Tourmaline

Four days later, I had returned from Canterlot and was sitting in Anaphainos' room with him, waiting for Spring Breeze and whoever she would bring to join us.

Someone knocked at the door. "Come in please", Anaphainos said. Spring Breeze entered the room.

"Welcome to my place", Anaphainos said. "It's not as big or luxurious as yours, but I hope you like it anyway. Please, have a seat." He pointed to the sofa.

I raised an eyebrow. "Wait, when have you been to her room?"

"When I removed her wing sheaths, of course", he answered. "Her office wasn't exactly a good place for it, so we both decided that her private room would be the best place for that." Well, that did make sense. He then addressed Spring Breeze. "Where's your friend? Didn't you say you wanted to bring another one?"

"She should be right behind me", Spring Breeze said. "She said she briefly wanted to talk to one of the stags we randomly encountered. I've got no idea why. I really wasn't comfortable about leaving her with him, but she insisted. She almost pushed me away, as if she wanted to be left alone with him."

Oh, hell no.

"Please tell me the mare you brought isn't Star Charmer", I said.

Spring Breeze was surprised. "You know Star Charmer?", she asked.

"Yes", I said. "She paid me a visit and asked a favor a few days ago. It was one of the reasons why I went to Canterlot this week. Has she talked to you yet?"

"Talked to me about what?", Spring Breeze asked.

Bloody hell!

I rose from the chair. "If you excuse me, I'll look for Star Charmer. See if anything is alright. I also have to discuss something in private with her. I'll be back in a minute." Spring Breeze got visibly nervous.

I left the room and met Star Charmer just in front of the door – without any stag. "Good", I said to her coldly. "I see you weren't successful this time again. Why haven't you talked to Spring Breeze yet? Are you hell-bent on sabotaging everything I'm trying to build here?"

"Hello, Star Charmer. Nice to see you again", Star Charmer said with a sarcastic voice.

"I would have said that if it were true", I responded.

"Oh yeah, I love it when you talk dirty", Star Charmer said. I sighed.

"Listen, cun..." - I bit my tongue. "Listen! You will either leave this part of the castle immediately and stay in your part, or you will come with me in there right now, and then the first thing you will do is tell Spring Breeze what you asked of me, and what you have apparently been trying to do lately. I told you we can work out something together. But we have to discuss this openly first. If you can convince Spring Breeze that this is what you want, then we can work something out and let the mares decide on it tomorrow. If you want to, I'll be there for you to gladly put you in your place myself as soon as we've worked out how to deal with this as a community. But you will not try anything else to jeopardize my project any more. I really don't want to do this, but this has gone far enough. If you don't tell Spring Breeze right now, I will."

She sighed. "Very well. I'll tell her." Then she gave me a little smile. "If you show the same degree of fierce determination in the bedroom as you just did here, I'll definitely come back to you once this is settled."

Stupid, sexy Star Charmer!

We entered the room. I noticed Spring Breeze was still nervous. "Don't worry", I said. "Everything's allright. Star Charmer has to tell you something. Maybe Anaphainos and I should go outside and give you some privacy while you talk."

Anaphainos immediately rose from his seat. "Is there anything wrong?", he asked.

I sighed again. "No, nothing. This is just something they have to sort out among themselves before we can begin our talk. It's something we'll have to discuss today as well, but Spring Breeze doesn't know about the issue yet, and it's a rather delicate matter, so they should talk to each other first."

We left his room.

"So, would you please tell me what this is all about", Anaphainos asked.

"That unicorn... Star Charmer. She came to my office a few days ago and asked me to have my way with her. You know what I mean. She wants the whole program, apparently."

Anaphainos looked concerned. "And did you?"

"Of course not!", I responded. "I know as well as you do that it could jeopardize everything we're trying to build here."

"Indeed", Anaphainos said. "Also, a few things make sense now. During the last days, I've heard some stags talking about that mare that was coming on to them and trying to make them do things to her. So that's her? Interesting. From what I've heard, they've all turned her down so far. Most of them think that the mares are testing us to see if we're trustworthy. Some of them have come to see it as a test of faith, maybe even sent by Hermaeus Mora Himself. As I see it, they might not be far away from the truth. But seriously, if this continues, one of them will succumb sooner or later."

"I have the same concern", I answered. "That's why I went to Canterlot for the last days. Well, one of the reasons anyway. I knew we would have to address this problem one way or another soon. I wondered if there were any cases like her before the invasion, and how the old Equestrian society would deal with things like this. So I went to Canterlot to do a little bit of research on that topic. I was surprised. There were quite a few societies dedicated to sexual activity involving domination and submission, actually. There were even some stallions who wanted to play the submissive part. It was quite fascinating. Familiar and yet entirely different at the same time."

Anaphainos was surprised. "Really? Wow, who would have thought."

I continued. "There was one rather big and active society that particularly drew my attention at first. It had quite a few members of influence, some among the Wonderbolts, and even in the Royal Court. I was surprised. Unfortunately, the more I read about it, the more it turned out that I wouldn't find any solution for our problem there at all. As a matter of fact, I was more than a little bit surprised that the Princesses would allow something like this to exist in the first place. Hell, it may have even been something like a catalyst for Equestria's downfall. I was even a little bit surprised that the king and his council decided to disband it instead of repurposing it for their own purposes. But the reason for their decision to shut it down was that the society also allowed for female domination and male submission. Oh yeah, their leader was apparently a crystal pony, by the way. A female. No idea what happened to her after the invasion."

Anaphainos was impressed. "Not exactly the most useful information, but definitely interesting. You found out about this in only three days? Since it involves female domination and male submission, I would have guessed that this information would be classified."

"It was", I said. "I still know some people in the lower levels of administration, and I pulled some strings and called in a few favors. Also, once I realized that this society didn't have what I was searching for, I turned to the smaller groups. Some of them did have applicable solutions. Most of them used a system of written texts where the partners involved could specify their desires, hard limits, and something called safe words. Those texts were called contracts, even though they were not technically legally binding, and the subs could of course void them at any time. Those groups also operated much more publicly than the other one I told you about, to ensure that a sub would be able to find help outside the group immediately if anything went wrong."

"Well, now the thing about the contracts does sound like something that could be applicable to our situation", Anaphainos said. "We could even use runes to code them, so we will be magically prevented from accidentally overstepping our limits. You know the stags are trying their best, but you also know how they are."

"Don't remind me", I said. "As a matter of fact, when Star Charmer came to me a few days ago, I would almost have taken her. I could restrain myself, of course, and I'm happy and relieved to hear that the others were strong enough to do so as well during the last days – but I'm also surprised."

The door was opened, and a smiling Star Charmer told us that we could come back in now.

I sat down in one of the chairs while Anaphainos went to get us a bottle of Amber Glow. Spring Breeze addressed me. "Star Charmer has explained the situation to me", she said. "I actually understand the craving for the closeness of a male body. I occasionally had the same craving myself during the last weeks. But of course, this case is a little bit different. It is a delicate matter. I don't think I understand her desire, but I understand why she was hesitant to tell me. I also understand why you didn't tell me. If you had come to me four days ago, I indeed wouldn't have believed you. Not because I hadn't guessed that there were some of us with such cravings. It's more like... you know."

"I understand completely", I said. "After what my people has done to yours, your mistrust is simply something to be expected, especially in matters like this." Anaphainos had returned with a bottle of Amber Glow, and poured each of us a glass. I continued. "Actually, this was the reason why I went to Canterlot during the last days. I did some research on how this was handled in Equestria before our invasion."

I told them everything I had found out.

"Wow", Spring Breeze said. "I had heard of people with weird kinks before the Fall, of course, but it had never interested me. The story about that crystal pony's society really gave me the creeps. I honestly don't know how something like this could have been possible." She took a big sip from her glass of Amber Glow. "Hm, what an odd taste. But also very delicious. So this is what you need the herbs and cherries for?", she asked Anaphainos. "I have to say, I'm impressed."

"Thank you", Anaphainos said. Did my eyes deceive me? Was he blushing?

Spring Breeze continued. "As for the other groups, I agree with you that their solutions are a little bit more applicable when it comes to our situation. The contracts are an interesting idea, and could certainly be helpful here. We should make them official though. As a matter of fact, the first solution that came to my mind when Star Charmer told me about this was written laws."

"Yes", I said. "We'll probably need some of those anyway sooner or later. Anaphainos also had the idea to use runes to magically ensure that the stags don't overstep their limits."

Spring Breeze was visibly offended by the idea. "Absolutely not! Using magic to force behavior again? Only a stag could come up with such an idea." She paused for a second. When she began to speak again, her voice was a bit calmer, but still absolutely determined. "Don't get me wrong, I'm absolutely certain this particular stag had only the best intentions." She smiled at Anaphainos for a short second. He smiled back sheepishly. "But it's nonetheless a really bad idea and I will do everything in my power to prevent this from happening", she said.

I looked at my glass, lost in thought. There was something I had read about in Canterlot when I did my research... something about a ritual that was used to magically enforce behavior... but I couldn't quite remember. "You may be right", I said. "It's too dangerous."

"Well, then it's settled", Spring Breeze said. "As for the laws, we'll discuss this with the other mares tomorrow, and work out a set of coded laws. Our two groups will then decide on them together. Of course we realize that we outnumber you two to one and could overrule you in any point, but we do want to listen to your suggestions and objections. If they are reasonable, we will debate them with you, and change details if necessary."

"This is very generous", I responded. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. I don't trust you completely and I know I'm rude sometimes, but I want this to work as much as you do", Spring Breeze said. "It's about freeing my people after all!"

Once Spring Breeze was finished, Star Charmer spoke up. "As for the contracts, we will also bring this up with the other mares first time tomorrow morning." She smiled at me seductively. "If we can come to a decision on this quickly, maybe the two of us can already work something out together tomorrow evening. I'll definitely come to your room to let you know. I'm sure we can quickly work something out together."

"Well, that's very sweet", I said nervously. "But there's another thing to discuss. We want to begin recruiting new members soon, and most of them will also bring their mares and cows. Right now there is still some free space in the castle, but we'll have to start building houses sooner or later. You know that we stags can do it enormously quickly, so that shouldn't be a problem. But since it's your land, I wanted to ask for permission first. I guess you mares probably want to keep the castle, so we are willing to agree to move to the new houses."

Spring Breeze shook her head. "Actually, not quite. Personally, I want to stay in the castle, I think it's nice here. But some of us wish for more privacy than we have here. They have already asked to be given space outside the castle. As I see it, the best would be to mix it up. Keep one wing of the castle for the mares and the other one for the stags and cows, and give everyone a house who wants one."

"Okay, so this would be settled as well", I said. "However, recruiting new members might cause other problems as well. Most of them will bring their mares, so your community will also grow. Right now, the females outnumber the males three to one, counting both cows and mares. But when it comes to gender relations, this could be a problem. If every stag limits himself to only one mare, most of you will be left unsatisfied. But if each of us would take more than one, this might be a source of new gender inequalities. Not to mention that the cows are also still a problem."

I sighed, then continued. "The real problem is that we can't really recruit stallions. Most of them are under the influence of the Crystal Cock. Of course, there are some who don't feel its effect, and we should gather as many of those so-called 'incurables' as possible – preferably as quickly as possible. But we also have to take care not to draw suspicion. It's a difficult problem. Also, recruiting only stags and incurables won't cut it in the long run. We have to find a way to disrupt the artifact's influence."

Spring Breeze took a sip from her glass, then sighed. "Well, much to ponder, but I don't really have any ideas about those questions yet. I will bring them up with the other mares tomorrow though. Also, since the bottle is empty, I think we should adjourn this meeting for now. Anaphainos, I'd like to meet you again tomorrow evening – just some minor things to discuss. My quarters this time? Also, I would be pleased if you brought a bottle of your stuff if you still have one." She smiled.

I gave him a grin. Was he blushing again?

"Oh, there is another thing", Star Charmer said to me. "When I took a walk outside the castle a few days ago, I found this stone. There were more like this one there, but I found this one incredibly beautiful, so I picked it up. I immediately felt a sense of security and protection. I held it in my hand for quite a while, and I noticed that it got warm. As soon as I put it away, it was cold again in only minutes. I know you are a scholar and a magician. Do you know what this might be?"

She showed me the stone. Pitch black and beautiful. My eyes went wide. "Let me have a look at that!", I said.

She gave it to me. As soon as I touched it, my antlers began to glow. I noticed how my mind opened up while remaining firmly rooted at the same time. It was as if all bad thoughts and feelings were cleansed from my mind. It confirmed my suspicion. "This is black tourmaline!", I said. "Where did you find this?"

"As I said, outside the castle", she responded. "There's a whole bunch of those there. I guess there might even be many more of them if you dig a little bit. Is this important?"

I chuckled. "The black tourmaline is one of the most potent stones for magical protection and grounding. It binds negative emotions and transforms them into something more healthy. It opens up the mind and lets you see the world and yourself more objectively. But it doesn't just bind negative emotions this way. It also does the same to magical attacks that target the mind. If used the right way, it is essentially one of the most powerful psychic shields in existence. My father and I wanted to get our hands on one of those for as long as I can think back. But there weren't any in our homeland at all, and even in Equestria, they're more rare than in other parts of the world."

I paused for a second, then continued. "There are more of these outside, you say? You have to show us tomorrow. Actually, I'll tell the others right after you have left. If there are really more of those outside, we have to start gathering them as soon as possible. This might be exactly what we need to counteract the magic of the Crystal Cock. It could also help us stags to get some focus. Star Charmer, may I have this one? I want to do some experiments with it today. I'm so excited! Black tourmaline, wow!"

"Sure, take it", Star Charmer said. "Consider it a token of my soon-to-come submission to you... master." She smiled at me again.

Spring Breeze and I cringed almost simultaneously. "Could you... please... stop saying such things... in front of a stag... at least as long as you're in the same room with me?", Spring Breeze begged.

Once again, Star Charmer smiled deviously.