Restless in Hoofington

As Autumn and Night are walking back towards the former’s house, the unicorn back in her tennis outfit, she decides to break the comfortable silence. “So, um...you’ve met my mom, right?”

Blinking, the batpony shakes her head as her thoughts had started to wander. “Umm, yeah. A few times, remember?”

Autumn giggles nervously. “Um, right! Well...” She scuffs her hoof on the ground, realizing how difficult this is going to be. “Um...you trust her, right?”

“Yes…” She says slowly, wondering where this is going. “Why? Is she going to do something crazy and your flank is tempting me into a trap?”

“No no no!” the unicorn rushes to assure her. “At least...not that I know of...” She clears her throat. “So, you trust her...would you say you trust her enough to know of, um...us?”

“... you cracked and told her while under the influence of her understanding and soft touch, didn’t you?” Night deadpans.

The blue mare pauses. “...kind of?” She sighs. “Okay, yes...”

Sighing as well, the thestral shakes her head. “I should have known you’d tell your secrets to another hugger… we can be very persuasive.”

“If it helps, she’s perfectly fine with it...” Autumn offers. “She just wants to have a talk with you.”

Freezing on the spot, Night’s eyes go wide. “Oh Luna… she’s a single mom with a single foal and I’ve started dating her… I am not prepared for this.”

Autumn blinks, then puts a foreleg around her. “Night, don’t worry. She promised not to scare you.” She bites back a ‘much’. “Just a little talk, and it’ll all be fine. I’ll be right there for the whole thing.”

“Easy for you to say… you’re not the one facing a mom wizard.” She shivers, leaning up against her marefriend for support. “There’s no telling what she’ll do to me if I make her mad…”

“Then don’t make her mad.” The unicorn rolls her eyes playfully. “It’s pretty hard to.”

“But what if she thinks I’m taking her baby away? I’m doomed!” Her wings flare out, holding Autumn tightly.

The blue mare just gives her marefriend a deadpanned look. “I think you read too many cliché romance novels. She’s not going to go crazy and toss you out, we’re not going to be forbidden from seeing each other, and I’m not going to get kidnapped by a dragon for you to slay.”

Night looks up and raises an eyebrow. “Are you sure you aren’t the one reading too many novels? I was just thinking she’s overprotective, you’re the one who went dragons.”

“We’re studying dragons in biology, I sort of have them on my mind.” She sighs. “I’ll agree with you on that, though. She’s...a little overprotective. But she knows you, so I’m sure it’ll be fine.”

“Okay…” They start walking again. “But can I hide behind you in the case of worse coming to worst?”

Autumn narrows her eyes. “How do I know you won’t do that just to get a good view?”

“It’s not just for a good view before I die.” Night huffs, pretending to be offended. “It’s because the time it takes her to get around you to get to me will allow me to both look and have time to spin you around and get one last kiss.”

“Night, you are not going to die!” Autumn groans as they walk up to her house. “If on the very, very slim chance my mom gets angry, I’ll just cover you with a shield until she calms down. Okay?”

“...can you be in the shield with me?” she asks hopefully.

The unicorn opens her mouth, then shuts it before thinking. “...fine. But keep in mind I can’t make opaque shields yet, so if you try anything funny, she’s gonna see it.”

“I promise to only take comfort hugs…” She salutes with a wing. “...and maybe a few panicked kisses. I crave affection, you know this.”

“Fair enough.” Lighting her horn, Autumn opens the door and strolls inside, calling out loudly. “Moooom! We’re here!”

“Welcome back, sweetie!” a voice calls from the direction of the bedrooms.

Gulping, Night asks quietly. “Am I underdressed?” She looks back at her all-natural form.

“I don’t even think that deserves an answer,” Autumn replies with a playful smirk before calling back. “We’ll be in the living room when you’re ready!”

“I’ll be there in a minute! I’m finishing the last seam!”

The batpony tilts her head. “Huh? Seam?”

“She’s sewing,” Autumn explains as she leads the way into the living room, pulling her shirt off as she goes. “It’s a hobby of hers. She made most of my outfits.”

“Wow, really?” Watching the shirt come off, Night tries not to have flashbacks of the first time that happened. Suddenly, she blushes for a different reason. “Wait, like… those outfits?”

The unicorn blushes as well. “Um...well, some of them...I bought the rest before that became something I felt comfortable asking her for.” She rubs her neck, sliding the skirt off and starting to fold the outfit up with her magic.

“Huh… so… you’ve always been into outfits?” she asks.

Autumn nods. “Originally I just wore clothes most of the time because I got cold easily, but eventually I started going around without them like most ponies. But I still like wearing them, cold or not...for different reasons, depending on the outfit.”

“I bet you look great in all of them.” The thestral leans against the unicorn, nuzzling her neck.

Autumn giggles. “Aww...thanks.” She nuzzles back and leads the way to the couch. “Maybe after we’re done with the talk, I can show you some more. Maybe mom could make some duplicates for you.”

“She can do that?” Night asks as they hop onto the couch.

“I certainly can, I do take pride in my hobby after all. Though Autumn knows my price.” Rune walks in from the hallway, a piece of black fabric hung over her back. “Good morning, you two.”

Autumn smiles and waves. “Morning, mom! Sorry for interrupting your work.”

Night waves as well, earning a smile from the mare. “Oh, it was no trouble, sweetie. I was just getting done with my current little project.” Her horn lights up and the black fabric lifts, revealing it to be a black version of Autumn’s white skirt, except made for a larger pony. “What do you think?”

“It looks great!” The unicorn filly grins at it. “How long did it take?”

“Not as long as you’d think, actually. It was sort of a learning process, but these sorts of uniforms are mass produced so they aren’t complicated.” She folds it back up. “I think it took about an hour, but I was taking it slow so I could make sure I got it right. Now the end result is me having a new nice skirt to wear when I dress up!” She grins happily.

“Oh, that’s where you got that urge from…” the batpony says, looking to Autumn.

The blue filly rubs her neck. “I guess so...” She clears her throat. “So, um...mom, you said you wanted to chat with Night?” Her eyes narrow a bit. “Nicely?”

“Yes, yes I did.” The mare walks over and sits down in front of them, her face neutral and serious. “It’s good to get this out of the way first.”

Night gulps, shrinking into the couch a bit. Autumn puts a foreleg around her in an attempt to comfort her.

Staring right into the thestral’s emerald eyes, the mother begins. “Now Nightshade, you know Autumn is my foal and I love her with all my heart.”

She nods. Autumn blushes.

Rune continues. “To that end, I never want to see her hurt, and I know that emotional pain can be just as if not more damaging than physical. So, I’m going to make this quick, but clear.” She leans down close, not blinking. “If you hurt her, if you ever make her cry, if you ever force her to do something she doesn’t want to… there will be no place you can hide from me.” Her normally soft and cheery voice goes as hard as a diamond-edged blade. “Do we understand each other?”

Swallowing again, Night replies quietly. “Y-Yes ma’am…”

Autumn coughs loudly. “Mom.”

Rune maintains the stare for a moment longer just to get her meaning across before her face softens to its usual expression. “Just wanted to make sure she knew, dear. Now, group hug to make all those bad feelings go away!” She scoops up both of them, nuzzling them as she squeezes them against her.

The other hug fiend in the group blinks, finding her tension draining away quickly. Autumn sighs, enjoying the hug. She speaks quietly to the thestral. “See? Not that bad.”

“She’s still scary when she wants to be,” Night replies.

“Yes, but usually I want to be loving and caring, so no need to worry.” Rune giggles. “And, I have a few little peace offerings to offer the newest addition to mine and Autumn’s family.”

Autumn blushes. “Mooom...”

“What? You know it’s true…” She nuzzles them both more.

Night giggles awkwardly. “Wow, family already?”

“I guess...” Autumn sighs. “What did you mean by peace offerings?”

“Well, first off I have cookies in the oven that I just need to turn on and let bake.” Rune smiles. “And of course, there’s the access to my services granted by my little hobby. I can try to make her anything she wants clothing-wise.”

Snapping out of the small trance she was in once the word cookies was mentioned, Night tilts her head. “What? For free?”

“We have a deal arranged. Would you like to explain, sweetie?” The mare looks to her daughter expectantly.

Autumn smiles. “It’s all free, as long as you model whatever she makes you for her.”

Night blushes. “M-Model?”

“Of course. I have to know if you like it and it can inspire new creations,” Rune explains.

“Oh… yeah, I guess… that’s alright.” The batpony nods, still sort of stunned by the whole situation.

Autumn laughs a bit. “I’ve been doing it for years. It’s easy, and fun. Don’t worry about it.”

“Heh… I guess it does sound fun… and I get free clothes.” She smiles.

“That’s the spirit!” The green mare exclaims as she sets them down. “Now, let me go get the cookies ready, you two lovebirds.” Humming happily, she walks into the kitchen, leaving the two on their own.

Autumn sighs in relief and nuzzles Night. “There...not a problem, see?”

“Yeah…” She puts a hoof to her chest. “Phew, my heart was pounding for a bit there, then she got all nice again.”

“She gets like that sometimes...from nice to scary then back to nice.” She shudders. “You should’ve seen her when she was talking about that window repair guy.”

“Huh? Night tilts her head. “What do you mean? What about him?”

Autumn tilts her head as well. “You didn’t hear? Apparently that gang broke into his business and outed him as a racist who was charging non-ponies way more than he should have. And apparently had drugs stashed all around, or something...it was hard to keep track of what she was saying.”

“Oh…” The thestral goes quiet. “Well, at least he got what was coming to him.”

“Yeah.” Autumn nods. “Kind of surprised it happened at all, though. From what I’ve heard, the ‘Restless’ - I think that’s what they’re called - have just been causing trouble and stealing stuff. Now they’re like some sort of back alley equal rights movement.”

Shrugging, Night looks around. “Ponies have all sorts of sides to them, I guess.”

Autumn shrugs as well. “Guess so...”

Rune comes back in after another round of quiet. “Okay, the cookies should be ready in a few minutes. I also had something I wanted to talk to both of you about, but for now, Nightshade, any requests for outfits?”

“Well, I…” The batpony finds herself at a loss for words. “I don’t know… never really had the option before…”

Her marefriend giggles. “Just think of something you’d like to have. Just about anything.”

“Umm… I need a moment to think.” She looks to her marefriend. “What would you want me to have?”

Autumn blushes a bit. “Um...” She glances at her mother, feeling a little awkward. “...m-maybe a copy of that one outfit of mine you wore the other day?”

Blushing as well, especially when she sees the mother in the room raise a knowing eyebrow, Night mutters. “Are you sure we should ask for things like… that?”

“You asked what I’d want you to have...” she replies, face growing redder. “I-I dunno...”

Swallowing almost as much as before they got here, the batpony turns to the mare. “Mrs. Rune… do you… make… you know… s-sexy clothing?”

Smiling smoothly, Rune nods. “Of course, but only for family. Do you know what you want?”

Night blinks. “Wait, what? Just like that?”

“Why not?” She shrugs. “She may not have fully realized it, but that’s another thing Autumn got from me. Think of this like an embarrassing adult birthday gift… except anytime and not in front of your friends.”

The thestral’s mouth falls open slightly as her wings rustle. Autumn giggles and nuzzles her. “Go on, tell her what you want.”

“Can I have a…” Night giggles nervously. “Gosh, this is so weird to ask this of my marefriend’s mom… Can I have a… sexy nurse outfit?”

Rune’s knowing smile stays where it is. “Anything else?”

Feeling a little more comfortable, she continues. “Maybe… like a maid costume… and a cat costume too?”

The last one raises the eyebrow again as Rune looks over to her daughter. “Found a wild one, didn’t you?”

The younger unicorn laughs nervously and rubs the back of her neck. “G-Guess I did...”

With a glowing blush, Night laughs along before a sudden thought occurs to her. “Wait, so I have to model these too?!”

Rolling her eyes playfully, Rune pats the batpony’s head. “Dear, I do that because I like seeing ponies enjoy them, and so I can know any changes to make for the future. Plus, I’m a mother and a mare; trust me, you’ve got nothing I haven’t seen before. You should be more worried about what Autumn will do if she watches.”

Emerald leather wings spread out slowly as Night turns to Autumn. The young unicorn pretends to be interested in a spot on the sofa, refusing to meet the eyes of either pony.

“Don’t worry.” The mare nudges the thestral. “You should know by now: she’s shy, but feisty.” The filly in question groans and buries her face into the cushions.

The batpony giggles. “Oh, I definitely know that…”

“Can we change the subject to something that isn’t me, please?” Autumn mumbles.

“Well, okay, but one last question for you, sweetie.” Rune turns to the blue filly. “Do you have any orders you’d like me to make? Since you have somepony else to wear them for now.”

Autumn thinks. “Uh...” She glances at Night. “I’m not really sure what she’s into, so I dunno...any suggestions, Night?”

The thestral tries to reign in her wings as she thinks, her blush growing. “Umm… school filly?”

Her marefriend giggles, blushing as well. “School filly outfit, then. Please and thank you.”

Rune giggles along as well. “Hmm… socks, shoes, skirt, shirt, bow, and undies… a very classic arrangement.” A timer goes off in the kitchen. “Oops, those are the cookies. Be right back.” She leaves quickly.

Once she’s out of the room, Autumn nudges her marefriend, smirking. “Didn’t know you were into that sort of thing.”

“Y-You’ll have to be more specific,” Night says, looking away.

“Well, the cat suit, for one thing.” She giggles. “I don’t have a problem with it, I just didn’t expect it.”

“I-It was just a random idea I had!” the batpony blusters. “You know… the whiskers are neat, and the ears are cute, paws, a bell… and I already have the eyes and teeth…”

Smiling, Autumn nuzzles her, trying to calm her down. “I know...it sounds cute to me too. Just surprised me is all.”

“Kinda like how you surprised me with all this on our first night…” Night whispers. “Suddenly I found myself a sexy nurse with a very unruly patient.”

Autumn lowers her voice as well, adopting a more seductive tone. “What can I say...I needed my medicine.”

A small whooshing sound occurs as the thestral’s wings spread fully. Her face glowing red, Night playfully tackles Autumn, pinning her. “You are so bad! Roleplaying too now?!”

“I’m bad, am I?” The unicorn keeps up her alluring tone, grinning widely. “Maybe you should teach me some manners.” She sticks her tongue out.

“No no no!” The grey filly hides her face in her marefriend’s fur. “You are not talking me into a teacher’s outfit to pair with your student one!”

“That wasn’t what I was thinking...but now I like that idea.” She cackles with laughter. “Or we could just stick with the nurse’s outfit. Schools have nurses, right?”

Her mind starting to fill with all kinds of naughty images, Night huddles down more. “Stop making me think such alluring things!” She lunges forward, her teeth lightly clamping on the filly’s neck. Not near enough to pierce the skin, just enough to make the bat-pony feel better.

Autumn gasps, going quiet for a second before speaking again, back to normal volume. “Night...you’re getting me excited again...”

Night’s voice hisses through her fangs. “What do you think you’re doing to me?”

“I’ll stop, I’ll stop!” the unicorn promises. “Just...don’t let mom find us like this, please!”

A familiar yet dreaded voice speaks from the doorway. “A bit late, sweetie.”

Autumn freezes, then flops down as though trying to play dead. Night, meanwhile, looks up with the guilty face of a cat caught with something it shouldn’t have.

Rune simply smiles at the two of them, setting down the plate of warm cookies on the table. “And here I was thinking I’d have to come up with some strange way of broaching the next topic. Yet here you two are bringing it right into view… in the living room no less. Quite shameless.”

Autumn groans, wishing she could just disappear. Instead, she opts to roll out from underneath Night and hide behind her as best she can.

Left before the surprisingly stoic mother, Night swallows yet again this evening, her wings still spread. “Umm… the cookies smell nice?”

“Don’t they?” A green aura floats one to all three of them. “Here, have a bite and collect yourselves.”

Sighing, Autumn takes the cookie offered to her and nibbles on it, letting herself relax. Nightshade does much the same, taking a bite out of the cookie and immediately humming happily. “Mmm!”

“Glad you like them.” Rune calmly eats her own, silence settling in as they enjoy the treats. Pushing the plate towards the fillies as she grabs another cookie, Rune speaks. “So, how far have you two gone?”

The thestral’s eye bug out as she freezes, the sheer bluntness of the question stunning her. Autumn coughs, nearly choking on the cookie. “Mom!”

“What?” Rune says innocently. “It’s just a simple question.”

Autumn rubs her throat. “Simple question, not so simple an answer...” She looks to Night for help. The batpony shakes her head vehemently, crossing her forelegs in a big ‘x’. Autumn sighs. “...define ‘far’?”

“I’m simply wondering if you would now consider yourself sexually active,” her mother states, deftly taking a bite of cookie. “Admittedly, I don’t have to worry as much as if you liked colts, but as a mother I still worry and want to make sure you are comfortable and aren’t having problems or anything.”

The younger unicorn looks away, scuffing the floor with a hoof. “Well...we’ve, um...gone a couple rounds...” She trails off, hoping that’s enough of an answer.

Rune nods at this. “I’ll take that as a big yes then… have you started using toys or roleplaying? Do I need to go over safety with those?”

“Mom!” Autumn cries again, face more red than blue now. “No, no, and no!”

Blushing her own amount, Night raises a tentative hoof. “Well, technically that second one is a ‘we’ll see’...” The young unicorn glares at her, causing her to shrink. “What? It’s true… and safety sounds good…”

“I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again: I like you, Nightshade. Good head on your shoulders.” She settles into her sitting position. “So, roleplaying, hmm? I guess that’s why you need costumes.”

Autumn sighs. “I blame her...she brought it up.”

“Me? You were the one putting all the thoughts into my head!” Night exclaims.

“Well...” The blue unicorn trails off and shakes her head. “Never mind...”

“Oh? What’s this?” Rune’s eyes chuckle with just as much mirth as the rest of her. “Is my little angel secretly a subliminal succubus?”

“Mom, I don’t even know what that is!” Autumn cries, flopping onto her back and covering her eyes.

Night looks to her. “It’s a-”

“Ah ah ah, let’s not go there right now.” The mare offers more cookies. “So, would you be willing to hear me out on some things, no matter how embarrassing?”

Autumn groans. “You’re not gonna let me leave without hearing them anyway, are you?”

“Safety reasons, sweetie,” she says, taking a sip of milk. “Also, it helps make things more fun and pleasurable.”

Her daughter sighs. “Fine...” Night just watches and listens attentively, her wings folded once again.

“Alright, first off, roleplaying is all about having fun as a character. However, it is important to know when one is in or out of character, so that you can communicate properly,” Rune lectures, her tail swishing. “This can be done easily once you get experience, but for beginners I might suggest a safe-word.”

“Safe-word?” Autumn looks up at her, confused.

“I think I know this…” the batpony says. “It’s like something that would never be said normally, so we know it when we hear it, right? Usually something weird like… I dunno… rubber ducky or something.”

“Once again, Nightshade scores points,” the green mare remarks. “I’ll have to make sure you didn’t write the answers on the back of your hoof if you keep this up.”

Night just smiles from the praise. Autumn facehoofs. “Is this a competition now?”

“No, but if she’s more informed than you then she is more likely to lead these little sessions of yours. So either learn to know, or learn how to start convincing her to let you lead.” A mischievous twinkle is in Rune’s eyes as she continues. “Now, the second tip is the last one: trust. It is all about trusting your partner, whether them knowing you well enough to not take it too far, or as far as you like it. It also stresses the importance of talking to each other. Discuss what you like, don’t like, all your little kinks. If it’s out in the open, it can be explored and you might discover new things.”

Autumn nods slowly. “That sounds easy enough...I’m pretty sure Night already knows all my kinks, though.” She smirks at the thestral. “She’s done enough experimenting.”

Rune’s smiling mask shatters at this as she blinks. “I’m sorry, what?”

“Not the way you’re thinking,” the younger unicorn explains. “Just when we’re fooling around, she stumbles onto something, like how sensitive my tail is. Or, like you walked in on, my neck.”

Slowly the mask comes back. “Never assume you know everything about one another, sweetie. There is always more to discover. Though I might suggest more private places to discover things next time. For now though, I think that concludes this little safety lecture.” She raises a hoof. “Fair warning: the one on toys is longer, more in depth, more practical, and comes with visual aides.”

Autumn swallows. “I-I think we’ll hold off on that one...for a century or two...”

“Y-Yeah…” Night nods nervously.

“Suit yourselves.” Rune shrugs before standing up. “For now, follow me. I still need to get Nightshade’s measurements before I release you two to do unspeakable things to each other.”

Autumn rolls her eyes, but chuckles and stands up as well, pulling Night up with her. “Okay, mom...”