Astral

“Note to self: burnout is still a thing, apparently,” Lone Soul ruminated whilst following the two lovely mares he had chosen to replenish his lost strength. “But at least I learned what my limits are and how to not overreach my capabilities,” humming, he closed into the girls just enough to ogle, ehem, admire their attributes better, and hear clearly what they were talking about.

“-brother really did that?” Pinkie asked, surprised.

“I know, I’m as surprised as you are, Pinkie. It was honestly a bit scary,” Fluttershy replied, shuddering lightly. “I never thought Zephyr would ever drop his obsession with Rainbow Dash… I can’t help but wonder what happened to make him change his mind so abruptly. You should’ve seen his face, it was as if he had seen a ghost.”

Pinkie shrugged. “Maybe, but ghosts don’t tend to just manifest themselves at all. They like their privacy. Besides, it wouldn’t have been a ghost! Maybe a Spirit or Apparition would do something like that just to pull a prank, but not a regular ghost!”

Fluttershy shuddered again. “If the Mr. or Mrs. Spirit that helped my brother see a new light ever wants to talk to me, could you help me with that Pinkie Pie? Or should I ask Twilight or Spike for that?” She asked, causing the pink mare to come to a halt as she rubbed her chin and hummed deeply, pulling a smoking pipe out of her mane in the process.

Lone Soul smiled, well, as much as he could smile after what he had to do to teach him that particular lesson. Nevertheless, a joyful feeling stirred within him. “It’s sorta nice to be thanked… even when I pretty much used you as a living toy. Eh, silver lining. At least some good came out of it in the end for everyone,” he said whilst floating mere inches apart from Fluttershy’s chest.

“You know, Fluttershy,” he gazed at her beautiful, angelic face for a moment before pointing down at her chest again. “For someone as shy as you are, you’re pretty chill about showing this much cleavage, not that I’m complaining~” he said at the same time he began tracing a finger over said area. He grinned mischievously when she shuddered slightly and used a hand to touch where his playful fingertips had traced over her skin.

He admired her for a moment, taking in the warm, cozy but showy sweater she was wearing. Her bra and underneath shirt hugged her figure in all the right places, further bringing her supermodel figure out more. And while her long dress covered her legs all the way down to her feet, it didn’t stop him from making out just how wide her hips were.

Hips that paled in comparison to the healthy, foal-birthing ones that Pinkie possessed. His attention rotated to the party pony in order to admire her beauty. She was wearing a short skirt, barely passing halfway down her thighs, but it clung against her waist and hips to provide him with a generous view. Going up, it was obvious that while her friend had a near-perfect hourglass figure hers wasn’t. But by no means was she any less attractive.

Pinkie’s exposed midriff showed her slight paunch but nothing more than that. Unlike Fluttershy, he noted, she was wearing a shirt that gave him no cleavage to drool over (even though he couldn’t) but he didn’t need one. Her blue shirt was so tightly pressed against her that it was a miracle how the fabric was still not ripped or torn asunder.

“But I’ll be damned if it doesn’t show off her goods!” Lone Soul whistled, impressed at the sheer size of the pink mare’s breasts. “Darn it, I can’t tell who has the bigger pair,” he noticed Pinkie was nearing the end of her silent train of thought when he saw her ears twitching and blinked, feeling a small but clear surge of spiritual energy flowing through her body.

Smirking, he decided to be playful about it and moved behind her in order to spank her bountiful derriere; adjusting his aim to phase through her skirt a split second before making an impact.

“Oooh! That’s a new one!” Pinkie pondered as she rubbed her bottom. “Scratchy ear, wobbly mane, chilly back, and booty spank! Huh, I wonder what that one could mean!” She giggled. “And I thought I had my Pinkie Sense™ aaaaaaall figured out. We all learn new things every day, right, Fluttershy?”

Before Fluttershy could reply, her sweater mysteriously plunged down as tugged, but the effect of the incident caused the two mares to ignore it entirely as her breasts came out bouncing, one of them nearly slipping out of her bra. “Kyyaaah!” She cried out, softly of course, and used both her hands and wings to cover her mammaries and ease them back into her sweater.

Pinkie Pie whistled. “I think you may need to buy bigger bras, Fluttershy. I didn’t think you’d be like me, wearing clothes too tight for our own good,” cupping her breasts, she giggled while her friend finished readjusting her sweater. “You shouldn’t hide your big girls, Shy. Let them be free like the wind!” Leaning against her, she whispered. “My shirt may look tight but it’s actually form-fitting, so it feels like I’m wearing nothing at all. I can ask Rarity to make you one!”

“Eeeep!” Fluttershy jumped back. “N-No thank you, Pinkie. I’m q-quite comfortable with my clothes,” she said smiling as politely as she could.

“Did I go too far? That was pretty neat but I think I overdid it with that one,” waiting and listening to his two selected mares continue to talk, he mused over his actions. “I need to feed myself and I want to have some fun doing it, but what’s the point if it leaves her miserable? It’s not her fault her brother was a self-centered idiot.”

“Then again… all the things I did to her technically never happened. So long as there are no consequences, then there’s no reason for me not to do it, right?” Looking over the shy pegasus, he arrived at a conclusion. “Fluttershy is one of the sweetest mares in Ponyville and probably the whole of Equestria. She doesn’t deserve to be treated like that in public,” Lone Soul smirked. “I’ll wait ‘till she’s home and fast asleep instead.”

Out of the corner of his eye he noticed another three mares approaching Pinkie and Fluttershy. As luck would have it, he also knew them well.

“Howdy, y’all!”

“Oh, hi Apple Bloom, hi Applejack, hi Cheerilee!” Pinkie waved a hand at the three new arrivals. “Took you guys long enough! I thought I was going to freeze here waiting for your convenient arrival!”

“Convenient?” Cheerilee shook her head, reminding herself that Pinkie was just being Pinkie. “Good night to you too, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy. Quite lovely weather, is it not?”

“Quite,” Fluttershy replied and nodded. “Um, if you don’t mind me asking, what are you all doing in Ponyville at this hour? You’re usually home by now.”

“Ah could say the same about you, Shy,” Applejack retorted. “But, believe or not, Bloom and I were busy helping Mayor Mare with some heavy lifting and checking a few other things for the upcoming festival. Lasted a bit longer than--”

Lone Soul lost interest in whatever chores Applejack or her two companions had done, deciding instead to admire the three new beauties that so generously graced his presence. He first floated around Cheerilee and winced. “Goodness gracious, Cheerilee, when was the last time you went to the spa or got some time for yourself? Your aura exudes pure exhaustion! If I don’t do anything about this, your tits are gonna sag,” he was about to conjure some form of relief for her but stopped himself at the last moment. “Oh right, I’m almost spent.”

Floating in front of her, he bowed his head towards her chest, his face phasing through her clothes and making contact. She shivered at his touch but nothing else. “I’m sorry, my beauties, you’ll have to wait,” giving her nipples a quick, chaste kiss that made her shudder again he pulled back.

Next, he floated to where the Apple sisters stood. Applejack was, as always, formidable, strong, toned, and wearing her farming jean pants that stuck to her like a second skin. “Strong, dutiful, dependable. Plus these thunder-thighs could easily squash a watermelon. I’m so glad to be ethereal! That way I can sneak my head in between them without having to worry~,” floating up behind her, he ever so gently cupped her breasts.

“Brrrr, Ah guess all that work got me warmed up. It’s colder than Ah thought it was,” said Applejack whilst crossing her arms, embracing herself and shivering. “We should get home, Apple Bloom. Big Mac is probably waiting up for us.”

“That big ol’ lug’s probably fast asleep. Either that or making a mess outta Sugar Belle right now,” Apple Bloom replied.

“BLOOM!” Applejack hissed, smacking her little sister over the head while the other three mares giggled.

“Whaaaat? Am I lying? We’re all adults here! And you know that I’m right!” Apple Bloom defended herself.

“Apple Bloom, you just made me like you a whole lot more,” Lone Soul said, unable to fault her logic whilst floating in front of her, watching the last few jiggles and bounces of her rather impressive chest. Reaching for her breasts, he gave them a small squeeze and also pinched her nipples, an act that was made slightly easier thanks to her lack of bra. “Heh, just like big sister. Both of you are nearly the same size and neither is fond of wearing a bra. Hhhmmmmmm~,” he moaned in satisfaction. While it was like eating mere bread crumbs, any energy his playfulness managed to produce was better than nothing. “I can already feel it lifting my spirits! Get it? ‘Spirits’?”

While the mares were talking, none of them replied to him and nothing else did, like always. “Probably for the best. Applejack might have smacked me too just for that pun…” he then shook his head and was ready to keep playing when Fluttershy yawned.

“S-Shhoooorry,” she started. “I don’t want to be rude but I must be getting home. It’s awfully late and I need to wake up early tomorrow.”

“No problem at all, Shy. Miss Blabbermouth here and I must also be heading back home,” Applejack said, slightly nudging her smirking sister.

“Homework doesn’t grade itself, no matter how much I wish that was the case,” Cheerilee sighed, tiredly. “It was nice encountering you girls tonight. Good night!”

“Good night, Cheerilee! Bye Shy! Bye Applejack! Bye Bloom!” Pinkie said as she rushed to hug each parting mare in the blink of an eye. “Byyyeeeee!” She said again, cheering, before bouncing off right to Sugarcube Corner.

That left Lone Soul with a bit of a dilemma on his hands. “Dang, I didn’t think this through. Who am I going to follow for the night?” He muttered to himself while at the same time watched the four different routes the five mares had taken. “Well, I could visit one and when I’m done go for the next? That’s an option. But who would be first? Pinkie Pie or Fluttershy? They have some of the biggest boobs in Ponyville. Or maybe I should go for the Apple sisters? Two for the price of one! Although, Cheerilee could really use some relaxation and stress relief.”

He pondered hard on the matter, sparing only seconds as he looked at each of the distancing mares. “Alright… process of elimination! Cheerilee said she was going to work, so that’s a no-go. I may be in need of a refill but I’m not going to put her job at risk! Pinkie Pie… is Pinkie Pie. Fluttershy is going to sleep, making her the ideal candidate. Applejack and Apple Bloom are also heading home to rest. So, other than Cheerilee, I have four mares up for grabs,” he chuckled at his badly made pun. “Well, score one positive point to being alone: no one can hear me laugh at my own jokes.”

“Still, that leaves the question unanswered. Who to follow?” He hummed and closed his eyes trying to find an answer to his dilemma, which came in a memory not even a day old. That fake Spike, multiplying himself for nothing. “Maybe that loser had the right idea there. Let’s see how it goes.”

It lasted perhaps a second at most, but from the ethereal body of Lone Soul, tendrils emerged, three of them writhing like tentacles for several moments in front of him. Then, they began to grow, enlarge, and finally take form. His form. When it was done, the four Lone Souls opened their eyes.

“Wow,” the original stammered. “This is new.”

“No kidding.”

“Totally.”

“Aaaaahhhhhh… I….!” The third clone babbled incoherently before tumbling to the side, bursting into ethereal energy that Lone Soul gathered up.

“It seems like even I have limits… especially now that I’m in desperate need of energy, still, producing clones took out of me more than I thought it would.”

“Yeah, but at least there’s two of us remaining and four mares to pick. Luckily for us, all we need to do is find out who gets to play with the Apple-- DIBS!”

“Dibs!”

“Dibs! Fuck!”

The first clone laughed. “Hey, it’s not my fault you didn’t see it coming before I did it!”

“That’s the worst part,” the original stated. “I did see it coming but I thought I had more honor than that. At least enough to finish the question.”

“Says the guy that called dibs right after douchebag over there betrayed us,” said the second clone.

“Whatever,” Lone Soul said, but neither he nor his clones were frowning. On the contrary, they were all smiling. “Not exactly the same as companionship, but it’ll do for now. Then, Number Two, Pinkie or Fluttershy?”

“I’ll take Fluttershy.”

“Then that leaves me with Pinkie. Alright, you two, move out,” a moment later, the three ethereal beings moved quickly to catch up with their selected targets.

Author's Note

Special thanks to anyone that read this!