Taking Chances

Steam vented noisily from the engine as Claves followed Cloud Blossom off the Friendship Express. She was most reluctant to leave, the first class carriage had been the most luxurious thing she’d ever experienced. “Now what?” she asked, shooting daggers with her eyes at the guard who had stopped her before.

“Well,” Cloud Blossom checked the time by the large round station clock, allowing other passengers to leave ahead of her. It had just turned eight in the evening. “I'm thinking of getting a taxi to my place, unless you'd rather walk?”

“Nice of you to be walking with me,” Claves smiled while she watched the crowd of milling ponies around them thin out. She guessed her companion wasn’t a fan of being crowded and pushed and shoved. “You could hover fly if you like. I don't mind walking.”

“Thank you!” almost like she had been waiting for permission – something that didn’t escape Claves’ notice – the pegasus spread her wings and hovered a few feet off the ground, keeping pace with the earth pony walking by her side. “So much better,” she giggled, “c'mon, this way.”

At the exit of the station, Cloud Blossom paused and hovered in place. “Oh, it seems we are taking a taxi after all,” she pointed a hoof to a rather no-nonsense looking cream coloured unicorn mare with a slate grey mane in a typical maid's dress standing by a zebra cab. “That's Dusty.”

“My oh my,” Claves stared wide eyed at the very attractive middle aged pony waiting for them. She was a stunner, and she wore the maid’s dress exceptionally well, particularly the skirt. It framed her hind quarters nicely. “It is good I already have a marefriend.”

As she landed, Cloud Blossom coloured up in a deep red blush. She felt a lot like she’d just been busted sneaking cookies from the kitchen, her hoof literally in the jar. “Dusty!” she smiled too widely, “Hello, uh, good evening! Isn't today your day off...I mean, thank you for meeting us!”

“If this is your day off outfit,” Claves couldn’t stop herself from staring long and hard at the unicorn. She wore middle age like she wore the dress. That is to say, beautifully. “I can't wait to see your day on outfit. I'm Claves, and I will be around for as long as she keeps me.”

Cloud Blossom was more and more flustered, especially when Claves pointed her hoof at her and hugged her tight right there. She didn't like it. “Ah, yes, Dusty, this is Claves, we're uh, she's my...marefriend, now.”

Claves smiled a great big cheesy smile, loving running the scene that was unfolding. “I'm sure with all the dust she creates chipping at stone, her feathers need regular dusting, am I right?”

“Yes, they do.” answered Feather Duster, not bothering to keep the dry tone out of her voice or her eyes. She had heard about this new pony that her employer had encountered, and so she eyed her up accordingly. “Madam lets the dust get everywhere.”

“Um,” Cloud Blossom disguised smoothing out her white sundress as a moment to collect herself and regain her composure, “not that I am ungrateful, Dusty, but why have you met us?”

Feather Duster treated Claves to a long, appraising look, one she was pleased to see the earth pony not shy away from. Indeed she seemed to puff herself up, daring the unicorn to find fault with her. “My presence was requested by Madam Applejack,” she explained, stepping aside and holding open the cab door in her magical aura.

In concentration, Claves scrunched her eyes tight shut, “Applejack. Isn't she one of the element bearers?”

“Yes, Honesty, and one of my mothers,” Cloud Blossom sighed, and she realised she should have expected some degree of interference from her parents. “Aunt Pinkie must have told her I met you.” Politely, she stood to one side so that Claves could board first.

As she passed the pegasus, Claves gave her a nuzzle and alighted the cab, making straight for the backseat. “So, how does this Pinkie know about me?”

“You recall the maple haybacon donuts we shared at Sugarcube Corner?” asked Cloud Blossom when she too was inside the cab and seated next to her marefriend, “The pink mare there, that was my Aunt Pinkie.”

“Oh, so everything…” Claves let loose an impressively despondent sigh. She had a moment of dread, worried this good thing was going south before it had a chance to go north. “So, what if your moms don't think I'm the right fit for you?”

Cloud Blossom couldn’t help but giggle, easing s little of the tension she suddenly felt from nowhere. “If they were really worried, they would be greeting us instead of sending Dusty.”

Feather Duster stood a little straighter, making herself a little bigger. “Madams Fluttershy and Applejack thought it prudent you be escorted home, madam,” she inclined her head respectfully to both the mares in front of her.

“And you getting gossip straight from the source did not influence you at all?” asked the pegasus, pleased to see she got a blushing smile from her maid and confidant.

As Feather Duster stepped in to the cab and seated herself on the seat facing the pegasus and earth pony, Claves asked quickly, “So, you don't a statue of her yet?”

“I have offered, but...”

“It wouldn't be proper, Miss Claves,” Feather Duster harpooned her employer’s sentence, then she turned over her shoulder addressed the driver. “Four, Mountainview Villa, Upper Noble Quarter, if you please.”

“Proper?” stated Claves in the way that the question wasn’t really a question. Amusement alive in her eyes. “Proper is doing what makes you happy without making others unhappy.”

“And sculpting you would make me so happy, Dusty.”

Feather Duster was about to mount a valiant defence, then she saw the double offensive, the dual attack that was the devastating pout from Cloud Blossom and the smug grin from Claves, and she sighed, admitting defeat. “Very well, I suppose,” she relented, “But I’m afraid it will have to wait. A commission has arrived today from the palace.”

“The royal couple together?” Claves arched an eyebrow suggestively, “Could use some more art like that.”

“Dusty, I am shocked!” Cloud Blossom lifted a hoof to her chest and wafted herself, “You checked my mail on your day off?”

“It ceased to be my day off, madam, when I was contacted,” Feather Duster commented, resolving to keep the pegasus’s secret, though she did look aside and blushed. “It's Lady Octavia's birthday in three months. Princess Luna would like a bust of her to gift to her wife.”

“You do have a feisty assistant,” purred Claves right into the pegasus’s ear, pleased to see it flick in her direction and the mare it was attached to giggle like a filly. One ticklish spot filed away in her memory. She then turned to the unicorn. “We need to do coffee.”

“I'm sure we do, and we will,” Feather Duster found herself warming up to the earth pony the more time she spent in her company. She was brusque, she said what was on her mind and she didn’t mince her words. In short she was her kind of mare. With an incline of her head, she said, “I'm an excellent assistant.”

“Take it easy, Dusty,” Cloud Blossom, as oblivious as she was, could tell there was a rapport developing between her maid and her marefriend already, after just such a short time. There was a sense of easy banter in the cab. Feeling comfortable, she snuggled up to Claves on her seat, hanging a wing over Claves’ broad back.

Now it was Claves who giggled, “I already told you, when I saw her it was a good thing I have a marefriend. Still,” she added, leering suggestively at the older pony, “I do need to learn where all your tickly spots are.”

“I should be happy to tell you where madam's tickly spots are, over coffee, miss Claves,” Feather Duster made up her mind finally about Claves. She was an attractive mare, she had a past, but so did everypony, herself included. In short, she was a ‘perfect fit’, for her beloved employer. A devilish smile crossed her muzzle, “amongst other things that madam keeps in her spare room…”

“It's a date!” Claves clapped her hooves, “While she is searching for Lady Octavia in stone we can have coffee in this delightful city.”

“Heh,” Cloud Blossom nervously rubbed one foreleg with the other, “Dusty, I am sure you don't need to tell her everything...”

“Miss Claves,” Feather Duster cut across the pegasus like she hadn’t said anything at all, “madam has told you already of her 'preferences', I assume?”

“Oh, Cloudy was more than upfront with all of that on the train ride,” Claves loved the slightly embarrassed look on the pegasus’s face, she knew she had the artistic mare. “Of course, when she was reeling me in, she dropped some hints.”

“Good,” Feather Duster had an amused look on her own face. She suspected it wasn’t Cloud doing the reeling. “Madam does have a habit, on stressful days, of tying herself up in her play room. I am her safe out. Am I to assume you will be taking a dominant role to her in your relationship?”

“That is the near term plan, yes,” agreed Claves, who was feeling more and more at ease as the cab wove its way along the old Canterlot streets, “I may take a more active role in her enjoyment.”

The amused grin on Feather Duster’s face became a far more genuine one. “I'm very pleased to hear it. How would you like to join me at a charming little cafe for lunch tomorrow? I can tell you everything.”

Sitting next to Claves on the back seat of the cab, Cloud Blossom wanted the earth to open up and swallow her. Sadly, no such respite would make itself known. No such help was coming. “I am right here…” she mumbled, resorting to hiding behind the wing she had draped over Claves’ back.

“I think that would be very nice,” Claves duly ignored what Cloud Blossom had mumbled barely audibly. However, she wasn’t about to have her hide, not behind a wing or anything else. She reached out a hoof, turned her head, and kissed her fully on the mouth. “I'm sure you will be somewhere other than here.”

When she was able to breathe next, to say nothing of speaking, the smitten pegasus whimpered something that sounded a lot like, 'yes ma'am'.

“Madam,” Feather Duster spoke up the luxurious villa she called home came into view at the end of a wide avenue flanked by towering trees, “I'd like to take tomorrow as my day off, since I worked today.”

“That's fine, Dusty,” Cloud Blossom’s words were a little slurred as, while she was trying to speak, Claves was busy placing kiss after kiss directly to her lips in between each.

Smirking, Claves whispered a little too loudly, “Feisty indeed.”

“Dominant recognises dominant,” Feather Duster smiled broadly as she watched Claves utterly own the pegasus’s mouth so effortlessly. She had to admit she was a little jealous, of both mares. “Madam needs a firm hoof to get things done, miss Claves.”

Reluctantly, Claves turned away from her deliciously submissive marefriend. “There are some finer details we will need to work out. Though, I’m sure I could help with deadlines. Does she have any problem with those, Ms. Dusty?”

“Madam does indeed, Miss Claves,” acknowledged the unicorn with a nod of her head, “To say nothing of not knowing when to stop sculpting and rest or even when to feed herself.”

The smile that crossed Claves’ muzzle was positively predatory. A shark on the hunt would’ve been complimentary of it to the point of intimidated. She lightly tapped her mare on the nose. ”I do have a plan for that.” Before either pony could say anything else, she looked out of the taxi cab window and let out a low whistle. “Nice place.”

As the cab pulled up alongside the large one storey white walled villa, with its angled red tiled roof, Cloud Blossom smiled with justifiable pride. Her home wasn’t the largest of the seven mansions on the avenue, nor was it the most expensive, but it was hers. “I was rather hoping you would like it,” she beamed while Feather Duster got out ahead of them and held the door open.

When they were stood on the sidewalk in front of one of the huge trees, Claves nuzzled Cloud Blossom’s cheek. “Thank you for the rescue from the park bench. I didn’t want another night under the stars.”

Affectionately, Cloud Blossom returned the nuzzle. “You are most welcome, although the stars do look nice tonight,” she grinned, for during the cab ride, evening had given way to the full velvety blanket of night, the deep dark pinpricked by millions of bright stars. “Come on, I'll give you the tour,” she led the way across the small sidewalk while Feather Duster paid the cab driver.

“I'll bring your saddle bags, madam,” called the unicorn, who was engaged in a little light conversation with the zebra.

“Thank you, Dusty,” Cloud Blossom acknowledged her maid with a wave of her wing, then she opened the side gate and proceeded up her path to her villa. Even at night, she could make out her large swimming pool to the left of her house.

“She does love you,” Claves stated matter of factly once they were inside. “It’s hard to find such loyalty.”

“I did her a solid favour three years ago,” remarked Cloud Blossom, as she stepped into the shallow hoof wash situated just inside the door. She made sure to thoroughly wash all three hooves, then she made way so her guest could do the same. “She was lost, and in need of kindness. Kindness I offered her.”

Claves was about to question the hoof wash, until she saw the vast expanse of pure cream coloured carpet. She guessed, correctly, that Dusty never allowed a speck of dust or dirt on that carpet. Not wanting to garner the unicorn’s ire, she thoroughly used the hoof wash. “I'm glad to see that kindness continued. So, where do I sleep? May as well get that out of the way.”

“In my opinion, the world could use a little more kindness,” she offered her guest another nuzzle once they were both on the carpet. “Well, sleeping arrangements. I was originally going to offer you the second spare room, but after the train ride, I ah...um...I was thinking, uh, you might share my bed?”

Claves smiled. She resisted the urge to look all around her at the large portraits on the clean white walls. She assumed they were various family members. Right then, she only had eyes for the pegasus. “Oh, I'll be happy to take your bed, but punishment may put you in that second spare room.”

The wink she caught made Cloud Blossom turn the reddest shade yet. “That is why I cannot offer you the first spare room, you see, it is what my Aunt Rarity calls a 'play room'.”

At that, Claves’ eyes widened to the size of saucers. “Well, that puts an end to that thought. I was going with Dusty had the first room. Sill, we should start with room two, then the main bedroom, and after the rest of the house, conclude with that first room.”

“Oh, Dusty doesn't live in, though sometimes she does stay in the summer house in the garden.” She led the way through a very modern white and chrome living room, with its cream coloured carpet. It was large enough for two faux white leather sofas around a glass coffee table and a wooden dining table in the side, to a small hallway. There, she walked past the first and second rooms, to a third door, which she opened to reveal the second room. It was a large twenty foot square space, which had the basic furnishings of a double bed, wardrobe and dresser.

By her side, Claves took the things her gracious host said in her stride. She had never been rich, or even well off, Tartarus be damned, she’d never had any money at all. But, Cloud Blossom hadn’t rubbed her wealth in her face, so she couldn’t complain. “Main bedroom?”

Leaving the second spare behind, Cloud Blossom turned to the left and went back down the hallway to the first bedroom. Her bedroom was just as big as the one they just saw, though the carpet here was a pastel pink rather than cream. Everything was pink, and the furniture of a finer more grand make and design. Centre stage in the room was a mighty four poster bed replete with gold finials. “This is my...I mean, our, room, if you like it, that is.”

Taking in the pink room, Claves nodded. “Yes,” she said eventually, “this is almost what I envisioned. Comfortable.”

“Almost?”

“No three tier marble operating fountain.”

At the threshold to her bedroom, Cloud Blossom shuffled her forehooves like she had been caught out. “That’s in the garden...ahem! Anyway, you wanted to see the rest of the house. You have seen the majority. My sculpting area is in the basement, if you want to go down and see that?”

Thinking she was being the most clever and quick witted comedian in the history of Equestria, Claves quipped, “Leave no stone unchipped!”

For a brief moment, a moment that stretched on forever, Cloud Blossom stopped and looked straight at Claves. She blinked twice and then she burst out laughing. “That's good! I like that! Oh that’s very good!” she giggled, and that became a laugh, which turned into a snorting belly laugh. “No stone unchipped! Oh wow!”

Still giggle snorting, the pegasus led the way through back to the living room, and from there to a staircase in the far corner going down. As they descended, a series of automatic floodlights turned on, illuminating a massive basement that was easily three times bigger than the bedrooms. It was lined with wooden walls, one such wall covered in various carving tools. There were several plinths located in a circle around the centre. Some had statues and busts on them. One bust was of a severe looking unicorn mare, clearly finished, but the face had been roughly chipped away. In the far corner of the sculpting room was a luxurious bathroom set up, and the opposite had a goods lift.

Claves took her sweet time in looking around. She tried to look everywhere at once like her head was on a swivel. Some of the more obvious tools she knew, like the mallet and chisels, while there were some less obvious in their usage. Those she asked about, being genuinely curious. She ended up at the 'damaged' unicorn. “What’s the story behind this?”

For once, Cloud Blossom's face darkened at the mention of the bust. “That. That…was for a mare called Amethyst Glory. She ran a care home not far from the Lower Noble Quarter. She has since been found to run an abusive institution and has been arrested for her crimes.”

“I’m sorry, I don't really follow the news.” Claves looked once more at the defaced bust, knowing better than most that corruption was everywhere. “I'm going to ask a question, to which I think I know the answer to.”

“Please do,” Cloud Blossom approached the bust and she gingerly ran the tips of her primary feathers over the bust like it might burn her. “Of course, I can re-purpose this. No need to waste resources.”

“That’s what I was going to ask, but not the answer I was expecting.”

“Oh?” she then pointed with a wingtip to the many stone and marble blanks and blocks carefully stacked around the side of one wall. “Those are mined from the bottom of the mountain, some come from as far as the east coast. I even have griffon marble. I cannot afford waste.”

Claves shrugged at that. “I thought you can see what’s inside before you land the first hammer blow. The stone's soul, right? I didn't think you could change that. Well, other than to make gravel out of it.”

“That is true, of course,” Cloud Blossom smiled broadly, “I am pleased you know so much about the artistic process. When I said repurpose, I meant for a student to practice on, of course, rather than as a piece for sale. She led the way over to the bathroom area, which held a large four pony sized sunken bath with spa jets inside and wall mounted fans, framed with tiles on the two walls of the corner. “Dusty insisted I install this.”

Bearing a thoughtful look on her face, Claves could easily see why the maid would insist on the installation of the bath. “Then, I insist we verify its operation!”

Cloud Blossom kept the wide smile that so recently adorned her muzzle. “Yes ma'am!” Damn, it felt so good to be in the presence of a dominant pony! Eagerly, she pressed a button on the edge of the bath with a hoof, and hot water flooded the tiled bath.

As one accustomed to sleeping on benches and ‘bathing’ in a Ponyville pond when nopony was looking, Claves wasted no time whatsoever getting into the steaming hot water. The sigh that left her lips felt like it came from the dawn of time. “Please do my mane, and will Dusty be joining us?”

“Yes ma'am,” carefully, the three legged mare got into the hot water and she started to wet the earth pony’s unruly magenta mane. “No,” she said as she scooped hoof full after hoof full of water onto Claves’ head, “if I know Dusty, she will be preparing dinner for us.” Once she was happy the mane was wet enough, she picked up her shampoo bottle. “Is lavender satisfactory?”

“It will do, for now.” Claves tried to keep up her dominant façade, but under such treatment, she didn’t care what Cloud Blossom used on her. “I'll get some sandalwood later. Next question, where do you think she dropped my saddle bag off at?”

Cloud Blossom gently worked the lavender shampoo into Claves’ untidy mane. “She will have placed it with mine in the nook just after the hoof wash.”

Letting out a long breath, Claves relaxed in the hot water with a soft giggle, “And I thought she would be presumptuous enough to put it in your room.”

Smirking, Cloud Blossom affected her maid’s voice as she spoke, “There is a place for everything, madam, and the bedroom is no place for saddlebags!” she joined her guest in a giggle and she rinsed out the shampoo only to work in more to properly clean it. “You do have a beautiful magenta mane. Has it always been so unruly and hard to work with?”

Claves’ laugh was long, loud and bright at the excellent imitation of Feather Duster’s voice. “My mane? All my life. That’s why I just leave it with the 'wild' look.”

“I think it suits you,” Cloud Blossom opined as she switched to a lavender scented coat shampoo. That, she worked into her marefriend’s body with her hooves. She was only too happy to slowly massage it into the earth pony’s shoulders and back.

If it was possible, Claves relaxed even more than she already was. “You're a keeper…”

“Why thank you, ma'am, I am pleased you think so,” Cloud Blossom worked the shampoo into Claves’ skin, going ever lower to the mare’s tight toned flanks. There was not an ounce of fat anywhere on her body. It was like massaging sheer muscle. “I do have a question. You do not have to answer, but I am curious.”

“Hmmm?”

Cloud Blossom had reached the dock of Claves’ tail – which was just as shockingly unruly and as hard to tame as her mane - after sensually massaging the mare’s music note cutie marks. She duly switched over to a tail shampoo. “May I ask what you did, in Vanhoover, to get arrested?”

Claves had been afraid that this subject would eventually arise. She supposed it was better it came up sooner rather than later. “Back home, when I was younger, I was a latch key filly,” she spoke with her eyes closed, content to enjoy the pampering she was getting. “My folks were away a lot, working or whatever. I hardly saw mom, dad, I dunno. I ended up running with a gang. I was a lowkey asshole for a few years, till I became a teenager.”

She took a moment in her story to pause for breath, and to collect her thoughts in order to carry on with the telling. It wasn’t very often she spoke of her past. It wasn’t like anypony was ever interested. All they saw were her tattoos. “Anyway, when I was seventeen, I mugged this stallion. It was supposed to be nice and easy. Intimidate him with my gun, get his money. But the guy was an ex-royal guard. He put up a fight. My ‘partner’ unicorn magically pulled the trigger. I got arrested for assisted homicide and the judge made an example of me. I got fifteen years.”

“The gang was family to you, I understand,” said Cloud Blossom as now she started to wash Claves’ front, starting at the mare’s neck and working her way down, she hovered over the 'buck life' tattoo.

“Family is way too strong a word for what they were,” remarked Claves, “they gave me shelter and a purpose. I didn't care if that purpose was for good or ill.”

“Claves against the world?” Cloud Blossom had heard a variation of Claves’ story many times over the years, from the various ponies she had helped. Some were unrepentant, some actually wanted to be better. She could tell Claves was the latter. “I do hope you do not carry guilt for the stallion's death,” she said as she worked in the shampoo over the many tattoos.

A shrug of the shoulders answered the pegasus. “I did at first, when I was inside. But I didn't kill him. That said, I was holding the weapon that did. Trancer is still in prison. My debt has been paid. Then again, Luna hasn't seen fit to purge if from my dreams...”

Sensing it was necessary, Cloud Blossom moved in and kissed Claves long and hard on the lips. She even used her tongue. She was so emboldened that she sucked on her marefriend’s tongue! Naturally, Claves returned the kiss with interest, easily dominating her submissive partner. “Now, it’s my turn to check out your body.”

Cloud Blossom’s breath hitched in her throat. There was ‘something’ about the way the earth pony half growled, half purred those last nine words. She laid back in the bath, and attempted her best 'sexy eyes' look. “My body is yours, ma'am.”

Hearing the pegasus say that got Claves so wet between her legs it was a good thing she was in the bath. To have a sub give themselves up like that was the biggest turn on for her. She could have pounced the mare right then, but she restrained herself. She was determined to treat Cloud Blossom right. She deserved her very best. Gathering up the lavender shampoo, she started at the mare’s mane and worked her way down to the shoulders. “I'll have you know, I don't know a thing about preening. Yet.”

As she was washed and cleaned, Cloud Blossom was aware of a few things that she hadn’t been before. One, she enjoyed being cleaned by somepony else. Two, she loved that somepony else to be Claves. Three, she was utterly amazed that such a strong and muscular pony could be so gentle. Four – which was connected to three – she was astounded that her hooves had such a soft, almost velvety touch to them.

“Oh, but I would be more than happy to teach you…” Cloud Blossom let out a relaxed 'hmmmm', letting her wings splay out by her sides in the bathwater. She purred like a kitten when Claves reached her wing joints. They were powerful, the muscles where the wings met the body were well defined and strong, even for a pegasus. “I love how soft your hooves are. I could worship them all day long!”

“Earth pony magic,” was all Claves said to that. Her forehooves glowed with a magical light as she channeled her magic through her legs to her submissive’s pliant body. Claves briefly worked around the wing joint, but she stayed away from the leading edge and feathers. In such a fashion, she massaged her way down to her hind quarters. “What’s the story about your missing leg?”

“Hmmmm, I wish I could say it was a fight with a dragon, or an ursa minor, but it is really boring.” Cloud Blossom didn’t mind talking about her disability, she just wished it wasn’t so dull a tale to tell. “Before I was born, the umbilical cord wrapped around it and stopped my leg growing. It was so atrophied that after birth it was amputated.”

With such incredible care and softness born from her pony magic, Claves ran a forehoof over the hip of the missing leg. It was perfectly smooth, no hint of a stump or scar. The doctor must have been skilled indeed, she assumed. “This is always you. A you that has overcome what this could have been.”

Cloud Blossom shivered happily and sighed, utterly relaxed as Claves turned her attention to thoroughly cleaning her only – right – hind leg. “We have both overcome adversity in our lives to be where we are right now.”

With a mischievous smile on her face, Claves moved back up the toned hind leg, where she performed an unnecessarily meticulous and comprehensive hoof and tongue cleaning directly under the pegasus’s dock.

“Gaah!” yelped Cloud Blossom, who – involuntarily – made the most unlady-like noise thanks to where her dominant partner had just licked and prodded her with her hoof and tongue. “W-W-Would you like to know what I was doing in Ponyville?” she asked, her breath ragged, when the earth pony resurfaced.

Smirking like the villain in an old Saturday morning cartoon, Claves moved forward a little bit so she could ensure the quivering pony’s nipples were all clean. One had to be sure, after all. “Let me guess,” she grinned, “you were trawling your net for cute hot mares?”

“Oooh...oooh my stars...” Cloud Blossom arched her back, at the same time her wings and feathers were splayed wide open. It had simply been too long since she had been pleasured like this! “I was getting a choker...well, a collar, from my Aunt Rarity. Aunt Pinkie told her to make it, and called me to go pick it up. Now I know why.”

After feasting on her marefriend’s rock hard nipples for a few seconds, Claves felt the need to breathe, and so she came up for air. That didn’t mean she was done though. Like Vanhoover’s national animal, the shark, she surged forwards with a toothy grin the namesake would’ve been proud of, where she made sure the underbelly and chest were clean. “That Pinkie is a scary mare, for sure. So, care to tell me what colour the collar is?”

“I have learnt not to question Aunt pinkie,” stated Cloud Blossom, panting deeply in between each word she spoke. “When she knows, she knows, simple as that.” She leant forwards and tenderly kissed her lover. “The collar and leash are a beautiful sky blue and it has rubies around it similar to your magenta mane.”

“Was the collar another reason you stopped to talk with me?” asked Claves.

“No, actually,” admitted Cloud Blossom, “I honestly did not make the connection till we were on the train. What caught my eye were the ponies avoiding the park. I was curious and, when I saw beautiful mare in need of kindness, I had to talk to you.”

Claves sealed that with a tender loving kiss. “Thank you. I should also thank the scary mare, Pinkie, too.”

“Oh, by now she will have planned you a party, I am sure.” Smiling warmly, the pegasus looked over Claves’ wet body. “I believe I missed a couple spots when I cleaned you.” With that, she ducked under the rapidly cooling water, where she licked and sucked at the earth pony’s hard nipples.

“It’s a good thing I pointed those out to you,” moaned Claves, only too happy to be tended to in such a fashion. When her host broke the water, she let out a long, tired yawn. “I think an inspection of your bed should be next on the agenda if you don’t mind. After my stint warming the park bench, I am exhausted, and I’m certain the pillow will knock me out!”