Pound My Pumpkin

by Tatsurou

Rating: mature
Tags: Sex, Cake Twins, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Alternate Universe, Other, Romance, Original Character
Length: 37337

Pound Cake has a secret. It involves his sister. And wingboners. Story takes place in adolescent years.

Pound Cake loves his sister. He loves her very much. They've always been together, and he doesn't want anything to ever change that.
However, there's more to it than that. Since the day they got their Cutie Marks, he's discovered new feelings towards his sister...and he has been trying to deal with them ever since.

A bit of a writing challenge to myself, with two things I'm not completely comfortable with: clop and incest. Please give a full critique of what you really think of this story. Feel free to tear it apart, I want to know how to improve.
So, is twincest still wincest?

Edit: No longer a one-shot. I'm continuing this one. Just a note, it will primarily be character interaction driven.

Edit again: Now with cover art by Kill Joy

Published 2013-02-25 21:40:02 UTC
Last updated 2013-08-05 21:45:25 UTC

Chapter 1

Pound My Pumpkin

Pound Cake smiled to himself as he flew home from school, his saddlebags full of his textbooks and homework. So far, High School seemed to agree with him. He had made plenty of friends, he was actually on the school's stormball team, and was actually quite popular with the fillies, from what he'd heard tell. Most of his colt peers seemed to be somewhat jealous, not that he liked that. He was always trying to make friends, just like his Aunt Pinkie had always taught him.

If only school was the worst of his problems.

Reaching Sugarcube Corner, Pound slowly settled to the ground, folding his wings. He pushed the door open as he entered, making the little bell ring.

"Just a second! I'll be right with you!"

The sound of that angelic voice triggered a reaction Pound both dreaded and had become used to.

*POOMF!*

As Pound struggled to relax and refold his wings, the source of the voice popped her head over the counter, and he lost all focus as he stared anew into those beautiful baby blue eyes. "Big Brother!" she called happily, vaulting over the counter to embrace him.

He couldn't help but admire the smoothness of her leap, the way her light muscles flowed under her skin, the way the light caught her spiral horn as she raced to his side...or how warm she felt against him. Within moments, he stepped back, recapturing his breath. "Hey, sis!" he replied happily, struggling to keep his body reactions under control.

With their greetings out of the way, they headed into the store/residence, chatting about their days. As they chatted, Pound couldn't help but reminisce about how this stuation had come to pass.

They had always been together. That made sense, since they were twins. They had shared such a strong bond since the day of their birth, and they always wanted to be together. This had been just fine...until the day they entered puberty, the day they had gotten their Cutie Marks.

At the thought, Pound couldn't keep his eyes from straying to his sister's flank, where a slice of angel food cake adorned her buttery coat. He'd always thought it appropriate, since Pumpkin had always been an innocent little angel in his eyes. The slice of Devil's Food on his own flank was - in his opinion - quite telling...as it was on the day he had earned it that he had discovered in his heart impure desires for his own twin.

Their discussion over, Pumpkin returned to mind the store front, but not before turning back to him. "Oh, by the way...Mom and Dad are going to be at the baking competition for the week, so we're on our own. They feel they can trust us not to get into any mischef while they're gone. We won't let them down, right big brother?"

He smiled reassuringly at her, trying to calm his heart. There was another part of why this was so hard. The way she called him 'big brother' always sent his heart racing. She called him that because he had grown to be physically bigger than her...not that this gave him any power in their relationship.

As he passed by the kitchen, he was once again reminded of why that was. The glow of Pumpkin's magic surrounded nearly everything in their, as she continued to bake more sweets even as she minded the front counter. Princess Twilight had once suggested that Pumpkin be enrolled in Celesiia's school, but she had declined, as baking was her true passion.

As he passed, Pound couldn't help but extend a hoof to caress the flow of magical energy, feeling the texture of it, a mix of warm ice and silk that always made him shudder. His wings once more snapped open, and he quickly raced up to their room, glad that no one had ever explained 'wingboners' to Pumpkin.

Ever since the day they had matured, he had dealt with this...infatuation with his twin sister. He could not escape it. He had tried everything he could think of to escape it, to train himself away from it...but nothing worked. While other mares and fillies could catch his eye, and he could 'inspire' himself in various ways...nothing got him quite like her orange locks against her yellow coat. Even the 'Playcolt' Wonderbolts issue with the Spitfire/Rainbow Dash centerfold - which his yearmates all claimed was the hottest thing this side of dragon breath - didn't make his wings snap to attention quite like a glimpse of those baby blue eyes gazing up at him through her eyelashes.

And now he would be spending an entire week alone with his sister, with nopony around to help him keep himself in check. As he collapsed onto his bed, he prayed his self control was up to the task.

Pound slowly stirred, noticing a few things off. For one, he was on his back, but he always slept on his stomach. For another, a familiar warm-ice-and-silk sensation wrapped around all four hooves, as he lay spread eagled on his back. But when he felt hot breath on his stallionhood, his eyes snapped open to the one thing he never expected to see.

Pumpkin sat between his hind legs, her eyes locked on his rising member in hungry fascination. Her horn glowed in the misty light of the room. Gazing up at him through her long eyelashes, she smiled. "Awake, big brother?"

He began to stammer in shock. "Wha-? Pumpkin?" As she breathed on him once more he shivered. "Pumpkin? What? Wha-" A band of magic covered his mouth.

"Shh..." Pumpkin whispered. "Don't question it." Smiling at him, she once more breathed on his now erect stallionhood, then took it into her forehooves and began to caress it with her warm tongue.

Pound's head fell back as he moaned in pleasure. He couldn't believe this was actually happening. It was so wrong...but it felt so good. He had wanted something like this for so long, and now it was happening... All thought left his mind as she took him into her mouth, her warm, rough tongue caressing his member as her lips squeezed him gently. As much as he tried to hold himself back, it wasn't long before he found his release.

As he opened his eyes, he saw Pumpkin licking her lips, having pulled back from him as he finished. "Now there's the cream filling," she said seductively, before giggling at the ridiculous metaphore. She then stepped back, her magic releasing his hooves.

He scampered to his hooves, struggling to wrap his mind around what had just happened. He shook his head, trying to find words, but when he opened his mouth, nothing came out.

Pumpkin giggled. "Don't worry, Big Brother. I know exactly what's bothering you. After all..." She turned around, lowering her head to her hooves as she raised her flank into the air in his face. She turned her head to look at him over her shoulder. "...I've been waiting for this as long as you have," she said, deliberately moving her tail to give him a fully unobstructed view of her dripping marehood.

His wings snapped to full extension so fast he was half afraid he'd pulled a muscle, but he wasted no time in concern. "Pumpkin!" he cried in yearning as he moved forward, resting his upper body on her raised flank as he manuevered his member against her opening.

She let out a throaty moan. "That's it...pound me..."

Needing no further invitation, Pound pushed himself into his sister, losing himself in the moment as they both screamed out in pleasure.

Losing himself completely in the act, he pounded repeatedly into his sister, letting years of pent up yearnings out in this single moment. Pushing him on was the sound of sis sister's voice calling out to him. "Yes, that's it! More, big brother, give me more! Oh, Celestia, YES! BIG BROTHER!!!"

Pound shot to his hooves, his blanket falling off his shoulders. Glancing out the window, he saw that the sun was just starting to set. He blinked, trying to make sense of what just happened. Was it...was it just a daydream?"

Pumpkin stuck her head in the room. "Big Brother," she said sweetly, "dinner's almost ready."

Pound nodded dumbly. Pumpkin pulled her head back. Pound looked up at the setting sun, and prayed to Celestia's fading light that he might find a way to stop wanting his sister this way.

But as he turned around, he prayed his darkest desire to Luna's rising moon...that he might see a sign that Pumpkin wanted him back.

Bond

Bond

Pumpkin sighed as she watched her brother walk towards the stairs. She had hoped he would be excited about the idea of them having the house to themselves for a week. A week just to be themselves, where they could rekindle their bond as twins. But it seemed he didn't have an interest in that after all. If anything, the idea of being alone with her seemed to upset him for some reason.

She turned back to the front counter, levitating some cupcakes over to fill where she had just sold out. She wasn't sure why, but whenever she minded the front counter, a lot of Pound's friends showed up to buy plenty of sweets...usually saying some of the silliest things. The first time she'd mentioned this to her folks, her mom said it might be the time for the talk about "the birds and the bees". However, her Aunt Pinkie had already explained that to her; bees make honey, and birds eat bees. She failed to see how that was relevant to the behaviour of colts, but her folks seemed relieved that she already knew...whatever it was, so she didn't make a fuss.

As she restocked, she felt Pound's hoof brush against her magic in the kitchen. Even as she minded the front counter, she could reach into the kitchen with her magic and mix batter, bake sweets, mix icing, and apply all the finishing touches every individual sweet needed to make it just perfect. Princess Twilight Sparkle had examined her skill level and recommended to her parents that she attend Celestia's school for Gifted Unicorns in Canterlot...but she had declined. Baking was her true passion, and she already had enough knowledge and control to do that...and she couldn't imagine leaving her brother behind.

The touch of his hoof against her magic brought a breif smile to her face, though she sighed as she could feel him turn to go up to the room they'd shared since birth, her residual magic still clinging to his hoof as he walked up the stairs. Glancing around, she saw how late it was getting and turned the sign on the door to 'CLOSED'. She then packed up the remaining fresh baked goods for the day. Some would be placed in the 'day olds' cabinet, sold at a discount the next day. The rest were donated, divided between orphanages and other community services that could always use the extra sweet bun or two.

Having finished the packing and clean up, Pumpkin worked to prepare dinner. She'd been expanding her culinary skills beyond baked goods, so she decided she'd make an eggplant primavera with apple turnovers for afters. As this dish was new to her, she needed to be in the kitchen to make it.

As she finished cooking, she set the table and turned to go get her brother. As she entered the room, however, she saw he was asleep. She figured he had a rough day.

"Zzz...wha...Pumpkin..."

Pumpkin blinked. He was dreaming about her? Why would he be dreaming about her? She didn't understand. "Big Brother?" she called out, concerned.

"Zaa...Pumpkin...Pumpkin!" He shot to his hooves in his bed tossing his covers off. He glanced out the window, then towards the door.

Pumpkin smiled at him. "Big Brother, dinner's almost ready." When he nodded, she pulled back, heading downstairs to make sure everything was just right, wanting to make sure that Pound would be comfortable.

When Pound joined her at the table, she smiled, pleased to see the effect the smell of dinner had on him. As he sat down to begin eating, she tasted the food herself. She was glad to see she had done such a good job.

"Delicious as always, sis," Pound said distractedly, devouring his food.

Pumpkin chuckled to herself, watching herbrother devour his food with his usual eagerness. Mom sometimes wondered if he even took the time to taste it. "So Pound," she began as she enjoyed her meal as well, "it's been a while since we had a chance to sit and talk, just the two of us. We've both been so busy."

Pound nodded. "Mph-hmm," he said through his mouthful of food.

"It'll be nice to get to know each other again," she said, twirling her fork in the pasta.

Pound blinked. "Mph."

Pumpkin chuckled. "You never did learn good table manners, did you, big brother? How are you ever going to catch a filly's eye when you eat like a pig?"

Pound chocked a bit, then swallowed. "Huzzawah?" he asked, displaying the usual eloquence of the adolescent colt.

Pumpkin giggled at his unease. "Well, Mom and Dad were talking about when you'd bring home a fillyfriend for them to meet. Aren't you looking? I do want you to be happy, big brother." She supressed the anticipated jealousy. That was just the usual irritation any sister felt about a girl getting close to her brother, just like how Princess Twilight acted when her older brother was getting married. "So, is there a certain filly you have your eye on, big brother?"

Pound's wings snapped violently open. That was odd. While it did happen quite often with him, she couldn't figure out what about her question could have triggered it. The only other time she'd seeen that sort of reaction was when she'd brought honeycakes to his stormball teammates and told them she had made them with her special honey. She could understand why that had made them so happy. After all, she'd been aging that jar in the back of the pantry until it had reached just the right level of crystallization for three years...not that she told them that. She didn't want anypony knowing where she kept her special honey.

Pound looked away. "No, there's nopony..."

Pumpkin looked at him. She didn't understand what was wrong with him. Why wouldn't he tell her what was bothering him? Was it...her fault? So she took a risk, trotting on eggshells.

Her next words wouldn't have made sense to anypony who overheard the conversation, assuming they heard words at all and not complete gibberish. After all, she was speaking in a private language unique to her and Pound, one that no linguist could ever unravel. She spoke in Twin.

"Big Brother, you can tell me what's bothering you. You can trust me." She looked at him, her heart in her eyes. "Did...did I do something wrong? Please, tell me how we can go back to what we had."

Pound's entire body seemed to shiver. He snatched up his turnover. "Welldinnerwasgreatasusualyou'reareallygoodcookPumpkinbutIhadareallylongdaysoI'mgonnahitthehay,goodnight!" He dashed up the stairs.

Pumpkin stared at where he had been. Tears started to form in her eyes. She had addressed him in Twin, their private language, practically the symbol of everything they had once meant to each other, the bond they'd shared since birth...and he had responded in Equesh. She had never felt more rejected - more unloved and unwanted - in her entire life.

"Is this how Aunt Pinkie feels," Pumpkin sobbed out, "when her mane and tail go straight? ...no wonder she never wants any pictures of those times..." She started to tap her magic to clean up, but she stopped. She could clean up tomorrow, or something. Slowly, she walked up the stairs.

In their room, she saw that Pound was in bed, to all appearances dead to the world. She crawled into her own bed. She started to reach for her covers, then left them off. Burying her face in her pillow, she wept, her voice letting out the chocked sobs of the broken hearted.

After a time, she heard hoofsteps...and then Pound was there, rubbing his head against her neck, trying to comfort her. With a sob, she threw her forelegs around his neck, pulling him close, crying into his mane. His wings snapped open again, and he tried to pull away, but she whispered, "Please, Big Brother...don't reject me again..."

His entire body shuddered, and he seemed to droop in shame. Climbing onto the bed with her, he lay down against her. She smiled, feeling more content now, but she noticed how stiff his wings were. Thinking she could help make him more comfortable, she began to rub the flight muscles of his back, between his wings, trying to ease the tension.

Pound let out a hissing intake of breath. "Pumpkin, wait..."

"What's wrong, Big Brother?" she asked, confused. "I just want to help you relax. Am I...doing it wrong?" She continued to rub his muscles, more gently this time, adding her magic to it ever so slightly to caress the musculature of his back and wings gently from within. "Does it...hurt?

He let out a gasp. "No, Pumpkin. It's not that, it's-" He let out another gasp, followed by a moan.

She smiled. "It feels good?" When he nodded silently, she giggled happily. "I'm glad. I've never done anything like this before. I was worried I'd got it wrong." Feeling with her magic, she sensed each tight knot of muscle in his back and wings, pressing on them with her hoof as her magic unwound the knots, rubbing as she found and released each point of tension in his body.

Pound let out a sudden gasp, louder than before. "Oh gods!" he gasped out, before his breath caught. His entire body went tense before then going slack. His eyes then went wide as though from shock. He started to scramble out of the bed.

"Big Brother, wait!" Pumpkin called out. Her hoof touched a warm, wet spot on her sheets. "Big Brother, did...did you wet the bed?" She couldn't help but giggle.

Pound went pale, then leapt for the window, pulling it open, spreading his wings. He leaped.

"Big Brother, wait!" Pumpkin's magic seized his body, pulling him back in, leaving him suspended upside down in the air. "I'm sorry I laughed. I'd never judge you for wetting the bed. I won't tell Mom and Dad, I'll just change the sheets. Just please, tell me what's wrong!" She was crying now, but she couldn't stop. He wouldn't face her. "Please! You've been drifting away, we've been growing apart...and I can't bear it! We...we haven't even held hooves like we used to since we got our Cutie Marks! That was more than three years ago!" He turned to face her, a look of compounded shock, shame, and fear on his face. "Please, tell me what I'm doing wrong, how I can fix this...Pound!"

The language known collectively as Twin is far more complex than any untwinned being could ever hope to comprehend. As the roots of each Twin language set is based in the time whilst the twins are still enwombed, the language develops tenses, inflections, and intonations with meanings that language as most beings know it could never fully interpret it. A good metaphor would be that, while a picture may be worth a thousand words in Equesh, one word of Twin is worth a thousand pictures...especially when that word is a name.

In Twin, to speak a being's name is not just simply a designation. It is a reflection of the speaker's heart, everything they think and feel and believe about the named being, what they mean to them and what they think of them, and nothing can be hidden. When Pumpkin called her brother's name in Twin, it was more than just a word. It bespoke of how much she loved him, how much their bond meant to her, the years of obscure pain she'd been through ever since he began to put up the wall between them...and the agony of rejection she felt earlier when he would not speak to her in Twin, and the fear that she would lose him.

Pound looked up at her, tears flowing freely from his eyes as realization struck him like a stampede. His eyes locked on hers, and he spoke but a single word.

"Pumpkin..."

Pumpkin gasped, her magic releasing Pound to let him fall to the floor. Turning, she did the only thing she could do. She ran.

In that single word, she had felt everything she was to her brother. She felt the pain he experienced with realizing how much he'd hurt her, the knowledge that distance between them was the last thing he wanted, how much he loved her, how much he wanted to keep their bond strong, and the fear that he would hurt her beyond redemption.

All this she could handle. But there was one more emotional impression in his call of her name in Twin. An emotion she herself had never experienced, had no true familiarity with. It had almost felt like the estrus cycle she had gone through for the first time just two months ago, but that only came every half-year. It was this emotion from her brother she did not know how to handle, and could only try to escape.

She fled from his lust.

Guy Talk

Guy Talk

Pound sat on the floor in the main room of Sugarcube Corner, hidden behind the front counter. He had decided he shouldn't chase after Pumpkin when she'd run out like that. All things considered, he thought it would likely be the wrong thing to do, or at the very least present the wrong impression. He had thought she would return soon enough and he could explain himself a bit more, and if she took too long he could go out and look for her. But she was 16, nearly a mare, and could take care of herself, right? And how long was too long to go after her, and how soon was too soon? Thus, here he was, his red , frantic eyes blinking in the mid-morning light of the sun, looking rather unkempt and frentic, not unlike Twilight Sparkle that one time she was late sending a Friendship Report to Celestia...complete with eye twitch.

He hadn't touched the sign on the front door, meaning it still read closed. So when the bell at the front door rang, he shot to his hooves and stuck his head around the counter to see who it was.

A purple drake with green spines walked in slowly, choosing to walk on all fours to fit building dimensions designed for quadrapedal ponies. His wings were folded tightly to his back as he approached. "Pound?" Spike asked, worry in his voice. "You okay?"

Pound blinked for a bit. "Spike? What are you doing here?"

"Twilight and the others asked me to check on you after we found Pumpkin under the bridge, crying her eyes out. What's this all about, anyway?"

Pound sank down to the floor. "Is...is she okay?"

"She's at the library just now. If she needs anything, Twilight will see to it."

Pound let out a sigh of relief. "That...that's good." He lay down on the floor, letting his body relax. "I was really worried about her." His mane settled, returning to its normal configuration.

Spike sat down next to him. Although the adolescent-seeming dragon was approximately the size of an adult pony, his long neck meant he could easily tower over others if he wanted...and sometimes, even if he didn't want to. He looked down at Pound, concern in his eyes and voice. "Pound, what's this all about?"

Pound sighed. "It's...complicated." That's probably the understatement of the year, Pound thought to himself.

Spike smiled. "Want to talk about it? I'm told I'm a good listener."

Pound looked up at Spike. If there was anyone he could talk to about this... "Spike, remember when you first started courting Rarity?"

Spike chuckled. "You weren't even born yet, kid."

Pound shook his head. "No, I mean when you first started getting serious about it, when it became obvious to everypony it was more than a child's crush."

Spike blinked for a bit. "Yeah, I remember. Not exactly the...happiest time of my life."

"Can you tell me about it?"

Spike raised an eyebrow. "How does this relate to whatever's going on with you and Pumpkin?" he asked, suspicion in his voice.

"Tangentialy," Pound relied.

Spike nodded. "Gotcha." He leaned back in thought. "Well, everypony knew I at least had a crush on Rarity...but a few years after Twilight ascended to Alicorn, I asked Rarity to stop looking at me as a child and see me for who I wanted to be for her...to give me a chance to show her how happy I could make her. Then I asked her out." Spike smiled. "She was rather shocked, needless to say, and asked for some time to think about it. It took a few days, but she did say yes. I then focused on doing what I could to show her that, while by dragon standards I was still an infant, I had the capacity and willingness to be grown up for her. She enjoyed our date, and readily agreed to future ones."

Pound smiled. "Were there...any problems?"

Spike sighed. "Yeah. While everypony in Ponyville was used to my pursuing her, not all of them were pleased at the idea of it actually getting anywhere. Apparently, the idea of a dragon and a pony as a couple struck a few as...unnatural. And beyond Ponyville, things were even worse." Spike looked down. "A few cities and towns across Equestria actually actively shunned Rarity for choosing to be with me. It was her own personal Tartarus for a while as ponies she sought to do business with denied her because of her lifestyle, an obstacle all her talent and connections could not overcome. And to me, it seemed it was all my fault."

Pound nodded. He remembered his Aunt Pinkie telling him this story when it happened, and the rage that had followed when she excused herself to the basement to vent. "Then what happened?"

"I went to break up with her, thinking that if she was free of me, she could pursue her dreams and be happy. She...didn't take it well." Spike chuckled nervously. "I swear, her tirade was probably audible in Appleoosa. At first, she called me all sorts of names for betraying her like that, leaving her alone at the worst time in her life, and when I interrupted to say I was doing it for her..."

"Is that when the boutique did the triple axle double somersault in the air to the sound of a shouted 'what'?"

Spike blinked. "That bad, huh? Yeah, that was the moment. Anyway, the tirade she gave me then doesn't bear repeating...or remembering, to be honest." Spike chickled fondly. "After that, nothing would tear us apart. And I learned something then. A lot of people - ponies and otherwise - have certain ideas about how love can be 'right' or 'wrong', and that only the 'right' kind of love should exist. That's a load of horse apples. When a bond like that is found, when you know there's only one being with whom you want to be there with forever, it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks. The only opinions that should matter are your own and that of your special someone."

Pound smiled. "Thanks, Spike. That...that helps, somewhat."

Spike blinked, then grinned. "Oho! Is that what this is about? Someone's gone and caught your eye, Pound? And Pumpkin didn't take it well?" Pound nodded. "Well, maybe I can help you out there and figure out how to fix this."

Pound blinked in thought. "...promise you won't tell anypony?"

Spike smiled. "Cross my heart," he began, making the motions, "hope to-"

"No," Pound interrupted. "Not a Pinkie Promise. Just...a promise."

Spike blinked. "Umm...okay. Why?"

Pound swallowed. "Because this is really serious...and I'm not sure I have the experience to know how to handle the situation correctly on my own. So, while I want you to keep it secret...I want you to have a way to act to salvage the situation if it looks like I'm going to screw something up royally, even if that means not keeping the secret."

Spike looked at Pound seriously for a time, then rested one clawed hand on his shoulder, giving it a reassuring squeeze. "Well, you've taken the first step to handling this situation - whatever it is - the right way. I don't know if I'm the best one to confide in or help, but I'll do what I can...and I'll keep the secret, and only tell if I have to. Alright?"

Pound looked up at Spike with a smile. "Thanks."

Spike smiled back. "So, who is it that's caught your eye and caused this whole mess, huh?"

"Pumpkin."

Spike blinked, his smile fading. "Uh, I think I need to be a bit more specific."

"I have lustful feelings for my sister." Pound looked down, guessing this wouldn't go over well.

Spike returned his claw to the floor, staring at Pound for a while. At long last, he spoke. "Well...buck."

Pound chuckled. "I know. That...more or less sums up my life since the day I got my Cutie Mark."

Spike blinked. "That long?" Pound nodded. "And you've never let on to anyone?"

Pound nodded. "Kept it to myself...except for regular prayers to Celestia and Luna at sunrise and sunset. ...do you think they hear prayers?"

Spike shrugged. "I don't know if Celestia can hear prayers, but I know Luna can, just like she can visit a pony's dreams to help them with issues they can't handle on their own."

Pound sighed. "That explains more than it doesn't," he mumbled under his breath. "Like why nothing I tried would help me let go of this...attraction."

Spike looked at Pound for a time. "So...what exactly happened last night?" he asked calmly.

Pound winced. "Pumpkin managed to force the truth out of me."

Spike blinked. "Which led to her running away from you and home to spend the rest of the night under the bridge crying her eyes out?"

"Apparently."

Spike settled backwards. "Huh," he said at last, watching Pound carefully. "Well, you've made a right mess of things."

"You noticed," Pound snapped back acerbically.

"Hey! I'm trying to help here!" Spike glowered at Pound.

Pound lowered his head. "Sorry."

Spike exhaled. "As I was saying...you've made a mess of things, but I think you can still make things right. Pumpkin's probably going to try and talk to one or more of the girls about this, and try to figure out her own head and heart on the matter. ...you need to do the same."

Pound looked up. "Huh?"

"You described these feelings as attraction, lust. If that's all it is, you need to suppress it or erase it as best you can. However, if it's love, but just maturing into the desire for physical intimacy...then you need to decide exactly what to do about it. But if it is love, then she has to come first when it comes to the answers."

Pound blinked, feeling rather shocked. "Wait...are you saying you actually approve of this?"

Spike stared Pound right in the eyes. "It's not my place to approve or disapprove. Nor is it my place to pass judgement or decide your life for you. Only you can do that, and you have to do it on your own. Just remember...if it really is love, true love...then the only pony's opinions who should matter are hers...and yours."

Pound stared for a time, then nodded. "Alright. Thank you, Spike."

Spike nodded then turned to go. "One more thing," he called over his shoulder. "No matter what else happens, always be sure your actions are guided by your heart, not your loins. Even if it is true love, if you let lust control you, it will destroy you. ...I nearly learned that lesson too late."

Pound lowered his head. "I understand."

Spike smiled, though Pound couldn't see it. "You're a good colt, Pound. I'm sure you'll do the right thing. Think about everything I said, alright?" He shook himself off. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I feel the need to spend time with my own beloved."

Pound smiled. "Bye, Spike."

As the young dragon left, Pound headed for the kitchen. He wasn't sure what to think yet, but he was pretty sure breakfast would help.

Change

Change

Pound paced slowly back and forth inside the front room of Sugarcube Corner, just behind the counter. Since the store was still closed today, he didn't expect to be interrupted any time soon. While his talk with Spike had left him calmer, his worries were not completely alleviated.

"Okay," he said under his breath. "Pumpkin is being taken care of by Aunt Pinkie and Princess Twilight, so she should be alright. She'll probably talk with one or the other about this..." He thought for a time. "Princess Twilight knows how to keep secrets, and Aunt Pinkie wouldn't do anything to risk bad things happening to us, so as long as Pumpkin asked them to, they won't talk about it. So at least it should still be a secret, and we can figure things out when she gets back..." He sighed. "I don't know what I want to have happen..."

The bell rang, and he turned. "I'm sorry, we're-" He gulped. "Pumpkin?"

Pumpkin stepped into the store. "Big Brother," she said quietly, smiling at him. She ran forward and crossed necks with him, embracing him.

He spread his wing across her shoulders, returning the embrace, too emotionally distraught to think about what was happening. "Pumpkin...I..."

She put her hoof to his mouth. "Shh..." she whispered. "We'll talk later." His stomach suddenly growled, and she giggled. "After I feed you." She walked happily to the kitchen, her tail swishing back and forth as she moved.

Pound blinked as he felt his body react, trying to wrap his mind around all this. She was...okay with it? She didn't mind that he...wanted her? Did...did she want him back? Everything was still too much, the emotional turmoil of the day still tumbling through his mind, like trying to think through a fog. Rather than trying to make sense of it, he headed to the dining room and sat down at the table, waiting for his sister to bring him food, letting his mind drift in the hopes his thoughts would calm.

After a time, his thoughts no more calm then before, Pumpkin came in with a tray of food for him. "Here Big Brother," she said happily, leaning forward to place the tray on the table before him, casually brushing his extended wing in the process.

He shivered as the pleasurable sensation raced through him. He glanced down at the food, a delicious looking apple strudel...slightly burnt. Confused, he looked from the burnt portion to his sister. "Are you feeling okay, Pumpkin?"

Pumpkin blinked at the burn, then giggled. "I tried to cook with my hooves like Mom and Dad do." Putting a hoof over one eye, she stuck her tongue out briefly. "Guess I messed up."

Pound blushed at how cute she was when she did that. "It's okay. It's still edible." Diving in, he began to devour the pastry. He lifted his head, swallowing a large mouthful. "Still good, too." He noticed Pumpkin staring at him. "What?" he asked, confused.

Pumpkin smiled at him. "You've got a little something," she said quietly, "right..." Leaning forward, she licked a flake of pastry off his cheek. "...here."

Pound blushed brightly as he felt more than his wings getting stiff. Pumpkin giggled. To cover his confusion, he continued to devour his dinner.

After he finished, Pumpkin took the tray back to the kitchen. As a thought crossed his mind, he called after her, "Aren't you hungry?"

She giggled. "I already ate," she replied happily.

He sat back as she went into the kitchen, trying desperately to wrap his mind once more around what was happening...but he found a large point of his being didn't want to. Whatever this was, it was happening...and he wanted to let it happen. Wherever things went tonight, they would go. Why fight it? Why try to understand?

A long time ago, when he'd first started to notice Pumpkin as more than his sister, he had managed to talk to the Crystal Queen, Mi Amore Cadenza, while she was visiting her sister-in-law, Princess Twilight. He had asked her what caused ponies to fall in love, as that was her dominion.

Cadance, as she preferred to be called, had laughed. "Even I can't explain that," she had replied with a smile. "I can't tell you what will cause one pony to fall for another, which ponies will make a good couple, why one love might last forever when another will just burn itself out. I can only tell when it has happened. Love has no explanation, and trying to understand will only give you a migraine."

At the time, he hadn't known why he asked the question, or what he should think of the answer. Even now, he didn't completely understand it. He wondered if, perhaps, he had asked the wrong alicorn. Maybe he should have written to Princess Luna to ask her if she could explain what was happening to him. But then, he had been praying to her every moonrise, which may be part of the problem.

Remembering his prayers, he wondered, could this be the answer? Could his dark wish be being granted? He knew how much this would change things, but perhaps that was okay...especially if it could bring them both joy.

"Big Brother?"

Pound jumped, spinning to face Pumpkin. "Buh-wha?"

She smiled at him. "You were staring off into empty space for a while. Are you okay?"

He smiled reassuringly. "Yeah, sis, just...thinking."

She giggled. "Don't think too much," she said, lightly bopping her hoof on his head. "You might hurt yourself."

"Hey!" He glared at her, but she only giggled and raced up the stairs. He immediately took off in pursuit.

They raced around the house for quite some time, a game they hadn't enjoyed for so long. Pound laughed as he heard Pumpkin giggling as she ran. She was so happy, a pure joy that seemed to bring her to life. As she raced into their room, he leaped after her, tackling her onto the bed.

She smiled up at him as she was pinned beneath him. "Pound," she breathed happily.

He could only smile, leaning in towards her. In the joy of the moment, he could only stare into her green eyes.

She lifted her head towards him, her eyes closing.

Something inside his mind, deep within the fog, began to burn. A thought, a memory. Staring down at the mare beneath him, Pound spoke. "Pumpkin, are you alright?"

She stared up at him. "Pound?" she asked questioningly.

The flame in his mind flared brightly, consuming the fog and clearing his vision. He seized the mare beneath him and pinned her against the wall, his left foreleg across her throat.

She struggled. "Big Brother, it hurts!" she cried piteously, blinking her blue eyes at him.

Leaning in, he snarled into her face, "Where's my sister?"

Temptation

Temptation

Pound glared dangerously into the eyes of the mare he had pinned to the wall, the fire in his brain burning brightly. "Where's...my...sister?" he demanded again.

She looked up at him, scared. "Pound...it's me...I'm right here...you're hurting me..."

"You've done a very good job pretending," he spat out. "All her mannerisms, everything she does that made things so hard for so long, every last detail. But there were a few things you screwed up, so I know you aren't her."

"W...what are you talking about?"

Pound smirked. "You want me to tell you? Why, so you can do a better job pretending next time? How about we start with the fact that Pumpkin's eyes aren't green?"

She seemed to flinch as he lunged in towards her as he spoke. "P-pound, what are you talking about? My eyes are blue..."

He locked eyes with her, glaring into her. "Let's also go into how strong my sister is. Just last night, she had me suspended upside down in midair by her magic...a powder blue glow that feels like silk and warm ice. She's been able to do that since we were foals...and she'd never let me do anything to injure her." He lifted one hoof, steeling himself. "You look like her...but she'd never let me do this." He brought his hoof down hard on the joint of her left foreleg.

She screamed in pain. At first he winced, because it was her voice. But then a hiss entered it, as green fire spread across her body. Within moments, the green eyed Changeling stared up at him in fear, cradling her broken foreleg. "How...how did you know?"

He wasn't about to tell her how he had hurt Pumpkin, responding to her Twin in Equish. He did lean into her face, though, and whisper, "Twins...always know. Now where's my sister?"

The Changeling looked up at him. "Why do you toss aside what I offer so callously?" she asked, sounding hurt emotionally.

"What?"

"Do you think your sister will be able to embrace your lust? Or even look you in the eye and accept it? She's your sister, she could never submit to you that way." The Changeling managed an ingratiating smile. "But I can give you what you want in ways she can't. If ever you two were together, no one would accept it. Others hateful gazes would eventually drive you apart. But me...where others see, I can be anyone, another pegasus mare maybe? One who can be accepted as your partner? But for you, I can be her, the one you want so desperately...I offer you the impossible as real, and you would turn your back on it?"

Pound blinked his eyes as images of the Changeling's suggestions filled his mind. It was true, even if Pumpkin wound up wanting him the same way - which her running from him suggested was unlikely - they would have to be secret, always. Always careful, always hiding...because if anypony else knew, their lives would become hell of scorn and hate, their love seen as unnatural, wrong...

As he started to relax his leg, Spike's words came back to him. "If lust is all it is, you need to suppress it...if it really is love, the only pony's opinions that should matter are hers, and yours..."

The fire in his mind burned bright once again. He slammed the Changeling back against the wall. "You think I would trade love for lust? My own flesh and blood for a fantasy?" His eyes burned as he glared hate into the Changeling's eyes. "Last chance. Where's my sister?" He wrapped his hoof around the Changeling's horn and gripped tightly.

The Changeling screamed in pain and fear. "No, please, don't! I'll tell! I'll tell! Just please, not my horn! I don't want to die!"

Pound pulled his hoof back. "What?"

She blinked at him. "I need my horn...to change shape, to feed...if you break it, I die...of starvation, or at the hooves of others..."

Pound stepped back. He could almost feel her fear and sincerity, and he could see how much her body was shaking. "Where's my sister?"

The Changeling shifted into a pegasus mare his age, one he didn't recognize. "I'll take you to her." She slowly flew out the window. He followed, staying close and above, where he could easily strike.

She set down in alleyway between buildings. As Pound landed beside her, all he could see were crates. "Where is she?"

The Changeling shifted back, and her horn glowed. One of the crates wavered and vanished. Pumpkin was curled up between the ones on either side, covered in a blanket. "I didn't want her to catch a chill," she whispered, indicating the blanket.

Pound rushed to his sister's side. "What did you do to her?"

"It's just a sleep spell," the Changeling whispered. "It'll wear off after one hour in her own bed." She hung her head. "I'm sorry...I never meant to hurt anypony..."

"Never meant to hurt..." Pound rounded on her. "And what if I hadn't realized you weren't her, what then? Just slip her back in after I think we'd become lovers, when she doesn't remember that? What did you think would happen then?"

She shrank away from him. "I'm sorry...I didn't think-"

"Didn't your swarm teach you any better than that-"

"THERE IS NO SWARM!"

Pound sat back in shock.

"No swarm...no queen...not anymore..." She huddled into herself, shaking.

"What...what happened?"

She struggled, managing to breathe and speak. "Wh...when the invasion of Canterlot failed, the Changeling swarm was blasted back, and the Queen...she landed badly. Her...her horn broke." A choked sob escaped her throat. "I was just hatched, but...I felt her voice fade from my mind, and felt the swarm go mad...the general, they tried to establish order, but...they fought each other for dominance, and the rest of the swarm mirrored their struggle..." She put her forehooves to her head. "The nurse, she got me outside safely, but...I heard them go mad in my head, heard the swarm scream...and I heard each of them die, as their voice faded from my mind...and now there's only me...I...I'm the last..." She sniffed, struggling to control herself. "I...I've struggled to survive...trying to live. Some people took me in sometimes, but once they knew what I was, I was chased out..." She looked over at Pound. "When...when I came here, you were still blank." She gestured to his Cutie Mark. "There's...there's so much love here in Ponyville, I was able to survive just absorbing the stray love, that which was undirected. It...it was strongest from you and Pumpkin, from your bond, so I stayed close. But...every day was lived on the edge of starvation...I...I didn't want to starve anymore...I didn't want to be alone anymore."

She shrank in on herself, putting her hooves over her head and shutting her eyes tight. "So alone...so empty inside...I can't bear it..." Wracking sobs shook her small frame.

Pound stared down at her. While he didn't have any special skill at reading other ponies...somehow he knew her every word had been true. While at first he had hated her for what she'd done to him and his sister...that hate was gone. In its place, he could only find sorrow...and compassion.

Laying down next to her, he wrapped a wing around her. "I'm sorry," he whispered.

"It's...it's not your fault..."

"No...I'm sorry I hurt you...and that you had to go through this all alone."

She turned and buried her face in his neck. He knew that if she were a pony right now, he would soon be wet with tears. She pressed tight against him, clinging to him desperately.

Without thinking about it, he wrapped one leg around her, offering comfort. "Do...do you have a name?" he found himself asking.

"...before they chased me out...one of the Zebrakin called me yaazi...it means 'small one'."

"Yaazi..." Pound smiled at her. "It suits you."

She pulled back to stare at him. "Why? Be...because I'm small and helpless?"

He shook his head. "No. Because it's cute."

She closed her eyes, and the short mane along her spine rustled. "Thanks," she whispered.

"Did you just blush?"

"No!" The mane rustling became more pronounced.

He couldn't help it. He started to laugh. After a time, she began to laugh, too.

She stood up. "You should take care of Pumpkin now. I'm sorry for everything." She began to buzz her wings for take-off.

Turning towards Pumpkin, Pound paused and turned back. "I...I broke your leg...how...?"

She waved the leg easily, no sign of the break. "Your heart is very strong...so full of love. You...even had some for me." She took to the air, shifting to the form of a pegasus again. "Goodbye, Pound. I will trouble you no more."

As Pound scooped his sister up, he watched the retreating Changeling. "...goodbye, Yaazi..." Spreading his wings, he carried Pumpkin home.

Flying back in the window, he slipped her into her bed, pulling the covers over her. Seeing green light begin to flake off her and dissipate, he knew Yaazi had told the truth about the spell. Laying down on his own bed facing her, he watched and waited until she began to stir. Soon, he would know if his feelings were returned...or if he had destroyed any bond they could ever have...

Author's Note

Well, we've got through all the primary plot I have written for this story.

At this point, there are three distinct ways this story could go, and I am mostly ambivalent as far as which direction to take. So, I will leave it up to my readers to decide.

The three paths are as follows: Pumpkin embraces Pound's attraction for her; Pumpkin accepts it, but does not embrace it; and Pumpkin cannot accept his new feelings and rejects them.

I will post three comments, one for each path, below. Please upvote the path you would like to see. Downvotes will be ignored...unless they become excessive, in which case they will be counted as votes for that path.

I will check the total results each day. I will write the next chapter on the 29th, or when one of the paths has received more than 50 total upvotes, whichever comes first.

Reconciliation

Reconciliation

Pumpkin opened her eyes slowly, blinking away the last traces of her drowsiness. She felt a blanket slide off her shoulders and paused. She hadn't had a blanket when she fell asleep. "W...where...?"

"Pumpkin?"

She knew that voice, though she hadn't expected to hear it so soon. "B...big brother?" she asked, turning.

She was in the room they shared, home. Pound lay on his own bed across from her watching her. Relief dripped from his body and wings as he smiled at her. "I was worried about you," he whispered to her. "You were gone for so long."

Pumpkin blinked. "How did you find me? I was..." She struggled, trying to remember why she had lay down where she did...and where that was. She had just been so tired...

"Yaazi showed me where you were."

Pumpkin blinked. "Who's...Yaazi?"

Pound smiled. "...a friend," he said at last.

Pumpkin found herself growing irritated without knowing why. However, she knew Yaazi was a feminine name. "A fillyfriend?" she asked, her voice surprisingly hard.

Pound blinked. "She is a filly, yes-" He paused. "Are you...jealous?" he asked, surprised.

Pumpkin opened her mouth to deny it, only to find that she would be lying. "So what if I am?"

Pound smiled. "Pumpkin, I only just met Yaazi today. I may move fast, but not that fast."

Pumpkin looked down, embarrassed. She looked up as she heard Pound get off the bed and walk towards her. "Pound?"

He smiled softly at her. "Pumpkin...there's a lot we have to talk about, have to explain. Things I didn't really understand that are only now beginning to make sense. But before I get started, there's something I need you to know, to believe." He wrapped his wing around her, burying his muzzle in her mane. "I would never willingly hurt you, sis. What's happening now...it's confusing, but I won't let it hurt you."

Pumpkin couldn't help but smile. Nuzzling into his neck, she replied, "I know you wouldn't hurt me, Big Brother. I ran because I was confused, not scared...mostly. I was scared that I would do something wrong, mess something up...and then there were so many emotions running through my head that I didn't know what to think or do."

Pound smiled. "You seem calm now."

"Twilight placed a calming spell on me to help me overcome my hysterics. I guess it's still somewhat active."

"Oh. I guess that will help with...this." He stepped back, looking Pumpkin in the eye. "Pumpkin...you know how much I love you, right?"

She nodded. "I know."

"And I know you felt my...lust towards you earlier, right?"

Pumpkin nodded again. "Yes. I...didn't really understand it, though. I've never really experienced it myself and...it was scary."

"It scared me too," Pound admitted. "It's why I've kept it hidden since it first started when we got our Cutie Marks." He couldn't help but smile as Pumpkin's eyes widened at that admission. "Yes, that long, and it's only gotten stronger with time. It...was only after a talk with Spike earlier today that I put it all together and...understood what it all means. I now know how I can explain it...in a way I hope you'll understand...and can accept." He cleared his throat, blinked his eyes, then stared into her face. "Pumpkin...I'm in love with you."

She rocked back, stunned by his words. She felt the confusion rising in her, as Fairy Tales and dreams clashed with stark reality in her mind. She understood - to a certain extent - what being in love meant. She knew when two ponies - or two beings, mustn't exclude Spike and Rarity - were in love, they got married and spent the rest of their lives together. She...she knew she wanted to always be with Pound. Did this mean that he felt the same about that? Is that what it meant? Was...was lust a part of being in love?

"I...I don't know what to say," she said at last, shaking her head to try and clear it. "I...I don't know how I feel...what to do..."

Pound sat down before her, smiling up at her. "Do you know what you want?" he asked softly.

She blinked, thinking. "I...I don't ever want to lose you..." She blushed, struggling for words. "I don't want to watch you walk away and leave me behind. We...we've always been together, since before we were born. I...I don't want that ever to change."

He leaned forward, nuzzling against her cheek. "It doesn't have to," he whispered. Pulling back slightly, he gazed into her eyes. Then, his eyes closed, he leaned forward...

Pumpkin sat, frozen, as her brothers lips pressed against her own. All higher thought in her mind seemed to fail at the sensation of contact, of connection. Magic sparked in her brain as her horn fizzled slightly, not knowing what was happening. Finally, she gave in to the moment, her own eyes closing as her mind sank into the kiss. They stayed like that, lip to lip, for a time, until Pumpkin opened her mouth slightly to help her breathe. Pound's mouth opened with hers. Without even thinking about it, her tongue extended, and she felt a spark of something almost like lightning as her tongue met his, as she tasted him tasting her. Her tongue moved shyly, hesitantly within his mouth, as his moved gently but confidently across hers. After an unknowable amount of time, they both pulled back to breathe, a glittering silver strand hanging in the air, connecting their tongues one to another.

Pumpkin blinked her eyes, staring at the silver strand as it finally broke. "T...that was..."

"Our first kiss," Pound replied, blushing and smiling. "It was better than I could have dreamed..."

Pumpkin could only nod, her body beginning to heat up uncomfortably. She squirmed a little, and felt a dampness between her thighs. She turned bright red. "I...I wet myself," she said, her voice a barest whisper.

Pound's wings suddenly snapped to full extension. "I...I don't think you did," he managed to say.

"But...but I'm wet back there," she gasped out.

He smiled. "Pumpkin...that doesn't mean it's pee. From...what I've read, a dampness in that region is a sign of...arousal." He tilted his head towards his wings. "Much like this is."

"This what?" she asked.

"When my wings snap out like this. It's...called a wing-boner."

She blinked. The term somehow escaped her comprehension. "What...is arousal?"

He smiled at her. "Lust."

She felt her breath catch. "L...lust?"

He nodded. "The same thing I've felt for you since we were Marked. Is..." He paused, closing his eyes as if thinking deeply. "Is your body getting warmer, like it did when you went into heat?"

Pumpkin blinked. She knew the uncomfortable warmth felt familiar. "It...it is."

Pound smiled. "That's lust, Pumpkin."

Pumpkin shivered. "I...I don't know what to do..."

Pound walked towards his bed. "I'll teach you."

Pumpkin looked up at him. "Have...have you done this before?"

He shook his head as he climbed onto his bed. "No...but I have dreamed of this day many times. Perhaps Luna heard my prayers, and sent the dreams to be our guide. Since my beds wider for wing room, maybe we should-"

There was a scrunching sound as Pumpkin used her magic to rapidly rearrange the furniture in the room, pushing her bed up against Pound's.

Pound smiled. "This works better." He looked nervous. "H-how should we start?"

Pumpkin smiled up at him. "It's from your dreams...tell me what to do."

Nodding, Pound lay on his back, spreading his legs. Pumpkin could only stare at his stallionhood, slowly expanding under her gaze, just beginning to peek out of the sheath.

"Touch it with your forehooves," Pound instructed. As Pumpkin reached forward, he continued, "Not the blade of your hoof. Use the frog."

Nodding, Pumpkin reached forward again, angling her hooves so she squeezed his member gently between the soft, fleshy part of her hooves. She shuddered a bit, as her hooves were a little sensitive there. Feeling the heat of him between them, she looked up at him. "Now what?"

"Now rub it gently," he instructed quietly.

Turning her gaze back to his stallionhood, she slowly moved her hooves up and down its length. At first, she moved them together. However, when she noticed a lack of reaction, she tried moving them separately in different directions, always trying to stay gentle. "It's getting bigger!" she gasped as she watched it begin to extend beyond the sheath. She looked up at Pound. "Is that good?"

He smiled, nodding, although his face looked kind of tight. "Yes," he said, his voice somewhat strained. "It's very good."

"Are...are you in pain?" she asked, afraid.

"No...it just feels so good..."

She blinked. "Okay," she whispered, leaning in towards his member once more. She breathed slowly, noticing how it twitched as her breath touched it. "What now?"

"Now...use your mouth..."

She blinked, confused. "How?"

"Like you would a popsicle."

She thought for a bit. "Okay." She opened her mouth, baring her teeth.

"No teeth! No teeth!" Pound cried quickly.

Pumpkin stopped. "But...you said like a popsicle..."

Pound closed his eyes in thought. "Umm...remember how Diamond Tiara would eat popsicles around Rumble when Scootaloo wasn't around after Rumble started Wonderbolt training?"

Pumpkin nodded. "She used her tongue quite a bit, and she made a lot of fuss about getting sticky."

"Do it like that."

Pumpkin tilted her head, somewhat confused. "I...don't understand."

"Diamond Tiara was using the popsicle to...suggest what she would do to Rumble if he went to her instead of Scootaloo."

"Oh." Pumpkin blinked for a bit. "Okay." Leaning in, she looked closely at Pound's stallionhood. Carefully, she extended her tongue and placed it against the shaft, gently dragging it up the length.

Pound shuddered. "I probably should have taken a shower..." he mumbled.

Thinking, Pumpkin remembered something Diamond Tiara said with the popsicle, and found a way to apply it. "No need," she whispered, raising her head to lick just the tip of Pound's member. "I think you taste good." She trailed her tongue gently around the head.

Pound's head fell back as he let out a deep moan.

Smiling, Pumpkin continued her ministrations, trailing her tongue around the head, down the length of the shaft, and then back to the tip. Noticing a bit of liquid at the tip that wasn't her saliva, she giggled. "I'm going to get all sticky," she whispered before lowering her head and gently slipping the tip of his meat popsicle into her mouth.

As she listened to Pound's continued moans, she trailed her tongue around the head as she sucked gently. Pressing her lips against the shaft, she slowly began to move up and down, swirling her tongue around him as much as she could as she moved. She moved slowly, gently, tasting every inch of him as she consciously mimicked Diamond's movements with the popsicle. Remembering something else, she took him out of her mouth and leaned down, gently sucking on his ball sack.

He gasped aloud. "Oh gods, Pumpkin..."

Smiling, she cupped the frog of one hoof against his balls, gently caressing as she brought her head back up to the head, taking him once more into her mouth as she sucked.

His breathing began to come faster. "Pumpkin...I'm gonna-" His throat caught.

Pumpkin's eyes shot open in surprise as a thick, warm substance erupted into her mouth. At first she nearly choked, it caught her so off guard. However, when she tasted it, she began to gulp it down greedily. It tasted like thick, sweet cream. As it came to an end, she looked up at Pound as he sat back, smiling at her. "You have cream filling?" she asked, surprised.

Pound could only chuckle for some reason. "What do you mean?"

Feeling a bit of stickiness on her face, she wiped it off onto her hoof before licking it up. "It tastes like sweet cream." She blinked. "You didn't...pee in my mouth, did you?"

He shook his head. "No. That's called cum. It...it's hard to explain."

She blinked. "It sounded like it felt really good."

He nodded. "It did."

"Can...can I cum, too?"

He smiled. "Yes. I can make you cum."

Pumpkin grinned. "What do I do?"

Pound shook his head. "This time it's all me. Turn around and push your flank into the air."

Nodding, she turned, lowering her head as she raised her flank. "Like this?"

"Yes," he replied. "Now move your tail aside. Let me see you."

Pumpkin felt herself blushing. "But...but I'm so wet back there..."

"I know. That's what I'm going to see."

Closing her eyes tight against embarrassment, she moved her tail to the side. When she felt hot breath against her marehood, she gasped. "P-pound?"

"You're glistening," he whispered, much to her confused embarrassment. "It's beautiful."

Pumpkin squeaked deep in her throat. Then she gasped as she felt a warm, soft wetness against her mare hood. "Ah!"

"Pumpkin...you taste like honey..."

Pumpkin blushed bright red.

"I'm going to enjoy your honey pot. Such special honey."

As she felt his tongue against her again, she gasped aloud once more. Briefly, her mind jumped back to the honey buns she'd made for his friends once. Is that what they'd thought she'd meant by her special honey? As his tongue continued to caress her, though, such thoughts were banished from her mind in a wave of pleasure. "Pound...it feels so good..." She moaned once more as she felt him working along the length of her opening, then gasped as she felt his tongue slip between her vulva. "P-pound..."

He pulled back briefly. "Don't worry. This will feel good."

She nodded slightly, gasping as he returned to his work. She felt the pleasure building slowly, though she wasn't sure what it meant. She suddenly gasped as his tongue touched...something, she wasn't sure what. "Pound, whatever that was..." She moaned again. "It feels strange, but...so good..." She felt a strange pressure building inside her. "Pound...something's coming..." She suddenly screamed.

She felt her body convulse as liquid spurted out of her. She rode the waves of pleasure, desperately trying to remain on her hooves as her body shuddered. "P...Pound..." she managed to gasp aloud. "W...what was that?"

"You came," he whispered back, coming forward to face her.

Looking into his face, she noticed something wet and sticky. "There's something..." Without even thinking about it, she extended her head and licked. "...it tastes like honey..."

He smiled at her. "Pumpkin, that's you. That's the taste of your cum."

"O-oh..." She breathed heavily, trying to steady herself. As wonderful as it felt, her body was still so hot. "Is...is there more?"

Pound blinked at her. "T...there is, but...are you sure you-"

"I...I need it," she interrupted him. "My body's still so hot..."

He nodded. Leaning in, he kissed her again, their tongues dancing together, leaving a lingering taste of honey and cream in her mouth. Pulling back, he positioned himself behind her. "I'll go slow...I'm told that the first time can hurt for mares..."

"W...who told you?" Pumpkin asked, bracing herself as she felt something warm and hard moving against her opening.

"I heard some fillies talking about it at school once, and I asked Miss Cheerilee what they were talking about."

"O-oh."

Pumpkin felt something warm and hard - a shape she recognized as the head of Pound's penis - pressing against her vulva. "Are you ready, Pumpkin?" Pound asked her.

She nodded. "I'm ready," she whispered. She locked her mouth as she felt Pound slowly push into her. She gasped as she felt him penetrate, then winced as she felt something inside her slowly tear. "O-ow..." she whispered.

Pound stopped moving. "Are you okay?" he asked, concern in his voice.

Desperately, Pumpkin nodded. "Keep going." She gasped again as he pushed further into her. "Oh, Pound," she moaned. She felt his hips press against her, then felt him pulling back. "Why are you..." she started to ask, hating the empty feeling left behind as he pulled out. Then she gasped and moaned as he thrust back into her. "Oh Luna!" she gasped aloud. "It's so..." She couldn't think of the words.

She gasped as she felt a feather brush across her horn. "Ah!" Her eyes rolled up in her head as the pleasurable shock raced straight to her brain, causing brief sparks to leap from her horn tip. As the feathers pulled back, she felt the speed of Pound's movements increase. As the wave of pleasure built once more, she felt all thought leave her mind as words she didn't fully understand poured from her mouth. "Yes, pound me! Pound me, Big Brother! Fill me, make us one again! Pound!!"

"Pumpkin!" Pound screamed out.

As the wave of her pleasure peaked and she felt herself cum, she felt liquid pouring into her. She moaned desperately, struggling to stay standing until the last wave of pleasure subsided. Finally, at long last, she fell forward onto the bed. Pound lay down, curling up around her, wrapping her in his wings. She managed to curl into him. "We'll...we'll always be together, right Big Brother?"

He smiled down at her. "Always, Pumpkin," he avowed, kissing her gently. "It's a promise."

"...I love you, Pound..."

"...I love you, Pumpkin..."

Their last words of the night spoken, they curled up beneath Luna's moon, and slept deeply and peacefully, sharing in realized love.

Seeing Pink

Seeing Pink

Pinkie walked happily down the main street of Ponyville, smiling and waving at everypony as she passed them by. Everypony who saw her was happy to see her after her three year trip, taking her song and dance routine around Equestria to try and make even more ponies smile and laugh, expanding her horizons. However, most couldn't begin to grasp what really went on behind that huge grin and shining eyes. While she seemed to be giving everypony she saw her full attention, she had in fact hooked her smile, voice, and motor functions to her internal Encyclopedia Ponyville and memories, and set the rest of her mind free to float. After all, despite the joyous homecoming, she had a lot to think about.

"I don't understand," she said in her mindscape, which she liked to envision as the inside of a giant cake. "Why did I react so badly to what Pumpkin said? That's...that's not like me. I...I don't like being like that."

A white pegasus with a blonde mane stepped out of the side of the cake, taking form in Pinkie's mindscape. From the other side, an image of herself straight maned stepped out as well. This was a mental exercise she'd learned from Twilight a few years back. When ordinary thought couldn't reach a conclusion regarding motivations, it sometimes helped to argue the point out in her head, and she used these two images to represent the different points. She called these two images she used Surprise and Diane.

Surprise, the pegasus, spoke up. "I shouldn't have been so antagonistic over it. If not for Twilight's calming spell on Pumpkin, she'd probably have burst into tears. I was just making things worse."

Diane blew a bit of her mane out of her eyes. "Please. After what happened in Manehatten, can you really blame me for being concerned about anything involving...that?"

Pinkie lowered her head. "Yeah..." She didn't like remembering what had almost happened that day. It was why she no longer felt comfortable being around a stranger stallion she was unsure of...or being the only mare in a group of stallions, especially if alcohol was involved. If Trixie hadn't heard her scream...

Surprise suddenly spoke. "I can't judge all ponies based on what a few did! After all, I used to think Trixie was a meanypants, and she saved me and helped me through it!"

Pinkie smiled as she remembered. Trixie had taken her back to her new trailer and just held her, letting her cry herself out. After that, Trixie had even offered to let Pinkie travel with her, so they could both feel safer on the road and maybe put together some impressive shows.

Surprise continued. "Just because something seems bad, doesn't mean good can't come of it. I shouldn't rush to judgment on this. Okay, Pound and Pumpkin being a couple was an idea that caught me off guard, since I helped raise them, but maybe they'll be okay. I mean, I don't even know for a fact that they will BE a couple. Maybe Pumpkin doesn't feel the same way."

Diane shook her head. "That would be logical. Since when has Ponyville been logical?"

Surprise hesitated. "Well, maybe things won't be so bad. I mean, the ponies of Ponyville are pretty accepting. Maybe they won't have any problems."

Diane let out a bark of laughter. "Pretty accepting? I remember Zecora. I remember Luna. I remember Spike and Rarity. Whenever Ponyville encounters something new, the first reaction is ALWAYS fear and hostility."

"But..." Surprise hesitated. "...but the ponies I've known for so many years couldn't possibly be that cruel or hateful..."

"Remember what happened in Mareabama, because we were earth pony and unicorn? Remember what happened in Germaney, because we were two mares? And that other town we'll never return to, because we were different colors?" Diane stalked forward, hate oozing off her in waves. "Ponies can be very cruel, very hateful. It doesn't even have to be a whole town of haters. All it takes is a bunch of ponies who aren't sure what to think...and one charismatic bigot." Calming down, Diane shook her head. "I don't think that could happen here in Ponyville...but I love Pound and Pumpkin. I'm their Auntie Pinkie, like a big sister to them. I couldn't stand it if something happened to them."

Surprise shook her head. "But I handled it the wrong way. They need me to be there for them through this, to be somepony who isn't judging them, especially if things do go bad for them."

Diane nodded. "I need to come up with a backup plan, something to do if things do go bad, some way to protect them."

Surprise bounced into the metaphorical air happily. "Maybe they could move to San Prancisco! That place is very progressive. As long as they acted like lovers instead of siblings, nopony would think they were siblings."

Diane smirked. "Maybe they could go to Frock Ridge. That entire town has the same surname, after all."

Pinkie smiled at the two manifestations of her thought process. "I guess...I have changed. But now I know I can be there for those I care about. Guess it's time to get back to myself." Closing her eyes in her mind, she opened them to the world around her.

Remembering the walk through town she had just done, she thought about how many new pony couples there were, how many new foals, and sighed. She still wished she and Trixie hadn't had to part ways. But Trixie wasn't sure she would be welcome in Ponyville after everything she'd done, even if Twilight and Pinkie had forgiven her, and Pinkie had to return to her friends. So they'd parted, hoping to meet again.

Pinkie perked up as she approached Sugarcube Corner. She had to think positive about all this. Bonds of friendship always stayed strong, and would bring them together again someday. In the meantime, she needed to check on Pound and Pumpkin. She opened the front door, ignoring the 'Closed' sign.

She found the twins in the kitchen. They both had their eyes closed, Pound had one wing wrapped around his sister, and their heads were nuzzled together.

'Well, at least they've fixed what was broken between them,' Pinkie thought to herself. Noticing how they both seemed to be 'glowing', she sighed. 'And so much for logic.'

Speaking aloud, she addressed them. "Good to see you two have made up. That's a load off my mind."

'And another one added,' she added silently.

Pound smiled up at her. "Aunt Pinkie!" he cried happily, bouncing forward to hug her. Pumpkin rapidly followed.

Pinkie couldn't help but return the embrace, smiling at the two siblings. They stayed like that for a time, just embracing, sharing the bonds of family, as strange as that family may be. "So, how's the bakery?" she asked at last as they stepped back from each other.

Pumpkin smiled. "Business is booming. I get good practice with my magic each day keeping supply up with demand."

Pound smiled. "Since she always gets so busy, I thought I'd help out this week, since it's Spring Break at school." He raced over to the freezer. "And I came up with a new treat we could sell. It's not exactly baking, but it's a good idea as the weather gets warmer." He opens the freezer.

Pinkie glanced in. "Creamsicles? Those are always good in hot weather, but it's not exactly new."

"They aren't finished," Pound said, pulling a small pot from the recesses of the pantry.

"What's that?" Pinkie asked, pointing to it.

Pumpkin giggled. "That's my special honey," she said, giggling wickedly when Pound blushed at her phrasing.

Pound glared at her for a moment, then smirked. He removed the lid of the pot. "We're making honey creamsicles. Once the creamsicles nice and hard, you dunk it in the honey pot." He proceeded to dunk the creamsicle into the pot, looking at Pumpkin with a grin as she blushed. "Then you stir it around, making sure it gets a nice coating of honey. Once it's fully coated, you repeat with another." Taking the fully coated creamsicle out of the honey pot and putting it back in the freezer, he repeated the process with each successive one, grinning widely as Pumpkin's face continued to get redder and redder. As he finished the last creamsicle, all that was left in the small pot was a melted mix of honey and cream, to thin now for another creamsicle. "And once you're finished comes the fun part of making them, licking what's left out of the pot." Raising the pot to his mouth, he began to lick the pot suggestively. "Mmm...delicious."

Pinkie found herself beginning to blush. 'Where did Pound learn to be so suggestive?'

As Pound finished licking the honey pot, Pumpkin leaned in and licked a bit off his face, causing him to blush. "It's always so delicious," she said quietly. She took one of the completed honeyed creamsicles out of the freezer. "But it's just as fun to eat it, I think. I mean, it tastes so good." She licked the creamsicle suggestively as she stared at Pound through half lidded eyes.

As Pound's wings snapped to extension, Pinkie began to feel a bit uncomfortable. It was one thing to decide that she was going to be supportive of them. It was quite another to deal with the awkwardness she'd felt when she walked in on Rainbow Dash giving Twilight 'preening lessons'. There were some sounds she didn't need to hear from her best friends, even if they were happy sounds.

Pumpkin continued to lick the creamsicle. "You gotta lick it all over though, to make sure you don't drip too much." She licked the bottom around the stick, then dragged her tongue back up to the top. "Of course, you can't just lick the honey. Gotta get through to the sweet cream filling." Popping the tip of the creamsicle into her mouth, she began to suckle on it a bit, looking - there was only one word for it - seductively towards Pound.

'Good grief!' Pinkie thought to herself. 'When did my cute little silly-filly niecykins turn into a full blown naughty-hotty?'

Pound, apparently, could only stare, his breath shallow.

Pumpkin continued to suck on the creamsicle as she stared at Pound, slurping sounds plainly audible in the silence.

Pound let out a low, throaty moan as he continued to stare.

As Pinkie stepped forward, ready to stop this before they started going at it right here in the kitchen - not that she'd have a problem with them going at it as long as she wasn't in the room at the time, but in the kitchen wasn't hygienic - Pumpkin popped the creamsicle out of her mouth. "Of course," she said cutely, "eating it this way gets you all sticky, so I prefer to just do this." CHOMP!

As Pumpkin bit the top inch or so off the creamsicle, Pound winced visibly, his hind legs clenching involuntarily as his wings dropped flat. "You did that on purpose," he whispered to Pumpkin.

Pumpkin grinned at him. "And the bit with my honey pot wasn't?" she asked, her voice somewhat wicked.

Pinkie sighed to herself. "Well, I can see you two have everything well in hoof," she said happily. "I'll just be going, Twilight's offered me a room till I get my own place-"

"What do you mean?" Pumpkin asked, her voice sad. "Aren't you going to move back in here, Aunt Pinkie?"

"Huh?" Pinkie asked, surprised. "But, I've been gone for three years, and so much has changed..."

Pound smiled. "We all left your room just the way you left it. And we've been taking care of Gummy like you asked us to."

A sudden sensation of soft pressure on her mane accompanied by a snapping sound drew Pinkie's attention to the toothless alligator, his jaws clamped happily on her mane. She couldn't help but smile as he continued to gum her, moving along her body to her hoof. Leaning forward, she nuzzled the gator happily. "Aww, you guys..."

"Besides," Pumpkin said, "we've all missed you. Mom and Dad, too."

Pinkie smiled. "It would make me so happy to move back in...but I think I should wait until your parents are back." She looked at them with a raised eyebrow. "Don't you think they're going to be coming back to a big enough shock as is?"

Pound and Pumpkin stared at her in confusion for a time. Then their eyes slowly narrowed to pinpricks, and they turned to stare at each other in fear for a moment before turning back to her.

She blinked at them. "You hadn't even thought about how your parents were going to react?" They shook their heads at her in synchronous. "Or what you were going to say to them?" Another head shake. She sighed. "Well, this can hardly end well..."

Nightmare Mooning

Nightmare Mooning

Pumpkin ran back and forth behind the shop counter, screaming in panic. Normally she could keep a cool head, but recent events had been a bit too emotional, and she didn't exactly have control of her emotions right now. Eventually, she ran and screamed herself out, and settled against the counter, breathing heavily.

"So," Pound asked, "is that a mare thing, or a unicorn thing? Because that looks exactly how Aunt Pinkie described Twilight's panic attacks before she sprouted wings."

Pumpkin turned to her brother, who was sitting rather calmly, smiling at her. "How can you be so calm?" she asked in shock.

He smiled. "One of us has to be." He walked up to her. "Besides, I just have to keep telling myself that it will work out." He nuzzled her gently. "That love will find a way."

Pumpkin nuzzled into her brother. "But...what will we do? What if our parents don't approve? What if something horrible happens? What if-"

Pound silenced her with a kiss. He pulled back with a smile. "We'll make things work. We could just keep it a secret, if you like."

Pumpkin blinked. "But...what about..." She didn't know how to ask what was on her mind.

"Don't worry," Pound said happily. "We will always find time for us." He wrapped a wing around her. "Besides...if we have to struggle to find time for...special moments, they'll be all the more special, won't they?"

"I guess so." Pumpkin nuzzled him happily. Then she smiled, feeling a bit...hungry. "Then we should make the most of the time we have before Mom and Dad get back, shouldn't we?"

Pound stepped back a bit. "Pumpkin...I don't want our relationship to be all about...that. There's more to love than sex." Leaning forward, he nuzzled her again. "I love you, Pumpkin, and I don't want lust to ever cloud that."

Pumpkin smiled happily, leaning into Pound. For some reason, his words left her with a warm feeling filling her heart. Then she pulled back. "I love you too Pound, and that is a wonderful sentiment." Her smile widened. "However..."

She pounced, using her magic to hold him in place so she could pin him beneath her, with him on his back. "...you are going to rut me," she said, her voice filled with heat. "Understand?"

Pound nodded. "Yes, Pumpkin."

Happily, Pumpkin pressed her lips against his, enjoying the feeling of him against her, the taste of his lips. Opening her mouth slightly, she slipped her tongue into his mouth, running it along his teeth. He opened his lips more, and his tongue danced with hers. Pulling back, she smiled at him in what she hoped was a seductive manner. "I want your wee-wee," she said, although something about it sounded...wrong.

There was an amused snort from behind her, and she spun. Standing there, looking at them over the counter, were Carrot and Cup Cake, smiling indulgently. "Mom! Dad!" Pumpkin said, shocked. "This...this isn't what it-"

"Oh don't mind us, dear," Cup said happily.

"Go ahead, carry on," Carrot added. "Don't let us stop you."

Pumpkin stared at them, confused. "You aren't...upset? About Pound and I being...lovers?"

Cup tilted her head. "And why would we be?" she asked.

Pumpkin blinked. "Well...a lot of ponies don't like the idea of siblings being...together like that," she replied. She didn't fully understand why that was, exactly, but...

Carrot blinked. "Oh, right. That." He chuckled. "I suppose if you actually were siblings, that would matter."

Pumpkin felt herself go cold inside. "W...what?" she asked, trying to understand.

Cup sighed. "Well, when we adopted you-"

"Adopted?" Pumpkin gasped out, shocked.

Cup continued as if she didn't hear. "-we wanted you to feel as much love as possible, so we summoned an incubus to form a strong link with you. Even made up a private language for you two."

Pumpkin turned towards Pound. He was now smiling at her...but red horns curled from his temples, and his tail was long, fleshy, whip like, and pointed at the end. "It's true," he said calmly, his voice echoing oddly with menace.

Pumpkin shook her head, not wanting to believe. "But...but why would you do that?" She stared at her parents in shock. "Why would you...use me to feel love like that?"

Carrot smiled wickedly. "An investment, as it were."

Pumpkin stared. "But...that would mean that you were...ch...ch...ch..."

Cup glowered at Carrot. "Well, there goes our cover. Nice one."

Green fire passed over both of them, and two Changelings stood there, staring down at her. "Well, we got plenty," said the one who had been Carrot. "Time to clean up." They suddenly lunged for her.

Screaming, she turned and ran. In the kitchen, she ran into Pinkie Pie. "Aunt Pinkie! Aunt Pinkie!" she screamed. "Please help! Everything's gone crazy!"

Pinkie rotated her neck to face her. "Really?" She asked. "Are you sure? After all..." Pinkie's neck began to stretch, as a goat horn and antler grew from her forehead. "Crazy is a relative term."

Pumpkin screamed, cowering back. "No..." she whispered, as her horribly distorted family closed around her. "This can't be real...it has to be a dream..."

"Indeed," a powerful voice said from nearby. "And I must say, the strangest I have ever seen."

Opening her eyes, Pumpkin saw the phantoms disperse in blue light as a regal blue alicorn approached her, smiling. "P...Princess Luna?" she said, surprised.

"Indeed. As you well know, it is my duty to watch over dreams." She lay down beside Pumpkin. "Now, while it is relatively easy to banish any individual nightmare, if the cause of the nightmare is not addressed, it will simply return. So, perhaps you can tell me what it is that inspired this one?"

Pumpkin blinked. "Well...you won't tell anyone, will you?"

Luna shook her head. "It is a matter of honor that what passes between me and my subjects in their dreams remains there. I would no more speak of what happens here than I would of what appears on my prayer parchment."

Pumpkin blinked. "Your what?"

Luna smiled. "Twas loneliness, amongst other things, that drove me to become Nightmare Moon. When I returned, while dream walking, I learned that some ponies prayed to my sister and I. While my sister has plenty of contact with our subjects, my Night Court is still somewhat lacking in attendance. To alleviate the boredom and loneliness, I enchanted a parchment to inscribe itself with prayers directed to me, along with the name of the supplicant." She blushed slightly. "While some of the prayers can be...embarrassing, it is reassuring to know that my subjects turn to me for such things, and I act to grant those prayers I can...subtly. And I tell nopony of any of it." She smiled at Pumpkin again. "And I swear on my honor as Princess of the Night I will discuss none of what we say here with anypony, ever."

Pumpkin smiled at Luna, but hesitated. It wasn't that she didn't trust the Night Princess, but...

Luna chuckled and raised a hoof. "Cross my heart," she said, making the motions, "hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye." She smiled indulgently at the young mare. "That's right, isn't it?"

Pumpkin smiled. "Thank you." She breathed in and out. "Well, just the other day Pound and I took our relationship to an...intimate level."

Luna tilted her head. "I am afraid I am still not completely familiar with modern parlance. Perhaps you could be more specific?"

Pumpkin sighed. "My brother and I made love."

Luna squealed in excitement. "Oh how wondrous!"

Pumpkin stared at her. This was the last reaction she had expected. "Eh?"

"It is so wonderful that the bonds of love are being allowed to flourish so, and what was once only a matter of survival and the hidden behavior of the nobility should now become more well accepted and enjoyed!" Luna giggled happily.

Pumpkin stared in confusion. "Survival? Nobility? I don't understand."

Luna settled down, smiling. "Well, you know the story of Hearth's Warming Eve, yes?" Pumpkin nodded. "Well, after Equestria was founded, it was discovered that very few ponies of the three tribes had actually survived the supernatural winter. Little over a hundred ponies in total, not enough for a stable genetic population, even if most of them weren't large family groups...which they were." She smiled. "Clover the Clever was charged with finding a solution. Her special talent was solving logic puzzles, and she'd managed to apply it to real life and magic quite effectively. She developed two very useful spells that could be applied to a foal during gestation. The first randomized those genes not connected to species, enabling two ponies to give birth to a foal that might have no genetic connection to them whatsoever. This enabled a restoration of a stable breeding population."

Luna closed her eyes in recollection. "The other spell would scan a gestating foal's genetic code for any genetic abnormalities - birth defects, gene errors and the like - and corrects them prior to birth. A favorite of the nobility, who still marry close within the family to maintain the...purity of bloodlines, whatever that means."

Pumpkin nodded. "I...see. So...you don't have any...prejudice against this?"

"Why should I?" Luna asked, confused. "It is not as if it were unnatural. Why, had I feelings for my sister of this nature, I would have no hesitation in approaching her on the subject. Enough of our subjects seem to fantasize about such things, at any rate."

Pumpkin's eyes went wide. "Ponies fantasize about you and your sister?" she asked, shocked.

Luna glanced towards her...and suddenly smiled mischievously. "Well...she is not actually my sister, exactly. She is also my mother."

Pumpkin's eyes felt like they were about to pop out of her head. "What?"

Luna nodded. "Our father had...unpleasant preferences. While Celestia could not prevent it for herself, when he came for me, she turned him inside out and wore his skin and bones as battle armor thereafter." Luna smiled. "She said it sent a pointed message to others. After all, if she would do that to her flesh and blood when they displeased her, what would she do to strangers?"

Pumpkin stared in shock and fear...then blinked. "You're pulling my leg, right?"

Luna frowned, lowering her head. She drew circles in the dream dirt with a hoof. "Tia said I was getting better at trolling," she mumbled sadly.

Pumpkin blinked at her for a time. Without knowing why, she giggled.

Luna smiled. "I appear to still have much to learn about telling jokes. Now, about what we were discussing before..." She looked Pumpkin in the eye. "I know not how to solve this problem for you, but know that I, personally, hope that things work out for both of you."

Pumpkin smiled. "You know, the last thing I remember was realizing we might have to tell our folks about this. I...don't remember falling asleep."

Luna smiled. "You didn't. You fainted." She giggled. "Pinkie Pie and your brother are tending to you in the waking world." She paused. "About your dream, though..." She tried to suppress a snort. "'I want your wee-wee'?" she asked, suppressing laughter.

Pumpkin lowered her head, blushing. "I don't really know anything about seduction," she admitted.

Luna smiled. "I can give you lessons, if you like."

Pumpkin looked up. "Really?"

Luna nodded. "I did author the Kamare Sutra, after all. I know everything there is to know about sex and seduction."

Pumpkin got to her hooves. "Please, teach me."

Luna chuckled. "Very well." She conjured to stallion images, one of Pound and one of an alicorn sized stallion Pumpkin didn't recognize. "Now, here's how we will begin..."

Smitten, Smote, Smut

Smitten, Smote, Smut

Yaazi flew strong and straight, keeping her eyes on the train tracks stretched out below her. Briefly glancing to her right, she saw the rising sun. She hoped she spotted a train below her soon so she could hitch a lift. While she was a strong flier, her stamina was limited, and her reserves of love energy to keep her strong were even more so.

She was enacting a plan she'd had ever since she'd began wandering Equestria, but never had the strength to implement. She had heard of a place called the Crystal Empire, which ran on the love of its citizenry. Apparently, the love and joyful feelings of the populace was gathered by an ancient artifact, amplified somehow, and then broadcast back out over the whole kingdom, letting the land thrive and energizing the ponies. Given her own ability to absorb stray love energy from the air around her shed by ponies, she figured she could easily feed every time the artifact - apparently called a Crystal Heart - released a pulse of energy.

Unfortunately, the Crystal Kingdom waited beyond the frozen northern wastes. For the longest time, she had lacked both the strength and the magical reserves to cross that forbidding expanse. If she tried to fly, her wings would freeze and she would crash to the ground. If she tried to walk, she would be buried beneath the endless snowstorms. What energy she could gather from the settlements she had been in was barely enough to reach the edge of the snows, let alone cross them.

When she had first reached Ponyville - the seventh Equestrian settlement she had attempted to live in - she had discovered that a train ran regularly straight north to the Crystal Kingdom. Unfortunately, there was no way she would be able to ride it. She had no bits, nopony to ask for aid, and lacked the strength to remain hidden for the whole trip. So she had remained there, so close to her hoped for salvation, and so far from paradise. And then she saw Pound.

When she'd first caught a glimpse of the Cake twins, she had been concealing herself with her most useful spell, which bent perception around herself making her...unremarkable. As long as it was active, nopony noticed her. If pressed, they might remember seeing something where she had been, or somepony, but unless she bumped into someone, she was effectively invisible. It was actually more effective than invisibility, as spells to detect illusion magic passed right over her as unremarkable, where traditional invisibility would be detected. Always when using it, she barely felt the emotions of those around her (she generally hid herself in bushes or somewhere to feed) and nopony said anything to her. However, the twins had parted to step around her, and Pound had said, "Excuse me."

Passing between them, she had briefly felt the surge of the strong emotional bond between them, the strength of their love for each other. Part of her told her to feed, to drain them both completely and use that strength to reach the Crystal Kingdom...but that was the part of her that made everyone hate her, the part that made her a monster. She never listened to that part, even if it did speak in her mind in an echo of the voice of the queen.

She knew the voices in her head weren't truly other Changelings, even if they sometimes pretended to be. They were but echoes of her own thoughts and nature, desperately trying to fill the empty void of the hive, the hollow shell of the family her mind yearned for. With no other voices save her own, she knew it would not be long before she began to believe the echoes were real.

But Pound and Pumpkin...their emotions had been strong enough to cut through the fog of her loneliness. She took to hiding in the bushes behind Sugarcube Corner, watching them play, laugh, sing, live. Sometimes, she pretended to herself that she could take a pony image and join them, that they would welcome her freely and love her. Sometimes, she pretended she had, mentally inserting herself into any scene she saw them in, pretending to interact with them...but she was just a shadow on the wall, and the scene progressed without her.

When they gained their Cutie Marks, she felt the gentle shift in Pound's feelings for his sister as he noticed her as something new, as a filly. She felt his confusion, his fear, his fascination. She longed to step into the scene and explore his heart, help him come to grips and move on. Though sometimes, in her fantasies...those feelings were directed at her.

It hadn't been that she yearned for him out of love herself. After all, everyone had told her that was impossible for a Changeling. She probably had just wanted to feed on him. Or maybe...maybe it was just her desperation to not be alone anymore, to hear another's voice in her mind.

When she had witnessed Pumpkin force a confession out of Pound, she had watched Pound panic, waiting for his sister. When the dragon had arrived, she had listened to the talk. She had followed the dragon to the library, and followed Pumpkin out of it. Hunger, loneliness, desperation, and hope had combined into a desperate plan, and she had cast a sleep spell on Pumpkin, leading her into the alley and covering her up, casting an illusion so nopony would come across her while she was vulnerable, to keep her safe.

Then she had gone to Pound as Pumpkin. She wasn't sure why she had done that anymore. Maybe she was desperate for companionship, for love...she knew she wouldn't be able to fake her perfectly, but maybe it would be enough. It hadn't.

When she had taken Pound to his sister, she found herself pouring her heart out to him, telling her story, something she'd never even considered doing. After all, Changelings were monsters. Tell somepony she was one, they'd kill her. Tell them she's the last, they'd do it just as quick, faster maybe, to end a race of monsters. But Pound had hugged her...and apologized. He had...loved her.

Shaking her head, she locked her eyes back on the train tracks, hoping she hadn't missed a train with her wool gathering. It was thanks to Pound that she had the strength to reach her destination now. She would never be able to repay him that debt. She wondered if he and Pumpkin had gotten together, after all. Part of her hoped they had. Pound deserved to find joy, love. But another part of her merely hoped she would see him again someday.

Why couldn't she stop thinking about him, anyway? A thought struck her, but she tried to banish it. After all, it was impossible. Changelings couldn't...could they?

Almost dormant instincts flared to life, and she froze her wings to drop just as two blasts of golden light shot over her head. She looked up.

Two pegasi royal guards were closing in on her fast, leveling their spears at her. Beams of golden magical energy - energized by the Princess of the Sun herself - lanced towards her, trying to strike her dead.

Desperately, she evaded, turning around to flee. Looking below, she saw a train passing by, just too late for her. She cursed her need to conserve magic that had her flying in her natural form. If she'd dared to shape change, they would have only seen a pegasus out for an early flight. As is-

"AAHH!" she cried out, as a beam of magic shot through one of the holes in her right wing. Another passed through a hole in her left foreleg, filling her with searing pain despite the absence of physical damage. She plunged towards the ground, unable to get her wings spread soon enough to stop her plummet. In desperation, she teleported.

She wasn't sure where she wound up, but it was amongst trees. She had had the sense to rotate her spatial orientation ninety degrees, turning her downward plummet into forward momentum. She bounced across the ground a bit, picking up more bruises and scrapes. She came to a halt, staring up at the magic residue left by her teleport.

'Stupid!' an echo in her mind cursed her in the voice of the queen. 'Look at how much magic you wasted! There are royal guards on the trains as well, and one of them will likely be a unicorn! They'll track you here, and you'll be dead!'

She sunk to the ground. She knew she was right. She was dead. She lacked the strength to run or hide. She had no energy to change, and her leg and wing were in too much pain to use. The guard would find her, and she would meet her end. At least, with luck, Pound would never learn of her fate, or worry for her.

She closed her eyes. If she were in pony form, she would be crying, but Changelings didn't have tear ducts in their natural state. She knew, now, why she thought of him so much. There was only one reason she would concern herself with his happiness in her final moments. How fitting, that she should discover she was smitten just before she was smote. "Pound..." she whispered, thinking it a fitting last word.

"Yaazi?"

That voice, filled with disbelief and - unbelievably - affection, caused her to spin in place, leaping to her hooves to stare in disbelief. "Pound?" she asked in shock, seeing him standing there.

He ran forward. "What happened to you?" he asked, staring at where the chitin of her leg and the membrane of her wing were beginning to show the signs of thaumic burn.

Seeing her injuries, she remembered what brought her here. "Pound, you have to get out of here!" she said insistently. "The royal guard will be here at any moment! If they catch you with me, they'll-" She couldn't bring herself to think it. "You just have to get out of here!"

Pound stared at her in shock. Then his eyes narrowed with determination. He threw a wing over her shoulders. "I won't let them hurt you," he whispered.

She stared at him, disbelieving. But she could feel the sincerity and determination underlying his words, and most of all, the love that came from the place he had made for her in his heart. She closed her eyes, her mane rustling.

"Can you fly?" he asked her.

'I can do anything as long as I'm with you,' she barely kept herself from saying. She simply nodded.

"Then change into me," he said firmly. Without thinking, she did as he instructed. "Now fly!" he said, pointing forward, "and head for Carousel Boutique!"

Leaping into the air, she flapped strongly. He took off into the air in hot pursuit. Far above, she noticed the approach of two royal guard pegasi, lances leveled...but they didn't fire. She understood. They saw two identical pegasi flying below them and knew one was a Changeling...but they didn't dare fire if they didn't know which was which. They were a long way off, and she and Pound were flying very fast.

She sped through Ponyville, Pound hot on her tail. Idly, she wondered how she'd teleported so far, and why she'd wound up here. Seeing the Boutique, however, she shelved her thoughts and dove through the door.

The dragon was standing there, cleaning up the store. He turned. "Pound, what-" He froze as Pound came through the door. "Changeling!" He started to lunge forward.

Yaazi dropped her shape change, not wanting him to hurt Pound by mistake. Pound leapt in front of her. "Spike!" he pleaded. "Please, help me hide her!"

Spike reared back, confused. "Pound?"

Yaazi could feel the emotion in the air. Pound trusted Spike, thought he would help them. Spike did not trust her, thought her a threat. She didn't think he would help. Sensing the approach of the royal guard, she stepped forward. "Please," she addressed Spike, "if you won't help me, at least help me knock Pound unconscious so they won't believe he tried to."

"Yaazi!" Pound cried in disbelief.

"I've hurt you too much already, Pound!" she cried, closing her eyes, remembering what she had done to him and his sister. "I won't be the cause of more of your pain!"

'You stupid fool!' the darker echo screamed at her. 'You will get yourself killed for nothing-'

'SHUT UP!' she cried in her own head, banishing the echoes and sinking into the silence. If nothing else...

"What's your plan, Pound?" Spike asked.

Yaazi opened her eyes in shock. He was helping her?

"Grab a dress!" Pound said. He turned to Yaazi. "Can you become a female Slenderpony?"

Confused, Yaazi nodded, assuming the form. The senses were different like this, as instead of seeing through eyes she had an overhead view of her surroundings.

Pound led her to a podium. "Stand on that and pose!"

She did as instructed. When Spike came in, he tossed a dress over her, fitting it over her carefully. It happened to fit perfectly. She realized what Pound was doing. As long as she remained perfectly still, she looked exactly like any one of a number of ponnequines scattered around the shop, similarly posed and attired. She was confused, however, as to why Spike broke a window, and why Pound threw himself into the soot-filled fireplace.

The two royal guard pegasi charged in. "Freeze!" the lead one shouted.

Pound crawled out of the fireplace. "It zapped me!" he cried, feigning pain.

Spike pointed towards the window. "It went that way!"

One of the guards pulled out a strange lens. He pointed it at Pound. It bathed him in a golden glow. Turning, he did the same to Spike. "They're both clean," he said at last. He turned towards where Yaazi stood, raising the lens again.

"Don't waste the charges!" the other guard snapped. "We're after a Changeling, not a Mimic!"

"Thank the Sun and Moon!" the first guard breathed in relief. He headed for the broken window. "Remember when one of those fiends got into the palace and disguised as Celestia's bathtub?"

The second guard chuckled as he leapt through the window. "By the time she stopped being paranoid, we had to rebuild the entire solar wing."

The two guards left. If her current form had lungs, Yaazi would have breathed a sigh of relief. As is, she remained frozen in place, awaiting instructions from Pound.

"Pound, think you could explain things now?" Spike asked. "I'd like to have a good explanation for Rarity when she comes home and sees one of her windows broken."

Deciding to be helpful, Yaazi focused her magic on the glass fragments, reassembling the window in a green glow that quickly dissipated once it was whole.

Seeing this, Pound smiled. "Spike, this is Yaazi. She's a friend of mine, and she needs help. Can you help me get her to Twilight? I need to show somepony in authority she's not a threat."

Yaazi shuddered. Twilight Sparkle. She knew that pony, and the thought of coming face to face with her filled her with dread. Removing the dress, she set it aside before shifting back to normal. "Do...do I have to see her?" she whimpered.

Pound came over to her, throwing a wing over her. "Don't worry. She won't hurt you."

Spike sighed. "Why do I always let myself get dragged into these things?" He shook his head, smiling. "Well, Rarity will be home soon, so I hope you have a plan soon."

Pound paused, obviously at a loss. Yaazi looked up. "By any chance, does Rarity have any dresses she is making for Twilight?"

Spike looked up. "Yeah," he said, gesturing to a winged ponnequin. "But I don't see how-"

Yaazi changed form once more. She now exactly matched Twilight Sparkle's body shape and form...except her body was completely white. "SleNdeRtWi," she said, her voice echoing horrifically.

Blinking, Spike shrugged and moved the dress onto Yaazi as she fixed herself in position to model it. Just as they finished, a white unicorn came in through the door.

"Oh Spike, how wonderful!" She walked up to Spike, nuzzling him. Yaazi noticed a gold band at the base of the unicorn's horn that was identical to one on one of the dragon's fore claws. "I do need to deliver that dress to Twilight today, and you have it ready for me! Let me just make a few minor adjustments..."

Yaazi held perfectly still as Rarity manipulated the dress around her with her magic. When it was finished, she allowed herself to be positioned on a wheeled platform and covered with a white sheet.

She couldn't see anything that wasn't under the sheet, and her hearing was muffled as well. She could, however, still feel the emotional energies of those around her. The love between Spike and Rarity was incredibly strong, but it was guarded, self-contained. She wouldn't be able to absorb any stray love from them. Pound still gave off the same strange mix of emotions that included the bit of love that filled her so much, slaking her hunger and giving her strength to keep going. There were other ponies around, but she couldn't tell much about them.

However, another pony approached, one she recognized. She could feel the emotions passing between Pound and Pumpkin as they chatted. They had gotten together, after all. She was happy for Pound, incredibly so...but at the same time, she felt her own heart sink. If he had his sister...then he didn't need her...

The other pony who arrived with Pumpkin seemed to be made of love and joy, freely given, but hidden beneath that Yaazi could sense pain. Old wounds, changed outlook, darker thoughts...Yaazi believed this pony was going through what many referred to as 'growing up'. A bit late, considering she felt like she was nearly 40.

She felt the air change, and knew she was inside somewhere. There was a bit of conversation she didn't catch, and then the sheet was pulled off.

"Voila!" Rarity cried happily.

As her overview of her surroundings was restored, Yaazi barely managed to keep from shaking in fear. She didn't know why, but she instantly recognized the six grown mares that surrounded her even if she didn't know their names. These were the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony.

An orange earth pony lay on a couch, obviously content to relax. A yellow pegasus curled up in a corner, an antlered infant held tight in one wing. The pink earth pony bounced all over the place. Rarity stood proudly, holding the sheet in her magic. The cyan pegasus lazed on the back of a couch.

Twilight Sparkle approached, staring at the dress. "Wow!" she said happily. "You've really outdone yourself, Rarity!" Her horn glowed, and the dress disappeared from around Yaazi to appear on the alicorn. Twilight turned to look at herself in a nearby mirror. "It looks amazing!"

While a few smiles or grins were on most faces, the cyan pegasus rolled her eyes. "You say that like it's a surprise," she said sardonically. This brought a round of giggles from the assembled and a slight blush from Twilight.

Rarity suddenly blinked. "Spike..." she said quietly. "Where did you get this ponnequin? I don't include horns on the ones I make."

Yaazi winced internally. It seemed the jig was up. Trusting in Pound's estimation of these ponies, Yaazi reverted to her natural form.

There was a stunned silence. The cyan pegasus let out a sudden growl before lunging towards Yaazi...only to be blocked by Pound stepping between them.

Pound stared the mare right in her eyes. "Her name is Yaazi. She's my friend. She needs help. I brought her here because I trust all of you."

The swelter of emotions coming from everyone present was too strong, and Yaazi collapsed to her knees as she struggled to filter out as much as possible. When she had control of herself again, she looked up.

She found herself staring over Pound's shoulder into Twilight Sparkle's eyes. Twilight stepped forward, her horn glowing. "If I can just-"

Pound's wing extended protectively, forming a feathery barrier between Twilight and Yaazi as he glared pugnaciously at the Princess.

Twilight stared at him, her eyes flat. "...treat her injuries," she deadpanned.

"Oh..." Pound lowered his wing, looking rather flustered.

Twilight leaned forward, placing her horn against Yaazi's forehead. Yaazi flinched back, but allowed the contact. She felt the magic flowing through her, and felt her injuries healing. It also seemed that Twilight was examining her on more than a physical level.

After a time, Twilight pulled back. "Where is your swarm, Yaazi?" she asked calmly.

Yaazi flinched away from the question. "...dead..." she whispered. "...all dead..." She didn't want to relive it again...

Pound's wing was around her once more, and she unthinkingly buried her head in his mane. Surprisingly, she felt Pumpkin nuzzling against her from the other side as well.

Twilight was silent for a time. When she spoke again, she changed the subject. "How did you come by the name Yaazi? It's Zebrakin, isn't it?"

Yaazi nodded. "It's...one of the things I'd been called during my travels. Pound said it suited me...because it was cute." She felt her mane rustle again.

"Aww, how sweet," the yellow pegasus said with a wide smile, still cuddling the - now nursing - infant.

Yaazi stared up at Twilight, wondering what she would do next.

Twilight closed her eyes, obviously in deep contemplation. When she opened them, her voice came out very serious. "Do you have a preferred pony form? One that feels most natural to you, that isn't a copy of somepony else?"

Yaazi tilted her head at the strange question, but nodded.

"Assume it, please."

Yaazi closed her eyes. Pound and Pumpkin stepped back as the green fire cascaded over her body. When it passed, Yaazi stood as a black unicorn filly of Pound and Pumpkin's age. She was slimly built, with a somewhat elongated horn. Her eyes were sea green, and her cutie mark was a shield with a ring of green stars on it, the exact green of Changeling magic.

Twilight stared at her for a time. Then she closed her eyes, and her body briefly flared with light.

When the light passed, Twilight's mane and tail billowed out behind her as though blown by a nonexistent wind. Swirling nebula filled her mane, giving her a very regal appearance. Nearly all of those present instinctively bowed...except for the cyan pegasus, who for some reason only drooled.

Twilight focused her gaze on Yaazi. Magic gathered, and focused itself around Yaazi's neck. As it faded, Yaazi felt a weight against her chest and glanced down. Hung on a bright blue ribbon was a pendant in the shape of a six pointed purple star overlaid on a white one. "What's this?" she asked in confusion.

Twilight closed her eyes, and her mane and tail returned to normal. Opening her eyes, she smiled. "It means, among other things, that I have taken you on as my personal student...which, as a point of note, places you under my personal protection."

Yaazi stared in awe, then bowed low. "T-thank you, Princess," she stammered. "How can I repay you?"

Twilight grinned at her. "You can start by not calling me Princess," she said acerbically. "Only the nobles call me that, not my friends and family." As Yaazi raised her head, Twilight's voice turned soft. "Beyond that, don't make me regret this."

Yaazi nodded, shocked beyond words. She couldn't begin to imagine why Twilight would do this for her having only just met her.

Twilight turned her back. "Yaazi, there's something you should know. I scanned you while I was healing you. It's how I knew you would have a pony form of your own. ...you're only half Changeling."

Yaazi's jaw dropped. "W...what?"

"You are the offspring of a Changeling and a pony," Twilight said flatly. There were gasps all around. "I'm going to look into it, see if I can identify your parentage. Who knows, you might have family here in Equestria...and they might just be able to accept and love you."

Yaazi lowered her head, this latest revelation too much for her.

Twilight continued speaking. "I'll have a room set up for you here in the library in the next few days, but for now I think it best if you stay with Pound and Pumpkin, if they'll take you."

There was a brief exchange between the twins which sounded like gibberish to Yaazi, and then Pound stepped forward. "We'll be happy to welcome her."

Yaazi smiled at Pound. "Thank you," she whispered. She suddenly yawned loudly. "W...why am I so..."

Twilight smiled at her. "Healing drains your stamina rather rapidly. You'll be fine after a nap."

Yaazi blinked her eyes sleepily. "O...okay..." She slumped forward, and felt her caught by magic that felt like silk...and a bit like ice without the coldness. She felt herself laid across Pound's back, and drifted into slumber.

She saw the stallion, her prey this day. A bit old, single, no family. She could see in his mind what he wanted to love, and she became it: a pegasus filly, pale white with gold mane, no Cutie Mark.

She staggered out of the alley, shivering. He noticed her, and smiled. "Come along, gel," he whispered coaxingly. "Let's get you out of this cold."

She followed him to his house. He took her inside, gave her a warm meal, and a warm bath. After drying her off, he led her to the bed, where she curled up. Then he climbed in after her.

She shivered, afraid. The love tasted bad, but it was the only meal she could find. "Don't worry, gel," he said, grinning as he pinned her beneath his body. "I'll keep you nice and warm."

She whimpered, not daring to scream in fear...or in pain.

Yaazi shot awake, shaking off the nightmare, the memory. She wished it was a lone memory, but there were five others just like it, the only difference the image she had taken to feed off the twisted love of those stallions, draining them to give herself the strength to move on to the next settlement. She had overheard young mares talking about sex, how it hurt a little the first time. But for her, it had always hurt. That was all it had been, her pain and the foul tasting love she drained from the stallion. But then again, they had wanted her pain.

She felt Pumpkin nuzzling her, curled up against her. "Are you alright, Yaazi?" she asked quietly.

"Just...just a nightmare," Yaazi whispered back. She noticed she was still in her pony form. "Just...a bad dream..."

Pumpkin nuzzled her. "Well, it's gone now, right?"

"...not really," she whispered. She looked at Pumpkin. "Are you and Pound...together?"

Pumpkin smiled. "Yes," she said happily.

"Have you been...intimate?"

Pumpkin blushed. "Yes. It was wonderful."

"How?" Yaazi asked.

Pumpkin tilted her head. "Huh?"

"How can it be wonderful," she whispered, closing her eyes against her tears, "when it hurts so much?"

Pumpkin blinked, shocked. "But...but it's not supposed to hurt, except for a little the first time."

Yaazi shook. "It's always hurt for me."

"Then whoever you were doing it with was doing it wrong," Pumpkin said quietly. "Sex is supposed to bring pleasure and closeness, not pain."

Yaazi shivered. She tried to push the thoughts out of her mind.

Pumpkin watched her carefully, thoughtfully. "Hmm...Luna said sex can also be healing..." she muttered under her breath. Then she smiled. "Pound," she said happily, "you should have sex with Yaazi."

Yaazi's eyes shot open in shock, her cheeks turning bright red. Pound spit the glass of water he'd started to drink all over both young mares. "What?" the two said together.

Pumpkin smiled. "Yaazi only has bad memories of sex. You should give her a good one to chase away the nightmares."

Pound's face alternately turned red and pale as he lost all ability to vocalize. Yaazi wasn't faring much better. She had just come to terms with having feelings for Pound - feelings she was sure could never be fully returned - and was struggling to wrap her mind around the implications of her mixed parentage. Now, Pumpkin - technically her main rival for Pound's affections - was telling Pound to have sex with her? She was totally lost.

Pumpkin, however, was looking back and forth between them in confusion. "I don't get it," she said at last. "What's wrong? Pound, you had a wingboner the entire time you were carrying her back, so I know she turns you on. Why is this such a problem?"

Pound buried his head under a pillow, groaning despite his wings being at full extension. Feeling his emotional turmoil, Yaazi spoke. "You're first in his heart, Pumpkin," she said, trying not to think about what she was saying. "Even with you telling him to do it, having sex with another mare would feel like a betrayal to him."

"Oh," Pumpkin said softly. She thought for a time. "Pound, would it be better if I was involved, too?"

"Say wha?" Pound said in shock, sending his pillow flying as he sat straight up.

Yaazi turned back and forth between them, no clue what was going on anymore.

Pumpkin tapped her chin. "Now, how did it go..." she mumbled to herself. "Oh!" Leaning forward, she caught Yaazi's chin in her forehooves and pulled her into a kiss.

Yaazi's eyes went wide in shock, and she could only sit still as a statue as Pumpkin pressed her lips to her own. She could feel love coming from Pumpkin, similar to the love she felt from Pound, but both were beginning to be tinged by a somewhat...spicy flavor. Like peppermint.

She noticed Pound staring at both of them, but for a moment, it felt as though he was staring only at her. Surrendering to the moment, Yaazi closed her eyes, returning Pumpkin's kiss full force, a low moan escaping her throat. Her lips parted with Pumpkin's, and her tongue extended into her mouth.

She felt Pound's approach. Opening her eyes, she turned to him. "Please," she whispered, lost in the sea of emotion, "kiss me, too." Lunging forward, she locked lips with him as he put a hoof to the back of her head, holding her there as they shared a passionate kiss.

She let out a squeaking gasp as she felt Pumpkin's tongue on her pussy. She pulled back from Pound. "Pumpkin, what-" Her inquiry was interrupted as Pound raised his head to lick the length of her horn. Her eyes closed as she moaned in pleasure. "Gods above!" she gasped, struggling to breathe.

"Come on, Pound!" Pumpkin said happily. "She tastes like nougat!"

Pound moved around to behind her, and Yaazi collapsed forward as they both went to work with their tongues on her vagina. She let out throaty moans alternating with shocked gasps as the waves of pleasure cascaded through her, losing herself in the moment. When Pumpkin began sucking on her clitoris, however, Yaazi screamed as the pleasure crested inside her, her whole body spasming as she found her release.

"Where'd you learn to be so good at this, Pumpkin?" Pound was saying, surprise and a bit of awe in his voice.

Pumpkin giggled. "Educational dreams," she said simply.

Yaazi lay there, breathing heavily. She suddenly felt herself lifted up by Pumpkin's magic again, and found herself astride her, her face in Pumpkin's pussy. "Don't be shy," Pumpkin said with a giggle. "Taste me, too."

Unsure what else to do, Yaazi leaned forward and began to lick Pumpkin's wet lips, the honey taste of her fluids mixing in her mind with the sugary taste of the twins love and the peppermint of their lust. "Needs cream," she found herself saying without knowing why.

Pumpkin moaned softly, then giggled. "You hear her, Pound. She wants some sweet cream."

Yaazi wasn't sure what they were talking about, but then she felt Pound bracing against her back. "No!" she gasped in fear.

Pound stopped. "I'll be gentle," he whispered softly. "You don't have to be afraid."

Yaazi closed her eyes, waiting. Realizing he wouldn't act without her okay, she nodded.

She felt his penis press against her pussy lips. She closed her eyes tighter, clenching her teeth against the expected pain. There was a brief pain as he tore her hymen, and then he paused, waiting. She managed to catch her breath. "G...go ahead," she whispered.

She felt him continue into her, being careful and gentle. She was surprised, after her past experiences, that she was enjoying it, that it felt good, the brief moment of pain a fading memory. Hearing Pumpkin whimper, she lowered her head to return to her ministrations of Pumpkin's pussy.

She heard Pumpkin moan happily, and then felt Pumpkin's tongue drag across her clitoris. This brought a gasping moan from herself and Pound. Yaazi realized she must have licked Pound, too. Losing herself in the moment, in the shared pleasure, she dove into Pumpkin, extending her tongue deep inside her.

She lost herself in her mind, in the flow of emotion cascading over and through her as physical sensation filled her. As the sensations reached their peak, she screamed out in bliss...and heard two other voices screaming her name.

She collapsed across Pumpkin, Pound collapsing across her. They all lay there for a time, breathing heavily. After a time, they shifted positions, curling up to each other with their heads on the pillows, ready for sleep to overtake them.

As Yaazi began to drowse, she felt a presence in her mind, one that wasn't an echo. She could feel Pound and Pumpkin in her thoughts. They were connected.

She smiled, drifting into peaceful slumber, knowing that, at long last, she wasn't alone anymore.

Too Good to be True

Too Good to be True

She lay on the bed, curled around herself as tears poured from her eyes, blood and other fluids leaking from her hindquarters. She shivered and shook as the stallion stepped away, eminently satisfied. He was saying something, but she did not hear. All she knew was the pain, and her unsatisfied hunger. And then the voice came.

'How dare he? How DARE he? Make him PAY!'

Turning, she obeyed the dark voice, lunging for his throat. Her shape dissolved in green fire, and her teeth sank briefly into his neck. Screaming, he leaped back.

"You...you monster!" he cried in fear, trying to struggle away.

Her eyes glowed with her fury. His blood on her teeth glowed with the ancient magic. With his blood, he would never escape her, and she had all the time in the world. She reared up, placing her forehooves against his chest. Smirking, she returned to him the words he had inflicted her with when this began. "Don't worry," she whispered, the Queen loud in her voice. "This will be fun. Now brace yourself, and don't scream...too much." As her horn glowed, she opened her mouth and began to inhale.

His scream was not nearly long enough as she slowly sucked every trace of emotional energy and life force from him, giving her the strength to leave this place behind. Turning, she left the lifeless husk behind, and headed into the wilderness.

As her instincts faded and her consciousness reasserted dominance, her hoofsteps began to falter. She knew not what would haunt her worse, what had been done to her...or what she had done in return. Turning, she curled up under a nearby bush, and resumed the form she had worn for the stallion.

And then, curled up tight, as the cold moon shone its light upon her and the unwinking stars watched impassively, she broke down and wept.

Yaazi shook slowly as she awoke from the nightmare/memory. The pain of her past weighed heavily on her, and she doubted if she would ever be free of it. However, after last night, she genuinely believed she had a chance to recover now, to heal, to grow. Maybe, just maybe, the gods were smiling on her, and she would at last be allowed to move on.

She felt something hard pressing into her side. 'Move your hoof, Pound,' she thought into their new connection, not wanting to wake fully yet. There was no response. He was probably still out cold. She shifted herself away from the hardness, and felt something sharp against her neck. 'Pumpkin, careful with your horn.'

There was still no response. She shifted uncomfortably as a cold breeze brushed her horn. "Who left the window open?" she muttered as she opened her eyes. She then stared in shock.

She lay not on a soft bed but on hard ground. A rock pressed against her side as a branch scraped against her neck. She stared up at leaves and branches, and down at the chitin of her exoskeleton...and a featureless rock that hung on a piece of string around her neck. She shot to her hooves, not wanting to believe.

She stared in the window of Sugar Cube Corner, seeing Pound and Pumpkin frolicking together. 'No...' she thought deep inside. 'Don't...don't let it all have been another shadow on the wall!' As she felt her heart beginning to fall to pieces, she slammed her hooves against the window and cried out, "NO!"

Pumpkin spun to the window, then screamed in fear. Pound leapt between his sister and Yaazi, snarling protectively.

Yaazi backed up, her heart breaking anew at the sight of their rejection of her. She heard another scream and spun. Other ponies had seen her, and there were screams and panic as they fled a monster. Others rushed forward to attack. Turning, she tried to run, only to feel something strike her in the back of her head as the world went black.

When she came to, she was in a cell of some sort. She could see the walls, floor, and cell bars were all energized with magic of some sort. Whoever had her wasn't going to let her go anywhere.

"It's about time you woke up, Changeling," a cold voice spat.

Yaazi turned and came face to face with the Princess of the Sun herself. "C-Celestia..." she whispered, afraid.

"So you know me," Celestia said coldly. "And you speak. Unusual on both counts for a drone. Assuming that's what you are." Her ice cold stare burned into Yaazi's mind, filling her with fear. "You are going to answer some questions. How well you answer will determine your fate."

"Why are you doing this?" Yaazi demanded in fear. "What did I ever do to deserve this?"

Celestia raised an eyebrow. "You ask me to explain my policy regarding my people's predators, those who see us as a source of food? Civilization has not eliminated the laws of nature, merely made them simpler to correct." She leaned forward. "Besides, how else should I react to a dangerous creature stalking my fellow Princess and faithful student?"

"What?" Yaazi asked, confused. "I don't understand..."

"From what I have determined, you have been in Ponyville for several years. What are you planning? Where is your swarm? What orders has your Queen given you?" Celestia's glare was pitiless, drilling into Yaazi's mind like a spear of ice.

Yaazi shivered. She couldn't say anything. She couldn't say the swarm was all gone. Even if she was believed, with how the Sun Princess was acting that would just lead to her summary execution to eliminate the last of a dangerous race of predators. And she didn't have the energy to come up with a believable lie...and she feared what would be done to her if she was caught in a lie. "Please...just let me go..."

Celestia glowered down at her. "That's not going to happen." Her horn glowed with a golden light.

The magic in the cell responded, glowing brightly. Yaazi screamed in agony as the magic lanced into her. After a time, the magic faded, and Yaazi collapsed to the floor, choked sobs shaking her frame. "Pound..." she whispered in desperation.

Celestia stared at her with a raised eyebrow. She turned to the side. "The Changeling you captured seems to think you're going to help it. Any idea why?"

Yaazi lifted her head, staring in disbelief. Standing amongst a group of Royal Guards were Pound and Pumpkin. Pound stared at her with barely concealed contempt. "Not a clue," he spat. "No way I'd help a monster like that, trying to hurt my sister."

Pumpkin hid behind Pound in fear. "Keep it away!" she cried.

Staring, Yaazi felt her last hope fade. She closed her eyes, just wanting it all to end.

"Tears won't help you now, Changeling!" Celestia said coldly. "Only answers. Now talk."

Yaazi opened her eyes, staring. Carefully, she lifted her foreleg, staring at Celestia through the holes, and placed her hoof against her chitinous cheek. She felt the dampness, and pulled her hoof away to stare at the dampness. "Changelings can't cry," she said calmly, turning to stare at Celestia. "We don't have tear ducts."

She fired a blast of green magic straight at Celestia. It punched right through the magic on the cell and pierced Celestia through the chest. A look of shock crossed the Sun Princess' face before her body burst into light.

The Royal Guards began to lunge forward, but Yaazi ignored them. "These tears aren't real...which means I'm not real here...which means none of this is." Reaching forward, she grabbed one guard by his horn and swung him, using him as a bludgeon against the entire squadron, sending them falling like ninepins. "It's not real." She stepped forward, right through the bars.

Pound lunged forward. "I won't let you hurt-"

"You're not real," Yaazi said sadly, a beam of her magic taking him right in his heart. The flow of her tears multiplied as his broken body fell.

"Pound!" Pumpkin cried out, rushing to Pound's side.

Yaazi's spell took the unicorn through her right eye. "You're not real," she whispered, her voice broken.

She turned, gathering her strength. "It's not real!" she screamed, releasing a wave of green fire. The cell, the Guards, the bodies, the castle...all washed away in the blazing light. She fell down against the plain white ground, crying with the pain of the false visions. Hearing hoofsteps, she spun, readying her magic.

A blue alicorn she didn't know raised a hoof. "Peace, child. I bring you no harm. I am here to help."

Yaazi stared in disbelief. "Who...who are you?"

The alicorn smiled, warmth in her expression that had been absent in the dream vision of Celestia. "I am Luna, Princess of the Night...and Guardian of Dreams."

Yaazi blinked. "So...this is a dream? It...it isn't real?"

Luna shook her head. "Neigh. It is a dream, a product of your fears and-" She paused, noticing she had suddenly become dressed in a strange purple jesters outfit. "...I take it you have practice in lucid dreaming?" she asked, amused.

Yaazi managed a small smile. "Little bit," she mumbled.

Luna smiled, dispelling the attire. Then she blinked. "I know you," she said suddenly.

Yaazi backed up, afraid. How could Luna know her?

"I have seen your dreams many times. Your nightmares, they bring you agony so loud the night echoes with it. Many times I have attempted to approach you in the realm of dreams, but each time you have fled from me..." Luna looked down at the nonexistent ground, a sorrowful expression on her face. "And I can give no aid to one who won't accept it..."

Yaazi looked up. "You...want to help me?"

"But of course!" Luna said, smiling. "You are one of my subjects. Were you not, I would not feel your dream, or be able to enter it. Though I cannot banish the nightmare until you welcome me in." She glanced around. "Then again, you seem to have handled banishing this nightmare fine on your own," she replied, respect in her voice.

Yaazi shook her head, trying to make sense of this. "But...I'm a Changeling!"

Luna looked at her, tilting her head. "And?"

Yaazi could only stare, not understanding how Luna could be so calm about this.

Luna smiled. "Before I became Nightmare Moon, when Celestia and I ruled together more than 1000 years ago, the Changelings were our allies. They walked through our lands freely, and ponies lived in Harmony with them. I was quite shocked to discover that they had become our bitter enemies in the time I was gone. Celestia still has not told me why, or what could have pushed them to such dire straits as to attempt an assault on Canterlot." Luna frowned briefly as she struggled with these thoughts, then smiled as she turned back to Yaazi. "Even so, that is neither here nor there at the moment. I am here to aid you."

Yaazi blinked up at Luna. "But...I don't..." She shook her head, confused.

"Where's that noise coming from?" a male voice echoed through the dreamscape. "I was about to pull a Sonic Rainboom."

"My soufflé!" a female voice yelled in distress from another direction.

Yaazi shot to her hooves. She knew those voices. "Pound? Pumpkin?"

There was the sudden sound of running hooves. Two figures suddenly arrived out of the mist at the edge of vision. "Yaazi?" the twins asked in shock.

Yaazi threw herself at Pound, hugging him tight, relieved beyond words that she could feel him in her mind again, that she could tell that - despite it being a dream - this was real. Within moments, Pumpkin was also at her side.

Luna watched in surprise. "I was not expecting to see the two of you here," she said to the twins.

Pumpkin looked up. "Princess Luna?" she asked, surprised. She looked around. "Wait...this is a dream? Are we sharing a dream?"

Pound looked quite confused. "How's that possible?"

Luna looked carefully at the three of them, lost in thought. "...in ancient days, Changelings and ponies occasionally formed especially strong bonds, and the ponies were considered honorary members of the hive. Those ponies described a rather disconcerting sensation of hearing thousands of voices in their minds where there had only been one. I believe that in such cases, a direct link was made between the mind of the pony and the overmind of the Changeling hive. ...with no other Changelings for Yaazi to contact, it’s possible that when you welcomed her, a strong bond was formed...and she linked herself to the two of you in desperation." She smiled. "It could be that link now allows you to share, not only thoughts, but dreams as well." Walking forward, she wrapped her wings comfortingly around the three of them. "I will do what I can for you, Yaazi, but my powers are limited. Pound, Pumpkin, may I ask you to be there for her when I cannot?"

Pound smiled. "Of course," he said calmly, nuzzling Yaazi, his wing wrapped around her.

Pumpkin grinned. "We already have been," she said happily to Luna. "Your lessons were quite helpful." Pound and Yaazi both turned bright red.

Luna stepped back, suppressing her own blush. "More than I needed to know," she whispered quietly. She took to the air, turning back briefly to see the three young adults curled up around each other, and smiled before fading back into the dream scape, seeing to her other duties.

Awkward

Awkward

Rarity sighed happily as she got out of her warm bed, shaking her mane as she rose to greet the new day. She turned, smiling, and nuzzled the dragon lying next to her. "Spikey-Wikey...it's morning..."

Spike grumbled, the bulk of his form shifting as he rolled onto his back, his eyes still firmly closed.

Smiling, Rarity leaned forward and planted a raspberry on the spot directly above the armor plates that concealed Spike's dragon members, a spot she'd learned was - while impervious to heavy impact - was very sensitive to light touch.

Snorting, Spike spun, rising to his four claws as he shook his head. Eyes open, he smiled at Rarity. "I've asked you not to do that," he said teasingly.

Rarity giggled. "If you woke up when I told you, I wouldn't have to." Smiling, she headed into the bathroom to prepare for the day. Stepping into the shower, she began her morning ablutions.

It wasn't long before Spike also entered the bathroom, moving to the area remodeled for him. Within moments, Rarity heard the scrape of scale on rock as Spike began tending to his own cleanliness. While he still enjoyed a good bubble bath - especially one shared with her - his growth spurt had hardened his scales to the point where sponges simply weren't enough. As such, rough stone was used to scrape his scales clean. The sound had taken some getting used to for Rarity, but she'd learned to enjoy it...especially when, like now, Spike gave it a specific rhythm, putting a bit of a spring in her step.

As she finished her shower and dried off, she began the lengthy process of styling her mane. She sighed pensively as she stared at her reflection.

"Something bothering you, love?" Spike asked from behind her.

She smiled. While when he had first moved in with her she had been surprised at how silently a dragon of his respectable size could move, she was used to it by now. "Not bothering, precisely." She frowned then. "It's just...Twilight's actions a few days ago are somewhat confusing to me."

She could feel Spike smile. "You're talking about Yaazi, right?"

Rarity nodded. "It's not that I don't trust her judgment on this - I could hear in the poor girl's voice the pain when she spoke of the death of her swarm - but I'm surprised that she'd put her own reputation as a Princess on the line on what can only seem to me to be a whim! I was sure she had better judgment than that."

Spike chuckled. "She does. When she's emotional, she can make hasty decisions, but when she's calmly rational, she thinks through a decision in its entirety before taking action. Of course, since she started taking on more royal duties 8 years back, she's learned to think much faster than she used to, so it sometimes seems like she's acting hasty."

Rarity raised her eyebrow. "Really?"

Spike's grin - showing all his teeth in a way that one who didn't know him would find quite frightening - was visible in the mirror. "What did you expect of the Princess of Books?"

Rarity chuckled. That had been a joke between Spike and Twilight ever since she had reappeared in that flash of light with a set of wings. "So you're saying she does have a good reason for doing this, just a conclusion she reached a lot faster than we could?"

Spike nodded. "Something along those lines, yes." He frowned then, his expression thoughtful.

Rarity paused in her morning ministrations. "You know something."

"...let us say I have my suspicions," he replied quietly. "I don't know what all Twilight learned when she scanned Yaazi, so I won't speak on it further. All I will say is that, when it comes to certain things, there is no limit to what Twilight will do."

Rarity nodded. "I know what you mean." She raised a hoof to her neck, gently tracing the bite scar that was invisible under her coat after 6 years of healing. Spike's claw gently caressed her neck in the same place, a sorrow in his movements.

Spike's eyes narrowed, and he turned his head and belched. A plume of green flame solidified in a scroll wrapped in powder blue silk. "I don't recognize this," he said calmly, slipping the scroll open a little to see who it was for. "It's for Pinkie?"

Rarity smiled. Since their friends had spread out the past few years - Twilight with her Royal Duties, Pinkie on her journey, Rainbow with her Wonderbolt career - Twilight had expanded on the spell that allowed Spike's dragon breath to send and receive letters. Now anyone who knew the spell trigger could toss a letter into an enchanted fire and it would come out Spike’s mouth. "Well, you might as well take it to her," she said calmly. "Whoever it's from, if they sent it this way, it's probably important."

Spike nodded. Leaning in, he kissed her on her cheek. "See you later, love."

Smiling, she returned the kiss on his lips. "Till later, my husband."

As Spike left, she sighed as she finished her morning ministrations. Standing up, she stared at her lithe, trim figure. "To think there would ever be a point in my life where I wished I was putting on weight," she said quietly.

It was her own private mission. She knew, as a dragon, Spike would outlive her - outlive all of them - by a wide margin. Beyond that, there would be times when he would nap for a century or more at a time, missing huge chunks of Equestria's history. Her own personal nightmare was that, one of those times, he would wake up and not know if they had been more than just a dream. That was why she was determined to have Spike's child, that there should be a line of descent born of their love, children who would always know the love - as revolutionary as it had been - that brought them into the world. But, after being married for nearly a decade, she still showed no signs of conception. She was beginning to lose hope that dragons and ponies could even crossbreed, despite the legends of the Kirin.

Hearing a strange whistle in the air, she turned just in time to see a sphere of golden fire slowly expand, before coalescing into a scroll wrapped in silk that dropped to the floor. Curious, she levitated it in her magic and unrolled it, reading the first line.

'Hey big sis!'

Rarity smiled. She hadn't heard from Sweetie Belle in a while, although she was curious how it arrived. She read on.

'Been a while since I wrote last. Sorry about that. Things have been pretty hectic ever since I started my career as a Xenologist-'

Rarity blinked, then remembered. A Xenologist was a pony who studied the cultures of other sapient species. It wasn't a word used frequently. She continued to read.

'-and especially recently. I was trying to study the culture of dragons - thought it was about time, seeing as I have one for a brother-in-law - but I got cornered by a large group of dragons who caught me out. Not knowing what else to do, I started singing. Next thing I know, I'm an honored guest and sitting at the right claw of the Dragon King.'

Rarity sighed, rolling her eyes. Even after finding their Cutie Marks, the CMC still had a penchant for getting into situations way too big for them.

'Anyway, my studies have become a great deal more intense since then, seeing as His Majesty is happy to answer all of my questions about dragons, be they historical, modern, or biological in nature. Sorry if I keep referring to him as His Majesty, but while I can pronounce his name - with difficulty - I have no idea how I would spell it. ...oh! He says I should use the translation, Eternal Flame.

'I've learned so much, Rarity! This is so exciting! I mean, I had no idea that dragon civilization actually predated ponies on the face of the world. You see, it all starts out-'

As much as Rarity enjoyed seeing her sister get published, and even explored her written up studies on other cultures at times, she had been hoping for some more personal news. Letting her eyes skim the letter now, she continued to unroll the scroll - and unroll and unroll - until one sentence caught her eyes.

'-and I've learned quite a bit about dragon physiology, especially their reproductive process, which is rather interesting, even if it doesn't appeal to me. Seriously, nothing cools any possible ardor faster than seeing a penis bigger than your entire body.'

Rarity blinked. Dragon reproduction? Maybe there was something here. She read on avidly.

'Anyway, dragons have two dicks, as I'm sure you know well - seriously, it's why I stopped staying over at your place after Spike moved in. You're LOUD.'

Rarity blushed brightly. She didn't think she made THAT much noise...

'But did you know that dragonesses also have two vaginal openings? Also, each one serves a different purpose. The lower phallus and vaginal opening are only connected to the bladder and a set of scent glands, used for marking a partner. The upper phallus and vaginal opening are connected to the reproductive organs. In point of fact, a dragon males testes are actually stored just above the upper phallus behind a thick armor plate. I've heard dragons referred to as flying tanks, and it fits. Seriously, I can't think of anything - short of another dragon - that could bring real harm to a dragon, given how well armored they are.

'Also, when dragons mate, both the male and the female will wrap their necks around each other and bite a specific neck spine. Apparently, it enhances the copulation somehow, and is also instinctive. A sort of play bite.'

Once more, Rarity gently touched a hoof to the scar on her neck. At least now she understood the why of when that happened. If Twilight hadn't felt what happened through the bonds of the Elements...

Well, she was just in time. And both of them had learned a lesson about keeping control off their lust. Trying to push it from her mind, she read on.

'Also, apparently when dragons mate, both the males and females release a special set of pheromones that trigger heat in any mammalian life form that it reaches. This is because a dragoness needs to consume a certain amount of meat while gestating. Anyway, I'll be heading home soon, and-'

Rarity blinked. The letter just cut off there. At first she was worried, but then she scrolled down and saw it picked back up, but Sweetie's writing was less structured, more relaxed.

'Okay, a few things I need to add about dragons that REALLY caught me off guard.

'First, dragons have three qualities by which they define maturity, and a dragon is considered an adult if they hit any of them. One way is if they expand to large size through hoarding, although such dragons are called 'mindless', and are considered little more than beasts. Second is if a dragon reaches intellectual maturity, capable of thinking like an adult. The third is emotional maturity, if a dragon feels like an adult does.

'Second, if a dragon reaches mental and emotional maturity, physical size actually becomes a matter of personal choice, as a fully mature dragon can apparently change size at will once they know how, as the King just demonstrated for me.

'Third, I now completely understand why you were always so loud with Spike. Seriously, wow. Also, I think I'm technically Dragon Royal Consort now, not sure how that works. ...also, I think I may have accidentally sparked a social sexual revolution amongst dragons by teaching the King a way to have sex that doesn't risk pregnancy. He's calling it Pony Style.

'I'll send this on when I have the strength back. Right now, I'm exhausted.

'Your loving sister,
'Sweetie Belle

'P.S. Looks like I'm sending this sooner than I thought. Flamey's gonna send it for me. Did you know dragons could do magic? I didn't. ...wow...'

Rarity chuckled a bit at what Sweetie Belle had gotten up to. As a grown mare, it was her choice what she got up to and who with. It was certainly a shock that she had landed a King, though, even if-

She stopped, her eyes swinging up to a line as her mind locked onto it.

'...sex that doesn't risk pregnancy. He's calling it Pony Style.'

She stared at that line for a time. "All these years..." she whispered, her voice slowly rising in pitch. "Trying again and again whenever I was in season...and all this time..."

Her voice peaked in a horrendous shout.

"WE WERE DOING IT WRONG?!?"

Rarity stared at the letter, her breathing heavy as she struggled to regain her self-control, noticing the Boutique shake for a moment from the force of her shout. Standing up, she turned towards the kitchen, ready to vent her frustration by smashing some dishes...when she paused. She felt a twinge in her lower abdomen, and a familiar warmth passing through her veins. Slowly, she grinned. She was going into heat.

Turning, she went to her 'special closet' and selected some attire that would look very flattering while she lay on her back, as well as several aromatic candles and a bag of rose petals. This time, they were going to do it right.

Trixie paced pensively as her trailer slowly pulled back into Ponyville proper. It had been more than a decade since she was here last, and her departure had been...less than ideal. While she had buried the hatchet with Twilight Sparkle - the new princess, that was a shocker to learn - more or less after the Alicorn Amulet incident, she still couldn't quite convince herself of the truth of what she'd been told.

Pinkie had forgiven her as well, despite having taken her mouth. Pinkie had said you couldn't hold somepony to blame for what they did under an evil influence, but Trixie still felt guilty. Beyond that, she didn't know if Pinkie's other friends would forgive her. She could only hope for the best, she supposed. With luck, Pinkie had received the letter she had sent her via Spike's fire.

Turning, Trixie stared at some of the pictures that now adorned the walls of her trailer. In her old trailer, the walls had been decorated with pictures of her parents, of images of her childhood, of the day she received the acceptance letter to Celestia's school...happy days before tragedy had robbed her of any semblance of stability, and she had turned her back on all her dreams just to survive. ...those pictures, and all she had left of her parents and original home, were gone now, destroyed by one careless stomp of an Ursa Minor.

The new trailer was internally decorated with pictures of herself at her various shows, the posters she had made to advertise herself...and the more recent images that brought her a smile. Here she was with Pinkie, doing a magic show with Pinkie as her assistant. Over here, an image captured from their debut duet, as they sang and danced together. Here the two of them sitting together at a restaurant. ...she still didn't know how they wound up slurping up the same strand of spaghetti like that, considering they'd been eating pizza. Not that she would ever get answers to how Pinkie did things.

Glancing into a drawer, she saw the box, and what it contained. She had bought it but...she had never given it. She'd known the day would come when Pinkie would want to go home, and she didn't know if she could live in Ponyville. As nice a place as it was, she doubted if she would be welcome.

However, after parting, she had realized why she had always journeyed, what she had been running from, what she had briefly escaped while travelling with Pinkie Pie. She didn't want to be alone anymore.

Took, took-took took, took...TOOK TOOK.

Trixie smiled. Only one pony knocked on a door with 'Shave and a Mane Cut' rhythm with a hollow sounding head. However, just to be sure, she broke into song.

"When chasing this dream,
More than skill you must know"

A familiar voice responded from the other side of the door.

"To open the right doors,
It's about who you will blow."

Grinning, Trixie threw the door open wide and sang with her beloved,

"That's showbiz!"

Grinning, she fell into the extended pink embrace, wrapping her forelegs around her neck and nuzzling at the bubble gum pony. Pulling back, she grinned at Pinkie. "There's my slice of pie," she said happily.

Pinkie grinned right back at her. "There's my star in the sky!" she said happily. Leaning forward, she captured Trixie's lips with her own.

Trixie closed her eyes, reveling in the reunion with her special pony...until she heard a cough. Pulling back, she blinked as Pinkie let her head fall back against her back, her neck shaping a u-bend.

Spike, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Fluttershy all stood there a short distance away, staring at them in a mix of shock and confusion. Spike was the one who had coughed, looking back and forth between the happy couple and the shocked friends. "Awkward..." he said quietly, stretching the word out. A shout suddenly echoed across Ponyville.

"WE WERE DOING IT WRONG?!?"

In the distance, Carousel Boutique flew into the air, flipping a full 360 degrees before landing back as it was.

"Rarity!" Spike cried in shock and a bit of fear, racing back towards the Boutique.

Pinkie got back to her hooves, leaning against Trixie as she turned to her friends. "Girls, you remember how I mentioned I met my special somepony on the road and hoped for the chance to introduce you all and that I really really hoped you'd welcome her? Well..." She gestured to Trixie. "Ta da?"

Trixie gulped nervously. It all boiled down to this moment, and-

"Up!"

Trixie looked down. A tiny filly sat there, almost identical in appearance to Fluttershy...except her eyes were red and yellow and she had one antler and one goat horn growing from her head within her mane. The filly - barely more than a newborn - spread her tiny wings and held her forehooves up to Trixie. "Up!" she said again, more insistently.

Sitting down, Trixie lifted the infant up in her forehooves.

"Nom!"

Trixie stared cross-eyed as the tiny filly locked her mouth onto the tip of Trixie's horn. She wasn't sure how to handle this, but the giggles that came from the other mares told her that, hopefully, she'd done something right.

Yaazi stared at the mixing bowls she'd set out. Pound was out hanging with his stormball team today, and Pumpkin was out buying ingredients for some of her fancier baking dishes. This left Yaazi alone at Sugar Cube Corner, and she had decided to give baking a try with the simplest recipe available.

"Let's see," she mumbled to herself. "How did it go?" She grabbed a few things with her magic, smiling as she felt how much stronger she was now, being with the twins. "Cup of flour...add to the mix..." She added the flour to the bowl. "Something sweet, not sour...pretty sure that means sugar...and a bit of salt, just a pinch..." She added what she hoped was the right amount of sugar, then paused as she held up the salt, turning from the container to her hoof. "How much is a pinch?"

Sighing she added the amount she thought was right. "Alright...this is supposed to be a cinch...teaspoon of vanilla..." She added the vanilla. "Alright...1...2...3...4..." She blinked at the mixing bowl that was nearly completely full of just dry ingredients plus the vanilla. "Umm...isn't this supposed to make...batter? Not a sandbox?" She sighed. "Guess I'll need a cookbook after all." She opened a nearby cookbook. "Let's see...cupcakes, cupcakes...here it is. Oh, eggs and milk." She added the eggs and milk and mixed it up. "That looks more like it." She ladled the batter into the cupcake paper in the tin, then put it into the oven.

While she waited, she thought to herself. "I feel like I've forgotten something..." She stared into the oven at the shaping cupcakes. "The icing!" Turning, she began to mix up a rich cream cheese icing to spread over the cupcakes.

Once the cupcakes were out and cooled, she paused. "Now...how am I supposed to ice them?" She looked at the images in the cookbook. "I can't find the frosting bag...duh!" She lifted the icing out of the bowl in a sphere of her magic. "This will work!" Shrinking the sphere until there was only icing in it, she opened a small hole and held it over the cupcakes, shrinking the sphere to make the pressure to squeeze out the icing in a controlled manner. When she finished icing the cupcakes, she smiled. "Perfect." She looked up at the sphere, and the large amount of frosting still held. "I think I made too much..."

"That's not a problem," Pound said from the door.

"GAH!" Yaazi jumped, losing her focus. The levitated frosting dropped all over her, getting in her mane, her coat, and on her face and horn. She turned to glare at Pound. "You did that on purpose!" she accused.

Pumpkin giggled from behind her twin. "That wasn't very nice, Pound," she scolded playfully. "You shouldn't go making a mess..." Walking forward, she stopped next to Yaazi and licked some frosting off her withers.

"Pumpkin!" Yaazi said, shocked.

Pumpkin smirked at Pound. "Unless you're going to help clean up." She turned to lick more frosting off Yaazi's body.

Yaazi shuddered at the pleasant sensation. "...not in the kitchen..." she whined, though without much conviction.

Pound walked up to her, smiling. "May I?" he asked.

That was a major difference she'd noticed in how the twins approached intimacy. While both seemed to be in agreement that the best thing they could do for Yaazi to help her overcome her intimacy issues was to give her as many pleasant intimate moments as possible, they took different approaches. Now that Pumpkin was fully aware of sexual intimacy, she threw herself into it with the enthusiasm of innocent abandon, pouncing Yaazi to cuddle - or something less innocent - without warning or, on occasion, thought. Pound, on the other hoof, did nothing more than cuddle unless he was specifically requested to, or if he received specific permission. Also, after the first time, he had not sought to encourage penetration, the one act that still frightened Yaazi, due to her past experiences. He seemed content to find gratification for all involved without intercourse.

She nodded to Pound, and he leaned in, beginning to lick icing off her face, trailing his tongue around her lips. Yaazi moaned softly, trying not to enjoy this too much. That wouldn't be very hygienic, even if this sort of thing was technically food for her.

As she reveled in the closeness, feeling her own pleasure echoed in the minds of the twins, she thought for a moment she heard a bell, but she couldn't be sure.

"Kids! We're home-" The matronly voice made them all jump and turn. Yaazi easily recognized Cup Cake at the doorway to the kitchen, with Carrot Cake staring over her shoulder at them.

'What do we do?' she thought into their link. 'What do we do?'

'I don't know!' Pound thought back. 'I forgot they were coming back today. I don't have a plan!'

'I'm going for broke,' Pumpkin thought at them both.

'Huh?' they asked silently simultaneously.

Pumpkin smiled up at Cup and Carrot. "Hi Mom! Hi Dad!" Turning, she licked another bit of frosting off of Yaazi's coat. "This is Yaazi, our marefriend. Not exactly how we'd meant to introduce you, but..." She shrugged her shoulders. "Well, there we are."

Pound stared at Pumpkin in disbelief. Yaazi stared at Pumpkin in shock. Cup stared at Pumpkin looking somewhat broken.

Carrot glanced between everyone, then took charge. "Yaazi, I think you should head on up to the bathroom and wash up. Pound, Pumpkin, you two go wait in your room. Your mother and I need to talk for a time." He glanced at the counter. "Pumpkin, did you bake these?"

Yaazi spoke up. "I did. It's my first attempt."

"Really?" Lifting one up, he took a bite. "Quite good. Now go on with you, you three."

Yaazi saw Pound and Pumpkin heading to their room. She went up to the bathroom to shower, but she left a bit of her magic on the door. Her paranoia from being hunted most of her life wasn't completely gone, and she wanted to know what was said. As she washed, she listened.

Carrot spoke first. "Are you alright, honey bunches?"

Cup was quiet for a time. "Did...did we really just walk in on our kids..."

"Having quality intimate time with their shared special somepony, yes."

"So..." Yaazi heard Cup gulp. "So they weren't being intimate with each other?"

"Nope. I told you you were worrying over nothing. Pound's a good colt, he wouldn't do that to his own sister."

There was silence again. "But, I was so sure those looks he kept giving her..."

"Cup, Pound's a growing colt, almost a stallion. He was probably just picturing that Yaazi filly every time his wings flared like that." Carrot tapped his hoof against something. "Gotta wonder how come we've never met her before, thought."

"With how scared she acted when she saw us, she's probably really shy," Cup replied. "But Carrot, are you sure twins sharing a special somepony is...normal?"

"Why not?" Carrot asked calmly. "Just look at Flitter and Cloudchaser. They're twins, and they frequently share stallions." He chuckled. "Hay, sometimes they swap stallions...without telling the stallions beforehand."

"But Flitter and Cloudchaser are both mares..."

"And why should there be a double standard for twins of different genders?" Carrot let out a bark of laughter. "I'm sure that Flitter and Cloudchaser don't get intimate with each other that way, and no more would Pound and Pumpkin."

Cup was quiet for a time. "I guess you're right..."

Carrot chuckled. "Besides, in that regard they're only following in their parents footsteps."

Cup was quiet. "You think we should tell them? That they have a third parent that was involved in their conception?"

A sudden shout rocked Ponyville.

"WE WERE DOING IT WRONG?!?"

'What was that?' Yaazi thought in confusion.

After a time, the conversation in the kitchen continued. "No," Carrot said calmly. "They, like everypony else believes the cover story of recessive genetics. Besides, with how busy she is, they'd never get a chance to really know her, anyway."

"You're right," Cup replied quietly. "Besides, as much as all three of us enjoyed our time together, Celestia really can't afford the scandal."

Yaazi blinked as the water continued to cascade over her. Did...did she hear that right?

'Yaazi?' Pound thought to her. 'Does that mean...Celestia's our second Mom?'

'How does that even work?' Pumpkin thought back in confusion.

'There was probably an augmentation of some sort involved,' Yaazi whispered in her mind. All three were silent as Yaazi ended the listening spell. She wasn't sure how she was going to handle this new knowledge, but at least Cup and Carrot had accepted her. For now, it was enough to know that.

Twilight walked slowly through the halls of Canterlot Castle, heading for her meeting with her former teacher, Princess Celestia. 'Alright,' she thought to herself, 'how do I explain this to Celestia? She heard - heck, she FELT - me take a personal student with enough magic in play to shake the Castle. Admittedly, that was a rather visible sign that she was mine, under my protection, but maybe I overdid it. Well, let's see, if I'm going to come up with a cover story, it needs to be all truth with just some left out, and let Celestia fill in the blanks.

'...well, I can mention that I sensed a great deal of potential in her, which is true. She's half Changeling, so her magic strength is proportionate to the love she receives, and now she's getting a dedicated supply from Pound and Pumpkin...and from me. Then there's the pony side of the heritage. ...won't bring that up yet. I don't want to risk word spreading before an in person meeting. That could destroy any hope Yaazi could have. So, great potential. That's a good first part.

'...her traumatic past. I have no idea what happened to her, but when I was healing her injuries I could feel the emotional agony she's living with, the old pain. Well, she is the last of her race and - from what I can guess - likely actively persecuted most of her life. And...I wish I didn't know how to recognize the signs of...that sort of victim.' She shook her head to dislodge these thoughts. 'Alright. So I've got lots of potential and a traumatic past, a filly who needs nurturing then.

'That doesn't quite feel like enough. After all, I could just as easily have suggested Celestia take her on, since Celestia did such a good job with me. I would need a reason why I would want to take in a filly who needed...a mother.' She smiled to herself. 'That's why I chose to take her under my own wing. Because I want to show how good a job Celestia did teaching me by becoming a teacher myself, and because I want to try my hoof at mothering. Rainbow and I have been talking about either adopting or pursuing a magic option...'

She was interrupted out of her musings at the sight of a unicorn colt. He looked to be about five years old, and was nearly identical in appearance to Prince Blueblood. However, where Blueblood's face showed arrogance and disdain, this colt's face was filled with an enthusiastic compassion and a welcoming smile. As the colt spotted her, he ran towards her grinning widely. "AUNT TWILEY!" he shouted happily.

Kneeling, Twilight wrapped a wing around the colt. "Heart Throb!" she said happily, hugging her nephew tightly. "I wasn't expecting to see you here. What brings you?"

Heart Throb hugged her happily. "Mom says she felt you take a student! Mom and Dad want details!"

Twilight's eyes widened. "Shining's here, too?"

Heart Throb nodded happily. "They're this way!" Turning he raced happily down the hall. "One side, Geezer!" he shouted as he raced past Blueblood who was entering the hall from another direction.

"What?" Blueblood shouted. "How dare he-"

"Considering that, as heir apparent to the Crystal Throne and beloved great nephew of both Equestrian Diarchs and my own nephew, he outranks you by a fair margin..." Twilight couldn't help but grin at the pompous pony's perplexity. "I'd suggest you go get a cane." She then walked past Blueblood, enjoying finally having the opportunity to see him put in his place.

'Well, they're here,' Twilight thought to herself as she followed her nephew. 'That could make things much simpler or much more complex. I can only hope the former.'

Heart Throb ran into the throne room. "Mommy! Daddy!" He leapt up to hug Shining Armor and Cadance, no hesitation or self-consciousness in him. Cadance wrapped her wings around him, her smile beaming. Shining rubbed Heart Throb's mane playfully.

Shining Armor then looked up. "Twiley! There you are!"

Twilight decided if she was going to do this, she had to do it now. "Say BBBFF, can I talk to you for a bit...in private?"

He tilted his head. "Umm...okay?"

Celestia cleared her throat from the throne. "Twilight, there is something we need to discuss."

"Can it wait, Celestia?" Twilight asked calmly. "This is really important...and somewhat related."

Celestia raised an eyebrow, but smiled. "Very well. Don't take too long."

After hugging both Celestia and Cadance, Twilight led Shining into a private chamber. "Shining...there's something really important I need to talk with you about, and...you probably won't like to hear about it."

Shining looked at her, confused. "What does this have to do with you taking a personal student?"

Twilight sighed. "Shining...this is going to be hard for you to accept, and I'm not sure how to explain it...but I'll try." She gathered her thoughts. "First, something you might like hearing. I can confirm the death of Queen Chrysalis."

Shining's head shot up. "What? Really? Shouldn't you be telling Celestia about this?"

Twilight shook her head. "I will, but not yet. You need to know first."

Shining stared at her. "...why? How did you learn about this."

"Because my personal student is Chrysalis' daughter, and the last of her kind." As Shining stared, Twilight raised a hoof. "This isn't a story she gave me. I scanned her as I healed her injuries, and confirmed both her genetic code...and her memory of the voice of every Changeling in existence but her going silent." Twilight lowered her head, trying not to cry. She had felt what Yaazi felt as the last Changeling voice in her head went silent, that absolute agony of inescapable loneliness...and Yaazi hadn't even been a whole year old.

Shining was quiet. Finally, he spoke. "Why did you feel I needed to hear this before Celestia?"

Twilight looked up. "Because I knew from the other half of her genetic code - the half that is pony - that she's my niece."

Shining stared at her. "...what?"

"Big Brother, I know you won't like hearing this...but my student is your daughter by Chrysalis, from when she was pretending to be Cadance."

Shining was quiet for a long time. Twilight winced internally, afraid of what he would say. When she looked up, however, she saw he was smiling. "Big Brother?"

"So what you're saying is...Yaazi was born of my love for Cadance? That Heart Throb has an older sister?"

Twilight stared at him. "And...it's that easy?"

He shook his head. "No, not really. What happened between me and Chrysalis...that's still something I'm dealing with. I don't know if I'll ever really be past it. But...I'm not going to hold Yaazi responsible for the actions of her mother. 'The sins of the dam are not the sins of the foal,' after all."

Twilight smiled. That was actually some very old religious text that predated Celestia and Luna. No one was quite sure about where it came from, but it was part of the teachings passed down from the dawn of pony society. Then she blinked, a thought occurring to her. "How did you know her name is Yaazi?"

Shining coughed, turning side on towards Twilight. "We...may have had a nighttime visit from Princess Luna."

"...we?"

The door opened and Cadance and Heart Throb stepped in.

"I'm getting a big sister?" Heart Throb asked happily.

"I hear I have a step daughter?" Cadance asked calmly.

Celestia followed in, curiously. "Is there something I should know?"

Twilight let out a breath. Then she breathed in deep. "Shining Armor and Chrysalis had a half pony, half Changeling daughter who's now the last of her kind and I just made her my personal student three days back," she said in one breath.

From off in the distance, a shout echoed.

"WE WERE DOING IT WRONG?!?"

Twilight blinked. "That sounded like Rarity."

Celestia fainted.

Past Sins

Past Sins

Yaazi walked nervously through the halls of Canterlot Castle, Pound to her left, Pumpkin to her right, and her new teacher, Twilight Sparkle, in front of her. It had been two weeks since the rather...awkward conversation with Mr. and Mrs. Cake after she had gotten out of the shower. Carrot Cake had been very accepting of the entire situation, and happy as long as his kids were happy. Cup Cake, on the other hoof, wasn't entirely sure how to feel about Yaazi. However, learning that she was Twilight's personal student - and would be living with the new princess - and hearing Pinkie Pie vouch for Yaazi's character had calmed Cup's concern considerably. Then there was the reunion with Pinkie and the introduction of Pinkie's marefriend. Yaazi and the twins weren't sure why, but this started another whole round of emotional turmoil from Cup Cake. Yaazi eventually came to the conclusion that Cup was just an incredibly overprotective mother.

Moving in with Twilight had been hard at first, since Twilight shielded her emotions rather thoroughly. Yaazi wasn't able to get anything from her in the way of emotional nutrition. However, she spent a good deal of her time with either Pound, Pumpkin, or her new Auntie Pinkie - as Pinkie Pie insisted she call her. Also, Twilight spent a good amount of time with her in the role of teacher, exploring what all Yaazi already knew about her magic and how much further she could go with it.

Staying in her unicorn form made all of this a great deal easier for Yaazi, as only the use of her magic drained her emotional energy reserves in that form. Eating pony food and sleeping helped to replenish her purely physical energy. Realizing this, Yaazi felt quite the fool. Had she known it years ago, when she first reached Equestria, she would have assumed that form and snuck herself into an orphanage. It would have been easy to get an adoptive couple interested in taking her in, and then she wouldn't have faced anywhere near the pain she'd felt...especially since it didn't take magic to stay in her unicorn form and - as she'd discovered today - spells that forced Changelings to drop disguises did not compel her to shift out of this form.

Of course, today would just throw the entire situation into a new set of complications. "So you found out my parentage?" she asked Twilight yet again.

Twilight nodded. "Yes. I found your biological father. He wants to meet you. As does his family."

Yaazi shuddered a little. "Did...did we have to meet them here?"

Twilight smiled. "This is where they're staying, and we can travel discretely a lot easier than they can. In this particular case, discretion is a good thing."

"So they're important ponies, then," Yaazi replied.

"Well...pretty important," Twilight replied evasively.

Yaazi shivered once again. She was worried about how she would handle this, and if she could do so well. The most frightening part of this for her, though, given her recent nightmares...would be meeting Celestia. There was a good chance she would, and she wasn't sure how she would be able to handle it, or if she could.

Pound leaned against her. Don't worry so much, he thought to her silently. We'll be right there with you.

Pumpkin smiled at her. We've met Celestia a few times when she's visited Ponyville. She's actually really nice. You don't need to worry.

Yaazi smiled, but couldn't resist a mild jibe at them both. I take it you already know how you'll act around your second mother, then? Feeling the mild dread that briefly filled them, she continued, And now you know part of why I'm so nervous. She's bound to know her role in your parentage. What if she gets overprotective of you in regard to a Changeling being so close to you both?

Umm... Pumpkin thought nervously.

If she tries to hurt you, I'll kick her flank, Pound thought firmly.

Yaazi was torn between flushing in pleasure and laughing out loud. You'll...fight the Princess of the Sun...to protect me?

Sure. Why wouldn't I? Pound nuzzled against her.

Yaazi blushed, nuzzling back.

Twilight smiled at them. "We'll wait in here," she said, leading them into a waiting room just outside a meeting room. "When they're inside, we'll join them."

Yaazi sat for a few moments. "Umm...it'll just be my father and his family, right?"

Twilight nodded. "Yes. I made sure of that."

"Umm...do they...know..." Yaazi wasn't sure how to ask this part.

"They know you're half Changeling," Twilight replied, smiling softly at her.

Yaazi nodded. "In that case..." She triggered her magic, shifting to her Changeling form.

Twilight's eyes widened in mild surprise. "Yaazi?"

Yaazi closed her eyes. "The only way anything can come of all this...is if they can accept all of me. This...will be the hardest part. If...if they can't accept me like this..."

"Then it will always be the shadow on your relationship," Pumpkin continued. "The elephant in the room, the thing no one talks about but is always preying on their minds. It'll eventually destroy whatever good you're able to build." Pumpkin looked up at Twilight. "Right, Twilight?"

Twilight nodded. "That's right, Pumpkin. I see you took my advice to heart." She turned back to Yaazi. "You raise a valid point. ...I can only hope things go well."

That makes four of us, Yaazi thought, her thought echoed simultaneously by Pound and Pumpkin.

Twilight looked up. "They're waiting for us." She opened the second door. "Whenever you're ready."

Nodding, Yaazi stepped forward through the door, the twins right behind her. Looking in, she saw a white unicorn stallion with a blue mane and kind blue eyes, a mare beside him she didn't recognize, and-

"BIG SISTER!"

"Oomph!" Yaazi said as the small white colt cannoned into her, hugging her tightly. The sheer overwhelming force of brotherly love pouring off the young colt nearly staggered her. Without thought, she wrapped her forelegs around the young unicorn. He didn't even know her, and he already loved her so much...she thanked her Changeling forms absence of tear ducts aiding her in maintaining her composure. Had she been able to, she knew she would have broken down and wept.

The mare walked forward. "So this is Yaazi?" she asked sweetly, leaning forward slightly to be at eye level with her.

Looking up, Yaazi shivered slightly as she recognized the mare. Princess Mi Amore Cadenza. Which meant...

The stallion stepped forward. "Looks like it."

Twilight smiled. "That's right. This is Yaazi. Yaazi, this is your father, Prince Shining Armor-"

"Your big brother," Yaazi interrupted.

Chuckling, Twilight nodded. "That's right. And his wife, Cadance, my old foalsitter. And their son, Heart Throb, my nephew. Which makes you my niece."

Yaazi didn't know how to respond at first. Pumpkin, however, put a hoof against the pendant Yaazi wore, looking carefully at it. "Explains a lot," Pumpkin said somewhat sardonically.

Yaazi couldn't help it. She giggled. "It does, doesn't it?"

Laughing, Heart Throb grinned at Yaazi. "Bet you can't catch me!" Turning, he started racing around the room.

As Yaazi laughingly chased him, she went through in her mind the impressions of each of these new ponies she'd gotten from reading their emotions. Shining Armor and Cadance both have issues they are still dealing with regarding Changelings, Shining more seriously than Cadance, as well as more specific. But both also want to welcome me. They want to make me a part of their family. Heart Throb...he doesn't know how to judge somepony based on what they are. To him I'm his big sister, and he loves me, and that's all there is to it. And Twilight...she's lowered her shields now, and I can feel her... She was surprised by me at first, but she cares for me as well, first out of compassion and now of familial love. Yaazi closed her eyes, once more glad she didn't have tear ducts at the moment. It's...it's all going to work out...

See? Pumpkin thought at her smugly. I told you everything would work out.

As Yaazi managed to catch Heart Throb in a tackle-hug, she sent a silent chuckle back. Indeed you did. There's only one thing left to wonder about-

Right at that moment, another door opened, and Celestia and Luna stepped in. Luna smiled happily at everyone, but Celestia took one look at Yaazi, Pound, and Pumpkin and locked her expression in diplomatic neutral.

As everyone settled quietly, Pumpkin thought to Pound and Yaazi, It is so hard to keep from saying, "Hi Mom," right now.

[i[Now is not the time to make us laugh, Pumpkin, Pound thought back to her.

Luna came forward with a smile, walking straight up to Yaazi. "It is good to meet you in the waking world at last, Yaazi."

Yaazi smiled. "A pleasure to meet you as well, Princess Luna."

Celestia managed a diplomatic smile. "I have heard a great deal about you, Yaazi."

Yaazi looked up at Celestia. She was able to read some of the Princess' emotions. She felt nervousness, fear, sorrow, and...shame? "It's good to meet you, Your Highness," Yaazi managed to say.

Celestia nodded. "Yes. I...understand you have had...quite the ordeal in the past."

Yaazi nodded, looking down. "Yes. Life has...not been kind to me in the past." She struggled to keep the memories from resurfacing. "But I think, with what I have found now, and with the help of my new friends and family...I'll be able to get past it. I think I'll be able to recover."

"Yes," Celestia replied. "That is good." Although no facial expression gave sign, Yaazi sensed the sudden swelter of emotion that raced through Celestia's mind. "If you'll all excuse me," she said quietly, "I'm afraid I'm feeling a tad under the weather today." With a polite nod to everyone, she turned and left the room.

Luna glanced after her. "If you will all excuse me, I wish to check on my sister." Turning, she followed Celestia out of the room.

Yaazi watched her leave. Something serious was going on, and she felt she was somehow central to it. She wanted to follow the Princesses - and knew she'd be able to easily - but she didn't know how to get out of the room without drawing suspicion-

Press your hind legs together and hop from one hoof to the other a bit, Pumpkin suddenly thought at her.

Yaazi stopped herself from smiling. Thanks, she thought back, doing as Pumpkin suggested.

Cadance chuckled. "The little filly's room is out that door-" she pointed to the door both Princesses had taken, "-down the hall to the right, fifth door down. You should probably be a pony for it."

Yaazi smiled. "Thanks...Mom," she replied, trying the word out for shape and sound. It felt right. Feeling the welter of emotions it sparked in Cadance, she knew it was the right word to use. She changed into her unicorn form and headed out the door.

As soon as she was out of the room, however, she locked onto Celestia and Luna's emotions. She then crafted her 'unremarkable' spell, and reverted to her Changeling form. She followed her sense of the two Princesses until she came to a locked door with a great deal of protective spells on it. She wouldn't be able to get through it without setting off several alarms. However, she knew of a simpler way through. Stepping up to the wall, she silently thanked Pumpkin as green energy surrounded her from and she walked unnoticed through the wall.

"-do not understand why you walked out of there as you did, sister," Luna was saying. "Why does Yaazi distress you so? Have you not moved past your issues after Chrysalis' invasion?"

Celestia was silent for a time. "No, Luna...I haven't."

Celestia was laying on her bed, looking rather distraught. Luna stood nearby, watching her sister with concern and compassion. Luna spoke after a time. "Why not?"

"Because...because it's all my fault..."

Luna was silent for a time. "I believe it's time you answered my questions regarding what happened to the Changelings. Before my banishment, our ties with them were the closest of any nations. Why, Queen Papillion practically raised us after our parents departed! What went wrong?"

Celestia sighed, rising to her hooves as she stepped off the bed. "As I said, Luna, it's all my fault. After I was forced to banish you, I was distraught, inconsolable. I thought I had lost you forever. However, Papillion tried to comfort me. But...when she said she grieved that she felt she could do nothing to prevent it, and had seen your descent...I snapped. I lashed out at her verbally, blaming her for what happened to you. She just took it, let me vent my emotions, and at the end, offered comfort.

"However...Prince Silversword overheard my verbal assault." Celestia shook her head. "You remember him, right?"

Luna made a disgusted sound deep in her throat. "He is not one easily forgotten. When I first encountered Blueblood, I thought that Silversword had somehow achieved immortality."

"Indeed. He is a great deal like his ancestor, isn't he?" Celestia asked with a sad smile.

Luna's eyes went wide. "Silversword managed to breed? What mare was so desperate, and how much did he pay her?"

Celestia chuckled sadly. "That's not important right now." She sighed. "See, he took what he had overheard...and spread the knowledge. Before long, relations between Equestria and the Changelings were severely frayed. When next I met with Papillion, I apologized for what happened, and what was happening with our nations." Celestia blinked away momentary tears. "She...she smiled at me, and said, 'It's not your fault. These things happen.'" Celestia closed her eyes for a time. "Unfortunately, the damage was already done, and other nations saw the fraying of our alliance as an opportunity.

"During my next in person meeting with Papillion - 50 years after your banishment - she had brought her daughter to meet me...and an assassin tried to strike me dead." Celestia hung her head. "In the state I was in, I was unable to defend myself, and he somehow evaded the guards. I never learned all the details."

When Celestia did not continue after a time, Luna spoke up. "What happened?"

Celestia shook her head. "You know Papillion always had ways of knowing things we did not understand?" When Luna nodded, she continued, "Well, she had discovered something about our links to the sun and moon. See, while it was intended to be a one way link, allowing us to manipulate the Celestial bodies and draw power from them, the link created a feedback effect. I...discovered from one of her journals afterwards that, with you banished to the moon through a spell anchored to both of us and our symbols, if I died a violent death without an heir to my magic...both sun and moon would go out."

Luna gasped. "Then...Papillion?"

Celestia hung her head low. "She did the only thing she could to protect me, and through me all life on our planet. She made herself a living shield. And...her poor daughter, no more than seven years old...the last she saw of her mother was her life being stolen by the weapon meant for me. I'll never forget that broken face, spattered with her mother's blood, slowly being led away by the High General." Celestia closed her eyes, struggling not to weep openly.

After a time, she continued. "The next time I saw her was when she came to me as Queen in her own right, some 200 years later. I had thought we might repair the alliance, but those hopes were dashed. She came right up to me and asked if her mother died because of me. I could only respond that it was so. She turned to leave, and spoke three words to me, the last I heard of her for the rest of the millennium.

"She said, 'You will pay.'"

Luna sat quietly for a time. "Did you ever see her again?"

Celestia let tears begin to fall. "When next I saw her...she was pretending to be my niece at her wedding."

Luna gasped. "Chrysalis?"

Celestia nodded, beginning to pace slowly. "Yes. Her campaign was twofold. First was to undo the damage the broken alliance had done to the swarm, pushing them to the brink of starvation. The second was to get her vengeance against me for the death of her mother. She set out to destroy everything I cared for, and take all that I held dear. And after what I had done to her already...I could not bring myself to wield my full power against her in our initial confrontation, which nearly destroyed me." She paced faster. "When she was blasted away, I feared she would return in time, so I sent out messages to all the other kingdoms warning them of Changelings, in case she had other campaigns in place."

Luna sat down heavily. "But...she died from that blast. And your warnings created an atmosphere of fear and paranoia throughout the kingdoms...that was the source of the hatred and persecution Yaazi suffered under outside Equestria."

Celestia nodded, turning so that she happened to face where Yaazi stood invisibly. "Yes. And a bit of moral breakdown in the more outlying regions of our own kingdom, which she suffered from as well. When I see Yaazi, I see the sum total of the weight of my crimes against her. The death of her mother Chrysalis, of her grandmother Papillion, of her entire race, and everything she's suffered in her life..." Celestia raised her head, tears streaming from her eyes. "How can I face her, when all of it is my fault?" Celestia froze then, her eyes locked on Yaazi, slowly going wide.

Yaazi knew what had happened. Celestia's thoughts of her had allowed her to see her. She calmly walked forward towards Celestia, seeing her as few ever had the chance to...vulnerable, broken, grief-stricken. Yaazi knew, somehow, that whatever she said next would forever define her relationship with Celestia, and through her Equestria in general. It would define all future interactions between Equestria and any of her own children.

She knew she couldn't simply offer forgiveness. In her present state, Celestia would not be able to accept it. Yaazi knew there were only two paths she could walk now: in the hoofsteps of her mother, or her grandmother.

Walking forward, she leaned her head against Celestia's neck. "It's alright," she whispered, struggling to put as much sincerity as she could into the words. "These things happen." She didn't believe it. She doubted if she ever would. But that wasn't important right now. What was important - for everyone's sake - was that Celestia believed she believed it.

Celestia stared down at Yaazi, disbelieving. Then, without warning, she sank to her knees, burying her face in Yaazi's side as she wrapped one wing around her, weeping softly.

Luna walked forward, kneeling down beside them both, wrapping her wing around them as Celestia wept, the pain that had built up inside her for nearly a millennium finally being allowed to run its course.

Loose Ends

Loose Ends

Three years later...

Rarity smiled to herself as she finished up the last of her latest commissions: a new dress for Princess Luna for an upcoming event. She smiled as she stepped back, looking around at her boutique. Things had changed over the past three years. Business had certainly picked up, the 'stigma' the fashion world chose to attach to her for being with Spike having vanished after three years of all four of Equestria's Princesses commissioning all their new outfits from her exclusively. It had taken some time, but the rest of Equestria's upper crust got the royal point. It had helped when Prince Blueblood had come out denouncing them both vociferously, decrying them as seven kinds of abominations and the worst of blasphemers. The day after his speech, Rarity had been swamped with dress orders from the upper crust. The day after that, Rarity had secretly had the Prince over for tea to thank him for his efforts on their behalf. After all, by making himself look like a total buffoon over the issue so vociferously, he guaranteed that anypony attempting to continue to do so would be engaging in political suicide, since nopony wanted to be seen as associated with the Prince. Rarity knew Blueblood had no actual issues with interspecies relationships, since he himself was courting Gilda, the Griffon King's favorite granddaughter.

While she wasn't sure if she liked the idea of receiving patronage as a result of politics rather than her skill, more recent issues meant she was glad for whatever work she could get, for whatever reasons. After all, foals were expensive.

At this thought, she smiled as she walked into the nursery. Sitting there in the crib was the new heart of her world, clinging to the top of the crib as she gazed out at everything. Rarity smiled as she came up, nuzzling the little tyke. "There's my greatest Treasure," she whispered, touching noses to the child.

The little filly had a pale purple coat with a dark purple mane and tail, with a line of small spikes along her spine. Her eyes were a brilliant green, and she had claws instead of hooves. Her tail was more flesh than fur, with a heavy spade tip, and already had razor sharp teeth. Her dragon heritage had her growing quite slowly, so even at two years old she hadn't started speaking yet. However, she was quite the expensive child, as she inherited her father's gem-based diet and her mother's finicky eating habits. She would only eat the higher quality gems that were harder to come by. Of course, it didn't help that Rarity went out of her way to spoil her infant.

"Does Mommy's Treasure want a cookie?" Rarity asked in a sing-song voice, levitating one out of the cookie jar nearby. It was a white chocolate macadamia nut cookie with Moldovite chunks

"Gah!" Treasure said happily, reaching for the cookie.

Chuckling, Rarity levitated it over into the Kirin filly's grasp.

Seizing the cookie, Treasure began to consume it slowly, with a quiet 'nom, nom' sound.

Quietly squealing, Rarity watched her offspring happily. Spike was still sleeping late in their room. Her world, her life, now felt complete.

Trixie smiled as she sat up in bed, glancing over to the bright pink mare beside her. It had taken a bit of quick conversation - not to mention the groveling on her part - to get Cup Cake to accept her, which was of great importance to Pinkie. Eventually, she moved past the past events and agreed to judge her on who she was now. Of course, the good that had done nearly went out the window when, two days later, the Pie family had shown up to visit their wayward daughter. From the first impression Trixie got of them on sight, she was afraid they would be super judgmental about Pinkie being with another mare, or about being with a unicorn. That impression was maintained right up until the point Pinkie's father pointed the shotgun at Trixie's face...and streamers and glitter burst out. Apparently, Pinkie had rubbed off on her family before she headed out into the world, and they were just happy there was a chance she'd give them grandfoals, they didn't care how.

Not long after that, Pinkie had convinced Mr. and Mrs. Cake to let Trixie move in with them. It had taken a few weeks, during which time Trixie had parked her trailer next to Sugarcube Corner and performed shows for the patrons. At first, her magic shows hadn't been received that well...until Pinkie joined as her assistant. That had gone over much better, and when they had done musical performances...

Well, Cup Cake had insisted that Trixie work at Sugarcube Corner or pay rent, but Trixie was okay with either option. Besides, she personally thought she looked quite good in the waitress outfit Pinkie had commissioned for her from Rarity, and it gave the bakery/restaurant a bit of class in her opinion. Not that she really thought about any of it when she curled up to her beloved at night.

Pound and Pumpkin had moved out recently, going off to get their own home and business with Yaazi somewhere. Trixie wasn't really listening at the time, since Pinkie had made a whispered comment about there being 'room for more'. That had made her think of Pinkie's parents comments about grandfoals, which in turn made her remember the box.

Getting up from bed, she opened the drawer in the dresser, levitating the small box out. Turning, she spoke up. "Pinkie..."

"Yes, Trixie?"

Trixie jumped a bit, trying to calm herself. Even after all this time, she wasn't used to Pinkie's sudden warping around, especially when she was swinging from the ceiling fan with Gummy hanging from her muzzle. "Pinkie, love, there's something serious I wanted to talk to you about."

Pinkie hopped down to the floor, setting Gummy on the bed. "Yes?"

Trixie cracked the box open. "Pinkie, I've been meaning to-" She stopped, staring at the contents of the box.

The gold hoofband had two gemstones set, a pink Morganite and a blue Tanzanite, set against each other in the center. However, stuck into the box next to the band was a folded piece of paper that wasn't supposed to be there. Trixie levitated it out and unfolded it. She could tell by the age of the paper it had been there nearly since she'd gotten the band, and it was unmistakably Pinkie's hoof writing.

'All you had to do was ask.'

Trixie looked up at Pinkie, tears in her eyes. Pinkie, for her part, was smiling, her own eyes glistening, as she held out her hoof. Carefully, Trixie slipped the band on, knowing, at long last, that she was home.

Twilight smiled as she opened her eyes, slipping out of the hive mind as she returned to her room in Ponyville library. She had to admit, while she had been hesitant about forging a full link with her niece, learning that she could raise mental barriers to keep parts of her mind inviolate while only sharing parts and communicating telepathically, she had adjusted to it and embraced it. Besides, expanding the 'hive' had helped solidify Yaazi's sense of family, and it was nice being able to communicate with Shining, Cadance, and Heart Throb with only a thought. Beyond that, it made teaching Yaazi magic orders of magnitude easier, since she could actually see into Yaazi's mind to check if she had a spell formula properly shaped before casting. After Yaazi had accidentally turned an apple into a hydra instead of an orange, this was a definite plus. Beyond that, it meant that Twilight could continue to teach Yaazi no matter where she chose to live, which allowed Yaazi, Pound, and Pumpkin to move on with their lives.

Smiling, Twilight rose shakily to her hooves, walking heavily down the stairs. Reaching the kitchen, she mixed herself up the nutrition shake the doctor had prescribed her. It tasted absolutely vile, but she needed all the extra nutrition she could get right now. Taking it with her, she lay down on her side on the couch, sipping the shake. She made a face at the taste.

"Still tastes horrible, huh?" Rainbow Dash said, gliding in to settle on the floor, managing to fly into and land in the library without crashing into something or make a mess.

Twilight smiled. "The taste hasn't improved, unlike your landings. You're doing much better at careful."

Rainbow chuckled. "I have reason to be. How are you holding up?"

Twilight sighed. "About as well as can be expected."

Rainbow grinned, then put her ear up against Twilight's swollen belly. "And how's this little one doing? Eh? Eh?"

Ka-POW!

Rainbow found herself laying upside down against the opposite wall, dizzy, with stars flying around her head and a rather noticeable black eye.

Twilight chuckled nervously. "Apparently, she takes after her 'awesome' mom," she said with a laugh.

"...awesome..."

The cart slowly rolled into the Crystal Kingdom, pulling up before a new building recently built. The building itself was close to the palace, but not so close as to be a part of any major royal traffic. The pony pulling the cart turned back as he came to a halt. "We're here!" he called happily.

From out of the back of the cart, Pound flew out, coming in for a landing after briefly stretching his wings. "Alright, you two, time to see our new home."

Yaazi stepped out slowly and carefully, followed by Pumpkin. All three looked up at the new building. While it was made of crystal like nearly every other building in the kingdom, some effort had been taken with the coloration to make it resemble Sugarcube Corner back in Ponyville. It was a new bakery, which would make treats from elsewhere in Equestria in addition to the crystal berry treats so popular in local cuisine. The sign above the door read, 'Sugar^3 Vertex.' Already, there was a long line of customers waiting at the front door stretching all the way back to the new Crystal University. "We haven't even moved in yet!" Yaazi called out in disbelief.

Several of the ponies near the front of the line - hipsters from the look of them - smirked at her. "We'll wait," one of them said.

Rolling her eyes, Pumpkin stepped forward. "I'll start baking. Pound, you get Yaazi upstairs and bed her down. She shouldn't be walking too much."

"Right," Pound replied. He moved to Yaazi's side, ready to pick her up.

"I can climb stairs!" Yaazi insisted, although she was pleased with all the fuss. "I'm pregnant, not an invalid."

Smiling, Pound steadied Yaazi as she climbed the stairs into their new home.

Late that night in the living area above the bakery, the three lovers curled up together in the extra-large bed, fast asleep, Yaazi remaining in her unicorn form. A shaft of moonlight shone through the crystal window, refracting into a monochromatic rainbow across the floor.

In the middle of the light, a pony slowly took form out of midair. He had neither coat nor mane, and his skin was a deep blue. His wings hung limp against his sides, mere flaps of flesh, and a brown shawl was wrapped around his face, leaving only glowing yellow eyes. "It's time to go," he said, his voice echoing quietly.

A shadow stepped out from the wall, somewhat pony shaped. "Is it already? Has time passed so swiftly?"

The blue figure nodded. "I shouldn't have let you remain as long as I have."

The shadow walked over towards the bed, looking down at the sleepers. "...did...did I do more harm than good? I only wanted to help her, but..."

"It matters not now," the figure replied. "She will hear your words no more."

The shadow turned back. "Please, Raziel! Tell me if I've done the right thing!"

He shook his head. "I cannot answer that. All I can say is that there are rules for a reason. And it is time for you to leave."

The shadow hung her head. "...alright." Leaning over the bed, she planted a gentle, spectral kiss upon Yaazi's forehead. "Farewell, my Yaazi," she whispered as her form dissipated, leaving only a glowing blue sphere of light.

Reaching up, Raziel pulled back the shawl, revealing an open maw that slowly sucked the glowing sphere into its depths. Shifting the shawl back over his face, he turned, fading out of the material plain.

Slowly, Yaazi sat up, blinking her eyes sadly. In a voice filled with confusion and sorrow, she called out, "...Mama?"

Girl Talk

Girl Talk

Pumpkin had fled from Sugarcube Corner, running as fast as she could, tears in her eyes and her breath coming in ragged gasps. She hadn't looked where she was going, only seeking to get away from her brother and the revelation that had filled her with confusion and fear. In her headlong dash, she eventually approached the edge of town, where a river separated the town from the path leading to Sweet Apple Acres. Not realizing how far she was from the path, she tumbled headlong into the river. While the current was slow, it took her a bit before she was in control of herself enough to swim, at which point she pulled herself to shore under the bridge that spanned the river. Curling up there, shivering, she let herself go crying softly, all thought gone from her mind.

She didn't know how long she sat there, although she noticed the arrival of sunlight. She continued to cry, struggling to wrap her mind and heart around what had happened, what had so drastically changed her world and made it so unrecognizable. Her tears were eventually interrupted, however, as she heard ponies crossing the bridge.

"Do you girls hear something?" a quiet voice asked. "It sounds like some creature is crying."

Pumpkin thought she recognized the voice, but when she tried to take a breath, all she managed to get out was a sudden sneeze.

A familiar pink head stuck itself under the bridge. "Who's hiding under the bridge? Is it trolls? Or maybe a kappa or-OHMYGOSHPUMPKIN!"

Pinkie Pie reached out and seized Pumpkin in her forelegs, pulling her out from under the bridge and holding her tight against her. "It's okay now, Pumpkin. Auntie Pinkie's got you. I'll fix everything and make it all better, I Pinkie Promise."

The way she said it, Pumpkin almost believed it as she wrapped her forelegs around Pinkie, holding on tight.

"Spike, find Pound," Rarity was saying behind her. "Assuming he isn't in trouble as well, he'll be frantic with worry over Pumpkin."

"On it," Spike replied as he turned towards Ponyville proper.

"Is the tyke gonna be okay?" Applejack asked, walking up in worry.

"We really need to get her to the hospital!" Rainbow spoke up, spreading her wings as her Wonderbolt flight suit glittered in the sun. "I'll get her there in no time."

"The hospital..." that single word managed to force its way through Pumpkin's jumbled feelings and the general haze covering her thoughts. She looked down at her forelegs holding tightly to her Auntie Pinkie and for the first time that night she noticed how disheveled she must look. Her fur was matted in clumps of wet mud and blood from numerous scratches and cuts, giving testament to her ordeal climbing out of the river. Pumpkin gripped Pinkie tighter, the only familiar rock in her sea of turbulent emotion, and closed her eyes knowing that Pinkie would make everything all right; she had given her a Pinkie Promise.

"No," Pinkie interrupted, "Twilight's closer and she knows healing magic!"

"But Pinkie, darling," Rarity started to say, "Twilight's on the other side of-"

"-and Spike will have the girls here any minute, so I need to get this place spotless or Rarity will insist on dusting and that will take time away from our reunion and AUUGH!!! Pinkie! How many times have I told you not to do that! Alicorn or not, I'm still as susceptible to cardiac arrest as the next pony!"

Pumpkin wasn't sure what had happened. One moment she and Aunt Pinkie were outside with the others. The next they were behind Princess Twilight as she cleaned up Ponyville Library. It wasn't teleportation either, as Pumpkin had done that herself a few times. The best way she could think to describe it is if she had been in a play and someone had changed the backdrop when she blinked... except she hadn't blinked. It was quite disorienting.

"Sorry to jump in like this Twilight cause I know how much you hate it when I pop in and out in defiance of all physical and magical law and it gives you a headache when I try to explain it to you unless you're drunk when it makes perfect sense and you don't really like to think about it because of what happened last time you tried to explain what I was capable of but Pumpkin needed immediate medical care and you were closer than Nurse Redheart and I just had to get her treated right now because she's so important to me and I'm really worried she might get pneumonia or some other horrible symptom like the measles or the mumps or the pony pox or -"

Twilight finally managed to slog through Pinkie's babbling to see Pumpkin over her shoulder. "Set her down, Pinkie. I'll get to work." When Pinkie put Pumpkin down, Twilight rested her horn against the filly's forehead. Her magic began to work, slowly easing the effects of a night's cold and dampness from her body. As she did so, she addressed Pinkie. "So where did you find her like this? Short answers, please."

Pinkie nodded. "The bridge on the path to Sweet Apple Acres."

"... and you say I was closer than Nurse Redheart?"

"Yeppers!"

"Even though the hospital is 40 yards from the bridge, whereas the library is on the other side of town?"

"Uhuh!"

"How exactly am I closer than Nurse Redheart, then?"

"Because I'm closer to you. Duh!"

Twilight continued working her magic in silence for a time. "I... don't think I follow..."

"I know you better, Twilight. You're like one of my bestest of bestest friends in the whole wide world!" Pinkie stated this with enthusiasm, but with all the seriousness of somepony stating that the sky was blue, grass was green, that Luna wasn't a morning pony, or any other self evident truth.

"But what does that have to do with physical distance?" Twilight asked in exasperation.

"What does physical distance have to do with who's closer?" Pinkie asked in confusion.

As most of the ill effects of Pumpkin's rough night had been purged by the magic, she was able to watch in fascination as Twilight's eyebrows began to twitch and a lock of her mane sprang upward, giving her a somewhat crazed appearance. After a few moments, Twilight took a deep breath and let it out, mumbling under her breath, "It's Pinkie Pie, don't question it. Last time you tried to figure her out, your mane and tail wound up bursting into flames. You don't want to see what might happen now that you have wings." After calming herself, she leaned away from Pumpkin. "Are you alright now, Pumpkin?"

Pumpkin took a deep breath and let it out. "Yes, Princess Twilight," she said calmly. "I feel much better."

Twilight twitched. "I've asked you not to call me that, Pumpkin," she said, her voice somewhat pained.

"Yes Princess Twilight, you have," Pumpkin replied, smirking.

Twilight rolled her eyes, chuckling. Pinkie was grinning ear to ear.

Pumpkin blinked. "I'm... much calmer than I expected, all things considered."

Twilight smiled. "While treating your symptoms, I noticed your brain chemistry showed signs of recent hysteria that hadn't subsided, so I added a calming spell with along with the others."

"How come you've never cast that spell on Aunt Pinkie?" Pumpkin asked without thinking.

"Because she's immune," Twilight replied sardonically.

As the two chuckled together, Pinkie came up to Pumpkin. "So... do you want to talk about it? Whatever it was that had you super bummed to the point you were crying under the bridge for half the night and most of the morning?"

Pumpkin nodded. "But... can it be somewhere more private? Where nopony's likely to walk in on us?"

Twilight smiled. "Sure thing." Her horn glowed.

This time, Pumpkin recognized the signs of teleportation. However, she did not recognize where they wound up. The chamber was large and comfortable, the only furnishings a simple desk, a huge couch/bed large enough to sleep two to three alicorns comfortably, and bookshelves covering every wall. Books of numerous subjects were scattered around the room on nearly every surface, even some floating in the air of their own accord. Various scientific apparatus of unknown origin and purpose sat on the desk, floated about the room, or hung from the ceiling. The room was perfectly circular, with windows at what Pumpkin assumed was each of the four compass points, with only a starry expanse visible beyond. The roof itself was decorated in the pattern of the constellations, but the pattern moved of its own accord.

Twilight led them over to the bed, the only surface not covered by books. "Please, make yourselves comfortable," she said calmly.

Pinkie walked over, seeming disoriented. "Twilight... where are we?"

"A place with a door only I can open," Twilight replied. At Pinkie's continued confusion, she sighed. "Pinkie, you know how each of the Princesses has a constellation that represents them, and how I got one when I became a Princess?" When Pinkie nodded, she continued, "Well, we're metaphorically inside my constellation."

Pinkie started to inhale a huge gasp, then stopped. "Don't you mean metaphysically?"

Twilight smiled. "In this case, the terms are interchangeable."

Pinkie gasped and started to babble. "Ohmygosh, this is so amazing it's like totally the most awesome thing ever you've got your own private space actually it's a space in space if you want to be technical it's your space space that is so super duper fantabulously awesome! But if you're here when I need to get to you I can't get to you because only you can open the door except there isn't a door just windows looking out into space and I wonder what stars taste like do you think Luna will notice if I eat one to find out?"

Pumpkin lay down on the bed, and that seemed almost a signal as Pinkie Pie immediately zoomed over to lie on the bed, although she wound up tripping over a few books on the way, muttering something about, "How come my physics don't work here?"

Twilight faced Pumpkin. "So, tell me what's bothering you."

Pumpkin looked up at her. "First... can you both promise not to tell anypony? This is... kinda complicated."

Twilight smiled. "It's a Pinkie Promise."

Pinkie grinned. "Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye," she said happily, performing the hoof motions.

Pumpkin smiled. "Thanks." Then she frowned. "I just found out there's a colt that is sexually attracted to me."

Pinkie let out a stifled laugh. "Pumpkin, that's no secret. Half the colts in your age group have got the hots for you. So who was it that confessed that's got you so worked up? I assume a confession was involved? But isn't it so wonderful that you finally have a special some-"

"It's Pound."

"-pony..." Pinkie's voice trailed off and her eyes narrowed. "Say... WHAT?"

"Pound desires me," Pumpkin said, wilting away from her Aunt Pinkie's narrowing eyes and inflating hair.

"No no no no no no NO!" Pinkie yelled, starting to race around the room crazily. "Brothers and sisters should not be having naughty thoughts about each other! It's not right, it's not done this is so horrible I mean your parents are going to so totally freak and the town's going to freak and the Princesses and the girls are going to freak and Twilight why aren't you freaking?" Pinkie stared at Twilight's perfectly calm demeanor as she breathed heavily, trying to contain her own freakout.

Twilight smiled calmly at Pinkie. "Because as a Princess, I can't let my emotions get the better of me. I have to stay calm for the sake of those who come to me with their problems. Besides, this isn't nearly as big a deal as you make it out to be."

Pinkie blinked. "Not a big deal? NOT A BIG DEAL? MY DOOZY ALERT PINKIE SENSE NEVER WENT OFF!"

"Which obviously means this isn't a doozy, correct?"

Pinkie blinked. "... never thought of it that way." Pinkie lay back down on the bed. "But how come I didn't get a Pinkie Sense about it?"

"How often do you get a sense that somepony is making an important confession soon?"

"About 37 times a day."

"And how often do you get a sense that something is happening with Pound and Pumpkin that you should know about?"

"Nearly twice that." Pinkie paused for a bit. "You mean my Pinkie Sense did warn me, it just sort of blended in with all the day to day warnings?"

Twilight smiled. "Seems that way. Now, how about we actually address Pumpkin's issue here?"

Pinkie nodded. "Okay if I let you handle it though, Twilight? I... think I already screwed this up." She looked over at where Pumpkin was cowering. "Sorry Pumpkin, Auntie Pinkie didn't mean to explode like that."

Pumpkin managed a small smile. "It's okay Aunt Pinkie. You were just worried about me."

Pinkie pulled Pumpkin into her forelegs, hugging her tightly. Twilight spoke up. "Now, obviously what your brother revealed to you came as a real shock?"

Pumpkin nodded. "We'd been drifting apart ever since we got our Cutie Marks. I'd thought it was just us growing up and growing apart, but..."

Twilight lay her wing over Pumpkin. "It's alright. It's understandable that you wouldn't expect something like this. However, there's something you need to figure out, and soon... probably before you return to Sugarcube Corner, but at the very least before your parents come home at the end of the week."

Pumpkin looked up, beginning to grow concerned. "What's that?"

"Whether or not you can accept this side of Pound. This new revelation changes the dynamic of your relationship with him, and in any relationship, you need to be able to accept the other pony for everything they are. You don't have to like it, you don't have to embrace it, but if you can't accept a part of what makes somepony themselves, then the relationship won't work, because some part of you will be trying to change that... and trying to force somepony to change against their will is one of the fastest ways to drive them away." Twilight sighed sadly. "If you can't accept Pound's attraction for you, it will always be the elephant in the room, and it will eventually drive you both apart."

As Pumpkin struggled to take this in, Pinkie gasped. "That must be why they've been drifting apart! Because Pound has been struggling to accept this about himself!"

Twilight smiled. "That actually makes logical sense Pinkie... by a normal pony's standards. I think that might be a first for you."

Pinkie giggled. "Mark it in the record books, then!"

Pumpkin lowered her head to her hooves, lost in thought, trying to make sense of everything Twilight and Pinkie had said.

Twilight nuzzled her breifly. "Well, for the moment, that's all the help I can give you. Do you think you'll be okay walking from the library to Sugarcube Corner? Pound's waiting for you."

Pumpkin got to her hooves. "I think so. We'll... figure something out."

Twilight smiled. "Alright." In a flash of light, they were back in the library. Rarity was dusting, Applejack was cooking, and Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were alphabetizing the bookshelves under Spike's directions. "Girls! You don't need to do all that!"

Rarity chuckled. "Really, darling, what else did you have planned for our Spring Cleaning Reunion?"

As the others laughed, Pumpkin bid her farewells and walked out the door. As she walked away, she heard a last few snippets of conversation from the library.

"Spike," Twilight was saying, "I need to request a copy of Clover the Clever's spellbook set from the Canterlot archives. Then I need a paper bag."

"Delayed freak out?" Rainbow asked.

"Delayed freak out."

Pumpkin put those things from her mind, walking down the road. She paused by the Sweet Apple Acres booth - being minded by Applebloom - to buy an apple, as she was famished. As she continued to walk, however, she yawned. Spying a comfortable looking spot between some crates in a nearby alleyway, she curled up and closed her eyes. She didn't do her best thinking after a sleepless night, so she'd sleep on the issue. That was supposed to help, right?