The Fountain of Youth

"You had no right!" Flurry Heart screamed.

"Lower. Your. Voice," Twilight Sparkle demanded.

"You had no right!" she repeated just as loudly.

"I did what I had to, for your safety."

"You erased his memory!" Flurry said. "That's forbidden magic!"

"And so is age magic, Flurry!" Twilight retorted. "They're both restricted, forbidden magic, because they're dangerous! But I still did what I had to do for your safety!"

"Bullshit!" Flurry spat. "You just didn't want me dating another pony because of the scandal!" she mocked. "You're just as bad as Mom!"

"Actually, no!" Twilight said. "I never had a problem with you dating Pound. In fact I think he's one of the good ones. But he can't be... you can't be letting him... be your throne."

"Oh, you're such a prude!"

"Would you please get over yourself and listen to me!?" Twilight said. "We need to get to the bottom of what happened. Scientifically. So I need you to... You need to..." Twilight averted her eyes and just reached into her desk pulling out a modest looking vibrator and a large sample cup.

Flurry sneered at her. "Is this some kind of sick joke?"

"It's not a joke. It's a test. It's... something that Pound said that gave me a hypothesis. When he called your wild age magic the fountain of youth. I think your..." Twilight motioned to Flurry's backside. "I think it might literally be that."

Flurry's face went through expressing several emotions in quick succession, landing at last on the most predictable reaction of all. Anger. "Pft. No. No! And... and even if... so what!? SO WHAT!? That still doesn't give you the right to erase his memories!"

"So what!?" Twilight echoed. "Flurry, are you familiar with the fable of the golden goose?"

"Are you calling me an ugly duckling!?"

"No. Not the swan," Twilight said. "The goose that laid a golden egg each day. It made the goose's owner rich, and everypony else envious. In their foolish, short-sighted greed, they killed the goose to get the eggs inside, but found none. And with the death of the goose, there were no more golden eggs to be had."

"It's not like I'm shitting Bits here," Flurry said.

Twilight's face became gravely serious. "No Flurry. What you have may be infinitely more valuable than mere money. Time is the one thing that mortal ponies aren't getting any more of. So if what you're squirting really is the fountain of youth... Ponies can not be finding out about it."

"But if this is my gift to the world-"

"Flurry, not all gifts are blessings! I know you're young and idealistic and you want to save the world. But for pony's sake, there are four million citizens in Manehattan alone! Even if you didn't die from dehydration or chaffing... Flurry, you literally would not have enough hours in the day to... give your gift to everypony! And when you start having to pick and choose who to save and who to... not..." Twilight trailed off. "Do you really want that responsibility!? To say nothing of the angry mob demanding to be saved. The ponies that would try to take your gift by force!"

Flurry Heart gulped nervously and crossed her legs.

"Which is why in must stay a secret," Twilight said with apologetic eyes as she nudged the sample cup towards her. "And why we need to be sure."

Flurry Heart couldn't bring herself to meet Twilight's eyes as she set the cup on her desk, filled with a clear-ish, slightly syrupy fluid. Twilight tried her best to hide her astonishment at the volume of the liquid, and remain clinically professional. She called Pound Cake into the office who sat down next to Flurry Heart.

"Am I in trouble?" he asked.

"No." Twilight answered simply.

He looked at Flurry. "Is this about..?"

"I know about you two," Twilight said. "And no, you're not in trouble for that, either. But to answer your question, yes, this does pertain to your relationship." She nudged the cup towards Pound Cake.

He eyed the cup suspiciously. "What's that?"

"It's... a potion," Twilight answered. "A potion that Flurry made." Flurry Heart buried her red face in her hooves. "And she needs you to test it. I'm just here to supervise."

"Is it... safe?" he asked.

"It's not dangerous," Twilight answered, hoping that it wasn't a lie.

Pound Cake took the lid off the cup. His nostrils instantly flared in recognition and he looked at Flurry. "You made this?" Flurry nodded with her hooves still covering her face in embarrassment. "And am I meant to..?"

Twilight nodded. "Drink it, yes." Pound tried to keep the grin from his face but failed. He happily gulped the cup of liquid. All the restraint in the world couldn't keep his erection from sprouting to a rigid, full mast. Twilight averted her eyes. "Well, that should have been expected."

Pound tried his best to cover his modesty with his hooves. "Uh, does that mean it worked?" he asked nervously.

Even Twilight was blushing. "There's, um, and additional effect we are testing for, and we're not sure how long it will take. Perhaps a few hours. So why don't you have a seat over there on the couch?"

Pound shuffled awkwardly over to the office couch while his erection bobbed underneath him. Twilight waved for Flurry to follow her out of the office.

In the hallway, the spoke in hushed tones. "I think that potion is fatal," Flurry said. "I'm going to die from embarrassment!"

"Relax," Twilight assured her. "Whether it works or not, he won't remember any of it by tomorrow." Flurry glared at her. "If it's any consolation, I might just give myself a dose of amnesia as well after all this."

"It's not," Flurry huffed.

~

Hours passed. Nothing about Pound Cake changed. Even after he fell asleep on the couch.

"I don't get it," Twilight said. "I was so sure it was that. And maybe needing to also sleep for it to work. But nothing."

Flurry chewed her lip. "Let me invite him back to my room."

"This test isn't over," Twilight said.

"I didn't say that it was," Flurry said. "But I remember in potions class that it's more than just mixing the ingredients together. Sometimes there's intrinsic magic in it that depends on the vessel, or the mode of delivery..." Flurry winced as she tried to find the words to say it out loud. "... Maybe he needs to drink straight from the tap."

For a mare that usually enjoyed being right, this time, watching Twilight carefully restore Pound Cake's age for yet a third time, she wished that she was mistaken.

"You were right," Twilight said. "It has to be straight from the source."

"I can't believe I have a cursed pussy," Flurry grumbled.

"Cursed!? No way! This is amazing!" Pound Cake said as the pitch of his voice gradually lowered. "This means I can be immortal with you forever!" His excitement faltered for a moment. "But, um, I don't know how I'd feel about outliving Pumpkin Cake. Do you think you could help her live forever too? I know she's a mare and all, but you're open-minded about that, right? I know it means I'd have to share you, but I'm okay with that. And my parents please? Yeah, it'll be a little weird knowing my Dad went down on you, but it would only have to be every once in a while. Oh, and my best friend too? It's okay, he's really cool!"

Twilight looked knowingly past Pound to meet Flurry's solemn eyes. Pound was one of the good ones. But at the end of the day, he was still mortal... And Flurry was a golden goose.

"Sure, Pound. Everypony can live forever." Flurry lied.

Twilight cast the amnesia spell on him.

Pound Cake walked past Flurry Heart in the school hallway, giving her a wave with his hoof. That of a casual acquaintance. Which was all that they were, as far as he knew.

"On the bright side," Twilight Sparkle said quietly, "It's easier than going through a breakup."

"It's not fair," Flurry grumbled to Twilight. "I don't deserve this, and neither did he! He was good! He was good at it and he liked doing it!"

"I know," Twilight said. "There are a lot of ponies out there with conditions that keep them from being able to... engage in that activity."

"I'm not some irresponsible whorse that caught a disease!" Flurry said. "This isn't fair!"

"Neither is it for the foals born to sick mothers that bear their mistakes for life."

That gave Flurry pause. "Do you think Mom has this... condition?"

Cadance hadn't been the only mare to notice the grey in Shining's mane. "I'm fairly certain that she does not," Twilight said, thinking for a moment. "Either that, or Shining isn't a very considerate lover."

"But now I have to be the chaste, untouchable princess. All for the crime of being born!" Flurry kicked the locker behind her and stormed off. "It's not fair!"

Twilight sighed. "No... It's not."