Room 219

Chapters

2 - Crossing The Line
3 - Playing The Role
5 - Bruised And Broken
6 - Changes
7 - At The Bottom
8 - The Quiet Things That No One Ever Knows
9 - What Bits Can't Buy
Epilogue - The Rest Of Our Lives To Live
1 - Best Plans Laid
4 - The Last Mile Before The Cliff Is Always The Smoothest

2 - Crossing The Line

That’s a dude...

Dust stared blankly at the earth pony stallion in the hallway. His visitor was shying away, his face bright red as he stammered awkwardly.

“I mean, this is your card, right?”

That’s a dude...

“I wasn’t sure, cause it didn’t say anything about mares or stallions...”

That’s a dude...

“I—I, uh—I’ve got bits.”

That’s—wait, what? Dust shook himself and stepped aside. “I’m sorry, I just—come in for a moment.”

The stallion muttered his thanks and stepped quickly into the room. The word “scampered” sprang to Dust’s mind.

“Are you afraid of being seen or something?” he asked, offering a chair.

The visitor shrugged off his bookbag and dropped it against the wall near the door before settling down, still wide-eyed and fidgety. “Um... I don’t know, really, I—” He ran a hoof through his blonde mane. “I’ve never done anything like this before.”

Dust sat down across the small dorm room from his visitor, sizing him up as his head spun from what was happening. The tan earth pony wasn’t really large or small, but he was pretty lean. He looked like a runner, or maybe even a gymnast—but his trophy-shaped cutie mark wasn’t offering any clues. Whatever he was, he clearly wasn’t any more comfortable with the situation than Dust was. “Okay,” the pegasus started slowly, “so you just found my card?”

“Well, sorta. I actually found it two weeks ago. I thought about throwing it away, but I just held on to it. I don’t really know why.”

Dust snorted ironically. Makes sense. I can’t figure out why I didn’t throw it out either.

“Anyway, I didn’t think I’d come by. I, well, wasn’t really interested. Not just in stallions, I mean, at all. I’m generally way too busy working out and practicing for that sorta stuff.”

“Oh? You an athlete then?”

He nodded. “Yeah, I’m on the tennis team.”

Dust nodded. “Okay, so what should I call you? You don’t have to give me your actual name if you don’t want to. I won’t go looking you up or anything.”

“Okay, yeah, that makes sense. The guys on team all call me ‘Winger’. Well, at least they do when they’re being nice, anyway.”

“Okay, you can call me ‘Copper’. Are the ponies on your team mean to you?”

The earth pony sighed and slumped slightly, looking at his own hooves. “Not really mean, I guess, but I don’t fit in at all. In the locker room, the guys on the team are always talking about all the mares they know and stuff like that. Somepony always has a story, or a comment, or a date that they’re going to do things on—except for me. I’m shy, so I never say anything anyway, and I think they’re all, well, they’re wondering about me. If they found out for sure that I’m a virgin, I’d never hear the end of it.”

Dust’s head canted. “And they wouldn’t if they knew you lost your virginity to a stallion?”

“Well... I wasn’t planning to tell them that part...”

“Do you really think this is the best way to make yourself feel more confident around them?”

“I don’t know—I didn’t really expect an interview about this. Hmmm...” To his credit, Winger looked like he was thinking hard about the question for a moment before he answered. “It’s not just that, Copper. I’ve never experienced anything like that before. Like, actually nothing. I guess, I just really want to know what it’s like.” He looked up and gave Dust an extremely awkward grin. “I’m just, like, really nervous right now, you know?”

“Can I be honest? This is my first time, too.”

Winger stared at the pegasus, surprise written on his face. “So, you’ve never... Really?”

Dust shook his head. “Nope. You’re the first one.”

“So why are you doing this, then?”

“To put it plainly, I need the money. I lost my job, and if I can’t come up with some big-time bits by the end of the semester, I’m going home.”

Winger sprang over to his pack and started digging through the bag. “Oh! I’ve totally got bits. I didn’t know how much to bring, so I guessed high. I hope that’s—”

“Woah, woah. We can cover that later, Winger,” Dust interjected, trying to calm his customer down a bit. “I realize now that I don’t really have a price list or anything, so I suppose we’ll have to haggle over that aspect. Did you have anything in mind?”

The earth pony blushed clear to his eartips. “I—uh, n-not as such...”

Dust felt his own ears getting a bit hot as well. Am I seriously going through with this? “I could—I mean—you’re the customer, so you get to make the call.”

Winger let out a large breath. “Whoo. Okay, so, um, do you think that maybe you could, like, use your mouth? Like, for starters?”

Dust swallowed hard. “Yeah, sure. I-I can definitely d—do that.”

The strangest feeling came over Dust. He felt like he was watching himself from the outside, like somepony else was in control of his body. He felt himself get up from his chair and walk slowly across the carpeted floor towards his guest—no, customer, he reminded himself. Winger leaned back in the chair out of reflex, his face still a vibrant shade of red. His legs were still closed rather tightly together, and his forehooves were held almost protectively over his thighs.

Dust took a deep breath and went to his haunches in front of Winger. I can NOT believe I’m doing this... He reached out and took Winger’s forehooves and gently moved them to his sides. Winger bit his lip. “I—I need to get, uh, get in,” he said quietly as he put his hooves to his customer’s knees and pushed them apart.

The sensation of fur under his hooves was almost startlingly intense. Winger’s jaw was practically trembling; whether from fear, nervousness, or anticipation Dust didn’t know. For his part, Dust was glad he was sitting down, because he was pretty sure his legs wouldn’t support him right now. Winger’s groin was right in front of him, and even in the circumstances, there was not a hint of his erection yet.

Wow, he wasn’t kidding; he IS shy. Well, I guess I have to help out if I want to get paid.

Dust leaned in slowly. The scent was clean, but undeniably that of a male, and Dust could pick up hints of soap. He took a shower before he came here! That’s just... thoughtful. Maybe, just maybe, I can get through this...

Settling himself a bit more comfortably on his haunches, Dust leaned in the rest of the way and touched his muzzle to the underside of Winger’s sheath. The earth pony gasped and clenched his eyes shut at the touch. Dust took a deep breath, trying to steady his nerves. The smell of the other male blocked out almost all other sensations. It was cloying, almost repugnant, but somehow not. It was confusing, and enticing, and everything else at once. Without any other way to delay, Dust willed himself to touch his lips to the sheath.

Instantly, Dust could feel it swelling. He almost gagged at the idea that another male was getting hard because of him, but he pushed that thought aside. Just think of the bits, he told himself. But what do I do? What would I like?

He ran his nose over the length of the concealing flesh, sticking out his tongue to follow it. He traced it from the top of Winger’s sack to the top of the sheath just in time to catch his customer’s stallionhood spilling out into the open, and growing rapidly. The half-flaccid flesh momentarily draped itself across his muzzle, rubbing upwards as Winger’s erection solidified. Dust suppressed a shudder.

Bits, bits, bits, bits...

Dust ran his tongue roughly from the base to the tip, settling back for a moment of space and really seeing his work for the first time. The earth pony would have been slumped in the chair if his spine hadn’t been quite so rigid. He was biting his lip so hard Dust was surprised it wasn’t bleeding, and his eyes were tight closed. Wow, is he that uptight, or is this just that... weird?

He leaned back in, rubbing the side of his furry muzzle along the length, and looked up at Winger. The pony was breathing as hard as his clenched mouth would allow, the air sucking noisily between his teeth. “I-Is—is this... good?”

“Oh, Harmony, Copper. I—never felt anything—like—”

Wow, I had no idea I could do THAT to a pony! Awestruck by the effect he was having, Dust came head to head with Winger’s swollen glans. Jeez, that looks almost painful, he realized. I guess that has to go... into... my—don’t think about it, don’t think about it, just do it.

Dust placed his lips against the tip, and slowly parted his mouth. The smell intensified somehow, and Dust felt his mind getting a bit hazy as the head slid past his lips and met his tongue.

“Oh, Copper, wow, oh—” he cut off with a sharp, pained intake of breath.

Dust immediately pulled his mouth off of Winger’s cock. “Are you okay? Did I do something?”

“I-I’m fine,” the earth pony stammered, “you just—your teeth. That really kinda hurt.”

“Oh... right.” Dust was glad his patron hadn’t opened his eyes once yet, otherwise he might see how utterly humiliated Dust was feeling at the moment. He swore he must have been glowing with blush all the way to his tail. Hmm, so what do I do now?

Cautiously, Dust licked his lips a few times, opened his jaw as wide as it would go, and tried to maneuver his lips over his teeth. It took a few tries, but when he came back down and took Winger into his mouth again, there were no complaints whatsoever. Instead, Dust heard only a low moan coming from above.

I—I’m doing it!

The feeling of a pony’s member in his mouth was unlike anything Dust could compare to. It was warm, and alive, and it pulsed in time with Winger’s gasps. If he closed his eyes and thought about something else, Dust could ignore his situation, but everytime the other pony twitched, he was reminded that he was pleasuring a male. Still, the sounds were a bit... gratifying.

Winger finally moved, just one hoof. Dust felt a slight shift in his body, and then Winger’s hoof began rubbing ever-so-gently at one of his ears. Without even meaning to, Dust moaned slightly in his throat, causing Winger to tense and moan in return. The rubbing on his ear intensified, and Dust sank the rock-hard stallion a little further into his mouth as he murred.

It was a cycle, building on itself. The more Dust did to Winger, the more Winger relaxed and the tighter he rubbed Dust’s mane and ears. Dust felt his hoof raise and begin stroking the length of his patron’s cock as he pulled off and gasped for a breath. He glanced up to see Winger’s absolutely euphoric expression, eyes still closed, lost in his own world. Dust felt a twinge and glanced down. His own cock was out, dropping onto the floor between his legs. You traitor! his mind screamed. You shouldn’t—I don-don’t—I don’t enjoy... He looked back up as his hoof pumped Winger’s flesh, seeing his face from below.

Luna dammit, I AM enjoying this...

Willing himself to put it out of his mind, he reared back in, taking Winger’s cockhead into his mouth again. He moaned, running his tongue all around the swollen knob as his hoof pleasured the remainder. Winger gasped and hunched his hips slightly once, twice. Dust felt a sharper-than-normal tug on his ear, and he finally took the hint, plunging his muzzle back down the stallion’s flesh. He moved his hoof to rub gently at Winger’s sack as he bobbed, tongue splayed along the underside. Dust took it from his patron’s moans that he was doing well.

Dust tried to get more of it inside his muzzle, wondering if he could make it all the way down, but 6 inches from bottom he felt the head hit the back of his throat and gagged slightly. He pulled back off, took a few deep breaths, ignored the fluids smearing over his cheek, and went back in.

The pegasus soon found a good rhythm, where he could take Winger almost all the way to the back of his throat, stopping just before he triggered his gag reflex. Stars above, are my wings hard... he mused. Winger was at least as aroused, as his water preejaculate was streaming from his tip with every small thrust he made into Dust’s mouth. Dust swallowed in between every other bob, trying to keep up with Winger’s output. Poor guy wasn’t lying, he’s definitely pent up.

With no warning, Winger grabbed both of Dust’s ears and opened his mouth in a silent cry. Dust could feel the cock in his mouth pulsing stronger and stronger, and realized what was happening just a second too late. Winger came into Dust’s throat with a force that felt like a fire hose.

Dust felt the shot hit his throat forcefully. Caught in between breaths, he choked up, closing his throat, but the involuntary hunch his body made in response forced Winger’s stallionhood right up against the back of his mouth. Dust gagged, his body unable to decide whether to accept or repel the intruding fluid. Either way, the first shot was still coming as Dust jerked upwards, pulling the cock from his mouth and starting to cough. His hooves somehow knew their job, though, and continued to pump the spasming stallion’s length, pleasuring him all through his orgasm.

With barely enough time to register the all-encompassing taste and scent now filling his muzzle, Winger’s second pulse hit, shooting out to hit Dust right in the cheek. Dust shied, closing his eyes, and felt what seemed like a gallon of stallion cum hit his face in pulse after pulse after pulse.

Oh, Harmony...

The smell was beyond overpowering. It was undiluted maleness, and Dust’s brain couldn’t process it. The taste was bitter and pungent, and it coated every bit of his mouth, pooling on his tongue as he dumbly held his mouth open and caught the dregs of Winger’s climax on it. The wet warmth covered him. He could feel it running down his cheeks and dripping onto his chest. It was in his nose and mane. He cautiously opened one eye and saw Winger just coming down from his experience.

“Wow, Copper, I—oh jeez, I did all that?”

The look on Winger’s face was so absurd that Dust couldn’t help but chuckle. Small, nervous barks of amusement grew into actual laughs as his mind shut down, unable or unwilling to process what he had just done and what he was covered with.

Dust swallowed once, twice, and a third time, grimacing at the taste as he forced his mouthful down. He laughed again, giving Winger’s deflating shaft a last, long lick. “Damn, I guess you really needed that. I hope it was worth it.”

Winger slumped like there weren’t any bones in his spine. “I can’t even describe...” he panted. “Okay, now I know—know why the guys—always talk about sex so much.”

Dust stood slowly up, looking around for a towel, a rag, anything to clean himself off with so he didn’t have to go down the hall to the restroom covered in fresh semen. “So,” he offered slowly, “was that... enough?”

The earth pony blushed again, getting up on wobbly legs. “I—I don’t know...” he said. “I was, you know, kinda hoping to know what actual sex was like.”

As if I DIDN’T know it would come to that...

Dust remembered that he had a roll of paper towels in his closet, and stood up to find them with only one useful eye. “I understand, Winger. It’s not a problem. Give me just a second to... clean up.”

Winger nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, no problem.” As Dust moved to pass him, headed for the closet, Winger leaned in. “Hey,” he whispered, “I know, like, you’re doing this for money, but thanks. It means a lot to me.”

Dust blushed hard as he wiped his eyes clear, glad to be able to hide behind the mass of paper towels. He tried to clean off his face and forehooves, realizing that to actually clean himself would require far more towels than he had on hoof.

Note to self: more towels. Also, he thought, trying to sniff anything through the reek of cum in his nose, probably more shampoo, too. Dear Harmony, I'm actually making a shopping list because of this job...

Forced to settle, Dust turned back. From his vantage point in the room, he could just catch a glimpse of himself in the small mirror by the door. The normally ruddy fur on his face was a deep brown, completely matted down and slick. His black mane was clumped together in shocks of stiffened hair that stuck out randomly, and his chest was still adorned with whitish splotches up to his chin. Self-consciously, Dust tried to smooth out his mane, absently wondering why he was so concerned with making a decent presentation to the stallion who was paying to rut him.

Winger's half-softened erection began to rise a bit as Dust turned to face him again. "Heh," he chuckled quietly, "is it weird that I find you kinda hot at the moment?"

Yes, he thought, catching himself. Well, I suppose I am standing next to a stallion, both half-erect, and I'm covered in his seed. I suppose being embarrassed over being admired by a male will have to get in line. Dignity can wait until after I get paid.

"I dunno," Dust replied, equally quiet. "You really think I'm hot?"

Winger shivered slightly, his cock twitching noticeably underneath him. "Yeah."

"Well, you can do something about that. How, uh, how would you like me?"

"I—um, I guess from, uh, behind?"

Dust nodded. "Okay, that's classic, I guess."

Seeing few other options, Dust turned to his bed and rested his front half against the mattress, closing his eyes as the remains of his guest's prior climax smeared between his chest and his sheets. I guess more laundry soap, too... He could sense Winger behind him, almost feel the stallion's nervousness. Hoping to encourage him, Dust flicked his tail from side to side, exposing himself to the earth pony. Winger's hooves hit the bedframe as he reared up.

"Winger—" Dust gasped.

He froze. "Yeah?"

"Just... go slow, please."

"Yeah, of course."

There was a brush against his tail, a gentle rub between his cheeks, and Dust felt the wet, hard tip of Winger's erection against his hole. He tried to relax, tried to not clench up, but he bit his lip all the same at the sensation. The touch became a gentle but forceful prod. Already smeared with cum, Winger's cock began to slip slowly inwards, spreading Dust's opening around it.

Dust moaned in pain, fear, nervousness, and arousal. The feeling of the earth pony's flat cockhead pressing against his ass was completely foreign, unexpected, unwanted—and yet Dust didn't want to tell him to stop. He gasped at the shock of pain as Winger slipped the head past his ring, truly penetrating the pegasus for the first time.

"You okay, Copper?" came the quiet voice from behind.

"I—yeah, I—oooh—never did this before..."

"Yeah—me—hmmmmm—neither..."

Winger's hoof came back down to support himself against the bedframe, and he began to press his length deeper into Dust's backside. The sensation being filled was completely new, and indescribable. Just when he thought he was sure to break in half, he felt Winger's hips bump up against his rump, and he knew that his customer was hilted deep inside him. Winger's chest came down to rest against the smaller pony's back, and Dust moaned out loud in spite of himself. There was something so... primal about feeling a body against his back, covering him, holding him down. As wrong as it felt, it felt—desirable. He felt desirable.

Unable to hold himself back any longer, Winger pulled back, pressing his hips forward again, thrusting slowly. Dust could feel a small twinge with every movement, and knew that something must be torn back there. He hadn't had time to prepare for his first experience, and he would pay for it tomorrow, no doubt.

Despite the pain, there was a fire slowly building in Dust. His mind screamed against it, but he could feel his own cock starting to twitch against his belly, rubbing through his cum-streaked fur. Winger was pumping his length into Dust's body in earnest now, his ragged breathing seeming to echo in Dust's ear. The hot breath against his cheek and neck, the way Winger's hooves held him, the feeling of being filled to the brim over and over and over again—it was all having too much of an effect on Dust, and he gave over to the sensations, his mind shutting out every thought but the sexual act itself.

Winger stood back up, panting as he rutted Dust properly. The pegasus' wings were flat out against the sheets, spread so taut they almost ached as his hips were slammed against the bedframe. He realized that Winger would probably have been finished by now if he hadn't just cum from his oral ministrations minutes ago.

Dust moaned into the dense mattress, unable to reach his own aching erection. His hooves were pressed under his body as he was taken by the earth pony. He raised his head to stare into the wall, gasping for breath. He was shocked by his own voice.

"Oh, oh, uhhh, oh, Winger, yes! Oh, Harmony..."

Winger lay back down across Dust's back, stretching out to nibble at the base of his ear. Dust shook and writhed at the touch, gasping at the feeling of Winger's cock pressing against his insides as he moved. He felt Winger reach underneath his body and grab his bobbing length, beginning to pump his hoof along it as he thrust into Dust's rump. Dust moaned, trying to mumble his thanks to his customer for the hoof job, but he was unable to make coherent words anymore.

As taboo as it all felt, as utterly sexual and overwhelming as it was, Dust had no fuse left. He tensed, his rear hooves almost leaving the floor as his climax hit. He could feel his asshole grab onto the cock buried inside it, holding it tightly as he began to spray his seed onto the carpeted floor.

Winger stamped a hoof, reacting to the tightness of Dust's ass as the muscles rippled. He tucked his muzzle into the sheets alongside Dust's cheek, braying a muffled call into the fabric. He grabbed the pegasus tight around the middle and pressed as deeply as he could, and Dust felt the blast of cum paint his insides. It was warm and it pressed in waves. Dust felt himself filling up, heard himself moaning like a mare in heat. His legs shuddered, his body held up by the bed, Winger's hooves, and the stiff meat tucked under his tail.

After a minute, all movement stopped. Winger lay across Dust's body, panting softly in his ear as he regained his breath. Dust panted also, looking straight ahead at the wall, pointedly ignoring the feeling of cum leaking out of his ass around Winger's slowly softening member. He could feel the odd drip of semen tugged free by gravity from his own cock, both from his own climax and the rivulet of his customer's seed that ran down his balls and over his length to the floor.

He gasped involuntarily as Winger reared, slowly pulled his cock out of Dust's ass, and stood up. Unable to rise, or even look up, Dust lay still as the earth pony leaned over the bed, awkwardly whispered his thanks again, gave the pegasus a kiss on the base of the ear, and padded across the carpet.

There was a soft clink of coins on the dresser.

"You're worth more, but it's all I've got," Winger said quietly.

I can't turn down an invitation from somepony who's buying, after all...

The door opened and closed, and Dust slumped to the floor, curled into a ball, and hugged himself. He shook uncontrollably, laying in a puddle of sexual fluids. His ass hurt, and he could still feel cum leaking from his hole, matting his tail.

What the hell did I just do?

Author's Note

I promised smut, and I delivered.
Please feed the author, by the way. He lives on a highly specialized diet of feedback and critique.

3 - Playing The Role

"Copper! Where've you been, bro?"

Dust looked up just as Breeze and Saxus plopped down into the seat across the lunchroom table.

"Hey, Breeze, Shadow. I'm fine."

Breeze frowned. "I've seen plenty of 'fine', and you don't look fine. What's up? I haven't seen you in two days or so."

"Oh, I've just been around."

"What, like, in your room?" Saxus asked.

Dust nodded.

"For two days?"

Dust nodded again.

"What about classes?" Breeze asked.

Dust shook his head.

Both Breeze and Saxus leaned back, shock on their faces.

"Breeze, he didn't go to class. He never doesn't go to class."

"Do you think he's sick?"

"I think he might be dying."

Dust could feel the beginnings of a smirk despite his mood. "Dammit, you two. You make it really hard for a pony to have a good, honest sulk, you know that?"

"Hey, what are bastards for, right?" Breeze chuckled. "Seriously, though, what's up?"

Dust was quiet for a long time, just staring out the window. "I left that card in here."

Shadow quirked an eyebrow. "What card?"

"The one you two made for me."

"... when?"

"A few weeks ago, when I was over at your place."

"Oh," Saxus said, neutrally. Then the truth sank in and his eyes shot wide open. "Oh. Oooooohhhh..."

Breeze winced and looked at his roommate for guidance. "I was really drunk that night. What did we do again?"

Saxus swallowed. "We, um, we might have tried to convince Copper here to sell his body for money. Like, we made him a card and everything."

"Oh, shit, we did do that, didn't we?" Breeze shook his head. "Why would you even keep that? It couldn't have been readable."

Dust felt his face get a little warm, glad for his reddish fur. "I sorta... made a better one. And then I left it in the lunchroom."

Saxus couldn't help but laugh softly. "Wow. I never would have guessed in a million years, dude."

"I had a—a customer."

Breeze and Saxus froze, silent.

"Two nights ago."

"Wait—it worked?" Saxus asked, incredulous.

Dust nodded. "I guess it did. Around midnight or so, a pony showed up with my card in their hoof."

Breeze grinned and leaned in, shoulder to shoulder with his roommate. "Okay, details. Who was it? Was she older? How was she? Tell us!"

Dust grimaced. "Okay, even if I were the kind of pony to take this thing seriously, I wouldn't kiss and tell. That ain't cool."

The unicorn rolled his eyes. "Well, give us something!"

Dust seemed to shrink back. "It—it was—" His ears flattened against his head. "It wasn't a mare."

Both friends seemed to consider that statement for a long time.

"Shadow, did we put anything on that card regarding... preference?"

"Uh, no, I don't believe we did."

"Shit."

"Yeah, no kidding," Dust interjected. "It was really awkward at first. Things got a bit easier as it went on, though—at least for him, they did."

Breeze turned back to his red-faced friend. "Wait, so, did you go through with it?"

Dust laid his face in his hooves, hiding his eyes. "I didn't really want to," he said in a quiet voice, "but all I could think about at first was how much I needed the bits. But he was so cute—like, not that kind, just awkward and shy and softspoken, though I suppose he was kinda cute like that,too—honestly, I think I felt sorry for him. I wanted to help him out. Things just sorta happened from there."

"So you..." Saxus asked.

"Yeah."

"Aaand, did he..."

"Yup."

Breeze whistled through his teeth. "Wow. So, I guess that's why you're... this."

Dust looked up, trying hard to keep his emotions in check. "I just have no idea what happened. The last thing I really remember deciding consciously was that I needed the cash, and then I remember a big blur where some things hurt and some things felt good and I didn't know which was which, and then I woke up on the floor the next morning. It had to have been 11am or so, and everypony was gone to class already, so I got up, took a shower, cleaned my room for a few hours, took another shower, and spent the rest of the day curled up in the corner of my dorm crying."

Saxus' eyes were sympathetic as he slid into Dust's side of the bench and put a hoof around his shoulders. "Oh, Dust..."

"And then another shower, of course."

Breeze snorted in mild amusement. I—wow, I really want to ask this, but I feel like a complete jackass for wanting to."

"Hundred fifty," Dust said, barely audible.

"Huh?"

"You were gonna ask how much I made, right? A hundred and fifty bits."

Breeze's jaw dropped. "Sun, moon, and stars, Copper!"

Dust leaned into Saxus' hug. "I know, I know. That's more than I would have made in an entire week of shifts at The Haystack. I guess that's why I feel so messed up right now. I guess if I hadn't made very much then quitting would be pretty easy."

"Wait," Saxus said, "you're not thinking about keeping up with this, are you?"

Dust shrugged noncommittally.

"Look what it's done to you already! Do you think you can keep doing this?"

"I don't know," Dust replied wearily. "All I do know is that I'm eight-and-a-third percent of the way to my goal, and I only had to 'work' for two hours to do it."

"Nerd," Breeze muttered, drawing a slight grin from Dust.

"Well, yeah, that's all great and stuff, but if you can't live with yourself afterwards..."

Dust looked up and returned Saxus' hug. "I know, Shadow. I know. I'm still thinking about it. Isn't this, like, supposed to get easier the more you do it? How long before I get over the hill?"

Breeze glanced around, obviously uncomfortable. "Look..."

"Yeah?"

"Okay, I'm not saying you should do this, because I'm just not. But if you're determined to go through with it, well..." Breeze rubbed his hooves together awkwardly. "You know how you told us you enjoyed doing drama in secondary school? And how you wished you didn't have to work so much so you could do it here?"

Dust nodded.

"Well, maybe you could pretend, you know? Like this is your character, and you just have to act out the part."

"Well, that sounds nice," the smaller pegasus replied, "but it sorta breaks down when it's my asshole being torn apart by some pony's cock."

Breeze and Saxus flinched. "Dude..."

"Seriously, you think it's easy to walk after that? 'Cause it's not."

Saxus winced again and wrapped his forehoof around tighter to cover Dust's mouth. "Okay, that's about enough of that," he said. Dust sighed.

"Again, I'm not saying you should," Breeze went on, ears back. "I'm just saying maybe it would help."

Dust shrugged out from behind Saxus' hoof. "What do you think I should do, Breeze?"

"Honestly? I don't know. I know how bad you need the money and what being here means to you."

Dust nodded. "Thanks. Shadow?"

Saxus released the pegasus. "I'm with Breeze, bro. But I really don't want to see you get hurt, either."

"Hey," Dust said hopefully, "there's not even any guarantee that anypony will show up after this. I mean, that card might be long gone by now. Maybe this is all academic."

Dust stared out the door, past the card and the hoof holding it up to see the face of the unicorn stallion in the hallway.

"So... not academic, then," he muttered. “Well, it only took a week...”

The pony in the hall's ears drooped slightly. "Huh?"

"Never mind," Dust replied. "Come on in."

"Thanks!"

Dust pulled out his spare seat for the guest and sat down on the edge of his bed, trying to evaluate his customer. In marked contrast to his first taker, the bright yellow unicorn seemed almost eager. His grin was nervous, but not forced. He might even have been smaller than Copper himself, which was pretty noteworthy in itself. There was something that Copper couldn't put his hoof on, though, something about the way the unicorn carried himself, the way his mane lay against his neck.

"Okay," Dust began, "um, what should I call you? It doesn't have to be your name."

"Oh, I don't mind," the unicorn said in a practically cheery tone. "I'm Footlight."

"Okay, fair enough. Call me Copper."

"Okay, Copper!"

"So, I take it you knew what that card was for before you showed up, yes?"

The unicorn grinned. "Oh, I had a pretty good idea."

"And, obviously, you knew I wasn't a mare."

"Well, duh. Whitefeather is a male dorm."

Dust nodded. "Yeah, I figured that would be pretty obvious."

Footlight settled down long enough to play with his tail absentmindedly. "Sorry, I get pretty hyper when I'm nervous. Truth is, I've been into stallions for a few years now. At least, I'm pretty sure I am."

"You're not sure?" Dust remarked, surprised.

"Well, pretty sure. I mean, the thing is, I've never actually had a coltfriend. Which is a huge bummer, because it means it's hard to tell, you know? I've only had a few kisses from other ponies, and you'd think it would be easy being a drama major, especially with all the hot stallions in the dance classes, but nooOOOooo."

Dust tried to keep his face neutral, but wasn't sure he managed. His guest wasn't paying much attention anyway. "So you're here because..."

"Because I want to know what it's like to have a coltfriend!" Footlight slapped his hoof over his mouth. "Sorry, that probably shouldn't have been so loud..."

If it had been any louder, Dust would have had to physically pry his ears off of his head. "Ah. So, did you have anything in mind?"

Footlight kicked a hoof, embarrassed. "I, um, I want the whole thing, you know? I want to experience love. I wanna know what it's like to fall asleep next to somepony afterwards."

"Well, see, the thing is, I usually charge by the hour..."

"You do?"

Dust stopped. "Well, I should be, anyway. Maybe we can make a deal."

"Pffffffft, money isn't an issue. My parents are stacked. They sent me here with so much junk I had to sell most of it just to fit in my dorm room."

Dust bit his lip, trying to keep his inward flips of joy from showing. "Okay, well, let's see, then. You want me to play the role of your coltfriend, sleep with you, and let you stay for the night, yes?" Footlight nodded emphatically. "Okay. How's two hundred sound?"

The unicorn's ears drooped just slightly. "Wow, that much?"

"Well, I mean, what does it say about me if I sell my body for cheap? Seriously, though, you can take the whole night and we can do whatever you want. Whatever coltfriends do."

"You know something, you're right," Footlight nodded. "It's a deal."

Well, I guess I get to play a role after all. I hope you're right about this, Breeze.

"So, why do you think you're having trouble getting a coltfriend?"

Footlight shrugged. "I don't know, maybe because I'm awkward. The stallions I'm interested in don't seem to like how I ramble."

Dust nodded slowly. "Ah, because you're nervous around them, yeah?"

"Yeah."

"So, you sound like a pony who could use a boost of confidence, then."

"I-is this good for that?"

Dust shrugged his wings. "So I'm told." The pegasus closed his eyes and tried to focus his thoughts. Okay, Dust. Play the part. You're totally into stallions, and you find this unicorn attractive enough to date. Dust opened one eye long enough to take a second look. Okay, it's not impossible. He's cute, in that small sort of way. You can do this. It's over a quarter of your tuition paid for if you can make his night worth it.

Taking a deep breath, Dust opened his eyes again. "So, Footlight, how does a confident stallion act around his special somepony?"

"O-oh, um," The unicorn got back up, shifting his weight awkwardly. "I, uh..."

Dust shook his head. "No, no. You're a drama major, get into the part. I'm Copper, your coltfriend. We've been dating for months now, and you want to take things to the next level." Dust smirked, unable to help himself. "Aaaaaaaand, scene."

Footlight closed his own eyes, stamped a hoof and shook his head. He took a deep breath, and came back up to look at Dust. There was something different about the unicorn. His stance was more firm, and he wasn't fidgeting. Hey, maybe there's something to this 'playing the role' thing, Dust thought.

"Hey, thanks for inviting me over, Copper," Footlight began, a slight smile playing over his muzzle.

"Well, I figured I owe you that," Dust played back, making the scene up as he went. "After all, I've seen your room."

"And this place is nice!" The unicorn walked over to the bed, jumped up and landed on his back, spread-eagled and bouncing lightly. "This bed is awesome! Having a room to yourself must be the greatest thing ever."

Dust smirked. "It has its moments. A nice big bed can come in handy."

Footlight covered his smirk with a hoof. "Snnrk, yeah, I bet it does."

Hmmm... Nah, not yet, Dust thought. Moment's not quite there yet.

"You wanna watch a movie or something?" he offered.

"Woah, you have a projector? What movies do you have?"

"Yeah, I picked one up at the tech department's garage sale last semester. Come here, you can see the choices."

In short order, Footlight picked out a movie, and the two ended up seated on the bed next to each other, both lounging back against the cinder-block wall as the picture began. Dust kept himself neutral, unsure of how Footlight would prefer to play the relationship. Does he want me to take the lead, or maybe he prefers that? Does he want me to be the stallion or the mare, here? He glanced over at his partner, seeing his eyes fixed on the screen and a warm smile on his face. Or, maybe I can just let things play out as they will...

Dust turned back to the picture himself, and it wasn't twenty minutes in before he felt Footlight slide a little closer and put a hoof around his shoulders. Dust leaned in also, resting against the side of the unicorn's barrel.

By the time the end credits rolled, it was getting on to nearly eleven at night. Dust felt himself snap out of a trancelike state, and realized that he was fully curled into Footlight's side, rubbing absently at his belly as the unicorn did the same to his back. The feeling of warmth was almost overwhelming.

So, this is what it's like...

"Um... Copper?"

Dust shook himself back into character. Still have a job to do, he thought to himself as he looked up. "Yeah?"

"So, we've been together for a while, right?"

He nodded. "Yup."

"Well, I was just wondering... " Footlight coughed quietly into his hoof. "I like you. I like you a lot. And, well, things have been so nice that I was wondering if you'd like to take it a bit further?"

Dust pondered. Yes, this is absolutely the moment. He continued to trace his hoof in slow circles around Footlight's chest and belly. "You really like me that much, huh?"

"Yeah," he gasped, his pale yellow chest rising and falling out of rhythm. "I do, Copper. I just wondered if you felt the same way."

"Well," Dust said softly, pressing tighter against his side, "I do. I have. I just wanted to hear you say it."

Footlight's ears perked forward. "Really? You want to... do... it?"

"Maybe I can make my point," Dust said, sticking his tongue out teasingly as he let his hoof drift down to caress the unicorn's genitals.

The smaller pony gasped, his head rocking forward involuntarily. Dust turned away, looking down in time to see the mottled sheath beneath him begin to swell and bulge. "I've been waiting..." Dust muttered, lost in the role.

Feeling undeniably frisky, Dust bent over, placing his mouth over the folds of Footlight's sheath. He felt his patron shudder, felt one hoof kick at the air under him, and murred quietly in his throat as Footlight's shaft grew straight into his mouth.

"Oh, Copper..."

I should probably get used to hearing that, the pegasus thought, trying to keep his mind on the job and off of the stirrings he was feeling in his wings and groin. Inside his mouth, the cock swelled, growing larger as it rubbed across his tongue and the roof of his muzzle, eventually filling every possible space until he had to lift off and catch his breath just before his gag reflex triggered.

Dust felt an involuntary shiver race down his spine, chasing the hoof that trailed along his back. His hoof trailed lower, kneading and rubbing gently at the unicorn's sac. The length in front of him twitched, almost knocking into his nose. So, Dust wondered, not everything about him is quite so small. Without a thought, he plunged his mouth back over the hard cock, lathering it with his tongue.

The hoof on his back drifted lower and started to rub circles around the base of his tail, and Dust couldn't stop a low, muffled moan from escaping his mouth. Underneath his body, hidden against the blankets, his own pride grew quickly. Dust pulled his mouth off, replacing his lips with his hoof. "I take it you like that, huh babe?"

"Oh, yeah." the unicorn moaned. Dust was about to get back to work when he felt a strong pull, like his head was held in a tight yet soft grasp. His muzzle was turned upwards, where Footlight was waiting, his horn glowing a soft blue. "Come here, you," he said quietly.

Dust was pulled into a kiss. There wasn't anything hesitant or awkward about it. Footlight's lips were wanton and passionate, and despite his misgivings, Dust couldn't deny the effect of it. The unicorn released his magic, and Dust fell into the kiss of his own volition, raising his hooves to wrap around Footlight's neck. Footlight's tongue traced over Dust's lips, seeking entry.

Wait a moment, Dust's mind cried. Tongue might be a bit much. I'm all for... um... wait a second. Dust's mind flickered back through the thought of what he had just had in his mouth already. Yeah, okay, that's not such a big deal in the long run.

The pegasus used his wings and legs to lever his body around until his was sitting on top of Footlight's lap, pressing him against the wall. He parted his mouth, and the unicorn's tongue darted inside, writhing against his own. Behind him, Footlight's hooves began to play with his wings, treating the normally utilitarian appendages with special care. Dust heard himself moaning into the stallion's mouth, his own stallionhood rising to full flare as it rubbed against Footlight's between their bodies.

Footlight broke, gasping softly. "Copper, I—"

"Yeah?"

"I think I love you..."

Dust pushed his mind into silence, remaining firmly in the role he was paid to play. Instead of responding directly, he leaned back. "Show me," he said.

Footlight's eyes sparkled. He leaned forward, turning to lay Dust down on his back on the bed. "Oh," he retorted, "I will."

"Wait!" Dust pressed a hoof against Footlight's muzzle. "Wait a second."

"What?"

"Uh..." He glanced over to his left at the bedside dresser. "Middle drawer..."

"Oh, oh, right."

Footlight reached over to the drawer and drew out a small bottle. Dust closed his eyes and bit his lip as the unicorn touched a sharply cool hoof to his tailbase, forcing himself to not gasp out loud. The hoof worked all around his opening, pressing against it forcefully. Dust moaned under his breath, knowing what was coming, but unable to deny that the touch felt good.

"Are you ready, lover?"

In return, Dust hunched his hips up, wrapping his ankles around Footlight's waist. "Take me," he ordered.

With the aid of Footlight's preparation, the flared head of his cock pressed quickly through Dust's asshole. Despite the ease, it was still pretty painful at first glance, and Dust gasped and tensed.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, yeah," he panted, "just... not used to it just yet. Go slow."

Footlight nodded, closed his eyes, and leaned forward. Dust's head fell back, his mouth lolling open as he felt his insides get filled with stallion. Just when he swore he couldn't take any more, Footlight's hips met his flanks and he began to draw back.

Oh, Harmony, that feeling. Play the part, Dust. Moan like the little whore pony you are.

Unwilling to deny the urge, he gave out a ragged moan. "Uuuuhhhhhhh, Footlight..."

"Is—is it good?"

Nonono, don't go back into that awkward shell, you. Draw him out again.

"Harmony, Footlight, it's so good. Rut me!" Dust clamped his rear hooves around Footlight's tail and pulled him forward again.

The unicorn said nothing, simply closing his eyes again and setting to work, pumping his turgid member deep into Dust's depths. The pegasus was rocking back and forth with the thrusts, moaning and gasping, and not sure if each one was fake or real. Facing forward, Footlight's cock was touching places Dust had never known existed inside of him. He reared forward again, pulling his chest against the butter-colored pony's, enjoying the sensation of his own cock rubbing forward and back between their fur.

"Footlight, yes, yes! Oh..." he pressed his muzzle into the side of Footlight's neck, moaning into the plush fur as the pressure in his body mounted. "Do it, babe. Oh please, please..."

"You want me to?" Footlight asked between pants.

"Yes! Please," Dust whispered hoarsely. "Cum in me. I want it..."

With a keening wail barely audible in his throat, Footlight pulled the pegasus tight to his body, pressing as deeply as he could, hunching repeatedly against Dust's hips. Dust bit lightly into the base of Footlight's neck, and that was all the unicorn could take. He could feel his temporary lover's cock flare, spasm, and shoot load after load of cum into his bowels.

Footlight lowered Dust back to the sheets where he squirmed, spine rigid, head laid back until his nose was almost touching the sheets behind his head. Above his belly, his member danced, twitching back and forth as Footlight shook his body, unable to take himself the remaining distance. With his cock still twitching and shooting spunk into the pegasus, Footlight curled over and ran his tongue right down the underside of Dust’s shaft, and as it ran over the slit in the flared head, Dust sighed loudly and began to shoot his load all over his own body. Footlight gave a ragged laugh between pants of exertion, and caught part of the flow against his muzzle and tongue while the rest liberally painted Dust’s barrel, right up to his chin.

The two ponies rode their climaxes out together, Dust twitching and grasping at Footlight’s stallionhood with his insides. Unable to support himself any longer, the unicorn slumped to the side, falling to the sheets alongside Dust’s body. Dust waited as his breathing slowed and evened. He extricated his wings from underneath both bodies and rolled over, facing the door, waiting for the inevitable wave of guilt, pain, and despair he felt last time.

Before it could hit, though, Footlight rolled over against his back, wrapped his forehoof around Dust’s waist, and pulled him in tight. “Thank you, Copper,” he whispered, kissing Dust gently at the bottom of his disheveled mane. “...love you…”

Even with the unicorn’s cum leaking from his tailhole and the feeling of his half-flaccid member resting awkwardly under his tail, the expected pain never came as Dust reached out, turned out the lights, and settled gently into the black expanse of sleep with Footlight’s hooves wrapped around him.

Author's Note

THE FEELS! ENJOY THEM, YOU SLAGS!

Oh yeah, by the way: feel free to offer suggestions. Won't promise I'll use em, but I'll sure read em. I've got about five encounters and accompanying story plotted out and a general ending I'm headed towards, but the rest will be a surprise to all of us!

5 - Bruised And Broken

Trigger warning: this chapter deals with rape in a graphic setting. Be advised before you read.

Dust walked slowly down the hall to his room. The anger from earlier had mostly been replaced by weariness now, but inside he was an emotional mess. He stopped in front of his door. He had found an open/closed sign at a store, which he used to denote if he was in the room or not. It also served well to deter business on nights when he just didn't feel up to it.

He left it on "closed", instead noticing the small scrap of paper taped to the door.

Hey Dust, what have you been up to lately? Heard some... stuff. You trying to make our dorm look bad or something? We got rules around here, dude. I don't want to hear this... stuff anymore. You're a good colt, don't blow this.

- Red Tape, Whitefeather Hall RA

Dust muttered under his breath and pulled the note off, crumpling it and dropping it in the waste can as he walked in and closed the door behind himself. Maybe Shadow had been right. Maybe it really was time to give this up.

He arrived at his desk and slumped into the chair, staring into space. There were so many thoughts going through his mind that he couldn't pick one to focus on. Frustrated, he grabbed a pad of paper and a quill. Maybe I should write a letter...

Dust began to scrawl a note home.

Hey mom. School's going well so far. Now that midterms are done, I think I'm set up pretty well for my classes this semester. I've had a bit more time to study now that my job has

He muttered and crumpled up the paper.

Mom,

School's alright. I'm sorry I haven't written very often this semester. I'm trying to stay busy. The place where I used to work on campus sort of burned down, so I had to find other work, but I did! It pays pretty well, and I can work from my dorm room, so I have a

He dropped the quill, splashing ink haphazardly across the page. He tore the paper in half with a growl, dropping the parts to the floor. This isn't helping! It's all just such a pack of lies. I can't do that anymore, not to my own mother... Even so, the blank paper mocked him, repeating Saxus' pointed comment. Dust hung his face in his hooves. I'm doing something I can never tell my mom about. What the—what the fuck am I doing?

Dust let out a slow, long sigh and picked up the quill again.

Mom,

I miss dad. I really wish I could talk to him right now. Things this semester have gotten, well, complicated. My job has changed, and while I'm making more money, I'm just not sure if it's the right deal for me. I wish I could ask him if he's ever felt like I do, and what he did about it. I'm not sure if I've ever missed him as much as I do now. I'm not trying to cut you out or anything, but as much as I enjoy your advice, I could really use the input of a stallion.

I'm sorry I haven't written much lately. I've been keeping busy. My grades are still up, though, so I feel good about that.

I've gotten a little homesick this semester. Okay, maybe more than a little. Can't wait for summer. Hope the shop is doing well.

I love you, mom.

-Dust

Dust sat in his desk chair, staring out the window in silence. Behind him, on the desk, a pile of textbooks sat disregarded. Outside, the dusky streets were just beginning to empty of traffic and ponies milling about, finally headed back to their dorms for the evening.

A knock sounded, a loud one. Dust ignored it.

It came again, more insistent this time. With a tired sigh, Dust got up and walked over to the door. Outside, in the hall, stood a unicorn.

He was a rather striking one, too. His yellow coat was immaculate, his black mane slicked back. His features could have been carved from marble, they were so ideal—even if the scowl he wore did diminish from it a bit.

"'Bout damn time," he spat.

Dust frowned. "Well excuse me, then. I've seen you around. High Society, right?"

"Hmmph," he snorted, "and I suppose you must be the one called 'Copper', yes?"

"Oh," Dust replied, sagging slightly. "One of those kind of visits." He hooked a hoof at the "closed" sign hanging on his door. "We're not open today. You'll have to come back another time. Sorry."

He moved to close the door, but found it pushed back in his face painfully. High Society stormed into the room. "Who in Equestria told you your opinion mattered? I'm the customer, here."

Dust stumbled back, rubbing his muzzle. "Look, dude, I don't know what you think gives you the right to stomp in here like you own the place, but—"

"Shut. Up." The unicorn eyed him unpleasantly. "We both know why you're here, and I've got the bits, so I'll decide when I show up. I've heard a few stories about you, Copper, and when I hear something or somepony praised highly, I get skeptical. So, I'm here to see if you live up to the hype."

Dust's jaw worked slowly in amazement, words completely failing him. "I—what, I don't—you..."

"Wonderful. Such a stirring opening."

"Okay, look, I don't care who you are, I've had it. Take a hike."

Instead, the unicorn stepped in closer, glaring at Dust. "And go where? The president's office? Maybe the Manehattan guard post?"

Dust paled. "Y-you wouldn't..."

"Do you really believe that?" High Society replied with a smirk.

"I, uh, not really."

"Indeed. Ponies do not tell me 'no', Copper," he said, practically spitting Dust's nickname. "Certainly not worthless little whores."

Dust's ears fell, folding flat against his head. "I—I don't—I'm not—"

"Oh, I'm sorry," the unicorn said, his voice light and mocking, "so I misunderstood! You don't raise your tail for anypony with a few bits, then? It must just be because you're so into the sex, and I suppose the money is just a tip, right?"

Too humiliated to even blush, Dust shrank back to his haunches. "Please," he begged quietly, "just go away."

"I swear to Luna, your voice is annoying. Stop talking and do something useful with your mouth instead."

"No, no, I don't—gah!"

Dust flinched, falling to his belly as High Society shook out the hoof that had just punched Dust in the face. "Well, if it's going to be like this, we'd better keep other ponies from interfering, shouldn't we?" As Dust lay on the floor, rubbing his jaw tenderly, the unicorn quickly cast a soundproofing spell over the room. Some back part of Dust's mind noted that he seemed extremely well-versed in that spell to cast it so casually.

"Now then," he said, turning back to Dust, his eyes dangerous. "Open your mouth."

"...please..."

Irritated, High Society reached out and grabbed Dust's muzzle with a hoof, squeezing painfully against his bruised jaw. Dust's mouth opened out of reflex, trying to ease the pressure, and he felt the much larger unicorn move forward, to stand over his body as he lay on the floor. In front of him, he saw the stallion's erection growing quickly, pointing at his muzzle. As his eyes watered in pain, High Society shoved his cock roughly into the pegasus' mouth.

"And if I feel your teeth once," the voice from above growled, "you will regret it."

Dust closed his eyes, feeling tears starting to well. Without another option, he submitted, relaxing his body and accepting his role. High Society released his muzzle, settling into a slow thrusting motion. The unicorn was the largest customer he had had yet, by a wide margin. Even from a straight-on angle, it was a challenge to open his mouth enough to accept the stallion's member.

At least I don't have to DO anything, Dust thought.

He soon realized, however, that he was in a dangerous spot. High Society had him backed up almost against the wall, and with him standing over the pegasus, Dust had nowhere to go, no escape. The thought really sank in as he felt High Society's stallionhood probing the back of his muzzle.

His eyes snapped open in fear. No, please don't do that!

Feeling the beginnings of a gag, High Society chuckled. "Aww, that's cute. Better start swallowing, little whore, because I'm coming in."

With barely enough time for Dust to catch a breath, he pressed hard forward, plunging the head of his cock right past Dust's muzzle and into his throat. Dust gagged and shook, trying to swallow as best as he could to keep from throwing up. The unicorn had him held down well. There was no way he could pull back. Dust fought against a near-constant wave of nausea as his body tried to fight against the huge invader.

High Society's hips smashed into his nose, his sac swinging forward to smack into his chin as the unicorn started to brutally fuck his muzzle. Dust could feel the edges of his vision starting to blur, both from tears leaking and his oxygen being cut off by horse flesh. Dust had to focus hard on trying to catch any fraction of a breath in between thrusts, unable to spare worry for anything else going on. His ears and hooves were starting to tingle when the unicorn pulled out, leaving him gasping and sputtering on the floor.

"Harmony, you're awful," his customer sneered. "How the hay do you get ponies to pay you for this?"

Dust couldn't respond between coughing. His throat was raw and sore.

"Catch your breath, slut, we're not done yet."

Dust tried to keep from crying as High Society moved back into position. His erection bobbed, lightly slapping Dust in the side of the muzzle.

"Come on, little whore. You know what to do."

Dust closed his eyes, unable to obey.

"This is what you're good for. Be a good little cockslut and suck me."

Dust reached gingerly up with a hoof and guided the tip of High Society's shaft to his lips. He fought back a sob as he licked at the head and pulled the cock into his muzzle.

"Yeesssss..."

The unicorn started to pump again, thrust his stallionhood back into Dust's throat. The pegasus could hardly feel it anymore. He just focused on running his tongue around his mouth, trying to reach every part of the large, turgid shaft.

"See, you can learn. Now show me how you enjoy it."

Dust moaned as ordered, the vibrations running across every inch of the cock as it pressed into his throat. The more he moaned, the more High Society allowed him room to breathe. The stallion panted above his body, his thrusts growing less consistent and more erratic.

"I'm going to cum, little slut. Don't you dare waste a drop."

Dust sobbed and took a deep breath just as High Society rammed his cock roughly into his throat again, holding his muzzle as tightly against his crotch as he could. He banged painfully against Dust's nose over and over, hunching his hips. Suddenly, Dust felt the large phallus twitch and shoot a load straight down his throat into his belly. There was no taste, no initiative to swallow, just holding his breath and waiting for it to end.

Just before he blacked out, Dust felt the unicorn pull out, spraying a last small spurt across his cheek. Now Dust could taste it. It was absolutely vile. He felt like he was going to throw up. In his mind, he could feel the deposit of stallion cum sloshing in his belly. Dust collapsed to the carpet, looking up blankly at the leering face of the domineering unicorn.

"Not as bad as I feared," he mocked. "Now, let's try out that little ass of yours."

"No!" Dust shouted, unable to keep from crying anymore as he stood. "Please, no, just go! I—"

High Society snarled, lashing out a hoof and decking Dust painfully just below his eye. "What did I tell you!" he screamed. "You don't tell me what to do, you slut!" He kicked Dust roughly in the side, buckling the smaller pony's legs and sending him back to the ground. As Dust sobbed, the unicorn lit his horn, pulling Dust's forehooves together and holding them fast against the carpet. Dust could see High Society's cock returning to full mast as he felt his rump being magically lifted up and put into position, his tail pulled roughly upwards and his wing twisted painfully. He yelped, which drew a chuckle from High Society.

"Well, it looks nice at least."

Dust shivered as he felt the unicorn move behind him and rear.

He shrieked out loud in pain as High Society penetrated him in one forceful thrust.

There was no preamble, no subtlety, and no caring whatsoever. High Society was only focused on rutting him as hard and degradingly as he could, with no regard for the pony under him. Dust wept between choking gasps, feeling like he was being torn open over and over. The incredible pain in his ass helped to cover the absolute lack of feeling inside. Dust could feel his cheek burning as his face was forced down into the carpet, grinding forward and back in time with the unicorn's brutal thrusts.

Is this what I'm good for?

Eventually, Dust went limp, allowing his tormentor to have his way with him. Dust's mind simply checked out, static seeming to fill all of his senses as he was raped. Nothing was real, nothing mattered. It was his escape, and he embraced it. The pain was muted. The shame was foreign. It was somepony else sobbing fitfully, not him.

Until High Society came.

The world returned in a blast of sensation as Dust felt the splashes of cum against his insides. It seemed like minutes until High Society was done, and Dust felt heavy with the combined results of both orgasms. The pegasus cried out a last time as High Society tugged his cock free from Dust's asshole, leaving it gaping obscenely. Dust could distinctly feel his seed running down his leg as he fell back to the carpet again, finally released.

High Society wiped his flagging erection clean on Dust's bedsheets. "Stars above, that was a waste. You're not a bad cocksleeve, Copper, but you aren't worth anything more than this."

The unicorn tossed a silver 5-bit piece to the floor. It bounced off of Dust's face, drawing a wince.

High Society turned, dropped the spell, and opened the door without another word.

Dust leapt up, not even waiting for High Society to leave, tears still fresh in the pegasus' eyes. Without caring who may have seen him, Dust dashed into the hall and ran for the restroom. He slammed a stall closed behind himself, squeezed out every bit of the unicorn stallion's seed he could manage, and then turned just in time to throw up violently. His body protested, but he evacuated every bit of his stomach's contents, including a bit of blood from his abused throat. It seemed like it took forever. Minutes passed, but still his body gave up more and more in wracking, sobbing heaves.

Dust flushed the toilet, his breath coming in wheezing gasps from his ragged throat. He tried to clean himself up as well as he could manage with just paper towels on hoof, and stumbled numbly back to his room. On his door, staring starkly into his face, High Society had carved "WHORE" across the surface in hoof-high letters.

Dear mom, he thought to himself, not even bothering to close the door behind himself. You son is a worthless slut.

Dust lay on the floor, trying to hold himself together. Every part of his body hurt, and some part of his mind knew he was sick, bruised, dehydrated, and probably quite a few other things, too.

He heard a small, quiet knock on his doorframe. Saxus stood there, looking pensive.

"Hey, dude, I feel really bad about the way we... Dust?" He glanced around, seeing the surface of the door. "Dust, what the hell happened?" He trotted into the room, seeing where Dust was laying, and noticed the ugly, dark bruise in Dust's rust-colored fur. "Dust... did somepony—"

Dust nodded.

Saxus closed the door and sank to the floor beside Dust, pulling the small pegasus into his hooves.

Dust collapsed, leaning against Saxus' chest and crying harder than he ever had in his life.

6 - Changes

"Red Carpet!"

Dust shuffled forward as the line progressed another name, marveling at the fact that the day had finally come. The few dozen architecture majors stretched in a line ahead and behind, all resplendent in robes of the university's sage green. Four years of toil, all those years of work and effort, and all of it finally leading up to this point.

Dust glanced out at the crowd. The seating area seemed to engulf the entire mall of the campus and beyond, stretching out well beyond the point where he could make out faces. The sun didn't help, as it was so bright in the sky that it bordered on painful. Dust shaded his eyes with a hoof and could just make out the face of his mother, dozens of rows back in the crowd. Her smile was warm and proud, and Dust felt his heart swell in response.

"Stone Chisel!"

Dust stepped forward to the front of the line, seeing the stage clearly now. The backdrop and bunting were all pale yellow for some reason, which was a bit of an ugly contrast with the dark green school colors, but Dust shrugged it off. He wasn't an interior designer. Or is that exterior, since we're outside? He shook his head and giggled at his nonsense thoughts. The pony in front of him accepted a rolled scroll and a hoofshake from—was that the university president? Dust realized he'd never actually seen him in the flesh before. He certainly looked stately, solemn as he was in his epaulette-adorned robe. The president nodded to another robed stallion at the lectern, who leaned in towards the microphone.

"Dust Cloud!"

His name rolled over the open space like a wave, carrying his spirits with it. Dust held his head high and grinned proudly as he took a step forward—and was bumped out of the way by another stallion! He regained his balance, looking up at the pony who had been so brazen as to ruin his perfect day. Dust's eyes went wide and his breath stopped in his throat.

It was him accepting the scroll.

The mane and tail were longer, the olive-colored hair worn like he used to instead of how short they were cut now. His coat was the same rust-red coat as his, down to the cutie mark, and the blue eyes were perhaps even more vibrant, but the same shade that he saw in the mirror every day. It was a perfect copy of Dust himself taking his diploma.

Dust dashed forward, shoving the imposter aside. "No!" he yelled, "I'm Dust Cloud! It should be me!"

The mall was deathly silent.

The other Dust stared blankly at his twin, his face registering no trace of recognition, only shock. "...who are you, and why do you look like me?" he asked.

There was a lone titter from somewhere in the audience.

The university administrator smiled awkwardly. "No, I called for Dust Cloud," he said, indicating the robed double, "not Copper."

Dust paled. "But I am Dust Cloud! Copper isn't my name, it's a nickname! Please, you have to believe me!" he screamed as his doppelganger strode down the stairs at the far side of the stage and received a warm embrace and a kiss on the head from his mother.

The crowd began to break up into sparse chuckles at the spectacle.

"Look," the professor said condescendingly, narrowing his eyes at Dust, "we all know perfectly well who you are."

Dust stepped back, nervous. His legs began to tremble. "I—I'm Dust... I'm graduating..."

"Is that a fact? Where's your robe?"

Dust looked down and finally noticed that he wasn't dressed like all the rest of the graduates. "I—I don't know, I m-must have—"

"Uh huh. I'm sure you're very dedicated to your 'studies', but we don't currently have a degree plan for Tail Raising. You could apply for one to be added with the Medical Sciences department, perhaps."

The pegasus shrank back, his gaze alternating fearfully between the imposing president and his unknowing mother. "No! No, I don't—mom? Please, you've gotta believe me. That's not me!"

Dust's mother shrank back, put a protective hoof around the imposter's shoulders, and walked away with a final glare back. "I have no idea who you are," she spat back at him. "How dare you—" She froze as the duplicate Dust Cloud began to fracture and crumble. Dust's mother stood, slack-jawed in shock as the pony she thought was her son broke apart and fell to the ground as dust.

The assembled professors and instructors were all whispering to each other and shaking their heads in the background. The president shied back from Dust. "You should have worn a robe at least, rather than just leaving your shame exposed for everypony to see."

Dust glanced around wildly for a clue, some reason why everypony was recoiling from him so violently and suddenly. In the silence, a quiet sound broke the silence like a gunshot.

*splip*

Dust glanced down towards the sound, looking between his legs. On the polished wood, between his rear hooves, a distinctive pool of white, viscous liquid had formed. He stared at it, his stomach beginning to turn. He knew instinctively what it was as another drop fell from above to meet the puddle.

Dust tucked his tail as tightly between his legs as he could, squatting awkwardly to try to cover himself from more eyes than he could ever hope to count. "I—I d-don't—please, no..."

Behind the administration, above the assembly of teachers, the pale yellow bunting split longways, breaking apart into a leering, hurtful smile. One Dust remembered all too well.

"No!" he screamed, covering his head with his wings. "It wasn't my fault!"

"You invited the consequences when you started selling yourself for money. Somepony get him out of here."

Dust felt the crowds rise and close around him, felt strong hooves wrap around his body to pick him up, heard their anger loud in his ears.

"You let it happen!"

"You wanted it!"

"Bring back my son! What happened to my son?"

He screwed his eyes shut and struggled, fighting against the iron grip of innumerable ponies, screaming uselessly.

"IT WASN'T MY FAULT!"

"Dust! Shhhhh, shhhhh, it's okay, it's okay, bro. You're gonna have to stop trying to kick me, though."

Confused and disoriented, Dust slowly stopped struggling, and he felt the hooves around his body relax as well. He glanced up, eyes wide, and saw Saxus's face staring anxiously back at him.

"It's okay, dude, just a dream."

Dust sagged as he remembered where he was, and curled up defensively as he remembered why Saxus was there.

"I suppose you get your chance to say 'I told you so'," he muttered.

"Dust!" Saxus' voice was offended. "Why would you ever think I would do that to you, especially over something so awful?"

"Hey, is he awake?"

Dust perked up, looking over to see Breeze in his desk chair, leaned back like he had just woken up.

"Yeah," Saxus said.

"W-what time is it?" Dust asked, trying to catch his bearings.

"It's about 3 in the morning, dude."

"Breeze, what are you doing here?"

Breeze got up, yawned into his hoof, and walked over to give Dust a hug as well. "Saxus was pretty messed up over the way we argued yesterday. He left me a note saying he was coming here to apologize, and if he wasn't back in an hour, things had probably gone well and you two were hanging out. I came over to see what was up."

"Ah."

Saxus yawned in sympathy. "Dust, I know it's late—or, early, rather—but we need to see the guards about this."

Dust recoiled, trying to fight his way free of Saxus' hooves. "No. Nonono, no way."

"Dust, why in Equestria not? You were just—" Saxus winced, looked at Breeze, glanced around at the walls, and lowered his voice. "You were just raped, Copper. This is not a small thing."

The pegasus shook his head and buried his face in Saxus' chest fur.

Breeze shook his head in amazement. "Copper, who did this? At least tell us that much."

"No!"

The roommates looked at each other, confused. "Why not?"

Dust just shook his head again.

"Did he threaten you?"

Dust sobbed into Saxus' fur and nodded slowly.

The earth pony nodded along, understanding. "He threatened to have you kicked out of school if you told anypony, didn't he?"

"...yeah."

"Dust," Breeze asked, practically pleading, "I know what being here means to you, but do you really think it's worth letting some scum-sucking asshole get away with doing this stuff to you?"

Dust sat up, rubbing his eyes clear. "You were right, though, Shadow. You said things would go badly."

Saxus winced. "I-I never..."

"It's okay, Shadow, I get it. I put myself in that place, and fighting it only makes it hurt more. This is part of the deal, doing what I'm doing." Dust sighed. "I did this to myself."

"What? Dust, of course not!"

Breeze jumped in front of Dust, practically snorting in frustration. "Dust, I don't ever want to hear you say that! You did not deserve to be treated like this! That pony is a criminal, and I want to kill him myself!"

Dust looked down. "I am, too, Breeze. If we went to the city guards, I'd be in jail along with him."

Breeze, stopped, dumbfounded.

"Please," Dust said quietly, shaking his head, "don't make this into a big thing. I'll make it. Just be my friends. Please?"

Breeze fumed and turned away to stare at the wall with his mane hanging down in front of his face. Saxus sighed. "Dust, you're asking us to ignore somepony hurting you. Is that what friends do?"

"...please?"

"...okay, I won't ask you again," Breeze practically barked, still not looking back at the battered pegasus. "But if I find out who did this, I'm not stopping myself from making this right."

"Fine, we won't go to the guards," Saxus said, giving in. "We're not going to leave you, Dust. No matter what happens."

Dust let out a shaky breath. "Thanks. I really need that right about now..."

*BRIIIIIIIING*

"All right, class, that's it for today. First five problems from the end of chapter 9 on non-uniform cable loads for Monday! Next week we start calculating spread loads on beams and trusses, so be ready. Dust Cloud, can I see you for a few minutes?"

Dust nodded and sank back into his seat, keeping his head down and well beneath the cowl of his fleece hoodie as the rest of the class shoved chairs back under tables and picked up their bookbags. Everypony filtered out of the room quickly as the professor set his books aside and walked slowly over to where Dust was sitting.

"Dust, is everything okay?"

"Yes, sir," he intoned without looking up.

"Could I possibly talk to you instead of your hood?"

Dust slowly pushed back his hood as his professor scrutinized him.

"Quite a bruise you've got there. I'm guessing it's been there for at least a week, right?"

"I got in a fight, sir."

The teacher sighed. "Dust, you had the sixth-highest grade in the class just three weeks ago, after midterms. In Intro to Mechanics last semester, you were one of the most outgoing ponies in the class. Now you're brooding. You keep to yourself at all times. You haven't done any homework lately—which is quite out-of-character for you—and your grade is slipping steadily. To top it off, you've been wearing a hooded jacket for two weeks straight despite the spring weather, and most pegasi don't like to have their wings covered to begin with, so something must be wrong."

Dust shrank in his seat. "I-it's a personal matter, sir. I'm sorry, I'll work on getting my grades back up."

"Dust, I don't care a lick about your grade. Twenty percent of this class is failing right now, so you're not exactly near the bottom of the barrel. I'm worried about you."

"Things are..." Dust hedged, looking at the wall, "complicated."

"Okay, look, I'm just your teacher. I get that." He took a card out of his pocket and slid it across the tabletop towards Dust. "Just talk to somepony. Here's the card for the campus counseling office. Everypony needs some help at some point in their lives, Dust. You're a bright pony. I want to see you do well."

The professor took a step back, signaling an end to the conversation. Dust grabbed the card and shoved it into his bookbag, muttered his thanks to his professor, and left the room.

As soon as he was in the hall, Dust made a break for the restroom. He slid through the doorway and dropped his books to the floor. Pushing his hood back roughly, he stood at the counter, hanging his head over the sink. His stomach was threatening to reject his breakfast yet again. Dust stood and waited for the encroaching sickness to pass. He almost felt like a pregnant mare these days, as regularly as his stomach tried to punish him for eating. If he lost it now, that would make eight days in a row.

Thankfully, this wasn't one of those times. Slowly, the waves of nausea stilled and passed. Dust turned on the sink, splashing water onto his face. He grabbed a hoofful of paper towels and scrubbed his face dry, staring at himself in the mirror.

Over his shoulder, a small pony walked into the restroom and looked at Dust. Dust froze slightly at the sight of his yellow coat, but it was too bright to be... And he was too small. There was something very familiar about his face, though Dust had trouble placing it at first.

"Copper? It's you, right?"

The voice brought the memories back. "Oh, hey..." Dust turned around. "Footlight, right?"

The unicorn blushed. "Heh, yeah. You certainly look different. I almost couldn't recognize you until I saw your cutie mark! I like the new mane and tail. You ever thought about adding some color?"

"Uh, not really, but thanks. What's up?"

Footlight shuffled his hooves nervously. "I—I have a bit of a favor to ask."

Dust arched an eyebrow.

"You see, well—I have a coltfriend now!"

"Good for you. I told you you just needed some confidence."

"I guess so. Anyway, we've been going out for a few weeks, and we got to messing around a bit, and well..." he ruffled his mane, blushing slightly. "He kinda let slip that my... 'technique' isn't all that good."

Dust almost laughed, but checked himself in time.

"I was wondering if you could, I dunno, help?"

"What, like tutoring?"

Footlight beamed. "Yes! Yes, I need tutoring. I need to be tutored in how to blow my coltfriend."

Despite himself, Dust couldn't keep an amused smile off of his face. Inside, though, his mind was racing.

You almost threw up just thinking about the last few weeks. Are you really gonna stick with this?

Dust shook his head slightly. This is innocent enough. Footlight's a good pony.

Some other part of Dust took over, instantly knowing just what to do and who to be. "Sure thing," he said with a confidence he hadn't felt in weeks, "I'll say thirty bits, and I'll help you with what I know."

"Deal!" Footlight shrugged off his bookbag and took a step forward. "Okay, so, like, what's step one?"

Dust jerked, taken aback. "What, here? Now? In the—what a minute, what are you even doing in the engineering building to begin with?"

"I was looking for you, obviously. I asked a few of your dorm neighbors, they said you were an architecture major, so I just looked around a bit. I saw you come in here, and I thought I'd wait, but you didn't come back out." Footlight grimaced slightly. "I guess it is kinda weird to ask you now. I just got too eager."

Dust almost turned down right then and there, but that other part of his mind clicked into gear, unbidden. Everypony's in class, it's early in the day so nopony's in the labs, either. It's the bathroom in the very back of the building. The odds of anypony coming in here are almost nil for the next thirty minutes at least.

"Hey, don't worry about it. We just can't waste much time."

Footlight perked back up, his face attentive and serious.

I can't believe I'm doing this...

"Here's the main thing; you already know what feels good to most stallions. Start off by thinking of what would feel good to you. After that, everything comes down to watching, listening, and taking note of what your coltfriend really seems to like."

Footlight nodded.

Dust reared, standing to his rear legs and leaning back, catching his elbows on the countertop behind him. Footlight stared, his eyes slightly wide. "This—this isn't cheating, right?"

Dust chuckled. "I won't tell if you won't. I bet your coltfriend will appreciate it, though."

"Yeah." Footlight stepped in, sinking to his haunches in front of Dust. He reached up and unzipped the pegasus' hoodie, giving him better access to Dust's torso. "You're not, like, hard at all or anything."

"Yes, I noticed that."

"So, do I, like, just go for it?"

"Woah, slow down there, Footlight. No need to rush. A little foreplay goes a long way. And as a tip, areas that are normally ticklish can be very arousing in the right circumstances and with a light touch."

"Like this?" Footlight reached up, running his hooves slowly down Dust's sides.

"Mmmmmmm, yeah. That's not bad," Dust purred as the bright yellow hooves circled his cutie marks. "Heh," he cuckled, "this is kinda weird. Nopony's ever tried to arouse me before."

"I-Is it working?"

"Yeah, go lower now. Take your hooves around my hips."

Footlight nodded, tracing his hooves through the joint between Dust's legs and torso. Dust took a deep breath, feeling warmth starting to spread across his groin as the soft touch moved up and down his thighs.

"Oh, hey!" Footlight chirped, noticing Dust starting to grow aroused. "It's working!"

"Woah, not just yet," Dust instructed, stopping Footlight from reaching for his member too soon. "It'll get hard all on its own. You just keep teasing. Light touches at first. Along the side of the sac and underneath are good areas to hit."

Footlight obeyed, proving himself to be a capable student. Dust let out a satisfied sigh as his pride stiffened and grew towards full size. The unicorn's hooves were surprisingly soft and dexterous, and he kept his touch gentle.

"Yeah, that's nice. You'll be an expert in no time, Footlight."

The unicorn grinned and leaned in to caress his nose against Dust's sac. Dust reached full hardness almost instantly.

"Mmmm," Footlight sighed happily, "you smell better than my coltfriend does."

Dust winced, feeling like he'd been stabbed. He reached down and caught the unicorn's hooves in his own. "Footlight—Footlight, stop."

"What? Why?"

"There's one thing you can't do, not if you expect to have anything like a happy relationship. You can never, never, compare your coltfriend to me. Whoever you're with, you can't be thinking of me, or anypony else. Once you start those comparisons, they never stop. That's why you're paying for this, so you can disconnect and go on with your life."

Footlight nodded. "Okay, I'm sorry. You're right."

Dust smiled. "Hey, it's cool. Just some advice. Get back to your job, it's time to move on to the next phase."

The smaller pony grinned and looked back down, taking time to admire Dust's fully erect phallus. "So...?"

"Alright, first things first; what are the most sensitive areas of a stallion's member?"

"Um... All of it?"

Dust rolled his eyes, amused. "Okay, smart pony, that may be true, but it's especially nice to feel on the head, along the underside, and at the base. All of these areas feel different, and can be used at different times."

"Like what?" Footlight asked, rolling his hoof around the base of Dust's cock, trying to keep him aroused until the lesson was done.

"Well, generally speaking, the head doesn't feel a whole lot for light touches, but it feels amazing against the roof of the mouth or throat. The underside responds very well to light touches and caresses of the tongue or hoof. It's also pretty good to use your tongue to stimulate it while the head is in your mouth. That part takes some practice, though. The base feels good when it's treated a little rougher. Putting pressure on it with your hoof can simulate the feeling of being fully inside another pony. It feels very good later in the act, when the pony is closer to climax. Your mouth can be used to good effect, too, if pressed to the base."

Footlight nodded, obviously trying to take in all the information. "Okay, jeez, that's a lot to learn. How do they say—like trying to drink from a fire hose."

Dust chuckled. "Oh, no. Getting a stallion off in your mouth when he hasn't been able to cum for a few months—that's like trying to drink from a fire hose." The unicorn laughed along. "Okay, so that's the lecture portion of this class, let's move on to the lab, shall we?"

Nodding eagerly, Footlight returned to the task at hoof. He leaned in to nuzzle at the point where Dust's sheath and sac met, and earned a pleased sigh from the pegasus. Footlight stuck out his broad, flat tongue and ran it lightly around Dust's testes, almost juggling them with his mouth.

"Mmmm, very nice. Now run it up to the tip, slowly, and press into it."

Footlight obeyed, wiping his tongue slowly upwards, pressing his lips in occasionally to kiss and suckle at the hard flesh. Dust's breathing began to speed up. Footlight reached the head, running his tongue all around it as best he could. Without using his hooves, Dust's erection bobbed against his muzzle, almost dancing with Footlight's tongue as it flicked out.

"Oh, yessssss..." Dust hissed. "Lips on the head, use your tongue."

The unicorn had to reach up and draw the head down a bit so he could reach from his seated position, but he eagerly took the head of Dust's stallionhood between his lips. His tongue raced around and across the tip, saliva starting to run down the sides in slow rivulets.

"R-remember," Dust panted, trying to retain his focus and ignore his desire to simply grab Footlight's head and fuck his muzzle silly, "when you go down, use your lips to cover your teeth. Those will really hurt if you're not careful."

Footlight nodded, the cock in his mouth bobbing along and rubbing in wonderful ways against his tongue.

With a pleased murr, Footlight curled his lips in and took Dust into his mouth properly. The pegasus' back arched forward, the completely new feeling taking him unawares. He kept his moan as quiet as he could, bent over so that the tip of his nose almost touched Footlight's head.

Some part of Dust's mind wished there was a clock in the restroom, because he had lost all track of time. Footlight couldn't have cared less, lost as he was in the lewd act taking place more or less in public. The unicorn moaned and hummed in his arousal as he took Dust's cock as deeply as he could into his muzzle, bumping against his gag reflex and coughing slightly.

He pulled off, stroking gently with his hoof as he caught his breath. "Okay, so, how do I do that?"

"W-what's that?"

"Take you into my throat?"

Dust flushed slightly and closed his eyes, banishing unpleasant thoughts until he could deal with them later. "Practice," he replied. "And it helps to try to swallow as you take it, but you're going to gag a lot before it's comfortable. I wouldn't worry about it, you're doing fantastic."

Footlight beamed through his blush. "Wow, really?"

"Look," Dust panted, "either you get back to work and finish me off or you're going to get a lesson in how to clean cum out of your fur in the five minutes before class lets out."

Without even bothering to respond, Footlight got back to work, bobbing his muzzle back down the length of Dust's twitching cock. As he suckled, his hoof pumped at the remainder, treating what his tongue couldn't reach to a vigorous hoofjob. Dust moaned and gasped, biting the corner of his hood to keep from doing anything too loudly and exposing them. Footlight was unrelenting, performing with the enthusiasm of the inexperienced. Despite that, though, his tongue was borderline magical.

Dust twitched, his back arching the other way. He reached down and grabbed Footlight's mane, twisting it around his hoof and pulling back on his head. "Sweet Harmony, Footlight, I'm gonna blow. Keep the head in your mouth so there's not a mess, and you'll probably have to swallow."

Footlight nodded, again bobbing the stallionhood in his muzzle as he slid back so just the head was between his lips, his tongue going mad against the tip. Dust moaned, long and low, and bucked his hips slightly. His release hit hard, spraying the inside of Footlight's muzzle with a blast of cum.

The unicorn murred happily, suckling at the twitching cockhead as it let out burst after burst of sticky jizz. Dust could feel his tongue working as he swallowed each shot, the sensation milking more and more of his seed into the eager mouth.

Dust finally flagged, pulling out to lean heavily on the countertop. He glanced down to see Footlight licking his lips, eyes closed as he clopped himself furiously. Quickly swiping a bunch of paper towels across his retreating phallus, Dust fell to all fours, leaned over and pushed Footlight's hooves aside. He took his customer's erect cock into his mouth, sinking it to the hilt, his throat grasping and twitching around it like a true professional. It was only a matter of seconds before Footlight was twitching and shooting his own load straight into Dust's stomach.

Dust swallowed easily, imagining that the deposit of thick stallion cum was soothing his stomach and easing his earlier nausea. He pulled off, swallowing hard to counteract the feeling of Footlight's member rubbing against his throat. He gulped down a breath and leaned back on his haunches.

"And that—*phew*— it how it's done."

Footlight leaned back against the wall, lightly pawing at his shrinking cock with a hoof. "Wow. Just, wow. I thought you were good before, but by Celestia's mane, Copper..."

"Well, you were gonna make a mess otherwise. As I said before, you're here for a reason. The real skill is in practicing, so go practice. Your coltfriend will love it, I'm sure."

"Right." Footlight stood, a bit wobbly on his hooves, and counted out the necessary bits. He passed the stack to Dust. "Well, I—is it weird to thank you?"

Dust smiled. "Not at all. We both got to enjoy that."

"Alright then. Thanks, Copper. I'll see you around."

Footlight walked out the doorway and disappeared into the hall. Dust dropped the bits into his saddlebag and turned back to the sink. He washed his mouth out, trying to mask the smell of cum on his breath, and checked himself over in the mirror. Once again, he appreciated the way his mane wasn't disheveled or unruly in the least.

So it's done, then, he thought to himself, this is who I am now.

The sound of the bell from the hall shook him out of his thoughts. Dust zipped his jacket back up, pawed gingerly at the remnants of the bruise on his cheek, and threw the hood back over his head before walking out.

Author's Note

Thanks to Boneywings for giving me some ideas that I could meld into my plans and give this story a little bit more substance.
To be honest, it's getting to the point that's both very hard to write and a hell of a lot of fun, because I'm not really driving this train anymore. The story is happening, and the characters are doing what they do. I'm just trying to hang on and catalog this madness.

7 - At The Bottom

Trigger warning: this chapter gets a bit dark. Please read at your own level of comfort.

"Your final report will be on Pre-Celestian civilizations, and it will be a co-op effort."

Dust shut his eyes and sighed as the history professor looked at the class over the rim of his glasses.

"You'll have the entirety of the last two weeks plus finals week to work, but you all need to pick partners in the near future. Come to class first thing next week with your partner's name. Anypony who hasn't found a partner by then will be assigned. Dismissed!"

All around the room, ponies began to seek each other out, meeting gazes and hoof motions indicating interest in pairing off as everypony headed for the hallway. Dust desperately wished for his hoodie, but he hadn't worn it since the bruises had faded. The weather had just been too hot to allow, and flying to class meant he had to avoid fewer ponies anyway. Instead, he simply slouched in his seat, hiding behind his mane fringe as best he could, knowing he was the consolation prize that nopony in the class wanted to—

"Hey!"

Dust started, but didn't look up.

"Yeah, you, buddy. Dust Cloud, right?"

Across the table, a pony swung a chair around and dropped into it, staring at him. Dust stared back, confused. It was a pegasus mare. A light grey pegasus mare with the most incredibly pink mane ever, aside from the single broad stripe of steel blue in the middle. And she was talking to him. Intentionally. And she even seemed happy about it.

"Wanna partner up?"

Dust looked over his shoulder to buy a moment. "Really?"

"Yeah. There's nopony behind you to talk to, either, I checked already."

Her grin was vibrant, even compared to her very, very violet eyes. "Um, yeah, I guess so," Dust said slowly, trying to catch up with the conversation.

The smile almost faltered for a moment. "Did you have somepony else in mind? I won't be offended or anything."

"What? No! No, definitely not. I'm just... surprised, is all."

She laughed. "Hey, you're smart. I remember that from last semester. I think we'll be a good team."

Dust felt a lopsided grin fight its way onto his face. "Heh. Yeah, maybe..."

She blew her twin-toned mane out of her face and reached out, slugging him lightly on the shoulder with a hoof. "Definitely. I'm Tinker. I gotta run for an evening lab, but I'll see you around, yeah?"

"Yeah..."

"Sweet. Later, dude!"

Dust remained seated as she slid across the first row of tables and trotted out the door, trying to figure out what had just happened. He was still smiling after she left.

"Is it just me, or has it been really easy to get a booth lately?"

Saxus rolled his eyes as he sat and laid his tray on the table. "Really, Breeze?"

"Sorry, just trying to lighten the mood a bit."

"Celestia's mane, I can't take you anywhere."

Dust snorted in amusement, picking absently at his own meal. "Ponies clear out when I show up. It's great at the registrar's office, but not so good for conversation."

Breeze slouched in the padded booth seat. "This has gotta be a fluke, though, right? Surely everypony doesn't know. I can't believe that everypony would even care that much!"

"Oh, it's pretty consistent," Dust replied. "Maybe about half of the ponies around me know what I do, and that's enough. Word spread through my classes pretty quickly, but I bet not many ponies outside of that really know who I am personally, just by reputation." He looked out over the cafeteria, noticing more than one pony looking away quickly as he swept his gaze over them. "It hardly matters. Enough know, and if they don't, all they need to do is visit. My door is basically just a vulgar whiteboard by this point."

"This is getting stupidly out of hoof," Saxus said, bristling. "Nopony deserves this kind of treatment."

"Oh, there's definitely one out there..." Breeze muttered darkly, pointedly spearing a cherry tomato with a knife.

"I mean, it's not completely awful," Dust said with a shrug. There's a mare in my Equestrian History class who actually picked me as her partner for our final project. Like, on purpose. Before everypony else was taken."

Saxus frowned. "Is she, um... Like, is she, uh..."

"Just say it, dude. It's okay."

"Do you think she's fishing for a discount or something?" Breeze interjected for his roommate.

"Um, yeah, that," Saxus agreed, looking down at his tray.

Dust thought for a moment. "I don't think so. I know that look by now, and I didn't see it. She even knew my name, and not just 'Copper'. I think she legitimately has no idea what I do. That seems pretty weird by itself, though. You'd think that she'd have heard by now, because I know she was in one of my classes last semester. I'd recognize that mane of hers anywhere. Never actually talked to her before, though."

"Isfh fee koot?"

Both Saxus and Dust stared at Breeze, who hastily put a hoof to his mouth and swallowed his large mouthful of salad. "Sorry," he said, "is she cute?"

Dust rolled his eyes, but couldn't dismiss the question. "I—" he stalled, "I don't know..."

"What do you mean you don't know?"

"I'm not sure," Dust replied, genuinely surprised. "It's been so long since I've actually thought about being attracted to anypony else I kinda stopped looking at them like that. It's like, if they have bits, then I'm attracted to them, you know?"

Saxus frowned. "So you've lost the ability to appreciate a mare because you're out of practice?"

"Kinda pathetic, huh?"

Breeze waved a hoof dismissively. "Oh, we can fix that. You just need time and practice."

Dust looked down again, his face dark. "I dunno. I've been thinking a lot that maybe this whole 'selling myself' thing has ruined me. Like, can I actually have a real relationship anymore?"

"Dude, you're still you," Saxus said. "You're good at caring; I'm sure you'll find a good mare someday."

"Or stallion!" Breeze piped in as Saxus gave him a meaningful look. "Hey, I'm just saying; after all this time, we don't know."

Dust rolled his eyes again. "Yeah, but what're they gonna get? A worn-out pegasus who only knows how to rut her—or him, thank you, Breeze—but is completely emotionally dead?" Dust shoved his tray away with a growl. "Paahh, I really don't want to think about this anymore."

"Dust, please tell me you're eating more than that."

"Can't. I'll throw up if I eat anything more."

Breeze looked over at his roommate. "Dude, we weren't gonna say anything, but you're losing weight, fast. Too fast."

Saxus nodded solemnly. "We couldn't see your ribs at midterms, but we sure can now."

"Well, I'm trying," Dust moaned. "I seriously can't eat anything more than that. I snack here and there throughout the day, but if I get too much in my stomach it just comes back up later with interest."

Dust looked up, and over Breeze's shoulder he saw a pack of ponies walk into the dining hall. In the middle was High Society. Dust paled considerably and shuffled out of the booth as quickly as he could, scooping up his tray.

"Guys, I'll talk to you later. I'm sorry, I just—I've got stuff to do."

"Dust?"

"What the hay..."

Without even waiting to hear his friends' confused replies, Dust dashed off, dropping his tray in the receiving line. He was out the door and into the darkening sky as quickly as possible.

Dust touched down on the second-floor landing of his dorm and walked slowly back towards his room. His insides were a mess as his stomach was churning in sympathy with the turmoil inside his head. Just the sight of that pony...

As he neared, an earth pony came out from another room, shut and locked the door behind himself, and gave Dust a disgusted glare. "What's up, Dust?" he spat. "Sucked any good dicks lately?"

Without even thinking about it, something inside Dust responded. He turned to the other pony, mock surprise on his face. "Oh, wow, my bad. I hadn't even thought about how you can't get a mare to talk to you, and I've bedded, like, six this semester! Dude, that's really inconsiderate of me. How about I share the next one with you after I've satisfied her? Though it's hardly my fault if you have to pay her for the pleasure."

The earth pony rocked back, stunned at the riposte. "Whatever. You won't be here for long. It's only a matter of time before your ass is run out of here."

Dust flicked a wing contemptuously at the pony as he turned and walked off. As soon as he was inside, he shut the door and slumped backwards against it, wrapping his wings around his body protectively.

He's right, you know.

Dust let out an exasperated sigh. "What a great mind I have," he said to the empty room. "It takes over and makes me confident in front of ponies who either hate me or want to fuck me—or both—but turns right around and makes me feel like shit immediately after."

Don't blame me, his mind protested evenly. Everypony on campus seems to know your dirty little secrets.

"Not—not all of them," he muttered. "Not the ones that matter."

So what if they DID know you got raped? Do you think anypony would care? Do you expect sympathy for it? Do you expect ponies to be proud of you for making Footlight happy?

"I don't expect anything."

You expected that you could get away with prostituting yourself without consequences.

"No, no, no, no, no..." Dust muttered, banging his head lightly on the wall, trying to drive the traitorous voices from his mind. "I need something else to focus on. Something..."

Dust looked around the room. His books were still piled on the desk, but why bother studying now when he hadn't been doing so for the last month? His bed looked inviting, but he wasn't tired and the last thing he needed was more quiet time for his mind to mess with him. He turned back and saw himself reflected in the mirror hanging behind the door. Saxus and Breeze were right: he was looking much smaller than usual these days. His wings seemed almost overlarge on his body now. If his mane were still full it would look almost comical on him...

He reached up with a hoof to flick at his mane. The majority of his mane was cut very short, and it stuck up from his head and neck at spiky angles, but there was a large swath of his bangs swept off to the left side of his face. When he first got it cut it was around the level of his eyebrow and accentuated his eyes, but now it had grown to halfway down his cheek and was used primarily for hiding behind. It was starting to look pretty ragged by any measure. Even the hoof he held up to examine was looking a little worse for the course of time. The fetlock was growing out over his hoof, and it was starting to look sloppy.

Okay, well, I guess I could give that a bit of a trim. That's something to do. Who knows, maybe taking care of myself will make me feel a little better.

Dust grabbed his bath kit out of the dresser and trotted off towards the restroom. Mercifully, it was empty, everypony else being out enjoying the first evening of the weekend. He loosed the catch on the kit and pulled out a straight razor. Most ponies used shears, sure, but with his new mane style, Dust appreciated a razor a little more. Instead of trimming off his mane with a straight, hard line, it left a slightly ragged edge that looked more natural. It took a little more care and time, but the result was well worth it.

Sticking his tongue out the opposite side of his mouth in concentration, Dust held his mane still with one hoof and began to carefully swipe the blade across his bangs. Long strands of hair started to fall to the sink and countertop as he worked the freshly-sharpened razor down the left side of his head.

I bet those stallions really appreciate the care you take. They seem to like 'em small and cute.

Dust stopped, shaking his head and letting out a deep breath before returning to his task.

You don't even care about your classes anymore, but you care about how you look? Doesn't that seem backwards for college, of all places?

Scowling, Dust focused on his mane, on keeping the edge straight as his hoof shook ever-so-slightly.

Hey, you can see your eye again! Shame it's too warm for a hood anymore. You'll have to find a new way to hide now.

Dust growled, making his last stroke with more force than he needed to, the blade missing the base of his ear by the barest of margins. He stared down at the scattered clumps of olive hair, trying to focus, trying to clear his mind. Fetlocks, focus. I need to... focus.

Trimming around hooves was tricky, but Dust was used to it. He wasn't one of those ponies who liked to let his hair grow where it willed. He leaned on the countertop over the sink with his right hoof, transferring the razor to his left. Slowly and methodically, he began to run the blade upwards along the curve of his hoof, catching the overlong fur. Over and over, excess fur fell, a few hairs at a time.

Why did you even bother paying off this semester anyway? You should have just saved the bits. Fifteen hundred bits is a lot of money; you could do just about anything you wanted with that.

"I know why I'm here," Dust muttered, his jaw clenched.

If you think you're gonna graduate, you're crazy. Well, crazier than talking to yourself.

The razor flicked slightly faster.

"You think I can't do it? You think I'm not up to the challenge?"

Please, you're falling apart. You went from straight A's to hanging on to a B average by your teeth in one semester.

The razor flashed as Dust cleared the last of the rogue fur on his hoof, leaving it clean and presentable. He swapped position to do his left hoof, only barely fumbling the razor as he switched hooves. "I can bring it back. Just watch me."

As if that even mattered. You couldn't go a single semester keeping your income secret. There's no way the school's gonna let you walk. It's pretty hard to do from a jail cell, anyway.

Dust's hoof shook, the fur around his hoof falling away in more ragged lengths. "Shut up," he muttered.

Think you'll be able to get a job doing something nice next year, or are you going to stick to tail-raising in an alley? I mean, go with what you're good at, right?

"Shut up," Dust said quietly, working even more quickly. He could feel tears starting to well as his mind berated him, watering the edges of his vision.

Fifteen hundred bits could have set you up really well. Could probably open your own shop on that. Might have not even needed the alley. Shit, without having to pay tuition, you'll be rich in no time, I bet.

"Shut up!" he demanded out loud, wincing as the blade went askew, nicking his skin. Dust shut his eyes, not trusting himself to finish the job without breaking down. He waited for the voices to return. For several minutes, he stood, shaking lightly.

Dust opened his eyes and looked up. His mane was just right, but the effect was utterly ruined by everything else. His ears were flat and lifeless, his eyes red and teary, his mouth drawn into a frown of utter hopelessness. Dust was struck by just how often he'd seen that same face in the mirror lately. "I wish it had all never happened. I just want to go back..."

There is no back now.

He sighed. "I know." With nothing else for it, he picked the blade back up to finish his task.

Boy, I hope you've got a good story to tell your mom when you can't come back—

"No! Shut up, shut up!" Dust practically screamed, bringing the razor down forcefully as the voice in his head seemed to shatter and silence.

A clump of red fur fell into the sink.

"Shut up, shut up, I'm not—I not—I can't..." Dust muttered, tears falling from his eyes to the porcelain.

A drop of red fell into the sink as well.

A second drop fell, matting the fur below. Then a third. Then more.

Dust dropped the red-streaked razor into the sink, not caring in the least what it would do to the edge. He stared at his hoof in shock.

I didn't even feel it...

Blood was streaming over his hoof to the sink below. In his wrist, Dust had left a large, dangerously gaping slash. He stared numbly at the wound, transfixed by the red blood and pink flesh, unable to comprehend what had just happened—what his unconscious mind had just made him do.

Did I seriously just do that? Oh dear Harmony, I...

Dust lunged out with his good hoof, grabbing a thick wad of paper towels from the rack on the wall.

I don't want to die...

He mashed them against his wrist and slumped to the floor as the shock began to lose the battle against the encroaching pain. Dust clutched his foreleg against his chest, his stomach turning even more than before. Worse than all of it, though, was the pain in his mind leaving him shaking violently as he was wracked with fear, anger, sorrow, and regret.

...do I?

Dust hobbled to the door on three hooves and pounded desperately on the surface, wanting to call out but unable to make a sound. The portal swung open quickly, revealing Saxus, his expression confused. He stared at Dust. He saw his face, glanced at the hoof the pegasus was holding up protectively, and saw the makeshift compress of paper towels and tape covering the wrist. The amount of blood on the wrap left little doubt what had caused it.

Dust opened his mouth, but couldn't figure out what to say. There just wasn't time to say it all.

The voices in my head wouldn't stop.

I think I might have tried to kill myself.

I was wrong. About everything.

I don't deserve you as friends.

I'm so sorry.

Dust's jaw trembled.

"I—I need help," he said weakly.

Saxus didn't say anything. He simply pulled Dust inside the room, quickly checked his wound to see if it was stable, and pulled the small, broken pegasus into the fiercest embrace he'd ever felt.

8 - The Quiet Things That No One Ever Knows

When Dust walked back into his Equestrian History class after missing an entire week, he knew there would be ponies staring at him. He had anticipated the glares he got from a few of his classmates and was ready for them—but he still felt a sudden itchiness from the fresh scar on his foreleg when those glares met him. He even figured that at least a few ponies in the class wouldn't have even realized he was gone at all.

What he wasn't prepared for was Tinker.

It wasn't thirty seconds after he took his seat at the back of the room that the mare entered and noticed him. With a single leap and a flap she cleared the entire room to land next to Dust. "Where the hay have you been?" she practically growled at him, not the least bit concerned with the other ponies in the room. "You've been gone for a week!"

Dust recoiled and shrank into his seat, shocked by the aggressiveness. "Tinker, woah! I'm sorry, I'm sorry! Look, the report's gonna be okay, I got started on it while I was gone," he explained, trying to placate the mare.

Her expression did soften a bit. "I—you did?" She pulled out her seat and slumped into it with a huff. "That's great, but that's not the point," she pouted.

"What is?"

Tinker stared towards the front of the class as the teacher entered and set his notes down on the lectern. "I was worried about you," she muttered.

Dust stared at her as the professor started to pass out a few papers, launching into his brief lesson for the class. Worried? he thought. Why would she be worried about me?

Tinker turned her head just enough to glance over out of the corner of her eye, and sure enough, her expression was unsettled as she turned back.

Dust was suddenly very happy that he'd kept hidden for the last week, until the bandages were ready to come off. Word about him had already traveled fast enough, if all of these ponies knew that he had tried to kill himself, too... Dust shook his head to clear it. It really didn't bear thinking about. Anypony who got close enough would be able to see the raw pink scar in his fur. Thankfully, nopony ever seemed to want to get that close.

Why would Tinker be worried about me, of all ponies?

"I'm telling you, it's weird."

Breeze reclined a bit, enjoying the fact that the group never had to search to find a booth to sit in for meals, no matter the reason. "Well, you're her partner, dude. She was probably worried she'd have to do the whole thing herself."

Dust shook his head, his olive bangs bobbing against the side of his head. "No, she said she was worried about me. I mean, that's not normal, right?"

"Well, she's not heartless. I mean, she picked you as her partner to begin with, maybe she just felt kind of responsible, you know?"

"Hmmph." Dust took another bite of pasta, unsatisfied with Breeze's answers. "There's just something about this mare," he said around his mouthful, "I don't know what it is." He swallowed. "Shadow, you haven't said a damn thing yet."

Saxus looked up, shaking himself out of his silence. "I haven't met this Tinker, so I can't say for sure, but looking from the outside, my guess is that she's into you."

"Oh, please. Pull one of the other ones, why don't you?"

"I'm serious, Dust."

The pegasus snorted. "Well, then she's not as bright as she seems."

Breeze leaned back in. "There's gotta be a way to know, right?"

"What, like just asking her?" Saxus quipped, throwing a sideways look at his roommate.

"How did I know you were gonna be boring about it?"

Saxus sighed. "Look, it doesn't have to be in class or anything. Just go to her place, and ask her. Get things out in the open."

Dust set his fork down, his face dark. "...and if she says 'yes'?"

"What about it? So a mare's into you."

"Dude, what about all the crap that I can't tell her?"

Breeze frowned. "Why can't you tell her?"

"Because—" Dust froze. "Because she's the only pony on campus besides you two who's been nice to me for no other reason," he said, his voice quiet and miserable.

"Give her a chance, Dust. Someday you're going to have to trust somepony."

Dust hesitated at the door, his hoof hanging in the air in mid-knock. It felt weird enough being in a mares-only dorm, much less out in public. He desperately wished he had his hoodie, or a jacket, or a hat, or something. His wrist itched relentlessly, but he didn't dare acknowledge it. Overall, every part of Dust wanted to be somewhere else. Specifically, back in his room. Preferably, under the covers of his bed where he could forget the world existed.

And so he stood, caught between going and staying, unwilling to follow through and too scared to leave.

What the hay am I doing... he wondered miserably. I'm not seriously here to say anything meaningful.

You're here to learn something, right?

Well yeah, but what is that really going to do for me? Either I'm wrong and I feel stupid now, or I'm right and I'm in REAL trouble.

Remind me how well ignoring your problems has worked to date?

Dust growled under his breath. You ARE my probl—I mean, I'M my problems. He shook his head. Luna damn it, even my grammar is breaking now.

His hoof was starting to get tired simply waiting in the void between "knock" and "don't knock" when, without warning, the door unlatched and swung open to reveal Tinker and her vibrant pink mane and violet eyes. Her squeak of surprise startled Dust out of his thoughts.

"Harmony, I—Dust? Dude, what's up?"

"Gah! I—hey, Tinker." He straightened up and kicked the carpet uncomfortably with a hoof. "Um, can I come in?"

"Yeah, sure, of course."

The mare's room was nice, if sparsely furnished. Dust was struck by just how completely different it was to his own in almost every way without being overtly feminine. Rather like the resident herself, actually.

"What's up? Never been in a mare's room before?"

"Um, actually, no," Dust said sheepishly. "Never."

Tinker's muzzle scrunched in amused surprise. "Ha! Seriously? Good-looking stallion like you, and you've never been to a mare's place before? Pffft, color me surprised."

Dust shifted awkwardly. "Yeah, see, that sort of thing is why I'm here, kinda."

"What sort of thing?"

"Okay," Dust said hesitantly, taking a breath and looking down. "Maybe I'm crazy, but I'm getting the idea that maybe you kind of might be attracted to me." He flinched slightly, anticipating the rebuttal.

None came. Dust looked back up to see Tinker actually blushing. It was a surprising look for the brash mare.

"Wait, you are?"

"Well, yeah. I suppose I am." The mare swallowed and tried to regain her composure. "And you really want to know what's weird? I'm not really sure why I am." Tinker looked almost frustrated. "I know it's crazy, but I just noticed you last semester. I never really got the time or nerve to talk to you one on one, but I was watching you. A lot."

Dust felt a sideways grin growing.

"We were even in a group discussion together once, though I don't know that you'd remember that much. You never even really looked at me, you were so into the discussion. I noticed, though. You talked a lot, but you had really good ideas, ones that most ponies wouldn't have said." She shrugged. "I always regretted not finding time to talk to you, because you seemed really smart and, well, lively.

"Then this semester, I had you in another class. I thought maybe this was my chance, but you retreated to the back of the class almost instantly. And there was something very different about you. I didn't know what was wrong or what had happened, but you looked awful. I decided that if I got a chance to get to know you, I'd take it. So, after spending most of the semester working up the nerve to talk to a strange stallion, I did."

The mare suddenly glowered at Dust, and he took a step back out of reflex. "And then you instantly disappeared on me! When we were supposed to be a team on this final report! What was that about?"

"I had some things going on. It—it's complicated," Dust said, absently rubbing his left hoof with his right. "Were—I mean, did you really worry?"

"Well, yeah," Tinker admitted, fluttering her wings nervously. "I mean, you were pretty weird this semester. You were gone so often, and when you were there you didn't seem anything like you did in our last class together. You were withdrawn and quiet, and suddenly you were wearing hoodies all the time and stuff. And lately," she said quietly, poking a hoof towards his midsection, "you look like you're starving yourself. Yeah, you could say I worried a bit. I thought that maybe, well... I thought maybe something had happened to you."

Dust's small grin faded and he felt like his mouth was full of ash.

She gave him a wan smile. "So, I guess my game's up. I know it's silly for me to have worried about a pony I didn't really know, but I did. I do kinda like you, Dust. I'd like to hang out, get to know you better."

Dust coughed. "Look, I'm honestly flattered by that, really. I don't think it's such a good idea, though."

"Um, okay, why?"

"If it's all the same to you, I'd rather not talk about it."

Tinker frowned, her ears laying back. "Not really, no. Are you with somepony?"

Dust shook his head.

"Are you into stallions? I haven't seen you checking out anypony, period, so I guess I wouldn't know."

"Not as such, no," he admitted.

Her purple eyes narrowed. "So, is it me?"

He sagged slightly. "It really isn't, I promise. I think you're fun, and friendly, and open, and you seem pretty smart."

"Oh. Well okay then," she said, brightening back up at his explanation. "But you still don't want to even get to know me, right?"

"It's not that. I—" he stalled, closing his eyes to avoid having to meet her stare. "I just don't want you getting to know me. Because then you probably won't want to be around me."

"Hmmph. Stallions. Figures you'd find a way to make it about you." Dust opened his eyes again, but Tinker's expression didn't match her words. While her voice seemed resigned, her expression looked almost compassionate, if disbelieving. "You don't really believe that, do you?"

Dust slumped, letting his head hang. "It happened. It happens every day. I'm avoided like I've got leprosy, or hoof rot, or something. I don't want to risk that happening with a pony who actually treats me like a friend. I've got very few of those anymore."

"For pity's sake, Dust, why would I do that? What if I promise I won't ditch you?"

He shook his head. "You won't like what you find, Tinker. I—" he clutched his scarred hoof unconsciously. "You don't deserve to be hurt, and I've got stuff too big to avoid hurting you with." He walked over to her desk and reached back into his saddlebag. Drawing out a stack of papers, he resealed the bag with a wing and dropped the papers onto her desk. "I wasn't lying. During my week away, I actually got so bored I wrote the entire paper. It's fifteen pages, but you can edit and re-do any part of it you want. It's supposed to be a team effort, after all."

Tinker walked over to his side. "Wha—seriously? Dude, Dust, I don't—wow."

Dust ran a hoof through his mane self-consciously. "Well, studying used to be my thing. I guess I remember some of how to do it."

"Thank you. I will work on it, too, don't worry."

He nodded. "Fair enough. Well, I guess I'll see you in class?"

She gave him a sad, hopeful smile. "Last chance?"

"Tinker," he sighed, "I think you're a great mare. I know you're a pretty good friend. I can't stop you, but please don't go looking. I don't want to lose a friend."

Tinker said nothing, but nodded as Dust turned and left.

"You fucked up, Dust. You could have had a chance at a really good thing. Who knows, maybe you still do, I don't know."

The pegasus snorted, unwilling to even lift his head from Saxus' couch where he was laying flat. "Don't you give me that, Shadow. The last thing I need is a relationship. Even a hypothetical one."

Saxus looked at his roommate, who threw his hooves up in a "don't involve me in this" gesture. Rolling his eyes, the earth pony turned a stern frown on Dust instead. "You can't be afraid forever. It's not healthy."

"I'm not!"

"Oh please, you could fertilize Appleloosa with that load. You're scared of Tinker, and you're scared of yourself."

"Yeah, you know so much. She's the first pony who wasn't you two to look at me like I'm normal, and I can't lose that! She'll hate me!"

Saxus snorted. "Why in Equestria would she do that?"

"Because I do," Dust said quietly. "She'll find out what I really am."

"You mean she'll find out that you were a prostitute, right?" Saxus asked, his voice softening as well.

Dust shook his head. "No. Not quite. Because she'll find out that I'm... I'm dirty." He shut his eyes, trying to keep tears from forming. "I'm broken, and sick, and dirty. She'll realize that I'm a pony that can't be loved. I don't deserve it."

Saxus knelt down on his belly next to the couch. "Dust, I'm begging you, talk to somepony." Dust snorted, and Saxus sighed unhappily. "Dude, I've been asking you for a week, and you keep dodging it. You said you needed help."

"Yeah," Dust said miserably, "I needed your help."

"I can't give you the help you need. Neither of us can. Why are you dodging it?"

"Give me a break, I was in the hospital," Dust grumbled.

"Yeah, for a day, Dust. You weren't afterwards, and you weren't even going to class, so you had all the spare time you could have wanted."

"Hey, I was working, too. I've still got finals to get through. Maybe let me finish the freaking semester before I get into something, okay?"

Dust flinched away from Saxus' hoof as he laid in on the pegasus' shoulder. "Dust..."

"I—I just don't want to talk to some weird, random pony right now. I can't..." Dust sniffed. "I'm not ready. I've—I've done too much."

"Mistakes don't make a pony who they are."

"It wasn't just a mistake, Shadow. It was a choice. When High—" he caught himself, choking off the name, "when he did that to me, that was what I deserved. What I'd earned. I put myself in that situ—"

Dust started as Saxus reached out and grabbed his mane forcefully. "Dust, don't you ever say that around me again. You didn't deserve what happened to you. Nopony deserves it. It wasn't your fault." He slacked his grip, but kept his hoof on Dust's neck. "You're a good pony, Dust. You deserve to be loved as much as anypony else does."

Forced to stare into Saxus' face, Dust knew his friend could see the tears hiding in the corners of his eyes. He really didn't care. "I—I wish I could believe that."

Dust wasn't in class the next day. He wasn't in class the day after, either. Nor the rest of the week.

Every morning he awoke, he packed his books into his saddlebag and went about his morning as though he would be going, but when the hour came, he just froze up and couldn't leave the room. He missed meals without thinking about it, and when he did make it down to the dining hall he entered silently, ate quickly, and left abruptly. He all but refused to make conversation, and when he did, it was quiet and curt.

In his room, Dust wrestled with his brain, trying to psyche himself up to go to class.

Come on, let's go! Today's the day, let's just get out and enjoy the fresh air at least.

My grade already is what it is, going to class isn't going to change anything. I can go to finals next week and do what I can there.

Staying in here isn't healthy.

But if I go to class I'll have to face—to face Tinker. She won't understand.

This argument would play out over and over again, at which point Dust got frustrated, emptied his saddlebag back out again, and threw himself into studying for lack of anything productive to do. He was sure that no pony in the school's history had been more prepared for finals, nor more sure that anypony in history's finals would have less of an impact on their grades.

The middle of the afternoon was stretching towards the early evening as Dust forcefully pushed his History book aside. I can't even read about the subject without thinking of Tinker, he silently complained. That confirms it, I'm going to have to move to Canterlot or something. I'm going utterly mad here.

He rocked back, hanging his head backwards over the edge of the chair, and almost slid completely to the floor as a knock echoed in the quiet room, breaking his thoughts.

He glanced at the clock. A customer? Now? Dear Harmony, I don't need this...

He trotted to the door, and grabbed the latch, a witty dismissal forming in his mind for whatever pony was standing outside expecting a paid lay.

Outside, in the hall, was Tinker. Her violet eyes were narrowed and hard, and she was not smiling.

"Hello, Copper."

Author's Note

shitjustgotreal.jpg

9 - What Bits Can't Buy

"Hello, Copper."

Dust's pupils shrank to pinpricks as his hoof fell away from the door handle. He could almost feel his whole world caving in.

"T-Tinker?"

Oh, Harmony, no. Why is she here? She knows where I live. She's seen my door—oh shit...

She called me Copper.

She knows...

In the hallway, the grey mare stood, stonelike. Her jaw was set in a hard line that matched her eyes. Her ears were up, rather than back in typical anger. She was clearly upset, though, because her wings were off her back and halfway to flared. Only that and the slight quiver of her jaw betrayed the emotion she must have been feeling.

"Tinker, I... I don—" Dust cut off, his teeth clicking shut as Tinker's eyes flashed dangerously at him.

She took a deep breath, flicking her tail back and forth in agitation. "First off, I am very upset at you."

Dust hung his head in shame.

"You left me. Again. For somepony who claims to like having me as a friend, you do a lot of avoiding."

"I know..." he muttered.

Tinker forced him back until she could enter the room, not bothering to shut the door. "That pissed me off. But I'm also hurt, Dust."

Afraid of making her even more angry, he made himself meet her hard stare. True to her word, she looked less angry and more like she had been recently crying. "I'm sorry. I wish I could take it back..."

"Not that," she said, shaking her head sharply. "I'm hurt that you didn't feel like you could trust me when you so desperately need somepony to listen."

"I—what?"

Tinker sat down. "When you didn't show up for an entire week, I'd had it. I didn't care a lick that I'd promised you I wouldn't try to find out who you were. I started asking. Our classmates did not have complimentary things to say. No real facts or details, so I gathered not many of them actually knew you personally—but more than a few very, very bad names were used.”

Dust snorted.

"I wondered if maybe you had been telling the truth; that maybe everypony really did hate you. But then I randomly met somepony different. A small, yellow unicorn, named Footlight. He not only knew you, he's actually been here. He told me you went by the name 'Copper', and I admit, I was actually a bit confused by how he described you."

"I—" Dust's mind was almost numb with cascading emotions, each one trying to block out all the others. "He—he's a good stallion. What did he say?"

"Oh, he went on and on. Used words like 'kind', 'compassionate', 'gentle'... 'skilled'."

Dust flushed even redder.

"He outright said you're the reason he found his special somepony."

"I, uh, I wouldn't go that far, but I guess it could be seen that way."

Tinker cocked her head to the side and stared at Dust. "You know, it's one thing to hear somepony refer to someone off-hoof as 'whore', 'slut', or 'freak'. It's something else entirely to have it confirmed in plain words that a pony actually paid you to have sex with them."

"Yeah..." Dust turned away. "Yeah, that happened. So was I right or what?"

"At that moment, I'll admit that I wished I had listened to you. I honestly couldn't believe that I was hearing about the same pony I'd met in person. It made a weird sort of sense, but on the other hoof, it really didn't. It just didn't seem like you, even though—" She sighed, shaking her mane out in frustration. "The thing is, though, that was when Saxus found me."

Dust perked up immediately.

"He said he heard I'd been asking about you. He told me flat out that I didn't understand anything about you if I was just asking everypony else what they thought. Your friend told me why you started, and that something absolutely awful had happened to you. He didn't say what, but suddenly everything made a little bit more sense to me. Why you seemed depressed, why you withdrew, why you changed your mane."

"Yeah..."

"Saxus was seriously worried about you, Dust. He kind of blames himself for getting you into this whole thing."

"Of course it's not his fault, it's mine." Dust shook his head sadly. "So, is that it, then? You know most of it now, so I'll understand."

Tinker stepped forward, putting a hoof out to touch Dust's cheek. "Dust, I don't hate you."

He turned to look at the wall, pulling away from her touch.

"Saxus also said you probably wouldn't believe me if I said that I was okay with your past. So I came up with something to try to prove it to you."

Worried, Dust turned back to see Tinker's uncertain smile as she held up two twenty-bit coins.

He backpedaled a few steps, bumping against his desk. "Tinker, no, I—Harmony, no, please. I don't—I can't do that anymore!"

Tinker took a breath and stood up, refusing to back down, still holding the bits in front of his face. "Dust, please. This isn't like before. I just want it to be clear that I understand what you did, and I don't care." She placed the bits down on his desk. "Will you trust me?"

"I—I want to..." he said, his body shaking with bottled-up fear.

The mare stepped forward again, reaching her hoof out for his. "Come with me."

Dust reached out halfway, reluctant to commit.

"I promise you, whatever you're afraid of, it won't happen." Steeling himself, Dust took her hoof, and she drew him up to his hooves. "Come on."

Following meekly, Dust walked out the door with her, so unfocused he couldn't even concentrate on something nice like her flanks. There was a definite light at the end of his tunnel, but from where he was he couldn't tell if it was a healing light or the pyre he would burn on.

Tinker headed out of the dorm hall and took off, checking to be sure Dust was still following. She led him out into the sky, away from campus and off towards the western edge of Manehattan. Wherever they were headed, the view from above the city was impressive. The sun was only a few hours from setting, and the shadows were just starting to draw out and lengthen beneath them. Tinker flew for at least half an hour, until the university was well out of sight behind them.

"Uh," Dust called up, panting slightly from the effort, "where exactly are we going?"

Tinker didn't answer right away. She was looking down, casting her gaze about for something in particular. "Right... about... there!"

In a flash, Tinker rolled and dove for the ground. Dust followed close behind, and the pair soon touched down in a small glade. A small spring-fed pool rippled in the center, and the whole place was encompassed on three sides by bushes, trees, and general foliage. Towards the west, though, the grove was open to the setting sun, with a majestic view of the northern plains. Dust shifted his hooves, slightly awed by how soft and thick the grass was.

Tinker trotted over to the pool and took a drink. "Ohh, that's nice and cold. So, what d'ya think? My guess is this place was cultivated by some earth pony student years ago or something as his or her private oasis. I found this place while I was moving to campus last fall, and I always come out here when I need some alone time. It's so peaceful..."

Dust couldn't help but agree. There was something almost... energizing about being here, in the middle of this special spot.

"Hey. Come here," she gently commanded, laying down on the grass and patting the ground next to her. Dust ruffled out his feathers and settled his wings against his back. He lay down on his belly and folded his legs under his body almost protectively, not yet willing to go so far as to lean against Tinker's side.

"This really is nice," he said. "Thanks for bringing me here."

"My pleasure."

Dust winced slightly at the word pleasure, suddenly reminded of why he followed the mare here in the first place.

She noticed. "Hey," she said, giving his neck a friendly nuzzle. "I told you to trust me. I'm buying your time to show you that I'm not upset that other ponies did the same in the past. I'm not any better or worse than they are; we're all on even ground now."

"Almost all of us." Dust sighed, but despite himself, it came out more contented than he intended it to.

He almost jumped to his hooves when he felt Tinker reach out and touch his back, but she gently held him down. He blushed, not wanting to ruin the moment by asking what she was doing as she carefully pulled on his wing. She continued, spreading it out to lay in front of her as she lay against him, draped across her front hooves.

She leaned over and closed her teeth gently over the first of his flight primaries, nuzzling and drawing her teeth back with the feather's grain. Dust gasped and almost instantly melted as his flight feathers were groomed. Despite Dust's presumptions, there was nothing inherently sexual in the act. It was comforting, tender, almost familial. He sighed happily.

"Nopony's preened my feathers for me since I was a colt," he muttered. "Not since my mom."

He heard her contented giggle. "I'm just showing you what you really deserve, Dust."

He turned to look over his shoulder at her, and she met his gaze openly. There were no ulterior motives hiding in her eyes. No surreptitious lick of the lips that betrayed hidden lusts. Her ears were laying modestly back against her head, and her smile was so warm he could feel his heart melting.

"You—you really mean that..."

She gave him another nuzzle. "I promise, I'll prove to you that I don't care what you've done. I care about you. And you deserve to have somepony treat you well without demanding anything back."

Tinker went back to her preening, her own wings fluttering slightly against her back as Dust made contented sighs and finally started to relax. With nothing else to do, Dust simply lay on the ground and enjoyed the most tender, intimate, and caring of touches that pegasi could share. He stretched out slightly, letting his front hooves lay forward so he could rest his head on them.

Tinker almost stopped as she looked up and saw tears glistening in the corners of Dust's closed eyes, until she saw the smile on his muzzle. It was the first genuine smile she'd seen him give since the semester began. Reassured, she continued, unwilling to break the spell for anything.

Dust was in heaven. The sun on his back was warm without being overbearing in the still-cool spring air, and he could feel Tinker's teeth as they ran against every one of his primary feathers in turn. He stirred a bit as she stood and moved to his other side, guiding his other wing over her forelegs.

"Are you happy, Dust?"

His eyes were still wet as he lifted his head and looked back at her, in the middle of caring for his wings. "You—you have no idea."

"Do you feel like talking at all?"

He nodded. "I suppose—and you deserve it. I'm sure you've got lots of questions. What do you want to know?"

"Not much," she said, stroking his wing with a hoof. "I don't care about details, or numbers, or anything like that. I don't necessarily want to know, and what I do need to know will come out in time. I just want to know what happened to you to make you what you were. I know somepony hurt you, badly."

Dust sighed. "Yeah. Yeah, they did." He stared out into the horizon, taking a few deep breaths as he watched the clouds against the slowly falling sun. "You know the thing about selling your body? It's the distance. Instantly, I realized that I was different from everypony else. After my first time I cried for almost two hours. I felt so dirty and ashamed. It was like I wasn't me anymore, I was a different pony who only looked like I used to. I knew how much I needed the money, though, so I just went with it. I thought that maybe if I was that other pony, then I would be able to go back to the real me when I didn't need the alter ego anymore.

"Suffice to say, it didn't work like that at all." Dust paused, taking a few more deep breaths to steady himself. Seeing his distress, Tinker leaned in against his side and kept stroking his wing with a hoof. He gave her a thankful smile. "I got so deep into it that I didn't realize that the old me just stopped existing at all. I changed my mane, I changed the way I walked and talked, and I changed the way I thought.

"I convinced myself that I loved it. I let myself love it. I loved the sex, the feelings, and the money. I didn't care if I was mounting somepony or the one being mounted. I loved being able to make ponies happy, and I told myself I was doing something good for others. I thought that would keep me safe."

He fell silent. Tinker leaned down, giving his neck an encouraging nuzzle. "I'm not going anywhere. What happened to you, Dust?"

"...I was raped. Violently."

Against his side, Tinker shuddered and hugged a wing across his back.

"While it was happening, I realized what it was I'd really done by selling my body. I'd devalued myself so much that I'd made myself worthless. I could earn money, but I couldn't earn respect—much less love. Nopony in the world cared except for Saxus and Breeze, and even that felt pointless to me. Nopony knew that I'd been abused, and nopony would have cared if they had known." He sniffed. "I just—I felt so—so worthless..."

Tinker folded Dust's wing back against his side so she could move alongside him. As the stallion's first tear fell, she wrapped her wings tight around his body, meshing her pinions across his chest and wrapped her neck around his. Even as he sobbed, he was shocked to realize that he could feel tears running down the back of his neck, too. Dust knew deep down that Saxus loved him as a brother, but even he hadn't wept over the pegasus in the moment he found him bruised and broken on the floor of his dorm room. Feeling Tinker shedding tears for him both intensified and eased his own grief, and he cried all the harder for it.

The two lay together and wept for what felt like an eternity. The tears within and without burned like fire to Dust—but at the end of it, he felt strangely like that same fire had cleansed him, burning out impurities in his soul. After holding the pain in for so long, he felt weirdly lightened as they calmed and silenced.

Tinker leaned forward, reached out her hooves, and caught his face between them. She pulled his head around to meet hers. Her eyes were red and heavy from her tears, and he knew his were similar. She held his face close to hers.

"Dust, I want you to know: I care. It doesn't matter to me if the entire rest of the world doesn't care. I do. You're worth something to your friends, and to me."

Impulsively, Dust lunged forward, touching his lips to Tinker's.

She pulled back, her eyes wide with surprise. "Sorry, sorry," he gasped, flinching at his rashness. "I just—I've never been in love, and with all the stuff that's happened, I'm not real sure what love feels like anyway, and I thought that maybe this might be it, and I was like 'what the hay', and—"

Dust's awkward, rambling confession cut off as Tinker leaned in for a kiss of her own.

"It might be, Dust," she said quietly. "It might just be."

He nuzzled his head under her neck, the subtle tears in his eyes now of joy rather than pain.

"Honestly, though, you've never been in love before?"

He drew back with a nervous cough. "Uh, no, can't say that I have. I'm not even sure I'd know either way, anymore."

Tinker swept her pink and blue mane back out of her face. "Because it's muddled up with lust now?"

"The opposite, actually. Because I did what I did without any feeling. You could say I fell in love with the thrill, but I never was attracted to any ponies. There wasn't ever even any lust. I stopped thinking about it." He gave the mare a sheepish grin. "When I first mentioned you, Breeze asked me if you were cute, and I just kinda locked up. I'd never even thought about it. I can't even tell if I'm attracted to somepony or not now."

Thankfully, Tinker laughed rather than taking offense to the notion. "Well, what do you think of me now?"

Dust took a moment to look over the mare sitting next to him. "Can I be weirdly honest?" She nodded, amused. "It isn't your body I notice most when I look at you. At least, not overall."

Her face scrunched awkwardly as one ear dipped sideways in confusion.

"Yes, that! Exactly!" He laughed out loud. "I notice things like your ears, the way they show what you're thinking, and those little tufts of fur on the tips. I notice your mane, and how the way it frames your face actually kinda makes me a little crazy. Those bright colors match your personality perfectly."

Tinker blushed. "I-I dye it," she admitted quietly. "The blue is my natural color."

"I couldn't care less; it's awesome." Dust leaned in slightly more. "I think I notice your eyes most, though. They're just so bright, and when you laugh they seem... I don't know, happier, maybe."

"Dust?"

He backed off slightly and stopped staring at her eyes. "Huh?"

"That's definitely considered attraction," she said, smiling.

He nodded firmly. "Okay then. You're cute. I'm glad we settled that."

Tinker giggled, and somehow the highly feminine sound didn't seem at all out of place on the tomcolt-ish pegasus.

"I dunno about love, though," Dust admitted. "I mean, most ponies can't even define it. All I know is that I trust you. More than I do myself."

"That's a pretty good place to start, I'd say."

He cocked his head to the side. "But, I'd say the same thing about Saxus, and Breeze, too. I'd do anything for those guys."

"That's love, too, Dust. It's all love. Love is putting somepony else above yourself—and letting them do the same for you. It can be brotherly or sisterly, or parental, or something more."

He smiled, ducking his head slightly. "I know it doesn't feel the same to me. I'd gladly die for them—but I'd pull the sun itself down out of the sky if you told me to. Since I was a colt, nopony has ever made me feel this safe."

When he looked back up, Tinker's face was flushed, her ears splayed back against her head. "So... are my bits still good at this market?"

Dust snorted. "I'm not taking your money, Tinker. I made ponies pay so they could have a way to disconnect emotionally. That's the last thing I want from you."

She twiddled her hooves. "Well, I just think it's tragic that you've experienced so much sex and never any love."

"Wait." He narrowed his eyes at her. "Are you trying to heal me with sex?"

Tinker had the good sense to look sheepish. "Um, maybe. Would it work?"

"Do you really think it's a good idea to move that quickly? I mean, are we even actually a couple?"

The mare's ears swiveled out to the sides, her muzzle scrunching adorably. "If I were anypony else wouldn't we already have been finished by now?"

"Yeah. And that's sort of the point." He sighed, his own ears laying back as he looked out towards the setting sun. "Look, Tinker, I like you. A lot. I might very well even love you. It's hard to say at the moment, but I don't want to blow it. I don't want to run the risk that it'll feel the same to me, just hollow." His tail whipped across the grass. "I need to know."

He felt his muzzle pulled back to the side, and before he could say anything else, he found Tinker's muzzle pressed intently and forcefully to his. His eyes went wide with surprise, slowly fluttering closed as he felt the mare's tongue gently lap against his lips. Dust's wings shivered and extended to wrap around Tinker's shoulders as he got into the spirit of the kiss.

Dust let his lip part just slightly, and felt Tinker's tongue against his for the first time. It was unlike any experience he'd ever had. It wasn't wanton or sloppy, it was controlled and intense; the kiss of a mare who wanted him instead of what he was offering. Tinker took her time, tracing her tongue carefully across his flat teeth. Her tongue didn't wrestle against his, it caressed it. Dust breathed hard through his nose, his senses filled with the mare. Her mane drooped down to tickle his forehead and his cheek, and the taste of her was... exquisite.

Tinker withdrew, breaking the kiss and taking a deep breath as she met Dust's eyes. "How was that?" she asked.

"Different," he panted. "Very, very different. Not—not same at all."

Grinning widely, Tinker rolled to her side and scooted closer to Dust so she could throw her hooves around him. He closed his eyes, arching his back and shivering as her hooves began to scratch at the fur at the base of his neck. He started to roll himself over to meet her face-to-face, but her hooves held him gently in place again.

"No, stay there for now. I don't want you to do anything."

He gave her a confused—but satisfied—glance. "I, uh, why not?"

"Because," she said, her half-open eyes flashing in the gold light, "I want you to sit back and see how it feels having somepony take care of you."

Dust wanted to protest. He really wanted to ignore her offer and jump back into the moment himself, but he remembered her words: Love is putting somepony else above yourself—and letting them do the same for you. With a great deal of mental effort, he forced himself to stay still and allow Tinker to do what she wished. She's doing this because she cares, he kept telling himself.

Whatever he was feeling, Dust couldn't contain a moan as her hooves began to work into his shoulders. He heard her giggle, not quite underneath him, and resisted jumping as her head darted up and planted a kiss on the base of his jaw.

Tinker shifted, rolling herself back upright alongside her stallion. His wings were still very relaxed and—if she was honest—quite beautiful, especially now that they were straight and clean. She let them splay out onto the grass on either side of his body, her own wings barely able to stay close to her sides due to her excitement.

The mare's hooves came down right in the center of Dust's back, just below the wing joints, and Dust let out a full-on moan as he felt his muscles give way under the kneading. The stallion's body stretched from tip to tail and went slack, falling into a limp, contented pile. It soon became apparent, though, that Tinker wasn't satisfied with him being merely content.

As Dust lay flat, experiencing pure bliss, he felt Tinker's hooves gravitating towards his wings again, but the touch they gave this time was anything but familial. Tinker ran her hooves around the base of his wings, rubbing his skin over the muscles underneath. Like most pegasi, flying gave Dust a well-defined set of back and shoulder muscles, and Tinker began tracing her hooves through the grooves between each one. He was just beginning to get accustomed to the new touches when he felt Tinker's body lean in against his side and her mane drape against his back.

He gasped as Tinker stretched out her neck and ran her tongue over those muscles. It traced down his spine, making him shiver. It circled around the base of his wings, and she drew a moan out of him when she pressed her mouth to his wingbase and suckled. Dust's wings fluttered, straightening out flat above the ground as his body tensed in pleasure. Laying against his body, Tinker took his wing in her hooves and began to run her mouth all along its leading edge.

Dust practically purred. These were sensations he was entirely new to, and they were intense. Nopony had ever treated him like this, with such desire and gentleness. His hooves reached out in front of him, pawing at the grass as he wriggled under Tinker's touch.

For her own part, Tinker's wings were tensely flared, barely in her control to keep close to her body. As her mouth played with his wings, her teeth gently nipping at his back, her hooves began to caress his sides. Dust's back arched under her touch as she traced from his forelegs down towards his cutie marks, enjoying each one of his gasps and twitches.

Dust's body had completely forgotten his mind's misgivings. He felt like his chest was on fire with an unfamiliar combination of joy and desire, and Tinker's hooves were certainly having their intended effect. He fought to keep from wriggling against the ground as his stallionhood began to make itself known underneath him. He felt as though he could ignore any minor discomfort or awkward position for as long as necessary if it meant never having Tinker's hooves leave his body.

He could only hold out for so long, though. Dust had to arch his rump upwards to allow his pride room to lay flat without getting cramped into a weird and uncomfortable position against his belly. Tinker noticed. And glancing backwards, Dust knew that she noticed. Her eyes were firmly riveted to his rump as it shifted uncomfortably.

He blushed, trying not to cringe away from her stare. "I, uh, whooo..." Harmony, how long has it been since I've been embarrassed in front of a mare? Or anypony, really? "Tinker, I..."

She looked back up and saw his discomfort. "Dust, do you want to go further?"

"I, well..." he said, his face scrunching in sympathy with his internal turmoil.

Tinker gave him a sympathetic smile. She pushed his near wing away enough that she could lay forward underneath it, against his side again. "We don't have to do anything that makes you uncomfortable. That's the last thing I want."

He gave her a thankful smile, wrapping the wing around her. "Yeah, I—I just don't know what I feel right now. I mean, I do want it. I want it badly. But I just can't. Not... now."

She shrugged. "Hey, I got time. I'll be here for at least another three years, anyway."

"Yeah..." he replied slowly, frowning. "I'm not sure if I will be or not. I mean, I think I'll be here for this summer at least, but I dunno with the way things have gone so far."

"Well, you said you'd quit, right? What would keep you out now?"

Dust winced slightly. "Well, my grades aren't nearly as good anymore, but I think I can mostly fix that. I just—well, I don't think I'm going to be allowed back into my dorm next year."

"Is it that bad?"

"It's nearly that bad," he said, running a hoof through his mane. "Heck, just being charged for the damage to my door would be bad enough, but I'm pretty sure nopony wants to live near me. It would be nice to move to one of the campus apartments or something, but; one, I'm still an underclasspony, and two, that would require at least two other ponies being willing to live with me. That might be asking a lot..."

Tinker watched his face carefully. "That's not it, though, is it?"

Dust bit his lower lip. "No," he finally admitted. "Frankly, I'm... I'm still scared. I'm scared that I'll end up seeing him around campus."

"You mean your attacker?" Tinker asked quietly. Dust nodded. "You know, I bet we can do something about him."

"You mean go to the guard, right?"

"Well, yeah," Tinker said, trying not to sound pushy. "He committed a major crime, and you're terrified of him. Dust, we need to do something. We need to talk to somepony."

Dust shuddered, shaking his head slightly. "I—I don't think I can..."

"What if Saxus went with you for support?" Dust cocked his head noncommittally. "What if I went with you, too?"

He stared intently out at the setting sun, taking his time. Tinker watched him and waited.

"With you two by my side, maybe. I might be able to go through with it."

"Okay." Tinker leaned over and gave Dust's cheek a tender nuzzle. "That can come later. For now, let's just enjoy what we have."

Dust couldn't have agreed more.

"You ready?"

Dust gave Tinker a sideways glance and a silent, hesitant nod.

Tinker laid her wing across his shoulders and rapped a hoof at the door. Within a few moments, the latch twisted and the door opened.

"Ah," Saxus said, "Good evening."

"Hey, Shadow," Dust replied. "Can we come in?"

"Of course. Tinker," the earth pony said, nodding his head politely to the mare.

She replied in kind, keeping her wing around Dust as they entered the dorm room.

"So, what brings you two here, together?"

Tinker glanced over, and decided to speak for the pair of pegasi. "I took your advice, Saxus. We, well, things went well. Very well, in fact. Dust needed to come here first to tell you something."

Dust took a deep breath. "It was High Society."

"I FUCKING KNEW IT!" Breeze shouted, jumping to his hooves and pacing behind his desk. "Did I not tell you? I feel like I have to take a shower every damn time that sleazebag walks by, and now I know why! I swear by Luna's moon, I'm gonna tear his horn off and—"

"Please, Breeze," Dust cut off his friend's tirade, holding up a hoof. "Please don't. I may be in trouble for what I've done, and I won't stand to see anypony else get in trouble on my behalf." He took another deep breath, blowing it out slowly and steadily. "I—I'm ready. I'm ready to tell the city guard. I think."

Saxus' eyes seemed to light up. "Really?"

Dust nodded. "Yeah, I think I can do it. If you guys are there, too."

Breeze knocked over his pencil stand in petulant anger at not being allowed violence as an option, but he jumped to join the circle of friends without hesitation. "Always, dude. All the way."

Saxus nodded emphatically, his ears eagerly forward. "Let's do it."

The following Thursday evening found the four ponies hanging out in Saxus and Breeze's room, enjoying the sweet freedom of having survived finals week. Throughout the week, all four ponies had made the room their headquarters of sorts, studying together, laughing, and—most importantly—not being alone.

"Celestia's mane, dude, did you ever think we'd make it through this week?" Saxus sighed, leaning back in his desk chair with a highly relieved look on his muzzle.

"Eh, it wasn't so bad," Dust said, a bit quietly.

"Yeah, but you're smart," Breeze retorted.

Tinker giggled at the trio's bantering, as she often did. "So, what are you two doing for the summer?" she asked.

Breeze sighed happily. "Sleeping for a week straight. Then I guess I'll have to get a job or something."

Saxus chuckled. "I've got a summer class at the community school back home I'd like to take to kill off some credits, and my father actually helped me line up an internship for the summer. So I'll be good and busy until fall." He looked up at Dust and Tinker, an oddly knowing smile at the corner of his mouth. "So, how about you two?"

Dust ruffled his own mane with a hoof. "Well, I'm staying here, mostly. I'll be going home tomorrow for a week to see my mom and catch up, and then I'm coming back. Surprisingly, I got a summer housing apartment, and I'll be working a job here in Manehattan, which is much easier to find after everypony leaves for the summer." He chuckled. "Mostly, though, I'll be here because I'll be starting weekly therapy sessions with one of the professors in the psych-sci department."

Everypony nodded happily at that, and Tinker reached a wing over to rub Dust's back. "As for me, I'll be staying here, too. There's a few summer classes I wanted to take that weren't in my major, and I'll be working for the facilities department." She looked over and smiled at Dust. "Mostly, though, I'll be taking care of this guy."

Dust gave a small but heartfelt smile. "Yeah. She agreed to go with me to my therapy sessions. It's gonna suck so bad, but I think I might be able to stick it out with her there."

The pegasi gave each other an affectionate nuzzle as the other two stallions chuckled. "Harmony help us, it's terrible," Breeze joked. "Either get yourselves a room or get me some insulin."

Saxus rolled his eyes. "Har, har. Anyway, I got some news today, and there's actually a few surprises I think you'll like, Dust."

The pegasus perked up. "Such as?"

"Well, first off, that detective from the Manehattan guard we talked to last week actually stopped by and caught me after one of my finals. He kinda gave me an update on what's going on." Saxus put a hoof to his chin thoughtfully, trying to keep a smile off of his face. "Turns out High Society has a bit of a history. He transferred to UE:M last year because he was quietly kicked out of Canterlot University after two other incidents. He was charged with sexual assault of two mares, but never convicted because they mysteriously dropped charges. Apparently, he picks his targets based on who he can best bully into silence."

"Yeah, I got that," Dust winced and snorted angrily. "No such luck this time, though."

"Yeah. And the detective said that between our testimonies and High's history, there's a very good chance that you might not even have to take the stand for his trial. He'll probably try for a deal, of course, but no matter what he's still not coming back to UE:M until long after we're all gone."

"Sweet!" Tinker whooped happily, holding up her hoof for Dust to bump. "Good freaking riddance."

Dust chuckled and knocked his hoof against hers. "Yeah, that's pretty good news."

"Oh, but that's not all." Dust cocked his head, as both Breeze and Saxus were grinning fit to burst. "On an unrelated note, don't bother packing your stuff up at the end of the summer, Dust."

Dust gave the pair a confused look. "I—huh?"

Breeze chimed in. "Shadow and me pulled a few strings, talked to a few ponies, and greased a few hooves where we could. We got you assigned to that apartment for next semester, too."

"Shadow and I," Saxus interjected.

"Shut up, you just study rocks."

Dust stared at the roommates, amazed. "But, how did you do that? You have to be a junior to get into the student apartments, don't you?"

"Well," Saxus said coyly, "it just so happens that Breeze and I are juniors next year, and we both wanted an apartment." He buffed his hoof idly against his chest, playing it casual. "Also, we signed your name as our preferred roommate, and after visiting with your dorm's resident director, he said he'd recommend that it be allowed."

"So you're roomin' with us next year, buddy!" Breeze bellowed, rocking erratically in his chair with excitement. "Also, sorry, but we stole some of the spare bits out of your dresser drawer and paid the double fee for your room, so it'll just be the three of us." He grinned at Tinker. "We thought you two might, ah, appreciate that part."

Tinker blushed and smiled as Dust looked down, nearly in tears. "I—wow, guys..." he said quietly. "I don't know—sniff—don't know what to say, really."

Saxus waved a hoof vaguely at Dust. "No, really, it's cool," he said, wiping at his own eye as subtly as he could. "You already said it weeks ago."

"I did?"

Saxus shrugged. "When you told us you needed help. Breeze and I have been talking it over, and honestly, this was about the least we could do. We already hang out enough anyway, so why not just bunk up and share a place, right?"

Dust wiped his eyes and smiled. "Thanks, guys. Thanks for everything."

Author's Note

i cri erry tiem. ;_;

I know there will be a few people out there who aren't satisfied with the ending (myself included, at least not entirely), but more often than not life doesn't work out like the stories we're used to. Sometimes things go well, sometimes not, but I strive for that realism in my work. I thought this was more true to life than some big climactic showdown. I save those for the adventure stories.

For those who wonder, here's a picture of Tinker. It's an old one, back from when she was still an earth pony in my head, but it's still a great rendition my friend did for me. Maybe someday I'll get around to drawing again and do Dust.

Welp. The story is over.

However, in the immortal words of Steve Jobs, "there is one more thing."

Epilogue - The Rest Of Our Lives To Live

"So, Dust," the older stallion said, leaning back in his overstuffed chair, "you've been coming here regularly for two months now. Do you feel like you've made any changes?"

Dust took a few deep breaths, buying time as he sorted his thoughts. Over the last several weeks, he'd come to know this sofa he was sitting on rather well, as well as the office it was housed in. There was something overwhelmingly peaceful and homey about the professor's office, stuffed as it was from floor to ceiling on every available wall with bookshelves, every shelf of which was crammed full of fiction and non-fiction alike. On the other end of the sofa, distant enough to let him think without interfering but never more than a hoof's reach away, was Tinker, as she had been for every evening's session preceding.

For his part, the professor who was handling Dust's therapy sessions was as patient as ever, sitting quietly but expectantly as Dust thought. The middle-aged unicorn always gave the impression that he was waiting for Dust's next sentence, and never seemed distant or cold as he sat with his thin-rimmed spectacles balanced easily on his muzzle.

"How do you mean?" Dust asked.

The stallion coughed lightly into his hoof before responding. "For starters, has your daily life changed in the last few months? Do you recognize yourself as a different pony now from what you were say, three months ago?"

"Well, I guess you could say that," Dust admitted with a smile. "I think I'm less withdrawn now. I mean, I'm still not as outgoing as I used to be, but I don't tense and avoid other ponies as much. It doesn't feel quite as much like I'm an outsider from everypony else." Tinker nodded in agreement from her seat against the hoofrest.

"And what do you think has been the biggest contributor to this change?"

"If I had to assign it to something, I think it's been Tinker's doing," he said with a nod towards his marefriend. "Having her around every night and having a regular work schedule and such has given me a sense of... normality, I guess. It really is nothing like how I used to feel, always coming back to an empty room with nothing but downtime and all that. It feels more like a home now. I have less time spent dwelling on the bad that happened before and more time spent enjoying the good that's happening now."

"That's a very good outlook. Though, I should hope that you aren't simply avoiding the past by staying busy outside of these sessions, correct?"

Tinker chimed in to answer for him. "We talk about it a lot, actually. Every time he wakes up in the middle of the night, anytime he feels kinda down; I took your advice and tried to ask him how he's feeling at those times. We've actually opened up a lot to each other. It's been..." she smiled warmly at her coltfriend, "very good for us."

The professor nodded, pleased, and the pen at his side quickly scribbled down a few notes as it wriggled in the blue-ish haze of his magic. "So, how has this affected how you see yourself? I recall it took a while to get you to open up about it, but you weren't a big fan of yourself when we started."

Dust nodded, a slight grimace tugging at one side of his mouth. "Yeah, I pretty much hated myself. Even hearing my mom say she still loved me didn't really do much at the time. I kept thinking of myself as something horribly broken that needed to be fixed." He took a breath and ruffled his wings, settling them on his back. "But I think I've reached a sort of truce with the past now."

The unicorn cocked his head slightly to the side, regarding the pegasus seriously. "Truce? Do tell, please."

"Well, the thing is, you asked me quite a few times about who I really am deep down. I still don't know if I really have an answer that satisfies everything—I mean, that's a really complex question. But Tinker's been pushing me to ponder over it at home, too, and I think she helped me realize something important.

"I'm a lot of things, but everything I am sort of gets filtered through what's happened to me in the past. I guess you could say that a pony is the sum total of their experiences. I know that's not the whole picture, but it's a pretty good starting point."

"It's an admirable place to begin," the professor said.

"But it really clicked when Tink asked me if I was happy or not. To be honest, I've been happier over the last two months than anytime in my life, even though I think I've cried more often in that time frame than my entire life combined." Dust took another breath, a smile starting to creep onto his face as he reminisced. "The key that Tinker got me to realize is that everything I've been through, all the mess and shit and pain—all of that got me to where I am now. And for my money, I wouldn't trade where I am now for anything."

He reached out and took Tinker's hoof, a faint but heartfelt smile on both their muzzles. "Once I said that out loud, things started to fall into place a little bit easier."

The professor scrawled a few more notes on his pad and nodded, his lower lip poking out thoughtfully. "I must say, it's impressive that you realized that. It's a very healthy view to have. Not everything you've been through has been nice, and certainly more things will go wrong in the future, but it seems like you're able to put things into a bit of a framework now."

"Most of the time, yeah," Dust conceded, blushing slightly. "The rest of the time I accidentally kick Tinker while she's asleep and she hugs me."

All three ponies chuckled quietly. "Well, Dust," the older pony said, closing his notebook softly, "I think you've made incredible progress thus far. Especially considering the kind of mare that you're living with now, I think you two are doing great work together. I think we can take these sessions down to once per month if you feel comfortable with that. Obviously, you should feel free to call me anytime if things start going badly, and my door will be open."

Dust nodded happily. "I think that sounds great, Doc. Thanks so much."

Tinker squeezed his hoof proudly. "From both of us."

Dust leapt off of the balcony and took wing with a happy sigh. He felt the stir of air currents that told him that Tinker was right next to him, slightly at his flank. Despite it being almost eight in the evening, Celestia's sun was only just recently set, owing to the increased daylight schedule of the late summer. As he swung around towards the apartment he lived in, Dust felt his breath catch. The moon's rise had given birth to a spectacular sunset, the last vestiges of which were just fading into darkness. Ahead of the pegasi, the sky was a deep, royal purple, fading into a sliver of rose against the horizon line.

Despite the nightfall, the air was still warm and active, leaving Dust and Tinker to mostly glide across campus on thermals. Dust chuckled to himself as he felt Tinker reach out and bat at the pinions of his wing. Rolling to the side, the pair dropped, diving towards their home.

The pegasi touched down outside the apartment's porch and walked inside. As she closed the door with a nudge from her back hoof, Tinker was enveloped in a massive hug from her coltfriend. Not wanting to spoil the moment, she simply accepted it without asking why.

Dust unwrapped his wings from around Tinker's neck and stepped back to see her more clearly. "Tink, I just wanted to say 'thanks'." She blushed, but he didn't let her respond just yet. "I mean it. There's no way I would have made it this far without having you there. And somehow, I'm not ashamed having you know all of this stuff about me, either."

Tinker tried to play her side coolly, blowing her mane out of her face. "Pffft, you know I don't mind."

"True, but having me as a coltfriend hasn't been easy, I know," he said, nodding knowingly. "I still wake you up at night when I have nightmares."

"Eh, I'm a light sleeper. It's not your fault. Besides, what kind of awful marefriend would I be if I wasn't there to give you a hug?"

He gave her a long-suffering smile. "You had to accept a crappy shift job that pays terrible student-worker wages just to stay here with me."

"What can I say? You're fun, and I'm mostly here on student aid anyway. The money isn't the most important part."

His smile became slightly sadder. "And I know you've been finding it hard to keep waiting on me, especially since I haven't been comfortable starting a physical relationship yet."

Tinker looked almost offended. "That's not true! I've never minded, Dust. I told you I'd wait as long as it took. I've shared your bed for two months without anything more than a kiss and I haven't complained once."

"Not complained, no, but I know you wouldn't prefer it this way. You've been... antsy."

"It's not so bad, really."

Dust's left ear twitched down to the side in amusement. "So, I didn't catch you the other afternoon on our bed with your hoof between your legs, biting your pillow?"

For her part, Tinker had the good grace to be ashamed, blushing scarlet straight to her eartips. "I—that wasn't—oh, Harmony, Dust, I—"

He chuckled. "You know I'm not upset or anything, Tink." His ears fell as he blushed slightly with the memory, too. "Truth told, it was pretty damn hot."

Tinker's tail swished behind her. "Oh? You liked that, huh?"

"Well, the fact that I could just barely hear you moaning my name helped, too."

She gave him a crooked smile.

"That's what I'm talking about, though," he said, reaching out to take her hoof in his as they both sat to their haunches in the living room. "Tink, after everything we've been through, after how much you've helped me, well..." He swallowed. "I think I'm ready..."

Tinker leaned forward slightly. "Y-you mean that? You're ready for... us?"

He nodded. "Yeah. I have no doubts about how much we care and how far we'd go for each other. I feel like I've been able to let the past go enough." His blush intensified. "I've tried to block the feelings for a long time now, but after seeing you like that, I realized that I was finally actually thinking about sex without having some sort of panic attack and hearing voices. Tinker, I'm ready."

A grin slowly spread across Tinker's muzzle, growing so large it almost looked like it might unhinge the top of her head. "Oh wow..." She shook her head, unable to banish her grin. "This is so weird, isn't it supposed to be the stallion who waits to hear that?"

"You started a serious relationship with a former prostitute with major emotional issues, and a little role-reversal is what's weird?" Dust quipped.

"Okay, you got me there," she responded, releasing his hoof and standing back up. "I won't lie, though," she said over her shoulder as she turned towards their bedroom, "I've been looking forward to this for quite a while."

Dust felt a shock run through his body as she flicked her tail to the side seductively, giving him a coy smile from behind her mane. His own tail wiggled behind him as he crouched like a cat, pouncing after the mare with a laugh. Tinker gave a flap of her wings and galloped for the doorway, shrieking with laughter as Dust skidded around the corner and through the bedroom door just behind her.

Tinker spun to face him just in time to catch a flying tackle to the chest which sent her sprawling back onto the large bed with Dust standing atop her, smiling widely. She smiled herself, but inside she could feel her heart fluttering with anticipation.

Without preamble, Dust kissed his marefriend passionately. He worked his tongue into her mouth and against hers as she reached out and wrapped her hooves around his neck, pulling his chest down against hers. As their fur meshed and their chests met, he could actually feel both of their heartbeats at once. They were out of synch, but both beating equally hard and fast.

Dust broke the kiss, instead choosing to trail his kisses down Tinker's jaw to her neck. The mare cooed happily, her hooves working firmly into the muscles between his shoulders. His tongue ran along the hollow under her jaw, down along her graceful neck. Dust could hear her tail as it rasped against the comforter and feel it as it whipped back and forth against his hooves.

"Ohhhhh," Tinker cooed happily. "Dust, get the lights?"

He hesitated, feeling a sudden burst of fear at the idea of being in the dark while being with his mare. "I, uh, I'd kind of like to keep them on, if that's cool."

"Sure," she said quickly, nodding. "That's fine with me."

Dust closed his mouth against the base of her neck, and Tinker felt fireworks go off behind her eyes. He was gradually drifting lower, taking his wings out of her reach, so she played with his mane and ears. If the vibrations against her skin were any indication, he appreciated the touch.

Leaning in, Dust allowed his body to lay against hers so he could put his hooves to use. His mouth ran slowly down the centerline of her body, taking its time as his hooves went down her sides, ruffling circles in the fur and just barely kneading at the flesh and ribs beneath. Tinker squirmed at the ticklish touches, letting out gasps as she wriggled against his muzzle. As his tongue reached her hips, he pressed hard with his forelimbs, rubbing deep into her braced-wrench cutie marks. The gasps turned into needy moans as Tinker bucked her hips forward against his chin, trying to coax his muzzle further south.

"Harmony, Dust, please don't tease me. I really can't handle it right now!"

Dust chuckled to himself and obliged, finally letting his torso slide off the edge of the bed and falling to his haunches against the carpet. Taking a deep, bracing breath, he leaned in and opened his mouth.

The taste registered immediately, and Dust screwed his eyes closed firmly as he was brought back into the memory of a unicorn mare presenting herself to his muzzle as—

With a grunt, he forced the memory aside, opening his eyes back up. As low as his bedframe was, he could see over the rise and fall of Tinker's light-grey body to where her muzzle pointed at the ceiling, her face and closed eyes half-covered by her wild mane. Instantly, a sense of peace stole over Dust's mind, and he began to lap at her velvet-furred mound with a gusto, never taking his eyes off of her face.

For the first time ever, Dust heard his marefriend let out a passionate sound. The delicacy of the moan almost felt out of place from so brash and bouncy a pony, but to Dust, it was music. It wasn't the sort of throaty, guttural moan that eagerly pushes a partner on, nor the meek sound of somepony trying not to feel guilty for what they were enjoying. Tinker was definitely enjoying herself, and in no real hurry to push Dust beyond where he was at that moment.

Dust began to lose himself in the moment, drawing in deep breaths full of Tinker's unique and tantalizing scent. His tongue parted her lips, dipping inside again and again to take shallow laps against her folds. His marefriend was soaking wet under his muzzle, and he eagerly drank her essence, not willing to let a single drop go to waste. Even as his mind filled with a pleasant haze of taste, touch, and smell, he kept his eyes riveted on her form.

Tinker's entire body heaved, waves of pleasure moving her body against his muzzle as his tongue dictated. Her head sprawled back as she reached over it with one hoof, desperately gripping the bedspread, her wings splayed against the sheets with a stiffness he'd never seen before. I'm doing that, he realized. I'm causing her to feel like that.

He nipped and licked at her swollen clitoris in between driving his tongue as deeply into her wet pussy as he could. The mare's gasps were almost rhythmical, the two seeming to dance to a tune that neither could name but both knew intimately well.

"Dust, oh, I'm—ahhhhhhhh!"

Tinker suddenly arched, her tail coming up off of the bed as she came. Dust kept lapping his broad tongue across her folds as she cried out, blinking in surprise as he felt pungent splashes of marecum against his tongue. He put his mouth over her mound, hungrily and happily drinking down his mate's gift.

After several seconds, Tinker began to come back down, still twitching and gasping with every flick of Dust's tongue against her slit. She weakly pushed his head away, trying to pull him back up onto the bed with her hind legs. "Oh, Dust, I—ah—please, no more!" Dust climbed back up and sprawled onto the bed beside Tinker as she panted. "Harmony, I—wow..."

Dust gave her a lopsided grin. "I was good?"

The mare returned him a flushed smile. "I—I've never cum like that before," she admitted quietly, laying her ears back against her head. Her breathing began to return to normal. "How are you?" she asked hesitantly.

"I'm okay," he replied honestly. "I just needed to keep seeing you, and I wasn't in any danger of drifting off somewhere else."

She smiled broadly at him, something inside her fluttering proudly at his words. "Ah, so the lights thing..." He nodded, not even bothering to feel ashamed or anything in his current state. She reached out and pushed him over onto his back, giving him time to settle his wings out to his sides so they didn't get cramped under his back. "Well then," she said quietly, her voice barely above a purr, "sit back. And don't you dare take your eyes off of me."

Dust nodded emphatically, feeling his sheath stirring and growing before a hoof had even been laid on him. Tinker ducked down, wasting no time as she stuck out her tongue and ran it up the inside of his left thigh, her muzzle bumping up against the underside of his sac. He gasped and fought the urge to close his eyes as his stallionhood practically burst out from his sheath, half-erect and growing quickly.

Tinker reached up and wrapped a hoof around the base of his shaft, gripping it loosely as she looked up, meeting his eyes. She gave him an eager, lusty gaze as she pressed her muzzle to the underside of his cock, never breaking eye contact. Dust's hips jerked as he instantly went to full hardness, more turned on than he had ever been in his life.

Whatever Tinker saw in his eyes she evidently liked, as she ran her tongue up the length of his shaft with a purring moan. Dust echoed her articulation with his own moan as she reached his tip and pitched forward, taking his turgid cock into her muzzle as she sank back down. The stallion's breath kept catching in his throat as he panted, the sight of his marefriend fellating him burned into his mind.

It's almost like when Footlight... his mind coaxed, but he quickly shut that thought down without a fight. No, it really isn't. It's just better in every way.

With a pop, Tinker drew his member out of her mouth, taking a deep breath of her own. Her face was still flushed, the pink tinge warming her cheeks noticeably in the lamplight. She crawled forward until she could lay against his side, pulling him into a passion-fueled kiss as her wing curled around to tease his member with her primary feathers. Dust broke the kiss, his head lolling back with a gasping laugh. "Oh, I—ah—guh, geez, Tink..."

The mare watched his face with a pleased, hungry smile. "You like that, don't you?" He could only nod in response. "I bet you'd love to make a mess of my wings, wouldn't you?" He nodded more emphatically. "You'd like to cover my feathers in your cum?" His nod sped up, testing the limits of his neck to hold his head on.

"That's a shame, because that'll have to wait," she said into his ear, drawing her wings back from his body. He gave a needy growl, looking down at her. "Right now, I need you inside me, Dust. I finally get the chance to enjoy you, to feel you twitch and cum, and I don't feel like letting that go to waste."

Dust smiled back, matching her hungry gaze. Tinker raised her rear leg, moving to straddle his hips with her own, reaching back under her barrel to grasp his stiff pride. His hips twitched in anticipation as she lined him up with her dripping mound. "You just keep watching me, love."

"I'm not sure I could stop if I wanted to," he replied, giving her nose a quick kiss. A warm smile flickered over her face, quickly replaced by a lustful gasp as she lowered herself down onto his stallionhood.

As wet as she was, she sank him to the hilt in her pussy in just two thrusts, her head pitching back, throwing her mane back over her shoulders. Dust felt his own back arch, pressing his hips firmly against hers as they met. Her insides gripped at his length, warm and tight. He reached out, grabbing her by the hips and massaging her cutie marks as she began to raise her body up.

Tinker drew his flesh almost all of the way out of her body before dropping, slamming him back inside with a thrust that pulled the air out of her lungs. She drooped, leaning on her hooves to each side of his shoulders. Unable to speak, she bent over and pressed her muzzle against Dust's.

Feeling his mate's tongue forcefully invading his mouth, Dust began to thrust himself up into Tinker's body. Her wings snapped back to full stiffness as he began to rock her body forward and back against the motion of his hips. The mare moaned straight into his mouth, and he could feel the vibrations against his tongue all the way down his throat.

The pace began to pick up, Dust arching his back as his hips left the bed, giving Tinker the ride of her life. Barely able to take the feeling, she straightened back up, her back arching like a bullrider as her body was stuffed to the brim with stallion flesh. Dust kept his eyes open and on his mare as he pulled at her body, drawing her hips as forcefully against his own as he could.

"Tink, I—ah—I don't have—puh—long left."

Tinker didn't answer and simply shoved her hoof down against her mound, furiously rubbing herself off as Dust slammed into her body, desperate to reach another orgasm at the same time as her lover.

He knew what her goal was, and he held back just a touch, biting his lip as he tried to find the resolve to hold out for another few seconds. Above him, Tinker's body was fully on display in the lamplight, wings spread like Celestia before the sun, covered in a sheen of sweat that glittered in the dimness. She clopped herself shamelessly, wantonly, wanting Dust to see her.

Just when Dust knew he couldn't hold out, Tinker pitched forward, let out a strangled gasp, and shook uncontrollably as her well-loved snatch tightened almost painfully around his cock. He moaned, long and low, as he arched his back one last time, searching for every fraction of an inch he could get into Tinker's body. The pair burst through into a shared climax, practically unable to feel the other through their own climax.

Tinker collapsed forward against Dust's body as he shot burst after burst of stallion cum into her body, painting her insides and filling her needy pussy. She could hear it squelch around his cock as he thrust deeply into her, depositing more each time.

It was several minutes before either pony moved. Tinker lay against his chest, panting. She could feel his seed leaking out of her body and onto his own, and everything about her body, inside and out, felt pleasantly warm.

She leaned on a hoof to raise herself just enough to look into Dust's eyes. Neither said anything, but they both knew that each had the same expression as the other. Tinker leaned forward, giving her mate one last heartfelt kiss before slumping back against his chest.

"I love you so much, Dust," she said quietly, stirring his wing feathers with a hoof.

“I know.” He craned his neck to kiss the top of her head before settling back against the pillows. "And I love you, too," he whispered back. "That's how you saved me."

The End -

Author's Note

And that is finally the end. Thank you all for being generally awesome fans!

Special thanks go out to (in no particular order):

Armin Van Buuren (his A State of Trance broadcasts and albums helped a majority of this story get written)
Brand New (for inspiration and emo-ness)
Mountain Dew (do I really need to say why this is important to a writer?)
Boneywings and Wing Dancer (for being super awesome prereaders and idea-ponies for the last few chapters. I wish I'd started with them, honestly.)
Google Docs (for existing)
Everyone who commented with a video clip, gif, or memetic image (it's the best way to communicate. :trollestia: )

1 - Best Plans Laid

From: UE:M Financial Aid Office
To: Dust Cloud, SID #206225
Re: Emergency financial aid application

We have received and reviewed your application for hardship financial aid. While we sympathize with you having lost your on-campus job, employment status and/or changes thereof do not qualify students for hardship financial aid or tuition exemption under any of our university guidelines. We regret to conclude that since you began the semester under a tuition payment plan you must fulfill this semester’s payments as per the terms of the original documents.
While we are unable to offer you any assistance or relief of a monetary nature, we wish to help and remain flexible. The best we can do is to write off the original breakdown of payments, so that as long as your account balance is paid in full by the Friday before finals week, we will consider your account as being in good standing and allow you to keep your grades earned for this semester.

At current, your account shows an outstanding balance of 1,206 bits. Please pay this amount before finals week begins if you want your grades to count for this semester, otherwise you will be assigned an “incomplete” mark for all classes and ineligible for any refund of payments made to date.
Apologies for the inconvenience, and best of luck to you in the future.

University of Equestria at Manehattan Financial Aid Office

The rust-colored pegasus laid the paper on the cafeteria table and hung his head in his hooves. Well, there goes my education, he thought to himself. And I thought this semester was going to be awesome...

“Hey, Copper, what’s up?”

A blue-hued unicorn dropped heavily onto the bench across the table and set his tray down. “I haven’t really seen you much since the semester started, how you been?”

Dust Cloud looked up at his friend. “Hey, Breeze. I’m—fine.”

The stallion blinked. “Hmm, not sure I believe you. What’s wrong, Copper? I saw you a week ago and you were on top of the world. Dorm to yourself, nice class load, on-campus job at the Haystack—you’re livin’ the life.”

“Well,” Dust began, “the first week was fine. Then we started training the new guys at the Haystack. One of the other first-years burned the kitchen down.”

A forkful of pasta hung in the air in front of Breeze’s open mouth, frozen. “They did what now?”

“Yeah. While trying to make sweet potatoes fries.”

“I—I didn’t even know that was possible. Aren’t there sprinklers for that?”

“Yeah, but then one of the unicorns freaked out, and tried to help, but he couldn’t focus and ended up just bursting the sprinkler pipes, then one of the new guys’ tail caught fire, and it all just kinda went downhill from there.” Dust sighed. “It was actually kind of amazing to see, but the long and short of it is that I don’t have a job anymore. On top of that,” he paused, waving the piece of paper in front of him, “I just got turned down for fin aid because the semester already started.”

His friend winced. “Ouch.”

“So that’s it then; I’m going to get kicked out of school because I can’t pay my tuition. I saved for months to be able to cover just half of my first semester’s payments! I needed that job more than anything! You know as well as I do that there aren’t any jobs left!” He slammed his head into the table and covered it with both hooves and wings.

“Yeah, they do tend to be taken by the end of the previous semester. What about jobs in the city?”

“There isn’t anything close enough, but I’ve tried them all anyway,” Dust wined, muffled under his feathers. “The new semester crowd swallowed up everything. Welcome to life in a college town.”

Breeze chewed, lost in thought. “Off-campus housing? Maybe you could find a cheaper living arrangement?”

“I’m a first-year, Breeze. I can’t live off campus.”

“Oh, right.” The unicorn waited while Dust finally came out from under his appendages and sulked in the open. “They really can’t give you anything? You’re, like, the smartest pony I know, Copper! You got straight A’s last semester!”

Dust huffed. “Apparently, due to a lot of bureaucratic stuff that I don't understand, I don’t qualify for academic scholarship until after my first year.”

“Damn...”

The two sat quietly among the hubbub of the dining hall for a moment until Breeze poked his friend with a hoof.

“Hey, have you eaten anything?”

“Not really.”

“You should. Go eat something.”

“Thanks, mom, but I’m good.”

Breeze chuckled. “I think what you need is a night to unwind, Copper. It’s the weekend, my roomie and I have booze, and you need to laugh for a while, but I’d rather you didn’t do it all on an empty stomach. Carpets are hard to clean, dude.”

Dust let out a weak laugh. “Alright, alright. I can’t turn down an invitation from somepony who’s buying, after all.”

“Duuuuude, that suuuuuuuuuucks.”

Fall Breeze smacked his roommate playfully on the head. “Yeah, that’s what I said, idiot.”

Dust Cloud smirked at the pair. The pegasus had bumped into Breeze between classes his first week on campus, and the two had hit it off quickly. Breeze’s roommate, Saxus, the slate-furred earth pony who everyone called “Shadow”, owing to his color, had equally formed a bond with him, and the three were almost always together.

The dark-furred pony rubbed his head and giggled. “Man, I’d hate it if I couldn’t take my classes.”

“Shadow,” Dust mocked, reaching towards the rapidly-emptying bottle of vodka, “you’re a geology major. You study rocks. And dirt. There’s no way it’s that interesting.”

“Mostly rocks. And guess what?” He jumped—unsteadily—to his hooves and shoved his rump right in Dust’s face, displaying his geode cutie mark. “Look, Copper! A rock! ‘Sides, ‘s’not boring at all. Much better than some—some swirly cloud or whatever you have on your butt.”

Dust almost fell over backwards as his personal space was invaded by flank. “Ack, dude, no! I’ll catch boring or something! And it’s a freaking dust devil! You know that.”

The three fell out laughing until Breeze picked up the bottle. “Aww, we’re almost empty. Do we have more?”

Saxus blinked and dropped back into his chair. “Um... No idea, actually. Was that number two, or three?”

Dust blinked as well. “Wasn’t it number one?”

“Dammit,” Breeze muttered, “I hate it when I lose count.”

“Well, I’m not buy—buying another one,” Dust said.

“Hey, you owe us, colt.”

“He owes the school, too, Shadow.”

The earth pony put a hoof to his chin on the second attempt and thought. “Hey, yeah, he does. Well, how’s he gonna pay us both back? All back?” He shook his head and snorted. “Is a school an ‘it’ or a ‘them’”?

Dust sighed drunkenly. “Doesn’t really matter. It’s still to-too many either way. I got nothin’.”

“He could sell bracelets and stuff with the tree-huggers,” Breeze suggested.

“No good with my hooves,” Dust wing-shrugged. “I can barely put on my formal wear for photo day.”

“Busking downtown?” Saxus suggested.

“I’m not musi—can’t play instruments.”

“Hey, what if he got a job at the Haystack?”

Breeze threw a pillow nowhere near Saxus’ head. “That’s what he used to do, moron!”

Saxus ducked and stuck his tongue out at his roommate. “Missed, idiot!”

“Jackass!”

“Prick!”

“Shut up,” Breeze gasped, doubled over with silent laughter, “or I’ll shove my hoof up your ass and make a Shadow puppet!”

All three began laughing out loud. “Nah,” Dust said, “he’d probably like that too much.”

“He’d probably try to charge me for it, too, the cheapskate,” Breeze taunted.

Silence descended on the room as the trio regained control of themselves and the laughter trailed off.

“... Maybe he could do that?” Saxus quietly suggested.

Dust and Breeze looked at each other, confused. “What,” Breeze questioned, “charge other ponies to let them molest you?”

“Not me, dude,” Saxus shook his head, “him. He could charge for... you know. ‘Services.’”

“What, seriously?”

“Look at him, man, he’s kinda cute. I b—bet he could make some bits off of that.”

“I dunno...”

“Pffft. As drunk as I am right now, I’d totally hit that.”

Dust choked on the remains of his drink, sputtering and coughing into his glass. “Guys, come on, do I get a vote before you sell me on the street?”

Saxus leaned back in his chair. “Not a street, dude, the dorm. My older brother knew this place wher—where this mare, right? So, every semester around, like, finals and stuff, she invites stallions with money to her room. Apparently she made quite a stack of bits.”

Breeze hmmmmed to himself, nodding.

“Shadow, dude, come on. I’m not into stallions.”

The earth pony knickered. “Ha! Not stallions, mares! They get so stressed out over midterms and crap like that. I swear, the education and nursing buildings are just a sea of hormones and coffee by the end of the year. Just put out the word, and see if you get any hits.”

“Pun intended?” Breeze chimed in.

“Oh, heh. I guess not,” Saxus realized.

Dust curled up slightly, hugging his hooves and wings around his body. “I don’t know, guys...”

Breeze hopped up, tottered to his left, and regained his balance. “So, like, how does he get the word out? Won’t, like, the school hate that or something?”

“Probably. I don’t know, I’m not a school.” Saxus tapped a hoof against the side of his head as he thought. “What if he didn’t say what was going on? He could just, like, leave a card or something.”

Breeze rummaged through his desk drawers until he came up with an index card and a pen.

“Nah, dude, smaller. It’s gotta fit in with stuff like his student ID and all that.”

Breeze tore the card in half. “Okay, so what should it say?”

“I’m going to jail...” Dust moaned quietly.

“Copper, that’ll never work as a slogan. Hush and let the big ponies talk,” Breeze said, chuckling to himself. Dust simply covered his head with his wings and curled up into a miserable ball on Breeze’s bed.

Saxus stood and paced in an unsteady circle behind his chair. “Like, maybe it should just give a hint. Something like ‘need a break?’”

Breeze hmmmed. How about, “stressed? lonely?’”

“Ooh, ‘need a release?’” Saxus chimed in.

“Nice, Shadow, niiiice...” Breeze said, scrawling a few words slowly across the top of the card. “Okay, so how does it work? Like, do they send something to his campus post office box or something?”

“You crazy? You can’t put his CM number on there, that’s how they’d catch him! His name is on that!” Saxus thought for a moment. Suddenly, his face perked up, he threw a hoof in the air, and promptly crashed to the ground behind his desk. “Just put his room number on it!” he called from the floor.

“How is that any better at all?” Dust mumbled, but Breeze was already putting the info on the card.

“Oh, wait!” Breeze suddenly said, grabbing the pen again and writing “Bring Cash” in block capitals on the bottom of the card. “There, we’re done, I think! You’re all set, Copper, you just might need to pi—pick up a few things. At the store. You know...” he said, winking at Dust.

“I’m going to be sick,” Dust responded.

When Dust awoke for the third time the following morning, his headache had finally subsided to the point where he could distinguish shapes and colors from each other. He lifted his head slowly from the pillow to see that he was indeed back in his own dorm room.

“Thank Harmony I don’t have a roommate this semester...” he muttered to himself. The indignity of last night might have been too much to bear if somepony else had seen him assisted back into his room. Besides, it meant that he was able to fit in a queen-size bed that was infinitely more comfortable than the provided dorm beds, which were more akin to hammocks with springs instead of rope.

He slumped back down, cursing the daylight that snuck through the blinds, and finally noticed the small, rectangular-ish card tucked in under his hoof.

It was a mess. Breeze’s writing, even without needing to use his hooves or mouth, was pretty sloppy at the best of times, much less when he was drunk. The scrawls were awful, but legible:

Stressed? Lonely? Need a release?

Whitefeather Hall 219

BRING CASH

Dust sighed. Apparently last night DID actually happen... His friends had actually not only suggested that he sell his body for bits, they had created a card supposedly to help him get business. He tucked the card into the crook of his wing and staggered over to his desk chair to think more properly. He laid the card on the desk and tried to think, wishing he had a cup of coffee or something to take his mind off of... his mind.

No job, no income, savings already mostly empty... What can I do? Would it really be the worst thing in the world if I had to skip a semester and try again? Would I—COULD I actually do something like this for money? Is there even a chance of making enough?

Dust glanced down at himself ruefully, taking particular note of his extremely unkempt state and smell. His body was covered in rust-colored fur, which was ruffled awkwardly in every direction at once. The ruddy vortex of his cutie mark was apparently covered in something, making his fur sticky and brown. His breath still reeked of vomit and cheap liquor. I’m really not so sure I could make anything, he thought. I’m too small to be athletic, too nerdy to be cool, and too awkward to be desirable. Still, Shadow DID say he thought I was cute...

He shook his head to clear away the thoughts, immediately regretting the act as he clutched his spinning head in his hooves. Shadow’s weird, he decided. He doesn’t actually think I’m cute. I think. Hopefully. Plus, he was REALLY drunk at the time.

He snorted and pulled out a new, crisp card and wrote across it more neatly than Breeze’s attempt, staring blankly at the clean, hoof-lettered business card. What am I doing... This will never work. Besides, I’ve never even had sex before, I can’t sell myself just like that! He snatched up both cards and was on the verge of ripping them in half, but stopped. He froze, trying to figure out why he didn’t seem to want to tear the cards up, which would clearly be the smart and sensible thing to do. Instead, he sighed, stuffed the neat card in with his ID in his saddlebag and settled the whole thing over his shoulders, ready to head to the cafeteria in search of something to break his hangover.

Well, I suppose I have until the end of the semester to try to find some cash. Surely something will open up. I’m sure the Haystack will be back up and running in no time.

There was a sign across the smoke-darkened doorway, halfway across the cafeteria. It hung just below the large board advertising it as The Haystack.

Closed due to fire damage. Reopening fall semester of next year.

Have a great year and come see us again!

Dust sighed, feeling his heart fall right out through his hooves, taking his hopes of graduation with it. Without even thinking about it, he walked slowly back out the door, slowing only long enough to drop a small, white card on a cafeteria table, unnoticed by anypony.

I realize that I need math to be an architect, but they could at least try to make it not completely and utterly boring.

Dust sighed and pushed the notebook away, the page already full of problems he burned through over the course of the evening. Harmony, I hope this is worth it. I’ve already invested three weeks in this freaking calculus book. If it’s wasted because I can’t take my finals, I’m gonna kill myself. He rubbed his eyes as a quiet, almost hesitant knock sounded at the door.

Who would bother knocking at... whatever hour this is? He glanced up at the clock. It’s already 11:30. It’s officially too late for most visitors.

Dust stood and trotted over to the door, opened it, and froze.

Outside was a pony holding a disturbingly familiar white card with his hoofwriting on it.

“Um, hi. I had this card, and I just—well, this is the place, right? I hope it isn’t too late at night. I mean, I figured you wouldn’t want anypony coming by early in the evening, but I wasn’t sure...”

Dust stared over the top of the card into the pony’s earnest eyes, set in a distinctly male face.

Author's Note

No clop in this one, but you know how it is. Gotta develop those characters, first, amirite?
I promise, next chapter will be good and smutty.

4 - The Last Mile Before The Cliff Is Always The Smoothest

The knock came, once again, in the middle of Dust's study period. In truth, he hadn't really been paying much attention to the book in front of him. Despite the looming proximity of midterm exams, the pegasus just couldn't focus. He knew how much he needed a few "A's" to boost his grades this semester; nevertheless, he kept finding his attention and eyes roaming away, generally towards the door. Would tonight be the night he got another customer? Would they come early or late? Should he take the chance on going to bed earlier to be rested for his classes, or would he miss out on the funds that would make those classes worthwhile?

So, when the knock came, Dust was almost anticipating it. It was only about half-past ten or so, which seemed pretty early by Dust's reckoning, so perhaps it was just a dormmate looking for homework help or something.

The knock wasn't hesitant in any way whatsoever, so maybe it wasn't a pony here for illicit purposes. His customers thus far tended towards awkward, shy, and definitely not the type to let anypony else hear their knocking.

Put together, it almost threw Dust for a loop, but he recovered quickly enough, wiped clean and laid down the quill he was using, and trotted over to the portal.

Outside was a unicorn mare.

"Oh," Dust said, glancing around the hall to see if anypony else was there, maybe having just left after knocking themselves. "Well, I guess you're not here for—"

She smirked and held up the rather battered and dog-eared card.

"—okay you are here for that, then. Huh." Dust stepped back. "Please, come on in."

"Thanks," the mare said, trotting confidently into the room.

Dust was in a daze. What in Equestria is a mare doing in—wait, wasn't that the whole IDEA originally? She glanced around at the room and nodded in a quietly satisfied sort of way. Dust tried to figure her out, but found himself stymied. The ashen-grey mare was about the same size as he was, but her flame-red mane was cut short, wild and spiky, and fringed with a vibrant orange at the tips. Her flanks (which weren't bad looking at all, Dust noticed) bore a distinctive mark, a cherry with a starburst behind it.

He offered her a chair, which she declined. "Okay," Dust began, ritually, "so, what should I call you?"

She laughed, drawing a perplexed sputter from the pegasus. "Is that really how you do things?" she asked. "All clandestine and fake names and shit like that?"

Dust tried to keep up with the conversation that he was sure he wasn't in charge of anymore. "Well, generally, yeah. My clients seem to like the option of anonymity."

"Well, I couldn't care less," she said, tossing her mane and shrugging her saddlebag off in a way that made her rump shimmy. Dust swallowed and took a deep breath. "My name's Cherry Bomb," she said, turning back and putting her hoof out.

Dust bumped his lightly against it. "Nice. I guess you can call me Copper."

"Even though that so obviously isn't your name, right?"

"How would you know that? It could be!"

She chuckled. "Everypony who comes here knows where your room is. You know that anypony could slip a few bits to the registrar secretary and find out your name, right?"

"Perhaps."

"Heck, I could go next door and ask your neighbor your name."

"Probably, yeah," he retorted, grinning, "but how many ponies are gonna go to that kind of trouble?"

Cherry Bomb nodded sagely. "Hiding by implied hiding. I like it. It's subtle."

"Mostly just assuming that everypony else is too lazy to care, but thanks." Dust took the opportunity to sit down. "So, I assume you know why you're here, then?"

She nodded emphatically. "Of course."

"I, uh, I have a price list."

"Pfffft," she snorted in laughter, "are you serious?"

Dust's ears fell slightly. "Well, I just sorta made it a few days ago..."

"And you just wanted to show somepony your great work, right? What, no refrigerator to post it on?"

He turned to protest, but saw the huge grin on her face and the glint in her eye and knew she was playing with him. "Well, my mother is a long way away..."

She laughed. "Okay, let's see what you've got for sale."

Dust turned to his bedside dresser, opened the top drawer, and pulled out a small slate. On it was written out a list of services. He passed the slate over to his guest.

Rm 219 - Services

Base Rate (per hour) - 20b
Hoof - 5b
Mouth - 15b
Sex - 35b
Cum on - 5b
Kinks - negotiable
Coltfriend Special (all-inclusive) - 200b

Cherry Bomb laughed out loud. "Ha! This is awesome. Five bits extra to get cum on? Seriously?"

Dust blushed. "I, uh—that's mostly to cover the costs of the laundry for my, uh, for my sheets afterwards."

"Wow, you've really thought this through then, haven't you?" she asked, setting the slate down on the dresser.

"Yeah..."

She stared at him intently. "So, you've done this before, right? I'm gonna get my bits worth, aren't I?"

Dust looked up quickly. "Oh, yeah, totally. I mean, not exactly, but yeah, I've done, uh... it before."

Her eyes narrowed. "Huh?"

"Well, see," Dust hedged, biting his lip, "the thing is..."

"...yes?" she asked, tapping her hoof.

Dust screwed his eyes shut, his ears falling flat against his head. "I'veneverhadamarecomeherebefore."

To his surprise, instead of hearing an irritated huff and hooves leaving, Cherry Bomb laughed. Loudly. He opened his eyes in surprise to find her front half flat against the ground, laughing and pounding a hoof on the carpet.

"You mean—" she gasped, fighting her laughter for air, "You mean to—tell me that—all your customers have been stallions?"

"Uh... yeah."

"Oh, Harmony, that's hilarious!"

"I, um—it is?"

"And you didn't put anything about that on the card, but you obviously—phew—you obviously didn't intend that, right?"

Dust blushed again. "Pretty much, yeah. It's just who showed up."

"Oh, Harmony, I can just see your face when the first one showed up, it's just too much." The mare began to regain control of herself, giggling and sniffing as she wiped tears of laughter out of her eyes. "So you—snrrk—I'm sorry, I really am. So this will be a bit of a treat for you then, huh?"

"Um..." Dust began, unsure of just what was happening to him at the moment. "Yes?"

"Well, good. That way we can both enjoy this. The Sisters know I need it..."

"Rough semester?"

She sighed, rolling her neck around. "You could say so. I've pulled too many all-nighters so far, midterms are coming up, my entire dorm is full of agitated, nervous, and frazzled mares—and I'm in desperate need of a good, hard, stallion. I guess I should just be glad I'm not in heat, too. That would pretty much round it out."

"That," Dust said, "is a pretty tempting offer. Why me?"

Cherry Bomb snorted. "Look, I'm not interested in a relationship or anything. Stallions always want to get attached. I don't know if it's me or if they're just afraid I won't be around when they need a turn, but whatever." She stared straight at Dust. "I'll make this really simple for you. You eat me out until I cum, and then you fuck me until I can't walk straight. I pay, everypony's happy. Good enough?"

Dust coughed into his hoof, taken back by the mare's extremely forward attitude. "I—wow, yeah, that's obviously fine with me."

She trotted past him and poked the bed with a hoof, evaluating it. "Oh, by the way," she added, "how's this place for sound?"

"I, um, what?"

She grinned in a distinctly naughty way. "I'm a bit of a screamer."

"Oh. Ohhh..." Dust tried to keep his eyes from widening, and tried extra hard to keep his erection from growing before he'd even started. "Um, not great, actually."

"It's cool," she said, her horn beginning to glow and brighten. "I know a soundproofing spell. We should be fine."

Cherry Bomb's horn grew in brightness, the reddish hue rippling along the length of it. Around, over, and underneath him, Dust noticed the walls, ceiling, and floor begin to take on a light red glow of their own. Cherry grunted lightly in effort, and the glow seemed to sink into the walls. Her horn dimmed.

"There. No problems now." She hopped up onto the bed, flopped down, and rolled onto her back, letting her hooves dangle over the edge of the bed. Dust had an uninhibited view of her body, and he could feel himself getting very aroused already. Something about the utterly take-charge nature of his customer had him raring to go. Also, she's a mare, Dust thought. That part's pretty nice, too.

"Well?" she asked, her head obscured as she lay back on the bed. "Get to work!"

"Yes, ma'am!" he responded, stepping up and taking a set between her hind legs.

Placing his hooves on her thighs, Dust took the opportunity to enjoy his first truly intimate look at a mare. Of course everypony generally didn't wear concealing clothing unless it was cold, but all the same, there was something different about a mare offering herself to him. Dust rubbed her legs as sensually as he knew how, leaning in to take a deep, surreptitious sniff. The scent of a mare was so wildly different from that of a stallion. It was, if anything, even more enticing. Dust idly wondered if her cum would taste better, too. It could hardly taste worse, he thought sardonically.

He brushed his muzzle against her lower lips, causing her to squirm. "Hey, come on, no fair teasing!"

"I know you're paying, but I handle this part," he retorted, sounding more in charge of himself than he felt. In deference to his customer, though, he stuck out his tongue and swiped it slowly across her sex from bottom to top. Cherry gave up her first moan. Dust took note of it, pleased. It was just better than a male's throaty sounds. It was husky and breathy and, well, feminine.

Dust decided the taste of Cherry's body was far and away better than a stallion. He went to work in earnest, lapping his broad tongue across the outside of her lips, tracing down the joint of her hips with his muzzle, and nipping his teeth lightly at the soft, velvet-like fur surrounding her nether regions.

On the bed in front of him, Cherry was practically purring. She must really need this, Dust mused. A gentlepony would oblige her, of course.

He pressed his tongue more firmly, parting her sex. The tip of his tongue traced up along her cleft, drawing a long, low moan from above. She wasn't terribly wet, but she was rapidly growing moreso as he licked. Cherry shifted, hooking her legs over his shoulders.

Dust pressed on, deeper. He paid careful attention to the way her body twitched and shook as he touched her insides in different ways. Removing his tongue, he ran it firmly from her navel all the way down to her tail until it ran across her anal opening.

Cherry gasped and pulled his head tighter with her hooves. "Ah! Ah, no, no, Copper. Oh, Harmony, you naughty pony. Not this time." She panted, growing breathless. "Maybe on a return trip."

Dust chuckled, his hooves growing a bit wobbly. Shouldn't I be used to this by now? he wondered. I swear, I feel just as fluttery as I did my first time. Maybe even more...

"Something to look forward to, then," he said, keeping his voice quiet to prevent it breaking. Dust set back to his task, licking tenderly and firmly at her now-dripping mound. Cherry writhed, her moaning practically constant as he ate her out harder. He dug as deeply into her body as he could, enjoying the way her insides clenched against his tongue.

Dust's tongue ran up, allowing him some breathing space, and he felt it run over a small but firm nub of flesh that he hadn't noticed before. Cherry's gasp turned into a loud, husky moan.

Hmmm... I bet that's her— He licked it again. Hard.

Cherry actually screamed, practically bucking her mound against his chin.

Yup. Found it. Grinning almost predatorily, Dust pressed his muzzle back against the wet fur and lapped at the mare's most sensitive part unrelentingly.

"Yes! Oh, Harmony, Copper, yes! Ooohhhhhhh... Ah, eat me, you little—AHHHH!"

The unicorn's lithe body shook and spasmed as Dust kept his teeth clamped gently on her clitoris, tugging it. Thank the Sisters for that soundproofing spell! Why couldn't I have been born a unicorn...

Releasing the swollen button, Dust went back to lapping intently at her sex, always hitting her clitoris as he went. Cherry's legs were wrapped tightly around his neck, and her body curled up as her moans and screams cut off. She grabbed Dust's ears like handles and pulled his muzzle hard into her mound. Dust licked for all he was worth, hoping she would climax before he ran out of air.

Thankfully, he didn't have long to wait. Cherry's body curled up almost all the way to a sitting position as she shook, biting her lip. Surprisingly, her climax was almost perfectly quiet, especially after the way she had screamed during the act itself. Cherry slumped back, gasping for air as she released Dust with all four hooves and went limp.

Dust reached around the end of his bed and pulled out the new towel he had purchased for just a time like this. He wiped his muzzle down and tried to massage feeling back into his ears. I think they might actually be longer now. Celestia's mane, but that mare's got a good grip.

"Oh, wow, oh—wor—worth every bit..." Cherry panted, fighting to roll her body over. "Dammit, Copper, get up here and fuck me, now."

Dust raised his forehooves to the bed rail. "Should I be using protection or anything?"

Cherry raised her rump, practically whipping him in the muzzle with her tail as she flagged it aggressively back and forth. "No, I'm good. Just do me. Harmony, I need it bad!"

Immediately, Dust leapt onto the bed and moved to mount the mare. Sun, moon and stars, I'm actually going to do this! I finally get to bed a mare! Ha!

For the first time in his life, Dust got to feel the sensation of his cock entering something. He moaned, sinking easily into Cherry. She was so wet after her orgasm that it was almost frictionless, and Dust hilted himself inside her body in one smooth thrust. Cherry moaned along with him and pushed her rump back, forcing him as deep as he could get. Dust said a silent prayer of thanks that she was as wet as she was. If he had been able to feel anything more than he could, Dust probably wouldn't have lasted more than a few seconds.

Cherry wasn't any help to his stamina, though, as her needy moans and shaking body were almost enough to get him off without any other help. If Dust had learned anything about mares correctly, then she probably hadn't even properly come down from her first climax yet, so she must have been unbelievably sensitive down there.

Dust drew back as quickly as he dared and slammed his hips against hers. Under his body, Cherry bit hard into his sheets and screamed, muffled by the mattress. Dust took that as a sign that he was on the right track.

Instinct took over, and the pegasus started to rut the mare hard, slapping his hips against her body as hard and as fast as he could. His wings were so stiff they almost hurt, even though he didn't have room to really spread them. He pounded his length into Cherry's body, and she bucked back against him in a way that surely must have left bruises, but she never let up for a second. He felt her shake again, in the same way as she did during her first climax. Her forehooves were practically flailing, searching for something to grab on to. The unicorn was almost incoherent, alternating between moans and muffled cries of "fuck, fuck, fuck, yes, fuck!"

Amazed that he had lasted as long as he had, and all but certain that Cherry had had at least one orgasm already, he leaned over her body, tight to her back. "Cherry, I'm close," he whispered through clenched teeth.

"Yes, Copper, oh yes. Do it! Cum in me!"

Her remark was the final straw for the pegasus. He wrapped his wings around her body and hunched himself as deep into her as he could get. He felt his rear hoof lift, trying to get just that extra fraction of an inch more as he came.

Dust knew what his mare was feeling, having been on the receiving end multiple times already, but being in the top position was a new experience for him. His orgasm was intense and unrestrained. With a stallion, Dust hadn't yet felt that his own climaxes had been really satisfying, perhaps because he was still a bit embarrassed about being the one who was stuffed. There were no such compunctions this time, though. Dust could feel his seed sloshing around his buried shaft as he shot load after load, filling his mare as he nibbled at her ear.

Cherry's body shook, racked with pleasure as her inner walls grasped at Dust's stallionhood, milking it for all it was worth. Dust could feel the warm mixture of his own semen and her flowing marecum running out around his shaft and down her body. Together, the two ponies slumped, falling to the bed, both panting and gasping. Dust carefully rolled to the side, pulling himself out, and went limp on his back.

He glanced over at Cherry, a bit surprised to see that her mane was really none the worse for wear. I guess a short mane has its benefits. She looked up at him, her expression slightly glazed with the aftereffects of sex. She noticed him watching her.

"Oh, you're not going to get weird now, are you?"

He laughed wearily. "Hardly. I was just thinking that I might have to get my mane cut shorter, because yours looks pretty damn good after all that."

She grinned. "Good."

Dust climbed out of the bed and grabbed the towel, wiping down his underside. "Roll over," he told Cherry, who looked confused, but complied. Dust leaned in and began to lick the unicorn's mound clean, collecting any evidence of the tryst.

"Oooh," the mare sighed happily, "now this is service."

Dust chuckled and wiped her nethers clean with the towel. "Well, I can't do much about the smell, but at least now ponies won't instantly know who the smell is coming from."

"And if I don't care?" she retorted.

"Well then, we'll just call it professionalism."

"Okay, okay, have it your—oof," she said, climbing up from the bed and realizing how shaky her legs were. "Wow, you certainly lived up to your end."

"Well, you did tell me to make sure you couldn't walk straight."

"What do I owe ya?"

Dust's mind was slightly glazed over as well, but he shook his head and tried to do basic math. "Um, I'm pretty sure the total was seventy bits. Thereabouts, anyway. We were pretty efficient."

"Sounds good to me," Cherry said, walking slowly over to her bag and leaning down to dig through it. As she bent over, Dust could just see under her tail to the thin trace of white leaking from between her lips. He took a shaky, but pleased, breath.

Cherry shrugged on her saddlebag and passed Dust a small stack of denominated bits. He set them on the dresser, not bothering to count up the total in front of her. "You? You do good work," she said. "I will absolutely be back. Exams are a bitch." With a final hoofbump, Cherry dropped the soundproofing spell and opened the door.

Dust stepped out, unable to resist the urge to watch her walk away down the dorm hall. The single stallion out in the hall stopped dead in his tracks as she walked past him and stared at Dust, a slight grin cocked at the corner of his mouth.

Dust just grinned at him and went back inside, closing the door.

"There's... something different about you, dude."

Dust smiled quietly. "Oh? Do you think so?"

Breeze smacked his hoof on the desk in front of him in mock frustration and looked imploringly at his roommate, stretched out on the room's sofa. "Can you believe this guy? After everything we've done for him, he's gonna play coy with us!"

Saxus rolled over to face the conversation, his eyebrow raised. "Hasn't that been, like, at least half bad stuff we did for him?"

Dust laughed. "Oh, on a sliding scale, I'd say you two are closer to 'good' than 'evil'. Certainly no worse than the cafeteria staff, but not quite up to the level of the janitors who clean the dorm restrooms. Those ponies are saints."

The slate-furred earth pony sat up, rubbing his mane back into shape after his interrupted nap. "Seriously though, he's not wrong, Copper. What's up with you? You're weirdly happy."

"Is that a problem? Does my glee at life not rub off?"

Breeze rocked back and kicked his rear hooves up onto the desktop. "It's certainly unusual. You've just barely kept on the sunny side of 'angsty' lately."

Dust tried to neutralize his expression a bit. "Well, I guess it has something to do with the fact that midterm grades got posted today, and I passed with flying colors," he said, flaring his wings proudly.

Breeze beamed. "Nice!"

Saxus frowned. "That's great, but nope. That ain't it."

Coughing into his hoof, Dust regained his composure. "Okay, okay, I may have just paid off half of my debt for the semester."

Breeze almost fell over backwards, waving his hooves wildly to regain his balance.

Saxus simply leaned forward, staring at Dust intently. "You what? You made over six-hundred bits already?"

Dust preened a few of his wing feathers self-consciously. "Yeah. I topped six hundred just the other day, actually. And in only five and a half weeks."

"Sweet Celestia!" Breeze exclaimed, "how many stallions did that take?"

"Shhhhhh!" Dust flinched and waved his hooves in a "quiet down" motion. "Not so loud, I'm still incognito!"

"Don't you think that you're a bit... out there by this point?"

"Yeah, Shadow, I know. But there's at least five thousand ponies in this school who don't know what I do, and I'd prefer to keep it that way!" he hissed, glaring at Breeze. "But to answer your question, I think I've had four stallions and two mares."

Breeze whistled quietly, impressed. "Damn, you've done well, then."

"Well, that's pretty awesome, but how have you been?"

Dust looked over at him, bemused. "Me? I'm great!" Saxus simply met his gaze, and Dust had the distinct impression that Saxus could see right to his soul through his eyes. It was disconcerting.

"Are you?"

"To make six-hundred-plus bits for a combined, what, nine hours of work? No one else on this campus is making that rate. I'd bet not even the university president is making that!"

"Copper, money is great, but it's not everything. You stressed more about midterms two weeks ago than about the whole of your entire last semester, and you certainly didn't need your exams to boost your grades then, either. You've been slipping, and I've been worried about you. I think this whole thing is affecting you."

"Hey, I've been worried, too!"

"Breeze, your version of worried isn't quite the same. You worried about whether or not the cafeteria was going to bring back the pizza you liked, too."

Dust sighed, running a hoof through his mane. Saxus waved a hoof pointedly at it.

"You cut your mane short."

"Yeah," Dust retorted, "so what? I think it looks great on me!"

Breeze finally dropped his chair to all fours. "Are you saying he had some sort of motive for cutting his mane?"

Saxus shrugged. "I don't know. Did you?"

Dust snorted. "Dude, naw. Come on. Like I need a reason to change things up a bit." Saxus' stare was made of stone, and it seriously unnerved the pegasus. "Really." Dust shied away. "Okay, dude, you're freaking me out now."

"Look, Dust," Saxus replied, pointedly using Dust's real name, "I don't care if you don't want to talk, but I'd prefer it if you didn't treat me like I'm stupid. We're your friends, you don't need to lie to us."

Dust looked down at his hooves, unable to meet the older pony's gaze any longer. "Yeah, okay. I cut my mane down because it's easier to clean. And because if I have to go outside after..." He flinched. "...after a customer, it's not quite so obvious what I've been up to." Dust sighed. "And, well, to be honest it kind of accentuates the 'cute little pegasus' image, which seems to work for me. After the first three, my customers don't even bring the card by anymore, it's all been word of mouth."

"Copper," Breeze said quietly, suddenly concerned, "you're changing yourself for this... this job?"

"Do we even need to tell you how not healthy that sounds?" Saxus asked softly. "I see you changing. You were a wreck a few weeks ago, and now you're almost manic."

Dust took a deep breath, staring at his hooves. "I just don't think about it. I was a mess for a while, yeah, but I realized that might not be the best way to encourage business. I could play the role for a while, like Breeze had suggested, but by the time I got in the shower, I was usually crying. Not that it mattered; my customers were long gone by then."

"Sweet Harmony, Copper..."

"After the first time I had a mare show up, I thought I felt great about it. Like it wasn't such a big deal anymore, you know? Like it was just this thing that I did, and it didn't affect me or have anything to do with my life."

"So," Saxus said, "you just put the part of you that had sex for money into a metaphorical box?" Dust nodded. "Jeez, Copper. I wondered if this idea might be getting to you, but by the Sisters, dude..."

"Shadow," Breeze said quietly, "is it just me, or do you feel kinda shitty right now?"

Saxus nodded. "Oh, very much. Damn, Copper, is there any way we can convince you to give this up?"

Copper recoiled. "Give it up? I could have my tuition paid off with a whole month leftover! I could pay off next semester by finals!"

Breeze paled. "Next semester? Copper, you're not seriously going to continue this, are you?"

"What else do I have? I don't have rich parents to lean on, I can't pay off a loan on summer jobs. It's either this, or my life plan dies here and now."

"Do you even remember what your plan was?"

Dust glared at Saxus. "Who are you to tell me about my life's goals? Do you know what being in college means to me? Do you know what I had to do to get here? How many summers of remedial classes I had to attend because I got such a late start?"

Breeze stood, hesitant to approach Dust in his current mood. "Copper—Dust, please, we're not—"

Dust stood, his wings flared angrily. "I got beat up constantly! Everypony knew who I was, they all knew I was the one colt in school who couldn't keep up with the class! My day was planned around where I had to be to hide from bullies! It took everything for me to make it to the point where I could be accepted even to UE:M!"

Saxus' eyes were sad as he stared hard at Dust. "Dust, we know how hard you work! You spent almost every waking moment last semester in a book, and what are you doing to that now? Do you have any idea what could happen to you?"

"I'm saving my dream!" Dust yelled.

The room went deathly silent, Dust's panting almost echoing in the room between the three friends. Dust stared at his hooves. Breeze tried not to look at either of the other two. Saxus kept watching Dust, looking like he was on the verge of tears.

"Have you written your parents?" Saxus asked, his voice barely audible.

Dust's face darkened considerably. "Fuck you," he growled.

Breeze and Saxus said nothing. Dust spun around, stalked from the room, slamming it behind him, and took off, flying straight out of the door at the end of the hall.

Author's Note

Wow. That got dark in a HURRY. Seriously, I did not mean for that to happen. This was supposed to be a lighthearted romp with a mare for a change, and then BAM. Talk about your mood whiplash. I guess that's how it goes when you let the characters lead...

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