“Good morning, Applejack! Congratulations on leveling up! Besides learning both Restorative Magic and the Heal spell at level two, you also raised your Short Sword skill to level four. And your daily quests have been renewed.”

When Minerva finished, Applejack checked the time. Since she had a while before breakfast would be served, she decided to take care of her morning wood. So she pulled the blankets back and wrapped her hand and lips around her hard shaft.

Three minutes later, Applejack licked the last traces of cum off her fingers and headed for the bathroom. Then she got dressed and headed downstairs. She made sure to top off her canteens before going into the main room for breakfast. Once again, she was a little early, but that just gave Rehema and her family time for some goodbyes. Flirty ones, in many cases, but no less serious for that.

“Hey, Minerva, does using Heal on a target that doesn’t need it still give experience?” Applejack asked as she waited for breakfast to finish cooking.

“Yep. You could cast it on a rock and still get full experience.”

“In that case, Heal.” she muttered quietly, casting it on herself. “Ah don’t want to drain my MP too much, in case Ah need it for real, later. Can you tell me when it’s back to full, so Ah can cast it again?”

“Can do.” Minerva agreed.

A minute or two later, the food was brought out. And a couple minutes after that, Taki entered the room, and was subject to his own round of goodbyes. Including a deep kiss from Mosi.

“This looks like a bit bigger portion than usual.” he commented, sitting down.

“Ah noticed that, too.” Applejack agreed. The plate had more of everything than usual, and an almost double serving of chevon.

“Eat what you can and save the rest for the road.” Rehema said, bringing out his plate, which was similarly burdened. She also brought out some cloths to wrap the leftovers in.

Applejack ate the grits and cherries first, then started on the eggs and potatoes. She ate a little of the meat too, but saved most of it for later, since the large slice of chevon was easier to store than the rest of the food. Taki did the same. And while they ate, they reconfirmed their plans. Which mostly consisted of putting as many miles behind them as they possibly could. They’d only stop for lunch, and only long enough for Applejack to make her birth control. The rest would be eaten on the move.

When they finished eating, they both ordered one last mug of milk before deciding it was time to go. As she got up from the table, Applejack left three coppers on the table, for the extra rations, and she noticed Taki doing the same. Taki collected Flamme from the courtyard, where he’d been eating his breakfast, and then they left. After one more brief round of goodbyes and farewells.

Outside, Taki summoned a deer and—with a little help from Applejack—climbed on its back.

“She’s not the best steed, I admit, but I’m still looking for a better one.” Taki said, as they headed for the village’s north gate. “Flamme won’t be able to carry me all day until he metamorphoses, and most of my other summons are smaller creatures.”

“What about the Giant Fox? Then you wouldn’t even have to summon it to—nevermind.” Applejack said, realizing the problem with that. “It’d be too tired to guard our camp.”

“Yeah, that’s the main reason Flamme doesn’t stand guard. He’s active all day, and he’s got to sleep sometime.”

“Then what about the Hart?”

“I don’t know. Those get pretty big, don’t they?”

“Yeah, it’s about half again as tall as me.” Applejack agreed. “And it probably weighs twice as much, at least.” she added in her head.

“That’s a little too big for me to ride. If I could even mount up on him, I’d probably break my neck if I fell off.” Taki pointed out. “Plus, they’ve got pretty good Stats, if I remember right. That means it’d be mana-intensive to summon. And if I’m going to summon the fox tonight, I can’t be using too much MP during the day.”

“Makes sense.” Applejack accepted.

A few minutes later, they reached the village gate, and after exchanging greetings and wishes of luck with the guards, Applejack transformed, and the three of them took off.

The morning had been fun, at first. Galloping nearly all-out had been invigorating, but by the thirty-minute mark, when they’d slowed to a canter—so that neither she nor the doe ran themselves lame—it had lost its shine. And thirty minutes after that, it had drifted into full-on monotony. To the point that when they slowed to a walk, Applejack transformed, just to change things up a little. She’d have struck up a conversation with Taki, but he was too focused on watching the woods for danger. Applejack kept an eye out too, but she couldn’t make herself focus as completely as Taki was.

The rest of the morning only got more boring.

They stopped briefly so she could boil her tea in the early afternoon, and Applejack got to see Flamme light the fire by coughing up a small fireball. They stayed only long enough for her to fix and drink her tea before getting back on their way. She and Taki both ate jerky and half a pint of cherries for lunch, and Taki shared a couple hard-boiled eggs with her. Applejack was a little freaked out at first, to learn they were over a month old, before Minerva reminded her that anything stored in someone’s inventory was held in stasis, so age wasn’t an issue.

Fortunately—Applejack did remind herself it was fortunate—watching Flamme spit fire was the most exciting thing that happened all day. The only other thing that happened that was worth mentioning was when they’d passed a good-sized clearing, late in the afternoon. When asked, Minerva told her that it was a campsite, which explained why there was an outhouse for them to use.

Applejack wondered how they dealt with the outhouses when they got full, and Minerva explained that summoners would come through occasionally with a slime-type beastie called a Sludge—or sometimes other creatures—that would turn the collected waste into fertilizer. Applejack knew enough to not ask for any more details.

Eventually, as the sun was starting to disappear behind the trees, they reached a smaller clearing—more of a wide spot in the grass lining the road—and Taki called a halt. He dispelled the doe, then summoned two great horned owls. He told them to patrol half a mile out, and to return to him if they found any spiders too big for them to eat.

While he was doing that, Applejack was making camp. Which mostly consisted of setting up the campfire for Flamme to ignite, since her tent had been fully set up when she pulled it out. Not that she was exactly unhappy about that. They’d pushed even harder after lunch, and she was tired enough that she was almost tempted to skip supper and go straight to sleep.

So she pulled out one of the sandwiches from the bakery and started eating it. Which only gave her another visceral reminder about the effects of stasis, when she burnt her tongue on the cheese that was still just as hot as when it had come off the grill.

While she let it cool, she handed the Giant Fox’s Soul Crystal over to Taki, and he summoned it. He ordered it to stay near the tents and alert them if anything that might be hostile got too close, before pulling out his own tent.

When he saw the tent, Flamme finished sniffing the fox and headed straight in, while the fox started sniffing around the camp. Applejack tried not to let her nerves show as the bear-sized creature approached her. The white overlay she Sensed helped a little, as did the simple curiosity in its eyes. Enough that she didn’t freak out when it got close enough for her to feel the air puffing against her as the fox sniffed at her. And enough to tell it no and tentatively push it away when its nose got too close to her sandwich.

When the fox accepted the order and the push as calmly as Winona ever did, Applejack relaxed some more. Enough to examine the fox a little more closely. She quickly realized it wasn’t really gray. Instead, it was mostly salt-and-pepper that despite creating a gray effect as a whole, didn’t hold up to any amount of close scrutiny. It had reddish accents in several places, a white chin and throat, and black marks on its nose. It also had a black stripe down its tail, Applejack saw when it turned around.

Then a wag of its tail—or her tail, rather—revealed a blatant absence of testicles. A moment later, Applejack caught an unnecessary glimpse of a dog-like vulva, further confirming that it was female.

As she turned her attention back to her food, Applejack tried to remember what a female fox was called. She didn’t think it was bitch, like dogs and wolves. Fluttershy had had a few at the cottage over the years Applejack had known her, but the pegasus usually referred to her animals by name, so that didn’t help. The only thing Applejack could remember was that babies were called kits. Or sometimes cubs.

That suddenly made Applejack wonder if the fox had babies of her own. She had no way to know, and could only hope not. Or if she did, that they were old enough to survive without their mother. Which was when Applejack realized that she had killed the fox. The very same fox that was, right now, lying just a couple meters away.

“No wonder the people in this world don’t have a problem with necroturgy.” she thought, her head spinning slightly from the epiphany. “Every summoner uses it.”1

“You’re not technically wrong, but most people never think of it that way. Most of the time, when people think of necroturgy, they’re thinking about the specific school of magic that affects corpses.”

“Wait, there’s a whole school of necroturgy?” Applejack asked. “I thought there was only the one spell?”

“Some spells are in two schools. It’s a way to gain experience without having to change classes. Summon Skeleton is just one spell in the Necroturgy Magic school.”

“What are the others?” Applejack asked without thinking.

“There aren’t many. Not as many as other schools. Mostly for raising dead enemies in varying conditions. As zombies, or skeletons, or even full resurrection. There’s also a spell for making the decay contagious, and one for absorbing a corpse for healing.”

“There is?”

“It’s one of the few spells people consider very useful, but even then, destroying the body means you can’t sell it later. So it’s mostly for emergencies, only. Necroturgy in general is considered inferior to summoning. Especially since you can’t use it to turn yourself into a lich, or otherwise cheat death personally. Plus, if you’re reanimating a body instead of using a Soul Crystal, then you have to actively drain your MP to keep the body animated.” Minerva explained. “You can use some of the spells in conjunction with a Soul Crystal, like Summon Skeleton, but in most cases, if you’re going to use the Soul Crystal, then you might as well just us Summoning Magic.”

“I see what you mean.” Applejack thought, before yawning. She quickly finished her sandwich and emptied the pint of cherries she’d started that afternoon, then went into her tent. Pulling out her sleeping bag—which she’d forgotten to do earlier—she climbed in and closed her eyes.

Late Spring 12, 4147 AA

“Good morning, Applejack! Congratulations on leveling your Intelligence up to 11. That means you have 110 MP, and can carry 1,100 pounds in your inventory.”

She barely paid any attention to Minerva’s morning recap as she got to her hooves. She needed to go. Badly. Stepping out of her tent, she noticed that while the sky was brightening up, the sun had not risen yet. A second later, she also noticed the Giant Fox looking at her, but Applejack didn’t pay her much mind either, as she quick-stepped towards the woods.

Though when the she-fox followed her, she paid a little more attention.

“Yeah, alright.” she decided, after half a second. “Come with me and make sure Ah don’t get ambushed with my pants down. That’d be embarrassing.” The giant beastie followed her into the trees and took up position facing deeper into the woods when Applejack stopped. Applejack was still a little nervous being so close to a creature that had attacked her just a couple days earlier, but her bodily needs were pressing enough that she ignored it.

Once she finished, Applejack cast Clean on herself, as she’d gotten used to doing when she took a dump. Then she tried to open a hole to drop her waste in, as she did when camping back in Equestria. Pulling her pants back up, she reminded herself that she couldn’t do that anymore. So she pulled out her shovel and dug a hole the human way.

When she was done, Applejack Cleaned and bagged her shovel, and headed back to the camp. Approaching the tents, she spotted some bones and bloody scraps nearby. They smelled a little too fresh to be Flamme’s supper, so the she-fox must have caught herself a meal. Walking closer, Applejack found a Soul Crystal among the remains. Picking it up, she cast Clean and Scan, confirming that it was a Giant Rat with a water affinity, as she’d suspected. Level three, according to the pattern of swirled dots.

A sudden low growl behind her made Applejack freeze as she bagged the Soul Crystal. A second later, she realized the she-fox was still close enough to Sense, and—more importantly—still white. That let her relax enough to turn and look. Just in time to see the fox take off towards the trees.

A second or two later—before she could do more than take a couple steps towards her tent—Applejack heard a distinctly rat-like squeal. One that cut off rather quickly. A few seconds later, the she-fox came out of the trees, proudly bearing a Huge Rat in her jaws. She carried it right up to Applejack, who thought she was about to be presented with a gift, the way cats sometimes did. Fortunately, the she-fox just laid it down beside the other remains and dug in.

Applejack had seen Winona catch a few squirrels and such on the Acres, but that didn’t make what ensued any easier. She busied herself with changing into clean clothes and building up the fire, so she at least didn’t have to watch, but the sounds were far too loud to tune out. Worst of all was her own stomach letting her know that it needed filling, too.

“Now that the sun is rising, your daily quests have been renewed.” Minerva told her a few minutes later. The reminder made Applejack kick herself for not remembering to spend her points the night before. She could spend them now, but didn’t see much point since she wouldn’t actually level up until the next time she slept.

Maybe five minutes after that, Taki and Flamme came out of his tent. After a quick, “Good morning,” they both headed into the trees. They were back soon enough, and Taki dispelled the she-fox, before pulling out a Giant Rat for Flamme, who dug right in. To Applejack’s mild annoyance, since she had started eating the leftovers from Mirembe a few minutes earlier, when the fox had stopped making so much noise. Now she had to listen to Flamme making all the same noises.

“I see the vixen caught herself breakfast.” Taki said, joining Applejack at the campfire.

“And a midnight snack.” Applejack added a second later, after remembering that vixen was the term for a female fox.

“That explains why I only found one Soul Crystal in the woods.” Taki commented, as he started on his breakfast.

“So, the plan for the day still the same?” Applejack asked, a few seconds later. Mostly so she’d have something to listen to besides the crunching of bone and wet tearing of flesh behind her.

“Yep. We should reach the next campsite around mid-day. That’s the halfway mark, and should be well beyond the Greenskull’s territory, so we can take it a little easier after that. It’ll also have a stream where we can refill our water supplies.”

“Good. Ah should probably buy another canteen when we get to Silberwald. Ah may not really need it, strictly speaking, but Ah’d feel more comfortable having it, all the same.”

“Yeah, it’s better to have too much, than not enough.” Taki agreed.

Not much later, they finished breakfast. Then they made sure the fire was completely out, bagged their stuff, and started out.

The rest of the day was much like the day before. With all the same monotonous tedium. Lunch had been jerky again, though Applejack had skipped the cherries this time, opting for several handfuls of the berries growing at the campsite, instead. She’d also eaten three or four slices of bread off the loaf she’d started with.

Though as promised, after reaching the campsite about half-past noon, they stopped pushing so hard. Applejack started transforming every half hour, when they changed pace, instead of every ninety minutes. They even stopped to camp a bit earlier than the day before.

The easier pace and earlier stop meant they had time and energy to cook supper. Applejack made a couple sandwiches with various supplies she’d bought in Woodglen, and even sliced up the mushrooms she’d found and fried them. She traded a few slices for a small piece of the meat Taki was cooking. Unfortunately, she didn’t think to ask what kind of meat it was until after she’d eaten it, and found it quite enjoyable.

She could only hope he didn’t notice her shock and mild nausea at learning she’d just eaten venison.

Eventually, she made her peace with the fact that she’d not only eaten deer meat, but enjoyed it.2 And not long after that, she decided to call it a night. After one last trip behind a tree—again, with a vixen escort—Applejack retired to her tent, where she Cleaned all the clothes she’d worn yesterday. Then—even though she was planning to sleep in them, in case of emergency—she did the same to the clothes she was wearing.

Before she put them back on, she decided to suck herself off. She was already mostly erect, and she figured it was safe enough, especially if she was quick about it. And, even if she might not want to admit it, a small part of her wanted to keep that bonus going as long as she could.

So she bagged all her clothes so they were out of the way, and grabbed hold of her cock. A few strokes had her at full hardness, and a few more had the first drop of precum welling up. After smearing it on her palm—and barely suppressing her moan of pleasure—she took the tip in her mouth.

Less than a minute of gentle bobbing, licking, sucking, humming and stroking later, Applejack felt her knees start to ache from kneeling on the ground, so she sped up her hand. A few seconds after that, she slipped her free hand between her legs and found her pussy. A few more seconds of teasing had her fingers wet and her pussy winking, so she moved her fingers forwards and focused on her clit.

Seconds later, Applejack felt her head flare behind her teeth, and a second after that, the first blast of cum filled her mouth. She swallowed it just in time for the second to replace it. And she swallowed that one just in time for the third.

Applejack tried to catch the rest of her load in her mouth, but the last shot was just a little too much. As her mouth overflowed, the cum poured past her lips, down her cock, and over her hands. Applejack hastily gulped down as much as she could, trying to catch the rest that had spilled so she wouldn’t stain the tent floor.

A few moments later, once she’d licked her hands and arms clean, Applejack stood up, groaning slightly at the pain in her knees that she was not at all used to. Then she saw the big wet spot left by her squirting pussy, and almost face-palmed. Instead, she just sighed and cast Clean on the fabric, as Minerva congratulated her for completing the quests. Then on herself, which left her with enough MP to cast Heal one last time. Her knees felt better, but Applejack hoped she wouldn’t need to cast any spells for a few hours, since she only had five MP left.

Climbing into her sleeping bag, Applejack opened her Quest panel, not wanting to repeat last night’s mistake.

Day 12 – Late Spring, 4147 AA
21:02
TOTAL STAT POINTS-1
TOTAL SKILL POINTS-38
TOTAL SPELL POINTS-0
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 + 7 Skill Points (No One Said It Couldn’t Be Your Own!)

Masturbate
1 Skill Point

Take a Ride With an Equine
2 Skill Points*

Feeling in the Feline Mood
2 Skill Points*

Hankering for a Human
2 Skill Points*

“That’s…not quite enough points to level up my transformations twice.” Applejack thought, doing some quick addition in her head.

“With the experience you earned today, you’re four points short.” Minerva confirmed. “But if you transform even half as many times tomorrow, you’ll only be one point short, so completing any quest will do the trick.”

“So if Ah wait ‘til tomorrow, Ah’ll save three points? Then Ah think Ah will wait.” Applejack decided, before reequipping her clothes. “Goodnight, Minerva.” she added, as she got into her sleeping bag.

Late Spring 13, 4147 AA

“Good morning, Applejack! Congratulations on leveling up!”

“Ah leveled up?” Applejack asked sleepily, interrupting Minerva’s cheery wake-up.

“Yep! Your Willpower is level 11, so you recover one MP every five and a half minutes. And you learned the Gokkun skill at level 1!”

“Gokkun? What in Equestria is that?”

“Your ability to swallow large amounts of cum.” Minerva explained.

“…”

After freezing for a second, to confirm that, yes, she had heard what she thought she’d heard, Applejack sat up straight, quickly enough to make her dizzy.

“WHAT?!”

Recognizing the rhetorical nature of the exclamation, Minerva waited silently for Applejack to recover and open her Skill panel.

WEAPON
Pankration – 1
Short Sword – 4
Handgun – 2
Small Shield – 2
MAGIC
Life Magic – 6
Restorative Magic – 2
CRAFTING
Jewellery – 1
LIFE
Calligraphy – 5
Northern Continental Language – 7 | Orcish Language – 2
Cleaning – 4 | Cooking – 3 | Butchering – 2
Sense Presence – 2
SEX
Gokkun – 1
RACIAL
Transformation: Humanoid – 6
Transformation: Anthro – 6
Transformation: Horse – 6

“There are sex-related skills?” Applejack asked, then immediately followed up with, “There are a whole category of sex skills?”

“Of course. There are Skills for just about everything else, after all.” Minerva explained.

“Oh goodness.” Applejack muttered. “How many other sex skills are there?”

“A lot. Aside from the obvious ones, there are several specific techniques with their own Skill, like deepthroating, breast play, bondage—”

“Oh, sweet Celestia.” Applejack interrupted, dropping her head into hands. “Okay, that’s enough. Ah get the idea.” She sighed briefly before continuing. “Next question: How many of those Skills am Ah learning, right now?”

“See for yourself.” Minerva replied brightly.

“Wha—oh, right.” Applejack remembered. She braced herself before pressing the yellow button again.

WEAPONS
Pankration – 1
2 + 100 (Ordinary Citizen)
Short Sword – 4
1001 + 100 (Ordinary Citizen)
Handgun – 2
282 + 100 (Ordinary Citizen)
Small Shield – 2
300
MAGIC
Life Magic – 6
890 + 1500 (Ordinary Citizen)
Restorative Magic – 2
460
CRAFTING
Jewellery – 1
0 + 100 (Ordinary Citizen)
Alchemy
14
LIFE
Calligraphy – 5
1512
Northern Continental Language – 7
2978
Orcish Language – 2
306
Cleaning – 4
1479
Cooking – 3
683
Butchering – 2
347
Firemaking
15
Taming
9
Tracking
38
Foraging
52
Sneaking
10
Sense Presence – 2
347
Bathing
23
SEX
Seduction
7
Kissing
42
Gokkun – 1
101
Lingam
92
Fellatio
96
Yoni
18
Cunnilingus
56
Anal Insertion
10
PC Control
23
RACIAL
Transformation: Humanoid – 6
2268
Transformation: Anthro – 6
2268
Transformation: Horse – 6
2268
Warhorse
64

“That’s a lot of skills.” Applejack thought, finally remembering she didn’t need to talk out loud.

“Every skill with its name in bold and a number after it is one you have levels in.” Minerva explained, somewhat unnecessarily.

“How do Ah have experience in Alchemy?” Applejack asked, distracted for the moment from the sex skills.

“Making tea gives cooking experience, as does chopping plants. But if it’s a medicinal tea, then it also gives Alchemy experience.” Minerva explained.

“Ah suppose that makes sense.” Applejack admitted, before reading further down. “But what about Taming experience?”

“Giving orders to Flamme gives you one point. Though since his level is too high for you to make him obey, it’s only one point.” Minerva explained.

“When did Ah give him an order?”

“You told him to stop sniffing under your tunic, once. The rest of the experience comes from ordering the Giant Gray Fox to leave your sandwich alone the night before last and telling it to follow you into the woods yesterday morning.”

“Four experience per order?” Applejack wondered.

“It’s level four.”

“Okay.” Applejack accepted. She still didn’t remember ever ordering Flamme to do anything, but she shrugged it off and went back to reading.

“Wait, shouldn’t my bathing skill be higher than this? Or lower, since Ah haven’t taken that many baths?”

“It’s not about bathing yourself—that’s one thing that doesn’t have a skill. Minerva added. That Skill is about bathing others. Primarily people who can’t bathe themselves, like children, elderly, or invalids. That’s why it’s a Life Skill, instead of a Sex Skill, despite the sexual potential.”

“Oh. Right. The Sex Skills.” Applejack grumbled, reminded why she had this panel open. “Alright, let’s see what Ah’ve got.” she sighed, scrolling down the list.

“Seduction seems low—kissing is a Skill?”

“Are you saying it doesn’t take practice to be a good kisser?” Minerva asked rhetorically. “And most of your encounters so far have involved you being on the receiving end of seduction. Seduction involves convincing someone to have sex in more physical ways. Like flashing them, groping them, grinding up against them, or even doing certain dances for them. Flirting, on the other hand, is more verbal things, or smaller gestures. Like compliments, winking, batting eyes, subtle touches. It is a fine, and admittedly rather arbitrary and confusing, line between the two.” Minerva said apologetically. “You earned that experience with Krysta and Mari the other night, but you haven’t done anything GOD considers flirting.”

“Ah’m not really the subtly flirty type.” Applejack admitted. “That’s more Rarity’s thing. And then there’s…gokkun. Oh, sweet Celestia.” she sighed, face-palming again.

“Well, at least it’s better than calling it ‘Cum Guzzling’.” Minerva said, trying to make Applejack feel better.

“Not much. Not when everyone knows that’s what it means.” Applejack argued, shaking her head. “But there’s no changing it, so Ah guess there’s no reason to keep complaining about it.” she decided, drawing on her deep reserves of practicality. Then she sighed again, not recognizing the next word. “Ah just hope Lingam doesn’t turn out to be worse, somehow.”

“Lingam is pleasuring someone’s cock and/or balls with your hands. Or toys.”3 Minerva told her. “Yoni is the same thing, but for pussies,3 and Anal Insertion is the anal equivalent, whatever your partner’s sex. Though it also covers sticking your dick in someone’s ass. Minerva added.

“Yanagi.” Applejack figured out. Which made her wonder, “Does it include taking a cock in the ass?”

“No, that falls under PC Control.”

“Which is?”

“The pubococcygeus muscle—the muscle you flex to cut off the stream when you pee.” Minerva clarified before Applejack could even begin to ask. “Technically, it’s only that one muscle, anatomically speaking. But the Skill refers to your ability to control several muscles in the pelvic and perineal regions. You increase experience in this Skill by having orgasms, holding back orgasms, and by milking something that’s penetrated your cooch or your caboose.” That got Minerva a strange look. Though after a moment, Applejack turned back to the panel.

“So Ah’ve had 23 orgasms in the ten days Ah’ve been here?” she asked, trying to get past the awkwardness. Only to fall into a whole different kind.

“No, you get more experience for holding them back.” Minerva told her. “You could also get experience by interrupting your pee-stream for an unhealthy amount of time, but…”

“Unhealthy. Ah heard. And that just leaves…sucking and licking.”

“And all the Skills you haven’t gotten any experience in yet.” Minerva reminded her. “Like Analingus—”

“I…” Applejack interrupted. “I don’t need or want to hear about the rest of them. But what’s this Warhorse Skill?” she asked, noticing it at the bottom of the list.

“It’s your ability to fight in your horse form. It’s unique to equine Furred Races and centaurs.”

“Ah didn’t realize there were other Racial Skills, besides the transformations.”

“There’s also Steed, which determines how well you can work with a rider; Equine Empathy, which is how well you can understand equine critters and beasties, or equine Furred Races in their animal forms—”

“Ah get it, there’s a lot.” Applejack cut in. Mini-divinities seemed not to need to breathe, so it was like cutting Pinkie off. Only easier.

“By the way, you also have new quests.” Minerva said, changing topic smoothly.

“New-new, or…”

“Mostly dailies, but one brand new one you’ve never had before.”

Day 12 – Late Spring, 4147 AA
05:33
TOTAL STAT POINTS-1
TOTAL SKILL POINTS-38
TOTAL SPELL POINTS-0
QUESTS
Suck a Cock
1 Skill Point*

Swallow a Load of Cum
2 Skill Points*

Masturbate
1 Skill Point

Take a Ride With an Equine
2 Skill Points*

Feeling in the Feline Mood
2 Skill Points*

Hankering for a Human
2 Skill Points*

Lay With a Lupine
2 Skill Points*

“What’s a lupine? Ah know Ah’ve heard that before, but Ah can’t remember where.”

“It’s another word for wolf, like canine and feline.”

“A Wolf? The closest things to wolves around here are Flamme and the vixen we’ve got standing guard.”

“Foxes are vulpine, not lupine. Though they do both also count as canines.” Minerva explained.

“Whatever it is, it doesn’t change the fact that there are no wolves here.” Applejack argued.

“There’s one.”

“There is? Did someone else set up camp here after Ah went to bed last night?”

“Nope.” Minerva said, with an innocent shake of her head.

“Then who? Is there a traveler passing by?”

“Not right now.”

“You can’t mean Taki. He’s human, isn’t he?”

“He is, so no, I don’t mean Taki.”

“Then who? Is this just a general, in-case kinda thing? All the other quests have been based on the folks around me…” Applejack trailed off as something impossible occurred to her. Her eyes went wide and the rest of her face slack as another warped piece twisted itself into place. “Minerva, when Ah mentioned Flamme and the fox, you said that foxes aren’t lupine.” Applejack said. Actually said, out loud, as she tried not to let the image forming in her head finish assembling.

“Because they’re not.”

“But you didn’t say anything about Flamme.” Applejack pointed out. “Why didn’t…Nightmare Minerva warn me about…”

“About bestiality? Because it’s legal here.”

For the second time in ten minutes, Applejack needed a moment to accept what her ears had told her was true. And when she did, her reaction was the same.

“WHAT?!”

A moment later, though, Applejack realized she wasn’t nearly as disgusted as she should be. As she had been when she learned the word.4 Then, she’d been queasy all day, unable to shake the thoughts for long. There hadn’t been anything appealing about the images stuck in her mind, though.

“There haven’t been any laws against bestiality for 4000 years, give or take.” Minerva confirmed.

Bothered and confused, Applejack just got up, changed into clean clothes, and equipped her sword and gun. She tried (not) to imagine how sex with a tinderwolf would even work. After all, a big dog might be able to mount a pony—or even a smaller one, if the pony were to lie down—but how would that even work with the more vertically-aligned humanoid body, she (told herself she) didn’t wonder. Stepping out of the tent, she was too busy thinking about (anything but) bestiality to keep more than a cursory eye out for danger as she walked into the trees.

Pulling her pants down, Applejack pretended her hard cock was just morning wood—and it was, to an extent. It was a little hard to keep pretending after relieving herself, but she was stubborn enough that she could lie to herself far better than to anyone else. As she was burying her morning bowel movement, she suddenly Sensed a huge white presence behind her. Startled, Applejack spun around, coming face-to-face with the Giant Fox.

Unexpectedly being confronted by the giant beastie reminded Applejack of when it had attacked her. Specifically, when it had leapt on her back. And the remembered panic made her half-hard cock finally calm down completely. A minute later, she led the vixen back to the campfire and stoked it up.

While she was feeding some of the stockpiled wood into the fire, Taki and Flamme came out of their tent and headed for the trees. The vixen started to follow them, but Taki ordered her to stay. Three or four minutes later, they were back and starting on breakfast. Taki, seeing that the vixen hadn’t caught itself anything to eat, pulled out a deer corpse and gave it to the beasties to share. Applejack very determinedly did not look at them as they ate.

“There’s a storm coming in from the east.” Taki said, looking at the sky, as he started on his breakfast. “Should reach us late morning. Noon, at the latest.”

“Well, it is spring.” Applejack said, looking for herself. “Do you think it’s just rain?”

“I hope so. If not, we may have to stop early, and I was hoping to reach Silberwald this evening. At least the next campsite is a cave. We’ll be able to take shelter there, if we have to.”

The two of them ate steadily, in no rush. The weather would do what it was going to, when it was going to. Applejack was used to not having any control in that regard.5 Eventually, they finished and broke camp. When they were ready to leave, Taki dispelled the vixen and summoned the doe again.

After about three hours of traveling at the same easy pace as the previous afternoon, Applejack thought she heard something. Turning her ears forward, she soon identified it as metal jingling. A lot of it. She still had a few minutes before she could transform again, so she stepped closer to Taki and bumped him with her muzzle, instead.

“What is it, Applejack?”

Applejack flicked and twisted her ears a few times, then tossed her head, trying to point forward, once she discovered that her legs couldn’t.

“Yeah, I think the doe hears it, too, whatever it is.” Taki said, noticing his steed’s perked ears. “I can’t hear it yet, though. Is it something dangerous?”

Applejack couldn’t be sure, so she bobbed her head side-to-side in a “so-so” gesture that was as close as she could get to a shrug. She stepped away and turned her attention back to the woods west of the road, while keeping half an ear on the faint jingling as it steadily grew ever so slightly louder

“Now I hear it.” Taki said, a few minutes later. “It might be a guard patrol. It’s about time for them to be coming through.”

“Around here, guards spend as much time in their destination as they do traveling.” Minerva added.

Several minutes after that, four figures came around a bend in the road. As they got closer, Applejack realized that there were two dryads riding horses, a rabbit-eared person riding some kind of horse-sized cat, and a child-sized person—a dwarf, maybe?—on a large, white wolf. A moment later, she realized the rabbit-eared person was probably a Furred Race.

By the time the group was close enough to shout greetings, Applejack realized she was right about the rabbit-person. Except that she was female, unlike most of the guards she’d seen back in Equestria. Applejack was wrong about the supposed dwarf, though. The girl was much too slim for that. She looked like a smaller version of the elf back at Mirembe, but with jewel-toned butterfly wings. According to Minerva, she was a faerie.

Applejack also got a better look at the cat the rabbit-woman was riding. It was like a cougar, but a little slimmer all around, with a caramel-brown coat. It was also two or three times larger than the one she’d seen at Fluttershy’s cottage. And its ears were much larger than any other cat she’d ever seen, even considering the size of the rest of the animal, with long tufts of fur growing from their tips.

Curious, Applejack thought about Scanning it to find out what it was—

“Scanning a sapient without their permission is punishable by a fine of up to five silver coins, and/or up to five nights in jail. Scanning a guard or other crown employee comes with a minimum of three and three.” Nightmare Minerva spoke up, surprising Applejack.

“What?” she thought, before looking closer at the cat. When she did, she spotted the Ident Bracelets she’d missed before. Checking the wolf, she saw that it didn’t have them. “What kind of cat gets that big?” she wondered.

“She’s a Furred Race-Caracal. Past level ten, Transformation Skills allow you to change the size of your animal form.”

A minute or two later, the armored riders were close enough to talk without shouting, and they exchanged greetings. Then Taki struck up a brief conversation with the patrol leader, one of the dryads. It was mostly about the state of the road and the spider problem. The guards were on their way to Woodglen to help with the cull.

Even though she knew everything Taki was talking about, and even though she couldn’t join in the conversation, Applejack paid attention, all the same. At least until one of the horses whickered for attention. Applejack looked at the closer of the two—a solidly built, black mare with a shaggy coat and fetlocks to make any teenage colt jealous—and something about her stance, posture, and idly stomping hoof gave Applejack the impression that she might have an itchy left foreshoulder. So she stepped closer to the mare. Slowly, so as not to startle her rider.

When she was next to the itchy mare, Applejack realized she didn’t have any grooming tools she could use. Fortunately, she didn’t have a problem leaning in to nibble at the shaggy shoulder.

“Oh, thanks.” the mare’s rider said, leaning forward to scratch the itchy spot some more, at the same time Applejack thought the mare was asking to return the favor. She just stepped back with a shake of her head and returned her attention to the other dryad in time to hear that there wasn’t anything out of the ordinary to worry about in or around Silberwald.

Which turned out to be the end of the conversation, and the guards started down the road. As the big chestnut stallion drew abreast of Applejack, he snorted roughly and flicked his tail. Applejack wasn’t entirely sure what he meant by that. Not until she Sensed his presence shift quickly to red. Shocked, Applejack danced backwards a few steps. Far enough that when her eyes flicked down, she saw the head of his cock bobbing underneath him.

Taki gave her a look at her sudden movement, but didn’t say anything. He just lightly slapped the doe’s haunch to get her going. A second or two later, Applejack started after him, resolutely ignoring the warmth under her tail.

The rest of the morning was uneventful, except for the rain catching them a while before noon. It started off as a heavy drizzle, but it soon got heavier. When they saw the first flash of lightning, Taki suggested hurrying for the campsite, which wasn’t far.

When they reached the campsite, Applejack was a little underwhelmed by the cave. The entrance was almost twice as tall as she was, and not quite that wide. And nearly a third of that was taken up by a stream. A few meters past the entrance, however, it opened up a lot. Enough that Applejack realized most of the hill had to be hollow.

After taking a minute or two to catch her breath, Applejack shook herself off and transformed. She then had to feel her way to the nearest stalagmite and turn on the lamp mounted there. She had an easier time lighting the next couple lamps while Taki set up the fire for Flamme to ignite.

“What’s powering these lamps?” Applejack asked.

“Ambient magic, like in Equestria.” Minerva told her, confirming her guess. “Every appliance can use ambient magic, it’s just that anything much bigger than a large lamp—or too many close together, like you invariably get in kitchens—there’s just not enough ambient magic to support them, so you have to use Crystal Souls.”

Once the fire was going, Applejack joined Taki, who had changed into dry clothes and was hanging the damp ones near the fire to dry. Then they had lunch. Applejack made a sandwich out of rabbit jerky, lettuce, tomato, and one of the cheese wedges she’d started with. It turned out to be a mild white cheddar. What she didn’t slice up, she shared with Taki, in exchange for a couple more hard boiled eggs. While they ate, Applejack made her birth control, even though it was a little early.

Afterwards, they weren’t sure what to do to pass the time, so Taki suggested sparring. He had a couple practice weapons they could use, so they didn’t have to worry about injuries. With nothing better to do, Applejack agreed. She accepted the practice blade from Taki, and while he turned on a couple more lamps for better visibility, she equipped her targe, wanting to get some real practice with it.

They started slow, partly because they were full, and partly so Taki could give Applejack some pointers on shield use. Which wasn’t entirely necessary, since her two levels of Small Shield Skill had given her a little bit of muscle memory. It did take some getting used to, having her body moving on its own in ways she’d never practiced before, but half an hour in, Applejack was too focused on fighting Taki to let herself be distracted by anything.

Eventually, Taki called a halt, and they both visited the outhouses. Unfortunately, they were outside the cave. Once they were back inside the cave, Taki and Applejack decided to rinse the sweat off in the pool at the back of the cave. It was fed not only by the stream, but also by the rainwater coming in through channels in the ceiling that were meant to let smoke out.

“What’s that?” Applejack asked, when Taki flicked a switch on something on the edge of the pool.

“A Purify Water spell tool. Most places like this have one.”

“One of the duties of guard patrols is to keep campsites stocked with Soul Crystals. Usually either Blanks or really common creatures, like Huge Rats” Minerva added.

“How long does a Soul Crystal last?”

“Generally, they provide about a day of constant use per Stat Level. When they’re drained, they just disappear, like when they’re left uncollected in nature for a month.”

“Ah didn’t even think about that.” Applejack thought, as she slipped into the pool. The cool water came up almost to her navel, so she had to duck down to clean her upper body. Straightening back up, she Sensed Taki’s attention on her, but since his presence was white, she didn’t pay him any attention. She just wrung out her mane and moved towards the edge of the pool.

Climbing out of the water, Applejack wrung out her tail, and noticed Taki’s presence gain a solid red tint. She felt her nethers warming at the ‘sight.’ But when he didn’t say anything, she decided to tease him a little. She started by pulling out her towel and draping it over her head. As she dried her face and mane, she shifted her weight side to side, letting her tail swing.

Applejack felt herself getting warmer as Taki’s presence turned brighter red. After a few moments, she also felt her tail trying to rise, and saw no reason to resist. But still, all Taki did was watch. Even when she bent over to dry her legs and flagged her tail enough to give him a good look at her wet pussy. She wasn’t winking yet, but she knew it wouldn’t be very long.

“You just gonna sit there and stare, or are ya gonna come fuck me?” Applejack eventually asked. It wasn’t that she didn’t appreciate his restraint, but she’d appreciate it more when she was less in the mood.

“How—Oh, you know Sense Presence.” Taki started to ask, before realizing the answer. Then, before Applejack had to repeat herself, he started wading out of the pool.

Applejack turned around to get a better look at Taki’s body. He was lean and toned, like pegasi tended to be, and three or four inches shorter than herself. And when he climbed out of the pool, Applejack got her first look at his erection. Like hers in her humanoid form—which she immediately realized made sense—it had the same unusual head, though the blood filling it gave it an orange hue. It didn’t look quite as long as hers, but it looked about as thick, if not thicker.

“Oh, do you want me to transform?” she asked.

“Nah, I like the feel of fur.” Taki told her, gently running his hand down her spine. “But we should lay our sleeping bags out so we’ve got something softer than rocks to lay on.”

A few seconds later, Applejack was kissing Taki deeply, holding him close enough to feel his cock against hers. It was nicer than she would have expected, especially when he ground gently against her. His hand stroking her back was pleasant, too. But Applejack was impatient, so barely a minute later, she pulled away and got on all fours.

Taki immediately knelt behind her and grabbed her flagged tail. He stroked it a few times before pulling it further aside and pushing two fingers into her pussy. Applejack moaned softly at the feeling, pushing back against Taki’s hand. He added a third finger soon after, and then his tongue.

The pressure of his tongue against her winking clit made Applejack gasp and push back harder, but he backed off, not letting her rush things. He teased her for a couple minutes, before catching her clit with his lips as it winked and sucking hard.

Applejack screamed as she came, her pussy clenching around Taki’s fingers. Fingers that kept moving, drawing out her orgasm for several moments more, before Taki teased her down from her high and slipped his fingers out of her. Then he licked her clean and eased her down onto the sleeping bags.

Applejack took a minute or two to recover before rolling over and looking at Taki. His face was still wet with her cum, and he was slowly stroking his hard cock.

“You wanna do something more fun with that?” she asked, spreading her legs a bit.

“Definitely.” Taki agreed, getting up and moving between her legs. She watched as he lifted them so they were resting on his shoulders and aimed his cock at her entrance. He aimed his cock with one hand, rubbing the round head between her lips to get it wet. After a second, she started winking again, and Taki took that as his cue to push in. He didn’t reach as deep as Mosi, but he did stretch her a little wider, and she couldn’t help moaning.

Once he was all the way in her, Taki paused for a moment, before pulling back. He started slow, and once he had a comfortable pace going, he wrapped one hand around her cock. It had gone soft with all the attention focused on her pussy, but a moment or two of Taki’s handling had it back to full size. His hand alternately stroked Applejack’s shaft and teased her head. By tracing a finger around the rim, or the urethra. Or by rubbing his hand over the head and kneading it gently.

Taki never really sped up much, but after a few minutes, he moved his hands to her thighs and started thrusting more forcefully. Applejack replaced his hand on her cock with her own and started sucking the tip.

“Fu~uck.” she heard Taki groan, as his thrusts got even harder.

With all the stimulation, Applejack barely lasted a minute before she came. As she swallowed shot after shot of her cum, she heard Taki groan as he came, too. For several moments, they were both lost in the throes of orgasm, before Taki pulled out and cuddled up beside her.

“That was so hot.” he whispered, helping her clean up the cum that had spilled from her mouth. He even milked the last few drops from her softening cock and scooped them onto his hand. He was about to lick it clean when Flamme walked over and started nudging his arm.

“I thought you were supposed to be guarding the entrance?” Taki asked rhetorically, even as he held his cum-covered hand out for the lupine beastie to lick clean. Which he did eagerly, before moving to Taki’s face. “Alright, alright.” Taki laughed, though Applejack couldn’t miss that he didn’t push Flamme away. “She does taste good, though, doesn’t she?” Taki said, ruffling his head.

Unsettled by the casual bestiality—or borderline bestiality, at least—Applejack rolled away and got to her hooves. The sudden appearance of Flamme’s presence, with its growing red tint, only unsettled her more, and she headed back to the pool to rinse off. Unfortunately, her ears were too sensitive for the splashing water to drown out Taki’s voice.

“Not now, bud. You know the rules, and she doesn’t seem to be interested.” he said. “When we get to Silberwald, maybe I can find you a real bitch, for a change? Would you like that, Flamme? Huh? Would you?” he continued, his tone much more playful.

“Congratulations on completing some quests.” Minerva said as Applejack dunked her head, drowning out Taki’s voice. And more importantly, the noises of Flamme’s tongue. She didn’t want to think about what he might be licking, or why. She also didn’t want to think about what a real bitch might be a change from. So she leapt on the first unrelated thought to cross her mind.

“Why am Ah so horny today?” she asked Minerva. “Ah’ve dropped four boners in what? Eight, nine hours?”

“You’re approaching the most fertile phase of your menstrual cycle, called ovulation.” Minerva told her. “An increased libido three or four days each side of ovulation is not uncommon. An even greater increase is also a common side effect of several forms of birth control, including the one you’re using. Some people think it’s because the body somehow recognizes the decreased fertility, and tries to make up for it by increasing sexual activity, but that’s more metaphorically true than factually so.”

“Probably just the Gestalt being a voyeur.” Applejack thought, as she raised her head out of the water.

“Could be.” Minerva agreed.

“Does the Infertility spell you mentioned affect my libido?” Applejack asked, climbing out of the pool.

“No, it merely surrounds your egg cells with a magical barrier, so it doesn’t affect any other aspects of the menstrual cycle, like cramps, bloating, hormonal imbalances, and whatever else. That’s the main reason many people prefer to use herbs or potions, even though they’re not as effective. Then again, some people use herbs and potions for those reasons alone, and use the spell for birth control, since they don’t interfere with each other.” Minerva explained, as Applejack toweled herself off and got dressed. In as perfunctory and non-seductive a manner as she could.

Fully dressed, Applejack moved to the mouth of the cave to check her quests. And the weather, too. The rain seemed to be lightening up, and she suddenly realized she couldn’t remember when she’d stopped hearing thunder.

Day 12 – Late Spring, 4147 AA
15:11
TOTAL STAT POINTS-1
TOTAL SKILL POINTS-51
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 + 7 Skill Points (No One Said It Couldn’t Be Your Own!)

Masturbate
1 Skill Point

Take a Ride With an Equine
2 Skill Points*

Feeling in the Feline Mood
2 Skill Points*

Hankering for a Human
2 Skill Points + 1 Spell Point (In Mother Nature’s Embrace!)

Lay With a Lupine
2 Skill Points*

“This counts as outdoors?”

“Even though it’s been modified by people to better suit their needs, it is a natural cavern, so yes.”

Before Applejack could say anything else, she Sensed Taki approaching. Turning, she saw that he was fully dressed.

“Hey. How’s it look out there? Any better?”

“Well, the rain’s more of a solid drizzle than the buckets it was earlier.”

“And I haven’t heard any thunder for…maybe ten minutes, now.” Taki nodded, before equipping a hooded raincoat and walking out to the road. He looked around for a minute or so, then came back.

“I can see blue sky east of us, and maybe a sliver to the north.” he reported. “The rain should let up in an hour or so.”

“That’s good.”

“If we left now, and really pushed ourselves, we should reach Silberwald just before sundown.” Taki suggested.

“And if we spent the night here?”

“Maybe half a day’s travel, if we took it easy.”

“Hmm. If we do reach the town, what are the odds of finding a place to spend the night?”

“From what I was told, it’s a pretty big town. It’s got to have at least a couple places to stay. And if that fails, there’s always the Hunter or Tamer Guilds.”

“But Ah’m not a guild member.” Applejack reminded him.

“No, but a big town like that will have a big guildhouse, with several rooms to spare. Not like in Woodglen, which only had the one.” Taki explained. “If we got in late enough, they shouldn’t have a problem putting us both up, since we’re travelling together. Though we might have to share a room. That won’t be a problem, will it?” he asked tentatively.

“Ah…Ah suppose not. As long as Ah don’t have to share a bed with Flamme.”

“You don’t need to worry about that.” Taki said easily. “He usually sleeps on the floor, unless it’s cold out. And while I can’t promise he’ll keep his nose to himself, I won’t let him go any further than that, if it makes you uncomfortable.”

“A bit, yeah.” Applejack admitted. She was trying not to be judgmental. He was not her only friend with a fetish she found distasteful. And it wasn’t even illegal, so there wasn’t much she could do, even if she wanted to risk offending her only friend for days around.

“Then I’ll try not to make it obvious.”

“Shouldn’t be too hard.” Applejack said, making up her mind. “We’ll be too busy running to do anything sexual.”

“Alright, then. You get your stuff, and I’ll turn the lamps off.”

A few minutes later, they were racing down the road. They galloped for forty-five minutes, pushing themselves as hard as they dared, before slowing to a canter. When they did, Applejack cast Heal on herself, in case she’d pushed too hard. She thought about transforming so she could cast it on Taki’s doe, but she didn’t want to break her rhythm.

And Applejack was pragmatic enough to admit that since the doe had already died once, and could be made fine just by resummoning her, running her lame would not be the disaster it would be if she weren’t a summon.6 Even if she didn’t like it.

Half an hour later, Applejack got to see Flamme in action for the first time when a Huge Rat wandered onto the road well ahead of them.

“Flamme! Doden!” Taki shouted, pointing at the rat, and Flamme charged ahead. After only a few strides, he barked loudly, launching a fireball. The projectile—almost as large as Flamme’s head—shot towards the rat and impacted its neck, where it exploded, knocking the rat sprawling. Seconds later, before the rat could do more then get back upright, Flamme pounced, his teeth latching onto the rat’s neck.

By the time Applejack and Taki reached them, Flamme was standing over a dead rat, his forepaws in a pool of blood. Taki dismounted the doe and set it to walking as he bagged the rat and the Soul Crystal. Then he caught up to the deer and jumped on her back at a jog, which impressed Applejack. She’d only seen Spike do that a few times, and he’d usually needed to hold onto Twilight’s mane to get it right.

Then again, Twilight was usually moving at a near gallop when they did it.

The rest of their trip was uneventful, and they reached the edge of the woods as the sun was edging behind the trees. When they passed the dropbox, Taki dispelled the doe and pulled out the mailbag. As he did, Applejack cycled through her transformations, ending in her anthro form, and they walked the last stretch. A couple minutes later, the trees opened up, revealing a three-storey, stone wall that stretched into the distance, as far as Applejack could see.

“That’s a town?” Applejack asked.

“Just barely.” Minerva told her. “Counting the farmers and ranchers living outside the walls, the population numbers over 9,800.”

The gate was manned by three dryad guards, all fully armored, except for the helmets strapped at their waists, and all carrying long guns. The one in the middle had his slung over his shoulder, while the other two had theirs in their hands.

“Welcome, travelers.” he greeted them, when they reached the gate. “Names and business?”

“Taki Daalmans, Applejack Anadolu, and my True Summoned Tinderwolf, Flamme. We’re delivering mail from Woodglen,” Taki continued, hefting the mailbag. “And I have business with the Tamer’s Guild.”

“The mayor has probably gone home for the day, but at least one of his aides should still be town hall.” the guard told them. Then he gave them directions to the town hall and the guildhouse, and passed them through the gate.

Within the stone walls, Applejack found that dryads made up the majority of the people on the streets, with more than a few humans, here and there. The rest were mostly Furred Races of different sorts. The streets weren’t very crowded at the moment, so Applejack didn’t have very much trouble with Sense Presence.

Thirty minutes of walking brought her and Taki to the town hall in the oldest part of the settlement. On the door was a No Pets Allowed sign.

“Do you mind staying out here with Flamme? I’d rather not put him in the menagerie just for the couple minutes this should take.” Taki asked.

“His level’s too high for me to control.” Applejack pointed out.

“Flamme. Listen to her and behave yourself until I get back.” Taki commanded. “There. Now you’ll be fine.”

After Taki headed inside, Applejack moved to a nearby bench and pulled out her last sandwich. As she ate, she noticed Flamme staring intently at her, but his presence was still white, so she figured he just wanted fed. She was too hungry to share, though. She mollified him with some petting, instead. When she finished the sandwich and started on an apple, Flamme turned his attention elsewhere, confirming her suspicion.

Taki returned a moment or two later, and they started towards a nearby public house Taki had been told about by the person he’d turned the mail over to.

“I just realized, I never asked you what you plan to do next, now that you’re here.” Taki said, when Applejack had finished eating.

“Mostly, Ah plan to collapse on a bed and figure out the rest in the morning.”

“That’s more or less my plan, too.” Taki agreed. “I imagine you’ll want that bed all to yourself though, right?”

“That depends on how much a room costs.”

“You don’t have to worry about that tonight. I’ll pay for your room.” Taki offered.

“There’s no need for that.” Applejack started to protest.

“You came because I invited you.” Taki insisted. “You’re here because of me, so I can pay for one night, at least. And the mayor’s office paid me for the delivery, so don’t worry about the money.”

“Well, Ah don’t object to sharing a room or a bed, so if you insist on paying…”

“I thought I just told you not to worry about the money?” Taki chuckled. “But if you insist, I’m not crazy enough to turn down a pretty woman asking to share a bed.” Three blocks later, they arrived at their destination. A large, five-storey building bearing a hanging sign over the door reading, “Hospitality.” Stepping inside the public house, they found the place noticeably less rustic than Mirembe. More important was the male dryad in the fine vest sitting behind a long counter.

“Can I help you?” he asked.

“How much for a room for the night?” Taki asked.

“Normally, a single, standard room for the two of you and your summon would be 20 coppers, and would include access to the bath and both dinner and breakfast. But you’re too late for dinner, so I can knock off five copper.”

“That’s not a bad price.” Taki said, opening his inventory.

After getting the key and learning that breakfast was served from seven to nine, Taki and Applejack headed up to the third floor. Applejack was pleasantly surprised to discover the room was not only big enough for her to transform in, but it also came with a half-bath, which Taki let her use first.

While Taki was taking his turn, Applejack took the opportunity to cycle through her transformations one last time, before rechecking her Skill Points.

“51 Skill Points. That’s enough to level up my Transformation Skills twice, with…twelve left over, right?”

“Yup.”

“And that would be enough to increase my Restorative Magic to what?”

“Five, if you spent eleven of them. And you have enough Spell Points to raise the Heal spell to level three. Or you could learn Antidote tomorrow.”

“What if Ah cast Heal as many times as Ah could?” Applejack asked.

“Then you’d only need to use ten points, but everything else would be the same.”

“Hey, do you have any problems with me sleeping naked?” Taki asked, stepping out of the toilet.

“Not unless you have a problem with me doing the same.” Applejack answered.

“Not at all.” Taki smiled, before undressing and climbing into the bed. Applejack bagged her clothes and climbed in beside him. The bed was big enough for them to keep several inches between them, without being too close to the edges. Once she was comfortable, Applejack cast Heal eight times, then told Minerva to level up her transformations, Restorative Magic, and the Heal spell just before exhaustion overtook her.

Author's Note

1. I honestly didn’t even make that connection until Applejack did. Mostly because a spell-summoned creature isn’t real flesh and blood, but more concentrated magic mimicking it. Like Naruto’s shadow clones.

Also, the whole info dump about necroturgy was entirely unplanned. I wasn’t even sure if I wanted it to be a school of its own, until I started hashing it out as I went along.

1. Too quick, do you think? Oh well, if so, just chalk it up to GOD’s tampering. After all, this isn’t a dramatic character study about Applejack turning into a different species.

2. Wikipedia has some articles, if you’re interested. (Make sure you include the word massage to find the right articles.) It also has some NSFW pictures, so no direct links. I’m pretty much just borrowing the names, though.

3. A conversation with Fluttershy had touched on Winona’s wayward tongue. It had been the first time she’d seen the pegasus get so peeved. Fluttershy had understood that animals, not knowing better, would innocently misbehave, and that didn’t bother her. (It also wasn’t illegal.) But ponies choosing to cultivate that misbehavior—and more—was a different story, altogether.

4. As an earth pony, the only thing she could do about the weather was make suggestions to Ponyville’s weather team, usually through Rainbow. And considering those suggestions had to be balanced against everypony else’s in town—and then Ponyville’s needs had to be balanced with everywhere else, nationally—they seldom amounted to much.

That, or complain about it, which was also usually directed at Rainbow. But those tended to accomplish even less, resulting in explanations about how her bosses in Cloudsdale determined the weather schedule, and only gave her so much wiggle room. Often followed by complaints that those same ponies were out-of-touch idiots.

1. Actually, it does take a dispelled summon time to recover, but only 1/60th as long as it would if the creature was recovering naturally. Though in a pinch, a summoner can spend (generally a lot) more MP to force it.