils, her claws digging into my flesh slightly as she spun around in a circle a few times before lying down and flicking her tail over her muzzle. Her warm side was pressed against mine as she settled in for the night, and I couldn’t help but feel a bit happy that she was coming along with me. The circumstances of our meeting aside, Willow was a very spunky and unique companion, and it would make the long journey to find my mate all the more tolerable with her around to keep me company. I folded my hooves under my chest and rested my chin on my tail, allowing my eyes to slide closed as I listened to Willow’s soft breathing. Her heartbeat thumped against my side gently, and I was lulled to sleep by that smooth rhythm as her body heat began soaking into my tail. All and all, things were looking up, and I was actually excited to see what lay in store for us next, just so long as it didn’t involve risking our lives again after we just got through fighting each other.

3 - Stormy Comforts

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The weather, as was commonplace in the Great Forest, proved once again that no one could ever hope to stand against its awesome might. Willow and I had been travelling together for another three days before the mother of all storms came out of nowhere and slammed into us like a personification of nature’s fury. Howling winds and driving rain pounded against us as we struggled to find shelter. The near pitch-black gloom and the blinding rain made navigation nearly impossible, reducing both of us down to near helplessness as the power of the storm rendered our senses near to useless. Lightning flashed and thunder battled with the wind in an attempt to make both of us deaf from the constant roar. My scales shivered as the freezing water soaked us both to the bone, my cold-blooded half struggling to continue moving as we moved from tree to tree, having been forced to climb into the canopy to avoid the racing river water that had swept across the ground below.

Willow shouted something as she clung to my back with all four hooves, her voice drowned out by the ever-present wind and the crashing thunder around us. She had her forelegs wrapped around my neck in an effort to stay attached to me, her hind legs secured around the divide between my pony half and my tail as she shivered against my spine. I knew we weren’t going to get out of this storm alive if we didn’t find shelter soon, and it was with that determination that I pushed us onward, following the scattered glimpses of a cliffside that appeared over the treetops during the blinding flashes of the lightning. My hope was that there would be a cave in the rocky formation that we could use for shelter, as long as the floodwaters below hadn’t washed away any chances of staying warm.

With my strength waning and my head swimming with fatigue, I finally spotted the grey stone at the edge of the forest, sticking out of the surrounding foliage like a wall standing against the storm’s might. Willow wasn’t even trying to stay awake, and I had to grab her with my sluggish tail as she slipped into unconsciousness and started to fall from my back. I cradled her in my hooves as I tried to shelter her from the worst of the wind, but with the driving rain and the echoing lightning barreling down around us from all sides, it was a futile effort. Mustering up the last of my strength, I pushed through the branches of one final tree, spotting a dark opening in the rock several hooves above the forest floor. Luckily, the pounding floodwaters hadn’t reached the cave, so the inside seemed to be relatively dry, although with the complete lack of light I was unable to tell if the cave was occupied or not.

Glancing down at Willow’s still form, I made my decision. Either we risked entering the cave, or else both of us were going to freeze to death out here. I forced my frozen body to move one last time and crossed the gap between the trees and the cliff with difficulty. I only barely managed to get my tail secured to the rock before my tail slipped from the branches behind me, causing a mighty splash as the end landed in the water below. I yelped as the rushing river tried to drag me and Willow from our lofty perch, but I grit my teeth and managed to get my tail up and out of the water, slowly but surely brining its long length into the cave as I carried Willow further into the gloom. There wasn’t much room inside the cave, and I was thankful it was indeed empty as my eyes made out the far side barely half my length beyond the opening.
I carried Willow into the furthest section of the cave and curled up with her against my chest as my tail wrapped up both up for what little warmth it could provide. Willow’s eyes were closed as she slowly curled up against me, her shivers shaking her whole body as water ran off of our forms in small rivulets. I closed my own eyes and tried not to think too much about the thundering storm that had almost killed me and my companion, and simply let my mind wander as the darkness of sleep overcame me. I prayed that the weather would let up soon, or else we wouldn’t be going anywhere for the foreseeable future.

I didn’t know how long I was out for, but when I awoke the storm outside was still going strong, although at least the worst of the thunder and lightning had passed. Willow was no longer shivering, and I could feel her body heat slowly seeping into my own as she pressed her chest against my belly. I couldn’t help the small smile that graced my lips as she let out a content murmur, although as I glanced out at the driving rain, I could tell we weren’t going to be leaving this little cave for a while longer. Storms this bad were few and far between, but when they did happen it usually took several days for them to subside.

I turned my attention back to Willow as she began to shift about in my grip, and she let out a huge yawn a she slowly forced her eyes open. “Ugh, what happened? Did I get hit by a falling branch or something?”

Willow’s language lessons had been like pulling teeth at the beginning, but now you could barely tell she hadn’t been able to speak a complete sentence unless she got really ticked and fell back into her normal way of talking. She would never admit it, but I could tell she actually enjoyed talking with me and teaching her how to communicate better had been the most logical step to achieve that. Still, it didn’t help when it came to her rather sarcastic sense of humor, which she had used to drive me up a wall several times since we had started travelling together.

“No,” I replied, “you passed out from the cold and we nearly froze finding this cave.” I indicated the stone walls around us as Willow’s eyes travelled around the small space, “It’s not much but at least it got us out of the rain.”

She growled in the back of her throat, although the look she was leveling against my coils seemed to be aimed more at herself than me, “And here I thought I was some big tough Timberwolf,” she snorted in contempt, “shows how much I knew.” She seemed to realize what kind of a position we were in, and looked up at me with a slight blush on her cheeks, “Um, would you mind letting me out? I can’t feel my hind legs.”

I nodded, uncoiling us both as she slipped from my grip and landed on her side against the floor. She pushed herself into a seated position but almost fell on her face when she tried to stand up completely. I steadied her with my tail and she flashed me a quick smile of thanks, struggling for a bit longer before giving up. She flopped onto her stomach and glanced at me with a pleading look, to which I replied by lifting her up with my tail and brining her back into the pile of coils that lay beneath me. I set her down on her back and she nodded as she shifted around a bit, getting comfortable as she glanced out at the still driving rain.

“Doesn’t look like it’s going to let up anytime soon.” She muttered as she turned her gaze back to me, “What do you think we should do until the storm breaks?”

I tapped my chin with a hoof as I tried to think of something we could do with the little space we had, and I realized that there were a lot of questions that I had been wanting to ask my companion ever since we had met. We had been so busy with Willow’s language lessons that I had completely forgotten about them until now, and with no other options I figured now was as good a time as any to get the answers I sought.

“Hey Willow,” she glanced up at me with a curious expression, “would you mind answering some questions? I have some things I would like to learn about you if you don’t mind me asking.”

She shrugged, “I guess, if you don’t mind me returning the favor. There are some questions I have for you, so we can take turns if you like.”

I nodded, “That sounds fine.” I paused for a moment, trying to sort through the long list of questions in my mind. Yet the first one that popped into my head seemed to be the most interesting by far. “So, I know you’re some kind of hybrid between a Timberwolf and a pony, but how exactly did that come about? I’ve never heard of a Timberwolf doing anything except eat other creatures.”

Willow’s face fell as she looked down at her hooves, and I could see the pain in her eyes as her voice dropped to a whisper, “It’s not a very happy story. But I can see why you would ask that.” She sucked in a deep breath before letting it out in a rush, “I will say this, my origins are not something that I would ever wish repeated, given the rather dark method that went into it.”

Now she really had my attention, “Well don’t just leave me hanging. Please,” I settled down on top of my tail as I crossed my hooves over one another, “tell me.”

Willow let out another sigh before turning her gaze to the cave ceiling, her eyes taking on a faraway light as she saw things I could not, “It started out like a story you would hear being told as a joke. My mother was with another pony out in the forest with the intent of mating with him. She was in season and they were most likely out and away from the other ponies so that she wouldn’t tempt other males. She teased him and they played a bit before they got down to it, although neither of them knew that they were being watched.”

I felt a cold shiver run up my spine as Willow told her tale, “What was watching them?”

Willow’s gaze took on a darker light as she continued, “A Timberwolf had been stalking the pair for the majority of the time they had been inside the woods, although it knew better than to attack while they were alert. For this was no ordinary Timberwolf. He was the alpha, strong and wise and more cunning than the rest of his pack put together. He waited until both of the ponies were in the same place, stalking them and waiting for the perfect time to pounce. Then, something changed. The ponies began to mate, right there in front of him, and something inside the alpha seemed to ignite like a mighty fire. Without thinking, he charged out of the forest, the ponies too occupied to even notice him as he reared up and swallowed the front half of the male in one mighty gulp. The female didn’t even know what was going on until the alpha pulled her mate off of her and swallowed the rest of him, his cries of fear becoming muffled as he slipped into his stomach. The female was so stunned by the sight she had seen, she did nothing to stop the alpha as he took the male’s place, his own mighty member replacing the pathetic stallion’s as he pinned the female to the ground with a paw.”

My eyes widened in shock as Willow’s story unfolded, and I felt a surge of revulsion in my stomachs at the very idea of what that Timberwolf had done to those two ponies. Yet Willow continued as if she hadn’t noticed my reaction, her mind lost in the story as she stared at the stone above us.

“The mighty alpha did everything he could to use the pathetic pony for his own enjoyment, completely certain of her place as his meal once he got what he wanted out of her. They went at it for hours, the female barely able to move both from the pleasure, shock and the strength of the alpha keeping her still. Once the alpha finish with his enjoyment of the female, he let her fall to the forest floor, spent and completely at his mercy. Yet, just as he was about to kill her and finish his meal, he was attacked by several other ponies, all covered in gold and wielding weapons of magic and metal. The alpha was driven off, and the female was taken back to her own kind, but not before something happened that would change her life forever. Inside her body, the seed of the alpha had taken root, and would slowly grow into a pup with the heritage of both species.” Willow paused to take a breath before speaking again, her voice speeding up slightly like she wanted the story to end as quickly as possible. “For many months the alpha knew nothing of the female or the rest of her kind, but one fateful night, as the moon was shining down on the Great Forest, the alpha heard something on the wind. He and his pack followed the small cries up to the edge of the forest, expecting to find something easy to kill and to devour. Yet as they came upon the source of the pathetic cries, the alpha noticed something strange about the small bundle of fur and noise. It was a scent, one he was quite familiar with, and it was mixed with his own in a confusing cocktail that seemed to come from the small form before him. He ventured closer, only to find a creature that he had never seen before. Covered in the fur of a pony, but with the wooden hide, claws and fangs of a Timberwolf, was a pup. The alpha recognized the pup as his own and took it back to the pack’s hunting grounds, raising it as his own along with the rest of the pack as the little pup grew into an adult.”

Willow let her voice fall silent as she finished her tale, and I finished the unspoken final line as she slumped against my coils, “Yet the pack never recognized her as a true Timberwolf, always believing her to be weak and helpless unless she could prove herself as a worthy hunter.” I felt her body shaking as tears ran down her face, and I shifted her until she rested against my pony half, my hooves wrapping around her as she sobbed into my shoulder.

I held her like that for I don’t know how long, but by the time she settled down, the darkness of the storm outside had grown even deeper, suggesting that night had fallen beyond the depressing rain and wind.

Willow sniffed as she pulled back from my chest, her eyes red and her nose runny as she looked up at me, “Thank you. I know it isn’t a happy story, but I thought at least someone besides the pack should know it, just so that way I’m not alone with my pain.”

I ran a hoof through her mane and smiled softly as she leaned in and nuzzled against my neck, “I won’t hold it against you, Willow, not when your only crime is existing in a world that doesn’t understand your pain. I won’t ask you any more questions and I won’t tell anyone about your past. You have my word that I will keep your origins a secret for as long as I live.”

She pulled back and looked up at me with a faint smile, “Thank you, Sapphire. You don’t know how much it means to me to hear you say that.” She blushed slightly and averted her gaze, her voice shaking slightly as she spoke, “C-Could I, um, give you a lick?” She must have seen my reaction because she immediately continued in a rush, “I-I know it’s not something you’re very comfortable with, but I was raised to show affection in that way and it’s what feels right after you showed so much care for me these last few days.” She averted her eyes once again, her cheeks having turned a bright red as her ears folded against her head, “I-I understand if you don’t want too, just forget I ever said anything.”

It took me a few seconds to think her words through, but as I did I realized that it didn’t really matter what I thought about the act, Willow wanted to show me how much she cared for me and to do so she wanted to share a bit of her culture with me. Who was I do deny her that, especially if it was something so simple?”

I used a hoof to turn her head to face me again, her ears jerking upright as I nodded, “Alright, Willow, I’ll allow it, just don’t expect me to let you do anything like that on a normal basis. I want to avoid getting spit all over my fur unless it’s important.”

Her eyes lit up and her muzzle split into a grin as she replied, “Really? You wouldn’t mind?”

I nodded again, and she surprised me by moving forward and giving me a long lick up the side of my neck, her broad tongue sending shivers up my spine as it ran over my fur and up to my ear. I couldn’t hold in the small yelp of surprise as her tongue flicked over my ear and a shot of pure pleasure rippled through my body, although it was quickly lost as Willow made another long lick up and under my chin. Willow either didn’t hear me or didn’t care, because she continued to lick along my jawline and over my face as she pulled me into her with her forehooves, and I closed my eyes as her tongue passed over my cheeks and then between my ears.

I found myself strangely enjoying what the hybrid was doing to me, and I leaned into her attention as I struggled to figure out what was going through my mind. This wasn’t something I had ever thought about doing with another female, especially one that wasn’t my mate, but I couldn’t deny the fact that the attention was strangely relaxing as her tongue worked me over from the shoulders up. It wasn’t meant to be arousing or anything like that, just a sign of companionship and devotion that spoke of how much Willow cared for me. I let out a sigh as I wrapped my own hooves around Willow’s barrel, leaning down and opening my mouth before carefully running my own tongue over the fur that covered the side of Willow’s neck. She paused for a moment in her actions to hum in contentment, before continuing her attention to me as I returned her affection with my own actions. Slowly, Willow moved her tongue down my body and forced me to curl around behind her as she licked the fur of my chest and then moved down to the scales of my upper tail, leaving me to lick over her haunches and along her spine as I worked around the patches of bark that protected sections of her body.

We spent several hours grooming each other with our tongues as Willow slowly worked her way from my head to the tip of my tail, leaving me to work over the parts of her body that weren’t covered in tree bark. She tasted like sweet tree sap and something earthy as I tried to keep from drooling all over her fur, and I had to keep my tail from jerking every so often as Willow’s actions sent shivers up and down my spine. Finally, Willow sent a long lick over the tip of my tail, and I reached up to lick over her ears as she curled up and rested her chest against my own. Her eyes bore into mine and for a moment I thought she was going to say something, but quickly averted her gaze from mine.

I smiled as she fidgeted and kept opening her mouth before closing it once again, “Would you like to ask a question now?”

She seemed to jump at the change of topic and swiftly nodded, “Umm, yeah, I think that would be fine.” She closed her eyes and thought for a moment before opening them again, “Is there anything unique your kind does when you hunt? I would think being a big snake would allow you to attack your prey in ways that Timberwolves would never be able to.”

I smiled at the rather innocent question, “Well, we can crush our prey with our tails and use our climbing skills to attack from the trees if the prey is in or near a large enough tree. But we don’t usually kill our prey when we hunt.”

Willow’s head tilted to one side in an adorable way as her ears folded in confusion, “Then how do you eat your prey if it’s still able to fight back? Wouldn’t you risk getting hurt if the prey isn’t dead?”

I nodded, “Normally it would be, but lamia have a special power that allows us to hunt without needing to kill our prey. We have a magical ability that makes it so our prey is almost willing to be eaten, so there’s no risk to us when we swallow them whole.”

Willow’s eyes narrowed as she stared me down, “You’re lying. There’s no way you could make a creature a willing meal.”
My smile became a smirk as I leaned closer, “Would you like me to prove it?”

Her gaze remained locked with mine as she nodded, “Yes, prove to me that you can make prey a willing meal without having to kill them.”

All too easy. “Alright then, just keep looking into my eyes, and you’ll see what I mean.” I felt my eyes start to tingle as the hypnotic rings began to flow from their centers, my pupils shrinking to nothing as I began to weave my spell.

“Well I’m certain you won’t….be….able….to….” Willow’s voice slowed to a standstill as her eyes widened in awe, “Wow…..So……p-pretty……”

My instincts began to take over as I rolled us over, placing my body above hers as her eyes remained locked with mine. I swayed back and forth, Willow’s head following my own as her pupils began to shrink, singular rings of color sprouting from her eyes as my tail began to wind up her body.

“Yesssss.” I hissed as I jerked Willow’s head around with my gaze, “Watch the pretty colorssssss. Feel your mind slowly washing away. You don’t want to look away, you like watching the colors.”

“I-I l-like w-w-watching the c-colors.” Willow echoed, her pupils shrinking to nothing as her eyes were taken over by the rings of pink, red and purple.

My tail had coiled up her body to the base of her hind legs, and I felt a surge of excitement at the idea of hypnotizing my first sapient creature. For one thing, Willow was putting up much more of a fight, little as it was, compared to the normal prey I used my ability on. It was kind of a thrill to see her slowly slip under my spell and it made me feel a rush of power as she followed along with my movements.

I smiled as my tail began to lift Willow’s body off of my tail as the thickness of the coils began to increase, her body struggling to stay close to my eyes as her mouth hung open. “You feel good when you look into my eyes.” I spoke in a soft but commanding voice, “You want to fall under my spell and do anything I say.”

“Anything you say.” Willow droned as the spirals in her eyes began to pick up speed. I could tell she was nearing complete submission, and I smiled with glee as her mouth twitched at the corners in the beginnings of a smile.

Yet something changed as my tail reached her shoulders. Willow’s jaw clenched as her eyes twitched, her voice gaining some of its normal tone as she tried to turn her head away, “N-No….I-I’m…n-not….p-p-prey…..I-I….am….a…..h-hunter….”

My smile grew as Willow struggled to turn her head away from my eyes, her jaw clenching as she batted against my magic and managed to close her right eye. With the power of my gaze reduced by half, she was able to close the other one with less difficulty and turned her head to one side as she growled in her throat. “You won’t make me into a meal. I’ve come too far to be tricked into falling for your magic.”

I leaned in and ran my tongue along the edge of her right ear, feeling her shiver in my coils as my tail rounded her neck and then looped around her forehead. “Oh, but you aren’t some silly little bit of meat I can eat and forget. You’re much more than that.” I kept my spell going as I used my tail to turn Willow’s face back towards me, “You are my friend and my companion. I would never do something like that. Besides,” I teased her with another lick along her left ear as I whispered into it, “doesn’t it feel good to look into my eyes, to feel your mind melting away and to let all your worries go?”

Willow nodded slightly, her voice growing uncertain as she spoke in a near whisper, “You promise you won’t hurt me?”

I pulled back so I was facing her once gain as I smiled, “You don’t have anything to fear from me, Willow. After I spared your life, you became something I haven’t had in a long time. You became my friend, Willow, and I would never hurt you in any way because of how much you care for me, and I you. Now, after saying all that, I have a small question for you.” I leaned in and whispered my final words into her ear once again, “Do you trust me?”

Willow took a moment to think about that, her silence causing me to worry for a moment before she nodded, “I-I trust you, Sapphire. J-Just please, promise me it won’t hurt.”

I couldn’t help the chuckle that escaped my lips, “Oh it will be far from painful, Willow. You might actually enjoy it once you let go completely.”

With that final remark, Willow slowly opened her eyes. Her pupils had returned as the spell began to wear off, but as her gaze locked with mine they quickly shrank as my spell overpowered her weak resistance. The rings came back full speed as her jaw dropped open, her lips curling into a smile as I slowly swayed back and forth. Willows body grew limp in my coils, and I had to support her neck as her head began to loll around, trying desperately to keep watching the spirals in my own eyes as her mind slipped away. Then, all at once, I saw her mind slip into submission completely, her mouth hanging open in a wide smile as a line of drool ran down her chin. The rings in her eyes were moving at a dizzying speed, and I allowed my eyes to return to normal as I inspected Willow.

I pulled back and sat up straight as I lifted Willow in her cocoon, feeling her completely relax as her weight was supported by my coils. She stared straight ahead with a blank smile on her lips, her eyes spiraling away as she hung in my grip. Feeling like a reward for her bravery was in order, I used my tail to massage her entire body from hooves to neck, rippling my coils in a complex pattern as Willow let out a breathy moan. Her smile grew ever bigger, and she let out a shaky breath as my tail pressed the air from her lungs and then loosened.

“Are you enjoying yourself, Willow?” I asked, although I was caught by complete surprise when she nodded and replied in a blissful tone.

“Yes. I am, Mistress.” I jerked back slightly at her admission, but quickly recovered as she let out another soft moan.

“Do you like it when I massage you with my tail?” I wondered if she would use the title again, even if I didn’t request it.

“Oh yes, Mistress, I love your tail. It makes me feel so good.” Willow’s voice was almost dripping with joy, and I could smell a sweet scent coming from her as my tail continued its ministrations. I couldn’t figure out what it was at first, but then I felt a bit of moisture run over my tail right between Willow’s hind legs, and I jerk back in shock as the timberpony began to buck against the coil that was rubbing against her hips.

Faster than I could think, I dropped the hybrid from my coils and slapped her across the cheek with one of my hooves. Her head lolled to one side and she blinked sever times as the rings faded from her eyes. Her pupils returned slowly as she held a hoof against her cheek, as if she couldn’t tell why her face was hurting. Then, as she turned her head to look up at my mortified expression, her own eyes widened in shock and she curled her tail up and over her belly in an attempt to hide her soaked crotch.

“W-What was that?!” She nearly yelled, “I know you said your magic would make prey willing to be eaten, but you never said anything about making them want to mate!”

I tried and failed to keep my own shock out of my voice as I tried to calm both of us down, “I had no idea it would have that kind of effect on you! I never intended to make you feel like that in any way, shape or form! All I wanted to do was give you a reward for your bravery and then things just spun out of control!”

“Well great,” she sniped back with sarcastic flare, “you gave me a reward and now I’m horny as all get out with nothing to show for it! Why couldn’t you at least let me get off before you broke me out of your spell?”

“Because I didn’t want to take advantage of you!” I retorted, much to her surprise, “I would never do something like that without your consent, never mind while under my hypnosis. You weren’t in your right mind, let alone able to give permission for that kind of thing.” I took a deep breath and let it out slowly to calm myself, “Look, I’m sorry I got you all heated up and left you hanging, but I swear to you I never intended for things to get that far. I only wanted to show you my hypnosis and then give you a massage for allowing me to do so despite your reservations.” I pulled my tail away from Willow as she slowly got her hooves under her body and sat up straight, her tail still tucked between her hind legs as she met my gaze. “I’m really sorry for doing that to you, even though it was unintentional. Can you forgive me?”

Willow growled under her breath for a moment, her gaze turning to one side as she shifted her hips against her tail. The sweet scent of her arousal was still thick in the air, and I realized that she was really getting heated from the combination of my hypnosis and massage before I snapped her out of it.

“Fine,” she growled, “I’ll accept your apology, but don’t think I’m not going to get back at you in some way for leaving me high and dry after making me feel so good.” She blushed deep red as she realized what she had just uttered and turned her back to me as she muttered under her breath about my ‘stupid hypnosis making her say stupid things’.

Feeling a twinge of guilt in my heart for making my friend so uncomfortable, I realized that, like it or not, I had caused her a great discomfort by cutting her off like that, and by doing so had pushed us apart from the previously tender moment we had shared. I straightened my back and forced my nerves to the back of my mind, my resolve firm as I moved over to Willow and draped my hooves over her shoulders as I ran my tongue up the edge of her left ear.

Willow yipped in shock and spun her head around to look at me, her eyes wide with shock, “What are you doing?”

“You’re mad at me for leaving you hanging,” I replied, licking along her neck between words as I leveled my gaze with hers, “I’m try to make you feel better so that way we can move past it.”

I felt a shiver run up Willow’s spine as her eyes lidded and she leaned into my firm licks, her lips parting in a soft moan as the scent of her arousal grew stronger, “W-What are you planning on doing?” There was a hint of hope in her voice, and I smiled as I moved my tail up and around her body, pulling her into me as I continued to lick along her jawline and throat.

“I may be saving myself for my mate,” I paused just long enough to make her whimper in need, her tail falling flat as my tail began to wrap around her body once again, “but that doesn’t mean I can’t help you when you need me. After all, it was my mistake that made you like this in the first place.”

Willow let out a longer and louder moan as my tail rounded her barrel for the third time, effectively trapping her forelegs against her sides. “P-Please,” she begged, “don’t tease me. I can’t stand it any longer.”

I nodded, although she couldn’t see me with her eyes closed in bliss, her tongue hanging out of her mouth as I moved my upper body around in front of her. “Then open your eyes. I plan on making you scream by the time I get through with you.”

Willow nodded, struggling to open her eyes as my tail rounded her shoulders. They barely had time to focus on my face before I pumped her gaze full of my hypnosis, her distracted mind quickly falling prey as her pupils shrank and the rings erupted from her eyes. In mere seconds her lips curling into a wide smile and her body fell limp, her mind completely broken as she lay still in my coils. I lifted her up and moved my tail between her hind legs, then rotated her until her entire body was wrapped in a tight cocoon of muscle and scales. The section of tail that was between her legs was pressed upwards by the rings below it, causing it to rub against her soaked snatch as she rolled her head back and moaned to the ceiling.

I moved forward and leaned in close to her, my spell no longer needed as I whispered into her ear, “What do you want me to do, Willow?”

Her voice was breathless as she weakly bucked her hips against the coil between her legs, “Make me feel good, Mistress. Make me cum for you.”

I smiled again, feeling that familiar rush of power as Willow tried to please herself, “Then I will make you feel amazing, my dear companion. Just let Mistress Sapphire take care of you and let all your worries wash away.”

4 - [Clop] Caves and Coils

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The scent of Willow’s arousal was thick in the air as I held her above the cave floor in a cocoon of coils, her eyes spiraling at a rapid pace as my hypnosis wiped all but the most basic of thoughts from her mind. I could feel her body heat soaking into my tail as she shifted as much as she could in her tight prison, her already dripping nether regions rubbing against the section of tail I had pinned between her hind legs. Only the tips of her hind hooves and her head were visible outside of her scaly confinement, although given the blissful smile and the line of drool running from the corner of her mouth, it didn’t look like she minded all that much, not that she had much of a mind to care with in any case.
Feeling like a bit of compensation was in order for my earlier blunder, I used my tail to create rippling motions going from her hooves to her neck as I massaged her body with tight constrictions and then rapid release. This in turn made the section between her legs rub back and forth against her admittedly soaked crotch, and I smiled as Willow’s head lolled as far back as my tail would allow and moaned to the cave ceiling as her tongue hung out the side of her mouth. I kept up my ministrations for a few minutes, letting my coils turn Willow into a pile of mush before slowly unwrapping my tail from her lower body.

Maintaining my grip on her chest and midsection, I moved my tail out of the way so I could see her lower body for myself, smirking as the coil between her legs came free with a soft squelch sound. Leaving Willow to her own devices for a moment, making sure to keep up the massage on the parts of her body that were still covered, I inspected the rather large collection of fluid that had stuck to my tail from Willow’s arousal. The scent was nearly overpowering compared to the small whiffs I had been getting before, and I could already tell that it wasn’t going to be much of a chore taking care of Willow’s needs if her body tasted as good as she smelled. It was like the purest nectar from a flower, mixed with the slight tang of tree sap as my tongue slowly moved out to sample the delectable fluids. One lick was all it took to send my brain into overdrive, and I quickly lapped up the rest as I turned to Willow’s suspended body. I could see more of her fluids running down the inside edges of her hind legs as she hung limp in my tail, her mind focused solely on the pleasure as her spiraling eyes closed halfway in bliss.

Moving up to her once again, I lowered her cocoon onto another section of my tail, so I could lean her back into a more comfortable position, making sure to keep up the massage as I gently spread her hind legs with my hooves. Willow made no moves to stop me and even struggled to aid my efforts with what little strength she still possessed, leaving her lower body bare for my viewing as her tail fell limp against my coils.

I took a moment to inspect Willow’s privates before going further, genuinely curious what the genitals of a non-lamia would look like. Given our own intimate parts were normally covered by a section of scales, seeing the spread folds and dripping flesh was a bit of a shock. The flesh around her opening was devoid of fur and bark, leaving the entrance to her body protected by just a few rather flimsy folds that seemed to be nothing more than decoration. There was nothing there to protect the sensitive area from harm and I felt a twinge of sympathy for her if she ever got hit in that area. There was another, tighter opening just below that one, and given the location on her body, I assumed it was where her body got rid of her food after it was done digesting. There was also a small bump at the top of the folds protecting her vagina, although it seemed to be covered by a small flap of skin that I decided to leave alone for the time being. Moving back to the task at hoof, I gently placed my hooves against the inside of Willow’s thighs and took a long breath to take in her mouthwatering scent.

Willow’s body absolutely saturated the air with her aroma, especially this close to the source, and I couldn’t help but make a slow lick along her outer lips as my mouth was assaulted with the sweet and savory flavors. Willow’s body tensed at my touch and another moan escaped her lips, a small dribble of her fluid running down her folds before I swiftly licked it up. Given her reaction to my attention, I decided we could both get something out of this little situation and pressed my muzzle into her heated core, letting my mind become enveloped in her scent and taste as my tongue ran over her folds in complex patterns. Willow bucked against my face and I couldn’t help but smile as she gasped and grunted in my grip, her moans making my own body heat up in a rather pleasing way as my tongue delved deeper into her folds.

Then, by complete accident, my tongue ran over the bump I had seen earlier, and to my utter surprise the flap of flesh covering it folded back and revealed a small hard nub. Before I could stop to think about it, my tongue circled the hard button several times, and I had to move my head back a bit to avoid getting smacked in the face as Willow bucked her hips several times. Her moans shifted into screams of bliss as her body visibly convulsed, and my eyes widened as her opening rippled with every spasm of her stomach muscles. Rivers of her fluid ran down her body from her opening, and she gasped for air as her body stopped shaking, falling completely limp in my coils as my tail stopped its gentle massage.

My mouth hanging open, I stared at Willow as she breathed heavily, trying to wrap my head around what I had just done. “Did I just do what I think I did?” I muttered to myself.

Yet, my mind was quickly overtaken by another sensation as the heat from before came back with a vengeance, centering around the part of my body where my tail met my pony half, and I whimpered in need as my own parts begged me for attention. I knew how to please myself, I had done it many times in the past to tend to my needs due to my lack of a mate, but with Willow here and with her scent practically drowning me in its tantalizing aroma, it was very tempting to do something I knew I was going to regret, so with a heavy heart I pushed my own needs to the back of my mind and returned my attention to Willow.

Putting a smile on my face, I moved my body up and over hers so I could look her in the eyes, feeling that familiar rush of power when I saw her spiralling gaze blissfully staring into space, her tongue hanging loose and several lines of drool running down her jaw.

“Having fun my little pup?” I teasingly asked, knowing full well what her answer would be.

Her mind was so thoroughly gone by this point she couldn’t even speak, nodding her head in a slow and giddy way as she whimpered softly in the back of her throat, her hips bucking forward weakly in a clear indication of what she wanted me to do.

My fangs flashing in the dim light, I found no reason to deny her that request, and moved back down her body as my hooves spread her folds apart, “Very well, I shall do as you ask. Just be prepared for the ride of your life.”

Getting a bit in stride now that I knew at least some of what I could do, I started off by running my tongue over her folds once again, running up the left side before moving back down the right, taking my time and moving at an agonizingly slow pace as Willow’s moans devolved into whimpers of need. I held her hips still with my tail as she tried to press her body closer to my questing tongue, and I grinned to myself as I pulled back from her body.

“Ah, ah, ah,” I admonished her in a teasing tone, “this is my gift to you, so you need to be patient with me and be a good little pup. I promise it will get better, but I’m going to take my time and make you feel completely satisfied so that way we don’t have to worry about you being left high and dry.” I glanced down at her dribbling opening, “Well, maybe not dry at least.”

With Willow secured in place, I moved back into position and continued my slow and rhythmic licking, hearing her whimper with need as she once again tried and failed to press her hips further into my face. Feeling like some actual attention was warranted instead of this teasing torture, I ran my tongue right up the middle and over her love button, flicking the fork in my tongue up and down several times before moving back to her folds. Willow’s moans rose in volume once again as her body temperature spiked, and I could feel her actually sweating under my coils as my questing muscle finally found the opening to her inner depths. Wasting no time with formalities, I pressed my lips to her crotch and ran my tongue as far into her body as I could get it to go, feeling her inner walls clamp down on me as her hind legs folded in to hold my head in place. While it made it slightly hard to breathe, I ignored my own discomfort as I closed my eyes, smiling as Willow’s delicious fluids ran right into my mouth as I took it straight from the source.

We kept at it in that position for several minutes, and I could feel Willow’s tunnel clamping down on my tongue as her breathing got faster and shallower. Having a pretty good idea what was about to happen, I curled my tongue upwards and found a particularly rough section of her tunnel, and I heard Willow actually squeal as her hind legs clamped down on my head, pressing my muzzle completely into her opening and cutting off my air as her body spasmed in the throws of orgasm. A veritable flood of her fluids ran out of her opening as her tunnel locked my tongue in place, and I made sure not a drop was lost as I sucked and gulped at the delectable nectar. Finally, after several seconds of light-headed bliss, Willow’s legs fell completely limp, allowing me to move my head back as I gasped for air, my muzzle and face completely soaked with her cum.

I took a moment to smooth out my breathing as Willow recovered from her intense climax, and I couldn’t help the grin that formed on my face as I leaned up and over her limp body. “So, did you like what your Mistress did for you, little pup?”

Willow’s spiraling eyes were crossed and halfway closed from the mind-numbing pleasure, so she was unable to do anything other than nod her complete agreement, making me giggle as I slowly unwound my tail from her body. I formed it into a cushion under both of us as I laid down next to her, holding her body close to mine as I turned her head towards my own, “Would you mind cleaning up after yourself?” I asked, pointing towards my face with a hoof, “You made quite a mess of my fur with all that delicious cum of yours. I would hate for it to go to waste.”

Moving with rather sluggish effort, Willow moved her head up to mine and began licking over my muzzle and cheeks, her tongue picking up the excess mare cum from my fur as she worked her way across my head. I closed my eyes as my lips parted in a soft moan, and before I knew what was happening, I felt Willow’s tongue entering my own mouth. My eyes shot open in shock as she pressed closer to me, her tongue pushing my own weak attempts to repel her aside with ease as she pressed her lips to mine, deepening the connection as her forehooves wrapped around the back of my head to keep me in place.

For a moment I was frozen stiff as Willow kissed me, my mind fizzling and short-circuiting as I tried to formulate a response. Yet, just as quickly as it had begun, it stopped. Willow’s tongue returned to her own mouth as she pulled back, and I was shocked to see that the spirals had mostly faded from her eyes as she smiled at me.

“Thank you, for making me feel so good.” She whispered. “I know you aren’t my mate, nor I yours, but I want you to know I appreciate all you’ve done for me since we met. I love you, Sapphire Scales, and I want you to know that I will be there for you no matter what. As long as I live, you will never be alone or want for the tender embrace of someone who cares. We are a pack, and as my alpha I will do everything in my power to make sure your life is a happy one.”

I stared into space in shock as Willow wrapped her hooves around my body, curling her head under my chin as she pressed her cheek against my chest, “Goodnight, Sapphire, and thank you.”

Willow’s breathing slowed quickly as she passed into the realm of sleep, and I found myself battling between my mind and my heart as I thought over what Willow had said. Sure, she had said that we weren’t mates, at least not in the usual sense, but she had still said she loved me. What did it all mean? Was she trying to claim my affections for herself in a roundabout way? I shook my head to clear thought away, Willow was far too straightforward to pull something like that. Besides, she knew I was looking for my mate already, so maybe she was just showing her gratitude for what I had done for her? I smiled as I glanced down at the sleeping timberpony holding onto me, and I realized that in a way, Willow was becoming sort of a sister to me, if one could count a being you had eaten out and brought to several orgasms as a sister.

I wrapped my hooves around Willow’s smaller frame and pulled her close to me, coiling my tail around us both as the storm continued to rage outside. And yet, for just a moment, I could ignore the howling wind and driving water, because the only important thing in my world at that time was the small hybrid curled up next to me. She might not be my mate, but I knew from that moment on, I would do everything I could to see her happy, just as she had promised to me.

I glanced out at the terrible weather, hoping that the storm broke soon. I could tell we both were going to need a bath after what we had just done, so with any luck the rain and wind would die down enough that we could go and find a river or lake to swim in, as long as the floodwaters had gone back down to normal levels by that point. I heard Willow’s stomach grumble in the darkness, and I realized it had been several days since the little hybrid had eaten, at least from what I had seen. I made it a priority to go out and get some food the next morning, even if the weather was still terrible, because I knew even though I could go for upwards of a month on what I had already eaten, my companion could not. Then again, I didn’t really know what it was she ate. Was she a carnivore like her father and the pack, or was she an herbivore like her mother? Was she some mixture in between that could eat both or was she able to get energy from the sun like a plant? I just didn’t know, and I resolved to ask Willow in the morning once we got up. If Willow and I were going to be traveling together, then we needed to be able to rely on one another, and I had a feeling with the weather the way it was, I was going to be the one out looking for food if the storm hadn’t passed by morning.

With that in mind I allowed my eyes to close, the taste of Willow’s kiss still fresh on my lips and the gentle rise and fall of her breathing against my chest and tail. One way or another, things were looking up for me, and I guess I couldn’t really blame Willow too much for stealing my first kiss. It had been a sign of affection that was rather warranted at the time, much as I had been wanting to save that moment for my mate. I giggled to myself as I felt my mind slipping away, and I nuzzled into Willow’s mane as I breathed in her earthy scent.

“Sweet dreams, my friend.” I whispered, “Tomorrow we’ve got some work to do.”

With those final words I slipped into the realm of dreams, and for the rest of the night we slept without a care. The storm raged outside our little shelter, but for that little stretch of time, in our little hideaway, there was peace in our hearts.

Author's Notes:

Hoo boy, that was a chapter and a half to write, mostly because I've never done a clop chapter with something other than a pony before. Messing around with what the coils could do was kind of fun, but I also wanted to make sure Sapphire wasn't too experienced. This was her first time doing this sort of thing after all. Let me known what you guys think of the book so far, and I look forward to hearing from you all in the towel section below. This will be the first of many such chapters in the book, but I will be sure to mark them for you all as a warning in case you don't want to read them, although why you would do that knowing what this book was going to be about, I have no idea.

I hope you all are enjoying the book thus far, and plan on some exciting stuff next chapter, because there's another new character on the horizon. Who could it be you ask, well that would be spoilers now wouldn't it. Leave a like, follow if you so desire, and leave plenty of comments for me to enjoy. I always like hearing from my fans and seeing how they respond to my books, so don't hold back if you have something to say.

As per usual, I'll see you all next chapter,
Shadow Quill, Messenger of the Moon.

5 - The Hidden Grove

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That’s it! I’m through with trying to predict the weather in the Great Forest! I mean seriously, I went to sleep with Willow as it was pouring rain and howling wind, and the next morning, I open my eyes to see that the sun is shining in the morning dew without a single cloud to be seen! The wind and the floodwaters were all gone too! The only thing to even indicate how monstrous of a storm it was before were the missing branches on the trees and the still soaking ground that was left behind after the rush of water that nearly washed Willow and I away.

I closed my eyes and let out a sigh as I cleared my mind of the confusion and rage that had consumed it. “It’s not worth getting upset over, Sapphire. Just be thankful the storm has passed and that you and Willow can continue on your journey without any further trouble.”

“Why are you talking to yourself?” Willow asked as she walked up next to me and sat down, her eyes shining with excitement as she looked out over the glittering forest canopy.

I smiled as I turned my gaze down to the timberpony at my side, “Oh, it’s nothing, just frustrated with how unpredictable the weather is. It’s not that big a deal.”

Willow shrugged as she climbed up onto my back, hooking her hooves around my neck as she secured her hips against my own, “Well then, can you get us down from here? I don’t think I can jump that far without hurting myself.”

I glanced down at the ground below us and realized that the forest floor was a good twenty hooves from the base of our cliffside sanctuary. “Yeah, probably a good idea if we use the trees to get back to the ground.”

With that in mind, I stretched my tail out and secured it to one of the thicker branches on the trees opposite the cliffside, making sure I had a solid grip before shifting my weight forward and into open air. It took some careful balancing, but with a little effort, Willow and I were once again hidden in the upper branches of the forest canopy, although that quickly changed as I climbed down to the ground so Willow could walk on her own. We came into contact with the soaked soil and I shivered as the cold water and mud sank into my belly scales, lowering my body temperature as Willow hopped off my back and nearly tripped on the slippery surface.

“Whoa!” She yelped as her hooves made skid marks in the mud, her balance nearly faltering until I was able to stabilize her with my tail. “Yeah, that might not have been one of my better ideas.”

I giggled as I pulled my tail back, “That would seem to be the case.” I glanced around at the rather waterlogged forest, “Do you think there’s any prey around that avoided the floodwaters?”

Willow took some deep breaths through her nose, although given our current situation I could predict what it was she was going to tell me. “Nope, not a single scent as far as I can tell, but that’s most likely from the water and the rain instead of there being no prey.” She blushed as her stomach growled, placing a hoof over her midsection as she averted her gaze, “What I wouldn’t give for a nice juicy rabbit right now.”

Well that answered my question about her diet, at least in part, “Can you eat anything else besides meat? We might not be able to find prey for a while until they come out of hiding.”

She shook her head before turning in the direction we had been travelling prior to the storm, “I’ll manage to find something. It isn’t the first time I’ve had to go a few days without food. I can hold out for a while until we get into more plentiful hunting grounds.”

I shot her an uncertain look but shrugged my shoulders in defeat as she led me through the brush, her nose to the ground as she struggled to find a fresh scent trail to follow. For a few hours we wandered through the foliage, although our patience was rewarded as Willow’s head shot up and her ears jerked into a forward position. I immediately froze and waited on a held breath as Willow dropped into a hunting crouch and stalked her way through the ferns on our left, keeping her movements slow and deliberate as she made her way towards something I couldn’t see. Just as her tail disappeared into the bushes, I heard the rapid intake of breath of fright as whatever it was sensed danger, but it was already too late. With a bark of aggression and the scuffle of rapid hoofsteps, Willow attacked, causing a short squeal of fear and pain before the forest fell silent again.

Willow returned shortly with a large rabbit dangling from her mouth, her cheeks stained with blood as she held her head high as she nearly pranced back onto the trail. She dropped her catch and began munching on the still warm flesh, the crunching of small bones filling the air as she pulled the small creature apart and swallowed the chunks with barely any chewing involved.

She was about halfway through the rabbit when she glanced up at me, her mouth full of what looked like its liver as she indicated the carcass with a hoof, “Waff shum?”

I shook my head, tapping the shrinking bump that had once been the deer I had eaten, “I’m still good for a few weeks. I ate a whole deer before I left my clan’s hunting grounds. I shouldn’t need to eat anything for a while. Thank you anyway, though. It was a kind thought.”

Willow shrugged as she swallowed the meat in her mouth, “Suite yourself.” She finished off the rest of the rabbit in quick order and was soon rearing to go. “Alright, now that I’m not going to pass out from hunger anymore, let’s get going so we can find your mate.”

She spun on the spot and marched off into the plant life, only pausing when she noticed I wasn’t following along. “Um, you coming, Sapphire?”

I rolled my eyes as I giggled, “My Mating Bond is pulling me in that direction.” I pointed down another trail almost directly to the left of where Willow had been going. “Remind me how exactly you find your way with such a terrible sense of direction?”

Willow huffed as she fell in at my side, following me as we began moving in the proper direction, “Well excuse me if I have to follow the directions of a sense that I can’t feel. It’s not exactly like I can read your mind or anything.”

A snort escaped my muzzle as I failed to hold in my mirth, “Well then I’ll be sure to give you pointers to that way you don’t get turned around.” I gave her shoulder a gentle shove with my elbow as we moved out of the flood path and into more dense foliage, “You’re not doing anything wrong, it’s just funny when you try and be all heroic and end up completely backwards.”

Willow rolled her eyes but chose not to retort, staying at my side as we followed the rather thick game trail as it wound its way through the brush. Yet, the further we ventured into the unknown, I began to notice something odd about the trees that we were passing, “Hey Willow, do you notice anything off about the trees?”

“Hmm?” She glanced up at me before turning her attention to the forest around us, “What do you mean?”

I couldn’t put my tail on it, but something about the rather gigantic trees that surrounded us was putting me on edge, “I can’t really explain it, but for some reason the trees here are making me feel like we’re being watched.”

Willow’s movements became slower and more guarded as she shifted her gaze around us, “You don’t think there’s a predator hiding in the branches, do you?”

I shook my head slowly, my eyes traveling around the titanic grove as we wound our way through them, “No, it doesn’t feel like a predator, more like something very old and very powerful is aware of us, but not sure how to react.”

Willow nodded, although her careful steps made it clear she was still unsure about the situation, “Alright Sapphire, but I’m keeping an eye out for trouble anyway.”

My mouth hung open in awe as we ventured further through the massive trees, some so old and so large that one could hold my entire clan in its titanic branches all by itself. Most of them were over ten times my length in height, and so thick at the base I couldn’t even reach half way around. Yet the most striking thing were the vibrant colors that shined from the leaves as the midday sunlight filtered through the canopy. Flowers of all shades and sizes littered the branches of almost ever tree while thick vines hung between the branches like pathways for the thousands of birds and other small animals that called this place home. My heart was filled with an overall sense of peace as we came into what seemed to be the center of the grove, and I lowered my eyes back to the ground to give my neck a break as Willow stalked around the edge of the clearing.

The clearing itself wasn’t very big, maybe three times my length in diameter and covered with very short grass from edge to edge. There were no other plants in the area save for a very young tree near the center, although I could tell even at such a small size, it was the same type of tree as the others that surrounded us on all sides. I slithered up to the tree to inspect it closer, noting that it was only about half as tall as I was long, maybe a little more than two hooves thick at the base. The branches were still small and pliable to my touch, and I could smell the sweet perfume of the flowers that littered the bark between the budding leaves.

All at once, Willow barked out a warning, and I spun around only to halt in my tracks as something green, thin and very sharp was pressed up against the curve of my throat. I stayed perfectly still as I looked around us, and I saw to my utter amazement that there were over a dozen creatures in the clearing with us, all different shades of green and seeming to be made of plant life in the same relative pony shape as Willow. Yet these were not half breeds like my companion, these were all plant from hooves to ears and everywhere in between. The two things that struck me as the most noticeable things about them was they all had what looked like wings attached to their backs, but instead of feathers or any other kind of flight surface, each was made up of several vine-like structures with sharp blades at the end of each ‘branch’. The second thing I noticed was that all of them looked very old, if the wrinkles and rather muted colors were anything to go by.

“You are trespassing in our home, creature.” The one holding his wing blade to my throat said in a calm yet powerful tone, “Leave now or we will be forced to extract you ourselves.”

“Oh yeah,” Willow spoke up as she stood defiant against the three warriors that all had their blades trained on her, “What gives you the right to pick on us? We were just minding our own business when you jokers came out of nowhere and attacked us!”

“Be silent, halfling.” One of the plant ponies, a female by the tone of voice, commanded as she brandished her blade against Willow’s neck, “You speak to the warriors of the Redwood Nymph Coven and you will give us the respect we deserve.”

“Respect is earned, lady,” Willow retorted, although she stayed still as the blade was pressed closer to her neck, “in my pack you either made your own way and took the right to lead, or you were cast out and left for dead. You know nothing of respect if all you do is demand it from others.”

“Why you little whelp.” The male on Willow’s left pulled back his blade and prepared to strike, “I’ll make sure you know your place when I’m through with you.”

I was helpless to stop the attack as the blade swung towards Willow’s side, but we were interrupted by a sharp and rather young cry as the soldier’s blade halted only a hair’s breadth from Willow’s flank.

“Wait! Please, no more fighting!” I glanced over my shoulder and saw to my amazement that another plant pony, or nymph, I guess they were called, appeared by stepping out of the young tree that I had been inspecting earlier. “Guards, stow your weapons and release our guests. We are better than simple monsters that attack others without reason.”

“The Princess is right. Stand down and let our new friends speak for themselves without being threatened with attack.” I heard yet another voice coming from our right as a trio of even older-looking nymphs stepped out of the bushes and walked into the clearing.

The one in the middle was hunched with age and had a long beard of moss running down his chest until it nearly touched the ground, although his vibrant emerald eyes were still sharp as a thorn and bright with life as he looked around at our collective group. The other two were females with long manes and tails comprised of the same faded moss, although one had bright pink lilies sprouting from her body while the other had dark red roses. Yet other than that, they could very well have been twins if one went by looks alone.

The elder male let out a sound that resembled a huff of repressed frustration, “You all should be ashamed of yourselves, rushing into battle even after all of these centuries. You are the greatest warriors our coven has ever produced, as your continued service stands as a testament to the lasting peace we have prospered through. Yet even after all this time, you still make such foolish decisions as to reveal our kind to outsiders without any real reason. Now,” the word cut through the air like a whip as the soldiers visibly flinched, “do as your Princess commands and stow your blades, or I will be forced to do so myself.”

In a flurry of movement, all of the warriors folded their wings to their sides and stepped back, allowing Willow and I to move freely as the elders walked up to me and whom I assumed to be the Princess.

The elder looked up at me with a curious eye, his small form belying the power I could practically feel coming off of him in waves. I could believe that he would have carried out his threat had the warriors not done as he asked, and I felt my body bowing lower to be closer to his level as he walked around me and inspected my tail.

“It has been many years since I have seen one of your kind,” he said softly as he glanced up at me, “what are you doing so far from home, little scale?”

I gaped as he used one of the common terms that my kind referred to hatchlings by, “How do you know that phrase?”

He chuckled warmly as he returned to my front, smiling up at me with cracked bark lips as he spoke, “You are not the first of your kind to venture into this grove, although it has been nearly three centuries since the last one came to our homeland. Are you on some kind of journey, young one?” He glanced at Willow with a raised eyebrow made of a withered leaf, “Perhaps escaping from a hunter who would do you harm?”

I shook my head at his second question, “Oh nothing like that, sir. Willow is a close friend of mine who is coming with me as we search for my mate. You see, we lamia have a magic bond that tells us where our destined lover is once we come of age, and so I’ve set out to find my mate with Willow here as a companion.”

The elder nodded, turning to face the younger nymph as she glanced between the elders and me, “So, you decided to reveal yourself to strangers, and in defense of their lives from your own personal guard no less.” The smaller mare hung her head as if she was in trouble, but the withered stallion lifted her head with a hoof as he smiled down at her, “I am proud of you for having such strong character, Evergreen. It is not easy to stand up for those you do not know, but it is a sign that you will grow up to be a great leader of our coven once you get a little more experience.”

As the young mare nodded, she turned to look at me and I got my first clear look at the so-called princess. Rather than the deep emerald and sea green eyes that the rest of the nymphs sported, Evergreen had instead bright rose eyes that shined in the light like dew. She also sported a horn out of her forehead that was made of several spiraling vines, although they seemed to be as hard as stone if the perfectly rigid form was anything to go by. She also sported sections of bark that covered her upper body and forehooves like a set of armor, although it looked to be thin enough to be mobile if she needed to twist her body or bend her legs. Her mane and tail were also slightly different from the others. Instead of the moss or vines that the rest of her kind had, her neck and shoulders were covered by long, flowing leaves that curled and molded together much like my own hair. Small flowers also grew from said mane and tail, diamond-shaped and a soft periwinkle blue that contrasted nicely with the bright pink of her eyes. All and all she was a beautiful creature, and I felt myself smiling as she hid herself behind her mane and averted her gaze.

“You’ll have to forgive Princess Evergreen.” One of the twin elders said softly, her lilies flowing through the air as she walked up and placed a hoof on the young mare’s shoulder, “She is rather shy and not used to those outside of our own.”

“Ah, it’s alright.” Willow replied as she walked up and sat down at my left side, “She’s cool in my book if she stood up for us like that out of the kindness of her heart.”

Evergreen glanced up at Willow from behind her mane and smiled, “It was the least I could do. It’s not like I could just let you get into a fight when you hadn’t done anything wrong. Although,” she blushed a vibrant green as she glanced up at me, “if you wouldn’t mind, could you not touch my tree again unless I ask? Our trees are very important to us nymphs, so please, refrain from doing so in the future.”

My head tilted slightly in confusion, but I nodded all the same, “If that is what you wish, then I will do my best to heed your words.”

Evergreen smiled again as she and the elders led us out of the clearing, most of the warrior nymphs vanishing back into their trees as we travelled through the brush and into another clearing. The rest followed close behind us as we ventured through the grove until we came upon the next area, this one much smaller and nearly filled to the brim with bright berry bushes. Willow and I stared at all the vibrant colors as the thick scents washed over us like a wave.

“Wow.” Willow whispered as we entered what looked like the mother of all fruit gardens, “I’ve never even seen plants like these before.”

“That is because they only grow in our grove.” The old stallion replied, “We care for these plants and fill them with a special kind of magic. Any creature can eat the fruit of these plants with no fear of becoming sick, and it has been said that they are the most delicious fruit one could ever taste.”

“So, even meat eaters can take this fruit and not get sick?” I asked, trying to wrap my head around the very idea of it.

The rose twin nodded, “Indeed, you could eat all of the fruit in this entire grove, and while you may regret it later for having eaten too much, you would not get sick from eating them by themselves.”

“Oh, how silly of me,” the stallion muttered as he turned to face Willow and I, “I forgot to introduce myself. I am Elder Lichen, and these two are my fellow Elders Rose and Lily. We govern the Redwood Coven ever since our last Queen passed away.” His eyes glazed over for a moment as he saw things none of us could, “She was a true vision of beauty and power in her time, but alas fate saw fit to take her from us.”

He glanced to our left and my gaze followed it until I spotted a truly massive tree, one that made even the others around it look small in comparison. It had to be at least twenty times my length in height, although the top half was split down the middle by what had to have been lightning, blackening the bark and wood with sky fire as the great monolith stood above all the others, dead, but not forgotten.

Lichen turned back to us as he indicated Evergreen with a hoof, “And thus one of the seeds we managed to save from the Queen’s ailing life force was planted in the clearing you came through, sprouting into our young Evergreen and giving us hope that we would one day have a Queen to rule us as we once did.”

Evergreen blushed as she hid behind her mane again, “Stop it, Lichen, you’re embarrassing me again.”

Elder Rose giggled as she whispered to Willow and me, “She may not look it, but even at such a young age, Her Highness has almost enough power to take on the entire guard by herself, if she ever had the courage to use it.”

Willow’s eyes widened, “Wow.” She turned to look at the young nymph with a new light as she bickered with Elder Lichen over something, “Never would have guessed.”

While Evergreen and Elder Lichen talked about whatever it was they were talking about, I directed Willow over to one of the larger fruit bushes. This one was about even with my chest and contained bright red berries that were covered in soft yellow stripes that ran around the surface of the hoof-sized spheres. The smell alone was making my mouth water, and I figured as long as I didn’t have too many, I wouldn’t make my stomach upset with me about having too much food. I picked one with my hoof and carefully took a bite, savoring the soft texture as the juices exploded into my mouth. My eyes widened in awe as I rapidly devoured the rest, picking a second as Willow followed my lead. The taste was indescribable, other than it being the single best thing I had ever eaten. Willow fell into the same death-defying speed as she too discovered how amazing the fruit were, and in mere minutes we had picked the entire bush clean.

I groaned as my pony stomach protested the rapid expansion it had been forced to do, but I smiled none the less as Willow waddled over to another bush and prepared to sample some of the deep blue fruit.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Rose warned as she stopped Willow’s questing hoof, “Many travelers have gotten sick from overeating, and we wouldn’t want you to be burdened during your journey, now would we?”

Willow made a pitiful whine in the back of her throat and gave Rose the most perfect puppy eyes I had ever seen, although it did little to dissuade the Elder as the nymph led my friend back to me and the rest of the group.

“You can take some of them with you when you leave,” Rose promised, “But only a few. We cannot let the plants suffer from over harvesting if we can help it.”

Willow grumbled under her breath but acquiesced to the old mare’s instructions.

“Well then.” Elder Lichen said as he clapped his front hooves together, “how about we let you two settle in and then we can discuss other things this evening? I’m certain you’re tired from your journey thus far and would like to rest before we pepper you with questions of the outside world.” He sent a pointed look Evergreen’s way, to which the young mare hid behind her mane as a blush overcame her cheeks again.

“We would be honored, Elder.” I replied, bowing my head to the nymphs as I turned to Willow, “How about we head back to the other clearing and get some rest next to Evergreen’s tree?” I glanced at the Princess, “If you don’t mind, that is.”

She waved it off with a hoof, “Oh it’s fine. Just remember not to touch the tree and we’ll have no problems.”

I nodded my agreement and lead Willow back to the main clearing, although just as we were about to cross the tree line, Willow stopped me with a hoof across my chest.

“What is it?” I asked, sensing something amiss with my companion as she tilted her ears back and forth.

“Something is coming.” She said in a whisper, “Something big, and dangerous.”

Before either of us could react, a huge shadow overtook the sunlight filtering through the canopy, and as we looked up our eyes widened in shock and terror as a massive form broke through the branches above us. The bright red monster crashed through the trees like they were made of sand and impacted the ground with a thunderous bang. Its scaled head turned to look at us with slit gold eyes while two huge wings folded against its back, its tail snapping back and forth in slow motions and cutting down the bushes behind it like a scythe. Its four clawed feet cut into the soil beneath its massive body and his long navy spikes shined in the now much brighter light.

“I have come for the Fruit of Plenty,” The beast rumbled in its long throat, “and none shall stand in my way.”

Willow and I were frozen in place as the nymphs filed in around us, Evergreen shrieking in fear as the glittering dragon looked down upon our group with an expression of contempt.

“You are not welcome here, fire breather.” Elder Lichen growled as he stepped forward, “Leave before you force us to take drastic measures and force you out of our grove.”

The mighty dragon chuckled deeply, nearly shaking the ground as he turned his gaze upon the aging nymph, “And who are you to stop me? An old nymph with no power and a collection of little twigs that will go up like so much smoke.” Flickers of flame spread around the dragon’s maw as his eyes narrowed in anger, “Now give me what I want, or I shall be forced to burn this grove to the ground.”

Willow looked up at me as the two sides faced off, “What do we do Sapphire?”

My eyes were locked onto the dragon as he stared into my very soul, and for the first time in my life, I had no idea what was going to happen next.

“I’m not sure, Willow, but I know one thing for certain,” I was barely able to speak as my jaw quivered in fear as the dragon and the nymphs stared each other down, “We’re very far out of our league.”

6 - The Flames of Sorrow

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The two sides stared each other down for what felt like an eternity, only broken when one of the warrior nymphs whispered something to Elder Lichen. I couldn’t hear what had been said, but when the aging nymph glanced at the ground next to the dragon’s hind claws I got an idea of what he was being told. Resting in the soil barely three hooves from the dragon’s hind left paw, was Evergreen’s tree. Now I wasn’t certain what was so important about the tree, but it had to be very close to each of the nymphs if they cared so much about the plants.

Lichen looked up at the dragon once again, an expression of frustration overcoming his face as he indicated the path leading to the grove behind us, “The clearing containing the bounty you seek is just this way. If you give your word that you will leave us in peace once you have collected what you desire, then we shall not stand in your way.”

A deep rumble escaped the drake’s jaws as the flames died down, “Very well, but know this. I care not for your grove or the lives it holds dear. Stand in my way and I will turn your entire coven into ash without a second thought.”

Lichen growled in the back of his throat but did not retort, instead turning to face Evergreen, Willow and myself as he began walking towards the second clearing, “Stay back and do not engage with the drake. I fear this may take a turn for the worst once the dragon gets what he came for.”

We nodded, moving out of the way as the elders led the dragon back the way we had come, the huge beast casting a glance over me and Willow before turning his attention back to the nymphs before him. We stayed perfectly still as they disappeared into the brush, and I felt my tail shaking as I let out a quaking breath.

“Well that was terrifying.” Willow muttered as she and I followed Evergreen back towards her tree, “I’d rather that old lizard left us alone, but it looks like those moss-covered idiots want to play nice with a walking forest fire.” She shivered as we formed a small circle next to Evergreen’s tree, our ears all turned towards the direction the dragon had gone, “Do you really think that walking disaster will leave this grove alone once he gets the fruit?”

“We can only hope.” Evergreen replied, sounding unsure of herself as she glanced down at the ground between her forehooves, “I know Elder Lichen has led our coven for decades after my mother died, but I truly don’t know how we can force such a creature to leave with the threat he represents. Our best hope is to give in to his demands and try not to provoke him into attacking our home.”

I was just about to add in my own thoughts when a thunderous roar echoed through the forest, forcing all three of us to fold our ears in pain as the sound pierced our minds like needles. An explosion quickly followed the roar and the bright red light of fire ripped through the grove as the sounds of battle reached our deadened hearing through the brush. Evergreen didn’t hesitate and charged back towards the orchard, leaving Willow and I to follow as best as we could as the light ahead of us swiftly grew brighter.

We came back into the clearing to find the fruit destroyed, every plant reduced to cinders as the great dragon ripped through the plants around him like a boar on a rampage. Nymph warriors tried to hold him down with vines and other plant life by wrapping them around his limbs, but the titanic lizard’s strength proved too much and any slowing effect only seemed to stoke his anger. His front claws we filled with stolen fruit, and a stream of flames erupted from his maw before impacting one of the trees at the edge of the grove. The bark splintered as the scalding heat ripped the tree apart in a matter of seconds and one of the warriors on the other side of the clearing cried out as the tree lost its color and fell to the forest floor. The nymph’s body withered and fell apart as his dying screams faded into nothing, the remains of his body being carried away by the powerful updrafts of the flames around us.

Willow and I stared in horror as the other nymphs tried to stop the fires from spreading around the grove, but between the flames already licking at the foliage and the explosive breath of the dragon, it was a rapidly losing battle. Evergreen stood in abject terror as she watched her home burn, her eyes filled with tears as more warriors succumbed to the flames and fell to the forest floor, their dying screams rendered mute by the roar of the fire that was expanding into the rest of the coven’s home.

Then, from the midst of the battle, Elder Lichen charged out of the clearing and grabbed Evergreen around the shoulders, dragging the much younger nymph away as Willow and I turned to follow once again. The battle behind us was momentarily forgotten as Lichen pulled Evergreen into the clearing her tree resided in, placing one of the fruits from the orchard in her hooves as he turned to me.

“I hate to ask this of you after only knowing you for a day,” he spoke rapidly as he pointed towards Evergreen’s tree, “but if our grove is to have any chances of surviving then I must ask you to take Evergreen with you and escape. Pull her tree from the ground and run as fast as you can. I will lead the rest of our coven to cover your escape.”

“NO!” Evergreen cried as she latched her hooves onto the older nymph’s forelegs and held them to her chest, “I will not abandon my home! I can’t leave you and the others to fight when I can stop this from going further. I can stop the fire, I can fight off the dragon. I’m stronger than the entire warrior caste put together! Let me save our home!”

Lichen shook his head, “It is already too late for that. The flames spread faster than even you can put them out, and your tree is the only one that is young enough to be taken from our grove.” He placed a hoof against Evergreen’s cheek as the young mare began weeping, “Take heart in your companions, and use the gifts of your birthright to build our coven anew wherever it is you go. Now go, before it is too late.”

Evergreen tried to speak but couldn’t force it past her trembling lips, simply shaking her head in denial as she placed the fruit at her hooves. She was just turning around to charge into the approaching flames when Lichen spun her around and breathed a cloud of purple mist into her face.

Evergreen’s eyes widened in shock before they rolled up into her head, her body falling to the ground as Lichen shook his head in sorrow, “I am sorry, my child, but I cannot allow you to sacrifice yourself when you are our only hope.” He bowed his head to the unconscious mare, “Forgive me this one last selfish act, I hope you can forgive me for this once you find a new home.” He lifted his gaze and leveled their blazing glory with mine, “Now, before it is too late. Rip her tree from the ground and carry them out of here. It’s the only chance she has of surviving.”

Given the gravity of the situation, I chose not to argue with the nymph and slithered past him, curling the end of my tail around the base of Evergreen’s tree before jerking upward with all of my strength. The ground buckled and strained against me for a few seconds, but eventually the dirt and roots gave out, tearing from the ground in a shower of dirt clods and rocks as Evergreen whimpered in her sleep behind me.

Lichen walked up and placed his hoof on my tail as I pulled the tree closer, “You have until the final flower falls from the branches to plant her tree somewhere safe. If you do not, then the tree will die and Evergreen shall do the same moments after. The tree and Evergreen are one. One cannot survive without the other. Care for her as you travel, for she will be weak while her other half is separated from the ground. Soak the roots in water if you can to help keep them alive, but to not delay. Every moment the tree spends out of the ground is one less our Princess has to live.” He jerked his head towards the battle as the flames finally began to encroach on the clearing we were in, “Our time is up.”

He pushed me towards Willow and Evergreen as he lifted the unconscious mare onto my back while my tail held her tree in a tight grip, “Travel safely, my friends, and I pray to the ancestors that your journey is a swift one.”

Willow picked up the fruit in her mouth from where Evergreen had dropped it, falling in at my side as I looked down at the aged nymph, “We won’t let you down, sir. You have my word we will make sure Evergreen survives until we can find a new place to plant her tree.”

Lichen nodded, turning back to face the flames as the head of the dragon rose above them like a nightmare from the darkest corners of my mind, “I shall hold him here. Take care, and good luck.”

Nodding my thanks, I turned and lead Willow out of the grove, the sounds of Lichen battling with the dragon fading into the background as we raced to outrun the flames as they spread through the brush behind us. I don’t know how long we kept moving away from Evergreen’s home, but it was nearing sunset by the time we managed to find somewhere to rest. The wind had picked up and had been blowing the flames away as the shifting air pushed against our faces, providing much-needed respite from the heat and smoke as we finally came across something to distance ourselves from the forest fire raging behind us.

Rushing by with a few large rocks to break the surface, was a wide and relatively calm river. The banks had to be at least six of my lengths from one side to the other, making it easily wide enough to prevent the sparks from reaching the other side. Glancing down at Willow, she nodded her agreement around the fruit in her mouth, charging ahead of me as she began paddling across the river. Making sure I had a tight grip on both Evergreen and her tree, I followed Willow as my coils shivered in the freezing water. Remembering Lichen’s words, I allowed the roots of Evergreen’s tree to slip into the water as I swam to the other side, hoping it would at least let the plant absorb some moisture before we had to continue on our journey.

Once we reached the other side we continued to put distance between us and the ablaze forest, a sinking feeling in my heart as the flames caused the sky to glow blood red behind us as a black cloud of smoke rose from the raging inferno. We continued on through the rest of the night, Evergreen sleeping fitfully on my back as we ventured further and further into the unknown. The only direction we had was my Mating Bond as it continued to pull me in a roughly western direction, my hopes of finding a mate currently overshadowed by my worries for Evergreen. I could only imagine the pain she would go through once she woke up, and I vowed I would do anything I could to help her and to cope with the loss of her coven. I glanced down at Willow as she raced along beside me, and I wondered if the little timberpony would be helpful in aiding Evergreen, given her own experiences with loss concerning her pack. I made a mental note for later and pressed on, my coils slipping over the roots and rock with ease as the morning sunlight began to shine over the forest.

We stopped to take a break in yet another clearing, this one littered with nuts and seed pods from the oak and pine surrounding the edge, the ground sloping into a rough incline as we neared a small cluster of hills. The hills rested at the southern edge of a long mountain range, providing a slightly easier path than having to climb up and over the range to continue on our way.

Willow had gone out to hunt for some more food, stating that even with the fruit we had eaten, the race to escape the forest fire had taken all of her energy and then some. I was still covered concerning food, given the deer in my stomach on top of the fruit I had packed in beside it. Needless to say, I wouldn’t need to eat for another few weeks at best, so I focused on making Evergreen comfortable while Willow was away.

The young mare was still out like a light, and I formed my tail into a makeshift bed for her to rest on while I set her tree against the bark of a larger oak at the edge of the clearing. Already the leaves on her tree and in her mane were starting to turn brown at the edges, her eyes closing tight in discomfort as she shifted on top of my coils. I kept my attention on our surroundings in case something else decided to come looking for trouble, but all I heard was Willow as she moved through the bushes to enter the clearing once again. Her mouth was occupied by a large bird, likely a pheasant given its coloration, her fruit cargo forgotten at my side as she placed her catch on the ground and began digging into her prey. The crunch of small bones and the happy murmurs of a content hunter reached my ears as Willow ate, although my attention was quickly snatched away as I felt Evergreen shifting on top of my tail.

Her lips curled downward into a frown as she shifted her legs about, her wing blades folding tight against her sides as her eyes fluttered open. For a moment it seemed she didn’t recognize where she was or what had happened, but then I saw the recognition in her gaze as her eyes flew wide open. A gasp escaped her lips as she jumped to her hooves, flaring her wings in preparation for battle before she suddenly lurched to one side. I caught her with one of my coils as she slumped onto her stomach, her eyes flickering around our clearing before locking onto me.

“Where,” she swallowed as her voice broke, “where are we?”

My head hung as I glanced to the side, unable to look at her as I spoke, “Elder Lichen knocked you out and told us to run. He gave me instructions to take you and your tree as far as we could and to find someplace safe for you to start a new grove.” I looked up and saw Evergreen cover her mouth with her hooves, tears running down her face as she slowly shook her head from side to side, “I’m sorry, Princess, but Lichen stayed behind to give us time to escape. Your grove was burning to the ground as the dragon battled with the last of your warriors.” I finally had to break my line of sight from the now openly weeping mare as I finished my improvised speech, Evergreen burying her head in her forelegs as she sobbed into my tail, “I’m so sorry. I wish I could have done more to help, but I don’t know what else I could have done given what we were up against.”

“You should have let me die with them.” Evergreen forced out as she lifted her gaze to look at me, her eyes burning with pain and anger as her voice rose in a scream, “You should have left me with the rest of my family! How can I ever be the leader they want me to be if all of my friends and family are gone?!” She stomped along my tail, making me wince with every step as she marched up and pressed her muzzle against my own, “Take me back. I won’t go another step if there’s even a chance they are still alive. I need to go back and make things right.”

“And what exactly are you going to do?” Willow spoke up as she swallowed a chunk of the pheasant’s innards, “Are you going to take on a dragon alone in order to avenge your coven, or are you going to honor their memory by doing as your elder commanded and start over somewhere new?”

Evergreen rounded on the other mare, her wing blades flaring wide as she growled at the hybrid before her, “What would you know about losing those you love? You don’t even look like you should exist in this world. What are you anyway, some kind of mixed-up combination of plant and animal?”

Willow growled in the back of her throat, taking a threatening step towards the nymph, “Say that again and you’ll see what kind of creature I am.”

Just as it looked like the two of them were going to attack each other, I moved my upper body between them and held up my hooves to press against their chests, “Stop it, both of you.” I glared them down before speaking, trying to hold back my frustration as I turned my attention to Evergreen. “Look, I know it’s hard to leave behind those you love. I had to leave my clan in search of my mate and I don’t know when, if ever, I will see them again. Willow was cast out of her pack at the threat of being eaten by her own father, after her mother left her alone to die at the edge of the forest as an infant. So yes, we don’t know what it’s like to lose everyone we care about, but we do understand the pain of being separated from those we love, and we have to do what we can with the path life has given us.” I lowered my hooves slowly as Willow and Evergreen relaxed their postures, “That’s better. Now, I know we haven’t known each other for very long, but Elder Lichen entrusted your safety to us. We can help you find a place to start over, maybe we’ll even find my mate while we’re looking. The most important thing right now is that we stick together, because we are all we have to rely on in this forest.”

I gently placed my hoof on Evergreen’s shoulder, and to my relief she didn’t pull away, although she did avert her gaze as her eyes threatened to spill over with tears again, “Can we count on you to be strong and to carry on for your coven, now that we’ve calmed down enough to think about where we stand? I gave my word that I would protect you, and I will stand by those words until we can find a new place to plant your tree. Will you allow Willow and I to help you, and will you promise to help us in return?”

A single tear ran down Evergreen’s cheek before she looked back up at me. She wiped it away with a hoof as her eyes hardened with determination, “If you would go so far as to trust a creature you only met for a day, then I cannot see any reason why I can’t do the same. I will do my best to help you and your companion for as long as I am able,” she glanced over at her tree with a sorrowful gaze, “at least as long as my other half allows for me to continue onward.” She looked up at me again and a light of fear filled her rosy orbs, “You do know what will happen if my tree dies, don’t you?”

I nodded, Willow filling in for me as she finished off the last of her meal, “Yeah, Elder Lichen told us all about it after he knocked you out. Something about getting it planted before the last flower dies or something like that.”

Evergreen nodded, “Knowing what I do about my other half, we have about a week before I am too weak to continue on my own power, and three days beyond that before the two of us return to the earth from whence we came.” She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly as she turned her attention back to me, “Please carry my other half with care as we continue on. I would like to prevent as much pain as possible for both me and my tree so that we can hopefully find a safe place to plant her.” Her eyes roamed over the small tree’s branches for a moment before she climbed off of my tail and began walking towards Willow, “Come along then. We have little time to waste and I fear we will need every moment in order to get where we are going.”

With that lovely thought, Willow and I fell in behind Evergreen as we ventured out of the clearing and into the foliage beyond, Evergreen correcting our course once I spoke with her about my Mating Bond and which direction it was taking me. We followed the trails through the forest and over the hills before the sun began to set, our progress slowed by the darkness but not halted, our fear for Evergreen’s safety pushing us onward even as the moon shined down on us from above.

For the first three days we managed to make good time. Willow hunted as needed while Evergreen carried the last of her coven’s fruit against her chest, her wings folded around it protectively as her eyes remained locked on the ground in front of her. I was worried that she would once again lose herself to despair, but for the moment she seemed to be holding on. The bulge in my gut slowly shrank as the deer and fruit digested, and as the rest of the week passed us by, I began to feel the need to hunt once again. Evergreen was finally losing strength, the flowers on her tree’s branches falling off more and more frequently as the leaves on both the branches and her mane curled and turned brown. It was with a heavy heart that I had to resort to carrying Evergreen on the seventh day, her protests rendered moot as she stumbled over her hooves attempting to walk on her own. Willow and I shared a look, knowing time was running short, as there were only four flowers left on the tree’s branches. So far one had been falling off per day, meaning we had less than four days to find a place to plant Evergreen, or else the nymph would die along with her tree.

With new purpose in our stride, or Willow’s as the case may be, we pressed on as the forest around us began to shift once again. Gone were the powerful oak and towering spruce, changing into twisted things that I couldn’t identify as the normally calm and bright plants became dark and foreboding. I held tight to Evergreen as she rested against my chest, my hooves supporting her around her middle as her weak breaths ruffled my fur. She hadn’t opened her eyes in the last two days, the only sign of life being her breathing and fluttering heartbeat as we carried on. We stayed silent for the most part, feeling the presence of many dangerous and powerful creatures around us as we moved along the trails.

Then, like a beacon of hope, sunlight began to poke through the branches above us. The trees looked slightly less dark and haunting as we neared what could only have been the edge of the forest, my fear for Evergreen overriding my excitement of leaving the Great Forest for the first time in my life. Willow seemed to sense it too, her steps picking up speed as we pushed just a little bit harder to break free of the dark and threatening trees that surrounded us.

Just as our bodies broke free of the brush, I heard Evergreen cough several times, her breathing rattling in her chest as she struggled to breathe. I looked behind me and saw to my utter horror that her tree looked little better than kindling, the leaves having fallen off of almost all the branches and the last flower hanging on by a thin and withered stem. Throwing caution to the wind, Willow and I raced into the open plain beyond the forest’s boundary, our eyes locked onto the collection of strange structures in the distance as colorful figures moved about between them at a casual pace.

My tail propelling me as fast as I could go, I looked down at Evergreen as the nymph clung to the last threads of life, “Hang on Evergreen. We’ll save you if it’s the last thing I do. I swear it.”

Evergreen was silent safe for her ragged breathing, my heart in my throat as we passed the first structure and entered what looked like a collection of wide, interlocking trails that wound between the strange structures.

“Someone!” I yelled at the top of my lungs, my eyes travelling over the strange creatures as they all turned to look at me, “Please, my friend needs help. We need to get this tree planted right away or else she’s going to die!”

For a moment time stood still, and then the first of the creatures, somehow my mind came up with the term ponies given the resemblance to my upper half, screamed at the top of her lungs. Chaos descended on the area as ponies ran in every direction as screams of terror filled the air, and I was helpless to do anything as they all looked at me and my companions with fear. I glanced down at Evergreen and made a decision. I knew we didn’t have time for this, so I ignored the panicking ponies around me and slithered along the very wide trail, seeking someplace to plant Evergreen’s tree where it could be protected until it could recover.

As my eyes snapped from left to right, trying to find someplace to plant the tree, I could hear the sound of many hooves behind us as something came towards us. I refused to look away from my path as I followed yet another wide trail out the other side of the structures, seeing a large collection of fruit trees on the hills before me.

Pushing my body to its absolute limit, I surged ahead, leaving Willow behind as I climbed up and over the cut wood wall that blocked my way, stopping just inside the boundary of the fruit trees as I placed Evergreen gently on the ground. Placing her tree on the ground next to her body, I used my hooves and tail to dig a large hole before inserting her tree’s roots into the soil. I slowed down just enough not to damage the dying plant as I packed in the dirt around the roots, praying to whatever deity I could think of for Evergreen’s safety. I prayed to the forest goddess of my own people, I prayed to the god of the moon that the eastern clans believed in. I even prayed to the wrathful death goddess of the southern Bloodscale Clan, all as I watched the final flower hang onto its branch with the last of its strength.

I heard hooves come up behind me as Willow fell in at my side, the fur on her shoulders raised in a threatening way as she bared her teeth at our pursuers. I turned around and spotted a collection of six pony mares, each a vibrant set of colors that flashed in my eyes for a moment as they stood in a line against us. I could tell by their body language that they were looking for a fight, but with Evergreen’s life on the line I threw caution to the wind in the hopes they might help us.

I gently placed a hoof on Willow’s shoulder, the timberpony looking up at me with surprise as I shook my head. I turned my body to face the ponies as carefully as I could, hoping that they wouldn’t attack if I didn’t make myself seem like a threat. All six of them stood on four legs like Willow, although they lacked the plant parts her Timberwolf half granted her, leaving their bodies and manes as simple fur, although there were a number of other distinguishing features to capture my attention.

The first one on the left was a soft yellow with a bright pink mane and tail, her face covered with most of her mane while a pair of feathered wings held tight to her flanks. Directly next to her was a regular pony with a bright gold mane and tail, her orange face spotted with small white spots around her eyes as she glared at me from under some kind of hat. The two mares in the middle of the formation had small horns sticking out of their heads, the white one’s horn glowing with a soft blue light while the lavender one’s lit up with a vibrant magenta. At the other end of the line was a normal pony that was pink from ears to tail, save for the bright blue eyes that seemed to sparkle as she bounced in place with a large grin on her muzzle. The final member of the group was hovering above the purple one’s head, her own rosy eyes narrowed at us as her multicolored mane flapped in the wind of her wings. Her bright blue body almost blended in with the sky around her, although she was still easy to spot given her rather striking coloration elsewhere.

I bowed as low as I could while still keeping my upper body upright, speaking in a soft tone in the hopes that they wouldn’t harm Evergreen. I was pretty sure Willow and I could fight them off, but I couldn’t risk Evergreen’s health with her in such a delicate state, “Please, my friend is dying. We need to get water for her tree or she won’t make it another hour.” Deciding to put my faith in these ponies, against my better judgement, I pressed my belly to the ground and lowered my face to my forehooves, submitting completely to their mercy as I finished, “Do what you will with me, but save Evergreen, I beg you.”

For a moment there was nothing but silence, and I felt my heart clench as Willow continued to growl behind me. My breath stuttered in my chest as I imagined all of the things they might do, but it seemed my gamble had paid off as I heard one of them speak in a commanding tone, “Applejack, go get some buckets of water. Rarity, help her carry them back here while the rest of us guard these creatures.”

I lifted my head as the orange and white ones ran off to our right, headed towards a collection of large red structures that I hadn’t seen until just now. The purple one looked up at the blue flying mare and jerked her head towards the collection of structures we had just passed through, “Rainbow, get back to the library and tell Spike to send a letter to Princess Celestia. I’m certain she will want to hear about this as soon as possible.”

The blue mare sent me a glare before turning around on the spot, “I’ll be back in ten seconds flat.” Her eyes locked onto me once again as they smoldered with her threat, “Don’t try anything funny or I’ll pound you into paste.”

Her threat might not have meant much to me, but the fire in the purple one’s eyes made me pause as she stepped forward a few paces, her horn still lit up as she bore into my eyes with her own, “Don’t move from this spot until we sort this out, or I will do everything in my power to make sure you get sent right back to the Everfree in the most painful way I can think of. Is that understood?”

I placed a hoof in front of Willow as she snarled and took a step forward, her threat dying in her throat as I shook my head, “Evergreen needs our help right now, and like it or not we can’t do any more other than to protect her. Stand next to her tree while I tend to her body. Let the ponies help when they return with the water, but make sure they don’t cause any harm to Evergreen’s tree.”

Willow nodded but remained silent as she walked back to sit down next to Evergreen’s tree, her gaze locked on the ponies as they sat down to wait as well. I moved over and curled up my tail into a cushion so Evergreen could rest on something a bit softer than the ground, taking care to move her gently as the two ponies returned with what looked like containers made of some sort of thin grey stone. Water sloshed about inside them and I nodded to Willow as they stepped up to Evergreen’s tree. The white one lowered the container that had been following her at head level, the blue glow around it fading as her horn did the same. The orange mare simply lifted the container off of her back with her mouth before stepping up to the base of the tree.

Willow bared her teeth and folded her ears in a threat, although the blatant fear in her eyes must have been obvious to more then just me, given the orange mare paid it little mind other than a passing glance as she slowly poured the water around the base of Evergreen’s tree. Immediately, the color began to return to the trunk of the sapling, and I breathed a sigh of relief as Evergreen’s ragged breaths slowly smoothed out. The leaves on the branches fell off but were soon replaced by new buds as the last flower rapidly regained its color. The orange mare’s eyes widened in what I could only call surprise as she slowly picked up the second container, adding the second round of water to the soil as the branches began to reach upwards once more while the leaves unfurled along their lengths. A few minutes passed as Evergreen’s breathing grew stronger and smoother, her tree finally creating several more flowers as their soft blue petals opened into the brilliant diamond shape I had come to love. I glanced down at Evergreen and saw that her mane and tail had done the same as her tree’s branches, her old leaves falling out as new buds sprouted from her head and hindquarters. While the new life was far shorter than the long flowing length we were familiar with, I had to admit she looked rather good with a short mane and tail, her eyes fluttering open as a quintet of flowers bloomed along the edge of her mane like a crown.

She smiled up at me as she hugged my body with her hooves, her strength returning as she let a few tears run down her face to wet my chest fur, “Thank you, Sapphire.”

“Don’t thank just me,” I said softly as I turned us to face the ponies as the blue winged one returned with a small purple and green dragon on her back, “these two got the water your tree needed to survive. I just put it in the ground.”

“Well Ah recon ya’ll have to have a pretty good reason ta come barging onto mah property and planting a tree without permission.” The orange mare was looking at me and Evergreen with a guarded stance as her eyes flickered to Evergreen’s tree once or twice, “What does this here tree even do anyway, and why is it so important to ya’ll?”

I glanced down at the nymph in my hooves, unsure if we should share that particular information with strangers. However, as she nodded her accent, I realized that we had already trusted her life to them. The least we could do was explain ourselves.

“Evergreen and the tree are linked,” I stated slowly as I lowered the nymph to her hooves, supporting her with my tail as she wobbled for a moment before turning my gaze back to the ponies, “I was told by one of the elders of her coven that if one of them dies, the other does as well.” I indicated Evergreen with a hoof as the ponies’ eyes widened in shock, “Evergreen’s home was attacked by a dragon and we were the only ones to escape. The rest of her grove had trees that were too big to move, so Elder Lichen told me and Swift Willow to take Evergreen and her tree to safety. We hoped to find someplace safe to plant her tree before it died, but as you can see, we nearly didn’t make it.” I bowed to them once more, placing my muzzle against the dirt as I folded my hooves against my chest, “Thank you for saving her, even though we are strangers in your land and it seems we have caused some distress to the others of your kind. Please, don’t blame Evergreen for our actions. It was only in our efforts to save her that we did what we had too.”

I had heard a popping sound behind me during my speech, but I had ignored it as my imagination, although when I heard a soft and motherly voice coming from behind me, I jerked in surprise before rising from my bow and spinning around. My jaw dropped in awe as I beheld the being behind me and Evergreen, and I noticed that every one of the ponies, save for the purple one, had dropped into a bow as the brilliantly white mare stepped towards me.

“It would seem that Rainbow Dash’s letter wasn’t exaggerating when she said that a snake pony, plant pony and Timberwolf-like pony had come racing through the middle of Ponyville and planted a strange tree in Applejack’s orchard.” My jaw worked but I was unable to speak as the mare walked up to me, her huge wings spread wide and her long horn towering over me as her soft rose eyes locked with mine. She had to be almost twice as tall as the other mares, making her a good two hooves taller than me if I stood up straight, not counting her horn, although the most striking thing about her were the shifting colors of her mane and tail as they shifted in a nonexistent breeze. My eyes were drawn to their rippling colors almost like she was using her own form of hypnosis, and I had to jerk my gaze back to hers after a few moments of staring.

Evergreen was cowering behind my back as Willow stood at my side, her hackles raised as she snarled at the huge mare, although I could tell she lacked conviction against someone that seemed to almost shine like the sun above us.

The small frown that had curled the massive mare’s lips slowly faded as she seemed to take in our shocked states, her wings folding against her flanks as she lowered her head to my level, “If I may be so bold, what are your names?”

Closing my jaw with a click, I managed to stutter out, “M-My name is Sapphire Scales, of the Shimmerscale Clan. This here is Princess Evergreen,” I indicated the quivering nymph with one hoof as she hid behind the midsection of my tail, “the last survivor of the Redwood Nymph Coven, and this is Swift Willow,” I pointed to my growling companion, although she fell silent as the large mare turned her gaze upon the hybrid, “daughter of the union between a pony and a Timberwolf alpha.”

At the mention of Willow’s lineage the other ponies gasped, their eyes widening in horror as they stared at Willow like she was diseased. The eyes of the larger mare narrowed for a moment, although they softened as I curled my tail around Willow and Evergreen in a protective manner, “You seem to be a long way from home, Sapphire Scales of the Shimmerscale Clan. If I may ask, what brings you to the land of ponies and outside of the Everfree Forest?”

I tilted my head in slight confusion as I processed the name she had just used, “Everfree Forest? My kind have always called it the Great Forest, although I guess different species might call it different names.” I shook my head to clear it before replying, “To answer your question, we’re on a journey to find something, or rather, someone. We lamia have a magical sense that we call the Mating Bond that tells us where our destined mate is. We only get it once in our lives, and it comes about as soon as we come of age. I felt my Mating Bond roughly two and a half weeks ago, directing me outside of my clan’s hunting grounds and into the unknown. I found Willow here not long after I left,” I glanced down at my friend for a moment, sharing a smile before returning my attention to the white mare, “she had been instructed by her pack to bring back enough food to feed them, or else she would become their next kill.”

I winced as even the large mare gasped in horror, the looks of suspicion that had once been leveled at Willow now changing to that of sympathy. Willow seemed to wilt under their gaze, and I ran my tail over her back in a soothing manner for a few seconds before continuing, “We traveled together for a while after that, coming across Evergreen’s coven a little under a week into our journey.” My face fell as I pulled the shivering nymph out from behind me and hugged her against my chest, allowing her to hide her face in my fur as I spoke, “We were only there for a few hours before a dragon came looking for the magical fruit that the coven grew. At first it looked like he would simply get what he wanted and leave, but we soon found out we were wrong.”

Evergreen began sobbing again as the memories began to run through our minds, and I could see the stances of the ponies softening as their eyes widened, “Evergreen’s tree was the only one that was small enough to move, and even then, we barely escaped with our lives. The rest of the grove stayed behind to cover our escape, succumbing to the dragon’s breath as their trees burned to the ground around them.”

I held Evergreen tighter as she sobbed in my embrace, a single tear running down my face as I looked up at the white mare, “She is the only survivor, and if it weren’t for your help today, she would have certainly died just like the rest of her coven.”

The white mare nodded slowly, her eyes traveling over our little trio before turning to the purple mare, “Twilight, I am placing these beings under your care. See to it they can rest and recover from their ordeal while I see to the townsfolk.” Her wings spread wide as she turned once again to Evergreen, Willow and I, “I am placing a measure of faith in you three, but I warn you. If any harm comes to my little ponies because of you, there will be no place you can hide where I cannot find you.”

I swallowed thickly as her powerful gaze bore into me, nodding my head quickly as she stepped back and took to the air, flying over our heads before coming down in the middle of the structures behind us. I turned my attention to the purple mare, or Twilight, I guess she was called, as she walked up to us and sat down with a stern light in her eyes.

“We can stay here for now while Princess Evergreen recovers,” she stated bluntly, the other ponies taking up positions around us while the small purple dragon stood next to her, “we’ll figure out what to do with you once Princess Celestia comes back. For now, get some rest and we’ll make sure none of the townsfolk do anything to harm you or the tree you planted.”

Taking a moment to stare into her magenta eyes, I found nothing more than a rock-solid light of determination, although there was a slight flicker of fear that she tried to hide as she met my gaze. I nodded as I turned to Willow, curling my tail around the timberpony as I set her down next to Evergreen on my curled-up tail, “Go ahead and get some sleep, girls. We’ve been going for several days straight and Evergreen still needs to recover after what she went through. I’ll keep watch so don’t worry about anything happening.” I leveled my gaze on the ponies around us in a blatant threat, “No one is going to hurt you while I’m around.”

The rainbow-maned mare scoffed, but I ignored her as Willow and Evergreen rested their heads on their forehooves, closing their eyes as they curled up together on my tail. I leaned my back against one of the nearby trees so I could keep my eyes on all of the ponies at once. Yet as I did my best to keep my eyes from drooping, the low amount of food in my stomach and the rush of our mad dash wearing off threatened to send me to sleep.

Just as I was making progress with keeping my eyes open, I felt a hoof run through my mane in a very soothing manner, a soft voice speaking into my ear as a pair of bright teal eyes hovered in front of me.

“It’s okay now,” her voice was tender and caring as my eyes drooped once more, my brain barely able to make out her long pink mane and her yellow fur as she hovered in front of my muzzle with her wings softly beating the air, “you’re safe. We won’t hurt you or your friends, I promise. Get some sleep and you’ll feel a lot better once you wake up.”

It was a battle I was destined to lose. Between the lack of food in my system and the soft touch of the mare before me, my eyes were closing faster than I could open them, and I felt my mind slipping away as my body slumped against the bark of the tree behind me. The last thing I was aware of was the soft touch of what I thought was lips against my forehead, although it was so soft it could have easily been my imagination. The warmth of Evergreen and Willow’s bodies against my tail soothed my aching muscles, and I passed out completely before I could do anything further to stop it.

7 - Welcome to Ponyville

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My mind was slow to process what was going on as my eyes struggled to open. My back was pressed against something hard and I could feel two warm bodies resting on top of my tail. Whispered voices met my twitching ears as I forced myself back to wakefulness, and as I pushed into an upright position I heard the conversation suddenly cut off. Feeling it was time to know what was happening around me, I rubbed a hoof over my eyes and down my muzzle before opening them.

My gaze travelled over the fruit trees that surrounded us on almost every side, the white wooden barrier cutting us off from the wide trail that ran past the grove behind us as my eyes focused on the beings nearby. The seven ponies and the baby dragon from before were grouped together off to one side, their eyes locked on me as I stretched the kinks out of my back. I glanced down and saw that both Willow and Evergreen were still out cold, and I decided not to wake them as I turned my attention back to the ponies.

“So, what’s going on over there?” I whispered as I felt my spine pop a few times in my pony half, “Are you planning on what to do with us now that we’re no longer causing a panic in your clan?”

The purple mare, Twilight if I remembered correctly, was opening her mouth to speak when the larger white mare held a hoof to her mouth, “We have come to a decision as to what shall be done with you and your companions. Given you have nowhere to stay, I have taken the liberty of assigning you to one of the vacant houses on the edge of Ponyville.” She must have seen the confusion in my gaze, because she indicated the collection of structures behind us with one wing, “Ponyville is the town that you passed through on your way here. This land belongs to Applejack and her family, so unless you were to live in her home, you cannot stay here.”

“But what about Evergreen’s tree?” I asked, still keeping my voice low to avoid waking my friends, “It can’t leave this place until it has had time to recover from being uprooted for so long. Who will guard it if none of us are allowed to enter this area?”

The mare’s lips curled slightly into a smile as she replied, “We have spoken about that, and Applejack has agreed to protect and care for the tree in your place until it can be safely moved to your new home.”

I glanced down at the slumbering nymph, not really sure if I should leave something so important in the care of strangers. After all, we just met these ponies, and I didn’t know if we could trust them with something so dangerous. Yet, they could easily have harmed the tree while we were out, so I guess a measure of trust had already been established between our groups. I sighed as I turned my attention back to the giant mare, my voice hesitant as I spoke.

“Let me speak to this, Applejack, so I can see for myself who is going to be looking after Evergreen’s tree.” There was no room for negotiation in my tone, and I could see that the ponies before me seemed to understand that. They stepped aside to reveal the orange mare, who walked forward while removing her hat from her head.

“Ah didn’t know how important yer tree was when ya’ll first came charging onto mah property, but now that Ah know you have nothing to fear for your friend’s health. Ya’ll have mah word as an Apple that no harm will come to yer tree until it can be safely moved to wherever it is ya’ll settle down and call home.” She placed her hat back where it had been before walking up to me and offering me her hoof, “Ah’ll care for Evergreen’s tree like it was mah own flesh and blood until ya find a place safe enough to move her to. Ya’ll can count on me and mah family, and that’s the honest truth.”

I started into her emerald eyes for several moments, gauging her words against her resolve. Yet she never faltered in her conviction, her gaze remaining locked with mine and her hoof steady as she waited for my response. Remembering the trust we had already shown them by asking them to help save Evergreen, I held out my own hoof and bumped it against hers, shaking it up and down once before pulling back.

“Thank you, Applejack. I am trusting something very important to your care.” I leaned in and bared my fangs at the orange mare in warning, “Harm Evergreen or her tree in any way and I will personally make your last moments an exercise in agony. Am I clear?”

She barely flinched at the sight of my fangs, although there was a slight tremor in her tone as she nodded, “Crystal.”

“Oh, how rude of us,” the white mare with the purple mane spoke up as she placed a hoof against her cheek, “we forgot to introduce ourselves to all of you. Um,” she indicated my sleeping companions with her gaze, “wouldn’t it be prudent to wake then up for this? It is a rather rare event that anypony gets to meet the Princess of the land in person.”

I lifted my eyebrow as I started her into submission, “And who exactly is this princess that we get to meet? You?”

The posh mare blushed bright red about the cheeks as her taller companion chuckled, “No, that would be me Lady Rarity is referring to.” She stepped forward and inclined her head, her regalia shining in the sunlight as she spoke in a powerful yet calm voice, “I am Princess Celestia, co-ruler of the land of Equestria, Diarch of the Day and Steward of the Sun.” Her formal stance softened slightly as she winked at me, “Between us, I would rather if you simply called me Celestia. Titles can be rather bothersome things, wouldn’t you agree?”

My eyes widened in shock at the very idea that royalty was cracking a joke at my expense, although I suppose it was something I was partly familiar with, given that I never referred to Evergreen by her title when we were traveling together. I allowed my lips to crack into a smile as I bowed my head and upper body, “It is a pleasure to meet you Princess Celestia.” I turned my head towards the others, “I already know Twilight, Applejack, and now Rarity, but what about the rest of you?”

The bright blue mare flew up and performed a few flips though the air, a confident smirk on her lips as she replied, “Name’s Rainbow Dash, fastest pegasus in Equestria and the only one to ever perform the legendary Sonic Rainboom.” She crossed her forehooves over her chest as she cast a smug look my way from her lofty position over the others, “Pretty cool, right?”

I rolled my eyes and chose to ignore her boasting, turning my attention to the timid yellow mare who was trying to hide behind the bouncing pink one. “And your name might be?”

The pegasus squeaked in fright and hid behind her mane, although she was quickly pushed forward by the boisterous pink mare as the second pony’s mouth ran like she didn’t need to breathe.

“Come on Fluttershy, go one and introduce yourself to the nice snake-pony. Oh wait, I just did that for you, shoot, now I’ll need to let somepony else introduce me or else it won’t be fair for everypony else for getting to introduce themselves to you.” She sucked in another breath to continue but was cut off as Twilight’s horn ignited in a bright pink glow, a similar glow forcing the mare’s mouth shut as the others breathed a sigh of relief.

“I think that’s enough for now Pinkie,” Twilight stated as she released her companion’s mouth, Fluttershy taking that particular moment to move behind Rarity as the bouncing pink mare turned her attention towards Twilight.

“Thanks Twilight, now I don’t need to introduce myself to Sapphy.” She draped a hoof over the other mare’s shoulders as everyone else took on confused expressions, my own eyebrows rising at the adaptation of my name, “Now we can continue without it being unfair for anypony.”

For a moment Twilight simply gaped at Pinkie, her mind apparently having to reboot after the confusion caused by her companion’s antics. Yet, she managed to get herself back under control as the group turned their attention to me, their expressions seeming to indicate an expectation of some sort. For a moment I wasn’t sure what it was they wanted from me, but then Celestia nodded towards my sleeping friends, who were still oblivious to what was happening around them. I nodded my understanding and tapped Willow on the shoulder, the timberpony waking in a rush as she jumped to her hooves and looked around.

“Who, what, where?” Her eyes locked on the others before turning back to me, her head tilting to one side as she spoke, “Did I miss something?”

I nodded, shaking Evergreen gently as the nymph pulled herself into the waking world, “The ponies were just introducing themselves and explaining what was going to happen to us now that we’ve entered their land.”

Evergreen was far slower to rise than Willow, although she seemed to become much more alert as she saw the collection of ponies near to her tree. Her wings flared as the blades were directed at the ponies, but I was able to keep her still as I placed a hoof on her shoulder, shaking my head slowly as she glanced up at me in confusion.

“They aren’t going to harm your tree, Evergreen.” I nodded to Applejack as Evergreen’s gaze followed my motion, “Applejack has agreed to care for your other half while we get settled into a safer location.”

Evergreen looked over the orange mare for a moment before nodding, although she kept her wings flared as I turned my attention back to the ponies, “Evergreen, Willow, this is Princess Celestia.” I pointed towards the towering mare as my companion’s eyes widened, their bodies dropping into identical bows as Evergreen’s wings finally folded back against her flanks.

“Please forgive us Your Highness,” Evergreen said from her bowed position as she glanced up at the monarch between her lashes, “we meant no disrespect by being cautious. It is only because of the dangers we have faced together that has made us wary of strangers.”

Willow murmured her agreement, her own body held low to the ground as she revealed her neck to the taller mare in submission. I was rather surprised to see that from the normally combative and confident hybrid, although if my senses were telling me anything, it was that the largest of the ponies was by far the most powerful, and not just in physical strength either. Celestia seemed to have an aura that demanded respect, and yet it also seemed to soothe rather than frighten those who were enveloped in its radiant glow.

Celestia smiled and gestured towards my companions with a hoof, “Please rise. You are not my subjects, and therefore do not need to show such subservient behavior towards me. While the gesture is appreciated, it is not needed nor desired on my part. You are your own beings and should not be forced to bow to one who does not lead your people.” Her smile took on a slightly more mirthful shape as she turned her attention to Evergreen, “Besides, one of you is a royal herself, or had you forgotten that young Evergreen?”

Now it was Evergreen’s turn to blush, her legs straightening as she averted her gaze and tried to hide behind her too-short mane, “Oh, I guess that’s correct. I’m not used to being given respect from beings that aren’t part of my coven.”

Willow was a bit more forward as she stood up and walked over to Celestia, tilting her head up to stare at the mare’s eyes as the Princess looked down at the hybrid, “So we don’t need to treat you like our alpha while we are in your lands? That’s so weird, because back in my pack any wolf that wished to enter our territory had to submit to my alpha’s demands or risk being attacked and driven off.”

The ponies gaped at Willow like she had just kicked their ruler in the face, although Celestia simply lowered her head to Willow’s level as she replied, “While those may have been the laws of your past life, you need not fear harm from me or any of the beings around you. We ponies are a mostly peaceful race and would rather avoid conflict if at all possible.” Celestia turned her attention back to me, “Now, I believe you were going to finish the introductions before we showed you to your temporary home?”

I nodded, bringing Willow and Evergreen up to speed as I pointed out each of the ponies in turn. Twilight corrected me in saying that her full name was Twilight Sparkle, a strange name but then again who was I to judge, and that the baby dragon at her side was called Spike. Pinkie gave a long and complex string of words before stating that we could just call her Pinkie Pie instead of her full name. I could barely understand what I had just heard, let alone repeat it, so I wisely accepted the mare’s offer of using a shorter version.

With that out of the way, Celestia turned around and led us back over the wooden barrier that stood between the orchard and the wide trail, the other mares following at a close range as Willow and Evergreen fell in at my sides. We travelled back through the collection of structures, or town as Celestia had called it, seeing more of the ponies as they cautiously watched from openings in the sides of said structures. Many waved to the Princess with wide smiles, although as soon as they spotted us their expressions were quick to shift to ones of fear or suspicion.

I chose to ignore them as we exited the town on the side near the Great Forest, our escort leading us along a slightly less wide trail that wound along the edge of the forest in a northern direction. For a moment I thought we were going to enter the woods, but I was proven wrong when we came up to yet another structure, slightly larger than the ones we had seen in town but still made of wood and covered in dead grass on top. The openings in the sides were unadorned by the wooden barriers that some of the structures in town had, and the south wall was mostly covered in trailing vines that wound up the wood in droves.

All and all, I wasn’t really sure what I was looking at. I had never seen anything like it before, and judging from my friend’s expressions, neither had they.

Rarity stepped up to my left and glanced up at me with a confused look, “Well, aren’t you going to go in?”

I looked down at her with the same expression, “Go in? How? There is a wall of wood in our path and the openings on the sides are far too small for me to squeeze through.”

The alabaster mare’s eyes narrowed as she walked up to the rectangular block of wood that sat in the middle of the wall before us, her horn glowing as it twisted a small golden bump I hadn’t noticed before. The block swung inward, revealing a hole in the wall that all of us could enter or exit through, and I could feel the shock rolling off me and my friends in waves as our jaws hung low.

Rarity tilted her head as she shifted her gaze from me to my companions and back again, “Why do you look like I’ve just done the impossible? It’s just a simple door. Every house in Equestria has one, many in fact if you count the ones usually inside the house.”

“What’s a house?” Willow asked, earning multiple stupefied expressions as Rarity held a hoof to her mouth.

“Why, this is a house,” she indicated the structure behind her with a hoof, “a place where ponies can live without having to resort to sleeping on the dirty ground or out in the nasty weather.” Her gaze returned to us as she seemed to realize something, “What would you normally call home back in your lands?”

“Sleep in a cave or in a thicket of bushes with my pack.” Willow replied.

“I just normally rest inside my tree.” Evergreen muttered, jerking slightly as the ponies gaped at her, “What? The tree and I are one and the same. We nymphs usually stay hidden unless we have no other choice. It’s not my fault my other half is all the way on the other side of town.”

“And you, Sapphire?” Rarity asked, sounding almost afraid of my answer.

“My clan claimed a grove of trees far before I was born,” I replied, “every family lives in the branches of a single tree as long as there is enough room. We sleep in the canopy and come down to the forest floor during the day to hunt and to interact with each other.”

The ponies all looked between one another with uncertain glances, although Celestia seemed to be taking it all in stride. “Perhaps it would be best is you showed our new friends how a house works. Given they have never encountered Equestrian ways of life, I am sure they could use a bit of help getting settled.”

Twilight beamed as she began pulling me forward by a hoof, Pinkie taking up my other as Willow and Evergreen were directed into the structure by the other mares.

“Come on Sapphy,” Pinkie said with an equally wide smile, “we got to get everypony comfortable before I can give you your big Welcome-to-Equestria-and-happy-house-warming Party!”

Willow and Evergreen shared another confused look as we were directed into the house, our eyes taking in the large enclosed space as the duo turned back to Pinkie, “What’s a party?”

The pink mare gasped like we had attacked her, her body freezing in place as her jaw hung literally to the floor. The other mares backed up slightly as Pinkie seemed to go through a small mental episode, her body twitching in odd places before taking in a deep breath and calming her features.

“So, you’ve never had a party thrown for you,” her voice had become eerily calm, and I felt a shiver run up my spine as she lifted a completely blank expression to look at me, “is that correct?”

Not really sure what to do, given the rather frightened looks the other mares were giving their companion, “Umm, no?” I flinched, expecting to somehow set off the apparently unhinged mare, but her reaction was not what I expected.
Instead of going ballistic like I thought she was going to, she simply nodded, walked past Celestia without even bouncing once, and glanced over her shoulder at the rest of us with her still blank face, “Tomorrow night, you are going to get the party of your life to make up for all the ones you’ve missed.” All at once, her sparky attitude came back as she beamed at us, “See you all later! I’ve got work to do!”

With that she rushed off at blinding speeds, leaving the rest of us to stare after her in awe and a little fright.

“I know that was just Pinkie being Pinkie,” Rainbow said as she glanced at the others, “but should we be worried about what she’s going to do? You all remember what happened when she and Cheese Sandwich got into a competition to create the biggest party ever for me.”

“While I think your friend’s reaction might warrant some caution,” Celestia said as she walked past us and into the center of the space, “she means the best and would never do anything to harm others. That much I know from Twilight’s letters and from my own experiences with her. She’ll be creating quite the party for Sapphire and her friends, but I don’t think she will go too far with what she puts together.” She glanced over her shoulder at our group with a serene smile, “Now, how about we get back to the tour? I’m certain Sapphire, Evergreen and Willow are looking forward to seeing what their new home will be like while they are staying in our lands.”

With that rather effective balm to our frazzled nerves, the mares all jumped at the chance to show me and my friends everything the house could offer, one room at a time. We all were amazed by what we were shown, from the idea of contained fire to keep the house warm in winter to the very concept of controlling the flow of water with the simple turning of a knob. Willow especially thought that the cleaning room was especially interesting, taking a drink from a provided bowl of water before being politely pulled back by Fluttershy. The normally timid mare whispered something into the timberpony’s ear, causing Willow to jerk her head back at the bowl before sticking out her tongue and making a disgusted face. I was tempted to ask what she had been told but a pointed look sent my way told me that we would have that conversation later.

All and all, the biggest thing to me was the fact that we wouldn’t be sleeping on the wooden floor. After climbing up a flight of stairs (Twilight told us what they were called as she led us up them), we came to a set of rooms that all shared the same basic design. They all possessed openings in their outer walls, windows if I remembered correctly, and had several hunks of wood that served various purposes. The furniture, as Rarity was quick to point out, could be used to store things that we got for ourselves like clothing and other such items, although why we would ever need such things was apparently lost on the mare.

It was in said rooms that I found my newest wonder of pony life, beds. Soft, comforting blocks that were stuffed with feathers and covered in thin pieces of fabric to ward off the cold at night, my mind was in bliss as my tail coiled up on the large surface and I couldn’t help but sigh as I rested my head on the pillows I had piled around me. Willow and Evergreen were a bit skeptical at first, but after I pulled them up onto the squishy surface with my tail, they too quickly fell into contented bliss as the ponies slowly filed out of the room.

“We’ll be around tomorrow morning to check on you. We’ll go over some of the other important things you’ll need to know to live in pony society once you’ve gotten some rest.” Twilight closed the door softly as she turned off the lights overhead, plunging us into near darkness as the sun began to set through the open window on our right.

I let out a content sigh as I wrapped Willow up in my tail, coiling her from hooves to chin but not constricting as I rested her on my left side. I left a couple rings of coils open for Evergreen if she so wanted, having never done so before for the nymph. Normally she had slept inside her tree, but with that all the way across town I figured having us close by would help her relax. She hesitated for a moment before taking a slow step forward, lifting my coils up and over her body with her front hooves before lying down on her stomach.

I pulled in the slack until my tail was wrapped around her in a snug but gentle embrace, and she sighed as her eyes fluttered for a moment, “Oh this is wonderful. Why haven’t I ever had you do this before?”

“Because you were always sleeping inside your tree while we were on the move,” I countered with a slight grin, “You never gave me the chance to try before you would disappear each night.”

The mare nodded in thought as she rested her head on one of the pillows around us, her eyes closing as a smile formed on her lips, “Well I guess I’ve found a new place to sleep. This is far better than sleeping as part of my tree.”

“Oh?” I raised my eyebrow as one of her eyes cracked open to look at me, “And why is that?”

Her lips pulled back further to reveal her teeth as her smile grew, “Because I trust you to take care of me as I sleep. My tree can’t do anything to help me if I come into danger during the night. I trust you to protect me, Sapphire, just as you promised to do so to Elder Lichen.” She reached out with her muzzle and rubbed it against my cheek softly, pulling back slightly as I held a hoof to my cheek, “Thank you for doing all of this to save me after my coven died. I don’t think I’ve ever actually said that before now.”

I felt my cheeks heating up from both her words and her actions, “Well, I, umm. You really don’t need to thank me, Evergreen. I was just doing what anyone would have done if given the chance.”

Evergreen giggled softly as she nuzzled against my cheek again, pressing a soft kiss there before pulling back once more, “Somehow I don’t think that’s true, but I’ll let it go for now, so we can get some sleep.” She rubbed her cheek against my tail as the coils warmed up around her body, murmuring in contentment as she whispered to me, “Goodnight, Sapphire. Goodnight, Willow. See you in the morning.”

“Night Evergreen.” Willow echoed as she dragged a soft lick up the side of my face, purring slightly as I turned around and returned the gesture between her ears, “Night Sapphire.”

I felt my heart warming at the love and care these two were sharing with me, and I couldn’t help the single tear that ran down my face as I watched them fall asleep in my coils, completely trusting of me and my ability to protect them, “Goodnight girls.” I pressed a soft kiss to each of their foreheads before pulling them close and resting my own head on the pillows behind me, “I don’t know what I would do without you now that we’re together. I promise I will protect you and earn the trust you have in me. No one will ever bring you harm, not as long as I have anything to say about it.”

With that the sun finally set and the soft silver glow of the moon spread over the land, falling over our intertwined bodies as we fell into a peaceful slumber. I had no idea what was going to happen next, but with my Mating Bond pulling at my heart stronger than ever, I had a feeling things were finally going to start working in our favor.

Author's Notes:

Sorry I wasn't able to post this yesterday, but work drained me like a sieve and I passed out almost as soon as I got home. But, to make up for it I'm going to post another chapter tonight for Wolf in Cybernetic Armor before I go to bed. I WILL make sure that I keep to my schedule for the rest of my 2nd Anniversary Chapter Marathon, and I will not let myself fall behind again. That you have my word on, my faithful readers and followers.

Anyways, what did you think of the chapter? Was it good? Was it crazy? Did Pinkie pulling a Maud scare the ever-living daylights out of you? If you answered yes to any or all of these questions then I would call this update a success.

As usual, have fun reading, and make sure to like, follow if you wish, and leave plenty of comments in the towel section for me to read. I love hearing from you guys and look forward to your feedback.

See you next chapter,
Shadow Quill, Messenger of the Moon.

8 - The Rules of the Land

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My mind was slow to return to the land of the waking, such was the level of comfort I felt with my closest friends wrapped in my coils as their body heat soaked into my scales. I rolled my pony half over to turn away from the glaring sunlight as I tried to go back to sleep, only to bump my muzzle against Willow’s as the timberpony giggled softly.

I opened my eyes to see that Willow was already awake, although the slight droop in her gaze showed she was more than comfortable where she was for the time being. I returned her smile as she shifted slightly in my coils, sending delightful shivers up my spine as her fur and bark gently rubbed against my belly scales.

“Good morning Sapphire,” Willow whispered as she bent forward and licked up my face between my eyes and over my left ear, “Sleep well?”

I nodded as I leaned forward, returning her affections with a lick of my own as I dragged my tongue over the side of her neck and up her left cheek. Willow purred in contentment as she closed her eyes once more, snuggling against my tail as I pulled it just a bit tighter around her body and rippled my coils a few times to massage her from hooves to neck.

She let out a giant yawn before wiggling a bit, “Stop that. I don’t want to go back to sleep.”

I giggled as I kept up my massage, making her groan softly as her muscles turned to mush under my tender yet firm ministrations, “I didn’t hear any complaints the last time I did this for you. Are you saying you really don’t like my coils squeezing you over and over like this?” I knew what her answer would be, but I couldn’t help teasing her as she struggled to fight against the soothing embrace of my tail and remain awake.

“No, I love it when you do this,” she replied as she shifted again, managing to free one of her front hooves as she pulled herself out of the cocoon I had encased her in. “I just really need to get up before I make a mess in our nice new bed.”

Realizing what she was talking about, my tail shifted off of her completely just as she got her upper half free of my coils, leaving me feeling slightly lacking as the timberpony jumped off the bed and made her way into the washroom. She closed the door behind her and a minute later I heard the sounds of rushing water, followed by Willow’s return as she climbed back up onto the bed. She glanced at the still slumbering Evergreen as she picked up a few sections of my tail and draped them over her body, allowing me to pull her close again as my coils secured her legs to her sides. It wasn’t a neat cocoon like before, but just as effective as her eyes began to flutter closed once again.

She smiled as she leaned in and nuzzled against my cheek with her own, whispering into my ear before pulling back, “You should give Evergreen the same treatment when she wakes up. I’d bet she would love to feel your tail melting her body like that.”

I glanced over my shoulder at the sleeping nymph, a soft smile on her lips as she rested in complete peace, secured from neck to tail in a perfect cocoon with a thick section of my tail supporting her head like a living pillow. I got a devious idea in my head, and I allowed my grin to turn into a smirk as I flicked my eyes back towards Willow.

The hybrid must have realized what I planned to do, and she returned my smirk as she turned her attention to Evergreen, “If you’re going to do what I think you’re doing. I can’t wait to see how far it goes before she wakes up.”

I nodded, shifting until my upper body was in an upright position, leaning slightly over Evergreen as I began to move my tail around the sleeping nymph. At first, I kept my movements slow and gentle, barely squeezing or shifting the sections side to side to let her get used to the sensation. Her mouth parted in a sigh but made no other motions, spurring me on to greater action as I upped the strength of my squeezes slightly. Her mouth was still open, but her lips curled into a smile as she murmured in her slumber, shifting against my tail as her legs rubbed against my belly scales. I hummed in pleasure as her soft body sent a totally different sensation running up my spine compared to Willow’s earlier movements, and I upped the strength of my massage once more as I began to actively squeeze and relax my coils around her body. My tail twisted and rotated around her frame as Evergreen let out a breathy moan, her breathing rushing in and out of her body in time with my squeezes as my coils pushed the air from her lungs and then allowed it to enter again.

I kept this up for several minutes, Willow grinning all the while as she snuggled into her own sections of my tail, her eyes locked on the actively moaning and panting nymph as I turned her body into mush. My smirk became almost predatory as the scent of Willow’s arousal became noticeable as the timberpony began rubbing herself against a section of my tail, and I glanced over at her as I continued my attentions to Evergreen.

“You’re a naughty mare,” I admonished her, the hybrid making no effort to stop as she watched every move I made around Evergreen’s body, “getting excited watching my coils squeeze and massage someone else as they moan and pant in my grip.” Willow’s eyes had begun to glaze over in lust, and I tightened my tail around her body to prevent her from touching herself, a more dominant side coming to the fore as I leaned over the now panting mare. “Do you want me to do the same to you? Would you like me to make you feel amazing pleasure like what I’m giving Evergreen?”

She nodded her head sluggishly, her mind fogged over in lust as she weakly struggled against my coils. She wasn’t really trying, I could tell, but it was all part of the act as she submitted to my will.

“Please, Sapphire, make me feel good like you did in that cave.” Her voice was soft and pleading as the scent of her arousal was joined by another, this one coming from the wrapped-up nymph behind me.

I glanced towards the moaning puddle that had once been Evergreen, noticing that the nymph was actively trying to bring her forehooves towards the growing wet spot between her hind legs. I grinned deviously as I tightened my tail around her to halt her movements, causing Evergreen to whine in her sleep but not to awaken as I kept up my massage over the rest of her body. One section of the cocoon kept her from touching herself as I turned my attention back to Willow, who was no longer fighting my tail as she gazed up at me with a heated gaze.

“Do you want me to please you like I did before,” I whispered as I leaned to the side, revealing the moaning and panting form of Evergreen as my tail continued to tighten and release around her heating frame, “or would you rather see how long I can keep doing this before Evergreen wakes up?”

Willow looked over at Evergreen before turning back to me, asking in a completely submissive tone, “Will I be allowed to please myself, Mistress?”

I started in slight surprise, wondering why she had called me that when she wasn’t under my hypnosis. I pondered her actions for a moment before coming to the conclusion that she remembered what had happened while she was under my spell, and my actions this morning were bringing out some of the same behaviors. I smiled to myself as I turned my attention back to Willow, the timberpony watching me expectantly as she awaited my answer.

“How about we play a game?” I asked, her ears snapping to attention as her eyes widened slightly, “You can watch all you like, but you can’t touch yourself or do anything other than listen to Evergreen as I attend to her. If you can last until she either climaxes or wakes up without giving in, then the next time we do something like this, I’ll make every second a moment in paradise. Do we have a deal?”

Willow eagerly nodded, climbing out from under my tail as she walked over to Evergreen’s coil prison, laying down on her belly to hide her obvious arousal as she watched my actions with rapt attention. I turned my full attention to the moaning and panting nymph in my grip, feeling her crotch absolutely soaking the lower half of her cocoon as my tail squeezed her body into paste. Somehow, she hadn’t woken up, but I had a feeling it was a rapidly losing battle. So, I sped up my tail’s movements again, squeezing until her face began to turn pale from lack of air before releasing again, her lungs surging full of air as her moans where interrupted by a loud gasp. I felt the moisture on my tail rapidly increase after that squeeze, and I realized that some part of Evergreen must be liking the fact that she could barely breathe. Glancing at Willow to make sure she was paying attention, and wasn’t doing anything to herself, I squeezed Evergreen even tighter before holding her in that position, the tint of her face changing towards a paler green as her mouth gaped in a breathless gasp. I felt a shudder run over her entire body as I finally released her, the gasp of air returning to her lungs followed by a loud scream as her body shook in climax.

Her body slumped in my coils as she came down from her high, my tail falling still as I glanced over at Willow. The poor mare hadn’t been able to stop herself and had been actively rubbing against her own body with a hoof that she had tired to sneak under her belly without my notice. Her eyes were rolled back as she came down from her own high, her gaze returning to me only to widen as I smirked at her.

“Seems like you lost our little bet, Willow.” I said in an admonishing tone as I unwrapped Evergreen and placed the wet sections of my tail in front of the timberpony, “As punishment for losing, you have to clean up the mess that your desires created.” I softened the playful glare with a smile as she shifted forward to sniff the sweet-scented liquid. “If it makes you feel any better, I think Evergreen might like to join you the next time we do something like this, if you can convince her to do so.”

Willow’s sheepish expression shifted to one of excitement as she began to slowly lick up Evergreen’s arousal, her touch sending ripples up my spine as she playfully rubbed her tongue into the ridges between my belly scales.

I hummed as I rubbed her between the ears and leaned down to sample the fluid she hadn’t gotten to yet, the sweet flavor of nectar running over my taste buds as the scent of honeysuckle reached my muzzle. I decided I wasn’t going to let Willow have all the spoils and ran my tongue over the rest of my tail, running my tongue over Willow’s cheeks as we came close to one another in a teasing motion before pulling back to avoid her playful nip in my direction.
Once my tail was clean again, we turned our attention to Evergreen as the nymph began to shift and rub at her eyes with a hoof, her wings stretching slightly as she opened her eyes and let out a wide yawn, “Oh, Sapphire, I had the most amazing dream last night. I might never sleep in my tree again if your tail proves to be that comfortable each night.” She glanced at Willow and I, only to pause as she sniffed the air once or twice. She glanced down her own body and then blushed a vibrant emerald as her tail curled up in a pathetic attempt to hide the results of my earlier actions.

“Oh, I’m so sorry! I-I didn’t mean to, that is, I just –,” she trailed off into nothing as she tried to hide her embarrassment by pulling down what little of her mane there was to try and cover her face, although it wasn’t nearly as effective as she might have wanted.

Willow and I shared a look, one that said under no circumstances would we ever tell Evergreen what it was we had done. With that settled, I turned towards the distraught nymph and pulled her chest against mine, resting my chin on top of her head between her ears as I rubbed her back with my hooves and gently shushed her.

“It’s alright, Evergreen.” I murmured in a comforting tone, “I don’t mind. If anything, I’m flattered that you found my coils to be so,” I cleared my throat to clear the lump that formed as I held back my chuckles, “comfortable.”

Evergreen’s blush grew even worse at my words, and she hid her face in my chest fur as she muttered obscenities that I could barely hear. Willow walked up and wrapped her hooves around Evergreen’s other side as we huddled together on the bed, just being with one another as Evergreen got herself under control.

Our moment only lasted for a few minutes before a trio of loud knocks sounded from below, dragging us back to reality as Willow and I released the now calm nymph.

“What was that?” Willow asked, her hackles rising as she glanced around for threats, “Is something attacking our new home?”

“I don’t think so,” I replied, slithering off the bed and moving over to the door that led to the hallway, “it sounded more like someone was knocking on the front door.” I looked back as Willow shifted to follow me, although I noticed that Evergreen seemed to be a bit shaken by the sudden turn of events, “Why don’t you stay here and protect Evergreen if it turns out to be a threat? I can handle whatever it is until you can get her out of the back door and into the forest if we need to run.”

The timberpony nodded as she climbed back up onto the bed, sitting tall and alert as she guarded the shaking nymph. Evergreen flashed me a grateful glance before ducking under one of the sheets to hide herself as I moved through the door and into the hall, a second round of knocks echoing from down the stairs as I moved carefully through the house.

Tasting the air to try and tell who it might be at the door, I picked up several scents, although given the large number and close proximity I couldn’t identify any of them. So, as carefully as I could, I move up to the door and pressed my ear against the wood, listening for anything outside for a few moments.

“Do you think they left without saying goodbye?” I heard a familiar soft voice ask as I listened through the wood.
It was followed by a much louder and clearer drawl as Applejack replied to who I assumed to be Fluttershy.

“They wouldn’t leave without Evergreen’s tree, and it’s still back at mah farm where we planted it yesterday.” I jerked back as another trio of knocks made my ears ring and my head ache slightly as I pulled back from the door to rub my head with a hoof, “Hey Sapphire, Evergreen, Willow, any of ya’ll awake in there?!”

I used my tail to turn the knob and open the door, giving the orange mare in front of me a soul look as I rubbed my ear, “Yes, we’re awake, and thanks for ringing my ears for me after I just woke up. It really helps to get my mind going when my head feels like it’s been pounded against a tree.”

Applejack had the decency to look chastised, although I was pulled away from the farm mare as I noticed that all of the other mares from before were present as well, minus Princess Celestia. Spike was also missing, although I figured that since he worked with Twilight, he might have other things to do.

Rarity walked up and asked in a politer tone, “If it wouldn’t be too forward of us to ask, might we come inside? There are some important things we must discuss before we let you girls wander around the town and interact with other ponies. It’s nothing bad, but things we feel you need to know in order to get along with others.”

I turned my gaze to Twilight, who nodded, “It’s what Princess Celestia asked us to do after we left you three last night. She wanted us to tell you the general laws for being a citizen of Equestria, along with some of the more common social customs that we ponies are used to using.” She pulled a rolled-up piece of paper from her bags, using her horn to lift it in front of me and unrolling it so I could look it over. “I took the liberty of writing down some of the larger points that we would go over as a group and then we could spend some time asking questions back and forth for a bit to cover anything else that comes to mind. Is that okay?”

I looked over the lines and dots that covered the surface hovering in front of me for a moment before turning back to the mare, “What exactly am I looking at?”

Her face fell as she pulled the item back and rolled it up, her voice tinged with regret as she put it back into her bags, “Oh, that’s right. You and your friends lived in the Everfree before coming here. I forgot that you might not be able to read our language, even though you somehow speak plain Equish with perfect fluency.” She shook her head before lifting it with a smile once again, “Never mind the list, if we could come inside, we can go over the items in conversation instead.”

I nodded, pulled away from the opening as the mares filed into the main room, pulling my tail into a neat pile under my pony half as the girls sat down on the couches and chairs around the room.

I lifted my head and called out in a loud voice, “It’s alright girls, it’s just Twilight and her friends! Would you mind coming down here so we can talk? The girls have some things they need to discuss with us before we can go wandering around outside!”

A moment later, Willow and Evergreen walked down the steps side by side, their eyes taking in the gathered mares before walking around and climbing onto the pile of coils that I rested on. I smiled as they settled in against my sides and rested their weight on my tail, their body heat doing wonders to wake me up the rest of the way as the ponies stared at us in confusion.

“Why would you choose to climb all over Sapphire if there are perfectly usable couches right here?” Rarity asked as she indicated the unused furniture, “Isn’t it a bit rude to use her as a pillow like that?”

“I don’t mind it.” I replied for them as I put my hooves over their shoulders and pulled them closer, “Their body heat feels great on my tail and I’ve been told my coils can be quite comfortable if I use them right. We trust each other and we feel most secure when we are together.”

Fluttershy smiled as she held a hoof against her cheek, “Oh that’s so sweet. I do the same thing with some of my animal friends when I feel scared or alone. It always makes me feel better after I get a nice warm hug from Harry or have a few birds sing to me.”

The others relaxed after that, leaving us with the primary reason as to why the mares were here in the first place.
Twilight cleared her throat, pulling out the list again as she spoke, “Well, we might as well get down to business. We have a lot of topics to cover just in case you three don’t know how some things work, so we’re going to go over everything on this list before we let you go about the town by yourselves. If that takes a few days, then we will escort you where you need to be until we have covered everything here. These are orders straight from Princess Celestia, so are we all in agreement?”

The ponies nodded, followed by Willow, Evergreen and me after a moment’s contemplation. If the Princess wanted us to do this, then who were we to argue with her? This was her land after all, so we needed to follow her rules.
Twilight unrolled the list and I stared in awe as it rolled down onto the floor and halfway across the room, leaving most of the other mares to groan as they realized what they had gotten themselves into.

“Oh, come on Twilight,” Rainbow whined from her perch on top of the fireplace mantle, “do we really have to go through all of that before we can leave them alone?”

Twilight nodded firmly, “Princess Celestia wrote this list herself and sent it to me. We can go over some things in lighter detail, but the majority of this stuff is critical for being able to function in everyday Equestria. Remember, these three didn’t even have houses or running water that wasn’t part of a river or lake where they came from. Things that might be completely normal to us would not make any sense to them unless we explain it first.”

“Such as?” Applejack interjected.

Twilight tuned to the farm mare and pointed to the first item on the list, “Such as what bits are and how they work.”

“Bits?” Willow and Evergreen chorused, mirroring my mental question as Twilight turned a triumphant glance towards the orange earth pony.

“See what I mean?” She cleared her throat before speaking to us directly, “Bits are a form of currency that we use here in Equestria. While other kingdoms use other forms of money, the bit is what you will need to know and understand in order to get things you need here in Ponyville.”

“What’s money?” I asked, Willow and Evergreen nodding their agreement as the other ponies gaped at us like we had a second head.

“Money is something that ponies can earn by performing services for others,” Twilight explained as the other mares got over their shock, “this money can then be traded to other ponies in return for getting items that they have that you need or want.”

She pulled out a small, golden thing that was circular and flat, the shiny surface having been formed into a duo of images on either side. The first was a picture of the sun, while the other was a crescent moon. Twilight floated it across the room so I could hold it in my hoof, Evergreen and Willow leaning in to look it over as they both touched it for themselves.

“Bits are made out of gold, which is a valuable metal in Equestria, given its rarity.” Twilight continued, “So, if one were to have a lot of bits in their possession, then they could use them to get very rare or difficult to create items in exchange. The more difficult to create or rare the item, the more bits a pony would need to have in order to trade for that item. Am I making any sort of sense to you three?”

Willow just looked bewildered, while Evergreen had a look of deep contemplation on her face. Meanwhile, I was starting to piece together what was being said, but I figured it was better to ask and be wrong then to not know at all.

“So, if I’m understanding you correctly,” I replied slowly, pulling Willow and Evergreen from their thoughts as they looked up at me, “These bits, as you call them, are a rare metal made into small pieces that can be given out in exchange for doing work?” Twilight and the others nodded, so at least I got that part down. “And you can give these bits to ponies in order to get things from them, like food or water?”

“While water is something everypony has access to,” Twilight corrected, “food is one thing that can be bought using bits, although given everypony needs food, it’s usually quite easy to get unless you go and get something specially prepared at a restaurant.”

“What’s a restaurant?” Evergreen spoke up for the first time since the conversation began.

Rarity fielded this question as she flipped her mane with one hoof, “A restaurant is where one can go to get food that would otherwise be difficult to prepare or make. Some ponies can’t cook anything other than the most simple of dishes, so if they want to eat something other than basic flower sandwiches then they would go to a restaurant and pay another pony to cook for them. Remember, it’s all about services being given in exchange for bits.”

“So, if we hunted for other ponies,” Willow said with a grin, “we could earn bits in exchange for giving them some of the animals we kill?”

Willow’s face fell as the ponies looked at her in horror, her ears folding back as she shifted to hide under one of my coils, “Did I say something wrong?”

Pinkie closed her mouth first and asked in a completely flat tone, “Do you three hunt and kill little animals and eat their meat as food?”

We shared a look before I turned my attention back to the pink mare, “Um, yes, Willow and I eat meat. I normally eat my prey whole, like a snake would, but Willow hunts and eats smaller creatures just like her pack did. Is that a problem?”

Most of the ponies had turned a slight shade of green, except for Fluttershy, who was simply frowning as she closed her eyes and let out a sigh, “Well, I guess we can’t really fault you for being who you are.” Her voice was soft but cut through the room like a whipping branch as the others turned to gape at the shy pegasus.

“Fluttershy?” Rarity gasped, “You can’t really be accepting of these creatures eating living animals, your own little woodland creatures?”

“I can,” was the firm reply, “and so should you.” The hard look the normally timid mare sent around the room sent a chill up my spine, and I wasn’t even the one she was using it on, “I have plenty of woodland friends who eat meat. Harry the bear is one example, although there are others like my eagle and hawk friends. I don’t think they’re monsters for eating what nature tells them too, and you shouldn’t hate Willow or Sapphire for needing to do the same thing.”

“But what if they get hungry and hurt a pony?” Applejack retorted, ignoring the furious expressions that crossed my face and Willow’s, “What if mah little sister is out playing with her friends and they attack her because they didn’t get something to eat for a few days?”

“We would never do something like that!” I roared, causing the mares to pull back in fear as my tail impacted the floor with a resounding crash, “Sure we need to eat but we would never hurt another being when we know that they aren’t just a simple animal. Right, Willow?”

I glanced down at the hybrid, who nodded immediately before adding in her own thoughts, “I may have once been a part of a Timberwolf pack, but we never killed anything that wasn’t just an animal. I had heard about some of the other members hunting down ponies, but I never thought about doing it, because it would be like hunting my own mother and eating her because the rest of my kind thought of her as prey.” She shivered in revulsion as the ponies gaped at her, “I would never dream of hurting a pony like that. I would rather starve then have to eat a pony.”

“And I can tell you this right now,” I added, “we will hunt for the meat we need whether you like it or not, but I can promise that we will only do so within the Great Forest, where the prey is nothing more than dumb animals that wouldn’t know a pony from a tree. We will never hunt a pony for food. We might give these bits you spoke about to a pony in exchange for food, if we find something new we like. But other than that, we will do our hunting away from town and away from ponies. Is that clear?”

The other mares nodded hastily, and I let out a sigh as I relaxed back onto my tail, Willow lying down after a few more moments as Twilight scanned over the list.

“Well I think we have food and money covered,” she muttered to herself as she checked off two of the items, “but that still leaves several more things we need to go over, not the least of which being how we deal with threats and what to do if ponies start acting afraid or threatening towards you three.”

“You mean we can’t simply claw them into submission if they attack us?” Willow replied, “That’s how it worked in my pack. If someone tried to attack another pack member, they would fight and the loser would have to submit to the will of the winner. It was simple and brutal, but effective.”

“While that would be cool if ponies could kick the snot out of each other if they disagreed on something,” Rainbow said from atop the mantle, “the Guard would have some choice words for you if you made it a problem in public or if anypony got seriously hurt because of it.”

“The Guard?” I echoed.

“The Equestrian Guard is a group of ponies that work to keep the peace and to punish ponies that break the laws of the land.” Twilight explained, “They are tasked with keeping order in towns and cities and are trained to handle most situations if the need arises. If ponies get into trouble with the law, then the Guard takes them in and either gives them a fine, which must be paid in bits, or they are sent to a jail for a period of time to make up for their actions.”

“A jail is a place where ponies are locked in cells and kept in there until they have served their time.” Applejack added, “It could be as little as a few days to many years, depending on what the pony did.”

“So, they’d be trapped in there?” Evergreen’s tone had taken on a fearful one as she huddled against my side, “Unable to leave or to do anything until their time has been completed?” The ponies nodded, “That’s awful! Why would you do that to someone?”

“Because those that go to jail are the ones that deserve it.” Pinkie of all ponies was speaking in a dark tone and her mane had fallen fairly flat, “I knew a pony before I came to Ponyville that had lost the one they loved because of another mare. She was jealous of them and decided that if she couldn’t have the stallion of her dreams, then nopony could.” She lifted her eyes and all of us pulled back slightly at the fury in her gaze, “My best friend back home had to watch as her fiancé was killed right in front of her, and I will never forgive that mare for what she did. She’s not going to get out of that prison until the day she dies, and I’m glad for it.”

Like a switch being flipped, her bubbly personality came back and her mane returned to its normal poofy nature, “So, anypony else think we could use some drinks? I’ll grab some from the kitchen while you guys continue talking.”

She bounced out of the room, leaving the rest of us in shock as we stared after the pink mare. “Everypony else agree that we never bring this up again?” Rainbow asked.

“Agreed.” The rest of us nodded as Twilight shakily lifted the list and moved onto the next item.

“A-Anyway,” she cleared her throat to get rid of the nervous tremor, “the Guard is easily spotted by the metal armor they wear while on duty. If you have an issue with a pony or group of ponies, don’t try and fight it out or get into an argument. Talk to a Guard and they will do the best they can to sort out the situation before it can get out of hoof.”

Evergreen, Willow and I nodded as Twilight checked that off and moved on to the next topic. Pinkie returned a bit later while we were talking about public versus private property, and everyone in the room chose to collectively ignore her previous behavior as we sipped at the drinks. My friends and I were pleasantly surprised by how great the sweet-tasting fluid felt as we greedily drank it down, Pinkie smiling as she filled up our glasses with the mixture she called ‘punch’ before returning to her seat.

We spent the rest of the morning and a good part of the afternoon going through the rest of the items, and by the end I felt like my head was going to burst from all the new information it had been hit with. Evergreen and Willow didn’t look much better, but at least we were finally done with all that as Twilight rolled up the list and stood up. She stretched herback like a cat as the other girls did similar motions, turning to face me and my friends as they walked up to the door.

“I would suggest you girls look for a job before too terribly long.” Twilight advised, “You won’t be able to get much for free around here without doing some work to earn it. So, think about what you are good at and we can talk tomorrow if you don’t have any luck thinking of something today.” She smiled as she waved goodbye, the other mares mirroring her action as we did the same. “We’ll work out teaching you how to read some other time. Right now, I think your minds could use a break to work through all the things we talked about.”

“Later girls.” Rainbow called as she rocketed into the sky, a rainbow contrail in her wake as she zipped off to who knew where.

“I do hope to see you around town at some point,” Rarity said as she and Pinkie walked out next, “don’t be strangers now, you hear me?”

“Yeah, and I still need to plan your big Welcome-to-Equestria-and-Thanks-For-Being-Our-Friends Party.” Pinkie added as she bounced out behind the white unicorn, “Stop by Sugarcube Corner if you feel like something sweet. The first cupcake is always free!”

Applejack tipped her hat to us as Evergreen and Willow climbed off of my tail, stepping up to the ponies as I followed behind them, “Ah just want to say Ah’m sorry for the comment I made earlier about ya’ll eating meat. It’s just Ah lost mah parents to a manticore and Ah didn’t want something like that to happen to another pony Ah loved.” She lowered her head and covered her face with the brim of her hat as she tucked her tail between her hind legs, “Can ya’ll ever forgive me?”

Fluttershy glanced up at us with a pleading look, and I could feel our resolve crack under her soft eyes as we turned back to Applejack, “Yeah, we can forgive you.” I moved up and raised her chin with one hoof, smiling down at her as our eyes met, “You ever need help on the farm, just let us know. We’ll be around to check in on Evergreen’s tree from time to time, so we might as well help out if you need us. Right girls?” I glanced over my shoulder at my companions, who nodded their agreement.

“Thanks a lot, sugarcube.” Applejack smiled in reply, lifting her head as she turned and walked out the door, “Well, time waits for nopony, and Ah’ll bet Big Mac and Applebloom haven’t gotten any of the chores done while Ah’ve been over here talking to ya’ll.” She waved goodbye as she exited, “Ya’ll come over sometime soon, Ah want to show you how well Evergreen’s tree is doing!”

Fluttershy mouthed a silent thank you to us as she walked out, leaving us alone in the living room as the door closed behind the ponies. Willow and Evergreen turned around and walked back into the living room, stepping over my tail as I turned to follow them until we were all sat around the dining room table. My tail took up so much room that I had to be seated at one of the long sides of the oak creation, leaving Willow and Evergreen to take up the others side as we exchanged looks.

“So,” Evergreen said in an uncertain tone, “what do you all think of the rather, um, long list of things the Princess wanted us to know?”

“I think it was a lot simpler when we live in the Great Forest.” Willow replied without hesitation, “Things were so much easier when we could just hunt for our own food and fight out our differences without having to worry about so many rules to get in the way.”

“And yet would you go back to your old life,” I countered, “knowing that there is a land such as this where you could have so much more than a cave floor to sleep on and shelter that doesn’t have to be protected from other predators who want your claim?”

Willow’s bluster deflated much like Pinkie’s mane had earlier, “I guess you have a point. No one would have stood up for me in the pack if one of the older members decided to fight me. It was the will of the strongest, and if you couldn’t hold your own you were no use to the pack.”

“And I never would have imagined that the world outside our grove could be filled with so many amazing things.” Evergreen added, “To think that we have access to water that flows at our command and a way to keep warm during the winter that uses controlled fire of all things. I would be hard pressed to find a reason to go back to my grove even if it still existed, because I like so much about what we have found here in Equestria.”

I nodded, “Well then, I guess we’ve decided to stay here, although that still leaves the issue of a job. What kinds of skills do we have that could be useful to the ponies?”

“I can track almost anything,” Willow spoke up immediately, “even in bad weather and over long distances. I might be able to help find lost ponies if they go missing or something.”

“And I can work with plants to make them grow bigger and stronger without causing harm to the soil or the surrounding environment.” Evergreen added, “I could look into helping Applejack with her orchard while I start working on growing more of the Fruits of Plenty. I bet I could even sell them once we have enough, given no one has ever been able to grow them except for my coven.”

I nodded, “Alright, that sounds like a good idea.” I turned back to Willow, “You might want to look into becoming a Guard or something like that, perhaps as part of a search and rescue team if such a thing exists. Besides, with your combat skills, you would be perfect to protect the rest of the team if they came across anything nasty while looking for the missing ponies.”

Willow puffed out her chest with pride at my words, “Thank you, Sapphire. I’ll look into it as soon as possible.”

“Which leaves me.” I stated simply, glancing down at my tail as my thoughts wandered, “I guess I could work with heavy lifting or something like that, given the strength in my tail. Perhaps I could ask around for some kind of delivery job, so I could help ponies to move large objects or something like that.”

Evergreen and Willow blushed as they shared a look, and I narrowed my eyes at them as they began giggling, “What? Did I say something funny?”

“Oh no,” Evergreen said as she got herself under control, “It’s just that you completely overlooked something that’s been right under your nose this whole time.”

“You could use your tail for work,” Willow said with a grin, “but not in the way you were thinking. What have you done for both me and Evergreen that we both really enjoyed?”

My eyes lit up as I realized what they were getting at, “You mean I could offer my tail to ponies who want a massage? But where would I even go to do something like that? I’m pretty sure none of the ponies want to have me do something like that out in the middle of the street.”

“Then you could go and offer your skills to the local spa.” Evergreen countered, much to the surprise of Willow and I, “What? I was listening to the girls as they talked and I noticed that one thing they all seemed to enjoy was visiting a place called the spa every once and a while to relax and unwind from a hard day of work. I don’t know if they’d pay you to give massages, but I think it might be your best bet.”

“Besides,” Willow added, “even if they say no, you could always use that fancy hypnosis of yours to make them agree to your idea.”

“Hypnosis?” Evergreen asked, her eyes narrowing in confusion as she glanced between Willow and me, “What hypnosis?”

Willow and I shared a knowing look, the timberpony shifting over to hold Evergreen by the shoulders as she fake whispered into her ear, “Trust me, it’s one of the most amazing things to experience in the world, and I’m not saying that because Sapphire ‘convinced’ me to say it. I truly loved the whole thing and I think you might like it too if you give it a chance.”

The duo turned to face me, and I pulled back a bit as Willow flicked her eyes at the nervous nymph, “Come on, Sapphire. You know you want to try it on her.”

I sighed as I shifted my tail around the table, my upper half following my coils as I moved to sit next to my friends, looking down at them from above as I smirked to myself. I would never admit it out loud, but I actually liked the idea of seeing both of my friends under my spell, and I lifted both of them into the air with my tail as I carried them back up the stairs and into the bedroom. If we were going to do this, then I was going to make sure they both loved every second of it.
I dropped both of them on the bed side by side and coiled up my tail under my pony half as I loomed over the both of them with a smile on my face. “Are you ready?”

Willow nodded eagerly, while Evergreen shifted slightly with nervous energy, “It won’t hurt, will it?”

I lit up my eyes, catching both of their attentions as my spell began to draw them into my gaze, “Not at all, Evergreen. In fact, you’ll probably be asking for more once I’m through with the both of you.”

9 - [Clop] Friends With Benefits

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Evergreen and Willow were enraptured by my eyes, their gazes locked with mine as the red, pink and purple rings bore into their minds. Willow’s eyes quickly erupted with a mirror of my own gaze, her back straightening and her tail flagging against her back as her cheeks flushed a bright red. Her tongue hung out of her mouth as she panted with need, her mind already gone as her arousal permeated the room. Evergreen’s muzzle twitched once as she inhaled Willow’s scent, but otherwise didn’t react as her own gaze followed mine. Her pupils were only just beginning to shrink as she followed my eyes, her mouth hanging open in wonder as I slowly swayed back and forth before them. Willow was already too far gone to do anything more with, much to my frustration. But, then again, she had already sampled my hypnosis before, so maybe that made her more vulnerable to my magic when I used it again. She also might have given over to the spell instead of fighting it, meaning the little timberpony was more than happy to submit to my control if it meant she could feel the pleasure and bliss that came with it.

Evergreen was a different story. She managed to fight off my spell as her pupils shrank and grew, trying to maintain her control over her mind as my spell worked to take it from her. Thinking she could use the full experience of my hypnosis to help her relax, I slowly moved my tail up and onto the bed, wrapping her up with my coils as her eyes finally started to show rings of color. At the moment it was only one ring per eye, and her pupils were still present as she managed to speak, although by the shake in her tone I could tell my coils and hypnosis were working against her ability to fight off my spell.

“S-Sapphire…wha…what…are you….d-doing?” Her lips were turned down slightly as her pupils finally gave way to the rings, a quintet of the spiraling magic colors sprouting from her eyes as my tail rounded the middle of her barrel, pinning her wings and forelegs to her sides as her body was pulled into a fully upright position.

My own lips were in a wide smile as my spell began to overpower her resistance, my heart beating faster with excitement at the challenge before me. “Just making sure you’re comfortable, Evergreen. Wouldn’t want you to fall over when my spell takes hold, now would we?”

I chuckled as the nymph tried and failed to close her eyes, her mouth hanging open as her lips began to curl upwards. The rings in her eyes were nearing the same speed as Willow’s, but as my tail rounded her shoulders, she managed to pull one last bit of resistance out of her dimming mind.

“P-Please…S-Sapphire…l-let…m-m-me…g – ULP!” My tail rounded her neck and tightened over her throat, making her eyes widen and her pupils temporarily return as the rings in her eyes were reduced to solid walls of red and purple.

“Ah, ah, ah.” I admonished her in a teasing tone as her cheeks started to turn pale. “Good little nymphs listen to their Mistress when they are told to do something.” I leaned in close to her face so that the only thing she could see were the rings in my eyes. “Now, look into my eyes and listen to my voice. There are no other thoughts in your mind, no other actions your body takes except what I tell you to do. You love the feeling of my coils around your body, and you want to feel your mind slipping away with all of your worries.”

My smile grew as Evergreen’s pupils vanished and waves of rings sprouted from her eyes, my tail loosening around her neck as the tip rounded her forehead to keep her head secure. Her lips curled up into a smile as her body fell limp in her cocoon, and I felt the distinct moisture between her hind legs as a moan of mindless bliss escaped from her mouth. I glanced over at Willow and noted that she was still under my spell, the rings in her eyes having remained at full speed throughout the whole process of Evergreen’s entrancement.

I turned my attention back to the nymph that was hanging limp in my coils, her head lolling to one side as my tail tip rubbed her short mane in a loving manner. She really was a beautiful creature, especially with that blissful smile on her lips and her eyes spiraling with my hypnotic magic. I lifted her body up so that her hind legs dangled beneath her cocoon, allowing me to see what had previously been hidden from my view as the sweet perfume of her arousal joined Willow’s in my muzzle.

I was legitimately surprised by what I saw between Evergreen’s thighs, and I had to take a second look to make sure I wasn’t mistaken as I leaned forward to get a better look. Sure enough, Evergreen was missing a particular feature that Willow and every other creature I knew had. The flesh just under her tail was smooth and featureless where there should have been a tight pucker, although as I thought about it I realized that Evergreen might not even need something like a tailhole. All I had ever seen her consume on our journey had been water, and even then she had never needed to relieve herself. Perhaps she really was more like a plant than Willow or I realized, given she seemed to need little more than sunlight and water to stay alive, so long as her tree remained unharmed.

I shrugged as I investigated the hole that was present, although even that one was still far different from what I was used too. Instead of folds of flesh that held the general shape of curtains, Evergreen’s love tunnel was guarded by literal flower petals, their bright pink coloration a sharp contrast to the deep green of the surrounding flesh. Right at the moment they were only slightly folded outward, the rich scent of her arousal coming from within the tightly packed petals. I glanced over at Willow and smiled to myself at my own genius. If Evergreen wanted to experience my hypnosis, then she was going to get the same treatment Willow had gotten her first time, although it wouldn’t be my tongue doing the honors.

“Willow,” I said in a soft but commanding voice, “come here please.”

The mesmerized hybrid followed my directions as she quickly stood up and walked over to my side, her spiraling eyes locked on me as her tongue continued to hang from her panting mouth.

I pointed to the folds of Evergreen’s flower, my smile turning devious as I gave Willow her instructions, “See that little flower between Evergreen’s legs? I want you to lick it until Evergreen gives you a nice nectar bath. Be gentle, but make sure to pay extra close attention to the tunnel behind it once those petals open up for you.”

Willow nodded, her mouth closing with a smile as she turned to face Evergreen’s snatch, “Yes, Mistress.”

Without any extra movement or comment, Willow moved her head forward until her nose was practically pressed against Evergreen’s flower, the nymph’s mouth parting in a gasp as the hybrid’s tongue flicked out and ran over the folded petals from bottom to top. I used a pair of my coils to keep Evergreen’s hind legs pulled apart to allow Willow unrestricted access, Evergreen’s mouth parting as a line of drool ran down one cheek. As Willow continued to work over the nymph’s snatch, Evergreen’s mouth wasn’t the only thing drooling. A veritable river of liquid arousal was dripping from her flower as Willow dutifully licked it up, her lips and muzzle becoming drenched as she gleefully swallowed the sweet nectar. The folded petals that protected Evergreen’s most private of places quickly moved out of the way, blooming in a fantastic display as her love tunnel was revealed. Willow’s tongue rushed into the new avenue of attack as soon as it was available, making Evergreen’s moans and gasps quickly shift into squeals and cries of bliss. Then, to my utter surprise, she began to talk in complete sentences, ordering Willow as if she was the one who had placed the hybrid under her spell.

“Please,” she panted out between gasps of pleasure, “lick me harder. Don’t stop until I cum all over your face.” Her legs tried to pull inwards to hold Willow’s head in place, but my coils stopped her from doing so, although she didn’t seem to care as she kept on talking. “Fuck that feels amazing. Lick me deeper, please, love me like the Princess that I – GLMPH!”

My tail tip had pulled away from her forehead and positioned itself directly in front of her mouth, using her rambling as an opportunity to press in between her lips and shutting her off mid-sentence. I loved the little nymph like a sister I never had, and I really wanted to make her feel good, but gods above she wouldn’t stop talking when she wasn’t filtered by her shy personality.

Yet, as I glanced up at her face, I realized that I had done something slightly different than I had intended. Instead of making her simply be quiet, I had done something similar to when I had choked her during the coiling process. Her cheeks were puffed out and her lips were curled around my invading tail tip in a smile, her face turning a slight shade lighter as her airway was partly cut off. She moaned around my tail as Willow kept licking at her lower folds, and to my shock I felt her tongue begin to lick and suck on my tail tip as she mewed in pleasure.

Feeling like taking a risk, I shifted my coils around Evergreen’s body just a bit to free more of my tail around her head, allowing me to shove more of it into her mouth as a sizable section worked its way into her throat. Evergreen gagged as my tail forced her jaws wide open, although her smile only seemed to grow as her breathing was reduced to gulps and gasps, her tongue slathering my tail with her saliva as she sucked on it with all her worth.

I would have been lying if I said that her tongue and throat didn’t feel absolutely amazing on my tail, her rippling throat pulling at my scales as her tongue ran over all of the most sensitive spots. I stifled a moan of my own as I turned my attention back to Willow, noting that the hybrid was now muzzle-deep in Evergreen’s flower, her nose pressed against the petals as her tongue plundered the nymph’s most sacred of hollows. Her entire face and most of her mane were drenched with Evergreen’s fluids, and I couldn’t help myself as I bent down and pushed Willow slightly to one side.

My own tongue slipped out and ran over the petals surrounding Evergreen’s opening, the nymph in my grip letting out a gurgling moan as her legs once again tried to tighten around our heads. When that proved useless she turned her attention to my tail gagging her, her tongue and throat working it over like she was sucking a stallion’s cock in a wonderful attempt to repay the pleasure I was giving her.

I had to bite on my lip to hold in my moans as spikes of pleasure shot up my spine, and I rippled my coils around Evergreen’s body in a rapid and powerful massage in thanks as Willow and I took turns licking up Evergreen’s flowing nectar.

We continued like this for what felt like hours, Evergreen’s gagging moans working in counterpoint to the sloppy slurps and swallows Willow and I were making below as we literally deflowered the nymph with our tongues. By this point we were all soaked in sweat and other fluids as Evergreen stiffened in my grip, her voice forcing its way past her gag as she screamed out in climax. Willow and I were drenched as a flood of mare cum washed over our heads, and we were forced to pull back after swallowing several cups in order to breathe as the rest fell to the sheets below. Evergreen fell limp in her cocoon as I finally pulled my tail from her mouth, her lips parted in a gaping smile as she panted in rapid and shallow breaths.

Feeling like both of my friends could use a bit of a reward for letting me do this to them, I shifted my coils around Evergreen once again until a long section of my tail was free to move about. The coils around her body were now the thick portions of my midsection, meaning that the one around her neck was nearly as big around as the one holding her flanks and was just shy of choking her again. Yet I made sure she wasn’t restricted, at least not right at the moment, as I lowered her cocoon and rested her hips just above my own. I laid back on the bed and pulled Willow over so that her own dripping cunny was hovering over my face, the hybrid’s body facing Evergreen’s as their muzzles hovered mere inches from each other.

I moved my now soaked tail tip down and behind Evergreen until it pressed up against her gaping entrance, her smile growing even wider as her spiraling eyes stared into Willow’s. I glanced up at the duo for a second to make sure everything was in place, before I plunged my tail into Evergreen’s core and moved my own muzzle up to suck at Willow’s dripping folds. Both mares gasped and then let out cries of bliss as they were each penetrated in their own way, my tail spreading Evergreen wide as my tongue flicked and plunged within Willow, sampling her familiar juices as the two of them panted in need.

I was focused on my task to the point that I wasn’t aware of the smacking and muffled moans that were coming from above me, but as I took a moment to breathe I glanced out from under Willow’s flank and saw something I never expected. Willow had pulled Evergreen’s face to her own with her front hooves, the wooden claws pressing into the nymph’s cheeks but not drawing blood as the two furiously made out with one another. Their eyes were spiraling at a blinding pace and their tongues were dancing in each other’s mouths as each mare moaned into the kiss. My own motions grew stronger at the sight, the pleasure of making both of my friends feel so good brining my own heart to new heights as I plunged my tongue back into Willow, the timberpony nearly screaming into Evergreen’s mouth as they continued to sloppily kiss above me.

At long last, after another stretch of time that seemed to go on forever, I felt Evergreen’s tunnel clenching around my tail as Willow began to ripple around my invading tongue. I smiled as I realized what was happening, and I moved both muscles even faster as the wet slaps and sucking noises echoed around the room. Both mares let go of the kiss they had been sharing for the entire time, their heads tilting backwards as their spiraling eyes rolled up in the back of their heads. Both screamed at the tops of their lungs as they climaxed, their bodies shaking in bliss as their cum drenched my scales. Willow clenched down on my tongue to the point I couldn’t pull it out, leaving me no choice but to swallow her delicious cum as I drank it down with abandon. Evergreen wasn’t far behind as her own love tunnel gripped my tail like a vice, milking it for non-existent sperm as she jerked about in her coil cocoon.

Finally, both of them came down from their high, their spent bodies falling limp on top of me as I uncoiled Evergreen and set her down on top of my body. Willow was flipped around so that her head was resting on my chest while I shifted Evergreen forward until she was in line with the timberpony beside her. Both had their eyes locked on me, their lips pulled into wide smiles as their gazes spun with hypnotic color. I moved my tail tip up and around so that it was sitting between the three of us, my scales glistening with Evergreen’s spit and cum as her scent washed over us in waves.

“Now be good girls and clean up your mess.” I commanded softly, taking a moment to lick Willow’s cum off of my face as they did the same with my tail.

Before long, my tail was relatively clean, leaving just Willow covered in love juice as they turned their attention back to me. I moved my tail so that it wrapped around them like a blanket, feeling their body heat soaking into my scales as I turned Evergreen’s head towards Willow with my hoof.

I pressed her muzzle against the soaked mare’s cheek, leaning in on the other side as I licked up some of the cum clinging to her fur and mane, “Help me clean Willow, she did get dirty giving you such amazing pleasure after all.”

“Yes, Mistress.” Evergreen droned, her tongue slipping out to run up Willow’s other cheek as my own tongue flicked through some of the hairs of her mane.

We spent some time grooming the timberpony as she licked us back in her own loving way, our tongues slipping over one another in passing kisses as we cleaned her fur and mane of Evergreen’s love juice. When that was finally done, I turned their gazes back to me before I lightly tapped them on the forehead with a hoof.

“Wake up, my friends,” I commanded, “it’s time to come back from my spell so we can talk like normal beings.”

The rings in their eyes slowly faded and their pupils returned a moment after as both of them held a hoof to the sides of their heads.

Willow was the first to recover, shifting forward to lick up between my eyes and then over my right ear as she purred in contentment, “That was amazing, Sapphire. I want you to know I loved every second of that. Can we do it again sometime when we can take a break from the world outside?”

I smiled and turned my attention to Evergreen, who’s eyes had widened as she lifted her gaze to openly stare at me. “That would depend on if Evergreen wants to do this again as well. I wouldn’t want to leave her out after what we did for her.”

“Y-You,” she stuttered for a moment as her gaze traveled from my smiling face to Willow’s and back again, “you did that to me? You had sex with me after taking over my mind with your hypnosis?”

I nodded, my smile still holding strong as I placed a hoof against her cheek, “I did, and I knew it would be something that would surprise you but would also help to strengthen our bond as friends.” I glanced at Willow before turning back to the gaping nymph, “Willow and I shared a moment just like this before we found your grove, and we became closer than ever afterwards because of the trust and pleasure we shared with each other while doing it. Willow trusted me not to abuse my power over her mind, and I trusted Willow with a piece of my heart, knowing that she could have rejected me if I had done something wrong. Lamia mate for life, and even though Willow and I are not mates, we still shared that bond of lovers because I wanted to show her how much I care for her. I may be saving myself for my true mate, but I will never hold back my feelings for her, or for you, as long as we are together on this journey.” I paused for a moment to let my words sink in, “Do you understand what I am trying to tell you, Evergreen?”

She closed her mouth and looked down at my chest fur, her eyes flickering back and forth as she thought about what I had said. Willow and I shared a quick glance as Evergreen got her head on straight, although I pulled back to the nymph as her gaze leveled with mine.

“I want you to know I am not entirely happy with you for doing that to me without permission,” she held up a hoof to stop us from speaking as she continued, “but I can understand why you wanted to share that bond of trust that you already had between yourselves. I just wish that from now on, if we are to do things like this in the future, that you ask beforehoof and not force me into it if I ask you not to. Am I clear?”

Willow and I shared a glance before we both nodded, “We’re clear.” We chorused.

Evergreen’s lips lifted into a smile as she shifted forward, her mouth pressing against mine in a soft kiss before she did the same to Willow. She pulled back with a deep green blush on her cheeks as she nuzzled against my chest fur, “Thank you for making me feel so good. It was a truly magical experience feeling that much pleasure.”

“It was my gift to you and Willow for coming along on this adventure with me.” I stated as I pulled them both against me with my hooves and tail, “I care for you both like family, and I would be lost without your support in this new and confusing world we’ve found ourselves in.”

Both mares hummed in contentment as I wrapped our bodies up with my tail, our shared body heat turning my tail into a comfortable blanket of warmth as my scales absorbed it into my cold-blooded half.

Evergreen passed out almost immediately as her eyes fluttered closed, her breathing smoothing out as Willow chuckled softly against my chest. She let out a wide yawn and then slipped into slumber herself, leaving me the last one awake as I looked down at the two beings I had come to care for so much.

I leaned down and kissed them both on the forehead, their lips curling into smiles in their sleep as I spoke in a whisper, “I love you, girls. More than you could ever know. I don’t care what comes our way in this new land. We will be a family for as long as I draw breath, and nothing will break us apart. That I swear to you.”

With those final words, I closed my eyes and let my head fall onto the pillows, my own lips pulled upwards as I drifted off into sleep. The last thing I remembered was Willow and Evergreen nuzzling against my chest fur as they wrapped their forehooves around my barrel, their hind legs falling limp over my upper tail as my coils held them close in a tender embrace.

10 - Love at First...Rejection?

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The following morning was a rather busy one, given that Twilight and her friends came over at the crack of dawn to check up on us and to see if we had any ideas about what we could do for work. Willow and Rainbow Dash were chatting about what it might be like to work with the Guard, while Evergreen was sitting on the couch with Applejack and Fluttershy in order to work out the details concerning where and how she could help ponies with their crops, given that most farmers were very particular about how their plants were taken care of. That left me with Rarity and Pinkie Pie while Twilight sat on the chair across the room, taking notes on our ideas and adding in her own thoughts every once and a while.

“Well I for one think it’s a wonderful idea.” Rarity stated with a smile as she felt along one of my coils with a hoof, “I’m sure Lotus and Aloe would be delighted to have you aboard if you can really give massages with this beautiful tail of yours.”

“Yepperooni!” Pinkie added as she bounced on another section of my tail, her weight barely registering against my scales as she climbed all over my lower half as her hooves prodded and poked in various places, “I’m sure ponies will be lining up around the block to get a massage once they hear about how great they are.” Her face scrunched up in thought as she paused midair, making me and my friends stare openly at her in shock as she seemingly defied the laws of nature, “But how good do they actually feel? Ponies might be scared of you at first if you just grab them and wrap them up in your tail without any idea what to expect.”

Rarity hummed as she placed a hoof against her muzzle, Pinkie thankfully falling back to the ground as the unicorn mused aloud, “True enough, although finding a pony that would be willing to experience it as well as having a good standing with the town might be tricky. Naturally I would love to try it myself, but I’m afraid my habit of gossiping might have come back to bite me in this situation.”

Apparently our conversation had attracted the attention of the others, and I was slightly surprised when Applejack stood up and walked over to me, Evergreen and Fluttershy following suit as the earth pony came to a stop before us, “If ya’ll need an honest opinion, then Ah can be your trial run.” She cast a slightly nervous glance at my coils before letting out a long sigh, her gaze hardening as she stepped up and onto my tail before turning to face me, “Don’t make me regret this, mah family needs me to work the farm so don’t squeeze too hard.”

I swallowed thickly, feeling a rush of nervousness as I nodded, “Sure thing. I’ll be gentle.”

Taking it slowly at first, having noted Applejack’s slight flinch of fear as my tail began to move, I shifted my tail up and over the mare’s body, coiling up and around her hind legs as she stood rock still. Everyone’s eyes were locked on my movements as my tail tip rounded the curves of Applejack’s flanks, and a vibrant blush overcame her cheeks as my coils began sliding over the toned muscle of her rump.

“Whoa, Nelly,” she gasped as her tail was pressed between her cheeks and my belly scales began rubbing over her powerful and toned plot, “that certainly feels different.”

“What exactly does it feel like, dear?” Rarity inquired; her eyes locked on my tail as it began wrapping around Applejack’s barrel.

“Like Ah’m being wrapped in a warm blanket, yet not quite the same. It shifts and Ah can feel the muscle under her scales, but right now it’s almost like warm water flowing over my body.” The earth pony jerked slightly as I lifted her up off of my tail, her eyes widening as my tail secured her front legs to her sides, “Um, what exactly are ya doing there Sapphire?”

“Just getting you into the most comfortable position.” I replied, too focused on my task to say much else.

Now wrapped up from the shoulders down, I debated about securing her body all the way like I had done for Evergreen and Willow but decided against it as my tail tip came to rest on the side of Applejack’s neck. She had more than enough of her body in my grasp for the time being. I wouldn’t want to push my luck, seeing as well as feeling Applejack’s slight sigh of relief as my tail stopped moving. I set her coil cocoon down with her face pointing toward the ceiling, using my other sections of tail to create a pillow of sorts for her so she wouldn’t strain her neck. The others quickly closed in around the wrapped mare, their eyes wide with curiosity as well as slight trepidation, knowing that their friend was completely trapped in my grip.

“So how does it feel, Applejack?” Twilight asked as she sat down beside the other mare’s head, “Are you uncomfortable or in any pain?”

I bristled slightly at the very idea, but calmed down as Applejack shook her head, her main tickling my belly scales slightly as she replied, “Nah, just a little nervous. Ah’ve never been completely locked in like this, not even when Big Mac used to hogtie me to keep me out of trouble when we were younger.” She glanced down at the coils securing her body in place, her eyes taking on a thoughtful light as she inspected her predicament in greater detail, “Other than that, it’s not bad. Ah just don’t really see how this would work for a massage.”

All eyes shifted to me, waiting for my response, and I felt a slight grin coming to my lips as I answered the unspoken question, “Watch and you’ll get the idea pretty quick.”

Without a second of delay, I began undulating my coils in a rhythmic wave, running from Applejack’s neck all the way down to her hind hooves as her eyes shot open in surprise. Her mouth gaped open as she turned to her friends, only to stop mid-word as her body finally registered the sensations being enacted upon it. Her eyes fluttered closed as she let out a hum of pleasure, her hat falling off as her tight muscles began to slowly relax under my care. The other ponies watched in awe as the farmer went completely limp in my grasp, her flanks and hind legs shifting every so often as my gentle grip began working out the dozens of kinks and knots in her lower body.

“Oh, Celestia that feels amazing.” Her eyes managed to open just enough that she could look back at me, “Ya’ll can put some more force into it, sugarcube, Ah ain’t made of glass.”

I nodded, having been reluctant to use too much force in case I scared her. With her permission, I began constricting my tail in more random rhythms, adding force to some while letting others go slack for a split second, only for the reverse to happen in the next moment. Applejack’s mouth hung open as a long moan escaped her lips, making most of the others blush bright red as Willow and Evergreen exchanged knowing looks.

I could feel the tightness in Applejack’s body slowly leaving her as my powerful muscles worked out the kinks and knots in her body, even helping to shift and straighten some of her joints as several loud pops emanated from within the cocoon. Her friends jumped in shock and worry at the noise, but slowly calmed down again as Applejack groaned and moaned even louder.

Finally, after several minutes, I couldn’t feel any more tight spots in her body, and I slowly lifted her off of the ground before loosening my tail over the couch. She slid down between my coils and flopped onto the fabric, the other mares rushing to her side as Pinkie secured the apple mare’s hat back onto her head. Applejack for her part barely seemed to notice the return of her headwear, her eyes closed and her body completely limp as her mane lay spread around the couch in a haphazard manner. At some point my ministrations seemed to have pulled her mane tie off, leading to her rather frazzled appearance as she lay there with a big smile on her lips.

“So, I take it you enjoyed Sapphire’s, ahem, ministrations.” Rarity asked as she hid her own smile behind a hoof.

“Ah haven’t felt this relaxed in years.” Applejack replied, managing to open her eyes but staying still as she turned her head to face the unicorn, “She can do that to me anytime she pleases. Ah didn’t even know about half of the knots and kinks she worked out of mah system.”

“So, I take it you’ll be willing to spread the word about Sapphire’s abilities if she can get the job at the spa?” Twilight asked.

“Sugarcube, Ah would darn near marry that mare if she would let me.” Applejack declared, although her sarcastic smirk made the others roll their eyes as the earth pony finally managed to sit up, although it took a visible effort to stay upright as she turned to face me, “You do that for one of the twins and Ah guarantee that you’ll get the job. Ah’m sure Rarity or Fluttershy can show you the way, just make sure you don’t use too much force on other ponies. Ah’m tougher than most so you could get away with being a bit more forceful than normal without hurting me.”

I nodded, “I cold feel the muscles under your coat, especially in your flanks and hind legs. You must work them very hard to have such a powerful body.”

Applejack nodded, stretching her legs one at a time before hopping to the floor, “Been bucking apples with mah family since Ah was little. Comes with the lifestyle.”

“Well,” Twilight said as she turned to face me and my friends, “I can safely say that you all have solid ideas for getting jobs, although given how long it might take you to get settled in, I made a request for Princess Celestia to send a stipend for the next couple months to help you get off the ground. It won’t be much, but it should let you go about daily life unhindered until you can earn enough bits to live off of comfortably.”

“I’ll put in a word for you with the local Guard station,” Rainbow added as she bumped Willow in the shoulder with a hoof, “They might be big sticks in the mud, but they know a good recruit when they see one. I’m sure they’ll be jumping all over you once I tell them you’d make a great Guard.”

“And Ah’ll see what Ah can do about talking to the other famers about having you help with the crops,” Applejack said as she glanced at Evergreen, “Ah’m sure they could use the help if you can make our plants healthier and help them produce a bigger harvest.” She glanced at me before adding, “And Ah’ll spread the word about your skills with that there tail of yours, as long as you make sure that Ah get first dibs when ya’ll get the job.”

“Dibs?” My friends and I chorused.

“It means she gets to go first because she is claiming that right.” Rarity clarified, although she sent a rather annoyed glare the other pony’s way as she pouted, “Although given she has already gotten to experience your abilities once I am uncertain she needs to do so again before the rest of us get a chance.”

The smirk that crossed Applejack’s face was there for only a moment before her calm and collected expression wiped it away, “Snooze ya lose, Rarity.”

Fluttershy turned to face me as Rarity and Applejack devolved into a friendly argument, “I, um, wouldn’t mind feeling your tail as well, once you get settled in of course.”

I smiled, leaning down and licking along the side of the pegasus’ cheek, making her squeak as her eyes widened in surprise and her wings shot straight up from her back.

“I’ll be sure to make it worth it once you have the time.” I whispered, smiling as Fluttershy’s face lit up with a bright blush, her mane doing little to hide her embarrassment as her wings slowly folded against her sides again.

“So now that you all have your plans for what you’re going to be doing for jobs in Ponyville,” Twilight grabbed our attention as she indicated sun as it neared its zenith in the sky, “Would you like for us to escort you to where you need to go? You’re still new in town so it might help to have a pony showing you around until you get used to it.”

“That sounds like a great idea, Twilight.” Evergreen said as she stepped up on Applejack’s left, “I wouldn’t mind it if Applejack introduced me to the other farmers in town,” she glanced at the slightly taller mare, “if you don’t mind helping me get around, that it.”

“Sure thing, Evergreen.” The nymph sighed in relief as Applejack placed a hoof around her shoulders, “Ah don’t see any reason why Ah can’t give you a tour of the town while we get ya’ll settled in.”

“Then I shall escort dear Sapphire to the spa.” Rarity spoke up as she lifted her gaze to meet mine, “After all, I have a bit of a repour with the owners, given I use their services so often. I’m certain they’d be delighted to meet you.”

“Which means I can take Willow over to the Guard station to see if she can apply for a job with them.” Rainbow added as she took to the air, hovering over the timberpony as they shared a smile, “We’ll knock those stallions so far out of the park they’ll hire you on the spot!”

“And then we can all go to my Congratulations-On-Getting-A-Job-Welcome-To-Ponyville-We’re-So-Happy-To-Be-Friends Party!” Pinkie leaned over to loudly whisper to Fluttershy as my friends and I stared at her in confusion, “I don’t think they get the idea yet. Maybe I should just make it a party for all of use until they get used to ponies.”

The others rolled their eyes as Pinkie bounced out the door, leaving the rest of us to simply shake our heads and try to forget the confusion that mare left in her wake.

“I’ll send a letter to Princess Celestia with your ideas,” Twilight said as we filed out of the house, my friends splitting off with their escorts as they prepared to leave, “I’m sure she’ll be happy to hear about how well you’re settling in with the rest of the townsfolk.”

There was a chorus of agreement, and with that we split up, Rarity leading me into the town as she went on about how my scales had inspired her to create some new designs. I wasn’t really listening though, because as soon as we made the turn towards the northern part of town, I realized that my Mating Bond was pulling at me even stronger than before, creating a nearly impossible urge in my core that overwrote everything else in my mind. I didn’t even realize I had left Rarity behind until I came to a stop in front of a sloped building, the sign out front depicting a mare’s head with a long, flowing mane.

The panting unicorn managed to catch up with me as I sat there, suddenly uncertain of what to do next. Beyond that door, was my mate. I could feel it in my very bones, the one I was destined to be with was inside this building. Yet I was almost certain now that it had to be a pony that I was searching for, and that left me uncertain of how to go about introducing myself.

“Are you alright, dear?” Rarity pulled me from my thoughts as I shifted my gaze to hers, “You just suddenly took off out of the blue. I understand if you’re eager to get to work, but how did you even know where the spa was? I never told you where we were going.”

“This is the spa?” I had completely forgoten about that in my rush to find my mate, “I had no idea.”

Rarity’s head tilted to one side, her eyes narrowing as she inspected me closer, “Darling, you look conflicted, are you nervous about getting a job? If so then I can assure you that there is nothing to worry about. The twins are some of the nicest ponies I’ve ever met. I’m certain they will love your idea.”

I shook my head, “That isn’t it. I can feel my Mating Bond pulling me inside, and that means that my destined lover is inside this building somewhere. I just don’t know what to do if they turn out to be a pony.”

“Mating Bond?” Rarity’s eyes widened as her brain processed what I had just said, “Destined lover? Darling, are you saying that your kind have the ability to sense where your fated one is?” I nodded, although I was caught by surprise as Rarity swooned, before pushing me towards the door with her magic with a surprising amount of force, “Then we mustn’t wait a moment longer! You’re one true love is on the other side of that door, and I will not allow you to let this moment go to waste! Now get in there and take your destiny into your hooves.”

I felt rather bemused by the now slightly frantic unicorn as I was bodily shoved through the opening, my mind barely able to process the reverse-color mares at the counter before my eyes locked onto the doorway on the other side of the room.

Standing in the opening, her long pink curls falling to one side of her face, was another mare. My jaw dropped as my eyes took in her light lavender coat and her bright rose eyes, although my body wasn’t as inert as my coils quickly straightened themselves out. I could vaguely hear Rarity in the background, although it was like she was speaking from the other side of a deep cave, my entire focus on the earth pony in front of me as her eyes stayed locked with mine.

I was only partly aware of my own movements as my coils shifted me forward, my Mating Bond screaming in the back of my mind that I had to claim what was mine. The mare stayed perfectly still as I moved closer, my forehooves coming to rest on the floor as my head came level with hers. I stopped just a few hooves from the other mare, her eyes now roaming down my body and over my long tail as it curled up under and behind me. She didn’t seem afraid of me, of which I was thankful for, but as she shifted her gaze back to mine, I saw something else that made me suddenly uncertain. There was no recognition, no light of love in her rose orbs, just confusion and a healthy dose of uncertainty as her tail curled between her hind legs slightly.

“Um, can I help you?” Her voice was soft and sweet like the smooth honey I had once been able to get from a beehive back home, although the uncertainty in her voice made me suddenly unable to speak as she took a single step back.

Seeing that slight shift away from me, that single hint of rejection, made my Mating Bond flare to life and I acted before I could even think. My eyes narrowed into slits as my body lunged at the other mare, her scream falling on deaf ears as my coils wrapped around both of us in a tight embrace, her breathing coming in short gasps as I held her to my chest and stared into her wide and terrified gaze.

“Mine.” I hissed out, my lips pressing against hers as my tongue invaded her mouth, her gasp of shock barely registering in my hormone-addled mind as I closed my eyes and deepened the kiss, although I jerked back in pain as she bit down on my tongue and bottom lip. My eyes shot open as I stared in shock at my mate, my mind having regained enough sense to recognize the fury and fear that warred inside her gaze.

“Whoever you are,” she growled out, “whatever you are, I don’t belong to anypony. Now get your creepy tail and hooves off of me before I call the Guard on you and have you charged with sexual assault.”

My mind ground to a halt at her words. I couldn’t understand it. My Mating Bond told me this was the one, that we were destined to be together. And now my mate was rejecting me, not even taking a moment to think about it before pushing me away.

“But, you’re my mate.” I managed to say, “We’re destined to be together. Why would I ever let you go?”

Her eyes narrowed as she stopped trying to wiggle free, the raw fury in her gaze making me flinch as she locked her rosy orbs with my emerald ones, “Let. Me. Go. I am nopony’s mate, and I most certainly won’t be going out with a freak like you. Now get off of me, before I do something I’m going to regret.”

Her words cut into my heart like a claw, my coils shifting off of her body as my hooves released her from my grip. My head was hung low as I tried to make myself seem as small as possible, my muzzle nearly touching the floor as I looked up at her.

“But my Mating Bond says that you are the one.” I tried to explain myself, but the incensed mare before me wasn’t having any of it.

Her hoof pointed towards the door that lead outside, her gaze firmly boring into mine as my heart clenched in agony, “Get out, before I lose what little patience I have left. I am not yours. I don’t belong to anypony and I won’t ever belong to anypony. That bridge burned long ago, and I won’t make the same mistakes again.”

With that, she turned around with a huff as marched through the doorway, the solid hunk of wood slamming shut with finality as I sat there in a shocked stupor. I barely felt Rarity as she gently directed me out of the building and back to the house, my mind repeating my mate’s words over and over again in my head as I was directed into the bed. I didn’t even remember Rarity leaving as my tail curled up around me, my hooves holding a section against my chest as my heart clenched in agony. I didn’t know when the first tear began to fall, but I didn’t care as I closed my eyes, wailing out my heartbreak as I soaked my scales with tears.

My mate didn’t want anything to do with me. My entire journey had been for nothing. The one being in this world that I was destined to be with, and she had pushed me away like I was nothing.

I must have fallen asleep at some point, because the next thing I was aware of was two sets of hooves wrapping around my body in a tight embrace. I knew by their scents that Willow and Evergreen had come back, and that the other ponies were downstairs as my friends tried to comfort me. Yet it only made the pain worse, and my sobbing began anew as the two of them whispered comforting words to me, holding me tightly as I wrapped my own hooves and tail around their bodies.

I didn’t know what I was going to do now, but I knew one thing for sure. I couldn’t go back to my clan after everything that had happened. I would never be able to live with the shame of being rejected by my mate, so I resolved to stay with Willow and Evergreen. They were the only things left in the world that I cared about, and they were the only things that made my life worth living. They were here, helping me in the only ways they could, even though they knew I could never love them the same way I could for my mate. And yet, they loved me back just as much, and I fell back asleep with both of them clinging to me, shielding me from the pain of the world so I could deal with the pain in my heart.

The sun began to set as I cried myself back to sleep, Willow’s tongue gently licking away my tears as Evergreen closed the blinds with one of her wing blades. Needless to say, we never did get to go to Pinkie’s party, although I was pretty sure I wouldn’t have been able to enjoy myself anyway, not with the hole in my chest where my heart had once been.

The Love of a Hybrid

by Shadow Quill

1 - A Journey's Beginning

2 - The Lone Wolf

3 - Stormy Comforts

4 - [Clop] Caves and Coils

5 - The Hidden Grove

6 - The Flames of Sorrow

7 - Welcome to Ponyville

8 - The Rules of the Land

9 - [Clop] Friends With Benefits

10 - Love at First...Rejection?