Author's Note
I have gotten a lot of requests for a sequel to All Aboard the Femdom Express and after a hiatus I am back working on it. In the meantime I hammered out this as a side piece. I also wanted to explore the potential "bad ending" without rushing the adventure of Miss Pommel and Thunderlane to a premature conclusion. Though given the ending, this might just turn out to be the start of another story entirely. We shall see.
Anyway, enjoy the read.
Buck Up
"Do we really have to do this?"
Caramel was trying to weasel his way out but his cousin Applejack wasn't having it.
"Eyupp, now buck up Caramel. Apple's ain't no quitters!" she chided him. "Ya made the bet, now it's time to pony up and take yer loss."
"But it'll hurt," he whined, tail tucked firmly between his legs.
"Ya knew that when ya made the bet." She wasn't letting him get out of this one. "Now turn around and spread your legs already."
Caramel hung his head at that. She was right of course. He'd made that idiotic bet. He'd been so sure he'd win that ye hadn't really cared what he betted against his smug cousin. How on earth could he have foreseen that she'd be able to pick carrots faster than him?
AJ was a true Apple. Spending all her time around the orchard, and annoyingly proud of the fact. He on the other hoof didn't have his own farm. Though over the last year he'd worked for Carrot Top. The two of them had grown closer over the months and had recently started to shack together. So he'd been mighty annoyed when his cousin dropped by and criticized how he did things. Hit him right in the pride it did. And now it seemed his pride was going to take a more literal hit from that darned mare.
Maybe it was a stupid challenge in hindsight, but in the heat of the moment he'd just wanted to wipe that smug grin off her face. Maybe rub it in a bit that he wasn't working their farm anymore, he had his own life and trade now.
He'd done the exact same thing back to her. Told her he'd spotted a flaw in her applebucking and offered to come over and show her how to do it properly.
That had pissed her right off and she'd accepted the challenge with the condition that if she won, she'd get to buck his apples.
Foalishly he had agreed, telling her that if he won, she'd have to do his chores for a week. They had shook on it and now here they were.
It sucked, but she was right, it was time for him to pony up.
"Fine," he eventually agreed. "Let's get this over with."
The enthusiastic cheer from his cousin made him almost lose his nerve, but she was right, Apples weren't quitters. He'd buck up and take his punishment, then resort to making smarter decisions in the future. He just hoped that his stallionhood wouldn't be too sore for him to fool around with Carrot Top tonight.
Caramel did as he was told, turning around and exposing his most precious bits to his cousin and the vicious kick she was sure to inflict upon them. He closed his eyes, raised his tail and braced for the painful impact.
As he stood there waiting, he felt himself blush. Never before had he left himself so vulnerable to anypony. To his surprise he found himself thinking that it wouldn't have been so bad if it was Carrot Top and not Applejack that was sizing his goods up like this.
Applejack meanwhile took a few moments to admire his tackle. It was the first one she was free to oogle after all, and she was darned sure going to get an eyeful. She'd only ever glanced her brother's before, and it didn't feel quite right to stare. Caramel however might be her cousin, but when he presented himself like this, ain't no shame in taking a peak, right?
Though the best part was yet to come. She felt the anticipation build as she gave the dangling stallionhood one last hungry look. After all, she wouldn't just get to look at Caramel's special bits, she'd get to put her hooves on them as well.
Sure it'd just be a swift kick rather than a real fondle, but she'd take what she would get. It'd probably be her only opportunity too since Caramel would be unlikely to ever let her near his crotch again, so she'd better make it count. He'd earned himself a real lesson for trying to weasel himself out of the bet as well. Couldn't let an Apple back out of a promise without consequences, could she.
"This'll teach ya to honor your bets, cousin!" Applejack said as she turned around and visualized her targets.
She didn't plan to hold back at all against those juicy orbs. After all, he wouldn't learn his lesson if she did. And maybe she was a bit curious about how it would feel to hit a stallion where it counted.
"Please, just get it over wi-"
Caramel's plea was cut short as Applejack reared up, her muscles well used to the familiar movement, and bucked her strong legs right in his family jewels.
Crunch!
To Applejack the impact felt quite different to bucking an apple tree. Caramel's soft bits cushioned her hooves a lot more than the hard trunks she was used to. It was a pleasant change of pace.
Caramel however wasn't nearly as comfortable. He let out a shriek and collapsed, both forehooves shooting between his legs in a futile attempt to soothe the pain and cradle what was left of his stallionhood.
Applejack reveled in her win, but as her cousin failed to rise she got a bit worried.
"You okay there cousin?" She asked, giving him a nudge.
Her question was met with nothing but high pitched whimpering.
"Maybe I was a bit harsh on ya," she admitted. "Sounded like a walnut cracking when my hooves hit your little danglies. Kinda expected a cocky stallion like you to be a bit tougher."
"Fuck you" Caramel managed to wheeze out between whimpers. "I think you broke them!"
"Language!" Applejack barked. "Now don't be dramatic like that, it takes a lot more'n one buck to juice a pair of apples. Ah used to kick Big Mac all the time when we were foals and he's still doin okay."
"Yeah," the injured stallion coughed out. "But yer not a foal anymore, yer a full grown Apple mare."
That brought Applejack short. She had been getting a lot of compliments for her strength lately, and it had been years since she and Big Macintosh messed around like that. Ever since they hit puberty, it'd just felt weird to roughhouse like they used to.
"Ah guess you're right," Applejack reluctantly acknowledged. "Guess Ah don't know mah own strength these days."
Caramel didn't reply, he just laid there, giving the occasional groan or whimper of pain. Applejack started to feel a bit bad, kicking his nads should have been a fun comeuppance, but he still wasn't getting up. She was pretty sure the wimp was overreacting, but as time went on she started to worry. What if she really had hurt him?
"Maybe ya should head over to Nurse Redheart," She eventually suggested, knowing it was better to be safe than sorry when it came to injuries. "Just ta make sure everything is fine down there."
"Ah don't think I can walk," the stallion whined.
"Fine, let me take a look at them then."
The stallion seemed very reluctant to let her near his crotch again. He shook his head and made an attempt to crawl away from her.
"Now don't be a wuss," Applejack chided. "Ah'm only trying to help."
It didn't take her much effort to flip him on his back and pry his hooves away from their protective grip on his sack. He tried to resist, but it was clear AJ's kick had sapped the fight right out of him. Or perhaps she just was that much stronger than him, making the bet even more stupid in hindsight.
"Lemme see here," Applejack said as she looked down at her handiwork. "Yer right, they do look a bit swollen," she admitted. "I'm sure they'll be fine though."
Actually, on closer inspection she wasn't so sure about that. His sack was an angry red, contrasting hard from the rest of his caramel brown coat. The lumps inside looked quite a lot bigger than they'd been before her kick as well, somewhat less round too.
"Actually, I'mma have to get a closer look."
Despite his protests she reached down and copped a feel of his fruit. His voice grew quite a bit in pitch as she gave them an experimental squeeze.
"Sorry," she apologized, realizing her examination was somewhat painful. "I just need to make sure nothing's broken."
He squealed like a filly getting her first bee sting as she continued to probe his bits.
Applejack wasn't quite sure what she was feeling for as she'd never fondled a healthy pair of nuts before, but they probably shouldn't feel like this. From her limited experience of kicking the things, they'd always seemed like hard nuts to her, firm and pretty unyielding. These however felt mushy, more like overripe apples than the acorns Caramel had started the day with. They'd felt pretty firm back when she'd kicked them, but every squeeze made them feel squishier. It was a pretty worrying sign she realized.
Touching his nuts felt uncomfortably like squeezing the contents out of a tube of toothpaste. Sure it made the swelling go down but it also made Caramel's squeals grow in both pitch and volume. She felt quite bad and stopped what she was doing. The instant she did he went right back to cradling his mushed pair.
"Sorry about that," Applejack said, doing her best to show the shame she felt. "Ah may have made applesauce of your bits after all."
Wanting to fix her mistake, she lifted him onto her back.
"Cheer up cousin, Ah'll carry ya to Nurse Redheart mahself. I'm sure it's nothing she can't fix."
"Ah am sorry about yer danglers," Applejack apologized as she carried her cousin home from the clinic. "Really thought Nurse Redheart could fix 'em, but she just snipped them right off."
Caramel, slung over her back, said nothing.
Redheart had actually been both tactful and caring, unlike Applejack. She'd given Caramel a potion for the pain and a thorough examination before she shook her head and gave them the grim news. Caramel's testicles had been smashed beyond repair and there was nothing else she could do but to surgically remove them.
"Hay, at least yer not in pain anymore," Applejack tried to cheer him up.
That was true at least, but it didn't make him feel better. In fact the painkiller he had been given by the nurse had left him too woozy to even walk on his own. Not that he really needed the potions effects anymore, the numbness only served to remind him that Redheart had already been forced to remove the bits of him that were hurting.
Caramel was too busy trying to process that loss to pay any attention to what his cousin was saying.
In truth, he'd been giving her the silent treatment ever since the nurse explained that if they had just rushed him to the clinic immediately, she would've most likely been able to save his reproductive organs.
Even Applejack felt a bit guilty about that part. Sure he'd made the bet, but her victory kick had only cracked his nuts. It was the heavy hoofed field examination she had performed after that had messed them up further, and doomed Caramel to a life as a gelding.
Feeling there was little else she could say to cheer him up, they both remained silent as she carried him the rest of the way home.
Caramel sobered up as they reached the house he shared with Carrot Top.
Holy horseshoes! How was he going to explain this to her?
They hadn't even made their relationship official and he'd already lost his ability to perform for her. To another mare at that!
He felt the shame rise inside him as Applejack knocked on the door. The true scale of his loss started to drop. This wasn't just about him not being able to have sex anymore, it was far bigger than that. That dumb bet had probably ruined his entire life!
His relationship with Carrot Top was probably toast for one. No way she'd still want him after his useful bits had been lopped off. Not only was he no longer a stallion, he could no longer be her stallion! Never would he be able to give her foals, or fool around like they used to. Heck she might even be embarrassed to be seen with him after this!
The realization hit that if Carrot didn't want him around anymore, he'd be homeless. If she kicked him out, where would he go? He was an apple without a farm. Maybe if he begged she'd let him stay as her gelding farmhoof? It'd suck, knowing what could've been, but he'd rather die than ask Applejack the same thing.
Caramel was shaken out of his thought spiral by the very last voice he wanted to hear at that moment. He braced for the worst kind of rejection.
"Yes?" Carrot Top said as she opened the door to the house she had been sharing with Caramel. " Oh hi Applejack."
The farm mares exchanged greetings, one of them being a lot more awkward than the other. Apparently Carrot Top had yet to notice the pony slung across Applejack's back, but it was only a matter of time. Caramel took a deep breath, it was time to face the music.
"Hi, Carrot Top," he said weakly.
The mare in question let out a gasp as her attention was drawn to his drugged and battered body where it rested on the back of his cousin.
"Caramel!" She gasped. "What happened to you?"
"Mind if I carry 'him' inside first" Applejack interjected, saving him from having to come up with an answer right away.
"By all means!"
Carrot Top, apparently having missed Applejack's inflection on the word him, stepped aside and helped them place Caramel on the living room sofa.
"So what happened?" she asked once again, as soon as her coltfriend had been laid to rest on the couch.
"Well…" Applejack began, looking very uncomfortable. "It all started with this dumb bet…"
"YOU GELDED MY COLTFRIEND OVER A BET?!"
Caramel had never seen Carrot Top so mad, it felt reassuring, like she still cared about him even after Applejack spilled the beans about his beans.
"Sorry Carrot, Ah didn't know he was yer coltfriend."
"That's remotely not the point!" Carrot hissed back. "How could you do that to a pony?? Your own flesh and blood to boot!"
Applejack at least looked properly ashamed as she took the abuse this time.
"Ah just wanted to put him in his place a little," she explained. "Wasn't meant ta go this far, but ya know how competitive we Apples can get."
"Put him in his place?!" The hatless mare looked ready to take a swing at Applejack. "Well you sure fucking did! Hope it was worth emasculating your own cousin just to feel a little more smug about yourself."
"Well he took the bet didn't he?" Applejack was starting to look a lot less sorry. It wasn't her fault what had happened. Well not entirely hers at least. "Ah didn't mean for it to go that far but he's an Apple. Ah reckon one of us should be able to handle a mare without breaking."
That did it for Carrot Top.
"Oh you bitch!" She grabbed Applejack and shoved the insufferable mare toward the door. "Out! Out!" she shouted. "Out of my house!"
"Applejack could have fought her, but thought better of it. She'd done enough harm for one day.
"Fine, Ah was leaving anyway."
Carrot Top followed her to the door and pushed her through it, pausing only to throw one last barb at the retreating mare.
"And I'll have you know that he could handle a mare just fine! At least he did before you decided to swing your fucking hooves around!" With that, she slammed the door shut.
Carrot Top stood there seething with rage until a quiet voice from behind reminded her of what really mattered.
"I'm sorry."
Carrot Top spun around to look at her coltfriend.
"Sorry for what?" she asked. "I'm not mad at you sweetie, I'm mad at that bitch for what she did to my coltfriend."
He met her eyes for a moment, and then looked down.
"I'm not…" he began to sob. "I'm not your coltfriend anymore."
That lit the fire inside Carrot Top, a gentler, more nurturing fire than the rage she had felt against Applejack, but a fire nonetheless.
"Like hell you aren't," she announced as she stomped over to where Caramel was wallowing on the couch. "Ex-colt maybe," she allowed as she sat down and pulled his head into her lap. She gently stroked his mane as she continued. "But you're definitely still my coltfriend."
He looked up at her, his tearstained eyes meeting the determination and love in hers. It hit him right there and then, all of it, and he began to cry in earnest. He cried both in grief for what he'd lost, but also in relief and joy for who he still had left.
"I'm a gelding," he admitted between sobs.
"Yeah," Carrot agreed, pulling him up and giving him a loving hug. "But you're my gelding."
