Author's Note

Clop Warning

This is an experimental clop warning for those ponies who are averse. You may safely skip this chapter.

(Note that this is a test and i don't promise to issue future warnings, nor retroactively issue warnings for past chapters.)

For those who chose to read on: Enjoy!

132-Midnight Train

“In the mean time, I strongly recommend that you take some rest.”

The train swayed a little as it rode the tracks, but it was actually a restful motion. After the distance we walked today, Bear’s advice would not be difficult to follow.

“Should we post guard?” Isha asked.

“I have surveillance under control,” Bear said. “You may all rest. There are emergency klaxons if I need your attention.”

“Uh, thanks, that’s great.”

It’s hard to give someone the side-eye when they are probably watching from all directions.

“And I thought my cooking was a bit grim,” Discord commented as he chewed on one of the FSBs I had passed around.

Gloam had flopped across three seats and was already asleep.

Isha was rummaging through the shelves at the attendant’s station. She had found blankets, still rolled up and plastic wrapped from who knows how many years ago. She tossed one to Discord, he just had time to cram the last of his FSB in his mouth to catch it. With a twist he popped the wrapper and spread the blanket over Gloam.

“Thanks, mom,” she said without opening her eyes.

Isha threw Discord a blanket for himself and turned to offer me one.

“We’re gonna head up front. Go to sleep, kids.”

“Surprisingly,” Discord yawned as he stretched out on the row of seats behind Gloam, “you’ll get no argument from me.”

Isha gave Twilight and me a knowing thumbs up, and began to make herself comfortable on the other side of our daughter.

—

In the front of train, the lead car narrowed with only two seats facing the windscreen.

I sat in one and Twilight flopped down to my right. By unspoken synchronicity, we joined hands.

“Bear, you got audio up here?”

I had left my satchel in the aft, with the rest of the party’s bags.

“Of course, Tanna. What can I do for you?”

“How come you can control the entire military but not the troops upstairs?”

“There is a finite amount of misdirection I can perform by radio and computer dispatched orders, but the forces specifically looking for you in the city have gone radio-silent and are only exchanging orders face to face, from officers known to the solders, and to soldiers known by the officers. Hugely inefficient, but very resilient against any deception I could impose at short notice.”

“What about shift changes, they can’t keep searching forever.”

“From the amount of stimulants their medics have ready, I think they are planning to keep going until they tear the entire city apart to find you.”

“That’s gonna get ugly. I’m glad we’re staying down here.”

“I will alert you if there are any change to the situation.”

“Thank you.”

For a while Twilight and I sit together, saying nothing.

“Horny,” one of us finally says.

“Me too,” the other agrees.

“You wanna be on top?”

“Too tired. You?”

“Same.”

Eventually a zipper is undone, pants awkwardly dragged down to knee level. One hand slowly begins to rub.

“Are you really doing that?”

“Yeah.”

After a pause, “Join me?”

The other needs it, too.

“Uh.”

“C’mon. Unzip.”

Soon we both recline with pants around our knees. We still haven’t broken our handclasp, touching ourselves as we each know best.

The train rocks hypnotically, devouring the rails. Long minutes drip as we edge together.

“You don’t mind doing it like this?”

“Well, I’d rather do it, but a mutual clop is okay too. After all, everything is better with you.”

“You’re too sweet, Tanna. If we don’t make it, I’m really glad I met you. And if we do make it, I’m having the bathroom in my suite remodeled.”

“Mmm?” I asked, perplexed by non-sequitur.

“Larger shower with room for two. Two sinks. Stuff like that.”

“Oh,” I said.

Foalishly, I didn’t think to ask what other stuff.

“Sounds nice,” I said.

I give her hand a squeeze as we companionably masturbate.

Time becomes meaningless.

“Imagine if we had started out together on a better hoof,” she says.

“You mean, if I hadn’t been too fast with the ell word?”

“I was thinking, if I had actually taken the time to listen to you before our first time.”

“You would have been like, ‘I really need to get some release, can you tell me quickly?’”

“And you would have said, ‘I just wanted to let you know that I have a huge crush on you. I know you don’t know who I am, but it’s only fair to tell you the truth.’”

“You’d say, ‘I appreciate that, and you seem kinda okay for a human, but right now I gotta get laid. Are you willing to do this for me, even though it might not lead anywhere?’”

“Then, of course you’d be worried about me, why it was so urgent.”

“You’d assure me that you weren’t in any danger, you needed it, but that you couldn't explain why. At least not at that time.”

“With that out of the way, you’d be ready.”

“You’d flag your tail for me.”

“And then we would… and it would be just like it really was, but no bad surprises afterward.”

“After we cooled down you say that it helped a lot, but you wouldn’t mind trying again some time.”

“And you’d make one of your goofy jokes and say, ‘I’m here all night.’”

“But you’d laugh anyway, and we’d talk for hours about books and magic.”

“You’d be grinning like a giddy colt, and we’d talk about coffee and how you know about Equestria.”

“Eventually you’d see my dick twitch and ask if I was ready for more.”

“And you would be, and the second time would be better than the first.”

“You’d be so beautiful as I took you again.”

“You’d start to whisper, ‘I think I—’”

“But you’d say, ‘I feel it too, but let’s not say it yet.’”

“And in the morning I would wake with you in my bed in Ponyville Castle.”

“Yay!” I said, accidentally breaking the flow. “Oops. And we do it again, but then you’d get flustered, later, in front of the servants and make up some silly story for them and Blaise would put me up in one of the guest suites, and every night after bed you’d have to secretly teleport me up to your room.”

“And everything would be fine until—”

“Uh, oh.”

“—you wake one morning with Blaise and Captain Armitage standing at the hoof of your bed.”

“Oh, no! What do I say?”

“You blink and wait for them to speak first.”

“Blaise is like, ‘I attempted to offer sir a night-cap last night when I observed that sir’s light was on quite late. And I found the room empty.’ And Armitage would be, ‘If you’ve been sneaking around the castle at night, you’d best confess. We take the Princess’s safety very seriously.’”

“You try to protect my reputation, but you admit the truth when you realize there’s no other option.”

“Naturally, they’re both embarrassed enough to turn inside out. Blaise very stiffly says he will move my accoutrements to your room.”

“And Armitage says he will assist.”

“At first, you’re a little annoyed that the secret is out.”

“But with you more convenient, I get over it.”

“Then, the night of the Fabulous Four Footed Fête you’d turn me into a mare, and breed me!”

“Uh, why do I do that in this version?”

“If that didn’t happen,“ I explained, “we wouldn't have Gloam.”

“Unacceptable!”

“Agreed.”

“In the morning after, I’m wondering why I can’t turn you male again.”

“After a week of embarrassing magical and medical tests, Nurse Redheart thinks to give me a pregnancy test.”

“And over the next eleven months, I’d get to watch you grow huge and gravid with my foal.”

“You’d stay male. At first just because I asked you too. But you’d get used to it. Used to the things we could do that way.”

“With your big baby belly, I’d be so proud, of course I’d get used to it. And other ponies would get used to thinking of me as a stallion. Even Celestia.”

“And in that world, you never visited the seer. You’d leave me female after Gloam was born.”

“More foals would follow. You would bear me sons and daughters.”

“About eight.”

“And then, one night when Gloam is a bit over eight years old, and she and her little brothers and sisters are all asleep, we’re both too tired for sex. We lay together, holding hooves, slowly clopping. Wondering if we would have been together in a world where everything didn’t go perfect from the moment we met.”

“Would that other us, ever know that there’s just no stopping us?”

At last our fancy concluded; nothing but slow hand movements.

“Are you ready to finish?”

“Yeh—” a sharp inhalation “—yeah.”

“Me too.”

Our hands gripped each other tighter.

—

A low attention tone finally got my attention.

“Yeah?” I mumbled.

As I woke, I noticed that Twilight was still holding my hand; under my blanket I was still half naked, left hand resting near my groin.

“Wake up, Tanna,” Bear said. “The morlocks are strategically blocking the train tracks now, we will not be able to evade them much longer. This indicates that they know how to use electronic communication to signal each other. The train is looping back to a cargo lift near the tracks. We need to get back to the surface where I have a clear view of everything. My view down here is improving, but I lack the resources to defend us. Better cat and mouse with the enforcers than a concerted ambush we cannot escape.”

“Right, got it. Can Twilight and me have a moment before you wake the kids?”