Growth Spurts

Chapter Eight: Love is Thicker than Blood

Halfway through the walk home, Apple Bloom’s hindquarters already burned and threatened to drop off from exhaustion. Satisfying Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon had taken a lot out of her, and as the adrenaline rush wound down completely, Apple Bloom finally realized just how worn out she was. Big Macintosh thankfully seemed aware of this; his pace was ambling at best, in no apparent hurry to get home, and so Apple Bloom had minimal trouble keeping up with him. As usual he didn’t say much of anything as they walked, and on one level Apple Bloom was grateful to not be grilled about her day, or why her hind end shuddered with each step, or why she reeked of sweat and sex; but the oppressive silence had a way of compelling her to break it regardless.

“…So uh, about back there…”

Predictably, Big Mac didn’t respond, or even break his stride, but he did turn his head just enough to meet her eyes. Macintosh was a stallion of few words, but that didn’t mean he was bad at expressing himself, and with that gesture alone, Apple Bloom knew he was listening.

“See, erm, me an’ Diamond an’ Silver, we got in this fight before school, so Miss Cheerilee gave us all detention. An’ Ah know you an’ AJ an’ Granny always tell me fightin’ ain’t right, but they were bein’ extra awful today an’ Ah just plum lost mah temper… so, um, yeah, that’s why we were in detention.”

“Eeeyup,” Macintosh replied, nodding his head and looking up the path again. Silence settled back in for another spell, and he seemed to be in no hurry to break it.

Apple Bloom on the other hoof couldn’t let it sit for very long at all. She knew it was just his way, and she didn’t begrudge him for it, but all the same she hated sitting in silence. It always reminded her of the most unpleasant moments in her life; detentions, lonely days, sleepless nights, funerals, none of it was time she wanted to be reminded of. Frankly she didn’t know how Big Mac could stand it. Although it did make him a lot easier to talk to than Applejack or Granny Smith.

“So, erm…” she finally started again. “Ya probably noticed we were kinda, um… not exactly lookin’ our best… weren’t smellin’ too great either, fer that matter.”

“Nnnope,” Mac agreed.

“Well, um, y’see, what happened was…”

Apple Bloom pondered for a brief moment what kind of story her brother might actually believe to explain her and the girls’ appearance that afternoon, but one look at Mac’s expression told her it would be pointless. His eyes were closed and he was shaking his head, but his lips were curled upward in a deeply amused smile, and a barely audible chuckle rose up from his belly.

Apple Bloom bit her lip and broke out into a guilty smile. “…Well shoot. Ah guess Ah’d be insultin’ yer intelligence if Ah tried spinnin’ up some tall tale, huh?”

“Eeeyup.”

Apple Bloom blushed and scuffed a hoof through the dirt mid-stride. “Okay, okay, so it wasn’t just detention… Diamond an’ Silver were sorta in heat, too, an’ well… all this business of me gettin’ turned into a colt, they asked if… if they could… if we could… w-well, yer a boy, y’all’ve been there, right? Ah probably don’t need ta explain it to ya…”

Mac’s smile got just a bit wider. “Nnnope.”

“Right, see, you understand,” Apple Bloom said, and sighed in relief. “Ah mean, sure they ain’t exactly mah friends, but it was still… t-they were still offerin’ ta… ya know… ya know?”

“Eeeyup.”

“Right!” Apple Bloom said, relaxing a little bit with every word. “An’ they were safe on Moon Tea, a’course, an’ it’s that time o’ year anyhow, so everypony else is doin’ it too, it ain’t weird or anythang.”

“Nnnope.”

“No, not at all. Well, other’n the part where Ah’m not really a colt, obviously, but… ya know, as long as Ah’m gonna be stuck like this fer a while, an’ there’s fillies lookin’ fer relief, it couldn’t hurt ta help ‘em out. An’ as long as Ah’m doin’ that, Ah might as well enjoy it, right?”

“Eeeyup.”

“Yeah, exactly!” Apple Bloom exclaimed, breaking out into a deeply relieved smile and feeling significantly less burdened now. “Thank you, Ah’m glad you get it. Ah wish you’d been the one ta find out about this mess first. Applejack ain’t been no help at all.”

Mac’s smile faded some at that, and his chuckle dwindled away into a sigh. “…Nnnope.”

Apple Bloom hung her head a bit and stared at the road, her own grin fading too. “…Ah mean, Ah know Ah did wrong. Listenin’ ta Discord was real dumb an’ Ah know Ah shoulda just told him to buzz off. Even if he was promisin’ me a way ta get outta havin’ heat myself, he was just temptin’ me with snake oil an’ Ah shoulda seen it…”

Mac gently nodded again. “Eeeyup.”

“But ain’t gettin’ stuck like this punishment enough?” Apple Bloom demanded of nopony in particular. “Ah’m trapped in this weird body that ain’t really mine, everypony at school’s been starin’ at me an’ whisperin’ about me behind mah back, Ah can’t even have half a thought about anythang sexy without this dang penis poppin’ out in front of everypony… an’ then Applejack piles on a whole heap o’ extra punishment on top of all that?” Apple Bloom kicked at the dirt road again angrily. “It ain’t fair!”

“Nnnope.”

“Yeah, it--… wait…” Apple Bloom glanced up at Macintosh in mild shock. “You… y’all agree with me?”

“Eeeyup.”

Apple Bloom stared for a long moment before breaking out into another relieved smile. “Well shoot, Ah’m glad somepony does.”

Macintosh smiled back, thought it was more distant now, his eyes ahead of them on the farmhouse slowly growing nearer.

“…Ah don’t get it, why can’t Applejack be more like you? Yer so much more calm about this. About everythang, really. Ah ain’t ever seen ya get real mad about anythang.”

Mac didn’t answer right away, his gaze still distant and thoughtful. They trotted along for another full minute in silence, that deafening quiet that Apple Bloom hated so much, and she very nearly prodded him again before he finally spoke.

“Ah got real mad, once.”

Apple Bloom tilted her head toward him, immediately intrigued. Any time he stretched his vocabulary beyond two words it was for something of real significance. “Really? When?”

“When ma and pop passed on.” Mac closed his eyes and heaved a long, heavy sigh. “…It weren’t fair, Ah said. An’ it wasn’t. Everypony knew it wasn’t. But there weren’t nothin’ anypony could do about it either, an’ that just made me madder. Ah musta snapped a dozen apple trees right in half lookin’ for somethin’ to take it out on. Probably mighta hurt somepony if Ah’d been anywhere but here.”

Apple Bloom gulped slightly, her ears folding back against her head. “Y-yeah… Ah guess that’s a fair reason ta be mad…”

Macintosh shook his head and sighed again. “It passed eventually, and afterward, well… compared ta that, nothin’ else seemed worth gettin’ mad over. Been as mad as mad could be fer a real damn good reason, an’ it didn’t fix nothin’. Didn’t change nothin’. The world was just the way it was before. Minus a few apple trees. An’ if gettin’ angry didn’t help then, of all times… it weren’t ever gonna help anythang.”

Mac turned slightly and met Apple Bloom’s curious gaze. “Ah could get mad at ya fer listenin’ ta Discord, sure. But that wouldn’t teach ya nothin’. It wouldn’t change what happened. So… far as Ah’m concerned, ain’t no point in yellin’ or screamin’ about it. Important thang is that ya know what ya did was wrong, an’ ya learned yer lesson.”

“Oh, Ah did, y’all don’t hafta worry about that,” Apple Bloom said with a grumpy sigh. “…So how come Applejack got so mad, then?”

“…Everypony deals with thangs differently,” Mac answered eventually. “Applejack… she’s always worn her heart on the outside. She lets ya know how she honestly feels, even if it hurts sometimes. An’ after what we already lost, she don’t take kindly ta anypony who messes with her family, an’ she ain’t shy about sayin’ so. S’not you she’s mad at, not really. It’s him.”

“Him? Ya mean Discord?”

Mac nodded again. “We talked about it while ya were at school.”

Apple Bloom stared at the ground again. “Then why…?”

“…Think Ah’ll let her speak fer herself.”

“…Huh?”

Apple Bloom looked up again and realized they were home. The farmhouse was a few paces away, and her sister was sitting out on the front porch to meet them. Her eyes were downcast slightly, and her hat was off, crumpled between fidgeting hooves… but nevertheless she smiled wide as their eyes met, not a hint of anger or reprimand visible on her face.

“Applejack?” the younger sister said, cautious optimism filling her words. “Is everythang alright? Ya look--ooof!” Apple Bloom abruptly found herself cut off as the elder sister closed the distance between them in the blink of an eye and lifted her clear off the ground, wrapping her up in a tight, powerful hug. “Guh! A-Applejack, what gives?!”

“Figured I owed ya more than a few of these that I ain’t been delivering lately,” Applejack answered. “An’ I think I owe ya an apology, too.”

Apple Bloom squirmed around in her sister’s hooves just enough to look up at her in honest surprise. “Really? Ya do?”

“Mmhmm. Had a long talk with the family while you were at school. Made me see a whole lot that I was too angry ta notice before.” Applejack heaved a long sigh. “I’m real sorry about yesterday, sugarcube. I was so upset about Discord screwing with mah family that when I couldn’t tan his hide over it, y’all got the worst of mah temper instead.”

“…Oh.” Apple Bloom blushed briefly. “So…ya weren’t really mad at me?”

Applejack hesitated just briefly. “Well, if I’m bein’ completely honest, I was still mad at ya for not listening to me. But I was a whole heck of a lot madder at him, an’ you didn’t deserve ta be mah verbal whippin’ post in his place.”

Apple Bloom squirmed again, out of discomfort this time. Suddenly all of her angry, spiteful thoughts about her sister since last night brought more guilt than catharsis. “Sis, Ah--”

“No, no, ya don’t need ta say anythang,” Applejack insisted, letting her go and setting her back down on the ground. “I was wrong, an’ that’s all there is to it. Broken rules or not, y’all needed support from yer family an’ I wasn’t givin’ it to ya. I shoulda stopped ta think about how hard this all must be on ya, gettin’ trapped in some strange new body like that.”

Apple Bloom smiled awkwardly, memories of the last two days whipping through her mind once again. “Aw, sis, it… it ain’t been so bad…”

“Well, still, the last thing ya needed was me jumpin’ down yer throat about it. So… yeah. I just wanted ta tell ya all that, an’ that I’m sorry.”

Applejack opened her forelegs for another hug, and this time Apple Bloom gladly leapt into it and hugged back, warm, happy relief flooding through her. “Apology accepted,” she said. “Ah hate it when we fight…”

“Yeah, it sure don’t feel good, does it?” Applejack lamented. “Anyhow, don’t you worry none about bein’ trapped like this, Twilight an’ Fluttershy are already workin’ on finding Discord, they’ll make sure he puts ya right again. An’ I promise I’ll try ta be more understandin’ if he manages ta bamboozle ya again.”

“Bleh, Ah doubt that’ll ever happen,” Apple Bloom insisted. “Ah swear Ah won’t believe another word he says until Ah see the proof with mah own two eyes.”

“Atta girl,” Applejack said, smiling and ruffling her mane. “…A’course, now we gotta talk about why yer home so late.”

Apple Bloom groaned and hung her head, sulking suddenly. “Ugh, Ah know, Ah know, Ah’m sorry… Diamond Tiara an’ Silver Spoon were givin’ me crap about bein’ a boy an’ we got in a fight, so Miss Cheerilee gave us detention…”

“Figured it was somethin’ like that,” Applejack said with a slow nod, eyeing her for a long, tense moment before cracking a smile. “…Well, between detention an’ this whole ‘trapped as a colt’ thang, I think that’s probably punishment enough fer one day.”

“…Really?” Apple Bloom brightened again. “So… does that mean the extra chores are off too?”

Applejack chuckled softly and nodded. “Yes, the extra chores are off… but ya still got yer regular chores ta do!”

Apple Bloom let out a loud whoop of celebration, and went darting off to the barn. “Woohoo! You got it sis! Oh!” She stopped abruptly and looked back again. “And, uh, Spike’s comin’ over later fer some partner homework, if that’s okay…?”

Applejack’s amused smile grew larger, for some reason. “Sure, sugarcube, that’s fine.”

“Yes! Thanks AJ!” Apple Bloom whooped again, and took off for the barn again at full speed. If she hurried, her regular chores would be done in no time, and she’d have all evening with Spike, after some incredible sex and making up with her sister. Her day had really turned around, she realized, despite how exhausted it had left her. At this rate, she might even find the courage to say something to Spike about her feelings.

Well, okay, maybe that was wishing for miracles. But she felt lucky today.

With a heavy breath and a determined gleam in her eye, Apple Bloom dug deep for a second wind and got to work.

“--so we’re on our way to the train home, and while we’re walking we pass by this plaza that used to have this empty statue base, right? Probably used to have a statue of Sombra there or something. But we’re passing by there the day after the games, and I swear, on my honor, they’ve built an actual, factual statue of me.”

Apple Bloom burst into a fit of giggles so strong she nearly fell off the bale of hay she was sitting on. “No way! For real?!”

Spike nodded vigorously and put on a strangely proud grin, standing as tall as he could atop the same hay bale. “For real! It sprung up practically overnight! I dunno how they did it!”

“Aww, shoot, Ah can’t believe Ah missed that!”

“I told you guys you shoulda stayed an extra day!” Spike insisted. “There was tons of room in the castle!”

“Ah wanted to!” Apple Bloom groaned. “But AJ said we had ta get back home. ‘The farm don’t run itself, ya know!’” she added in an artificially deep voice.

“Pfft, come on, really, AJ? It’s the Equestria Games, live a little!”

Apple Bloom sighed dramatically. “Yeah, Ah know. But she’d already let me stay up super late as it was ta watch all the fireworks, Ah was too tuckered out ta argue very much.”

“Heh, yeah, it was a pretty long day, wasn’t it?” Spike gave her a hopeful smile. “Well, maybe you can go back and see it some time. I’d love to show it to you.”

“Ah’d love ta see it!” Apple Bloom said. “Ah bet it’s huge, too! Hehe, a statue befittin’ a genuine national hero!”

“Aww, I didn’t do that much…” Spike said with a humble blush. “I mean, yeah, I kind of saved everypony from icy doom and all, but I’m sure anypony else would’ve done the same.”

“Well then Ah guess you were just lucky ta be in the right place at the right time.”

“Yeah, I guess so,” Spike agreed, sitting down on their shared hay bale again and leaning back against the barn wall with a content sigh. Apple Bloom did the same a moment later, and took no small amount of glee from the fact that Spike didn’t insist on a separate seat.

A comfortable silence fell over them now, and Apple Bloom took the opportunity to look around the barn and survey her work with a satisfied smile. The barn was immaculately clean (or as much as a barn ever got, at least), the day’s apple haul was washed and barreled, and with her chores out of the way she’d been able to focus on her homework assignment with Spike and get it done in no time, and now it sat tucked away in her saddlebag, which she was all too happy to forget about again a second later. Because now she had the rest of the evening to spend with Spike, just the two of them. Granted the sun was nearly down, so that was probably only another half hour or so, tops, and she was utterly drained from such a long, trying day, but it was still something.

“So, I’ve been wondering…” Spike spoke up. “What’s it like being a boy now? If you don’t mind me asking.”

Apple Bloom gave Spike an odd look. “Shouldn’t ya know that pretty well already?”

Spike chuckled at her. “No no, I mean compared to being a girl. Is it pretty different?”

“Oh.” Apple Bloom blushed slightly. “Yeah, it’s… real different.”

“Yeah? Like how?”

“Well, Ah think about sex a lot more now, fer one.”

Spike snickered again. “Oh come on… more than being in estrus? No way.”

“Yes way,” Apple Bloom insisted. “It ain’t nearly as strong, no, but it’s like… all the time.”

“Isn’t that what heat is like anyway?”

“Well, yeah, but Ah’m not in heat as a boy.”

“No, but you’re around a bunch of fillies who are right now,” Spike pointed out. “That’s like, biologically designed to affect you. You probably wouldn’t be thinking about sex so much if you weren’t getting bombarded with estrus scents just as often, or else every stallion in town would have boners, like, constantly.”

Apple Bloom giggled. “Ya think so?”

“Oh yeah. Dragons don’t have estrus, it’s a ‘mammal’ thing, so I don’t pick up on it like you do, and I’m not thinking about sex all the time.”

Apple Bloom smirked slightly. “Just some of the time?”

Spike laughed and blushed. “Yeah, pretty much. Once mating season passes it’ll probably stop popping into your head so often.”

“Ugh, Ah really hope Ah ain’t stuck as a boy fer that long.”

“Ooof, good point,” Spike agreed. “It’d suck being trapped in the wrong body for a long time.”

“It ain’t been so bad,” Apple Bloom admitted, “but yeah, Ah can’t wait ta get back ta bein’ me.”

“Heh, well, hey, even if you were stuck for a while… you’re still ‘you’ no matter what body you’re in, Apple Bloom…”

Apple Bloom felt a deep warmth fill her face. “Heh… t-thanks, Spike…”

“No problem.”

Apple Bloom squirmed in her seat, taking a deep breath. Was this it? Was this the moment she could say something about her feelings? It certainly felt like an opportune time. She might be able to get through it, if her boy bits cooperated. Fortunately her penis still seemed satisfied from that afternoon, and wasn’t even twitching yet. Now was probably as good a time as she was going to get.

Still, it couldn’t hurt to feel him out a little first.

“So…” Apple Bloom began hesitantly, “if estrus don’t affect ya… what does make ya think about sex?”

Spike predictably blushed again, a nervous chuckle escaping his throat. “Oh, you know… p-probably the same kinds of things as anypony else, under normal circumstances… like, y’know, dirty dreams, or… thinking about ponies you think are attractive.”

“Like Rarity?”

She regretted them the instant the words passed her lips, covering her mouth with both front hooves in mild horror. Holy Luna, why the heck did she say that?! Where had that thought even come from?!

She knew there was an interest there on Spike’s part, of course, pretty much everypony who knew him was aware of it, probably up to and including Rarity herself. But Apple Bloom hadn’t even thought about it as a potential issue for days. Why in the world would she suddenly bring that up now, when this was her chance to make a move? Now her opportunity was almost certainly lost, and she’d barely gotten two sentences into her attempt.

Ugh. So much for that idea.

Spike meanwhile was apparently oblivious to her moment of internal panic. He was turning an even deeper red now, squirming in his seat a bit and crossing his legs, and his gaze grew distant and unfocused, almost certainly picturing the mare in question now. “Y-yeah, uh… heh, I guess… I guess that’s a good example…”

“Aw jeez, Ah’m sorry, Spike, that was outta line, Ah shouldn’t have--”

“No, no, it’s fine, really,” he insisted, smiling through his blush. “I mean, it’s true. I thought she was gorgeous from the moment I met her. Then puberty starts happening and… w-well… w-whenever I thought about Rarity, it… I mean… that was the first time I… erm, t-they taught you about masturbation in sex-ed, right?”

“Y-yeah,” Apple Bloom muttered, and now she kind of wished she could just shrivel up and die right then and there. Of course he thought about Rarity when he touched himself. She was the most attractive mare in town, a lot of ponies probably had her in mind when their hooves were on their genitals. There was no way Apple Bloom could compete with that. Sweet Celestia, why did she have to go and open her big mouth?

“U-um, but you probably don’t wanna hear about that,” Spike swiftly (and thankfully) changed tack. “A-anyway, that was the first time I thought about anything to do with sex. But t-there’s, y’know, a few other girls that get me thinking like that lately…”

Apple Bloom perked back up again. Hope! Sweet, glimmering hope! “Other girls?”

Spike nodded. “Yeah… especially now that I’m in school with you girls. It feels nice being around ponies my age a little more…”

The hope in her heart fluttered and blossomed and grew brighter. “S-so yer likin’ girls like the ones in our class lately? Not so much Rarity?”

“W-well, I…” Spike stammered awkwardly. “I-I dunno… I think I would probably just freak Rarity out, even if she did like me back… I mean, I guess anypony would get freaked out, really, when I think about it, but just the way Rarity is, I think it’d weird her out even more…”

This actually gave Apple Bloom pause. “Freaked out? By what? Don’ tell me ya think girls won’t like ya just ‘cause yer a dragon?”

“…I dunno, maybe? Sort of?”

“Spike, that’s crazy talk!” Apple Bloom insisted. “So what if yer a dragon? Ah don’ care about that, an’ neither does anypony who knows ya. Yer the same kind, generous fella you’d be whether y’all were a pony or a griffin or a… marmoset, even!”

“…A marmoset?” Spike echoed, snickering.

“Shut up, it was all Ah could think of on the spot.”

Spike smiled thankfully. “Well… yeah, I mean, you’re right, they wouldn’t care as my friend, but… when it comes to sex and stuff, you can’t help what you’re attracted to, and I don’t think ponies are generally attracted to dragons. We’re pretty… different.”

“Aw, come on, ya can’t be that different, can ya?”

“You’d be surprised.” Spike laughed again. “Funny story, actually… in one of my sex-ed lessons, Twilight was going on about, you know, anatomy. And she’s going over this diagram of a stallion’s penis, right? And I’m getting really confused, so I finally stop her and tell her, ‘Twilight, that’s not a penis.’”

Apple Bloom snorted a bit, but held back the rest of her laughter. “Say what?”

“Yeah, that’s about what her reaction was, too. ‘Spike, of course this is a penis,’ she says. And I tell her, ‘Not like any penis I’ve ever seen.’ So she gets this weird look in her eyes and goes, ‘How many penises have you seen, exactly?’ And I’m just like, ‘Uh… mine?’”

What.

“Heh, w-what…?” Apple Bloom’s mouth echoed her brain.

Spike turned red again despite his laughter. “Yeah… turns out dragons are pretty different down there, too. I think figuring that out with Twilight is probably the single most embarrassing moment of my life…”

Apple Bloom was seized by the urge to investigate Spike’s crotch more powerfully than she’d ever felt before, but she kept a lid on it. Barely. Sort of. “H-how different are we talkin’ here?”

Spike was sweating now, gulping down a heavy breath. “W-well, uh…it’s kind of… hard to describe. L-let’s just say Twilight started by asking pretty much the same thing, and my answer was ‘where’s the other one?’”

Apple Bloom’s jaw fell slack, and now, finally, her loins were twitching to life again. “…the other one? …You mean you have two?!”

“S-sort of? Not exactly, it…” Spike blushed worse than ever, and now he was actively covering his crotch with both hands.

Apple Bloom didn’t fail to notice. He had to be getting aroused beneath those claws, she was sure of it. “C-can Ah see?”

“W-what? No, you’ll just think I’m weird…”

“Will not!”

“Apple Bloom…”

“Ah won’t, really, Ah promise! Cross mah heart an’ hope to fly--”

“Okay, okay!” Spike stopped her. “Don’t…you don’t need to do the whole thing…”

“Sorry… but Ah swear, Ah won’t laugh or make fun or nothin’ like that… Ah’m jus’ curious, honest…”

Spike hesitated, and for a moment Apple Bloom dreaded that he’d say ‘no’ after all, but then ever so slowly he nodded, and let his claws relax and fall away.

Apple Bloom’s jaw dropped again, and this time she was drooling a little, too. “Guh…”

“I-I know, I know, it’s weird,” Spike stammered, and went on babbling for another few moments, but Apple Bloom had stopped listening. All her focus was on savoring the moment of a dream come true. Spike’s member was out on full display for her, hard and ready for action, and all Apple Bloom could wonder about at the moment was what he could possibly have been so worried about.

She could immediately see what Spike had been talking about; he didn’t exactly have two penises, but it sure as heck didn’t qualify as one, either. There was a split in the oddly thick base, and from that split, two complete, separate shafts stood up at attention to greet Apple Bloom, who had to try very hard not to reach out and ‘shake hooves.’

Restraining that urge, Apple Bloom leaned in just a bit for a closer inspection. The shape was quite different from that of a stallion’s penis, Spike hadn’t exaggerated that part. He had no sheath or visible testicles, instead sticking straight out from within a fold of the softer scales down his front. The whole thing was a uniform fleshy pink color instead of her own mottled two-tone shaft. And when she looked at the tips she saw they were rounded instead of flat, more like mushroom caps. But they were still clearly genitals, very much designed to fill those of a mare.

Dragoness.

Whatever.

Either way Apple Bloom was already imagining them inside hers.

That, and cursing the fact that hers were still absent.

“Crimeny, Spike… t-that’s really… really amazin’…” Apple Bloom vaguely heard herself mutter.

“…Really? A-amazing?” Spike stammered back. “You’re not… freaked out?”

Apple Bloom shook her head swiftly. “No, no way… Ah think it’s cool…”

“Oh… heh, awesome…” he said, smiling at her for a moment before his eyes slid down her body, and then were hastily and awkwardly averted. “Um… Apple Bloom, you’re, uh…”

Another deep heat filled her cheeks as she realized what he must have seen, and as she looked down, she was indeed sporting yet another boner. “Ugh, Ah’m sorry, this thang has such a mind of its own…”

“It’s okay, really,” Spike said. “I know what you mean.”

“H-heh, yeah, Ah guess ya probably do… sorry, it must be grossin’ ya out somethin’ fierce…”

“Hey, come on, you don’t gross me out,” Spike stopped her. “It’s just a penis, it doesn’t make you any different. Like I said, you’re still you no matter what body you’re in, that’s what’s important.”

Apple Bloom laughed breathlessly and nodded. “R-right…”

“Apple Bloom, it’s about bedtime, come on inside!”

Apple Bloom looked up at the sound of her sister’s voice, and thanked Celestia that she called from outside rather than coming in. “Okay, Ah’ll be right there!” she shouted back, and smiled apologetically at her guest. “Sorry, Spike, guess that’s all the time we got tonight.”

“No worries, it was time well spent,” he said, hopping off the hay bale.

Apple Bloom’s eyes followed him to the barn door, particularly his erection (erections?) wobbling with each step. “Are you gonna be able to, uh… hide that?”

“Oh, y-yeah, it’ll go away on its own in a couple of minutes,” he said, covering himself up again reflexively.

“Lucky you,” Apple Bloom said as she did the same. “This thang feels like it won’t ever go away until Ah… ya know…”

“Eh-heh…y-yeah, I know. You get used to it.” He paused. “Ooops, I mean, hopefully you don’t have to, right?”

“Hehe, right…”

“Well, seeya at school tomorrow, then.”

“Yeah, seeya tomorrow…”

Spike smiled and waved, and as he stepped outside, Apple Bloom couldn’t help but feel a pang of disappointment. She didn’t want him to leave. Or at least not without doing something to express her feelings. They’d just checked out each other’s dicks, for Celestia’s sake, and come out of it on the other end fine! If there was ever a time to say something, it was now. But they were out of time, there wasn’t much left she could do.

Except--

“Wait!” she called out, leaping off the hay bale.

Spike turned back toward her. “Yeah?”

She didn’t let herself stop and think about it, because if she did, she probably wouldn’t do it. Instead she trotted right up to Spike, and without another word she leaned in and gave him a big, wet kiss, smack on the lips.

“Mmmmpphh?!”

It was over almost as quickly as it had started, a few seconds at most before she broke away, but it was the most gloriously blissful few seconds of her life. And when she finally did break away and saw the shocked blush on Spike’s face, and the renewed twitching of his dick, Apple Bloom knew it had been a good move.

“Thanks fer everythang Spike seeya tomorrow!” she said in a swift rush, and sprinted for the farmhouse before he could say another word, grinning like a fool.

Ah did it, Ah did it, Ah kissed Spike! Ah got ta see his dick! Ah even made ‘im hard!

And made herself hard again in the process, she admitted, but that part at least was easily remedied. She had a lot of fresh fuel in her mind.

Apple Bloom sped through the house, going straight to her room with a firm slam of the door, and threw herself into bed. She was masturbating before she even hit the covers.

Apple Bloom still hadn’t stopped grinning by lunchtime at school the next day. She tried to pay attention to the morning lessons, and for once lately she wasn’t completely lost, but every once in a while she and Spike would catch each other’s eyes and Apple Bloom was blissfully ignorant of everything else for a few minutes. It probably wasn’t the best way to go through class, but at least it made lunchtime arrive faster than usual.

She’d been hoping to sit with Spike at lunch, but the boys in class had invited him to join them first, so instead Apple Bloom went in search of her usual friends. She found them gathered at a picnic table outside the schoolhouse, along with several other fillies from their class: Dinky Doo, the mailmare’s daughter, blonde and pale-violet and infectiously cheerful; Ruby Pinch, the other pink-on-pink pony in town and heir to a beverage company whose products Applejack never let her drink; and her old friend Twist, whose bright red mane somehow seemed thicker and frizzier than ever. Currently the whole table was staring at something under a nearby tree.

“Maybe it’s some new fashion thing?” Dinky Doo was saying, magically floating celery bites into her mouth as Apple Bloom approached.

“It’s a bit early for the summer line, isn’t it?” Sweetie Belle answered.

“Doesn’t your sister usually put that stuff out a bit early anyway?” Ruby Pinch asked, the only one at the table with a mug full of Moon Tea grasped in her magic.

“Yeah, but I don’t remember her making anything like that.”

“I thought thummer fathion wath thuppothed to be light,” Twist added, one hoof adjusting her glasses. “Filly mutht be thweating like a pig.”

“Maybe she’s just finally gone crazy,” Scootaloo said.

“Hey girls, whatcha talkin’ about?” Apple Bloom asked, following their gaze as she reached the table.

“Oh, hey Apple Bloom,” Scootaloo said. “We’re just wondering what’s up with Diamond Tiara.”

Sure enough, Diamond was sitting under the tree they were all staring at. Silver Spoon was there as well, of course, sitting right beside her like she always was, perhaps even a bit closer than usual today. But it was Diamond they were all eyeing, because she was wearing a long, massively poofy pink dress that covered almost her whole body, despite the fact that it was the kind of warm, sunny day where almost nopony wore clothes at all. They were chatting inaudibly, looking much more friendly toward one another than they’d been yesterday, and while somepony else might have dismissed the slight flush of their cheeks as the usual summer warmth, Apple Bloom had a feeling she knew better.

“I don’t know how she can stand wearing that thing in this heat,” Dinky said.

“Theriouthly, and on top of heat heat?” Twist added.

“Ugh,” Ruby muttered, faceplanting on the table and covering her head with both front hooves.

“You think she hasn’t gotten relief?” Sweetie Belle asked.

Scootaloo let out a snort of laughter. “Pfft, her? What boy in his right mind would wanna do anything with a brat like that? I bet she has the worst heat in town.”

Apple Bloom held back a snicker of her own. “Heh, Ah dunno about that…”

“Yeah, Diamond’s prissy and all, but she wouldn’t wear a big stuffy dress like that in double-heat. Nopony’s that dumb,” Dinky said.

“Well then what’s she wearing it for?”

Apple Bloom just barely caught a wince from Diamond as she shifted her hindquarters, and bit back a knowing smirk. “Maybe she’s coverin’ up a sore bottom.”

“A sore--? Whoa, you think she got a spanking?!” Scootaloo said almost gleefully.

“Oh yeah. A real good’un…”

“She did bring that pillow to sit on in class,” Sweetie Belle observed.

“Awesome, she totally deserves a few smacks with a spoon,” Scootaloo snickered.

“Or a ruler…”

“…What?”

“N-nothin’, heh…”

“Gosh, she must’ve gotten it pretty bad to wear a dress like that in this heat,” Sweetie Belle said.

“Augh, stop saying ‘heat,’” Ruby moaned miserably under her hooves. “I’m dying over here.”

“Oh no, you haven’t found a boy yet?” Dinky cooed.

“No. It’s not as easy as you’d think.”

“Ah know what ya mean,” Apple Bloom said. “Ah was stumped about that fer a while too. Ah mean, Featherweight’s so creepy with that camera--”

“No he’s not!” Dinky burst out, followed immediately by a deep blush. “… I-I mean… they’re nice pictures… and he’s nice too…”

“Oh really? Heh, did you let him take some special pictures of you?” Scootaloo teased.

“S-shut up!”

Apple Bloom blinked slowly in surprise. “You an’… an’ Featherweight?”

Dinky bit her lip embarrassedly, but still smiled. “…Maybe… it was nice taking pictures with him, he made me feel pretty… and sexy…”

“Aww!” Sweetie Belle cooed. “That’s so cute!”

“Yeah, lucky you,” Ruby grumbled. “Doesn’t really help me.”

“Oh, Ruby, I’m sure there’s other boys available…” Dinky assured her.

“Are there really?” Apple Bloom asked. “Ah mean, okay, maybe Featherweight’s fine, but Snips and Snails are as gross as ever, nopony would wanna get with them--”

Twist snorted and interrupted her this time. “Thpeak for yourthelf!”

Apple Bloom goggled at her in shock. “…Yer kiddin’ me.”

“No, she’s not,” Ruby growled a little more darkly. “She’s a total colt hoarder.”

“Hey, it’th not my fault they like me!”

Apple Bloom’s jaw dropped. “You were with Snips and Snails? Both of ‘em?!”

Twist blushed a little, but grinned and nodded. “I thure wath!”

“…Why?!”

“Theriouthly? Have you theen their cockth?!”

“…N… no?”

“Oh my Thelethtia, Apple Bloom, they’re tho big!” Twist exclaimed, head held in her hooves and stars in her eyes. “I almotht didn’t think they could fit inthide me!”

“Big dicks? On those blockheads?” Scootaloo said, looking as shocked as Apple Bloom.

“Thut up, they’re really thweet onthe you get to know ‘em!”

“Wait, wait,” Apple Bloom interrupted, confused. “There’s no way two boys can fit down there at once, can they?”

“Nah, jutht the one. I mean, I gueth you could put one in your butt, if you felt like it, but we didn’t do that.” Twist’s eyes sparkled dreamily behind her glasses. “I uthed my mouth on the other one inthtead--”

“Ewww…” Sweetie Belle groaned.

“--and then after a while they thwithed--”

“Ewww!”

“--and at the end they both put their cockths in my mouth together!”

“Ewww!” Sweetie Belle shuddered and hid her face under the table.

“Don’t mind her, she’s squeamish,” Scootaloo mumbled, blushing. “Wow, Twist, that’s… wow. I didn’t know you had it in you.”

“Ah didn’t know you could use yer butt fer sex…” Apple Bloom marveled.

“Well, yeah, of courthe you can. I mean, how elthe would two boyth do it?”

“Uh…” Apple Bloom hesitated as she thought embarrassingly hard about that question. “W-well, Ah mean, that one time Ah saw Rumble and Featherweight, they were just sorta rubbin’ by hoof… y-you sayin’ one colt can… put himself in… in the other colt’s butt?”

“And you can do that to fillies too?” Scootaloo added, sounding far too interested herself.

“Oh, abtholutely,” Twist confirmed. “But like I thaid, we didn’t do that…”

“No, you just hoarded them both to yourself…” Ruby grumbled.

Twist rolled her eyes. “Okay, look, I’m thorry! Would it make you feel better if I thaid you could have a turn too?”

“…Maybe.”

Twist got up from the table and started walking toward the boys’ table. “Alright then, come on, I’ll athk ‘em right now.”

“W-what?! H-hey, wait, wait, hang on, I didn’t say right now! I-I’m not ready yet! Twiiiist!” Ruby shouted, and when it didn’t stop the other filly she leapt from her seat and sprinted away herself, with Dinky following close behind and giggling, eager to listen in.

Apple Bloom stared after them, still thoroughly shocked. “…Wow… somepony actually likes Snips and Snails. Who woulda guessed…?”

“Not me,” Sweetie Belle muttered.

“Different ponies like different stuff,” Scootaloo said, blushing and sporting stiff, open wings. “Including butt stuff, apparently…”

“Y-yeah,” Apple Bloom echoed. She wasn’t sure why that particular idea hadn’t occurred to her before, but it made sense. Colts didn’t have vaginas, obviously, so that was probably the closest substitute. And Diamond Tiara might not have put anything in her butt, but she’d sure squirted her guts out from having it spanked.

Still, she wasn’t sure she could imagine putting things in her own butt. Under normal circumstances at least, she’d have a perfectly functional vagina for that, and she was reasonably sure a dick would feel a lot better in there than in her rear. Twist’s situation was one thing, she’d had two dicks to work with. She might have used her mouth for the other one instead - and briefly Apple Bloom wondered how Twist’s mouth compared to Silver Spoon’s and shuddered at the thought - but her rear would’ve been an equally reasonable option when working with a second colt. But it wasn’t like Apple Bloom was planning to have sex with two colts and two dicks at once…

And what about ONE with a TWO-HEADED dick?

Her eye twitched.

He’d have to stick the other half SOMEwhere, right?

Apple Bloom sucked a breath in through her teeth and groaned immediately, clenching her hind legs together. Great, she was hard in public again, and in record time. Stupid sexy Spike…

“Gah! Gotta run, Apple Bloom, seeya later!” Scootaloo suddenly blurted out, and without waiting for a reply she leapt away from the table and behind the nearest bush.

“Huh? What the--?” Apple Bloom turned around in surprise. “Scootaloo, what the heck is--?”

“Hey, uh, Apple Bloom?”

Apple Bloom whipped around to face forward again, and Scootaloo’s behavior suddenly made sense. Rumble was walking up to her now, the boys’ table behind him having broken up and scattered within seconds of Twist’s arrival. “Oh, hey Rumble,” she said, swiftly sitting on her erection before Rumble could catch sight of it.

“Hey,” he said back, waving with one hoof before running it through his storm-grey mane. “Uh, listen, are you doing anything after school?”

Apple Bloom raised an eyebrow. “Um… just mah usual chores at home. Why?”

“Do you think we could… hang out this afternoon, and… talk about some stuff? Privately?”

“Talk? Erm… Ah guess so.” Apple Bloom shrugged. “Ah’ve got a clubhouse on the farm, if ya wanna walk over there with me.”

Rumble nodded swiftly. “Yeah, sure, perfect. Meet you at the front gate after class.”

“Yeah, alright, seeya then,” Apple Bloom agreed. A second later Rumble was gone just as quickly as he’d arrived, trotting back over to the remaining boys.

“Huh…” Apple Bloom said to herself, scratching her head curiously. “Rumble wants ta hang out with me after school. Alone.”

A second later she froze.

“Uh-oh.”

And then Scootaloo burst back out of the bush.

“He wants to WHAT?!”