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.