How to Keep Warm at Night
"Look, Twilight-- I'll be the first to admit that this camping trip sucks." Applejack took off her hat and held it against her chest, looking over the disastrous campsite before her.
Twilight couldn't even agree. "We were only gone for twenty minutes... how could everything get so torn up in twenty minutes?"
Applejack sighed and forced her hat back onto her head. "We musta left some food behind by mistake."
"What timberwolf would want the food we packed?" Twilight asked.
Applejack chuckled dryly. "Wish I knew."
A silence fell between the two mares, the air now filled only with cricket chirps and the distant rush of flowing water. The campsite they had only just finished pitching was now a ruins before them; tents and sleeping bags shredded, metal supports snapped in two, everything scattered to the four winds.
Twilight stepped forward and lifted the remains of her sleeping bag, so thoroughly ripped that it could hardly even be sold as fabric scrap. "What do we do? It's almost dark..."
Applejack joined Twilight, pulling a trail map out of her saddlebag. "Well, it looks like we're too far to make it to any kinda hotel... we could chance the hike to one of the lean-tos, but there's no guarantee anypony's up there. Looks like there's some kinda shelter up here," Applejack said, holding the map out for Twilight to see. Their sides brushed against each other for the barest moment, and Twilight's whole body stiffened.
It wasn't that she didn't trust Applejack, or even that Applejack made her uncomfortable; Twilight had been unable to put her hoof on exactly what the feeling was, but these recent camping trips the two had been taking together made her heart race.
She had assumed it was some sort of anxious response. Twilight, after all, had never been the camping type-- she preferred the great indoors, preferred reading about things in a safe and controlled environment, as opposed to venturing out into the great unknown and... well, poking at it.
"Twilight?" Applejack nudged her mysteriously silent friend.
"Oh!" Twilight cringed away from Applejack's touch. "Y-yes."
"Yes... you wanna head towards the shelter?" Applejack asked. "Or yes you wanna try to get back to the main road?"
Twilight thought for a moment. "Shelter?"
Applejack shrugged and began to fold the map up. "Shelter it is. But you gotta promise me that you won't stop to take notes on stuff, okay? I'd like to get you somewhere safe before dark." Applejack smirked at Twilight, a little sparkle of mischief in her eye.
Twilight blushed at her friend's assessment. "I promise..."
Applejack chuckled. "Good. The shelter's up this way."
She took the lead, though not without looking over her shoulder to see if Twilight was following.
"Shouldn't we try to clean some of this up?" Twilight asked. She matched Applejack's speed precisely, practically stepping in each of Applejack's hoofprints. "It's technically littering."
"It'll have to wait til tomorrow, Madame Worrywart," Applejack said. "We don't know why everything got all chewed up... it would be dangerous to go diggin' around in there after dark. On my honor, we'll hike back here first thing in the morning and clean it all up."
Twilight took a deep breath and let out a short, sharp sigh. "If you say so..."
"I think the Everfree police will forgive us, under the circumstances," Applejack added, sensing Twilight's concern. She craned her neck to look back at the nervous mare. "Why are you so far behind? Come walk next to me."
Twilight tucked her ears against her head and trotted to catch up to her friend.
"There she is!" Applejack teased.
Twilight forced an awkward giggle. "Here I am..."
It was hard to overlook Applejack's size when it was just the two of them. Yes, Twilight had hit a bit of a growth spurt post-alicornification, but that had really only caught her up to Applejack's height, and done nothing to counter the farm pony's general girth. All that time hauling and apple-bucking had given her quite a bit of muscle-- plus, her family tree had always been broad-barreled and wide-hooved. It was an Apple family thing.
Twilight swallowed and turned her head away from Applejack's rippling flank, realizing now just how long she had been staring. It was rude to stare. That's why her heart rate was so high, she was being rude. It made perfect sense.
"Brr!" Applejack exclaimed, mostly to fill the silence. "Gettin' cold out here. I always forget how cold it can get back here, even in the spring."
"Mm."
"You alright, Twilight?" Applejack asked.
"Me?" Twilight put a hoof to her chest.
"Applejack laughed. "You know any other Twilight's?"
Twilight blushed. "I-I'm fine! Just a little shaken up, I guess."
Applejack furrowed her brows. "From the campsite? It's really no big deal. Happens more often than you think, and really nopony ever gets hurt. Just hungry animals doing what hungry animals do."
"No, I know..."
"Well, then, what's got your goat?" Applejack asked.
Twilight let out another sharp sigh. "It's nothing. I've just been so anxious lately, I'm not sure why."
"Sorry to hear that," Applejack said.
Her tone was so soft and warm, that hint of country twang making it glow like an ember.
Twilight's heart thumped. She didn't say anything.
"Well, say, I still have a deck of cards in my saddlebag! Whaddya say to a quick round of crazy eights before bed?" Applejack swung her hips to the right and bumped Twilight's side playfully. "It'll be fun! Take your mind off things a while."
Twilight could feel the blood rushing to her face from the sudden touch. her wings fluffed themselves up in a poor attempt at self-defense.
"Or not..." Applejack cocked her head and looked at Twilight with concern. "Is there something you're not telling me? You're not actin' like yourself."
Twilight tried to steady her breath. "Like I said, I've just been a little on edge."
Applejack nodded. "Well, alright. I'll drop it then," she said, though didn't exactly feel like dropping it.
The mares trotted forth in relative silence, only the occasional shiver or stumble eliciting any sort of sound from either of them. The light dwindled as the sun dipped beneath the horizon. Little puffs of breath rose from their muzzles. Applejack wanted very badly to press herself against Twilight and soak up her warmth, but knew better than to pester the anxious mare.
When the terrain started to turn steep and rocky, Twilight fell behind. Even with wings to steady herself she couldn't seem to find confident footing.
"Twi, you wanna just fly up ahead?" Applejack called back. "I won't be angry if y'do, I promise!"
Twilight grumbled something.
"Didn't quite catch that!" Applejack responded.
Twilight groaned. "I'm fine!" She shouted back, over enunciating the simplest of sentences.
"You're bein' ridiculous!" Applejack shifted her position on the rocks, so she didn't have to crane her neck to speak to the mare at the bottom. "Don't make me come down there!"
"I don't need help!" Twilight screamed. She reached forward with one hoof and gingerly placed it just ahead of her, then immediately fell backwards nearly immediately.
"That's my line!" Applejack replied.
Twilight had now ticked up to growling.
"Consarnit..." Applejack grumbled. She swiveled around and allowed herself to slide back to the bottom of the incline, where Twilight was still trying to pick her way forward.
"I don't need help, Applejack!"
"So you said."
"But I don't!" Twilight insisted.
"Don't make me carry you, Twilight," was all Applejack said.
Twilight's ears pinched backwards. "I don't need you to carry me."
"Oh, I think you do."
"I don't!"
"Don't make me."
"I'm not!" Twilight scrambled backwards.
Applejack slid forward to meet her. "Are too!"
"Am not!" Twilight was desperately trying to avoid meeting er friend's gaze.
"Are too!"
Without another word, Applejack grabbed her friend by her midsection and swung her over back like a knapsack. Twilight cried out in shock initially, then began to struggle to get free.
"Let me go!"
Applejack scoffed, beginning the climb once again. "Fat chance."
Twilight wriggled, internally noting how impressive it was that Applejack was able to lift, restrain, and climb all at once. She tried to protest, nothing but a squeak actually escaping her lips.
Applejack bit down on her lower lip and tried very hard to focus on climbing. The way Twilight squirmed against her back, not really trying to get free, was reminding her of a few other activities she had imagined herself doing with Twilight.
Er... with nopony. Nopony at all. She hadn't been thinking about Twilight. Applejack would never think about Twilight like that. She certainly hadn't been hoping to actually impress Twilight by putting on a show of strength. Wasn't maybe trying to get Twilight to think of her in a similar way. No sirree. No way, no how.
Twilight submitted to her position with a little harrumph, no longer struggling but certainly not relaxing. Applejack could feel her puffed-up feathers skimming the back of her neck, brushing against her flank, tickling her underside.
Applejack grunted as she hauled herself over the top of the incline. Twilight wasted no time in jumping down from her position on her friend's back.
"You're welcome," Applejack said between pants.
"I'll just fly next time," Twilight said.
"I hope you don't," is what Applejack wanted to say. What she actually said was something more like "Ugh."
The shelter was just around the bend from her. It was a simple thing-- really only meant as a sort of functional trail-marker. One wall, a sloped roof, some wood flooring.
Applejack flopped down right away. She back leg kicked out a bit as her body settled onto the wood, and Twilight admired the movement of her muscles just beneath the skin. Applejack did not notice this admiration, as it was dark and her eyes were closing.
Twilight, in her attempt to be polite and ladylike, sat down as far from Applejack as she could, and did her best to keep the sensitive parts of herself covered. This isn't something she normally did, and so Applejack watched the way Twilight's tail curled to cover her exposed stomach. Twilight did not see Applejack watching, as she was too busy laying out her limbs just so.
The two mares sat together, yet apart, doing exactly the same thing.
They bit their lips. Their cheeks flushed. Their breath caught in their chest. Their hearts fluttered.
They stole little glances at each other, timed so perfectly that neither pony noticed the other admiring the stark beauty of a mare in her natural habitat.
"Gee," Applejack said. "Sure is chilly out here."
Twilight swallowed. "Uh... yeah. Cold."
"Say," Applejack said. It was hard to talk for some reason. "You ever heard that old wives tale about how olden ponies kept warm?"
Twilight's brows furrowed. "You'll have to be more specific."
"Well, just..." Applejack rolled her shoulders. "Y'know. How back in the olden days... ponies had to all pile in bed together? For body heat?"
Twilight's face grew ever hotter. "I-I guess I've heard that one."
"Yeah?"
"Maybe."
"You think it's true?"
Twilight laughed, a little snort escaping with it. "Those old wives tales are never true."
Applejack relaxed at the sound of Twilight's laugh. "Oh, yeah? Well I heard this one right from my Granny Smith. It must be true."
"Nope." Twilight lifted her head up, looking down her snout at Applejack. "No way."
"Ah, quite bein' so booksmart!" Applejack said. "Get outta your own head for once."
Twilight shook her head. "Nope. Every current thermal theory would say that, while 'sharing body heat' might be able to sustain heat for long periods of time, there's no way to actually increase the heat between two ponies with external factors."
"Care to test you theory?"
Twilight froze. A little shiver went up her spine, and her wings stiffened at her sides.
"Oh. Oh, shucks, Twi, I didn't mean--"
"No, no." Twilight stopped her.
Applejack's ear twitched forward.
Twilight face flushed once again. "I mean... all scientific theories should be tested... right?"
Applejack bit her lip. "I'd say so."
The mares made no move to get closer to one another, just staring at each other from across the shelter for a minute, maybe more.
"Should I--"
"Shouldn't you--"
They laughed.
"Erm..." Applejack rolled all the way over onto her side, exposing her stomach to the other mare. "Why don't you, uh--"
"Yeah, I'll just--"
They laughed again. Each little bout of laughter was easing the tension down the tiniest bit.
Twilight stood, shook out her wings, and lowered herself back down to the floor, this time with her back to Applejack, very nearly touching her.
Applejack reached out and placed a forehoof on Twilight shoulder. The touch sent a jolt of electricity through Twilight's body.
Applejack paused. "Is this okay?"
Twilight thought for a moment, then pressed herself back into Applejack. "Mm-hm."
Applejack slowly and carefully wrapped her hooves around Twilight. Her forehooves found their way around Twilight's barrel, back legs cradling Twilight's rump. The two ponies breathed together heavy and warm in the cool night air.
Twilight stirred in Applejack's embrace. The top of her head brushed against Applejack's jaw.
Applejack tilted her head downward and planted her muzzle in Twilight's mane. She wasn't sure what she had expected, of course, but Twilight's mane smelled like fruit. Not expensive fruit-- grocery store fruity-scented shampoo. But... it was still fruit. A very Twilight-y fruit.
"I think this is working," Applejack remarked. Her breath was warm against Twilight's scalp.
"I do feel, uh... warmer," Twilight remarked.
The alicorn flicked her tail the slightest bit, and it brushed against Applejack's inner thigh.
She gulped. "Yeah... warmer..."
It was slowly yet surely occurring to Applejack that she had no idea what to do next. Twilight was certainly in no position to be making any sort of move. Although, perhaps that tail flick was meant to be a move.
Applejack took a deep breath and bowed her head, nuzzling behind Twilight's ear and up towards her jaw.
Twilight gasped.
Applejack froze. "What?"
Twilight paused, too. "Sorry. I thought that's what ponies do in... situations like these."
"And..." Applejack pushed further still with her muzzle, so that her neck and Twilight's were pressed together. "...Just what kind of situation is this, Twilight?"
Twilight twisted her own neck to glance back at Applejack. "You tell me. Don't the old wive's tales know?"
Applejack chuckled and, using her forehooves, pulled Twilight's hips in to meet her own. "Old wive's tales usually don't have anything like this in 'em."
Twilight's chest was heaving.
"Twilight?" Applejack crooned, running a hoof over Twilight's side.
"Yes?"
"Should we..."
"Well..." Twilight reached up to rest a hoof on Applejack's cheek. "It would be a good way to keep warm, wouldn't it?"
Applejack laughed and squeezed Twilight around her midsection. "I was hoping you'd say that!"
The earth pony released her hold on Twilight after barely a moment, and returned to the trail she was tracing along the strong muscles of Twilight's neck. This time, she dared to placed a kiss on the soft fur which ran over its surface. Twilight stretched her head upwards, tensing the muscles which Applejack had so lovingly admired.
Applejack kissed her again. And again. And again and again and then, when the heat and the pressure had built to bursting, she used that same spectacular skill she had earlier demonstrated to slip herself out from under the alicorn and roll her so that the two mares were facing on another.
They paused here. While Applejack could not see Twilight's face, the moon behind her head made it glow like a halo. Besides, did it matter? Applejack knew that face in her sleep, could sculpt it from solid marble.
Twilight gazed at Applejack, suddenly realizing that her heart palpitations had very little to do with anxiety and very much to do with the handsome pony who now sat before her, abask in the moonlight.
Applejack couldn't wait any longer, and leaned in to kiss Twilight. The mares' lips met in a surprisingly strong first embrace. Twilight's smooth and gentle tongue caressed Applejack's rough lip, and coaxed it open the tiniest bit. This spurred the earth pony's advances, and she pushed deeper into the kiss, sliding forward slightly and wrapping one foreleg around Twilight's neck to pull them yet closer together.
The kiss was broken when Twilight pulled away, leaning her head forward and planting kisses along Applejack's jawline, tracing further and further back... until her lips hit the soft skin of her throat.
Applejack rolled her head back and sighed lustfully. Twilight giggled, the vibrations rolling through Applejack's own throat.
Almost unconsciously, Twilight rolled over--not all the way, only a bit--and exposed her own soft stomach and a hint of the jewel which lay beneath it.
Applejack moved in to close the gap between herself and the mare before her. Couldn't let all that heat go to waste, after all.
Twilight made a delightful little sound as Applejack neared her most sensitive parts.
Applejack chuckled and began to push Twilight over onto her back, her back leg opening splaying Twilight's own hind legs, and er front hooves guiding Twilight into a laying position.
As she moved, and the shafts of moonlight fell over her face, Applejack saw how wide Twilight's eyes were. The gazed up at the earth pony in complete awe.
Applejack sucked in a breath. "Are you okay?"
Twilight kept gazing. Her front hooves were all curled up over her chest.
"We can stop, if--"
"No!"
"You sure?"
"Please..." Twilight's mouth hung open, panting, little steam puffs of breath floating upwards. "Don't stop."
Applejack let a little smile tug at the corners of her mouth, and she lowered Twilight to the wooden floor of the shelter.
The kissing resumed, though not for nearly as long as it had gone on the first time. Applejack's kisses traveled further and faster than Twilight's, tracing back up to her ear, then down her neck, across her shoulder briefly, and then down to her breast.
Twilight reached up with one hoof and lovingly stroked Applejack's mane as the mare explored her curves. Neither of them were moaning quite yet, though each breath came out heavy and warm. If they kept on like this, they'd make their own cloud.
Applejack swirled her tongue through the longer and finer fur on Twilight's breast. With one hoof, she placed gentle pressure on Twilight's wing joints, doing her best to massage it the way she had seen pegasi do in the movies.
This elicited Twilight's first true moan of the night, which Applejack took as a good sign.
As her kisses dipped lower and Twilight's wings were out of reach, Applejack ran her hoof down the alicorn's side and rested it on her inner thigh. Twilight shuddered audibly.
Twilight's tail flicked back and forth against the wood, with the same delicate sound of sheets on sheets.
Applejack slowed as she ran out of stomach and found herself face to face with Twilight's nethers, which glistened with arousal in the moonlight.
She glanced back up at the mare under her, waiting for one last confirmation that this is what she wanted.
Sensing the pause, Twilight looked down. "You can--" but she still couldn't quite say it. "Go on!"
Applejack smirked, breaking her gaze with Twilight. Twilight's head fell back to the wooden floor with a sigh and a light thunk.
Twilight spread her legs a bit more, almost imperceptibly so, had it not been for the slight tensing of muscles which shot along her inner thigh. Applejack leaned down and rubbed her cheek there, just letting the heat of her breath wash over the moistened surface of Twilight's vagina.
She shuddered again, the feeling running from the base of her tail to her spine, and let out another small sigh. Applejack glanced up in time to see the steam rise from her muzzle.
Enough waiting, Applejack decided. It was time to make contact.
Applejack dipped her head lower and kissed Twilight's labia, ever so gently, just to the left of her clitoris. Then another kiss, down lower. She left a trail of kisses as she moved lower and lower, finally pausing under Twilight's vagina, then making her way back up the other side. Twilight's breathing was getting faster by the second.
With the last kissed so expertly placed, Applejack drew back and opened her mouth. She bowed her head and placed the soft top of her tongue at the very bottom of Twilight's vagina, drawing it all the way up and over her clitoris.
Twilight cried out, the sound echoing through the surrounding woods.
Applejack smiled, then drew back and returned to kisses, this time along Twilight's inner lips. Twilight shuddered a moaned, then reached down to shakily stroke Applejack's mane once again. Applejack kept at it, kissing closer and closer to Twilight's clit, then drawing her tongue over it at a pace so slow as to be agonizing.
Every touch on her clit--be it lips, tongue, or even breath--made Twilight grab at the back of Applejack's head and draw her in closer.
The louder she got, the more Applejack concentrated the sensations. Faster licks, a harder tongue, a little suckle or kiss.
"Applejack!" Twilight cried out again, pulling Applejack's face in deeper.
Applejack pulled back in fear. "What is it?"
Twilight looked down at Applejack, her eyes wide, and said, "Give me yours."
Applejack blinked, Twilight's juices dripping down her muzzle. "You-- what?"
Twilight held her forelegs apart, as if asking for a hug, and said, again, "Give me yours!"
"You mean my--"
"Yes!"
Applejack wasted no time in scrambling up from her position on the wood floor and moving stand alongside Twilight. "Is this--?"
"Over me!" Twilight said, wasting no time and grabbing at Applejack's leg, trying to pull her into a position which would straddle Twilight's own face.
Applejack obliged, and could now feel the juices of her own aroused pussy dripping down her thighs. "Twilight, are you sure--Ah!"
Before she got to finish the thought, Twilight had buried her face in Applejack's pussy, licking at a steady yet maddening pace.
Applejack's legs buckled, but she strengthened her resolve and returned to her own task, desperately trying to match Twilight's pace between her own shuddering moans and exhalations.
What had once been slow and deliberate quickly turned to a hormonal flurry of tongues and sweat and panting. Every flick of the tongue caused one pony's knees to knock, and every pull on the clitoris made one freeze in their motions to fight through an involuntary moan of pleasure.
Eventually, Applejack was pulled down to lay on her side, and the girls buried themselves in each other, lost in the magic and heat of the moment.
"Applejack..." Twilight moaned.
"Mm..." Applejack agreed. "Twilight..."
"N-no, Applejack-- I'm--" Twilight's breathing was heavier than ever, her voice wavering almost beyond recognition. "I'm..."
Her back hooves were pawing at the wood floor, but not finding anything to push against. Her front hooves squeezed Applejack's flanks.
Applejack redoubled her efforts, digging even deeper into the salty, sticky depths of Twilight's pussy. Her tongue probed at every fold and lapped of every bead of sex, even going so far as to penetrate the mare for a moment or two.
Twilight's shudders grew harsher, and she plunged her face into Applejack's nethers if only to muffle her lusting screams.
Applejack fought through the sudden vibrations and continued her barrage on Twilight's clitoris.
"Applejack!" Twilight screamed one last time, her voice breaking due to the sheer volume and pitch she had attained.
Every muscle in her body tensed, momentarily locking Applejack's muzzle in place. Applejack continued to lap at Twilight's clitoris very gently, her tongue soft and warm, as Twilight rode out her orgasm.
When the shaking and the clenching subsided, Twilight was left a limp and panting puddle of bones and feathers.
Applejack chuckled, through pants of her own. "Twi? You alright?" She pulled away from Twilight and rolled onto her back to get a look at the mare she had lead to climax.
Twilight, though surely exhausted, noted the sudden exposure of Applejack's own vagina.
"Ah-ha!" She exclaimed, and all but pounced onto Applejack's orgasm-less pussy.
Applejack drew in a sharp breath. "Twilight!"
But Twilight did not respond, just ran her tongue in tantalizing spirals over Applejack's clit. That, plus the taste of Twilight's cum lingering on her own tongue, caused Applejack to orgasm in only a few moments.
She collapsed against the wood with a wordless exclamation, arching her back as the orgasm tore through her body. It had been years since she had experienced anything as intense as this one.
Twilight, deciding her job was finished, crawled up to lay alongside Applejack, one foreleg draped over her barrel.
For a minute, maybe two, the mares lay together just like this. The only sounds in the air were their heavy panting, the chirping of the crickets, and the distant rushing of flowing water.
"Well..." Applejack said, running one hoof along the one Twilight had placed over her chest, "I'd say I'm pretty warm. You?"
"Oh, very warm," Twilight agreed.
Applejack laughed, a deep and hearty chuckle. Twilight laughed, too, a light giggle accompanied by one perfectly adorable little snort.
"We should go camping more often," Twilight remarked.
Applejack smirked. "I think I can arrange that."
Author's Note
Thanks for reading! This is my first clopfic ever ever so I'm looking for some good, honest feedback! Thank youuu
-Husk
