The past few days were an exhausting blur. The gasbag was nearly finished. Bucky’s students became much better at their tasks, but mistakes were made. They were easy enough for Bucky to fix though. Harper began to mumble something that sounded suspiciously like “mama” when she saw another pony, even Bucky. Bucky discovered he didn’t mind being called “mama” at all. The days became almost ordinary.

And deep within the bowels of the castle, in Bucky’s laboratory, a dreadful glass orb filled with demon blood. The terrible heart continued to beat in the darkness. More spell jars appeared every night, many filled with fire.

Keg Smasher began to make a few public appearances, staggering around on three legs and reassuring ponies that he was still alive and in charge.

There was much discussion about the upcoming Sisterhooves Social. Plans were being made. Word was spreading all around the isles.

Somehow, in the middle of everything, it slipped the minds of those involved to speak to Lyra about the troubling words she uttered as she slipped into darkness. It was one troubling event among many, now lost among the flood.

Berry Punch watched as Bucky entered the room. He was carrying a bucket, a bowl, and several other items. He was also grinning the sort of grin that Bucky grinned when he was up to no good, and with Bucky’s new teeth, the grin was impressive.

Nopony smiled like Bucky.

As she watched, he set the clean metal pail down upon the floor, the bowl upon a low table, and a small container next to the bowl.

“What are you up to?” Berry inquired.

“Hush Berry, ponies are sleeping,” Bucky replied as he pointed to the bed where Sentinel, Bon Bon, and Lyra were slumbering.

Berry raised her eyebrow.

“No foals around. Perfect. Well, there is Harper, but Harper won’t mind,” Bucky stated.

“Bucky, what are you up to?” Derpy asked.

“Hush Derpy, stallion business,” Bucky answered, giving Derpy a saucy look.

Berry Punch felt herself grabbed by the legs and dragged across the room, pulled over the bucket, and then held in place. Her eyes widened as she suddenly realised what was about to take place. “Bucky!” she whispered out in warning. She felt her hind legs pulled out apart a bit, and then a delightful tickle over her nethers.

And then came the delightful slow tugging sensation over her teats, followed by the thud of milk splattering into the pail. Berry’s eyes rolled back into her head and her back arched. There was another long slow tug on her teats and the feeling of pressure being applied was nearly orgasmic. There was a wet splashing sound as more milk filled the bucket.

“You… you… you’re milking Berry…” Derpy gasped. “And she likes it…”

Berry, spread legged over the bucket, hiked up her tail reflexively as once again, more milk was coaxed out. She made little mewling sounds of pleasure as more milk could be heard splashing into the pail.

“She’s presenting,” Derpy said. The pegasus could not help herself, she licked her lips and her tongue left behind a waxy sheen. “I really hope that Sentinel does not wake up,” Derpy breathed.

Berry was completely lost in the moment. A broad smile split her face, her tongue was hanging out, and her tail was flipped over to one side, exposing her femininity.

“You’ve found a way to tame the wild Shetland mare,” Derpy said breathily.

It didn’t take long until Berry was milked almost dry and the pail was partially filled. Bucky scooted Berry away from the bucket, patting her backside with his magic as he sent her on her way. He watched as the mare stumbled away in what could only be described as a euphoric stupor.

Bucky leaned over the pail, sniffed, stuck out his tongue, tasted, smiled, and lifted his head. He nodded appreciatively as and then lifted the mass of milk in his magic, leaving the bucket on the ground.

He sat down on the sofa with bubble of magic full of milk over his head and gently smooched the pegasus mare at his side.

“What are you doing?” Derpy asked with uncontained giggles.

Bucky smiled but did not reply.

After a while of holding the milk in a bubble over his head, he dropped the milk back into the pail, fished out a large lump of butter, dropped the butter into the bowl, added salt, and began to fold it into the butter using his magic.

“You made Berry butter,” Derpy gasped.

Berry, now recovering, stumbled over the table. “You milked me,” she said accusingly. She didn’t seem upset about in the least.

“Oh Berry my sweet Berry… I’ve decided to make you my little milkmare,” Bucky said informatively as he continued to fold some sea salt into the butter. He took a pat of butter from the wooden bowl and applied it to Berry’s snoot with his magic.

The earth pony mare looked down cross eyed at the butter smeared on her snoot. She licked it off, looking upwards with her eyes thoughtfully as she did so. Her eyes glanced around as she rolled the flavour over her tongue. “That is really good butter,” she announced.

“Berry good butter,” Bucky corrected. He took a dollop of butter and smeared it over Derpy’s nose with magic. A moment later, the grey mare gave him what could only be described as a hot buttery kiss.

In the bed, Sentinel closed his eye. He had only opened it a hair’s width, but he had seen enough. His family was weird. For the life of him, he could not figure out why Berry seemed to enjoy being milked so much. He pressed himself into Lyra’s side and drifted off into slumber. Lyra was warm and warmth made sense.

Several ponies stood gathered around a boulder jutting out of the ground. A few were pegasi, one was a kelpie, and one was an earth pony. The rest were unicorns, and there was a bit of target practice going on.

“That was a good shot Sparky,” Ripple cheered.

“But my telekinetic blasts are so weak,” Sparkler whined in frustration.

“But you hit the target dead on,” Loch Skimmer said. “Rising Star hasn’t hit the target dead on yet with his fire bolts.”

“I don’t need to be accurate,” Rising Star muttered. “I just need to ignite something,” he added with a haughty sniff.

“And with the explosive effect, he just needs to land one in the general area,” Dinky pointed out. “Not fair. I wish I was a pyromancer. I don’t seem to have an element,” the unicorn foal groaned in frustration.

“Dinky, you are scary with fire spells,” Piña stated.

“Scary isn’t good enough! I want to be terrifying like Rising Star. You can feel the heat coming off of his body and see the shimmering heat ripples… so much power!” Dinky shouted good naturedly.

“Dinky, fire isn’t all that it is cracked up to be, you saw what Bucky did to me the other day. He sucked the heat right out of me and left me completely helpless. I really don’t have anything but fire, and that left me humbled,” Rising Star explained. He shuddered at the memory of being totally subdued and powerless.

“How many ponies are there like father?” Dinky retorted. “Fire is awesome.”

“That’s a fair point,” Sparkler said. She took aim and let go of another blast, sending a few chunks of stone flying from the boulder. Her eyes narrowed in disappointment.

“Step aside Sparky, let me show you how it is done,” Dinky boasted. The unicorn foal angled her head at the boulder, closed one eye, squinted the other, stuck out her tongue in concentration, and her horn began to glow. “I think I’m surging a bit, stand back!” Dinky warned.

There was a loud “PWOOMF!” sound and a starburst of telekinetic force shot from Dinky’s horn. It struck the rock with a thunderclap. Once the smoke and dust cleared, a large crack was visible in the boulder.

Dinky fell over into the grass, rubbing her head. “Ow,” she muttered. “That hurts, daddy wasn’t kidding… ow ow ow,” she cried.

“I think the boulder felt that,” Piña observed, her eyes wide with fear.

Loch Skimmer whistled in alarm. “Wow, look at that,” she breathed.

“Show off,” Sparkler muttered. “You okay Dinks?” she asked a moment later.

“I’m fine, I must not be afraid of pain,” Dinky said in reply. The unicorn made her way to her hooves and steadied herself. “Pain is a weakness that will hold me back from what I want,” she whispered to herself.

“Dinky cracked the boulder,” Rising Star said. “A few more hits in the same spot, and I bet she could break it in half,” he stated.

“I should be able to bust it in half in one shot,” Dinky muttered. “I keep failing myself,” she added in disappointment.

“Give it time Dinky,” Thistle said in gentle tones.

“Daddy could turn this boulder to powder and we keep blasting little chunks off of it,” Dinky muttered.

“Dinky, that isn’t fair to say, Bucky is a different type of unicorn,” Thistle replied in a soft voice.

“I’m just not pushing myself hard enough,” Dinky stated in a matter-of-fact voice. “Just going to have to work harder,” she grumbled.

Rising Star focused, aiming for one of the black marks on the boulder. He took a deep breath, and, rather than just flinging his magic, out, he held it back. He closed his eyes and focused on the black mark he wanted to hit, and he let his magic build. His mane and tail ignited into flickering fires. He opened his eyes and finally let go.

This time, there were no darts that lept out, but a concentrated stream of fire, a thin red angry beam of flames. It struck the mark and the boulder burned for several moments. A thin trickle of melted stone dribbled from the boulder and the air was filled with heat.

“Oh… that was awesome!” Dinky shouted.

“Never done that before,” Rising Star quipped.

“I’d imagine if you turned your head and swept that beam through a group of wolves, it would be lethal,” Ripple said. She nudged Piña gently, letting the earth pony foal know that she wasn’t alone in having ideas how magic should be applied.

Piña nodded. “Beam attacks can be used to cut enemies in half. Well, telekinetic beams. I dunno what a fire beam would do,” she admitted.

As Rising Star relaxed, his mane and tail returned to normal. The air around him cooled off a bit. He gave himself a shake and let go of the fiery urges he had inside.

“Hey, you want to see something awesome?” Dinky asked.

“Figure out something new Dinky?” Sparkler asked.

“Not exactly. Father showed me a new trick,” Dinky replied.

“Oh no!” Piña said, covering her eyes.

“What did father show you?” Sparkler asked.

“Fine control,” Dinky replied with a wicked grin.

“No!” Piña whined.

“Shush Piña,” Dinky said as she giggled.

“Daddy used his magic for evil nefarious purposes,” Piña moaned.

Aware that everypony was watching, Dinky took a few deep breaths, focused her will, and called to mind thoughts of burning. A bit of foalish rage gave her all the motivation she needed. She took a really deep breath, pushed, strained, lifted her tail, and then farted loudly.

“Dragonfire!” Dinky shouted as she ignited her flatulence. There was a gout of flame that shot from her backside and scorched the grass. She felt a wash of heat as the flames gushed forth. As soon as the flames died down, she sat down in the grass to extinguish anything that might be smouldering.

Dinky’s audience was stupefied.

“I have got to try that,” Rising Star said in a stunned monotone.

“So do I,” Sparkler whispered in awe.

“Father has brought evil upon us all,” Piña lamented as she shook her head.

“That is the most amazing magic,” Thistle murmured. “I want to see it again.”

“Somepony needs to light mama Derpy’s farts on fire,” Ripple said, her eyes wide with wonder and her ears folded back against her skull.

“Hey, somepony could light Ripple’s farts on fire,” Loch offered. She froze when three unicorns all turned to look at her sister. “Not all at once,” she added nervously.

Sparkler’s gaze moved from Ripple to Loch. “Nopony farts like Ripple… I swear, she’s been taking lessons from mom,” she insisted.

“It was just a few pointers,” Ripple said dismissively. “And I don’t want to explode violently. Keep all open flames away from my backside if you please!” Ripple began to back away from the group.

“The whistling sisters,” Rising Star said with a chuckle.

“Except one whistles out the wrong end,” Sparkler continued.

“I wonder which tribe of pony’s farts burn the brightest,” Piña wondered out loud.

“Only one way to find out,” Dinky announced.

Author's Notes:

Please report typos.

And discuss.