Moondancer woke to the sound of a gentle bump at her front door. She slowly got up and levitated her glasses to her face. She climbed out of bed and regretted it; the late autumn chill had worked its will on her floor, and her hooves filled with a dull ache as the cold seeped merrily in.
She tip-hoofed her way to the door. Her bangs blocked her face, but she swished her head and found the living room again. Some spots were so filled with books that they were nearly impassable, and she leapt over a few of them to get to her goal.
The door opened with a loud creak, as if protesting being opened this early. Moondancer agreed with it. Still, curiosity called her out into bright sunlight, which blinded her without warming her. A shrill wind swept away any heat that she might have enjoyed.
Finally, she looked down at the object that began her journey. A small brown box. It was a normal delivery package. She picked it up and looked around at the ponies rushing by. They didn’t glance her way, as usual. She pulled her prize inside and shut the door.
The inner dimness helped her see better. The cold floor was still harsh, but she was starting to get used to it. She found a small cleared portion of a table to place her treasure on, and slowly opened it. Something inside of Moondancer warned her that it might be dangerous. Nonetheless, her hoof shakily pulled back the lid.
Inside, she found her salvation.
The box contained a pair of black and lavender socks. She had heard of these things—garments designed to keep ponies’ hooves warm. They were longer than mittens or boots; these would keep her warm all the way up to her knees.
Her doctor had told her that she had poor circulation from sitting down and reading too much. These socks would finally put an end to her cold hooves.
Moondancer pulled the soft woolen tubes out of the package with excitement. Her aching hooves yearned for the warmth she held in her magic. She bit her lip and closed her eyes as the socks slowly slid over her forehooves.
It was like putting on springtime. The cozy shields blocked the cold invaders and brought peace to her legs. She put the others on her hind hooves, and found such warmth that she nearly cried.
Putting on these socks was like putting on a new pair of glasses. The world had seemed harsh and cruel and confused, and glasses brought a piece of what she was missing. This was a different piece. It was like hiding under the covers in the winter’s full fury, except the covers stayed with her as she moved around. Each step felt like walking in soft grass in a sun warmed field.
Moondancer reveled in the small bit of comfort the socks brought. Her life was so small, so sheltered. She had tried to make friends, but books always called her away. Books were safe; nopony hassled her, nopony misunderstood her. Nopony in a book could hurt her. But when a small joy like warm legs brought her out of her books, there was always a little sadness that she had missed out on so many things.
It was that longing for what she’d missed that pushed her outside. The cold wouldn’t get to her this time. The normal excuses seemed small and distant, while her hooves felt so happy. She wrapped a scarf around herself, and didn’t bother tying up her mane; the strong east wind kept her mane out of the way as she pranced towards the library.
Even as happy as she was, Moondancer couldn’t help noticing that everypony she passed looked at her. She wasn’t sure why—was the fact that her mane was down causing that much of a commotion? Or was it the fact that she was prancing? Either way, it made her feel a bit awkward. Stranger still, many of them blushed as they beheld her. Some stallions and mares outright stared, with unsettling looks on their faces.
Moondancer looked down, letting her mane fall in front of her face again. Redness shined off of her glasses. Why were they staring? It was rude. Just because she was a bit of a shut-in, that didn’t mean she should be treated like a sideshow when she actually went out.
“Moondancer!”
Now they were shouting at her. Probably pointing her out for more gawking. Not even these comfy socks could protect her from this. Maybe she should just head home. There were a few tomes that she wanted to reread for the fifth time.
“Moondancer! Hey! Wait!”
That pony was following her. Was there nopony decent in this city? A blue hoof suddenly blocked her view of the ground.
“Wha?” Moondancer cried in confusion and alarm. She glanced up through her bangs and met the bright face of her old friend Minuette. She breathed a sigh of relief.
After Princess Twilight reunited the old group, they’d begun stopping over to check on Moondancer. Especially Minuette. The perky unicorn normally stopped at her house every day to get her up and going. They went to the park, out to lunch, even just sat and watched the stars some nights. Minuette must have had some sort of personal savior complex going on.
Still, it was nice to be cared about. Minuette had more than made up for that party incident, but a part of Moondancer had always felt abandoned by Twilight. It was her loss. As cute as that Princess was, it didn’t excuse leaving her high and dry like that.
“What are you doing, Moondancer?” gasped Minuette. The look on her face was utter horror; gaping mouth, cheeks somehow pale and flushed at the same time. Was it really that shocking that Moondancer would leave the house so early?
“Going to the library,” the annoyed unicorn snarked, “like I always do. I know it’s a little early, but...”
“Get over here!” shouted her good friend. She convinced the book pony further by pushing with her forehooves. A dark, seedy alley filled Moondancer’s view as the hooves on her flank frantically stuffed her into it.
“Minuette?! What are you doing? Why do I have to go in here?”
“Now we can talk a little easier,” explained the huffing unicorn. “What do you think you’re doing, going out dressed like that?”
“Like what? I’m warm. Finally warm.” A bright ray of sunshine filled her soul as she remembered how toasty she was. “You know how cold I get.”
“Then buy a jacket. Like I told you a bazillion times. You don’t need to wear things like that in public.”
“A jacket doesn’t cover my hooves,” sighed Moondancer, “but these socks feel wonderful. I should have bought them ages ago.”
The sock-hating unicorn placed a hoof to her forehead. She still looked unbelievably flustered. “You have no idea what those are for, do you?”
“Hooves and legs are warm now, duh.”
“Not socks like those. Not ones that are that high, and especially not with stripes.”
“Are you crazy? What do stripes have to do with anything?” hissed Moondancer. This was getting annoying. Since when did anypony care about anything she wore? Ever?
“Could-could you please just take them off,” pleaded Minuette. She still was holding her hoof to her face. Like Moondancer was some foal that had an accident in public.
“You have to be joking—“
“Please Moondancer…just take them off. I can’t think with those on you.”
Can’t think? What is wrong with her?! They were just socks.
Moondancer rolled her eyes, but she knew better than to make her friend uncomfortable. She knew Minuette was strangely specific sometimes: “Don’t stand on a ladder like that in front of me.” “Don’t walk around in a T-shirt.” “Don’t take your glasses off, or let your bangs down in front of me.” “I can’t think when you do that!”
With how easily she got upset by other ponies, it was a wonder Minuette ever thought at all.
“Fine, fine, calm down.” The book mare used her telekinesis and began to roll off the offensive apparel.
“Are you kidding me?!” Minuette moaned. “D-don’t roll them down like that.”
“But it keeps them from getting dirty.” A further flustered look stopped any more arguments. Moondancer grumbled and began the obnoxious process of pulling them off with her teeth.
“Ahh. That’s so much worse. Just- just come over to my house and I will explain it, alright? You can take them off there.”
Moondancer looked at the flustered mare. She seemed so upset that the book pony actually started to feel concerned. Did these socks really have such bad connotations? Was it a delinquent thing? What did the stripes symbolize? She quietly followed Minuette to her home as she continued to ponder the mystery.
Minuette’s movements were like a ninja. Well, a ninja that didn’t practice very often and learned all her moves from manga. Still, she zipped and zagged behind various objects for cover. After a while of these sort of antics, she looked behind her to find Moondancer wasn’t doing it at all.
“You might want to hide with me,” sighed the unicorn of stealth. “Trust me, you are in a really embarrassing situation.”
“Ugh, fine,” groaned the not-embarrassed pony. “This is so stupid. I don’t get why wearing socks would make us have to hide behind dumpsters.”
“I… can’t really tell you… out here, but... it has to do with… arousal.” Minuette spat the last word as fast as she could. Her face started to glow a deep pink.
“A-arousal? Arousal of what?”
“N-No! Don’t make me explain it out here. We’re almost home. I promise I’ll tell you everything, okay?”
Minuette was stammering; she never did that. Moondancer had never known her to hide from a topic, either. She normally rambled about things that the book mare would rather not even think about. Who cared which Wonderbolt liked mares? Moondancer didn’t want to know that Twilight was bi. And Lyra and Bon Bon seemed to be Minuette’s heroes.
Still, watching the nervous unicorn made Moondancer concerned. She stuck by her friend as the two leaped and dashed to the small house.
It was always strangely comfortable at Minuette’s. There were no books and few reading desks, but the lack of them allowed for so much space. Moondancer saw her favorite couch in the living room, completely free of coffee cups or piles of clothes, and sprawled on it. She loved a couch with a good amount of sprawl room—sprawling was almost as comfortable as these new socks. She wondered if sprawling was embarrassing too; a glance at Minuette told her it was.
“Gah! That’s even worse!”
Moondancer peered at her over her glasses—Minuette was a little kooky, but this was overboard even for her. She rolled onto her back to further increase her comfort. It was better to talk about Minuette’s weird nauences when she felt at ease.
“You’re doing this on purpose, aren’t you?” Minuette asked, with her voice edging toward panic. She sat on a chair across from the sock-clad mare.
Moondancer’s gaze was heightened by a raised eyebrow.
“You’re not,” the other mare sighed. “Look, Moonie, socks like that are normally used for one purpose. And that’s….sex.”
“Sex?” echoed the disbelieving unicorn.
“Yes.”
“Socks?”
“Yeah, especially ones that go up that high and have stripes on them,” Minuette explained looking at the ground.
“That’s…” Moondancer paused as she mulled the concept over in her fact-absorbing mind. “Utterly ridiculous.”
“But-but it’s true.”
“Why would socks like these cause ponies to think of sex? They don’t have anything to do with sex. There is nothing you can do with socks that would increase the sexual experience.”
“Uhh, that’s not true,” Minuette awkwardly admitted. She looked down at the ground again. “They make hooves softer… which, umm, allows you to... umm, touch more. There are… places that would hurt if you touched them directly with your hooves.”
“I know,” Moondancer said, taking a sudden interest in the window. “I might have found that out… once or twice.” Why was she saying this out loud? Was it because she was so comfortable? Had the friendship between Minuette and her gotten to the point where sex talk was okay? She did have thoughts she wondered about it that she’d never told anypony.
“Oh…” her good friend said with a dejected tone. “You’ve, uh, had experience?”
“Well…not with another pony, if you must know,” Moondancer glanced sideways at the pony across from her. “But is this… normal, to talk like this with friends?”
Minuette sighed. ”Yeah, it’s normal. For… friends.”
“So, back to these socks. If it’s just about their softness, wouldn’t mittens also be sexual?”
“Yeah, they, umm... can be. But the socks have a bit more arousal involved.” Going into teaching mode helped Minuette to calm down. Her words were more focused, and her face returned to a more normal color.
“Explain the science behind it,” Moondancer demanded.
“I can’t. It’s just a feeling. Something that turns you on, you know. Like a fetish.”
“I guess I don’t know,” Moondancer admitted, chastising herself for her lack of knowledge. It wasn’t that she didn’t think about it, but it felt so distant and foreign. It was something that happened between two ponies that weren’t her.
Minuette suddenly stood up. Her face was a mixture of determination and uncertainty. The play of the conflicting forces made her face light up like a disco ball that only used reds and blues. “I can’t really explain it. But I… I can show you.”
“Show me?” Moondancer was intrigued. Her friend was willing to push aside embarrassment for her education. It was kind of moving. “Umm, okay. If you want. But I doubt it will have any effect.”
“Okay. Just know that I wouldn't be doing this for anypony. Only for my... friend.” Minuette turned and strode off to her bedroom.
Apparently, Moondancer wasn’t the only one with these socks. She idly wondered how much experience the other unicorn had. Not that something like that bothered her. Why would she care about her friend’s sex life?
The comfortable unicorn looked out the window while she waited. Sex. It had never occurred to her to advertise for it. She didn’t desperately need it or anything, but it also wasn’t something she would necessarily shy away from. But, on the other hoof, she didn’t want to do it just for the experience. The stories she read suggested the act was augmented by doing it with a pony she loved, or that loved her. Finding either seemed unlikely. She wasn’t sure if her curiosity would wait that long.
She thought of her own experiments with herself. These socks would help with those. The softness of her own hooves would allow her to play with her pages and her bookmark.
The thoughts caused her to feel warm. Her inner library began to heat up despite her cold body. She looked at her sock covered hoof: It looked so soft, so warm. She wondered how warm it would feel as it caressed her outer binding.
She felt her inner pages begin to open and saturate. The heat from her body began to steam her glasses. They floated off her face and gently placed themselves on the coffee table nearby.
She took a few deep breaths. What was she thinking? This was her friend's house, she couldn’t do that here! Sure, they’d just had a little bit of a sex talk, but friends didn’t play with their furry tomes in front of each other. Did they?
A few faltering hoof steps snapped her out of her thoughts. Minuette returned from her room. Moondancer could make out the fuzzy blue form. It took a few steps towards her. The overheated book pony could make out green and dark green furry things on the fore legs.
“Oh, sweet Celestia!” The blurry form’s voice cried. “You took your glasses off? Are you ok? You look... kind of flushed.”
Moondancer floated her glasses quickly back to her face. The heat died down, but the redness still graced her cheeks.
Her vision finally cleared, and she almost wished it hadn’t.
Minuette stood there in green and dark green striped socks. They held tight to her legs, accentuating their sleek physique. Something about that pattern made it seem as though she was hiding a lot more than she was. The pattern drew eyes to the softness of her floofy chest. And the hind socks led the eye to her flanks, and seemed to point right towards her ouvert.
Moondancer could feel a heat rising again within her, and this time it had nothing to do with her hoof. It was those socks that Minuette was wearing. How could they have those kinds of properties? Was this a spell? Maybe her friend cast a spell on her, or on this couch? But why would she do that?
Minuette’s face was bright red but she still walked around showing off her socks and lithe body. Moondancer’s eyes were drawn to those flanks, and those warm tubes of wonderful.
“D-do you see what I mean?” the prancing unicorn stammered out. She held her breath and stared uncertainly at her friend.
“Uh. No,” the equally flushed book pony lied. “Maybe if I see them from a bunch of different angles, I could understand their appeal through research. For, um, scientific purposes.”
“R-right,” nodded the amateur runway unicorn. She continued to walk around her living room to give Moondancer the best angles. She noticed her spectator was beginning to pant, and the flush was very prominent. “It’s working, isn’t it?”
“I’m, um, not sure… I think I need m-more research.”
Minuette began to smile. She began to feel more comfortable and started striking silly poses. Each one felt goofier than the last, but Moondancer watched earnestly all the while. Then the unicorn switched to more alluring poses, ones she had seen in magazines. She lifted her forehooves onto her chair and glanced over her shoulder at the adorable pony on her couch.
Moondancer’s body was too hot now. The blood pumped through areas that it had never made it to before. The words in her heated book began to form phrases, and she feared leaving a stain on her friend's couch—she closed her legs to prevent it from happening.
All the cozy feelings became stimulating ones: The couch was like brushing up against a mare. Her mane lightly touched her face like small feathers. And those blessed socks were filled with so many possibilities.
“I don’t think I’ve seen this side of you,” Minuette playfully cooed. “It’s about time you started to react like a living, breathing mare. I was worried I was doing all this work for nothing.”
“Wha—“ the book pony’s word was interrupted by a tantalizing tail swish from her “subject.” “What work?” she finally managed.
“You still haven’t figured it out yet, huh? You think I would do this for just a friend? Come on, you’ve known me for a while now. You think I dance around like this getting my friends all hot and bothered?” She emphasized her speech with a very revealing lounge. She knew that one of her teats was visible, and her tail playfully swished, allowing Moondancer a brief glimpse.
“Uhhh…” Moondancer tried to answer but her voice was gone. All she could see was her friend’s dancing. It was hypnotic. The socks showed every motion. Somewhere in those motions was the answer to Minuette’s riddle—a riddle that she could barely remember at that point. “What was the question again?” she asked sheepishly.
A cheerful giggle left Minuette’s mouth. “Well, I guess we should answer it before we go somewhere we can’t get back from.”
“Okay, but I still don’t know what you mean.” The timid unicorn was no longer sprawled but crumpled up on the couch. She was desperately trying to control her body, but it wasn’t listening. Her pages were fully open and sentences were pouring out. Her hooves strained to close her book, but they felt too good.
So soft.
“Moonie? Umm, I was going to say how much I really like you, but it seems like you’re having some trouble. You don’t have to do that yourself, you know.”
Minuette sat down next to the struggling mare. Moondancer had begun to lose her battle to the lustful elements in her body. She looked up into Minuette’s kind face. A soft, green-striped hoof gently pushed hers aside. She bit her lower lip to keep from moaning.
“It’s okay,” cooed her savior. “This is my house, you don’t have to hold yourself back. It’s what I was hoping would happen between us. Maybe not this quickly, but I’m not going to turn you away when you’re like this.”
Moondancer slowly released the tension between her thighs and timidly displayed her entire dripping volume. Minuette traced the outside edge with her soft sock. It felt as gentle and good as she’d imagined. Yet it was so different than by herself. This was her most private activity yet her friend was here. She thought that she should be embarrassed, or questioning if she really wanted Minuette in this way. But all that she could think of was how good it felt.
A soft muzzle glided its way next to her face. The breath tickled her ear. Her senses were going wild, they seemed heightened to super-pony levels. All the while, she could still feel the pull and draw of Minuette’s hoof as it caressed her chapter of excitement.
“Have you… um, read about this kind of thing before?” whispered Minuette into her ear. Her nose filled with the smell of peppermint.
“N-no… ahh.”
“Okay, then how about I take the lead? I haven’t really done anything like this before, but I have read a lot. First, we need to get that sweater of yours off.”
“Ok… huff… give me… eeep… a moment.”
Before Moondancer could try anything her sweater began to lift itself off of her, wrapped in a layer of dark blue sparkles. As it left, Moondancer finally realized what was really going on.
This wasn’t a friend “helping her out.” This was sex. She was going to have sex with her good friend, and she was completely okay with it. It seemed so natural that she hardly questioned it. Her horn shimmered as she started to take her glasses off.
“No!” cried her newfound lover. “Leave them on. They’re... kind of a turn-on for me. And don’t even think about taking off those socks.”
The shimmering stopped and Moondancer nodded. She felt Minuette’s breath move from her ear to right in front of her face. Then felt lips press against hers. She opened her mouth and felt a soft wet tongue entangle her own. The kiss was so tender and soft that she relaxed, and felt her body loosen.
So did her fountain of words. It ran through the sock that massaged it. The hoof began circling around her bookmark in long glancing strokes. It played near it. Teased it. Danced along its edges. Then the fuzzy, woven, tease brushed it.
“Aahh!” cried the simple book pony. She was sweating. She was so warm. She’d started the day wanting to be warmer, but she’d never imagined it would be this much.
“Oh, you like that, huh, Moonie?” teased Minuette. “Then you’re really going to like this.”
She felt the lithe body of the seductive unicorn press her into the couch. At first they matched up. She could feel the heat radiating from Minuette’s passage as it passed over her open hind legs. Before she could enjoy that warmth the unicorn spun and that sweet breath started to flutter her sheets. They pulsed in response.
The cooling sensation of peppermint traced along her leaflets carried by soft wet tongue. Moondancer’s brain didn’t know what to make of it. Between hot and cold lay the excitement as it spread its message of duality to the source material. The word spread through the whole of her being. The tongue pressed in and retreated in rhythmic fashion.
“Oh… huuuh… this… feels…so good!” Moondancer moaned. She was rewarded with a faster rhythm. The tongue matched the thrusting of her hips. Leave it to a pony that had an hourglass cutie mark to keep time with her.
Moondancer’s sock-covered forehooves reached for anything to grab. One found a fuzzy flank, while the other brushed Minuette’s slice. It was leaking. She felt the sock saturate immediately. The unicorn was practically foaming at the lower mouth. Minuette must really be into her. The tongue paused, allowing Moondancer time for a fraction of a thought.
I’m only taking. I have to give, too. The thought emboldened the mare, and she knew what she had to do. Her hoof slid toward Minuette’s sliver.
She couldn’t focus well enough to pleasure her mare the same way she was being catered to, but she had to try. For all those hints Minuette had left her. For all that time Minuette had spent waiting for her to notice. Her soggy sock moved around in a circle, like she was used to doing on herself.
“Eeep… ahhhh…y-you don’t want to wait until I’m done with you?” the unicorn between her legs asked.
“I… haaahhh… would like to… finish…together,” Moondancer panted. She was so close, but she couldn’t be selfish. Not with Minuette. Not this time.
“Ooohhhhhkay… we’ll try it… ohh! Together.”
Moondancer used her remaining strength to grab her lover’s haunches and lifted herself towards her new prize. It was slick and moist but so warm. She found the small bundle of fruit with her tongue. She traced it, then ran along the outer edge.
“Mmmmfppl!” The sound carried from between Moondancer’s legs. Her pamphlet vibrated with the sound; she hoped that it was a good one.
“Uuhhh,” escaped Moondancer’s lips. Her body began to shake on its own. She was so close. She had to put in more effort, and hold out a little longer. From the juices flowing into her mouth, Minuette should be close, too. Even this carried that sweet peppermint flavor. How was that possible?
The mint-flavored pony started thrusting immediately. Moondancer felt her glasses knocked from her eyes, and for a panicked second she couldn’t see. Then she realized that she didn’t need to see. She could feel her way around.
The book pony’s lower half started to pulse with want. It was angry she wasn’t letting her words flow. It had something big to say to Minuette and it wasn’t going to hold back for long. She redoubled her efforts. Her tongue lashed out and dragged it across her prize. Then her body shook again.
“Huuuh,” the frantic unicorns moaned in unison. The book pony’s body was going numb. She needed to get Minuette there now, or she wouldn’t make it.
Her hooves squeezed her lover's flanks. She lifted her aching body and wrapped her tongue around Minuette’s berry. Then she gently sucked it into her mouth. She matched the rhythm of her mare’s thrusts and allowed the fruit to move in and out of her mouth. It was a bold move. The feeling could be too intense for the mare. But instead Minuette’s soft body shook with pleasure and her peach tensed.
Minuette plunged her tongue as deep as she could into Moondancer’s fountain of knowledge. The little sheltered mare could feel her tongue searching frantically for the magic words. She found the code and entered it.
Moondancer couldn’t hold off. Minuette received her message in volumes. The words spilled into the unicorn’s mouth. Moondancer could feel the tongue searching for any remaining phrases.
The excitement of finding success caused Minuette’s fruit to burst with it’s minty flavor. Moondancer could feel the juice squeezed into her mouth and stain some of her coat. They had been so close. Just one second longer and she would have gotten her wish.
The mares collapsed in a heap. Minuette dragged her sweating body around to face her lover. She lay her head on the adorable unicorn and nuzzled affectionately.
Moondancer found that with the lack of tension, her body was filled with giggles. They swarmed every part of her being and finally erupted from her mouth. She was joined by her mate.
“You don’t know how long I’ve been wanting to do this,” snickered Minuette, with a face-splitting grin. “But don’t think we’re just friends with benefits. I want to be treated like the girlfriend I am.”
“Okay,” panted the book mare. “I… just can’t believe you wanted to be with me all this time.”
Minuette shut her doubting brain up with a passionate kiss. “Oh, by the way, I love your new socks. Tee hee,” the unicorn snickered.
“Me too,” Moondancer admitted. “Though I think I might leave them here. For, um, next time. I’m finally warm.”
