Crystal Delicacyby SkarsnikChaptersBeginning of a new lifeContrary mareWriting conventionMenage BreakerFamily and Foal - part 1Family and Foal - part 2Beginning of a new lifeSergeant Ruby Moon was watching the mare in the mirror in front of her. She had a small touch of makeup. Her short pink mane was washed, brushed and had a touch of glitter, well crystal glitter. It was something the crystal pony mares liked to wear for a romantic affair to try to replicate the effect the Crystal Heart had on the ponies. It was a bit itchy but, well, they were encouraged to mingle with the crystal ponies and respecting their tradition was a good way to get friendly with them. And in her case it was more than friendly. She had met the stallion, a crystal earth pony in the fair after the restoration of the Empire. He was older than her, but that’s how she liked her stallions. Older and/or married stallion make greats lovers in bed. Ruby did not really care about things like competing with another mare, mostly because she was more up for one-night stands. She did not believe that working in the guard and building a relationship could go hoof-in-hoof. This stallion was different from her usual catch. At first he was a bit grumpy and did not seem interested in any relationship. He did not talk much at first, she discovered it was a common occurrence for most crystal ponies since their most recent memories were about the horror of the reign of King Sombra, but she made him open up more by asking questions about the Crystal Empire. He also had a bit of shyness she came to appreciate. She put on some lipstick and smacked her lips. The lipstick had the same gloss to match the glittering of her mane and tail. After a last glance at the mare in the mirror she said: “Perfect.” *** A yellow-coated crystal earth stallion wearing a bow tie knocked at the door of Sergeant Ruby Moon and he was nervous. The mare had kind of forced him to open up to her. At first it was just a friendly talk where they shared both some information about their respective country. But at some point he had agreed to take her on what the Equestrians called “a date”. He had to reach out to other young Equestrians stallion to learn more. They were lot of hidden rules that made the whole thing seem easy to mess up. Despite not being young—he was already past forty—his experience with mares stopped at his wife. She had been a foalhood friend and their romantic relationship only started when he invited her out for a dance. He was barely a stallion at the time. Their relationship had bloomed into a wedding and later two foals, but then Sombra happened and he never saw her again, nor his foals. That was his main concern about his relationship with Ruby. He was pretty sure they were dead, as the mad king did not really do in half punishments, but even still, was it right to start another one? Especially with a mare much younger than him? His doubts were cut short when she opened the door. He blushed at the mare in front of him and her appearance that made it very clear she was not there for just a friendly encounter. “You look gorgeous,” he managed to say. “Thank you, I hope I get the mane right.” Ruby’s pink mane was cut short and stopped past the middle of her neck and it was tied with a small red lace. The crystal glitter visibly made the right impression on the stallion as he stammered his answer, “Y-Yes.” “So, where are you planning to take me?” It was her usual tactic: let the stallion believe he is the one controlling, but here in the Crystal Empire it was also genuine curiosity. “Oh, follow me.” Ruby Moon was at her desk in Canterlot Palace reading reports about the month she missed. She had been sent to the Crystal Empire to help organize the local palace guards, her squad being on reserve duty for this month. And now she had a hard time focusing on the boring reports, her gaze wandering a lot to the small crystal figurine of her sitting close to a picture of her and her stallion. The crystal figurine was a piece of art carved in a special crystal. It represented her in her guard armor bucking an imaginary target. Sculpting crystal was her stallion’s craft. She did not understand the details, but it was his job before being forced into Sombra’s slavery to work in the mine. The crystal was translucent with a small touch of red to match her coat. The picture was of their last date, capturing a sweet moment of them leaning on each other. It was very sappy if she was honest with herself, but she was smiling at the memory. She could not believe she missed him now that she was back in Canterlot. Usually stallions were just a way to unwind and she barely remembered their faces or names. But there was something in him she liked, maybe his lack of experience with mares or just his different vision of the world from an old age, which had led to a funny moment of explaining what a photograph was. A light blue unicorn mare entered her desk, cutting her from the grueling task of reading dull reports about the palace security. “Ruby, you are back!” “It’s still sergeant for you.” She chuckled at the mare and raised from her chair to hug the other mare. “So how many stallions and mares were in tears after you left the Crystal Empire?” “Hum, mostly me. You will found this crazy, but I think I found one I want to keep.” The unicorn mare looked at the desk, noticed the picture and levitated it to her to have a better look. On the picture Ruby was leaning on a yellow stallion with a shiny coat, one of the mare hoof was resting on his back, they were in front a beautiful garden with crystal flowers reflecting the sunlight. “Wow, that’s sappy.” The unicorn raised an eyebrow at the tame picture. “It’s not very like you.” “I know! I did not even sleep with him!” Ruby laughed. The other mare pointed her horn at Ruby and asked in a joking manner, “Are you a changeling?” before joining in the laugh. When their laughter died the unicorn picked up the crystal figurine. “Did you mystery stallion give you this? It’s amazing!” “Yes, I know, it’s crazy to have a statue of yourself like that.” “No, I mean, do you think he could make one for me?” “I never know you had feeling for me,” Ruby teased in reply. “Want a mini-me to cherish?” Ruby Moon was in her living quarters, reading the last letter from the stallion. Dear Ruby Moon, I see a lot of younger crystal ponies leaving the Empire to start a new life in Equestria. I envy the ones that want to join the royal guard. It could be a way for me to be close to you. But I am too old for that. I learned that life in Canterlot is not really cheap. I am still not sure what to do in the Empire. I keep helping with rebuilding the Empire, but I feel alone when I get back home with no prospect of meeting you again. I was sure I would forget you, that it was just a nice dream, but you make me remember what the company of a mare brings into a stallion’s life. I can’t wait to see you again. With love, Loun With a smile on her lips and after watching the small figurine of herself, Ruby muttered, “Ruby, you are probably going to make the craziest decision ever.” She put the more formal letter she was writing in an envelope before grabbing one of the dresses she wore when she went out, hunting for stallions. *** After knocking at the door of a modest house in one of the residential districts of Canterlot, a pegasus mare around her fifties answered the door. “Good evening, Miss. What do you want?” Her tone was rather stern. “Is your husband here?” The stallion was just behind the mare and his face showed sign of panic seeing the ruby coated mare in her alluring black dress. “I-I am here.” Her wife turned to her husband. “Who is this mare?” Ruby talked before the stallion could imagine a lie, “I am a client. I am sorry for disturbing your evening, but I need an urgent appointment for tomorrow. I have an important business to do before heading out on a trip. I am sure you can free some of your time for me.” The stallion stammered, “O-of course, 10 am is alright for you?” “Perfect.” Ruby smiled at the stallion who understood the consequence of his refusal. *** The next morning Ruby Moon was at the front desk of the lawyer’s office owned by the stallion. “Do you have an appointment, Miss?” the young unicorn mare asked. “Tell your boss that Ruby Moon is here,” Ruby said with a tone she reserved for the guards that were under her command. The secretary executed the command promptly, leaving the room and returning with the older stallion. “You are on time, follow me.” When both ponies were alone in the stallion’s office, Ruby was the first to talk. “Nice office.” “If you want money, say your price so I be done with you.” “Money? No, I am really here as a client.” “Alright. I suppose you want my service for free?” “You get the idea.” Ruby smiled. She never really extorted something from husbands cheating on their wives before, but it felt good, especially with this one that had the bad habit of slapping her flanks before reaching his orgasm. The lawyer cleared his throat, switching to a more professional tone. “So what can I do for you?” Ruby started explaining her project to the pony that was visibly more relaxed being in his element. “Good morning, sir,” Ruby Moon stood at attention at the officer in charge of the palace guards. “Good morning, sergeant. What I can do for you?” “I am here to say that I am leaving.” The mare took the letter hidden in her armor and gave it to the officer. He opened the letter and read it without showing any sign of emotion. “I see you even pointed to a replacement. I am not sure if I should say it’s the right time or a bad time with the ongoing reorganization of the Princess’ house guards.” “I am sure Fast Wing will be a fine sergeant, sir.” “And I am quite sure there is no talking you out of this decision, but have a seat, sergeant.” Ruby Moon complied and took the chair just in front of the officer’s desk. “I am sure a mare like you does not quit without a plan, so what is it? You finally found an old, dying stallion rich enough to wed?” “There is something like that.” Ruby Moon smiled. Ruby Moon watched her squad all in their carefully polished armor. One could not see the difference between the usual upkeep and the extra polish that had been used for a day like today, but Ruby Moon knew better. It was a ‘public day’, where ponies were allowed to wander in the palace to see the rich decoration, painting or other piece of art that were in nearly every corridor. She was smiling internally at her squad for such professionalism. She spotted a slightly nervous pegasus stallion and said, “Fast Wing.” “Yes, sergeant?” “Since you are going to take my place in this unit. I thought you could be the one doing the usual speech.” “Yes, sergeant!” The pegasus was the one with the most seniority among the other of the unit. Ruby left her position in front of her ponies to take the place of Wing among the other guards. “Alright ponies, today is ‘public day’. It cost nothing to remember our dear major’s instructions.” He watched to see if everypony were listening before continuing. “I want you to be extra civil. There will be foals, teachers, tourists. If one gets lost in an unauthorized area you bring them back to the closest staff member without being harsh. But don’t play hero by searching for a foal’s parent or you will be blamed for leaving your post for too long. “Today you are the most important guards in the whole of Equestria. Foals will look at you with a lot of expectations. Tourists will judge the whole royal guards based on your performance of today.” Fast Wing stopped, checking if his words had reached what would be his future unit. He noticed the grin on Ruby’s face and putting on a resigned face, he looked at the mare. Ruby Moon replied with a small nod at his silent question. Wing smiled and resumed his speech. “And if you find the address of an attractive mare or stallion in your armor, remember to pay them a visit to show them that the palace’s guards are the best lovers of Equestria.” This last remark earned him a laugh from the other ponies, but Ruby Moon was proud to have her replacement keep this odd tradition. It was a way to remind every guard that they were still ponies under the armor. It was also a reminder that this situation really occurred, like once in a while a lonely teacher slipping a paper with her hotel room written on it. Wing said proudly, “Alright, ponies. time for the show.” The rest of the guard saluted before heading out of the briefing room. One month later at the Canterlot train station, Ruby Moon was waiting. She never had been so nervous since she enlisted in the guard, even being promoted sergeant was not so stressful. Thanks to her friend the lawyer, things had been rather smooth and surprisingly quick to put together. She found a nice place on a known commercial area. The building was a three story house with a comfortable living area on the second and third floor. It was a big gamble and thanks to a lot of savings and subvention that encouraged the employment of crystal ponies or the making of Crystal Empire business related (the only downside was it was required to send a part of your profits to the Empire) she was now in possession of a future shop to sell crystal figurines, the Crystal Delicacy And now she was waiting for her main asset: the craftsman and his shipment of raw materials. She intended to make a good use of all the stallion’s many talents. The train finally arrived. Not a lot of ponies disembarked, allowing her to quickly notice the crystal earth stallion that was carrying two pieces of luggage on his back. She rushed to him, and they hugged and shared a passionate kiss. He was the first to speak. “I can’t believe you really did that for me, leaving your duty like this.” “And still you are here. Let’s move on. I can’t wait to show you your new workshop.” With a move of her head she pointed to two stallions waiting with a hoof truck. “Loun, please shows these gentleponies our cargo.” During the travel to their new place of living, the two ponies chatted of how thing were going since they had last seen and written to each other. The stallion mainly talked of the new changes in the Empire. After the ponies loaded the workshop storage room from a door in the back of the shop with the heavy crate containing various crystals, Ruby paid them and waved goodbye to the two stallions. She stopped to watch Loun laying out a cloth containing various chisels, small hammers, and other tools she could not identify, on one of the workbenches. She said with a smile, “I hope you brought all your tools with you. Let’s move upstairs.” She heard a clang sound, a sign of the stallion dropping the large chisel he was inspecting. Ruby emitted a small giggle and with a little sashay of her hips she led the stallion upstairs. Loun was not a colt so he had a really good idea of the mare’s intentions. In his previous relationship, they waited for the wedding night to have their first intercourse. But the month he shared with Ruby he was surprised they had not already shared a bed given how the mare was quite forceful. She kissed him after their first date and she was not shy to display any sign of affection after that. She was really attractive and he could not lie to himself that he wasn’t eager to discover more of the mare’s affection. So he followed, trying to not look too much at the mare’s flank which bore a red heart crossed by a sword as cutie mark. She had told him it was a proof of her skills with a sword. It was a hard task to try to focus on something else as her teasing tail was moving enough to keep his eyes locked on the area, sometimes letting him view what was hidden under it. Once reaching the first floor she spoke to him, “Here is the living room and the kitchen; the bedroom is on the next floor with the bathroom. Why not familiarize yourself with the place while I take a bath?” “Sure. *** Ruby went back downstairs after a nice shower. She had taken great care of grooming her tail and mane properly. She was wearing a very alluring dress designed to show just enough of her back leg with lace following her well toned flank. She even took the time to put on some underwear that was a great sign of her wanting this stallion to be the one to undress her. It was one of her favorite with small red ribbons holding everything together. Her plan was simple in her head. Even with her previous teasing she wanted to share a small romantic dinner, before showing him that she fully intended to share a bed with him not just to sleep after a day of work When she reached the main area, a huge living room, she expected the stallion watching her in awe or making a nice remark about her dress, but instead the stallion was in shock standing in front of one of the bookshelves. She approached him, her lustful thoughts nearly forgotten for the time being “Are you alright? Feeling homesick? The stallion was holding a small crystal figurine of a mare in his right hoof. “W-Where did you get this?” “Oh this old thing? It’s a family trinket you know. My mother gave it to me, and her mother gave it to her, et cet—” She cut herself off, feeling the stallion’s gaze on her was starting to be filled with tears “I-I. It’s my wife’s. I give it to her to celebrate our first anniversary. She is… gone.” Instead of the romantic dinner she had planned, they simply ate while the stallion shared stories about his wife and his foals. It could have bothered Ruby to have her evening ruined but she knew she needed to be supportive. When it was late and it was time to go to sleep, bringing the stallion upstairs Ruby spoke, “Do you want me to… prepare the guest room?” “No, sorry if I ruined your plans,” he said while pointing at her dress. Ruby Moon was up quite early. it’s an habit hard to break after ten years of working in the royal guard. She reflected on the previous day: one instant she had her head full of certitude and dreams, quitting the royal guard, and building a successful business. Maybe have a nice relationship and why not start a family or something? And now, well, starting a business felt less appealing but she could not go back. She had hoped that sharing a real night with Loun was the final bridge with his past he could cut, but it had been back at full force when seeing this accursed figurine. She was looking at the small traitor resting on the dinner table when Loun entered the room. She said with a smirk, “So, you are my great great great great father? Give or take some greats.” The stallion replied with a small smile before getting back to a more depressed face, “A thousand years...” There was a small silence before Ruby spoke again. “Do you want to go to the archives, maybe they have some information about your wife or your foals?” “Yes.” One week later on the high peak of Mont Canter, one crystal stallion and one earth pony mare were watching a small tumulus of earth were a crystal figurine was buried. “Goodbye, Laria,” muttered the stallion. “Let’s go home?” offered the mare “Let’s go home,” replied the stallion with a smile. Author's Note Thanks for reading so far. What was just originally a small cameo idea for Secrets of a Royal Guard end up with a full backstory in my head and this is the result of trying to lay out on paper (gdoc document). This chapter can be considered as a small one shot, but there will probably more chapters (shorter) with more interaction with the Quill & Blade event and characters. Big thank to Crystal Wishes for taking a bit of her time to edit this. Contrary mare“So what?” asked the dark blue unicorn mare, she had a long silver mane with strand of white but did not wear anything contrary to some of the patron of the club. In the other side of the table was a slightly annoyed earth pony mare, one of her friends. “What what? And why we are here already?” replied Ruby Moon. “I am pretty sure you already know the answer to that, and don’t try to deflect the question.” Hot Pursuit made a dismissing gesture with one of her hoof “What happen after you buried his ‘wife’?” The earth pony took a sip of her drink before continuing her tale with a small smile on her face, “We get back home for dinner. I made him some nice noodles.” There were first sign of annoyance on the unicorn mare face, “And what?” Ruby Moon took hold on her glass with her two front hooves, taking her time before answering “Nothing.” “Nothing?” Ruby took another sip “It was a tiring trek so we went to bed after dinner.” Hot Pursuit looked in the eyes on the other mare, seeing the corner of her mouth curled in a smile, “Ok I give up. Let’s get back, is he your great-great father or what?” Ruby Moon dropped her glass on the table before letting out a small sigh, “We don’t know. All the archivist was able to give us was that her wife had fled the Crystal Empire with their two foals and settle down in Equestria. It will cost a lot of bits and time to establish the proper connection.” There was a small pause in the conversation before the unicorn continued her interrogation “So… did you give up on him? You were all excited like a school filly giving her first blowjob talking about him.” “Hell no, and do you think I will wear something like that when you promised me a mare out night at a bar?” Ruby Moon pointed at her simple white dress, it was a stark contrast with all her passionate red or black dresses that filled her wardrobe. “You almost look like a proper engaged mare” smirked Hot. “Say the proper married lady” Ruby pointed at the other mare horn where was resting a silver ring then she finished her drink “So is that the part where I am supposed to play the wingmare to find another mare for your threesome week? Or a convoluted plan to get me drunk and have me in your bed?” Hot Pursuit was Ruby Moon best friend. She had first met her husband, he proposed to Ruby to have sex while her wife would be watching, maybe because she was a bit drunk or curious she had accepted, the next day Ruby and Hot talked together and a bond was born. It was maybe because Hot Pursuit sex life was really special that Ruby never felt like she was judged for how she lived her own. And here, they were at the mare contraire, a lesbian club searching for a willing mare to join in her friend weird sex habit. Ruby did not really like place like this, being straight make it a rather pointless place to be. “Hold on Ruby, for once that seem willing to invest yourself in a real relationship, my threesome could wait. What are your status exactly? Did you finally consume your chaste relationship?” Ruby rolled her eyes “We… are fine, ok? I think it’s still a bit awkward for him, but he seem mostly ok.” “Ok, ok, well one last thing, how are his own crystal delicacies, is it shiny?” There was a huge silence before Ruby Moon give an annoyed look at Hot “You were waiting for the whole evening to say that, don’t you?” Hot Pursuit broke in a fit of laughter seen the annoyed glare Ruby was giving her, but soon the other mare had joined in the laugh too. “Yeah I know, I brought that on myself?” Writing conventionRuby Moon was peacefully seated on a red silky cushion, fidgeting with her silver necklace symbol of her special bond with her loved one. Her coat was duller than usual, her mane had nearly more white than pink, but still she was smiling as she watched a green young colt playing with the wooden toy they offer him for his fifth birthday. Loun leaned for a kiss that was returned, and his gaze returned to the small colt. He was sharing the same loving smile that her wife. He put a foreleg on Ruby Moon belly, grinning when he felt a small kick coming from his future daughter. “She will be a strong mare, like her mother,” he said coyly. “Maybe she could make officer?” was the reply of another mare that appeared at the door, she had a red coat and pink hair with no sign of aging, she wore an alluring black outfit. Both mares looked at each other, and after a sigh from the older Ruby Moon, Loun give her a last kiss before leaving with her younger self. Ruby Moon wake up from her strange dream. It felt like a nightmare and somehow real. She put a hoof to her belly to confirm she was not waiting for a filly to came out. She made a mental note to buy extra condoms and renew her birth control medication. Loun awaken since they ended sleeping snuggling in one other “Having a bad dream?” “Hum, sorry if I wake you up,” she simply replied. Loun brushed her mane with one hoof. It was a new sensation for Ruby, not really the fact to wake up with a stallion in a bed, but more that they felt asleep doing nothing, just providing comfort about a day of work, like an old couple. He kissed her on the neck “You don’t want to tell me about your nightmare? It helps.” Ruby Moon quickly get out the bed “No, it’s… guards memories” she pulled the cover with her “Come on, we are gonna be late.” After a breakfast, stallion and mare were at the entrance of the annual writers convention in Canterlot. There were every type of ponies: colts, grow mares and elders. Ruby try to smile seeing a mare that looked a bit like her carrying a foal in a trotter, but instead she sighed looking at Loun. “Alright, why don’t you try to find something that interest you while I am at my appointment?” “Ok, I will wait for you for lunch, thank for bringing me here” he kissed her, he recently found himself a knack for Equestria’s culture, especially the food and modern tales, that were more rich from what he remember reading to pass time in the Empire. It was a bit sad Ruby had an appointment with an author that wanted to write something about mares in the guards. They went their separate ways, Loun was heading toward the most fictional work while Ruby trotted toward the romance section. Ruby Moon, seated in a small booth with a pegasus mare going by the pen name D.P, was a bit nervous and excited “I can’t believe Hot convince me to do this.” The pegasus laughed, “The book she helps me write was a big success. I am pretty sure you can give me a lot of material, if what Hottie talk about you is half right.” “Still, it’s must be pretty weird to write this kind of book? What do you do? You think of something that get you off and lay it on paper?” Ruby Moon gaze fell on one of the books showing a mare in a very provoking position holding a pair of hoofcuffs. “Yes that work for making money quickly, but I like to think I put more work in my writing that just having the reader jerking off some scene. Lot of writers here.” the mare pointed at the booths hosting what Ruby assumed where more tame literature author, if the huge printing of their covers showing mares and stallions in big romantic cliché shot were any indication. “publish erotic shorts based on scene they could not put in their normal line of work, generally using a different pen name.” “I see. I-” Ruby Moon was cut by another mare marching forward the booth, wearing an angry face, the mare looked like she was past her forty “Excuse me? Would you remove your obscene poster?” The yellow pegasus answered nonchalantly “Nop.” The unicorn mare snorted “Fine, Let’s see how the convention manager will react to an author”, she spat the word, “corrupting the young audience.” and took her leave. When the mare left, Ruby stated, “Well, that was something. I suppose it had to do with your emplacement”, the writer’s booth was at the edge of the romance section, close to adventure section where lot of colts and fillies went to meet their favorite author. “Yes, it was my editor idea to put a big poster like that, even bad publicity is good publicity.” the pegasus mare picks up a notepad and a pen with her wings. “Alright, let’s get started.” “Where should I start?” “From the start, then you tell me what you want after that.” Ruby finally relaxed in the cushion she was seated “Oh, well it’s not that original. I was in the cheerleading squad in high school and the coach was a nice looking stallion.” The other mare noted something before asking “It was your first experience?” “With an older stallion yes. I had 1-2 flirts before but he was very different, it was less… sloppy.” After an hour or so of Ruby telling stories about her relations with married stallions -it what was the other mare was interested- they were both taking a break, sipping some coffee. They had been occasionally interrupted by mares wanting their books signed, and even, what surprised Ruby the most, stallions of a various age range. Ruby attention was pointed toward another booth with a big line of ponies in front of it. From what she had gathered from Deepy, it hosted a famous author writing a serie about a young mare chasing bad guys at night. She perked her ears when a young pink earth pony mare slammed her hoof in the table placed in front the author. She could hear the mare said, "You're the reason I got my cutie mark and I really love your stories, ever since I was a filly! You are amazing and I think you're the best and please sign all my books, I have them all! Some are first editions! I love your books!" Ruby managed to see the mare cutie mark, it was a pink ballet slipper. Deepy probably had caught too on what happened, because she chuckled before saying “It will be hilarious if somepony get her cutie mark reading my books.” Ruby joined in the laugh “What would that be anyways? A wet hoof? a dildo?” Deepy chuckle again “Oh, I know a mare that sell toys with a dildo for cutie mark.” *** Loun was near one of the conferences room, talking with a translucent blue crystal mare with a two shaded blue mane and tail. “Canterlot is so different from what we have at the Empire!” she spoke. “Yes, so you restart studying here?” “Yes, but equestrians are rather-” She was cut by the appearance of a ruby coated mare “Loun!” she marched forward them, putting herself between the two of them. She spoke to the stallion “Who is this mare?!” The stallion sighed “This is Lazuli Luminaire.” but before he could explain more, Ruby grabbed and pushed him in the direction of the exit. “It’s time for lunch.” Loun said nothing until they reached a small cafe where they served sandwiches. After the waiter was out with their order, he looked at Ruby in the eyes. “Ruby… it’s the third time you chase away a mare I am talking to. Is something wrong?” The mare seems uncomfortable, she was trying to avoid his gaze, she muttered “I lied to you.” “Lie to me about what?” Ruby bit her lips, she did not really know why she had lain to him, maybe she thought he will reject him or thought she was just playing around with him? She never really had issue with her sex life or her past before, she only avoided talking about it with her family. “The mare I met today, she did not want to talk about my life at the guard. She… well we talked about my old partners. Sexual partners.” Loun smiled “I guessed I was not your first stallion.” “I… well lot of them were engaged or married stallions.” Ruby tried to smile, but it did not come “A lot more than I thought actually.” Loun replied nothing. They both watched the waiter serving their orders. He watched at his dandelions sandwich but get back at fixing Ruby “Are you afraid I will cheat on you. Do you think I could find another mare that does so much for me?” Ruby sighed “I know, it’s stupid.” Author's Note Here came the first chapter where we could see some of the Q&B univers characters (click here for the related chapter of Crystal's Wishes). Hoofbeats is an interesting story about a mare getting a dildo cutie mark. To make this a more interactive experience, I skipped all the question Deepy could ask Ruby. So feel free to ask question about Ruby Moon past relationships in the comment :) Menage BreakerRuby Moon was in a nice officer’s office. She always though the function fit the name and for her part she could not stand staying on her office doing the paperwork her old position as a sergeant required. But her new occupation was offering quite the challenge on this part. She always was reticent to stay with an officer for long, and sadly for her it was not the officer she wanted to meet. “So you want to meet Lieutenant Silent Knight?” the mare behind the desk asked. Sunny Day, the current pony in charge of the Princess’ house was a golden unicorn with a fiery mane. Ten years of habit of having only Princess made hard for Ruby to call that now Celestia’s house. “Yes, but I have been redirected to your office, I am still not sure why.” The mare eyed Ruby and sighed “They could have led you to Lieutenant Rook. As you can guess Lieutenant Silent is not here. I could point you in the direction of the pony in charge of Luna’s house if you have business with them.” “I am sorry, but I need the Lieutenant specifically.” Sunny Day looked at a file on her desk and at Ruby “You are sergeant Ruby Moon right?” Ruby for her part did not like this question “They pass me first sergeant when I retire but yes, why?” The unicorn mare smiled “I always wondered why some officers call you the Menage Breaker.” Ruby tense a bit at the nickname, she knew it but it was maybe the first time she heard an officer ask this so bluntly. It was also a reminder of something she tried to deal with her relation with Loun: thrusting a stallion to not chase other tails. “Ho, it’s an old story, and I am probably wasting your time already, sir.” Sunny Day pointed to the free seat in front of her desk “I prefer to have your version.” Ruby took sit on the proffered chair and started “It’s not really an interesting story” she paused and noticed the small hint of curiosity in the eyes of the other mare still present, “It was nearly ten years ago” Ruby let out a sigh at thinking how time pass. “I had just joined the Palace guard, I was a bit naive, well in insight it was probably a good thing” she let out a small giggle. “So I met this stallion in a bar, it was a regular bar. I courted him and we started seeing each other. One month later I discover he was the officer in charge of the Palace guard. I have never really see him close, and you probably know that seeing an officer is rarely good news when you are just a rookie.” Sunny Day nodded “I know, then what?” Ruby replied, “As I said I was naive. So I went to the P.R.O. to know what to do when dating an officer, especially my superior.” Sunny stated “It was the good thing to do yes.” The earth pony mare smiled “The funny thing: The P.R.O. at this time ended to be his wife, so when she heard the name of the officer, thing get interesting.” Ruby emitted a small laugh when remembering the P.R.O’s face. Sunny laughed in her seat “That must have been something.” “The best part was when I have to testify in front of the judge for their divorce, The poor stallion lost everything. He was clearly mad at me.” “As funny at it was. You did not get into trouble later?” Sunny Day gets back at a the more serious face of a Lieutenant, knowing that getting on your superior bad side could bring you lot of troubles. “No. At the same time his wife started an internal investigation: He was using his position with other mares. The next week after the trial we get a new Lieutenant.” Family and Foal - part 1Ruby Moon was getting back from her trip to the local market. Loun insisted on cooking their meals and since she was the one handling all the money related business she was the one to made the groceries. She entered from the back door. Upon reaching the stairs that led to the living area of the shop, she could hear a familiar music playing and Loun singing along I'd been had, I was sad and blue. But you made me feel. Yeah, you made me feel. Shiny and new She rushed through the stair and when she reach the main area she stumbled on Loun with an apron dusting one bookshelf. But Ruby could not hold her laughter when the stallion reached the refrain of the song: Hoo, Like a virgin. Touched for the very first time. Like a virgin… He stopped and his eyes opened wide seeing the mare laughing at him “What?” “NNoth- Nothing”, Ruby tried to recover from her fit, but she failed “Like a virgin, bwahahahah.” Loun rolled his eyes and took the saddlebag from the mare back and walked in the kitchen to sort everything out. Well it was his initial plan before being grabbed by Ruby and in one move from the mare, he ended on top of her. “Such a straightforward virgin colt.” she said, her goofy face had made place for a small grin, while running a hind leg against the stallion flank. Loun watched the saddlebag that had landed in a corner in the room, splitting his content on the floor, but his face get caught by two hooves and his mouth was brought to the lips of the mare. “What a naughty little filly.” he replied after breaking the kiss, then he moved his way on the mare neck. “Taking the lead today” Ruby purred, enjoying the ministration on her neck. She get a glimpse of the stallion underbelly and smiled “Were you already thinking of me?” Before the stallion could lower his hips on the mare the bell ringed indicating someone at the back of the shop. Loun frozen, Ruby groaned “Don’t even dare stop.” But the bell ringed again, she pushed Loun out of her and groaned again “Fine, fine.” Stomping on the stair, Ruby did not even put her vendor smile face when she opened the back door. Her eyes felt on a smiling pink earth pony mare, on her left was a pegasus colt, on her right a filly and on top of the head of the mare a small filly. Ruby could also clearly see her prominent belly sign of the promise of another foal. She quickly closed the door. Ruby Moon massaged her forehead with a hoof. They already had a lot to do today. The attack of the cockatrices made her realise than they needed to sell something that had the potential to make a more constant influx of money than the commission for crystal figurine. Yesterday they received their orders of board games, wargame and such (bought with the insurance money). Spending time with a relative was very low on the list of thing she wanted to do this weekend. Obviously the knock on the door and the bell ringing again make it clear that her sister had a different plan. Ruby took a breath to calm herself before opening the door again. But instead of greeting the mare the looked at the colt, her sister first foal. “Hey Dary, visiting Canterlot with your harem?” The colt blushed and Ruby could see the result of her sentence, the small frown on her sister that was the mirror image of the one her mother had toward her when she did something wrong. “Ruby! This is not appropriate language for foals to hear!” The green filly asked her mother “What is a harem?” but received for response a hush from the pink mare. “We have a tiresome train rise. You can at least offer some hospitality to your family, Ruby?” Ruby sighed internally and move out from the door “Don’t mind the cardboard, we just received a big order.” “We?” inquired the pink mare while she watched carefully the colt and filly. The colt had his eyes full of curiosity, fascinated by the workbench with crystal block and figurine in various state of completion. “Don’t touch that.” said his mother when he put a hoof on a figurine that was laying on the floor. “Alright, it’s upstair” Ruby hurried the mare and her charge in the stairs. As much as she liked to tease her very prude sister, she was not adamant to meet her family. She genuinely likes her nephews since foals were merely innocent. But she did not really want to see her mother and sister. Both of them showed no support when she chose to become a Royal Guard and she could not stand her mother anymore. Also Ruby did not want to have a speech on how her new life was so much better than the life of a Guard. “Good morning, Mme,” said Loun when they reached the living room extending a hoof toward the mare. “Loun, This is my sister, Pearl Lilly and her foals.” Ruby introduced Author's Note Sorry. I wanted to not delay too much another chapter. So here something on two parts! From here a real story start. Family and Foal - part 2Loun was playing chess with the older foals of Ruby’s sister, Dary Swirl. It saddened him a bit as it was a reminder of his own dead foals. Well he was not that sad if there was a slight chance the colt was one his descendant, but still. It was also a reminder of the few time he actually spent with his own foal. It was no surprise his wife run away without him. “Is that Captain Shining Armor?” The colt asked while holding the king piece of the white side. “Yes.” “You make it? It’s awesome!” “Thank you.” Loun smiled “But I think it’s your turn to play.” “Who is your king?” he pointed at the pegasus aside the alicorn on Loun part of the board. “Oh, it’s a fresh Lieutenant, Silent Pony? No, it was something with knight, Silent Knight maybe?” The colt took the piece in one hoof “He look like a normal pegasus. But the armor is cool!” “If you said so.” Loun was not good at chess but Dary was just playing like a kid, trying to take a maximum amount of his piece. After they finished 2 games, Loun put the board back on the bookshelf it was originally stocked. It was the prototype of something Ruby was sure should be a good sell, but Loun had doubt considering the end price of the set. “Do you want something?” he asked the colt that managed to pick up another crystal figurine that was hanging on a lower shelve. “Can you teach me how to do that?” he shoved the figurine on his hold in the sight of Loun. Loun paused, “You're pretty young for that, it’s dangerous. You should ask your mother first.” Dary’s ears lowered on his head, “Mommy will not want to.” he put the figurine back on the shelve and get back on the couch. The stallion sighed, “Fine, but you just watch?” while the colt raised from the couch and headed for the door that led downstair, Loun shouted toward the kitchen where Ruby was talking with her sister “We are going to the workshop. Dary Swirl wants to visit the shop.” “Be careful” he heard Pearl reply. *** Ruby Moon had nudged her way in Loun chest, her head between his forelegs, fully relaxed, she was silent. “So, you are quite different that your sister,” said softly Loun. The mare snorted but did not reply so Loun continued “Something happened?” “A lot happened, I prefer to not talk about it.” Loun caressed gently the mare belly with one hoof in a spot he had identified to smooth her. It brought a small smile to her face. “You never thought of having foals?” he asked. Ruby removed herself from his grasp to look at him “Are you crazy? Being a Royal Guard and a mother it’s not really the best combination, you never know when you will be called for an additional shift or other unplanned situation.” Loun backed off the slightly angry mare “Easy, Ruby. I was just saying that because you seem to go well with your nephews. And you are not a Royal Guard anymore.” “You never quit being a Royal Guard.” The stallion raised an eyebrow so she conceded “Ok, I out of service, but we don’t even have the money to raise a foal.” He took the mare in his forelegs again “I am not asking if you want a foal now. Hell, I was not really the best father it. Sorry, it was just a thought.” “Alright, Loun, put this box over here. Dary helps your mother with the other shelf.” Ruby shouted while finishing putting another shelf in place near the counter. She was not really happy with the idea of her sister ruining her weekend, but at least it was free horse power to make the shop ready faster. There was still a lot of work, putting in place new furniture needed to host all the products the shop would be offering to its customers was a bother to make the place feel not too crowded and still have sufficient exposure to Loun’s creation. They had to throw away most of the glass furniture that served to expose them, there either shattered when the giants cockatrices attacked or have enough crack that the cost of repairs was higher than just buying new one. Not counting that Ruby had been a bit optimistic with what the sole sales of figurines will bring enough bits, it was easy to forget that Canterlot worked too much with trends and when the Crystal Empire trend will fade she would need a more steady source of income. She also had great confidence that this board games business could lead clients to buy some figurines. But there was the nightmare to let the Canterlot ponies to not feel they were not in a toy shop, but in a serious business. “What are these boxes with a pink label?” Interrupted her sister. Ruby grinned internally at how shocking the content of these boxes could be for her sister, but since there was still her foals around she decided to not let her sister discovered by herself “Leave them in the back, they go in a special location.” “Ok. I need to feed Amethyst. I will be upstair. All of you be careful while I am gone?” The various foals answered with some variation of “Yes, mommy.” Ruby looked at Loun that was finishing moving a box near one of the rare shelf ready to receive product. “Alright, everypony let’s take a break. Let me show you a nice place that do nice pastries.” She turned to her sister “I am sure they will not mind you bringing Dary’s harem.” Her sister gave her a harsh glare when the older filly asked again what was a harem, but Ruby ignore her while she rushed upstairs to grab some bits.
Beginning of a new lifeSergeant Ruby Moon was watching the mare in the mirror in front of her. She had a small touch of makeup. Her short pink mane was washed, brushed and had a touch of glitter, well crystal glitter. It was something the crystal pony mares liked to wear for a romantic affair to try to replicate the effect the Crystal Heart had on the ponies. It was a bit itchy but, well, they were encouraged to mingle with the crystal ponies and respecting their tradition was a good way to get friendly with them. And in her case it was more than friendly. She had met the stallion, a crystal earth pony in the fair after the restoration of the Empire. He was older than her, but that’s how she liked her stallions. Older and/or married stallion make greats lovers in bed. Ruby did not really care about things like competing with another mare, mostly because she was more up for one-night stands. She did not believe that working in the guard and building a relationship could go hoof-in-hoof. This stallion was different from her usual catch. At first he was a bit grumpy and did not seem interested in any relationship. He did not talk much at first, she discovered it was a common occurrence for most crystal ponies since their most recent memories were about the horror of the reign of King Sombra, but she made him open up more by asking questions about the Crystal Empire. He also had a bit of shyness she came to appreciate. She put on some lipstick and smacked her lips. The lipstick had the same gloss to match the glittering of her mane and tail. After a last glance at the mare in the mirror she said: “Perfect.” *** A yellow-coated crystal earth stallion wearing a bow tie knocked at the door of Sergeant Ruby Moon and he was nervous. The mare had kind of forced him to open up to her. At first it was just a friendly talk where they shared both some information about their respective country. But at some point he had agreed to take her on what the Equestrians called “a date”. He had to reach out to other young Equestrians stallion to learn more. They were lot of hidden rules that made the whole thing seem easy to mess up. Despite not being young—he was already past forty—his experience with mares stopped at his wife. She had been a foalhood friend and their romantic relationship only started when he invited her out for a dance. He was barely a stallion at the time. Their relationship had bloomed into a wedding and later two foals, but then Sombra happened and he never saw her again, nor his foals. That was his main concern about his relationship with Ruby. He was pretty sure they were dead, as the mad king did not really do in half punishments, but even still, was it right to start another one? Especially with a mare much younger than him? His doubts were cut short when she opened the door. He blushed at the mare in front of him and her appearance that made it very clear she was not there for just a friendly encounter. “You look gorgeous,” he managed to say. “Thank you, I hope I get the mane right.” Ruby’s pink mane was cut short and stopped past the middle of her neck and it was tied with a small red lace. The crystal glitter visibly made the right impression on the stallion as he stammered his answer, “Y-Yes.” “So, where are you planning to take me?” It was her usual tactic: let the stallion believe he is the one controlling, but here in the Crystal Empire it was also genuine curiosity. “Oh, follow me.” Ruby Moon was at her desk in Canterlot Palace reading reports about the month she missed. She had been sent to the Crystal Empire to help organize the local palace guards, her squad being on reserve duty for this month. And now she had a hard time focusing on the boring reports, her gaze wandering a lot to the small crystal figurine of her sitting close to a picture of her and her stallion. The crystal figurine was a piece of art carved in a special crystal. It represented her in her guard armor bucking an imaginary target. Sculpting crystal was her stallion’s craft. She did not understand the details, but it was his job before being forced into Sombra’s slavery to work in the mine. The crystal was translucent with a small touch of red to match her coat. The picture was of their last date, capturing a sweet moment of them leaning on each other. It was very sappy if she was honest with herself, but she was smiling at the memory. She could not believe she missed him now that she was back in Canterlot. Usually stallions were just a way to unwind and she barely remembered their faces or names. But there was something in him she liked, maybe his lack of experience with mares or just his different vision of the world from an old age, which had led to a funny moment of explaining what a photograph was. A light blue unicorn mare entered her desk, cutting her from the grueling task of reading dull reports about the palace security. “Ruby, you are back!” “It’s still sergeant for you.” She chuckled at the mare and raised from her chair to hug the other mare. “So how many stallions and mares were in tears after you left the Crystal Empire?” “Hum, mostly me. You will found this crazy, but I think I found one I want to keep.” The unicorn mare looked at the desk, noticed the picture and levitated it to her to have a better look. On the picture Ruby was leaning on a yellow stallion with a shiny coat, one of the mare hoof was resting on his back, they were in front a beautiful garden with crystal flowers reflecting the sunlight. “Wow, that’s sappy.” The unicorn raised an eyebrow at the tame picture. “It’s not very like you.” “I know! I did not even sleep with him!” Ruby laughed. The other mare pointed her horn at Ruby and asked in a joking manner, “Are you a changeling?” before joining in the laugh. When their laughter died the unicorn picked up the crystal figurine. “Did you mystery stallion give you this? It’s amazing!” “Yes, I know, it’s crazy to have a statue of yourself like that.” “No, I mean, do you think he could make one for me?” “I never know you had feeling for me,” Ruby teased in reply. “Want a mini-me to cherish?” Ruby Moon was in her living quarters, reading the last letter from the stallion. Dear Ruby Moon, I see a lot of younger crystal ponies leaving the Empire to start a new life in Equestria. I envy the ones that want to join the royal guard. It could be a way for me to be close to you. But I am too old for that. I learned that life in Canterlot is not really cheap. I am still not sure what to do in the Empire. I keep helping with rebuilding the Empire, but I feel alone when I get back home with no prospect of meeting you again. I was sure I would forget you, that it was just a nice dream, but you make me remember what the company of a mare brings into a stallion’s life. I can’t wait to see you again. With love, Loun With a smile on her lips and after watching the small figurine of herself, Ruby muttered, “Ruby, you are probably going to make the craziest decision ever.” She put the more formal letter she was writing in an envelope before grabbing one of the dresses she wore when she went out, hunting for stallions. *** After knocking at the door of a modest house in one of the residential districts of Canterlot, a pegasus mare around her fifties answered the door. “Good evening, Miss. What do you want?” Her tone was rather stern. “Is your husband here?” The stallion was just behind the mare and his face showed sign of panic seeing the ruby coated mare in her alluring black dress. “I-I am here.” Her wife turned to her husband. “Who is this mare?” Ruby talked before the stallion could imagine a lie, “I am a client. I am sorry for disturbing your evening, but I need an urgent appointment for tomorrow. I have an important business to do before heading out on a trip. I am sure you can free some of your time for me.” The stallion stammered, “O-of course, 10 am is alright for you?” “Perfect.” Ruby smiled at the stallion who understood the consequence of his refusal. *** The next morning Ruby Moon was at the front desk of the lawyer’s office owned by the stallion. “Do you have an appointment, Miss?” the young unicorn mare asked. “Tell your boss that Ruby Moon is here,” Ruby said with a tone she reserved for the guards that were under her command. The secretary executed the command promptly, leaving the room and returning with the older stallion. “You are on time, follow me.” When both ponies were alone in the stallion’s office, Ruby was the first to talk. “Nice office.” “If you want money, say your price so I be done with you.” “Money? No, I am really here as a client.” “Alright. I suppose you want my service for free?” “You get the idea.” Ruby smiled. She never really extorted something from husbands cheating on their wives before, but it felt good, especially with this one that had the bad habit of slapping her flanks before reaching his orgasm. The lawyer cleared his throat, switching to a more professional tone. “So what can I do for you?” Ruby started explaining her project to the pony that was visibly more relaxed being in his element. “Good morning, sir,” Ruby Moon stood at attention at the officer in charge of the palace guards. “Good morning, sergeant. What I can do for you?” “I am here to say that I am leaving.” The mare took the letter hidden in her armor and gave it to the officer. He opened the letter and read it without showing any sign of emotion. “I see you even pointed to a replacement. I am not sure if I should say it’s the right time or a bad time with the ongoing reorganization of the Princess’ house guards.” “I am sure Fast Wing will be a fine sergeant, sir.” “And I am quite sure there is no talking you out of this decision, but have a seat, sergeant.” Ruby Moon complied and took the chair just in front of the officer’s desk. “I am sure a mare like you does not quit without a plan, so what is it? You finally found an old, dying stallion rich enough to wed?” “There is something like that.” Ruby Moon smiled. Ruby Moon watched her squad all in their carefully polished armor. One could not see the difference between the usual upkeep and the extra polish that had been used for a day like today, but Ruby Moon knew better. It was a ‘public day’, where ponies were allowed to wander in the palace to see the rich decoration, painting or other piece of art that were in nearly every corridor. She was smiling internally at her squad for such professionalism. She spotted a slightly nervous pegasus stallion and said, “Fast Wing.” “Yes, sergeant?” “Since you are going to take my place in this unit. I thought you could be the one doing the usual speech.” “Yes, sergeant!” The pegasus was the one with the most seniority among the other of the unit. Ruby left her position in front of her ponies to take the place of Wing among the other guards. “Alright ponies, today is ‘public day’. It cost nothing to remember our dear major’s instructions.” He watched to see if everypony were listening before continuing. “I want you to be extra civil. There will be foals, teachers, tourists. If one gets lost in an unauthorized area you bring them back to the closest staff member without being harsh. But don’t play hero by searching for a foal’s parent or you will be blamed for leaving your post for too long. “Today you are the most important guards in the whole of Equestria. Foals will look at you with a lot of expectations. Tourists will judge the whole royal guards based on your performance of today.” Fast Wing stopped, checking if his words had reached what would be his future unit. He noticed the grin on Ruby’s face and putting on a resigned face, he looked at the mare. Ruby Moon replied with a small nod at his silent question. Wing smiled and resumed his speech. “And if you find the address of an attractive mare or stallion in your armor, remember to pay them a visit to show them that the palace’s guards are the best lovers of Equestria.” This last remark earned him a laugh from the other ponies, but Ruby Moon was proud to have her replacement keep this odd tradition. It was a way to remind every guard that they were still ponies under the armor. It was also a reminder that this situation really occurred, like once in a while a lonely teacher slipping a paper with her hotel room written on it. Wing said proudly, “Alright, ponies. time for the show.” The rest of the guard saluted before heading out of the briefing room. One month later at the Canterlot train station, Ruby Moon was waiting. She never had been so nervous since she enlisted in the guard, even being promoted sergeant was not so stressful. Thanks to her friend the lawyer, things had been rather smooth and surprisingly quick to put together. She found a nice place on a known commercial area. The building was a three story house with a comfortable living area on the second and third floor. It was a big gamble and thanks to a lot of savings and subvention that encouraged the employment of crystal ponies or the making of Crystal Empire business related (the only downside was it was required to send a part of your profits to the Empire) she was now in possession of a future shop to sell crystal figurines, the Crystal Delicacy And now she was waiting for her main asset: the craftsman and his shipment of raw materials. She intended to make a good use of all the stallion’s many talents. The train finally arrived. Not a lot of ponies disembarked, allowing her to quickly notice the crystal earth stallion that was carrying two pieces of luggage on his back. She rushed to him, and they hugged and shared a passionate kiss. He was the first to speak. “I can’t believe you really did that for me, leaving your duty like this.” “And still you are here. Let’s move on. I can’t wait to show you your new workshop.” With a move of her head she pointed to two stallions waiting with a hoof truck. “Loun, please shows these gentleponies our cargo.” During the travel to their new place of living, the two ponies chatted of how thing were going since they had last seen and written to each other. The stallion mainly talked of the new changes in the Empire. After the ponies loaded the workshop storage room from a door in the back of the shop with the heavy crate containing various crystals, Ruby paid them and waved goodbye to the two stallions. She stopped to watch Loun laying out a cloth containing various chisels, small hammers, and other tools she could not identify, on one of the workbenches. She said with a smile, “I hope you brought all your tools with you. Let’s move upstairs.” She heard a clang sound, a sign of the stallion dropping the large chisel he was inspecting. Ruby emitted a small giggle and with a little sashay of her hips she led the stallion upstairs. Loun was not a colt so he had a really good idea of the mare’s intentions. In his previous relationship, they waited for the wedding night to have their first intercourse. But the month he shared with Ruby he was surprised they had not already shared a bed given how the mare was quite forceful. She kissed him after their first date and she was not shy to display any sign of affection after that. She was really attractive and he could not lie to himself that he wasn’t eager to discover more of the mare’s affection. So he followed, trying to not look too much at the mare’s flank which bore a red heart crossed by a sword as cutie mark. She had told him it was a proof of her skills with a sword. It was a hard task to try to focus on something else as her teasing tail was moving enough to keep his eyes locked on the area, sometimes letting him view what was hidden under it. Once reaching the first floor she spoke to him, “Here is the living room and the kitchen; the bedroom is on the next floor with the bathroom. Why not familiarize yourself with the place while I take a bath?” “Sure. *** Ruby went back downstairs after a nice shower. She had taken great care of grooming her tail and mane properly. She was wearing a very alluring dress designed to show just enough of her back leg with lace following her well toned flank. She even took the time to put on some underwear that was a great sign of her wanting this stallion to be the one to undress her. It was one of her favorite with small red ribbons holding everything together. Her plan was simple in her head. Even with her previous teasing she wanted to share a small romantic dinner, before showing him that she fully intended to share a bed with him not just to sleep after a day of work When she reached the main area, a huge living room, she expected the stallion watching her in awe or making a nice remark about her dress, but instead the stallion was in shock standing in front of one of the bookshelves. She approached him, her lustful thoughts nearly forgotten for the time being “Are you alright? Feeling homesick? The stallion was holding a small crystal figurine of a mare in his right hoof. “W-Where did you get this?” “Oh this old thing? It’s a family trinket you know. My mother gave it to me, and her mother gave it to her, et cet—” She cut herself off, feeling the stallion’s gaze on her was starting to be filled with tears “I-I. It’s my wife’s. I give it to her to celebrate our first anniversary. She is… gone.” Instead of the romantic dinner she had planned, they simply ate while the stallion shared stories about his wife and his foals. It could have bothered Ruby to have her evening ruined but she knew she needed to be supportive. When it was late and it was time to go to sleep, bringing the stallion upstairs Ruby spoke, “Do you want me to… prepare the guest room?” “No, sorry if I ruined your plans,” he said while pointing at her dress. Ruby Moon was up quite early. it’s an habit hard to break after ten years of working in the royal guard. She reflected on the previous day: one instant she had her head full of certitude and dreams, quitting the royal guard, and building a successful business. Maybe have a nice relationship and why not start a family or something? And now, well, starting a business felt less appealing but she could not go back. She had hoped that sharing a real night with Loun was the final bridge with his past he could cut, but it had been back at full force when seeing this accursed figurine. She was looking at the small traitor resting on the dinner table when Loun entered the room. She said with a smirk, “So, you are my great great great great father? Give or take some greats.” The stallion replied with a small smile before getting back to a more depressed face, “A thousand years...” There was a small silence before Ruby spoke again. “Do you want to go to the archives, maybe they have some information about your wife or your foals?” “Yes.” One week later on the high peak of Mont Canter, one crystal stallion and one earth pony mare were watching a small tumulus of earth were a crystal figurine was buried. “Goodbye, Laria,” muttered the stallion. “Let’s go home?” offered the mare “Let’s go home,” replied the stallion with a smile. Author's Note Thanks for reading so far. What was just originally a small cameo idea for Secrets of a Royal Guard end up with a full backstory in my head and this is the result of trying to lay out on paper (gdoc document). This chapter can be considered as a small one shot, but there will probably more chapters (shorter) with more interaction with the Quill & Blade event and characters. Big thank to Crystal Wishes for taking a bit of her time to edit this.
Contrary mare“So what?” asked the dark blue unicorn mare, she had a long silver mane with strand of white but did not wear anything contrary to some of the patron of the club. In the other side of the table was a slightly annoyed earth pony mare, one of her friends. “What what? And why we are here already?” replied Ruby Moon. “I am pretty sure you already know the answer to that, and don’t try to deflect the question.” Hot Pursuit made a dismissing gesture with one of her hoof “What happen after you buried his ‘wife’?” The earth pony took a sip of her drink before continuing her tale with a small smile on her face, “We get back home for dinner. I made him some nice noodles.” There were first sign of annoyance on the unicorn mare face, “And what?” Ruby Moon took hold on her glass with her two front hooves, taking her time before answering “Nothing.” “Nothing?” Ruby took another sip “It was a tiring trek so we went to bed after dinner.” Hot Pursuit looked in the eyes on the other mare, seeing the corner of her mouth curled in a smile, “Ok I give up. Let’s get back, is he your great-great father or what?” Ruby Moon dropped her glass on the table before letting out a small sigh, “We don’t know. All the archivist was able to give us was that her wife had fled the Crystal Empire with their two foals and settle down in Equestria. It will cost a lot of bits and time to establish the proper connection.” There was a small pause in the conversation before the unicorn continued her interrogation “So… did you give up on him? You were all excited like a school filly giving her first blowjob talking about him.” “Hell no, and do you think I will wear something like that when you promised me a mare out night at a bar?” Ruby Moon pointed at her simple white dress, it was a stark contrast with all her passionate red or black dresses that filled her wardrobe. “You almost look like a proper engaged mare” smirked Hot. “Say the proper married lady” Ruby pointed at the other mare horn where was resting a silver ring then she finished her drink “So is that the part where I am supposed to play the wingmare to find another mare for your threesome week? Or a convoluted plan to get me drunk and have me in your bed?” Hot Pursuit was Ruby Moon best friend. She had first met her husband, he proposed to Ruby to have sex while her wife would be watching, maybe because she was a bit drunk or curious she had accepted, the next day Ruby and Hot talked together and a bond was born. It was maybe because Hot Pursuit sex life was really special that Ruby never felt like she was judged for how she lived her own. And here, they were at the mare contraire, a lesbian club searching for a willing mare to join in her friend weird sex habit. Ruby did not really like place like this, being straight make it a rather pointless place to be. “Hold on Ruby, for once that seem willing to invest yourself in a real relationship, my threesome could wait. What are your status exactly? Did you finally consume your chaste relationship?” Ruby rolled her eyes “We… are fine, ok? I think it’s still a bit awkward for him, but he seem mostly ok.” “Ok, ok, well one last thing, how are his own crystal delicacies, is it shiny?” There was a huge silence before Ruby Moon give an annoyed look at Hot “You were waiting for the whole evening to say that, don’t you?” Hot Pursuit broke in a fit of laughter seen the annoyed glare Ruby was giving her, but soon the other mare had joined in the laugh too. “Yeah I know, I brought that on myself?”
Writing conventionRuby Moon was peacefully seated on a red silky cushion, fidgeting with her silver necklace symbol of her special bond with her loved one. Her coat was duller than usual, her mane had nearly more white than pink, but still she was smiling as she watched a green young colt playing with the wooden toy they offer him for his fifth birthday. Loun leaned for a kiss that was returned, and his gaze returned to the small colt. He was sharing the same loving smile that her wife. He put a foreleg on Ruby Moon belly, grinning when he felt a small kick coming from his future daughter. “She will be a strong mare, like her mother,” he said coyly. “Maybe she could make officer?” was the reply of another mare that appeared at the door, she had a red coat and pink hair with no sign of aging, she wore an alluring black outfit. Both mares looked at each other, and after a sigh from the older Ruby Moon, Loun give her a last kiss before leaving with her younger self. Ruby Moon wake up from her strange dream. It felt like a nightmare and somehow real. She put a hoof to her belly to confirm she was not waiting for a filly to came out. She made a mental note to buy extra condoms and renew her birth control medication. Loun awaken since they ended sleeping snuggling in one other “Having a bad dream?” “Hum, sorry if I wake you up,” she simply replied. Loun brushed her mane with one hoof. It was a new sensation for Ruby, not really the fact to wake up with a stallion in a bed, but more that they felt asleep doing nothing, just providing comfort about a day of work, like an old couple. He kissed her on the neck “You don’t want to tell me about your nightmare? It helps.” Ruby Moon quickly get out the bed “No, it’s… guards memories” she pulled the cover with her “Come on, we are gonna be late.” After a breakfast, stallion and mare were at the entrance of the annual writers convention in Canterlot. There were every type of ponies: colts, grow mares and elders. Ruby try to smile seeing a mare that looked a bit like her carrying a foal in a trotter, but instead she sighed looking at Loun. “Alright, why don’t you try to find something that interest you while I am at my appointment?” “Ok, I will wait for you for lunch, thank for bringing me here” he kissed her, he recently found himself a knack for Equestria’s culture, especially the food and modern tales, that were more rich from what he remember reading to pass time in the Empire. It was a bit sad Ruby had an appointment with an author that wanted to write something about mares in the guards. They went their separate ways, Loun was heading toward the most fictional work while Ruby trotted toward the romance section. Ruby Moon, seated in a small booth with a pegasus mare going by the pen name D.P, was a bit nervous and excited “I can’t believe Hot convince me to do this.” The pegasus laughed, “The book she helps me write was a big success. I am pretty sure you can give me a lot of material, if what Hottie talk about you is half right.” “Still, it’s must be pretty weird to write this kind of book? What do you do? You think of something that get you off and lay it on paper?” Ruby Moon gaze fell on one of the books showing a mare in a very provoking position holding a pair of hoofcuffs. “Yes that work for making money quickly, but I like to think I put more work in my writing that just having the reader jerking off some scene. Lot of writers here.” the mare pointed at the booths hosting what Ruby assumed where more tame literature author, if the huge printing of their covers showing mares and stallions in big romantic cliché shot were any indication. “publish erotic shorts based on scene they could not put in their normal line of work, generally using a different pen name.” “I see. I-” Ruby Moon was cut by another mare marching forward the booth, wearing an angry face, the mare looked like she was past her forty “Excuse me? Would you remove your obscene poster?” The yellow pegasus answered nonchalantly “Nop.” The unicorn mare snorted “Fine, Let’s see how the convention manager will react to an author”, she spat the word, “corrupting the young audience.” and took her leave. When the mare left, Ruby stated, “Well, that was something. I suppose it had to do with your emplacement”, the writer’s booth was at the edge of the romance section, close to adventure section where lot of colts and fillies went to meet their favorite author. “Yes, it was my editor idea to put a big poster like that, even bad publicity is good publicity.” the pegasus mare picks up a notepad and a pen with her wings. “Alright, let’s get started.” “Where should I start?” “From the start, then you tell me what you want after that.” Ruby finally relaxed in the cushion she was seated “Oh, well it’s not that original. I was in the cheerleading squad in high school and the coach was a nice looking stallion.” The other mare noted something before asking “It was your first experience?” “With an older stallion yes. I had 1-2 flirts before but he was very different, it was less… sloppy.” After an hour or so of Ruby telling stories about her relations with married stallions -it what was the other mare was interested- they were both taking a break, sipping some coffee. They had been occasionally interrupted by mares wanting their books signed, and even, what surprised Ruby the most, stallions of a various age range. Ruby attention was pointed toward another booth with a big line of ponies in front of it. From what she had gathered from Deepy, it hosted a famous author writing a serie about a young mare chasing bad guys at night. She perked her ears when a young pink earth pony mare slammed her hoof in the table placed in front the author. She could hear the mare said, "You're the reason I got my cutie mark and I really love your stories, ever since I was a filly! You are amazing and I think you're the best and please sign all my books, I have them all! Some are first editions! I love your books!" Ruby managed to see the mare cutie mark, it was a pink ballet slipper. Deepy probably had caught too on what happened, because she chuckled before saying “It will be hilarious if somepony get her cutie mark reading my books.” Ruby joined in the laugh “What would that be anyways? A wet hoof? a dildo?” Deepy chuckle again “Oh, I know a mare that sell toys with a dildo for cutie mark.” *** Loun was near one of the conferences room, talking with a translucent blue crystal mare with a two shaded blue mane and tail. “Canterlot is so different from what we have at the Empire!” she spoke. “Yes, so you restart studying here?” “Yes, but equestrians are rather-” She was cut by the appearance of a ruby coated mare “Loun!” she marched forward them, putting herself between the two of them. She spoke to the stallion “Who is this mare?!” The stallion sighed “This is Lazuli Luminaire.” but before he could explain more, Ruby grabbed and pushed him in the direction of the exit. “It’s time for lunch.” Loun said nothing until they reached a small cafe where they served sandwiches. After the waiter was out with their order, he looked at Ruby in the eyes. “Ruby… it’s the third time you chase away a mare I am talking to. Is something wrong?” The mare seems uncomfortable, she was trying to avoid his gaze, she muttered “I lied to you.” “Lie to me about what?” Ruby bit her lips, she did not really know why she had lain to him, maybe she thought he will reject him or thought she was just playing around with him? She never really had issue with her sex life or her past before, she only avoided talking about it with her family. “The mare I met today, she did not want to talk about my life at the guard. She… well we talked about my old partners. Sexual partners.” Loun smiled “I guessed I was not your first stallion.” “I… well lot of them were engaged or married stallions.” Ruby tried to smile, but it did not come “A lot more than I thought actually.” Loun replied nothing. They both watched the waiter serving their orders. He watched at his dandelions sandwich but get back at fixing Ruby “Are you afraid I will cheat on you. Do you think I could find another mare that does so much for me?” Ruby sighed “I know, it’s stupid.” Author's Note Here came the first chapter where we could see some of the Q&B univers characters (click here for the related chapter of Crystal's Wishes). Hoofbeats is an interesting story about a mare getting a dildo cutie mark. To make this a more interactive experience, I skipped all the question Deepy could ask Ruby. So feel free to ask question about Ruby Moon past relationships in the comment :)
Menage BreakerRuby Moon was in a nice officer’s office. She always though the function fit the name and for her part she could not stand staying on her office doing the paperwork her old position as a sergeant required. But her new occupation was offering quite the challenge on this part. She always was reticent to stay with an officer for long, and sadly for her it was not the officer she wanted to meet. “So you want to meet Lieutenant Silent Knight?” the mare behind the desk asked. Sunny Day, the current pony in charge of the Princess’ house was a golden unicorn with a fiery mane. Ten years of habit of having only Princess made hard for Ruby to call that now Celestia’s house. “Yes, but I have been redirected to your office, I am still not sure why.” The mare eyed Ruby and sighed “They could have led you to Lieutenant Rook. As you can guess Lieutenant Silent is not here. I could point you in the direction of the pony in charge of Luna’s house if you have business with them.” “I am sorry, but I need the Lieutenant specifically.” Sunny Day looked at a file on her desk and at Ruby “You are sergeant Ruby Moon right?” Ruby for her part did not like this question “They pass me first sergeant when I retire but yes, why?” The unicorn mare smiled “I always wondered why some officers call you the Menage Breaker.” Ruby tense a bit at the nickname, she knew it but it was maybe the first time she heard an officer ask this so bluntly. It was also a reminder of something she tried to deal with her relation with Loun: thrusting a stallion to not chase other tails. “Ho, it’s an old story, and I am probably wasting your time already, sir.” Sunny Day pointed to the free seat in front of her desk “I prefer to have your version.” Ruby took sit on the proffered chair and started “It’s not really an interesting story” she paused and noticed the small hint of curiosity in the eyes of the other mare still present, “It was nearly ten years ago” Ruby let out a sigh at thinking how time pass. “I had just joined the Palace guard, I was a bit naive, well in insight it was probably a good thing” she let out a small giggle. “So I met this stallion in a bar, it was a regular bar. I courted him and we started seeing each other. One month later I discover he was the officer in charge of the Palace guard. I have never really see him close, and you probably know that seeing an officer is rarely good news when you are just a rookie.” Sunny Day nodded “I know, then what?” Ruby replied, “As I said I was naive. So I went to the P.R.O. to know what to do when dating an officer, especially my superior.” Sunny stated “It was the good thing to do yes.” The earth pony mare smiled “The funny thing: The P.R.O. at this time ended to be his wife, so when she heard the name of the officer, thing get interesting.” Ruby emitted a small laugh when remembering the P.R.O’s face. Sunny laughed in her seat “That must have been something.” “The best part was when I have to testify in front of the judge for their divorce, The poor stallion lost everything. He was clearly mad at me.” “As funny at it was. You did not get into trouble later?” Sunny Day gets back at a the more serious face of a Lieutenant, knowing that getting on your superior bad side could bring you lot of troubles. “No. At the same time his wife started an internal investigation: He was using his position with other mares. The next week after the trial we get a new Lieutenant.”
Family and Foal - part 1Ruby Moon was getting back from her trip to the local market. Loun insisted on cooking their meals and since she was the one handling all the money related business she was the one to made the groceries. She entered from the back door. Upon reaching the stairs that led to the living area of the shop, she could hear a familiar music playing and Loun singing along I'd been had, I was sad and blue. But you made me feel. Yeah, you made me feel. Shiny and new She rushed through the stair and when she reach the main area she stumbled on Loun with an apron dusting one bookshelf. But Ruby could not hold her laughter when the stallion reached the refrain of the song: Hoo, Like a virgin. Touched for the very first time. Like a virgin… He stopped and his eyes opened wide seeing the mare laughing at him “What?” “NNoth- Nothing”, Ruby tried to recover from her fit, but she failed “Like a virgin, bwahahahah.” Loun rolled his eyes and took the saddlebag from the mare back and walked in the kitchen to sort everything out. Well it was his initial plan before being grabbed by Ruby and in one move from the mare, he ended on top of her. “Such a straightforward virgin colt.” she said, her goofy face had made place for a small grin, while running a hind leg against the stallion flank. Loun watched the saddlebag that had landed in a corner in the room, splitting his content on the floor, but his face get caught by two hooves and his mouth was brought to the lips of the mare. “What a naughty little filly.” he replied after breaking the kiss, then he moved his way on the mare neck. “Taking the lead today” Ruby purred, enjoying the ministration on her neck. She get a glimpse of the stallion underbelly and smiled “Were you already thinking of me?” Before the stallion could lower his hips on the mare the bell ringed indicating someone at the back of the shop. Loun frozen, Ruby groaned “Don’t even dare stop.” But the bell ringed again, she pushed Loun out of her and groaned again “Fine, fine.” Stomping on the stair, Ruby did not even put her vendor smile face when she opened the back door. Her eyes felt on a smiling pink earth pony mare, on her left was a pegasus colt, on her right a filly and on top of the head of the mare a small filly. Ruby could also clearly see her prominent belly sign of the promise of another foal. She quickly closed the door. Ruby Moon massaged her forehead with a hoof. They already had a lot to do today. The attack of the cockatrices made her realise than they needed to sell something that had the potential to make a more constant influx of money than the commission for crystal figurine. Yesterday they received their orders of board games, wargame and such (bought with the insurance money). Spending time with a relative was very low on the list of thing she wanted to do this weekend. Obviously the knock on the door and the bell ringing again make it clear that her sister had a different plan. Ruby took a breath to calm herself before opening the door again. But instead of greeting the mare the looked at the colt, her sister first foal. “Hey Dary, visiting Canterlot with your harem?” The colt blushed and Ruby could see the result of her sentence, the small frown on her sister that was the mirror image of the one her mother had toward her when she did something wrong. “Ruby! This is not appropriate language for foals to hear!” The green filly asked her mother “What is a harem?” but received for response a hush from the pink mare. “We have a tiresome train rise. You can at least offer some hospitality to your family, Ruby?” Ruby sighed internally and move out from the door “Don’t mind the cardboard, we just received a big order.” “We?” inquired the pink mare while she watched carefully the colt and filly. The colt had his eyes full of curiosity, fascinated by the workbench with crystal block and figurine in various state of completion. “Don’t touch that.” said his mother when he put a hoof on a figurine that was laying on the floor. “Alright, it’s upstair” Ruby hurried the mare and her charge in the stairs. As much as she liked to tease her very prude sister, she was not adamant to meet her family. She genuinely likes her nephews since foals were merely innocent. But she did not really want to see her mother and sister. Both of them showed no support when she chose to become a Royal Guard and she could not stand her mother anymore. Also Ruby did not want to have a speech on how her new life was so much better than the life of a Guard. “Good morning, Mme,” said Loun when they reached the living room extending a hoof toward the mare. “Loun, This is my sister, Pearl Lilly and her foals.” Ruby introduced Author's Note Sorry. I wanted to not delay too much another chapter. So here something on two parts! From here a real story start.
Family and Foal - part 2Loun was playing chess with the older foals of Ruby’s sister, Dary Swirl. It saddened him a bit as it was a reminder of his own dead foals. Well he was not that sad if there was a slight chance the colt was one his descendant, but still. It was also a reminder of the few time he actually spent with his own foal. It was no surprise his wife run away without him. “Is that Captain Shining Armor?” The colt asked while holding the king piece of the white side. “Yes.” “You make it? It’s awesome!” “Thank you.” Loun smiled “But I think it’s your turn to play.” “Who is your king?” he pointed at the pegasus aside the alicorn on Loun part of the board. “Oh, it’s a fresh Lieutenant, Silent Pony? No, it was something with knight, Silent Knight maybe?” The colt took the piece in one hoof “He look like a normal pegasus. But the armor is cool!” “If you said so.” Loun was not good at chess but Dary was just playing like a kid, trying to take a maximum amount of his piece. After they finished 2 games, Loun put the board back on the bookshelf it was originally stocked. It was the prototype of something Ruby was sure should be a good sell, but Loun had doubt considering the end price of the set. “Do you want something?” he asked the colt that managed to pick up another crystal figurine that was hanging on a lower shelve. “Can you teach me how to do that?” he shoved the figurine on his hold in the sight of Loun. Loun paused, “You're pretty young for that, it’s dangerous. You should ask your mother first.” Dary’s ears lowered on his head, “Mommy will not want to.” he put the figurine back on the shelve and get back on the couch. The stallion sighed, “Fine, but you just watch?” while the colt raised from the couch and headed for the door that led downstair, Loun shouted toward the kitchen where Ruby was talking with her sister “We are going to the workshop. Dary Swirl wants to visit the shop.” “Be careful” he heard Pearl reply. *** Ruby Moon had nudged her way in Loun chest, her head between his forelegs, fully relaxed, she was silent. “So, you are quite different that your sister,” said softly Loun. The mare snorted but did not reply so Loun continued “Something happened?” “A lot happened, I prefer to not talk about it.” Loun caressed gently the mare belly with one hoof in a spot he had identified to smooth her. It brought a small smile to her face. “You never thought of having foals?” he asked. Ruby removed herself from his grasp to look at him “Are you crazy? Being a Royal Guard and a mother it’s not really the best combination, you never know when you will be called for an additional shift or other unplanned situation.” Loun backed off the slightly angry mare “Easy, Ruby. I was just saying that because you seem to go well with your nephews. And you are not a Royal Guard anymore.” “You never quit being a Royal Guard.” The stallion raised an eyebrow so she conceded “Ok, I out of service, but we don’t even have the money to raise a foal.” He took the mare in his forelegs again “I am not asking if you want a foal now. Hell, I was not really the best father it. Sorry, it was just a thought.” “Alright, Loun, put this box over here. Dary helps your mother with the other shelf.” Ruby shouted while finishing putting another shelf in place near the counter. She was not really happy with the idea of her sister ruining her weekend, but at least it was free horse power to make the shop ready faster. There was still a lot of work, putting in place new furniture needed to host all the products the shop would be offering to its customers was a bother to make the place feel not too crowded and still have sufficient exposure to Loun’s creation. They had to throw away most of the glass furniture that served to expose them, there either shattered when the giants cockatrices attacked or have enough crack that the cost of repairs was higher than just buying new one. Not counting that Ruby had been a bit optimistic with what the sole sales of figurines will bring enough bits, it was easy to forget that Canterlot worked too much with trends and when the Crystal Empire trend will fade she would need a more steady source of income. She also had great confidence that this board games business could lead clients to buy some figurines. But there was the nightmare to let the Canterlot ponies to not feel they were not in a toy shop, but in a serious business. “What are these boxes with a pink label?” Interrupted her sister. Ruby grinned internally at how shocking the content of these boxes could be for her sister, but since there was still her foals around she decided to not let her sister discovered by herself “Leave them in the back, they go in a special location.” “Ok. I need to feed Amethyst. I will be upstair. All of you be careful while I am gone?” The various foals answered with some variation of “Yes, mommy.” Ruby looked at Loun that was finishing moving a box near one of the rare shelf ready to receive product. “Alright, everypony let’s take a break. Let me show you a nice place that do nice pastries.” She turned to her sister “I am sure they will not mind you bringing Dary’s harem.” Her sister gave her a harsh glare when the older filly asked again what was a harem, but Ruby ignore her while she rushed upstairs to grab some bits.
