Sunlight. Glorious sunlight. Bucky stood in the late afternoon sun, cloakless, reveling in his ability to stand in the daylight without smoking, igniting, or suffering extreme agony. He breathed deep, enjoying smoke free air, thankful he had taken the risk. The sun hurt him no more than it usually did, stinging his eyes and such.

He lifted his head, closed his eyes, and turned his face sunwards, basking in the soul nourishing warmth, feeling as though he had somehow regained some of his equinity after drinking the distilled essence of chaos. A draconequus was still something of a pony after all, hence the name.

“Oh thank my sun…”

Eyes still closed, Bucky’s ears perked at the sound of the voice. He heard the sound of hooves clopping against the stone. Celestia drew near and he felt her brush up against him. There was no combustion at her touch, no blisters, and he leaned into her.

“You little antlered fool…”

Bucky felt two lips against his ear and shivered, his whole body reacting from the touch. She had calmed down, just as he knew that she would. He sat there, basking in both the sun and the Sun, thankful for both of them, even if he prefered the night. He liked having the choice.

“Why were you so angry?” Bucky asked.

“I’m losing you… a little at a time… death by degrees. It pains me that little pieces of you get sacrificed so willingly along the way. It bothers me that you’ve changed so much,” Celestia paused and inhaled, then continued, “and for you to willingly do this to yourself, to do so recklessly, without thought, rhyme, or reason, it tears me up inside. You had no way of knowing how this might have ended.”

“Eh, it worked out.” Bucky opened his eyes and squinted as he angled his head away from the sun. “It feels good to be out in the sun without getting blisters or catching on fire.”

“Twilight grows a little more each day it seems… she’s pushing the very limits of her magic and gaining alicorn growth. She grows taller, more regal, she becomes more noble, she’s become a symbol of harmony, the spirit of the three tribes as one being.” Celestia waxed philosophical, her voice holding more than just a little melancholy.

“While I on the other hoof, continue to become something else.” Bucky let go a wistful sigh. “I’d go on a rant about how unfair it all is, but that would be wasting my breath.”

“You’ve kept what is important—”

“Have I?” Bucky asked, cutting in, knowing that he could get away with it.

“You’re still a good pony beneath it all, as evidenced by your love of family, and your family’s love of you. Should that ever change, then I shall be truly worried,” Celestia replied, explaining her reasoning to Bucky.

“Just so long as you never stop loving me, I suppose I’ll be okay.” Bucky glanced up at the tall alicorn standing beside him. “Keep me from the darkness.”

A large lump in Celestia’s throat kept her from replying.

A still exhausted Berry Punch read the headline once, then again, and then for a third time, before she burst out laughing. She dropped the evening newspaper down upon the table, leaned back in her chair, clutched her stomach, and laughed, a whooping belly laugh that made her sore teats ache.

“Twilight Sparkle teabagged…”

The headline was far too funny and perverted. The double entendre just had to be intentional on the reporter’s part. Berry’s hind legs kicked against the chair and she continued to howl with laughter.

To protest Twilight Sparkle’s policies, the Tea Party had ambushed Twilight just outside of a Canterlot cafe and had hurled teabags at her, decrying her willful destruction of traditional values. Twilight Sparkle, a canny creature, had collected each and every teabag thrown at her and was going to donate them to the poor.

Berry Punch could only imagine that headline… “Twilight Sparkle teabags the poor.” The earth pony shifted in her chair, wiggling around, wincing while still laughing as her sore teats jiggled.

Calming down a bit, getting herself back under control, Berry leaned forwards, resting her forelegs upon the table as she did so, and eyed the paper. Somepony knew how to write an attention getting headline.

“Mama?”

Lifting her head away from her paper and looking down, Berry saw Harper, who didn’t look well. She looked droopy and her face showed a great deal of discomfort. Berry felt her heartstrings being tugged on by little Harper Heartstrings.

“Harpy, what’s wrong?”

“Tummy.” Harper sat down on her haunches, sat up straight, and pointed at her stomach with one front hoof.

“Oh dear, what’s wrong, Harper?” Berry slipped out of her chair and got down on the floor with Harper.

“Can’t fart. Everything hurt. Can’t pinch loaf.” Harper let out a little moan and rubbed her stomach.

Heaving a weary sigh, Berry wondered what would have to be done. They were still dialing in on Harper’s tummy troubles. Pills and dietary supplements were helping, but the problem persisted. Berry came to the slow realisation that Harper was probably going to have to go to the emergency room and there would be a big fuss, especially from Harper.

Reaching out, Berry scooped up Harper, pulled her close, and wrapped a foreleg around Harper’s middle. She could feel that Harper’s stomach was rock hard and it was warm, far too warm, a feverish feeling. Berry felt bad, knowing what was coming next. Harper was going to zap somepony for what needed to happen.

Looking down at Harper, Berry considered her options. They could go to the emergency room, but they had the means to take care of this at home, even though it might be messy. Berry had an internal debate with herself, a mental discussion about the merits of a stranger jamming an enema tube up Harper’s backside versus a loving parent jamming an enema tube up Harper’s backside. Harper would hate the stranger, no doubt, and maybe zap them. If a family member did it, Harper would hate them too, no doubt, and there would be much zapping. After the fact, there would be many incriminating and guilt inspiring looks, something no parent should have to suffer.

There were also the suppositories in the freezer—Berry Punch eyed the freezer and shivered—but that option seemed cruel. Still, the suppositories were for emergencies, and this might qualify as an emergency. The suppositories were waxy, fast to dissolve, and had to be frozen to make them solid. Berry felt her own pucker clenching up as she thought about them. No parent wanted to do that to their foal.

“Hurt,” Harper said to Berry. “Butt stuck shut.”

Berry weighed her options. Emergency room, enema, or… frozen icicle crammed right up the bum. She didn’t feel very much like a good mother at this point. She rubbed Harper and wished that Bucky was home. Bucky would take action. Bucky would know what to do.

Oh, who was she kidding, Bucky would probably start bawling if he had to jam a suppository up Harper’s backside and then would mope around the house for days, mumbling about betraying his offspring. But he would do it, she was almost certain of that.

“Broom! Magpie! Semillon! I’m gonna need your help! I’m gonna need someone with magic or fingers!” Berry Punch got a grip around Harper before the foal could catch wind that something awful was about to happen and escape.

Sentinel eyed the golden tickets and could hear Diamond Tiara’s heavy breathing. Her heart was racing, he could hear that too. The Grand Galloping Gala… and a coronation. Sentinel gulped. One prince, one princess, one gala. Sentinel didn’t like this at all. Galas were serious business and his face hadn’t even healed. The gala was going to be held at the end of the spring session. Just a few days from now.

“Raven wants to make this an official engagement announcement for you and Boadicea,” Diamond Tiara said to Sentinel. “You and Moonbow are betrothed, so this shouldn’t be too difficult for you. You just need to get her to agree and say yes.”

“I’m too young—”

“Sentinel, you agreed to marry Moonbow… like it or not, politics is at work. This isn’t even about you, this is about giving both griffons and ponies hope for the future.” Diamond Tiara turned and looked at Sentinel. She didn’t care that his face was bald or somewhat misshapen. She loved him and was happy to see him again.

“What about you?” Sentinel asked in a low voice.

“What about me?” Diamond Tiara replied as she scooped up the golden tickets and placed them into her day planner.

“Well, I’m betrothed to Moonbow… I’m being asked to propose to Boadicea, but what about you? What do I do with you?” Sentinel swallowed, something he had a great deal of difficulty doing, and he became aware of the sound of his own heart beating.

“What do you want to do with me?” Diamond Tiara’s voice was a ragged whisper and she turned her whole body to face Sentinel. She took a step closer and felt her stomach churning.

“I want to keep you with me forever,” Sentinel replied, blurting out the words. “You’re my best friend… I love you… I love you so much that it messes me up inside and makes me feel weird and I don’t know how to deal with it sometimes and right now I’m so scared that you’re going to feel jealous or upset or even hate me because of what I’m being asked to do right now with Boadicea.”

“I could never hate you…” Diamond Tiara shook her head.

“You’re my special somepony.” Sentinel made a shuddering inhale and was thankful that nopony else was around. “With Moonbow, it was a practical arrangement and she became my friend… I like her…” Sentinel thought about Moonbow and what he had done with her. That was a bit more than like. He felt a muddled sense of arousal. “With Boadicea, we’re friends and I think I’m starting to love her. She means a lot to me.”

“And what about me?” Diamond Tiara asked in a breathless whisper.

“I fell in love with you… like madly in love with you… I had a choice with you… no pressures, no situation forcing me into doing something, no sense of obligation and duty.” Sentinel wobbled in his chair, his head feeling swimmy. He felt like passing out. “I got to experience winning you over and it was great.”

“Really?” Diamond Tiara began to feel her blood sing as she felt an adolescent sense of arousal creep through her.

“With you, things were almost normal,” Sentinel said.

“You’ve won me over,” Diamond Tiara admitted.

“I have to marry Moonbow for our species… I have to marry Boadicea because she’ll make a good queen for the griffons… and I need to do what’s right for them.” Sentinel licked his lips and wondered if he had the courage to say what he wanted to say.

He saw Diamond Tiara giving him an expectant stare. He felt a tightness in his barrel. He coughed. “Marry me, Diamond Tiara, for love… please? I want something of my own choosing. We can wait until we’re older and I’ve established myself, but I want you with me—”

“Sentinel…”

“Yes?” Sentinel breathed.

“Of course… I’m here, aren’t I?” Diamond Tiara felt her stomach clenching and she had some trouble breathing, but she felt immensely happy. “What else needs to be said? Why spoil it? I’ll be yours when the time is right.”

Sentinel heaved a sigh of relief.

Diamond Tiara eyed her book on the table. “I’ll need to pencil that in to my day planner…”

Berry Punch cringed at the well deserved look of betrayal upon Harper’s face. The little filly was cranky, but she was sitting on the toilet and the suppository was working. Berry stood beside the commode, her foreleg extended, giving Harper something to cling to, and Harper needed something to hold on to. This was a part of motherhood never mentioned in books, never brought up in newspaper or magazine articles, and was probably Berry’s least favourite part of parenting.

There was a grunt and Harper squeezed Berry’s foreleg as her whole body spasmed. Berry’s eyes watered from the stench, but there was nothing she could do to escape it. This was her punishment for the betrayal. She had violated Harper in the worst possible way. Berry felt terrible and she thought of Bucky and their conversation about no meaning no, about his guilt when he tickled his fillies and they screamed no and he kept tickling.

Harper had said no, she had not given her consent at all, and Berry Punch had ignored her pleading and her protests. Berry had sat on her, being zapped all the while, while Harper had sobbed, begged, and tried to escape. Every ‘no’ had been ignored while Broom had lifted up Harper’s tail and inserted the ice cold suppository.

It was the worst sort of violation of trust that Berry could think of and she hated herself just a little bit for doing it. It didn’t matter that it was necessary, or that it had to be done. She had sat down on top of Harper, pinned her in place, and had given her daughter a lesson that ‘no’ didn’t always matter, a lesson driven home by the most intimate of betrayals.

Berry, a smart pony, knew that she was being neurotic about this, that her mind was twisting everything around, but she didn’t care. She was in the mood for self flagellation after what she had done. She could justify it as being for Harper’s own good all she wanted, but that did not change the fact that she had held Harper down while somepony else crammed something up Harper’s backside. Berry felt like a real shite.

“I’m sorry, Harper,” Berry said, apologising.

Whimpering, Harper clung to Berry’s foreleg as more of her bowels evacuated, and made no reply, just gave Berry a dark stare through squinted eyes. Harper closed her eyes and squeezed even tighter as the spasms became worse.

“I’ll make this up to you somehow, I promise,” Berry whispered as she stood with Harper through the worst of it. Berry meant her promise too, but didn’t know how to make this up to Harper. The feeling of betrayal cut far too deep.

Author's Notes:

Kind of an odd chapter, I'll agree, but that's life in a nutshell. Stuff happens. All at once.