Simplified

It took a while for me to recover from that awful bout of allergies following my self-induced sniffing diet of dragon sneeze pollen. But now that it's been a week after that day, I'm back to being in top shape. This morning was the first time I could safely smell my pancakes without having to worry about snot getting in my syrup. Yeah, that wasn't fun.

Usually it's the royal chefs in the kitchen that give me the delicious start to my day, but this time Twilight made breakfast for me. Honestly, I couldn't be prouder of her and how far she came along throughout the years. I remember at some point in Ponyville, way back when we were still living in the Golden Oaks Library, she was capable of burning milk as it poured into a bowl. She called it science, I called it her absolute negligence in her assigned school electives in favor of magic study by having me represent her in home economics, namely 'bullshit' for short.

But throughout the years, she worked hard to improve her abilities, and after some instruction from a mature human woman that favored her friendship, she's gotten around to working the spice rack for all it's worth. Anytime she cooks, it's tastes like home-style love, days after a visit to church... even though I never really went to church, the long wait while your stomach grumbles as you're smelling the food, the final presentation on the dining room table, bowing our heads and thanking Faust for our meal, and that first bite that makes the sides of your cheeks sore from the overwhelming flavor.

Yeah, Mrs. Haines got her right. Faust bless her for it.

As the plate of pancakes land in front of me, I reach for the fork and instantly go for the heated syrup. No need for butter, she makes sure there's more than enough in the batter to make up for it. A cup of orange juice is sat next to me, along with a different side item for today, sausage. My eggs were done over easy, topped with salt, pepper, and just a hint of cilantro. I plug my fork into the side of the pancake, crudely cutting a slice for me to consume. As the soft and moist flapjack enter my mouth, I instantly forget about the gems most dragons snack on and hold my cheek like I'm in pain. But it isn't pain, it's the sensation of me finally getting my tastebuds back in full capacity, only to be decimated by Twilight's cooking.

I was gone for a month, and I couldn't have this... I swear I'm the victim of a war crime.

Twilight sits her own food down, predictably in greater portions than I'll ever ingest in a day. Girl always had the appetite of an arimaspi, and the metabolism of a wood chipper. While there was only three or four flapjacks on my plate, she had at least twenty. My two eggs, her dozen, My two links of sausage, her entire pack. And while I'm savoring the food, she's chowing down like it's about to walk out of her life like her ex-boyfriend.

I often tease her for it. "She has beauty, she has grace, she has syrup and egg yolk on the side of her face."

"Ah, the illustrious splendor of royalty." She doesn't skip a beat on her food, chomping down on an impaled stack of flapjacks.

She never changes, no matter where she is in life. "Twilight, do you think that maybe your table etiquette is another thing that drives away any potential guy looking to get close to you?"

"So what am I supposed to do, Spike? Eat less and slow down?"

"I already know about the alicorn metabolism. I've seen hints of it from both Celestia and Luna. But I don't think I've ever seen Cadance this bad."

"Then you haven't been around Cadance much after she gave birth to Flurry. You think I'm terrifying, wait until she demands a plate from that barbeque shack." Twilight laughs for a moment but starts to think aloud over that same idea. "I can't help but to wonder if there's any way we can increase the frequency of our trades between our two worlds."

Ah yeah, the current trade resolution between our worlds is a light one, but a useful one to boot. Any and all sources of modern construction has come from human infrastructure. And also a lot of our food ideas have been floating back from there too. Our griffon head chef haven't been able to replicate a lot of what's going on, so he orders some food and have it shipped in. It's another sign of our ongoing commercial exchange, but it's starting to prove too small of an exchange to keep stabilized.

As friendship ambassador, I made it one of my goals to establish an official business exchange between our two words, as opposed to enlisting one billionaire we also happen to know over on the other side to do our running around. The billionaire tycoon, Alex Haines, has a jewelry company that prides itself on exclusive imports, and you can't get anymore exclusive than importing your gems and metals from other worlds. That mantra alone has gained the eyes and ears of all of his fellow billionaire bracket dwellers. Precious jewels are imported in exchange for these favors, sometimes big, sometimes monumental, sometimes small, sometimes minute, and he does what he does on that end. He turns a profit and has the good shipped to a warehouse, the warehouse is secured from the outside with no windows, and at a certain hour we come through the portal there and collect the goods.

Things have been going like that for some years now, and sad to say that Alex alone can't keep the demand satisfied by himself. He's suggested going open with our trade, even so far as allowing exchange to happen between our worlds in official capacity. That means being an exclusive trade partner to the United States. However, that lofty goal is hard to itemize when you have one world with unknowing humans and another world with very knowledgeable creatures that also happen to not be humans. As for me, my goal is to assist in opening that line of communication between our two worlds, bringing us up as a player in the first officially recognized interdimensional trade exchange.

In short, I'll get the chance to do what he never got to do. "I'm sure he would've found something out. It's too bad he retired before he could get any traction going on that."

"I'm sure Mr. Haines just took one look at what his older brother was doing and said 'You got it' before dusting off his hands and calling it a career." Twilight sighs. "I mean the most that jerk could've done was not leave everything so open ended for me. Like seriously, why did he think dumping me over my first batch of cookies were a good idea?"

Did I ever mention that sometimes Twilight gets a little bitter about her ex boyfriend? "Hey if he didn't, you wouldn't be as good as you are now." I try to reassure her.

"Don't give him any credit, it was his mom that taught me everything I know."

"But he did introduce you to her, and that's what matters." I point out.

"Yeah, he introduced me to her, AS HIS GIRLFRIEND." She falls into a pout yet again. "...Which I was. I still can't believe I messed that one all the way up. And to make matters worse, he went for Celestia! He knew I couldn't win against her! Why couldn't he go for something simpler? He could've at least given me a fighting chance."

"You're still holding on to the past, Twilight. You gotta learn to put it behind you." I tell her for the umpteenth time.

"I know, I know!" She replies in a mode of frustration. "It's just that the things he did for me, the way he carried himself, all of that, it's like living the life of luxury on an airship, only to get demoted to coach class on a train. I mean I don't have any discrimination against riding coach on a train, but emotionally it doesn't feel the same, you know what I mean?"

"Yeah I know. But do you know what's just as emotionally draining for me?" I ask her, knowing she's going to tell me the correct answer out of defeat.

"Ugh... the fact that I keep going on about this?"

"The fact that you keep going on about this, yes."

Twilight downs a glass of orange juice almost as quick as a surly drunk. "I swear, it's between dad, Shiny, and you, all three of you just keep me stable in that regard. But it's not like I can be comfortable with just that anymore! I need that extra... push."

"You need someone to sleep with." I answered for her.

"Yes, ugh!" She drops her head into her pancakes in shame as she continues her early morning confession. "Keeping it real with you, Spike. I need dick in my life, just clopping off to books isn't what's getting it done for me. Toys feel great, but they don't hold me after, whisper sweet nothings in my ear, none of that. And it's not like I can just have a casual sortie with one of the guards without them telling their friends about it."

"Have you ever tried going into the human world?" I ask her.

"Like I haven't before!? I'm too tall! No guy wants a six-foot eight woman who could pass as a WNBA player. My height intimidates them. And the ones who are interested are much too short for me, like they look like a child!"

"They do say big things can come in small packages." I joke to her.

"Yeah yeah, but I can't see myself being happy with a four-foot six guy with a Napoleon complex begging me to crush their head in my thighs. It's not my kind of kink."

"Well I think your standards are way too specific." I reply.

"Well is it too much to find a guy who's willing to just take me as I am?"

"You mean find a human who would be willing to date a not-human female? A not-human female who also happens to walk on all fours, to openly and proudly engage in a public relationship with an equine? Well I'm sure it would fly, but you'd have to leave town to find someone like that. That or you could look up this weird phenomenon humans have called 'furries'. Bet you could really strike gold with that bunch." I suggest.

"I'm not looking to be fetishized, Spike. I'm looking for a relationship." She answers stubbornly.

"See, that's your problem!" I stand up out of my chair, pointing back at her. "That right there! You're too picky, too specific, too narrow-sighted! Like what if one of those guys ARE interested in having a committed relationship with you?"

"How am I sure that I'm not some sort of fetish realization for them? It works both ways, Spike!"

I sit back in my chair and throw my claws up in surrender. "Okay, Twilight. Just do you."

"Look, I know what it looks like, but I'm not trying to replace him." I look to her with an unimpressed expression as I force her to tell the truth. "Okay, I might be trying to fill in the blanks here and there. But still, is it really that bad to have a standard?"

"It's bad when you don't open yourself up to more opportunities because of that self-imposed standard. That's when it's a bad thing." I inform her.

"It's just a standard." She argues again.

"You have to let go, Twilight."

"I know. But I can still─"

"No buts!" I interrupt. "He's a married man now. Drop him."

Twilight sulks as she accepts the truth. "I'm not as attached as I used to be, Spike. I'm just angry with my younger self, I guess I'm just trying to make it up to her."

"She's you now." I inform her. "Do you remember that one time you tried to go back in time to warn yourself of an impending disaster, only to find out you've trumped it up to yourself over how bad it was? Well here we are again, stuck in that same loop in a different place in time, only you keep going forward to go back."

She finally picks her head up out of the stack of pancakes, one still impaled on her horn. "See, this is why I can't deal with you for too long. You're too real with me." She levitates the delectable flapjack from off of her and promptly stuffs her mouth with it. "Dad always tells me I will find someone. Shining tells me that I'll always be beautiful to someone. You just keep telling me the truth, and I don't like that."

"Who does?" I say as I finish my food. "Truth ain't pretty. You know that."

The high princess shakes her head, but smiles at me instead. "Thanks, Spike."

"Yeah yeah, same time next week." I mumble as I walk away.

But before I leave the room, I hear her call to me again. "Wait, are you sure you're not forgetting something?"

"What could I be forgetting?" I ask as I turn around. She's proudly holding up the phone she confiscated from me, then levitates it to me as though to present to me with a gift. "Wait, really?"

She warns me in a soft voice. "Just be careful who you send your stuff to. I don't want to be in your dating pool, and you don't want nobody holding your goods as hostage."

I gladly take back my phone and give her a thumbs up. "All good."

You already know what I did with my phone when I got back to my room.

Yup, I straight up went back into my dating profile and searched the messages I sent and to whom they were sent to. Once I found Ocellus' profile, I loaded up my best ammunition and shot my shot. Of course it was in the middle of the day, so I had to wait a while before she dinged my phone's notifications. That wait was pretty long, I was losing patience with every moment she didn't even show up on the read receipt. Then she did show up, only to leave me on read.

I went the whole day, waiting for a reply. And now she finally popped back in with one. "Hey there."

The speed to which I start typing and deleting is unrivaled. I'm trying to not sound so desperate, but also not trying to appear too indifferent. "Busy day?"

"Hardly." She replies back. "Pretty easy day. Stayed on my phone for most of it. 😊😊😊"

Well I'm sure excited to know her day was so easy that she elected to ignore me for most of it. "You were on your phone all day?"

"Yup."

God dammit, she's playing it cool. Now I'm on the defensive. Guess I could break the ice with a distraction. "I see you got a pretty large following."

"Yup.😊" These one-worded answers are killing me.

"I guess that's a lot of creatures to entertain. 😰"

"It can be. 😏" She's not even breaking a sweat.

Maybe I should be a little more forward since that's really more of her style. "Entertaining anyone right now?"

"Maybe. 😏"

"Livestream?"

"Nope. ❌" If only she would. "Can't do stuff like that when I work in education."

"Have you tried any work-arounds?"

"Idk... You tell me.😈"

Ugh, she's hard to pick online. "Am I the workaround?"

"Using my friends? I would never. 😇"

"You used me three weeks ago. For research."

"Research... 😇" She's playing coy.

Okay, I'm pushing up the pressure. "Got anymore experiments?"

"Nope. 😊" Well, that was anticlimactic.

"None at all?"

"Nope. Just hanging out with my friends now." She also sends me an image. I open it with the anticipation to see something I would like, only to see her posing with Smolder. "Guess who's asking about you."

Dammit, she's trying to cool the temperature. And I can't help but to keep it that way. "You two look like you're watching something."

"Clopperella of the Damned." She also sends an image of the couch, but there's an empty seat. "Silverstream was supposed to join us, but she's busy right now."

"Busy with what?" I ask.

"Gallus and her went upstairs."

From the way she was talking, I figured it was just a girls-night-out thing. Now Gallus disappeared from Canterlot to join them? "What's he doing there?"

Ocellus doesn't hold back on the answer. "🍆🔩🐱. Gallus is like 😩, Silva's like 💋👅💦👄 📣, and the two of us are here like 🙈🙉🙊. Movie's on like 🔊🔊🔊."

No wonder she's keeping the temperature low. It's already hot as hell where she's at. "Are they really that bad?"

She doesn't even send a worded reply. She sends a ten-second video clip of her sitting on the couch, her face halfway captured by the camera as it stares at the ceiling. I barely hear the movie in the background, but I can hear something else even clearer than that. It's faint, but very distinctive. On the video itself, there's a text in the middle. "That's not the ceiling fan that's squeaking."

"C'mon!"

"Shit!"

"Yeah baby! Fuck this pussy! C'mon!"

"Aaaagh... shit!"

"Smack it! YEAH!"

...Note to self: Silverstream is a hell of a power bottom.

"I forgot that we're all in the same age bracket." Yeah, it's hard to act my age when I'm stuck representing a whole country twenty-four hours a day. Meanwhile these guys get to save the world on special occasions, be teachers by day, and themselves by night. Maybe I should follow their example. "So... room for one more?"

"Sorry. Movie night's almost over anyways."

Well that sucks. "Bummer." Way to shut me down, Ocellus.

"Yeah... maybe next time." She types quickly. "Gotta go. Ttyl."

The green icon indicating her online status is replaced by an empty gray circle, showing she's offline. I sulk in defeat as I stew on the idea that Gallus had the time to leave his shift, drop out of town, haul ass to Ponyville, all to plug Silverstream during their free time. I know they've been involved for some time, but just hearing what was on that video...

I'm gonna replay it, aren't I... Yeah, it's playing now.

Just hearing how those two are going at it makes me jealous. It also makes me very much aroused. I look down at myself and think of whether or not I should feel guilty about spilling seed to a video with only some audio for stimulus, much less the actual actors in that clip. Actually, I don't think they'll mind it much, what they don't know won't hurt nobody.

I download the video and go back to Ocellus' page, perusing all of her media files. And just as she warned me, most of her pictures are awfully tame. A lot of cosplay, most of it dealing with famous figures in pop culture and movies. There's maybe a few role-playing videos where she displays her acting chops, needless to say she's very adept at it. But there were a few that teetered on the line between safe and very suggestive.

I wish I had her number. Maybe we could get into a video chat. She likes to tease and whatnot anyways, so it's not like she would have to do much. My imagination is pretty vivid, so I can already play make believe with the little I get. Maybe I'll just ask her to do simple stuff, since she has to play it safe. Work her up a little, get her sold on the idea of seeing each other again, just like I do now.

Damn, after all these years of being between Ponyville and Canterlot, I never thought Ocellus would be the one to get me like this. I mean it's hard to ignore that time she straddled her hips over me, planting herself on me while I wanted to go further. She drew a line and dared me to cross it. And I was somehow disciplined enough to not have my way with her back then. But if she let me, would I have lasted long?

*bla-king*

The top of my screen was a notification, a friend request on Snuggle. I hit the notification, seeing the name BabyGirl339 in bold print. I don't even hesitate, hitting the confirm prompt before I hop back in the bed, feeling myself becoming more and more turgid. I go to her profile, just to let my imagination run a little. But I am instead greeted by a much different media page.

Hooves tugging skirts and dresses to hide compromising views. Sultry gazes at the camera as she licks the length of a longways lollipop. Tactical censorship involving a plushie of a purple and green dragon slotted between her haunches as the camera faces her, her eyes looking away coyly as she lays on her back. A picture with her standing on her hind legs with a translucent night gown on, barely outlining the shadow of her feminine form as the slightest web of her secretions breech the hem of her gown, she stares with a bitten lip with the text at the middle of the screen saying 'You wanna see?'.

Jackpot.

But as I select the picture, Ocellus' name pops up for a video chat request. My nostrils smoke a little at the suggestion of what could happen next. I accept the request and I'm quickly greeted by Ocellus looking down at the phone. "Hey." She chime to me quietly.

I try to play it cool, posing up on my bed as I answer back. "Hey, you're looking pretty chill."

"Well... I would be a little more chill, but..." She rolls her eyes, appearing very much annoyed. She flips to the back-facing camera showing her bed, or rather the white stains and puddles on it. "Yeah."

I should be disgusted, but I'm way too horny for me to even care. "Uh, is that what I think it is?"

"Yeah. Pro tip: Don't let your friend fuck her boyfriend in your bed." She flips the camera back around to her face. She's walking in a dimly lit room. "So yeah, I'm waiting for a change of sheets before I head off to bed."

"Yeah, I bet. You're probably pretty tired." I say as I ease my hand down to tease myself against my scales.

The changeling denies the thought. "Nah, not really."

"You ain't got work in the morning?"

"Nope, three day weekend. Tomorrow is a royally sanctioned holiday, remember?" She replies.

That's right. Tomorrow's the anniversary of the day the humans saved both of our dimensions from certain doom. I can remember that whole naming process being a political nightmare. Lots of lawmakers were pretty pissed off that the previous captain of the royal guard pulled a fast one in parliament. So they reluctantly agreed to acknowledge the human involvement, only to deny any naming rights to any of the humans involved.

So instead, they went with another name. "Oh yeah, Alabaster Day. How could I forget?" Of course, the name of a city council member killed in the fight against the infamous interdimensional terrorist at the time, how could they turn that down?

"Yup." She appears to walk into another room, peeking around as she ask the question. "So, wha'cha doin?"

"Laying in my bed. Can't really sleep right now." I answer as I feel myself growing into my claws.

She notices my face as I look at her, she can tell I'm fantasizing about her. "Thinking about something?"

"I might be."

She softly giggles. "Me?"

"Who's to say it's about you?" I playfully respond.

"Ow, that's cold." She says, feigning offense.

I chuckle back at her. "You know I wanted to join you all on tonight, it's not often I get to have free time with creatures in my age bracket. But I guess it wouldn't have really mattered since you guys are in Ponyville."

She smirks and whispers. "Who says we're in Ponyville?"

I stop and sit up in my bed, surprised to hear that they aren't in Ponyville. Then how did Gallus get there so quick after his shift? "What, then where are you guys?"

"The Sun Cryst downtown, penthouse suite to be specific."

No wonder Gallus got there so damn quick. Now that's just even better for me. "Wait, you're all here!?"

"Yup. All of us except the residential yak and her fiancé. They're busy back home." She explains.

"Really, so it's just you four?"

"Yup." She confirms. "You busy tomorrow?"

Very. Unfortunately my job doesn't necessarily observe national holidays as often as it should. But I'm willing to make that change. "Not entirely."

She looks over, presumably to check if everyone is still asleep. "So I know the checkpoints to the castle are closed up, and Gallus ain't got the clearance to push me through─"

Say less. "I mean I'll come swing by."

"I mean... you don't have to. I know you're pretty busy." She teases.

I stand up out of my bed, and look down at myself. I can take one minute for a cold shower. After that, flying there won't take any time. "Five minutes."

She bites her lips and leans into the phone. "I can't bring you here, it'll have to be someplace else we can meet."

"How about the fountain in Corrotto? That place has a pretty nice vibe this time at night." I offer.

She walks out of the room, into the hallway of the resort she's staying in. "Sure. I'm sneaking out now."

"See you then?" I say as I forget the shower, rushing completely out the door while still trying to coax myself down.

"Yup."

"Bet."

The Corrotto District, Canterlot's shining jewel in the midnight hour. It's because of this place that Canterlot has been booming in the night scene. But it wasn't like this until recently. In fact, there's a few horror stories that floated around this place all the years before Celestia finally cracked down on the district. And even then, there were so many safeguards to prevent seizures and searches here that you couldn't get anything done. It was a bunch of dirty money, dirty business, and dirty transactions taking place here. Needless to say that all changed less than a decade ago.

Now the streets are so brightly illuminated that there's an ordinance on how bright the lights can be. Video boards fixed to the sides of buildings, they all flash bright colors and images of advertisements. Some even give a 3D illusion of a character jumping out of the frame. There's some buildings with lights at the top of them glowing various colors, but also well coordinated with the other buildings in the district. It's just as glitzy as how the humans made it to be.

The streets are of a special designation also, pedestrian only so that there's no trolleys or carts taking you anywhere. Lots of green space to interact with others, a large statue of the former city counsel pony who stood up to the corruption here, and paid with his life. There's even a world-class buckball stadium, second to none in the entire country with it's ingenuity, design, connectivity, and brilliance. Since the humans had a serious hand in making this vision come together, it's been often cited as, and I quote, 'The pinnacle of modern construction combined with the ultramodern touch of human technology, making it the brightest and most promising beacon of unity between our two words, speaking of promises past, present, and the future to come.' The real estate owner of this stadium must be looking north of two billion bits assessed in value.

At the center of the square is a wonderful park filled with beautiful flowers, it's center is a large fountain with a number of spouts that light up in different colors when the water shoots out. And at the center of that fountain is a large statue of the six humans who took up the elements to defeat a great evil. It's the only instance of their achievement being publicly recognized in physical form, all thanks to that special zoning some of those politicians fought to keep in place all those years ago. Their names are inscribed in a golden plaque: Clifford Stoudemire, Richard Santaña, Melanie Brewer, Alexander Haines, Stanton Haines, and Nondis P. Haines.

Taking the statue's position into account, you can tell that there was a lot of thought to the direction it faced. Stationed behind them was the blitzball stadium, and the statue of it's namesake council pony. To their left was the entertainment bureau. To their right was the distribution center. And to their front was none other than the newly-opened Memorial of the Fallen, an old chapel converted into a museum of holograms set through memory spheres. They depict those who were involved, who were victims, who were heroes, and the sole place where they housed the name of the one responsible for the tragic events. In the countless words that litter the museum, the endless murals that move any visitor to tears, his name is only mentioned but once. It's almost so insignificant that you'd probably gloss right over it if you weren't paying any attention.

It's also the only place not covered in colorful lights, with it's lighting a solitary white out of reverence.

For a while, I stood at the foot of the fountain, seeing the white-clad museum staring back in the distance. I start to wonder if Ocellus is really coming by. Fifteen minutes passed and went, but I'm still here looking just as desperate as I was when I begged for my phone back. I don't see her anywhere. I start to dust myself off and look at the prospect of her not showing up. Maybe it's time for me to pack it back up and head back home.

A pair of hooves stealthily creep up from behind me and blind me. "Guess who."

I smile as I easily recognize the voice. "Took you long enough."

"Still didn't answer my question." She replies.

"Ocellus, I know it's you."

[color=#cyan]"But who am I right now?" She asks playfully.

I question her for a hint. "Hmm... is it anyone I know personally?"

"Nope."

"Is it anyone I've seen before?"

"Probably not." She leans into my ear, snickering as she held me.

"Is it an answer I'm going to get wrong?"

This time she leans into my other ear. "I could be a face you haven't seen personally, but it's someone you've heard of."

"Umm... The owner of the arena."

"Cloooose."

"A family member of hers?"

"Getting awfully hot."

"A brother of hers?" I ask, getting a little peeved.

"Well she only had one brother." She says as she lets me go, allowing me to see her face in front of me. "Tada! Did I nail it?"

I snicker a bit before politely warning her. "Well you certainly look like him. But maybe it's better not to do these kinds of transformations out in public. You know, sensitive stuff."

She transforms back into her true self as she dances closer to me. "I get it, I just wondered how long it would take you to even notice me. I've been watching you for a good ten minutes."

"Maybe a text or a DM will be better for next time?" I ask.

"Yeah, I suppose." She says as she grabs my claws in her magic. "But it's time to go find a room now."

"Damn, you don't want nothing to eat?"

She pulls me along as she trots onward. "We'll have room service for that. Now c'mon!"

Neither of us set a reservation, but there were a number of rooms available for use. Since we only planned for one night, they gave us the keys and told us to have fun. Though to be fair, it was pretty obvious what we were planning on doing when we got in the room. Ocellus kept touching me, I'm flirting with her, both of us started getting a little grabby, and that clerk at the front desk was fumbling to hurry and give us our keycard. I offered him my deposit and we were well on our way.

There's no time wasted, we got in the elevator already planning the very simple thing we wanted to do. When we hit our floor, she commenced to pulling me by my arm. We got to the room, slid in the key, damn near kicked the door in as she takes the lead.

The door closes behind us, she's already teasing my pelvic scales. I shudder with anticipation for what's next. "Damn, just drag me in a room like you own the place."

She clings on to me, knowing exactly where to lick. "You know what I want. Now get it up."

My body reciprocates her aggression by showing a growing response. She's pleased to see that her effect on me is just as potent as it was weeks ago. But I'm more amazed by her drive, her desire for making this happen between us. "Hearing Silverstream and Gallus got you feeling this way, huh?" I tease.

"You have no fucking clue." She says as she uses her magic to keep me warm for her. "That whole movie turned into a Manhattan standoff. Both Smolder and I were contemplating whether or not we'd just have our fun on the couch, or maybe just keep it casual and jill it. Smolder just cut off the movie and went straight to her room. As soon as I heard the vibrator, I knew it was over for that."

"Did Gallus ever apologize for the sheets?"

She gives my underside a caressing lick, making sure her tongue shows attention to detail for the speed which we're moving. I palm her head, enchanted by her eyes as she responds. "He did. I didn't care. His load wasn't even that big." She promptly wraps her lips around my tip and take a quick descent, needing virtually no warmup for such an explicit act. She keeps me to herself for a moment before popping back up with a sultry giggle. "Not like yours."

She hops back up, no longer interested in foreplay. She bends herself down, raising her posterior high to meet where I am. I move her tail and spread her moistened folds, seeing the walls that welcomed me with much of her feminine fanfare. "Well that's beautiful." I compliment the changeling on her body.

She's not patient, and she prompts me to close the distance between us. "I know it's your first time, don't worry about holding out too for long. Just get it out the way so you can keep going."

She winks at me, not with an eye but with a welcoming fervor. The machinations of my mind run wild with the ideas I have of taking her. I measure an approach, all while poking myself at the entrance I looked to part. Once more, I'm graced by the heat of her body, my relatively cool self starts to adapt to her giving temperature. "You're so warm."

"Are you playing with me or are you gonna break your dry spell already?" Her magic lifts me further upwards, prompting me forward.

The ridges of my underside file into her as my topside glides within her welcoming walls. Her body responds to my initial entry by grasping at me, making it fairly difficult for me to proceed past half of my length. I pull out slowly, feeling every last bit of her clasping me, begging to not withdraw from her. "Oh... shit."

She isn't fond of my retreat, so she backs herself into me with much of her might to take all of me at once. Her eyes pop open as she looks up to me with an excited smile. "Fuck, you're thick!"

"You're beautiful." I compliment back at her as she pulls away from me.

"Stop thinking with your dick and fuck me already." She chides, planting herself against me a few more times to get me to move on my own.

As I start to move, I find some difficulty adjusting. As I push in, I feel like I'm not quite getting much out of her as I thought I would. Before long, I hear a grunt from the changeling as she presses her hoof into my abdomen. As I lean forward again, she pushes her hoof against me to stop me. "Sorry, bad angle?" I ask with some concern.

"Down." She pulls away from me completely and her magic wrestles me to the bed on my back. She doesn't seem all too happy with my attempt, but she's determined to salvage her experience. I'm once more brought to the familiar sight of her straddling me, giving me a wonderful view of her aligning myself into her body. "I'm on top now. You can just relax and let me do the work."

She sinks down quickly, letting me see the moment her body clashes into mine. As she hilts me, a soft gasp parts from her lips along with an explicative whispered to herself. She takes deep breaths as she bounces up and down, building the friction between us. I'm so invested in the visual of her that I'm building myself up to climax from the mere sight. I close my eyes, still feeling the warmth grasping at me with every withdrawal, inviting me with every invested inch.

She gives a breathy rebuke of my silence. "You should moan more. Girls really like hearing their guys enjoying the ride."

As awkward as I long thought it to be in the presence of another, I let my mind envision the sight of her grinding against my hips. I start to become more vocal, putting a little more effort into displaying my approval with her effort. But as I do, I notice that I begin to enjoy it a little too much. My legs shake as I feel a powerful surge prompt me to grab her hips and pound mine further into her.

Just as quickly, I grunt and howl while my body seizes. "Shit!" I feel the tremendous shift of my body enduring climax, my loins pulsing and emptying with every erratic thrust. Ocellus stops to notice my sudden pause, she's sure to notice the copious load I've offered within her. She looks at me, as though she's unimpressed. I'm embarrassed to admit the truth. "Sorry, sorry. I usually last a little─"

She stops me with a hoof to the mouth, shaking her head amidst her explanation. "Spike, it's your first time. You're not gonna be perfect on the first try." She feels me beginning to soften, but carries on as though I had more to give to her. I wince from the initial overstimulation, but I realize she's only doing it to keep me active. "Sex is a skill as much as it is recreation. The difference between one partner over the other is how dedicated are they to one end over the other."

"I'd like to think you're pretty awesome at it." I say as I still recover from my downfall, still enduring her body milking every bit of my first load.

"Of course I am. Now stand up." She pants, appearing tired from working so hard. She allows for me to rise from the bed, positioning her rear on top of a small stack of pillows to better accommodate my height. She lays on her back, welcoming me into her with both open hooves and a magically separated pair of lips oozing with my seed. "It's your time to work now."

I obediently dive into her, sliding and pressing along until I find the right angle to insert myself. She whispers a bit of confirmation while I offer myself, then shows some discomfort as I try to repeat the action. "Something wrong?" I ask.

Her horn glows, grasping at both of my legs, locking them in place. Next I feel her aura press against my buttocks. The magic holds my legs in place, all while mitigating that movement directly to my hips. Upon pulling out, I feel her shift that attention to the front of my waist and lower abdomen. She pushes against me until I am just barely inside of her, only to shift that magic back to my buttocks to press me back inside. "Use less of your legs. Give me more of your hips, that's where it's at."

I follow the guides of her magic, starting to see and feel the difference it makes. Not only do I waste less energy on trying to go deeper, but I actually get to reach deeper within her all while keeping a better posture, allowing me to become more consistent with my stroke. My tail bats at the ground while I find the newly-learned sensation more than pleasurable. It allows me to dictate my rhythm, to experiment with my pace without being so much of a distraction.

In the course of my actions, I still feel her magic restrict me and my tempo. "Slow down." She breathily moans. "Match me when I breathe."

"Mmm'kay." I confirm as I start to feel a bit more energetic.

As I repeat the motions I'm given, I'm very slowly building back up the tension I had once before. Ocellus is a lot less commentative, cooing a lot more frequently. Her body occasionally squirms, her eyes roll back for a moment with a sharp exhale. Her hips begin to shift with every push, she starts to look at me with approval, occasionally looking down to notice the creamy connection that further develops between us.

It's at this moment where I truly take in the mare I'm in the process of breeding. I start to see the various fluctuations of her chest, the twists her hips make on occasion to better acquaint herself to my sex, the impacts that ripple from where we clash, the eye contact she makes when I'm in sync with her. Her wings pop out and flutter, a pulsing glow that starts from a dim glimmer to a bright flash with every kiss I give to her womb. Her forelegs are caught in indecision, conflicting with the choice of bracing for my impacts or planting themselves into my chest. In the course of her internalized skirmish, she grasps at the sheets and rests herself on the claw I rubbed against her belly.

Soft whispers of her confirmation fills my ears as I snicker greedily at a thought that passes my mind. She takes notice of my moment of ill-repute. "Wait, what are you about to do?" I carefully feel against her, measuring with my thumb the length of where we now join to it's bottom segment. Without any hint of warning, I do as a certain retired alicorn instructed me to do. My claws lightly press into her, causing her wings to suddenly glow brightly along with her horn. Her eyes shoot wide open as she screams. "Ooh SHIT! Why did you do that, who taught that to you?" Her voice sounds as though she's on the edge of crying.

"Celestia might've mentioned it to me once." I say as I slow my pace to answer her question.

"Oh Faust, she wasn't wrong." Her hooves clutch onto my arm, her hips rocking a bit faster to beg for a slightly faster tempo. I match her demand and place myself deeply within her body. Her cries show even greater approval of my work. "Right there!" She breathlessly moans. Seeing her sudden rush of pleasure stirs a feral twitch in my mind, I begin to look at her shoulder with a curious intent. I see the slight palpitations in her neck, the arteries and veins that barely show a throb. I lean into her with my mouth open wide, and pinch down lightly on her body. "Whoa, teeth! Teeth!" She screams in shock before I feel a rush of warm fluids down my thighs.

Her breathing stops for a moment as she seizes, her wings flutter as vibrantly as they glow. A light fills her eyes as I look down to her and ask. "Can I kiss you?"

"Fuck me." She demands in a squeaky surrender. "Fuck me, please." She follows her words with a powerful grasp at my head, her hooves dragging me into her lips while she rides out a powerful orgasm. Her tongue is invasive, as is her hooves wrapping themselves around the back of my neck. I feel her hind legs tighten on me, trying to lock me into her. My tail bats at the ground faster while I grow closer to my own moment of culmination.

Her eyes stare back at me, intently demanding my full attention. I start to grow within her. She notices the girth increasing within her body and sobers up for a second to take note of what's soon to come. My pace increases as she tries to adjust to my new, but temporary size.

"Hey now, careful where you unload that thing! Meaning I'm a changeling doesn't mean I want to get popped!"

It's almost too late for me, I'm barely able to exit within a second of my absolute peak. But in a moment of weakness, I look down to see myself engorged within her, a maddening mast filling her swollen lips. My dragon instincts kick in at a moment's notice, and my only objective begins to overtake my line of judgement.

I plant myself within her one last time, screaming as I give in to the feral nature of my internalized code. Her belly fills as I deposit within her several years of long-awaited pleasure and anguish. I pull out from within her only from the magic she uses to separate us both. She stares at me amazed of the fact that I am still spurting on her body, as well as the pillows she sat herself upon and the sheets of our bed.

I plop down on top of her, very much satisfied with the choice I've made in acquiring my first mate. "Oh... shit!... Fuck... Finally..."

Ocellus giggles as she sees how much semen I left on the bed. "And here I am complaining about Gallus when I got you. Now we have to apologize for this bed."

As she tries to adjust herself from underneath me, I pant out in joy. "That... was amazing!"

She pats me on the back, tiredly knocking at the scales of my spine. "Not bad for a rookie. You got some potential, but you really need to warn me of some things."

"What things?" I ask.

"The whole biting me thing, the whole getting bigger than what I'm used to, stuff like that. You got the gist of it now, but maybe we can work on some of the other things next time. But kudos on tonight, you actually made me cum pretty hard. Not what I was expecting."

The fact that she spoke out the words 'next time' already has me elated for myself. I'm gonna have to make some time for that in my schedule. "Think you can teach me what all I can do better? I could always use the lessons."

"Eh... I'm not sure if I'll have the time." Well that's a bit upsetting to hear. Goes to show that I should temper my expectations. "And that's probably even harder to come by for you. Free time in your world ain't even assured on royally sanctioned holidays."

"I can make time for you." I say without hesitation.

"Hmm... What's your Saturdays look like?"

Consider ALL my Saturdays mass dumped from today on. "I can clear them up."

"Are you sure?" She questions with a raised brow.

"Hell yeah. I've been said I needed time for me."

She sighs out of tiredness, but her face shows content. "Okay. You and me, Saturdays, we'll make reservations."

"I can probably ask Twilight to clear you for a late-night visitation pass. It's nothing for me to do if I tell her ahead of time." I suggest.

The changeling purses her lips with pondering. "Nah, I don't want the princess in our business too much." She says as she sits up on the bed. "We'll book a room. I'll be in charge of the next reservation since you covered this one, you'll be in charge of the one after that, we'll trade that task every other week between us."

"Does that include room service?"

"It's part of the bill, so yeah." She says as she's about to stand back up. I hum with a little discontent. "What's wrong?"

After all that energy we spent, I'm still pretty weak. It's more of me being lazy, but I just wanna chill here for a while until it's time to get moving. "Can we just lay here?"

The changeling's ears perk up, almost like she's beyond excited for something. "You... You wanna cuddle? With me???"

Honestly, I wouldn't mind that either. That would be a bonus. "I don't know, I just feel like I want to."

She dives back into the bed, eagerly facing me with her wings beating with joy. "You better be careful, Spike. I may be a love bug, but I'm still a changeling. Too much of this and I might get too dependent on you showing up."

Guess I forgot about the whole changeling feeding off of love and affection thing. She's probably even more elated that this was even an offer on the table. But it's one I wouldn't mind. "That's fine."

She gives me a playful sneer as she wraps her hooves around me. "I should just wrap you in a cocoon and feed on you, you know, for old time's sake."

"That I can pass on." I say with a chuckle.

She laughs along with me for a while, her smile just as bubbly before giving me a more realistic response. "I'm just joking. I wouldn't do that, not anymore. Those days are pretty much in the past."

Now that I think about it, I don't think I've seen a changeling glow up this much since Thorax. Her wings are just as shiny right now. I start to wonder if she's ever been in this situation before, or maybe been with someone and had this kind of interaction. There's only one way to know. "...Have you ever been in love?"

She seems taken aback by the question, then tries to laugh off the question. "Hey now, don't get too comfortable with me where you start asking stupid stuff like that."

Maybe she thought I was talking about me being in love with her. That's not a good misunderstanding to have. I should try to walk the question back safely. "Okay, fine, you're the boss." I say, neutralizing the situation.

However, she does answer the question. "...No. Not really." She leans in closer, hugging me as she starts to recount her experiences. "I've never been in love, per se. Just feeding on it, redistributing it, stuff like that. I never really been in a situation where I really wanted something for myself like that. Now what I did have before was a crush."

"Really?" I ask with interest. "Who was it?"

She squints her eyes, giving me a bit of a stern warning. "I'll say it if you don't judge me." I give her a nod and she whispers in my chest. "Sandbar."

"Aw, that's so adorable." I comment.

"Can you shut up?" She batters a hoof against my chest as she continues to hide her face in my chest. "I guess back then, I was still pretty shy about being a changeling true to form in Ponyville. Like I know our species did a lot of shit, and some of that is why we still have certain habits, phobias, fears, stuff like that. Just to name one, I'm still terrified of humans. They wiped like two-hundred of us in like twenty minutes, it was just six of them. That's not normal."

As if I could forget, they ran that one in the papers for a whole month after the situation in Arimaspi Territory. "I think I remember something about that one."

She continues from where she left off before her side comment. "Yeah, but back to the story. I was pretty shy back then, but then Sandbar really tried his best to get over his own fear of changelings and make friends the best he could. And I liked that about him, you can even say I wanted that for myself. I tried being subtle with my little advances, small things, offerings that changelings would normally make for their queen, he didn't really see it that way. Cultural differences and stuff. And then came the big dance at the school... I turn my head for just a moment, only to find he asked out Yona. They've been close since, and I had to grin up and bear that for a little while until I didn't feel any way about it."

Well that sounds a bit familiar. "Bummer."

She also makes the parallels between us known. "I guess that makes us both fellow crushers after all. In the end, we opened our hearts to something that was as present as a mirage of water in a sandstorm."

While a bit depressing, I do have to laugh at her joke "Not very present, is it?"

"Nope." She sighs. "But I guess that's us."

We lay in each other's grasp for a while, just silently thinking of our past and what happened on tonight. I then joke to myself quietly about how I did what I did to Ocellus without even being any bit of a gentledrake and providing dinner. Maybe I should rectify that. "You hungry?"

Her wings pulse for a bit with a warm glow, she smiles sweetly at me. "Nah, I just wanna lay here for a bit." Again, I forget the whole changeling feeding on love and affection thing. This is probably a four course meal for her.

"Breakfast in the morning? My treat." I advertise to her.

She nuzzles into my chest. "I would... but I'll miss my train."

"I'll buy you a ticket." I propose.

She hums as warmly as her wings glow. "You're doing too much, Spike."

I give her a kiss on the top of her head, laying on my back and bringing her on top of me. "I owe it to you."

She wraps to my chest, using me as her mattress to rest on. She places her head over my heart, listening to the sound of my heart beating. "You are much too sweet for the world, you know that?"

Once more, we stay quiet together. I'm almost at peace with the world in this moment. There's only a little something that throws me off, just a minor gripe. "We should really ask for more pillows and sheets."

"Agreed... but later. I like this for us."

As my eyes opened to the biological alarm clock I've unknowingly established, my arm reaches out to the other side of the bed, expecting to snuggle a little closer to the changeling that brought an end to my dragon lust once and for all. I woke up with hardly any morning wood, still thoroughly satisfied from last night. I open my eyes a little wider now, proudly greeting the world and it's challenges.

But to my surprise, the only thing that my arm embraces is a bunch of pillows and a small letter written on a sheet of blank paper. I wipe my eyes of the crust as I start to read to myself.

Dear Spike,

I'm sorry that I couldn't stick around today. I know that you were willing to buy me a ticket back to Ponyville, but I can't burden you like that, not when you've already paid for the room on a last-minute reservation. Breakfast will have to be on a later date, preferably on a day when I take care of the room, that way you're not so burdened financially. Though to warn you, I'm can't get too attached to you. I'm still a changeling by nature, and my being around you in that kind of mood brings up some bad habits I don't want to relapse into. I'm not saying that I will, it's just that we changelings have to take precautions. But I look forward to seeing you again this upcoming Saturday.

Till then, keep my new seat warm.
Ocellus.

Damn, she just up and left me like that, huh? At least we've already scheduled for a second meetup, so I can't complain. In fact, my joy isn't bruised or detracted from in any way. I just had sex, I fucking won. I'm gonna get me a big ass breakfast and push it through the day.

*♫Life in Equestria Shimmeeeers! Life in Equestria Shiiiii♪─*

I pick up the phone, knowing that it's Twilight calling me based on the ringtone. "Hello?"

"SPIKE!" She screams through the phone, causing me to jump up out of my scales.

If I wasn't awake before, I sure as hell am now. I start getting my stuff together, running directly to the bathroom. "Yeah, I'm already here in Corrotto for the ceremony this morning."

"Well as much as I appreciate your readiness, the procession starts at the castle this year."

...Oh yeah... grand opening ceremony. Oh yeah, I fucked up. "Ah shit, my bad!"

"You know we can't get started without you!" She continues to lay into me while I turn on the shower for a quick sprucing up.

"I'm on my way now. Won't be ten minutes." I assure her.

"Five, Spike!" She demands.

I look at the time on my screen, seeing that it's still 6:49 a.m.. "Procession starts at eight, its not even seven yet."

"Never be late for being early, Spike! You know that's the standard I hold you to!"

Ugh... as much as I love her for the sibling figure she is, she's still just as annoying when there's a time crunch. I tell her ten minutes, she wants me to be there earlier than that. Twilighting as usual, I see. "Okay, okay! Let me shower and I'll be right with you."

"Be here."