Chapter 14

Sweet Apple Acres, Ponyville

The ride from Canterlot had been a long one for Iron Cross as he stepped out of the carriage onto the dusty ground of Sweet Apple Acres. Taking a deep breath and cracking his stiff neck, he approached the farmhouse to find Applejack leaning against the doorway looking at him with a smirk on her lips. He had to admit that he missed Applejack even during the short time he was away in Canterlot. In his previous life he never had the time to pursue a steady relationship, due to the war and his studies. It was nice to finally have someone or in this case somepony to come home to. As he concluded these thoughts a warm smile spread across his face, while advancing towards Applejack’s welcoming hooves.

Applejack nuzzled Iron Cross’s cheek as he approached the doorway. “Mornin’ sugarcube. How’d yer meetin’ with the Princess go?”

“Oh you know the usual hush-hush politically sensitive stuff. The Princess seems to be more open about the affairs of the kingdom to her subjects, but it seems that she keeps some information from the public. I can certainly understand why, however at least she isn’t as fond of keeping secrets as the Reich was.”

“Ah don’t know Iron, it ain’t right ta keep secrets all the time. That’s just mah opinion though, ya know bein’ the element of honesty and such. Ah trust Princess Celestia with mah life and if she thinks it’s a good idea to keep some information from the public, then ah ain’t one to question her.”

“I’m sorry that I can’t discuss the matter further Applejack, but I gave the Princess my word. Perhaps in time she will at least notify the other elements of the current situation, I’m sure you mares will be able to handle anything life throws at you. You beat Nightmare Moon and Discord after all.”

Applejack frowned slightly. “Yeah ah reckon we took care of them just fine, but we didn’t kill nopony. From what ya were sayin’ about yer world with all of that killin’…ah can’t even imagine what that must have been like. I’m real sorry ya had to deal with all that sugarcube.”

Iron Cross stroked Applejack’s mane gently. “Shh its ok Applejack there’s nothing to be sorry about. If anything all of that killing has steeled my resolve to prevent it in the first place. I may not have magic or wings but I will lend my strength and my knowledge to all of you.”

Applejack giggled. “You might be givin’ Dashie a run fer her bits as the element of loyalty.”

“Well then I guess Equestria will just have to have two elements of loyalty then, that is if Rainbow Dash can put aside that terrible pride of hers first.”

Iron Cross noticed that the farm was quieter than usual. In fact he hadn’t seen Big Mac or Applebloom. Both apple siblings would normally have been doing their morning chores by this point, but were noticeably absent. Iron furrowed his brow in thought.

“Somethin’ wrong sugarcube?”

“Oh sorry Applejack, I was just noticing that Big Mac and Applebloom aren’t around.”

“Eyep yer right they ain’t here right now. Big Mac is off in Ponyville takin’ care of some personal business with Twi and Applebloom is off crusadin’ with Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle.”

“You can’t possibly mean that you’re the only one to take care of the entire farm?”

“Hmm…nah. Ya see Iron ah got me a nice strappin’ stallion ta help me out. Ah can take care of the normal stuff but ah got me a problem that you might be able to fix. Remember that book ah told ya to get on pulleys?”

“Yes I remember that but what does that have to do with the farm or me for that matter?”

“Well ah need ta install a pulley system in the barn ta help move hay bales around. With all yer experience in fancy human gadgets, ah figured ya might be able to get it set up for me.”

Iron Cross laughed. “Is that all? Here I was thinking that you were going to have me lug around a plow all day.”

Applejack trotted closer to Iron Cross and wrapped her fore hoof around his neck. “Ah imagine that can arranged, but fer now ah need yer brains not yer brawn. I’m gonna fetch the book, go on ahead to the barn and I’ll meet ya in there.”

Five minutes later Applejack appeared with the book in her mouth setting it on the ground next to Iron Cross. She then pointed her head towards a large trunk sitting next to a couple of hay bales inside the barn. Kicking open the trunk revealed a neat bundle of ropes and a few steel pulleys. Applejack gingerly pulled out the rope while Iron Cross handled the pulleys.

“Ah know yer not used to using yer mouth so I’ll loop the ropes through the pulleys. It’s up ta you ta hang them up. While yer doin’ that I’m gonna water some of the fields and fix us some lunch.”

Iron sat in front of the pulleys, his eyes screwed in concentration. “It never ceases to amaze me how these little horses can go about their lives without fingers. I guess I’ll just have to get used to using my mouth a bit more. Oh if ONLY they had electricity and machines, it would make this so much easier. All that damned magic makes them less technologically savvy. Hell I would be less inclined to use technology if I could use even half the magic unicorns could. Perhaps one of these days I can try to get the Princess to make me minister of technology.”

Philosophical ramblings about the magic versus technology debate aside, within a half hour Iron Cross was finished installing the new pulley system in the barn. He stood back admiring his work when heard the barn door make a slight creaking noise. He turned back to find Applejack standing in the doorway with a rope in her mouth and her hat worn at a jaunty angle.

Applejack threw the rope she had in her teeth over her back. “Well now I’ll say ya set up everythin’ up real nice Iron. Seein’ as how ya did such a good job ah reckon a reward is in order, if ya catch mah drift.”

Before Iron could respond Applejack lassoed his legs and hog tied him to the ground. He hit the ground with a heavy thud and bewildered look. Try as he may, Iron could not unite the ropes. This situation was of course, unsurprising because Applejack was a champion rodeo pony.

“Applejack what the hell is the meaning of…”

Before Iron could finish his sentence Applejack grabbed him by his mane and shoved her tongue down in his mouth. After a few seconds she allowed him to breathe again and started peppering his chest with kisses. She spoke to him in a strained husky voice. “Sorry sugarcube but I’m hornier than a jackrabbit in spring right now. Plus ah figured you could use a little break too.”

Despite initially being angry, Iron couldn’t help but crack a smile. Everything was always an adventure with Applejack or perhaps a competition. Whatever it was called, it was one of the many things he cherished about her. She was always honest and gave one hundred percent of herself to everypony and everything. Although he couldn’t move very well at the moment he gave her the gentlest kiss he could muster.

“Now Applejack, not that I mind a joke here and there but these ropes make it very difficult to move…so perhaps you could untie me?”

Applejack smirked. “Well now ain’t that a shame? It’s as if ah were tryin’ ta stop ya from movin’ in the first place.”

“What?? I don’t understand. If you don’t untie me we won’t be able to do anything.”

“Correction, you won’t be able to do anythin’. Ah ain’t ready ta untie ya yet. Like ah said before, this here is a reward for you. Don’t worry about me, ah can wait mah turn. Ah wanna make ya beg fer sweet release, but ya won’t be able to do anythin’ about it.”

Applejack once again began to pepper Iron’s chest with kisses, then she started to slowly lick her way down to his inner thighs eliciting a soft moan from Iron. She then nibbled on his tail, making her way up and tugging on the root with just enough pressure to be on the verge between pain and pleasure. By this point Iron’s erection became so stiff that it practically quivered, much to the absolute delight of his mare.

“You want me…to beg?”

“While yer mind is tryin’ ta resist mah charm, I’d say the rest of ya is rarin’ ta go.”

Iron Cross blushed heavily from the betrayal of his lower half. “Damn it. You’re going to try and break me like a stubborn mule aren’t you? I shall have you know that the German Army trains all of its officers to resist torture.”

Applejack licked her lips. “Hehe well now ah don’t think all that fancy trainin’ of yours will help one bit. You ain’t never been interrogated by me before.”

Applejack maneuvered her rump in front of Iron’s face and swatted his face playfully with her tail. She then moved her tail up ever so slightly to give her stallion a good view of her orange furred lips. Iron’s face flushed as he caught a whiff of her scent. It was a mixture of musky earth, sweat and carried a fruity undertone. Later when he thought about it, he would swear it was apples.

Applejack spoke in her best southern belle impression. “Pardon me Mr. Cross, but I do declare that I am exhausted from the day’s work. Certainly a gentlecolt such as yourself is obliged to take care of a lady.”

Iron Cross snorted. “You a fair lady, HA not likely and since when do you get exhausted so easily?

“Oh but I do insist Mr. Cross. I’ve spent my whole morning watering the plants and I am most certainly in need of a strong pair of hooves to massage all…this…stress…out of my poor muscles.”

“You’ll have to try harder my little apple tart.”

“Goodness me then I shall have to just massage myself then.”

Undeterred by her lover’s stubbornness, Applejack took her hoof and began to slowly rub it against the top of her sex causing her outer lips to swell and spread ever so slightly. Iron Cross’s pupils dilated to the size of pinpricks as a few drops of her essence fell onto the tip of his nose. His stallionhood swelled even more, if that was even possible, begging for release. Applejack noticed this and grinned. She broke out of her southern belle impression to whisper in his ear.

“Ah bet yer just dyin’ ta mount me to the wall…”

Applejack shifted her position until her face was directly over his throbbing member. Without any warning she began to slowly lick her way up from the base upward, giving the tip a gentle kiss. She could hear Iron gasp quietly, then when he was about to say something she plunged his cock into her mouth and began sucking rapidly. Iron whimpered helplessly at the intense stimulation, pushing his hips reflexively towards her mouth wanting desperately to release himself. Just as suddenly as she had started sucking, Applejack released him with a slick pop, leaving him achingly hard and desperate to loosen his load. Iron Cross shuddered, panting for breath. One maddening thought raced through his mind: Why didn’t she finish?

Applejack smiled and bent down to lay a gentle kiss on the tip of his cock, one hoof slowly stroking up and down, keeping Iron on edge but offering no more stimulation.

“Stop this madness!!!”

Applejack gave his member another slow lick across the tip. “Sorry sugarcube, but yer gonna have ta beg.”

Iron Cross’s pride as man (wait no, stallion) demanded that he not give in so easily. It would be too easy to simply give in but hot damn did he ever want to screw her brains out. Just as he was about to regain some composure, Applejack started nibbling playfully at his balls. She then swirled her tongue around the shaft, evoking yet another whimper.

Iron’s ears splayed back while he let out a frustrated grunt. “Shit…alright. Applejack please…”

“Please do what sugarcube?”

“Please let me cum already! I can’t take it anymore you win!”

Applejack leaned over to kiss him on the lips and proceeded to untie the ropes. “Atta boy, now was that so hard?”

She barely completed her sentence when she was shoved to the ground. Somewhat stunned she looked over her shoulder only to find Iron grabbing her flanks and pinning her to the wall. Although she was initially shocked, she was not particularly surprised because all that teasing had made her wet and ready to go, not to mention her lover as well.

Iron Cross thrust himself into Applejack with ease, at first with savage desperation but then he slowed into a rhythm. Applejack couldn’t help but moan loudly as her lover continued to push himself deeper into her. With each gyration they came closer to release, when finally after about ten minutes they climaxed together falling into an exhausted heap. As they lay on the ground, their essence leaked onto the dusty ground. By that point the entire barn smelled of sweat, sex and hay as the two lovers cuddled on a near-by pile of hay. They both let out a contented sigh, basking in the afterglow.

Applejack snuggled closer to Iron Cross’s chest using her hoof to stroke his mane. “Whoo boy that was about the best damn romp ah ever did have! Ah still don’t understand why ya resisted so much.”

“Well excuse me for having my pride. Although I will admit your little game proved to make this experience more enjoyable for me as well. Perhaps we could do it again sometime?”

“Mhmm sure thing darlin’. Ah gotta admit though, it was real tough for me ta try and resist too. Ah was already frisky ta begin with and you were just so adorable. I’m sorry if ah drug it out a bit.”

Iron Cross leaned over and kissed Applejack on the cheek. “Don’t worry about it, I forgive you. I just never did anything like that before so it took me by surprise.”

“Sugarcube, that’s why ah love ya, because of that big forgivin’ heart of yours.”

“The reason I love you sugarcube is because of your honesty…and of course it doesn’t hurt that you are an absolutely stunning blonde.”

Applejack giggled and nuzzled Iron, both of them drifting off into slumber’s gentle wings.

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CMC clubhouse, Sweet Apple Acres

The Cutie Mark Crusaders along with their new friend, Emerald Gleam, made the short hike to the clubhouse from the edge of the Everfree Forest. They had walked a little bit slower than usual due to Emerald Gleam’s injury but it gave the crusaders the opportunity to converse with their new comrade. Applebloom had some trepidation about Emerald’s injury, believing they should have made their way strait to the hospital to get it looked at. Emerald, however had told her it wasn’t serious.

“Ah don’t mean ta sound like a broken record Emerald, but ah really think ya should get that wound looked at. It could get infected after all.”

Frostmere internally sighed, slightly annoyed but he couldn’t fault the filly for being concerned. “I assure you that I will be just fine. In fact I’m going to use a healing spell to fix my leg.”

Frostmere’s horn glowed blue as he concentrated on lifting off the bandages. The wound itself had scabbed over and was no longer bleeding but it still looked nasty despite not being very deep. With a few more seconds of concentration the wound glowed blue and mended itself. Frostmere wiggled his leg to test it out and sure enough his leg was good as new.

Applebloom’s jaw dropped. “Ah ain’t never seen anypony do that before. Ah don’t even think Twilight could do that and she’s the element of magic!”

“Oh it’s nothing; I’m just pretty good with magic I guess. The element of magic…perhaps these fillies know of all the element bearers. This could prove quite useful, although it seems I should be more careful about the magic I use, it might be more advanced than a colt should naturally be able to perform.”

“I’m tellin’ ya Emerald it ain’t normal. Hay, ah think ya might have a good chance at getting’ into Celestia’s School fer Gifted Unicorns.”

Frostmere cast an inquisitive glance. “Oh I’m sorry ah didn’t mean that you were weird or anythin’, ah just meant that ya have a real special talent.”

Frostmere put a hoof on Applebloom’s back. “It’s quite alright I know you didn’t mean anything about it. How about we go to the clubhouse now hmm?”

Applebloom looked away failing to hide her blush. “Alright let’s get goin’.”

While inside the clubhouse, the first of the crusaders to speak was Scootaloo. “Soooo…what are we gonna do now? I sure as hay don’t ever want to go cave exploring again that’s for sure.”

Sweetie Belle raised her hoof. “Oh I know what we can do! How about we go over to Sugarcube Corner for a late breakfast?”

“Hmm that sounds like a good plan Sweetie. As awesome as I am, I need to eat too. What do you think Applebloom?”

It took Applebloom a few moments to answer. It was apparent to all in the room that something was distracting her, as for what only the farming filly knew. “Yeah…umm that sounds like a mighty fine idea Scootaloo. Plus I’m sure that Pinkie Pie will want to meet Emerald.”

“CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS BAKERY RUN YAY!!!”

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Sugarcube Corner, Ponyville

The crusaders trotted their way into the pastry shop, the bell on the door ringing as they came in. The only pony present in the shop was Mrs. Cake who was busy filling some chocolate éclairs. The mare’s concentration was broken when she heard the doorbell ring and turned her attention to the group of four young ponies arranged in front of the counter.

“Why hello girls what can I do for you today?”

“Howdy Mrs. Cake! We were just stoppin’ by ta pick up a late morning snack, since we got up real early this mornin’ ta go explorin’ a cave.”

Mrs. Cake rubbed a hoof to her temple. “Oh…I see well I can certainly help you with that dear. What’s this? I see you three brought a handsome young colt with you. What’s his name?”

Applebloom blushed slightly, scuffing her hoof against the ground. “His name is Emerald Gleam; we met him inside the cave. He was lookin’ fer gems and he got hurt so we fixed him up and decided to make him a crusader. Ah was wonderin’ have ya seen Pinkie Pie anywhere?”

“I believe she is upstairs looking after Pumpkin and Pound. How about I get you your treats and then you can make your way upstairs to see her hmm?”

“Alright, we’re pretty hungry anyway. We’ll just have four of yer finest blueberry muffins please.”

“An excellent choice dear.”

The three young ponies plus one really old pony ate their muffins quickly without so much as a peep of conversation. They were all simply too hungry to bother with something as trivial as talking. After they were done consuming their baked goods they trotted up the stairs to meet Pinkie Pie. They found the bubbly pink mare holding Pumpkin and spinning her around, the little foal giggling with delight. Pound was busy flying around the room for no other reason than to amuse himself, maybe save for getting used to his wings. Pinkie Pie heard the crusaders open the door and gently put Pumpkin down in her crib.

“Oh hiya girls I was just foal-sitting Pound and Pumpkin. They were being really good for old aunt Pinkie. So what can I do for ya?”

Sweetie Belle was the first to respond. “Hi Pinkie! We were just finishing up our late morning snack so we decided to give you a visit while we were over here.”

Pinkie Pie ruffled Sweetie Belle’s mane. “Aww that’s so super thoughtful of you. OH! WAIT!!! Who’s your new friend? I’ve certainly never seen him before.”

“His name is Emerald Gleam, we found him at the bottom of a cave that we were exploring.”

“You mean a big, dark, scary cave? I can giggle at ghosties but no way in Tartarus is anypony gonna make me go in one of those!”

Applebloom whispered to Scootaloo. “Gee Pinkie afraid of the dark…now that’s a surprise.”

The pink mare bounced her way over to the green coated colt eyeing him over. “Hi I’m Pinkie…”

Pinkie’s greeting was interrupted as her whole body began to convulse in horrific spasms. She immediately dropped to the ground shaking, drool dribbling out of the corner of her mouth. Her irises shrank to a third of natural size. To the crusader’s horror this display continued for about a minute. When Pinkie finally composed herself she no longer had a poufy mane, but her hair had flattened out along with her tail. She backed away from the group of ponies, shivering in a corner of the room.

Applebloom approached Pinkie Pie with a concerned look. This kind of behavior was strange for the usually bubbly and happy mare. “Pinkie are ya alright?”

Pinkie began muttering in a low voice. “It can’t be…it just can’t. I’ve never had a doozy of this magnitude before. Oh by Celestia’s regal teats, this is bad. Reeeeaallly reaaallly bad!”

“Pinkie what in the hay is wrong?”

“WHAT’S WRONG!!?? Well your little colt friend is what’s wrong! He’s…he’s not supposed to be here. He shouldn’t exist. That colt is the dreaded spawn of the Eye of Tartarus, blight to the land of Equestria. He is here to exact his revenge so many centuries in the making.”

The other two fillies had worried looks on their faces and began heading towards the door. Applebloom was the only one who managed to find the courage to speak to Pinkie further. “Pinkie what in tarnation are ya goin’ on about? Stop this nonsense! Even fer you this is just…crazy. Now are we gonna have ta take ya to the hospital, because ya ain’t acting right in the head. Ah really hope it doesn’t come ta that but I’ll call the guards in ta haul ya there if ah must.”

Pinkie Pie grabbed Applebloom by the shoulders and looked straight into her eyes. “You must stop him at ALL COSTS!!! Have the Princess lock him away, hay you might as well have him turned into stone while you’re at it. He already controls the power of discord and the changeling queen. I CAN FEEL IT!!! It will only be a matter of time before he moves against Princess Celestia.”

Applebloom was on the verge of tears. “Pinkie…yer startin’ ta scare me. I’m mighty sorry but ah think it’s best if we get ya to the hospital. Scootaloo alert the guards.”

A few minutes later two royal guards magiced a strait jacket onto Pinkie Pie. She didn’t even resist when they did it. Just to be on the cautious side they injected her with a mild sedative to help calm her down. The party mare’s mane was still flat and she spoke one more in a calm, almost cold voice as she was being taken to the hospital. “You have doomed us all.”