Side Effects

A driven march to confront Malaa was a lot easier in theory. The unicorn left his door ajar when he stomped from the lodge, too livid to shut it behind him. Politeness was secondary to his own bubbling anger for the lecherous zebra. Walking out under the dim cloudless sky, Luster discovered himself incapable of holding his scowl. Not from a sudden change of heart, or a sudden calm enshrouding him but rather, because he wasn’t alone out the village streets.

There was something of a morning commute that had slipped from his mind in his haze of lust and fury. Some stallions and mares arose at first light to work the proverbial cogs that kept the village alive and thriving. Venturing the jungle edge to forage, working in clay pits for pottery and construction materials and even some building projects near the edge of the village. They had an utterly fascinating social structure and way of doing things, and Luster had written pages on it. While he had always had a professional interest in their society and way of life, a new interest had suddenly opened up to him, one he was keenly conscious of as he started taking his wary steps into the village.

Powerful hips.

Delicious contours.

Plump lips.

Luster’s eyes involuntarily wandered. Some token glances went to the striped mares, who met his gaze with reddened cheeks, but it was clear where his interests actually lay. Each time his eyes fell on one of the stallions he had to tear his eyes away, silently scolding himself, especially when they met his absorbent gaze with an arched brow. With each one he passed, a flood of obscene images entered his head that he was powerless to stop. He pictured his hooves gliding down their stout bodies, feeling their hard muscle under his touch, dragging his tongue over their lithe contours, and finally, indiscriminately, slamming his hips down into taut colt holes; his enlarged phallus stretching their puffy rings to capacity. He had never thought of stallions in such a way before. Certainly, he could recognise strength, handsomeness, or the objective qualities of a pony, yet never had the sight of another masculine frame inspired such a strong burning arousal in his loins. His grey face was now more akin to that of a tomato than a pony in hue, unable to stop the tide of fantasies.

“Damn heat… Damn potion… Damn Malaa…” Luster cursed one after another beneath his breath, head too filled with lewd images to find internal respite for his angry musings.

If the unicorn found mercy on any front, it was the fact that his cock remained relatively unstirred in its overburdened sheath. Despite how many thoughts of the villagers entered his head, his dick didn’t dare snake free from its home, much to his relief. Although he was conscious of the second glances he was earning from passers-by, his tail neither dense nor large enough to sufficiently hide his enlargements, his balls slapping against one thigh and then the other as he walked. If he were more of an exhibitionist, he may have savoured the attention he was receiving. Some looks of disbelief, judgemental stares, and of course, some glances of envy and lust. Zebras were a naturally observant species. He wasn’t going to reach the shaman’s hut without such a glaring pair of new additions unnoticed… but Luster wasn’t quite that kinky.

By the time he reached the hut, he was all but certain that everyone who passed him covertly glanced at his rear to steal looks. No doubt he’d become the subject of gossip – no society was above gossip. He pushed his way inside the shaman’s residence, trembling with rage.

“Malaa!” Luster barked, his vocal cords unused to the volume he exercised. He stepped into the familiar room with the cauldron, the zebra already looking at him with a brow half raised.

“Luster?” Malaa’s voice was intrigued but not displeased, unfazed by the unicorn’s volume and half-smiling as he went back to organising the tomes and various herbs under his stewardship. “What are you doing here at such an hour? I only just finished brushing my teeth. Couldn’t sleep? Or maybe you just couldn’t keep yourself away from me any longer?”

“Very funny,” Luster’s voice intoned with the sarcasm he had honed around the striped pony, although instead of a dull stare Malaa was at the receiving end of a harsh glare. “I’ve been embarrassed and sufficiently...” he paused, trying to verbalise the morning he just experienced, “degraded, for one day.”

“But the day has barely begun,” the zebra replied without missing a beat, only half listening as he pushed a book into its slot on the case with a grin. “Are you sure you can’t stomach a little more? I think I can smell your degradation on the air. A little morning fun before you came here, yes?”

“I’ve been drugged!” the declaration stayed the zebra’s hoof and erased his smile. “And I know who did it,” Luster elaborated.

Malaa pushed the book into place, turning immediately to Luster, his expression one of concern. “What? Who?”

“Don’t play dumb. The potion you gave me. It did this to me.”

There was some offence on his face as he left his books, walking towards the unicorn. For the first time in a long while, the unicorn stepped back from him. Malaa’s look of offence was then coupled with hurt. “That’s a little vague. Did what to you?”

Luster clenched his jaw. “This is what your little prank was all for, wasn’t it? Fine. I’ll show you. But you better fix it,” his muzzle wrinkled as he tried to suppress his embarrassment. He then sat, spreading his forehooves apart, leaving himself bare to the zebra’s curious eyes.

Malaa’s eyes fell. For a moment his expression was plain, then he blinked. His eyes widened as it struck. “Have they always been that… big,” he asked, curious, yet unable to hide the allure in his voice. “I would find it hard to even be angry.”

“This was a perverted stunt, even for you!” he growled, staggering to stand up, cheeks red.

Malaa recoiled, eyes widening. He had never seen this side of the unicorn. “I d-didn’t do this.”

“I had a problem with ‘heat’ so you gave me heat instead. You twisted lecher!” Luster snarled through gritted teeth, deaf to the zebra’s plea. “You couldn’t get what you wanted, so you came up with this…” he trailed off, unable to put into words the zebra’s ploy. “A sick plan by an equally sick stallion!” he continued, stepping towards the zebra with an aggressive stomp.

“I-it wasn’t me!” was all Malaa could reply with, Luster approaching. The emotions being displayed by the unicorn’s face were as foreign to him as the pony was. Malaa could barely think, finding no sanctuary in his mind.

“You haven’t been subtle about your lust for me. You haven’t been subtle about anything! The smiles, the kindness, the curiosity. All a trick to get closer to me. I can’t believe I didn’t see it until that day.”

Malaa had continued to take steps back from the encroaching unicorn until his back was pushed against the shelves of books. “Day? What day? What are you talking about?”

“When you kissed me!” Luster exploded venomously, the resulting recoil from the zebra prompted some books to fall down from their place on the shelf. “You were never the same after that. The flirting, ogling, the swoons. It was just building and building until you were ready to pull a stunt like this. You just wanted to use me-”

“You’re wrong!” Malaa raised his voice, for the first time, angry. That caught the unicorn by surprise, even making him wince. That wasn’t the only thing that caught him off guard. The zebra’s trembling lower jaw, the welling of tears in his eyes. His words had hurt Malaa far worse than any physical altercation would. “You’re wrong...” Malaa repeated, that time more feebly.

Luster observed the zebra, his face softening. “How can I be sure?” he asked, his voice noticeably lower than just a moment ago.

“Don’t you know me, Luster? Don’t pretend you don’t,” he replied, voice fragile. “I would never do anything like that. Not to you.”

Luster looked at the zebra in his scarlet eyes. He had never seen them wetted with the emergence of tears before today. Although past the sadness, he could perceive something that was from there since the very beginning. Not just on this occasion but always - sincerity. He also felt very weak. His kind legs gave out and his rear fell to the floor, now under the zebra’s gaze. He rubbed a hoof down the side of his face. Fatigued by his outburst. “I’m so sorry. I was being angry and foolish and-”

“You’re occasionally arrogant, high-strung and much too serious most of the time for your own good. And yes, you are also foolish.” Malaa concurred with a sniffle and sad smile. To his credit, not a single tear fell down his striped cheek. “But I accept your apology. Now get up. Being below me doesn’t suit you.”

Luster couldn’t stifle the half-scoff, half-snort in his throat. “Was that an accident or a direct reference to you being a bottom.”

“No, but the fact you picked up on it before I did means that something is definitely wrong with you,” Malaa teased, holding a hoof to his chin, following the unicorn keenly with his eyes as he stood. Now that the zebra had a moment to think, a pained look came onto his face.

“I don’t like that expression,” remarked Luster, grimacing.

“An accident. Blameless largely, but one that could have easily been avoided,” Malaa started, making his way over the large open tome laying on the stand, he flipped a few pages with purpose. “What colour was the remedy you applied to yourself?”

“Oh, um… it was orange. Like tree sap or honey,” Luster recalled.

When Malaa landed on the page he was looking for, he scanned the lines. “The one you rubbed yourself down with was amber,” he corrected suddenly, scrunching up his expression.

Luster scowled, annoyed. “Amber, Orange, what’s the difference?”

“Tch. As I suspected,” Malaa tutted, trunched and ignored the unicorn’s point. “Instead of rubbing yourself down with the ointment I prepared for you, you covered yourself in, uh...” Malaa paused, looking to Luster with a sheepish smile, “a marital aid.”

It took a few moments for it to click. “So it’s just an aphrodisiac?” Luster began, seeking further explanation. “What about the, um… growth?”

Malaa let out a nervous bray. “W-well, if you just wanted to get aroused, any run-of-the-mill potion would do. You can even find foods in the market for that. But this potion isn’t a mere aphrodisiac. It’s supposed to aid sex. It needs sex,” he explained. “The effects culminate over time in powerful surges, and if they go unsatisfied for long enough, they can become more potent. If you went to sleep soon after we talked, then you slept through several. When you didn’t satisfy it, the potion made enhancements to fulfil its purpose. ”

“But why am I still… inflamed?” Luster inquired awkwardly. “I’ve already achieved its purpose.

A subtle shade of pink appeared on Malaa’s cheeks but it had already faded by the time he started to speak again. “A combination of things. Masturbation doesn’t count as sex, nor does oral or… anal,” he ended with a forced grin, barely able to hold it. “The potion is meant for those who are married - mare and stallion - to conceive a foal. So, if your seed hasn’t fertilized an egg, it knows its purpose isn’t being put to its intended use,” he elaborated before giving a shrug. “Doesn’t stop others from purchasing it just to buck one each other silly.”

Luster struggled to comprehend him but he was starting to understand. “Are you saying the potion I covered myself with has a mind of its own?”

Malaa let out a prideful smirk. “We may not have arcane magics like your kind, but we can imbue our potions with special properties with enough time and training. What you just rubbed into your coat was the strongest, most potent potion of its kind created by a shaman with close to a century of experience. And now, it’s going to remain in your system for days, maybe a week!”

Luster swallowed. He had enough composure now to freak out about the situation. “Having… satisfied myself already,” he began, trying his best to ignore the slightest of tugs at Malaa’s lips. “Which was really hard by the way.”

Malaa glanced from Luster’s serious expression to his crotch then back up. “Achieving climax or your cock?”

Luster rolled his eyes. He was going to give him a pass on that one. It took his mind away from his own panic. “Both. But, I meant the former. If I keep doing it, I shouldn’t have any repeats of this morning, correct?”

“Right,” Malaa confirmed. “You should have an easier time achieving release next time, even if the arousal keeps getting stronger. After a while, your refractory period will disappear entirely - so prepare accordingly. Physical changes won’t revert until the potion wears off completely, if they even do, I’m afraid.”

“And the surges? When do they happen?”

“There’s no predicting them accurately, but if you climaxed recently, it could be several minutes from now, or maybe an hour. Although it can be triggered prematurely,” Malaa explained in a straightforward manner, he then looked to the side, frowning. “Speaking of which, I don’t think his wife is going to be impressed with what suncream can do in the bedroom...” he mumbled.

Luster piqued a brow. “Who are you talking about?”

“No one,” Malaa replied immediately, his smile too innocent to be innocent. He gave a mournful thought to the zebra who came in straight after Luster before he turned to the cauldron, walking over to it as he began chewing the inside of his cheek. “If you came here straight away after applying it, a bath might have lessened the effects. It’s bound to have soaked into your skin by now. I could try making a counter remedy with some mint and juniper berries. It might cool your insides down...”

At this point Luster was unsure if Malaa was speaking to himself or directing his words at the unicorn, all he knew was that he couldn’t tear his eyes away from the mumbling stallion. The longer he looked, the more new things he saw in the zebra. Sure, some might have seen a deep intellect at work over the cauldron, or the quick determination in the young striped stallion trying to aid his friend, and all of those would have been good observations. But Luster’s mind was elsewhere...

He had a great ass. Malaa’s plump, jiggly derrière rose like two halves of a succulent peach from his hips. Luster had never been in the right state of mind to admire its shape before but now, his mind have never been so attuned. He couldn’t take his eyes away from it, entranced; even as Malaa began to move about the room, inspecting ingredients and hauling items around trying to concoct a solution. That exacerbated things, to see in motion. As the zebra moved, thinking hard, his tail flicked and swished involuntarily, giving the unicorn an unintended show of his pump perineum and orange-sized balls as he sauntered past with the natural hip sway that only he could pull off. Since Luster’s anger had fully dissipated it was as though something else, something as equally strong, had to fill the void – lust. His nostrils even noticed a scent above the various hanging ingredients and natural aromas, one he may have acknowledged in the past but never fully picked up on and appreciated. Malaa scent. A uniquely masculine aroma that seemed far more appetising than the other smells it was surrounded with. It filled his lungs with every inhale. He couldn’t get enough of it. It was intoxicating…

Thud.

Malaa stopped in the midst of a step and verbal thought, giving Luster – now sitting - a good-humoured smile. “Okay, I get it, I’ll try to... hurry…”

Luster dropped to his rear suddenly. A weakness struck him, although the reason for such a weakness was clear. The longer he stared the more inches of his cock that came out of its tight sheath. Except now, two things were different. Firstly, his impatient breeding stick was twitching and throbbing under a different gaze beside his own. Secondly, the cock between his legs now wasn’t quite the same as it was before. It had swelled even longer, the increased thickness subtle but undeniably there. He was now sporting a foot long, vascular pillar of turgid meat, one which throbbed under the zebra’s open mouthed and awed gaze. It was a living, beating shrine to virility, the two grapefruit-sized cauldrons of cum certainly entrenched that… And it was all located between Luster’s thighs.

“Woah… Woah, I don’t think I’ve ever been speechless before,” Malaa spoke in a quiet register, his gaze unwavering from the twitchy, mottled grey column between the author’s legs. Malaa wore a blush, a sight one would be hard-pressed to find on his face. “That thing’s huge.”

Saying nothing, Luster rose, his legs shaking. His balls were bigger now than before, their weight was hard to ignore, but even harder was the organ that distinctly swayed beneath him, so heavy it almost touched the floor. Furthermore, the zebra’s reaction to his tool had an effect on him he couldn’t ignore. It made him diamond, his bestial dick jumping up against his stomach with a hollow plap. He winced at the sound. “Sorry,” he offered pathetically, simply turning and stumbling from out the hut before Malaa could gather the faculties let out another word.

“Wait, Luster! I can help, I-” Malaa stopped mid-sentence and mid-step, glancing to a nearby chest. With haste, he made his way over to it to peruse its contents. He spotted the glistening vial alongside several others of the same colour. He took a heavy breath. “First time for everything,” he said, trying to assure himself whilst wearing a hesitant smile. Grabbing it between his teeth, he uncapped the cork and gulped down the entire contents of the vial. When it left his lips, he shivered, conscious of what he was soon going to be experiencing as he dropped the vial back into the chest, a speck of amber on the rim of the discarded bottle.