The Lone Rider

Chapters

Chapter Two - The Nuclear Goddess
Chapter Three - The Princess of the Night
Chapter Four - Three Diamonds
Chapter Five - Ponyville Day Spa
Chapter Six - The Violoncellist
Chapter Seven - Therapist in Training
Chapter Eight - Ride of Solitude
Chapter Ten - Ponyville Brawl
Chapter Eleven - Feel the Burn
Chapter Twelve - Bad Press
Chapter Thirteen - Butterfly Trap
Chapter Fourteen - An Audience With Chaos
Chapter Fifteen - Under the Dome - Part I
Chapter Sixteen - Under the Dome - Part II
Chapter Seventeen - Under the Dome - Part III
Chapter Eighteen - Those Pretty Pegasi
Chapter One - Twists and Turns
Chapter Nine - The Fallen Pegasus

Chapter Two - The Nuclear Goddess

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Chapter Three - The Princess of the Night

Kye was lost in thought as Lyra led him away from the town square. The abrupt change from brightest day to blackest night had completely freaked him out. He couldn't get over how powerful Princess Celestia was, having just watched the alicorn goddess manipulate the fucking sun as if it were nothing more than a ping pong ball.

On emerging from the wooden building, she had trotted up to Lyra without a care in the world and asked the pretty unicorn if she would allow him (a big, freaky alien no doubt) to stay with her. Kye had been mortified. She’d mentioned it to him when they’d been inside, but he’d had no idea she would just up and blurt it out in the middle of a crowded town square.

He’d waited for an answer with bated breath, unable to read the expressionless unicorn. To his astonishment Lyra had actually agreed and they were currently making their way to the house she shared with her roommate.

“So, how does your strange machine work?” Twilight, the other unicorn, asked.

Fluttershy had introduced her to him and they’d been making idle small talk as they walked. Kye glanced at her; she was gazing at him with the same look of polite interest as before. She had a neatly cropped purple mane and tail each incorporating a solitary pink stripe. Her cutie mark was a large pink star surrounded by five smaller white ones.

Kye cleared his throat and started to explain. She listened intently and seemed rather impressed when he finished.

“A hybrid system? That's clever.” She looked at his ride, surrounded by Lyra’s amber glow.

“How does the engine work, then?” she curiously asked.

“Well, basically, a precise mixture of fuel and air is injected into a set of four cylinders, each cylinder containing a piston and a spark plug. An electric current is sent from a central processing unit along a set of HT leads and into the spark plugs, igniting the mixture causing a dramatic increase in pressure which drives the pistons.” Kye was really getting into his stride; he loved talking about his fancy engine. “In a normal engine the pistons usually fire two by two, driving a normal crankshaft which then transmits the kinetic energy through a transmission, drive chain and finally the rear wheel. In this engine however,” he pointed to his hovering ride, “the electrical signals are sent in an irregular pattern to fit in with the crossplane crankshaft design which greatly improves mid range performance.”

He’d expected the unicorn to be quite clueless as to what he had just said, so he was more than a little surprised when her face lit up with understanding.

“Ah yes, that would explain the distinctive growling sound it was making before!” She turned to Kye. “Let me guess, this fuel contains chemical energy—probably stored in the form of hydrocarbons, right? They then exothermically react with the oxygen in the air, creating heat, light and sound. A little inefficient, but effective nonetheless.”

Kye was impressed—he’d never imagined a pony could be so…scientific. A thought suddenly occurred to him.

“Does Equestria have any fuel in the form of hydrocarbons?” he asked hopefully. If he was stuck in this odd equine universe, he sure as hell wanted to keep on riding. As good as the battery was, it would only get him so far.

“Well…Yes, but its quite rare. Fossil fuels aren't widely used in Equestria, since ponies tend to just use magic to create energy.”

Kye frowned. “I was taught energy can neither be created nor destroyed.”

“Oh, that's still true here. It’s just that the magical energy is absorbed from radiation in a highly efficient process known as-”

Twilight's words were drowned out by a loud scream. Kye and his three pony companions looked towards the source of the noise. The creme coloured pony he had seen talking to Lyra earlier was standing in the door frame of a modest looking house.

She had a pink and purple mane and tail that curled slightly at the ends, and her cutie mark looked like three blue and yellow wrapped sweets. She was shaking slightly and staring at Kye as if he’d just murdered her children.

Lyra released his hand, set his bike down on its side stand, and let out a sigh.

“Bonnie-”

“You brought it here!?”

Lyra gasped. She looked furious. “He has a name, you know!”

Kye didn't know where to look. The Earth pony had every right to want to keep an alien out of her house and he couldn't think of anything to say to calm her down, so he just stood and kept his mouth shut, trying to ignore a particularly strong nicotine craving. He knew he’d have to stop smoking now he was stuck in a world that more than likely didn't have cigarettes. Still, it gave him a reason to quit the filthy habit.

Twilight shifted uncomfortably whilst Fluttershy simply glared at the pony. Kye half expected the trembling mare to freeze in paralysis, but she continued to argue with Lyra.

“No.”

“Bon Bon, you’re being ridiculous. Kye’s like us; he just looks a little dif-”

“I said, ‘No.’”

“You’re welcome to stay with me, if you’d like.”

All eyes turned to the yellow pegasus, who had spoken directly to Kye. He considered the offer for a moment. He supposed it would be a lot less awkward than trying to share houseroom with a pony who thought he was a monster. He was about to accept when something really fucking weird happened.

Lyra’s horn began to glow and she levitated around three feet in the air. Her eyes shone like a pair of headlights and illuminated the whole house whilst her mane and tail seemed to flow like Celestia’s for a moment. The glow of her horn intensified severely, briefly flooding the whole street with amber light. Then it was over.

She was panting slightly as she glanced around with a worried look. She then spoke as if nothing had happened. “Bon Bon, Princess Celestia personally asked me to keep an eye on him.”

The Earth pony looked at the unicorn and then at Kye, clearly shocked by the former's magical outburst.

“O-Okay,” she stuttered, stepping aside to allow them access. Kye was surprised at her sudden change of heart—he thought it would have taken a lot more than a light show to get her to reconsider.

He grabbed his keys from the ignition of his bike (not that he thought anypony was going to steal it—it was more out of habit) and followed a relieved looking Lyra through the low doorway and into a homely little sitting room. Twilight and Fluttershy followed behind him as Bon Bon ran through what looked like the doorway to a kitchen. She didn't return.

The ceiling was so low he had to bend over slightly, which was rather uncomfortable. He couldn't see any form of modern technology at all. However, there was a golden lyre sitting in the corner next to a potted plant. Kye had a pretty good idea who the peculiar instrument belonged to.

Lyra saw him looking at it and flashed him a smile, gesturing for him to sit on the rather large couch. His heart skipped a beat yet again as he sat down in the middle of it.

Why the fuck do I like her so much? She’s not even human! He had tried to ignore his little crush, but was finding it more and more difficult the more time he spent with her. It was her eyes that got him. Every time she flashed him that killer smile they seemed to twinkle at him. Sometimes she was so frickin’ adorable he had to stop himself from dropping to his knees and hugging her. He kept reminding himself that if he got too touchy-feely with her she’d probably drop him on his ass, not to mention out on the street.

Fluttershy lightly fluttered her wings whilst hopping up into the air, landing softly and turning to sit next to Kye. She smiled at him as Twilight settled herself into a comfortable looking armchair perpendicular to the couch. Lyra lifted a trapdoor with her magic and disappeared down a flight of stairs into what Kye assumed must be a basement.

Kye could see framed photographs of Lyra and Bon Bon on a mantelpiece above a large stone fireplace. A thick black rug covered the polished wood floor in front of the hearth, the matching curtains hung on either side of a large traditional bay window. A wooden staircase rose up behind the couch and a small coffee table sat in front of it. The walls were painted a light creme similar to Bon Bon’s coat, making Kye cringe a little.

Fluttershy seemed to sense his discomfort and put a reassuring hoof on his shoulder just as Lyra emerged from the basement. The unicorn was levitating a large ringed wooden barrel and five tankards with hinged lids. She briefly shot Fluttershy the same odd look she had in the swamp, and Kye felt the pegasus flinch a little, hastily removing her hoof. He was clueless as to what the unusual exchange had been and thought nothing of it as Lyra sat down on the other side of him.

Her sudden proximity set his heart thundering in his chest. Her scent was intoxicating—it reminded him of freshly cut grass on a summers day, blended with a seductive aroma that set his olfactory sense aflame. Her mane lightly brushed his shoulder as he tried to control his breathing. Luckily, the unicorn hadn't noticed his plight as she set the barrel and tankards on the coffee table.

No female had ever had this kind of effect on him. Not even his past girlfriends—few as they were—had been able to truly captivate his attention with such ease as Lyra was currently demonstrating. She wasn't even trying to, either. Kye shuddered at the thought of her actually making an effort to seduce him. He knew it would never happen though, what with him being the weirdo alien that washed up in the swamp.

“Bon Bon, come have a drink with us,” Lyra called to her roommate, who was still hiding in the kitchen.

“Just give me a minute.”

Kye was relieved to hear the Earth pony had calmed down somewhat, her voice no longer shaking with panic.

Lyra casually flicked a tap on the barrel with her hoof whilst skillfully levitating one of the tankards beneath it just in time to catch the amber liquid. She filled all five, leaving two on the table and floating the other three to Twilight, Fluttershy and himself. Kye noticed the shimmering aura around Twilight’s beverage change from from amber to purple as the lavender unicorn’s horn started to glow. Fluttershy grabbed her tankard with a hoof and took a sip.

How the fuck…?

Kye’s brain kept telling him that what he was seeing shouldn't have been physically possible. He stared at the pegasus and tried to figure it out.

“You gonna get this, or am I gonna have to have float it in front of your face all night?”

Twilight had been taking a sip of her drink and choked on a laugh at Lyra’s words, dribbling slightly as she continued to chuckle. Kye looked at the smiling turquoise unicorn sitting next to him, his face burning as he sheepishly reached out a hand to accept the still floating tankard.

“Thanks.”

Smooth as fuck as usual, Kye. He was making himself look like an utter asshat in front of her. Whenever he’d met a pretty girl back on Earth he’d been nervous at first, but he’d always managed to get his shit together after the awkward introductions. This, however, was beyond a fucking joke. He lifted the lid of the tankard and took a sip to distract himself.

Woah, holy fuck! The cider tasted amazing. He took several large gulps, the amber nectar felt like it had a magical quality to it as it quickly washed away his embarrassment.

Lyra raised her eyebrows slightly, still smiling at him and saying nothing. Fluttershy had a slightly worried look on her face, and Twilight glanced at Lyra as if she was expecting the latter to say something. She didn't.

Kye failed to stop himself from belching rather loudly before shamelessly bursting out laughing. He tried to excuse himself, but all he managed was a string of incoherent nonsense.

Bon Bon appeared in the kitchen doorway, probably to see what all the fuss was about, just as Kye finally regained control. Lyra levitated one of the remaining tankards to her roommate, who caught it with a hoof. She glanced at Kye for a moment, before somehow managing to walk on three legs to another armchair in the bay window opposite Twilight.

She was still looking a little uneasy, but Kye much preferred her giving him dodgy looks as opposed to screaming in terror. Lyra took a sip of her own tankard, whilst Kye drained the rest of his. She watched him set the empty tankard on the coffee table then finally spoke.

“You’re gonna be wasted soon, you know that, right?”

She gave him a slightly evil smile as she poured him another drink.

* * *

Lyra was furious with herself. She’d dragged Kye away from the crowd of onlookers, Twilight keeping him occupied while she’d been lost in thought trying to figure out how to convince Bon Bon to let him stay with them. Predictably, her roommate had refused. Then Fluttershy had offered to take him in, at which point Lyra had completely lost it.

She’d surged like a school filly, right in front of Princess Celestia’s right-hoof pony, no doubt. Twilight hadn't said anything, but Lyra knew her little outburst would probably end up in the lavender unicorn’s next letter to the goddess. She could have easily killed somepony (or some human, she thought with a shiver) if she hadn't managed to quickly control and diminish the highly embarrassing little episode. It was one of the drawbacks of being so powerful.

They were now halfway through the barrel of cider and Lyra was pleased to notice that Bon Bon was no longer scared of their human guest. She had come in and sat down with them and was now calmly looking at Kye with curiosity instead of fear.

Lyra should have warned him that Apple family cider was deceptively strong. The only pony aside from Applejack who could down a few tankards of the amber nectar and still trot in a straight line was Rainbow Dash.

She started to feel a little guilty when his speech began to slur.

“See...Back wurr’ ahh come from, we got hurrses...but they arn’ much gud’ for covershin’ with. They jus’ eat hay n’ stuff,” he burped loudly, “and they arn’ nearly as preddy.”

He looked at her for a second before seeming to realise what he’d said. Paling slightly, he took another gulp of cider and quickly turned to Twilight.

“So Twi...any chunce ov’ gettn’ some go juws?

“Erm...I…um…”

She looked at Lyra, obviously not having understood a word the human said.

“I think he means fuel for his motorcycle.” She told the confused unicorn.

“Yesh, petrol!” He extended an arm in her direction, a couple of fingers lightly brushing her ear.

Her eyes went wide and her whole body tensed up. Her tail gave a solitary twitch, quietly whipping against the couch behind her. Twilight and Fluttershy stared at her in shock as Bon Bon let out a loud gasp and covered her mouth with a hoof. Kye seemed to notice something was wrong and looked rather confused.

“Sumthin’ ah shed’?”

Lyra ignored the question. He’d basically just felt her up. She wouldn't have minded if they’d been alone, but now she had three ponies expecting her to give him a good telling off for his wandering hooves, or hands, whatever. She seriously doubted he had any idea he’d just touched her in a highly inappropriate manner—a pony’s ears were quite sensitive. He probably thought it was a friendly gesture—that, or he’d done it accidentally.

She looked at him, but he didn't seem to be focusing on her at all. His head slowly drooped, and his body quickly followed as he began to fall forwards. She was about to catch him in a levitation field but Fluttershy beat her to it, wrapping her wings and forelegs around the now snoring human and gently easing him back onto the couch.

“Did he just fondle your ears?” whispered Twilight, even though Kye was now out for the count.

“I’m pretty sure it was an accident.” Lyra informed the unicorn.

“You looked like you enjoyed it,” Bon Bon shot at Lyra. Her roommate had a rather annoying habit of being able to read her better than anypony else. Really Bon Bon!? Lyra glared at the Earth pony. She knew Kye was completely out of it, but she still didn't want to take any chances of him finding out a “horse” had the hots for him.

Twilight cleared her throat. “I should go, its getting late, and Spike will be wondering where I am. Thank you all for a wonderful evening.”

She trotted to the door and opened it with her magic, stepping out into the cool night air before closing it behind her. Fluttershy still had Kye wrapped up in her wings—he was drooling on her feathers a little but she didn't seem to mind.

The pretty pegasus had showed more interest in the human in the past few hours than she had any stallion her whole life. Lyra had to wonder which of them he’d prefer as an alpha mare if he was into ponies.

“I’m off to bed.”

Bon Bon set her tankard on the table as she spoke, throwing the unconscious human one last look before getting up and climbing the stairs. The two remaining ponies looked at each other, Fluttershy clutching Kye like a comfort blanket. She seemed a little unwilling to let go of him and Lyra had to raise her eyebrows at the pegasus before she eventually laid him down on the couch.

“I should go too.”

She looked at Lyra as though she was going to add something for a second, but instead promptly trotted to the door, quickly opening it and taking off into the night sky.

Lyra sighed. She hadn't meant to be so rude to her friend. She closed the door with her magic and retrieved a spare blanket from the closet. She draped it over Kye, gently tucking him in with her hooves before quietly ascending the stairs herself.

* * *

Kye woke up to the sound of his ridiculously annoying alarm clock. He fucking hated the thing, because it meant he had to get up and go face another miserable day full of traffic, parcels, missed deadlines and asshole supervisors.

He slammed a fist on the big snooze button and forced himself to haul his lazy ass out of bed, stumbling out of his room and along the hall. He rubbed his eyes as he entered the bathroom. The sight that greeted him in the mirror wasn't a pretty one; he always looked a mess in the morning. Pulling himself together slightly he quickly showered, brushed his teeth and got ready for work.

Twenty minutes later he was sitting in the usual A1 morning jam, made even worse by the never-ending road works. Seriously, these fuckwits just loved closing lanes for no reason other than to severely piss everyone off. They were like wombles—you knew they were there but you never fucking seen them actually doing any work.

His left knee felt like it was going to dislocate from constantly fighting the clutch as he finally cleared the stop-start traffic. He pulled the delivery van off the motorway and onto a dual carriageway, enjoying a small portion of somewhat peaceful driving before hitting a set of traffic lights.

A black Kawasaki streetfighter with an alien style headlight pulled up beside him, immediately catching his attention. Hmm, ZRX1100, old school, Kye thought as he looked at the machine. It had rusted slightly in places and had scratches on the paint work, but it looked like it truly belonged on the open road. It certainly wasn't the shiny weekend toy of a forty-something tyre-kicker. No, this bike was a workhorse, and its owner a proper biker. Kye respected that.

The rider slowly turned to look at him for a few moments, a knowing look in his eye. Kye felt an odd sense of kinship as the biker gave him a solitary nod. The lights changed and the motorcycle shot off into the mist, blue flames momentarily flashing from the exhaust.

Wait—mist? Kye suddenly noticed a thick fog he could have sworn wasn't there ten seconds ago. He pushed it from his mind, flicking the fog lights on and turning the radio up.

He listened to the headlines as he drove. It was always some variant of the same depressing bullshit everyday; children going missing, young girls getting raped, the government economically screwing the whole country.

Kye hated the Tories with a passion. The prime minister was a pompous prick, constantly carving up public sector industries and selling them off for next to fuck all to his corporate mates. Tosser.

When Kye finally got to work he had cheered up somewhat, only to be sent crashing right back down again when his short, grossly overweight supervisor waddled up to him and began yelling in his face about an order from the previous day.

Most of the night shift still hadn't left—some of them had looks of glee on their faces as they hung back to watch the fat lump of a man demonstrate his Napoleon complex. Kye just stood there, not really listening. He wished he was somewhere else, but in that moment he couldn't escape the hell that was his life.

“...and this better not happen again or I’ll be reporting you to head office!” the repulsive man finished with an odd flourish, flecks of spit flying from his mouth before he waddled off to shout at someone else.

Kye pulled out a handkerchief and gingerly wiped down his uniform, wishing the most painful of deaths on the horrible fat bastard who was now screaming at a young lad fresh out of school for accidentally knocking a stack of boxes off a pallet truck.

“Super extra angry Grimshaw today, huh?” Steve, one of Kye’s few friends in this wretched place chuckled as he rolled up in a forklift truck.

“I hope he chokes on his mid-morning microwave meal.” Kye replied, still glaring at Grimshaw. The fat folds of his back were jiggling slightly as he continued to shout.

The stock pickers had already assembled Kye’s first order of the day, and the loaders had just about finished packing the back of his van. He grabbed the timetable from the now empty pallet and had a quick look. There were multiple drop offs in Shiney Row, Washington, Birtley, Gateshead, Jarrow and Tynemouth. The run would take him all morning and probably cut into his lunch hour. Fuck. My. Life.

Kye set off into the fog. It was getting worse. He could barely see ten feet in front of his headlights as he crawled along the road. He persevered and managed to make the first ten or so drops without a hitch.

As he pulled onto the slip road of the Washington highway, he noticed something odd: none of the traffic had their lights on at all. He indicated, checking a wing mirror then moved to the inside lane. An articulated lorry suddenly emerged from the thick fog and barely missed him as it swerved, giving a loud blast from its horn.

What the fuck? The traffic was flying past him as if it were the clearest of sunny days. Several cars, a couple more lorries, and an SUV pulling a caravan overtook him as he tried to figure out how the fuck they could see where they were going. It was like driving through a thundercloud.

Kye eventually made it off the dual carriageway and was crawling through Jarrow looking for his next drop location. Despite the fog, he quickly found it and turned into the back street.

He’d pulled up behind a tanning salon and was busy unloading cosmetic supplies when he heard a loud tyre screech and the rumble of an in-line-four.

On emerging from the salon’s courtyard, he was just in time to see the bike skid to a halt in front of him. The same bike, in fact, that he’d seen at the lights on his way to work. The rider stared at him.

“Err...can I help you?”

Kye was starting to get a little worried when the rider gave no reaction other than to rev his growling engine rather loudly. He then released the throttle, the bike returning to idle as his right arm very slowly raised to point into the back of the delivery van.

Kye looked in the indicated direction and saw a midnight blue alicorn standing amongst the various parcels, staring back at him.

“You no longer belong to this world Kye.”

Her voice held more power than a thousand little boy bombs, yet she had barely raised it above a whisper. Her eyes shone bright like headlights as Kye tried to figure out how the fuck he knew what an alicorn was.

“You have to let go of the past.”

She gave a solitary stomp of her front right hoof and the van, the salon, the motorcycle and its rider, everything was suddenly distorted as if it were being stretched beyond the event horizon of a black hole. The ground beneath his feet shattered along glowing fissures and was washed away by the tide of disintegrated matter that used to be his surroundings. Nothing escaped the catastrophic entropy the alicorn had so casually called forth. Within a few seconds all that remained was a dark abyss. Even gravity ceased to exist, causing Kye to float beside the alicorn and wonder what the fuck had just happened.

After a few moments, he felt something soft and springy under his feet. He looked down and noticed he was standing on a fluffy white cloud; the alicorn gracefully touched down beside him and shot a projectile of pure energy from her horn into the dark void overhead. It ascended with the speed of a bullet, then exploded with the force of a supernova, spawning the most beautiful nebulas Kye had ever laid eyes on.

A full spectrum greeted his eyes, the vibrant colours soothing his tortured soul as the sudden recollection of another spectrum occurred to him—the spectrum of the mane and tail of a pegasus.

The realisation hit him, and everything came flooding back: the race, the crash, the swamp and…

“Lyra!”

He felt a surge of joy as he remembered the beautiful unicorn that had captured his heart; then he remembered he was standing on a cloud in the middle of space. He looked at the alicorn. She was rather pretty, wearing a black crown and yoke, the latter adorned with a half moon which matched her cutie mark. Her mane and tail were the same colour as her midnight blue coat, magically flowing and twinkling like the night sky. Her dark blue eyes were no longer shining. She was giving him the same wry smile as…

“You’re her sister…” Kye trailed off.

“Princess Luna,” the alicorn replied, still smiling at him.

Kye suddenly remembered he’d blurted out Lyra’s name like a lovesick idiot and tried not to blush as he looked up at the cosmos again. He attempted to divert her attention away from his little outburst by asking a question.

“Where are we?”

She lay down on the cloud, folded her wings and gestured for him to sit. Kye settled himself next to her, crossing his legs. She was slightly smaller than her sister and a little less intimidating, making her more approachable.

“Nowhere,” she simply replied.

Kye still didn't understand. Now that he thought about it, the situation he found himself in didn't make sense. He shouldn't have been able to breathe for one thing, yet he could feel the air rushing in and out of his lungs. Clouds weren't supposed to be solid either, yet he was sitting quite comfortably next to the alicorn. The only other possible explanation was that this was a dream, but...it couldn't be. He was lucid, everything felt so...real.

“What happened to me?” he asked Luna.

The alicorn contemplated the stars as she answered.

“I believe your subconscious was unwilling to accept your transition to Equestria, instead choosing to maintain an illusion of familiarity resembling the life you can no longer return to. If I wasn't able to hack into your mind and convince the lone rider to lead me to you, then you would have probably been lost to a permanent state of limbo.”

Her words well and truly freaked him out. He remembered how completely convinced he’d been that he was just experiencing another day doing his shitty job. He then thought of the Kawasaki streetfighter. The weird fog made sense.

“The lone rider?”

She turned to Kye. “The part of you that yearns for something more than a life of misery; the part of you that doesn't want to be alone anymore,” she replied with a knowing smile.

Kye thought about his past life, how it felt like he was always waiting for something that would never come. She was right—he’d never been happy.

“So the fog…” he trailed off again.

“An attempt to make you easier to locate—your subconscious was making quite an effort to hide you.”

Kye frowned. “How would fog make me easier to find?”

She turned to contemplate the stars once more. “Dreams often don’t make much sense Kye.”

A thought occurred to him as he too gazed at the beautiful sight around them. “I’m still dreaming now, aren't I?”

She smiled again. “I am the princess of the night. It is my duty to enter the dreams of my subjects and help them with the troubles they face. My sister informed me of your unsettling transition and suggested I keep an eye on you. I believe she may have just saved your life.”

Kye made a mental note to thank the sun goddess the next opportunity he got—she had helped him so much since his arrival to the strange new world. He then looked to the goddess sitting beside him.

“Thank you, Luna. I appreciate you dragging me out of that hellhole.”

Kye thought of how he could have murdered his sweaty fat fuck of a supervisor with a forklift truck if he knew he’d been dreaming. He chuckled. Knowing he’d never have to endure another spit shower was more than enough to make up for the missed opportunity.

“Don't thank me yet; you still have to wake up.”

“What?” Kye said, pulled from his musings.

The alicorn got to her hooves and her eyes began to shine again, the cosmos suddenly dimming.

“Time for you to experience an Apple family hangover.” Kye saw her smile before she faded from his vision completely. “You’ll wish you were still stuck in that rolling metal prison.”

The last of his lucidity vanished and he knew no more.

Author's Note

Liking these horse words? Maybe this group will interest you:

R I D E R V E R S E

Chapter Four - Three Diamonds

Edited by JimboTex

Kye woke up again. He was certain he was actually awake this time because it felt like someone had been using his brain as a bowling ball. He winced, stretched, yawned, got up off the couch and stood up, immediately cracking his head off the low ceiling.

Holy fucking horse bollocks, that hurt! He was knocked dizzy for a second and barely managed to stay on his feet. He squinted, massaging his scalp and looked around the room. The evidence of the drinking session from the night before littered the furniture—mostly the coffee table, the barrel and tankards still sitting atop it. The race suit he was still wearing felt like it was plastered to his skin, and he realised that he stank to high heaven. He wondered how ponies bathed, making a mental note to ask Lyra later.

He remembered the freaky fog dream with unusual clarity. Normally his night visions were rather evanescent, but the events of his typical work day being interrupted by the dark goddess were still fresh in his mind. He couldn't help but like the alicorn. Where her sister was regal, kind and often unintentionally terrifying, Luna was… effortlessly cool. Kye had wanted to spend more time on the cloud with her, but he’d woken up before he could request it.

He tried to remember the night before. He was pretty sure he’d made an ass of himself in front of his new friends—he just couldn't recall how.

A bright amber flash scorched the room as a smiling Lyra appeared out of nowhere in front of the coffee table.

“How you feeling?” the unicorn asked, as if she hadn't just scared the shit out of him.

Kye let out a yelp that turned into a curse word as he cracked his head off the ceiling again—this time he did fall. He never hit the floor though, as Lyra had caught him in a levitation field. The sharp pain in his head lessened slightly as she set him down on the couch, quickly trotting around the table and placing a hoof on his chest.

“I’m sorry—you okay?”

Kye’s minor annoyance vanished and was instantly replaced with self-consciousness, he really did smell bad.

“Err Y-Yea mm’ fine…”

She raised her eyebrows. “You sure? You look like a train wreck.”

He chuckled. “Well I could use a shower, that's if you guys have-”

“Upstairs, first door on the right. There should be a spare towel on the rack.” She beamed at him with her eyes closed, turning them up to form cute little arches.

Kye had a strong urge to kiss her. All aboard the nope train to Fuckthatville. He didn't want an ass-kicking this early in the morning. He forced himself to stamp on the urge with all his mental might, currently impaired or otherwise. He got to his feet, stooping slightly to avoid the ceiling.

“Thanks,” he shot at her as he bounded up the stairs.

He spotted the bathroom door just as it opened, a yawning Bon Bon emerging behind it. She noticed him and jumped slightly.

“Sorry,” he said tentatively said.

She just blinked at him before wandering off. Kye was relieved—her reaction was a lot better than he’d expected.

He stepped into the bathroom, noticing as he did so that it was pretty much the same as a human one, apart from the toilet being slightly lower. He quickly showered, drying himself with the towel, and finger-brushed his teeth.

Colgate? The toothpaste was exactly the same as the brand back on Earth, except it had a picture of a blue unicorn mare with an hourglass cutie mark on it. Kye had no idea how that was possible, but he was quickly learning to just accept all the weird shit that had happened lately.

He got dressed again, noting he would have to go see the clothing designer Princess Celestia had mentioned. Leather didn't make good casual wear, especially considering he now lived in a town full of ponies.

Coming down the stairs, Kye heard Lyra call from the kitchen. He followed the sound of her lovely voice. She was sitting at a round table with a floral print cloth and two cups of coffee on coasters on it. He sat down on a low chair next to her as she gestured toward one of the cups.

“The Apples’ cider is the strongest in Equestria.” She said, taking a sip of her levitating coffee. “You must feel like shit.”

“Little bit,” Kye confirmed, taking a sip of his own steaming beverage.

She threw a glance in his direction, a strange little smile on her face. “Well?”

“Well, what?” Kye said, flummoxed.

“You don’t remember?” she raised her eyebrows again.

Kye froze. Ohshitohshitohshit what the fuck did I do? He tried to think, but again he could barely recall anything. “Look, Lyra, if I did anything stupid last night, just tell me, okay?”

“Well erm... you kinda copped a feel, if you know what I mean.” She pointedly looked away, taking another sip of coffee.

“I WHAT?”

Kye was fucking mortified. His head was suddenly full of visions of his drunkenly wandering hands crawling on a protesting Lyra. He wanted to kick his own ass. Lyra must have noticed the horrified look on his face, because she quickly spoke up.

“You only brushed my ear slightly. It didn't even look intentional. The only reason I’m even bothering to tell you is so you don’t go around doing it to anypony else—that, and Bon Bon wouldn't shut up about it.”

“Your ear?” Kye let out a sigh. He was more than a little relieved.

“Yes, I know. It sounds silly because it is, but ears are off limits to everypony but herdmates and very close friends.”

“Whats a herdmate?” Kye asked, frowning slightly.

“Lovers, you know, stallionfriends, marefriends.” She smiled. “I keep forgetting you’re new here.”

“Do you have a stallionfriend?”

The question had already formed in his hungover mind and launched itself out of his mouth before he could stop it. Kye inwardly facepalmed. Stupid. Fucking. Toolbag.

She snorted out a laugh. “Hell no. Almost every stallion I've approached was shit scared of me; I might as well be a hydra. A few mares have asked but I ain't into the whole bi scene without a stallion involved to even things out.”

Kye almost choked on his coffee. She’d just talked about having a threesome like it was commonplace. Lyra gave him a confused look, then blinked.

“They don’t have herds where you’re from?”

Kye cleared his throat. “W-Well yea, but its usually just a male and a female…”

“Really? That seems a bit selfish.”

Now Kye was really confused. Lyra seemed to realise something as her face lit up with understanding.

“You do know there's a gender imbalance in Equestria, right? The mares are the dominant sex and outnumber the stallions around five to one. A lot of mares either share a stallion or just go for other mares because they can’t be bothered to fight for one.”

As soon as she’d said “dominant sex,” Kye had to suppress a rather raunchy image of Lyra standing over him, her horn glowing and an evil smile on her face. He quickly pulled his thoughts out of the gutter, remembering the other odd thing that had caught his attention.

“Share?” He gave her another confused look. “How does that work?”

“Well around three or four mares will claim a stallion, but it can be more. The alpha mare courts him first, then other mares ask the permission of the alpha mare to join the herd.”

“That seems a bit possessive,” Kye said, taking another sip of coffee.

“That's because it is. In fact, to some alpha mares, stallions are just trophies—tools to elevate status.”

Kye found the whole notion of what she had said to be utterly bizarre. He tried to picture humans acting in the same way and laughed out loud at the weird reversed gender role stereotypes playing out in his head. Lyra looked confused at his amusement, but smiled anyway.

“I’m sorry, its just that back on Earth its kinda the other way round, although not as extreme.” He chuckled. “Plus the gender balance is roughly fifty-fifty.”

She looked down slightly, setting her coffee cup on a coaster and unconsciously running a hoof over the tablecloth. “Must be nice.”

Kye wished he’d thought before he’d spoke. She was obviously lonely, what with there being hardly any stallions and most of them fearing her as they did. He couldn't imagine why they were scared of her, but it didn't seem like the best time to ask her about it. He thought about putting a hand on her back, wondering if it would be appropriate or not. She’d went rather quiet, so he eventually decided to just do it.

He heard the slightest gasp as he ran his fingers through her coat. It was much softer than he was expecting. Her eyes went to half mast and her breathing slowed. She had been quite tense, but was now relaxing somewhat. He moved his hand higher, unable to shake the feeling that he might have been pushing his luck, but also unable to stop himself.

Her ice blue and white mane had a silky smooth quality to it. She let out an audible gasp and both of her ears flicked in quick succession as he massaged the back of her neck. He paused, fearing a rebuke. After a few moments, she turned to look at him with a strange little smile.

Holy fuck, is she actually into this? Kye couldn't really read the expression—she could have been politely informing him to cut it out, or cautiously urging him to continue. He just didn't know.

He was a little annoyed when Bon Bon chose that moment to bound down the stairs. Kye quickly removed his hand before she entered the kitchen, somehow balancing all five of the tankards on her back.

“Morning,” the Earth pony cheerily said. She didn't even shoot a dirty look at Kye, instead busying herself washing the dishes in a sink not unlike the one in his old flat.

“You seem happy,” Lyra calmly said to her roommate, as if Kye hadn't been petting her a moment ago.

The Earth pony paused, thinking for a moment. She eventually turned to face Kye. “Look, Kye: I’m sorry for being so rude to you yesterday. It’s just that your appearance freaked me out a bit.” She turned back to continue washing up. “But after seeing how you are with Lyra...well, I get it that you’re just like us.”

Once she had finished washing up, she quickly poured a cup of coffee for herself from a nearby pot and joined them at the table. “Just make sure you don’t go feeling her up in public next time, yeah?”

The Earth pony gave him a smile—the first true smile she’d directed at him—and it was a rather devious one. Kye felt his face reddening. He was feeling an odd mixture of embarrassment and relief at her dramatic shift of opinion towards him.

“Don’t worry Bonnie, we've had ‘the talk,’” Lyra told her roommate. She seemed completely unaffected by the Earth pony’s words, and was beaming at her friend.

Kye didn't know what to say, so he changed the subject.

“Any chance of going to see Rarity? I don’t wanna be stuck wearing this thing,” he said to Lyra, gesturing to his race suit and throwing a nervous glance at Bon Bon. He didn't want to draw attention to the fact that he was still wearing leather, in case it damaged her new perception of him.

“Yea, sure.” Lyra beamed at him.

“Think she’ll have something that’ll fit me?” he asked hopefully.

“Oh gods, no,” Lyra laughed. “But she’ll be able to make something that will.”

* * *

They set off in the morning sunlight. It was scheduled to be blue skies all day, and Lyra couldn't help feeling overjoyed as she trotted alongside Kye. He was riding his motorcycle again—he really did love that thing.

Bon Bon had waved them off, even promising to have dinner ready for them when they returned. Lyra had a feeling she was trying to make up for her initial reaction to the human. Kye said he was good with vegetables—she knew he usually ate meat, but it was a rare commodity in Equestria since ponies were herbivores.

She thought back to their enlightening conversation and the physical contact that had followed. He’d obviously been meaning to comfort her by putting his hand on her back, but it hadn't stayed there. She had failed to mention the back of a pony’s neck was just as sensitive and “off limits” as the ears, but when he’d started working magic with his fingers in her mane, she sure as Tartarus wasn't gonna tell him.

She’d been close to diving on him—the only thing that’d held her back was the knowledge that he probably didn't know he was turning her on. Her ears had twitched involuntarily and he’d lost his nerve slightly. She’d hoped he’d get over it and keep going, but Bon Bon had clopped noisily downstairs to ruin her fun altogether.

Lyra’s annoyance hadn't lasted though; she was overjoyed when the Earth pony started to tease Kye about his antics the night before. She really didn't seem to fear him at all anymore.

They made their way through the town square. There weren't many ponies out, but the odd one or two shamelessly stared at Kye. They rounded a corner only to find a unicorn stallion and six glaring mares blocking their path—four of which were unicorns, one an Earth pony and one a pegasus. Coco Drop, the brown unicorn mare that had tried to blast Kye yesterday, was among them.

Lyra suspected this would happen. The Ace Chrome herd liked to think they were Ponyville's resident street gang, and were always getting into trouble for bullying ponies. Lyra found it hilarious that Ace had actually managed to convince his marefriends to pick a fight with her, even six to one they didn't stand a chance.

“Really? You're kidding right?” she asked them. Five of the them began trembling in fear and trying their best not to make eye contact but Coco stood her ground.

“That freak of nature doesn't deserve to live among ponies!” she snarled.

“Oh and I suppose you think you’re a decent enough pony to be the judge of that?” Lyra said rather sarcastically.

“That thing’s an abomination.” The unicorn was looking around at her herdmates, probably wondering why they weren't backing her up.

“So, how’d you figure that one out then?” Lyra asked the raging mare, she was rather enjoying herself winding the brown unicorn up.

“It's a talking monkey doing a balancing act on that weird contraption. It belongs in a zoo for Celestia's sake,” Coco angrily replied.

“Celestia herself doesn't seem to think so,” Lyra calmly said with a smile.

Kye suddenly spoke up. “Why do you all hate me so much?” He didn't look scared, just genuinely curious.

“Ugh, stop your freaky alien pet from speaking to me.” Ace shot at Lyra, finally deciding to speak in that pompous voice of his.

“I bet she fools around with it because she can't get a real stallion.” Coco chimed in, obviously meaning to cut deep.

Lyra was about to politely tell her to keep her opinions to herself when a loud roar pierced the air. The bike’s engine had started. Flames shot out of the back of it as it lurched, pivoting around its front wheel one eighty degrees and spraying all seven of the Ace Chrome gang with a large amount of dirt path.

The noise and sudden attack took them by surprise and all of them bolted, the pegasus shooting up into the sky and completely abandoning her herd. It took Lyra a moment to realise what had happened before she fell over, loudly laughing her flanks off. Kye gave her a wink and a sexy little smile as the bike came to rest with a loud hiss, the engine rumbling. Lyra got to her hooves, still chuckling. He’d well and truly put the little band of trouble makers in their place—she hadn't even had to cast a spell.

A little white unicorn filly with a curly two-tone pink mane and tail wandered over, probably to investigate the source of the noise. She didn't have a cutie mark, and was barely managing to maintain a green levitation field around a bottle of milk.

“Oh hey Sweetie Belle, your sister busy today?” Lyra asked the curious little filly now looking at Kye and his motorcycle.

“Nah she finished most of her orders yesterday, she’s just altering some design concepts before she goes to the spa with Fluttershy later. What is that thing?”

Sweetie Belle seemed more interested in Kye’s bike than Kye himself. Lyra was about to answer the little filly when Kye beat her to it.

“This is a Yamaha R1.” Kye gave her a kind smile and gestured to the still rumbling bike. He probably knew she wouldn't understand what he’d said but was obviously trying to humour the little unicorn. Lyra looked at the side of the machine and sure enough the word “Yamaha” was written in big black letters along the bottom and “R1” was written a little further up.

“Cool! Scootaloo said it made an awesome sound,” Sweetie Belle said to Kye.

“Yeah it does, doesn't it?” Kye chuckled.

Lyra was surprised at Sweetie Belle. She’d always known Rarity’s little sister was quite intelligent and more than a little independent for her age, but her confident approach in casually conversing with Kye as if she were talking to one of her friends was quite impressive. Where other fully grown ponies fled from his presence Sweetie Belle warmly welcomed the human.

Lyra introduced them before asking the little unicorn how likely it was that Rarity would be able to quickly throw something together for Kye.

“Hmm... Yeah, I think she’d do it. She loves a challenge,” Sweetie Belle happily replied. “Lets go ask her.”

She scampered off, the bottle of milk floating along in her wake as they followed her the rest of the way to the boutique.

* * *

Kye was lost in thought as he rode toward the big bright circular building up ahead. He and Lyra had been “ambushed” by no less than seven rather unfriendly ponies, and he’d been worried they were going to jump his pretty unicorn companion, even though she hadn't displayed an ounce of fear. Her courage had known no bounds, and she’d practically laughed at their attempts to intimidate them.

Then they’d got rather suggestive about what was still a touchy subject for him and Lyra, so he’d decided to perform one of his party tricks. One quick burst of throttle whilst locking the front end up and letting the rear swing round in a burnout was all it had taken to scatter the lot of them. Bunch of pussies.

They arrived at the odd looking building, Kye parking up and dismounting. The alarm chirped twice, the indicators flashing briefly as he pressed a button on the key and followed Lyra and Sweetie Belle into the girliest room he’d ever set foot in.

Everything was somewhat frilly and covered in hearts. Large pink drapes adorned the purple walls, a round table with a large flower design stood in front of three tall orange-framed oval mirrors. Pony mannequins littered the room, some displaying what even Kye could recognise as rather stylish pony attire. His eyes then settled on something that really caught his attention.

A stunningly beautiful unicorn was beaming up at him from the middle of the circular room. Her coat was brilliant white, while her exquisitely long feminine lashes framed the deepest of sparkling blue eyes that would put entire oceans to shame. She had a long purple mane and tail that arced around in graceful spirals. Her cutie mark shone from her flanks: three crystal blue diamonds that seemed to glint at him.

“Ahh, darling, I was wondering when you’d come to visit. Leather isn't the most comfortable of apparel to be wearing on such a sunny day as this after all.” The unicorn spoke in a sensual tone.

Kye was speechless; his jaw was practically hanging off his face. He was having a hard time getting over how attractive she was—it was almost unnerving.

“Think you’ll be able to sort him out with something a little less conspicuous, Rarity?” Lyra asked the beautiful creature as Sweetie Belle giggled at his reaction, setting the bottle of milk on a bench.

Kye noted a slight hint of annoyance in Lyra’s voice and quickly stopped himself from gawking. He glanced down at her; as he had halfway expected, she was still looking at Rarity with an unreadable expression on her face.

“Oh, it shouldn't be too difficult,” the gorgeous unicorn replied.

Her horn began to glow as a length of measuring tape on the table sprung to life in a matching shimmering blue aura. It quickly began wrapping itself around various parts of his body as Rarity trotted over to him, a quill and notepad appearing in a flash of blue light beside her.

He tried not to flinch too much as the beautiful pony trotted around him, happily babbling out measurements to herself and jotting them down as the door behind them opened, revealing a pretty yellow pegasus.

“Good morning Fluttershy, you’re early today,” Rarity said to her whilst making the measuring tape wrap around one of his thighs. Kye tried to ignore the tingling sensation that was perilously close to his gentlemen's area.

“Oh, well...um, I saw Kye’s bike outside and um...” She looked up at him, fluttering her wings slightly and squeaking out a barely audible “Hi.”

Kye smiled at her as Rarity finished her measurements and began assembling various rolls of fabric on a bench next to a sewing machine.

“Yes, he’s quite the celebrity around Ponyville, isn't he?” the fashion designer said, flashing him a smile that made him jump slightly.

A quill started sketching a design on a piece of paper and a pair of scissors began cutting sections out of a roll of fabric, whilst a thread of fibre weaved itself through the needle of the sewing machine. All were surrounded by the blue aura as Rarity turned to Kye, effortlessly maintaining the whole meticulous process behind her in a rather impressive display of skill.

“Now, I’m thinking of a nice black suit and dress shoes for formal wear. That’ll take a while, of course, but we can start off with a cotton shirt and denim trousers for more casual occasions.” Her eyes twinkled. “Oh, this is going to be fun! Do forgive me, but I rarely come across an opportunity to work with such a fine example of another species.” She fluttered her long eyelashes at him.

Kye shivered a little as he heard Lyra make a somewhat familiar sound that he could only describe as a nicker. Rarity looked at her and seemed to realise something. Kye glanced between the two unicorns. It was almost as if they were having some sort of telepathic conversation he wasn't invited to be a part of. Fluttershy broke the silence that had suddenly crept into the room.

“Um...do you guys wanna come to the spa with us?”

Kye thought it was a rather bizarre question to ask considering the sudden unrest, but it seemed to have a positive effect.

“Why, Fluttershy, that’s a wonderful idea,” Rarity said as she broke the stare she had going with Lyra and beamed at the pegasus.

“Do you agree Kye?” the gorgeous unicorn asked him, putting him on the spot a little.

“Er...I...” He quickly glanced down at Lyra and was rather surprised to find her looking back up at him, a rather devious smile on her face. She then pointedly looked at Rarity and spoke.

“We’d love to, wouldn't we, Kye?”

Kye was lost—one moment they’d been glaring daggers at each other, and now they were all suggesting a little get-together at a spa. He hadn't the foggiest of ideas what was going on, so he just agreed.

“Uh, yeah, I guess.”

“It’s settled then,” Rarity said, levitating a black T-shirt and a pair of jeans she’d just finished creating from behind her and floated them in front of him. Kye was impressed: it hadn't taken her five minutes.

“Now, take off that leather garment you’re wearing and try these on.”

“Um...t-the what now?”

Kye was taken aback at the sudden request for him to disrobe in front of them, and then he realised with a look of horror that ponies didn't normally wear clothes and probably expected him to be just as comfortable as they were in the nude. He attempted to explain, but it didn't help that Rarity was giving him a rather seductive smile.

“Well...uh, you see...err...” He absentmindedly raised a hand to the back of his head. “Humans don’t normally take their clothes off i-in front of um...others.”

Rarity looked confused. To his utter dismay, Lyra and Fluttershy were gazing at him with similar expressions.

“You wear clothes all the time?” the fashion designer asked him, an odd little grin on her face.

“Well...yeah. Where I come from, it isn't really socially acceptable to wander around naked.”

“Ooh, ooh! I've got an idea!”

Kye looked around for the source of the cute little voice and saw Sweetie Belle jumping up and down. He’d quite forgotten she was there. She ran behind one of of the drapes lining the wall and pulled out a large yellow screen with several pink stars surrounding an outline of Rarity on it. A rather large gemstone was embedded in the top.

“Ahh, yes. Of course, the changing screen! Well done, Sweetie Belle, you clever little filly.”

Rarity beamed at her little sister then looked at Kye expectantly. He grabbed the shirt and jeans, walked behind the screen, and quickly changed as fast as he could. The clothes fit him perfectly, and he was relieved to finally get out of his race suit. He pulled his boots back on and emerged from behind the screen to find the three mares and the little filly gazing at him. Sweetie Belle giggled.

“Magnific!” Rarity exclaimed.

“Um, thanks, Rarity...I don’t really have anything to give you-” Kye began, but the unicorn immediately cut him off.

“Darling, I wouldn't dream of charging given your recent traumatic experience! Accompanying us to the spa will be more than enough.” She smiled at him again.

Chapter Five - Ponyville Day Spa

Edited by JimboTex

The two unicorns and the pegasus watched the human shoot off along the street on the motorcycle, the little filly laughing and chasing along in his wake. Sweetie Belle had challenged Kye to a race and he’d reared the bike up on its back wheel and set off rather quickly, but was now slowing down to let her catch up.

As soon as he’d drifted out of earshot, the white unicorn turned to Lyra.

“So, does he know?” Rarity asked as Lyra let out a sigh. She’d been expecting this, but it didn't make the situation any less difficult.

“I dunno. There was a moment earlier on, but I can't be sure.” Lyra informed the suddenly serious unicorn.

“You gonna tell him?”

“No,” Lyra simply said.

“Why not?”

“How would you feel if an alien suddenly announced it had a crush on you?” She didn't want to imagine the awkward consequences if it all went horribly wrong.

“Oh, come now, darling. I've seen the way he looks at you: just take a leap of faith.”

Lyra rolled her eyes at Rarity as Kye shot back along the street and lazily drifted the bike in a wide arc behind them, spraying dirt everywhere. Sweetie Belle was sitting on the motorcycle between his outstretched arms and laughing as it gave a loud hiss and settled to roll steadily along beside them.

“Where’s this spa, then? Does it have a steam room?” he casually asked, flicking the red switch to kill the engine.

“Oh yes, it’s very well equipped, I assure you,” Rarity answered him. “Aloe and Lotus have the best spa facility this side of Canterlot.”

“Sweetie Belle?” gasped a little voice with a strong Southern accent.

A little yellow Earth pony filly with a red mane and tail, a large pink bow on her head, and blank flanks was trotting alongside the bike, gazing up on the little unicorn riding on top of it.

“Oh, hey, Apple Bloom,” Sweetie Belle greeted the new arrival.

The two fillies began chattering away to each other as Lyra noticed Apple Bloom’s older sister, Applejack, approaching. The orange Earth pony was wearing her brown stetson cowboy hat as always, her blonde mane and tail swishing as she trotted.

“Apple Bloom, Ah thought Ah told ya to finish yer chores before ya wandered off to find yer friends,” Applejack said to her little sister in an even stronger Southern accent.

“Aww, but Sis, Ah did them already!”

“No, ya ain’t. Ya still gotta give li’l Pigginton a bath.”

“But why, Sis? He’s only gonna go rollin’ in the mud again!”

The siblings continued to argue as they reached the spa. Rarity came to the little Earth pony’s aid.

“Applejack, Darling, she does have a point. I've never understood your futile attempts to keep a pig clean anyway.” She turned to her sister. “Sweetie Belle, why don’t you and Apple Bloom go find Scootaloo? I’m sure she’ll want to hear all about Kye’s marvellous machine.”

Lyra saw Kye grin like a village idiot, she smiled and gave him a wink. Applejack seemed to have given up trying to persuade her sister.

“Fine, go play with yer friends, but y’all better be back afore nightfall, ya hear?” the orange pony told her sister as Sweetie Belle jumped down from the bike and the two fillies ran away laughing.

Applejack looked up at Kye. “So, y’all must be the new stallion in town, right? Yer a might lucky Pinkie ain't here, ‘cause she’d be drivin’ ya insane with streamers an’ balloons by now. You jus’ be ready fer when she gets back.” She chuckled at the human, holding up a hoof.

Lyra wasn't surprised by Applejack’s friendly approach—the farm pony was the most genuine mare she’d ever met and always gave anypony a chance to make a good impression.

“I’ll keep that in mind. It’s nice to meet you. I’m Kye,” he said, shaking her hoof with a hand.

She gave him a nod. “Well, Ah’d love to stay and chat but Ah gots lots’a work to do, and them trees ain't gonna buck themselves. See y’all folks later.”

She galloped off down the street. Typical Applejack, Lyra thought, Always working, even on a weekend.

“Shall we?” Rarity said as she opened the door with her magic.

They entered the spa, and ten minutes later they were sitting in a small private steam room. It was usually closed on a Saturday, but Rarity and Fluttershy were such regular customers that the owners, Aloe and Lotus, had made an exception for them. The spa ponies had been fascinated by the human, especially his hands.

With a little persuasion, Kye had taken off all of his clothes behind a screen a little less extravagant than Rarity’s and now had nothing more than a towel wrapped around his waist. His skin was hairless apart from a little trail that lead down to what Lyra guessed was a very interesting place beneath the towel.

She laid down next to him on the bench, the steam infiltrating her coat and mane. They were alone for now—Rarity and Fluttershy had opted to go get a massage before joining them in the sauna.

“This helping your hangover?” she asked him.

“Yeah—ain't helping the nicotine craving, though.” He sighed.

Lyra frowned. “What’s nicotine?”

“The addictive drug in cigarettes.”

Lyra didn't have a clue what he was going on about. She’d certainly never heard of a cigarette before, but they didn't sound very nice. When he went on to explain what they were, she was horrified.

“You used to set little sticks on fire then put them in your mouth!?” Lyra gasped.

“Oh, it wasn't the fire that was the problem—it was the smoke. Extremely bad for your health. At least now that I’m stuck here, I've got a pretty solid reason to quit. I might be a bit of an asshole because of the cravings, though. Just promise not to turn me into a cactus or something, yeah?” He chuckled.

“I’d never hurt you. You know that, Kye.” She put a hoof on his leg. He hesitated slightly before putting a hand on her back.

“So, what do you think of Rarity?” she asked him, pouring a little water over the hot coals in the corner with her magic, the steam washing over the small room.

“She’s nice,” Kye replied.

Lyra could tell he’d meant to sound insouciant, but he’d failed to hide the slightest tremor in his voice. She decided to have a little fun with him.

“You mean she’s hot.”

“I never said that,” he quickly retorted, his voice jumping an octave.

“You were thinking it.”

“What, you can read minds now?”

“How screwed would you be if I could?” she said with a devious smile.

He smiled, then looked away saying nothing.

“So, Rarity?” she prompted him.

“She’s nice, like I said.”

Lyra rolled her eyes. “Come on, Kye. You couldn't take your eyes off her in Carousel Boutique. Heck, even I wouldn't kick her out of bed.”

Lyra had expected a reaction to her words and was not disappointed. Kye snapped his gaze to her, his eyebrows disappearing up under his hairline.

“You’re into mares then?” he asked her.

“Well, no... Not in general. But I wouldn't say no to Rarity, or Flutters, if there was a stallion involved, like I said.” She looked away. If he didn't get it now, then he was an idiot.

“A stallion.”

He repeated her words in an odd tone, making Lyra realise that she should have chosen them more wisely. Fuck. She decided to try a more brazen approach.

She grabbed the ladle with her magic and poured more water over the hot coals in the corner. A large plume of steam filled the small room as she latched her hooves around him, nuzzling into his chest. He flinched slightly but ran his fingers through her slightly damp mane, making her shiver in delight.

Neither of them said anything as they sat cuddling on the bench. She didn't have the nerve to do anything more than hold onto him, but in that moment, it was enough.

* * *

Kye tried not to panic as the pretty unicorn cuddled into his near-enough naked body. Shit had just gotten very real very fast. He knew she wasn't really a horse—yeah, she was still an ungulate quadruped, but aside from that there was barely any resemblance at all. Her muzzle was a lot shorter, her vision was stereoscopic and she was genuinely attractive, not to mention the horn and the magical ability. She was more intelligent than most females on Earth, and had a better sense of humour and general personality than any girl he’d ever dated.

He’d already admitted to himself that he had a little crush on her, but up until now he’d thought she was just being friendly, perhaps trying not to hurt his feelings or something. He looked down at her. She had her eyes closed, turned up along with that cute little smile. Her horn was inches from his face, he could see the engraved spiral tapering up to the sharp point in perfect detail. He didn't care she wasn't human—he hadn't cared since the first time he’d seen those big amber eyes.

The feel of her silky mane against his chest and her soft, warm body against his side was quickly making a certain hidden appendage of his take notice. He was suddenly glad he’d wrapped the towel so tight around himself.

Kye wanted to say something. He got it that this was a pretty blatant gesture on her part that she was looking for a little more than friendship, but he couldn't shake the old habit of wanting to be one hundred percent on the subject in case he misjudged and made a complete tit of himself. He formed what he hoped was a witty method of checking in his mind.

“So, Lyra, quick question—since when have you been into tall, freaky aliens?” he asked, making sure to smile in just the right manner.

“Since when did you get a rod-on for a unicorn?” she grinned rather deviously back at him.

Kye burst out laughing. “A what now?”

“You know what I mean.” She brought a hoof down on his towel covered member.

“Jesus.” He laughed again, jumping a little at the sudden sensation. She didn't remove her hoof, but frowned slightly.

“Who’s Jesus?”

“No one important, but I sometimes say Jesus like you would say Celestia...It’s more of a figure of speech in my case, though.” Kye couldn't believe they were having this conversation while she was absentmindedly rubbing his junk.

She snuggled back into his chest and lightly bit his neck, running her tongue along the condensed water droplets on his skin. If Kye didn't have a “rod-on” before, then he certainly had one now.

Gah...Holy shit. She had moved things up a notch, so he decided to make a bold move himself. Keeping his right hand on the back of her neck, he brought his left up to caress one of her ears. Her tail twitched, spraying water droplets across the room and she let out an adorable little squeak. She stopped biting his neck and Kye barely had time to panic, thinking he’d screwed up somehow, before she kissed him.

The action startled him—it was an odd sensation, but by no means unpleasant. Her lips weren't that much different from a woman's, though her tongue was broader and her teeth a lot less sharp. She had a rather sweet taste.

He closed his eyes, focusing on his other senses. Her soft coat was rubbing against his moist, bare skin, causing him to shiver with delight, and her scent was driving him wild—a cocktail of pheromones that enraptured him, making him slightly dizzy. The reality of the situation was far better than any fantasy he’d managed to dream up. He still couldn't believe she was actually into him.

He massaged her ears with one hand whilst keeping the other in her mane, vaguely noticing her horn was glowing. Kye had a feeling it was an involuntary reflex, because she wasn't using her magic to do anything at the time.

It was at that point they heard a number of loud bangs and raised voices from the spa’s lobby. They broke apart and looked towards the door. Nothing happened for a few seconds and Kye began to relax, only to jump and clutch at the towel around his waist as the brown unicorn mare from the Ace Chrome herd wrenched the door open with a murky green aura. She barely had time to sneer at them before a bright projectile of amber energy hit her squarely in the chest.

She was violently blasted through the corridor wall behind her, a large plume of dust forming over a pile of rubble. She didn't get up again.

Fuck me sideways! Kye had known Lyra was strong but he hadn't known she held that kind of power.

“Shit.” She stomped a hoof in annoyance with herself, trotting over to inspect the damage.

Rarity trotted from along the corridor up to the pile of rubble, a towel wrapped around her head.

“Oh, dear. Lyra, you should know better. I hope for your sake you haven’t killed the awful cretin.” She gingerly poked a hoof at the rubble, before quickly retracting it. “Fluttershy, darling, be a dear and check if this pony still lives.”

Fluttershy trotted into view. She looked horrified at the scene of devastation before them, but quickly put a hoof on the still unmoving mare’s neck.

“She needs to go to hospital. Now,” the pegasus said rather assertively.

One of the spa ponies trotted along to investigate and raised her eyebrows at Lyra. The unicorn looked down at the floor—she probably hadn't meant to put so much force behind the attack. Kye quickly went to her side, dropping to his knees and wrapping an arm around her.

“Oh, Aloe dear, don't fret. I’m sure Lyra didn't mean to demolish the wall. I’ll have Twilight stop by and fix it up pronto for you,” Rarity told the Earth pony.

Kye had changed back into his jeans and T-shirt by the time the wooden carriage ambulance turned up, the guard ponies along with them. Ace Chrome was making quite a scene, and it was obvious to anyone with half a brain he was rather enjoying himself.

Coco Drop—Rarity had told him the name of the brown unicorn mare—was carried away on a stretcher and the guard ponies, most of them mares, asked Lyra to come to the station. None of them had spoken very loudly and they were all avoiding eye contact with her. She obviously had quite a reputation in Ponyville, and Kye was beginning to see why.

“Oh, come now. Lyra was merely defending our strapping stallion here from what would have been a blatant misuse of power. After all, Kye has no magic to defend himself,” Rarity protested.

“Even so, Miss Rarity, she still has to come with us. Mostly for appearance's sake,” one of the few stallion guards informed the unicorn.

“Its okay. I’ll go.” Lyra sighed.

“I’m going with you,” Kye immediately said to her.

“Kye, you don't have to come. Just go back to the house. Bon Bon should have dinn-”

Kye dropped to his knees and cut her off with a tight hug. Rarity and Fluttershy beamed at them as Lyra draped a hoof over his shoulder and nuzzled into his neck. The guard ponies watched the action and exchanged odd looks, but Kye ignored them.

“Don't worry, Lyra dear: myself and Fluttershy shall also accompany you. I can't imagine it will take very long.” Rarity said as Fluttershy nodded in agreement.

They arrived at the station a little while later. Kye thought it looked like an Old Western-style jailhouse. He could almost picture a big sign that said “Sheriff” instead of the one saying “Ponyville Guard.”

Lyra had been taken into a room, while Kye, Rarity, and Fluttershy had been told to stay outside in a rather bland-looking hallway with a few benches along the wall. Kye had wanted to go in with her, but the guards had been adamant in their refusal. He’d almost taken a swing at one of the stallions in nicotine craving-induced fury before Fluttershy had wrapped her wings around him and forced him to sit beside her on a bench with a surprising amount of strength.

“She’ll be fine,” Fluttershy said in her soothing voice.

Kye relaxed somewhat—the pegasus still had a wing wrapped around him, and he was grateful for the attempt to calm him down. Rarity was sitting the other side of him with a hoof on his shoulder.

“Don't worry, dear. Coco Drop has a history of being a disgusting excuse for a pony. The guards are more than accustomed to seeing her in this place, often in various states of inebriation—they will acknowledge that Lyra was provoked.”

They sat in silence for a while, Kye thinking about what had happened in the steam room. The kiss had burned his very soul; it was her scent, the feel of her lips against his, and the feel of her coat against his skin that had entranced him. He craved the feeling more than he craved his next hit of nicotine. He knew he’d be able to quit smoking, he didn't think he’d be able to quit Lyra.

The door opened and she walked out, smiling at them.

“Well?” Kye asked her.

Lyra looked at him. “You think this is the first time I've been in trouble? That's cute.” She chuckled, walking towards the exit and gesturing for the three of them to follow.

“So they’re letting you go?”

Kye got up and followed her out into the sunlight, quickly hopping on his bike. Rarity and Fluttershy trotted out after him.

“I just told them the truth: she has it in for you for some reason, and I was protecting you,” Lyra said, flashing him a seductive smile. “Then it was the same old story, ‘Ninth-dan Still Way grandmaster, you should know better,’ blah blah. I've heard it all before.”

“Still Way?” Kye asked, puzzled.

She glanced up at him. “Its a unicorn martial art. I’m pretty good at it.”

Rarity snorted. “I think ‘pretty good’ is a bit of an understatement, Lyra. You’ve never been defeated yet.”

“Well I don't like to brag,” the unicorn said in a small voice.

Kye thought back to their conversation at the kitchen table. He now knew why stallions, and just about everypony else it seemed, were scared of her. She was an expert of destruction. Kye found he didn't mind: just about any unicorn could kick his ass anyway, so he wasn't bothered that Lyra was exceptionally stronger than him. It was kinda kinky, in fact.

“Oh, shoot. I’m late,” Fluttershy suddenly squeaked. “I said I’d meet Applejack at the farm—the beavers have been building dams again. I have to go.”

She smiled at Kye before taking off and gracefully soaring over the top of the buildings in the direction of Sweet Apple Acres.

“I’d better go, too,” Rarity said. “I have some designs that still need altering, not to mention a dashing suit to create.” She winked at Kye. “Do pop in whenever you feel like it—that goes for the both of you.”

She smiled at them before gracefully trotting off, her tail swishing slightly as Kye caught a glimpse of something he probably shouldn't have. His face burned and he quickly averted his gaze. Thankfully, Lyra hadn't noticed.

“Come on—Bon Bon will probably think we’re avoiding her,” Lyra said as she started to gallop.

Kye flicked his wrist and the bike shot forward, easily catching her. She laughed and galloped faster, but she was still no match for the bike as it easily kept pace alongside her. Then she disappeared, reappearing several hundred yards ahead with a flash of amber light.

“That's CHEATING!” Kye shouted in mock anger as he fired up the engine and took off after her, the turbo dumping pressure with a loud hiss as he changed gear. He eventually caught up, only for her to do it again and again. Spurring him on with her frequent teleports, it wasn’t long before they reached the house.

He quickly jumped off the bike and ran through the door after her. She was laying on the couch, giggling at him. He dived on her, expecting her to teleport again—she didn't. Instead, she grabbed him around the neck with her forelegs, drawing him close for a kiss and cradling his lower body between her thighs.

The same rush he’d experienced in the sauna hit him again. He floated on a tidal wave of ecstasy as he lost himself in the unicorn’s embrace, truly addicted to her. A certain area of his new jeans tightened rather uncomfortably as he massaged her ear with one hand whilst running the other down along her coat towards her cutie mark. She let out a barely audible moan, which was drowned out by a stuttering voice from somewhere nearby.

“W-Wow...okay...t-that’s...”

Kye jumped in shock, rolling off of Lyra and falling off the couch altogether, hitting the floor with an undignified thud. He looked for the source of the interruption and saw Bon Bon staring in shock at them from the kitchen doorway. Lyra sat up on the couch.

“Oh...erm...Hi, Bon Bon...” She gave the Earth pony a weak smile and swept her ruffled mane out of her face.

Bon Bon was still staring at them with a look of utter disbelief. After a few moments she turned and trotted back into the kitchen.

“Dinner will be ready in five—if you can keep your hooves off each other long enough to eat it, of course,” she called through to them.

Kye was relieved: he thought Bon Bon was gonna freak out and go back to thinking he was some sort of monster again. He picked himself up and sat on the couch next to Lyra. She immediately cuddled into him. He wrapped his arms around her, only to give her another shock when he kissed the base of her horn. She let out a small “eep” and flinched, quickly looking at him in surprise.

“Sweet Celestia, you can’t do that to me on the couch, Kye—that’s bedroom stuff!” she hastily whispered.

At his worried look, she quickly kissed him again before nuzzling his chest. Even still, Kye thought he’d crossed some invisible line and tried to rectify the situation.

“Sorry, I won’t do it again,” he quietly told her.

“Now hold on: I didn't say you couldn't do it at all, just not with Bonnie so close by. Messing around with a unicorn’s horn like that—well...you might as well be messing with...you know...”

She trailed off, shivering slightly and clutching him tighter. Kye had a pretty good idea what she was referring to and tried not to think about it—his jeans were tight enough already.

“Dinner’s ready,” Bon Bon called to them from the kitchen.

* * *

Lyra couldn't quite believe her luck. Not only had she made out with Kye in the sauna without sending him running in fear like any other stallion she’d tried it on with, she’d nearly disintegrated a pony and gotten nothing more than a slap on the hoof.

The kiss had been electric—she’d been overjoyed and more than a little relieved when he’d reciprocated to her bold approach and had been wondering if he’d let her remove the towel, until the Ace Chrome gang had burst into the lobby. She should have known Coco would force her herd to retaliate to Kye’s little stunt.

She’d completely lost control and lashed out. She hadn't meant to cause so much damage, but considering what she was doing with Kye when they were interrupted, it was a wonder Coco Drop was still alive. She supposed it could have been a blessing in disguise, though: sex was frowned upon in the sauna, and if the brown unicorn hadn't barged in, Lyra probably would have taken Kye then and there.

She’d been a lot more worried than she’d let on in the guard station—being so skilled at a martial art was often viewed the same as utilising a deadly weapon in cases of assault. Thankfully, when Lyra had explained that Kye was her stallion and she was willing to go to any lengths to protect him they had been quite lenient. She hadn't lied, either: Lyra considered Kye to be hers, despite only knowing him a short amount of time. She just hoped he felt the same way.

“So, what do you do for a living?" Kye asked them as they tucked into a delicious looking meal of various vegetables. Bon Bon was quite a good cook.

“Well, I’m a Still Way instructor and part time lyrist, and Bon Bon’s a confectioner,” Lyra told him.

His question reminded her of a conversation she’d had with the spa twins while he’d been getting dressed. They’d successfully guilt tripped her over the pony-shaped hole in their wall into agreeing to proposition Kye with a job offer, one she suspected he wouldn't be too keen on.

“You thought about what you wanna do?” she asked him.

“A little. I was thinking of maybe being an inventor—there's loads of technology back on Earth that I haven’t seen here.”

“Ponies are slow to change: most of us are set in our ways, so that probably wouldn't be your best option,” Bon Bon informed him.

She had a point—most of the townsponies were terrified of Kye’s motorcycle and probably wouldn't be interested in any ideas he had to share, no matter how useful they might be.

“Well in that case I've no idea.” He shrugged. “By the way, what’s the currency here?”

“Bits,” Bon Bon replied, looking around and spotting one on the windowsill before glancing at Lyra.

“Somepony has already approached me about a job for you,” Lyra told him as she levitated the gold coin over for him to examine.

Kye turned the coin over in his fingers a few times before looking at her with a frown. “Why wouldn't they just ask me?”

It took a few seconds for Lyra to figure out what he meant, before she remembered he was from a world where the males were in charge. She tried to think of a nice way to explain, but Bon Bon answered first.

“You don't get it, do you? Ponies now recognise the two of you as a herd: basically, she owns you now. If anypony has any business with you, then it goes through her, because she’s your alpha,” the Earth pony bluntly stated.

“Bon Bon!” Lyra glared at her roommate.

“Well, somepony had to tell him.”

“So what’s the job?” Kye asked Lyra. He didn't seem bothered by Bon Bon referring to him as a piece of property.

“What?” He’d caught her off-guard a bit. “Oh, erm, well… Aloe and Lotus want you to be a massage therapist…”

“You’re joking, right?” He snorted.

“Well, no. You’d be pretty good at it, considering you’re much better equipped for it than the average pony.”

He raised a hand to the back of his head. She’d noticed he did that when he was nervous. “I dunno, Lyra. I’m not really the touchy-feely type.”

She couldn't help raising her eyebrows a little. “Maybe you could practice with me later. I’ll show you which areas to avoid to save yourself from embarrassing situations, and then we can see how you feel about it after.”

“Well… Okay,” he said without looking at her.

She knew he was only agreeing so he could feel her up some more, but she didn't mind. She’d just have to remember she was actually showing him where not to touch, as opposed to just letting his hands wander wherever they liked.

“The walls are thin and I need to be up early to sort through some new stock, please keep that in mind,” Bon Bon said in a somewhat snide tone as she got up to wash the dishes.

Kye blushed and Lyra rolled her eyes at the Earth pony as they heard a loud knock on the front door. Lyra got up and went to answer it. Opening the door, she found Applejack standing behind it.

“Well howdy, pardner. Y’all fancy havin’ a mosey on over to Sugarcube Corner?”

Lyra was taken aback at the farm pony’s offer. She had planned on giving Kye a private “lesson” in where it was socially acceptable to touch a pony, so she wasn't too keen on going anywhere at that particular moment.

“I dunno Applejack, it’s getting late-”

“It’s a welcomin’ party fer that nice feller, Kye. Pinkie set it all up, and everypony’s waitin’ on y’all to arrive,” the Earth pony whispered.

“Wait, what? Why didn't she tell me?” Lyra asked her.

“Well, he’s been followin’ you ‘round like a li’l lost puppy dog all day, and she didn't’ wanna ruin the surprise.”

If there was anything that could change her mind about her plans for the evening, it was a Pinkie Pie party—they were legendary.

“Okay, give us a moment. We’ll be right out.”

Chapter Six - The Violoncellist

Edited by JimboTex

The human and the three ponies walked as the sun began to fall. Kye had been expecting it this time, but the sudden absence of light still freaked him out. Lyra gave his hand a reassuring nip with her teeth and smiled up at him in the moonlight now flooding the street.

Applejack had finished work and came by to invite them out for a drink, so Kye was surprised when they stopped at what looked like a bakery. It had the bizarre appearance of a gingerbread house, the roof outlined with something that looked like frosting.

Lyra opened the door with her magic and Kye was instantly blasted with a large amount of confetti, a loud party horn rattling his eardrums. Several ponies yelled, “Surprise!” and something pink launched itself at him, latching onto him and nearly bowling him over. He would have fallen on his ass if Lyra hadn't caught them in a levitation field.

“Hi! I’m Pinkie Pie, and I threw this party just for you! Were you surprised? Were you? Were you? Huh? Huh? Huh!?”

The pink pony released him from the hug and began to bounce up into the air around him.

“I heard there was somepony new in town but I was away in Fillydelphia throwing another party but I came back so I could throw this party then somepony told me that the somepony new wasn't a pony at all and I was like huuhhh? So I thought I’d make it an extra special party ‘cause you might have trouble making new friends ‘cause you’re not a pony so I told everypony to be here so they can all be your friends and I Pinkie promise it’ll be fun fun fun there's music and cakes and punch and cider and balloons and party hats and-”

Applejack shoved a hoof in the pink pony’s mouth. She’d been talking so fast Kye had barely caught half of what she said. She seemed to have so much energy that he wouldn't have been surprised if she suddenly exploded... twice.

She was bright pink with blue eyes, with a bouncy pink mane and tail and had three balloons—two blue and one yellow—for a cutie mark.

“Now you just calm yerself, Pinkie.”

Applejack removed her hoof. Pinkie Pie immediately started talking again.

“Welcome to Sugarcube Corner! Come on in and meet everypony.” She bounced into the bakery.

As soon as Kye set foot into the room, a bass drop of the most epic proportions tore through the air. It was so good he had to stop and just listen. He’d always loved dubstep, but this shit was like it had to be coming from somewhere else.

Then the cello joined in. Kye had no idea how the combination of dubstep and classical worked, but it did: the music got even better. He looked around for the source of the awesome filling the room and his eyes settled on a DJ booth between two huge magical speakers, a pretty white unicorn wearing purple shades with a radical spiky blue mane spinning discs behind it.

A beautiful grey Earth pony with a black mane and tail and was playing the cello (with her frickin’ hooves!) next to the booth. She wore a little pink bow tie around her neck. Kye noted that it was odd that she had a treble clef for a cutie mark, yet she was playing a bass instrument.

She smiled at him from across the room, her lavender eyes seeming to bore into his soul. She then started to sing, an ethereal tone that intertwined perfectly with the epic drops the unicorn was blasting from the decks. He had to force himself to look away, as she had instantly mesmerised him.

He looked around the rest of the room. It was full of ponies dancing and laughing together, some of which he recognised. He could see Rarity and Fluttershy, Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash, Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo. Pinkie Pie began introducing him to some of the ponies he didn't know.

A large red Earth pony stallion wearing a brown yoke, with an orange mane and tail and a green apple cutie mark turned out to be Applejack's brother, Big Macintosh. He was just as friendly as his sister, though he didn’t say much.

A grey pegasus mare with a blonde mane and tail and bubbles for a cutie mark was eating a muffin when Pinkie introduced her as Derpy Hooves. As she smiled at him, her eyes seemed to gaze in different directions from each other. Kye felt an odd wave of compassion and admiration for the cute little pegasus.

“And this is Spike,” Pinkie said, gesturing to a small purple dragon.

Wait...Yes, she was actually introducing him to a frickin’ dragon! He was small and purple with green scales and catlike eyes—also green. Kye hadn't believed Lyra when she’d mentioned him, but the proof was currently gazing up at him.

“Hi, I’m Spike. Nice to meet you,” the little guy said.

“Erm, Hi…” Kye didn't really know what to say, he tried to think of something but Pinkie Pie quickly dragged him along to somepony else.

The energetic Earth pony introduced him to several others, all of whom were friendly—some of whom even gave him hugs or affectionate little nuzzles. It freaked him out a little at first, but Kye guessed this was the norm because nopony batted an eyelid—from what he had observed, ponies were very social creatures and frequent physical contact was widely accepted.

Lyra caught him looking at the cellist a few times. He’d tried to refrain from doing so, but there was something about the grey mare that kept drawing his attention. He thought his new marefriend (he guessed that it was probably official now) would have been angry at him for stealing glances at the pretty Earth pony, but Lyra merely smiled at him.

“So Kye, how fast does your crazy contraption go?” Rainbow Dash asked him before taking a gulp of cider.

They were sitting at a long wooden table. Lyra was leaning on him slightly: she’d drank a considerable amount more cider than she had the previous night. Rarity was on his other side, gracefully sipping a cocktail of some sort. She appeared to be the only pony that had bothered to dress up for the occasion. She was wearing an elegant blue gown with a sparkling diamond tiara and looked positively gorgeous. Rainbow was sitting across from them next to Scootaloo, who was buzzing her little wings and looking at Kye with anticipation.

“Around about two hundred and twenty something or other. I've never had the guts to check,” he told the cyan pegasus.

She frowned slightly. “That’s it?”

Kye was confused, and a little insulted. “Well, how fast can you fly?”

“About seven fifty, seven sixty knots above ten thousand feet.”

“Bullshit, that's well into supersonic range. You’d be torn to pieces.”

The multi-colored pegasus laughed. “You think unicorns are the only ponies with magic?”

“Don't listen to her darling—going as fast as you do at ground level without the aid of any magic at all is quite an achievement in itself,” Rarity said, nuzzling his shoulder.

Kye smiled at her before Pinkie Pie suddenly squeezed herself in between them, Rarity looked rather annoyed at the Earth pony for a few seconds, but quickly composed herself.

“Everypony having fun? Huh? Huh? Huh?” the party pony asked.

Kye had gotten over her overwhelming presence and actually found her to be quite the barrel of laughs. She certainly knew how to lift everypony’s spirits.

“Yea, Pinkie. Thanks for throwing this awesome party; you definitely guessed my favourite music.”

“Well, duhhh! Everypony I know loves wubz, and now every human I know does, too!”

She gave him a quick hug, then spotted Applejack with a blindfold on and a fake tail in her mouth next to a poster of a pony on the wall, looking a little dizzy. Bon Bon and Fluttershy were giggling at the farm pony.

“Ooh, pin the tail on the pony!” Pinkie said in a high tone before jumping up and bouncing towards them.

Twilight trotted over and sat next to Lyra, who seemed to have a little trouble focusing on the lavender unicorn.

“You were extremely lucky today—if you’d hit Coco just a couple of inches to the right, she’d be dead and you might have been facing possible banishment.”

“I know,” Lyra sighed.

“Banishment?” Kye repeated with a confused look.

Rarity explained, “There are parts of Equestria that are mostly unexplored, vast areas of dangerous wilderness often inhabited by foul creatures. If a pony does something really awful, then they’re banished by an alicorn princess. Nopony ever comes back after being banished.”

“So they’re just left to die?!” Kye was shocked at the crude justice system. He would have thought a land full of colourful ponies would have had a less brutal way to deal with criminals.

“You have to bear in mind, exile to the wilderness is reserved for the very worst of crimes—murder, rape, attempted high treason, and so forth. Only ponies who truly deserve it get banished,” Twilight told him.

He gave Lyra a tight squeeze. “Don’t go killing anypony. I wouldn't want to have to search the wilderness for you,” he cooed at the unicorn.

Twilight snorted. “Banishment wouldn't be a death sentence for Lyra—she could kill a fully grown dragon with a single blast if she put enough power behind it. The problem would be loneliness; plus, she has plenty of friends in Ponyville and none of us want to lose her.”

Twilight had seemed to be talking more to Lyra by the time she’d finished speaking. The turquoise unicorn nodded. The song playing ended, and the ponies showed their appreciation by stomping their front hooves as the DJ unicorn spoke to the small crowd.

“Alright, everypony! Me and Tavi are gonna take a quick break before starting the second set, so don't y’all go nowhere just yet.”

Her horn flashed, and some quiet background music started playing as the cellist came and sat at the table next to Rainbow Dash. She smiled at Kye, making him blush slightly. Rarity seemed to lose her composure a little and glared at the Earth pony, but the cellist was now looking at the turquoise unicorn leaning next to him.

Lyra started giggling. Kye had a feeling she was rather tipsy—he was having to hold an arm around her to keep her from falling off the bench.

“Err, you okay Lyra?” he asked her, sweeping her mane out of her eyes with a hand.

“Yea, ‘course.”

She kissed him. Kye was surprised—he hadn't expected it in such a crowded room. Not that he minded, of course. She then turned to the cellist.

“Another captivating performance as usual, Octavia. You and Vinyl make quite the ensemble.”

“Well we do try.” The Earth pony spoke in a very British accent, catalysing an influx of memories of his home nation. He couldn't help but like her.

“Not only do you steal the attentions of my audiences, you've made quite an impression on my stallion.”

Kye tensed up slightly, but Lyra hadn't spoken in malice. If anything, she was smiling at the pretty Earth pony with an air of affection.

“Please, as if I could compare to a grandmaster of annihilation and a prodigy of the lyre.”

“Ahh Tavi, you’re too kind.”

The cellist smiled at the unicorn. “So...seeing as the circumstances have changed somewhat-”

The pretty Earth pony was cut off by a blinding flash of blue light. Kye whipped his head around to see...nothing. Rarity had just teleported away somewhere.

“Kye, darling, would you go and take this over to Carousel Boutique? Rarity appears to have forgotten it.” Lyra spoke in a rather accurate impression of their fashionista friend, whilst levitating the diamond tiara Rarity had been wearing. “Be sure to cheer her up if she’s upset for any reason.”

She gave him a little smile. Kye didn't really want to leave her, but he took the tiara anyway and headed out into the night. He couldn't figure out why Rarity would be upset, or what Octavia had been talking about. He quickly reached the boutique, as it wasn't far from Sugarcube Corner. He knocked, but there was no answer. He was about to head back to the party when the door opened.

“Oh, Kye.” Rarity sniffled a little, but continued. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“Erm, you forgot your tiara.” He held it out to her. She stared at it for a second, seeming to realise it’d been missing.

“Thank you, darling. It’s rather considerate of you to bring it over,” she said, enveloping it in a levitation field and forcing a smile.

“Rarity, are you okay?” He dropped to his knees and looked into her pretty eyes. She blinked before parrying with a question of her own.

“Shouldn't you be getting back to Lyra?”

Kye considered her words, then he considered Lyra's. He wrapped his arms around the unicorn, putting a hand on her mane but being careful to avoid her ears. She let out the slightest gasp. He was about to pull away but she wrapped her forelegs around him, holding him close for a long time.

When she finally released him, he was ashamed to admit to himself that the close proximity to the beautiful unicorn had left him a little hot under the collar. Thankfully, she didn't notice. Either that, or she didn't mind.

“Thank you, Kye. You’re such a gentlecolt.” She kissed him on the cheek before trotting back into the boutique and gently closing the door.

Kye sat for a moment, before getting up and heading back towards Sugarcube Corner. He was coming to like the fashion designer in a way that made him a little uneasy. He knew Lyra no longer seemed to be bothered by his affections towards other ponies, but it still made him shiver slightly.

He was walking past an alley when he heard the snide voice creep from the shadows.

“Where’s your guard dog, huh? She dumped your sorry ass already?”

Kye turned to see Ace Chrome and his pegasus marefriend emerge into the moonlight. Thankfully, it was just the two of them.

“Fuck you say?” Kye was more than a little pissed off at the pompous prick referring to Lyra as a canine.

“You got no mares and no alien contraption to save you this time, and I think it’s time for a little payback for what happened to Coco.” His horn started to glow.

“Ace, this is a bad idea. You saw how easily she knocked Coco out. She’ll kill us if we hurt him!” the pegasus suddenly piped up, her voice shaking slightly.

“She ain't here.”

The unicorn fired a blast at Kye, but the shot missed as he dived out of the way and aikido rolled over the ground. Another shot fired as the pegasus launched herself at the unicorn, knocking his aim askew. It missed Kye by inches as Ace roughly pushed the pegasus away and fired again.

Kye felt a searing pain as the third shot grazed his shoulder, burning away part of his shirt. He fell over and clutched at the wound, beginning to worry a little.

Something large flew over the top of him. Ace barely had time to blink at the new arrival before he was bucked unconscious by a large set of hind hooves. The pegasus shrieked and grabbed her sleeping stallion, buzzing her wings in a frenzy as they lifted up into the air and disappeared beyond the rooftops. Kye glanced around for his savior and saw Big Mac offering him a friendly hoof.

“Thanks,” he said as he took the stallion’s hoof and pulled himself to his feet.

“Eeyup,” was all the stallion said.

Kye inspected the damage to his shoulder. He had a bright red burn mark and his shirt had a large hole in it. He sighed—this was the only shirt he had and it was already spoiled.

“Maybe we should get back to the party,” he said said to the farm pony.

“Eeyup.”

As they set off towards Sugarcube Corner side by side, Kye was grateful that Pinkie Pie had made him so many friends.

* * *

Lyra leaned into Octavia's embrace. The Earth pony had come round to sit in the space Kye had vacated when Lyra had nearly fallen off the bench. She’d drank quite a lot in anticipation of what she was going to do to Kye when they got home, and now she was worried she’d overdone it. They were the only ones left at the table, the other ponies having joined in with the games Pinkie Pie was now administering.

“Careful now, Lyra: you wouldn't want me to take advantage of your currently inebriated disposition.” The cellist gave her a cute little smile.

Typical, Lyra thought. She’d known Octavia for years, having gone to the Canterlot College of Performing Arts together when they’d left school. The Earth pony swung both ways and had always harboured an attraction towards her. Lyra had been tempted several times to just give up her search for a stallion and succumb to her friend’s advances.

It was obvious what she now wanted to happen, but Lyra was a little worried the cellist was only interested in her, and would ignore Kye completely. Plus, it was clear that Rarity wanted second place in the hierarchy—she’d stuck by Kye’s side all night. Lyra hoped Kye had the sense to comfort the fashionista and not just think he had to save all his affections for herself. She didn't mind him considering other mares now that she’d asserted herself as his alpha.

She’d explained about the polygamous nature of ponies, but suspected Kye just assumed that that part of their culture wouldn't apply to him because he was an alien. If that was the case, then he was in for quite a shock.

“Tavi, I’m sure Kye would enjoy the show but he’d eventually want to join in...” Lyra trailed off rather suggestively.

The Earth pony smiled, her forelegs still wrapped around the unicorn. “Give me an hour of his time and I’ll show you just how much I like him.”

“Well, I’m afraid you’ll have to get in line—even I haven't had that particular pleasure yet, and I’m fairly certain another certain somepony wouldn't mind it either.”

“Ahh yes, your pretty fashionista friend. She’s cute.”

The door swung open and Big Mac walked in, followed by Kye. Lyra didn't have to be a grandmaster to realise somepony had attacked him. Octavia saw the danger signs immediately and quickly released her, shuffling along the bench away from her.

A red haze descended over Lyra’s slightly blurred vision as the speakers began to emit a loud static noise. She had a pretty good idea who had taken a shot at Kye, and she was going to fucking murder the pompous prick along with any mare that stood beside him.

She barely noticed the screams of the party goers, the bright amber light, and the sudden draught sweeping through the room making the lights flicker as she got up and floated towards Kye. She knew it was Ace that had burned a hole in his shirt, but she wanted confirmation before she went out looking for the unicorn. She then noticed Kye was slowly backing away from her with a look of horror on his face.

Wait—is he scared of me? A feeling of intense hurt washed through her as she gazed at the human, surely he should know by now that she’d never dream of harming him. She looked down, only to realise her hooves weren’t touching the floor. She was surging again.

A beam of purple light hit her side and her temperature skyrocketed, her mane and tail instantly ignited and began to burn fiercely as she crumpled down with a thud. Twilight had hit her with a dissipation spell. Lyra hadn't even thought about attempting to calm herself with her meditation. It was embarrassing—she was supposed to be a master of self-control.

She pulled herself together and picked herself up, her hooves leaving large black marks on the wood floor as she tried to ignore the all-over burning sensation, knowing it would soon pass. Kye was staring at Twilight in disbelief—he probably had no idea that the purple beam hadn't been an attack. Pinkie Pie casually trotted over with a bucket of water and tipped it over Lyra, extinguishing her mane and tail in a plume of steam. She probably looked a mess.

“Ahh, Lyra. There’s never a dull moment with you, is there?” The party pony giggled as Lyra sat dripping all over the floor. Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Big Mac chuckled as well. She knew they were only trying to make her feel better by acting like it was no big deal.

“You really need to reign it in, Lyra...I don't think I can keep pulling that one out of the hat.”

Twilight was laying on the floor and panting slightly. Dissipation spells were a very advanced technical magic—they required a ridiculous amount of energy, and were highly lethal to both parties should the caster get it wrong, but they were the only sure-fire way of stopping a powerful surge. Lyra felt quite guilty that Twilight had needed to resort to such a dangerous solution.

“Sorry Twi...”

Lyra was still half cut, and many ponies were staring at her with fear in their expressions despite Pinkie’s efforts to make them laugh. She just wanted to go home, but was worried that Kye was probably scared of her now and wouldn't want to go with her. She still didn't have the nerve to look up at him, so she was startled somewhat when he dropped to his knees and wrapped her in a hug.

Twilight got to her hooves and cast a spell, and Lyra felt her mane and tail regrow, the singed ends falling away leaving only silky smooth strands.

“Thanks, Twi. I’m lucky you’re here.”

The lavender unicorn beamed at her as Octavia trotted up to them.

“You’re gonna bail, aren't you?”

Lyra turned to look at the cellist. “Tavi, I’ll make it up to you. I promise.”

“You’d better.” The Earth pony smiled at them before trotting back to the small stage as Lyra turned back to Kye.

“Do you trust me?” she whispered.

“Of course,” he whispered back.

Lyra clutched him tight as she let the magic flow through her horn. One bright flash of light later and she and Kye found themselves in her bedroom.

* * *

Kye barely had time to panic at the sudden change of location before Lyra pinned him to the bed. He’d never admit it to her but she was starting to scare him a little. He knew she’d never hurt him, but the outburst that had just taken place in the bakery made the one from the previous night look like a hop, skip, and a flash.

It was obvious why Lyra had freaked—he should have gone back to Carousel Boutique and asked Rarity to fix his shirt before heading back to the party, but he hadn't been thinking.

When he’d gotten back to the bakery, the whole room had started vibrating as she’d floated three feet off the ground. It was like a minor earthquake. The light pouring from her eyes had nearly blinded him, and the speakers had made a loud eerie static sound, scaring the shit out of everypony.

Then Twilight had set her on fire. Lyra had fallen to the ground in an inferno—Kye had been shocked at the lavender unicorn, until Lyra had gotten right back up again. The fact that she’d been burning alive hadn't seemed to bother her in the slightest.

“You okay?” she asked him.

“Y-Yeah.”

He felt her flinch a little at the tremor in his voice—she probably thought he was terrified of her. He wasn't, it was just that she was laid on top of him and he really wanted to take his jeans off. They were more than a little uncomfortable at this point. They lay in silence for a while, her warm body pressing his into the mattress. She still hadn't said anything else, so he decided to reassure her.

“I’m not scared of you Lyra,” he told her, running a hand through her mane. She gave no reaction.

“Lyra?”

Kye rolled her gently onto her side, noticing that her eyes were closed. She’d fallen asleep. Kye sighed and got up off the bed. He turned to look at her and felt a rush of affection for the pretty unicorn. Even if she did scare him occasionally, he was completely hooked on her.

He covered her with the blanket and then left the room, quietly closing the door behind him before heading downstairs to check on his bike. He was a little paranoid in case Ace had decided to do something to it while he was at the party. He’d almost reached the front door when it swung open to reveal Bon Bon, a set of keys dangling from her teeth. She trotted over the threshold and dropped them onto the table.

“Thought you’d be getting busy right about now,” she said, shamelessly teasing him whilst lighting an oil lamp with a match.

“Erm, she kinda...fell asleep…” Kye mumbled, his face turning red.

Bon Bon laughed. “Oh, you poor thing. Shame you've only got one mare at the moment, huh?”

Kye was confused, but she didn't elaborate. She trotted through to the kitchen.

“Fancy a brew?” she called through to him.

“Yea, sure,” he replied as he glanced through the window. His bike stood exactly where he’d left it.

He sat down on the couch and thought of the cellist—all it had taken was a glance and a smile in his direction and he was smitten. It was embarrassing. Octavia was the fourth mare he’d met in two days that had done that to him. He really needed to reign in his feelings in case one of them took offense to his ogling.

“So, what happened?” Bon Bon asked as she trotted back into the living room and passed him a cup of tea. She sat on an armchair and gestured to his shoulder with a hoof.

“Ace took a few potshots, and then Big Mac showed up and knocked him out,” Kye answered, taking a sip of tea.

“I thought he followed you when you left. He never says much, but he always listens, that pony.”

“Ace would have won if he hadn't showed up...I hate being so weak compared to everypony.”

Kye was voicing concerns that had been troubling him ever since the encounter. The shot had only grazed him lightly, but it had been enough to leave an angry welt, he didn't want to consider what the damage might have been if he’d taken a direct hit.

Bon Bon merely looked at him for short while. “You know, she really likes you. I've never seen her surge like that before—not for anypony.”

Kye glanced at her. “That what it’s called?”

“When unicorns feel strong emotions, they sometimes lose control of their magic. The more powerful the unicorn, the more powerful the surge. It was lucky Twilight was there to hit her with a dissipation spell.”

Kye realised something. “That explains the fire, right?”

“Well, normally the unicorn just heats up a little. I've never seen anypony actually burst into flames before, but Lyra isn't just any unicorn—she’s almost as powerful as Twilight, and that's saying something ‘cause Twilight's the Element of Magic.”

She’d completely lost him. “The what now?”

“Of course, you have no idea about the Elements.” She laid down on the armchair and explained. “Twilight, Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie and Applejack are the six bearers of the Elements of Harmony: Magic, Generosity, Kindness, Loyalty, Laughter, and Honesty. The Elements are powerful magical artifacts that have been around for centuries, and were used to transform Nightmare Moon when she escaped from her banishment to the moon and tried to make it eternal night. Twi and the gang are pretty famous for it.”

“Nightmare Moon?” he repeated.

“The dark side of Princess Luna.”

“Princess Luna used to be evil?” Kye thought back to his encounter with the alicorn: she’d saved his life. He had a hard time imagining her to be anything other than good.

“You've met her?” Bon Bon raised her eyebrows.

“Yea, she pulled me out of a nightmare.” Kye chuckled—he admired the dark goddess even more than he admired Princess Celestia.

“Only a privileged few are gifted with her presence in their dreams; you must have intrigued her.”

Kye wondered whether Luna would come visit him again: he certainly hoped she would. He’d never met a being like her, and wanted to get to know her more.

“So what happened at Rarity’s?” Bon Bon asked, changing the subject.

“Huh?” Kye asked, pulled from his thoughts. “What do you mean?”

“Did you kiss her?” she asked rather bluntly.

“What? No, I’d never cheat on Lyra!”

Bon Bon gave him an odd look. “Hasn't Lyra told you about how relationships work in Equestria? You may be an alien, but you've still got a dick, and mares are gonna take notice considering the large shortage of stallions.” She smirked.

“Woah woah woah wait...she expects me to go with other mares as well? I know she said that's how things normally work, but I didn't think-”

“Really? So you weren't stealing glances at Rarity and Tavi all night?” She gave him a wry smile. He was suddenly reminded of the alicorn sisters.

“Well, maybe a little: but that was just looking, nothing more.”

“Why do you think she told you to take the tiara to Rarity? She wanted you to let her know it was okay to make a move on your little herd. You should have at least kissed her.”

“That's not how things work back on Earth.” Kye was beginning to get a little uncomfortable with the conversation.

“You aren't on Earth anymore.” She took a sip of tea before continuing. “I know Lyra, and I know she's not selfish enough to keep you all to herself. Tavi’s been crushing on her for years, so she’s gonna want in: I would suggest the two of you going for Rarity first, though.”

“Octavia's gay?” He frowned.

“No, she’s hardly into mares at all—she’s just really into Lyra. I heard she tried it with Vinyl a few times when she’s been drunk, but Pon3 don't swing that way.”

“Pon3?” he asked.

“Vinyl Scratch, aka DJ Pon3—the unicorn on the decks. Her and Tavi tour all over Equestria together playing Classical Wub fusion.”

Kye shook his head, he was getting sidetracked. “So Octavia only wants Lyra?”

“Oh, no no no,” she laughed. “Like I said, Tavi’s mainly into stallions, so she’d still ride you like a rodeo pony. I've heard she’s pretty good in the sack.”

Kye didn't know where to look, or how to respond. Bon Bon was being so crude he almost preferred her still thinking he was a monster.

She yawned. “Anyway, I’m gonna hit the hay. G’night.”

The Earth pony trotted up the stairs, leaving Kye alone on the couch. His mind was reeling from what they’d discussed. He thought of the possibility of actually becoming polygamous. He thought of Rarity: the feel of her silky mane in his fingers. The accidental glimpse beneath her tail flashed in his mind and he shuddered, his jeans tightening. He took them off along with his shirt and extinguished the lamp, grabbing the blanket that was folded on the back of the armchair and draping it over himself as he laid down on the couch.

Author's Note

Chapter Seven - Therapist in Training

Edited by JimboTex

A dull pain pounded through Lyra's head as she opened her eyes and stretched. Letting out a yawn, she turned her head and noticed Kye wasn't in bed with her. This left her confused and disappointed—confused because she was sure she’d fallen asleep on him, and disappointed because she wanted to make it up to him for leaving him high and dry.

She rolled out of bed and onto her hooves, cringing at the disheveled state of her mane and tail even as she recoiled in horror over her hangover-induced morning breath. Blearily ambling into the bathroom, she quickly showered and brushed her teeth before teleporting into the front room.

Kye was nowhere to be found. She glanced out the window and saw his bike, but couldn't see any sign of him.

“That you Lyra?” he called from the kitchen.

She was relieved as she trotted through the doorway and saw him sitting alone at the table reading a newspaper, noticing that he’d crudely repaired his shirt with a thread and needle sitting on the table.

“I've never been on a front page before,” he idly said as he flashed her the Ponyville Express—there was a large photograph of him speeding along on his motorcycle with Sweetie Belle sitting atop it, clutching one of his arms and giggling.

She didn't want to hear it—they could talk later. Right now, she wanted to consummate her assertion as his alpha. She’d meant to do it last night but she’d drank too much, passed out and he’d obviously wandered off—most likely to sleep on the couch. She would make sure he wouldn't be sleeping on the couch again.

One quick flash of her horn later and they were in her bedroom. She immediately dived on him as she had done the night before—she wasn't gonna fall asleep this time.

Kye let out a yelp—he’d started reading the paper again and clearly hadn't been expecting the teleportation, and now he was on his back and Lyra was draped over him. She could feel him shaking slightly, but she didn't care—she’d put this off for too long.

She bit his neck like she had in the sauna; he gasped and ran his fingers through her mane, eliciting the same response from her as she clutched at him with her forelegs. He brought his other hand up and began massaging the top of her head near the base of her horn, which started to glow of its own accord as she failed stop a moan from escaping her lips. She ran her tongue along his neck, gently nipping his fragile skin. She could feel his groin slowly thrusting at her, making her realise that she was probably gonna leave a damp spot on his jeans.

A sudden lance of pleasure shot through her horn and washed through the rest of her, culminating in the wetness between her thighs and making her whole body twitch.

Holy Celestia! She was pretty sure Kye had just licked her horn. It was usually numb, but when it was channeling magical energy it was very sensitive. He noticed her reaction and did it again, and again. She jolted each time, her thoughts fragmenting; then he engulfed it between his lips, flicking his tongue over the sharp tip.

Sweet merciful Luna! Lyra was shaking, nopony had ever touched her horn before, let alone put it in their mouth. Her past stallionfriends had been scarce in number and unwilling to pleasure her—all they had cared about was the penetration. She’d never let a mare get this far, though Octavia had tried on many occasions.

If Kye kept this up much longer Lyra would come, and he’d get quite a surprise. What he was doing to her felt amazing but she didn't want to risk blowing sparks down his throat.

She let him continue petting her for a while before carefully pulling away, or at least she tried to. Kye suddenly had her in a death grip.

Nope.

She tried to force his arms off her with her magic. Nothing happened because her horn was stubbornly ignoring her commands. He’d rendered her, the youngest Still Way grandmaster in a thousand years no doubt, absolutely powerless.

She closed her eyes, breathing heavily. She was so close that she was barely struggling anymore. Kye traced the spiral groove with his tongue, pushing her over the edge.

The orgasm ripped through her and she clutched him in a vice grip. She was shaking from ears to tail as she let out a squeak, riding the waves of the strongest climax she’d ever experienced. She tried to keep her head still as her horn shot static charge in his mouth, small particles of magical energy that were an embarrassing side effect of orgasm for unicorns. She knew she’d be mortified when she came down but right now she didn't care.

Her tail thrashed against his legs, the waves slowly receding in intensity until she relaxed, limp and sated, still draped over him. Now she had to explain why he’d gotten a mouthful of sparkles. She carefully pulled back and sheepishly looked at him.

“Um, about the-”

He made a sound that very closely resembled a snort, then promptly burst out laughing. Lyra quickly pushed herself up on her forehooves and glared at him. He was shamelessly chuckling away to himself.

“I’m sorry...it just kinda tickled...” He put a hand over his mouth but continued to snicker.

Lyra rolled her eyes. “I did try and pull away,” she shot at him as she rolled onto the mattress next to him.

“Ima’ start calling you Sparkles.” He laughed out loud again, not even bothering to try and stop himself.

Lyra gasped, her mouth flying open in shock. She forcefully whipped his crotch with her tail. “Asshole!”

He flinched slightly but continued to snicker, so she suspended him face down in a levitation field above the bed, laid on her back and opened her hind legs to flash him a view of something she hoped would get his attention. He immediately stopped laughing.

“Off,” she told him, gesturing with a forehoof to his shirt.

He complied, removing the garment and discarding it. It flew out of the levitation field and dropped to the floor. She tried not to think about murdering Ace when she spotted the burn mark on his shoulder.

“Those as well.” She pointed a forehoof at his jeans, noticing that she had indeed left a damp spot on the crotch.

He quickly undid the button and shrugged them off, only to reveal a pair of shorts covering his interesting bits.

“Oh my goddess Kye, how many clothes do you need?”

“Well everypony—I mean everybody back on Earth wears underwear,” he replied, wearing a sexy smile.

Lyra smiled back up at him as she telekinetically removed the unexpected garment and finally got to see what was between his legs. It was semi erect, and bigger than she’d been expecting—not quite as large as a stallion, obviously, but she doubted she’d have any complaints.

She lowered him down slightly and stroked her forehooves over his oddly placed nipples—she’d noticed in the spa that they were on his chest. He tried to grab at her, but she levitated him out of reach and gave him a devious smile.

“Lyra-” His voice sounded a little strained.

“Nope. In fact I think I might just lay here and get myself off while you watch.”

He tried to move his arms, but she kept him immobilised in the air. He was now fully erect and clearly frustrated.

“No. No touchy-touchy for Kye. Lyra’s gonna teach you her name isn't ‘Sparkles.’”

She slowly slipped a forehoof down between her hind legs and massaged her clit, the image of Kye floating naked above her was turning her on again. She didn't know how long she’d be able to relentlessly tease him before giving in and letting him fuck her, but it was quite entertaining watching him struggle.

His muscles flexed as he fought against the magical bonds. He was starting to sweat with exertion, his futile attempts getting him nowhere. Lyra found the sight incredibly hot and was starting to lose her hold on the levitation field as she got more and more excited. She finally decided to let him have at her, removing her hoof as she released him from her magic.

He dropped down on top of her and quickly positioned himself, weaving his fingers into her mane and gently pulling with one hand whilst lining up with the other. She held her breath in anticipation before he slid inside her. Lyra gasped, her horn involuntarily glowing again as she revelled in the sensation of being penetrated—it had been a while for her, and she’d been beginning to forget what it felt like.

He kissed her and started to slide in long, slow thrusts, causing her ears to lie flat and her tail to twitch as she held him captive with her hooves. She’d never had sex face to face before, but suspected this was the norm for Kye's kind. She certainly didn't mind—it was a lot more intimate this way.

She broke the kiss and began lightly nipping his neck again, which seemed to spur him on. He put a hand on her flank and squeezed, gently pulling at the sweet spot in her mane as he continued to screw her. Lyra whimpered, she wasn't usually so vocal but he was grinding so deeply inside her that she couldn't stop herself. She found a particularly sensitive spot on his neck and he gasped, his whole body twitching.

Kye started to really pound into her, pulling on her mane even tighter as she shamelessly moaned and her breathing became uncontrollable. She let out a squeak when he pulsed several times inside her, the warm feeling flooding her sex, signalling his climax and triggering her own.

The amber sparks flew from her horn, bouncing off the walls and showering the room with flashes of light as her slick walls clenched and relaxed several times around his spurting member. Her eyes rolled back beneath their lids and her tail lashed between his legs.

He collapsed atop her, his weight pressing her into the mattress as she slowly regained control of her breathing. He quickly rolled to his side, but she kept him held in a tight embrace, rolling with him. She didn't want to let go just yet.

They held one another for a long time, occasionally kissing and nuzzling at each other. He was by far the best lay she’d ever had—no stallion could compare to the way he made her feel.

“So Sparkles, how was it for you?” He gave her a sly grin as his flaccid member finally slipped free of her.

“Shut up.”

“Those were some pretty lights. Still, shame I didn't get to swallow ‘em this time, eh?”

“I said, ‘shut up.’”

“Must be useful if you ever get lost in a maze—just have a quick clop and ponies will have no trouble finding you.”

She nickered and gave him another tail lashing, only this time he wasn't wearing his jeans.

“Gahh!...aaaooowww...okay that hurt...”

“I did warn you, darling.” She gave him a devious smile.

* * *

Kye lay in Lyra's embrace, idly running his fingers through her mane—utterly content. He’d just had the best sex of his life and it had been with a frickin’ unicorn.

He’d been nervous at first, thinking he wouldn't be able to satisfy her. Then he’d remembered what she said the previous day about her horn being an erogenous zone. When he’d given it a good lick she’d almost fallen off the bed, so he’d swallowed his manly pride and started sucking on it like a ten-dollar whore. She’d started to squirm after a while, but he’d been rather enjoying himself and pinned her head with his arms. Then she’d blown a magical load down his throat.

It had felt like static, tickling his tonsils and completely surprising the shit out of him. It gave the whole “reversed gender roles” thing a whole other level of meaning, and he’d instantly cracked up.

The sex had been fantastic—the feeling of being inside her, her soft coat rubbing against his bare chest and abdomen and the intoxicating scent of her arousal had been a sensory overload like he’d never experienced. He was surprised he’d lasted very long at all, especially considering her relentless teasing.

He’d actually felt the immense power radiate from her when she climaxed, not to mention seeing the bizarre light show shooting from her horn. He was so gonna start calling her “Sparkles” from now on. She hated it.

“So, Aloe and Lotus want me to bring you to the spa for an induction today...think you’d be up for that?” she purred at him, running her tongue along his neck.

Kye shivered. “What? You have to hold my hand?”

“Well yeah, it’s like Bon Bon said—you’re mine now, and our little mating session just sealed the deal,” she said, massaging one of his nipples with a hoof.

“Do I get to say no?” he asked.

“No, you've gotta do whatever I tell you to do. If you don't then I’ll punish you and nopony—not even Celestia—will bat an eyelid because I’m your alpha. We fucked, it’s official. Basically, you’re my bitch now,” she said, deadpan.

Kye didn't know if she was joking or not: he was actually beginning to worry when her unreadable expression didn't change. But then she facehoofed.

“Oh my goddess. Seriously, Kye? You actually think I’d take away your free will?”

“Well, it wouldn't be too difficult for you,” he said in a small voice.

“Oh, don't give me that bullshit. All you would have to do is give me a quick hornjob and I’d be powerless.”

“You liked it then?” He grinned at her.

“I still can't believe you made me spark in your mouth!” she squeaked, burying her face in his chest.

“Well, I didn't know it was gonna happen!”

“That's not the point: I felt like I was violating you.”

“I...Kinda liked it.”

She looked shocked. “So...You’d do it again?” she asked in a small voice before biting her lower lip, her eyes twinkling at him. She looked frickin’ adorable.

“I can do it again right now if you like.”

She seemed to consider his words for a moment.

“Later?” She blushed in embarrassment. “It’s too sensitive right now...”

“I promise.”

She flashed him a smile and kissed him, a long and sensual coupling that caused a certain appendage of his to take notice.

“So, the Spa?”

He sighed. “I dunno…”

“You’d make a decent living—the twins have plenty of regular clients that would pay a high rate for somepony with such specialised tools.”

“Somepony is right. I can't imagine anypony wanting a freaky alien giving them a massage.”

“I wouldn't mind,” she purred at him.

Kye rolled his eyes. “You’re just a xenophile.”

“Well, I’m sure there's plenty more out there.” She gave him another lick. “So, you game?”

“I suppose I could give it a shot.”

“Good, ‘cause I said we’d be there just after lunch.” She grinned at him, getting up and slapping his ass with her tail.

Typical. She was right, she fucking owned him. No way in hell he’d agree to go for an induction to be a massage therapist for any pony, human, goddess, or whatever else. He was starting to think he’d probably do just about anything she asked.

They quickly grabbed a bite to eat—oats, which in Kye’s opinion were hardly ideal, but better than nothing—and headed off to the spa. Aloe and Lotus were friendly as always, welcoming them and ushering them through to a studio with a large massage table.

They explained which muscles to massage and how to knead the tissue to relieve the tension, as well as explaining which areas to avoid. When they included the back of a mare’s neck as a definite no-no he glanced at Lyra. She had failed to mention this particular fact to him, which meant he’d definitely been unintentionally feeling Rarity up the previous night. She merely blinked, smiled and looked away.

The spa ponies then asked him to show what he’d learned on Lyra, and he inwardly chuckled when her tail twitched a few times. He could tell she was getting a little turned on, and was desperately trying to hide her arousal as he ran his fingers through her coat. The twins weren't fooled, of course—they’d probably seen it all before.

“Zis is guud, ya. Now demonstrate vith Aloe,” Lotus instructed.

The twins' heavy eastern European accents still rather surprised him. He spared a moment to watch Lyra dismount from the table and trot over to a chair. Her ears were still flicking a little, and she nearly fell over when she tried to sit down. When she found her bearings, she gave him a nod.

Aloe jumped up onto the table and lay down. The Earth pony was gifted with a lustrous pink coat, and her mane—a glossy blue like her tail—was swept back beneath a headband. Her cutie mark resembled a stylised depiction of lotus petals. It was easy to tell that the two spa ponies were twin sisters—in an inversion of Aloe’s colors, Lotus sported a blue coat and a pink mane and tail.

Massaging her coat as Lotus had instructed, it wasn’t long before she was shuddering beneath the ministrations of his fingertips.

“Ohh, so strong!”

Kye continued to work on her back and down her sides, flexing his fingers against her coat. She had her eyes closed and was breathing rather deeply. He thought he saw her tail flick a little, but couldn't be sure. He glanced at Lyra: the unicorn was pointedly looking at Lotus, who promptly spoke.

“Zat vill do. Aloe, vas ze experience satisfactory?”

“Hmmmm yaa...” the spa pony moaned, slowly rolling to her side on the table, her eyes still closed. They suddenly flew open and sought him out. She gave him a provocative smile when they locked onto him.

Lyra cleared her throat, jumping up and trotting over to him. She wrapped her tail around his legs slightly.

Oh my gods, she’s actually jealous! Kye was confused—Lyra seemed to be okay with some ponies showing an interest in him, but not others.

“So, he got the job?” Lyra asked in an abrupt tone.

“Ya, as soon as vee can line up some clients, vee vill let you know,” Lotus replied as Aloe hopped down from the table, still stealing glances at Kye.

“Good.” Lyra grabbed his hand with her teeth and near enough dragged him out of the spa.

“Err, Lyra?”

She released him. “Aloe wants to fuck you.” She certainly didn't sound happy about it.

Kye was a little taken aback. “You want me to drop the job?” he asked hopefully.

“No…Just promise me you’ll remain professional at all times.” She was looking at the ground. Kye dropped to his knees and kissed her. After several long moments, they broke apart and he reassured her.

“I don't want anyone but you, Lyra. I’d never cheat.” He hugged her tight.

Lyra sighed. “I’m not naive enough to think I can get away with keeping you all to myself, Kye-”

“Yes, you can.” Kye had it all figured out. “That's how things work where I’m from. It’s what I’m used to. I’m totally happy with just you.” He grinned at her.

“No, Kye. I’d be labelled a stereotypical ‘selfish alpha’—mares who hog their stallions get called worse than shit. I don't wanna be that pony.” She nuzzled him. “Besides, I couldn't say no to Rarity—she clearly likes you, and...well...she is really hot.” She blushed.

“So you are into mares then.” He gave her a sly grin.

“Yes, but only certain ones, and only if you’re involved—or at least watching.” She fluttered her eyelashes.

“I like the sound of that.”

“Good, ‘cause we need to get you some more clothes. Maybe we can romance her a little, drop a few hints,” she said, trotting along in the direction of Carousel Boutique.

Kye frowned, keeping pace alongside her. “Isn't it a little soon?”

“Well, I'm not saying we should just hop into bed with her. We should court her for a while.”

“So in other words, exactly the opposite of what we did?”

Lyra rolled her eyes. “You’re not a pony. I wasn't sure what to do, so I just jumped you to see what would happen.”

“How romantic. I'm so privileged.”

“Well it worked, didn't it?” She fluttered her eyelashes at him again.

Gods, she’s so cute. Kye was falling for a pony he’d known for two days. If anyone had suggested the idea to him a week ago, he’d have asked them what kind of acid tab was stuck to their tongue.

Six ponies were trotting towards them up ahead, a unicorn stallion among them. Kye recognised Ace immediately—there was no mistaking the white coat, short black mane and tail, and the playing card that was his cutie mark. Kye knew shit was about to go down.

He stepped away from the line of fire as Lyra reared up, her horn casting a bright overglow before stomping her forehooves back down. A huge shock wave tore through the ground as several windows on the surrounding buildings shattered.

Kye was terrified—he realised he’d still been grossly underestimating just how powerful she was. The ground was shaking so much that he couldn't stay on his feet. He fell over as the overglow brightened and a large thirty foot fissure formed, swallowing all of the mares. Even the pegasus hadn't had a chance to escape.

Lyra levitated the stallion twenty feet in the air. Ace was spinning like a top, screaming at the top of his lungs. She lowered her head the tiniest fraction and he slammed into the ground in front of them. It was clear that Lyra was keeping him pinned.

“If you ever attack my stallion again, I will fucking end you and your little street gang. Got it?” She said in a calm, collected voice edged with steel.

Ace merely whimpered, his face pressed into the dirt by the side of the huge crack in the ground. A couple of his mares were climbing out of it. One of the pegasus’ wings looked broken, and she was visibly shaking.

“Make sure you pass the message on to your alpha, ‘cause I'm done playing nice. Next time, she dies.”

There was a flash of purple light, Twilight appearing next to them.

“Lyra, wha- Sweet Celestia!” The purple unicorn had just noticed the fissure. “Was this necessary?”

“Just making sure the message is received.” Lyra tilted her head slightly, sending Ace flying into his mares at blinding speed, bowling several of them over. One of them even flew a good five feet into the air.

“Lyra!”

There was a flash of amber light, accompanied by an odd lurching sensation—Kye suddenly found himself sitting on a fancy couch in Carousel Boutique. Rarity was standing by a bench, levitating an elaborate looking dress onto a pony mannequin when she looked around for the source of the interruption and spotted him.

“Oh, hello Kye.” She looked a little surprised at his appearance.

“I...L-Lyra...didn't m-mean...would have knocked...if I-” Kye was stuttering, still shaking in shock from the earthquake. Lyra was nowhere to be found and he would have preferred her to have teleported him outside. He rather felt like he was intruding.

Rarity noticed his distress. “Darling, don't fret: I did say you could pop in anytime, after all.”

She gave him a rather sexy smile, and any response that wouldn't have made him sound like a blithering idiot vanished from his mind so he decided to keep his mouth shut. He realised he was truly alone with her for the first time. He suddenly felt like a socially awkward teenager that had been paired on a science project with the prettiest girl in school. She really was sinfully attractive.

She gasped. “Why darling! Whatever happened to your shirt?”

Kye glanced at her then looked down at his shoulder, the crude stitch very noticeable. “Oh...um, Ace burned a hole in it last night.”

“Oh, he really is a nasty piece of work, that pony. Come now, take it off and let me fix it for you.” She fluttered her eyelashes at him.

Kye didn't know what to say so he complied, pulling the fabric up over his head and revealing the top half of his body to her. She smiled at him, wrapping the shirt in a levitation field and mending the hole instantly with her magic—the stitch had disappeared altogether. Kye was almost certain she could have done that without him taking it off.

“There you are, darling: all fixed.” She set it down on the couch beside him.

“Thanks.”

“It’s a good thing that you stopped by, actually. I've just finished creating several more outfits for you.”

Rarity gracefully hopped up on the couch next to him. Her heavenly scent invaded his nostrils and caused his thoughts to wander to inappropriate places.

“Now, I’d like you to try the suit first. I do believe you’ll look rather handsome all dressed up in formal wear. I’d even go so far as to say that you probably wouldn't look out of place at the Grand Galloping Ga-”

“Would you like a massage?” Kye realised what he’d just blurted out and froze. Somehow the question had formed in the most lackadaisical part of his mind, casually bypassed his rational thought and common sense, then launched itself out of his mouth at her lovely ears. Oh God, why?

“A massage?” She raised her eyebrows a little.

“Well...uh...Aloe and Lotus want me to be a massage therapist and I need to know if I’m any good at it, so I thought you’d be the best pony to judge.” Kye relaxed a little, complimenting himself at his quick thinking.

Rarity looked at his hands. “Ahh yes, of course. The profession certainly would suit you.” She smiled at him. “You can practice with me all you like.”

She then surprised him by draping herself over his lap, rendering him instantly hard. That fast. His thoughts fragmented—he’d quite forgotten what he was supposed to be doing, and every time he tried to remember he was distracted by the very attractive unicorn laying across his thighs.

“Well dear, what are you waiting for?”

Kye forced himself to think back to what Lotus had shown him. He started off on her back, running his fingers through her very fine coat. Rarity was smiling with her eyes closed, turned up in cute little arches—an adorable expression Lyra sometimes gave him.

As he continued to knead at her, she rested her head on her forehooves, relaxing more and more. Kye was sure he could hear her purring: it was barely audible, but it was a sign she was enjoying his efforts.

He started to focus on her neck, edging up to the bottom of her mane. She didn't mind last night: I can just play dumb if she freaks out…He ran his fingers through her mane—it was even silkier than Lyra's. She obviously took exceptionally good care of it.

She started breathing deeply as he began to massage the back of her neck. Kye was beginning to wonder how far she’d let him go. He was blatantly petting her now, and his erection was poking into her side—she had to be able to feel it.

He moved his hand further still, coming to rest between her ears just shy of her horn, yet she said nothing. Kye brushed a finger against one of her ears. Her tail twitched, but still she remained silent.

It was only when he leaned over slightly and gently bit the other ear that she made a sound.

“Eep!”

She jumped up, causing Kye to think he’d overstepped the mark. However, she twisted on his lap, captured him with her forehooves and kissed him. It was as if he’d been set on fire. She was so passionate and erotically intoxicating that he thought he was tripping on LSD. It lasted quite a while and he didn't want it to end, but end it did.

There was a bright flash of amber light, immediately followed by another purple one.

“-too far, Lyra!”

“He had it coming, Twi-”

“You nearly killed him.”

“Bullshit, he was just faking it like he always does.”

“You know how much damage you did to the buildings?”

“It was nothing you couldn't fix in seconds.”

“That's not the poi-Rarity!?”

Kye had jumped at Lyra and Twilight’s arrival, but Rarity had merely clutched him tighter.

She stopped kissing him but remained draped against his chest, idly rubbing one of his nipples with a hoof and glancing at the two unicorns. Kye shivered at the contact. His erection was now pressing beneath her tail, which had somehow wrapped itself around one of his legs.

“Yes, dear?”

Twilight looked from the unicorn straddling Kye’s lap to the one standing beside her. It was as if she was expecting the latter to burn the whole village to the ground in a fit of rage. Kye was a little worried too—he knew they’d discussed “romancing” Rarity, but she’d just teleported in to find him practically dry humping the fashionista.

“You okay Twi? What’s with the funny look?” Lyra chuckled, much to Kye’s relief. Judging from her facial expression, Twilight seemed to understand the situation. She then suddenly gasped, turning to Rarity and smiling.

“You’re joining them? Oh, that's so adorable, Rarity.” She turned back to Lyra. “Please keep your temper in check, Lyra. I can't keep covering for you forever.” She disappeared in a purple flash.

“You work fast,” Lyra shot at him, raising an eyebrow. Kye flinched momentarily, but relaxed when she smiled at him. She then looked at Rarity.

“He gave you a massage, didn't he?”

The fashionista smiled and nodded, blushing slightly.

“Well in that case, you’re forgiven—I’d have done the same thing. In fact, I’d have taken all of his clothes off and-”

Lyra was cut off by the door noisily bursting open. A familiar little dragon took one look at the scene before him and bolted back out into the sunlight. Rarity immediately jumped up off of Kye.

“Oh dear, poor Spike. I should go and explain to him.” She leapt off the couch and galloped out the door in the direction Spike had fled.

“Poor little guy.” Lyra looked genuinely concerned.

“What's up with him?” Kye asked.

“He’s had a crush on Rarity since the day he met her. She’s always had to tread carefully around him—one wrong move and he’d be devastated.”

Kye felt like an asshole: he’d never considered that other ponies—or dragons—might like Rarity. He felt like he was just being greedy by pursuing the pretty fashionista. Besides, he already had Lyra.

“Maybe we should-”

Lyra cut him off with a snort. “That was a lot more than just a little heavy petting, Kye. She’s not gonna forget about it in a hurry, and she’s certainly not gonna give up on us just because you feel guilty about Spike.”

“Did you see the look on his face?” Kye croaked. The guilt was eating away at him—the little dragon had seemed so happy at the party. He’d been just as friendly as the ponies, but Kye had pretty much blanked him, and now he was going after the little guy’s crush even though he already had a marefriend.

“He’s just a foal, Kye—or at least the dragon equivalent. He’ll get over her eventually.” She trotted over to the couch and jumped up next to him. “Wow. Okay, I think she likes you a lot.”

Kye was confused. “What do you mean?”

She pointed with a hoof to his crotch—there was a small damp spot.

“Oh...I didn't notice that.”

“Did you make her come?” Lyra asked, her eyebrows raised.

“What? No, at least I don't think-”

“Did you suck her horn!?”

“No!”

“You dirty little hornsucking stallionwhore!” She giggled at him, falling over onto his lap.

“I didn't!”

“Bet you were hoping to swallow a nice juicy load of blue sparks!” She was laughing her flanks off at him.

“Lyra!”

Her horn started to glow as she continued to tease him. “Your mouth watering, Kye? Want another taste?”

He’d had enough. He grabbed her, pulling her head to his chest and wrapping his lips around the luminescent protrusion.

“Eep!”

She began to writhe against him, trying to escape. Kye held her tight: she was going to learn not to tease him. The unicorn was fighting against him quite a lot, but he had noticed they were pretty evenly matched when she couldn't use her magic.

Her struggles eventually died down and she closed her eyes, breathing heavily and shaking against his chest. Her tail and ears were twitching, and he was pretty sure she was trying to curse at him.

“A-Asshole! Y-You’re like A-ahh… d-dog with a bone… ohh…”

Kye massaged one of her ears with a hand and traced his tongue down the spiral groove as far as he could without doing himself major damage. Lyra let out a gasp that quickly turned into a moan and she shuddered as her tail frantically lashed against the couch. Her scent intensified and her hindlegs locked straight—the familiar static sensation of her sparks filling his mouth and trickling down his throat. He was starting to love that feeling because it meant he’d just gotten her off.

He gave her horn one last lick, causing her to flinch. She’d gone limp in his arms and her eyes were unfocused. Kye chuckled, but stopped as he spotted something yellow standing just beyond the still open doorway.

The pegasus standing there was gazing at them in shock, her wings slightly extended. When she saw Kye looking at her she bolted, galloping away as fast as her hooves could carry her. Lyra had seen the yellow pony as well and spoke.

“Oh, yeah: Flutters wants in as well—forgot to tell you.”

“Are you sure about that?” Kye didn't think the pretty pegasus was ever likely to speak to him again after the way she'd just ran away in terror.

“Oh, she’ll be back. Couldn’t you tell she liked what she saw?”

“Well, no—not really.”

“Her wings. Kye. When a pegasus gets in the mood, their wings get stiff and they can't fold ‘em anymore—or fly. Why do you think she ran away?”

Kye gave her a skeptical look. “Yeah, I can't see it happening, Lyra. I mean, I’d never say no to her, but she’s just so timid-”

“Just give her a chance—maybe if you spent some time alone with her she wouldn't be so nervous,” She smiled and gestured to his crotch. “After all, it worked for Rarity.”

Kye rolled his eyes as the pony in question trotted back through the door, looking a bit flustered.

“He wouldn't talk to me. Oh, I feel just awful.”

Lyra bounded up off the couch, trotted over and wrapped the pretty fashionista in a hug as Kye's guilt returned.

“He’ll come around eventually,” Lyra said as she nuzzled at the unicorn.

Kye had never seen her show such affection towards another mare and was mildly surprised, but then he had to force his thoughts away from the gutter as several suggestive images of the two gorgeous unicorns tried to form in his dirty mind.

They soon had him trying on all the different outfits Rarity had made for him. He didn't normally wear formal attire, but the suit fit perfectly and was quite comfortable. He obviously looked good in it because they couldn't take their eyes off him.

“I think you may have overdid it a little, Rarity. We’re gonna have to fight to keep other mares from trying to steal him,” Lyra said, glancing at the fashionista as Kye finished adjusting his tie. Rarity merely gave her a modest smile.

It was dark by the time they left. Luna’s beautiful moonlight was shimmering over the rooftops as he walked beside Lyra. She could have teleported them, but it was a mild night and they wanted to appreciate it. Rarity had kissed them both goodnight—Lyra had been a little surprised at first, but quickly reciprocated the intimate contact. Kye admitted to himself he was starting to warm up to the idea of more than one partner.

When they got back to the house, they found Bon Bon had already went to bed. Lyra teleported them to up to the bedroom. Kye put the bundle of new clothes on the dresser, stripped down to his boxers and climbed into bed with the unicorn. She wrapped her forelegs around his neck, telekinetically covering them with the blanket and resting her muzzle just above his head. Kye guessed she probably didn't want to risk stabbing him with her horn during the night. He inwardly chuckled before eventually drifting off to sleep in her embrace.

Chapter Eight - Ride of Solitude

Edited by JimboTex

The exhausts crackled and the dump valve hissed, the bike spraying dirt everywhere as Kye enjoyed the complete absence of any speed limits. Equestrian autobahn, fuck yeah! He shot past ponies going about their daily business, noticing none of them seemed scared of him or his bike anymore. His appearance in the Ponyville Express had obviously dispelled their worries.

Lyra had already left for work when he’d woken up, so Kye thought he’d go for a spin around town, tearing through the streets like a daredevil—and a bit of an idiot. He could really mess himself up if he had a spill—especially since he no longer had a helmet—but he craved the intense adrenaline rush that came with the reckless speed. Haha, time to mix things up, he thought.

He rolled up towards the town square. It wasn't exactly paved, but the stone surface had a damn sight more grip than the rest of the village and was big enough to be a decent platform for an old pastime of his. Putting his feet on the pillion pegs, he flicked the front wheel up with a twist of the throttle and slow wheelied around Pony Fountain.

A small crowd started to assemble, most of them mares. They were gazing at the spectacle with looks of awe and curiosity. Kye’s head was blatantly inflating with all the attention, but he didn't care: he loved stunting just as much as racing. He didn't currently have the correct rear sprocket size fitted, but the bike’s abundance of power more than made up for the open drivetrain ratio.

Kye dropped his ride down, giving it a burst of throttle before clamping the front discs, the tail lifted into the air as he stoppied around one-eighty degrees, the rear tyre slamming down onto the stone. The engine roared with a distinctive growl as he opened the throttle and the rear wheel spun, churning out a cloud of smoke as his ride rolled forward. He released the front brake, causing the bike to bunny hop, both wheels briefly leaving the ground before slamming back down for a drift lap of the fountain.

Fucking yes! Kye couldn't believe he’d managed to pull that one off without a stunting sprocket. Some of the ponies were actually stomping their approval as the bike rolled to a stop, the signature hiss of the turbo valve piercing the air.

Several ponies gathered round his ride, chattering away at him and trying to get a closer look at the bike. Kye hit the killswitch, flicked the kickstand down and dismounted, elaborately bowing to his equine audience.

“That’s quite the display of skill,” a distinct voice commented, easily standing out above the rest even though it was by no means the loudest. Kye glanced over the crowd, eventually finding the cellist from the party, minus her bow tie. She was gazing up at him with those gorgeous lavender eyes, her long silky black mane swaying in the light breeze.

“Oh. Hey, Octavia,” Kye said, trying to sound casual even though he was suddenly a little nervous. Octavia was the kind of pretty that discreetly allured—if one was to glance at the pony for just a fraction too long, then it was all too easy to become enchanted by her devastating good looks. Don’t look in her eyes… No, don't do it, Kye: you know what happened the other night…

“So, coffee?” the Earth pony suggested, flashing him a smile. His heart tried to do a backflip in his chest.

“Um… okay?”

Kye hadn't meant to say the word with an upward inflection but she was looking at him with almost Fluttershy levels of adorableness. It wouldn't have had such an effect on him, but Octavia had a confidence the yellow pegasus often lacked, which made her captivating gaze cause him to doubt everything his mind offered as potential conversation. His thoughts began to seem too inadequate, or just plain stupid to be discussed with the beautiful mare.

Octavia trotted, her tail swaying gracefully as she gestured for Kye to follow. He jumped back on the bike and set off alongside her as they headed towards a nearby cafe. Most of the crowd of onlookers had wandered off when he’d finished his little motor show.

He was still desperately trying to think of things to say that wouldn't make him sound like an imbecile, but his brain had quite forgotten how to construct a viable train of thought, instead deciding to constantly remind him how elegantly attractive she was.

She’s really pretty Kye… sophisticated, but still smokin’ hot…

I know damn it, now think of interesting things to say to her you feckin’ eejit!

Octavia sat on the bench of a picnic table outside the cozy little cafe and ordered two cappuccinos from the friendly waitress pony. Kye dismounted his ride and went to sit opposite her, but the Earth pony gestured with a hoof and a smile to the space next to her. He gingerly settled himself down at her side, rummaging through his thoughts to see if he’d come up with a decent topic of conversation.

You've got no money, Kye. She’s gonna have to pay… Shit. Kye wasn't cool with having the girl foot the bill, no matter what species she happened to be. He was still penniless—or bitless, at least. There were probably a few pound coins under the pillion seat of the bike, but he doubted they’d be much use in Equestria.

“I’m surprised Lyra’s letting you wander around by yourself after what happened at the party.”

“What?” Kye said, caught off guard. “Oh, Ace? Well, she kinda lost her temper with him yesterday, so I’m pretty sure he won’t be bothering us again… not that I need her to fight my battles or anything,” he quickly added. Kye knew he was weaker than most ponies, but he wasn't a complete pushover.

Octavia merely smiled. “I believe you.”

Kye looked at her, trying to figure out if she was being sarcastic or not. She gazed back at him, smiling politely. Damn, those eyes… Kye looked away as the waitress returned with the coffee.

“Just put it on my tab,” she told the smiling pony.

Kye was about to tell her he’d get it next time when the DJ unicorn from the party spotted them.

“Ha! I knew you were following him.”

Octavia sighed, rolling her eyes as the unicorn trotted over.

“Y’know, judging from the screams I sometimes hear through the odd hotel wall I’d say you’re in for quite a treat,” the DJ speculated to Kye, whose face immediately started to burn.

“Vinyl!” Octavia smacked her upside the head with a hoof.

“Oww, hey, no whacking!” The unicorn whined, rubbing her temple.

“If you’re only here to be a nuisance then you can leave, otherwise sit down and shut up,” Octavia snapped.

“Fine, fine. Holy Tia you’re cranky today,” Vinyl continued to grumble as she sat opposite them. The waitress trotted back over to take her order. Kye was still a little embarrassed at the unicorn’s words, idly fiddling with his cup and avoiding her gaze.

“So, you and Lyra: how does that work?” Vinyl curiously asked him.

“Um, what do you mean?” Kye parried, looking at her as he took a sip of coffee.

“Well, y’know, standard pony style? Reverse cowpony? Dolphin’s embrace?”

Kye choked on his cappuccino, some of it dribbling down his shirt as Octavia tapped him on the back with a hoof and glared at Vinyl.

“Ooh, you give her a hornjob yet?” the unicorn asked, completely ignoring his reaction.

“Vinyl!” Octavia chastised her friend, but the DJ wasn't listening.

“You did didn't you? Bet you were a little ‘shocked’ by the end result huh?” The unicorn laughed, her shades gradually slipping down her muzzle as she slapped a hoof down on the table a few times. Kye didn't know where to put his face—DJ Pon3 made Bon Bon seem like Catholic nun in comparison.

“Just ignore her, Kye. She does this to everypony,” Octavia told him, still glaring at the chuckling unicorn.

Kye spent the rest of the afternoon chatting with the two musicians. Vinyl Scratch was actually pretty hilarious once he’d gotten used to her dirty jokes and brashly inquisitive nature. Octavia still made him a little nervous, but now that he’d spent some time with her, he was starting to come out of his shell.

She was a very down to Earth kind of pony—it made sense, considering her race, he guessed. She soon had him talking about his home planet, explaining there were billions of people from all walks of life that lived in just under two hundred nations.

“Wow, that’s a lot, do they all ride machines too?” Octavia asked, looking at his ride.

It was just the two of them again. Vinyl had gotten bored of teasing them about their little romantic interspecies coffee date, as she had put it, and wandered off somewhere. The unicorn DJ had done quite a good job of breaking the ice for them though, which Kye was rather thankful for.

“Oh no, quite a few people are too scared—motorcycles are quite dangerous. Most people drive cars: kinda like the carriages you see here, but with internal combustion engines so they don’t need to be pulled. I think Great Britain alone has around thirty million of them.”

“That where you’re from?”

“Yea, England specifically. You know, your accent sounds kinda British, although maybe a little more sophisticated than the north, where I used to live.”

“Oh darling, you’re too kind,” Octavia said, overemphasising her articulation and fluttering her eyelashes.

Kye faltered as his heart tried to do another backflip. Octavia’s flirting had left him speechless—she was exceptionally good at it. Her gaze alone had him smitten most of the time, but when she actually made more of an effort the experience was sufficiently mind blowing.

Luckily he was spared the task of having to think of a witty reply by a gorgeous unicorn trotting over to sit on the bench beside him. She immediately wrapped her forelegs around his neck and kissed him, using a rather generous amount of tongue.

Kye nearly fell off the bench in shock. Rarity had come out of nowhere. Octavia was casually regarding the scene with mild interest as they broke apart.

“That's quite a way to make a statement, honey, but I already know Lyra’s given you the all clear, so you can go ahead and put him down before the poor guy has a heart attack.” The Earth pony chuckled, smiling at them.

“Why, whatever do you mean, darling?” Rarity asked in a deliberately over-amicable tone of voice. Octavia merely raised an eyebrow at the obviously rhetorical question and gave the fashionista a sly grin.

“Kye dear, I've just come from the spa. Aloe and Lotus have managed to gather some clientele who’d like to try your services—yours truly included, of course.” The unicorn nuzzled at him, discreetly running a hoof over his thigh.

“That’s great,” Kye said, wrapping an arm around her and trying to ignore the steel rod in his pants. Whenever Rarity touched him, he was instantly hard.

“Your first appointment is tomorrow morning at ten o’clock—moi.” She beamed at him. Kye grinned back, trying not to think of all the naughty things they might get up to in a private massage room.

“You’re going to work for the spa twins?” Octavia asked, sounding a little surprised.

“Well, he has to do something, right?” Rarity interjected, slipping a hoof into one of his hands. “These magnificent instruments are far better tools of relaxation than hooves…” She trailed off, closing her eyes and smiling.

“Just be careful—Aloe has a bit of a reputation for being, well… quite licentious towards stallions, even ones that are taken,” Octavia warned him. “She’s not a bad pony, she’s just lonely—like a lot of mares, really.”

Rarity snorted. “She’s not going to try anything with Kye when Lyra’s his alpha.”

“I wouldn't be too sure about that: remember the Snowflake fiasco?”

Rarity paused as if in thought for a moment. “I still don't think she’s foalish enough to-”

Lyra appeared in a flash of light on the bench opposite them. Her forehooves struck the table, and the wood splintered with a loud crack. Rarity squeaked in shock. She would have fallen off the bench if Kye hadn't had his arms wrapped around her.

“Where the buck have you been?” Lyra asked him. She hadn't raised her voice in the slightest, but he still felt like he was in big trouble for some reason.

“Relax, Lyra. He’s been with me and Vinyl pretty much all day,” Octavia interjected.

“Pretty much?”

Octavia sighed. “He’s not a little colt, Ly-”

“What if Ace cornered him again?”

“Ace is a whiny little bitch. I could kick his ass with one hoof whilst wearing a blindfold,” The Earth pony argued.

“Yes but K-” The unicorn immediately stopped talking after she realised what she’d been about to say—it was obvious. Lyra thought he was weak.

“I didn't mean it like that,” she quickly shot at him.

“It sure as hell sounded like you did,” Kye quietly said. Even his alpha thought he was a pushover. He was sick of it.

“Look, Kye, I just meant-”

Kye cut her off, “I don’t need you to protect me, Lyra. I’m going for a ride.”

Rarity looked worried as he disentangled himself from her embrace and got up, swinging a leg over the bike. He needed to know if Lyra would let him do this: it would be all too easy for her to stop him. The unicorn’s next actions would define how their relationship was going to work.

The Akrapovic cans let out a roar as the engine started. Kye slowly released the clutch and the bike began to roll. He barely touched the throttle, letting the bike smoothly pull away as the distance between them increased. The sight of the two unicorns gazing at him through the mirrors nearly undid him, but he kept on going. Even Octavia didn't look too happy at his sudden departure. He eventually rounded a corner and they slipped from his view. If he was honest with himself, he’d quite expected Lyra to just whisk him away back to the house; the fact that she hadn't was quite surprising. She was choosing to trust him instead.

Buildings and ponies whizzed by as the constant whir of the crossplane crankshaft droned on. He didn't know where he was going and was starting to miss Lyra already, but he needed to make a point: he wouldn't allow her to baby him.

After around twenty minutes of exploring the village, Kye came across a large building that reminded him of an old English stately home. However, the resemblance ended when he noticed a large sign with a red cross, as well as several ambulance carts parked next to it. A plaque that read ‘Ponyville Hospital’ was displayed above a set of double doors.

Kye pulled up, idly admiring the architecture as the engine continued to rumble. He thought of his brothers, one of which worked in a hospital back on Earth. He’d never even got to say goodbye to them. Sure, they’d joked with him about the TT—Just remember, bro: rubber side down—but they’d never expected they wouldn't be seeing him again. No one ever does, I guess…

Kye couldn't help but wonder how people would explain his disappearance, not to mention the complete absence of any motorcycle wreckage. He supposed people would start spawning “alien abduction” conspiracy theories—complete and utter bullshit, of course—but it’s what people usually did when they couldn't understand something.

Kye’s suppositions were interrupted when the hospital doors burst open. Coco Drop emerged, sporting a white neck brace and sitting in a wheelchair surrounded by a yellow aura. The rest of her herd followed as the brown mare spotted him.

“Perfect,” she said with a sadistic smile. “Ace, teach this freak a lesson.”

The stallion hesitated, glancing at Kye with uncertainty.

“What are you waiting for? Drop this ass-pie!” the alpha mare commanded.

Kye face palmed. “Really? Fuckin’ really? You have a whole other dimension’s worth of potential insults at your disposal and you go for ass-pie?” He chuckled. “Lyra must have sent quite a few brain cells packing, huh? Unless you've always been a witless degenerate, of course.”

Coco looked as if she’d just been slapped in the face. “Get him!” she screamed at the stallion.

After a moment’s hesitation, Ace obliged her, shooting a blast of energy from his horn. Kye had been expecting it this time though: he fluently flicked the kickstand down, hit the killswitch, and performed a nearly flawless aikido roll off the bike. The shot sailed over the top of his ride.

It was time to prove he wasn't as feeble as everypony assumed. Ace had barely managed to aim again before Kye lunged, connecting a left hook to the unicorn’s face. The stallion’s head whipped back as the blood sprayed from his muzzle. The shot he’d been in the process of firing flew up into the sky.

Kye quickly caught the distracted unicorn in a choke-hold and stood up, dragging the bucking stallion with him. Ace’s forehooves began flapping helplessly at the air in a kind of lame doggy paddle. After a few moments his struggles began to lack vigor, his flapping hooves slowing to nothing more than feeble twitches. Time for Ace to take a nap…

“Tink!” Coco screamed at the pegasus mare, “Get the alien freak off him, NOW!”

The pegasus let out a yelp of panic, her wings buzzing in fear as she lunged at Kye. The three of them fell to the ground—Kye managed to roll away as Ace quickly recovered, firing several blasts. The stallion was furious, nickering in rage as he attacked. His anger was seriously hindering his aim, however: it was so bad Kye easily managed to get to his feet and piledrive a fist directly into the unicorn’s right eye.

Pain exploded through his hand. He’d put quite a lot of force into the swing, rolling his body and transferring the weight down through his arm. He wouldn't have been surprised if he’d just shattered a knuckle or two.

The stallion hit the ground like a sack of shit, screaming in pain as his mares shrieked at the brutal takedown. Several of them were now regarding Kye with a look of fear they usually only reserved for his alpha.

“See? I told you he could take care of himself,” a sophisticated voice commented from somewhere behind him.

Kye glanced around. Octavia, Lyra and Rarity were trotting up to the scene, all of them smiling at the pathetic sight of the pompous stallion twitching on the ground. His horrendously bloodshot eye and crimson coated muzzle were rather noticeable. Coco looked a little worried: she clearly hadn't expected her stallion to be defeated so easily.

Lyra smiled up at Kye. She wasn't angry at Ace, wasn't tearing huge holes in the ground in a fit of rage, wasn't even sparing the still-whimpering stallion a glance. She only had eyes for Kye. He dropped to his knees and kissed her, knowing it would disgust Coco Drop to see a public display of affection between a pony and an alien.

The brown mare merely glared at them, visibly shaking with the effort of holding her tongue. Maybe she’s not as stupid as she looksKye mused. None of the other mares dared make a sound either.

“Come on, lets go,” Lyra said, trotting away without so much as a word to the Ace Chrome herd. Kye got back on the bike and rolled alongside her, Rarity falling in place on the other side of his ride as Octavia gracefully trotted behind the rear wheel.

* * *

“You coming in for a coffee darling?” Lyra was fluttering her eyelashes more than a little suggestively in Octavia’s direction. They had just arrived back at the house and Kye was busy parking up.

The Earth pony sighed, a look of annoyance on her face. “I can't. You already knew that though, didn't you?” Octavia pointedly stressed the last sentence.

“Oh, yes: your little music lecture at Ponyville Night College. Shame you’re otherwise occupied—it could have been quite an interesting evening if you’d had the time. Oh well…” Lyra said, deviously grinning at the cellist.

“This better not just be teasing Lyra, cause I’m done with the game-”

Lyra cut her off with a kiss, not just a friendly peck between casual marefriends. No, Lyra was kissing Octavia like she often kissed Kye. Holy crap! Kye thought.

Judging from seeming desperation with which Octavia was clinging to Lyra during their embrace, Kye could clearly see that Bon Bon hadn’t been lying about the cellist’s crush on his alpha. Rarity smiled at them, then glanced at Kye and raised an eyebrow.

He was so busy staring at the two mares making out that he failed to notice he hadn't put the kickstand down properly. The bike toppled over, taking him with it and landing heavily on his leg.

Motherfuckering monkey gonads! Litre bikes were pretty heavy: he’d probably have a bruise in the morning.

“You okay?” Lyra giggled, lifting the motorcycle off him with her magic and setting it down on the stand.

Kye cleared his throat. “... Kick…um, jammed… does that sometimes…” he mumbled, failing to hide his embarrassment as Rarity and Octavia shamelessly chuckled at him.

“Well, I must dash. See you later, honey.” Octavia gave Lyra one last kiss, then turned to Rarity. “Rarity, darling.” The fashionista gave her a smile. Octavia glanced back at Lyra, who gave the slightest of nods. Kye had been just about to get to his feet again when the cellist trotted over and kissed him.

Time seemed to stand still, his senses sharpening to a razor edged finality. The shock of the beautiful mare’s sudden proximity did nothing to quell the bizarre focusing effect.

He could hear the light breeze rustling the leaves of the nearby trees with unusual definition as she pressed their lips together. Her sweet scent was more addictive than the most soul-destroying of drugs—and even more captivating than her devastating gaze. Now, though, he couldn't take any action to prevent himself from falling under her spell. Kye was utterly entranced. He unconsciously raised a hand to her mane.

As soon his fingers parted the soft, perfectly straight strands, she slipped her tongue into his mouth. Her taste was a highly potent concentration of her addictive scent. Kye’s eyes went wide, his pupils dilating. It felt like he was going to overdose as she slid her tongue over his incisors.

Holy shit! He realised he was shaking—and slowly falling backwards, hanging on to any modicum of bodily control by only the slimmest of threads. Octavia didn't stop: she was practically on top of him when he heard Lyra giggle.

“Holy Tia, Tavi, you look like you’re gonna screw him in the street. You trying to prove a point, or something?” the chuckling unicorn asked as the Earth pony pulled away from him. Kye was lying on his back, trembling from withdrawal symptoms—and not just of the nicotine variety.

Octavia frowned at Lyra. “No… Don’t get me wrong, honey: you’re quite the prize, but you’re still just the bonus in this little herd.” She smiled, tracing a hoof over Kye’s chest. He was still shivering, already craving another taste of her.

“I can live with that,” Lyra said in a soft tone.

Octavia gave him one last peck before gracefully trotting off at a brisk pace. A lance of relief shot through him, only to be replaced by more of the craving. Seriously, the mare was like a frickin’ hooved methadone clinic.

Lyra trotted over and smiled down at him. “She’s got you hooked, hasn't she?”

“U-Um… er…” Kye stuttered. He could barely think straight, let alone talk at this point.

“Wow, she’s good. I can see why you like her,” Rarity casually speculated to Lyra as Kye continued to mutter to himself.

“Yes she’s quite the charmer,” Lyra said, telekinetically opening the door. “Will you be joining us?”

“Oh, I’d love to dear, but I’m afraid I already agreed to watch my sister and her little friends. They’re having a sleepover tonight, and if I cancel Sweetie Belle wont talk to me for weeks—you know how she gets.”

Kye had come to his senses enough to notice Rarity looked genuinely forlorn at having to reject the offer. He pulled her close for a hug, knowing that she would have stayed if she hadn't had other plans. The fashionista responded by kissing him again, and the familiar hallucinogenic buzz shot through his already frazzled perceptions. He didn't know how much more he could take.

Rarity broke the kiss and smiled rather seductively. “See you tomorrow morning, darling.” She gave a signature flutter of her exquisite eyelashes before trotting over to Lyra and whispering something in the unicorn’s ear. Lyra gave another slight nod. Rarity smiled in reply, gave her a quick kiss, and elegantly trotted off.

Kye shot an inquisitive look at his alpha, but she merely disappeared into the house without a word. Kye followed her, wondering if he should bother asking her about what Rarity felt he hadn't needed to hear. Meh, screw it. She probably wouldn't tell him anyway.

“Bonnie?” Lyra called through to the kitchen. “Bon Bon?”

There was no answer.

“She must still be at work,” Lyra concluded, pausing for a second before averting her gaze from him. Her smile had vanished. “Don't ever do that to me again Kye,” she said in an odd tone.

“What?” Kye was confused. Lyra had been happy one second, but now she sounded on the verge of tears. “Do what?”

“I’d been looking forward to seeing you all day, then you just up and leave because of one little slip up. It fucking hurt,” Lyra replied. She didn't sound like her usual self at all.

Kye opened his mouth to say something, but he had nothing. He was in shock. Lyra seemed genuinely upset—she still wasn't looking at him. Kye felt like a jackass.

He thought back to the reason he’d came up with to justify his little impromptu ride of solitude. It seemed way too feeble to warrant the uncharacteristic tremor in the unicorn’s voice, the way her ears were lying flat, and the distinct lack of her cute little smile.

She finally turned to look at him. He was reminded of the view in the bike’s mirrors, only this was much, much worse. Her large, sad eyes tore his soul to pieces; his heart shattered into tiny, painful fragments of deepest regret. He deserved the guilt—he’d well and truly earned it. Fucking asshole: you had to go throw a hissy fit, even though all she’d done was make a valid point…

“Lyra… I’m so sorry,” Kye began, dropping to his knees. He was burning up with remorse. He desperately wanted to hug her, but wasn't sure if she’d let him—she certainly had every right to rebuke him. “I know you were just looking out for me.”

Thankfully, she quickly trotted to him and lunged forward, nearly bowling him over in the act of diving on him. Kye closed his eyes, falling back to sit cross-legged and encircling his arms around the unicorn. Her hind legs were now straddling his waist, her forehooves wrapped around his neck in a rather intimate embrace.

“It’s my job to protect you, Kye: it’s what alpha mares do. I know it’s the other way round where you’re from, but I don’t care—so don’t expect me to drop the habit anytime soon.” She nuzzled his neck.

The torrent of relief that flowed through him was more a result of her actions than her words. Just the thought of not being able to hug her like this sent chills down his spine.

The two of them sat wordlessly, just holding each other close and enjoying each other’s company for a while. Kye would have been happy to sit for days, doing nothing other than clutching the unicorn, idly running his fingers through her soft coat. After quite some time, Lyra finally broke the silence.

“I don't want you wandering off on your own again. I know you can take care of yourself but… If somepony took a sly shot behind your back, you wouldn't be able to do that clever rolling thing you do…” she quietly said.

“You noticed that?” Hmm, she must have been watching for a while. “Y’know, that’s a technique of a martial art back on Earth. I did a few classes, but lost interest after a while.” A thought occurred to him. “Hey, maybe you could teach me Still Way?” he added, figuring that it might come in useful some day.

Lyra giggled. “What? You thinking of growing a horn? Cause I don't think it’d suit you.” Kye was glad to see she’d cheered up somewhat.

“So, it’s unicorn exclusive?” He raised his eyebrows.

“Well it is a magical fighting style.” She gave him a devious smile as her horn started to glow. “Aww, is Kye gettin’ jealous?” she added with a teasing chuckle.

Kye rolled his eyes, wrapped his fingers around the luminescent protrusion, and gently squeezed. Lyra stopped laughing.

“Ahhh…ohhh”

“What was that now?” Kye grinned at the twitching pony.

Lyra kissed him, her tongue dominating his mouth as she began to grind her marehood against him. Kye had already been semi-erect from all the cuddling, but now he was rock hard.

Slipping his free hand down between her hind legs, he carefully ran a couple of fingers through her moist folds.

“Sweet Celestia…ohh…”

He felt the odd lurching sensation again as the surroundings changed and they landed softly on the bed. Kye got the hint and quickly undressed, laying down next to her and replacing a hand between her thighs.

She closed her eyes and started panting as Kye slid a finger into her sex—she was already slick. He inserted another, quickly found what he was looking for and applied pressure, slightly bending then straightening the digits inside her.

“Eeeep!”

Lyra arched her back, her eyes going wide and her tail cracking off the mattress like a whip. She began to shiver, breathing heavily and mumbling incoherently as Kye gyrated his fingers inside her. A mad light danced in her eyes and she unconsciously ground her teeth, seemingly unable to focus on anything. Kye chuckled inwardly to himself. I wonder how far I can get Sparkles to shoot this time…

“S—sta-hp… gn...g...g-na…g...s… ssr... su—sur...srge-”

Kye chuckled out loud at her mindless babblings. He suspected this was gonna be a good one for her. He took a glance at her expression and a paralysing lance of fear shot through him.

Oh shit.

Lyra had fallen completely still: her eyes were shining again, brightly illuminating the ceiling. Her mane and tail were magically, flowing and he noticed she was starting to levitate above the bed.

Fuckthatville’s a callin’.

Kye quickly removed his fingers, leapt up and bolted for the door. As soon as he touched the handle, he was swiftly pulled back and telekinetically pinned to the bed. The surging unicorn slowly floated into position over him, her mane and tail rippling with power and her eyes shining purest white. Fuck!

Lyra looked devastatingly beautiful, yet proficiently lethal. He had a pretty good idea of what she was about to do next, and wasn't sure if he’d survive. She was more than powerful enough to accidentally kill him if she completely lost control. He’d never been more scared in his life, but if this was to be his end, then it certainly wasn't a dull way to go.

Ohshitohshitohshit! Lyra intertwined their bodies in an embrace that nearly crushed him, biting down on his neck quite a bit harder than usual. If she’d had sharper teeth, she would have broken the skin. Kye was forced to close his eyes so as to not be blinded by the beautiful, deadly glow of Lyra’s own eyes mere inches away, leveled at him with lustful intent.

The sheer magical power radiating from her, coupled with the skin-to-coat proximity, was terrifying yet exhilarating at the same time. It felt like he was dancing with sudden death—the same kind of adrenaline rush he always chased by racing motorcycles, but way more intense.

Her slick marehood was pressed against his achingly solid member. He may have been shitting himself in fear, but he was still hard as steel. He instinctively wrapped his arms around her and brought a hand up to her mane, only to yelp in shock as an intense feeling of static energy washed through his fingers. He’d quite forgotten her mane was no longer solid matter—it now bore more of a resemblance to plasma, if anything.

He was shaking in an odd mixture of fear and pleasure as she began gyrate her hips, coating his junk with her slick juices. She repeatedly slid herself up the length of his shaft, her entrance getting closer to the tip each time. Kye couldn't control his breathing: the sheer amount of energy blasting through him, combined with the exquisite lubricated friction of her marehood gliding against his primed member was causing him to hyperventilate.

After the seventh slick glide he felt himself finally penetrate the still surging unicorn. The power radiating from her instantly intensified, making his whole body tingle as his shaft slid deep within her. The blissful coupling caused a heady influx of testosterone and adrenaline to course through his veins as she continued to bite him, running her tongue over his neck.

Kye bit the inside of his cheek in an attempt to fight the primal urge to spill his seed inside her. He knew that if he shot too soon, he’d have to ride a torrent of oversensitive agony until she was finished with him. He sure as hell couldn't stop her from regardlessly screwing him senseless if he blew his load too early.

Fuckfuckfuck! This is too much… Lyra was riding him hard, repeatedly slamming herself down onto his shaft, her static tail causing his balls to tingle as she continued to bite his neck. Kye knew he wasn't gonna last much longer: the magical surge was amplifying the already intense experience of mating with her.

There was only one thing left he could think of that could potentially save him. He slid a hand beneath her flowing tail and ran his palm over her soaking wet marehood, his shaft still sliding between the twitching folds. He then brought it up to her glowing horn and gently squeezed. It was unusually hot to the touch, almost unpleasantly so, but that didn't stop Kye from sliding his slick hand over the spiral groove.

Lyra let out an unholy shriek. Her voice was multilayered with an undercurrent of untold power that shook the entire bed. Her twitching marehood fiercely clenched and relaxed around his shaft several times, sending him crashing over the edge.

He quickly released her horn, his eyes still tightly shut as he pressed both hands down on her rump and exploded into the surging unicorn, filling her with his seed. The release was so intense that he nearly passed out. He barely even noticed the odd crackling sound, followed by a burning smell.

Kye’s heart thundered in exhilaration as he lay panting and sated beneath the unicorn. He could feel the silky strands of her tail gently quivering between his thighs, her mane gently brushing over his fingers. She had stopped surging.

Being sexually dominated by Lyra when she was lost to the wild influences of her immense magical strength was easily the scariest fucking thing he’d ever experienced—yet all he could think about was how much he wanted to experience it again.

She was completely motionless, with Kye’s softening member still held captive inside her as she spoke.

“You okay?” Her voice was shaking.

“Y-Yeah…” Kye knew he didn't sound very convincing, he was still trembling from the intense climax. He opened his eyes to see Lyra looking oddly terrified and relieved.

“Why didn't you run, Kye? Holy shit, I could have killed you. I—I completely fucking lost it. I don't even know what-”

“Ssshhh.” Kye cut her off and smiled. “I’ll admit, you scared the shit out of me, but it was the best lay I've ever had.”

She gave him a surprised look. “You liked it? How? If I’d done that to anypony else, they’d be horrified, they’d never want to see me-”

“I’m not anypony else, Lyra.”

“But you could have died-”

“I trust you.” He hugged her, burying his face into the soft coat of her neck.

“Well I don't.” She frowned at him. “If I ever I ever try to surge-fuck you again, then you run. Promise me Kye.”

Kye pulled back and gave her a smile, pointedly holding his tongue.

“Kye!” She snapped at him.

“Well, I did try to run at first, but you just man-handled me like you always do.” He smirked at her.

“Well, you should have tried harder!”

Kye ignored her, avoiding her gaze and hoping she’d drop the subject. He glanced at the ceiling and noticed a jagged black groove that hadn't been there five minutes ago.

“Well?” Lyra prompted. “Kye, I’m dangerous when I lose control. Surely you should know that by now.”

“Course I do—it’s one of the things I love about you.” He pointed upwards, attempting to direct her attention to the odd scorch mark on the ceiling. “Just one question: where the hell did that come from?”

Lyra’s eyes went wide and her ears flattened. She looked positively adorable, holding the shocked expression for a few moments before slowly glancing up to the indicated direction.

“W-What?” She seemed unable to notice what he was pointing at.

“Um, I’m pretty sure that weird burn wasn't there this morning.” Kye chuckled.

“Oh, well um… when a unicorn… ‘finishes’ during a surge the sparks are a little more… violent.”

Kye was suddenly glad he’d removed his hand before she’d come. “So I’m guessing I can't give you a hornjob when you’re surging?”

“No! No more surge sex at all, Kye: you see these eyes shining with lust then you haul ass.”

She got to her hooves, his slick member slipping out of her and slapping against his abdomen. A dribble of semen was running down the inside of one of her thighs. Kye tried—and failed—to suppress a grin. She caught him staring between her legs and rolled her eyes.

“Ugh. I’m going to take a shower. I feel like a street-clopping cum dumpster.”

Kye snorted, blatantly chuckling as she turned and playfully whipped his chest with her tail before teleporting in a flash of amber light.

Author's Note

ERMAHGERD! PERNIES! Clop-clop-clop-clop-clop-clop-clop-clop

Sorry....I'll go now....

PS: To those that get the VA reference—good for you /)

Chapter Ten - Ponyville Brawl

Edited by JimboTex

Kye yawned as the sound of the bass drum, snare, and hi-hat cymbal roused him from his slumber. Something incredibly warm, soft, sinfully intoxicating, and unmistakably powerful was lying on top of him. His cock hardened in his boxer shorts at the skin-to-coat stimulation, pressing into the fun zone between the unicorn’s hindlegs.

“I’d appreciate your input”

He vaguely noticed a familiar bassline kick in as he revelled in the feeling of the intimate physical contact. Lyra felt unusually heavy today, and the sheer energy radiating from her was making him tingle all over. The weight bearing down on his near-enough naked body felt amazing.

“Sweat baby sweat baby sex is a Texas drought

Me and you do the kind of stuff that only Prince would sing about

So put your hands down my pants and I'll bet you'll feel nuts”

Kye semi-consciously allowed his hands to wander, running one of them over several large, soft feathers while the other one slid up into what felt like a shimmering field of static energy. Hhhmmm, kinky, he silently mused.

“You and me baby ain't nothin' but mammals

So let's do it like they do on the Discovery Channel

Do it again now

You and me baby ain't nothin' but mammals

So let's do it like they do on the Discovery Channel

Gettin' horny now”

By the time the trumpets kicked in, Kye had remembered that Lyra didn't have wings. He also acknowledged that it was unlikely the Bloodhound Gang were able to transcend dimensions. Oh dear.

“You wanna fuck me, Kye? You’d like that, wouldn't you? Seeing as you’re into ungulate quadrupeds now, you dirty little boy.”

Kye opened his eyes to see Luna giving him her signature wry smile and suggestively raising her eyebrows. The goddess was draped over him, a blue forehoof gently stroking his cheek as his rock-hard erection pressed between her hind legs.

“How about a hornjob? You’ll have to be extra careful, though—I'm quite a bit bigger than your alpha.”

The alicorn merely chuckled in response to Kye’s screams as the power radiating from her mixed with the exquisite vibrations flowing through him. How he avoided cumming in his boxer shorts from the stimulation was a mystery to him. Looking around, he noticed that they were lying on his couch in his flat. Bad Touch was playing as background music on his Xbox, while the TV displayed the pause menu from Saints Row IV.

“L-L-Luna!?” Kye stuttered, not quite able to believe what was happening.

“What’s wrong? Am I too royal for you? Come on, Kye: this princess needs her some love, you know, the kind you clean up with a mop and bucket-” she burst out laughing, barely finishing the sentence.

Kye gritted his teeth, but it was too late. He was slowly slipping over the edge. “Bad Touch,” seriously? She certainly knew the best way to tease him for being into ponies. He shuddered beneath the alicorn, unable to stop himself from thrusting into her slightly as he unloaded into his underwear. His face burned with mortification—he’d just defiled a frickin’ goddess, not to mention shot off like a virgin.

Luna rolled her eyes. “Really? Really, Kye? I don't even know why I bother.” Her horn glowed with a shimmering blue aura, the Xbox controller hovering as she turned to look at the screen. She remained lying on top of him as she started to play. He had to admit that she was pretty good.

Kye had had never been more confused in his life. The alicorn that was currently murdering the Zin and chuckling away to herself occasionally was nothing like the one that had shown up to save him from the mundane prison he’d created for himself.

“This is the real me, Kye. I'm not as regal as my sister would have everypony believe,” Luna casually told him, now riding along on a motorcycle in the game. “I’m trusting you not to tell anypony about your dreams involving me, because if you do then I’ll have to kill you.” She gave him a squeeze with her hind legs.

Sweet Celestia, does she actually want me to fuck her?

“Why’s it always ‘Sweet Celestia?’ Why can't it be ‘Sweet Luna’ every once in a while? I’m sweet, damn it!” Luna playfully snapped, now riding along with Pierce on a mission.

Realisation hit Kye like a freight train and he went completely white. She was reading his fucking mind!

“Wouldn't be much of an inceptionist without telepathy now, would I?” She turned her head to give him the wry smile again.

Holy shit! Kye tried to force his mind to be vacant, but he may as well have been attempting to swat a fly with a drinking straw. Luna fit against him perfectly, and the power radiating from her was still making him shiver. Her mane was flowing down the side of her neck and onto his bare chest, making his nipples tingle. He was starting to get hard again.

“Knew you wanted to fuck me.” She smiled again, turning back to the game.

She was right, he was completely lusting for the alicorn. He felt a strong surge of shame and guilt at his thoughts—it felt like he was cheating on Lyra.

“This doesn't count, Kye. In reality, Lyra’s got you wrapped up tight in her bed, and I’m miles away in the palace in Canterlot. It's a win-win: you and I get to have a little fun together, and as long as you don't tell anypony, nopony has to know.”

“I-I dunno….” he stuttered.

“Would you rather I ask Lyra's permission to join your herd?” She raised her eyebrows at him. “Because I’d do it, and then every stallion you meet would be jealous ‘cause they’d know you were nailing a princess.”

Kye shivered. “Why do you even want me? You could have anypony,” he asked her. After all, Kye was nothing special—he was a freaky bipedal alien, for cryin’ out loud.

“Ugh, stallions are overrated. Because of the gender imbalance, they can pick and choose who they want. Many of my little ponies’ hearts get broken because a stallion gets bored and moves on to another mare. Sure enough, I would have no trouble keeping their affections, but they certainly aren't worthy of mine.” She looked at him with affection. “You are worthy, though. I've seen how you practically worship Lyra, and I admit that I'm a little envious.”

Kye still didn't know what to think. He was attracted to the princess, but he couldn't shake the guilt. If anything happened, then he would have to tell Lyra—there was no way he’d keep it a secret from her.

Luna sighed. “I really don't think she’d mind, Kye. After all, this is just a dream, right?” Beautiful blue eyes gazed down at him.

Kye had a strong urge to kiss her… and now she knows… Excellent. She gave him her signature wry smile again, and his heart thundered in his chest. It looked like she was about to satisfy his sudden desire until she paused.

“I’m needed elsewhere.”

She might as well have just told him Christmas had been cancelled. Dafuq? Was she doing this on purpose? If so, then it was pretty cruel considering her telepathic ability.

The alicorn raised an eyebrow. “What’s Christmas?” She gave him a peck on the lips before disappearing in a blinding flash of white light.

“Gah! Holy shit!” Kye yelped as an exhilarating electric shock from the affectionate contact blasted through his nervous system, nearly throwing him from the couch like a ragdoll. Once his subconscious registered Luna’s absence, the dreamscape faded away as he returned to his prior dreamless slumber.

* * *

The dark alicorn let herself flow into the dreamscape, sensing that somepony needed her help. Badly. Luna hadn't wanted to leave the human—felt a little guilty even—but the distant cry of a tortured soul in need had been unmistakable, and she wasn't so selfish as to ignore it for her own carnal pleasures.

Luna’s surroundings gradually resolved into a coherent form as she entered the target dream—thick, unforgiving forest that covered the ground up until a sheer cliff drop into a gaping dark abyss. Cruel winds of transcending death howled over the empty void, accompanied by blood red clouds that flowed way too quickly under a crimson sky.

Three pegasi adorned the edge of the cliff. Two of them were clearly dead; mutilated beyond recognition. The third was wailing in grief stricken agony, laid down next to their bodies. The fur of her legs and the feathers of her wingtips were saturated with the blood of the corpses. Luna could almost feel the hurt in her soul. The sight of the suffering mare brought a tear to her eye, as always.

She knew who this pegasus was— she recognised the grey coat, along with the red and black mane and tail. Tinker Breeze had dwelled on the death of her parents for years now, and it broke Luna’s heart every time she witnessed the horrific sight. The goddess knew her past, her present, and was determined to ensure she had a future.

Kye had recently saved her life. Subsequently, the plight of the pegasus had been a continuous presence in the back of his mind—not that he was conscious of it. Luna had recognised the preoccupation of his subconscious instantly.

The goddess stomped, but nothing happened. The recurring nightmare was unusually strong tonight: evidently, it would take a lot more than mere alicorn trickery to banish the horrifying vision this time.

A beam of energy shot from Luna’s horn, piercing the unnatural sky and cleaving a hole in the clouds. A full moon appeared, shining brightly in defiance over the awful scene—a blatant signal of her intervention. She may not have been able to completely destroy the twisted vision, but she could still alter it, loosening its wretched hold on the terrified pegasus.

The goddess conjured a large magical scythe of shimmering blue plasma and immediately set to work, wreaking havoc upon the nightmare as she hacked away at the dense forest. The trees were no match for the enchanted blade, crashing down into the undergrowth in defeat.

She spread her wings and soared up through the newly formed gap in the canopy, firing a well aimed spell down to the edge of the cliff. A shimmering dark blue barrier exploded from the point of impact, instantly muting the eerie howling of the deathly winds and allowing a calm silence to take over.

Luna landed next to Tink, wrapping the pegasus in large blue wings and pulling her away from the sight of her dead parents. “Don't you dare give up, Tinker Breeze. Things are about to change.”

The trembling pegasus finally gained enough lucidity to acknowledge the goddess. “I don't wanna go back…” she cried, the tears still flowing.

Luna’s thoughts darkened as she discovered what had transpired before the pegasus fled her home, Ace would definitely be getting summons for his disgusting attack. “You don't have to, my little pony, but don't ever think that death is your only option.”

“I've got nowhere else to go… and I… I miss them so much.” The pegasus was fading, her will to survive slowly slipping away. If Luna didn't do something fast then she’d lose her hold on the broken mare.

“The human saved you—found you in the forest and took you to the hospital.” It was Luna’s last hope—if this didn't work, then nothing would. “His alpha even played her part, giving her blood in order to keep you alive. You owe it to them Tink. Clearly, they do not want you to die.”

The pegasus looked up in surprise. “But… they… why would they help me?”

Luna smiled. “Kye and Lyra are different. They have a compassion not many ponies possess.”

“But they should hate me, I-”

“They don't. They don't even hate Ace, although that may change when they find out what he did to you.” Luna gave the pegasus a stern look. “You've managed to hide his abuse for quite some time now. Why?”

Tink looked at the ground. “I didn't want to be alone.”

Luna could empathise, though not enough to warrant the beatings. “You can do better, Tink. Now, when you wake up, you’re going to fight. That’s an order, do you understand?”

The pegasus sniffled, trying to glance around at the gruesome illusion of her parents. Luna didn't let her. “Tink!”

“Yes,” she squeaked.

“Good. I’ll be stopping the hospital later today—just to be sure.” A bright blue glow burst from her horn, the weakened nightmare finally beginning to fade. “Oh, and Tink? Don't go back to Ace.”

Luna allowed herself to dematerialise into the dreamscape once again, searching for other signs of distress. All was well, so she decided to make one last stop. Kye’s alpha.

When Luna had first encountered the human in the strange dream full of even stranger buildings and machines, she’d looked into his mind and found he was nothing like any other male she’d ever observed. He didn't expect special treatment because of his gender, he hadn't courted more than one female at a time, and he’d never ended a relationship out of simple boredom.

Luna had sensed his feelings for the young Still Way prodigy, but assumed he wasn't serious about actually pursuing a relationship with another species. Now she knew better, and hadn't been able to resist having a little fun with him. Bad Touch. Just about summed things up.

He truly cared for Lyra; he’d even offered her monogamy. No stallion in their right mind would agree to keeping only one mare, yet he had been more than willing. The unicorn had rejected his offer though. Lyra wasn't selfish—a trait Luna was grateful for, considering what she was about to do.

* * *

Derpy Hooves was on the stage playing Tavi’s cello, only the ditzy mare had it the wrong way up and it was making an awful racket. Typical Derpy. Lyra stood by the stage at the Grand Galloping Gala. Lots of sophisticated, high class ponies were chattering away in their obnoxious voices as she waited to go on. Her shiny golden lyre was gleaming in the light reflected from the chandelier.

The doors of the large hall opened, and Princess Celestia emerged, followed by Princess Luna. Lyra sunk into a bow, as did most of the other ponies. Derpy had the good sense to stop playing, at least. The grey mare trotted to the steps, only to trip over her own hooves and fall flat on her face.

“I’m okay!” she said to nopony in particular before fluttering away.

Several ponies gasped in exaggerated horror as Celestia’s crown clattered to the floor. Luna had just playfully knocked it off with a hoof, grinning at her older sister. The sun goddess merely blinked, then seemed to freeze. In fact, everypony went completely still, apart from the Princess of the Night.

“The Gala? Such a mundane vision for an expert of annihilation. I would have expected something a little more… chaotic for a pony of your calibre,” the dark alicorn speculated, trotting over towards Lyra.

Lyra quickly realised what was going on, the sudden lucidity that had arrived with the goddess sharpening her senses. She’d heard tales of royal intervention in ponies’ dreams, but never thought it would happen to her. This was the real Princess Luna talking to her.

“Good evening, Your Highness,” Lyra said, sinking into another bow and wondering why the goddess had decided to visit. Normally, Luna only showed up to banish the nightmares of troubled ponies—mostly young fillies and colts.

“Lyra, there’s nopony else here. You can drop the formality.” Luna quietly said. “Especially considering what I’m about to say.”

Lyra slowly stood up, looking at the goddess. Oh shit, I’m in trouble. It was obvious that her antics of the past few days had caught the attention of the princess. She hoped the alicorn wasn't here to cast her from civilisation. She paled at the thought of being separated from Kye, knowing there was no way she’d risk taking him with her into the wilderness.

Luna chuckled. “You really need to stop jumping to such dire conclusions Lyra, I wouldn't dream of separating you from your stallion.”

Lyra was confused. How did she know?… The unicorn then recalled Twilight mentioning Luna’s telepathic capabilities within the dreamscape as an anecdote to a rather boring conversation about the inner workings of royal government… Oh dear. Lyra would have to keep her thoughts in check.

Luna merely rolled her eyes. “I want in, Lyra.”

Lyra blinked. “In?” She didn't have the foggiest idea as to what ‘in’ was or why the goddess claimed to have a desire for it. She was even more flummoxed by the apparent fact that the alicorn had interrupted Lyra’s rather silly dream merely to present the cryptic request.

“Oh for the love of… Kye! Your stallion? Your herd?” Luna shot at her before chuckling. “I’d like to borrow him for a little… stress release, only in the dreamscape, mind you. At least at first…” The alicorn trailed off.

Lyra looked a little dumbfounded. “W-What?” It sounded like Luna was interested in Kye. Fuck! I can't compete with a goddess…Lyra was devastated—given the choice between alicorn royalty and a small town unicorn, just about any stallion would choose the former for the number one spot.

“There you go again with the pessimism. I do not wish to take your place, I want to borrow him… With your blessing, of course.”

“I… I-” Lyra didn't know what to say. She’d never have guessed that this was the reason Princess Luna had sought her out.

“You don't have to say yes. You’re still his alpha, and I will respect that if you choose to deny me,” the goddess assured with all sincerity. She sighed, gazing at the immobile aristocratic ponies. “You’re lucky, Lyra. I've seen the way he thinks… he barely has any concept of the things stallions usually take for granted. The effort he puts into pleasing you is unmatched by any other of his gender in Equestria, yet it’s completely normal for him. You could have accepted his offer of monogamy and he’d have been genuinely thrilled. It’s not like anypony would have argued with you.”

Lyra was flattered the goddess recognised her as worthy adversary and a little surprised she was affording her the courtesy of deciding. She knew Luna could just go ahead and take Kye if she wanted to and nopony would dare to disagree, but the princess was requesting that Lyra share him instead. Hmm, time to clarify.

“Erm, when you say borrow-” Lyra began.

“Yes, I mean sex,” Luna bluntly stated.

Lyra had gathered that much; what she really wanted to know was if the goddess was looking for the ‘full package.’ After all, Kye wasn't the only member of the herd. She didn't have the nerve to ask the alicorn about it, but she knew Luna was reading her thoughts.

“Oh… well…” The princess blushed slightly. Lyra couldn't help but notice the expression looked bizarrely out-of-place on the face of royalty. “If er… ‘full participation’ is what’s required, then I would be happy to comply.” The goddess fiddled with her flowing mane. She wasn't looking at Lyra, instead gazing up at the chandelier, the barest hint of a smile on her face.

Lyra shivered as several naughty thoughts came to mind. Her ears flattened in shame at the ease with which such thoughts were able to form. Luna slowly looked back down to Lyra, the hint of a smile having now turned into a sly grin.

“Well?” Luna asked, clearly choosing to disregard the filth plaguing Lyra’s imagination.

“Um… okay.” Lyra whispered the last word. She wasn't agreeing because she felt obligated—having an alicorn princess as a herdmate didn't seem so bad the more she thought about it. Luna was damn sexy, and sharing Kye with her would be hot enough, but actually getting some mare-on-mare action—Ermahgerd she’s standing right there and I may as well be saying all this shit out loud. Fuck! Lyra didn't know what to do with herself: she’d never been more embarrassed in her life.

Luna merely continued to smile, casually raising an eyebrow and stomping a hoof. The hall seemed to evaporate, along with the aristocracy and the sun goddess. A large marble chamber formed around them instead. Beautiful sculptures adorned the corners, masterful works of art hung on the walls, and a large heart shaped bed with blood red silk sheets dominated the centre of the room. The ceiling was painted a deep blue interspersed with twinkling stars, resembling the shimmering mane of the beautiful alicorn standing beside her.

Lyra froze as comprehension dawned on her. Holy shit is she actually gonna make a move? A wave of anticipation shot through her.

The princess merely chuckled. “Sorry Lyra, I’d love to stay for some ‘mare-on-mare action,’ but I’m afraid my sister raised the sun over an hour ago. I have places I need to be and you wouldn't want to be late for your students now, would you?” She clopped her forehooves together twice, the room began to fade. “Maybe next time?” Luna gave her a wink before vanishing.

Lyra opened her eyes to find that she was intertwined with Kye, shaking slightly and a little turned on. She threw a glance at the clock on the wall. Fuck. She didn't even have time for a quickie. Carefully disentangling herself from the sleeping human, she teleported herself into the shower and turned on the cold water.

* * *

The sunlight streaming through the hospital window inadvertently stung the overstimulated retinas of the healing pegasus, adding to the various aches and pains already tormenting the rest of her body. Tink was lying flat on her back atop a soft mattress, her head protruding out from beneath a thin sheet, her forehooves curled over the top of the fabric covering her barrel and hindlegs.

She let out a silent yawn, flinching slightly as she acknowledged both of her wings were set in solid casts, and most of her torso was tightly wrapped in thick bandages. She must have looked like she was planning on hitting a few bars on Nightmare Night…

Nightmare… It had been a really bad one this time. So vivid. She could almost see the wretched reminder of her past… Tink shivered, the action aggravating her wounds and causing the slightest gasp to escape her muzzle. If Princess Luna hadn't come to rescue her then-

“Tink?”

The pegasus flinched, sharp pains lancing through her battered body yet again as she squinted, searching for the source of the oddly familiar voice. Her eyes focused, the room coming into view. A divider curtain hung from a rail to her right next to a bedside table, and the bland, white walls of the ward reflected the bright sunlight, making her eyes sting again as she glanced around to her left…

The alien was sitting in a chair by the bed. Dark patches were visible under his slightly bloodshot eyes, his mane was messy and his chin was covered in stubble. He held a brush in his left hoof and a bushy red and black tail in his right… Her tail…

Tink tried not panic, but couldn't stop a terrified squeak from escaping her throat, followed by a yelp of pain—her wings had tried to buzz in reflex.

He quickly released her tail, fumbled with the brush before dropping it completely, then hastily stood up on his hind legs and backed away. “Um… Somepony gave you a bath… but they d-didn't brush your… It’s fine—I-I’ll go…” he stuttered, turning to head for the door.

The words of the dark alicorn played through her mind… The human saved you… Tink had barely believed the startling revelation Luna had dropped on her in the nightmare… but the proof was right here in front of her—and about to walk out the door.

“Wait…” she squeaked, barely audibly. The human paused, his odd alien... Hoof? Whatever he called the appendage, it was resting lightly on the door handle.

He waited a few moments before slowly walking back to the chair, sitting back down and idly fiddling with a key of some sort. A series of odd beeping sounds came from somewhere outside.

“How you feeling?” he asked. The glance he gave her was a rather nervous one.

It almost looked like he was fearful of upsetting her, like he actually cared. Tink didn't understand it. Why should he care? Why had he thought she was worth saving?

“Um… Okay,” she lied. Tink wanted answers. “Why d-did you save me?” she whispered.

The human looked confused at her question. “Why wouldn't I?”

“Well… Ace and Coco were mean to yo-”

“So?” he replied, cutting her off. “You weren't mean to me, and judging by the state I found you in—you needed the help.”

Tink didn't know what to say… Thanks would be a start… She was just about to speak but the human beat her to it.

“What happened to you, Tink?” he asked in a soft tone. Her name rolled fluently off his tongue, almost like it belonged, causing a few rather confusing emotions to stir within her barrel. “Was it a manticore? Teenage dragon maybe? Do you even remember?”

Tink remembered all right. Now she had a bit of a dilemma—should she tell him? If he confronted Ace again… Tink wouldn't care. She didn't love Ace; she never had. The only reason she’d joined the Chrome herd was because she’d been lonely.

She was about to answer truthfully before another thought occurred to her. What if he—the human—got hurt? Even though he’d beaten Ace last time, he could still get hurt if... Tink realised she was trying to protect the alien… Why was she still referring to him as the alien? Luna had said his name was Kye. Kye… She liked that name, it was… different.

“Tink?”

The pegasus had to suppress a shiver—it would hurt. Every time Kye said her name, an odd feeling of longing swept through her—a need she didn't understand.

“You sure you’re feeling okay?” he asked, the genuine concern clearly evident in his tone. Tink wasn't used to such caring attention.

“Um… Y-Yeah.”

“D’you wanna tell me why I found you half-dead in the Everfree then?”

The pegasus remained silent; her eyes fixed on the inquisitive human, her ears flat to her head.

“Tink…” he softly prompted.

“No,” she squeaked.

Kye gave her an odd look, before his expression darkened. “It was him, wasn't it?” He leapt up, bounding for the door.

“Kye, wait!” she yelped. She didn’t want him to leave—not if he was going to do what she thought… no, feared he was going to do.

He ignored her, disappearing into the corridor beyond the ward. Tink struggled, trying to get up to follow, but the pain was too much. She relaxed, wincing and panting slightly. A loud roar sounded from just outside the window.

* * *

Once again, the tachometer needle was quivering at the redline—only this time Kye didn't know where he was going. His fury influenced his riding, causing him to tear through the streets like a reckless jackass.

It was just after five o’clock. He’d had no clients to massage, so he’d been at the hospital all day waiting for Tink to wake up. When she’d finally stirred from her slumber he’d been thrilled, until he’d guessed who had attacked her.

Her hesitation had said it all. Kye didn't know if she’d been trying to protect her stallion by holding her tongue—didn't care, if he was honest with himself. Ace was still gonna get fucked up.

A cloud of dust billowed behind in his wake as he blindly searched for the unicorn, he was going to fucking murder the pompous prick—tear the horn clean off his head and shove it up his mare-beating ass. Kye didn't give a fuck what the social norms were—any male who hit a female was a fucking coward.

A large crowd of ponies were gathered around what looked like a temporary stage in the town square. Kye hit the brakes as he rolled up. He’d just spotted Rarity, Octavia—and the Ace Chrome herd.

Kye’s fashionista marefriend stood by an hors d'oeuvres table, casually levitating a croquet mallet and animatedly chatting to a rather aristocratic looking unicorn couple. Both of them had brilliant white coats; the stallion was wearing a fancy suit and a… a frickin’ monocle. Kye snorted, momentarily forgetting his anger. The mare had a Saints Row cutie mark. Wait… WAT? Kye did a double take. Yep. Three Saints Row fleurs. Kye was suddenly rather jealous of the stallion.

Beautiful orchestral music graced his eardrums as Kye drew closer to the odd “high class” street party. The string quartet on the stage had began to play, and Kye noticed that Tavi was somehow pizzicato plucking her cello with her hooves… Damn, that mare’s talented…

Rarity beamed at him as he rolled up. Kye returned her smile, but didn't stop. “Hey, gorgeous. I’ma borrow this for just a sec…” He grabbed the floating mallet from her beautiful blue aura as the bike rumbled by, turning the bars towards Ace.

Despite being half-blinded by a protective eye patch, it was clear that the stallion had seen him pull up, as he was giving Kye a deadly glare out of his good eye while his five mares were busy nattering away at each other. Kye opened the throttle, and the Yamaha shot towards the unicorn with a loud roar, causing many ponies to shriek and bolt.

Ace blinked in surprise, leaving him no time to duck. The mallet impacted his skull with a loud crack, clearly audible over the strings, even over the growling Akrapovics. The swing had been deadly accurate; the unicorn was sent flying.

Kye slammed the brakes, the rear wheel locking as the bike screeched to a halt. He hit the kill switch, flicked the kickstand down and dismounted as the music stopped. The whole town square was suddenly enveloped in a deadly silence. Coco looked furious.

After a few tense moments, all hell broke loose. Kye bounded towards the dizzy stallion, rage fuelling his every stride. The airwaves were suddenly filled with the sound of screaming ponies and thundering hooves as a murky green blast shot past his left ear. Fuck me, that was close.

Coco took aim again, but a grey blur slammed into her side. Octavia nickered as the brown mare was sent flying just like her stallion. Kye had never seen her so pissed off before—it was kinda scary.

A direct hit from one of the other Chrome mares—a black unicorn with a white mane and tail—sent a sharp, stinging sensation raging across his thigh, making him drop the mallet with a pained cry and violently expelled curse.

The pain was intense at first, but dulled down to a bearable throbbing sensation after a few seconds. The unicorn that had managed to hit him obviously wasn't very powerful. Kye stumbled, still determined to reach Ace. He barely noticed a yellow blur shoot past overhead before an elongated blast of blue… fire? What the…

Rarity was dousing his attacker with a long, flickering stream of violent blue flames emanating from her horn. The black unicorn screamed in pain, hastily galloping away and abandoning her herd.

“Good riddance!” Rarity yelled at the fleeing mare, her beautiful white horn still smoking slightly.

“Motherfucker!” Octavia screamed. Kye glanced in the Earth pony’s direction. She was standing over an unconscious Coco Drop, a black burn mark clearly visible on her flank just above her treble clef cutie mark. Ace had just hit her with an energy blast.

A dark red haze descended; Kye was filled with the need to punish. To hurt. To kill. Octavia nickered angrily, advancing toward the stallion, but Kye had already lunged.

They fell to the ground, Ace on his back, and Kye quickly pinned the unicorn’s barrell with his knees. “You fucking dare! I know what you did to Tink, you piece of shit.”

Kye let his fury vent, his fists burning with a rather satisfying pain at the repeated blows to the unicorn’s muzzle. Ace tried to use his magic a few times, only to scream in agony as Kye uppercutted, sending the horn slamming into the stone.

His mares had either fallen or fled—Ace was alone, pinned and without magic. The blood began to flow, Kye grunting loudly with exertion as he continued to rain hell down on the stallion. The patch had come loose; both of Ace’s eyes were black, his lips swollen and bust. All the vision did was remind Kye of the battered pegasus he’d found in the forest, spurring him on in his brutal quest for vengeance.

“Um… Kye?”

Broken wings matted with blood, cuts and bruises all over the poor mare’s body… She’d been so cold… so very cold. Kye hit the sick fuck even harder, the stallion’s head head whipping from side to side as the blood splatter made pretty patterns on the stone.

“Kye!” Somepony’s teeth gripped his shirt collar and pulled.

Kye attempted to keep smashing his fists against the stallion’s face, but Earth ponies were pretty damn strong. Tavi dragged him away, pressed her barrell to his back and wrapped her hooves tightly around his chest. Ace didn't get up.

“Kye darling, I think you may have overdone it.” Rarity looked a little worried.

Both Ace and Coco were unconscious. The stallion was covered in blood, as were Kye’s hands. Two of the other Chrome mares also lay unmoving on the ground, one of them with pretty severe burns. Several guard ponies were galloping toward them.

“Shit-”

Octavia was cut off by a deafening clash of thunder. Kye jumped in shock and winced in pain as the grey mare squeezed him, nearly cracking a rib. Several dark clouds had instantaneously formed overhead. Another loud bang jostled the airwaves as a bolt of lightning struck the stone ground in front of the stage, a midnight blue alicorn appearing at the point of impact.

The air started to vibrate with power. Rarity bowed, as did the approaching guards. Octavia even released him in order to lower her head to the goddess, though the Earth pony wrapped her tail around his arm, probably to make sure he didn't start pummeling Ace again.

Princess Luna approached. Kye quickly realised her presence was exponentially more terrifying in real life—pretty much on par with her sister. Holy crap! She’d been nowhere near this intimidating in his dream… The dream. He’d wanted to screw her—still kinda did, even though it would scare the shit out of him.

Dumbass! She’s probably here to banish your sorry ass for kicking the crap out of one of her subjects… Shit. This was it, he’d fucked up. Kye glanced at the alicorn, receiving the shock of his life as she… smiled?

“Well now. I see you've made quite a mess of our little wife-beater here.”

Kye’s mouth gaped open, rather stupidly. “Err…”

Luna glanced at the guards, pointing a sparkling blue hoof at one of them. “You, get an ambulance service for this trash,” she ordered him, indicating the unconscious stallion with a wave of the same hoof. She then turned toward the gathering crowd of onlookers as the guard galloped off in the direction of the hospital. “The rest of you, be gone.”

The crowd hastily dispersed. Octavia wrapped her hooves around Kye’s chest again as Rarity threw a nervous glance at the goddess. Still unsure if she was going to punish him or not, Kye decided to check.

“Err… Luna, am I in trouble for this?”

The goddess raised an eyebrow. “For what? The mere crime of having less restraint than I? Acting out of a desire to avenge the honour of a defenceless pegasus?” She trotted closer. Kye shivered—her presence was exhilarating. “I’ll admit, you could have been a little more…discreet with your righteous mission. I’ll probably have to overrule quite a few requests for a reprimand—so for that-” she stopped, resting a hoof on his thigh “-I may have to spank you.” She smiled, more than a little provocatively, gazing down at him through half-lidded eyes.

The effect was intense. Holy crap! Kye could feel the power flowing through his leg, making his balls tingle. Rarity’s jaw hung open in shock, and Octavia let out an odd surprised squeak.

There was a bright flash of amber light, heralding the arrival of Lyra and Fluttershy. The pegasus looked a little dizzy, like she hadn't been expecting the teleportation. Kye certainly knew the feeling.

“You oka-” Lyra began to say to Kye, before she noticed the goddess, her eyes going wide. “—Good afternoon your high-”

“Stop calling me that, Lyra.” Luna rolled her eyes. “After our conversation last night, I no longer think it’s appropriate.”

Wait… what the fuck? Lyra blushed, turning a deep shade of magenta, her ears flattening and her eyes going wide. Kye was confused—it almost seemed as though Luna had made a move on Lyra in her sleep as well as… He remembered her words. Would you rather I ask Lyra’s permission?

“Am I… Am I missing something here, darling?” Rarity asked the blushing unicorn.

“Nope,” Lyra squeaked, before clearing her throat. “What happened to them?” She pointedly changed the subject, gesturing a hoof towards the ponies still out cold on the stone.

Luna answered. “Your stallion decided to dish out a little well-deserved vengeance. It certainly seems to have livened up the Ponyville Ball.”

Lyra blinked. “What do you mean?”

“It was him,” Kye said in a low tone, wanting to beat Ace all over again. “He messed her up.”

Lyra, Rarity, Octavia and Fluttershy gasped. The yellow pegasus looked especially horrified. Kye let out a sigh, looking down at his hands. They were swollen and covered in blood. His shirt was also splattered with crimson, some of it already matting into the fur of Octavia’s forelegs, still draped over his chest.

“I need a shower,” he announced to nopony in particular.

“Ah… That reminds me: Tia told me to let you know your accommodation is ready,” Luna said.

Kye blinked. “Wait… what? That was fast.” He’d been here less than a week and she was telling him they’d already built him a frickin’ house!

The goddess smiled. “When my sister wants something done, ponies don't drag their hooves…” Her horn flashed. Kye recognised the lurching sensation—she’d just teleported him somewhere.

He glanced around at the new surroundings. Lyra, Rarity and Fluttershy stood between him and the goddess. Octavia was still holding him, tightly squeezing his chest again at the sudden change of location.

A modest little detached house, not unlike the other buildings of Ponyville, stood before them. It was slightly taller than the average village dwelling, and had a… garage. His ride was parked in front of it.

“I… Wow. This is pretty awesome.”

Luna smiled. “I’ll leave you to… explore. Have fun.” The alicorn gave him a wink, before disappearing in a flash of white light.

Author's Note

No clop in this chapter—don't worry though, I'll make it up to you in the next.

Chapter Eleven - Feel the Burn

“Um, Tavi? Something you wanna tell me?”

“Huh?” The Earth pony blinked. “No. Why?”

Lyra had cornered the twitchy cellist in Kye’s rather spacious kitchen. Octavia had been extremely clingy with Kye after the bloody street fight; constantly maintaining physical contact and giving him affectionate little nuzzles. When Princess Luna had left and Kye had tried to get up, the Earth pony had been rather reluctant to let go of him.

“You’re in heat.” Lyra stated.

Octavia gasped, before feigning laughter—a telltale sign the mare was talking bull. “Yeah… I most certainly am not!”

Lyra rolled her eyes. “Give it up Tavi…” The unicorn pointedly sniffed the air, a knowing smile on her face. “You want me to take care of it?” She purred.

The Earth pony was clearly trying to suppress any reaction. She failed, her ears twitching in betrayal. “You’d probably only make it worse…” She whispered, her voice a little hoarse.

“You sure?” Lyra telekinetically pulled her into an intimate embrace, nuzzling her cheek.

Octavia gave a barely audible whimper. “Unless you’ve got something to penetrate and fill me with then yeah, pretty sure.” She muttered, deadpan.

Lyra’s smile grew wider, she suggestively raised her eyebrows a few times, allowing a few tendrils of magic to idly flow through her horn. Octavia blinked in confusion, before the penny dropped and she backpedalled in horror.

“Oh Tartarus no! Lyra that’s… that’s… ouch.”

“What? I’d be gentle.” Lyra assured, barely managing to keep a straight face.

“No. Just no—that’s disgusting.”

The sound of hooves on wood echoed through the empty house as Kye, Rarity and Fluttershy made their way through the front room to the kitchen. The door swung open in a blue aura.

“-and darling, I’d suggest seasonally themed decor. Your lounge would look lovely with-”

Rarity hadn't stopped babbling Kye’s ears off about decorating ideas since they’d got through the front door. Even now, she was still excitedly nattering away at him. He was smiling politely and nodding occasionally but Lyra could tell he was already bored with the conversation.

Lyra was just about to interrupt, but Kye had other ideas. He dropped to his knees, pulled the fashionista close in a tight embrace and passionately kissed her—that shut her up. The unicorn immediately wrapped her hooves around his neck, closing her eyes, a rather seductive moan escaping her throat.

Lyra shivered. Octavia’s tail flicked a few times, a hungry look in her eyes, but Fluttershy’s reaction was quite alarming. The yellow pegasus looked terrified, even backed away slightly. Her wings were beginning to twitch, extending slightly as her face flushed red.

Kye must have noticed, because he broke the kiss with Rarity and launched into a new topic of conversation.

“So what was with the crazy blue fire?” He asked the flustered fashionista.

“Oh… well Lyra has been teaching me a few still way techniques… just in case.”

“You guys don't still think I’m weak right?” He looked quite disappointed.

Lyra snorted. “Judging by the state of Ace, Tartarus no. You could have waited till I showed up though—still can’t believe I missed it…” She muttered.

Kye flashed her a smile, before turning back to Rarity. “Erm… sorry I um… borrowed your hammer…”

“Oh that wasn't mine darling, it belonged to Fancy Pants.”

Kye blinked, his jaw trembling as he tried to keep a straight face. “I’m sorry… who now?”

“Fancy Pants dear, he’s quite the influential unicorn in Canterl-”

The fashionista was cut off by a booming laugh, Kye fell over, rolling on the tiled floor and clutching his sides with his crimson hands. His head somehow ended up between Octavia’s forehooves. The grey mare’s tail flicked like a silky black whip, the heady scent of her oestrus still heavy in the air.

“F-Fancy Pants? Oh my god! Did his parents hate him or something?” Kye chuckled, laid on his back. Octavia’s ears were now twitching uncontrollably, her breathing laboured and her eyes wide. It appeared she was forcing herself to look dead ahead, determinedly not glancing down at the human completely oblivious to her plight.

Rarity rolled her eyes at Kye’s continued chuckling. “Oh grow up Kye…”

Lyra decided it was time to intervene. “Okay, time to get a move on.” She clopped her hooves together a couple of times. “Kye, go take a shower—you’re getting wife-beater blood everywhere.”

The human ignored her, still snickering away on the floor, so Lyra picked him up in a levitation field, dropping him down on his feet.

“Go.” She gave him an authoritative look, pointing a turquoise hoof at the door. “I’ll bring you a towel and change of clothes shortly.”

“Yes boss.” He shot at her in a mocking voice before slipping out of the kitchen, still chuckling.

Lyra waited for the sound of footsteps on the staircase before continuing. “Right—Rarity, Fluttershy, come with me. We need to go pick a few of Kye’s things up from mine and Bon Bon’s place. Tavi, you stay here and… take care of Kye.”

Octavia blinked, raising an eyebrow, Fluttershy stretched her wings, giving a silent nod whilst Rarity pouted.

“Pray tell, can't we just teleport?” The fashionista asked.

“Fluttershy doesn't like it, besides, it’s only a five minute walk.” Lyra countered.

“Fine.” Rarity huffed, trotting through the empty front room. Fluttershy glanced at Octavia before quickly following her fashionista friend. Lyra trotted towards the cellist.

“I think somepony left a bale of hay in the odd room with the big metal door, so if you must… take him there.” She said in a low voice. “Don't be too rough with him though, if I come back to a stallion full of broken bones then I’ma be very pissed off.”

Octavia blinked again. “Thanks.” She squeaked.

* * *

Fluttershy trotted along the empty street between the two unicorns, silently hoping she wouldn't be expected to contribute to the conversation—the current topic was not one she was comfortable with.

“He did what!?” Lyra was staring over at Rarity, a look of utter bewilderment on her face.

The fashionista smiled. “Oh yes dear. I must say, I was more than a little surprised myself.”

“B-But… how in Equestria did you get him to do that? Did you ask him?”

“Heavens no darling! I would never have dreamed of requesting such a thing—he pretty much… dove right in… of his own volition, so to speak…”

“Was it good?”

Rarity blushed. “Well, it didn't take him long to have me sparking like a high school filly if that’s what you’re asking… I’m guessing he hasn’t tried that particular act with you then?”

“No—I had no idea he’d even consider…” Lyra trailed off.

“If you don't mind me asking darling, what have you done with him? Is he comfortable with going… all the way… with a pony?”

Lyra smirked. “Oh I think so. The first time was amazing. He rutted me like a-”

Fluttershy panicked, letting out a yelp of mortification. No no no no. She couldn't stop her stupid wings from stiffening in arousal—brushing over the backs of the two unicorns—feathers on fur. She bolted, or at least she tried to. A shimmering amber aura was preventing her escape.

“You okay flutters?” Lyra asked, a strange smile on her face.

“Yes. I’m fine. I-I have to go… B-Beavers, dam building...” Fluttershy squeaked. She tried to take off, but her wings ignored her commands, instead continuing to remain spread horizontal.

“You sure? It kinda seems like you’ve been avoiding me and Kye ever since you saw him sucking my ho-”

Fluttershy yelped again, her wings stiffening even further upon remembering the erotic sight, the way the powerful unicorn had completely surrendered herself to the loving ministrations of the human.

“He sucked your horn?” Rarity whispered to Lyra, before turning to Fluttershy. “Relax darling.” The fashionista embraced the twitching pegasus as Lyra released her from the aura. “Now, I believe you have a request for Lyra, yes?” She prompted, pulling back slightly.

Fluttershy flinched, determinedly avoiding the turquoise unicorn’s gaze. Oh goodness! No! I don't want to, not right now…

“Don't worry Flutters, you don't have to ask… Kye likes you. Remember how I was kinda jealous when he first met you? He couldn't take his eyes off you.” Lyra said, her voice gentle.

The pegasus blinked, forgetting her nervousness. “You’re saying… yes?”

Fluttershy couldn't quite believe the unicorn's acceptance. She’d had plenty of attention in the past but everypony usually wrote her off as too ‘timid’ or ‘shy’ for a relationship once they’d spent some time with her, some stallions had even been rude enough to call her ‘frigid’.

“Of course, you’ll always be welcome in this herd.” Lyra beamed.

“U-Um… I’m not sure…” The pegasus trailed off. What if they expected her to jump into bed with them? What if they laughed at her because she didn't know what she was doing?

Lyra seemed to sense her worries. “You won't have to do anything, nothing at all if you don't want to. If you just want to cuddle with him now and again then that’s fine.”

Rarity brushed a few strands of pink mane from Fluttershy’s face with a white hoof. “Come now darling, at least give us a chance.” The unicorn gave a cute little pout.

“Um… okay.” Fluttershy whispered.

Lyra joined the hug, a strange little victory smile on her face. “Kye will be thrilled, I can't wait to tell him.”

Fluttershy merely blushed, sandwiched between the two mares, a wing draped over each of them.

“Come on,” Lyra broke the silence, pulling away and continuing down the street. “we don't wanna leave Kye at the mercy of Tavi’s heat for too long now do we?”

“Octavia’s in heat?” Rarity yelped, following the alpha mare along with Fluttershy.

“What? You couldn't tell?” Lyra chuckled.

“I had no idea! Why did you leave him with her? She’ll tear him to pieces!”

Lyra rolled her eyes. “He’ll be fine, I told her to go easy on him.”

Rarity clearly wasn't convinced. “Surely you of all ponies should know what she’s like—and that’s just on a normal day…” They continued to idly bicker all the way to the house.

Fluttershy had sensed Octavia was in oestrus, the intoxicating odour had been unmistakable. She was pretty sure Kye had been clueless though, he’d practically had his head between her legs when he was lying on the floor yet he’d shown no reaction to the heady scent. Poor Kye, he’s in for quite a shock…

* * *

Kye basked in the warmth of the water streaming down his arms and torso, cleansing his skin of blood and grime. It was taking a while because he didn't have any shower gel or soap, but he was feeling cleaner all the same. The heavenly cascade was also helping to ease the pain in his thigh, the throbbing now barely noticeable.

He was thrilled with the new house—the heightened ceilings meant he no longer needed to bend over when indoors. There were two bedrooms, a kitchen and dining area, lounge and a garage. He still couldn't get over the fact he now had a garage, never having had the use of one back on Earth. (It had sucked having to park his ride in the tiny back yard behind his flat.)

The bathroom was huge, the walls adorned with sparkling sky blue tiles. He almost got the feeling that whoever designed the place thought he needed extra room to bathe or something. The shower stall he was currently standing in was easily big enough for around four ponies, or a human and three ponies...sounds like my kinda party.

A large, slightly elongated quarter-circle shaped bath sat in the corner. Just like the shower, it was easily big enough for him and a few of his marefriends to have a little fun. Celestia bless the pony who designed this place… Hmm, might have been Celestia herself. Kye wouldn't have been surprised. The sun goddess seemed rather knowledgeable about… well, everything.

Kye glanced down at his arms, he’d managed to get rid of pretty much all of the blood. He’d never went full rage on anypony—or anyone for that matter—ever before, but Ace had most thoroughly deserved it. Kye just hoped the townsponies that had fled the ball took into consideration the fact that he’d been avenging a serious case of domestic violence.

Tink… Kye’s heart was saddened for the poor mare. She’d called his name when he left the hospital ward, Kye hadn't even realised she knew his name. He thought of all the times he’d encountered her before, remembering—with a large pang of guilt—that when they’d first met he’d blasted her face full of gravel… I really need to stop judging ponies before I know them. He’d done exactly the same thing to Lyra when he’d first met her, though it had been for different reasons.

With a twist of the faucet, the flow of water ceased. Kye was halfway through contemplating whether or not Tink would appreciate another visit from him when he noticed the bathroom door was ajar. A large pair of lavender eyes were clearly visible amid the dark gap, their deadly gaze instantly enthralling him.

* * *

“What took you so long?” Rarity shot at Lyra as she emerged from the staircase, a small bundle of items floating alongside her.

“Just makin’ sure I got everything.” Lyra said with a smile.

“You’ve been up there for ages, all you needed to get was a towel and a few garments.”

Lyra merely stuck her tongue out, before trotting out through the front door. Rarity rolled her eyes and followed, Fluttershy trailing behind.

“So, would you mind telling me what Princess Luna was referring to when she asked you to stop calling her ‘your highness’?” Rarity asked her as they trotted back towards Kye’s new house,

“Yea—I’d rather not talk about it… it’s kinda weird.” Was the hurried reply.

Rarity smiled, rather sadistically. “Spill.”

Lyra shot her a fleeting look. “Look, Rarity, maybe we could just drop-”

“You-know-I’m-not-gonna-stop-until-you-tell-me.”

Lyra hesitated, an odd look on her face. “It’s really weird though-”

Rarity pulled out the big guns. “But Lyyyrrra!” She wailed, in the most whiny voice she could muster.

The alpha mare flinched, as did Fluttershy. “Okay fine I’ll tell you!” Lyra grimaced.

Rarity beamed. Works every time. “Spill.” She repeated.

The turquoise unicorn gave a sigh. “Princess Luna want’s to join the herd.”

Fluttershy gasped. Rarity merely snorted. “That’s ridiculous darling, you don't really expect us to-”

“It’s true. She turned up in my dream last night, asked if she could join, then she went and made a freakin move on me!”

Rarity’s smirk vanished. “Really? She’s into mares?”

“Well… not exclusively. I think she’s just really taken a liking to Kye, and doesn't mind ‘full participation’, well, thats how she put it anyway.”

Rarity thought back to the alicorn’s odd behaviour before Lyra and Fluttershy had appeared in the town square… She had been flirting with him. “What did you say to her?”

Lyra raised an eyebrow. “Well I’m not gonna say no to royalty now am I?”

Rarity was speechless, lost to her thoughts as the trio continued to make their way back down the empty street.

* * *

Kye froze. One foot still inside the shower stall. Octavia’s mesmerising gaze was somehow different this time… almost predatory. It was clear that the grey mare knew he had spotted her, because she pushed her head against the door. As she crossed the threshold into the brightly lit bathroom, the bat shit crazy look in her eyes became clearly perceptible—instantly scaring the shit out of him. Her mane was sticking out at odd angles and her tail was twitching erratically.

“Uhh, Tav-”

He hadn't even finished the sentence before she lunged at him. Kye yelped, barely managing to aikido roll over the tiled floor. Ouch. The Earth pony slammed into the wall next to the shower, letting out a loud nicker. She didn't look hurt, just extremely pissed off. Nope. Kye bolted, completely disregarding his pile of dirty clothes and running bollock naked for the stairs.

The sound of hooves on tiles followed him, then hooves on carpeted hall way. Holy mother of Beelzeboss what’s gotten into her? He thought as she chased him down the staircase.

Kye instinctively ran towards his motorcycle, which he’d parked in the garage as soon as he’d had a look around the house. He barely managed to keep his balance on the wood flooring of the empty front room, nearly falling flat on his ass because he was still dripping wet.

He eventually made it through the kitchen and into the garage—only to remember he’d left his keys in his jeans pocket. Fucking moron! Kye turned back towards the kitchen but the crazed mare slammed into him, bowling him over onto a pile of hay. He instinctively brought his arms up to cover his face, bizarrely thinking she was going to attack him for some reason. He waited for the pain to come… but it didn't. After a few seconds, he slowly opened his eyes.

Octavia was trembling, braced on her hooves as she stood with her rump to him. Her tail was raised, pointing slightly to the left, exposing her slick folds. She kept throwing expectant glances back at him. Ohh…

Kye just sat in the hay, his mouth opening and closing in shock. Eventually, he came to the conclusion that ponies probably preferred what was known as ‘doggy style’ on Earth as a default position. Octavia obviously expected him to take her from behind. He was about to move—but apparently she was done waiting.

“For buck’s sake.” The Earth pony turned, diving on him in the process.

She roughly pinned him on his back, the pile of hay softening the slight fall as her hooves snaked around his neck, so tight she nearly cut off his circulation. The soft grey fur of her coat caressed his wet skin, instantly causing his cock to stand to attention. Kye briefly discerned the fact that she was oddly warmer than usual before her lips descended to his, her muzzle pressing to his mouth with voracious enthusiasm, her tongue completely dominating his own.

The resulting endorphin rush of her vigorous embrace sent his mind off on a tangent of delirious euphoria. The intense relief of finally getting another hit of this highly addictive mare, her intoxicating scent, her compulsive taste, was driving him to a paroxysm of pure bliss. So much so that for a few alarming seconds, the garage seemed to dissolve—the alluring Earth pony the only thing palpable to his perception.

Kye’s hands found her twitching ears, gently squeezing, Octavia let out the cutest little squeak in response. He could feel her wet marehood grinding against him, inadvertently coating his abdomen with a slick layer of need. She was clearly desperately seeking his rock solid erection with her hindquarters, but he suspected the mare was inexperienced with their current positioning.

She broke the embrace, “Kye,” her voice sounded unusually strained. “Rut me…” Tears had formed in her large lavender eyes, one of them falling to his cheek as she continued to lustfully gyrate her hips. “I… need…y-you… inside…” She whimpered, barely able to finish the sentence.

Her words sparked a strong wave of primal lust. Kye rolled the beautiful mare onto her back, simultaneously gripping her mane, gently biting one of her ears and sliding the inflated head of his member between her twitching folds. He’d barely penetrated her, wasn't even halfway inside—before he realised he’d made a big mistake.

Octavia was tight. Too tight, almost to the point of being uncomfortable. He tried to pull out, maybe finger her instead—but the devious little minx had already locked her hindlegs around his ass. With a powerful twist, she effortlessly pinned him on his back again, sitting up with her her forehooves pressed to his chest. With her weight now bearing down on him, his shaft slid deep inside her clenching walls.

“Ooohhh… finally…” Octavia moaned, her eyes forming little arches, her ears flicking in pleasure. After a few moments, she opened her eyes. The crazed look she’d had in the bathroom was back again, only this time her pupils were actually sparkling at him. Okaaay—that’s some scary shit! Her eyes narrowed as she gave him a smile that sent several chills down his spine, flashing perfect white teeth.

Kye panicked. This didn't feel like normal sex. This was different, fucking scary even. Her tight, grasping marehood felt like it was trying to ingest his dick; like he’d be stuck inside her forever. The overwhelming sensation was already beginning to trigger the first stirrings of a forced climax—and she hadn't even started to move yet.

He struggled, but she was just too damn strong. How can I be this fucking weak compared to her? Octavia didn't even seem to notice his futile attempts to escape. She leaned forward, darting her broad tongue over a nipple, her slick labia sliding up his shaft, the freaky suction sensation almost causing him to prematurely paint her insides white.

“Gaaaooooowwwaaa!” Kye groaned—couldn't even stop himself. The fuck! I sound like an OTT pornstar! He hated being vocal during sex. No girl had ever managed to get him to moan in pleasure, but here was Octavia, playing him like her frickin’ cello!

The Earth pony chuckled, and Kye’s cheeks burned with a mixture of pleasure and mortification. She slid back down, taking his full length inside her as she nuzzled his neck. No, please, not there! She sucked the fragile skin between her teeth whilst somehow manipulating her marehood to forcefully suck his member again.

“Hoollly s-shit… T-Tavi… S-Stahp!”

She didn't.

Kye came; thick ropes of his seed forcefully erupting deep inside the beautiful mare. One hand tugged at her silky black mane, the other pressed down on her rump. As soon as the first jet hit her cervix she followed suit, moaning in ecstasy as the suction intensified, her quivering walls contracting around his shaft—causing him to scream. Oh god why! She clutched him tighter still, her Earth pony strength nearly cracking his bones.

The pulsing continued, the sheer intensity of the release causing Kye’s whole body to lock rigid beneath the spasming mare. When she’d taken all he had to give, Octavia loosened her hold, her scorching body lying limp atop him.

She had stopped climaxing but was still mewling in ecstasy for some reason, her sweet breath casting a chill over his neck, alerting him to the fact he was now covered in sweat.

Kye rolled the whimpering mare onto her back, she didn't protest, instead remaining limp, her eyes tightly closed. With a slight effort—and an audible ‘pop’—he managed to extract his manhood from her. It had been beginning to become uncomfortable, what with her being about a million degrees or something.

She curled up into the most adorable little ball, clutching her tail between her forehooves and continuing to mewl like a kitten. She now looked quite the picture of innocence, despite the fact she’d just fucked him senseless.

Kye now knew Bon Bon hadn't been exaggerating when she said Tavi was good in bed. The cellist had just fucking owned him—making him scream like a little bitch. Even a surging Lyra hadn't had such an effect.

He glanced down at her. She was still curled up on her side, making odd little sounds of pleasure. “Tavi?”

She ignored him, idly chewing her tail, her eyes remaining closed.

“Octavia…” He purred. She looked so frickin’ cute… gorgeous, Kye was starting to get turned on again.

Still, she blanked him. Fine. Lets see if you can ignore this… He leaned over, bringing his elbows down to the hay either side of her head and nibbling on one of her ears. She moaned in response, opening her eyes and turning her head. Kye noticed she looked pretty out of it, like she was high or something. Hmm, weird.

“Um… you okay Tavi?”

She didn't reply. She did however, roll onto her back, spreading her hindlegs wide before pulling him down for a kiss. Just like that—Kye was rock solid again. Her addictive pheromones addled his mind, causing him to soar to dizzy euphoric heights. His newly rekindled libido screamed for retribution, commanding him to fuck her hard, make her scream.

Positioning himself between her hindlegs, he parted the slick folds of her marehood with the head of his cock; sliding the full length of his rod into her velvet depths once more. Octavia gave a particularly loud whimper at the sudden penetration; breaking the kiss.

Snaking a hand beneath her back and weaving the other into her mane, he began to screw her gently—despite the protests from his libido. Her breathing became more laboured, the mewling more erratic as she shakily inhaled and exhaled in time with the slick gliding of his shaft. Her muzzle was inches from his mouth, her intoxicating scent driving his need even further.

Kye increased the pace a little, deepening his thrusts. He was rewarded with a fully fledged moan from the sexy little minx, the soft strands of her tail flicking his inner thighs. She wasn't even holding him at this point, instead just letting him rut into her, forelegs and hindlegs completely relaxed.

Two minutes turned into five, five minutes turned into ten as Kye continued to relentlessly screw the lust-worthy mare. The strenuous activity combined with her abnormally high temperature was causing the sweat to drip from his body, dampening her silky grey coat.

Octavia’s idle whimpering had long since progressed to blissful wailing. Payback time. Kye’s earlier release had gave him plenty of tolerance for what he was about to do. Capturing one of her flicking ears between his teeth, he bit down—and started to ruthlessly plough into her splayed hindquarters.

Octavia’s eyes went wide, rolling back into her head slightly as she let out a loud squeak, but she still didn't scream. Damn it! What the fuck do I have to do to get her to-HOLY FUCK!

Kye screamed—again. Octavia had just climaxed, the ingesting contractions of her inner walls causing him to spontaneously explode inside her. The intense orgasm took him by surprise, he went rigid again, involuntary spasming as he pumped his seed into her for the second time.

When the euphoric waves died away, he collapsed on top of her, completely spent. He didn't even have the energy to move. Octavia didn't seem to mind though, she was purring away to herself like a contented kitten.

After a few minutes, Kye finally found the strength to roll off her, laying on his back on the hay pile. She’d done it again—made him scream like a fucking virgin, yet he hadn't been able to elicit the same from her. Fuck me she’s good.

Octavia had obviously come to her senses, because she cleared her throat. “...I-I’m sorry for… well… raping you… kind of…” Her ears flattened in shame. “Please don't hate me…”

Wait, what? She thought she’d raped him? Kye could admit—she’d been a little rough maybe, but rape? No. “What are you talking about? Get over here and gimme some cuddles you silly mare.”

She blinked in shock. “You’re not mad?”

“Why would I be mad?” Kye pulled the confused mare into an intimate hug, grabbing a few armfuls of hay and spreading it over the both of them.

“Well… I did just scorch you…” Octavia quietly said, a guilty expression on her face as she wrapped her limbs around him under makeshift blanket.

“Err, what now?” Kye asked, puzzled. He had no idea what that meant.

“...y’know, when a mare in heat chases down a stallion for sex…” Octavia murmured, her cheeks reddening.

In heat. Everything suddenly made sense. “Oh. That explains… a lot.”

The Earth pony flinched, trembling at his side. “I’m sorry… I didn't want our first time to be like this. I was going to… well, stay away from you until it passed… but then Coco attacked you… I tried to walk away again once I’d dealt with her, but I couldn't…” She absentmindedly ran a hoof over one of his nipples, causing a slight stirring in his loins...Holy shit, again? Damn, she’s really good.

“Why stay away?” He asked, Kye certainly didn't want her to avoid him.

She closed her eyes, nuzzling into his neck. “Heat isn't a very nice thing to experience. Because of the intense craving to be mated, some mares can be a bit of a nightmare to be around… especially if you’re a stallion. Receiving ejaculation is pretty much the only thing that stops the torment for any decent length of time, it also makes the mare… space out for a few minutes afterwards.”

Hmm, so that’s why she kept ignoring me… “You know you could have just asked, right? If it’s really that bad then I can take a little rough sex now and again.” Kye chuckled. “I do have one condition though… erm… don't tell anypony you made me scream.”

Octavia raised an eyebrow. “Why not?”

“Because it’s embarrassing…”

The Earth pony’s lip trembled, she brought a hoof up to her maw. “Lyra’s right, you are adorable when you try to be… dominant.”

“Excuse me? I am dominant damn it! I’m the boss in this herd, not Lyra.”

That earned a fully fledged laugh. “Yeah, sure you are honey…”

“I am!” Kye said, his voice rather higher than usual.

The mare snorted. “Oh you’re so cute, I hate to break it to you but you’re currently fourth in command babe…”

“FOURTH! Fuckin’ what?! Are you still high on spunk or something? That is bullshit!”

“It’s true.” Octavia gave him a wide grin. “Lyra’s the gaffer, then it’s Rarity, me, then… you.” She bopped him on the nose with a hoof as she said the last word.

Kye was not amused. He playfully slapped the furry foreleg away. Octavia giggled in response, nipping the skin of his neck with her teeth. Right. That’s it. Kye rolled, pinning the mare on her back. He smiled rather smugly at the small victory—for a few seconds. With effortless ease, almost lazily in fact, the Earth pony overpowered him. He was unceremoniously flipped onto his back, hay flying in all directions.

Oh hell no. Kye struggled, attempting to free himself from her clutching hooves. He tried to use his arms as leverage to roll himself into a more favourable position, but she splayed her hindquarters over his waist, creating an immovable foundation. His semi erect cock slid against her dripping marehood. Gah… okay that feels good. Octavia nickered in pleasure at the sexually charged contact, smiling at his attempts to escape.

“This.” She chuckled. “This is why you ain't the boss babe.”

“Screw you!” Kye was still struggling, trying desperately to cling to whatever manly pride he had left.

Octavia merely continued to giggle at him. She licked his face, humiliating him further, he was powerless to stop her from doing whatever the hell she liked to him. Giving up his attempts to escape, he tried to penetrate her instead—his masculinity could potentially be recovered if he gave her another good rutting…

The sound of a door opening, followed by multiple hoofsteps rang through the house. Kye and Octavia froze, his erect member poised at her slick opening. Neither of them moved an inch as the hoofsteps grew louder. Kye felt the the Earth pony shiver slightly as the door connecting the garage to the kitchen swung open in an amber aura.

Their alpha mare trotted into the garage, abruptly stopping after about three steps to bring a hoof up to her nose. “Dayyum! It smells like you two have being doing some pretty nasty shit to each other.”

“She hasn't killed him, has she?” Rarity called from the kitchen, before trotting through to stand next to Lyra. Octavia pointedly rolled her eyes.

“He’s fine darling…” The grey mare sniped, earning a nicker from Lyra.

Aaannnddd this is now awkward… The cellist and the fashionista glared at each other, Octavia’s slippery folds still glazing his shaft. Rarity wore an odd, jealous expression, mixed with slight irritation.

“Apologise to each other. Now.” Lyra calmly said.

“What did I do?” Rarity yelped.

“You know what you did, now apologise. You too Tavi.”

Octavia raised her eyebrows. Lyra lowered hers. Fuck that’s scary… and kinda hot… The cellist gave a tiny flinch, only perceptible to him because she was still lying on his naked body.

“Fine.” The Earth pony sighed. “I’m sorry Rarity… Kye’s fine by the way. I only broke a few of his bones after all—and with a bit of luck, his dick wont fall off from my oestrogen fuelled abuse…” She gave a rather wide, sarcastic grin. Kye barely managed to keep a straight face, he really didn't want to laugh incase it upset Rarity.

Lyra facehoofed. “Tavi. I really can't be bothered with this shit. Can you just-”

She was cut off by a loud squeak, Fluttershy had just appeared in the doorway, her wings forcefully extending. The pegasus grimaced in pain as the tips collided with the frame. When she realised everyone was looking at her, she let out a yelp and bolted for the front room. Kye made a movement to follow—to try and calm her down—but Lyra pinned him with her magic.

“You’re naked, genius. Tavi, you go instead.”

The grey mare leapt to her hooves, a chilly breeze assaulting his cock and balls at the sudden absence of her fuzzy hindquarters. She bounded through the house after Fluttershy.

Kye looked to Rarity. The fashionista was eyeing his member, a small smile on her face. She clearly hadn't been bothered in the slightest by Octavia’s sarcasm. He quickly realised this was the first time she’d seen him naked, and had to suppress a fleeting urge to cover up, for fear of the stunning unicorn finding him inadequate. Lyra glanced between them, before nickering in realisation.

“Yeah, you’ll have to wait your turn darling…” She shot at Rarity. “I call first.”

“But Lyyrrraaaaaa!” The fashionista whined

Kye flinched. So did Lyra. Damn that grates…

“Fine, get over here then.” She turned to Kye. “Octavia didn't wear you out, did she? You reckon you can handle both of us?” She gave him a smile that nearly stopped his heart.

Kye opened his mouth—only to discover that he’d forgotten how to form words. Lyra and Rarity slowly approached him, their hoofsteps becoming more muffled by the hay strewn all over the floor from his and Octavia’s wrestling session. Two sets of large adorable eyes twinkled at him, beautiful shades of amber and blue, drawing steadily nearer.

“Rarity tells me you gave her an extra special ‘treat’ at the spa…” Lyra said, sitting next to him and running a hoof over his thigh. Rarity sat down on his other side, a sly grin on her face.

“Um… yea…” Kye nervously said, his cock perking up at the erotic memory. Lyra gave him a small smile, her gorgeous amber eyes twinkling at him.

Rarity leaned into his side. “She want’s you to do it to her.” She whispered into his ear.

“Oh…”

Kye looked at his alpha, she was beginning to blush. He hadn't realised she would be cool with him going down on her—and hadn't wanted to just try it anyway in case she got pissed off and murdered him… unlikely, but still…

He grinned, wrapping an arm around her and drawing her close for a kiss. She brought her forelegs up to his neck in response, leaning back into the hay and pulling him on top of her. Well shit… somepony’s keen…

Breaking the kiss, Kye buried his face into the fur of her barrell, inhaling her familiar alluring scent and planting small kisses on her coat, causing the mare to shiver. He trailed lower, almost impatient to get to her exciting bits.

Something white entered his peripheral vision—Rarity had just laid down on her back next to Lyra. Kye grinned. It was like Christmas had come early… I just hope I don’t…

Both mares gasped as Kye sucked one of Lyra’s teats into his mouth, whilst simultaneously brushing his fingers over Rarity’s moistening folds. A tinkling sound—a clear indicator of magic flowing flowing through a horn—reverberated through the garage in unison. Kye glanced up. Yep. Both of the unicorn’s horns were glowing, a powerful amber aura and beautiful blue one. Time for a little light show…

Kye sucked Lyra’s clit, and slipped his middle and ring fingers into Rarity’s moist opening. Rarity moaned in pleasure, Lyra yelped.

“Ahhhh… okay… B-Be careful K-Ky-ooohhhhh…” The panting turquoise unicorn gasped.

Kye ignored her, plunging his tongue deep between her nether lips. The sweet taste of ambrosia greeted his taste buds. Fuck that’s some good shit… The delicious mare-honey momentarily caused him to forget all about Rarity. The fashionista gave his fingers a squeeze, prompting him to continue the manual stimulation.

He rotated his fingers inside the white mare in an attempt to find the sweet spot he’d managed to find inside Lyra. Eventually, the familiar texture greeted the tips, Kye pressed, curling his fingers in a ‘come hither’ motion. Rarity moaned, the sound mixing with Lyra’s incoherent babbling due to his roaming tongue.

A strong sensation of static suddenly blasted through his neck and chest as the whole garage lit up. Kye scrambled backwards in reflex, Rarity screamed, leaping up and bolting in panic. A loud crash echoed through the room, followed by a an equally loud yelp—Kye squinted, trying to get his eyes to adjust. He eventually noticed Rarity sitting next to his ride, idly rubbing her horn with a hoof. She had a pained expression on her face, obviously just having ran into the garage door.

“You okay gorgeou-”

Before he could finish the sentence, Kye was telekinetically dragged on top of a floating Lyra. The unicorn even took most of his weight, only his lower legs remained in contact with the hay. Fuck, here we go again…

Kye closed his eyes as the intense exhilarating feeling once again blasted through his senses, Lyra’s immense power causing him to shiver in an odd mix of paralysing fear and jubilant delight. Holy shit—this is awesome, just please don't kill me…

“L-Lyra… L-Lay down.” Kye stuttered, tightly wrapping his arms around the surging unicorn.

After a few moments, she surprised him—heeding his request. Kye wasted no time in penetrating the powerful mare. The resultant magical radiation blast causing him to whimper in terrific pleasure.

He glanced at Rarity. The unicorn was sitting on her haunches, forelegs between hindlegs, ears splayed back and a shocked expression on her face. The image was rather adorable, Kye couldn't help but grin at the fashionista.

Turning his attention back to his bat shit crazy alpha, he began to grind into her in deep, gliding thrusts. Lyra let out a moan, the most seductive, ethereal sound he’d ever heard any female produce. It sent him to crazy town. He immediately began to hammer away at her clenching hindquarters, an overwhelming desire to breed her consuming his thoughts. Lyra continued wail in passion, the radiation intensifying, spurring him on even further.

After four solid minutes of frenzied, rapturous surge rutting, Lyra screamed, her voice laced with the demonic undertone. Her legs tightly embraced his waist and torso, the winking folds of her marehood grasping his shaft, strong milking contractions finally pushing him over the edge. Kye released for the third time in less than an hour, his seed flowing deep into the vaginal confines of his alpha mare, where it truly belonged.

A loud blasting sound followed by a metallic ringing, a panicked scream and a scorching wave of heat erupted in the small garage. What the? Rarity ran for the kitchen, disappearing through the door as the hay burst into flames—perilously close to his ride.

“OH FUCK NO!” Kye leapt to his feet, dragging a dazed Lyra off the burning straw. “Lyra, call nine nine… Fuck!” He yelled, briefly forgetting telephones didn't exist in Equestria. Depositing the mare by the kitchen door, he ran to open the garage shutter, trying to ignore the smoke burning his eyes and making him cough as he grasped for the handle. He pulled, but it wouldn't budge. There was a large hole burned into the metal, some of the door had… fucking melted! The locking mechanism was effectively welded shut.

A loud hissing sound came from somewhere behind, Kye snapped his gaze to the source. Lyra was levitating a stream of water through the air, cocooning the fire in a watery veil, some of it evapourating on contact. The flames died instantly.

“Do you have a fucking death wish or something?”

Kye recoiled at the sight of Octavia, she was stood in the kitchen doorway, looking even more pissed off than she had at the ball.

“Err…”

“What in the name of Tartarus compelled you to want to fuck a surging unicorn?”

“Well…” Kye glanced at Lyra. She raised an eyebrow at him.

“Don't try pin this on me honey—if I remember correctly, I did tell you to run…”

Kye snorted. “Yea, like I would have gotten very far.”

Lyra’s lips quivered, she avoided his gaze.

“Ha! You smiled—I’m off the hook.” Kye pointedly grinned.

“No you’re fucking not!” Octavia snapped. Oh shit. “Do you even know how lucky you are? Lyra is the most powerful unicorn in Equestria!”

Lyra cleared her throat. “Um… actually Tavi, that honour goes to Twilig-”

“Shut up!”

“Okay…”

Octavia advanced towards Kye, a murderous expression on her face. “I can put up with you getting into the odd street fight. I’m even okay with you tearing about on that thing-” She pointed a grey hoof at the motorcycle. “-at ridiculously moronic speeds, but for you to see Lyra during a highly unpredictable magical surge and think—‘Hmm, that’s hawt’—is a special kind of stupid. Fucking hell Kye, if she’d sneezed in the wrong direction you’d be dead right now, not to mention she just nearly vapourised Rarity because you made her come so freakin hard!”

Kye’s back pressed into the shutter. He attempted to stutter out an apology, but was left rather speechless at the sight of the enraged mare. He glanced at Lyra, but the unicorn just gave him a fleeting look that suggested: ‘You’re on your own.’

“If I ever find you sticking around for a cheap ‘adrenaline junkie’ fuck when Lyra loses it again then trust me,” She stood on her hindlegs and placed her forehooves either side of his shoulders, striking the shutter with a loud clatter. Her eyes were now level with his—and doing the freaky sparkling thing again. “you don't wanna know what I’ll do to you.”

Kye gulped. How can a pony be this frickin’ scary! “O-Okay…” He stuttered.

Her expression softened at his shaky tone of voice. “I know you like it, and Lyra would never intentionally hurt you, but it’s not worth the risk. Stallions are too precious... especially you.” She nuzzled his cheek, before dropping back down on her hooves.

“There’s some clothes, a towel and some shower gel on the kitchen bench.” Lyra said, levitating the burnt hay into a pile in the corner. “You should probably go take another shower—you smell like like a gigolo comfort horse.” She smiled.

Kye rolled his eyes. “Like that’s my fault… damned ponies…” He muttered, ignoring Lyra and Octavia’s snickering as he made his way to the kitchen, grabbed the aforementioned items and headed for the bathroom.

After quickly showering again—properly this time—he emerged from the bathroom wearing a pair of jeans and a turquoise t-shirt emblazoned with Lyra’s cutie mark. Rarity had described it as ‘adorable’ when she’d first shown him it, Lyra had laughed her flanks off for five minutes straight, repeatedly referring to him as ‘my lil’ bitch’ when they’d talked him into trying it on.

He was about to head downstairs when he saw Rarity sitting up against the wall in the master bedroom.

“Rarity, what you doing up here by yourself?” He asked, walking over and sitting beside her. The fashionista cuddled into his side, Kye wrapped an arm around her.

“Lyra still scares me sometimes…” She whispered.

A wave of guilt shot through him. “I know the feeling… Sorry… it was kinda my fault you nearly got blasted…”

Rarity smiled. “It really is rather foolish to mess with a surging unicorn dear, especially Lyra.”

“I’ve been told.” He sighed. “Have you ever surged?”

“Once, I caught a stallion staring at Sweetie Belle in a rather inappropriate manner. He ended up in hospital.”

Kye raised his eyebrows. “I’d have killed him.”

The fashionista smiled, an adorable expression that melted his heart. Kye kissed her, caressing her tongue with his own, savouring her sweet taste before breaking off. “I do believe I owe you one…”

Rarity blinked. “One what?”

Kye grinned. “Close your eyes and I’ll show you.”

The unicorn blushed, heeding his command, a small smile spreading over her face. Kye pulled her between his legs, her side to his chest, her horn in front of his face. Sliding a hand between her hindlegs, he ran his fingertips through her moistening folds.

“Ohh…” Rarity gasped, the familiar tinkling magic sound echoing through the empty room. The blue aura illuminated her horn, Kye wrapped his free arm around her head and gave the glowing protrusion a long lick from base to tip.

Rarity moaned, trembling in his arms as her breaths became ragged, unpredictable. After a few moments of teasing, eliciting some pretty hilarious little squeaks from the aroused unicorn he took her horn into his mouth and simultaneously slid two fingers into her dripping marehood.

“EEEEP!”

Rarity squirmed, but Kye kept a firm grip on her. (He didn't want a hole in the back of his throat.) He slowly began to bob his head and gyrate his fingers, building up a steady rhythm. The mare shivered in ecstasy, her moans growing louder, her silky, gracefully curled purple tail flicking at his legs.

It didn't take long for her to come, the experience of being fingered and having her horn sucked at the same time was too much for the overstimulated unicorn. She screamed, her twitching walls clamping down on his fingers, her slick sex flooding his hand with mare-honey as an intense tingling sensation hit the back of his throat.

Kye swallowed in reflex, before carefully extracting the sharp protrusion from his mouth and immediately bringing his sticky digits up to his lips. He sucked the evidence of her pleasure from his fingers, savouring the erotic taste.

The sated unicorn lay against his chest, panting heavily in post orgasmic bliss. Kye smiled, closing his eyes and wrapping the limp mare in an intimate embrace. His new house was already beginning to feel like a home.

Author's Note

Here's my overly cloppy 'heat' chapter.

*You sigh*

BP3: "What?"

*You roll your eyes, slapping a palm to your face in disgust*

BP3: "You didn't like it?"

*You throw your keyboard at Bikerpon3*

BP3: "OWW! Dafuq was that for?"

*You present Bikerpon3 with medal of rage: Cliché as fuck.*

BP3: "Oh...yeah...Sorry...

Chapter Twelve - Bad Press

Flashes of flame, the same shade of red as the apples adorning the many trees of the orchard, briefly flickered before dying rather pathetically. Lyra sighed, her patience slowly draining.

It was a sunny Friday afternoon, a full week since she had met Kye. She’d wanted to ditch work early so she could spend the full evening with him, but her agent had thrown her a ‘last minute’ new starter.

“How about that?” Asked the optimistic stallion. “It was pretty awesome—right?”

Lyra gave him a pitiful smile, whilst trying to think of something nice to say. Young Dark Fire here had a rather uncharacteristic ego when it came to still way, but no actual talent to back it up.

“Well?” The stallion smiled… and winked. “You like?” He raised his eyebrows a few times, emphasising the provocative tone.

Lyra blinked, raising an eyebrow herself. You have got to be fucking kidding me… Sounded like Dark Fire was ‘hot for teacher’, which was rather tragic, seeing as Lyra wouldn't be interested even if she was single. The stallion had a rather ridiculous colour scheme. A black coat that clashed horribly with a red mane and tail. It was almost as repulsive as his huge ego.

“Are you hitting on me?” She bluntly asked.

“That depends, you want me to?”

“Hmm… No. My stallionfriend probably wouldn't approve.” Lyra satirically replied.

“Oh, you have a stallionfriend?” Dark Fire asked, blatantly feigning nonchalance. “What’s he like?”

Lyra frowned. “I don't see what this has to do with you learning still way.”

Dark Fire smiled, holding up his forehooves in mock surrender. “Just making conversation.”

A faint ‘click’ came from a nearby bush, causing Lyra’s ears to swivel towards the sound. Something—or somepony—was hiding in that bush. Dark Fire seemed to notice Lyra’s sudden change of demeanour, for the overconfident expression on his face vanished.

Lyra sent a low charged energy bolt at the bush, causing the Earth pony hiding in it to yelp loudly, fall out into view and drop her camera. The unicorn telekinetically grabbed a notebook from the fallen mare. It was blank, apart from a title:

Alien Herd Story Notes

“What the fuck is this?” Lyra snapped.

“We’re just doing what we’ve been told to…” The trembling mare squeaked.

Lyra wasn't really that angry, she’d expected the big town paparazzi to show up eventually but she needed to make a point. Dark Fire began to slowly edge away.

“Where d’ya think you’re going?”

The stallion froze. “Umm, I-”

“She put you up to this, didn't she?”

“Yes! She bribed me, said she’d give me five hundred bits if I got you to talk about your freaky alien stallionfr-”

Lyra nickered, turning to buck him in the face with her hind legs, he hit the ground with a satisfying thud, sleeping like a newborn colt. Her anger was now very real. She glared at the camera mare, who let out a loud yelp as she was hoisted up into the air by her tail.

“You and you annoying little friends better stay the fuck away from my stallion, otherwise I’ll shove this-” She levitated the camera alongside the trembling mare. “-so far up your ass you’ll be shitting negatives for a month.” She let the mare and the camera fall to the ground. “Now get the fuck out of my sight.”

* * *

Kye’s right hand twitched on the throttle as he flicked his left foot down—prompting an overwhelming sense of deja vu. He’d done the exact same thing a week ago, only this time he would be racing against two pegasi; one on a little blue scooter, and the other on her hooves. Yep, Rainbow Dash actually thought she could beat him without using her wings. Fat chance.

Applejack had kindly postponed some of her chores to set up a slalom course for them on the farm, using old barrels and bales of hay as waypoints and boundaries. The farm pony was currently sitting on the sidelines with Octavia, Vinyl, Pinkie Pie and Apple Bloom. Sweetie Belle was perched on top of the tank between Kye’s arms, sporting a set of aviator goggles and holding onto a tether attached to the steering yoke.

The little unicorn had insisted on riding everywhere with him over the last couple of days, it was like having an adorable little mascot. Kye had suggested she sit the race out though—incase he messed up and she got hurt—but she’d given him the most adorable little pout that had instantly eradicated his ability to deny her. Oh well, guess I’m gonna lose. There was no way he’d go all out with Sweetie along for the ride.

She smiled up at him, pressing a hoof to the lap time primer button next to the tachometer. Hehe, clever little filly. Kye was still rather impressed by her understanding of human technology.

“Be careful.” Octavia warned.

Vinyl snickered at her words—the DJ had taken it upon herself to tease her friend about joining Kye and Lyra’s herd at every opportunity. Octavia promptly clipped the unicorn between the ears.

“Oww! Enough with the whacking already!”

Applejack pointedly cleared her throat. “If’n y’all are ready—Pinkie.” She looked to Pinkie Pie, who gave an enthusiastic nod.

“Alright—mark, seeettt, go!” Yelled the party pony, waving a black and white checkered flag.

The bike lurched, struggling to find traction as Rainbow Dash shot out ahead. She was quickly overtaken by Scootaloo, the filly’s little wings propelling her along at an alarming speed, effortlessly weaving between the obstacles. Damn, that’s impressive!

“Kye, barrell!” Sweetie Belle yelped.

Kye had been so surprised by Scootaloo’s agility that he failed to notice the cider cask blocking their path, he twitched the bars. The bike barely missed it—but his right knee wasn't so lucky.

“OWW!” Kye yelped. Sweetie Belle didn't hesitate to laugh her vacant flanks off at him.

Scootaloo had left them in the dust, but Rainbow Dash wasn't as agile on her hooves, so she hadn't built up much of a lead over them. The pegasus had managed to clip three barrels in the space of ten seconds, knocking two of them over. Kye drifted the bike around them, the rear tyre spraying the hay bale boundaries with dirt.

By the time they’d reached the chicken coop the front tyre was right on Dash’s multicoloured tail. She kept throwing nervous glances over her shoulder whilst trying to prevent them from passing.

Kye drifted the bike sideways around the water well, following Rainbow into the barn and once again throwing the back end out in order to circumnavigate a stack of barrels placed in the centre. The enclosed space amplified the animalistic roar of the Akrapovic cans, causing the pegasus to jump a good three feet into the air before bolting back out into the courtyard. Sweetie Belle giggled, hitting the timer reset button as they too exited the barn and crossed the start line, still right behind Rainbow Dash.

On the third and final lap, Kye managed to overtake the cyan pegasus by the chicken coop, earning a rather loud nicker. He even managed to gain a small lead—but it didn't last long. Just as they were drifting around the barrels stacked in the barn, the engine spluttered, before dying altogether. He glanced at the fuel gauge. Shit.

“Go! Go! Go!” Sweetie Belle chanted, flicking the power source switch to ‘electric only’ as Rainbow Dash galloped into the barn and rounded the barrels, a devilish grin on her face. Kye opened the throttle, the motor giving a loud whir and spraying the pegasus with grit.

They crossed the finish line neck and neck, not even an inch between front tyre and muzzle. Scootaloo was already there waiting, a bored expression on her face.

“I won!” Rainbow Dash panted, flopping down onto a hay pile next to Pinkie Pie.

“Hate ta break it to ya n’all, but Scootaloo won.” Applejack chuckled, passing her a water bottle.

“I mean I got second.” Rainbow corrected, taking a few gulps.

“Hmm… I dunno Dashie, I’d say you tied with Sweetie and Kye.” Pinkie Pie chimed in, before giving a rather loud giggle-snort. “Hey that totally rhymes! I’d say you tied with Sweetie and Kye! I’d say you tied with Sweetie and Kye!” She chanted, until Applejack had the good sense to shove a hoof in her mouth.

“We would have got second if the bike hadn’t ran out of juice.” Kye muttered, flicking the kickstand down and dismounting. He knew it would happen eventually, didn’t make it any easier to accept though… This sucks. Sweetie Belle telekinetically turned the ignition off, her cute little face bearing a sombre expression

Rainbow Dash gave a loud snort of derision. “Excuses, excuses. You guys got last. Deal with it.”

Kye smirked, sitting down on the hay beside his Earth pony marefriend. “You always this butthurt?”

“What was that now?” She retorted, giving him a scathing look.

“You’re being a bit of a sore-”

“Don't you dare call me a loser!” The pegasus nickered in mock anger, a strange little smile on her face.

That was all the warning Kye got before she launched herself at him, knocking him flat on his back. He gave a muffled yelp, one of her wingtips had somehow found it’s way into his mouth.

“Who’s butthurt now, huh?” She chuckled, keeping him pinned with her hooves.

Unfortunately for Rainbow, Kye had some practice when it came to dealing with ponies trying to manhandle him. The pegasus was strong, but nowhere near as strong as Octavia. He eventually managed to roll her onto her back, pinning her wings with the palms of his hands.

He spat out a few blue feathers. “You were saying?” He casually taunted.

She gasped, glancing down at his hands. Her look of surprise turned into something he couldn’t quite discern. Kye frowned. It felt like he was missing something here… Her tail twitched. Oh…

“Sorry!” He yelped, pulling his hands away and rolling off her. “I… uh… sorry…” He trailed off, suddenly unable to form a sentence. How the fuck could I forget about that? Lotus had made it very clear that a pegasi’s wing joints were extremely off limits. He glanced at Octavia. She and Vinyl were both looking at Rainbow Dash, clearly trying not to laugh.

“Yo Dash, do me a favour and go bust that one cloud up there.” Vinyl somehow managed to say, pointing a white hoof up at a solitary cloud in an otherwise clear sky. “It’s been buggin’ me like, all day.”

The pegasus glared at the DJ. “Yeah, I’m good here thanks.”

“Would you… would you like to borrow him darling?” Octavia said, her tone dripping with mirth. “I could go ahead and ask Lyra for you…”

Rainbow Dash scowled, fidgeting slightly and avoiding Octavia’s gaze. Vinyl and Pinkie Pie burst out laughing, even Applejack failed to hide her amusement, the farm pony covering her face with her stetson.

“What in the hay’re they laughin’ about?” Apple Bloom whispered to Scootaloo.

The orange pegasus snorted, raising an eyebrow at her friend’s naivety. Sweetie Belle however, looked furious. The little unicorn filly launched herself from the motorcycle, bounded over Rainbow Dash, landed in Kye’s arms and snuggled into his chest.

Kye blinked in surprise, before wrapping the filly in a hug. Well this is just too damned cute… She probably didn’t want him going after any more mares, lest he forget about her sister. So frickin’ adorable.

“D’awww, hugs!” Pinkie Pie chirped, bouncing over and throwing her forelegs around Kye and Sweetie Belle. Octavia smiled.

“C’naa help you sir?” Applejack suddenly said.

Kye swept Pinkie Pie’s bushy mane out of his face, his eyes eventually settling on Applejack. The farm pony was glaring at a unicorn stallion trotting up to the paddock. He was brown, with a yellow mane and tail. His cutie mark appeared to be what looked like a vintage camera—and bore a striking resemblance to an actual vintage camera he was levitating in front of his face. He ignored Applejack, instead choosing to snap a few pictures of Kye.

Not. Fucking. Cool. Kye glared at the photographer as Octavia got to her hooves, along with Applejack.

“Get off ma farm, ya varmint.” Yelled the orange mare.

The stallion smirked. “Gladly,” He retorted in a snotty tone. “got what I came for anyway.” He turned tail and galloped away. Octavia looked furious.

“Want me to take the shot?” Vinyl casually asked, lowering her head to aim at the fleeing stallion.

The cellist took a moment to consider, before giving a sigh of resignation. “There’s no point. If there’s one of them, there’ll be more.”

* * *

Luna stood on the balcony of the north tower, enjoying the pleasant afternoon breeze flowing over her coat. Canterlot was a beautiful city—a fact that many ponies seemed to take for granted nowadays. Luna always took any given opportunity to just stop and appreciate the grandeur of the brilliant white metropolis, despite her royal status.

She stretched her wings, yawning. It was a little ironic—seeing as she was the princess of the night—but she never seemed to get enough sleep, having to battle nightmares for hours on end didn't usually make for a good night’s rest.

The sound of hoofsteps reverberated from somewhere behind her.

“Ponies are talking, and I don’t know what to tell them.” Said a regal voice, coupled as always with an undisguisable undercurrent of power.

Celestia trotted out onto the balcony, gazing out over the city. Luna closed her eyes, still attempting to savour the faint breeze. She knew what her sister was about to say, she just hoped it wouldn’t turn into an argument. All of Canterlot would be able to hear.

“He had good reason.” Luna said, still not looking at her sister.

“I know, all I’m suggesting is he could have handled it better.” Celestia explained. “Word of the conflict has now reached far beyond Ponyville. Several of the nobles are demanding he be incarcerated, saying he’s a danger to poni-”

“Do you even know what Ace did to her?” Luna snapped, finally turning to face her sister. “Tartarus Tia, it took the full extent of my restraint not to beat the living shit out of him myself. I saw what happened. It was all there, in her mind. In her nightmare.”

Celestia sighed. “Lulu…”

“I don’t wanna hear it. The nobles give you any shit, then you send them to me. Kye is not a monster, and I will not see him locked away.” Luna said, in a tone that left no doubt the matter was no longer up for discussion.

Celestia frowned. “You really thought I was going to oblige them? Actually send him to Tartarus?” She said, a wry smile on her face. Luna knew that smile, having used it many times herself.

“No.” Luna lied. Thousands of years, and Celestia still had the ability to make her feel like a naive little filly.

“You’ve taken quite the interest in him ever since you pulled him out of his own mind, haven't you?” Celestia paused for a second, running her tongue over her teeth and silently contemplating. “You do realise you’d probably scare him half to death if you actually attempted to have intercou-”

“Yea—can we not talk about this?” Luna said, lowering her eyebrows.

Celestia smiled. “Am I making you uncomfortable?”

Luna ignored the question, instead parrying with one of her own. “What are we gonna do to appease the whiny shitheads?”

Celestia tilted her head to the side, her multihued mane flowing as always regardless of the breeze. “I was thinking something along the lines of a summons. A court appearance of no consequence, purely to give the ‘whiny shitheads’ the impression that they achieved something.”

“Even though they won’t have actually achieved anything?” Luna added, levelling her sister with a stare.

Celestia grinned, a dead giveaway that she was up to something. “Don't worry sister dearest, you’ll still have your little boyfriend when all of this is over.” She winked. “That reminds me, I think I’ll go pay him a visit. He is rather interesting after all…”

Celestia teleported, but not before hitting Luna with a spell that made her horn spark and frizzle. Luna attempted to teleport herself, but was unable to do so. Celestia had temporarily incapacitated her.

“Fucking Sunbutt!” She yelled, before launching herself from the balcony and soaring toward Ponyville at breakneck speed. Her sister was going to pay.

* * *

The whir or the electric motor droned, taunting Kye in the process. He’d only went and ran out of fucking fuel. The bike was now a hell of a lot less powerful—and would soon be nothing more than a dead weight if he couldn't find more. It felt like he had a terminally ill relative, unable to do anything but watch as they withered away. He was already experiencing the five stages of grief.

The denial hadn't lasted long, the engine cutting out had been a pretty clear indicator that the fuel gauge wasn't lying. The anger was spurred on by that pompous assed photographer violating his privacy, causing him to nearly flip out on his friends. Thankfully he’d managed to grunt ‘I gotta go’ before hopping on his ride and getting out of their way before he started raging. He had now progressed to bargaining, and there was only one pony he wanted to see—a pony that lived in a tree.

He pulled up outside Golden Oaks, eagerly dismounting and knocking on the door three times. After a few moments, Spike answered. Fucking great.

“Hi… uh, is Twilight here?” Kye asked, running a hand over the back of his neck.

The dragon blinked. “Hey Twi, the human’s here.” He said, stepping aside to allow Kye access.

“Spike, he has a name.” Twilight scolded, as Kye crossed the threshold.

“Sorry, Kye.” The dragon corrected, closing the door.

“Don't mention it.” Kye said. He wasn't sure if Spike was being sarcastic or not. Either way, he probably deserved it, what with him stealing Rarity away from the dragon.

“Why don't you take the rest of the day off?” Twilight suggested, putting down the book she was reading and getting to her hooves.

Spike didn't seem too pleased at her words, but agreed anyway. “Okay.” He sighed, before ascending a flight of stairs.

Kye glanced around at the circular room. It was rather large considering it was enclosed in the spatial capacity of a tree trunk, there had to be some sort of magic at play. The walls consisted of book shelves. Not book shelves against walls, no—the book shelves were carved into the bark of the tree. A round coffee table sat in the center, next to a rather comfortable looking couch. Overall, the room had a rather eccentric feel to it—reminiscent of the unicorn now gazing up at Kye with a rather familiar expression of polite interest.

“To what do I owe the pleasure?” Twilight asked. “Would you like some coffee?" She added without waiting for a reply, before gesturing to the couch with a hoof.

“Um… yea, sure.” Kye replied, sitting down.

Twilight disappeared into the kitchen, returning after a few minutes with two floating cups. She set them down on the coffee table and sat down next to Kye.

“So what can I help you with?” She asked.

Kye cleared his throat. “Well I was wondering if you knew anywhere I could get some more fuel.”

“You ran out didn’t you?” Twilight said, smiling. “I thought you’d show up eventually, so I did a little research on the subject. It turns out-”

There was a knock on the door, accompanied by a sudden wave of power—and radioactivity. Kye flinched. He had a pretty good idea who was on the other side.

“Excuse me, just one moment.” Twilight said, trotting over and telekinetically opening it. “Oh, Princess Cel-” The unicorn faltered at the alicorn’s expression.

Princess Celestia strode over to Kye, her muzzle suddenly inches from his face. “Have you been fooling around with my sister?”

Kye’s insides squirmed, his heart seemed to stop beating. He dropped the coffee cup he’d just picked up. It landed on his foot, spilling all over the floor. He tried to say ‘no’, but all that came out of his mouth was a muffled squeak. Twilight gasped, her jaw practically falling to the floor.

Celestia slowly smiled, raising an eyebrow. “So. You’ve got a thing for Moonbutt?” She chuckled.

Kye was still so terrified that he failed to grasp the fact she’d just been messing with him. Celestia’s grin faded, a concerned expression taking it’s place.

“I’m sorry. Couldn’t resist.” She sheepishly said. Her horn flashed, the spilled coffee vanished, along with the slight pain in his foot. “If you’re going to be having ‘relations’ with my sister then I’m afraid you’re fair game for a prank or two.”

Kye finally managed to recover from the shock. Celestia was scary enough at the best of times but her little ‘prank’ was beyond a fucking joke. He gave her a look of disapproval.

“What? You think that because I’m a princess I don't have a sense of humour?”

“I thought you were gonna kill me or something…” Kye trailed off.

“Or something? What’s the something?” She asked, along with that damned wry smile. Kye glared at her. Fuck you Sunnybutt.

“Umm… I’m gonna go make some more coffee.” Twilight hastily said, hurrying into the kitchen and leaving Kye alone with the goddess.

Princess Celestia sat on the other end of the couch, still smiling away at him. Kye could tell she was blatantly enjoying his discomfort. When she didn’t say anything, he attempted to break the silence.

“So… um, how’ve you been?”

“Oh y’know, the usual. Listening to nobles complain all day, resolving petty disputes in court—actually, your name has been mentioned a few times.”

Kye blinked. “What have peop-um, ponies, been saying about me?” He nervously asked.

“Oh nothing much. They want me to send you to Tartarus for grievous bodily harm.” She casually replied.

Kye paled a little. “You’re not actually gonna-”

Celestia cut him off with a laugh. “You think I’d waltz in here cracking jokes about you having the hots for my sister if I was going to send you to pri-”

The goddess herself was cut off—when the front door was suddenly blasted off it’s hinges. Kye jumped, falling into Celestia’s side. The dust cleared, revealing a very pissed off princess of the night. She trotted over the front door—now lying in splinters on the floor—and stopped in front of her sister.

“What the hay was that?” Twilight exclaimed, now standing in the kitchen doorway. “Oh… nevermind.” She quickly added upon seeing Luna’s furious expression.

Kye realised he was still leaning on Celestia. He hastily scooted over to the other side of the couch, trying to ignore the immense amount of magical radiation now blasting through the room. It was beginning to make him nauseous.

Luna leveled Celestia with a stare that could rival Fluttershy’s. The sun goddess however, merely smiled. “I forgot how fast you could fly.” She said to her sister.

“You pull that shit again and I’ll send your lily white ass to the sun.” Luna said, her voice laced with with a dangerous magnitude of cosmic energy. Kye shivered. He’d never thought anypony would dare to speak to Celestia like that.

The sun goddess blinked. “Wow, didn’t know you liked him that much.”

Kye suddenly became very interested in the stitching on the arm of the couch. Hmm, I wonder how long it would take me to count them… He thought to himself, determinedly keeping his eyes locked onto the thread.

“Shut up.” Luna snapped. “Have you told him yet?” She quickly added.

Kye looked at the two alicorns, curious as to what Luna was referring to. Celestia sighed, before turning to him. “As much as Ace deserved what you did to him, violence isn’t tolerated in Equestria.” She began. “We cannot let this matter go unchecked.”

Kye looked at the floor, desperately trying not to vomit everywhere. Here it was—his punishment, his temper had ruined his chances of ever fitting in. What if everypony thought they’d be better off if he wasn't around? What if they called for him to be banished? What if-

“Will you do the damned spell already—looks like he’s gonna puke.” Luna suddenly shot at her sister before sitting on the couch next to Kye.

Celestia grinned. “Of course—your highness.” She remarked. Her horn flashed, the nausea instantly receding.

Luna ignored the sarcasm, instead wrapping a soft warm wing around Kye’s shoulders and levelling him with a rather skeptical look. “Now, I can’t read your mind while you’re awake but I’ll go ahead and take a guess anyway.” She gave him a squeeze, along with a friendly smile that instantly made him forget the fact she was a goddess. “You’re probably overthinking things right about now, am I right?”

Kye cleared his throat, intending to disagree in an attempt to save face, but he was rather distracted by the bodily contact—now rather pleasant without the constant blast of radiation. Luna didn’t wait for an answer.

“You needn’t bother. Basically you just need to show up at court, tell Tia you’re sorry for kickin’ Ace’s ass in front of the nobles, take the metaphorical slap on the fetlock and promise everypony you won’t go on a violent rampage.”

Kye let out a breath he hadn’t known he’d been holding, before frowning. “Who’s Tia?” He asked.

Luna gestured a hoof to her sister. “This filthy troll right here.” She said.

Celestia gave an affectionate grin. “Aww you still mad at me? You’re not gonna go all edgy and try make it eternal night again are you?” She said in a mocking tone of voice.

Luna froze, a deadly silence suddenly piercing the atmosphere. She glared at her sister with such intensity that Kye was quite surprised the sun goddess didn’t spontaneously burst into flames.

“Oops.” Celestia said. “I should probably get going.” She teleported, leaving the two of them alone on the couch.

Luna didn’t say anything. Kye was beginning to wonder why—until he realised she didn’t know he already knew about her past.

“Umm… I know about… y’know…”

She turned to face him, raising an eyebrow. Kye tried to think of something worth adding but couldn’t find the right words. After a short while, the goddess spoke.

“I’m not that pony anymore Kye.”

She sounded different. It took a few seconds for Kye to acknowledge he was hearing the shame in her voice. She’d obviously been living in regret ever since. Kye wrapped an arm around her, pulling her close.

“I know.”

A small ‘ahem’ came from the kitchen doorway. Twilight was leaning against the frame, levitating three cups of coffee. She gave the slightest glance toward the shattered remnants of the door lying on the floor.

Princess Luna smiled. “Sorry Twilight, but you know how infuriating my sister can be.” She sighed. With a flash of her horn, the door instantly repaired itself and flew back to it’s frame, prompting an thought to occur to Kye.

“Can anypony repair stuff that easily?” He began. “Because my ride’s a bit of a mess.” Not to mention empty… He thought.

“Your strange steed?” She asked.

Kye snickered. “I've never heard anyone call it that before.”

Luna rolled her eyes. “I could probably fix it.”

“Hey that reminds me, what were you gonna say about the fuel, y’know, before Sunnybutt interrupted us.” He asked Twilight.

The unicorn blanched, almost spilling the beverages as she set them down on the table. She threw a nervous glance to Luna. The goddess however, chuckled.

Twilight relaxed a little, sitting on the couch next to them. “I read that there’s supposed to be an oil well up near Neighagra Falls. If we can get some of it then I’m pretty sure I could create a distillation unit that could extract the hydrocarbons usually found in petroleum-”

Kye snorted. He couldn’t help it. “Neigh-agra Falls. Are you serious?” He laughed, clutching his sides. Luna looked confused. “These pony puns are Killin’ me…” He snickered. “Sorry…” He added when he spotted her look of disapproval.

“As I was saying,” Twilight continued in a stern tone. “we’d have to go there ourselves to get some, as nopony has bothered pumping any of it to the surface since it was discovered.”

“That’s not a bad idea, maybe you could stop by Canterlot on the way.” Luna chimed in.

“That’s the capital, right?”

The goddess nodded. Kye smiled. He’d never been to a capital city before, who would’ve guessed he’d end up visiting a pony version.

“Cool, we going now?”

“I think it would be best to plan in advance, maybe take the train as well… teleportation has it’s uses, but don’t you want to see more of Equestria? Plus I think Lyra and the others wouldn’t be best pleased with us if we agreed without consulting them first.”

Kye smiled. She was right. Equestria was a beautiful place, and he wanted to experience as much of it as he possibly could.

* * *

“Your vitals are stable, have been for a while now in fact. We’ve managed to fuse the damaged cartilage in your wings but they’re still healing so no flying for at least a week or two. We just need to run a few more tests tomorrow morning but after that you’re free to go!”

Nurse Redheart smiled, clearly under the impression she was presenting Tink with good news. She wasn’t.

Tink was homeless. She had been dwelling on what she was going to do when the hospital said she was well enough to leave ever since she’d woken up. She sure as Tartarus wasn’t going back to the Chrome herd.

“Something wrong dear?” The nurse asked, an expression of motherly concern falling over her features.

“No.” Tink lied. She didn’t want to be a burden. The doctors and nurses at this hospital had enough to deal with as it was.

Nurse Redheart smiled. “Okay then dear, I’ll let your visitors know they can see you now.

“What visitors?” The pegasus asked, but the nurse had already trotted out of the ward.

After a few moments, Princess Luna emerged from the corridor, her mane as always a shimmering illusion of the night’s sky. She was quickly followed by… Kye?

Tink was surprised the human was here after she’d refused to tell him what happened. She’d regretted not being honest with him; thinking that he’d probably assumed she’d been trying to protect Ace. He flashed a small smile before sitting down in the bedside chair.

There it was again, that odd feeling of longing. It usually only happened when he said her name but now apparently all he had to do was smile at her. What was wrong with her? She shouldn’t be feeling this way about an alien, should she? ...Great. Now she felt guilty about calling him an alien again, even just in her head.

“Tink?”

The pegasus shivered. She could feel herself blushing but couldn’t really do anything to hide it. “Hi.” She squeaked, deciding to look at Luna instead. The goddess had a rather sly looking grin on her face.

“You feeling better now? how are your wings? They still hurt?” Kye asked, suddenly talking a mile a minute. “Have they asked you to do physical therapy yet? Or are they just letting you go right away-”

“Slow down there Casanova, let the mare talk.” Luna chuckled, playfully clipping him with one of her wings.

Tink didn’t know what to say. Once again she was overwhelmed by the concern of someone who had no business giving a damn about her. Stallions just… weren’t this nice… Of course, Kye wasn’t really a stallion. But still, his caring nature was something not many ponies were lucky enough to come across.

“Well?” Kye prompted.

“Better…” She replied, blushing yet again.

The human smiled, before a somewhat guilty expression clouded his features. “Look, I…” He began, before running his oddly shaped hoof… hand over the back of his neck. “I kinda lost it the other day… I may have put your stallionfriend in a coma.” He gave a nervous chuckle. “Long story short—he’s here… somewhere. I dunno if you’ve seen him or-”

“He’s not my stallionfriend anymore.” Tink stated. She’d already decided there was no way she’d go back to Ace, even if she had to live out on the street.

“That’s great!” Kye said, sounding relieved, before seeming to realise he’d been a little too enthusiastic. He hastily cleared his throat “I mean that’s… good.” He corrected, idly glancing around the ward.

A somewhat awkward silence followed. Tink was more confused than ever by Kye’s odd behaviour and hadn’t the foggiest of idea’s as to what he was trying to accomplish. Thankfully though, Luna decided to speak.

“So, when are they discharging you?” She asked

“Erm… tomorrow… I think.” Tink replied, suddenly rather nervous. She tried to think of something to steer the conversation out of dangerous waters, but unfortunately she wasn’t quick enough.

“Where will you be staying?” Luna asked, knowing full well Tink had nowhere to go.

“I um… with friends?” The pegasus squeaked, failing to exclude the upward inflection. Damn it!

“Uh huh…” The goddess replied, pointedly raising an eyebrow. “To whom do you refer?”

Tink had nothing, so she said nothing. Luna waited a solid thirty seconds before speaking again. “You haven’t made any arrangements yet, have you?”

Tink shook her head, her ears drooping in shame. It was true—she had no friends, and now the nice human knew she was a homeless loner…

Luna smiled, she promptly turned to Kye. “You've managed to get some furniture now haven’t you?”

“Yeah… Rarity loaned me some bits… said if I didn't accept them then she’d get Lyra and Octavia to withhold certain… activities… as well as withholding said activities herself…” He trailed off, his face reddening.

Luna chuckled “So you have a sofa?”

“Yeah, picked up a few quills as well…” He vacantly replied. “That is one weird-assed shop.”

Tink was beginning to feel very uncomfortable. She knew what the princess was hinting at and really didn't want her to present Kye with the obligation. She was about to interrupt them but froze in horror instead. The door to the ward was ajar, Lyra was clearly visible through the gap.

“Well why doesn’t Tink crash at your place for a while?” Luna casually suggested.

“That could work. What do you say Tink?” He asked her.

Even in her current state of paralysing fear, the odd feeling still swept through her, only this time she knew what it was. It was desire, true desire. She could deny it no longer, she had a crush on him. It was a shame his alpha mare was probably going to kill her…

“You okay?” He asked upon seeing her terrified expression. “Y’know you don’t have to-” Kye stopped rather abruptly, he’d clearly just spotted his alpha as well. Oh dear.

Author's Note

Sorry...

Chapter Thirteen - Butterfly Trap

Angel Bunny stomped his hind leg on the hardwood floor of the quaint little cottage, pointedly glaring at the sunshine yellow mare hovering around the room. The rabbit had been trying to gain the attention of his pegasus owner for five solid minutes, but his attempts were seemingly futile.

Fluttershy was lost in thought—a rather common occurrence as of late. She couldn't stop thinking about a certain stallion—a certain stallion that wasn't even a stallion at all. He was kind, caring, considerate, handsome… She wanted to do things with him… things she hadn't been interested in doing with anypony else…

Yes, she was quite taken with the human, even though she’d never have the courage to tell him. Of course, Lyra had probably told him by now. It was partly the reason Fluttershy had kinda been avoiding him a little, Lyra as well for that matter.

The rapid leg thumping ringing through the room finally pulled the pegasus from her thoughts. “Oh, I’m sorry Angel Bunny,” Fluttershy apologised, swooping down to land on the floor. She was halfway through unclasping the hair curlers from his tail when there was a sharp knock on the door.

Fluttershy flinched. “Who is it?” she called, timidly trotting to the door and looking through the peep hole. She relaxed when she spotted Rarity standing on the other side.

“Hurry! I think I may have been followed here,” the unicorn frantically whispered.

Fluttershy quickly opened the door and ushered her friend inside, wasting no time in slamming it closed again and bolting it for good measure. “You were followed?” the pegasus nervously asked. She took another look through the peep hole. “By who, and why?”

“Relax dear it was only a photographer, they keep following me because they know I’m with Kye,” Rarity reassured, yet she anxiously glanced out of the window anyway. “Speaking of Kye, why haven't you been spending any time with him, or any of us for that matter?”

Fluttershy couldn't see anypony lurking around outside so she turned to face the unicorn. “I’ve been busy,” she casually replied, before fluttering over to the bird house to check on a sparrow that had recently sprained one of it’s wings.

She knew Rarity had a point. Fluttershy was doing what she always had when it came to relationships—hide. It was a pretty big problem, considering she really wanted things to work out this time.

“Fluttershy-” Rarity began.

“I know.” Fluttershy sighed. “I’m just… nervous,” she admitted. The sparrow was still sleeping peacefully so the pegasus glided across the room, eventually coming to rest on the couch.

Ever since she had seen Kye in Froggy Bottom Bog she’d been interested in him. She’d sensed he was different from other stallions right away, and not just in appearance—but then Lyra had swooped in to snatch him from under her muzzle. She wasn't mad at the unicorn—Lyra was her friend, but being Kye’s number one mare would have been… exhilarating.

“You needn’t worry darling, Kye positively adores you,” Rarity said, gracefully sitting next to the pegasus on the couch.

“I know,” Fluttershy said—and she did; Kye often stole elongated glances at her when he thought she wasn't looking. Of course, a lot of stallions did this. It was a phenomenon that often left her feeling rather uncomfortable, but when Kye gazed at her with that familiar glow of adoration in his eyes it made her feel… empowered.

“Just spend some time with him dear—just the two of you, no distractions,” Rarity suggested. “Oh! You should get him to give you a massage, he’s rather good at it,” she added excitedly.

Fluttershy thought about it. Admittedly, she had had a few rather raunchy daydreams about Kye demonstrating his new profession on her, not that she would ever confide that particular fact to anypony else though. “Maybe…” she began, gingerly tracing a hoof over the fabric of the couch, “if his schedule isn’t too busy…”

“Oh nonsense darling! You wouldn’t have to book an appointment. I’ll go get him now-”

“No!” Fluttershy yelped, causing the injured sparrow to wake up and start chirping rather loudly. The pegasus cleared her throat and lowered her voice. “I mean… not right now…” Her nerves were getting the better of her again.

Rarity looked a little disheartened. “Are you sure?” She asked.

“Yes.” Fluttershy replied, slightly disappointed in herself. She wished she had the courage to take charge of a situation and seduce the stallion she was interested in—like a mare was supposed to—but her severe lack of confidence often had her fleeing at the first sign of intimacy.

Much to her surprise, Rarity dropped the issue without argument. “Very well then. Why don’t you come and take a look at the concept designs I made for this year’s Trottingham Fashion Showcase instead? I could use a second opinion on the embroidery.”

“Okay,” Fluttershy replied, grateful for the change of subject.

Rarity beamed, unlocking the door with her magic and stepping outside. Fluttershy took one last glance at the sparrow—which had since fallen asleep again—before following her friend out into the afternoon sunlight.

* * *

Oh shit.

Kye gazed into the deep amber eyes of his expressionless alpha, almost like a deer might stare at the headlights of a speeding truck. His body seemed to be temporarily paralysed, but that didn't stop his heart from trying to jump out of his chest. Lyra didn't look angry, but Kye was well aware the mare was exceptionally talented at hiding her true emotions.

She slowly trotted into the ward, her face still very much unreadable. Luna was saying something to Tink but Kye was too busy trying to figure out if Lyra was going to kill him or not to hear.

A large midnight blue wing suddenly clipped the side of his head, snapping him out of the odd trance-like state. “A little help?” Luna chastised, turning back to the panic stricken pegasus now hyperventilating on the bed. “It’s okay, she won't hurt you,” she softly told the frightened mare, before turning to the unicorn. “Lyra, tell her you mean her no harm.”

Kye couldn't help but notice the slight hint of uncertainty in the alicorns voice. The fact that a freakin’ goddess was worried about the potential ramifications of their current predicament made the whole situation all the more terrifying.

Lyra stopped by the bedside, placing her forelegs on the mattress and much to Kye’s relief—smiling. “There’s no need for any of this Tink. I’m not mad at you, and even if I was I wouldn’t hurt you,” she calmly spoke, gently brushing a few strands of red and black mane from the mare’s eyes. “You don't need to fear anypony anymore.”

Luna smiled and Tink relaxed a little. Kye smiled as well—that is until he caught Lyra’s gaze again; the expressionless face was back.

“Kye dear, may I have a word with you in private?” the unicorn calmly asked, gesturing a hoof toward the corridor she’d just emerged from.

“Um… sure,” he mumbled, avoiding her gaze.

A sense of dread arose inside of him, culminating in the pit of his stomach as he followed Lyra out into the corridor—silently hoping he hadn’t screwed up too badly. He was well aware by now that the females usually made the decisions in Equestria, and that his alpha was probably going to be rather pissed off that he’d “went behind her back”, so to speak.

“You like her, don’t you?” she asked, her pretty amber eyes boring into him.

Kye paused, unsure of what to say. He didn’t want to lie to her. Not only would she see right through it but she’d be hurt that he’d tried to hide his true feelings from her. He eventually decided to bite the bullet.

“Yes,” he said, sitting down against the wall of the empty corridor.

Lyra sighed. “Can’t say I didn’t already know.” she lay down next to him. “You might wanna tell me the next time you invite a mare to live with you though. I mean, I am your alpha…” she shot at him in a half-exasperated tone, yet gave him a friendly nuzzle at the same time.

Kye sighed with relief, overjoyed that this little discussion hadn’t turned into their first argument. “Live with us you mean,” he corrected.

Lyra grinned. “Thought you’d never ask…or at least ask me first…”

“I’m sorry. I would have ran it by you first but Luna just threw it out there, couldn’t exactly say no, could I?” he replied, gently running a hand over her mane. “Besides, I might like Tink but I lo-”

Kye was interrupted by a loud bang, followed by a series of loud barking sounds—which was just as well—considering what he’d been about to blurt out. Fucking idiot. Way too soon for that… think before you speak…

A sky blue pony with a tangled grey mane and tail had just burst from one of the wards and was now careening toward them along the corridor. She had a single screw for a cutie mark and was doing a rather convincing impression of a Jack Russell. Lyra was quick to react—catching the crazed mare in a levitation field before she ploughed into them. Kye flinched in reflex, but the pony was now hovering three feet in the air.

A flustered looking unicorn nurse emerged from the ward and immediately started apologising. “Sorry!” the mare gasped, relieving Lyra of the still barking pony. “Matilda tries to escape quite a lot.”

Lyra gave an awkward smile, before sarcastically mumbling something under her breath that sounded a lot like “great timing”. The nurse, too busy with restraining the wriggling patient, didn’t appear to have heard.

“Again, I do apologise,” she said, before hastily disappearing back into the ward with the dog-pony.

Lyra turned to Kye, pointedly flicking her ears, smiling and giving him a rather expectant look. Kye held his tongue. Didn’t matter if she wanted him to say it or not, it was still way too soon. After a somewhat awkward silence, Luna opened the door to the ward.

“What are you two doing out here? Is everything… okay?”

“Yea everything's fine,” Lyra said, beaming at the princess and promptly trotting back into the ward.

Luna shot Kye an inquisitive look.

“Don’t ask,” he said, getting to his feet and following his cheery alpha. Luna grinned, closing the door with her magic and returning to sit in one of the plush armchairs that had been “borrowed” from a staff room down the corridor. Kye perched himself on one of the armrests, unconsciously letting one of his hands wander to the alicorn’s back.

“How are you wings?” Lyra asked the pegasus.

“Um… better,” she squeaked, still slightly fearful despite Lyra’s assurances.

“Sorry about the Earthquake the other day. I was just really mad at Ace. Hope I didn’t hurt you too much,” Lyra said, a tinge of guilt in her voice.

“It’s okay, they’re fine… or at least, they were…” Tink replied, glancing down at her bandaged wings.

Kye immediately felt a surge of rage boil up inside of him at her words. Luna must have noticed, because she wrapped a wing around him. “You already got him Kye. He can’t hurt her anymore,” she whispered, before kissing him on the cheek.

The small action dissipated his anger, but brought the slowly returning tingling sensation to his attention. The isotope suppression spell that Princess Celestia had cast for them was wearing off. Out of politeness, he tried not to react to the radiation. But with Luna being exceptionally powerful, the spell always faded fast. He couldn’t prevent himself from tensing up.

The goddess sighed. “It’s okay, I’ll go.”

“No, try the spell,” Kye bluntly requested. Luna had never needed an isotope suppression spell before. Most of her interaction with her subjects took place within the dreamscape—where it wasn’t necessary—therefore she couldn’t cast it quite as well as her sister.

“It won’t work.”

“Just try,” Kye pleaded.

Luna smiled, giving him a quick hug. “I have work to do, most of it parchment related. Maybe next time.”

Kye knew what she was about to do. He made a movement to latch his arms around the goddess, but she had already teleported.

“Damn it!” he cursed, falling into the chair she had just vacated. It was the second time Luna had left because the isotope suppression spell had wore off. He sure as hell hoped she wasn’t going to make a habit out of it.

Lyra snickered at him from behind her forehooves, even Tink was smiling. So they think it’s funny, eh? Kye dived at his alpha, taking care to avoid Tink, lest he disturb her injuries. The unicorn clearly hadn’t suspected the attack, for she was knocked flat onto the bed underneath him. She squealed with laughter, not even trying to put up a fight.

Tink gasped, causing Kye to quickly jump up. “You okay?” he asked.

The pegasus was trying to hide beneath the blanket. Kye blinked in confusion, glancing around the ward for the cause of her odd behaviour. His sweeping gaze eventually settled upon the door, which was ajar. A pair of dark green eyes were staring at him through the gap. They blinked. A split-second later, they were gone.

Kye launched himself at the door, quickly wrenching it the rest of the way open and scanning the hallway. No sooner had he stepped foot outside of the ward, a shimmering field of amber energy burst into existence around him. Lyra skidded through the shield she’d just conjured, stopping at his side. Her head was lowered, her horn aimed down the corridor at... nothing. It was empty.

After a few seconds, she let the shield drop. “What's got you so spooked?” she asked, taking a final glance up and down the corridor before levelling him with a quizzical look.

“Somepony was here, spying on us,” he replied, also double-checking for any sign of the eavesdropper. Once he was certain that they were indeed alone, he shot her a sly grin. “Was the shield really necessary?” he asked, casually flicking one of her ears with his index finger.

The unicorn playfully snapped her teeth at the offending digit. “Like I said before—you're mine, and I protect what's mine,” she concluded, whipping his leg with her tail before trotting back into the ward. Kye rolled his eyes and smiled, following her through the open doorway and closing it behind himself.

Tink was now trying her best to convince anyone observing her bed that she was just an uneven part of the mattress. Kye sighed, sat back down in the armchair and slowly pulled back the covers. “Tink, d’you wanna tell me who that was?” he cautiously asked.

After a few seconds, the pegasus spoke. “Nox,”

The name wasn't familiar to him. Lyra promptly answered his unasked question:

“She's one of Ace’s mares—remember the black unicorn that Rarity hit with st. Elmo's Lightning?”

“St. Elmo's Lightning? Was that the freaky blue fire?” he asked.

“Well, technically it’s plasma, and it’s colour usually matches the magical aura of the caster,” she replied. “I’m quite proud of her actually—she’d been struggling with it over the past few days but when she saw Nox attack you she nailed it.”

Kye felt a rush of affection and pride for the fashionista. He smiled, idly glancing at Tink. She was still throwing glances at the door and half-heartedly attempting to hide.

His smile faltered somewhat, his newfound pride vanishing as quickly as it had came. He found himself forming a rather sobering conclusion in his mind, one that—as far as he knew—could be a real possibility. Lyra must have sensed his discomfort, as her ears stood straight and a look of concern crossed her features.

“Are you... Are you ashamed of me being here?” Kye slowly asked the bed-ridden pegasus, silently trying—and failing—to convince himself that he wouldn't care about her answer.

Tink stopped fidgeting. Her eyes went wide, completely disregarding the door and focusing only on him. “W-What?” she stuttered, her ears flattening against her mane. “Why would you think that?”

She looked on the verge of tears, her expression a mixture of melancholy and confusion—making her appear even more adorable than usual. Kye cleared his throat—immediately regretting his doubt-fuelled accusation. Judging by her reaction, it was obvious she was being sincere.

“I’m sorry. I had to ask… 'cause… y’know,” he gestured to himself.

“What?” she asked, evidently flummoxed.

“Well I’m not exactly equine, and I’d imagine I’m not good company to be seen in public with.”

The pegasus blinked. She glanced at Lyra for a few seconds, before suddenly rolling herself over. She winced as the casts on her wings twisted slightly, but she somehow managed to find her hooves.

“Woah, Tink, maybe that’s not such a good ide-” Kye began, but the rest of his sentence was muffled by a large amount of bushy, red and black mane when the pegasus threw herself at him, latching her forelegs around his neck.

* * *

“Over there Fluttershy dear,” Rarity instructed, pointing a hoof to the assortment of gown schematics on a circular table in the middle of the Boutique.

They had just arrived—Rarity having ushered the pegasus through the door and discreetly sealed it with her magic behind them. Fluttershy made her way over to the table and began examining the designs. Rarity however, trotted toward the staircase.

“There are a few more upstairs. I'll be right back,” She casually announced. The pegasus idly waved a wing in acknowledgement, her eyes still scanning the various parchments littering the tabletop. No sooner had the unicorn reached the landing, she grinned rather deviously—before teleporting outside.

Phase one of her plan was complete. Phase two however, involved finding her coltfriend. As far as she knew—he hadn’t had any clients today, so he’d probably be at the hospital. It’s where he always was whenever he had any free time. He really did seem to harbour a rather soft spot for Tinker Breeze, so much so that Rarity often found herself worrying about him getting hurt. It was probably just an old prejudice however—it was plain to see that the pegasus was nothing like the rest of her wretched herd.

The unicorn made her way through the market, where most of the stall vendors were busy packing up for the day. The flags adorning the tops of the surrounding buildings lazily waved in the light breeze, accentuated by the combined wake of a few pegasi gliding overhead. Several unruly clouds had rolled in from the south, and were in the process of being swatted away by a zig-zagging Rainbow Dash.

Rarity looked up at her prismatic friend, the latter of which seemed to sense her gaze. The pegasus stopped in midair, quickly scanned the ground and dived, gliding down to land next to the unicorn.

“Hey Rarity, have you seen Kye?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“No, I’m actually looking for him right now,” Rarity replied, before frowning slightly. “Why?”

“Er… well, he took off somewhere in a hurry earlier—actually seemed kinda bummed out about something. I was jus’ wondering if he was… y’know, okay?” the pegasus said, somewhat awkwardly.

Rarity contemplated her friend. “I’m sure he’s fine,” she said, smiling. “You can come and find him with me to make sure, though, if you’d like?”

Rainbow hesitated for a fraction of a second. “Nah, I gotta finish bustin’ these clouds. Catch ya later.” The pegasus hastily launched herself back into the air, zooming up vertically at breakneck speed.

Rarity watched her go, a knowing smile spreading across her face. Subtlety was hardly a trait in which Rainbow Dash could usually claim any aptitude. But Rarity had to admit—if she didn’t know her colourful friend as well as she did, then she just may have been fooled.

* * *

Tink held on to the human with what little strength she could muster. She was utterly devastated that he’d assumed she was ashamed of him, and was determined to prove to him otherwise. She didn't even care that Lyra was watching the affectionate embrace, she needed to let him know that she appreciated everything he’d done for her.

He seemed tense at first, almost afraid to touch her, but he eventually reciprocated the action. It was nice—really nice in fact. The feel of his arms wrapped around her back, the soft, smooth skin of his cheek against hers. The warmth radiating from him. She just wished her wings weren't encased in casts—she’d love nothing more to be able to wrap him up in them. It would feel wonderful.

The door of the ward was suddenly flung wide, and the pegasus instinctively burrowed her face into Kye's chest, thinking Nox had returned. Kye flinched at the noise and tightened his grip—not enough to hurt—but more than enough to reassure her.

“Lyra darling, may I borrow you for a second,” said a voice that, thankfully, didn't belong to her former herdmate. Tink shifted slightly and opened an eye, spying Rarity over the top of the armchair.

“Sure,” chirped Lyra. The unicorn promptly jumped to her hooves and followed Rarity out into the corridor, without so much as a glance back at her coltfriend—whom Tink was still draped atop. The door closed in an amber aura, leaving her and Kye quite alone.

A sudden wave of shyness gripped the pegasus. This was the first time she’d been truly alone with Kye—not counting when she’d been unconscious, of course.

“You okay?” he asked, glancing down at her with a look of concern. “I'm not hurting your wings, am I?”

“No...’m fine…” she squeaked.

“You sure? If you’re not comfortable I can-”

“Kye,” she breathed. “I’m fine.”

The pegasus paused, trying to figure out what she wanted to say. There was a lot, some of which she knew she didn’t actually have the courage to tell him.

“I never thanked you for saving me…” she began. “At the time, I didn’t really want to be saved. But here… right now… I-I’m glad you found me, so t-thanks.” She paused, her breath catching slightly in her throat. “I don’t know why I stayed with Ace for so long. I guess I was just scared of being alone, or what he’d do to me if I tried to go…”

Kye wrapped her in his arms more securely, but kept his silence.

“I’m sorry for all the stuff Ace and Coco-”

“Don’t,” he said, finally cutting her off. “Don’t apologise for them. It’s unnecessary.”

“But I-”

“Do you remember the night we met near the alleyway? You helped me. I haven’t forgotten.”

Tink paused again. She remembered that night quite well in fact. She’d been terrified, knowing how much Lyra cared about him—and what the deadly unicorn was capable of. She couldn’t quite bring herself to tell him that the main reason she’d aided his escape was simply out of fear. “I...well-”

“And that day outside the hospital, when Coco yelled at you.” Kye said, cutting her off again. “You probably could have shoved me a bit harder—bit of a poor effort on your part I reckon.” He smiled, causing a current of warmth to spread through her. She couldn’t help but smile right back at him.

“Well, I didn’t want to hurt you…” she mumbled, blushing slightly.

Kye grinned again. “Even though I was busy strangling your stallionfriend.”

“He’s not my stallionfriend anymore,” she reiterated. “And besides, he started it.”

“Good thing I finished it then,” he added, bringing a hand up to massage the base of her neck.

“I’m glad you did.” She smiled, gently tracing a forehoof over his chest.

The tension that had been plaguing her shoulders gradually dissipated with his touch. For the first time in days, she felt comfortable. Almost too comfortable, in fact. Her whole body went limp, causing her hindlegs to slip. If she didn’t adjust her positioning then she would soon end up straddling Kye’s groin. Just the thought of such a possibility caused her cheeks to flush. She tried to hide her face so he wouldn’t notice, but all she succeeded in doing was slipping a couple more inches down onto his thighs. Her wings started to stiffen in response, causing them to chafe against the inside of the casts. It wasn’t particularly painful, but it was far from pleasant.

Kye must have noticed her discomfort. “You sure I'm not hurting your wings?” he asked.

“Yes,” she squeaked, still attempting to hide her mild arousal. Apparently, he wasn’t convinced.

“Tink.”

He whispered her name. The sound was like a soft caress to her ears. She finally met his gaze, unable to prevent her eyes from seeking his. The small action of lifting her head caused her to slip into position on his denim-clad groin. She vaguely noticed something firm pressing up between her hindlegs, causing her tail to twitch. Her wings were as solid as the casts that held them, and her muzzle was now just inches from his face—so close that she could feel his breath on her lips. Taste it, even…

She closed her eyes, waiting—and promptly ignoring the rational thought screaming inside her head for her to get the heck away from him. This was a stupid idea, and she knew it. You didn’t fool around with another mare’s stallion. Especially if said mare was Lyra Heartstri-

CRACK.

Tink’s eyes flew open. Apparently, she should have listened to her rational thought, because Kye had just disappeared. She also perceived—much to her dismay—that she was now suspended above the armchair in a shimmering field of amber energy. The pegasus immediately panicked—a lot. She couldn’t move, though she wasn’t sure if that was because of the levitation field, or the paralytic fear now coursing through her veins.

“I wasn’t g-gonna k-kiss him!” she managed to choke out.

Lyra trotted into the ward, casually kicking the door closed with a hindleg as she did so. “Yeah you were,” she simply said.

Tink began to hyperventilate again. It was pathetic—a schoolfilly fresh out of flight training could have seen through her lie, never mind a Still Way grandmaster. “Please, don’t hurt me,” she sobbed, keeping her eyes tightly closed and waiting for the inevitable.

After a few seconds, she felt the soft fabric of the bed cover beneath her hooves. The levitation field vanished, and she wound up laying quite comfortably on the mattress.

“Really, Tink? It’s been less than an hour, and you’ve already went and forgotten what I told you.”

Tink opened her eyes, confused at Lyra’s words. The unicorn was curled up in one of the armchairs, her head resting on an armrest. “Let me refresh your memory—you don't need to fear anypony anymore. That includes me.” she said, as casually as if they were discussing the weather schedule.

“B-But… I…” the pegasus stammered.

“Oh, don't get me wrong—I know you want a piece of my stallion. Doesn’t take a genius to figure that out,” Lyra mused.

Tink blanched. She had no idea why Lyra wasn’t tearing her a new one right now, or at least warning her away. It’s what mares usually did when others took an interest in their stallions.

The unicorn smiled. “It’s nice, isn’t it?”

The pegasus blinked, more confused than ever. “Huh?”

“Y’know, when he does all that crazy massage stuff with his fingers. Much better than hooves—don’t you think?” Lyra said, yawning idly and stretching her forelegs.

“Um…” Tink began, unsure how to respond. She wasn’t sure if Lyra was trying to catch her out or not.

“The sex is fantastic,” the unicorn continued. “He prefers Dolphin-style, so it's always rather...intimate.”

Tink blushed, but Lyra didn’t seem to care. “W-Why are you t-telling me this?” she stammered.

Lyra ignored the question. She got to her hooves and hopped over the small gap between the armchair and the bed, landing softly on the mattress and laying down next to the confused pegasus. “Isn’t there something else you wanna ask me, Tink?” she whispered.

Tink flinched a little at the sudden proximity, but Lyra put a reassuring forehoof on her shoulder. The unicorn’s amber eyes shone with a comforting mixture of sincerity and concern, something that Tink had never noticed before. Nopony had ever looked at her with such genuine affection… at least, nopony since her parents.

“Tink?” Lyra softly spoke.

The pegasus tried to hold back her emotions, but the dormant memories of her past quickly flooded to the surface. She was suddenly seven years old again, and her father had taken her to the Cloudsdale Amphitheatre to see the Wonderbolts Derby. She’d been so intrigued by the elite pegasi that day that she’d discovered the exhilarating rush of flight not long after.

A whirl of colours temporarily flooded her vision, then she was nine. Her mother had just won the title of “Miss Cloudsdale” in the Canterlot Gardens Beauty Pageant. Every young filly had wanted to be the daughter of Aurora Breeze that day…

The same odd visual interlude clouded her sight yet again, then she was eleven. The cold, green eyes of the timberwolf that had just slaughtered her parents were shining bright with tainted radioactive decay—casting an eerie glow over the blasted ruins of the manor house she had once called home.

“TINK!”

The pegasus opened her eyes, the ward quickly sharpening into focus. She was mildly surprised to find herself sitting on her hindhooves, her face dripping with sweat and tears. Lyra was right beside her, holding her upright and looking more than a little worried.

“What was that?” the unicorn exclaimed, “you totally spaced out… Are you okay? Should I go get Nurse Redheart?”

Tink brought a shaky forehoof up to her face, wiping the moisture from her eyes. “No… just a bad memory…” she croaked, trying her best to erase the vision from her mind. It was embarrassing enough at the best of times that Tink sometimes had weird flashbacks, but she was mortified that Lyra had just witnessed one of the little episodes…

“You wanna talk about it?” Lyra asked, the same look of concern shining from her eyes once more.

“No, it’s okay…” the pegasus trailed off, desperately trying to think of a way to change the subject. “Is Kye coming back?” she asked, before she could stop herself. It was the first thing that had come to mind. She inwardly facehoofed at her own stupidity.

Lyra grinned. “Not tonight.”

An awkward silence followed, though Lyra seemed completely unaffected by it. The unicorn merely sat there smiling, almost as though she were waiting for something.

“What?” Tink asked, even though she was beginning to suspect what Lyra was waiting for.

The unicorn shrugged. “You tell me,” she said, getting up and trotting toward the door.

The pegasus watched Lyra open the door with her magic. Just as she was about to cross the threshold, a small voice in Tinks head told her that it was time to act.

“Wait!”

* * *

CRACK.

Once again, Kye was caught unaware by Lyra’s rather annoying tendency to teleport him when he was least expecting it. This instance, however, was particularly annoying—considering he’d finally broken the ice with Tink.

“Damn it Lyra!” he cursed.

His little outburst was immediately greeted with a loud hiss. He opened his eyes, finding himself sprawled upside down on the couch in Carousel Boutique. A rather angry looking white cat was perched beside him.

“Kye?” said a sweet, familiar voice.

Kye glanced around the shop. Fluttershy was stood next the table, looking at him with a confused expression. “What are you-” the pegasus began to say, but she was cut off by another angry hiss. Before Kye could even blink, the irate feline took a swipe at him. It’s claws slashed clean through the fabric of his shirt and into his arm.

“Fuck!” Kye cursed, falling off the couch and landing on the floor.

Fluttershy was stood over him in an instant, her wings spread, shielding him from further harm. “Opalescence, no!” she chastised.

The cat took one look at the pegasus, gave a rather loud yowl, then quickly darted away. Kye tried to sit up, but Fluttershy didn’t move. Instead, she put a hoof on his chest. “Let me see.”

He rolled his sleeve up. There were three bleeding slashes on his right arm, just below the shoulder. Fluttershy examined the wound. “Wait here, I’ll be right back.” she said, quickly flying over to the door.

She turned the doorknob and pulled, but the door stuck fast. Kye frowned. He was in the process of getting up to go and help her when a bright flash of blue light briefly illuminated the room. Fluttershy jumped, evidently startled by Rarity’s arrival.

The unicorn idly glanced between the human and the pegasus, a strange little smile on her face. Kye sighed. It was obvious what she was up to.

“Rarity,” He said, somewhat annoyed at her juvenile approach to what he regarded as a highly delicate situation.

“Yes dear?” she replied, feigning innocence.

Kye facepalmed. “Why is the door locked?” he asked, but she didn’t appear to have heard him.

“Are you bleeding?” she exclaimed, quickly trotting over to inspect his arm. “Oh dear, I guess you’ve met Opalescence. She sometimes reacts badly to strangers.” The blue aura surrounded her horn, and Kye felt the wounds grow cold for a few seconds.

“What the?” He glanced down at his arm. There was still a little blood on his shirt, but the cuts were gone. “Wow...that’s...pretty impressive,” he mused.

Rarity smiled, rearing up on her hindlegs to kiss him. The action startled him a little, but he reciprocated in kind—embracing the unicorn as he did so. After a few moments, she dropped back down onto all fours and glanced at Fluttershy.

The pegasus was still trying to open the door, but it still refused to budge. When she noticed Kye and Rarity looking at her, she paused, clearing her throat. “Um… I should probably get going. The beav-”

“I’m sure Applejack will be able to deal with them just fine dear. Now, why don’t you stay here and let Kye give you that massage we discussed? You do look rather stressed, after all.”

Rarity may as well have suggested a tea party with a fully grown dragon, considering how Fluttershy seemed to recoil at the the unicorn’s words. Her mane had fallen askew—covering most of her face—and she was determinedly avoiding his gaze.

Kye couldn’t help but feel a little uneasy. He would have considered himself completely rejected by the timid pegasus—if he didn’t know her better of course.

“Go.” Rarity instructed.

Kye sighed again. “Rarity-”

“You’re crazy about her, and you know she’ll just keep trying to run away unless you take the initiative. I’m given to understand that this is the norm where you’re from, is it not?” The unicorn gave a devious smile, clearly confident that she’d presented him with an irrefutable argument.

Kye scowled—the mare certainly had a point. Damn it Rarity! He strode over to the door and scooped the pegasus up into his arms. She emitted the most adorable little squeak and fluttered her wings a little, but otherwise let him carry her over to the couch without any complaints.

A subtle vanilla scent pervaded his nose. It was the same pleasant aroma that he’d noticed when he’d first taken Tink to the hospital, but he’d been too busy worrying about the fate of the grey mare to fully appreciate it at the time. Now that his mind wasn’t so preoccupied however, the fragrance was easily discernible—and more than a little enticing.

Sitting down, he cradled the pegasus in his arms, taking extra care to avoid her back, wing joints, and the back of her mane. It was adorable—almost unbearably so—the way she lay against his chest with her eyes closed, her ears flat to her head, and her forelegs curled up against her barrel.

Rarity smiled triumphantly. Kye merely shot her skeptical look—which she promptly ignored. “Excuse me darlings, but I have a few things I need to take care of upstairs,” she said, trotting toward the staircase and leaving Kye and Fluttershy alone together. Kye scowled again.

Fluttershy had yet to say anything, and if Kye was honest with himself, he was beginning to worry that she might be too scared to tell him that she was uncomfortable. It could have just been his tendency to jump to conclusions—but where this timid pegasus was concerned, he couldn’t be sure.

A few tense moments passed—during which time Kye contemplated just setting her down and making up some excuse to make a quick exit. He very nearly did so—until she wrapped her wings around him and nuzzled into his chest. An inexplicable calm washed through his senses at the affectionate little gesture. It reminded him of the sudden inner peace that had overcome him upon first meeting the pegasus in Froggy Bottom Bog.

Time temporarily ceased to have any meaning. Kye didn’t know how long he sat there, idly running his fingertips over her delicate coat—but he had a sneaking suspicion that any amount of time at all wouldn’t be nearly long enough. He felt utterly content, even more so than when Princess Celestia had cast the pacification spell...

* * *

“Wake up.”

A gentle hoof nudged Kye’s shoulder, and he immediately heeded the whispered request. He opened his eyes. Fluttershy was still motionless on top of him, her head on his chest. Rarity was sat on the couch next to them.

He blinked, straining his eyes as he glanced around the room. It appeared to be dark outside. “Did I fall aslee-” he began, but Rarity preempted him.

“Shhhh…”

The unicorn’s horn began to glow, and a beautiful, shimmering aura surrounded the pegasus in his lap, causing her to float up into the air. An odd sense of loss accompanied her departure. He watched as a silk blanket flew through the air and encompassed her sleeping form, covering everything but her head.

“Come with me.”

Rarity headed for the staircase, levitating Fluttershy through the air alongside her. Kye pulled himself to his feet and followed, curious as to what the mare was up to. They eventually reached a bedroom. It was styled similar to the shop downstairs, but featured a rather large, elaborate looking four poster bed with a canopy. A few pony mannequins stood next to a small workstation, full of various rolls of fabric.

“Is there something you needed?” he asked.

“Well, Lyra is keeping Tink company at the hospital, Octavia is performing at a concert, and Fluttershy-” she carefully set the pegasus down on a couch not unlike the one downstairs, “-is asleep. So, that means I have you...all to myself,” she said, whispering the last three words for dramatic effect, no doubt—and seductively lowering her eyelids.

“Oh…” Kye said, blinking rather stupidly. He should have guessed she’d want to have a little fun...

The fashionista pointedly licked her lips. “Take off your clothes.”

Kye didn’t need to be told twice. He was halfway through stumbling out of his jeans when he paused, glancing over at the still sleeping Fluttershy.

“What if she wakes up?”

The unicorn shrugged. “She’ll probably run. Of course—she won’t get very far,” she said with a devious smile.

Kye laughed. “I knew you’d planned this. Wow, you can be… kinda evil sometimes,” he said, stepping the rest of the way out of his jeans.

“Sometimes darling, you have to be cruel to be kind.”

An odd tingling sensation shot through his balls as her telekinetic field removed his boxer shorts. Rarity discarded the garment to the floor and hopped up to the bed, flashing blatant “come fuck me” eyes at him and flicking her beautiful tail. The effect was almost instantaneous. He all but dived at the mare, but she quickly dodged out of the way. Consequently, Kye landed on his face. No sooner had he rolled over, the unicorn was straddling his naked body and ferociously kissing him.

Kye reciprocated in kind, bringing both hands up to fondle her ears. He could feel the unicorn’s sex against his shaft, and was eager to finally penetrate her for the first time. He made a movement to do so, but she quickly got to her hooves.

“Not yet—I still owe you for that glorious massage…”

The delectable mare bit his right nipple, whilst slowly running a forehoof down his abdomen. Kye was barely able to maintain his silence, gasping at the heady sensation. She eventually reached the head of his cock, and began caressing the entire length of his shaft with the soft underside of her hoof.

Kye closed his eyes, thoroughly enjoying the unicorn’s delicate ministrations. He was only minutely aware that her tongue had strayed from his nipple, and was now in the process of trailing down towards his groin. Her hoof was now carefully massaging his balls, and the head of his aching member had long since accumulated a thin glaze of pre-come.

He eventually felt the faint breeze of her breath on his member, barely giving him a moments notice before she flicked her tongue over the head.

A jolt of pleasure flooded his cock, followed by a strong tingling sensation. His eyes flew open and he glanced down. Raritys horn was glowing—clearly facilitating the blue aura surrounding his shaft. She kept her eyes locked to his as she took him in her maw, his full length sliding into the back of her throat. Kye barely stifled a moan as her muzzle pressed against his groin, her broad tongue massaging the underside of his shaft.

He closed his eyes again, now focusing on trying not to blow a load down her throat. She wasn’t even moving her head that much but her powerful tongue was rather adept, easily putting him in the danger zone.

After two or three rather glorious minutes, he could take it no longer. “Ahh...ah...okay...Rares…” he gasped, wrapping his fingers around her glowing horn, “t-thats enough…” He didn’t know how she’d react if he came in her mouth, and he didn’t particularly want to find out, either.

The unicorn groaned. The subsequent vibrations very nearly pushed him over edge. Holy fuck! Thankfully, she released him—but not for long.

The strong tingling sensation shot through his member again. Kye gritted his teeth, glancing down to see what she was up to. In one fluid motion, Rarity quickly straddled his hips and impaled herself on his shaft.

The sudden penetration was frictionless—due to her being slick with heated mare honey. The devious unicorn then pointedly bit her lower lip—whilst manipulating her inner walls to contract around his pulsating member. His resolve finally broke. He latched his arms around her and thrust deep, spraying her cervix with his seed.

Throughout the duration of his Earth-shattering climax, the unicorn giggled. Kye gradually came down from his pheromone induced high. Panting, he raised an eyebrow at her. It was clear that she hadn’t climaxed herself.

“Oh, did you find that amusing?” he shot at her.

“...a little.” she admitted, still chuckling.

Kye scowled at her. She smiled in response—then bit his neck.

His hands automatically found her ears as her teeth gently gripped his flesh, igniting a new flame of arousal within his loins. Well, shit. That was fast. His slightly softened member began to harden inside her once more, spurred on by the sensation of her tongue sliding over his neck. He thrust deep, and was rewarded with a twitch of her magnificent tail—the glossy strands brushing over his thighs.

Her breathing gradually became more and more laboured as he slid within her, his swollen shaft now fully occupying her lubricated cavity. The loss of her ladylike composure was accompanied by slight little whimpers here and there, the sound blending with the magical tinkling emanating from her horn.

His previous climax had given him plenty of stamina—and after her little chuckle session he was more than prepared to use it. Rarity gasped as he rolled her onto her back, embedding his shaft into the deepest confines of her winking marehood in the process. She certainly wasn’t giggling at him now.

He began to move with purpose, slowly grinding into her with long, deep thrusts. Her horn brightened. Her breathing became shallow and unpredictable, and her tail thrashed against the bed.

“...f-faster,” she gasped, latching onto him with all four legs.

Kye grinned. He sped up, but not by much. Rarity soon began to fidget beneath him, trying to increase the exquisite friction between them. Her shallow breaths turned into mewling whimpers, whilst her beautiful blue eyes pleaded with him to give her what she desired.

Lightly gripping the back of her mane, he finally increased the pace. The unicorn gave a shrill squeal of delight—and immediately began to orgasm, completely catching him by surprise. She captured his waist with her hindlegs, keeping him firmly embedded between her spasming walls as her beautiful static charge bounced off the headboard and ricocheted around the room. The sensation of her marehood gripping his shaft proved too much, and he ejaculated inside her for the second time.

When he finally caught his breath, he rolled off the sated unicorn—completely spent. Rarity cuddled into his side, her tail wrapping itself around one of his legs. He held her close, lightly kissing the base of her horn.

“Wait,” she said, her face scrunched up in concentration.

Kye frowned, wrapping an arm around her. “Something wrong?”

“I… I need to…”

“What?” he prompted.

“I hate that it doesn’t work after…”she muttered, before giving a rather dramatic sigh and rolling off the bed and onto her hooves.

Kye was completely flummoxed—even more so considering she still appeared to be straining. “Rares...what are you trying to do?”

“Magic. I’d rather not make a mess of th-ewww!”

The sound of a semi viscous liquid hitting the floor reverberated through the room. Kye immediately slapped a hand over his mouth, desperately trying not to laugh.

Rarity backpedalled in horror. Of course—that didn’t stop the leak she appeared to have suddenly sprung. She gave one more over dramatic “Eww!” before teleporting in a flash of blue light. Kye snickered uncontrollably, barely managing to contain his laughter. He anxiously glanced over at Fluttershy. Thankfully, the pegasus was still sleeping peacefully.

After a few minutes, Rarity emerged from what looked like an en-suite bathroom. She didn’t even attempt to explain her absence, instead—she flashed her horn. The splattered evidence of their lovemaking vanished from the floor. Climbing into bed with him, she covered them both with the blanket and draped a forehoof over his chest.

Kye snickered, unable to stop himself. “So, Rares, yo-”

“Go. To sleep.”

Kye decided, that on this particular occasion—it would probably be best to do as he was told.

Author's Note

In order to distract you all from noticing how much of an asshat I am for leaving it this long, I leave you with this cute pic of best pon3:

Chapter Fourteen - An Audience With Chaos

Edited by JimboTex and Regreme, pre-read by Pusspuss

Tink winced as she trotted along the corridor, having just been told by Doctor Horse that she was being discharged. Her casts had been taken off, and most of her injuries had healed. Her wings were still pretty much useless though. She certainly wasn’t going to be flying for a while.

Lyra—whom she totally wasn’t still absolutely terrified of—trotted alongside her, sporting a triumphant smile. It had been a long night.

After Lyra had turned to leave in the hospital, Tink had broken down and confessed. She’d openly admitted her attraction to Kye, half expecting the unicorn to finally show some anger in response, but no such anger came. Lyra had instead adopted a rather smug expression, and it hadn't left her face since.

"How you holding up?" the unicorn asked with an odd look that was mostly genuine concern, yet still bore noticeable traces the aforementioned smugness.

"'M fine," Tink mumbled, avoiding eye contact. The two of them continued wordlessly down the corridor: Lyra with a confident trot, and Tink nervously padding along slightly behind.

So much had changed in the past few days that Tink was having a little trouble adjusting. She'd basically went from one herd she was terrified of to another that she was even more terrified of, though her fear of the latter was evidently unwarranted. Kye and Lyra had shown her nothing but kindness, but she still couldn't completely shake her lingering fear of the grandmaster and her exotic, yet entrancing coltfriend.

An amber glow enveloped the double doors at the end of the corridor, prompting them to swing open and reveal yet another corridor. The once-white paint on the walls was cracked and faded in places, giving the place a slightly dilapidated feel. Several unused gurneys were littered haphazardly throughout, and a few of the magical lamps lining the ceiling were flickering.

Lyra stopped walking, causing Tink to bump into her flank and emit a small “eep” along with a badly disguised flinch as she backpedaled a few paces, fearing reprisal.

Lyra simply rolled her eyes and glanced along the empty corridor. “Yeah, I’m pretty sure we’re lost. You don’t happen to remember the way back out, do you?” she asked.

“Um...I was unconscious,” Tink nervously replied.

“Oh, yeah…” Lyra brought a hoof to her chin, clearly contemplating something. After a few moments, she spoke again. “Well, I could teleport us... that is—if you’re feeling up to it?”

Tink was about to respond, saying she would be willing if it got her out of the hospital—which she was getting rather sick of—but was interrupted by Lyra firing a small blast of energy from her horn. It promptly sailed past Tink and blew one of the corridor doors clean off its hinges, along with several bricks from the adjoining wall. Tink shrieked, quickly dropping to the floor and hiding beneath her wings as another voice cried out in pain.

A jet black unicorn mare with a bleach white mane and tail floated out from the clearing dust in an amber telekinetic field. She was holding one forehoof with the other, wincing slightly and glaring daggers at Lyra through dark green eyes.

Tink recognised Nox immediately. She’d obviously stuck around since yesterday, or came back to spy for Coco under the guise of visiting Ace. Without even thinking, the pegasus shuffled closer to Lyra.

Nox was a particularly nasty piece of work, third in command of the Chrome herd and often as cruel as Ace himself. She was similar to her stallion, in both appearance and attitude, and she often used to bully Tink out of nothing more than simple boredom.

Lyra shot a reassuring smile and the barest hint of a wink at Tink before relinquishing the telekinetic field. Nox crumpled to the floor with an undignified thud and a grunt of pain. The slightest grimace flashed over her features before she returned to scowling in earnest, getting to her hooves and flicking the dust from her tail in agitation.

Lyra’s horn flashed twice in quick succession before she addressed the eavesdropper. “You mind telling us why you were following us?”

Nox remained silent, her face still imitating the likeness of a smacked flank.

Lyra waited a few seconds, before slowly turning toward the other, still-intact door. “Well then… If you won't deign to answer, perhaps your alpha will tell us.”

Tink blinked in confusion, but shrank back in fear as the remaining door swung open to reveal a wheelchair—a wheelchair in which a thoroughly bandaged Coco Drop sat. A fleeting look of surprise briefly flashed on her face before it returned to her usual obnoxious expression. "Making a mess of things as usual I see," the mare sneered as she rolled up behind her companion.

"Well, I wouldn’t have had to if you hadn't sent your lackey to spy on us," Lyra coolly retorted.

Nox nickered, but otherwise held her tongue. Coco threw a glance at Tink before returning her icy gaze to Lyra. "You think you can steal from us and get away with it?" she spat.

Tink frowned. She had no idea as to what Coco was referring to. It was only when Lyra’s expression darkened that she began to understand.

"She's a pony, not a possession."

Coco scoffed, turning instead to Tink. "You, home. Now."

The pegasus blanched, attempting to backpedal but accidentally stumbling into Lyra. She wanted to tell Coco "No" but the words wouldn’t come.

"Did you not fucking hear me you little cun-"

SLAM!

The rest of Coco's sentence was replaced with a rather loud scream of pain, probably due to her being launched into the ceiling—where she remained, pinned into the crumbling plaster by the amber telekinetic field. Tink gasped. Lyra was now sporting a particularly murderous expression.

"You don't get to speak to her like that anymore."

The grandmaster's words were spoken calmly, yet the underlying malice was unmistakable. Coco whimpered in response, whilst Nox merely observed with an oddly vacant expression.

Something was definitely a little sketchy about the situation. Coco wasn't exactly the sharpest tool in the box, but she wasn't completely stupid either, and going up against Lyra with anything less than a small army was downright idiotic. "S-Stop," Tink stuttered. Lyra raised a questioning eyebrow, but the light of her horn quickly receded. Coco fell back into the chair, a little shaken but otherwise unhurt. "She's just trying to get you in trouble," Tink said, determinedly avoiding Coco's subsequent glare.

The unicorn made an effort compose herself. "You think you’re so clever, don't you," she growled, flicking bits of plaster out of her mane with a bandaged hoof. "After everything we’ve done for you, you just up and run off with this freak and her alien coltfriend."

Tink fliched, her ears lying flat in defeat. Coco's words stung, as usual, but Tink was wiser now. She knew they were hollow, just another attempt to control. There were many things she wanted to say; how all of them berated her at every opportunity, how she was always the “victim” of their pranks, how Ace had physically beat and tried to rape her, but she was afraid. She was always afraid.

Lyra frowned, her tail flicking in agitation. She slowly turned to Coco. “Leave. Now.”

Coco smirked. “This is a public hospital. We’re well within our rights to-”

CRACK!

An almost blinding flash of amber light briefly illuminated the dimly lit corridor, causing Tink to squint in an attempt to regain her vision. When she opened her eyes, all she saw was an empty wheelchair... well, that and a grinning Lyra.

“You... w-where did you send them?” the pegasus asked.

Lyra gave an odd little chuckle. “I’m not entirely sure… somewhere in the hospital, I think,” she added, poking a hoof through the rubble, before sighing to herself.

Tink watched as Lyra inspected the damage. “Will you get in trouble for that?”

Lyra sighed again. “Maybe... I dunno. Either way, Twilight’s probably gonna yell at me,” she surmised, closing her eyes. Her horn began to emit pulses of light in an exponentially increasing frequency.

Tink frowned. “Why would Twi-”

CRACK!

There was a bright purple flash of light this time, followed by the slap of wet fur on marble. Tink opened her eyes to see a bewildered looking Twilight Sparkle sprawled in front of Lyra, soaking wet and dripping all over the floor.

A brief moment of silence passed, in which Twilight seemed to piece together what the hell had just happened to her. “LYRA!”

“Oh, hi, Twilight... Um... are you busy?” Lyra asked, bringing a hoof up to her maw and scrunching her nose up. It almost looked as though she was in pain, until Tink realised Lyra was merely trying not to laugh.

Twilight was clearly not amused. "You think this is funny? Why am I no longer in my bathtub?” she growled, flicking her wet mane out of her eyes and getting to her hooves... or at least—she tried to. As soon as she began to lift herself up, her forehooves slipped, and she fell flat on her face. This prompted an angry nicker and a flash of searing hot purple flames. Tink shrank back, attempting to avoid the heat as the water was instantly vapourised. Twilight self-levitated for a second, before landing neatly on her forehooves and levelling Lyra with a deadly glare.

Lyra snickered somewhat, before failing entirely in her attempts to hide her amusement and openly chuckling.

"I thought I told you to only use that spell in emergencies. If this isn’t life or death, then I'll-... why is there rubble? Why is there always rubble!?" Twilight yelled, pointing a purple hoof to the crumbling remains of the hospital wall.

Lyra cleared her throat. "Oh, well, Coco sent somepony to spy on us. I may have overreacted."

"You always overreact."

"Could you fix it, please?"

“Maybe I should just leave it for a nurse to find. Maybe that way, you’d learn not to go around destroying buildings when people upset you!” Twilight snapped, her voice rising in intensity.

Lyra obviously had no argument, as her ears drooped in what was presumably shame. After a few seconds, she glanced at the purple unicorn with an adorable little pout. Barely a moment later, Twilight sighed, her expression softening somewhat.

Tink did a double-take. Never in a million years would she have expected Lyra to look so docile… almost vulnerable, even. It was a stark contrast to the stoic, powerful mare she usually portrayed herself as.

Twilight’s horn began to glow, and Tink couldn't help but gasp in awe as the rubble strewn throughout the old, disused corridor suddenly danced into life. It wouldn't have been anything special—but the precise manner in which the particles rose up into the air seemed overly coordinated and mechanical for a mere levitation spell.

Tink's suspicions of more advanced magic at play were confirmed when the particles suddenly flew toward the damaged wall and began fixing themselves in place with little flashes of purple light. The sight was something akin to a needlessly intricate, three dimensional jigsaw puzzle. Even the Coco-shaped dent in the ceiling gradually disappeared amidst the influx of flying rubble, each tiny piece creating a bizarre strobing effect.

In a matter of seconds, the damage was completely repaired. Twilight had made it look effortless, though Tink knew she’d be hard pressed to find another unicorn within a thousand mile radius capable of casting such a spell.

“Thanks!” Lyra chirped, grinning sheepishly at her friend.

“This is your last bailout, Lyra—I mean it,” Twilight warned, before giving another sigh and glancing at Tink. “Oh, hi there, Tink. How are you feeling?”

“Okay,” Tink replied, answering the question for what felt like the thousandth time.

“Good. I heard about what happened, and I personally wrote to Princess Celestia regarding the matter,” Twilight said, her chest puffing out with pride. “Naturally, you’ll be looking to move out—which means, you’ll need somepony to go and collect your possessions. I could help you with that.”

Tink smiled. “Thanks,” she murmured, feeling relieved that she wouldn’t have to set hoof in that grimy old house again. The few possessions she owned were replaceable, all except one—a small crystal locket that had belonged to her mother. It contained two feathers—an everlasting primary from each of her parents—proof that they had once been living, breathing ponies, and not just forgotten remnants of a life she no longer had.

Twilight beamed, turning to Lyra. “Where is your coltfriend? I think I have something he’d quite like to see.”

“I bet you have a few things he’d like to see,” Lyra snickered, bringing a hoof up to her maw in an attempt to stifle her chuckling.

In a rather spectacular display of altering pigmentation, Twilight’s cheeks suddenly turned a bright, rosy magenta. “Oh… um, has he… um… nevermind,” the unicorn stuttered, wildly glancing around the corridor as though looking for a change of topic to spontaneously appear.

Lyra’s jaw dropped, her maw briefly opening in a dumbfounded expression before she began to giggle like a schoolfilly. Even Tink couldn’t help but crack a smile at Twilight’s little slip-up, and the subsequent adorkable display thereafter.

“Quiet you,” Twilight halfheartedly shot at Lyra, her face still bright red. “Come on, let’s go. This corridor isn’t even open,” she mumbled, evidently doing her best to ignore the still snickering unicorn as she magically refitted the blasted door. Lyra continued to chuckle, but complied—falling into a steady trot alongside the blushing lavender mare.

Tink followed the two unicorns out of the disused corridor, feeling a lot better than when she’d first stepped hoof into it.

* * *

The discreet sound of shallow breathing partially roused Kye from his glorious slumber, creating an odd contrast with his own slow, deep breaths. He barely acknowledged this somewhat odd phenomena, however, as he was still lost to the throes of semi-consciousness.

He could perceive, though, that he was incredibly comfortable. Sunlight was streaming onto his face, creating a pleasant warming sensation that complimented the exquisite heat coming from the unicorn draped across his body. A serious case of morning wood raged between his legs—a consequence of the alluring scent of female occupying the air.

He yawned, idly running his fingers through Rarity’s mane—or at least, he thought he was. His fingers brushed through the fine, soft fur of miniature ears, and onto an equally miniature, spiral engraved horn…

Wait… no. That’s ridiculous…

As a motor reflex—his right hand quickly moved to assess the validity of the information gathered by his left. The result was alarmingly congruous.

Aww, hell no!

Upon opening his eyes, they wasted no time in confirming his unsettling assumption. What he thought had been Rarity’s head on his chest was actually the fashionista’s little sister, Sweetie Belle.

Rarity was lying against his side with her back to him, still very much asleep. Sweetie Belle however, was sprawled on top of his naked body. Kye could even feel the little filly’s tail against… well... his own.

“Whoa... what the... Sweetie Belle!” he frantically whispered.

The little filly slowly opened her eyes and yawned. “Morning,” she purred, with an air of lazy nonchalance.

“T-This... this isn’t cool Sweetie. I’m naked!” Kye stuttered, hastily grabbing her tail and pulling it away from his dick. He tried to ignore the fact that various patches of the silky strands seemed to be coated with a thin film of moisture... moisture that had probably come from him. Oh god, why!

“So,” she said, nonplussed. One of her tiny ears flicked as he released her tail. She blinked, her youthful lips curling upwards into an innocent smile. “I still don’t get why you like clothes so much.”

“I told you... I told all of you. It’s just how things work where I come from.”

She gave him an adorable little bemused look. "But it's weird. You wear clothes like you have to, not just for fun—like ponies do. You know you don't have to in Equestria, right?"

He gave a sigh that turned into a light chuckle. "Yes, I know. But I still prefer wearing them," he said, quickly glancing around for his boxer shorts. He soon spotted them on the floor where Rarity had left them. "Hey Sweetie, I think I left my bike keys downstairs. Could you go get them for me?"

"Aww, do I have to?" the little filly whined, burying her cute little muzzle into his chest. "I'd rather stay here with you," she mumbled.

Kye almost caved, very nearly resigning himself to just cuddling the adorable little unicorn all day. Then, he remembered he was naked. "Yes."

"But-"

"It'll take you like, a minute—tops," he argued.

"But Kye..." The filly pouted.

Kye kept his resolve.

She then proceeded to lightly paw at his chest with one of her miniature hooves, whilst fluttering her eyelashes and cocking her head to the side… So not fair, Kye thought, barely restraining himself from scooping the little ball of adorableness up into a hug.

"Go," Kye urged, pointing at the door.

Sweetie Belle briefly stuck her tongue out at him before finally heeding his request, quickly scampering off the bed and out of the room.

Kye sighed with relief, taking the opportunity to gather up the various items of his clothing that littered the floor. He quickly dressed, having just pulled his shirt on when Sweetie Belle came bouncing back into the room.

"Found 'em," she announced, levitating the keys along in front of her.

Kye was mildly surprised, considering he'd only asked her to go check so he could get dressed. They must have fallen out of his pocket when Lyra teleported him. "Thanks," he said, slipping them back into his pocket.

"I wouldn’t wake her up, she can be real grouchy in the morning,” Sweetie Belle warned, gesturing a small hoof to her still-slumbering sister.

“Don't you have school today?” Kye asked, turning toward the couch. Fluttershy was still sleeping, though she looked a little uncomfortable. Her mane was tangled somewhat, and one of her forehooves was hanging haphazardly over the side.

“It’s Saturday,” Sweetie replied, deadpan.

“Oh, right.”

Without out even thinking, Kye scooped the slumbering pegasus up off the couch and sat down with her cradled in his arms. Her sleeping form conformed to his body: her forehooves seeking his chest, and her hindlegs curling around his hip. She gave a barely audible little sigh as her ears flattened against her mane, her breathing slow and steady.

Sweetie Belle giggled at his doting, but Kye barely even noticed—he was too busy admiring the beautiful pegasus in his arms. There was something about the her that utterly captivated his attention every time he was in her presence.

“Kye and Fluttershy sitting on a bed,” Sweetie Belle chanted, in a deliberately immature, sing-song voice.

“Really?”

The filly ignored him, lowering her voice to an eerie whisper. “Just be wary of her shed.”

“What?”

“Nothing,” she chirped. “You should probably put her down now, her wings are going all funny…”

Sure enough, Fluttershy’s wings were becoming rather rigid, and trying to extend between his arm and chest. In fact, the rest of her body had become pretty rigid as well, and her breathing had become inaudible.

“Hey, Kye, you wanna see a filly climb a tree?”

Before Kye could even so much as get a word out in response, Sweetie Belle hopped up to the bed and launched herself at Fluttershy.

“Eep!” the pegasus shrieked, to which Rarity responded with a half conscious groan of protest.

Sweetie Belle bounced off Kye’s chest, rolled over the bed and eventually ended up half-laying on her sister. Rarity refused to wake up, despite the giggling filly’s antics.

Kye rolled his eyes, glancing down to the pegasus still cradled in his arms. She had her forelegs held together like a meerkat, and her almost comically large, beautiful azure eyes were regarding him with timid curiosity. He could even see his reflection in them.

“M-Morning,” he stammered, suddenly unable to articulate properly. “Y-You looked pretty uncomfortable on the couch, s-so I…” Kye trailed off, distracted by her sweet smile. It was clear to see that she was a lot more comfortable around him after their shared nap the previous night.

Fluttershy snuggled into his chest, gazing up at him through now partially-hidden eyes. Kye brushed her mane out of her face, and she leaned her cheek into his touch. “What time is it?” she purred, her voice sounding sinfully seductive despite the noticeable grogginess.

“Eleven thirty,” Kye answered, ascertaining the answer from the clock on the wall.

“...Wait, what?” the pegasus exclaimed, her wings flaring as she sat up in Kye’s lap. “Oh, no—Angel—I should have been home hours ago! I have to go.”

With that, she leapt into the air, her wings spreading to keep her aloft as she quickly darted out of the room. Kye barely had time to mourn her departure before she reappeared in the doorway, flying right back at him with desire in her eyes. She slammed into his chest, nearly knocking him flat onto his back as she wrapped her wings and forelegs around him in a tight hug.

“I’ll see you later… um, if that’s okay,” Fluttershy whispered, softly nuzzling Kye’s neck, before taking flight once more.

Kye sighed as she once again flew through the doorway, already missing the adorable pegasus. He then inwardly slapped himself for being so needy. It wasn’t like him to pine after someone, or somepony, rather. In an effort to distract himself from his own plight, he glanced over to the suspiciously quiet filly laying on the bed.

Sweetie Belle had an uncharacteristically distant expression on her face as she gazed at the doorway Fluttershy had just flown through. It was only when Kye asked if she was feeling okay that she returned to her boisterous self.

“Yeah, so what’re we doing today?” she chirped, jumping into his now-vacant lap.

“We?”

His question was met with the filly’s trademark pout, along with more ridiculously adorable hoof pawing. It was pretty obvious he wouldn’t be able to deny her. “Fine, you can come with me.”

Sweetie Belle gave a loud “squee” of delight as she bounded out of the room, leaving Kye to wonder how he hadn’t collapsed due to sudden onset diabeetus.

* * *

The stares of a minority of residents seemed particularly unrestrained that morning, probably due to Kye travelling without his motorcycle, and only a sole underaged unicorn as his chaperone. Sweetie Belle appeared to be quite oblivious to the ogling ponies—most of which just happened to be mares—but Kye couldn’t help being a little weirded out. They weren’t regarding him with fear anymore. No. This was something else, something almost sinister in nature.

It was particularly unsettling when they were making their way through the marketplace, which—with it being a weekend—was packed. Tails swished, manes flicked, and suspiciously sultry gazes sought out the human through half-lidded eyes. A few pegasi landed on the rooftops of the surrounding buildings, not even attempting to disguise their intentions of getting a good look at him. A couple of them had landed rather forcefully, almost as if they had limited control of their wings…

Kye suddenly found himself wishing he had his motorcycle with him.

One of the few stallions that was busy doing his shopping looked rather flustered, sniffing the air and urging the elderly mare that was serving him to hurry up. Once the fleeting transaction was complete, he wasted no time in collecting his items and taking off at a semi-gallop, leaving behind a small cloud of dust.

Kye glanced around for any sign of other stallions. Maybe he could ask one of them just what the hell was goin-oh, fuck no!

Glossy pink coat, slightly untidy azure mane. Bat shit crazy glint in those big blue eyes. Kye gulped, already looking for an escape route. Unfortunately, he was pretty much surrounded by curious mares, and the one he really didn’t want to see was currently making her way towards him at an alarming rate.

Sweetie Belle finally seemed to notice Kye was attracting an unusual amount of attention from the market goers, and took it upon herself to make her presence known. “Hey!” she yelled, stepping in front of Kye and glaring at the overly inquisitive ponies.

One, maybe two of the mares spared her a glance, but the rest continued to advance on him. “I heard he can go for hours,” said one of them.

“D’you think it’s true? Is he really compatible with us?”

“If he is, then it’d be like having a free cooler—one that actually works.”

“Lyra is a lucky mare.”

“Some say he even does muzzle stuff, down there.”

Kye had the urge to scream, “I’m fucking right here, in front of you!” at the gossiping mares, but his downfall had arrived.

“‘Ello, Kye,” the Pink Menace softly spoke, her eyes probably already peeling off his clothes in her mind. She moved to nuzzle his crotch, but ended up headbutting… thin air… what the?

“My sister told me to keep an eye on you.”

Kye glanced down to find Sweetie Belle glaring at Aloe, her eyes unblinking through her sweat as she maintained a barely visible, green tinted force field.

Aloe gave the filly a sad little smile, bringing a pink hoof up to lightly tap against the weak manifestation. The action proved too much for the foal to handle, and the spell promptly failed. Fuck.

Sweetie Belle collapsed to the ground, clearly exhausted. Kye wasted no time in scooping her up and holding her securely against his chest. As if on cue, Aloe took the opportunity to actually freaking lick his denim clad crotch.

“Oi! Keep your tongue to yourself!” Kye yelped, stumbling backwards… right into the feathery embrace of a jasmine coated pegasus.

The mare was standing on her hind legs, her teal mane tickling Kye’s neck as she whispered into his ear. “Rut me… just don’t tell your alpha. She’s kinda scary.”

Kye twisted, breaking free of the mare’s embrace. She dropped back down on to all fours, her wings spread wide in arousal and fire in her eyes.

“Okay, seriously—what the hell is with you ponies?” Kye yelped. Muzzles were nudging him from all sides, tongues were seeking out his exposed flesh, one particularly amorous earth pony even tried to nibble on his bulge. He hastily slid a hand down in an attempt to shield the goods, but she just nibbled on that instead.

POP!

A shower of green sparks shot around fifty feet up into the air, before exploding with a rather large succession of bangs. Considering they had originated from an exhausted little foal, Kye was surprised she’d managed that much.

The noise distracted the majority of the crazed mares, but Aloe—who had one of Kye’s hands in her muzzle—was still very much intent on dragging him into a nearby alleyway to do Celestia knew what…

Kye tried to resist, but between keeping Sweetie Belle safe against his chest—and the Pink Deviant’s immense strength—he was having quite the struggle. He eventually managed to wrench his hand from her maw. “No,” he snapped, pointing at her as if admonishing an animal. To be fair, Aloe was kind of acting like one… She merely pouted, before gingerly licking his outstretched index finger in a bizarre, pseudo apology.

“Aloe!” yelled an angry, east European sounding accent. Kye, Aloe, and just about everypony else turned in unison to gaze at the glossy coated newcomer. “Zis eez not how ve act!”

Lotus trotted through the gathering of mares, flanked by Scootaloo and Apple Bloom, oddly enough. The little pegasus winked at Kye, whereas Apple Bloom just looked slightly bemused.

“Go! Go about your business, zere is nozzing to see here,” Lotus announced to the crowd, most of which obeyed her. The few stragglers that remained sharp turned tail and ran at her angry nicker.

“Oh, thank god…” Kye sighed in relief, dropping to his knees and pulling his azure coated boss into a hug. Lotus tensed up briefly, but quickly relaxed, reciprocating in kind.

“It eez not vize to be travelling alone today, Kye,” she warned, giving his cheek a friendly nuzzle. Aloe scowled. So did Sweetie Belle.

“I gathered that. Why is everypony being so… rapey?” he asked, whispering the last word.

“Eet eez heat veek.” She sighed, glancing Aloe. The mare fidgeted, her tail flicking as she stole lustful glances at Kye. Thankfully, though, the presence of her sister deterred her from making further advances.

“Wait a minute, heat week? What the hell does that mean?”

“Exactly vot it implies. Ze majority of ze mares in Ponyville vill be slightly… er, ‘ow you say… ‘ormonal, for around a veek,”

A chilling thought entered Kye’s mind. He almost resigned himself to just not asking the question poised on his lips, but he knew he had to know…

“How often does this happen?” he uttered, his voice barely a whisper.

Sweetie Belle nuzzled his chest, an unusually sombre expression adorning her features. Evidently, she knew the answer to that particular question. If her reaction was anything to go by, then Kye sure as hell wasn’t gonna like it.

Three words. Three words from the azure earth pony that elicited pure terror.

“Once a month!?” Kye repeated, almost screaming the words back at her. “You mean to tell me that for one out of four weeks I’m going to be stalked by crazed sexual deviants, pretty much all of which are considerably fucking stronger than me?”

“Vell, not if you’re smart.” Lotus smirked, pressing a hoof to his shoulder. At Kye’s incredulous look, she continued. “Zere are certain measures a stallion can take to ensure ‘e does not become a victim.”

“Please, do tell,” Kye muttered, fighting to keep the sarcasm from his voice as he got to his feet. Sweetie Belle dropped down from his embrace, trotting over to her friends.

Lotus smiled. “Stallions are excused from zere duties during heat veek, so zey are free to stay hidden, if zey vish.”

Kye still couldn’t shake his skepticism. It must have showed, as Lotus gave him a pitiful sigh. “Zere are other precautions you can take, but you vould have to ask Twilight Sparkle about zose.” She turned to her sister. “Come, ve have vork to do.”

“Wait, you’re leaving?” Kye blurted out, before realising how much of a pussy it made him sound. Dude! The fuck? He hastily cleared his throat. "I mean, you're leaving?" he asked again, in a tone that was less likely to invalidate his man card.

Lotus merely smiled again. “I’m sure zese three fillies vill keep you out ov ‘arms vay.” With that, she turned to leave.

Kye watched as the spa twins trotted off into the distance, feeling as emasculated as he ever had in his twenty-four years of being alive. He sighed, turning to the three fillies. Sweetie Belle maintained her sombre expression, Apple Bloom still looked a little bemused, but Scootaloo had a big, stupid grin on her face.

* * *

As the three mares neared the busy marketplace, Lyra couldn’t help but notice that both her unicorn and pegasus companion were being awfully quiet. Whilst said behaviour was to be expected—to a certain extent—from the latter, Twilight was usually more chatty. Normally, she’d have been about halfway through some lecture on advanced magical theory by now. But as it was—she trotted silently, her face void of expression.

Tinker Breeze, on the other hoof, appeared relatively content. She lagged slightly behind the two unicorns, a discreet little smile on her face as she absentmindedly stretched her healing wings. Soft, downy feathers fluttered in the summer breeze, carrying with it the scent of freshly cut grass, a hint of flora, and…

Lyra paused, sniffing the air.

She was certain her olfactory senses had been playing tricks on her, until she once again caught a subtle whiff of oestrogen tainted musk. “Oh dear…”

“Is something wrong?” Twilight asked, finally emerging from her thoughts.

“Do you smell that?”

Twilight gingerly sniffed the air a few times, before bringing a hoof up to her muzzle. “Where’s Kye?” she nervously asked.

“With Rar-”

“LYRA!”

The pony in question came barreling around the side of a nearby stall, causing the elderly merchant pony running it to yell incoherently in protest. She skidded to a halt next to Lyra in a cloud of dust, scrunching her face up in anxiety.

“Where’s Kye?” Lyra and Rarity both asked in unison.

A tense silence followed, broken only by the soft sound of Tink folding her wings against her sides. The pegasus nervously glanced between the two unicorns, almost as if she was afraid they were about to start duelling.

Lyra raised her eyebrows, and Rarity’s ears drooped. “He’d already left by the time I woke up,” she mumbled.

Lyra brought a hoof to her face, her own ears now also pointing at the ground. Of all the times for Kye to wander off to do a little exploring, this was certainly not an ideal one. “We need to find him. Now,” she said, her tone demanding full compliance.

Twilight and Rarity nodded, whereas Tink looked oddly frightened. Lyra frowned, confused by the mare’s reaction.

“Okay,” she squeaked, before flaring her wings and launching herself into the air.

Needless to say, she didn’t get very far.

After a failed attempt at flapping her wings, and a sharp cry of pain, Tink fell back down like a lead brick. She would have hit the ground if Lyra hadn’t caught her in a levitation field.

“What are you doing?” Lyra softly asked, gently depositing the pegasus on the ground and putting a hoof around her shoulder. “The doctor said no flying.”

The pegasus blinked. “B-But you said we n-needed to find him,” she stuttered, wincing slightly as she folded her wings.

“Well, we do, but I’d rather we not injure ourselves in the process.” Lyra chuckled, giving the silly mare a friendly nuzzle. Tink promptly turned a rather adorable shade of magenta. “Come on, let’s go and see if he made it home.”

Lyra set off at a brisk trot, seriously considering keeping Kye on a magical tether once she managed to find him. She didn’t care that he’d be offended; it was dangerous for him to be alone during this perilous time of the month. Twilight and Rarity exchanged worried looks before following suit, Tink ambling along after them.

* * *

“Make it do the awesome noise again.”

“...wait, there was a button here somewhere.”

“It won’t work. There’s no um… p-p… petrul?”

Sweetie Belle glanced to Kye, seeking confirmation that she had succeeded in pronouncing the word correctly. Kye nodded, too miserable to correct her.

He and the three fillies had arrived at his new house to discover that somepony had made quite a mess of his garage door. It had been torn from its frame, and currently lay on the floor—sporting several hoof indentations to compliment the hole Lyra had previously melted in the center. At first, Kye had assumed somepony had tried to steal his motorcycle. But then, he’d spotted the culprit standing right next to it, casually sniffing the seat.

“What’s petrul?” Scootaloo asked, glancing down at Kye from her perch atop the petrol tank.

“The stuff that makes it make the awesome noise,” Kye lazily replied. He was currently sitting on the floor with his back against the stone bricks of the garage wall, unable to move due to the grey earth pony half-lying on him. “Umm, Tavi? Loving the cuddles and everything, but I really wanna get to fixing my bike,” he whispered, gently scratching behind the mare’s ear.

Her only response was to give a barely audible whimper, before pressing her muzzle into his chest and inhaling deeply. One of her hind legs twitched a couple of times. Kye sighed in defeat, looking at his ride. The fairing was all but completely destroyed. The plastic that wasn’t cracked had huge scuffs in the paintwork where it had slid along the gravel, one of the front indicators was hanging by its wires, and one of the crash bungs was bent out of shape. Without any tools, Kye had no idea how he was going to repair the damage. He vaguely remembered asking Luna for help, but he didn’t know how much the alicorn would actually be able to do.

He closed his eyes, not wanting to look at his mangled motorcycle any longer. The distant sounds of the local wildlife greeted his ears, only to be drowned out by a rather sudden blast of dubstep. Octavia’s ears perked up, the mare seeming to come to her senses a little.

Kye opened his eyes, just in time to see a bizarre contraption roll up in front of the garage. It consisted of two large PA speakers—one on either side of a subwoofer—and featured a large blue horseshoe in the middle. The whole apparatus appeared to be mounted on castor wheels. A set of decks was attached to the top of the subwoofer, and none other than Vinyl Scratch was perched behind them. The weird vehicle—and the music—came to a halt, the unicorn telekinetically lifting her shades to peer into the garage.

Upon spotting Octavia, Vinyl grinned deviously. “Thought I’d find you here,” she chuckled, not quite managing to disguise the delight in her voice at finding her friend in such an embarrassing situation.

Octavia scowled. “What do you want?” she growled, her tail now flicking in agitation as well as lust.

“Oh, nothing. I just wanted your opinion on a new track I’m mixing. I didn’t realise you’d be so, ahem… preoccupied,” the DJ teased, flicking her eyes to Kye. “Y’know, a gentlecolt would be doing his duty right about now. Just sayin’.”

Kye lowered his eyebrows. “You feel like foalsitting?” he deadpanned, gesturing to the three fillies. Apple Bloom had somehow managed to climb up onto one of the turntables, and was now rotating in circles with a dizzy look on her face. Scootaloo was perched next to her, grinning as she randomly pressed buttons and turned various dials. The speakers suddenly burst into life.

“Point taken,” Vinyl chuckled, smiling at the curious fillies just as an epic bass drop tore through the garage.

Sweetie Belle jumped in shock at the volume. She ran over to Kye, slamming into his chest and clinging to him. Kye scooped her up, firing a disapproving glance at the DJ. Vinyl grinned, heeding his unspoken request. Her horn flashed and the volume dropped, just as another white unicorn slammed into his side. Kye shifted, squinting to identify the newcomer. The large amount of silky, purple mane was a dead giveaway.

“-an’t believe you left without me! I was worried sick! Do you know how dangerous it is for a stallion to be out alone this time of month?” Rarity anxiously talked at him, practically crushing his ribs with her embrace.

“Hey! He wasn’t alone,” Sweetie Belle loudly reminded her sister, just as Lyra trotted into the garage.

Kye smiled at his alpha. She responded with a wink, and trotted over to give him an affectionate little nuzzle. “Try not to make a habit of wandering off.”

Before he could respond, she plucked Octavia from his lap in a levitation field. The earth pony yelped in surprise as she was floated off into the kitchen. Lyra trotted along in her wake, nary a care in the world.

The door closed behind them, and Kye couldn’t help but wonder what Lyra was trying to accomplish. A few lewd speculations came to mind, but he quickly discarded them as mere fantasy.

“What happened here?” said a familiar voice.

Glancing to the mangled garage door, Kye spotted Twilight inspecting the damage. To her left stood an achingly familiar grey pegasus with a distinctive red and black mane and tail. It was funny, as that particular colour combination would’ve been woefully garish on anypony else, but this little pegasus somehow managed to make it work.

“Tink! You’re out of hospital!” Kye exclaimed, stupidly stating the obvious.

“Umm, yes… hi,” she squeaked, nervously glancing at Vinyl’s bizarre contraption, then at the various ponies dotted throughout the garage.

It took a few seconds for Kye to realise that she probably felt a little uncomfortable with all the unfamiliar faces. Evidently, Vinyl had noticed as well. The DJ nodded to Kye, Rarity, and Twilight, simultaneously lowering her shades and lifting the two curious foals off the decks with her magic. She gently set them down next to the motorcycle. "Later," she said with a grin, her contraption beginning to roll away the second she stepped hoof onto it.

Rarity and Twilight bade the DJ farewell, and Kye quickly waved her off as he got to his feet. Once the contraption was out of sight, he turned to Tink.

“Come on, let me show you around.” He grinned, gesturing a hand to the kitchen door. The pegasus was somewhat hesitant at first, but upon seeing Rarity’s encouraging smile, she padded towards Kye.

The crusader fillies had once again resigned themselves to playing on his bike. Twilight appeared to be examining the turbocharger, no doubt trying to decipher its secrets. Kye shook his head in amusement, leading Tink into the kitchen.

He proceeded to give her a brief tour of the house. The furniture he’d purchased since moving in was sparse, but enough to make the place feel like a home. The lounge however, did look a little empty, what with the lack of a television. But thankfully, Lyra had filled the empty corner space with her golden Lyre. Kye still had yet to hear her play, but kept forgetting to ask her.

"Y'know, there's a bed in the spare bedroom, if you'd rather not sleep on the couch," Kye said as they climbed the open-plan staircase. He'd insisted she go first—in the interest of being a gentleman—but soon found himself blushing at the unexpected, yet nonetheless pleasant view.

"Anywhere is fine," Tink squeaked, completely oblivious to the reaction she had unintentionally wrought.

Kye mentally slapped himself for letting his eyes wander. Tink had survived a horrific ordeal; she certainly didn't need anypony—or human in this case—lusting after her.

They reached the top of the staircase. The door to the master bedroom was closed, and Kye had a sneaking suspicion of what was going on behind it. He quickly gestured to the spare bedroom, following his feathered companion inside.

With the bits Rarity had near-enough forced him to accept, Kye had managed to make even the spare bedroom liveable. He still hadn’t got round to decorating yet, but there was indeed a bed, a small dresser, and a set of blinds for the window.

“So, when are you going to get your belongings?” Kye asked, idly peering through the blinds. With the Chrome herd’s residence presumably unoccupied for the time being, it would be an ideal opportunity for them to collect Tink’s possessions without too much fuss. “I’m assuming you still have a key?”

“I, um… they never gave me a key.”

Kye turned to look at her, his frown deepening. Tink was looking at the floor, her ears flat to her head. To think those horrible bastards hadn’t even deemed her worthy enough to have a key to her own home… He turned back to the window, trying to quell his rage. “Well, you can have my key to this place.”

“What? N-No, you need it-”

“Lyra has a key. I’ll just get her to go to the hardware store to get another one cut,” he concluded, reaching into his shirt to pull the loop of ribbon from around his neck. The key dangled on the end of it.

“B-But…” Tink stuttered, gazing up at him with those beautiful, blue eyes as he approached. Kneeling down in front of her, Kye placed the ribbon around her neck.

“Are you sure about-”

The rest of her sentence was slightly muffled, due to Kye pulling her into a hug. He moved a hand up to scratch behind her ears—something he’d learned was a friendly gesture, but not too intimate as to cause offence. Tink shivered in his arms, and Kye thought he heard the tiniest little squeak as she nuzzled into his chest.

“I want you to know that you’ll always be welcome here,” he whispered, holding her close.

Tink gave a muffled sob, her forehooves wrapping around his chest, and her wings spreading to embrace his shoulders. A few blissful moments passed, during which Kye simply enjoyed her company.

Unfortunately, Octavia chose that moment to give a rather loud, explicitly lewd moan. Kye failed to suppress a smile. He also failed to stop that smile from turning into a slight chuckle. Quickly jumping to his feet, he cleared his throat. “Perhaps we should continue.”

Tink nodded, her cheeks burning with embarrassment.

Their next stop was the bathroom, its sparkling blue tiles glinting in the light from the large bay window. The glass was blurred, no doubt to deter the prying eyes of any unruly pegasi.

“Wow,” Tink exclaimed.

Kye smiled, glancing at the awestruck pegasus. “You like?”

“It’s big.”

Kye grinned, barely stopping himself from saying, “that’s what they say.” It was only when it occurred to him that “they” most likely wouldn’t say anything of the sort that his grin faded somewhat. Tink gazed up at him with a heart-stoppingly adorable, puzzled expression, and Kye lost his train of thought.

He grinned again. “That’s what I thought, too.”

She smiled, and the simple radiance of her expression warmed his heart. “Thank you for letting me stay here, Kye.”

Unable to stop himself, Kye dropped to his knees again and embraced her once more. “I wouldn’t dream of seeing you out on the street.”

The pegasus suddenly gave the softest moan of pleasure. Kye frowned in confusion, until he realised where his left hand was. He’d subconsciously began running his fingers through the sweet spot in her mane. “Sorry,” he quickly said, retracting the offending digits.

“Don’t be, I… I like it.”

Kye smiled, but ultimately settled for holding her close to his chest. She needed to recover. After all, there would be plenty of time to get to know her in the future.

* * *

“How’d you do that?”

Twilight barely even registered the little unicorn’s question, much too busy trying to persuade the polymers of the strange material to bond together again. It had taken precisely seven and a quarter minutes to determine the structure of the chemical compounds, and she was now very close to discovering a viable method of rearranging them into their original format. After a few more attempts, the cracks and scratches slowly disappeared, leaving no indicators that there had ever been damage at all.

“Practice,” Twilight finally replied as the last of the damage melted away. Sweetie Belle gazed at the newly repaired motorcycle in awe, gently running her forehooves over the seamless material.

"... Wish I could do that," the filly muttered, more to herself than anypony else.

"You'll get there one day, Sweetie," Twilight reassured.

Focusing once again on the motorcycle, Twilight allowed magic to flow through her horn. A simple X-ray vision spell revealed the machine's daunting complexity beneath the panel she had just repaired. "Wow," she breathed. The technology was simply astounding—years, maybe even decades ahead of anything currently available in Equestria.

The electrical circuitry alone was mind boggling. Kye’s species had somehow managed to successfully harness and commercialise what was essentially lightning, and safely use it as not only a power source, but a means of data transfer as well... And then there was the "engine" as Kye often called it. Twilight could see the cylinders he'd mentioned, but she could also see a lot of other things—most of which she had no clue as to what their purpose could be.

"Um... Twilight, dear, are you okay?" Rarity asked.

Twilight blinked, letting the spell fade. "Kye's explanation of how this machine works doesn't do it justice. It’s amazing."

"Yes dear, we've already established th-"

“Holy crap…”

All eyes turned to the kitchen door, where Kye stood staring at his motorcycle, his jaw practically touching the floor. Tink trotted up behind him, a small smile on her face as she too glanced at the two wheeled contraption.

“Y-You fixed it…”

“Yes,” Twilight beamed, “It was easy once I figured out the molecular structure of the mphh-”

Her words were suddenly muffled by Kye’s surprisingly firm chest. “Oh my god, I freaking love you, you little purple genius!” he cried, hugging her tight.

Twilight gave a muffled squeak, thoroughly overcome by the strange sensations of the human’s sudden proximity—as well as his bold proclamation. Her heart fluttered in her chest as she took in his scent; the exotic aroma driving her senses to a fever pitch. Her cheeks burned red as her ears began to flick involuntarily. It was suddenly a lot clearer why Lyra had chosen him as a mate.

“Oh, so you’ll say it to her?”

Twilight froze. So did Kye.

All eyes turned once again to the kitchen doorway. Lyra was casually leaning against the doorframe, sporting a particularly sly grin. She was clearly happy about something, and Twilight had long since learned that a happy Lyra often meant trouble was just around the corner.

Kye opened his mouth to say something, but the unicorn spoke first. "You're grounded."

"Look, Lyra, I... Wait, what!?"

"You heard me."

The crusaders stopped what they were doing, swivelling their little ears to listen in. Kye looked as though he'd just been told he could never race again. "You can't ground me; I'm a grown-ass man!"

Lyra giggled. "Hell yeah I can—I just did."

"Why?"

"Because you'll probably end up locked in some mare's basement, otherwise."

Comprehension dawned on his features. He let go of Twilight and got to his feet, deliberately raising himself to his full height. She nearly fell over at his sudden absence, not realising she had been leaning on him for most of the conversation. With a small blush, she steadied herself, quickly dismissing the confusing thoughts trying to form in her mind.

"I can handle a few frisky ponies," he scoffed.

Lyra smiled, taking a step towards him. "Is that so?" Her horn began to glow.

Kye’s confident expression diminished somewhat, but he stood his ground. “I said frisky ponies, not overpowered Still Way prodigies…”

Lyra chuckled at his comment. “Rarity, what do you think, dear?”

Kye gave the fashionista a pleading look, but it was to no avail. “I’m sorry, darling, but it would be rather foolish of you to venture out over the next week,” she said, trotting over to affectionately rub her side against him. “Celestia forbid what would happen if you fell into the wrong mare’s hooves.”

Kye scowled, but scratched behind her ears anyway. This earned a little squeal of delight from Rarity, and Twilight couldn’t stop herself from wondering what those dexterous appendages felt like.

Sweetie Belle—apparently done merely observing the argument—hopped onto her sister’s back. Rarity jumped in surprise, but Sweetie had already launched herself into Kye’s arms. He barely caught her, not expecting the filly to pounce. “I don’t think he should be grounded,” she boldly pronounced to both Lyra and her sister, “and I’m sure they don’t either.” She gestured to her friends.

Scootaloo and Apple Bloom both nodded, and Kye grinned rather smugly at his alpha. “That’s three against two. Read it and weep,” he chuckled, affectionately ruffling Sweetie’s mane. The filly giggled, wrapping her forelegs around his neck.

Rarity rolled her eyes. “Foals don’t count.”

“No, no, I’ll allow it,” Lyra said, holding up a hoof and sporting a particularly confident smile on her face. She turned to the grey pegasus that had been doing a rather good job of hiding in the corner and evading the debate—up until now. “Tink, what do you think?”

The pegasus was so startled at suddenly being asked her opinion that she gave a little squeak and fluttered her wings in fright. Lyra was quick to give her an encouraging smile, though. “Um… I…” she started, nervously glancing between the hopeful human and the smiling unicorn. Her eyes eventually settled on Lyra, her ears laying flat. “... I-I think Kye should stay indoors.”

Lyra grinned, whilst disappointment briefly clouded Kye’s features. He was quick to move things along, however. Unfortunately for Twilight, that meant all eyes were now on her. Oh dear… He set Sweetie Belle down on the motorcycle.

“Twilight.” Her name rolled off his tongue, almost exaggerating the syllables. Dropping to his knees in front of her, he claimed one of her hooves in both of his hands and gazed into her eyes. Oh dear, oh dear… “If anypony can talk some sense into Little Miss Dominatrix over here, then it’s you,” he purred.

Twilight gulped. Heart rate quickening, ears twitching of their own accord. His hands felt warm against her hoof, not as as warm as her cheeks had suddenly become, though. Lyra snorted, seemingly oblivious to Twilight’s inner turmoil. “Dominatrix, yeah, quit pretending you don’t love it when I’m in charge.”

“I’m not loving it now,” Kye deadpanned.

“Well, hard luck, honey. I own you, remember?” Lyra chuckled.

Kye scoffed, rolling his eyes. “Twilight, tell her to stop being so old fashioned.”

Twilight cleared her throat, if only an attempt to hide her giddiness. Kye’s hands still held her hoof. His look was one of near desperation. Lyra merely looked expectant. After a few tense seconds, Twilight decided on a compromise—though, she knew Kye wouldn’t like it. “How about one last outing?”

Kye’s face fell. “Twiiii!” he groaned, giving her a fake pout.

“Just hear me out. It really is dangerous out there—not just for you, but any stallion. The worst is still to come, but you could probably get away with one last outing.”

Kye huffed, getting to his feet. “Fine, but I’m going alone.”

A barrage of feminine protest shot through the garage. Even Tink was giving Kye a stern look, almost as though he’d suggested going skydiving without a parachute.

“Hell no. I’m going with you,” Lyra shot at him.

“As am I!” Rarity chimed in.

“Me too!” Sweetie Belle chirped. Scootaloo smirked, nudging Apple Bloom and whispering something into her ear. Sweetie Belle didn’t seem to notice, though.

“Alright, everypony calm down!” Twilight all but yelled. The room fell silent. “I think Kye should go alone.”

Lyra made a motion to protest, but Twilight held up a hoof. “... on one condition.”

“What’s that?” Kye asked.

“You take your motorcycle.”

Kye rolled his eyes. “It’s empty.”

“Yes, but you said it has another power source. The battery still has stored chemical energy, right?”

“Well, yeah,” he said, taking a key from his pocket and sliding it into a slot near the front of the machine, “but not much.”

A brief whirring sounded, followed by a faint click. Kye sighed.

Twilight smiled, casting her X-ray spell once more. After a brief scan of the internal mechanics of the machine, she found what she was looking for. A large collection of carbon atoms, surrounded by trillions of free electrons. Hoping her calculations were correct, she cast a low powered duplication spell. Her tongue ran the length of her lips as she concentrated on increasing the number of electrons, whilst taking care to avoid overloading the battery.

“Umm… Twi?” Kye said.

Twilight persevered with her spell, even though it must have looked like she was zoning-out to the others. After a few more seconds of focus, she blinked, the magic fading from her horn.

Kye was giving her a rather confused look.

“Try it now,” she said, grinning at him.

Kye shrugged, turning the key once more. The machine made the same whirring sound, followed by the click. Only this time, Kye’s face lit up in surprise. “... W-What? But… how?”

Twilight began to explain, but for the second time that afternoon, she was cut off by Kye’s unexpected embrace. She gingerly patted his back with a hoof, wary of Lyra grinning at the display in her peripheral vision.

“Can we keep her?” Kye suddenly asked his alpha.

Twilight blushed. She had no idea how to react to such an unusual question about her. She settled for burying her face into his chest in an attempt to hide her embarrassment. The crusaders giggled at the scene.

Lyra gave a mock sigh. “If we must, but she’s your responsibility.”

Grinning, Kye gave Twilight one last squeeze before getting to his feet. Her cheeks were still burning, and she attempted to avoid everypony’s gaze.

“I’m serious. If she craps on the carpet, I will fucking end you.”

The whole room burst into fits of giggles. Twilight groaned, her mortification intensifying. Lyra gave a guilty grin.

Kye swung his leg over the motorcycle, picking it up off it’s stand. “Later,” he chuckled, his face full of joy at getting to ride again. Twilight felt a comforting sense of accomplishment upon seeing how happy he was. She had done that, and she was more proud of it than she would ever admit.

Just as he was about to pull away, Sweetie Belle clambered up to her perch atop the machine, clamping her teeth down onto the tether.

“Sweetie, Kye said he wanted to go alone…” Rarity began to say, but the motorcycle had already whirred out of the garage, leaving behind a trail of dust in its wake.

* * *

Eight gloriously green little bars shone from the yoke-mounted power module, just visible over the top of Sweetie Belle's mane. Kye hadn't a clue how she’d done it, but Twilight had managed to charge the dual-carbon battery almost to capacity. It hadn't even taken her thirty seconds... Not only that, but she’d actually talked Lyra out of acting like an obsessed, overprotective parent.

He would have to think of some way to make it up to her; perhaps a gift of some sort. Only, he had no idea what she liked, or what would be considered appropriate...

"Go left, here," Sweetie Belle said, pulling Kye from his thoughts.

The filly was clutching his arm with one hoof and pointing to an old dirt track that wound up the side of a hill. It looked like it led to a secluded part of Sweet Apple Acres. Kye complied, turning the bars and opening the throttle. The motor whirred enthusiastically as the trees began flashing by at an alarming rate.

Sweetie Belle giggled, clutching his arm a little tighter. “Faster!” she yelled above the sound of the rushing wind.

Kye grinned. Hunching over, he began to slowly open the throttle further. The loss of traction light blinked a warning at him in response, and sure enough—the back began end twitching on the loose road-surface. Ugh… Equestrian highways suck…

Backing off the power, he let the bike roll steadily up to the top of the hill, eventually stopping by a large oak tree. Sweetie Belle hopped off the tank and began stretching her legs in a way that strongly reminded him of a housecat.

"This is where I come when I need to think," she said, turning to gaze out over the landscape.

The entire town was visible from the top of the hill, as well as the farm buildings of Sweet Apple Acres, Canterlot Mountain, the Everfree Forest and Whitetail Woods. All were surrounded by the same vast, rolling green hills that had fascinated him on his first day in Equestria. Even now, they struck him as alarmingly surreal, yet pleasantly serene. This place truly was nothing like Earth, and if Kye was honest with himself, he was grateful.

"What are you thinking right now?"

“Huh?” Kye blinked, looking down at Sweetie Belle. She was sitting by the enormous tree trunk, gazing up at him with a wistful expression. “Oh, just thinking about my old world,” he sighed, sitting down next to her and leaning against the wood. Sweetie Belle climbed into his lap and nuzzled his chest.

“Do you miss it?”

Kye thought back to the long, tedious days at work; the spit-showers from his unbearable supervisor, the ridiculous time schedules, the horrendous rush hour traffic… And that was just the daytime. His evenings were often spent alone, dreading the next working day. The only thing he really missed from Earth was his family, even though he rarely saw them to begin with.

“Sometimes,” he answered, idly scratching behind her ears. Sweetie Belle leaned into his touch, her little ears tickling his palms as she smiled up at him with her eyes closed. They both sat in silence for a while, content to just let the world roll on by.

Kye’s thoughts once again drifted towards his family. Some of the sadness that usually overcome him when reminiscing about them had been replaced by a twinge of guilt. He’d thought about them less and less as of late, and it was starting to feel like he didn’t even know them anymore. Visits had been few and far between in the months leading up to the TT, what with all the overtime Kye had had to work to pay for the trip… Of course, they’d been busy with their own lives as well, but he couldn’t help regretting not making more of an effort to see them.

A gentle flick of Sweetie Belle’s tail against his leg brought him back to the present. “Kye…” she whispered, her voice barely audible over the sound of the summer breeze. “Do you think I’m pretty?”

Caught off guard slightly, Kye blinked. “Of course I do. You’re adorable!” he half laughed, giving her a light squeeze in emphasis.

The filly frowned, and Kye’s grin faltered somewhat. Evidently, that wasn’t what she’d wanted to hear. “I meant, do you think I’m pretty like Rarity is?”

A very uncomfortable penny dropped in Kye’s brain. Oh dear… He attempted to think of an appropriate response, but dealing with problems of a delicate nature in a tactful manner often eluded him…

Sweetie Belle began to say something else, but she was interrupted by a muffled snicker from somewhere above them. Kye looked up to the branches of the oak tree. What he saw did not sit well with him.

Instantly forgetting the awkwardness of their discussion, Kye hugged Sweetie Belle to his chest and leapt to his feet. A ridiculously proportioned serpent… thing was wrapped around a branch, its goat-like head hanging down to where they’d been sitting a moment ago. Its body was a mismatched collection of animal parts that had no business having anything to do with each other, yet they were all arranged to form its utterly bizarre physique.

“Oh, don’t stop on my account!” it laughed, dropping the ear-trumpet it had been holding in a fit of giggles, “this is priceless!” Kye surmised that it was male, given that it spoke in a deep, unsettlingly articulate voice.

“Oh, shut up, Discord!” Sweetie Belle growled at the creature, “Nopony likes you!”

Kye hastily took a few steps back towards his bike, barely even registering that his little unicorn companion appeared to be on first name terms with the creature. All he wanted to do was get the hell out of there.

The creature gave an exaggerated gasp, dramatically clutching its chest with a paw. Its other forelimb appeared to be a claw. It just didn’t make sense, biologically speaking… “Sweetie Belle! You cut me deep!”

The filly in Kye’s arms scowled. “What do you want?”

The aptly named “Discord” slid down from the tree, raising himself up to his full height—which was considerably taller than Kye. “I merely wish to be acquainted with Ponyville’s newest celebrity.”

The manner in which he pronounced the last word made Kye’s skin crawl. Despite coming to terms with the fact that they weren’t in any danger, he still wanted to get them the hell out of there.

Discord, however, had other ideas. “I thought you’d be taller,” he said, taking a step forward with his cloven hoof.

Kye grimaced. His brain still hadn’t quite decided if the specimen before him was, in fact, real, and not just a cruel manifestation of his imagination.

“I do hope for your sake the wind doesn’t change; your face might stay like that forever,” Discord casually commented. “Then again, such an occurrence may just be an improvement…”

The derogatory quip brought Kye out of his short-term speechlessness. “What the actual fuck are you supposed to be?”

Discord gave another overdramatic gasp. “Such language! Have you forgotten there is a foal present?” he chastised, motioning to the still-glaring filly. “Even if she has been having less than innocent thoughts about you, you’d do well to use your filter.” He was clearly going for a look of indifference, but he failed to hide the smug grin that plastered itself all over his face.

Sweetie Belle suddenly looked as though she was trying to make his head explode with nothing but her thoughts. “Go to Tartarus, Discord!”

Kye decided enough was enough. Discord may not have been dangerous, but he was a bit of an asshole. Quickly depositing the fuming filly on the tank, Kye swung his leg over his ride and mashed his thumb on the starter button.

The engine fired… for all of about three seconds. It was enough to distract Discord, though. Without wasting any more time, Kye opened the throttle. The rear wheel promptly sprayed a bunch of dirt and dead leaves everywhere as the bike took off down the track.

Grinning in light of his problem solving skills, Kye glanced into the mirror—only to recoil in horror. A violently purple, blue-spotted scooter was in pursuit, with Discord sitting atop it like a cheery merekat. In no time at all, it had caught up and pulled alongside the R1.

“Lovely riding weather we’re having, don’t you think?” Discord casually chattered over the clattering of the two-stroke engine, “The pegasi must have got their bonus this week.”

“...the fuck?” Kye yelled. There was no fucking way he was about to be upstaged by a hair dryer on wheels. His right wrist flicked, and the bike surged forward, pulling slightly ahead.

It was at that precise moment the rear shock gave a particularly violent jolt, and Kye felt something wrap around his sides. It took every ounce of restraint not to lock the brakes in panic. Instead, he threw a glance over his shoulder. A large amount of what looked—and smelled—like cotton candy obscured his vision.

“Hi! Oh my gosh, this is sooo fun! No wonder I never see you walk anywhere.”

God damned pink horse!

“Pinkie Pie, you scared the crap out of me!”

“I did?” she said, glancing down at his ass.

Kye slapped a hand to his face, backing off the throttle lest he lose control of the now-crowded motorcycle. “What are you even… Where did you… How?” he spluttered, trying to figure out where the hell she’d come from as they turned off the old dirt track and headed back into town.

Pinkie seemed unperturbed by Discord’s presence. In fact, she appeared quite happy to see him.

“Hi, Discord!”

Discord did not reciprocate the enthusiasm. “Oh, hello, Pinkie Pie,” he said, giving her a weary look.

“I didn’t see you at Gummy’s birthday par-woahh… Kye, what are y-WAHHH!”

Having no interest in being anywhere near Discord anymore—and having encountered a more Bridgestone-friendly surface—Kye chose that moment to open the throttle. All the way.

Pinkie Pie screamed. A lot.

Discord began to fall behind as the bike shot through the town square like a rocket, ponies in the street barely managing to jump out of the way. Pinkie was nearly crushing Kye’s ribs by the time they tore past Pony Fountain. Damned earth ponies and their strength.

Kye chuckled… until he saw Discord effortlessly keeping up alongside him… riding sidesaddle… whilst drinking a cup of tea… he even had a fucking saucer.

“Biscuit?” he said, offering Kye a bourbon.

Pinkie paused in her screaming long enough to accept the offering. “Thanks!” she said, quickly wolfing it down then immediately going back to screaming at the top of her lungs.

Kye merely gaped in shock. But… how? The speedometer was showing one hundred and twelve miles per hour… How the fuck could that little scooter… Oh.

Kye slammed on the brakes. The tyres screeched loudly against the smooth stone of the high street, the bike eventually coming to a complete stop next to a group of mares. Fucking magic. Evidently, unicorns weren’t the only creatures that could break the laws of physics. Speaking of which…

“Woohoo! Can we do that again? It was really fun!”

Sweetie Belle giggled at Pinkie’s cheering as Discord pulled up to a stop beside them. “Not very social, are we?” he pouted, “Or, maybe it’s just me?”

He snapped the long digits of his paw, and the scooter disappeared with a flash. A long, fancy-looking couch that looked suspiciously similar to the one Rarity kept in her Boutique took its place. Discord flopped down onto it, holding his claw to his forehead. “Oh, woe is me! Celestia knows I have trouble making friends.”

Kye rolled his eyes. He was beginning to find Discord’s sarcasm extremely annoying, and to make matters worse, the group of mares they’d stopped beside were beginning to take notice of him. Fucking ponies and their twisted perceptions…

Discord also seemed to notice the mares’ interest. “If only I was more like you, then I’d have no problem making friends,” he said, snapping his paw once more. The couch disappeared, and he was suddenly leaning against a streetlamp, wearing a… Fucking really?

He was dressed in a purple leopard skin suit with flared pants, a matching fedora, and had a long, thin cane in his claw. His paw appeared about twice as large as it normally did, and he bore a smug expression. “Perhaps I could be your… ahem… manager.”

Kye glared at him. “You have got to be fucking kidding me…” Behind him, Pinkie Pie gleefully snickered into her hooves.

When one of the mares—an overly-curious pegasus—attempted to sniff his crotch, Kye decided that he’d had quite enough of his “one last outing” and acknowledged that a week spent indoors suddenly wasn’t sounding so bad. Perhaps he could catch up on Sudoku, or something…

Without so much as a second glance at Discord, Kye blindly twisted the throttle. The bike gave a violent jolt, then promptly fell over. The curious mare gave a start and galloped away.

Oh, for fucks sake!

Managing to stay on his feet, somehow, Kye quickly scooped a confused-looking Sweetie Belle to his chest before she slid off the tank. Pinkie Pie, however, wasn’t so lucky. She ended up falling flat on her face. It didn’t seem to bother her in the slightest.

Throwing a hateful glance at Discord, Kye inspected his motorcycle. To his utmost displeasure, he discovered that the wheels were now square.

A string of rather colourful swear-words exploded from his mouth. Pinkie Pie actually blushed. Discord, however, merely looked pleased with himself. “I decided your mechanical steed could do with a couple of… improvements.”

Kye scowled. “What the… Corner?” he stuttered. Further inspection of his utterly useless wheels revealed that they were now branded with the word “Cornerstone.”

“This isn’t funny,” Kye pointed to the bike in emphasis, his arm shaking with barely contained rage. “Fix it. Now.”

Discord crossed his forelimbs and pouted. “I thought you’d like it.”

Kye was about to come back with an angry retort, but he was distracted by the sight of a speeding pegasus soaring toward them over the rooftops. Even in her haste, she looked devastatingly beautiful.

“Discord!”

Upon hearing her voice, Discord hastily snapped his paw. The pimp outfit vanished, as did his smug grin. “Hello, Fluttershy. I merely sought to-”

“No!” Fluttershy cut him off, her hooves slamming into the ground next to the fallen motorcycle. “I told you to stay away from him until I could introduce the two of you properly!”

Kye’s anger dissipated somewhat. He’d never seen the timid pegasus so angry before; it was a little unsettling. The memory of two blazing, paralysis-inducing eyes came to mind… Thankfully though, she didn’t resort to that terrifying stunt.

“Yes, but I thoug-”

“Go. Now.” Her voice was edged with steel.

A peculiar expression fell like a shadow across Discord’s features. It took Kye a second glance to notice it was genuine sadness, something the creature hadn’t shown up until this point. He snapped his claw, and the motorcycle wheels returned to normal. Another snap, and he was gone.

Fluttershy slowly released a sigh. Her beautiful blue eyes were wide and apologetic, causing him to forget all about his anger at Discord. Hell, they could probably cause him to forget to breathe…

Pinkie Pie snickered from behind the motorcycle, rather breaking the moment. “You look funny when you’re mad, ‘Shy.”

The pegasus rolled her eyes at the comment, causing Kye to blink. He’d still been staring into their depths like a lovestruck idiot. Unconsciously shaking his head, he picked the bike up off the ground, groaning when he spotted the fresh scratches on the fairing. He would have to do some grovelling to Twilight later…

“Thanks, Flutter-” Something brushed against his crotch, and Kye nearly dropped the bike again in surprise. The curious pegasus was back, and she’d brought some friends. “We should go,” he muttered, swinging his leg over the bike and dropping Sweetie Belle onto the tank.

“Yes,” Fluttershy sighed, gently nudging the frisky mares away from him.

Pinkie Pie plonked herself on the pillion seat behind Kye. “It’s time to ride!” she yelled enthusiastically, earning an eye-roll from Sweetie Belle.

With a flick of the throttle, the bike took off along the high street once more.

Author's Note

...I say this a lot, but sorry about the delay in updating. :fluttershbad:

If you enjoyed the chapter and want to discuss TLR with like-minded people, then this group may interest you:

R I D E R V E R S E

Chapter Fifteen - Under the Dome - Part I

Edited by JimboTex and Regreme

The nightshift pegasi had been busy all the way through till dawn, it seemed, given the thick, dark expanse of heavy cloud cover that hid the rising sun. A light drizzle had already began, subtly foreshadowing the downpour that was to come later that evening. It was unusually cold for a summer morning, and the street outside Kye’s house was deserted, save for two unicorns. Lyra sighed, the chilly morning air misting in front of her muzzle as her horn sparked out for the fourth time in a row.

“No, no, you can’t overcharge it, Lyra! It has to be precision cast, or the thaumic resonance field will be misaligned... and that will lead to all sorts of problems with the physical manifestation of the-”

“Okay, Twilight!” Lyra groaned, rubbing her temple with one hoof and gently tapping her frazzled horn with the other. They had been trying to conjure this stupid selective-bypass dome for the past half-hour now, and Lyra was beginning to regret volunteering to help. “Are you sure you can’t do this on your own?”

“I told you before—the only known version of this spell is a dual-cast formula. It won't work with just one unicorn. One alicorn, maybe…”

“Can’t you get Spike to write to Luna, then?” Lyra asked, shifting slightly on her haunches and continuing to massage her tingling horn.

Twilight rolled her eyes. “There’s no need to bother a princess with this, Lyra. Come on, let’s try again.”

“What about somepony else? Somepony more, err… magically refined?”

Twilight frowned. “You know Rarity isn’t powerful enough to cast this spell, and there’s no way in Tartarus I’d even consider attempting this kind of thing with anypony else. Did you even read the book I gave you describing the intimate nature of the incantation?”

Lyra grinned sheepishly. “I, um… my dog ate it?”

Twilight was clearly not amused. “You don’t have a dog.”

Recognizing a lost cause, Lyra sighed. “Okay, I never got around to reading it. But you said yourself that you’d be handling the actual casting,” she said, beginning to charge her horn with a little more restraint. Twilight shook her head momentarily, but mimicked the action, once again closing in to touch the tip of her horn to Lyra’s.

Being a mare of great power, it was very rare that Lyra ever found herself overwhelmed by another’s magic. Twilight, however, was one of the exceptions to the rule. Such a blatantly direct connection to the element of magic was slightly terrifying, if she was honest. That would’ve been fine, if it didn’t have the extremely unfortunate side effect of turning her on.

“It’s working,” Twilight gasped. Sure enough—a small dome had formed, and was beginning to expand toward the house. Lyra was a little too distracted to fully appreciate the spectacle, though. None of their previous attempts had been anywhere near as intense as this.

Given that Lyra’s relationship with Twilight had been mostly platonic up until recently, she would've quite preferred not to ruin any potential progress by having an involuntary orgasm in the middle of the street. That, however, was easier said than done. Lyra could physically feel Twilight’s magical ember intertwine with her own, and it was bliss. Wave after wave of euphoric pleasure rolled through her horn, causing her ears to twitch as they travelled down towards her nether region. When her tail suddenly decided to give a noticeable jerk, Lyra promptly broke contact and backpedalled a few paces in shock.

“Sweet Celestia!” she yelped, placing a hoof to her horn tip in a desperate attempt to quell the urge to blow sparks everywhere. After a few deep breaths, and a questioning glare at Twilight’s annoyingly evident composure, Lyra cleared her throat. “Are you sure this is the right spell?”

With an expression halfway between exasperation and embarrassment, Twilight nodded. “If you’d have read the book I gave you, you’d have known to… um… take care of yourself, beforehand.”

Now, it was Lyra’s turn to blush. “Oh… well, Kye’s still asleep, I think…” she trailed off, subconsciously looking for a distraction.

Thankfully, she found one.

A suspiciously colourful tail had just whipped around the corner of the garage. Without saying a word, Lyra trotted back a few paces to find none other than Rainbow Dash pressed up against the garage wall. The pegasus gave a start upon finding herself so easily discovered, but had recomposed herself to casually leaning against the wall within about half a second. “S’up,” she said, disinterestedly examining one of her own forehooves.

Twilight trotted over to Lyra’s side. “Oh, hey, Rainbow Dash,” she greeted with a slight frown. “Shouldn’t you be overseeing the thundercloud assembly?”

“Eh, the team can handle it.”

“Even without their team leader?” Lyra chimed in. She had a sneaking suspicion where Rainbow Dash was going with this, especially seeing as she had abandoned her duties.

“It ain’t exactly Advanced Magical Theory. Even those feather brains can manage a few minutes without my expertise,” she added with a snort.

“Well, okay, then,” Twilight smiled. “You’ll just have to give me and Lyra a few minutes to get this barrier spell going, then we can-”

“Actually, I was kinda hoping to talk to Lyra… alone.”

Twilight looked as though she was about to object, but Lyra held up a hoof. “We’ll be quick,” she told the unicorn, trying to ignore the hurt that momentarily showed on her face.

“Oh… okay.” Without another word, Twilight teleported away.

An immense feeling of guilt washed through Lyra’s barrel, followed immediately by a surge of anger. “What?” she asked the rainbow pegasus, with slightly more venom than she had intended.

Rainbow Dash didn’t even flinch. “Well, y’know, I was wondering if I could-”

“No.”

“-maybe get in on this herd thin-... wait, what?” Rainbow frowned, finally placing her forehoof back on the ground. “What d’you mean, no?”

Lyra sighed. She could’ve certainly done without dealing with this mess… “Look, Rainbow, I know you,” she began, massaging her temple with a hoof. “You’re funny, smart, good looking, and ferociously loyal to your friends. Kye would fall in love with you, without a doubt, but…”

“But, what?”

Lyra levelled the pegasus with a stare. “Can you honestly say you could do the whole ‘committed relationship’ thing? Because that’s what this is—we’re in it for the long run.”

“Of course, I could-”

“Really? So, when your heat wears off, you’ll still want to be tied down to a herd?”

“It’s not like I’d be tied down-”

“Yes, for you—that’s exactly what it would be.”

Rainbow nickered. “Just what are you trying to say!?”

Lyra sighed once more. “All I’m saying is you’re popular, Rainbow Dash. If, months, even years down the line you were to break his heart, then I’d have to break your face.”

Rainbow Dash scowled. “You’re not even giving me a chance! I’m not like I used to be anymore.”

“So, you wouldn’t mind sharing? There are several mares in this relationship already, not to mention a princess…”

Rainbow’s frown deepened. “... A princess? You mean…” Her eyes widened in shock.

Lyra didn’t elaborate. “Rainbow Dash, please, just think this through. If you really want to be a part of what we have, then come back when heat week is over. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go apologise to Twilight.” Without another word, Lyra teleported, leaving Rainbow Dash alone in the street.

* * *

The crossplane engine snarled angrily to the tune of thirteen-thousand revs per minute as the motorcycle it was housed within tore along the heat shimmering tarmac. Its rider laughed into the roaring wind, the mirthful sound resembling that of an adrenaline-fuelled psychopath. With a twist of the throttle, the bike roared even louder as it shot over the winding, rural highway.

The deep, cerulean sky played host to a few brilliant white cumulous clouds that leisurely drifted along with the wind. The road, an asphalt snake through rolling hills of beautiful wild flora, shimmered beneath the burning sun. The landscape was mostly untouched by human hand, a great aesthetic compared to the urban sprawl of the inner-city. It was one of the reasons Kye loved the place so much. Nothing else mattered when he rode through this beautiful region. The mundane routine of daily life was left behind in the city, all but forgotten.

Accelerating over a crest, the bike caught a good three feet of air before gripping back down onto the tarmac and racing towards another slightly larger crest that lay ahead. Kye grinned, blindly accelerating once more. The tyres left the tarmac a second time as the bike flew around six feet into the air this time...

It was at that point Kye regretted taking such a stupid risk, as a large number of sheep were scattered across the road beyond the crest. Oh shit.

Instinct dictated that he squeeze the brake lever. He did so, but with the drawback of being airborne, it didn’t make a blind bit of difference. Closing his eyes, he waited for the impact—but no such impact occurred. The bike just… stopped. In mid air. Instantly.

The inertia had certainly changed in its nature, yet there was no generation of G-force that the laws of physics would usually dictate. It was like the Higgs Field just suddenly didn’t apply. The fuck..? One of the sheep lazily observed the stationary motorcycle, now bizarrely frozen three feet above the road. It gave a loud “Baaaaa,” before wandering off to graze on the fields, clearly indifferent to the oddity of the situation.

Kye removed his helmet, glancing down at the bike with a dumbfounded expression. It was completely motionless, even the engine had stopped. It was only when he spotted an alicorn quietly chuckling away to herself in his peripheral vision that he deduced what was going on. The lucidity hit, along with his ability to remember.

Kye facepalmed. “Very funny, Luna. Now, can you put me down, please?”

The goddess strolled over to him, her signature wry smile still etched on her face. “As you wish, but you really should be more careful. You’re fortunate this is merely an illusion,” she warned, sweeping her flowing mane from her face and regarding him with big, beautiful blue eyes. The motorcycle silently touched back down onto the tarmac.

“To what do I owe the pleasure?” Kye asked, dismounting the bike and observing the goddess. She was looking elegantly beautiful, as usual. But knowing his luck, she’d probably only interrupted his dream to tease him some more. “You’re actually gonna stick around this time, right?” he added, failing at his attempt to sound indifferent.

The alicorn simply smiled, tilting her head to the side and feigning contemplation. She was up to something—and Kye knew it. “What are you-”

Before he could finish the sentence, she stomped a forehoof.

Even though Kye had been half-expecting it this time, it still didn’t fail to scare the shit out of him. Again. The worn tarmac of the old country road cracked beneath her hooves, quickly crumbling to dust. The surrounding air vibrated with power, carrying a shockwave of destruction in all directions. It blasted through him, causing his skin to tingle beneath the leather of his race suit and his hair to stand on end.

He'd seen this display before, but the memory did nothing to quell his astonishment at witnessing the spectacle a second time. Mere seconds, and then there was nothing. Only her.

No, that wasn’t true. Kye suddenly found himself standing next to Luna on what appeared to be… the moon. The sun shone brightly over the void of space, fully illuminating the rocky surface. A familiar, yet alien blue orb also reflected light from the sun.

Equador looked beautiful from afar.

“Wow. This is…” He glanced at Luna. She appeared oddly tense… “What’s wrong?”

The goddess gave a long, drawn out sigh, seemingly steeling herself. “I have wanted to show you this place for a while now… This… this is my nightmare, Kye.”

Kye glanced around at the scenery. It was a little bland, but he wouldn't exactly call it frightening… It actually looked kinda serene.

“Perhaps I should clarify,” Luna chuckled, laying down at his feet. Kye immediately followed suit and sat down beside her. “This is where I was banished. An exact replica of Equestria’s moon. Sometimes, when I sleep, I return here… unable to leave. It may look peaceful to you, but the helplessness of being stranded, with nopony to talk to… Only the sins of the past for company. It’s unbearable.”

She paused, and the silence was deafening. Kye was lost for words, unable to break it.

Luna turned her head toward the shining blue marble. “I’m not proud of what I did, Kye. This… this nightmare is my attempt at redemption. It is merely another of my creations. The last binding illusion crafted for malicious intent… the grande finale, if you will.”

She turned back toward Kye, the faintest hint of a tear appearing in her eye. Kye felt helpless, still searching for words of comfort.

Luna turned away once more. “It is highly efficient… tailored to my fears, and able to utilise my memories.”

A long, cold silence followed, during which Equestria seemed to discreetly shrink in Kye’s peripheral vision. When he snapped his focus to it, however, it appeared normal… Though, he couldn’t help but wonder if it was just a little further out of reach than before.

It was menacing in its subtlety.

“P-Please… Luna, stop.” Kye stuttered, finally finding his voice.

The goddess gazed longingly at the receding world. “Why? My victims could not escape. Why should I gift myself with relief, when they were doomed to suffer?”

“Luna, this is ridiculous,” Kye whispered, placing a hand on her back. “How does... this change anything?”

“This is my repentance.”

Kye sighed. “That doesn’t answer the question.”

The alicorn turned away, gazing off into the limitless void. It was clear that she had been practicing this form of nightly torture for a while. It was a sufficiently chilling vision nonetheless, but having to deal with its subtle terror with the catalyst of a thousand years of solitude here…

“There are better ways to atone, Luna,” Kye finally spoke. “Why would you show me this now if you didn’t know that yourself?”

Luna did not immediately answer, or give any reaction at all, for that matter. Kye had a feeling that she had a hard time displaying even the tiniest hint of weakness, but had foregone that trait in apparent hope that he could give her a reason to end her self-inflicted punishment.

After what seemed like a long time—it was difficult to tell in such a vague illusion—the goddess spoke.

“What would you have me do?”

A small grin tugged at the corner of Kye’s mouth. “You’re the only one who can influence dreams, right?”

“There are others, but they are few.”

“Well, seeing as there aren’t many ponies battling nightmares, why not use the time and effort you put into this into battling more nightmares?”

Luna raised a skeptical eyebrow. “Ingenious,” she deadpanned, but cracked a small smile nonetheless.

“Hey, sometimes the simplest solution is the best,” Kye said, grabbing a handful of moon dust and letting it run through his fingers.

Luna tilted her head to one side. “On one condition.”

“Name it.”

Her smile grew wider. “You have to help me.”

Kye blinked, before snorting rather loudly. “I know I have many talents, but I’m pretty sure magically altering dreams isn’t one of them.”

“It could be,” Luna coolly stated, getting to her hooves. A quick stomp later, and the moon, Equestria, and the endless void beyond were eradicated.

Kye suddenly found himself sprawled on something that felt like grass. Taking a second to orientate himself, he stood up to find he was indeed in the middle of a field. An extremely large, flat field. The sun was shining directly overhead, there were no clouds, and all that could be seen besides green grass and blue sky was the horizon where the two met. In fact, the only other reference point bar the sun was a grinning Luna.

“Welcome to the Dreamscape.”

Kye squinted moronically. “The what now?”

The alicorn gave a light chuckle, gracefully flexing her wings in one fluid motion. Kye’s gaze independently followed the movement before snapping back to her face. “This is where we shall discover if you are capable of assisting me in my duties.”

“Wait… You’re serious? You do know I can’t do magic, right?”

“True, but you—like all creatures—have the potential to weave dreams as a conduit in the presence of a true inceptionist.”

Kye blanched, giving a nervous chuckle and throwing up an arm. “Woah… I hope you’re not going to just blast me with magic and hope for the best.”

Luna paused. “Well when you put it like that, it does seem a little crude. It is, however, essentially what we will be doing.” The alicorn grinned, before giving a drawn out sigh. “But not tonight.”

Kye opened his mouth to protest some more, but ended up questioning her sudden change of mind. “Why?”

Luna closed her eyes briefly. “A young filly named Scarlett needs my attention. Maybe one day you’ll get to meet her.”

With that, the light dimmed, and Kye’s lucidity fell away.

* * *

“Kye,” Rarity breathed. “Are you awake?” The unicorn paused as she sat upright on the bed, unable to tell if her coltfriend was even conscious or not.

Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea… Willing her ember to flame up once more, she concentrated with all her might to conjure the Cunning-Clover cooling incantation. The light flared from her horn as expected, bathing the room in an azure glow.

She waited, nervously glancing between both Kye and Lyra, both of whom appeared to be fast asleep. Thank Celestia Octavia had had to work. Rarity was only just beginning to warm up to her as a herdmate, and would have been positively mortified if the earth pony had witnessed this.

Several seconds ticked by, but the incessant itching between her hind legs refused to quit. Rarity gave a pained whine. By the light of her horn, she could quite clearly see the thin sheen of sweat covering Kye’s bare chest… She barely suppressed a gasp. Each inhalation of her breath carried with it his unique scent, fuelling her carnal desire.

Lustful, predatory thoughts clouded her brain as her sultry gaze swept over him. She had her magic. He was powerless against it, so long as he couldn’t reach her horn… It would be all too easy to hold him down and-No! Rarity forced her aura to recede, giving another pained whine. She wasn’t the type of mare to take a stallion against his will, and she’d break off her horn before she ever hurt Kye.

No. She refused to lower herself to the status of a lust-crazed scorcher.

The fashionista gave a heavy sigh. She lay down, making sure to keep her hooves away from her sleeping coltfriend, lest she be tempted to take him in his sleep.

It had started the previous day. A small twitch of her tail now and again, but nothing the incantation couldn’t handle… Now, though, just being near Kye was enough to set her nether region on fire. The desire to be mated was clouding her every waking thought, and keeping her from falling asleep. The intoxicating mass of unmistakable maleness lying next to her demanded her attention… She wasn’t sure if she could fight back the urges anymore.

No. She would fight the urges. At least until Kye woke up. With an almost pained whimper, the unicorn rolled away from the human and readjusted her sleeping mask.

* * *

Something long and hard was poking Kye in the neck when he woke up. He knew exactly what it was… Sleep with enough unicorns, and it was all too easy to recognise when one had accidentally impaled you in the night.

Carefully removing the offending horn from his throat, he opened his eyes to find it belonged to Rarity. Predictably, she was still fast asleep, snuggled against him in a loving embrace.

Kye gave her sleeping blindfold a slight tug. “Wake up, Sleeping Beauty,” he cheerily quipped, giving her diamond adorned flank a light slap for emphasis.

The sleepy mare nickered in response, rolling away from him and using her magic to manipulate the covers in order to shield herself.

Kye smirked. “Did I even tell you how much you sound like a horse?” A hefty tug of the covers left the snoozing unicorn open once again. Kye immediately dived on her and began vigorously rubbing her belly. “You’re probably the laziest horse I know.”

“Nuhh! KYYYEEEE!”

A familiar sound rang through the room as Kye’s vision was suddenly tinted blue, and he began to feel unnaturally light. “Oh, no you don’t!” Tightly grabbing the fashionista’s horn, he applied pressure to the tip with his thumb.

Rarity squealed as her magic imploded, sending Kye right down on top of her. “KYE! Why must you insist on awakening me in such an awful manne-ouch! Stop poking me! I’m warning y-Nyuuhh! Stop flicking my ears! I hate it when you do th-hatttt.” Rarity began sobbing overdramatically, giving Kye her near-lethal puppy dog eyes.

Kye, however, had gained a little resistance to her manipulative trickery. He leaned down and began nibbling one of her ears, simultaneously tickling a particularly sensitive spot on her belly just above her navel.

The fashionista squealed again, desperately trying to wriggle free of his hold. “KYYYYEEEE!” She struggled some more, but without the use of her magic, she was helpless. “Okay! Okay! I’m awake! Now, release me!”

Kye grinned triumphantly, granting her wish. Rarity sat up, grimacing at the state of her ruffled mane and dishevelled tail. Kye didn’t hesitate to prod her exposed belly with his toe. “You’d better not be thinking of going back to-whoa!”

Quick as a flash, Kye found himself floating upside down, suspended by his ankle. “Are you going to stop being a pest?” Rarity groggily asked.

Kye snorted. “Fuck no.” He made a grab for her glowing horn, but she was quick to swat his hand away with her hoof.

“Do I have to teach you a lesson?”

“Does it involve morning sex?”

“No. It is a lesson in leaving Rarity to her beauty sleep.”

“I think I’ll pass, then.” He stuck his tongue out at her.

The unicorn sighed. “What am I going to do with you?”

Kye gave an upside down shrug, along with a cheeky smirk. A split second later, she had him pinned on his back. Her searing hot marehood covered his groin, supercharging his morning wood to a fever pitch. A glint of heat-addled lust shone from her beautiful blue eyes. “I guess I’ll just have to rut you into submission.”

Heat week suddenly didn’t seem so bad.

* * *

Small, button nose, delicate, fluffy ears, and eyes the colour of the azure heavens. Aurora Breeze was a vision of elegance… or, she had been. For Tinker Breeze, the mare was nothing but a mere memory, of which rare glimpses were often confined to horrendous night visions too ghastly to recall.

Thankfully, such nightmares had been scarce as of late, mostly due to the efforts of the Princess of the Night. The dream Tink had just been having, though, had indeed been edging in that particular direction. Luna had once again intervened, and now she was here. Awake. Back in the real world.

Bad things happened in the real world.

Where was Ace? What was he doing? And how could she avoid him? No, scratch that… Coco was worse, If she had to pick which awful herdmate she could avoid for the day, it’d be her. Ace usually just drank, ignoring her, pretending she didn’t exist…

For Tink, his ignorance was bliss. It meant she would be left alone.

Unless… he was in that kind of mood—in which case—Tink would much rather endure the magical beatings, the verbal berating, and being the subject of ridicule for Coco and the others, than risk not being able to escape his advances… That, at least, didn’t leave her wanting to end it all… and embark upon the next great adventure, in search of her parents.

If only it were that easy.

No. For now, she was confined to the hell of living with a group of ponies that had turned into the most awful individuals she had ever had the misfortune to meet.

Groggily stretching her wings, she winced at the slight pain that shot through them, gasping in lungfuls of air that smelled oddly of fresh laundry… An experimental sniff quickly confirmed that there was indeed a floral scent in the air, as opposed to the foul stench of the dog bed that Coco made her sleep on. Tink could have sworn Nox used to urinate on it sometimes…

Finally gaining enough consciousness to open her eyes, Tink gazed around at the familiar sight of the bedroom she’d fallen asleep in. Her bedroom, in her new home… Recent memories all came flooding back, and an overwhelming joy filled her heart.

Kye had saved her. Brought her back from the brink of death and given her a new home, thus releasing her from the torment she had suffered at the hooves of the Chrome herd. The proof was all around her, yet she still couldn’t quite believe it. She pressed a hoof to the key hanging by the ribbon around her neck. “Kye…” She longed to find him and thank him again and again…

Her whisper was suddenly echoed through the wall, but with a lot more volume, and… lust.

Tink sat in temporary confusion, but a few explicit sounding moans left her no doubt… Kye was making love to one of his mares in the next room. By the sounds of things, she was rather enjoying herself…

A slight warming in Tink’s nether region suddenly put her on high alert. Oh no. She had been expecting this, but had hoped to postpone it as long as possible around Kye. Barely a few seconds later, a small itch in her loins confirmed her worst fears. Oh dear Celestia… not now!

What if Kye decided he didn’t want to deal with a disgusting, lust-crazed, freeloading pony leaking foul smelling estrus fluids all over his new house?

The moaning increased in intensity. Tink was pretty sure the cries of passion were coming from the elegant unicorn that ran a local, high-end clothing store. If such a usually composed unicorn had succumbed to the effects of her estrus, then what chance did Tink have? Tink couldn’t just whip up some spell to stop herself leaking everywhere, and she didn’t own a plug…

“Oh no!” the pegasus squeaked. Her tail was already wet, and by extension, the bed sheets. She’d been here a day, and had already soiled the place. Kye would be disgusted. He’d probably ask her to leave, and who could blame him?

There was no other option—she had to leave.

Throwing off the covers, she took one last glance at the spotless, homely bedroom that had been hers for one glorious night and turned toward the door. Barely stifling a sob, she removed the house key from her neck and hung it on the doorknob, before silently padding down the stairs, so as not to disturb Kye and his marefriend.

The lounge, just as spotless and even more homely than the bedroom, was empty. As was the kitchen. Tink had never seen a kitchen so clean. There wasn’t a beer bottle in sight, and the benches were free from grime and mould… It was a shame, to be leaving the first place that actually felt like a home to her. One day had been more than enough to know.

But she couldn’t stay, she was already enough of a burden without being a walking sprinkler… Her eyes glazed over as she trotted through into the darkened garage, only to find the door locked. Somepony had obviously repaired it, as it had been lying in a mangled mess on the ground the day before. Giving another sob, she quickly turned back for the kitchen door, her flank brushing against something solid.

EEEEOOOOEEEEOOOOEEEEOOOOEEEEOOOO!

“EEEP!” Frantically flapping her wings in blind panic, Tink shot through the kitchen and slammed into the wall of the hallway. The extremely loud, alien noise continued to blare through the whole house. Quickly wrenching the front door open with her teeth, she galloped about ten feet away from the house, before everything suddenly went black.

…

“Tink… Are you okay?”

A familiar mint green unicorn with an ice blue and white mane slowly came into focus. She had a pair of saddlebags on her back and bore a worried expression. The alien noise was still blaring, and Tink seemed to be lying on her back in the middle of the street. There was no sign of anypony else… Had Lyra attacked her? It didn’t make any sense…

Lyra’s horn began to glow, and Tink recoiled in fear. A brief flash of hurt crossed the unicorn’s face as the garage door opened in an amber glow. Another couple of quick bursts of amber from her horn prompted Kye’s alien machine to give two short bleeps, before finally falling silent.

“Tink?”

The pegasus clumsily got to her hooves. Lyra looked ever so pretty, even under a cloudy sky… The long, spiral engraved horn on her head suddenly looked about five times tastier... “Oh! I was just heading out to… to… to…” Tink trailed off, licking her lips.

“Ah…” Comprehension dawned on the unicorn’s face, along with a slight blush. “Tink, you can’t run away just because your heat has started.”

“What! But, I’m not in heat!” she lied. “Who said anything about heat?” Her tail betrayed her words, flicking from left to right behind her.

“Then why are you eying my horn like it’s your favourite flavour of lollipop? I mean, yeah—I’m hot and all, but you’re not that into me,” she teased, with a smirk.

Tink’s tail gave another twitch, and several scenarios popped up in her head involving Lyra, a bedroom, and a minty green strap on dildo to match… “I… I… mmm… uh…”

Lyra chuckled, rolling her eyes. “Wow… damn, filly. You’ve got it bad.”

Tink was barely even listening. She needed to be penetrated. A cock, a hoof, hell—even a horn. It simply didn’t matter anymore. She would consider anything to douse the fire between her legs. She vaguely noticed Lyra’s horn glowing, before a chilly numbness hit her in the chest, rapidly spreading through her body. The lust rampaging through her mind receded, and her wings went limp against her sides. She was suddenly aware she was drooling a considerable amount… from both ends.

“W-What just happened?” she squeaked, her face burning with shame at the large puddle in the dirt between her hind legs.

“It’s okay. I reckon I just bought you a few hours of peace.” Lyra winked. “You’re welcome.”

Before Tink could express how utterly mortified she was, Lyra tapped a hoof on what appeared to be a barely visible, magic forcefield.

“This is a selective bypass dome. As you’ve probably noticed, you can’t pass through it. Twilight and I tried to get you passage rights, but that requires a certain amount of familiarity with the candidate.”

“A w-what?” … Selective Bypass Dome?

“Basically, it’s a deterrent to keep Kye safe during heat week. Herdmates are able to bypass it, look-” She walked straight through the barrier as if it wasn’t there at all, before stepping back through. “Like I said, we tried to make it the same for you, but we couldn’t. I’m afraid you and Kye are stuck inside the confines of this dome for the next week.” She leaned in close, barely an inch from Tink’s ear. “And I wouldn’t worry about your heat. I bet if you ask him nicely, he’d be more than happy to help-”

“No! You can’t tell him, Lyra!” Tink squeaked, her ears lying flat in shame.

The unicorn gave a confused chuckle. “What? Why?”

“Because it’s really bad! And disgusting!” She glanced again at the puddle on the ground, wishing she had more control over her body.

“What are you talking about? It’s completely natural-”

“Is everything okay? I thought I heard the bike alarm…” Kye appeared in the still-open doorway. “Oh, hey, Tink. Didn’t realise you were up.” He grinned.

He wasn’t wearing a shirt… All he had on was a denim garment covering his legs, but the upper part of his body was bare… The shiver that shot down Tink’s spine nearly caused her wings to spread involuntarily once more. The warmth of his smile promised endless affection, and an equal quantity of pleasure, should she ask for it.

“Hi,” The pegasus squeaked, trying not to stare at his exposed chest too much. Even with Lyra’s spell, it was difficult to keep the lusty, heat-ridden thoughts away.

“Where’ve you been?” Kye asked Lyra, eyeing the saddlebags with curiosity.

“I just popped to the Sunday market to pick up a few things. I’ve been up ages, though. Twilight and I had to get the Selective Bypass Dome set up.”

“The what?” he asked, idly scratching his nose with a finger and leaning against the doorframe.

“It’s a barrier that keeps horny mares away from herded stallions. Just think of it as a chastity belt, except bigger.”

Kye frowned uneasily, walking the short distance between house and barrier to investigate. “You mean they’d actually try and get in here?” His proximity caused Tink to shiver with barely suppressed lust.

“Oh yeah, you'd probably end up being the village apple cart without it..."

He scowled, and Lyra’s deadpan expression turned to that of a snickering school filly. "Oh, ha ha. You wouldn’t be laughing if that actually happened," he said, running a hand over the shimmering forcefield. It refused to yield for him.

Quick as a whip, the unicorn’s demeanor changed yet again, her barrel puffing out with pride. "Damn straight. I'd be too busy murdering ponies to chuckle at your misfortune."

"How sweet," Kye teased, but turned to scratch behind her ears anyway.

Tink gazed longingly at his fingers as Lyra closed her eyes, a happy smile on her face as she leaned into the affectionate contact. Just thinking of what those dexterous appendages could potentially do was more than enough to send a hot flush through the flustered pegasus. Her feathers bristled in her encased wings, her ears twitched of their own accord and her tail danced in a non-existent breeze.

Lyra’s spell wasn't working.

"You okay, Tink? You seem even quieter than usual-"

"I'm fine!" she hastily squeaked. "I mean... Sorry. Everything is fine."

He raised an eyebrow, and her tail tried to wave at him in response. Stay put, gosh darnit! Her wings suddenly decided to start misbehaving, as well, a hair-trigger away from flaring from her sides.

"She's fine. She's just adjusting to life in a new home," Lyra chuckled, finally deciding to come to Tink’s aid. The unicorn threw a hoof around Tink’s shoulders, gently ruffling her mane with the other. "Now, get inside before it starts raining."

"Yes, mistress." Kye threw one last fleeting glance at Tink before heading back inside the house. Tink watched him go, taking note of the toned muscle of his back.

Lyra waited until Kye was out of earshot before turning to Tink. "You need a good dicking, or at least a decent orgasm..." The unicorn observed, rather matter-of-factly.

It took a few seconds for Tink to realise what the unicorn had said. "W-What!?"

“It’s the only way you’re going to be able to relax.”

“B-But…”

Lyra smiled. “Do you trust me?”

Chapter Sixteen - Under the Dome - Part II

Edited by JimboTex and Regreme

“Do you trust me?”

“I… I-”.

It wasn’t a particularly difficult question—a simple yes or no would suffice—yet Tink suddenly found herself slack-jawed and stalling. Past perceptions of the scary Still Way grandmaster had indeed been altered from exaggerated bias now that Tink had spent some time with Lyra, but the pegasus still retained a lingering fear.

Did it hold any merit, though? Lyra had welcomed Tink, a former member of a rival herd, no less, with open hooves. Surely, it was time to drop the unwarranted worry?

Lyra blinked, an uncharacteristic forlorn expression clouding her features. “You don’t have to answer that. I’m sorry I ask-”

“Yes.” Tink spoke without thinking, and quickly came to realise it was a lot easier that way.

The unicorn slowly raised a questioning eyebrow. “Are you sure?”

Tink cleared her throat. “Yes,” she repeated, knowing beyond a doubt it was true when Lyra’s warm, playful smile returned.

“Good, because I think I can help.” She held out a hoof in front of her.

After a brief moment of hesitation, Tink tentatively placed one of her own to Lyra’s. The unicorn’s playful smile was the last thing she saw before the world went black.

* * *

Having showered, shaved, and donned one of the less extravagant outfits Rarity had created for him, Kye now sat on the couch, idly spinning the Yamaha key around his index finger. He’d spent most of the morning deep in thought, so much so that both Rarity and Twilight had asked what was bothering him on more than one occasion. Trouble was—he didn’t exactly know what to tell them.

On one hand, it was certainly nice that he wouldn’t be hounded by unfamiliar mares on the street for the next week, but on the other, the lack of freedom imposed by this “anti-rape dome” was a bit of a concern. It was like he was being put under house arrest for no reason at all. Plus, knowing the bike was now sitting in the garage with a fully charged battery wasn’t helping matters much, either.

The sound of the front door opening and closing again pulled Kye from his thoughts, and he turned to see a thoroughly soaked Octavia moodily stomping into the front room, a large cello case on her back. “Why the long face?” he quipped, grinning at the dripping mare. She happened to be extremely pretty when wet.

This earned him a swift slap of her saturated tail as she trotted by the couch, something he didn’t quite manage to dodge. “Ugh! Tavi!” he gasped, nearly falling off the couch in his piss poor attempt to avoid her watery assault. His shirt was now almost as wet as her.

The earth mare stashed her cello in the corner next to Lyra’s golden lyre, giving Kye a playful smirk and the tiniest flutter of her eyelashes as she climbed the staircase and disappeared out of sight. Kye sighed in defeat, grumpily removing his shirt and muttering inaudibly about how cute wet mares could be. Rarity’s frown at Octavia’s antics suddenly disappeared, and the book Twilight was levitating slipped from her telekinetic grasp.

“Oops… Sorry,” she muttered to no one in particular, her cheeks reddening. Kye, however, appeared oblivious.

“I got it!” he declared, snapping his fingers for emphasis and pointing at Twilight. Rarity blinked, suddenly aware she’d been completely inanimate for around thirty seconds. “You do the whole ‘nopony rape the monkey-dome’ thing, but-” he stretched his arms out, before slowly bringing his hands together, “-make it smaller—and attach it to the motorcycle instead of the house.” Kye grinned. It was so simple. In fact, he was amazed Twilight hadn’t thought of it herself. “That way, I get to ride around town, and remain completely unviolated!”

Twilight blinked, smiling politely. Rarity was once again idly staring into space.

“What?” Kye asked, confused as to why the studious unicorn wasn’t already adding “anti-pony rape protection” to his R1’s list of awesome features.

The mare gave a small sigh. “Oh, Kye… Not even Starswirl the Bearded could pull off such an incantation,” she chuckled, regarding him as she would an inquisitive colt. “Setting up a static Selective Bypass Dome is difficult enough, but to actually implement it on a moveable object would be downright impossible. There are way too many variables. For starters, what would the parameters be? How would the spell react to other magical interference it might encounter? Introducing portability into the equation just creates a whole new list of issues that need to be resolved.” She paused, apparently deep in thought. Rarity licked her lips. “I like lists. I couldn’t make the spell work, but I could make a list of the reasons why it wouldn’t,” Twilight happily chirped with a sheepish grin. “If that’s… heh heh... uh... useful in any way?”

Kye sighed, giving a light chuckle. “No, Twilight, but thanks anyway.”

Twilight’s ears drooped a little. “If you’re worried about passing the time, I could bring a few books over from the libr-Rarity, control yourself!”

Kye jumped in fright. The fashionista was now sitting on the couch beside him, her ears flicking and lust in her eyes. He hadn’t even seen her move. “Wha… ?”

Her tail slapped against the armrest, and the sound seemed to sober her up a little. “... oh.” She blinked, finally noticing Kye was looking directly at her. “My apologies, darling, but I think I may be requiring your… talents again.”

“Really?” Kye exclaimed. He was already pretty wiped from their bedroom escapades earlier that morning, and he didn’t know if he had the stamina to go for yet another round with the pretty unicorn. Not to mention that it wasn’t really the time or the place… “Look, Rarity,” he began, but was cut off by Twilight.

“Have you been doing the spell?” she asked the fashionista.

“Yes. It isn’t working,” Rarity replied.

“It works perfectly fine, trust me. You just mustn't be trying hard enough.”

Rarity gave a sigh of exasperation, levelling Twilight with a stare. “Not everypony can be as magically proficient as you, Twilight.”

“Wait, what spell?” Kye interjected.

Twilight blushed adorably, to which Kye raised a questioning eyebrow. “Well?” he asked, grinning.

“Well, there’s a spell that unicorn mares sometimes cast during their heat cycles,” she began, idly tracing circles on the floor with her hoof. “It’s called the Cunning-Clover Cooling incantation, or the triple C-”

Kye snorted. “That’s what they call it?”

Twilight rolled her eyes. “Here, let me show you,” she grumbled, charging her horn up with magic.

Rarity was completely oblivious of the spell hitting her, until the effects began to take place. The fashionista blinked, as if coming out of a trance. “Did somepony spill something on the couch? My seat is a little we- … oh.”

With realisation, came mortification, and her cheeks reddened. Kye fought to hold back the smirk that was threatening to hijack his face, knowing that the unicorn probably wouldn’t speak to him all week if he made fun of her now.

“Excuse me, just one moment.”

CRACK.

The blinding blue flash receded, and Kye finally let free his immature snicker in the fashionista’s absence. “God, I love her,” he chuckled.

“You do?”

“... What? … Oh, um… I mean,” crap. “Figuratively speaking, heh…” Kye stuttered, only just realising what he’d said. An actual confession of love would be pretty fucking ridiculous at this point, and he certainly had no intentions of screwing things up by letting slip the big L-bomb, even as a figure of speech.

Twilight furrowed her eyebrows. “You love her… figuratively?”

Kye idly scratched the back of his neck. “Eh… like I said—figure of speech,” he said with an air of nonchalance, and silently praying Twilight would just drop the damn subject. If only Rarity wasn’t so freakin’ adorable, then he probably wouldn’t have said it in the first place. Clearly, a distraction was needed. “Say, Twilight, what’s that book you’re reading?”

“Oh, this?” she said, levitating the book once more. “It’s a copy of Still-Way for Dummies. Lyra has been teaching me and Rarity some of the basics.”

Twilight went on to elaborate in explicit detail a few moves and techniques of the martial art, none of which sounded very “basic” to Kye, given that he had no idea what she was going on about. It wasn’t until she got to a move called St. Elmo’s Lightning that he interrupted.

“Isn’t that what Rarity cast in the street fight?”

“Yes!” Twilight beamed happily. “Although, I certainly wouldn’t condone that one in combat sport. It’s a little on the reckless side, and can cause lasting damage if cast a certain way. Rarity was taking a big risk using it in anger.”

“Those ponies would’ve deserved it,” Kye muttered bitterly, thinking of the abhorrent way Tink’s old herdmates had treated her.

“True, but Luna can only bend the rules so much. If the outcome had been any more serious, then her hooves would have been tied,” Twilight concluded, closing the book and setting it down on the coffee table. “I’m going to head home. I promised Spike I’d take him gem hunting today.” She glanced out of the window with a drawn out sigh. “I just wish he hadn’t picked a storm day.”

* * *

The darkness and pressure were gone in an instant, but that didn’t stop Tink emitting a loud “eep” and immediately slipping over on the hard and shiny surface she now appeared to be standing on—or rather, in, as the case turned out to be.

Both she and Lyra appeared to have ended up in a bathtub, of all places. Having never experienced teleportation before, the pegasus took a little while to recover from the sensation. Large, bright tiles, a welcoming shade of blue, covered the walls, and the large corner-bath Tink lay in was an immaculate white.

“You okay?” Lyra chuckled, offering a helping hoof to the pegasus.

Tink took Lyra’s hoof, pulling herself up to a sitting position. “Why are we in the bath?” she timidly asked, utterly baffled as to what the eccentric unicorn was up to.

“Oh, you’ll find out soon enough,” Lyra vaguely answered. Her horn flashed, and an unnatural silence filled the air. “Now, you’ll be needing some of that trust we discussed earlier, but I think I can help you relax, especially around Kye.”

“B-But, you already tried the spell,” Tink stuttered, already a little worried by whatever crazy scheme Lyra had in mind, especially if it involved bathtubs and creepy silence spells…

“Yes, we tried a spell—but this next one is completely different, and has a one-hundred percent success rate.” Lyra beamed proudly, and a little manically, too.

Tink blanched, backing away as much as the tub would allow. “W-What are you going to do to m-me?” she squeaked, silently praying that whatever it was didn’t involve pain.

A golden aura engulfed her horn once more, this time remaining solid. “The safeword is Akrapovic,” Lyra said with a smile.

“Safeword? W-Why would we need a-aaaahhhhhhhhhh!”

With a bodily twist and a dull thud, Tink fell flat on her back in the tub, suddenly overcome by an overwhelming pleasure. Her wings sprang erect and began to vibrate, her hind legs kicked of their own accord, and her tail thrashed loudly against the side of the tub as she whimpered incoherently in her newfound bliss. Lyra’s spell seemed to simultaneously excite every cell in her body, and was utterly unrelenting in its efficiency. After around thirty seconds of torturous, yet blissful, magically induced euphoria, Tink felt her marehood begin to spasm, attempting to clench down on something that wasn’t currently present… An image of Kye sprang to her mind at the thought as she reached the pinnacle of her orgasm, leaving no doubt that she truly was pining for his company.

When the stars finally faded from her eyes, Tink lay panting, still flat on her back. The urges of her heat were gone—a far better feeling than the climax itself, if truth be told. “Thank you,” she whispered, though Lyra didn’t appear to have heard.

“Damn, filly! You went off like a fire hydrant!” The unicorn chuckled, once again offering a helping hoof to the pegasus.

“Oh… S-Sorry.” Tink’s cheeks burned in mortification as she got to her hooves. When she spotted the mess she’d made, however—most of which was all over Lyra’s forelegs—her face practically ignited.

“Sorry?” Lyra frowned. “What? Why are you apologising? C’mere.” Before Tink had time to run away and hide under the nearest rock, Lyra pulled her into a tight embrace, sweeping a few red and black strands from her eyes and cooing softly. Tink was so shocked she completely forgot about her embarrassment. Was this what a caring, supportive relationship felt like? Never once had Coco, Nox, or any of the others given her a hug.

After a few tender moments, Lyra drew back, looking the pegasus in the eye. “Do you feel better now?” she asked.

“Yeah.”

The bathroom door suddenly burst open, bringing with it the ambient sounds that up until that point had been muted by Lyra’s magic. Tink flinched, instinctively clinging to her unicorn companion as the grey earth pony—Octavia—trotted into the bathroom without so much as a glance at the two ponies occupying the tub. Her jet black mane and tail were full of tangles it seemed, and she quickly grabbed the hairbrush that was perched on the dresser with her teeth. As she trotted for the door with her head held high, Tink could have sworn she heard a muffled “‘bout time” from the disinterested mare.

* * *

The scheduled thunderstorm persisted for four whole days, by the end of which Kye found himself quickly running out of ways to keep himself occupied. It wasn’t so bad in the evenings, as he often had at least two or three ponies to talk to. During the daytime, when the others were at work, however, he only had one.

As it turned out, Tink was still a little shy around him when nopony else was in the house, and had resorted to sleeping in most of the day. Kye wouldn’t have minded all that much, but being confined to a house without wifi, television or even anyone to talk to for hours on end made for a rather mundane “holiday”.

None of the “lust crazed” mares that Lyra had warned him about had shown up, either, rendering the stupid anti-rape dome completely unnecessary. This became increasingly more annoying on Thursday morning, given the fact that there wasn’t a cloud in the sky, and he could have been playing out on his favourite two-wheeled toy.

The repetitive chirping of the birds outside rang through Kye's ears as he dozed on the couch, the week old copy of “Pone” magazine he’d been idly flicking through having long since fallen from his grasp and onto the floor.

As far as lazy mornings went, this one was turning out to be rather dull.

* * *

The dreaded itch was threatening to return, despite Lyra’s glorious efforts to scratch it that morning before she left for work. The spell had been so effective at first that Tink had actually considered going downstairs and spending some time with Kye, something she’d been wanting to do for days now…

But, she couldn’t.

At least, not when she might start lusting after him, treating him as nothing more than a mere object to sate her persistent desires. No. He meant more to her than that, and she wasn’t about to freak him out by being a horny-horse, especially one that often made quite the mess while doing so.

Tink’s pacing continued, her tail twitching as she trotted in circles at the foot of her bed. She couldn’t decide what was worse: the restlessness, or the boredom. Normally, she would take to the air in such a situation, but seeing as she was confined to the inside of the weird dome thingy that Lyra and Twilight had put up, that was pretty much out of the question. It was a shame, too—her wings had healed enough that she could probably get airborne without too much difficulty if she tried.

She paused in her pacing, unfolding her wings and stretching them to their limit, before folding them closed again. If she’d tried that even just a few days ago, she’d have been in agony for hours. Now, though, all she felt was a slight twinge of pain. Nothing to write home about.

Her tail flicked again, but more out of agitation than arousal… Perhaps she was just imagining her heat was flaring up again? What if she was confining herself to her room for no reason at all? Plus, Kye probably thought she was blanking him.

The thought sobered the pegasus a little. She’d certainly hate for him to think that she didn’t want to spend time with him. Without another thought, she trotted for the door, opening it with a soft “click”. It slowly swung open to reveal the empty hallway.

The house was quiet. Almost too quiet. All that could be heard was the sound of the birds chirping outside as Tink softly padded down the stairs. She was beginning to wonder where Kye was, until she spotted him lying sprawled on the couch, one arm covering his eyes and the other lying on the floor next to a discarded magazine.

“Umm… Kye?” Tink softly spoke, clip-clopping over to the couch.

The human lay there, unresponsive.

“Kye,” she called, a little louder this time.

Still, he lay there, motionless.

Tink frowned, suddenly concerned. Sure, he could just be taking a nap, but what if he was hurt? She stretched out a wing, lightly brushing his side with it. Kye suddenly snorted, before arching his back and nearly falling off the couch. Tink leapt back a few paces in surprise.

“Ahhh, that tickles!” he laughed, before stretching his arms above his head and smiling at her.

Tink relaxed somewhat, relieved that he was okay. “Were you sleeping? I-I’m sorry for waking you up. I’ll go back upstairs-”

“No!” Kye all but yelled, before hastily clearing his throat. “I mean, uh… I… I need your help with something.”

“You do? What is it?”

Kye blinked, pulling himself to a sitting position. “I, uh… need help cleaning the bike. Yes,” he grinned, snapping his fingers and pointing in the general direction of the garage.

Tink gave him a puzzled look. “Didn’t you clean it yesterday? And the day before that? And the one before that, too?”

Kye’s grin slowly faltered. “Well… um… technically, yes, but… it gets dusty in the garage…” He punctuated the last sentence with funny little pout, and Tink couldn’t help but giggle at his silly antics.

“Okay then,” she chuckled. “But, it’s not going to scream at me again, is it?” she asked, remembering her last encounter with the strange machine.

“Of course not,” Kye reassured, getting up off the couch and heading into the kitchen. Tink trotted after him, deciding not to question how her cumbersome hooves would be of any help at all at a task such as this. She was just glad to be out of her bedroom.

“But even if it did, I’d give it a good telling off,” Kye continued, grabbing a cloth from the cupboard under the sink and filling a bucket full of hot water and detergent. Tink smiled in response, but she still couldn’t help feeling like she was going to mess up somehow. Kye must have noticed, as he turned the tap off and dropped down to his knees.

“Hey… it’s just a dumb alarm, look-” he fished around in his pocket, pulling out the keys to the machine. “If it ever starts making that noise again, all you have to do is press this button right here.” He pointed to a button on a small key fob, before clipping the entire key set to the ribbon holding the house key she wore around her neck and getting back to his feet.

Tink gasped. “B-But, wait! You need these!”

Kye laughed. “Not this week, I don’t,” he said, grabbing the cloth and bucket of soapy water and heading into the garage.

* * *

“The button! Just press it!” Kye laughed, watching Tink frantically fumble with the immobiliser key fob. She would have dropped it multiple times if it hadn’t been fastened to the ribbon around her neck. Finally managing to shut off the alarm, she fell to her haunches, panting with relief and giving the motorcycle a wary look. The sight was almost enough to make Kye feel bad about kicking the rear tyre. Totally worth it. She looked even more adorable than usual when she was terrified.

“You did that on purpose,” Tink squeaked, pawing softly at the ground with a forehoof and giving him a look of pure, unadulterated betrayal.

Okay, now he felt bad. Damn, she knows how to tug on the ol’ heartstrings.

“Okay, that was mean. I’m sorry,” Kye said, sitting down next to the bike and wringing the cloth out over the bucket. “Will you forgive me?”

Tink pawed at the ground some more, her ears laying flat and her eyes wary.

Kye sighed. “You keep giving me that look, and I’m pretty sure I’ll die of spontaneous onset diabetes. Granted, it’d be my own fault, but still.”

The pegasus gasped, her eyes going wide. “W-What? You’re dying?” she squeaked, quickly trotting over to his side and wrapping her forelegs around him.

“What? No, I was joking, but I appreciate the hug,” Kye chuckled, wrapping one arm around the pegasus and wiping the fairing down with the cloth in his free hand.

The bike was spotless—he’d already cleaned it four times over the past few days out of pure boredom—but he was glad to have a reason to spend time with Tink, especially since she usually just stayed in her room all day. It wasn’t long before he gave up the pretense and just leaned back against the garage wall, unconsciously bringing a hand up to scratch behind the mare’s ears.

Tink cooed, rubbing her cheek against his chest, one of her hind legs thumping the floor in reflex. “Aahhhh,” she squeaked, causing Kye to glance down in confusion.

It was only then that he realised his fingers were massaging one of her ears. “Oh, shit! Sorry, Tink,” he apologised, pulling his hand away and cursing himself for forgetting.

* * *

No!

The heavenly sensation of Kye’s fingers caressing Tink’s ear receded, leaving only a bothersome craving. The pegasus whined internally as she felt herself blush, unable to muster up the courage to ask him to continue. She instead resigned herself to nuzzling his sculpted chest, with nothing but the thin fabric of his shirt separating skin from fur. A small spark of desire ignited in her nethers, causing her wings to give a noticeable twitch and her tail to slap against the floor. It was only when one of her ears flicked Kye on the chin that the pegasus froze, suddenly aware that she was currently rubbing her whole body against him.

“Wow, you’re super friendly today, huh?” Kye chuckled, ruffling her mane a little.

Tink’s cheeks burned with mortification as she quickly disentangled herself from the human, subconsciously backing away toward the kitchen. Less than ten minutes of his company and she was already crawling all over him like a lust-crazed scorcher. Clearly, she couldn’t be trusted alone with the stallion. “I… I’m so sorry… I…”

Without another word—she bolted, dashing through the kitchen, the lounge, and up the stairs. Once she had reached the confines of her bedroom, she slid under the bed, cursing the lewd thoughts that had prompted such bold actions toward Kye. He was not a tool to be utilised at her will, and she’d do well to remember that. As punishment to herself, she was to lie out of sight for the rest of the day. Kye would be safe from her advances when the others returned.

* * *

Kye rolled his eyes as Tink’s beautiful tail flicked past the doorframe and out of sight, the rest of her already having fled the garage. ‘It was only a matter of time,’ he thought, throwing the cloth into the bucket, causing a large splash of soapy water the hit the motorcycle. A few curse words later, he sighed in defeat.

If only Tink wasn’t so damned skittish, he’d be able to spend some time getting to know her. Maybe he should have just kept his mouth shut and let her rub herself against him. Yeah, come to think of it—he probably should’ve. Captain Dumb-Fuck strikes again.

Leaving the bucket on the floor, Kye pulled himself to his feet, heading back through the kitchen and into the lounge. There was still a couple of the less interesting articles in the pony equivalent of “People” magazine that he hadn’t read, and he planned on using them to burn up at least another half hour or so.

Just as Kye sat down and opened the magazine, the sound of the front door opening rang through the hall. With a frown, he glanced at the clock. It was only just past noon. Nopony should be home this early. He turned just in time to see Octavia trot through the doorway, minus her cello this time.

“Lunch break,” she said, “you’ll do.” With that, she hopped up into Kye’s lap, knocking the magazine out of the way and straddling his hips.

One long and particularly satisfying make out session later, Kye lay back with a big grin, and an even bigger erection. Octavia glanced down to the denim-clad, steel rod poking her in the nethers. “Sorry, honey, I don’t have time to take care of that right now. We’re busy learning a new piece, and our new conductor is being an asshat with the practice scheduling.”

“It’s okay. I’m sure it’ll get bored once I start reading about Blueblood and his nocturnal escapades,” Kye sighed, idly rubbing his palms over her toned flanks.

Octavia gave him a pitiful look. “Isn’t Tink here? Why don’t you go and ruffle her feathers a little?”

“She’s not interested in me that way. At least, I don’t think she is,” Kye said, wishing it wasn’t true.

Octavia smiled. “Was she down here earlier?”

“Well, yeah. She came out of her room for a little bit.”

“And did she get all touchy-feely?”

Kye pondered for a while. “I’m pretty sure she was just giving me a hug.”

“Hmm… did she run away afterwards?”

“Yeah,” Kye grunted, a little bitter at the reminder. The bitterness vanished, however, when Octavia pressed a hoof to his dick.

“She wants this more than I do right now. She just doesn’t want anypony to call her a scorcher, not that anypony in this household actually would.”

“A scorcher? Isn’t that-”

“What I did to you, yeah,” she said, her ears drooping a little.

Kye reached up to scratch behind said ears. “I didn’t mind.”

The mare smiled. “I know,” she purred, before giving him a quick kiss and jumping to her hooves. “Go find her, and if she runs away—chase her. She won’t run for long.”

* * *

A gentle knock rang through the lonely bedroom, and Tink paused her preening just in time to see the door swing open to reveal a seemingly empty hallway. When nothing else happened for a few seconds, she got up off the bed and slowly paced toward the door.

“K-Kye? Is that you?” No sooner had she padded through the doorway, a pair of arms snatched her up off the floor. The pegasus gave a loud “eep” and curled up into a ball in reflex.

Kye chuckled. “Hello, Leafbutt,” he whispered, gently squeezing one of her flanks. A wave of anticipation shot through her at the contact. “I think we need to talk about a few things.”

Without another word, he carried her down the stairs. Tink panicked, half attempting to hide behind her own mane. Whenever somepony said they “needed to talk” about something, it was never a good thing. He most likely thought she was being too forward in the garage, or too antisocial by running away and hiding in her room, or both… What if he didn’t want her as a herdmate anymore?

“Why do you keep running away?” Kye asked as he sat down on the couch, gently setting her down beside him. “Wait, do I smell?” He raised an arm, taking an experimental whiff. “You’d tell me, right?” he asked with a look of mock-worry.

Tink giggled at his antics, momentarily forgetting what she was even anxious about. A lustful twitch in her nether region sharp reminded her, however. She squeezed her hind legs together, wishing the lewd thoughts would leave her head so she could just talk to Kye in peace.

“You look stressed,” Kye commented, giving Tink the once over. “Oh, I have an idea! Are your wings feeling better?”

The question caught Tink off guard a little. She frowned. “Yes, they’re feeling a lot better. Why?”

Kye grinned. “Well,” he said, sliding off the couch until he was kneeling on the floor, facing her. “Lotus just taught me this new technique at work.” He paused, intertwining his fingers and flexing his arms out, prompting a series of clicks from his digits. “It’s designed solely for pegasi wings. Trouble is, I haven’t had anypony to practice on, what with it being heat week.” He gave her a mock-pleading look.

Just the mere mention of an experimental wing massage had Tink fighting to keep the bothersome, feathery appendages to her sides. It was almost as though they had heard his words, understood them, and were now actively trying to signal their willingness to cooperate. “Oh… umm, I don’t know if you playing with my wings is such a good idea right no-”

POMF.

A couple of stray feathers fell on the couch as Tink’s wings defied her mental commands once again, springing out from her sides and beginning to twitch in time with her quickening heartbeat. She didn’t even have the energy to be embarrassed anymore. Instead, she emitted a long, drawn out sigh, silently wishing she could control her urges.

“That’s gotta be at least a little uncomfortable,” Kye observed, a look of suspiciously questionable indifference on his face.

“It is,” the pegasus admitted. Maybe, just this once, she could let him massage some of the tension out of her wings? It would certainly make it easier to deal with her heat if they weren’t popping off all over the place.

“Trainee masseur, right here.” He grinned, pointing both thumbs at himself.

“O-Okay,” Tink squeaked, her wings already beginning to quiver at the thought of what he might do to them.

“Sweet! Just, uh—don’t expect me to be amazing at this right off the bat. I’ve only done this once, and that was on an earth pony with training wings,” he bashfully admitted, quickly getting to his feet.

“Wait—training wing-eep!”

Without warning, Kye scooped Tink up off the couch, placing her back to his chest, before laying down with his head on the armrest. Tink suddenly found herself enveloped in the warmth rising from Kye’s larger frame, his arms holding her captive around her midriff. Her wings reacted accordingly, stiffening further as her left wing tip slapped against the back of the couch. Sheer terror and blissful anticipation fought for dominance in her mind as her breathing grew more laboured, her forehooves instinctively clutching one of his arms.

“T-This is intimate…” Tink gasped, attempting to distract herself with the decorative artex pattern on the ceiling.

“Heh, funny—that’s exactly what I said to Lotus,” he replied, slowly extracting his arms from her grip and gently running his fingertips along the leading edge of her wings. Tink closed her eyes, tracing his touch with her mind.

“Wow… they’re really soft,” he observed, his warm breath caressing one of her ears, prompting it to flick several times in succession. “I’ve only had a couple of pegasi clients before, but I was too afraid to touch their wings.”

“You were afraid?” Tink asked, unable to imagine such a situation.

“Well, yeah. Lotus mentioned that some parts of pegasi wings are erogenous zones. She didn’t really elaborate, though…” he trailed off, almost as though waiting for her to speak.

“Oh… Well, y-yes. Some areas are more s-sensitive than others,” the pegasus whispered, secretly hoping he was curious enough to test the fact. The sensation of his fingertips roaming along her primaries was nice, but she knew it would feel a whole lot nicer if he explored closer to her torso.

“Oh, yeah? Would you care to enlighten me?” he purred, letting his fingers splay out amongst her downy secondaries, perilously close to one of the areas they were currently discussing.

Tink shivered in anticipation, her feathers seemingly gravitating toward his soft ministrations as her body temperature began to rise. “Well, um… You’re getting closer…” she squeaked, before quickly covering her maw with her forehooves. She hadn’t meant to say that out loud…

“Lotus said I should do this…” He moved his hands up slightly, capturing the leading edges of her wings between his thumb and index fingers and applying gentle pressure. Some of the stiffness left her wings, but it only made her crave more of his touch, specifically, in other places. “... but I have a feeling that’s not very adventurous,” Kye concluded, continuing to gently squeeze her leading edges in a rhythmic pattern, all the way to her wingtips.

The fire in her loins was now unmistakable, and Tink could feel the lust beginning to accumulate at her slightly parted nether lips. If she wasn’t careful, it would eventually leak down past her dock and soak into Kye’s clothes. The thought caused her face to pale, but before she could even move—Kye’s hands suddenly slid the full length of her wings, coming to rest where her wings met her torso.

“EEEEP!”

His thumbs simultaneously applied pressure to the wing muscles on either side of her torso, causing an almost divine pleasure to radiate through her small form. Her back arched in reflex, whilst her tail lashed against his legs. Kye twitched in shock, removing his hands at once.

“Sorry! Are you okay?” he spluttered, once again wrapping his arms around her barrel. “I didn’t mean to hurt you,” he softly cooed in her ear, before giving it a little nibble.

Tink leaned into his touch, brushing her ear over his lips. “Didn’t hurt,” she breathed, still twitching slightly from the sensation.

“It didn’t?”

“No… It actually felt really nice…” she quietly admitted, once again subconsciously clutching his arm with her forehooves. Kye seemed to relax at her assurance, but he didn’t immediately go back to massaging her wings. “... um… c-can you… will you… k-keep going?” she sheepishly requested.

“Of course,” he replied, gently rubbing her belly. Tink closed her eyes, simply enjoying the sensation. “But, this is a bit of an odd angle… Maybe if you turned over, I could reach more of your wings?”

A shiver of excitement shot through the pegasus at his bold suggestion. “I… I-I…” she stuttered, unable to get her words out.

“Or we could just stay like this, I mean—it’s not that much of a problem. Either is fine,” Kye suddenly interjected, giving her a playful pat on the midriff and going back to gently squeezing the leading edges of her wings.

Tink relaxed somewhat, but couldn’t help feeling like she had just missed some sort of opportunity. Her body yearned to feel his pressed against her core. She knew she would end up leaving a damp patch on his jeans, but she found that fact to be of little concern at this point… “Wait! Um… if your arms are hurting… then m-maybe I should…” She rolled to the left, wincing slightly as her left wing bent rather uncomfortably. Kye must have noticed her discomfort, as he lifted her up slightly to give her the clearance she needed, before gently lowering her to his chest.

Her hindlegs fell either side of his waist, her forehooves gently gripping the fabric covering his sculpted chest. Her body seemed to fit perfectly against his, and her burning loins wasted no time in letting her know how much they liked this new development. Oh no… She silently hoped Kye wouldn’t notice she was leaking on him. She even half considered fleeing once more, but it seemed her aching marehood was calling the shots at this point…

“That’s better. Now I can reach a bit more easily,” Kye said, sliding his palms over her coat.

Tink let out a sharp gasp that quickly turned into a whimpering moan as one of Kye’s hands brushed over the aching flight muscles on her back where her wings met. Her ears flicked in a rather lewd display, and her tail lashed against the back of the couch with a loud slap. The human raised his eyebrows in surprise.

“Wow, you really like that, huh?” he half chuckled, pulling his hand back down a little to rest on her rump.

Tink closed her eyes, her cheeks heating as she gave the slightest of nods. Even her embarrassment could no longer quell her desire to mate with him. She could feel it building, the wanton need to feel him explode inside her. She was pretty sure he couldn’t get her pregnant, but she didn’t even care if the opposite was true at this point. She would have his foals. Repeatedly.

“Um… Tink? You okay? You look a little-mmpphh…”

In a move of which the sheer boldness surprised even herself, Tink pressed her lips to his, tightly closing her eyes and sliding her forehooves to either side of his neck. She then immediately froze, a voice of reason momentarily cutting through the lust clouding her mind to question if she had over-stepped her boundaries… It was only when she felt Kye begin to reciprocate that she relaxed again.

Her tongue gingerly slid past his parted lips, colliding with his, the gentle friction between the slippery appendages sending chills down her spine. Kye tilted his head, allowing Tink better access as he slid his hands up her back, sending the aforementioned chills right back up her spine. Tink inhaled sharply through her nose as she felt the human’s fingertips lightly brush over the flight muscles on her back, one of his palms eventually coming to rest between her wings.

“Mmmmphmm,” she moaned, the sound somewhat muffled by their current lip-lock.

His other hand continued its journey up towards her neck, the fingers eventually spreading as they delved into her mane, before gripping and tugging gently. The resultant wink of her sex was particularly satisfying, even more so when she involuntarily ground her loins against his crotch. She gave a muffled gasp of surprise as her wandering tongue suddenly slid over the jagged sharpness of his teeth. Something hard was pressing against the mounds between her hind legs, and it took a few moments for Tink’s lust addled mind to realise what it was.

Tentatively, she broke the kiss. “Is that for m-me?”

Author's Note

Again, sorry for the delay.

I'll try my best to make the next update arrive in a timely manner. :ajsmug:

And yes, next chapter has smut.

Chapter Seventeen - Under the Dome - Part III

Edited by JimboTex and Regreme

“Is that for m-me?”

Kye gazed into the beautiful blue eyes of his pegasus companion, thoroughly relieved that she was finally beginning to relax around him. The fact that she’d actually initiated their first ever kiss was surprising enough, but the subtle movements of her hips against his crotch left him with a look of incredulity and a growing semi. Was this even the same pony anymore?

“Maybe,” Kye whispered. With a few gentle strokes of his fingers through her mane, Tink’s eyes slowly narrowed.

“Take off your clothes.”

Kye grinned. That wasn’t a request, and she hadn’t stuttered, either. Carefully sitting up, he wrapped his arms more securely around the pegasus and got to his feet. Tink’s long, bushy tail coiled itself around his leg, whilst the rest of her clung to him with almost possessive enthusiasm.

“Not here,” Kye said. Whilst it was true that nopony except herdmates could interrupt them, he’d still prefer it that Fluttershy not wander in to see his bare ass bobbing in the air. Something told him that it might be “too much, too soon”.

By the time they reached the top of the stairs, Tink had taken to impatiently nipping Kye’s neck with her teeth, between giving him frequent nuzzles and gentle squeezes with her hind legs.

An over-enthusiastic and poorly aimed kick at his bedroom door sent a shooting pain through Kye’s big toe. Ouch. He ignored it, striding into the bedroom and gently laying his timid marefriend down on the bed. She held her forehooves to her chest as her wings fanned out over the sheets. The way she gazed up at him with wide eyes, nervously biting her lower lip, almost made him want to just lie down and cuddle with her.

Of course, she probably had other intentions. Taking a couple of steps back, Kye made quite a show of disrobing. First, his shirt came off, and was quickly followed by his pants. He left his boxers on, just to be a tease.

Tink peered over at him from the bed, her eyes focused on what was still hidden. “You wear a lot of clothes…” she trailed off, with a look that somewhat resembled a disappointed pout.

“Heh. That’s what Lyra said,” he chuckled, dropping to his knees and shuffling toward the bed. Tink’s glistening mare pussy was now at his eye-level, and it looked delicious.

Passing over her feminine treasure trove altogether, Kye rested his arms on the bed and pressed his lips to the mare’s stomach, slowly dragging them down through the fine grey fur. The thick strands of her tail tickled his chest as it twitched a couple of times.

“What are you…” Tink gasped, before abandoning her question mid-sentence. Kye glanced up to see she’d stuffed one of her forehooves in her mouth. So adorable.

Finally letting his tongue slip past his lips, Kye licked a line up Tink’s abdomen, whilst letting his left hand sneakily slide up her hip and back down to one of her breast mounds. He quickly found the nipple, gently pinching it between thumb and index finger.

“Ohhh!” Tink gasped, suddenly squirming all over the bed.

“Woah,” Kye chuckled, leaning back to avoid her flailing hindlegs.

“Sorry,” she squeaked, quickly composing herself. “But, if you… umm,” she gave the tiniest motion to her intimate area with a forehoof, “then, I m-might… umm… make a mess… on you.” Her cheeks burned red, and she pointedly looked away.

Kye raised an eyebrow. “Tink, that’s nothing to worry about,” he chuckled, sliding his hands over her barrel. She gave him a pleading look, and her ears drooped a little. Kye gave a sigh that turned into a chuckle. “Okay, then,” he said, sliding onto the bed beside her.

He slid his left arm beneath her shoulders, whilst letting his right hand slide back into position on her stomach. Tink turned her head, placing a chaste kiss on his lips. Then another, and another. When her tongue finally slid into his mouth for the second time that afternoon, Kye’s fingers slid between her mounds and onto her labia, essentially cupping her vagina.

“Eeep!” she started, breaking the kiss.

With a bodily twist, she rolled into Kye’s chest, capturing his hips with her hind legs and his shoulders with her forelegs. Even her wings, erect as they were, contorted to wrap around his back. “Rut me!” she yelped, already trying to kick the boxer shorts off of his body.

“Gonna need my arm back, first, Honey,” Kye grimaced, finally pulling his hand from between their bodies. Tink whined as it slid past her mounds, once again biting his neck in excitement. No doubt, she wasn’t even listening to him at this point…

Kye shifted, pulling Tink further up the bed and rolling her onto her back. After a short struggle—Tink refusing to release him from her vice grip—he managed to remove his boxer shorts. This left his member exposed, and sliding against a very warm, very wet pegasus pussy.

Tink’s breathing grew heavy at the intimate contact, the rhythmic blasting of warmth against his neck spurring Kye on to a fever pitch. The fur surrounding her vulva was soft, fine, and currently massaging the sides of his swollen shaft.

There was already a damp spot on the bed. Kye could feel it. Pulling back slightly, he pressed the head of his cock against her clitoris, feeling it twitch and wink like crazy in response. A series of almost pained whimpers slipped from Tink’s muzzle as she began nipping him once more, each little bite bringing a thoroughly satisfying sting. Her wings twitched against his back, retaining their bind, whilst her ears danced atop her head. Every few seconds, her tail would jolt against the sheet with a gentle “thwap”.

“Kye!” Tink jolted her hips, causing her slick marehood to suddenly ingest the end of his dick. Kye sucked in a breath as her folds parted, and the heavenly wet ring of pony flesh dilated around his glans. There was no question—she was definitely in heat. His dick was practically on fire.

“Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!” Tink squeaked, as inch after inch of human cock gradually slid inside her.

Kye met no resistance, despite the overwhelming pressure of her burning walls. He soon hilted inside her, skin pressed hard to fur as she gripped him even tighter. Her whimpers grew softer as she slowly acclimated to his presence.

With tepid caution, Kye gradually let the pegasus bear his weight—something he’d learned Lyra and Octavia both loved when he was on top. Tink apparently shared their appreciation, as she moaned in bliss, finally relaxing her grip a little. They lay still for a few moments, merely enjoying the sensation of finally being connected in the most intimate way.

A twitch of the mare’s clitoris brought Kye out of his near trance-like state, prompting him to pull back. Her walls clenched around him in protest, and the familiar “negative pressure” effect of a mare in estrus hindered him. He could only pull out a few inches or so before it became borderline painful.

“Ooooohhhhhhhhh, yes!”

Clearly, it wasn’t a problem for Tink. With slow, deliberate thrusts, Kye slowly began to screw his youngest marefriend, cherishing each and every one of her little nibbles on his neck. Her laboured breaths against his skin ensured he remained rock solid as he slid inside her, bottoming out with every thrust.

Tink pulled deeper into Kye’s neck, one of her wildly twitching ears tickling his chin as she arched her back, her wings returning to their outstretched state and slapping against the bed. Her forehooves replaced her wings on his back, hooves massaging up and down his spine as he drove between her splayed hind legs with powerful strokes.

One hand wandered to her cutie mark, whilst the other snaked under her back to grope her spasming flight muscles. That earned him a muffled squeak, and yet another playful nip, followed by a whimper of ecstasy as his fingers splayed on her cutie mark. The pressure of her walls built even more. Kye wasn’t sure if he could hold out through much more of the sweet, lubricated friction that was the inside of her marehood.

He pulled his thrusts as far as he could without injuring himself, before driving his shaft as deep as he could inside her in an attempt to push her over the edge. Tink’s whimpers had long since turned into pleasured moans and adorable little squeaks of increasing volume. Her hips rolled in time with his strokes, and her love bites were becoming steadily more aggressive.

“Ohh, Kye! Rut me!” she squeaked, almost incoherently.

Kye did just that, grinding his manhood into her like he had intentions of impregnating her, despite it being biologically impossible. With a high pitched “eeeeeeeeeep,” Tink’s hind legs suddenly locked around his hips, her marehood beginning to spasm powerfully around his cock. Kye gasped at the familiar milking sensation, finally letting go.

As soon as the first pearly rope of semen hit Tink’s cervix, her back went rigid, and a bright light filled the room. It was so bright, it even overpowered the sun streaming through the curtains. Oh, no…

Kye tried to pull away, but even if she didn’t currently have him in a vice grip with all four of her legs, he’d never be able to reclaim his penis from her orgasming snatch. The familiar fear of being trapped inside a bat-shit-crazy surging pony swept through him as he closed his eyes and held her close. How the hell was this even possible? Tink was a pegasus—she couldn’t surge, right?

Kye opened an eye to take a peek at his marefriend’s eyes. Eeyup. Her eyes resembled stadium floodlights. Crap.

Buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!

Tink began to vibrate. Violently. In no time at all, all hell broke loose. The dresser flew up into the ceiling, puncturing quite a sizeable hole before disintegrating into a cloud of dust and splinters. The wardrobe fell over with a loud “bang,” and began sliding around on the floor. Random objects from around the room—including the remains of the dresser, and a few of Lyra’s photo frames that had been hanging on the walls—began to fly rapidly around the room in a spiralling vortex.

“Arrrrggghhhh! Tink! What the fuck are you doing?!” Kye yelled, trying to grab the blanket flapping about the room in hopes of shielding them from the carnage. It didn’t even look like she had wings anymore—they were moving that fast.

No sooner had the words left his mouth, the light vanished. Everything fell to the floor with a series of muted thuds against the carpet. Tink lay ramrod straight. Her eyes—thankfully, back to their normal cerulean—portrayed only shock for a few seconds, before filling with fear and panic.

“Oh, no!” She looked at Kye as if he were going to murder her, even though he was just giving her a look of utter bewilderment. “I… I… Oh, Celestia! I’m so sorry!” she cried, actually bursting into tears.

Kye snapped out of his astonishment and ultimately decided to just roll with it. It’s not like Lyra hadn’t made bigger messes, anyway. “Hey,” he cooed, discreetly trying to pull himself free of her marehood. He couldn’t quite manage it. “There’s no need to cry. We can totally fix all this,” he lied, peering around the room with a forced smile. We’re so not gonna be able to fix this.

Part of the loft insulation was visible through the hole in the ceiling, and several shards of wood of various sizes were strewn about the carpet. The vanity mirror that had been attached to the dresser was now in about a thousand pieces all over the room.

“Lyra’s gonna kill me,” Tink sobbed, burying her muzzle into his neck.

“No, she’s not. Because, we can fix this,” Kye reassured, even though he knew it was bull. Lyra was totally gonna flip her lid. Not with Tink, but with him, for getting her so wound up she went off like a top…

“How!?” Tink screeched, pointing a foreleg at the gaping hole in the ceiling. She certainly has a point.

“Relax. All we have to do... is go find Twilight and get her to fix it,” Kye said, praising himself for thinking on his feet. Or, on… Tink? Whatever.

“Neither of us can leave the dome!”

“Oh, yeah,” Kye acknowledged. Well, shit.

Tink sniffled, wiping the tears from her eyes with a forehoof. “Can we just cuddle for a while before Lyra comes home and kills me?”

“Sure,” Kye said, finally pulling out of her marehood with a wet “shlop” and laying down beside her. She cuddled into him as he wrapped his arms around her. His groin was drenched in mare cum, as was quite a large section of bedsheet. “But, she’s not gonna kill you. You’re way too cute.”

Tink had also noticed the large wet spot. “Told you I’d make a mess,” she sighed, a look of utter misery on her face.

“Oh, you made a mess, alright,” Kye chuckled. The room looked like a bomb had went off.

The pegasus broke into a fresh bout of sobbing, and Kye immediately felt a little guilty. “Aww, I’m only joking, you silly filly,” he cooed, gently massaging her ears with the tips of his fingers.

“It’s supposed to be my special talent, but I’ve never been able to control it. It j-just happens,” she sobbed, leaning into his touch.

“Your special talent is demolition?”

Tink frowned, pulling back to look at him. “What? No. It’s generating tornadoes. Look.” She pointed to her cutie mark. The three Autumn leaves were arranged in a way that could suggest they were blowing in a whirlwind, but it wasn’t too obvious. “Everypony always assumes it’s something simple, like gathering leaves for Fall Wrap Up, or something to do with gardening. That’s usually what I tell them, if they ask.”

It was Kye’s turn to frown. “You lie to them?”

The mare nodded, a shameful expression adorning her muzzle. She suddenly levelled Kye with a serious look. “This was nothing. When it gets really bad, I…” she trailed off, suddenly overly-conscious of her words. “If ponies knew what I’m capable of, they wouldn’t want to be around me.”

“And what exactly are you capable of?” Kye asked, softly brushing her mane from her cheek.

The pegasus gave a drawn out sigh, gazing trustfully into his eyes. “Well, it all started eight years ago…”

* * *

A gentle Autumn breeze drifted lazily through the tall trees of Whitetail Woods, disrupted only by the small leaf-laden wake of the little grey pegasus filly soaring between them. Her long red and black mane and tail trailed behind her as her wings buzzed almost invisibly fast, propelling her through the forest at a brisk pace.

Today was a special day for Tinker Breeze: it was her eleventh birthday. She’d been staying with a sitter for the past few days, as her parents had been away on a business trip in Vanhoover. But now they were back, and being a little too impatient to wait for them to come and pick her up—the filly was making her own way home. She couldn’t wait to see the looks of surprise on their faces.

They’d more than likely tell her off for being out on her own, but Tink was a big pony now. Once she got her cutie mark, there’d be nothing she couldn’t handle.

With a few practiced barrel rolls, she expertly weaved through the densely packed branches. The large manor house that she called home came into view, and her heart leapt with joy.

“Mom! Dad! I’m back!” she called, lazily drifting a wide arc over the water fountain in the front garden. The grounds appeared empty, bar the usual hedges, pathways and flora. Oddly, though, there wasn’t a woodland creature in sight.

“Mom! Dad! Are you home?”

They should’ve been back by now. The trains were hardly ever late. Continuing her slow glide, she drifted around the side of the house, the rear garden coming into view. What she saw made her heart stop for several seconds.

Much of the grass and hedges were painted red, and Tink’s mother and father… lay motionless next to their suitcases.

Tink’s wings warped, curling in on themselves. She fell out of the air, bouncing off a hedge before rolling to a stop on one of the pathways. The puddle of blood was slowly creeping toward her, mere inches from her muzzle. She tried to force herself to wake up.

The silence was eerie. It could even be described as peaceful. Tink knew she couldn’t wake up, because she wasn’t dreaming.

Their faces… They didn’t even look like themselves anymore.

The filly closed her eyes, curling up into a ball. Her breaths were short, sharp, and irregular. She wanted to scream, but she couldn’t even do that anymore. She wanted for none of this to be real, for her senses to be lying to her. But they were not.

She could smell the blood. Almost taste it, even.

Quickly rolling herself into the hedge, she wretched, emptying her stomach of the fruit she’d had for breakfast. A cry followed the vomit, the tears finally beginning to flow. She tried to hold them back, some sort of warped logic suggesting that allowing grief to take hold would somehow seal their fate.

Tink stood, staring mindlessly at their unmoving bodies just a few feet away. Her forcefully suppressed sobbing grew steadily louder. She didn’t know what to do, only that anything she did wouldn’t change things.

The iron taste in her mouth intensified, and two pinpricks of green became visible in the thick undergrowth of the treeline. A deep, rumbling growl accompanied, as something huge emerged from the vegetation.

Tink had heard stories of timberwolves, but she’d never seen one up close. They usually lived in the Everfree, not Whitetail Woods. The creature was easily ten times her size, the thick, gnarled bark that made up its form creaked menacingly as it stalked closer. Its jaws were dripping with blood. Probably her parents’.

Four more of the foul beasts crawled out of the undergrowth, a couple of them snarling with excitement as they rounded on her.

Tink didn’t care. She knew she should be afraid, probably even flying away by now, but she simply didn’t have the strength anymore. Her parents were gone, and she was alone... if you disregarded the timberwolves.

One of them stepped on her mother in its slow advance towards the filly, roughly shoving the corpse aside with a hind leg as it passed. Tink closed her eyes. She’d seen enough.

The small niggle of annoyance that had been fighting for attention in her grief stricken, heart broken little form suddenly exploded. Suddenly, there was no room for grief. Or sorrow, fear, or mercy.

When the filly opened her eyes, the timberwolves were blinded. Her wings began to flap, and the little pony rose up from the blood drenched ground, her hooves dripping. It had been a clear Autumn day up until that point, but the weather took an immediate turn for the worse.

The wind picked up. Gradually at first, but it soon caught up to resemble the raging inferno of white-hot burning rage in the filly’s heart. Distant sounds of windows shattering, the loud cracks of wood splintering and the terrified yelping of several timberwolves were ignored. All Tink acknowledged was the howling of the wind, singing a twisted opera with the virulent screaming in her head. The eye of the storm encompassed the bodies of her parents as the cruel, unrelenting tornado laid waste to everything else.

One by one, the timberwolves stopped yelping. When nothing but the wind remained, Tink stopped flapping her wings. She fell between her dead parents with a blood-splattering thud and a flash of light.

She couldn’t bring herself to look at them.

Nothing remained of her childhood home. Not even the rubble had survived the devastation she had wrought. Quite a large section of the forest was also missing. All that was left was a ring of fallen trees, among the other debris around the perimeter of destruction.

Her confusion finally fought through the grief, and she couldn’t help but question why she had been able to conjure such a powerful storm. Simple grief alone wouldn’t make it so, unless…

A quick glance at her rump confirmed her suspicion. She had indeed earned her cutie mark.

* * *

For several long moments, Kye didn’t say anything. He did, however, sit up against the headboard, pulling the pegasus up with him so he could cradle her in his arms. His attempts at thinking of something meaningful to say all kept circling back to “not good enough”. Tink had faced horrors far worse than he could ever imagine. They even made his transdimensional predicament seem trivial in comparison.

The mare shifted, letting her wings unfurl at his sides as she snuggled into his neck. Her hind legs splayed around his waist, but any reaction on his part was muted by the bombshell she’d just dropped. He still didn’t know what to say, but the silence was killing him.

“I’m so sorry,” he whispered, holding her close. He didn’t ever want to let her go, lest any other devastating, undeserved misfortune should befall her. She had suffered enough.

“It’s okay. It was a long time ago,” she murmured.

“But, still…” Kye began, grabbing the blanket and covering them both with it. “I had no idea,” he said, gently stroking his fingers through her mane. Tink merely snuggled up to his chest in response.

Sleep beckoned once more, and Kye could feel himself starting to drift off after a few minutes. The pegasus lying on top of him was warm, cuddly, and incredibly soft. The sound of her breathing had a somewhat soothing effect, as well as reassuring him that she was okay. When Lyra’s voice suddenly became audible through the open window, however, the pegasus leapt to her hooves.

“Oh, no!” Tink gasped, her wings spreading wide and consequently launching the blanket halfway across the room.

“-be so happy when she finds out you went back to get it for her,” said Lyra’s voice. The sound of the front door being opened with magic rang through the house.

“It wasn’t easy. The Perception Nullification Incantation is a pretty tricky spell to maintain a decent cast on. Especially on six subjects at once,” Twilight replied.

“They were all home, huh?”

“It’s like they never go anywhere. I’m surprised they were even at the Ball last week,” Twilight replied, before the door closed again.

“Hide me!” Tink squeaked, visibly trembling in fear.

“Relax,” Kye said, getting up and gathering his discarded clothing from the debris scattered about the room. “I think I have an idea.” Tink didn’t seem to have much faith, as she began nervously fluttering around the room like a confused dove.

Quickly dressing himself, he made for the landing. “Stay here,” he hissed at the floating pegasus, before stepping out into the hall and quietly closing the bedroom door. He hadn’t even made it fully to the stairs before he froze in horror. Lyra was already bounding up them.

“Oh, hi, Honey,” she said, giving him a loving smile as she reached the top.

Without thinking, Kye gathered her up in his arms, pressed her back against the wall and passionately kissed her. The unicorn gave a muffled squeak, but then reciprocated with enthusiasm.

“Wow… guess you missed me, then?” she chuckled as they broke apart.

“Of course I did,” Kye said, letting his fingertips run through her mane. Even after she’d been working all day, it was still silky smooth. “I have a present for you.”

“Oh, really?” Lyra purred, flashing him a smile with half lidded eyes and giving his waist a squeeze with her hind legs. “What is it?”

“Well,” Kye began, gently grasping one of her ears. It twitched, probably involuntarily, in his grip. “Why don’t you go and wait for me in the shower, and I’ll show you?”

The mare shivered against him. “O-Okay,” she gasped, a very un-Lyra-ish blush beginning to show on her cheeks.

Kye frowned, a grin slowly spreading on his face. “Pretty eager today, huh?” he chuckled.

“Shut up. It’s not my fault. It’s the heat,” she replied, swatting her tail against his leg.

“Hasn’t been any hotter than usual, lately,” he said, feigning ignorance.

Lyra gave him a bemused look. “Just be thankful I’ve been using the triple C, instead of riding you all week like a merry go round.”

“I already told you I don’t mind taking care of you.”

“Well, good, cause you’re up.” With that, she hopped down to her hooves again. “I’m gonna go freshen up,” she said, stopping just before the bathroom door. She seductively flicked her mane to the side, giving him another dose of the bedroom eyes. “Then, I want you to rut me.”

Kye smiled as he watch her trot into the bathroom. Once she closed the door, he silently bolted down the stairs. Twilight wasn’t in the lounge, or the hallway. When he didn’t find her in the kitchen, he began to panic. Crap. Where is she?

The distinctive ethereal chime sound of magic drifted in from the garage, and Kye breathed a sigh of relief when he found the unicorn stood on her hind legs, her forehooves resting on the seat of his motorcycle.

“Oh, thank Sunnybutt, Twi!” Kye gasped, before spotting that the petrol filler cap was open. “How did you open that? Tink has the bike keys.”

“Simple lockpick spell. I was going to ask you for the keys, but I was hoping to surprise you with this,” she said, an adorable sheepish expression on her face.

“With what?” Kye asked, not even daring to hope.

“Well, as you know, oil is a little hard to come by in Equestria.” Her horn flared, the inside of the petrol tank beginning to glow lavender. “If I can get a sample of the fuel this engine uses, I may be able to adapt the molecular structure of the lubricating oil tradesponies buy from the hardware store. They have a limited stock, but I think it should be sufficient until we go to Neighagra. That is, if we’re still going…” she said, blushing a little.

“Wait… are you saying you can make more fuel?”

“Well, it won't be exactly the same formula, but it should wor-eep!”

Kye couldn’t help himself. He scooped up the studious mare into a hug. “I really appreciate this, Twilight.”

“...um, I can tell,” she chuckled, giving his shoulders a little squeeze with her forelegs.

“Listen,” Kye began, gently setting Twilight back down. “I hate to ask for your help after you’ve done so much already, but there’s a situation upstairs that you should probably take a look at.”

Twilight frowned. “Did Lyra break something again? I swear to Celestia that mare is too powerful for her own good.”

“No. Actually, it was Tink,” Kye bashfully replied.

Twilight give him a bewildered look. “Were… were you?” she trailed off, her blush returning.

“Yeah,” Kye said, feeling his own cheeks heating.

Twilight blinked. “Wow… Okay, then.” Her ears flicked in quick succession. “Just, uh… show me what I need to fix.”

* * *

Tink could hear voices, but she couldn’t discern what they were saying. She’d flew rings around the room in panic for the last ten minutes, before she’d realised she was only adding to the mess. Kye’s seed was leaking from her nethers, and just the mere thought of that was getting her juices flowing again. If only Lyra hadn’t come home so early.

Or—better still—if only Tink hadn’t wrecked Kye’s bedroom.

The sex had been amazing, right up until the point she’d lost control and sent a mini-tornado on a rampage. Now, Lyra would inevitably find out and kick her to the kerb.

The door opened, and Tink shamelessly hid behind the bed, cowering beneath her own wings.

“Sweet Celestia, what happened here?” Twilight gasped. “Actually, I don’t need to know the details,” she quickly added.

“Is it fixable?” Kye asked. Tink slowly peeked over the top of the bed just as the human closed the door. It sounded like someone was in the shower. Hopefully, it was Lyra.

“I should be able to fix it without too much trouble,” the unicorn happily chirped, her horn coming to life.

The debris began to rise up into the air, much in the same way as the rubble had in the hospital. Most of the plaster shards flew up to the hole in the ceiling, whilst the jagged bits of wood shot up and arranged themselves in midair into the destroyed dresser. The cracks disappeared with flashes of purple light. Lyra’s picture frames all reassembled themselves on the wall, and the ripped curtains weaved themselves back together and hung themselves back up over the window. The whole process took less than a minute, and left the room looking exactly the same as it had when Tink had first stepped hoof into it.

“That was amazing. You’re amazing,” Kye breathed, simply bewildered at the spectacle. Tink had to agree with him, seeing as Twilight had just saved her from certain exile from the herd.

“Oh, it was nothing,” Twilight chuckled, with a slight blush. “Just a simple Controlzee Reversal Enchantment.” She turned to Tink. “How did you manage to throw a dresser into the ceiling, anyway?”

“Oh… um…” Tink murmured, unsure of what to say. “It’s… my special talent.”

Twilight frowned. “It is?”

Kye cleared his throat. “Tink can generate tornadoes. Sometimes, they’re… involuntary.”

Twilight blinked. “You can generate tornadoes? All by yourself?” she asked, her face positively lighting up with curiosity. “It usually takes at least ten pegasi to whip up just a small whirlwind.”

“I’ve never been able to control it. It usually only happens when I feel strong emotions,” Tink replied, before realising just what she’d said. Her ears flattened, and she half considered hiding behind the bed again.

Twilight seemed oblivious to her plight, however. “Would you be open to some experimentation on the boundaries of pegasi magic? I’ve been looking for suitable candidates for a while now. I’ve already conducted the speed test with Rainbow Dash alongside a control group, but I have yet to find a pegasus that has the sheer magical ability to single-hoofedly generate a full blown tornado. Would you be interested in something like that?” she gleefully asked, sitting on her haunches and clopping her forehooves together.

“B-But, I really don’t know how to control it. I can’t-” Tink began, a little overwhelmed at the unicorn’s interest.

“Oh, that doesn’t matter. You’ll have plenty of time to master the utilisation of your talent. It’s the fact that you have the raw ability that makes you a far better candidate than another pony with a special talent in another area. Even if they had the technique down, they still wouldn’t compare to you.”

Tink considered protesting further, but she knew Twilight probably wasn’t going to give up. “I… O-Okay. But, we have to go somewhere where there are no houses… or forests.”

Twilight blanched a little. “You’ve destroyed entire houses before?”

Kye chose that moment to kneel down next to Tink and place a comforting hand on her withers. Tink scooted closer, extending a wing in embrace and wordlessly thanking him for the support. “A couple of times, when I wasn’t able to calm myself down.”

“That’s… unfortunate.”

Tink smiled. Twilight really was the smartest pony she knew.

“On a different note—I have something of yours.” Twilight’s horn flashed, and a familiar crystal locket appeared in the air. A locket that had once belonged to Aurora Breeze.

With a gasp, Tink reached out a hoof. The locket floated down into her pad. “My locket… B-But, how did you get it?”

Twilight smiled. “Just walked right in and took it out of Coco’s bedside drawer. The Chrome herd aren’t very observant, it seems,” she chuckled.

“I bet you cast some crazy invisibility spell or something though, am I right?” Kye chimed in, playfully tapping the unicorn on her withers.

“Close, actually. The spell I used renders me completely imperceptible to others. By magically intercepting brain signals at the synapses and altering their neural oscillations, I can cause an individual to believe they aren’t seeing me, hearing me, or perceiving me at all in any other way.”

“That’s… impressive,” Kye complemented. “So long as you only use your powers for good,” he added, giving her a smirk. Twilight just rolled her eyes at him.

“Well, thank you for getting it for me. I don’t know if I would have been able to go back for it,” Tink sighed, silently wishing she had the nerve to confront the ponies that had made her life hell for so long.

“Either way, you wouldn’t have been alone,” Twilight assured, placing a lavender hoof on Tink’s shoulder.

“Yeah, I’d have been there, right by your side,” Kye said, cracking his knuckles. “If Ace even so much as looked at you the wrong way, I’d-”

“Do nothing,” Twilight finished for him. “You’re already on thin ice as it is. If you attacked Ace again, you’d be making things very difficult for the Princesses.”

The door suddenly burst open, a mildly annoyed-looking, soaking wet Lyra standing in the hall. Tink still flinched, despite there now being nothing out of place in the room. “Hey! Sex Monkey! You forget about me, or something?”

“Oh, hell no,” Kye growled, a glint of something… primal, in his eyes. Tink felt her tail twitch against his leg as he got up, striding towards the alpha unicorn. Even Twilight raised an eyebrow at the display. Both Kye and Lyra disappeared into the bathroom.

“Maybe… we should head downstairs?” Twilight suggested, already making for the door.

Tink gave a nod, carefully placing the locket around her neck and following Twilight out into the hall. She had a pretty good idea of what was about to happen in the bathroom, and she found she didn’t envy Lyra as much anymore now that she’d experienced it for herself.

Author's Note

HA! Wasn't months on end this time, eh?

The next one probably wont be so speedy, so here's a pic of Leafbutt I made in SAI to tide you over. :twistnerd:

Chapter Eighteen - Those Pretty Pegasi

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter One - Twists and Turns

Author's Note

To new readers:

Fair warning—I started writing this story before I joined FiMFiction. It is dreadful. If you have any self respect, don't subject yourself to this utter trash—go read something better.

If you decide to read it regardless, then I can tell you the quality does start to improve by around chapter nine, at which point an OC shows up that is actually worth reading about.

Chapter One - Twists and Turns

Edited by JimboTex

Kye’s right hand twitched on the throttle as he flicked his left foot down. He felt the satisfying click as the twin Akrapovic cans roared, then quickly returned to emitting a low rumble. He was finally here; if there was one thing he truly enjoyed in his life it was the thrill of speed blended with the prospect of creeping death.

Oh no, Kye didn't have a death wish—far from it in fact. As pessimistic as he sometimes was, he didn't want to die. He wanted to live, though most of the time it felt like he was waiting for something; he just didn't know what.

He took a drag from the cigarette in his right hand through the hole he had drilled in his visor. Filthy habit he knew, not to mention a waste of money he could be spending on the pride and joy between his legs. He chuckled at the obscenity of his inner monologue. Bad puns aside, he really did love his motorcycle.

He released the clutch a little and the bike rolled forward.

When he’d first seen the newest model of the Yamaha R1, he knew he had to have it. It was a shameless common-as-shit Japanese crotch rocket but he couldn't give a flying feather—he’d seen it, he wanted it, he needed it. It took the better part of two years but he’d finally gotten the money together. His shitty job as a delivery driver hindered him a little, and the finance companies might as well have plain laughed in his face when he asked for a loan, but he realised all the hard work and saving was worth it when he rolled away from the dealership.

Ever since then he had spent all his spare time and cash upgrading his ride—a full race exhaust system, turbocharged induction, and a reinforced frame. (He didn't intend to crash but knew it was a possibility.) He even invested in odd technologies for a motorcycle, such as a dual carbon battery connected to a powerful electric motor, effectively turning it into a hybrid system. Oh and it was fast, stupid fast. Fast enough to attract the attention of a little known but nicely established racing sponsor by the name of Cross Racing Tech.

He remembered it well: the company scout approaching him as he rolled into the pit after smoking every other rider at the track that day; the shit-eating grin on his face as the scout asked what pissed off demon of pure rage he had hiding under the tank. Kye explained his little engineering project to the smiling businessman and left him with an email address after he said he would have a little chat with his superiors regarding a sponsorship—a sponsorship that lead to the Isle of Man Tourist Trophy, or TT for short.

Kye’s heart rate felt like it was doubling every time a rider set off. The TT was a time trial course set on narrow closed public roads in the Isle of Man, a small island between England and northern Ireland. At the start of the race, the riders would line up and wait for their cue to set off at ten second intervals. The whole event lasted around two weeks each year and was famous for the deaths it caused; Kye had only done a few test runs and was feeling more than a little nervous. He was used to wide-open tracks with plenty of space to slide along on his leather-clad ass if he fucked up, not narrow streets, unforgiving corners and bumpy British country roads.

He was getting close to the start line now. He flicked the cigarette butt down to the floor and stood on it whilst relaxing his clutch hand and letting the bike roll forward again. A small man with a huge camera was scampering around shoving said camera into the riders visors.

Try that shit with me and you’ll get a slap upside the head, son, Kye thought. He was not normally opposed to so small an action, but he didn't want to be hassled whilst quietly shitting himself three bikes back from the start line.

Kye was worried. His ridiculously modified and horrendously powerful bike scared him enough on a quiet Sunday afternoon rideout, let alone a full throttle blast along a village lane.

Time to try not to die. He rolled up to the start line. Annoying Camera Guy hovered at his shoulder as the lone rider gazed at the empty street in front of him. Kye paid him no attention as his wrist quivered, keeping the engine at a constant four thousand RPM. The electric motor wasn't engaged yet, but when it kicked in he knew he would have to fight to keep the front wheel on the tarmac.

The countdown ended with a tap from the umpire to Kye’s shoulder. Kye released the clutch and opened the throttle, hard. The bike lurched forward and immediately began to lift; he draped himself over the tank trying to keep the centre of gravity as far forward as possible. It wasn't working. He eased off the throttle as the bike tore across the tarmac on its rear wheel, the front wheel eventually touching back down and the dump valve giving an angry hiss as he expertly changed up to second.

He lived for this shit, he really did. He realised he left his fears at the start line with the roaring crowd and the paparazzi. He never was one for fame or recognition, however little it might be—he just wanted to ride, because riding let him know he was alive.

He expertly navigated the twists and turns, the bike leaving a snarling symphony in his wake. Glancing down at the digital speedometer he idly noticed he was doing one hundred and twenty four miles per hour as his head whipped past the wall of a traditional British pub through a light bend.

Holy mother-fucking ass-hat I might actually be in with a shot at winning! he thought as he laughed out loud into the sound of the wind soaring by. He was in such good spirits over his riding prowess that he failed to notice a TT official vigorously waving a yellow flag from behind a low stone wall—he did notice, however, the large fireball emerging into his line of sight from the hedge lining the other side of the road.

Well, shit.

He barely had time to think before he was engulfed in flames. It seemed to take forever for the collision to come—that’s what he was expecting after all—so the sudden feeling of the ground disappearing from underneath his wheels followed by a rather large bang, a blinding flash of light and the smell of ozone rather took him by surprise.

The weightlessness, whilst oddly pleasant somehow, was short lived. He managed to hook his feet under the pegs and grasp the bars with all his might: not that he thought it would do him much good, but he couldn't stop the reflex. The front wheel hit the ground and started to roll through what felt like soggy undergrowth, as far as he could tell from the vibrations translating through the forks.

In opening his eyes, he discovered that he couldn't see anything; the flash had temporarily blinded him. The front end lurched upwards onto a fairly solid surface, the rear wheel touching down at an odd angle.

The bike high-sided and Kye was unceremoniously launched into the air. He flew a good six feet before crumpling down and sliding across the solid surface, his leather race suit saving his skin from what would have been a nasty set of grazes. His head hit something hard and he heard a loud crack as his body came to rest.

He lay on his back in shock as he tried to figure out if he’d broken anything. Nothing was particularly painful, so after a few moments he slowly sat up and squinted. With his vision returning, he saw that his visor had cracked through the crudely cut cigarette hole.

He slowly took his helmet off and looked around, noticing he was sitting on an old cobblestone path. The bike had come to rest on its side, saved from all but minor cosmetic damage by the carbon crash bungs sticking out from the fairing. It must have stalled at some point, because he couldn't hear the engine.

Kye took further stock of his surroundings. If he had to guess, he’d say he’d crashed into a swamp. Large brown tree trunks rose up to thick, leafy canopies that lightly shaded the waterlogged ground; the old cobblestone path seemed to be one of the only dry spots in the surrounding undergrowth. The sun shone high in the sky and the clouds—didn't look like clouds at all. They were perfectly white, large wispy structures way too clearly defined to be any cumulus he’d ever seen before.

With this startling realisation came another—the memory of what he'd been doing before he crashed. The shock returned instantly as he scanned his surroundings yet again, quickly noticing that he no longer found himself in an environment that even remotely resembled the Isle of Man. He began to hyperventilate.

Fuck! I've went and gotten myself killed. Excellent. Well done, Kye, you fucking squid.

Kye focused on slowing his breathing. He began to calm down a little only to freeze in terror as something large emerged from the soggy ground. It looked like a huge snake. It was quickly followed by another. Kye screamed. Two more large snake head things rose up to join the first couple.

Instinct kicked in as he felt his blood burn with adrenaline. He leapt up, completely disregarding his smashed lid as he launched himself towards his bike, quickly snatching it up, whipping his leg over and mashing his thumb against the starter button.

Nothing happened. The snake heads began to roar as he saw a large body emerging from the swamp in his right mirror—a body that connected the extremely pissed off heads.

“AAARRRGGGHHH!” Kye screamed, finally noticing the killswitch had been flipped. He quickly reset it and hit the starter, making sure to pull the clutch. The engine spluttered briefly, then died. The monster behind him was lumbering along through the swamp, slowly gaining ground.

“FUCK!”

Kye gave up with the engine and flicked a switch to manually select electric only mode. He opened the throttle and the bike shot off along the path just as one of the heads viciously snapped at where he had just been. The ride was terrible, the custom-made Ohlins suspension thoroughly disagreed with the uneven cobblestone path. The bike protested so much he had to back off the power, his spine rattling so much he was barely able to keep the bars straight. He looked round to see if he was still being pursued. The mirrors were shaking so vigorously, they were utterly useless at this point.

Kye let out a loud yelp as he learned that the monster was a damn sight faster on the path than in the swamp; it was a lot closer than he thought it would be. He panicked, groping around with his thumb for the start button. He found it.

The engine roared mercifully to life on the first attempt. Kye quickly kicked the sequential box up into third gear and opened it up. The bike shot forward, the vibration intensified but he didn't care, he’d rather have sore bollocks for a few days than end up being the monsters lunch. The sounds of the snake heads roaring died off a little. He didn't look back, he just kept his chest pressed to the tank and held on. Something yellow shot past overhead as the trees began to thin. Kye didn't slow down.

* * *

The lost rider rode on. Thankfully, the ground had evened out to a somewhat smooth surface. He would have preferred to have tyres better suited to the terrain but he was wholly thankful he had his pride and joy with him at all in this strange place—it had certainly helped him escape whatever the fuck that huge monstrosity with the freaky snake heads had been.

He’d had a little time to think, and he was pretty sure he was a goner. He remembered the flash, and looking at the scenery now told him that that he was no longer Earthbound. Still, it wasn't all that bad, this place was beautiful. Huge snow capped mountain ranges pierced the deepest of blue skies, rolling green fields draped the top of perfectly rounded hills. It was like a perfect world where the problems of daily life simply didn't exist, if you disregarded the monster of course. He’d never seen any place like it before.

Kye pulled up at the side of the path, breathing deeply. He noticed the air was extremely fresh, unpolluted. He couldn't see any sign of civilisation for miles around, just pure unadulterated nature. He felt a little guilty that he was polluting such a perfect environment. Pausing briefly to look down at the red killswitch, he hit it with a thumb and flicked over to electric mode. The rumble from the Akrapovic cans died instantly. He was glad he’d chosen an expensive, but extremely reliable dual carbon battery for a power source.

He set off again, the only sounds were the tyres tracking along the dirt path, the gentle ticking of the drive chain, the light breeze in the air and the occasional animal here and there. If this was the afterlife then it wasn't so bad.

He eventually came across a small wooden sign fixed to a post by the side of the track:

PONYVILLE
3 MILES

“Ponyville?” he read aloud to no one in particular. Kye had no idea why anyone would name a place as such. He stared at the sign for a moment, shrugged, then set off towards the town.

* * *

An amber glow surrounded Lyra’s horn as she stood in the field, the light breeze lazily blowing her ice blue two-toned mane. Still Way required a lot of meditation, and she didn't earn her grand master status by slacking off. It was an art form, and not just of the martial variety—a plethora of control over any given situation at any given time. By use of magic, body and mind she could-

“LYRA!”

The unicorn lost her focus, letting a small nicker of exasperation slip from her muzzle. She looked around for the source of the rude interruption and her eyes settled on the form of a cream-coloured Earth pony with a purple and pink mane and tail running towards her.

“Bon Bon, you know I'm catching up on my meditation—”

“You have to come quick!” The slightly breathless pony interrupted again, stopping just short of the unicorn.

“Why?”

“There's this weird...contraption...thing heading towards Sweet Apple Acres.”

“Really? You're bothering me because of some machine Big Mac dreamt up?” Lyra sighed as she turned towards her friend.

“I don't think Big Mac made it. There was a weird monkey lookin’ thing riding it.”

Lyra frowned. “Did Rainbow Dash put you up to this?”

“No I Pinkie swear, I think it's headed this way!” Bon Bon gasped, then let out a small “eep” either from poking herself in the eye with her hoof or catching sight of the bizarre contraption that was indeed now making its way towards them along the path. It didn't look like it should have been able to stay upright, so Lyra wasn't too surprised when it faltered a little then promptly fell over. Bon Bon shrieked and bolted, leaving behind a plume of dust in her wake as a tall bipedal creature disentangled itself from the two wheeled contraption and scrambled to its oddly shaped hind hooves.

No, they weren't hooves at all. This thing...whatever it was... wasn't a pony. It had a short, dark brown mane and a very brightly coloured coat made of something that resembled hairless cowhide. She thought she could make out the words “Cross Racing Tech” written across the creature’s chest. No, it wasn't a coat, the creature was wearing said cowhide!

Lyra fought the urge to attack. This creature didn't look very strong. No doubt she could kill it in heartbeat with a magical energy blast from her horn if she had to but she was curious as to why it wore the skin of another living thing.

“What in Tartarus are you supposed to be?” she calmly asked the creature.

It didn't say anything. It did however, collapse to the ground and stare at her with a look of what she could only guess was terror.

* * *

Kye was looking at a unicorn. He had spotted it after following what looked like a pony along the dirt path, which was now lined with apple trees. The pony had ran away as he approached, leaving only the unicorn. He was so shocked by the long, thin horn protruding from its head that he forgot to steer and fell off his ride and onto his ass.

It was turquoise, rather small for a horse, yet still quite intimidating. It had a two tone blue and white mane and tail that gently swished in the light breeze, and tattoos of what looked like a harp on its flanks. The horn was turquoise, same as its coat, with a small groove spiraling up to a sharp point. Kye guessed the creature would be just a little shorter than he was if it stood on its hind legs.

Then it spoke to him.

Kye’s brain went into shock yet again as it tried to process the fact that a colourful unicorn was trying to communicate with him.

“Well? Do you talk, or am I wasting my time here?”

It just did it again. Holy fucking fart-crackers, he was losing his mind. The realisation hit him like a tonne of bricks and he laughed out loud, sitting on his ass next to his ride listening to a unicorn asking him questions.

Bahahaha I've finally ran out of screws and marbles he thought to himself as he continued to happily chortle away with a shit-eating grin on his face.

Suddenly, the unicorn was in his face. He hadn't even seen it move but it was staring into his eyes, its muzzle a few inches from his nose.

“HOLY FUCK!” He screamed, scrambling to his feet and hastily taking a few steps back only to trip over the front wheel of his motorcycle and fall flat on his ass again.

“So you do talk then,” the unicorn spoke with an almost sensual, feminine tone as it quietly trotted around his ride towards him. Kye noted the sudden femininity of its appearance, now that he was starting to pull himself together.

She stopped just short of his feet.

“Why are you wearing the skin of an animal?”

Kye stared stupidly at her as he tried to figure out what she meant. Animal skin?....Oh! He looked down at his race suit.

“Err…” He began to say, before she interrupted him.

“What are you?”

Again, Kye could only manage an incoherent response that made him sound like a complete jackass. He couldn't stop himself from staring into her eyes, they were freakin’ huge for one thing; large, bright amber irises twinkled around shining black pupils, exquisitely framed by large spiky lashes. He had to force himself to look away for fear of spontaneously developing diabetes. She was just so damned…adorable.

“I'm a human,” he managed to croak out.

She gazed at him for a moment.

“Do you have a name?” she asked, tentatively tilting her head to the side.

“Kye...Kye Lawson.”

“I'm Lyra Heartstrings.” She smiled as Kye relaxed somewhat, only to immediately tense up again.

“You're not going to attack me for wearing leather are you?”

“I decided against it,” she said, still smiling as Kye gave a shiver. He suspected the adorable creature in from of him wasn't as harmless as she appeared at first glance. That horn of hers looked pretty damn sharp, not to mention he thought she looked physically stronger than him.

A luminescent amber glow surrounded her horn and his motorcycle, the latter lifting around four feet up off the ground. Kye let out a loud yelp.

What the everloving fuck is going on?! he thought as his jaw dropped, his mouth hanging open in a comically shaped ‘O.’

She looked at him quizzically for a moment before opening her mouth to speak. Kye cut her off.

“N-No! No no-no-no-no! This is too much, no. What in the name of Satan's left bollock are you? How the fuck are you doing that? Where the fuck am I?” Kye shot the questions at her whilst trying to get to his feet. He had had enough.

She contemplated him for a while, somehow effortlessly maintaining whatever the fuck she was doing with his bike to keep it weightless.

She gave another sweet smile.

“I'm a unicorn, this is magic, you’re in Equestria.”

Kye fell on his ass yet again.

* * *

Lyra set the strange contraption back down on the ground and regarded the “human” with mild curiosity. She had sensed his masculinity from the deepness of his voice and was fairly certain in her assumption that he was a stallion, or at least the “human” version of one. She caught him staring into her eyes and he quickly looked away, his cheeks heating into what she could only guess was a blush.

He had a flat face (by pony standards, at least) and a well-defined jaw lightly adorned with stubble. The weird cowhide thing he was wearing clung to his body, not doing much to hide his muscular toned chest, broad shoulders and flat stomach underneath.

His skin was smooth and furless as far as she could see, apart from thick messy locks of dark brown mane that fell down to his shoulders. His eyes were small, with tiny pupils enveloped by small brown irises.

“Equestria?” he repeated with a vacant expression.

“Its a nation consisting mostly of three races of ponies: Earth ponies, pegasi, and unicorns. Although we do do have other things, such as griffins and manicores, dragons—”

“Dragons?! Yeah coz’ they exist. Heh—Dragons and unicorns and talking horses and big fuck off snake monsters…FUCK!Ohgodwhereamiwhyamiherethisissomebullshit!” He rambled on, his voice going from sarcastic to plain insanity.

Lyra rolled her eyes as she heard a slight scuttling sound in the bush behind her. She looked behind her to see Bon Bon trip over her own hooves and fall on her face. She got up and stared at the human in horror.

“Relax Bonnie, he's harmless.” Lyra said.

“H-How d-do you know th-that?” the Earth pony squeaked, cautiously pawing the ground with her hoof.

Lyra ignored the question and glanced back at Kye. He was still quietly muttering away to himself, a tear rolling down his cheek. She kinda felt bad for him.

“We should go get Mayor Mare, or T-Twilight-” interjected the still-flustered Earth pony.

Lyra turned to the trembling mare and cut her off.

“Bonnie, he's more scared of us than—”

Lyra herself was interrupted by an ear splitting roar, kind of like the sound a demon-possesed manticore would make if you fed its tail through a mangle.

What in the name of Celestia? She whipped around to find the source of the ungodly sound only to receive a face full of dirt. She barely caught a glimpse of the contraption shooting off with Kye sitting atop it before blinking in pain and rubbing her eyes with her foreleg. She hadn't even had time to put her shield up.

Bon Bon screamed, causing Lyra to cover her ears with with her hooves. She thought of aiming a spell to incapacitate the human’s contraption, but at this range she would probably miss; that thing was fast. Plus she had no idea how it worked so she would probably have to destroy it completely, most likely injuring him in the process.

He may well be a strange bipedal alien, but she certainly didn't want to hurt him if she could avoid it. He was already cresting the top of the hill which he’d originally emerged from as Bon Bon went quiet, lying in the grass and shaking a little.

“Go find Twi and tell her what happened,” she shot at her friend before galloping away, following the strange tracks left by the contraption.

* * *

Kye sped recklessly along the dirt path. He refused to accept what was happening. The fact that he had his bike with him in this fucked up place was no longer the perk he thought it was. Every time he glanced down at the clocks he saw familiarity, only for that small comfort to be completely negated as he looked above the double-bubble screen and took in the strangeness of the world in front of him.

He nearly high-sided twice, the rear tyre constantly losing and regaining traction making the bike twitch in agitation. The Yam had traction control built in but it was as much use as a fart in a spacesuit on this terrain.

His heartbeat was just as fast and irregular as the roar from the crossplane engine thundering beneath him; the thumping muscle hadn't slowed down since seeing the unicorn. It gave a particularly noticeable twitch as he remembered her name—and her eyes. If he had to bet, he guessed he could lose himself for an eternity in those eyes.

Dafuq is wrong with me? I'm thinking abo- Nope.

There was waaaaay too much weird going on to allow that particular thought process to blossom.

He focused on getting back to the swamp. He knew if he could just go back and retrace his tyre tracks, he could get back to the Isle of Man. Maybe he'd find a portal, a wormhole, or something. He was even desperate enough to consider rolling up to find a ferry terminal sitting randomly in the murky depths.

The surroundings changed, the trees thickening to form the somewhat familiar canopy casting shade over a soggy undergrowth. The old cobblestone path was slippery, and he had a hard time keeping the bike upright as he began to search for…something.

A long time later he came to an abrupt halt, the rear wheel locking due to his twitching right foot. He stumbled slightly but managed to keep the bike upright as the exhausts crackled down to emitting that distinctive low rumble.

Kye hit the killswitch and kicked down the stand. He had found his helmet, or what was left of it at least. He walked over and picked it up. It was completely crushed, probably the work of that monste-.

Holy shit! How could I forget about that freaky fucker? He glanced around, but couldn't see any sign of the foul creature. He began to relax just as he heard a sweet voice whisper above him.

“Um, you should probably go. It’s not safe here.”

“Gah! Fuck!” Kye yelped as he dropped his crumpled lid, looking up. A small, yellow pony with a long, pink mane and tail was sitting in a tree looking down at him. She was so unbearably adorable that his heart rate instantly slowed to a crawl and he felt calm for the first time in hours.

Take all the newborn babies, playfully bounding puppies and sneezing pandas you want, weaponize them into an arsenal of cuteness, and you’d still have no where near enough firepower to compete with this little pony. She fluttered her wings nervously whilst raising a foreleg to brush her long silky mane out of her sparkling blue eyes.

Wait, wings? He thought back to what the unicorn had said. Hadn't she mentioned pegasi?

Kye noticed the pegasus also had tattoos on her flanks: three pink butterflies. He couldn't help but smile at her. She seemed to cast an aura of calm over the murky environment, causing her surroundings to appear more beautiful than he knew them to be. He felt completely at ease in her presence, despite the stressful situation he found himself in.

He suddenly remembered he had just swore in her face. Hating himself, he started to apologise when he was drowned out by a rather loud screech. He turned just in time to see the foul creature rise up from the undergrowth.

Why can't this ugly fucker just leave me alone? Kye inwardly cursed as he shouted an unnecessary warning to the pegasus and ran for cover, but she had already taken flight and was busy swooping between the heads of the beast. They kept trying to snap at her, but she moved with such agile grace they never even got close.

They eventually stopped attacking altogether as she hovered in place and levelled them with a stare. The beast immediately shrank back into the undergrowth as Kye caught a glimpse of her deadly gaze.

He froze, his body instantly paralyzed. He couldn't fucking move. He fell over, rigid as a chopping block as his heart thundered in his chest. He thought he heard a gasp from somewhere above and a few moments later something warm and soft alighted next to him as he lay on his back. He felt a hoof, much softer than he was expecting lightly rub his chest.

“Oh, you poor thing. Did you look into my eyes?” Some of the tension left Kye’s body and he began to relax, the familiar calmness washing the remaining panic away.

“Oh goodness, I feel just terrible. I’m really sorry if I scared you but I had to show that big mean hydra that it isn't nice to go around trying to eat somepony like that.”

Kye was completely relaxed. He realised he had more than likely just found the nicest individual he was ever likely to meet, freaky paralysis stare aside. He opened his mouth to let her know what he thought of her when he was interrupted again.

“Was wondering where you’d wandered off to.”

Lyra trotted along the path, smiling at him and the yellow pegasus. Kye’s heart skipped a beat—literally skipped a fucking beat. He seriously wanted to slap himself silly when he felt his cheeks burn as if he actually had.

“I see you've met Fluttershy.” She said, gesturing with a turquoise hoof towards his new feathered friend. Kye looked at her. She stopped rubbing his chest and promptly blushed just as much as he had. He didn't even know how that was possible with her face being covered in yellow fur and all but she managed it.

She squeaked out a barely audible “Hi,” and her wings gave another nervous flutter as she looked at the ground.

Kye pushed himself to a sitting position and focused on the little yellow pegasus. She'd just defeated a monster many many times her size without raising a single hoof, and was now trying to make herself as small as possible. She truly was an amazing creature.

“Thanks, Fluttershy,” Kye managed to say. “I’d be a total goner if you hadn't stepped in. I'm Kye by the way,” he quickly added.

She looked up and gave a small smile in response. Kye’s heart melted a little. Lyra gave a small cough. Kye looked at her and thought he saw the last glimpse of an odd look aimed in Fluttershy’s general direction—he couldn't be sure since he couldn't really discern anything other than blatantly obvious expressions—before the unicorn noticed his gaze and flashed him a smile. His heart did that stupid skipping a beat bullshit again. Seriously, he might as well have transient idiopathic arrhythmia.

“I do hate to interrupt such a touching moment,” she began rather suggestively, “but we should probably get out of here in case that thing comes back.”

Kye lumbered to his feet and took one last glance around before letting out a sigh of resignation.

“Okay.”

Chapter Nine - The Fallen Pegasus

Edited by JimboTex

“Go get me some cider!” Coco screamed. She was being even meaner than usual ever since the fiasco at the hospital, ordering everypony around like a crazed dictator. Having seized upon Tink as the primary cause of the herd’s failure to teach the “freak” his place, Coco had been especially hard on the timid pegasus of late.

“O-Okay,” Tink whimpered. Eager to avoid the unicorn’s wrath, she quickly fluttered down the stairs and into the grimy kitchen. It was a mess, as usual—empty bottles littered the bench, along with dishes that hadn't been washed for days. Ace sat at the table, drinking as usual. He glanced up when Tink entered the room, glaring at her with one eye—the other was concealed by a black eye patch.

“Oi! Bitch! I thought I told you to stay the fuck out of my sight!”

“I’m sorry… Coco wanted me to-” Tink squeaked, but Ace had already levitated a mouldy pan off the bench and shot it towards her face. Pain exploded through her eye, and she yelped, bolting back through the front room and up the stairs.

Ace had been furious with her for being reluctant to come to his aid and attack the “alien.” She’d only hesitated for a split second, but her whole herd had noticed. Now, they kept calling her names—slyly suggesting she wanted to buck him like “that Still Way freak” was almost certainly doing. Tink didn't have anything against the tall creature, or Lyra for that matter. She was terrified of them both, and would much prefer to just stay well out of their way—but it was a little difficult with Ace and Coco so intent on confronting them.

The unicorn couple had been charming when she’d first met them at the Summer Sun Celebration in Hoofington: carefree spirits, always laughing and playing little jokes on ponies—so much so that Tink had plucked up the courage to ask to join their herd.

But over the past few months they’d changed, their little “practical jokes” turning into nothing more than cruel pranks. It also didn’t help that they’d taken to drinking everyday. Shimmer, Nox, Lily, and Opal just followed suit as usual—often being just as cruel as Ace and Coco. Tink had a feeling they didn't care about things such as morality, as long as they had a stallion to play with.

The pegasus paused in the hallway, closing her eyes and biting her lip in an attempt to fight the tears. She’d been doing that a lot lately. She didn't want to cry in front of her alpha, because Coco would only berate her, calling her hurtful names as usual.

Several times she’d thought of leaving. If she had someplace to go, she’d have done it in a heartbeat. Sadly, with the Chrome herd so universally reviled, she had no friends. She didn't even have any family, having been the only foal to monogamous parents killed in a timberwolf attack.

No don't think about that! A sob escaped her throat, a tear finally forming in her blackening eye and running down her cheek as she recalled the horrific experience of finding their mangled bodies—their once caring faces torn into unrecognisable mulch.

“Ugh, quit being a whiny little bitch and BRING ME MY FUCKING CIDER ALREADY!” Coco screamed from the bedroom. Tink jumped, forcing herself to suppress her emotions as she dashed back down the stairs.

She slowly edged toward the kitchen door, wings trembling nervously. As she approached, her ears swivelled like miniature radar domes, ever alert for the slightest sound that might indicate the approach of one of her tormentors. By the time she worked up the courage to cautiously glance around the frame at the plain wooden table, her heart—which was already thundering in her chest—revved up to an even faster pace. Ace was slumped over, drooling slightly with his good eye closed. If she was quiet, she could probably grab a bottle of cider from the ice box without him noticing her.

Holding her breath, Tink silently padded over. She lifted the lid with a wingtip, mentally cringing at both the thick layer of grime that had been allowed to accumulate on the exterior and the barely audible creaking issuing from the hinges of the container. Carefully grabbing a bottle between her teeth, she had almost made it back to the threshold of the kitchen when the door slammed shut in a magical aura.

“Looks like I need to teach you some obedience.”

“No, please-” Tink squeaked, recoiling. The action caused her to drop the bottle, which smashed into thousands of shards—hurling dangerous glass missiles in every direction and causing the chilled beverage to spill uselessly across the mildew-stained linoleum. Ace growled in anger, leapt up and struck her with his forehooves, catching both of her eyes. Tink screamed, falling to the unwashed floor as her eyes wept copious amounts of fluid—probably blood. The whimpering pegasus curled up into a fetal position, bringing her forelegs up to her face in an attempt to stem the flow.

Ace merely laughed, taking the opportunity to stomp on her quivering body. Excruciating pain lanced through her joints as the cruel unicorn telekinetically bent her wings at odd angles, grinding his filthy hooves into her feathers. Tink writhed in agony, screaming for help even though she knew nopony would come running—nopony ever came running. Ace removed his hooves, only to bite her mane, dragging her up off the floor and forcefully shoving her over the table.

“You’re up, slut,” he spat at her.

The drunken stallion mounted her, painfully pinning her wings to the wood with his hooves. She could feel his erection poking beneath her tail, trying to gain entrance. Tink was whimpering, pleading for him to stop, but her cries fell on deaf ears.

She closed her bleeding eyes, trying to lose herself in the few happy memories she possessed. The familiar image of her parents flashed in her mind. They’d been the kindest ponies anypony could ever hope to meet, and they’d cherished their little Tinker Breeze till the day they’d died. She cried for them, shame and regret. Yet again she wasn't doing them proud. They’d deserved a better filly than her, they always had. What would they think of her if they could see her now? Just letting this happen. What would they say to their delicate little angel?

Something snapped inside the pegasus. A spark of defiance that quickly unleashed a torrent of rage, driven to a blazing inferno of fury by the ever-constant grief in her shattered heart. She bucked, hard. Ace grunted, collapsing to the floor. Tink wasted no time, screaming in unbearable agony and frantically buzzing her protesting wings. A miniature whirlwind swept through the kitchen—grimy pots, pans, plates, and utensils were caught up in the vortex as the pegasus launched herself at the window. It shattered, shards of jagged glass cutting deep as she shot up into the clouds—finally, blessedly free.

* * *

“Woah! Jeez…”

It was nine forty-five, Kye had arrived at the spa and been ushered through into a neat little “employees only” office. Rows of shelves lined the walls, full of what looked like leather-bound log books, while a small desk sat beneath a rectangular hatch into the lobby.

Aloe had just greeted him by nuzzling his crotch. She hadn't even tried to disguise the action—blatantly rubbing her muzzle over his denim-clad junk.

“Okaaay…” Kye nervously chuckled in a rather high voice, hastily taking a step back. Octavia had certainly been spot on about the overly friendly Earth pony.

Aloe immediately closed the distance. “Morning,” she purred provocatively, fluttering her long, delicate-looking lashes up at him as she wrapped her tail around his legs in the same manner Lyra had a couple of days ago.

“Aloe!” Lotus snapped. “Ze grandmaster’s tolerance ov your foalish advances tovards her stallion vill not last forever.”

The pink pony merely pouted at her sister, her silky blue tail now binding itself around one of his upper thighs. Kye tried to ignore the blood rushing to his member, and the subsequent guilt that followed.

“Aloe! Zis is not professional—if his alpha finds out, zen you vill ‘ave big problems!” Lotus barged her sister away, the pink pony’s tail finally slipping free. Aloe merely smirked, raising an eyebrow.

Kye gulped as a thought occurred to him. Earth ponies were strong—much stronger than humans—and Aloe hadn't seemed the least bit worried by her sister’s warning. If she decided she wanted a piece when her sister’s back was turned, then Kye was screwed. Literally.

Lotus obviously hadn't noticed his plight though, because she began to explain the pay system. She told him he’d get a base rate, regardless of whether he had any clients or not, and a commission would be paid on top for satisfied customers.

“I believe you vill be able to make a lot ov bits vith zose ‘ands’ ov yours. Zey certainly chased away my vorries,” Aloe chimed in, flashing a devious smile along with blatant ‘“I-vill-have-you” eyes. Kye shuddered. He was genuinely concerned she was gonna jump him at the first opportunity.

The entrance bell chimed. Kye glanced through the hatch in the wall to see Rarity. Wow. She looked hot. Even hotter than usual—Kye’s semi suddenly wasn't so semi anymore. Luckily, nopony seemed to notice.

“Ahh, darling, there you are.” Rarity beamed at him through the hatch, and Kye returned her smile. He instantly felt more comfortable with the added presence of his unicorn companion.

The twins ushered them to the same private massage room they’d used for the induction. Rarity wasted no time in hopping up onto the table and laying down. Lotus had to practically drag Aloe from the room—the latter was shooting odd jealous looks at Rarity in between lustful glances at Kye.

As soon as the door closed, Rarity leapt up and kissed him—ferociously so. He was once again lost to the bizarre hallucinogenic effects of the stunning unicorn’s erotic embrace. Her hooves captured him, both of his hands quickly found her twitching ears. The coupling lasted a good few minutes, his hands and her hooves exploring in unison, making use of their current solitude.

“I've missed you,” she said after they finally broke apart.

Kye attempted to respond with “I missed you, too,” but all he could manage was a few mumbles that trailed off into nothing. He was still reeling from the kiss, and so lost in the shimmering depths of her beautiful blue eyes he was unable to properly form a sentence.

Rarity giggled, laying back down. “You may begin.”

Kye blinked a few times, intertwined his fingers and pushed his palms out, the knuckles cracking. A twinge of pain shot through his left set. Ouch, he thought, Fucking Ace... He began with her brilliant white coat, running his fingers through her exquisitely soft fur. No reaction. Kye grinned—Rarity was obviously expecting a bit more of an effort on his part as opposed to last time. Fair play, he could roll.

Wanting to learn every inch of his new marefriend, he let his hands wander to her cutie marks, one on each flank. It was almost as if the blue diamonds were trying to rise up to greet his delicate caress, even though the unicorn still gave no reaction.

Kye practiced every trick the twins had taught him: kneading her toned muscles, gently gripping certain areas between thumb and forefingers and slowly running both hands down her sides, applying firm pressure. Rarity was silent throughout. Time to bend a few rules.

He let a hand flow over her back and up her neck, his fingers gently sliding into the familiar sweet spot. The unicorn still didn't make a sound. Kye gripped his fingers together, capturing a large amount of silky purple strands between them before giving the slightest of tugs. Nothing. He leaned over, gently brushing the tip of his nose against her ear whilst letting out a breath.

A flick of the ear was followed by a gasp escaping the unicorn’s mouth. Her eyes were closed and she was smiling. Kye chuckled softly, his fingers still massaging her mane as her breathing finally became audible. He continued to nuzzle at her ears, being mindful of the sharp white horn now only inches from his face.

One small movement, a gentle nibble on the still-quivering ear, was all it took to elicit a whimper. Success. Kye pulled back.

“I think we’re done here,” he declared.

“What?” Rarity squeaked, losing some of her elegant composure.

Kye chuckled. Gods, she’s adorable. “With your back, Rarity. Turn over.” Kye said the last two words with an authoritative tone.

The unicorn complied without comment, rolling to her back, curling her forehooves up and holding them together, but allowing gravity to splay her hind legs apart, shamelessly revealing her core. She kept her gaze fixed on the ceiling.

Kye couldn't help himself, he glanced between her legs. Holy crap! She was wet—really wet. It was the first time he’d got a detailed view of “feminine equine anatomy”—he’d only really gotten a fleeting glimpse or two of Lyra—and he noticed she wasn't too different from a human. Soft, white fur neatly lined her slick labia, and her clitoral hood was protruding ever so slightly from between the moist folds.

Kye wanted to taste her—something he hadn't even attempted with Lyra because he’d been too scared of her potential reaction—but Rarity looked, well…too delicious to pass up. He made a decision. Okay, now where to begin…

Kye started on her barrel, using the same technique of kneading and rolling, gradually working his way down. Rarity still had her gaze locked to the ceiling. It was almost as if she were afraid to look at him while her goods were on show. Kye grinned, leaning over to kiss her barrel as his hands reached her nipples, or teats, he guessed. Kye had no idea if these were actually sensitive or not, nopony had mentioned if they were. One way to find out…

He leisurely ran his tongue down her coat, taking time to enjoy the texture of her fur with his mouth. She was breathing rather heavily at this point. A hand slipped lower, the fingers parting to brush over the fur lining her pouting lower lips.

“Ohhh…” Rarity began to whimper.

Kye’s tongue eventually reached her teats, and he gently suckled one of them between his lips. Rarity quivered atop the table, her tail and ears twitching, her breaths ragged, short and quick. Kye couldn't stall any longer: he had to know if this unicorn tasted as sweet as she looked. His tongue slipped lower, moving to the side at the last second to quickly bypass her wetness, then slowly approaching her marehood from below.

“Sweet Celestia—you’re not actually g-gonna-EEEEP!”

Kye had slid his tongue between her lips in a sensuous glide up to her hood, before plunging back down to explore her velvet depths. His new technique proved to be highly effective on the mare, as she began moaning loudly—way too loudly. Not wanting to alert the twins to his “extracurricular activities” with his marefriend, Kye abruptly halted his ministration.

“Rarity, you’re gonna have be a bit more quiet-” he began in a low, stern tone, but was cut off by the beautiful mare before him.

“No… please don’t stop!” She gasped, her voice strained. Her hind legs shamelessly wrapped around his neck in an attempt to pull him back down to her glistening marehood.

Kye folded like a house of cards. As he resumed the sensual feast, her whole body spasmed in response. Her taste was just as exquisitely enrapturing as the rest of her, sweet, with just the right amount of intoxicating musk. He firmly fixed his lips around hers, not letting a single drop of arousal escape. Occasionally, he would flick his tongue over her clit, causing her glossy tail to twitch each time he did so.

Rarity writhed in ecstasy—her back marginally arched, her forelegs quivered, and her hind legs clamped around his head as she whimpered in bliss. Kye put his hands on her cutie marks and sent his tongue deep, seeing how far he could penetrate her with it.

He felt her walls begin to grasp in response. Once, twice—gaining frequency until she clamped his tongue in a particularly firm yet slippery grip and flooded his mouth: her sweet secretions slid down his throat with his swallowing reflex.

Bright blue sparks—easily as beautiful as the unicorn they originated from—filled the room. They bounced off the walls as she loudly panted, locking his head in a vice grip and grinding her gushing core into his mouth. Kye could barely breathe: her hind legs were deceptively stronger than they appeared. It took around half a minute for her writhing convulsions to die down before she released him.

Nailed it. Kye gave her one last lick, swallowing the last few droplets of her sweet satisfaction before pulling away. He couldn't help but smile at the now softly mewling mare, still twitching occasionally with aftershock. The light flush of her cheeks along with her tightly closed eyes and the subtle afterglow surrounding her horn all added to the considerable allure of the sated unicorn. Kye was rock solid.

He wanted to ravish her, but forced himself to quell the urge. If he was caught with his pants down—screwing a mare he was supposed to be giving a massage to—then Lotus would probably be pretty miffed. Even though Rarity was his herdmate, he was still at work. If it was Aloe that caught them, then she would probably just want to join in.

“I hope you’re not planning on doing that to all of your clients,” Rarity breathed, finally finding her voice.

“Don't worry, gorgeous. Only you get the happy ending,” he shot back at her with a sly grin.

She returned his smile, sitting up on the table. “I must say I’m rather surprised by your… methods.”

Kye frowned. “You didn't approve?”

“Well of course I did, dear. Surely, you must know by now what the sparks mean.” She blushed adorably. “I’m just shocked that you… you actually… licked me… down there. Nopony has ever done that before.” She avoided his gaze, her cheeks reddening further.

“Really?” Kye couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. Rarity was drop dead gorgeous—to think she’d never had anypony go down on her before was pretty far fetched.

“Stallions just… don't do that.” She continued to blush. “There’s nothing in it for them, so they don't bother. It’s only really filly foolers-”

“Filly foolers?!” Kye repeated. He was pretty sure he was missing something here.

Rarity looked a little confused at his exclamation. “Mares who like other mares, dear. There’s quite a few, considering the stallion shortage.”

Comprehension dawned. “Oh right…” Kye cleared his throat. “So stallions don't like drinking from the furry cup, then? Seems a bit selfish if you ask me.” He grinned at her.

Rarity giggled, an adorable sound that made his heart melt. He sat on the table and wrapped his arms around the chuckling unicorn. She kissed him, playfully rubbing a soft hoof over his crotch.

“Time for me to return the favour,” she declared in a husky voice, her horn glowing in a beautiful blue aura. His belt buckle instantly unclasped, along with the button on his jeans, he heard the zip of his fly.

Kye’s heart thundered, if he was correct in his assumption then he was about to get a blow job from a pony. He wondered how it would compare to-

A knocking at the door derailed his train of thought. “Kye, your next client iz ‘ere,” came Lotus’s muffled voice—or was it Aloe’s?

Rarity paused, waiting a few moments before whispering. “Do you still want me to… you know? I can make it quick.”

Kye was tempted—very tempted. “No… better not keep them waiting,” he forced himself to say, failing to hide his disappointment.

Rarity kissed him again, her wonderful tongue exploring his mouth so thoroughly that she was probably able to taste the remnants of her carnal deposits. “I’ll make it up to you tonight, I promise.”

While Kye busied himself with refastening his jeans, the stunning unicorn nuzzled his chest in affection. She then gracefully hopped down off the table and gave him one last smile before trotting out.

The bell chimed, signalling Rarity’s departure. Assured that he was alone in the room, Lotus entered, giving him a wry smile. “Sounds like you have quite ze talent ven eet comes to massage,” she said, blatantly emphasizing the last word.

Kye wasn't sure how to respond. He’d been expecting a good telling off, not casual teasing. “Um…”

“I ‘ad no idea you vere so… promiscuous… If zis is ze case, zen maybe you could ‘take care’ of my seester: she appears to ‘ave taken quite a shine to you,” she casually suggested. “Plus, if you don’t mind zis sort of thing, maybe you could offer… an enhanced experience to mares zat vant a little something extra.”

Oh dear. Lotus was clearly under the impression Lyra had no idea about him and Rarity. He cleared his throat. “Yeah… Um, Rarity’s actually a herdmate… Plus, I’m nowhere near stupid enough to go behind Lyra’s back, y’know, considering she could kill me in an instant if she wanted to…”

Lotus blinked. “Oh… Vell, I guess ze cat is out ov ze bag. My seester… vants you Kye, so be vary. As for ze ozzer thing… think about eet. Zere are a lot of lonely mares zat vould pay high rates for a more personal touch—nozzing too heavy, just a leetle petting ‘ere and zere.” She smiled before trotting out the door.

Kye was speechless—it kinda sounded like Lotus was trying to pimp him out. Fuck. That. He was more than happy enough with Lyra, and Rarity, and… Octavia. Kye shivered. Just the thought of the devastatingly pretty Earth pony had him craving like an addict. Nicotine can suck it: I’d rather have Tavi.

Three more mares visited his massage room that day: two Earth ponies and a unicorn. Kye had been more than a little apprehensive about touching their unfamiliar bodies at first, but he persevered. Despite having just been encouraged to break the rules, he maintained a scrupulous adherence to them, staying well away from any erogenous zones.

One of the Earth ponies was a pretty young mare named Roseluck—Rose for short. Despite her pale yellow coat and cutie mark bearing her namesake flower, her raspberry mane was styled in a manner that reminded him uncomfortably of Lyra. She had been very friendly and flirtatious with him—Kye probably could have gotten away with stripping naked, pulling her rump to the edge of the table, slipping himself beneath her raised tail and rutting her senseless. He hadn't of course, but he got the feeling she wouldn't have minded if he had.

When he left around mid-afternoon, he was feeling rather good about his first day, it had certainly went a lot better than he’d expected. Even the fact that Lotus had had to drag Aloe away from a rather intimate goodbye hug as he walked out the door did little to sour his assessment of his job performance.

* * *

Kye mounted his bike, turning the ignition on and selecting electric-only mode. Lyra was still at work, Rarity had gone back to finish a few of her designs, and Octavia… Well, Octavia still made him feel like like clueless schoolboy with a crush. That kiss, though…

Kye still couldn't get over how much—and how effortlessly—the Earth pony had made him desire her. Even now, he wanted to go and seek her out: see if she’d throw him a few scraps of affection. The only problem was that he didn’t know where she lived. Probably for the best. He didn't want to appear desperate to the alluring violoncellist.

Instead, he decided to take Lyra’s advice, and go pay Fluttershy a visit. He hadn't seen the pretty pegasus since she’d ran away the other day, and he was starting to miss her.

Lyra had mentioned that she lived in a cottage on the edge of the Everfree forest, a location that suited her veterinary occupation. His alpha had warned him to stay out of the forest though: apparently it was full of dangerous creatures. Kye certainly didn't need telling twice—the memory of the hydra from the swamp still sent the occasional chill down his spine.

The Ohlins suspension soon began to protest at the increasingly uneven path as he headed along the outskirts of the village. Kye eased off the throttle, the characteristic whir of the electric motor dropping a semitone or two.

The trees that loomed in the distance were large, and many of them looked quite formidable. Gnarled thick trunks rose up from leafy bushes and thickets of thorns. There were many plants he didn't recognise: some were bland, others were alarmingly colourful. Some even appeared to have a luminescent glow. It kinda reminded him of the forests of Pandora, the alien world from the movie Avatar.

The path began to narrow, the plantlife thickening, becoming increasingly wild and eccentric as the motorcycle carried him further along the edge of the forest… Hmm… No he wasn't really on the edge anymore, at some point he must have taken a wrong turn. Hehe, Wrong Turn, terrible excuse for a horror film. Inbred cannibals, rape, gore, and blood. Pretty much summed up the whole series.

The bike rolled over a rock, and Kye nearly fell off as he slammed his boots to the underbrush… Underbrush? Glancing down, he observed there was no longer a path. Shit. He’d definitely taken a wrong turn somewhere. Fluttershy’s cottage was nowhere to be found.

Blood. Blood… Kye could see it. It was on the ground, a trail running under his front tyre. Nope. A wave of fear shot through him, but he was powerless to prevent his eyes from following the crimson trail. Nope train, it’s leaving. Something was lying on the ground, partly concealed by a bush next to an aged tree trunk. What the fuck do you think you’re doing? His rational thought was screaming for him make like a tree…

Kye hesitated, but not for long—his damned curiosity got the better of him. He flicked the kickstand down and dismounted. Dropping into a partial squat, he cautiously approached the bush and extended a shaking arm. He swept aside the leaves with a gloved hand, only to be nearly felled by the shock of seeing the pitiful form half-buried under the forest’s detritus.

A grey pegasus—much lighter in fur color than Octavia—was curled up on the ground. She was covered in blood, cuts and bruises. Both of her eyes were black, and her lips were swollen and bust. Her wings were clearly broken in several places.

Kye knelt at her side in shock: he recognised this mare. Her long, bushy red and black mane and tail were easily distinguishable despite their matted, filthy state. Her cutie mark—three autumn leaves blowing in a breeze—was still visible underneath the blood in her coat.

It was Ace’s pegasus. She was supposed to be his enemy, but seeing her in this despicable state banished such thoughts from his mind, possibly forever.

“Can you hear me?” Kye pulled off a glove and put a hand on her side, carefully avoiding her mangled wings, only to stop dead.

She was cold.

No… Fuck, please no… Kye was shaking. He groped at her neck, her blood coating his hand as he desperately searched for a pulse. He didn't find one. Oh, gods, no! Please don't be dead…

It felt like his heart was breaking. The tears were already accumulating as he dropped his hands to the floor. A sharp stinging sensation shot through his ungloved hand, but he promptly ignored it. Leaning over, he rested his ear against her bloody muzzle and waited.

He was rewarded with a breath—very faint, but still defined enough to spark a surge of hope. Kye was hit with the biggest burst of adrenaline he’d ever experienced. He all but ripped the shirt off his back, scooping the broken mare up and holding her to his chest as he tightly bound the fabric around the deepest of her cuts.

She was still bleeding, so off came his jeans. He quickly wrapped the remaining wounds with the denim garment before leaping up to grab the tail end of his bike. With a roar of exertion, he dragged it around to face the other way down the narrow enclosure.

He then scooped her up, lifting her clean off the thorn-laden ground. He’d never picked a pony up before, but this delicate little pegasus was surprisingly light. She remained unconscious as he somehow managed to drape her over his shoulder fireman-style and mount his motorcycle. The engine roared to life at the command of his thumb.

The bike lurched. Kye kept a tight grip on the fading pony as he sped back along his tyre tracks, changing gear with nothing but his left foot. If he could find his way back to the edge of town, he could get her to the hospital.

The extent of her injuries was like nothing he’d ever seen—in this world or the last. He had no idea what kind of monster was capable of inflicting such wounds, but if he ever found the creature responsible, he would fucking destroy it. This pegasus may have hung around with a bunch of assholes, but she didn't deserve this. Nopony deserved this.

It didn't take long for the familiar sight of the quaint little houses to appear above the double-bubble screen. Kye was constantly reminded of his charge’s pitiful condition all way back to the village: one of her wings was swaying in the breeze at an unnatural angle, the feathers matted with blood and all bent out of shape. The evidence of her suffering drove him to a state of uncontrollable fury. How could this happen? Why? Even considering her awful herd, what could this mare have done to warrant such execrable punishment?

He continued on in focused rage, the bike’s engine screaming at the redline as it sped towards the hospital. Since it was the middle of the Equestrian rush hour, many ponies crowded the streets on their way home from work and school. They found themselves rudely presented with a choice, either get out of the way or get run the fuck over. Luckily, the sound of the roaring Akrapovic cans gave fair warning to the homeward bound. Kye vaguely noticed a flash of yellow and grey fly past his left side. It took him a few seconds to realise he’d nearly plowed into Fluttershy and Octavia. He barely spared them a thought—he was too focused on getting the shattered pegasus clutched over his shoulder to the hospital. After a few more death defying corners—and about four feet of air when the bike flew over a humped river bridge—the building he was desperately yearning to see slipped into view.

An angry hiss reverberated as he released the throttle, followed by the sound of tyres sliding over gravel then the scraping of stones on plastic. Kye jumped, clutching the pegasus to his bare chest as the bike fell over and slid a good eight feet or so. With complete disregard for the overturned motorcycle that was still rumbling, as if in protest of being so casually tossed aside, he made a desperate dash for the entrance.

A well-aimed kick sent the double doors flying wide. A waiting room, mostly full of long benches and bored-looking ponies greeted him and his unconscious companion. Within seconds every equine eye was on him. Some of them looked shocked, others downright petrified. He must have looked quite a sight—naked apart from his boxers and bike boots, and covered in blood.

“Help! This pegasus needs help! Where the fuck is A and E?” Kye yelled. Several ponies yelped in fright.

“Kye? Are you okay?” asked a shaky little voice.

Kye glanced down to see Fluttershy gazing up at him. “I need a doctor! This pegasus needs a doctor!” he replied, panic evident in his voice.

Fluttershy blinked, seeming to finally notice the bloody bundle in his arms. “Follow me,” she said in a calm, but firm tone.

She trotted over to a counter, Kye trailing behind her. The unicorn mare desk clerk was gazing at him in terror.

“Get Nurse Redheart—this pony needs medical treatment,” Fluttershy declared. No sooner than she’d spoken a set of double doors opened and a bespectacled caramel-coloured unicorn stallion with a brown mane and tail and a stethoscope around his neck emerged from a corridor. He was wearing a white shirt and black tie, the former partly concealing his heart monitor cutie mark.

Kye felt the weight of the pegasus lift as she was suspended in a magical blue aura. She floated over to a large gurney, being pushed along behind the stallion by a white Earth pony mare with a pink mane and tail. Her cutie mark matched the hospital logo on her nurse’s cap—a red cross.

“She needs a transfusion, take a sample and get the results back to me, stat,” Kye heard the doctor pony say as they both rushed back down the corridor, taking the gurney with them. The doors swung closed, leaving him standing next to Fluttershy with a heavy heart. Please don't die.

Kye sat on one of the long benches, removed his lone glove—he’d left the other in the forest—and rested his elbows on his knees, bringing his hands to his face. One of them was still coated with the dried blood of the pegasus.

Fluttershy settled herself beside him, draping a wing over his bare back. “Kye… what… what happened?” she softly asked him.

He didn't immediately answer: he was still too busy fighting off waves of rage, coupled with an intense regret over not finding the bloodied pegasus sooner. He didn't know why the grey mare’s plight was evoking such powerful emotions in him. He would have been able to understand if he’d found Rarity, Octavia, or Fluttershy in such a pitiful condition, but one of Ace Chrome’s herdmates?

The more he searched through his recollections of the mare, the more he realised she was nothing like the rest of her herd. On the night of the party, she’d actually tried to aid him—attacking her own stallion in order to give Kye a chance to escape.

He thought back to yesterday’s confrontation. The grey pegasus had only halfheartedly dived on him at Coco’s angry command. What had the unicorn called her? Tink.

“Tink…” he said aloud.

“I know who she is, Kye. You still haven't told me what happened,” Fluttershy stated, wrapping a hoof around his arm.

“Well I… I was looking for you, actually. Lyra said you lived near the Everfree, so I headed for the trees—only I got lost. Then I saw the blood, and…and…” The sight of her battered body, curled up waiting to die on the unforgiving forest floor flashed in his mind, so vivid he couldn't stop the lump in his throat; nor could he stop the tears flowing freely down his cheeks.

Fluttershy wrapped her wings around him, partly shielding him from the curious stares of the other ponies in the waiting room. She needn't have bothered. Kye didn't care—they could stare all they wanted.

“What kind of evil could have done that to her?” he sobbed. “The things living in that forest should be shot if they’re capable of doing that to a pony.”

Fluttershy didn't respond: she only clutched him tighter.

The hospital doors flew open in an amber aura, and Lyra skidded to a halt in the waiting room. She spotted Kye and quickly trotted to him.

“Don't teleport us. I want to stay here,” he shot at her. She nodded, wrapping her hooves around him.

“Where are your clothes?” she said, releasing him suddenly. “Why are you covered in blood? Did somepony attack you?” She sounded angry. Kye brought a hand to her muzzle to silence her.

“No. Something attacked Tink.”

Lyra clutched his arm between her forehooves, freeing her mouth. “Tink? Who’s…” She trailed off, clearly ascertaining the answer on her own.

“She was nearly dead when I found her in the forest. Something messed her up pretty b-bad-” Kye couldn't stop his voice from breaking. He brought his hands back to his face as the sense of dread coursed through him yet again.

Lyra said nothing, her expression unreadable. Kye didn't know if she was annoyed at his blatant display of emotion for the pegasus, but his alpha was giving nothing away.

The hospital doors opened again, this time to admit Octavia. Upon spotting the trio, she trotted towards them. “Kye…” she said, a somewhat distressed tone in her use of his name.

She was going to ask him what was wrong, but the words died in her throat upon seeing his teary-eyed gaze. Instead, she just wrapped him in a hug.

“I’m gonna get you all covered in blood…” Kye weakly pointed out.

“We don't care, Kye. It’s our job to cheer you up when you’re upset… no matter what you’re upset about.” Lyra gave him a warm smile, and it felt like a slight weight lifted from his shoulders.

The nurse pony emerged from the corridor again, trotting over to him. Kye immediately gave her an urgent inquisitive look. “Is she gonna be-”

“We’ll get to that.” The pony cut him off. “I’m Nurse Redheart. I need to ask you a few questions, seeing as you brought her in and she has no living relatives.”

Kye felt his heart break for the poor mare all over again. “Okay.”

“What relation is she to you?”

“A friend.” He avoided Lyra’s gaze.

“What caused her injuries?”

“I don't know. She was lying in the Everfree forest when I-”

Lyra gasped. “I thought I told you to stay away from there.”

“Well, I got lost looking for Fluttershy’s place, didn't I?”

“Don't worry, I can show you where it is,” the yellow pegasus chimed in. She still had a wing draped over his back, her soft feathers soothing him.

Nurse Redheart pointedly cleared her throat. “You didn't see anypony nearby?”

“No, she was lying next to a tree under a bush…” Kye had to follow suit and clear his throat as well: the lump was returning.

The nurse looked at him for a few seconds, before taking a rather sombre tone. “She’s lost quite a lot of blood. We’ve given her a transfusion, but she has a very rare blood type. If we don't find more soon, then chances are she won’t make it through the night.”

“What?” Kye felt a lead weight drop in his stomach. “No! There must be something you can… What’s the blood type?”

“AB negative.”

“Can't you contact other hospitals? Get a unicorn to teleport?”

“We've already checked. It’s really rare.” She gave him a sympathetic look. “I’m sorry, but there’s nothing more we can-”

Kye’s anger returned at her attempted condolence, “No!” several ponies were staring and whispering but he didn't care. “No—don’t be giving me that bullshit speech-” he shot at the nurse, his voice raised. He barely noticed he was being interrupted.

“Kye.”

“-cause I don't wanna hear it. You ponies have got magic and potions and-”

“Kye.”

“-god knows whatever else and you’re trying to tell me you can't save-”

“Kye.”

“-her? It’s fucking disgraceful! She doesn't deserve any of this-”

“KYE!” Lyra yelled at him.

“What!?” He snapped at her. She pointedly raised her eyebrows, and he immediately started to feel guilty. “Sorry…”

She smiled. “If you’d just listen for a second, you might be interested to know that I’m blood type AB negative.”

It took a few seconds to register before the spark of hope bloomed in his chest. “So...you...you’ll?”

“Of course, I will. I’m not gonna just let her fucking die, am I?” She leapt up, looking expectantly at nurse Redheart.

The white Earth pony blinked in surprise, before nodding. “Follow me.” She led Lyra away down the corridor.

Octavia sat in the now vacant space to his right, with Fluttershy still sitting on his left. “She’s gonna be okay Kye,” the Earth pony told him as the two mares sandwiched him in a tight hug.

Kye sighed, wrapping an arm around each of them. “I hope so.”

Author's Note

So yea, I've expanded on the pegasus from the Ace Chrome herd, seeing as she's the only decent pony among them.

Also—Rarity clop.... :P nuff said.

Hope you all enjoyed the chapter /)