Sit Under the Stonewood Tree With Me
The egg hit the hot pan and started to sizzle. Thunder reached for another, but found Zoom’s hoof instead.
He let out a little, “Oh,” and pulled away. “My bad.”
Zoom chuckled and pushed the carton of eggs over to Thunder. “What did I say about apologizing for everything?”
His eyes went back to the pan. Another egg plopped down next to the first with a fizz. “Right.”
Thunder added two more eggs to the pan. Once they were situated, he made long cuts through the transparent whites with the end of his plastic spatula. He let the fluid drift to the unoccupied corners of the pan, then gave the whole thing a shake for good measure. Cut the whites, save the yolks. Back off the heat as soon as possible. The key to a good egg was precision and patience. With Zoom sitting on the countertop beside him, swinging her hinds legs in the air and staring intently at his progress, he felt a distinct lack of both.
“Can you start the toast?” he asked. “Bread’s--”
“Yup.” Zoom hopped down off the counter and grabbed the loaf from the bread box. Gripping the knife with her wings, she sliced a few generous hunks of bread and placed them in the toaster. “Potatoes?”
Thunder checked the uncovered pan on the stove’s backburner, where a hooffull of homefries were waiting on low heat. “Give ‘em more paprika,” he said. “And keep the knife out. Chop something green.”
She breezed past him, so close he felt her fur against his. Pure bliss in the body. He wished he had the courage to tell her how it felt being close to her. He could order her around in the kitchen all day, and in turn she could order him around the drill fields and patrol routes to her heart’s content. But some unspoken barrier remained. He felt it.
She grabbed the paprika from the cupboard and leaned over him to sprinkle a hooffull into the back pan. The eggs burbled, and a speck of hot oil leapt from the pan onto Zoom’s leg. She let out a yelp and pulled away.
Thunder tossed her a towel. “Sorry. You good?”
She caught it with her teeth. “What did I say about apologizing for everything?"
He laughed, more at himself than her. Distant heavy hooffalls and sounds of military drill drifted through the windows.
“First easter in the company,” she said.
“Yup.”
“How do you feel?” she asked.
“Pretty good. The training’s working. I feel stronger. More assertive.”
“Good!” She tousled his mane. He wished he had his grey ballcap on to hide his bedhead. “I’m proud of you. You’re making big strides.”
“Thanks.” He paused to taste the fries again. A little heavy on paprika now, but that never hurt anyone. “How do you feel?”
“Never felt better.” She swept her mane back out of her face, and Thunder felt his stomach turn in that old familiar way. “I love bossing you around.”
“Funny.”
Her smile dimmed. “Kinda lonely though. I don’t want to be all gooey with my subordinates. They need a leader. But sometimes, it’s like.” She chewed over a few half-baked thoughts. “I kinda thought I would have made more friends, y’know?”
He smiled softly and bumped his flank with hers. “You got one.”
“Pssh, whatever. You don’t count.”
He knew she didn’t mean for that to hurt. He knew exactly what it meant. She meant they’d been friends since high school. She didn’t need to make a friend out of him. He was locked in.
But something about the way she said it stung. He felt the entire morning’s effort, the sneaking out to buy a nice easter meal, the four extra dollars he spent on the good brand of eggs, the slicing of potatoes, the careful application of heat and teamwork--all of it came crashing down to a single moment of truth. This moment.
He took a deep breath, then turned to look her dead in the eye. “I do count.”
Something like surprise flashed in her eyes. Then a broad smile crossed her face. “Yeah, you do.” Then she said something she almost never said before. She said, “Sorry.”
The toast popped out of the toaster with a mechanical clak! Both ponies leapt into the air. They looked at each other, saw the surprise in each others’ faces, and burst out laughing.
Then, with his heart still pounding in his chest, Thunder leaned in and put his lips on Zoom’s. He stood perfectly still, waiting to get yelled at or smacked.
What he didn’t expect was Zoom asserting herself in his personal space, wrapping him up with her long legs and pushing deeper into the kiss. The two drifted back until Thunder’s back bumped against the countertop.
Even in the depths of his shock and arousal, Thunder had enough sense to turn the burner with the eggs off. The potatoes can stay on low, he thought absently. Then he felt Zoom’s tongue invade his mouth again, and he thought of nothing at all.
Zoom put her head in the crook of his neck and planted delicate kisses along his collarbone, down, then up, all the way up his neck, up his jaw, finally pausing to nibble the soft cartilage of his ear.
“I’m so proud of you,” she whispered. Her voice rang like a bell in his ear.
“Sorry if I surprised you.”
Her kiss turned into a nibble. Thunder squirmed. “Stop apologizing.”
“Mhmm--okay, okay.”
She drew back, looked him up and down. A smile flittered across her face. “You’re apologizing with your eyes.”
“What? No I’m not.”
Her smile turned to a smirk. Then she dove in again, her lips on his, the faint department store perfume mingling with the smells of the kitchen. Through the overpowering salt and vinegar hot sauce, he caught a hint of artificial wildflowers and clean bedsheets and ozone.
He paused to breathe it all in, to savor the moment in all the ways it manifested. He noticed her eyes flick over to the eggs in the pan.
Just the opportunity he needed--any more making out and his blush was liable to set his face fur on fire. He put a hoof on her chest and put a few inches of space between them. “I’m starving,” he said. “Wanna eat?”
She let out a squeal of joy and threw herself into his hooves. “That’s the hottest thing you’ve ever said.”
They shoveled the food into styrofoam containers and hustled outside to find a spot before the toast turned soggy. The Zephyr Heights garrison had come alive in the months following the second great reunification. Pegasi regaining the ability to fly meant everyone in the pegasi guard having to relearn how to fly in formations. Dozens of tiny blips darted through the sky, some forming boxes, others forming diamonds and arrowheads, others forming indistinct blobs.
There were precious few private places in the Zephyr Heights garrison, but the more adventurous guards knew of an ancient picnic bench stashed between the corner barracks and the exterior wall of the complex. One of the four stonewood trees on base towered over the spot, concealing it from the air.
It was the traditional spot for guards to go when they needed to cry or make out. Thunder recognized the significance of Zoom leading him here of all places. His stomach did cartwheels the whole way over there. He glanced around nervously at the other ponies in the garrison as they went through the motions of military routine. Could they tell what was going on?
In traditional pegasi fashion, Zoom and Thunder scarfed down their meal in about thirty seconds. Once the styrofoam trays were licked clean, they let out simultaneous belches, as was also tradition.
Zoom crawled on top of the picnic table and spread herself out belly-up to stare into the kaleidoscope of leaves and sunlight. She left just enough room for Thunder to sidle up next to her. The closeness felt warm. Comfortable. Maybe a little dangerous. Thunder brushed Zoom’s wing on accident and went to apologize, then thought better of it.
“Thanks for making a move,” she said softly. “I was kinda nervous about doing it, to be honest.”
“Quit lying.”
“I’m serious!”
They laughed. The wind rustled the canopy above them. Greens and golds filtered down below.
“Why were you nervous?”
“I was kinda nervous we weren’t on the same page. I’m not.. uh... nice? I think that’s the right word? Sometimes I’m not nice. But you’re nice to me, and I see you. And I’m not really upfront with how I feel, but I like you, and I try to put that out there. So to have you act on that was like, validating. To my feelings.” She sighed and put her head back. “That was exhausting. Never ask me to talk about my feelings again.”
Thunder propped himself up on one leg so he was looking down at Zoom. “I’m not sorry.” Then he leaned in and kissed her again. He felt her lips curl into a smile.
The leaves rustled above them. Thunder squeaked and rolled off Zoom. He was halfway to the ground before he realized there simply wasn’t enough table for him to roll onto.
Zoom laughed and sat up. “You okay, big guy?”
“Ugh.” Thunder knocked dust off his fur as he picked himself up. “Thought I heard someone in the tree.”
“The company’s busy remembering how to fly.” Her smirk gained a sharpness, a mystifying edge. “We’re all alone.”
Thunder’s eyes moved down as Zoom slowly opened her legs. Her marehood was slick, glistening ever so faintly in the golden sun.
He tore his eyes away and opened his mouth to utter an apology. But Zoom spoke first. “If you say ‘I’m sorry’ one more time, I’m gonna--”
She never got to finish. Thunder surged forward with another hungry kiss. He pressed his chest to hers, savoring the warmth of her body against his. His forelegs wrapped around her slender sides and met at the back. Her fur felt so soft. it didn’t seem real.
Then she started nibbling on his lip, and the tender pain and pleasure brought him exquisitely back to life. This was real. She was real. She was wrapping all four legs around him, squeezing him tighter than he’d ever been held before. She was pushing his hips away, just enough distance to snake her hooves down the front of his chest and down, all the way down, past the point of innocent intentions.
He broke away. She was still smiling. Good.
“You’re cute,” she said in a soft voice.
“You’re cute too,” he said back.
“Thanks.” She touched the base of his stallionhood and traced a line to its tip. It twitched to life in her hoof, and she felt along the shaft until the head popped out of its sheath. “Seems your body wants something.”
“Guess it does.”
“Let’s see what you can do, first.” She smiled and took his own hooves off hers, placing them firmly on the tops of her thighs. “This is a new era, after all. I can’t just let you get whatever you want.”
He laughed. “Not with you, never.”
She scooted her hips to the edge of the picnic table. With a twinkle in her eye, she whispered, “Go for it,” and leaned back.
Thunder got down on his knees in front of Zoom. A scent equal parts musky and floral and sweet tickled his nose. He found the sight of her most sensitive parts mere inches from his muzzle more than a little intimidating. He approached slowly, peppering trails of kisses up and down the insides of her thighs, savoring her smell and the way she half-laughed, half-gasped when his kisses turned to hickies.
When Zoom had had enough of his teasing, she grabbed his mane and pulled him into her marehood. He ran his tongue along her slit from bottom to top, eliciting a husky moan of approval. He went again, then a third time, then settled in on the hard bump of flesh at the top.
“Little lower,” she murmured. He flicked his tongue back and forth until he found the spot she was looking for, just below her clip. “Right there, yeah.” She let go of his mane and bit her lip. “Now go--” He started working her clit some more. “Yeah, like that. You get out a lot, big guy? You’re good at this.”
He thought of half a dozen braggadocious things to say in response, but after a moment of thought he tossed them all aside and went back to working his tongue over Zoom’s clit. Up and down, slow but building to a rapid flicker, then backing down when her chest started to heave up and down. Constant motion. She tasted heavenly, sharp like citrus and heady like strong wine.
“Up, up, go up,” she commanded. Her breath came in short gasps now. “Use your hoof--aah, that’s right.” As he sucked her clit, he put his hoof at the base of her slit and made quick little circles around her entrance.
She let out a squeal of joy and squeezed his head between her thighs until he thought he would pop. She ran her hooves through his mane and arched her back, moaning, “Right there, right there.” He slipped the tip of his hoof inside her and quickened his motions. The circles with his tongue and the ones with his hoof phased in and out of time.
“Keep going, mhmm.” She stuck a hoof over her mouth to muffle her moans. Her whole body trembled. Her hips flexed forward, faster and faster, forcing him deeper into her. He felt her marehood flex and tighten around his hoof.
Her orgasm ripped through her an instant later, radiating out from her core as shivers up her limbs. Her lip quivered and her breath hitched in her throat as the wave washed over her. She grabbed Thunder's mane and let out a sonorous moan of pleasure before finally falling flat on her back, utterly spent.
Thunder gave her slit one last long dredge with his tongue, savoring the taste one last time. "Okokok," she pleaded, "no more. Too sensitive."
He leaned back and wiped his muzzle off, a goofy, satisfied smirk plastered on his face. She sat up slowly, and when her senses came all the way back she dragged him back to his hooves and kissed him. Sparks shot up his spine. He took a breath of pure air and felt more alive than the apex of the highest, fastest flight. He had something better. He had her.
Another breeze rustled the branches of the stonewood tree. "What do you say we take this back to the barracks?" he asked.
Her eyebrows went up. "Awful presumptuous of you to ask."
He kissed her again. "Sorry."
Together, they made their way back across the deserted parade grounds To the barracks. The door swung shut behind them. A long moment of silence passed through the mountains.
Then, one by one, the rest of the company flew from the tall branches of the stonewood tree like so many flocking birds.
