Course Correction

Chapters

Escape Trajectory
Crash and Burn
Inclination Change
Stable Orbit
Nearing Apogee

Escape Trajectory

Jet Stream stood before the entrance to his condo with trepidation swelling in his heart. Its clean, modern-styled frame was inset by the sturdy slab of a door which lay before him like an impassable barrier. It had at last come to this final, inevitable moment.

With a heavy heart, Jet steeled his resolve and reached a trembling hoof forward to make contact with the brass-colored handle of the door. As the underside of his hoof met with the cold texture of the handle he began to think of the ensuing chaos that was sure to find on the other side... it gave him pause. He sighed, muttering to himself in frustration at his inability to confront what waited beyond.

"This is ridiculous," the successful and wealthy pegasus said. That he, Jet Stream from EquestriAero, could be stopped dead in his tracks by such a thing as this. He had brokered countless deals with cut-throat suppliers, brought fortune to his company and its shareholders, and overseen the successful launch of countless fleet airliners based on his very own designs! Shouldn't he be able to face any challenge, no matter how insurmountable, like he had so many times before?

But this is unlike any of those things, he thought to himself somberly. There were few challenges that could give pause to stallions such as him, all except one of course: the one which now awaited him beyond that towering and imposing door. Ridiculous as it might be and as foolish as he felt cowering before the entrance to his own home, Jet reasoned that there was simply nothing left for him to do but push on forward as he always had in business and in life. It wasn't going to be pretty, but he would be damned if he didn't go down fighting to the very end! Jet began to work himself up in his own mind, feeling a surge of confidence swelling up as it always did in times of need. He knew he could do this; he must do this! He could do anything he set his mind to, right?!

Yes! Of course he could meet this threat head on! He was Jet Stream!

With his newfound resolve Jet aggressively twisted the brass handle of the condo door and gave it a good shove. As the door yielded to Jet's superior authority the stallion strutted into the condo - his condo - and prepared to confront the source of his earlier apprehension.

"Apogee! I'm …"

Jet had gotten no further than three steps into his home before the object of his dread came starkly into view before him. In an instant, his heart froze and all the surging confidence that had been at his command just a moment ago wilted before the sight that now lay before him.

A young, yellow pegasus-teen sat on the nearby sofa with her arms crossed, waiting; she stared back at him with a look of disappointment so bleak that Jet felt his heart sink into the pit of his stomach. Apogee was clearly upset, and Jet knew she was going to blame him for being late. Seeing that look on her face was bad enough, but what was almost worse was the devastating silence that permeated the condo: there were no potato ponies bouncing around on the big screen TV to fill the air with stupid-silly fun... loud, blaring pop music was nowhere to be heard... no sound of Apogee's mirthful giggling nor the clamor of her energetic hooves tearing across the hard-wood panel flooring... just Jet, Apogee, and the silence. Desperate, Jet attempted to dispel that distressing stillness by beginning to explain himself.

"Now Apogee, I know I've missed the past few Tuesdays for our special time together and…"

Jet's mouth went suddenly dry, his heart quickly succumbing to the withering stare of his daughter. In her rose-colored eyes he swore he could see a glimpse of her mother (his ex), whose own eyes once captivated him with equally irresistible force and persuasion. It was unsettling how similar their eyes looked—nevermind the effect it had on him.

"Look, hun. W-We had a huge emergency at work... first my chief engineer was threatening to leave unless he got a chunk of stock options and…"

Apogee continued to stare unmoving, unflinching, right into his eyes.

"Well, anyway. Then there was a surprise visit from the regulator - wanted to see all our thaumic inventory records for the past 5 years! Can you believe that? If you could have just seen the look on Bookie's face when I told him about the audit!"

Jet gave a half-hearted chuckle in some sort of bid to lighten the mood. After a few seconds passed with Apogee only staring back at him with that terrible, icy look, Jet felt the humor fall flat and dead, the vacuum of tense silence sucking his words right into the floor. He regained some of his composure and pressed on.

"Eheh... Well, at this point it was well into the evening. I knew I was late, but not too late, right…? But then, believe it or not, one of our airline's jets had a huge malfunction right on the runway! Everypony had to evacuate and…"

Apogee's expression finally—finally—changed at this point, but Jet was wholly unprepared. It was a subtle change, little more than a curl of her lips, but it spoke volumes to him. His daughter, the light of his life, wasn't simply disappointed: Apogee was hurt, and as he knew she would, she blamed it all squarely on him – not Bookie's fumbling scramble to gather records or the careless engineer who had failed to notice the improperly welded manifold of the jet engine. Jet realized in the moment he saw the beginnings of that frown forming on her lips that no amount of explaining things was going to change her opinion right now.

"Apogee, honey... please... I know my job keeps me away sometimes but, I have responsibilities that I can't back out on... you know I still love you, right? Apogee?"

Jet took a few tentative steps toward the scowling filly, trying to close the small distance between them when suddenly she said one, single word.

"Dad."

Jet winced at his daughter’s voice. It was only one word, but the undeniable tone of cautioning—of outright warning—put a stop to his advance toward his daughter in an instant. Suddenly, that seemingly small distance expanded out before him like a bottomless chasm that he dared not cross. There was nothing left to do now but endure her angry words.

"It's been three Tuesdays you've missed. Three! Not just 'a few'," said Apogee, her voice rising in volume quickly. "Do you even know how hard it's been for me sitting here, alone, on our so-called 'special day'? You definitely don't make it, or me, feel very special!"

Jet recoiled from his daughter’s words. Feeling her scorn and seeing the hurt in her eyes was bad enough, but it was the realization that suddenly came to him which unsettled him the most: he really wasn't sure if he knew how this had been affecting his daughter. Before he could reason with himself however, Jet felt a sudden defensiveness overtake him. He was the provider... he had been all along... sheltering and clothing and taking care of Apogee who was, first and foremost, still his daughter.

She continued her argument as Jet went on ruminating. "... You said you would be here, and I just, you know… Dad, are you even listening?! Why can't you just let someone else at work deal with all that stupid… pointless… fucking horseshit!"

Jet Stream was roused from his contemplation to the sound of Apogee's scathing obscenities, prompting him to stamp his forehoof harshly against the hard-wood panel floors. Apogee fell abruptly silent, her eyes widening and showing immediate regret for the impassioned words she had just uttered. Her entire demeanor shrank as Jet Stream's firm, paternal voice rang out with finality.

"Young filly! I know our relationship with one another is a lot more… complicated than it used to be, but I am still your father! It's not like I'm doing this on purpose. I don't want to be dragged into last second meetings with the board or run all over Las Pegasus putting out 'fires' every single day, but that's just part of the trappings of being in the position I'm in."

"But… But dad!" Apogee pleaded. "I–"

"No, Apogee. Please, understand? I have to provide for you – for us. I have responsibilities and obligations to those who work under me too. Okay?"

Jet sighed and took stock of his daughter's emotional state: he couldn't really read her apart from the obvious look of 'you are the worst dad ever' painted all over her young, adolescent face. Seeing that Apogee was now silent—perhaps resigned—Jet pressed onward to deliver the real news he had been dreading more than any of the rest of it.

"Okay. Now, look.. I'm sorry sweetheart, but I have to leave again. I have some paperwork upstairs that I need to take back to the office, and–"

"What?!" Apogee screeched, interrupting a surprised and flinching Jet Stream. Whatever resignation and acceptance Apogee may have been feeling up until that point seemed to fracture the moment the news had been delivered. "You're leaving me now too!?" she huffed, suddenly shooting up from her seat and coming to a stand, facing her father. Her mouth hung wide open with disbelief at what had just been said. Before the testy teenager could further complain, Jet cut her off once more and continued his 'lecture'.

"Yes, I have to leave and I'm sorry, okay? I know you imagine: I'm the boss, I could just just assign someone to take care of all this for me; but I can't. There are some things that nopony else but the boss can do. Okay? Please, can’t you understand... "

"S-Stop," Apogee said, her eyes now turning away from Jet.

"What? Apogee… You–"

"No dad, just… Just go. I… I understand."

Although the filly seemed to be coming around to his way of thinking, Jet couldn't shake the sudden, dreadful ache he felt at seeing her look away from him. Jet would have given anything to see the bright and lovely smile of his daughter returned to her face, but to be shunned from even seeing her look of pain and sadness was almost unbearable. He sought to smooth the situation over somehow, grasping at whatever words he could.

"Thanks, hun, I'll… Look, next time I promise I'll–"

Jet Stream stopped speaking immediately, catching his tongue before it went and did something foolish. He didn't dare make a promise right now; was not even sure he could hope to keep it. Apogee didn't even bother to turn and acknowledge his half-finished assurances and simply began to walk away toward the stairs leading ultimately to her room.

With nothing more to be said, Jet Stream—that prominent and influential Engineer and CEO—watched, powerless, as his daughter cantered away from him, up the stairs and out of his sight.

Jet looked down at the ground between his hooves. He wanted to be angry, but to his dismay, his mind couldn't decide who to be angry at. As Jet paced up the stairs to his study to retrieve the needed documents he came back for, he thought of all the bungling ponies that had played a role in constructing this disaster of a day. Jet started to get some ideas about where to direct his anger.

A small trail had worn its way into the carpet of Apogee's room from the relentless pacing being inflicted upon it. On top of her nearby dresser a digital clock read eight o’clock, which was a full three hours past when Jet had meant to be home. Three hours of being lonely, anxious and angry! Apogee thought in a huff. For the last several minutes the filly had been fuming, her thoughts churning into a cauldron of ill will and rapidly growing spite.

"Stupid dad and his stupid job!" the filly muttered as she paced, her voice full of petulant conviction. "Stupid promises… Stupid broken promises!"

Apogee stamped her hoof into the trail-worn carpet as if to add emphasis to her heated words. A small hoof-shaped impression was left behind in her carpet as she pulled her hoof up and away to rub the side of her head.

"Doesn't he understand what this is doing to me?!" asked the young mare.

Apogee's eyes were drawn toward the door of her room as she heard the faint sound of hoofsteps descending the stairs outside her room. Probably dad getting ready to leave, Apogee thought. She scowled. It was likely for the best: she didn't think she could even stand to see her father right now anyway.

From down below, the sound of the condo's front door could be heard opening and closing loudly – firmly.

Did he just slam the door?!

Her ear twitching attentively, Apogee felt absolutely certain that, as he had left, Jet had slammed the door more aggressively and loudly than usual. It was such a little thing, but in her aggravated state she became utterly convinced he had stormed out of the condo in a fit of anger rather than simpering before her righteous rebuke as she felt he should.

In an instant the furious filly dashed to her bedroom door and sent it flying open with a shove. Her hoof shot out to brace against the door as it came sailing back toward her on its rebound. Apogee barely even registered the pain that shot down the length of her hoof as the door came to a shuddering stop, halted in its wild, swinging arc as her voice bellowed into the now empty condo.

"You aren't allowed to be mad at me! I'm supposed to be mad at you, you big… JERK!"

Even as Apogee shouted with all the volume she could muster, she immediately felt the futility and insincerity of her own hostile words; it utterly failed to give her the catharsis she had sought.

Surely her anger was justified? Minutes ago it had all seemed so clear... Jet's obvious wrongdoing was as plain as day she had thought. Yet, in spite of that, she found herself asking more and more questions of herself, turning her once crystal-clear convictions into a murky pool of hesitation and doubt.

With a sigh, Apogee dipped her head low and turned around, heading back into her room with a defeated canter. She found a place at the edge of her bed and took a seat there as her mind swam with a torrent of unfocused thoughts.

Wasn't it enough that he stood her up?

Couldn't she simply be allowed to feel angry?

She shook her head and looked up from the floor and found her eyes wander to the end table next to her bed where she kept a standing picture frame. She reached over and grabbed the picture, her eyes scanning the image thoughtfully. It had been a gift from two birthdays ago when they had gone to the Las Pegasus Carnival. Quite a few times over the following years Apogee had found herself drawn to the sentimental photo in times of emotional trouble.

On the picture she and Jet were sitting side-by-side. Apogee had her arms thrown about her father's neck in a powerful hug and was beaming a heart-melting smile right at the camera. Jet had on his usual dress shirt and tie and had a hoof placed gently across Apogee's back, pulling her in close as he gave a warm smile of his own. In the background you could clearly see the massive, iconic Las Pegasus ferris wheel. A dusky sunset had settled over the scene with small clusters of clouds dotting the sky, breaking up the fading sunlight into a kaleidoscope of orange light over everything below.

Apogee's face softened as memories of better days came to her.

It had been Apogee's birthday. She had always loved the carnival: all the games, the greasy and unhealthy foods, and even the painfully long lines to get onto any of the rides. Her favorite ride was, of course, the 'Super Rocket Blaster!'. It was perhaps not the most elegantly named ride, but none of that really mattered when you got to crawl into that world-of-tomorrow style rocket ship and take off toward the sky.

Apogee remembered how Jet would always hold her hoof as the two went careening up and down the rails. And the screaming! Not from her of course, but rather, from Jet. She could still remember the nervous way the stallion would ramble animatedly while they were slowly working their way through the lines; he would go on and on about the shoddy engineering of those—how had he put it?—'Carney-level crank engineer flunk outs'. Those rides always filled the 'world-class' engineer with some degree of dread… but Apogee loved them. The feel of the wind in her face as the rocket cart would pull you uncontrollably in every direction! It was such a raw and visceral thrill every time.

Yeah, her father hated it more than anything.

However, Apogee always knew she could trust her dad to be there, holding her hoof—or perhaps have his hoof be held by her—suffering through it together with her each and every time.

In spite of all her earlier rage, Apogee found her hoof tracing affectionately over the stallion in the picture – Jet, her father, her daddy.

And yet...

A thought came bubbling up to the surface in Apogee's mind, a little voice that whispered in her ear to remind her of the little detail she had forgotten. Or, perhaps, had been trying to trick herself into overlooking.

Daddy left me that day too, didn't he?

It was true, and Apogee couldn't deny it. Her father's departure happened like it did almost any other time she could remember: Jet got called into work at the last second due to some kind of emergency and had to cut her birthday celebrations short, leaving her (once again) disappointed and alone. As she reflected on these past setbacks she was surprised by how troubled those memories could still make her feel; even now, years later, it hurt to think about them.

Some things never change do they? Apogee thought as she absentmindedly turned the picture frame end-over-end in her hooves. Jet always prioritized his job and it had been that way for as long as she could remember. It wasn't until just recently that she even really took notice of it. Wasn't Jet always running off to deal with work and leaving her home? How many times had she munched on hoof-fulls of Boop O' Roops while boredly doing her homework when Jet should have been taking her to the movies? Or going shopping together? Or doing any of the various things he would always promise to do and never actually be there to do?

Truthfully Jet’s unexpected absences happened too many times to count and Apogee knew it. But why did it hurt so much more now than it did before?

Apogee knew the answer: everything had changed for them after 'that' night. It was all just so confusing and infuriating and wonderful all at the same time! It was all just so… different. Different and complicated!

Apogee's ceaseless fumbling of the picture frame came to a sudden stop as her eyes were cast back down, gazing intently at the stallion printed on its surface. Tears began to well up in the filly's eyes as she stared helplessly at the image. With a sudden and swift movement Apogee abruptly tossed the picture frame back onto her end table and turned away from it. The frame balanced precariously on the edge of the table for about half a second before the momentum from Apogee's carelessness sent it tipping over.

With her head turned away and her mind occupied, Apogee didn't even notice the picture falling toward the ground. The sound of the glass casement shattering as it struck the edge of her stack of school textbooks was the last straw on the camel’s back that was the poor filly’s strained psyche.

"W-What?!" Apogee yelped as her wings shot up at full attention from the startling and unmistakable sound of what had just happened. Her eyes immediately found their way to the small shards scattered all over her books and floor. Horrified realization spread over her face and in a moment she was down on her haunches examining the unintended devastation. She turned the frame over carefully to get a better look at the photo itself: it looked largely unharmed, but there was a small tear in one of the corners of the white border.

"Fuck! SHIT!"

Almost immediately Apogee was back up on her hooves and pacing away from the mess she had made, her mind once again a torrent of mixed feelings which battled for control of her mental state. After a few moments of surfing her turbulent feelings, one emotion finally rose to the surface and took root. Her head jerked back and looked one more time at the stallion on the picture.

"Fine! If you want to bail out on me, let's see how you like it dad!" roared the filly.

Apogee went for the saddlebag next to her textbooks. She grabbed it and tossed it onto her bed before her eyes began to wander around her room. I'm doing this, Apogee thought with conviction. She couldn't remember the last time she had entertained the idea of 'running away from home'. Is that what she was about to do? Truthfully she wasn't entirely sure what the plan was, other than to get out of the house as quickly as possible; every minute she spent stewing in her room was driving her further into rage.

Clothes would be needed. Apogee found herself in front of the dresser rooting through her modest collection (most of which were accessories) before selecting a couple of outfits haphazardly. Next came her favorite jacket, hanging on the nearby coat rack, which she grabbed and sent sailing through the air to the center of the bed alongside the rest of the clothes. Hair brush? Homework?! Pretty soon the filly was using her possessions as projectiles, throwing them as hard as she could to the center of the room. She barely even registered what was going into the pile as her irritation only escalated with each item she launched.

"Stupid Dad!" Apogee shouted.

Some lip gloss was tossed.

"Why couldn't you just stay home!"

Personal ID catapulted.

"I just wanted to fuck! What's so hard about that?!"

Silicone projectile from under the bed.

Apogee was so angry she could barely even see straight as she trotted from one corner of her room to the next gathering sundry items. Before she even realized it the pile at the center of her bed had grown into a small hill of clothes, hygiene products, her giant dildo, homework… wait, when did she toss the dildo onto the pile? A grunt of frustration was given as the yellow pegasus snatched the stupid, oversized piece of unsatisfying silicone into her hoof and examined it. She could hardly believe she had wasted so many bits on something she'd never managed to even use properly.

"Maybe if dad actually kept his promises I wouldn't have needed to buy you," Apogee said to the dildo bitterly. It didn't really have much to say back to the young mare and simply went on being cold and lifeless as the day she had bought it. A sigh passed through Apogee's lips as she unceremoniously tossed the grotesquely large thing onto the floor beside her.

It was bad enough to be angry at Jet, but Apogee found it even more aggravating that her mind was still thinking about dick even as she fumed with anger. She found her eyes drawn down to the phallus laying by her hooves as thoughts of her father entered her mind. A frown formed on her lips.

Apogee gave the sex toy a swift kick with her hoof, knocking it under the bed with a heavy tumble. Her eyes returned back to the ridiculous pile of assorted stuff on the bed and she shook her head, feeling suddenly foolish.

What… am I going on vacation? Apogee thought bitterly.

Feeling flustered, Apogee began to sort her way through the collected junk and put it into her saddlebag while her mind went on racing. Where was she even going to go? She hadn't given it any thought at all; she was operating almost entirely on emotion at this point.

In a little under a minute the saddlebag was completely stuffed with only a fraction of the various things she had mindlessly tossed to the bed. Apogee's growing emotional turmoil was blossoming over her face as she tried to sort items in and out of the bag, looking only for essentials.

"Damnit, where did I put my ID?!" Apogee asked with renewed irritation as she dug her hooves through the bed pile. A long, simmering sigh passed from her lips. She just wanted to get away; to be anywhere but here. Her eyes found their way to the sliding door which led out to her patio and the night sky over Las Pegasus that waited beyond.

The cold dark of night had never seemed so inviting.

With a resolute shake of her head Apogee grabbed her jacket and slung it over her body. She zipped the garment up—taking a moment to wiggle her wings through the slits at the top—and drew the collar out to cover her neck from the bitter cold of night flying as she slowly made her way to the patio door and opened it.

Cold winter air bit into her face as she peered out into the night sky and beyond. From the rather majestic heights of her condo balcony a pony could gaze out over most of Las Pegasus. The condo was high enough that you could even see the signs of sky life that buzzed in the cloud-bound part of the city that floated high above the streets below. Las Pegasus was a beautiful city, but Apogee had little care for it right now. It wasn't the sights and sounds of the city life she wanted, but rather an escape from the oppressive reminder of her father's absence that seemed to exist in every sight and smell of her home.

Apogee took a tentative step forward onto the balcony and felt the icy, cold concrete contact the bottoms of her hooves. A look of resolve washed over her features and she took a few more confident steps out onto the balcony with her head held up high, scanning the horizon for nothing in particular. Slowly, she turned back on her hooves and faced the patio door, a hoof reaching out to grab ahold of it. She paused, a thought suddenly occurring to her.

"Maybe… Maybe I should leave a note?" Apogee asked to the crisp night air. Her eyes found their way back inside the condo, into her room, full of all those familiar sights and smells of home. She thought about that broken picture frame and the stallion on its surface and was reminded of why she was standing out here on the balcony, cold and alone.

"No," she said.

Apogee closed the balcony door, a loud and metallic click declaring with a sudden sense of finality that the latch had engaged. The sound of it sent a sudden spike of adrenaline through the yellow pegasus: she was committed now.

With only a brief inhale and a few quick steps, Apogee found herself leaping from the patio balcony and taking to the air. It was a sobering experience to soar through the cold desert sky, feeling the wind whipping through her short cut hair as the cityscape crawled along below her.

From up here Apogee could barely make out the vague shapes of ponies below going on about their lives. Some headed to the restaurants with their dates. Others were hitting any one of the numerous bars, clubs, or casinos for dancing and fun. They milled about doing all the things Apogee wished she could be doing right now… with Jet.

Instead, she was flying aimlessly forward toward an unknown destination. Where would she go?! She hadn't given it as much thought as she knew she should have, but she tried to think of something as the cold winter air continued to assault and buffet her.

Many ideas filled Apogee's mind as to where she might spend the night. There were various friends she considered trying: her best friend Daisy "Diz" Cutter seemed to be the best possible option. As she considered the option with more scrutiny, however, it became increasingly obvious that Diz's dad would flip if Apogee suddenly showed up in the middle of the night without an explanation. He'd probably contact Jet within the hour to let him know she had run off and Apogee was definitely not prepared to face her dad right now, not so soon after their confrontation. She wondered if simply lying about her reasons for visiting on short notice might be the answer, but quickly concluded that it would be in vain. Besides the obvious fact it was a school weekday, she doubted she would be able to fully hide her current frustration and mood from Diz’s dad.

Apogee sighed as she banked hard toward the south side of the city, her eyes settling on the distant horizon. She thought of all the other places should could try going for the night, but when it came right down to it, it was pretty obvious where she would have to go.

From high up here, Apogee could just about make out the faint twinkling of the junkyard lighting even at this distance. Would Delta even be home right now? Apogee couldn't be sure, but as she turned and looked at the condo shrinking behind her, she was struck with the feeling of impossible distance growing with every second she flew; it may as well have been a thousand miles away.

Apogee squinted her eyes at that twinkling out on the outskirts of the city and set her course toward it.

Delta Vee's junkyard wasn't the most illustrious or homey of places in Las Pegasus.

Among the piles of assorted rocket parts, junk and assorted scrap metal there was a small hangar that filled up a significant portion of the available space in the rugged compound. A personal water tower and Delta's trailer home made it clear that somepony must live on the lot. Around the perimeter of the property was a walled fence. It served a dubious purpose considering that not many ponies would have any trouble either flying or levitating over it, though few ponies would likely try such a thing: apart from the rather questionable value of the junkyard's inventory for any would-be thief, Delta Vee herself had a bit of a reputation around town that served as a far better deterrent than any wall ever could.

Down on the ground level, a narrow dirt trail wound its way from the wall's front entrance to the trailer. Ambling slowly and with little apparent sense of purpose along the trail was Apogee, who approached the trailer with a look of apprehension. Once she found herself face to face with the trailer's side door she came to a stop. Not for the first time this evening (nor likely the last), Apogee gave a long sigh.

This was going to be awkward. Apogee knew her mother didn't exactly take kindly to her showing up unannounced even at the best of times. Of course in many of those instances Jet had accompanied her to the Junkyard to drop her off, and few things could send Delta into a mood more quickly than seeing her ex. Apogee had never figured out how much of the mare's dour attitude was as a result of her own presence or from seeing Jet.

It didn't matter, Apogee reasoned. She was here now and she had made up her mind to stay the night, even if it meant enduring a lecture or two from her mother. With some resolution returning to her, Apogee reached forward with a hoof and rested it on the door's latch.

She took a deep breath.

Her mind filled with a dozen different excuses she could spew out to Delta once inside. In each and every one of those scenarios she could imagine with frightening clarity the look of righteous indignation on her mother's face. The filly felt a lump forming in her throat and she swallowed it down with some effort.

There was no going back.

Apogee gave the door handle a quick twist while pulling… It rattled unyieldingly, locked from the inside.

Apogee gawked at the door, stunned. "Are you freaking kidding me?!" she cried.

After a few more seconds of yanking angrily on the unmoving door handle Apogee was convinced the door was, in fact, locked. She stood staring at the door in disbelief. A flurry of memories rushed back into her mind: her argument with Jet, fleeing off to her room, throwing the silicon dildo to the ground… flying through the bitter cold to come here and now this! Was the universe playing some kind of cosmic joke on her? She wouldn't have it! Apogee began to beat on the trailer door with her hoof.

"Mom! Mom, let me in, c'mon!"

No answer. Apogee's striking against the door intensified.

"Don't tell me you aren't home…!"

Apogee's eyes darted erratically up and down the door's frame and down the length of the trailer as if searching for some kind of sign that there was activity inside. However, after nearly twenty seconds had passed with no further noise coming from within, she was as certain as she could be that Delta wasn't here. Or, at the very least, was passed out drunk inside.

"Who locks their doors? Who does that?!"

Apogee's hind legs suddenly gave out and she found her butt planting firmly against the cold ground. It was ridiculous; it was simply too much to bear, and after all her earlier dread and hesitation Apogee suddenly felt like the biggest fool in Equestria. Had she really ran away from home like a little foalish, indignant teen? Worse still, she had stormed up to her mom's trailer and found all her earlier convictions and ill-conceived plans utterly thwarted by—of all things—a locked door!

The absurdity of the entire situation made Apogee's lips curl up into a forced and incredulous smirk. All she could think about was how incredibly silly she must look as she stood there in defeat. The mental image of her whining and banging on the door was the thing which finally made her break slightly.

Without warning, Apogee found herself abruptly begin laughing at the whole situation: even in spite of her sizzling anger she couldn't help but spare a giggle at how comically absurd this night was turning out to be. What was she doing here? What kind of madness had driven her out of the condo and in front of her mother's trailer? Apogee wasn't really sure anymore. Sure, Jet had stood her up, but… this? All this? It all just seemed so suddenly stupid that she could hardly stand it.

Apogee glanced back up at the door and gave out a rueful groan as she shook her head, her earlier amusement fading quickly in the bitter cold. While she did feel slightly better than she had a moment ago, the fact remained she was still standing outside, in the middle of winter, and had no way to get into the trailer. She began to entertain a variety of different means that she might get inside, some of which would likely only get her into even more trouble, when it suddenly dawned on her: didn't Delta keep a key to the trailer under the welcome mat?

It took all of Apogee's effort not to burst into a new round of giggling at the fact she had forgotten about the key until after she’d begun wailing at the door and acting like a loon. It was made all the more silly when she considered that her mother, an incredibly intelligent and often brilliant mare, would choose to hide the key to her trailer under the welcome mat of all places. Apogee rolled her eyes and gave a brief snort of further amusement; it really only served to further emphasize how absurdly silly her life felt right at that moment.

Shrugging the thought away, Apogee reached under the mat and quickly found the key there. She fiddled with the door lock for a moment before she heard the reassuring click that let her know she now had access. At last Apogee was able to pull the door open and step into the musty yet familiar kitchen inside.

The smell of cigarettes hung heavily in the air. Apogee's nose scrunched at the stale scent of it as she stepped more fully inside. It was rather cold in here she noticed; she hastily pulled the door shut behind her before returning her curious gaze to the cramped home. It was a wasteland of beer cans, bottles, plastic wrappers and other more unrecognizable refuse.

Yep, same old mom…

Apogee had to admit that the trailer never did quite feel like 'home' to her no matter how often she visited. Perhaps it was the strained relationship with her mother or simply that the trailer lacked many of the accoutrements that she'd grown accustomed to having in her father's condo.

Feeling a sense of resolve to make the best of things, regardless of how awkward staying the night uninvited might be, Apogee pressed on undeterred. It was certainly better than admitting 'defeat' and returning home, she concluded to herself. She had decided on this course of action and a messy, cramped trailer was certainly not enough to change her mind. Dealing with her mother's scorn however, that was truly another matter altogether. What could she say to allay her mother's inevitable rant?

As Apogee stood in the kitchen pondering what sort of excuses to try on Delta, she became increasingly aware of just how frozen her wings and extremities felt . The night’s crisp desert air had just about cut her to the bone during the flight here, jacket or not; getting some heat back in her feathers was going to be the first step. Apogee slipped quickly over toward the ancient box-shaped space heater nestled against the equally old refrigerator. She played around with the controls for a moment before the old thing kicked on with an indignant sputter.

"Good boy!" Apogee said, smiling and tapping her hoof on the grumbly unit while mock-petting it.

It gave a few more sputtering coughs before reluctantly beginning to fill the small trailer with life-giving warmth. Before Apogee could continue her exploration of the trailer she found herself momentarily paralyzed by the euphoric blanket of heat now enveloping her chilled body.

"Ohhhh, that's so good," the pegasus filly said as she ruffled her wings and puffed out her chest.

Minutes passed while Apogee remained standing in front of the gentle heat, allowing her mind to wander. More than once she caught herself trying to think about Jet and Delta, imagining how badly she would be grounded when she went home tomorrow or dreading the anticipated scathing remarks from her mom whenever the mare finally got home – likely drunk. For now though, she just grinned and let out a soft chuckle; that was future Apogee's problem to deal with.

Her mind began to clear, filled entirely by the feeling of the wondrous, glowing warmth that washed over her. All of the nights stress and pain couldn't hope to stand against the pure and simple joy that the little space heater was providing; it was a catharsis more powerful than all her earlier screaming and shouting ever could have been. It was heavenly, and Apogee never wanted it to end.

A thought did occur to her after standing in the warmth a while however: what if Delta had been passed out drunk in her room this entire time? She hadn't exactly scouted out the trailer for the presence of the blue mare, enthralled as she was by the glorious winter-defying hospitality of the heater unit. Apogee's eyes cautiously turned toward the direction of her mother's bedroom.

Apogee knew the doorway led out of the kitchen and went into a small hallway before immediately connecting to her mom's tiny bedroom beyond. An even smaller bathroom with threadbare amenities was attached to the hallway from the side and had a barely functional door on it. Neither the bedroom nor the kitchen passageway had doors of course, which meant Apogee could peer down the hallway and into Delta's room straight from the kitchen.

Apogee reluctantly tore herself away from the source of her comforting pleasure and trotted the short distance to the kitchen doorway and stood off to the side of it. Standing on her hooftips, she peered down the hall and into her mother's room.

"Hey mom?" she called nervously. "You in there?" Her voice carried clearly down the hall and she was pretty sure Delta would have heard her if she was there.

Several seconds went by with no answer. No sound of soft snoring or angry muttering could be heard. Nothing.

Apogee tried again.

"Hey, if you're in there… I'm respecting your privacy by calling out to you, but exercising my right as a nosy teenager to come in anyway!" she said, her voice adopting a playful sing-songy falsetto. Still no answer. She allowed herself to relax a little, though she knew an exploration of the bedroom was still in order.

Guess I better go check it out, Apogee thought.

Seeming to be here for the long haul, Apogee unzipped her jacket and pulled it off, then slung it onto the back of a nearby chair. Now unladen, and with hesitation in her step, she moved into the hallway... only stopping once the door to the bathroom came up on her right.

Apogee spared a brief glance into the claustrophobic space and found no sign of Delta other than a small puddle of water at the base of the miniscule shower unit, perhaps indicating its recent usage; or the presence of a leak. Apogee could believe either, knowing the state of disrepair her mother’s home languished in.

Pressing on, she directed her attention back toward Delta's room, took a deep breath, and walked forward. After she had entered about three feet into her mother's bedroom, Apogee came to an abrupt stop as her eyes went wide from the sight she then saw.

"Whoa…"

Littered all about Delta's bed was what appeared to be her entire collection of sex toys and more than a few adult magazines. The bedsheets looked like they had been recently used, twisted and tangled into a chaotic mess, no doubt from Delta's thrashing. While surveying the sexual war zone, Apogee felt her cheeks becoming hotter as she unwittingly imagined what kind of mood her mother must have been in to leave the bed in such a state.

For all her bad luck today, she was at least grateful not to have interrupted her mom while she was creating this mess.

Oh my goodness mom, you're such a horny mare, Apogee thought.

An amused smirk tried to form on her lips, but something clawing at the back of her mind prevented it. As much as the filly wanted to have a simple and immature chuckle at her mother's expense, she found instead a deeper sense of understanding and sympathy for her mom that, in her own shameful admittance, she had overlooked before. Maybe she and Delta really weren’t so different after all?

Apogee pushed the kindling realization in her mind aside as she stepped more fully into the room. A slight chill was still present in the bedroom but Apogee decided to remove her coat anyway, tossing it over the edge of the hoofboard of the bed in front of her. She had a look of casual boredom as she paced around the edge of the bed and took in the sights.

Her mom's room was a cramped and messy affair, full of empty bottles and beer cans. It wasn't quite as bad as the kitchen, but it did leave the already small space feeling all the more claustrophobic and disorganized. What it lacked for in cleanliness it did at least make up for in personality, with various posters hanging on the walls ranging from rock bands of the past few decades; pictures of ponies who were famous for both academia and music; even schematics of legacy rockets and various other illustrations of scientific merit. Nearly every inch of the walls were covered with the eclectic mix of music and science from Equestrian history, but Apogee found it had a certain undeniable charm to it: everything about the room screamed 'Delta Vee'... sex toys included.

Amenities, on the other hoof, were sparse... aside from a reasonably expensive home music system that stood against the wall opposite the bed. Apogee found herself drawn to it and ran a hoof over it curiously. There was very little dust on it, and she figured it was likely the most well-cared for object in the entire trailer.

"Nice priorities mom," Apogee murmured sarcastically, smirking. Her exploring hoof found its way to the control panel and without much thought or consideration she pressed the 'play' button.

Hard rock burst out from the speakers and caused the young pegasus to flail and stammer backward in surprise until she fell back onto her plot. Had Delta been playing her soundtrack loud enough so that it could be heard from Manehattan?!

Apogee scrambled back onto her legs and tried to silence the ear-splitting music with a wild thrashing of her hooves over the console. After pitching up the bass by about twenty percent, randomizing her moms playlist and maybe deleting a few tracks from internal memory, Apogee finally managed to bring the music player under control by pausing the playback. With a sigh of relief passing through her lips, she took a moment to refamiliarize herself with the controls; it wasn't the first time she had used the sound system though it had been a while since she last played with it.

Delta's taste in music was certainly particular but Apogee found she still had, at the very least, an appreciation for some of the older mare's music selection. For the time being, the filly found something light and jazzy to listen to and turned the volume down to a more reasonable level. It may not have magically transformed the trailer into a clean, roomy abode full of the sights and smells she was acquainted with at home, but the soft background music did at least lighten the mood and help put her that much more at ease.

Apogee stood quietly for a while, enjoying the improved ambiance, before finally returning her attention to the bed.

Now what? Apogee wondered. Watching television didn't really sound appealing to her, and—to her chagrin—she failed to bring along any books or schoolwork like she had originally planned. Wincing, Apogee made a mental note to be more patient about packing when she was running away from home in an emotional fit of distress...

… Realizing the stupidity of that thought was sufficient to make the filly roll her eyes.

With nothing better left to do, Apogee trotted over to her mother's bed and took a seat at its edge, a long sigh escaping her as she did. It hadn't been until that moment that she realized how tired her body was. It really wasn't a long flight from the condo to the junkyard, but the combination of the cold air and her heightened tension from the day's events had certainly taken their toll.

Feeling her legs ache pleasantly as she sat was enough to make Apogee all but throw herself backward onto her mother's bed so that the rest of her muscles might enjoy the same relief. To her distress, she was surprised to feel something hard and conspicuously phallic shaped jab into the spot between her folded wings as her back hit the tousled bed sheets. An annoyed grunt was given in protest as she lifted her body up enough so that her wing could swat the object out from under her.

Just as she had predicted, another of her mother's dildos from her seemingly endless stockpile rolled dejectedly out from under her. She found her eyes drawn to the rolling object as it came to rest on a nearby playcolt magazine.

Wait, was that…?

Apogee rolled over onto her side and reached over to knock the twice-thwarted dildo off of the magazine that had caught her attention. It rolled a few more feet to the side as Apogee poured her curious eyes over the familiar magazine cover. Her hoof reached out and pawed at it to bring it closer. As she got a better look at the mare on the cover it dawned on her why it seemed so familiar: this was the first playcolt she had ever looked at.

Thinking back, Apogee recalled that it was in this very room, years ago, that she took that first awkward and thrilling step into broadening her sexual identity.

Until then she had always relied only on her imagination—those wild and often unrealistic expectations that a foal's mind usually conjurs at a young age—to guide her sexual awakening. She could still remember how her hooves had shaken with anticipation as she’d nervously peeled back the cover of the magazine, her mind racing from what she might see.

As it had turned out, the magazine was full of partially clothed mares; truly scandalous. As obvious as it seemed to Apogee now, years older, she could hardly blame herself for thinking that the pages of that magazine might hold the very secrets of the universe – that is to say, for all the bluster and secrecy that adults seemed to protect them with. Could she really be blamed for her naivete? All the same, what Apogee found in the pages of that magazine had certainly agreed with her enough to warrant return viewings in the months that had followed.

Feeling a pang of nostalgia and even some excitement, Apogee flipped the magazine open and landed on the familiar sight of a young and, Apogee had to admit, still very attractive looking blue pegasus model showing off her rear legs while wearing a black G-String.

She couldn't repress a smile as she recalled how lewd and raunchy this relatively tame image had seemed years ago. Time may have changed her perception of what constituted as 'lewd', but Apogee was pleased to find that the imagery was every bit as enjoyable to look at now as it had been years ago. Though, that wasn't to say Apogee’s now broader interests meant that she'd been neglecting to notice the ever-developing features and sensuous curves of some of her classmates over the past few years; even in recent weeks, with thoughts of Jet dominating her mind, she still found her eyes drawn to the odd filly or mare here and there, in addition to the colts and stallions that her female classmates tittered incessantly about.

Apogee began to skim through the pages of the playcolt in search of reading material, stopping occasionally to admire a familiar face along the way.

Minutes passed with her finding only a couple articles giving dubious dating advice and a bunch of outdated news about pop icons, many of which had ceased being 'newsworthy' months or even weeks after the magazine had gone to print. It was like an embarrassing time capsule which gave a peek into events that, for many ponies, seemed important at the time but was now little more than a footnote in everypony's memory.

With growing boredom, Apogee continued to flip through the magazine as her mind wandered.

How long would it be before Delta came home? Apogee wasn't really looking forward to the encounter, though she also couldn't deny that the older mare's foul mouth and irritable ranting would probably be preferable to scavenging through playcolt magazines in search of… well, honestly, absolutely anything of intellectual value. She wondered where the mare might be now. At the bar perhaps? It was more than a little likely, and Apogee knew she needed to mentally prepare herself to deal with the very real possibility of a drunk and angry Delta.

"Hope you're having a good time wherever you are mom," Apogee said, her eyes pulling away from the magazine and glancing out the nearby window. "... Or, a better day than me, anyway."

With that thought in mind Apogee returned to the playcolt magazine with a sigh.

As Apogee resumed flipping through the pages, she appreciated that no matter how outdated the trends and fads of years gone by may be, the visual appeal of the magazine remained as timeless as she remembered.

In fact, Apogee just about entirely forgot about everything else around her as she embraced the reunion with the old, trusty magazine. With each page she turned, her smile grew wider and wider as soft jazz continued playing in the background.

Yep, Apogee thought, tenderly stroking her hoof over the leafs of the magazine. The old gal's still got it.

Author's Note

For as long as I've been doing bits and pieces of writing over the years, I can honestly say I had more trouble getting this first chapter of 'Course Correction' out than almost any other project in recent memory. It took me longer to get done than I would have liked, but here it is.

I must also give tremendous thanks to the two who helped edit and proof this chapter, Clopficsinthecomments and P-Berry, who both encouraged me to finish writing and publishing this as well as offering countless edits.

There will be, at a minimum, two more chapters to go along with this one, and I will likely do some more after that. Following chapters should be much quicker and easier for me to write.

I realize the first chapter is perhaps a touch 'dry', and truthfully, chapter two—which I am mostly done writing already—will be a bit on the melancholy side, but it is all leading up to something good. Or, I think so anyway!

Being as this is my first submission to Fimfic, just wanna say 'hi' to anyone reading this far. Hope you liked what you saw and come back for chapter 2.

Thanks for looking!

ps: No, I'm not sorry for the Orbital Mechanics-based puns for the chapter titles.

Crash and Burn

Oh yeah, I've still got it.

Delta Vee's smouldering, crimson eyes burned with desire as she looked up at the young stud she had snagged for an evening of fun. There had been very little ritual or build-up to the events which brought the mare and stallion together, slightly drunk as they were, into the back of the dirty bathroom stall where they now engaged in a tryst.

It had been a long, uneventful and lonely night up until then, but with the stallion now writhing and twisting with pleasure from Delta's oral attention things had certainly begun to look up for the randy mare.

"B-Buck, that feels so damn good! Just a little more!" the stud exclaimed. His hooves braced against the metal wall of the bathroom stall, steadying his current bipedal standing position which was made even more difficult by his tipsy swaying. Space was at a premium in here, but Delta seemed to be making the best of it as she sat comfortably between the hind legs of her most recent conquest and continued her work.

It was a nice cock: a little thicker than the average meat Delta tended to run into on a Tuesday night. She enjoyed the feel of its girth stretching uncomfortably into her throat as she took the young stud's member all the way to the hilt, earning her a satisfying moan from him. Was he close? He sounded very close, and judging from the faint tremor in his hindquarters she figured it was only a matter of moments until he burst. The feel of that trembling and the desperation in the stallion's voice were very arousing, but what really set her off were the rapid-fire grunts he made when she danced her tongue on his flare. Each time she teased the tip of it with her tongue he would let out the cutest series of little noises. In truth, this wasn't really her A-Game, but the stallion acted as though it was the best blow of his life. That, she had to admit, was a damn good feeling.

Delta pulled her head back and released the aching cock from the warmth of her mouth and was amused by the predictable whine of disappointment from the young stallion. With a wicked grin, Delta thought to tease her little toy a moment longer while she left him right on the edge of orgasm. "You like that, stud?" she asked. Her mind had blanked on his name as she spoke. Had he even told her what his name was? Was it Blitz? Did it even matter? About the only thing the young stallion seemed concerned with right now was getting his dick back into her mouth.

"Why did you stop?!" he asked, his voice tinged with equal parts lust and frustration.

"Just reminding you who’s in control here lil' buck" Delta replied. She gave a long, sensuous lick starting at the stallion's balls and ending at his trembling tip. More lavishing attention was given to the fattening flare afterward, continuing stimulation so that the stallion remained painfully on the edge without being given release – without being given permission to release. As her teasing continued, the young stallion's impatience grew.

"C'mon, just keep going," he pleaded.

"Why the rush?" Delta asked. She used her hoof to stroke along the stallion's shaft as she spoke. "I'm just having a little fun."

"It was more fun in your mouth…"

"Oh I bet," she said teasingly. "I'll make you a deal though." Delta could tell she had the stallion at her mercy; she could see his look of desperate pleading as he looked down at her while she made her offer. She had his full attention.

"Fine, w-what is it?" he asked, his teeth gritting as the mare between his legs sucked the edge of his flare before answering him.

"You're gonna come home with me tonight Blitz…"

"M-My name's not–"

"I ain't done!" she interrupted. "You're gonna bucking pound my aching pussy until I'm completely satisfied, got it?"

"Yes, I got it! Whatever you say!" the stallion said hotly. His flare was bulging and those swollen balls of his were tensing from how near his orgasm was. In this state, Delta figured he'd agree to damn near anything she asked. Not that it was any surprise: this handsome stud was lucky enough as it is! She was going to give him the time of his life by the night's end. But first, Delta reckoned, it was time to reward this stallion's patience.

"That's bucking right you'll do what I say. Now, shoot that hot load down my fucking throat!"

By now Delta had worked herself up almost as much as the stallion. As her eyes fell back on that fat flare, watching as it pulsed and twitched, she felt her own arousal peaking to nearly unbearable levels. Her entire body felt like it was on fire, burning in a way she might have associated with an actual heat, though she didn't expect one for weeks yet. Voraciously, Delta resumed giving both of them what they now desired.

In only a second the stallion's fat member, medial ring and all, was sliding back down Delta's tight, wet throat and stretching it with a subtle, but oh so noticeable, bulge. 'Blitz' the stallion threw his head back—which thumped hard against the metal walls of the stall—and let out a cry of pleasure so loud that Delta was almost certain the patrons outside would hear it. Good! she thought. The agonizing cries of pleasure from her conquests were a point of pride for the mare. She was no common barfly: she was Delta fucking Vee!

"S-Shit! I'm… I'm g-g-nhhhg!" the stallion stuttered incoherently. "Buck… BUUUCK!"

A sudden stillness descended over the two in the bathroom. The stallion's hips gave a few weak bucks against Delta's face as he let out a low, guttural whine. Noticing the stallion's rear hooves were slipping slowly apart on the tile floor, she used both her forelegs to steady the stud, allowing him to focus on the only thing that should matter: her sucking mouth and trashing tongue on his cock. Then, she felt it…

He came.

He came hard, and she could feel his first powerful shot bursting right down her throat. She pulled her head back until only his flare rested in her muzzle and then resumed ravaging the bulging cockhead with her deft tongue. As Delta's mouth began to fill up faster than her cum-hungry throat could swallow, pressure built up until a spurt of cum shot out from her overstuffed mouth and struck the wall between the stallion’s legs with a wet splat. This buck was quite pent up and, regretfully, Delta found she was forced to jerk her head back fully from the still-erupting dick, sticky strands of mixed saliva and ejaculate creating streamers between her sloppy-wet muzzle and the stud's convulsing, wet cock.

Not one to be defeated, Delta used a hoof to continue stroking the spasming shaft of the shockingly virile stud and slammed her eyes shut with expectation of more hot seed. Her caution was well founded because one of the stallion's ropes splattered right over her left eye with surprising force mere moments later. Another found its way up to her mane, sticking against her hair in a manner that would have normally sent her right into a fit of rage, but Delta was both too tipsy and far too horny to care right now. She wanted his thick, warm seed on her: That was her cum that she earned and she intended to have all of it!

"Yeah!" she cried as her hoof continued stroking the trembling cock, milking it for every drop she could. "Cum all over me stud! Bucking paint me in it!"

Delta got her wish as the stud let out an impassioned moan and continued to paint her fur—and the floor tiles—with everything he had. Before he had finished she got a few more on her face, a generous amount on the hoof she'd finished him with, a fair bit on her chest and even a rogue strand which found its way to her right wing somehow. When the stallion was finally spent she slowed the stroking of her slathered hoof until she felt his dick begin to soften in her touch.

With a quick swiping motion using her clean hoof, she wiped away the cum that had stuck to her eyelid. When Delta opened her eyes again, it was to the sight of the stallion lowering himself down on all fours, his body visibly shaking from the intensity of his orgasm which was now beginning to wind down. He barely had time to finish uncrossing his eyes before Delta was all over him, shoving her cum-stained lips right against his own in a forceful and sloppy kiss. So unprepared was not-Blitz that he he actually stumbled backward and slipped—perhaps on some of what little semen hadn't covered the frenzied mare—and fell right onto his plot with his back pressing hard against the stall door. He was then left facing off with the raunchy and increasingly predatory looking Delta.

"H-Holy shit lady!" the stallion sputtered.

Delta grinned and reached out with the clean hoof to stroke slowly down the chest fluff of her surprised 'prey'. When she had snagged him earlier in the bar she really hadn't given much thought to his looks, but now, covered in his cum and drunk off her own lust, she found him quite attractive. Perhaps it was his short, spiky hair or his cool-blue fur that bristled pleasantly against the underside of her hoof that she liked. As an Earth Pony he had quite a rugged and muscular build that certainly gave him a very masculine appeal. Or, perhaps it was the overwhelming smell of his musk which saturated her fur and filled her lungs with every breath she now took.

Whatever the reason was for her arousal, Delta quickly realized there was no way she could put off her satisfaction even one moment longer – Blitz didn't look like he'd be ready to fill her needy snatch for at least a little while though. While it may not be exactly what she wanted, she figured a little oral attention just might tide her over until she could get her prize stallion back home.

"Alright, I know I said you'd be filling my pussy," Delta said, shooting a look over her shoulder. She angled herself and made a quick hop onto the small, squat toilet behind her and slouched back into a comfortable resting position. "... but you're gonna need to give me one for the road before we get to the good stuff later!"

When Delta spread her legs completely apart she could already feel her desperate little nub peeking out of her burning nethers toward the stallion in front of her. She followed the path of his eyes as they wound down her body and fixed on her seeping marehood which was now beginning to fill the bathroom with her own musky scent. Delta's winking clit and spread-eagle posture should have been more than sufficient to inform him of what the horny mare wanted, but she noticed him hesitating...

Was he inexperienced at giving oral?

"O-Oh wow, um… right now? In here?" he asked, suddenly more coy than Delta would have liked.

"Yeah, right bucking here, right bucking now," she clarified in a level tone. To emphasize her point, she slid a hoof down to her uncomfortably swollen lips and pulled one side of them open, exposing her hot canal for the stallion. "See what you've done to me you sexy stud?" she added, stroking his ego a bit. A fresh strand of her own lubricant seeped out of her and drooled down to the tile floor as she stretched herself open – what more proof could the stallion need than that?

"S-Sure, I see it," he replied.

"Good," Delta said dryly. "Then get down here, stop flapping that muzzle, and use it for something useful: like eating my damn pussy!”

Delta licked her lips, her tongue tasting some of the cum still stained there, and waited anxiously for her little stud to comply with her demands. She saw him beginning to shift himself from his sitting position and felt her eager marehood give a powerful throb of anticipation for the tongue she expected to feel there soon. It might not be dick, but she knew from how wet and ready she was that it was going to feel like the best damn tongue-fuck she'd had in months, no matter how unskilled or fumbly the stallion might be. However, as Blitz came to a stand, she noticed him take a tentative step away from her as his eyes scanned over her body.

Something was wrong.

What was the stallion waiting for? Delta watched as the his eyes moved over her body, from her cum-stained fur to her ever more irritated face and back down to her weeping marehood. She studied his expression and saw something familiar there: as he continued to look at her, a sort of dawning realization formed on his face. She knew that look immediately, and when it became increasingly clear to her what was happening, she felt a cold lump begin to form in the pit of her stomach.

"Well?!" she said, her voice rising in volume.

It seemed to startle the stallion into speaking.

"U-Uhh, look, I don't know about this."

"What the hay do you not 'know about'?" she said, her furor rising with every syllable. "It's not going to bucking bite you; but I might if you don't get down there and start returning the damn favor!"

"Favor? C'mon lady, we already had some fun, so–"

"We had fun?! I'm sure you had fun while I was sucking your greedy fucking cock. What's the damn problem all the sudden?"

"I dunno, you're just… kind of…"

"What? I'm kind of what?!"

Without a doubt Delta already knew what the stallion was about to say. Even before he spoke she was dropping her hind legs back down and setting them on the floor, her arousal all but forgotten as she felt her blood beginning to pre-emptively boil. Her eyes pierced the stallion's with a look so furious that he reflexively pressed his plot up against the stall door in a futile attempt to put distance between them. With nowhere else to go in this cramped space he could only look into Delta's eyes and see them daring him to finish his earlier thought – so he did.

"You're kind of... old?" he said, his body tensing expectantly.

Delta stared back at the stallion, her expression darkening as she summoned forth all her willpower to not simply reach forward and strangle him. She wasn't sure what made her the most angry: the insinuation that her age made her undesirable or simply the audacity the stallion had to say such a thing seconds after he covered her in his ejaculate. Both ideas were infuriating, but she could hardly bring herself to believe she had actually heard the stallion correctly.

Gathering what little calm she had left, Delta leaned forward from her seated position and spoke, her voice barely above a whisper. "... the buck did you just say to me?"

Blitz's narrowed his eyes as she asked the question, his lips curling into a cocky sneer as he answered her. "I said I think you're too damn old for me lady."

Previously, Blitz had been cautiously stepping around the mare's belligerence, but as the two continued to exchange ever louder expletives it became clear that he was also losing his temper, and fast. It did little to phase Delta though and she sprung from the toilet seat onto all fours—wobbling only slightly in her intoxicated state—and shoved her face right up to his.

"Apparently not too old to suck you off you ungrateful little shit!"

At this distance Delta could smell the alcohol on the punk’s breath even as she saw the look of defiance shining in his eyes. "Maybe I thought I was doing you a favor!" he replied as his muzzle pressed uncomfortably against hers. It was little surprise that his words only made the mare even more furious, causing her wings to flare out from her sides as a shot of adrenaline filled her body. Every muscle in her was visibly shaking with rage at this point.

"I don't need your fucking charity!" Delta screamed as her body wound up tight, ready to spring at the smallest provocation from the stallion. He seemed unmoved by her words and rolled his eyes at her assertion. If he had a real reason for turning her down he seemed well past the point of actually explaining it. Whether he was stubborn, naturally antagonistic or assuming Delta's show of anger and aggression was a bluff, he seemed perfectly content to simply go on provoking her even further.

"Let's be honest, that was the closest to a dick your old cunt will ever get, bitch!"

Delta took a deep breath, feeling her body tense up, her anger rising as she looked at this colt who had just denied her. Delta saw only red.

The Black Horse, well loved by its regulars and patrons, was a fairly nondescript bar located near the southern outskirts of Las Pegasus. Being so close to the vast expanse of desert to the south tended to leave those living in the 'burbs a little more rough around the edges. Its residents were hardy, somber and industrious, so it was little surprise that a lot of the industry in Las Pegasus - what little there was - tended to be scattered around the south edge of the town where these hard-working ponies lived. Ponies here endured hours of tough labor for their bits and were very discerning in how they spent them. This all worked in favor of The Black Horse bar, because it was a no-nonsense kind of place where ponies knew they could come for a cold drink at a good price after a long, tiring day. There was a kind of community here in the south with everypony working together to drive the industry of Las Pegasus forward. This contrasted with some of the more fast and loose bars, clubs and other avenues that existed in the central business district of this gambling town; they were places where tourists and partiers went to be wild and unruly… but not down here. In the Las Pegasus southern community, fools were not suffered lightly.

It had been a relatively quiet Tuesday night at The Black Horse, as was usual for the weekdays. Only a relatively small handful of ponies were milling about in the bar and having drinks at a quarter past eight, though more will spilling in all the time as their shifts ended, leaving them thirsty for a little relaxation. Unfortunately, tonight, that relaxation was on hold.

There was an undeniable restlessness that hung over the bar on this particular night, its patrons tense, their conversations muted or hushed. Every pony in attendance was leaning uncomfortably, ears twitching as small fragments of an argument that had been forming over the past minute could be heard coming from the bathroom. Fights and scuffles weren't exactly uncommon in The Black Horse, or at least no more so than any other bar, but there was one patron in particular with a bit of a history of it. For all the sense of community and togetherness that tight little Equestrian communities like the one in southern Las Pegasus usually felt, there was always that one pony.

The Black Sheep.

Bursting through the bathroom door came a cool-blue earth pony with an enraged Delta Vee in close pursuit. 'Blitz' the earth pony sprinted down the center of the bar, narrowly weaving his way around stools, chairs and an incredibly startled waitress as he made a mad dash for the front exit. In spite of his drunken stupor the earth pony seemed to fare surprisingly well as he made an agile cut through the veritable obstacle course before him. It might have been the adrenaline now pumping through his system, triggered by his fight-or-flight response and the growing welt over his right eye from the unexpected right hook of the older mare he'd slighted. Whatever the case, he had little trouble in plotting a safe path toward his goal.

Delta Vee, on the other hoof, didn't fare as well. As she passed the waitress that Blitz had sent into a dizzy spiral from his sprint, the edge of her hoof clipped the rear leg of the other mare. That contact was so very brief, but it was all that was needed to send Delta slingshotting forward into an uncontrolled dive. She gave a beat of her wings in a vain attempt to get aloft and avoid impacting the ground, but it was too late as she found herself colliding harshly against one of the bar's - thankfully unoccupied - tables. Her momentum halted, head dizzy with intoxication and fury, Delta barely had time to shake her head and begin recovering her wits before the dizzy waitress came tumbling down next to her and bringing with her a small plate of spaghetti which landed with a dull, wet smack right onto Delta's left thigh.

"Ow! Shit!" Delta cried.

Her hoof shot down to slap the hot mess from her leg, sending it flying a short distance before it splattered across a nearby stallion's fetlocks. The stallion jolted in surprise from the sudden contact of the warm, messy food and gave an angry shout at the pissed off mare who was now pulling herself up into a stand and staring daggers toward Blitz, now nearly home free at the other end of the bar.

"I'll have your damn head for this!" she shouted after him. Blitz turned to face her and, upon seeing that she was safely an entire bar's length away, took a moment to respond to her challenge.

"Not a chance you old cunt!"

Clearly satisfied with himself, Blitz turned back toward the exit and took a few more casual steps toward it before stopping. Delta watched as he threw back a smile at her and said one final thing before departing.

"... And my name's not 'Blitz', idiot!"

Not-Blitz let out a callous laugh and then quickly fled out the front door and out of her sight. She wasn't ready to let the punk go so easily though; he may have a small head start, but she reasoned that unless he had a small rocket booster hidden up his obnoxious plothole she could easily catch up to him once she had some clear and open skies to make use of her wings.

Steeling her resolve, Delta made ready to continue her dash, but was stopped suddenly by the presence of a firm hoof on her withers, holding her in place. The abrupt and unwanted contact was nearly enough to send Delta back into a blind rage and she pivoted herself wildly to throw a punch at whatever idiot was dumb enough to restrain her. She saw the offender out of the corner of her eye and reared a forehoof back, readying her strike... but in an instant all the hostility fell away from her as the stallion came more into focus.

Liquid Blaze, an aging earth pony with stout features, a streak of grey in his short mane, and a demeanor as unyielding as it was gentle, stood bracing the disheveled Delta Vee. Looking into his firm and intense eyes she knew she'd screwed up, but there was no way she'd dare throw a punch now. Never minding the fact that Liquid Blaze - who often went by 'Blaze' to those who knew him - was not a pony to be trifled with; with a record of prize fights under his belt from his earlier years as a bright-eyed and spunky boxer who was quite a competitor in the ring, Blaze commanded a certain level of respect. He was a strong pony chiseled out of granite... but had a softness to him that could soothe the heart of an angry dragon.

"Vee?" he said, his tone firm but questioning.

Delta's head wheeled around and looked back at the door where the young stallion had escaped. With each passing moment he put more distance from himself and her fury. She gestured toward the exit with her hoof, still shaking slightly from adrenaline and anger, and made to plead her 'case'.

"That little prick, he…"

"Yeah?" Blaze said, his brow raising a millimeter. His posture was as non-threatening as it could be while holding the mare, though the astute observer could see his legs were tense and ready to spring at a moment’s notice.

"He pissed ya off, right?" he added, finishing Delta's own train of thought.

"Yeah!" she said..

"But now he's gone," he pointed out.

"No thanks to you!" Delta asserted. She rolled her shoulder as if to throw off Blaze's hoof, though the motion lacked any sort of force to it. He held fast, but not so hard that Delta couldn't get out from under the hoof if she made a true effort to do so. Her quarrel wasn't with this gentlepony bartender; however, her fur still bristled from his touch.

"Will you get your damn hoof off of me?"

"Sure thing Vee. As long as we don't have a problem?" he said.

It was at that moment that Delta finally began to feel the weight of the tension in the bar pressing down on her. Her eyes darted about the lobby and saw most of the patrons staring at her and the bartender, waiting to see if she was going to make and even bigger fool of herself. It was eerily quiet, everypony rigid and still with anticipation of the next move one of the two of them would make. Slowly, carefully, she took a deep breath and held it… then released.

"No, we don't have a problem," she said through gritted teeth, her voice straining with effort to be calm.

Delta had no intention on starting another fight, least of all with 'Black Eye' Blaze, and certainly not in one of the few bars on the south side where she was at least begrudgingly welcome. It took a monumental effort for her to sit, unmoving and unthinking, and let herself simply calm down.

'Old' he had called her. Just some washed up barfly. What did he know anyway?!

It took every ounce of Delta's willpower to stop herself from wrenching out of Blaze's grasp and trying to do… something. But what? What would she do now? Go flying about in the dark looking for a pony whose face she'd barely committed to memory? When it came right down to it, it simply wasn't worth her time. Wasn't worth burning yet another bridge to a bar that she actually liked.

"Okay Vee, that's good," Blaze said finally. Pulling his hoof off her withers the gentlecolt then stepped back a few paces and came to a slow sit, his joints popping just slightly from the effort. Delta watched as the graying stallion looked over her body, his eyes regarding her with a look understanding.

I'm still covered in it, Delta thought. A slow and painful realization came to her as she imagined what she must look like right now: her fur covered in cum, smelling of musk, booze and spaghetti with dozens of bar patrons staring at her as she basked in her anger and shame.

Blaze continued, mercifully taking her attention off the thought of her current condition.

"Vee, go get cleaned up, okay? Clear your head -- call it a night."

Delta looked to raise a complaint about the 'calling it a night' comment, but Blaze had done this song and dance too many times before.

"I mean it Vee. Please?"

What choice did she have? And the way he asked her to do it, his voice full of that gruff geniality... he was well within his rights to toss her out on an ear, deny her whatever he wished, yet he went and said please. Delta figured she didn't have much choice either way, request or not. She didn't like it, but it was better than the alternative. Still, she couldn't help but feel a knot in her stomach as she nodded in agreement with the bartender. They pity me, she thought, and that idea above all others… sickened her.

"Yeah, sure Blaze. Whatever."

He gave a single nod of his head and came back to a stand so that he could turn his attention to his confused and recovering waitress. Delta watched the two for a moment longer before turning her attention back to the surrounding patrons one last time, feeling their pity, their disapproving stares… to hell with them – to hell with this whole night!

She did decide to get cleaned up first, as much as she wanted to be out of the bar and away from those judging stares; she felt so dirty. Soiled. Used.

Delta found her way back to the bathroom and was soon in front of a mirror, looking at her own tired eyes in the reflection - now no longer burning with anger so much as simmering - as she turned on the water spigot of the sink in front of her. She made a quick effort to clean off her face first and foremost, wanting the smell of the stallion's cum away from her nostrils yesterday; the smell of it was enough to bring the image of the nameless stallion's cock back into her mind. She could still feel it in her mouth, throbbing… or, perhaps that was simply the lingering traces of her own stubborn arousal that still, even after everything that happened, ached with a dull, lingering heat.

Why did it have to be such a chore just to get a dick in her? All she wanted was a good time: a few stiff drinks and a cute little stud to buck back at the trailer. Why did stallions all have to be so unreliable? So stupid?

Finished with her face, Delta moved on to the rest of her fur and scrubbed it thoroughly with a hoof lathered in soap from a nearby dispenser. The scrubbing seemed to go on forever as she kept finding more and more streaks of partially dried semen crusting in her fur; seeing the vile liquid on her body left her feeling so disgusted that her scrubbing hoof began to rub her skin raw as she desperately tried to cleanse herself of every last trace of the stallion's unwanted presence.

Damnit, why won't the smell come off! she thought as her hoof scrubbed ever more vigorously. Wasn't it bad enough to be cheated by that damn stallion without having to be soaked in his smell too? Even now Delta couldn't figure what his damn problem was. If he thought she was 'too old' then why bother at all? She just couldn't wrap her head around it... perhaps didn't want to wrap her head around it.

Sure, she was middle aged, but it was equally true that she routinely had young stallions anxiously lining up, cocks at the ready, desperate for a go at her marehood. She knew she should just push the little stallion creep out of her mind and go back out to face the world as strong as she knew she was. She had better things to do with her time than worry about the inane and nonsensical ramblings of one stallion! How could any stallion or mare deny her brilliance? Her sex appeal?

She was attractive. She was smart! She was Delta Fuckin' Vee!

Right?

Yet Delta couldn't shake the feeling that continued to work its way up from the core of her stomach, gripping her throat tight as she swallowed hard. With a sudden sense of reluctance and dread, she found her attention drawn back to the mirror to gaze at the mare there.

It was the eyes, she noticed. She looked so tired. A thousand days in the desert, living amongst her garbage and the scraps of her unfulfilled dreams. Surrounded by filth, living like filth, looking and smelling like filth. But most of all, what Delta saw when she looked into the mirror, was the thing she didn't want to accept. Whether or not the words of the stallion were true, all her assertions and convictions, her feelings… when she summed them all up and totaled them together, she was left with one simple fact: In that moment, standing in front of the mirror of The Black Horse bar and searching deeply into her own eyes, she couldn't ignore the undeniable truth of it all. Right at that moment…

She felt old.

In an instant, Delta's facade of pride and dignity shattered and she watched with growing horror as the face of the old mare in the mirror twisted into a grimace of pain and hurt.

Tears streamed down the mare’s face, and Delta found she felt sorry for her.

From the trailer of Delta Vee's junkyard you could just barely make out the small blue dot on the horizon as it approached. It traveled at a fairly steady pace, weaving side to side in a hazardous and unpredictable flight path toward the small compound. When it finally got close enough, the unmistakable shape of a pegasus mare could be seen now banking hard and making a swift descent toward the littered ground of the junkyard below. It approached quickly, its shape soon taking on the unmistakable features of Delta Vee herself who now plummeted toward her home very fast; too fast.

Delta barely had time to pitch herself upward so that her wings could generate the needed drag to slow her fall. She furiously fluttered her wings against her vector and madly flailed all four of her hooves as she saw the ground 'rising' toward her at an alarming rate. The sight of it made her eyes go wide as she began to make out some of the fine details of the ground below her: a veritable landfield of sharp debris and blunt objects spanned out in every direction, all equally undesirable landing sites. Delta had about enough time to inwardly curse at herself for leaving the grounds of her home in such a messy and hazardous state when she finally impacted with the ground – having thankfully avoided any particularly dangerous debris in the process.

"Augh! Bucking hell!" Delta cursed as her hooves caught into the dirt and began skidding forward, a trail of dust and debris rising in her wake. Her hooves felt hot from the friction as she finally came to a stop a full twenty feet from her landing spot, nestled in-between two large pieces of towering rocket refuse. She looked over her shoulder back toward where she had just landed and realized that if she had angled her descent wrong for just a moment she would've impacted one of the hulks at high speed; possibly could have died from it. She blinked, her mind sobering for just a moment as she considered the gravity of that thought.

"Buck YEAH!" she shouted suddenly, sauntering toward one of the hulks she'd landed between and gave it a hip-check as she went on chuckling at her own reckless stupidity. "Woooo!"

That was close, she thought to herself, shaking her head in amusement as her chuckling slowly died out. She regarded the old, rusty machinery in front of her for a moment. It was a part of the atlas series of rocket fuselages and had been slowly accumulating rust for about as long as the junkyard had been open. One of these days we'll get you fixed up, she thought, her mind buzzing warmly. You've just been out here all this time, slowly aging in the desert huh? You old rusty bitch!

Delta felt slightly uneven on her hooves as she went on examining the rocket body in greater detail, her eyes drawn to a spot of shine underneath the thin layer of oxidation which hinted at the sturdier steel that still resided underneath. She nodded to herself, satisfied at the sight of that gleaming metal.

"See!" she asserted, reaching a hoof out to touch the rocket gingerly. "Still as strong as ever." Delta slowly stepped away from the rocket and gave it a salute with her hoof as her lips curled into a goofy smile.

One of these days, she'd fix it. Eventually…

Putting further musing of work aside, Delta thought she might slip into her trailer and hunt around for a little more of what she'd had at the bar earlier. She was thankful to Blaze for permitting her one final, tall shot of the good stuff before she'd departed. He was a gentlecolt, that Blaze; endlessly generous when he didn't need to be. Though she still felt a slight burn in her guts when she recalled the way he held her back from chasing after the little worm that had done so much to ruin her night.

"Little shit," Delta said as she turned to face her trailer and began cantering toward it, weaving around bits of junk as she went. Just the thought of the stallion's face was sufficient to make her stomach turn. Being turned down had hurt more than she wanted to admit, but what made it worse was how badly she wanted to bring him home. She had already worked herself up into quite a state of arousal before even leaving home earlier in the evening. In fact, she had been feeling horny all day and assumed she'd finally started her heat, though that wound up not being the case. It left her somewhat perplexed, but she tried to make the best of it. Now she was left just as hot and bothered as before, insulted, upset and not nearly as drunk as she'd like to be.

Well, we can fix that, Delta thought, her spirits slowly lifting as she approached her trailer door. It might not be quite what she had planned, but she was sure with some help from little miss December and a nice, long ride on her biggest toy she…

Delta's train of thought came to a shuddering halt as she noticed the key to her trailer door was sticking out of the lock.

"The fuck?" she said, her voice barely a whisper as her fur began to bristle and a powerful surge of adrenaline shot into her weary body. Had someone broken in? Delta's ear perked at a sudden sound she'd only just now become aware of: music was coming from inside the trailer. The unmistakable sound of Smooth Sax's 'Moonlight' album, track three, was playing. Delta reckoned if there was an intruder in her home they at least had good taste in jazz, though that did little to dispel the sudden fear that gripped her.

Slowly, carefully, Delta pressed her ear up against the door and listened for more sounds from inside: she could hear the grinding of her space heater's reluctant ventilation. It confirmed her suspicion that someone must be inside her home, though the aggressive sputtering of the heater made it all but impossible to hear anything but the plaintiff whines of the fourteen year old heating unit. She couldn't detect the sound of hoofsteps or any kind of clanging or clashing that might indicate somepony rummaging through her stuff.

What the hay? Are they just hanging out in there or what?! Delta wondered. She entertained the idea, briefly, that it could be someone she knew inside, but she couldn't imagine who it would be at this hour. As she began to gather her thoughts, her earlier fear started to subside somewhat as she considered her options before going to confront… whomever it was. A quick glance was given up and down the length of her trailer; she figured a quick peek in from one of the windows might give her a look at the little squatter that had the audacity to kick up their hooves in her trailer.

Delta made her way surreptitiously along the side of the trailer toward the window of her room, her movements exaggeratedly slow in her effort to remain stealthy. Once she was underneath the window she stopped and once again pressed her ear against the side of the trailer, listening. It was hard to be certain, but Delta was sure she could hear something inside: a soft noise, barely audible, and perhaps a hint of breathing. Definitely breathing, she was almost sure of that much at least. She also thought she could hear muttering, though the sound of Smooth Sax's musical stylings made it hard to be as certain as she'd like about any of it.

Damnit!

She knew there was no way to know who was inside unless she actually looked in through the window, though there was still a part of her that was fearful of what she might see. What would she do if the pony inside saw her looking through the window? What if they tried to give chase to her? A flurry of contingency plans went through her mind at how she might handle the pony inside. Delta groaned inwardly, knowing there was really nothing left to do but actually peek through the window. She could likely sit in the dirt outside of her own home and fret over the countless possibilities until she froze to death.

Buck that! she thought angrily. She'd be damned if she sat outside her own damn trailer, freezing, while some jerk off inside enjoyed the warmth and comforts of her room! Delta took a few deep breaths and psyched herself up before fluttering up to the window to confront whatever waited inside. Then, with a renewed determination sweeping through her, she leapt up into the air and flapped her wings to stay aloft as she looked into her own room, prepared for whatever waited beyond…

Well, prepared for anything except what she actually saw.

What the HELL!? Delta screeched internally. She dropped back to the ground and stammered backward until her hoof caught a rock in the dirt and sent her tumbling to the ground with a painful thud. Stunned and dumbfounded, Delta sat silently, eyes staring blankly forward as she mentally processed what she had just seen.

Apogee was upright on her bed with her small, taunt wings flaring out as she grinded aggressively against one of her larger toys. As shocked as Delta had been to see her own daughter in such a blatantly sexual way, what surprised her most was how the the small teen was admitting one of her largest toys into her small, lithe form. Delta was incredulous at the idea that her daughter was ready for something so… large.

More than the size of the toy, though, the look on Apogee's face is what would remain burned into Delta's retina for weeks to come: Apogee's sweet, youthful features were twisted into a look of absolute desperation and need, her eyes squeezed tightly together as her tongue was lolling cutely out of the corner of her mouth.

It took several seconds for Delta's mind to finish deliberating over the details, but the overriding question which rose to the surface of her thoughts was how and why her daughter was in her room in the first place. Had she forgotten that Apogee was meant to be dropped off tonight? No, she was certain Jet hadn't said anything of the sort. She would have remembered such a thing; likely would have been grousing (rightfully so) about it all evening if that was the case. But why? Why now of all times?! What reason could she possibly have for being in her trailer at nine at night, riding on a silicone horsedick? One of her silicone horsedicks!

Delta took a deep breath, rubbed her forehead, and tried to calm herself. It wasn't the end of the world, she reasoned. Perhaps the ditzy teen had been dropped off on short notice; that would just be her luck after all. Why such a huge sex toy though? It seemed a departure from what Delta had noticed of her daughters habits over the years. She had found it endlessly amusing to find some of her vibrators conspicuously clean—a task which Delta often neglected to perform herself—which made it all the more obvious that the young filly was making use of her toys. That wasn't to say she minded Apogee having a little fun with them, though, she couldn't recall ever finding one of her larger toys miraculously clean. It seemed like a rather sudden change in her daughter's behavior, but Delta realized it was a sign that her filly was quickly becoming a mare: she'd already had her first heat after all. She was growing up.

Hay, I can remember being horny all the time at that age, Delta thought. Turns out some things never change as here she was, thirty years later, just as horny as ever. She knew that Apogee was really not all that different; she was a young mare now, and Delta could at least sympathize with what that was like. That said, it didn't make her feel any less annoyed about being stuck outside with her wingtips slowly turning to ice. Still, as frustrating as it might be, it'd just be that much more of a headache to interrupt the filly and start an argument, right?

Sighing with a degree of resignation, Delta came to the conclusion that she should just leave the filly alone for now and let her finish while she sat outside and waited. How long could Apogee really take to finish anyway? Not that long, surely. However, as Delta stared between her legs and thought about it some more, she began to doubt that observation more and more.

Didn't she herself often take hours to feel completely satisfied some nights? What if Apogee was the same? That was a thought she hadn't even considered. Delta couldn't really be sure, she had never really talked to the filly about such things before. It wasn't that she was too ashamed or embarrassed to talk about sex or anything; to the contrary, Delta thought she was pretty open about such things. Perhaps a little too open at times. If that was the case, why was it so different with Apogee?

Delta let out a wistful sigh and gave a frustrated kick at the dirt between her legs with a forehoof. As she watched the debris falling back to the ground she heard a little voice in her head answer the question: Because she's your daughter, and you don't know how to deal with her. Delta winced. The little voice was right – as usual.

Realizing she was quickly getting nowhere in figuring out the situation with Apogee, Delta decided to let her still-buzzed mind wander toward some other topic. Unsurprisingly, the earlier events of the night quickly came rushing in to fill the void of her thoughts, seemingly eager to drag her down ever further into melancholy. It was the face of the little stallion punk that appeared in her mind's eye first. She could still clearly imagine his smug little grin of pleasure when she'd finished servicing him. It was a good thing she'd managed to wash the smell of him off herself, otherwise she might have gone mad by now. The mere memory of his smell sent a wave of revulsion through her body.

What did he know anyway, huh? Little prick. I can still pick up anypony at the bar that I want! He's just lucky that Blaze stopped me from pounding him into the dirt…

With only that brief thought Delta noticed her heart rate had climbed significantly and a slight burning could be felt in her hooftips as a slow anger began to simmer inside her. She forced herself to think of anything else, though without direction or intent, her mind seemed content to keep recalling all her earlier frustrations. What the hay caused all this stupid shit in the first place? she wondered angrily.

Oh, right, the endless arousal...

Delta could feel her anger rising ever further as she pictured her turbulent morning. Waking up in a stew of your own lubricant was rarely the signal to the start of a good day. She'd rolled over and grudgingly hoofed herself off—still laying in her own damp sheets and wetting her fur as she did so—and figured that would be enough to get her day going. Turned out that was just the start of her suffering.

Covered in her own liquids, groggy and painfully enduring a hangover, Delta had decided to take a quick shower to get her damp, matted fur clean. The crisp, cool feeling of the shower had felt pretty nice, but after a few minutes she noticed herself throbbing down between her thighs. She could still recall her sense of confusion at that as she wondered if her delayed heat had finally started. Before she could deal with that question further she felt overwhelmed with the need to have another quickie in the shower.

Feeling a bit helpless against her own arousal, she set the aftermarket shower head to its much advertised and flaunted 'pulse' setting and aligned the head to just the right spot with a practiced touch. She turned around, leaned forward and gasped as the painfully wonderful sensation of the water hitting her sensitive flesh could be felt: the pulsing was excellent even in spite of the lackluster water pressure in her trailer. She could still vividly recall how quickly her pleasure had built, sending her mind into a dizzying lust. She had braced her hooves against the wall and prepared herself for what was sure to be an orgasm she wouldn't soon forget, except…

"Un-bucking-believable," Delta muttered aloud, forcing her mind to halt her recollection a moment. Once again she scuffed the dirt in front of her angrily. "Stupid water heater."

Whatever intense arousal she had built in the shower quickly dissipated when the hot water suddenly failed, causing an ice-cold jet to powerfully pulse against her burning nethers which had been only seconds away from release. She flailed about madly with her hooves for several seconds before she managed to turn the water off, leaving herself still throbbing with need and shivering from the sudden, biting cold. Worse yet, she became aware that one of the pipe joints had sprung a small leak and was sending a tiny jet of water against the roof of the bathroom.

Delta had resolved to fix all these issues, though in her rapidly escalating frustration she decided to put it off in favor of grabbing breakfast. When she got into the kitchen and rummaged around, the fact she had run out of Boop O' Roops or any other food barely got more than a grunt of annoyance from her; it was a trifle compared to everything else she had been through up to that point.

A trip to the store and the usual tribulations of dealing with cheerful ponies finally got her some food which she brought home. By the time she had finished breakfast it was well past time to actually do some real work around the junkyard. She had managed a few hours of actual productivity in taking inventory when once again, around five in the afternoon, she felt that nagging heat between her legs demanding satisfaction. This all came even after taking a little Moon Tea—just in case her heat had indeed started—so she was all the more annoyed when she still felt so horny in spite of her foul mood.

That had been the moment when Delta decided to pull out all the stops. She was determined to squelch her arousal once and for all and, by six in the evening, she was once more laying on her bedsheets. Set all around her was an array of sex toys and her favorite playcolt magazines and, so armed, she made use of every tool at her disposal to satisfy her wanting marehood.

It hadn't worked.

All she had really managed to do was make an ungodly mess of her bed and in the end she still couldn't quell her need. That was when she had made up her mind to go find somepony for the evening. Stallion, mare, it didn't matter! Anything would have been better than suffering another minute under the oppressive weight of her libido. So, naturally, she had hit the bars. It was really only chance that she had bumped into that terrible shithead 'Blitz' who, at the time, seemed like a reasonably good find.

In hindsight, Delta realized his cocky, self-serving attitude should probably have been a warning indicator. She hadn't really taken much notice of it at the time, but now it all seemed crystal clear. Even she had standards, and the stallion's attitude would normally have landed him in the 'no fly zone'; sadly, her insatiable neediness had clouded her better judgement and, well… here she was.

This. Fucking. Sucks, Delta concluded. Mouldering in her thoughts had done very little to help bring her irritation under control. She glanced back up at her trailer and into the window of her room. Apogee couldn't be seen from this low angle, but Delta could clearly imagine the filly in there, bouncing up and down on her toys and having a good time. Surely it would be unfair to be envious of the enjoyment her daughter was no doubt having, but Delta couldn't seem to stop herself from feeling that way as her simmering anger quickly began to rise back toward a boil.

I should be in there right now, she thought bitterly. Don't I deserve at least that much? To be able to enjoy my own fucking dildo in my own damn house so I can get rid of this… fucking... agony!?

Delta could feel her body trembling once again, mostly out of anger, but also from the chill that was quickly working its way further into her bones. She wanted her heater… her bed… she wanted to feel good again, to enjoy the comfort of her home and her room!

It took every ounce of the mare's effort to keep from bolting up and slamming through the trailer door at that very moment. She frantically looked around herself, searching for some answer to her plight, when it finally struck her what she needed right at that moment more than anything in the entire world.

With a shaky hoof, Delta reached down to her shirt pocket and fished out her pack of cigarettes. She could hardly imagine a moment in her life when she needed a cigarette more than at that moment. She could practically taste the tar on her lips as she fumbled about with the lid of the pack with her trembling hoof. Every aching inch of her body was now crying for the nicotine contained inside, and soon she would have it; she might have been defeated at every turn before now, but at least she could have this one thing. Finally, Delta got the top of the pack flipped open and peered inside…

It was empty.

Raw pain, hurt, and fury tore through Delta Vee's tired and cold body. Like a tempest, wild and untamed, she flew to her trailer door in the blink of an eye, grabbed the doorknob, and threw open the door to her home. Her voice boomed throughout every inch of the tiny trailer as she lost herself completely to the moment.

"APOGEEEEEEE!"

Author's Note

Luck for me I'd already written about half of this chapter before I even submitted chapter 1 so it wasn't as bad to get this one out.

I know this chapter kind of takes a dump on Delta Vee, but that only means things can improve from here on out, right? One thing that I maybe didn't portray as well as I could have is how some of her misfortune is often a result of her own actions. Most of what happens to Delta here is due to the random wiles of fate.

There will be more going on in that regard later I think.

Anyways I had a lot of fun playing around with Delta's PoV so I hope everyone thinks I did a good job with that. Feel free to let me know in comments either way.

Next chapter is going to get... interesting.
Can't wait to start writing it.

Lastly, want to once again thank P-Berry, Clopficsinthecomments, and also Pahn for doing proofing and editing work on this.

Thanks for reading.

Inclination Change

A mare's personal space is serious business.

Such a space went by many colorful names ranging from Mare Nooks to Hormone Havens. When a mare was feeling the pressures of society and stress she might turn to her personal space for comfort. These spaces contained her various sentimental possessions so she could be surrounded by familiar sights and smells. Some mares used their spaces for hobbies, while others might fill it with family photos or valuables. It was a place for her loves and passions–and her secrets.

Most mares (and stallions) had these personal dens and for good reason: ponies were public and inclusive creatures by nature. And these traits were reinforced by the pressures of Equestrian culture which venerated transparency and openness. Because of these pressures, ponies commonly had a secret space to shelter themselves from constant social exposure. Most ponies will choose to share their personal space with friends and family; being welcomed into a pony’s private sanctum was a sign of trust between friends and a way of saying 'I value our friendship'. This was a great honor, because anything serious enough to warrant secrecy from public eyes was almost certainly of profound importance to the pony who hides it.

Then there were ponies who were reluctant to share their nooks among family and friends, whether out of shyness, being introverted, or feeling withdrawn from Equestrian society. Such a pony's personal space might be more commonly called a Mare Lair or a Fortress of Solitude.

Delta Vee fell into the latter category of ponies.

Delta treated her entire trailer as a private space and disallowed ponies—excluding the rare lay she decided to bring back to the trailer—from being inside it. When Apogee became a part of her life she had to revise her territorial claim to include only her room so that she could take care of her daughter. For a long time the mare disallowed Apogee from stepping a hoof in her room and Apogee was rarely allowed to sleep on her mom's bed (barring fits of illness or injury), making her sleep on the old couch in the kitchen.

A young filly's adventurous spirit knew no borders though, and over time Apogee became familiar with her mom's musky, cluttered sanctum. It wasn't about the adventure for her though. Apogee wanted to become closer to her mom, and going through her personal belongings was Apogee's bold, if rather dangerous, plan to learn more about the mare. She always hoped to find something in her mom's room which would bring an epiphany; a profound insight into the older mare's inscrutable nature. She rarely found the answers she sought, but many of her mom's intimate possessions did help her learn about her own sexuality.

It was an exciting time for her. She thought she was being sneaky and clever when she went into her mom's room to use her various sex toys. It turned out that Delta was aware of it all along and had teasingly made her aware of that fact recently. In retrospect, it seemed obvious that her mom would find out, and in many ways it was a weight off her shoulders that she knew. She was also surprisingly aloof about the whole thing and seeing her unconcerned about her possessions was surprising to Apogee.

It was both ironic and touching to know she'd been going through her mom's things in secret to get closer to her, only to discover that Delta was secretly sharing her things all along.

But tonight was different.

It was all based on permission and expectation. Delta was okay with Apogee using her sex toys because she'd been allowing it in secret all along. Free access to her mom's house was still something Delta struggled to accept though. To say that Delta was sensitive and critical about issues of permission and trust was an understatement, and having her personal things being used on her own bed by an uninvited 'guest'... was the most offensive violation of Delta's privacy possible.

And here was Apogee in her mom's trailer, uninvited and trying to masturbate on her bed.

What was she thinking? The truth was, she hadn't been thinking. She'd hoped to pass of her problems for future Apogee to deal with, but when she heard the baleful cry of her mother echoing throughout the trailer she knew she had inherited past Apogee's foolish mistakes. She couldn't take it back now.

Delta Vee was home… and she was pissed.

Distraught, Apogee assessed her situation as adrenaline flooded her body: she was standing on her rear legs above her mom's COOLCO—now stuffed an uncomfortable inch inside her—and fluttering her wings for balance. Even using her wings and gravity to assist, pushing in that inch of the monster toy was a herculean effort. She needed to get it out, fast, but her legs and wings were sore, shaking from exhaustion. All that effort and she'd felt nothing but pressure. No orgasm, not a shred of pleasure.

But satisfying masturbation was the least of Apogee's concerns. She knew her mom would soon burst into the room like a furious storm. Thinking fast, Apogee realized her only hope was to get the COOLCO back under the bed before her mom could see what she'd done. With a quick beat of her wings, Apogee tried to lift herself off the dildo. It appeared to be working as she felt the pressure between her legs beginning to subside–then disaster struck.

Painful, wracking cramps shot through Apogee's overexerted wings and joints. She let out a pained yelp as her wings trembled uselessly in place. Frantically, she tried to move her legs only to find them unwilling, tired. She was running out of options; and time.

Apogee did the only reasonable thing she could think of: flail her hooves in panic.
It turned out to be quite difficult to keep balance while waving your hooves madly. Apogee felt her body falling backwards, her wings now seized and unable to keep her aloft. Reflexively, her legs tried to correct her balance before they, too, started to seize from exhaustion. Her center of mass was left with nowhere to go but straight down.

A stabbing pain shot up through the core of Apogee's body. She felt an overwhelming pressure that seemed to demand further entry inside her before stopping just short of her womb. A moment later and she had fallen onto her side, immediately curling into a fetal position as waves of throbbing pain dominated all her senses.

Unbearable as the pain was, Apogee sensed the moment her mom stepped into the room: a subtle shift in the air pressure announced the older mare’s arrival. Helpless, hurt and with nowhere left to flee, Apogee protectively covered her head with her forehooves, shut her eyes as tight as she could, and prepared for the worst.

"Apogee! What in the fuck are you doing here on my bed!" cried the enraged mare. Apogee didn't need to open her eyes and look to know her mom was by the bed, glaring daggers at her. "Get that damn thing out and get off my bed!"

Apogee wished she could comply, but the throbbing ache between her thighs and the paralyzing embarrassment of her situation left her speechless and immobilized. Naturally, Delta didn't stop shouting.

"I can't believe this! Was it Jet? Did he drop you off unannounced again?!" questioned Delta. Apogee pleaded for her to stop shouting, but her voice was utterly drowned out by the other mare's aggravated tirade.

"Damnit Apogee, are you even listening to me?!"

"M-Mom…" Apogee mewled between her mother's tempestuous words.

"Open your damn eyes and look at me! This is-"

"Mom!"

"-can't even have a moment of privacy in my own damn trailer… This is unacceptable! You need to-"

Apogee could understand why her mom was angry enough to yell at her. Weathering her mom's fury was a familiar burden, but being chased away before she'd even had a chance to utter a single word... cast out into the cold, alone and in pain... It was a burden she couldn't stand to bear. Her eyes burned with tears as she raised both her forehooves up and slammed them down against the bed sheets as hard as she could.

"MOM!! Stop yelling at me, please!"

Sobbing and shaking from adrenaline, Apogee opened her eyes to a world of dancing colors as her tears played tricks with the light. She focused on her mom who was standing near the edge of the bed, staring at her angrily. She wiped her tears away and tried to read her mom's face.

Delta often looked weary in both body and spirit, but tonight seemed a little different. There was more than just anger in her burning red eyes. But Apogee wasn't in a position to try and uncover the layers of truth that must be hiding under the blue mare's mask of exasperation.

A brief, uncomfortable exchange of eye contact was made between the two mares. Delta's eyes flicked down an up impatiently. Sensing her mom wanted her to do something, Apogee tried to pin the jumbo sized dildo against the bed and pull it free from her aching interior. It was an uncomfortable feeling and despite her efforts it refused to yield even slightly.

There was definitely something wrong. The dildo felt different somehow; the pressure was more intense, tighter. Confused, Apogee continued trying to fumble with the toy in spite of the pain it was causing. As it became apparent she wasn't going to make any progress, her embarrassment became increasingly unbearable.

Feeling stuck both literally and figuratively, Apogee glanced back at her mom and saw the impatient twitching in her ears. It was an expression Apogee saw many times before and knew that her mom's silent composure would soon be at an end.

Fresh tears formed in Apogee's eyes as helplessness overwhelmed her.

"I… I can't get it out," Apogee said, struggling to maintain eye contact with her mother's icy stare. Delta's expressed flicked between various emotions ranging from fury to confusion to frustration. Her mother's apparent lack of concern was a bitter pill for Apogee to swallow.

"What do you mean you 'can't get it out'?" asked Delta. Her lips drew to a thin line, twitching with effort to suppress what Apogee imagined to be a scolding for the ages.

"I don't know! It won't come out. I'm wiggling it all over the place, see?" She demonstrated the wiggle. The COOLCO remained annoyingly jammed. Apogee sighed and threw her arms up over her head. "It's just… stuck!"

Frustrated and embarrassed, Apogee hung her head until she could only see her mom's face from around her bangs. Expecting another outburst, she was surprised when her mom only furrowed her brow thoughtfully. Her contemplation then changed to something else–like some realization had struck her.

Daring to wonder what her mom might be thinking, Apogee asked, "What is it?"

"That's my COOLCO, isn't it?" Delta queried, her brow raising a centimeter.

Apogee twirled her forehooves end over end, remaining silent and stalling for more time to think. It was obvious that the morbidly large dildo was her mom's COOLCO, so she assumed the question was rhetorical. Why did it matter whether it was the COOLCO? Apogee realized there was no point in denying the truth and slowly nodded at her mom.

"I'm sorry mom," Apogee said. Feeling a need a justify her actions, Apogee began babbling unprepared excuses before her mom had a chance to continue arguing. "Things were really weird at home so I came here and—well originally I was gonna go to Diz's place, honest, but I couldn't really do that—so when I got here I, um… you know... and there was already all this stuff on your bed, but I was curious to try this big one that I hadn't used before, but then I was having trouble with it and–"

Her babbling halted when a sudden and unexpected sound from her mom shocked her into silence: Delta was snickering. Apogee stared at her mom in disbelief. Snickering turned to stifled laughs as Delta put a hoof over her mouth while her chest heaved and spasmed.

Normally Apogee could share a good laugh at her own expense, but the trials of the night weighed heavily on her. Her mother's chortling felt so unfair; cruel. So desperately Apogee wanted her mother's comfort and understanding, yet all she got instead was this. She felt her blood about to come to a boil.

"Hey! Don't laugh at me! What-"

"Apogee, wait," Delta said, interrupting her before she could start venting. "That model of COOLCO has an expanding flare feature kid. When it meets excessive resistance and pressure the flare grows."

Apogee was stunned. Her mouth fell to the floor as her mind put all the pieces together: the difficulty in getting it into her, the feeling of being filled… it all made sense. It was no wonder she failed to use the toy correctly when she didn't even understand how it was supposed to work.

Her hoof smacked to her forehead as she let out a groan. She thought she heard another chuckle from her mom and gave the most chilling glare she could summon. Delta broke eye contact first this time and rubbed the back of her neck uncomfortably, at a loss for words; a truly rare occasion indeed.

The silence didn't last long though, "Apogee, what are you doing here anyway?" A weary, tired sigh came before Apogee even answered.

It was a fair question. She kept asking herself the same thing with every new embarrassment the night brought. She tried to find the right words to explain the hardships of her day. Yet despite her best efforts nothing useful came to mind. Oh sure, there were many things she could say that would explain everything, but how could she tell her own mother that her ex—a pony she rather reviled—was fooling around with her own daughter? How could she hope to explain that in a way that made sense? Apogee could hardly understand it herself, much less explain it to anypony–least of all her mom.

Delta's red eyes stared at Apogee, burning for answers that she felt woefully incapable of providing. Every excuse she thought of came back to the argument between her and Jet. Apogee was determined to keep the true meaning of their Special Tuesdays secret. But as she sat on the bed with her mind running in circles, the glare of her mother become increasingly impatient, until finally Apogee blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

"It was… dad," she said.

"Jet?" was Delta's simple, terse reply.

Apogee saw her mom's interest was piqued. Her posture lost some of its previous tension and her ears gave a tentative twitch of curiosity. But Apogee wasn't out of the fire just yet. Delta was quick to ask for more details; Apogee prayed she would have answers.

"So he did drop you off here, is that it?"

Apogee bit her lip as her mind raced to construct a sufficient white lie. Surely a half-truth was better than blatant falsehood? She knew a lie was more convincing when it had bits of truth, but it pained her to deceive her mother.

Delta's patience once more waned as Apogee delayed answering. "Well?!"

"It was, well… he uh," muttered the cowering pegasus.

"He what Apogee?!" She felt her mother's fiery eyes set upon her with scrutiny. Suspecting Delta knew what she and Jet had done, Apogee began to panic again. It was irrational to think her mom had found out… yet her heart sank at the idea just the same. In her fear, Apogee blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

"Dad stood me up!"

Did she just just say that? Apogee couldn't believe she was capable of such stupidity until she heard the words come out of her own mouth. Expecting the worst, she flinched away from her mom. But Delta didn't yell or start throwing things. She just tilted her head at Apogee and looked perplexed by the outburst.

Of course that made logical sense: Delta wouldn't immediately assume that she and Jet were having an incestuous fling. If anything, that'd be the last place her mind would ever think to go. But Apogee's heart continued pounding in her chest anyway as she went on fumbling more excuses.

"Yeah, there was a… thing," Apogee said timidly.

"A thing." Delta said. She looked unimpressed.

"Yeah, a thing that he promised me," Apogee elaborated. The words were starting to come to her more quickly now. "It was a thing we were suppose to do together, but he backed out at the last second."

Delta gave a grunt of understanding and continued listening.

"It was like a father-daughter kind of thing y'know? Our special day where we hang out and do… stuff." Apogee's voice wandering on the last word earned her an ear perk from Delta. She hastily added, "Super awesome and fun stuff! I was really looking forward to it." Dipping her head solemnly, Apogee punctuated her story with a well placed frown.

Poor Delta. She looked so drained, standing there and trying to contemplate her story. Her blue muzzle pulled into a scrunch and her ears swiveled about as though she was searching for something. Was she upset? Or was she just tired from her day? Apogee felt the hairs on her neck standing on end and her heart raced as she waited for her mom to say something.

"I get it," Delta said finally.

Apogee rolled over onto her stomach and faced her mother more fully. "You do?" Ears pinning back, she beamed the brightest smile she could summon.

"Sure I do kid," Delta said. Her tension had noticeably decreased. Apogee liked to think it was her smile that did it. "I've known your father a long-ass time and if there is one thing I've learned it's that he's an unreliable asshole."

Despite what Jet had done, Apogee found it hard to hear her mom talk about him that way, justified or not. It was a reflex that she had learned over the years; Delta was frequently vocal about her dislike of Jet. Apogee found it tiresome most days. Downright upsetting on others.

"He's not always so bad," Apogee said. It almost felt like an obligation to offer a defense. But her weak justification sounded rather hollow even in her own ears. And judging by the rolling of her mom's eyes she was equally unconvinced.

"Well, whatever," Delta said with a dismissive wave of her hoof.

As a momentary silence fell over the room, the conversation surrounding Jet seemed put to rest. Apogee was glad to let it go. But Delta's earlier laughing and chiding still weighed heavily on her heart. She shrank under the gaze of her mother, ears folding down timidly. What would she say now? Apogee wondered.

Delta didn't say anything at first. She stood near the bed, her eyes unable to decide where to look. When her and Apogee locked gazes again Delta's ears folded down half-mast and she frowned. Without a word, the blue mare stepped forward and climbed up onto the bed. Unsure what her mom was going to do or say, Apogee's head dipped down until her chin rested on the bed sheets between her forehooves. Her eyes followed Delta's every little movement as she found a spot near Apogee and sat towering over her.

The pair shared another long moment of silence.

Up close like this Apogee smelled the faint scent of alcohol coming off her mom, though it was actually less noticeable than it usually was. What was more interesting was the faint smell of lilacs or some other kind of flower. It was actually quite pleasant. Apogee's nose scrunched while she tried to place the exact scent but was startled when her mom suddenly broke the long silence.

"Look kiddo, I'm sorry I laughed at you," she said. The further folding of her ears and the genuine regret in her voice added to her apology. "I know how it can be with Jet." Delta once again met the eyes of her child. Understanding and forgiveness passed wordlessly between mother and daughter.

Apogee let out a sigh of relief. Against all expectations she had found sympathy from her mother. She was immensely glad for it. But she also felt shame for doubting her mother's capacity for empathy and compassion—even if that compassion came at the expense of her dad's image. It wasn't ideal to bond over such a thing, but tonight Apogee would take any breaks she could get.

"Thanks mom," Apogee said, grinning ear to ear.

Delta's ears pinned fully against her head. "Yeah yeah, don't mention it." Her eyes broke contact and wandered. Sadly, Apogee recognized this kind of behavior for what it was: her mom struggled to accept compliments gracefully and dealing with touchy-feely moments were a challenge for her. But she wasn't done surprising Apogee just yet.

With a deep breath and a sigh, Delta met her daughter's eyes again. "Apogee, the thing is… Me and Jet haven't been on good terms for a long time. You know that." Apogee gave a simple and somber nod of agreement. "I've been carrying the scars of my regrets for a long, long time now. I can live with that disappointment. I'm used to it; I expect it." Her mother's words were difficult to endure. She had long ago learned to accept her parent's separation, but the weight of finality and permanence in her mother's conviction was still painful to hear. For a moment, she almost allowed herself to give into grief. But the tender—and unexpected—stroking of her mother's hoof on her withers all but dispelled her melancholy. It was a simple gesture, but not one Delta often expressed, so Apogee was all the more grateful for it. Delta continued speaking as she stroked, "I guess what I'm really trying to say is that I'm not surprised that Jet blew you off. That's just what he does. But I'd always hoped you wouldn't have to know that disappointment too. Sorry Kiddo."

Once more Apogee met her mother's eyes and saw the hint of a comforting smile on her lips. Maybe there was irony in her mom's admission–she didn't have the best track record when it came to disappointments either. But she was trying so hard, and Apogee couldn't fault her for that.

"Anyways," Delta said, her expression becoming tempered and reserved. "You still didn't explain how all this brought you here." Inevitably and predictably, the conversation had returned to the matter of Apogee's appearance in the trailer. While Apogee was sorry to see the almost-smile gone from her mom's face, she couldn't fault the mare for wanting more details. Thankfully, the rest of the night's events required no further 'revisions'. She was glad to be rid of that chore.

"Well, after dad blew me off I went up to my room and was super angry," Apogee began, relaying her little blow-up in the apartment to her mom. As she told the story out loud she was surprised how petty and stupid the whole thing sounded. She worried that Delta would feel the same way but her mom just listened quietly, only offering the occasional nod of understanding until the whole sordid tale had finished. "... and then you came home and, well… you know the rest." Apogee had no idea what her mom would think about the story, but it was an immense relief to have it off her shoulders now.

She didn't have to wait long for Delta's reply.

Giving Apogee an even stare, Delta nodded slowly and methodically. "I see."

That was it? 'I see'? Apogee felt a little nervous by her mother's subdued reaction to the story. Did she still want her gone? It was reasonable to expect that she'd still ask her to leave. And the more Apogee thought about it, she was probably lucky her mom wasn't angrier. Maybe cutting her losses, apologizing, and promising to go back home was the best option left. With any luck, Delta would forgive and forget the whole thing.

"Mom, I know I really messed things up. I didn't mean to make everything all weird and stupid," Apogee said, tapping her forehooves together distractedly. "If we can just get this piece of junk out I promise I'll go home and-"

"No."

Apogee stared blankly at her mother's assertion. "No?"

Now it was Delta who played with her forehooves awkwardly. "You can crash here tonight; I think you've been through enough for one day…"

Apogee was floored.

"R-Really, I can stay?" she asked, making sure she understood correctly.

"Sure, yeah," Delta said, reaching a hoof up to rub at her face and as she gave a long-suffering sigh. Ignoring the sigh, Apogee leapt up and hugged her mom, arms wrapped tightly around the base of her neck.

"Mom," Apogee whispered in a low, affectionate voice. "Thank you so much. This means so much to me you have no idea..."

"Alright, alright… calm down kiddo," Delta murmured softly. She gave a reassuring pat along Apogee's back. "Besides, we still have a little problem to deal with, remember?"

How could she forget? It was still jutting out of her like an unwanted growth. But she actually had forgotten about her situation for just a moment amidst her joy. Now it was time to return to the dreaded task of removing it, but she had no idea how to deal with the overstuffed sex toy. A little of her mirth deflated as she pulled away from her mom and looked between her spread legs at her nemesis.

Apogee nudged the dildo with a hoof and winced slightly at the uncomfortable way it shifted around inside her. "What can we do? It's stuck really bad." She turned and looked back at her mom for answers but saw that she looked rather distracted. Understandably, the awkwardness of the situation made her a little uncomfortable. How often did moms have to deal with situations like this one? Not often, Apogee imagined. And most fillies probably weren't size-obsessed freaks like she was.

Sitting next to her mom quietly and without a single idea for a solution, Apogee was beginning to feel a little uneasy again. What if they couldn't get the COOLCO out? Would they have to go to the hospital to get it removed?

Oh goodness what if they did have to go to the hospital?! She'd die of embarrassment for certain! Jet would find out too… how stupid would she feel then? What if-

Delta stamped a hoof against the bedsheets, shocking Apogee out of her reverie. "Oh, wait! I just remembered something," Delta proclaimed. Apogee dared to hope.

"What?! What is it mom?"

"There is some kinda phrase or word that can deactivate the flare."

"Whoa, awesome! That makes total sense. I was getting really worried for a second there. Mom to the rescue! So what's the word?"

The bed vibrated from Apogee's renewed excitement as she waited for her mom to speak the magic words that would fix the problem. But the following silence and look of bewilderment on the blue mare's face weren't very reassuring. She watched her mom glance briefly between her legs at the toy as if to jog her memory, then looked away just as quickly.

"Uhhh," Delta murmured, rubbing her forehooves together again. "... I forget."

"W-What?! Mom!" Apogee shrieked. Delta flinched and pinned her ears back from the noise.

"Well what do you expect? I never needed to use that feature!" Delta said defensively, scowling back at her daughter. "Cus I don't shove things into my orifices that I can't handle!"

Her mother's derision was a slap to the face. Shame filled her and she hung her head low, staring between her legs. She couldn't look her mom in the face after that.

"Fuck."

She didn't need to see her mom to know that the loud smack that came after her swearing was a facepalm. Apogee didn't like the idea of manipulating her mom's emotions, but in this instance she was okay with hanging her ears nice and low and continuing to sulk for while–a little sob was the icing on the pity cake.

Apogee waited for the apology.

Delta leaned back and let out a groan. Her hoof again went to rest on Apogee's shoulder. "Hey, calm down okay? I'm sorry, I just… Don't cry, alright?" Apogee folded both her arms in front of her chest and glanced at Delta from the corner of her eye. A simple nod showed that all was forgiven. Delta breathed a sigh of relief.

An uncomfortable silence followed after this. Apogee turned and looked at her mom who looked back at her and shrugged. Well, that was really productive. Disheartened, Apogee started to wonder if she was destined to have the COOLCO stuck in her for the rest of time.

Her eyes wandered around the room, unable to focus on anything. There was the expensive sound system still playing light jazz at a low volume. In the corner of the room she saw a pile of beer cans that formed an aluminium mountain. Next to the dresser was an empty wine cooler box… wait. Could it be that simple? The box! Of course!

Apogee turned excitedly back to her mother. "What about the box mom?!" She gesticulated wildly in the direction of the discarded wine cooler. "What about the instructions? Didn't the COOLCO come with instructions in the box?" Of course, it was all so simple!

The shaking of Delta's head immediately deflated Apogee. "Good idea, but I threw the box away ages ago," she said with a shrug. Crushed once again, Apogee whimpered with defeat. Seeing this made Delta frown. "Hey kid, it's gonna be okay. We'll figure this out, alright?" There was that gentle rubbing at her withers again. Delta's genuine efforts to comfort her felt far more reassuring than they probably had a right to. A faint smile returned to her lips.

"Okay mom."

"Okay," Delta replied firmly.

Despite the assurances, both mother and daughter remained painfully silent for a full minute as neither seemed to have any ideas or answers. Apogee simply stared at the silicone between her legs and lamented her stupidity in trying to force it into her. Delta seemed to be doing her best to look at anything but the space between her daughter's legs.

It was Delta who finally dispelled the silence, and Apogee was grateful for that.

"So, I guess we should work through this one step at a time then." Delta peered up toward the ceiling and looked distracted. It was rare to see her mom this way: so vulnerable and unsure of herself. It was simultaneously unsettling and heartwarming—a reminder that she wasn't perfect, but still trying her best. She only hoped her mom's best would get the thrice-damned silicone out of her.

"Well," Delta started, "How did you get it in you in the first place? How much lube did you use?"

Lube? What did lube have to do with any of this? Apogee could only stare back at her mom with a lame, embarrassed look. "Lube? What do you mean?" When Delta returned her gaze from the ceiling, Apogee expected to see frustration on her mother's face; there was only grave concern.

"You mean you went in dry?!" Delta asked.

Apogee looked at something very interesting between her legs, unable to meet her mom's incredulous stare. "Yeah? When you burst through the front door and shouted I got scared and kinda… fell on it," Apogee explained.

This would be it. Any moment now Apogee expected Delta to laugh and she would feel like the dumbest and most useless pony in all of Equestria. But Delta didn't laugh. Far from it. The look of raw, naked mortification and concern on her face took Apogee by surprise. She could see the wheels in her mom's head turning as she was no doubt reconstructing the scene in her own mind.

Delta winced with sympathetic pain.

"Oh Apogee... I didn't know," she said gently. The softness of her mother's words once again made Apogee feel bad for doubting her ability for compassion. As she looked up into her mother's concerned eyes, Delta gave another reassuring stroke with her hoof. It was surprisingly soothing. "Kid, what were you thinking trying to use something this big without lube?"

"I don't know," Apogee said, shaking her head. The simple answer was that she often didn't think a lot of things through. What was she thinking? Probably what she was always thinking about lately: her dad's massive dick. They said it was colts that 'thought with their penises', but apparently that logic could apply to fillies too. "It was stupid, I know. I just like them… big. You know?"

"Oh yeah, I know," Delta said with a knowing smirk. "Guess you inherited that from me, huh?" It was impossible to suppress the giggle that came from hearing her mom say that. Once again she was reminded how similar they were in ways she'd never even thought about before. Then Delta leveled a more serious look at her and said, "Anyway, you need to use some damn lube for something this big. At least until you get more used to it, alright?"

"Yeah, I guess that does make a lot of sense," Apogee conceded.

But her dad never seemed to need lube. That was the thing that confused her the most. How the hay did he do it? Apogee was ever more in awe of her dad's prowess, but clearly she had a lot she could learn from her mom too.

"Alright, so if you didn't use any lube I assume you at least got yourself worked up a little first, right?" Delta asked.

Once again Apogee looked bashful. "Worked up? Like… by thinking about stuff?"

"Well, sure," Delta said. "That can be part of it, I guess. What else did you do?"

"Well, I looked at my favorite playcolt for a while."

Delta's eyes widened as she grinned. She leaned in closer to Apogee. "You have a favorite playcolt?" The mare twisted to look around the bed. Then she grabbed the nearby magazines she could reach and placed them in the space between her and Apogee. "Which one?"

Apogee felt her cheeks heat up a bit. She'd never had this kind of a frank discussion about sex with her mom before, and Delta seemed unusually interested. Normally it was like a chore to get her mom to talk about anything. She wasn't sure how to feel about her mom's sudden enthusiasm. But leaving her hanging when she was actually trying to talk seemed wrong. Apogee scanned the playcolts in front of her and pointed out the one she'd looked at earlier.

"Um, this one's my favorite."

Delta's grin widened even further and she reached down to flip open the magazine to a random page. "Issue ninety-seven, a classic. One of my favorites," Delta said. Apogee was in awe at how casual her mom was being. It was strange to see her this way, but she liked it. Together the two the mares followed each other's gaze downward until they were looking at an amazingly beautiful model. "Sunshine Meadows. Gods, she’s gorgeous," Delta said.

This wasn't the first time Delta had talked about her attraction to mares–or other ponies in general. But in every other case that Apogee could imagine it had always been when she was drunk and raving. Normally she just ignored that kind of stuff, but this was different. It was like she was really talking to her mom for the first time in… well… forever.

And yeah, the model was amazingly attractive. Sunshine Meadows was a knockout by every standard: a well toned, pale yellow earth pony with long blonde hair and piercing blue eyes that stood out beautifully in contrast to the rest of her. On the page, Sunshine Meadows was being viewed from the rear and you could see every sensuous fold of her ample assets. Her legs were long, but delicate, and lead down to rather petite hooves.

A blush had been forming on Apogee's cheeks for a few minutes now and it only deepened as she and her mom stared at Sunshine Meadows together. "She's really pretty," Apogee agreed. Now her ear tips were on fire and her heart was slamming in her chest. Was she embarrassed about looking at the playcolt with her mom? No, it wasn't that… Maybe it was just her admission of attraction? That didn't seem right either...

It didn't help when her mom glanced up and studied her features, clearly taking notice of the blush. "You alright there kiddo? Or do mares just really turn you on?" Delta asked.

Apogee was ceaselessly amazed at how blunt her mom was. But Apogee couldn't really deny the truth. She did find a lot of mares attractive, many of which were in the pages of the magazine between them.

"Yeah," Apogee admitted. Her cheeks and ears felt like the surface of the Celestia's sun. "I think some mares are really hot."

After a bit of an awkward silence Delta raised a brow and asked plainly, "You a lesbian?"

Nearly choking on her tongue, Apogee glared back at her mom and huffed, "No, I'm not a lesbian. I just think certain mares are really cute." A roll of her eyes showed her disbelief of Delta's candidness. Naturally, she found this endlessly amusing and her joy at the rouse she was getting from Apogee was clearly written on her smug muzzle. Feeling defensive, Apogee added, "I really like stallions a lot too!"

"Particularly ones with huge cocks," Delta clarified.

Apogee didn't take the bait this time and just stuck out her tongue. Not missing a beat, Delta smiled all the wider at the petulant gesture. Then Apogee gave a smile of her own to match her mother's. Were they really bonding over something like this? It was hard to believe, but true; she loved it.

As the moment passed, Delta returned a more serious look back at her. "It's not a big deal kid. Most mares are at least a little bisexual."

It was common knowledge that mares tended to be bi-curious, but it was also one of those things that didn't really get talked about much. It was all so confusing! Apogee never realized how much she needed to hear those words until her mother had spoken them. It instilled a feeling of normalcy for something that should have always felt that way. Apogee's gratitude that her mom was the way she was became all the greater.

Seemingly uncomfortable about something, Delta cleared her throat loudly and took a deep breath. "So," she said, looking around the bedroom at nothing in particular. "You, uh… feeling a little more horny now?"

Oh. No wonder she seemed so uncomfortable.

Apogee played around absently with her forehooves. "A little bit, yeah." Did that really just happen? Her burning ears and racing heartbeat said 'yes'. And there was no denying that she definitely did, in fact, feel hot down below. Was all her mom's earlier teasing meant to get her excited? If so, it was proving to be super effective.

"Alright, that's a good start," Delta said confidently. She stood up and took a quick hop to the floor and then turned back to face Apogee. "Anyway, scoot a little closer to the edge of the bed so I can… look." The trailing word hung at the end of her sentence with an uncomfortably awkward weight. This was the hard part.

In pony society it wasn't uncommon for ponies to see one another's genitals all the time, but there was something undeniably more intimate and personal about looking intentionally at a pony's most sensitive parts. It was another thing entirely to speak about, touch or otherwise interact with another pony's bits.

Apogee knew there was no getting around it though. Delta was going to be staring at her vagina and she really wasn't sure how she should feel about that. Or, at least, she didn't know how to feel emotionally. But her body was content to crank up the heat in her ears and cheeks even higher–she didn't know it was possible to blush so hard.

Looking between her legs was basically impossible. But obeying her mom, she did shuffle forward so that her rear legs (and the damned dildo) hung over the edge of the bed. Curiosity eventually got the better of her and she managed to look at her mom… who was staring right between her legs. Watching her mom look at her marehood was possibly the strangest feeling she'd ever experienced.

But the more Apogee thought about it, the more she started to question what the true source of her embarrassment was. Was having her mom stare at her marebits really that bad? It was all stuff she'd seen before, right? Hay, hundreds of ponies had seen between her legs–her tail bun left little to the imagination. The more Apogee thought about it in that way, the more comfortable she became. Plus, she'd seen her mom's marebits countless times before and never thought anything of it.

Yes, this felt right. If anything, it was perfectly normal. And she couldn't justify being so prudish when her mom was being so nice and trying so hard to help her.

Unfortunately, Delta looked like she was still fighting an internal battle of her own. Her posture was rigid; her ears and wings twitching anxiously; she looked like she'd jump ten feet in the air if somepony sneezed.

Apogee tried to clear the air and break the tension. "So, how bad does it look?" she asked carefully.

Delta was broken from her momentary daze and shook her head. "Dunno, hard to say. Looks pretty tight." Her voice carried a distant quality and she stared blankly forward. She wasn't looking at Apogee's stuffed pussy so many as through it. "Hopefully you've self-lubricated enough that we can get it out." Slowly, Delta sat down in front of Apogee. Then, carefully and methodically, she placed her forehooves on the base of the COOLCO. A split second later and she pulled them away as if the dildo was made of molten lava.

Flinching back from the sudden, jerky movement, Apogee felt a jolt of panic. "W-What is it mom?" It seemed obvious that Delta was unsettled by the task at hand, but seeing her so tense was making Apogee anxious and that was only going to make things more difficult.

Delta gestured dismissively with a hoof like she often did when trying to play things cool. "Nothing, just not sure exactly how to do this. I guess we just… pull," she said, looking up at Apogee. She seemed to be asking for permission to proceed and, failing to think of a better idea, Apogee simply nodded and frowned. Delta returned the nod and once again placed her forehooves on the base of the COOLCO. "Alright, when I count to three, I'll pull while you brace against the bed… Okay?"

"Right, okay," Apogee said, feeling far less confident than she sounded.

Another nod from Delta confirmed she was ready.

"One."

Now her heart began to pound in her chest as her mom waited for what felt like eons before continuing. How badly would it hurt coming out? The pain of it going in was still fresh on her mind. She could feel her stretched flesh aching and throbbing with anticipation.

"Two."

Apogee's hooves dug into the bedsheets. In her mind she replayed the moment when the toy had gone into her, stabbing it's way up to her womb like a hot, blunt knife. The thought of it sent her into a panic. Her whole body was shaking… her extremities burned… she breathed in short, desperate gasps as her lungs begged for oxygen. Every sight, sound and feeling was amplified a hundred fold from the adrenaline being pumped through her veins by her frantic heart.

Why wasn't Delta pulling yet?!

Apogee's eyes filled with hot tears and she slammed her eyes shut, unable to watch. She begged her mom to get it over with!

"Apogee." It was Delta's voice, but it felt so distant: a thousand miles away. She couldn't focus on it while all her attention was dominated by the anticipated pain.

"Apogee," Delta said again, louder this time.

"Mom, do it already! Quick!"

"Apogee, no," was Delta's swift reply.

"Please, hurry, I-"

"Damnit, no! Apogee, calm down."

"B-But, I…"

The sudden stroking of Delta's hoof on her thigh startled Apogee out of her panic. Opening her eyes, she saw the deep concern on her mother's face. She wiped away her tears as each gentle stroke of Delta's hoof eased her trembling.

"We're not gonna do it like this," Delta said with a tone of motherly finality. "It's going to be okay Apogee. Take a deep breath. Try to relax."

The stroking persisted for a while and Apogee was grateful for it. Her mom's hoof felt strangely familiar on her leg: it was like she had some ancient, long forgotten memory of being touched like this by her. Was this something Delta used to do long ago? Apogee didn't know for sure, but her trembling faded quickly as she found composure.

"Thanks mom," Apogee said, sniffling. She took a deep breath just as Delta suggested and let her mind clear. The images of pain filtered somewhere into the back of her mind, momentarily forgotten. "I'm better now. But if we don't do it this way what can we do?"

Therein was the rub. Just as Apogee asked the question she saw her mom pause, stroking the side of her head thoughtfully. She figured her mom was just as stumped as she was. But just as Apogee was starting to feel helpless again, Delta's face brightened. Had she thought of something that might help? Apogee desperately hoped so.

"Wait here a sec, I'll be right back okay?" Delta said. Apogee nodded and watched her mom stand up and walk toward the hallway leading out of her room. Then she was around the corner and out of sight, leaving Apogee alone with her thoughts.

Inevitably her eyes were drawn back to the silicone demon between her legs. She didn't think she'd ever spent so much time examining her crotch as she had tonight. And the more she looked at it she starting to feel stupid and foalish for the twentieth time that night. She was getting sick of feeling that way. Instead, Apogee let her mind wander to the face of her mom.

It was only a while ago that her mom was yelling at her. She could clearly picture the barely contained fury on her mother's face, and she hated that her mind conjured up images of Delta at her worst. Maybe she wasn't always the ideal mom, but she was still her mom. And she knew Delta had it in her to be better than any boring, unrealistic, ideal mother. How many moms would look at a playcolt with their daughter? Probably none of them, cus her mom was awesome! Apogee only wished her mom could see how amazing she really was; how incredible she could be when she tried.

And it's not like Apogee wanted to have so many doubts about her mom. Sadly, it was hard not to at times. So often it seemed like Delta was intentionally trying to push everypony away. But then there were times like tonight–days when she was kind and thoughtful. The mother that Apogee knew and loved even when nopony else seemed to.

Apogee would give anything to see her mom like this more often.

She wasn't willing to get oversized horsedick stuck in her every time she wanted to see her mom smile though.

C'est La Vie?

"Aphogee?"

Delta had returned. Apogee looked up from between her thighs, roused from her inner thoughts as the blue mare walked back to the edge of the bed in front of her. She was carrying a bottle in her mouth and a soda can in her left hoof. Apogee's eyes were drawn to the bottle.

Was that…?

"I think this will help a lot," said Delta, setting both drinks on the end table next to the bed. Apogee could clearly see the bottle was alcohol. A little timberwolf was printed on the center of it and in flowery letters above the wolf's head was written: Everfree. Writing at the bottom stated in clear print that the alcohol was '120 proof'. Whatever the hay that meant.

"S-Seriously mom?" Apogee asked, taken aback. "Didn't you say I couldn't have alcohol again… you know, after the last time?"

Delta nodded, her expression flat and unreadable.

"Yes, I did. And the cost of replacing that window was really fucking annoying, so I'm sure you understand that this isn't something I'm doing lightly," Delta explained clearly.

Apogee could barely recall the events of that night. Delta had given her some liquor and, at least according to her, Apogee turned out to be quite a lightweight. It probably had something to do with her lightning-quick pegasus metabolism.

"I'm sorry about the window mom," Apogee said—likely for the hundredth time by now. She rubbed her forehooves together, her timid eyes seeking out her mother's. Being reminded about more of her own stupidity was the last thing she wanted right now. Thankfully, Delta seemed to intuit this from her demure expression and offered some consolation.

"Yeah, well, don't worry about it kid."

Apogee nodded and offered a weak smile.

"What was it you said Apogee?" Delta asked, her voice becoming lighter and softer.

What the hay was her mom talking about? Oh, right. That. Apogee smiled when the words popped into her head. "Your room needed an emergency exit." It was all but impossible to stifle a giggle from escaping her lips as she imagined herself throwing a chair through the window like some madmare—though the thought of losing control so completely was also a little sobering. Apogee eyed the bottle of Everfree with trepidation. The sound of her mother's own brief chuckling brought her out of contemplation.

"Yeah, emergency exit," Delta said, rolling her eyes playfully. "Then you spent the rest of the evening giving your respects to the porcelain goddess."

Apogee didn't remember that part so well. She was probably better off having forgot it.

"Anyways," Delta continued, "I know I said you can't drink in here again, but this situation is a little bit… unique."

There was no denying the situation was extraordinary, but Apogee still wasn't sure how the alcohol was meant to help. All it ever seemed to do was make things in her life (not to mention her mom's life) go from bad to worse.

Apogee shifted uncomfortably in her seat. Delta took notice. "It'll help you relax," she explained. "A lot. We'll only give you just a little bit—enough to loosen you up, alright?"

She hated feeling this doubt. It was almost impossible not to. The drink had done so much to hurt her relationship with her mother. Now all she could seem to do was quietly rub her hooves together and sink further into the bed.

Again, Delta took notice of this. "Kid, just to be clear, I'm not making you do this, okay? If you don't want to, we won't."

Apogee contemplated it extensively, but no matter how much she turned the idea over in her head it all came back to one, simple fact: she didn't have any better ideas. Taking a deep breath, Apogee gave a nod to her mom, accepting the terms given.

The nod was returned. Then Delta reached back for the bottle and pulled the cork out of the top with her teeth, spitting it out onto the floor nearby. After scanning the room briefly she opened the top drawer of the end table, and after a quick search she pulled a shot glass out and set it on the top. She filled about half the glass with the frightfully see-through Everfree and nudged the poured drink across the table closer toward Apogee who looked at it with a long stare.

"Just toss it back and don't let it sit in your mouth. Wash it down with some Fizzypop afterward, kay?"

A look was given to the orange flavored Fizzypop. Apogee rubbed the back of her neck and asked, "Do we have any strawberry pop?" A hesitant smile was given; Apogee knew she was being cheeky and delaying the inevitable.

Delta gave one of her trademarked long-suffering sighs and rubbed at her face with a hoof.

"No Apogee," the mare said. "We don't… have… strawberry." Each word of Delta's response was spoken louder than the last with plenty of pause in-between for emphasis. She reached out and nudged the shotglass a little closer as her ears twitched with noticeable impatience.

"Okay, well… here goes nothing I guess?" The shot glass was gathered carefully on her upturned hoof. She brought it up to her face and examined the contents for just a moment before bringing it to her parted lips. After taking a deep breath, Apogee tossed back the drink in one, swift motion. She began frantically swallowing the awful, bitter fluid down.

Her throat was immediately on fire. The regret? Instant.

Apogee flailed out with her hooves and grabbed the orange Fizzypop, brought it to her lips and sucked it down as fast as she could. The sensation of burning alcohol was replaced by searing carbonation that's been consumed too quickly. A clear improvement.

After coughing a few times and wiping some saliva from her muzzle, Apogee let out a groan as she felt the alcohol settling in her stomach like liquid fire. She glanced toward her mom in hopes of finding sympathy. So, of course, her mom was stifling a giggle behind her forcibly pressed lips.

Apogee did her best impersonation of Delta's long-suffering sigh.

"Just laugh and get it over with, sheesh." The petulant yellow pegasus reared back the hoof holding the empty Fizzypop and threw it at her mother who, frustratingly, dodged to the side with ease. The can of pop clattered along the floor of Delta's room and came to a rest near some of it's other discarded brethren. Meanwhile, Delta continuing to snicker from behind the hoof placed over her mouth. Wasn't she just reminiscing about her mother's ability for love and compassion? Yeah...

"Sorry, sorry!" Delta said finally, "Pretty strong stuff, huh? I woulda given you something a little smoother but Everfree was all I had laying around kiddo. Give it a few minutes and the burning will ease up, I promise."

"From your mouth to Luna's ears," Apogee said in a hoarse, dry voice.

With her amusement slowly fading, Delta's expression withdrew back to something more like quiet reservation. Then her eyes flicked toward the bottle. When Delta reached for the Everfree, Apogee's heart skipped a beat. Was she going to get smashed tonight? If Apogee had to guess, she'd say her mom was about a three out of ten on the 'Drunk Delta-Meter' at this point.

Firmly in hoof, Delta brought the bottle to her own lips, taking a long swig of the stuff. Her face scrunched up and her ears pinned back against her head from the strength of the drink. Apogee was about to have a poke at her mom's reaction but the mare beat her to it.

"Shit is nasty, no doubt. Really good stuff," she said, setting the bottled back on the end table.

"Why did you need a drink anyway?" Apogee asked, trying to sound casual even though she was growing worried. It was hard to imagine how things could get worse but if any mare could find a way it'd be her mom when she was three sheets to the wind.

Delta didn't seem to take any serious offense to the question, stating calmly, "You aren't the only one feeling anxious right now." With a little hop, the blue mare rejoined Apogee on the bed and returned to her previous spot alongside her.

Apogee slowly turned to lay on her stomach and crawled forward and away from the edge of the bed. Once more Apogee looked up at her mother, who looked down with the faintest hint of a smile. "I didn't think of that. I'm sorry mom." A quick, apologetic smile was offered to her mother.

Looking casual as ever, Delta shrugged. "Don't worry about it kid. And stop apologizing for every little damn thing." She didn't sound upset or irritated, so Apogee decided not to press any further. A nod from both mares put the issue to rest.

And then there was the return of the silence, quickly becoming a familiar companion. Neither mare seemed to know what to say or do. Time dragged on for a painfully long time and Apogee had to settle for staring out window near the other end of the bed while she waited for the effects of the alcohol to kick in. Through the dingy, tar-stained glass she made out the desert sky beyond and once again she was grateful to be indoors in (relative) comfort.

The stars were beautiful. She loved looking up at them and imagining what kinds of alien planets and moons must exist at each. Thinking about it made her stomach flutter a little–or perhaps that was the Everfree. Though what really sparked her imagination was the thought of flying to one of those distant worlds on a spaceship designed by her mom and dad. How amazing would that be? If only...

Apogee began to feel a faint tickling from the Everfree somewhere in the back of her mind when she heard her mom moving something around on the bed. Glancing back up at her, she saw the mare was looking through one of the playcolts again. Delta seemed to notice Apogee's curious looks and swiveled an ear curiously toward her.

Looking at her mom flipping through the playcolt made her realize something: she wanted to join her. And It wasn't only to pass the time or break the uncomfortable silence. When the two were talking earlier about the model in the magazine, Apogee felt something. A connection with her mom that she'd never experienced before. And more than anything, she wanted to feel that again. But how could she-

"Wanna look at it with me?" Delta asked suddenly, her head turning a few degrees to glance Apogee from the corner of her eye. Her question was so simple and to the point. How could her mom say all the things she couldn't? This was kind of a role reversal from what she was used to. Normally it was her mom who struggled to say anything–well, anything nice. But not tonight it seemed, and Apogee was thrilled by that.

"Um, yeah. Sure. Definitely!" For sure Apogee lacked her mom's calm, cool demeanor. Did she come off too strongly? Her excitable nature often rubbed Delta the wrong way. But before she could worry about it further, Delta simply nudged the playcolt toward her with a lopsided grin. Success!

With a quick shuffle Apogee sidled up next to her mom so that both mares were laying side-by-side with the playcolt in front of them. Ever so faintly Apogee could feel the heat radiating from her mother at this distance. Such a wonderful feeling! Being enveloped by Delta's warm, motherly presence was a pleasure she'd rarely experienced. To take shelter in her mother's shadow, safe and warm… it was perfect.

"So what do you like about her?" Delta asked.

Oh, right! The playcolt. Apogee feasted her eyes on Sunshine Meadows again. Evidently her mom must really like her, considering she flipped back to her again—not that Apogee could blame her: the model was shockingly attractive.

But that brought her back to her mom's question.

There was a lot to like about the model, but Apogee examined her in more detail. The more Apogee looked she started taking notice of all her glorious assets. Her flanks, robust and curvy, lead down to shapely hocks. Further down her fetlocks and hooves were delicate and cute; just like the rest of her. "Her legs look amazing," Apogee admitted with a blush.

Delta chuckled softly. "You have good taste, kid. She has some killer legs for sure. Those damn thighs are just…" A stifled grunt of approval followed Delta's appraisal. Apogee couldn't agree more and added to her mother's grin with her own. Then Delta's ear gave a curious flick as her lips formed a smirk. "Are legs something you like in particular, or just on this model specifically?"

A long, thoughtful pause permeated the room as Apogee considered the question. Truthfully, nopony had ever directly asked about her sexual preferences. And this was her mom asking! Yet Apogee didn't feel uncomfortable by it all. Earlier it might have, but time (and perhaps the Everfree) had cozied her up to the idea of talking to her mom about this stuff. Still, it wasn't something she'd given much thought about until now.

"I dunno. I guess I really like legs on any mare." Confiding in her mom like this was a little scary; and very exciting. The answer, for as ambiguous as it was, seemed to satisfy her mom's curiosity all the same. "Anyway," Apogee continued, "I also really like, um…"

Apogee cut her train of thought short before she said anything weird or stupid. This obvious stall caught her mom's attention and she gave a curious ear flick and brow-raise.

"You really like... what?" Delta prodded. "Her withers? Ears? Can't just leave me hanging like that kiddo, spill it!" Her eyes burned with intense fascination as she leaned in closer, her larger form looming over Apogee.

Apogee tried to deflect the conversation. "Yeah, well, you haven't told me anything about what you like yet, so… too bad!" She stuck her tongue out at her mom again. Delta lifted her head up and snorted.

"Okay, fine. I also think she has bitchin' legs, but if I'm being totally honest, her pussy is top-tier; I mean, look at that perfection!" Delta flipped to the next page of the playcolt and tapping on the image she had in mind.

Unreal! Delta's unflinching boldness was remarkable. And more funny than usual, Apogee thought. How did she do it? It was a mystery, but Apogee pushed that aside and focused her attention back on the playcolt.

On the page, Sunshine Meadows leaned back against a wall with her entire front exposed, thighs spread wide. Her small, petite hooves pulled her labia open, revealing her pink mareflesh to the camera.

Apogee played with the notion that she and her mom didn't have to have the same tastes and looked for some flaw on the page. Sunshine Meadows' raw sexuality and stellar body made it impossible. Her marehood was like a rose in bloom, budding and fertile; flawless. It was only with effort that Apogee broke herself from the spell the magazine had cast on her.

"D-Damn," Apogee muttered. "Okay, it is really nice." Openly revealing her attraction to a mare in front of her mom was curiously exhilarating. Her ears were burning at this point, but Delta just played it cool.

"Right?" Delta said. Apogee was thankful her mom didn't try to tease her about how badly she was blushing. Her whole face was lit up with a smile, and she was glad to see it quickly returned by the older mare.

Apogee found her mother's smile truly wonderful.

"Alright, now spill it. What were you about to say earlier?" Delta asked.

Oh yeah, she'd sort of promised to answer that question, hadn't she? Apogee rubbed her hooves together and lowered her head. "Um, hooves. I like cute hooves and fetlocks." She half-expected her mom to have a laugh, but not for the first time that night she surprised Apogee.

"Mhmm. A nice set of hooves are great, aren't they?" Delta said. "Nothing wrong with liking that."

How awesome was her mom?!

"Yeah! And I bet they'd feel nice, too," Apogee added before her filter could catch it.

"Feel nice?" Delta asked through a grin.

There was no way her mom was going to let that one go. If she resisted, Delta would just press her like she had about the hooves. But she'd trusted her mom this far—and she was starting to feel rather emboldened as the conversation went on anyway—so she saw no reason to hide her true feelings.

"Yeah, they'd feel nice… like… down there?" Apogee said. Her ears, cheeks and neck exploded with fire. She was getting a little lightheaded at this point. Or was that the Everfree?

"You mean you'd like to have Sunshine Meadows hoof you off?" Delta asked with a face that was entirely too straight and tempered for Apogee to believe.

Apogee buried her head under both her forehooves and groaned. "Mom!" she whined, grinning from ear to ear in spite of her protest.

Just like before, Delta shrugged the whole thing off and went on like it was no big deal. "What? I'd give up half my sex toys to get a hoofjob from Sunshine Meadows."

It was truly astounding. Her carefree, shameless way of talking about sex was awe inspiring. Yet the more they continued talking about it, Apogee realized how grateful she was for it. With every dismissive wave and casual shrug, Delta made Apogee feel ever more comfortable. Somehow, talking about sex was starting to feel normal. And Apogee never realized until now how much she'd wanted that.

Growing more confident by the minute, Apogee said, "Yeah, a hoofjob would be great." Her nethers grew hot just thinking about it.

Five seconds passed before Apogee realized her words carried a somewhat suggestive implication. Her mom had grown curiously silent for the first time in a while as the words loomed over them.

Delta was the one to break the silence.

"Sure would," she agreed. Her casual confidence was there, but Apogee felt like there was a small crack in it somewhere. Delta looked back at the playcolt and sighed wistfully. "Sunshine Meadows is a bit out of our league, though–not that I wouldn't rock her world if she gave me the chance."

Apogee breathed a little easier and silently thanked her mom for being amazing.

After giving it some thought, she decided she agreed with her mom. "Hell yeah you would." Obviously she had no basis of understanding for that opinion, but it sort of rolled off her tongue anyway.

But Apogee saw some of the light in her mom's eyes fall as she looked away distractedly. It was subtle, but it felt like the mood in the room had changed. Not knowing what was bothering her mom, Apogee doubled down on her compliment. "I mean it! You're totally hot, mom. You rock!"

Delta seemed curiously silent again. Apogee was starting to worry she'd upset her mom—a thing which was quite easy to do at times—but relaxed when the blue mare just smiled faintly instead. Her ears folded down as she tried to hide her face behind a hoof, giving her a demure expression that Apogee was unaccustomed to seeing.

"Thanks Apogee," Delta said, her eyes wandering. "I, um…"

Her words trailed away into a soft murmur and Apogee watched the mare fiddling with her own hooves. She thought she saw a hint of red forming on her mom's cheeks and guessed she was feeling uneasy about the compliment–that, or the Everfree she drank was turning her face red. That had to be it. Right?

"That's really nice of you to say," Delta said, finishing her earlier thought.

Feeling like her mom sounded unconvinced, Apogee continued to insist, "It's true!"

And was it true? Sure she'd said it as a compliment, but...

"Uh huh," Delta said. Her lip curling at the edges as she watched Apogee.

"I mean it!"

Delta just snickered and said, "Kid, I think you're about ready for us to try removing that thing between your legs."

The words were like a punch to the gut. Apogee had forgotten about it entirely, utterly captivated by the conversation they'd been having. Everfree was a helluva drink.

"Oh, right, uhm… Are you sure? I don't know if the alcohol is working yet," Apogee said as she rolled to her side and peered between her legs. She lost her balance and tumbled fully onto her back for before managing to roll back onto her stomach.

Delta watched all this and replied, "Oh yeah, I'm sure kiddo. It's working."

Who was Apogee to argue? Her mom seemed pretty certain, and it was true she didn't feel any pressure down below anymore. Actually, she was feeling rather good! It wasn't at all like the last time, and that was a relief. "Okay, if you're sure I'm ready."

It was fine and well to say it, but another entirely to do it. Even with the relaxing effect of the Everfree, the reality of what needed to be done was disheartening. Judging by her mom's renewed silence, she was probably thinking the same thing. Thankfully, Delta was the one to start talking again.

"Yeah, well, there's nothing else for it… We gotta do it," she reasoned.

Several deep breaths were needed before Apogee could nod in the affirmative.

"Alright, let me get something," Delta said before turning and laying off the edge of the mattress so she could dig under the bed for something. Before Apogee could question what her mom was doing the older mare popped back up, now holding a small bottle of liquid in her hoof. It was lube.

"Oh, right. That," Apogee said. Her blush returned for an encore.

Delta looked miserable now. "Yeah, that." Her face said she was about as prepared for this as Apogee was. It was discouraging to see her mother's confidence waver, but she dutifully returned to Apogee's side all the same. "Alright, turn over and let's try this again."

This was it. No more delays. Bonding time was over.

After flipping over, Apogee secured a comfortable posture that resembled a gentle 'C' curve with her hind legs sticking up into the air. She propped upright with her forehooves and looked down at herself, feeling vulnerable and exposed in this position. She reminded herself it was only her mother in the room: the same mare who she'd been chatting about hoofjobs with a few minutes ago. What was a little exposure compared to that?

While Apogee was getting comfortable in her sitting posture, Delta uncapped the bottle of lube and peered down between Apogee's legs. Apogee watched her mom create a small streamer of thick liquid between the bottle and her overstuffed slit. Mesmerized, she watched the clear liquid running down the sides of the toy and along the length of her swollen labia as it ultimately made its way to the bed sheets below.

The tension in the room had become almost unbearable by this point. Apogee blurted out the first thing that came to mind just to fill the empty air. "We're making a mess on your bed." The lube was forming a small puddle below her.

Delta looked unimpressed. "That little trickle? You kidding? If only you knew, kid."

She didn't know, but it wasn't hard to imagine her mom gushing gallons of lube all over the bed in some wild sex-frenzy. An unexpected giggle poured out of her at the image her mind had created. Slightly startled by this, Delta looked up from the bottle of lube and stared at her. All Apogee could think to do was grin back at her. When her mom's lips turned up into a smirk, she felt the tension between them lessen. It was the little victories like that which kept her from flying into another panic.

After a good portion of the bottle was emptied onto almost every inch of the silicone and Apogee's marehood, Delta recapped the bottle and set it down next to her. The slick wetness of the lube felt very unfamiliar to Apogee who hadn't really played with the stuff before. In the past she'd never saw the point of it, but hindsight was proving to be quite the bitch as always. It had a slippery quality not unlike semen—which she definitely had some experience with by now—but it also felt a little gooey on her hoof when she reached down to touch some of it.

"It's a little cold," Apogee said, filling the silence in the room.

"You want me to go warm it up in the microwave?" Delta asked with a roll of her eyes.

"Yeah, that'd be swell!" Apogee earned a snicker from her mom for that.

And then the silence.

An eternity passed. Apogee let out a raspy sigh as anxiety began to suffocate her. Perhaps sensing this, Delta cleared her throat and spoke up.

"Alright, well… I guess we can say this is a lesson on how to not to fuck up with a giant dildo," Delta said. Was she trying to be funny? Apogee simply nodded her understanding. "Start by wiggling it around a little to get some of the lube in there."

Apogee's attention returned to the dreadful silicone, now covered in lube. Taking another deep breath, Apogee reached down with both hooves to try and do as her mom suggested. At first she tried to grip the silicone with one hoof while using the other to keep her posture upright. After her hoof slipped uselessly up and down the dildo she moved the hoof propping her up to help pin the toy between them both. Without her arms to support her she unsurprisingly fell onto her back with her rear legs sticking up into the air.

"I'm okay, I'm okay!" Apogee said, scrambled herself back to her original position. An exchange of looks passed from her to the toy and then to Delta… and then back to the toy. How was she going to do this? She gave her mom a helpless, searching look. Understanding formed on Delta's face.

"I guess I'll need to help with this part," Delta said. She swallowed hard following the realization of what she was saying.

Now Apogee was sure her mom was blushing, if only faintly. After what seemed like an eternity, Delta reposition herself and looked down between Apogee's thighs. Slowly and carefully, she reached her hooves over Apogee's leg toward the COOLCO... only to stop just short of touching it. When Apogee looked away from her mom's hooves and met her gaze, she saw a strange look on the mare's face. Uncertainty? Disgust? She began to wonder if her mom was having second thoughts. Feeling self-conscious, Apogee's ears folded down and she looked away from her mom back to the COOLCO. She took a deep breath and said, "I'm ready."

After another uncomfortable stretch of silence, Delta replied, "Me too." She continued.

As her mother's hooves started moving again, Apogee caught her breath. She saw every little movement of her mom's hoof as it traveled down between her legs. It was an emotionally overwhelming sight, and beyond all reason—or perhaps because of the alcohol—all she could think about was how attractive her mom's hooves looked. They weren't as 'perfect' as Sunshine Meadow's hooves: they hadn't seen a manicure in ages, were a bit chipped and worn in places and faintly crusted with what Apogee assumed was mud… but they were very real hooves. Hooves that were about to be inches away from her marehood.

Confused by the intrusive thought, Apogee tried her best to think about something else. But it didn't help. Seeing her mom's hooves so close to her sensitive, tight flesh made it impossible to think of anything else. Then, just as her mom took hold of the dildo, Apogee forced her eyes shut. She no longer saw her mom's hooves.

But she could still sense them there. The added force of her mom's grip anchored the dildo in place. Then it began to move. Her mom gently twisted and tugged the fattened silicone inside of her and immediately she could feel how relaxed she'd become. The pressure was still there, but it wasn't unpleasant anymore. As her mom continued sliding the toy all around Apogee could feel her heart rate rising. Her stuffed walls started to feel warm as the flare inside stretched her just a little. No pain… no awkward, compromising positions to make it work… It felt… good.

"Jeez kid."

Delta's sudden voice broke the spell that Apogee had momentarily fallen under. She opened her eyes and peered questioningly at her mom. "W-What? Why did you stop?" The words came out of her mouth faster than she could control them. Apogee didn't even know what she'd meant by the question. Did she want to know if something was wrong? Or was she just wanting Delta to continue? And even though Delta couldn't know what Apogee was thinking, her heart hammered away in her chest like she did.

Delta sighed. "You need to spread your legs more. Open 'em way up."

Thanking whatever deity might exist, Apogee let out a sigh of relief. "R-Right, of course." She shifted in her seat and opened her thighs a little further before looking back at her mom. "Like this?"

Another sigh.

"No, not at all. You need to open them-" Delta said firmly, using her other hoof to yank Apogee's leg closest to her further apart. "-way-" The blue mare's other hoof moved off the dildo and shoved at Apogee's other leg. Working in tandem, both of Delta's hooves spread Apogee open as wide as she could go. "-up." Apogee winced, but kept her legs open like her mom wanted. It was subtle, but it did make her feel a little more loose.

Delta didn't take long to return her hooves back to the dildo. Apogee's heart started to hammer away even harder.

But she couldn't look away this time. Her eyes flowed down the length of Delta's arm to her hoof and she watched as her mom started moving the toy inside her again. Like before, the warmth and enjoyment of the act began overtaking all her senses. She kept telling herself it shouldn't feel erotic, but it did; each little movement that her mom made with the toy sent a little jolt of excitement up her spine even as the thick flare pressed against her interior all the more urgently.

"I can feel it moving inside," Apogee muttered.

"Yeah," Delta agreed, her voice unusually subdued and quiet. "I'm gonna go a little faster now." It was a statement, but it sounded like she was asking permission. All Apogee could think about was how beautiful those words sounded.

"O-Okay mom. Go ahead."

Once again her attention was drawn back to her mother's hooves. She watched as they rocked the toy back and forth, her pace steadily increasing with each inch-long pistoning of the toy's girthy length. For the first time all night, Apogee felt the toy yielding the pleasure she'd wanted all along as it's immense thickness stretched her more and more. It was pure bliss. The soft squelching of the toy's slick length going in and out of her, guided by her mother's skilled, practiced hooves.

Apogee never wanted this to end.

But it did. When Delta's rocking motions slowed to a stop, Apogee gasped for air not realizing she was holding her breath the entire time. She took several deep breaths as her body quivered from the rush of adrenaline that had washed over her. With effort she managed to look her mother in the eyes again.

"You're gonna have to help," Delta said. "I'll try to hold it in place while you rock on it, alright?"

"A-Alright," Apogee said breathlessly, her mind still far, far away. It pained her to return from the wondrous warmth and joy of her mother's ministrations to focus on the rote task of removing the dildo… but that's why they were here. That's what this had been about all along.

Right?

As Apogee's eyes followed along the curves of the dildo toward her mother's rugged and beautiful hooves, she realized she didn't know anymore. She wondered when the job of extracting the dildo from her swollen pussy had ceased to be a task and instead became an experience to be relished and desired. It all seemed to blend together in her mind now, a jumbled mess long since lost to the realm of Everfree.

Was it the drink?

No, a little voice in her head whispered. It's more than that.

The more Apogee looked deep inside for answers the less she could believe it. But she kept coming back to the same conclusion. No matter how unlikely it seemed, there was an undeniable truth she now faced: she wanted her mom to make her cum.

And was that really so hard to believe?

Was it so unimaginable she wanted her mom—a mare whose love and attention she'd always desperately desired—to do the same thing she'd wanted from her father not even three hours ago?

Once more Apogee glanced down at her mom's hooves for answers. Then she forced herself to look up, following the shapely contours of the blue pegasus mare's body until she met her mom's intense, rose colored eyes which were staring back at her.

Apogee swallowed hard, lifting her body off the bed a few inches and shifted her weight as she prepared to start thrusting against the COOLCO being held by her mother.

How could she know for sure what she was truly feeling? Well...

Only one way to find out.

And so it began.

Author's Note

So, chapter three. long time in coming huh?
I won't bore you with an extended apology for that, but I mentioned it on my blog post.

As for chapter 3, it was quite a challenge. I had to really spend a lot of time thinking about how these two character's would act around each other in a way that would move the story toward where I want to go.

I'm sure some of you might find it a little disappointing considering the ending... blame Clopficsinthecomments for that one!

Okay, little unfair. We both thought the cliffhanger ending made the most sense. Not to mention this chapter was getting really long.

Anyway I spent more time editing this than any previous story I've written I think. I also had the help of Clopficsinthecomments, P-Berry, and Buckweiser, who helped me edit and proofread.

Anyways, I'm glad to have this out. I'm excited to continue onto chapter 4 which I'm sure everyone whose been following thus far has been waiting to see.

Thanks for reading!

Stable Orbit

And so it began.

Determined as ever, Apogee forced herself against the COOLCO. Her mother held fast to the toy, bracing against the violent rocking she created. It was difficult and awkward even with her support. How had she planned to do this on her own? She must have been mad to think she could. Any rational pony would have given up, but not Apogee.

What was most incredible was that she'd convinced her mom to help in the first place. The goddess of implausibility must have been smiling down on her to make it possible. In truth, maybe Delta really did want to help. Maybe she was even enjoying it. Or maybe Apogee had become infatuated with the idea that her mother was enjoying this as much as she was. It was a nice thought, but Apogee wished she could be more certain about what her mom was feeling–she wished the same for herself.

There was a lack of body language coming from the mare. She sat patiently between Apogee's legs, doing her best to hold onto the lube-slick dildo. More than once she lost her grip and had to scramble for purchase. She said nothing. No eye contact passed between them. For all the sexual tension that Apogee was feeling, it was underpinned by the unsatisfying reactions of her mother.

It went on like this for at least a minute. Apogee worked her legs and hips relentlessly while Delta ignored the erotic scene in front of her. What was she thinking, Apogee wondered? She hoped the mare would be more engaged with—whatever the hay it was they were doing. But no matter how hard she stared at her mom, she got no closer to an answer. She was completely focused on holding the COOLCO and little else.

A disheartened sigh passed from Apogee's lips. This had become more about her mom than the orgasm. She reminded herself not to feel entitled to anything more than what she was getting. It did little good, though. It hurt to imagine Delta didn't feel the same way she did right now. The physical pleasure of their act was a cold comfort if she had to enjoy it alone.

But what if Delta did feel the same way? That idea was equally terrifying in it's own right. She wondered where the two might go from here, or whether any of this was even right.

Apogee didn't have all the answers. All she could say for sure is that it didn't feel wrong.

"It's getting loose," Delta said.

Apogee jerked her head up at the suddenness of her mother's voice. "What?" she asked, slowing down her movements. "Loose?"

"Do I have to spell it out?" Delta said while rolling her eyes. "Your pussy is getting loosened up."

A spike of crimson touched Apogee's cheeks. That may have been the raunchiest thing her mom ever said to her. Her arousal surged.

While Apogee flustered over her mom's bluntness, Delta took the chance to shift her posture, trying to get as comfortable as possible in an obviously uncomfortable situation. As she shuffled closer, Apogee caught a glimpse of her mom staring right at her gaping, overstuffed slit.

She was so exposed. Open and vulnerable! Her mom could see every intimate detail of her silky folds. Hundreds of times her mom had seen her budding flesh, as had countless other ponies and strangers, but it didn't compare to this. In a way, it was like she was discovering her vagina again for the first time. She felt a tingling in her extremities and a flutter in her stomach. All at once it was embarrassing, exciting and sensual.

"Well?" Delta asked. "Keep going. I don't want to be here all night holding this damn thing!" she snorted. Apogee pondered whether she should be offended, but the smirk hiding under her mom's muzzle did not go unnoticed.

"Pft, I thought you'd be used to holding huge dildo's all night long?"

That remark earned Apogee a chuckle. Both mares exchanched a roll of their eyes and a brief smile. "You have no idea kid," said Delta. Apogee had a pretty good idea actually.

Taking her by surprise, Delta began moving the COOLCO, sliding the two or three extra inches they'd gained out, pausing, then gently pushing back in. She repeated this blissful movement for a while and Apogee simply laid there, enjoying it. Contrasting the pleasant penetration of the toy was an ungodly ache in her legs that she hadn't noticed until that moment. She knew she was going to be in a world of hurt come tomorrow. But, for right now, there was only pleasure.

And what a pleasure it was.

Delta's skillful hooves displayed a masterful control over the silicone which Apogee could only dream of having. Every inch of that pleasure pushed against places deep inside her that she hadn't fully explored. But Delta knew of all the secret places. With each pump of the toy she showed them to Apogee.

Gods this feels good!

"Apogee, help me out here," Delta huffed. She sounded tired. The older mare's breathing was almost as raw as her own by this point. The constant thrusting and pushing, bracing and gripping had begun to take its toll on them.

"S-Sorry, I'll try," Apogee said.

Once she resumed her own thrusting her legs immediately cried in protest. Her joints felt like sandpaper and she was covered in sweat. The air was thick with her smell. The smell of sex. A musky, sour-sweet odor that mixed with her mother's own scent, creating something new and unique.

Apogee's flesh quivered.

Her focus went back to the dildo. She ignored the pain in her limbs and forced her body to give one more thrust. One thrust turned into two. Two turned into an aeon of endless torture. She lost count. Soon her muscles were inflamed, screaming for mercy. But there was another feeling too, unearthed from inside her belly. It was a hot, radiating glow that grew more urgent with every tormented plunge that she made against the COOLCO. She desperately reached for the feeling, trying to hold onto it.

But it was too much to bear.

Apogee collapsed against the bed and let out a distraught groan from deep within. Disappointment and frustration returned, those familiar feelings of the night. Whatever warmth she'd coaxed from her womb threatened to grow cold and die, but she could do nothing.

"I can't," Apogee said breathlessly. "I'm sorry." She was utterly spent, not only physically but emotionally and mentally. But she knew that was only part of the truth. She wanted her mom to do it. It was selfish—however understandable her exhaustion may be—but she was consumed by the need to feel her mother's delicate, practiced touch.

Delta sat quiet for an agonizingly long time while Apogee gasped for breath. As the seconds dragged on, she worried that her mom had given up. She closed her eyes and sighed, feeling the throbbing in her legs grow as the ache in her nethers faded.

Then came Delta's voice, comforting and firm. "I got you," she said.

Praise Luna!

Once more the dimming fire at her core was rekindled as her mother took over the work of manipulating the COOLCO. With her eyes still closed, all Apogee could hear was the sounds of her mother's efforts. It was a chorus of gentle grunts and hard breathing, blending alongside the soft, wet noises of lovemaking that Apogee had so recently become acquainted with. A beautiful song that she could listen to endlessly.

It must be a sin to feel so good, Apogee thought. Every subtle twist of the thick tool sent her mind reeling. The fat, bulbous flare stretched her walls to the absolute brink between pleasure and pain. It was an irresistible force, demanding she give into her carnal nature.

All too soon Apogee was shaking from her ears to her hoof tips. The exhaustion was there, but it was overshadowed by the fierce arousal that peaked in her, setting her body ablaze with urgent need. This was it! The pleasure she'd sought all night had finally come, and her mother—her own mother!—was the minister of that pleasure. Like a conductor she played the the nerves and synapses of Apogee's body, a symphony of pleasure now reaching its climax.

There was no more doubt: Delta had to be enjoying this! With the skillful motions of her hooves, wielding the COOLCO with such fervor, could there be any doubt? Delta was demanding her orgasm, forcefully coaxing Apogee's body to succumb to it.

Apogee moaned aloud, completely lost in the moment. 'Don't stop!' she thought desperately. She would give anything, do anything, if only Delta would make her orgasm. It was such a small thing she asked. Just this one moment of love, shared between them.

"M-Mom…" said Apogee, voice hushed, husky, raw with her desire.

Wet, soft, raw and visceral. In and out went the guided instrument. The beat of its rhythm had grown into a blissful melody. With each passing of it it along her slickened walls, her pulse rose with the tempo of the union.

One, Two, Three…

The pressure was becoming unbearable. Apogee's need for release utterly consumed her every thought. Her mother did not falter, even as her breathing turned to raspy panting. With each push of the dildo back into her wanting depths she whimpered.

"Mom…"

One, Two Three...

"Mom!"

On the verge of release, Apogee looked down the length of her sweat-soaked body at her mother. She was more radiant and beautiful than Apogee ever realized in sixteen years.

She was an angel.

But she was also just 'mom'. Those circles under her eyes, showing the weight of the world she carried. Her rose-colored eyes—so much like Apogee's own!—which burned with an unquenchable inner fire in spite of that weight. Her mane, slightly matted in places from poor grooming, tousled and unkempt, spoke to her indifference of the world and its perception of her.

Delta Vee was a mess. An unruly, furious, untamable tempest. But Apogee still loved her with all her heart. It was irrational, unreasonable and probably foolish, but she loved the mare. No matter how hard she looked, she could only ever see the beautiful pony underneath the mask of bitterness she wore.

Delta Vee was beautiful.

And now Apogee saw her not only as her mother, but as a mare. Mature… Sexual.

It was too much.

"I'm gonna… M-Mom, I…!"

They had reached the point of no return. Every nerve in Apogee's body was ablaze with climax as it tore mercilessly through her entire body. She could hear nothing but the soft squelch of the toy and the erratic breaths coming from her muzzle. Her left hind leg spasmed and twitched and her forehooves dug into the bedsheets for support, bracing her against the waves of pleasure.

"Oh mom, yes! YES!"

It was perfect. It was everything she had wished for and more. Every painful moment of disappointment and sadness she'd experienced tonight was repaid in full with each crashing wave of the orgasm her mother was giving her. Utterly lost to the moment, Apogee grinded herself against the dildo, all pain forgotten. She called out to Delta in the heat of the moment, exclaiming her pleasure to the mare, moaning sweet nothings for the role she played in bringing her this selfless, wonderful gift.

It seemed to last forever. Until, that is, that it ended, abruptly and painfully with a wet, unsatisfying plop as Delta pulled the COOLCO the rest of the way out of her. She was utterly unprepared for it. The absurd thickness of it being pulled from out of her still-twitching vagina was soberingly painful.

"FUCK!" Apogee exclaimed, rolling immediately to her side and scrunching up into a tight ball. Her forehooves slipped down between her rear legs, applying pressure against her throbbing, abused marehood. The simultaneous pleasure and pain was a strange, unfamiliar sensation.

Distantly, Apogee heard a loud thump. The pain between her legs was dominating her senses, but she gritted her teeth with resolve and opened one of her eyes. Her mother had—as she'd guessed—fallen backward after yanking the COOLCO out.

Sitting on her flanks where she landed, Delta leaned upright and was hugging the dildo against her chest with one arm while propping herself upright with the other. Swallowing hard, Apogee forced herself to look up and meet her mother's gaze. Trying to read Delta's expression, she imagined a range of emotions she'd dared to hope seeing: arousal, pleasure, excitement...

Bewilderment and shock was all she saw. Delta's pupils were tiny dots and her mouth hung ajar. She stared at Apogee with that expression, wide-eyed and speechless.

Oh fuck.

Nothing Apogee had imagined came close to the reality of it. In that instant, Apogee knew she'd fucked up, and in doing so, had made a terrible mistake. She stared at her mother, equally stunned, and tried to understand where she'd misread her mother's intent. But no matter how long she thought it over, she couldn't see past her own desire.

"Why did you…?" Apogee asked. The words came out dry, almost too quiet to be heard. A tilt of Delta's head and a furrowing of her brow made it clear she'd heard the half-question. The deepening confusion on the mare's face was then replaced with a look of realization.

It all became clear to Apogee as she looked at her mother's reaction: she'd only been seeing what she wanted to see all along. But even worse than that...

Delta knew.

Apogee's earlier cries of joy were more than enough to make her intent clear. There was no hiding the fact she was enjoying what they'd done. Worse, it was plainly obvious that she'd celebrated the role her mother played in helping her get off. There was no taking it back.

"Why did I do what?" Delta asked in a flat, low voice as she fixed her gaze firmly on Apogee.

She had to go into damage control somehow, but nothing came to mind to diffuse the situation. All she could do was tumble her forehooves end over end and gawk uselessly.

Seeing her doing this stoked the fire of Delta's rising anger. "Well?!" she shouted.. When no answer was forthcoming, she threw the COOLCO toward Apogee who flinched away from the projectile. Judging by its wide arc it hadn't been aimed with an intent to hit her. The phallus bounced three feet to her left, across the bed, over the edge and back to the floor. Turning her attention away from the sex toy that'd nearly hit her, Apogee matched the glare from her mother with one of her own.

"What the hell mom!"

Delta was clearly unimpressed by her daughter's snappy comeback and rose to a stand, taking an advancing step toward the bed. "Yeah, what the hell is right!" snarled Delta. "The hell is your problem? Wasn't the whole point of all this nonsense to get the damn thing out of you?"

The question was impossible.

"Well, yeah, of course it was," replied Apogee as she shrank away from her mother's advance. She would call her out on the blatant contradiction. Apogee's earlier squeals of ecstasy left little to the imagination. But what else could she say?

"Then why?" Delta asked simply.

Meeting her mother's eyes, Apogee could see she was not going to tolerate any further attempt at misdirection. The question was like a weight hanging over them both. They could both feel it, crushing them under the countless implications it raised. There was no denial.

Apogee blanched, frantically looking across the bed as though the answer to her problem could be found among the sex toys and playcolts still littering the bed. Her eyes were drawn to issue ninety seven where Sunshine Meadows was splayed out on the pages, raw and sexual as ever. I think I'll take a rain check on that hoofjob, Apogee thought inanely.

With a sigh, Apogee settled for a weak and lethargic answer. "I don't know."

"That's not good enough," said Delta, her voice wavering and on the verge of choking. She was shaking all over. The tremors robbed the mare of her ability to continue walking toward the bed—or more likely, walking towards Apogee. "You were enjoying that?" she continued, her facial features softening for only a briefest of moments.

What Apogee would give if she could just read the damn mare! Her response to most things distilled down to anger, but there was always more going on behind the facade of rage. Was there disgust? No, it wasn't that, but she showed no hint of joy or excitement about what they'd shared either. And that was, above all, the most bitter truth to endure.

Delta's hoof tapped against the dirty trailer floor as she waited. Apogee mouthed a hasty reply, "I thought that…"

"You thought what?" Delta said hastily.

Apogee slumped. With every half-hearted word, she was digging her own grave deeper.

She recalled the moment of bonding—real, genuine bonding—that they'd shared earlier with the playcolt magazines. The feel of her mother's warmth pressing against her was like a dream. Was it so wrong to want more?

Slowly and painfully, Apogee started to drag herself off the bed. She put one hoof down on the ground and then the other. To stand was agony. Apogee could hardly manage it, but she forced herself to do it. Delta watched this carefully, her eyes narrowing.

"I thought," said Apogee, limp-trotting forward. Delta took a step back as Apogee advanced with a grimace. "I thought we'd be closer. But I was wrong about you, like always! Why, mom?"

Delta's lips trembled with countless thoughts that went unsaid. When she spoke, her voice was tempered and measured, "What do you mean, 'why'?"

Her calm was unnerving. She evoked little emotion or inflection. The words were rational. She was in control. Apogee hated her for that. It was worse than if she'd shouted like she normally would. That ability to be so dispassionate in the face of Apogee's emotional torment was infuriating.

But it went beyond that. It was the apparent lack of caring that her calm suggested. Apogee wanted her mother to shout. She wanted the mare to fly into a rage, because Apogee wanted to fly into a rage! But Delta remained calm, cool and collected. What they'd done obviously didn't mean the same thing to her as it had for Apogee.

That is what hurt.

"Stop!" Apogee demanded. "You know what I mean. I thought we were sharing something special!"

Delta's lips trembled again. She took a deep breath, held it, and let it out slowly. "You mean… you thought we were having sex," she said. Apogee had to swivel her ears toward her to catch the muttered question.

"Yes!" Apogee shouted without a moment's hesitation. "Dammit, yes! I thought we could-"

"Apogee!" Delta screamed, cutting her off. The suddenness of her outburst sent Apogee pacing back. At last the mare's anger had come to the surface, and as Apogee looked at the fire in her mother's eyes she felt a sick kind of glee.

There she is, Apogee thought morosely.

"I'm your fucking MOTHER!" Delta said, stamping her hoof toward the yellow pegasus. The sound of the hoof crashing to the floor sent ripples through the tiny, cramped bedroom, forcing Apogee to fold her ears down. She acted angry, but the wildness in her eyes and the deep furrow in her brow left her looking more confused than anything.

"So what if you are?" Apogee countered. "It doesn't matter. Why can't you just say what you really think?"

"The fuck is that suppose to mean?"

On the verge of tears, Apogee stamped her hoof to the ground to emphasize her frustration. "Why can't you just admit that you hate me!"

The words were a punch to the gut for Delta and she staggered away from her, nearly tripping over a discarded bottle on the floor. She was a collage of emotions: confusion, conflict, anger, sadness, remorse. Each emotion played out on her face, like a canvas of her inner struggle, now made external. Apogee had gotten her wish to see her mother break down to her level. It didn't make her feel any better. There was only sadness.

Then the tears came.

"It's true, isn't it?" Apogee asked. Sobs punctuated her words, shambling from out of her in stilted, painful gasps. "You've always hated me! I was stupid to think you'd love me that way."

Delta was thunderstruck. "Apogee, that's…"

"No! Just say it! Just be honest with me for once!"

"Okay!" Delta shouted, "I don't fucking hate you! Better?"

"No!"

"Oh, well excuse me for not being the perfect mother!"

"Perfect? How about anything more than 'worst mother of all time'!"

In a flash Delta had her muzzle pressed forcefully against Apogee's. The wildfire blazing in each mare's eyes joined as they stared each other down, unwavering.

"I tried my best you ungrateful shit! I don't have the luxury of money and success like your good-for-nothing fuck-up of a father!"

Apogee shoved back against Delta's snout with her own, a task made no easier by the differences in their size. "I don't care about your money and success mom! I never did!"

"Well I do." Delta said in a quieter, strained tone.

"Yeah? And for what?" Apogee asked, shaking her head. For a moment she saw the blue mare in a different light. Not as the mother she always loved beyond all reason, but as the petty, nihilistic, responsibility-avoiding banshee that she portrayed herself as. "It's not dad's fault you're this way."

Delta's nostrils flared, her hot and heavy breath spilling over Apogee's muzzle as she stared daggers into her eyes. Her heart trembled as adrenaline shot through her, giving her screeching, tired muscles renewed vigor for the fight to come. But before blows were traded, Delta was the one to back down.

She paced away from Apogee, walking in an aimless circle. Once she'd had a few seconds to regather herself she stopped near the bed, glancing at the night stand with a weary eye before returning her smoldering glare back at her.

"Your father doesn't deserve to stand on the pedestal you place him on."

Apogee snorted. "Dad is a good pony, mom," she said firmly, not intending to back down. To see her mother this way was unbearable, but it hurt just as much to hear her father's character being torn to shreds. Why couldn't Delta see that?

"The only thing that stallion's ever been good at is stealing my life away from me," Delta spat.

It was the same, old, tired complaint Apogee heard a million times before. Yet somehow it felt more personal this time. Apogee knew Jet wasn't the kind of pony Delta claimed him to be. She loved her father, and he loved her. Delta always said he'd taken something away from her, ignoring the obvious truth: that he had also given her something too. But she couldn't see that. She cared only for herself.

"So that's it, huh mom?" Apogee said in a low voice.

Delta said nothing, turning away from Apogee and grabbing the bottle of Everfree from the nightstand. Seeing this made Apogee even more angry.

"Is it really dad that stole your life, or was it having me that stole your life?!"

Delta said nothing, pouring a shot from the bottle and downing it quickly. Apogee paced toward her. Every step she took sent a blossom of fresh pain through her legs.

"You wish I was never born, don't you!"

Delta said nothing, and looked down at the ground between her legs.

"Say it!"

Delta said nothing.

"SAY IT!" Apogee screamed, inches from her mother. They were so close that the small hairs along the blue mare's ears rustled as Apogee's hyperventilating breath buffeted against the mare's face. Apogee waited for the mare's rage to come back, ready to match it. She willed her mother to turn and fight like she always would. But she wouldn't.

Why now, when Apogee was ready to face her, would she back down?

Apogee, confused and angry, watched as her mother shrunk before her, cowering. She looked weak and vulnerable. Her body shook and her ears fell low. As she witnessed her mother's chest heaving with repressed sobs, Apogee's eyes were opened.

She'd become her mother.

Then the regret flooded into her heart. "Mom?" she said, chancing a sign of her regret by reached out with a hoof toward her whimpering mother. Her hoof froze as Delta turned to look at her.

Apogee's blood ran cold.

To what frivolous and short-lived purpose did her outburst serve? What cost had she paid to make her mother feel her own pain? As Apogee looked at the broken mare in front of her, she knew the cost of that petty victory was too great.

Never had Apogee seen her mother so bereft of hope and dignity. Her face twisted into a horrific imitation of the beautiful mare she knew. A sick parallel to the dignified, strong-willed mare from moments ago. Her fur was damp with tears, still streaming down her face in endless rivulets of grief. She trembled uncontrollably, barely able to stand on her own hooves. Her voice was stolen by sorrow and her mouth wrenched in boundless agony.

Now, at last, Apogee could read her mother easily.

"Apogee," Delta choked, struggling to speak amid her silent, pained sobbing. "Do you really think that I...?"

Then she was gone again, unable to finish the sentence. She shielded her face with her arm, turning away from Apogee. Slowly, she leaned down against the bed, resting the top half of her body on it, and buried her face into the sheets.

"Go," she pleaded, her voice muffled. "Please…"

Apogee remained motionless.

Not like this.

But as she looked at the shattered pieces of Delta's dignity which she herself dashed, she realized her own helplessness. There was no fixing this, because it wasn't simply a mistake gone wrong. This went far beyond the boundaries of the bedroom. It was a mistake sixteen years in the making, and Apogee was part of the problem.

"Mom, i'm sorry!" she said, giving at least an apology. It fell flat on the ground as soon as it left her mouth. It was a hollow and lifeless gesture, well-meaning but ultimately ineffectual. Her mother didn't even take notice.

With nothing left she could say or do, Apogee crumpled to the floor a foot away from Delta. Like her mother, she had nothing left. No dignity. Nothing. Apogee had only her tears and grief for company. And just as her mother had, she succumbed to them, and sobbed helplessly.

How had it all gone so wrong?

She didn't know. All the events of tonight, here with her mom, and the trials she'd endured with her father for the past several weeks, amalgamated into an unfathomable soup of lust, lies and sadness. No matter how she tried to perceive and understand it, it became no clearer. She was lost. Had they crossed a line they couldn't return from? What meager scraps of a relationship could she salvage from this disaster?

"Mom," Apogee said, biting her lip to allow a painful tightening of her chest pass before continuing. "Please don't make me go," she begged.

The world went dark as Apogee covered her face with both hooves, unable look at her mother's disheveled, broken body. The image of it stayed burned into her retina despite it; likely to remain crystal clear in her memory for years, in all its terrible detail.

"I'm sorry I'm a freak," she said. "All I wanted was…"

Sex? Love? Ten minutes ago she thought she knew. She had it all figured out. Not anymore.

Apogee exhaled hotly. "I don't know," she admitted.

Then all was quiet, apart from the heaving of her chest as she cried. She imagined what her mom might be doing right now. Looking at her with disgust no doubt, for the perverted trash she'd become. At any moment Delta would cast her away. Engulfed in another rage she'd banish her to the couch in the kitchen for the rest of the night, too frustrated and annoyed to deal with her. She knew it was true. It could be no other way. In her mind she could envision her mother's dismissal of her pain and embarrassment. The image of the mare's mocking sneer was a familiar sight that she'd seen too many times before. She waited for it anxiously, certain of it.

But as seconds turned into a full minute, Apogee heard no groans of disgust. No tyrade of rage. No dispassionate sigh of frustration filled the room. She waited until every second of the silence felt like an eternity. An abyss of uncertainty. It went on, and Apogee wished it could end. Even if it meant leaving the trailer and never seeing her mother again she needed it to end.

It must end!

And finally, it did. But not as Apogee had predicted. The night, with its never ending twists and turns, had one more thing for her to be wrong about. And as she felt the presence of her mother near, that unmistakable warmth of a body, Apogee's heart became still.

Please… I'll do anything.

A hoof touched her, resting on her withers. Her mother's hoof. A hoof which she didn't deserve, but there it was just the same, warm and reassuring as it rubbed her tender, tired flesh. So unexpected was the feeling that Apogee gasped in surprise. She opened her eyes and saw the face of her mother.

She was beautiful. Her eyes were sad, but not for herself. A thousand times Apogee had imagined her mother looking at her this way: Seeing her with eyes that looked for understanding and compassion. Eyes which begged for forgiveness. Vulnerable eyes that spoke a thousand words in only a glance.

"Mom?" Apogee whimpered, confused, uncertain. From deep within her, Apogee felt her regret bubbling to the surface. Every part of her burned with the need to make it right again. "I'm so sorry mom, It's all my fault! I-"

But there was no need.

"Shhh," Delta hushed, and held open her embrace, offering her daughter a place against her chest. Apogee stared in awe at her mother's outstretched, waiting arms. The moment of hesitation from Apogee to accept the position was not lost on Delta, who tightened her lips into a thin line, quivering as she waited anxiously.

Here at last was Delta, in a rare moment of weakness and vulnerability, open and exposed. Many ponies would feel justified in punishing her mother's show of weakness for all the times she'd done the same. To give back to the mare all the grief she thoughtlessly inflicted on others. A chance to show Delta the pain of hope.

But Apogee was not most ponies.

She loved her mother, beyond all reason.

Tears of grief were washed away in an instant, exchanged for tears of overwhelming relief. Without another moment's hesitation she threw herself into the waiting arms of her mother, surrendering to her fully and willfully. It was warm. Soft. She smelled of cigarettes and alcohol and sex. She smelled like Delta Vee. Apogee inhaled deeply and gladly of it, wrapping her arms around her mother's barrel and, for the moment, lost herself there. It was a feeling so primal and pure, to be in the arms of a mother, held and secure. Apogee sniffled, let out a shaky sigh, and smiled.

It was better than sex could ever be.

"It's okay," Delta whispered, her hoof stroking through Apogee's mane, down her neck and withers and back again. "It's going to be okay," she repeated. There was no proof of it, no reason to think it was true, but Apogee accepted it openly.

"You're not mad?" Apogee asked, unable to mask her fear.

"No."

The air of motherly certainty and finality sent a shiver down Apogee's spine. She looked up and saw that Delta was looking down at her, her eyes full of understanding and patience. Apogee was reminded of the scathing remarks she'd made minutes ago. The loss of her faith in Delta. Seeing the mare looking down at her now, cradling her in an embrace, emphasized her betrayal of trust in her mother.

Her heart sank. "I said all those awful things."

"And I said more than my fair share of stupid shit, too," Delta pointed out.

Apogee's ears folded as she hung her head. "I know. But I understand why you felt that way," she said. "I don't hold it against you."

A wispy sigh came from Delta's lips and she hugged Apogee closer. "Thank you." She stroked her hoof down the back of Apogee's head. The nape of her neck broke out in gooseflesh. "You know what Apogee?" Delta asked, looking down at her. Apogee shook her head, waiting. "You aren't the only one capable of forgiveness."

Delta resumed running her hoof through her daughter's mane and down her neck in slow, reassuring strokes. Everything was going to be okay.

Apogee swallowed the lump in her throat and smiled. "Thanks mom."

The two shared a smile, but Delta was still restless. Her eyes danced, indecisive of where to look as she silently pondered. Apogee was about to question it, but Delta cut in first.

"Kiddo?" she asked. She was holding something back. A thought that left her uncertain. But what? It wouldn't surprise Apogee if her mom could never look at her the same way again. She wished it could all go back to the way it was before, but that was unrealistic to hope for.

"Yeah?" Apogee murmured, head dipping low as she expected the worst.

"Look," Delta said, "I know I'm kind of a shitty mom." She continued her long, soothing strokes as she spoke. They seemed to provide as much comfort for Delta as they did Apogee. The yellow pegasus wiped tears from her eyes and looked up at her mother. Had she ever heard Delta say such a thing?

She continued.

"I'm an expert at being a huge fuck-up," she admitted. The tension in Delta's body was like a freshly wound spring. She took a long, calming sigh and loosened her grip around Apogee. "I haven't always been there for you. I haven't always been a mother to you."

"Mom?" Apogee said under her breath. Delta placed a hooftip over Apogee's lips before she could say more. Their eyes locked and she felt lost in her mother's crimson gaze.

"I haven't told you what needs to be said," continued Delta. Apogee waited, her attention so focused on her mother that she couldn't blink. Her eyes watered, her ears burned, her heart slammed in her chest.

"Apogee," Delta whispered, her voice husky and raw.

Apogee held her breath.

Delta said what needed to be said.

"I love you."

The world broke into fractures of light as tears filled Apogee's eyes.

"I love you too, mom-"

Apogee's voice cracked. Their embrace tightened even further. For what felt like an eternity, the two ponies held onto each other as though their lives depended on it. Apogee never wanted it to end. For the rest of her life she wanted to remember this moment in its every detail. Every smell, sight, sound and touch of her mother.

Did she want sex? Love?

All she knew for certain is that she wanted this. Always.

Delta gently pulled away. Apogee wiped her eyes clean of tears, composing herself as well as she could. Delta smiled, took her daughter's cheek in hoof and looked her square in the eyes.

"Kiddo… Sex and love," she said, managing a quick smirk before continuing, "They aren't the same." Delta gave a pause of reflection. Apogee nodded in understanding. "You know who your loved ones are Apogee, and they aren't found in seedy bars or under your bed sheets waiting for a quick and dirty fuck."

Apogee wanted to agree, at least in principle. Delta had experienced love and loss and lust for longer than she'd been alive. Apogee may have regrets about what she'd done earlier, both with her mom and also with Jet, but Delta had a lifetime of regrets. Apogee was saddened that her mother was so intimately acquainted with loss.

"Apogee," Delta said, continuing, "I've had sex with with so many ponies I've literally lost count. I've been with young studs, gorgeous mares, washed-up salary ponies, drug-addled criminals and everything else in-between. And you know what?"

Apogee frowned. "What?"

"I'm still here," Delta said, her ears down and voice distant. "I'm still alone in this stupid trailer, surrounded by junk. All those ponies—those conquests—and what love do I have to show for it?" Delta firmly held her hoof against Apogee's withers, pleading with her eyes and her words for Apogee to understand.

"Sex isn't love."

What a terrible price that must be paid for wisdom. Looking at her mother's tired, weary face, she wondered if the price was too great.

But Delta had forgotten one thing.

"That's not entirely true," Apogee countered. Delta fell quiet and listened, looking like she wanted to be proven wrong. Almost desperately so.

"You do have something to show for it…"

Delta's lip curled into a quiver and her eyes squeezed shut. She knew what her daughter was going to say, and knew beyond all doubt that it was true.

"You have me."

Their bodies were reunited. Delta held onto Apogee with all her strength.

"And you have me," Delta said.

"Always."

Author's Note

(EDIT: I later decided to do a few more chapters and leave ch4 as more of a drama chapter. A bait and switch kind of thing, but not the end of the story. Just a twist in the journey, so to speak.)

I'm sure a few of you who read this far might be disappointed by the conclusion of ch4, or ch4 in general. Understandable.

Originally I had intended on this chapter being very different. More sexual, and likely with Delta being more obviously aroused and interested. Truthfully, by the time I'd finished writing ch 1-3 and got to this point, my desire to write that story had gone. My feelings on the characters and the way they should interact had changed, so I put off writing ch4.

A while turned into many months.

Then, finally, I let myself write the chapter I actually wanted to write rather than the one I'd originally planned.

Nearing Apogee

A sliver a light filled Apogee's vision, filtering the world beyond into a blurry distortion.

Questions swirled in her mind. Where was she and how had she gotten here? As quickly as they surfaced from the deep recesses of her subconscious, the questions, and their answers, fell into the hazy din in the back of her head.

None of it mattered. Only the serene, comforting warmth mattered, and she surrendered to it. It massaged every tired, aching muscle in her body from head to hooftips. While pleasant, it was the soft bristling which truly caught her attention. Along her spine, ever so gently, it brushed against her fur like a thousand tickling needles.

Then it moved.

With a rhythmic motion, the presence enveloped her further, then fell. A moment later and it rose again, only to fall once more. And there was something else as well... a faint tickling at her ear which matched the rhythm. With each fall of the pressure, a wave of hot air blew across her ears, playfully teasing them. She sighed with pleasure as her ear flicked against the current.

Then she noticed the weight which rested across her barrel. It lightly brushed against her fur, entwined about her body in a protective embrace. Further down was another, heavier weight which rested flat against her flanks. The comfort of their touch was a welcome respite against the breezy, cool air that threatened to sap away her body heat.

Then there were the smells.

A thick, pungent scent filled her nostrils with each breath. The texture and identity of that smell was well known to her. As she considered it, scenes played out in her mind like a silent movie: a lonely trailer which baked under the desert sun… deeper within was a cozy, messy den… and the sole occupant of it, standing proud and tall with her wings spread and her rose colored eyes staring tiredly.

Delta Vee.

Her mother had a very particular scent which she could pick out from far away. Within it there were strong hints of ash, soot, oil and carbon, the trademarks of her exhausting profession which always found their way into her fur. Then, deeper below this surface layer of opaque smells was an aroma which titillating the nose. It was that sour-sweetness which she came to recognize as 'mother'.

Apogee breathed the smell in deeply and longingly. As she did, a thousand memories flooded her, each one connected with the owner of the smell which dominated her senses. It was comforting and maternal as it brought her back to her earliest memories.

Yet something about the smell had changed. As it sat in her nostrils, her body stirred. All her extremities tingled as a roiling heat churned under the surface of her skin. Between her legs there was a wanting ache which came alive as she dwelled on the aroma. It was much more than the smell of her mother; it was the smell of a mare.

Mom smells good.

Pushing that strangely provocative thought aside, her eyes opened and she peered into the dim light of the room beyond. The intrusion of visual stimulus flooding into her brain was a shock to her system, waking her more fully. Then, like a trainwreck, the events of the previous night played out in her mind: from running away to showing up at her mom's trailer and the baring of her soul to her mother. It was a long, tiring night. The stress of it was becoming increasingly apparent in her joints.

It was going to be long day, Apogee realized.

Blinking against the darkness of her mom's room, she noticed the fur under her eyes was still crusty with tears. They had long since dried, but the faint smell of saltiness was still lingering in the air, along with many other scents which reached out from the past and grabbed hold of her. She'd been so wild, sensual and lusty. The air was quite thick with those smells too, like little post-it notes to the lurid events of the night.

Equine sense of smell had its ups and downs.

But where was her mom?

Her eyes darted about the room. The lighting was rather dim, but the slightest traces of dusky blue light poured in from the window of the room and cast long shadows over everything. It was probably around six in the morning. Six thirty tops. She wasn't late for school, though showing up for the class was the last thing on her mind.

With that burden avoided, she relaxed into the soft comfort of the bed. Though as she shifted her tired, aching body, she became aware of the weight across her chest and thigh again. She seized her stretching and pondered the origin of this warm weight which pressed against her. Carefully, she raised a forehoof to her chest and ran the underside of it along the peaceful, resting weight.

It was a hoof.

And then Apogee realized where Delta was. The enveloping warmth she felt was her mother's body wrapped around her. Between the forehoof around her chest and her mother's rear leg splayed casually across her thigh, she was peacefully captured in her mother's embrace. But when had they ended up like this? When they went to bed last night they'd each taken a 'side' of the bed. In fact, Delta was rather insistent about it. Yet somewhere between then and now the two had come together without Apogee being the wiser of it.

It was rare for Delta to share such intimacy, and Apogee failed to recall a time in the past when they'd ever been this close. This went far beyond a casual hug or laying side by side on the sofa, watching television into the wee hours of the night.

She's… holding me...

Focusing on Delta's breathing, she was fairly certain her mom was still asleep. The rise and fall of her chest against Apogee's back was shallow and steady. She probably wasn't even aware of what she was doing. Considering how easily her mother became upset, she considered waking the mare up before she discovered them in this compromised position. Then again, waking her up might be even worse. The only other option was to try and slip herself out of Delta's arms and respect her mother's personal space. As beautiful and wondrous as the experience was, she imagined her mom wouldn't be doing it if she were conscious of it. It would be wise to keep her distance and avoid the trouble.

Apogee sighed as she weighed the options, but knew she'd made up her mind before ever asking them.

Buck it.

Apogee plunged herself against her mother's body, nuzzling her back against Delta's stomach and allowing herself to be even further consumed by the warmth of the mare's sleeping body. It was wrong and stupid on so many levels, and if Delta woke up to realize what was happening she'd likely throw a fit. Whatever good might have come from last night would be ruined and her hopes of having a good morning would be dashed against the brutal rocks of reality.

But it felt so good and so right! Being surrounded by her mom's larger, mature body and her strong, feminine smell was too powerful a pleasure to willingly give up. As always, the consequences of her stupidity would have to be future Apogee's problems to deal with.

Of course, there was school to think about too. She'd have to get up eventually. But until then, why not enjoy being cuddled by her mom? Even if the mare wasn't aware of what she was doing, it was still a wonderful feeling, and she may as well get the most of it while it lasted. The chance may never come again, especially considering the events of last night. While Apogee had a sense their relationship was moving toward a better place, the hope that they'd have a more intimate relationship was unlikely.

A tight, bittersweet pain squeezed Apogee's chest the more she thought about it. Why did she have to be so dumb, lusting after things which were unreasonable and impossible? She wasn't sure, but for the moment, she was content to dream the impossible.

Sighing happily, Apogee closed her eyes and lost herself in her fantasies. Before long she was teetering on the edge of unconsciousness. With her senses dulled and her mind swimming in the sea of unrealized desires, she was all too vulnerable to the sudden, deep, bellowing sound which came from behind.

"So," Delta said in a drowsy, throaty voice, "do you intend to get your ass out of bed and go to school, or are you going to lay in bed all morning?"

Every muscle in Apogee's body seized up. Within seconds her heart was slamming in her chest and her extremities burned as adrenaline burst into her bloodstream. How long had the mare been lying here awake? Seconds? Minutes?!

"Y-You're awake?" Apogee asked, words fumbling out of her from her stupor.

Without responding right away, Delta yawned loudly. The mare's muscles tensed and relaxed as she shook off whatever weariness had taken residence in her aching bones. Then, with a steady voice that was flat and unreadable, she answered.

"Unfortunately."

But why? Apogee thought in her rising panic and confusion. Delta wasn't screaming or complaining or kicking her away like she'd imagined. What did that mean? Was her mom enjoying it as much as she was, or was she still in a morning haze, not fully realizing what she was doing?

As if to answer the flurry of questions rattling off in Apogee's head, Delta's body started to move. Like a cat waking up after a ten hour nap, Delta's legs stretched out as far as they would go, hovering inches above Apogee's body, and quivered from the flexing of her muscles. Here, at last, Apogee expected her mom to scoot away from her after the stretching had finished. Neither of them would speak of this cuddling incident ever again. Everything would go back to normal.

But then Delta defied her expectations again. Rather than awkwardly skitter away, Delta's hooves came to rest on Apogee's body again. An explosion went off somewhere in the back of her mind as she tried to process what was happening. Before she could make sense of it, Delta gave her the biggest shock yet.

A forehoof dug it's way underneath Apogee's body, pressing forward between her and the bedsheets. Her body moved of its own accord, lifting her weight from the bed just enough to permit passage of her mother's leg. As soon as it emerged, it wrapped itself around her chest and joined with its twin. A similar dance played out between their hindquarters, with both her mother's legs taking residence on either side of her own.

She was completely encircled by her mother's body now, and Delta actively squeezed them tighter. There was no way to misinterpret what was happening.

Her mom was actually cuddling her.

Convinced that she was misunderstanding her mother's intent—or perhaps having a wonderful dream—Apogee searched for explanations, but could find nothing to give reason to her mother's actions. It was far too intimate. Mothers and daughters didn't smash their hot, aroused, wet bodies together in bed...

A quick shake of her head helped to dispel the train of thought which tried to grip her. They were only cuddling. It wasn't like they were about to have sex. Un-fucking-fortunately. That was definitely a fantasy that wouldn't come true as much as she might want it to. Delta made that much clear if nothing else. Which left Apogee with only one conclusion...

Buck it.

Apogee sighed softly and allowed herself to melt into her mother's arms rather than worry over the confusing details. Delta responded to her wriggling and shifted her own weight. Both ponies writhed about as hooves awkwardly shuffled and fur bristled against fur until both had become completely comfortable. Like a mold and a cast they had found a perfect union of their bodies. After the two settled in, several minutes passed without incident.

Rarely had Apogee experienced such contentment alongside her mother. Maybe she's just cuddly in the morning, Apogee thought lazily. The number of times the two had shared a bed could be counted on a hoof or two. For all Apogee knew, this was normal behavior for the mare. And despite the fact their relationship would likely never become sexual, Apogee hoped this was a sign of things to come. It wasn't sex… but it was undoubtedly love, and that was just as rewarding.

Well, for the most part.

Ever since her recent sexual awakening, the desire to get hoofed off before school had become a frequent morning fantasy. That'd be the ultimate way to start a morning for sure, and she'd be riding on a wave of good vibes all day! But that was never going to happen. So far, she was the only willing participant of that fantasy.

"Hey," Delta said with a questioning lilt in her voice.

Apogee's heart stopped. She swallowed hard and grunted in acknowledgement of her mother's query as her nethers screamed anxiously. Surely she wasn't going to…?

"What time you suppose to be at school?"

Nope. Definitely not that. Apogee groaned and rubbed at her face. Only one answer seemed appropriate given the circumstances "Way too early?" she said with a morose sigh.

A hot waft of air snorted from her mother's nose and played over Apogee's ear. "No shit, huh?"

"Right?"

"But seriously," the mare urged.

Like most kids her age, she wasn't much for mornings. She didn't often struggle to roll out of bed, but the willingness to do so often fell somewhere on the side of 'just five more minutes'. As comfortable as she was feeling in Delta's arms, thirty minutes would be too little time to enjoy the comfort of bed and cuddling, much less five.

"Eight," Apogee said. Thinking more on it, why not hedge her bets? "... Ish…"

"Eightish," Delta replied, amusement dripping from her every syllable.

"That's my story and I'm sticking to it."

The warmth of Delta's breath spilled over her ear again as a sigh passed the mare's lips. "Come on kid. I don't want an earful of your father's insufferable whining for making you late to school."

"Well, stop being so comfy to snuggle with, then," Apogee said with a smirk. To emphasize her point, she pushed herself back against her mother, further burying herself into the cozy warmth like a pony-shaped tick.

Whether stunned into silence or resigned, Delta had no reply to offer beyond the tired, weight of the world sigh she so often gave. That suited apogee just fine, because when it came down to it, she didn't want to go to school today if she could avoid it. Her attendance was pretty decent so she could afford to skip a day once in a while. After the emotional challenges of the past day, she deserved this much needed rest.

And was it really unreasonable to enjoy the affectionate, maternal cradling of her mom for as long as she could milk it? How long would it be before they shared a moment like this again? For all she knew, it was a once in a lifetime experience and she wasn't going to give that up without a fight.

Though as seconds dragged on into a minute, no fight came. The room was silent, save for the rhythm of her mother's breathing. Apogee focused on the sound as it continued to tickle the small hairs of her ear. It was like a warm autumn breeze, dancing across the top of her head and rustling the hairs at the crown of her head.

Apogee tilted her ear toward the source of the hot, moist heat. The breathing was in a low pitch, and all along her neck its warmth spread. Was she breathing through her mouth and not her nose? Almost certainly, it seemed. And as Apogee listened intently, the weight of her mother's breathing became louder and clearer.

She was drawing nearer.

With all her attention becoming fixated on her mother, the rest of the world fell into the background. Her eyes closed so that nothing could distract her from the feeling and sensation of Delta's breathing. Soon, all she was aware of was the rise and fall of her mom's chest, each bringing a soothing wave of air which caressed her softly.

Then something touched the edge of her ear. With painfully slow and delicate care it grazed up and back down the edge of her burning flesh as another powerful cascade of breath spilled over her neck and down the front of her. Her lips, Apogee thought with surprise. Gasping quietly, she arched her back and tilted her neck, desperate for the stimulation to continue.

Oh buck, it's happening…!

Like a wild, raging fire, Apogee's body became ablaze with desire. Whatever doubt remained in her heart as to whether she desired her mother was snuffed out in an instant. No fiery passion this abrupt and powerful could be explained as platonic love. With every part of her soul she wanted to be taken by Delta right then and there; to join with her physically and do anything the mature, beautiful mare wanted of her.

Broken from the whirlwind of fantasies by further movement from her mom, Apogee moaned softly as the lips of her mother parted and took the tip of her ear between them. The small nib of earflesh became entombed in her mother's lips, and it was surprising how erotic such a simple act could be. Then something hard scraped along the fur of her ear; Delta's teeth, ready to nip her.

Then Delta bit her ear.

Hard.

In an instant Apogee was torn from the sweet, sensual embrace of her fantasy as fresh, raw pain tore through her. With hurt and betrayal she wailed, but quickly realized she had no time to dwell on her disappointment when Delta's teeth pulled her up and away.

With her body reacting on rails, Apogee jerked upright at the same time that Delta scooted off the edge of the bed. With her teeth firmly sunk into the agitated flesh of Apogee's ear, the young pegasus had no choice but to unwittingly follow along with where the teeth were leading her, helpless to resist.

Once the two were standing on all fours, Delta released her ear from its vice. While growling angrily, Apogee spun about and faced her mother while she cradled her stinging ear with a hoof. "Why did you do that?!" Apogee demanded.

After a long moment of contemplation, Delta smirked with her infuriatingly smarmy face, clearly unphased by her words. "I told you: I don't want to get an earful from your dad. If he found out I let you miss out on school because we were screwing around, I'd never hear the end of it."

Apogee wondered about her mother's choice of words. What exactly did 'screwing around' mean anyway? It certainly didn't mean actual screwing. Though for a moment, she thought they were about to. And once again, she was Equestria's biggest idiot for thinking it was going to happen. She had to stop getting her hopes up, because the let down was becoming a tax on her sanity she was unwilling to pay.

"Come on mom," she said, still rubbing the side of her head. "Can't you call dad and say I'm sick or something?"

A pair of steely, rose eyes glared back at her for daring to even suggest it. As serious as she was trying to be, seeing the comically exasperated look on her mom's face was more amusing than it ought to be. She knew she was being a cheeky bitch. Delta knew it too, and no amount of begging and pleading would be likely to change her opinion.

Before Apogee could ponder her fate further, her mother's hoof thrust toward the front of the trailer. "Get your lazy ass moving," she said, her voice more tired than anything.

Feeling the tide of inevitability crashing against her, Apogee bowed her head and trotted in the direction of the pointing hoof. As she walked past her mom, she stuck her lower lip out and feigned as much exaggerated disappointment she could muster. It wasn't going to change anything, but it felt good to be a pain in the ass.

Delta's broad smile said she was fully aware of her bullshit, though. "Move 'yer butt!" she shouted, then turned to face her before clapping a hoof square on her flank with a hard thwack.

Apogee jumped from the rough, playful slap and immediately took off through the hallway adjacent to her mom's room, giggling madly the entire way. As she passed the bathroom on her left she considered stopping to take a shower. Lifting her nose up, she sniffed at the air and was unsurprised her scent was heavy throughout the trailer.

And then there was the unmistakable smell of sex and mares which hung in the air like a sour-sweet syrup. The scent was caked into her fur and would be apparent to every pony at school. Smelling like sex was kind of neat in a way. It was like a big, neon sign that told everypony else you were getting laid and they should be jealous about it. Not that she'd get away with it considering the strict dress code and hygiene requirements of her private school.

Wait, Apogee thought as the small hamster wheel in her mind spun. Dress codes meant school outfits, which meant that… Dangit! My clothes are at home!

In her rush to get away from the condo she'd left everything but her jacket, which meant she couldn't go to school without going home first. And because of the distance her school was from home, returning for a shower and a change would almost certainly make her late.

Clutched by renewed frustration and panic, Apogee sat in the middle of the hallway and let out a groan for the ages. While she sat there and lamented the stupidity of past Apogee, Delta poked her head from around the doorway and looked down at the disheveled lump of pegasus. "Fucking hell, what is it now?"

Apogee peeked out from around the fringes of her hair and tapped her forehooves together sheepishly. "My school clothes are at home, so now I'm going to be late either way."

Cue Delta's deep, soul rattling sigh.

The sound of her mother's despair was quick to draw an apology from her. "I'm sorry! I said I wasn't thinking straight when I came over."

"You weren't kidding," Delta said as she entered the hallway.

Perhaps this could be a blessing in disguise?

While trying to look as pathetic as possible, Apogee threw herself at the tender mercies of her mother. "Seems kind of silly to bother at this point doesn't it? I'm super late now, so I could stay here instead! We could hang out and, you know… do stuff?"

While avoiding school was fun, she mostly wanted to continued exploring the budding relationship growing between them. The two of them were on the precipice of something beautiful; she could feel it deep down. If she could only have some more time alone with the mare, surely she could break through to her?

Before she could scheme any further, Apogee was shoved toward the kitchen from behind with her hooves and ass skidding along the floor tiles the whole way. She growled over her shoulder before lifting herself up and stumbling forward.

"Nice try kiddo. I know they'll give you a fresh outfit at the front desk if you ask."

"But it costs money to get replacements," Apogee said weakly.

"Yeah, and your dad is rich so who gives a shit."

So much for that idea. Breakthroughs were overrated anyway. Back to business.

UHG.

The kitchen hadn't changed since last night. In the corner, the wheezy space heater was still rumbling in fits. Ozone was heavy in the air and mixed with the always enjoyable smell of week old pizza and the sour tinge of dried beer. On the nearby chair, her coat hung where she'd left it. She preemptively ruffled her wings as she grabbed the coat and slung it around her back, carefully pressing her wings through the slits. Meanwhile, Delta maneuvered around her and went to the fridge at the far end of the room.

A whoosh of backpressure filled the small fridge unit as her mom opened the door and peeked inside. As Apogee approached for a better look, Delta stuck her hoof inside it and rummaged around. The sound of clinking bottles filled the room.

Gee, I wonder what's in there, she thought dryly.

The seemingly fruitless rummaging halted with Delta muttering under her breath. She looked back over her shoulder and asked, "You want a snack before you leave? I got some blue stuff in a container here. I think it's yoghurt."

A plastic container was pulled from the fridge and, indeed, it was surprisingly blue. A rather mottled looking blue, as though small chunks of some better-not-to-know material was floating in the goop. After a cursory glance, Apogee thought it best to take her chances with cafeteria food instead. She'd likely miss breakfast, but it wouldn't be the first time.

"N-No, I'm good, but thanks."

Delta looked between her and the container, lifted a brow and then shrugged. "Whatever." The blue mystery goop was pushed back into the fridge to be forgotten once again. Maybe in a few months Apogee could get it out of there and use it in her next biology lab.

"So," Delta said, shutting the fridge and turning back to her, "you got all your stuff?"

"Yeah, only brought my jacket with me," Apogee replied. Then, recalling something they'd talked about last night before bed, she added, "What about dad? Someone should probably call him."

Yeah, she was delaying the inevitable. But Delta was prepared for her. "I called him last night after you passed out."

Her heart sank at the news. "What? Why didn't you tell me?" she asked, unable to hide her annoyance. Scenarios of what the two might have spoken about polluted her mind. Knowing Delta, the conversation had likely been short and to the point.

"I wasn't going to wake you up for one," Delta said tersely. Her ears pinned back in a clear sign of irritation. "And for two, it's a good thing I called him when I did."

Watching as her mother's tail twitched side to side, Apogee swallowed down her frustration and pride. "What happened?" she asked cautiously.

"He was about to embarrass himself by calling the cops to report you missing."

"Shit!" Apogee shouted, "I'm such an idiot. Of course he would do that!" Why it hadn't occurred to her earlier was proof of how stupid she was. Her stomach turned while thinking about it.

"Relax," Delta said as she lifted a hoof and waved it in a placating gesture. "Like I told your father, the cops won't go lookin' for somepony until twenty four hours after they've gone missing."

"Thank goodness," the young pegasus muttered. She'd been dodging a lot of bullets lately.

"Besides, I told him you were here, so it's fine."

The sense of being betrayed tried to creep its way into Apogee's heart, but she quickly dismissed it before it could take root. It's not like she could hide where she'd been, so her mom did what had to be done. But that wasn't what worried her the most.

"So what did he say?"

Aftering a moment's hesitation, Delta gestured impatiently with a hoof. "What did he say about what?"

"What did he say about me!" Apogee shouted with hysterical urgency. After taking a calming breath, she tried to explain the root of her worry. "What did he say about me leaving? Is he still mad?"

The indifferent shrug from Delta following her question said it all, but she elaborated anyway. "Not much. He was relieved to know you're safe."

"... And?"

"You really don't know?" Delta asked. Apogee shook her head, to which Delta chuckled. She motioned with a hoof and offered Apogee to take a seat at the kitchen table.

Intrigued, but mostly worried, Apogee hopped to the cluttered table and pulled out a chair for herself and took a seat. As she got comfortable in her chair, Delta took a seat opposite hers. Impatient for her mom to continue the story, Apogee was dismayed when the older mare started rifling through the graveyard of empty cigarette packs scattered on the table surface.

"Mom?" Apogee said, leaning on her hooves across the table and begging with her eyes for her to continue.

The blue mare waved a hoof at her like she was swatting a bothersome fly out of the air, then continued her search. Just as Apogee was about to lose her mind, Delta's eyes widened in delight as she found a partially smashed cigarette and procured it from its pack. A lighter was thankfully tucked inside the cellophane sleeve of the now empty pack, so Delta took it and began the slow, tedious process of trying to coax a flame from the bone-dry tool. Apogee slapped her hooves on the table and groaned.

Delta grinned from ear to ear in response to her outburst.

After somewhere between an aeon and a millenia, a small blue flame was produced from the lighter and Delta brought it to the cigarette now dangling between her lips. After a few puffs to catch the flame, she snuffed out the lighter's tiny blaze and carelessly tossed it back onto the table.

A shiver of what Apogee discerned to be pleasure wracked her mother's body as she sucked blue smoke into her lungs and slowly exhaled it. "Apogee," Delta said with pleased smile, "never smoke. Terrible habit." Satisfied with herself, Delta sank into her chair and enjoyed her vice.

She really was unbearable.

"Mom, please," Apogee begged.

Finally ready to speak, Delta plucked the cigarette from her lips with her primary feathers and leaned closer to Apogee over the table. "I assumed you'd overhear us, considering I got into a shouting match with your father. I was sure i'd woken you up."

Apogee drew her hooves in closer toward her body and frowned. "I had no idea."

"Guess you really needed the sleep," Delta said with a shrug. "But yeah, we had a little tit for tat."

"What about?"

"The usual."

Great, Apogee thought. Now dad will be in an even worse mood when I get home. When those two fought, it was always her that suffered. The 'usual' argument was always the same. Who was the biggest asshole. Who's fault it was that her mom was living in a junkyard. Whose responsibility it was to deal with taking care of her.

Parents were really stupid sometimes.

"Cool," Apogee said as she slumped into her seat with a resigned sigh.

"Yeah," Delta replied somberly.

Apogee stewed in her misery for a while as thoughts of her father—and the terrible punishment he'd inflinct—tormented her. If there was ever any doubt that she was royally fucked, her mom had dispelled the notion. It was all so unbelievably unfair! If Jet hadn't stood her up in the first place then none of this would have happened.

Or so she kept trying to tell herself.

Perhaps sensing her distress, Delta cleared her throat and reached out with a hoof across the table and set it over the top of her own. The suddenness of the motherly touch was a shock, but a welcome one. She looked up and met her mother's concerned eyes.

Delta stroked her hoof and put on her best—if not somewhat crooked—smile. "It's not all bad kiddo," she said in-between drags of her cigarette.

"It's not?" Apogee asked with a roll of her eyes, unconvinced of her mother's words, though still glad for the soothing gesture.

"You could have been dragged back home last night," she pointed out.

Shuddering at the thought, Apogee nodded in agreement. "There's no way in Tartarus I could've dealt with that. At least he knew better than to try that."

Delta's ear gave a curious little flick as her smile widened.

"What?" Apogee asked, wondering what her mother was thinking behind that big, smug grin.

"Don't be so sure he didn't try," she said, snorting through her nose and blowing smoke around the claustrophobic little kitchen.

"Wait," Apogee said, catching her breath in her throat. "You don't mean…?"

As Delta continued explaining, the stroking of her hoof tempered Apogee against her melancholy. "He demanded I fly you back to the condo. He raved on and on about my parental duty to get you safely back home. To his home. Like mine wasn't good enough for you. Asshole."

Picking her jaw up off the floor, Apogee gushed, "Oh my gosh, I'm sorry! I didn't know you had to deal with that. How the hay did you change his mind?"

"I told him to go fuck himself."

Some things never change.

"S-Seriously?"

"Seriously," Delta said, then winked back at her. "I may have also pointed out you had a rough night, and I made it clear I wasn't going to make it worse by forcing you to go home and deal with his bitchy ass." Delta's snark toward Jet was well earned, Apogee thought. "Anyway, I also promised that I'd make sure to get you to school today." After a moment of pause, Delta added for emphasis, "On fucking time."

Ignoring the comment about school, Apogee's heart swelled and she rested her free hoof over the top of her mother's and grasped it firmly. The mare's eyes darted between the affectionate hoof sandwich and back up at her. With a subtle smile, Delta's ears fell an inch and her features softened. Words failed Apogee, but the tender joining of their hooves and the mutual affection on their faces went beyond the need of them.

Fighting back tears, Apogee rubbed her reddening, misty eyes as love for her mother overwhelmed her. Delta snubbed out the trailing end of her cigarette and stood up, with Apogee following shortly after. She took a step toward her mother, looking deeply into her eyes and getting lost within them.

"I got your back kiddo," Delta said, then stepped forward and bridged the gap between them.

A fan of blue feathers engulfed her. She was pulled her into the warmth of her mother's breast and she immediately gave herself up to it without word or question. Her eyes closed and she listened to the gentle beating of the mare's heart while the small hairs of her chest fluff tickled Apogee's nose.

"Have a good day at school sweetheart," Delta said, her warm breath stroking Apogee's ear.

"I will," she replied, nuzzling herself deeply into the musky heat of her mother's body.

The two remained this way in pleasing silence. It could have been hours or seconds; Apogee lost all sense of time. Once again she wished she could stay here with her mom. To be with her and come to know her more and experience this softer side of the mare that she so seldom shared.

Inevitably, the two pulled apart and Delta took a step back. There was a reluctance to separate, and Apogee could feel her mother's own hesitation as well. There was still joy in the older mare's life, and she was glad to be able to give her mother that joy, however briefly it might last. The ember of that mutual affection was a fragile thing, and Apogee knew she'd have to do everything she could to care for it and keep it from dying out.

Which gave Apogee a thought. A daring, absurd idea that would push the boundaries of her mother's patience more than anything else she'd done.

"Hey mom, before I go...?"

Delta's eyes narrowed down at her. Folding her hooves in front of her chest, she asked, "What the hell is it now?" Judging from the skeptical look on her face she was probably expecting Apogee to make some last, pathetic effort to avoid going to school. She had far more ambitious plans.

"I was wondering, if it's okay with you… If you don't have anything else going on…"

"Spit it out," Delta said with a fraction of the usual harshness.

With some effort, Apogee suppressed her body's sudden need to quiver. She swallowed her fear and took a shot. "Can I come over again? Like, Saturday?"

"Saturday?" Delta asked, taken back by the question entirely.

"Yeah, this Saturday. You and me! Together… doin' stuff?"

Her face was unreadable. Apart from the confusion, Apogee saw no other reaction to the proposal. As Apogee waited for a response, Delta's rose eyes got lost in the surroundings, unable to focus as she delayed answering. It didn't help that Delta was rather covetous of her weekends. Looking like she needed some incentive, Apogee put on the biggest smile she could force her muzzle into and beamed at her mother with the full force of her adorable, teenage wiles.

The mare's lips moved, mouthing replies which she couldn't commit her voice to.

Which meant it was time for the big guns. Apogee folded her ears low: she was submissive, sweet, hopeful. She drew a little circle with her hoof, tilted her head to the side, and made herself as irresistible as she knew how.

"Please?" she begged. "We'll have so much fun."

Delta exhaled slowly and rubbed the back of her neck. "You're really pushing your damn luck kid," she said slowly. Apogee's stomach turned inside out and she frowned. Delta turned away from the piteous sight and growled irritably, but Apogee's relentless, sorrowful pleading continued.

From the corner of her eye, the older mare saw Apogee's lower lip begin to quiver, which drew out of a groan of defeat from her. "Fuck," she grumbled. "Okay! Fine, fine... you can come over." Delta pressed a hoof to her temple and rubbed at it furiously.

Apogee could hardly believe her own ears. "You mean it? We can hang out?" she asked, her earlier facade of anguish being swiftly replaced by elation. It was like some kind of dream. Delta had agreed, willingly, on short notice, for a Saturday, to spend time with her. While it wasn't the first time she'd gotten her mom to agree to her coming over, getting the mare to say yes to hanging out on a weekend was unprecedented.

"If that's really how you wanna spend your weekend. Here with your mom. On a weekend, after school."

"Of course I do!" Apogee squeaked, and without further warning, she threw her arms around Delta and held her tight. The hug was weakly returned, a pale imitation of the earlier embrace they'd shared, but it was still something.

"Shouldn't you be off tryin' to get laid on the weekends?" Delta asked.

Who says I'm not? Apogee thought.

Delta continued, "... And sneaking beer into parties and being a hellish teen? Who spends their weekends with their mom?"

"I do, obviously," Apogee quipped. "Cus I'm an awesome daughter, and you're the coolest mom!"

A long, pregnant moment passed before Delta sighed and pulled Apogee in for a tighter, friendlier hug. "You're a weird one kid."

"Yup!"

That earned her a throaty chuckle from the older mare which Apogee felt more through their body contact than her ears. Like before however, the two ponies had to separate but this time is was Apogee who pulled back first.

Delta looked like she wanted to say something, but Apogee didn't want to give her mom a chance to change her mind. "Okay, I'm off to school!" she shouted happily, interrupting whatever thoughts the bemused mare might be forming. And before her mother could see it coming, she took a brave step forward and planted a kiss on the corner of her unprepared muzzle. Apogee had little time to appreciate the surprised gawk that mother gave before she turned to the door leading outside and opened it.

The cold desert air greeted the two ponies.

Apogee took a bounding leap from the doorway and landed on the soft sand outside. Chancing one last look behind her, she saw her mom standing in the doorway while holding a hoof to the side of her face. The surprise had gone from her face, replaced with something that looked like incredulous shock.

Waving a hoof to her mom one last time, Apogee offered her a sweet smile. Then, with a much lighter heart than when she'd come, Apogee gave a mighty beat of her wings and took to the frigid skies, away from the junkyard.

The air bit into her face as she gained altitude and turned toward Las Pegasus. In the distance, she could see the orange sun barely peeking over the top of the skyscrapers of the lower city and casting the town in a morning glow. Somewhere down there her father was at work, barking orders at ponies and being the big boss.

She loved her dad; she didn't relish the inevitable confrontation with him. After the events of the past night she was far more prepared to face him than when she'd stormed out of the condo. It almost seemed like an age ago with so much happening between then and now.

Were things going to be different?

How the relationship with her father might've changed she couldn't say. Time would tell, but she hoped they could go back to the way things were. Conversely, she hoped for the opposite with her mother. She'd seen a glimpse of the possibilities she could experience with her, and she was left wanting even more.

She wanted to read more playcolts together, cuddled up on the bed while tittering over secrets and fantasies. She wanted to feel her mother's arms around her, holding her close. She wanted to share love and warmth together.

Apogee couldn't go back to the Delta she knew… the colder, more indifferent Delta who barely gave her the time of day. Yet she feared that a single night couldn't change the stubborn mare either. By tomorrow it could all go back to way it always was as Delta sat in her trailer, mouldering by herself, embittered with each moment she spent in willing isolation.

But she wouldn't have to endure that for long; Apogee saw to that. With a little time and care, she could win her over. Mother and daughter together at last! They could be friends. Close friends. And maybe—against all odds and only if she's patient and cunning—something more. But that dream seemed far away now, however pleasing it might be to imagine.

Delta just didn't feel that way about her, and that was difficult to accept. But maybe...

She hoped.

Only time would tell, but she hoped.

High in the sky, above the cold desert sands, a small yellow dot vanished amongst the clouds. As the cold wind from the north blew into the doorway of her trailer, she lifted her nose and sampled it. Her daughter's smell was a ghost in the wind. She was gone now, leaving Delta alone with the lifeless, rusted hulks of the junkyard.

She stared vacantly into the vast, empty desert for a while, ruminating over the events of the past twelve hours. Frosty winds from the north buffeted against her as she sat, and she unfurled both her wings to create a shield between her and the elements. It was cold, but she paid it little mind. The absence of the little yellow bundle of life was sorely felt. Like the cold, desert wasteland beyond, there was a gray dreariness that blanketed her life once more. Far less exciting, though certainly less troublesome too.

Delta sighed into the wind, then turned toward the quiet solace of her trailer and escaped into it.

Stepping back into the kitchen, her eyes lazily surveyed the filthy, cluttered space. The morning chill sapped the strength from her legs and she sought the burning comfort of a cigarette. Her eyes were drawn to the kitchen table, but nothing was there except the carcasses of her habit which she consumed long ago. She probed the detritus with a trembling hoof, upturning crumpled packs and peeking inside to check for meager scraps of nicotine.

Finding nothing, she paced to a nearby chair and slumped her dead weight into it. There was still a faint warmth left on the seat from when she'd been sitting and shooting the breeze with Apogee. The kid was the worst kind of distraction: the kind she couldn't walk away from.

Looking back at the litter on the table, she lamented not going to the store to get more tobacco. She'd been too caught up in the aggravating antics of her sweet, adorable bitch of a kid to notice she'd run out. With every day that Apogee became closer to her, she became more convinced the feather-brained filly would be the death of her. How it was possible to both love and resent a pony so intensely was beyond her understanding.

What's that kid thinking? Delta wondered.

The things her daughter had said were shocking. Unbelievable even, but she wasn't hallucinating. It happened, and now she had to live with it. Her stomach turned in knots, prompting her to get up from her chair and wander back toward the fridge in an attempt to ignore the looming reality of what had transpired last night. Opening it, she was distraught to find it in the same sorry state as before. It was difficult to subsist on a diet of beer. The plastic container with the strange, blue goo caught her attention however. Retrieving it, she popped the lid from it and sampled it with her nose.

Like a sledgehammer slamming into her gut, Delta reeled away from the foul liquid. She pitched the container into the nearby sink and hastily fumbled to get the water running. As the pungent, moldy stuff swirled down the drain, she wondered when she'd last gone shopping for real food. It was hard to say; bar food was convenient. It was located in the same place as alcohol, which wasn't as good for the body, but certainly better for the soul. Besides, Apogee didn't come over often enough for her to be greatly concerned about the contents of her fridge.

But this left her in the same predicament as before: no cigarettes, and not even a light snack to distract her from the yellow, pegasus shaped elephant in the room. She'd have to look toward alternative solutions fight against the pounding, anxious throb that was forming in her temples. She trotted away from the sink and headed toward the hallway, muttering curses under her breath as she went. More than a few of them were leveled at Apogee.

Did she deserve that? Probably not, but it always seemed Delta was left with a pile of emotional baggage any time the bouncy pegasus was around. But in all the years she'd suffered through the filly's quirky behavior, nothing compared to the bewildering events of the prior night. The things that damn kid had said!

Delta shuddered and stepped through the hallway and into the bathroom.

Frigid water greeted her as it splashed up and soaked her pasterns. A deluge of curses exploded from her and she leapt away from the small lake which had formed on her bathroom floor. Confused and angry, a whirlwind of emotions tore through the mare and she lashed out, knocking over a dingy cup which contained her toothbrush. As it landed in the massive puddle at her hooves, she slapped a hoof to her forehead. The piping had sprung a leak yesterday. As with the cigarettes, she'd forgotten to deal with it.

Fucking Apogee!

Bile wormed its way up her throat and burned with a bitter, acrid taste on the back of her tongue. Trying to push past her rising fury, she stumbled toward the bathroom sink. Above it was a simple mirrored cabinet which she opened. With a feverish haste she poured over the contents, looking for any panacea to life's myriad pains. Even a simple aspirin would do.

But there was nothing. The cabinet shared much in common with her fridge.

Disgusted, she slammed the mirror door shut. A brittle, dry crack echoed throughout the small room in response to her senseless tantrum. Looking up, a double image of her face stared back at her from the spiderweb of new facets she'd added to the mirror.

Delta's heart clutched in her chest as she looked at herself. Burning, red eyes full of aimless fury stared back. The mare in the mirror was unrecognizable to her. What was she? Little more than a ticking time bomb, waiting for the next opportunity to explode.

She turned away from the sight and stepped back out of the bathroom, tracking small, wet hoofprints on the old, flat carpet of the hallway. To her right was her room, the one place left in the world where she cold find true peace. The welcoming familiarity of her personal space could bring her some fleeting respite.

But there was also the little blue box under her bed, calling out to her like a siren song.

Her heart skipped a beat as she considered it. Where other creature comforts had failed, it was her last resort. How long had it been since she last saw it? Several months at least. Perhaps it was time again.

With renewed urgency, she stepped through the doorway and entered the embrace of her nook. Familiar sights and smells greeted her immediately. Closing her eyes, she breathed deeply and took it all in. The sour tang of sweat was adrift in the air, flecked with a raw, salty undertone. Beneath the surface of this heady smell were a plethora of other scents ranging from the sickening sweetness of lubricant to the pungent musk of her own body – and Apogee's.

Her eyes opened and immediately fell to her bed. Amid the tousled bramble of wrinkled sheets she saw the distinct imprint of two ponies. Like a splash of cool water on a blazing summer afternoon, the fire within her veins cooled as she looked at the shape of it. Set within the womb of the larger imprint was a smaller one, nested against it.

Touching a hoof thoughtfully to her chest, she found it right that the shapes should be joined that way. As she continued staring, memories came flooding back to her. The warmth and the closeness… Apogee's body pressed against her own…

Delta gasped and shook the images from her head.

Returning to the task at hand, she trotted to the side of her bed. Her hoof stroked down the side of the soft, dingy sheets toward the treasure trove that lay beneath. Wincing from the creak in her sleepy joints, she leaned down to give herself easier access to the underside. Below the stained sheets there was an entire ecosystem of old boxes, sex toys and magazines that eked out a modest living here. One box—her wonderful, special little blue box—was set apart from the rest, further back.

A soft grunt huffed out of the aging mare as she laid on her stomach. The musty smell of mothballs hit her nose as a vortex of dust was loosed into the air from her efforts. Doing her best to ignore the stinging in her eyes from the ancient dust, she stretched her hoof into the dark depths. The tip of her hoof scraped tantalizingly along the edge of the sacred box, and in her excitement she tried to paw it toward her. Frustratingly, her hoof lost its purchase, skipping off the smooth wooden surface.

A string of obscenities punctuated her irritation before she tried again. Her muscles strained under the effort to reach and she pushed aside a dildo or two with a harsh swat to clear a path. An old bottle rolled in the way next, and after grabbing it and preparing to toss it haphazardly to a corner of her room, she paused to look at it.

"Shit," she said in surprise. That's where that bottle of rum went! A shrill, hollow laugh rumbled out of her as she turned the bottle over in her hoof and examined the brownish contents.

Wasn't that just a load of shit? And here she'd thought the Everfree (still sitting on her night stand) was the only booze in the house. Considering she had Apogee chugging that clear, bitter swill while this perfectly good bottle of alcohol was sitting right under them… what more could she do but laugh? It was either that, or she'd cry.

Life was strange. And stupid.

Delta set the bottle aside with care and reverence before returning to her agonized stretching. With a path under the bed cleared, she was able to extract the box in short order. Finally, she thought with a relieved sigh.

The small blue box wasn't ornate or particularly special looking, though she cradled it in an arm with the same care someone would a foal. It was weathered by time, frayed at the corners and covered in a thin film of dust which she swept away with her free hoof. The lid of the box was affixed by two brass hinges and at the front was a simple hook latch. Using the tip of her hoof, Delta slid the tiny latch free and slowly opened the lid, exposing the interior to the world for the first time in several months.

Everything was as she'd left it. A large assortment of knick-knacks, photographs and various illicit materials stared back up at her. The thing which she sought was tucked underneath a small sheaf of paper containing her various degrees. Carelessly shoving the documents aside, she grabbed the small pill bottle underneath and raised it up to have a look.

OxeeCotton(Hydropentanyl) - Take 1 pill every eight hours. Do not take with alcohol or other medications!

Chuckling morbidly to herself, Delta uncapped the bottle and peered inside. There were distressingly few of them left, and she didn't feel like breaking her wing again to get more. The street price on them was equally outrageous, so rationing was the only option.

Delta gingerly set down her box of memorabilia, then tapped one of the pills onto her now free hoof. There was a terrible sort of weight to it as it sat in the crease of her frog. How many times had she stared down at one of these life-destroying chunks of chemicals? Whether too many times or not nearly enough, she couldn't tell, but this was the only meager salvation she had left; a small flame to hold against the darkness which filled her life.

Delta leaned her back against the edge of the bed and let her head tilt back until she was staring up at the ceiling. She closed her eyes and sighed. Where had it all gone so wrong?

Years ago everything was simple. Back in her college days, the world was open to her, ready to bend to her will. She was brilliant. There was an adorable and dorky coltfriend to fuck her and an entire life of possibilities lay ahead of her. Nothing could stop her from achieving her dreams, save for one thing…

Lifting her head from the bed and looking down at her side, she was drawn back to the little blue box. Amidst the clutter she spotted a picture, purposefully placed in plain sight below where the pill bottle had been. On the picture was the bright, cheerful face of a young, yellow pegasus.

Her.

She was the sole reason that everything in her life had gone to shit. Like a small parasite, latching onto her teat, she sucked her dry of her ambitions and livelihood until there was nothing left. Nothing but a bottle of painkillers and a life of regret. Even now, the little filly continued to demand everything from her; being her mother, even a shitty one, wasn't enough it seemed.

Delta set her bottle of painkillers down and took the picture from the box in its place. A six year old Apogee, smiling brighter than any sun, and twice as radiant and beautiful, stared back at her. She was the cutest button of a filly that had ever been. Objectively, Delta knew it was a bunch of corny, saccharine nonsense for a mother to think that way about their child. Every mother's foal was the best foal… and yet... Delta knew it was true. Her daughter was the best filly any mother could want.

Hay, the kid put up with her somehow. That was proof enough.

"Damn you," she whispered, her eyes growing hot with tears "Damn you for being so lovable, you cute little bitch." As her vision distorted from the tears, she blinked them away and looked between the photograph and the pill.

As temptation drew her eyes toward the capsule, a little voice whispered to her, what would Apogee think?

She shouldn't have to care! The little filly's opinions were naive. Apogee, unlike her, didn't have the weight of regret pulling her down. She didn't understand what it was like to have your life pulled out from under you, leaving you with nothing. There was no way her kid could understand why she needed a little escape from the world every now and then. She was unburdened by the experience of such pain.

She didn't understand.

And it was best that she never got a chance to.

Delta bemoaned the arrival of these newfound—and greatly unwanted—sensibilities. With immense reluctance, she carefully dropped the pill back into its plastic container. With a dreadful finality, the pill clattered among the rest in the bottle. The cap for the bottle was resecured, and the drugs were placed back in her little blue box, gone, but not forgotten.

Once more, she was left with nothing. Her attention returned to the photograph, desperately seeking comfort in the gentle smile of her little filly. But as joyful and sweet as the picture was, it was only a flat, cold, lifeless substitute for the real thing. No matter how much she wanted to feel the filly's small, cute hooves wrapping around her, showing her that everything was going to be okay, it could not be. The light had gone from her life. Apogee wasn't here.

On the verge of succumbing to helplessness, Delta caught a flicker of something on the air. She wiped the drying, cold tears from her eyes with an arm and expelled a shuddering sigh as her body became still and calm once more. Lifting her nose to the air, she sniffed, searching for the musky scent that had caught her attention.

A smell, distinctly feminine and young, tickled the back of her nose.

Her daughter wasn't here physically, but the spectre of her presence still permeated the room. With nowhere else to turn to for comfort, she held onto that faint, lingering presence. It was strongest on the bed where they laid together, and Delta pushed her weary body to stand so she could examine the sheets again.

Two crescents, nestled against one another, formed a gentle curve in the mess of her bedspread. They had started sleeping under the warmth of the sheets when they went to bed, but Apogee, like herself, wasn't the type to sleep soundly. The devastation that their tossing and turning wrought on the blankets ended with them sleeping uncovered, pressed together for warmth.

But they hadn't started that way.

Earlier, waking up at the crack of dawn, cold and still achy in every joint, it was the makings of another terrible morning. But unlike every morning before, there was something different. Something exciting and new which she hadn't experienced in years: the presence of another pony she'd welcomed into her bed. And this wasn't some one-night stand that got punted from the door at the end of the night or kicked from her bed in the morning. This little pony was a welcome, comforting presence.

Delta closed her eyes and took herself back to that moment.

Her little one shivered in the cold, morning air. Her yellow fur bristled against the elements, and Delta came to her. With agonizingly slow movements she snuck across the bed to be with her.

And the young pegasus moaned softly as their bodies joined. Her smaller body is so cold… but Delta can warm her. She held her filly close, giving away her own heat willingly.

Together, with Apogee tucked safely in her arms, they laid.

Then Delta's body grew hotter and her nethers throbbed.

Apogee's ear flicked toward her, and she leaned in to sensually nip and caress it...

Pleasure and confusion rocked through Delta's body as she snapped from her reminiscing. The memory of Apogee's ear hairs teasing over her lips remained burned into her mind for several seconds. Holding onto to the thought, she crawled onto the bed after gingerly returning the picture of Apogee to its resting place. While sniffing at the air, she searched for where her daughter's smell was strongest.

The pillow. She'd been sleeping on it for most of the night.

Delta laid in the middle of the bed and reached for her daughter's pillow. Grabbing it, she brought it closer, and the smell of the young pegasus became stronger. It was thick with the scent of her tangy, sweet musk. Oil from her wings and velvety speckles of feather down lightly coated the surface of the old, beaten pillow. Delta's eyes closed and she buried her face into it, breathing deeply until nothing but the presence of her daughter occupied her senses.

A tickling warmth played across her nethers as her daughter's smell overwhelmed her.

"F-Fuck…"

Last night had nearly been more than she could bear.

The memory of Apogee's stuffed pussy being filled over and over intruded into her thoughts and fanned the growing flame of lust within her. With perfect clarity she recalled the young filly's squeals and moans of pleasure in response to the ministrations she'd provided with the sex toy.

Delta anguished at her inability to forget it. It was all so wrong, yet the naked, beautiful sensuality of Apogee's pleasure was impossible to forget. She reasoned it was only for Apogee's sake; to remove the damned COOLCO and nothing more! It wasn't her fault that her daughter took such obvious pleasure from it. Any other mare who presented themselves to her that way would have turned her on, and her daughter was a mare. A young mare, but a mare just the same. Her body was budding and maturing. It was sensual. Soft… Arousing.

Once more Delta fought against herself. You're a filthy, degenerate piece of shit! she thought bitterly, yet in spite of her own protest she breathed in the smell of her daughter from the pillow with greater urgency.

Then something touched her fiery hot nethers: her own hoof, mindlessly finding its way to her aching marehood.

No… I c-can't...

Derpibooru ID#: 1884462 - NSFW

It moved over her moistening, slick mounds, immediately sending shockwaves of repressed pleasure through her tired body. Delta gasped at the power of her own arousal. She was already soaking wet and her quivering flesh demanded satisfaction.

The culmination of her sexual frustrations came crashing down on her: her repeated attempts to quell her own need, the little bastard who denied her at the bar, and finally her own daughter. Her own daughter! With her sweet face and round, supple thighs…

Delta violently shoved the image of Apogee's young, flowering body from her mind. As her own hoof rolled feverishly across her sopping mareflesh, she frantically searched for any fantasy, any thought which could satisfy her.

She thought of stallions with massive, raging erections plowing into her. The feeling of being stretched to her limit by a thick rod of meat plunging into her hungry depths sent her mind spinning. She lost herself to the imagined sensation of being fucked against the bed as her pussy was violated by a group of stallions, using her body like a plaything. One by one they emptied themselves into her mouth and tailhole.

And then she imagined one of the stallions presenting themselves to her with his tail raised, wagging his curvy, yellow hips from side to side while her dripping vagina opened before Delta, waiting for her tongue as she…

Fuck!

Bewildered how the tantalizing imagery of her daughter could so easily infiltrate her deepest fantasies, Delta looked for something else… something closer to what her traitorous impulses wanted: Sunshine Meadows, the height of feminine sexuality.

Her pussy was perfect, and Delta had furiously rubbed herself off to the thought of the model countless times. She pictured the mare with all her perfections, imagining how good it would feel to bury her muzzle into the model's gaping, wet folds... Or to be hoofed nice and fast by her as they aggressively kissed.

A hoofjob from Sunshine Meadows would be heavenly, just as Apogee had suggested.

Delta could picture it perfectly: her daughter's overflowing nectar pouring from her young vagina as she and Sunshine Meadows used their mouths and hooves together on her and…

Delta's eyes shot open and she gasped for air. Her body was hot with carnal longing for her daughter's flesh. Resisting her desires, she pulled her hoof away from herself and immediately grunted with frustration from its absence. She knew she shouldn't—couldn't!—have these feelings about Apogee. She didn't want to hurt her little filly. She was a cruel, abusive, shitty lover. A terrible pony and a bad influence. Apogee was innocent and sweet… young and impressionable…

This was all undoubtedly true, and yet Delta couldn't shake the one errant fact that nagged in her mind. The thing which turned her argument on its head and rendered it pointless: Apogee wanted it… she wanted her.

Delta closed her eyes again, breathing deeply of Apogee's alluring smell through the pillow. The aching in her hot, burning marehood responded immediately to the heady scent, throbbing insistently in spite of her protests. Her own body exposed the hopeless fraud of her resistance, inflamed by little more than a whiff of her filly's scent. She hungered for her hoof again, and her own arousal had lost its patience with her floundering, existential crisis.

Images of her daughter filled her mind. Against her own better judgement, Delta saw her daughter not as family, but as a sensual, sexual being who desired to be with her. She was beautiful… sexy. Time had changed her from a lanky filly into a gorgeous young mare. Her body had filled out in all the best ways.

Once more, Delta returned her hoof to its rightful place between her legs. Sparks shot off in her head from the gentle brushing of it. Her body was ravenous for the attention, and the surrender of her mind to the lurid images of her own daughter intensified her arousal overwhelmingly. Throwing her head back, she let out a guttural cry while the tip of her hoof pulled her fleshy folds apart, exposing her to the cool air of the trailer. It did little to quench her lust and she paid it little heed as she continued rubbing at herself.

Her mind was drawn back the sight of Apogee's pussy being engorged by the massive silicone cock. She latched onto the thought as she rolled onto her back and spread her hind legs out to fully expose herself. Using her free hoof, she spread her lips wide open and rubbed at her overflowing slit in rapid motions with her other.

Now in a frenzy to orgasm, she recalled Apogee's titillating, pleasured moans. Imagining the wails of the young filly's simple, primal eroticism gave Delta a sick thrill and easily coaxed her sensitive little nub of flesh from within deep within her. With no thought to slow, steady build-up and pacing, she grinded the underside of her hoof against it with an aggressive pace.

"F-Fuck yes!" she shouted, letting her tongue hang loosely from the edge of her mouth while her hoof thrashed senselessly against her fleshy button. It was raw and aimless masturbation, unburdened by the need of skill and care; her staggering arousal was more than enough. With each image of Apogee she welcomed into her mind, the need to nurture her orgasm was overshadowed by the sinful, taboo thrill of her fantasy.

From deep within her, Delta could feel her orgasm rising with frightening speed. No amount of stimulation seemed to fully satiate her hungering pussy as she began bucking her hips erratically. She bounced up and down on the bed, fucking herself against her own hooves as she spat senseless curses into the room.

As her climax neared, she released one of her hooves from the demanding service of her greedy cunt and aimlessly grabbed for the pillow which contained Apogee's sharp, musky essence. Finding purchase, she brought it to her face and breathed in one final time. The smell conjured the memory of her little filly perfectly. In all her many details, Apogee was laid bare before her, and she violated the image with her mind in every beautiful and degrading way she knew how.

"Apogee!" she shouted hotly. Invoking the name of her child as she ravished her clit was enough to put her on the brink of orgasm. Balanced on the knife's edge of her climax, she gave herself completely to her shameful fantasy. "Oh yeah baby," she gasped, visualizing Apogee's tongue invading her dripping hot marehood. "Eat me! Eat mommy you f-fucking...!"

It was too much.

"AHN!"

The white hot fire of orgasm ripped through her core and came crashing down on her with violent force. She screamed silently as her legs elevated her hips toward the ceiling and her gaping pussy sucked hungrily at her hoof. The orgasm spread quickly, enveloping every muscle in her body with uncontrollable spasms which sent her wings flaring out from under her arched back.

For a while, she gave herself to the joy and warmth which flooded her body and knew only happiness. She was safe within the embrace of her climax, riding out each wave of it with a smile on her lips, unaffected by the harshness of the world around her. It was her perfectly little moment in time which no bad thought could take away. In here, the desire to become one with Apogee was a wonderful, if not fleeting, delusion.

After days of pent up sexual anger and bitter, cold disappointment, Delta collapsed onto the sheets with an airy whump and sighed with contentment. She rode on the waves of the breathtakingly powerful orgasm and savored every last twitch and spasm until she at last came to rest.

Staring up at the ceiling, her mind buzzing with neurochemicals and bliss, she muttered, "I needed that." The feeling of satisfaction lasted for several minutes, and Delta eventually closed her eyes and basked in the warmth of her bed and the lingering smell of her daughter.

As she thought about the yellow pegasus more, a pang of sadness crept into her heart. A faint tingling ran down her chest: the echo of her daughter's presence when they were pressed together, chest to back. Longing for that simple touch again, Delta rolled onto her side and looked at the pillow which smelled wonderfully of her little filly. For less raunchy reasons than before, she grabbed the pillow and pressed it against herself.

Closing her eyes, she wrapped her body around it and spooned it lovingly, as though it were the pony she wished it could be. It was a sad replacement for the filly it carried the scent of, but it brought her comfort all the same. If she thought about it hard enough, she could almost imagine herself being transported back.

They were laying together, drowsy and warm. She could remember the taste of Apogee's ear when she'd tenderly nibbled on it. The way her little filly arched her back and her head leaned toward her, begging her to give them what they both so obviously desired.

Delta slapped her forehead and groaned. I should've let her skip school, she thought.

But it was too late, and Apogee thought she didn't want anything to do with her; at least, not in a sexual way. And in truth, at the time, Delta almost meant it when she told her that. But deep down, she knew it wasn't really true. She did desire Apogee that way, but like a fool she threw away the chance to tell her when it would have been easiest for them both.

But it could never be. Apogee was her daughter, and far too young besides.

So what? a little voice said from the depths of her mind.

Delta groaned and rubbed at her tried, weary eyes. Truthfully, the legality of it hardly mattered. She'd done far worse things in her life. But she was a terrible influence, and the thought of possibly hurting her kid, even if her intentions came from a place of love (as well as lust), ruined the simplicity of their desires.

Yet the thought of being with her would not go away.

Delta sighed, staring up at the ceiling as she laid in her fluids, still high from her sick, mindless orgasm. "What are we doing, kiddo?" she asked.

She didn't know, but they'd see where this train was taking them soon enough. She hoped it would take them somewhere better.

She didn't know, but she hoped.

Author's Note

This took a while to complete mostly because I tried writing several other projects before it, then ultimately settling on doing this instead.

And yes... I realize that this chapter might be seen as a cop-out considering the previous chapter... that's fair, if you do. But if I'm honest, I felt like ch4 was also a cop-out. Not because I thought it was bad or couldn't stand on its own, but because I didn't deliver on the idea I originally had in my head. Partly I ended that chapter as I did because my feelings on how the night should conclude had changed... I didn't think Delta would go through with it. I still feel that way.

BUT, that doesn't mean she was completely disinterested. Or that she wouldn't do it some time later perhaps, after she'd had a chance to sort through her own feelings.

So that is why I consider ch4 a delay, rather than a conclusion.

Part of that is my insistence on 'realism' in my stories. I really didn't want to write the two screwing in ch4 because it just didn't feel right to me, but at the same time, I still wanted to make this an incest story too.

I shoulda just said it was a delay earlier rather than resigning myself to capping the story off early with a different ending. Obviously, I changed my mind about that. Sorry.

Anyway, hopefully everyone likes this chapter either way. Returning back to Delta's PoV for a brief scene was refreshing to write. And in doing so, I was able to leverage Delta's sexual nature to provide a little smut for the fic, too.

Anyway you let me know what you think about the bait and switch if you like. Thanks for reading.