Rejection and Acceptance

The larger pony looked down on the smaller, lighter grey colt. He bit his lip, his fangs digging into his flesh as he watched him snore peacefully. He slowly extracted himself from the small pegasus, making an effort not to wake him as he

moved silently to the next room. The large grey stallion sat down at the table, propping his hooves on the large wooden surface as his crystalline protrusions forced him to lean forward over the table. he sighed defeatedly and buried his face in his hooves as he whined softly. His body glowed faintly and he sank down a little, the crystals sinking into his back with a sickening grind of what sounded like bone on bone. He swooned and fell to the floor, his coat rustling as he heaved violently, clutching his barrel.

His eyes cross and fade, softening their glow to a light blue as his fur adopts a sandy tan color. A tangled crop of hair suddenly surged down over his eyes as his mane sprouted like overgrown weeds from his head. The now tan stallion sat up, leaning against the table leg as he panted heavily, catching his breath as he coughed and wheezed feebly. He rolled to his hooves, joints protesting as he shook his head and staggered to the chair he fell out of, clinging to it for dear life as his vision slowly cleared. He slowly moved from the chair, his knees and back popping and creaking as he stretched. The tan stallion froze as he saw the bandaged pony on his couch. He trembled as he slowly approached the injured pegasus.

"Shit...What have you done now, Ven...?"

The grey pony whimpered as he curled tighter, his splinted wing sticking out at an odd angle as he arced his back, as if cowering from some unknown assailant. Ven's ears laid back as he stretched out his trembling hoof to press to the smaller stallion's back, stroking down the length of his spine as he felt tears well up in his eyes. The grey pony shook gently, recoiling at first, but slowly pushing back into the petting, relaxing slowly as a soft, equine churr came from his throat.

Ven's ears perked up as he tilted his head, continuing to pet the smaller pony as he surveyed his injuries. He recognized his own handiwork on the splints, and leaned down to inspect them closer. He nodded as he pulled back, snorting softly as he slowly stepped back.

"Well.....shit....." Ven murmured. He sighed as he looked around, eyeing the empty bottles littering the floor and wincing. He quietly slid back out of the room, retrieving a bag, which he then proceeded in filling with the empty bottles, dragging the bag as quietly as he could out the door and to the large bin full of more of the dark brown bottles. He sighed and tossed the bag aside, resolving to clean up more later as he slowly made his way back into his small, disheveled home.

He stumbled over the doorstep, closing the door behind him as he eyed the still sleeping figure on the couch. Ven hesitantly walked to him and sat down, stroking his back gently. His eyelids began to droop as he continued the monotonus movement, his neck craning down as he slowly drifted off, his head draped over the smaller pony's body protectively.

Daemon's first thought was of the roughness against his fur-which he could only identify as carpet-, his second was of the pain and stiffness radiating from his whole body. A low whine escaped is throat as he opened his eyes, expecting to see a purple unicorn asleep on his side. Much to his surprise, the first color his blurry eyes were able to identify was brown. He blinked and rubbed his eyes with his good forehoof, squinting down at the snoring body draped over him. He blushed lightly and stayed still, not wanting to escape the sleeping stallion as he held him to his chest. Daemon bit his lip and looked around the room, the distinct smell of alcohol hitting him rather hard as he winced. He reflexively snorted as he tried to clear his swimming vision again. His good wing fluttered, rubbing against the stallion's belly as he squeaked and arched his back slowly to try and relieve the stiffness in his back and neck. The larger pony giggled and lofted his head, freezing as his eyes snapped open, looking down at the small grey pony -who also froze. The two spent a few awkward moments of silence before the tan pony bit his lip, lifting his foreleg to let the smaller pony go as he rolled to his belly, still looking at the smaller pony as his ears laid back

"I...I'm sorry..." He started

"I...I-It's okay..." Daemon interrupted his apology, words spilling from his mouth as nervousness leaped on him "It....it was kind of nice...H-Heh....that's two nice ponies I've met so far.....I-I'm Daemon....um....T-The first pony was all dark g-grey and stuff...h-he didn't tell m-me his name...um...but he was tall....l-like you! um...oh, wow I'm babbling.... S-Sorry, its a d-defense mechan-Mmph!"

The larger pony smiled a little, giggling as he reached out his hoof to press to the muzzle of the nerve-wracked pony. "Its fine...um...I'm Ven....A-And the other pony you met....well...H-He's a friend.....um...of sorts...H-How are you feeling? A-Are you hungry?"

The grey pony blushed as he felt a hoof on his lips, cutting off his nervous stuttering. He nodded, his belly rumbling as he squirmed and nuzzled he hoof still outstretched, unable to stop his eyes from tracing his powerful figure, biting his lip as he forced his eyes to focus on the light blue ones looking down at him. Daemon's light grey eyes crossed for a moment as he shook his head, his splinted wing trying to stretch out, tugging on its bindings gently.

"W-what happened....a-after your friend found me....?"

Ven's eyes glowed faintly as he bit his lip again, hesitating before answering with a bit of surprise coloring his tone. "He....He took you here...and patched you up....um...and watched over you for nearly a week....I... um....Then he went back out......H-He travels alot...."

"Oh...well....I...I'll have to be sure to tell him thank you... If I seem him again..."

"Y-Yeah...um..s-so how about breakfast? Or whatever meal it actually is.... I...I've got apples in the kitchen..." Ven stood up, offering his hoof to Daemon as he smiled shyly.

The small grey pony nodded eagerly and took the offered hoof, letting the larger stallion pull him to his hooves. He stumbled forward and leaned on Ven for support as he nickered in embarrassment. Daemon instinctively rubbed his neck on his toned shoulder before stepping away and biting his lip, looking away as he squirmed a little.

"S-sorry...."

"I-Its fine....um....food?"

"I...S-sure...L-Lead the way um....sir..."

The tan stallion bristled and looked down. "Please...Call me Ven"

"O-Okay sir-Ven!"

The stallion smirked and led the smaller pony into the kitchen, grabbing a basket of assorted apples, and setting them on the table, He took a large green one and sat down in the large chair. Daemon trotted over to Ven's side, sitting down and looking up at him. The grey pony whined as he registered what he was doing, looking away as he started to slink over to the other chair. He had barely begun the movement when he found an apple pressed to his snout. His cheeks flared to match the crimson of the fruit as he daintily took it from the offered hoof, looking up shyly with his grey eyes, his tail wagging as his good wing fluttered. He grabbed the apple with his fetlocks and proceeded to daintily take a bite from it, still seated on his haunches beside the larger pony. He chewed thoughtfully as he looked over at the stallion, looking sideways at his cutiemark, trying to discern its meaning. Daemon pulled the apple to his mouth to take another bite, still fixated on the heart with a pencil atop it, before his movement toppled the unbalanced pony over with a squeal. He let out an undignified bleat as he landed on his back, flailing his hooves in he air for a moment as he flailed and bleated like a wounded ewe.

The large stallion snerked as he looked down at the panicking pegasus. He rolled his eyes as the pony froze, mewling as he tucked his hooves to his body and rolled over gingerly. He snorted dismissively and grabbed his fallen fruit and threw it at the rubbish bin, watching it bounce off the cosest rim and wedge itself between the opposite rim and the wall. Daemon grunted and trotted over, nudging the can so it fell in. The grey pony nodded and pranced back over to the larger stallion's side as he looked up triumphantly.

"Why Is your cutie mark a collar? I...Sorry, that was rude...." The larger stallion blurted, his ears going back.

Daemon's smile faded as his ears drooped slightly, sighing defeatedly as he sniffed and didn't answer, walking into the living room and slipping up onto the light blue loveseat. He looked at his rump, shifting his wing to look at the black circlet imprinted on it, a small tag hanging from the front, making it impossible to mistake it as anything else. Daemon sniffed again, laying his head down on the soft arm of the loveseat.

Ven followed him, sitting on his haunches as he bit his lip, unsure as to how to comfort the physically and emotionally broken stallion. He hesitantly stretched out a hoof and stroked his back gently, his own ears drooping as Daemon shivered and silent tears began to run down his cheeks again.

"I....I guess....s-since you have let me stay here.....and taken care of me....You....You deserve to know what I was......"His grey eyes flickered strangely for a moment before he sighed defeatedly, as if a sudden weight had been put on his shoulders. He looked up into the rather captivating light blue eyes of the tan stallion who resumed his gentle petting, unsure what else to do as his ears perked up and rotated forward.

"I.....I am...was?.....A pet....I...And what I mean by that...um....is that...well...I was my mistress's faithful follower.....much like a dog.... She found me stumbling around in the dark after the attack on Canterlot....and she took pity on me, offering safety and love in return for servitude....I...I accepted....and so she took me to her home....and...well...she taught me pretty much everything...how to read and write....how to sew...how to act like a higher class pony like she was...and in return I did everything I could for her....cleaning, cooking...everything I could do to make her happy while she worked on her various projects..."

The small stallion choked back a sob as he turned his swollen and blacked eye to Ven, his voice shaking as he fought a losing battle valiantly against his emotions, his emotions wearing him down as he shook and buried his head in the cushion. He composed himself slowly as he whined and cleared his throat before continuing.

"I.....I eventually got up the courage to walk up to her and.....and tell her...I...I loved her...and I didn't care what she thought.....and that I wished for nothing more than her happiness..." Bitterness crept into his voice, the icy venom making his hairs stand up along his back as he ground his teeth for a moment "And she just smiled and.....and told me to close my eyes....and suddenly I felt myself...I...I felt my flank burn as she slid the thin leather around my neck.... She was as elated as I was....and....and she told me that now since I bore her collar...she would be known to me as Mistress.....and never Ameth.....by her name..." He choked as he tried to say her name, whimpering as he shivered and looked back at Ven again.

"I....I can't deny I loved every second of it.....the endless pleasure and her gentle affections.....I...I was hers completely and without question I did everything she asked.....I...I was so blinded by my lust and love for Am.....Her that...I...I started scraping together all the bits I could....I...I saved up for two years...and I snuck out after she um....well....after she took a post-coital nap.....and bought a ring.....and...well....She was shocked and she said she would have to give it though....so...I...I respected that and told her to take the ring anyway...at least it would be a nice trinket....and....well....that was two-no....three weeks ago.... And... now I am here....." Daemon could hold it in no longer and bawled openly into the small couch, shaking and curling into a ball as he sobbed uncontrollably.

Ven had frozen halfway through the story, looking down at the small stallion in shock as his mouth hung open slightly, realizing how twisted this mare had been, how sick she would have to be to have treated a devoted stallion like that....and then just cast him aside, like an apple core. A sudden unbidden image of the small pegasus, bleeding and wheezing in the alleyway came to his mind, followed by a seething anger that boiled just below the surface. He shook his head and then did the only thing he could. He pulled Daemon to him and gently wrapped his forehooves around his small frame, gingerly avoiding his bandaged wing and ribs as her held the distraught stallion tenderly. He tried to think of something to say to comfort him as he sniffed softly and nuzzled the small grey ear by his snout, humming softly as he rocked and stroked the smaller pony's back with as much tenderness as he could muster with his large hooves.

A keening whine emanated from his throat as he closed his eyes as he felt the small pony cry himself out onto his chest, his soft whimpers giving way to gentle snoring as he slid himself up onto the couch, holding him gently as he too slipped off to sleep.

Daemon opened his eyes to be greeted by a world of brown. He tilted his head and blinked rapidly to clear his vision, before blushing and pressing his cheek against the warm chest in front of him. His ear rotated and pressed to the larger stallion's chest, listening to the almost hypnotic rhythm of his heartbeat.

Ven's soft snoring abruptly sifted as he rolled onto his back, drawing a muffled squeak from the still trapped pegasus. The smaller grey stallion smiled as he pushed gently back against his forelegs, attempting to slide free of his grip. The air whooshed out of his lungs as the larger stallion snorted and mumbled unintelligibly, gripping him tighter to his chest.

Daemon gasped and squirmed as he felt air return to his lungs, his cracked ribs protesting as he felt tears welling i the corners of his eyes. He bit his lip, deciding to try his luck again as he slid his hooves under himself. He slowly pushed against Ven's body, sliding back slowly as he slid from the possessive stallion's grasp.

The small pony giggled triumphantly as he slowly climbed down to the floor, sneaking ito the kitchen. Daemon looked around, grimacing as his OCD went nuts.

The kitchen really was a disaster. He wasn't sure how he had stood it before, but now it was a losing battle. He marched himself around the house, searching for cleaning supplies. He returned to the kitchen, dragging a bucket with various leaning supplies. He scurried away again and returned with a mop and a few rags. He snorted and pushed a chair to the sink, leaping up on it to get a better vantage point on the mountain of dishes as he sighed and resolved himself to his task.

"This is going to take a while......."