“Well, this is it,” Dusk Shine announced, coming to a restful stop beneath the immense shadow cast by his crystal castle. His absence wasn’t a long one, yet, considering recent events, the young alicorn stallion was thankful to discover his home had come out relatively unscathed. A sense of relief and return to some normalcy washed over him, once again climbing the crystalline steps to the entrance doors.
With one swift and practiced wave of his horn, Dusk unlocked and opened the doors, then stepped through them. He took a few steps forward before once again coming to a stop, giving himself a moment to let the fact that he was finally home sink in. Dusk was grateful to be allowed such a moment; he would not have been standing where he was were it not for his guest… Speaking of which, Dusk turned back to said guest, who was patiently waiting beneath the steps.
“Please, no need to be shy. I did invite you over, after all. If you're worried of somepony judging you in there, don't: Trixie wanted to put on a show for the foals back in Canterlot to get their spirits back up after we liberated it, and seeing as she's carrying, Starlight and Spike volunteered to stay behind and keep an eye on her for me, so nopony should be home.”
His guest, one Fizzlepop Berry Twist (formally known as Tempest Shadow, and ex second-in-command to the Storm King himself) seemed hesitant for a spell, though that then gave way to her adopting an assertive posture before accepting the invitation. She held her head up high as she moved up the steps, her armor clinking softly with her movements, and her stride calm and precise as she soon crossed over the entrance’s threshold. Dusk closed the doors behind her once she was in and Fizzlepop stood beside her host.
“So, what do you think?” Dusk then asked. “The place can be a bit… mm, overwhelming for newcomers, so I completely understand if you feel that way. Ha, I know I fell into that category when I first stepped in here. Still, I’d love to hear your opinion, Fizzlepop Berry Twist.”
“Tempest,” replied the former commander, a patient smile gracing her muzzle.
Dusk Shine’s ear gave a small flick, and he cocked his head in confusion. “Um… excuse me?”
“Tempest,” she repeated courteously. “My real name can be… a bit of a mouthful, so Tempest is just fine with me. It’s short… and it also happens to be the name I’m more comfortable with, given how long I’ve gone by it.”
“Ah.” Dusk nodded slightly. “Understood. Tempest is just fine with me, too. So then, Tempest… just what do you think of my humble little abode?” He then raised a hoof at her, adding, “Before you say anything, though, just keep in mind that I used to live in a literal treehouse before it blew up.”
“Hmm.” Her eyes half lidded, Tempest surveyed the large and expansive room she found herself in. Tempest had read the dossiers of each of Equestria’s four rulers prior to invading, so she already possessed somewhat of an understanding regarding Dusk Shine’s castle.
All the scouting reports--which had been carefully accrued over the span of years--stated that it was a large structure seemingly made entirely out of crystal. Tempest recalled noting that its construction must have been of the utmost secrecy, seeing how it just one day appeared on their routine survey, as if having sprung up from the ground like magic.
Tempest didn’t initially believe the first part, but that was before she found herself standing on an actual crystal floor. Building material aside, Tempest already compiled a number of things to say about Dusk’s home, most of which weren’t exactly positive. She was a pony of military background, so she knew very little regarding aesthetics, only tactics. Still, Dusk Shine wanted to hear her voice her thoughts, and that’s exactly what she aimed to do.
“To start,” she began, “I find it off putting that the entrance lacks any sort of locking mechanism. It’s as if you want assassins to feel welcomed as they help themselves in. Second, and I know that this is the foyer, but I can see that the halls to my left and right are largely devoid of any furnishings, so you have nowhere to hide weapons or a means to barricade doors should you ever need to defend yourself. And third--and this is the one that gripes me the most…”
Tempest suddenly half-lunged to Dusk Shine, grasping his head with her hooves as she forced him to look down the long, sparse corridor on one end, then the one at the other. Had she had done so any faster, and listened to old muscle memory, she would have risked accidentally snapping his neck.
“Where in all of creation is your guard!?” she shouted. “I understand my forces and I taking you by surprise during your friendship festival, where you were somehow foolish enough to give your troops the day off, but you’re a prince! This, this is your castle! There should be armed ponies at every major doorway! Instead, where your ever vigilant watch should be, I see only doily-topped tables!”
“So…” droned Dusk. “You’re saying I should have Spike knit new doilies?”
Tempest blinked, her worked up fervor visibly ebbing away as her expression went blank. After a silent pause, she gently released Dusk from her hold, then turned around three times before sitting down and rubbing her hooves over her temples.
“You know what, Dusk? Your offer was nice, gracious even, considering my actions, but maybe I’ll just stay in an inn instead before skipping town. Knowing that royalty is living so carefree… so recklessly, and with little to no regard for their own safety… it hurts me.”
Tempest moved towards the exit, which alarmed Dusk. Scrambling on his hooves, the stallion moved in front of her and quickly barred her path.
“W-wait, hold on there. Now I know my home isn’t the most… eh, defendable, but keep in mind that Equestria is a peaceful nation. Um, aside from the odd exception of an invasion here or there… or evil alicorns bent on world domination… or chaos spirits running amok… or treehouse-destroying centaurs, nothing really happens, especially here in Ponyville. Our day-to-day is quite tranquil and mostly uneventful here, so I’d feel guilting hiring a bunch of guards just to have them stand around bored all day.”
Tempest averted her eyes, her teeth clenched onto her bottom lip in a nervous-looking manner. If Dusk could interpret anything from that, it was that she was still thinking on leaving, something that he didn’t want.
Right then and there, Dusk recalled that Tempest was a rather… well, strict pony. If he had any chance of convincing her, then he’d have to speak to her in the manner of which she was accustomed to. With that in mind, Dusk straightened his posture and commenced with his gamble.
“One night stay, Tempest,” he put forth firmly, his tone carrying an air of authority behind it, “that’s all that’s needed. I send the letter by tonight, and the sky chariot should be here by tomorrow morning at the earliest to take you wherever you wanna go for your fresh new start. Sparing you from a long and possibly costly trip is the very least I can do to repay you for your help against the Storm King. Until then, defendable parameters within your acceptance or no, I insist you remain here as my guest for the night. It’s what friends do, after all.”
Tempest groaned just low enough for Dusk not to hear, her sights drifting away from the alicorn. Her surroundings’ blatant vulnerabilities pounded at the back of her skull, and immediately Tempest started to regret bestowing her airship to Captain Celaeno and her crew as an apology for destroying theirs. Had Dusk Shine not already made his offer shortly before then, she would have asked the sky pirates to drop her off somewhere.
Nevertheless, Tempest couldn’t help but to give in to her host’s wishes, albeit begrudgingly. Maybe it was the whole friendship concept she was still coming to terms with, but there was something in the way Dusk spoke to her that she found rather admirable. Very rarely would someone have the gall, the daring to speak to her with such boldness during her military career. Were it from one of her own subordinates, she’d stamp out such insurrection with swift and callous precision. However, to hear it from the stallion before her, the first real pony friend she’d befriended in years, it was… different... in the good sort of way.
After a brief moment of silent consideration, Tempest sighed in defeat, took a knee, and bowed slightly to Dusk. “Mm, very well. Who am I to argue with royalty, I suppose.”
“Oh. Well uh…” Dusk took a step back, his feathers ruffling. He rubbed his hoof along the back of his head sheepishly while scanning the room, the walls, the ceiling--everything but his house guest. “You can… argue with me all you want, Tempest. We’re friends. And as my friend, I’d really appreciate it if you didn’t bow to me. Like, ever. Could you… get up, please?”
“Very well,” Tempest said, rising to her hooves. “And here I assumed that royalty liked all that posh and formality.”
“Maybe,” Dusk answered with a shrug, “but never when friends are doing it, especially in private. I’m a friend first, prince second.”
“Really now?” Tempest tilted her head slightly to the side, her curiosity obviously piqued. Her eyes proceeded to size up Dusk. “Hmm, how... interesting…”
“Uh, how so?” Dusk asked. He held a bit intimidated caught under her calculating gaze, but he made an effort not to show it.
The corner of Tempest’s mouth curled upward, and she gave her reply. “Oh, just… well when I previously envisioned royalty, I didn’t exactly think you. The way you are, I mean. ‘Friend first’; that’s the first time I’ve ever heard that, and already I like it. It’s strange. You’re strange.”
Looking away again, Dusk scratched at the side of his chin. “Is it really that weird? I mean, I--”
Dusk’s words fell short, as he was interrupted by a low growl. At first, he was unable to identify what the sound was or where it was even coming from, but that then changed when he turned back to Tempest. He discovered her expression to be frozen in part horror, part embarrassment; her eyes were wide and her cheeks burned bright red. The growl returned, only this time Dusk’s ears succeeded in pinpointing its origin--Tempest’s stomach. From there, Dusk’s mind formulated an educated guess as to what that was.
A coy smile formed on Dusk’s face. “Hm, well you know what I think is strange: the fact that a pony can go so long without any food in their belly.”
Matching Dusk’s smile with her flustered one, Tempest brought a hoof over her stomach. “Heheh… um, I suppose the train ride to Ponyville was a little longer than I thought, and it has been a while since breakfast.”
Dusk didn’t say anything; he merely pursed his lips and stared thoughtfully at Tempest. Seconds later he managed a small nod, motioned for Tempest to follow, then trotted down one of the corridors.
Tempest was being left alone in a vast, extensive space, and she realized that fast. Her one guide to it all getting further and further by the second, Tempest hesitantly stepped forward before hurrying along to join Dusk’s side. “Where are we going?” she asked.
“Well you’re hungry, so the kitchen, obviously. Come on. It’s not too far, and I could use a little grub myself.”
“Well…?” Dusk probed. The young stallion loomed over the table, patiently waiting for a reply.
Sitting across from him was Tempest, a simple-looking sandwich with a sizable bite taken out of it secured between her forehooves. She stared back at Dusk, maintaining her usual stoicism while chewing silently. Dusk had asked her for an honest answer, so she took her time analyzing the morsel’s taste and texture. After carefully swallowing, she then maneuvered a napkin over her hoof and used it to wipe her mouth free of crumbs.
“You went a bit overboard with the mayo, but overall it’s… edible.” Tempest shrugged, ”I’ve certainly had worse before.”
“Edible, huh?” said Dusk, the hint of a laugh escaping past his lips before he took a bite out of his own sandwich. “Heh, an’ here I--” Crumbs unintentionally spewed from his mouth, prompting Dusk to swiftly place a hoof over it. “Oh, shorry,” he murmured behind his hoof before taking the time to properly chew.
Tempest was completely unphased by the uncouth display and thus turned her attention back to her meal. It wasn’t terrible in the slightest, just a little on the bland side. Nevertheless, her gracious host went through the trouble of preparing it for her, and by that reason alone she was determined to finish it. By the time she took a second chomp, Dusk had already swallowed and resumed speaking.
“Ahem. What I meant to say was: and here I thought I finally got the basics of cooking down. It’s funny; I can mix potions and chain spells with the simplest of ease, but the art of slapping together some ingredients between two slices of bread somehow eludes me.” Dusk rolled his eyes and shook his head with a smile on his face. “I guess I should count myself lucky to have Spike around--he’s always had more of a flair when it came to cooking. If it weren’t for him I’d be so engrossed in my studies that I’d forget to eat sometimes.”
Tempest cracked a smile, something Dusk delighted in seeing. Almost as quick as it appeared, however, that same smile lessened some.
“It must be nice,” she began, “having someone looking out for you like that. Sure, it’s just someone handing you a meal, but it’s...” Tempest paused, almost as if she was unsure where she was leading the conversation. “I don’t know,” she sighed. “It’s just nice, I guess.”
“Oh come now, you make it sound as if I found you on some deserted island,” Dusk rebutted. “From what little you shared on the train ride here, you’ve spent years travelling all over before enlisting in the Storm King’s army. With such history, surely there must have been someone you’d remotely consider a friend.”
Tempest shook her head. “A friend? No, not exactly. After… well, this,” she gestured to her broken horn, “you could say that I wasn’t enthusiastic about making any. Sure, there were those who’d show interest in getting close whenever I was passing through, mostly curious foals who wanted to know what happened to my horn, but there were never any who I’d allow the opportunity. I remember being a bit relieved after joining the Storm King’s ranks, mostly because all those annoying attempts at getting to know me suddenly stopped.”
Tempest paused and tapped her chin for a bit. “Although... If I was forced to name someone who I’d consider to have ever been the closest thing I had to a friend, then I guess it would have to be Grubber.”
“Grubber?” Dusk asked, his interest and curiosity piqued. “That’s the little warthog guy who opened the floor for you to deliver your, heh, evil message right before the invasion, right?”
Tempest's expression twisted into one of horror. Her face turned visibly red and she proceeded to plant it on the table and bury it under her hooves. “Ugh… evil message,” she groaned. “I considered myself chaotic neutral at the time, yet there he went announcing I’m…” The mare forced herself upright and, much to Dusk’s amazement, quickly regained her detached composure with a simple exhale. “Whatever. Point is, yeah, that was him--Grubber. He was about the only soldier in the entire army whose speech I could understand, so naturally he became my right hoof.”
Discussing her former second in command in greater detail, Tempest’s expression lightened and her voice took on a more cheery tone.
“He was annoying, almost to an absurd degree, but useful in his own little ways. Hmm, now that I think about it, though, he always did offer me some of whatever he happened to be stuffing his face with whenever I was upset over something. I... suppose that was his way of trying to cheer me up.”
A crack appeared in Tempest’s cool facade as she grimaced, the mare likely struck by some realization. “Great,” she sighed, rolling her eyes. “I suppose I have a whole laundry list of things to apologize to Grubber for. Well, assuming I ever run into him again.”
“Maybe so, but...” Dusk plopped the last morsel of his sandwich into his mouth, then picked up right where he left off after it soon went down his gullet. “I don’t know what you plan to do from now on going forward, but you could think of this as an opportunity.”
Tempest raised a curious brow at the stallion. “How so?” she asked inquisitively. “An opportunity for what, exactly?”
“Well I don’t know,” Dusk admitted, “this is an opportunity for you to do whatever, I guess. Equestria prevailed in the end and you’re no longer affiliated with the Storm King. You can go wherever you like now, do whatever you like; maybe let ponies get close for a change. Who knows, you might even get a chance to give Grubber your apology should your paths happen to cross.”
Tempest’s brows furrowed slightly and she rubbed at the back of her neck. “I’d be lying if I said that that’s something I haven’t already considered, but... taking into account what I’ve done… I don’t think I’m deserving of-- ”
Dusk stomped a hoof on the table, a sudden action that caused Tempest to jolt upright and return her undivided attention to him. “Oh no no no--you stop that thought right there, missy,” he said firmly. His eyes narrowed, and he stared intensely at the unicorn before him. “Don’t say that you’re not deserving of anything. Whatever misdeeds you did in the past, you’ve more than made up for the moment you jumped in front of that petrification orb meant for my friends and I.”
Tempest merely blinked and stared back in silence, stunned by the stallion’s unheralded zeal. The alicorn took a breath and his face relaxed before he resumed.
“Look, I’m not asking that you go out and force yourself to make friends. Just… you know, start off small; do the things you’ve always wanted to try but never did. Do that with an open mind and your new lease on life, and friends will naturally come on their own without you really having to try.”
“I suppose, but there’s a slight problem,” Tempest said as she leaned casually to the side. “Namely the fact that there’s nothing I’ve wanted to try, simply because… well, I’ve done just about everything already.”
Dusk was derailed by that statement. He knew Tempest wasn’t one to kid so easily, and as such he couldn’t help but recoil slightly in astonishment. “S… seriously?” he asked. “Everything? You’ve done everything already? I’m kind of afraid to ask, but... what do you mean by that?”
“I mean that I’ve done everything,” she answered with a shrug. “By the time I joined the Storm King I had already climbed several of Equestria’s tallest peaks, ventured into its untamed jungles, and plunged into its deepest depths--and that’s just naming a few of my accomplishments. I won’t even bother going into detail on the time I joined a traveling circus for a while, or the time I escaped a roc’s nest by sailing away on its plucked feathers.”
“Okay. You and I,” Dusk gestured a hoof back and forth between Tempest and himself, “yeah, we’re gonna have to set up some sort of correspondence before you leave, because I want context for those last two things. Still, that’s uh… wow. I mean, surely there ought to be something you’ve yet to try. Anything, it can be anything at all.”
“Anything, huh?” Tempest stared off, scratching her chin as she pondered for a spell. “Well… There is one thing I’ve had the occasional… curiosity about.”
Seeing an opening, Dusk immediately jumped on it. “Well great, go do that once you get out there again!”
Giving her host a patient smile, Tempest’s shoulders slumped. “It’s not that simple. It’s something that can’t be done alone, and given how everypony probably knows by now that it was me who led the Storm King’s army and nearly brought Equestria to ruin, I’m afraid I doubt I’ll ever find somepony willing to… assist.” She took in a breath, then let out a calm and collected sigh. “It’ll just be one thing I can never experience, which I’m at peace with, given what I’ve… Well, you know.”
Tempest was skirting too close to self-depreciation again, but Dusk decided to let it slide. “Well, what’s that one thing you’ve never done that requires another pony?” he asked. “I’d be more than willing to help, assuming it’s within my power to do so. What, do you need somepony to help you on the seesaw, maybe be your partner in a seven-legged race?”
“No, nothing like that,” said Tempest, unruffled in the slightest by Dusk’s joke. All of a sudden, however, the mare’s demeanor changed. She rubbed awkwardly at the back of her neck, seemingly overcome by shyness to the point where it was difficult for her to look Dusk anywhere near the eye. “It’s… it’s… I don’t even know how to--it’s too embarrassing for me to put into words.”
Dusk instantly regretted his friendly teasing. He believed that if he hadn’t done so, then perhaps Tempest wouldn’t have been so nervous and just told him what she wanted to say already. To make up for his thoughtless action, he decided to take a chance.
“That’s alright, Tempest. I’m not pressuring you to tell me now if you’re not comfortable doing so,” he said, a gentle smile on his face as he cocked his head to the side. “I still mean what I said, though: whatever it is, I’d still help you with it. As a matter of fact, I’ll even seal the deal with a Pinkie promise.”
“A what?” Tempest asked, visibly befuddled.
Dusk rolled his eyes in amusement, then proceeded to further confuse the mare by reciting the all too familiar promise while going through the all too familiar motions. “Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye,” he chanted. Once that was done, he then reached over the table and placed his hoof over Tempest’s, finishing with, “There. Now there’s no getting out of it for me. I just want you to be happy, that’s all.”
Tempest’s ears stood to attention, her eyes fixated to their hooves touching. After some hesitation, she withdrew hers, though not before folding her ears back timidly. She was flustered, something that had not gone unnoticed by Dusk, what with the red hue in her cheeks growing by the second.
“Don’t you think that was a reckless promise to make?” she asked. “I haven’t even told you what the thing is yet, and already you went and committed yourself to it.”
Showing no ounce of concern, Dusk shrugged. “Yeah, well, like you said; I’m strange. It doesn’t matter how embarrassing the thing is, I’ll do it with you regardless. You’ve got friends now, and that means you’ve got ponies you can rely on--especially me.”
“Huh. Strange indeed,” Tempest reaffirmed, her eyes giving the stallion cursory scan. She locked eyes with the stallion, then, after a brief pause, broke into a smile before sighing in defeat. “Fine, I concede. You’ve already pledged yourself, so I suppose I have no choice but to allow you the opportunity to fulfill your promise.”
“Does that mean you’ll tell me?” Dusk asked excitedly, his chair screeching beneath him as he scooched closer.
A response wasn’t immediate. Tempest silently stared up at Dusk, only to then turn her attention to what little remained of her sandwich. It was just a small corner piece that she popped effortlessly into her waiting mouth, yet nevertheless she took her time chewing it at her own pace. Once it went down her throat, the mare re-acknowledged Dusk’s existence.
“I will, but... not now. Perhaps I will later tonight.” Wrapping a hoof around a glass of water, Tempest bought it to her lips and drank it all in seconds before setting the empty glass down and getting up from her seat. “For now, if it’s not too much trouble, I’d like you to show me to my quarters.”
After leading Tempest to one of his many guest rooms, Dusk left her to rest and immediately isolated himself in the library where he then tended to his royal duties. To say that recent events were chaotic would be an understatement, and as such there were many figurative (and in some small cases, literal) fires Dusk worked to put out away from Tempest’s eyes. It was clear to him that she felt guilty enough as is and he didn’t want to further add to it.
With his ear to the library doors, Dusk worked in secret, learning of the true extent of damage done to Equestria and planning on how to more effectively aid in its reconstruction. His devotion unwavering, the stallion mulled through report after report, his perception of time steadily warping with each one. By the time he believed he compiled enough notes for the time being, Dusk looked out the window and was surprised to see Luna’s moon high above in the night sky.
Dusk was beside himself with embarrassment. Not only did he need Spike to tell him when to eat, but apparently when to sleep, too. Leaving his mess for tomorrow morning, he then stepped out of the chamber and began his march toward his bedroom. He wasn’t tired just yet, but that was nothing some light reading of a couple dozen encyclopedias in bed couldn’t fix.
Minutes later, Dusk stopped when he noticed something peculiar. Said peculiar something was Tempest’s guest room, its door left ajar.
“Uh… Tempest?” he called softly into the room, being careful not to wake her in case she was sleeping.
There was no response. At the risk of coming off as nosy, Dusk dared nudge the door further open, his efforts rewarded with the sight of an empty guestroom.
“Huh,” Dusk mused as he stepped a hoof into the room, only to then withdraw it when he felt something wet on the floor.
There was a trail of droplets glistening off the crystalline floor, water by the look of it. It emerged from the guest restroom and led out into the hallway before turning the corner. The air near the restroom felt muggy, and using his powers of deduction, Dusk surmised that Tempest took a shower, then went off on a stroll somewhere.
“Now where would you go at such a late hour?” Dusk asked himself before setting off to discover the answer.
The path Tempest took made little sense to the stallion. To him it looked as if she stopped to stand in front of seemingly random doors, then descended and ascended to other floors just to do the same. The thought that she had gotten lost had crossed his mind, as the castle was sort of a maze to those who were unfamiliar with it.
Right as Dusk began to worry that perhaps that was the case, the trail soon indicated that she had finally entered a room. Standing out in the hallway, Dusk stopped and stared at the closed door to said room, as it was one he was all too familiar with: his bedroom.
Dusk blinked and angled his ears in a curious manner, many questions running through his mind. There was no evidence that Tempest had left the chamber, so it was safe for him to assume that she was still in there doing who knows what. Nevertheless, Dusk wished to find out and thus promptly opened the door.
“So... “ Dusk began as he stepped into his oddly dark room. “I couldn’t help but notice that, for some reason, you made your way over to my room. Also, why are the lights o--mmph!”
Dusk couldn’t speak, as something was flung at high speed from the darkness toward his face. It was a fabric of some sort, enveloping his head and getting into his mouth which he immediately tried to remove and spit out. Whatever it was, it smelled mildly of sweat and berries.
With his vision obscured, Dusk tossed his head this way and that, his hooves clawing at the fabric as he struggled to tear it away. In his efforts to do so, Dusk soon fell onto his stomach, his wings then flapping in tandem with his growing frustration. Right as he felt he was making some leeway, Dusk became still when his ears picked up something other than his own exertions.
“Pfft! Heh...”
It was laughter. Tempest’s laughter, to be precise. It was low and it sounded as if she was trying to contain it.
“Tempest?” Dusk said from the comfort of the hard floor.
“Yeah,” she answered between chortles. “I’m sorry for laughing, but you look like… like one of those puppies that get their heads stuck in jars!”
Defeated, Dusk laid in silence, allowing Tempest a moment to get all her yucks out before he continued.
“So… I take it that this is your doing?” he said, circling a hoof over his head.
“It is. Heh, sorry about that. I saw the opportunity and just had to take it.”
“Hm,” Dusk hummed in acknowledgement. He was a bit miffed, but mostly relieved to see that Tempest wasn’t all just seriousness; that beside all her… badassery, for lack of a better word, a playful mischievous side was housed within her.
Despite that discovery, however, it did nothing to rid him of his current dilemma.
“Heeey, here’s an idea,” Dusk then proposed. “How ‘bout helping me get whatever this thing is off, huh?”
“No no, you can do it,” Tempest laughed again. “Your head’s not caught in a beartrap or anything--all your squirming is just making it worse.”
Dusk snorted in annoyance. He carefully lifted himself off the ground, then sat on his haunches and brought his hooves to his head. Using calm and steady movements, the cloth enveloping his head began to loosen and unravel.
Before long Dusk could see again, although not fully. The center of his vision was partially obscured, something that could be attributed to the fact that the mystery fabric hung defiantly from his horn. The stallion almost went cross-eyed trying to determine what the thing was, but he was unprepared for the answer to soon hit him the moment he directed his gaze to the sight ahead of him.
Dusk shouldn’t have been as shocked as he was, yet he was.
No longer blinded, Dusk could see that Tempest was free of both her armor and clothing and that she was sprawled out over his bed in a… most provocative manner. A soft, beguiling smile was on the mare’s face as she looked back at him from over her shoulder. Her cutie mark, that of a fizzing ice cream float and hearts, was on full display.
Unable to blink or look away, Dusk began stammering, his mouth producing nothing but incoherent nonsense. Still visibly grasping with what he was seeing, Dusk then jumped onto his hooves.
“T-Tempestpop Shadowytwist!” he squawked, pointing a hoof at the mare.
“Mmm. Yes~?” she singsonged, appearing to take pleasure from his reaction as she stretched and pawed at his sheets like a cat.
“You’re naked!”
Tempest’s movements grinded to a sudden halt. She blinked, then raised her brow curiously as she slowly looked at him. “Isn’t everypony?” she asked.
“Well… yeah,” Dusk said with a nod, the fabric brushing his nose with each movement. “It’s just--I don’t know, for some reason I thought you were the kind to sleep in their armor or something! I mean, my brother kind of did that for a while back when he was in basic, so I kind of figured...”
Tempest opened her mouth, though instead of saying something, it instead hung open as if in shock. Before long she closed it and her eyes went about scanning the floor, the mare likely in search for the right words to use.
“Okay, um… wow. I... suppose I should take that as a compliment, knowing that my skills as a combatant left that impression on you. But, believe it or not, I do shed myself of the armor sometimes, though I will admit it has been quite some time since I felt comfortable enough to do it. If it’s any consolation, your assumption wasn’t entirely wrong.”
“What, that you’re still in training?” Dusk asked.
“Oh no, nothing like that,” Tempest continued, a small smile forming on her face. “What I mean is that the metal and protective plates of my ensemble have been put away, all save for one piece--the mesh I wear beneath it all--which, as it just so happens, isn’t too far away.”
With all that said, Tempest rested her chin on her hoof and directed a large, smug-filled smirk at the stallion. At first, Dusk was confused as to why she was giving him such a look, but soon a major hint made itself known to him when his eyes tried to focus on the thing still hanging off his horn.
“Hold up, is this it--the mesh?” Dusk questioned, pointing a hoof at the item in question. “Tempest, I’m not a coat hanger; I don’t even keep one in my room. Speaking of which, why are you in my room, and how’d you even find it? Anyone else out of a select few would have gotten lost in the castle’s halls, and I know you didn’t happen upon it by chance.”
“Oh Prince Dusk Shine,” Tempest laughed haughtily. She reached for the stallion’s pillow and held it tightly to her chest before burying her muzzle in it. “I tracked you and your friends halfway across Equestria partially by scent, you think I wouldn’t be able to find your bedroom?”
“Impressive, I guess,” Dusk said, tilting his head to the side, “but you didn’t answer my first question.”
Hugging the pillow tighter, Tempest slightly averted her gaze from Dusk, suddenly appearing bashful. “Okay, look, this is a first for me so I’m trying to do this in a way that’ll save me some embarrassment. I came over looking for you because...”
“Because...?” Dusk encouraged.
“Because,” she forced out, trying to hide the reddening of her cheeks, “it’s late, I’m not tired at all, and I was hoping we could do something… together. You know, the kind of something where clothes would just be in the way.”
“What, like working out?”
“Excuse me?” Looking as if she were physically struck, Tempest gawked at him.
Dusk waved his hoof dismissively. “No no, I get it. My brother was like that all the time; he couldn’t get any shut eye unless all his energy was spent.”
“That’s great I guess, but that’s not what I--”
“I’ll be honest here,” Dusk prattled on, “normally I wouldn’t agree to be somepony’s workout buddy, but for you I’m willing to make an exception.”
To Dusk’s surprise, Tempest face-hoofed.
“Oh my skies and stars above…” she muttered disparagingly into her hooves. “Is it me? It has to be me, right? Either that or you’re just dense. I’m hoping that it’s one or the other and not both…”
Both concerned and confused, Dusk raised his brow at the mare. “Tempest, what are you talking about?”
Tossing the pillow aside, Tempest sat up and let out an exasperated groan. “Okay… Remember earlier, in the kitchen, what we discussed?”
“I’m… sensing this has to do with that thing you’ve never done?” Dusk said, his ear flicking as he cocked his head. “The one you’ve yet to tell me which I agreed to help you with?”
Promptly, Tempest gave a single nod. “Exactly, that. Look, I know I somehow botched this in ways I’d never have imagined, but c-come on, you’re one of the most intelligent minds in Equestria! Tell me you’re not so blind that you can’t see the signal’s I’m trying to put out there for you.”
With that said, there was silence, then…
“Tempest…”
“Yes?”
“You can relax, I… I get what’s going on here now.”
“Do you now, because I have the sneaking suspicion that you don’t...”
“No no, you made your intentions perfectly clear by finding my room, no need to pussyfoot around the issue.”
“O-okay, I was clearly right--you don’t know what’s going on here because if you did, I guarantee you wouldn’t use that word.”
“If you could easily find my room, then so too could a well trained assassin.”
“Oh. My. Goddesses. You are that dense…”
“And if I recall, earlier you criticized my home’s defenses, or more exactly, its lack of them…”
“Please stop, I’m starting to regret ever going through with this…” Tempest lamented, slowly burying her face in her hooves.
Nevertheless, Dusk prattled on.
“What, I’m not lambasting you or anything. If anything, it’s the opposite. You were worried that if I were ever in a situation where I had to immediately defend myself within the lulling comfort and safety of my home from a surprise intruder, that I wouldn’t be prepared, so you devised this whole ‘thing you’ve never done’ thing as a pretense to put me through some rigorous training and hopefully toughen me up a bit. It’s a clever plan, all things considered, but a little too roundabout for my tastes. You could have just been up front with me from the beginning and I would have agreed anyway.”
For a moment Tempest was still, like a statue. Then, slowly, her hooves pulled away from her face before coming together and resting against her nose. Her brows furrowed in anger and her eyes were locked solely on him, and although the rest of her face was calm, her now-exposed chest gave away her seething.
Intimidated, Dusk cautiously stepped back, only to then seize every muscle and freeze when the mare breathed in deeply through her nose and exhaled.
“You know what,” she said in an overly cheery tone that betrayed her obvious frustration, “you’re right, I should have been up front from the beginning--so here’s me being up front!”
“Oh geez, not the face! It’s close to where my brain is!” Dusk cowered, shutting his eyes as he shied away and prepared himself for a devastating blow.
His heart pounding a mile a minute, Dusk waited. And waited. And waited some more.
Upon realizing that nothing had happened, Dusk dared to pry his eyes open. Still half expecting a kick, he then forced himself to look at Tempest’s direction. The kick never came, but the wind was certainly knocked out of him by what he saw.
Tempest had returned to her previous position on the bed, lying on her stomach and turned away from him, only this time her tail rested over her back, allowing her nethers to be on full display.
As if by some magnetic force, Dusk’s eyes were immediately drawn to the sight of her pink slit, which winked lewdly with want before him. Dusk’s eyes refused to blink or look away, his cheeks flushed with warmth, and his wings gradually stiffened outward before finally poofing at his sides.
“Yeah,” Tempest said with a roll of her eyes before shaking her head with a small smile, “that thing I’ve never done was fuck another pony. Was kinda hoping you’d help me out with that.”
“I… You… Er... “ Dusk sputtered, much to Tempest’s chagrin.
“I swear, if you’re tongue-tied because you’re shocked that I’m not wearing some sort of armored underwear like your brother, I’m going to hit you. Like a lot.”
Dusk held his tongue, albeit briefly.
“Y-you know…” he said before clearing his throat, “in hindsight, perhaps your comment about me being dense wasn’t entirely off.”
“Gee, ya think?” Tempest quipped, positioning herself to sit on the bed’s edge. “What gives though? I figured you’d jump at the chance if I simply gave you the opportunity, much less recognize it. I mean, some of the intel I gathered before the invasion suggested that you’ve been highly promiscuous with several mares already. Surely you had to know what I was doing.”
Dusk balked at the allegation, but he didn’t deny it. “Well, yeah I’ve been active, but that was only because I was friends with them for a long time--that doesn’t mean I immediately jump into bed with mares I’ve recently befriended! Well… except maybe Trixie, but that’s a complicated matter that I really don’t want to go into right now.”
For a moment, Tempest sat silently, her face showing slight curiosity. Before long, however, she tilted her body to the side and spoke.
“So... the mares you supposedly had sex with were your friends?”
“Horse apples,” Dusk cursed under his breath as he turned away. “At this rate all of Equestria is gonna know…”
“What was that?”
“Sooo, you’ve never had sex, huh?” Dusk said, being quick to immediately change the subject back to something that was more… topical.
It was obvious that Tempest knew what he was doing, what with her raised brow and inquisitive stare, but regardless she chose to spare him from any further questioning.
“Not with another pony, no. I had no interest in others and for the longest I can remember the only relief I got came from either my hooves or occasional toy. I was fine with that, though I often wondered what it’d feel like doing it with an actual stallion.”
“And you chose me to… you know, do that with?”
Tempest crossed her hind legs and leaned back on the bed. “Who else is there to choose? Practically all of Equestria saw me turn three of its princesses into stone, so I imagine it would be a long, long time before anyone forgives me, let alone even consider touching me.”
“Actually,” Dusk chuckled, “Equestria is pretty quick to sweep things like that under the rug, Ponyville especially if you ask certain mares I know, but I get what you mean.”
Tempest sighed. “That’s that then. I’m sorry for wasting your time and putting you through… this. I’ll just go back to my room and we can pretend this didn’t happen.”
Having said that, Tempest began to climb off the bed. Right when her hoof barely touched the floor, however, she stopped when Dusk raised his.
“Now hold on there. I don’t recall turning you down,” he said.
Tempest paused, her bewilderment made apparent by the hard yet wary gaze she directed at the stallion. “I’m confused. Didn’t you say that you don’t jump into bed with mares you’ve recently befriended?”
“Well… yeah,” Dusk admitted with a shrug. “Normally I wouldn’t agree to be somepony’s, eh… fuck-buddy, at least not so soon after first meeting them, but for you I’m willing to make an exception, especially after what you did to save me and my friends.”
Tempest blinked and her expression eased. “I can’t say that I’m not relieved to hear that you’re willing, but I can’t help but feel that there’s more to it than that. Does this have something to do with that silly promise thing you did?”
Dusk scoffed and half laughed. “Ha. Right, that. I’ll confess, the Pinkie Promise is partially behind my intentions, though honestly I just find you really attractive and would love to, um, m-make love with you.”
“Pffft!”
Much to Dusk Shine’s dismay, Tempest then broke into an unexpected snickering fit.
“Wh-what’s so funny? I said yes!” he questioned, his red cheeks and ruffled feathers displaying how flustered he was.
“Nothing! It’s just,” Tempest said, still giggling into her hoof, “I see now that those tabloids were on the money when they called you a horndog.”
Disheartened by another rumor he had somehow avoided hearing up until then, Dusk’s wings drooped listlessly at his sides. “H-horndog?”
“Yeah,” Tempest confirmed, her laughter easing. “You’re definitely a horndog alright, though in a bookish, goody-goody sort of way. Although... perhaps it’s more of a perverted sort of way, seeing as you’re so attached to my sweaty combat mesh.”
“Wha?” Dusk sounded before being painfully reminded that, yes, said soiled garment was still clinging to his horn. How he had forgotten it was there he would never know, especially when it was partially draping his face. Lighting his horn with magic, Dusk peeled the offending fabric away before casually casting it aside.
“Can’t tell which is better, the former or the latter...”
“In any case,” Tempest said, smiling confidently at Dusk, “are we actually gonna do this?” Dusk smiled and nodded, and as a result her ears pinned back nervously. “Wonderful. Okay. Alright. Um… how does this usually start?”
“Well…” Dusk began. “Most ponies usually start by making out, then things kind of naturally progress from there.”
Fidgeting slightly, Tempest cleared her throat and straightened herself on the bed. “Oh. Kissing, of course. I knew that.”
“Hmm…” Dusk was unconvinced, and it didn’t take a stretch of his imagination to determine why that was. “Um… This is pure speculation here, but I’m guessing that you’ve never kissed anyone either.”
“That obvious?” she questioned, her smile turning sheepish.
Dusk felt sympathy and understanding for her, both of which he hoped were perfectly reflected in his face as he began to slowly and calmly strode toward the bed, his eyes never leaving hers. Following suit, Tempest refused to look away from his, not even when he soon placed his hoof on the bed beside her.
“Heeey, don’t take it too bad,” he voiced softly, his movements slow and steady as he gradually invaded her space. “It wasn’t that long ago that I was also in a similar boat; that is, lacking experience when it came to the more… intimate facets of life.”
Dusk’s muzzle was nearing Tempest’s, so much so that her breath tickled the hairs of his face. He expected her to shy away at any second, to withdraw out of embarrassment or unease… but that moment didn’t come. Instead a still tranquility seemed to possess her demeanor and her eyes had become half lidded as she patiently awaited him.
“I suppose I should be thankful then,” she whispered back, “having a teacher so willing to give me a crash course on what exactly I’ve been missing out on…”
To Dusk’s pleasant surprise, Tempest took the initiative. She met him halfway and placed her lips against his in what was a quick peck, then placed another, then another after that. By the fourth peck Tempest neglected to pull away and slowly but surely they, with Dusk’s guidance, transitioned into open mouth kissing.
Her movements were clumsy and uncoordinated, Dusk noted, but nevertheless he granted her tongue passage when she soon gathered the courage to attempt to slip it past his lips. Greeting the wet appendage with his much broader one, Dusk produced a low, approving hum as he closed his eyes, then felt her hoof lovingly caress the side of his face.
The stallion’s ex-pursuer seemed to be enjoying herself. Her hoof had wandered to the back of his head, disheveling his mane there into a disorderly mess as her tongue wrestled with his. As they did this, Tempest slowly laid her back onto the bed, taking Dusk along with her.
Upon finding himself on top of her, Dusk parted his lips from Tempest’s and began peppering her neck with love bites and kisses. The sensation brought about by such actions proved to be ones Tempest was unfamiliar with, though not unwelcomed. She giggled and jerked at each touch of his lips against her exposed neck, and although the flat of her hoof was pressed against his chest as if to shove him away, she refrained from doing so.
Before long, however, Dusk latched his teeth onto her furred-skin and applied the smallest amount of pressure. The effects his decision caused were surprising, to say the least. Tempest gasped, all four of her legs shooting out before wrapping around the stallion wherever they could. Her front hooves secured him at the neck while her rear ones clung to his barrel just at his waist.
Huffing in amusement, Dusk rubbed the back of her neck reassuringly. He supposed he was moving a bit too fast for her, after all. Regardless, Tempest clinging to him did feel extremely nice. He could feel her racing heartbeat and warmth shared through their fur, though there was an even greater heat that was impossible to ignore further below. It was an inviting heat, one accompanied by the subtle, almost missable sensation of something small and nub-like poking at his belly.
It was Tempest’s clit, winking obscenely. Feeling it, Dusk couldn’t help but swell with pride, as it served as physical proof that she had become extremely aroused and riled up thanks to him. With his mind set on thoughts of what was to come, something other than his pride began to swell, steadily being coaxed from its sheath.
“Oh!”
Dusk stared off and wore a goofy grin. With how close their bodies were, it was inevitable that she’d feel the arrival of his growing erection. Its flat head scraped over her excited knob before pushing through, sandwiching itself between their two bellies.
Pulling her hooves away from Dusk, Tempest motioned him to raise himself a bit so she could better look down between them.
“I….” Tempest appeared to be at a loss for words. She was blushing profusely, all while staring wide-eyed at the stiff phallus resting over her toned stomach. “I… uh…. So, that’s an actual penis, huh?”
“Yeah. Yeah it is.”
“Huh.... It has a lot more, I don’t know, weight to it than I thought it would.” With some trepidation, Tempest reached a hoof below and curiously poked and nudged at his roused anatomy. “It’s a lot warmer too--kind of hot, actually. I didn’t think it’d throb so much either…”
Slightly shifting his stance at her touch, Dusk cleared his throat. “Just so you know, you’re more than welcome to… explore. You know, familiarize yourself with it seeing as it’s your first time and all…”
Tempest said nothing, though she did appear to put some thought and consideration into the offer. “Thank you, but I’ll have to decline. We’ve already wasted enough time as is and I intend to make the most out of this night.”
Dusk smirked. “Okay. Just keep in mind that we have all night should you decide to change your mind.”
“I will,” she replied before taking in a quick breath. “Maybe I’m still a little nervous, but... you do know what you’re doing, right?”
“Well… I do have five foals from five different mothers, with a sixth on the way, so… yeah, at this point I think I’ve somewhat grasped the mechanics.”
With that speaking for itself, Dusk began to carefully reposition himself. He lowered his attention toward her waist, using the light from the hallway to admire her lithe, streamlined body along the way. Occasionally catching his eye were scars located at various parts of her physique; some were noticeable while others were less so, though most were given away by the slight discoloration of fur atop them. No doubt each had their own stories attached to them, and while others might have turned away at them, to Dusk they served to further cement her warrior allure.
As Dusk continued to marvel at the sight of her, one particularly nasty-looking scar caught his eye. It ran wickedy just above her petite teats, and without realizing how it happened, the stallion was perplexed to find himself tracing his hoof over its length. He immediately stopped himself, however, when Tempest stifled a laugh, revealing herself to be ticklish in that area.
Returning his focus to the task at hoof, Dusk dove in and planted a fleeting kiss between her breasts before licking and latching his lips onto a nipple. Tempest shuddered, her chest heaving outward. To the stallion’s disappointment, no milk was drawn out; wondering why he’d believe there would, he quickly hypothesized that, since a lot of his time was spent around libidinous, nursing mothers, he had more or less been conditioned. Whether that was the case or not, there was one action he was especially fond of...
After gently kneading the sensitive gland between his front teeth, Dusk released it and immediately went for his true target. Tempest was caught unaware. Before she could realize what was happening, her rear hooves were hoisted upward by the prince’s magic, then separated.
“O-oh! What are you doinngggg~!?” Tempest moaned, magic sparking from her broken horn.
Burying his muzzle between her legs, Dusk wasted no time and proceeded to run the flat of his tongue up her twitching slit before encircling its tip around her engorged clit. Already Tempest began to squirm and writhe beneath the stallion, and it wasn’t solely because it was her first time being touched down there by someone else, especially by a tongue. No, when it came to the act of cunninlingus, Dusk was especially skilled; anypony would too if they had six partners to practice on regularly.
Speaking of which… With the thought of the others now on his mind, as well as their unique respective flavors associated with them, curiosity steadily brewed in Dusk. Ceasing his mouth’s assault, Dusk allowed Tempest a moment of reprieve before using his magic to part her glistening folds.
Her body going stiff, Tempest eeped, a sound Dusk thought her incapable of making. Dusk’s mouth watered staring longingly at Tempest’s wet entrance, illuminated in all its glory by the glow of his horn. Giving in to his desires, the stallion leaned forward and pressed his mouth against the aching sex, his tongue diving straight into her hot, velvety tunnel.
The reaction from Tempest was instantaneous. She arched her back, brought one of her hooves to Dusk’s head as if to steady herself and had her voice echo throughout the castle in pure ecstasy, all while he lapped at her insides for her sweet secretions.
And sweet it was, oddly enough… Her taste reminded Dusk of various berries and, stranger still, he could have sworn he felt her nectar fizz on his tongue, like it was somehow carbonated. Chalking that last bit as simply his imagination running amok while he enjoyed himself, Dusk craved more all the same.
He increased his tongue’s pace, using it to scrape every inch of her inner walls it could reach as his nose breathed and rubbed heavily over her clitorus.
“H-hey! Slow down!” Tempest cried between her throaty moans. Her hoof made an attempt to push Dusk’s head away, but lacked the strength to do so. Despite that, Dusk made no effort to stop, his actions not unlike that of a thirsty dog. “It’s too much! Y-you need to stop right now or I’ll--!”
It was too late to stop. Biting her tongue, Tempest pulled her head back, her eyes threatening to roll into her skull as her rear legs quivered violently and her inner muscles seized and contracted around Dusk’s still wriggling tongue. Undeterred, the stallion continued happily lapping at her insides, though he soon pulled away after a gush of warm liquid spurted haphazardly into his mouth, followed almost immediately by another, then another after that.
To Dusk’s stunned awe, Tempest’s clear fluids shot out of her like a geyser. A surge of her juices splashed between his eyes, forcing him to recoil and shield his face with his hooves as they and his chest became less and less dry under the sudden assault. Dusk was no stranger to squirters, his friends would too if he pressed the right buttons enough, but the intensity at which Tempest did so was something he had not yet encountered in a mare.
‘Explosive’ seemed like an apt word if Dusk had to describe it.
Luckily for Dusk, it appeared that the deluge he found himself facing proved to be short lived, and already her discharge lowered in volume and force before ceasing entirely.
With her rear legs having been freed in the commotion, Tempest’s body ragdolled onto the bed, her chest heaving heavily as she forced air into her lungs.
“I… tried… to… warn you…” she wheezed toward the ceiling.
His chin left drenched and dripping, Dusk lowered his equally wet hooves. Sitting on his haunches, he regarded the drippings and irregularly-shaped puddles glistening atop the crystal flooring, then silently observed as the last remnant of Tempest’s flood trickled out from her trembling pussy.
“Holy cow, Tempest!” Dusk exclaimed, wiping whatever dry sections of his hooves remained over his mouth. “That was, like… Do you need me to go get you some water? You’ve got to be dehydrated after something like that! I didn’t think it was possible for a mare to cum that hard.”
“No no, I’m fine. I just…” Covering her face shamefully, Tempest turned to her side and groaned. “Ohhh… Was that not normal? I don’t exactly have a lot of female friends so I don’t really know what is and isn’t... Look, if you want to stop now, I’d understand.”
Confused, Dusk blinked and shook his head slightly. “What?! No no, I was stating how impressive that was, is all. That’s nothing to be embarrassed about. Besides, in case you haven’t noticed, I’m uh....” He cleared his throat and straightened his posture, his throbbing and hardened spire pointing upward and at rest against the bed’s edge. “I’m still raring to go. Have been this whole time.”
Peeking through her hooves, Tempest glimpsed at the head of Dusk’s erection, the fact that he was still excited despite what just transpired brought some visible comfort and relief to her.
“That’s good. I’d hate to stop now just when I’m starting to like it.” Tempest sat upright. She looked at Dusk in the eyes but slowly her gaze drifted downward until it locked on his firm member standing at attention for her. “Still... as enjoyable as this has been so far, I’d greatly appreciate it if we cut straight to the chase. I have a high tolerance to pain, but apparently not pleasure, so if you spur me on with any more foreplay I might just go crazy and do something I’d regret.”
Dusk snickered. “Well we wouldn’t want that, would we? All right, have it your way, then.” With that said, he focused magic into his horn, taking Tempest by surprise when he lifted her inches off the bed.
“Wh-what are you doing?” she asked curiously as he turned her away from him.
Tempest seemed to get the idea on what Dusk was planning, and thus she made it all the more easier for him by not struggling. He laid her front half on the bed, then planted her hind legs on the floor apart from each other. With that done, he raised her rear end up and brushed her sopping tail aside. Once she was finally in position, Dusk could see Tempest’s nethers glistening in the low light and quivering in anticipation, her growing arousal coalescing beneath her winking clit before dripping onto the floor below.
Seeing how needy she was, Dusk had half a mind to tease her some more but ultimately decided against it. After placing his hooves on her back for stability, Dusk stood on his hind legs then looked down to the space between their bodies. Lighting his horn once again, he enveloped his royal scepter within his magical grasp, pointed its tip at Tempest’s slick folds, then leaned his hips forward.
The moment contact was made, Tempest’s body jolted and she cried out an elated moan. “Y-yes, finally! You don’t know how long I’ve… huh?” The tip of Dusk’s spear probed past her labia, but to the mare’s obvious dismay and confusion, it went no further than that. Instead the stallion began to move his tool in a small circle, being thorough to coat it in her natural lubricant. “I… I thought you were done playing around?” she asked, her rear legs quaking as she looked back to him.
“Oh this isn’t me playing around,” he said, his face adopting a self assured smirk as he focused on what he was doing. “This is me being… resourceful.” Having said that, he redirected his tip to scrape just beneath her clitoris, the top half of his shaft sliding back and forth in a sawing motion against her folds, obtaining a wet sheen in the process.
Dusk wasn’t blind to what his actions were doing to Tempest; he could hear the panting and feel her fidget beneath him, and were it not for his magic keeping her rear up, it would have crumpled to the floor by then. Hoping to keep her torture to a minimum, Dusk sped up his movements, ignoring her euphoric noises in the process. He didn’t stop until he had deemed his stallionhood to have been properly lubed, and by then Tempest had been reduced to a hyperventilating mess drooling from both ends. Dusk felt a little guilty having the mare spend some of her stamina enduring his ministrations, but he was confident the preparations he took would be worth her patience.
Patience, which as it turned out, was something Tempest had run out of. She fixed Dusk an annoyed glare from the corner of her eye, then snorted in annoyance before swatting him with her tail. While amused, Dusk perceived the thinly veiled threat hidden behind her actions.
Get on with it already… or else.
Fearing the consequences, though mostly spurred on by his own desires, Dusk did as she wanted. After realigning the tip of his rigid, pulsing cock with her waiting entrance, he rested his chest across her back and buried his muzzle in the crook of her neck. Tempest shied away as he breathed in her scent, likely tickled by his breath, though that stopped the moment he moved his hips forward.
There was little resistance, Dusk’s forward thinking made sure of that. His insertion was smooth, and he made careful efforts to not be too fast or too slow, lest he overwhelm her again. Every inch of him that was accepted was enveloped by an inviting warmth, Tempest’s velvetine walls squeezing down on him, medial ring and all.
“Mmph~!” Tempest whimpered, all but slamming her face onto the bed as Dusk fully hilted within her. Speaking into the bedspread, her voice came out muffled. “Fuck. Your dick… it’s so hot inside me.”
“Heh. You’re pretty warm and snug yourself.” Dusk’s head was already kissing the entrance to her womb, but that didn’t stop him from gently shimmying his hips forward, attempting to press even deeper into her. This caused Tempest to moan through her bit bottom lip and claw at the bed, all while he kissed and nipped at her neck.
At that moment, joined at the hip with Tempest, Dusk was glad to be the one to guide her through this new experience for her. Another stallion probably wouldn’t have been as considerate, they might have ignored her comfort and simply gone hog wild on her at the first opportunity, especially if they knew who she was and what she did. Also, tangentially, she made him feel really, really good.
“How’s it feel to not be a virgin anymore?” he then whispered sensually into her ear.
Tempest’s ear flicked at his voice’s vibrations. She raised her face off of the bed, allowing Dusk to see all the red on her expression as she tried and failed to put on a calm and collected facade. “Just… just start moving already. Be as rough as you want, I can take it. L-like I said, it might be a long time before I’m able to do this with someone, so I want to feel as much pleasure as I possibly can to make up for it.”
“As rough as I want, huh?” Dusk said, withdrawing his rod all the way to the tip before sliding it all back into her with a wet ‘plap’. A few gears began to turn in his head, namely the more naughty ones. Steadily his movements fell into a rhythm, and as Tempest squirmed beneath him, his eyes wandered toward the bottom drawer of the nightstand beside his bed. “I don’t know… Are you sure that’s what you want? This is your first time, and some of the tastes I’ve acquired might be out of your comfort zo--”
“For fuck’s sake!” Tempest exclaimed. Her sudden outburst was so jarring that Dusk nearly slipped and fell out of her completely. “Do what you want! As long as it feels good!”
Recovering, Dusk returned to the swing of things and continued rocking against her. “Okay, then. Just don’t say that I didn’t warn you…”
Placing his hooves on her waist, Dusk pulled her toward him each time he thrusted. As he did this, he looked toward his nightstand and mentally reached for it, its bottom drawer promptly sliding open. Appearing to be in her own little nirvana, moaning while occasionally begging for Dusk to go faster, Tempest didn’t seem to notice what the stallion was doing just beyond her peripheral vision.
With so many mares vining for a night in his bedchambers, each with their own kinks and turn ons, it made sense that Dusk would prepare for any scenario. His secret drawer contained all sorts of devilish little tools and items, though for the moment he withdrew from it a certain select few. The things he had chosen consisted as such:
A blindfold, a ball gag, a pair of hoofcuffs, tiny weights attached to chains with clamp ends, and one menacing-looking paddle.
Using a certain deftness available to a unicorn of his caliber, Dusk used the first three items to respectfully blind, gag, and secure Tempest’s front hooves together over her back before she had a chance to react. Suddenly deprived of her sight, rendered mute, and partially restrained, she reacted violently against the binds, a response that lasted a few seconds until Dusk softly caressed her mane and calmly shushed her.
“Shhh. Hey, hey… you’re alright, you’re okay. Just relax.” It seemed that Tempest trusted Dusk a lot more than he thought, as no further convincing other than that was necessary. Ceasing her short lived struggle at his direction, she slowly lowered her head back onto the bed and let loose a deep breath before going still.
“Good girl. So uh… normally I’d have given you some literature to help you prepare for this, but since we’re pressed for time and you’re so keen on venturing into the proverbial deep end, I figured you’d just learn as you go. I’ll admit, I… might be going a bit overboard here, so if you’re feeling uncomfortable and don’t want me to start, say so now and I’ll free you.”
Tempest hummed around the ballgag in the negative, something which, to Dusk’s confusion, didn’t clear things up at all.
“Uh… was that a no as in ‘No, you don’t want me to start’, or a ‘No, you don’t want me to stop’?”
Another negative hum from Tempest, albeit an aggressive one coupled with crackling sparks and tiny surges of magical lightning arcing off her horn. As if to further convey her answer across, she flexed her inner muscles rhythmically around Dusk’s wood still buried in her. Message--and threat--received, Dusk grinned widely.
“Okay. You are made of a lot more sterner stuff than I gave you credit for. Um, keep in mind that if at any point you want me to stop for whatever reason, simply clack your back hooves on the floor really loudly and I’ll do just that. There’s no shame in it if it gets too much for you to handle.”
Tempest nodded, murmuring a muffled ‘Okay’ around the gag.
With the green light received and the safety precautions dispensed, Dusk gleefully proceeded. He began by pulling out of her completely, something which Tempest didn’t like at all if her irate vocalizations were any indication. His firm, glossy meat bobbing beneath him, he then ducked down and inspected the mare’s teats.
The pert little nipples were erect, making it all the easier for Dusk to harmlessly clamp the two weights’… well, clamps onto them. Although incredibly light, the weights were just heavy enough for gravity to constantly tug at her breasts. Nevertheless, no doubt as a direct result from having them pinch her without warning, one of Tempest’s rear legs bucked swifty at the air, narrowly missing Dusk’s face by a few inches.
Dusk was thankful that he wasn’t concussed; it would have been quite the scene if somepony went looking for him, only to find him either out cold or dead on the floor with a mare immobilized in a compromising position on his bed for who knows how long. Wiping that thought away, as well as the bead of sweat that had accumulated on his brow, he then stood up before casually reinserting himself into Tempest. She sighed contently once he was hilted in her once more, though Dusk was far from done.
Being careful as to not give away what he had planned, Dusk continued plunging his thick shaft in and out of Tempest’s dribbling, needy cunt, all the while he levitated the paddle into position. At the moment it was, he slowed his pistoning to a slower, more sensual pace, then rested his hoof over one of her cutie marks. Using soft, affectionate movements, he caressed Tempest’s rump, leading her to produce curious but blissful hums of approval.
In small circles he massaged her furred flesh, then parted his hoof from it after giving it a playful slap. Tempest giggled into the ballgag, but that soon turned into a surprised yelp when Dusk introduced the paddle. Hard.
Instinctively her walls flexed down on the stallion’s still-thrusting organ, filling him with immense pleasure. As much as he wanted to hit her a second time with the wooden implement, to have her squeeze around him again, Dusk instead refrained from doing so and waited. He paid careful attention to her body language, namely her rear hooves. At the first sign of clacking, he would discard the paddle and release her, just as he promised he would.
Tempest panted deeply through her nose, though Dusk suspected it was more from the shock of getting stuck than getting struck itself. In any case, her breathing returned to normal in nearly no time at all, her pain tolerance which she had earlier boasted about being put on display. Having returned to a calm state, she then astonished Dusk by raising her flanks higher and muttering one word around the ball gag.
“Ahgenn.”
Dusk was beside himself… for all of two seconds. After that, he beamed a depraved smile and there was nothing stopping him from reintroducing the weighty board to her backside. The chamber echoed with the sound of wood smacking off flesh, followed shortly by Tempest’s unadulterated groans of pained delight.
Both of her cheeks were met swiftly, Dusk alternating between the paddle and his own hooves. As were the means of which he slapped her with, so too did the pace he thrusted into her seemed to change at his fancy. At times he would be gentle with her, softly pressing the tip of his member at her womb’s entrance while outside he pelted her an even deeper shade of red. At others he’d rut her like some sex-crazed beast, his hooves rubbing her inflicted areas tenderly.
Fast, slow, hard, or gentle, it mattered not. Before long, Tempest was getting less and less responsive to Dusk’s methods, her face staring ahead at the bed’s head frame despite being blindfolded. Dusk knew what she was doing, as it was something he had seen all too often in his partners. She was concentrating, trying to hold off her inevitable climax in order to hold on to as much pleasure as she could before it arrived and drained her.
Sensing that his own orgasm was approaching, Dusk tossed the paddle aside. As if possessed by his own carnal desires at that moment, he lunged forward and seized the back of Tempest’s mane by his teeth before pulling it back, forcing her to face upward toward the ceiling. Aside from a few grunts of discomfort, she didn’t protest. In fact, she seemed to revel in the rough handling. She was biting down hard on the gag’s rubber ball, no doubt leaving a lasting impression on it, drool was freely running down the side of her mouth, and most telling of all to the stallion, her warm confines spasmed erratically around his breeding stick before drowning it in a warm flood of her surging essence.
Tempest came, much harder than before. Although the usual exit was blocked, that didn’t stop her marecum from simply surging around the obstruction. Like a running faucet someone was trying to block with their hooves, it shot out from around their union, saturating Dusk’s swaying balls and rocking legs.
Paying that little mind, Dusk continued as is, his own release nearly at hoof. He soon let go of Tempest’s mane and instead clamped his teeth onto her neck, the mare groaning tiredly while he repeatedly jabbed at her cervix. Not long after that did he thrust one last time before finally reaching his peak. His rod twitched and sputtered within the mare, heralding the arrival of a thick, ropey volley of his foal batter.
Neither knew when it stopped, only that it did. Dusk fell atop Tempest’s back, his strength and stamina having abandoned him at some point between the last few fleeting moments. Within Tempest, an ample deposit of white, pearlescent stallion spunk began to mix with her clear mare fluid.
While his chest heaved, and his heart beat loudly within his rib cage and ears, the pleasure centers of Dusk’s brain rewarded him with a gratifying afterglow. From all the blissful little sounds she was making, the same could be said for Tempest. Although Dusk didn’t want to move just yet, he nevertheless forced himself off of her, causing a thin, gooey strand of off-white mess to seep out of her the moment he pulled out his softening length.
Working through his exhaustion, he then removed the hoofcuffs, the weights, and everything else from Tempest before flopping onto the bed next to her. The ex-commander flexed her forelegs, then sluggishly turned on her side to face her partner.
“My butt hurts, and I don’t think I’ll be able to sit right for a week, but… thank you.” Stretching her neck out, Tempest placed a kiss on Dusk’s lips, one which he gladly reciprocated.
“Mmm~ It was my pleasure.” The base of their horns touched as Dusk rested his forehead against hers, then gave a small laugh. “No, really, it was my pleasure. There’s no grading when it comes to this kind of stuff, but if there were, you’d get an A+. I especially loved it when I was cumming inside… you… Oh shit.”
“What?” asked Tempest, clearly sensing that something was wrong.
“Darn it! You’d think I’d know better by now!” he griped, sitting upright as he threw his forelegs into the air in frustration. He then brought his hooves to his face before tapping them against his skull. “I just came in you--without protection! There was no condom, no contraception spell, no nothing!”
“Um. Dusk.”
“It didn’t even occur to me to ask if it was a safe time for you. That was completely irresponsible of me.”
“Dusk, can I just get a word--”
“L-look, if anything happens and you suddenly find yourself… expecting, know that I will take full responsibility. Both you and the foal will want for noth--”
“Dusk!” Tempest shouted. As if that wasn’t enough, the mare also swung her hoof and struck him in the foreleg.
“Ow!” Dusk recoiled and rubbed where he was hit. “I feel guilty enough as is, you don’t need to--”
“I can’t have foals.”
Going still, Dusk looked to Tempest and blinked once, then twice. “W… what?”
“I can’t have foals,” Tempest repeated nonchalantly, shrugging. “I just can’t. I’m physically unable to.”
The way she said it suggested that it wasn’t a big deal to her, but despite that Dusk was left feeling conflicted. He was relieved that he didn’t cause another blunder that would further complicate his children’s line of succession, but at the same time he felt both curious and sad for his newest friend. “Why not?” he asked. “Don’t answer if you don’t want to, but do you have a condition or something?”
“A condition? I suppose I do, of a sort…” Pensively, Tempest looked down to her belly and rested her hoof over the very same scar that had captivated Dusk’s attention earlier. Dusk knew something about it was different than the others, he just didn’t know how. “Let’s just say that the ursa did a lot more than just take my horn. It uh… it wasn’t the sole reason I became bitter toward everypony.”
Concern washed over Dusk’s features and his ears folded back forlornly. “Wait, you’re not suggesting that--”
“That I was nearly disemboweled? Yeah, I am… or was, actually. Doctors said it was a miracle I walked out of the cave at all, and that it was even more of a miracle that they got to me in time. They did what they could, and clearly I pulled through, but I remember they sat me down afterward and had this uncomfortable conversation where they informed me that I’d never be able to carry a foal to term. I was a filly at the time, so what they said didn’t really sink until I got older. When it did, I sort of became… dulled to the idea”
Having received all that, Dusk was left speechless. He didn’t know what to say, other than: “This… kind of puts your anti-social behavior into better perspective.” Knowing that was an inappropriate response after what she had just shared, Dusk chided himself.
“Yeah, well, it still doesn’t excuse my recent decisions,” she laughed.
Dusk said nothing. Then, he lurched in Tempest’s direction. “Well… do you want any? I don’t mean with me--in general, I mean.”
Tempest’s response came with a chuckle and an eye roll. “Even if I did, what does it matter? Were you not listening to what I just said--I can’t have foals. It’s impossible for me.”
“Hmm.” Rubbing his chin, Dusk stared at her long and hard. “Can you be still for just a moment?”
“Excuse me?”
That was the only notice Tempest received before Dusk reached out his hoof and unceremoniously pressed it over her belly scar. After casting a spell, he focused magic outward from his outstretched appendage, having it bounce around harmlessly within the mare. With that done all Dusk had to do was merely close his eyes, a mental image of Tempest’s internals beginning to form in his head.
“Hmm,” he hummed curiously, sliding his hoof every which way over Tempest’s belly in an attempt to view her womb from different angles. All the movement seemed to tickle the mare, as she was laughing to no end from his touch.
Dusk’s inspection confirmed Tempest’s claim. He could see the full extent of the damage she had endured, and although the nerves and tissues had long since healed, the state it was left in would be unable to safely carry a foal. Unlikely, but not impossible, however.
“You know,” Dusk began, still scanning her insides, “while I’m not a doctor officially, I have read my fair share of medical textbooks--just a bit of light reading before bed consisting of the occasional newest edition or two. Anyway, um, what I’m trying to get at is that medicinal magic has made numerous advances since we were foals. I’m not gonna lie, from what I’m seeing your chances of bearing a foal are slim, but with my help--and that of an actual doctor--I might be able to improve your odds.”
Having said what he needed to say, Dusk removed his hoof from Tempest and allowed her a moment to catch her breath from all the laughter. Once she was in control of herself again, she sat in contemplative silence for a bit.
“Huh. That uh… that changes things a bit,” she said, scratching her head. “I grew up knowing that I couldn’t, so to be honest I never even put any actual thought into whether I wanted any to begin with. I promise I’ll think about your offer later, but for now though...”
Dusk didn’t see it coming. Tempest lunged at him suddenly, her fours pinning his onto the bed as she loomed over him predaciously. Next thing he knew, she was grinding her leaking sex over the bottom half of his semi-flacid wood, steadily reinvigorating it.
“For now though,” she whispered seductively, “I’d like some more fun, consequence-free~”
Her grinding not ceasing for a moment, she then lowered her head and kissed Dusk. For one lengthy moment, their two tongues swirled and danced around the other, though sadly their reunion was cut short when Tempest soon pulled away. Appearing to have just noticed it, she stared into the open drawer of the nightstand.
“So, that’s where your nifty little toys came from.” Tempest turned back to Dusk, her eyes half lidded and her mouth formed into a lascivious smirk. “I wonder what else you have tucked away in there~”
Dusk gulped. Never before had he felt so aroused yet scared.
When morning came, Dusk awoke hoofcuffed to the bed, his chest caked in melted candle wax, and his body incredibly sore all over.
