Hunter's Flower
The Bet
Previous ChapterNext ChapterTo say that there was a nervous tension in the room would be an understatement. At least that’s how it felt to Wallflower as she sat there at Hunter’s table on one side, the three ponies she thought were her friends on the other. It wasn’t just the gaze of resentment and betrayal that came from Lightning Dust that made Wallflower’s ears flatten against her skull. It wasn’t just the icy cold glare coming from Moondancer. Nor was it the expression of Hunter, who appeared to be trying his best to remain calm right now. Those things were unsettling enough. But what made this worse was what they were still wearing! Lightning still had those blinders on and both mares still wore those collars. Moondancer had removed both the vibrator from her pussy (which Wallflower was thankful for) as well as the anti-magic ring (which made her more nervous than thankful). Still, there was no removing the scent of her and Hunter’s activities, a reminder of what Wallflower had seen.
Not like she could forget it. The images of such lewd and vile behavior would forever be etched in Wallflower’s memory. The sheer vulgarity of what they were all doing behind closed doors, it simply baffled her mind. How could any pony do that to another pony? How twisted and broken could a mare be to willingly allow something like that to happen to them and enjoy it? What’s more, how could she have…touched herself like that? Wallflower had spent her entire life in the service of the Sol, hearing about all sorts of acts done by and to other ponies of the obscene. All sorts of humiliating and painful things. Yet never once had she felt the urge to touch herself like the way she had. Why was that?
Hunter’s sigh brought Wallflower out of her own mind for a moment. “Well,” he said while doing his best to look her in the eye. “I guess there’s no point in saying it’s not what it looked like or anything like that. It’s pretty clear what you saw.”
“Y-Yeah,” stammered Wallflower as she placed a hoof on the table before making tiny circles with it.
“I can’t believe you actually did that!” yelled Lightning as she slammed a hoof on the table, her hoof cuffs on full display as she did so. But Wallflower barely noticed as she wilted under Lightning’s fury. “I thought you were cool, but you broke into our home and spied on us! You did exactly the thing I thought you would!”
“I didn’t mean to,” whispered Wallflower, knowing how pathetic that sounded right now. At best she sounded like a filly who had knocked over a vase after galloping in the house. “I just…wanted to know I could spend more time with all of you. Perhaps ask if you had a spare room.”
“So you entered our home without permission?” demanded Moondancer, eyes narrowing as she did.
“I-I heard a noise and thought something had happened,” stammered Wallflower.
The uncomfortable feeling within her began to deepen as the other two mares did not let up their gaze nor did they say anything. As this feeling grew she realized that her own gaze was shifting as well as taking notice of the closed door not too far from her, just on the outskirts of her field of vision. A part of her wanted to bolt right here and now, to race out the door so she could get as far away from them right now as she could. Away from those angry looks. Yet she remained where she sat.
In the end, she knew it was useless. She knew her limitations as an earth pony. She might be a little stronger than any of the other ponies gathered at the table, but that meant very little against one who could use magic and two who could fly. She would be caught before she opened the door.
But more than that, Wallflower didn’t want to run away because despite seeing what she saw she still wanted to be their friend. She knew she shouldn’t want to, that these ponies were nothing more than ‘Lunatics’, that she should get out of here and expose them for being impure so that everypony around could see that as well. To judge them out in the open so they could no longer hide their vulgarity in the shadows. To do to them exactly what they feared she would do in a way that was supposed to help make them better ponies.
At the same time, these three were the first ponies she could remember outside of her immediate family who seemed to enjoy being with her. Noticing at she was alive. To actually give her comfort and support when she seemed down. Those were such wonderful feelings. So much so that it seemed impossible that ponies who had trotted down such an impure path would be capable of.
Wallflower wasn’t a betting mare…mainly because the Sol frowned upon gambling as well. But if it wasn’t frowned upon and if she did like to make the occasional bet, she wouldn’t put a bit on them wanting to be anywhere near her when that happened. When that happened, they would never want to be near her again. And then…she would be alone once more.
I know it's’ selfish, thought Wallflower as her head dipped down a bit more. Even though they pretended to be normal, I don’t want to lose them. But…I don’t know how! Once the rest of the Sol finds out we’ll do what we always do. It’s not like there’s another…
Wallflower’s eyes began to shine with understanding while a burst of energy seemed to explode within her. Within her mind dots were being connected by rainbow colored light as she remembered her earlier conversation as well as her own thoughts following it. Yes, this would solve all her problems! The Sol needed to change its approach and here was her first step into putting it into practice. Her friends needed guidance to understand what they were doing was wrong, not being ostracized for their vile conduct. She needed to help them understand that.
“It’s not too late to change your evil ways!” shouted Wallflower at the top of her lungs, head thrown up as she got on her hind legs. With her forelegs helping to support herself against the table she looked at the startled expressions before her. “All you have to do is give up this indecency and promise never to do it again! You have to know its wrong!” The three began to exchange glances while Wallflower felt her heart beginning to pick up speed. No doubt they would try to deny it for the hold of evil would not break that easy. But she would not give up for she knew she was in the right, that the ideals of the Sol were right.
“Ah…no,” said Hunter simply. It was oddly calmer than what Wallflower had expected. She had thought he’d give more of an angry denial or some show of force to kick her out. But Hunter and the mares just sort of sat there, like they were surprised and wanted to see where this was going.
Well, that was just fine with Wallflower. “Hunter. Moondancer. Lightning. What I saw was simple unclean cruelty that no being should ever do to another. I can’t just walk away and pretend I never saw any of it. But I don’t want to cause any trouble. So, please, let me help you get those dark thoughts and impulses out of your systems. We can talk about it while I’m here. Perhaps later I can help you find somepony who can better help you, anonymously. No one will ever have to know about what you did. Not the ponies of Hollow Shades. Not the ponies around here. And not the Sol.”
Seconds passed as Wallflower kept her gaze locked on the three as they looked at each other. There seemed to be a change within them. Lightning didn’t look any less pissed, but a bit more annoyed. The tide of Moondancer’s anger seemed to have ebbed a bit, her features relaxing. As for Hunter, his shoulders relaxed greatly while his breathing seemed to become easier, like a great deal of weight had lifted from him.
“That is very kind of you,” said Hunter eventually as he looked at her. There was a smile on his face that gave Wallflower hope that her words had reached him. That her kindness had reached passed the vile that had taken root within him. “I means a lot to me that you are willing to do this for us. To not tell anypony. It’s just that-”
“There’s nothing wrong with us,” finished Moondancer in a stern tone. “There’s nothing that needs to be ‘fixed’ or ‘changed’ or however else you might want to put it. We’re happy like this.”
“Moondancer, I can’t see how anypony could be happy like this,” pressed Wallflower with a measure of disbelief in her voice. Yet still she remained standing, holding her ground. “Both you and Lightning were completely denigrated, treated like property! And Hunter! You got them to call you master. Telling them they needed permission to, ah…” Wallflower felt the heat rising in her cheeks as she struggled to say the word cum aloud. It just felt so vulgar to say it herself. Eventually she gave up and settled on a different word. “Climax. You had them both bound, using a riding crop on them. It was just-”
“Amazing,” interrupted Lightning, rolling her eyes as she said it. “Seriously, its just really hot sex. No need to make a big deal out of nothing.”
“Out of…” sputtered Wallflower.
“Wallflower, I get that you are worried about what you saw and what you think was going on,” said Moondancer who briefly shot a pointed look at Lightning before turning her softer gaze at Wallflower. “And maybe you would have a point if both me and Lightning were taken by surprise tonight. But we consented to this without any pressure. We agreed to be dominated like this. Hunter agreed that if we don’t like something he can slow down or stop. We trust him, with all our hearts, to do this for us. If we didn’t, we wouldn’t put our bodies in his hooves.”
“But it’s wrong and-”
“Who said its wrong?!” demanded Lightning as she stood up at the table, matching Wallflower’s stance. Her eyes looked straight into Wallflower’s…mainly because she was still wearing that blinder. “Why is it wrong Wallflower? Explain to me without all that impure garbage that the Sol spews out like…like…I don’t know, something that spews out guck or something.” Wallflower stood there with her mouth slightly hanging open for several minutes, the words failing to reach her tongue. Lightning saw this, ears flattening against her skull as she smirked. “I bet you’ve never tried it before, have you?”
“WHAT?!?” yelled Wallflower as she stumbled back. She twirled on her hind legs, the room spinning around her for a brief moment before she managed to land on all fours. Yet even after all four hooves were safely on the floor Wallflower could still racing feel her heart racing. For reasons other than the near fall. “Of course I’ve never done anything like that before! I…I’ve never even…”
Lightning smirked at that as she climbed up and onto the table. Wallflower was now forced to look up at the pegasus as she stood there, wings extended to their full glory as thin beams of light entered the room. It might have looked awe inspiring like some war hero trying to rally the troops or something like that. Well if not for what she was still wearing or the context of the conversation.
“So let me get this straight,” said Lightning as she looked upon Wallflower. “You are judging us for something that you’ve never tried before, claiming it to be wrong just because. Seriously, you’ll have to do better than that.”
“I...,” began Wallflower, pausing to gulp as she gathered her strength. “I don’t need to try something to know its wrong.” As she spoke, Wallflower felt her heart rate increase.
“Oh?” asked Lightning as she jumped off the table. The floor creaked slightly as the turquoise hooves touched down onto the floor right in front of Wallflower. They were close now, so much so that Wallflower wanted to back away. But her hooves seemed to be frozen in place while Lightning inhaled deeply. “What’s this I smell? Were you turned on as you watched Moondancer having her ponut rammed by Hunter, all tied up and helpless? Did you pleasure yourself as you watched, hidden from sight even though you ‘knew’ it what we were doing was wrong? I bet that’s why you stayed there instead of running off into the daylight. You were so turned on that you couldn’t help yourself. So, how about you stay awhile and find out what it really feels like? The three of us could show you everything you’re missing. See if it still feels wrong after a couple of days.”
“Lightning!” said Hunter loudly, his voice ringing with such authority that it caused Lightning to instantly back away. Both mares turned to look in his direction, watching as the stallion stood and began to move towards them looking cross at the pegasus. “Don’t pressure her like that. Just like how it’s our choice to do this, it should be her choice not to.”
“Ah, come on Hunter,” said Lightning as she turned around, stomping a hoof as she did so. “She said it herself, she can’t understand how anypony could be happy like this! So why not help her to understand?”
More heat ran into Wallflower’s face, nearly changing the entire color of her fur in the process while Lightning continued to talk. These words had no real meaning to her at the moment as Wallflower was still doing her best to understand what Lightning had said. She wasn’t like that at all. She wasn’t some impure sex fiend or anything like that. She…She had just been taken by surprise, that’s all. She was just a virgin who had stumbled onto things that were only briefly discussed by the Sol in the most mechanical of terms. Seeing it with her own eyes, listening to their moans, and smelling their lust had just sneaked up on her. There was no way all that could feel good to a mare like her. Also, while it was… flattering that one to three ponies might want to have sex with some nopony like herself she just couldn’t see herself doing anything like that. Well outside of that one fantasy…
Don’t think about such things, thought Wallflower as she mentally shook her head. It’s wrong and you know it. Just focus on helping them realize it too. That’s where you’re head needs to be. But how do I do that? Looking around the room for a source of inspiration, Wallflower’s eyes quickly fell on some old books. Her mind quickly connected them to the pure Princess of Friendship, a figure who would surely know how to settle this. Perhaps the only one who could do it better would be the great Princess of the Sun Celestia. So, what would Princess Twilight say if she were here when two friends were in a disagreement? Maybe find a compromise or meet them halfway in the hopes of seeing your point?
Well, it was the only thing she had right now so why not. “Ok,” said Wallflower suddenly. Three sets of eyes turned to look at her. “I, ah, I’ll give it a try.”
“Really?!” asked Lightning with a wide grin.
Wallflower held up a hoof, thinking quickly on the spot as she did. “I said I’ll try it. For a time just to see if its as great as you claim it to be. But if it isn’t or if I can’t understand how anypony would be attracted to any of that then I want you all to promise that you’ll listen to what I have to say about this seriously and consider joining the Sol.”
There was the stomping of hoof on wood followed by the sound of a chair being pushed back. Now Moondancer was standing up, looking at Wallflower with a frown on her face. “There’s no way we would agree to that. You could just say ‘I don’t like this’ right when we get started.”
“And it’s not something you should just jump into like that,” added Hunter as he looked at Wallflower.
“Sorry,” said Wallflower. “I’m just sort of making all this up as I go along. I have no idea how I’m supposed to handle this without talking to the rest of the Sol.” She paused to take a breath. “But…I think that if I’m not willing to take what you are all saying seriously then how are you supposed to take me seriously.”
Hunter said nothing for a while, just looking at Wallflower as if he were examining her or something. Slowly he turned to look over at Lightning who nodded vigorously with a big grin on her face. When he did the same with Moondancer, her response was a bit more reserved. Slowly she got back into a sitting position with a single hoof under her chin. After a moment or two of thinking the mare adjusted her glasses before giving a slow nod. Hunter nodded back before turning to look at Wallflower.
“Ok then,” he said with a sigh. “We’ll do this. But we’re going to go slow and not throw you in some of the more extreme experiences right away.” He then let out another sigh before looking at the shut shutters where beams of light were shining into the room brighter than before. Behind him, Moondancer let out a yawn. “It’s getting to be too late and I don’t think most of us are in the mood to keep going. How about we all get some sleep and meet back here at sunrise tomorrow? That should give all of us time to reconsider if any of us are getting cold hooves. Also it’ll give you time to consider what you want out of this and what’s not on the table.”
Wallflower tilted her head at this. “You mean, I can say no to things?” she asked as a wave of relief washed over her. Mostly because she was glad they weren’t doing anything crazy tonight. Or, as the sun was out now, today.
“Of course,” replied Hunter with a nod. Behind him, Lightning and Moondancer were also nodding. “Everything we do is based on consent. If you don’t want to do something I certainly won’t force you. We might suggest you try something, but in the end the choice is yours. I just need to know right off the bat what you now what you would feel is uncomfortable.”
Just about everything, thought Wallflower with a slight wince. But I am trying to go at least half way so I can’t say that. I’ll just think of a few things I definitely don’t want to do. Doesn’t really matter I guess. I just need to show them I’m giving this my all, honestly tell them I didn’t enjoy it at all, and then convince them that the Sol knows best!
“Well that could have been worse,” said Lightning after the door closed behind her. As she turned around there was a slight spring in her step. And how could there not be? She was about to get the chance to help show a sexy, sheltered virgin a good time. A mare who she thought she had no chance with just a few hours prior! Not to mention the bonus that the Sol wouldn’t find out about them. So, as far as she was concerned, things were looking better than she thought they would.
When she looked at her herdmates, the smile she had faltered. It seemed that neither of them shared her optimism. Hunter had moved back to his seat, slightly bent over and letting out a loud sigh. There was a frown on his face as he stared at the table, his leathery wings hanging almost limply at his sides. As for four eyes, she looked more annoyed than anything else. One hoof was lightly tapping at the table as she stared at Lightning with a deeper frown.
“Could have been worse?” echoed Moondancer, pausing for a moment to rub the sleep out of her eyes. “Let’s face it, Lightning. We just got super lucky that she didn’t bolt right out the door the moment she saw us and hopped on a train to who knows where! If she had those crazies would have been all over us! Hunter could have lost his contract and never sold another book outside of town again!” The nerdy mare then placed both hooves on either side of her head, slowly shaking it back and forth. “Oh Luna. We never should have had a session while a member of the Sol was in town.”
Lightning rolled her eyes at this. “If you’re so worried about this, why didn’t you use some magic spell or something to make her forget?” she demanded as she moved over to the table. Before Moondancer could even lift her head to look at the speedy mare, Lightning had brought her hoof to the other mare’s horn and gave it a swift flick. “I mean, you could do it right? You have to know like a bajillion spells!”
“First of all, I don’t know a bajillion spells,” replied Moondancer, a hoof rubbing the side of her horn that was flicked. “Second of all, mental spells are very dangerous and there are hundreds if not thousands of ways they can go wrong! If you’re not careful you can wind up pulling out the wrong memory or doing an incomplete job creating fractured memories which can lead to a mental breakdown. I once read about this one filly who tried to erase the memory her brother had of her eating the last cookie and it didn’t end well.”
Lightning tilted her head. “What happened?”
Moondancer looked up, a beyond serious expression on her face. “She used too much magic and wasn’t very skilled, turning her brother into a blank slate. Every memory and experience he had was lost, never to be recovered again. He even lost his cutie mark.” Moondancer then shook her head. “Dozens of unicorns in Canterlot tried their best to undo the damage before going to see Princess Celestia. However there was nothing anypony could do for the colt. His memories weren’t suppressed or removed and placed somewhere else. They were completely destroyed! In the end, that colt had to relearn everything but his own past experiences were lost forever. Memories with his friends, time spent his parents, and so much more could never be brought back.
“Besides, even if I were to use the spell properly, it wouldn’t guarantee that all of our problems would be solved. There are spells out there that can detect if your memory has been altered. Or residual memories can pop up, completely restoring the full memory over time. The more a pony examines or thinks about it, the faster the real memory will come back. That or the pony will have a nervous breakdown.”
Moondancer paused to take a breath. “Now there have been reports of certain magical artifacts that could have been able to successfully remove memories without any of the potential negative side effects. Its just that nopony can really remember them. But the Research Laboratory has been trying to create, or recreate, something similar for groups that like mind manipulation kinks or just a far more realistic scenario. If we do get it working it’ll be for really deep activities. The kind you need a crystal bell for.”
“Oh,” was all Lightning could say as she looked around the room nervously. She tried her best to smile in a carefree manner yet she knew that it wasn’t her best. It felt off on her face.
“Let’s,” began Hunter as he stood up. He looked at the two mares with an expression Lightning had seen many times before. It was the look of somepony trying to look brave. Lightning had seen it ever since she was a foal, watching other loud mouth foals as they tried to do a dangerous stunt for the first time. She could always see that small glint of fear in their eyes as well as the twitch on the lips. It was all a front either to make himself feel better or for their sake. She didn’t question it and if Moondancer noticed it either, she said nothing. Both mares just looked at their Dom as he cleared his throat. “Lets just get some sleep. We’ll figure this all out tomorrow night.” Neither Moondancer or Lightning said anything against this, removing the remaining equipment from their bodies before heading back into the bedroom to put everything away before hitting the hay.
Wallflower awoke the next moonrise to the sound of the old alarm clock which rested on the table next to her bed. Groggily she opened her eyes for sleep had been more elusive than normal. All throughout the day she twisted and turned underneath the hoof stitched quilt that Granny Aroma had provided to her, head spinning with the deal she had made. More than once she had gotten up to pace the room, moving past the small table the guest room provided and almost tripping on the dark red rug that covered most of the wooden paneled floor. As she did so, Wallflower breathed in deeply smelling the lingering scent of pine as well as the many floral scents created below her hooves.
When sleep did finally come for her it offered no true relief. Her dreams were full of the lewd and frightening horrible things that she had been unaware that her imagination could ever produce. As Wallflower looked at herself in the mirror, ignoring the baggy eyelids, one of the more prominent dreams resurfaced.
Wallflower found herself deep underground along with many other mares standing in a long row as far as she could see. All of them were facing the wall for the bridles with bits in their mouths were connected to chains that seemed to be fused into the walls. The green earth mare could feel more chains wrapped around each of her legs, keeping her from moving too much. Looking down she saw that those chains were also fused into the rocky caverns floor as well along with straw used for crude bedding. She could feel her tail was lifted up as far as it could so that her private areas were exposed and unguarded.
It wasn’t just mares that were down here. Out of the corner of her eye, Wallflower could see Diamond Dogs patrolling behind them, carrying torches to light their way with one paw as the other carried a spear of sword. More than once, one of the beasts would become excited jerking off onto one of the mares and coating their coats with their white fluids before using their manes to clean off their vile cocks. None of them seemed to do that to Wallflower, something that she felt like she should be grateful for. Yet…it stung her somehow. Like she wasn’t good enough. Why did she feel that way?
Hoofsteps now echoed through the halls, causing Wallflower’s ears to perk. Ponies were here! Help was here! She and the others would be free soon. She along with many other mares turned their heads back and forth looking for the sound. Eventually Wallflower saw three ponies, a stallion with two mares by his side, being escorted by one of the Diamond Dogs. The stallion was a brown thestral that seemed familiar yet could not place. Both of the mares with him had their heads lowered slightly as they walked behind him. As their neared, Wallflower could see that leashes were attached to collars around their necks granting her a feeling of foreboding.
“You see Lord Hunter,” said the Diamond Dog as he waved a paw at the mares. “Lots of goodies for auction today. Plenty to choose from. But if these ponies don’t meet your tastes we have many others in tunnels down below. I hear Equestria is getting a little savanna fever. Why not get yourself a zebra? Or one that was just fished from the sea: a hippogriff. Maybe a bit of danger training a griffon?”
“Yes, thank you Fiddo,” said Lord Hunter in a dismissive tone as they neared Wallflower. Trembling, she watched as he eyed the mare’s rumps like her mother would eye tomatoes at the market. Then suddenly they stopped outside for her limited scope of vision and her being unable to move her head around. “Well now, isn’t this a nice treat.”
Wallflower gasped as a pair of hooves gasped at her flank. Her eyes widened as she felt his breath along her slit and the tips of his wings feeling her up. What’s more she felt more hooves touching her. Hooves that felt like they belong to a mare before their lips pressed against her cutie mark. Wallflower’s front legs gave out causing her flank to be raised even higher, closing her eyes as the stallion’s wings moved to touch her teats.
“This one,” said Lord Hunter, his breath being felt against her ponut now. “She is showing promise.”
“No, no,” said Fiddo quickly. As he spoke, his voice began to morph. What had once been the gruff voice of an alpha male became mixed with the voice of Pearly White. “You don’t want this lonely little thing. A stallion in your position needs only the finest pretties there are. Ones that are already sparkling and shiny. Much better than this piece of dirt.” The words stung in Wallflower’s heart so much that her eyes opened, allowing tears to flow. Now she could see the mare next to her, looking down at her with a smile on her lips despite the bridle. There was a look in her eye that was not cruel or heartless, perhaps envy?
“I beg to differ,” responded Lord Hunter right before his tongue ran upwards, starting at the bottom of her pussy and moving up to taste her ponut. The sensation was so great that Wallflower’s hooves scraped the bottom of the cave while a whinny escaped her mouth. Thoughts became sluggish while feelings became dominant. The touch of feathers around her teats and a hoof touching her mane. It all felt so amazing, so personal. The attention was like nothing she had ever felt before.
Then Wallflower felt Lord Hunter pull away as did the other two mares. Panic swept over the green mare as she laid there letting out a pathetic whimper. She didn’t want them to go. She wanted them to continue!
“Make sure she is first in the auction,” commanded Lord Hunter his voice moving father away. “I wish to make use of her as soon as possible.”
“Surely, my lord, you’ll stay for the rest of the auction,” continued Fiddo, sounding more and more like Pearly. “So many better slaves than this one for you to choose from. Better quality all on display. Miss this you should not.”
“Do not make me repeat myself,” was that last Wallflower heard before they went out of ear shot.
Slowly, Wallflower got to her hooves while panting. She then blinked to find herself moving down the hallway, the chain in front of her being held by a massive Diamond Dog that looked strong enough to fight a young dragon! What was going on? Briefly she looked about only to see that on both sides of her were rows of flanks sticking out in her direction. Every color from every species of pony, zebra, griffon, and so forth could be seen on display as they walked towards a bright light.
Another blink of the eye found Wallflower on a stage, very different from where she had been. The wooden floors and crimson curtains reminded her of the stages she had heard about from the few ponies that ever visited her hometown. As she was led across it by the same Diamond Dog, Wallflower looked at the audience to see a sight that made her heart stop. All of the ponies there were nothing more than silhouettes, dark masses with their only real visible feature being glowing white eyes that were fixated on her! As she walked Wallflower could hear them muttering about, perhaps, her.
Wallflower did not have long to dwell upon this for the chain that held her was yanked hard very suddenly. As the mare lost her balance and footing, the Diamond Dog picked her up by her hind legs so that her face was buried in his crotch area. She only had time to take a single breath before she was thrusted into some kind of restraining device which instantly locked around her frame. This device looked like it was made of old, rusty metal wrapped firmly around her hind legs while keeping them spread apart as she hung upside down. As she swayed a foot or two from the ground in a vain attempt to force herself free more shackles here placed on her front hooves to keep her in place. Once more her tail was moved out of the way, another Diamond Dog bringing his paws to her pussy to spread those lips. When it was all done the mare was completely exposed and completely helpless. Everypony there could see everything about her.
Then, to her shock, the figures in the crowd began to take focus. They were the ponies from her hometown! Ponies she had known her whole life, ponies that had mostly ignored her during that time, were all looking at her with their glowing white eyes. Another Diamond Dog was talking, waving around a large dildo as he did so. Sometimes, as he spoke, the dildo would brush her folds earning a gasp from the mare. Yet Wallflower could no longer hear the words over the beating of her own heart. Something was going on with her own body that made it feel alien to her. A pressure was building inside of her as the eyes continued to bore into her. Barely she noticed Lord Hunter standing up, looking directly at her, followed by the gasping of the crowd. Wallflower could feel a dopey smile appear on her face as her hind legs began to twitch. Then something exploded inside of her as she came-
Shaking her head in an effort to forget the rest of the vile dream, Wallflower headed downstairs where Granny Aroma waited for her. Much to her surprise, the shop was open despite the sun’s light still shining its orange glow through the windows. The ancient mare sat at the counter, eating a bowl of oatmeal with another one set right next to it.
“Eat up missy,” said the elder mare. “Going to be a busy night for us, just you wait.” Wallflower nodded as she moved besides the mare. As she took the spoon in her hoof, Granny stared at her while also adjusting her glasses. “Well don’t you look like you’ve been dragged through the mud. Busy day? Hmm?”
“No,” said Wallflower with a sigh. Looking out the window she found herself just in time to spot a familiar face. It was Lightning Dust, galloping past her window with a baseball cap on her head. Sweat was gleaming off her coat as she paused to trot in place, her voice yelling out loud to bark orders at somepony else. Or rather someponies. Moments later several other thestrals came into view, all of them looking slightly overweight and drenched in sweat. But that was all she saw before lowered her head. Right now, Wallflower didn’t want to look at her friend. Not with the memories of what she had seen last night. “I…just had a hard time getting to sleep.”
“Well we can’t have that now, can we?” replied Granny. “I’ll make sure you get some rest young’en. You’ll need all the energy you can get for old Hearts and Hooves.” A sly smile crossed her lips. “And I might have just the plants to help you out there missy. A nice mixture of jasmine and lavender. I’ll bring them up to your room so you can be all rested up for some fun when the sun goes up!” As the old mare let out a laugh, Wallflower forced herself to smile without saying a word. If only this mare knew what she was doing for her cause.
The rest of the early night followed without incident. Wallflower’s duties were not that different from when she tended her own garden back at home. She watered the plants that needed it, gave extra soil here or there, and made sure that the place looked presentable for the ponies that entered. One thing that Wallflower was on edge about where the thestrals who came in to make their purchases, fearing they would ignore her like they had on the street. While her fears were well grounded, nothing like that came to pass. Most of their customers eyed her with suspicion, no doubt fearful that she would try to sell them on the idea of the Sol while they bought their plants. But when they saw that Wallflower was just there to help them find what they were looking for and to help ring them up, they relaxed somewhat. While none of them tried to talk to her in a manner like they had when she arrived in Hollow Shades or even to make small talk, it was nice not to be ignored again. There were a few odder duties that confused her however. For example there were plants that had special needs like the Cobra Lily, a flower with four petals that ended in thin spikes that curled upwards to give the appearance of fangs. Whenever she passed it in its tiny pot, the flower would hiss at her or try to snap at the air in her direction. It was a frightening thing, making Wallflower question the sanity of anypony who would want such a thing in their house!
Granny had just laughed at that. “Shows what you know missy,” she said as she approached the nipping plant. Wallflower watched as she produced a bloody piece of meat in her hoof before gently tossing it to the Cobra Lily. Once it was close enough the plant snatched it in the air and proceeded to consume it at a frightening rate. Then, when it was done, the petals opened up wide and a wonderful aroma filled the air. It was completely foreign to Wallflower yet brought out memories of fruit vendors from tropical lands who had visited her town.
“The Cobra Lily is a very interesting plant,” explained Granny Aroma as they stared at the flower together. “Now it may seem scary at first, but it's more bite than anything. Not at all poisonous, but if it gets those fang into you WATCH OUT! It’ll latch into the skin until it either consumes you or its dead. Since it only eats smaller creatures and is so easy to pull out of the ground a filly could do it, most that’ll happen is just some minor pain. But once you know how to handle it it’s not that bad.”
“Amazing,” breathed Wallflower. Then she looked over at the mare standing beside her, noticing for the first time the many puncture wounds on her leg. Wounds she most likely received from the plant from when she flirted with something so dangerous and vile. “But it doesn’t seem like a nice scent is worth all the trouble. Not when there are some many less scary plants out there that look nice and don’t bite.”
Granny gave out a short laugh at that. “You shouldn’t dismiss something you don’t understand. Take this here Cobra Lily. Now it looks scary and might hurt you a smidgen, when it's well taken care of its petals can be used to cure a whole number of things! Mostly poisons and venoms. I got myself a nice field of them and when their ready, these biting cuties are sent to all the local hospitals.”
Wallflower blinked at that. Turning her head, she looked at the plant as it just sat there. “But…aren’t there other less…” Words seemed to fail the mare as she stared at the plant. It looked evil and wrong. Yet it helped ponies as well as many other races.
“Naturally there are other methods of dealing with such things,” said the older mare as she placed a hoof gently on the back of Wallflower. “Like, for example, there are unicorns out there who might have cutie marks in removing them toxins out of the body. But those are rare and not everypony likes them. Heard of ponies thinking it ain’t natural for magic to be going into the body like that. Then going as far as to call anypony who is willing to do that crazy.” Granny Aroma then shook her head slowly. “So foolish when you think about it. Calling something evil just because they don’t understand it. Well, not everypony has access to a unicorn who can do something like that so most ponies around these parts settle for these plants. Not that I mind a smidgen since I get paid for them.”
Wallflower looked from the plant to Granny Aroma and then back to the plant. She had heard of plants that had all sorts of great medical purposes, but none like the Cobra Lily could be found in the hoof written tomes of her hometown. Was it because the writers didn’t know about it? Or was it because they thought it was evil looking and never gave it a chance? Maybe, even worse, they knew about what it could do but thought that something so evil looking was too unnatural to be used. That it might cure you of the poison but corrupted you from the inside. That did sound like something that a member of the Sol would believe, much to her shame.
What’s more, Wallflower thought about what Granny Aroma had just said. She had heard of ponies who did talk like that. There was this one mare who lived on the edge of Mareville who disliked having doctors use anything other than magic to examine her, saying she couldn’t trust those new devices. That all the other ponies in town were crazy for moving away from the tried and true method of doing this. Was…she and the other ponies in the Sol just like that mare? Wallflower didn’t ponder too long for she quickly shook her head to banish such a thought. No, they weren’t like that. They had research on their side. They knew what was wrong and wicked.
Before Wallflower could ponder any longer, a bat fluttered into the building through an open window. Tied to its back was a scroll which it presented to Granny Aroma as it landed on the table in front of her, turning around before remaining completely still.
“Thank you deary,” said Granny once the note had been removed. The bat let out a squeak before flying up, kissing her on the cheek, and flying away. With a soft smile Granny Aroma opened the note and began to read it. “Hmm, delivery. Lets see if we have any in the back.” With that, the old mare walked into the back of the store.
A heartbeat later, the door to the shop opened revealing the stallion that Wallflower was a bit nervous to see right now: Hunter. he too looked a bit out of sorts as he approached her. It was a little odd since she had seen him so commanding before. Not to mention her dream…
“Hey,” he said softly, scratching the back of his mane as she did so. “Lightning said she saw you here. I thought we should talk before tonight.”
“Oh,” said Wallflower as she briefly looked away. Already she could feel her heart rate increase.
“I just wanted to tell you,” began Hunter before pausing to take a deep breath. When he finished, there was a more confident look in his eyes before speaking again. “That you don’t have to do this if you really don’t want to. If you want we can just pretend like last day never happened and go on with our lives.”
“I,” began Wallflower as two conflicting emotions appeared within at the same time. Relief that she might have a way out of this and…disappointment? What was wrong with her? It had to be that dream, some lingering something from her failed sleep to get her to feel like that! No, she had to get all that out of her head and focus on what mattered. She was doing this to help them see the truth. She would give this a try, tell them truthfully she didn’t like it, and then she would try to convince them to leave their vile path! “Thank you for saying that, but I was the one who made the bet with you. So I’m going to do this.”
Hunter watched her for what seemed like several minutes, staring at her face as if to search for some hint she was lying. The mare felt her body shrink under that gaze. For some reason she felt much like a foal who had just told a lie with Hunter being her father.
Finally Hunter let out a sigh. “Alright then,” he said. “Just remember that you can back out of this at any time you want. Nopony is going to force you to do anything you don’t want to do.” As he said that, he brought a hoof to his chin while his eyes brightened a bit. “Which reminds me. Is there anything off limits or anything you would like to try?”
Now that caused Wallflower to tilt her head in confusion. “Off limits?” she echoed. Honestly, she thought that she would be nothing more than a plaything for a short amount of time. That he would torture her in many sexual ways or do bizarre things to her. So it was a little shocking to see him nodding.
“I would never do anything that you wouldn’t consent to,” he explained. “Like, for example, you refuse to do anal. Or you don’t want to be bound in a certain way. If you’re sure you don’t want that then they are off the table. If there are things you want to try, like say a fantasy scenario, we can more than likely set up something. Other than that, we can try various things going slowly to see how you react.”
Wallflower blinked at that, surprised at what he just said. If she was more suspicious, she might think that this was some sort of evil plan they had to get her to loosen her guard. Maybe tell her all this just so that she would come, capturing her and brainwashing her to become just as wicked. Only she knew that wasn’t true. She had been the one to propose this after all and Hunter did just give her an out. He was just being strangely thoughtful for a Lunatic. In an odd way, it was like how she decided to plant her gardens. Deciding what plants she did and didn’t want while trying to picture the ones she did want planted. Only this was going to be done to her, to her body! Also, did she have a fantasy? She had never actually thought about stuff like that on her own.
“Thanks,” she said as Granny Aroma entered the room with a potted plant. “I’ll think about it.”
Next Chapter