Author's Notes:

Hello, it's been a month since the last chapter, I hope all my readers are happy with the frequency of updates recently!

Another thing, I've put my author's notes at the top for a reason. This chapter contains two sex scenes, and they're pretty explicit. To avoid them, look for ~~o0o0^0o0o~~ that demarks the beginnings and endings of each sex scene. In any case, I hope you all like this chapter, it's a strange one, but it's important to set the tone of the third act, the trials and tribulations ahead.

Enjoy!

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It had been several days since the Zebras had come to our camp. Instead of them leaving as they had come, several of their tribe had stayed with us. One of those ponies being Zenji. Zenji was an enigma, never saying what you expected her to say, yet staying consistent all the same. At least, that was the impression I had gotten in the small number of interactions I had had with her…

In front of me lay some damaged radio equipment. I wasn’t sure what was wrong with it, other than it being obviously not functional. With a spark of my horn, I sent a small amount of current through the obvious pathways. It didn’t flow the way it should have… Then, I noticed where the current was flowing into the casing. A broken piece of plastic coated copper wire was the issue. I could make this piece of machinery whole again.

With a yank of a screwdriver on the seam of the protective plate, I pulled the innards of the device open. This was a radio from the era before the bombs destroyed this world. I didn’t have any understanding of the principals of the amplifier or of the power supply. But I could fix a broken wire. That I was capable of.

Half an hour later, I turned the switch of the radio receiver on. With a small crackle, it started up. The sound of static filled the air of the tent I staying in. I smiled. Hefting the object in my magic, I simultaneously turned it off and started towards the flap of the tent.

I could repair things that electricity permeates, it was my special talent. Everything else was a question left more or less open…

“Today is the day,” I said quietly to myself before walking up to her. She was standing at the edge of the clearing, eyes closed, her breaths were deep, filling her entire lungs. From behind, she looked nearly catatonic. Only the slight expansion of her barrel could be noticed, more like the tides than any living thing should be. “What are you doing?”

“I was meditating. But, I think the path would be better served by teaching you. Tell me, who taught you how to use your magic?” Zenji said quietly. She had stayed there on the forest floor. It was her imitation of a statue that interested me.

“An older unicorn mare in the Imperial City, through her I found out how to channel my magic into the current, and she taught me how to focus and visualize the magic that exists inside me,” I said to her. She got off of the ground and turned to face me.

“Let me guess, she told you to focus on your magic coming from inside you, before imagining it flowing from you outwards, towards your intended target?” Zenji asked immediately. Her eyes curious, but also subdued.

“How did you know?” I asked her, suddenly even more mindful of this mare.

“It’s how the unicorns in Safe Harbor use their magic,” Zenji said.

“So I’m behaving like a normal unicorn,” I said a little self-consciously.

“As far as I’m concerned, yes, you are. You channel magic through yourself, with your intentions and will. In the end, you exhaust yourself because you’re burning your strength to channel the magic that freely exists in our reality. Because magic is a fundamental part of our reality,” she paused and met my affirmative nod. “I believe there is another way. A better way.”

“Isn’t that how all magic is cast, as an intention made a reality by force of individual will?” I asked slightly baffled.

“Not at all,” Zenji said with a light-hearted laugh. “There are as many ways to doing magic as there are colours in the sky at sundown. The way I’m most familiar with is the way Zebras use it. Though I’ve seen Orangutans, Earth Ponies, and Pegasi use their magic as well. All in different ways, but there is overlap. An Earth Pony lifting a tree limb off of their injured friend that they normally could not push aside, nevermind lift on their back is an example of something similar to unicorn spells. They channel magic into themselves and use that magic to improve their physical abilities. Most of the time, it’s a small increase, and it’s not even conscious. There is no intention, it just occurs. Completely the opposite of unicorn magic, with its will and duality between the self and everything else.”

“I see,” my mind was filled with ideas now. This formulation of magical theory was more complete than I had assumed it would be.

“But it gets more complicated than that, there are forms of magic that straddle the bounds of willed magic and unconscious magic. Zebra fetishes and alchemy is an example of using your will and an external channel for magic to flow through and into. Your target and focus are one and the same,” Zenji finished. I looked at her doubtfully.

“Enchantments and potion making are very useful, but they aren’t exactly the alternate power source you promised,” I said to her. In return, she smiled, it was unwavering and just a bit patronizing.

“You’re forgetting one species, the Orangutans. They have a magic all their own, one different from all the other ways I’ve observed. Orangutans function without a focus, precisely because they understand the oneness of all things, the differentiation of self and the visible world fostered by Samsara was first overcome by them,” She paused and beamed at me. “The path was first walked by them in this cycle.”

“You learned about the path from them,” I asked her.

“We learned many things from them: generosity, loving-kindness, and the source of pain at the core of existence. All of those things proved to my ancestors that the path was worth following, even if we ourselves could only walk it haltingly at first,” Zenji met my eyes. “This island was the only place that the sky didn’t darken above. That’s why we came here, all of us. They were a beacon of light in the ash-laden skies.”

“Safe-Harbour,” I whispered to myself.

“Their magic is nothing like yours, or the magic unleashed upon the world by Zebrica and Equestria at the end of the last age. Except for two ways, the magic they use is of a different scale entirely, a megaspell has to be amplified to turn cities to ash, whereas you can barely detect the magic of the Orangutans on a normal scale. That’s the first similarity to other magic that I’ve noticed from them,” Zenji said before looking at me curiously.

“What else is similar to their magic?” I asked.

“Your magic,” she answered casually as if she was talking about the weather or the fortunes of a local sports team she wasn’t actually very keen on.

“I thought that you said unicorn magic was different from all other magic?” I was baffled again.

“The way in which you cast your magic is different, but the way that you use it is very similar to the way they use theirs. That’s why I want to teach you, not just because your cause seems just and your mind is spinning from the path you walk, but also because you use magic differently than all the unicorns I’ve ever crossed paths with before.”

“All I do is cast spells with my horn,” I argued.

“I’ve seen you close your eyes and light your horn so slightly that it barely glows, what were you doing in those moments?” Zenji asked.

“I was watching the current flow,” I said instantaneously.

“You can feel the flowing energy in the world,” Zenji said. “The patterns that create and dissipate the world as we know it, the constant flux of everything.”

“I wouldn’t go that far,” I said breathlessly as this mare expounded her philosophy.

“Don’t dismiss your gift,” she said sharply.

“I don’t, it’s a part of me,” I said simply. “Now what manner of spellcraft do you think I’m capable of? Earth pony strength? Alchemy?”

“The magic of the Orangutans, because they too feel the flowing nature of the world, their magic is based on knowing it, and willing it to flow in an intended direction,” Zenji said in her own flowing way, somehow keeping my mind fixated on her every word. She smiled in that far off way of hers.

“How do they feel the world without a spell?” I asked curiously.

“Through understanding the oneness of themselves and everything else. I myself have only scratched the surface of this power,” her eyes touched the forest floor for a moment. “Even the attachment to the idea of Nirvana is an attachment.”

“That’s a twisted cycle,” I said, hoping that I sounded sympathetic, not sardonic.

“As is the nature of Samsara, but you don’t know what that is.” She sighed and met my eyes. There was tiredness in them that I hadn’t seen before, some insight into the nature of the world that she normally kept out of her mind. My muscles tightened and I met her eyes with a look that mirrored her own.

“Teach me,” I replied.

“As you wish. The first truth of the path is: all of life is ultimately pain…”

The mountains grew larger by the day, as did our knowledge of what was beyond them. We made good time, swinging our machetes and bulldozing through the rough areas with our powered armour, even if that last thing drew the ire of our Zebra guides. In the time between sleeping, eating and marching, I learned more about the Path. It wasn’t a religion like I had suspected, and everything in it was more or less rational. There were no equations, but there were laws governing the way of things.

The things that I had the hardest time believing were the basic precepts of the belief system. All of my life, I had strived to hold onto what I had, and the memories of what I had lost haunted me. Zenji told me the fate of those who craved and obsessed over objects, ideas, even people we had known- In the next life, they were likely to become hungry ghosts…

I tried to live as she suggested, with mindfulness of all things paramount, and loving kindness for everyone. In the simple existence, I was living at that moment, I thought it was possible. Even if I doubted I would be able to live up to the ideals of the path in the heat of a battle or a world torn to shreds by conflict. I didn’t speak to her about those doubts, even as I didn’t push them down when I thought them. The trouble came when I tried to put any of it into practice. Every time I tried to clear my mind and focus on my own breaths, I was flooded by thoughts of the past. The worst were the memories of who I had loved and lost, and those that I was sure I was losing…

“Hey Perm,” I heard Icepick say from the front of my tent. It was late, and the other ponies who normally slept in the tent with me were gone. Off on patrols, or sentry duty. I opened my eyes in the low light of the tent. My breathing exercises weren’t going well anyway. That and I had just been thinking about her.

“Hello Icepick, come in if you desire,” I replied. Within the second she had pushed in the flap, the yellow of her mane and the grey of her coat contrasted subtly against the fabric of the tent.

“Isn’t desire the thing you’re supposed to avoid?” Icepick said with a light laugh. I picked started to pick myself off of the floor, but she shook her head at that.

“Yes, but there isn’t anything wrong with enjoying the positive aspects of life,” I replied to her. She moved over to me with a subtle hesitation in her strides. Some part of me was more attuned to the ponies around me, that at least I had made progress in. But, maybe I would’ve noticed that before-

“Am I one of those positive aspects?” Icepick asked with that forced swagger in her voice. She had spent so long in armour that she had let it sink into her soul. Once I had been the few to see beneath it.

“Without you, I… ” I began but the words slipped out of mind as if my mind was a sieve, something fine enough to let the words flow out, but whole enough to hold in my feelings. She said nothing, only sitting down beside me, her withers and barrel pressing lightly against mine. Even when we had felt nothing but a strange curiosity and a healthy distaste for one another, we had stayed near one another. Now we were separated by our separate occupations. She had a small army to command, meanwhile I was throwing every bit of myself into study…

“We don’t need to say anything to each other, it’s enough to be together for a moment,” Icepick said quietly.

“Those cold desert nights,” my voice was barely above a whisper. Her ears flicked in my direction.

“When we felt like the only ponies in the world,” she abated.

“Lifetimes ago,” I finished for her. In the dark, it’s hard to tell how much time has passed. All I could hear was her breathing and mine, and the washed out noise of the camp.

“Maybe so, but what are we going to do with this life?” Her question was simple but thoughtful. She never needed flourishes and fancy tricks. It just wasn’t her. Icepick was the day to my night. And yet, I couldn’t tolerate the thought of losing her. It was the thought that always filled my mind when I was on the edge of clearing my mind.

“Try to fix our past mistakes,” I said after several drawn-out moments of thought.

“Does it prove her point that I was thinking the same thing?” She said with a hint of humour in her voice. It didn’t undercut her resolve.

“I don’t think it hurts her case,” I said with a hint of a smile on my face.

“What about the next life? After the dust is settled,” Icepick asked softly, a moment later, gravity tore at her words as she spoke them.

“The world is constantly in flux, the dust never really settles-” I started to say before she pressed a hoof to my lips.

“Ponies get tired of war, you should know that more than anyone. We can’t war forever, there aren’t that many of us left,” Icepick paused to let that sink in. “When the battles are only memories and unexploded ordinance, what will you do?”

“I don’t know,” I replied quietly.

“I thought I did, once,” Icepick said a moment later.

“All that is solid is made air,” my words filled the room for a moment, but only for a moment. “All that is air is made solid.”

“You knew all along that it wouldn’t last, that it was a passing phase in our lives, that’s why you always felt so distant, even when you were right beside me.” Icepick said in a low voice. “I thought that I had finally found peace, finally found someone to complete me-”

“The stallion of your dreams, and your time together in Paradise,” I spoke up with neutrality.

“Something like that,” she mused aloud. Her eyes glowed for a moment as she smiled at me. “We never really understood each other until now. We had been in one another, felt one another, and bared our hearts to each other...”

“At first we saw the negative parts, that bred hatred. Then we saw good in each other, and nothing else. Now, we’re nurturing the good in ourselves, while acknowledging the bad,” my voice rose and fell as I spoke. Finally, my eyes were open to the truth of us-

“Maybe this time we’ll get it right,” Icepick said decisively, that faux confidence mixing in with that indomitable spirit of hers.

“All we can do is try,” I said with a hint of humour in my own voice. If you believed the Path, there is no escape from the cycle of birth, pain and death, except to transcend it.

“And if I fail, you’ll be there for me?” She asked, her words fragile in the air.

“Yes-” I was cut off by her lips being pressed against mine. It was a brief kiss, but a powerful one. It reminded me of the kiss we had shared before the battle in Copper Springs.

“That’s all I needed to hear Perm,” she said as she started to get up from the thin mat beneath her. “You can aim for the perfect truth with others, me, I like comforting lies sometimes. Probably one of my fatal flaws actually. And before you ask, yes, I’ll be there for you when you fall. I’m here now, aren’t I?”

“That’s all I needed to hear Icepick,” I said to her as she trotted towards the flap of the tent.

“Crescent, Zenji and I are about to have tea and talk about the state of the march. Want to join?”

“Sure.”

One evening, with the sun well on its journey to the horizon, I was a few hundred meters from the camp chopping down a small tree in a clearing. The diseased stumps of several older trees dotted the landscape around the solitary new growth. The sharpened blade of the spade struck the bottom of the tree, barely a sapling really. My magic tore at it over and over, sweat and concentration evident on my face. I was perhaps halfway through the trunk of the tree when I heard the sound of a cracking stick from behind me. Automatically my magic grasped the handle of my pistol from within my holster as I spun around to face what was there-

“Are you going to shoot me?” A female voice said before my eyes focused on them.

“I don’t plan on it,” I said as I flicked the safety on the gun back on. “Why are you out here?”

“I could ask you the same thing,” I waved the axe once in the air before burying the head of it in the pliable interior of the tree. “But it’s obvious what you’re doing, at least, on the surface.” Crescent Moon’s coat seemed nearly black in the forested twilight.

“I was feeling angry at my failure to clear my mind,” I admitted.

“So you’re taking it out on the smallest tree you could find?” She smiled at me, before looking upwards at the canopy. “I was on my way back to the camp.”

“I see,” I said before meeting her gaze curiously. She had come to within a meter of me. “I wanted a tree I could cut through within a reasonable span of time.”

“I was just walking through this jungle, admiring the beauty of it,” Crescent said with a bit of self-consciousness. “It’s so full of life. And it’s only a short distance from the desert.”

“In the far north of my home, there are forests just as great as these. Snow covered trees, green cones of bristly needles rising into the heavens. Some of those trees have been there for as long as the oldest of these trees,” I said before taking a deep breath.

“They sound beautiful,” Crescent replied in a far off voice. Her eyes were unfocused for a moment. Then all at once, they snapped back into focus, and her entire body tightened up. “It weighs on me sometimes, I can go wherever I want, except home.”

“Maybe someday you’ll be seen as a hero by your people, times change,” I said after a few moments of reflection. Somewhere close enough to be heard, but far enough away to obscure the direction of the noise, a bird began to sing an elaborate song. It too seemed alone.

“And what about you, you’re never going home either,” she said loudly. There was a bitterness in her voice that I hadn’t heard before. “Why is it that those of us who do the right thing, never get to go home?”

“All of us are in this boat, except perhaps the volunteers from Paradise,” I said neutrally.

“I know! It doesn’t make it better,” Crescent yelled the first two words before saying the second half in a tone of deflated resignation. Before I could realize what I was doing, I closed the distance to her and draped my right foreleg over her shoulder. The lanky mare met my eyes, the beginnings of tears forming in them.

“Home is where your heart is, and a heart is a strong thing, it beats your whole life without resting. People who obsess over things that cannot last, or that are gone forever go insane. The insanity of the Steel Rangers is one example, they never accepted that the home of their birth was gone, so they caused great pain in their attempts to recreate it,” I said quietly. There was as much sympathy and understand as I could pack into my words. Instead of replying, she pushed her barrel closer to mine and hooked her foreleg around my neck. At the apex of the embrace she pressed her face to my neck, and without saying a thing, she was racked with sobs. “It’s alright, everyone who knows you, likes you. You’re a kind and hardworking pony.”

“T-thank you,” she said a few moments later. “I just couldn’t hold it in for a moment, I’ll be fine soon.” Her muzzle pulled away from my neck, the new wet spots there indicated what she had done. Our eyes met in that moment. There was a desire there in them, something that she had never had a chance to feel before.

“I know how strong you are, you don’t need to pretend around me,” I said softly, words barely registering in her ears. My exhales tickled her muzzle, as hers did mine. A moment later she closed the remaining distance, and our lips met for the first time. It was a brief kiss and pretty chaste in comparison to many I had experienced in my life.

“T-thank y-you,” she stuttered before looking away. I pulled my foreleg from her shoulder and felt as she did the same. “I don’t know what you did before you met me, but from what I’ve seen, you’re a stallion with a good heart-” I nuzzled her neck gently. She stopped speaking and pulled me closer again with her leg.

“Maybe I am, ponies are complicated creatures,” I said as I pulled my muzzle away and stared into her deep brown eyes, flecked with lighter motes in the irises. “But my heart belongs to someone else, and unless you get her permission, I can’t love you-”

“You know, Icepick isn’t as faithful as you,” she interrupted with a tone of bitterness in her voice. “I saw her walking weirdly, as she came out of her tent, Rosetta was with her. That and the look on her face was pretty happy.”

“I’m going to need to talk to her about that, but we shouldn’t jump to conclusions,” I told her with a tinge of anger in my voice. I liked Rosetta, he had been our first real friend, and I couldn’t say that I hadn’t thought about him sexually…

“Please do, I’m sorry I said anything, I’m just angry. I’ve never wanted to be with anyone before, because they always seemed so artificial, wanting to be with me because I came from an important family. And then, the same stallion that helped me save a village, that helped save my home and my life, he’s off limits. It’s agonizing,” she admitted brusquely, her own voice tinged with an anger years in the making.

“Well, if Icepick views our relationship as fluid, but also very deep, then perhaps…” I said. “I need to talk to her badly.”

“I never meant to feel this way,” Crescent admitted.

“It never works that way,” I replied, knowing that experience all too well. “But we should head back to camp, it’s getting dark.”

“Good idea,” she said softly, before sneaking in another thankful peck on my cheek.

“I never took you for the impulsive type,” I said.

“I’ve never had anything to be impulsive about before,” she said with a little laugh. If nothing else, helping her express herself, and keep her from bottling up all her emotions was a good thing…

“Are you busy?” I said as I stood at the opening of Icepick’s tent. I heard a shuffling of hooves inside the tent, and the sound of a throat being cleared.

“Uh, I was about to pass out, but-” Icepick paused before speaking again. “Come on in.”

I slid through the flap and stepped into the dark tent, Icepick was laying on her bed. Her coat shown lightly against the dark fabric of the tent. She patted the bed with a hoof, no insistence in her actions, just a gentle suggestion. I took the suggestion and stepped over to her palette, before setting myself down beside her. I met her eyes and felt our flanks and withers in contact.

“So what’s on your mind Perm?” She asked with a pleasant tone in her voice. That made my question much more difficult, it stayed at the tip of my tongue for a long, painful moment. She watched me curiously as my verbal paralysis finally broke.

“Did you sleep with Rosetta?” I asked simply, no emotion in my voice. There was no pain, no heartache, it was just a question.

“Yes,” Icepick answered a moment later, her words were quiet. She pressed a hoof to my shoulder. I let out a deep breath.

“So, are we just friends now?” I said as thought back to my conversation with her yesterday.

“Only if you want that,” she replied with a heavy sigh. “I-I, I know you like Rosetta, and well, I thought that all of us could-”

“Could what? Be one big happy trio?” I asked her, my inner pain spilling out for the first time.

“Yes,” she paused and met my eyes. There was sincerity in her voice as she said the word. “Isn’t that what you wanted before you came here?”

“No-I, you’re both different than them, and if you wanted that, some relationship with both of us, you should have asked-” I said in a low voice. My anger had dissipated, only disappointment remaining.

“I’m sorry! It just kinda happened, alright! If I didn’t love you, then I wouldn’t feel bad about it,” She replied with notes of anguish and anger lancing out of her words. It wasn’t anger at me, it was anger at herself.

“I understand Icepick, I lied to you about a lot. And I’ll never forgive myself. But-” I was interrupted by her.

“But what? You want to break things off because I made a mistake because I wanted to comfort a friend, someone who just lost a lover and a friend?” There was anger in her voice now, something irrepressible, something burning deep in her spirit.

“Icepick, I-I don’t know what I want-”

“Of course you don’t,” she paused and let out a breath. “You know what? Maybe we have fucking bound souls, maybe we love each other so much that we’ll always cause each other pain. How about this? I know Rosetta doesn’t mind being a second to me, and I’m sure that Crescent Moon is up for a fucking herd relationship, she certainly wants your dick enough to compromise. So let’s cut to the chase. You love me, I love you, we stay together for the goodness of our souls and the good sex. If you want to have a cutesy romance with the Arab mare, go ahead, if I want to get dicked down by Rosetta, I can do that-”

“Let’s try it,” I said brusquely. There was a snarl on my face as I spoke the words, and I could feel my anger brushing up against my willpower. The next moment she grabbed my head in her hooves and kissed me. Her tongue dove into my mouth, pressing my tongue down against the bottom of my jaw. I moaned into her mouth as I lit my horn and started tearing off my clothes.

We broke the kiss as I stood up, the last of my clothing levitating off my form and being dumped on the ground with my magic, Icepick stood up and turned around-

“We needed this,” she mewled as I grasped the zipper to her jumpsuit with my teeth and pulled it down a good ways, enough for her marehood to be exposed. Without breaking a stride, I jammed my tongue inside her tight cunt, spreading her folds with my warm, wet muscle. “Perm!” Icepick moaned loudly as I let my tongue explore the rest of her, even if I remembered every part of her.

“Yes, Icepick?” I asked as I backed away from her pert rump, my cock throbbing underneath me.

“I missed this,” she replied huskily. With my horn, I grabbed her zipper and helped her get out of the jumpsuit. The moment all of her hooves were out of the clothing she turned around and smiled at me. Her tail was flicking behind her, and her eyes were aimed below my barrel. I twitched heavily before she went around my flank and pushed with all of her considerable strength. I landed on my side before she grabbed my left hind leg and pulled me onto my rump. There was a funny look on her face as she manipulated me like a ragdoll…

“Don’t worry, you’ll like this,” Icepick said as she watched me relax and let my hind legs splay out along the thin fabric beneath me.

Her legs buckled beneath her, letting her fall forward and rest her chest on the blanket. Icepick smiled deviously, before leaning her head forward and licking up from my sheath all the way to my head. I moaned deeply as she grasped my shaft and started stroking it slowly, before giving my dripping tip a kiss-

“Icepick!” I moaned her name as she dipped below my shaft, letting the hard cock rest on her forehead as she took each of my testicles in her mouth in turn. I let one of my forehooves rest on her head, giving her ears a little stroke as my other forehoof grasped heavily at the makeshift bed. It felt like heaven when she finally took the first few inches of my cock into her wet mouth. She grinned like mad after pulling back, letting my wet cock feel cool in the nighttime air.

“You want more?” She asked with a bat of her eyelashes and a straightening of her mane, the short pink accented mane looking sexy.

“Y-yes,” I groaned before she hungrily inhaled most of my shaft, her tight throat wrapping around my head. The hoof on her head played havoc with that cute mane of hers, and her bobbing motions on my cock only made her look wilder when her eyes met mine. It was a good look on her. I moaned loudly as I felt her lips meet my sheath, the tightness of her throat and the copious saliva dripping down my crotch was all that I could bear in mind as she worked my shaft. Her flicking tail waved across an ass that made most stallions turn their heads to look…

Moments passed as she bobbed her head on my cock, the sounds of the sloppy fellatio filling the tent-

“You close?” She asked as she looked up at me with those same hungry eyes. I nodded at her heavily. Icepick smiled and got to her hooves before turning in place, and flicking her tail to the side. She was dripping wet, and it was coming down her hind legs, making her smell like desire and need. I got to my hooves and walked over to her. She shook her rump in my face, before rubbing her wet tail over my muzzle. My cock twitched at the smell, and I buried my muzzle in her slit for a moment…

“Come on, I want your cock,” She said with a moan as I pulled my muzzle out of her slit, the smell of the ripe juices on my muzzle sending my mind into a frenzy. With a hoof, I smacked her rump hard enough to make her whole ass jiggle. She moaned heavily at that before shaking her reddened rump in my face again. “I know you want me too-” She said before I jumped onto her back, mounting her in one primaeval motion. My forelegs found her withers and held onto her heavily, squeezing her toned body possessively.

“You’re mine,” I breathed heavily into her ear. It twitched as my warm breath struck it.

“I’m yours, and you’re mine,” Icepick said breathily, as she felt my cock touch her sensitive teats. With my magic, I grasped my shaft and bit my lips as I felt it line up with her flower, the head spreading her outermost petals.

“Exactly,” I said before nipping her neck and pushing forward with a buck of my hind legs. The two of us moaned as I slipped half of my cock into her in the first thrust, her legs shaking as she was spread apart. After a moment of taking in the feeling, and waiting for her hind legs to stop shaking, I pulled back, before plunging back in-

“Perm!” Icepick moaned as I hilted my girthy cock inside her pussy. My hips met hers with a juicy smack. I lifted one of my hooves from her withers, before smacking her rump again. She moaned loudly and her velvet walls clenched up around me. I grunted at the sensation before pulling back, that hoof instead drifting down to those sensitive teats hanging in front of her stuffed cunt.

“Yes?” I asked as I pulled out of her, her tail trying to hold me in as she wrapped it around me.

“I don’t know what’s gotten into you, but I like it,” She said huskily, her tongue lolling out as she took my cock inside her.

“I’m just giving you what you really want,” I said before nipping her neck again, the taste of sweaty fur somehow spurring me on to buck into her harder.

“C-cock?” She mused aloud. I took the moment to force myself into her hard, the smacking of our bodies together filled the tent, and beyond.

“Not just cock,” I said loudly. “You want someone dangerous, someone, to protect you, someone who fucks you, not the other way around.” She just moaned as I slipped her ear between my teeth and gently tugged on it. Just hard enough for her to grip my cock like a vice-

“Finish inside,” she mewled as her front legs buckled beneath us, the strong mare was reduced to having just her rump in the air as I continued fucking her oversensitive pussy with my cock.

“You want to be bred?” I asked her quietly, whispering into her ears. I backed it up with a smack to her cutie mark, turning the skin beneath her shrapnel mark red, and tweaking her nipples with my magic.

“Yes,” she moaned as I bottomed out in her again. My cock twitched inside her as she admitted her desires. I was close.

“Get ready,” I said breathlessly, as I pushed myself into one last time. My hips smacked hers as my magic pulled on her nipples, my hooves wrapped around her withers and held onto her heavily. Her tail dropped from my back, as her walls clenched up around me, my head flared out like a plug as I felt the first splash of cum travel down my cock, deep into her pussy. She moaned heavily as I nipped her one last time, my teeth driving into her lower neck. I left a mark that time.

“Oooh,” she moaned as she came around my cock, our combined fluids flooding down her crotch and pooling beneath our coupling. I pushed myself forward just an inch as I enjoyed the pleasure of flaring inside a mare, my expanded cockhead squeezed by her writhing walls. I grunted as another pulse of cum shot into her. My mind was blank as I took in the sensations, my horn was dark, and everything was in peace… Moments passed as I felt the last shot of my thick load empty inside of her.

“Where did that come from Perm?” Icepick said with a laugh as I pulled out of her and laid down on the moist blankets. Icepick picked herself back up and spun around, before dropping onto the blankets too. The front of her barrel inches from the pool of cum and her own lubricating juices.

“Anger,” I said simply. Breathlessly, I lit my horn and looked into her eyes. There was the steady smile of a good afterglow on her lips, as well as a curiosity in her eyes. “Not just at you, but at myself, and at the world…”

“Well, it was a nice change of pace, even if my half my body is sore right now,” she said with that same smile on her muzzle. My magic grasped a rag laying on a table a few feet away, before bringing it over to us and wiping up the excess cum between us. “So you do still want to breed me?”

“There’s no doubt in my heart of that,” I replied before leaning over and kissing her on the lips softly.

“Well, if we win against Sombra, maybe you’ll get your chance,” she said after we broke the kiss.

“I think we’d both like that,” I said to her as I got up and went over to her, laying down beside her once again. She took the opportunity to lay on her side, her stomach pointed at me. I leaned myself over as well, our eyes meeting as she threw a hoof over my body and pulled me closer to her.

“Things aren’t quite what I imagined they would be,” Icepick said softly. There was pain in her voice. “But maybe we’ll make things work.”

“Are you going to sleep with Rosetta again?” I asked, trying not to let my feelings show.

“Not unless you’re there too,” Icepick replied as I looked into her eyes. They were bright in the tent, even if everything was a shade of grey in the dark of the tent.

“Okay,” I said quietly. “What should I tell Crescent Moon?” Icepick was quiet for a moment, her eyes shut in concentration.

“I’m not sure how I feel about her and you,” she paused and opened her eyes while letting out a hot breath. “I guess fair is fair Perm, if you want to blow off steam with her once, that’s fine. But, for now, keep it to one session. If she’s okay with that, then, pound away-”

I kissed her before she could continue. She opened her mouth and let my tongue push inside. My hoof came down on her back, before sliding down to her right flank. I squeezed at the sore spot on her rump. Icepick moaned into my mouth at that. The make-out continued for a while before we broke away again. She looked down at what had been poking her in the tits-

“Wanna go again?” She asked with a massive smile on her face. I nodded my head before kissing her again…

Light from the sun bombarded the tent, with a crack of it seeping through from underneath the flap. I had slept peacefully for the first time since the ship. I yawned before pulling Icepick closer to me. Her rump was against me, and her bruise covered neck was in front of my eyes. I gently kissed one of the hickeys before squeezing her belly slightly. Thoughts of being a parent filled my mind for a split second. Then it became a torment as I thought of my parents, the same ones I had abandoned in my quest for purpose. They would never get to meet their grandchildren, well, my kids at least. My sister gotten knocked up by a real asshole of a stallion…

“Do you think I should wear a scarf, or just flaunt it?” Icepick said before yawning herself.
“You’re the boss, might as well enjoy the privileges,” I replied softly.

“I’m the boss, except for when you’re feeling dominant,” she said in a sing-song voice before flipping her body over and facing me. “How are you feeling?” She said as she stretched out her legs, before hooking a foreleg around my withers and pulled me to her.

“Exactly,” I replied with another yawn. The smells of cooking fires hit our noses at the same time. “Want to eat breakfast with me?”

“Can we hold hooves under the table?” She said with a smile.

“We can hold hooves above the table if you want,” I replied in a husky voice.

“My little deviant,” Icepick said liltingly.

“My big broodmare,” I replied, my hoof shifting down to her rump. Her breath hitched in her throat.

“N-no,” she said quietly. “C’mon we need to get stuff done today.” I stuck my tongue out at her. Her only reply was snicker as she got to her hooves. I did the same, with feigned reluctance.

And then, we walked into the sunlight together.

“So, have you achieved Nirvana yet?” Zenji asked in a serious tone as she watched me fuck with the hot plate.

“No, not quite,” I answered glumly before sticking my tongue out at her.

“Well, if you figured it out before me, then I would be a little angry, which isn’t part of the path,” she paused and looked down at the guts of the hotplate. It was a pretty simple machine, basically just a heating element, a kill switch for when it got too hot, and an input for a spark battery. Still, this particular thing didn’t want to heat up, so I had to strip out the shorted out heating element and replace it with a spare from a cannibalised hot plate… “I’m just glad I don’t have to repair things like that.”

“No-one can be good at everything,” I replied softly before picking up a piece of solder with my magic, and heating it up by applying a current through it. The warm metal mixture dripped in place to connect the new heating element to the old connectors. I let it cool for a moment and looked over at Zenji. She had taken the moment to sit down on the ground beside the table. The tree stump beneath her rump suited her well. “But no, I’ve been making progress though.”

“How so?” She asked with a blink. I cleared my throat and thought back to the night before. With the aid of a set of earplugs I had managed to trade from a Paradise mare, I had managed to keep the outside world at bay for a short while.

“I was able to clear my head, and focus only on breathing, I think I was in that state for a few minutes,” I told her as I grasped the hotplate with my magic before grasping the cover and shoving it on, before screwing in the four screws that held it in place.

“That’s progress, now I think you’re ready for the next step,” Zenji replied before meeting my eyes with her cocoa coloured irises. “Loving kindness.”

“Explain?” I asked her as I flicked the switch on the hotplate. It began with a slight start, but I could feel the current flowing into the heating element from the battery, it wasn’t hard to do. Only a little magic into my horn was enough to show me what was in front of me. A little more would point out all the current flowing in our little encampment, a picture of the world made from flowing electrons, not the typical vibrations in the air and of light itself. I let out a breath and released my spell.

“There is a level of meditation beyond emptiness, one where you project your innermost feelings to the world, you become a vessel for a loving-kindness towards all things. That is the next step,” she paused and waited for me to take in the full scope of her words. “I will teach you what I can. Truthfully this is the last level that I myself have fully achieved.”

“What’s the level beyond that?” I asked, my curiosity showing as the hotplate warmed visibly. I grasped something from the ground, a kettle filled with water. I took it and placed it on the burner and waited for it to heat up. “Tea?”

“Tea with my protege, sure,” she replied with a mild curtsy. “Now, the final level is that of awareness of the oneness of all things, the true magic comes from that. Sight beyond the reaches of sight, of your soul connecting with the currents that make the world, that’s the final level. I’ve only felt it on occasion, but it is true nirvana. It’s something that the mystics of the Orangutan tribes are able to do, after a decade or more of practice.”

“I don’t have a decade,” I replied coldly.

“It might not take you that long, in fact, you’ve learned very quickly,” Zenji said as she watched me slump in my chair.

“Let’s hope so,” I said quietly. She smiled hopefully. I matched her smile, somehow.

“The gateway,” Zenji said to Icepick and I as we walked reached the edge of the gap between the mountains, even the gateway was still high above the rest of the island.

“If we have to defend the other half of the island, this is where we make our stand,” Icepick said defiantly. Her heavily ladened form was nothing compared to the size of the mountains flanking us. Even then, these were molehills when compared to the mountains in the north of the empire.

“That’s a sad possibility, but yes,” Zenji replied, before looking back at the caravan of ponies following behind us.

“About how far is the lake from here?” I asked after a moment of silence.

“Four days journey, and we’ll encounter streams and other water sources along the way,” Zenji said before stepping forward once. “It’s been years since I’ve been to Safe Harbour. I’m excited to see how things have changed!”

“Well, they have a pretty decent harbour, if our boat captain is to be believed,” I said to Zenji, who looked unsurprised.

“Oh yes, they have many ships, some from before the cataclysm. Most of them have sails now though,” Zenji said happily, she loved the different cultures of the people of the island.

“How many ponies live on the island?” Icepick asked, her demographic curiosity showing up again. You could make the ranger fight rangers, but you couldn’t make her not want to know more about Equestrians living in Sall’han.

“I think they conduct a census in the area around Safe Harbour, but if I were to guess off the top of my head, I’d say in the tens of thousands on the island and around the lake itself,” Zenji said before letting out a deep breath. “Though they aren’t just Equestrians, they’re Arabs too, and there are a lot of intermarried and mixed ponies living in Safe Harbour.”

“I see,” Icepick said, trying to hide her learned revulsion at the idea. “I’ll be happy to learn about their culture, and try to get them to fight for the future of Sall’han.” After a moment of reflection, Icepick added: “Building a Coalition is hard, sometimes it makes me wish for a big unified nation-state like yours.”

“Well, if you want a blueprint for how to make one, the empire is one way, but there are others,” I replied, thinking of the wars of Grimkeep and the extension of imperial citizenship to the tribes and many independent groups of the north.

“Hit me with those?” Icepick asked expectantly.

“Well, the Celestian federation, the enemy we during the great war, they were exactly what their name suggests. A loose federation, with all the member states having a great deal of autonomy but joining together for trade and war,” I said without much emotion. They were different, but I had read a lot about my old enemy. They had only unified a couple decades before the war itself, and then that was before their colonies formed a federation of their own and rebelled…

“That, that could work,” she mused aloud.

“Aye, it did,” I replied back my voice was low and a bit harsher than I expected. “It was a Celestian bayonet that scarred me.”

“They must have been a mighty warrior,” Zenji said quietly, not sure what to say to someone who had fought in a war. Her people had been lucky, lucky until now at least.

“Well, there were two of them, and they paid for it with their lives,” I said to her. She winced at the fact of their deaths, and of my bloodstained hooves. “It was during that fight that I used my electricity magic for the first time. Other than my current sensing spell. I felt their heartbeats stop, and the little bits of current that make a body run, I could feel them stopping in a cascade failure. I had never felt a living being before that moment. Now I feel them everywhere I light my horn, all the lives, trillions of pieces, all flowing and changing as they live.”

“You never felt it before you used your power to kill?” Zenji asked in a startled tone.

“I was on the edge of death when I killed those ponies, I felt the currents in myself as well, it was all a wash, as I bled into the muddy trenches beneath me,” I replied quietly. “I’m not perfect, the further away I am from a pony, and the weaker the current, the less I can feel, the more I have to focus on the tiny eddies and irregularities-”

“So you can’t feel ponies a mile away,” Icepick asked, suddenly very curious about my abilities.

“I cannot, though I can feel generators and high voltage power lines from far away. Once I felt a solar flare, a massive wave of potential released from the surface of the sun, it was blinding, even from the other side of the sun,” I said to the astonished ponies. “That was a few days ago, I think my sensitivity is growing, as I’m starting to feel it whenever I light my horn, not just when I cast my spell.”

“Your eyes are opening to the world,” Zenji said, her face breaking into a smile. “Your path to understanding is a strange one, but I believe you’re making strides, in your meditation and in your magic.”

“Can you feel powered armour?” Icepick asked suddenly, her hoof pressing to my shoulder, even as the ponies behind us were catching up to us.

“It hums with electricity, with potential much more brightly than ponies do-” I replied before getting cut off.

“Have you sensed any ponies wearing it outside our group?” Icepick asked furiously.

“If I had, you would know,” I replied. She sighed and pulled her hoof away.

“Good to hear,” Icepick replied before letting out a deep breath. She mimed wiping sweat from her forehead. “Speaking of your magic, I just thought of something. If you’re trying to imitate the magic of the Orangutans, why don’t you study with one?”

“Very few of them speak Equestrian, and fewer of them still are masters of the path,” Zenji replied.

“Well, are there any Orangutans in Safe Harbour that are masters of the path? I mean, I’m just spitballing here, but if any of them live in the city, they probably speak the language of the ponies living there,” Icepick said as we started walking forward again. When I lit up my spell, with nary a trickle of magic, I felt her body living, pulsing with energy, but also encased in her much brighter power armour. Maybe if I could see the inherent magic of her form, that earth pony magic, maybe she would glow brighter than the metal suit-

“Perhaps, again, it’s been years since I’ve been there,” Zenji said apologetically. She turned to me and met my eyes. “Maybe we’ll find you a teacher there, someone more adept than I am.”

“Don’t think of it like that,” Icepick said before nudging the other mare with an armoured shoulder. “Besides, I’m still looking for those potions we traded for.”

“Our alchemists in Safe Harbour will provide you all with the potions, they have quite the stockpile,” Zenji replied, her eyes focused on the two of us. “I’ll even get you some of those potions you were especially interested in-”

“Well, it’s a good thing that my bones will be stronger then, I’m not sure I could handle her without it,” I said with faux fear in my voice.

“I dunno, I was pretty sore from last time too,” Icepick said with a laugh. Zenji didn’t flush, she just darted her eyes between the two of us.

“All that aforementioned girth?” Zenji said with a smile written deeply across her muzzle.

“I mean, as long as I get to watch, you could experience it yourself,” Icepick said with a flick of her armoured tail. The amorous expression on her face was incredible to behold, even as I flushed and Zenji giggled in reply.

“I’ll take that under advisement,” Zenji said before meeting Icepick’s gaze. “Though, I’m already getting that itch scratched by another stallion.”

“Who?” Icepick blurted out immediately. I myself didn’t care too much, but I wasn’t surprised that my teacher had found a source of release. She was a very pretty mare, and exotic to boot. My eyes drifted over to her striped flanks. I would enjoy hitting that-

“Not telling,” Zenji replied in a singsong voice. Her flanks bumped against Icepick’s armoured rump. And with a flick of her tail, she gave me a split second view of her dark petals. “Maybe if you master the next level before we get to the potion shop, I’ll indulge both of you-” Her head shifted over her shoulder and met my gaze. My position behind both of the mares had been an accident, but my ogling had been intentional. Icepick threw a glance back my way when she saw the other girl smiling deviously at me.

“Perm, listen to your dick for once,” Icepick said with a smile. It was the same smile she had given me many times before we fucked. I looked away and forced myself to stay within my sheath.

“Remember, loving-kindness, and compassion for all, because the entire universe is holy, everything divine in one way or another,” Zenji said before turning back to the path ahead of us.

“I’ll try my best,” I replied.

That night we camped at the top of the pass, there was less foliage there, and a number of streams flowed through the area. We took the time to restock our potable water, and a couple of us took the time to fish in those little streams. We ate well, as the abundance of this land was still mostly untapped-

“I can’t believe you’re eating that,” Crescent Moon said from behind me. I turned around in place, my mess kit floating in the air and turning with me. I hadn’t known it was her, or I would’ve said something first.

“I can’t believe you wouldn’t, it’s delicious,” I replied. Taking another small bite of the seared fish fillet. “Besides I grew up eating fish occasionally. Maidenpool was a fishing village. At least, it used to be.”

“Well, I guess a certain degree of acculturation would explain the poor taste,” the brown coated mare said before sitting down in the tent beside me. She still stuck her tongue out at the smell, but as I finished scarfing it down, she relented.

“Here, have a mint,” she said after I pulled the last of the meat from the fish with my magic and teeth. She hoofed over a small white tablet, and it smelled minty for sure.

“Why do you want my breath to smell good?” I asked with a sly smile before popping the little delicacy into my mouth. It was indeed minty, and after a moment’s mastication, I let the remains of it and my saliva slip down my throat.

“Well, we’re on the top of a mountain pass, and I’ve decided that I wanted something, even if its a one-time thing,” she replied in a near whisper. My ears twitched and burned at her words, and their meaning. I turned my head towards her and met her auburn eyes, nearly black in the darkness of the tent. But I knew what they looked like in the sunlight-

She kissed me on the lips, letting one of her forelegs drift over my withers, and pulling me closer to her. The lanky but strong mare had me fully in her sway as her tongue pushed into my mouth with an uncharacteristic hunger. I pressed back instantly, fighting against her, throwing my whole being into the kiss. We continued like that for a long time, at least, it felt like a long time. Eventually, though, even strong ponies like us have to breathe eventually.

“I wasn’t sure you wanted a one-time thing,” I asked her breathlessly.

“I wasn’t sure you wanted to waste your ‘hall pass’ on me,” she replied, equally starved of air. “I’m convinced now,” she purred a moment later. Without taking her will into account, I stood up and lit my horn. She relaxed as my magic grasped her body, gently pushing her onto her back, and splaying both of her sets of legs. For the first time, I climbed on top of her, standing above her in a state of vulnerability. She liked it if the flush on her face was any indication…

“I’m going to ravage you,” I replied with a hungry look, my lower half already showing signs of excitement.

“I desire nothing less,” she said with a nod and a flick of her tail. Her hinds remained uncrossed, and without any hesitation, I let my body come down towards hers. Our barrels pressed against each others and my hinds kept her hinds from hiding any part of her treasure from me. My cock spilt out against her stomach and petite teats as I pressed my lips to hers. She met my advances with a fervour born of curiosity and desperation. Her forelegs wrapped around my withers as I explored her mouth with my tongue.

The kiss continued for a long time, and with a light of my horn, I started to tease her body with tendrils of magic. First, her precum soaked teats, then her rapidly moistening slit, before finally finding her winking clit and surrounding it with tingling magic. She moaned loudly at that, and I smiled and broke the kiss, letting the poor mare breath.

“Did you use your electricity on my marehood?” She asked with a shocked expression on her muzzle.

“I didn’t hear you complaining,” I responded, before moving my mouth down to her neck and nipping it softly. She moaned at the attention and held onto me tightly, especially as I switched over to the other side of her neck, enjoying the slight scent of her coat, and the sweat from the journey today.

“I did say to ravage m-me,” her words caught at the last moment as I slid my body backwards slightly. My cockhead pressed over the open and leaking folds of her marehood, her breath hitched when she winked out and it brushed against my head, I spurred her on further by taking that moment to aim at her tunnel with my magic.

“In time, in time,” I replied in a steady tone. I wasn’t a teenage colt, I wanted to draw out this moment, this first time of a dignified mare. I wanted to give her something to remember fondly, even as our first meeting was anything but a fond memory…

“D-don’t tease me,” she said breathlessly, I kissed her on the muzzle, and pushing her lips open at the same time as I slid my head between her folds, and into her virgin tunnel. She moaned into my mouth and gripped me with all of her legs, showing off that latent earth pony strength. I felt my breath pushed out of me as I slid half of my length into her. I stopped and broke the kiss, even as the other half of my cock, ached to be buried in her.

“Good?” I asked her with breathless urgency.

“I’m not made of glass-” She started to say before I jammed the rest of my cock into her. I felt our bodies come together with a slap. Her words died on her lips as her mind reeled from the new sensations, I took the moment to just enjoy her tight walls convulsing around my cock. After a few moments, her eyes uncrossed and her sweaty body breathed steadily.

“I can see why mares enjoy this,” she said with a grunt. I took that moment to pull my hips back until only my head was inside her. “I feel so empty-” She didn’t feel empty for long, as I pushed back inside her. I twitched inside her as her hindlegs curled hard around my flanks, holding me in place, slowing me down a little as I pulled back. The pistoning was a give and a take, with my strong hips doing most of the giving…

“I bet you’re wishing you tried it sooner,” I moaned out, my hot breath playing over her face as she took a deep inhale. I let my head fall to the bottom of her throat, before kissing that spot heavily enough to leave a ring of saliva, and upturned fur.

“Something like t-that,” she managed to say as I rutted her with a sweet rhythm.

“You’re wishing you tried my cock sooner?” I asked her after a moment’s contemplation.

“Yes!” She yelled before I moved my muzzle to her lips and kissed her deeply. My hips were rolling against hers like waves on the edge of a beach, and she was enjoying it immensely if the wetness around my cock and the writhing muscles surrounding my hard member were any indication

She met my tongue, and pressed against me, throwing her hips up against my next thrust. I moaned into her muzzle as she clenched up consciously. My hooves shifted slightly behind me, my sweaty body widening my stance to rut her harder, rut her into the blankets we were laying on. Her eyes widened in pleasure as I drove my length into her in a single moment, and then did it again in basically no time at all. Her cute tongue lolled out of her mouth as I looked down on her pleasure drunk expression.

“You’re a natural,” I moaned as I bucked into her faster and faster slowly losing all semblance of a rhythm. Before she could reply, I surrounded her fattened clit with my magic and gave it a bit of static charge. When my balls bumped into them, there was a shock of surprise from the eclectic electric pleasure.

“And you’re blessed with a divine member,” She moaned as I drove into her again, by now the blankets beneath us were soaked through with our combined juices. I picked up the pace, and continued teasing her clit with my magic, and tweaking her nipples, sometimes grabbing both of our salivas in my magic and applying the cold liquids to them…

“Inside?” I asked plaintively, even as my rutting continued full bore. She looked lost for a second, lost in the sensations and the moment.

“Yes!” She moaned after collecting herself, and I pushed my cock all the way inside her, till our hips met with a wet slap. I held myself there, and let my muzzle descend upon hers, meeting her open mouth with my tongue as I felt myself flare up inside her-

The first shot of cum lanced inside her, painting her insides an immodest shade of white, and the second started to flow out from the sides of her stuffed cunt, leaking even more juices onto the blanket she was going to sleep on tonight. Crescent Moon moaned out loud as I twitched and unloaded in her, the sensations hitting the rest of her body overloading her. She locked up, her entire body tightening around me, including her stuffed cunny. I grunted and felt my hips buck forward futilely, trying to edge out just another millimetre of tight warmth.

A few moments later, her body lost the tension, and my cock stopped flooding her insides with my seed. I looked at her softly, the afterglow of endorphins swimming in my head. Her chocolate eyes, so dark in the blue glow of my hornlight met mine. She lifted her head up the few centimetres between us, before kissing me on the lips, her tongue playing at my opening, even as I felt my cock begin to soften in her.

“Will you sleep beside me tonight?” She asked tentatively.

“I would love to,” I told her as I looked down at her lovely, marked body.

“Besides, we might get a few more uses out of that hall pass tonight, does that seem fair to you?” She inquired. I nodded at her words, before letting out a soft yawn and killing my horn light.

I pulled out of her and felt my legs twitch and shake from the combined efforts of rutting a mare thoroughly, and the day’s march. She patted the bed beside her, and I laid down on my side, looking at her as she turned over and locked eyes with me once again.

“Sounds great,” I replied lightly while thinking about this in terms of the future. “You know, Icepick seems open to threesomes, maybe if you asked her for one-”

“Perhaps,” she said roughly. “I don’t really want to play second to someone else’s relationship, that reminds me too much of the concubines of my home,” she finished with a tone of anger that wasn’t aimed at me, but at the home, she couldn’t return to.

“I understand,” I replied. “Though, it wouldn’t be like that, first of all, Icepick aren’t married, and in pony culture, it’s not that uncommon to have groups larger than two who share each other…” My words hung pregnant in the air for a moment.

“We’ll see Permittivity, for what it’s worth, I’m glad you were my first,” she said before laying a foreleg over my withers and pulled me closer to her. I let out a deep breath at the sudden closeness, the intimacy.

“Sleep well,” I said to her as I yawned again, this time with a bit more force.

“You too,” she said quietly. I watched her for a while in the dark, after a little while her breaths became those of someone who was asleep. Soon after, I managed to join her in the realm of dreams.