Author's Note

WARNING!! There's clop at the end of the chapter. It's kinda long scene, but entirely skippable if it ain't your thing.

If it is, I shall judge you silently...👀

Chapter 35- Family.

“Thaaaaaank you.”

With a bold reverence and exaggerated deference, Alex carefully took the pendant from Sunny's telekinetic grasp, hanging it around his neck and fixing Twilight's cutie mark decoration in the middle of his chest. His hand lingered upon it for a moment longer, a fleeting glimpse of longing shimmering in his eyes, a passing shadow that quickly gave way to hardened focus, bringing our human pal back to the world of the living.

“Okay then.” Loudly cracking his neck and knuckles (I think that's what he called them last time), Alex was ready for the next part of the demonstration. “A step back, guys. And pay close attention, baby.”

Myself and the rest of the gang obeyed, expectantly waiting for the demonstration that would soon follow. It had been only two days after our little adventure overseas and meeting the strange creature known as a kelpie. It sure caused a ruckus around town after Pipp’s post…

Posts. Many, many posts, but what can you expect from the Queen of the Canternet herself? Her feed became flooded with her uploads as well as a multitude of concerned or outright freaked-out fans lighting her socials on fire. An emergency meeting was needed where Alex quickly calmed the panicking population, and kinda reminded them about the fact there were indeed countless other species out there who also called Equus home.

It’s almost embarrassing to witness how much we’ve truly forgotten, it’s as if the world had simply moved on and left us behind while we remained stuck in our shared hatred for one another.

Whatever the case was, with our combined help the ponies were at ease and reassured; all in a sheriff’s work, even if it hadn't come from me alone.

Also, we had a tiny discussion with Pipp regarding her posting habits. Nothing came out of it, but we still had to try. That mare is one stubborn pony.

It had only been a scant couple of days since the impromptu meetings when we found ourselves again in our favorite spot at Maretime Bay’s beach, a considerable distance apart from any beachgoers for good measure since another training session between the human of legend and our resident alicorn had been arranged by the former. This time, however, all of us had decided to join the pair, at the cost of having to wake before the sun rose.

Why? Well, all of us wanted to get a bit of training done for ourselves, or at least all of us except Pipp, who was content with recording our ‘mighty efforts’ and cheering from the sidelines. That mare had many talents, but fighting was not in her blood. Not that I blamed her or anything; on the contrary, a stallion can appreciate a mare with enough wits to get things done her way without an ounce of violence. We tend to be more bullheaded, that’s why they do whatever they want with us with little convincing. I think. Mares are weird creatures.

Izzy also wasn’t keen on the fighting part, but neither was she gonna skip a chance to practice her magic; the peppy unicorn acted as a training buddy for Sunny while Alex went through several forms of basic and not-so-basic magic to add to the magic wielders’ collection, aka our horned members of the group.

My marefriend… gosh, it still feels weird to call her that, even if we had been at it for a while already; she wanted to get some wind under her wings and perfect the techniques she’d begun to try during Discord’s crisis. Also, she absolutely loved flying, so any excuse was enough to get her in the air and daring the currents with her dexterity.

A pang of fear and guilt pierced my heart at the notion of my soulmate herself wanting to learn how to fight; it felt like I wasn’t enough to keep her safe. A stupid notion, I know, but it didn't make it any easier. It was my duty to protect everypony, and her before any other.

And that left just me. I’d joined the gang at the beach to practice some hoof-to-hoof combat as well as test the reaches of our new earth pony magic, or ‘flora magic’ as everypony referred to it now. In both goals, I’d be assisted by Alex, who’d offered counsel as well as himself as a sparring buddy to practice my skills. I was curious about his fighting capabilities when those trinkets he always wore on his hands weren't involved. He didn't come off as particularly built or deft at fighting, but that was me being shortsighted, us being of a different anatomy and all. I knew better than to underestimate the human.

But before my training could begin, Alex wanted to finish the main lesson of the morning regarding defense magic and shielding, more specifically how the pendant he’d gifted Sunny for her birthday worked in the field.

Alex stood a bit taller every time he taught somepony something. We’d all noticed it on numerous occasions, and this time it was no different. “I've already taught you girls how to summon a shield. The shield spell is, like the levitation spell, one of the most basic spells any unicorn slash alicorn is expected to possess in their repertoire. And, just like levitation, it’s one of those easy-to-cast-hard-to-master kinda spells.”

As Alex delivered the lesson to his two horned pupils, he walked a lazy circle around the mares, hands behind his back and feeling perhaps a smidge too full of himself. Or perhaps he just really enjoyed teaching.

Don’t ask me why, but some very disturbing images came to mind.

Whatever the case was, I would bet my tail Sunny wouldn't let his coltfriend get too high on the clouds. That mare could be scary when her mind was into an idea.

With a magnetic-sounding hum, Alex's… twinblades, I guess? I’d never seen a weapon in either real life or fiction, but I digress; his blades obeyed his mental command and soared the short distance from where he’d left them to affix themselves in his waiting hand. He didn't bat an eye at the spinning blades coming towards him before reaching their destination, proof of his experience and confidence in his abilities.

As the words came out of his mouth, he began spinning them in his grasp, describing seemingly random circular patterns around his body the likes of which you'd expect to see in a circus, yet the power and lethality behind them would leave you anything but laughing if you were caught on the wrong side.

“A simple shield can get you out of a rough spot, but nothing beyond that. A good, solid shield cast by an experienced unicorn, such as Shining Armor, might as well be unbreakable.” His free hand came to rest on the pendant while the other sped up its movement, tapping it with a finger for emphasis. “His spellwork and Twilight’s magic reside in this, meaning the wearer's shields will be as strong as Shining’s regardless of their skill level.”

The circular motions became faster, his magic filling the gaps where his wrists could not. As they spun, both the solar and lunar blades acquired a white-tinged glow. I could virtually feel the heat coming from them from where I was standing.

“Strong enough to protect you from almost any form of direct attack.” He concluded, shifting his stance to face the open space alongside the beach north of us. Sunny and Izzy, ears perked to absorb every word, took a couple of steps back to completely clear what was slowly turning out to be a spectacular splash zone.

‘Let's see what this human is capable of.’

“Protego.” Alex murmured, his gauntlet flashing momentarily and a blueish dome of raw magic materializing where his sight was set, a couple of meters away from us but close enough for us to get a good look. Featureless beyond its dome-like shape, small whips of magic trailed its smooth surface in hypnotizing patterns.

Without warning, the amount of energy coming from the blades surged tenfold, making my fur stand on end from the sheer amount of magic being funneled into them. Alex readied his stance and, in a swift, practiced move, he twirled around on his heels to build momentum and he sent his blades like a projectile at the speed of light towards the shield.

Virtually no time passed between the moment Binary left his gloved hand to the moment it crashed against the dome. A flash of light was followed by an ear-splitting boom, the shockwave strong enough to reverse the waves as they came in again to lap the coast and send us all to our rumps, such was the power behind his attack.

Again, do NOT underestimate the human.

A huge plume of sand was lifted around the area of impact, the seaside breeze blowing it away quickly to reveal the translucent dome of blueish magic completely unscathed, as if the projectile smashed against it had been nothing but a spat-out toothpick. Not a single scratch, much less a crack or dent of any kind had been made in it. Our human friend stood in place, retracting the lingering throwing arm while casting an analytical look at the complete lack of damage. Smirking victoriously, he sent his sights over his shoulder with a smug twitch of his eyebrows. A wave of his gloved hand saw the shield dispersed into a thousand light particles fading into nothingness.

“Sheesh.” Muttered Izzy, vigorously shaking the clinging sand from her coat, a gesture that Sunny imitated once she could close her unhinged jaws.

“Remind me not to mess with that human.” Zipp’s sister commented behind me to the early risers amongst her fandom, who summed up to be her only adoring public at this hour. We’d decided to get an early start before the beach could become more crowded, and after that display of power, I was more happy than ever with our choice.

“A shield cast under the influence of the pendant will hold against almost anything.” Alex resumed his teachings to his two pupils. Stretching the same arm he’d used to throw the blades, he muttered a short word I couldn't quite catch, all of them being in that strange language he used. The magnetic humming returned, dulled at first and rising in frequency as the weapon returned to its owner, spinning madly as it cut through the air from the place it had ended up after the crash beyond our line of sight. Just as with the shield, not a single scratch marred the twin surfaces of its sister blades, still burning with the strength of the sun, immediately crystallizing the displaced sand where they’d cut the miniature dunes on their way back to their master, creating beautiful shapes of glass in their wake that sparkled with the early sun’s rays.

‘Beautiful, and sharp. That’s a violation of directive fourteen slash three-eight-B regarding safety conditions for beachgoers. Gotta deal with them after we’re done here.’ I filed a mental note for later.

His fist closed around the joined handles once the blades were in reach, his free hand going to his neck and removing the pendant, securing the cord around his palm to free his fingers while his posture readied again.

“However,” he proceeded to continue, “Without this, the strength of your shield will be that of the caster's actual skill and power output. It’s true, however, that there are several ways to cast a shield depending on the nature of the incoming attack, but it’ll be easier to focus on the basic form of the protection spell for now and leave the rest for later.” Once again, he stretched his free hand before him. “Protego.” Another shield then took the place of the previous one. A quick look revealed no difference between it and its predecessor, but I for one was NOT going to get in between that human and the dome-shaped dummy to get a closer look. I valued my physical integrity enough to stay rooted where I was, thank you very much!

‘And you’re gonna spar with that guy on a second's notice… I should've stayed in bed…’

This time it was simpler; no spinning blades around him or anything of the sort. Alex lowered his center of gravity and, with a big umph, threw his burning projectile straight toward the shimmering dome. Where the previous one had held strong, this one was cut through by the blades as a hot knife cuts through butter, exploding outwards in a myriad shower of particles before dematerializing completely. It offered no resistance whatsoever to the lethal weapon, which continued its path of destruction unbothered before meeting the cliffside at the end of the beach, bringing a couple of tons worth of rocks down with it the moment it made contact.

‘... Welp, I guess our beach just became a couple o’ meters shorter!’

Flexing his neck and cracking his wrists, Alex announced that the demonstration was over, stepping closer to the two mares and snapping his fingers to regain their attention, previously fixed on the atrocity he’d committed on our seaside landscape.

“You get the gist of it, yes?”

Sunny and Izzy offered shaky nods, gulping loudly at the earlier demonstration of sheer strength. While everypony enjoys a bit of self-pride once in a while, the last thing Alex wanted was to scare or intimidate anypony, much less his significant other, a sentiment I noticed in him by the slight flinching at the mares’ collective stiff answers. Bending a knee, he quickly beckoned both into his arms, sharing with them a big human-patented hug and a kiss on their heads to banish the uneasiness clinging to their sand-covered coats. It worked like a charm, especially for his marefriend, whose telltale smile and love-struck eyes were quick to return after his affections. How a creature so destructive can be so cuddly at the same time eluded me, but the same could be said for my mare, so best not to delve too far into it…

Once he was positive he’d shaken his pupils out of their stupor, Alex delivered their next exercise for the morning. “Great. With that out of the way, I want you both to take turns and practice your shield magic. One of you will attack with a basic magic beam, while the other will defend. Feel the easiest path for you to summon a shield as well as get a feel for how much it takes for you to hold that shield. It’s different for everypony, so that’s something I can't help you with, understand?” Sunny and Izzy returned affirmative nods, the former reaching to grab her pendant from the human’s grasp, only for him to retract the hand holding it.

“Nonono,” he playfully chided Sunny, who pouted adorably in response. “That’d be cheating, baby.”

Sunny’s adorable assault couldn't breach Alex’s defenses, an amused chuckle leaving him at the sight of his frowning mare. He made quick work of said frown with a tender peck on her lips, nuzzling his nose against her snout lovingly. “I want you to try first without it, to learn how it feels and what it takes to hold a shield on our own, just in case. I’ll return it after we’re done here, ‘kay?”

Seeing how her crocodile tears weren’t gonna get her anywhere, Sunny’s nostrils emitted a defeated sigh, and returning the human’s playful smirk, she planted a furtive kiss on his lips before trotting back to stand beside Izzy.

“Okay then,” Alex rose back to his feet. “Let’s go through the steps, sweetie.”

His marefriend nodded firmly, her loving features quickly hardening in concentration. Widening her gait a bit, Sunny went through the steps in a self-targeted whisper before committing to the transformation into her alicorn form. Her translucent assets weren’t a usual part of her scarce daily wardrobe; Sunny claimed that she felt more comfortable with her true self, which when summed with the almost mindless adoration the townsponies would exhibit in the presence of her shimmering wings and horn, combined together into something Sunny grew tired of very fast. No matter how the orange mare pleased, everypony always started acting weird when she transformed. Alex said something about a psychological thingamajig I couldn't make heads or tails of. Regardless of any of that, however, on the scarce occasions when she would summon her alicorn form, she could now do so almost effortlessly. It had taken a lot of practice and quite an amount of self introspection according to her. Whatever had been her path, we didn't question her methods as long as she could summon her two wings and horn at will, without them flickering on and off or appearing in weird proportions or some other crazy thing.

It’d been fun to witness; for everypony except Sunny, of course.

A deep breath, relaxed posture, and closed eyes to focus on a clear goal. Tense, silent seconds passed as the rolling of the waves accompanied Sunny’s even breathing, with no trace of nervousness or frustration, two emotions that had been the main antagonists in her very first attempts to transform. Soon after, I felt my fur stand on end, similar to when Alex charged his blades with magic. No explosion of uncontrolled magic sent us on our backs that time, only the gorgeous image of alicorn Sunny gracing us after a short flash of light which didn't harm us beyond a hard blink or two.

I simply can’t put into words how immensely proud I felt of her, that rambunctious filly who had given my father more than one headache as the previous sheriff, my best friend since I could remember. Now a proud, powerful alicorn, her abilities meticulously shaped by our human pal to bring the best out of her.

“That's my girl.” Alex celebrated proudly, giving the transformed mare a quick round of applause to which Izzy joined in, albeit in a more energetic, hoofball-match manner. Poor Sunny was never a pony to take pride in something, so the embarrassed red that spread all the way to her ears was a usual sight for us.

“Okay then, off you go! Train hard, and I’ll see about giving you a reward tonight.” Those last words were for his marefriend, whose blush promptly rose tenfold to the point she could've passed as one of the tomatoes somepony was currently growing in the community garden. Ignoring Izzy’s teasing laugh and Alex’s twitching eyebrows, and needing no further motivation to get her rear into gear, Sunny dragged the naughty unicorn by her tail to a free space to begin their training, which only lasted for a few serious minutes before derailing into a game of tag of sorts with one shielding and the other blasting off magic. They were having too much fun, those two.

A shame I wouldn't be able to join in their merriment; as soon as Alex had ushered the mares off to their training session, his predatory eyes zeroed in on me; an evil, almost manic grin now stretched across his lips.

‘Oh, boy…’

His slow, meticulous gaze toward me didn't help ease my growing apprehension, nor did the sight of his blades once again affixing themselves to his stretched hand from the pile of rubble they’d ended up being lodged deeply into.

“U-Um…” I sputtered the moment he came into voice’s reach. “You’re not going to use them, r-right? We’re only sparring.”

“... What do you think?” The two-legged, furless cougar about to pounce me purred, flashing me a toothy smile and making me swallow yet another nervous lump.

I was NOT happy with my shaky legs and scaredy front, especially since my marefriend had been considerate enough to postpone her training routine for a nice, front-row seat for the show of strength and bravery her stallion was about to give.

I’d felt very confident that morning when we’d discussed the sparring session. Now, Zipp was in for a show alright…

Alex stood tall and defiant before me, looking down at me with a manic gleam in his brown eyes.

‘Come on, Hitch, time to stallion up!’

I met his cocky façade head on, puffing out my chest and clenching my jaws, puffs of steam leaving my nostrils as my concentration hardened. If that human thought he was gonna tousle me around like a foal’s toy, he had another thing coming!

We held the standoff for a couple of tension-filled moments before the human couldn’t keep it inside anymore and burst out laughing, with me following close while doing my absolute best to hide the sigh of absolute relief under the false chuckling.

“Come on, bud, these are way too much for either of us.” He jested, sending Binary straight into the sand, the twinblades digging halfway into the moist soil with barely any strength behind them. I don’t need to tell you how happy I was that he’d decided to leave those aside for our spar. I was feeling even more confident now! When it came to raw physical strength, we earth ponies were unmatched!

“Run that monkey through the sand, cheesy buns!!” My dearest Zipp cheered for me, to my utmost dismay.

Alex, who was in the middle of removing his shirt, stopped his movements abruptly to peek over the upturned cloth’s rim.

“... She did not call you cheesy buns.” He prodded blankly. I could only nod in embarrassment. “‘Cause that sounds like…”

“I know. Can we please just get on with kicking the hay out of each other?” I interrupted him rudely, not wanting to delve further into the stupid nickname my mare found sick pleasure in calling me. With a metaphorical facehoof, Alex finished removing his upper clothing, crumpling it and discarding it carelessly nearby. Even with his semiregular training routine, he’d barely built up any muscle since the first time he’d showed himself shirtless. He’d excused himself with some science nonsense about building muscle with so little protein in his diet, but I suspected he just didn't have it in him to crank the ‘bells like a proper stallion. He even held onto the tiniest amount of belly which Sunny found irresistibly adorable, sentiment she had let slip once and was promptly teased about. But the most striking feature of his bare chest was the scar that forever moored his frame, something between a slash and a tear just under his left nipple (males with nipples, these humans are weird), around where I guessed a human’s heart would be located.

The scar was ugly, not gonna lie, but the story behind it was what truly chilled our blood back in the day. It was easy to forget the nightmares this seemingly normal being had gone through, and what manner of strength it took him to keep on smiling every day and not throw himself off a cliff.

The humming of his powering gauntlets brought me back to the waking world. “Hey hey hey!!” I called in alarm. “I thought we agreed on no magic!”

Alex ignored my warning with a knowing grin, banging one wrist with the other in an X-shaped maneuver once he was powered up. Flashing twice before settling, a magical construct materialized around him in the shape of a blueish, mostly featureless armor, as if a colt had drawn it over his body. Translucent enough to be see-through, almost resembling the texture of the domed shield of his previous demonstration, which hinted to me what this new spell was about.

“You’re an earth pony, Hitch.” Alex began while making sure the armor remained solid and stable around him. “Any good kick from you can splinter my human bones like a toothpick. So I’ll do you a favor and prioritize my physical integrity, lest you want Sunny on your tail after hurting her sugar bear.”

“Yeah… Yeah, no, I don’t want that.” I muttered to myself, fighting down a full-body shudder, world-ending scenarios flashing in my mind.

Nopony would ever find my remains…

“Don’t worry your pretty little tail. Still hurts like a bitch.” He tapped his protected abdomen twice. “Remember what I told you about good feedback?”

“That was for video games, you idiot!” I cried in exasperation for that human.

“Then I guess we’re playing Mortal Coltback.” He fired, getting into position and spurring me to do the same.

The time was ahoof to beat the snot out of each other… proverbially, that is. With slow, calculated steps, we ran a warm-up lap around each other, sizing up one another in search of weak spots and openings, our twitching muscles waiting restlessly for the appropriate moment.

Alex wasn't done with his teasing, however, as he shifted his weight to his left leg while keeping his sights on me. “We gotta give ‘em a good show, eh, sheriff?” He nudged his nose in the direction of the pegasi sisters.

Two could play at that game. “Actually, I’m just happy I can finally kick your flank after catching you checking out Zipp the other day.” Not actually true, but he didn't need to know that.

Alex didn't take the bait. Instead, he played around by casting a quick, almost imperceptible look at the aforementioned mare who, along with her sister, was drinking in the show on the sidelines, his devilish grin growing in size.

‘Oh, he is so dead!!’

Puffing out an angry snort, I pawed at the sand before me, getting a feel for the drag before charging what would soon be a dead human. I targeted his legs, reasoning his bipedal stance could be easily toppled, leaving him exposed for a nice, solid beating.

I’d forgotten he was an experienced fighter.

Just shy of a meter before running him over, Alex surprised me with a swift side step, his posture lowering with one leg stretching at ground level while the other knee won distance against his stomach. Before I knew it, I was snout-deep in the sand from a nasty kick to my side, cursing the names of all available deities while sneezing hard to get the sand out of my nostrils.

“Dude, that’s, like, the first issue I had to learn to deal with.” He called unamused, creating some distance between us before readying his posture again.

“Shut up.” I shushed him angrily, chastising myself for my utter lack of foresight. Mindless attacks like that were out of the question. This human was indeed at a fair disadvantage to us ponies while holding nothing but his natural gifts, meaning he was due to learn how to turn said disadvantages into strengths. More strategic, meticulous fighting was called for, and it was time for my sheriff training to shine.

The following rounds consisted mostly of prodding blows; only a few, strategically placed hits were exchanged, each of us further testing the other, finding weak spots where our initial dance had not. His limber frame and longer limbs granted him reach and flexibility, allowing him to dodge most of my attacks with his superior agility. He had stayed true to his word, for I could see him hissing and clenching his teeth when one of my attacks made contact with his protected body, eliciting a smear of guilty pleasure from me.

We’d brush it off as pals with a cold beer afterward.

I managed to catch him off guard after feigning an uppercut, upsetting his balance with a kick of my free leg, which sent him to the ground with a heavy headbutt to his exposed belly. With a pained grunt, it was his turn to eat some sand.

“Wooo!! Teach that human a lesson, baby!!”

Filled with strength at the sound of my mate’s cheers, I allowed myself to take a proud stance, utterly forgetting the first rule of combat and placing myself at a disadvantage.

Alex took advantage of my slip-up, getting the jump on me way faster than I would’ve anticipated. The cocky smirk was erased from my muzzle the moment I felt him jump and slide his back over mine, surprising me from behind by pressing a foot on my leg joint, bending it against my will, and forcing me into an awkward stance. The other leg flew in a very specific path toward a very specific place, and this world did not have enough previously cursed deities to thank for his knee stopping shy of crushing a very… sensitive part of my male anatomy.

“Oh, ponyfeathers...” I caught Pipp gasping, but I couldn't assess their reactions properly, for I was completely paralyzed, at the mercy of my sparring buddy who, at any given moment, could inflict a stallion’s worst nightmare upon me.

“Hitch,” He called cockingly. “Do you realize where my knee was headed?” He asked with what I could almost feel as a shit-eating grin sending shivers down my back.

“I-I do,” I answered pathetically.

“Do you know what would happen were it to complete that journey?”

I gulped loudly, offering a shaky nod. “Z-Zephyr Heights will go on without an heir, I’d reckon…”

“Is the future of Zephyr Heights worth… I don't know, a month-long exclusive right to your Pony Station?”

‘Son of a three-headed dog…’

“I believe they do.” I snarled between clenched teeth.

“Thought as much.”

And with that, I was free, and my tenders were left unscathed. A much-deserved sigh after escaping such a perilous situation was in order, but Alex was apparently in a hurry, for the moment his hand loosened its grip on my tail he was once again aiming for my legs, this time adamant about bringing me down entirely and winning the upper hoof.

If Hitch was to go down, on my father’s badge I was gonna drag that hairless excuse for a minotaur down with me!

Using what little inertia I’d gained from my stumble, I transmitted it to Alex, biting hard on the sleeve of his pants to trap him in a shared demise. I caught him off guard with my desperate maneuver, and the both of us ended up stumbling to the ground. I wanted to take advantage and turn his strategy against him. I knew he wouldn't stand a chance against me taking the upper hoof. He was quick to notice, and even quicker to act on it, for it was only by a fur’s edge that I missed getting a hold on him. Before I could recover from the stumble, however, Alex was well out of my reach and dusting himself off.

“Well then,” He talked between tired puffs. He was considerably more drained than me, and he knew I knew. “It seems like we have reached an impasse.”

‘Oh, now you chicken out.’

“So, I propose we move on to the next part of the training.” With a good, full-body shake, the magical armor around Alex’s frame disappeared at his silent command. “I wanna see what your flora magic can do.”

‘... Is this guy stupid?’

Alex was far from stupid, which we had seen proven on several recent occasions. But asking to face off against flora magic? Without his armor? I mean, not to toot my own non-existent horn, but from the few earth ponies of Maretime Bay who had any semblance of control over our weird, plant-based magic, I was proud to admit that I could use it quite well. It was actually very helpful at the office, getting me through towers of paperwork in a jiffy.

And it was strong. Perhaps it drank from our inner earth pony might, but I’ve seen entire houses lifted under the conjured vines of an earth pony worker, and not to forget the incident we had a couple of months ago with the overgrown flowers and half the bay buried in pollen.

I sneezed from the sheer memory of it.

“Bless you!” Alex offered as I rubbed my itchy snout.

“Are you sure about this?”

Puffing up like my winged deputies when we were on our rounds, Alex was quick to brush off my concern. “You still forget who you’re dealing with, mate.” That goosebump-inducing magnetic hum filled the coast once again, Alex’s twinblades leaving their resting place on the sand to fit their usual place at his right hand. He pointed the sun-themed one at me in a daring invitation. “You land a hit with your creepy hentai vines, I’ll take Sparky for the weekend so you two can go take care of that heir-to-the-throne business.” The flat surface of the same blade came to rest against his chest next. “I hold for five minutes, I take your girl on a date. Sound good, Zipp?!”

“Win-win for me!” My marefriend replied with a little too much enthusiasm. I bore the full strength of my incredulity at her, but her smug grin and cocky stance were too strong for the likes of me.

‘Traitor’ I mouthed to her, earning the playful tip of her tongue peeking through those lips I’ve had the privilege of sampling more than once by that point. You can say all you want about Zipp and her tomboyish attitude; if that mare gets a hold of you, you’re in for a ride in all the senses of the word.

I was more motivated than ever, and a bit intrigued too on the side. Since the festival fiasco and the appearance of our new magic, I’d only found room for day-to-day uses and such, but never a combat scenario, regardless of how unconventional this sparring session between the two of us was slowly working out to be.

‘Heh, sure could've used it against those nasty timberwolves…’ I lamented inwardly, the scarring sight of a wounded, bleeding Zipp hurting now more than ever with her being my mate.

“Your funeral, then.” I sent one last warning that Alex nonchalantly brushed under the proverbial rug. We both readied our stances once again, although no direct contact would follow that time. We both held a new advantage against the other, so this second round was looking to be way more interesting.

My… uh, ‘creepy hentai vines’ (whatever that means) would fill in where my slower frame and lesser reach failed to subjugate the human. I could control a bunch of those at the same time, and grow them pretty big pretty fast, too. I’d noticed how, even being magical in nature and all the jazz, they didn't do that well grown on the beach compared to summoning them elsewhere. I suspected the salt water didn’t agree with them, or perhaps it was another thing entirely. If the big brains still hadn't figured out the whys and hows of flora magic, this town’s sheriff was gonna be no different.

Regardless of that, I was confident in my ability, and the exact same thing could be said about Alex and the twinblades he wielded. Just like my magic, I’d never witnessed him using them in a real-life situation, but his training sessions were enlightening enough to denote both his striking ability with them as well as the power behind those shimmering blades.

For a man of science and cold logic as he came off as, that guy knew his way around a tussle, even if the silent regret behind every slash spoke of a different reality.

Binary burst to life, its two halves powering up at the command of its holder with, small, almost imperceptible tendrils of mist dragged from its tips by the seaside breeze. I felt for my little plants, but I was far more grateful that they were the ones to get the brunt of the beating. Those things looked like they could easily cook me just by standing next to them!

The deal was sealed with my human pal taking one last posture before firing the starting shot, with his huge weapon of choice held behind his back, torso in a semi-sideway turn, and a free arm stretched before him.

‘Wait, I’ve seen that before…’

“Is that from ‘The Phantom Menace’?” I recalled one of the many pieces of human media he’d shared with us.

His empty hand went for his chest. “I’m so proud of you…” He trembled with fake teary eyes.

Rolling my eyes tiredly, I filed any further nonsense away for later. Now, it was showtime!

“This is gonna be a battle for the history books, Pippsqueaks!!” Pipp excitedly cried to the screen of her recording phone. I was glad to see everypony was in the mood.

Empowered by one last encouraging, flying kiss from my mate, I steadied my nerves and felt the tingling of my flora magic spread through my hooves. I can’t quite describe the feeling, something in between a tickling and a tug, as if trying to reach for something that wasn’t quite there, something that you can't perceive without magic.

But, oh boy, it was most certainly there, for a group of five, earth-pony-approved, green n’ thick vines soon sprouted around me. Like snakes about to pounce, they swayed lightly on their axis’, tentatively waiting for my command to snare that human and squeeze a smoothie out of him…

Sunny did NOT find that funny later on.

‘Let’s see if his circus acts can keep up with me.’ I plotted with an evil smirk.

Even in light of the new threat, Alex remained calm and collected, chocolate-brown orbs analyzing each and every one of the vines, keeping a close eye for any sudden movements. Instead of engaging them one by one and granting him the chance to counter, I went for a swarming attack, commanding the five vines to engage him from every direction. I only needed one good hit to succeed, and his attention would be too divided to counter them all at the same time. The vines followed my will, stretching out from below the warm sand as a swarm of angry wasps ready to poke this human to Tartarus and back.

I saw his eyes widening for a second. It seemed like he wasn't expecting me to go with everything so soon. Still, he remained as he was for the half a second it took the vines to reach him before beginning his dance.

And what a dance it was.

Two from each side, and one to sneak under him and target his legs. Alex saw all of them coming and reacted accordingly. I had seen him spin his blades before, but never in the manner he displayed to fend off my offensive. Building up inertia with a few spins around his body, Alex lowered his center of gravity and, gyrating on his heels, spun around with his blades following, tilting them at an angle before releasing them. A thin trail of magic connected them with his gauntlet as the blades followed in a circular movement around him, describing a lap around the human and virtually eviscerating the attackers before returning to their sender. All angles were protected, and my vines were rendered tip-less, and a bit crispy on the side too, disintegrating into a puff of magical mist soon after, leaving n stupefied sheriff and a couple of cheering ponies behind.

“Motherbucker…” I cursed under my breath, pawing at the sand and snorting angrily at the sight of his shit-eating features.

“I was thinking of Molly’s, Zipp. Heard they have the best tomato soup this side of Equus!”

“AAAARGH!!!”

I was mad, and my mate’s giggling didn't help things at all. This time, I decided to erase the distance factor and summon vine after vine straight from under his feet, hoping to trap him and deliver a well-deserved buck to his stallion bits.

Alex felt the sand shift under his feet and, drawing from his maddening agility, made it out of my surprise attack with a nimble step back, trailing an upward slash behind him to cut the perpetrator in half.

One after the other I sent more and more vines against him, aiming for the weak spots I’d identified during our initial tussle. But, his newly acquired weapon covered all the openings his bare fists couldn’t. If I had to describe his style, it would be aggressive and extremely defensive, never leaving the proverbial bubble that the limited reach of his dual-ended weapon provided.

It was a nonstop dance, his blades never stopping even when no immediate attack was incoming, never losing inertia and always in close reach to counterattack in any direction. It didn’t matter what direction an incoming attack would take, one blade was always within close reach, their scorching edges making swift work of the plant-based attackers.

How he could hold the concentration required for engaging with two, three, FOUR vines at the same time, and keeping a close watch of each of them while using his limber body and spinning blades to keep them at bay, was completely beyond me. Nothing I could send would penetrate his bubble of doom.

After two minutes of relentless assault, one of the vines managed to get a hold of his left foot. Sending a silent command, the vine tensed and squeezed against his ankle, rendering him static and stealing the advantage of agility from him. Now rooted in place, Alex spewed a curse whose content was lost in the relentless buzz of his spinning blades, but he remained firm in concentration, opting to limit his reach further in pursuit of a tighter defense, granting me the chance to get closer with the vines before being decimated.

I was running out of time. I needed something to breach through his rock-solid defense, and fast! His immobilized state brought a new opening. Focusing, I stomped hard on the ground, the shimmering, vine-themed engraving stretched through the sand to reach the place where my next attack would appear.

This time I was aiming for the big guns. A huge, looming vine breached through the ground to reach five times Alex’s height. Had it been a monster of sorts, it would surely have roared to the heavens defiantly.

It was the human’s turn to gulp loudly, eyes fixed on this looming threat. I needed all of my focus to move that thing around, meaning it was impossible for me to summon another one nearby and use the distraction to catch him off guard. No matter, my new pal here was all it would take to knock that human down a peg or two.

“Let’s see you dodge that!” I couldn’t help but boast.

Smart-cookie Alex knew he couldn't let that thing get anywhere close to him, but my vine still held firmly to his ankle, snuffing out the possibility of a retreat. He’d have to go for a ranged attack, and that’s exactly what I was hoping he’d do.

Without any other alternatives, I forced Alex to repeat the show with the shield, sending his blades in a desperate attack to render the looming threat null before I had the chance to strike.

A shame that I’d anticipated that move.

Just as his blades left his hand, I commanded my new pal sideways, effectively dodging his swords-turned-projectile and sending the vine in a sweeping run, aiming to knock him on his tailless flank. If that didn't count as a hit, then nothing would.

I was sure of my victory. That human’s grabby fingers would remain well away from my marefriend while she and I partook in… adult things.

And yet, I’d missed a crucial detail in my victory drunkness. His primary weapon was out of commission for a short time, but I’d completely forgotten about his other asset. Assets to be more precise, in the shape of his two gauntlets which began to power up the moment Alex uncovered my plot.

He needed only the second it took the humongous vine to breach the distance to charge his spell, a simple, improvised shockwave spell, but powerful enough to send the vine reeling backward and drill a sharp sting to my forehead.

Momentarily distracted by the pain in my temple, I lost control of the vine and visual of my target since a plume of dust and sand had filled the area after the blast, precious moments Alex then used to resummon his blades, sending them straight into the vine around his foot instead of back to his hand.

I had lost my edge, and by the time the dust had settled, he was once again free and ready for the next wave.

“Aaaaaand, that’s five minuteeeees~” Pipp announced, having proclaimed herself Timekeeper without me knowing.

“Damm it!!” My head lowered in shame, ears plastered on my scalp as I looked down dejectedly at my still shimmering forehooves, the twisted engraving disappearing in a flash of magic, my flora magic following in tow as I relinquished my hold on the earth.

‘He’s good… He’s so very good.’

“Welp, that’s it then.” Alex nudged between tired gulps of air, as drained after the session as I was. The stinging in my forehead was slowly ebbing away, leaving behind a sense of tiredness I was unaccustomed to. Who knew that using magic could be as draining as physical exercise, or even more so?!

My ears twitched at the sound of his steps growing closer. I readied myself for some much-deserved gloating from him. However, the human remained silent during the short walk, leaving behind Binary to free a hand that came to rest on my withers, brushing my fur and delivering a couple of friendly pats.

“Congrats, mate. You won.” He spoke while rubbing his aching wrists.

“I-I what?” I stuttered in disbelief, seeking his pride-filled orbs for an explanation.

He shrugged nonchalantly. “You got a nice grab on lefty here.” He balanced on his right leg, wiggling his left foot before me. “I'd call that a hit.”

“B-But…”

“Unless you wanna get Zipp off your back using me…”

“N-NO!!! I…”

“‘Cause, dude, I've seen low, but you get the ooofff!!”

Izzy was gracious enough to save me from what would surely have derailed into a long, uncomfortable talk with my marefriend (who I was absolutely NOT trying to ditch, just in case you're a bit short in the upstairs department). She and Sunny had concluded their training slash game of tag a while ago and had balanced on their hooves in trepidation while Alex and I sparred. The unicorn was itching to comment on the fight, clinging to the poor human while replaying our movements as best as her creative mind could muster.

“... And then you went *slash*, and then he went *whoosh* and *bang* and…”

Alex, chuckling at the mare’s energetic number, placed an arm under her rump to secure her and tried to keep both of them steady.

Sunny strode in a more collected manner, although hers was a face of immense pride for her human, a confidant, somewhat smug sway in her flanks as she drank in the sight of her semi-naked coltfriend.

‘Oh ho, those two are in for some fun after their date.’

Alex managed to pry Izzy from his back, resting the unicorn on her hooves and tussling her mane in appreciation for her energetic reconstruction.

Sunny sneaked behind her coltfriend, providing her congratulations in a peculiar manner, that manner being shamelessly licking Alex's exposed, salty side.

“...”

“...”

“... A-hem.” Alex cleared his throat, catching the mare mid-lick.

Sunny put on her innocent mask and, with Alex's deadpan leer going over her head, smacked her gums and cast a distracted look around as if a butterfly had just fluttered around the place.

Tapping twice on her scalp, Alex sought his mare’s attention.

“Yes?” She asked sweetly.

The human’s gaze narrowed, and the tip of his tongue peeked through his lips, ready to give the mare a taste of her own medicine.

Like a startled cat, Sunny yelped and skittered to the side, fleeing as if a Tartarus demon was on her tail and leaving a stupefied Alex behind.

“Oh, I see how it is.” He wailed in faked offense and went to deliver the same treatment to Izzy who, just like Sunny, scampered off the moment the human went in for the pounce with a mad giggle, restarting the game of tag the mares had been previously engaged in.

I would’ve followed the trio’s antics for a bit more if it wasn't for the harsh pull I felt on my ear, demanding my attention elsewhere.

“Ouch!” I cried in pain to the inconsiderate pony. “What was that abobububu…” Only to meet muzzle-first with my marefriend's very much heated, lust-filled features, drinking in my exhausted self as a griffon would eye a fresh kill.

I could’ve passed as a cherry tomato the moment I noticed what kind of thoughts were going through Zipp’s mind. I felt my tired muscles scream at me for mercy, but that pony wasn't gonna give me any of it.

“H-Hi, honey.” I stuttered weakly.

“Stud.” She greeted me in short, dragging her eyes all over me slowly and meticulously.

‘Oh, boy…’

“Did I do good?”

“Sufficient.” She purred, licking her lips.

My throat was getting sore from all that nervous gulping. “U-Um, did you drink your morning nettle tea?”

“I did.” Her predatory pools narrowed further.

“A-And?” I squeaked out.

“What do you think?”

For every step she took forward, I kept the safety distance with one step back, although I knew I had no escape when her mind went places.

“That I-I’m gonna have to lend you a hoof?”

“Good boy.” Her voice came out husky and needy. A couple of steps more and she’d pushed me into the reach of the gentle, low-tide waves. Thankfully, Zipp decided she’d teased me enough, for the time being at least. “I’ll wrap things up here and I’ll meet you at the office.” She suddenly halted her advance, spinning on her hooves to head in the opposite direction, but not before shamelessly brushing her tail all over my face and giving me an unfiltered view of what awaited me. “Don’t bother showering.”

With a mighty flap of her wings, my mate took to the skies, pumping her wings hard until I lost sight of her beyond the cliffs bordering the bay, although something told me it wouldn't be long until I found her again. Or she found me, to be more precise.

‘Welp, you know how it is. A stallion’s job is never done while in estrus season.’

“Uh, sorry about that guys.” I turned on unsteady hooves to the group of ponies and sole human. “I, uh… have places to be.”

“You don’t say.” Alex teased with a knowing smile, eyebrows twitching in emphasis and re-kindling what I suspected had become a permanent blush by then. “Make sure you don’t trip on your dick on the way t- OUCH!!”

Alex’s smartflank-ed comment was rendered naught by Sunny’s sharp nipping at his butt, the mare giving the human a frown of disapproval.

“Hey! I’ve seen it happen before!” He protested while rubbing his tender flesh. “The guy had to get stitches after th- OUCH! IZZY!!” Only for our peppy friend to target the other cheek, sparking the game of chase once again, now with a vengeful human in pursuit.

As endearing a sight as it was, you’ll agree with me in how I had more important places to be so, running disgusting images of my grandma in my mind to quickly deal with the issue between my hind legs and save myself the embarrassing public display, I made my way to the real training session of the day.

‘I’m starting to feel Alex like with his ‘I’m too old for this crap’ nonsense…’

The morning’s training session had gone satisfactorily, I'd say. Our magic wielders had learned and practiced the basics of shield magic to keep themselves protected should the need arise, and I was confident in our sheriff's skill both in hand-to-hoof combat as well as in his domain of flora magic to help us out of any rough spots. Not that I ever hoped they’d have to put it into practice. Actually, I prayed for the time to never come, but an untamed Equestria without ponykind to look over it and tame it promised nothing but trouble for us brave enough to breach it, especially if we were to widen our search area on the hunt for more clues about the looming threat that promised to turn our little corner of Equestria upside down. Things had remained peaceful for quite a while, the relationships between the three tribes blooming and solidifying at a striking speed, to the point that it almost felt like the rift never happened in the first place.

‘We can rest a bit better now that we know the plan worked, and without us lifting a finger, mind you… Faust, what was I thinking?’

That was only half-true. Whilst Sunny’s bold initiative had driven her to take the necessary step forward and accomplish what I had hoped to do in this era, there was still a lot to be done. My initial goal had been fulfilled in the broader sense, but my everloving benefactor had been sooo kind as to bring me out of stasis sooner than planned and feed me nothing but vague notions regarding an incoming danger. Meaning that my intervention was both needed and secured by her. As Prince of Equestria and, you know, being a good guy and all; I wasn't gonna leave these ponies to fend for themselves, much less now that these silly, colorful horses had carved a new place in my previously shattered heart.

Things were looking up now that I was slowly but surely shaping this new team of heroes into the closest thing to the Element Bearers. I wouldn't be surprised if that tree in the middle of Mane Street one day went up and grew a couple of fancy necklaces to match. In truth, I was conflicted about such a prospect. It was undeniable my new pony family held the tenets of harmony as fiercely and proudly as the old one did; even if their individual traits embodied different elements than the original six, the essence was the same. But, the task of an Element Bearer carried the responsibility of upholding the tenets with the potential of the utmost consequences, going out to face unimaginable threats if the call arose, or filling in the role models ponykind should aspire to become. I could deal with the second one, the first one… not so much.

Only time would tell what awaited us. But for now, I had more pressing matters to concern myself with. Not in a bad way, mind you. It was actually looking to be a treat, for my loving Sunny and I were heading for a date that very same afternoon. We were way past the actual dating phase of the relationship, especially considering there hadn't been one needed in the first place. But we still enjoyed the occasional outing for the two of us, like any healthy couple is entitled to partake in.

We still had to take care of our morning jobs, though. Being lovey-dovey for each other didn't magically erase eother one's individual responsibilities. So, albeit reluctantly, we’d agreed to meet at the gazebo in Mane Square after we were done with our jobs, at the location where Sunny tended to partake in her weekly ‘awareness and citizen action’ campaigns. I made use of the hospital showers to rid myself of the worst of the stench (I’d gotten enough lewd side glances on my way there to last me a lifetime), and spent yet another slow morning at the clinical lab, partaking in a personal brand of research using the lack of activity to my advantage. It was almost done, although testing it would be another issue on its own.

Non-aggressive tendencies, healthy eating, daily exercise… Pony hospitals usually weren’t as populated as the ones back on Earth. That ought to teach my fellow humans a thing or two.

Five o’clock had been the agreed time for our meeting, plenty of time for a nice, easy stroll around town before heading for dinner and one of Sunny’s favorites. Nothing too fancy or the like, but they could pride themselves in making the best tomato soup my taste buds had ever had the pleasure of orgasming to.

I had grabbed something light on my way out after punching out and decided to just wait around for my marefriend, enjoying the cool shadow provided by the gazebo as I lazily kicked my legs against the steps I was reclining on, letting the buzz of the pony crowd drone out to the background while checking over my socials, an impossible activity in the previously technology-lacking Equestria. I found it absurdly exhilarating to be running my thumb up and down the screen once again after my long departure from Earth.

“Hi there!” A feminine voice unglued my eyes from the rolling screen just as I was about to click on Pipp’s livestream. In front of me stood two pegasus mares with a couple of shopping bags tucked under their folded wings.

One I knew well. “Good afternoon, Windy,” With the other, it had been a while. “Oh, hey there, Lumi, looking sickly as ever.”

Luminous rolled her eyes tiredly and followed Windy to take a seat at my side. I scooted over to leave enough space for the both of them, but not before receiving an offended nudge on the shoulder.

“You’re one to talk, you escaped lab experiment.” She stuck her tongue at me, earning an amused giggle from Windy.

“Ouch.” I scrunched up my features in false pain, rubbing my shoulder exaggeratedly as if she had given me a serious punch. “That’s a new one.”

“Points for me, then.” Lumi savored her small victory with a self-congratulating smirk, following Windy’s example and resting her bags on the steps before us to rest her wings. “Sooo, what’s crackin', big guy?”

“Just waiting for my significant other,” I replied nonchalantly, fixing my attention back to the screen. “We’re going out for dinner tonight.”

“Ooooooo~” Both mares teased at the same time with kissy faces and twitching eyebrows.

“Faust above…” I ran a desperate hand through my face, a half-assed attempt to hide from the embarrassment. Those two were having too much fun at my expense.

“Awww, come on, big guy.” Lumi bumped my shoulder in a friendly gesture. “We’re just playing.”

“I can see that.” I jabbed back in playful offense. The pitiful sight I had stumbled on the phone’s screen spurred me to share it with my two companions. “We’d arranged to meet in ten minutes or so, but it’s looking like Sunny won’t make it in time,” I explained, turning the device to show the pegasi pair what I was talking about.

Pipp’s livestream of that day was themed around how to get ready for a date, mares edition, and I’m sure you can guess which unfortunate test subject had drawn the short straw. Poor Sunny stood still in the middle of the room while Pipp applied make-up after make-up to her insecure features. I could easily recognize Mane Melody’s stuffy background behind the two mares. Those green dots all over the place could make you dizzy if you looked long enough…

*Pipp, I’m going to be lat-*

“Aaaa ta ta ta, we’re almost done, Sunny girl, just need to make sure the Pippsqueaks can see your sparkling cheeks shining with my latest product~!*

Begrudgingly following the pegasus’ instructions, Sunny went on a slow three-sixty turn in place to show the camera all available angles of her new, Pipp-approved dress and mane style. She was looking absolutely stunning, who am I trying to kid, but I knew my mate well enough to notice how uncomfortable she actually was under all that attire. Sunny wasn't a digger for fancy clothes and refined looks. Her braided mane and brushed tail were her preferred choice of wardrobe, alongside her trusty side bag, of course.

And that night wouldn't be any different, although it seemed Pipp would have a word to say in that regard.

“Sheesh, poor gal.” Lumi winced at the sorry state of my mare, surely not a fan of kilos-worth of blush on your cheeks and enough eyeliner to blind a pony in the middle of the day.

“I, for one, think she’s looking gorgeous,” Windy added her two bits over Lumi’s shoulder.

“She is,” I agreed with the red-furred pegasus. “But Sunny is more for the natural look if you dig me.”

“Ah, nothing to obstruct the view, eh?” Lumi’s eyebrows raised in insinuation, winning herself a strategically placed pinch on her snout. “Ouch! You’re no fun!” She protested with a muffled voice.

“And you girls are impossible during estrus.”

“Come oooon, I took a double-dose this morning!” Lumi nickered annoyedly with crossed forelegs.

“And you still scared that poor colt up the streetlamp…” Windy deadpanned, earning a glare from her offended companion.

“I wonder how with that eagle’s nest you’re so keen on wearing.” I ran my hand through her two-toned, blue and pink, spiky mane, and properly retreated it before it could get nipped by a fuming Lumi. “Oh, who’s no fun now?”

“I’m gonna dump both your flanks straight into the sea!” She promised to the heavens, her wings twitching at her sides with unrestrained desire.

“While you do that…” I left the pegasus to her cursing, typing on the phone as I hatched an evil plan. “Nopony messes with my mare and gets away with it...” I growled protectively.

My furious typing earned the pegasi’s attention back, both forming a semi pony-pile to look over my shoulder. One bit was worth the price.

Soon, a chime and a short fragment of Pipp’s latest hit interrupted her overdosed tirade regarding how to properly apply eyeliner without making yourself look like a circus clown. *Ow, we got another tip incoming!* She went to check on her tablet, her phone fixed on the tripod and recording. *Huh, that's a funny name… Um, @BestCatarrhini writes, ‘Hi, Pipp. Great news! My sister is pregnant! I’m gonna be a dad!’ Awww, congratulations! I’m sure you’ll be the best da-WAIT WHAT?!!!*

Windy bent over in laughter, having to secure herself against her companion with her wing as her cackling filled the clearing plaza, spinning the heads of the nearby ponies in search of the commotion.

“I'm so gonna prank somepony with that,” Lumi promised at my side, unable to fight down a good chuckle or two.

“You can’t beat a human at ‘The Game of the Internet’,” I announced with absolute confidence.

*ALEX!!!* The cat was out of the bag. Pipp, well versed in the ways of the net, needed only but a few moments to figure out my change of nickname. I caught sight of Sunny’s eyes widening in surprise behind the raging pegasus, lips pressed tightly in a desperate attempt to not burst out laughing too while trying to make herself as inconspicuous as possible. “I’m gonna call the twins and they’re gonna track you down! AND YOU’RE DONE FOR!!!* Pipp yelled to the still recording phone, not bothering to check with the bubbling chat for she knew she had lost them in their own merriment at my prank. With the mood broken, Pipp went behind the cameras to get in touch with the pegasi twins with her second spare phone (the first was the one she’d given me) and track my IP or something, I didn't know, leaving Sunny in the background to discreetly remove the unhealthy amount of makeup from her face. Once done, she rested the towel on the chair's rim and patiently waited for Pipp to return.

*I’ll see you soon.* I saw her lips voicelessly whisper to the camera, careful not to stir the coals on the already burning pegasus.

“I’ll see you soon, baby,” I whispered back, kissing two fingers and resting them over the screen.

*AHA!!* Pipp’s entire rage-filled face filled the livestream. *I got you now, human! Don’t you DARE move from where you are!!”

The last bits of the stream showed Pipp hurriedly exiting her establishment while Sunny quickly scampered behind her, spurred by her protective side fearing for my safety.

With the show over, I switched off the screen and patiently waited for my demise. “You girls wanna hang around and see me torn apart by a pink ball of fluff?” I carelessly offered while leaning back on the stairs, cushioning my head with my forearms.

“Wouldn’t miss it for the world.” Lumi mimicked my pose while Windy returned a nervous laugh.

It took little for the petite, feathery missile to find her target. Flying with deadly purpose, Pipp caught sight of my resting self from her vantage point in the air, my mate tailing her on translucent wings. I took a second to admire her breathtaking form with the falling sun breaking against her shimmering assets, cutting the air with practiced grace thanks to our resident daredevil-turned-instructor.

“Oh lawd, she comin’.”

Pipp made for a strong landing in front of the gazebo, bringing a storm in her wake. The pebbles trembled under her might, two flaming orbs glaring daggers into my soul…

Creep by Radiohead suddenly popped into my head, and I promptly began humming it without a care in the world.

“Damn, girl, you're gonna shed your coat if you don’t take a breather.” Lumi tried to cool Pipp off but was brushed aside with a glare from the smaller pegasus.

I didn't need my eyes open to feel the looming mare over me. Peeking from a narrowed eyelid, I was met with a very angry pony.

“‘Sup?”

“I was in the middle of a VERY important promotion!!”

“You stole my mare.” I blankly countered.

“I needed her for today’s livestream!” She snarled, pressing her snout to my nose. “And you couldn't have chosen another time for your stupid pranks! Now my business is ruined! RUINED!!”

‘Ah, you got a serious competitor here, my dear Rares…’

Opening my eyes and facing a puffing Pipp head-on, I drew from my utter lack of self-preservation instinct and promptly pecked her on the lips.

“... You’re so stupid.” Lumi facehooved while Windy covered her eyes in preparation for the carnage.

“AAAARGH!!”

Fasut was on my side that day, for Sunny was already there to rescue me, trapping the lunging pegasus in her levitating grasp before she could reach my jugular. Kicking and screaming, Pipp struggled to free herself, but Sunny’s magic had grown stronger in these past few months.

“Nnnngg, let go of me!!” Pipp loudly demanded. “I’m gonna drag that monkey to my castle and throw him off my room’s balcony!!”

“Sorry, Pipp, but no touching the goods before I have my date.” Sunny remained impassive against Pipp’s demands, carefully returning her to the ground a good chunk away from me for safekeeping. “You can tear him a new one afterward.”

“Always trust a mare to protect her stud.”

Sending a leer over her shoulder, Sunny flicked her tail to shush me. Pipp was still ready to murder me in the face, but Sunny’s healing personality was just too contagious, and her calming nuzzles soon cooled the scolding princess to a permanent glare in my direction.

“Fine…” She conceded begrudgingly.

Out of immediate danger, I rose back to my feet and approached the pair, leaving the others rooted in their places while they enjoyed our usual dose of nonsense.

Biting down a chuckle in the face of Pipp’s adorable pouting, I dared a hand on her scalp, running my fingers under her silky mane in an apologetic manner.

“Less glitter.” I offered out of nowhere, pointing with my free hand at my cheek. “Too bright under direct light, masks off the eyes.”

Pipp quickly caught up with my feedback on the eyeliner she’d been testing on Sunny on her stream. With a dignified huff, however, she ignored me and sent her attention anywhere else but me, although I could hear the rusty gears in her head slowly turning with my feedback.

“Yeah, you do that.” I patted her head twice and left the pegasus princess in the care of my two previous companions while Sunny and I made for a hasty retreat from the square before Pipp had a change of mind and sent me to the hospital, legs first.

“You’re mean.” Sunny quipped, bumping her rump against my leg as we left the premises to take one of the many side streets leading away from the town's center without a set destination in mind.

“Yeah, I am,” I answered with a guilty grin.

Just as I was about to ask my mate what she had in mind for the afternoon until our dinner, she beat me to it and bumped me again, this time harder, dragging us both into the relative privacy of a nearby alley, away from the few prying eyes of the scarce passersby that littered the side street.

“Um…”

Once again, Sunny was faster. She purred hungrily, her immediate choice of plan differing strikingly from mine, although who was I to protest?

She was on her rear legs and pouncing me before I could blink, capturing my lips and moaning deep into our shared embrace. You can see what half a day apart from her stallion does to a mare in heat, nettle tea or no nettle tea. Funny times indeed.

My hands went for their usual journey to her flanks, groping them wantonly as I felt my lips being pried apart by her demanding tongue. She was so warm, so sweet. I simply lost myself in the mind-numbing sensation and lost my grip on reality, the only time passing the one our lungs marked against the need for breathing.

Her eager huffs tickled my nose, our shared moans reaching dangerously high levels, but I was too deep into our mutual dance to care in the slightest. We dragged on our tongue fight for as long as we could, but the need for air won the battle against our fearsome passion. With a big gulp of air, we reluctantly broke the kiss, Sunny biting my lower lip on her retreat for good measure.

With a nervous chuckle, I released the hold on my mare's thoroughly groped rear to rest my hands against the small of her back, pressing her against me as much as her awkward bipedal stance allowed.

“Gosh, you sure had a lot to give.” I playfully poked, offering a toothy grin.

Sunny’s answer was a beaming smile and dreamy eyes, her tail wagging excitedly behind her. Her forelegs remained fixed behind my neck, chest fluff warming my heart. I wasn't going to go anywhere without her permission.

In light of this situation, I couldn’t help but jest, “Well, I can surely get behind your idea for the afternoon. I mean,” Searching left and right, I sought any passing ponies that might spot us. Finding none, I lowered my reach for one final squeeze. “It’s quiet enough for some head…”

The pony liked what she heard. Her eyelids narrowed and her beaming smile morphed into a devilish smirk. She failed to catch the irony in my words in her love-drunken state, and didn't waste a second to return on all fours and begin nosing her way into my pants.

“Woah woah.” I nudged a very displeased Sunny back, as much distance as the narrow alley would grant me. “It was a joke, baby. Come on, we're gonna make a scene!”

A very unhappy and animalistic whinny left Sunny’s muzzle. She was NOT happy with my proverbial blue-balling… can that term be applied to a mare?... Whatever, she made her displeasure known with an angry snort and a defiant paw on the cobblestone path.

“I know, I know.” I struggled to calm her, knowing fully well how complicated it is for them of the opposite gender. You might find it funny or even ridiculous seeing a mare so out of the loop, but they do have a rough time during estrus. Twilight once described it to me as a feeling similar to that building urgency to use the bathroom, which only gets worse the closer and closer you get to one, and how impossibly hard it is to ignore when the chance is literally in front of you. It’s maddening for them in the worst stages, and the remedy is not something one can provide in most places, much less public. “Tonight, okay? We can go a few rounds to cool you off and you’ll get a good night’s sleep, yes?”

It took her a moment to breach through the hazy fog of her hormones but, with one last frustrated nicker, Sunny caved in, taking a big breath and a good shake to knock herself down a few notches.

“Sorry, I-I just… when I’m so close to you, I…” She mumbled stammered apologies, dipping her head in shame.

“Hey,” I caught her falling muzzle with a hand, fixing her gorgeous aquamarine pearls on mine and offering a reassuring smile. “I understand, baby. I know how a literal pain in the rear is for you gals. I’ll make it up to you tonight.” I sealed the promise with a wink, which quickly skyrocketed her mood up to her usual cheery self.

Deciding it was best if we left the alley before one of us flew off the handle and landed both of us on the following day’s news, we resumed our previous walk towards nowhere, Sunny sticking close to my hip while trusting me to keep an eye on the road for the both of us since hers wouldn’t stop beaming at me.

“So, as much as I’d want us messing around,” I sent my hand for a teasing squeeze of her cutie mark. “Is there anything else you had in mind for us?”

With a soft nip of retaliation, Sunny mused my inquiry for a moment before a proposition sparkled in her eyes.

“Actually, there is something I’ve wanted to do with you for a while, but…” her tone shifted to uncertainty, slowing her gait until she left us stranded in the middle of the road.

“But?” I urged her, worried about her sudden change of mood.

“I, um…” She rubbed her fetlocks nervously, failing to meet my inquiring gaze. “I want to introduce you to my parents…”

‘...... Oh.’

And there goes my libido.

“... Should we stop at Lilly’s first for some flowers?” I proposed the only thing I could come up with in the face of such a delicate proposition.

“No, I, uh… I wanted to try something.” She tapped on the ground twice, her hooves shimmering in green momentarily before dispelling the magic.

I caught her drift and, without any further ceremonies, I fell in tow at her side, allowing her to take the lead towards our new destination.

The way up the town to the uppermost level was spent in contemplative silence, both of us lost in the images and memories of those who weren't with us anymore. I had made peace with my past life on Earth a long time ago, although that didn’t mean my thoughts wouldn’t go for my human family every once in a while. The more the years passed, the blurrier and far in between the memories of my human life became. My time in Equestria had been eventful enough to fill virtually all the gaps in my memory, to the point that I didn't even see human faces in my dreams anymore. It was daunting when I realized it at first, but now I understood the inevitability of it.

Maretime Bay’s cemetery was a bit away from the upper level of the town, taking a wide space over one of the numerous grassy hills surrounding the bay. Ponies weren’t religious beyond the occasional cult to Faust or the sun, meaning their graves were decorated around the deceased pony rather than a shared belief. Each grave was different, some more flamboyant than others depending on the family’s preferences and wealth. But something they all shared was color. Those of you who have traveled to Latin countries might know what I’m talking about. Far from the austere and gloomy looks of your average graveyard, ponykind’s approach was about celebrating the life of the deceased pony, with numerous decorations, pictures, tokens, words… Each tribe had their own particular costumes. Earth ponies, needless to say, were prone to hold onto their connection with the land even beyond death.

Sunny’s parents lay at the eastern end of the cemetery, meaning we had to traverse our way around the numerous graves of all Maretimeites that had lived and died within the small seaside town. It was during that said trek that I recalled their story, Sunny having shared it with me during a late-night chat sesson where we both happened to be feeling a smidge nostalgic. She had lost both her parents the same way, albeit at different times. Both went on a great journey of discovery beyond the reaches of the bay to never return, leaving her in the care of Hitch’s family until her coming of age when she claimed her parent’s lighthouse as her own.

“Here we are…” She gloomily announced, coming to a halt in front of a shared gravestone in which their parents' names were written. Their resting places were considerably more simplistic than the Cloverleafs’ mausoleum, for example, a couple of rows back. Just your usual tombstone with the features all of them shared: name, date, epitaph, and their cutie marks engraved on the gray granite.

‘Oh, so that’s Sunny’s mom’s name…'' I thought to myself as I ran my sight over the style carefully chiseled on the stone.

“Hi Mom, hi Dad.” Sunny greeted the empty space between us and the grave, ears droopy and posture sagging until she had to lower herself on her haunches, placing a forehoof over the flower-covered grounds that hosted her parents' bones. “There’s somepony I want you to meet. He’s a very special pony.” Her beautiful perls began to sparkle with the beginning of tears as they searched for mine. “And he’s not a pony at all…” Her breaking voice spoke with adoration.

With my most supportive smile, I lowered myself beside her and, careful not to sully the beautiful bed of flowers over their graves, I surrounded my mate and pressed myself against her, aiming to support her as much as I could. Sunny appreciated my gesture, leaning against me while her attention returned to her parents. With a gentle tip of her hoof against the grassy ground, she drew from her flora magic to summon a gorgeous flower crown, grown to rest against her parent’s shared tomb.

Satisfied with her work, she continued speaking softly. “I already told you how we met last time.” She revealed, referring to her occasional visits which I had respectfully distanced myself from to give her some space. With a sniff, I felt her head coming to rest against my shoulder. “We’ve been going around in circles for a while, but…” Sunny took a momentary pause while she sniffled, “.. b-but we’re together now.” She rubbed a fetlock over her snot-covered snout, and immediately kissed my cheek tenderly. “He’s the best stallion a mare could ask for…”

I had no words, so I did the second best thing I could and returned the affection, kissing her lovingly and holding her close as she shed tears of melancholy and longing. Gently rocking her back and forth, her quiet sniffs and sobs ran their course until a dull feeling overcame her, that tiredness when you’ve shed all there was to give and now felt as if you were empty.

I tried to take her mind off the mood with the question anyone eventually asks. “Do you think they would’ve liked me?” I wondered after a tender peck on her ear.

Sunny was definitive in her answer. “They would've loved you.” She spoke without hesitation, gently nuzzling her snout on my neck, hiding from the pain of her loss. “Although, they would’ve had a ton of questions for you too.” A muffled chuckle reached my ears.

“Reminds me of somepony.” I quipped, earning another half-sob-half-giggle from my defeated mare. It broke my heart to see her like that, but I knew these moments have to run their course so you can feel full and refreshed afterward. I would respect her pace and be at her side even if it took us the rest of the day.

“What about you?” She suddenly fired. “Your parents. And your sister. You never speak of them…”

Her question caught me off guard. It was true though. I’d never spoken about my human family beyond the scolding I’d given the sisters when I mentioned my sister. Not because I would crumble if I brought them up or anything. It had been long enough that I only felt a dull ache. I guessed the chance had never happened to come around.

“You want to know?”

She answered with a sad nod, now taking the supportive role and pressing herself against me, as little as there was left to press against.

“Okay then, um…” I was unsure how to begin, the last time I had brought them up was during a heart-to-heart with Twilight late into our years as a couple. “Well, there’s my dad, Ethan Kingston. Mom always said I was his spitting image, except for her eyes. I have my mom’s eyes…” I retold with a fond smile, Sunny’s ears up again and listening attentively. “Her name’s Marta Flores. It’s a Spanish name, but my dad would always introduce her as Martha Flowers. It riled up my mom so bad…”

Sunny’s giggle lifted our spirits a bit, even if the cold chains of homesickness struggled to bring me under the rain. “They were both doctors. They met at med school when my dad transferred to Spain to finish his studies. He said he stayed for the food and climate, but it was mom all along.” I finished with a pained chuckle, rubbing my thumb over Sunny’s furry shoulder.

“Would they’ve liked me too?” She asked with a hint of hesitation.

Twilight had asked me that exact same question, so I gave Sunny the exact same answer. “Well, there’d be a LOT of questions on their side too,” I playfully called her previous commentary. “There’s only humans in the sapience department back on Earth so, once done with explanations of how and why there was a talking horse in our living room, I’m sure they would’ve loved you as one of their own. Especially my mom. She would’ve doted on you so hard it would be considered fillynapping.”

Another fond giggle from the most beautiful mare in the world, her sad tears now gone from her rosy cheeks, drinking in my indirect flattery and nuzzling deep into my chest.

“Was there somepony else?” She wondered once the tender caressing had run its course. “What about your sister? And I’m sure you had a lot of human friends too!”

Resting my cheek on her scalp, I granted her wish. “I already told you about Elena. She was an oddball on her own. The only girl in a hundred kilometers with such an interest in computer science. I don’t know about you ponies, but for us monkeys, informatics was mostly a sausage fest.”

“Really?” She asked with a curious dip of her head.

“Mhm. I learned a lot from her. Mostly from her insistence. ‘It’s a digital world, tontolaba! You either keep up or you’re left behind!’... Yeah, she… she was as bitchy as any little sister would be, but I loved her more than anything.” I adjusted my position against Sunny to lay more comfortably against her, making sure to tuck my legs in and not damage the flowers. “I had a couple of friends at college, but if I had to mention one it would be my British pal Stuart. Heh, if you think I’m versed with computers you should’ve seen that guy, he was a monster. He’s the other half of the reason I know as much about tech as my actual field of expertise.” A fond grimace stretched my lips. “I swear, I thought one day I’d catch him after college in the mop room fucking his own computer or something.”

“Pffff.” Sunny couldn't help but laugh at such a moronic sight. But that was Stuart for you.

‘We did make a promise, pal. I hope you held onto your end better than I did…’

A couple more names came out on both fronts. The graveyard was filled with loving memories and more than one silly anecdote. It indeed felt refreshing to talk about them once more. My pony family (families now) would share a place in my heart with my human one forever. I only lamented the suddenness of my disappearance, blaming myself for the anguish and pain they must’ve gone through before moving on. Had it been a day? A century? A millennium back on Earth? I could never know. I had buried my family just as Sunny had buried hers. Now, our friends were our family, one we would cherish as much as we cherished each other.

I take a page from her book. I couldn't have asked for a better group of ponies to call my own.

We immersed ourselves so much in our anecdote-sharing that we completely lost track of time. Sheltered in the privacy of the graveyard, we were at risk of being late for our dinner. With the sun quickly hiding behind the Zephyr Range, we bid Sunny’s parents a warm goodbye and left the place at a respectful pace.

There was no time for grooming or ablutions of any kind, to a certain pink pegasus’ disappointment, I’d guess. A beeline was made for the restaurant I‘d placed reservations for, the same one I’d taunted Hitch with during our sparring session, the one I knew Sunny loved. Again, it wasn't much of a fancy place or the like, so my daily clothes and Sunny’s natural beauty would have to be enough.

My mouth watered on our way just recalling the taste of that tomato soup…

“You wanna know the story of magic?” I asked my marefriend after gulping down a big spoonful of tomato soup, steeling myself to prevent a very unwelcome moan to the embarrassment of Sunny and the concern of the other customers.

‘Faust above, this is so fucking good…’

“Uh, yes please?” Sunny deadpanned as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, which it was. Taking a bite of her spring salad, she waited eagerly for another history lesson from yours truly.

“Well, then you’ll have to take the rest of the week off. It's kind of a long story.”

Biting her lip and rolling her eyes, Sunny shook her head and urged me to stop being silly and get on with it with a gentle kick under the table.

“Okay okay! Auch!” I cried with an exaggerated rub over the damaged area. “You’re the boss.”

Taking another big spoonful, I assembled the story in my head so as not to lose her or bore her to tears. I loved Twilight to death, but not everycreature could go through one of her ‘shove entire book’s worth of knowledge down your throat’ history lessons and come out a sane creature. I’d give her the summarized version, both for her sanity and because I had a heat to clench with my masculine assets, at least for the next couple of hours…

We males should get paid for our services.

“First things first,” I began after a sip of my water. “There was a time in which Equus was just like Earth. A strictly non-magical place where creatures lived and evolved similarly as they did on my homeworld, and everything was fine and dandy. However, Equus had a peculiarity that my world lacked. Do you remember what I told you about the Aëther and how magic bleeds into this world and back again?”

“Mhm!” Sunny replied with a beaming smile behind her stuffed cheeks. She was enjoying her dish as much as I was mine, apparently.

“Great. So the veil between the Aëther and Equus was uncommonly thin back then, but not enough for magic to breach into this world. That is, until sixty-five and a half million years ago.”

“Mm,” Sunny swallowed her food to clear her muzzle. “That was the time of the great extinction, right?”

“Smart girl.” I winked at her proudly, resummoning a blush to her cheeks. “That’s exactly it. Equus and Earth have shared a fair amount of historical similarities, including the Cretaceous-Paleogene mass extinction that ended the dinosaurs. And it happened for the same reason too; a big-ass asteroid impact that caused the extinction of roughly eighty percent of all species inhabiting the world at that time, which passed the evolutionary baton to us mammals. Point for us furred freaks.” I bumped my chest proudly, but a sudden thought breached through my lesson “Although that’s not entirely true here, your dominant species pool is more diverse than Earth’s… Whatever, that’s not important.” Another sip to wet my already drying throat. “What’s important is that in both worlds the energy released on impact was simply unconscionable. On Earth, the extinction event followed and gave way to the biodiversity that fills up the entirety of Earth, us humans included. But here!” I pushed aside the soup for the time being and rested my head on my crossed hands. I always had so much fun explaining things to others. Comes with the title and all. “Here, on Equus, the energy released was so big, so ridiculously massive, that it became a breaking point for the already-thinning veil. The asteroid tore a literal fissure in the weakened fabric of reality right at the place of impact.”

“The Wellspring, am I right?” She offered with a cocky smirk. This girl had been doing her homework with the books I’d brought from Canterlot.

“Right again, baby. The Wellspring is the place where all leylines emerge and eventually end. One thousand five-hundred and forty-six kilometers beyond the Blizzard Barrier. Although,” I pointed with my thumb behind us to the towering rainbow emitting from our shared home. “I guess now we have a secondary nexus, so to speak.”

Sunny’s eyes followed my pointing finger, but quickly fixed themselves on mine again, silently urging me to continue as she searched with her lips the straw on her glass without breaking eye contact. She looked adorable, and I couldn’t help the fond smile which was quickly reciprocated by her once her thirst was sated.

“So, once the dust settled and the world stopped shaking, magic began seeping explosively into Equus, searching to fill the vacuum this world possessed until the entire planet was bubbling with magic. The leylines stretched under the ground, like fissures spreading from an impact point, seeking the paths of least resistance until the circle was complete and the flow stabilized.” I cranked my neck and stretched my limbs, satisfied with another history lesson well delivered. “The remaining creatures were exposed to this magic and, with the ages, adapted to it, resulting in the creatures we find today, you ponies included,” I concluded with a clap. The soup had gone cold by then, but Faust took me if I left a single scrap of that absolute blessing from the goddess on the plate.

“Woah.” She whistled with dreamy eyes, her happy tail wagging behind her and brushing against the tablecloth.

“Mhm.” I was warmed by the sight of my excited mare. She looked so cute every time the never-ending sinkhole of her brain absorbed another morsel of information. “The place of impact was so filled with magic that the expelled chunks of rocks and debris that didn’t outright leave the atmosphere became absolutely saturated with it, defying gravity itself and, with the passing of the millennia and a shared gravitational pull, eventually formed the floating continent of Skyros, home to the Kingdom of Ustaryn, the birthplace of Alicornkind and, at the time, was the most powerful empire this world had ever seen. Until the Father of Monsters showed his ugly face and, as the saying goes, the rest is history.”

I caught her pearls widening dangerously, a manic grin stitching her muzzle as she pushed herself over the rim of the table with her forehooves. I had to act quickly.

“History for another time.” I unfortunately had to take the wing out of her sails.

“Awwww.” Sunny wasn’t going to allow me, assaulting me with the full strength of her puppy eyes and quivering lips.

“Sorry, baby, I gotta save some stories for a later time .” I remained firm against her cuteness assault, flagging the waitress for the bill so we would get an early start back home. “Aaaaaand, I happen to remember we have some… pending business to take care of, hmm?” I teased with a quirked eyebrow.

If there was something that would take my mate’s mind away from piecing another nugget of the past together, was the prospect of some fun times with her significant other. And that was only during estrus, I wasn’t sure about any other time. Practically forcing me to swear on all my ancestors that I would share the story of the alicorns on our next date, we exited the establishment with a promise of returning soon to the owner and with me taking care of the bill. I was a gentleman after all… and she had kinda already covered all my expenses back at the brighthouse.

Stars already twinkled in the sky by the time we exited the town and faced the slope that would take us home. The winter calendar meant two hours less of sunlight, bringing forth the refreshing twilight sooner than we were accustomed to and urging everypony else to head for their respective abodes and settle in for the night. Almost nopony greeted us on the almost-empty streets, which on this occasion worked to my advantage, since Sunny also had in mind an early start of sorts.

An early start in getting me in the mood by consciously brisking her pace a bit to walk before me, swaying her hips and sweeping her tail in a manner no straight member of the male department could ignore.

‘... Sorry, my fellow humans. I’m too far gone…’

Surprise surprise, it worked. Had to remember to order pants with more room next time.

On our way past the front gates of our shared residence, we were welcomed by peaceful silence. We assumed Zipp and Hitch would be bunking at the sheriff’s abode for the night so his mare could squeeze the last out of him, but we were unsure if our two remaining friends were either asleep or just chilling in their room.

Either way, we aimed to not disturb them and made a silent, albeit impatient trip to my bedroom, which now doubled as our bedroom if you took into account the number of nights Sunny shared with me, which were virtually all of them unless the council of the double X needed privacy for some evil, female-driven plotting.

Sunny’s excitement grew in tandem with each muffled step that brought us closer to our destination, her little, unabashed show from before now upgraded to a needy dose of aggressive nuzzling against my side and impatient nipping at my annoyingly-obstructing clothes, which turned up the dial to both to express how ready she was for this as well as ushering me to hurry the hay up!

And turning me on further, thing I believed was impossible passed a certain threshold.

The door to my room was only a saving-miracle away from having been torn off its hinges… again. She hurried inside my humble abode head-first, virtually hopping across the frame straight into our bed while I cast one last exploratory look around the open hallways of the upper floor. There was a shy light peeking under the closed doors of the girl's shared bedroom, meaning there was a chance somepony was still awake.

‘Hmm, time for a bubble of sileAAAH!’

Sunny’s heat had worked her patience dry during the two seconds that it took me to look around, and promptly dragged me into the room like a ragdoll. My awkward dance in search of equilibrium ceased when I found a precarious purchase on the work desk, saving me from making a fool of myself and killing the mood with a nasty bonk in the noogie. Halfway resting my buttocks over the edge and gripping the rim with my hands, I shook the momentary dizziness away.

“Sheesh, girl, you gotta slow d-mmmmph!!”

That night, just as the couple previous nights, our born roles within the proverbial food chain were reversed. Sunny was a hungry predator who had been neglected for the better part of the day, and she was gonna gobble up this human-shaped morsel no questions asked, starting with my lips, which she kissed and smothered and bit and abused to her heart's content until nothing was left of me besides a madly blushing, starry-eyed fool.

With a loud smack, the mare-turned-leech freed my lips. “Mmm, much better.” She purred seductively, hungrily running her tongue over her lips to trap the first taste of me before coming down back on all fours. Leaving me to regain my grip on precious reality, Sunny went to remove the offending garments keeping her from her price. With practiced dexterity, my mare was a quick learner, she made easy work of my pants and needed little more to tear my undergarments away like a vicious wolf. Very sexy and assertive until her inertia died at the sight of my only-half-mast.

The blank leer she sent back up spoke volumes and other, more colorful things.

“W-Well, you startled me!” I offered a meek rebuttal.

Rolling her eyes playfully and snorting, Sunny finally dove in to deal quickly with what she hoped, prayed, would be the last setback, or she was gonna lose her mind and become a hormone driven monster.

I saw it happen once. Very nasty thing.

Her exploratory muzzle sniffed hard and dived for my crotch. She soon found her target, and began with the sweet torture that always drove me weak to the knees.

“F-Furtim zona.” I cast the silence-bubble spell before her ministrations sucked out all matters of rational thinking from me, amongst other things, and rendered me speechless. With an almost invisible field only a trained eye could catch, the transparent bubble of silence filled the entirety of the room.

I said it a lot of times on my day and would repeat it as many times as it took. Pony muzzles were made for blowjobs, enough to get your rocks off and bring your swift demise wantonly or not, no matter how much stamina and training you had.

Sunny hungry maw licked, nipped, and sucked her way to a desired full mast, moaning huskily with the taste of my skin and the musky scent of… well, me. I had to redouble my purchase against the table before I could melt like soft butter, her muzzle and tongue working me to my core with heavenly care and attention. Her aquamarine eyes burned with lust, never leaving mine as she slowly dragged her broader muscle on a maddening trip from the ridge of my base up without a hurry towards the head, making sure to coat the entirety of my hard, and already throbbing, erection.

‘Jehehesus!’ That's as far as my thoughts were carrying me, and we had barely started. I was trembling with anticipation.

My mate was a mare of method, even under a clouded mind of pheromones and lust. She liked taking her time and wringing out every ounce of pleasure, both literally and metaphorically, for the both of us. Previous experiences with another stallion, a mayor jerk who I'd have to smack upside-down if I ever crossed him on the street, had left her with a sour taste before I’d… figuratively come to her doorstep a crumbled mess.

Now, she would go aaaall the way to lift us up to cloud nine.

Her wet, sluggish trip finally concluded at my tip, her warm breath tickling my saliva-dressed shaft in the best possible way. One little kiss on my sensitive glans gave way to another, the smallest amount of sucking foreshadowing what would soon follow as her tongue teased the entrance impatiently. Her tail flagged and thrashing around, her posture widened and balanced to go for liftoff. Sunny was ready to give me the suck of my life.

‘F-Faust in heaAAAAven! Ah, Ah, fuuuuAAAck!’ My mind melted into putty, screeching gears struggling to keep up with the pleasure as I let myself go.

Once again, bless and curse her technique, she took her modest time, sending me up the wall in desire and frustration while she continued prodding my tip and toyed with the bumps and ridges of my underhead, already familiar with the different anatomy of a human’s male assets, and their weak points.

My relatively smaller size compared to a stallion’s girth actually played in my favor in this scenario. There was no way a mare (or stallion, no judging here) could choke on an equine-sized dick and come back alive… well, aside from a mare or two who I happened to know pretty well. Jokes on them. That wasn't the case for me, and Sunny had made this wonderful discovery soon into our frequently, newly-love-struck ruts.

The maddening warming up was over, it was now time for her main course.

Slowly and meticulously, she extended the reach of her trusts without speeding up, slurping past my head with each consecutive bob, reaching new heights, or lows, every so many pumps, and marking each victory with a hard suck on the center, bringing forth dying animals whimpers from me. Her broader, stronger tongue danced around my spear, working in tandem with her maw to fire all my nerves and run me into a quivering mess. Her lustful moans breached through her filled lips and filled the room, vibrating down on my shaft and tickling in a way no man could withstand for long.

My hands were no longer enough to keep me steady, driving me fully on my rear over the table while my hold didn't waver, else I'd fall right on my ass, bringing my mare down with me. This created new unwanted distance between me and Sunny, when my shaft made an unannounced exit from her vacuuming maw, a distance that she was quick to bridge down as she rose on her rear legs and pinned me down on my thighs, making use of our new arrangements to balance herself better and, with the strength and determination of a mare in heat, rutting me in place until she’d had her way with me and more.

Moaning and huffing like a marathon runner, I congratulated the superb attention from my mate. It was the least I could do short of returning the favor. “Mmmph, you’re so good, baby…keep it up.” My free hand came to rest on the left side of her head, lovingly petting her silky fur and playing with her twitchy ear, following the lead of her tail.

My gesture halted her bobbing mid-way, a loving twinkle in her eyes and an appreciative smile saw her head leaning against my caressing, her braided mane brushing right against my leg. Her fur was damp in sweat and effort, but my mare wasn't one to give up. Her tongue did not yield the assault on my manhood as she enjoyed my attention, lasting only a few moments before the loving gleam in her aquamarine pearls hardened in renewed determination.

Giving me her all, she resumed her bobbing. Harder, more aggressively. Each pump, each tongue lash sending electrified shivers down my entire being as her snout bumped against my abdomen. In a bold move, Sunny sucked her way up to the tip, running her tongue across the head a few times for good measure before diving down on my hardon, hilting me all the way until her tongue could lap my orbs with reckless abandon.

Then, she began swallowing over my rod. This girl was bold.

“Su-uh-ah-nny…” I called for mercy, but she would give me none of it. The electricity was mind-numbing, her motions barely registering amidst a fog of pleasure. With my entire self twitching with each of her gulps, I was putty in this mare’s hooves, or muzzle. Sunny soldiered through her gag reflex, almost giving the impression she had none to begin with, making sure to coat the entirety of my balls in a hefty layer of spit in resemblance to my wood while never wavering in her relentless assault. Smooth muscles flexed over my rod, milking it with grace and ease, hungry and demanding, rocking my core in a thousand directions. She held her assault for a mind-shattering minute in which I couldn't distinguish dream from reality.

Sadly, a mortal pony can only last for so long. Just as I felt I was about to pass out from the feeling of her clenching throat muscles, Sunny was forced to retreat, sucking greedy gulps of life-giving air through her nostrils, beginning her upwards path one last time. Gently, painfully slowly, going so far as to start dipping her muzzle side to side as she climbed to heighten the pleasure while slurping hard on the center of my manhood, rendering me like a mewling cat begging for release.

‘This m-mare is a ch-ch-changeling in disguuuuAAAise, I s-swear!!’

Just as her, a mortal man can only last for so long against such an assault. That mind-shuttering number had driven me to the edge. Sunny knew, for that had been her wicked plan all along. How she had figured me out in the short weeks we had been fooling around was beyond me, but I was one hundred percent confident she had completely ruined human women for me.

Once she had climbed the summit, she was ready for her much-deserved dues. Brushing her teeth over the sensitive surface, she gently bit behind the ridge of my head, lips tightly pressed and vacuuming on my shaft. Her tongue swirled around her moist cavern, anxiously teasing me to see her thirst quenched.

It was something in the taste of my jeez that drove her, and mares in general mad. The saltiness perhaps? I knew well how they liked to dig that stuff.

Her anxious demands became the tipping point for me, the sweet torture coming to an end with a desperate cry of her name. With the first spurt of my seed, Sunny's eyes became two pinpricks, only to widen up with the taste of my essence. She began nursing my head, moaning as the flavor of my human foal batter caressed her taste buds, her muscles and tongue rearing into gear to work wringing every last drop from me. Lewd, gulping sounds filled my mind, the hungry mare sucking with every jerky throb of my manhood for everything I had to give.

Every time we fooled around like this, I felt she’d surpassed herself, keeping me high on the clouds until the last glob of seed had disappeared down her gullet. Harsh, labored breaths struggled to leave my lungs, feeling as if I had just run an iron pony or cast a hundred spells on a single go. Or having a changeling feast on me, take your pick.

Her merciless sucking slowed down to a bobbing trickle once she’d wrung me dry, lapping around my head while savoring the aftertaste. Zecora’s herbal remedies and potions had improved my load both in quantity and quality beyond your average human; not completely up to the standards of a well-endowed stud, but enough to satisfy the panting mare in front of me. To me, and specially to her, that was all that mattered right now.

The unwelcome cold of the darkening room assaulted my spit-covered shaft the moment Sunny released it from her warm embrace. Our labored breaths mingled and bounced against the walls, muffled by my spell which I prayed had masked our lasciviousness. A tiny pool of desire coated the floor around her hind legs, her tail high and trashing and hindquarters twitching in anticipation.

Her hunger was satisfied for now, and a smidge of rational thinking poked its way through her hazy, lust-filled mind. Sunny had played her cards well and had ended up bringing me hard on my back, panting over the table like a ragdoll while I struggled to regain a hold of reality.

However, we were far from done. A relationship is a game of two halves, and whilst she had enjoyed herself as much as I from blowing me, it was my turn to plow her field and reduce her to a salivating mess.

That is… if she could keep my wood from softening.

“Oh, no you don’t!”

Like a lunging timberwolf, Sunny engulfed my shaft in her maw once again, sucking and licking to reverse the flow of blood back to where it was needed.

A tiny fragment of my mind rejoiced at the notion of the nipping cold disappearing in her moist embrace. The rest could barely bring itself together to moan like a dying moose.

“Meeeercyyyy...” I groaned in defeat, knowing full well Sunny would ignore me and continue with her ministrations until I was ready and hard for round two.

“Oh, don’t be such a cryfoal.” Sunny playfully chided, spitting out my tool once she was satisfied with her resurrecting work. Leaving my side, she strutted high and proud the short way to the bed, resting her upper body above the covers and presenting her rear to me, patiently waiting for me to stop dawdling and rut her brains out.

Feeling the centuries truly dragging me down for once, I struggled to rise from the grave, balancing on my elbows and searching with misty eyes for the missing mare. The orange blob of my blurred gaze promptly became crystal clear as it focused on the slice of heaven awaiting me on my bed. A short dizziness overcame me from the sheer amount of blood that begun rushing to my loins, feeling myself grow a centimeter or two just from the sight of her swaying flanks and her flagged, essence-cotated tail, taunting me in a captivating side-to -side while her smuggest grin and lidded pearls spoke a voiceless dare.

‘...... Damm.’

I had my work cut out for me, it seemed, but I wasn't gonna lose this fight to this horny monster of a marefriend I’d claimed as mine. I hopped back onto my feet, my quivering legs struggling to keep me steady. With a hungry growl worthy of this world’s fiercest predators, I caught up with my taunting mare, taking a moment to admire the heavenly view of her dancing rump and winking love-button, her lust cascading down her rear legs into a mess that one of us would have to clean later.

“Sooooo~” She edged me further, giving her rear a vigorous shake and widening her stance in preparation.

“Let a man enjoy the view for a second!” I pleaded with a hearty laugh, running my hand up and down my rod as I felt myself salivating like a foal about to pounce on some candy.

“I’ll give you more than a view…” She promised with a purr, sending her moist tail backward and brushing my hand aside, sensually running its velvety locks all over my length. Her long hair tickled me in the best way possible, its semi-prehensile capabilities, a treat possessed by all kinds of ponies, worked me like my own hand.

Her playfulness rekindled the game for a little while, yet the cocky leer she was sending over her shoulder soon mellowed into a pleading one as her body couldn't take any more dawdling. “I need you…” An impatient whinny betrayed her need.

“And I need you too, baby.” My mare was beyond foreplay by then, as guttural horsey sounds gave voice to her need and anticipation. I could’ve been mean and taken my revenge by further teasing the quivering pony in front of me. But, I too wanted nothing more than to lose myself in her quivering depths, so I decided to play nice and grant Sunny her wish.

My right hand came to rest on her flank, groping her cutie mark wantonly, doughing the fatty tissue under her velvety coat. The other went to her dock, thumb pressing on the sensitive appendage as I dragged her obstructing tail further away from my target. An electrifying current ran through my mare’s frame, her twitching hindquarters begging to be pounded hard.

My spear came to rest over her folds, coating it with an extra layer of lubrication as my massage of her flanks intensified.

“P-Please…” She begged with another anxious nicker, ready to burst if I didn't quench the pain in her loins.

Smiling lovingly and giving in to her needs, I pressed two fingers above my manhood, slowly sinking into her dripping flower until her warm cavern engulfed me fully, our moans becoming one and together we celebrated our union. I hilted myself fully inside her with a swift pump, her tight tunnel offering little resistance to my prodding member. I couldn't hope to reach as deep as an equine, but one thing I did have over them was stamina. Even if Sunny had made quick work of it on our initial rut, she was a cunning mare and had figured my pacing. Still reeling a bit from my previous orgasm, I would be able to hold on longer, hopefully bringing her to a high or two before reaching my limit.

“Mmmmngg, finally…” She groaned in bliss and thanked whoever was stalking us from the heavens. Reaching from her bent-over pose, she grabbed one of my pillows, resting it against her chest and beginning her end of the deal.

Her walls wasted no time to begin their massaging over my tool, gripping me in a vice-like choke and milking me with wanton need for all I was worth. I had to steel my mind and find an appropriate pace to keep up with her rising need and forceful motions. Lewd plaps found a shared rhythm, slow at first but deliberate, working up to a loving tango but not delving head-first into a mad rush. I wanted to drag it out for both of us as long as our shared endurances could keep up with us.

Tongue out and starry-eyed, Sunny’s lust-driven gaze searched for mine over her bouncing shoulders, puffs and moans escaping her muzzle with each thrust of my hips, sending her frame back and forth over the messed-up sheets and a screech of the old bed springs. Her plump flanks rewarded me with a show to be coated in my memory, rippling under my hands with every joining of our hips, sending her rear backward to meet me halfway and forcing my manhood deeper inside her vice-like, rippling embrace.

What few scrambles of her shattered rationality were left were enough to motion her tail to brush under my chin in a loving gesture as puffed breaths and animalistic whinnies left her muzzle. Me, being one to always reciprocate, bit on it the moment it was in reach and pulled, squeezing hard on her soft rear for leverage and quickening my humping to her delightful surprise.

“AAH!! Ah, aaah, mmmmmfff…” Momentarily startled, her wails of ecstasy were music to my ears, spurring me to go quicker and deeper, running her mare good with my erection until her unfocusing eyes shined with the light of her orgasm.

I felt how she was getting close. Her clit winked fervently, brushing against the underside of my member with each thrust in animalistic lust. Her walls quivered and sucked around me with reckless abandon, demanding for my essence to fill her depths and provide the only possible respite from her heat.

Spitting out her tail, I kicked into high gear and stopped fooling around, pushing her past the limit with a few strong, deep thrusts that almost sent her flying across the bed, only to finish deep inside, feeling her tunnel collapse around me and wiring my seed out, testing my mental resolve to the point I almost peaked alongside her.

Sunny, skyrocketing into nirvana, bit hard on the pillow supporting her upper body, screaming my name in the soft fabric while her body locked and spasmed for a long-drawn minute. Eyes closed tight and ears pressed against her scalp, she sucked in greedy gulps of air, riding out her orgasm with the passion only a mare in heat could show.

I was granted a momentary respite, rejoicing in the feeling of her collapsing marehood until the last tendrils of her orgasm had ebbed away. Panting and heaving, her starry orbs fixed into mine, shining with the fires of passion.

“Better?” I quipped, puffing out exhausted breaths too.

She was too out of breath to utter a word, but her marvelous body spoke for her. Burying herself further into the bed and readying her posture back into place, Sunny took a few minutes to regain her breath. Soon, she was ready for the final round. Her bedroom eyes left no room for questions. She wanted me to fill her this time, and I was more than eager to comply.

I resumed my thrusts once she had regained enough of her composure back, my grunts of effort and her mewls of pleasure filled the room, coming to an end against the transparent dome, keeping our passionate rutting a private event, else our friends at the other room would tease us to no end the following morning.

My hands returned to her rear, massaging those flanks like fresh dough. A squeeze here and a slap there drove Sunny feral, her jaws snapping over the abused pillow once again. Bringing my mate to such levels of pleasure warmed my being and pushed me to go further. I was more of a giver than a receiver kind of guy.

My thrusting continued for a little while until I felt my hips about to shatter. I prepared for the big finale, quickening the tempo to bring us both to sweet release. The absence of Sunny’s moans, her muzzle still occupied tearing into the pillow, was an unacceptable absence. Her braided mane had remained unused so fur. It was time I changed that. Reaching forward mid-thrust, I clamped my fingers around it and pulled back, hard enough to force her screaming muzzle away from the pillow for me to enjoy and bring that tiny twinge of pain that only reinforced the pleasure.

“AH!!” Sunny wailed, feeling herself being ridden in the closest of senses. “Do it!! Give me everything!!”

Who was I to deny my mare’s wishes? Pulling hard on her mane and pumping deep, I hilted myself inside her when I couldn't hold it anymore. My exhausted body came to rest over hers, pushing us both into the mattress as what seed remained inside of me rushed to meet her hungry marehood. A noiseless scream filled her muzzle, her walls clamping down hard and milking me once again, this time accomplishing their purpose. Her delicious ear was in reach, and I couldn't help but nibble on it, moaning into her soft fur as short, spasmodic thrusts brought my cum as deep inside her as I could.

The room reeked of sex and lust, matted fur and sweaty skin pressed hard together as I hugged her from behind, taking in her scent and nuzzling her scalp once I’d freed her twitching ear. I made out my name and slurry, countless words of love between her moans and mumblesas her mind melted and filled with nothing but blissful release.

I always had so much fun during estrus season, and I almost felt bad it was gonna end soon.

Once I’d regained feeling in my lower body, I hoisted myself up, not wanting to crush my mare under me for too long. Although with no little amount of reluctance, for her fur was impossibly warm and inviting. Her heat had been dulled for the time being, leaving behind the adorable, sunny mare I had fallen in love with. Few ponies I had met that had such appropriate names such as hers.

Now, it was time for a much-needed time out. Without the spirit to even take a shower, I wanted nothing but to snuggle my mare close and sleep for the next month or so.

Her greedy marehood had drunk all my cum, with only a thin, lewd tendril connecting her still-winking clit with my tip. The sight was indeed one to remember, and I made sure of it by summoning my phone from my discarded pants pocket and snapping a picture of my satisfied mate and her stuffed flower, her hindquarters still quivering uncontrollably, recovering from the aftereffects of our lovemaking.

‘Niiiice.’ I celebrated inwardly, satisfied with my result. Now I had a strong motivator to get me through work if the day ever got too long… or to keep me entertained during specially hard days.

Feeling a bit peckish, I felt like sharing it with Sunny, giggling under my breath since I was expecting an offended rebuttal and a command for me to delete it in embarrassment.

With one parting slap on her rump and one last brush of my head over her love-button, I made my way to the free space at the left side and promptly collapsed on the bed. Sunny, half her face buried into the mattress, sent her dreamy eyes to me, a thankful, loving smile peeking through the smooth covers of our bed.

“Look.” I showed her the picture I had taken. “The most beautiful, satisfied mare in the world.”

Expecting a harsh counter, Sunny caught me off guard with her loving gaze turning pensive for a moment, muling something on her mind as her eyes took in the image of herself before coming up with an answer.

“... Can I have that?”

“...”

“...”

“... You did not!” I bursted out laughing. “Ohohohoho my gohohosh! AHAHAHAHA!!”

“W-Wait!!”

But I’d already bent over in laughter, hugging my belly as Sunny tried to nuzzle her way to my face to deliver her explanations.

“A-Alex!!” She demanded, now sounding offended. “Stop being silly and listen to me!

Faust above, how I loved that mare…