Author's Note

Horses have feet. Their feet have hooves on them instead of toes. But they are feet. Please do not correct my "error" in the title. (Big fat pet peeve there, every flipping time I use "feet" somebody has to point out it's wrong, but it's not wrong. Horses have feet! They are four-footed animals. FEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET. Ahem.)

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At Her Feet

Ember sprawled on her back along the length of her couch, her head hanging over the armrest, her hind hooves dangling off the end of it. Her eyes were closed, and she was nearly half-way to falling asleep. It had been a long week. A long month or more, really. Being popular was good for her ego, but she was starting to wear out. Not to mention the financial situation, which was improving now that she'd finally raised her prices. Almost nobody had complained, so it had probably been the right decision, but needing to do it had caused her stress, and she wasn't quite out of the woods yet.

It was an annoying balance. The more ponies came to her, the more ponies she could help, and the more she could handle her financial problems. But the more ponies came to her to more she wore out, and the more she worried about their problems. She did what she could, but there were many things that she simply couldn't do anything about, and even when she could help, her aid almost never magically fixed somepony's problem in one session.

Ember yanked her mind away from the increasingly familiar litany of worry. Stressing over her situation wouldn't help it any. Maybe she should just take a nap. She didn't have any clients scheduled, so maybe she'd be lucky enough to not get a walk-in. She yawned and shifted a bit to make herself more comfortable.

Sorry to interrupt your napping plans, but you've got a customer. Far Gaze's mental voice was sympathetic, but also a bit amused.

Of course, said Ember with a sigh. Anybody I know?

Yes, actually, it's Starflower.

Ember perked up. Oh! Excellent. I'll get everything prepared, then.

Starflower was a regular, and Ember quite liked her. Her sessions were more work than some, topping was always a little extra effort, but Ember didn't mind. Especially not for somepony as genuinely nice as Starflower was.

Ember rolled off the chaise longue and used her magic to shove it over against one wall. The couch facing it was pushed against another wall, and a high-backed, ornate chair that was just short of being a throne was positioned opposite the door. She turned off the lights except for a pair that flanked the chair, turned down low. A flash of green fire and it was no longer a charcoal-colored changeling queen, but instead an ebon-black alicorn that stood in the middle of the room. She looked herself over, making certain that her impression of Nightmare Moon was perfect, then smiled and seated herself in the chair, putting a haughty expression on her face.

I'm ready.

She seems a bit nervous tonight, said Far. She didn't say anything to me, but she might want something outside the usual routine, he relayed, just as the door swung open and a slender pink pegasus slipped inside the room. Her hair was golden yellow, her eyes large and sky blue. Her cutie mark was a golden compass rose, with deep pink flower petals behind each of the major and minor compass points.

"Welcome, my pet," said Ember, looking down with a faint frown at Starflower. "It's been too long." It hadn't been all that long, but Starflower liked punishments as part of their play, so Ember always found some little thing she'd done "wrong" early on.

"I, uhm... I'm sorry, I..." Ember tasted a confused mix of excitement, fear, nervousness, and too many other things to even name coming from Starflower. Her expression softened from the haughty mask she'd donned to a more natural look of concern. That wasn't how Starflower usually reacted at all. Usually Ember got a breathless, "Forgive me, Mistress" and an offer to kiss her hooves or something of that sort. Given her confused emotions, something was definitely up.

"Starflower? Is something wrong?" she asked gently.

"Not...exactly. Something might be right? It's good? I think?"

Ember engaged her magic, her horn glowing green as she turned up the lamps. "Tell me about it," she said, leaning forward in her chair, completely abandoning her dominant posture.

"I met somepony."

"Ah." Ember smiled.

"Yeah. I've been dating her for a couple of months now. But last week we talked about being exclusive, and we also, uh..." her cheeks blushed, darker pink against the pink of her hide.

Ember chuckled. "You became lovers."

"Yes. I do think I actually love her. Probably. It's early still, but she's just so wonderful! I never thought I'd meet anybody I had so much in common with. But I probably shouldn't see you anymore. Just..." Starflower hesitated, and Ember caught a hint of clear emotion emerging from the chaotic tangle of Starflower's feelings: fear.

"Something worries you about this new love."

"Yes. She's not you. You're not her. I mean, I like you but I don't love you. You know that, I'm sure." Ember nodded. "But I do love what you can do for me. Your Nightmare Moon is just..." she gave a pleasant little shiver. "I'm not sure I can live without that. It doesn't have to be Nightmare Moon, but..."

"It does need to be dominant?"

"Yes! And Sweet Lemon is super confident and strong and I'm sure she could dominate me wonderfully, but so far she's been, well... Just vanilla, you know?"

"You don't know how to bring your needs up," said Ember.

Starflower nodded, her whole being wilting a little bit. She sat down on her haunches in front of Ember. Ember summoned a flicker of changing fire, returning to her natural shape, and slid down from the throne to put a comforting hoof on Starflower's shoulder. "It's scary, thinking about telling her."

"Yes! I figured I'd do the easy thing first, and tell you that I probably won't be coming any more. But I need to tell her. I know I need to tell her. I need what I've had with you. I don't think I can be happy without it. What if she is freaked out, though? What if she calls me a pervert? What if she thinks it's sick?"

"You know that kinks are actually pretty common, yes?"

Starflower sighed. "Yes. Not universal, though. There aren't any guarantees. I like her so much. She could be the one. It makes me afraid."

Ember felt her lips quirking up in a wry smile. "I hope you're sensible enough to know there's no 'the' one, yes? Relationships don't work that way. Not outside of fiction, at least. There are any number of ponies you might live a happy life with. It's just a matter of finding one, and of making the necessary compromises to make things work so that you both feel happy. Happy is the goal, not finding your 'fated special somepony.'"

"I know. I know. I just... She seems so perfect."

"Maybe she is. But if she's your perfect dominant lover, you have to tell her what you want, so she can be that for you. And if she's not, well... Better to know now that it won't work out, and not years from now when she finds out accidentally."

"Telling her is so terrifying, though. I might ruin everything. If I just let things go on the way they are..."

"Then what? You'll live with her for years, not getting your needs met, and getting more and more resentful about that." Ember patted her shoulder again. "You deserve better than that."

"I guess."

"Try considering the logical point of view." Ember sat up straight, assuming a teacher's posture. It wasn't quite the haughty countenance of Nightmare Moon, but there was a certain authority in it. "There are four possibilities here, as I see it. One is that you never tell her about kink, and she's not into kink. She can't meet your needs, but you never discuss it. Instead you just...don't get your needs met. At some point that will bother you enough to say something, and after months or even years of feeling unfulfilled, you'll break up. Definitely a bad outcome."

Starflower nodded.

"Two is that you never tell her about kink and she is into kink. Then you have time wasted being unfulfilled when you could have been exploring how your needs fit together. Also a bad outcome. There's no good outcome from not telling her."

"But one of the other two outcomes is bad too," said Starflower, with another deep sigh. "Just one chance in three of things being okay. Because if she's not into kink, and I tell her how much I need this, she'll freak out and dump me."

"The odds aren't actually one in three. I'm not sure what the odds are. Submissives and switches are more common than outright dominants, so the odds are probably against her being a perfect match. But kinks really are very common, and many people can compromise. Her being a workable match for you is very possible. Still, I think if you aren't a match, it's better to get the pain over now. And you pave the way for the one ideal outcome, where she is just as into kink as you are, and you can have all kinds of wonderful fun together."

"I guess so."

"I know it's hard." Ember bent her head and nuzzled Starflower's cheek. "But you've been such a wonderful pony the whole time I've known you. You deserve to be truly happy, and that includes having this need fulfilled."

Starflower leaned against Ember's shoulder. "I guess so," she said again.

"I know so."

Starflower just sighed again.

Ember remained silent, giving her time to think about things.

"I know you're right," said Starflower at last. "I do. It's just so hard. Romance stories are stories. You know that when the girl is going through all this agony, she'll definitely end up working it out somehow in the end, because that's how stories work. But real life isn't like that. It's terrifying. I know it's better to know if this won't work early than late, but what if nothing ever works? What if I never find somebody I can love who can also dominate me?"

"I think that you will, now or someday. You're a wonderful mare, and I've thoroughly enjoyed my sessions with you the entire time you've been coming to see me. There are some ponies who never find life partners, it's true, and nobody can guarantee who will or won't. I think you will, but if you somehow don't, you can keep coming to me as long as I'm in business, and you can still live a meaningful and happy life, even without a special somepony. It is difficult to face that possibility, but you know it's not that likely, and you know what the right thing to do is. I have faith that you can do it."

Starflower looked up at her with wide eyes, and her cheeks flushed brightly. "I... Thank you. I can. I know I can. I know I have to."

"Are you seeing her tonight?"

Starflower nodded mutely. "Yes. Right after this."

"Can you tell her tonight?"

"I..." She swallowed hard. "Maybe tomorrow?"

"Why?"

"Well... Oh dammit, I just want to put it off. All right. I'll do it tonight."

Ember gave her a little wink and bent to kiss her forehead. "Good girl."

Starflower blushed brighter. "Th-thank you." She didn't add "Mistress" this time, but Ember could tell she was thinking it.

"Now don't stick around here, I'll be too tempted by your sexy, marefriend-taken self. Go on. Go see her, talk to her, see how she feels about kink. I bet it will go just fine."

Starflower straightened, standing up on all four hooves. "I bet it will. She's smart and sexy and kind. I'm sure it'll be fine."

Ember smiled broadly. It showed her fangs, but it was a kind expression all the same. "Get out of here, then, sexy."

Starflower laughed and headed for the door. "Okay. I will. And thank you!"

A moment later she was gone. Ember flopped back down on the couch against one wall, not bothering to re-arrange the room. She gave a massive yawn. Okay, nap time now, she said to Far Gaze, who only laughed silently in response as he refunded Starflower, having to insist she take the money back, and then sent her on her way.

Ember sent a good luck wish after her, then yawned again and closed her eyes. A moment later she was soundly asleep.

Ember? Ember? Wake up. You're needed.

Ember blinked her eyes open slowly. She felt vaguely gritty, in that way that meant she hadn't gotten very much sleep at all. It sometimes felt almost worse than not napping. Sorry, she said silently, trying to gather herself together. Another customer?

Not exactly. Far Gaze mentally pulled her closer, so she could see through his eyes. Ember snapped to full wakefulness at the sight of Starflower standing there, trembling faintly, obviously having just wiped tears from her eyes. "I'm really sorry to bother her again. If I need to pay..."

"No, it'll just be a moment, it's no trouble at all. No charge."

Send her in, said Ember instantly, and Far nodded.

"There, she's ready. Go on."

"Yes sir, thank you," said Starflower. Her voice was shaky, and Ember felt her heart breaking for her. Things had obviously not gone well at all.

Starflower slipped into the room, still trembling faintly. Ember went straight to her and enfolded her in a tight hug. She almost changed to her pony form, she knew her hard chitin might be less then comforting, but she felt that somehow offering anything but her real self would be wrong just now. Starflower didn't seem to mind her chitin, or anything else, she threw both forelegs around Ember and clung to her tightly, words spilling out in a sudden quavering babble.

"I'm so sorry, I know you just do your job and I know this probably isn't the place and I know it's not your problem but my mom's asleep at this hour and I just needed..." She sniffled audibly. "Needed...you... I'm so sorry."

"Shh, you have nothing to be sorry for. I'm happy to listen and help if I can. It's fine."

"It's not fine, nothing is fine, I'm such a miserable failure, I'm so screwed up, I'm so sorry." Her muzzle was buried against Ember's chest and tears were flowing down her cheeks.

"You're not screwed up. You're not, believe me."

"Sweet Lemon said... She said... She said I was a freak. She said there was something wrong with me. She... She..."

"There's something wrong with her," said Ember instantly, fiercely, "If she can be so cruel to somepony who loves her."

"She's a good pony. She was good to me until... Until..." She started sobbing again, her voice breaking up into little hiccups.

Ember gave Starflower another squeeze, and tried to not sound so terribly angry. Screaming about Sweet Lemon was unlikely to help. "Few people are total monsters. But being so cruel to you was monstrous, Starflower. You are not a failure or a screwup or a freak."

"But..."

"No. I won't hear it. You're not. Or if you're a freak, so am I." On a sudden impulse Ember changed back to Nightmare Moon. "If it's freakish for you to want this of me, then it's freakish for me to want to do it."

"M-Mistress?" A shiver went through Starflower. Ember could taste the confused swirl of emotions coming from her. There was nothing like arousal in it, but that wasn't why she'd taken this form.

"You're a good girl, Starflower. Your Mistress says so, and Mistress is never wrong."

Starflower let out a little whimper and pressed closer to Ember, who continued to embrace her tightly.

"You did something very difficult, because you knew it was the right thing. You knew it could go wrong, and you were brave enough to do it anyway. It didn't turn out like you'd hoped, but that is not your fault, do you hear me?"

"Y-yes Mistress."

"Good girl. A very good girl. You are brave and strong and wonderful, and you don't deserve someone who can't appreciate that."

"Oh Mistress." Starflower clung to her even more tightly, still crying, but some of the chaos of her emotions eased a little bit.

"Now you're going to come with me." Ember gathered up Starflower in her magic, keeping her tightly wrapped in a cocoon of green power. Far? I'm closed for the night. Put out the lantern, would you?

Yes ma'am. His voice was gentle. You take good care of her.

I will.

She went into the bedroom and pulled back the covers on the bed. It tended to not be used for this purpose terribly often, but it was a fine, soft bed and she always had it freshly made up even if most of the time the blankets never got pulled back at all. Now she tucked Starflower into the bed. "You can go home if you'd rather be alone, my pet. I won't make you stay, but I want to cuddle you and tell you you're wonderful all night long. I know it won't fix your heartache, but I also know that this Sweet Lemon person is wrong about you. You're wonderful, and worthy of love, and maybe I don't love you, but I do care about you a lot, and think you're infinitely worthy of love. I want to show you that. Do you want to stay?"

Starflower sniffled, but her tears had finally slowed a little. "Y-yes Mistress."

"Good." Ember climbed into the bed beside Starflower and wrapped her hooves around her again, tucking her head beneath her chin and nuzzling the top of it warmly.

Starflower pressed up close, her body still shivering, and started sobbing all over again. She had no words this time, she just let the tears flow, and Ember held her as she cried. Eventually she cried herself all out, and slipped into a deep slumber. Ember sighed softly, her own eyes sliding closed.

You're a good person, said Far to her softly as he came in from turning out the red lantern outside the door and headed up to the upstairs bedroom he and Ember shared most nights, though they wouldn't share it this one.

I just wish I could do more. I wish I could love them all. I wish I could save them all.

You're not a god. You're not even Celestia. You do a lot. More than most people

That's a ridiculous measure. I'm in a unique situation. Maybe somebody else in my place would do better. I always wish I could do more.

You do as much as you can. You'd be the first to tell somebody else to not beat herself up for being merely mortal. Now get some rest, you need it too.

Yes sir, she said with a little smile.

Goodnight Ember. I love you, and things like this are a great deal of why.

I love you too. And thank you. I couldn't do what I do without you.

Then her heavy eyes closed again and she was lost in sleep, still holding Starflower close as the peaceful darkness enfolded them both.