“Good morning, Applejack!” Minerva cheered, as Applejack drifted awake. “You leveled up a lot. Besides Purify Water—which works a little better, now—and your transformation skills—which you can use every three hours—all that practice with your gun leveled that Skill up one level. And all your training yesterday increased your Short Sword level by two. Also your Strength and Endurance both increased by one, bringing them to 12 and 13, respectively. Which means your HP is now 130, and you can personally carry 180 pounds.”

“What time is it?” Applejack asked, stretching. She’d gotten pretty stiff overnight.

“It’s just past sunrise, which means you also have new quests.” Minerva answered. Applejack opened her eyes, and the quality of the light told her the sun might not even be entirely across the horizon yet. Far too early for breakfast. But not for morning wood, she noticed, sitting up. Though she didn’t feel like she needed to pee. Not even five minutes later, after she’d stretched out as much of the stiffness as she could, and even stepped out into the hall just long enough to transform.

So Applejack sat back down on the bed, and since she couldn’t think of anything better to do, she took her cock in hand. She started slowly, taking her time working herself up. After a minute or so of experimenting with pressure and speed, the first bead of pre-cum welled up. Seeing that, Applejack rubbed her palm over her tip, smearing the slick fluid, and she felt a wave of goosebumps wash over her at the feeling.

The slick pre-cum let her hand move more easily and feel better. So a few strokes later, she spread more down her shaft. It was nowhere near as good as Marjani’s pussy, but it was still better than the other times she jerked herself. Good enough that it took barely a minute to bring herself to the edge of orgasm. But instead of just giving in and letting herself cum, Applejack stopped moving her hand and clenched her pelvic muscles to stave off her orgasm.

A moment later, she started stroking again, spreading more pre-cum over her shaft. It didn’t take long for her return to the edge, and she stopped stroking herself again. For nearly a minute, Applejack watched her cock twitch as precum leaked from her opening and dripped on her abs. A couple times, she ran her fingers through the growing pool and licked them clean.

This time, when she was ready to continue, Applejack licked the pre-cum off as much of her shaft as she could reach, before taking it in her mouth. She moaned around the shaft and started bobbing gently. She also kept her hand moving, and a minute later, she felt her cock flare. That gave her just enough time to get ready before her mouth was filled by her first shot. She gulped it down just before the second shot fired off. She swallowed it just as quickly, along with the third blast. She even managed to swallow the fourth one before she choked and let the rest of her load splash on her chest.

Once she’d caught her breath, Applejack cleaned up her spilled cum with her fingers and then a spell before drifting off again.

“Applejack! It’s time to wake up!” Minerva called loudly, startling Applejack awake.

“It’s quarter of seven?” she asked, getting out of bed.

“Yep! Also, you completed a couple quests earlier, before you went back to sleep.”

“Yeah, Ah figured that. But thanks for waking me up.” Applejack said, before she went to the restroom. When she was finished there, she returned to her room and finally noticed the basket with her clean clothes. She put on a pair of panties and a pair of pants, being careful not to damage them with her hooves. Then she bagged everything else and equipped a bra, since she still didn’t know how to put it on properly. She seriously considered putting on her dress, since she was planning to stay in town and not do much of anything, but after a minute she decided against it, going with her green tunic, instead. After all, she might go with Taki, to hunt breakfast for Flamme. Besides which, dresses were for special events.

It was earlier than she’d agreed to meet Taki, but she didn’t have anything else to do, so she just ordered a mug of milk and sat down to wait. When Marjani brought the mug out, Applejack asked her if there was a library where she could read up about the area.

“Not really.” Marjani told her. “The town hall-slash-jail across the green has a bunch of books about laws and history, and whatnot, if that’s what you’re after, and the guard keep some information about local wildlife in the barracks. The Hunter’s Guild has more information on that, but you have to be a member to check them out. But if you want a proper library, you’ll have to go to Silberwald.” she finished.

“Can’t exactly say Ah’m surprised.” Applejack said, nodding. She figured there had to be a school somewhere with some books of its own, too, but asking about that would be suspicious, since a woman her age should already know everything in those books. Maybe she could come up with some story about her character being home schooled or something to excuse it, but not right now. And even that was stretching the truth as far as she was comfortable doing.

Marjani returned to her family, and Applejack sipped her milk, thinking about Equestria. Wondering what her friends and family were doing. Even though the Gestalt had told her she would be returned to when she left, she had trouble wrapping her mind around the idea.

“Morning, Applejack.” Taki greeted, startling her out of her thoughts.

“Morning.” she replied.

“Been waiting long?”

“A couple minutes, maybe.”

“And here I thought I might’ve gotten here before you for once.” Taki joked, as Marjani came over to take their order.

“So where’s Flamme?”

“In the courtyard, doing his morning business. He’ll be along in a moment.”

Sure enough, the tinderwolf joined them soon after, just about the same time Marjani brought breakfast. Fried eggs, a chevon and veggie hash, and grits and cherries.

Applejack and Taki ate slowly, planning out the specifics of the day. Taki suggested going to the shop as soon as it opened. When Applejack asked about Flamme’s breakfast, Taki said it wouldn’t hurt him to wait a bit. He’d saved half a deer carcass from yesterday. Applejack was a little bothered by the thought of using a deer as food, but she reminded herself that these deer weren’t sapient.

After that, they chatted about the area some more. The country they were in was named Staudeheim, and had a large dryad population, as well as a fair number of woodland Furred Races. It was smaller than average and mostly covered in forests, though there were some mountains on the southern border. Or along it, depending on who you asked. And they were mostly at peace with their neighbors, if an uneasy one, in the case of the gnomes to the south.

When they finished eating, Taki checked his Ident Bracelet and saw they still had some time before Cerise opened her shop, so they spent a little longer sitting and talking. Applejack was surprised to learn that the country was primarily ruled by three kings—two brothers and the elder’s husband—but it also had a parliament of sorts, made up of nobles and guild representatives. Which Taki thought was true of most countries on the continent, though he wasn’t too sure about that.

Taki didn’t know a whole lot about the country’s politics, since he was actually from a neighboring one, so he soon reverted to a topic he was more familiar with. Summoning magic. What spells were in the school, and how almost all of them used Soul Crystals. Besides the Summon Critter and Summon Beastie spells Applejack had already heard about, there was also a Summon Elemental spell that needed a creature with either a matching element or none at all. Though if someone had at least 25 levels in the appropriate elemental school, they could learn Summon Elemental (Advanced), which didn’t have that restriction. He also told her that summon spells could only work with Soul Crystals equal to or lower than the spell level, not the school level.

Applejack was very surprised to learn that there was also a Summon Skeleton spell, which overlapped with Necroturgy, and was even more surprised—and a bit disturbed—to learn that necroturgy was not illegal, unless used on sapient remains1.

The discussion of Summoning Magic lasted until they reached the greengrocer, where Taki spent several minutes teaching Applejack about various goat cheeses. Eventually, Applejack spent seventeen copper coins on a brick of kefalotyri and two rounds of picodon, one hard and one soft.

Taki also picked up a few supplies, before collecting Flamme from out front of the shop and heading for the western gate. Applejack, meanwhile, made her way to the town hall to read up on the area. The first book she looked through was an atlas. She spent a couple hours studying the maps, trying to memorize them. Then she spent the rest of the morning skimming through books about history, law, and other very dry topics. She only stopped twice, to practice transforming.

A little past noon, she returned to Mirembe for lunch. After finishing the pasta dish, Applejack got a cup of freshly boiled water to brew her birth control in before returning to the town hall and spending the afternoon skimming the various non-fiction books. The history books were as dry as she’d expected, but she learned that the gnomes living to the south had gone to war with Staudeheim for control of the mountains almost three decades ago. In the twenty-five years since they lost, relations have been peaceful, but uneasy. The author even predicts that war would break out again in the next decade or two, which made Applejack check for a publication date. She was relieved to find the book was only a couple years old.

“What are gnomes?” she asked Minerva.

“They’re a variety or subrace of dwarf, like unicorns and pegasi are subraces of horse. But they’re more territorial and a bit wilder than regular dwarves. Stat-wise, they’re more magically inclined, than physically. They still have a natural affinity for crafting, but they tend more towards Dexterity- or Intelligence-based crafts, than Strength-based ones. They’re also built a little less stocky than regular dwarves.”

“So they live underground, right? Then couldn’t they just let Staudeheim have the surface, and then they claim everything underneath?” Applejack asked.

“A lot of people think that, but it’s not that simple. How far down does “the surface” extend? No one can quite agree on that. But even if they could, dwarf-kind still needs the surface for some things. There are many creatures that live underground that can be hunted, and some fungi that can be farmed, but it’s not enough to support big cities, so they need places to hunt and farm.” Minerva explained. “Plus air holes.” she added. “And it’s pretty obvious why they wouldn’t want those under someone else’s control. All in all, it’s pretty easy to understand why they’d fight to own a surface only a few of them are willing to live on.”

“Yeah, that does make sense.” Applejack realized, going back to the book.

The book she was reading only covered national history, so when she finished it, she picked one that covered world history. It was even more difficult than the one she’d just skimmed. Mostly because she didn’t know most of the countries or people involved. She could barely get through three volumes, which covered a decade apiece, and she hoped that would be good enough. And that Minerva would fill in any gaps as necessary.

After that, she tried one of the law books, just so she didn’t have to rely entirely on Minerva’s warnings. But one look at the dense walls of small text had her giving up on that immediately. None of the other books looked any more readable, much less interesting, and Applejack thought about what to do next. She thought about going over to the barracks to train her weapon skills, but when she remembered she only had thirty-some copper coins, she reconsidered. Naturally, her first thought was the orchard, but it was the middle of the afternoon, so she ruled that out.

Deciding her best choice was to go hunting, Applejack left the town hall and made her way to the eastern gate. Before she arrived, Minerva told her she could transform again, but she waited until she’d spoken to the guards to do so. Ten minutes later, she transformed back and left the road, headed south.

In the woods, it took only a few minutes to find a Huge Rat. Scanning it, Applejack found out it was level two, and had 16 HP. Something about that seemed off, but before she could figure out what it was, the silver-furred body was charging her. She rolled aside and brought her sword up, still kneeling. The rat arched its back and hissed at her before charging again. Applejack braced herself, gripped her sword in both hands, and timed her thrust to help the rat impale itself.

A couple minutes later, after bagging both the body and Soul Crystal, and Cleaning her sword, Applejack realized what had been weird about the rat’s information.

“Minerva, how did that rat have sixteen HP if it’s ten times Endurance?” she asked.

“Different creatures have different Stat calculations. They also have different Stats at level one, which you should keep in mind.” she explained. Applejack just nodded and started looking for another target.

As she wandered through the wood, she saw lots of little critters, like squirrels and rabbits, but she couldn’t get close enough to any of them to use her sword. And she didn’t think she could hit them with her gun. At one point, she saw a deer, and even though she could clearly see the lack of sapience in its eye, she wasn’t comfortable killing it.

After forty minutes, a rabbit startled her by racing across her path, practically in front of her. A second or two later, a grey fox broke out of the underbrush, and Applejack managed to stab it before it could get away. It wasn’t the first time she’d had to deal with a fox, but she still felt a little bad about just killing it. Which was a little strange, when she thought about it. Mostly because she didn’t spare a second thought for the Huge Rats. After thinking about it a bit, she realized it was probably because she thought of them as monsters. Like Timberwolves and manticores back in Equestria.

A while later, Applejack came across a fallen tree with mushrooms. She thought they were edible, but she wasn’t sure. She was just about to leave when she remembered she could cast Scan on other things besides animals. Scanning them revealed that they were, in fact, edible. So she picked a few before moving on.

Not long later, she heard a couple rats mating, and not wanting to get attacked for interrupting them, she crept forward carefully. Checking the ground before every step, her progress was slow, but she managed to find them in a small clearing. Peeking through a bush, she saw the male dismount, and tensed up, ready to defend herself. But of the brown rats stood still, chittering at each other. A minute later, the buck mounted up again, and Applejack eased back a bit. Still close enough to see them easily, in case something happened, but where she didn’t have to watch.

While she waited for them to finish mating, Applejack thought about how she should fight two rats at the same time. Which was when she realized she didn’t know what level they were. So she eased a branch aside and peeked at them again. Trying not to look too closely2, she whispered, “Scan, scan,” as quietly as she could.

Huge Rat – Lv. 2
HP: 18

Huge Rat – Lv. 2
HP: 16

“They have different HP’s?”

“Overall levels are dependent on Stats, not the other way around.” Minerva reminded her. She didn’t really need to whisper in Applejack’s ear to do so—the rats couldn’t hear her any more than anyone else—but she didn’t want to startle Applejack.

“Right. He could be closer to level three than she is.” Applejack thought, before trying to plan her attack.

After a moment, she came up with a plan, and carefully drew her sword, setting it on the ground beside her. Then she drew her gun, just as carefully. She waited until the noises stopped before peeking through the bush again. Seeing the buck laying on the doe, unmoving, she pulled the hammer back carefully. And as the rat moved to dismount, she finished cocking the gun. The noise got the attention of both rats.

As they turned to look at her, Applejack fired off three rounds in quick succession. Then she bagged her gun, grabbed her sword, and charged into the clearing. A quick lunge pierced the buck’s neck, and his Scan-panel disappeared. Applejack jerked her sword back, making sure it was loose before jumping backwards, out of reach of the doe. Not entirely necessarily, it turned out, since the rat was more concerned with the bullet wound and the dead weight on top of her. So Applejack’s next strike was a more controlled thrust between the doe’s ribs, killing her, too.

With the threat dealt with, Applejack took a moment to reequip and reload her gun and Clean both weapons. Then, when a quick check of her Stat-panel showed she had 61 MP left, she took a few seconds to Scan all four Soul Crystals she had out, to practice the spell. The one on her jerkin was still a level two Huge Rat, and gave fire affinity—which was only to be expected, of course—and the two new ones gave an earth affinity. Also as she’d expected. The only thing she didn’t know what to expect was the Hodag’s crystal.

Hodag – Add Piercing Damage

“Taki was right.” Applejack thought, reading the panel. “So, it’s a piercing affinity?” she double-checked with Minerva, as she bagged the bodies.

“Actually, it’s an addition. An affinity increases by a percentage, but an addition adds a flat integer. And they only affect that kind of attack. For instance, that Hodag Soul Crystal only boosts the damage of your thrusts and lunges, but not your slashes. Unlike the rats’ Soul Crystals, which would add its effect to every attack of a weapon it was mounted on. Also, an affinity can be applied to offense or defense, while an addition will only effect one or the other.” the mini-divinity explained.

A minute later, Applejack was moving again. Not much happened for a while, and she eventually wandered out of the woods, finding several goats behind a nearby fence. There was also a fenced-in garden patch. After a moment of surprise, Applejack realized she must have been wandering westward, as well as south.

She was about to head back into the woods when something trundled around the corner of the fence. It looked sort of like a rat, but way bigger than the Huge Rats she was used to. comparing it to the fence, Applejack guessed it was probably more than half as tall as she was, and that was while it was on all fours!

“What in the…” she thought, putting her hand on her gun. She didn’t think she could beat it, but maybe she could spook it. Or if she was really lucky, she might wound it so it couldn’t chase her. “Scan.”

Monstrous Rat – Lv. 8 | Tame
HP: 124

“Level eight?” she asked, shocked. “I thought creatures around here didn’t get that strong?”

“This close to a settlement, it’s nearly unheard of for a wild creature to get that strong, but that’s not a wild creature.”

“It’s not? Is that what that Tame means?”

“Yep. It means that somewhere in its ancestry, there was a True Summon. Any creature a True Summoned creature gives birth to has a Tame nature. They’ll never attack someone without an order. Though that order might be to protect something, like that herd of goats—or the property, itself—so you still need to be careful. Tame creatures can be made to listen to only certain people, but until then, they’ll obey anyone whose Taming skill is no more than three levels below their own.”

“It’s that easy to tame a creature? Then why aren’t there more of them?”

“Actually, just about all livestock, like that herd of goats, is tame. But nothing is truly domesticated, anymore.” Minerva told her. “You have to bring in new True Summons sometimes, because the Tame nature only lasts so many generations before newborns are Feral, instead. Feral creatures may sometimes attack like a wild creature, but they’ll usually obey orders from someone whose Taming skill is almost equal to their own.”

“How many generations?”

“It depends on the creature. A Monstrous Rat like that, it’ll stay Tame for about a dozen generations before they start being born Feral. That’ll last for about a half-dozen generations before they’re born completely wild again. On the other hand, those goats won’t start going Feral for about a hundred generations, which can take fifty years or more, depending on the breed. Dogs, cats, cattle, chickens…just about anything that was domesticated Pre-Advent has a similarly huge number of generations. Which doesn’t stop some ranchers or breeders from True Summoning more often.” Minerva added.

“Okay, I understand keeping animals for meat. Griffons do it, and so do minotaurs. Hay, even ponies keep pigs and chickens, though meat isn’t their main purpose.” Applejack thought. “But what’s up with the Monstrous Rat?” she asked, keeping an eye on the beastie as it moved along the fence line.

“The original summon was probably a Huge Rat that the ranchers managed to metamorphose over time. Years, probably, if not generations. Generations of rats, that is. But it would make great protection for the livestock around here. Few creatures want to tangle with a monstrous anything, unless they’re monstrous themselves, or a giant predator. And most creatures will go out of their way to avoid their metamorphosed forms. Except for the ones that naturally live and work together. So, since rats are the most common problem in the area, it’s a great choice.”

“Breeding em’s gotta be tricky, though.” Applejack mused.

“Why do you say that?”

“Yanagi said those fights always end in death.” Applejack reminded her. The rat had gotten close enough to see it clearly. And it was clearly monstrous in more than just size. It’s back, slightly arched, came up almost to Applejack’s breasts. It was bigger than Flamme. Big enough she could probably ride it. Not that she had any interest in trying. The too-many, long, needle-like teeth that angled just slightly outwards were a good deterrent. So were the little spikes poking through the extremely short, brindled fur on its face. The fur on its body was longer, like a sheepdog’s, but thick and coarse. The sharp emerald eyes and dark green skin—including flashes of its gums—completed the unnatural look.

“There are ways around that.” Miranda said. “Bucks don’t necessarily have to fight each other for breeding rights. As long as they bring a tribute to prove they can provide, the does are usually willing to mate with them.”

“Ah suppose.” Applejack shrugged, before heading back into the woods. She kept a wary eye on the Monstrous Rat until it was well out of sight. Tame or not, she wanted to be sure.

After a few minutes, Applejack noticed her hoofprints and decided to follow them. But after about twenty minutes, something caught her attention, making her ear twitch. Freezing, she rotated her ears, trying to locate the sound she thought she heard. A few seconds later, she heard a definite rustle from behind her. Except there was no breeze. The air was still, and even slightly heavy, like when pegasi set up a storm.

Putting her hand on her pistol, Applejack turned her head slowly, trying to see what was making the noise. She didn’t see anything, but her instincts were still telling her she was in danger. So she drew her sword, instead. She carefully turned around, her eyes scanning back and forth across the sparse underbrush. She still didn’t see anything, but the rustling hadn’t stopped. Her still-moving ears hadn’t located the source yet. Applejack suddenly remembered that cats liked heights, so she started checking tree branches.

Which was exactly when a dark brown blur leapt out of the bushes at her.

Applejack automatically tried to bring her arms up and jump out of the way, neither of which worked completely. But enough to avoid getting her throat ripped out. Still, getting tackled by a thirty-something pound wildcat brought her down hard enough to knock the wind out of her. By chance, she managed to hold onto her sword, but her first swing was barely even noticeable. Unlike the cat’s bite, which just missed her neck.

Applejack screamed as she felt sharp teeth digging into her shoulder. Her left, fortunately, as that left her free to stab, though she only hit bone. It was still enough to make the wildcat release her and yowl in pain as Applejack wiggled her sword free of the rib the tip had gotten stuck in. Unfortunately, the wildcat followed that up by swiping her across the muzzle, making her cry out and making her next attack slice its side.

Her third and fourth stabs both struck more true, in the cat’s gut, making it yowl again, and its next swipe almost laid open her cheek. Applejack’s next stab had a better angle, nicking the wildcat’s heart. She got in a couple more panicked stabs before the cat collapsed on top of her, dead.

The sudden impact of its body surprised Applejack enough to stop her stabbing. A second later, she realized what it meant, and shoved the body off of her. She spent a long moment laying where she was before sitting up. Long enough for the adrenaline to start wearing off, and her face to start hurting. She reached up to touch it carefully.

“Ah!” she yelped, jerking away from her hand, which hadn’t been gentle enough. “That’s not good.” she thought.

“It could be a lot worse.” Minerva said. “It’s deep, but nothing a healing potion can’t fix. Just drink it and it’ll start working. Or you can pour some of it directly on the wound first, if you have to.” she instructed, as Applejack took one of the vials from her waist.

She nearly tried to uncork it with her teeth, just out of habit, before noticing it had a screw-top, instead. Once she had the narrow vial open, Applejack looked at the potion for a second to two. It was red, which didn’t really surprise her, but the thin, watery texture did. Then she took a deep breath, tilted her head, and carefully dribbled a little on her slashed face.

Instead of the sting she expected, Applejack was surprised by the painless, mint-like yet warm tingle where the liquid spread. It was a little like the touch of unicorn magic, but more intense. Once the side of her face was nicely heated, Applejack waited a few seconds, letting it start to work, before drinking the rest of it. The potion tasted about like it felt—warm and tingly. Almost like cinnamon gum,3 but not quite as sweet. It also burned a bit on the way down, almost like alcohol.

As the potion did its work, Applejack bagged the empty vial and pulled out a replacement. Then she looked over at the creature that had attacked her. Beyond being some kind of feline, she couldn’t identify it. It was spotted, seemed to have lost its tail somewhere along the way, and had thick tufts of fur hanging from its cheeks.

“Scan.” she barely vocalized, trying to move her mouth as little as possible.

Bobcat Corpse

“So that’s a bobcat. That might explain the tail.” Applejack realized. A second later she noticed her face getting warmer. And itchy, which she took to mean it was working. Resisting the urge to scratch was difficult, but the sensation was short-lived, fortunately. And when the itching and heat had faded completely, Applejack probed her face again, more carefully than last time. Her face was still soaked in blood, but only a little sore. So she pulled out a canteen and carefully washed off as much of the blood as she could

Bagging the canteen, Applejack cast Clean on her sword and jerkin, checking the latter for damage. There were some small holes in the shoulder, and she’d have to ask around about repairs. Then she got to her hooves, bagged the body, and cast Scan on the tan Soul Crystal.

Bobcat – + Dexterity

Seeing that, Applejack mounted the Soul Crystal on her jerkin, over her left nipple, opposite the Giant Rat’s—which a quick check confirmed had not been knocked off in the attack. Then she oriented herself so she was facing north, before deciding to check her HP real quick.

Applejack Anadolu | Furred Race-Horse | Lv. 2
Female Ordinary Civilian
HP: 125/130 | MP: 9/90
Strength: 12 | Endurance: 13
Perception: 14 | Agility: 12 | Dexterity: 8
Intelligence: 9 | Willpower: 10 | Charisma: 10

ADDITIONS
+ 2 Piercing

RESISTANCES
Fire 2%

“Whoa. Ah’m running pretty low on MP.” Applejack realized. Now that she knew that, Applejack decided it would be better to head back towards the ranch, since it was closer. It only took a few seconds to find her tracks, and she didn’t have any problems as she followed them back to the edge of the woods. From there, she followed the fence, though she didn’t get too close, in case there were any more Monstrous Rats or other guards. Only a few minutes after reaching the ranch, Minerva told her she could transform again, so she did.

On hoof, it took her a little less than an hour to reach the village. The guards asked about her face, which was apparently still pretty scratched up. Which wasn’t really much of a surprise, considering it was still sore. She explained that she’d been attacked by a bobcat, and they cast Heal on her—despite her objections—and sent her on her way.

Back in the village, Applejack’s first stop was the eastern gate, to let the guards there know she had got back safe. Then she headed for the Hunter’s Guild. The guildmaster wasn’t out front when she walked in, but she’d barely said hello to Leticia before she heard a door. A couple seconds later, Mr. Rucker and someone she knew by face but not name came into the front room.

When the other hunter didn’t get up, Applejack approached the guildmaster. In the Appraisal room, Applejack turned over the spare Soul Crystals for ten coppers, the three rats for 32, and the bobcat for 20. It could’ve been more, if she hadn’t done so much damage to the hide, but there was nothing to be done about that.4 Her business complete, Applejack thought about staying for a drink, but her stomach reminded her how long it had been since lunch.

When she got back to Mirembe, she found it more crowded than she remembered seeing it before. And by the bar, there was a short, stocky woman singing. The woman—Applejack thought she might be a dwarf—had pastel purple skin, almost colorless hair done up in a complicated braid, and a voice deeper than many stallions Applejack knew. It was rich and full—about like how she imagined Luna’s singing voice might sound, or maybe a little deeper—and even if she weren’t hungry, she’d find a place to sit and enjoy the singing.

Instead, she started looking for a seat. There were no open tables, but a couple local women soon invited her to join them. Subira swung by to take her order a moment later, and Applejack ordered a bowl of stew and a beer. While she waited, the women introduced themselves.

Mari had a dark grey complexion, almost like Pinkie’s sister, Maud, but darker. She also had a slightly rugged look, like Maud. She looked leaner than the earth pony, though. And she had a shock of cherry-red, shoulder-length hair. It hung loose and mostly straight, but had some waves to it. Like she kept it in a braid most of the time. She had a few black freckles on her cheeks too, but even with them, she was more handsome than cute or pretty.

Krysta, on the other hand, was more curvy, with reddish-pink skin and black hair. Darker pink than Pinkie or even her mane. Rarity would probably have some fancy, possibly nonsensical name, but Applejack just called it raspberry. Both women had chocolate-brown eyes.

Subira was back with the food more quickly than Applejack expected, as crowded as it was. Then again, most everyone seemed to have ordered already, and were eating and/or drinking now. The stew actually turned out to be more of a thin, brothy soup, just right for dipping the crusty bread that came with it.

As she ate, Applejack talked to the two women she was sitting with. She learned a bit about the village, including that the dwarf woman usually came in to sing once or twice a week, and that this crowd was normal for evenings when she did. Halfway through her meal, there was an almost deafening *CRACK* that made everyone jump.

“Finally!” Krysta said a second later. “It’s about time the rain started. It’s been so muggy all afternoon.”

“At least you were inside.” Mari reminded her. “I had to stand guard at the north gate this afternoon.”

Thinking back, Applejack was surprised to realize she hadn’t consciously noticed the clouds building. Maybe because she hadn’t seen the pegasi that should’ve been putting the storm together. And while it was strange to think about the weather happening completely on its own, she’d seen her fair share of “naturally-occurring” storms over the Everfree so it wasn’t completely alien to her. Not like it would be to, say, her Aunt and Uncle Orange in Manehatten.

When Applejack finished eating, she ordered another beer and kept talking with Mari and Krysta. Mari was a member of the guard who’d moved here almost a decade ago, while Krysta had been born and raised in Woodglen, and was the local barber. They’d been married for almost eight years now, not that they let that stop them from having fun with other women. Though they were both completely lesbian, without any interest in men or cock.

A couple hours (and seven mugs of beer) later, the storm was still raging, so Rehema offered to let locals spend the night at a reduced price. Mari and Krysta decided to take her up on that offer. They also decided to invite Applejack to join them in the bath. Being more than a little buzzed, Applejack agreed. After admitting she was a futa, and they told her it wasn’t a deal breaker, since they could work around her cock. Unfortunately, the tubs were all in use, so they had to wait a little longer.

When Sauda told them a tub had opened up, the three of them headed in. There were couples in the three occupied tubs. Two of them were cuddling while they soaked, but the third plainly had their hands busy under the water. Mari and Krysta didn’t pay them any mind, bagging their clothes and starting the water running. As Applejack followed suit, Krysta spoke up.

“Hey, Applejack, can you change into the flesh?” she asked.

“Sure, but can Ah ask why?” Applejack asked as she transformed.

“Well, that way we don’t have to worry about you stepping on our toes with your hooves.” Krysta said. “Plus, skin’s a little easier to clean than fur.” Applejack had to admit, those were both good points.

As water filled the tub, the three of them sat around the rim, dipping their feet. Applejack took the opportunity to look her two new friends over a little more. Mari wasn’t just lean, but was in fact, kind of bony, and had a few more freckles on her shoulders. Her breasts were modest handfuls, but had large, black nipples. Krysta had large nipples, too, but was otherwise very much the opposite of her wife. Her nipples were lighter than the rest of her skin, about the same color as Applejack’s, and she seemed to have Mari’s share of curves, as well as her own. Not enough to be fat, but she was a little plump. She was also clean-shaven, unlike Mari’s short-trimmed pubic bush.

A couple minutes later, when the water was deep enough, Mari turned the faucet off, grabbed the soap, and lathered her hands. Passing the soap to her wife, she knelt in front of Applejack and started spreading the lather over one foot. A moment later, Krysta joined her, passing the soap back.

The two took turns with the soap and Applejack a few more times, until her legs were clean, before urging her to stand up. Mari sensually ran the soap all over her belly while Krysta embraced her from behind and squeezed her breasts.

“I do love a nice pair of tits.” she sighed. Into the middle of Applejack’s back, since she only came up to about her shoulder.

“And these are a very nice pair.” Mari agreed, more loudly. Loud enough for Applejack to glance around the room, to see if anyone had heard. The couple in the next tub were too busy kissing to pay any attention to them, the two in the middle tub were still just soaking, and she only saw one person in the third tub. Then she saw something twitch. An instant later, she realized it was a tail, and figured out the other person was underwater, tending to her partner.

“So you like an audience?” Mari asked.

“Eh…”

“Oh, they make you nervous instead.” she realized, passing Krysta the soap. “In that case, just don’t think about them.” she purred, taking Applejack’s face in her hands and pulling her into a kiss. Applejack closed her eyes and let herself be seduced further. As she really got into it, Mari slid one hand up to grip her hair and pull her deeper as her other hand moved down to her hip, to spread the soap.

At the same time, Krysta was lathering Applejack’s back. And her ass. She teased the orange pucker with a soapy finger, testing Applejack’s reaction. Which was mild, but positive.5 Then she got her hands good and lathered, before going back to Applejack’s breasts. A moment later, Mari’s free hand joined in the groping and gentle pinching.

A few seconds later, Krysta stopped just long enough to rinse the soap off her hands, but Applejack was so caught up in the moment that she barely noticed. She was so focused on Mari’s tongue and the hands on her breasts that when something bumped her inner thighs, she spread her legs unthinkingly. The gentle pressure on her pussy barely registered, either.

The finger pushing into her did, though.

“Oh!” she gasped, pulling back slightly from Mari, as Krysta’s finger slid in to the knuckle.

“You like that, don’t you?” Mari teased, watching Applejack’s face as Krysta’s finger pumped and wiggled inside her. Applejack was too busy enjoying the best use for fingers she’d found yet to answer. At least in words. But when a second finger joined the first, her moan was answer enough. Mari enjoyed the wet sounds and pleasured moans for a bit, before pulling Applejack into another kiss. This one rougher, with some light nipping of tongue and lips.

Kari, meanwhile, added a third finger and was exploring the moist depths thoroughly. She spent almost five minutes teasing Applejack almost to orgasm, without letting her go over. All while still groping one breast. When she finally ran out of patience, she sped up her fingers, making sure to rub the back of her knuckles against Applejack’s g-spot. Crystal also pinched her nipple hard, and even gave it a little twist.

Even muffled by Mari’s mouth, Applejack’s scream of release was loud enough for the other bathers to hear. She didn’t notice the couple in the next tub over looking at them as the woman ground against her husband, milking his cock with her pussy. Didn’t see them smiling as they watched her cum shooting past Mari, arcing over the rim of the tub, to splatter against the wall. Then on the floor.

By the time she came to her senses, Applejack was neck deep in the water, and the other two were sensually rinsing the soap off her. She just laid there for a bit, enjoying it.

“Wow.” she finally said. “That was…”

“A big one. Yeah.” Krysta giggled.

“Krysta really knows how to finger a pussy.” Mari chuckled, before adding, “She’s level 18, after all.” Applejack, her mind still buzzing with alcohol and endorphins, didn’t know what that had to do with anything, but she was too relaxed to care.

“You give me enough practice, insisting on multiple orgasms every day.” Krysta countered teasingly.

“You know I just can’t get enough of you.”

“Then come and get me.” Krysta challenged. Mari accepted that challenge, and quickly caught her wife, as Applejack moved out of their way. Applejack watched the married women wash each other as she finished bathing herself. There was a lot of obvious love between them.

By the time Applejack finished with her hair, Krysta was sitting on the stone rim, and Mari was between her legs. The bony backside facing her was surprisingly arousing, so after a few seconds, she got right up behind the grey ass and sniffed the pink slit. She couldn’t smell much, over the soapy water.

“Ohh, yeahh.” Krysta moaned, seeing that. “Eat her, Applejack. Make her cum all over your pretty face. Ah!” she yelped, as Mari hummed in agreement, right against her clit.

Grabbing Mari’s hips in her hands, Applejack took one more sniff of her pussy, before dragging her tongue over her slit. Mari tasted good—just a little bitter—and Applejack quickly dug in for real. After licking all over for a while, Applejack started working her tongue as deep as she could get it. She even spread Mari’s lips with her thumbs, before remembering what else she could do with her hand that she couldn’t with a hoof.

She pushed one finger into Mari’s pussy and felt around a little. She soon felt a patch that was different from the rest, and after a moment, Applejack realized it was Mari’s G-spot. So she added a second finger and focused on that spot as she put her tongue back to work. A minute or so later, Mari came, squirting into Applejack’s mouth a couple times. Seconds later, Krysta came, too.

After they calmed down, Mari and Applejack finished bathing Krysta. Then it was Mari’s turn to get cleaned. The three of them considered soaking for a little bit, but the water was getting pretty soapy, and it was also cooling down. So they got out and dried each other off. With plenty of teasing touches in the process.

As they exited the bathing chamber, the couple invited Applejack to join them in the common room, which had been rearranged to accommodate the people trapped by the storm. She almost agreed, before her still slightly buzzed mind reminded her that she had a room upstairs, so she declined. And since her bed wasn’t big enough for three, she made her way upstairs by herself. After a quick stop in the restroom, Applejack returned to her room, making sure to transform in the hallway, first.

“You completed another quest.” Minerva told Applejack, as she flopped on the bed. Applejack almost didn’t bother, but she opened the panel after thinking for a second or two.

Day 7 – Late Spring, 4147 AA
22:48
TOTAL STAT POINTS: 8
TOTAL SKILL POINTS: 12
TOTAL SPELL POINTS: 1
QUESTS
Suck a Cock
1 Skill Point + 1 Skill Point (No One Said It Couldn’t Be Your Own!)

Swallow a Load of Cum
2 Skill Points + 3 Skill Points (No One Said It Couldn’t Be Your Own!)

Masturbate
1 Skill Point

Take a Ride With an Equine
2 Skill Points*

Hankering For a Human
2 Skill Points + 3 Stat Points (Put On A Show!) REWARD DOUBLED!! (Full Threesome Bonus!)

“Wait, shouldn’t there be a bonus for drinking Mari’s cum?” Applejack asked.

“You completed that quest this morning, so no. Bonuses only apply to the encounter that completes the quest.” Minerva explained.

“Oh. Makes sense.” Applejack muttered. “What’s “Full Threesome Bonus” mean?”

“It means both of the others involved in the threesome count for the same quest. If one of them didn’t count, then you’d get a different bonus. Or if they counted for different quests, you’d get that bonus for both quests. That’s how all group sex bonuses work.” Minerva explained.

“Ahh. Hey, is there any way to…stop something from sneaking up on me, like that bobcat, today?” Applejack asked next.

“There’s the Sense Presence skill.” Minerva told her. “It lets you know if there’s any people or creatures within half a meter of you, or any people or creatures focusing on you within a full meter. Per level. You actually gained a few experience points in it today.”

“Good. Since Ah’ve got twelve Skill Points, Ah can skip straight to level four.”

“I DO NOT RECOMMEND THAT.” GOD spoke up, as Minerva’s eyes suddenly glowed white. “THE INCREASED AMOUNTS OF INFORMATION COULD EASILY BECOME OVERWHELMING, ESPECIALLY IN AREAS WITH LOTS OF LIFE. ONE LEVEL AT A TIME IS PREFERRED, AND TWO IS THE LIMIT OF WHAT I’LL ALLOW.”

“Ah suppose that’s a fair point.” Applejack grumbled under her breath, a moment later. “Two levels, then.” she told Minerva. “Ah’ll save the rest of my Skill Points for tomorrow. Do Ah have enough Stat Points to level up my Intelligence?”

“Yep. After all the magic you did today, you only need to use two points to level it up.”

“Anything else?”

“For five points, you could level either your Charisma or your Perception.” Minerva told her.

“Hmm. Ah…suppose…Ah’ll…” Applejack thought slowly. Then she decided, “Go with Charisma, since it’s lower.” Pulling up her blanket, Applejack confirmed that was the way she wanted to spend her points then bid Minerva a good night.

Author's Note

1. In Equestria, the punishment for very nearly* any use of necroturgy is having both horn and tongue surgically removed by the royal physician—to prevent using and/or teaching it—followed by life imprisonment, in a cell specially warded by Celestia. (And Luna, too, now that she’s back.) On suicide watch, until any potential contingency spells had naturally faded, to avoid creating any liches, or things like that.

*On extremely rare occasion—as in, only four times during Celestia’s sole rule—a researcher can get a royal dispensation to study necroturgy, to help develop countermeasures against future threats of that nature. But there were a lot of restrictions and safety measures in place for such researchers, and it was mostly meant for ponies whose cutie marks were specifically for necroturgy. Something which hasn’t been seen since the last marked necroturge died, over 600 years ago.

However, nopony has been found guilty of necroturgy in almost 900 years, so outside the legal profession, few ponies know what the punishment is, much less that there can be exceptions. (Of course, Twilight and Spike are among those few. And thanks to one half-drunk evening, so are the other five of them.)

And if that sounds savage, it’s a holdover from the Unification Era, when things were less civilized. And it’s still better than the Old Unicornia laws it was based on, where the reigning monarch shattered the necroturgist’s horn personally, in public, for all to see. (Like a real-world public execution.) And which had no exceptions.

1. It’s kind of like tuning out the sight of somepony’s genitals, when their tail swings a little too wide. Or in real-world terms, like ignoring someone’s crotch in a public shower or nude beach.

2. Just out of curiosity, does anyone know: Do they still make Big Red? If not, then does anyone even know what I’m talking about?

3. She also learned that carnivores and other things that ate a lot of meat didn’t have very good meat for eating.

4. Applejack didn’t mind a little tongue or toy action in her ass, but she’d always felt like a real cock would be a little too big for comfort.