Although he had mostly healed up in the past few weeks, Blueblood still winced a little as he slipped his right arm into his best jacket. He’d been out of commission for too long, and was very close to ignoring medical advice and returning to work... but there was one pony who couldn’t escape from.

“Does it hurt again?” came a mare’s voice, Rarity stepping out from the bathroom with a towel around her body, and her mane hanging straight down. Normally she’d go over to her partner and give him a massage, but considering what they had planned for the evening, chose not to in case of ruining his freshly ironed dress jacket. “You could take that stronger medicine.”

“Those pills leave me like a colt on his first half a mug of Sweet Apple Acres Cider,” Blueblood retorted, buttoning up his jacket. He looked himself over in the full length mirror on the wall, nodding in satisfaction. “And with who we’re going to dinner with, I’d rather have full control of my mind.”

Rolling her eyes, Rarity dried herself off then began to dress. She made sure to do it where Blueblood would see her in the mirror, knowing that it would drive him wild and make him want to ravish her. A matching set of black bra, panties, and suspender belt, with pink floral designs went on first, followed by a pair of black back seamed stockings; this was the part she really loved, running her hands over her legs to make sure the seams at the back were straight, knowing he’d rather be doing it himself.

Before she slipped into her dress, Rarity sat in front of the vanity on the opposite side of the room and applied her usual makeup, but added a light pink lipstick too. She also changed her mane style completely, leaving it curled only at the ends, and covering one eye. Once satisfied with her appearing, on went her dress, knee length, black with sequins, and a split up one thigh where she could show her stocking top off. Finally, her feet slipped into a pair of heels and she stood, looking to the stallion in the room. “Well?”

“...well your dad might not kill us for being late when he sees how beautiful you look,” Blueblood said with a roll of his eyes, pointing to the clock. It read ten minutes to eight, at which time the table was booked for, and it was a twenty minute walk to the restaurant in sensible footwear, let alone what his mare had chosen. “Luckily, I anticipated this.”

Offering an arm, which was readily taken, Blueblood escorted his mare from his apartment to the streets below; though he could have remained at the castle, after what happened in Manehattan, he chose to relocate for safety. When they stepped out the street was clear, saving for a steady clip-clop from around the corner.

“Blueblood, do I hear...”

“...a carriage pulled by our distant cousins, which are found in the far reaches of the world? Maybe you do.” As soon as he said this, the carriage rounded the corner. Though created with splendour in mind, that was not what had captured the mare’s attention.

What had was how it was being powered. There were four of them, their heads the same shape of a pony’s though much larger, the creatures quadrupeds, and unlike Rarity and Blueblood who had evolved feet thousands of years ago, still had hooves. “...if Twilight were here now, she’d go crazy and want to study them,” Rarity whispered, more to herself than anypony else.

“Actually, she has studied them,” Blueblood said with a chuckle. Stepping over to the carriage, he opened the door and helped Rarity in, then climber up next to her, nodding to the driver. “She even went as far as to name them, but you’d have to ask her, I’ve long since forgotten.”

Rarity just nodded, leaning against her stallion as she stared at the four creatures in front of her, trotting along and paying no heed to the few ponies that were in the streets staring as the passed. The unicorn wondered if these creatures, no, she reminded herself, use their name,if these horses were simple beasts, or if they had any concept of self.

She was so absorbed in watching the four that she barely noticed they had stopped, if not for Blueblood standing and getting out of the carriage, offering her his hand. She took it off course, and as soon as they were down the carriage was gone once more. “How in Equestria did you arrange that?”

“I am royalty, Rarity,’ Blueblood said with a shake of his head, taking her arm again and guiding her into the establishment outside which they had arrived. Though there was a queue, nopony said anything as the unicorn couple walked by, and they didn’t even need to wait for an usher as Blueblood had booked his usual, and private, booth. “Here we are,” he said to his mare, then swallowed somewhat nervously. “...and here are our guests.”

Pulling away from Blueblood, Rarity greeted the other stallion who stood with a hug and a kiss on the cheek, then did the same to a mare just behind him. The stallion stepped forward, displaying a not so friendly face towards Blueblood.

“Good evening, Magnum,” Blueblood said, offering his hand. Though he had been briefly introduced several months ago at Spike and Sweetie Belle’s wedding, the prince hadn’t formally been introduced to Rarity’s parents... which was what tonight was all about.

“Oh stop being a foal and shake his hand, Mag,” came the voice of the other mare, who pushed her way passed Rarity’s father to hug Blueblood and kiss his cheek, an act that was promptly returned. “Don’t mind grump there,” Garden Wishes said, rolling her eyes. “He’s been cranky as he couldn’t get a decent night’s sleep on that new airship. Too loud, apparently. Ha!”

Magnum just grumbled and shook Blueblood’s hand, the four of them then sitting around the table, though the prince was a little concerned about the seating arrangement; he found himself next to Rarity, which was fine, but they were blocked, he by her mother and she by her father.

Blueblood felt like a colt out on his first date with a filly again, waiting to hear Rarity’s father ask what his intentions towards his daughter were. If only he knew what had already happened between them...

Pulling the laces tight, Silver Spoon tied them off, then stepped back with a giggle, looking over her friend. Taking a breath as deep as her corset would allow, Diamond Tiara turned to a mirror and smiled. “Perfect, we really look the part now.”

“We certainly do,” Silver said, running her hand over her latex covered arm. Both mares were dressed in full body rubber catsuits, which covered everything except the head; Silver in bright pink and Diamond in baby blue. Both had leather corsets wrapped around their waists and knee high, high heeled boots on. “Shall we go see how our colts are doing?”

The two young mares stepped out of the room, which Silver shared with Snips, and into the one between theirs and the room Diamond shared with Snails; their playroom. There were two other ponies in the room, both bound, gagged, and locked into tight chastity cages.

Giving a giggle, Silver walked over to a table, which Snips was tied down to tightly by thick leather straps, running her hand over his chest, the coldness of the latex making him whimper. Her other hand went lower, to his crotch, where the cage kept his stallionhood secure, and gave it a wiggle. “Comfortable?” the young mare asked.

All she got in response was a groan as Snips tried to wiggle away, but he could only squirm as Silver had almost completely immobilised him with the straps. He panted around the gag as she climbed above him, straddling his bare chest. “Such an obedient colt, aren’t you?”

Snips nodded rapidly, not sure exactly what Silver had planned for him, and slightly afraid due to the golden ring around his horn blocking his magic, a similar one on his friend. There was a built in failsafe though, allowing him to use a specific spell that would count as their safeword/action. All the unicorn wanted at the end of the day... was for the cage to be removed.

Silver picked up a long black object with a glass orb on the end, a cable coming from the other. “Remember that prank you two played on us, with our alarm clocks?” Silver asked, Snips immediately recalling what she was on about. “I think it’s payback time.” Snips shook his head and thrashed about as much as his bonds would allow, but that didn’t stop the glass from touching his chest, and the moment it did so...

“MMMPPPHHHH!!!!” ...a low power electrical charge shot though his body. Silver, isolated thanks to her catsuit, climbed from her coltfriend’s lap and started to touch his body all over with it, each shock causing the unicorn to let out a muffled scream, one mixed with low pain and high pleasure.

Toes and fingers curled at each shock, his eyes rolling shut as drool leaked past the gag. That wasn’t the only liquid coming from his body, a shiver running through him as he felt a tongue lick up the pre cum leaking from the hole at the end of his cage, then his body went rigid and he let out a as loud scream as his gag allowed, for the torture device had been placed close enough to his balls to hit him. After a few moments of thrashing about in his bonds, Snips managed to turn his head a little, trying to see what fate had befallen his friend.

After separating from Silver Spoon, Diamond Tiara had walked over to where Snails was strapped to a slowly spinning vertical wheel, black ropes digging into his off-yellow fur. Diamond placed her finger tip on his chest, getting a small whimper as Snails felt the pressure from her. “Hello, you naughty colt.”

“Helphoph, miphtrephh,” came his muffled reply, followed by a grunt as the wheel was stopped with his head at the highest point. A few moments later and the ropes restraining him were removed, and as much as he wanted to rub at the points where they had been digging in, he instead immediately dropped to his hands and knees, crawling after Diamond as she walked away.

“Up here, please,” she half asked, half instructed, opening the top half of a set of stocks. Snails followed her orders right away, laying his neck and wrists in the lower half cutouts, waiting for the lid to be shut and locked. Hanging from the wood, on the side where he could see, were several impact implements, and he winced a little as Diamond picked up a cane. “Is there a problem?”

“Noph, miphtreph.” The answer got a kiss on the nose, though the cane wasn’t put back, like he was secretly hoping it would be. Instead he keep his breathing level as Diamond walked mostly out of his sight, Snails being able to see the bottom of her boots if he looked straight down.

Nothing happened for a moment, then came the first strike, causing him to grunt as it was fairly soft compared to other spankings he’d received. That didn’t last long, of course, as with each hit of twenty, Diamond increased the strength behind them.

Every grunt, moan, and the odd muffled scream that Diamond’s punishment elicited from Snails just spurred her on, the mare closing her thighs as she felt herself getting wet. The caning went on until there were a good dozen red lines on Snail’s rump, a few of them raised. Diamond ran her latex covered hand over them, causing the stallion to whimper slightly. “You took your punishment well, but we’re not done yet.”

A small stand was wheeled in front of him, where he was forced to watch as several candles were lit, his eyes going wide. He started to thrash about in the stocks, making them wobble but with no chance of breaking; they were made by a certain handymare who lived on a farm in Ponyville, who had tested their effectiveness with help from her brother, and even he couldn’t escape.

Watching from a door that led into the main area of the house, another unicorn looked on with a smile, rubbing the tag that hung down from her own collar. She glanced at it briefly, a tear coming to her eye as the red apple stared back at her, then gasped as a pair of arms were wrapped around her from behind.

“An’ just what are you doing, spying on them four?” Braeburn asked, kissing the back of his wife’s neck, pulling her away from the door and closing it. “Our kids are still up, an’ the last thing we want ‘em seeing at this age is that part of our lives.”

“Sorry... master,” Trixie said, turning around to kiss her husband deeply. They had already explained to the twins why she wore a collar with Braeburn’s cutie mark as a tag, but had simply said it was an alternative to wedding rings, though they had them too. “Is there anything master requires of pet?”

Shaking his head with a smirk, Braeburn gave her a light spanking, which got a quiet yelp followed by a needy moan. “Ain’t nothin’ yet, ‘cept stop calling me that when Shadow an’ Cloud are still up. Fer now, let’s go join ‘em. A little while longer, then we gotta get t’ sleep if we’re gonna make it to Ponyville early.”

Trixie nodded and kissed him again, before turning and heading into the lounge, flicking her tail over his muzzle and swaying her hips seductively as she went. Taking a few moments to calm both his mind and body, Braeburn followed, sitting with his family in front of the fire in the lounge, Trixie moving into his lap as the two foals read, oblivious to the conversation that had just taken place... nor what was going on in the extremely well sound proofed room.

Sitting on one of the many hay bales strewn across one of the furthest away fields, an earth pony mare swung her feet idly, looking up at the stars above. They were especially bright tonight, and the usual two in the eastern area were joined by a third, which brought a few tears to the mare’s eyes.

She sat up, looking over Sweet Apple Acres, and sighed deeply. “...Ah still can’t believe yer gone. Ah mean, Ah knew it was gonna happen’ but Ah was hopin’ for a bit more time,” Applebloom said to herself, looking back towards the barn, where her friends and family were located. “Ah’m jus’ glad ya got to hold Amber a few times.”

There was a gust of wind which swept around her, strange due to the fact it’d been a very calm evening with no breeze at all, so she took it as the only sign she could right then, sniffling a little. She felt another gust, but this one was more powerful, and it was followed by somepony setting foot on the hay. “Applebloom?”

Wiping her cheeks, she looked over her shoulder and smiled at her coltfriend, who was holding their foal in his arms. “She started to get restless,” Rumble said as he sat down next to the mare, who immediately leant against the young stallion’s side. Silence fell over the trio, even little Amber, whose eyes stared up at the sky, just like her mother was doing moments before.

“‘ow do we go on?” The sudden question from Applebloom surprised Rumble, who had seen a few ponies pass, but none he was as close to as she was to her granny. He looked at her and could see she wasn’t finished, so let her talk. “Ah don’t really remember my parents, can barely see their faces it it weren’t for photos in the farm.”

She heaved a deep sigh, drawing her gaze from the sky above to look Rumble in the eye, her own red and puffy. “But Ah never felt like this when a relative passed, so why am Ah feelin’ different with it being granny?”

“That’s simple,” Rumble replied, his free hand coming up to wipe away the tears that had started to fall. “She was the closest thing to a mother you had growing up. She taught you everything she could, cared for you as well as she could And now... it feels like a big part of you has been ripped away, like you’re now incomplete. But that hole can be filled with something else.”

“What can fill a hole like that?” she asked incredulously, frowning at him. She knew he was speaking more from than just his heart, there was a somber experience to his voice.

“Memories. Fill that hole with the good times,” he said with a smile. “And the bad. It’s doesn’t matter which they fall in, keep them, for even the bad means you remember them.” Applebloom silent nodded at him, opened her mouth and went to speak, then closed it again. She wanted to ask about a subject they hadn’t bridged yet. But now wasn’t the time. “My parents?”

That comment caught her off guard, and all she managed was to nod again and mutter “Uh huh.”

“I didn’t know for years until I shouted the house down for Thunderlane to tell me.” the young stallion said with a regretful sigh. “Kinda wished I hadn’t. They were spies for Equestria, they got sloppy in another land, and... well spies are all about manipulation. Not saying my parents couldn’t fight, I got to see their service record, but... this was fight they didn’t win...”

Applebloom’s eyes went wide as she realised the death of his parents could have started an all out war with another country, but her thoughts were sidetracked as Rumble chuckled. “But in the end it doesn’t matter. What matters is I remember them for who they were, what they stood for, and that I remember they’ll always be in here,” he said as he placed a hand to his chest, then moved it to hers. “Just like Granny Smith will always be in here.”

She placed her own hand over his then moved it to his chest, smiling for the first time since the news of Granny Smith’s passing had reached her. “Dumb colt,” she said with a smirk. “Makin’ me feel all better when Ah was moping.” She leaned forward and kissed Rumble softly. Causing Amber to giggle and lightly paw at their muzzles, Applebloom then leaning down to nuzzle and kiss her daughter. “An’ Ah should hope Ah pass some of those teachin’s down to you, sugarcube.” She looked over her shoulder, back towards the barn. “Ah guess we should go join everypony else now...”

“Nah,” Rumble replied, let’s go elsewhere. Applebloom followed his outstretched arm towards the trees, her eyes spotting what he was now pointing at, making her giggle. “What?”

“All right, let’s go spend the night in there,” she agreed, jumping down from the bale and taking Amber from Rumble as he followed, the young family making their way towards a well kept, familiar to the mare, treehouse.

Author's Notes:

Well... been sometime, hey guys? I'm sure you can see why that last scene took... too long for me to work on. A lot has changed in my life. Mainly finding myself a cute little mare.

(Yes, this is the height difference in real life, the artist had a photo of this pose to use as a reference)
Things for me now are... good. Might be tight financially, but in general I'm happier then I have been in a long time!

Chapter 15 was started long ago, and it might be slow coming, but it IS coming...

...I might have to just start it again as I re-read the story and look for any plot points that still need to be resolved.

...hehehe. Plot.