Five Star Service – Raise Your Voice, Raise Your Hope

By Five Stars of Manehattan
Special to the New York Life and Manehattan Post magazines
July 27 issues

New York Life Chief Editor’s Note:

To our loyal readers, both old and new—due to escalating protests that have included threats to our lives and livelihoods, we have been forced to suspend operation of our presses and print version. Our online version continues despite the efforts of hired hackers and attempts to bully our ISPs into pulling our pages; we can still write articles and editorials from our homes while under police guard. Accordingly, we have set up mirror sites overseas, out of reach of our courts and creditors.

Our court battles continue, but it is ultimately the battle for public opinion that will decide our fate. There are hopeful signs that is turning more in our favor as people become aware of and are turned off by the increasingly ugly tactics our opponents are resorting to in their effort to silence us. Such tactics are a sign of desperation, but until the greater public turns on them hard, we fear they will continue. So we appeal to all fair-minded people—whether or not you agree with our position and the articles, please support our right to publish them; please support the ideals of freedom of speech and press. It is wrong to bully and boycott businesses just because you disagree with their views or politics, and violating the privacy and personal lives of their workers as a means to that end is not right no matter how you justify it.

On a more personal note, our magazine has not gone dark for World Wars, natural disasters, or even 9/11. I speak for myself and the bulk of my staff when I say I’ll be damned if I let a bunch of bigots on both sides of the portal kill this publication now.

—Kalido Tenna, Chief Editor, New York Life Magazine

Manehattan Post Owner’s Note:

The last two weeks have severely tried me and my staff as well, about half of which have quit or are considering doing so in the face of severe public pressure, including public naming and shaming by some curiously well-organized opposition. I regret I have had to place my presses and facilities under guard and the current issue is being published out of the basement of Gentlemen for Mares, as my offices seem no longer safe.

I share sentiments with my friends through the portal. Though my magazine has not been existence anywhere near as long as its New York counterpart, I will allow it to be neither silenced nor killed by any ponies no matter how powerful they may be. The articles continue, and my magazine will be published even if I have to write every page and sell each copy on street corners myself.

—Hot Topic, Owner and Founder, Manehattan Post Magazine

Dear readers—

I regret to say, it has not been a pleasant last couple weeks for anyone, human or pony, at Gentlemen for Mares.

The experiences of the two magazines are just the start. As many of you heard in news reports, two Gentlemen were lured on dates only to be attacked and beaten in Las Pegasus; others had their identities revealed and were forced into hiding. Meanwhile, the National Equestrian Racing Federation has suspended Cruise Control from competition pending ‘full investigation’ by the league for ‘conduct unbecoming a racer’ and ‘being a poor role model for our nation’s foals’.

I understand the league was threatened with loss of sponsorship and various unspecified sanctions by certain ponies in power if they did not crack down on Cruise by any means possible. Nevertheless, it is an act of cowardice, in my not-so-humble opinion, to give into herd hucksters and so called ‘moral authorities’ who would be far better served by looking in the mirror and getting their own houses and herds in order rather than attack the messenger, trying to hide the mirror that Gentlemen for Mares holds up to both human and pony society. Cruise has written me to say the charges are a ‘load of horse manure’ and that he fully expects to be racing next year, even going so far as to publically offer his endorsement and sponsorship of G4M services.

His offer is welcome, but may not be enough. With the magazines and their opponents at an impasse, and workers at both publications now under both financial and even physical duress as their bank accounts are blocked and homes picketed, I am told that there also is a chance that the articles will have to be suspended or moved to other, more adult-oriented magazines like Playmare or Axiom if they are to continue. In truth, we had the option to publish in such magazines initially, but we declined because we wanted to reach a wider audience beyond adolescent mares and males. For now, the ownership and staff at the two magazines are still holding firm, but for how long under such intense public pressure?

Well. It would seem my articles have really touched a nerve, and it saddens me to see it our efforts held hostage by a very vocal and hateful minority on both sides of the portal. I’m especially shocked to see some ponies actually resorting to threats and violence in the name of ‘preserving harmony’. It’s utterly hypocritical that anypony could justify their actions in such a way.

Don’t ever tell me that humans are the hateful ones after this. This is, I’m sorry to say, a pattern of behavior I’ve noticed with ponies over the years. Threats and ostracization against thestrels happened after Nightmare Moon’s return, against changelings after the Canterlot invasion, and now against Gentlemen for no other reason that some ponies can’t stand the thought that another race might provide an alternative to many needy mares than their own herds.

As for G4M, we’ve had no choice but to suspend our Las Pegasus operations and general recruiting efforts pending full security review and safety seminars. I regret to say that several Gentlemen have quit or are considering doing so in the face of such threats, and Platinum Corona is trying to squelch the controversy by meeting with our critics in the presence of Princess Celestia herself in Canterlot.

In the meantime, the articles go on. I will not be intimidated or give in to threats from a few well-placed ponies exerting undue influence, and I will continue to write these articles as long as Platinum Corona and the two magazines wish me to. The story of our work and how we came to be must be told. Perhaps it is arrogant on my part to equate my story with that of G4M, but having been a part of it almost since the beginning, they are very closely intertwined. My life has had a lot of highs and lows, sometimes following hard on the heels of each other, and this appears to be another example; coming back on Cloud Nine after my vacation in Las Pegasus only to be plunged into… this.

Cruising

The next chapter in my life takes place in Baltimare following my first encounter with Cruise Control. For those who are curious, After a dozen chapters, I’m now a little over three years into my story. The discovery of humans still lay two years in the future at this point, and ideas of bipedal alien races and interdimensional portals remained in the realm of magic fiction and some particularly bad films.

Cruise and I got together frequently over the next few months, seeing (and screwing) each other pretty much whenever we could outside of our work schedules… and sometimes even during, sneaking out on breaks or going into the back room when he came by with deliveries on his courier route. A few more formal dates were thrown into the mix, but we quickly found ourselves more at ease when we didn’t try to act like a courting mare and stallion were supposed to. No, we were at our happiest when we didn’t try to take on stereotypical mare/stallion roles, when we just relaxed and enjoyed each other’s company.

And enjoy it we did. Frequently and repeatedly. For all my encounters and partners to that point, I’d never had a bona fide coltfriend, and it was a new experience for me—deeper and more meaningful than most of the one-night-stands I’d occasionally enjoyed in Las Pegasus, but without all the messy commitment, responsibilities and sharing that entering a herd entailed. A happy compromise that was exactly what I needed at that point as I continued my climb back… and Cruise continued his climb out of colthood. It was remarkable to see how he changed during that time, how he grew in confidence and strength and yet… it was how he didn’t change that I appreciated the most. He was still, at his core, a very decent and driven young colt who never lost sight of what was important to him—his sister, his racing dreams… and me.

As the months passed and autumn turned towards winter again, I finally invited him to meet my family and give him something he hadn’t known in a long time—a real Hearth’s Warming.

Suffice it to say, it could have gone better. Though my younger sisters seemed somewhat enamored of Cruise, my brother seemed unsure what to think of him while my older sister made some snark about his much younger age, accusing me under her breath of ‘robbing the cradle’ and implying I was taking advantage of him. Sensing the tension he was causing among my siblings, Cruise got uncomfortable enough that he was about ready to leave, and it led to a long-overdue confrontation between me and my older sister that turned into a knock-down, drag-out fight in the living room of my brother’s flat an hour before Hearth’s Warming dinner.

Cruise and my brother finally pulled us apart, but not before we’d inflicted some serious damage both on each other and the living room around us; I ended up hospitalized with broken ribs and half my mane seared off while my sister cracked her horn and lost several teeth (courtesy of my two well-placed kicks), ending up with her horn splinted and jaw wired shut for a week, unable to cast spells and eating nothing but puree for the duration.

A Hearth’s Warming to remember for all the wrong reasons. Cruise seemed to think he was responsible until I explained that things between me and my older sister had been simmering for some time—many years, in fact—and he’d just been the spark that finally lit the fuse between us. Since I’ve mentioned her before, I’ll explain a little more here—my older sister, alone among me and my siblings, is a unicorn. That’s nothing against unicorns of course, but the point is that she always felt both different and apart from my earth pony family.

And perhaps even a little neglected in comparison to me and other siblings. She ended up with a large chip on her shoulder, and—I’m still not sure where it came from—a belief that she was superior to the rest of us for being a unicorn. Or maybe that was just how she salved her wounded pride when I came along and she was no longer the only filly in our family. Regardless, she pretty much always resented me and tended to look down her nose at other pony races and species for not being unicorns…

Which is doubly ironic given that she’s now working for the Tellus/Terra cultural exchange committee in Canterlot, and has taken a human lover.

I’m happy to say she finally grew up and realized how vain and petty she was being. We’re on much better terms nowadays, and she’s actually more at ease with my training Gentlemen than my older brother is. Looking back, getting beaten in a fight by an earth pony might have had something to do with her change in attitude—she finally figured out that having a horn on her head didn’t make her inherently superior, and the lack of one didn’t mean you were weak.

Winter turned to spring, and Cruise, with my encouragement, entered his name in the local pegasi race circuit and began practicing in earnest for the upcoming racing season. He was so nervous at his first race he disqualified himself when he jumped the starting signal twice. Badly discouraged, he wanted to withdraw from the racing league and give up his dreams right then and there… until I sat him down and told him he couldn’t quit after only one failed attempt. “What makes you better isn’t winning, Cruise,” I remember holding his hoof afterwards and saying. “It’s failing and getting back up to try again,” I told him, and realized I was saying it as much for myself as for him.

So he did. It took him two more attempts to even start a race (the second time he got sick to his stomach and had to withdraw), three more attempts to finish one (he disqualified the first two times by going out of bounds or hitting a race obstacle), and he didn’t crack the top ten in any race he ran for months.

But with me there to hold his hoof, he was learning and slowly getting better, starting to understand exactly what it took to race and win—the practice, the effort, the conditioning, and sheer dedication that went into it. Towards the end of the spring, he had his first showing in the winner circle, taking second in a five-thousand meter dash. We celebrated in fine fashion that night, as he was feeling particularly randy and confident. I stroked his ego along with his stallionhood, and rewarded him with oral—something I’d been saving for a special occasion, and this certainly seemed to be it!

Despite such nights… I found myself growing restless as he began to concentrate more on his racing and started to drift away from me, spending more of evenings and days off in training or flying in informal circuit events. I understood and encouraged him, but still… I think it was only then I truly accepted that he wasn’t meant to be anything more than an occasional coltfriend for me.

My therapist, who I was still seeing around once a month at that point, had told me not to look for a new herd again until I was sure it was what I wanted to do. At that point I still wasn’t, but I decided after twenty months I’d waited long enough—I wasn’t getting any younger, and regardless of how much I was enjoying things with Cruise, it was increasingly clear to me we weren’t meant to be more than lovers, and he wasn’t the long-term answer I needed.

So what was?

Inns and Outs

I’d been working at the Longshore Inn on the Baltimare waterfront for nearly a year at that point. During that time I’d gotten to know most of the ponies there quite readily and was more or less on good terms with them. There were several other ponies my age working there that I’d formed a little clique with, three mares and a stallion from the Inn’s waterfront restaurant and bar. The mares and I had gone out socially a few times, and more than once lapsed into cider-fueled discussions of colts and herds.

It turned out I wasn’t the only mare in the group who’d lost a herd before. Juniper, as I’ll call her, was an earth pony mare who’d spent two years in a herd before abandoning it. When I asked her why, she only said she ‘bucked things up’ for the other mares and thought it best to leave...

In hindsight, a warning.

Two of the others were already in an unofficial relationship, much like I was with Cruise. Red Pepper and Sea Salt were a unicorn couple who seemed to go together like, well, salt and pepper (hence the aliases I’m using for them); I tended to cover for them when they wanted to sneak out for a quick rut in exchange for the same treatment when I wanted to have a quickie with Cruise. We seemed to have a similar outlook and got along well enough, and somewhere along the line… can’t say I even really remember who said it or when at this point, but the thought was voiced that we might all actually make a decent herd.

It was only said in passing, and we kind of laughed it off. I remember batting my eyes at Red Pepper and saying something to the effect that “I’ve already had a hot pepper for a herd stallion [meaning Cayenne], how do YOU compare?”

“Oh, I think you’ll find me plenty spicy, Five Stars,” he retaliated with a rather evil grin, causing me to blush a bit and Sea Salt to giggle.

We weren’t being serious, at least not then. But it stuck with me, and the more we thought about and discussed it, the more we found ourselves considering it. It would mean I’d have to give things up with Cruise, but… I wasn’t about to invite him into a herd. Some of our more kinky sessions aside, the last thing he needed was to be tied down by me; settling down would take away his racing career before it had even begun.

Cruise noticed me starting to emotionally distance myself from him and finally asked me what was wrong. I didn’t want to hurt him of course, but I’d learned by then that withholding the truth just made things worse so I told him exactly what was happening—that my coworkers and I were discussing forming a herd. He immediately offered to join it with me, but I told him very firmly no—that he was far too young to settle down, and he had a racing career to pursue. “Someday, you’ll make a fine herd stallion and make a whole stable of mares happy. But that shouldn’t be now,” I told him as I saw the heartbroken expression on his face. “I’ll be there to cheer you on, but for now I have to let you go,” was all I managed before I broke down completely, and he along with me.

Needless to say, we shed some serious tears that night. I didn’t mean for this to happen—anything but, in fact—but we ended up making love one last time in the moonlight, to mutual ecstasy and agony. After we were done, he told me he’d never forget me, and thanked me for saving him. In return, I told him he’d saved me—he helped bring me back and heal. As we shared a parting kiss, I told him to find some racing girl and treat her exactly as he’d treated me…

And in time, he did. He actually knew Lenora by then, though it’d be years before they finally got together.

The Buildup

Releasing Cruise was wrenching, and everypony noticed the difference in me for the next few days as I became moody and short with customers and coworkers alike. I told my therapist and my brother what happened; the former was troubled while the latter seemed a bit relieved—unlike my big sister, he never said so directly, but he was honestly troubled by our age difference and the fact our lives just weren’t compatible in the long run.

He was right about that, but as my therapist pointed out, not all our partners need be mates. I got the impression that she thought I’d let go of him too soon and it was still too early for me to be thinking about herds again, but she nevertheless gave me her blessing, saying I’d come a long way since she’d first seen me, warning me only to remember the lessons of my past herds and not to rush into this new one.

I promised her I would. The third time would be the charm, I resolved as me and my prospective herdmates started to see each other more frequently, started to plan for moving in together and how things would work. Unlike my previous two herds, we didn’t have housing at the inn and needed to find a place that could hold us all, so our first priority was to find a place to live.

Accordingly, we found a cottage not far from the waterfront, a bit of a fixer-upper but one within our combined budgets. We renovated it ourselves on our respective days off, each putting in a little work on it, trying to make it our home. As we went along, a sense of unease started to creep into my psyche. You can say you’re forming a herd. You can say you’re compatible with the ponies you’re going to be forming one with. But at some point, it hits you that you aren’t just taking friends, or even colt or marefriends. You’re taking family—friends, herdmates… and lovers. You’re making a commitment to them, and them to you.

At some point, it hits you how big a decision you’re really making, and how much you’re potentially giving up to do so. I had to give up Cruise, Red Pepper and Sea Salt would have to give up their previously exclusive relationship, Juniper her slightly wild life (she would have done well as a Las Pegasus server, I later thought, given her penchant for bedding boarders and dock workers alike), and Sweet Tea, her solitary life and single apartment. Haven’t mentioned her yet, but she was the third mare of our group, an earth pony server filly who had always been helpful and generous, though our occasional discussions of boys seemed to make her uncomfortable and I’d never once seen her flirt or show any interest in anypony, colt or filly alike…

In hindsight, another warning.

As we worked on our new place, we started to take the opportunity to get to know each other a little more… intimately. Juniper had no qualms about jumping into bed with anypony, and she wasted little time before trying to seduce me, waiting only until she had me alone at the new house. I didn’t make much of an effort to fight her, not because I was especially interested but because I knew full well I needed to find out if I was sexually compatible with everypony, and I might as well start with her.

She was certainly enthusiastic, and being made love to by an earth pony mare was something new. And yet… there wasn’t much magic in it for me. To her credit, she got me off twice, but… it lacked much of an afterglow. Maybe it was because I wasn’t in heat, maybe it was because I simply didn’t have the connection with her that I had with Willow, Snow Lilly or my dentist friend, or maybe it was simply because Cruise still had a hold of my psyche. But regardless of the reason, it left me with a slightly bad taste in my mouth afterwards, and not just because I’d eaten her out to return the favor.

It felt like I’d, well, just screwed somepony I shouldn’t have, and I couldn’t help but feel it would have consequences down the line.

A Herd in Waiting

The unfinished house became our unofficial meeting, make-out and, well… mating place after that. Juniper started it but before long we were all taking turns there, going in pairs to work on the house… and each other.

My next encounter was with Red Pepper a week later. We were putting up wallpaper but only got half a wall done before we started making out. I’d been teasing him mercilessly for the past week, finally deciding I needed to both move on from Cruise and get the bad taste out of my mouth that Juniper had left behind. And what better way than with the pony who’d become my new herd stallion?

I’d bedded a couple unicorn stallions back as a server mare in Las Pegasus and found them quite fun; just like my dentist friend, they knew how to use their aura to more erotic ends. Red Pepper was no different, and I quickly learned just why Sea Salt liked him so much when he began teasing me with his magic, using it to stimulate me without even touching me.

Though a caterer by trade, he had one really good sex trick, and he used it here for the first time on me. He could actually rut you remotely—by which I mean, he could be standing across the room and still tuck you by using his magic; wrapping his own organ, hooves or muzzle in his aura and then replicating their exact movement and feel with a second series of aural projections against you—it was like being made love to by a phantom, and it was not only deliciously erotic, but VERY surprising and welcome when it happened!

Suddenly I had a new appreciation for why Sea Salt had gone distracted and squirming a couple times at dinner. He got me off spectacularly without even touching me, just sitting there watching me react and stroking himself while his magic did all the work. When we were done and I collapsed in a puddle of sated sex on the floor, all he had to say was this: “So, was that spicy enough for you, Five Stars?”

It was indeed!

All that left was Sweet Tea. When it was our turn to work on the house together, I point-blank asked her if she liked mares or stallions more. She seemed startled by the question, hemmed and hawed and finally said she wasn’t sure… by which I took to mean she was still a virgin, even being a little older than me.

I was surprised by the realization—she was one of the prettier ponies I ever knew; it seemed impossible that she’d had no interested mares or stallions—but I asked her quite gently if she’d like me to give her her first time. My offer wasn’t so much out of direct desire for her as worry that if Juniper got hold of her first, then as wild as she was, she might scare or hurt this beautiful but bashful young filly. First times, I’d learned directly by then, required a little restraint and tact… which were two words that didn’t apply in the least to Juniper.

Sweet Tea declined my immediate offer but said she’d think about it. I didn’t know where her reluctance was coming from; she seemed almost afraid of the thought of sex—but I let it go, deciding it was none of my business if she didn’t want to tell me. After all, I’d been afraid of rutting after my last honeymoon for how long?

I told her that the offer stood whenever she decided she was ready, and resolved myself to talk with the others about her later. If nothing else, I figured I’d better talk to Juniper and warn her not to pressure Sweet Tea into doing something too soon…

In hindsight yet again, a very foalish mistake for which we all paid. Not for warning Juniper, but for thinking she’d listen...

For thinking that she’d take my warning as anything but a challenge.

I will leave this story off here as I’m in an increasingly dark mood and don’t want to write under its influence. There is hope, however. As I finish this article, Platinum Corona has departed for Canterlot, leaving a surprising Lieutenant in charge—Rising Star has come all the way from Las Pegasus to take over the company in Platinum’s absence, as Platinum said she wanted someone experienced in running large businesses who was both dedicated to Gentlemen and had the power to protect them if necessary.

I have no idea when the two met, but it’s a reassuring choice. Rising Star is one of the strongest unicorns I’ve ever known, and she’ll fill in quite nicely. In the meantime, here is the letter that Platinum left us all with:

To the staff of Gentlemen for Mares, human and pony alike—

I know the last week has been a difficult one. Many of us were shocked to hear of the orchestrated assaults on our Gentlemen in Las Pegasus, and the ongoing threats to our workers both there and now in Manehattan as well. I am aware that some of you hold Five Stars responsible and believe she should no longer write the articles, at least not until the current storm blows over.

I categorically do not agree. Five Stars is not responsible for the actions of others, and I do not wish to hear any more talk that she is. She is writing at my direct request, telling our story through her own. The objective of these articles was to get us out of the shadows and legitimize Gentlemen for Mares, and thus far, it has indeed had that effect as we have seen both a massive surge in recruits and new clients over the past several months.

Some ponies fear this. They fear their herds and positions of power will be compromised, fear that the Equestria they are comfortable in will change around them in ways they cannot predict or appreciate. They fear the influx of humans and their alien ideas; they fear that mares will come to prefer humans to themselves when all that is really happening is that their own neglect and failings as herd mares and stallions are being laid bare for all to see. As Five Stars has said, we hold a mirror up to pony society, and some simply cannot bear what they see inside of it. Thus they seek to destroy the mirror and anyone who holds it up.

Their fears are understandable, but their actions are not acceptable. Were we to pull Five Stars’ articles now, we would be giving in to some very ugly sentiments and strategies that should have no place in ponydom or anywhere else. We would in effect would be giving a heckler’s veto by caving in to threats of violence and exposure, sending the message that such tactics work and can be applied elsewhere. That some ponies and people find our work and her writing ‘offensive’ does not make her—or us—somehow responsible for their hateful and hurtful actions in response. Rest assured we will NOT let these attacks go unanswered; we will uncover the assailants and discover who is behind the increasingly organized attacks on our staff and supporters.

I understand if some Gentlemen wish to leave the company over the threatened exposure of their identities and the possibility of attack, but I hope for the sake of the mares you serve, that you will stay. We are doing everything possible to ensure your safety and secrecy. I am now heading to Canterlot to discuss our situation with Princess Celestia directly, and hope to return with a royal decree and enlist the aid of some powerful allies of our own.

In the meantime, I simply say again, to Five Stars and all staff at Gentlemen for Mares: Carry on! And do not let the neighsayers stop you!

--Platinum Corona

Eloquently put as ever, Platinum. To her appeal, I now add my own:

If you are a client or supporter of Gentlemen for Mares, it is time to make your voice heard. We need your support, not for me, but for the Gentlemen and the mares they serve. As that song Luna once sung to me… raise your voice, raise your hope. We need plenty of both right now.

Hey folks...

I've been in a bit of a funk of late, and I probably let it leak into my writing with this chapter. I was initially surprised where it was going, but decided to just go with it, because in all honesty... I have a very hard time believing there wouldn't be serious opposition to Gentlemen, and Five Stars' writing would probably be the catalyst that makes it all crystallize. As long as it was a fringe phenomenon, ponies probably wouldn't take much notice except to take a tut-tut tone and perhaps belittle pony clients as unable to get laid any other way; ditto for humans with Gentlemen. But when Five Stars brings G4M into the forefront, this is the inevitable result. The story continues, and I may end up writing a side story about some of the events going on around the articles.

Promise the next chapter will be more upbeat, but hope you enjoyed this chapter for what it was. I leave you with a quote shared with me by Permanent Temporary, who I thank along with Demon Eyes Laharl for the pre-read:

--Firesight