The Convoluted Life of Gleaming Shield

Of all the things Gleaming Shield was expecting to happen when she walked into Brewed Awakenings, being tackled to the ground was not one of them. Neither was being suffocated by an extremely tearful unicorn.

“Oh thank Celestia! You’re ba-a-ack!” Mocha cried as she pressed Gleaming’s face into her chest fluff. “I’m so sorry, honey! We didn’t mean to scare you off. We were just kidding about you drinking too much coffee! You can have as much as you want! Any time, any amount! We’ll even give you a discount if you want!”

The aroma of ground coffee and cinnamon was the last thing Gleaming smelled before her ability to breathe was restricted. She struggled weakly against the assault, her face turning a nasty shade of blue, but Mocha didn’t seem to notice her plight. Instead, the mare just nuzzled the top of her head frantically. “Please don’t be mad! Please don’t be mad! Please don’t be ma-a-ad!”

Pushing a hoof against the mare’s chest, Gleaming managed to pull her head free far enough to wheeze out. “M-mocha, please. Can’t… breathe!”

With a gasp, Mocha released her death grip on Gleaming before taking two hop-steps back. “O-oh! I’m so sorry, hon. I don’t know what came over me.” Blushing heavily, she readjusted her apron while eyeing Gleaming nervously. She bit her bottom lip before turning and shouting into the back. “Oi, Anon! She’s back! Get your flank out here, quickly!”

“What?!” The sound of something being dropped came from the back, accompanied by the rolling of cans. A muffled cursed followed, along with more crashes.

Shaken, Gleaming slowly got to her hooves, her man frazzled and in disarray. She sagged against the empty table for support while she caught her breath. She gave Mocha a confused look. What in the name of Celestia was that?

Mocha didn’t meet her eye.

Giggling, Cadance floated over with a large grin on her face. “Oh, I like this place already! So friendly. Hey, if you asked her nicely, do you think she’d smother you in other ways?” She wiggled her eyebrows. “I mean, look at her flank. That’s some good cushion material right there!”

Gleaming ignored her. And most certainly ignored the fact that she just noticed that Mocha’s flanks certainly did have the perfect amount of pudge to them. And ignored the growing desire to bury her face in between her perfectly pudgy pony posterior—Celestia damn it!

“Ummm…” String Board gave Mocha a wide berth as she entered the cafe, eyeing the mare nervously. “If that’s the standard greeting, I’d like to request that I not receive it. Please and thank you. I enjoy living too much.” Just for good measures, she made sure to keep a table between them,

Mocha’s blush deepened until the fur on her face was more red than light-brown. “Um, well, yes,” she squeaked out. “You see, I… no, t-that’s not a normal greeting. It’s just, you see… um… G-Gleaming here is a regular customer, but we haven’t, well… seen her for a few days and we thought maybe we had scared her off last time she was here, but then I saw her walk in again and I just couldn’t help myself and I… I’ll be right back!” Steam billowing from her ears, Mocha turned and galloped out of a side door, into the alleyway outside.

Silence fell over the cafe—broken only by the sound of destruction from the back—and Gleaming was thankful that there were no other customers present at the moment.

String Board gave her a confused look. “Uhhh…?”

“Just go sit at the counter,” Gleaming grumbled. Pushing herself off the table, she staggered through the sea of tables to collapse upon a bar stool. Pain flared up in her chest as her bruise twinged and she gritted her teeth. Buck! Please tell me she didn’t crack any ribs!

Behind her, Cadance squeaked but said nothing.

Just as they were all getting comfortable, Anon stumbled out of the backroom. He looked tired with wrinkles under his eyes and the stubble on his cheeks was thicker than before, but when he saw Gleaming sitting at the counter, his whole face lit up. “Hey! You’re alive!”

“Wha…?” Cadance’s eyes widened and her mouth dropped open.

“H-hi, Anon. I’m back.” A faint blush touched Gleaming’s face as she shyly returned the smile.

Approaching the counter, Anon leaned against it. “Where have you been, girl? You stopped showing up for a few days. Thought you might have found a new dealer or something. We were getting ready to file for bankruptcy. We were worried, weren’t we, Mocha? Mocha?” Anon glanced around in confusion. “Where did Mocha get off to? She’s got counter.”

“Bankruptcy? I don’t drink that much coffee,” Gleaming mumbled with a pout before shaking her head. “Mocha? She stepped outside for a bit. Something about needing fresh air or something, I think. And yeah, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to disappear like that. Things came up at work and let’s just say I was… indisposed for a few days.”

“Indisposed?” A look of concern flickered across Anon’s face. “Did something happen? Is that why there’s more guards than usual out and about lately? Is everything alright? Are you alright?”

Gleaming’s blush grew stronger. “Y-yeah, I’m fine. Really. Just a little bruised and battered, but nothing a few days of rest and relaxation can’t fix, right?”

Anon raised a skeptical eyebrow. “You know how to relax?”

“S-shut up,” Gleaming mumbled. Her ear splayed back.

“Chuckling to himself, Anon straightened up and dusted his hands off on his apron. “Alright, enough teasing. What can I get you fine mares?”

“I’ll just have my day-off usual, please,” Gleaming said. “I don’t work tonight, so I don’t need a huge pick-me-up.”

“Gotcha, more flavor than caffeine. Oi, Mocha!” Anon called out to the unicorn that had just returned. “One extra-large iced coffee, fourteen pumps of chocolate, fourteen pumps of vanilla, fourteen pumps of cinnamon, two shots of espresso, extra whip, extra drizzle, add chocolate flakes!”

Mocha’s ear twitched. “Oooh,” she chirped as she trotted behind the counter. “Haven’t made that in a while. One ‘Siren’s Call’ coming right up!” The brewing machines whirred to life.

As Mocha worked, Anon turned to String Board. “And what can I get you, my tin-foiled clad friend?”

“I don’t know.” String Board hummed as her eyes drifted over the menu board. “I’ve never been here before. I’m used to just drinking black coffee. But these sound tasty. Hmmm, what do you recommend?”

“None of it,” Anon said bluntly.

String gave him a blank look. “I beg your pardon?”

“I recommend none of it,” Anon repeated as he crossed his arms. “I don’t like coffee, so I don’t drink it.”

“B-but, you work at a coffee shop!” String Board cried.

Anon nodded. “I work at a coffee shop. And I don’t drink coffee.”

“That makes no sense!”

“I don’t have to like coffee to work here!”

“But what’s there not to like about coffee? Have you even tried it before?!”

“Yes I have, and I’d prefer to not have it again, thank you.”

“That’s absurd. You clearly just haven’t found the right blend.”

“You keep your disgusting bean water away from me, thot!”

As the two started to bicker back and forth, Cadance, who had been silently staring Anon up until this point, finally drifted forward. She circled the human, eyeing him in a similar manner to a griffon eyeing fresh meat.

“What in the name of sword and sheath is this?” she breathed. “I’ve never seen a creature like this before, and trust me, I’ve seen a lot of creatures in my time.” Wings half-folded, she floated around the human, studying him from every angle. Anon, oblivious to the fact he was being sized up by a perpetually horny spirit, continued his animated argument with String Board.

Suddenly, she fluttered backwards. There was a gleam in her eyes and drool in the corner of her mouth. Her tail lashed back and forth between her legs. “We have to rut him until he can only shoot out dust!”

A snort almost escaped Gleaming before she could stop herself. No duh. That’s the plan, sister. It had been the plan for the past half a year, and it was painfully clear just how well it was going.

Not very well.

Cadance gasped and clapped her hooves together. “Oh thank goodness! So much to experience in so little time!” Practically squealing, she flitted about like a hummingbird, babbling excitedly all the while. “How big is he? How long does he last? How many times can he go before needing a break? What does his cock look like? Does he have a hemipenis? A knot? Barbs? Is it prehensile? How much does he cum? Enough to drown in? What does it smell like? What does it taste like?! What does it feel like when it's squelching out of us? How hot is it? How thick is it? Can he get us pregnant? I NEED ANSWERS YOU GLORIOUS PIECE OF DICKMEAT!”

Lunging forward, Cadance glommed onto Anon’s head.

Gleaming’s eyes bugged from her head as she watched Cadance dry hump the back of Anon’s head, her thighs on either side of her face. Not that Anon noticed the mare molesting his cranium, not even as Cadance’s hips thrust inside of his skull. He just kept arguing with String Board, even when Cadance’s marehood slipped out through his face, her entire plot in his head.

“We’re gonna ride this stallion until we’re bloated,” Cadance groaned. “We’re going to be pumping out foals like it’s going out of style!”

That, combined with the sight before her, along with the panting and gasping and moaning from Cadance, was too much for Gleaming. She inhaled sharply and a faint scent she was very familiar with tickled her nose. Suddenly, she was painfully aware of how damp the stool beneath her had become.

“I, uh… I have to use the bathroom!” Standing up quickly, she dashed for the restroom, her tail tucked firmly between her legs.