AMORE OBBLIGATO

Chapter 3: Dissonante

If the Twilight Sparkle of just last week could see the Twilight Sparkle of now, she would have been horrified at what she would find. Though she was in math class, one of her favorite subjects, not one bit of attention was being paid to the teacher. Instead, it was all focused on the open notebook before her which was covered in doodles of hearts and musical notes, as well as various combinations of her name and Octavia's. The Twilight of today gave a goofy smile at her handiwork as she finished coloring in a treble clef with a purple pen.

I wonder what she thinks of me. She's so... classy. What would she say if I were to give her a gift? What sort of gift should I give? Is it even appropriate to give her one? It's not like she's an actual teacher, so there would no conflict of interest, and no school board to worry about. Plus, she's not that much older than me, so the squickiness wouldn't be as bad-

“Miss Sparkle? Can you solve this equation for us?” The teacher interrupted Twilight's internal musings by calling on her as he pointed to the chalkboard, chalk in hand.

Quickly sliding her notebook under the math textbook, she walked over to the board and easily solved a rather involved trigonometry problem, explaining her procedure as she went. When she had finished, she handed the chalk back to the teacher who said, “Very good. I'm glad to see that despite not paying attention, you are still able to do the work. In future however, I would prefer you still give me your full attention in class; it's not just respectful, it also will make sure you don't miss anything, understand?”

Not since she had been forced to stand before the class to introduce herself on her first day had Twilight been so mortified. Her whole face turned a bright red as the rest of the class snickered at her. She silently nodded and made her way back to her desk, where she found that her notebook was not in the exact same position she had left it. As she sat down, she looked to either side, but the desk to her right was empty, and the one on her left sat Honeyed Words, a filly that had fallen asleep in her arms. how did it get moved? I know how I left it, so- Her attention was drawn to the filly on her left whose eyes were now half open. Neither said a word, but a smirk crept onto the older filly's mouth that sent chills down her spine before the eyes closed again.

Honeyed Words seemed to have it out for Twilight from the beginning, but they had come to an understanding; that being so long as Twilight let her copy from her whenever she wanted, she made sure the abuse never escalated physically and stayed mostly just verbal. There had never been an adequately explained reason for being singled out as she was, and the one time she had tried to ask, Honey, as her friends called her, told her to work it out for herself. So it had gone for the past three years. Oh, there had been disciplinary meetings, but never once was Honeyed Words ever directly implicated; no, she was far too careful for that. She seemed to have a neverending stream of friends ready to throw themselves on whatever metaphorical grenade came her way, and she was extremely careful to never say anything that could be implied as threatening, especially with a filly as important as Twilight.

The light, happy feeling that Twilight had been feeling was replaced with a dread in her chest so tight, that it felt like at any moment she may implode. Sheknowssheknowssheknows! Shame mixed with fear spread out from her chest, draining her of the ability to do anything but stare at her textbook and wonder what new tortures would be coming her way. Twilight's prodigious imagination would surely have conjured up scenes of what was to come, but her brain was paralyzed with shock.

The bell suddenly rang, signaling the end of class, and before the teacher could even acknowledge it, Twilight was out the door and halfway down the hall, books and book bag clutched tightly to her chest as she ran. And run she did, far and hard; harder than she had ever run in gym class. She ran as if a pack of starving timber wolves her hot on her tail.

Finally, she could run no further and collapsed against a storefront, trying desperately to catch her breath. She slid down the rough brick façade scratched the expensive material of her school uniform, but Twilight didn't care, her rump settling on the cold concrete sidewalk. Stupidstupidstupid! I just confirmed it for her by running away! I should have just played it off, or threw away the paper; anything would have been better than running away! To punish herself, she banged her head against the brick wall against which she leaned, and winced from the pain. “Ow! Stupid! Why are you so stupid, Twilight?” she muttered to herself.

“Miss Sparkle?”

A kindly, old voice drew her attention up, where she saw Steel Nib, the owner of the stationary store she often frequented against which Twilight suddenly found herself.

“Are you alright? You look... upset,” the old pegasus mare asked, concern etched in her features.

Twilight stood and dusted off her skirt with one hand while the other struggled to hold on to her books. “Er, yes, Ma'am. I just-” She got no further, because her legs decided at that moment that they did not take kindly to all the sudden exertion, and were now demanding equal rest time. Luckily, she was still near the wall and was able to brace against it, but lost her books and bag in the bargain.

Steel Nib immediately was at her side, supporting her with a surprisingly firm grip on the unicorn's elbow. “Oh, dear! Come inside and rest for a moment. You look absolutely dreadful! No, no, I insist. Now come along, my dear.” With a strength that Twilight didn't think the old light blue mare possessed, she forced the filly into her store and sat her down on the stool behind the cash register.

“But my things-” Twilight began, but Steel Nib was already walking back outside to fetch her dropped belongings.

She walked back inside with agonizing slowness that made Twilight to help her, but the old mare waved her back to the stool. “Now, why don't you tell me what's troubling you? I may not be able to directly help, but we old ponies are stuffed to the brim with good advice, and are just aching to give it to any young pony who'll stop long enough to listen.”

Twilight somehow managed to look amused and pained at the same time. “I... I don't want to trouble you with my stupid mistakes, Mrs. Nib,” she said lamely.

Steel Nib laid a hand on Twilight's arm, patting her comfortingly. “My Dear, how do you think the elderly become so wise? We have made many of the same mistakes you young folk have, and what's more, we did it better.” She chuckled lightly at her own boastful joke.

With a weak smile, Twilight replied, “Well, unless you know how to time travel so I can warn myself not to do something, I don't think there's much either of us can do about it, Mrs. Nib.” She heaved a great sigh as she played with the hem of her skirt.

“Are you so sure,” Steel Nib asked. “Sometimes just talking about your problems make them seem smaller.”

Silence descended on the pair as Twilight considered just what to tell her. After a seeming eternity, she said, “I have a... a rival, I guess you could call her, at school. We have an understanding... well, not so much an understanding as an agreement.”

“What sort of agreement?” the old pegasus interrupted.

A pained look crossed Twilight's face as she shook her head. “It doesn't matter. What matters is that this agreement created a balance, albeit a precarious one, in how we deal with one another. Today, I let slip some information that could change that balance, and not in my favor.”

Steel Nib pulled out another stool and sat next to the troubled filly. “I take it, this rival of yours would not hesitate to use this information?” A slight nod was all she got in answer, so she continued on. “Does this information have the potential to hurt anypony?”

Twilight thought about it for a moment before replying, “I- I don't know. Maybe? I don't think physical harm could come of it, but...”

Steel Nib nodded. “I see. If harm could come of this knowledge being in her hands, physical or otherwise, I think you already know what to do, Dear.”

A great sigh escaped the filly as she stood and started carefully putting her books away into her bag properly. “I suppose I do. Thanks, Mrs. Nib. I've got to go, but I'll be back this Satyrday to see if the pen I ordered came in. Bye!”

As the filly raced off, Steel Nib, shook her head in amusement. “I hope it goes well for her. Telling someone you're being bullied is hard enough, but I can't even imagine what it would be like to have to tell the princess!”

(\ /)
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*(“)(“)

“Hey Octy, wait up!”

Octavia's eyes rolled upon hearing the much bemoaned nickname given to her by her marefriend. Instead of slowing down, she sped up her walk away from school to the point where it could almost be called a trot, forcing the unicorn to run in order to catch up. Needless to say, Vinyl was a bit put off by this. “Aw, come on, Octy, how many times do I need to apologize for yesterday?”

With a sniff, Octavia replied, “At least until I find a new coffee shop of equal or better atmosphere where I have not been embarrassed; perhaps for a bit after that as well, I have not yet decided.”

Vinyl finally caught up to her her arms around the earth pony's waist and rested her shin on the taller filly's shoulder. “Come on, baby. Let me make it up to you. I spent all my free time at last night's show asking around for a new snooty java house just for you. Problem is, that most of the kinds of ponies who go to see me perform aren't likely to go to places like that.”

“You have really been looking?” Octavia asked, genuinely surprised at the consideration she was showing.

Vinyl breathed in her marefriend's scent, relishing it and the warmth radiating from her. “Mmmhmm.”

Octavia smiled gently and blushed at the thought of Vinyl going through all that trouble, even if the whole situation wouldn't have been necessary in the first place had she shown a modicum of self-control. If she is willing to at least try, then I suppose I could ease up on her a little... “Very well. What did you have in mind to make it up to me?”

Straining to stand on the tips of her hooves so that she could better reach it, Vinyl nodded towards the alley nearby and whispered into her ear, “I was thinking we could go into that alley and fu-”

“Certainly not!” Octavia said, roughly removing Vinyl's grip from around her waist, causing the other mare to almost lose her balance. Turning to face her, she added, “What kind of mare do you take me for? I would not set one hoof into a filthy alleyway such as that, let alone to do what you suggest! I am not some common who-”

She was silenced mid-tirade by Vinyl surprising her with a forceful kiss. So taken aback was she, that she didn't notice the unicorn pushing her backwards until she met with the solid resistance of a wall. Suddenly made aware of their location, Octavia panicked and opened her eyes to find that they indeed were in the alleyway, only partially hidden from view by a dumpster filled to overflowing with cardboard refuse.

Vinyl's hands were as busy as they always were, one managing to work its way into her shirt and cupping an ample bosom, while the other was lightly dragging its nails up and down one thigh, a sensation that never failed to get a moan from the prim and proper filly. Try as she might, Octavia could not suppress the moan for long, causing Vinyl to smile and move on to kissing her neck with quick, forceful pecks and alternating them with little licks that let tiny tufts of her coat sticking up.

Octavia's own hands finally came alive, her right running through Vinyl's boyishly short cut mane, and the other running down her lover's back, coming to rest on her dock. She wound her left around and around the electric-blue tail, firmly gripping it when more than half of it was wrapped around her forearm. Roughly grabbing a handful of mane, she pulled the unicorn's head back so that their eyes could meet. “You little tease. How dare you get me all worked up in this feculent alley. I believe it is time you learned some manners.”

With that, she picked up Vinyl by her handholds until her hooves just dangled over the ground and rolled so that the unicorn was now the one pinned against the wall. The rough brick wall skinned her knuckles, but she didn't even notice. Instead, her attention was drawn to the slender expanse of neck before her, and she set to work kissing and nibbling at it, leaving it just was wet as hers, but with more numerous and noticeable bite marks.

Vinyl was helpless before the onslaught, choosing to fight back by wrapping her legs around Octavia's waist, allowing both hands free rein with the prodigious chest before her. Buttons were unbuttoned, and a bra strap unhooked, granting her unfettered access to one of the top ten sets of breasts in all of Canterlot High, top seven if one were to discount certain teachers. Octavia moaned into the deejay's collarbone as Vinyl mercilessly assaulted her nipples, twisting them as if they were knobs on her mixing board.

“Oh, no you do not,” Octavia whispered and released the tail in her left hand, instead reaching under the skirt and grabbed a handful of panties. Pulling back and away, she could feel the material strained until with a sudden, but slight lessening of tension combined with a muted gasp from the unicorn she knew that the undergarment was now sawing into the cleft of her sex. She pulled it first to one side, then the other as she ground her pelvis into the mare.

The deejay's eyes crossed as her clit and labia were rubbed raw by the cotton undergarment working against them. With a squeal, she orgasmed, soaking the stretched material. Her limp legs unwound themselves from her lover's waist, and she collapsed to her knees in front of her.

Octavia was far from done however, and pulled down her panties, stepping one leg out of them, leaving them to dangle on the other, and lifted her skirt. With a step forward, she put her hot marehood closer to Vinyl's blissed out face. The aroma of her moist folds immediately caught the unicorn's attention, and her mouth honed in as if they were magnetically attracted.

She tucked the hem of her skirt into the waist, allowing her to affectionately run her hands through Vinyl's short, sweaty mane. Pushing the ever-present sunglasses up, Octavia gazed into her ruby eyes as the talented tongue laved the moisture from her labia. With the tongue worming its way into her depths, the cellist gently played with Vinyl's ears, stroking them lovingly, bringing a blush to her face, and a sheen of sweat that made her think of the time they shared a bath and so much more once.

The gray mare was close now, and hooked one long, shapely leg over Vinyl's shoulder, grinding her pussy into the deejay's eager mouth. Vinyl reached up with one hand and grabbed the lush derrière, her fingers digging into the pliant, muscular flesh. Her free hand soon made itself busy by snaking down to her crotch to alleviate some of the remaining tension building up between her legs. She massaged the rump as she formed a tube with the tip of her tongue, using it like a miniature vagina for the engorged clitoris that had been constantly rubbing against her nose since she had begun her feast. A wicked idea took hold in her mind, and she wasted not time enacting it. Without any warning, one hand released Octavia's rump and with her middle finger extended, she eased it into her sphincter, sawing in and out in time with her tongue, which had switched to a spear-like shape and was moving in and out of her lover's sodden tunnel.

Octavia almost cried out in ecstasy, only stopping herself by biting down on her lower lip hard enough to draw a trickle of blood. Her hips roughly pushed into Vinyl's mouth even as she threw her head back in a near-soundless euphoric cry to the heavens. With her hands on her the unicorn's head and a leg hooked over a shoulder, the captive filly could only hold on as Octavia rode out her orgasm, and hope it ended soon enough to gain her freedom before she passed out from lack of oxygen.

It was almost a full two minutes before Octavia finally relinquished her captive, leaning heavily against the dumpster as she returned to her senses.

Vinyl alternated taking in deep breaths and licking her face clean of the earth pony's leavings. Finally satisfied that she would be getting nothing more from running her long tongue over her face, she leaned back against the wall and smirked up at Octavia, though with more than just a hint of exhaustion. “How d'you like that? Back alley sex is hotter than even I thought it would be,” she said tiredly.

The cellist glared down at her, but it was a half-hearted gesture with only a hint of annoyance behind it. “That is because it was with me. Had it been anypony else, it would not have been anywhere near as spectacular,” she rejoined.

Vinyl could tell that the filly was seeking approval from her. She was only that uppity when performing for snooty, upper class ponies or dealing with ponies she didn't like. Since she was neither, it wasn't hard to tell that her reply along with the slight crease between her eyebrows and note of askance in her voice meant that she was still unsure about sex. Not hard to see why she's so hung up about it; she's only just started, after all. “True. Those roadapples were sonic rainboom intense. We definitely need to do this again.”

“Pfft. As if that will ever happen,” Octavia replied. She pulled up her panties after righting them again and held out a hand for Vinyl. Pulling her upright, she added, “Though if you find someplace cleaner than this, I might not say no.”

Well, well, well. Looks like I awoke a beast, here. Vinyl dusted her skirt, letting fall back into place, but was surprised to see her panties slide down to her knees. Stepping out of them, she held them up to inspection. The elastic band was ripped at the seams in addition to being stretched to almost twice the length when they were new, and to top it all of, were sopping wet, reeking of Vinyl's juices. “Well, these are a write-off.” She held them under Octavia's nose, which wiggled appreciatively at the odor. “I'd ask you to go a little more gently in the future, but not if it meant missing out on orgasms like that.” With that, she casually tossed them in the dumpster and started walking out of the alley.

Octavia trotted to catch up to her and whispered, “You are not seriously going to walk around town like that, are you?”

She turned to the cellist and cupped a cheek in one hand, staring into her eyes, even though no one could tell behind her shades. “My dear Octy, if it turned you on, I would walk around Canterlot palace wearing only a smile and not feel ashamed.”

With her face turning a deep shade of red, Octavia turned and started walking down the street. “L- let's go. It's getting late.”

(\ /)
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*(“)(“)

Celestia stood on the balcony overlooking the terrace garden below and smiled as she saw Twilight finally making her way to the parlor where she now waited. “It would appear that your job is still secure,” she said without turning around.

Still kneeling behind her, Plain Sight breathed a quiet sigh of relief. “Once again, I apologize, Your Highness. It's my job to anticipate her movements, but I was derelict in my duty today. It has been some time since her last great disaster, and I had become complacent. I beg your forgiveness and ask that any punishment you dole out fall upon only me and not my subordinates. I take full responsibility for today's debacle.”

“A commendable sentiment for any commander,” Celestia mused as she turned around to face her again. “However, as she appears to have returned to us safe and unharmed, I believe a simple fine from you and your team will serve as sufficient punishment. Does ten percent of your week's pay donated to the foal's hospital sound fair?”

Swallowing down a lump, the earth pony mare nodded. “Exceedingly, Your Highness. I swear both that it won't happen again, and I will get to the bottom of why it happened in the first place. If there is a problem, I will rectify it, post haste.”

Celesta smiled down at the still kneeling mare. “I know I may rely on you, Plain Sight. I would not have chosen you for the position if I didn't think so. You'd best be about it. She will be here any moment. The hallway distraction will only delay her so long.”

Rising to her hooves, Plain Sight bowed at the waist. “By your leave,” she said and strode out the servant's entrance after giving a final bow. As she walked out into the hallway connecting to the kitchens, she almost ran over Twinkleshine, the filly assigned to watch over Twilight in her classroom. She acknowledged her salute with one of her own. “Well, what do you have to report?”

Releasing the salute, Twinkleshine brushed a stray lock of pink mane from her eyes and said, “As usual, I think it was Honeyed Words again, but as far as I could tell, she didn't even say a word to her. She did take a peek at Miss Sparkle's notebook while she was called up to the chalkboard, but that was all I could see from my angle; I couldn't even tell what was written. I suppose she could have been trying to copy off her notes again, and saw something that embarrassed Miss Twilight, but without examining the notebook itself, speculation is all I can offer.”

Plain Sight sneered and grumbled angrily. “Light take that filly. If it weren't for her family being so well connected or how clever she's been at keeping her grubby mitts clean, I'd see her expelled for all she's done.” She started walking again, with Twinkleshine following close behind. Stopping, she turned to the filly and said, “I want you to find out just what happened. I don't care if you have to wring the information from Honey's scrawny, pretentious, little neck; I want to know how we can fix this.”

The younger unicorn saluted again and was about to carry out her orders when the earth pony stopped her. “By the way, good job on keeping Twilight in your sights. It couldn't have been easy keeping up with her. I know from personal experience just how fast she is when properly motivated.”

Twinkleshine smiled and saluted sharply again. Praise from Plain Sight was a rare thing, doubly so when given in regards to protecting the disaster-prone Twilight Sparkle.

(\ /)
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*(“)(“)

Spike winced as Twilight hit what was probably the eighth sour note in the last twenty minutes. He would have went in with an offer of a pre-dinner snack in a lame attempt at getting her to take a break and give his ears a chance to recover, but knew it would be futile. Twilight had specifically ordered him to not bother her until dinner was ready, and would not stop her practice session for anything less. She was diligent about instructions from a teacher, if nothing else.

Still, he couldn't help but wonder about her strangely thoughtful expression when she had walked in, fresh from her after school tea with the princess. Something is definitely bothering her, he thought to himself as he added some oregano to the marinara sauce bubbling in the tall pot before him. Twi's not the type to bother others with her problems. Sometimes I just wish she would open up to me more. I hate seeing her like this.

Tasting the sauce with a little spoon hanging from his apron strings, he nodded with satisfaction. “Am I good, or am I good?” he asked the empty room. Turning off the burner, he called out, “Twi! Soup's on!”

There was an awful screech of tortured violin strings from the living room which prefaced Twilight's reply. “Coming, Spike!”

The filly in question walked in and using her magic, pulled down two plates from the cabinet, and began dishing out a serving of spaghetti for each of them. Spike grabbed the salt shaker filled with gem shards, asking, “Did something happen with the princess, Twi?”

The unicorn pulled up short at the question, and looked at her assistant/little brother in confusion. “No, why would you think that something happened with The Princess?”

Spike stopped to watch as she continued to set the table, but without looking at him. “Twi, something's obviously bothering you. If it wasn't the princess, the biggest pony in your life, then it must have been something at school.” He laid a claw over her hand, causing her to meet his gaze at last. “Twi, if nothing else, I'm here for you; always will be.”

A tremulous smile spread across her face. In a flash, she had picked up the baby dragon who was still only half her size in a hug that swept him off his feet. Her sudden show of affection surprised them both, but Twilight managed to say in a choked voice, “Thank you, Spike. This isn't something you can help with, but it's good to know that no matter what, I'll always have you in my corner.”

Author's Note

Hmmm... It seems I can't write a story without including some sort of conflict that I hadn't initially planned. Ah, well. At least I'm pretty sure I can take this somewhere, unlike that mess with Golden Bit (last time I dabble in politics). I'm also kinda surprised the sex arrived this soon. I wasn't planning on that to appear for some time. Ah, well (x2).