The apartment just couldn’t get clean enough.

I had my first appointment showing up in minutes, and the apartment wasn’t ready. I thought getting up at six would give me enough prep time for a noon client, but I was wrong. It didn’t help that I had forgotten to stock the wet bar. Running out to the market to stock it had eaten up an hour of my morning that I could have used to figure out how to make a blanket with crooked edges hang straight on the back of my sofa.

*KNOCK KNOCK*

‘Crap, she’s here.’ Taking a breath, I smiled before speaking. “Be right there.” The smile fell from my face as I ran into the working bedroom. I was going to have to totally rearrange this room tomorrow: nothing lined up, the flow was all wrong. Nudging the night stand a bit to the left, I called it as good as I was getting and darted to the front door.

‘Deep breath, relax,’ I told myself, pausing a heartbeat before opening the door. I knew she was a unicorn named Lemon Cake, but that was all the information I had been given.

“Hi,” the pastel-yellow and ivory mare said as soon as I opened the door. She looked a good bit older than Winter, but younger than Ms. Hooves.

Standing aside, I held the door open for her to enter. “Glad you could make it. Come on in.”

Lemon gave me a casual smile, walking past me into the living room. She seemed at ease with the situation, taking a seat on the sofa like it was her own.

“Would you like anything to drink?” I asked, closing the door.

“Something cold would be nice,” she said with a pleasant smile. She seemed like a nice pony. I still have difficulty in picking up the subtle differences in what ponies consider attractive, but I think Lemon would be considered plain by most.

Going into the kitchen, I pulled out the pitcher of tea I had made the night before, and poured two glasses. Taking them back to the living room, I tried to put into practice what Spinner had told me: “Start a session by being familiar, but not intimate. Always ask them what they're looking for today.”

“Here you go,” I said taking a seat on the couch. She levitated the glass from my hand, and took a sip. Debating the taste of my sweet tea for a moment, she hummed her approval and took a deeper drink. For the record, it took me weeks to be able to recreate the taste of my grandmother's sweet tea using Equestrian ingredients.

“So, what are you looking for today?”

Leamon took another sip of tea before setting the glass on the coaster I had set out earlier. She looked around the apartment in silence for a moment, making me self-conscious of the little things left unstraightened.

“I’ve been kinda lonely lately.”

That wasn’t really an answer. “Well, that’s a shame,” I said, setting my glass down to give her my full attention.

She just kinda shrugged at my response, her happy demeanor cracking to show a sad mare. “My roommate got her dream job, but its hours are opposite of mine. I hardly ever see her anymore. And my big brother had twins a few months back, so I really never get to see him anymore.”

With a gentle motion, I rested my hand on her knee. “Would you like to go walk around the garden, or would you rather stay inside?”

“I kinda just wanted some time with you. I want to feel... wanted.”

Well, that something to work with. I was curious about why she had picked me over one of the stallions, but I wasn’t going to ask. Odds are, it was because I’m the cheapest. Sitting properly on the couch, I patted my lap. “Would you like me to rub your back?”

Her ears jumped forward at the question, betraying her otherwise-melancholy mood. “Sure.”

Lemon draped herself over my legs, then floated a throw pillow under her head as I ran my fingers across her coat. I kept the massage innocent, but affectionate. She shed hair as I scratched; her bright-yellow undercoat needed a curry comb taken to it badly. It was interesting how the white topcoat muted the undercoat into a pastel.

After a few minutes, I thought she had fallen asleep. She had me for the next eight hours, so I figured letting her sleep on me for a little while was as good a way to pass the day as any.

Being in a grooming mood now, I turned my attention to her ivory mane. It was a bit of a mess, so I used my fingers to comb it out. Over the next half hour, I managed to get most the knots out as she dozed in my lap. I'd done a good job of not waking her up, but she finally stirred when I got to her bangs.

She moved just enough to give me a lazy smile before nuzzling my arm, then sat up; more or less in my lap. We looked at each other in relative silence for a moment, and then she kissed me. It wasn’t a passionate kiss, just a firm peck on the lips. I was at a bit of a loss as to what I would do, but thankfully she spoke before my lack of action became awkward.

“Thank you. I needed that,” she said, moving off my lap, and sitting beside me.

A little puff of hair floated past my face, giving me an idea of how to entertain my client. “I have an idea,” I said standing up. “Follow me.”

Lemon stretched before hopping down from the couch and following me into the guest bathroom. She seemed a bit confused, till I pulled the grooming kit out from the cabinet.

“Ooo, that’s a nice set!” she said. I could tell she was trying not to act eager.

“I haven’t got to really use this yet.” Taking the curry comb out, I motioned towards the shower. “Step into the shower, and we’ll try this out.” The shower in this bathroom was made big enough for two ponies to move around in, so I’d have no trouble grooming Lemon in it.

Lemon smiled, and opened the shower door. Stepping inside, she watched me eagerly. I started to follow her in, but paused. There was no way I wasn’t going to get soaked. “Guess I should take my clothes off.”

“I was wondering,” Lemon said, stifling a chuckle.

Socks, shirt, and pants were taken off, folded, and placed on a shelf. I took my time as much for myself and for Lemon’s — she seemed fascinated with my unwrapping, and I still haven’t gotten comfortable with the idea of being casually nude. Though now that I’m starting to get desensitized, I think I might have to go stroll the market stark naked, just to see if I get a reaction.

Taking a breath, I untie my underwear, and laid it on top of everything else.

“No sheath?” she asked.

“Not really,” I said, turning the shower on. “So, what is your special talent?” Getting the water pleasantly hot, I adjusted the shower heads to center on her back.

“Pastries. Most of my family are bakers of some sort.” She made a happy little hum as I scrubbed coat shampoo into her. “That feels wonderful.”

“Is that common; families that share talents?” I asked. “A long time ago, it was common with my kind, but not really anymore.” Picking up the curry, I started in on combing out all that dead hair.

Lemon nickered, her head and neck going straight. “Oh, stars…”

“You okay?”

“Yeah, definitely okay. You’re really good at that.”

“Glad you like it.” Satisfied that I wasn’t hurting her, I continued my work. I fell into my old rhythm for the work; just on a smaller scale.

Not that I minded washing quarter horses, but Lemon was much more enjoyable to groom. Her little hums of pleasure, and feminine body, let me forget our physical differences. Kneeling beside her, I let one hand trace her body, while the other worked the curry. The comb was one of the soft kind, so I even took it to her neck, and inner thigh.

“A family with similar talents isn’t uncommon, but it isn’t the rule,” she told me once my grooming had stopped. Opening her eyes, she looked at the hair collecting on the drain’s hair trap. “Was I that bad?”

“You were a pretty wooly pony.”

Lemon’s expression again faded to a lonely daze. “Sorry.”

‘Nothing to be sorry about.” Setting the comb down, I giving her a hug. I’d hit a nerve, and wanted to make it up before I really put my foot in my mouth. Picking up the mane shampoo, I pondered my next move. “Is it okay if I shampoo your tail?” It only seemed polite to ask first; even as intimate as we already were.

“Sure,” she said, lifting her tail more than just a bit.

Dobbing out some shampoo, I worked it into her tail. She kept her tail short, the hair only going a bit longer than the tail itself. The bony appendage twitched in my grasp, occasionally making a halfhearted attempt to hold my hand. It had a very different feel from that of the horses I had washed back home. It was a lithe, near-prehensile thing, that only looked clumsy for the fluffy hair around it.

Her tail lathered up, I left it to rinse off on it own as temptation nudged me to mess with her a bit more than I had been. “Close your eyes,” I said before starting in on her mane. I’d been pretty clinical with her tail, but I was going to work a good massage into doing her mane. I also thought it would be good to tease her a bit more. We had a long day ahead of us, I wanted her as wound up as possible for whatever might happen in the evening.

Stepping to one side, I threw my leg across her back, and rested just a little of my weight on her. I could feel her tail flag against the small of my back as her legs stiffened. “This okay?” I asked, massaging a lather into her mane.

She fidgeted a bit under me. I would have worried, but I could see a crooked smile on her muzzle. “You’re a horrible tease,” she said with a laugh, again squirming a bit. “It’s strange, having you on my back, but not behind me, too.”

Running my fingers along her neck and around her ears, I eventually neared the base of her horn. Something I had read in The Twilight Between Them sprang to mind. There had been a rather overly-descriptive scene involving Luna, Twilight, and Celestia.

Creeping my fingers past her ears, I found her horn. It was as hard and bony as I had imagined, feeling more like antler than horn. Where it met her skull, it flared and disappeared under a hard ring of hide. With thumb and forefinger, I caressed the seam between horn and flesh.

“Ugh...” Lemon’s knees buckled beneath me

I caught her between my legs, keeping her from falling over. “Too much?”

“No, just... didn’t expect it.” Getting her legs back under her, she let one of the shower heads wash over her face. “Where did you learn that?”

“Romance book.”

“Let’s save more of that for when I’m laying down, before I fall and hurt myself.”

This was kind of empowering, and I wanted to see how much of a reaction I could get out of her. A smirk spread across my face. Kneeling by her neck, I snuggled up to where my lips were all but touching her ear. “I think we can arrange that,” I said, tracing my fingers just outside the sensitive spot.

To her credit, her knees didn’t buckle, but I did get a very rewarding groan out of her. Still grinning, I stood back up and opened the shower door. “Let’s rinse off and dry,” I said fetching the shedding blade.

“Yeah... rinse off...,” she said, moving under both nozzles.

As soon as she was rinsed, she stepped back and let me do the same. Turning the water off, I picked the shedding blade back up, and motioned for her to come closer. “I’ll dry you off.”

“No need.” Yellow magic rolled off her horn and across her body, sending sheets of water cascading to the shower’s floor.

“That’s convenient.”

“Also dries dishes.” Her horn lit again as she took a step towards me.

My skin prickled as her aura rolled over me, I could hear the water falling off me, but the tickle of the magic made me close my eyes. I opened them just in time to see Lemon give me a devious grin, then take all of my half-erect member into her mouth.

Her tongue did inhuman things to me. Needless to say, I wasn’t half erect anymore. She looked up to me with a playful smile as she bobbed her head just a bit. A muffled giggle told me she knew she had me catatonic against the wall. I was about to warn her that I could last much longer, when she stopped all together.

“Now we’re even,” she said with a smirk. Turning around, she left the shower, the sway of her hips inviting me to follow.

Obliging her, I stepped out onto tile, and put the grooming tools back into their box. “Let’s go to the bed to get you brushed out,” I said picking up the soft brush and coat gloss.

We got comfortable on the bed with her laying on one side, then the other, as I smoothed out her frizzy coat and mane. It was a quiet and intimate few minutes, with a little cuddling mixed in. I was kinda surprised how much her color changed after the grooming. The yellow of her coat had gone from pastel, to a color more akin to her namesake. Her mane had also gone from ivory to snow white.

The whole time she kept her horn within easy reach, wordlessly begging me to continue what I had started earlier. Once I was satisfied with my grooming job, I couldn’t ignore her pleading eyes anymore. Playing a bit coy, I snuggled against her back, and traced my fingers around her jaw and ears. Finally deciding I had teased enough, I gave her what she wanted.

Moving to where I could get both hands on her forehead, I put my arms around her. “So this feels good?” I asked, kneading the base of her horn with as many fingers as I could.

“Uuggg...” was all I got out of her. The lulled tongue and rolled eyes, telling me I was doing something right. I was willing to bet she hadn’t had this done to her in a while. It only took a few moments before she started twitching and showing other tells of an impending orgasm.

Between the earlier teasing and the writhing feminine form in my arms, I could have escalated things a bit more, but I had a whole day on entertaining ahead of me, and another client tomorrow. I had to pace myself as much as possible.

A yellow aura crackling around her horn numbed my fingers. I hoped that was a good sigh, letting curiosity kept me going. Pressing up against her as tight as I could, I let her cuddle into me as her twitching turned into full spasmes of release; the aura fading away as her body writhed in my arms.

We laid holding each other while she caught her breath. I found myself playing with the sharp end of her horn, feeling the subtle textures and studying its shape. She didn’t seem to notice, and I still found horns fascinating. “What’s it feel like?”

“Like a really good orgasm, but in your brain. Pegasus have something similar with their wings, and earth ponies have their own thing too, but I’ve never heard a good explanation. Something about just being more sensitive.”

“That’s... interesting. But I meant what does it feel like using magic?”

“Oh. Hmm... Depends on what you’re doing. Sometimes you don’t feel anything at all, it just happens. Sometimes it’s like trying to do math in your head. I’m hungry.”

I had to laugh at the sudden declaration. “Alright, what sounds good? You’re all groomed, be a shame not to escort you around town.” Sliding off the bed, I paused to give her a quick kiss. “Give me a second, and I’ll get dressed.”

Lemon followed me back to the bathroom, and watched me get into my underwear. I was getting my pants buttoned, when she stepped a little closer to examine the shirt I had not yet put on.

“Could you not wear this when we go out?”

“I suppose not.” Well, it looks like I get to do my little experiment sooner than I thought. I left the shirt where it was, and followed Lemon out into the main room.

“I do sunburn easy, so we’ll have to keep to shade when we can,” I said, Opening the toor to the bright summer day.