Bow Down Before The One You Serve

Phyllis Cloverleaf stared at the two earth ponies that graced her office. She had spent years massaging the image of the Filly Four as perfectly usable cultural tools- a song here and there that could be a soporific for the masses, their discontent with the Canterlogic system of rules and regulations assuaged by a silly song. Then came the scandals with these performers of hers, a dubious consent here, an NDA there, sex scandal after sex scandal that she had her lawyers work out.

She owned the fucking Filly Four. She made them who they were and was. . .complicit in some of their hare-brained and awful schemes. Their merchandise sold amazingly well and the music arm of Canterlogic paid for some of the R&D department's rather crazy ideas. It was supposed to be a simple give and take.

It would have been an uncomfortable situation but then these whores had to defile her son. That would not do.

She steepled her hooves together as she stared at them through her lenses. She was usually so well composed that the bubbling rage beneath her calm demeanor was imperceptible to all but a few. "Ladies, I know the last week or two has been rather eventful. The whole tour with unicorns went relatively well. . .the ticket sales were fantastic. But there was this one teensy tiny thing that you two wonderful ponies did."

Rosedust tried to shrug, but winced due to the pain of her broken limbs. "Which was? I think I know what it was but just so you can like confirm it or nah."

Phyllis tapped a button and the video of the vapid pegasus princess played. Phyllis sighed and wondered what she had seen in the pink mare- with how she acted online she would have been such a terrible match for Sprout, but the royal match would have been fantastic for her business. Pipp as a marriage prospect would have been a complete headache and her sister was such a sport fiend that Phyllis wrote her off entirely. She shook her head and focused. "Let's see besides the fifty random hookups you had from all over Equestria, the theatrics, the drugs. The crime. Everything. I could let most of that go since the harm caused is offset by profits of the media empire the branding has created. But then you had to do this."

Lily stared at the video. "What? Almost get my trachea crushed by a psycho? Or Dusty here being crippled and probably put out to pasture? I mean harshing the mellow vibes we get?" Lily noticed her bandmate trying and failing to flip a hoof in her direction. "What you know its true. Like the doctors said you can't dance for shit now. You got off better than Juniper though. At least you can walk. I mean sure you can't pleasure yourself right now, but at least you don't have to have a liquid diet and aren't physically stuck in a wheelchair."

Phyllis facehoofed and threw out her carefully planned speech. She had two idiots in front of her that didn't understand the logistics of what they did. She didn't want to coddle the talent. "No, I mean your unfortunate target."

Rosedust ears perked up. "The fat waiter? Or was he a deputy? Doesn't matter, the only thing that matters is that he was smuggling a cock the size of a large baby. Honestly I'm totes disappointed that I didn't bone his dick. Would have made the aftermath way more bearable. At least I could have joked that I broke my legs from sex."

Phyllis clenched her desk and tried to count to ten. "That was my son you two dolts."

Lily blinked. "Oh fuck that's why he looked familiar. Puberty did him no favors. I mean it did one but he was just some random stallion looking dude. Not like a Cloverleaf. Aren't you all supposed to look all high and mighty and all that. It's like Canterlogic rule number one. I mean his cock was high and mighty at least. . .shouldn't have said that." Lily ran a hoof through her mane in thought. "Shit we fucked up."

Phyllis nodded. "Enough that re-education sounds like a preferable option. Be glad I chose that method, I was on the cusp of being very unmerciful and debating if death would be better. Quicker and less torturous, but we can get some use out of you yet. Just a few shocks to your pesky deviant brains and we can mold you into ponies I would like to talk to. Obedient, quiet, tamed workers. I'd have put you in the breeding section but your degeneracy would taint future generations."

The two mares' faces drained of color.

Phyllis stared at the chairs the two earth ponies had sat in, now empty, and she grimaced. She would have to spend a fair bit of money to get the blood out of the cloth seats. A pity. A horrible thought crossed her mind. That of Posey Bloom, the halfbreed. She had protected her Sprout from further harm. Violently. It was almost admirable. Almost. Phyllis stared at the few teeth on her desk and sighed. It was a dirty business, that of re-education. Broken ponies getting their brains shocked to mush while Canterlogic propaganda was shoved into their malleable skulls. She really should have killed them but it would have been too merciful.

"Damn it. What kind of thank you message should I send to this nuisance? I can't show my hoof too much, nothing so fancy as to tell the mare that I was grateful for her actions, but nothing too cheap to downplay Sprout's existence. A conundrum. Maybe middle of the road options? A fruit basket or chocolate platter. Something simple but classy." Phyllis worked through her conflicting thoughts methodically. The slow and focused method hadn't failed her yet. She tapped the nearby button on her desk and Sweets' voice came through loud and clear.

"Yes, Mrs. Cloverleaf?"

Phyllis crossed her hooves in thought. "Send a fruit basket to Posey Bloom. Your choice on what it contains, just make it a nice size. Also send out a news bulletin that Canterlogic completely washes its hooves of the Filly Four. Send a message to Bridlewood that we appreciate their help, but due to certain complaints we can not use Rosedust or Lily again." Phyllis stared out of her large window and carefully fished out a lighter and a cigarette. Her hooves trembled ever so slightly as she lit it and took a long hard drag of the heady smoke. "Say something to the effect of that we completely disavow their actions. And Sweets?"

"Yes, Mrs. Cloverleaf?"

"Try to find the best jobs for Rosedust and Lily. They are coming to you tabula rasa, please try to educate them properly. I wouldn't like to know what a repeat offender looks like in our reeducation program. Irreparable brain damage most likely."

"I will try, but looking at their original applications to Canterlogic. . .there was a reason they were used for their musical talents and nothing else. Their aptitude tests were abysmal. I could probably have them reassigned as hospitality clerks or some outward facing job with certain personality modifications."

"And this is why you are my favorite personal assistant. Even if you're my only one. You get things done."

***

Posey slowly drank her coffee and sighed as she stared out the kitchen window. Things had slowly gone back to a normal pace- not back to true normal, especially not after the Filly Four. Sprout was jumpy whenever sex came up but they had found workarounds. Nothing perfect, but it was better than completely abstaining. She groaned and laid her head on the table and thought about what she was going to do today. Hitch hadn't mentioned her community service being extended so her actions seemed to be brushed under the rug. But it still left a hole in her week.

A knock broke her drifting thoughts and she slowly rose to her hooves to check who that was. While she looked positively indecent since she was still in her pink bathrobe for comfort- it was eight in the morning.

She opened it to see a pony she'd never expect to talk to ever. Zipp Storm. Well, a low chance since she was running out of Sunny's odd friends to annoy. "Can I help you?"

Zipp shuffled on her hooves and ran a hoof through her mane. "Hitch told me to come pick you up for a. . .how did he put it? Pegasi community service day. Or something."

Posey's eyebrow rose at that. While Sprout was currently being distant and way more focused on anything else but his deputy job- she hadn't heard anything from Hitch about slumming it with Zipp ever. The obnoxious stallion usually outlined her service to an extent that ruined any kind of enjoyment she could have. Though, to be fair, it made sense. Whenever her weekly outings were more freeform pieces they usually devolved into pure chaos. Still this seemed a bit odd. "Fine. Give me a moment. You want breakfast? I mean most of my food in my fridge is takeout or pizza but it's still food."

"Sure, why not?"

Sprout looked in the bathroom mirror an grimaced as he stared at himself. He looked ragged and felt it, his messy mane and the beginnings of dark rings around his eyes showed at a glance his mental state. He kept replaying that day in his head trying to parse the mess of emotions that he still felt. It was a raw and pained hole in his chest, a wound that might not completely heal and he breathed out to steady himself.

He splashed water on his face and felt the cool wetness steel him for the day ahead.

He heard the bathroom door open and Posey walked in and hugged him tightly from behind, her height and overall size making him feel inadequate for a moment, a dark thought of 'if it was Posey, she could have done something, anything' and he pushed it down and breathed out again.

"Hey, so Zipp's here. Just a warning. Thought it was going to be Sunny. That's what it should have been in the itinerary."

Sprout shrugged. He didn't exactly remember what he said. The last few days had been a blur and he had been on autopilot for most of it. "Did I? I mean it sounds like a Hitch sanctioned idea. But Zipp works too. I mean she seems relatively normal. At least as normal as Sunny's friends are. I mean I doubt she's going to go crazy and do something horrible. Malicious maybe, but at least not criminal. Doesn't seem the type."

Posey laid her head on Sprout's shoulder and sighed. "You said something similar about Izzy and look where that led. And take it easy, okay? Try to get some sleep and relax. Or try gardening. I mean I have a whole unused part of my yard we could use for a garden. It could be nice and peaceful out there. . .I mean it gives me some peace at least. Could be nice."

Sprout breathed out and looked in the mirror and stared in Posey's face for a moment. They hadn't done anything for a week and a half. No talk about what had happened and barely a hint of a touch in that time. There was a strain to their relationship and he felt it with each and every longing glance she gave him. He hadn't even touched himself in that time and felt self conscious now as he noticed the hefty weights dangling between his legs. His body had become used to Posey's administrative touch and longed for a release but mentally he was unsure. He felt the lingering touch of Rosedust and Lily whenever he tried, their high pitched digs at him still raw and fresh. He breathed out and let the thoughts fade from his mind for the time being. "I'll think about it. I mean I haven't even touched a garden. My mom never gave me a reason to. Or just said that was for other ponies. Though thinking back, she definitely wasn't saying that nicely. She did at least pay the gardeners which is something I guess."

Posey hugged Sprout. "I have tools you can try out in my shed. And whatever your mom said, don't worry. I think you'll be great at it. I mean. . .good at it. Most earth ponies seem to be since everypony got heir magic back. Though I'm sad that I'm no longer 'the flower pony' or 'a flower pony' if everypony can just grow shit out the ground. It kind of makes gardening lose some of the status I had thought it gave me."

Sprout chuckled. "Well I still think your garden is great. Much better than Canterlogic's attempt at one. And sure, I'll try my hoof at it." He didn't comment on the falter in her voice when she mentioned he'd be great at gardening- the unsaid "cause you made a giant plant appear out of thin air. . ." hung silently in the air. She wasn't wrong, he'd probably be good at it. "And be safe out there with Zipp. I mean if Pipp is that odd, her sister has to be as well. I mean Sunny had to see something in her friends, but each of them are kind of nuts."

***

"Welcome to W.I.N.G.S., the Wonderful Institute of No-Gravity Skywalking." Zipp sighed and tapped carefully on the large obstacle course that took up a portion of Maretime Bay's park. "And no, Posey, I didn't name it. That would be my sister. . .or Izzy. One of those two, I couldn't get a direct answer as who truly came up with the name."

Posey cocked her head. "Okay, so if you can tell I can't fucking fly. Why am I even here?" She was half-pegasi, and Canterlogic wouldn't let her forget that minor inconvenience- but she wasn't born with the really important wing attachments to actually fly. And looking at the obstacle course, which seemed to be put together with liberal amounts of tape and glue, set twenty feet above her head, she wondered how useful it was to non-pegasi.

Zipp shook her head. "This is the foal obstacle course. Well it was originally supposed to be for newly minted pegasi, but after my first class. . .feather I hate that I can say that. . .it didn't work out perfectly. Sure, Windy, Zoom, Thunder, and Fifi passed with relatively flying colors, but that was like two months ago. Now most adults know how to achieve liftoff and be adequate at flying. You're going to help me out with Foal Flight School."

Posey's face drained of color. "Can we do anything else, I kind of don't like foals."

Zipp cocked an eyebrow at that. "How is that even possible. Pipp told me that you were knocked up and here you are saying you dislike foals? I mean I don't always like them but I don't plan on getting pregnant- though Mom would love grandfoals and mentions it all the damn time. It's more Pipp's job. Or future Pipp."

"First of all, the whole I don't like foals bit is fine cause I meant I don't like other ponies' foals. All the mess and noise and annoyance and my foals will not be anything like that. Or at least they will be as well behaved as I have time to teach them good boundaries. It's all about fair and good rules applied well. That's how you don't get little monster fillies and colts. And secondly, Pipp told me she is pretty much afraid of sex. So that's a problem for future you."

Zipp rolled her eyes. "I'll take parenting advice from you. Totally. I mean you've shown such great morals before and are a completely well-adjusted member of society. If you can believe that, I have a few investment opportunities to tell you about." Zipp breathed out. "And my sister seems to have completely fixed her hang-ups about getting laid." Zipp eyed up the tall yellow mare. "You don't know anything about that? I mean you hung out with her for one day and she changed her Ponyfans account into a full blown sex positive heaven. Good for her, but Mom's going to have a stroke about it. Pipp's whole vibe is a family friendly influencer that doesn't outright do that. It's completely antithetical to her brand." Zipp's eye twitched ever so slightly as she looked at Posey.

"Uh, no? Also weird. Sprout said you weren't into that social media garbage and you sound like Pipp's manager."

Zipp shook her head and grimaced. "Anyway, I'll talk to you about that later, looks like our group of fillies and colts are coming and while I'd love to talk all day about my sister's ever evolving love life, I'm a consummate professional and won't mention shit in front of foals. All these pegasi foals are Pippsqueaks and I don't want to ruin my sister's image for them. Even if she's trying to make my own weird fangroup happen. Zippsters? Like that would ever catch on. I don't even have a public account for royal duties."

***

Sprout stared at Posey's detailed notes on plant care. He whistled to himself since he knew her mare was rather focused on flowers- that was her job and reason her cutie mark was what it was- but it was different to see it explained in such hyperfocused detail. "Why did she rank plants by ease of care? I mean I get it but Flora Magic should skip the difficult bits. I mean Sunny talked about it like it was so easy a foal could do it." He breathed out and focused his magic in a hoof and thought of something simple. Or at least recognizable to him. He had seen enough flowers from his mother's suitors or different business propositions that he could easily create a bouquet of flowers in his sleep. "Okay, so let me try tulips. Those always looked nice."

He tapped a hoof and closed his eyes, ready for a massive tulip to come out of the ground and strangle him. He felt nothing and looked down and grimaced.

A small patch of tulips stared back at him. A black tulip patch. "Let's see, Posey didn't mention color at all. I mean tulips probably can be that color but its not what I expected. Let's try this again."

Sprout tapped a hoof and thought of another plant.

He blinked as he watched a small field of roses sprung up. Which was a good thing. Though they too were as black as a rose could be. He frowned as he tried again and again, slowly pouring in more magic to see if he wasn't doing it right- it should be a simple thing. Put magic in, get plant out- the color, shape, and size you wanted. He did it before. Why was it so much more difficult?

He stomped around the empty portions of his special plot Posey put aside for him and stared as a field of black flowers spread over it. He huffed and puffed as he sat down and put his head in his hooves. "Fine, I guess black works." He leaned back and sighed, the fun of gardening now withered away and he laid down and looked up at the blue sky and he felt angry for a moment. Not at the process, it was simple enough. He angled his head up to see the field of flowers his magic had created and while they were nearly blackish-purple, they were still flowers. They were something he willed into existence and while he wanted them to be any other color, they still were flowers. He still felt woefully empty because of the last week and closing off his emotions to deal with the pain of what happened to him. But maybe the field of black flowers were telling him something.

He laughed at himself for a moment. It was just flowers. But he felt slightly better. His annoyance and rage at the flowers not fitting into his ideal flowers had worked out some of the rage at the world he had bottled up. It was still there in his chest, making some days hard to deal with, but he had opened himself up for failure.

He was such an idiot. He fished out his phone and stared at the time and wondered if Hitch might need some help. He hadn't talked to him in a week and it might be nice not to fully wallow in his own thoughts for one day. At least it could give him something else to focus on. Beyond his thoughts that sounded a bit too like Rosedust and her barbed comments. The whispers of his own thoughts had kept him on edge for the past week, the one bad day replaying constantly in his mind and all he could do was debate with himself if he did enough.

He knew he had done enough, or at least it wasn't all his fault, but a part of him disagreed. And that part was vocal.

"Okay, okay, screw this." He angled his body and trudged off towards the one place he could always have a regular day- the Sheriff's Office and Hitch's incessant need to have everything in its place and time made it a boring routine on the best of days, but a welcome relief with how Sprout was feeling right now. He was stressed out, tired, and doubting parts of himself that he didn't know exactly how to fix. He needed some sense of normalcy again.

***

"This is Posey and while she doesn't have wings, she's going to help you fine fliers to get the basics of takeoff and safe landings. I see your questioning hooves and yes, that's why she has a butterfly net and pillows strapped to her. Rule One, due to how ponies do not like having young pegasi fall out of the sky and smack right into them. The Canterlogic rules tell me to say that that is a "not very good idea legally" I will say that these pillows are a safety precaution and that please do not aim below the chest for Posey here. There would be a lot of morally questionable things I'd be accountable for, even if it was a rad stunt."

Posey grumbled as she tried to comfortably move. Sure she was totally happy that, unlike Sunny's weird friends like Izzy, Zipp was relatively normal. Relatively. She was still making her do dumb shit for some reason. And some of these foals weighed like fifty pounds so she doubted pillows and a butterfly net would even help to catch them or soften the blow of them blindsiding her.

Zipp carefully tapped her flight plans. "Okay, so we will work our way up the ladder in terms of difficulty. I know that some of you might no be able to pull off my kind of stunts- most can't since I have years and years of parkour practice but some might be able to pull off the middling tricks with time. So no "1480 McTwist Extreme" but "360 Hop Skips" will be totally possible."

Posey awkwardly attempted to raise her hoof to object. After failing miserably due to the pillows duct taped to her body, she grimaced and spoke her thoughts out loud. "Are you just making up trick names? Those sound totally fake."

Zipp rolled her eyes. "I have it on good authority that the Wonderbolts named their tricks all the time and while I might have taken some creative liberties with some of the names, the normal tricks are all like that. The history books mention even more daring tricks that wouldn't even be possible outside of old timey magic that is lost. Whatever a Sonic Rainboom was, I know I can't currently pull that off, and from how they spoke about that particular trick, it had to be particularly unique." Zipp spread out her hooves ever so carefully. "So that's why you kids need to learn how to fly cause maybe one of you lot can unlock some super rad magical superpower. I might be currently unable to even with months of flight skills and years of parkour knowledge, but one of you kids can with my guidance could do it. Probably. I mean there is at least a chance."

The gaggle of pegasi fillies and colts beamed as they imagined the idea of secret pegasi magic powers and ran off to try to get a quick start.

"Glory, can you keep the newbies from trying the really dangerous parts of the obstacle course?" A blue pegasi filly saluted Zipp with a wing and quickly ran off. Zipp watched and smiled briefly before turning back to Posey with a slightly cold glare. "I made up some of that, but its a kid-friendly flight school, I wanted to give them silly trick names so they can have something to work towards. It's a basic carrot to dangle in front of them. I tried the straightforward method with some and after tons of camps like this, that method didn't work well. You want twenty bored foals squabbling amongst each other or twenty focused imaginative foals trying to work out how to fly?"

Posey sighed. "The latter. But why the pillow suit?"

Zipp rolled her eyes. "Well you made my sister a sex crazed pony. I had to get back at you somehow. Also experience, I mean my first few camps had foals and adults alike cause so much environmental damage that I had a firm talking to by Hitch, which was so boring that I can only remember so much of it, but it was either give you a helmet to protect from the concussions or a pillow suit to protect from the body shots. And this looked funnier to me. If you know how to dodge a ball, you can dodge a foal hurtling towards you at thirty miles an hour. It's just basic physics."

***

Sprout stared blankly at the sheriff's office. A new "Out to Lunch" sign hung proudly on the outside of the door and he glanced through the blinds to see if Hitch was there. It was unlikely, but if he knew the stallion he'd be somewhere in the building- Hitch had his own place completely paid off and he still sometimes slept at work. He saw movement in the low light and that gave Sprout enough reason to press onward. If it wasn't Hitch, then he could use deputy prerogative and barge in anyway. He tried the door and, finding it unlocked, walked right in to the darkened sheriff's office.

He immediately regretted the decision once his eyes adjusted to the dim light.

"Oh fuck me, Hitch." Pipp's voice rose and fell breathily as Hitch railed her on his desk like it was going out of style, his motions precise and honed from probably years of being the Bay's most wanted bachelor. Of course he knew how to bone mares like a sex expert, he had mares falling out of trees since Hitch had entered puberty. Literally. Sprout had watched Primrose fall out of a tree mere weeks ago because Hitch had walked underneath the tree she had been watching him from.

"What the fuck are you two doing?"

Hitch looked up at his deputy with a look of horror on his face and quickly pulled out of Pipp who fell back on a desk with a nervous whinny and a thump as her relatively prodigious booty smacked the desk hard. "W-why are you here, Sprout? I mean I thought Mrs. Cloverleaf expressly forbade you from coming in. For decompression. . .and stuff." Hitch stumbled over his words as his hooves fumbled for the condom that was on his erect dick. "I didn't think you'd come in for another week."

Sprout raised an eyebrow. "I'm away for like a week and the whole office goes to whatever this is? I am almost touched. Here I thought you were so controlled and safe but I leave for a week and you become a playcolt?" Sprout had to use sarcasm to not break down from laughing as Hitch tried to organize the desk he had been railing Pipp on back to a sense of normalcy. "Guess Posey's little pep talk did wonders for you two."

Pipp rolled over on the desk and stared at Sprout. "We're pretty compatible. And no, its not just cause Hitch is hot. That helps immensely, Hitch owning his own house so we can totally bang in privacy also helps, but we like similar things. Sure I prefer horror movies, which he doesn't like all that much, but we like similar foods and we have similar sleep schedules. Oh, and he's a complete romantic once we got the whole sex stuff out of the way. I thought the rose petals leading somepony to the bedroom was a movie thing and he did that for me. It was so cute." Pipp blushed in thought before realizing what was going on. "Okay, that's going to need to be edited out. And the vid is going to probably be scrapped. Sucks, but I guess that means we get a round two." Pipp pointed at a camera in the corner of the office that pointed directly at the desk she laid on. "Thank goodness I don't do Ponyfans livestreams for this kind of content else I'd have ended up on a few unfortunate SeenIt threads. I can see it now- 'Famous Influencer Disgraced as Unfulfilling Sex Tape Hits the Net.' Too awful for words."

Sprout blinked. "I never thought I'd see the day Hitch, the stallion that thought swearing was too dangerous, did porn but here we are. Posey is going to lose her shit over this. I thought you two were just sharing a moment, not filming your junk for all the net to see."

Hitch blushed and shook his head. "Please don't say that and don't tell Posey."

Sprout shrugged and flipped the nearby light switch. "I can't keep such a juicy secret away from her, she'd notice something was up the moment she'd see me, Hitch. She has a good intuition for these things. Plus I'm terrible at lying."

Hitch groaned. "I'm going to get so much bad press once this gets out."

Sprout raised an eyebrow at that. "You haven't told anypony that you are having sex with Pipp? Have you seen her follower count? Or her actual royal title? It's surprising my mother hasn't come down here to give you a firm talking to. She freaked out when she realized I was watching porn, which completely messed me up for years, I doubt she'd be happy you do this on your breaks. No offense to either of you."

Pipp shrugged. "How hard can convincing Sprout's mom be? I mean I've met her before in passing, she seemed particularly fine when I mentioned my singing career. Still weird she tried to get you with me. You are not my type, though with how Posey mentioned you, maybe you might have been. I mean it's been a week since I realized how sex can be fun and positive, I bet you and Posey could have a blast on Ponyfans. I'd shout you out and it would be a fun collab. Or not, I am not entirely sure how collabs like that could work. The images my mind is giving me right now kind of ick me out. But like the site might like seeing some fun stuff with earth ponies- its a really big pegasi site cause, you know, internet is huge in Zephyr Heights. You'd make a whole niche of creative fun. Like an earth pony fetish."

"Yeah Sprout do it. We'll watch you rail your whore." Sprout heard Rosedust's voice behind him and he glanced in his peripheral vision just to check if there was somepony behind him. "Ha made you look. But seriously, you might be a terrible waiter, but you were a fun lay. Very fun."

Sprout blinked and breathed out. "Never thought I'd hear those words coming from you. . .I'll, uh think about it." He got up and walked around his desk to put some distance from his thoughts. "So, any work that needs a deputy or an extra set of hooves? I came down here to see if, uh, there was anything to get my mind off of stuff."

"Coward. You've just been lounging around eating pizza and watching movies while crying at the drop of a hat. Posey pities you."

Hitch shrugged. "It's the Bay. If it isn't a mob of unruly bunnies or some pegasi stuck in a tree, there isn't much to do. Which on that point, Pipp, I'm glad Zipp has been teaching ponies to fly, but it has been kind of a pain to get the one ladder the sheriff department has to get dazed ponies out of trees."

Pipp giggled. "You only have one ladder? Didn't earth ponies climb trees?"

Hitch shook his head. "Canterlogic policy made it kind of a big deal that pegasi lived in the tops of trees like birds. Most were too scared to get off the ground- though it made an alternate issue of ponies running into trees due to mass paranoia about pegasi swooping down and foalnapping them."

Pipp rolled over and snuggled into Hitch's chest and quickly pecked him on the cheek. "That's sad but also kind of cute. Though it definitely gives me an idea of foalnapping you for a date. Though I think I might have to have the big strong earth pony foalnap me instead- would love to lift you into the sky and see how you react but you're kind of twice my size."

Hitch smiled. "Was that a short joke from you?"

Pipp blushed and shook her head. "No. I mean maybe. But I'm just being factual about it. I mean I know what's said about me online at least in some odd threads out there. That I'm small and thick. Though spelled horribly for the meme."

"This is stupid. Pipp's stupid. Filly Four for life. At least we took good care of our fans. You know that."

Sprout gulped. "Well I don't want to impose. I'll probably just walk around and see what the town needs. Patrol. The usual."

Hitch raised an eyebrow. Both he and Sprout knew that the red stallion hated patrolling the town. He was far more a clerical focused deputy than a go getter kind of deputy. "Okay. . .sounds great. If you need any help, you know my number."

Sprout nodded and left. He could feel Rosedust's eyes staring at him as he opened the door. He glanced into the glass and saw only his reflection and Pipp and Hitch's inquisitive faces. Of course. Hearing your own thoughts whispered to you by somepony that wasn't there was completely normal.

He had been putting off talking to Sunny for a while, but maybe it was necessary.

***

"Next pegasi, step up and learn how to takeoff and land." Zipp blew her whistle and grinned as she watched Posey try and flail about to catch the rambunctious foals with her little butterfly net. The yellow mare didn't realize that Zipp had pulled out the best fliers of the group to make a fun little game called dodge the net. It taught them how to deal with alternate wind currents, unpredictability, and Maretime Bay cops in a nice and completely safe environment.

Well, she said that to them. She was holding in a bit of anger that was unbecoming for the next queen of Zephyr Heights. She had spent years trying to find her own sense of self when it came to ruling and yet she still heard her mother's voice drilling into her the idea of poise and sensibility that Zipp wrestled with. She drank heavily. She bristled at royal events, unlike her sister who loved meet and greets- Pipp was terrible at formal speeches and Zipp excelled at those- but Pipp would have been a fantastic queen.

And then Posey threw her into the shark's den and introduced her to sex. That was going to be her job. It would have been fucking weird, but maybe do a controlled introduction of it on her 21st birthday- a wild mess of a thing. Zipp had it all planned out and everything. Nice and methodical. She dabbled in the nightlife of the Heights- many of her friends were in the gay bars and other haunts that gave ponies a good time. Good enough. She wasn't going to give her sister a drug habit. But Posey came in and threw all that out the window.

Zipp went to bed a week ago and woke up in a world where Pipp was filming sex tapes and doing short sex positive videos for her paying adult fans. Which she was one of them due to her having a few burner accounts. Mother told her to keep an eye on Pipp because she was naïve and easily taken advantage of- Jazz was Pipp's right hoof mare for a reason. The green earth pony was a newer addition to Pipp's clique but a much needed buffer between Pipp's naivety and ponies who would take advantage of her. Zipp swigged her water bottle and set it aside. She was holding her anger back, but not well. She had read through the legal disclaimers and assuaged Posey's fear of pegasi becoming figurative missiles, but she was fallible and pissed.

Fuck, she had thought of taking Posey and showing her the wonders of flight. First hoof. Where she dropped her from a few hundred feet and caught her right before the mare plummeted to the earth at terminal velocity. She'd catch her before then- she was mad but not murderously so. But Sunny had to talk her down from doing that. It would be too hard on the baby, the stress and all that. Blah, blah, blah. But she was livid. She shaded her eyes from the harsh sun and blew her whistle. She was merciful for now.

"Okay, Posey, that was pretty good. But you have to cool it with the swearing. I know the Bay can be a bit rougher than some places of Equestria, but you can't be slinging around that kind of language. It's a bad example for the foals. Plus some of those were racial slurs against pegasi and that's not cool." Zipp pursed her lips. She could be as course as Posey, maybe worse, but there was a time and place for everything and her image of coolness was carefully hooficured to be fine enough.

She had outward flaws, true. But decades of societal pressure and inward doubt had honed her outward presentation to a mask that kept her true feelings hidden. It took a lot for her to break and falter, but Posey pushed a button she forgot she had.

"We'll break for today. I want you lot to practice the flight homework I mentioned in passing. Loops, bank turns, but mostly importantly of all- landing and take off. Sheriff Hitch has been understanding about the use of trees as landing pads. . .but Maretime Bay policy makes trees kind of a no go for most. While scaring ponies can be fun, its not the best look for a good united ponykind."

***

"I was going to talk to Sunny, Izzy. Where is she?" Sprout glanced at the perky unicorn who stared back at him with a smile and upside down glasses.

Izzy shrugged. "Probably out at the community garden. Or out doing Sunny stuff. Like the smoothie stand. Or a few other spots. I mean we are an item, but I don't keep her down all day. You know boundaries." The unicorn shrugged. "What can Izzy do for you today? Damaged items, magical solutions, fun and laughter, I have most of that. But no. . .looking at your sparkle and shine there's something there."

Sprout tried to turn away and walk carefully back to the saner parts of the Bay. "Thanks but no thanks. I need to-"

Before Sprout could say otherwise, Izzy gripped him in her magic and dragged him inside with a quick yank.

Sprout opened his eyes after a few minutes of silence as he waited for the excitable unicorn to do every single horrible thing that Canterlogic propaganda had ingrained in him- torture, incessant singing, magic, more torture. He waited for the end to come and, feeling nothing out of the ordinary, he cautiously opened his eyes.

The Crystal Brighthouse looked slightly different to the one time he entered it, more lived in and separate areas of the structure, from what he could see, were so different in fashion that it was kind of a mish mash of styles- sporty, fun, trendy, and mundane at the same time. It was a mess and he wondered how much Posey would hate it.

"And done! You don't know how difficult it is to make a pop up doctor's office out of craft materials but it was a fun little challenge. Now how can Izzy help you? I would start with the talk session, Sunny says I am a really great listener and its covered in your health insurance right here." Izzy waved around a blank piece of paper. "Yeah, I've never heard of Canterlogic Medical either, but it has to be an awful plan. Sunny says Canterlogic put all the good money in research and development and it makes sense. I mean I keep getting stuck in the unicorn traps and it's just a headache. I am a sucker for cool metal objects and those things are my jam."

Sprout grimaced as he realized that Posey's distaste for the unicorn wasn't completely unfounded. He had stayed away from the mare for a long while, mostly because he was still somewhat afraid of her, and the rambling mess of words he tried to untangle just confused him. "What?"

Izzy waved a hoof. "Doesn't matter. Now let me flip through Sunny's handy dandy book of questions for an ice breaker. Let's see. . .no too silly, too serious, ah here we go. . .okay talk me through your day. You know recently. So I can get why your sparkle is all wacky."

"Oh this is stupid." Sprout heard Rosedust's voice from over his shoulder, the mare's cold and unfeeling tone cutting him like a knife as he stared at Izzy's expectant face. "I hate Canterlogic cause rules suck, but if every unicorn was like this, I'm happy I'm racist towards them."

Sprout shook his head and breathed out to focus. This was pointless, true, but it might be nice to humor her. At least it was a safer idea than not. "Fine. I wake up at Posey's place at nine am, eat breakfast, maybe do some housework. Posey leaves for her flower shop around ten or so. Then I sit around and play a game or two. Or I take a walk. I mean I would go do my job but I'm on leave so that's out. Watched a fair bit of tv to make up for that. Uh, eat lunch. Posey comes home around 6 pm or so, then dinner. Maybe some time with her and then in bed by 11 or midnight. It's really not that impressive."

Izzy nodded and mimed taking down notes while straightening her still upside down glasses. She didn't have a pen. "Okay, that sounds promising, let's deal with that. Any hobbies? I mean Posey has a few- let's see, flowers, sex, being angry all the time, oh and complaining. But you mentioned video games and the rest is blank. So hobbies?"

Sprout groaned. "Well you mentioned games. And that's about it. I mean I tried my hoof at gardening but it didn't work out all that well." Sprout shivered as he remembered why he was unwilling to garden.

"Come on it wasn't that bad, you even looked into it, where it counted at least." Rosedust chuckled beside him and Sprout glanced over to yet again see nopony there.

Izzy nodded. "Let's see Sunny wrote that down right here. . .a traumatic event causing an outburst of Flora Magic and a necessary follow up being required by one Mrs. Cloverleaf."

Sprout raised an eyebrow. He could literally see there was nothing written on the paper. "How did you. . ."

Izzy smiled. "Trade secret. So how did that event make you feel? Since I am a completely certified doctor. . .of Sparkle-ology. . .I can be under doctor/ patient confidentiality. I think. Sunny talked about her own knowledge and that sounded rather interesting. Don't know all the exact wording but I can keep a secret. I mean Zipp tells me stuff all the time and I forget it cause its in confidence. Or I don't feel like remembering it. Can't figure out which. But yeah feelings time. Which is totally important to understand how your aura is. Emotional ups and downs do a number on ponies' sparkles."

"What the fuck is a sparkle? Is that some new age bullshit?" Rosedust's voice rose in anger.

"Well I feel. . .angry a lot of the time after the. . ." Sprout stopped for a moment, the words getting stuck in his throat as he tried to collect his thoughts. "Did Sunny tell you about it?"

Izzy nodded. "Enough to get the points of it. I may look a bit silly but I'm not stupid. Plus your aura is fluctuating like crazy so I get the stress and doubt you are feeling. Continue."

Sprout breathed out. "I was. . ." he tried to figure out exactly how he should proceed- he hadn't spoken the words aloud since the whole mess a week ago. It was separate from him if he didn't confront it. It happened to somepony else, somepony that wasn't exactly him. The Sprout of a week ago, younger, more naïve, trusting and whole. "sexually assaulted by some of the Filly Four. Uh, and. . .I don't know why. I mean its hard to deal with, I wake up, look in the mirror and I see myself but it feels like its not me. I know it is, but I was more confident- somewhat more confident at least- before this and I've spent nearly two weeks sitting in my marefriend's house nervous about ponies. Their motives at least. I knew the few members of the Filly Four that did it weren't good ponies, but they blindsided me and I woke up and. . ." Sprout breathed out and tried not to break out fully in tears, the emotions getting the better of him as he wiped hi misty eyes with a hoof. "Sorry."

Izzy quickly passed him a nearby box of tissues and steepled her hooves. "No worries, I'm glad you got some of that out. Healing takes time and talking about it can help. I mean probably. Don't fully listen to me, my doctorate is in Sparkle-ology and that's not fully recognized by anypony. Honestly I made it up cause Uncle Alphabittle wanted me to have a college degree and all the choices were so boring and not me. So I made one up and look where I am now. Best idea ever."

"Come on Sprout, stop being a pussy about it. Sprout glanced over and shook his head.

Izzy sighed. "Second question, I get why you are probably distracted emotionally but you keep looking over there and while I love tinkering with Zipp's investigative tools, I doubt you'd be interested or even understand how they work. They are a whole mess of confusing circuits and magical gems. So why are you staring over there?"

Sprout shuffled in the chair. "No reason. None at all."

Izzy leaned over to touch Sprout's hoof. "If you are hearing things, its okay. It's not always a sign of something worse. You just went through a super bad event and being under high stress can do stuff like that."

Sprout blinked. "How did you-"

Izzy smiled. "I don't know how you are feeling, but I've been under tons of stress. I mean how else can I juggle a successful sculpture business, a hobby of being a street artist, and crafting up every tandom idea my friends have? Oh and dealing with Sunny who isn't the most stable pony either. I sleep terribly for a reason. Coffee is amazing and it totally made my workload way easier but counterpoint. . .drinking too much coffee while working on too many projects made me think I was hearing Sunny or the other girls say things that they hadn't. Made me a complete mess for a week. Cutting back on the coffee helped. But yeah, the voices inside your head aren't you, they are just some bad thoughts that everypony gets. Though Thought Sunny said some super hot ideas for the bedroom we just had to try. Good times, good times."

Sprout leaned back and stared at the unicorn like she grew a second head. Izzy usually seemed to speak utter nonsense, but that actually seemed like a good talk. He chuckled, A broken clock was always right twice. Though the thought of Sunny and Izzy having sex still weirded him out immensely. "Thanks, Izzy."

The purple unicorn smiled. "No problem. Oh you want a cookie? Sunny baked them recently and I always feel better after dessert. I mean who can be sad when sweets are involved. Personally I like the triple chocolate ones. . ."

Sprout shrugged. And there was Izzy again, completely back to normal and talking about something that wasn't all that serious. Though it was cookies. "Sure, I guess I could have one. Or a couple."

***

Zipp stared at Posey's unfinished drink and rolled her eyes. "Are you going to finish that?"

Posey shook her head. "I tried to tell you that I can't drink alcohol. I don't know what pegasi call apple flavored vodka, but to most sane ponies that is alcohol."

Zipp shrugged. "Sorry, it's a mare's night deal and I can't get more than one free drink." Zipp slid the untouched vodka over to her and steepled her hooves in thought. "Plus the name alone should have tipped you off- 'Everything But Water.' It's a fucking bar." Zipp breathed out and tapped a hoof on the table. "Okay, down to business. Zero foals to act nice towards. Just you and me and this handy bar." Zipp quickly glanced around the small establishment and pulled out her phone. "You know how the internet works, right?"

Posey rolled her eyes. "I'm very aware. Sprout has a better understanding but I know the gist of how it works."

Zipp nodded. "Okay, let me just sign into my Ponyfans account then, scroll through it and. . .here we go." Zipp passed the phone to Posey.

Posey looked down and quickly hid the phone underneath the table, quickly fumbling for the mute button just in case. "Are you nuts? Time and place, Zipp, time and place." Zipp had given her a phone playing Pipp's newest video on the site and as Posey glanced down at the phone, she could see the impressively limber pink princess baring it all. Which now gave Posey a bit too much information on Pipp's lower half and her self care regimen. "Uh, while I know stallions love bonding over porn, I wouldn't have figure you for the type. I mean Sprout told me you were a mare. . ."

Zipp frowned. "What's that supposed to mean? And no, I'm trying to show you what my sister has been doing all fucking week. Sure she's consistent to posting content to a fault, but I've been having a shit week cause of that."

Posey shrugged. "I mean just taking a glance, I don't know what's the problem? Condom? Check. Good angles? Check. I've seen so much amateur stuff that this is at least passable."

Zipp facehoofed. "I didn't want your professional opinion. I want you to stop Pipp from doing this."

"She's an adult. . .I think? Kind of hard to tell with how short she is."

Zipp drowned the first glass of vodka and grimaced. "Yeah, and?"

"Talk to her about it, I'm not going to be a middle-mare dealing with some royal mess. I have far too much on my plate to do that. She looks happy enough. What's the problem?"

Zipp ran a hoof through her mane and sighed. "I keep an eye on my sister and report back to my mom about her online activities- sure, Pipp's actions pay for themselves the world over with free press and donations. But I kind of haven't told her about the new. . .stuff Pipp is doing. Sure, the donations on her page are double, triple what they were but Mother has this idea that Pipp is like twelve years old still. And I've kind of put off my monthly report back to her."

Posey chuckled. "Is that all?"

Zipp shook her head. "Is that all? I know my mom. The moment I tell her Pipp is doing this, she's going to keel over or have a stroke and then I get to be Queen and I hate royal shit. It's the absolute worst thing ever. I did royal visits and commerce related trips and my feathers were so ruffled every time- don't do this, don't do that, that's a cultural no no, don't swear, act completely normal. It was like I was in a silver cage or whatever weird word Pipp said."

Posey quickly erased her mental note of Zipp being the most normal of Sunny's friends. At this point Hitch was the most average pony in her clique of weirdos and before he got with Pipp, Posey thought Hitch was at least partially gay with his musical theater interests. "Okay, so hear me out. What if you tell your mom that Pipp is totally getting some action and nothing happens?"

Zipp stared at Posey like the mare had grown a second head. "During our first attempt at bridging borders with Maretime Bay, Pipp and I got really ill for like no reason. Mom then freaked out about the thread count of fancy sheets saying that they were trying to poison us with bad food and terrible accommodations and then tried to cause a diplomatic incident with Canterlogic about it. She went ballistic and tried to talk to the manager's manager."

Posey smiled at the thought of Sprout's mom trying to placate an angry royal. She briefly wished that there had been a recording of that mess. "Sounds reasonable enough, I mean Sprout's a fun time to be around, but his mom is a bitch. And Canterlogic hated non-earth ponies, so the conspiracy theory would be in their wheelhouse. It sounds unlikely but I wouldn't put it past Mrs. Cloverleaf to poison you two for some unknowable reason. Maybe you got on her bad side, maybe she woke up and chose violence. She's pretty much the worst."

"What the fuck?"

Posey shrugged. "I mean it sounds like the Cloverleaf way of doing things. I mean we burned effigies of pegasi for fun Canterlogic approved team building sessions. But enough about the past, just tell your mom. At least you'll get the massive amount of stress you have off your back."

Zipp waved a hoof. "I'm not stressed out. I'm fine."

Posey raised an eyebrow. "You just drank like five large glasses of flavored vodka."

Zipp shook her head. "No I didn't." She looked at the table and noticed the empty glasses surrounding her and she lurched back and gripped the table to regain her balance. "Damn it. Okay, okay, maybe I'm a little stressed out. It's not my fault I relax by drinking. Totally great coping mechanism." Zipp shrugged and pulled out her phone. "You know what? Fuck it, I can totally handle Mother right now. And I'm fantastic at being cool, I mean half the time I'm hungover during royal events and nopony can tell." She quickly tapped out a rhythm on the table. "Okay, so time zone and time now here that means she should be open for a call. I mean she usually answers my calls but. . ."

Posey rolled her eyes and quickly grabbed the phone from Zipp's buzzed hooves and firmly pressed the call button.

A posh mare's voice came from the phone. "Hello, Zipp, I wasn't expecting you to call."

Zipp looked dumbfounded at Posey for a moment before scooping up her phone in a wing and holding it to her ear. "Oh yeah, yeah, I was just thinking about calling you. It's about Pipp, nothing too major, I think, but you would probably want to hear about it-"

***

Sprout opened the door to Posey's place and heard his mare fumble around in the kitchen, her low swears and tone almost comforting to him- it was normal and expected and with the week or two he had, and the inner voice whispering in his head, he needed some sense of normalcy. He raised an eyebrow at the large fruit basket with Canterlogic branding- that was new and he would need to ask Posey why his mom decided to give them a present. He could guess why, but he didn't want to cross that bridge yet. "Hey, Posey, I'm back."

She popped her head out and stared at him for a moment. "You look. . .better. Did something happen? Oh and that was dropped off. I didn't want to open it cause I wondered if your mother made it look normal but its full of poison or a bomb. Better safe than sorry. How was your day?"

Sprout closed his eye and let the loud thoughts pass way for a moment. "Decent, you wouldn't believe me but I had a good talk with Izzy and I think I might feel somewhat better. Not entirely- I mean I still have to talk to Sunny about. . .a whole lot, but it feels slightly better."

Posey raised an eyebrow. "Really, I can't talk to Izzy without having a full blown meltdown so that's surprising. You can tell me about it later, I was getting dinner ready and I'm like this close to calling delivery. I mean how hard is it to cook pasta? It's supposed to be simple and I try something different and it looks like a complete shit show."

Sprout smiled and shrugged. "Pizza can never disappoint. Oh and I think I'm ready again."

Posey looked confused for a moment. "Ready for what?"

"You know what."

Posey thought for a moment and got the hint. "Oh. . .are you sure? You just got. . .and that' a lot, I don't want to impose."

Sprout nodded. "I'm sure. And this time I think I want to try out one of your ideas. The one you mentioned before."

Posey carefully ran a hoof over the average sized dildo- she had quietly searched through her collection of sex toys for the perfect one for both parties. Not too big for Sprout's first time, but not strapped to her crotch like a harness. She had tried those types of toys out on a few receptive stallions, but she never found the straps and buckles and rings and loops to be comfortable for her. Maybe it was a hang-up from a partner calling it a net with a dick attached, maybe she just liked the feeling of mutual stimulation but the average strap-on did not excite her.

She fumbled for another one and felt the almost double sided sex toy she preferred for this kind of fun.

Sprout glanced over Posey's crouched form and raised an eyebrow. "What is that? And how does it even work? Where's the strap or whatever?"

Posey smiled and pecked Sprout on the cheek as she brandished the glass dong like a weapon. "This doesn't need any of that and I just have to slide this ribbed end into myself and the weight of gravity and the shape of it- and the muscles I have down there all make this wonder of science work."

Sprout squinted as he tried to imagine that and he couldn't mentally square the thought. "Okay, sure. You're the expert when it comes to this. Now what do I do. I imagine I just sit over there on the bed and present myself." Sprout had zero experience with this kind of sexual situation and the few times he looked at porn didn't help. "I mean the mares I saw in magazines didn't usually do this kind of position. They did something far more painful looking."

Posey smiled and patted Sprout's head. "That's pretty much all you need to do and if I need anything else from you, I'll tell you and gently move you into position if need be. Remember the code word if you don't feel comfortable. Lemon. I would have gone with another kind of fruit, but it came down to preference. Now just give me a minute to slip this right in and we can begin. Oh and grab the lube from the side table. I doubt you want to try this without any lube. I don't recommend it."

***

Posey took a good look at her stallion's body for the first time in what felt like forever, sure they had slept in the same bed, but this was the first actual time they had been in the same room for a sexual purpose since Sprout's experience. After weeks of nearly daily romps in bed, this moment felt like rain breaking a drought. She gingerly ran her hooves over his backside, feeling the bands of muscle that he didn't know existed deep within himself. She could feel the tension in them and she carefully pushed them as she went lower down his spine, lingering on her third favorite thing. His butt. She preferred his personality and his dick over it, but she had to admit that in terms of stallions she had been with, Sprout had the nicest, and largest booty in that pool of candidates. Either he was gifted by genetics to have an ass that wouldn't quit or all that pizza he ate went to one main place, its heft and weight perfectly to her liking- her eyes secretly roaming over it as he walked. Honestly it had been the first thing she had liked about him all those years ago, before she knew he was packing. She had looked at his hypnotic hips by accident once and well the rest was history. She breathed out as she tried to calm herself. Posey took a squirt of lube from the bottle and spread his cheeks.

She could hear Sprout's cute whinny as the cold lube entered him and she bit her lip as she tried to keep her cool.

"Ready? I mean we could stop here, I am fine with whatever you say." She'd be slightly disappointed, sure, but she wasn't an animal. While she was moments away from hilting a sex toy in Sprout's pliable behind, she was tempered by time and experience. Whatever he wanted to do, whenever he called the line. . .she'd stop.

"No, I was just surprised is all. I thought it would be warmer."

Posey chuckled. "I thought about it, but either way you'd have issues. It's a particularly sensitive part, and that's before I find your prostate."

"What's that?"

Posey rolled her eyes sighing at Canterlogic's terrible sex ed. "You'll figure that out quick. Ready?"

Sprout quickly nodded and Posey bit her lip again as his quick motion caused his backside to jiggle ever so slightly. "Ready."

Posey carefully aimed the average sized sex toy right between Sprout's cute butt and slowly plunged right in. She wasn't a barbarian and giving somepony time to adjust to such a new feeling was rather good for the both of them, especially because said sex toy was spearing her as well. If she went too fast she could have impaled herself. Fun idea, but she had found out the hard way before that it ended up being more uncomfortable for her.

Sprout moaned and squirmed slightly as new sensations hit him. He had imagined doing this once before but he had never done it- the thought of his mother accidentally walking in on him experimenting in such a way had kept him from doing this. He bit his lip as Posey got into a rhythm of slowly working herself in and out his backside like a pro. He gripped tightly on to her bedsheets as she breathed on his neck and whispered sweet nothings into his ear.

That would have been fine enough to him- trying something new and expanding his idea of what sex cold feel like would have been perfectly fine. Then he felt Posey's hooves slowly creep around his thighs and move closer and closer to his dick which was rock hard and aching for release.

He hadn't touched it sexually for weeks and Posey's light touch felt like it was incased in velvet. "Posey, what are you doing?"

Posey slowed down and lightly ran her hooves over it for a brief moment. "Do you want me to stop doing that?"

Sprout breathed out. A flood of emotions ran through his mind. Maybe he wasn't ready. He closed his eyes and thought carefully, weighing his decision of its pros and cons. He gritted his teeth as he could still hear his inner thoughts provide a running commentary in Rosedust's bitter tones. "No, I think I'm good." He didn't feel bad about it, sure it felt weird to be touched and wanted after all that had happened. He had been around a few too many Canterlogic rallies, hearing ponies that were used in that way described as broken goods. But with Posey he could feel raw and unfocused and still feel okay. Not perfect, but okay. "Keep going."

Posey leaned down and kissed his neck. "I'll do it slow." Her hooves ran over his body in waves as she thrust into him, their bodies in a rhythm of lust and want that, even after a few weeks of nothing, had came back in a blaze of glory. Sprout bit his lip as waves of sensations that he had only dreamed about hit him, Posey's own moans echoing his as they both neared climax.

It took mere minutes for Posey's hooves to milk him of all the pent up seed within him. He didn't remember the exact moment he shot his first of many loads but he came back to reality right after and groaned as the bedding under him was soaked and sticky from her deft hooves. He felt her body ease off of him and his insides felt empty again, or at least back to normal as the dildo slid out.

"Sorry, I made a mess." Sprout waited for his mare to say something mean or start yelling at him. His mother had ingrained so much shame in him when it came to messes that he flinched slightly as he felt Posey's hoof on his face. Then he felt her soft lips on his and he melted into her embrace. The two earth ponies spent what felt like an eternity locked in each others touch, breaking off the contact for needed air.

Posey stared into Sprout's beautiful green eyes and shook her head. "I kind of expected the mess. Though it definitely exceeded expectations." She glanced over her soaked sheets, the strong smell of cum filling the room. "Tells me these two unruly balls have to be carefully controlled. I only have so many bedsheets to switch out." Posey grinned. "Just kidding, but I'm being serious when I say your equipment felt bigger in my hooves."

Sprout blanched at the thought of that. He already had ingrained self conscious fears about the size of his junk. "That's a bad thing, right? That sounds like a bad thing."

Posey shrugged. "I think it sounds fun. Now let's strip this bed before the cum soaks into it. I have a few spare sets of sheets for this kind of thing, though the last unfortunate stallion I did this with didn't get close to your virile load there." Posey grinned and patted Sprout's cute head, his confused eyes trying to figure out if she was mad at him or not. "I'm saying you keep impressing me Sprout, which is supposed to be a difficult thing to do. Oh and we need to both take a shower. I'm fine with lazing about but cum drying on a coat like yours just tends to mat together. And I doubt you'd like me using scissors anywhere near your junk."

Sprout frowned. "Didn't have to imagine that horrible idea." He leaned in and kissed Posey on the cheek. "I'll clean up and you can open the weird fruit basket my mom got us. Its probably not poisoned at least- I prefer pizza but with how I used to have a slight issue drinking far too many of Sunny's fruit smoothies, she wouldn't touch it. Can't have the future Canterlogic president die in a freak fruit accident."

Posey chuckled. "Dark, but I guess. And now I might have to keep an eye on Sunny."

Sprout shook his head. "Doubt it. Sounds like she's preoccupied with Izzy now. Don't worry about it."

***

"What the fuck?"

Posey had opened the card included with the large fruit basket and her mood had soured immediately. She had thought the lumpy things in the envelope were some bits or something minor. Then she had found out what they were- teeth. She breathed slowly as she stared at the pictures that fell out after.

She knew these ponies well enough, even in their bruised and battered state.

Posey quickly read the clipped and trite lines that told her all she needed to know.

"Could have extended your community service, Miss Bloom, I was this close to having Hitch do that. Maybe the two of us are more alike than I care to admit, but I try to protect Sprout the best I can. And so I took these two in my own hooves to meter out a sense of justice. Sorry for the pictures, I tried to get them to smile but for some reason they were unable to. Sad. Say hello to Sprout for me. Cheers."

Posey heard the shower water stop and she quickly gathered up the pictures and ripped them up as fast as she could, the violence on display becoming harder to see in the torn up scraps that remained. She unwrapped the fruit basket and stared at the teeth sitting coldly on the hardwood table.

"Fuck."

Posey wrapped them up and tossed them deep in the trash can.

Sprout walked into the room, his mane still wet from the shower. "Everything okay?" Posey had to admit, even in her nervous state, that even wet, Sprout still looked great. And as she tried to distance herself from the horrors in her trash, she wondered if Sprout had been working out slightly. He looked better than before. Maybe it was all the boning. She almost chuckled at that thought and then was brought back to reality as he walked closer to the fruit basket. "Wow, usually skimps out on these. Outside of a new business opportunity, she never pulls out this basket. Huh, odd."

Posey tried to smile. "Yeah. Odd. Well let's not let this go to waste." Posey got up and grabbed some plates from the cupboard. She'd never tell Sprout what his mother wrote or included in the basket. He was doing better and mentioning it to him would just cause him more trouble and pain. She gripped the plates tightly and breathed out slowly as Mrs. Cloverleaf's words came back to her- "maybe the two of us are more alike than we care to admit."

As Posey set down the plates and stared plating the fruit, carefully following Sprout's fruit preferences, trying to rebuild a sense of normalcy after a tragedy that still hung in the air. . .Posey had to admit that in some way, she was similar to that terse letter and violent picture in the trash.

She would do anything for Sprout just to keep him happy.