I slowly tried to lift my head, despite someone's muzzle being tucked in against the side of my throat. My skull was throbbing, and I reached up to check my horn to make sure the inhibitor ring was still there. Fortunately, it was still right where it was supposed to be, so I didn't have to worry about my mana leaking into my head-meat.

Normally I avoided getting so drunk. Aside from inhibiting my senses and making me more vulnerable to ponies with ill intent, ponies of which I was once constantly surrounded by, there was also the fact that after hatching Spike, it was just plain irresponsible to get drunk around him. Inebriated, maybe buzzed? Sure, that's fine. I've always been honest with him, he knows what alcohol is. He also knows I'll tan his hide until he can qualify as new, exotic sofa upholstery if he ever goes near the stuff before he's of legal age.

What? Just because I started drinking when I was ten doesn't mean a thing. I'll be a hypocrite if I want. Any decent parent would be a hypocrite if you ask me.

I slowly tried to sit myself up, restraining the groan that threatened to break free of the confines of my dry and raspy throat. I needed to go to the bathroom and get some hydration in my system to help deal with this headache. Also painkillers. I could only hope that...hm, who was I in bed with anyway? Logic would denote that it would be Fluttershy, but this wouldn't be the first time I've woken up in a stranger's bed with someone that wasn't the owner of said bed. Oh, that guy's roommate was so pissed at us because of the stains....!

Logic won this round, much to my relief. Fluttershy was laying there next to me, her forelegs curled around my barrel and hugging me with a strong grip that you wouldn't expect from someone as luxuriously soft as her. Her fur was so soft and smooth and vibrant up-close...but, I didn't really have the mentality to thoroughly appreciate it at the time. The bathroom beckoned, both because my bladder was feeling full and because it held promises of water and aspirin.

It was difficult to ever-so-slowly free myself from her embrace, but when I managed to replace myself with a pillow, I quietly made my way to her bathroom after a moment of searching for it. It wasn't attached to her bedroom, like mine was back at home. The fact that I was naked didn't even fully register until I looked down at myself while angling for the toilet. Should've been obvious from the moment I woke up, really. Eh, alcohol and hangovers.

As I relieved myself and took the time to track down a paper cup and some aspirin, my memories slowly but surely began to return to me. Memories of a night of revelry, ponies hoofing over fresh mugs of cider even though I was already pretty drunk, Rarity smacking me, I...believe the big red-furred stallion I made out with at one point was Big Macintosh, aaand then a pegasus named Thunderlane...huh. Wow, I got pretty wild. Hope Spike didn't see any of that. At least my clothes stayed on until it was just Fluttershy and myself.

I downed my third paper cup of lukewarm water while pondering on her. She was easily the most surprising event of the evening. She got smashed. From what I could tell, she wasn't really used to such large social gatherings, but there was no way for her to get away from any of it, so in lieu of a comfort zone, she substituted alcohol. Lots of alcohol. Not that I fault her for that, the Apple Family's hard cider is the stuff of legends.

As I finished a fifth cup of water, I filled up another one and brought it with me, not that it was a lot, and stepped back out into the hallway, heading for her bedroom. The curtains weren't drawn, and the morning light was almost searing my retinas, or so it felt, so I went to close them. Fluttershy didn't seem to appreciate it either, with how she was groaning in her sleep and kicking her legs about, trying to roll over.

A dull thump sounded off after I closed the blinds, and I looked over at the bed to see that Fluttershy had kicked...a big, black double-sided dildo off of the bedsheets. I stared in awe at the gigantic thing, the thickness of it beyond the size of most Equestrians, so I was guessing it was a Saddle Arabian design? That was when I noticed numerous other toys littering the floor.

I remembered her hitting on me. Drunkenly of course, but considering we were both drunk, it worked plenty well. Didn't hurt that I wanted everything her sexy body had to offer before we went off saving the world. Of course, I didn't know what all she had to offer exactly before last night. I leaned my head a little to the left and saw an open chest full of various toys that we hadn't gotten around to using. The ground was littered with the rest.

I wish I could remember more of the details. Which one of us had worn that butterfly ballgag?

It goes without saying that Fluttershy's a freak in the sack. It's always the quiet ones, know what I mean? Always too quiet and reserved to go out and get some action for themselves, so they get curious, horny, frustrated...and they start learning about things like bondage and numerous different sex toys, all that stuff. Why do I know what anal vibrators, bin-wa balls and bondage are? Well, I am a pervert that loves to experiment and learn about new things. Do you need a better explanation than that?

Unfortunately, this whole situation presented a problem. This was normally the moment where I put my mind magic to use to manipulate her memories of our fun night together so that, for all she knew, she'd just bedded a mare. Aside from the fact that my magic wasn't available for proper use at the moment, I don't think I could've brought myself to actually do that to her. As unsure as I was about the six of us, I could at least believe that they were my friends. It just felt...wrong, to think about doing that to any of them, let alone going through with it.

She let out a low, keening wail as she rolled over onto her back, and I pulled the covers off of her with a hoof. She gasped, startled at the action, and curled in on herself. The way she writhed reminded me of several incidents in which I'd spent the night with an inebriated acquaintance, only to find them suffering the next morning.

It was slow, the way she turned over to look at me. She was messy, covered in dried-up fluids far more than I was, as was evident by the more sticky-looking parts of her fur that looked all stuck together and nasty. Her mane was disheveled and splayed out underneath her head, giving me a full view of her wide eyes, shocked by my presence in her bedroom. My best guess was that she either didn't remember what happened last night at all, or her head was too full of fuck-you-for-doing-this-to-me that her memories were being withheld.

"Hey," I said as quietly as I could while she stared at me, like a lamb staring up at a lion. "Here. Water, not cold. It'll help."

She stared up at me for a moment, gave a quick glance to the paper cup, then blushed profusely and slowly eased herself up into a sitting position. If the sudden red color of her cheeks was any indication, she was utterly mortified by our current situation. I can't deny it was just a little bit awkward.

"Thank you...."

Her voice was barely audible, especially with the sounds of little critters waking up downstairs. I was silently thankful she didn't let those little squirrels and cats and such into her bedroom at night.

She downed the water in seconds once the first drop touched her parched and no doubt nasty-feeling tongue. Sexual deviancies aside, knocking back booze always made your mouth feel and taste terrible the morning after. If you don't know what I'm talking about, you're both missing out, and one fortunate pony.

Unfortunately for her, she drank far more than she ever should've. She didn't seem the type, and judging by how miserable she looked, I was correct. She was holding her head and clenching her eyes shut. Even the light clop of my hooves against her floor seemed to make her wince as I went to get her another cup of water. The whole time, she couldn't bring herself to say a single thing or even look at me.

That was the routine for an undetermined amount of time. I kept on drinking water myself, and I brought her some aspirin to help with the headache, making short trips to and from the bathroom until she seemed capable of getting onto her hooves and staying on them by herself. We both needed a shower, and I couldn't brace her in there.

While she offered no protest, I could tell she was extremely anxious, being so close to me after last night. You have to understand, sober Fluttershy is very different from drunk Fluttershy. Holy wow, did she hit on me! Could've mistaken her for a sex-starved hermaphrodite with zero shame, with how she was hanging on me and whispering dirty things in my ears, nipping at them and pulling me away from the party to head back to her cottage!

Of course, I also didn't resist, soooo...it's hard to say if I took advantage of her, if she took advantage of me, or if we took advantage of each other. Probably that last one.

The moment that hot water washed over us, it was an almost instant relief. I'm sure she'd intended to shower alone, but since she'd opted to remain mostly silent, I just kinda slipped in with her. She still couldn't bring herself to look me in the eyes, even when I took the time to wash her back. And her flank. And her hindlegs. And whatever else she'd let me touch, which was almost everything. Despite her bashful nature, I think she liked it.

I didn't realize why she liked that kind of treatment until much later, but needless to say, she's into pet play. Not just the kinky kind, but...sometimes she wishes she could be the one that gets taken care of instead of taking care of all the animals. I can understand that sort of desire. I've been coddled before. Not very often, but it's happened, and it's still enjoyable even when you're not a little filly anymore.

Before you ask why I was being all cozy with her, the simple answer is that I'm not an asshole. I'm a monster, sure, but I don't need to be an asshole about it. I didn't always lure Mafia goons back to my place. Sometimes I snagged a cute young thing that had nothing to do with them. It just wasn't always me, if you catch my drift. Those were the types I woke up with, washed up with and had a bit of breakfast with. Usually. Some were total jerks, but what can you do?

When we were done with our shower, and no, nothing sexual happened in there, c'mon we were hung-over and feeling pretty bleh...I had to ask her if I could borrow a spare toothbrush because for obvious reasons, I hadn't brought my own. Little too drunk to stumble back to the library and fetch my hygienic necessities. She was still a bit tense and afraid to speak above a whisper, but at least she didn't look like a cornered rabbit waiting for a chance to bolt anymore.

Speaking of rabbits....!

It was an awkward moment when we finally went downstairs and found numerous small animals running around between their homes...which I was sure wasn't legally allowed. Still, I had no intention of saying anything, it didn't matter to me. Instead, I was more intent on getting some food in my belly, preferably something that wouldn't get my stomach screaming in protest and sending the contents back up my esophagus.

Fluttershy had the same idea I guess, since our breakfast consisted of water and a whole lot of toast with jam on it. A better option than eggs, certainly. I probably would've vomited if I so much as smelled eggs cooking.

We sat in silence for a time, the light crunch of us both biting into toast the only noise aside from the animals running around the living room. They seemed to understand that they needed to stay out of the kitchen, if only for sanitary reasons. I mean, gross, squirrels running around the place where you prepare and possibly eat your food?

All but one of the animals, I should say. A familiar small white bunny came hopping into the room, hopping up onto my back and then hopping up onto the table. He only barely missed knocking over my glass of water, and I just watched as he hopped right up in front of Fluttershy.

I would've complained if it weren't for how her eyes, tired as they were, lit up at the sight of him. It was cute, and he seemed a bit more special to her than the others were.

He squeaked and flailed his arms at her a little while she rubbed her head and nodded to him. I scowled when he suddenly turned and glared at me.

"What? What'd I do?" I muttered, giving him a dirty look in return.

The rabbit hopped over and jumped...right on top of my last piece of toast. That fucker. He squeaked and shrieked with all his rabbity might at me, his little arms pointing at me accusingly while Fluttershy tried to talk him down, to no avail. I guess he thought I got his owner drunk on purpose or something? I dunno. All I knew was, he didn't chill out until Fluttershy got him a few carrots for him to nibble on. Plus she used a towel to wipe his feet clean of jam. Even then, he was giving me the stink-eye.

My toast was ruined, so I just settled for what I'd already ate. Truth be told, I was already feeling better, and Fluttershy looked like she was as well. I was thankful for that at least, but now...we were caught in the awkward zone again. With Angel munching on his own meal, it was just Fluttershy and I, with me sitting there and her sitting across the table, nervously pawing at the tabletop while I crossed my forelegs and leaned my weight on them a little atop the table.

"So..." I muttered, clearing my throat. "Last night-"

"I-I don't normally drink that much!" she suddenly blurted out, cutting me off.

We stared at each other for a moment before we continued. "Rainbow usually stops me. I get...nervous, in big crowds..." she muttered, almost inaudible. "Alcohol helps me relax in those situations, but usually Rainbow cuts me off."

"Plus, Apple Family cider's delicious." I pointed out, nodding sagely.

Her quiet tittering laughter was better than coffee. Already I could feel the gears connected to the hamster wheel in my head beginning to turn more smoothly as I shook off the hangover bit by bit.

"Hm-hm! Y-yes, that too," she said, shuffling a little in her seat. "I'm, um, very sorry about what happened, if it...i-if it upsets you, I mean...."

I waved it off and cracked a wide smile. "I can remember almost everything important about last night, and believe me, those are some really good memories!"

"O-oh!" she said, blushing a deep crimson. "I, um, I see. That is, it's..." she struggled to say to me, shrinking down lower in her seat. "You were nice too."

I smirked at that and leaned back in my seat. "Just nice? I must be losing my touch."

She just smiled at that and looked away, a wistful kind of smile creasing her lips behind that freshly-brushed mane of hers. It was the kind of smile you saw when someone was thinking of or remembering something that they're fond of. Maybe I'm arrogant, but I got the feeling that she was thinking about me.

Of course, that brought me to another issue I needed to talk to her about.

"Uh, about my equipment down there..." I muttered, looking out the kitchen windows. "Could you, maybe...stay quiet about that? Just, as a favor to me?"

The quiet munching died away, and I glanced over to see that same rabbit hopping over and up onto the table again. I calmly pushed my plate aside as he marched right up to me and, without missing a beat, hopped over my crossed forelegs on the table and looked straight down at my crotch. Is it strange that a rabbit was making me feel self-conscious? Probably strange. I wasn't used to anyone examining my package like that, even though he didn't do it for very long.

It only got worse when he stepped back and looked up at me. I didn't know rabbits could quirk an eyebrow. I was learning a lot of strange shit in Ponyville. Well, that or every single inhabitant of this town was batshit insane, but that's a conclusion I pondered on much later down the line.

"Yes, that's a real thing." I muttered down at him.

He just kept on staring at me, then looked back at Fluttershy and chittered something at her. She blushed and lowered her head, mumbling something that even I couldn't hear in the relative quiet of the cottage, and soon the rabbit hopped off the table and took off into the living room.

I watched him go for a moment, then turned back to face Fluttershy. "Can I count on him to stay quiet about it? Not that I think I have to be worried about the animal population knowing I've got a cock."

Fluttershy just blushed a brighter shade of red. I got the feeling she did that a lot when talking about stuff like this. Not surprising, she's a very soft-spoken young lady.

"You don't have to worry about me telling anypony. But..." she said, rubbing her forehooves together while looking up at me. "You should probably tell the others."

"Huh? Who?"

"The, um...the others that have Elements of their own?" she offered, sitting up a little straighter.

"...Why would I do that?"

"Well it's just, Rarity likes to gossip but I think she won't tell anyone if you talk to her about it directly, a-and you'll probably be around more," she said, her tone sounding oddly hopeful at that last part. "So, they um, they might find out by accident, and that could wind up being bad."

"Well, that's...that's strangely well thought-out for someone that's just recovering from a hangover," I said, shrugging a little. "You make a good point."

She tried to hide her smile behind that luxurious mane of hers, but she didn't quite pull it off. "I was thinking about it all morning."

"Really? Even during the shower?"

"Especially during the shower," she said, sliding out of her seat. "Are you done?"

I nodded and slid my plate over as she walked over towards me, getting out of my seat and stretching my neck while she put the dishes in the sink. She didn't wash them just yet, but that was probably because there was some noise kicking up in the living room that demanded her attention. I stepped in there first, and was confronted by a lot of small critters. This couldn't possibly be sanitary, but if no one had come here to shut her down yet, I certainly wasn't going to say anything.

I spotted Angel again, and he was standing at the front door, just glaring at me. He started hopping towards me, and I figured he was just heading into the kitchen again. What I didn't expect when he ran under my legs, was for him to leap up, and karate-kick me square in my jewels. Not even a kind of unrefined kick or anything, that shit was practiced.

Now, for all of you out there that don't know what it's like to get kicked in the balls or you just don't have balls, let me make something perfectly clear to you. A full-powered blow to the crotch? That hurts. You know what hurts more? Something smaller going specifically for your nuts and just thwacking them. It sounds like it doesn't make sense, but it hurts a million times worse.

My hindlegs immediately half-buckled and all the air in my lungs rushed out in a guttural moan of pain as that agonizing ache spread through my lower body. I clopped one of my forehooves at the wooden floor while slowly working myself into turning around, spotting the rabbit actually blowing a raspberry at me.

"Oh, you little fluffrat, come 'ere!"

The chase could hardly be called a chase. It was more like I was hobbling after him as he darted easily around me, and I just barely shifted my hips enough to avoid him nailing me in the nuts again. I reflexively reached out for him with my magic, but the ring on my horn made sure to remind me not to do that with a bit of an electrical sting to the base of my horn. Thus, all I could rely on was my hooves, which weren't all that adept at catching a scurrying, rampaging rabbit. Well, as much as rabbits can rampage, anyways.

"Angel!"

The sharp tone of Fluttershy's voice seemed to make every single creature in the cottage go still and give her their undivided attention. Even I felt an instinctual urge to listen to whatever she had to say. It disappeared as quickly as it came, but still...there was strength hiding within her.

"You stop that this instant!" she said, punctuating her angry words with a light stamp of her hoof. "Now you apologize, mister!"

It was surprising to actually see him cowed into submission like that. It was almost like flipping a switch. I looked over at her in confusion as he hopped over in front of me, though his movements were hesitant. He was a rebellious little thing.

With his carrot in his tiny paws, he set the carrot down in front of me and chittered something at me. I wasn't Fluttershy, so I don't have a clue exactly what he said. When I looked at Fluttershy she seemed pleased, so I just rolled with it. I picked up his carrot and looked it over. I suppose that a half-eaten carrot is a good peace offering between animals around here, but it meant nothing to me. Still....

"Thanks. You're forgiven. Dunno what I did to deserve it, but...okay," I said, hanging on to the carrot and looking over towards the stairs. "I'm gonna go upstairs and get my clothes."

Fluttershy gave me a small nod. "Okay. I'm gonna clean those dishes and get to work."

She headed back into the kitchen, and I discreetly watched Angel hop over towards what looked like an animal carrier, converted into a makeshift home for him. It had a folded-up blanket on the inside, along with what looked like a hoof-built home made of sticks, just for him. I ducked my head down, still feeling some of the ache in my groin, and tapped the edge of the carrier.

"Hey, Angel." I muttered quietly, setting the carrot down just inside of the entrance.

He peeked his head out of his tiny stick-home and looked up at me hesitantly. I motioned him to come out where I could see him better, and when he did, I set the carrot down in front of him. I didn't have to say much of anything for him to get the message, and he reached for the carrot. I gently placed my hoof over it.

"I don't mess with you, you don't mess with me. Got it?"

He gave a quick nod, and I moved my hoof away so he could take his treat back. It was better to not be on his bad side, if I was going to be coming around here more often. Less trouble and hassle that way. I'd just have to work on earning more of his trust down the line. Trying to push it now would just make him suspicious, I'm willing to bet.

With that taken care of, I headed straight upstairs and got my clothes back on. At least those didn't get soiled during last night's round in the sack. It was practically muscle memory, putting one of my suits back on, the smooth shuffle of carefully-crafted cloth so it didn't catch on your fur, the light adjustments to my tie (if I bothered to wear one) to make it rest just right...I'd done it for so long, it came to me without thinking.

When I came back downstairs, Fluttershy was actually laying food out for all the animals inside of the cottage. Food bowls, just pouring it out in piles...the city mare inside of me recoiled at the nastiness of it all as the squirrels, cats and other assorted animals like birds joined in on the morning feast.

"Mornings are busy around here, huh?" I offered, stepping around the hordes of animals that were eating.

"Mmmhmm," she hummed, finishing filling a bowl of food that some chipmunks went at with gusto. "Always. I have a lot of animals to take care of."

I looked around for a moment, then stepped around the animals, heading for the door. "Well, if you don't mind, I need to-oh. Uh-oh."

It came to me so suddenly that I found myself shocked I'd forgotten for even a moment. I knew I'd fucked up now, I just didn't know how much until I tracked him down.

"I need to go find Spike!"

"Oh! Your son, right?" Fluttershy asked, smiling ever-so-slightly. "He's probably at Sweet Apple Acres still."

I stopped in my brief trot towards the door, looking back at her. "Why do you say that?"

"No one told you?"

"Well...no."

Oh! Well, it's simple really," she said, sitting down to dust her hooves off after setting a bag of bird feed down on the floor. "They normally do this at the end of the year, but with what happened, and with everypony celebrating...they decided to do it last night, too. Usually I don't drink like that so they can count on me to help, but, well, you know how that went."

"Okay..." I said, making a circular motion with my hoof. "But what exactly did they do?"

"Oh! Right, they set up a campsite for the fillies and colts, and let them pick their own apples to eat as a late-night snack," she said, smiling a little more. "Nothing sweeter than a freshly-picked apple from Sweet Apple Acres!"

"But, wasn't everypony drinking and getting tipsy?" I asked, fearing the thought of some drunkard watching a huge group of fillies and colts for a night.

Fluttershy waved it off. "No, not everyone drinks. A lot of the Apple Family doesn't drink all that much, and if they do they drink the same cider they give to the kids. You know, non-alcoholic."

I quirked a brow at that. "But...even that cider's alcoholic. It's just such a low amount it's not legally recognized as an alcoholic beverage. Can't even taste it."

"W-well, the kids love it, so...what can I say?"

"Eh, guess you've got a point. Still, Spike's probably worried without me around," I said, moving for the door again. "Maybe I'll see you later?"

She seemed to struggle with something she wanted to say for a moment. "S-sure! Of course! Some other time."

I gave her a quick nod and reached for the door handle, only to freeze when her voice rang out once more.

"Wait! Um...!"

She weaved around her animals while I turned to face her. They only looked up from their food for a moment before realizing that she wasn't talking to them, and promptly went back to munching away. Some of her birds were fluttering down to where she'd left the bird seed and slipped into the opening of the bag, pecking away at the copious meal within.

There was a kind of nervous determination in the way she moved, like she was forcing herself to approach me. I just kept my gaze locked with hers, certain that she'd falter if I gave her anything less than my utmost attention.

"Alright. Something you needed from me?" I asked.

"Yes! Um, not right now, but...okay," she said, taking a deep breath and letting it out, her eyes sliding shut as she tried to calm down. "Come on Fluttershy, you can do this...!"

She looked at me once more, her posture straightening out and a small smile gracing her lips. It was a moment of certainty in her that I got the feeling was a rare thing to see from Fluttershy. I wasn't wrong. The few times I'd seen it from her after that, it usually involved her animals.

Our eyes met, and she inhaled slowly before speaking. "Would you like to do this again sometime?"

I blinked a few times and just kinda stared at her. Here's a fun fact about me: outside of Swirling Breeze, I've never had the same sexual partner. At least, not to my memory. It's usually been brief meetings at bars, like two ships, passing each other in the night. We go to their place, I give them one of the best nights they've ever had, and I leave. Things had already drifted outside of my norm just from me sticking around and not leaving the moment I woke up. Or, y'know, not killing her. She's not with the Mafia though, and there were way too many witnesses to us leaving together, so that wasn't an option. I also wasn't in disguise.

But to have someone like her just up and ask me something like that....

"U-uhm! I mean, if you want to! We don't have to, I just...figured..."

I had apparently been standing there staring for a bit too long for her tastes. Gone was her bravado, and in its place was the same meekness I'd come to expect from her. She was slowly backing away from me, and her voice was getting quieter and quieter as she rambled on.

"It's just, you were really nice, and I realize now that you never said how I was, so I was probably bad, and-"

"Whoa, whoa, hey. Hey!" I said, stepping forward to close the distance between us again. "None of that. You just surprised me is all."

"Oh. I, um, I mean," she struggled to say, her gaze turning down towards the floor, one of her forehooves lightly scuffing the floor. "Sorry."

I wasn't sure how to actually respond to her. Do I just say yes? No? There were a lot of social dynamics to consider here, especially regarding what our friends might think of us doing this. Heh...'our friends'. It was still weird to consider that I have some actual, genuine friends. Fluttershy included.

Then again, she'd taken me by surprise. Perhaps turning that around on her wasn't a bad idea?

I gently reached up with a hoof, slowly tracing a line up the side of her neck. The moment she looked back up at me, I went in for the kill. Hooking my foreleg around the back of her neck, I gave her a light pull while pressing my lips to hers. The squeak she let out was absolutely adorable!

I heard her forehooves clop against the floor in that moment of surprise, her eyes wide as dinner plates as she stared into my eyes. I've been told I can get downright saucy if I let myself get really into it, and this was no exception. My chest pressed against hers and my foreleg gripped her just a bit tighter, and I could feel the tension in her body just from being close to her.

She isn't the first pony I've surprised with that kind of kiss. It's fun, you should try it sometime! It's just tricky to find the right time and pony to do it to. There's this delectable moment right at the beginning when they tense up, like they aren't sure if they should be backing off of not because they're not quite sure what's going on just yet. Their brain hasn't caught up to what their lips are telling it.

That's not the part that gets me going though. The part I enjoy the most. It's the moment of acceptance, when they realize what's happening and they just give themselves to the allure of my muzzle. Sort of like what Fluttershy was doing at that very moment.

I felt her lean in towards me, and soon those wide eyes slid shut while the tension in her body just melted away. I felt her push against me, one of her forelegs reaching up to wrap around my neck in return, and soon there was nothing but the passion of the moment. Her head tilted to one side in a hungry desire to deepen what was already a fairly intimate kiss, and I turned mine the other way.

She pulled at the back of my neck, and I rubbed mine up and down the back of her own, my hoof gently brushing over that luxuriously cared-for mane of hers, feeling the silky strands weaving between my fur as I went. She responded by pushing her muzzle against me more, forcing my head back, but just when I expected her to try to take control, she just...embraced me.

There was a tenderness to her motions, even with her putting her other foreleg around the back of my neck and embracing me completely. Not like she was heavy, it was easy enough to hold up her weight on one foreleg. I was more interested in just how gentle she was being about this. It wasn't hesitation, just a kind of soft touch that I wasn't used to.

Making out with the kinds of ponies I'm used to, it's usually a more messy, heated affair. Their tongues go wild, they throw themselves into the act, and they practically try to smother you. The only thing you can do is respond in kind. It's like a battle of mouths that you must at least try to win.

With ponies like that, it's always like a wild wrestling match that neither of you care about winning or losing as long as it feels good. This right here with Fluttershy...it felt more like her snuggling up against my side and giving me warm nuzzles in comparison. There was no competition, no ferocity that she was letting burst out of her. It was a gentle hunger that she was more than willing to wait on me to satisfy.

I couldn't get enough of it. It was so different and refreshing for me, I didn't want to let go. I can't even tell you how long we kissed, but it at least lasted until we finally broke away from each other to catch our breaths. We'd just started with our tongues, and I could still taste her on my lips. I licked them slowly, savoring that faint taste.

"I'd like that," I whispered. "Doing this again, I mean. Not really looking for a relationship, but...yeah."

The look on her face was priceless. It was always the quiet, reserved ones that were starved for affection in my experience, and the moment you give them that affection, it's like ambrosia to them. They savor it. They give their all in an effort to enjoy what you're offering as much as possible. I couldn't blame her for looking blissed-out, her eyes half-lidded, staring at me with a kind of vacant adoration, a goofy smile adorning an almost angelic visage.

She didn't say anything at first. She just leaned against me for a minute, then those forelegs tightened just a little, and she nuzzled her cheek against my throat, tucking her muzzle under my chin.

"Yay!"

She hugged me tighter, and I responded in kind, and we stayed that way for a time. Some of her squirrels hopped up onto us to see what was going on, but seeing that their caretaker was just fine, they soon left us alone. When we finally let each other go, we said our brief goodbyes once more, with Fluttershy having a bit more pep in her step. Felt good to see that I had that kind of effect on her. Heartwarming, really.

The moment I stepped outside however, I found my heart freezing to stillness in my chest as I was grabbed by some big, powerful clawed paws, and lifted up into the air. All I could see a moment later was a big, gaping maw of teeth.

Author's Notes:

Ah, and finally, we're moving past the events of Nightmare Moon! You can all blame a commenter by the name of Cross Lament for the bit with Angel. Seriously, I took his idea. It was hilarious. I just had to twist it around a little.

The music I listened to? Well...I think it fits waking up to a peaceful, albeit hangover-tinged morning in Fluttershy's cottage.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsoLYWTzqSY