“Oooh…”

Chuckling, Bluefeather decided a slightly more ‘direct’ approach was called for. She stepped closer to Wildfire’s desk and nearer to the innocuous looking cell phone resting upon it. For added effect, the grey pegasus affected her best ‘matronly’ voice, just to get the point across. “Cyclone, I like to take care of foals and I have a lovely playpen and crib for the foals I take care of.”

That did it. That was enough for Cyclone, whose wings were having a hard time staying by her sides inside the fort. “I'm single and I have no plans for the immediate future.” She didn’t need to hear anything else. It had been such a long time since she’d had a proper nana, no offense to Air Raid, but since their split as a couple four years ago, the experience hadn’t been the same.

Bluefeather smiled, knowing full well she had the jet black pegasus at the word ‘foal’. “I live her in Cloudhatten, but I can meet you at a place of your choosing.”

Buried deep in her very comfortable pillow fort, with the Friday morning cartoons for the moment forgotten, Cyclone thought that was a good idea. She knew just the place. “I'm cool meeting up at Caffeinated's coffee shop, then going on to your place.”

Bluefeather checked her watch and saw it was eleven a.m. “How about four o'clock?” she asked, “If it works out we can do dinner and then I can read you a bedtime story.”

“You had me at four o'clock, Blue.”

Bluefeather’s blue tinted grey wings fluttered with excitement, and it was a concerted effort to maintain her motherly tone of voice. “Be a good foal and be on time, then.”

“Y-You got it!”

“You're gonna go start getting ready now, right?” Wildfire asked with a massive grin plastered all over her face as she heard Bluefeather step away from the phone. Perhaps it was her imagination, but she fancied that there was a spring in her step that wasn’t there before.

“Yep!” Cyclone squealed in sheer delight, knocking over her pillow fort as she burst from its depths. “A four hour scented bubble bath, just me and my plushies!”

“Wily,” Bluefeather asked once the blind mare had hung up her call to her new potential marefriend / foal. She was trying very hard to keep her blue tinted wings in place, if only to save face with her friend, Tempest. “Ah, has Cy said anything on how she feels about discipline?”

Wildfire tapped her chin, apparently in thought. It had after all been a while. “Well...as I recall, she likes a light spanking, she has been tied up before and she enjoyed it.”

Bluefeather affected a really shocked look on her face, though she was giggling deep down. “I'd never tie up a foal!”

Wildfire giggled at that, “I'm sure whatever discipline you deem fit will be fine, Blue.”

“Okay,” Bluefeather smiled, her thoughts were, admittedly wandering from her weather factory all the way up a meandering path that lead all the way to the nappied rear of a very cute black pegasus, “well, Wily did you want to see the cloud production room?”

Wildfire nodded, excited to ‘see’ everything now she was here, and cloud production seemed like something she’d need to know about. “Ooh, yes please!”

“Alright,” Bluefeather grinned and saw her way out so she could go and get herself ready to properly, for the first time, meet the black mare that sounded like a lot of fun over the phone. She was grateful that Wildfire had left her phone on speaker. There was just something cute about her Canterlot / Cloudsdale accent. “C’mon, I'll turn you over to Dayglow, then.”

“Alrighty, thanks Bluefeather!” Wildfire smiled and, as Bluefeather and Tempest left Cloud Burst’s – now Wildfire’s – office, the little blind mare slid off of her seating pad behind her desk and followed the two of them out into the hallway.

Bluefeather led the way down the hall, passing several closed doors until she stopped at the one she wanted. Knocking twice, politely to announce her presence, she hoofed it open. “Dayglow,” she said to the very bright yellow pegasus with the pure white mane and tail seated at her own desk, “this is Wildfire. She’s working for Rung for fire suppression. She may be in Burst's office. Can you give her a production tour please?”

“Sure I can Bl...” Dayglow began to reply but, when she actually saw Wildfire, who had still been behind her boss as they had entered her office, trailed off to a somewhat awkward silence, her mouth hanging open.

“As you can see,” Bluefeather said with an air of authority that snapped Dayglow’s mouth shut, “it will be more than just a visual tour.”

“Ye…Yes…” Dayglow stammered, still trying to process the sight before her, the blind mare, her scars and the fact that she was here to work fire suppression.

Bluefeather caught the dangerous look that she was getting from Tempest and knew from past experience what ‘that’ look from her old friend meant. “Stormy will be tagging along for the ride.” She said, immediately making Tempest feel better about the situation.

“Um, okay…”

Bluefeather eyed her young assistant carefully. “You good?”

Her cheeks lighting up in a very red blush, Dayglow took a moment to shake out her eye achingly bright yellow fur, as well as her white mane. She realised just what a huge foal she had just been. She was also aware of Tempest’s reputation regarding her temper. She did after all cast a long shadow. “Yes Blue, I'm fine. I’m ah, I’m sorry, for that.”

Completely oblivious, Wildfire stepped forward up to Dayglow’s desk. “Is everything okay?” she asked, a wide smile all over her face.

Dayglow could still feel her blush radiating over her cheeks. “Yes Wildfire, I’m sorry for that reaction, it wasn’t very professional of me.” she looked at the little yellow pegasus and felt even more dumb for how she had acted. “I take it you're most interested in the clouds we churn out for the fire department?”

“Oh don't worry about it, it's fine.” Wildfire beamed. While Dayglow’s reaction hadn’t been ‘bad’ as such, she guessed she was more surprised than anything. Besides, she’d experienced far worse. Wildfire knew just how to best to deal with it. “Bluefeather should've warned you a stunning beauty was coming!”

“Yes, she should have!” Dayglow laughed out loud, the ice well and truly shattered. “Follow me please.”

Bluefeather, satisfied that her assistant was fine, shared a nod and a smile with Tempest, who quickly – and thankfully - returned the gesture. “I'll be in my office, Dayglow.” The grey weather manger said as she turned to leave the office, her thoughts once more drifting towards a certain black mare. “I plan on leaving at two thirty.”

“Okay,” Dayglow replied, leading Wildfire and Tempest from her office, “I have this covered. Oh, there’s a budget report you do need to review and sign today. It’s on your desk.”

“Got it.”

“So Dayglow, awesome name by the way, you make the clouds?” Wildfire asked out in the hall just as Bluefeather danced her way back into her own office. She knew they were in the hall from the feel of the cloud floor. Out here it felt like an approximation of tiles, whereas all the offices so far had felt ‘carpeted’.

“Thank you.” Dayglow’s blush, which had been retreating, came back in full force, much to Tempest’s undisguised glee. “We sure do,” she said in reply to Wildfire’s query about the clouds, glad to be talking about something she knew a lot about. Clouds were safe territory. “They’re made to order, though we always have a few in stock for emergencies.”

Wildfire giggled, “I'm guessing your coat is a nice grey or black, something muted and subdued?”

Dayglow choked and burst out laughing. “A-Actually, it’s teehee, b-bright yellow with a white mane.”

“You just had to be my favourite colour with a name like that,” Wildfire snickered, rather pleased with her little self that she had made Dayglow laugh. “Do you make the clouds that Stormy uses?”

“Yes,” Dayglow answered once she was in control of her breathing, “but those are all made per schedule. Depending on the request will determine which part of the factory does the work.”

“We've had this whole place jumping to put in some inclement weather systems.” Tempest spoke up proudly, pleased that her old friend’s assistant seemed more at ease now, and at the same time proud of the way that Wildfire herself had put her at ease.

“You um, you don't release any rogue ones, or faulty ones?” Wildfire asked, unable to keep the anxious nervousness from her voice. Tempest had promised her on the way to Trottingham that she would be careful, but with weather you were never wholly safe. She knew that from experience. Painful experience.

“I pride myself on quality control.” Dayglow announced with a justified little swagger of her hips. “The last incorrectly made cloud was seven years ago, which cost my predecessor his job. He let slip a type two hail storm when it was supposed to be a type two thunder storm.”

“Oh...” Wildfire immediately brightened up, thanks in no small part to Tempest’s wing stroking her right flank, “that's alrighty then, I was just checking. Those Cumulonimbus can be tricky things.”

Again, Dayglow was proud. “My quality team is very diligent,” she explained as they walked together down a new hallway now. “We do get some spectacular storm request on occasion.”

“Mostly for the tourists,” Tempest put in, “they just love to watch off shore storms.”

“I just don't trust those clouds.” Wildfire said, her voice still bright, though her ears were slicked back to her head. “I’m sorry, Dayglow, I wasn't passing judgement on your work.”

“You won't be getting any of those anyhow.” Dayglow said confidently as she led the way into the cloud production area to begin this part of the tour, “Lighting strikes don't help in fire suppression.”

Wildfire blushed fiercely. “I wasn't worried for me…” she muttered, though thankfully the rest of the tour drove thoughts like that from her mind. The cloud production simply fascinated Wildfire. Dayglow was a very good tour guide too. She led them around the cloud banks, where they stored the clouds, she even enjoyed the Voltron 7000 and the Static-O-Matic, the two machines that created the lightning charges for the clouds. In spite of her misgivings, it had been hilarious when her mane stood on end.

“Thank you Dayglow,” Tempest said finally once the bright yellow mare had introduced them to the Cloudbuster Super Soaker Turbo machine that injected the clouds with rainwater siphoned from the ground by the pegasi that formed the hurricanes with their wingpower, “I’m glad to see some of the changes since my last visit.”

“Yuppers,” Wildfire giggled, her fur still felt tingly from the Static-O-Matic, “this tour was properly awesomes, thanks!”

“I look forward to working with you,” Dayglow said with a smile in her tone. Over the course of the tour, she had grown to like the diminutive yellow pegasus. She didn’t take herself too seriously, knew how to have a laugh and when to be serious. Dayglow fancied she’d fit in just fine. “Is there anything else I can do for you?”

“Um...no I don't think so, Dayglow.”

Dayglow however was certain there was. “There is some lovely shopping here in Cloudhatten, if you like.”

Now, as anypony who knows a mare knows, a mare cannot resist shopping. Wildfire was certainly no exception. The moment she heard the ‘S’ word her ears perked up. “Shopping?” she asked excitedly. “C'mon, Stormy, can we go? Please? I'll get you something nice!”

“Okay, okay…” Tempest placed a delicate little kiss to Wildfire’s lips. Her enthusiasm was infectious. “Maybe we’ll get something for Airy too.”

“Yuppers, of course!” Wildfire squee’d as she returned the kiss to Tempest’s lips, she was excited. More than excited. Shopping was still something relatively new for her after the care home. “I got her some sandalwood perfume for our two week anniversary...what else do you think she'd like?”

“Exotic coffee, really dark, dark chocolate.” Tempest replied quickly, knowing as she did Airmail quite well. “Maybe even somepony wearing a sexy outfit…”

“I can think of something better,” Wildfire commented, thinking back to her nineteenth birthday many moons ago and the surprise that Darkstar had left her on her bed.

That caught Tempest’s attention, for sure. “Now I'm intrigued.” Looking back at the very bright yellow pegasus, she saw she had an amused look on her face. “Thanks again for the tour, Dayglow.”

“I mean, the coffee and the dark chocolate, sure,” Wildfire said, for the moment not thinking about Dayglow, “but two ponies wearing sexy outfits?”

“Oh,” Tempest snickered playfully, “so if you're shopping and I'm with you, I can shop too?”

“Of course you can silly,” she giggled, “oh, thanks for the tour, Dayglow.” The three mares shared a three way hug fest that lasted a good few moments before the bright yellow pegasus had to take her leave and go about her business for the day.

“Let's say goodbye to Lancer on our way out,” Tempest said, leading the way back through the many identical looking hall ways to where the offices were. Tempest counted herself lucky there were regular signposts on the walls.

Wildfire nodded, falling into step alongside Tempest. Like before, she had her wingtip touching her thirty eight year old herd-mate’s flank. “Good idea, Honey!” she grinned, “I don't want him to miss me.”

“Unlikely,” Tempest commented with a loud roll of her blue eyes, “but best to not risk it.”

“There’s that, and I get to walk past ~my office~ one more time!” Wildfire squealed in a singsong voice as she skipped along down the hallway.

“Of course…” Tempest replied. She couldn’t help but smile. Walking with Wildfire was like walking with an over-excited foal on the sugar rush of her lifetime. When she reached Lancer’s office, the violet weather pony knocked on his door and stuck her head around it. “Wanted to say goodbye before we left,” she said in answer to his questioning look.

“We did.” Wildfire added, “want to say bye, I mean.” As she said that, she heard Lancer get up from his desk and, once he was closer, she heard Lancer and Tempest hoof bump each other.

“Hoof bump?” Lancer asked, standing in front of the little blind mare.

“Oooh, go on then!” Wildfire smiled and, as she held out her left forehoof for the bump, she picked up an intense waft of mulberry. She filed it in her mental filing cabinet, next to blueberry for Bluefeather and banana for Dayglow.

Straightaway, Lancer bumped Wildfire’s hoof with his own. “I do hope they give you the office,” he said in a conspiratorial tone, “you're a lot prettier than Cloud Burst is.”

Wildfire smiled, the mulberry scent firmly remembered. “And with a better sense of humour too, I'll bet?”

“Time will tell on that one,” Lancer commented, although he had a sneaking suspicion that the little yellow mare was quite right, from the little he had seen of her today, “The beacon should be active by noon on Monday.”

“Thanks for that, and thanks for the ‘pretty’ comment.” Wildfire leant forward and offered Lancer a friendly nuzzle that he gladly accepted. “That earns you a Hearths Warming card!”

Tempest, who had been patiently listening to and watching the playful banter between Wildfire and Lancer, had a rather wonderful, sexy idea. A wonderful, sexy idea that involved her, Wildfire, her new desk, and sex. True she wanted to go shopping, but the sexy idea won. “Wily, do you want to kiss your desk before you go?” she asked, an impish glint in her blue eyes as she leant in close and whispered, “or give it some special mare polish?”

“That is a great idea...” Wildfire admitted, her wings fluttering at half mast, “I don't want my desk to miss me too, do I?”

Tempest knew she had her then. “In that case, we should inspect your office. From behind closed doors...” she finished with a long slow lick straight up the inside of Wildfire’s ear.

“Aaaahn...” Wildfire moaned, subconsciously flicking her ear to fend off the marauding tongue, “y-yuppers...w-we really should, go and do that!”

Once they were safely secreted back in Wildfire’ brand new office, devoid of anything but for the desk, sofa and filing cabinet, Tempest casually inspected her forehoof, “I will I have to say I've never done it on a desk before.”

“It has been a while,” Wildfire giggled, “oh wait...we need a unicorn with an invisibility spell, to complete the effect!”

“Hmm, that could be a problem.” Tempest snickered. She recalled the tale as Wildfire had told it, of her and Air Raid on the math professor’s desk. She had to admit it was a hot thought. “Wait!” she exclaimed, “I think I have a scroll of invisibility. Want me to use it?”

“Well,” Wildfire stroked the edge of her desk with her wingtip, “it would make it like old times...but, nah…” she shook her head with a smile, “let’s make us some new better memories!”

Tempest liked that idea. Very much, did she like that idea. “That's the spirit, Wily!” she congratulated her little lover with a passionate kiss. “Hmm…so many options. You have a favourite position? Seeing as we really can't do mine right now.” Tempest said wistfully, regretting that she hadn’t bought her stallionator in her bag.

“You can sit on my muzzle first, then we switch?”

“I like this plan,” Tempest enthused with an energetic nod of her head, “but first let's clear the surface of the intercom and pencils, but leave the green blotter. We can see what shades we can make on it.”

“It might go yellow,” Wildfire mused out loud as she heard Tempest removing the few meagre things that were occupying the desk.

“All clear,” Tempest said once the desk was clear of everything but the blotting paper. “Now, up you go my little love taste tester.”

Wildfire didn’t need telling twice. “You got it, Honey!” one quick feel for the desk later with her hoof to check where it was and she had hopped up on it. The moment her hooves made contact, she did a very happy little dance. “This is my deeeesk!” she sang out, before laying down on her back.

Tempest couldn’t help but giggle, more so when she saw that, due to her small size, Wildfire’s hind hooves didn’t even reach the end of the desk. “So, did you do this for every desk at Uni?”

“No!” Wildfire squeaked, her wings flaring under her at the very thought. “It was only Calculus's...just because. Well, Raid was hot, I was extremely horny and her desk was there.”

Tempest just giggled harder, at the misunderstanding. “I meant, the happy dance when you got a new desk in class.” The violet mare’s giggles only got harder when Wildfire blushed bright red. “Are you ready?”

Wildfire heard Tempest climb up on the desk, she sniffed and felt her larger herd-mate and lover getting into a sixty nine position. Oh by Luna’s sainted fetlock was she ready for this! “I’m ready Stormy!” she replied quickly, spreading her hind legs apart until she felt the edges of the desk with the heels of her hooves.

Glancing back underneath herself, Tempest saw Wildfire lift her head up to get at her marehood. Sneakily, Tempest quickly wrapped her black tail between her hind legs and up along her belly just as she lowered herself down to Wildfire’s muzzle. Anticipating the warm wet folds of her lover’s labia, Wildfire instead got a mouthful of tail. “MmmMMph!”

Snickering, Tempest dipped her head down and, once her nose touched Wildfire’s marehood, she delivered a slow lick down the centre of the yellow mare’s slit. “What was that?” she asked silkily.

“MMmmMph!” Wildfire squeaked out a muffled squeal as she felt Tempest’s hot wet tongue lick her most private of places. The black tail was like a sandalwood scented gag, one that became her whole world at that moment, especially when Tempest dragged her tail down along her muzzle until she was at last fully exposed. “Aaah!” Wildfire moaned, gasping for breath and at the same time Tempest slid her tongue inside her wet tunnel.

“Sneeeeeaky m-maaare!” Wildfire wailed as she started to lick at Tempest’s crotch with gusto. Delivering a lick to her hard swollen clit, Wildfire soon dragged her tongue all the way up her cleft to swirl its tip around the muscular ring of her anus, her nose snuffling at the dock of her tail.

As a result, Tempest moaned a very lusty moan when she felt the tip of Wildfire’s tongue enter her tail hole. Spurred on, she buried her muzzle deep into Wildfire’s dripping snatch, tongue-bucking her lover. “AAaaAAaah...” both mares let out a simultaneous half moan, half scream. Tempest, as Wildfire tongued her puckered asshole and Wildfire, as Tempest delved into her pulsing, dripping, sopping marehood.

Feeling Wildfire’s tongue in her butt, Tempest went all in, in her attempt to make her lover cum as soon as she possibly could. “AAaaaaaAAAH!” Wildfire screamed, screamed as much as she could scream, given where her tongue was, which just allowed her to taste the bitter taste of her lover’s sphincter all the more. Panting and gasping, she bucked her hips up into Tempest’s face, already very close to her climax as she swirled her tongue around the walls of Tempest’s ass.

Squirming with the amazingly pleasurable sensations of having her ass eaten out, Tempest clamped down with her anal ring on Wildfire’s tongue and busied herself with her teeth and tongue dancing on and around Wildfire’s clit. “Aaaah…” Wildfire moaned, spurring Tempest on with a forehoof massaging her tail hole. That tipped Wildfire over. “AAaaaAAAH STOOOOORMY!” her scream, while muffled, was still pretty loud as she swirled her tongue deep in Tempest’s ass.

Above her, Tempest continued to chow down on her snatch, drinking every drop the little mare could produce, which was a lot, considering. “Ooooh...” Wildfire ‘Mmm’d’, still squirting into Tempest’s muzzle. Several swirling licks with her tongue lip-deep in the violet mare’s butt and Wildfire felt the tell-tale sign of Tempest’s thighs clenching at her shoulders.

Taking her cue, Wildfire pushed her tongue as deep as it could go, slurping and licking all around the muscular walls of her lover’s anal canal as she could reach. That tipped Tempest. A second later she screamed, “WIIIIIIIIIIIILY!” as she came with her muzzle buried deep in her crotch.

Coming down from her orgasmic high, Wildfire slowly pulled her tongue out of Tempest’s slowly closing asshole and lapped at glistening marehood. “Mmmm,” Tempest purred, “that was nice and it has been way too long.”

“Y-Yuppers...I love your ass, Honey.”

“I was a bit too focused to explore that titbit,” Tempest smiled, “but after we switch I may just do that.” Having got her breath back, Tempest climbed off of her and landed on the floor beside the desk.

Grinning, Wildfire rolled over and slid off the table as well. “Now, Honey, it’s your turn.”

Without hesitation, Tempest climbed up onto the desk and rolled onto her back. “Wily,” she said with a trace of hesitation in her voice, “ah, would you like to hoof me?”

Now, whatever Wildfire was expecting, that wasn’t it. To be honest, that was the last thing she had expected Tempest to ask her to do. Still, it was her favourite thing to do. “Um, s-sure thing Honey...I'd love to…”

Tempest, to be fair to her, had wondered what it was like to be hoofed. She had watched Airmail hoof Wildfire twice in Vanhoover, and Wildfire hoof Airmail the other day back in their own bed in Manehatten, so she was curious. “I would like you to please, I really would.”

“Okies!” excited to be finally treating her violet lover to what she saw as the best thing ever, Wildfire reached over the desk, feeling for Tempest’s hind legs. After a short moment, the blind mare succeeding in feeling the wet inside of Tempest’s upper right thigh.

Tempest laid herself back on the desk top, purring as Wildfire’s hoof inched upwards over her cum slicked fur towards her needy snatch. “I-I think you left me rather lubricated, Wily.”

Wildfire giggled, it was perfectly true, of course. She could feel Tempest moistness on her hoof. “Okay, here we go, Honey,” she said warningly as, once she had her hoof resting on the entrance to Tempest’s impossibly wet snatch, she carefully slid the front toe end of her left forehoof around her puffy labia, making sure to coat it thoroughly in her glistening juices before gently inserting it.

“Oh,” Tempest moaned almost instantly. Wildfire had put the barest of pressure on her hoof and already it was inside her up to the bulbs at the back of her hoof. “Hmm…that is nice, I'm working to dilate.”

“You do feel relaxed, Honey.” Wildfire commented, grateful her lover was giving her this feedback. Pushing gently still, the blind mare eased her whole hoof all the way in.

“T-Too relaxed love,” Tempest purred, her hind legs spread as she watched the yellow hoof disappear inside her hungry snatch. “Time to wind me up.” In response, feeling that Tempest’s marehood was accommodating, Wildfire slid her hoof and her lower foreleg in further, up to her fetlocks.

“Uuugh…mmmm,” Tempest let loose the guttural moan as she felt herself get filled up more than she’d ever been filled by any toy. It wasn’t the length as such, it was the sheer girth. It was amazing! “Oh, oh love, you'd put a stallion to shame!”

“I should hope so, sexy,” Wildfire smiled as she pulled her foreleg out a little way, to just above the ankle of her hoof and pushing back inside, this time delving deeper, going up to her knee.

“Oh yeah,” Tempest panted, doing her very best to keep her eyes from rolling in her head, “I'm ready, rut me Wily.”

“Alrighty Honey!” Wildfire beamed and, given the go ahead, she pushed her hoof in all the way, right up to tap Tempest’s cervix. Tempest, her tongue hanging out, jumped at the unexpected tap and let out an extremely happy moan as Wildfire pulled out and thrust back inside, quickly getting into a steady but firm rhythm.

“Somepony sure sounds like they're having fun,” Wildfire commented, satisfied that Tempest could handle what she was doing to her. Once she had the steady rhythm established, each firm thrust inwards Wildfire tapped her hoof to Tempest’s cervical wall.

As Wildfire’s right forehoof strayed towards her clit, Tempest inadvertently closed her hind legs around Wildfire’s foreleg, trapping it deep inside her before she could force them open again. Once she was able, Wildfire rubbed teasing circles around Tempest’s clitoral hood. “D-Don’t…” she whispered pleadingly, “Don't let me come if you can.”

Wildfire was confused at that, to say the very least. “Huh? You...don't want to come?” she asked, unsure of what she’d heard as she slowed her hoofing but still tapped her with every in stroke.

“I-I AAaaaAAH…I w-want you to take me t-to the MMmmm, the brink and back me off.”

“You got it Honey.” Personally, Wildfire hated being edged. Amethyst had loved driving her insane with it in the home. One time she had made her go over an hour…Wildfire shook her head, reminding herself that was the past. All behind her now. Tempest had requested this. Slowly, she slid her hoof inside her, at the same time leaning forward and licking around her hard clit.

Almost as soon as Wildfire’s tongue touched her nub, Tempest began to pant under her ministrations. Smirking a devilish smirk, Wildfire stopped after just three licks and blew a breath of hot air across her exposed clitoris, her hoof inside her barely moving.

As a result of Wildfire slowing down, Tempest steadied her breathing and she let loose with an anguished moan, which just made Wildfire giggle. Knowing she was doing it ‘right’, as it were, she started to slide her hoof in and out a little faster now, her rhythm building in tempo along with Tempest’s pleasured moans.

When Wildfire gave Tempest’s clit a couple of hard sucks, Tempest sighed in sheer pleasure and raised her ass off of the desk. Adjusting herself just a little, Wildfire began to rub Tempest’s spit slickened tail hole with her right hoof while at the same time slowly, torturously slowly tapping her cervix and licking her nub.

A second later, and Wildfire felt Tempest tense up like she had done while she had been on top of her, she felt her thighs clench around her foreleg. Doing as she was told, Wildfire duly eased off all her stimulus, simply blowing gently across Tempest’s clit, eliciting a needy whine from her. “Ohhh, W-Wily…y-you tease!”

Wildfire shrugged. “You said you wanted to go to the edge, Honey.” She excused herself as she delicately licked Tempest’s button.

“Yessssss,” she hissed, “But you are still a tease…”

“Yuppers!” Wildfire giggled, once more tapping Tempest’s cervix and wrapping her lips around her clit, sucking on it gently. As she did so, the violet weather pony took a sharp intake of breath and she clapped her forehooves together to keep from touching herself. Sensing that Tempest was yet again on the verge, Wildfire stopped sucking and gave her clit a gentle nibble instead.

Under Wildfire’s ministrations, Tempest squirmed like a worm on a hook. Wildfire giggled as she started to blow on Tempest’s hard begging nub while she slowly hoofed her. As she did so, the little blind mare felt the older pegasi’s vaginal walls rippling along her foreleg as her breathing became fast and shallow. Wildfire knew Tempest was going to cum.

Wrapping her lips around Tempest clit she sucked on it like she was trying to remove it with her lips and tapped her cervix hard. “W-W-WIIIIIIIIIIIIILY!” Tempest screamed and exploded around Wildfire’s thrusting hoof, arching her back and gasping for breath.

After an almost non-stop minute of seeing stars explode across her vision, Tempest remembered she could actually breathe. Another minute and she started to calm down from her orgasmic bliss to the level of 'boneless chicken'. Wildfire giggled as she listened to her lover’s ragged breathing. She licked her lips. “Well, I'm not thirsty anymore.”

“I’m…g-glad I co-could help…” Tempest panted, each blink of her eyes sending fresh stars dancing across her eyes, “th-that was very good…”

Wildfire took what she felt was a well-deserved bow. “Why, thank you sexy, I do try my best.” Licking her lips, she tasted the remnants of Tempest’s cum. Several moments later and Wildfire became aware of the puddle of Tempest’s sweet nectar on her desk. “You still wanna go shopping?”

“Yes,” Tempest panted, “but I want a nap first. And maybe fly through a shower cloud afterwards.”

Wildfire nodded. “Yuppers, when we wake up…”

Tempest gave out a chuckle. A tired but happy chuckle. A tired but happy chuckle that said she’d just had one of the best orgasms of her life. “You know what the next best thing in your office is besides the desk?”

Wildfire had a shrewd idea to that. “Um…have I got a couch?”

“Do you know, you do!” Tempest exclaimed with a happy giggle as she rolled off of the desk and, standing on extremely shaky hind legs, wrapped a powerful violet wing around Wildfire’s back. “It’s snuggle time.”

Wildfire let out a delighted little squee, “I've got an office I can snuggle in!”

~ ~ ~

Two hours later and Tempest, snuggling with Wildfire on the couch in her new office, began to stir at last. She blinked open her blue eyes and for a moment she didn’t realise where she was. It took her a few minutes before it sunk in that she was in the weather factory. She wanted to get up, because she wanted to go shopping, but… “Ugh,” she grunted as she reluctantly disentangled herself from the yellow bundle of feathers next to her. “Th-The universe doesn't begin until coffee…”

Next to her, Wildfire stirred, lifting up her head from Tempest’s chest, leaving a trail of drool in the process. “I-I feel you there, Honey…” she paused for a split second and, literally a split second later, once she was fully alert and awake, she bounced on the couch. “Honey! Do you know what we just did?”

“The same thing we do every day,” Tempest, the pre-coffee Tempest, groused, although there was a smile on her face, “revolve around your world.”

“My world?” Wildfire halted her bounce, seemingly freezing in mid-air, “n-no...I meant we napped, in my office!”

Almost instantly, Tempest felt a little lousy for her grump ruining Wildfire’s mood. It wasn’t the fault of the little yellow pony that her bloodstream needed coffee in it like, seven minutes ago. “Ah,” she hitched up her best, most genuine smile and reminded herself that this was still so new to her lover. “So, this was practice for what you’ll do regularly?”

As soon as her mood had deflated, Wildfire perked back up, again bouncing on the couch as she stuck her tongue out playfully. “Maybe,” she giggled, “I know! We should totally go hunt for coffee!”

Tempest liked that plan. She liked that plan a lot. A lot of a lot. “Mother Hen to Stealth Pony…” she said in her best ‘straight’ voice as she got off the couch and licked Wildfire’s ear.

Immediately, Wildfire fell into the role, not least because she wanted coffee almost as much as Tempest did. Almost. “I’m reading you loud and clear, Mother Hen.”

“Commence operation Java Bean.” Tempest ordered, stroking Wildfire’s flank with her wing, “You have point.”

Accepting her mission, though she felt it was far from impossible, Wildfire giggled and, putting her memory to the test she felt for the door. Once she found it, thankfully where she had left it, Wildfire stuck her head out, 'looking' into the hallway. “Any enemy fridges on the radar, Mother Hen?”

Again, Tempest stroked Wildfire’s flank, letting her know she was there. “I have your six, Stealth Pony.”

At heart, Wildfire knew Tempest would always have her ‘six’. She knew she was there, of course, she could smell her and hear her, but feeling her made it all the more ‘real’. “Thanks...um...” unfortunately, that was where Wildfire’s memory decided to take a little vacation and left her hanging. Try as she might, she couldn’t recall the layout of the new place. “Um, left or right?”

“Left is the escape route so right will lead deeper into the objective’s lair.” Tempest replied, not breaking character.

“Aah...I remember now...” Wildfire blushed and turned to the right. Once she was sure she was going the right way, she tip-hooved forwards down the hallway past the offices on the way to the cafeteria. “I’m breaching the enemy lair now, Mother Hen.”

Accustomed to his boss’s ‘eccentricities’ Lancer looked up from his office at the tip-hoofing antics of Wildfire and Tempest, he just shook his head and returned to his work. Tempest snickered at the pegasus stallion through his open door and followed Wildfire to the cafeteria. “I show the radar is clear, Stealth Pony.”

After another twenty feet of stealthy tip-hoofing stealthiness, in which Wildfire was convinced she was wholly invisible, the blind mare began to detect the unmistakeable scent of coffee. “I hear you, Mother Hen.” Wildfire creeped forward and paused. “Mother Hen, I smell coffee, repeat coffee is detected.”

“Copy that, Stealth Pony.” Tempest hid her snicker with practised ease. This was just too much fun! “Proceed with caution, I detect a bogie on the radar.”

“I hear the bogie, Mother Hen…” Wildfire flicked her ears, listening intently as the ‘bogie’, a pastel blue pegasus mare, exited the cafeteria with a giggle and a roll of her eyes as she walked past the two stealthy ponies.

Tempest had to compose herself for a moment. “Good work Stealth Pony, you've gone undetected.”

As the swing door to the cafeteria was still open, the scent of coffee was very strong indeed. “The objectives is real close Mother Hen, the nose sensor doesn't lie.”

“Proceed to target,” Tempest ordered, “physical confirmation is needed.”

Oblivious to the stares of the ten or so other pegasi in the cafeteria, Wildfire creeped up to the counter. “I'm in,” she announced with confidence when she felt the old fashioned Bean Brew Master coffee machine. “Coffee is confirmed. Repeat, we have the objective.” Just to make sure, she felt the pot full with hot fresh coffee.

“I have procured the cups,” Tempest announced. While Wildfire was oblivious to the stares, she just didn’t care. “Have you secured the coffee?”

“Yuppers, I have the objective. Coffee is acquired.”

“Roger that, Stealth Pony.” Tempest said and, after a very brief glance over the cafeteria she saw an empty table not far away from where they were. “Now, proceed to your seven o’clock and I'll meet you at the table shaped airbase.”

Wildfire nodded, already turning to the right direction. “I’m on it, Mother Hen.” Giggling all the way, she made her way over to the safety of the ‘airbase’.

“I declare this mission a success.” Tempest said as she sat at the table and set Wildfire’s black coffee with two sugars down to touch her left hoof. “Did you have fun Wily?” she asked, taking a long sip of her creamy coffee.

“Yuppers.” Wildfire replied, ‘oooh’ing’ as she sipped hers, “we infiltrated the enemy base and procured their coffee. How can you not have fun?”

“Of course, starting Monday, you'll be part of this enemy base.”

“Yuppers...” Wildfire smiled, “y'know that's really cool, right?”

“Yes it is.” Tempest agreed. “I'm a weather pony, you're a firefighter. We both get our clouds from the same place. Now I have a reason to visit, if only to steal your coffee.”

Wildfire laughed as Tempest giggled, “I'll get a machine in my office then, so I'll always have some to hoof.”

“Oh, I don't know…” Tempest waved her hoof in the air, “In your office I'll be tempted to drink something else.”

“I'd certainly hope so,” Wildfire smiled, taking a very long sip of her black coffee, “unless we were working.”

Tempest nickered, enjoying the few stares of the ponies that were still looking their way. “If I'm visiting you, then I'm goofing off.”

Wildfire giggled, “and that's different from the normal you how?”

Tempest sniffed indifferently, her nose high up in the air. Remembering, as she did so, that Wildfire wasn’t being personal. “I will ignore that comment, my love. I'm just lucky I get to work from home most of the time unless in the field. Telling others what to do is very demanding.”

Again, Wildfire giggled, snorting loudly around her mug of coffee, “I bet it was exhausting watching me in the maid's dress then.”

“You did give my wing a work out!”

“Good,” Wildfire smiled, “we'll have to do that again one time soon.”

“We can of course,” Tempest agreed with a broad smile on her face, “It would be nice to have Airy to assist me. We need to ensure the seasoning on your desk remains fresh, too.”

Wildfire nodded eagerly at that. Particularly the idea of more fun on her desk. “Now, that would be fun, to have Airy play too. You do need to get more of those jumping chips though.”

“I try to, but some filly keeps eating them all.”

“Only when I can catch them,” Wildfire snickered, before her mind wandered, reluctantly from her coffee to the far more important prospect of shopping and spending bits. “So…shopping,” she broached the subject with a smile, “do you have any ideas?”

Oh, Tempest had ideas. Second only to Thespian in the herd, Tempest prided herself in her shopping ability. “We should plan for our new home,” the violet weather mare said thoughtfully, tapping her chin. “For example, we could get a wall hanging that you could enjoy.”

Wildfire considered that for a moment. If she was honest she’d have never thought of that in a million years. “Y’know, that's not a bad idea Honey, one with different textures on it would be cool.”

“Yes,” Tempest agreed, the more she thought about it, the more the idea did sound cool. She was certain the others would like it too. “I'm sure we will keep some of the paintings we already have, as well as those Mapper has, but it would be nice to have some hoof on art.”

“I can appreciate a good painting,” Wildfire giggled, “as long as you describe it to me.”

Tempest laughed, banking the idea of a textured wall hanging. Next on her mental shopping list was bedding. “Have you been in Mapper's bedroom?” she asked.

“Um...nopes, I haven't.”

“Well, you've felt Caffy's beds, right?”

“Yuppers, they were super cool!”

“Maps has one of those beds.” Tempest began, grinning when Wildfire’s jaw dropped. “I'm thinking we could get some linens too. When we all move in together, we five will be sharing that bed.”

That only just dawned on Wildfire. After having spent five years sleeping alone in her cell in the care home, she was now facing a future with a loving herd in a comfortable bed in a new house. “Wow...yeah, yeah we will...” the enormity of just what was happening to her began to sink in. “That's gonna be awesomes! We deffo need linens, and books, we need books, lots and lots of books!”

Tempest raised her eyebrow. “Books?”

“Y'know, books, little paper things full of words?” she said with a bright little giggle. She loved books. Her mother had loved books. Amethyst Glory had understood this and used books as one of the ways to control her. She had used books as a reward, for when she had been a good pony.

“Oh, okay,” Tempest drained what was left in her coffee mug, “so why do we need lots of books? Something to stand on when you mount Airy?”

“Ha ha,” Wildfire stuck out her tongue and raspberried her violet lover. “I'm not that small, Honey.” She groused, even though she knew full well that she was in fact, that small. “No, we need books because books are the best thing ever.”

Tempest had to give Wildfire that much. “They are good. So, audio books, braille books, or shall I read you stories?”

“Um…” Wildfire thought about it, though she knew what she wanted. “I’d like some braille ones, of course, but we need other ones for those who can't read it.”

Tempest leant over the cafeteria table and placed a very tender kiss on Wildfire’s lips. “Yet.”

“I know, 'yet',” Wildfire smiled once the kiss had been released, “but I can't expect everypony to want to read it all the time, can I?”

Tempest giggled, “True, but it’s a talent I know Airy will pursue, and I shall too.” Looking at her now empty mug and out the window of the cafeteria at the sprawling cloud city, she asked, “Cloudhatten or down into the big city?”

Now that, Wildfire definitely did not have to think about. “Oooh!” she squeaked, drawing the stares of the few pegasi that remained in the cafeteria. “Cloudhatten!” she clapped her hooves excitedly like a filly on her birthday. “Now we're here I want a proper feel about.”

“Very well then, my love.” Tempest stated, again, wholly ignoring the looks until they went away. “The city in the sky it is. Although I would suggest we have a late afternoon snack at some snooty zebra's place where an odd ball pegasus mare has an office above.”

“Now that's a good idea Honey, do you know of such a place?”

“I'm sure I can think of one while we are shopping for inspiration, amongst other things.”

Wildfire giggled at that, “Well, now that I think about it, there was this weird zebra's coffee shop I happened into about two weeks ago. That was pretty cool.”

“Oh,” Tempest joined Wildfire in her giggles, “I didn't know you'd been to Cloudhatten before.”

“Oh I haven’t,” Wildfire started, before realising that Tempest was teasing her. She knew that the weather mare knew she had never ever left Canterlot – unless you counted the suburb of Ponyville at the base of the mountain – in her life, “but...and the best bit, there's a pegasus working above this coffee shop!”

“Really?” Tempest asked, her eyebrow once again raised, “Is she an odd one with blue fur and does the snooty zebra speak that native speak?”

Wildfire chuckled as she emptied her mug of its black coffee contents, “do you know there was a blue pegasus? And the zebra said he only rhymed to please the tourists.”

“I'm intrigued,” Tempest snickered, “we shall have to go there after shopping. Of course you had me at the word coffee.” Once she saw that Wildfire had, like her, finished her drink, she guided the little blind mare back over to the serving counter where they duly washed their empty mugs. “There are a number of good places, but we can start at the CM Mall.”

Wildfire giggled as she dried her hooves, “you had me at 'the Mall', Honey.”

“To the Mall!” Tempest declared loudly, springing from her seating pad at the table and pulling a very heroic pose in the weather factory cafeteria.

“To the Mall!” Wildfire pulled a similarly heroic pose and held her hoof out for a bump. This time however, none of the other ponies eating their lunches paid them any mind.

Grinning, and landing back on her four hooves, Tempest bumped Wildfire’s hoof. Walking past her, which admittedly wasn’t a long journey, the violet weather pony brushed Wildfire’s nose with the tip of her black tail to get her lover’s attention. That done, she walked out of the cafeteria, this time keeping to the left, following the ‘escape route’.

“Ooh, I remember this game!” Wildfire giggled as the heady scent of sandalwood was wafted over her nose. Taking the scented hint, she quickly walked along behind Tempest.

Tempest grinned as she led Wildfire through the hallways of the weather factory, following the signs to the exit. “The early days when I'd wet my tail for you.” She smiled at how far her lover had come in just a short amount of time. “You're much more the independent mare now than you were.”

Wildfire nodded as she unerringly followed the scent in front of her. “I feel more like me than I did when I first met you, Stormy.”

On the way to the exit, Tempest paused and used her wingtip to caress Wildfire’s cheek and her neck, appreciating the soft yellow fur. “I liked the feel of you then, and I like it now.”

“It feels like a whole other life…”

“Don't forget it. It was an important part of your life.” Tempest said kindly but firmly, “A part of you that has attracted Airy and the rest of us. A part she wishes to marry.”

“I don't want to forget it,” Wildfire replied confidently, “I'm proud of the fact I came out the other end of that home. There were a few that didn't make it out. They were my friends in there. Forgetting them would do them a disservice.”

Tempest nodded. She didn’t understand what Wildfire had endured in the care home, nor did she want to comprehend it, not really. It was a horror that was thankfully beyond her. “Your past got you to your present with which the two of you can build a future.” She said, remembering what Requiem had said to Airmail, “Airy isn't her past either, but she'll never leave it behind.”

Wildfire smiled. “Our past is not today, right?” she asked, following up her reference to the poem she had read out at her mother’s graveside with Airmail and Tempest in attendance just the other week.

“Truth,” Tempest said once the kiss had been broken and she hoofed open the back door that lead to Cloudhatten. “Celestia and the pegasi have given us a very, very beautiful day.”

“Mmm…” Wildfire stepped out, following Tempest into the mid-afternoon sunlight. She could feel the warm glow of the sun on her face. She guessed there wasn’t a cloud in the sky, going on Tempest’s comment. There was, thankfully, a gentle breeze which kept it from being too hot. “They have, haven’t they? Y’know, my mum'd be proud of this.”

“I'm sure that would make Bluefeather very happy.” Tempest said kindly, stroking her lover’s flank with her wingtip. As she nuzzled her cheek she checked her watch and saw it was four in the afternoon. “You think her and Cyclone have hit it off well?” she asked, knowing now was the time they were meeting down in Caffeinated’s shop.

Wildfire giggled, “I'm sure they have. By now, I reckon Cy is quite happily playing her filly.”

Tempest thought that was moving fast, even for the admittedly very cute and very sexy black pegasus. Still, she decided not to quibble the issue. She knew what Wildfire had meant. “Nappy changing is Airy's job, my job is to stuff them till they fill the nappy.” With a happy giggle, the violet mare spread her wings and took off.

Sensing the scent of sandalwood lift into the air, Wildfire also took off, following the sound of Tempest’s happy giggles. “You're both gonna be awesome with Fireflight then,” she smiled, picturing her long-desired little filly in her mind’s eye. Now Princess Twilight had cast her spell, that dream was at last within reach of becoming reality.

“Is there any doubt?” Tempest giggled as she led the way over the sprawling cloud city of Cloudhatten, her sharp blue eyes searching for the huge mall building. While not her regular choice for shopping, she and Airmail had been here once or twice. “Of course, she may be in a tie for cutest filly in the house.”

“Yuppers,” Wildfire agreed, “there's Hope, Airy, you, Serenity and Mapper all tying with her for cutest filly!”

“Alas,” Tempest raised her hoof to her head in mock swoon, “I'm but a filly in Wily's eyes.”

Wildfire giggled as she followed behind Tempest. Without her headset tuned in to Cloudhatten, she was quite literally flying blind. She didn’t mind though, she knew Tempest wouldn’t steer her wrong. “Well,” she said in her defence, “you said to me the other day when we had breakfast by our lake that I could picture you anyway I pleased.”

“That is true,” Tempest snickered, leaving the weather factory behind them as she approached the middle of the cloud city, passing over houses, bars and clubs below. With a grin she noted there was a Trixie’s Place. There was always a Trixie’s Place. “It still is true, but I'll tease you none the less.”

“If you didn't tease me, I'd assume a changeling was impersonating you. Badly.”

Tempest snorted loudly. “Good to know, Wily. I’m still going to be watching that left wing of yours. Wing ups and lake flying are in your near future.”

“I can't do wing ups.” Wildfire protested. She had never, ever been good at them, especially not after her experience at the home. “Underwater flying yes, I'm there,” she said as she flew up alongside Tempest’s left side for a few moments.

“Your wing bones are mended,” Tempest responded, “So why can't you do wing ups?”

Wildfire had a quietness to her voice when she answered. “I-I've never been good at them, Honey.”

“It isn't a test,” Tempest giggled, “nor will I judge your form. They do add strength to the flight muscles though,” she said, trying her best to talk her little lover around, even adding a caressing wingtip to brush her flank. “Will you try, for me?”

“Of course I'll try, Honey.”

“Good,” Tempest smiled, “you'll be sexy sleek in no time. I think it will get Airy to exercise, too.”

“What, I'm not sexy now?” Wildfire chuckled, more to herself than to Tempest. As she did so, a memory flashed across her brain. A memory of her old nurse from five years ago in the Canterlot hospital. “Y'know what? I changed my mind. I'm not going to try…”

“I'm sure Airy will still love the unsexy you, so I'll just drop it.” Tempest’s temper flared up just then as she cut across and interrupted Wildfire. She didn’t bother trying to hide it, either.

“H-Honey,” Wildfire’s ears slicked back to her head, she realised she’d stepped in it and had walked it into the house, “please, let me finish. I-I'm not going to try, cos I'm going to do it. Wing ups. I'll own them. You'll see.”

Too late, Tempest realised what her little lover had meant. Just as suddenly as her famous temper had flared up, did it vanish with a laugh. “Alright, I get it. Do or do not, there is no try, right?” Tempest kicked herself for ever doubting her herd-mate. She should’ve known Wildfire wasn’t a quitter. She was here, after all. She decided a treat was in order. “Fold up your legs as I'm coming in for an underbelly kiss.”

Obediently, Wildfire folded her legs. “You got it, my sexy purple Yoda. Can you really imagine meeting my old nurse and admitting I didn't even give something a go?” she asked with a smile on her face, and quoted Eirene. "Nothing to it, but to do it, Wildfire.”

Tempest decided right there that she loved that nurse. If she ever met her she’d give her more than just a kiss. Grinning in the air, she flipped upside down and flew under Wildfire’s black tail, moving up her body, kissing all the way up until she ended with a kiss to her lips. “Think you can copy that manoeuver?” she asked as she flipped back over to a normal flight position.

“Easy!” Wildfire declared. Sniffing the air, she detected Tempest dead ahead of her. Flying forward until her forehooves touched Tempest’s black tail, she flipped herself over and flew up Tempest’s body, delivering kisses just like she herself had received.

As soon as Wildfire reached her lips, Tempest flew with her to make the kiss last that bit longer. “You are a precision flyer, Wily, then again I tested that early on.”

“You have to be, Honey,” Wildfire commented as she flipped over back to her normal flight position, “windows are more forgiving than brick walls.”

Tempest giggled at that. “I try to use doors as they are the most forgiving. Then, lives don't depend on my flying skills.”

Wildfire joined Tempest in her giggles, “I would too if the raging fire would politely wait in its destroying of the house until everypony gets out.”

“Naughty fire!” Tempest yelled into the afternoon sky, making Wildfire burst out laughing as she led her into a nice, gentle landing at the Cloudhatten Mall’s upper deck, folding her wings away as the made their way off of the landing pads and onto the entrance galleries. “Now to spend Airy's bits!”

“It’s too bad there isn't a MiAC store at the mall,” Tempest continued, playing tour guide and leading Wildfire along the – thankfully – not too crowded store fronts. She knew had it been a weekend day, the crowds would be out in full. “There is a Rarity's Creations here, but no celebrities running it like there are downtown.”

“Yuppers,” Wildfire commented. She knew Tempest was referring to Coco Pommel who ran Rarity’s shop in Manehatten. “I do love that MiAC store,” she giggled and, sniffing and hearing other ponies, she held onto Tempest’s flank with her wing. “I'm sure we can find something good though!”

“We can start with Bed and Bath,” Tempest announced as she stopped outside the store in question. A quick glance inside the store and she saw it was almost empty, but for the cashiers. That would make things easier. “First you will chose a texture, then I'll suggest colours,” she said, leading Wildfire along the first aisle they came to.

“First, we have towels,” Tempest said, gently halting her little lover at the towel section. There were a ludicrous amount of options to choose from, so she decided to just pick a few. “Let me lay out some and you give it the Power Pony touch test, okay?”

Wildfire nodded, sitting on her haunches with her forelegs out. “Hooves of touching, ready to deploy, Mother Hen.”

Reaching up, Tempest pulled down several towels for Wildfire to feel. “Commence operation 'Touchy Feely', Stealth Pony.”

“Normally it’s you or Airy I'm touching, but towels are fine.”

Tempest giggled, “They don't make a good enough towel to match my fur.”

“No, they don't.” Wildfire reached out and felt two towels directly in front of her, she took her time to compare how they both felt on her fur and her hooves before moving onto a third one that felt better than the first two combined. “Here, this one's pretty close though.”

“You picked the one with Saddle Arabian cotton,” Tempest told her, essentially telling her she’d chosen the second most expensive make of towel in the store.

Wildfire, who has used the most basic of towels these past five years, had no idea what that meant. “Um, that's a good one, right?”

“Very good,” Tempest confirmed, though she didn’t feel the need to tell her just ‘how’ good. That would just be vulgar. “So, I suggest five sets in pink, green, blue, purple and...um, maybe yellow. What do you think, Wily?”

“That's a good idea, Stormy.” Wildfire giggled, happy that Tempest had made some good choices. If she said they were good, then they were good. “That's why you is the brains, see?”

“Somepony has to be able to count high enough to make bail,” Tempest said with a shrug of her violet shoulders as she brushed Wildfire with a wing tip to get her to follow, the towels draped over her back. “Off to linens, then.”

“Hey!” Wildfire squeaked indignantly, walking along behind Tempest, “I can count to big numbers, I just can't do anything with them!” she exclaimed, sticking her tongue out for emphasis.

“There’s more to numbers than font size.”

“Now you sound like Calculus.” Wildfire muttered as they made their way through the store which, thankfully, while moderately crowded, they didn’t bump into anypony. She did hear other ponies stop suddenly when she drew near, but thanks to Tempest, most seemed to go about their business.

“Oh,” Tempest said as she stared down a green pegasus stallion, “You mean the scene we re-enacted earlier.”

“Yuppers, that's the one.” Wildfire sighed, “To be fair she did try almost everything with me, I was just too hopeless.”

“And you know we won't let you remain hopeless, either.” Tempest said over her shoulder, making sure to flick her black tail over Wildfire’s nose so she got the point.

“I know you won't,” Wildfire’s sigh became a giggle, “only cos knowing you, you'll tell mum on me.”

“You got me there,” Tempest replied, leading Wildfire around the store to the other end, “I don't know how many sheets Maps has for that bed, but I know we can use one more. Oh, I do like that colour, see how this feels?” Tempest said, stopping Wildfire at the linens and passing out one that was two hundred count cotton.

Reaching out her hoof, Wildfire felt the offered linen, stroking it up and down. “Oooh...oh I like this, a lot.”

Tempest giggled, pleased that her lover liked it. “It is what we already have at our place, and this one is the golden colour to Celestia's cutie mark.”

“I like it, we should get this.”

“I knew you were a smart mare.”

“As smart as I am pretty?”

“I’m sorry,” Tempest snickered, “I don't know if anypony can be that smart.”

“Nopes!” Wildfire shook her head, shaking out her mane, “I'm the looks you're the brains. That’s how it works.”

“So,” Tempest said after she had paused to give Wildfire a very important and much needed kiss, “we are in a bed and bath store, is there anything you want or need?”

Wildfire was taken aback by the suddenness of the question. If she was perfectly honest, she had no earthly idea what she needed or what she wanted. For the last five years all she’d had was her book. Amethyst hadn’t allowed her any possessions. She had been a thing. Things didn’t own things. “Oh um...” she flustered, “I really dunno, any ideas?”

“Of course I have ideas, silly,” Tempest giggled, if there was one thing she had plenty of, it was ideas. “You've been using our brand of mane and fur care products, perfumes, and other toiletry items. Maybe you want something for you to use?”

Wildfire froze.

Absolutely froze.

The little blind mare completely froze. Her own shampoo. It was laughable. It was so laughable.

Her own shampoo. As if she could own shampoo.

“My own shampoo!” Wildfire giggled, almost giddy because she could just, only just, if she tried really hard, remember a time when she owned shampoo.

A time she had taken for granted.

A time before Amethyst Glory.

“I um...I think I like herbal. I…I remember…I remember Saffron Swirl used to make this set of fur and mane brushes I used to have, or was it Fine Line?” she asked herself almost rhetorically, “I just can’t remember, sorry.”

“One way to find out.” Tempest said definitively as she walked up to the serving counter and spoke to the mare there. “Excuse me, Miss?”

The plum coloured pegasus mare looked up from her counter with the disinterest of a pony accustomed to forced smiling at customers all day long. “Yes, may I help you?”

“Yes,” Tempest smiled, shelving the looks that the mare was giving Wildfire and deciding to not punch her. It wouldn’t be polite. “Mane and fur brushes. Do you carry Saffron Swirl or Fine Line?” she asked curiously.

“Um,” the mare thought for a moment, “we have Saffron Swirl, but did you mean Fur Line?” she offered helpfully.

“Ah!” Wildfire exclaimed as she facehooved, “That was it, Fur Line! Thank you, Miss!”

The plum coloured mare pointed a hoof down a nearby aisle and fidgeted at Wildfire’s face. “You ah, you can find them over there in aisle four.”

Tempest rolled her eyes and turned away, lest she lose her cool. “Thank you.” with a swish of her tail, Tempest duly led the way along to the fourth aisle with Wildfire behind her, sniffing the air and taking deep breaths, breathing in lavender and jasmine fragrances.

“I see why you like our shampoo,” Tempest said when they arrived at the aisle, “since jasmine is one of our favourites.”

“I know,” Wildfire smiled, “it’s one of my favourites now too.” She tried to get a handle on what scents and fragrances were coming from which shelf but there were so many at all once from different angles it was next to impossible.

“We can pick up more, but for now, they do have both…” Tempest said, perusing the shelves for the names that Wildfire had mentioned, “Saffron Swirl, third shelf up, and Fur Line, fourth shelf up.”

Wildfire felt like a foal in a candy store. “Can I get the Saffron Swirl set? Please? She I remember she does a set with brushes, shampoo and soap, soap!”

Tempest giggled, “You don't need my permission love. Hmmm, sets…sets…” she murmured, looking for the sets that Wildfire was talking about. “Those are down the aisle a little bit.”

“I um, I’m…I’m um, sorry…” Wildfire shuffled her hooves as she followed Tempest’s lead further down the aisle.

“Where’s the self-confident mare I know and love?” Tempest asked, only now aware of Wildfire’s hesitance and uncertainty. Idly she wondered what had triggered it, though deep in her heart she had a fair idea. “Jasmine, rose, cherry blossom, and sandalwood. Those are your choices.”

“She um, she's still finding her hooves…” Wildfire muttered, trying very hard to not feel foolish. “Can, can I...I-I mean, I will have rose, I think.”

“Airy does like roses,” Tempest said, mostly to herself than to Wildfire as she added two of the rose sets to her back. “I got a Jasmine one too. Anything else?”

Wildfire was almost overwhelmed. “Uh...um…do um, do they do those hooficure kits here, with the files and fillers and polish and things?”

“I'm sure they do, Wily.” Tempest scanned the aisle signs and saw what she was looking for. “Aisle six,” she said with another swish of her tail. “You don't mind chasing my tail, do you?”

Wildfire giggled as she followed her older, taller lover through the store. “I haven't complained in two weeks, Honey.”

“Neither have I.” Tempest smiled when they were at the sixth aisle, she said, “Here are the kits, and polish too, if you like. Oh, Saffron Swirl does a set of these, too.”

“Yuppers,” Wildfire nodded, though she sounded nervous, like a foal scared that the Spirit of Hearths Warming would come and take her presents away any second. “I’ll um, I'll get one of those, I could get some polish for Airy too.” She added, knowing as she did how Airy was with her clean hooves.

“Colour?”

Wildfire tapped her chin, deep in thought. After all she wanted to get this right. “Um…um...colour...uh...I think I'll get a shiny yellow polish.”

“Gotcha.” Tempest duly added the items to her back. “Anything else, Wily?”

“Nopes,” Wildfire shook her head. “I can't think of anything.” She really couldn’t. She’d already gotten more things than she’d ever had in recent memory as it was.

Tempest affectionately nuzzled her diminutive lover’s cheek. “To the checkout then, my love.”

“Did I…get enough?” Wildfire asked uncertainly.

“I got what I needed,” Tempest shrugged, albeit carefully, so as not to dislodge the goods on her back. “So I can only hope you did too.”

“Well, I think I did…”

Satisfied that they did indeed have everything they needed, at least for now, Tempest went and paid at the checkout. True to her word, she used Airmail’s card. “Now,” she smiled like a mare on a mission, “On to the next store.”

“Alrighty Honey…” Wildfire agreed and, as she walked along the mall’s shop fronts, a few minutes later she smelled the unmistakeable scent of pastries, donuts and in particular, cinnamon. She couldn’t help but sniff the air as her mouth watered. “Hey, that's cinnamon, right?”

Tempest giggled as she purposefully slowed down in front of the Holey Cream dessert shop, one of the best in the mall and in Cloudhatten as a whole, for that matter. “Ready for some dessert, Wily?”

Wildfire didn’t need asking twice. Or once, for that matter. “Ooh, go on then, you twisted my hoof, Honey.”

“You're buying.”

“Of course Honey.” Wildfire beamed. Of course she didn’t mind buying something sweet in the slightest. In truth she was still on cloud nine from getting a simple shampoo set. Dessert was the least she could do. “What would you like?”

“A megabun and an appleaid, please Wily,” Tempest made her request as she went and sat at a nearby empty table.

“Coming right up,” Wildfire smiled, “point me in the counter's direction, I'll be right back.”

Tempest chuckled and rolled her blue eyes, “Your nose got you here, it can get you to the counter at your one o'clock position.”

Wildfire giggled, “Independent mare, got it.” With that, she turned to face the direction Tempest had indicated to her and she trotted up to the counter where a caramel coloured pegasus stallion awaited with a pleasant smile.

“What can I get you this afternoon, miss?” the stallion asked, not bothered in the slightest by the look of Wildfire’s face.

“Hi!” Wildfire smiled, “can I get a megabun, a salted caramel donut and two appleaids please?”

The caramel coloured stallion nodded, getting straight to filling the young mare’s order. “Coming right up,” he informed her as he moved around the counter, getting bun and donut from the display. “Here you go,” he announced once everything was on a tray, “That’ll be seventy five bits.”

Fishing in her saddle bag for the bits, Wildfire paid for the treats and carried the tray in her mouth over to where Tempest was waiting for her. “Just the table I'm at between you and me,” Tempest called to her so she knew where her violet lover was sat.

When she got close to the table, she felt for it with a hoof and she set the tray down. “Enjoy, Honey.”

Eagerly, Tempest reached for her bun and her drink, both of which were calling out her name in a tempting siren song. “I shall, my love.”

As Tempest was reaching for and taking a bite out of her bun, Wildfire lowered her nose and sniffed out her salted caramel donut. “Hmm…yummers!”

“Does little Wily have a big sweet tooth?”

Wildfire nodded. “Yuppers, a large one, just here!” as if to demonstrate said sweet tooth, she opened her mouth and pointed her hoof to a tooth.

“I'll have Airy make sure you brush that one extra good. Can't having you lose it, can we?”

“Oh I won’t lose it. I love caramel too much!” Wildfire giggled and, going back down to the table, she very slowly and very delicately licked at the caramel frosting on the donut. So delicately did she lick that she barely took any off the donut. It was almost as if she was worshipping the donut rather than eating it.

Half way through a bite of her megabun, Tempest swallowed with difficulty and her mouth hung open. “Just if you were wondering, yes that is hot…” she was almost drooling as she watched the frankly lewd display of licking going on in front of her.

Puzzled, Wildfire lifted up her head, caramel on her nose. “What? You mean me enjoying this donut?”

“You do have a talent for licking round things with a hole in the middle,” Tempest said, the image of Wildfire ‘enjoying’ the caramel donut still perfectly formed in her mind, where it would stay for a long time.

Wildfire shrugged, “When you're skilled, you're skilled…” she said before taking another long slow – albeit sensual - lick of the caramel. As she licked away at her donut like one would lick a lover, Wildfire felt a shiver run through Tempest beside her.

“You, my dear, are very skilled indeed.” She commented before taking a big bite of her bun.

Wildfire giggled, “I pretend you're covered in caramel,” she said as she slowly and lovingly licked the last of the caramel frosting from her donut.

“One doesn't have to pretend.”

“No?” Wildfire asked, blushing as it was her turn to shiver at the thought of Tempest covered in salted caramel.

Looking down at Wildfire’s almost un-nibbled donut, wholly intact but for the absence of the frosting, Tempest giggled, especially seeing as she had nearly finished her far larger bun. “You going to eat that or just pretend?” she asked with a smile in her voice.

“I am eating it!” Wildfire protested. Tempest just didn’t understand. She couldn’t understand. She hadn’t lived through the care home. “Tempest,” she tried to explain as best she could, “you don't just eat something like this, you take your time, savour it, enjoy it, love it and remember it, cos you don't know when you'll be allowed another one.”

“Yes, of course,” Tempest waved her hoof dismissively in the air, “a caramel plague may wipe them off the face of Equestria.”

“That's not what I meant.” Wildfire muttered, finally taking an actual bite of her de-caramelised donut.

Tempest knew in that tiny second she’d gone a little too far. Instantly she regretted it. “I know love, but you needn’t fear not getting another one, either.”

“I know, and it's still kinda weird that I don't.” Wildfire replied, her head down like she was nuzzling her donut. “To think I can just get up right now and buy another, just like that, it’s…odd.”

Tempest laid her hoof on Wildfire’s and gave it a squeeze. “Give it time, Wily.”

“It’s just...it’s mad, that's all…” she muttered once more as she at last finished off the rest of her donut.

“Love, please don't worry over it.” Tempest repeated herself, “Give yourself some time.”

“I’m sorry Honey...not being beaten daily is still kinda a novelty,” Wildfire admitted with a great deal of difficulty, “and here I am shopping for stuff for me, buying rose scented shampoo!”

Quietly, Tempest finished her drink, rolling the taste of the appleaid around on her tongue. “It is a part of you,” she said kindly, wishing that she was as good at this as Requiem. Or that Requiem was here. “That part won't drive us away, but instead we will journey the path with you. Now, on to the Tapestry store, love.”

“Onwards!” Wildfire declared with a suitably heroic pose as she finished off her drink. Getting up from the table, Tempest pulled her heroic little Power Pony into a feathery wing hug, which Wildfire returned as enthusiastically as it was given. “I’m…sorry, about all that, Honey.”

“If you're going to be sorry about something,” Tempest said, reminding herself that she was thankful she had never had to live through what Wildfire had, “be sorry for apologising for being you.”

“Alrighty,” Wildfire tried to think about that, but she just giggled when her brain started to hurt. “It’s just, sometimes it gets a bit much, but I’m fine, really.”

Tempest understood that. She may not understand everything that Wildfire was going through, but she understood that much. “When it gets a bit much you can always talk to us and we won't jump down your throat, but we may do some nudging.” She smiled, before leading her lover along to the tapestry store. “Okay, the left side of the store here is all touchable tapestries. You’ll like these.”

“You do nudge,” Wildfire smiled, mostly because this new store smelled of the natural warp threads of cotton and linen. The air was thick with weft threads of wool and cotton, she could even smell the silk too. “But you're usually asleep when you do.”

Tempest snorted, “I'm so going to bed tonight with naughty thoughts and see where my nudging goes.”

“You'll have to see, won't you?”

“Nope, I'll see with my hooves just like you.” Tempest smiled, very glad that Wildfire smiled as well. “Now, you need to look and see what you want on the walls of our new house.”

“Alrighty…” Wildfire felt the first tapestry with her hoof, the first thought that struck her was that it was very smooth indeed. As she moved along the row of tapestries, she deduced that most felt like one fabric, though a few were quilted, then…wondrously, she arrived at one that was comprised of different fabrics making up a picture.

Wildfire stopped at the one that was the large picture. “Oooh...ooh what's this one?” she asked, her hooves busily exploring the different shapes, “there's different textures here!”

Curiously, Tempest ran her hoof next to Wildfire’s. “You're right.”

Wildfire wasn’t listening. She was lost in exploring the picture. “Honey…is…is it a picture of something?”

“It is.” Tempest replied with a smile, for she could see the whole picture. “See if you can feel it, but here’s a hint. It is very close to home.”

As Wildfire felt the tapestry, as she explored the pictures and felt the textures, her practised hoof fancied she could make out different cloud shapes and what may have been pegasi in the sky next to a sun. “Um...these are ponies? Uh...pegasi I think?”

“Yes, they’re creating a weather front.” Tempest giggled and nudged Wildfire’s hoof over to one of the stylised pegasi. “That could be me!”

“No.” Wildfire decided then and there. “Not ‘could be’. It is you, I decided.” She moved her hoof over to a second pegasus. “And this is up here is mum, she’s watching over you. Keeping you safe.”

“Wow,” Tempest saw it. She saw what Wildfire was showing her. “That is beautiful.”

“I um, asked her to watch over you, to keep you safe.” Wildfire continued, forming the picture that was in her head. “And that one there is Heatwave, he's helping mum, to keep you safe. And there,” she pointed to the bottom, where the Manehatten city was represented, “you can’t see it but we're all watching over you too.”

Tempest had to made a very, very concerted effort to not cry. She was only partly successful. “Okay, now we are getting this for sure.”

“That's what I see anyway,” Wildfire giggled, “the actual picture might be a teeny bit different.”

Sniffing, sounding just like Wildfire did when she cried, for that was exactly how she felt, Tempest moved her hoof next to her lover’s on the tapestry. “Believe me, I'm seeing what you're seeing, Wily.”

“It's a good scene right?” Wildfire giggled, “cos we're all in it, keeping you safe while you work.”

Tempest nodded and kissed her lover’s lips. “Yes, I like that. There’s a painting I want to get too while we are here.”

Now, that certainly had Wildfire intrigued. “Ooh, what is it?”

“It’s Manehatten, night time, under a brand new moon. Two pegasi are lying next to each other on a cloud looking out at the ocean below and a sea of stars above.”

“Aw…” Wildfire was moved to sniffling ‘tears’ at that, “that's so sweet, Honey,” she smiled, sniffling happy ‘tears’ as she cuddled in next to her violet herd-mate. “Ooh y'know what? We should totally get a group photo of all of us in a frame!”

“Before, during, or after the wedding?” Tempest asked, drying her moist cheeks with her wingtip as she arched her eyebrow.

Wildfire knew the answer to that one. It didn’t even need thinking about. “During, then you all can look gorgeous in your dresses.”

Tempest nodded, her eyes not leaving the tapestry for an instant. “As long as I'm in the middle between the two married couples.”

Wildfire nuzzled Tempest’s shoulder, the highest part of her she could reach without rearing up, “I wouldn't want you anywhere else, Honey.”

Tempest giggled, Wildfire’s nose finding that particularly ticklish spot on her shoulder just under her neck. “I think we'll have the two of these delivered, yes? Bookstore next?”

At the mention of the word ‘bookstore’, Wildfire actually bounced, leaving a small dent in the cloud formed floor of the mall. “Yes, oh yes, yes please, pleeeease!”

“C’mon Wily, the adventure continues.” Tempest snickered and, once she had taken a minor but necessary detour to the checkout to pay for the tapestry and the painting and to arrange for them both to be delivered to their house by the lake, Tempest led her excited herd-mate to the nearest bookstore.

When Tempest finally came to a stop outside Rizzoli’s Books, Wildfire was beside herself with glee. “Honey! Honey! Books! Proper books are the best! This is gonna be so much fun!”

Rolling her eyes for what felt like the millionth time that day, Tempest took the lead and entered the bookstore. The moment she crossed the threshold she felt like she had been transported back in time two hundred years. Books were everywhere. Floor to ceiling, books and parchments, scrolls and more books. Old books, antique books, new books, this store had it all. “Wily, do try to not run in the aisles.”

One step inside the store and Wildfire was giggling excitedly. “Honey, just breathe in that smell!” Vellum, parchment, old paper, new paper and fresh ink were all in the air and Wildfire could smell it all.

Chuckling, Tempest thrust her nose deep into Wildfire’s black mane. “Yes,” she said as she inhaled, “it is very nice.”

“N-Not me, the books!”

Tempest giggled, even more so when she saw the store assistant shake her head. She did note though she had a smile on her face. It was hard not to, Wildfire’s enthusiasm was contagious. “Yes the books,” she waved her hoof in the air, “you sound like the Arch-librarian herself.”

Wildfire however wouldn’t be distracted or denied her prize. “Oh c'mooon! You can't not be excited, let's find the Shakespony!”

“You think it’s in modern literature?” Tempest asked, genuinely curious.

The bookstore assistant, a cream coloured pegasus the colour of the parchments she was selling, trotted up with a smile. “Good afternoon and welcome to Rizzoli’s, my name is Isles. May I help you find anything?”

“Hi, um…” Wildfire didn’t know what to ask for first. She wanted everything. “Do you have anything in braille?” she asked, before thinking maybe she should narrow it down just a touch. “Maybe Lord of the Rings, Harry Trotter?”

The mare was glad her customer had at least given her an idea of what she was looking for. Of course, looking at her, she could see she needed braille. “I'm sorry, our in-store braille section is very small, but we could order anything in for you.” She added helpfully.

“Oh that's alright, Ms. Isles,” Wildfire replied quickly. She didn’t care really, she was too happy. “What do you have?”

Isles smiled, this little mare that was her customer really was infectious. “For ease, all the ones we have are in one section. I can escort you there, if you’d like?”

“Yes please!” Wildfire squee’d, following Isles through the store with Tempest at her side. As they had wandered to the back, the braille section was over near the front, next to one of the wide windows that looked out into the mall. Once they were there, Wildfire learned that the braille section was tiny, comprised of just thirty books.

“In truth,” Isles said as she detailed the sections that were there in the braille area, five mystery, five romance, five history, five do it yourself, five classic and five non-fiction, “this is more of an 'awareness' section so that others know of the need. Sort of a conversation starter.”

“I understand, Ms. Isles,” Wildfire said, though she was somewhat distracted as she was busy feeling the embossed titles in the ‘classics’ section with her hoof. “Does it work, as a conversation starter?”

“Yes it does, especially with the foals.” Isles noted which books had drawn the yellow mare’s attention. “The bumps makes them curious and parents answer and ask questions. While there is a government program for print to braille, private donations do help, a lot.”

At last, after what felt like hours, Wildfire looked away from the books to the assistant. “That's really cool, that it gets awareness out to ponies like that.”

Isles nodded. She was justly proud of hers and her stallion’s efforts with the blind community. “I know it's not much, but one does what one can.”

Tempest, who had been idly looking over the titles while Wildfire and Isles fangirled over them, finally found one that sounded like her sort of fun. “I like this book, here Wily, I think you could read this one to me.” the violet mare chuckled as she passed her the book in question.

“Yuppers…” Wildfire however went quiet and blushed when she felt the title of the book, ‘The Corset Undone’. “I’ll um, I'll get this one!” with that, she felt two titles in the classics that she knew very well. “We need these too, Wuthering Heights and Moby Dick.”

Happy to be playing pack mare, Tempest took the racy book back and pulled down the other two. “No problem, love.”

“Now,” Isles started, “Is there anything else I can help you mares with today?”

Wildfire knew just what she wanted. A book she hadn’t read since university, a book she had used to ace Velvet Quill’s literacy class in her last year. “Could I order The Lord of the Rings, please, Ms. Isles?”

Isles nodded eagerly. She liked this little mare a lot. “Of course! Do you want the trilogy, Hobbit and Silmarillion?”

Wildfire smiled, everypony always made the mistake of calling The Lord of the Rings a trilogy, when it had originally been published as just one book. Still, she didn’t feel the need to correct the really nice store assistant. “Ooh, yes please! I want those!”

To her side, Tempest had caught sight of a series of educational books. A sly smile crossed her muzzle. “She would also like a series of books on Math Made Easy.”

With slightly less enthusiasm than before, Wildfire nodded. “Yes, yes I would like those as well, please.”

Isles smiled a smile that reached all the way to her voice and her sparkling eyes, mostly because she was ringing up the sales in her head. “Yes, we can most certainly get those too, no problem.”

Wildfire was trying very hard not to erupt in sheer happiness and joy, the thought of being able to sit at home and read her books. Her. Books. Books that were hers. Wholly hers. It was…almost too much to cope with. “Thank you so much for your help,” she said with a very wide smile, “can I please make a donation by card when I pay?”

“Of course you can,” Isles replied quickly, leading the way to the checkout counter.

“Thank you for your help, Ms. Isles,” Tempest said, setting out the three books that Wildfire had chosen on the counter top for the assistant to ring up.

As the purchases were being processed, Wildfire had a thought. A thought that made her, if possible, even more giddy than before. “Hey Stormy, do you think my book will be in here one day?”

“Of course,” Tempest answered without having to think about it. “Did Twilight mention a publication date?”

“Uh...August the twenty eighth, I think she said.”

“Excellent,” Tempest turned to the store assistant, “Ms. Isles, what does it take to set up a book signing?”

Isles looked up at that, her curiosity piqued. “Pardon?”

“Wildfire's…” Tempest indicated her little yellow herd-mate, “book of poems is being published on the twenty eighth of August, where better than here to do a signing?”

Isles was taken aback at that. Of all the things she had been expecting, she wasn’t expecting that in her bookstore. “Oh, well, you see, most authors do those in Manehatten, but I can get management involved if you really want to do it here.” She had to smile a little, as ‘management’ was her husband, Rizzoli.

“Wily?”

Wildfire turned to the sound of Tempest’s voice, “Oh yuppers, I'm more than happy to do it here.” The diminutive blind pegasus smiled, the heady aroma of the store still all in her head. She couldn’t think of a better place. “At the very least, awareness of braille books will go up, and that has to be a good thing.”

Isles was at once struck by the selflessness of this little pegasus. “If I could get your contact information, I'll get it in the works and then back to you with the details.”

“Certainly,” Wildfire took her cell phone out of her saddlebag and swiped through the menus. “Here's my phone number.”

“Thank you and I look forward to an autographed copy of your book.” Isles beamed as she scribbled down Wildfire’s details on her notepad.

“Thank you again,” Tempest smiled, a thought entering her head. “I believe you still need some thicker books, right, Wily?”

“I do not!” Wildfire stomped her hoof with a smile nonetheless plastered over her face, “I am not that small…well, maybe…”

Tempest giggled, “Seriously, you did want some other books though I believe.”

“You're awful, you...” Wildfire giggled, and even Isles joined in. “Yuppers, I could use some foal books.” As Tempest led the way over to the ‘Maternity’ section, a thought occurred to her. “Honey, was there any book you wanted, besides the corset one, I mean?”

“Yes there is, some by that same author, if there are new ones.” Tempest replied with a giggle, “I didn't even know that one existed.”

Wildfire thought about Isles waiting patiently at the counter, “I'm sure the nice mare can help you find some. Oh, what sort of books does Airy like?”

“Sam Spade, Medal of Honour, that sort of stuff.”

Wildfire liked the sound of those. While they weren’t her first choice of literature, she thought they were very… ‘Airmail’ in their content. “Ooh detective stories, okay, well that’s different...there must be some here, surely?”

Tempest looked about over her shoulder, finally spotting the relevant section. “Yes, there’s a whole section of them, and I think I know what she doesn't have.”

“Sweet!” Wildfire exclaimed, her thought turning to the other two members of their mini-herd. “Ooh, is there anything here you think Mapper and Serenity would like?”

Tempest took a long moment to ponder that as she led Wildfire to the foal books. Picking something out for somepony else was after all a serious thing. “Hmm…I think Maps has every bondage book ever written. Ser likes anything musical.”

Wildfire snorted, “We could get her 'Fifty Shades of Grey', for a laugh, I mean.”

“We could,” Tempest agreed, thinking that would be very, very funny indeed, “you want me to read it to you?”

“Yuppers, though I have heard it’s really, extraordinarily, very bad.” Wildfire commented, though she didn’t have first hoof experience of that, seeing as it had been published during her time in the care home.

Tempest snorted derisively, “Like my romance novels are works of art?”

“A very good point,” Wildfire replied as they arrived in the Maternity and the Toddler section. “Fun for a bedtime story though. In the Toddler section, they picked up several touch and feel chunky foal books, among them the Hungry Caterpillar and Spot The Dog.

After that, Tempest went and found one new romance novel for herself and the one that she got that was not in braille which she didn't pick up. A bit more wandering around the store, and Tempest found, with a snigger, Fifty Shades of Grey for Mapper’s enjoyment.

Once that was done, Tempest took Wildfire over to the Mystery section. “Here’s a new one, Wonderbolt Lust.” She giggled, “Nice name for a mystery. You are so going to read that corset one to me too, by the way.”

“Of course I will,” Wildfire squeaked, “I can’t wait. I might even wear one just to help me get in character.”

Tempest liked the sound of that. Very much so. “Raaaawr, nice indeed…” she giggle, playfully nudging Wildfire’s barrel with her foreleg. “How about we get a Scouter's Guide to Knots for Maps?”

Wildfire laughed so hard she had to clutch at her sides, “that one sounds so good for her!”

“Ohhh,” Tempest exclaimed, “here’s one for Serenity that you'll enjoy too, 'Bedtime Lullabies'.”

“Nice, I like the sound of that.” Wildfire agreed, smiling broadly as she heard Tempest take the books from the shelves. “Shall we go and pay for these, then go to Caffy's for a late lunch, Honey?”

Tempest nodded, taking care not to drop the small mountain of books that were balanced on her back, “That sounds like a good plan.”

Wildfire giggled as she walked back up to the checkout counter. “Operation Caffy is a go then, Mother Hen?”

“Yes, a total ‘go’,” Tempest snickered before putting the books down on the counter. “She's paying,” she said, nudging Wildfire to step forward.

“Hello again,” Isles smiled as she rung up the sales, “While you were shopping I put the order through with Rizzoli for the Tolkein books in braille for you. I’ll call when they come in. So,” she said once all the books had been bagged up, “that is two thousand two hundred and twenty five bits, please.”

Without flinching, Wildfire reached into her saddlebag and pulled out her card. “Can I make a two hundred and seventy five bit donation to the braille charity too, please?”

“Of course!” Isles beamed as she processed the sale and passed the bags and the card back. “Thank you for shopping at Rizzoli and Isles Books.”

Wildfire beamed, “It’s my very genuine pleasure, Miss.”