Closing the door behind her, Velvet sighs as she lets her saddlebags slip off her waist and onto the floor. “Thank Celestia that’s over with. No more editing, no more rewriting, no more meetings. I just have to sit back, relax, and wait for the book to start selling.”

“You aren’t going to be working with Ledger anymore?” you ask, giving her a confused look. “Isn’t he your publisher?”

“For this book, yes,” Velvet explains as she moves into the living room, “but I’m an independent author, and as such I don’t have a set publisher. It just so happens that Ledger is my current publisher, but who knows. Maybe I’ll go to a different one for my next book.”

“You get to choose your publisher?” you ask curiously.

“Yes,” Velvet hums, “which means I can choose one that will give me the best deal possible. And I can also make two rival companies get into a price war if my manuscript is good enough.” She smirks. “While not something I do often, that can be fun if done properly. Can’t abuse the power though.” Pulling the socks off her forehooves, she tosses them onto the scroll-covered coffee table before collapsing onto the couch with a soft moan.

“Although, I don’t think I’ll be starting another book any time soon,” she mumbles. “That last one left me drained. I spent nearly an entire year on it. Had to rewrite the last ten chapters because they got destroyed when Tirek came through.” Sighing weakly, she sinks further into the couch. “But that’s all over with now. I’m free!” She lets out a faux cackle. “Free!”

You move to join her on the couch, but are stopped by a rose-colored barrier of magic that appears in front of you.

“Oh no,” Velvet says, cracking open an eye and smirking at you. “Nuh-uh. I don’t think so. You have stuff you need to do before tonight, hun. Up the stairs and into the shower with you.”

Your ears splay back against your head. “W-what? Why?”

“Because we’re going out to eat tonight,” she says, “and it’s going to be a fancy restaurant, so you need to get cleaned up a little.”

You scrunch up your face. “A fancy restaurant? Why are we going there?”

Velvet chuckles. “To celebrate, of course. It’s not every day that you finish a book and get it published.”

“I thought you told Ledger you had plans,” you say, confused. When she gives you a pointed look, you blink before a blush slowly spreads across your face. “Oh… you backed out of a dinner date with him…”

“To go on a dinner date with you, yes,” Velvet says with a smirk. “Now, up the stairs and into the shower!”

You feel your face heat up further, and your wings flutter weakly by your sides. Giving her a small nod, you turn and head for the stairs.

“Oh, and don’t be all day about it,” Velvet calls out as you climb the stairs. “I’d like to get cleaned up as well. Didn’t get a chance too before we left for the meeting.” You give her a grunt of affirmation before making your way down the hall. Pushing open the bathroom door, you slip inside before closing it behind you.

Not wanting to get hit by the cold water again, you turn the water on before you step into the shower. You wait a few seconds before testing the temperature with a hoof. Once it reaches a comfortable warmth, you nose the curtain aside and step into the tub.

Warm water cascades over your body and you can feel yourself beginning to relax. Spreading your wings, you allow the water to get in between your feathers. The feeling sends shivers down your spine, and you sigh softly.

You just stand there for a few minutes, alone with your thoughts as you enjoy the feeling of water falling down upon you. It’s almost hypnotic at times. You’re pretty sure that you can just stay in the shower for hours on end, contemplating the meaning of life and the universe endlessly, but you don’t have time for that right now.

Grabbing your shampoo bottle, you give the cap a quick flick of your hoof to open it. The scent of the body wash fills the air as you begin to apply it to your mane tail, careful not to get any in your eyes.

You don’t want to go blind.

Working the suds out of your mane, you turn and begin to do the same to your tail. Carefully holding the tip of it in your teeth, you allow the water from the shower head to wash all the shampoo from the hairs before letting go. You give your tail one last flick in order to clear it of any lingering suds before moving on.

You turn your focus to washing your coat, but pause when a breath of cool air brushes over you. The sudden cold causes you to shiver. Why was it cold? There was steam coming from the shower. The only reason that you’d be feeling a cold draft was if somepony had opened the doo—

A sudden weight settles over your back as a pair of light gray legs gently drape themselves around your neck. The feeling of soft fur presses up against your wet back, your coats brushing together softly.

“Mmm, not as warm as I like it, but this will do nicely,” Velvet purrs, her voice coming from right next to your ear, which twitches as her breath washes over it.

You stiffen in surprise, your eyes widening. “V-Velvet?!”

“Mmm-hmm,” she hums, slowly nuzzling the top of your wet head.

“W-what are you doing here?”

“I decided to join you in the shower,” she says. “It saves on water, and also time. Besides,” she murmurs seductively as she begins to nibble on your ear, “showering together can be fun~~~!”

She continues to nip at your ear, causing it to flick and twitch as it tries to escape her attention. Licking the tip of it, she begins to work her way down, leaving a trail of love bites along the edge of your ear. Once she reaches the base, she slowly drags her tongue back up towards the tip again.

You squirm beneath her as she plays with your ear. Unable to escape, you are forced to endure the strange feeling. Velvet continues to nibble playfully on one ear for a few minutes before moving to the other.

You’re so caught up in the feeling of her teeth on your ear that you don’t notice what Velvet is doing with her magic until a sudden cool sensation washes across your chest. Looking down as best you can with her still nibbling on your ear, you see a glob of shampoo captured in a cloud of her magic. Protected from the water, she’s using her magic to spread the soap out across your entire body all at once. The magic pulses and shifts, working the suds into your coat in an even lather of foam.

“Isn’t magic useful?” Velvet breathes, finally releasing your ear. She lifts herself up off of you long enough to cover your back in shampoo, but instead of using magic, she pushes her chest back into your withers and uses her body to spread the soap about.

“Uh-huh,” you grunt. You could get used to this in a hurry.

She uses her magic to clean the rest of your body as well, running up and down your legs, behind your ears, and even around your dock. You twitch a little when she begins to gently wash your sheath, but unlike previous encounters, her magic feels different. There’s no real pleasure to the sensation, just a necessity. Before your member even has a chance to start growing, she moves on.

Her magic continues upwards towards your mane, where it begins to comb through your tangled mess of hair, working the knots out and the shampoo into your scalp.

“I already did my mane,” you mutter softly.

“I know,” Velvet hums, “but it helps to be thorough.”

You fall silent and allow her to work, all while enjoying the attention and massage. The feeling is indescribable, and you briefly feel yourself becoming envious of not being born with a horn. This feeling disappears when Velvet turns her attention to your wings. Her magic begins to work its way gently through your feathers, adjusting and correcting them into perfect alignment.

Small waves of pleasure sweep through your body at her ministrations, and you moan softly. Slowly, your eyes glaze over and your body goes limp. The only thing that stops you from collapsing to the floor of the tub in a heap is the light gray foreleg that wraps around your chest. Velvet hold you up gently as she attends to your wings. A few loose feathers are plucked, relieve itches you didn’t even know you had.

“How are you so good at this?” you mumble. “You don’t have wings.” You slowly slide into a seated position, Velvet following suit soon afterwards, keeping you tucked firmly in her forelegs.

“Mmm, I learned to do it when I was helping Cadance get ready for prom,” she hums. “I was a bit rusty for a while though, but when Twilight became an alicorn, I relearned it again. Why? Are you enjoying it?”

You can only groan in contentment as another broken feather is pulled carefully from your wing. Velvet giggles before reaching out and gently running a hoof over your spread wings. It soon turns into a massage as she begins to work her hoof against your muscles and pressure points. Surprisingly enough, you aren’t becoming aroused by this. In fact, it’s quite relaxing.

Soon—too soon, in your opinion—Velvet finishes preening your wings. She doesn’t move to stand up though, and both of you just sit there, allowing the water to stream down upon you. Nestled up against Velvet’s barrel, you let out a happy sigh. She pulls you a little further into her lap and rests her head on top of yours.

The minutes pass by as both of you remain as you are, enjoying the warmth of the shower as well as each other's presence. Velvet slowly rocks you back and forth, humming a quiet tune into your mane.

Eventually, you speak up, you words slurring together slightly. “Not that this isn’t nice… but what brought this on?”

“Because I wanted to,” Velvet says. There’s a brief pause before she adds, “and to show you that there’s more than one way to show affection. Despite everything that’s happened so far between us, you need to understand that sex isn’t everything.” Slowly, she begins to stroke a hoof against your chest in small, circular motions.

“I know that,” you mumble.

She laughs softly. “Maybe, but it always helps to reinforce it. We’ll make you a proper stallion before the month is over.”

You say nothing, allowing her hoof to continue to work its magic. At this rate, you are going to fall asleep like this, and you won’t even care. This is so relaxing. With her chest pressed up against your back, you can feel her heart beating steadily in soft, even ‘thump’s. You get a strange feeling as she holds you in her legs, almost as if the world didn't matter at the moment. Tirek could come raging through again, and you wouldn’t even care as long as you could stay like this.

All good things must come to an end though, and you groan in annoyance as Velvet slowly pulls away.

“Come on,” she coos as she turns off the water.

You groan again and refuse to move, even as the water on your coat begins to cool.

“Come on, hun,” Velvet says again, giving you a gentle nudge. “I know this was nice, but we have to get ready for dinner.”

You groan a third time, but slowly get to your hooves. “Don’t have anything to wear.”

Velvet levitates over a towel and begins to first dry you off, then herself.

“That’s alright,” she says as she works. “I’m certain that I still have something of Shining’s that will fit you.”

“Where are we going?” you ask.

She giggles softly. “That’s a surprise, hun, but I promise. This will be a night to remember.”

Author's Note

There probably won't be a chapter tomorrow, but we'll just have to see what happens.