Honour and Glory(hole)

by Norm De Plume

Rating: mature
Tags: Porn, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Comedy, Sex, Sandbar, Yona, Young Six
Length: 15307

To yak, there no glory in 'gloryhole'. Where glory in that? Why Yona have to take matters into own hooves to restore glory?

Once Yona learns just what a gloryhole is, she can't let go of her indignation. In her mind, none of that is glorious, and it eats away at her. Things won't get better until she sets it all straight, and if it means stepping into a booth herself to make things perfect, then she will do just that.

Contains a Yona/Sandbar hookup, and a yak proceeding with her oral arguments.

The Omareha, Neighbraska police department has identified and confirmed all characters are of age, as this takes place three years after Season 8.

Edit: Yona apparently smashed the 'Incomplete' button so hard, the 'In' broke off, and thus it read 'Complete'. It has been repaired with lots of glue.

Published 2019-04-20 16:00:01 UTC
Last updated 2019-04-24 14:06:36 UTC

Mine Eyes Have Seen The Glory of the Smashing of the Yak

Author's Note

Fic Contains The Following:

Legal in Neighbraska Bonus

To Glory! Bonus

Smashing, Smashing Everywhere Bonus

Fancy Smashes Bonus

The Only Useful Part of Sandbar Is His Dick Bonus

Drowsy Blowjob Bonus

Yona Sucks A Lot of Cock Bonus

Spit-Roasted Yak Bonus

Multiple Creampie Bonus

Unearthly Noises Bonus

Best Friends Who Eat Out Way Too Often Bonus

Mine Eyes Have Seen The Glory of the Smashing of the Yak

Dust drifted down onto the table with every heavy breath Yona let out. Occasionally a small piece of debris would work its way out of her braids and drop to the floor. The green pony in the corner of the room would glance over now and then, and add a note to her report, but made no move to grab a broom.

The door behind Yona opened, and the pony guarding her rose to her hooves, saluting. For her part, Yona was too busy fuming to pay attention.

“Congratulations,” a voice said. “My deputies were most impressed by the damage.” The perky, cream-coloured pony who sat across from her had a bigger hat than Prince Rutherford. She set her golden badge down on the table, angling it so Yona could see she was The Sheriff Pony. “And they've seen a lot of bar fights in their time.”

Her Power Smash had gone true, then. Yona's shoulders relaxed an inch. If nothing else good came out of tonight, at least she upheld yak standards.

Sheriff Pony eyed the small pile of debris between them, then leaned down to consider the larger pile on the floor. “Miss … Yona, correct? I'm Sheriff Star Lily. I'm sorry for not allowing you to clean up, but you're carrying a great deal of evidence with you. Did my deputy ask if you were injured at all?”

“Our helpful informant indicated she was fine,” Green Pony offered from the corner. “She also indicated she was of age of majority, as were all her friends, understood she wasn't being held, and was free to leave at any time. We were waiting for you before we proceeded with evidence collection, due to, um, extenuating circumstances.”

“Quite,” Sheriff Pony said, looking Yona up and down. She took her hat off and set it down beside her badge, allowing a waterfall of lilac mane to spill over her shoulders. “Miss Yona, I'm also sorry you've had to wait. We're used to simple fights down at The Peppered Pegasus, and breakage of the occasional table or window. You, however, have kicked up a rather large can of worms.”

In the past, Yona wouldn't have recognized the metaphor, but three years in the School of Friendship and assimilating five other cultures into her worldview had given her quite the education. However, she'd also learned the value in playing dumb to get information. And right now, she wanted information. “Yona not see any worms in cans there. It bar, not bait shop.”

Sheriff Pony rubbed her foreleg across her muzzle, hiding her grin. “Well, what I meant was, you've revealed something to us, something we've only guessed at before tonight, and some ponies aren't happy about it.”

Yona grunted, settling, and dislodging another small shower of dust and wood fragments. “Good. Ponies should not be happy about lies. Lies hurt.”

“I'm sure smashing hurts more,” Sherrif Pony noted, no longer hiding her smile. Her gaze flicked towards the door, then to the green pony behind her, still taking notes. “Miss Yona ...”

“Yona fine enough,” she offered. “Just Yona.”

“Very well. Yona, from what your friends out there all tell us, you were simply passing time while waiting for your train back to Ponyville, correct?” Sheriff Pony folded her front hooves together and looked very interested.

Yona nodded. Woods scraps pattered onto the floor.

“Whose idea was it to go there?” The question was gentle, demanding answers without being demanding. “I know dining options out here in Omareha are limited, but we have a very good canteen at the train station. You could have stayed there.”

Indignation warred with her sense of co-operation, and Yona restrained herself from getting up onto her feet again. Five of the Six, the ones who weren't ponies, often had to explain their reasons for 'being' somewhere, and it irritated her. Sandbar almost never had to justify his presence, so why should she? But so far, Sheriff Pony had asked nicely. Respect meant respect returned.

“Ponies afraid of unknown.” she finally said. “We stay in station, huddle together, then leave? Ponies breathe sigh of relief and go about day. But we go out, wander around, spend money? It make us familiar, mean more to town. All part of making friends.”

Sheriff Pony seemed to understand. “So, nopony implied you should go to the Pepper for any other reason than to be seen?”

“Wanted good food,” Yona admitted. “Sit in nice place.” She scowled. “Place nice. Then ponies lie to Yona.”

“Yes, tell me about that,” Sheriff Pony said, leaning forward. “Nopony quite seems to have seen what went on ...” She gestured encouragingly.

“Yona finish food before friends.” She shrugged. “Happens, with appetite. Yona already have one mead with food, could handle much more, but yak drinking too much make ponies nervous. Instead, Yona stretch legs and admire wood carvings on bar. Overhear talk about 'glory hole in back room'. Yona always taught to seek glory for herself, as well as for all yaks. Sound like good way to make Headmare and Counsellor Ponies proud.” Her shoulders moved and a rumble filled her chest. The debris pile on the floor grew larger. “Turn out, it not what Yona thought.”

Sheriff Pony blinked, the first break in her amused persona. “Go on?”

“Yona go down hallway in back of bar. It narrow, but ponies move aside, mostly. Smug Pony ask Yona if she there for reason. Yona say she want chance at glory, can smash well if needed. Smug Pony say he have room for Yona.” Her head drooped, then she looked up and scowled. Stamping a front hoof, she dislodged a section of doorframe that bracketed her shoulder. “He insult Yona by sticking pony thing through hole into face without asking! Yona not take insult like that, so Yona smash!”

Suddenly doubling over in a coughing fit, Sheriff Pony turned around towards Green Pony. She cleared her throat and asked hoarsely. “Do we have this, uh, Smug Pony, Deputy?”

“We do, ma'am, and he's known to us.” Green Pony's grin could not be any wider. “Minor nuisance, mostly. Not his first roust for this sort of thing. First stint in the hospital for it, though.”

“I see, I see.” Sheriff Pony didn't turn back around, although she spoke loudly enough for Yona to still hear her. “Deputy, I believe the rest of my conversation with Miss Yona will be off the record. We have all the testimony we need, and I'll arrange for evidence collection shortly. Please go and assure her somewhat anxious friends that we'll have her back in their care quite soon.”

Saluting, Green Pony gathered up her notes, bestowed a wink on Yona, and left the room. When the door clicked shut behind her, Sheriff Pony shook herself and turned back towards Yona. “Okay, no one can hear us. Miss Yona, and yes, I know, it's 'just Yona', I'm going to declare this a case of cultural misunderstanding. Do you know what that means?”

Yona knew what that meant. It meant she wasn't in too much trouble. Ponies used 'misunderstanding' around her often. “Yona familiar with term.”

“Good.” Sheriff Pony took a breath. “Now, believe me when I say, you did nothing wrong.” She reached her hooves forward, pressing them to the tips of Yona's. “You didn't understand what that term meant, and you felt it was something much more … well, innocent than it was. Ponies assumed, they scared you, and you reacted with reasonable force.” She pressed her hooves against Yona's, subtly testing her strength. “Um, reasonable for a yak.”

“Yona not scared!” She snorted indignantly, but she still let Sheriff Pony cover her hooves. “Yona offended at assumptions. That not honourable behaviour!”

“True,” Sheriff Pony allowed, “but they weren't clear about their intentions for you. Those back rooms … move around. We learn of one, maybe we shut it down, and they just open another one elsewhere in town.” She sighed. “Some ponies like it, and they do … um, things like that for a few bits. The thrill of not being seen, of having somepony on one side of the hole or the other. It's mostly harmless, and not illegal, so we only take action if something big happens.” Pointing her hoof at Yona, she smiled again. “You qualify as something big.”

“Why called 'glory hole'?” Yona wanted to know. She didn't care what sex things ponies wanted to do with other ponies, or if they asked her nicely to join them in it. Offences like besmirching honour, however, she cared about. “Glory not anything like that.”

Curling her hoof, Sheriff Pony coughed into her foreleg, her pale cheeks shaded red. “I, uh, don't know where the term came from, Yona. It's been around for ages, and doesn't have anything to do with the honour somep- um, someone like you has obviously gathered in her life.”

Yona heaved a sigh and slowly sat down, lowering her head and resting her chin on a clear portion of the table. “Yona understand,” she said mournfully, resisting the urge to plant the rest of her face on the shiny metal surface. She had too much sawdust in her braids and eyelashes. “Yona not happy, but she understand.”

“Okay.” Sheriff Pony closed the folder beside her, got up, and replaced her big hat, tucking her badge back into her pocket. “Good. Thank you, Yona. You may leave, and take the train home to Ponyville, but I can't let you take half the Pepper with you.” She came around the table and gingerly patted the yak. “If your patience can hold a bit longer, my crime scene pony will clean you up, and I will deal with all the unhappy ponies here. That's my job, and I'm very good at that.” She perked her ears and tried a smile. “Your friends can sit with us while we do this, that's allowed. Do you want to see them?”

Grunting, Yona nodded. She didn't want to say anything else. Her thoughts were too jumbled to make any more sense.

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

“If we'd known, we could have stopped you,” Gallus pointed out over lunch.

Yona grunted. She hadn't slept well, and the morning's graduate-level Friendship courses hadn't improved her mood. “Please. Gallus just flap around and laugh when Yona smash things.”

“He also ranks the smashing out of ten,” Smolder added, sitting down with her tray and putting her back to the rest of the student population. “Personally, I'd rate that a six, at best. Even the fallout was lacking.”

“The investigating officer was really, really nice, though,” said Ocellus. She sorted through all the greens on her plate. “And the sheriff's office was an upgrade over the police station in New Neighico.”

Smolder rolled her eyes. “We are never setting claw in a town called Talent or Consequences again. Especially when only one of us has a cutie mark, and it's for ...” She shoved at Sandbar, who'd unwisely chosen to sit beside her. “What's your talent again?”

Sandbar shrugged. “We didn't need it. Yona's Five Star Frog Smash there did the trick.”

“Trick?” Silverstream echoed, “It brought the house down!”

“Literally!” chorused Smolder and Gallus, then they both cackled and high-fived paw to claw across the table.

Yona grunted.

Concerned, Silverstream pressed up against her side, snuggling her feathers against Yona's shaggy coat. “Guys, Yona might still be traumatized!” she hissed. “Nogriff deserves to have that done to them!”

“Good thing it wasn't me,” Smolder said. She flexed her claws and let a curl of smoke waft from her nostrils. “Yona left an imprint of that dude in the wall. I'd leave nothing but a shadow.”

Ocellus buzzed her wings, hovering in her seat. “Sheriff Star Lily said she would give the ponies responsible an 'endangering the public' fine, given they insulted a yak. Apparently Neighbraska has a territorial law against being recklessly stupid.”

“Nice,” Gallus commented, “but also, a shame. Stupidity helps keep the population in check.”

Sandbar raised his hoof and opened his mouth, but closed it again as he caught Gallus and Ocellus' gaze.

Yona grunted.

Her friends all looked at her and stayed silent.

She resisted the urge to flip the table. It wouldn't be fair to their lunches. “Yona not traumatized. Yona still not understand.” She had said she understood to the Sheriff Pony, but it had just been the fastest way of ending the conversation.

Gallus craned his neck and peered around the quadrangle. Most of the ponies who attended the School had finished lunch and gone to do other things before the afternoon bell rang. Others still hung around the tables or the fountain, talking and laughing. No one was close enough to overhear.

He dropped back down. “What, don't yaks have anonymous sex?” he asked. “We would try it in Griffonstone, if it weren't such a dump. There are plenty of holes, but right beside them is another hole, across from another hole, beneath yet another hole, so there's not a lot of privacy. You pretty much know who you're engaging with.”

Smolder sniggered. “What happens if you fill all the holes?”

Ocellus made a face. “Don't answer that, Gallus. We have too many holes in the Changeling Hive for me to think about them like that. For once, there's information I can stand not knowing.”

“Yona not care what ponies do in the dark,” she interjected. “Yona thought ponies care about glory, but that? That not glory. Princess Headmare Pony bring glory to town, to family. Fast Blue Pony do same for herself. But Yona not understand how glory hole have glory at all. Make Yona grumpy.”

“Let it go,” Smolder advised. “It's not like you can wander Equestria, asking at seedy rest stops and bars for their glory hole, and then smashing it in by right of vengeance.” She considered that. “Although, that'd make a really cool movie.”

Sandbar chuckled. “They'd have to rate it 'Cutie Marks + 6', just because of all the smashing.”

Yona rolled her eyes and tuned out her friends' foray into filmmaking. She wasn't hurt, even though she'd smashed a couple of walls, a door, and more than a few crates. Her horns and coat had protected her head, and she had no cuts or nicks. Sheriff Pony and her helpers had given her the best care outside a yak hot spring spa, too. Not only had they politely asked about undoing her braids, they'd brushed through her mane and shawl to make sure she wasn't hurt, then rebraided her mane in the proper yak style.

Her confusion roiled, though. Even knowing the griffons' strange version of pride, the dragons' lack of honor, and the hippogriffs' tendency to hide in the face of threats, Yona still believed all creatures understood the concept of glory. Where was the glory in rutting part of yourself through a hole for some other creature you'd never see?

Lunch ended soon after and her friends scattered to their various research projects and classes. The smartest thing she could do was return to her room, lie down, and close her eyes. Soft pony bed was excellent for napping. Perhaps when she awoke, a clearer mind would give her better answers.

Instead, Yona slipped out through the side archway to the sports field, and made for the equipment shed. Her training trunk lay on a middle shelf, and she hefted it onto her back. She would achieve a clearer mind the best way possible: by being a yak.

A hoofball game took up the middle of the field, while other ponies engaged in a steeplechase around the track. Yona bypassed them, wandering over to a bare patch of empty grass with a few extra hay bales lying around, far enough from everyone. She knelt to slide the trunk off onto the grass and deftly flipped the latches open with her horn.

Ironwood stakes lay in neat rows inside, along with a stack of alternating blue and white ring targets, designed to neatly split apart when struck in the proper spot. Yona considered, then grabbed a stake in her teeth and carried it over to jam it into the turf. One here, three there, another pair stacked sideways, yet another canted at a high angle. Targets went over the tips, sometimes on the top, sometimes one at each end. She laid out the course from the lowest level, shoving in hay bales here and there as needed. Her brain needed a complete routine, starting from the basics.

The last thing she removed from the trunk was her helmet, and Yona flipped it into the air. Catching it with her head, she clamped it against the base of her horns, and pressed down with a hoof to make sure it stayed snug. Stretching her neck, she rolled it from side to side, loosening up. She shook each leg, and arched her back to pull out the night's stiffness. Her sides flexed as she puffed her breath in and out.

To a yak, glory meant overcoming the odds, smashing through the biggest barrier one could find, and standing before all of Yakyakistan as a conqueror of obstacles. That was one way. Some yaks brought glory to their kind through yuvidaphone playing, or making armour. Then there was Yona's way.

Prince Rutherford had sent her to this school, to this empire, to bring yak ways to ponies. Ponies would appreciate yak culture, learn to strive for perfection, and make their home better. Some of that had come true, and not just for ponies. Yona Yak made her friends better, and they made her better in return. Yak strength stronger when her friends stood by her. She had taken that truth into her soul early on. Her glory lay in being the best friend she could.

Why, then, did this abomination of a hole annoy her so much? The ponies she knew wouldn't bother with that sort of thing, and even she couldn't reach all of Equestria with yak standards. Smolder was right, too; she couldn't travel the land and smash every single glory hole she came across.

All four hooves dug into the turf and Yona snorted. Clear the course first, then she could clear her head.

Smash. Level One. Clear A Path.

Yona lunged forward, throwing clods of earth up as she charged. The basics. Head down. Eyes up. Weight moving.

The first target snapped clean off as her forehead plowed through it, the ironwood pole not vibrating an inch. Yona slid to a stop, slewing around and lashing out with a back hoof that cracked through another target. Her head swung, looking for opponents who would come for her after the first two strikes, and feinted at them to drive them back. She dipped down and scooped with her horns, flicking her powerful neck up. A target spun into the air, and she reared up to meet it as it fell, front hooves catching it in mid-spin, smacking it to the ground, and snapping it in two.

Smash. Level Two. Find And Defend Your Space.

Once she'd pushed the first wave of attackers back, she would need room. Hooves splayed, Yona stared down an imaginary horde, then peeled off to her left and ducked past a pair of ironwood poles, her horns piercing the targets atop them. As they fell apart, she trotted into an open space, surrounded by a ring of targets at various heights. She paused, chest heaving, taking in everything she could. Intimidation was key, as opponents who hung back would watch her smash the foolish ones who attacked first.

Leaping, Yona led with her hooves. They snatched a target clean off a pole and she brought it up to her face, driving it into the ground with her helmet in a Power Smash. Her head snapped up in a toss again, showering dirt over the area, then she whipped around with a snarl. If anyone had been on her horns for that toss, their scream and thud while she stared down any other opponents would give pause.

She braced against an imagined rush, kicking out low at targets that represented knees and ankles. As they popped, Yona 'chased her tail' defensively, keeping her own legs moving. Whirling, she wrapped her forelegs around a propped-up hay bale, and fell on it with her full weight in a Spiral Smash. Her shoulder drove it into the turf, Yona rolling over it, tucking her chin in to keep her horns free. If she landed wrong on her back with her horns lodged in the dirt, her neck would suffer. And a yak on their back was easy to attack.

Yona uncurled as she hit her feet again, and charged towards the tree she had wedged a target in. Someone might be in the air, and if they threatened her, she had to show she was an equal threat. She sprang, all four legs off the ground, and gathered her hooves together. Bounding off the trunk, she knocked the target off the branch, with a flurry of leaves raining down. She smacked it and heard the crack as it split.

Smash. Level Three. Fear The Yak.

Steam curled from her nostrils as she snorted, now riled up. If an opponent still insisted on attacking, despite repeated demonstrations of yak superiority, stronger smashes could be employed. Yona had only a few in her repertoire, but the more she practised, the more they would become instinct.

Muscles moved beneath her thick coat, and she fell on a hay bale, scooping it up in her horns. Rearing, she snapped her neck and threw it out of the circle, taking out a target. A Smash of Fate took out a middle bale in a stack of three cleanly, the top bale landing neatly atop the bottom. The top bale then fell victim to a Grab and Smash.

A Northern Lights Smash flung a victim in a skid across the grass, and Yona charged in pursuit. She leapt up a short stack of bales, breathing harder, and as she soared off the top, she spread her body wide as Father Yak himself had taught her just last year.

The Five Star Smash connected, crushing the hay bale beneath her. The stuffing billowed everywhere as Yona crash-landed. Her ribs protested the impact, driving the breath from her body, and Yona rolled off with a groan. She clambered to her hooves, puffing, and swept through a slow circle, tracing her space out ahead of her with a hoof. After that smash, who would stand against her? Snorting a final challenge, she looked around.

Empty poles greeted her, some askew. A swath of churned up grass and earth lay around her. The hoofball game had stopped, as had the steeplechase, and everypony had their gaze fixed on her.

Yona stared back at them, then turned away. It was nothing they hadn't seen before at the School, if any one of them paid attention. She practised often enough, offered to teach smashing techniques, but ponies refused to risk their heads, even with helmets.

Flopping down in the shade of a tree, Yona pawed her helmet off. It thumped to the ground and she shook her mane out as she lay there, panting.

“That's really something to watch, every time.”

Counsellor Pony walked up to Yona, two mugs held in her light blue magic glow. One dipped in front of her in offering and she accepted it. “Thank you,” she said, sipping at the water. “Pony could learn. Magic may vanish, but pony can smash if needed.”

“Oh, I don't think my head's hard enough,” Counsellor Pony said with a laugh, “and I'm not the 'crushing' type. I prefer talking my way out of problems.”

“Ponies talk lots,” Yona muttered, taking another drink. “Then they run because they seem weak. That why dragons not respect ponies, but respect yaks. Griffons respect yaks, too.”

“Ponies respect yaks, too, as friends,” chided Counsellor Pony. “The reason the griffons do is because the yaks smashed up Griffonstone in the last century over a failed alliance. Respect from fear isn't the same thing as being friends, Yona. You know that.” She sat down beside her and patted a foreleg. “I don't suppose you'd like to talk about it?”

Yona eyed her. “How much Counsellor Pony know?” She was sure the Sheriff Pony hadn't sent a report to Headmare Pony, but one never knew. Nopony had brought it up, so she had figured they were in the clear. Besides, if Headmare Pony worried every time some pony panicked at seeing a yak, she would have worn a groove around her desk from pacing.

“Let's pretend I know nothing, which isn't very hard,” Counsellor Pony admitted. “I saw you start at the basics, which you only do if you're upset, and so I'm here to listen.”

She blew a heavy breath out, settling her weight down and gulping more water. “Yona offended, but not sure why. No one here!” she hastened to add, as the pony looked alarmed. “It happen on trip back from Dragon Bowl with friends. Yona visit glory hole, hoping to cover self in glory, make you proud. But it not what Yona thought.”

The expression on Counsellor Pony's face defied description. “Um, could you pretend I know even less than nothing and give me some more detail?”

Yona cocked her head. “Yona overhear ponies talk, think she have chance at glory, but it just ponies playing tricks. Sheriff Pony try to explain, but Yona still not understand why words used for perverted thing.” She explained what had gone on in Omareha.

“Oh. Oh.” Counsellor Pony's face didn't quite clear up, but the strain left her ears. “Oh, Yona. It's not always easy when you find out something like that. Like the time someone offered me grass over in Sunset Shimmer's universe.” She stuck her tongue out. “Not the tastiest stuff I've ever had, but it turns out you're not supposed to eat it.”

“Friends say same thing, that Yona just learn to live with knowledge, but it hard.” Yona fought a pout, rolling the empty mug between her hooves. “Yona come to Equestria to make it better, because yaks make things better. Things not good? Add a yak. It get better.”

Counsellor Pony laughed at that, as if it were a joke. “Yona, you will get over it eventually, because you know it's not the only way to use that word. You know what it truly means, in your heart.” She reached out and pressed her hoof to Yona's chest. “Glory lives here, inside you, and you've shown that before, to both Equestria and Yakyakistan. We're all better for knowing you, and having you in our lives.” She finished the drink in her own mug (Yona suspected empathy cocoa) and got to her feet. “Come on, let's clean up your course. I'll reassemble the targets.”

“Counsellor Pony too kind.” Unicorn magic could put them together faster than Yona could, and she appreciated that. “Yaks might never use magic, but that not mean we don't appreciate pony magic.” She heaved herself upright, then froze as the words bounced around in her mind. “Wait. Yona have breakthrough!”

Counsellor Pony looked over her shoulder, her wide smile sparkling. “Great! So glad I could help!”

“Oh, yes. Counsellor Pony help lots.” Yona smiled to herself and trotted after her to help uproot the ironwood stakes from the ground.

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

She's Come to a Conclusion And Will Take Glory Back

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

Sandbar appeared confused. He furled his ears, lifted his foreleg, and his tail did that swishy thing ponies did when they didn't know which way to turn. His lazy eyes darted back and forth, his grin unsure. “You, uh, want to run that by me again, Yona?”

The yak rolled her eyes. Some days, she had no idea how that stallion got through Headmare Pony's Friendship lessons. Then again, this was why she, Smolder, and Ocellus would occasionally yank Sandbar from whatever he was doing to run their homework or projects past him. If he couldn't understand it, perhaps it was too complicated for other ponies. “Yona figure this would happen, so Yona make bullet points, just in case. Sandbar prefer that?”

He nodded. “Please. Because even though you woke me up for this, I can't possibly still be that asleep to hear what you just said.”

Yona turned around and seized the edge of the sheet in her mouth, yanking it off the easel to reveal a propped-up board. Using her hoof as a pointer, Yona proceeded.

“Counsellor Pony tell Yona she have glory inside her,” she recited, pointing to the first line. “With Yona so far?”

Sandbar nodded again, although his tail didn't stop lashing. “With you so far, yes.”

She moved down a line. “Pony also agree with Yona that she make other things and ponies better. Still understand?”

“So far...” He looked uneasy.

Yona tapped the board at the third line. “Therefore, if Yak make things better, and yak have glory inside her, then yak can step into glory hole room, and make it better, give meaning to glory again! It make sense!”

Sandbar stared at her, then at her list, then back at her. “Uhh. Wait, did you learn that reasoning from Professor Dash?”

“Yona realize she only offended because she surprised and disappointed at what she find. If Yona better prepared, she bring yak glory to pony glory hole in her own way. This excellent way to become better yak!” She clapped her hooves together and grinned.

Sandbar hadn't blinked yet. In fact, his eyes got wider. “Umm, and how, exactly, would this make you a better yak, Yona?”

“Yaks smash, right?” she pointed out. “Any creature can get yak to smash stuff by irritating yak. But what if yak face challenge to not smash? Test of willpower to remain still, keep self-control and not smash surroundings when faced with challenge?” Her heart swelled with pride. “Imagine glory yak would gain. Would utterly redeem stupid name for hole!”

Silence filled the room, then Sandbar made for the door. “Too tired for this. I'm getting Ocellus. She can talk sense to you instead.”

“Wait!” Yona yelped. She hopped in front of him. “Yona have plan, what wrong with it?”

“Uh, I don't know, everything?” He pointed at her chart. “For starters, you ... uh ...” Swallowing hard, he got the words out. “Okay, let's ignore the faulty reasoning for the moment. Are you going to just sit in that room, stare at the hole, and not actively smash anything? That's not how any of this works. You actually have to, um, engage with the ponies on the other end.”

“Yona not planning on engagement! Yona not ready for marriage.”

He finally blinked, then moved to go around her. “Right, I'm getting Smolder instead. She can say words I can't. I don't care how late it is.”

Yona tried to block him again. Using her horns counted as cheating, and jabbing her friend would mean apologizing, but she lowered her head anyways. “Sandbar saying there more to this?”

He pulled up, eyeing her horns with an expression that made her heart ache. “Gallus already said things I can't unhear. I don't wanna repeat them to you. Also, this is your dorm room, not mine, and I'd really like to leave now. You need sleep, I really need sleep, and we can go over this in the morning.”

She did her best to make her eyes big and begging. Given she was bovine, she didn't have to force the issue. The watering, however, happened on its own.

“Ohh, no. Not the cow eyes.” Sandbar groaned, threw a foreleg over his face, and half-turned away. “Nonononono. Don't hit me with the big browns, Yona.”

A noise crept up from her throat, a mighty whimper unbidden. Her rump thumped onto the floor, and she leaned closer. “Sandbarrrrrrrrr,” she lowed.

“Stop it,” he urged.

“You no help Yona?” A big tear trickled down her muzzle and she let it go, even though he'd covered his eyes. “Whyyyyy?”

“This is unfair!” His hooves stayed firmly planted, though, and he'd made no move to go around her. “I was sleeping! You dragged me out of bed for this!”

“Just tell Yona what wrong,” she coaxed. She needed to know. Sleep would escape her otherwise. “Then Sandbar go back to bed. Yona, too.”

He peeked at her over his fetlock, then squeezed his eyes shut again, and looked away. “Ugh, fine! Just stop it with the eyes.”

Yona hopped back up, clearing her throat, and brushed her own foreleg over her face to dry her eyes off. “Deal!”

Huffing, Sandbar stepped back and walked a few paces off, muttering and punching himself in the head. He turned back around, his eyes odd. “Uh, okay. You gotta promise me, though, you're not going to get mad and smash something, especially me.”

“Yak promise!” Yona spat on her hoof and held it out.

Sandbar winced, but reached out to shake it. “Good.” He hesitated. “Has anypony actually explained what a glory hole is for?”

Yona frowned. “Yona already know it sex thing. Pony stick thing through hole, wave it at Yona.”

A brief grumble rolled through his chest, but Sandbar nodded. “Yeah, that's how it starts. But you're supposed to, um ... suck on his thing, until he's, uh, spent. And it's not just one thing, but whoever's in line after him, as well.”

Silence descended on Yona's dorm room, much like she'd descended on that hay bale earlier.

“You promised, Yona.”

“Yona not smashing anything! Yona thinking!”

“Your thinking stance looks a lot like a smashing stance!” Sandbar hopped onto her bed. Her nice, comfortable pony bed, with a yak pillow as a concession to perfection.

Oh, for all gods in smashed yak pantheon. She narrowed her eyes at him and splayed her forelegs. “No, this smashing stance, unless Sandbar get off Yona's bed. No one allowed on Yona's bed.”

“Make an exception,” he challenged. “Yona, you can forget about this whole mess. Just let it go. Don't do this to yourself.”

“Yona not have choice. This only way through. Yona know friends make 'yak smash' sex jokes behind her back. Yona rather they do it to her face.”

“If you go through with this, that's exactly what will happen to your face,” he countered.

Pawing the floor, she snorted. “Yona expect that double meaning from Gallus, not friend Sandbar. But, Yona also know glory means sacrifice, so might give up mouth for short while.” She paused, considering. “Yona not have to give up tail, too, right?”

Sandbar made a face. “Yona, no, you don't have to do any of that if you don't want to.” He stepped down off her bed and sat beside her. “Why aren't you talking to the girls about this?”

She gestured at him. “Yona deal with pony thing, so best friend to ask is pony.” As he leaned in, she wrapped a foreleg around his shoulders and pulled him against her chest. “Sandbar good pony, care for Yona, but she have goal. Restoring glory worth any price, and Yona pay it!”

He sighed, submitting to her embrace, and almost nuzzling her. “Stubborn yak,” he murmured.

Yona ruffled his mane. “Silly pony,” she said. “Yona appreciate concern, and help. Also apologize for mood swings. She just excited about idea.”

Sandbar made a low noise, nestling in. “I'm not responsible for anything that happens, I want that noted,” he mumbled. “Not gonna help clean up whatever you smash next.”

“Lazy pony, too,” she told him, amused at his noises. “Yona know Sandbar tired. Yak tired, too, but maybe pony help with one more thing before sleep?”

“Lemme guess.” He rested his chin onto her breastbone and gazed up at her, eyes already hooded from her stroking his mane and ears. “I roll over and let you practice?”

“Pony craftier than he let on,” she said. “It okay? Yona need to know she can do this. Could use look at what she getting into. And she know tired pony sleep better afterwards.”

Sandbar sighed again and flicked an ear up at her. “Honestly? Been kinda expecting it since you started grumbling about the whole thing. I mean, didn't really think you'd ask. Figured you'd just slam open the door and bellow 'Yak say pony make thing ready!', and I'd fall out of my bed in fright.” His shoulders moved in a weak shrug. “Glad I was wrong?”

“Close. Was supposed to be 'Yona need better look', but plans change,” she admitted. “Yona could always go to Gallus, if Sandbar want. Griffon know more.”

“Hey, like you said, pony problem means pony friend.” Sandbar nuzzled up against her. “I guess I'm okay with being made an example of. Mmm, too tired to really argue any more.”

“Lazy pony,” Yona repeated, grinning. “Yona not smash if pony want to lie on bed, in this case. Pony need sleep, can relax while Yona explore.”

Sandbar nodded, rolling his head to the side to rub his cheek against her chest. “If you step into that glory hole room, it won't be like this,” he warned, bumping his head into her forelegs. “Nopony to guide you, or tell you to stop. It's way more impersonal, and anonymous.”

“Then why ponies do it?” Yona asked. She squeezed him and he 'oomph'ed. “This way better, close and safe.”

“Dunno. Some like it without anypony seeing them.” Sandbar peeked up at her. “But not me.”

“Yona know,” she agreed, letting him go. “Come, make thing ready.”

He laughed and stumbled towards her bed, whatever energy he'd had during their argument now gone. “Yeah, sure.” Flopping onto it, Sandbar nestled his cheek into the covers. “Mmmm...”

“Pony not make yak do all the work,” she chuckled, even as she pushed at his flank. “Stay awake for first part, if nothing else!”

Sandbar peeked out between his forelegs at her, then groaned and made an effort, rolling over onto his back. “Mmmph. Sorry, Yona. I probably won't remember this tomorrow.”

“That fine,” Yona admitted, rearing up at the foot of the bed. She nudged his thighs, spreading his hind legs open. “Pony will owe Yona favour.”

He squinted down at her, “'Kay,” he breathed. “That, I'll remember.” Then his head lolled back and he sighed heavily as her muzzle brushed his sheath. “Ohhh...”

Yona grunted, pushing her nose into his groin. Oh, this wasn't so bad. Pony musk much lighter than yak musk, for one. Smell not bad at all. She brought some of her weight to bear on his hindquarters, and Sandbar shuddered beneath her as she pinned his thighs open, her wide tongue slipping out to delicately lap up and down in broad strokes. Mmm. Taste not bad, either.

True, this wouldn't be what awaited her on the other side of a hole in the wall. That would be rough, fast, and much more yak-like, if Gallus and Smolder's ongoing smart remarks were any clue. Yona already knew she could go fast and hard. Slow and steady, though, could shift power to her favour in there, and for that, she needed some practice.

Sandbar's moan rolled through his body, and Yona whuffed in pleasure at making him feel that way. She nosed in circles, pawing lightly at his inner thigh to get him open more. His hips responded with a small lift. Yona took that as her due, and lavished more licks down over his sac. His skin roughened there, compared to the rest of his sheath, and Sandbar reached down to grope her mane as she sucked on one of his balls, then the other.

Her hoof nudged up higher, caressing the join of his thigh, and she dragged her tongue up that crease with a deliberate rasp. Leaning over to the other side, she repeated the slow drag that ruffled the grain of his coat.

He groaned again, almost involuntarily, twitching beneath her attention. His eyes flickered from their half-closed position, and his hind legs shifted against her body, going slack. “Jus' like that,” he murmured.

Good. Yona bent to her task, using her mouth to pull at him, working him over as he drowsed. He was almost out, drifting in that spot between awake and asleep, where she could say anything and he'd just barely hear it. Even as his body curled into sleep, it awoke in other ways, and she lowed in soft victory as his cock slid out of his sheath.

Sandbar's shoulder jerked a little as she took his dark, thick length between her lips, and his breath caught at the slow back and forth bobbing of her head. “Sh'good, Yona,” he said, slurring a little. One foreleg curled close to her, cupping her head, and she leaned into his touch. Her tongue swiped over the flat head of his cock, causing another quiver. “Mmm...”

He fit easily into her mouth, given her size, and Yona slid down to his medial ring in a long suck, engulfing him nice and slow. Even drowsy, Sandbar felt that, and he huffed, hips rising off the bed as she pulled her head up, her suction lifting him until he slipped out of her mouth with a 'pop'. As he melted back into the mattress, Yona nuzzled up his slick length that rested against his belly, lapping and making little noises in her throat.

His hoof awkwardly pawed her head, stroking her, and she butted up against it, nipping at his fetlock. Her teeth jerked him awake, and he blinked fuzzily, gazing down at where she lay between his thighs. “Mmmf. Doin' 'kay?”

“Yona okay,” she assured him. “You?” She kissed up his length with a little more enthusiasm. Her own hindquarters quivered, partly from the strain of her reared-up posture, and partly from her own arousal. She couldn't help it, and she would ignore it. No riding her friend, not tonight.

“Feels reeeealll good.” Sandbar lifted his head to watch her. He breathed out deeply, sinking back into the bed as she stretched out on his legs and pushed her nose into his groin again. “Mmmm, yeahhhh.” Yona dipped her head, lavishing hot, wet licks with her thick tongue, and his eyes closed, pleasure and fatigue taking his attention from her once again. “Ahhhh....”

“Good,” she whispered, then slipped him into her mouth again. More slow, steady bobs of her head lulled him into a light doze. He lay beneath her, breathing deeply and evenly, as he slipped off on a cloud of bliss.

Yona worked him over tenderly, her nose grazing his belly once or twice as she went nice and deep on him. Each long, slow suck upwards pulled a taut quiver from his body, and Yona mentally prepared herself for the last part of her practice.

With a wet, rasping swirl of her tongue, she sucked on him, pulling him towards the edge of orgasm with strokes of her hooves up and down his shaft. A shuddering, stuttering huff from him was her only warning, and then Sandbar came with a hot gush. One pulse, two, then so much more, and he filled her mouth, the semi-conscious roll of his hips thrusting up against her muzzle. “Hhhhuhhhh! Hhhnnh...” he breathed, then he subsided again, all four legs slackening as he slumped.

Pursing her lips, Yona lifted up and slid him out of her mouth without spilling any of his load, letting his softening cock slap against his belly. With a toss of her head, she swallowed it all in one gulp, wincing slightly at the sweet and salty tang. Huh. Seemed easy enough. Pony load was light, after all.

She yawned widely, lifting off a sated, snoozing Sandbar, the sway of the bed barely disturbing him. At least he'd left her one side of the bed. With a blanket draped over them both, she could still have enough room to keep them comfortable until the morning. No way was he sleeping on her yak pillow, though. She liberated that with a nuzzle at his throat, then a quick yank of the pillowcase before his raised head sank back down onto the covers.

Yona ducked into her bathroom to brush her teeth. As she rinsed, she paused and looked at herself in the mirror. So far, she'd made her plan, done one of her best friends an intensely intimate favour, and swallowed her first ever pony load. Did she dare push forward to the next step? Of course she did. Weaker yaks than her had endured much more than an unsatisfied throb beneath the tail.

She met her own big, brown eyes and nodded to herself. This was a one-yak mission to glory. A private glory that could never be told to anyone else. Which only made it all the more glorious. She, and she alone, would step out and redeem the notion for herself.

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

“Okay, who broke Sandbar?”

Yona turned a baffled expression on Smolder, who stood in the doorway of the school cafeteria.

Smolder scowled back at her. “You can't see it? It's written all over him.” She gestured to where Sandbar ate breakfast at their usual table. “In the three years we've hung out, he's never had an appetite first thing in the morning. Now he's got two kinds of jam and a pile of toast the size of my dad's hoard.”

“It busy day with Professor Dash Pony today.” Yona shrugged. “Pony need fuel for exercise. Yona know she have big breakfast planned.” With that statement, she lumbered towards the serving line.

Unfortunately, the dragon followed her. “Busy day, yeah. Kind of sounded like he had a busy night, too. I heard a thump or two through the wall last night. Did you kidnap him?”

Yona shrugged. “Yona not think about it.” True, she hadn't just thought about it, she'd done it. Sandbar's room was between Smolder's and Ocellus's. Arguing with him in there would have raised too much attention. “Why, you had plans to kidnap him?”

“Would have, if he were in his bed. I needed another opinion on my project.” Smolder picked up a tray. “Who'd ever think a half-asleep pony makes the best sounding board?”

“Oooh!” Silverstream bounced into line behind them. “Who broke Sandbar?”

“Why every creature think he broken?” Yona asked. This wasn't going according to plan at all. “He just having breakfast.”

“The toast and jam, for starters,” Silverstream said, “plus, he wasn't in his bed last night.”

“You too, huh?” Smolder shook her head and picked up a gem cup to go with her apple juice. “It's a wonder any of us get things done if we have to rely on the most easily-confused pony in the whole school for validation.”

Silverstream frowned, her beak somehow turning down. “I know! I tried to talk to Gallus instead, but he just shushed me when I knocked, and he went back to pressing his ear against the wall. I think he might have termites.”

Yona hunched her shoulders as she nudged her tray down the line, opting for the wheatgrass cereal. “Yona wonder about that. She keep ear open for noises.”

“Gotta be Ocellus, then,” Smolder decided. “She's got the most in-depth presentations, and she probably confused him with her smarts last night.”

“Smarts, sure.” Gallus met them at the end of the line, his tray balanced on his claws. “If she broke Sandbar with some intricate changeling point of view, why isn't he sitting there with a blank look on his face? Somegriff wore him out last night, would be my guess.”

“Oh, so he's not broken?” Silverstream asked. “That's good, then. How are your termites?”

Gallus eyed her as they all reached the table. “What termites? Oooh, hey, jam. Don't mind if I do.” He stole the apple-strawberry jam from Sandbar's tray, earning a sudden glower from his normally easy-going friend. “Wow, who got you up on the wrong side of the bed?”

“You're not eating my jam from the jar with a spoon, then putting the spoon right back in,” Sandbar commented, stealing the jam back, then plucking the spoon from between Gallus's claws. “And I slept great, thank you very much.”

“Not in your own bed, you didn't,” said Silversteam. “I stuck my head in because I needed your help.”

“See, this? This is why there's a lock on my door,” Sandbar mumbled through a mouthful of toast with jam.

Smolder patted him on the shoulder. “It's adorable that you think that stops us, because obviously it doesn't.”

He swallowed toast and jam. “I hoped it would. Why don't any of you ever kidnap Gallus? He's smarter than me.” He went back in for another mouthful.

“It's adorable that you think that,” Ocellus said, fluttering down into her spot. “Oooh, did someone break Sandbar or something? He's hungry this morning.”

“Apparently, we think you did,” Gallus said, “despite the evidence, and what do you mean I'm not smarter than him?” He folded his arms over his chest, then crossly pecked at his bacon.

“I didn't break Sandbar,” Ocellus whimpered. “Sandbar, I'd never break you!” She clung to his side, not even pulling away when he sprayed her with toast crumbs. “You'd tell me if I broke you, right?”

“Wait, what evidence?” Silverstream asked. She nudged her jam jar over to Gallus, stealing a slice of bacon off his plate as compensation. “Do the termites have something to do with it?”

Gallus jerked a claw at Yona. “Only if they sound a lot like Sandbar and Yona arguing. Then things got pretty quiet.”

A whole parcel of stares turned themselves upon the suddenly blushing yak. Smolder looked frustrated that she'd been beaten to Sandbar, while Silverstream put her head to one side in confusion, and Ocellus gasped in betrayal at Yona not confessing right away. Sandbar's read as a mixture of resignation and annoyance, while Gallus's expression changed from smug to fright as a snort from Yona bowled him over.

“Oh,” Ocellus said, peeking out from beneath Sandbar's foreleg draped over her head. “That explains those emotions.”

Smolder stole a slice of bacon off Gallus's plate as he clambered back up. “What emotions?”

“Good emotions?” Silverstream wanted to know.

“Tasty emotions,” Ocellus assured them both. “Mostly.”

Sandbar reached around Ocellus to continue eating toast with jam. “Yona has a solution for her problem. It's a dumb solution,” he said.

“It perfect solution!” Yona protested. “Yona just need to find new hole and restore glory! Yak not smash, not be yak about it, and increase yak-ness as result!”

Gallus stared at her. “Isn't that an oxymoron?”

Annoyance flared. “Yona not ox! And Yona use her brain!”

“It's actually a paradox,” Ocellus said, slipping around Sandbar to press a huffing Yona back into her seat. “Yona, are you sure you want to do this? You weren't happy with what happened in Omareha, I get that, but is this the best idea you could come up with?”

“See?” Sandbar asked, swallowing. “This is why I wanted Ocellus to join us last night.”

Ocellus glanced between them. “Uh, not for the whole night, right? Because from what I can sense...”

“When Headmare Twilight hears about a yak in a glory hole, which yak will she think of first?”

“No one ever find out it Yona,” she insisted. “Yona not advertise. How Headmare Pony ever find out?”

“So, what, you're just going to show up to one, chuck out the poor pony in there, and take their place without anyone noticing?” Sandbar challenged.

“Yona working on that part.” She snorted again. “Yona may need help from friends to smooth way.”

Gallus blocked Ocellus from stealing what remained of his bacon. “You know, if you want a stealthy way of doing that, we do have a changeling. A changeling who can pretend to be a stallion and find out where the local hole is.”

“A changeling who's still hungry,” said Ocellus, making sad eyes at him. “Half-day old emotions aren't enough to sustain a girl. A little love, please? Or bacon. I will accept bacon as payment for pretending to be a stallion looking for a glory hole.”

Sighing, he lifted his foreleg and let her steal a couple slices of bacon.

“You're sure you're up for this,” Smolder said, “and we won't end up witnessing another spectacular smash instead?”

“Friends should keep distance from Yona when time come,” Yona said, frowning. “Yona grateful for help, but if things go wrong, Yona take fall on own. Counsellor Pony already know about this, she no need to know friends help Yona get in trouble.”

Still munching on her stolen bacon, Ocellus nodded. “We'll do our best for you, Yona. No way will any pony ever know we helped you.”

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

Her Truth Is Smashing On!

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

It took three days of waiting, but Ocellus finally buzzed back in to pronounce her side mission a success. She had found a place for Yona to cover herself in glory, so to speak, and no questions asked. Partway outside Ponyville, where no Headmare Pony, Counsellor Pony, Fancy Pony, or Apple Pony would ever wander. Pink Party Pony, however, was unpredictable.

Yona accepted that risk. Pink Party Pony, in her mind, could be teaching a class, baking a cake at Sugarcube Corner, and probably tending bar at this new location, all at the same time.

She left the School after classes, managing to avoid seeing any of her friends on the way out. They'd done what they could for her, but this was her idea, her mission, and they shouldn't be there for any of it.

As she strode down the leafy laneway, Yona pondered. Once, she had wondered if Prince Rutherford had truly believed in her as a yak, when he'd chosen her to come here. He had promised her family that she would succeed among ponies, and make it all better.

Originally, she'd thought it meant she would be a better pony than a yak, and had felt furious at such a comparison. She had almost refused the honour, insisting that other, weaker yaks could become ponies, if they wished. But as she'd spent more time in Equestria, Yona eventually concluded that Rutherford had instead wished for her to become more than just a yak.

Like all her friends, she'd been sent to learn, and to teach. Simple things mostly, like their different holidays, or how changelings saw love as compared to griffons or ponies (food, a battlefield, and fun, respectively). But it was the simple, small things that brought them closer together as friends.

If Mother Yak could see her now. Then again, perhaps this wasn't the best situation to have one's parent watching. Few mothers would observe their daughter taken in this way. Although there had been one season when cousin Ysabeth's mother chose her daughter's husband by seeing which yak could pleasure Ysabeth the best in the town square.

Yona rolled her eyes. Well, her own mother would still be proud of her for passing a test such as this. Yaks good at everything, after all, and if that meant draining every stallion pony who stepped up and dared, she could do that. Yak mom might even suggest she go farther and satisfy her lady friends as well, why discriminate?

That earned a snort from her. Yona wasn't quite ready to learn the ins and outs of a hippogriff or dragon yet. Sandbar was a good practice run, even unplanned. Pony friend made a good starting point, and she wouldn't mind doing him properly, once she settled her score with the glory hole.

The Compass Rose sat partway between Ponyville and Canterlot, almost a rest stop for those who hauled wagons back and forth, rather than those who flew or took the train. Three or four of those wagons lay scattered around the front yard, their traces empty. A couple ponies stood guard over the supplies, and as Yona approached, she saw one of them trade off with a pony emerging from the building.

Ocellus had said not to enter by the front, so she backtracked and turned down a side path marked “Deliveries To The Rear”. Pausing at the sign, Yona lowered her head in the silence, and let Gallus's imagined smart remarks wash over her. Very few yaks had his wit when it came to words. She almost wished for him beside her now, breaking the tension with his sarcastic comments about the sign and her situation.

No, no more wishing. Not now. Yona resumed trudging along the widened path meant for barrels and crates. She had already wished for this, and now she would conquer it.

Reaching the old wooden door, she knocked, and settled in to wait. Ocellus had said the owner would expect her around this time, but owners got busy quickly. She could wait out here a —

The hinges creaked, and a red muzzle poked out, followed by a pair of green eyes and a golden mane. “Ohh, you must be Yona.” The older mare pushed the door open the rest of the way and stood aside. “I'm Sangria. Come on in! Never thought in all my days I'd meet a pretty yak like you, let alone a pretty yak interested in this.”

Yona shrugged as she moved forward. “Yak have purpose. Hope owner pony don't mind Yona using space.”

“Pshaw, anypony's welcome, even if they aren't a pony.” Sangria offered a hoof in a quick shake, then shoved the door closed. “Now, everything you need is already back here,” she continued, leading the way between stacks of kegs and cased stone bottles. “You've got a spotter, too, to keep an eye on the boys who'll be back shortly. She isn't worried about you or your reasons, so don't panic. She's here to keep you safe, and answer any questions. All right, love?”

A grunt was Yona's best reply.

“Good.” She pointed down another narrow hallway. “Just down there, then. I'll give you a few minutes, then set up the signal behind the bar. Won't be too long before somepony gets interested.” Sangria grinned. “Have yourself a marvellous time.” She slipped away through another swinging door, heading back into her pub.

Turning, Yona peered down the hall. Just like the last one she'd walked, but empty of ponies. A curtain covered the far end, hiding the rooms from casual view. Her challenge lay beyond that, so Yona shook herself and went to confront it.

No charging, no smashing, not now. Yona marched slowly, putting her hooves down deliberately. Her head stayed up, horns held high, and she kept her gaze fixed ahead. This was how a yak met her match, with dignity and courage.

Then she pushed past the curtain and saw who waited for her.

“Smolder? Silverstream?”

Her dragon friend leaned against the side of a wooden booth. “Hey. No way you were doing this alone.” From her perch on top of the booth, Silverstream grinned and waggled her talons.

“But —” Yona started. What were they all doing here? They were all getting in so much trouble if any one at school found out!

“Ocellus is holding down the fort back at school,” Silverstream said. She lounged casually on her side, tail swishing, but she looked ready to spring at a moment's notice. “She'll make sure we're all seen around the building, or in the grounds.”

“All of us,” Sandbar put in, appearing from around the other corner of the booth, “because we won't trust just anypony with you.”

“We're the backup,” Gallus said, head poking down from the rafters. “Smolder's the real muscle, since she could handle everyone on her own.”

Smolder nodded, flexing a bicep. “I'm the bouncer. Any stallion doesn't want to listen? I'll punch him right in the dick. Then we'll see how he feels about being pushy.”

“And I'm the inspector,” Silverstream chirped. “No one dirty's getting through to our Yona.”

“You are the bravest of us all,” Gallus told her. “Could not pay me enough to examine dicks.”

Smolder smirked up at him. “I could find enough, I bet. Every griffon's got their price.”

“Please,” he cautioned. “I take bits, not gems.”

Their ridiculous, familiar banter lifted Yona's heart, and she pounced on Smolder and Sandbar, since they were closest within reach. “Friends!” she shrieked, gathering them up in a hug.

Their laughing and mock-coughing at being squeezed tightly warmed her even more, as both Silverstream and Gallus flapped down to affectionately brush their claws through her coat.

“This not weird for you?” she asked, backing up and dropping onto all fours. “It not make this very secret.”

“Oh, it's plenty weird,” Gallus assured her.

Smolder chuckled. “And don't worry. None of us could pick a stallion out of a lineup. They're nothing to us. The only ones in here with you will be me and Sandbar, since you two already hooked up.”

Both Sandbar and Yona exchanged a glance, his face going red quicker than hers. “Hey, uh...”

“Yona glad for help,” she said, nosing at him. “But not much time left before pony put signal up.”

“Let's do this, then,” Smolder said. “We'll have plenty of time to bust your chops later.”

“And we will,” Gallus added, rising into the air.

Silverstream shoved him towards the curtain. “You were the one listening in on them!” she accused. “I'm having my room soundproofed now!”

“Aww, don't do that. How else will I —” He squawked as Smolder advanced on him. “Going, going!”

“Yeah, go, find your perch,” she said, herding him and Silverstream out.

Sandbar rolled his eyes and huffed.

Yona bumped him with her shoulder. “Yona glad friends here, but you no need to hear this.”

“Can't be worse than hearing Garble go on about getting tail,” Smolder said, shuddering. She pointed to the middle door in the booth. “We got the quick rundown from that other pony. You're in there, idiots in the curtained booths on either side of you, and you choose when you're ready to open the hole for them. Try not to smash anything.”

“That Yona's goal.” She let Smolder pull the door open for her and eyed the space inside warily. Not bad. Bare tile, sturdy wood, easy flip handles to nose the holes open, and big enough for a yak her size to move around. Better than the one in the Peppered Pegasus, much better. “It do.” She lumbered in and sat down.

“Yeah,” Sandbar mumbled around the handle of a firefly lantern. He set it down inside the room. “If you need help, knock three times. Twice if you need a break.” Smolder tossed a towel in and Yona caught it on one of her horns. As she pawed it free, Sandbar leaned in to nuzzle her. “And four times, if you want me to join,” he whispered. “Your favour, remember?”

She nodded, folding the towel and putting it beside the lamp. “Mmhm.” Oh, of all the times for him to decide to owe her. Her heart still thudded from the surge of joy at seeing everyone, and it added an extra bounce at the thought of him joining in.

He stepped back, ears flicking. “Uhh, good luck?”

Yona nodded again, pulling the door closed on his anxious expression. With the click of the latch, darkness settled in, and she breathed out completely. She didn't reach for the lantern. Instead, she took another breath in, then let it out. The dark calmed her, like covering a birdcage. The scent of the wood filled her nose, prickling up between her eyes. She was Yona, daughter of Yuchenka, and a yak who fought for her friends. Compared to facing an avalanche of spiders, this was so, so simple.

She fumbled for the lantern, finding the switch and turning it on. The small booth lit up, and Yona sat down. The cool tile beneath her rump made her wriggle. Before her, on the other side of the covered hole, lay her path to glory. She'd sat in this situation before. Last time, she'd lunged to her feet when that first pony thing came through the hole, and she'd smashed both herself and the pony attached to it through the wall in response.

Yona breathed in, then out. This time, she would not smash. She would be a better, stronger yak by not succumbing to instinct.

The knock in front of her brought her head up. Here was her first test. Raising a hoof, she flipped the cover open and leaned to one side.

The long, pink pony thing slid through the hole. It brushed against her horn, nestling between her head and the tip, and Yona held still. Even though she hadn't sharpened her horns in forever, and dulled tips wouldn't hurt a pony, she carefully eased her head back. The curl of her horn glided up against the flat head, prompting a huffing noise from behind the wall.

Huh. If pony liked that, maybe she could do it a bit more. She leaned in, puffing a hot breath over the sac she could see pressed against the other side of the hole. Her tongue slipped out to lap against the base, too, as her horn slid back down to the pony's medial ring. Another noise, a groan, sounded more like enjoyment than pain, so Yona mouthed affectionately at the underside of the pony's cock to pleasure them.

It twitched and throbbed as she did that, and she indulged in another lick, another glide of her horn back and forth. Her head tilted as she worked, the pony getting harder beneath her attentions. Yona snuffled sideways against his sheath, kissing his shaft, and the moan she drew from the other side absurdly pleased her. While not satisfying as smashing, turning a pony to putty with her tongue still felt good.

Wiggling her head a little, she tested the pull of his girth against the curve of her horn. He'd swelled quickly, and she could feel the throb of his pulse against the side of her head. If she stayed like this, she might not be able to pull away if he grew too thick.

Almost reluctantly, Yona slipped free with a small squirm. The last tug was just tight enough, and she drew the tip of his cock quickly into her mouth to soothe any ache. The pony pressed forward at the first swirl of her tongue, and Yona made a low, muffled noise in her throat, taking him in more.

The delicate work done, she settled into a proper yak blowjob, slurping at the head and bobbing up and down with enthusiasm. She'd been gentle with Sandbar, putting him to sleep rather than completely blowing his mind, but now she had no reason to hold back. So Yona delved, taking this cock deep, and she rumbled low in her chest. A scraping and pawing sounded at the wall, a quick, breathy panting, then a stuttering knock sounded.

Oh, already? Yona smirked. Well, she would smirk, if her mouth weren't full. She relented, drawing off with a pleased noise, and languidly licked down the sides of the shaft. The frantic sounds on the other side subsided, although the pony's cock continued to thrust forward, almost begging, and Yona lowered her head to tease the base with her tongue once more.

Slowly, tauntingly she lapped her way up towards the head again, working him in long strokes. Upon reaching the tip, a quick swipe of her tongue swept the growing bead of precum into her mouth and she swallowed it. She lowed softly, letting this pony know he was hers. He would perhaps hear a drawn-out moan, and imagine that he pleased her, but his heart would understand that she owned him.

A yak brought this pony pleasure, and he would give in to it, all for her glory.

Yona took his cock into her mouth once more, her tongue slithering wetly around his head as she sucked. This time, she didn't ease up when the knock came. She pumped his shaft with a curled fetlock, encouraging him to let go and cum in her mouth.

The cry from the other side preceded the first warm gush. Yona mmmphed as it rolled over her tongue, letting her pony know she took it willingly. His cum filled her mouth, thick and sweet, much like Sandbar tasted. Ponies tended towards that flavour, she guessed, coaxing another pulse from him with an upward stroke of her hoof.

She sucked his cock deeply, milking him dry into her mouth until he shuddered and tried to pull away. Yona let him slip free and tossed her head to swallow the small pony load. Puffing, she then leaned forward to give the head of his softening cock a parting kiss before it completely withdrew. “Hmmfff!”

Level One. Clear a Path.

Yona wiggled her rump on the floor, the bob of her tail fanning the new heat coming off her body. Just like with Sandbar, she got hot quickly. Sustaining it through however many pony cocks would be her next challenge.

No knocks came from either side. Perhaps Smolder and Silverstream planned to space out the waiting ponies, to give her proper breaks. But just as the thought entered her mind, a light flickered ahead of her, and a dark, thick pony cock slipped through the hole. Hard and full already, this one had a thin line of precum trailing down its length.

Smirking, Yona considered just how thorough an inspection Silverstream must have made. She flicked her long, flat tongue against the underside of that cockhead, making it jump, and suckled on the tip with a purse of her lips. Rewarded with more pre-cum, she hummed and engulfed him easily in her mouth.

This pony twitched as she sucked him, his cock trembling each time she traced the rim with her tongue. After the third quiver, Yona teasingly drew back and went for his shaft instead. Sure, 'yak make pony cum quickly, assert dominance over pony' was one thing, but something hot inside her begged for the chance to thrill, to pleasure, and to draw it out.

Lavishing some long licks up and down, Yona nosed at his length. Pony musk smelt different from the last one, earthier and richer. If only she could press her muzzle into the join of his thigh, on the other side of the hole, she would know so much more. She contented herself with lapping at the base of his cock, right where it met his sheath, and received a tilt of his hips in response, offering more of it up to her.

Yona hummed and obliged, dipping lower, worrying at his base and puffing more air over what lay on the other side. Heat wasn't a problem, since her breaths almost steamed as she worked her way back up. Lowing once more, she brushed her cheek against his head and slurped at it.

She slipped him almost tenderly into her mouth again and resumed bobbing her head, daring him to knock, to admit that he wanted to give up his cum as his gift to her. Hers. Her prize.

The knock came, and Yona swirled her tongue around his rim, causing a shudder and sudden flare. His cock spurted, a heavy load on just the first pulse, and the moan from behind the wall sounded equally pained and relieved. Yona made a content noise of her own, coaxing more hot gushes from his tip with each roll of her tongue, luxuriating in her role at bringing him to a peak. She cradled the underside of his shaft, the pads of her hoof rippling with the twitch and thrum of his cumming.

Yona slid him out of her mouth, tossing her head back once more and swallowing his cream. She leaned in to lap at his still-drooling tip, causing a jerk and gasp, before the pony shakily withdrew back through the hole.

Level Two. Defend Her Space

She heaved herself to her feet as she watched him go, the throbbing beneath her tail almost audible in the small space. Never had she felt this wet or needy, and Yona shot a look at the other hole, sliding it open with a back hoof and waiting to see if somepony would pop through. She had notions and ideas about the sorts of things they could do for her.

The scrape of claws over the door drew her attention away from both holes.

“You okay, so far?” whispered Smolder.

Sure, she would be, as soon as she had someone to suck or fuck. Glory was not a mere two ponies, after all. “Still okay. Could use more pony.” She grunted. “Bigger pony, maybe. First two not much of challenge.”

Smolder's low laugh, in other circumstances, would have put Yona's hackles up. “Yeah, they staggered out of there looking pretty drained. I think I've got just the stallion waiting for you, though.” The door creaked as she leaned up against it. “Put Sandbar out of his misery soon, huh? Poor guy's pawing the ground something fierce, listening to you go at it.”

Yona grunted. Tempting, to take two ponies at once, but she would save that for last. “Tell him patience, yak almost ready.” Oh, why lie? The tremors running through her hindquarters could quickly be quelled by a nice, deep thrust. Sandbar mounting her would please them both, and he could rut her freely until he came inside her in a hot gush.

If she gave in, though, and let her urges overwhelm her, she would not achieve the glory of conquering this wretched place. As much as she wanted satisfaction, she first had more to swallow. “Next pony, on left side,” she rumbled. “Bigger.”

“You got it,” Smolder said. Her footsteps padded away and Yona squared her shoulders to face down the hole she hadn't used yet.

The bulbous head that squeezed through the wall seconds later made Yona widen her eyes. Oh, now here was a cock fit for her needs! Dark pink, almost shading to purple from its engorged state, the shaft swelled below the medial ring as it wiggled through the hole. The tightness of the fit at the base made the pony's flat tip bob up and down as its colour darkened even more.

Yona tilted her head in consideration, licking her chops and ignoring the drool dripping from her mouth. She could fall on this behemoth with mouth and hooves, devour it to her heart's content, and drain it as she'd done with the previous two. That was her goal, after all.

Instead, she went in for the nuzzle and inhale, getting his scent. Musky was a given, but a spicy tang invaded her nose and made her rumble. She lapped next, brushing her tongue up his length in a questioning lick. Mmm. The same spice lingered on her palate, and Yona indulged herself some more, relishing his taste.

Amongst all her pleased noises, and the heavy breathing from the other side of the wall, she worked her way up to the dark purple head. She had just taken him into her mouth and begun her enthusiastic head-bobbing, when the tension shifted, and the cock drew back, then thrust forward lightly again.

Yona grunted, surprised. It wasn't a hard, demanding push. More like asking permission to take control. Cocking her head to the side, she considered the offer. Well, standing still had been one of her challenges.

Leaning her head forward, she pressed the tips of her horns against the wall, enough to score the wood without piercing it. She tapped the base of the throbbing shaft with her hoof, puffing some hot breaths over it to guide the pony to where her mouth was, and he obediently followed. His flat tip finally bumped against her muzzle, and Yona opened her mouth in offering, her tongue lolling out.

The first thrust up was tentative, testing, feeling out just how deep he could go with her. Yona stayed docile, half-closing her eyes and letting the sensation wash over her. He wouldn't hurt her. Nopony was big enough to choke a yak, not even this one. She opened wide, because this pony was still nice and thick, and the next thrust filled her mouth. “Mmmmfff!”

Soon, the pony had a rhythm going, and he steadily fucked Yona's muzzle in deep, slow strokes. His thick head pushed into her mouth, the yak girl making small, encouraging noises each time he sank in. She drooled helplessly all over him, too, his thrusts slick and wet, and she pressed her horns harder against the wooden barrier as the ache beneath her tail throbbed. Spinning around and letting that big cock plunge into her would be such a treat, such a reward for her endurance, and yet, she held herself still. She wouldn't move, and she would still have her reward.

A knock came, and the pumping went up a notch, Yona panting each time he gave her space to breathe. Her chin was sopping wet, her chest and neck sporting silver strands, and she took his thrusts again and again. “Hmmmpph! Mmmff!”

The pony on the other end moaned along with her, and he pushed deep into her mouth, holding himself there. His grunt was the only signal, and the first spurt of thick cream shot onto the back of Yona's tongue. She trembled, her gaze fixed downwards as he pressed himself further in. It went on seemingly forever, Yona's soft, wheezing grunts muffled by his cock, her mouth filling quickly with his cum.

Finally, he withdrew from her in a slow retreat, still hard. Yona waited until his gleaming head had slipped back through the hole, then she lifted her horns off the wall. They had scored deep gouges in the wood, signs of her determination to hold herself in position.

Yona raised her chin up and his slippery load slid down her throat in a hard swallow, her breath coming harder and faster. Foam flecked her jowls, and she sat down heavily, the squelch of her rump meeting the floor only adding to the heat in her face. She caught a glimpse of a dark muzzle at the hole in front of her, then it disappeared in a quick flash of light as the pony she'd just serviced slipped through the curtain.

Level Three. Fuck the Yak.

Enough rest. She needed a good, hard rutting now. Rocking up onto all four hooves, she thumped a hind leg four times against the wall behind her. Sandbar could be first. If any creature after him wanted to fuck her through his cum, she'd take them on, too.

The snap of the curtain and sound of his hooves drew her attention to the glory hole behind her. She caught a brief glimpse of his greenish-gray coat as it appeared in the small circle of light, then disappeared again in the darkness on the other side. “You, uh, knocked?” he asked quietly. “We can use names, Yona. We're alone. Even Smolder's gone outside to see who's left.”

What a relief. As able as she'd become at changing her speech over the last few years, she still had her ways and preferred them to the weirdness of the other races. “Yona call in favour. Want pony cock where it best suited, and want Sandbar where he feel good.” She lowed at him. “Need cock sucked first?”

“I, uh, wow.” He whuffled. “You're never like this.”

“Yona not have time for pretty words,” she rumbled. “Either pony make thing ready, or tell Yona to turn around.”

To his credit, Sandbar obeyed, the scrape of his hooves sounding on the wall as he reared up, and his black cock slipped through the hole, dangling at half-mast. A strand of pre-cum glistened at his tip. “Just a bit, please,” his voice came.

A few slow bobs of her head coaxed him into a nice, wet stiffness, Sandbar moaning quietly as she slurped on him. She lifted her head off him with another moan, nuzzling and snuffling at his tip. “Pony make room,” she said. “Yona back her thing up.”

She turned herself around as he withdrew his cock, and she indeed backed herself up. Flicking her tail to one side, she pressed against the glory hole, feeling it frame her slick, throbbing, needy cunt, the cool air from the other side tickling her. “Take yak like this!” she urged, propping herself onto the tips of her hind hooves and wiggling.

Her panting cut off as a surge swelled through her, his blunt head brushing through her folds. He glided up and down tentatively, then pushed forward, penetrating her with a hot schlick. Sandbar's groan made her ears swivel, her body rocked back against his thrust, and Yona swallowed a squeal of satisfaction as he mounted her through the glory hole. “Huuunnnhh!”

Not hesitating, Sandbar pulled back and pumped Yona in a deep, rolling motion. His pony cock plundered her yak cunt, and she braced herself against his thrusts, grunting to herself. Oh, he felt good in there! Yona let her eyes roll back in pleasure. Now this, this was glory!

She butted her head against the wall, lowing greedily, and then reared back as another cock slid through the hole as if summoned. As pink as the first one of the day, it bobbed in front of her, and Yona snuffled wonderingly at it. Even as Sandbar plowed her from behind, she decided to accept the challenge before her. Opening her mouth, she took this needy cock in with a muffled groan, letting Sandbar know somepony had joined them.

The small room was big enough for a yak, but not quite so big that she could get off one or the other of the two cocks currently thrusting into her. Yona writhed on them as they jerkily pumped her back and forth, sometimes alternating in their awkward rhythm, sometimes thrusting together as if they desired to meet in the middle. The ponies on the other ends of them panted audibly, occasional groans and other guttural noises mingling in their pursuit of coming inside her.

Yona, however, wasn't about to concede even that small victory. She had blown Sandbar earlier in the week with no thought to her own pleasure, and need had coiled in her belly ever since. All those cocks she had conquered earlier roiled more of that need, and the instant Sandbar's cock sank into her, that need had sprung with a snap.

She came first, her orgasmic bellow muted by the cock in her mouth. Her cunt rippled and clenched in pleasure around Sandbar's own thrusting cock, and Yona felt his rhythm stutter as he sank deep, then his cockhead flared. Cum erupted inside her, accompanied by his desperate moan as she pulled him over the edge with her. Yona milked him dry with firm squeezes of her cunt, pulling every last drop free and taking it for herself.

Sandbar slid out of her, drained and limp, and as she felt him withdraw, Yona lifted her head from her cocksucking. Turning herself around, she immediately backed up, feeling the sudden slip downwards between her hind legs. A quick wriggle ensured the fat, blunt head spread her cunt open for half a second, then it slipped inside and plugged Sandbar's cum inside her with a low, lewd squelch. “Unnf!”

Yona set the pace on her new cock, haunches churning as she rocked back and forth on him. “Hmm! Mmm!” Her rump thudded against the wall, not as an intention to smash, but she panted and groaned back at the pony she rode. She could feel the plunge of that cock inside her, knowing it twitched and drooled at the slick warmth as it fucked her through Sandbar's cum.

Wriggling back against the glory hole, Yona ground her hips up and down needily. Her moans drew shakier, harder thrusts into her from behind. They sped up briefly, meeting her rump with a quick series of slaps, then a shivering groan came from the other side of the wall. Yona felt the hot spurts inside her, pumping deep and tight, and that pushed her the rest of the way to another climax. With nothing holding her back this time, she bellowed properly, a rush of noise that sounded her victory.

“MRRRRRRRUUUUUUUNNNHHHH!”

Level Four. Glory Was Hers.

She squirmed as the cock finishing pumping its cream inside her and pulled out with a wet sound. Mingled cum leaked down her thighs, and she stumbled forward, catching herself before her horns dug into the wall. Her body shuddered, hind legs nearly buckling as she twitched through the aftershocks. Pleasure crackled along her spine, and Yona quivered on her hooves, so close to slumping down right where she stood.

Panting, snorting, and stomping, she waited for somepony else to dare challenge her. She would conquer them as she had the others. But both holes stayed empty. Then claws scraped across the door again. “Hey, uh, that's all we got,” came Smolder's voice. Yona could hear the smirk in her tone. “We might have had one more, but that sound made him scurry back to the bar. He's probably drinking heavily and imagining the monster on the other side of those walls. You good?”

“Yona need minute, but Yona good.” She shut both holes and finally allowed herself to drop, rump first, onto the towel on the floor. “Yak take back glory,” she murmured, sitting and leaning her head back against the wall. “Yak vindicated.” She shifted abruptly as a load of cum leaked out of her with a slow glorp. “Mmmph. Also, yak should ... ugh ... take bath.”

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

“We're grad students. How can we afford to eat out this often?” Gallus gestured to the food on top of the upturned barrel.

Silverstream shrugged and nipped another piece of fish off a plate. “Beats me. I still don't know how we arranged all of this in just a couple of days.” It was her turn to gesture, mostly at the kegs and bottle cases that surrounded them they ate their dinner. “We have high-level friendship classes, plus way too much homework. And we still found the time to build our own glory hole booth, pay off a bar owner to put it in their back room, and do guard duty for Yona. I don't get it!”

“Always enough hours in the day when we need them,” Smolder said, pushing the curtain aside and sitting beside Gallus. A flushed and stumbling Ocellus followed her, wincing as she sat beside Silverstream. “Amazing how that works. And at least Professor Applejack's shed-building classes taught us how to put up a frame quickly. The rest was easy.”

Gallus rested his cheek on his hand. “Yona finally drained you dry?” he asked the changeling, who had flopped face first onto the barrel top.

“I feel so dirty!” Ocellus wailed against the oak surface. “And I'm so sooooore! Don't wanna turn into a guy again for a week!”

Yona had protected her friends often enough, and gotten them out of enough sticky situations, that they didn't want her to end up in a sticky situation of her own. Once Ocellus had reported back that, no, there were no glory holes within the bounds of Ponyville, Smolder decided they would just make one themselves.

Ocellus, naturally, didn't want any more trouble, and had to be cajoled into the plan which mostly revolved around her. Not only did she have to recruit a few changelings to impersonate all of them around the School for a few hours, she also had impersonated Sangria, the pony owner of the pub, with her permission. Then she'd pretended to be one stallion after another for Yona, shifting forms after each visit to the glory hole booth they'd all secretly built.

Everyone else had stayed out of the way. Some things they didn't need to see or hear, and a threesome involving half their group topped the list. Bad enough that Yona and Sandbar had apparently hooked up before. There would be discussions about that, too. Not that any creature begrudged their fun, but at least being up front about it would earn them some reprieve, rather than a pillow beating for Sandbar before bed. They would have done it while he slept, but Gallus had recommended they let him catch up on his rest. He then reminded them he was also available as a sounding board, but their tittering made him throw his claws up and retreat.

“I'm impressed you reloaded so quickly after swapping bodies,” he said. “Do I want to know how changelings figured out they could do that?”

Ignoring him, Ocellus continued to moan plaintively, so Silverstream reached over to pat her on the head. “You really shouldn't hang around, in case Yona comes out and sees you,” she said. “Did you at least get any love out of her and Sandbar?”

“Love?” Ocellus echoed, peering up at her. “Lust, mostly. Lust is like theatre popcorn: buttery, hot, and sooo not filling.” She shifted and grimaced as her lower body twinged again. “I got some love, because Yona's nothing if not affectionate. I just never thought I'd experience it like this.”

She had learned to share love with every creature, especially her friends. And now she had just, well, been sucked off four times in a row by one of them, then double-teamed her with another friend. That last one had been purely an accident, but Yona had been making such noises. Ocellus had rallied through the ache in her own groin and manifested yet another erection, sticking it through the gloryhole in an attempt to distract the yak. Instead, she had gone from blowjob to sinking deep inside Yona's slick depths, already swimming with Sandbar's own cum. Then she'd added her own load on top of it, and Yona's bellow had nearly brought down the booth around them.

Oh, she would have interesting dreams tonight.

“She's right, though, you should scram,” Smolder said. “Yona thinks you're covering for all of us at School. Way to take one for the team. Silverstream can owe you.”

“Me?” the hippogriff squawked. “What do I owe?”

Ocellus blinked big eyes at her. “I accept cuddles as payment. Nice, relaxing, comfortable feelings. Also, feathers are nice on chitin.”

Silverstream blushed and nodded “Oh. Sure! We'll compare schedules.” She nudged Gallus. “Want to come, too? You've got feathers. We can make a hippogriffon cuddle pile for Ocellus, yeah?”

“Cuddle me,” he murmured, “and I'll tell every creature about the secret sketchbook you have in your dresser drawer.”

“Oh, okay. Just me, then.” She smiled brightly at Ocellus, who waved at them all and limped off.

Smolder watched the changeling go. “Okay. Once Yona and Sandbar get out, we'll celebrate her victory, and crown her with whatever glory she wants. This wasn't an easy Friendship project, but I say we passed it. Now, let's never speak of this again.”

Both Silverstream and Gallus nodded, putting their claws in the middle of the table with hers, clasping them together. “Never again,” they agreed.

FIN