Derpy Doo Hooves refused to leave the room. She chose to stay behind and look after the foals, including Sentinel who was sound asleep, as well as Sparkler and Rising Star who both felt awkward trying to wander around the castle.

Bucky and Berry Punch had gone off for the lake. Derpy, even in her foul mood, had kissed them both before they left, and had urged them to come back soon as well as stay safe. Upset or not, the pegasus still loved her mates.

The walk to the lake was pleasant, not too long, and they passed many ponies along the way. They passed an enormous distillery along the way, several gardens, and the more well to do houses existed as one drew closer to the lake.

Bucky was watchful and protective, and Berry stayed close. Close enough to steal a kiss several times. Berry Punch seemed to be genuinely enjoying herself. She beamed as she walked, obviously feeling self confident and quite good about herself.

As they walked, Bucky wondered about what was the worst that could happen if he simply placed his hoof down and agreed to marry Thistle. He wanted to go home, but he wasn’t sure if he was that desperate. He did not know how to resolve this.

Eventually, they reached the lake. There was a dock, several boats, and a few ponies managing a large catch of fish, which baffled Bucky when he saw them.

“What is with all the fish? Are there that many lunar pegasi around?” Bucky asked the fisher ponies.

“Naw,” one replied in a thick accent. “The soil is poor and growing season is short. Even the earth ponies have a tough time with this soil. We catch the fish, grind them up, and use them as fertiliser to bring some life to the ground,” the pegasus fisher pony explained.

“Well, that makes sense. You learn something new each day,” Bucky said.

“Does your Lordship need anything?” the pegasus asked.

Bucky squirmed uncomfortably, unsure of what to say or how to protest politely. This had suddenly become awkward and uncomfortable, and he wanted to simply slip away and avoid any confrontation. “Um, yes actually my good sir. I am looking for Thistle.”

“Over there,” the pegasus pointed with one gnarled looking hoof at a cluster of rocks. “She’s a bit distraught about things.”

“Thank you,” Bucky said graciously, heading off towards the cluster of rocks some distance away, Berry Punch right beside him.

He moved through the tall grass, feeling the damp fronds tickle his sides, and he saw her. She was leaning against a rock, sitting in the water, and she looked… different. A long tail was visible in the shallow water and the broad fin at the end splashed occasionally.

He moved closer, and Thistle had not noticed him. He felt Berry nose him gently along his shoulder, and then the entire side of her warm body pressed against his. He took a deep breath and steeled his nerves.

“Thistle?” Bucky inquired.

The filly had been crying. It was plain to see. Her cheeks were stained with tears and her eyes were bloodshot. She froze, looking terrified and embarrassed.

“Please don’t swim away. We came to talk,” Bucky said in a gentle voice.

“Have you come to make me your wife? Otherwise, there isn’t much to talk about,” Thistle replied in wounded tones.

“Thistle, we need to talk about that,” Bucky stated gently, sitting down at the water’s edge.

Berry sat down beside him and smiled a friendly smile.

“I don’t understand what there is to talk about,” Thistle muttered, a pout upon her face, her eyes threatening more tears.

“Well, if this is going to happen, we need to get to know you first,” Bucky said in a patient voice. “I love both of my wives a great deal, and I try very hard to get to know them and understand them. They are more than just a warm body for me.”

Thistle turned and looked Bucky in the eye, looking hopeful.

“We know nothing about you,” Berry said. “Everything starts with friendship, if it starts at all.”

“So courtship is required,” Thistle huffed.

“Well, yes,” Bucky replied.

“Not needed. If you were to ask, I’d lift my tail for you right now,” Thistle said suggestively. “Well, I’d need to take on pony form first.”

Berry covered her face with a folded fetlock and sighed.

“And I would refuse you,” Bucky returned, shaking his head slowly. “I cannot love somepony that is not my friend.”

“I don’t understand you,” Thistle replied, her voice flooded with confusion. “If I was to offer myself to you right now, you would refuse it? What if she wasn’t here? Would your answer be the same? Or would you be on my back, grunting and huffing and puffing away?”

“I am simply not like that,” Bucky stated.

“I don’t believe that for a moment,” Thistle retorted angrily. “I bet if she wasn’t here making you mind your manners, you’d already have me pinned face down in the grass pounding away on my backside-”

“Coming here was a mistake. I think I will be going. I thought I could deal with you as a somewhat mature young adult. I see now that I am dealing with a foal. This marriage is not going to work out,” Bucky interrupted as he rose, turned, and then began to walk away.

Berry rose to her hooves and began to follow her husband, looking back sadly one last time at Thistle and shaking her head.

“Don’t go! I am sorry… look, I am a bit of a foal, alright?” Thistle called.

“And now, you are just telling me what I want to hear. Good bye Thistle.” Bucky replied as he continued to depart.

“How do I fix this?” Thistle cried in panic.

Bucky halted so abruptly that Berry Punch bumped into his backside. “Why do you want to fix this exactly?” Bucky asked in a slow voice.

“No, no… no please don’t do that. I already know that any answer I give will probably be wrong because I tend to stick my hoof in my mouth. I just know that this needs to be fixed, please don’t make me give reasons,” Thistle begged.

Bucky resumed his retreat, looking straight ahead.

“This needs to be fixed because I am the one with the problem!” Thistle cried, pulling herself out of the water and shifting form. “Oh feck, I’ve stepped in the shite now, I’ve gone and offended what might actually be a nice stallion,” she said in a hitching voice that was dangerously close to becoming sobs.

Bucky halted, and this time Berry Punch did not bump into him. He remained pointing ahead, while Berry turned and regarded Thistle.

“This needs to be fixed because I wanted to keep my expectations low so I wouldn’t be hurt again. I don’t want to be hurt again,” Thistle begged and confessed. “If I don’t expect anything from you then it won’t hurt as much when I get nothing from you! I am a stupid filly and I had a bad experience and I still feel really ashamed about everything and it makes me feel better to simply say that stallions are the problem rather than admit my own faults.”

Bucky turned and looked at Thistle.

“Please give me a chance to fix this!” Thistle begged.

“I am here and I am listening,” Bucky replied.

Thistle collapsed into the grass and began to sob. Berry, casting a glance at Bucky as she did so, went over to comfort the fallen filly. She sat down near her and began to stroke her gently with a hoof.

“Was that necessary?” Berry asked Bucky.

“Yes,” Bucky replied. “I thought it was.”

“Look Thistle, just let it out, alright?” Berry said, still stroking the filly. She shot another glance at Bucky, raising her eyebrow.

Watching Thistle, Bucky moved closer and sat down.

The filly cried in the tall grass for quite some time, a combination of shame, raw emotions, and hormones all forming a perfect cocktail to cause a breakdown. Her belly was already showing and it was easy to see on her slender frame.

The mare and the filly had a bonding moment, both of them sharing something in common, even though the mare didn’t know it at this particular moment.

“How many months?” Berry asked, hoping to distract the filly from her grief.

“I am about five months along,” Thistle mumbled as she sniffled.

“You are awfully small for five months, you are such a little thing,” Berry soothed, her hoof still rubbing Thistle’s side. She moved her hoof downward and stroked Thistle’s belly. “Where is your father? Don’t you have a herd parent around?”

“My mother never wed. She had several stallions she had foals with though, trying to increase the odds of another kelpie. There were some upset wives, but all was forgiven in time,” Thistle replied. “I am not sure who my father is,” she squeaked embarrassedly.

“If you join us, you must never be unfaithful. If you are, if you break his heart, I will end you, next to last kelpie or not, do we have an understanding between one another as mares?” Berry asked. “And you would want me to end you, because I would be merciful about it. You don’t want to know what Derpy might do. I don’t want to know what Derpy might do, but seeing as how she is a pegasus. I suspect she would give you flying lessons.”

Thistle nodded, her eyes wide. “He must be really good to you for you to love him so,” Thistle commented in a hitching series of gasps.

“Good. We understand one another now,” Berry said.

“Was that really necessary?” Bucky asked.

Berry shot him a glance. “Mare business. Between mares.”

“You’ve scared her to death,” Bucky said, actually feeling sorry for Thistle.

“And she was right to do so,” Thistle said. “You are a good sort, and she just proved it.”

“I don’t understand what just happened,” Bucky sighed.

“Mare business. Between mares,” Berry repeated.

“Stop saying that!” Bucky snapped, now slightly annoyed.

The unicorn sat and and the mares laid together in the tall grass, a bewildering amount of confusion going on. One male trying to understand the opposite sex, two adults trying to understand a filly in the throes of understanding her new sexuality, a filly who was trying to understand the foreign points of view of two mainlanders with very different ways, and one very confused and terrified earthworm that believed that if it bored through the ceiling, it would drop and fall away from the earth forever, falling into endless sky.

It was a bit more sentient than the average earthworm, as could happen from time to time in this amazing world full of magic and wonder.

“Thistle, I am going to ask you some very blunt and awkward questions,” Berry stated, her tone settling into a nearly flat monotone.

“Alright,” Thistle agreed.

“You are still rather small. Does rutting hurt you?” Berry asked.

Thistle blushed, her face now a searing pink. “Yes. It did. There was some trouble. But I managed as you can see.”

“Thistle, I am a grown mare, and it still stings quite a bit when he takes me,” Berry confessed. “So I can’t imagine what it might do to you.”

Bucky felt his ears catch on fire and his face felt uncomfortably hot.

“Oh…” Thistle gasped, her eyes wide.

“It isn’t so much the length, it is more about the width. I have some serious concerns, and I’d imagine that Derpy does as well. You are still very small and petite,” Berry explained. “Neither one of us wants to see you hurt. Also, no matter what you do, Derpy is going to continue to see you as a filly and she is going to treat you like she is your mother. That is what she does.”

“I am not some little filly though. I am going to be a mother myself,” Thistle retorted. “And I don’t want to be treated like a foal!”

“I know, which is why I am trying to talk to you like an adult and give you the respect you deserve,” Berry replied.

Thistle calmed and a few fresh new tears rolled from her eyes. “Thank you, I guess. I didn’t mean to be angry.”

“Your little foalish mood swings and behaviour are going to trigger Derpy’s motherly instincts,” Berry warned.

Thistle started to spit out an angry retort but caught it at the last moment, biting down upon her lip and squirming in the grass.

“That’s better,” Berry praised, still stroking Thistle’s belly.

“That was hard,” Thistle confessed.

“Do you have any interest in mares?” Berry asked. “Derpy and I also take an interest in one another. All three of us engage in physical love with each other. It isn’t exactly traditional, but if you want to be a part of this, you need to understand what you are being drawn into, if it happens.”

“I don’t know anything about mares. I’ve only been with a stallion a few times, and it was the same stallion, and to be honest, I am not sure what the big deal is about rutting because it hurt a fair bit and it was over in just a few moments,” Thistle admitted.

Berry smiled gently but said nothing. Bucky’s ears folded down against his skull and he found something interesting to stare at out on the lake, watching the sun sparkle on the water.

“Have you ever orgasmed?” Berry asked bluntly.

Bucky choked, he was certain that at any moment his lungs were going to be coughed out, he could feel them in his throat. There was a painful feeling of constriction as he attempted to hack out his own lungs.

“What’s that?” Thistle asked.

“After rutting feels good for a while, you get tense, and then it feels really good, you shudder, you shiver, and you shake. And you want it to last forever,” Berry patiently explained.

“No, nothing like that happened. I just wanted it to be over because he kept drooling on my back and hurting me,” Thistle replied, closing her eyes, unable to look at Berry Punch.

Berry Punch sighed heavily and said nothing in reply.

“It actually hurt quite a bit. The skin caught and pulled. Everything felt really dry and rough. I endured it because it needed to be done. He said it was a mainland custom that if we shared drinks together, we’d be married,” Thistle whispered, her voice full of shame. “The first time tore me open a bit, and there was bleeding. The second time really hurt, but in some ways it was a little easier. After that, it just hurt a lot so I just thought about having foals and I managed.”

“You know Bucky, I say we go looking for this arse pimple once all of this is over,” Berry growled.

“Already thinking about it, having some very unpleasant thoughts that I am ashamed to admit that I am enjoying immensely,’ Bucky said, keeping in mind what Bon Bon had said about honesty. “Really terrible thoughts they are too. Thoughts involving hot lead and a funnel with a very narrow tip that can be inserted into a very tiny hole.”

Thistle looked horrified.

Berry pulled Thistle up into a hug and squeezed her tightly, her eyes shut tight. “And that is why I love him more than life itself. I love his light, but I appreciate his darkness. It is well directed. He draws strength from his darkness, not weakness.”

“That’s horrible…” Thistle gasped.

“So is what was done to you,” Berry said, still squeezing the filly.

“You would do that for me?” Thistle asked.

“I’d imagine he would. He’s very protective. Sometime, I will tell you a story about what he did to rescue two foals. Before anything can happen between us, you need to understand why we love him,” Berry replied.

“I don’t understand,” Thistle said, fresh tears beading up in the corners of her eyes. “Mares are for chores and breeding. You are very strange Bucky. I don’t understand you at all.”

“I don’t understand myself half of the time,” Bucky replied, looking down at Thistle who was held in Berry’s forelegs. For a brief moment, he felt a stirring of emotion looking at her, mostly pity. But there was something else as well, and he didn’t know what it was. It felt awkward feeling it though, and he was forced to turn away.

“Where do you stay?” Berry asked.

“In the lake,” Thistle replied. “Sometimes I stay in the castle with Keg Smasher and he lets me sleep in a pile with his foals.”

“Isn’t it cold?” Berry asked.

“Cold water doesn’t bother me. The cold up here on dry land does though,” Thistle answered. “I don’t like the cold. Which is why I stay in the lake.”

“Well, one night soon, I want you to come out of your lake, and join us for a meal. And don’t worry, I will make the pegasus behave,” Berry Punch invited and ended with a promise.

“We should be heading back Berry. Derpy will be worrying by now. Her nerves aren’t well. Thistle, stay safe,” Bucky said.

“I agree, Derpy is frazzled already. Thistle, it was nice to meet you and get to know you a little better,” Berry added.

“It was nice to get to know both of you. If you don’t mind, I’d like to walk back with you so we can talk just a little more,” Thistle replied.

“I think that we’d like that,” Bucky said, looking down at the two mares in the grass. “At least you and Berry seem to be getting along. I don’t know what to do with Mama Bird.”

Author's Notes:

And that was actually a lot more difficult to write than I thought it would be.

Blargh, this whole bloody arc is going to be harder to write than I thought it was going to be. Bother.

Anyhoo, discussion, below, the usual. Let me know if I missed anything. Etc.

Thistle is a very complicated character to write. She is overtly sexual because of necessity, and willing to endure anything for her cause, but at the same time utterly naive and innocent about so much. Striking a balance is going to be much more difficult than I thought. I knew it would be tough, I didn't know it was going to be emotionally draining and this difficult. I hope I don't become mired down to much with trying to achieve balance.

Also... darkness.