“Mama, I was hoping I could talk to you.”

Derpy raised her head. She had been preening her wings. Her feathers were a bit ruffled after getting a private moment with Bucky a while ago. All he had wanted was to feel her warm living body and the pegasus mare could not say no. Sparkler stood beside her, speaking like a foal, something she had not done in quite a while.

“Something wrong Sparky?” Derpy asked.

Sparkler nervously kicked her own hooves and squirmed. She knew that she could come to her mother about anything. She had learned that lesson the hard way after her marriage, when her mother had slapped some much needed sense into her. Sparkler remembered every stinging blow and the terrible feeling of failure, a feeling she still felt sometimes when she reflected back upon those events. She moved forward and laid down at her mother’s hooves and pressed the side of her face against her mother’s leg.

Derpy had not seen Sparkler act so foalish in quite some time. It made her remember simpler times and more innocent days. She bent her knees and settled into the grass beside Sparkler, wrapping a wing around the filly and kissing her cheek.

“We’re going to start our family mama,” Sparkler said in an almost unheard voice.

Derpy inhaled sharply, her breath catching her in throat. She felt Sparkler pressed up against her, trembling, awaiting some kind of reaction. The filly was also terrified. Derpy continued to stroke Sparkler with her wing and pressed close against her.

“We all talked. We felt that it was time. I am not going to be a filly for much longer. I am going to have to grow up and stop being a foal,” Sparkler said in a frightened voice. “Please say something, I’m scared, and I want to know I am doing the right thing… I need your approval,” Sparkler begged.

“Of course you have my approval,” Derpy replied in a choked voice. “And you shouldn’t be scared. I am happy for you… I thought I’d have a few more years of having you as my filly, but I guess it is time to let go,” the pegasus said with a sniffle.

“No, don’t let go, I can’t do this alone,” Sparkler whimpered.

“It is an expression, I will never actually let go of you,” Derpy whispered soothingly.

“What will it be like?” Sparkler asked.

“What will what be like?” Derpy inquired in reply.

“You know…” Sparkler whispered in strained utterance.

“I don’t know,” Derpy said, now baffled.

“My first time,” Sparkler squeaked in a nervous and embarrassed voice. “I’ve heard a few things. Will it hurt?” she asked, panic lingering in every word she spoke.

“Oh,” Derpy gasped. Heat raced through her body. “Sparkler, we’ve talked about this. Sort of,” Derpy said in a low worried voice.

“We’ve talked about the act, but not in detail. I’m scared mama,” Sparkler said as she pushed her face into her mother’s neck.

“It might hurt a little. Or even a lot,” Derpy said in blunt honesty. “Berry has had a few partners and it still hurts her when Bucky takes her. But he is gentle and careful and the pain goes away after a while,” the mare said soothingly, struggling to say each word to her daughter. This was not an easy conversation. “And no, it doesn’t hurt me.”

“Because you had Dinky,” Sparkler stated.

“That might be the reason. Might be because we just fit together better. Not every mare is the same down there. Just like with stallions, some are larger, some are smaller. Berry is smaller,” Derpy explained in a nervous wavering voice. “Sparkler, honey, um, do you know you work down there? I mean, I know that you know how foals are made, but do you understand what makes you feel good?”

Sparkler worried that her cheeks might burst into flames. Her ears were searingly hot. She squeezed her eyes shut and swallowed, realising this was a nightmare of her own making.

“Love is more than just foal making, and you need to know what makes you feel good so you can tell Rising about what he needs to do…”

“Look, mom,” Sparkler interrupted. She grunted and stuck her resolve to the sticking place. “I discovered my little button down there when I was a filly and I have been playing with it in the shower ever since. Why do you think I take so long?” Sparkler felt like she was going to swallow her own tongue, and her mouth was now painfully dry.

“That’s a good thing,” Derpy croaked, her voice cracking from emotion. “I do a lot of that too, or did. Perfectly normal and natural, and nothing to be ashamed of, and never let anypony tell you different.”

Sparkler’s ears drooped to the sides of her face and she kept her eyes closed.

“I prefer the bathtub. With lots of bubbles. That way when you or Dinky would come bursting in, I could hide what I was doing,” Derpy admitted.

Sparkler was all too aware of the furnace like heat radiating from her mother’s body. “I guess we took you for granted. We never respected your privacy,” Sparkler confessed.

“This is really hard for me,” Derpy said. “You’re my filly… I love you like my own flesh and blood. And now when I look at Rising Star, I am going to know that he is doing things to you. I am going to have to adjust and remember that he is my son now. I still don’t know how to sort this out. I guess this is a mother’s burden. You know, you should bring Loch to me so she and I can talk,” Derpy suggested.

“Actually, I convinced Loch Skimmer to go to Berry Punch,” Sparkler replied.

Derpy’s eyes went wide and she felt a panicked moment of alarm.

Berry Punch studied the pegasus filly that was looking at her expectantly. The question that had just been asked lingered in the air like a pegasus fart. Loch looked terrified, as though she hadn’t wanted to ask the question at all.

“The others put you up to this, didn’t they?” Berry asked.

Loch started to speak, squeaked, and then fell silent. She nodded.

Berry rolled her eyes and groaned. “Always leave it to the earth ponies to do the heavy lifting,” she muttered. “How much do you know about yourself?” Berry inquired bluntly.

“What do you mean?” Loch asked in a frightened whisper.

“I know that you have to know how this works on some level, because I know you have watched it happen. But knowing that a penis goes in and a foal squirts out is not enough,” Berry insisted. “That’s foal making, not love.”

Loch Skimmer turned crimson under her charcoal grey pelt.

“Do you know anything about how you are back there?” Berry asked.

Loch Skimmer shook her head no.

Berry rolled her eyes in exasperation. “Ugh. You and I are going to the lake. Come on. Don’t argue,” Berry commanded.

“But my leg,” Loch protested.

“Keep it out of the water,” Berry retorted.

“I think the summer is getting to everypony,” Piña announced.

“Hmm?” Dinky inquired non-verbally.

“My earth pony sense feels funny… I don’t know how to explain it. But I can feel something odd. And look all around us. Ponies are falling in love. Chasing one another. Ponies working on the boat keep taking off to run around after one another and they look really happy. And I can feel something all around me. If you listen, you can hear them talking. They’re hopeful. They want to make foals,” Piña explained.

Dinky nodded and looked all around her.

“Ripple says things are different. She says the ponies here aren’t usually like this,” Piña continued.

“I think it is because they are free now and they know that the wolves are going to go away,” Dinky said as she watched a filly flick a colt with her tail as she passed him.

“They’re not getting married because they have to, but because they want to.”

Both fillies turned and looked at Ripple, who was smiling broadly. They had not heard her land. Ripple was stealthy and quiet when she wanted to be.

“You look really happy,” Piña quipped.

“I am really happy,” Ripple replied.

“Good. You spend too much time frowning,” Dinky complained.

“I do not,” Ripple protested.

“Yes you do,” Piña said gently. “You frown with your whole body, even when you can’t see it on your face,” the earth pony foal explained.

Ripple slumped and her ears drooped, but her smile did not break. “Bucky been feeling okay? He’s disappeared a few times. I was worried,” Ripple remarked.

Dinky and Piña both blushed and looked down at the wooden deck.

“Did something happen?” Ripple asked.

Piña swallowed, gulping hard, and found that she could say nothing in reply.

“Oh, daddy is fine… we think. At least he seems to be feeling much better,” Dinky mumbled.

“Is there something you aren’t telling me?” Ripple asked. “I thought we were close… we can tell each other anything, right?”

Piña nodded in reply but still said nothing.

“I figured out remote viewing through a bee,” Dinky said in a hushed conspiratorial whisper.

“What does that have to do with anything?” Ripple asked. “Why are you acting so funny all of a sudden?” the pegasus filly inquired, peering down at Dinky.

“He had his muzzle poked into the place where foals come out,” Piña said bluntly. “Dinky saw it.”

Ripple’s eyes went wide, then narrowed, and then went wide again. She blew her mane out of her eyes and her wings fluttered a bit. Finally, the filly extended a wing and wiped her forehead with it.

“She was really happy, or sounded that way, and she was making silly faces. I can still see them. Up here. In my mind,” Dinky said in monotone.

Berry Punch stood in the shallows next to Loch Skimmer. She took a deep breath and turned to face the filly. “The water is nice and reflective,” Berry said.

“Yes it is,” Loch replied, unsure of what that had to do with anything.

“I want you to kick your hind legs out and hunker down a bit over the water,” Berry instructed. “Be mindful of your broken leg, we don’t want your cast getting wet.”

“What are you going to do to me?” Loch Skimmer asked in a panic, her eyes darting around and her wings snapping out to make ready her escape.

“I am not going to do anything to you, and don’t you dare fly away,” Berry said, her voice now soft and soothing. “You are going to look at yourself and we are going to talk.”

“Look at myself?” Loch asked. “Why would I want to do that? It is… yucky back there.” she added in a hushed whisper.

Berry swatted the pegasus on the shoulder and Loch cringed. “Don’t you ever say that again,” Berry scolded in an angry hiss.

“I’m sorry,” Loch whined as she shied away from the irate earth pony.

“Stop being sorry and squat,” Berry demanded harshly.

Trembling, Loch spread out her hind legs a bit and squatted down. She started to look down into the water and found that she couldn’t. Her balance on three legs wavered a bit.

Heaving a frustrated sigh, Berry’s hard expression softened and the earth pony looked sad.

“I was always told that I was a warm body fit for making foals and little else by my mothers,” Loch whispered. “And I have always hated everything back there,” Loch admitted in a pained voice.

“Why hate it?” Berry asked.

“I wanted to be free… I wanted to go to the mainland. But I am a female and I had an obligation to make foals. And my ability to make foals was more important than anything I wanted as a pony,” Loch explained.

“I think I understand,” Berry said as she gently stroked Loch with a wet fetlock. “But you need to stop hating your own flesh,” Berry urged. “Now come on, I want you to look at yourself,” Berry coaxed.

Loch Skimmer looked down into the water and saw her own belly in reflected back up at her. She craned her head and kept looking, her gaze working back. She could see her own small teats, and then she saw herself. A small delicate and mostly hidden place that remained out of sight under her tail or secured from view and hidden between her legs. With her legs open, it was little more than a fleshy looking wrinkle, something that occasionally came into view by accident. Loch felt her cheeks burning.

“I wanted to be more than what is between my legs made me,” Loch Skimmer cried. She felt hot tears beginning to burn in the corners of her eyes.

“What is between your legs makes you special. Having foals is our sacred duty. But on our terms. When we decide it is right. We are the gates of creation, and as females, we are trusted with this sacred obligation. Because let’s face it. If males had what we had, they would just play with it all day,” Berry said.

Loch snorted as a giggle escaped her lips. Tears still fell, but now she found herself giggling uncontrollably.

“Ever touched yourself?” Berry asked in a low gentle voice.

“No,” Loch said. “I can’t. I don’t even want to look at it, much less touch it,” she admitted.

“I want you to touch yourself. Reach back there with a wing or a hoof and gently touch yourself. Maybe pull yourself open a bit and have a look. See what you look like. See how beautiful it is,” Berry instructed.

“I don’t think it is beautiful,” Loch retorted.

“Don’t make me swat you again filly,” Berry warned.

Loch cringed and looked up at Berry Punch, who was staring at her intently.

“What you have is beautiful and desirable. Rising Star is going to want to touch it. Play with it. He is going to want to be inside of it, and at some point, he will be. If he is brave, he is going to want to kiss it and do all manner of things and right now what I am saying probably makes you feel disgusted. Am I right?” Berry inquired.

Loch nodded but said nothing. She looked queasy.

“What you have gives you power. You are in control of your own body now. Nopony can force you into anything. You get to decide what is done with your body. If somepony was to ever try anything funny with you, Rising Star would wreck them. Or I would. Or your herdmates. You have something that Rising Star is going to want. You should never withhold it from him, because that would be wrong, but there is nothing wrong with making him tell you how much he appreciates you or making him work to please you. You have a right to be happy and you have the right to enjoy your own body. If you are ashamed of what you are, Rising Star is going to pick up on that and it is going to spoil all of your fun,” Berry explained. “Love is a mutual exchange. Rising Star gives you love and satisfaction, and you give him foals. On your own terms. He doesn’t take from you and you don’t take from him.”

Loch Skimmer peered at Berry Punch, her ears back, and her posture submissive.

“Sex, love, it is an exchange, and orgasms are the currency. When you and Rising Star finally get together, you tell him to get down there between your legs and get to work. And you are going to hang from his face like a feedbag,” Berry stated matter of factly. “You tell him to lick you. And when he licks something that feels good, you tell him. And you let him keep licking until something happens. You will know it when you feel it. It will feel good. But you make him keep licking. This is important Loch. This is your first time. And you are going to be afraid. That is going to make it hard to perform. You might be a little dry down there. And dry is bad. It will make everything hurt. So you encourage him to keep licking until you feel good and wet down there, and you have your first orgasm. You should orgasm at some point, if everything goes right. Afterwards, you’ll be properly slicked up down there and what comes next will be a little easier. It still might hurt, but you tell him when it hurts. You tell him to go slowly. You tell him to be careful. I know that Rising Star will be careful and attentive, he’s a good colt, but you still need to say it. It is very important to tell him about what you feel. Like I said, this is an exchange,” Berry explained.

Loch Skimmer looked down into the water, saw her reflection, and peered backwards. She kept her leg in its sling and reached back with a wing. When she felt her feathers brush over her sensitive flesh, she giggled nervously and her body quivered. “I can’t,” she said in a low voice. “I mean, I can’t do as you asked. It tickles when I touch it with my wing and I don’t want to try using my broken leg.”

Berry sighed.

“The tickle felt good though,” Loch admitted nervously.

“Do you want me to help you?” Berry asked. “I don’t mean touching you before you say anything. You can stand on your hind legs and balance against me. I’ll be right behind you. And you can feel around with your good leg and have a look.”

“That seems reasonable,” Loch said skittishly.

“So you and father just…”

Derpy nodded.

“I mean, you just slipped away for a few minutes and um,” Sparkler said. The purple-pink filly’s face was far more purple than pink at the moment.

Derpy kept nodding and as a mother, couldn’t help but notice how adorable Sparkler looked at the moment. Somehow, it made the conversation bearable.

“And then you slipped off to the lake, gave yourself a bit of a scrub, and now you are snuggling with me,” Sparkler said in a slightly distressed tone.

“Sparky honey, why does that bother you?” Derpy asked in gentle motherly tones.

“I dunno,” Sparkler said with a shrug. “I understand that it happens, but the idea that you just did it, in broad daylight, with all those other ponies around, I dunno, it just makes me feel funny. And now you are sitting here with me talking about the deed,” Sparkler explained.

“When the mood strikes, it can happen night or day. You scratch the itch and then you go about your day. And why does it bother you that I am cuddling with you afterwards?” Derpy gently inquired. “Bucky and I sleep together and you and I still touch one another in the morning.”

“I dunno mom, it just feels funny, being pressed up against you and knowing that just a little while ago, he was… he was… well, doing things to you,” Sparkler said as she cringed.

“I’m clean. I gave myself a quick scrub. I don’t understand the big deal,” Derpy said.

“Sleeping together is different. I mean actual sleeping. When I hug you in the mornings I know that you’ve just been sleeping. Right now, I can’t stop thinking that you were covered in Bucky slobber and… and…” Sparkler fell silent.

“Stallion spunk?” Derpy suggested with a bit of a titter.

Sparkler closed her eyes and nodded.

“So how long does it take after the act until I am “mom” again and you feel safe to hug me? When do the cooties wear off?” Derpy said teasingly.

Sparkler opened her eyes and rolled them. “Mom,” she cried in exasperation.

“You sound like Dinky and Piña, trying to say that your father has cooties,” Derpy said with a giggle as she squeezed Sparkler with her wing.

The three fillies all shifted around uncomfortably, unable to look one another in the eye. There was an unspoken sense of mutual shared embarrassment that hung in the air, something only sisters or ponies who were very, very close could share with one another.

“So, um, stuff,” Piña said as she intently studied the whorls in the wooden decking.

“I kissed Sparkler,” Ripple announced in a small voice.

“Did she kiss you back?” Dinky said, her brows furrowed with concern.

“Yes,” Ripple breathed, wrapping her wings around her body and closing her eyes.

“Oh this is good,” Piña squeaked.

Dinky leaned into Ripple’s side and Ripple wrapped a wing around the unicorn foal. “I feel better knowing that Sparky is happy,” Dinky admitted. “Things have been so hard lately. I hate this place,” Dinky fumed.

“Even when we go home, we will never truly leave this place,” Piña said sagely. “We can’t go back to the way things were. We are always going to remember what happened here. All of the bad things,” she mused.

“And good things, we can’t forget about those,” Ripple commented.

“There has been a few good things,” Dinky admitted.

“Yeah, there are good things here too, we will remember those,” Piña replied. “Hey Dinks, do you remember grocery stores? The smell… the smell of of all that different food in one place. You’d walk in, and the smell would hit your nose. The cool air that would rush out and blow through your mane when the door opened. Or the smell of Sugarcube Corner.”

“I can remember those things Piña,” Dinky answered.

“I am starting to forget them Dinky,” Piña admitted. “I am starting to forget them and it scares me. What if I never get to smell those things again?”

Ripple, feeling a lump in her throat, pulled the morose earth pony close and hugged her to her barrel. “When we go home, you will have to show me all of these wonderful things,” Ripple whispered into Piña’s ear, trying to comfort the despondent foal.

“I want to go home,” Piña moaned. “I can’t do this anymore. I can’t even escape now when I sleep. I keep having bad dreams.”

“Maybe Sentinel can help you,” Dinky suggested.

“I’m blue… and there are pink spots.”

Berry felt a twinge of worry as Loch Skimmer wobbled a bit. The filly was balanced on two legs and staring at her reflection in the water. Loch’s wings flapped a bit as the filly struggled to maintain her balance.

“Why am I blue inside?” Loch inquired.

“Different mares have different colours,” Berry replied. “Derpy is bluish,” she added, trying to inspire some confidence in Loch by sharing something intimate. Berry felt the filly tense as she continued to explore herself.

“Touching it makes me feel funny,” Loch said in a low whisper. “I hope nopony sees me.”

Berry took a deep breath. “You should see some folds of flesh. There is an opening. I don’t mean the outer opening, but an inner opening. You might still have a filly ribbon, which will be covering that opening. Near the top there is a little nub of flesh. That is your clitoris, it is sensitive.” Berry explained.

“I think I found it,” Loch said as she shivered.

Berry felt the filly take a deep shuddering breath. “That is the secret to happiness. The reward button for making foals. I know you have some trouble believing this, but making foals can be very enjoyable and fun. And many ponies engage in the activity any time they get the chance. Bucky and I had a private moment together earlier. He spent some time worshipping my happy button and I spent some time making sure that he felt loved and appreciated. You were exposed to the bad side of things… but you need to let go if you can. Try to let yourself enjoy it,” Berry explained.

“I am so afraid,” Loch said.

“So is Rising Star,” Berry replied.

“Why would he be afraid?” Loch answered in surprise.

“Haven’t you been paying attention? He knows how skittish you are. He’s scared of hurting you or setting you off. He desperately wants your approval and your affection, just as much as he wants Sparkler’s. And if you don’t show him that you appreciate him and his concerns, you are going to break his heart,” Berry warned.

“I don’t want to do that,” Loch whispered, fear now in her voice. She looked down into the water and studied herself. She dug in with the edge of her hoof and applied tension to the skin, spreading herself, all too aware of Berry Punch pressed up against her as she continued to explore herself.

“Look, you need to get it through your head that Rising Star cares about what you feel. He isn’t going to mount you, give you a few humps, blow his load of foal batter into you, and then go wander off. This isn’t going to be like what you are expecting. He is going to love you and he is going to have fits of worry and panic about if you enjoyed it or not and if he made you happy,” Berry stated bluntly.

Loch Skimmer worried that her ears were going to catch on fire.

“That’s all you’ve seen, isn’t it? Rape isn’t sex. And it certainly isn’t love. And even if it was consensual, a stallion mounting a mare and tending to his own satisfaction isn’t love. Love is going at it hot and heavy, belly to back or belly to belly, or even freakier positions, it is hot, sweaty, and sticky. You hope you get to go off soon but at the same time you hope that it never ends. You rub and grind away, touching everything, and you just let go while holding on tight. Nothing is embarrassing. You make stupid faces at one another. You worry more about who you are screwing than you do about yourself. You want to hold back and make them go off before you do. You get a little competitive. There are wet sounds, slurping sounds, disgusting noises, things are squelching like a pony stepping in the mud, and you don’t care. Things are messy and afterwards, you hold on to one another and it doesn’t bother you that you are drenched and disgusting, you just don’t care. You just want to feel them against you while you catch your breath. And then you’ll want to go again,” Berry explained in graphic detail.

Loch dropped down to three legs and felt her heart racing. Her wings were painfully stiff and she was unable to fold them to her sides. Her whole body felt stiff and her dock felt tight. And all she could think about was Rising Star.

“And any time you need advice, you come to me. A daughter should always be able to come to her mother. For anything,” Berry said.

Loch turned to look at Berry Punch and she felt her eyes watering. “Thanks… mama,” she whispered gratefully.

“I feel better about the coming fight now that I have my family sorted out,’ Sparkler admitted.

“I don’t know how I feel about the coming fight,” Derpy replied.

“We’ll be together, and I don’t mean just my herd, I mean you and I,” Sparkler said to her mother.

“It scares me, the idea of you fighting. If something hurts you… I might just have to change my name from “Doo Hooves” to “Wolf Kicking Hooves” just so other ponies will understand how I feel about the issue,” Derpy stated.

“This fight, it is going to be ugly, isn’t it?” Sparkler asked in a low voice.

“I intend to make it as ugly as possible,” Derpy growled in reply.

Rising Star swallowed a few times and cleared his throat, trying to get Bucky’s attention. Keg Smasher had spread his wings and flown away, and now Bucky was alone.

“Rising Star?” Bucky asked.

The nervous colt approached Bucky and sat down. “Do you have a minute?”

“Yes,” Bucky said.

“We… my herd and I, we, us… we’ve been talking. And we’ve decided that we are ready to start our family now. Before the trouble starts. Sparkler went to talk to her mother, she convinced Loch Skimmer to go to Berry Punch, and Sparkler wanted me to go to you… so we can talk,” Rising Star explained. Rising Star felt his muscles relax a bit when he saw Bucky’s ears splay out sideways and a faint grin on his gnarled face.

“You know you already have my approval right?” Bucky asked.

“That isn’t why I am here,” replied Rising Star, his words practically panted out due to his nervous breathing. “I have far more practical concerns.”

“Such as?” Bucky inquired, raising an eyebrow at the colt.

“I want to make them happy on our first time. I’m scared out of my mind Bucky,” Rising Star confessed.

Bucky chuckled. “I was terrified before I was married,” Bucky replied reassuringly. “Derpy showed me that she could crack walnuts with her lips.”

Rising Star’s ears went limp and fell to the sides of his face.

“You married a pegasus. My advice, hold on and try to survive,” Bucky suggested.

“H-h-h-how?” Rising Star stammered.

“Well,” Bucky started. “It helps if you wear them out with lots of oral sex before engaging them directly,” he suggested.

Rising Star stared at Bucky, trying to determine if the stallion was being serious. It was hard to tell. Bucky had a quirky sense of humour and it could be rather dry.

“Planning on some means of protection?” Bucky asked.

Rising Star nodded. “Sparkler and I know spells,” he said.

“Good. But if something does happen, I wouldn’t be terribly upset if there was a foal,” Bucky stated.

“Oh we’re not ready for foals,” Rising Star squeaked out nervously. His mouth was dry and his lips felt too tight. Rising Star couldn’t tell for certain, but for a moment he thought he saw a look of disappointment flash through Bucky’s remaining eye.

“Foals are all we have Rising,” Bucky stated in a wavering voice. “You are my foal now Rising Star. I will always provide for you. Look after my girls. Keep them happy and safe.”

“I need advice Bucky. I don’t know what to do. I want to keep them happy. Can you help me? I don’t know what I am doing,” Rising asked.

“I will help you in any way that I can,” Bucky promised in reply.

Author's Notes:

I think my favourite part in this whole chapter was the final exchange between Berry and Loch Skimmer. I've been waiting for a long time to get those words out.

This was a tough chapter to write.

If I missed anything in the editing, let me know. I hope you enjoy it.