One week later...

"Oh goodness... Ahhh!" Octavia moaned and spoke at the same time once she felt Cloud Chaser's warm wet tongue brush against her bare marehood.

Her head pushed back against her pillow and she clutched a hoof full of bed sheets as more and more cries of pleasure escaped her mouth. She opened one of her eyes and looked down to see the pegasus's face buried between her legs eating her out.

"C-Cloud Chaser, I'm really sensitive there- Ahhnnn!!!"

Octavia's other hoof went down and latched onto Cloud Chaser's stylish mane. At first, she was going to push her head back to give her time to breathe before she continued, but once she felt how good her friend's tongue felt against the sensitive nub above her opening, she decided to gently pull her mane to make her lick harder.

"Mmmph... You taste real good, Octy..." Cloud Chaser said while continuing to lick her clit. The hums of her voice only caused Octavia's pleasure levels to spike even more.

Before she agreed to, at least temporarily, let Cloud Chaser appease her appetite for sexual satisfaction, she had concerns about how skilled she was. Octavia herself didn't have much practice other than the few times she did it with Vinyl. However, that was long ago and the experience she gained had worn off years ago. After a few tussles under the sheets with her friend, her concerns were wiped away. Unlike her, she had most certainly done this several times before.

Cloud Chaser stopped licking the soft pleasure node and slid the tip of her tongue down her soaking wet slit until it reached her entrance. She could feel Octavia pulling at her mane, begging for more without saying a word. She decided to oblige since Octavia had paid her side of the bargain last night despite her inexperience. She would be lying to herself if she said she wasn't impressed. For somepony with such elegance and sophistication, Octavia did things to her last night that no other mare or colt had done ever before. The memory of her "borrowing" one of Vinyl's neglected dildos and bucking her with it while she seductively sucked on her tongue was still burning strong in her mind and it only made her want to pay her back even more. Cloud Chaser's legs were still a bit weak from how hard she came from that even though it happened yesterday.

The teasing stopped and Octavia let out a loud moan as Cloud Chaser's muzzle pressed firmly into Octavia's marehood. Her nose rubbed against her clit as her tongue slid inside her. It was even warmer there than it was on her outer lips and she could feel the earth pony's insides throbbing against her tongue as she went deeper and deeper inside her. Cloud Chaser's rump hung in the air and her tail swished back and forth playfully while her own pussy was beginning to leak down her inner thighs. A stallion would be completely helpless if he came in and saw Cloud Chaser's swollen outer lips peeking out between her ass cheeks. In fact, Cloud Chaser was almost hoping that they would be caught in the act so that she could have somepony rut her from behind with a huge thick horse cock while she swirled her tongue inside of Octavia.

Then, she remembered the dildo again. She didn't want to stop slurping juices for a second, but she forced herself to back off.

"W-Why did you stop?" Octavia panted and looked down at her anxiously.

"This is getting me too hot... I need something for me too..." Cloud Chaser spoke seductively as she licked her lips clean of the mare's fluids and reached under Octavia's bed to get the long thick rod.

It only took a few seconds of feeling around with her hoof under the bed until she felt it. Quickly, she pulled it out and admired it. It was jet black and, even though it wasn't very realistic, it had the same flared head as every colt had.

"Nngh... Do hurry it up... Please?" Octavia was waiting patiently, but her hoof started to rub her private area slowly due to her burning desires.

Cloud Chaser wanted to ram the thing inside her instantly, but she had a better idea. After licking up the shaft, she wrapped her mouth around it and went down as far as she could to lubricate it with her saliva. She pulled it back out and quickly bent down between Octavia's legs again.

She wanted Octavia to feel every moan that the dildo forced her to make.

"Mmpfff... Ahhh!" Octavia yelped again as Cloud Chaser resumed her meal and she felt the warm tongue explore her insides once more. She didn't realize it, but she had begun gently gyrating her hips up and down to make the pegasus's nose rub harder against her clit.

Cloud Chaser's wings erected and stood up majestically as she reached between her hind legs and prodded the huge toy at her entrance. It quickly got slippery from her juices and wished so badly that it was a real horny stallion behind her. The tip finally popped inside her tight marehood.

"Mmmphhhh!!! Cloud Chaser moaned loudly, but it was muffled by Octavia's crotch.

"Hahhh!" The sudden vibration that her friend made caused Octavia to let out another sharp moan. It was like a vibrator had been taped inside of her friend's mouth.

Slowly, Cloud Chaser began to push the long shaft further inside her. She could feel every inch of progress it made as her warm flesh spread inside of her to accommodate its flared head. Once it was as far as she was comfortable with, she started pushing it in and out slowly. Her moans were becoming more constant as her fluids quickly began to trickle down the shaft and onto her hoof.

"Oh goodness, Cloud Chaser, keep moaning- Ahhhn!- Just like that..."

She didn't have to be asked to do so and she didn't have to try, either. The stiff long dildo being shoved into her from behind was making her do it all on its own. Octavia could hear the sound of her fluids sloshing around from the rod and judging from the time in between the sounds, Cloud Chaser was starting to buck herself faster with her new favorite toy. Her marehood-muffled-moans kept coming one after the other and Octavia could tell that they would soon cause her to climax.

Cloud Chaser, who was super horny to begin with, found that it didn't take much from the toy to make her get close either. Tasting her friends' fluids and hearing her lusty moans fill the room was more than enough to stimulate her desires.

"C- Cloud... Cha... Ahhhhnnn! I think I'm going to- Ahhhh!"

Octavia felt extensively guilty for partaking in such lewd activities, but she knew she needed it sooner or later. It wasn't happening with Alex, so it might as well be with a friend with no strings attached. The thrill of doing something so naughty was yet another variable that caused her to cum so early, but neither of the two mares minded that. As was common with most mares, an orgasm didn't mark the end of the fun; it was just a sweet release in between the fun.

Cloud Chaser was thrusting the horse cock dildo inside of her soaking wet pussy as fast as she could. She could feel the familiar burning sensation rise from beneath her belly and she breathed heavily through her nostrils. In addition, her moans were only getting louder and louder and they added to Octavia's pleasure as Cloud Chaser's tongue continued to rub against her g-spot over and over again.

The doorbell rang.

"Oh, you can't be... Hah... Serious..." Octavia let out a sound that was in between a groan and a moan.

"Just ignore it, Octy... Come on..." Cloud Chaser didn't pause for one second.

"No, I need to answer it... I'll be right back..."

Octavia quickly took a towel from the end of her bed. It was the same one she placed there in case the two horny mares needed to clean up. She wiped her hind legs diligently. She managed to get most of the mare fluids off of her, but it was still obvious from behind that she had been bucking. Cloud Chaser heard her say a soft prayer to Celestia that nopony would come in and discover what was going on.

Another ring from the door irritated the already frustrated earth pony.

"Coming!"

Octavia nearly galloped out of the bedroom and down the hall until she reached the front door. Quickly, she disengaged the deadbolt on the door and turned the knob.

She opened the door to find none other than Princess Twilight Sparkle right outside her home. Her heart stopped cold and her pupils shrank significantly. Her ears folded down and back as she bowed her head, not realizing that she had already met her before and that such formalities weren't necessary with her. She couldn't help but to be polite because of her nature.

"G- Good day, Princess! How m-may I help you?" A deaf mole could notice the nervousness in her behavior.

"Hi, Octavia! Is Alex there? I really need to speak with him..." Twilight was just as excited as Octavia was fidgety.

"Eh... M- My apologies... Alex is out with Vinyl at the market at the moment..."

"Oh... Alrightie then. I guess he shouldn't be too hard to find. Thanks!" Twilight waved her hoof quickly before turning and quickly trotting away. With a few flaps of her wings, she lifted off into the air and glided her way towards the main road.

Octavia didn't waste a single second. She shut the door and re-engaged the dead bolt before letting out the biggest sigh of relief she had had let out in years.

"Geez, good thing you answered the door for that one..." Cloud Chaser walked slowly into the living room from the hallway.

"Yes... Ever since Alex moved in, we've been getting some rather... Interesting company... Anyhow..." Octavia turned back to Cloud Chaser and walked toward her slowly. "Where were we?" She said seductively in her elegant accent.

Cloud Chaser pulled her close to her chest and embraced her in a deep kiss before taking the horse dildo from behind her back that she had been hiding the whole time. She reached around Octavia's plot and dragged it between her cheeks, over her ass, and finally prodding it at her marehood. It didn't take long for it to pop into the earth pony's cunt since she was so wet already. Octavia pulled back from the kiss in shock and instant pleasure.

"Ahhhhhnnn! Oooh! Cloud Chaser... You're so naughty..."

They both giggled a little and resumed the kiss before the two love birds fell back onto the couch to finish their session.

"God, I can't get enough of these fritters!" You said cheerfully after swallowing the last bite of Apple Fritter's apple fritter. "I need to ask Applejack for that recipe..."

Vinyl snickered at you. "Don't you go getting fat on me now..."

"Hey! I only have these every once and a while..." You nudged her shoulder even though you could tell she was joking.

"What are you talking about? You had one yesterday!"

"So?" You pretended to look nervous and defensive which made Vinyl laugh a little.

"You sure we got everything for the party tonight?" You said after the joke trailed away.

"Yup! Thanks to you! I can't thank you enough for sharing all the money you got with us. It's really helping us out..."

It was true that you had been helping her out, but you couldn't take credit for it since you had nothing else to spend it on. In addition, the generosity was on Princess Celestia's part, not yours. You still had fifteen royals left, which was more than enough, and you were sure that Princess Celestia would be happy to donate a bit more in case you ran out.

It was the thought of money that brought up the idea of getting a job again. Originally, you intended to "service" Princess Luna for money, which seemed shady by itself, but you had recently decided to decline her offer since it would mean breaking your newly made promise you made to Vinyl. The words you wrote to her the night before you left her father's house were still fresh in your mind even though it was a week ago.

Dear Princess Luna,

I do not have much time to write, so I will make this letter short. When you offered me a job as your "servant", I was quite thrilled and honored, but I'm afraid I must decline that offer because of recent circumstances. My relationship with Vinyl Scratch has grown significantly and I feel that taking the job you have offered me will compromise it. While I can't possibly understand what life has been like for you since your exile, I can understand how it's like to live without having intimacy with a partner. I apologize for not being able to give that to you, but I hope that you will be able to find somepony else who can. I'm aware that this might come with consequences since I'm basically refusing an order, but I am willing to accept whatever punishment you may have for me.

If there is any work that you need help with that doesn't involve me breaking my oath to my partner, I will be happy to assist you. And, again, I am sorry for not being able to give you what you need most.

P.S. Twilight finally taught me how to write! Although, I'm sure you've figured out by now.

Your humble and faithful subject,

Alex.

You had to admit that labeling yourself as a "subject" sounded a bit weird, but you figured that Luna would appreciate it. However, now that that job opportunity was down the drain, you had to look for more work.

"Hey, know any places that are looking for jobs?" You turned to ask Vinyl after a bit of silence between the two of you.

"Pfft. Job? Why do you need a job? You have all the money you could ever need!"

"I know... It's just that I don't want to sit at home all day being lazy and I want to do something to... You know... Help? I guess? I just feel like I want to do what everypony else does and not simply rely on Princess Celestia to baby me financially for the rest of my life."

"Well, being lazy and having Celestia give you money all your life doesn't really sound bad at all, but I think... I understand..." Vinyl took a pause, probably to think of some places she knew of that were hiring.

"Oh! Do you know how to mix drinks and stuff?" Her face lit up.

"Um... I guess? I was a bartender for almost a year back on Earth but I mostly just opened beers for people."

"Sweet! The bartender at the club keeps complaining about being overworked, so maybe you could split shifts with her? I dunno. It's been a while since I talked to my boss, but I'm sure he'll hire you."

Your first thought was the risk of relationship complications. Working with a marefriend might be fun for a while, but you feared that it might cause some tension eventually. Although, even though you'd be working at the same place as her, it wasn't like you'd be with her one hundred percent of the time. She'd be playing music on stage and you'd be in the back serving drinks. Not a lot of interaction would happen between the two of you. The only thing that was for certain was that you'd have to change your sleep schedule to match hers, which wasn't really a bad thing. Sure, if Princess Twilight or Celestia asked for a meeting or something, they would probably make it really early, but you'd just sleep some more when you got back home.

"Hmm... I guess that would work..."

"Omigod yes! That's awesome!" Vinyl was practically jumping up and down once you agreed, which was kind of cute.

"That was easy. I should've come to you first." You chuckled a bit. "Wait... Speaking of work, I haven't seen you play at the club a lot recently. Did something happen?"

"Oh... Well, no." Her jumping stopped, but she still had a smile on her face. "I only play when they invite me to play and they haven't invited me to play in a long time. I would've said something to my boss, but I guess I didn't bother with it since you came along and gave us all that money.

"You don't miss playing or anything?" You were certain that she had more worries other than money.

Her head lowered and her smile began to go away. "Well, you're right, I do... I haven't played in more than a month and I really loved doing that..."

You couldn't help feeling a little sad for her. After all, it was the thing she loved to do most.

"Okay." You couldn't let your marefriend get held back from her passion without doing something about it. "I'll go over there tomorrow and look for a job, and while I'm there, I'll ask the manager about you." You gave her a smile to help cheer her up.

"Thanks babe... You're the best..." She closed the distance between the two of you while you walked and leaned on you a little bit out of affection.

"It's no problem at all." You nuzzled her cheek which made her giggle a little.

As you looked around you, you could see a couple of ponies looking at the two of you. Their facial expressions could only be verbalized by "D'awww" as they watched the two of you lovebirds walk side by side.

"Hey! Alex!" A familiar voice called out through the crowd and, at the same time, you felt the intimacy between you and your lover instantly disappear as she stopped dead in her tracks.

It took you a while to make out where the voice was coming from, but you could soon see a purple pony gliding down from the sky over the multiple ponies below her. It wasn't until you could distinguish the pink stripe in her mane that you figured out who it was.

Instantly, you realized the danger of the situation. This was the first time Vinyl and Twilight would meet after what happened between you and her. You prepared to keep Vinyl from lunging at her and fighting her, but something was telling you that she wouldn't stoop that low. Still, you kept yourself aware that the situation would be extremely delicate and awkward at the same time.

"Hey! I'm so glad I caught you! Do you have a minute? I just fo-" Twilight's speech stopped instantly when she looked over at Vinyl. Her hooves clopped against the cobblestone road and her wings folded in once she landed.

"Oh boy... Here it comes..." You thought to yourself as you smiled at her nervously.

"Have a minute for what?" Vinyl asked in an overly sarcastic and rude tone.

"Oh! H- Hi, Vinyl! Uh... Well, I found out a new spell for Alex to practice and I was just wondering if he could come and let me teach it to him." It was obvious that Twilight was trying her best to be as diplomatic and friendly as possible.

You looked over at Vinyl who was still giving Twilight a death stare. You thanked Luna that you weren't the one on the other side of that.

"Babe... It’s okay if you don't want me to..." You turned to her and lowered your voice slightly. Your heart was beating fast.

Twilight was still smiling at Vinyl, but you could see in her eyes a fear that you had never seen from her before. You could imagine what was going through her head and, again, you were glad that you weren't in her position. It was obvious that Vinyl had no problem being aggressive towards royalty even though Twilight herself never quite considered herself to be so. The worst case scenario of Vinyl locked up in a prison for decades for striking a princess ran through your head and you hoped with all your heart that she wouldn't lunge at her.

There was an awkward silence as the two mares eyed each other. However, Twilight's eyes were occasionally darting left and right to avoid Vinyl's. You didn't blame her. It wasn't often that you received that look from Vinyl and even then, it was usually meant as a joke. But, when it was serious, it felt like she was eyeing into your soul and judging every mistake you had ever done in your life.

You were about to try to say something funny or witty to ease the tension, but Vinyl finally spoke up.

"Fine." She relaxed her stance and closed her eyes. "But on one condition. I'm going too."

"Huh? Are you sure? What about all the stuff we got? Some of it might spoil..." You looked over at Vinyl again. She was still staring at Twilight, but not as intensely as before.

"Oh, I can take care of those!" Twilight quickly picked up the groceries the two of you were carrying with her magic and, with a loud *zap!*, they were gone. "They're at your house now! So... No problem!" She gave the two of you another nervous smile.

Her magic surprised you, even though it was Twilight's magic. You supposed that it was because you were still getting used to magic spells and what not, but you didn't think she was capable of something like that. It was obvious that she was doing everything she could to appease the jealous Vinyl.

"Octavia, I'm gonna... Ahhhhn!" Cloud Chaser yelled as she pushed her hips into Octavia more.

Cloud Chaser had recently ditched the toy and began licking Octavia's marehood like a motorboat in the sixty-nine position as Octavia did the same from on top of her. Both of them had pussies pushing into their muzzles, but Cloud Chaser was getting the better deal since she was able to grab Octavia's plot and push her down onto her face harder. Their hips were both bucking involuntarily and they could both tell from their throbbing that they would be sharing an orgasm together very soon.

All it took was a playful spank from Cloud Chaser to make Octavia moan intensely and come. The pegasus popped her tongue out of the pussy she was pleasuring, since it was so tight, and instead began licking Octavia's clit while she came all over her face. The warm sex splattering over her and the intense moaning Octavia was letting out in her own marehood made her reach her peak as well.

"Mmmphhh!!!" Cloud chaser let out a high pitched moan when her hips began to buck up.

It was shortly followed by Octavia getting a healthy taste of climax juices inside of her mouth. Cloud Chasers' wings spread out wide from underneath her and one of them began to twitch, along with her hind legs, as Octavia pushed past her intense stimulation to make sure that her partner's orgasm was as good as hers.

Soon after, Octavia's body fell limp on top of Cloud Chaser's belly and they both began to pant heavily as the couch cushions became soaked.

A loud *zap!* erupted in the kitchen which caused both of them to jump in surprise and fall off of the couch with a *thud*.

"Ahh! What the hell was that?!" Cloud Chaser didn't have much strength left, but her fight-or-flight reflexes helped her jump to her hooves and look over the couch.

About seven or eight bags of groceries lay on the kitchen table and she was sure that they weren't there before. Octavia was still underneath her, apparently too worn out to care about what had happened.

The lack of speech from you, Twilight and Vinyl gave you time to admire the weather. It wasn't that interesting back on Earth, and the fact that the weather was created from pegasi made it that much more intriguing to you. The sky was almost clear right above you save for one or two wisps of cirrus clouds in the far-off atmosphere. However, there was a line of slightly darker clouds to the east that seemed to be getting closer. You had heard rumors that the pegasi were planning on bringing in a heavy snow tonight and early tomorrow morning, which was perfect since tonight was the night you were planning on having your "Christmas" party with your friends. It hadn't snowed in several days and it was beginning to disappoint you because of how much you liked the snow. It was definitely cold enough for it to snow and back on Earth, weather this cold would make the skies snow for days. However, the pegasi apparently had plans of their own. You truly had no clue as to why they would hold back the snow for so long, but you trusted that it had some better purpose.

Your fur was still surprising you with every passing day. The tip of your nose was getting cold very quickly every time you went out, but the majority of your body was able to keep warm even during freezing conditions. An occasional scarf was always helpful, though. The one Pinkie gave you way back when was still in Trixie's possession and you wished you would've gotten another one to replace it. You wouldn't have minded if it was another pink one. Back on Earth, wearing a pink scarf would've embarrassed you, but the ponies here didn't seem to mind whatsoever and you often found young colts wearing all sorts of flamboyant attire without attracting homophobic attention.

"So..." You said and gestured to Twilight in a humorous attempt to clear up yet another awkward silence. "What's this new spell you wanna teach me?"

"Oh! Well, I spent a long time recently studying the symbols of your cutie mark, and I finally found out that one of them meant 'negative magic'. It's still just in its theory stage, but I think the spell I'm gonna teach you might enable you to disable somepony's magic! Isn't that neat?!"

"Wow... That sounds really dangerous, actually..." You said as Vinyl walked in between you and Twilight, trying to keep a distance between the two of you.

"Don't worry about that. I figured out a way you can test it without risking anypony's magic. You'll see." Twilight was able to be remarkably cheerful despite Vinyl's presence, but you could still tell that there was certain uneasiness in her demeanor.

You were extremely thankful when you noticed that you were very close to Twilight's tree house since it meant a temporary end to Vinyl's passive aggressiveness. You truly envied her home every time you saw it. Even though there was some bits of snow covering the branches (you figured that some sort of spell was keeping them from melting since it had been a long time since it last snowed), it was still beautiful to look at and even more beautiful to live in. If it weren't for Vinyl, you'd have no problem living there with Twilight for the rest of your life. From a distance, you could see Spike's tiny body at the trunk of the tree watering the flowers that grew there. You wondered whether or not it was a good idea to water the plants since the water might freeze them, but since they were still there, you were sure that whatever Spike was doing wasn't hurting them. You could see everything from roses to tulips to lilies surrounding the base of the tree and it appeared as if they grew all the way around it. They must have been a new addition since you couldn't quite remember seeing so many of them there in the past. Spike finally caught you out of the corner of his eye and gave you a wave before setting down the watering can he was carrying and catching up to the three of you.

"Hey, Spike. What's up?" You said after giving him a bro-hoof.

"Not much, really. Twilight's been merciful today so I got to stay in and relax, mostly..."

You could see Twilight roll her eyes at him from your peripheral vision.

Instead of leading you towards the front door like you expected, Twilight led you to the right of her home and into the treeless meadow where you could immediately distinguish a few strange objects that were sticking out of the ground. As the three of you walked towards them, you could see that they were crude wooden training dummies that faintly resembled ponies with tiny sticks on their heads for horns.

"Oh, man. I can't wait to see this! You really think this is gonna work, Twilight?" Spike said excitedly as he jumped up and sat on Twilight's back.

"We'll find out soon enough, Spike." Twilight acted calm, but you could tell that she was anxious as well. She stopped about five feet from one of the dummies and turned around. "Okay, Alex. First thing's first."

"Yeah?" You made sure to pay close attention to her since her lessons were sometimes hard to follow.

Vinyl decided to take her leave and went to lie down in the grass a few yards away. She crossed her front hooves as her tail whipped once or twice, but her stern suspicious glare still remained affixed to Twilight. Your attention snapped back to your teacher once you heard the whizzing of her magic.

"We're going to see if you can actually do this spell, but first, you need to know how to do it."

Twilight shot a tiny bolt of her purple magic out of her horn and onto the dummy's horn where it stayed and shimmered. Although the thing attached to the dummy's head didn't resemble a real horn too well, the magical aura that Twilight put around it was almost identical to the one that unicorns developed when they were casting spells. You guessed that she put some sort of magic on the thing to imitate a unicorn while using magic.

"After studying the subject last night, I was able to find a couple of hints that might help you cast this. First, it's very important that you don't use your spell-targeting before casting."

"Huh? Why's that? How am I going to cast it then? The only spells you've taught me require that..." You looked at her in confusion.

"I'm not sure what would happen if you used spell-targeting beforehand, but I... Don't really wanna find out..." She seemed unsure of herself, but you agreed with her. The last time you "experimented" with your magic, it nearly caused a rift in space-time.

"Okay. So, what do I do instead?"

"Well, the second hint that I found said that you should..." Twilight paused to think for a moment. "Hmm... You know how some spells require incantations and spoken words?"

"Yeah...?" You were still trying to connect the dots.

"Imagine that somepony is doing an incantation, but then imagine that you're shutting them up. Or... Putting a hoof over their mouth? Whichever way works, I guess."

"Alright, I guess that makes sense. You sure nothing bad will happen like last time?"

Twilight and Spike looked at each other for a brief moment. "I can't guarantee that, but at least we'll be ready for that this time. Go ahead and give it a shot, Alex."

"Hmm..." You stared at the wooden dummy for several seconds and tried to think of what you'd do.

You guessed that the most straightforward tactic would be to imagine putting your hoof over the pony's mouth like Twilight suggested, so you decided to go with that for now.

"So... Don't spell-target, just cast it?" You asked Twilight for confirmation.

"Yes, but try to keep eye contact with the pony's horn so that your spell won't go haywire."

"Got it." You were still unsure, but you knew you probably wouldn't get it on your first try, anyway.

It was a little tricky at first to activate your magic without automatically spell-targeting the horn of the dummy since you were so used to it, but with a bit of concentration, you were finally able to make your horn glow white while the dummy remained unchanged. It took quite a bit of effort, though, and you had to stop for a minute to rest. Getting tired from using magic was nothing like you had ever experienced before. Your horn felt like your legs would feel after doing two dozen leg presses with three times your weight.

"Well done, Alex. That's a good start."

"Damnit, Twilight. Don't patronize me..." You thought as you caught your breath and prepared to try again.

The second time you tried your magic, it didn't wear you down as quickly. Your guess was that you just needed to warm up. You concentrated on the dummy's horn and activated your magic again. After a few seconds, even though you were beginning to feel worn down again, you tried shifting your thoughts to shutting the pony up. You couldn't see your horn, but there was a stronger magical aura coming from the top of your head that illuminated the wooden pony in front of you along with the grass underneath you.

Your eyebrows furrowed as you tried to focus on the thought. Suddenly, the light coming from your horn flashed brighter than it ever had before and several other things followed. First, you felt your horn recoil and push your head back significantly. It wasn't enough to make you topple over, but it was certainly enough for you to break your concentration and cause your stance to stagger. Second, a flash radiated from your horn in a conical pattern in front of you, causing the wooden pony to uproot from the ground and fall over onto the grass.

"Ow! Shit!" You yelled out as a sharp headache throbbed in your forehead for several seconds.

"Are you okay?!" Vinyl rose up and ran over to you. You couldn't see her since your eyes were shut closed, but you could tell that she was extremely worried.

"Yeah, I'm fine... Geez that hurt... Twi, you alright?"

"I think so... Good thing I was standing behind you and not next to the dummy, though... What happened?" Twilight seemed concerned as well, but not to the same degree as Vinyl.

"I think I might've lost concentration once my horn started to flash like that..."

"That's what it looked like... I think if you try again and-"

Vinyl cut her off harshly as she let you lean on her. You were pressing your hoof to your forehead in an attempt to nurse your headache.

"Don't you think he should rest for a while before trying that again?" She had the same rudeness in her tone as before. You admired her protectiveness, but you still wished she would treat Twilight a little nicer. However, you knew there was nothing you could say or do to make her do so.

"Babe, I'm fine... Nngh..." You lied. Your legs struggled at first, but you were able to finally stand up straight again.

"No... Vinyl's right. Why don't you go inside with Spike and get a glass of water?" You were surprised that Twilight made this decision since she seemed so eager to get results only moments before, but you really did feel like you needed rest at least for a few minutes.

"C'mon. I got something way better than water for 'ya!" Spike tugged at your leg and pulled you gently towards the tree house. You took his gesture and followed him.

It took a couple of seconds to understand that doing this would mean leaving Vinyl alone with Twilight. You were afraid for Twilight's safety, but you hoped that maybe the two mares could talk it out. You looked over your shoulder behind you to see that Vinyl was still staring back with worry all over her face and you gave her a reassuring smile to let her know that everything was fine.

"Here, go lay down on the couch. I'll get somethin' for 'ya." Spike said immediately after opening the front door.

Faint murmuring could be heard from Twilight and Vinyl's direction, which made you worry, but you tried to ignore it and obey Spike for the moment. The couch creaked and moaned as you laid down on it and you instantly felt your body relax once you took your weight off your legs. The gentle breeze from the living room window was just strong enough to reach your body and give you a slight chill. It felt nice, though, and a long sigh escaped your lips.

You could hear spike running up the stairs. His little dragon claws made *tap* sounds on the wood as he made his way up. You didn't have your eyes open, which led you to believe that Twilight had somehow installed a heater in her house since the fireplace was fire-less when you came in. It was probably some sort of spell, but it really felt like there was a heater that came on the second that gentle chilly breeze hit you.

"Got it!" Spike yelled out from on top of the stairs.

You didn't hear his claws tapping against the wood on his way back down, so you imagined that he was sliding down the hoof rails instead. He was already right next to you once you opened your eyes and he had a small vial filled with a strange blue liquid. It was strange because the liquid seemed to glow slightly, but other than that, it was just a plain ordinary bottle of blue goop.

"This'll help your magic regenerate a lot faster. Twilight always uses it after trying a new spell, but I'm sure she wouldn't mind you taking a couple of sips." He handed you the vial and you decided to grab it with your hoof instead of your magic since your horn felt sore.

"Thanks, man..." Spike had already pulled the cork, so you sat up straight and took a sip.

The mixture actually tasted good. Most medicine that you took in the past often tasted nasty, which let you know that it was medicine. However, if Spike would've simply given you the vial and hadn't told you a thing about what was inside of it, you would've simply thought that it was raspberry juice. It was slightly warm which helped soothe your throat. It had been dry and cold from breathing in the winter air nearly all day. You were only going to take one or two sips of the stuff, but you soon found yourself enjoying more than five.

Almost instantly, you felt the soreness from your horn dissipate. It was as if somepony injected a strong pain killer directly into your forehead. Not only that, but you could also feel other parts of your body relax as well including your legs and your back. It also did a good job at calming your nerves, and you knew this because the worries for Twilight outside seemed to fade away seconds after you sipped the potion.

"Careful, Alex! Don't drink too much!" Spike took the drink from you quickly and put the cork back on it. "That stuff's really potent..."

"Sorry..." You laughed lightly and smiled, but you could still hear Twilight and Vinyl talking outside through the open window.

"Oh, my bad. It's probably really cold in here for ya..." Spike noticed that you were looking towards the window and hopped up on the set of shelves underneath it before closing it shut, eliminating any possibility of hearing the conversation outside.

"Thanks..." You wished he hadn't, but you appreciated his hospitality. "By the way, I apologize in advance if we go back out there and Vinyl's beating up on Twilight." You said in a humorous tone.

"Huh? What'cha mean? Why would Vinyl Scratch do that?"

It had just occurred to you that Spike had no way of knowing what happened between you and Twilight. Twilight wouldn't tell him about something like that even though they were best friends.

"Oh, uh... Never mind. Vinyl's just jealous, that's all." You tried to cover it up as best you could and Spike seemed to buy it.

"Oh, please. Twilight's never been interested in stuff like that before. No need to worry."

"If only you knew, Spike..." You thought silently. It was funny that even he, someone who had been Twilight's closest companion, wasn't told about what happened.

"Anyway, just let me know when you're feeling better and we'll go back out and try again. Whatever you did out there, it was so cool! I'm not sure if it did anything, though... The spell Twilight had on that dummy was still there when we left. But, just between you and me..." Spike leaned closer to you which was unnecessary since the only two ponies that were nearby were outside.

"If you learn this spell, this'll be the only spell that anypony's ever learned that Twilight can't do. I mean, besides Princess Celestia and Luna and Cadence." Spike continued and smirked as if he were rooting for you.

You laughed, but remained humble. "Spike, it's not a competition. Twilight's so much better than me when it comes to magic. Even if I do learn whatever this spell is, it won't mean I'm any better than her."

"Well... Uh..." Spike's train of thought seemed to be broken. He finally sighed and smiled after thinking for several seconds. "Yeah, I guess you're right. But still, wouldn't it be cool?"

"Eh... I guess..."

After a few minutes of chatting, you tried to get back on your hooves since your head felt a lot better. The potion must have worked since you felt completely rested and ready to cast more spells again. You even activated the magic in your horn once or twice to test it out.

"Wow... What exactly is in that potion? I feel like I just woke up from a nap or something!"

"It's... Really complicated." Spike apparently figured out that you were good-as-new and went to the front door to open it for you. "Besides, Twilight promised me never to tell anypony what's in it since-"

Spike fell silent once he opened the door, and after looking up, you could see why.

"Hi, Fluttershy! What's up?"

"Hey!" You trotted up next to him to greet her. You only got to see her every once in a while since she was so shy, so you were glad every time you got the chance.

"H- Hi, Alex..." Fluttershy's face slightly turned pink when she saw you. "I heard a loud boom come from Twilight's tree house, so I came to see if she was okay... But..."

She looked to her right at Twilight and Vinyl having an apparently serious discussion. "Twilight and Vinyl Scratch seem to be having a serious talk, so I didn't want to bother them..."

"Well, you can blame me for that loud boom earlier. Twilight's teaching me a new spell." You couldn't help but smile at her cute and shy demeanor.

"Oh! A new spell? How exciting!" Fluttershy was almost unable to be heard, but you could tell that she was excited. "What kind of spell?"

"I think it has something to do with canceling magic or something... I dunno. I'm about to try it out again. Hopefully it'll work this time." You walked past Fluttershy who quickly stepped back to get out of your way even though you had plenty enough room between her and the door frame.

"Are you sure?" She seemed hesitant and a little scared. "I mean... They might be talking about-"

You cut her off by putting a hoof on her shoulder. The sudden physical contact surprised her a little since she was so skittish, but you managed to make eye contact with her and gesture towards Spike who didn't know about what you and Twilight did. You weren't sure whether or not Fluttershy knew, but you had to stop her just in case. Also, you couldn't help but notice how warm and soft her fur was.

"Talking about what?" Spike seemed confused and rightly so.

"Oh, you know. Just mare stuff." Fluttershy put on the most innocent and cutest smile with a *squee* as she picked Spike up and put him on her back. She looked at you quickly enough to give you a wink without Spike noticing. You had to love how sly Fluttershy could be at random moments.

"But, anyways, don't worry. Even if they are just talking about mare stuff, it's not like this is the only chance they have to talk about it." You began to walk forward and encouraged the timid Fluttershy to follow.

The truth of it was that you wanted to interrupt them to make sure things didn't get out of control between the two. Nothing good would come out of it if Vinyl decided to pick a fight out of jealous vengeance. You could hear the grass crunching behind you instead of beside you which indicated that Fluttershy was intending to hide behind you.

However... You were completely taken by surprise when you actually saw a slight grin on the two mares' faces. It was a good kind of surprise since it would make it seem that Vinyl and Twilight weren't exactly on terrible terms. The last few words you picked up on before they noticed the three of you were:

"Don't worry. I promise it won't happen again. In fact, one of my friends is actually helping me out-"

Twilight cut herself off once she saw you in her peripherals and turned to face you. Vinyl didn't look upset whatsoever which relieved most of your concerns.

"Alex! How are you feeling?"

"A lot better thanks to Spike here. Flutters decided to drop by, too." You weren't sure whether calling her by such an informal name would be acceptable, but you figured it wouldn't hurt anypony.

"Sorry if I'm interrupting..." Fluttershy said in her usual well-mannered and soft voice. "Alex told me he was working on a new spell, so I thought it would be fun to watch! That is, if it's okay with everypony..." She smiled. She really did seem eager to watch what you could do which motivated you slightly.

"Of course, Fluttershy! You didn't interrupt anything, though. Vinyl and I were just having a little chat. Ready to start again, Alex?"

"Yup. I got this." It seemed as if the potion you took rejuvenated your spirits as well.

"Great!" Twilight said cheerfully and quickly put another magical aura on the tip of the wooden dummy's horn. "Okay, everypony. Stand behind Alex, just in case."

Fluttershy was already one step ahead of everypony else, or rather, one step behind. You assumed your position in front of the dummy once you made sure everypony else was out of harm's way.

"Okay... Concentrate..." You told yourself after taking a deep breath.

It didn't take long for your bright white magic to return to your horn. In fact, it took little to no effort thanks to whatever was in that potion. All you could see was the pony's "horn". Everything else was blocked out. It was as if the wooden horn was all that existed in the world.

Your magic got brighter and brighter until you almost had to squint to see what was in front of you. Again, you tried to think about shutting the pony up, but instead, you imagined a zipper being zipped up over the mouth instead of putting a hoof over it. This was the spot where you messed up before and you knew it, so you tried extra hard to keep your focus while you thought of your little zipper idea.

Just like before, your horn flashed brightly, causing you to close your eyes. There was recoil, but it wasn't the same as last time. You didn't physically feel it and your body kept still until the blinding light faded, but you instantly felt light headed afterwards. It wasn't the type that you felt when you got overly excited about something. It was the type you got when you held your head down and breathed too fast. Your head started to tingle a bit as your stance wobbled like before.

The last two things you sensed were the sight of the bright sun setting over the horizon and the sound of Vinyl yelling your name. After that, all you could remember was fuzzy. You knew you were about to faint a few seconds before you did, but you had no time to prepare yourself for it. After your vision went black, you still had some feeling in your body. You felt the left side of your body collide with the cold ground. You didn't feel the pain, but you felt the impact despite the weak functioning of your brain at the moment.

After a while, though, all of your senses failed and you fell into a temporary sleep.

Author's Notes:

If there are any grammatical or spelling errors, please send me a PRIVATE MESSAGE and let me know so that I can fix them asap. Thanks for reading! <3