I peeked from my hat. "You two done?"

They were opposite each other, both facing away from me.

"It's really not that bad, you two."

They weren't answering.

"Have you even seen a naked mare before? What about a naked stallion?" I asked, lifting the hat from my head and setting it behind me. I swiveled my body to lay on my front, allowing me to move on all fours and crawl towards them. "Why are you two so scared of going without your clothing, anyway?"

"It's not somethin' ya do, where we're from." Boomstick answered. Since he was being more receptive, I altered course and crawled towards him.

"And where are you from, exactly?"

"We're Earthen, if you couldn't tell from the lack of wings or horn."

I was right behind him now, so I decided to press my body against his back, my arms wrapping around his front while his head was nestled between my breasts. He tensed up and made a whimpering noise.

"Oh come on, really?" I complained, moving away from him and instead decided to massage his shoulders. "How are you going to survive if you can't get past a little nudity?"

"I think it'll just take some gettin' used to, Sanguine." Tenna finally spoke. I looked to him, noticing he had also been looking at me. Well, my flank for the most part, but still.

"I want to know why yer so... comfortable with being so vulnerable. I just can't wrap my head around it." Boomstick questioned, his head leaning back to look at me awkwardly before he decided to just turn around in his cross legged sitting position.

"Vulnerable?" I asked. "How am I vulnerable?"

"You're naked." Tenna replied, as if that explained everything.

I blinked. "And?"

"What do you mean, 'and'?" Boomstick asked incredulously. "You're naked! You've got no armor, no protection... and you're a mare!"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I think he's just concerned for your... ah... safety?" Tenna lamely explained.

"Look, if you two want to have sex, then let's go for it. I don't have all day to foalsit the both of your insecurities." I honestly replied.

"A-ah, um... heh... erm..." The both of them stammered.

I reached to Boomstick's groin, pressing my hand onto his 'appreciative member' that was tenting his pants. "It's simple, alright?"

He quickly stood up, knocking me onto my back. "Nononononononono!" He jabbered, backing far away from me.

"What, you're not into mares then?" I asked, remaining on the grassy ground and deciding to spread my legs for stability... and boredom... and to make him even more uncomfortable. "You could always have some fun with Tenna." I suggested.

Tenna and Boomstick looked at each other in shock for a moment before they refused incessantly in unison, moving far away from both myself and each other.

"No!"

"Not ev'va!"

"Not doin' that!"

"Nuh uh!"

I sighed. "Oh well. Your loss then." I scratched my belly, then decided to get off of the ground while the two were still having yet another freak-out about sexuality. My arms and legs were still weak from the running, fighting, swimming and the hasty mending of the healing potion; but I was able to walk well enough. If I took it slow.

"Well, if you two are going to keep freaking out, then I'll have to leave. I have a task to complete and I've already wasted too much time."

That was enough to jar them from their addled state, the both of them rounding on me at once.

"Task? What are you on about?"

"I have to get gemstones from both the Diamond Dogs and the Ruins of Canterlot." I explained.

Tenna blinked and looked to Boomstick, whom shrugged.

"The what?" Tenna asked.

"Diamond dogs?" I repeated uncertainly. "You've never heard of them?"

The brothers looked confusedly at another before shaking their heads in the negative.

"They're about a pony and a half as tall, very muscular, wear crude plate armoring and wield swords or hammers that can cleave through or smash a pony in a single strike?"

They blinked. "And you're gonna fight them, wearin' nothin'?" Boomstick asked with surprise. "You're really somethin', ya know that?"

"Do you want to help me, or continue having anxiety attacks about my breasts and marehood?" I asked, caressing both for emphasis. They both heavily blushed and looked away from me.

"Uhg, you two are hopeless." I scoffed. I was already wearing everything I owned, minus the spear and cape I was forced to leave behind earlier. I could just walk off and leave them here now, but Boomstick's gun would probably help my quest a great deal, not to mention the added security from having three ponies to shoot at or try and cleave instead of just myself.

I walked over to Tenna and Boomstick, reaching with my arms to pull them towards me. It succeeded somewhat in getting their attention, but they were both wearing heavy chestplates and a lot of clothing, so it was more of a suggestion that they come closer. When they were nearby, I placed a hand on their shoulders. "Listen, you two. I need your help. My tribe has sent me, alone, to find what our protector needs to regain his strength. They're constantly under siege from the Zebra tribes, and I was the only one they could spare without weakening the fortress."

"Are you gonna wear clothes at any point in time, by chance?" Tenna asked.

"If I'm wearing clothing, something is very wrong." I replied.

"Right..." He mumbled.

"So, are you two going to help me, or sit here wallowing in your own sexual frustration?"

They looked to each other for a while before Tenna spoke up. "We'll have to talk about it, yeah?"

I waved my hands in dismissal. "Alright, talk amongst yourselves about it."

The two of them stood up a bit shakily and wandered over to a 'private' area. Their whispers were still loud enough for me to hear, of course.

"Should we?" Tenna asked.

"You're askin' me?" Boomstick replied in surprise.

"Yes, I'm askin' you!"

"The 'ell do I know? You're the smart one!"

"Well I don't know what do to, so I'm asking you!"

I sighed. They were already back to their usual argumentative banter.

"Look, she's got a place to go; we've got the guns, ammo and equipment to get 'er there, and she's not even opposed to givin' us a good fu-"

*Thwack*

"Ah'right, I probably deserved that one."

"Boomstick, listen. She's all better now compared to when we found her, and its because of that healing potion thing that she has. Do you know what we could do with that kind of 'magic' back home? How many ponies we could save?"

"Ah, right. I forgot about that!"

"Really? Your numbskull head already forgot about a magic cure-all potion?"

"Uh... breasts?"

Tenna sighed heavily. "Right. Fine. Whatever. The point is, if we can help Sanguine save her tribe, then they'll probably be able to open trade with Los Pegasus, right?"

"Yeah?"

"So... If we open trade with the Uni's, then we'll be accepted back into the city, right?"

"Maybe..."

"Uhg, are you thinking about breasts again?"

"No, I've actually moved on from that."

"So what is it, then?"

"Think lower..."

*Thwack*

I called out to them. "You two are in a very abusive relationship! You should seek wisdom from the leaders in your tribe about it!"

"We're not in a relationship!" Tenna called back, upset with me.

"It looks like you are!" I teased.

Tenna waved me off, continuing to whisper to his brother noisily.

"Alright, decision time. Do we follow Sanguine on her quest, or bugger off and do who knows what for however long?"

"You're making me decide?"

"Yeah, so if it all goes wrong, then I can blame you for it."

There was a pause between them, causing my ears to perk up and listen more intently.

"Fine. Let's go with Sanguine. May'be I'll get to shoot something using actual shells instead of stun shot." Boomstick decided. His brother placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Good on ya. Was hoping you'd say that, actually."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Let's go tell Sanguine." The two smiled at each other before walking to inform me of their decision.

"So?" I asked, wanting to keep the secret that their whispering was very loud so I could eavesdrop on them more often in the future.

"We'll do it." Tenna affirmed. Then he looked at my breasts. "Ah..."

"Do you need to touch them or something? Get it out of the way?"

"Wh-what?!"

I walked towards him, placing my hands on his shoulders. "Tenna, this is ridiculous and we all know it. If the two of you are really going to help me, then you have to move past whatever your fear of nudity is." I gently took a hand of his, and moved it towards my breast. His arm resisted, but his hand was eventually placed on one of my breasts.

"See? Nothing wrong, or odd or freaky. It's just a breast." I explained, sounding like a mother trying to soothe her foal about monsters under their bed. Then I noticed Boomstick was looking a bit jealous. "Oh for Spike's sake!" I yelled, yanking his hand onto my other breast. "There, happy!?"

They both had pleased expressions plastered on their face. "I swear, you two are pathetic." I grumbled.

Apparently, their need to touch my breasts was lasting a long while...

"Okay, Tenna, Boomstick?" I asked. "Seriously, you can let go now."

They weren't letting go.

I sighed. "You asked for it."

*Thwack, Thwack!*

"Ow!"

"Oi!"

"If you want to have sex, then just tell me. I don't have time for you two just standing here, feeling my breasts, alright?"

"S-sorry!"

"My bad!"

"Are you two both going to be okay for now?"

They looked at each other for a moment before replying. "Yeah, we'll be fine." Tenna replied. "Sorry 'bout all that, by the way. It's just... somethin' we're not used to."

"Well if it gets cold outside, you will have to get very used to it."

"What do ya mean by that?" Boomstick asked.

"You're both wearing clothing and you're both very warm. If it gets cold, I'm snuggling between you." I explained. Before they could protest or freak out again, I gave them both a slap in the face.

"Ow!"

"What was that for!?"

"Pre-emptive anti-freak-out strike."

I looked upwards, noting that the sun was now on its decent, meaning it would soon be dusk. I had spent most of the day being chased, wounded, recovering and convincing two stallions to move past their own mental barriers. Good progress?

"Right, we should be good now." Tenna announced, attracting my attention. He had on his chest armoring, his backpack of assorted things that I didn't really understand, and his ridiculous amount of clothing as well. Boomstick had on the clothing and armoring as well, accompanied with belts of cylinders of many colors and his 'shot-gun' slung on his back.

"Actually, I have a question." I asked to Boomstick.

"Yeah?" He answered, caught off guard.

"Why do you call it a 'shot-gun'? That would be similar to me calling a bow a 'Pullable-stick-launcher'."

"Uh..."

"We don't know why they're called what they are, they just are."

"And you gave me grief for not knowing how a healing potion worked?"

"Look, we just need ta' get a few things from our home before we join you, a'right?"

"What kind of things?" I asked.

"More guns, ammunition, a radio, medical supplies, clothing, toiletries, foodstuff, magazines... you know, stuff." Boomstick explained.

"I... I don't know about half of what you just said."

"Stuff we need to not die?" Tenna added.

"Oh." I blinked. "Very well, how long will that take?"

"Well... we have a small cache in Uni-tor-- Er, I mean 'here'." Boomstick amended, "It shouldn' take too long, and It'll give us a place fer the night."

"Well, I have no idea where this would be, so you should lead the way."

"Can you walk? You were beaten up pretty bad just an hour ago." Tenna asked.

"I can move, just not as fast as I'd like."

"Okay, just stay with us and you'll be fine."

I was ready, and the packing of the bed that was used to treat my wounds took a few minutes to finish before being strapped onto Tenna's back. Soon enough, we were traveling at a steady walking pace through the grass, brush and foliage of the surrounding forest. Tenna and Boomstick were quiet for once, I assume they were thinking about my inclusion into their group and... more likely my nudity. I would have to bed the both of them at some point or this would be a common theme, I suppose. I didn't even mind the thought of it, actually. Sure, I had just met these two in the forest after they shot me, but they did nurse me back to health and they seemed mostly harmless. To add on to the fact that my own mother was the town cum dumpster, I wasn't phased by sex in the slightest. She had me watch a few times as my 'education', in fact.

I was more concerned with the possibility that Tenna and Boomstick would be distracted by my nudity in a crucial moment where focus would be essential to all of us surviving, if we were going to steal gems from the Diamond Dogs and live. My tribe was used to my nudity; myself having always hated clothing from a young age and absolutely refusing to wear anything that wasn't practical like my belts or pouches. It seemed like clothing was a big issue amongst the Earthen with how much they wore. Shirts, pants, armored vests over their shirts, a jacket over that, belts and straps over that and backpacks to top it all. They must overheat very easily, wearing all of that. How do they even tolerate it?

"Are you checking us out, Sanguine?" Boomstick teased.

"How are you not overheating in all of that clothing?" I asked honestly.

"You were staring at his flank, completely oblivious to the world, and you're trying to figure out that?" Tenna asked with disbelief.

"What if you needed to run from a predator, or an attacker? You would overheat and be caught, or the scent of your sweat would give you away with it clinging to all that clothing. You would get tired from all the stuff you have on, weighing you down as well!"

"She's serious. She doesn't give a lick about your flank, Boomstick." Tenna said gravely.

"I still got to touch her breast." Boomstick countered.

"So did I, so it don't count for bragging rights, you dolt."

"Do we really need to have a sex talk again?" I asked. "Because if you really want me to suck your co-"

"No, we're fine, thanks!" Tenna and Boomstick interrupted.

"You two should find someplace comfortable and just blow each other." I said sincerely. "It would relieve a lot of the tension between you two."

At that point they chose to keep their mouths shut and ignore me, looking at anything but another pony for the time being. I don't really understand their aversion to sex in general. Why the stigma? Animals have sex all the time, anywhere they want. Why can't ponies? If both parties are willing, then whom could object? Actually now that I think about it, are all of the Earthen like Tenna and Boomstick? If they are, then perhaps it's some kind of tribal ritual where the mate would have to convince the other to take off their clothing... That might be fun, if clothing wasn't such an obnoxious chore. The cleaning, the repairing, the different outfits... I was much more comfortable just existing in my own fur, and I could decorate it however I wished as well. I looked down at my body, realizing that my paints had all been washed or cleaned off. Well, at least I can re-do the patterns. Maybe I could find a different kind of paint to use that wouldn't wash off in water! Actually...

"Do either of you have paints that I could use that won't wash off in the water?" I asked.

"What?" Tenna and Boomstick asked, caught off-guard by the suddenness of my question.

"Well, I've noticed my body paints have been washed or cleaned off, and I'd like to wear some that won't be removed so easily." I explained.

"So you wear paints, but not clothing?" Tenna asked.

"Yes? What's the issue?"

"I don't know... It just seems like paints are a different kind of clothing."

"What?"

"Well, I think that you see clothing as more of a decoration, right?" Tenna reasoned. "So, what's the point of you wearing paints?"

"I like to decorate my body, true, but some paints can be used to scare off animals by exaggerating my features, like my glowing eyes for example."

They both stopped, turned and stared at me. "Wait, your eyes glow!?"

Oh, right. They hadn't seen me in the dark yet. "Yes?"

"That's so cool..." Boomstick whispered.

"That's kinda creepy, actually." Tenna countered.

"What?! How could glowin' eyes not be cool?"

"Imagine you hear a bump in the night, wake up, and find her starin' at you with 'em?"

"Hey, if she wants to stare at me with glowing eyes, she can do whatever she wants, mate." Boomstick replied, still caught up in the excitement of the new discovery.

"You're hopeless." Tenna scoffed. "We'll be gettin' followed by some glowin' eyed beasty and you'll go straight towards it like a moth."

"I would like to point out that I have no control over the glowing of my eyes, so I'd appreciate you not treating me like a freak because of it." I pointed out grumpily. I had been teased as a filly countless times at the few slumber parties I had gone to. In addition to my nudity, It was a sore subject for me.

"Right, sorry 'bout that." Tenna apologized.

"They're still cool." Boomstick added.

"Thank you."

The conversation died at that point, allowing me to wax nostalgic for a moment during our walk through the forest towards wherever the destination was. As a filly, I didn't really have any friends. Well, Plate Mail counted as a friend, technically. In public, he would treat me as any other pony would. Complete contempt, disdain and avoidance. In private however, he was friendly, joyful and accepting. I suppose he cared more about his image than his morals, or perhaps his morals revolved around his image. Either way, he was the closest thing I had to a friend in the tribe, and these two were quickly out-pacing Plate Mail in that area.

Most of my tribe would probably get along with Tenna and Boomstick simply from the technology they used. Whatever a radio was, whatever magazines are, things like that. I'm certain they'd be interested in using their 'guns' instead of crossbows as well. Maybe the brothers' plan of trade wasn't so bad, but it wasn't my main goal. I was supposed to be getting gemstones to save Spike, and that's what I was going to do. Afterwards, I probably wasn't going to stick around the tribe any longer afterwards, seeing as they didn't want me there anyway. I could possibly travel with Boomstick and Tenna, though their aversion to my nudity would eventually grate on me worse than it already did. All I had to do to make them blubbering fools was play with myself in front of them and they would freeze up or start shouting incoherently. Embarrassing.

Speaking of playing with myself, that is something I would do on solitary walks to pass the time. I doubt I could do something like that with these two present; they would make it into a huge deal and start attracting all kinds of attention if moans of pleasure sounded from behind them. Maybe I could use it to tease them from time to time; slowly get them accustomed to my normal behavior so I could be myself in peace while they were around. Eh, I would do that later.

"Sanguine, you there?" Tenna asked, waving a hand in front of my face.

My head recoiled, blinking away the intrusion. "Yes, what?" I blurted.

"We're here." He explained, arcing an arm out dramatically to reveal a makeshift shack.

"Huh. Not... bad?" I offered lamely.

"It was built in a day; nothin' fancy."

"Well, I'll wait for you two outside while you grab whatever it is that you need." and probably play with myself while I'm at it.

"Suit yourself, Sanguine. Don't get killed by a Zebra or anythin'." Boomstick pointed out.

I sighed. "Alright, fine. I'll go inside with you two."

Tenna unlatched a bolt, opening the door for me and waved me inside. "After you, Madame Sanguine." He offered in a posh accent that reminded me of my tribe.

"Please don't use that voice ever again." I said a bit more harshly than I intended.

He frowned in surprise. "Oh, a'right then."

We moved through the doorway into a small shack that was piled to the ceiling with various things I could only identify as junk, not knowing what any of it was. The air was very dusty and stale, dead grass made up for the floor and a few bugs crawled out of the light from the doorway.

"Shouldn't take too long." Boomstick said. "Just need a few belts, some backpacks... ya know, stuff."

"Actually, would you mind carryin' a backpack for us?" Tenna suggested, handing me said backpack. "It's full of equipment we'll need. Hopefully it isn't too heavy for you, though."

The backpack was dumped into my arms and nearly made me topple forward. I barely balanced myself out but was only able to drop the backpack along with myself to the ground in a heap.

"Take that as a 'no' on the carryin', then." Tenna sighed. "You alright?"

"I'm fine, just not healed enough for carrying all that junk." I replied, pointing to the backpack on the ground next to me.

"It ain't junk, it's e-quip-ment." Boomstick emphasized sarcastically.

"Sure." I grumbled. "Is this everything you need?"

Tenna hucked a few more belts filled with cylinders to Boomstick, and grabbed what looked like another 'gun' for himself. "Yeah, we should be good now.

"Why does that one look different?" I asked Tenna, pointing to his gun.

"Oh, this beaut'?" He asked, holding the thing out. It had a wooden handle on one end, a single metal cylinder extending outwards and some kind of contraption on the top of it, bits of metal sticking out of the side for some reason as well as some kind of box on the bottom. "This here is 'Bertha', and she's my filly." he beamed with pride.

"Your filly," I deadpanned. "What?"

"He means that he gets a great big throbbin' erec-"

*Click*

"Ah'right, fock!" Boomstick shouted, his hands in the air with palms facing open towards Tenna. "Point that thing someplace else, would ya!?"

I understood the wall of pain from Boomstick's 'gun', but why the fear from the other one? "What does it do?" I asked.

"Well, bullets come out the slim end, here..." He pointed to the end of the cylinder on his 'gun', "and they make whatever I'm aiming at have a very bad case of the deads."

The deads? "I haven't heard of that sickness."

They both stared at me like I was an idiot for a moment before bursting into laughter.

"What?" I asked obliviously. If the other thing could shoot a wall of pain, why couldn't this other one shoot out disease? It only made sense, after all. A 'gun' for pain, a 'gun' for disease... though apparently they couldn't make a 'gun' for healing for whatever reason. Maybe they could shoot healing potions?

"Maybe we should 'and her a gun so she can figure it all out, ay?" Boomstick guffawed.

"I wouldn't give her a gun, mate. She might just shoot you for revenge!" Tenna added, causing both of them to laugh harder.

These ponies are weird.

Author's Note

Have a larger chapter than usual :D

Please leave a comment: It means the world to me and I read every single one of them!