Chapter 1: Evening Explorations
Author's Note
Hope you enjoy. Ciao. 
Chapter 1: Evening Explorations
Dusk Shine was a curious colt. His inquisitive nature went hoof in hoof with his intelligence, so it was to be expected. He assaulted his tutors with questions about many things, menial and complex. The unicorn oft found himself confounded by their reluctance or outright refusal to answer them. A frequent excuse to their tight-lipped silence to satiate his curiosity was something frustratingly outside of his control: age. He hated being young, almost as much as he hated adults gatekeeping his mind to their forbidden troves of knowledge! However, it all came to a head one day. His ears picked up a particular word from the whispers of some older colts at the school. It was spoken with such secrecy, such an air of taboo, that Dusk simply couldn’t help himself on trying to find the answer.
It should have been simple. It was but a single word, yet, none would deign to give him an answer. Some even reprimanded him for saying it out loud! The word? Cunt. The harshness of it, the way it could make even the most mature of adults shrink away from him, almost gave him a feeling of power! If only it was not offset immediately by the fact he clearly hadn't, having seen the walls of the detention room more than once. However, he cared not for a clean record, moreso to fulfil his need for the truth! Dictionary? No definition. Stallions? Blushes and stutters. Mares? Offence and glares. Finally, having lost all hope, he consulted the only stallion in his life he could rely on for boundless knowledge.
“Lord Solaris?” Dusk asked innocently, the alicorn with a mane of fire was sorting through tomes, perusing over the spines.
“Yes, Dusk Shine?” the stout alicorn replied, his voice a deep and pleasant timbre, so lost in his scholarly exploration he didn’t offer the young colt by his side even a cursory glance.
“What’s a cunt?”
“That’s a vulgar term for what’s in a mare’s private area- WHAT?!”
Blast! The alicorn exploded at him right after, and punished the young colt with a page of lines, front and back. It was certainly a forbidden piece of knowledge all right. Fortunately, in his mentor’s half-attention, he was accidentally given a clue to parse over. ‘A mare’s private area.’ Just what were mares hiding in their private area? No wonder they acted so defensively about it, it was a secret they were keeping all to themselves! But the colt was resourceful and smart. He’d have to plan a heist...
Dusk had acted as he normally had after school was finished. He did his chores, conversed with his mother and father about his day - leaving out the obvious details that were best left unsaid - before disappearing upstairs after family dinner. As far as his parents were concerned, he was studying… well, he was studying, couldn’t neglect that... but he wouldn’t be going to sleep right after! He’d remain awake, patiently awaiting for the correct moment to enact his plan...
Eventually, dusk became night, and with his ear to the door, the colt heard the sound of his sibling showering, sighing with blatant fatigue, and her clops as she disappeared into her room for the night. After a while, Dusk peeked through a crack in his door. Moonlight illuminated the path to his sister’s domain. It was often locked to outsiders, especially Dusk, but it was a Friday. Drills and theory tests. In her fatigue Gleaming often forgot to lock the door, throwing herself onto her bed and falling into an extremely deep sleep - a fact Dusk Shine never took advantage of… until tonight. He crept from his room, and snaked along the ground, like some sort of ground-bound reptile.
When he finally reached his sister’s door, he weaselled his head through the crack. His sibling’s room was dark, but it wasn’t hard to notice Gleaming’s stark white coat, especially in the low light where it seemed almost to glow. She was snoozing on her bed, of course. It looked as though she had been tossed atop the covers like a discarded doll; one of her fore hooves hung off, her head thrown back as her chest rose and fell with her unabashed and ungracefully loud snores.
Assured with the knowledge she was as deep into sleeping as Dusk was with a good book, he traipsed forward into ‘den’. He was wary not to make any noise, and kept his breaths shallow lest he roused her. He climbed onto her bed, his hind legs flailing as he struggled to pull himself up, finally pulling onto the foot of his sister’s bed with a slight grunt; clambering to his hooves and feeling a swell of pride at accomplishing the first stretch of his mission. However, the dumb smile he wore shrank into something a lot more timid when he landed his eyes on his sister.
The opening of her bedroom door allowed a modicum of moonlight to bathe over her. The result was something the colt hadn’t quite expected. The light obviously disturbed her sleep, her head rolling onto her cheek to avoid the moon’s ethereal glow in her closed eyes, but it seemed to give her some serenity in her slumber. Her breathing became more gentle, no longer snoring quite as loudly. Whilst her feminine form was an illusion for what was beneath - pure strength and brawn - she maintained an elegance found in only the truest of mares, upholding her own unique beauty; even if Dusk’s eyes still perceived her as ‘icky’, he had to admit…
She was awful pretty.
He almost blanched at the admission, shaking his head as he reaffirmed why he came here to begin with. He had to discover what the elusive ‘cunt’ was, and he knew the clues thus far lead him to a ‘mare’s private area’. And, if a mare’s ‘area’ was the same as a colt’s ‘area’, then that would mean there was only one place that could be…
His eyes, which had been locked firmly on her face, began their slow and steady descent down the mare’s form. Her gently rising chest, her slender stomach. He noted a pair of small protrusions through his sister’s ivory coat, two pink little nubs. He hadn’t a clue what they were, probably just a distraction from his true goal. He let his eyes descent further still. Her flanks, and then finally, her private area. Nestled at the junction of her thighs, Dusk Shine’s eyes became acquainted with something that both confused and captured him entirely.
Two, plump, light grey lips.
The snatch was also joined with a perineum and puffy sphincter, but Dusk’s attention was focused squarely on his sister’s cunt. He lowered to his belly and slid along, approaching the delicate flower with furrowed brows and open eyes; completely enthralled by his own interest, and sight of the dainty labia. He got so close that his breaths glanced off the delicate soft skin, and he could feel its radiating heat against his own muzzle. Was this was a ‘cunt’ was? Was this what the mare’s were keeping secret? Questions surfaced, more so than his brain could comprehend, and he knew of only one way to get answers: Physical examination.
His hoof was filled with a shy trepidation as it inched forwards towards her. He poked one of the puffy lips and flinched; expecting an immediate reaction from his sister. But none occurred. Releasing his relieved sigh, the colt peered at the vulva with scrutiny and intrigue. Aside from the obvious fact it wasn’t at all like what he had between his legs, the colt was surprised at how soft it felt, and wanted to touch it again.
Unbeknownst to him however, there was a reaction from Gleaming. An internal reaction. Her dream, what once was some action fuelled romp of a self-aggrandised unicorn mare on a war-torn battlefield… until a pink shadow charged through the enemy line and scooped her up. Before she could register what had occurred, she was on a bed, one far larger than her own. Armour had been replaced for lingerie, and her captor’s eyes looked upon her sensually; burning with lust. Her hooves hovered over her chest, her hind legs parting suddenly in submissive presentation. A pink silhouette climbed over her, the horn and wings making the individual unmistakably reminiscent of her crush. However, as he leant down to kiss her, her hooves wrapped around his back and she rolled until she was on top; her dream self giving the figure below her a cocky smirk, her muzzle lowering down…
Poke.
Dusk pressed his hoof against the tender flower, squeezing and pressing against the mound in such a way it could have been construed as a massage. Really, he just liked how it felt. Continuing his examination, he pulled at the outer lip, his brows rising at the sight of the pussy’s tender pink insides. Intriguing. His other hoof joined the first at pulling the adjacent lip, and he became wide-eyed at the sight. There was a hole! It wasn’t a wound, certainly. It looked drilled in, yet wholly natural. Did all mares have slots like this? The more he tried to find answers he only unearthed more questions it would seem.
With pursed lips and curious stare, he wondered what would happen if he plugged up his sister’s hole…
Slowly, he glided one of his hooves over the tender pink flesh - the act sending small jolts of pleasurable electricity throughout the sleeping mare - until finally the tip of his hoof could pass into her, and immediately the colt went wide eyed. His sister’s twat was taut, and the walls seemed almost to clamp, flex around him as if on reflex. It was as though her canal was merely another muscle that had been trained and strengthened like the rest of her. With this new development in mind, his eyes immediately rose from his sister’s cunt to her face, and saw that her normally white cheeks had taken on a hue of pink. That wasn’t even taking into account that her chest was rising and falling quicker than it was before.
Was this her body’s natural defence to his spelunking? This was bad. Gently, he tried to pull his hoof from her... but he couldn’t! She had clamped around him, squeezing, as if she wanted to bring more of him into her. He pulled and he pulled, until she began to leak and wetten around him embedded limb. He thought the moist secretion was acid, until his nostrils picked up a thick dense scent instead. It made his head feel fuzzy, and his heart quicken… Poison gas! He continued to pull softly, applying more pressure, his hoof nudging back and forth as he tried to pull it free… then it happened. He flinched, something wet flicking across his muzzle; frightened by something that suddenly revealed itself to him.
It was a large pink nub, like a button, that seemed to come from nowhere. Her clit winked, his sister suddenly moaned; her walls eased on their clamping. Seizing the opportunity, Dusk pulled his hoof free. He gave a sigh of relief, but his attention was drawn straight to his hoof right after. Sticky. His hoof was covered in a slick wet juice of sorts. He brought it to his muzzle, inhaling the scent, and felt dizzy by its overpowering aroma. It was sweet smelling, but the aroma was as dense as a bushel of flowers…
He wanted to lick it.
It was something of an imperative, disgust was a fleeting emotion, for the nectar that covered his hoof looked like honey to his eyes - sweet, and mouth wateringly delicious. He brought it to his mouth, dragging his tongue over his limb, scraping against the marecum. At last, he understood the secrecy, why mares were so intent on keeping this secret close to their chests. The way the flavour danced on his tongue, the rush of excitement that washed over his young body. He recalled a definition in his head, the only one suitable to describe the taste. Mares had literal ambrosia between their legs!
Dusk continued to lap at his sister’s juices, feeling a sense of vindication; literally tasting the answer he had been searching for upon his limb. However, the sense of high he got from the musty taste, soon licking his own fur and hoof. He looked to his sister’s twat, the moist core of her femininity looked so much more inviting now. His hooves went back to spreading her apart, the quick and sudden motion eliciting a subdued moan from the sleeping mare’s mouth. Her dreams a mere phantom of the actual experience, having never actually had sex, there was vague thrusting from the stallion of her desire; yet the mare felt herself grow hotter and hotter as her pleasure inexplicably mounted.
Dusk’s breath were shallow, as though his lungs were quarter the size they were before. His sister’s honeypot glistened with feminine nectar, and he suddenly felt parched. He spared no seconds in allowing his tongue to fly past his lips, pressing into her soft pink folds. He felt nothing but complete euphoria at tasting his sibling’s most intimate product. His tongue passed over the love passage, her urethra, covering all of her pinkness with his own. Gleaming moaned, Dusk barely listened. Gleaming could feel herself experiencing the most rapturous pleasure of her life, her dream becoming less and less coherent was she was slowly drawn from it. Less of the pink stallion was visible, soon replaced with a faint flat white that wasn’t unfamiliar from her bedroom ceiling; half awake, half in dream.
Dusk continued to lick. It was a messy endeavour, his untrained muscle becoming coated with his sister’s sweet secretions. He liked feeling Gleaming’s puss against his lip, yet he didn’t know why. As he licked, he felt his sister’s winking cunt buzzer press against his muzzle, and an idea popped into his head. His lips felt around for his sister’s nub, eventually clasping around it as the button exposed itself; sucking on it like a teat. His tongue lashed and whipped against the bud, slurping greedily on his sister’s ambrosia. Gleaming, of course, reacted to this new assault of stimuli from the unwitting colt. Her hips rose, pushing against Dusk’s mouth as her strong thighs locked around the colt’s head.
“Oh, Bolero,” Gleaming cooed out the name with a sultry moan, pushing against Dusk in her half-asleep stupor.
“Mmph!” Dusk grunted in panic. Was she awake? His eyes looked upwards, his sister still asleep, although he saw the largest of smiles on her face; a goofy grin.
When Dusk Shine ceased to lick, he felt his sister’s thighs press tighter against his cheeks, and her expression becoming distinctly… dissatisfied. The colt moved his tongue, and felt her form shiver, and a gasp escape her lips as her thighs loosened their grip around him. Curious. He did it again, and again, each one provoked a positive reaction from the mare. Did she like this? Do all mares like having their ‘cunts’ licked? Then why are they so secretive? Dusk was sure if all stallions knew of the delicious liquid between a mare’s legs they’d happily lick them. Hmm, but then there could be a shortage... Maybe mares could share this secret to somepony special, and then have them do it for them! Then they’d both be happy!
As Dusk thought on this, his tongue kept licking at the delicate bud, encouraged by his sister’s moaning of all things. He circled the pink pearl, polishing it with his tongue before he began to lightly gnaw it between his teeth; surprising it eventually as he brutalised it with many uncoordinated licks. The pleasure was so great that Gleaming was taken further and further from her dream. Less did she attribute her pleasure to the dream stallion pounding away at her cunt, and instead to a small tongue running up and down her slit, a pair of lips squeezing around her ecstasy bud. Dusk sucked and tongue lashed the clit, even when words began to flow from his sister’s lips.
“Yes... yes... yes...” the mare’s voice became like a piston, repeating the same word over and over as her pleasure continued to escalate into its inevitable crescendo. Her eyes parted fully to blurry vision, recognising that something was occurring between her thighs, making the ecstasy she felt in her dream all the more real. Groggily, and panting, Gleaming looked downwards as she propped herself up. She blinked, blinked away her blurry vision and adjusting her sight to the low light. Then, when she saw a pair of familiar violet eyes looking back at her, she blinked again. Even though eye contact was made the stimuli didn’t stop, and the situation was so ridiculous, so insane, that clarity was slow to embrace her… then, when it finally did... “D-Dusk!? What are you- ahh!”
Gleaming’s back arched as the unwanted orgasm crashed into her like a wave hits a cliff edge. It rocked her very body, giving her a sensation not unlike being electrocuted, only far less electrifying. The orgasmic sensation travelled up each and every nerve, and emptied her lungs like a swift punch to her stomach. Her body couldn’t help but push itself against her brother’s maw, whose suckling only strengthened as he was rewarded with a gush of marecum over his muzzle. Gleaming felt so inexplicably fatigued, that she was forced to suffer the afterglow, and Dusk’s continued oral ministrations. Willing herself up, she looked down to Dusk, teeth bared, and her white cheeks a bright shade of red - humiliation and anger combined as one.
“Dusk!” she barked, just like her drill instructor would, glaring at him with a never before seen fury.
Dusk Shine parted from his sister’s nub with an audible pop, looking up at his sister with knitted brows and a frown. “What?”
Gleaming blinked, almost taken aback by the confusion in his tone. “W-what are you doing?!”
Looking smug, the colt gave a half-smile. “I found your secret,” he nodded, eyes closed with certainty.
Shaking her head, her breaths becoming a pant as panic consumed her, Gleaming paused to blink. “What?”
“I found the cunt!” he proclaimed excitedly. “It took me a while, and I even got detention for asking around-”
“This is what your detentions were for!?”
“But after some research and careful planning, I was able to locate it,” he explained casually, prodding at his sister’s nether lips with his hoof, before pointing said hoof at his sister. “Not even you could hide it from me!”
Gleaming was left speechless, her lower jaw flapping uselessly as she tried to think of any words to say in such a surreal situation. Having no response, she just shook her head violently, slamming her hind legs together so fast that Dusk backed away with a flinch. “Get. Out.”
Dusk blinked. “I thought you were liking it-”
“Out, out, out!” she demanded, firm and loud, her horn sparked with her fury.
Dusk Shine had never seen his sister like this before, and felt his form quiver with fear. Wordlessly, he hopped down from his sibling’s bed and galloped out, across the hall and back into his room; closing the door shut behind him. The colt then hid beneath his bed covers, wondering what he should do; his sister’s excretions still plastered over his face.
Gleaming watched him go, shutting her door closed with a flicker of her horn, before turning onto her side. After a while her breathing slowed, anger and panic becoming lesser, worry joining them. Her brother had… licked her, down there. A place that, certifiably, no other stallion had touched. This was not only wrong, but also illegal. Was she supposed to tell somebody? She quickly threw any notion of that away. She kept going over it in her head. He had no idea what he was doing, and that’s what threw her off. It wasn’t the machinations of some night rapist, it was the naive and unexpectedly idiotic actions of her brother. And even though she tried to resist the thought, she couldn’t help but acknowledge that it certainly felt good - her juices plastering the insides of her thighs were testament to that, which just made everything all the more confusing.
Clasping her eyes shut, she resolved to let her future-self deal with Dusk Shine. She hadn’t settled on anything just yet, but she knew how to avoid future instances of this. It would probably be the most difficult mission she’d ever be tasked with, at least until she became an actual guard. That mission? Teaching her brother all about the birds and the bees...
Solaris help her.
Chapter 3: Far-off Continuations
10 YEARS LATER
Dusk Shine fluttered his wings impatiently as he considered the wide array of options before him. Over the noise of the bustling marketplace he could barely think, but he had to. Everything depended on it, depended on his choice... which flowers would be best?
They looked nice but that wasn’t enough. Dusk was so well versed in all things horticultural that with a mere glance to each sheared bud he could pinpoint the precise date at which each flower had become efflorescent. That wasn’t enough either. He always made that mistake. Knowledge was alone not enough to determine the correct option. He had, after many minutes of staring, just considered creating a bushel with each individual blossom. They were all pretty, but the aromas would overpower one another and none would stand clear. That also didn’t take into account how guilty he would have felt for taking the easy option. He felt confounded, and it constantly gnawed at him. This dilemma was a merely a single question away from being rectified, yet it alluded him, persistently. He wished that he had asked her rather than relying on his deductive skills. It turned out, he wasn’t much of a detective.
“You a botanist, sir?” the surprisingly gruff unicorn stallion asked him, brows knitted as he leant on the counter. He had been observing the purple alicorn for quite some time now. The alicorn prince had stood unmoved from his spot since he arrived, looking at his menagerie of blossoms.
Dusk, broken from his stupor, could only look at the merchant with a gormless expression. “W-what?”
“Hows about a gardener?” he further probed, before he reared his head back slightly in a humoured manner, looking at the unicorn sideways. “You’re not one of them eco-philes are you?”
Dusk blinked at the sagely green stallion, regaining some coherency. “Uh, n-no? At least, I don’t think so,” he smiled sheepishly, eyeing the flowers once more with a queer eye before looking back at the green pony. “When I became the Prince of friendship, Solaris... Lord Solaris,” he corrected, his familiarly with the alicorn leaving him negligent of late, “gave me a bunch of titles. I admit, I didn’t look at all of them. I think I own a patch of land somewhere near Trottingham. But I don’t think ‘royal botanist’ was one of my given duties as a Prince.”
The green stallion gave a breathy chuckle, adjusting to lean on his other hoof. “It’s just that you’ve been staring at my stock for so long one would think you were making a life and death decision,” he remarked with a humoured voice, his gaze eventually turning coy. “That, or you’re picking out flowers for a mare. Heh. One in the same if you ask me.”
Dusk’s purple cheeks turned crimson, and he released a nervous chuckle as he looked around himself. “How could you tell?”
He shrugged before leaning even further forwards, taking on a sagely disposition. “Prince or no, you’re not the first stallion to come to my stall, looking clueless and afraid of making the right choice. There’s nothing more elusive than the heart of a mare. It requires a lot of prodding and reading to truly understand it.”
“And how well do you understand it?” Dusk asked, intrigued by the stallion’s candour.
“Barely!” he replied, loudly, before laughing boisterously, unabashed to passing eyes. It took half a minute for his laughter to die down, the stallion wiping a tear from his eye as he took on serious visage. “How pretty is she?”
Dusk blinked, blushing. “W-well I-I’d say-”
“Come on, don’t be shy with me. None but my ears will hear,” he encouraged.
Dusk nodded, raising his chin as he took a breath. “The prettiest.”
“Really now? You sound certain about that. Prettier than all the mares in Equestria?”
“Yes,” he reaffirmed, giving a singular nod.
“Prettier than all the mares in the world, pony or otherwise?”
“Yes!” he replied, resolute and firm.
“Prettier than my wife?” the stallion proposed, eyes squinted.
“Definitely!” he answered with a smile, which immediately turned into a grimace. “Oh...”
The neutral expression the merchant wore broke, becoming a large grin as he gave the Prince a nod. “Atta boy,” he lauded, and would have gave the purple stallion a good natured nudge if he could reach – and if he wasn’t worried that the act would be perceived as 'monarchal assault' from onlookers. The seller’s horn became enveloped in a blue light as he picked up some flowers from his stock, some crimson, some so bright they bordered on pink, creating a bushel. “From the look of ya, I’d guess she’d like some poppies. Typically a soldier’s flower, I know, but still pretty to look at, and the-”
Dusk only half-listened as the stallion trailed off, explaining each bud in rambling detail. He kept an eye out for perusing eyes, hoping not to spot a familiar face as he awaited for his bushel. Ten years and not once had he needed to explain himself. Ten years and not once had someone come close to finding out. Admittedly, things had become more difficult as he got older, and as his importance as a figure grew, yet he remained scrupulous about keeping this whole affair a secret. Something simple, such as purchasing a bushel of flowers for his beloved, were avoided for the sake of his privacy. However, the date was special, and necessitated the risk in his eyes. Fortunately, he appeared safe from familiar, prying eyes. Half a minute past and he was dragged out of his reverie by the bushel being suddenly thrust toward him.
Dusk took the bushel into his own purple aura, bringing them close to his face and inhaling the scent deeply – surprisingly sweet. When he pulled away, he looked to the stallion with a raised brow. “Why did you pick red?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. Which is weird, because I know a lot,” he chuckled. “I saw your purple coat, and red popped into my head. Hmm. Mix red with white and you get purple. Is the mare you’re feelin’ sweet with have a white coat?”
Dusk forced a neutral expression. “Uh, no."
“Really? Huh,” he curled his lip and gave a thoughtful rub over his chin, shrugging. “I guess we’ll never know.”
“Haha, right,” Dusk replied with forced smile as he placed the flowers across his back. As he unfurled his wing to pick out some bits from his satchel, he saw the stallion shake his head. “What?”
“No charge,” the stallion answered, his lip curled.
Dusk’s brows met as he looked at the stallion quizzically. “Why?”
He shrugged. “I’ve always had a soft spot for fools in love,” he chuckled.
“Um, thanks!” Dusk replied, smiling, although he gave the stallion a squinted look. “But if you ask me, that doesn’t seem like a good way to run your business.”
He scoffed, and pushed from the counter. “You sound like my wife! Now run along, Prince. Before they wilt.”
Dusk nodded, departing from the stall with a light chuckle, his small smile and overall good mood lasted for all of but a few seconds.
“Dusk?”
Heck.
Five faces, ten eyes, seven mane colours. The rest of the elements, all conveniently in the market place, all conveniently happened upon him simultaneously. Damn convenient. Or inconvenient, in his particular context.
What a dilemma.
“H-hey guys, what are you all doing here?” Dusk asked, jittery.
“And what are you doing with flowers?” Rainbow Blitz asked, staring at Dusk with a flippant smile.
“What he means, darling,” Elusive stepped forwards with a languid step, tossing Blitz a firm look before giving Dusk a soft one, “is that it is a little surprising to see you of all ponies making such a… intimate purchase.”
“Wow, that was much better, Elusive,” Applejack scoffed, the broad stallion rolled his eyes as he stepped forwards, suddenly adorning a coy grin; leaning forwards with raised brow. “So what’s her name?”
“O-or his name,” Butterscotch added, tentatively, shrinking behind Applejack as soon as he finished speaking.
Dusk suddenly looked to his side, seeing Bubble Berry with his muzzle deep in the bushel of flowers, inhaling deeply before pulling back with a dumb, dreamy smile on his face. “Smells like love!” he announced, before his smile turned lecherous, waggling his eyebrows to Dusk specifically. “And lust... wheee!” he exploded happily, hopping around the alicorn, his expression empty; even if he was screaming on the inside. “Dusk’s in love, Dusk’s in love, Dusk’s in lo-”
Dusk grabbed the pink stallion mid bounce, lips pulled back into a grimace as he looked around him, catching eyes with some raised brow ponies; his grimace turning into an apologetic smile. “Please be quiet,” Dusk said with a strained voice through his teeth and false smile, dropping the stallion back onto his hooves as he continued to assuage passers-by with his smile.
“I must admit, I am a tad curious about who has you smitten – prying in your private life aside,” Elusive added with a flick of his hoof and a charming smile, his thin veneer of remorse was undercut by the blatant burning of curious desire on his face. A gossiper feeds on gossip.
Dusk sighed. They were his friends but it no-less made them carrions when it came to his private life. Fortunately there was always a villain or life lesson to act as distraction for them. A day to be saved, a personal issue, as well as other duties and obligations. And, ordinarily, he was happy to help, engage with them. He was a social butterfly, a true believer in the power of friendship. But, in the very specific window which allowed it, they pried on this particular issue. He fed them vague non-answers, not even giving a clear indication on what his actual preferences were. Anything to keep them from seeking answers. But alas, curiosity was the strongest tether for knowledge, something which Dusk was intimately familiar with.
May as well throw them a morsel.
“It’s a mare,” he answered flatly.
Stares. Silence, a quiet which overpowered the noise of the market square...
“Nice going, bro!” Blitz boisterously praised, coming forwards just to deliver a soft punch to the alicorn’s shoulder – who could only smile awkwardly at the cerulean stallion’s coy grin.
“Looks like you owe me ten bits, partner,” AJ smacked the pegasus on his back.
“Don’t remind me,” Blitz replied drily.
“I knew I was being smart by pulling out of that bet,” Elusive added smugly, pa before looking to Dusk with a large grin. “So tell me: what’s her name? And please, don’t spare the details, darling,” Elusive implored, inching closer with a raised brow.
Dusk felt like he was being encroached on from all sides, and with a forceful gait, he stepped forwards; parting his friends with his wings as he hurried away. “I have someplace to be, so please-”
“You can’t be so secretive, Dusk,” Berry said, matching Dusk’s hastened gait with ease. “There’s so much we need to know! What’s her birthday?! What’s her favourite muffin flavour? Does she even like muffins?!” he ended with a loud, shocked gasp, hopping from the ground before suddenly breaking off in a gallop. Off to fetch some samples from the store Dusk mused, but his place as ear chewer was very quickly occupied by another.
“So... is she hot?” Blitz asked, something which didn’t surprise Dusk in the slightest, and ensured that his chag- was very much -agrin.
Dusk grumbled. “Yes,” he answered. The train station wasn’t very far off now. Just a block or two. If he kept his current pace he could escape his friends and their questions.
Elusive poked his head forwards ahead of Blitz, looking at the pegasus sideways. “Don’t be so uncouth, Blitz, this is his marefriend you’re talking about. I’m sure she’s beautiful,” Elusive corrected, trying to smooth out Blitz’s abrasiveness. Although, right after, that same curious glint appeared in his eye from before. “So how long have you known her? Personally I always thought that the only way to earn your love would be years of wearing down. It’s why I initially proposed Barb – but Butterscotch shot that down. The two of you are practically siblings, and once he proposed that I-”
“You’re going off on a tangent, Lucie,” AJ interceded, walking on the adjacent side of the alicorn.
“Stop calling me that!” Elusive shot back at the orange stallion, clearly vexed.
“I’ve known her for years. Next!” Dusk answered. Not too far now.
“What’s she look like?” AJ asked.
“She looks nice,” Dusk answered quickly and vaguely. “Next.”
“Hey, that don’t answer-”
“Is this heartthrob of yours good in bed, Dusk?” Blitz smirked, smile positively lecherous. “Maybe that’s why you were keeping her a secret from the rest of us. Worried that after getting one look at me she’d-”
“Hey!” Dusk snapped, frowning.
“You’re not fooling anyone, Blitz,” Elusive chided, coming to Dusk’s defence.
“W-what are you t-talking about?” Blitz feigned ignorance, although his flapping jaw and unsteady words were as solid
“Butterscotch told us about the posters. We have known for a long time but we’ve been patiently awaiting thereafter for you to come out yourself... that was three years ago," he spoke pedantically, rolling his eyes.
“I… But… You see…” he stammered, red in the face, angry and embarrassed. He looked to Butterscotch with a glare and frown. “Scotch!”
“Is s-she kind?” Butterscotch asked, voice soft but audible. He ignored the cyan stallion’s glare, his mouth slightly ajar as he awaited the answer.
The gentle tone of voice caught Dusk pleasantly off guard. He looked to the Butterscotch with the faintest of curls on his lip, and gave a curt nod. “Yes. She’s the kindest mare I’ve ever known.”
“And you love her?”
Dusk looked ahead, the train station within view. He slowed his gait somewhat, contemplatively smiling. He looked at Butterscotch. “I do. Always have. And I think I always will.”
“Wow. Sounds like the real deal, Dusk. Ah’m happy for ya,” Applejack said sincerely, smiling. “Can’t believe we’ve never met her. If I didn’t know any better, ah’d say you were married,” Applejack chuckled, before leaning his head back slightly, “you ain’t married, are ya?”
“No,” Dusk laughed, shaking his head.
Blitz huffed, looking downcast, yet he still offered a pleased look to Dusk. “So how’d the two of you, ya know… become a unit?”
Dusk gave a bashful simper. “I was an idiot.”
Elusive incredulous scoff. “You, an idiot? You must elaborate my dear, I find that quite hard to believe.”
“We were both stupid, to be fair. I mean, the way it happened, you’d think it was a comedy or something… although, some would probably think it was a horror, depending on who you’d ask,” Dusk explained without really explaining anything at all.
“Details, darling, details!” Elusive pleaded, wearing an excessively large frown.
“Another time,” Dusk dismissed with a disarming smirk, stopping at the edge of the station, taking a breath. He then turned to face his friends, his lip tugged slightly at the corner. “So… now you know.”
“That we do,” Elusive affirmed, wearing an apologetic simper. “Sorry we had to find out like this. Maybe I can make it up to you? I know of a wonderful little eatery in Canterlot which is highly particular about the clientèle it serves. I may be able to pull some strings-”
“He’s a Prince, Elusive,” Blitz commented in a flat voice.
“Oh, right,” the tailor blushed.
Blitz smirked at the ivory unicorn and looked to Dusk, wearing a humbled little smile. “I hope you’re happy with this squeeze of yours, Dusk.”
“Thanks Blitz,” he gave the rainbow stallion a nod, and then shared a glance with Elusive, “and I appreciate the offer, I do. But we’re a little more, lets say... ‘private’, with our dates.”
“I understand, dear. Admittedly, I was hoping that arranging such a thing would allow me to catch a peek of your love, but… all in good time,” Elusive smiled coyly, no maliciousness behind it. “But when you do return, I implore you to tell me all about it – and spare no detail! One can only be entertained by small-town gossip for so long.”
Dusk smirked, and gave the ivory unicorn a singular nod. “I will.” Dusk then looked to Butterscotch, who simply gave the alicorn a small warm smile, and Dusk returned it. He then started to turn. “I’ll see you guys in-”
“Now hold on for just a minute,” AJ stepped forwards, a pondering expression hidden momentarily under his hat, scratching his chin. “Before ya go, lover colt, answer us this: why d’ya like her? I’m sure everypony here is thinkin’ it. What the heck kinda mare must she be to get you all… flower-buyie, never mind keepin’ her all secretive from us. It sounds like you got yourself a heck of a mare, yet we’ve never seen her, not once. Why is that?”
Dusk looked away from AJ and his expectant friends with pursed lips. “It’s complicated. Very complicated,” he gave them a knowing smirk, almost weary-eyed and sad in his expression. The softness at which he spoke prompted them all to take a half-step towards him, concern on their faces. Dusk wanted to disarm them. “She’s caring. Beautiful. And I don’t think I’d ever love anypony as much as I do for her. She… she knows me on a level that nopony else could come even close to,” he explained with a genuine adoration that had them enthralled, envious even. “She’s gentle when she needs to be, always keeps composed, cares for those she holds close. She’s tender, but also strong-”
Blitz smirked. “Even stronger then, Gleaming?” he asked pointedly.
Dusk blinked, a tinge of pink on his cheeks. “Uh, I-I’d say they’re about equal.”
“Wow, what a mare,” Elusive muttered, looking away. “I should really put myself out there...” he muttered, before looking to Blitz suavely. “Interested?”
Blitz went wide-eyed, reeling away. “W-what? No!”
The unicorn shrugged. “Meh. Your loss. Maybe I should consider Barb instead. She’s been smitten with me for as long as I remember.”
Blitz seemed offended by this. “What? Am I not worth fighting for?!”
“Well, I didn’t say that...” Elusive intoned, giving the pegasus a smarmy grin.
“But you implied it!”
“That answers that,” Applejack smirked, ignoring the skirmish to his side. “Well, what’re you waitin’ for? Ah can’t believe we’re keepin’ ya away from such a fine sounding mare, Dusk. Go on, git!” Applejack gestured the alicorn to shoo with a playful grin
“Will do, AJ. Thanks for being so understanding. All of you,” he gave a respectful nod and turned from his friends, who could not see the relieved smile on his lips.
As the rest of his friends waved him off, as he got onto the train, Bubble Berry suddenly came forwards to stand besides them; the handle to a basket of muffins in his maw. “Whersh Duushk?” he asked, looking around frantically, before dropping the basket on the ground. “I got the muffins!” he announced, patting with a wide beam of a smile.
“Gone,” Butterscotch informed, wearing a sorry smile.
Berry deflated, falling to his haunches; his lips circled into an upside down ‘U’. “Aww...”
“Don’t worry, Bear. There’s always next time,” he offered, consoling the saddened pink stallion.
The stallion brightened up, hopping back up to his hooves he looked off excitedly at the train as it left. “I can bring an even bigger basket!”
“That’s the spirit, Pinky,” Applejack chuckled, before setting his sights back on the train, watching it cough out white plumes of smoke… until he furrowed his brows and craned his neck at the bickering pegasus and unicorn. “Wait a minute, wait a minute!”
Blitz and Elusive ceased their arguing, focusing their eyes on the orange stallion. “What?” they said in unicorn.
“If yer a colt cuddler, why’d ya always make passes at mah sister?” Applejack asked, the question like a dagger to Blitz’s neck.
“I had to keep up the illusion somehow,” Blitz answered, giving a uncomfortable shrug.
“But why her specifically,” Applejack leaned towards him, scowling.
Blitz awkwardly shuffled on the spot, looking anywhere that wasn’t Applejack. “She’s big, muscled, has a strong jaw and short mane. It was… it was easy… to… to pretend.” he finished meekly, trying to step away from Applejack’s
“Answer me this,” Applejack growled, bearing teeth as he pressed his head into Rainbow’s. “Is it just your wings that are hollow, or is it your jaw too?”
“Meep,” he squeaked, looking to Elusive. “Lucie. Help.”
“Hmm. Big Mac. She’s a cute little thing isn’t she? A bit large, but that just means there’s more to love,” he muttered.
“You’re next!” Applejack barked to the purple maned stallion, rearing his hoof back for a punch on the rainbow headed pony.
Elusive froze, hoof on his chin. “Y-yes sir.”
“Maybe she’d like fudge!” Berry pondered loudly aloud, ignorant to the brawl going on besides him...
Off at Canterlot, on the train to Manehatten take the transfer to Fillydelphia and finally, take the ferry to Trottingham pier. By the time Dusk reached the city, thick black lines underlined his eyes and his movements were sluggish with fatigue; the starry sky of Artemis painted across the firmament. It was good. He didn’t want garner any unnecessary attention. He earned a few second glances of familiarity from night time walkers, but that had more to do with the fact he was an alicorn rather than an element of harmony. Trottingham was at the far-edges of Equestria, and few had even heard of Dusk Shine never mind know what he looked like. It was liberating in a way. Dusk Shine was famous as an element, but when he was elevated to alicornhood, that popularity and recognition exploded into something very hard to deal with. It made certain excursions and particular... liaisons, difficult. However, Dusk wasn’t some all-star celebrity drained by the hardships of fame. His need for secrecy was an act of necessity, for, and he came to learn something not too long after he committed unflinchingly to mare her held sole affection for.
It was illegal.
He reached his destination after thirty minutes. A discreet hotel. His horn began to flow purple as he pushed open the front door, coming into the dimly lit and arguably cosy lobby – even if it was a little clandestine considering the context it was framed in. The fact it was it was also called ‘A Discreet Hotel’ contributed to that.
The receptionist gave him a half-interested nod, reading a magazine of sorts under candlelight, too disinterested to offer the alicorn more than a second glance. Aside from Dusk and his love, the receptionist was the only pony in the world who knew who Dusk was going to see. Fortunately for her, keeping the secret of a consort and prince meant that she was paid handsomely for her discretion. As the stallion passed her, a singular flower was placed upon the pages of her magazine – a bright red poppy – and her perfectly straight mouth curled slightly at the corners before resuming its natural straightness… that’s why he was the Prince of friendship.
Dusk ascended the stairway, wearing a comfortable smile, his horn covered in shimmering light as he held the bushel of flowers in front of him. He found her room. Number eight. He knocked on to no particular rhythm, no secret knock.
It could have only been him.
Click.
He felt his breath escape him, as it always did.
“Dusk,” Gleaming greeted, her body taking a step forwards on reaction, coming closer to the alicorn stallion as her cheeks flushed.
“Gleaming,” the stallion was similarly taken, lessening the space between them.
A lot was different from the time they but teen and child. Dusk was taller, but not by much. Apart from the wings and longer horn, he only looked like a larger version of his coltish self. Gleaming was similar, miraculously, her youthful beauty preserved. Her mane was longer, the blue of it dulled somewhat into her twenties, but her coat remained bright and full of life; her cerulean eyes were alike Celestial Ocean - deep and immensely beautiful. She had a small scar curved under her jaw. It was a miracle when Dusk thought on it, considering her myriad scrapes with the changelings, Umbra and her early life as a guard in Canterlot.
“I missed you,” Dusk admitted, before presenting the ensemble of red flowers to her; her sights didn’t leave him. “I got you flowers- mmph!”
Gleaming abruptly launched her lips towards him, smashing them together as her tongue pushed forwards past the stallion’s lips and teeth. She was always terse. Dusk barely had time to defend himself from her tongue’s assault, wrestling back with the wiggling muscle, coiling his own tongue with hers as they began to cradle each other’s cheek. Their lips smacked with lewd wet sounds, the occasional moan, the sounds of an impatient passion. But after a few moments, the kiss quietened down, and Dusk felt his quickened heartbeat slow.
They both broke the kiss after a while, offering each other tender looks before they nuzzled into each other’s cheeks, enjoying the serenity of each other’s company a while longer, before Gleaming spoke up. “Flowers? What the occasion?” she asked, quietly.
“Does the occasion have to be special to give you flowers?” Dusk replied smoothly.
“I guess not,” Gleaming’s lip curled into a delighted simper, her voice quiet. She pulled away from her brother’s caress, taking his hoof into her own. “Want to come in?”
“Yeah...” Dusk confirmed, being tugged along by Gleaming’s hoof, placing the bouquet onto a chair by the door, closing the door behind him with a gentle nudge of his hind leg.
The room was alright for what it was. A retreat, a secret love den Moonlight shone in through the balcony window, which added to the ambience provided by the few candles dotted around.
“How’ve you been?” Gleaming asked, continuing to hold her brother’s hoof, stopping at the bedside.
“A little hectic. Becoming an alicorn is, well, as crazy as you’d expect,” Dusk answered, grinning a little awkwardly, rustling his wings to accentuate his point. “Took me a while to get used to these things.
Gleaming looked him up and down, flirtatious gaze on him.“You’re quite small for an alicorn. Did it perhaps make something else grow larger,” she leaned towards him, a sensual and coy grin on her muzzle.
Dusk blushed, his mouth opening and closing. “I-I don’t know. I didn’t measure.”
“I could do it for you...” she offered, growling lustily as she prepared to lock lips, pressing her free hoof against his chest.
Suddenly, the alicorn’s face went serious. He pulled away slightly from her kiss, his brows knitted. “How… how’s Bolero,” he asked softly, a tincture of guilt in his voice.
Gleaming stopped, similarly pulling her head back. She looked away, ashamed, lips pursed in thinking. “I don’t want to talk about him,” Gleaming replied after little while, sharing a melancholic look with her sibling. “Why did you ask?”
Dusk nodded, placing a hoof on her shoulder. “I just wanted you to know I’m not pretending. I realise we can never truly be together.”
Gleaming let go of Dusk’s hoof, stepping away with a wince, eyes wetting with tears. “Where is this coming from?”
Dusk sniffed, tightening his lips and inhaling slightly through his nostrils. “Bolero told me something the last time we met. It felt… wrong. I smiled all the while, tried to match his excitement and be happy for him. But I couldn’t. Not when I knew what it meant for us,” Dusk explained vaguely, his expression contorted into a mixture of pain and mourning, forcing a weak smile finally. “He wants to have a foal.”
A breath escaped Gleaming’s mouth, and she rescinded on the gap she made between them. “What?”
“He wants to have a kid, Gleaming. He loves you so much you know. You come up into every conversation in some way or another,” Dusk elaborated, wistful. “I’ve always felt guilty for loving you. I kept trying to push you away so let you live your life without having to live in secrecy. I wanted you to date Bolero-”
“To help keep us a secret,” Gleaming interrupted, taking his hoof in her own again. “Don’t you think I feel guilty too, Dusk? I have two stallions who love me more than anything else in this world, and I’m constantly betraying them with every second I continue to love them both.”
Dusk sniffled, his features scrunching up as he tried to remain strong. “You’ve always wanted a foal, Gleaming. And I don’t want to get in the way of your life,” he squeezed her hoof. “And you’re right. I brought the flowers for a reason. Its been ten years you know. To this day.”
“Since we-”
“Yes,” he gave a sad smirk. “It probably wasn’t the best way for a young colt to learn about sex, but I don’t regret any of it,” he continued, grabbing her other hoof and giving them both an affectionate tug. “Ten years is long enough, Gleaming. We have to-”
Gleaming kissed him, pulling away with a frown. “Don’t say it. I don’t want to hear it, Dusk,” Gleaming lightly shook her head, voice firm. “You cannot stop me from loving you. From seeing you. Never.”
“T-then… then I don’t know what to do,” Dusk replied, being pulled into his sister’s embrace.
“Then don’t do anything, Dusk. Not yet. Let’s just enjoy this time together,” she spoke softly, partig from the hug as she pulled him up with her onto the bed.
The two laid atop the covers. Dusk pulled her towards him, the mare resting her head against the nape of his neck. A while passed, and he soon felt her hoof lower down his chest, until it was pressing into his stomach.
“Do you want to-”
“No,” he answered quietly, softly grabbing her hoof before it go lower. “I just want to have you in my hooves.”
There was quiet. Gleaming nuzzled into her brother’s neck, whist his chin rested atop her head, just shy of her horn. Dusk thereafter believed that silence would linger well into the night, until sleep grabbed them both. But there was a stir in the night. A question ringing out in the dark, when the candles had died.
“Do you still love me, Dusk. Truly.”
“I do.”
“Do you love me as much today as you did yesterday?”
“Yes,” Dusk answered, tightening his grasp about his sibling, his consciousness half-sleeping. “But not as much as much as I will tomorrow...”
For it grew stronger every day.
Author's Note
And we're done.
Bonus chapters are a given. 240 likes was my personal goal to write a full-blown sequel, since I have a bunch of other fics I have to get to. If it got that much attention I'd feel pretty obligated to do one. So... hint hint. 
Anyway, thanks for reading. 
I'm glad you were patient.
