Pomme De Terramar

by Norm De Plume

Rating: mature
Tags: Profanity, Anthro, Original Character, Apple Bloom, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Romance, Porn, Terramar, Sex
Length: 20008

Apple Bloom has to postpone her usual weekly get-together with Terramar, due to a Friendship Problem in Dodge Junction. But a distant cousin learns her secret, and spins her around to point her right back at the sweetest hippogriff she knows.

This is a Spiritual Successor to The Spunky Chicken.
---

Apple Bloom didn't mean to sleep with a distant, completely differently-fruit-named cousin. That just sort of happened. Not that there's much else to do in Dodge Junction, apparently.

But Cherry Tapper, that wild little hellion, has learned that Apple Bloom is very, very good friends with one of the kindest hippogriffs in Equestria. Perhaps the two friends need a little push to get some benefits in their relationship?

A benefit ... package, if you will.

---
Just as last time, characters are of Carousing Age, given this fic is Anthro, and takes place four/five years after Season 8.

And once again, see inside for a full itinerary of goings-on at Camp Go Squick Yourself, but this fic includes Futa on Female, Futa Solo, and Futa on Male, (Apple Bloom & Terramar having sex in a NEST, people!)

Published 2019-03-27 06:10:01 UTC
Last updated 2019-03-27 06:10:01 UTC

Chapter 1

Author's Note

Fic Contains The Following:

Apple Bloom’s Uncontrollably Slutty Cousin Bonus

A Cherry On Top Bonus

Cherry Tapper Makes Apple Bloom Tap Out Bonus

Creampies, Sighs, And Muscled Thighs Bonus

Perineum Massage Up The Wazoo Bonus
(Exaggerated for Lewd Effect. Actual Results May Vary)

Apple Bloom's Powerful Thighs Bonus

Kodak (Well, Polaroid) Moment Bonus

Apple Bloom Strokes Her Decent-Sized Cock Bonus

Nesting Instinct Bonus

Intense Foreplay Bonus

Hippogriff Blowjob Bonus

Terramar Takes His First Cock Bonus

Cherry Puns Sprinkled Throughout Bonus

Gotta Stare At Her Flank For Science Bonus

Chapter 1

“Dear Terramar,

I'm sorry about running off, but we got called to a Friendship Problem out in Dodge Junction. Don't worry, I'll make it up to you, especially since it was your turn to choose!

We ran into Cherry Jubilee's family out here, and think the problem's with one of them. There're so many ponies, though, and it'll take time to meet them. We're working hard, and it's nice to meet distant family and all, but some of my cousins are a real handful.

Don't you waste our missed Together Time by staying in and studying. I know you've got that study group with Howl and Shear, which is fine, but you should get out of the dorms once in a while and spend some time in Ponyville without me ridin' herd on you. Just because your sister was a model Friendship student don't mean you have to be every bit like her. Don't you go being a boring ol' hippogriff, buster.

Okay, enough riling. I don't mean to be a tease, but it's been a real interesting day so far. Might tell you more if you're good when I get home!

Apple Bloom.”

Putting her pen down, she considered the sleeping pony curled up in her bed. Couldn't imagine she'd worn out Cherry that hard, given who'd done most of the riding, but whatever. It let her finish her letter. Folding it and slipping it into an envelope, she addressed it to Terramar at the Friendship School. She'd drop it at the front desk tomorrow, in time for the morning post. Applejack had said this problem could take a couple of days. Apple Bloom didn't want him to go that long without an explanation for why she hadn't shown up for their evening together.

A soft rustling drew her attention, and she turned in her chair as Cherry Tapper groggily lifted her head from a pillow. “Hey, gorgeous. You feelin' better?”

Cherry snorted, running her fingers through her tousled red mane. “Mmff. Kinda?” She flicked her ears side to side, her tail swishing beneath the covers. If there was ever a look that defined 'well-fucked', Cherry Tapper had it. She smacked her lips, rubbed her muzzle, and peered across the room, squinting against the light. “What's goin' on, cuz?” Her Dodge Junction accent rolled thicker than Apple Bloom's own twang.

Apple Bloom figured she deserved some of the hick stereotypes. She would take cider before other drinks offered, wore plaid shirts beneath her overalls, and could fix nearly anything mechanical on or off the farm. Did she really need to add this onto the list?

It was one hell of a line-crossing. She'd gone and fucked a cousin. Not like 'Uncle Apple Strudel's Son' or anything that close, but the Cherries were still kin, even if they were a branch or two over on the tree.

Her belly squirmed at the memory of Cherry Tapper riding her cock so enthusiastically. That golden rump had smacked down on her hips, echoing in the small hotel room, cherry-red tail whipping back and forth. It had been like watching a darker mirror of herself, only with blue eyes instead of orange.

All because somewhere out there, Applejack was still wandering around Dodge Junction with half of the Cherry clan, sorting out a Friendship Problem. She had told Apple Bloom to stay in the hotel and keep out of trouble. Sure, that had lasted maybe half an hour before trouble found her.

Cherry Tapper had whirled into the hotel lounge and dropped a crate of cherry cordial on the bar. In the middle of her business, she'd received a lewd proposition from a soused stallion that had made even Apple Bloom's ears curl. The response from Cherry was the immediate thump of her hoof into his groin. As he hit the floor, she'd snatched up his drink, but lost her grip and splashed Apple Bloom instead of her intended target.

Once the ruckus died down, and the two mares shooed out of the lounge, Cherry had caught Apple Bloom halfway up the staircase. One golden body pressed another against the wall, a hot thigh slid between suddenly-spread legs, and a murmured apology preceded a scorching kiss. Minutes later, both mares had stumbled through the door to Apple Bloom's room, Cherry ending up on top, and gleeful at the discovery she'd made of her cousin's sheath.

Now that Apple Bloom had tasted that forbidden fruit, the lingering twitch in her tummy had yet to fade away. Which was why she'd slipped out of bed while Cherry snoozed, and pulled a fountain pen and paper from her bags. Writing to Terramar helped settle her down, plus it took her mind off the fact she'd ended up going soft in the middle of Cherry's ride. Just slipped out with a sudden wet flop, right with a smack on her belly.

“Felt the need to reach out to someone,” she said, recapping her pen. “Now, you sure you're gonna be okay?”

“It was just stress,” Cherry insisted as she sat up, careless of her own nudity. “Didn't mean to make so much of a scene at the bar, but —” She shrugged. “Glad it was you I spilled that drink on, rather than that jackass.”

Apple Bloom's cheeks heated, and she swore at herself that she could still blush after what they'd done. “Still felt weird that you wanted to lick it off me, rather than lettin' me go wash.”

Another gentle snort, this one more of a chuckle. “Why waste good booze? Tastes all right on somepony's shoulder, if you got a little salt and lime to make it worthwhile. Good thing I nicked them from the bar while they were throwin' us out.” Cherry kicked the covers down as she groaned, stretching her arms and arching her back. “Mmm. You okay? It happens, gettin' lost in your own head.”

“Yup,” Apple Bloom agreed. “That's kinda what happened.” Her breath caught as Cherry stacked one golden hoof atop another, then sat up and braced her arms behind her, thrusting her full breasts forward. Aside from the mane style and cutie mark, it really was like looking in a shadowed mirror. “Kinda used to a bit more cuddlin' before somepony wants to ride me like a rodeo bull.”

Cherry Tapper's breathy laugh made her breasts jounce. “Honey, you were already skittish at havin' me all up in your business, cuddlin' weren't going to help.” She smirked. “I suppose I came on a bit strong, but I ain't ever seen such a sight on a mare like you. Hope you didn't mind.”

“Nope.” Apple Bloom fidgeted, looking down at herself. She wore only a pair of boxer briefs, the lump of her sheath front and centre. Cherry had traced her with a finger, cooing in pleasure, and then everything had flipped upside down like a rogue apple cart. There hadn't been time for gentle, there had only been time to hang on and hope. At least one of them had gotten off from it, right? “Cherry, I—”

Her cousin interrupted, shimmying her upper body enticingly. “It's okay. You already apologized enough. Y'ain't ruined a darn thing. You were still good, dear, makin' me cum like that, and you deserve a reward. So how about I help out with some of that ache you're probably feelin'?” She lifted one arm to crook a delicate finger at Apple Bloom, the same gesture she'd used halfway up the stairs hours earlier. “I use my mouth purtier than a mayor with cash in the bank and a chance at re-election, so why don'tcha shed those shorts and come on over here?”

First time lucky, second time, askin' for it. Apple Bloom groaned, batted her conscience back into the depths of her mind, then got up and hooked her thumbs in the waistband. As she slid it down her legs, the material pulled tight, stretching over her powerful thighs, and she tugged harder. Flicking her tail free, she finally shoved her underwear past her knees and onto the floor. “Where d'ya want me, hon?”

Amusement crinkled the lines at the edges of Cherry's eyes, the mare's gaze fixed on Apple Bloom's sheath. “Mmm. So many options.” She swept her own lush tail around as she rolled up onto all fours, stalking towards the foot of the bed. “Jes' sit those apple-bottom genes down here and lemme have a look at you, so's I can decide. Don't see too many pretty mares with cocks like yours.” She quirked an eyebrow as she patted the bedspread in front of her. “That a Ponyville-exclusive sorta thing, or are you a slice of somethin' special?”

Blushing, Apple Bloom sat, dangling her hooves off the bed's edge. “Bit of both? Got Cutie Pox early on, then did some potions stuff. And, well, Princess Twilight always says you cain't change things like manes, or sex. Turns out, though, if you had Cutie Pox and spill the wrong poti- Hhahhhh!”

Cherry Tapper ignored the rest of her answer, dipping her head down into Apple Bloom's lap, and French-kissing the tip of her sheath. “Mmm,” she hummed again, her throat vibrating against her cousin's thigh. Settling onto her side, she turned her head and took one testicle into her mouth for a soft, wet pull, making Apple Bloom gasp again.

“Poor thing,” the cherry-redhead cooed, peeking up at her with a grin. “Your expression says you don't get sucked too often.” She spread Apple Bloom's thighs, repeating the slow, careful suck on her other testicle, as she kneaded gently between thigh and groin. “I can feel yer tension. Mmhmm. Achin' for release, ain'tcha?”

Resisting the urge to thread her fingers through Cherry's mane, Apple Bloom rested her hand against the other mare's neck. “T'aint so bad,” she breathed, indulging in the twinge beneath her navel that her cousin's attentions stirred. Sure, she ached a tad, but it'd pass. Stroking the softness of Cherry's neck, she massaged the curve of her shoulder and mussed her warm coat with a thumb. “Keep lickin', cuz. Feels good.” It really did. Cherry's sweet tongue lavished attention on her, and Apple Bloom watched her. She liked a talented pony. “Feels real good,” she repeated, kneading deeper into her cousin's shoulder.

“I'm glad,” Cherry purred. She winked, then lowered her head again and nosed at Apple Bloom's sheath, fingers slipping lightly beneath her sac. “Cherries, these ain't,” she whispered, the hint of a laugh in her voice as she stroked them. Taking her time, she tilted her head to let her cousin see how her tongue swirled.

Apple Bloom grunted as the familiar pressure rose, and her cock slid out of its sheath, golden and twitching. Oh jeez, she was stiffer than usual. Maybe it'd be okay this time? She fought the urge to grab herself as her flat tip bumped Cherry Tapper on the nose. “Whoah, um, sorry?”

Giggling, her cousin planted a tender kiss on her cock. “S'alright. I want this, right here.” Her hand curled softly around it, stroking up and down. “What about you, you okay so far?”

“Yeah.” Apple Bloom lay back on one elbow, her other hand still playing with Cherry Tapper's mane. Her cousin's attention seemed to be less on her cock, and more on the join of her sheath, judging by the probing her fingers did. “You got somethin' in mind?”

“Interested, that's all.” Cherry's eyes twinkled as she snuffled along Apple Bloom's length. “Y'aint too big, which is kind of a blessin'. I'm known for my dainty little face, and you stretchin' me won't do my jaw no favours.” She fluttered her eyelashes as she breathed in, then let it out, lifting her head to kiss the tip. Her tongue swirled as her head lowered, her fingers fumbling beneath Apple Bloom's sheath. “Hmmm . . .”

The soft hum made Apple Bloom arch up into her cousin's mouth. “Ohhhh, yeah.” She swallowed the lump in her throat, her hips tilting as Cherry got up onto her hands and knees beside her on the bed. Spreading her thighs wider, Apple Bloom brushed a leg against Cherry's breasts, and she groped blindly, sliding her hand beneath one gorgeous tit to caress the underside. “This okay?”

Cherry glanced up at her, bobbing her head in acknowledgement and approval. “Mmmhmm.” Her tail swished, balancing her on all fours as she took a little more into her mouth. She sighed through her nose, rolling her eyes as Apple Bloom's fingernail scraped against a golden nipple. “Mmmmf.”

Soft slurps filled the room as she sucked the tip of Apple Bloom's cock, shuffling her knees on the bedspread, occasional breathy snorts breezing over her cousin's thighs. Cherry's tail rustled, swishing, then lashing, the heat between her thighs obvious as she fanned herself the more her head dipped downwards.

A particularly vigorous suck pulled Apple Bloom's hips off the bed, enough to make her lose her balance and fall on her back. She stared up at the ceiling, panting. Oh, there was something to be said for real good suction. Slipping her fingers through Cherry's red mane, her thumb fastened onto her cousin's ear, causing a pleased squeal to vibrate down her length. “Hahh! Oh, Cherry ...”

The smack of Cherry's lips as she lifted her head off was damn erotic by itself, but the soft whine from the pull on her ear burned more heat through Apple Bloom's veins. “Say my name again, cuz,” came Cherry's soft request, “Jes' like that.” A quick, hot lick swiped across Apple Bloom's tip, and she gasped as her cousin's fingers pressed lower, behind her sac.

“Cherry,” Apple Bloom murmured, her breath hitching as her cousin pressed a knuckle behind her balls, kneading the tender spot there. “Aw, yeah, hahh ... ” Her pelvic muscles quivered as Cherry found the right pressure point, and another soft surge rose through her. “Aaahnnn!” She pulled on her cousin's ear and the pleased moan she got in return made her twitch against Cherry's nose again.

“That's it, pretty.” Her cousin sounded pleased as she nuzzled Apple Bloom's cock. “Trust me, I know where it's nice and soft. This is gonna feel so good. Lie back, keep looking up, that's a good girl.” The wet suction engulfed Apple Bloom's tip again, Cherry taking her in her mouth again, and the kneading, pressing knuckle on her perineum made Apple Bloom roll her shoulders back, her back arching. Sweet cider, that mare knew some tricks!

“Ahhhnn... ahhhn... aaahnnn!” Her touch fumbled against Cherry's mane and neck as she shuddered, trying to grip, trying to hold on, hold back. She couldn't, though, and her cousin steadily coaxed her up to her peak, to the point where she'd spill over, give it all up, and, and and and —

Cherry slowly pulled her head back in a firm, stretching suck as she jilled the root of Apple Bloom's cock in a quick, hot little massage. She pressed harder, her mouth demanding, each suck matching each push of her fingertips. Her heavy breathing blew harshly in the quiet room, their mingled scents filling it.

The ceiling shot stars.

Apple Bloom came with a sudden yelp, the pulse almost painful from Cherry's coaxing. Heat flared from the pressure of those fingers on that tender spot, spiralling right up through her cock as she spurted, and the first load was near agony in its pleasure. “Haaahhh — haaaahhh, haaaaaahhh!”

She clutched at Cherry's ears, moaning as her hips thrust up, her cousin grunting as her face got abruptly fucked. The tight, wet heat thrummed oh, oh, so good, the spurts thickening as Apple Bloom clenched her flanks and let it all go.

Her cum filled Cherry's mouth with a gush, the little mare taking all she could in gulp after gulp. Apple Bloom screwed her eyes shut, tension singing in her back muscles, feeling each spurt lapped up and swirled. Her cousin's tongue flicked and swept, scooping each load as quickly as she came. Then she was all done, sucked clean, and the pressure eased.

Slumping, Apple Bloom breathed hard, the ache and bliss mingling as Cherry soothed her with some soft licks. Her perineum throbbed where her cousin kneaded, her sac hummed, and her tip still trickled cum. Cherry adoringly lapped it all up, tongue strokes tender and affectionate as she milked Apple Bloom softly. “Oh, geez. I think I saw my parents' apple-pear tree when I came.”

Cherry chuckled, pushing up on that throbbing spot again, coaxing another spurt onto her stuck-out tongue. Swallowing, she grinned at Apple Bloom's gasp and repeated the process as her cock continued to quiver and dribble cum, those fingers circling around and around. “Hmm, you ain't quite empty yet.” Her head lowered again to clean off her cousin. “Mmmf ...”

“Ahhh … ahhhh ...” Apple Bloom shuddered one last time, panting as her cock softened and her cousin eased up on the pressure. “What is that?”

“Little trick I know,” Cherry said, sitting up and slinging a leg over her cousin's thigh, straddling her. She braced her elbows on either side of Apple Bloom's chest, and rested a chin on cupped palms. “Feel better?” she asked, up close and suddenly personal.

“Mmf, yeah,” Stretching up on her own elbows, Apple Bloom met Cherry's mouth and kissed her lightly, swiping an errant streak of her own cum off her cousin's muzzle. Cherry twitched her ears, her mane tousled gloriously as it stuck up on one side. “Sorry, did I pull on your mane too hard back there?”

Cherry leaned in for a deeper kiss, her tongue slithering like a rattler makin' for the nearest bit of shade. Her full scent filled Apple Bloom's senses with thick, hot Earth Pony need. “Nn-nn,” she breathed, nuzzling in. “Y'needed that, from all accounts.” She inhaled in surprise as Apple Bloom's knee came up and nudged between her thighs. “Oh, hey now. I won't say no, but you need a minute, hon. You ain't ...”

“What?” Apple Bloom asked, stroking the nape of Cherry's neck, pressing up with her own knee as she felt how wet her cousin was. Oh, she'd hadn't had a pony ride her thigh for a long while, and it seemed like something she ought to rectify. “What am I ain't, Cherry?”

Cherry tried to sit back up, but Apple Bloom gripped her by the neck, and so she groaned, eyes rolling back. She subsided, settling for nuzzling one of Apple Bloom's nipples as consolation. “Come on, cuz,” she whispered. “Take the afterglow, relax for a second. Ain't no need to pay me back right away, yeah? So I'm wet. Means I'm havin' fun, that's all. Ain't no rush.” She wiggled, twitching her hips to the side to relieve some of the pressure from Apple Bloom's muscled thigh. “You got a problem with cuddlin', or something?”

“I, huh?” Apple Bloom blinked. No, she didn't. She cuddled Terramar on the regular when they were together. Then again, Terramar hadn't ever given her a blowjob. That particular thought made her blush. “No.”

“Good.” The mare grinned and slipped her arms around her cousin's neck, nuzzling her. “Jes' lie here, okay? Breathe. You probably got to go back home tomorrow, so let's just have a moment.” She blinked soft, blue eyes. “Please?”

Apple Bloom sighed and nuzzled back. Thigh-riding would have to wait. “Yeah, all right. Sorry. First time sleepin' with one of my cousins like this. Not real sure what I'm doing.”

“You've done lovely so far,” Cherry murmured. Her mouth found Apple Bloom's ear and she exploratively nibbled along the rim. “So, who were you writing to?” she whispered, teeth grazing the tip.

“Good friend,” Apple Bloom said, turning her head and sighing as Cherry teased her ear. “Yeaaaahh, more of that, please?” She waited for the giggle and the obedient lick, then continued, “He's like, Queen Novo's nephew, one of the hippogriffs. Or seaponies, depending on the day.” Stealthily, she slid her thigh between Cherry's legs once again.

Propping herself up on her forearms, Cherry Tapper lifted her head. “Really? We got those now?” Her hips wiggled some more. “Oooh, right there, babe.” She made a pleased noise in her throat.

Apple Bloom nodded, gazing up at the pretty mirror image of herself. “Yup. Had 'em for about five years. My sister taught his older sis, now she's teachin' him.” She traced her fingers in half-circles around Cherry's dock, pressing up with her leg and coaxing a low moan out of her cousin.

“Ain't never seen a griffon, let alone a hippogriff,” Cherry said, her hips swaying with the attention, even as her hands kneaded Apple Bloom's breasts and she dipped down for another suck on them. “Mmm. What're they like?”

'They've got wings, and hooves, and beaks, and claws.” Apple Bloom considered that, idly squeezing the back of Cherry's thigh, spreading her as she enjoyed the attention paid to her own breasts. “And when they're seaponies, they get fins instead. Switchin' from one to the other don't bother them none.”

Cherry's eyes gleamed. “Lookit you. Travelin' Equestria for 'Friendship Problems', meetin' all sorts of fancy creatures. Kinda hot, cuz.” She leaned down again, her mouth finding Apple Bloom's other ear. “So did you tell him you're gettin' ground like some pepper on this trip?”

“He don't need to know that,” Apple Bloom gasped, her vision fogging as Cherry gnawed on her ear. She squeezed her cousin's cutie marks, holding on as their hips churned together, slick sensations rolling through her. “Had to run out on him to get here with my sister. If he heard I'd spent the day gettin' bounced in bed instead...”

Cherry Tapper's laugh vibrated her whole head. “He'd get a mite jealous, yeah? Story like that could keep a boy's imagination occupied through his boring school days, especially if you mention how I rode you like the stallion he wishes he could be.”

Apple Bloom nipped at her cousin's neck, offended on Terramar's behalf. “Oh, c'mon now. He's got more to his pony half than a lotta full-blooded stallions.” Cuddling that boy was a soft treat and she loved pulling him into her lap and burying her nose in all his feathers. He was so slim and fine, and he fit so well sitting on her. Course, that meant he knew about her cock, what with his rump practically on her sheath and all, but he never seemed threatened by it. She liked him for that.

“Yeah?” Cherry kissed Apple Bloom's cheeks, working her way back to her lips and puffing a breath against her, taking her mouth with a soft, pleased murmur. When she released the kiss, she smiled. “Is that where your head went while I was ridin' you?”

“What? No, no, nothin' like that.” Apple Bloom whuffed. “I ain't dating him, or ridin' him.”

“He could be ridin' you,” Cherry suggested. Her smile deepened into something gleeful. “Instead of me bouncin', how about him?” Her hips dipped, rolling up and down Apple Bloom's thigh. “Soft and feathery, huh? Bet that feels real good coverin' you. C'mon, don't you tell me he ain't thought about whirlin' you over and pressin' himself against you, all nice and hot-like.”

Apple Bloom whimpered, wide-eyed as her cousin wriggled on her, that cherry-red tail flicking delicately. What if it were sea-foam green? Would Terramar want her? Could she play with him like Cherry did to her? Would that ever be a thing, with her splayed out beneath him, his unsheathed cock bumping and brushing hers, hot and slick together? A sudden, soft surge had her panting and then, ohhh ...

Cherry cooed as she twisted her hips aside, grinning as Apple Bloom's cock appeared again from her sheath. “Ohohoho, that's woken you up, hasn't it?” She squeezed one thigh against the throbbing length. “Girl, you recovered fast. What were you thinkin' about?”

“Him,” Apple Bloom admitted, arching and breathing harder as Cherry ground on her. “Mmm. Terramar, haaaah, doin' what you're doing. Mmmf.”

“His cock nuzzling you, right where it feels good?” her cousin asked, pressing some of her weight down onto Apple Bloom. “Maybe his mouth where mine's been?”

She nodded, shuddering at the images Cherry put in her mind.

“Mmm. Then maybe it's worth askin' him if he's got an itch you can scratch.” Cherry glanced down. “Speakin' of which. You want one more for the road, cuz? It's okay if you don't, but I don't like wasting good, hard cocks that could be inside me.”

“Yeah?” Apple Bloom asked. The ache in her belly throbbed as Cherry's moist pussy stroked back and forth. “You offerin' a nice fit for me, cuz?”

“Mmhmm. C'mere.” Cherry squeezed with her knees, sliding her body to the side and turning them both over to put Apple Bloom on top of her. Her thighs spread open, her hips wiggled, and Cherry ground up against Apple Bloom's emerged cock. “Let's see if a little closer contact helps this time, hmm?” She bucked, grinning up at her and reaching for Apple Bloom's cock, adjusting things to press it against her own glistening pussy.. “That's it, hon, put it in me again. Think good thoughts, too.”

Rearing up, Apple Bloom braced her arms on either side of her cousin. She groaned low and hard, helpless as her hips eased forward. “Ahhn .. ahhh ... ahh ...” She squeezed her eyes shut and sighed in relief as her belly bumped Cherry's furry mound. Oh, oats and apples, that snug fit felt good. Maybe this time she could last through it.

“Uhhnnhhh!” Cherry breathed back, cupping Apple Bloom's neck and gazing up into her eyes. “Oh, yeah, jes' like this,” she murmured, lifting her head, and parting her lips.

Her mouth brushed Apple Bloom's, Cherry sweetly slipping her a tongue that spoke of shot glass bottoms and double-knotted cherry stems. Wiggling beneath her cousin, she cinched her legs around Apple Bloom's wide hips, pulling her in nice and tight. “Come on, honey,” she teased, smiling. “Don't lose yer rhythm before you even get started.”

“Mmmmff! Oh!” Panting, Apple Bloom dropped onto her elbows, her cock now sheathed to the hilt in Cherry's hot pussy. “Wanna let me try and find it first?” she begged, the soft, wet sounds of Cherry's pussy making her lose her damn mind. Oh, geez, those thighs. She couldn't move, couldn't thrust, all wrapped up in those luscious legs. Each squeeze in her cousin's grip bottomed her out inside that sweet cunt, those hooves digging into her rump with each slow, deliberate flex.

“This is more fun.” Cherry Tapper cooed, her fingers brushing Apple Bloom's ear, tugging on it. “What's the matter, hon, not strong enough to get out of my clutches?” She kissed Apple Bloom's cheek and nudged beneath her jaw, nibbling. “I mean, it's okay, if y'aint. Jes' lie still and lemme milk you dry so's you can start nice and fresh with that boy when you get home.”

Her thighs squeezed once more and Apple Bloom groaned as she sank that final inch again. She could try and pull free, but oh, ohhhh, sweet spires, Cherry felt too good. Leaning on her elbows, with her legs stretched out behind her, she was trapped. Her own thighs could match the strength in the ones wrapped around her hips, but she had no chance of getting up on her knees, no leverage to take control back. Squirming only made her cousin cinch down tighter and giggle as she toyed with Apple Bloom's breasts.

Finally, after one more futile attempt to pull back, Apple Bloom surrendered with a quiet moan, breathing harder. As she went limp, Cherry hauled her head down, and pressed Apple Bloom's face into the side of her neck, holding her close and trailing a delicate fingernail down her spine.

“That's it,” Cherry Tapper murmured, nuzzling her ear and licking it, “give it up, girl. Ahh, ahh, mmmm ... oh, fuck, that's good.” She flexed her inner muscles, rippling them along Apple Bloom's cock, and pulling another moan from her. “Your boy'd love this, I'd bet, seein' you all wrapped up.”

She kept up a hot whisper in Apple Bloom's ear, riding her from beneath, hissing all sorts of filthy things: how thick she was, how good she felt, how hard she'd cum. Cherry's muzzle pressed against Apple Bloom's neck as she forced her cousin's head down, Apple Bloom trapped and panting harder. The roil of those talented hips quickened, the creak of the bed getting louder.

With her face pressed so firmly against Cherry's neck and shoulder, Apple Bloom knew nothing but the heady scent of that golden coat, the bouncing of the mattress beneath her, and the snug, slick squeeze of Cherry's pussy. Her cousin's breath puffed in her ears, the soft whines turning to moans, the headboard thumping harder against the wall as Cherry picked up the pace.

“Hahh! Ahh! Ahhh! Fuck me, cuz!” she yipped, even though she was doing all the riding, “mmmf, gimmie that cock!”

The friction of their bodies sounded counterpoint to the squeaking bed joints, their coats lathered and glistening. Apple Bloom's breasts pressed against Cherry's, sweaty and slick as she panted harshly against her cousin's shoulder. She had no air to speak, to moan, or to beg, only muffled gasps and soaking Cherry's neck with the heat of her breath. Sweat dripped down her face, the 'v' of her lower back drenched from those thighs clasped around her hips.

Cherry Tapper suddenly cried out and arched in orgasm, grinding up against Apple Bloom's pelvis. The fluttering clench of her climax, the swirl of sweat-slick belly fur against the grain of her own, it was all far too much. Apple Bloom groaned helplessly as she tensed up. “Hahh, ahhn! Ahhn! Cher — Cherryyyy — ” Her hips jerked in Cherry's grip as she blew her load, pulsing deep inside her cousin's snatch. “Aaahh, mmff! Mfff!”

“Yeah ... yeah ... yeeeeaaaaah,” Cherry crooned, pulling her closer with her legs, “gimme, hon, gimmie ...” She 'oohed' and 'aahhed', rolling her hips as she got filled. “Mmmm, I can feel it gushin',” she murmured, kissing Apple Bloom under her ear, vigorously ruffling her mane with her fingernails. “Such a good girl. Oh, just like that.”

Apple Bloom whined and shuddered, whuffling hotly against Cherry's neck. The scrape of nails on her nape raced down her spine, crashing into the surge of her climax that raced up from her groin. Her ears burned from the soft praise lavished on her, her hips thrusting blindly as she came more, her cousin's slick cunt milking every last drop out of her.

Finally, spent and breathless, Apple Bloom went limp on top of Cherry Tapper, and let her stroke her mane. “Y'do that ... to all your cousins ... you take to bed?” she asked, lifting her head and squinting. Even the dim lamplight made the room bright after having her head buried so long in darkness.

“Nah,” Cherry murmured, “just the ones I corrupt.” She kissed Apple Bloom some more, nuzzling her. “Plus I really wanted a cherry creampie, hon, and you needed that fence jumped. Ain't taboo enough to bang a cousin unless you bust a nut in one.” Sighing, she slowly unwound her legs from Apple Bloom's hips. “Daaang, that felt good.”

Groaning, Apple Bloom lifted herself off and collapsed to one side, grunting as her cock retreated into its sheath. Her head spun, her body throbbed, and she had the urge to curl up for a nap. Cherry's attentions had pulled her hair ribbon loose, too, and it tickled her shoulder. Blushing, she yanked the whole thing free, intending to retie it later. She stretched, and her lower back popped. “Ooof.”

“Bet that felt good, too,” Cherry Tapper noted, grinning. She lightly stroked her glistening pussy and she dipped a couple of fingers in, spreading her pink lips open to show how much Apple Bloom had cum inside her. “Hmm. You do reload quickly.”

Apple Bloom didn't answer, busily refilling her lungs with air. Musky and heavy, sure, but also cool air. Oh, sweet apple strudel, her cousin was something, riding her into submission from both the top and bottom, one after the other.

Cherry giggled as she lay back against the pillows, putting her free arm behind her head. “You'll be okay. A little trouble never hurt anypony.” Her other hand stayed between her legs. “Mmmm,” she purred, rocking her wrist slowly in time with the rolls of her hips.

Stretching out, Apple Bloom rested her head on a folded arm, and gazed up at the insatiable mare. “I've ... been in plenty ... trouble before,” she panted, nosing at the inside of her elbow. She admired Cherry's spread thighs. “This, hahh, don't seem ... like that.”

“Look, I know trouble. I'm the black cherry of my clan,” Cherry Tapper said. Her fingers circled her clit, and she obviously took more comfort than arousal from it. “And sweetness, you're darned lucky I caught you first, because you got no self-preservation instincts. We got some working mares lurking down there who'd suss you out for an easy mark, then take most of your bits, or rat you out to your older sister once they realized you couldn't afford them. Me? I'm kin, and I'm free.”

“I wasn't lookin' for anything,” Apple Bloom protested. “I was mindin' my business, staying out of trouble.”

Cherry smirked. “Still, you found it, or it found you.” She slipped her arm out from behind her head, folding it over her eyes as she quivered. “Mmm. Point is, this is the safe kind of trouble. Your family's runnin' around out there with mine, doin' whatever, and you're in here with me, havin' a nice ol' time.” Lifting her arm, she peeked down at Apple Bloom. “As for me, I got to experience a mare with a marvellous cock, which might not happen ever again. I also got to keep my kin safe in my rat's nest of a hometown, and maybe got her to consider pickin' up what's been in front of her the whole time.” She slipped two knuckles deep in her slick pussy, then eased them out again, glistening with Apple Bloom's cum and her own cream.

Apple Bloom leaned forward, her eyes hooded. Oh, she shouldn't, but ... she caught Cherry's hand at the wrist and lowered her head, her tongue leisurely cleaning off her cousin's fingers. “Mmmf.” Peeking up at Cherry, she drew slow, deliberate licks between her knuckles. “That all you got, cuz?” she purred back.

In response, Cherry Tapper spread her legs open nice and wide, grinning. “Make it good, hon. Time's runnin' short,” she murmured, and Apple Bloom moved in, settling between those golden thighs and bending to the task of cleaning her cousin up.

By all the pears in Ponyville, she'd gone and kinked herself something fierce, hadn't she?

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

“Did you solve the Friendship Problem?”

Apple Bloom shrugged, her head half-propped up on her cupped hand. If she didn't fix herself shortly, her cheek would slide right down her wrist.. She didn't feel like fixing it. “Applejack got it. I stayed at the hotel.”

Across the tutoring room at her own desk, Sweetie Belle frowned. “Really? You let your sister do everything, and never left the hotel?”

“Yup,” Apple Bloom agreed. “Rough place, Dodge Junction. Even with cousins around, it ain't a spot to wander.”

“I heard Applejack telling Rainbow Dash you helped guide her and the others to the pony that ran away when they tried to help him,” Scootaloo said. “How'd you do that from the hotel?”

“I was on the roof.” Mostly because Cherry Jubilee had turned half of Dodge Junction's bedrooms upside down searching for her niece. Cherry Tapper had a sixth sense about trouble and when her aunt had stormed the hotel, she'd made for higher ground with Apple Bloom in tow. From the roof, they'd spotted Applejack and the others hunting Cherry Soda, and shouted directions to bring the two sides back together.

“Why were you on the roof?”

“Highest building in town other than the clock tower.” Plus, the family's relief at them solving the Friendship Problem had taken any suspicion off her and Cherry Tapper. Apple Bloom shrugged again, and then her chin slipped off her cupped palm and she managed to pull herself upright. “Seemed like a good idea.”

Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle exchanged a glance. The three of them had grown in their role as Friendship Tutors and had finally received office space at the school. One afternoon a week, they helped students understand lessons and encouraged them, pony and non-pony alike. Today, though, two of the Friendship Tutors looked askance at their third. The pre-exam rush had just abated and Apple Bloom had slumped over the minute the last of their changelings flitted out the door.

“The trip back must've really worn you out,” Scootaloo said. “It's been three days and you still look wiped.”

“I'm fine,” Apple Bloom muttered.

“You don't look fine,” Sweetie pointed out, standing up to smooth out her violet skirt. She arched delicately, stretching her arms above her head to loosen up, her pale coral blouse lifting to show off her tummy. “We do know when you're not telling us something, too.”

Scootaloo nodded, leaning in. “Yeah, usually you're full of details about stuff you do with Applejack. Short answers? Something happened.”

“You're okay, yeah?” asked Sweetie. She sat back down, ears flicking forward. “What went on?”

Apple Bloom flushed and pushed herself upright. “Nothin'.” She took in their disbelief, and sighed. “Nothing serious, okay? One of my cousins thinks I should make a play for Terramar, but I ain't sure that's a smart idea.”

No way was she mentioning what she'd done with Cherry Tapper. Three days back, and she'd only now begun returning to normal. Apple Bloom was no virgin, but she'd never been debauched so thoroughly as in that hotel bed. Cherry's rough, incestuous lovemaking had woken something inside her, and she'd fought to put her feelings into some kind of context, especially about Terramar.

She needed more time. Like lots of her adventures, the moment happened, then it took days of dealing with it, finding a place in her brain that could accept the memories. Kind of like cutie marks. Once a pony got theirs, they could spend the first few days repeating their successful task over and over, reliving the event. Eventually, they'd settle down and look for the deeper purpose in their mark.

Nothing said she had to act on her feelings so soon, right? She could make sure of Terramar's own feelings, too. No point in fawning over him if he already had his heart set on another hippogriff. He saw her as a friend, after all. Would he jump the species line like she'd jumped branches of her family tree?

“Want us to help you make a list?” Sweetie Belle offered. “Pros and Cons, like we did for him back on Mount Aris.” Scootaloo's eyes lit up, and she grinned, rummaging in her desk drawers.

Apple Bloom narrowed her eyes. “You wanna use logic to figure out if I should ask out a hippogriff? And you want us to write this down where he could walk in at any moment and see it? This ain't the old Crusader clubhouse, you know.”

“Pfft. We'll destroy it when we're done.” Scootaloo waved off her protests. “Besides, we wouldn't have to do this if you'd mare up and decide.”

”Pro,” Sweetie started off, leaving her desk to join Scootaloo. “You're his favourite of the three of us.”

Scootaloo nodded. “Definite plus.” She wrote it down.

Apple Bloom stared at them both. “How do you even —”

Sweetie Belle's pitying look spoke volumes. “Who else has weekly get-togethers with him? I certainly don't see him as often as you do.”

“Scootaloo spent all her weekends with Gallus before he graduated,” Apple Bloom pointed out. Holy Hannah, she'd give a crate of Zap Apple Jam to make them stop. “Did we ever say she was his favourite?”

“Gallus was dating Yona at the time, and I was his wingpony.” Scootaloo snorted. “Meanwhile, we've seen how the two of you act together. Terramar's really comfortable with you. Like, if you buried your face any deeper in his feathers, you'd be preening him.”

It was Sweetie's turn to prop her chin on her hand as she leaned on Scootaloo's desk. “You were also the one who got us out of that problem with his family. He hasn't forgotten that.”

Apple Bloom threw up her hands and flopped back in her seat, surrendering. “Okay, fine. Let's do this, then. Pro. What's next?”

“Con,” Sweetie continued, leaning over the desk and scribbling. “He's a hippogriff, and you're a pony.”

Oh, brother. “Yeah, I noticed that one. Think he has, too?” Applejack had always warned her that sarcasm was a dangerous defence, but she couldn't help it. “And why's that a Con? We were already talkin' about a yak datin' a griffon.”

“Culture, for one,” Scootaloo said. Her wings rustled. “He can fly, and you can't. It makes a difference. He also lived in the ocean for most of his life. You're an Earth pony.”

Yeah, he wouldn't stay out of the sky and the sea for her. She was a part of the land of Equestria. Apple Bloom sighed. “Right.” Something else to worry over.

“Next pro.” Sweetie Belle thought. “He's helping change Equestria? I mean, some hippogriffs like being hippogriffs. His dad sure does, but Terramar and Silverstream are moving past that. They like hanging out with yaks, changelings, and dragons. They aren't afraid of different things.”

“Like us.” Scootaloo nodded, scribbling.

Apple Bloom caught a memory of the rapt expression on Cherry Tapper's face as she listened to her describing hippogriffs. So many small-town ponies would never see a hippogriff, or a yak. “We've done some stuff, haven't we? Way more than a lot of ponies.”

Scootaloo twirled a finger. “Whee. Destiny.” All three Crusaders rolled their eyes. Ponies' destinies often came down to choice and challenge, and they'd chosen every time not to back down from the challenges ahead. They still hadn't the chance to save all of Equestria, but they were also sure that would happen one day, and had contingency plans for it. “Also, Con: He lives on Mount Aris. You live in Ponyville. Hooray for long distance relationships?”

Oh, Nellie. She pictured Applejack's face if her sister thought she would leave the family farm and go live in the Harmonizing Heights with Terramar. “Think they've got good apple-growing land there?” Apple Bloom suggested weakly.

“Nothing stopping him from coming to live on a farm, right?” Sweetie Belle said. “I mean, you've got a good watering hole.”

“That'd be like plunking him in a tiny fishbowl after the freedom of the ocean,” Scootaloo countered. “Ponyville's got lots of streams and lakes, but seaponies need, y'know, the sea.”

“He's still here for a while, so we'd have time to talk about it.” Apple Bloom gestured. “Leave it as a con for now. What's next?”

Silence filled the small office, as both Sweetie and Scootaloo looked at each other.

“Go on, say it,” Apple Bloom muttered. “Or maybe I should.” She looked down at herself, at the loose, fawn-coloured sweater with slits in the wrists for her fingers. The hem hit her at mid-thigh, covering the black leggings she wore, and it also hid the outline of her sheath. “Con: Biology.”

Sweetie Belle & Scootaloo both knew about her cock. They'd been there when her potion mixture went wrong during that long-ago Twilight Time. Same with Princess Twilight. And they'd all kept her secret, like the greatest set of friends ever.

“Not ... necessarily?” Sweetie Belle squinted, pursing her lips. “I mean, he already knows, right? And he's not a scaredy-griff about it.”

“Not yet,” Apple Bloom groused. “He ain't been nose to tip with it.”

Sweetie Belle stifled a giggle. “You're assuming. Maybe he'll like it, because it's attached to you. Are you worried about what he's got?”

Apple Bloom opened her mouth to answer, but hesitated. Sure, she'd imagined what he'd feel like against her, but what about inside her? She hadn't taken much up there before, and maybe hippogriffs had something fancy to them that nopony knew. A curve here, perhaps, or a swell there that would batter her rump until she gave in and took it all. Oh, lordy, she'd need plenty of lube, wouldn't she? Her cheeks heated. “I — hhnngg. I wasn't until now, thank you!”

Sweetie tilted her head at Scootaloo. “Neutral,” she suggested. “And add Pro: Chemistry. Mmmaybe physics, too.” The two of them burst into giggles.

“I think you've stopped takin' this seriously.” Folding her arms, Apple Bloom scowled. “Don't know why I thought I should.” Still, despite her grumpiness, she appreciated her friends sticking by her. They calmed her after the turmoil of getting topped so hard by Cherry Tapper.

A knock on the door distracted everyone and Sweetie Belle scurried back to her desk, Scootaloo tucking their list away. Apple Bloom straightened her sweater, tugging down on it and wiggling her hips.

“If this were a movie, that'd be Terramar out there,” Scootaloo whispered, then raised her voice. “Come in!”

Terramar's head popped around the side of the door. “Hey, everyone.” He glanced around and waved. “Uh, can I borrow Apple Bloom for a second?”

“If you bring her back in good condition, sure,” Sweetie Belle murmured, earning a glower and hiss from Apple Bloom.

Slipping out from behind her desk, Apple Bloom self-consciously pulled on her hem again, feeling the press of her sheath against her leggings. She had never reacted to his presence before, and she wasn't about to start. “Yeah, I got a couple minutes.”

Scootaloo was too distracted checking for hidden movie cameras to make any smart remarks, and luckily, no other students waited outside. Apple Bloom had the respect of this year's crop, but still, her friendships had to take a back seat to Tutoring, at least during working hours. Being seen in-school with Terramar meant they had to keep things professional.

But oh, from her thoughts right to a school hallway. Just seeing him made a world of difference in raising her mood. The boy was such a surfer dude. Board shorts, loud shirt with slits for his wings, and a braided belt. You could turn the seapony back into a hippogriff, but good luck keeping the seapony down.

She closed the office door and leaned back against it. “Hey, you. You won't believe how sorry I am about havin' to skip out on us. I'm gonna make it up to you, I promise.”

Terramar nodded, an odd expression on his face. Even his beak quirked weirdly, which she'd never seen. “Uh, yeah, sure, but first I, uh ... here.” He slid an envelope from his pocket. “I got a letter from you yesterday, posted from Dodge Junction.”

Apple Bloom swore to herself, embarrassed. “I, uh, never got around to sendin' it. Applejack and I got done and caught the train home before I could even find me a stamp.” In fact, she'd forgotten the letter completely in all the excitement. She must have left it right on the nightstand in the hotel room. “Did the Cherries send it on or something?”

“You could say that,” he admitted. He handed it to her. “Whoever she is, she threw in something extra.”

She lifted the flap, peeked in, and swallowed her heart back down into her chest. The photograph inside was very familiar: a nude, golden body, all arched, with her thighs spread wide to show off the bare slit that lay between them. One arm cradled a generous pair of breasts, the other braced behind a hip. A red ponytail dangled down the side of a slender neck. Cutie marks were barely visible, but a hint of cherry red was visible.

Apple Bloom raised her eyes to meet Terramar's, the sudden hollow in her breastbone trying to snatch her voice. “It ain't me,” she got out. “You know that.”

“I know.” His gaze dropped below her waist, and she fought a squirm at the knowledge he could think of her in that way. “I suppose she's a Cherry?”

“Sure is. Spittin' image of me, ain't she?” Apple Bloom closed her eyes and snorted. Damn her cousin for pushing like this. Cherry Tapper was a wanton little hellion, but what was her play here? No way she'd fool Terramar into thinking she was her. “We ... talked about me. And about you and me. I'd said I had to run out on our night together and she thought it was a shame.”

“So she sent this?” His voice cracked and despite herself, Apple Bloom smiled. Flustering a hippogriff meant they got all ruffled and cute. She'd always resisted teasing Terramar too badly, because guilt would eventually get the better of her, but it looked like her cousin had no shame in that regard. “Why would she do that?”

She turned the instant photograph over, in case Cherry had written a message on the back. “Did she say anythin' extra on my letter? Because there's nothing here.” He handed her the letter and she quickly scanned it. Nope, nothing she hadn't already said. “Maybe it's an apology, for the Map callin' me away?” she suggested. “I mean, that there Cherry has a one-track mind. It's how she survives down in Dodge Junction, from what I saw.” She glanced at it again and sighed. “It gets her through the dusty days when she ain't on the farm.”

Glancing up again, she caught a look in Terramar's eyes, and couldn't read it. Could he understand that loneliness, where somepony sated their boredom with yet another roll in the hay? Was he appalled? Concerned? Interested? Would he guess that Apple Bloom had been boredom relief herself, and this photo was a consequence of it? “You want it back? It's okay if you do. She's pretty, if a little hard around her edges.”

“First pony I've ever seen looking like that,” he said tightly, not reaching for it. “I mean, you swam with me at Mount Aris last summer, all of you, but you didn't —” Breaking off, Terramar closed his beak with a soft clack, and held out his hand for the envelope. “It, well, doesn't do much for me, I think.”

Apple Bloom's heart dropped, as did her ears. “Why's that?” Maybe Terramar wasn't a pony sort of guy, after all. Her little list looked like it was headed for the trash bin. Perhaps she'd set the pieces on fire, too, to make sure.

He took the envelope back, and tucked it into his shorts pocket, rather than his shirt. “I appreciate her apology, but she'd ... well, she wouldn't care who I was, would she? If we met, she'd just, uh, dive right in, and it wouldn't matter, right?” Terramar curled his talons into a fist and leaned on the wall beside her.

“Well.” Apple Bloom switched her tail, trying to pull some of the tightness out of her croup as she gazed down at him. She had a couple of inches on him. “I'm sure she'd care who you were. Cherry ain't ever seen the likes of you where she lives. And she's good at making it matter, if that's what you want.”

Terramar's eyes cleared and he nodded in understanding. “She had you, didn't she?”

Apple Bloom glanced over her shoulder to make sure the door was still closed, then over his shoulder to check the hallway. “Can't talk about it here. It ain't proper. But she thinks it'd be better if we had each other,” she said. “Girl can't wrap her head around bein' platonic, I suppose.”

His head tilted to one side, birdlike in the movement, followed by a soft snort so equine, Apple Bloom got giddy at the disconnect. “We've been really good friends, haven't we?” he asked.

“Yup.” She nodded.

“You and the other Crusaders cared about me from the first moment we met.” Terramar stared up at her. “You made me feel like I mattered, too.”

Apple Bloom heard the words, and figured she understood their meaning, but she had to be clear. “So, you still wanna be friends, Terramar?”

He nodded. “Of course I do.”

“Mmm.” Drawing in a breath, and daring to hope she was right about the answer to her next question, she leaned closer. “How about —”

“YAK BEG PARDON!”

“GAH!” Terramar flapped backwards, stumbling as Apple Bloom screeched and ricocheted off the wall. Both of them turned hard glares on the yak standing next to them. “Yandle!”

He lifted his tiny hat off his head a tad, then replaced it. “Sorry, but yak need Friendship help before class starts! Yak not need to listen in on friendly banter!” He lumbered past Apple Bloom and used his horn to lift the door handle. His bulk moved delicately into the office and a hind leg kicked the door shut behind him, the breeze ruffling both manes and feathers.

Terramar blinked. “He's had a bath. Usually you can smell him coming before he sneaks up like that.”

The door opened again and Yandle leaned out. “Egghead Pony Teacher teach yak stealthy bathing technique. Also, yak think Tutor Pony and Hippogriff should get room and smash properly.” The door closed again.

Grabbing his upper arm, Apple Bloom hustled Terramar down the hallway until they were both far away enough from the door. There was a good chance that Sweetie and Scootaloo had had their ears pressed to it before Yandle had so rudely interrupted. “As I was sayin' ...” She paused to try and gather up the mood again. “We should stay friends, yeah, but how about maybe tryin' some benefits to being friends? I'd like that, if we could.”

Terramar widened his eyes. “Uh, yeah, maybe? You really sure?”

“Yup.” She leaned down towards him, lowering her voice. “I mean, that's if you're okay puttin' up with a mare like me, what with everythin' I got? And there ain't nogriff else in your life that I'd be interferin' with.”

“No, nogriff else, not in my life.” He considered her. “Honestly? I — I think I'd like what you've got more than what your Cherry friend has.” His gaze flicked downward again and this time, she wriggled. “I'll tell you what. If you can take a better picture than her, I'll toss this one out.”

Apple Bloom blinked at him. “Hot dang, you're serious, ain't ya?” Okay, new butterflies in the stomach, now.

He patted his pocket. “I knew this wasn't you, easily. She didn't have the best part of your body.”

“But, you ain't seen that, either,” she said, frowning and putting her hands on her hips. “How can you tell?”

Terramar smiled. “Don't need to see it to know how it makes you feel when I'm sitting on it. Ever wonder why I always let you do it?”

Apple Bloom made a soft noise in her throat as she processed that.

Then the bell rang overhead, making them both jump.

“Shoot, class!” He flapped his wings, lifting up into the air, and turning for the staircase. “You promised to make last week up to me, remember? We can talk more then!” With a hippogriff screech, he soared off, dodging the sudden appearance of a pair of dragons as they pursued him. Howl and Shear were usually attached to his flank like a pair of scaly shadows, but he'd apparently given them the slip before coming to find her. Now they'd tracked him down.

“Hey, no flyin' down the halls!” Apple Bloom yelled after them, to no avail. They had already vanished around the corner. Students never listened to their tutors, anyways, since the CMC weren’t real professors.

Well, shoot. Looked like she'd get a chance to discuss her pros and cons with him, after all.

Now, where would she get herself a camera?

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

Chapter 2

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 3

“It's not that she ain't listenin', it's that I can't talk to her, because I don't know what to say!” Apple Bloom rolled over onto her stomach and peeked over the lip of the lookout into the watering hole below. One of the straps of her denim overalls fell down and she pushed it back up her shoulder. “You even listenin' to me down there?”

Terramar shot up out of the water beneath with a powerful stroke of his tailfin, briefly catching her hands in his flippers. Planting a wet kiss on her cheek, he arched backwards into a dive and splashed down again, the fountain of water reaching the top of the rise.

She jerked backwards, touching her damp face. “Oi! That wasn't an answer!”

“I know!” he called up, grinning. “But you sounded like you needed that.”

“We ain't finished settlin' what kind of benefits you get, mister!” she hollered back, but she smiled, too. He wasn't as rattled as Applejack thought.

“Why am I the only one to get them?” he asked, paddling in circles on his back. His seafoam green mane drifted limply around his face. “You're supposed to have benefits, too, right?”

Apple Bloom snorted as she used a free corner of the picnic blanket to dry her hands. She made sure not to knock over the cider bottle or disturb the plate of yet another bunch of cherry snacks that only Terramar had bothered eating. Turned out Applejack had put the last batch aside for the two of them. “I can wait. I'm a patient sort of gal, as it turns out.”

His laugh bubbled up, and he clutched his middle as he rolled about in the water. “Patient? Miss 'I Want Mah Cutie Mark So Bad I Got Two Dozen Of Them In One Go?' Patient?”

“You don't want your photographs, you jus' keep on talkin',” she threatened. She'd changed her mind about bringing them tonight, and even now they pressed flat against her belly, safe behind a slice of cardboard in the middle pocket of her overalls. Once they'd figured out Cherry Tapper, she'd see what he wanted next.

Terramar had chosen a watering hole for their Together Time tonight. It wasn't quite a part of Ponyville, being outside the town limits, and closer to some of the tall hills that surrounded the area. Several streams ran down those hills and into this lake, which drained off to meet other rivers running through town. A nice, lonely location for an evening swim. The edge of Sweet Apple Acres, and the old Pear Family holdings were a little away, but enough trees of the Whitetail Woods grew here to make a small forest around the lake.

Apple Bloom had stayed out of the water, mostly because she hadn't brought her bathing suit. Skinny-dipping, in her mind, counted as a benefit. She liked watching Terramar swim, though. His seapony form was several kinds of adorable.

Curling in on himself, then swirling around with a flick of his fins, he cut a smooth circle through the water. “Does Applejack really need to know anything? Maybe it's your problem to solve, not hers.”

She wrinkled her muzzle. “Can't be a Friendship Problem. The Map said we were done. Our cutie marks buzzed and everything!”

“I don't remember every lesson I've had on the Tree of Harmony or the Friendship Map, but from what I do know, this doesn't classify as a Friendship Problem.” He slowed his swimming and floated in place, flicking his fins. “Because most importantly, she's not having trouble with a friend.”

“You didn't have trouble with a friend, either,” she pointed out. “It was family, like she's dealin' with.”

He flicked water up at her. “She hasn't said her aunt's giving her trouble. In fact, I don't think she's having trouble at all. She doesn't want to run away to the big city, or make anypony change their minds about her. Cherry's just living a really hedonistic life. She doesn't need saving.”

Apple Bloom goggled. “How do you know what 'hedonistic' means?”

“I go to a school with dragons, you know,” Terramar explained, “I learn things.” He tilted his head. “She really got to you, didn't she?”

She heaved a sigh and cupped her chin on a palm, kicking her hooves up behind her. “Yup. She's got thighs like a cider press; squeezed the juice right out of me. But that ain't all. When we finally had time to talk, though, she seemed really interested in what was out there. She ain't ever heard of your kind, and it made me feel kinda bad in the middle of feelin' so good...”

“Well, you'd never heard of hippogriffs either before we returned,” he said, grinning at her. “So she's you, but a few years behind on interspecies relations, and a few years ahead on other kinds of relations. She's not unhappy, just bored. And that's on her.”

Apple Bloom made a face again. “Y'aint ever bored when you're doin' what your cutie mark is telling you. If her destiny's failin' her, maybe there's something wrong with how she's interpretin' her mark.” She pushed herself upright, hooves thumping on the dirt. “Maybe she's got a cutie mark problem!”

“What is her cutie mark?” he asked, splashing around some more.

She opened her mouth, then stopped. “I don't know. Never really got a good look at it. I was, uh, occupied.” Apple Bloom had assumed Cherry Tapper's mark was cherry-related, but what if it meant something other than 'working on a cherry farm'? Had she missed a problem right under her nose because the problem had fucked her silly?

Terramar peered up at her. “You aren't going to run off and round up Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle, are you?” he said, plaintively. His tail broke the surface of the water and slapped down, sending a sharp smack across the clearing.

“Of course not!” Apple Bloom said, leaning out further on the small rise. “It's Together Time for us now. Tomorrow, though, I'm gonna have to talk to them and figure out if we should go back to Dodge Junction.”

“Okay, cool.” Terramar gestured at the grass outside of the swimming hole where his clothes lay. “One more dive, and then I'm getting out. See you down here?”

Nodding, Apple Bloom rolled back over and sat up. As she folded the blanket and put the remaining food back in the picnic basket, another splash sounded behind her. He'd be dressed by the time she joined him. Then the real purpose of Together Time could begin.

She ambled down the hill, basket slung in the crook of her elbow and held close to her body. Hoo boy. Would that be a minefield or what? Cherry could easily tell her fellow Crusaders what they'd done together. Even figuring out her mark could break something in the Cherry clan ranks, if it meant she wasn't destined for farming cherry trees.

Thankfully, that could wait until tomorrow. She needed some comfort right now, like the anticipation of gathering Terramar in close and simply being with him. No pet names for each other, nor secret in-jokes, not even deep, dark secrets that their other friends didn't know, nothing of that sort. Nearly every week, though, they found time to sit and let the world go by without them for a while. Sometimes that time got cut short, but at least they tried.

Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were right; they were each other's favourite.

Apple Bloom rounded a bush and sure enough, Terramar had changed back to his hippogriff form and was already dressed. His solid black T-shirt and denim shorts almost stood opposite to her white tee and overalls. “Y'all set?”

“Almost.” He shook his wings out, fluffing his feathers. For a second, he puffed up, looking twice his size, then subsided as everything settled down. “Uh, is it okay if we go for a walk? I've got something to show you.”

She glanced around at the small clearing. Nothing stood out as a surprise. “Sure?” she said. “Which way?”

“Uh, that hill, over there.” He pointed up the route of one of the streams. Some of the rolling hills that surrounded Ponyville towered enough to be called mountains, but most were average-sized, with a few cliffs jutting out here and there. White caps dotted some hilltops, and the snow runoff helped keep the streams flowing. “Not too far up,” he added.

She flicked her tail, enjoying the warmth of the setting sun on her back instead of her arm. “Bit of a hike, huh? Really working my legs tonight.” Grinning at him, she bumped her hip against his, nudging him to the side with her strength. “If I get tired hooves, will you fly me up there?”

Terramar rolled his eyes. “You could work all morning, tutor Howl and Shear all afternoon, and go for a jog after supper, and you'd still be able to climb a mountain faster than I could fly it. You're that sturdy.” He opened his wings in another stretch, then closed them again and stayed on the ground as he led her along a bare path between the elm trees.

“Nice that you think so,” she said, following. Her tail twitched at the compliment, and she grinned, putting an extra roll in her hips. Wasn't often she strutted, all sexy-like and sultry, especially not in overalls.

The path curved up the hill, thankfully not too steep a walk. Terramar skipped along it with quick little flaps of his wings. Nervous energy, she supposed. Whatever was going on, he seemed excited. She lengthened her stride and caught up with him in a few leaps. “Don't get too far ahead of me, huh?”

“Don't need to, we're almost there,” he said, sidling up to a turn that would take them onto the southern side of the hill, facing away from Ponyville. The ledge here was rocky, curving out around the corner into a short cliff. “This isn't as cool as it would be on Mount Aris, but it's one of the better crags in the Ponyville hills, so it was a great spot to make this.” He gestured for Apple Bloom to follow him, then ducked around the corner.

She moved cautiously, edging along with her hand pressed against the rock wall. When she'd made the turn, she stopped and stared at the end of the cliff. A knee-high circle of sticks, leaves, and twine sat on the rock. Quite a few pale white feathers lay scattered around its floor. “Is that a nest?” She knew it was, but the question escaped her before she realized she'd said it. Holy Hannah, it was big! She could stretch out in that thing and not have her hooves or head touch the edges.

Terramar nodded, his crest perked high in pride. “Yeah, it's not a great first try, but I wanted to do something special.” He considered it, and his crest drooped. “Uh, I don't know why it was the first thing I thought of, but I did. I had to ask Dad how to make one. Harder than it looks.”

Apple Bloom raised her eyebrows. “I'd hope it's softer than it looks.”

He blushed. “Oh, yeah! It's fine once you're inside.” His expression changed. “Um, are you mad? Confused? Flattered? I don't know the look on your face right now.”

Neither did she. Oh, hell, was she worrying him? “Tell me why,” she coaxed, closing the distance between them, and doing her best not to loom over his smaller frame. “I ain't mad at all, but I could use some — whaddya call it — context?”

Terramar crouched down next to it, putting his claws on the rim. “I owe you. Well, I owe all the Crusaders, but you didn't make the choice for me when both your friends did. You saw me caught between my two homes and you brought both of them back to me. Now I'm here in Equestria, away from both my homes, so I've brought you a piece of one of them to share. You wanted to see if we could be friends with benefits.” He looked up at her and gestured to it. “I thought we could have the benefits of a love nest.”

“Oooh,” Apple Bloom perked. Well, now. This was awful pleasant. Maybe she wouldn't have to scrabble around in her mind, scoopin' those lusty red thoughts back into her cart, after all. Stepping away from the wall, she dropped to one knee beside Terramar. “Is it okay to get in?”

“Yeah, it's solid, I tried it out,” he assured her. “When you're inside, it's like the whole world's shut out, except for the sky.” He glanced up. “Not many Pegasi fly over this way, so nogriff will get curious and try to make themselves at home.”

“I'd boot their feathered butts right back out.” She smirked. “Except yours. It can join me.” Straddling the edge of the nest, feeling the flex and bounce of the twigs beneath her rump, she swung herself in and sat down.

With its blanketed floor, the inside looked a bit like the basket in Twilight's hot air balloon. Apple Bloom pressed her elbow to the side of the nest, testing its strength, and like wicker, it resisted with a soft crackle. Nest-building was beyond her, but she'd rebuilt a clubhouse and knew good construction. Confident it would support her, she leaned against the edge, her overalls protecting her from any sharp twigs. “Quite somethin'.”

Terramar slipped over the rim to crouch beside her, his crest quivering again. “Thanks. Hippogriffs don't build them much anymore. They don't last and need much more repair work than houses. Plus, you know, when it rains, we get wet if they're out in the open.” He knelt beside her, gaze flicking over the nest as if checking his own work. Reaching out, he straightened a twig and smoothed a rough patch back into shape.

“It's real nice.” Aww, he was adorable. “Just what we need for Together Time. And speakin' of which.” Apple Bloom patted her lap. “C'mere and sit, hon. My turn to spoil you.”

He obediently sat, her thighs cushioning his weight, and she breathed a long, low sigh. She raised her chin so the tips of his wings brushed her throat rather than her face. Her arms wrapped around his waist, tugging him this way and that in her lap, until he sat right where he fit most comfortably.

His body sank deeper against hers, and his own relieved sigh loosened a knot in her chest. The long day, with all her hard work, had left her tired, but oh so satisfied. Terramar rested just there in her lap, and she had him all wrapped up. “Mmmmmmmm. There we go. Feel good?”

“If you're done slinging me around like a sack of apples,” he grunted.

She tucked his tail to the side, grinning. “I like to make sure you're comfy.” His breath caught in his throat, like it did every other time she'd done that. He lolled his head back onto her shoulder, and she nuzzled his feathery cheek. “Pretty bird that you are.”

They cuddled together in the nest, Celestia's sun shining on them through the hills across the way. The days were growing longer, as summer approached, and some hours of daylight still remained. School curfew for the students wasn't until Luna's moon rose, so they had time. Apple Bloom slowly curled a leg over one of his, as she usually did, her hoof brushing his feathery fetlocks. Terramar responded by kneading his talons up and down the forearm wrapped around his chest. This was their Together Time.

Perhaps their last innocent one.

Apple Bloom winced as that thought intruded, and she shifted her weight, getting a flare of pins and needles up one calf. “Mmmmf.”

The motion made Terramar stir, and he sighed. “We should talk about it.”

“Yup,” she agreed.

“Why did you ask me now?” he asked. “I mean, I can think of one reason, but what did she say that made you think of me?”

Apple Bloom buried her face in his shoulder and groaned. “Cherry was teasin' me about tellin' you what we were doing together. Then she got into details of what you and I could do together. For a pony who ain't ever seen a hippogriff, she's got a real good imagination.” She lifted her head. As embarrassing as it was, she had to admit the rest. “And, well, it worked. Thinkin' of you had ... an effect.”

Terramar made a soft noise in response, and he moved slightly in her lap. “We've done this often, and you've never been, um, affected before. I'd know, right?”

“Wasn't thinkin' of you just sittin' in my lap,” she told him, tucking his rump in tighter against her hips. She was so used to this position, she doubted she'd ever be aroused by it. “But I was so far gone, I couldn't help it. And then I got home, and Sweetie & Scoots started sniffin' around, so I said I was thinking of you and I. Next thing I know, there's a list, you're knockin' at the door with naked pictures of my cousin, and boom.”

He chuckled. “That sort of sums it up, doesn't it? But what should we do now?”

Apple Bloom sighed deeper, her body moving his. “Dunno. I mean, I like you an awful lot, and the fact we can do all this and not get mixed up in crazy feelings, it means somethin'. Even if you did build this fancy little love nest for me.” She pressed a soft kiss to his cheek. “Mmm. Still, the thought of doin' more sorta feels right. Not a lot of ponies, or other species, are gonna be interested in what I got.” She kissed him again, finding comfort in the action. Her lips weren't getting through his feathers to the skin beneath, but it didn't matter.

“You've said that once or twice,” he said, “and I've told you before, you can't worry about it. Ponies will get to know you, and if you trust them, you'll tell them when it's important.” He half-turned in her lap, flicking his wings out of the way. “And some creatures can find out by accident, and still care about you enough that they love you for what you have. Know what that's like?”

“Kinda do,” she said. She took a deeper breath. “Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo already figured that it ain't put you off any, but that's not the same as likin' it.”

Terramar tilted his head back. The setting sun glowed on his pale white feathers, turning them golden as he lay in her arms. “Sometimes it is.” He breathed deeply and nestled into her some more, his tail curled around her hip. “You know what my dad would say?”

She blinked. “Uhh, somethin' about the glory of bein' a hippogriff? I dunno.”

He puffed out a laugh and lay back again against her chest once again. “If he saw us like this, he'd say, 'She's a fine lady, Terramar. You're both very lucky to have each other', and he'd be right. I've made a lot of friends in Equestria, but I'm close with only a few, and really happy to be this close with you.” He made a low noise in his throat as she planted another kiss on his cheek. “Mmm. That's nice.”

“Yeah?” Apple Bloom's heart warmed. “So, is this how a hippogriff impresses a gal, then? Because, I gotta tell ya, it's working.” Sure enough, it was. Being handy at the whole buildin' game was a little bit of a turn-on.

“Only to impress a gal who's seen and done so much in her life already,” he admitted. “I mean, compared to what I've barely accomplished.”

“You've done lots already,” she said, smoothing her palm down the front of his T-shirt. If she slipped her fingers beneath it, she could stroke his soft feathers. Could also startle him. She settled for patting him and tracing his breastbone with her fingertips. “You're really brave to leave your home and join us here, in some strange land. I don't know if I could do that. My sister couldn't.”

“You're not your sister,” he replied, nestling his cheek against the soft fabric of her shirt. “You could outshine her, if you wanted.” His beak brushed her muzzle, not quite a kiss, but still a gesture of affection. She nuzzled him in return.

“Hey,” she murmured, “you're sayin' a lot of the right things here, and I'm real appreciative, but here's one thing you oughta see before we start makin' a rustle here.” Wriggling to put some space between them, she reached into her front pocket. She slipped the envelope from its cardboard shield and handed it to him. “You said you wanted better shots. I gave you some choices.”

She'd put in two of her in-bed pictures, all demurely splayed out. They were nice little nudes, almost like Cherry's, a fair exchange for her cousin's offering. And one shot of her nude in front of her mirror, showing off the thick muscles of her thighs.

Terramar hesitated as she placed the envelope in his talons. “Are you sure?”

“Yeah,” Apple Bloom cuddled into his back. “Probably the only time I'll ever do this for somepony, so take 'em while you can.” She watched over his shoulder, ignoring the curl of anticipation in her stomach.

He opened it, and the photographs tumbled out into his lap, Terramar tensing as if the bodily weight of her image had landed there instead. Her mirror shot, with her arms tucked beneath her breasts and her hips canted forward to show off her sheath. Stretched out in her bed, winking up at him with her cock on display. And her on her side, facing the camera, with the reflection of her rump and the rise of her hip in the mirror behind. She had her cock in hand, and her expression veered towards 'lusty'.

Terramar's own expression and sigh of appreciation made her grin. “Better?” she asked, pressing her muzzle to the softness beneath his ear.

“Much,” he said, his cheeks tinging red against his white feathers. “Apple Bloom, you didn't have to.”

“But I wanted to, Terramar,” she whispered in his ear. Her hips rolled up against his, and she started to purr, pleased at his response. Then he turned over the last picture to reveal another, half stuck to the back.

Looking down, Apple Bloom breathed a soft whine of dismay as she saw the one picture she hadn't meant to put in. Her with her legs so wide apart, fingers pressed beneath her straining cock. The one with her head tossed back, with pre-cum pearling down her length, making her look every inch the debauched dickmare that lived only in a filthy two-bit novel. The mare that only came out when her apple cart got tipped over.

Her hippogriff responded with his own breathy noise, and she felt him shift in her lap, a wiggle she hadn't ever felt from him before. Apple Bloom hesitated, half-afraid she was mistaken, then she took a peek down. Sure enough, he must have really liked that look of her, given the thickness straining against the buttons of his fly. Her breath caught at the soft thrill in her chest, and she squeezed him to her. “Oh, hon ...”

“Mmmmf,” he murmured, squirming in her lap. “Mmm, Apple Bloom?”

“Yeah?” she coaxed, daringly rubbing his thigh. Another couple inches to the left and she'd grasp him through the denim. “Feel like havin' a little benefit now?”

He nodded.

“Okay.” She hummed as she stroked him, her other hand cradling his chest. “Then, I officially declare our Together Time done for the evening. Agreed?”

“Agreed.” He chirped, actually chirped, a small trill in his voice.

Apple Bloom rested her forehead on the back of his neck, nuzzling his mane aside. Good. Together Time was through and she could finally acknowledge the warmth spreading through her. Since the moment she'd dared hop into the nest, she'd hoped for this, even though she hadn't dared assume.

“Want me to relieve some of that ache?” she asked, her ears heating up. Oh Celestia, she sounded like her cousin there. “Or should I keep it going? Cherry taught me a trick or two, and I can make it ache so good.” Might as well own it. Yeah, the ache in her own thighs was feelin' mighty good right now, with him nestled in there.

Terramar hesitated. “How?” he said.

“See that pic?” Apple Bloom whispered as she massaged his chest. “Could do that for you, if you want, get that pretty griff cock of yours drooling. It don't hurt, but throbs nice and full.” She whuffled a puff of hot air into his ear, churning her hips beneath him. “Tried it myself. Feels niiiice.”

He gasped as her movements rocked him in her lap. “Ohhhh, please. Please, yes.”

Ooh, she hadn't meant to make him beg already. “Okay, hon,” she soothed, squeezing his leg, “jes' hold still.” Her fingers snagged his waistband, undoing the top button, then worked their way down. When she'd slipped the last one free from its loop, she spread his shorts open and trailed her fingers up the length of his cock through his underwear. He raised his hips, seeking more contact, but she pressed him back down into her lap, tutting. “Nuh-uh. Don't lift off me yet.” She bumped up against his rump again teasingly.

His whine gratified a perverse pleasure inside her, and so Apple Bloom slipped her palm inside his underwear, only to withdraw it right away, already hot and sticky. “Oh, hon, you're leakin' already,” she breathed, rubbing her slick fingers together. Eagerly, she peeled his waistband down to reveal the curved head and the dark pink length of his hard cock. Sure enough, his tip glistened and even as she watched, a drop trickled down his underside. “Mmm, that's hot.”

“Really?” he asked, blushing. “Apple Bloom, what....”

“Shush, I'm admirin',” she said, nuzzling her cheek into his shoulder. Such a hippogriff cock, with a nice head on it. She skirted it this time, reaching for the base of his shaft. Her hand slipped beneath his tucked waistband, and she smiled at his groan as she fumbled lower, finding the nice, firm spot behind his sac, like Cherry had demonstrated.

Apple Bloom applied a little bit of pressure there, Terramar's groan deepening, and she circled her fingers nice and slow. His erection bobbed as she kneaded, and another clear drop beaded at his tip. “See, just like this,” she coaxed, pressing a bit harder into the softness of his coat, feeling the root of his cock roll against her fingertips. She couldn't curl her fingers from this position to get her knuckles on him as Cherry had done to her, but it didn't matter. His cock could not be any stiffer, and she added some more pressure as she rubbed up and down.

Her fingers were invisible inside his underwear as she massaged his perineum, but the results were clear. His cock twitched helplessly, her steady, firm kneading working him into a state. Drops trickled from his tip, and as she rested her wrist on the join of his thigh and pressed a tad lower, a tremor rolled through him and the trickle swelled into a pulse.

“Uhhnnh!” Terramar grunted, lifting his hips. She hauled him back down again, savouring the moans her pretty hippogriff made. “Ahh!”

“Toldja, you gotta sit still,” Apple Bloom admonished softly, adjusting the pressure of her fingers behind his sac. Another push there and he quivered, moaning, finally submitting to the slow, firm rhythm. She'd found the spot now, and it was several more slow, deep circles before his swollen cockhead began dripping steadily. “Ohhh, there we go, lookit you,” she cooed. “Achin' nice and sweet, yeah?”

He trembled in her arms as she fondled him there, and a rush rolled through Apple Bloom. She'd never held somepony tight like this, never had her hocks hooked over their thighs to spread them open while she worked them over. Her own cock rose from its sheath, pinned inside her overalls, between their bodies, and she moaned at the surge. Help her, her inner hellion was loose.

Terramar felt it. Of course he felt it, but he barely lifted his head to moan back at her, since he was completely at her mercy. He lay limp against her, hips slowly rocking with her kneading of his perineum. Apple Bloom probed lightly, then pressed deeper into an already tender spot. His shuddering breath caressed her cheek, and she watched as more pre-cum slipped down his shaft.

She kept him going for a while, because the pace was nice and slow, and he moaned prettily every time she worked right up behind his balls. His squirming had slowed soon after his surrender, but once in a while, he would tremble when she dug particularly deep, his dark pink cock long shaded into purple from her attentions. Pre-cum would pearl at his tip, then drip down in a long strand of silver as her fingers coaxed the next soft pulse.

“I could keep doin' this,” she murmured, admiring her handiwork. Oh, his cock drooled as nicely as she'd expected, even for her first time. “Because it looks so good.” Pausing, she gazed down at his tilted head, then dipped down to kiss his beak, twisting herself a little to get the angle right. “Such a pretty bird, aren'tcha?” she murmured against him.

“Mmmf.”

“Yeah, y'are.” Apple Bloom grinned. She couldn't help it. Horny as she was, Terramar still did something squidgy to her heart. Could never lose that affection they'd had for so long. “Suppose I could keep on milkin' you like one of my cows. What do you think?” She flexed her fingertips rhythmically, and Terramar's lazy, languid nod made her smile.

“Guess you don't mind the ache,” she said. “Mine's gettin' up there, though, and I know you know it. I see those eyes glancin' over at my front.” The flat tip of her erection had nestled right into her navel, and she breathed out slowly, the stretch of her overalls holding her shaft against her belly. “Curious, yeah?” She pressed up against the root of his cock again and luxuriated in the feel of the shift beneath her fingers, the soft spot that gave beneath her touch. A little lower, a little firmer pressure, a little deeper push, and Terramar's cock pulsed again, another thick bead forming at his tip. His groan sounded like chocolate-dipped apple slices for her ears, and Apple Bloom felt she'd teased long enough. “Mmm. Curious enough to turn over for me and open that beak, mister?”

Terramar opened an eye that he'd squeezed shut in pleasure. “You want me to suck your cock, Apple Bloom?” he mumbled. “I'd like that.” He stretched slowly, sighing as she fondled him some more and traced circles over his hip. “Mmm, I'd like you to fuck me, too, if it feels half as good as this.”

“Do me nice,” she promised, still grinning, “and I'll fuck you slow and gentle after, yeah? I got lube in my basket an' stuff.”

He tilted his head and opened his other eye. “Me, too. And I cleaned up in my dorm before coming out tonight, so I'm verrrry ready for you.” Rolling over, he slithered down her body, a loose pile of feathers and fur. As he went, he slipped his wings through the back slits of his T-shirt in an elegant flick. Topless, and with his cock still hanging out of his open shorts, he stretched out to rest his arms on her legs, crossing his hands beneath his chin.

In response to his stripping, Apple Bloom slowly unhooked her shoulder straps, popping one button, then the other, and tossing them back over her shoulders. Swaying her upper body a little, she teasingly rolled down the front panel of her overalls, her eyelids fluttering as she revealed the head of her golden cock. The cool evening air caressed the glistening tip as much as Terramar's smoldering look, and she felt the dampness in her navel from where she'd dripped pre-cum of her own.

Once she'd bunched the top half down below her lap, and she'd hiked up her white T-shirt over her breasts to show them off, she reached down to fondle his ears. “Mmmkay, open nice and wide, babe.”

The stroking of her thumbs up the insides of his ears sent him cutely cross-eyed. “Hmmm?”

She loved it when she broke his train of thought like that. Apple Bloom nudged the tip of her horse cock against his beak, and coaxed his head a little higher. “Open,” she purred, “open up like a good boy for your reward.” Cradling his head, she watched him part his beak for her, and then ... ohhhhhh. She thrust up softly into his mouth, withdrawing again as his muffled moan vibrated her length, then pushed back in, nice and slow.

“I like it light like this,” Apple Bloom panted, pressing her cock up against the silken swirl of his tongue, “Oh, do that, yeah, just like that, hon.” Her head tilted back as the soft noise he made with her cock in his mouth surged a pool of arousal nice and hot in her belly. “Yeah,” she repeated, “just like that. So pretty, mmm!” Her voice wavered as that teasing tongue of his did something that sent ripples through that pool.

Her hips thrust up over and over into his mouth, his ears held firmly, and Apple Bloom grunting audibly with every pump. His claws scraped softly along the back of her thighs, kneading her through the denim. Terramar moaned around her, cute and breathy, his head bobbing in her grasp as she fucked his face in slow, careful strokes. Oh, Celestia, that feels nice. Looked real nice, too, with him bein' so soft and pliant in her lap.

She ached to do the same for him, to stretch out, take him in her own mouth, and lap him until he latched onto her ears to stave off his comin'. But she'd primed him so much already, she worried that one good lick would set him off.

Apple Bloom sighed as she slipped her cock out of his beak. Not because she was finished, no, not by a bushel. She could sink into that pretty mouth for ages at a time. “Lovely, that,” she told him, plumping his cheeks in her palms and ruffling him adoringly. “You did that very nice and I'll want that pretty mouth again at some point. But now, as soon as I get these overalls all the way off, you're mine.”

Clearing his throat, Terramar laughed and wriggled as she twitched a leg beneath him. “Okay, I'll move.” He slipped free of her grasp, hooking his claws into the cuffs of her overalls, and began to tug.

Laughing as well, Apple Bloom spread her arms out over the edge of the nest, and raised her legs. One leg at a time, Terramar pulled her overalls off, and draped them over the rim of the nest. She tossed her T-shirt over them seconds later, and by the time she'd turned to rummage in the picnic basket for the vial of lube she'd brought, Terramar had shed the rest of his clothes.

The two of them lay down on their sides, facing each other. As they moved below the rim of the nest, the force and noise of the wind cut off, and the late evening forest noises dropped a notch. Apple Bloom noticed it all, but her attention strayed from her surroundings when Terramar nuzzled her breast.

“You like it?” he asked, plucking the vial from her hand and setting it aside.

She nodded. “Mmhmm.” Her breath escaped in a sigh as she rolled onto her back and he followed, slipping her nipple into his mouth. “I like that, too,” she purred, closing her eyes and working her fingers into the scruff of his mane. Her breath hitched as he nursed, and she held him against her breast, encouraging his attentions. “Keep doin' that, right there.”

He obeyed, his talented hippogriff tongue flicking over her stiff nipple, kneading her other breast and cupping it closer to lavish the same treatment on it. She shivered and moaned, that pool of arousal in her belly trickling through her groin now. Her legs parted, her muscles clenched, and she was so hard, aching something fierce.

“Apple Bloom?”

The vibration around her tit made her open her eyes again. Blue and pink sky shone above, the few clouds overhead edged with gold from the setting sun. Her surroundings smelt lightly of their mingled musk. And her cock jutted from her hips, straining fully upright and nearly throbbing with need.

Terramar reached over her body, his chin nestled on her breasts, and he scooped up the vial. “If I didn't know better, I'd think you want me,” he said, almost laughing. His talons worked the stopper loose and he eyed her cock as he poured lube into his palm. “Let's get you ready.”

Bless him, he sat up and started at her sheath, oiling her up slowly to her medial ring. “Not too sensitive?” he asked, kissing her tip again and making her cock twitch, “because you look like you're ready to cum, too.”

“Ain't too bad at all,” she admitted, reaching down to gently cup his own shaft, which had softened slightly, and she stroked him back to a nice firmness. His lubing up reached the rim of her cock, and even though a tremor ran through her lower back, she didn't feel ready to burst. “The thought of you bouncin' on me is awful stimulatin', though.”

Terramar set the vial down after paying some of the same attention to himself, then swung a leg over her, straddling her lower belly. His tail fluttered over her tip as he raised it, and he slowly wiggled his ass back against her cock, letting even more excess lube drip beneath his raised tail. He gazed down at her, looking awful lusty. “Like this?” he asked, rocking back and forth slowly on top of her, then slithering his rump down her length to grind himself against the lip of her sheath.

The wet noise of his behind bumping her base made Apple Bloom rise up against him. Her flat, hard belly melded against his as she wrapped him up, and she rolled Terramar over onto his back. Pressing him down nice and flat, she reared up above him. One of her knees pushed one thigh aside, then the other did the same, lifting his legs up over her own thighs to spread him. His thick, swollen cock lay against his belly, the rivulets of cum she'd coaxed from him still visible down his length.

She cupped his flanks and nuzzled the head of her own cock against his ass. “More like this,” she whispered, rocking her hips lightly to open him up. “Just like — Ahhhhn!”

Her tip pushed inside him easily because they were both so slick, far easier than she'd imagined, and Terramar threw his head back. She fought the urge to drive into him fast and deep, because right now, she could see how he loved it. Slow and steady, it had to be, but oh, cider, he was nice and tight, already pulling her in. Before she could blink, she'd disappeared in him up to her ring. Her hips churned, her body torn between stopping and surging, and Terramar bucked on her.

“Unf! Fuck, Apple Bloom!” His body lifted in her lap, begging for more, opening up to her. “Oh, corals, yes, you're big,” he yipped, reaching out to grab her wrists as she held him up. His shoulders rolled back against the floor of the nest, and he arched. “More, please, mmmfff!”

Apple Bloom squeezed his flanks, entranced by his wanton writhing. She eased backwards briefly, the rise of her medial ring slipping out of him, which caused another yelp. “Like that?” she panted, slowly withdrawing the swell of her shaft, “or should I push back in?”

“In,” Terramar moaned, “Do that again!”

She twitched her hips forward, spurred on, and watched his expression as her ring passed through him again.

“Uhhnnnhhh!” He clutched at her, quivering, and his cock twitched in time with the clench of his inner muscles around her. “Keep, hmmmf, going...”

Inch by tentative inch, and goaded by his moans, she sank the rest of the way into him. As soon as her hips met his rump, Apple Bloom curled down over him. She kissed him in sharp, short pecks, rocking against him and feeling his cock twitch helplessly between their bodies. “Mmmf,” she breathed, lifting her head a tad. “Tight little griff, ain't you? Let's see what we can do about that.”

She didn't know why she said it, but Terramar surged up against her in response, and she gasped as her hips pumped into him. Oh, mercy, had she finally caught a rhythm she could keep? Another thrust made Terramar groan, then another, and she was moving in long, slow strokes, mounting him from the front. One hand cupped the back of his neck, the other wrapped around one hip, and Apple Bloom cradled her friend against her chest as she fucked him. “Ahhn,” she moaned against his feathered neck, “Ahhh, ahhhh, fuuuuuck.”

Terramar made the same noise up against her cheek, crooning at her as his legs curled around her thick thighs. His little squawks and pleas for her to keep going sent another pulse through that long curl of arousal she'd been cultivating all evening. She picked up the pace a tad, the renewed slap of her hips against his rump making him arch against her breasts, his trapped cock grinding between their furry bellies.

“Keep doin ... ahh ... mmm ... ahh ... uhhnhh! Unnh ... uhnh ... ahhh ... ahhh...” Terramar panted, almost in time with the smack of her thrusts. She'd long been grinding against a sweet spot inside him, and she'd known by the look on his face when she'd been on point. Those little stuttering moans were sweet and she'd relished in causing them. “Gon ... gonna ... gonna ... ahh ... cum ... yeah .... yeahh .... yeaahh ... Ahhh! Ahhhhnn!”

He writhed beneath her, Apple Bloom feeling the throb against her stomach. His cock flexed, down in his root, and Terramar finally let go, coming in a long-denied release. The sweaty, ruffled fur of her belly absorbed the deluge of his hot cum. Her navel dripped at the first gush, was sodden by the second, and just plain soaked as the third and fourth loads spurted into it.

Even as he moaned against her neck, Apple Bloom pressed herself tighter against him. “Oh, that's it, so good,” she coaxed, wanton and encouraging. She'd teased him so hard so it was only right she make him feel good about how much he'd cum. “Give it up for me, babe, mmm, let it alllll go.” His pulses surged, then eased, and his soft whine of release let her know when he was fully spent.

She wasn't too far behind herself, and so she sat up straight, her sopping wet belly sliding away from his to show how mussed they both were. His spent cock lay there, still drooling, and that fired Apple Bloom up even more. “Oooh, look at that, such a pretty mess,” she growled, thrusting into him steadily. “Mmmf. My turn next, yeah?” The pool swirling low in her groin was about to overflow, no way to hold back, and she wanted to peak inside him more than anything else right now. “You're gonna love it when I come inside you, Terramar. Ready for me?”

“Y-yeah,” he panted, his softening cock jouncing as she rode his ass. “Please, Apple Bloom ... come on, ahhh ...”

“Say it for me,” she suggested. “Ask me proper, and I'll finish nice and deep.” She couldn't stop talking so dirty, her thoughts tilting this way and that. All she knew was, if he begged her, she'd blow inside him. “Especially because I know you'll mean it,” she added, her tone dropping nearly to a rumble in her chest.

Terramar gasped. “Uhnnhh, come in me!” he begged, “Oh, pearls, let me feel you come inside me!” His chest heaved, his matted coat glistening with his own cum.

Apple Bloom gathered him in her arms as she got up on her knees, hauling him off the floor of the nest. She thrust upwards, his thighs still wrapped around her waist. He moaned, rocking softly on her cock, seated on her as she did it again, then again. “Ahhhn!” she panted, bouncing him up and down in her lap. The swell of her orgasm crested inside her, surging over the top, and Apple Bloom cried out as she flexed her thighs, pumping load after load of her cum into her little hippogriff. “Ahhhn! Ahhhhn! Ohhhhh, fuck, Terra-aaaahnnn!”

The rush petered out, but she took a while to finally stop spurting inside him. When she was finally empty, Apple Bloom buried her head in his feathers, catching her breath. “Mmmm.” Slowly, she lowered him onto his back again, cradling him all the way down. She kissed him once, twice, three times, then sighed deeply. Her hips pressed up against his rump, even though she was softening and slipping out of him. “Ohhhh, you all right, hon?”

Terramar looked slightly dazed, but he nuzzled up at her and kissed her jaw. “Soo good,” he slurred. “Mmmf.... y'came a lot.” He yelped as she finally slid free from him. “Ohhh!”

“Yeah, I did,” she agreed, blushing. “So did you. Sorry about that end, there. Didn't mean to pick you up like that. Didn't even know I could.”

“S'okay,” he assured her, still grinning goofily. “Was hot. Your first spread-eagle, yeah?” He giggled.

Apple Bloom snorted despite herself, and worried her nose against his collarbone, where she knew he was ticklish. He squirmed and giggled more beneath her. “Hush, you. No bad jokes after cummin' like that on mah belly.” That had actually been hotter than she'd imagined, too, but she could feel her coat matting as his cum dried on her, and she groaned. “Cuddle me all you want now, but we'll have to clean up before we go home again. Your dorm curfew's closin' in.”

“We've got time, still,” he murmured, caressing her as she stretched out beside him. “Let me hold you for a bit.” He pulled her as close as he could, propping his head up on his free arm. “You okay, too?”

“Yeah,” she assured him. She might be sweaty, covered in a few fluids, and finding herself a little sore in the morning, but she felt better than she had with Cherry. Looked like a little close contact made all the difference. “Especially liked all them pretty sex noises I had you makin'.” Ignoring his embarrassed chirp, she leaned closer and nuzzled his beak. “So, are the benefits to your own likin'?”

“Mmhmm.” He stroked her mane and kissed her back. “Thanks for offering them. Even though you were sort of bullied into it by your wanton cousin that I will never have to meet.” Slinging a leg over her hip, he nestled against her.

“Amen to that,” she agreed. No way would her Cherry cousin ever get her hands on her own pretty hippogriff. Any mess he got into would be one of her makin', and hers alone.

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

“Explain this 'oh, so brilliant' plan to me again?”

Scootaloo pushed the last table out of the way and came back around to flop into a seat beside the grumpy griffon. “Princess Luna says it used to be called 'showing the flag', Gallus. But we like to think of it as 'showing our friends'!” She slung an arm around his shoulders and gestured expansively around the saloon.

At the bar, Princess Skystar and Terramar perched on stools, their plumage on full display. Dodge Junction Ponies gathered around and chatted with them, as a couple of Cherry clan ponies served up drinks for everyone.

Sweetie Belle and Smolder had entered a darts tournament, doing their best to be equal parts approachable and intimidating. Smolder had started off her first game by planting the darts point-first on her hip scales for easy reach, so she'd gone with 'intimidating'.

“It's hard to be afraid of someone when you know them well enough,” Scootaloo explained. “Well, except maybe when a yak's about to smash. But a lot of ponies in Equestria haven't met griffons, or know the hippogriffs are back, or even what a Changeling is. Apple Bloom thought a couple of trips like this would be a good way to spread the news.”

Apple Bloom pumped her fist from the other side of the table. “Not every pony's got the same experiences as us, I get that,” she said. “So why not bring some of those experiences to them, make 'em a little less scary?” Sure, the march from Dodge Junction's train station to the local bar was a tad showy, but how else did you muster three hippogriffs, a griffon, a dragon, and three Cutie Mark Crusaders? Style was mandatory, according to both Sweetie and Scootaloo.

“We also need to talk to a distant cousin of hers and check out her cutie mark,” Scoots continued, enthused. “There might be a Cutie Mark problem right in our midst!”

Gallus drank from his stein and looked around her at Apple Bloom. “Should I make an early prediction about how this will all go, and you can apologize to me later for dragging me into this?” he asked. “Because I see this going great until Smolder mentally or physically breaks someone, and then it'll be a horrid failure. We'll sit around and sulk, worrying about what everypony here thinks of us. Then some great disaster will happen, meaning we'll all have to work together and learn friendship through life-saving.” He downed another gulp of whatever it was he was drinking. “Fade out on everyone laughing together, the end.”

The two ponies at the table regarded him warily.

“He's awful cynical,” Apple Bloom told Scootaloo. “How were you his wingpony for so long?”

“Once you learn to interpret griffon sarcasm, it gets a lot easier.” Scootaloo shrugged. Her wings buzzed as she looked over at the doorway to the saloon. “Hey, isn't that your Cherry lady?”

Apple Bloom's head swung around, ears perked, but she subsided again as she saw the big, red hairdo and the lush body come through the swinging doors. “Almost. That's her aunt, Cherry Jubilee.” Not to mention the pony that nearly rousted her and Cherry Tapper the last time. Still, the Cherries owed Apple Bloom, and this was how she'd collect. Families like hers and theirs hated debt, monetary or favour-based, and kept track of both with equal fervour.

“Miss Jubilee,” she greeted, standing up. Not that she had to, but Cherry Jubilee had taken her sister in at a low point, and not held her sudden departure against her or the rest of her friends. Debt like that could never be repaid, and it was best not spoken aloud. “Thanks ever so much for helpin' with the arrangements.”

“Oh, my pleasure, Apple Bloom,” gushed Cherry Jubilee. “It's the least I can do after you and your sister helped us so recently.” Translated: Thank Celestia you called in that marker quickly, or I'd have agonized for moons about what you might ask of us in return.

Apple Bloom curtsied briefly, her jean shorts and plaid shirt not quite belle of the ball style, but it was the small things that mattered. “Mighty appreciative, ma'am. Things are goin' well so far, and I hope you'll take the chance to mingle, too, an' meet some of the friends we've made over the years.” She glanced around, and took a deep breath. “Also, and forgive me for askin', but is Miss Tapper around? We need to examine her cutie mark.”

Cherry Jubilee's snort ruffled the decorations over the bar. “You an' every other pony in town. That gal jumps so many fences, I swear she should enter the rodeo circuit. Well, don't ask me where she's at. Hotel's up the street, so pick a floor and start knockin'.”

Sweetie Belle came over from the dartboards, having seen the conversation. “Ma'am? I'm Sweetie Belle. You met my older sister Rarity once.” Looking adorable in her pale yellow sundress, Sweetie dropped into an elegant curtsey of her own. Rarity had trained her well. “Do you know what the three of us do?” She gestured to Scootaloo and Apple Bloom.

“Oh, of course, I remember your sister Rarity. Such a lovely mare.” Cherry bobbed her head at Sweetie Belle. “And you follow along in her hoofsteps with your charm, don't you? As for what y'all do, I don't think I quite rightly know.”

Apple Bloom stealthily closed a hand over an impatient Gallus's beak before he could say something that would get them all in trouble. Griffons weren't used to the byplay of language like this. She endured the hind paw kicking her in the shin below the table with barely a wince as Scootaloo piped up. “We help ponies who struggle with both their marks and who they are. Your niece might be in that situation. It's not bad, but it is stressful for everypony because of it, and we'd like to help.”

“As I said, I don't know where that scamp of a niece of mine has scurried off to now.” Cherry Jubilee heaved a sigh. “Wish I did. Don't mind the bed-hoppin' so much as the not knowin' where or when she'll wander back in again. If you can find her, and Celestia help you if you can help her, I'd be mighty grateful.” She nodded at the three of them, her gaze passing over a half-concealed Gallus, and looking towards the bar. “Suppose I'll go and meet your feathered friends over there. Y'say one of them's a Princess?”

“Yes'm, Princess Skystar's the daughter of Queen Novo of the hippogriffs. They're looking to come back to the land after years underwater. Might be open to the cherry trade, if you ask nicely enough.” Apple Bloom sighed as Cherry Jubilee turned away, and she let go of Gallus's beak. “Sarcasm ain't the first language they speak around here!” she hissed at him.

“No kidding!” he snapped back, gingerly examining his upper bill. “Could you get to the heart of the matter any slower?”

“Bein' flowery and all, especially to ponies you're exchagin' debt with, it goes a long way!” Apple Bloom insisted. “Look, this is all part of my plan. Cherry Tapper's got an interest in other species, and so I brought a whack of hippogriffs and company with me. How can she resist? She pops in to meet y'all, we chat, and maybe get her to let us help figure out her destiny.”

Gallus raised a claw. “That's some plan, all right. I rescind my previous cynical statement.”

Apple Bloom warmed. “Aww, thank you, Gallus!” She affectionately scrubbed him on the shoulder.

“Instead,” he continued, leaning away from her, “I predict we'll learn that your cousin's already been here, cut Silverstream from the herd with sexy, yet ruthless efficiency, and taken her somewhere secluded to rut her excitable little brains out.” He paused to drink, slamming the silver lid back down on his stein. Their incredulous stares made him ruffle his neck feathers defensively. “What?”

“That's a suspiciously specific prediction,” Scootaloo said, eyes narrowed. “Did you see something we didn't?” She peered around the saloon, searching for their third hippogriff.

“You mean, did I see Silverstream trot off happily with a mare? No, but look around you. Does anyone see her at the moment? More importantly, does anyone hear her?”

Fair point. If you couldn't see Silverstream in a crowd, chances were good you'd at least hear the hippogriff's enthusiasm for whatever you put in front of her. Things were too darn quiet.

“Maybe she's visitin' the outhouse,” Apple Bloom suggested, but her heart was barely in it. Oh, cider shortfalls, how did she not spot her cousin's arrival? And why ... how ... just .... Fifty questions jumbled together in her mind and she couldn't decide which one she needed answers to first.

“Want me to go for a quick flight?” Gallus offered. “Small town like this, I can spot Silverstream's feathers from fifty feet up.”

“No need,” Apple Bloom said, skirting the end of the table and heading for the door. “I know right where they'll end up. Distract Cherry Jubilee, if you can. I've got this!” Ducking under the swinging doors to the saloon, she raced out into Dodge Junction on her own personal Crusade.

The hotel was where it'd been the last time she'd stayed there, and as Apple Bloom trotted nearer, she slowed her pace. Cherry Tapper knew when somepony hunted her. No sense in lettin' her pick up on the vibrations. Her hooves set down with less speed and more strut, and, for the first time in her life, Apple Bloom sashayed into a building.

As it turned out, her target was waiting for her, where they'd first come together.

Cherry Tapper sat halfway up the grand old staircase, leaning forward with her arms resting on her knees. Still a dark mirror, even down to the black jeans instead of blue, and the red and black plaid knotted beneath her breasts. How did she do that? “Heya, cuz. Lookin' good,” she said. “Quick on the uptake, too.”

Apple Bloom paused at the foot of the stairs, one hoof on the worn-out fancy carpet as she gazed up at her cousin. She looked the same as she had a month earlier; same fluffed tail, same hard, curvy body, even the same amused, intrigued expression. Still, something seemed off. “I brought some friends of mine to visit,” she said carefully. “Thought you'd like to meet 'em.”

“I saw.” Cherry grinned. “That hippogriff gal is sweet as anything, ain't she? Almost want to take her out to the swimmin' hole and push her out on a swing.”

“We can do that, if you want,” Apple Bloom said, moving up one step. “Can I come up?”

“Sure you can. Appreciate it if you would.” Cherry Tapper got up as well, turning around to swish her tail. “You remember how to follow, yeah?”

Apple Bloom swallowed. “Yup.” Watching Cherry's assets climb a staircase was something special, and she climbed after her cousin, eyes fixed on the roll of hips and the switch of her tail. “Silverstream enjoyin' herself?”

“Dunno,” Cherry called back over her shoulder. “She forgot something in her hotel room and I offered to walk her back here. She gets turned around easily, don't she? Figured you'd notice her missing and come scamperin' to save her virtue. Not that I'd do that to somepony I just met, right?” She paused on the second landing, putting her back against the wall, and lounged casually. Lifting a hand out of her pocket, she crooked a finger with a small grin.

The familiar motion, combined with the smile that actually reached her eyes, sent Apple Bloom flying up the last few steps, and into her cousin's arms. Except, instead of a kiss scorching their lips, each mare wrapped the other up in a tight hug and held on.

“You,” Apple Bloom breathed, pressing her chin against Cherry's collarbone, “you are worryin' your aunt somethin' fierce.”

“I know,” Cherry responded, rubbing her nose against her cousin's ear. “She keeps worryin' after me. I ain't her daughter, though, and I got enough goin' on without her shadowin' my hoofsteps. But help me, I can't stop seein' ponies who need some right & proper doin' to get their heads on straight.” She sighed.

Apple Bloom twitched her ear and stepped back from her cousin's embrace. “That's, uh, kind of the other reason I'm here. I've got some other friends, and the three of us help with cutie marks. We think your destiny might not be on a cherry farm, and we'd like to talk about it. If we're right, we can all deal with your aunt together. You don't have to do this alone.”

“That'd be nice,” Cherry admitted. She reached out and cupped Apple Bloom's face in her hands. “As long as somepony can tell me what I'm good for in this life.”

“We haven't failed yet,” Apple Bloom assured her, squeezing her cousin's arms. “And even if the solution ain't the usual sort, we at least come up with somethin'.”

Cherry nodded, letting her go. “I'd be happy to let you three examine my flank all you want, if that's what it takes,” she said, smiling a little. “Strictly formal and friendly-like, of course. Just tell me, did you at least get your pretty hippogriff boy taken care of?”

Nodding, Apple Bloom clasped her hands in front of her. “Oh, yeah. Really. He, uh, built a nest and everything. Little love nest.” She gestured. “On a cliff. Sweetest thing you ever saw. We're still friends, trying to figure out how the benefits work. You can meet him, if you like,” she offered, sensing she was babbling. “You, uh, scooped up his sister.”

Cherry Tapper laughed. “Did I? Woo, that'd be something, wouldn't it? Pair of cousins like us shaggin' a brother and sister team?” She winked at Apple Bloom. “I'm kiddin', of course. She's cute and all, but I cain't figure out any way I'm gonna French-kiss that beak of hers.”

“Come back with us for a while,” Apple Bloom said quietly. “Be good, don't cause trouble tonight, and I'll tell you how it works.” She heard a rustle behind them, and she turned to see Silverstream coming down the stairs. “Oh, hey, there you are!”

Silverstream waved a small bag in the air, even as she tugged on her blue and white halter top. “Sorry, but Skystar forgot Shelly and Sheldon, so I volunteered to come get them for her! Oooh, you know this lady?” she asked, gesturing at Cherry Tapper.

Apple Bloom nodded. “Yeah, she's kin. An' she's coming back to the saloon with us to make friends with everyone.”

“WOO!” cheered Silversteam, bouncing down the last few steps. “This is so much fun!” She whirled around the edge of the bannister and continued trotting downstairs.

Cherry Tapper smirked at Apple Bloom. “Oh, I'll be extra good tonight, because if I am, you're gonna show, rather than tell me.” Cinching Apple Bloom's arm against her own, she hauled her cousin after Silverstream. “And I know just which one of those pretty griffs is my first choice for practice ....”

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-
FIN
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