Good Intentions

Chapters

The Problem
The Solution
Alternative Measures(Mature)
Side Effects(Mature)
Questions and Answers
I'll show you his(Mature)
A Bird in a Gilded Cage
Spark of Something More (Mature)
The Bird Set Free
The Consequences

The Problem

Ocellus stared with glazed over eyes as the words on the page blurred into an abstract mess. Her ears had folded to the side of her head, and still the noise of the increasingly tense debate around her invaded her mind. She felt a surge of annoyance before realizing it had not come from within, only to be startled out of her stupor by a loud screech. "Gallus, just stop!" Ocellus flinched as the outburst echoed through the room, and out into the halls beyond. Glacially she turned her head upwards, her eyes refocusing as they lingered on the events she had been doing her best to block out.

Across the table two of her closest friends were currently locked in a silent staring match, until which they had spend the last half hour getting into an increasingly heated argument. The outburst had utterly stunned the flamboyantly colored gryphon, and left him in a rather expressive posture. His broad blue wings were tattered and stretched out in a subconscious attempt to look powerful, but his limply hanging open beak and claw that had been unable to complete its motion undercut any impression he could have made.

Ocellus's eyes trailed over to the pink hippogryph who had disturbed the peace. She was quite surprised to register just how tense her friend's emotions had become, contrary to the steadfast carefreeness she usually portrayed. As the silence continued to linger two things became clear, Gallus was unwilling to disobey her, and Silverstream had no idea how to follow up on her own outburst.

Finally Silverstream found her voice, and brought forth a sobbing chirp that rang with emotion even to a creature who had never heard it before. The cold wave of sadness that ebbed from Silverstream and into Ocellus shook the young changeling even as the hippogryph finally found action. She raised her slumped body posture and stood tall, meeting Gallus's gaze even as her eyes began to form thick tears, leaned close and nearly let their beaks touch, then spoke with uncharacteristic severity.

"This was a dumb idea. Sorry to have placed unfair expectations on you." Silvertream swallowed something that seemed to have gotten stuck in her throat "I guess you were right when you said gryphons do 'romance' differently." There was another short pause, the whole world waiting on her, "Gallus, we are done.".

This finally broke the gryphon's frozen state, concern visibly draining the anger from his posture. He instantly reached out an unsteady claw to embrace his other half, words forming at the back of his throat that were cut off when Silverstream deftly ducked under his claw and backed away from him. She shook her head and spoke firmly.

"No, I said we are done! I should have listened to Novo..." She turned away from him and muttered a "I am sorry.". Her head drooping towards the floor. The heartbroken filly voiced an choked sob and then sprinted out of the room, leaving Gallus behind with his claw still grasping thin air. A single quiet "Silverstream" was all he could muster before the world descended back into silence.

Ocellus shuddered as Gallus's pain began to bury itself into her empathetic mind. Even as she tried to overcome the powerful sensation and focus her thoughts the changeling could feel his emotions changing form. Beneath the thick ice that encased his heart sparks began to form, and then burst into a blazing flame. When the final clacking sounds of Silverstream's hooves reached their ears the ice had turned to boiling water and suddenly the gryphon slammed his claw onto the marble ground. The impact caused the tile to crack and echoing cacophony assaulted Ocellus's ears with such force that she instinctively withdrew, forfeiting her seat on the bench in favour for the safer position a few hoof-lengths away. By the time her ears had stooped ringing she could make out the gryphon's hoarse voice yelling into the room.

"Are you serious?! We are done? After everything we have had she blows up like that? What is wrong with her! I..." Just as suddenly as he had began he ended, the flame turning into steam with a puff as the fury inside him was extinguished, and the space slowly filled with something worse than freezing cold and burning magma, a void of pure nothingness. His crest slumped to his neck and for the first time since they started arguing the gryphon took note of the unfortunate Changeling who had to witness the whole ordeal, and turned his gaze upon her.

His words were surprisingly calm and if he took note of her frightened reaction he did not show it. "Cell, I think I really messed up.." Their eyes met, and Ocellus could see the desperate need for an epiphany, or time machine. Sadly she could offer neither, and so she resolved to help with her meagre means by forcing a smile onto her muzzle and stepping closer despite her bodies lingering warnings.

"I... wasn't trying to overhear your discussion. It sounded very personal." She said, the hint of a blush creeping onto her blue face. "But it sounds like she is mad because you and Smolder did something that betrayed her trust?" There was a ping of guilt in Ocellus's mind when she recalled finding their argument strangely alluring at first, and now she wished she had realized how serious it had been from the start. Still, she was determined to set things right.

"I have never seen Silverstream be put down by anything for long, this won't be different." The changelings big eyes stayed locked with the gryphon and as she continued she braced herself for whatever his reaction may be, "She wasn't serious when she said she was done. She really loves you, still loves you, I can feel it. Give her some time and then I am sure you can think of a way to apologize."

Ocellus held her hopeful smile with pride, despite the fact that Gallus seemed equally intent on staying as sour and heartbroken as ever. Finally he simply blinked, turned his gaze from her in a casual but sluggish movement and spoke.

"I don't know, I have never seen her like this before. Mad? Sure. Playfully disappointed? yea... but I didn't think I could ever make her so... hurt." His words were laced with a growing guilt as the severity of his mistake sank into his mind. Finally, he shook himself and turned toward the only door out of the room.

"I am calling it an early night, no point learning any of these stupid friendship lessons when I just hurt my friends. Goodnight Ocellus."

He half heartily began dragging himself out of the room before Ocellus had even voiced a reply and all she could think of was a quick and simple "Goodnight, sleep well.". It was meant sincerely, but felt hollow nonetheless. As the gryphon created distance between them his emotions finally stopped washing into her, her body could focus on itself once more. Which left only an overwhelming sensation of exhaustion.

The Solution

Ocellus had splayed herself out on a pile of pillows and was currently meditating, her eyes closed and breathing relaxed. After Gallus had stormed out of the dorm lounge the place had lost its appeal and she had withdrawn herself. As usual her mind had insisted to linger on on her friends plight and after a few unsuccessful attempts to tell herself that meddling was a bad idea she had thrown herself onto her favorite pillow pile and began to ponder on a solution.

She had only a rough idea of what had transpired, something about Gallus and Smolder holding a secret from Silverstream. The details didn't matter too much, everything could be fixed with a good apology. But sadly the gryphon had insisted on trying to justify himself instead of telling Silverstream the one thing she needed to hear. As much as Ocellus adored her friends, she sometimes grew frustrated at how obtuse they could be. Too often they derail into unnecessary bickering over something small until they realize both parties were not nearly as upset at each other as they thought.

It was almost like they lacked one of their core senses, the simple ability to feel another creature's emotions and respond accordingly. Ocellus's nose twitched, and her perfect concentration slipped into a sly grin as she brought a hoof to face. They weren't changelings.

As she rolled off her pillow mountain Ocellus considered asking headmare Twilight to teach a repeat lesson on "Communication: Sharing emotions, not building walls.", her friends must have slept through that one. However, for now she would have to take things into her own hooves, and she already had a plan. She would just have to use her senses as an intermediate and explain to both of them what they really felt, should be simple enough.

knock knock knock

The timid knocks on the wooden door echoed past the entrance and into the dorm room beyond, and were met by a long silence. Ocellus held her smile and eyes confidently glued on the name-plaque.
Silverstream

Despite the claims to be associated with such an spirited creature the door and its owner stayed eerily quiet. Luckily, just as a twinge of uncertainty began to creep into Ocellus's mind the door finally swung open to reveal a tattered looking half-gryph. Her eyes had been aiming for a target about a head taller than Ocellus, and only after a moment registered their mistake and adjusted. As Silverstream began to realize she had mistaken the identity of her visitor she forced a warm smile onto her beak, contrary to the sour emotions seeping from her.

"Ocellus, what a surprise! Sorry about the wait, I was just..." Silverstream stalled for a moment and Ocellus could tell that her mind was working in overdrive, then turned away and came back with a duster in one claw, holding it up like it was some great treasure. "Cleaning!"

Her voice made a brave attempt at sounding convincingly upbeat but Ocellus knew well enough how she was really feeling. And that was fine, great even, otherwise she would have felt quite silly coming here. Doing her best to imitate the calm and soothing voice Fluttershy often used on her critters, the changeling began to explain.

"Hey Silverstream. I know Gallus messed up, but he would never intentionally hurt you. It's plain to see that he was hurting over what happened. If you gave him another chance to apologize, I am sure he would be eager to set things right."

Ocellus's words hang in the air as them moment dragged on, Silverstream blinked in surprise and slowly drifted the claw still clutching her prized duster toward the ground. Her smile drooped as she tilted her head sideways, then chirped in what sounded like her version of an annoyed sigh. By the time the hippogryph deemed it reasonable to speak the atmosphere had already already grown tense.

"I am not hurting because we had a fight, I am hurt because he hurt me. If this is his idea of making amends, it's a really bad one!" She huffed and flopped down onto her haunches, staring down the changeling with suspicion, even as her initial anger began to fade. "I am sorry Ocellus. I know you mean well, but he shouldn't have send you, if he wants to ask for forgiveness he can gryph up and do so in person."

The changeling was unsure how to respond, her mind failing to find a satisfying answer to her friend's suspicion. And as the silenced dragged on the brooding hippogryph grew tired of waiting. "I need to get back to cleaning my room, but thanks for checking up on me Ocellus. If you happen to see Gallus, feel free to let him know where to find me."

Silverstream brought a claw to the door, signaling her intent to bring the conversation to an end but did not motion to close it without giving Ocellus time to speak. With her mind struggling to find anything helpful to add the changeling resolved to make do with a sympathetic smile and quick nod "Goodnight Silver, I am sure he'll come around." and then turned away, hearing a somber goodnight and the clack of the door closing behind her.

Despite the deflating response and obvious setback this had been, Ocellus felt only more certain of her task. Even Silverstream's bitter tone could not hide it, that underlying twinge of excitement and joy when the hypogryph thought about Gallus. Sure, Silver was genuinely mad at him, but it wasn't like she didn't want to forgive the Gryphon, she was just too stubborn to make the first move.

That meant Gallus had to be the one to own up, which Ocellus was sure he would do, he always did. But that could be days from now, days the two spend brooding in their rooms. All the while they be missing lessons and dragging the mood down for everycreature, such unnecessary waste of good time and moments to be had.

"Unless..."

A smirk crept onto Ocellus's muzzle and she glanced back at the door she had just left, then over to the door at the end of the hall. Maybe leading the bird to the water was not going to cut it this time, maybe this water had to come to the bird. She let the thought linger in her mind as she trotted towards Gallus's door.

Once she reached the door the changeling paused, struggling to reassert the righteous nature of her plan. Of course Ocellus was quite skilled at changing forms, a skill she had been taught to foster in the days before Chrysalis's defeat, a habit she had never quite surrendered. At first she had excused it as a coping mechanism for a changeling thrust into a strange outlandish school, but even as she had grown comfortable around her new friends she simply found it too valuable a tool to let it grow rusty. However, she had made a point of leaving her friends as taboo subjects, forms to be taken only on those rare requests for a joke.

Finally she shrugged and rolled her eyes in self-reassurance.

"I am doing this for their benefit, and besides, Professor Twilight always says there is no wrong road to the correct solution." She began to concentrate even as her mind came up with more justifications for her plan, easily drowning out any self-doubts she might have had moments ago. Her ears perked, listening intently for any noise that might betray an onlooker, and then felt the heatless flames wash over her skin. The transformation started at her hooves and crept slowly upwards, leaving behind the features of her pink friend in its wake. Altogether it was but a few moments, however the lack of practice and the desire to model this form as accurately as possible was not without its challenge. Enough for Ocellus to voice but a hint of a pant once the ordeal was done, and look down with a glimmer of pride in her eyes as she remarked on the flawless transformation.

The fact she was now half a head taller and her vision sharper then before was barely something she registered, and yet her mind felt comfortable in this new form, confident she could keep up with the real Silverstream even in flight. With a whisper she assured herself that the voice too was a perfect imitation of her bubbly friend, and noted with a twinge of sorrow that her speech sounded more accurate to her friend than the Silverstream she had talked to mere moments ago.

If she had needed another push this realization filled her with one more surge of determination and with a gryph-grin she curled up her claw and knocked on the door.

Alternative Measures(Mature)

"Silverstream?" Gallus's voice rose in pitch as his mind registered his own surprise, and he quickly opened the door all the way, coming face to face with the disguised doppelganger. His fur was disheveled and eyes tinged with red that spoke to the nature of the last few hours. Despite that, in a display of gryphon stubbornness, he managed to put on a brave face and casual stance, at least after the initial shock had worn off. This only increased the overwhelming sympathy the changeling felt in that moment, more even than for the other half of this tragedy. Silverstream had been upset, but that anger kept her from feeling the pain, but Gallus lacked such defense mechanisms, and had only guilt and self-loathing to drown in. It had always been obvious he was sensitive far beyond the usual for his race, a trait she adored in him, even if it meant her approach would have to be extra tactful. With a sigh she subconsciously used her expressive bird eyes to meet his, and let fall into place a simple regretful and apologetic expression.
Alternative
"Gallus, I am sorry. I got carried away and ended up exaggerating everything. I just can't stay mad at y---" Her prepared speech was suddenly cut short by the air pressed from her lungs. Gallus had uncharacteristically daringly leaped forward and embraced her in a hug that could only be described as vice-like. The surreal moment lasted just long enough to allow the gryphon's ecstatic emotions to seep into her and cause the changeling to shudder with delight. When Gallus finally withdrew he was grinning with such enthusiasm that Ocellus could not help but do the same.

"Heh, sorry, but I still owed you one for that time in the caves." He paused to reminisced on something that Ocellus sadly was not privy to, then continued "I am so sorry for everything, for betraying your trust, for losing sight of what is important to me, and for being too much of a numbskull to just accept I messed up. I want you to know that I love you, and will make it up to you!"

Ocellus would have rolled her eyes if it hadn't undermined her goals, if only her friends understood how easy it was to make amends. On the bright side, she would have something to tease the gryphon with whenever he decided to get a little too on her case about her study habits. Still, now all she had to do was convince Gallus to repeat those words to the real Silverstream and everything would be--

Once more Gallus managed to catch her off-guard when he unexpectedly grasp one of her foreclaws and met her eyes with his own "I know words are not going to cut it this time, so I wanted to make it up to you. And I know juuust the way to do it." He winked at her, and blushed? His strange expression was mixed with emotions Ocellus was unsure how to discern. Excitement, anxiety, arousal? Before the shapeshifter could formulate a responds the insistent pull of her friend had dragged her into his room.

The door swung shut with a lazy push of Gallus's claw and he turned toward the confused Silverstream. His gazed lingered on her expectantly, but when she showed no sign of understanding he spoke up somewhat awkwardly.

"Well... I thought that, being how this whole thing started because I was too selfish to try out something new, and then I went and hurt your feelings, I would get over myself and give my lady her wish." The strange mixture of emotions kept pulsing from Gallus, growing in intensity with each passing moment. Ocellus uncertainly opened her beak to reply, even if she had not yet figured out how. But when Gallus stepped closer and ran his beak through her mane and down her neck the changeling found herself quiet literally overwhelmed.

Changelings had given up stealing love, but that did not remove the natural receivers her biology had developed to harness such emotions. Her body trembled and her wings unfurled, and quiet embarrassingly her tail began to swish before slowly raising into the air. Gallus stopped his affectionate preening motions to murmur into her ear.

"Relax my princess, let me give you the treatment you deserve." Ocellus finally realized she was in way over her head, and that it would be prudent to reveal her ruse before things went further. And yet, as the gryphon continued to shower her in affection her mind simply refused to co-operate, insisting to keep the illusion up even as Gallus worked his way toward her unfurled wings.

He gifted each feather with undue attention, straightening them to perfection in a most teasing display of finesse that Ocellus would never have imagined possible. Often his work was interrupted when 'Silverstream' shuddered and squealed with joy, flexing and fluttering her wings, ruining all the work Gallus had put forth. However, this never seemed to deter the gryphon and he simply took it as an excuse to continue to pleasure his lover.

By the time that Gallus seemed content to move onward the changeling had all but forgotten about how wrong this was, pushing aside the knowledge that her partner was unaware of the ruse. They were both enjoying themselves, that ought to be good enough. Gallus's beak took another leap, this time across her lower body and toward her exposed rear, and with her mind made up the shapeshifter was fully willing and quiet eager, flagging her tail and rump in the air in a lewd display of lust.

His beak soon trailed through her tail, passing it and bringing his head to rest behind her. Ocellus knew what he would see, the leaking needy passage of a hippogryph. To her surprise there was a long moment of nothing. She was curious why he had suddenly stopped and closed her eyes, focusing on reading his emotions. There was still that lingering concern in him, almost a form of fear. She was unsure if this was a side-affect of their intimate moment, or simply an epiphany, but it quickly became clear what he had planned. Ocellus playfully ran her tail against the side of his face and edged her body just a hint toward him, doing her best to entice him forward, even her marehood gave a pleading wink.

This worked and the gryphon finally overcame his hesitation to carefully slip his beak inside her passage. The moment the keratin tip of his beak came in contact with the sensitive flesh of her vagina Ocellus found herself voicing a strange high pitched squawk that trailed off into a happy purr. It was not a sound she had ever heard before, much less intoned, but whatever it had been seemed to encourage Gallus and he responded by pushing his beak further into her passage.

When the tip was fully submerged inside her he opened his beak just wide enough to bring forth his tongue and explore hesitantly. She could feel the touch of his tongue before he paused and came to terms with the powerful tastes and smells that must have been assaulting him. Whatever he had made of them, they did not stop the determined male from redeeming himself and he soon pushed onward, continually pushing his beak deeper in as he ate her out.

It took only a few moments, even if it felt much longer, for Ocellus's body to become unsteady and wracked with pleasure. Her wings by now had lost all of the amazing preening effort Gallus had gifted them as they stretched and fluttering in a vibrant display of pink. Her passage was desperately squeezing the beak as it intruded into her, believing it could milk the bony structure. And her mind, her mind was loving every moment of this carnal pleasure, refusing to even acknowledge that she had stolen it from her friend. Even in his awkward predicament Gallus was overflowing with emotions that filled Ocellus with power and pride, she finally understood why her species had been so obsessed with love. As moan escaped her beak she remembered the stories that promised the best part was yet to come.

She did not have to wait long, as Gallus finally became confident enough to earnestly use his tongue and even teased the insides of her walls with his beak's tip the changeling found the powerful waves of pleasure rushing through her too much to control. Raising her head high into the air and voicing a final almost deafening squawk into the air as her body used its little mobility to push its rear further onto the intruding gryphon's beak. Her marehood squeezed down on the intruder and began squirting forth waves of fluid onto Gallus's face.

Despite his eagerness to please, and impressive passion up to that point, the gryphon found himself withdrawing the moment his lover's tunnel had stooped squeezing onto him and tried to swat the juices from his face. "Yuck! Can't you at least warn me first?" His complaint landed on deaf ears as Ocellus continued to float in her afterglow. Not only had the carnal pleasures been a wonderful first sexual experience for her, but when her climax hit something strangely invigorating had occurred. She had felt herself pull something from Gallus, more than emotions and lust, but a piece of him that her soul was now cherishing. The changeling had never felt so empowered and alive, her body shook one finale time and slowly her mind began to return to a state of reason.

Her head turned and she looked at Gallus, her friend. He was still awkwardly trying to clean his face with increasingly dirty talons, and yet she could sense satisfaction and joy in him. He didn't seem to have noticed her leeching of his energy, and besides seeming winded the gryphon looked healthy enough. Ocellus shrugged as she decided that it had been a harmless mistake, and with a swish of her rump she trotted over to him.

She embraced her cute male, and unfurled her tatter wings in a feathery blanket. Even now her body was still feeding on his emotions, and once those waves began to ebb into her the last thing the changeling wanted was to be removed from the source. She brought her beak to one of his ears and whispered softly.

"Thankyou Gallus, I forgive you."

Side Effects(Mature)

Ocellus found herself bathing in the pleasant embrace of the sun, the rays tickling her back while her claws embraced and squeezed the closest pillow. Her eyes stayed shut as a content murmur rang from her throat and the perfect moment continued to linger. She hoped it would continue for eternity, knowing she would never grow tired of this. However, slowly she grew aware of a new sensation, a soft pricking at the back of her neck that slowly lifted her out of her stupor despite any reluctance her mind might have had.

Yet, for a reason she did not comprehend her body greeted the touch with a wave of euphoria that invigorated her even as it travelled across her neck. The scritches teased the skin beneath her feathers, then took a leap to her right ear. There it dared to surprise her once more, forfeiting its teasing scratches and instead clamping itself softly around the tip. Ocellus squealed as the slight stingy sensation turned into a careful tug at her ear.

Before Ocellus could even guess at what such a gestured was supposed to convey she heard a smooth rumbling voice. "I love you." The changeling giggled, it was such a surreal thing to hear from one of her friends, and yet it felt so honest that her heart fluttered. For a moment she desired to turn around, to face her surprise lover and question what he was doing, but than she realized that his limbs had wrapped around her. His paws were pressed against her body, holding her in a passionate embrace that was too pleasant for the changeling to object.

It had to be a dream, the whole thing was too outlandish to be anything but, and as the gryph continued to snuggle up to her she decided that it was a dream worth indulging. Gallus gave another scratch, this time behind her nibbled ear. Then he rubbed small circles with his paws across her soft fur.

"I promise," he mumbled softly while his head came to rest on top of hers, she responded with a pleasant purr as she let him continue, "I will never betray your trust again. Love you, Silver."

Ocellus's ears twitched as her mind processed the words, and with a flash her dream began to take on a new form. Suddenly the petite beak attached to her face came into focus and the sensation of feathers shifting all over her body became an uncomfortable tickling, it dawned on her that this wasn't meant for her.

She wanted out, out of this dream and out of this embrace. Ocellus shook herself, accomplishing nothing but to further grind herself into the strong gryphon's embrace. She heard a murmur, and felt the weight on her head leave as Gallus must have moved, and leapt onto the opportunity to thrash her head backwards and strike his chest. Her right upper-ear exploded into pain and with a panicked yelp she tore her eyes open.

Her eyes stung, her ear stung, her body felt weighted down, and colour invaded her mind. She attempted to shake the unpleasant sensations off as the image before her came into focus. She began to see the outline of curtains, blue fabric lazily pulled over the window which failed to block out some of the rays of light currently assaulting her. And then there was the stinging of her ear, which grew increasingly obnoxious and ultimately forced her to instinctively whip her head around, trying to gain sight of the offending body-part. Instead she came face to face with a bashfully looking teenage gryphon. As their eyes met she could see the shimmering love within his, and and then felt the same emotion seeping into her mind from his essence. The gryphon finally reached out a paw, the careful pace suggesting that he feared another trashing outburst from her, and gingerly rubbed the tip of her injured ear.

"Sorry to have woken you my love. I didn't mean to startle you, I just thought..." he stopped for a moment and gave her a bashful grin "I still feel guilty about what happened and I wanted to reassure you, and myself." As he spoke his paws ran smooth circles across her fur and she could feel him giving the softest of squeezes, assuring her at every moment of his commitment to stay here with her.

And yet, where the mistaking identity had ruined the tranquil moment mere seconds ago, here in the waking world it suddenly felt so silly. This powerful and wonderful gryphon was caging her in his grasp, lovingly worshiping her every curve and promising boundless security. Why did it matter if she looked like herself, or her pink friend? It seemed a petty complaint in contrast to the wonderful fluttering of her heart. Before she had even finished her train of thought she caught herself purring, noises drawn forth by the constant affectionate petting her body was receiving. The tiny part of her mind that was trying to remind her of the immoral nature of all this, and the fragile illusion she was living in was quickly drowned out by the most simple of instincts and desires for love. This moment was hers and it was too perfect to ruin with needless worries.

"Good morning Gallus." Ocellus chirped out with enough pep to surprise herself, she had always been a sluggish waker, and yet despite being torn from sleep so abruptly her body found itself quickly adjusting and rising to the occasion. She was overcome with such energy that it soon became irritating, and without thinking the changeling shook herself in an attempt to calm, unintentionally but effectively grinding herself into the muscular chest of last night's lover. While a pleasing sensation, the result was rather counterproductive as a wave of excitement quickly shot up her spine.

While this might have momentary subdued the restlessness of her limbs it also served to awake a new stinging sensation in the base of her wings. While her feathery appendages had till now been peacefully resting against her back, they now desperately pleaded to be displayed in an array of colour, and found their desire stifled by the gryphon chest against her. As if to tease the futile attempts of the wings, her tail began to dance to flicking motions, rubbing the fluff on her rear into her lover's embrace. To her surprise Ocellus did not find herself concerned with either issue, and instead only wished to repeat her thoughtless mistake, eagerly grinding her body further into the gryphon's strong form. In time with it she voiced a loud chirp of unclear meaning to her, though she certainly felt like it was a display of joy.

Whatever the noise had meant, Gallus seemed to know as he joined in with a version of his own, and when intoned by him the strange sound overwhelmed Ocellus with a simple sensation of security and affection. She was unaware of it at first but she was shaking, shuddering in his grasp with a mixture of excitement and unbound energy, and finally Gallus locked his limbs around her form tighter, squeezing just firm enough to bring her back to reality for a moment. His beak drifted to her ear, careful to move to the one unharmed, and spoke.

"Heh, you must have really enjoyed last night." As his word registered emotions flashed in Ocellus's mind, suddenly she felt the sensation of a beak exploring between her legs. She shivered as that part of her body began to itch. "If it means seeing you this happy, I am willing to do anything my princess desires, even use my beak." There was a level of bashfulness as he spoke those last words that was simply adorable to Ocellus. She was about to speak when a new sensation realized in her mind, he was poking against her rump. For all his claims of selfless desires he was still a male with biological needs.

She would have expected herself to be shy, or scared of where this might lead, but as her mind ebbed with appreciation for last nights actions as she felt herself overcome by simple determination. Without hesitation she used this newfound strength to pull forward, and found that this concerted effort was all she needed for Gallus to give her the desired space, his limbs unlocking around her respectfully. She felt a twinge of guilt as his heart ebbed forth a sensation of concern, thoughts that he might have messed up again, but with her beak tilting into a smirk the changeling made just enough distance to unfold her aching wings in a vibrant display.

For but a moment she stopped, amazed at the impressive length of her own plumage and making a mental note of their difference from changeling wings, but then her focus returned to the lover she owed so much. And with ferocious eyes she spun around to meet him, feeling the tuft of her chest rubbing against him. She sensed that adorable moment where his concern turned into confusion, and then timid excitement, she pounced onto her prey with animalistic drive.

He was now the one to squirm as the hypogryph pushed his body onto his back and nested herself on top of him. Their eye made contact and Ocellus purred deeply as her target came to an uneasy rest, letting her lay on top of him and finally bring her rear to rest between his legs. She felt him, his firmly erect rod squished between their lower bodies and rubbing into her fur so enticingly.

Her eyes flickered with green flames as she finally explained her intent, "Your beak was wonderful, but what kind of lover would I be if I didn't repay the favour with something special?" and then, with a leading intent she brought her beak to his chest and murmured forth "Because I am your lover, right?". She looked up at him innocently even as she began to grind against him once more, but now with a much better understanding why her body had been bothering with her. She needed this, after a long night of soaking in his love pheromones her body was physically aching for release.

Gallus was awestruck, blinking in surprise even as a blush crept onto his face and shined through his fur. He felt his gryphonhood twitch and his body increasingly excited as the hypogryph above him straddled him with her warm thighs. His beak opened to reply, and a moan escaped before any words could. Then, finally, he found his voice.

"Of course you are! I love you, and would never trade you for anycreature else in the world." He raised one of his claws and stroked it across her side gingerly. "But are you sure this is... this is what you want? I wouldn't want you to reg--" Ocellus silenced him with a passionate kiss, she had no interest for his silly worries, not when his body was showing his true desires. Her tongue explored forth from its bony prison and slid his fleshy mouth. At first it was a strange and alien sensation, but just as her mind began to second-guess itself he came around and greeted her with his own tongue, comforting her with a wet embrace.

His paws too became active, warping around her lower body and stroking small circles into her soft rump, a groan echoing into the kiss as his erect cock began to grind into her belly-fluff. Unable to contain herself, the eager and energetic changeling quickly leaped to the next step, pulling her rear upwards till his member plopped past the thighs and began to prod at her soaked entrance.

Ocellus squeaked, a moment of hesitation ringing through her mind as the reality of her desires came into focus. What had gotten into her, why was she so eager to mate her friend? Mate her best friend's lover? But her body did not stop screaming at her as her mare-hood winked. An embarrassed whimper turned into a needy mewl as she opened her eyes, unsure when she had closed them.

As her gaze lingered on Gallus's face she could feel him fight the temptation to sink into her inviting folds, his cock repeatedly being thrust forward just far enough to tease itself against her. She managed to drown out the million questions that assaulted her, and focused on the one simple truth, she needed this. With a deep purr she ran her mare-hood along his waiting cock once more. She wanted him to take her, needed him to take her, it wasn't fun if she had to make the first step. His eyes met hers, a twinge of uncertainty buried under a growing mountain of passion and she could sense the moment he finally grew wise. His paws tensed as they groped her flank with a lion's strength, his eyes locked with hers and finally he thrust himself forward with the required confidence to spread her lips apart.

Ocellus squealed, which quickly transformed into a yelp as the sensation shot up her spine. She shuddered and tried to jump into the air but found her rear grasped firmly by those strong paws, those lovely paws. Her mare-hood felt overcome with pleasure so hot that it burned, his cock had buried itself a full inch into her and it was scratching at her insides. He had stopped the moment she had tried to leap from his grasp, but not withdrawn. A claw stroked across her back, it trailed up to her neck and scratched with affection only a lover could muster, then she heard his voice.

"I love you, thank you." He purred at her and with her senses returning the changeling gave him a simple nod, she needed this more than anything. He continued to thrust upwards, to bury himself inside her drenched tunnel, and each movement elicited pleasure from the both. But soon it became clear that in their current position it could not be a one creature task, he had made it half way into her passage but without leverage he would need her help. He gryph-grinned up at her, content to watch her adorable reaction as she pushed herself deeper onto his cock.

There were no inhibition anymore, she was eager to give him what he wanted, and take what she needed. Blushing through her fake pink fur she began to lower herself onto his rod in a steady but slow motion. The further he slipped inside the more pronounced the strange bulbs on his cock became, the more pleasure they elicited from her sensitive flesh as they scraped against it.

Then finally, panting heavily and still whimpering from pleasure the changeling had done it, her mare-hood had made contact with his ball-sack and the length of his cock had snugly fit inside her elastic passage. She felt his paws squeeze her rump, felt the strange reality of having him prod her rear from inside. Gallus ran his beak across her cheek, nuzzling her with such genuine affection that she believed it was meant for her.

At first she thought this was it, that her goal had been to bury his cock as deeply inside her passage as possible and then stay. She had never considered what to do after that task was complete, what would be needed of her after. However, the amazing euphoric pleasure began to wane quicker than she had anticipated. She felt it fade and be replaced with an itch, that frustrating yelling of her body to keep going, stronger now than before she had started. She wasn't sure what it wanted but as she began to wiggle her rump, felt the meat inside her rub and scratch against her once more, the itch vanished and euphoria returned.

She was a smart changeling and that was all she needed for epiphany to strike her. She lifted her rear, dragging his cock along the inside of her passage, the pleasure returned and soon only the tip of the head was left inside her. Now she felt cold, empty, no longer so wonderfully stretched. Quickly she undid her mistake and pushed her rump back down, the cock thrust inside and the action send more wonderful shivers up her spine. A moan escaped her lips, a groan escaped his. He stopped playing passive, he began to form his own thrusts and take pleasure at his pace, and she gladly joined him.

The sounds of their lovemaking echoed through the room, their voices growing in volume in step with their pleasure. Soon she was hammering her rear down onto his cock at such an eager pace that her tunnel grew sore, the gryphon's bulbs scratching against her insides with every motion, but the euphoria easily overpowered any other sensation. And then, against her will, her marehood clenched onto the thick shaft buried inside her, motion becoming an near impossible task. A frustrated growl escaped her, why had her body stopped her, isn't this what it had wanted? She kept fighting, kept pushing him further inside her and could feel him try to do the same, his utter desire to bury himself inside her showering the changeling with feelings of love. She shuddered as her passage tightened once more. But this time he had managed to get all the way inside, with him here it was no longer a lonely affair. And then, as if to wordlessly reassure her of his loving presence, he began to flood her with his warms, a thick liquid spurting forth from him.

Within a moment all the frustration and desires waned and was replaced by wonderful gratification. Her wings fluttered and threw air across the room, her beak opened and screeched forth volumes of joy, and finally her body climaxed. As her liquids leaked forth and mixed with the gryphon's seed she could feel herself grow heavy and warm, euphoria lingering with every movement of her lower body. By the time the moment had passed and the world returned to one she could understand, she found herself firmly in the grasp of her gryphon lover, realizing he had pulled her into this embrace even as his cock was trying to breed her. She murmured in loving affection at his gallant display, only subconsciously noting how her throat had grown sore from the whole ordeal. In the same subconscious fashion she noted something much alike last night, a sensation of something seeping from the gryphon into her, something beyond the seeds warming her belly.

Within moments she felt strength return to her, the love muddled mind growing clear and sharp and the wrecked body dismissing all concerns. She barely noted the cock leaving her passage and permitting fluids to leak drip as she struggled to comprehend her amazingly quick recovery. She tilted her head to meet his eyes, intending to thank him for this wonderful moment she would never forget.

She realized that any compliment would fall on deaf ears as Gallus had fallen asleep, even after carefully prodding his cheek with her beak the gryphon remained unresponsive. Ocellus was not sure how to respond to this, her head tilting sideways in a questioning gesture, she would have to read up on gryphon mating habits. But she could hardly complain as her body continued to positively glow with joy. Reluctantly she raised her rump, feeling the paws that had so insistently clung to her before giving way with only timid objections. As their bodies parted she felt a shudder run up her spine, a deep coldness with every inch of space that formed between them. She sighed, half dreaming of staying here with him forever, but then scolded herself for such childish thoughts and leapt off the bed.

The next thing she noticed was the sticky feeling of cum leaking from her marehood, quickly followed by embarrassment as the mental image of herself sank in. She might be hiding in another form, but to be seen like this would have killed her from shame. Doing her best to push her friends possible reactions to all this aside she realized that Gallus's sudden rest might not be so bad after all, it would at least give her time to think. And, she noted, time to get cleaned up.

With a lingering lovestruck sigh the changeling began trotting down the hall toward the bathroom. Just before passing the door she permitted herself one glance back toward the bed and spoke, finally daring to put into words something that had lingered on her mind since last night. "I love you Gallus, me, Ocellus. Please love me back."

She was confident he was asleep, she would have sensed otherwise, but there was still something liberating about speaking her newfound truth to him in this way. He would understand. With a self assuring smirk the changeling finally entered the bathroom and swung the door shut.

Questions and Answers

The relaxing sensation of warm water splashing onto the back of her head and trailing down the chitin of her neck finally broke through the cloudy mind space Ocellus had been lost in. Even as she shook herself and angled her body in such a fashion to wash away the sticky fluids coating her lower body the changeling began to reflect on the recent events. Her eyes clenched shut as repeating images of lewd actions played across them, her voice was quiet and hoarse as she spoke to herself.

"That isn't what I wanted... sure Gallus is flowing with joy and love, and made me happier than I--"

She angled her rump higher and squealed as the water cascaded across her sensitive folds, water dripping into her still stretched passage. It felt uncomfortable, it felt wrong, and yet her buglike wings were fluttering and splashing droplets of water across the insides of the shower. She shook her head and hissed.

"Focus! Silverstream is going to be furious, and I can't blame her. I never showed any interest in any of our friends like this and now..." Having content herself with being clean down there she returned her neck to the stream of water. "But its not like she is the only one allowed to have a crush on Gallus, right? If I explain to her that it was an accident and how happy he made me, maybe we'll find common ground."

She turned around in the shower, letting the torrent trickle down the whole length of her body once more and then grabbed the handle with her teeth and pulled it down, ending the peaceful sensation in an instance. With a heavy sigh she opened the glass door and stepped outside, snuggling up to the wall mounted towel to dry herself.

"I wish I could contact Thorax and ask for his advice, I am sure he would know a healthy way to express my feelings..."

Once she had dried her smooth body Ocellus stepped out of the bathroom and into the hall beyond. Glancing to her left across to the bed, she was unsurprised to witness the sleeping gryphon embracing a pillow, and felt her heart fill with warmth once more. That simple moment was enough for her senses to pick up the powerful emotions still emanating from his sleeping form, and tease her with desire to join.

"Sorry, but first I need to make sure that no one got hurt by this, then I'll be back and join you." She favored him with a smirk and turned away from the love-struck sight, unlocking the door of his room and slipping into the large hallway beyond.

Her mind was spinning with conflicting desires and plans and she needed an outside opinion. Ocellus would have preferred to ask Thorax, or one of the other experienced changelings back home, but with her options being as they were, she knew a trustworthy alternative.

"Come on in, door is open."

As soon as Ocellus had knocked on the door and the voice invited her inside any second thoughts she may have had fell from her mind. Doing as was requested she quickly pushed open the door with a hoof and slid into the room. Curiously she glanced around the room, taking note of the minor but noticeable changes that had occurred since her last visit. This room was in constant flux, its owner never quite content with the status quo, and yet it spoke for a pony who had found her place and calling, happy but not stagnant. Decorated with kites, pictures and mementos from halfway across the known lands, and at the center of it behind a large desk sat her soon to be confidant.

Their eyes met and she smiled warmly at Starlight Glimmer, filled with confidence as the many pieces of history around the room spoke for a pony not only well traveled, but also open minded. Of course Ocellus reminded herself, this was also the councilor of the School of Friendship, if anypony could be trusted to handle something with tact and grace it would be her. They eyes stayed locked in awkward silence as all this and more shot through the changelings mind, and finally it was Starlight who spoke first.

"It is nice to see you Ocellus. However, I assume you here because there is something I can help you with? Feel free to take a seat on the couch and fill me in." The mare rested her forehooves on the table and smiled warmly, wordlessly reassuring her that there was no rush. Ocellus took a seat on the couch before her and let the relaxing embrace calm her mind as she let silence linger once more and formulated her problems into a concise explanation.

"I have a crush on Gallus and need your advice on relationships." She blurted out the words and noted the surprised expression on the pony across the table, despite the fact that Starlight quickly returned to her stoic and warm smile a fraction of a second later. Nervously Ocellus reached out with her senses, wishing to know more about the nature of that momentary breach in facade, and felt her heart beat return to normal as the only thing that came back was a feeling of curiosity and compassion. Encouraged she continued. "But I know that he and Silverstream have feelings for each other. I don't know how I should tell them."

Ocellus fidgeted with her hooves, she was going to tackle this one step at a time. Starlight's warm smile shifted into a compassionate nod and within moments she had formulated her response "I want to assure you that affection for your friends is never something to be ashamed of. I understand that ponies in this school might have given you an impression that it is wrong to feel that way for someone already in a relationship, but that is simply a side effect of our monogamist society. We are well aware that many other cultures have different approaches, and Thorax explained to me before that changelings treat polygamy as a norm."

Ocellus nodded, it was of course normal for her kind to feel little inhibition about sharing mates, till recent it was borderline a necessity. Though, the topic had never come up between her friends and she had not realized that it was of a taboo nature outside her lands, curiosity got the better of her and the next question formulated itself.

"What about, Griffons? Do they mind having more then one..." her voice trailed off as she thought once more about last night, and this morning, about the possible new implications her actions might entail. Her mental image was gladly cut short by Starlight's responds.

"Griffons are a bit of a unique case, from what we gathered many of them don't take mates for life in the first place. Most value their freedom too greatly to be tied to any one place or person for long. However," there was a pause and Ocellus felt like Starlight was trying to place extra care into her next words, mulling on them and meeting her eyes. "It is my understanding that Gallus and Silverstream seem to have taken a more Hippogryph approach to this. Though, we staff attempt not to pry or take rumors too heart."

Ocellus nodded slowly, unsure if she should mention the recent fight she had witnessed. Even if the two had agreed on some longterm thing, maybe that had been a mistake and Gallus wasn't happy being hogged by one creature.

The changeling shook and blinked twice, quickly giving herself a mental slap. How could she think something so mean, and about one of her best friends? Silverstream had made him happy, but it had been Ocellus who had made him even happier, and did not demand such selfish limitations.

"Are you alright?" Her thoughts were broken through by the counselor, who had stepped up from her seat and approached the changeling, placing a hoof on her shoulder and radiating with concern. "I know this can be very stressful, and hippogryphs are very similar to ponies in their views. They value friendships with many creatures but see stable long-term romance as an ideal to search for. This expectation is increasingly so on ponies and hippogryphs from powerful families, but everycreature is unique and Silverstream has already pleasantly surprised many here with her willingness to commit herself to Gallus the way she has."

Ocellus stared into the eyes of her advisor, tilted her head, and gritted her teeth silently. She wasn't sure why, but "Silverstream this" and "Silverstream that" was starting to aggravate her. Still, she kept quiet and was wiling to let Starlight finish, soothed by the genuine glow of compassion coming from her.

"If you talk to them honestly and openly, I am sure they would understand your feelings and find a healthy compromise. They are two of our most mature students, all six of you are, and I trust that they will give real consideration to your feelings. If Gallus feels similar he will voice it, and with a mate as loving and kind as Silverstream I can assure you that she will look out for everycreature's best interest."

Their eyes stayed locked for awhile, the warm smile and positive emotions emanating from the pony giving Ocellus enough optimism to stop being so tense, and finally the changeling permitted herself a response.

"I... I think I understand, it's not like they'll be mad at me for just asking, right? If I talk to Silverstream and tell her that I would like to spend more time with Gallus, and Gallus wanted the same, she would be happy to oblige." There were gears turning in her mind, gears that were visible only to her and things began to seem much clearer. Forming her own smile she perked up and continued. "I will go talk to Silverstream right away, Gallus is going to be ecstatic." She practically leapt from the seat, giving Glimmer barely enough time to give a questioning eyebrow as the changeling darted to the door. "Thank you counselor Starlight."

I'll show you his(Mature)

"Oh.." Her face fell only for a moment before Silverstream recovered and did her best to put on a brave smile. "Hey Ocellus. Sorry about last night, I didn't want to drag you into something that should be between me and Gallus." It was easy for Ocellus to pick of the genuineness of the apology, even when all of SIlverstream's emotions were still tinted by bitter heartache and frustration. She couldn't help but feel momentary pause, a niggling hint of worry that she might hurt her friend in such a fragile state, but a louder voice was quick to drown this out with the wisdom that she had already manage to help Gallus and could repeat that feat once more. Doing her best to mirror the compassionate tone and expression Starlight had used.

"You had a lot to think over, I understand. And thanks to that extra time I have managed to devise a better approach to helping you two overcome this hurdle." Ocellus positively glowed as she approached the end of her statement, the whole world suddenly clicked into place. Silverstrem for her part looked a lot less enthusiastic and attempted to gauge her friend with an inquisitive look but either through sheer desire to appease or loneliness, she finally shrugged and stepped aside. With a muted attempt at humor she would voice her unconvinced reply. "Sure, though I can't promise I'll accept anything other than Gallus getting off his lazy rump and apologizing but I am happy to hear your advice."

As Ocellus stepped into the room she found herself surprised when her mind this time did not react with compassion at her friend's hollow joke, but a twinge of annoyance, as if any remark against her lover was a slight to her. Of course this was a short lived response and her conscious mind was quick to remind her that both parties had agreed Gallus been in the wrong. And so with the internal monologue continuing she stepped into the room and slumped into the nearby couch, shooting her friend a strange gaze.

"But you clearly still love him and want nothing more but for this whole thing to be blown over. And its not like I can blame you, he is a magnificent friend." Without intention her mind trailed into the past, to the pleasureful evening and exciting morning she had shared with him. An absentminded smile crept onto the changeling's face as a shiver ran down her spine and she finally continued. "After our talk last night I approached him to see how he was doing and if he needed advice."

Silverstream had made herself comfortable on a large beanbag chair across from her friend and was watching curiously. Despite her exhaustion she noticeably perked up as Ocellus discussed her encounter with the gryphon. "He was really broken up about what happened between you two. It was obvious he felt guilty and wanted to apologize, so I tried to help." It was possible that Silverstream tried to interject at this point as she shifted in her seat, but Ocellus was determined to plow ahead. "And In order to give him some creature to practice with I took on your form."

Despite her best attempts Ocellus could not hide her nerves as she admitted to this, a blush crept onto her face and a hint of timidness returned as Silverstream eyed her suspiciously. "And after having witnessed his apology I can assure you that if you just gave him a chance you would forgive him. His love for you is deep and passionate and he is not above making up for his mistakes."

Despite her best attempts at laying everything out there Ocellus had managed to avoid an explicit explanation of last night's events, leaving Silverstream with just enough to formulate her own nightmare without certainty of anything. Apprehensively the hippogryph tilted her head in a sign of perplexity and spoke. "What happened that has you so convinced of him? You are practically glowing with praise."

There was a moment of silence as the two eyes met and Ocellus grew increasingly flush before she finally closed her eyes and blurted out the truth. "He embraced me and mated with me, I never felt such powerful emotions as what he had for you. Any pain or grief could not survive under his passion. He deeply loves you and would shower you with affection if you let him." she had grown noticeably flustered during her speech and finally trailed of, writhing in her seat as memories flooded in and her body grew aroused.

But even as she dealt with the teasing tingling sensation between her legs the changeling felt better, she had been honest and forward with her friend. Slowly her eyes slid open, she had forced them shut in fear when her confession had started, and found herself eying an utterly shocked Silverstream. Unable to read the bizarre expression she was witnessing Ocellus focused on her other senses instead, feeling out with her emotional antenna for any hints, and felt the cold sinking emotions invade her.

"You two... last night?" SIlverstream's voice rang hollow and powerless through the air, and carried with it the same growing dread that was ebbing from her very being. "Smolder and now you, is there any creature in this world he isn't willing to bed?! I was supposed to be..." her eyes narrowed as she glared right into her friend's soul and snarled. "Did he know it wasn't me?"

There was a moment of silence as Silverstream's glaring eyes lingered on Ocellus, and the changelings mind struggled to avoid being muddled by her powerful sense. With a huff of air she attributed her anger to Silverstream, and mirrored it back onto the perpetrator, "I made it clear he loves you and wants nothing more than to make you happy, this isn't about me, I didn't start this stupid fight." Ocellus found herself yelling, uncaring how much of the burning embers in her were her own as she continued. "It's not his, mine, or Smolder's fault that you are endlessly demanding of him. If the love he expresses for you is not good enough, than maybe you are not good enough for him!"

Ocellus shook with frustration as her mind focused on one truth, Silverstream's selfishness would not only hurt her, but also Gallus. The changeling's words had the obvious effect on the hippogryph, further ingraining her with indignation that would only fuel Ocellus in a self destructive loop threatening to boil over. Silverstream narrowed her avian eyes and drew air through her beak, raising a claw accusingly. Her beak opened but her voice was quickly silenced by something her enraged mind could not understand, freezing her in disbelieve.

Her beak had been caught by Ocellus's lips, the usually timid creature having proactively leapt across the space and forced herself onto her. The shock was such that no amount of revulsion at the uninvited affection could bring Silverstream to act, her eyes limply staring into those pulsating green irises. Their kiss seemed to last an eternity, and by the time Ocellus allowed it to end Silverstream's flames had been doused in icy water, leaving her sluggish in body and mind. Whenever she tried to regain her reigns her mind lingered on those flickering green eyes of her friend, the soothing touch of her lips, the calming voice of the changeling.

"I love him and I know you do too, but I won't let him be a prisoner of your jealousy. I will share with you what we had, and maybe then you can let go of your bitterness and embrace the freedom love should have."

As she spoke green flames crawled across the changeling's skin. The display was a skilled quick and calm affair, a rush of light rather than a slow creeping, and within the blink of an eye the hippogryph found her head no longer looking slightly down, but instead tilting upwards. Before her stood a gryphon half a head taller, a sight that instantly brought her heart to flutter no matter how much her mind protested the illusion. Silverstream gulped as a wave of instinctive timidness ran down her spine.

Without permission he proceeded by quickly locking beaks with her in yet another unsolicited kiss, though this one not fully unwelcome. The hippogrpyh's squeak was muffled by her lover's beak and before she knew it the male gryphon had pushed his tongue into her beak and was exploring her mouth.

Her mind was in disarray and her heart fluttered, her eyes closed and she simply imagined this was real, this was her love giving her such a moment of affection. The illusion lasted for the length of the kiss and when Ocellus finally withdrew there was a momentary pause allowing for both to re-asses the situation. Silverstream opened her eyes and looked up at Gallus. Was he really almost head taller than him or... was this how Ocellus saw him?

The illusion showed a crack when next 'Gallus' spoke, the strong male voice mixed with the timid tone that she had until recently always associated with her shy changeling friend.

"I promise it was a misunderstanding, I didn't mean to steal this moment from you, and I will make it up to you." Ocellus was not sure what had come over her when this all started. She had gotten so upset when Silverstream refused to let Gallus be free. But then she had remembered how happy Gallus had made her, how happy he would want Silverstream to be. Maybe if she could pass on the love, the stubborn hippogryph would finally understand. And she could not deny, now that the instincts of a feral male gryphon were rushing through her blood, and her surprisingly adorable friend practically swooning before her, she felt her own urge to feel and express love.

Silverstream's sluggish mind attempted to re-assert dominance, it toyed with plans for putting an end to this, or to escape the situation all together. However, whenever a thought formed her eyes found themselves mesmerized by the flickering flames of green silently burning behind her friend's eyes. The lethargy that sat in lasted long enough that when next she came to, she found herself voicing a soft coo involuntarily as the gryphon's large beak scratched behind one of her ears and down her neck. Her body shuddered as a twinge went through her spine and the gryphon's frame began to block out the light.

Ocellus had unfurled her wings in an impressively feathery display and proceeded scratch and tease the hippogryph mare in a recreation of her own pleasures last night. Her scratching beak ran down Silverstream's neck and soon found itself at the base of the wings, but the mare had made it difficult to trail further when she had retreated herself against a wall.

A flicker of frustration worked itself into Ocellus's mind, how could she correctly pass on yesterday's experience to such an difficult partner? Silverstream was not acting her part, in an attempt to fix this Ocelus brought a claw to her rump and carefully pulled the half-mare forward. Silverstream in her still dazed state offered virtually no resistance and was easily moved by the changeling's surprising might, causing her to stumble forward. With a squawk she hit her head against the gryphon's chest before finally catching herself. While Ocellus had succeeded at creating space between the hippogryph and the wall, Silverstream could only focus on the thing dangling before her while her mind raced with insecurities.

Above her towered a gryphon body, like the roof of a jail, while before her eyes came into focus the equally intimidating gryphon's pride. It was not the first time she had seen this thing, but never without explicit consent, and certainly not pushed against her beak without warning. She trembled, unsure if from shock or because Ocellus had used her new empowered position to begin preening her feathers.

Now that the half-mare had finally been put into a position that would allow her to continue replicating yesterday's events Ocellus had began her task, granting each feather the loving attention she had enjoyed yesterday. To her surprise it was equally entertaining from the gryphon's position, a simple but great pleasure unfolding as she straightened out every feather, turning her muse into the prettiest little bird around. Sure she lacked the experience of her last night's lover, but if Silverstream at all tried to enjoy herself this would not go amiss. Finishing one wing and beginning working on the next her mind began wander. Images of her finished product flashing before her eyes, these two wonderful pink wings splayed out in an impressive display for the world to see, and then for her to claim.

Silverstream witnessed the cock before her eyes twitch, as if it had not been enough that she had spend the last minuet watching it grow by the inches until there was no way for her to avert her gaze from the lewd display. The smell of arousal wafted into her nostril, and even as part of her mind lingered on the perfect replication a changeling could create, the other half flared up with indignation knowing where such knowledge came from. The anger was short lived as a squeak escaped her beak, the soft pleasures from the preening was burring itself in her mind. It felt good, or maybe she simply wanted it to feel good because Ocellus had stolen her lover's form? Suddenly the large gryphon inched himself forward, and once more brought his large claws to bear around her rump, this time content to pin it in place. The cock that had been growing under her gaze bounced across her face and left behind a damp spot just beneath one of her eyes.

The wings had been completed, preened to perfection, or at least what Ocellus assumed was gryphon perfection. She gave a mental shrug, it was probably just like last night. But now for the main course, something Gallus had been sure would make up for any past transgressions. She inched herself forward, rubbing her powerful chest against the nice warm back of Silverstream and bringing both her claws to her petite rump. One digit was used to pin that obnoxious tail straight up and out of the way. Grinning in whatever form a gryphon could, her eagle eyes lingered on the marehood before her, contemplating the excitement her last night's lover must have felt. The sight was enough for her min to wander once more, to be interrupted by something she had payed little heed to till now, her own neither regions had been changed too. Till now it had only made itself known as a dull burning in the back of her mind, which was now replaced with a wave of ecstasy as the sensitive flesh made contact with something fluffy and warm. Her mind lost focus on the marehood for but a moment as she reflexively tried to recreate the sensation, shifting her large rump downward and grinding her phallus against the pleasant texture. Her reward was more pleasure as she felt the soft fur teasing her cock and a timid squawk rang from below, responding with a purr. Here she was doing all this for Silverstream, why shouldn't she return the favor a little?

Silverstream winced to herself as the cock was run across her face once more. What had once been a damp spot below her eye now had become a mess of fur coated in gryphon fluids. Any attempt to withdraw from the assault was halted by the two large claws still pining her rump in place and all her undignified squawk of protest had brought forward was a rumbling purr and increasingly aggressive grinding. To make things worse, what had once been simply unorganized thrusts had now taken on a purpose, she was not oblivious to the fact that the large cock was desperately trying to convince her to open her beak as it ran across the keratin time and time again and filled her nostrils with unpleasantly powerful musk. Ocellus refused to relent. Till finally being worn down by the repeated sexual advances Silverstream closed her eyes and opened her beak just an inch, and instantly found her jaw being forced aside by an eager and demanding cock.

What had began as warm and rewarding purrs had slowly grown frustrated, here she stood above Silverstream with her tingling cock rubbing against those pleasantly warm features but the hippogryph refused to take the hint. How could she continue showing her the wonders of last night if she was opposed every step of the way? From a simple distraction to a major point of contention, all because she insisted on being difficult. And then in one moment, finally, she found that beak open and willing. Her frustration still lingering she thrust forward with no heed and buried herself deep inside that warm hole. Instantly she was rewarded with pure bliss, her sexual organ wrapped in warmth and moisture, with Silverstream's throat and tongue teasing her shaft. A loud moan echoed through the room and her body finally relaxed, its heavy frame relocating some of its weight onto the hippogryphon's back. Very content with this turn of events Ocellus finally brought her beak down to the still exposed marehood and began her task.

Silversream's first reaction was to attempt gasping for air, desperate to evict evict the thick meat from her throat. But even as the thought of biting down worked itself into her mind the imposter gryphon withdrew just enough to allow her to breath. The smell of musk was overwhelming, but her lungs celebrated the air rushing inside and there was no way she could stop herself from repeating the cycle. As her mind lingered on the simple act of breathing in and out she realized there had been a momentary pause to her torment, and just as she began to question Ocellus's next step she felt herself be rewarded for obedience, the beak touching her marehood teasing to fulfill a fantasy she had begged for countless times. But with that thick cock lingering in her mouth she knew it would be a short reprise, and any pleasure would be underpinned by her responsibilities. At least she had managed to use the moment, steeling herself so when Ocellus returned to enjoying herself in her muzzle Silverstream found it much easier to keep pace and control her breathing. Not sure if out of habit or simply with a desire to get this over with, she even began to work the shaft not unlike she had done many times for her real mate.

Ocellus growled with pleasure, vibrating her friends marehood as her beak continued to bury itself deeper into her. She had permitted herself a moments reprise and withdrawn her cock most of the way from the warm beak only to find her return heralded by an eager tongue and Silverstream showing some incredible skill. The changeling attempted to return the favor by putting the same effort into her work, though it was incredibly difficult to stay focused for more than mere moments, time and time again she all but forgot about working her beak and simply focused on thrusting into the moist muzzle. Could Silverstream really blame her, that hippogryph was working her like it was all she had ever dreamed off doing, maybe she enjoyed pleasuring much more than being pleasured anyway? Suddenly she felt her shaft twitch as it once more slid into Silverstream's beak and release a glob of precum.

Silverstream felt the twitch as it pulled her jaw apart just a little further, and then the powerful taste of precum being shot right across her tongue. She had never been a huge fan of the taste, she was also well aware of what this meant and began to wonder if Ocellus planned to keep going till she hit her climax. The hippogryph shuddered at the mental thought of having to swallow a whole load from this imposter Gallus and even as her marehood twitched and squeezed the beak still lazily lodged inside her she felt sinking regret.

With renewed vigor the thrusts of her rear made one thing clear, Ocellus had no plans of stopping now that she had realized how amazing the approach to a climax felt. Her eyes closed shut and her beak slowly withdrew from the half pleasured marehood. Her mind pictured this scene from a third person perspective, how it must look for this petite hippogryph to be beneath her in such a submissive state, eagerly working her mouth and beak with no desire but to pleasure. Ocellus voiced a instinctive and loud squawk of dominance, hearing it ring of the walls while she used her claws to finally push Silverstream even further into her.

The hippogryph received her wordless answer quite clearly when Ocellus did not slow down or let off, instead she was forced to submit herself to the eager and demanding assault of a gryphon who had never felt the pleasures of a blowjob before. She closed her eyes tightly and worked her tongue as expertly as she could, not out of love but simply to avoid prolonging this experience. Luckily the ordeal was very short lived, Ocellus was no more skilled at holding out than she was at pleasuring a mare, and with a final twitch of the gryphoncock it began to shoot forth waves of cum. Silvestream did her best to ignore the flavor and simply focus on gulping down the seed as they came forth, feeling her empty stomach filling up unpleasantly till finally the climax stopped.

Her climax hit and for a brief moment Ocellus forgot all about Gallus, about Silverstream, about anything but this pleasure that rolled through her body and culminated in her neither regions. Felt herself let lose a torrent of seed and her beak curled up into a satisfied smirk as she rested her head on the nice warm flank of her friend. For a few long moments she stayed like this, catching her breath and relaxing. Then slowly withdrew her cock and stumbled backwards. She disentangled from Silverstream and brought her rump down on the ground, meeting the mare eye to eye, and snickering slightly at the absurdly messy state she had left her in.

"Sorry Silver, things got a little carried away there." As the power or her orgasm faded the haze on her mind began to clear, and with a sheepish grin the changeling realized she had never gotten to do as she had intended. With a pang of guilt her eyes trailed toward the pink flank as she spoke up. "That wasn't quite... uh, accurate to how Gallus acted. But I can make it up to you, I just..." As she recalled just exactly what Gallus had done for her Ocellus realized another thing that was different from last night. This had no doubt felt great and her body beamed with vigor, but it lacked that pulse of emotional energy Gallus had supplied her. She was unsure if the fault lay with Silverstream, or herself, but it must have been from a lack of connection she had with Gallus.

Silverstream too had finally recovered, though her limbs shook and threatened to give out as she pulled herself up, the purple in her eyes clouded even as she shot a fiery glare at her recent sexual partner. "Don't ever do something like that without my permission again. And get out of his form right now!" She huffed her words, audibly exhausted despite her best attempt to hide it. Still, even if her words lacked the volume or energy it was dead simple for Ocellus to feel the vicious contempt seeping from her.

Ocellus was stunned for just a moment, surprised by the nature of her friend's responds but then reluctantly submitted to her request, the magical flames of her heritage engulfing her and slowly reform her image to her natural form. Once done she found herself a good half head smaller than the hipogryph she had been towering over mere moments ago, and felt a timid nature return to her that she had found easy to cast aside in the strong male body. "S..sorry? I know it was a little, impromptu, but I thought that if I could let you catch up on lost time you wouldn't feel left out." Her eyes glimmered with a genuine tear, "and you would understand why Gallus means so much to me."

Silverstream was tired and felt gross as remnants of cum lingered on her face, her beak, and swished around her tummy with each movement, her head felt all kinds of woozy and all she wanted but couldn't have was her lovely mate to cradle her. She was not in a mood to listen to Ocellus, not in a mood to indulge her defiling the love that hung between a gryphon and a hippogryph. She closed her eyes, shook, and growled a responds between a gritted beak. "He doesn't love you, he loves me and you STOLE that. Changeling steal love! If you love him half as much as you claim, fuss up to him. And stay out of our relationship!"

The half mare slumped to the ground, curling up upon herself like a tuckered out foal. Ocellus simply stood there in silence, conflicted and confused in equal measures. This whole ordeal had gone from bad to worse. A moment ago Silverstream had been livid, and now decided to take an impromptu nap in the middle of her room? Between Gallus earlier this morning and this it was clear that something was amiss, was this her doing?

The changeling shifted her wings awkwardly and resolved to put her friend in a less unpleasant position, despite the current animosity between the two. After changing form into a manticore and lifting the poor thing into her bed Ocellus awkwardly tugged her in and returned to her true self. With this done her mess of thoughts and concerns returned, and quietly leaving the room she considered what to do with Silverstream's advice.

A Bird in a Gilded Cage

The hinges of the door had made no noise as Ocellus's hoof pushed it open, the testament to magical perfection lost on her as she peeked past the entrance and into the room beyond. Despite a lack of any synthetic lights the room was lit well, the still drawn shut curtains at the end of the bed doing little to keep out the now fully risen sun, leaving little doubt in the utter emptiness of the space.

"G-gallus?" Her eyes lingered on the comfortable bed she had enjoyed last night's rest in. A deep yearning engulfing her heart as memories of her lover flashed before her. Her eyes closed and for a moment she felt the calm of a powerful gryphon embracing her, with a shudder she returned to reality. Likely he had only recently awoken and was still grabbing breakfast, Gallus had always been unapproachable till he had his morning meal.

This meant he would be in the school cafeteria, stuffing his face with one of Applejack's pies. Satisfied with her deduction and a twitch of her excited tail the changeling quickly closed the door to his room and began to stride toward her new destination. She was confident he would be quite receptive to her inquiries once he had his fill.

Due to the centralized layout of the school the trip was not long and after a quick trot across the sunsoaked central-courtyard Ocellus entered the main building of the school, her objective just down the hall. However, even this short trip through public grounds revealed to her a strange realization; every pony she so much as saw today was overflowing with emotions. She knew it was improbable to be their doing, and must have been a sign her own senses were extra sensitive today.

The influx of fascinating but ultimately unwanted feelings brought her step to a momentary halt as she quickly raised her mental defenses, dulling herself to the world around her. She was not going to let her self be steered off course by her over eager body. The last sensation that manage to slip past and into her was a tingling sensation, which quickly shot up her spine, and with the hint of a blush she realized it had emanated from the stallion who had just passed her. She was no longer too innocent to assume its meaning, but did not permit this to give her more than a momentary pause.

Despite the short distance to the double doors doors welcoming ponies into the cafeteria Ocellus felt immense relief as her eyes scanned over the large room and made out the easy to spot gryphon. Falling in love with the only gryphon in a school full of ponies did have its benefits, beyond the obvious ones.

She smirked to herself as she approached him, easily navigating through the sparsely populated room, with school break still ongoing many ponies were away and staying with family. As she closed in Ocellus had to take her eyes off Gallus to finally acknowledge the two obstacles that had thrown themselves before her. He was not sitting at their usual desk alone, but instead was flanked by two mares she only had vague recollection of seeing around school before.

This was not exactly uncommon, ever since the incident involving Cozy Glow they had become local celebrities. The days directly following the events had been strange for her, while the warm emotions seeping from everycreature had been a deeply gratifying experience, it had severely interfered with her schedule and study habits. Ultimately Twilight saw the issues arising and was quick to pull the group aside and permit them to eat and rest in the teacher's lounge when they so desired. However, months had passed since and most ponies had moved on to newer hobbies, world saving while appreciated was after-all not that uncommon a feat.

And yet, these two mare's seemingly had missed the memo and were actively obstructing her very important plans. With simmering annoyance she came to a halt behind one of them and voiced a noisy "Umhum", waiting just long enough to gain their attention before speaking in her usual innocent and unassuming tone.

"Excuse me, but you are sitting in my seat."

The three creatures had turned to face her and to her credit the mare greeted Ocellus with a warm smile and quickly scooted over to the next seat. Ocellus took her place next to Gallus, realizing that despite her success she still had two unwanted guests flanking both sides of them. Even as she turned to glare in the direction of the pony who had just made space for her, the same mare began to speak up in a shrill excited voice.

"Sorry! Me and Bublepop were just saying how much we admire what Gallus, and the others, did for all of us!" Despite her best attempts Ocellus could sense the bubbling excitement ebbing from the mare, an emotion she understood too well. Curiously she glanced toward her gryphon friend, who was simply chewing away at his meal with nought but a quietly smug expression. She suppressed a growl at his silent entertainment even as the other mare continued.

"Yea, and Gallus was so brave when he rushed forward to protect everycreature!" Ocellus had to bite her lip to stop herself from exploding into an interruption, there was something about the blatantly flattery that irked her. "And we just thought, 'They saved all of us from a horrible fate, the least we should do is let them know that we would gladly help with anything they need.'." As if the absurdly sugary tone of voice was not bad enough, Ocellus easily sensed the same underlying excitement in this mare.

Despite the deep growling in her mind Ocellus contented herself with rolling her eyes, of course these two had been so appreciative that they practically ambushed her gryphon alone during his morning meal, months after the event. She credited her relative calm at the equally reserved state of her companion, who seemed despite not voicing any vocal objections uninterested in the underlying offer. He had simply been too polite to tell them to leave, or enjoyed stringing them on. In either case that would have to come to an end, now. With a visibly unauthentic grin Ocellus met the eyes of the pony she had asked to move, and spoke.

"That is very nice of both of you, I'll be sure to let the rest know about your generous offer, I understand that Smolder plans to bring some fire-resistant targets from her trip to the dragon lands. She is going to need all the help she can get setting up her range, those things are heavy." Her tone was equally sugar coated as the speech of the two mares, and with a quick glance she met both of their pairs of eyes. She had no interest to mirror Silverstream's selfishness, but reasoned that these two had acted as underhanded thieves trying to snake their way into Gallus's busy schedule, rather than genuine lovers looking to make him happy.

The two ponies seemed to take the hint, whether from her words or tone, and with a set of awkward glances between each other gave a quick nod before muttering something about having a lot of studying to complete before the next school year began. The moment the two were out of earshot Gallus swallowed the whole muffin he had so far been ineffectively nibbling and turned toward the changeling with a raised eyebrow.

"Not that I don't appreciate the backup, but wasn't that a little harsh? Even I wouldn't want to spend a whole day dragging around big rocks for smolder to shoot fire at." Ocellus barely even recognized his words, the moment their eyes had met she had dropped all attempts at dulling her seven's sense and permitted herself to be tickled by the touch of Gallus's emotions. They spoke only of mundane playfulness and a sated belly, but to her his very presence was a warming blanket that drowned out the rest of the room. A blush crept onto her face and when she spoke Ocellus was sure to intone with her usual softspokeness that he was sure to find sympathetic.

"Sorry if I was rude." She let the words linger just long enough to be believable, "but I had something important I needed help with, preferably privately." Her last words was almost a hush and she could not help but feel a simple satisfaction when the next emotion she received was one of compassion. She leaned a little closer, almost touching his body with her own, yearning to continue as she stopped moving. "I need romance advice."

Gallus's perfect facade of cool crumbled in an instant, and his best attempt at coughing awkwardly to cover up his surprise was lost on the emotion sensing creature. As he stalled, their eyes lingering on one another with wordless questions, Ocellus could sense his embarrassment grow as a few stray looks took note of the display. Despite this, he huddled closer to her, using a voice quiet enough that non of the ponies could overhear them. "R..romance isn't really my strong suit, Silverstream knows much more about that kind of stuff. Besides, if Smolder heard I was giving out lovey dovey advice, you know I would never hear the end of it."

Despite his words it was obvious that Gallus's protests lacked conviction, a defeatist acceptance radiating from him that encouraged her to press onward. With a giggle Ocellus raised a hoof to his beak and replied in the same hushed tone. "Honesty is an element, and we both know everycreature is practically swooning over you." She let that statment hang for just a moment, enjoying the slightly conflicted and suspicious emotions she savored from him in reaction, then continued. "And you know my target a lot better than Silverstream, you two spend a lot of time together after all."

Ocellus could have sworn she could see the heat radiating from the gryphon's face, even through the covering of his facial fur. His eyes darted past her and toward the other ponies in the room and then he finally returned a nod. With a played up sigh he spoke with his usual apathetic tone. "Fine, but if you tell anycreature about this I am never going to live it down." The fact that he could not bring himself to threaten her, hollow as it would have been, only served to deepen her love for her perfect mate, strength honed in compassion and not aggression. After a short pause he continued, and it became evident he had already made peace with his new position as matchmaker, "Who is the lucky guy anyway, or are we keeping that till we get somewhere away from prying ears?"

She had noted but cared little for the rest of the creatures in the room, they were for the most part more concerned with each other than anything else, but she could not deny the nervous energy radiating from her gryphon companion. The big goof was such a sensitive thing, and just a hint insecure. She grinned slyly and fluttered her wings a little in quiet excitement before responding, "There is a secret hideout in the library I could show you, away from all interlopers and with plenty of reference material in reach." Her tone had ever the slightest hint of suggestion in it, but now she was content to leave him guessing rather than expecting.

She did not have to wait for his response, the open book he had become left little obscurity about his willingness to follow, and so she gracefully removed herself from the seat. Subconsciously she could not prevent herself from flicking her tail and moving with subtle emphasis to her sleek form. Though if the gryphon took note he did well at maintaining his mental composure, and before long he had followed her out into the hall.

As they walked down the hall Ocellus this time had little need for the mental barriers, her senses completely buried within the touch of Gallus's mind. She smirked at him, blushing softly through her blue chitin while speaking up once more. "Thankyou for helping me with this, it is really important to me." Her wings fluttered once more as she glanced toward the floor for a moment "I am still new to this whole idea of love and wouldn't want to do something wrong."

The moment she had finished her speech she could feel another wave of sympathy, and affection, emanating from him. Even as he spoke his voice sounded shaky, as if suddenly emotions had made themselves known he had not yet fully categorized, to her the tickling uncertainty he felt was just another point of evidence toward his true affection.
"He..hey, don't worry about it, alright? I don't think there is anycreature who would deny your charm and intellect. What kind of fool wouldn't give you a chance?" He half chuckled half coughed after his statement, awkwardly trying to avoid the implication even as her eyes met his and soft flickering green flame behind them brought his beak to a warm smirk.

The rest of the trip was mostly uneventful, Ocellus not inclined to start a public show for anycreature while Gallus mulled internally on the awkward tingling his body felt. Soon they slipped into the massive library of the school, clearly a symbol of the headmare's obsessions. The place was not packed, which was of little surprise due to the scale of the room requiring most of Ponyville's population to accomplish that, but at least a few study groups and individual students could be seen.

Often Ocellus would find a deep appreciation in any student who matched her interests and many here she had at least talked to in passing, usually about whatever newly released book had made the local circles. However, today she was focused on the big bird beside her, who needed not to read a single book to make her the happiest creature in the library. With a playful hush and a excited leap she finally took lead before him, letting his eyes linger on her rump if they so pleased.

Whether intentionally or not, he did so please, and she could feel the desired affect seep from the gryphon as his mind voice appreciation. Smirking proudly to herself and feeling a surge of reassurance she lead him deep into the library, past many rows of bookshelves until they finally slipped down one of the most empty sections of them all, "Husbandry".

Ocellus had originally found some fascination with the topic, subjugation and education of those creatures less fortunate of mind seemed like a reasonable topic, but sadly ponies seemed to be much more uncomfortable with the matters and many books here were either ancient or poorly researched. However, it had still been a worthwhile topic to get into, as she slipped into one of the bookshelves lowest rows, the books here so sparse they made a hole wide enough for her form.

After leaving the gryphon standing there dumbfounded and surprised at her swift motion she returned, facing him now and grasping one of his claws with a giggle. "Come now, there is enough room for both of us in here, promise." He wanted to voice his skepticism, but as his beak opened she simply made another hush and tugged on his claw. Reluctantly he gave in and awkwardly lowered himself to the ground and into the passageway.

It was tight, way too tight for him, and even his best efforts at pulling in his wings and feathers did not stop him from knocking down one or two more books and hearing them clatter to the ground. Still, he managed eventually to break through the passage into another realm, a final tug from the changeling leading him to bowl her over as he stumbled through. A dimly lit little nook of space between this final bookshelf and the walls of the library formed a surprisingly cozy triangle. His eyes darted across the area, making out a small table with a lamp, a pile of pillows big enough even for him, and a tower of books.

Finally his mind return to the physical sensations, primarily his smaller friend practically squished against his fluffy chest voicing a shy squeal as she wiggled against him in a fruitless attempt to escape his weight. Looking down he met eyes eyes, and despite the awkward position she was beaming with a wide grin and spoke in a proud voice. "Welcome to MY domain. I call it the book hive."

If she knew how cheesy the name was, she showed no sign of embarrassment in her exclamation. It made her only more adorable to him and a respectable portion of his mind wanted him to squeeze her silly form in response. But he was mated and he was loyal, and begrudgingly he rolled off her compromised form and gave her the space to stand up, while trying to shift his mind from the uncouth thoughts. With a genuinely impressed chuckle he spoke up.

"Did you bribe Twilight to set this up for you? And you are sure nocreature can hear us in here?" He leaned an ear against one of the bookshelves and found them to give surprisingly good insulation. Sure he could hear some hushed clacks of hooves when a pony made its way this far to the back of the library, but with how many shelves were lined between this corner and the front reading area, it was unlikely anycreature would mind their discussion.

Ocellus seemed to agree as she responded with no attempt to hush herself, her wings fluttering proudly. "No, I doubt even she is aware of this little outcove. This is the west corner of the library." She ran one hoof along the crystal wall that formed the hypotenuse of the triangular room, "I guess headmare Twilight wanted universal spacing between the bookshelves but it didn't quite fit, so they covered up this section with a bookshelf." She smirked proudly and then gave a shrug "Or she wanted one of her most dedicated students to find it and create a home away from home. And don't worry, there were never enough books to fully cover this section, I just moved some over to the next shelf to make my entrance, would never damage school property."

He glanced at the tower of books beside her pillow bed and rolled his eyes, unsure if any of those were officially checked out or she had simply taken to 'borrowing' them. It didn't really matter to him, once the curiosity of this place had begun to wear off he remembered why they had come here, and grew unsure what to say. She could tell the changing focus of his mind, and without attempt at reservation nuzzled his large chest reassuringly. "Don't worry, here you can teach me all about love without being disturbed by anycreature." She winked up at him, then slid past the gryphon and toward the hole that made the entrance, at the last second turning her head around to look into his eyes. "Even Silverstream wouldn't find us here. Let me grab some books on the topic that might help."

Gallus had simply stood still, frozen like an icicle as the changeling made her advances, then left him in this cave to stew with a final glance at her rump as she vanished back past the ever tight hole. As the seconds passed and his brain tried to recuperate he growled at himself. Time and time again his mind flashed before him images, images of her rear as it struggled to tuck itself through the tight entrance, images of her adorable eyes winking up at him. Images of Silverstream beneath him in his bed being eager to be taken by her lover. Why did he come here? Why didn't he shut Ocellus down yet? He had to, once she was back.

He sat down on his haunches and kept his eyes focused on the entrance, determined to make his position on the matter clear once the changeling returned. Despite his determination he felt the stirring in his loins, the frustration of having grown ever so slightly excited and now being made to wait endlessly in this hole.

The moment finally passed when his ears twitched in response to the shuffling outside, five books were pushed through the entrance, and followed by the head of his changeling friend. She smirked as they made eye contact, her eyes glinting with excitement even as she wiggled through the hole like an adorable snake. He opened his beak to speak, but was cut off by Ocellus whining out a plea. "Gallus! I am stuck...! Your big haunches messed with my hole."

He stared at her dumbfounded, unsure how to reply. He had expected her to burst into laughter at the inappropriate nature of her statement, but instead simply kept her eyes on his, and fruitlessly wiggled in place. She was being serious, and had simply stumbled into the most unfortunate of word choices. Coughing awkward the gryphon approached her and carefully grasp her forehooves with his claws. He tucked on her limbs and did his best to sound reassuring as he spoke.

"I was able to fit through there, whatever you did can't have made it much worse, books are flimsy things. Just stop moving and let me help you." He tucked again, and could see the changeling shift an inch forward, but it was difficult to acquire a hold on hooves, and soon he found himself crawling further up, embracing the changeling in full body hug with the platonic goal to pull her free. It worked, and with a gasp he suddenly felt himself shooting onto his back as Ocellus plopped free and snugly landed on his chest. As she nestled there in his still clasping hug the gryphon realized how petite she really was, he must must be twice her strength.

She did not make an obvious attempt to withdraw from him, instead seeming content to relax and catch her breath, still softly weighting on his chest. He wanted to object, to push her off, but his body would not move, he purred softly as his limbs simply contented themselves with holding her in a moment of peace. Then he slowly brought his head down, rested it on-top of hers and closed his eyes.

His next breath inhaled her scent, and the lingering taste became a strange allure that coaxed the gryphon into further breaths, subconsciously nuzzling her head affectionately. And then his moment of peace and rest was broken by a high pitched and shy squeak originating from the changeling he was still imprisoning in his grasp. "Sorry about that Gallus, I'll be more careful in future. But you may let go of me now, its not rest time yet."

His heart stopped and sank, he had not expected to be interrupted by her. Even as she withdrew from him, struggling against his molasses like limbs with each tug he felt his mind linger on thoughts of regret. But as she smiled up at him with no sign of judgment he blushed and set her free. Ocellus taking the chance to quickly crawl off his soft chest and into her equally welcoming pillow fort instead. Gallus for his part was occupied with pulling up his lower legs and attempting to hide any indecency he might have suffered from the pleasant contact.

He was glad to note that she did not seem to take note, instead engrossed with the first book she had grabbed herself, flipping through it to a specific page. When she found her target she pointed a hoof at it, clearly for show being he was not close enough to read the thing, and then looked up at him with a sideways tilted head. "This library has books on every topic Equestrian's research, and yet I find the sections talking about romance to be lacking. Many simply insist that ponies mate for life, one stallion, one mare, one family, and leave the rest as obvious." There was a sound of lingering uncertainty as she continued to explain to him.

"But for me that is so confusing. Changelings are not taught about constructs of family like that, or even romance locked to one partner. I know I am still a young-ling but we are raised to be free and loving." Despite her obvious attempt to look prideful there was ever the hint of a blush as she admitted this, as if she was concerned what Gallus might think of her for it. Her eyes met his and glimmered as she concluded. "What about gryphons? Do all other races treat this like ponies do? A..am I weird?"

Gallus was far from the most empathetic of his group, but even he could easily note the concerns and worries that dripped from the poor changeling's final words. And as his heart ached to sooth her fears he blurted out his responds before truly giving them thought. "Pff, ponies are just big softies. Most races don't believe in that crap, and certainly Gryphons don't tie themselves down for life." Despite his mind slowly catching up with his heart he held the gryph-grin he had afforded her, long enough to comfort her before finishing his reply. "Though.. some other races do, hippogryphs got more pony then Gryphon in them I guess. I think it comes with their concepts of heraldry or something."

He shrugged as he tried to recall exactly what Silverstream had told him about the importance to her society. He loved her and had been more then willing to discard his freedoms for her happiness, why had not really seemed that important at the time. As Ocellus continued to question him he wished he had taken the time to fully understand why it mattered to Silverstream so much.

"That is a relief, though, I guess if you took after Silverstream's demand, then that means creatures like us should restrict ourselves to the limitations ponies and hippogryphs put forward?" She pondered, and Gallus held his beak half open for a moment. He could not suppress the burning desire to correct her "I wouldn't call it a demand, I just wanted to make her as happy as possible and didn't mind. It was not like I gave up anything that I wanted." His words became unsteady as he finished, before his mind flashed memories of Smolder. Even as he tried to assure himself that mistake had been corrected he could feel his shaft twitch, and images of the adorable changeling before him held in his grasp took their place.

"But your culture has a preference, and so does her's, and you gave away the free flowing nature of a gryphon because she requested it." He was unsure if he was reading into it, but he felt the weight of judgment in her voice. "I know you want to make her happy, but your comfort should be her happiness. Didn't her way of doing things cause that fight you two had yesterday?"

Many strange things had happened to Gallus in the last day, but at no point had he expected to find himself interrogated and judged by his usually shy and reserved friend. His expression was that of a plucked chicken as the two met eyes and Ocellus innocently tilted her head. Then spoke once more, in a tone that rang with simple sympathy. "Of course that is non of my business to get hung up on, but its not like I don't sense how you feel around me." She blushed even as he felt he should be the one to be embarrassed, "When you were holding me earlier it was kinda obvious."

His body tensed up at the accusations, he wanted to shout back that it was her fault they had landed in such a position, but that would not deny his arousal. He gritted his beak and huffed out a short formal response.

"Natural response to a female plopping herself onto my chest, doesn't mean I actually want to do anything." He met her eyes again, and wished he could read her emotions half as well as she read his. "I love Silverstream and she is more important than my base instincts."

"So you admit to giving something up." She simply stated, getting up from her pillows and approached the gryphon. "Obviously your decision to make, but it is important to know what you want, and not blind yourself intentionally." Her petite form came to a halt just before him, looking up at him with a wordless question.

He could smell her arousal, or was it his? It did not matter, the aroma tingled his nostrils in either case, causing his tail to twitch and mind to slow down. Wordlessly his gaze lingered on hers, the full blue eyes mesmerizing as they twinkled with as a hint of green flame. His tail flicked and wings twitched subconsciously, she had awoken a desire within his body and it was beginning to take hold. But even as he contemplated to lean his head forward, nuzzle her petite head and lure himself deeper down this spiral, a flash of the most wonderful hyppogriff he knew steeled his mind. His beak shifted into a warm smile as recent memories seeped in, the comfort and peace he felt, the pride when they finally mated.

"I am sorry Ocellus, I know what I want. I already messed things up with her once, and she forgave me and trusts me not to repeat the mistake. I need no-one but her." Even as he spoke he felt a pang of guilt for rejecting her like this, Ocellus meant no ill, she was just asking to be embraced. A week ago he likely would have done so without question, what harm in sharing affection with those dear to you? However, he now understood how much it truly meant to Silverstream.

There was a hanging moment of silence, and as he had expected, the changeling's expression soon became one of bashfulness, as if embarrassed to have ever been so forward now that things slowed down. What he did not however expect was her suddenly glancing back up at him and responding as she did.

"What if I tell you that we already shared this 'mistake'?" As she spoke he saw a green flame envelope her rear, and within an instant leave behind the form of his true love. The pink flank covered by hues of a blue tail. "Last night, and in the morning, I know it was an accident at first, just a misunderstanding but..."

Her eyes shimmered, with hope, lust, fear. His mind reeled from the still sinking realization, even as his body reacted to the swishing of her tail and the alluring memories of recent conquests. He could not form a word, petrified even as she nuzzled his chest and whimpered out. "If you still don't don't want me, you don't have to, but you had to know that it was me who gave you what she wouldn't."

Shamelessly the usually innocent changeling turned around, and flagged her tail in a blatant display of her most private parts. No, not hers, Silverstreams, the perfect imitation he had not been able to tell apart half a day past. With a gulp he felt his cock stir, growing to occasion even as he opened his beak to reply. "T...that was you? But I apologized, Silverstream needed to hear that I was sorry, that I-"

Ocellus shook her flank, and lowered her body into a submissive posture, "Nocreature is stopping you from going to her right now, I just want you to be honest about what really makes you happy. You were such an eager and passionate lover, and she will just keep denying you." With a flash of flame her pink fur was shifted once more, leaving behind the much smaller but no less revealing changeling rump of Ocellus. "I don't want to steal you from her, but I don't want to see you caged by love, passion should set you free."

Gallus's heart raced, his cock hard and his wings unfurled in a visible display of arousal even as his mind tried to think clearly, tried to remind him of the value of restrain. And yet he heard the clack of claw against crystal floor, felt his body bring himself closer to the alluring form, his beak suck in the wonderful musk of two aroused creatures. She was small, smaller then Silverstream for sure, but showed no hint of fear, and he knew that if she couldn't take him she could always... well she could take on her form again.

It wasn't as thought this would be their first time, and if Silverstream had never actually received his apology he wasn't betraying her again. Just this once, to appease whatever he had awoken in her. He heard her purr, and realized his claw was already grasping her flank, giving the petite thing a soft squeeze and finding the chitin a strange but alluring contrast to warm hippogryph fur, not unlike Smolder's scales.

Ocellus felt his touch, and murmured, the euphoria of his lust and passion seeping into her once more. He had yet to mount her, to claim her, and already she was filled with satisfaction, she had proven Silverstream wrong. Gallus was a proud griffon, not a canary that could be locked up.

As he climbed ontop of her she relaxed and closed her eyes, knowing what he needed from her.

Spark of Something More (Mature)

Despite the gryphon's large frame caging her in, and the noticeable size difference between the two creatures Ocellus felt no hint for fear. Changelings had evolved toward this for countless generations, all she had to do was trust in her body and it would see her through. That was the thought that lingered in her as Gallus worked his cock against her rear, eagerly poking and prodding to find the correct entrance to claim for himself, as she had promised to let him.

She felt his warm and furred chest rub against her back, her wings fluttering in response while he voiced a groan, his pleasure obvious already, and he had yet to even slide inside. Her mind opened up to his emotions, and dove into the the pure bliss. She moaned, and her whole body shuddered as his mind formulated the joy that would come from filling her with his seed.

While he might not have been privy to her deeper changeling pleasures, he did not lack in primal drive and even as his wings clipped against the two walls of the small hideaway he finally worked the throbbing tip of his cock into her inviting folds, reassured of how tight she would be even just from this tiny taste. His muscular body clenched down onto her petite form and his beak came to rest beside one of her ears. In a show of his kindhearted nature, despite everything that his culture and genetics had taught him, he refrained from plunging into the helpless thing right there and instead murmured out a final question. "I...I don't think I will be able to stop myself once I go in. Ready?"

While the changeling was in her own world of bliss, greedily clinging to every pleasure she felt, she could equally sense how important it would be for him to feel confident in her consent, and wanted him to show his true Griffon passion. With a warm murmur she wiggled her rump, rubbing her moist folds against his prodding tip, and spoke. "Of course Gallus, not like this is our first time."

The flashes of memories, and the pleasures that had come with his previous conquest drove from him any semblance of reservation, and without further acknowledgment he began. His powerful haunches pushed forward, the pointed tip of the cock working apart the entrance and leaving the ever wider length of the cock to spread it out further. It soon became apparent that she was indeed a very tight fit for him, by the time he was half buried in her and the barbs of his cock began to enter she was squeezing down on his cock more than Ocellus's embodiment of Silverstream's body had at any depth.

She didn't whine though, or show any sign of discomfort, and certainly he was not about to be denied by a little bit of work. He extended his claws, the sharp tips scraping against the diamond floor and creating at least a semblance of grip. With a grunt he thrust forward once more, forcefully spreading her reluctant passage apart and claiming her depth for himself. A wave of bliss met him as his balls dangled just beneath her entrance and his cock twitched, deeply buried all the way inside.

She had been almost completely lost in the pure bliss of his emotional connection, but that was momentary severed when he claimed her depths, a squeal escaped her lips even as a surprising twinge of pain rushed up her body. He was massive, and those barbs certainly worked to scrape every part of her insides. She bit her lip, and shuddered, if he did that again, would she whine or tell him to stop? Would he request her to take the form of... She refused and held her ground, raising her head in stubborn determination.

Within moments he had grown tired of the wonderful but limited pleasures of her passage squeezing onto his demanding cock, and bringing his beak to clamp around the tip of one of her ears he withdrew from his prize. This lasted only long enough for him to prepare for what would come next, as he quickly thrust in once more. The second time was easier, on both as her already stretched passage surrendered with less of a fight. But he did not stop with that, and quickly repeated the motion again, and again.

Within seconds the red blooded animal instincts of a Griffon with a hen to breed sprung into action, and this time there was no obsessive love for Silverstream to reign Gallus in. Puffing hot air from his nostrils he fell into a eagerly feral rhythm working himself deeper into the tight passage with each thrust as his dangling balls slapped against her. His barbs would scrape her with every motion, causing the sensitive flesh to quiver and Ocellus to fight down a whine even as her mind mingled the pleasures and pains of the experience into one confused emotional package. She told herself she wanted this, even as her legs began to shake and his powerful limbs squeezed onto her to prevent the female from sagging any further away from him.

To her relieve it would not be long before the Griffion's ceaseless efforts to attain pleasure brought him approaching his peak, and with his every growing pleasure her body's sensations became numbed and forgotten, her mind overwhelmed by the emotional energy he was radiating. It filled her with the joy she had been so hopeful for, and even as he hammered away in a lust filled frenzy she knew this had been exactly what she needed.

He could feel her needy passage squeeze on him, begging for his seed even as the timid little thing shuddered and squeaked with each powerful thrust. Gallus would never have let himself go like this with his beloved, but now that all civilized thought had been replaced and carnal desires indulged he found himself so wonderfully liberated. Groaning out his pleasure he nipped at the female, leaving her ear marked with the sign of a griffion mate, a hint of blood trickling from the fresh bite mark. He didn't even notice as he raised his head, and trust in one final time, burring his cock in her just in time for his release. He screeched, loud enough that no amount library shelves would prevent it from ringing into the ears of everycreature presently in the area. He did not care, let them hear of his conquest, his claim. He rode out this simple but unmatched pleasure as each spurt of seed filled her form up more.

The changeling had abandoned all physical feelings long before he marked her ear and tunnels, so lost in her world of emotions and energies that she felt no remorse or pain when her body was cut by a griffion's beak. She only took note of his climax in so far that it burned pleasure into her mind, brighter than Celestia's sun would into the eyes of a foolish pony. She shivered and her body climaxed too, though even that was barely recognized as the much more powerful pleasures of his very being fed into her. She swam her mind through it all, devouring in every bit of pleasure in this seemingly endless moment.

Neither of them where prepared to let this end, to return to a reality filled with so much less endless bliss. And yet the world cared little for the demands of two creatures lost in bliss, and once Gallus's cock had finished its task and his bodies desires sated his mind began to return to reality. He blinked his eyes, suddenly feeling soreness seep into every part. His claws screamed out in protest from being forced into a competition with pure crystal, his wings had bend and scraped feathers at each tip from being brushed against solid walls in repeated fluttering motions, and his beak tasted the strange metallic flavor of blood. And then there was that endless fatigue, so drained was he that his eyes slid half closed even as he contemplated his bodies concerns.

It was to his credit that his desire for rest was momentarily overcome by the realization of his actions. With dread he turned his eyes away from the ceiling he had just screeched love to, and met the sight he had hoped not to find. He had bit her, not a love tap but a visible bite to her ear, a drop of blood had run down its length and colored it green. He shivered in fear even as his eyes slid closed, and his body slumped onto her back, what would she say to him? Ocellus had come to him needy for help from a friend, and now he scarred her beautiful form in stupid feral lust. If only he had the strength to apologize.

She tasted his changing emotions, that moment of shock followed by panic, it tinged her bliss with a hint of bitterness, and yet it seemed so insignificant in contrast to the wonders she had just experienced. She felt the Griffion grow heavier onto her form, failing to keep himself upright as his head slumped ontop of hers. He should have crushed her, he must have been at least three times her weight, and yet her legs did not give out, and despite her own body sending forth all forms of warning signals about the roughness she had just endured she felt only pure satisfaction.

She simply stood there for a long time in basking in the pleasures, even as Gallus drifted into sleep she could still feel his emotions seep from him into her. Whatever concerns might have run through his mind in his last moments before rest had not manifested in his sleep, instead she could tell that his body was lulling him into slumber with congratulations of a job well done. She had no intent to deny him this pleasure, though even if she could easily bear his weight grew tired of standing like this.

With a little bit of work she wiggled herself toward the ground, careful not to throw the Griffon from her back, until she was laying down with him atop her. From there it was a simple matter of worming herself out from underneath him, a certain pleasure to feeling his fluffy body dragged across her one more time. Once she was out, with him slumbering on the crystal floor in a splayed mess of feathers and fur she took gauge of the situation.

They certainly had not been quiet, though it does not seem as thought anycreature had found them, likely no one had wanted to see what had gotten a Griffion this worked up. She felt the slight stinging on her ear, aware he must have scratched or bit her there. And of course there was the cum currently leaking from her passage, dripping down her leg and matting the floor, and the dull complaints of her zealously taken body. Overall, nothing worth being concerned about for the changeling, not when contrasted with the pleasures. With a happy humming she looked toward the Griffion that had made her dreams come true, and returned to his side. She might not have been particularly tired, but the closer she was to him the more should feel the throbbing of his emotional energies, and not like he didn't earn himself her presence during his rest.

She snuggled up to him, working herself back into his chestfur, and relaxed as she closed her eyes and cocooned her mind in his feelings.

Ocellus awoke to the powerful drumming heartbeat of her companion ebbing into her ear, her head snugly pressed to his chest as the sleeping Griffon had adjusted himself to embrace her, even now his claws squeezing her smaller frame in a loving embrace. She giggled as her emotion senses re-assured her that the Griffion was likely having some very pleasant dreams. The little ling wiggled her form excitedly at the thought, certainly this was something they would have to explore further once he came to.

However, for the moment he was still recovering from their strenuous session and her sticky messy hind legs left little doubt that they both would need a shower before anything else. Begrudging her bodies demands the changeling slowly entangled herself from his clutching grasp, and got to her hooves. The room was almost entirely pitch black, the sunlight from outside had left, and the moon that must have replaced it was not powerful enough to work its light past the bookcases.

It was of little concern to her, a magical lamp she had left in her hideout being only a few hoof's away, she had enough experience to easily reach it and turn it on, ensuring the light was set dimly enough not to disturb the sleeping Griffion. With a sight she looked toward him, realizing that even the few steps she had gone left her yearning for his proximity again, the mental string leading to his emotions was tugging her back, she had to admit her body was becoming rather needy.

Which a shake of hear head she dismissed the thought to focus on rest of the room instead. They had left it a little worse for wear, from where she had failed to get back inside to the many scuff marks and toppled books the horny Griffion had left in wake of his powerful wingstrokes. She sighted to herself, knowing that if Twilight found out about her mistreatment of the written works the headmare would be seriously disappointed. With that thought lingering on her mind Ocellus worked her way outside the hideout, finding as expected the rest of the library halls abandoned at this late any hour. With the moon lighting her way she carefully ensured that no late night librarian was left around, wishing to avoid explaining her presence or her current messy state, and then headed to the front entrance.

Unlocked, as expected, who would break into a library? And even if they did, the headmare was more likely to reward and than punish them. She stood there for a long while, contemplating if she should grab that shower now and return for Gallus later, or stay with him till he awoke. Ultimately it was that ceaseless and demanding tugging inside of her that made the decision. She was so far gone from him now, only with a very focused mind could she perceive his presence, and indulge in his affection. Almost subconsciously she began heading back, letting the string guide her, every step closer appeased her deepest desire and allowed her to feel his love stronger.

She was unsure if she would ever be willing to leave his presence again, but for the time being she would stay with him as long as she could. Realizing she could combine two of her most powerful passions, she acquired herself some of the most interesting books hidden away within her nook and relocated her pillow fort over to the griffion, practically burying him within it before joining in, and reading in the flickering light of the magical lamp. Gallus, books, and pillows, she could not fathom something better.

So lost in her books did she become that she had almost completely forgotten about the wonderful mate, till her tranquility was interrupted by the sudden shifting of the pillowfort at her back. She squeaked as claws came forward and grasp onto her, the powerful limbs clumsily pulling her backwards, into the fluffy and warm chest of a griffion teen. She heard him murmur, and shuddered excitedly as his euphoria seeped into her mind. With a sigh she would let the book slip from her grasp and focus on wiggling against him, letting the large frame cup her in as she giggled.

Only then did she take note that her lamps light had long become outshone by the rising sun, even filtered through the bookcases of the library it flooded the room celestial beams. Her surprise at the passage of time, and the complete lack of exhaustion in her mind was overshadowed by his unintelligibly murmurings and nipping at one of her ears, exciting already rushing between her legs.

How wonderful it had felt, and what would stop them from doing so again, and again, for as long as the world permitted? Her wing's began to flutter, and her rump wormed between his thighs teasingly. At first he responded in kind, she could sense his growing arousal, and feel it between her legs. But then in one sudden motion his mind shifted away from it, and his first clear words came out. "Adorable as you may be, I am starving." He nipped the back of hear head in genuine affection and continued "And there is a lot we need to discuss.".

Despite his welcoming tone she could feel a sliver of ice run through her in that moment, his mind had run into thoughts it did not enjoy. She wanted him, her tail even flicked once more teasingly, a final squeak escaped her as she cuddled into his chest once more, and then felt the male withdraw from her. Coldness rushed into take the place of his warms, and by the time he had stood up she felt at least a little bashful. She followed his example and came to her hooves, though her eyes searched for his longingly.

"Are you thinking about her?"

She had never told her mind to blurt the question out like that, she had in fact made it clear that she did not wish to press him, and yet some sliver of jealousy had wormed itself up her throat and voiced the words in a cold demanding fashion. She cringed in concern of what he might say, even as their eyes finally met. His warm smile eased her tensions.

"I am, but also of you. What we just had, it felt so genuine and liberating. She needs to know, understand, she will if we just give her a chance." As he finished he leaned forward and kissed her, beak to muzzle. Even with all her senses she had not anticipated such affection, and had barely time to squeal as her wings fluttered with surprised joy. Once he withdrew from her she replied "Love is not a bird in a gilded cage.". Their eyes stayed locked for a while, silently she mused on the pulsing warms flowing from his chest into her mind, and then finally she willed herself to break away.

Leading the Griffion, her rump certainly not shy of teasing him as she did, she made her way through the entrance of her hiding place. Of course he followed her, obediently and attentively keeping his gaze locked onto her frame, and feeling a stirring once more. Not enough to distract him, but assurance that their tryst had been mutually welcome. It also brought to his attention that she was still showings signs of his conquest. Her ear had been cut, dried blood clinging to it, and her legs stained with seed that had ebbed from her small passage.

As they left the room and entered an lightly populated library he cleared his throat and awkwardly spoke up.

"O..ocellus, maybe you should get yourself washed off before breakfast. I wouldn't want rumors about you to go around."

It took her a moment to realize what he had meant, he feeling of cum clinging to her had almost become normal over the last hours, and the stinging in her ear long since passed. Still, she felt his embarrassment, and when she turned her head to see what he was looking at it became clear. She blushed, really more as a reflex of his embarrassment entering her mind than her own, and give a short nod, giggling softly as she spoke.

"While I wouldn't mind letting the whole world know of your passion for me, the prudish ponies might take offense at that." She gave him a teasing wink and continued "I am not all that hungry anyway, I could meet you in the cafeteria after getting myself cleaned up. She felt feel her body's repulsion to the idea of leaving his side for something as petty as getting washed off. But her mind had cleared enough for her to control herself, she could manage without him for a time, even if she would not enjoy it.

The Bird Set Free

Ocellus was humming to herself as she trotted down the hall toward the cafeteria. Despite her complaints about leaving Gallus's side the energy and joy he had filled her with never had subsided. A quick shower and cleaning of her shell had been a relaxing opportunity to linger on all the excitements and pleasures of the past few days. With a smirk and spring to her step she nudged open the door and stepped past into the mess hall.

As expected the place was filled with ponies, the morning approaching midday having many students dropping in for their breakfast needs. Gallus too was where she had expected him, sitting exactly where had been the day before, feasting on his food in the same fashion, though this time without two mares cradling his sides obnoxiously. Instead it was Silverstream, she was sitting opposite of him and seemingly the two were in some form of discussion. The changeling felt a pang of conflict and even guilt rise up in some part of her mind, she could no longer ignore the unavoidable reckoning. She approached slowly, giving her mind the time to formulate words, while also reaching out with her senses to gauge the emotional state of her friends.

Just as she came to halt at the table and both occupants tilted their heads to look toward her she reminded herself that what she and Gallus had done had made them happy and fulfilled, which made it all the more frustrating when the emotions radiating from the hyppogryph were far from kind, as if she had any right to complain after everything she had put Gallus through. With a half forced smile she spoke.

"Hey Gallus, Silverstream, mind if I join?"

To her satisfaction Gallus eagerly replied first, lacking non of that warm affection she had grown used to.

"No, you really should, love. You would be better at explaining things to Silverstream than me."

Silverstream raised an eyebrow as she met Ocellus's eyes and picked up on the tone of Gallus's words. It send a bittersweet wave of amusement down the Changeling's spine as she witnessed the sharp glare become muddled with confusion and concern. It was not as though she wanted to make her friend unhappy, she reminded herself as she took a seat beside Gallus and glanced between the two.

"Me and Gallus spend last night discussing relationships, including your recent fight with him, and we came to the realization that there needs to be talk between us three to assure that everycreature is getting, and giving, what is needed to make the others happy."

She could sense the tension in her friend grow, but simply leaned into the strong gryphon's side for reassurance before continuing "He felt insecure because you wouldn't allow him see any other creature, but not deign him worthy of laying with either. You can't do that to a big gryphon like him, he needs to be given an opportunity to feel liberated and in control."

She could feel the hippogryph grow frigid and tense at her accusations, and the unspoken help she had provided to solve Gallus's insecurity. With a huff Silverstream overcame her initial shock, for all her aloofness she was not dense, or keen on being pushed around.

"He never voiced any such concerns around me, no qualms waiting on laying with me till you came along and stole him." Her gaze moved over to Gallus, meeting his eyes equally sternly "Do you know what she did? Impersonate me to seduce you? No different from Chrysalis."

The moment she voiced that name the tone in the Cafeteria shifted abruptly, Ocellus felt a surge of guilt that transformed into righteous anger instantly and trough her connection to Gallus inflamed his instincts equally. In the blink of an eye the gryphon had smashed his claw onto the table and shot up to face the hippogryph down, gritting his beak at her.

"Don't you EVER call her that again! She apologized for it, and didn't mean harm, she was just trying to fix up OUR disaster of a relationship. For her part, she is right." Gallus took a deep breath before sighing, the initial flare of anger dissipating as sanity returned to him, though still too engaged in the moment to take note of the countless ponies around the room who had taken a distinct interesting in their discussion. "Maybe I never voiced my concerns outward but I should have, I was so pent up I couldn't help myself with Smolder and see where that got us... maybe if we listen to Ocellus's advice this could work out."

Ocellus was sitting back in quiet victory, she hated to admit it but there was a certain sense of smug pride in seeing her mate come to rescue, a reassurance that he truly did love her more than this stuck up pink prude. This time she didn't correct herself as she bared her teeth, what Silverstream had said was far worse an insult, and one that proved the animosity she had felt went both ways.

This moment of reflection was finally broken when Silverstream found her words again, still staring down the love of her life with increasingly faltering anger, looking like a deflating balloon as her speech went on. "So you KNOW what she did, and you still trust her word over mine? She STOLE that from us, our first time, our romantic connection, and turned it into some tryst of pleasure. And you don't mind, don't care, you would rather...." Finally the air left her, the body slumping backwards in exhaustion as she closed her eyes.

Moments later she spoke again, "First Smolder, now her, stupid stupid me." when her eyes opened again they glistened with tears, and to Ocellus's amazement she felt a twinge of sympathy as the pain bled from the creature into her, but not enough to break through her anger. Gallus was no less effected, and finally let go of his angry glare. "No, you aren't stupid, I am the fool who thought he could be the way you wanted, for love's sake alone. But I can't, I NEED this." He would lean into the changeling still sitting beside him, nuzzling the cute creature with overflowing affection. "And if you can't accept this then I should have been the one to break up with you."

Ocellus could sense the shard of ice inside her former friend's heart, but the hippogryph had been to worn out by the last few days to even flare up again, simply meekly watching her two friends cuddle before her eyes. She gulped something down and pushed away her tray of food. "We both can be stupid and fools..." She finally simply muttered and got out of her seat. "I need some time to think."

As Silverstream began to walk out of the cafeteria, many creatures around watching her with a mixture of confused and sympathetic expressions as Gallus finally took notice again, turning his mind from the affectionate snuggle he had shared to watch after her. Ocellus could feel the sympathy and pain bleed from him now, sensed in him a rising desire to act, to prostrate himself before her for forgiveness. And with steely resolve she threw herself back into his chest, nuzzling against it as she voiced a warm murmur. "Don't worry, she'll come around, but I think I owe my love for standing up for me, and I think I heard something about need..." She sensually ground her lower form against the gryphon, feeling his body tense up at the increasingly familiar sensation of her affection.

It did not take long for any desire to chase after Silverstream to be replaced with much more base visions of pleasure, and for the two to retreat back to Ocellus's room so she could oblige his needs.

The Consequences

Ocellus voiced a yawn as she snuggled into the body of her perfect lover. A purr escaped her lips as the soft wing above her subconsciously squeezed her, and the warmth inside her body brought back memories of last night. After the breakup Gallus had been left with a wound only she could mend, and had gladly done so. For the next two days the two had spend most of their time together in her room. On the first day they still had to take breaks for food, and because the gryphon had wanted to catch his breath after one of the more vigorous trysts. But other desires soon faded away, and Ocellus rather bashfully realized that they had spend the whole of yesterday spiralling between passion and naps, leaving the morning sunlight to glint into her eyes now.

Her lover was still asleep despite the light, and even as she nuzzled against his chest and nipped at him with her fangs he did not stir, though she could sense that wonderful energy seeping from his heart. Never before had she felt so completely whole as during these last few days. Her mind raced with possibilities, power, and unbridled passion for the gryphon to have given her all of this. And still there was a twinge of worry buried deep in there, she felt more inclined to natural instincts then ever, and even now knew that if he awoke her first act would be to entice him to make love to her yet again.

She once more nudged him, seeing if she could wake the big dumb bird, and found his large claw tug her tighter into his side, but not wake. With a sigh she relaxed and contented herself in the bliss of the moment, she pictured them in an orchard beneath the shadow of a tree, and slumped off into another lust-filled dream. By the time she would next awake the changeling found her tail raised, and marehood winking, and worked herself onto the gryphon without delay.

Ocellus could not tell if it was still the same day, or the sun and moon had repeated their cycle yet again, possibly more than once. All she knew is that even baths and cleaning up had increasingly become burdensome for the two lovers as their stay continued, her thighs still caked in the juices of her stud, which she realized were in the form of a particulate orange dragoness rather than herself. Her surprise mind shot back to their last time, and with a warm smile she lingered on the relocation, it had been her idea to entice the gryphon with something he had obviously been fond off, considering his previous actions.

The thought was interrupted by the sudden knocking on her door, she contemplated ignoring it but found to her surprise that Gallus stirred and roused at it, as if she was less capable of bringing him out of sleep than the rest of the world. The knocking repeated and the gryphon's eyes slowly opened, meeting hers and glimmering with exhausted passion, before struggling to smile warmly.

"W..would you mind getting that? I.. am still tired." his voice was hoarse and faint, likely a side effected of the moans he preferred to voice during their mating.

A third wave of knocking more impatient than the previous was finally enough to force the changeling into action as she pushed a passionate kiss onto her lover and then rolled out of the bed, fluidly transforming back into herself mid action and landing onto her hooves. Just as she was making her way to the door she could hear a voice from outside, and was glad to have thought of transforming back to avoid an awkward confrontation.

"If you don't answer this door immediately I will have Yona bust it down like a cardboard fence!" The coarse but still distinctive feminine tone left little doubt in their owner, as Ocellus swung the door open she came face to face not just with Smolder, but the rest of her friends, most of them at least. She could even see Yona grinning, presumably already picturing the authorized demolition with pride. She noted Silverstream's absence and found herself glad for it, the last thing either she or Gallus needed was that self important prude.

What did surprise her was the reaction her friends had upon her opening the door. There was a wave of audible gasps, and confused shock both in their eyes and seeping from their hearts. It didn't make sense to her, she had made sure to turn back before meeting them after all, and she slowly glanced down to confirm herself. Only then did she realize that she had indeed turned back, much further back than anticipated, gone was the cyan blue of her last year, replaced with the pitch black chitin that had become synonymous with terror and treason in much of pony society.

She too was shocked at the realization, there had been a few changelings who didn't come around to the new way of things and avoided transforming, but never had she heard of one going backwards. To her frustration she had no time to linger on the thought as Sandbar, well intentioned as he might be, interrupted her and forced the subject.

"Ocellus? Are you alright? You look.... " He stalled for a moment, she could easily read that he was nervous, probably concerned to hurt her feelings. He had always been nothing but sweet and kindhearted, she realized that he too was an untapped reservoir of love and affection that begged for release. She smiled warmly at him, understanding both his concerns and needs. "I am perfectly fine Sandbar, but I appreciate you.~ Gallus is with me if you are wondering."

Her mind lingered on the touch of the stallion's heart. She could sense from him relief, and certainly some intrigue at her demeanour. She realized in that moment that what she had taught Gallus should apply to her too, a bird is not to be caged, a changeling not bound to just one creature. With that thought she permitted some of her passion to ebb outward, and could see the blush on his face.

Before anything more could come of this though Smolder butted herself forward, practically pushing the stallion aside as she came eye to eye with Ocellus, it took little effort to read her, the changeling to found the dragon outwardly cold toward her.

"I don't know what happened while we are gone but this isn't you, and we are not letting you continue this!" The dragon made a grand gesture of poking a claw at Ocellus's chest accusatory. "I am no pony-changeling whatever expert but THIS shouldn't happen. Last time I saw you like this you threw a fit, so why are you all chill now? Silverstream done nothing but cry herself to sleep for days, non of us have seen Gallus since coming back and now BOTH of you missed class." Ocellus almost expected her to breath fire into her face as she finished, the dragon having gotten increasingly worked up with each word. And for a brief moment she did consider those points, she might be mad at Silverstream but the picture of her in despair had a sour taste, and if they truly missed class it has been far longer than she realized.

All of that however was quickly forgotten as her mind made one stark realization, she was trying to get between her and Gallus, she was judging her for looking like her natural self. Smolder had already mated Gallus once, stolen him from Silverstream without remorse, who is to say she wouldn't do so to her? Instinctively she bared her fangs and replied.

"I don't see how it is my fault that Silverstream decided to be too good for Gallus and me. We came to her explaining the genuine affection between us and all she could do was scoff at me and cast our friendship aside because she wants him all for her own." Her bared fangs turned into a smirk as she made a beautiful realization, and continued "You should know she had the same response to hearing about you and Gallus. Insisted you two shouldn't have made love because she is too insecure to compete with us."

Smolder seemed less taken by this line of argumentation than Ocellus had hoped, now actually puffing out a cloud of black smoke into Ocellus's face and narrowing her eyes in disdain. "If you expect that to offend me you don't understand dragons. We had a tryst, dragon's take pride in making love with the strongest creature around and Gallus fit that bill, but I don't delude myself into expecting anything more from it." She could sense the accusatory tone, and the bitter taste that came with it left an unpleasant lingering sensation. "Gallus and Silverstream are broodmates and I would never intentionally get between them. If what I did hurt her I would have apologized and moved on, not try to bend reality to my twisted passion."

Ocellus was not sure she even needed to be a changeling to read the burning anger in Smolder's emotions at this point, though she could feel that anger feed her own as she refused to back down and the two found each other's muzzles practically scrunched against one another. She was surprised to have found the ability to face down her usually much braver friend, but ultimately attributed it to the passion for Gallus that had driven her this far.

In the end the two were prevented from coming to blows by the bulky yak who barrelled between the two and forced them apart. Shielding their view of each other's eyes with her large frame Yona stomped onto the ground and huffed out her own interpretation of events.

"Ocellus friend, Silverstream friend, friendship saved Equestria! Even tree said so!" Yona turned toward Ocellus and met her eyes, the non-judging sincerity radiating from her making it nearly impossible for the changeling not to be drawn in. "Our friendship magic, why ruin it with stupid fight. Would you rather this than circle of friends?" With that statement the yak finally slumped her stance a little, doing her best to smile hopefully and reached out a hoof toward Ocellus.

The changeling shuddered as she felt the unyielding nature of Yona's spirit batter at her mind, unable to block out her genuine compassion even as she stumbled away from the yak. This was nothing like the easy to entice Gallus or Sandbar, or fuelling anger of Smolder and Silverstream, the simple immobile desire for resolution left no angle of attack, and for the first time in her life Ocellus felt terrified of the large beast, not by he size but her invulnerable nature.

She tried to break free from her mental prison and force forward a smile, but knew it could not convince any of her friends, finally with frustration she hissed out at the group and glared into Yona's eyes, imprinting the defiance in her mind. "Why can't you just be happy for me and Gallus? We have shared nothing but love since our first night together and now you come make demands, threaten me!" She paused as she heard Gallus stir behind her, and felt his heart throb for her presence again. He needed her at least as much, who knew what would happen if they took him away. Her mind was made up, without further words she grasp the door and slammed it shut, cutting off whatever response they had planned for her.

She barely had time to catch her breath and turn back toward the bed before hearing the loud bang on her door, the foundations shaking lightly at the impact. She growled to herself, Smolder must have convinced the stupid yak to ram itself head first into her door, not realizing that their dorm rooms was imbued with magic that would hold out anything short of an alicorn. Still, it wouldn't hold if they did bring one, and with haste in her steps he made it back to Gallus.

The gryphon for his part had opened his eyes to look back at her, bewildered and confused by the loud cacophony of noise, but his eyes still looked hollowed and tired as he muttered.

"Everything alright with our friends? I haven't seen them this riled up since..." It was unclear if he had trailed of due to not knowing a good example or simply being too exhausted but when Ocellus flung her changeling from into his chest and clung to him he contented himself with nuzzling her head and holding her in his claws.

They shared a long peaceful moment like that, giving Ocellus enough time to recenter herself as she focused on those strings of love tied between them, and buried her mind in the warmth of his heart, soaking up each drop of energy she could find. It helped her push away the terror Yona had filled her with, and within moments she once more felt atop the world, purring happily as she snuggled further into his affectionate embrace, and met his eyes.

The gryphon had closed his eyes and drifted off. After a moment of shock she concluded he had once more fallen asleep, and with bitterness admitted to herself that it must be related to her feasting. Following that string to her friend's heart she re-assured herself that he was fine, our would be if only she knew how to fix his exhaustion. "I don't know how to stop draining you, mistress never taught me that. Headmare Twilight might, but she'll break us apart." The changeling fidgeted with an uncomfortable realization "Thorax would know what to do, I hope you won't hate me for this."

Her form was quickly bathed in heatless green flames, running across her form and transforming the pitch black chitin into magnificent feather coated flesh. With a smile at the ease of the transformation, and a silent thank you to Spike for his stories about Roc's she pushed open the window and carefully plugged the gryphon between her two talons. Then squeezed herself through the window into the world beyond, flying westward with her prize.

It did not take long for Ocellus to realize the folly of her approach, despite the dauntless strength she had felt mere hours before, the changeling found herself panting and flying increasingly closer to the ground. Over time the weight of a full grown male gryphon had become increasingly burdensome to her, and once she had made it past Ponyville and into acres of farmland beyond any sighting of them would draw ponies into a panic. She was often forced to divert from the most direct path and spend precious energy shielding her mind from the cold waves of terror that the creatures emanated.

Eventually the burden became too much for her, knowing she was far from either of her homes and had drained much of the energy she had accrued over the days. With effort she lugged herself to a nearby forest and settled down, glad to have scared away any potential predators with her entrance as she allowed the flickering flames across her body to transform her back.

The first thing she did was cuddle into her lover's side, re-assuring herself yet again that he was still healthy, though gritting her teeth at the realization that she had sapped even more from him during the ordeal. She wanted to kick herself for being so foolish but was stopped by him stirring, grasping her form into a tight squeeze and opening his eyes into slits.

He did not seem to have the energy for words, but shot her a gryph-grin that caused her heart to flutter joyfully, after sharing an affectionate kiss she felt renewed determination. As they rested Ocellus wrecked her brain over Twilight's stories for a creature that could make their task easier, and finally with a smirk she recalled one not from the headmare, but Fluttershy.

While the manticore she had transformed into did not match the respectable size of a roc, it equally burdened her power's less, and with Gallus on her back she was still large enough to make it work. Regrettably she could not fly like this, but as she began sprinting through the forested outskirts of Equestria she judged the tradeoff to be worth it.

Only by the time the sun began to set, and the withering light forced her to slow down or risk tripping over some unseen obstacle did the absurd nature of her objective truly began to set in. The gryphon on her back had long since drifted back into a slumber, only subconsciously clinging to her large frame as she probed him once in a while to reassure herself he was fine, and refill her drained energy.

As if in judgment of the elements themselves, the moment she finished her meal the sky above roared with thunder a heavy downpour quickly soaked her fur. Ocellus tried to shield her mind from the invading chill, but minuets later came to realize that the emotions did not come from herself but instead the gryphon still lying on her back, the open emotional channel feeding her raw cold discomfort.

Genuine concern began to rise in her mind as she could feel his body grow weaker under the harsh conditions. He was strong and proud, a gryphon worthy of being hers, but non of that would protect his vulnerable body from the cold and rain whipping against them. With a growl of frustration Ocellus sped up her pace, bounding past the scrubs in her way as she assured herself that once she would entered Changeling lands she could find a cave to hold up in for the night.

She quickly grew to hate the forest as it swung at her with branch after branch, cutting even past the thick fur of her form and demanding her to slow down. But that frustration turned into exhilaration as the forest began to thin, its claws finally letting go of her marred body and the edge of the woodlands coming into sight. Ocellus could not stop herself from hollering in celebration as she redoubled her efforts, bounding twice as far with each leap toward that forest ridge.

Too late did she remind herself of the drained cargo on her back, the momentary reprieve having gotten the better of her as in the next leap she felt the gryphon's grasp finally give out, and his form threatened to plunge into the greenery beneath, doing whatever damage it may. At mercy to her instincts the changeling quickly spun herself around mid air, and grasp out her large paws toward the gryphon's limp body. She didn't have time to sigh in relief after she plugged him from his fall and cradled him into her chest, instead was rewarded with the harsh impact she had saved Gallus from.

Her wings were the first victim, having been unfurled first to allow her to leap further, then to adjust her position and turn mid air, leaving them still wide open by the time they made contact with the harsh floor. She could hear the snap of the one unfortunate enough to be directly beneath her, and the blazing hot pain that shot through her body in response.

She had no time to yell as the back of her head slammed down next, lucky to be burying itself into thick mud instead of hard rock, and still leaving the poor thing utterly dazed as the rest of the body crashed into the ground and slid through the forest brushes till it collided with a fallen tree. With the world spinning and fading in and out of darkness Ocellus gasped for air and finally had enough sense to cry out in pain, the voice her own as she yelled and sobbed into the rain.

Only once the world stopped spinning did she notice that her form had reverted back to her true self, pitch black chitin hiding the worst of the dirt and bruises. She looked around till she saw Gallus, scratched and coated in mud, with a sigh saw and felt him breath. Her mind reached out to his heart, following those ebbing strings, realizing that for the first time they had become faint and difficult to make out. With shock she touched his heart, and found him cold to her mind, so drained and exhausted that somewhere deep in her instincts she knew what it would mean to feed herself on him yet again.

Shuddering and sobbing she instead crawled over to the gryphon and snuggled into his side, feeling her snapped wing drag alongside her body. She was lucky that changeling wings were not like those of other races and it would in time heal and not leave her crippled for life but this gave little comfort to her in the moment, knowing that even if she could muster the strength to transform she would not be able to fly. Whimpering she buried her head under one of his wings, protecting herself from the increasingly cold rain and cried.

She cursed the rain, the forest, Luna and Celestia and their damned cycle. She cursed Silverstream for having started all of this misery, and her friend's for not helping when she truly needed them. But most of all she cursed herself for being everything other's said of Changelings. Love sucking selfish bugs who only brought ruin to their mates. If she had gone to Twilight, had explained everything, the headmare would have helped, would have known how to stop this. Silverstream might have been bitter and stupid, but she hadn't gorged herself on Gallus to the point of bringing death to the wonderful gryphon. Finally Ocellus closed her eyes and reached out with her mind, following those strings of love not to his heart but her own, and assessed what she had left to give.

It wasn't much, maybe a few hours of minor transformation, not nearly enough to make it home, wherever that may be now. As the gryphon above her shuddered yet again instead of despair she felt determination seep into her, this was no longer about her desires for love, if she could not bring Gallus somewhere safe he would die. She lingered on that thought just long enough to give her the drive she needed, and finally with a slow deliberate use of her magic began transforming once more.

The flames moved sluggishly, hellishly so, each inch of her body struggling in a fight against reality to reform into that of a creature that had so recently frustrated her with her unwavering nature, and now thanked endlessly for empowering her with that strength. Her dark chitin slowly morphed into brown fur, and her form took on a large sturdy build that seemed to emanate warmth and drive the chill from her bones. She lifted the gryphon up as she grew in scale and let her thick hide become a makeshift bed for Gallus.

Once she had fully taken on the form of Yona she carefully began to step forward, assuring herself that her body still functioned and that the gryphon would not slide from her back once more. She was glad for the broad form, making it easier to balance the motionless bird. With the forest's edge still close by she marked it as her first target, and pushed toward it.

Even this minor stretch of land was enough to challenge Ocellus, instinct begging her to draw from Gallus with every step, her will refusing to bend. With no outside source to feed she had to funnel the magical toll onto herself, gritting her teeth at the painful sensation. It was as though her very essence was being stripped, the wells inside her body empty and the ravenous nature of her magic accepting anything in replacement. It didn't matter to her, and mere moments later she broke through the forest edge and into the plain beyond.

With a certain bitterness she recognized her location, ahead was a tower that marked the border of Equestria and the wastes beyond that held her home. She was glad to have surrendered any illusion of maintaining the farce of reaching Thorax or the inviting sight might have convinced her to feed onto her lover once more. Instead with her head drooping toward the floor she pushed herself toward the tower. She ignored the thunder above her and momentary wondered if the full moon lighting her way was Luna's intervention, or a rare stroke of good fortune.

As the pain continued to seep through her form, flickering green flames threatened to force the reality bending magic away. Ocellus ignored the sensation and kept her mind occupied by considering the irony of the situation. She knew enough to be aware that this was a guard tower, a marker and warning to all ponies within, but also a protection meant against those dangerous species outside Equestrian lands. She knew it had been build long ago, not as an insult to her species but a part of the reality of those times when Changeling's threatened to consume all.

Now here she was, one of those dangerous beasts coming from inside their lands, invited in by queen and country, begging only for their assistance. With a defiant growl Ocellus finally came to a stop a mere hundred hoof-steps from the tower, they too must have grown over-confident in their newfound allies if they kept no watch. Steeling her mind she forced herself onward.

It did not matter how gruelling the last hundred steps may have been, how often Ocellus reached the brink of despair, or how many times her body threatened to collapse under the weight of Gallus, her form flickering in and out of existence. Only when the door finally kissed her muzzle did she dare focus on anything but moving one hoof before the other, and collapsed beneath the weight of her lover.

She reached out to him once more, reassured herself that Gallus was in fact still alive. She permitted herself to linger, to bathe in his warmth, and still every time her body wished to feed she fought it off. Finally she crawled out under him and stood up. Her hoof struck the wooden door with what timid might she could muster, and without waiting for a reply repeated the motion again and again.

She was unsure if the wait had been long or short, time had become an irrational torrent but finally the door finally swung open to reveal a stallion who had hastily donned his armor and was looking out into the rainy night with a flustered expression. She could see, and feel, his momentary panic at the sight of her, but even then he was too sluggish to grab his weapon to prevent her from getting a word in.

"He" she pointed toward the motionless gryphon beside her "needs help. He is one of Princess Twilight's students, contact her and she'll come. Please, I love him." That was all she had the energy to say before a wave of nausea overtook her, and fearing that she might distract from his care, or worse cause the guard to act hesitantly, turned away from the inviting light and warmth. Chocking back a sob as she began to trot away as hastily as her tired form would permit.

She let out a sigh of relieve as the guard nosily dragged the gryphon inside and swung the door shut. She should have hated him for leaving her to fate, but she thanked him boundlessly for it instead, wanting nothing but the cold and pain to take her away as she forced herself over the border and into the inhospitable homelands beyond.

She belonged here.