By the time Wildfire made it home that Friday afternoon, punctually throwing open the back door of their town house at four thirty, Tempest was already at home, relaxing in the great room when the little yellow mare entered the kitchen. The first thing she heard was the sounds of the band Tempest liked, Black Sabbath. Not Wildfire’s cup of coffee, but it was alright. Ish.

Tempest, relaxing on the couch – or ‘working’ as she called it – flicked her ears as she heard the back door open. She knew it was Wildfire purely because it was too early for Airmail. Caught halfway between a particularly impressive air drum solo, the violet weather pony turned down her music to speaking volume. “Hey Wily! Pass your test?”

“Yuppers!” Wildfire squealed, bouncing happily into the great room through the short hallway from the dining room. She was still riding a high from attending that fire out in the Broncs. “It turned into a real test!”

Of course, Tempest, being the commander of the first battalion, knew all about it already. “Some of the second battalion helped you push that to the finish line.” Somewhat reluctantly, she got off of the couched and wrapped Wildfire up in a trademark mother hen hug. “You done real good, Wily. I’m proud of you.”

“It was fun!” and it had been, too. While she was working, she hadn’t been thinking how sore her wings would be working that hard, or of any possible dangers. She had just been Wildfire, in her element, working like she always had, like she was eighteen all over again. “Those weather ponies, Ice Crystal and Moonburst, who helped me were real nice!”

Tempest however was only concerned about Wildfire. “Still, pushing an eight stack.” She knew even though she’d had help, for much of the way, she had moved it on her own. “How were your wings after?”

“Awesomes!” Wildfire, still wrapped up in Tempest’s hug, wanted to keep on bouncing she was so elated. “I needed a breather after, but I got to rest when I bounced on the cloud. It was so responsible when they deferred to me to place it just where Comet wanted it.”

Tempest beamed a wide smile. She loved how humble her lover was, but she did wish she’d take credit for it. “It was your cloud, Wily, that’s why. News is still sketchy on the fire. Rung did announce it was arson, but nothing more. Mayor is playing close to the vest.” In between bouts of being Equestria’s next greatest air drummer, she had been watching the news. There had been extensive coverage of the fire, from the devastation of the warehouses to the fire ponies that had worked to put it out. In particular one brave hardworking yellow fire pony in charge of a huge cloud.

Wildfire, completely unaware that she had been filmed on the news, blushed a furious shade of deep red. Her conversation with Airmail still in her head, when she had said more than she should have. “Captain Comet did tell me what it was.”

“Did he know or guess what it was?” Tempest asked. She already had a very good idea what had caused the fire. Gossip and rumour had spread very quickly through the weather battalions.

“He said it was a bomb.” Wildfire replied. She figured she was safe telling Tempest. Her herd-mate was a high ranking pony, and besides she knew if the weather ponies were involved in helping, then official reports would’ve trotted on down the grapevine to Tempest anyway. “You don't guess about stuffs like that, Honey. I think it was something to do with unicorns and zebras in the Broncs.”

That just confirmed what Tempest pretty much already knew from her reports. “Caffy is hounding the mayor too. It was a Grass tribe warehouse and several business along the warehouse that went up in flames. Almost everypony thinks it was several bombs or some type of incendiary devices.”

Wildfire nodded, she was immediately reminded of the fire at Trixie’s Place in Canterlot with the magical self-replicating fireworks. The report afterwards had compared them to a bomb. “Pretty said Caffy had gone to try and deal with it when she called me earlier. When I met up with Darkie and Cy for lunch, Darkie had to be driven there by police.”

“Why?” Tempest asked, wondering what Darkstar had done to earn a police escort all of a sudden.

Wildfire had what she thought was the answer to that. Going by what her friend had said about having trouble ingratiating herself to the Broncs natives, she said, “Unicorn in the Broncs after an arson attack on zebra property that big? Fear of reprisals, probably.”

“Yeah, that could be it.” Tempest agreed now that she thought about it. “I remember that crazy zebra, Roast, last gaming day.” She commented, knowing full well that a good majority of zebras at best mistrusted magic, and at worst outright hated it. If she had a horn, the Broncs would be the last place she’d want to live.

“Yuppers...” Wildfire grinned, though she didn’t really want to talk about Roast very much. She was sure that Caffeinated had given the idiot what was coming to him. “The lunch was fun though, it was nice to have a proper catch up.”

Tempest smiled at that, especially as she had pulled Wildfire into a second tight hug. The couch was comfortable, but hugs were better. “Airy did suggest you catch up with everypony. Heals oneself and kills rumours.”

“It was...different.” Wildfire’s ears slicked back to her head, and her voice dropped ever so slightly as she recalled the lunch catch up. While her friends had been, well, her friends, and they had all had a good time eventually, they weren’t the same as she remembered. “They, were different.”

“Time will do that, Wily,” Tempest said with a smile and a well-placed kiss to her little lover’s nose, “but it will also take time to reconnect. And time to adjust to the ponies as they are now and not the ponies that you remember.”

“Yuppers, I know, Honey...” Wildfire let out a deep sigh. She knew Tempest had a very good point, of course she did, and she was right too, wasn’t she? Wildfire knew that they had all done a lot of living in the five years since they had all been the tight circle of friends they used to be. “We…we'll get there, I guess.”

“Only if all of you want to.” Tempest smiled, laying another tender little kiss on Wildfire’s nose, this time following it up with a few more all over her acid scars. “On the other hoof, you will get there. After all, you are a stubborn mare.”

“I've had to be…” Wildfire started, her ears still back on her head. Suddenly she smiled, her mood flipping right around as she beamed a wide smile and stomped on her maudlin mood. “You love it too! So, are you looking forward to going out later?”

Tempest laughed. She couldn’t help it when she saw again how fast Wildfire’s mood could change. Idly she wondered what was behind that, whether that was always the case, or if it was another side effect of her trauma. “Ah, yes, some uppity restaurant here on Stallion Island. I made reservations twelve years in advance knowing this day would arrive.”

For a split second the literal pony that lived in Wildfire’s head tried to work that out, before she burst out laughing. “Foresight indeed, my big sexy weather pony.”

Tempest snickered, very pleased her little joke had been successful. “Yeah, you know? It wasn't easy either. The restaurant is only five years old and the owner was fourteen when I made the reservations.”

Wildfire, dissolving into fits of sniggering giggles, had to hold up a hoof so that she could breathe. “Oh...oh st-stop...please!”

“Airy said she would meet us there so we have a couple of hours before our reservation.” Tempest said, finally relenting.

Wildfire knew just the best way to spend those couple of hours. So, you, me, bed, sexy snuggles?”

Tempest however had a much better idea. Using her remote, she turned off the stereo. “Hmm…how about you, me, bed, but I preen and you get preened. Then we have sexy snuggles.”

“Alrighty!” There was no way in Equestria that Wildfire was going to object to a preening from Tempest.

Upstairs in their bedroom, Tempest wasted no time at all going into the Preening Zone. She did however allow Wildfire time to get on the bed. Just. The moment she started her work, Tempest’s aim was to hopefully take her lover over the edge doing so.

During the heavy preening session, Tempest was very pleased when Wildfire obliged her by climaxing twice, once for each wing. Tempest herself was lost in her own little subspace. Delivering a preening always did that to her. When she finally came down from her own orgasmic high, she judged it was snuggle time.

At six thirty in the evening, the alarm sounded, rousing both mares from their half slumbering snuggles. “Waking up in the evening is much more my thing.” Tempest grinned in Wildfire’s embrace, stretching her powerful violet wings.

Held in Tempest’s embrace, Wildfire giggled, duly stretching like a cat on the bed when she was at last released. “Oh, you night owl, you!”

“Hoot!” Tempest made a very passable impression of a breed of owl that Wildfire had never ever heard of before as she fluttered her wings and hovered her way to the closet. The moment she landed however, she spent a good long minute stretching her legs until her muscles popped. “So,” she said with a satisfied sigh, “this being a fancy Canterlot restaurant, how much should we dress up?”

“Oh,” Wildfire snickered, “we should totally dress up! To the nines!”

Already in position by the closet door, Tempest winged it open. “That means socks!” as if she needed an excuse to wear socks. Any mare knew that any occasion was a good occasion for socks.

“I was thinking we dress to the tens,” Wildfire grinned as she got off the bed, “that means socks, lingerie and a dress!”

“Lingerie?” Tempest, who had turned to investigate the untold depths of their closet, was given pause at that. She turned back to face her diminutive lover. “Lingerie, for a restaurant?”

Wildfire simply shrugged her shoulders. “Airy said she'd like it.”

“Okay,” Tempest wasn’t wholly convinced, but on the other hoof, it wasn’t exactly indecent apparel, and Wildfire did fill out the skimpy garments quite nicely. “Fair warning, if they toss you out, I get your meal.”

“Hmm,” Wildfire tapped her chin, apparently in thought, “that seems fair, my love.”

Grinning, Tempest turned back to the open closet and spent a moment looking through her outfits. She passed over the rows of tuxedos on their hangers. Tonight wasn’t a night for playing the stallion. Not yet, anyway. Eventually she settled upon a rather fetching cream coloured ensemble. “I have an outfit with a saddle I could wear. Quite sexy it is, too.”

“O-Oooh?” Wildfire’s imagination began to run away with her, just a little, and at the thought of Tempest in a sexy outfit, her wings fluttered just a bit. The details weren’t important, she concentrated on Tempest’s body encased in something sexy. That was enough.

Smirking at the effect she was having, Tempest pulled the outfit from its hanger and leant in close to Wildfire and whispered in her ear, “Should I go with or without panties?”

“HNNNG...” the picture in her head of Tempest wearing the very thin fabric over her mound was all Wildfire needed. “With!” she squeaked, her yellow wings springing out from her sides to stand very erect indeed.

“I'll take that as a yes, I think.” Tempest giggled as she delved back into her underwear drawer in the closet. “Going to be a whole lot of fun getting that corset on you.”

Wildfire tried, with no success whatever to get her wings back down where they belonged. “St-Stupid things…d-daamn wings...” only then did she notice her black tail was hiked up too.

Retrieving the clothes from the closet, Tempest laid them out on the bed and quickly she moved behind Wildfire, only to dart in with her nose directly under her tail. “Panties I think will be easy to get on,” she breathed with a giggle.

Wildfire automatically parted her hind legs and panted like the mare in heat that she was. “Y-Yuppers!”

All up her diminutive lover’s nethers, Tempest placed a series of well-aimed kisses before she stood up. She could easily have carried on, but it wasn’t the time for that. “Well, let’s get you dressed then, after I'm done though, so your wings have a chance to calm down.”

Wildfire sought out Tempest’s lips, using the scent of herself as a guide and kissed her lips gently. “Good idea, Honey.” Straining her sensitive ears, Wildfire listened to her older herd-mate put on her sexy outfit. She fancied, as she listened hard, that she could identify the corset going on, then the socks and finally the dress. As she listened, she fished for a non-sexy conversation. “How was your day?”

“Dangerous!” Wriggling her way into her cream dress, Tempest snickered as she smoothed it over her flank with her hooves. “I came so close to a work related injury!”

“Paper cut?”

“Had to reload the stapler. Twice. Dangerous stuff that.” Tempest laughed and did a twirl in front of the full length mirror that was on the inside of the closet door. She liked that she saw, a lot. Shame she couldn’t rut herself. “Give this outfit a feel, Wily.”

“Lethal weapons in the wrong hooves,” Wildfire giggled, thinking of Airmail and her paperclip launcher. Now her wings were folded back down and behaving themselves, she moved forwards towards the sound of Tempest’s voice and she felt the dress.

With her sensitive, inquisitive hooves, Wildfire felt her way along the silk dress that Tempest was so admirably wearing. She felt the high split that she was sure showed her cutie mark and she felt the decorative saddle with its stiff lacy fabric border. Moving down, she felt the socks, one after the other, and on her head there was a small pill box hat. “Ooooh…” Wildfire made many ‘oooh’s’ as she made a very thorough inspection indeed. “That is so sexy.”

“I’m afraid the panties were too hard to put on…” Tempest purred as she draped them over her nose. “An assist may be needed.”

“Gaaa...” Wildfire’s wings sprouted outwards once more, making Tempest laugh. “I can do that! Yes I can!” She announced confidently. While Tempest’s laugh became giggles, she didn’t make it too hard for her to slide the panties up her hind legs. She did appreciate it though when Wildfire used her snout in between her legs to make sure the gusset was all snug. “There. All done, Honey.”

“Thank you,” Tempest smiled, shaking her ass in Wildfire’s face, seeing as how her muzzle was still there between her thighs. “Now your turn.” She tapped her chin a couple of times, pondering what to suggest, when it came to her. “I'm going to guess that you'll wear what you wore for Airy the other evening?”

“Yuppers, Honey.” Wildfire agreed quickly. She liked it and she knew Airy liked it as well. “I was thinking that, but with a dress as well.”

“Aaaah,” Tempest smiled, seeing where Wildfire was headed with her idea. “Yes, that would work well.” She looked in the closet once more, this time at Wildfire’s section. In spite of her recent purchases from Coco’s shop, the little mare’s selection of dresses was still woefully inadequate compared to Airmail’s and her own. “The one from Canterlot? There is the one you got downtown too.”

“Umm...” Wildfire had a little think about that one. After a second however she made her choice. “The one from downtown, I think, Honey.” Purely because the dress she had bought from Coco’s shop was a darker shade of blue than her lingerie, so both would be visible.

“Yes, that would certainly complement your inner garments. I approve of this plan!” Tempest declared with a giggle as she carefully pulled Wildfire’s clothing choices from the closet and set them out on the bed.

Wildfire couldn’t help but giggle, as she followed each rustle of fabric with her sharp ears. “I should get a stamp, 100% Tempest Approved!”

“I agree,” Tempest giggled, working out the best place to put such a stamp if she had one. “It will look nice when I stamp your cutie marks with it.”

Wildfire giggled some more behind her hoof, “We so need to do that!”

“Right, well, let's see if we can get this corset on you.” Tempest said in a more serious, determined tone, picking up the light blue corset in her mouth and deciding the best way to go was the way she had dressed her little lover last time. Least it was easy, with Wildfire being so much shorter than she was.

“My wings are behaving, at least.” Wildfire offered, fluttering said wings outwards just a little as Tempest slid the corset over her barrel.

“For now.”

“Ah!” Wildfire gasped when, with a seeming passion, Tempest tightened up the corset with the strings running down her back. Thankfully she was pretty slender to start with. “For now.”

“I'm sure Airy will work on that.” Tempest grinned, knowing full well as she pulled on the panties and the peephole bra that Airmail would do just that. “Then again, she’ll be distracted by these…” the weather pony ran her violet hoof over Wildfire’s exposed nipples. “These are Airy's favourite part to play with.”

“Ooooh...hmmmm y-yes they are!” Thanks to her heat, the very slight touch of Tempest’s hoof was enough to send shockwaves all the way through Wildfire’s body, leaving her panting like she’d ran the Running of the Leaves.

Tempest giggled, mercifully she decided not to torment Wildfire any longer. Yet, anyway. “Socks next and we’ll take Airy’s with us too so she won't feel underdressed.”

“That's a good idea, Honey.” Wildfire agreed. When Tempest passed her one blue and purple sock after the other, she pulled each one up her legs. “We can't have an underdressed Airy, can we?”

“No, but I’m afraid I'll be far too busy eating, so you'll have to put her socks on for her.” Tempest snickered, safely placing the yellow and purple socks in her pouch. “Airy often gets confused as to which hoof is which.”

Wildfire giggled, “I'm sure I can manage that, Honey.”

“Very good, we can't let Airy run about with all four socks on one leg.”

“Never!” Wildfire burst out laughing, “though, it would be a little funny!”

“Bridle?” Tempest asked finally, spotting the blue bridle hanging up in the closet and deciding it would finish the diminutive mare off a treat.

Wildfire thought so too. “Hmm...yuppers, I think so, complete the look, as it were.”

Smiling to herself, thankful that Wildfire was quite literally up for anything, Tempest pulled the bridle out and, being careful to mind her acid scars that covered two thirds of her face, put the bridle on and gently buckled it in place. The last thing Tempest helped her on with was the flowing dark blue dress. “This will hide a lot of the lingerie, but not that bra.”

“Excellent!”

“Okay,” Tempest smiled as she checked the alarm clock in the bedroom for the time. “We have just over five minutes, you ready to fly, Wily?”

“Yuppers!” Wildfire squeaked excitedly almost before Tempest finished asking the question. Since her wings had been healed by Princess Luna, she was ready to fly almost anywhere. “I'm ready Honey, as long as I can follow your tail.”

Tempest nodded at that, realising that with the bridle in place, the flight headset wouldn’t exactly fit properly. “Will have to be my perfume though, as I don't think urine is the right scent for dinner.” With that, she reached for her favourite sandalwood perfume and sprayed it liberally around her hind quarters.

“Oh, I agree,” Wildfire sniffed the air and grinned. There was so much perfume on Tempest now that she was lit up like a Hearths Warming tree. It did make things very easy though when the violet mare trotted out of the bedroom and down the stairs. “Although, it might be the right scent for some after dinner fun later?” she asked hopefully.

“Yes it might!” Tempest agreed over her shoulder as she headed out of the back door without looking back. She knew Wildfire was following her.

As the two herd-mates took off into the darkening evening sky, their departure was observed by an orange unicorn, watching their every move from the bushes that hid her from view. ‘Just a little longer,’ she thought with a grim satisfied smile, ‘then revenge will be mine.’ She knew, with an even more sinister smile, that if Amethyst Glory were here, she would reward her for what she was going to do next.

~ ~ ~

“Welcome to Lot-to-Canter.” A chestnut brown unicorn stallion, smartly dressed in a tuxedo and bowtie, greeted Wildfire and Tempest as the two mares walked through the door of the very upmarket restaurant.

“Hello!” Tempest smiled, gifting the stallion a nod of her head. While this eatery certainly looked the part, with its white walls painted in a marble effect, gold trims and chandeliers, the violet mare was reminded that this wasn’t Canterlot. Mostly because the greeter was pleasant. “My friend here would like a braille menu, as she doesn't trust me to read the fancy food here correctly.”

The stallion gave Tempest, whose dress he approved of greatly, a confused look. “Fancy, ma’am?”

Wildfire giggled and, in her finest upper crust Canterlot accent said, “Please pardon my esteemed marefriend, she believes anything ‘Canterlot’ is fancy.”

Smirking, Tempest laid on her native Trottingham accent as thick as she could. Had she been in Canterlot that would’ve barred her from almost every restaurant in the Noble District, if not the whole Noble District itself. “Pfft! White bread is fancy!”

Beside her larger herd-mate, Wildfire had to really bite her tongue to keep from laughing out loud. “A menu sir, if you please.”

“Of course, ma’am.” The chestnut unicorn lit his horn, and, in a pale blue glow, levitated out a braille menu from under the podium he was stood behind. “This way, please.” He said with an easy smile. Passing Wildfire the menu, he turned to lead the two pegasi over to a vacant table.

“There will be three of us.” Tempest stated as she followed the unicorn greeter.

“Not a problem, ma’am.”

Walking along, Wildfire tried very hard to remember the place from her last visit with Airmail, but she just couldn’t. She just knew that it definitely wasn’t the Bread Bowl. She could also tell that they weren’t being led to an out-of-the-way nook where nopony else could see them, then again, were this Canterlot, she wouldn’t have been allowed through the door at all. “Thank you, sir.” She smiled as she walked with Tempest to the table.

Tempest too could tell the difference between Canterlot and Manehatten-Canterlot. None of the other diners paid them any mind, even though she was plainly here with another mare. “You take the window seat dear,” she said to Wildfire once they were at their table, “so you can watch out for Airy.”

Wildfire laughed. “Alrighty!” she slid into the vacant seating pad that Tempest had indicated, “I'll be sure to activate my sexy mare early warning system...beep!” she giggled, pointing her hoof in the direction of Tempest’s voice, “look! It's going off already!”

Chuckling, the chestnut unicorn stallion left them three menus before turning away. He liked ‘fun’ diners, and these mares promised to be that. “Your waitress will be along shortly for your drink order.”

Tempest giggled behind her hoof as they were left alone in what was quite a prominent table. It wasn’t the Princess’s Table or anything, but it was still in a good spot. “I'm sure your flank will bear up from her staring at it, Wily.” The violet pegasus glanced around, she saw the other diners; mares with stallions, mares with mares, stallions with stallions, some were threesomes, nopony paid anypony else any mind, she realised she preferred this to the real thing in Canterlot. “Any drink preference to celebrate this fine day?”

“Yuppers,” Wildfire had the menu, running her hoof slowly along the bumps as she read what was on offer, presently she landed on one she’d never heard of before. “I'll have a bottle of this Pasture Prime beer, please Honey.”

“That sounds good.” Tempest vaguely remembered trying it once or twice before. She approved. “We’ll make it three Pasture Prime beers.” She made the order to a passing waitress who had stopped by their table.

Several moments later and there came a light tap of a hoof at the window behind where Wildfire was sat. She didn’t have to be a genius to know who that was. The little blind mare’s ears perked up and her head spun towards the window. “That's Airy! It’s her!”

Tempest, still looking at the drinks menu, didn’t look up. She was convinced they had made the right choice of beers. After all the Furlong Hops was just too hoppy. She giggled when she set the menu down. “Is your flank burning?”

“Yuppers!” Wildfire squealed, “That's totally it, that and I felt her eyes on my teats, too!”

Tempest waved at Airmail as the azure blue pegasus stepped inside the restaurant once she had moved aside to allow an orange unicorn mare to enter ahead of her, “I'm sure you'll feel more than that later on.”

Airmail trotted on over to their table and sat herself down next to Wildfire. She noticed the orange unicorn sat at a few tables over from them, but she soon paid her no mind at all. “Hi there sexy mares, this table open?”

“Yuppers! Only to sexy mares though, so you're in the club!”

Tempest playfully rolled her blue eyes. “Not a very exclusive club.”

“Well you're in it.” Airmail pointed out with a snicker.

“My accent is the second most sexy at this table.” Tempest said, waving her hoof dismissively in the air in a good imitation of a Canterlot noble.

Wildfire turned to the sound of Airmail’s voice and kissed her lips. “Yours is first!”

As Airmail giggled at the unexpected but not unwanted kiss, the waitress dropped off the three drinks. “Are you ready to order, ma’am?” she addressed Tempest, purely because she was closest.

“A bit more time, please.” Nodding to the weather pony, the waitress bustled off to serve somepony else.

Feeling the cold beer bottle pressed to her hoof, Wildfire lifted it up and took a little sip. Immediately her ears stood straight up. She hadn’t tried it before, but she liked the kick it had. “Wow, now that's a goodie!”

Airmail studied her bottle. She was sure she’d had this before, she just couldn’t place where. “Picture on the bottle is a really old mare in a wheat field.” She commented with a smile, still, it tasted nice.

“Thus the name, ‘Pasture Prime’,” Tempest giggled.

“Well, I do like the older mares…” Wildfire said in what she hoped was a suggestive tone.

“Stormy!” Airmail knew what Wildfire had intended, still, there was room for teasing. “Wily doesn't like me!” she wailed, even adding a pout for good measure.

Leaning over the table, Tempest patted Airmail's head with a hoof. “Give her time, she will see past your youth.”

Seeing as she had a mouthful of beer, Wildfire tried really hard not to giggle. “I love you just fine, Pretty,” she managed to say as she successfully swallowed her beer.

Tempest however continued to pat her herd-mate’s head. “See Airy, she is willing to overlook your youth.”

Wildfire blushed, “I am! I promise I am!”

“But…but…as I get younger, do you think she'll leave me?”

“I don't think so,” Tempest replied to Airmail’s not entirely rhetorical question, “maybe she will love changing nappies as much as you do.”

“Airy, I won't ever leave you, not ever.” Wildfire promised, though her sharp ears picked up the very serious undertones that hid just below the surface of her fiancé’s question. She decided she had to convince her mare. “Hear my soul speak. Of the very instant that I saw you, Did my heart fly at your service.”

If Airmail needed convincing at all, which in truth she didn’t, that would’ve done it. “Aw, Stormy! She is getting all poetic on me.”

“Hmhmm, I think you're safe then.” Tempest glanced at the waitress and saw she was serving the orange unicorn who had entered ahead of Airmail and knew she’d be back over any time soon. Picking up the menu again, she gave it a once over. “Look, they have that triple fried egg sandwich on the menu, it must really be Canterlot cooking.”

Wildfire giggled, “I told you it was!”

“What will the waitress do if I ask for brown slime?” Airmail asked, earning herself a round of sniggered giggles from Tempest as the violet pony swallowed some of her beer.

“She will think you a cultured mare who knows her sauces.” Wildfire sniffed, her nose in the air as she too took a sip from her bottle.

Airmail looked over her menu once, then she gave it a longer look. “I can't find snails anywhere on the menu.” This wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, as she wasn’t keen on them at all.

“Oh...oh, have they 'escar-gone'?” Wildfire asked, while not usually given to puns, she couldn’t resist an open goal like that.

“Must be gone alright.” Tempest sighed, having been beaten to the joke by literally a second. “I'm having the golden bowl with the emerald rice cakes.”

Again, Airmail pouted, this time at Tempest. “Now I'll have to have something different. Hmmm,” she scanned the menu she held for something she understood, or recognised, even. “The seitan picante sounds good, with some cashew mushroom pate.” She said, making her choice. “This stuff does sound like some dish at the castle.”

“Mmmm...” Wildfire murmured, scanning the braille menu with her hoof until she found her favourite section. “I'll go for...the mareoccan fish stew, I think.”

Tempest smirked and shared a hoof bump with Airmail. Both mares had been betting that Wildfire would go for fish. Airmail lost. “We can sample each other’s plates.”

“Yes, that’s a good idea as long as your sample isn't half of my plate.” Airmail said warningly. She had eaten with Tempest before.

Tempest put a foreleg over her forehead and gasped, “Moi?”

“Vous.”

“Wily,” Tempest giggled, hoof still in place, “I am slain. Defend me, my love!”

Wildfire giggled, “Worry not my fair Tempest, ‘The sight of lovers feedeth those in love’ so we'll all be full by night's end.”

Tempest couldn’t help but smile. She did so love to hear her herd-mate’s poetry, and it had been too long since she had. “I am reprieved and look, here is Hoofbeat, our waitress.” When the waitress paused at their table, Tempest duly placed all the orders and requested an additional beer for each of them.

When the waitress returned with the fresh drinks, Wildfire took her second beer and helped herself to a generous slurp. “Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind, and therefore is winged Cupid painted blind.”

“Airy, check to see if she has cue cards.” Tempest smiled, while she was teasing, she could’ve gladly listened to that all night long.

Putting her beer down, Wildfire held up her forelegs and even spread her wings. “Nothing up my sleeves, I promise!”

“And in your socks?” Airmail asked with a grin in her voice.

“No, I put them on,” Tempest smiled, “and speaking of socks. Here's yours. You're underdressed.”

Airmail took the yellow and purple striped socks from Tempest and gave them a puzzled look, like they were the most complicated things she had ever seen. “How do you put these on?”

“Ha. Ha. I think you need help there, Pretty, and I is happy to oblige.” As Wildfire eagerly helped Airmail into her socks, Tempest smiled to herself as her earlier plan was carried out. She especially loved how less then helpful Airmail was in letting Wildfire help her. Wildfire, for her part, was having a great deal of fun helping her fiancé into her socks, even adding a completely unnecessary nuzzle to her hooves and lower legs. “There,” she said once they were finally on, “that's better.”

Tempest clapped her sock covered hooves. “Yes, much better.” It was a well-known fact, known well to those who knew it, that socks made everything better.

Airmail glanced at her four legs and grinned, “I am feeling rather sexy now.”

“Yuppers...you feel very sexy, Pretty…” Wildfire bit her bottom lip and, with her black tail flagging, she quickly downed the rest of her second beer.

The earth pony waitress, a grin all over her aquamarine muzzle, chose that moment to interject herself at the table. “That would be my cue to interrupt and serve you your meal, ladies.” She giggled, fun diners always made the service go by that much faster. “Are you good on drinks?”

Tempest and Airmail shared a quick flick of the ears. “I think another round is in order, please.”

As the three dinner plates were placed in front of the respective mare who had ordered them, Wildfire blushed again. “More beer is always a good idea, Honey.”

No sooner had the plates hit the table than Tempest raised her violet hoof. “I want samples!”

Airmail looked curiously at what her herd-mates had ordered and was intrigued. “So do I, Stormy.”

“Alrighty!” Wildfire giggled and, as she heard Airmail and Tempest help themselves to a little of her fish stew – in turn they gave her and each other some of what they had ordered, she went a little quiet when a thought occurred to her. A thought born of her recent conversation with Emerald, Darkstar and Cyclone. “Thank you,” she said, taking to her meal with a smile. A smile that got wider when she had a bite of the samples, offering a couple of hmm's of appreciation to each.

“They did rule the warehouse fire as arson.” Airmail commented after she had eaten two mouthfuls of her meal, “Looks like it was targeted against zebras. Eight dead, including one firefighter from a wall collapse.”

“This seems too organised for the Celsestites.” Tempest offered thoughtfully.

Airmail shrugged, “I called dad, and he said there has been no word among the co-ops about complaints of zebra imports. As far as I know it was only distributed to zebras or sold locally to the backers in Manehatten.”

“Hmm...it might not have been the Celestites,” Wildfire pondered as she ate, “but it explains why Darkie was brought to Caffy's coffee shop in a police car earlier. Better safe than sorry. Do we know who the unlucky firefighter was?”

“He was with the Broncs Fire Department,” Airmail said softly, “but no names yet.”

“That dock strike that Omega was caught up in was started by ponies from Baltimare, right?” Tempest asked around shovelling in forkfuls of her dinner.

Airmail nodded, “Yeah, that’s one of the reasons I called dad about this fire.”

Wildfire rested her fork at the side of her plate. “That's a damn shame…” all she cared about was the poor firefighter and any family he or she might’ve had, especially as she had a sudden thought of Heatwave. “I really think we were lucky not to lose more, given the size of the blaze.”

Airmail squeezed Wildfire’s foreleg with her hoof. “You had a lot to do with that.”

“Yes,” Tempest agreed quickly, “your ability to get that cloud there so quickly saved a lot of lives, Wily.”

“Just doing my job, that's all,” Wildfire replied modestly. She didn’t see how she had done that much, “besides it's thanks to your training my response was that quick.”

Tempest however wasn’t about to let her be so modest, not today, anyway. “Don't sell yourself short, Wily.”

In total agreement, Airmail pressed her hoof to Wildfire's chest. “You have heart, love, and that is most of the battle.”

Wildfire smiled, “I am short, but I know what you mean, Honey.” She ate a little more of her plate, going quiet once more as she processed the many thoughts running around inside her head. Thoughts of her mother, step-mother and her friends. “Guys...” she said at last, “I've been thinking…”

Airmail sniffed the air, “Stormy, put the fire extinguisher away!”

As Tempest giggled, Wildfire snickered, “I know it's a hazard...but I really have been.” She took a deep breath to steady herself. “So um...I've been thinking, lately, about stuff…” another breath, and Airmail and Tempest both waited patiently while they ate their food for her to continue. “You see...about being Mapper's Pet, I’ve decided I don't want to be one, any more.”

Airmail flicked her ears at Tempest. “I'm okay with that.”

Tempest flicked her ears at Airmail. “Of course, Mapper is the one you need to tell. Does that mean no more Wildflower?”

Wildfire breathed a sigh of relief, releasing a breath she hadn’t realised she was holding in. “No more Wildflower. But, I think having the emergency call on my headset is a sound idea still, you never know who or what's around the corner.”

“Good,” Tempest grinned, “I'll not have to mother hen you about it, then.” Airmail giggled at that, knowing full well that her violet lover would find something else to mother hen her over. “I agree it is a good idea. So, what has you all worked up about this?”

“Just...things, this past week.” Wildfire began to explain herself. “My mum, and what happened to her, moving forward with that whole finding my family I never knew I had, stuff. Me starting work and moving forward with that. Catching up with Cy and Darkie, learning how they're moving forward...there’s kind of a theme developing, y’know?”

Wildfire sighed a deep sigh. “Wildflower and being a Pet was necessary two weeks ago, because I was in that hopeless mind set. Now I'm not. I have you, and Honey and everypony else, and I have hope to move forward too. Wildflower is back there, I'm here. Time to leave her behind.”

Lovingly, Airmail caressed Wildfire’s foreleg. “The three of us could do what Stormy and I did before, too. Helping Mapper and the BDSM sessions but not playing.” The azure blue mare said this, while Tempest was watching Wildfire closely, looking for any tells.

“I'd like that, Pretty.” Wildfire nodded as she ate a large mouthful of fish, “I mean it’s fun and all, and hoof cuffs in the bedroom are still fun, and I get like Dusky, Darkie and Bright want the collars and stuff, I just, I don't, anymore.”

“I didn't love you for the collar.”

“But socks!” Tempest cut in dramatically, “We can't just give up on socks!”

“We can't ever give up on the socks!” Wildfire giggled, “And, I know you didn’t, Pretty.”

“I'm good for some fun times in the bedroom,” Airmail said gently, “but if you want to do any fun times at Caffy's on BDSM or Gaming night, we're still all in.”

Tempest nodded. “What she said.”

“That's the difference though isn't it?” Wildfire asked, as much to herself as to her partners, “from having bondage fun in the bedroom and at Caffy's on the odd Thursdays, as opposed to being submissive all the time, that's what I mean. I'm still up for that fun times.”

Tempest laughed. “Assertive Wily is Assertive.” Airmail giggled, “Yes, I'm good with that.”

Again, Wildfire breathed out. She had to stop holding her breath. In this corset she’d faint. “That's alright then, cos I do like the way you spank me. So, we're all good then?”

“We were good before.” Tempest asserted.

“We are good now.” Airmail agreed before she and Tempest shared a look with each other. “We will be good in the future.”

“Woot!” Wildfire cheered, not too loudly though, and smiled at both of her lovers, “I want to thank you both too, for sticking it out with me. I know it's not been the easiest of journeys, you've made it easier though.”

Airmail smiled, deciding to change the subject, seeing as she was prompted to do so by Tempest’s flicking ears. “When are you going over to Belle's and Tinkerer's house?”

Wildfire thought about that for a long few moments. “I was going to go over in the morning. I wanna go now, but I figured it would be too late. Don't want to impose.”

Tempest snorted out a laugh. “You know, you could call, of course if you need some practice time, then tonight would be good.”

“That's a good idea, Honey. This um, assertive thing, still pretty new to it.” She reached into her pouch and pulled out her phone. “Do you have their number?”

Almost as one, Tempest and Airmail pulled out their phones, both with a happy giggle, as well as a few ear flicks between them. “You sure you’re ready?”

“Yuppers.” Wildfire smiled warmly, “I can't tell you how much I'm ready for this, Airy.”

Airmail snickered, she had a hunch her fiancé would misunderstand what she had said, and she was right. “Ready for the phone number, silly filly.” Tempest just performed a perfect eye roll.

“Oh...” Wildfire giggled, “I knew that.” Blushing, she swiped through her phone’s menu screens. “I’m ready.”

Smiling, Airmail gave Wildfire Tinkerer’s number. Storing the number in her phone, Wildfire dialled, making sure as always it was on speaker. After four rings, the dark green pegasus stallion answered. “'Ello, Tink here.”

“Oh hello!” Wildfire didn’t expect him to answer so quickly. Now that he had, she felt like the eighteen year old virgin asking Air Raid out on a date. “It's Wily...Wildfire...um, hello.”

“Ah, the soon to be pregnant mare.” Tinkerer snickered, “Good evening to you, Wily. Are we still on?”

“Oh yes!” Wildfire replied quickly, “I um, I wondered if it was too late to come round?”

Tinkerer checked his watch. “I'm up, for sure. Belle won't be in from the theatre till close to midnight though.”

“Thank you Tinkerer! And ah, I'm okay to spend the weekend?”

“It’s Tink,” the dark green stallion interrupted her gently, “and I'm not sure what the value of a weekend is, but I think you can at least get a cup of coffee for it. With sugar even.” Tempest and Airmail both snorted out a laugh at that. “Is it just you, or will there be chaperones?”

“Deal Tinker...Tink.” Wildfire blushed, catching herself in time, “and it's just me.”

“Okay, not that Belle would mind, she could watch two shows at once.”

“I thought you were the one that liked to watch.” Tempest interjected, unable to stop herself.

Wildfire giggled, “I was so close to saying that!”

Tinkerer laughed when he heard the exchange on the other end of the line. “You have the address so come over any time before one a.m.” the stallion snickered, “Or, sometime after nine in the morning if you can't make it tonight.”

“Yuppers!” Wildfire squeaked, so loudly that she drew the attention of the orange unicorn sat two tables away. “I'll be there within the hour Tink, and thank you!”

“Come Sunday, we can see who is thanking who.”

“Belle will thank the both of you!” Airmail put in, making Tempest burst out into fits of laughter.

“Alrighty Tink,” Wildfire smiled, she couldn’t help it, “I'll feel you soon.”

“The feeling is mutual. Laters!” With that, Tinkerer hung up, leaving Wildfire to let out an excited little squee of delight.

As Wildfire put her phone away in her pouch, Tempest and Wildfire both laughed together. “Dessert!” Airmail decreed imperiously, clapping her sock covered hooves together.

“Dessert!” Tempest agreed, clapping her hooves together like her herd-mate.

Wildfire had to shake her head, force herself to remain in the moment, in the restaurant. “Yup...Yuppers, dessert!”

Smiling, Tempest waved the earth pony waitress over to their table. “Flan for me please, miss Hoofbeat.”

Airmail made her choice, one of her favourite desserts, one she hadn’t indulged in for some time. “Blackberry cobbler, please.”

“Um...chocolate brownie with chocolate ice cream, please!” Wildfire placed her order and this time, after a series of quick ear flicks, Airmail and Tempest bumped hooves. This time Tempest lost the bet, that the little blind mare would order something chocolatey.

“Very good,” Hoofbeat took their orders, noting them down on her pad. “And drinks?”

Airmail set her empty bottle aside. “Irish Coffee.”

Tempest agreed. “Irish Coffee.”

Wildfire too decided that she’d had enough. “Black coffee, two sugars please, miss.”

“Okay, I'll be right back with your orders.” Hoofbeat smiled and disappeared to prepare their drinks and desserts.

Tempest flicked her ears in Airmail’s direction and giggled quietly at the reply she received. “Our lover is a sober pony, Airy.”

Airmail nodded, “Quite the serious mare, she is.”

“Well,” Wildfire shrugged, not all that sure if she was being made fun of or not. “I've already had three beers, I figured I'd play it safe, that’s all.”

Ten minutes later, the drinks and the desserts arrived on a tray balanced perfectly on Hoofbeat’s back. Once the waitress had set each down with a smile and disappeared to give the orange unicorn her bill, Airmail raised her glass of coffee in a toast. “May Wily's egg get knocked up, proper style.”

“Here, here!” Tempest snickered, raising up her glass so that it clinked against Airmail’s own.

Hearing the toast, Wildfire held up her mug of black coffee and she tried, ultimately failing, to hold in her giggles. “Thank you, Pretty, my eggs will do their best to get knocked up.”

Giggling, Airmail and Tempest both clinked their glasses against the diminutive blind pony’s mug. “I'm waiting to see the sexiness that pregnant mares exhibit.” The weather pony snickered, giving Airmail a wink.

“I bet I'll be huge and wobbly and very, very milky…”

Tempest laughed out loud, “I'm afraid that Airy has spaced out on that comment. You may need to use a napkin on her to mop up the drool.” Airmail wasted no time delivering a loud raspberry to Tempest, which just made her laugh all the more. “See! You can hear her leaking already!”

Wildfire giggled and felt around the table for her napkin. “I can just imagine the drool. I bet it was like Neighagara Falls!”

“Can't say,” Tempest shrugged and took a sip of her Irish coffee, “I haven't been there.”

Airmail very graciously allowed her fiancé to wipe her mouth with the napkin she held in her hoof. “Yeah, I’m like Neighagara Falls, but with less noise.”

“I haven't been either,” Wildfire commented as she finished wiping Airmail’s chin then gave her a kiss for good measure. “No reason why we can't go in the future though.”

“You shouldn't wait too long.” Tempest said as all three mares made a start on their respective desserts, “The Princess of Libraries might stop it for study.”

“I went to Rainbow Falls once,” Wildfire smiled as Airmail gave Tempest a roll of her eyes, “with Primary school.”

“Been there, done that.”

Tempest swallowed the spoonful of flan she had been working on and raspberried Airmail. “Another spot I have yet to visit.”

“It’s really awesomes!” Wildfire said, attacking her chocolate brownie and almost demolishing half of it in one bite. “Like waterfalls but with rainbows. You can taste them and everything, even swim in a rainbow lake! I remember Starshine loved it until Echo told her they made the yellow by getting all the weather pegasi to pee in a big pot together.”

Tempest chose that moment to choke on her coffee while Airmail laughed. “That's a state secret!” Tempest protested with a smile splitting her face, Airmail just laughed and laughed, totally believing Tempest could and would do that.

Wildfire giggled at the very happy memory. “Mr. Abacus gave me detention for a week for peeing in that pool.”

Once the desserts were eaten, and Wildfire had emptied her black coffee, the little mare decided it was time for her to get up and get going to meet Tinkerer. Airmail and Tempest both insisted on hugs and kisses before she left. “Come Monday,” Tempest said with a wry smile, “I don't want to hear that Tinkerer can walk to work.”

“Yeah,” Airmail smiled as she took her turn hugging her fiancé, “I want him to have to fly to get anywhere.”

“Oh yuppers, you know it, Pretty!” Wildfire hugged her mares one after the other. “I'm gonna ride him like he’s the main event at a rodeo!”

In the hug, Airmail whispered in Wildfire’s ear. “Have fun, do what you want to do, don't do what you don't want to do. See you when you get home.”

“Don’t worry, I got this Pretty,” Wildfire placed a tender little kiss on Airmail’s lips, “don't miss me too much.”

Airmail sighed a very dramatic sigh, but she returned the kiss all the same. “I'm sure Stormy will see me through these tough times.”

“Alrighty...” as Wildfire smoothed out her dark blue dress, none of them noticed the orange unicorn get up and walk out of the restaurant. Nopony noticed as she ducked to the side and hid down the alley beside the restaurant, where she wouldn’t be seen.

“She dressed for you,” Tempest said to Airmail as they both watched Wildfire trot on outside into the chill of the night, “but I think they will like it just as much.”

Airmail looked Tempest square in the eyes. “You will be rutting me tonight.”

Tempest nodded, willingly accepting her solemn duty. “Without a doubt.”

On the sidewalk outside the restaurant, Wildfire swapped her bridle for her flight headset, and she requested Tinkerer and Belle’s address. "I got this." She said to herself, before taking off into the dark sky towards Celestia Borough, towards her future. A future she had imagined since she was young.