“...This is a weird combination of characters.”

Gallus stared blankly at the three companions he had with him. All of them in the bustling town of Ponyville. The darkly-colored unicorn with an equally darker sweater, cowpony in full western wear, griffon, and buffalo were surrounded by all these bright and colorful, nudist ponies. In comparison, they all stood out.

“No kidding…” Tempest muttered to herself. Sure, she was still a pony, but the vibrant and chipper atmosphere just wasn’t her style.

Little Strongheart was still trying to get out of her comfort zone, she was getting to know the rest of her fellow competitors, but she felt a lot more at ease with Braeburn by her side, just to have a nice familiar face to fall back to.

Braeburn was quite comfortable being in Ponyville. He was always happy to see all the friendly faces around, plus he had family living here. It was just a nice place to be.

Then there was Gallus, who had pretty much made the town his new home. He was a lot happier with his new friends, but seeing mostly ponies around all the time made him wish for the company of Gabby or Gilda at times.

“So, what brings you all here, anyway?” Gallus asked, trying to make sense of his present company.

Tempest looked over to the massive crystal castle in the distance. “Well, Twilight wanted me to check up on something in the Everfree Forest. Don’t know exactly what, but it’s not like I can turn down a favor from her. And if she wanted my help, it probably means I get to kick somepony’s sorry ass, so that’ll be fun.”

“I…wanted to check up on Yona,” Little Strongheart explained. “I know it’s a bit too late, all things considered, but if she went all the way to Appleloosa for me, then it’s only fair that I travel to Ponyville for her!”

Braeburn wrapped his hoof around Strongheart’s shoulder. “Plus it gives her a good excuse to meet some of the others in this town!”

Little Strongheart sheepishly chuckled. “Y-Yes, that too…”

Gallus raised an eyebrow in fascination. “Huh, Yona went all the way to the desert to visit you? Why would she go all the way there to-” He looked over and got one good look at Braeburn. “Ohhh, yeah that tracks.”

Little Strongheart looked at Tempest. “By the way, Miss…Tempest, right? That’s a really nice horn ring you’ve got.”

Tempest looked up to the golden ring that rested on the base of her horn, its emerald gemstone gleaming in the light. “O-Oh, um…thanks?” She had nearly forgotten that she had it on in the first place, it almost felt natural to wear.

Gallus sidled up a little bit closer to Tempest. “And that was Miss Tempest, right?” He twiddled his talons, trying to figure out the meaning of the ring.

“...As of now, yes,” Tempest answered, starting to side-eye the griffon.

“Alright, cool.” Gallus nonchalantly nodded, but deep inside he was pumping both fists in excitement.

Of course, Tempest saw right through the facade. “Why? You thinking of adding another ring to my horn?”

Gallus’s pupils shrank. “I…No! That’s not what…uh…” His cheeks started to fill up with blush as he saw Tempest smirk.

“I mean, there’s not a lot of space left there, so you gotta have some good reason to have me take it off, right?”

Gallus started to choke on his words, trying to look everywhere but the unicorn’s direction. “I just, I was just, uh, c-curious to…um…”

Tempest lifted Gallus’s chin up, forcing him to look her in the eye. “Or maybe…” her voice suddenly dropped to be lower, more breathy, more seductive. “You wanted to know if the miss was short for…mistress.”

Pomf!

Gallus was stunned into silence. The way Tempest was practically whispering to him, the firm hoof under his chin, the fire in her eyes, all of it made Gallus instantly stiff.

“Either way, I’d only be interested if you have some fight in you,” she said, poking Gallus’s chest. “Think you got what it takes?”

Gallus let out a whimpering squeak, more focused on trying to hide his boner from Tempest’s view.

Little Strongheart leaned over to Braeburn to whisper. “Should we be watching this?”

“Dunno, but I kinda wanna see how it turns out.”

Tempest clicked her tongue and smirked. “What sort of stuff would you want from me? Tie you up? Make you lick my hooves? Step on you?”

All of that sounded great to Gallus. Even if he didn’t say it out loud, his eyes widening and his wings twitching at Tempest’s last suggestion said it for him.

A soft chuckle left Tempest's lips as she lightened up. “Well, you still got two more weeks.”

Gallus was left dumbfounded, jaw dropped and legs trembling. If Sandbar got word about this, he’d never hear the end of it.

Tempest turned back to Strongheart as if nothing had happened. “You know, I don’t usually wear stuff like this, but…it’s growing on me.”

“Well that’s good! Cause you look really pretty with it on!”

Now Tempest was the one getting flustered. “I…t-thanks…”

“Ya know, if you were really serious about all that stuff earlier…” Braeburn leaned over to Tempest. “I could teach you a rope trick or two…”

Tempest pursed her lips. “That’d be helpful. Sure, I’ll take you up on that offer, Braeburn.”

“Heh, great!” Braeburn chuckled, pulling out some rope. “Let’s start with a simple hogtie…”

Tempest jumped in surprise. “Wait, right now?”

Gallus snapped out of his stupor. “As in ‘right now’ right now?!”

“Well, ‘course! No better time than the present! Now hold still, Gallus, ya don’t wanna risk the rope burn.”

Gallus opened his beak to protest, but was quickly pushed over by Little Strongheart to go belly-up.

Braeburn started up his impromptu bondage seminar. “Now, ya gotta tie the front legs and the back legs separately, and then link them together with another rope. That’ll give some comfortable wiggle room, but still keep ‘em there. Now, start wrapping the rope around his wrists a couple of times.”

As Tempest did what Braeburn instructed, Gallus closed his eyes. Being tied up by Tempest was the nice part of this, but he was just praying that no one else that he knew would see this display.

“Holy shit, is that Gallus?”

“Oh fuck.”

Gallus saw the upside-down figures of Smolder and Silverstream sprinting over to see him getting tied up.

“Wow, Gallus, I did not take you for the type to do this stuff publicly!” Silverstream giggled.

“This is some hardcore preparation dude,” Smolder said, unable to stop the smirk from growing on her face.

“Oh wow! You must be friends of Gallus, Sandbar, and Yona! It’s great to meet you!” Little Strongheart waved.

“Yep! What’s going on here?” Silverstream asked.

Braeburn patted Tempest’s back as she finished tying the knots. “Well, Tempest here just wanted to try out some rope tricks to prep for the orgy!”

Smolder looked down at Gallus repeatedly bonking his head against the dirt. “And I thought you just wanted her to step on you.”

Tempest’s gaze shifted towards Gallus’s face with a smirk. “Did he, now?”

“Just fucking kill me now.”

“Excellent. Well, see you tomorrow, Ms. Harshwhinny,” Princess Cadence politely waved as the earth pony left the crystal conference room.

“Yes, good day, princess.” With a firm, confident strut in her step, Harshwhinny walked through the halls of the castle, wanting to make it back to her hotel to rest.

Though before she could even make it out of the castle, she was met with a non-crystal stallion sliding in front of her, striking some sort of odd pose that she guessed was meant to be seductive.

“Why hello, Ms. Harshwhinny.” Feather Bangs flipped his mane and winked. “How are you? I trust that your conference with Princess Cadence went well?”

Harshwhinny raised a tired eyebrow. This clearly didn’t look like one of the castle guards or attendants, and yet he seemed quite interested in her for some reason. “Erm…yes? Did you…need something from me?”

Feather Bangs let out a soft, playful chuckle. “Not at all. In fact, I should be asking if you needed something from me.”

“Oh, Princess Cadence must have asked for you to attend to me,” Harshwhinny nodded, though she was curious why this stallion didn’t look to be in uniform like all the other staff.

“Err…something like that, yeah.”

“Well, I appreciate her dedication and diligence, but I will not be requiring your services at this time.”

Feather Bangs watched his opportunity walking past him. “W-Wait, can I at least accompany you to your hotel?”

Harshwhinny saw little point in needing protection in the relatively peaceful Crystal Empire. Still, the stallion seemed quite adamant, and she’d hate for him to believe that he was failing Princess Cadence. “...It won’t be a very long walk, but very well.”

“Yessss!”

As Feather Bangs was pumping his hoof, Ms. Harshwhinny was already at the castle’s door. “Well? Are you going to accompany me or not?”

“Oh! Um, coming!”

Feather Bangs walked side-by-side with Harshwhinny through the Crystal Empire. Though even though he had set himself up with the perfect opportunity and was as close as he could get, Ms. Harshwhinny felt quite unapproachable.

The way she held her head up high, the coldness in her gaze, the stiff and proper way she carried herself…all of it felt like a massive wall that was put up. But perhaps Feather Bangs could find a way to crack through it.

“So…how have you been holding up so far?” Feather Bangs asked. It was a very direct question, but Harshwhinny seemed like a very direct mare.

Harshwhinny’s eyes darted over to Feather Bangs for a split second. “My visit to the Crystal Empire has been quite pleasant, all things considered.”

“Well, I was more wondering about your month, actually. I can’t imagine it’s been easy, but I figure a goal-focused mare like you would be getting by without much trouble.”

“Yes, well, it’s hardly an issue when you’re properly organized,” Harshwhinny said, priding herself on her professional planning.

Feather Bangs nodded along. “Yeah, I bet being so focused means you don’t have to worry about all those distractions that pop up every now and again.”

“Precisely!” Harshwhinny showed a small, curt smile. “You seem to understand, Mister…”

“Oh, you can call me Feather Bangs.”

“Well, Mister Bangs, I’m glad you understand the importance of being focused on your goals.”

“Thanks!” Well, he got a little smile out of her. That was a start. “Well, speaking of plans…” He could feel a bit of the rejection heartbreak coming. “...did you have any for the end of the month?”

Harshwhinny pursed her lip. “Well, that’s quite a while away, but I’m hoping that these meetings with Princess Cadence will allow me to improve the quality of life in the broader expanse of Equestria.”

Feather Bangs stared blankly. “Oh…uh…That’s great and all, but I was thinking more along the lines of if you had somepony, or dragon or griffon or whatever in mind for the end of the month.”

“...Pardon?”

“I mean, I’m sure it’d be distracting, but I wouldn’t want to go into the orgy without some sort of idea of what I wanted to do, right?”

“Oh! Oh…” It started to dawn on Harshwhinny just what Feather Bangs had been talking about this whole time. Her cheeks started to blush with shock and embarrassment. “Mister Bangs, are you truly asking if-?!”

Feather Bangs took a step back, just in case. “Well, I wanted to know for sure! I figured a proper, professional mare like you would have this kind of thing scheduled out already. I just wanted to see if there would be any room in there for me.”

A short, bewildered laugh left Harshwhinny’s lips. “Oh, would you truly want to waste your time with an old mare like me?”

Feather Bangs re-took a step closer. “Are you kidding? It wouldn’t be a waste of time if we were enjoying ourselves. In fact, I’m enjoying myself right now.”

“Please,” Harshwhinny scoffed, though she couldn’t stop herself from smiling. “I bet you say that to all the mares.”

“Well, only to the beautiful ones,” he chuckled. “But I bet that you’ve already gotten all that orgy stuff planned down to the second.”

“And I bet that you already have plenty of mares throwing themselves at your hooves,” Harshwhinny smirked.

“Well, maybe there’s a chance we could make time for each other?”

“I’ll keep my schedule open, Mister Bangs.”

The short walk ended with them both making it to the hotel room, where Feather Bangs bid a temporary farewell to Ms. Harshwhinny.

“Ha! Still got it,” they both thought to themselves as they walked away.

Author's Note

There we go, there's a prime cut of Gallus bullying.