High Moon Ch. 55:

Path to Winter part two; Snowfall

Two months flew by for the pack, before the hardest time of the year hit: winter. Undoubtedly the coldest and toughest time that Wolf, Blaze, and Lily had all faced out in the valley in previous years. Before the pack had expanded so much, Wolf had struggled to keep things up and running, having to venture out further than the valley to find food, while Lily went into a hibernation-like state. In this cold time of the year, Wolf wouldn’t allow Blaze to leave the temple for nearly any reason, worried for her health now that she was carrying their cub. Being from a country that almost never saw snow, however, Blaze always tried to sneak outside to play in it. It always made her feel like a little filly to be playing in the snow, and Wolf was never really mad at her for finding her outside, seeing how happy it made the mare.

Additionally, from studying many of the potion books she had, Blaze had learned that there were plants that only grew during the winter. Still though, Wolf wouldn’t allow the mare too far out of the temple. So any time she needed a winter-based ingredient, Wolf would personally head out to search for it. Usually, he would find what Blaze needed, though there were times where he would pick up the wrong thing and Blaze couldn’t tell before the potion brew was already ruined.

As winter hit the valley, all of the diamond dogs’ coats became denser and thicker, losing most of their pigment. Even their eyes changed to a brighter color of red to absorb more sunlight. Physically, they were mostly the same. However, mentally, a few things had changed. Wolf was far more blunt and direct with everything. Especially anything that came to the safety of the valley.

Wolf was happy, however, that the pack had grown and was better able to take care of and defend itself. Though with such a diverse pack, there were a few hurdles to be expected. Four diamond dogs, three dragons, four equines, and one sphinx, all with their own winter habits, for example. For the canines and dragons, their sleeping patterns were heavily affected during the winter months.

As for the equines, Lily had already entered her lone hibernation, going so far as to kick Spirit out of her bed. Night Blade, being a bat-pony, had switched to a more nocturnal sleeping pattern than she normally kept to, moving all of her work to the night, only returning to sleep a few hours after the sun had risen. Kiri, bonded to Night in almost every way possible, took the same sleeping patterns as her mistress, yet could still be awake during the day for a few hours longer at best. Frost was one of the few in the pack that was awake during the morning hours, thanks to her constantly waking as a filly during the winter to play in the snow with her ice-magic. But with Quill going through her growth-spurt along with her brother, she started having doubts on whether to get up or not.

That was something the pack had dealt with easily enough, the twins entering their growth-spurts. There had been a morning where Quill and Spike had not gotten up, even after their respective lovers had shaken them, when they had realized the twins had entered their growth-spurts.

Cyclone wasn’t fit to be outside for long without a thick layering of clothing, so she mostly stayed inside the mansion. She was naturally worried for Spike, asleep deep in his growth-spurt, but she knew that she needed to have faith in her drake. Besides, she had gone through her own growth-spurt without a problem, and she had never heard of a dragon dying or being injured while in it. Still, though, Veil would often catch Cyclone sitting on the bed next to Spike, a nervous shake in her legs as she softly stroked his cheek.

Drake falling this deeply asleep also worried Veil, especially since she still didn’t understand a lot about dragons. When she caught Cyclone worrying like this, Veil would always go to the younger dragoness and rub her shoulders to try and reassure her as best she could. She also found herself periodically taking Cyclone’s place when the dragoness was called on by Blaze to help her with a potion brew. Instead of stroking his cheek, though, Veil always reached a hand under his blanket to grab his hand. As hard as she pushed the drake, she still cared for him deeply - even if he hadn’t proved he could be her alpha.

Thinking back on the past two months, Veil chuckled at the odd relationship she’d developed with the drake. She hadn’t fully accepted him as her mate, and wouldn’t until he proved himself to her, but she’d told Cyclone she wouldn’t force Spike into anything until after his growth-spurt was complete.

She’d gotten to be nearly as close to Spike as Cyclone was now, and Veil had never felt closer to the dragoness than ever before. That last was still something of a surprise to Veil - she hadn’t expected to ever really be a pack-sister with Cyclone, but here she was, soothing not only herself, but Cyclone, by keeping Spike company when she couldn’t. She’d have already done anything for Cyclone before the two dragons had accepted her into their group, but now that she was a pack-sister to the younger dragoness, that Cyclone had actually wanted to share Spike with her… well, she doubted she’d ever be able to pay the dragoness back.

As for Spike… she was enjoying pushing his buttons, and making him be more proactive in regards to both her and Cyclone. He seemed to enjoy pushing back just as much, which was good - the last thing she wanted was a weak mate. She’d even caught him talking back to Wolf once. She had been particularly impressed at that - though the drake still seemed to always let his sister take charge whenever she was involved.

So far as her and Spike went, though, they were still in an odd place. Though the hound wouldn’t admit it to him, she rather enjoyed when he was aggressive. Once she’d started to get him to be more forward in regards to her and Cyclone, things had certainly gotten more interesting. She still hadn’t let the drake go nearly as far with her as Cyclone had. Sure, they’d all shared Spike’s bed - thankful that it was more than large enough for the three of them - but she was still reluctant to do much with the drake beyond kiss him. She still blushed at their sleeping arrangements sometimes - her and Spike had an unspoken agreement that they’d take turns holding Cyclone, but as often as not anymore, somehow Spike would end up in between the two females. The first time it had happened she’d nearly leapt out of the bed. After that, she figured that it was fine so long as he wasn’t awake to notice. She was determined to not make it seem like she was being too easy on the drake. At least not until she knew he was what her and Cyclone needed.

Isis had already assured everyone that the twins were going to be fine since neither of them had been showing any negative signs in their physical, mental, or magical conditions. Still, to give the twins as much comfort as they needed and to make sure nothing bad happened, Blaze advised the twins’ respective lovers to find beds of their own in the mansion for the time being. Cyclone had protested at the beginning, but fell silent after Veil had wrapped an arm around her and talked to her in a soft voice that nobody else could hear. When she had finished, Cyclone had hugged the hound in return and gone off to pick a room for her and Veil that was close to Spike’s.

Blaze seemed to be the only one of the pack to keep her normal sleeping habits, despite having her two lovers often holding her in their bed until they had gotten up. Isis, before joining the High Moon pack, normally would get up at the first signs of sunlight, even in the winter. However, she now seemed to be falling into the same sleeping patterns as Wolf.

Yet, with all the changes, this didn’t mean that the pack was inactive. In fact, once Wolf was up, the rest of the pack, or at least the three betas dogs, became highly active until nightfall. With the canines’ winter coats in, they could all stay outside for long periods of time without feeling the effects of the winter. It was only during the night that they felt anything.

Most of the pack's activities were focused solely on hunting and scavenging for food. With all of the fruits and vegetables pulled in for harvest, all the canines had to worry about was hunting down meat to eat.

Ensuring they had enough meat was even more vital during the winter. Now the canines were acting more like wolves, hunting for their own food first, then going after food for the rest of the pack. Even then, Wolf still got the larger portion without question from the other three canines.

There were times where they got lucky, and then there were times where someone would make a mistake and go after too much food due to hunger impulses. For the High Moon pack, this wasn’t usually a problem, it just meant that they had to go out further than the last time.

But the times they got lucky and found more food than they needed for a few days were a blessing, as it gave them time to stay in and and rest their bodies. Times like today.

“Wolfie, you can go back to bed if you want,” Blaze said as she continued to gently scratch behind Wolf’s ears while he sat on his knees to rest his head in the mare’s lap. By this time of day, most of the pack was awake, but not active as the twins were still going through their growth-spurts, and the other canines were taking the day off that Wolf had given them.

“The both of you,” Blaze continued, looking towards Isis, whose fur had also faded to a pure-white, much like Wolf’s. The only thing on her that had stayed the same on the sphinx were her black hair and wings. “I’m fine down here by myself. I’m just doing some reading.”

“Nothing else?” Wolf questioned in a low growl. His growl wasn’t of malice or anger like it normally would be, his voice always deepened during the winter, and Blaze was used to it by now. “You’re not going to try sneaking out, are you?”

Blaze smiled down towards Wolf before placing a kiss on his forehead, scratching the back of Wolf’s head. “I’ll be fine, I promise I won’t try sneaking out Wolf. You two just get some more rest.”

“Fine,” Wolf huffed. He placed his hand up on the side of her chair, pushing away. Placing a soft kiss next to the unicorn’s horn, he turned away to walk on all fours as he often did during the winter. Isis shared one more look down towards Blaze before giving her a quick hug. She quickly made her way over to Wolf, who had stood up from the ground after he had started opening the door up.

As they ascended the stairs, Wolf saw Frost gently closing her bedroom door with a conflicted look on her face. “Frost,” Wolf started, getting the mare to jump slightly before she looked towards the alpha. “Head downstairs and keep an eye on Blaze for me. I don’t want to take any chances with her right now.”

“Su-sure Wolf, I can do that,” Frost said, running a hand down the slightly-ajar wooden door. Wolf nodded his head, catching a quick glance at the sleeping dragoness inside. He said nothing, and turned to open his bedroom door. Frost pushed open her door a bit more to get another look inside. However, what she was saw was no different from what she’d been looking at for a over a week now. The dragoness’ body was completely covered by the bed sheets and blankets, and the only thing Frost could make out was her lover’s slow, deep breathing, along with a constant line of gray smoke seeping from where Quill’s head was. A week without her lover’s affection had bothered Frost more than she had suspected it would. The mare missed sharing a bed with the younger dragoness, and had resolved to do something special for her when she woke up. Frost remembered that her own growth-spurt, being a half-dragon, had only lasted a short two days, and she had come out of it fine, and in fact stronger than ever. Still, seeing Quill in this condition had her nearly sick with worry.

“Frost,” Isis placed her hand on Frost’s shoulder, causing her to jump again. When she turned, Isis could see the exhaustion lingering in the mare’s eyes. She brought a hand to cup Frost’s cheek, rubbing away the tear that was forming in the corner of her eye. “Quill is going to be fine. Both of the twins will be, that much I can assure you.”

Frost closed her eyes and sighed. There wasn’t anything she could do but put her faith in Isis’ words. Quill had proven herself many times before, and logically the mare knew she shouldn’t be worrying. “Okay, thank you Isis. Have a nice nap, the both of you,” she said gratefully before closing the door and descending the stairs.

Isis watched the mare go down the stairs before she joined her master in the bedroom for them to rest a bit more before the pack really started going again. However, even knowing that the twins were strong enough to make it, she couldn’t predict if they would be the same afterwards.

Sitting criss-cross in the air of a gray plane, Quill listened to her wise ancestor’s final words before she would eventually leave Quill forever. She don’t know how long it’d been since she had started listening to the tales, but she was at the point of no longer caring. The stories were far too fascinating to her to want to stop listening.

From the stories that her ancestor, Sol Argento, told her, Sol was once a soldier in the Nightmare Rebellion. On the side of Nightmare Moon. Sol’s reason for being on Nightmare’s side was not for Nightmare herself, but for Luna. She and Sol had been close to one another for quite some time before the war.

They would spend whole nights together, since Luna never had an actual court to go to. Sol would take the place of a pillow for Luna to cry on while Isis was asleep from a long day of serving the two princesses. It soon got to the point where Luna simply changed her sleeping patterns to the night so she could go see Sol just outside of High Moon.

Sol admitted to knowing of the existence of Nightmare Moon long before the rebellion. She never said anything, because she had too much faith in Luna. That faith had not diminished in the slightest when Nightmare took over that fateful day. Sol knew that Nightmare was merely acting out Luna’s desires.

Desires to be free. Desires to have her voice heard. Desires to be acknowledged for the things she did for her kingdom with her elder sister. Nightmare had found a way for the mare that she was a twin to. A way that would give Luna everything she desired.

Rebellion.

When it was all said and done, even dying at the hands of a group of dragon-hunters, Sol held no malice towards either Nightmare nor Luna. Sol had followed her heart. She fought under Nightmare’s allegiance because she wanted to. In fact, Nightmare hadn’t forced any soldier to fight for her.

After hearing this, there was one question that Quill had to ask of the elder dragoness. “The name of the dragon-hunter that killed you, did you ever learn it?”

Sol regarded the young dragoness for a long moment, watching Quill’s purple eyes. She saw a look she remembered seeing in Nightmare’s eyes before the life faded from Sol’s body. A look that hungered for revenge, one that wouldn’t stop until it was sated. Sol could’ve not answered the dragoness, but that would have driven her to hunt every dragon-hunter she could learn about. And Sol didn’t want her to fall down that path.

“I doubt you will be able to find their descendant, but it was a stallion named Helosis Sword, of the Solar Guard. I believe he was Celestia’s first general.”

After getting her answer, Quill completely dropped the subject and just simply began asking about times long before Nightmare was ever involved. Times where Sol and Luna could spend time together in peace under Luna’s bright moon.

However, it was hard for them to actually be together with all the dragon hunting. That was one of Luna’s reasons for trying to outlaw the dragon-hunters, so she and Sol would be able to spend time together without worry. Yet Celestia argued against it, never really giving Luna the real reason why.

The truth was another reason Nightmare was able to get through to Luna. Saying that Celestia feared dragons could easily overpower equines, which they both could and did. Sol admitted that she herself had raided several villages that were inside her clan’s territory. Ponies were so vain that some would even dare challenge dragons, trying to remove them with force. Dragons often retaliated without second thought.

This was how Luna met Sol, surprisingly. The younger princess had ventured into Sol’s territory in order to barter a peace between her clan and the villages in their territory. Sol described it as something she sensed inside of Luna, the way she moved, carried herself, spoke, and thought sparked a fire inside of Sol’s body. And Sol later found out that Luna felt the same way about her.

It took a moment for Quill to realize that Sol and Luna had a thing for each other. And from the stories that Sol told her, they’d had it bad. Bad enough for Luna to try and change the way her nation regarded dragons. All told though, it would explain why Quill felt a small attraction towards both the lunar goddesses.

But something bothered Quill. She asked her ancestor how the two could have been together if Sol was… well, as she was. The elder dragoness was massive, far larger than even a handful of ponies put together. Sol merely chuckled at the young dragoness, a rumbling noise that seemed to shake the air around Quill. Sol told her descendant that Luna and her had met when she still was still in her bipedal form, much like Quill was. She had only changed to her elder form with the onset of the rebellion - and that had been to protect the lunar princess. She would have likely found a way to change back at the end of the war, but so far as she knew there was no way of going back. This worried Quill, as she didn’t want to change while she was with Frost.

Afterwards, the two began talking about other matters. Mostly pertaining to what Quill must do in regards to her future with Frost. It seemed that Sol already believed that the two could do it, especially with the new power Quill carried.

However there was one final warning that Sol had for the young dragoness;

“Young one, be forewarned. The path you are on is righteous to an extent, but do not allow your ambitions to blind you. Many before you believed that their dream and goals were just, and many before you started wars that they were none too ready for. I say this not in spite of your dreams, but in warning for what they could lead to. The path you walk is the same your parents walked. They let their ambition blind them, and you know well where that led them. I have faith in you, young one. Stay safe, and do your ancestors proud.”

It was then that the smoky image of the massive elder dragoness began fading away, along with the grey plane she was in. Quill knew that this was the final time she would hear Sol’s voice, and she took her ancestor’s final words to heart.

“So… are you ever going to say something? Maybe some mocking, insults, something to belittle me? Anything?” Spike questioned, as he was trapped in his own watery realm with his ancestor, who was laying on his stomach, his four massive legs folded up under him as he waited ascension to the Four Makers. Spike held himself up with his tail against the water’s surface after he had woken up falling from the sky, his ancestor baring his fangs at him.

After the Spike’s battle with the titanic drake, the green and red scaled dragon had simply laid down on the water. Spike tried all sorts of different ways to get the drake to answer his questions. But all he could ever get was a grumble from the ancestor, and after seemingly hours of doing this, Spike simply tried to wait it out until the elder drake had something to say to him.

Yet he said nothing. For what felt like days, the elder had nothing to say to Spike, and the waiting was starting to get to him. “Say something already! You can’t just trap me in here with you for days, and not say anything!” Spike shouted at the drake who continued to look over to the endless horizon. Spike soon got off of his tail, walking over towards where the drake was looking and grumbled.

“That’s it,” Spike muttered to himself before dashing over in front of the elder drake, kneeling down to the waver as he placed his hand on top of it. “Murum aquarum.” Suddenly, a towering wall of water rose up from the water’s surface behind Spike, cutting off all sight of the horizon that the elder drake seemed to find more interesting than talking to Spike.

The water wall had its intended effect of getting the elder drake to snap out of his daze, glaring down at Spike. “What, Drake, what do you want from me?” he demanded while still glaring down at the drake, the younger drake returning the glare back up at him. “You already have my blessings to continue living whatever life you choose to live. I have even deigned to eliminate the remnants of your ghost-heart, so that will no longer trouble you. So let me fade away in peace already.”

“No way!” Spike shouted at the elder drake, baring his fangs at him in anger at being pushed aside by his ancestor. “I’ve already told you that I don’t care what you think about my life, but you can at least talk to me.” Spike paused to think for a moment as he calmed himself down. “Maybe the reason that the Makers haven’t taken you yet is because you have something that you’re not confessing to.”

“Confess to? Me, an elder drake, confess to you, a hatchling that has yet to truly live?” the elder drake questioned with a faint scoff as he moved his head back away from Spike. “Do you believe that me confessing the sins I committed in my life would give me some redemption?”

“Yeah man, why else would you still be here?” Spike questioned as he crossed his arms over his chest, looking at the elder drake with a disapproving glare. “This is your final time to be conscious about things around you, so you could at least tell your story to your own descendant. It would be better than just sitting here and waiting for whatever is supposed to happen, happen.”

The elder drake was quiet for a moment as he laid his head back down onto the water’s surface, looking the other direction away from Spike. Seeing the drake acting like this, Spike dropped the wall of water behind him, and began slowly walking over towards where the drake’s head was at.

“Well you want to know something? My life feels pretty complete right now,” Spike said as he came to a stop in front of of the massive black dragon. “You took out my ghost-heart, thank you by the way, I became a knight, and oh wait,” Spike laughed, putting on a smug look on his face as he looked into the elder’s red eyes. “I also have two smoking hot mates. Both of which are way more than I could ever ask for.”

“One of which always want to descale you like some small spineless fish,” the elder scoffed, blowing a shot of smoldering ash in Spike’s face.

Spike was able to block out the ash thanks to his airtight secondary eyelids, and the heat was nothing thanks to his scales. “Th-that’s not the point...and we’re working on that!” Spike shouted at the dragon, rolling his eyes when the drake started to laugh at him. “Gurh, you’re hopeless! All you ever do is either mock me or complain about something. It’s almost like… like you never achieved your dreams.”

Once the dragon saw where the young drake was going with what he was saying, the elder drake’s gaze locked onto the younger dragon, eyes going hard. “Hold your tongue, drake,” he growled with green and red embers leaving his nostrils, but soon began coughing from a sudden drain of his energy. “I lived my life the way I wished, and there is nothing I wish to change.”

“No, no, there was something that you wanted to do but didn’t. Or even couldn’t, right?” Spike asked, stepping back from the dragon as he continued to read his facial expression. “Wait a minute… you tried becoming a soldier, or even a knight didn’t you?”

A moment went by before the elder dragon started to laugh uncontrollably, telling Spike that he was wrong. “Haha...ah, I haven’t had an honest laugh like that in a while. No, the Makers didn’t plan for me to be a ‘knight.’” The elder dragon filled the word with scorn. Then his gaze flicked back to the young drake for a moment, before he gave a loud sigh. “However, if you really have to know, I had made a promise to protect my sister’s eggs. I failed.”

“O-oh, well at least we’re getting somewhere,” Spike said as he pierced the water’s surface with the tip of his tail to balance back onto it. “So what?” he continued questioning, crossing his arms over his chest while staring flatly at the elder. “That made you bitter and angry at yourself, and you just turned it on me? That’s not fair.”

“Well, Drake,” the elder spat at Spike, clearly unfazed by Spike’s sudden stare. “Life is not fair. Things don’t go the way you like, gems are not handed to you in a silver bowl, and power - real power - is earned, not taught. Through battles, hardships, strife. This is how the dragon race grows, Drake. Learn it well.”

Spike let a small chuckle that was filled with a small sense of dejection in it as he briefly looked away from the elder drake for a moment. “And you thought the best way to… ‘toughen’ me up, was to treat everything I did as crap and throw me to the side? Don’t you have any pride in you?”

“And what’s that supposed to mean, Drake?” the elder questioned in a snarl, pushing his massive face into Spike’s to glare down into the younger drake’s green eyes. “Answer wisely, for I still can make these next few moments a living nightmare for you.”

‘So much for acting tough,’ Spike gulped as he pushed himself back with this tail, only to land perfectly on the tip. “I’m just saying, if you really had any sense of duty or honor you would have helped me out more than you had. Or at least not put me down all the time.”

“Do you not understand what I just finished saying, Drake?” the elder questioned, slowly snaking towards Spike while the younger drake used his water-magic to scoot away. Only when the elder’s massive tail blocked Spike from behind did he finally stop trying to move. “Dragons grow from strife, pain, battles. A lesson like that needed active practice for someone such as yourself.”

Spike got down from his tail to stand tall in front of the elder, looking up into his eyes to see that he was being serious with what he was saying. “What do you mean?”

“Be honest, Drake,” the elder spat, “Would you really have listened to me if I told you to stop letting everyone use you?” Spike quickly had opened his mouth to answer the elder, only to be stopped. “No, you wouldn’t. If there’s anything I have learned from watching over you these last eighteen years, it is that you are very stubborn, and you don’t like anything to change for you.”

Slowly, Spike closed his mouth with nothing to say. The elder was right, Spike was stubborn, or what he always thought as loyal to Twilight and the other Elements. He was always there for them, more Rarity than the others, but the point remained. Spike wouldn’t even listen to his own sister, so what would make him listen to an elder dragon?

“You were set in your ways,” the elder continued while Spike kept his gaze held to the watery ground. “That was until the God of Disharmony came along and changed your course in life. If you had stayed on the path you once were, you would surely have became the sun mare’s puppet against your own kind.”

‘He’s right. Celestia had known all the answers but lied to us, just so she could use us. Just like Rarity used me...’

“Do you now see why I was harsh with you, Drake?” the dragon questioned with a soft tone of voice that shocked Spike more that the realization that his ancestor actually had a heart. “You wouldn’t have listened to me because you were spoiled. You were ready to waste your life on trivial matters, a slave to those you called friends. You had everything handed to you, and you needed to learn the hard way. You needed to learn what your life was worth, and what was worth your life. So, have you learned?”

Spike clenched his fists at his sides, now angry at himself for not connecting everything from the beginning. “I’ve learned that… nothing is worth keeping if it comes easy.” Spike sighed as he unclenched his fists, looking down at the water. “I have to start taking control. I am an Element, a knight, now. I need to start acting like it.”

“Nigra Vetus.” Spike tilted his head to the side at what the elder drake said, prompting him to continue. “My name, young Spike. Nigra Vetus, do me the honor of remembering, it will you?”

“Yeah, I will,” Spike nodded his head just before the realm of endless ocean began to fade, taking Nigra along with it. The things that elder had said to Spike would once have made him want to stop trying, but he had made it through. He had taken all the blows Nigra had thrown at him, and now he was tougher for it. Spike was ready for anything the world had to throw at him.

So he hoped.

“Fascinating, so you say this Red Metal can convert raw magic into controlled bursts?” Frost asked after finally getting an answer for why Blaze knew as much as she did with dragon culture and magic. That answer turned to be startling for a bit, but Frost had already figured that it was something close to the nature of Blaze taking on an elder dragoness. She just was lucky to have found the dragon dying and to have won over her favor.

After speaking about that for a few more moments, Frost had then turned her attention on the culture Blaze had grown up with. Along with a certain weapon she had been hiding for some time now.

“Why yes, Frost,” Blaze said with a smile towards the changeling half-breed as she continued to rub her six-month pregnant belly. “That’s how the Red Fang is supposed to work. Of course, now it’s a bit more powerful than it was when I was younger. I try not using it too often because the metal ore is severely rare and repairing it is not only difficult, but dangerous.”

“Because of the arcane energy already stored inside of the metal, I’m assuming?” Frost hypothesized, guessing that the Red Fang must have absorbed some of the elder dragoness’ magic along with Blaze. Then again, any magical ore would be dangerous to meld with in the first place, and required special techniques to repair and shape. “I wonder if Night knows how to do it.”

Blaze shrugged her shoulders as she had wondered the same thing. It certainly would be helpful if the bat-pony could do such a thing. “I don’t know dear, but it would-” was all she managed to say before she was stopped by the arcane-door opening up to reveal Quill dressed in her purple jacket and denim jeans.

As the dragoness walked into the room with a stretch of her body, Frost gasped at how much Quill’s body had changed over the week she had been asleep. However, there would be plenty of time to admire the changes later, now was the time to rejoice that her lover was awake. “Quill, you’re awake!” Frost cheered, using a quick teleportation spell to appear right in front of Quill and wrap her arms around the dragoness’ lower back, pulling her in tightly.

“H...h-huh? Frost wh-” Quill was cut off by another long, tired yawn as she gave another stretch of her wings, eventually gaining control of her body again enough to wrap an arm around Frost’s neck. “Oh, Frost. Eh? What’s with the tight hug? Let up a bit, will ya?” she asked with another yawn, still unable to get her bearings. “Bleh, what time is it? Head feels like it’s been hit with a baseball-bat and I got knocked out for days.”

“That’s because you’ve been in your growth-spurt, Quill,” Frost said, looking into Quill purple eyes to see them shining brighter than ever before. “Both you and Spike have been asleep for over a week now, and we were starting to get worried about you two.”

Quill raised an eyebrow at Frost in disbelief. She knew it would have been awhile, but not over a week. “Really, a whole week?” Quill questioned, looking down at the ground for a moment before she turned towards Blaze. “Well, how are things with the pack? I hope our growth-spurts haven’t caused too much trouble, have they?”

“No dear, they haven’t,” Blaze said, sitting back in her chair to admire Quill’s new body. She was now a bit taller, just a little taller than Frost, and her voice seemed to be smoother than it used to be. However, Blaze knew there was more to Quill’s growth than just her physical body. “Wolf, Fang, Spirit, and Veil have been spending most of their days hunting. We already have enough vegetables to last us well into early spring. Though it seems Wolf and the others are taking a break from hunting, for today, at least.”

“So now’s the time to bunker down and survive,” Quill guessed as she walked over towards Blaze with her arm still around Frost’s neck, just now realizing that she was now slightly taller than the mare. Quill took the seat Frost had just been in so the mare could sit in her lap. “And it sounds like everyone has to pull their own weight more, right?”

Blaze shook her head, “No dear,” she softly laughed. “Wolf and the others kind of have an unspoken ‘system’ between them.”

“A system?”

“Yes Quill, a system,” Blaze answered with a slight nod of her head, closing her eyes as she thought of the best way to describe the primal hunting habits the canines had. “It’s like this, they all hunt together as one to take down a few wild deers and boars, but Wolf gets first grabs at the meat before the others.”

Quill took a quick moment to think about this before she had an answer for the reasoning behind it. “It’s because the others are betas, right?” she asked, prompting Blaze to nod her head. Quill now knew that the pack was on pack-heavy rules, as there was little time to do anything else. She had been lucky to wake up during a day on which there was a break. “Hm, well that seems fair. Wolf does keep all of us together and focused on the things that we need to be doing, and he is the alpha.”

“That’s the same thing the others have said,” Blaze answered with a slight smile on her face as she could now see the second part of Quill’s Queen Dragoness growth-spurt, mental processing. That part of her growth was less visible than say, a Salamander’s, but it would also help Quill not always act so impulsively. “I can only say that the same rule applies to you and Spike. So I want the both of you getting used to wearing the winter coats while you’re out. Understand me?”

“Yes ma’am,” Quill said with a small laugh, knowing that Blaze only had what was best for her and Spike in mind. She also didn’t mind that anyway, Quill was never a fan of the cold, so she was going to take every advantage she could to keep out of it. Her wings always got especially sore if she stayed out in the winter air for too long. “So if I’m awake, I can only guess that Spike must be awake too, right?”

“That’s what I’ve been waiting to see,” Blaze said, taking a glance over towards the slab-door again, as if she was expecting either Spike or Cyclone to come through at any moment. “Cyclone promised to either come here to tell me that Spike is up, or have him come over himself. So we’ll get news about that soon. Anyways Quill, how do you feel?”

Quill tilted her head a little before she realized that Blaze was talking about the time she had spent with her ancestor. “I feel pretty great, actually. Oh wait, there is something I wanted to talk about. Sol Argento, my ancestor, apparently had a thing for Princess Luna and, inherently, Princess Nightmare. And she was a soldier in the Nightmare Rebellion.”

“Well that explains a lot,” Blaze giggled, joking about all the times Quill had put the lunar goddesses in a favorable light over the solar one. “But really, that’s something quite incredible, I hope you got a lot cleared up for you.”

“Oh yeah, she cleared up a lot,” Quill said with a mischievous giggle as she moved her hand to Frost’s side and gave it a soft squeeze, getting the mare to jump a little. A blush soon came to the mare’s face the moment she felt Quill’s love, making her feel a bit hot underneath the gray jacket that she was wearing. “She even helped me figure out a few new tricks, as well.”

“Well that’s great to hear, sweetie. I’m sure that all of-” Once again, Blaze was cut off by the slab-door opening up, and Spike walking in. Both Frost and Quill had to take a second glance at Spike, as he was now a full four inches taller than either of them remembered. His head-spines were now directed back, and Quill made a mental note to joke about how he always ran a hand back along them.

None of the females could see his body due to the cotton-white winter pelt coat he was wearing. However, Blaze knew from the resources she had in High Moon that Salamander Drakes, like Spike, gained slight muscle definition and growth after their spurts.

“Dude, who hit you with the handsome stick?” Quill joked with a wolf call, laughing moments after with Spike merely shaking his head and smiling as he walked over towards the three pack members.

“My ancestor Nigra did,” he retorted, wrapping his tail around the leg of a chair that was at Blaze’s table, and sitting down with a sigh after he had turned it sideways. “I swear, I’ve never met someone so stubborn, so bullheaded, and yet so right before in my life.”

Quill raised an eyebrow towards Spike as she leaned over towards her twin, smirking. “Really? There’s no one else that you would like to say that to? Even someone that’s related to you?” she joked, surprised when Spike shook his head. “Really, he was that bad?”

“Not bad, just had a jackass way of doing things,” Spike said as he turned his head up to the stone ceiling with a sigh of green flames. “What makes me even more mad about it was that he was right. Only about a few things, but they were an important few.”

“Geez,” Quill laughed at her brother from saying, so far as she knew, his first curse word. “That bad then,” she said with another soft laugh after seeing the look on Spike’s face. A look that she knew meant Spike was right and wrong at the same time. “Okay, so he was right and not right. And you were right and not right. I’d say that evens out, right?”

“I guess,” Spike shrugged his shoulders as he looked down towards Quill to see that she hadn’t changed as much as he had. She was taller, for sure, but visibly she still looked much the same. Then again, she’d always been more in-shape than Spike had. “So where is everyone? Cy and Veil weren’t there when I got up, and I haven’t seen anyone else.”

“Most likely asleep, Spike. And I had everyone temporarily move out of your rooms to not bother you in your growth-spurt sleep,” Blaze answered for the drake as she sat back in her chair, letting out a sigh afterwards. She soon sparked her horn in a soft red light, bringing her book to her so she could pick her reading back up. “Cyclone was decidedly not happy about that, but her and Veil have been doing fine. Veil told me they took one of the rooms next to yours, so that’s likely where they are. I believe today is going to be fairly slow unless something dangerous enough to wake up Wolf moves into the valley. Other than that, we might as well enjoy this peace while we have it.”

The other three nodded their heads in agreement at what Blaze has said, especially after the time the twins had been out for the last week. “Oh right, Quill,” Spike said, getting Quill’s attention away from eying Frost as he pulled out a rolled up pair of scrolls. One had a purple starburst on it. The other was sealed by a symbol that looked like fire. “These were laying beside my bed when I woke up. And it’s not too good.”

After hearing the serious tone in Spike’s voice, Quill took the letters from the drake’s hand, and undid the seal on the first parchment to read:

Dear Spike and Quill Dragul,

I have both good and bad news as of now.

The good news is, we finally got Angel to willingly give up the names of the remaining five unicorns, and the exact location of their base of operations inside the Swayback Mountains. Celestia has been going over a battle plan to raid the location as soon as they possibly can. But we’re having issues with that due to a number of the guard being injured, in the reserves, or off duty at the moment.

In light of this, I have been taking a more active duty as princess, and been helping out wherever I could. And that place seems to be with Obsidian’s team in the Engineer Core of the guard. I’ve been serving as a replacement for Obsidian’s right hand mare, Gizmo - I believe her name is.

I have to say, it’s been tough, and a little hectic with having to ask the girls to watch over Amethyst a few times for me. She says she doesn’t mind it. She’s actually taken a liking to cooking with Pinkie Pie at Sugarcube Corner. Even Dusk’s marefriends have been helping look after her. But still, I would like to be the one to take care of her myself. Unfortunately, my duties as princess are too important to ignore. That said, I refuse to make the same mistake again that I did with you two. I won’t let that happen again.

Anyways, Obsidian was able to push for a project to be started with his team, but it’s slow going. There isn’t a lack of manpower, or resources. The trouble starts with what exactly we’re making. I vowed not to tell anyone what it is under any circumstances, but it’s big, and could win this thing for us in one shot. Literally.

We’ve been having to run at least three test on everything before we even move on to the next step. Now, I know how you guys feel about slow progress, but this is for a good reason.

A tactical strike is being worked out as I’m writing this. It would go faster if we have a more accurate photo of the area, but Celestia believes that she knows the place from some time ago. I guess that’s better than nothing.

Okay, so bad news time. You know how Dusk and you two have been getting your Elements? Well, apparently, the enemy, which Angel has named as the Followers of the Fallen Star, have somehow figured a way to duplicate the Elements’ power, to an extent. Again, it’s duplicated, but I believe that their goal is to create their own ‘Dark Elements’ and use them to overthrow Celestia.

We have no idea how far along they are with this, or even if this is true or not. However, at this point, no one wants to take any chances. I know that you guys will want to end this as soon as possible, given that this is happening in your backyard, but please be careful.

P.S: You guys really need to stop by sometime. Little Amethyst have been asking about you guys constantly, and it would be nice to catch up. Dusk says that you may be going through your growth-spurts, and I know the girls will want to see you nearly as much as I do.

“Okay, that is kinda bad, but that’s not too bad,” Quill said as she rolled up the first letter, looking over at Spike who knew more about what’s been going on than she did. “It’s nothing that I really expected, and I wish Celestia would give us a bit more time, but it’s not anything we can’t handle.”

“Oh yeah? Read the next one.”

Not liking the tone Spike had regarding the second letter, Quill quickly tossed the first one aside so she could undo the next one. There wasn’t much on this one, just a couple of lines. Lines that were nowhere near Twilight’s neat handwriting, or anyone else’s she had ever seen before. And a message that held something Quill didn’t quite understand.

Dear Dragul Twins,

Please, forgive my handwriting. It is late and I have struggled to find the correct words that I wish to use to convey the wonderful joy and anticipation swelling within my chest. Even still, I write these words with a slow and decided hand, and I hope that is enough to suffice for my subpar writing.

I never thought I would have the chance to meet you two. Our Grandmother told me that your egg was lost to us forever after the monarch of Equestria attacked and killed most of our parents’ clan - them included, sadly. And then I learned that you were hatched by magic… it was hard for me to accept it. I wanted to believe the news, I wanted to so much. The years passed much faster than I expected and more proof of who you two were came in. I wanted to think of the best way we could met, but it seems I’ve failed to contain my joy and hope to see you two. Even now, as I attempt to write this letter for the fourth time, my mind is still reeling on what to say. Funny, all of those classes on royal demeanor and I can’t even keep my composure when writing this letter. Nevertheless, I know you two must have many questions and I wish I could answer them all in this one letter, but I need to see you face to face first.

I am terribly sorry for the shortness of this letter, but please, whenever you can, contact me so that we can meet.

Quill continued to read over the letter a few more times, before she simply had to place it face-down on the table with a stupefied look on her face. “I don’t...how…” Quill gave up on trying to understand the letter and its origins, merely sighing as she pinched the bridge of her nose.

“What do you want to do about it Quill?” Spike asked, sliding the letter back over towards him, and wrapping it back up with the same fire symbol that it had been sealed with. “I mean, you know that-”

“I know what it means, Spike. I’m just trying to figure out how and when to deal with it,” Quill answered with another sigh as she quickly thought about everything that was going on right now, and how this letter could potentially affect everything she had planned. “We sure enough can’t ignore this, but we can’t get distracted from everything else going on right now. I say we deal with it after this whole unicorn thing is over.”

“Alright, that seems best anyway,” Spike nodded his head in agreement as he knew Quill didn’t want to blow this chance, and neither did he. “From the way everything’s going with the occultists, I give it two months, tops. I’ll send a letter back saying that we can get in touch after that. What do you think?”

Quill closed her eyes as she thought about this. There were only five unicorns left, most of which had to be in hiding somewhere, and were being targeted from just about all sides. And of that five, Quill wasn’t really sure how strong or weak they were, even if they were able to make these ‘Dark Elements.’

“Better make it three or four months Spike,” Quill finally answered, “I know we want this done in less time, but…”

“It’s not looking like that, is it?” Spike questioned, prompting a nod out of Quill, and sighing from the answer. “This can’t go on forever you know. We need a way to move things along if we’re going to stop them from reaching their goals Quill.”

“I know that Spike, everyone knows that. But we can’t do anything until we know exactly what Celestia is going to do,” Quill said, hating the idea of having to rely on Celestia’s moves with theirs. However, Quill wanted to take down the occultist group with as little risk as possible. So they needed the rest of Equestria backing them. “It sucks, but we can’t do much without their help.”

“Then we need to do something to speed things up,” Spike said, scratching the side of his head out of habit for when he was thinking. “How about we… I dunno, provoke Celestia to make the final move? That way we could know exactly how and when to make our move.”

Quill again closed her eyes to think about what Spike was saying, sighing when she realized there wasn’t anything they could do. “No Spike, we can’t do something like that.” She took another moment to think about how everything was happening and the timing of it. “Okay, we stick to the same plan as before. Nothing’s changed, we just now have to keep a closer tab on Celestia’s moves.”

Spike sighed after hearing the obvious; that they couldn’t do much without the help of Celestia and the other Elements. “That sounds like a lot of work, think we can pull it off?”

“I’m sure you guys can,” Blaze said, closing her book after listening to the twins plan around whatever condition their enemy and allies were in. She could only guess that what they were talking about now was the same enemy they faced in Canterlot over two months ago. “You’ve come this far, and it sounds like you’re not fighting alone. So this isn’t something to worry too much about, right?”

“Yeah you’re right Blaze, it’s not going to be easy, but it’s not like we’re on the losing side,” Spike said with a confident smile on his face while Quill continued to think about their plans for beating the occultists.

However, she knew she needed to think about this further, much further.

“So I guess we’re done with the planning, right Quill?” Spike asked, not getting a response out of Quill until Frost had to nudge Quill on her shoulder.

“Huh, oh yeah. Everything stays the same Spike,” she said with a nod after being broken out of her thoughts by Frost nudging her shoulder. “Just tell our ‘sister’ or whoever it is that we’ll contact her at a better time in three or four months. Also say that we’ll meet at the summit of the Swayback Mountains.”

“Alright Quill,” Spike said with a returning nod before he got up from his seat. “Anything you want to send to Twi and the others?”

Quill thought for a moment before saying, “Tell them that we’ll be over sometime this week if we can. If it looks like we can’t, Spike, could you send a letter asking Twilight to tell us the moment Celestia is ready to make a move?”

“Sure thing Quill, that’s our best bet anyways, right?” Spike joked, getting a small laugh out of Quill as she waved him off. “Alright, I’ll get it done. I’m going to go find Cy or Veil, see ya guys later.”

Quill waved her brother off as she took hold of her mare’s hip. “See ya Spike. Tell the others I said hey for me,” she called out to him as he reached the the arcane-slab door. He waved back to Quill, giving her a thumbs up in affirmation before he slipped past the opening door, hurrying to get out of the chill of winter’s grip. Once the drake was gone, Blaze closed her book, and got ready to stand up from her chair.

When she saw this, Quill started to get out of her chair while Frost slid off her lap, both moving to take one hand of Blaze’s to help the pregnant mare up from her chair. “Thank you, girls,” she said after getting up from the chair with a small sigh. The three then made their way to the door with Quill in front while Frost and Blaze talked about magical spells.

Once they were at the two bedroom doors, the three parted ways as Blaze went into her bedroom with Wolf and Isis while Frost went into her bedroom, Quill following right behind.

“Frost, we need to talk,” Quill started after she closed the door. Frost turned around to look at her lover. “Could you, y’know,” she said, nodding towards the door for Frost to put the sound-proof barrier on the room.

“Oh right,” Frost said after understanding what Quill was hinting towards, closing her eyes as she sparked her horn in it’s ice-blue glow for a moment before the barrier was in place. “Alright Quill, what is it that you wanted to speak with me about?”

“Your dreams, Frost,” Quill started slowly, taking a step towards Frost to place her hands on the mare’s shoulders, and looking her straight in the eyes. “We need to start talking about them.”

Frost stared deep into Quill’s purple eyes for a moment. The topic of conversation surprised her, but it was not completely unexpected. “Quill, we have. We just don’t have a full plan yet. You know that we still have to find a starting point. I’ve been having ideas but-”

“That’s not what I meant, Frost,” Quill said, moving one of her hands to Frost’s lower back while the other one shot out to take hold of one of the mare’s wrists. Quill brought her lover’s knuckles up to her lips and softly ran them across her lips, enjoying feeling Frost against her after the time spent with her ancestor. Taken back by Quill’s sudden move, Frost gave a small gasp and then a soft sigh. She looked up at Quills eyes, and met the pure fire in her bright purple eyes. Quill finally spoke again, “What I meant was that I want to ask you to postpone taking on your mother a little bit longer. That letter… it brought up something important that me and Spike need to look into. I hope you can understand, Frost.”

Frost soon calmed down from the sudden thrill she was getting from Quill, slowly embracing her dragoness. “I do, my love,” she said, pressing her forehead against Quill’s, signing.

Quill smiled and hugged Frost tighter. “Great, thank you Frost.” She closed her eyes and sighed, basking in the warmth of her lover. It was then that Quill felt the effects of a week without her marefriend’s hold. As inspirational and comforting it was to speak freely with her ancestor, Quill missed the comfort of Frost’s… hands groping at her butt? “Uhh... “

“S-so hungry. I’m so hungry, Quill,” Frost hissed in her ear. “I wanted to give you time to get used to your new body but… but… this power coming from you is too much to bear. And being around a powerful mare like Blaze for so long, without you grounding me, is almost torture.” Frost squeezed Quill’s toned rear, slipping a hand into her pants to give the dragoness’ scales a squeeze through the fabric of her panties. “Please, love. I don’t know how much longer I can hold myself back.”

A hot red blush colored Quill’s purple cheeks, and she groaned from the sensation of Frost’s fangs nipping at her neck. She was still a little sore and stiff from the week-long sleep, but the prospect of having sex for the first time in what felt like forever was too tempting for her to pass up. “Well... I don’t know, Icy. I’m pretty stiff, don’t know how well I’ll be able to perform for you right now.”

Quill reached down to the hem of the black pants Frost was wearing, hooking her thumbs inside and tugging them down a little. Her lips turned up into a smile upon hearing Frost hissing. She tugged down a little more but stopped just enough to tease the mare before moving her hands back up to the mare’s bare hips.

“Q-Quill… don’t tease me. Not now,” Frost panted. Her horn glowed a faint blue light as Quill placed a soft kiss on her neck. Quill knew just how to tease her, and the very thought made Frost squirm. Hissing in frustration, Frost suddenly pushed Quill back onto the bed, straddling her hips and pressing her lips tightly against Quill’s.

Frost quickly darted her tongue into Quill’s mouth, meeting with the dragoness’ in the middle. Her hips thrust against Quill’s leg as her hands roamed over Quill’s body, attempting to strip her. However, Frost couldn’t seem to disrobe Quill as fast as she wanted to, hissing in frustration and desire.

She pushed herself from Quill’s lips, panting and gasping for breath as her eyes were wide and lust-hungry. “I need you now, Quill,” Frost demanded, but it sounded weak to Quill, since the mare moaned the moment she opened her mouth.

Quill laughed as she brought her hands to Frost’s thick thighs, which were almost straining against the jeans she was wearing. She grinned as she grazed her claws up into the gray jacket Frost was wearing, tickling the mare’s flat stomach. Frost’s body shivered, her back arching as her wings grew stiff. A week without Quill had done more than just make her hungry. She had never felt so sensitive before! Her hands shot towards Quill’s, pulling them up to her breasts, moaning and shivering when the dragoness grasped her large chest.

“Y’know, if someone was kind enough to work out some… kinks in my wings and back, I’d-”

“Yes! Say no more, my love,” Frost quickly said, sparking her horn and teleporting away. Quill sat up in the bed, blinking abruptly. She cocked her head to the side as she wondered where the mare went off to. However, before she could utter a single word, a bright blue flash alerted her of the mare’s return.

Frost stood in front of her with two orbs of water hovering above her hands. Her body was stripped of clothing, her pants and jacket lay neatly folded at her feet. Quill’s eyes hungrily gazed up and down Frost’s naked body, licking her lips at the mare’s hardened nipples on her heavy chest and the faint scent of the mare’s feminine musk filling her nose.

Quill’s eyes drew back up to Frost’s face. The mare’s eyes were half-lidded, her lips were tugged into a subtle grin, and her horn shone faintly with arcane power. After giving Quill a full reminder of her body, Frost closed her eyes and started swaying her hips slowly while she waved her hands around. The spheres of water followed her hands’ fluid motions, creating short trails flowing around Frost’s swaying body. Turning her body to the side, Frost opened an eye to see Quill quickly disrobing and giving her a ‘come hither’ look.

She happily obliged her younger lover. Frost slowly continued her hypnotic dance towards Quill, swinging her hips in a manner that clearly enticed her dragoness. She clasped her hands together above her chest, bringing the water into a single large sphere. With an arch of her back, Frost quickly pulled her hands apart as she took the last step to Quill. She slowly waved her hands in small circles, snaking them down to Quill’s chin.

Frost’s middle finger grazed down Quill’s jaw, tracing down her neck, collarbone and the gap between her now-fuller C-cup breasts. Quill sighed and shivered as the chilled liquid, cold as an ice-cube, immediately soothed the areas it touched. When Frost removed her finger, the calming sensation left Quill’s body, forcing a whimper out of her while her lover flashed her fangs. “Lay down love. Let your troubles slip away and let me make you feel all better,” the enchanting scorpio-mare whispered.

Quill didn’t waste a moment before she lay on her stomach, her head resting in her arms with her wings spread outwards. Giggling, Frost straddled Quill’s lower back and gently brought her hands down. Initially, Quill gasped from the cold water touching her back, causing her wings to flex upwards. But she grit her teeth and powered through it until the liquid started feeling much better on her scales.

Once she saw her lover was accustomed to the water’s temperature, Frost started kneading her hands against Quill’s back, already knowing where to add pressure from previous experience with the dragoness’ body. Quill hummed as Frost started working her magic, literally and figuratively, into her stiff joints. She closed her eyes and gave herself over to the pleasure and relief her body was feeling. Soft moans and coos left her mouth as Frost continued to demonstrate her massaging abilities.

While Quill was allowing her mind to slip away, she failed to notice that Frost’s horn started glowing brighter. The mare quickly pooled magic into the tip of her horn before allowing the energy to surge down her body. Her lips quivered as the magic filled her nether regions with pleasure. It slowly became harder for Frost to keep focus on massaging Quill while she filled her body with magic. She was forced to swallow down her moans so as to not alert the dragoness underneath her to what she was doing.

The chilled orbs of water and magic were enough to ensure that Quill felt as though she was going to fall asleep again. “Mmm… d-do the wing-joints too Frost,” Quill moaned, her tail wrapping around Frost’s midsection. However, she didn’t get a response from the mare, nor did her hands move from her lower back and sides. Thinking the mare was planning on getting to it later, Quill patiently waited and enjoyed Frost’s cool hands, though she did peek an eye open look back at the mare. Moments later, Frost still remained at her lower back, doing the same squeezing motions. Looking forward again, Quill thought, ‘Okay… what’s-’

Quill’s thoughts were interrupted when a deep moan forced her ear-frills to perk up. What followed was the feeling of a second type of liquid on her back, this one much, much hotter than the first and a lot thicker in comparison. It didn’t take half a brain for Quill to guess what Frost did, but she still looked back over her shoulder, confirming her thoughts.

Her eyes were immediately drawn to the newly-grown equine member throbbing above Frost’s glistening slit. Frost’s cheeks were shining bright red as she smiled and panted lightly. “O-oh bother, I had meant to surprise you, but it seems I couldn’t contain myself,” she said in an apologetic-sounding tone. Giggling, Frost bent over Quill’s back, sliding her hands up to her ivory seed. Frost’s seed was quickly absorbed into the blobs of water on Quill’s back, replacing the lukewarm feeling with the cold sensation the water brought for a moment until Frost removed her hands from Quill’s back.

She held them up to her face, slowly sending the orbs to the space between her palms and closing the distance. As the orb became smaller, the temperature dropped, causing a crystallization effect to start from the center and rapidly expand outwards. In moments, a small ball of ice hovered in the air, cooling the air around it, and leaving a chilled frost to wash down from it and onto Quill’s back.

Quill shuddered from the fog wafting on her back until Frost sparked her horn and teleported the ball somewhere else - presumably outside. “Icy… what’s the big idea here? Ain’t I usually the one that grows a dick?” she asked, blushing as she couldn’t take her eyes off the leaking member on her lover.

“Yes… but you always give me so much love, I wanted to have my turn,” Frost hissed, quickly sitting up off Quill to turn her over on her back. The surprised dragoness couldn’t do much more than keep from laying down on her wings the wrong way. Once on her back, Quill looked up at Frost as she grasped the dragoness’ long legs, her fingers grazing down the scales on Quill’s tight thighs, while Frost’s member pressed against Quill’s virgin slit.

Frost gasped at the heat coming from Quill. Her hips jerked upwards in response, causing Quill to whimper. “Mm, it’s been so long without your touch that I‘ve actually forgotten how it felt.” She stared down at her onyx-colored shaft throbbing against her lover, hands running up to Quill’s slender hips. “Don’t worry love, I will be gentle. Unlike you are, sometimes,” Frost giggled as she sensed Quill’s hesitation. “And I’ve modified the spell so you can’t get with child from it, love.”

“Ha! Wh-who said I was worried?” Quill laughed mockingly, gripping the bed sheets below her.

However, Frost giggled at her lover, knowing just how she really felt. She stood up on her knees and leaned over Quill’s body, lining the flared tip of her thick shaft against Quill’s flower, her breasts squishing against Quill’s. Their eyes locked as Quill bit her quivering bottom lip and threw her head up when she felt Frost’s tip pushing against her outer walls.

Frost giggled again and cupped Quill’s cheek, whispering, “You just did.”

Quill quietly cursed as she turned her head to the side, blushing brighter than before. She knew she couldn’t lie or keep anything hidden from Frost, that had been proven to be impossible many times before. And she would be lying if she said that she hadn’t thought about how it felt to be on the receiving end.

But this was so weird!

“Just… just kiss me when you go inside, alright?”

“And a nibble?”

Quill laughed a little, turning her head back to face Frost and nodding. “Yeah, a nibble.” Frost smiled and planted a slow kiss on her lover’s lips, gently stroking her cheek lovingly. She slowly thrust her hips into Quill’s tight slit, both lovers moaning from the alien sensations. Even with just the tip and a few inches inside, Frost felt like she was going to melt from the heat wrapping tightly around her, and her mind started to blur from the whirlwind of intense emotions coming from Quill.

Underneath her, Quill’s body tensed up the moment Frost got her flared head inside. She could feel her wings flexing a bit but she forced herself to control them while Frost slowly inserted more. There was a lot more pain than she thought there would be, but she’d been through worse. Quill broke the kiss, her back arching as she felt Frost’s tip brush against her hymen. Biting back tears, Quill gripped the bed sheets in one hand and Frost’s head in the other, taking a moment to breath.

“O-o-okay Frost… A little bit of that venom would help right now,” she hissed through her teeth.

Frost didn’t say anything as she smiled, moving to Quill’s exposed neck, bringing her fangs down on the soft scales, breaking through with a little bit of effort. The moment she injected a fair dose of her venom inside Quill’s bloodstream, Frost thrust her hips one final time, taking Quill’s virginity.

Quill’s arms wrapped around Frost’s head and neck, keeping her lover’s fangs buried in her neck. She grit her teeth to keep from biting on her tongue while a slow trickle of blood seeped out of her. When the onset of pain ebbed away, Quill relaxed her body and opened her mouth to gasp for air. She lost her grip around Frost as her strength wavered.

When she sensed her lover overcoming the pain, Frost removed her fangs and licked over the bite mark to coat it in a blood-clotting enzyme. Her hand dipped down to Quill’s lower abdomen as she sparked her magic to treat the pain Quill was still feeling. “Quill, love, are you alright?” Frost asked after kissing Quill’s cheek and bite mark. It took Quill a moment to answer, but she managed to give quick, short nods while she continued to grit her teeth and keep her eyes clenched closed. Frost smiled and moved to lick away the tears away from her eyes. “That’s my love, always putting on a brave face.”

“Don’t… don’t patronize me, Frost.” Quill had never felt so full before, she even could feel Frost’s heartbeat through her throbbing member inside her. She blushed at those lewd thoughts, which only served to turn her on even more. “You can start moving now.”

Frost nodded her head and sweetly kissed Quill’s lips before pulling her hips back. Quill groaned as the full feeling she had faded, causing her hips to thrust upwards in a vain attempt to recapture it. She whimpered in disappointment that was quickly replaced with a deep moan when Frost started lurching her hips forward. She gasped at the full feeling in her very core, moaning when Frost started building a slow rhythm she could get accustomed to.

Quill moved her hands down Frost’s body, grabbing her breasts and squeezing them as she moaned, “C-c’mon, more.” The mare on top grunted as she struggled to give her lover the pounding she was craving. Even though she just started, Frost could feel a familiar tightness growing in her lower belly. Moving inside Quill was very difficult for her as the dragoness’ hot tight walls clamped around her, almost stopping her movement altogether. And that wasn’t even counting the lustful emotions she was being fed from Quill.

“E-e-even when you’re on the bottom, y-you still make me want to melt, Quill!” Frost cried out as she let out a spurt of pre inside Quill, causing the dragoness to moan. More of the hot pre squirted out from Frost’s flared tip, making it easier for her her to move in Quill’s tight hole. She sat up from Quill’s body and started thrusting her hips with renewed energy.

Tears of effort swelled up in Quill’s eyes from the sudden roughness, but thanks to Frost’s venom, whatever pain she might have felt was numbed, leaving only pleasure in it’s wake. Her legs wrapped around Frost’s body and her hands darted to the mare’s thrusting hips to help steady her movements. Frost’s eyes crossed as she continued to relentlessly thrust into Quill’s tight walls, vainly trying to stave off the mounting pleasure building in her loins.

However, her body quickly grew tired as she was not used to being deep inside of Quill. Thankfully, Quill wasn’t fairing much better as her legs trembled around the scorpio mare’s waist. Plumes of smoke seeped from her nose, her mouth filled with involuntary puffs of fire, and her walls clamped down tightly around Frost, all signs of her impending climax. The sensation was so similar to when she was the one with the magically-conjured member, but in this case it felt as though the pressure had nowhere to go. It felt as though it was just going to keep building, and building, and building until…

“Nugh, lo-love, you’re squeezing me too tightly!” Frost gasped, breaking Quill out of her thoughts. “I w-won’t be able to…” Her voice trailed off into a long moan as her hips jerked violently. Quill’s bottom lip quivered as she felt Frost’s hot pre seeping out of her walls and trailing down to her tailhole, causing her to shiver and lose what little strength she kept after the venom had taken its effect. She was helpless to stop Frost from continuing her uneven thrusts as her own mounting pleasure clouded her mind.

Frost bent over Quill’s body and quickly took her lips into a deep kiss as she thrust inward a final time before her entire body rocked with euphoric release. Her flared tip engorged with blood and a rush of hot, sticky seed, filled Quill’s dragonesshood. Quill’s body tensed up from being filled with her lover’s seed, the feeling far more fulfilling than anything she had felt before. Her eyes rolled up as her own release hit, shivering and shaking from orgasmic bliss.

By the time Frost’s climax was over with, the mare had let Quill’s lips go, allowing the both of them to catch their breaths in heavy pants and gaps. Eventually, in a weak tone of voice, Frost was the first to speak. “S-s-so full.”

“Wh… which one of us?” Quill giggled as she wrapped her arms around Frost’s back, snuggling close to the mare.

Frost giggled a moment after she caught the breath to do so, nuzzling her cheek against Quill’s. “Th-thank you, love… for trusting me so much. I’d have died underneath that tree if it wasn't for you... and even still, I would’ve been alone in that cold wet cave.”

Quill sighed as she tangled her fingers into Frost’s icy-blue mane. “Don’t go getting cheesy on me now Icy.” She giggled, moving her legs around Frost’s. However, she simply got a sigh out of the mare, which forced her to sigh herself. “I did what I had to back then, simple as that.”

Frost smiled as she gently stroked Quill’s scarred cheek. “Humph, as if it was simple. Still Quill, thank you.”

“Don’t mention it, Frost. I love you,” Quill whispered, planting a kiss on the bottom of Frost’s jaw. “Oh, and next time we have sex, I’m on top. Sorry to say but you’re a quick shooter, Frost.”

“I-it’s not my fault you were so incredibly tight,” Frost whined. “I think I just need more practice.”

Quill laughed at Frost’s expense, moving a hand down the mare’s body. She rubbed over the soft scales on the mare’s tail before gently squeezing her plump ass. Frost squealed from Quill’s claws sinking into her flesh. “Still though, I’m sure both you and I enjoy me on top. That said, switching and trying new stuff is never bad. Fair?”

“Fair,” Frost giggled as she blushed, nuzzling into Quill’s neck and closing her eyes to take a quick nap. Seeing the mare going to sleep with a peaceful smile, Quill closed her own eyes to do the same.

“Brr, need to buy some thicker boots,” Spike said to himself as he closed the large set of doors to the entrance room of the mansion after getting back from the temple. Winter certainly had hit the Everfree pretty hard, as everything was covered in a pure white blanket of snow and ice. Spike was lucky that his old boots still fit him somewhat, but they were far too uncomfortable for him to be wearing them much longer.

“Wonder if anyone is up yet?” he mused as he began walking into the center of the entrance, looking up to the support beams to see that Peewee and Cinder were fast asleep nuzzled against each other closely. Thinking that his bird had the right idea, Spike started making his way to the hall where his room was to try and find Cyclone and Veil.

However, at the sound of footsteps at the stairs, Spike stopped to see Fang, whose fur had become paler in pigment, carrying a blanket-wrapped Night Blade in his arms, with Kiri following behind. “Oh hey Fang, good to see that you three are doing fine,” Spike greeted while Fang came to a stop at the second flight of the stairs, staring at Spike. “What? Do I have something on my face?”

“Spike?” Fang slowly asked in a very scratchy voice, causing Night to roll around in his arms to see if the drake really had awakened. “Spike, is that really you man? Heh, almost didn't recognize you with that new voice of yours.”

Spike chuckled as he scratched his cheek, clearing his throat before saying, “Heh, well thanks Fang. So where’re you taking Night, anyways? She don’t seem to want to do anything.”

A hiss came through Night’s fangs as she turned back around to the soft warmth of Fang’s thicker winter coat. Spike reeled his head back from the mare’s hissing, worried that he might have said something he shouldn’t have. “Don’t mind Nightie, she’s just really nocturnalish during the winter. She’s actually been worried about you and Quill. We all have.”

“Oh well, sorry to make ya’ll worry like that. Me and Quill will try not to fall asleep for a week and a half again,” he joked while Fang continued to make his way down the steps with Kiri following. “So where are you guys going, anyways?”

Fang nodded his head down the hall to Spike’s right side. “Me and Spirit fixed up a lounging area with Alpha’s help. So we’re just gonna chill by the fire to pass the time. You?”

“I’m gonna see if Cy or Veil are up now. Might meet you guys there,” Spike answered, getting a nod from Fang before he took off with his grumbling bat-mare. Spike chuckled to himself again before he started to walk down the left hall to his room.

Opening a door at random, luck would have it that the first room he chose had the two females he was looking for. A blush came onto Spike’s face when he saw what was happening on the bed.

“Mm…C-Cy, slow down will ya?” Veil panted. Cyclone was on top of her, grasping Veil’s breasts with her claws while she nibbled on the hound’s ear. Spikes eyes went wide when we saw that all Cyclone had on was an overly large, blue shirt that seems about ready to fall off her shoulders. The pale dragoness’ rear was mostly hidden by the shirt, and what that didn’t cover, her tail did. Veil only had on a pair of pants, Cyclone apparently having removed the hound’s shirt at some point. Spike could feel a fire growing in his chest, looking at Veil’s toned stomach and revealed breasts. Her chest wasn’t nearly as large as Cyclone’s, but the hound was definitely a beauty. Veil had her hands on Cyclone’s slender shoulders, not really trying to push the dragoness off. “A-At least wait until Drake gets… mmmf, back.”

Apparently the two hadn’t heard the door open, because Cyclone continued to fondle Veil’s breasts, in much the same way Spike had been wanting to for a while now. The hound hadn’t let him touch her like Cyclone had, but Spike wasn’t going to push the hound. Taking a quick gulp, Spike dropped all nervousness from his system as he closed the door behind him, making his presence known with a simple, “Ahem.”

Both females jumped at the deep sounding voice, fearing that it was either Fang or Spirit at the door. However, when they looked back, one was shocked while the other one was thrilled. “D-Drake! H-how long have you been standing over there? Get over here and get Cyclone off of me,” Veil whined, which was uncharacteristic for her, making him chuckle at the distressed hound.

While Veil was glaring at Spike, Cyclone got off Veil, and started to claw the entire way towards Spike. A bead of sweat went down the side of Spike’s head, his eyes forced follow Cyclone’s body as she continued to seductively make her way to him with a small hiss.

When Cyclone finally made her way to Spike, she slowly slid up Spike’s body, moving her hands over the exquisitely hardened chest on her drake. Even with her standing up all the way, Spike was now nearly a full head taller than she was.

“Oh Spikey, we’ve missed seeing you awake,” Cyclone purred as she wrapped her arms around Spike’s neck. Cyclone took in a deep breath of Spike’s heavier scent, quivering as she breathed out.

Spike merely smirked to himself a bit as he took hold of Cyclone’s sides, lowing his eyes to look down at her. “Oh, is that so? Is there anything I can do to make up for that?” he asked while Cyclone was busy licking and breathing in Spike’s scent again. Her hand slid down Spike’s body to take hold of the thick, hard, outline that was beginning to show between Spike’s thighs.

Taking the less-than-subtle hint, Spike pushed his lips against Cyclone’s while she slowly began stroking his length with eagerness. Spike followed the dragoness up by moving his hands around and down to the base of Cyclone’s tail, getting encouraging noises from her. He soon moved his hands down to her bare white ass-cheeks, taking hold of the smooth scales in his hands. Cyclone squealed with joy against Spike’s lips from his boldness, causing her to become more forceful.

“Mm, h-harder,” Cyclone moaned through the lip-smacking kisses before she was sealed in another, more furious one. Her knees started to feel weak when Spike’s hands forced her lower lips to part slightly as Spike kneaded her ass-cheeks.

Spike could feel her legs trembling, so he moved his hands from Cyclone’s soft rump down to her thick thighs. Giving them a squeeze, Spike forced another squeal of joy out of Cyclone as she was lifted off the ground.

Cyclone quickly reached for the hook of the fur-pelt hooded overcoat around Spike’s neck, twisting the loop undone to allow it to fall off of Spike’s body. She grabbed the hem of Spike’s dark-gray shirt, nearly tearing it off as she quickly pulled it from his body while she held onto Spike with her legs. Once the shirt was up and over Spike’s head, both Cyclone and Veil gave a small gasp at the more defined muscles on all over Spike’s upper body, which had been stripped of all fat.

Spike chuckled from Cyclone’s response to his matured body, his hands moving back to her soft rump. Cyclone was broken out of her daze with a soft moan as her untapped flower began leaking clear dripples of nectar down onto Spike’s jeans.

“I take it that you like what you’re seeing?” Spike asked, taking Cyclone’s blush and moans as a sign that she was enjoying the treatment, since that was all he had to go on.

Cyclone opened her mouth to answer but was cut off by another moan when Spike spread her cheeks again. Her toes began to curl from the pleasure she was feeling through her loins. More moans came from Cyclone as she pushed against Spike’s chest, wrapping her arms around his neck, sealing his lips in a furious kiss as she squeezed her chest against his.

Still on the bed, Veil watched the two with a bright blush spread across her dark gray cheeks. Biting her lower lip, she slowly moved a hand into her damp black pants, softly prodding at her flower. She couldn’t lie, Spike’s had body come out nicely, and from Cyclone’s moans, he apparently knew how to use it.

‘Why is this so hot?’ Veil asked to herself as she moved her free hand to cup her breast as Spike continued to tease Cyclone. It wasn’t the first time she’d watched the two make out in front of her, but for some reason, now it felt so much more intimate than it ever had. She was actually getting off just watching her two mates.

“Spike, I need you,” Cyclone lightly panted after she had pulled back from her drake’s lips. Her flower was now leaking her juices faster while it clenched with a burning need. Heat had started to build inside Cyclone, which was shared by Spike. “P-please Spike, I want to give myself to you now.” Spike nodded his head before he began walking over to the bed, knowing what Cyclone needed from him.

He sat her close to the edge of the bed as he got ready to pin her underneath him. However, he was forced to stop when Cyclone gave a suddenly frightful whince. “Oh no, Cyclone I-I’m sorry I didn’t mean to hurt you,” Spike said, thinking that he’d done something to hurt Cyclone. Then he saw Cyclone look behind her, and noticed Veil tracking a claw along a small part of a scar on Cyclone’s back. Spike had never seen that scar on Cyclone’s back. Thinking about it, Spike hadn’t known she’d had any scars at all. And the way she had always seemed nervous whenever he touched her back...

Following the dragoness’ gaze, Spike opened his mouth to question Veil, but was cut off with, “Cyclone… you have to tell us.” When Spike saw Veil’s eyes, they held tears that hadn’t began falling yet. Cyclone slowly reached a hand back to Veil’s to stop her from moving her claws any more. “Please, you know the moment Drake sees them he’s going to flip.”

“I know Veilstone, but I…” Cyclone again froze, her body quivering in fear. Spike watched in growing worry as tears began to form around her eyes. “I-I don’t know if I can.”

“At least show him,” Veil continued to press on, placing her other hand on Cyclone’s shoulder to slip off the sleeve of the blue shirt she was wearing. She stopped when Cyclone gave a small whimper, but still kept her hands on Cyclone. “Cy, come on. Dr...Spike can handle it, but you have to show him.”

Cyclone dropped her head in defeat, with a small whispering sigh following. Spike was going to question the girls about what they were talking about when Cyclone let out another sigh before she turned her back to Spike.

His eyes quickly focused on the visible scar at the top of Cyclone’s left side. Cyclone reached for the hem of her shirt and pulled it over her body.

Spike’s eyes widened at the large slash marks going across Cyclone’s back. The rounded blue spines down her back seemed to have healed but it was still almost painfully obvious that some of them had been damaged, or even forcefully removed. The uneven sizes were a dead giveaway to that fact.

Breathlessly, Spike reached a hand out to Cyclone’s back, but stopped himself mere inches away from her; she was trembling. “Cy-Cyclone...wh-what happened? Wh-who did this to you?” Spike questioned as he opted for wrapping his arms around Cyclone’s waist. He sat by Veil on the bed, and pulled Cyclone into his lap. It was a measure of his worry that it didn’t even register that Cyclone was naked in his lap. He squeezed her waist softly, gently kissing her neck. “Please Cyclone, please tell us what happened.”

Cyclone sniffed as she reached her hands down to Spike’s strong arms, lightly sobbing, “I...i-it happened wh-when I was thirteen…”