Ever Growing Friendship

Written By: Thunder-Dasher

Edited By: Bytestorm

Chapter Five: Autumn Heat; part one

Unwilling to open his eyes quite yet, Trace mumbled “Lyra...” in an almost inaudible tone as his hand patted the blankets to find her. When he didn't find her next to him, he cracked his eyes open, leaning up on one elbow to look around. The fire looked as if it was stoked, and a log added to it. The house was warmer than it usually was, but something seemed off. Lyra wasn't anywhere to be found. As he rubbed his eyes and tried to hold back a yawn, he threw off his blanket, the main source of his warmth. He was about to step into the kitchen when something crinkled under his foot. Lifting his foot and bending down to grasp it, his fingers deftly flipped the letter to see 'To Trace' on the back as he stood up.

He was starting to panic slightly. After their special night, he was worried she had regretted it. Swiftly opening the letter, he began to read, “Dear Trace, I beg your forgiveness... I believe we were under the influence of my heat last night... If I had only realized last night I was in heat... maybe we could have waited...” Pausing momentarily, he noticed what looked like tear drops on the parchment.

By now, Trace's heart was racing, but he forced himself to finish the note, “I honestly don't regret mating with you, I just fear that the scent of my heat persuaded you into it; I knew you were hesitant, and I took advantage of you... I've known for a while now, about my feelings for you. I know I love you, Trace; I just hope you don't hate me. Please don't come find me, I will come see you when my heat is over, and we can talk then... Love, Lyra Heartstrings.”

He read the letter at least a half a dozen times. Imprinting it to memory, his heart was slowing and he gently placed the letter back in the envelope. He noticed he was still naked and briefly pulled on his underwear and his silky pajama bottoms. Sitting down on the dirty couch, eying the envelope, 'I don't think I was persuaded by anything... I don't even know anything about a pony’s heat. Maybe I was and didn't know it?' Trace suddenly stood up, with determination in his eyes, 'I should go find her! No...'

Trace plopped back down on his couch, dust flying forth; he leaned forward with his elbows on his knees and tapped the letter against his forehead, 'should I wait until her heat is over? What if she is crying and heartbroken out there, somewhere?'

Grunting loudly, Trace balled up the left hand, that didn’t contain the letter. 'I need to go find her... tell her I'm not upset about last night. She shouldn't have to be upset for an entire week over this... I'm not upset, and I still want to be with her!' Trace got up and rushed to his bedroom. Hastily putting on his button down blue shirt and a nice pair of blue jeans, he ran from the house, not caring to bring a jacket. He figured since he was going to be running around trying to find Lyra, he would just get hot anyway. He cussed himself for not asking where she lived; he didn't even know where she worked or what she does for a living. He would rectify that later, though; right now he needed to find her. His first guess would be Pinkie Pie's place. Trace figured that since Lyra had trusted her with their date, then maybe they were fairly close, and she would know where she went, or at least where she lived.

Twenty minutes later and he stood outside Sugarcube Corner, He had noticed along the way that every business in town was closed for all the town-wide heat. He knocked on the door, listening carefully if anypony had heard. Sure enough, Mrs. Cup Cake answered the door, “Trace?” She blinked in surprise, “Don't you know that it's heat season, deary? You should be at home where nothing can happen to you!”

Trace tilted his head curiously, “If it's heat season, why don't you seem to be in heat?”

This caught Mrs. Cake off guard as a red hue crossed her scrunched up muzzle, “Because... I have a stallion... that takes care of that...”

Usually Mrs. Cake wouldn't have said something so personal, but since it was Trace and she knew he didn't fully understand Equestrian society yet, she felt obligated to explain things sometimes, “Heat cycles barely affect ponies that have a regular sex life...”

“Makes sense, suppose there is no reason for your heat to be overbearing if you are taking care of the fire.” Trace received a grin and a nod from Mrs. Cake when he stated that.

“So, what brings you here?” Mrs. Cake hoped he hadn't come here for sweets; she had purposely let herself run out of stock so they wouldn't go bad over the week.

“I needed to ask Pinkie Pie if she seen Lyra; It's really urgent.” Stated Trace with as much seriousness as he could muster.

Mrs. Cake frowned, apparently not wanting to let him anywhere near her at the moment, “I'm sorry, but that isn't possible... Pinkie is taking her heat rather hard this time. She might not be able to handle a male around, especially since you are close to her...”

“Please Mrs. Cake, it will only take a moment...” asked Trace pleadingly, hoping she would let him. He just had to find Lyra. He wouldn't be able to forgive himself if she was hurting right now.

A frown was plastered across Mrs. Cake's face, she was quite torn over this request. Trace was putting on his biggest puppy dog eyes, which made a sigh escape her, “Okay... But you leave the instant she can't handle it anymore... even if you don't have your answer, understood?”

“Cross my heart, hop to fly, stick a cup cake in my eye!” stated a smiling Trace as his hands mimicked Pinkie's pinkie promise.

Mrs. Cake didn't smile but led him to the stairs, “Hurry up, I'll change Pound Cake and Pumpkin Pie's diapers and feed them, you'd better be done once I finish!”

Nodding, he was left alone to make the daring voyage upstairs, and found a bright pink door that couldn't be any others than Pinkie's. He knocked on the door getting a weak, “Come in Mrs. Cake.”

He ignored that she thought it was Mrs. Cake and entered anyway. Pinkie was lying on her bed, with her back turned toward the door. Trace froze as he noticed her mane was straight; he had heard from the others about the last time her mane got like this. Her heat must have been pretty bad for it to straighten. He decided to keep it brief, as he closed the door behind him, “Pinkie, it's me Trace; I was hoping you knew where Lyra was or where she lived?”

Trace knew she heard him, because her ear flickered in response. She slowly lifted herself from the bed as he stepped forward, sitting beside her. He could hear a faint whisper, “Trace...”

He moved closer to hear her better, his hand hovering over her shoulder. Deciding against touching her in her state of arousal as direct physical contact might be a bad thing. Pinkie mumbled something in a low, weak, and cracking voice, but Trace didn't manage to fully hear it, “I'm sorry Pink, I didn't hear you...”

“Lyra is at home... Go away...” Pinkie's voice still seemed weak, but Trace managed to hear her this time.

Trace didn't let up as he asked, “Do you know where she lives?” Trace forgot about his own advice and placed a hand on her side. His hand jumped back noticing a shiver go straight up her back.

Trace had the wind knocked out of him as a big Pink mass tackled him to the bed. He looked up in astonishment at her speed, and strength. He knew earth ponies had many times the strength as pegasi or unicorns, but his immobility actually scared him, “P-Pinkie?”

He was looking up into Pinkie's eyes, but that was what allowed the flood gates of fear rush into him. He never dreamed in a million years, that he would be scared of the element of laughter. Her eyes were cold, and heat was radiating off her body. A scent crossed his nose that smelled of candy, but was hot; what one would think melted hard candy would smell like. Trace tried to protest as her lips were pressed forcefully down onto his. He opened his mouth to try to say something, but when he did, Pinkie took the chance to dart her tongue in. Trace tried to bring his hands up, but any movement he attempted to make was brought with Pinkie pressing down harder onto his upper arms and sharp pains throughout his muscles where her hooves were placed. A leg could be felt between his, kneading it up into his groin. He winced at the sudden attention, fear preventing any arousal he would have normally received in a similar situation. Pinkie broke the kiss, and with a flat, lust ridden, beast like voice, “Come on Trace… give in! It will make you feel good!”

“Noo... I'm with Lyra Pinkie! You remember her don't you?!” Trace decided since brute force wouldn't free him, maybe reason would.

“She would understand! She wants me and you to be happy! What are friends for?” A snort and somewhat maniacal laugh escaped the usual happy and innocent mare, “Now, let's see what you have down there for me!”

Pinkie removed her hooves only to turn around. Trace prepared to dart for the door, but his mobility once again subdued by a pink rump being shoved in his face. Trace winced at the moisture and cotton candy smell, as Pinkie fiddled with his zipper down below.

“Pinkamena Diane PIE!” A surprisingly fierce and motherly yell came from the doorway. Next thing Trace knew, Pinkie was pulled off of him, and pinned to the floor, “I can't believe this happened again... I should have known better than to let Trace up into your room!”

Trace caught his breath, weakly coming to his senses, he looked to Mrs. Cake with relief, “Thank you Mrs. Cake, I was worried there for a moment.” Trace got to his feet as he asked, “What... did you mean again?”

“Mr. Cake walked in one time... no time to explain though, Dearie... You should go while you can, don't know if I can hold her!” Pinkie was struggling, trying to kick and bite. Trace rushed to the door, pausing for a moment and looking back, “Sorry I caused you and Pinkie trouble.”

Just as he paused, Pinkie managed to throw Mrs. Cake off of her and ran for the door. Trace slammed the door just about the time he heard Mrs. Cake, “RUN!”

When the door to Pinkie's room slammed closed, he could hear a loud thud of the party mare hitting the door. Trace cringed in regret before turning to leave, “I'm sorry Pinkie...” As he heard her groan and hooves getting up, he darted down the stairs and out of Sugarcube Corner, while he still could.

_________________

In front of Twilight's Library:

It was a little worrying. Trace wasn’t sure he should even try to see any more of his friends after the incident with Pinkie, but surely an intellectual pony like Twilight wouldn't act as badly as Pinkie had. Not to mention Mrs. Cake had said Pinkie takes it harder than everypony else. She seemed to be a few apples short of a bushel to begin with, though. He decided to put it behind him for the moment, making a mental note that when the heat cycle of Ponyville was over, he would make sure he hadn't hurt her by slamming that door. Trace balled his hand into a fist, knocking three times and listened. He didn't hear anything, so he called out, “Twilight, it's Trace!”

With barely any time to process what was happening, Trace and the door were surrounded with a lavender aura that yanked him through the hastily opened door, as well as slamming it shut behind him. A frantic voice saying to him, “Trace... I told you about heat cycles... You should be at home!”

Trace couldn't reply, he was still hovered up in the air, with Twilight's magic squeezing the life out of him. Trace only gave small gasps as he tried to force air into his lungs. Twilight panicked as she suddenly dropped him with a loud thud, “Trace! I am so sorry... are you okay?”

Coughing as air was returned to him, “It's okay, Twi...”

As he sat up from the spot he had landed and looked to Twilight, he noticed her bedraggled appearance. Her hair was frazzled, her right eye would occasionally twitch, and her tail swished back and forth behind her. He also noticed that her hind hooves were kneading into the floor, and her large lavender eyes staring rather too intently at him. Trace was about to get up when Twilight started talking, “I know you don't retain most of the information I teach you, but the estrus of a mare is particularly important. As long as they have feelings for you, be it love, friendship, or they are just really close to you; they will find any reason to copulate with you. You just don't understand the pain and the extreme emotional and hormonal impact of a pony’s heat; not to mention that males are affected by their aroma. The scent has been known to suffuse a stallion. Sometimes it can even be more dangerous than the mare themselves being in heat.”

Trace blinked, only managing to pick up part of her intellectual spasm rant, “Twilight...” before he could say anything more, she continued.

“Furthermore, it is particularly dangerous for you, since you have no prior experience in the matter, and can be taken advantage of. So, I advise you to go home, and stay home. Do not leave the house for at least a week!” Twilight blinked suddenly when a pair of hands came clapping in front of her face, snapping her attention to look at Trace.

“Twilight... I need to find Lyra... Do you know where she lives?” Trace asked, making sure to keep it short and to the point. Noticing the longer he stays, the more Twilight seems to squirm in place.

Twilight's face seemed to crinkle up as she thought hard. 'I don't think I know where she lives... I wish I did... I wonder why Trace wants to know... Well, Rarity did say he was with Lyra now... Does that mean he likes ponies now? Oh, he looks so gorgeous... I never noticed before now...' Trace tried to wait patiently, but he was starting to worry. Twilight's eyes were looking him over, took on a rather easily identifiable look. Usually when she 'focused' she had a deep look of concentration on her face. This was the look of lust, and longing. Trace decided that if it took her this long to think about if she knew where Lyra lived, then maybe she didn't know, “Twilight... it seems you don't know, so, I will just be going now...”

Trace slowly got up, acting as if he made any sudden movements; Twilight would pounce on him like a tiger, hunting its prey. “WAIT!” Twilight called before her magic brought a chair behind Trace, and forcefully sat him down. Trace froze in fear as he watched the deranged looking mare as she started circling him, “I was just thinking Trace; you are with Lyra, aren't you?”

Hesitantly nodding, mostly from fear of what she intended, Trace made to rise, “Twilight, I really should be going...” but he was forced back down, an aura encasing him, freezing his motor skills. He was entirely immobilized.

As her eyes took on a particularly strong glaze of lust, she continued, “That means you like ponies, doesn't it?”

“Twilight... I...” He didn't get much of a chance to answer before she was up in his lap, her lips connected with his. Trace frantically struggled, trying to fight Twilight's ridiculously strong magic. Trace yelped through the kiss as his pants were brought down to his ankles, and a tongue darting into his mouth. All he could do was give muffled protests as a hoof stroked him through his clothes. Trace clenched his eyes closed as tears welled up in his eyes. 'This is it! I don't have anypony to save me this time... I'm sorry Lyra...' Trace thought to himself, but when his mind turned to Lyra, the tears started to fall from his eyes. All he could think about was Lyra sobbing because he cheated on her with Twilight. Trace froze as the aura instantly vanished, and Twilight jumped several feet back, a horrified look on her face. She was mentally assaulting herself, 'he-- he's crying! He has never cried... at least never that I have ever seen... Oh my gosh! I'm such a bad pony...' Twilight collapsed to her hooves in a ball of tears. Only one other thing, besides the sobs, could be heard from that crying ball of purple fur, “Trace... I'm so so sorry... I just couldn't help myself... I'm...”

It was Twilight's turn to freeze, as Trace stood up and pulling back up his pants, “It... it's ok...”

“IT'S NOT OK... I ALMOST... RAPED YOU!” The tears falling freely from her eyes, and her body wracked with the most despondent sobs he had ever heard.

“Twilight... I understand...” Trace was slowly stopping his own tears as he got down on one knee, placing a hand on Twilight's shoulder, “I am not upset... but you need to tell me if you know where Lyra lives or where she might be...”

Twilight sniffled hard as she whimpered, “I don't know... She just comes in sometimes for books... I don't know her that well...”

Trace got up, heading over to the door before looking back at his purple friend, “Don't beat yourself up Twilight, I'm not mad, but I need to find Lyra... I have something important to tell her...”

Twilight weakly nodded, not giving any other answer. Trace hesitated, determining whether he should leave her or not. When he took too long to leave, Twilight finally looked up, tears still slightly falling, “Go to her Trace, it’s ok...” and with that, Trace gave her a smile, and closed the door behind him.

______________________________________

On the way to the Carousel Boutique:

If he didn't want to desperately find Lyra and make sure she wasn't beating herself up too badly; He would just head home and wait the week out, maybe get the house cleaned up. Trace had it decided that Rarity was next. She even flat out said she didn't like him that way. So, she should be okay right? Then again, Trace had caught some of Twilight's mini lecture earlier, and she did say that ponies can't control themselves if they are really close to a friend and they come around during heat cycles. Trace just decided to keep his distance. Hopefully, if he stayed far enough away, Rarity wouldn't be tempted to act. Upon knocking, Trace flinched, immediately hearing a yell that didn't seem in any way dignified, but could recognize it enough to know it was Rarity, “GO AWAY... DON'T YOU KNOW WHAT WEEK THIS IS?”

Trace frowned, tempted to turn away and just leave her alone. Lyra jumped into his mind, with her crying and sobbing the entire week, thinking she ruined their relationship. He sighed, “Rarity... It's me Trace...”

Frantic hoofsteps, and a couple things hitting the floor, could be heard. A bell chimed as the door swung open with a blue aura. Trace gazed in utter shock; Rarity, of all ponies, was a mess! She didn't have any make up on, her lashes were skewed, and her mane lay haggardly in every which direction. Trace was afraid to even try, but pressed onward, “Rarity... do you know where Lyra might be?”

Trace tried to read Rarity's face, but all he saw was her biting her lower lip. Averting her eyes, “I don't know Trace... Can't say I really know her... I've made her dresses and things, I even made the dress she wore on her date with you...” for a split moment, Trace thought Rarity looked like her usual self.

“Oh... Thanks anyway Rarity... I just need to find her... I'll go see if anypony else knows.” Trace stated, turning away, but paused.

“What happened on your date?” Rarity's question seemed to retain her regal air, but Trace was worried how long it would last, before she jumped him like Twilight and Pinkie had.

Trace decided that he would stay outside; surely she wouldn't do anything outside, “Well... the date went really well... When we got home... we kind of... had sex because of her heat...”

Rarity's expression fell to one of sorrow, she looked up into Trace's eyes as she stated with as much sympathy as she could muster, “I'm so sorry Trace... so, why are you trying to find her then?”

Trace watched Rarity's body, her body was slightly shaking and he could tell she was trying to contain herself to help him; she truly was a good friend, “I don't want this to end our relationship, I still want to give this a try... I'm not one hundred percent with my feelings and even I'm worried if our first time was because of her heat, but I don't want us to break up over it; I need to tell her that... I should get going; looks like you are in a lot of pain...”

“Hold on a second!” Rarity blurted out, preventing him from leaving.

Trace scowled as he replied, “Um... what's wrong?”

“That window you replaced... It's been mighty drafty, mind taking a look, darling?”

Trace's eyebrows turned down as he glared at her. He tried to read her body language, though he still wasn't all that good at. She seemed to still be calm and like herself, even though she looked like a total mess at the moment. Trace sighed in defeat and nodded. Rarity closed the door behind him as they headed upstairs and to her work room. Once Trace made it into her work room, he was surprised it was sparkling clean. Usually, she had an 'organized mess', as she liked to call it, scattered amongst the room. He put that observation to the back of his mind, turning to the task on hand. Trace promptly ran the back of his hand to see if he could feel any cold air coming through anywhere on the window. Sure enough, square in the middle a small gust of air was escaping from in-between the pane of glass, and the wood framing that encased it. That was most likely his fault. He bought all his supplies from different ponies, and most times he would get cheated. The pony that made this window must have not made it right, or didn't use proper sealants. Trace chuckled as he turned to Rarity, “At first I thought you just wanted me up here to jump me or something.”

Fear crossed his face when his eyes fell on Rarity, she was shaking worse than before, her hoof in between her teeth, and she was biting down with significant force. She was biting down so hard, Trace was afraid she might do damage, whether if it was her teeth, or her left hoof, “Rarity!”

blinking for a moment as Rarity released her hoof. Her teeth felt tender from biting so hard, and her hoof was slick with saliva and had very minor indentations in it. Now though, without the pain of biting her hoof, she lacked the only thing that kept her from lunging at him. Trace yelled loudly, his heart racing and his back slamming against the window, “Rarity... STOP!”

Right now, his main concern wasn't rape; it was the cracking window that his back was being held against. Before Rarity could realize or act, the window gave way, and Trace fell backwards out the window. All he could hear as he was falling was Rarity's frazzled plea, “TRACE!”

Rarity managed to encase Trace's body, but only slowing his body by a fraction. His back made a loud THUD against the ground, making the wind expel from his body. Luckily, he hadn't landed on any shattered glass. He was extremely happy that hadn't happened. Next thing he knew, Rarity was outside and knelt down to his side, “Trace... Oh my goodness... I am so sorry, darling... are you hurt?”

He couldn't help but grin even through the pain he was in. After the fall, Rarity now looked as if she wasn't even in heat. Worry for her friend seemed to have snapped her out of it for now, “Yeah, I'm fine, luckily your magic helped.” Trace winced as he got up. Main thing he had was a reddened and sore back.

“I don't know what came over me... I just... oh my! A lady shouldn't be jumping on her best friend like that! I PUSHED YOU OUT OF A WINDOW!” Rarity covered her face in her hooves, hiding her embarrassment.

Trace dusted himself off before placing a hand on Rarity's back, “Don't worry about it, no serious harm done...” Trace grunted as a few more bones cracked, “I'll tell you what, go make some cocoa, I will cover up this window for now, and then you can snuggle up and I'll leave. No harm done, okay?”

Rarity was a little skeptical; he seemed to be rather forgiving for someone that was just pushed out of a window. She half wondered if he was covering up the pain more than he was showing, “Are you sure you are okay, darling?”

“Nothing too major, now get going.”

Rarity complied and headed into the house. For the remainder of the time he was there, he kept his distance, making sure he wasn't in the same room for more than a minute or so. He managed to get the glass cleaned up, and stapled a large sheet of plastic over the window; that Rarity for some reason had stashed away with some of her cloth. He figured she used it for keeping moths away from stored fabrics. Once all done he sighed in relief when Rarity didn't put up a fight as he left. Him falling out the window must have scared her pretty bad, because the signs of her heat she had been displaying when he first got there, were now just minor trembles. Trace placed his hands in his pockets, walking toward Fluttershy's cottage, hoping that if he took the long way through the park, he could walk off the pain that still lingered throughout his body.

___________________________________________________________________________________

Author's Note

Special thanks to my editor; Bytestorm