Author's Notes:

So, here's the clop, mostly written by the very-talented Wing who {if you've read my last few AN's} needs no introduction beyond the ever-awesome. If you haven't already, give the guy some love. Thinking his face and lower-back might not be enough and that you try to target the thighs as well this time. Thanks to Alticron/Izanagi for giving it a once-over, though I think in total the three of us found a single error. Considering Wing mostly-wrote this in less than 45 minutes, that's impressive.

For all intents and purposes, this is a collaboration-chapter, because it has to be. It's also the sole cause of the M/Sex tags. Anyways, here it is. Least the the changeling invasion will be a lot more fun, thanks to the M tag.

Oh, and it takes place around the center of 32.

After nearly ten minutes, Barrier heard a pleasing melody running through the apartment as he was finishing his coffee. It was vastly different from what the timbre to which he was accustomed, for normally, Octavia’s music was more reserved and soft - as though she sought to gently comfort temperamental, fragile strings. As such, her performances were rather soothing, but this was fast and hectic, though no less glorious. Barrier found himself grinning wildly as he took a sip of his coffee and enjoyed the winding phases over the next fifteen minutes. The phrases spanned the broad ranges of pitch and volume as if the instrument and master battled against one another in a violent struggle of brewing familiarity before the apartment suddenly fell into silence.

For nearly ten minutes, Barrier sipped his drink and strained his ears to catch any noise from the mare’s room before she finally called out to him in a particularly coy voice. “Barrier, would you come here please?”

Throwing back the remainder of his still-hot coffee, Barrier swallowed and climbed upright, trotting to the mare's bedroom. Raising a hoof to knock, the door suddenly shot open and a sock-clad hoof shot out, grabbing him by the scruff of his neck. The earth pony always seemed to have the upper hand on the stallion when it came to bouts of strength; however, this was more than a simple contest. Desire coated her purple irides after she planted her colt back-down upon her mattress.

She brushed his chest with her black socks while stripes of coat-matching grey caught renegade glimmers as a limb came to rest upon Barrier's exposed stomach. "It plays beautifully," she spoke in a manner that sounded a bit distant - as though her mind had long since wandered to a different realm of thought. "I never would have expected such a gift from any stallion..." Her voice trailed off before her gaze fell directly upon Barrier's cerulean cores. She regained her usual composure as a sly smile plucked the corners of her lips. The mare sprawled out atop the colt and pressed her muzzle to his ear as a sultry whisper floated through the air. "You're absolutely insufferable, Barrier, but you're the audience I want to play for the most."

Barrier shivered as the shock finally faded for a rising tide of excitement. Beneath her presence, he could feel his stallionhood swelling from every word and motion, and a small fragment of his mind wondered if he were - in fact - her instrument. He opened his mouth to answer, but his breath was promptly cut off by a swift motion that pressed her lips to his. With every second that ticked away, her forehooves found another place to touch. They caressed his mane, gripping strands of his blue locks with a force that was only equaled by their developing kiss.

They did not break away when hot, needed pulses of wind rushed from their snouts over the short tufts of fur that covered their jaws. Beside himself with emotion, Barrier allowed his hooves to run down her sides until they were firmly planted against her cutie marks. He had not felt this way since before his return, and the thrill of finally sharing such an instant with such a special pony made his heart race more than combat ever could. He moaned softly - the gentle shift of her body revealing the wet need that dripped from her love - and made his pulse with even more want.

Like the graceful musician she was, Octavia pulled back and composed the score of her dreams. Their wails emerged in a chaotic harmony as the mare guided Barrier's shaft inside her, and a fervent squeal erupted from her lungs as she slid her body down to his base. The bow danced across the strings, riding up and down the quivering stallionhood as a melodic sequence of moans rose from Barrier's muzzle. He arched his back and rolled his head before Octavia descended upon him to rake his vulnerable neck with her teeth.

The stallion, struggling to keep a firm hold on her flank, grunted with each and every passionate grind. She was riding him - absolutely controlling the state of his physical being and mental fortitude. Her tempo was ravishing. It was something he would not have expected from the sweet mare whose tender melodies brought joy to the refined, but then again, the fast and frantic piece she had played on his gift moments before was just as beautiful. It was in that moment that Barrier's eyes widened. His hooves had instinctively moved towards her forelegs, and soon enough, he had her pinned to his chest.

With the cunning of a soldier, he clung to her frame and rolled her upon her back to assume the dominant position. That piece had been her gift to him. It was a composition for the both of them - a duet in which he had to play his part - a duet in which he needed, wanted, desired to pen his melody to the page. Another guttural grunt emerged from his muzzle as he buried his shaft deep inside his mare. Passionate quarters manifested in response, propelled by the repeated grinds of Barrier's body against Octavia's.

He panted as the will to show his love for this mare grew with the ever-building arousal drenching both of their bodies. Their wails united for every thrust, touch and kiss that accented the notes of the quickening song. Heat brewed between coats, and sock-covered hooves sent chills up the already satiated stallion's spine. He practically howled as he threw himself into the mare and hit his climax. She squeezed him tightly, clinging to the fermata that saw her form embrace their first orgasm. It was only after a moment that she recognized that her own unbridled voice had joined the chorus for that joyous pause, but that realization was far from embarrassing when she found his sweaty figure nuzzling against her fur.

Against all the odds, they had found each other, an insufferable ex-guard and an elegant musician, and they had found love. Her chest was rising and falling with drawn breaths when she recovered the ability to speak coherently. "Thank you, Barrier," she cooed, "for everything."