The Heart of Pleasure
By Haunter Rayne
Chapter 38 - A Love to be Proud Of

Early the next morning Rayne awoke in a much more peaceful state than he had the previous day. Silk sheets from a soft bed enwrapped his form as his eyes drifted open at their own leisure to the morning light. Sitting up in bed he stretched with a yawn as he looked around the solitary guest room which had been assigned to him. "Well good morning to me." He sighed and gave another yawn.

After getting out of bed he stepped over to an in room sink to freshen up. Looking at his reflection in a small mirror he smiled. "Heh, almost there." He said to himself. Thinking quietly now he pondered over his recent events as he watched his own gaze staring back at him. "I got away with it. I wasn't sure at first but it seems like no one knows. First Tirek's power then Sombra's horn. Even if not all had gone as planned, phase two of six is complete. And that means the hard part is over. Just one more... difficult challenge, and the rest should fall like dominoes. All I have to do is avoid being found out and then afterward it will no longer matter if anypony knows."

However just then there was a knock on Rayne's door which pulled him from his thoughts. After quickly drying his face with a towel he stepped over to the door and was delighted to see Rarity standing in the doorway. However what came as a surprise was when a pale gray hoof suddenly swiped through the air, slapping him sharply across the face. "What did you do?!"

"Uhh..." Rayne mumbled feeling stunned.

Stomping her hoof she shouted at him as if she were furious but were trying to not be too loud. "You mister are coming with me, right now!" Then she turned from his door and marched down the hall while scowling back over her shoulder. "Move it! I mean it, right now!" Rayne had no idea what was going on. But he nodded and followed along as she lead him to only a couple doors down where another private guestroom sat waiting. Rarity looked around before opening the door and ushered in him before quietly closing the door behind them. Inside there was another guest room that was not much different from his own. But that was where two other ponies waited for him.

One of them was Rainbow Dash who also seemed to be giving him a disapproving stare. She stood beside the bed where the final pony was Applejack but she was sitting back on the mattress with her hat leaned down over her face. "Not cool Rayne. That isn't what I would have expected from you at all." Dash mumbled quietly as he approached.

"You certainly have some explaining to do, buster!" Rarity added as she walked up from behind him to stand beside Dash. "This is hardly behavior that I would have expected from the stallion who I have come to know. But now I am beginning to question how well I know you at all!"

Rayne held a hoof up to his mane in confusion, now having absolutely no clue what they were so mad at him for. Before he could respond though he heard Applejack yell out to them, "Will y'all just quit and leave him alone?! I dun said that I wasn't mad at him for it and that it was my own doing! I don't see what you had to go and drag him in here for." But despite her scolding she remained with her hat covering her face.

"What is going on you guys? Why is everypony angry with me this morning?" Rayne asked, pushing through the other two ponies to try and get a closer look at Applejack.

"Oh as if you don't know!" Rarity shouted. But then she saw him gently kneel down by AJ's bedside and look genuinely concerned. Rarity softened her tone and asked, "Wait, do you really not know?"

Ignoring the other two Rayne leaned against the bed trying to get a better look at AJ from under her hat. She peaked out a bit but that was when Rayne noticed she was blushing beat red which was likely the reason why she was hiding her face. "You okay there Jackie? Did I upset you somehow?"

"Jackie?!" Dash exclaimed in disbelief.

But it was actually Aappejack who responded before Rayne could, taking her hat down from her face and yelling angrily at her friend even while still blushing heavily. "Yes Jackie! He calls me that okay?! And don't you dare go making fun of it neither! I'm Rayne's girl now so he can go and call me whatever it is he likes..."

"His girl?!" Rarity screamed in surprise. Likewise at this news Rainbow Dash suddenly fell back into a nearby cushioned seat but otherwise didn't say a word.

"Look!" Rayne yelled out startling all three of the girls a little bit. Lowering his voice but sounding as if he were getting a little angry he said to them, "Last night AJ and I spent the evening together. She asked if I would be willing to call her my girl and I agreed. From my understanding, she doesn't care about us being exclusive. She just wanted to know that she'd be special to me. Is that right?" Looking over to AJ she nodded to him and the other girls looked even more surprised. But that was when Rayne yelled again, "And she doesn't look particularly sorry about us being together so will one of you tell me what I did to get dragged here?!"

"Oh just show him!" Dash snapped bitterly, also looking flushed for a reason Rayne didn't understand.

"Show him?!" Applejack screamed and pulled the blanket tighter over her lap. Seeing this Rayne quickly used his magic and ripped the bed covering out of her grasp. Rarity protested yelling something about a girl's right for modesty but AJ stared at Rayne looking like she was done hiding her problem from him. Slowly opened her legs and Rayne quickly furrowed his brow at what he saw.

Even through her fur he could see a large pattern of bruising between her thighs and across her pelvic area. Her slit looked puffy and irritated from the soreness that was left there from last night. "Oh wow. Applejack hun, I'm sorry..." Rayne stated a bit breathlessly having not expected this even though he now scolded himself in hindsight.

"Well you had certainly better be sorry!" Rarity scolded to him. "I honestly can't believe that you are responsible for this! Rayne! Even in the most amorous of nights where two ponies are losing themselves to passion there is NEVER any excuse for leaving a mare in this kind fo state! I know that you know better so how could you let this happen?!" It wasn't the volume but the disappointment in her voice that stung the stallion as she reprimanded him.

"Would ya just leave him alone already?!" The earth pony cried as she covered herself again. "It ain't like I wasn't getting what I wanted too ya know. Rayne was polite and sweet about the whole thing. He didn' leave me nothin' to complain about so if your insistin' on being mad at him then you'd best be mad at me too!"

Now it was Dash's turn to yell as she growled out, "Rarity is mad at him. 'I' am mad at you!"

Rayne followed Rainbow's gaze straight to the mare laying on the bed instead of at him. "Wait what?"

"Nothing sugar." Applejack said to him quickly as Dash crossed her arms acting like her friend had backstabbed her somehow. "Listen here. Ain't no pony got any right to punish you about this other than me. And I ain't gonna. I thought last night was amazing and the only reason I got the hair brained reason to tell these two about it is because dunderhead over here tried waking me up early and once I had to tell her what was wrong we thought that Rarity would be the best pony to ask if what I was feeling was normal or not." She stated, pointing to the insulted looking pegasus.

"And it certainly is not!" Rarity added. "Sex does not have to be rough in order to be good Applejack! In fact in most cases it usually isn't rough at all." She pleaded, trying to help her friend to understand.

"So Rayne, is that how you treat all the girls? You're nice to them and then rough them up once you're alone?" Dash glared at him as her voice was filled with a dark resentment.

"Of course not!" Rayne called out.

"Dashie!" Appelejack scolded. "Why of all the insulting-" But she didn't get it finish as Rarity suddenly changed her tune.

"Actually Dash, I do have to stand up for Rayne at least a little bit there. While he might be a bit intense, I do know that he isn't rough with EVERY mare that he sleeps with." She admitted bashfully.

Applejack looked over with a knowing expression but didn't seem bothered by it. Meanwhile Dash was seeming a little slow on the update. "Oh yeah? And how exactly would you know that unless... wait a minute... Oh Come ON!" She yelled causing everypony else in the room to shush her. "That's just great! So here I am in a room full of ponies and I'm the only one that Rayne HASN'T fucked yet?!" The pegasus just threw herself back into the chair and crossed her arms looking pissed. But as three different faces watched her do this, they all had three different opinions of her reasons for being angry.

"Alright well I think that's enough for all of this now." Rayne softly declared to everypony in the room. All three girls looked to him as Rayne laid out what he understood piece by piece. "Okay so Jackie hun, you just wanted the opinion of a friend after having sex for the first time and other than being sore you're fine. Right?" The orange mare nodded. "Rarity, you were upset with me because you had thought I had abused or taken advantage of your friend in some way right?" Next the light gray unicorn nodded.

"That's right Rayne. But I think I can already see now that what I feared wasn't quite the case. I still disapprove of knowing you can be so rough during an act that really should be more intimate, but I could see how sorry you were once you realized how you left poor AJ here."

Rayne could have responded to that but decided to leave well enough alone. Turning to Rainbow Dash now he opened his mouth to comment on her fuming temper but she quickly interrupted him. "DON'T you even dare try to speculate as to why I'm still pissed off right now! I'll forgive you for hurting Applejack this ONE time! But cut your losses and leave it at that!"

Backing off from the subject even though there was clearly more to know, Rayne just nodded and made an announcement to them all again. "Alright then how about we break this up then? It's early, I'm hungry, I'd like a moment alone with AJ, and then there is still the Crystal Heart to deal with from what I understand. Agreed?"

"Agreed." The other three replied as Rarity and Dash both began walking towards the door to leave. But they both were doing so much slower than would be necessary.

Ignoring this Rayne quickly tended to helping his girl slowly get out of bed. "Alright come here babe. You can put a hoof around me if you need to."

"Now Rayne... I ain't used to nopony fussing over me like that." She chuckled as if she were trying to ignore that she did indeed reach out to steady herself as soon as she stepped upon her hooves.

"Hey, you asked for this. You being my girl means I'm your stallion now. So I'm going to be there for you if you need me whether you want me to be or not." Now it was his turn to chuckle as she just blushed a bit. "I'm sorry for hurting you Jackie. Rarity had been right. Getting carried away was no excuse. I figured you could take it because I know you're the tough sort but I didn't think that-" Suddenly he was cut off as Applejack thrust her lips tightly against his. He was even more surprised as she suddenly ran her hooves through his mane extending the kiss with him passionately.

"Now you aren't really going to go apologizing for making me as happy as you did last night, are ya?" She asked with an earnest stare. Rayne relented and shook his head with a smile. But that was when Applejack frowned as she yelled toward the door where two mares had remained to warch through the open doorway. "WOULD Y'ALL GIT?!"

It wasn't much longer when they were all gathered together in the castle dining hall with all of their friends also joining them for breakfast. Many had spoken that it was time to see what could be done about the Crystal Heart and yet nopony seemed intent to make a move outside until some breakfast had been scrunched down first. There was even some merriment and laughs which Rayne quickly found to be at his own expense. For some reason the table seating ended up being the Celestia, Luna and Cadence at one, the boys sitting together at another, and the rest of the girls all huddled very closely together while whispering to each other at another table. There was snickering and giggling while many of them looked his way. Starlight and Twilight were both blushing but the princess seemed to be more uncomfortable by the secret conversation while her pupil looked to be much more intrigued.

"What did you do?" Spike asked, wondering why all the girls were in such a state this morning. That was when Rainbow Dash stood up and began rocking her pelvis back and forth. The rest of the ladies broke out into a furry of flirtatious laughter.

Rayne's face became as red as a cherry as he realized they had been discussing his David Bowie song and dance from before. Even the three Princesses sitting apart from the group blushed and smiled as they were also reminded. Meanwhile Shining Armor suddenly stood up and furiously excused himself from the table, not enjoying the repeat display. "Don't ask Spike, just don't ask. I'll be downstairs waiting for everypony if any of you need me."

- - -

It was just before noon when everypony had finally gathered outside together. All four princesses, all six elements of harmony, Spike the Brave and Glorious, Rayne, Starlight, Shining Armor, and even Discord were now all present. The Crystal Heart had not seemed to change from its hazardous spiraling and bright shimmering. Dispite the artifact's disturbing behavior, several citizens from the empire also gathered at a distance to watch as so many important figures now crowded around to see what they could do. "So... here we are." Cadence called out softly as an awkward silence began to set in.

"Anypony have any ideas?" Dash asked as most of them looked around and shrugged.

Celestia raised a hoof offering, "Well magic of some sort was the cause of this. Maybe trying a bit of magic will help to fix it?"

Shining was next to speak up saying, "Cadence already tried using love magic on it but that had no effect. Also the relation to a crystalling ceremony was not lost on us. We've tried tapping it with a few stones but that also didn't seem to help."

Twilight now stepped forward and tried to look at the artifact as closely as she could without being smacked in the snout by it. "Well it definitely seems to be acting pretty unharmoniously. So many some magic from the ponies of harmony can help?!" She said with a determined tone. Looking around to her friends the other five nodded and they all gathered in a circle around the Crystal Heart. Focusing on their friendship and the faith that they have in each other, one by one they all began to shimmer as the magic of friendship radiated from within. Levitating into the air and each glowing with the spirit of their element they all focused on the heart as a rainbow swirled around each of them before shining down in between.

There was a brilliant flash of light as their magical blast dissipated but when they all dropped back down to the ground they saw that the Crystal Heart had not changed. "Awww man!" Pinkie shouted. "I had really thought that was going to work." Now several of them gave nervous expressions as their confidence to help the situation wavered.

"Oh for crying out loud!" Discord shouted. "Look, it isn't rocket science! If you want to stop the heart from spinning then why don't you just-" Having lost his patience the Draconequus stepped forward and then tightly gripped both his arms around the artifact. However to his surprise he was suddenly pulled off of his feet and then was sent spinning around in circles before being thrown into one of the columns supporting the castle.

Twilight sighed feeling a bit annoyed. "I probably could have told you that brute force wasn't going to work."

However that was when Luna spoke out, sounding as if she had a very different idea. "Well if our conventional means have no power over this love spell that the heart is under, why don't we ask the expert on the subject?" Luna surmised and then all eyes glanced over to the dark stallion who had noticeably been standing back against one of the other support columns.

"Who me?" Rayne asked, sounding as if he were coming out of some distracting thought. "Oh no, you flatter me princess but I believe it is Cadence who is the love expert. Buuuut on the otherhoof, that doesn't mean that I don't still have an idea or two for you." It was clear that Rayne seemed to be coming up with something on the spot. In addition to that, he seemed very distracted by something other than the current subject at hand.

"We are open to your suggestions." Luna said politely, carefully looking him over as this had been one of her first opportunities to get a good look at him while he was awake. Rayne stepped a bit closer to join as part of the crowd. However not knowing the truth of how it might affect him he made sure not to approach too close to the artifact itself.

As Rayne passed by, Rarity leaned down towards Pinkie Pie with a smile and whispered, "I'll bet you ten bits that Rayne figures this out on the first try."

"Ooooh, really? And why is that? Do you know something we don't know?" She asked with interested.

"Oh on the contrary. I am as baffled by this mystery as everypony else. But if there is one thing that I believe without question is that Rayne can do anything." She smiled proudly as she looked a few feet away to where Spike was standing.

"Ha, alright then. You're on!" Pinkie declared.

"Oh yeah! I'll take that bet!" Dash also added and the three of them nodded together.

"Okay so let's see." Rayne began, starting to review the situation logically. "I some how missed when the magical tidal wave swepted over Equestria, don't ask me how. And considering what happened recently this really might go better if we had the Bloodstone Scepter and the Crystal Heart here together. But for now we'll work with what we have. So let's be sensible about this. The Crystal heart is an artifact that gives, not receives. If it's pent up like this then all this excess magic must be waiting for somewhere to go. So trying to blast it with more magic clearly isn't going to help." Several ponies nodded at that reasoning. "A crystalling ceremony probably would have been my first thought too but seeing as you've tried that already let's look instead to where the source of this excess magic came from."

Now Spike and Rarity looked to each other and then to everypony else. "You mean us?" They both said in unison as Rayne nodded and motioned for them to step closer.

Now there were several gasps as the heart seemed to increase in speed as the two approached together. "Ah, you see there?" Rayne pointed out. "If I didn't know any better I'd say the heart seems to like seeing these two coming together. So that has to be part of this." The rest watched in fascination as Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes and began counting out her bits.

"So what should we do?" Spike asked as he looked up at Rarity.

"Hold on now. Don't do anything until I say." Rayne instructed and moved to step further away so that he was by the couple but not so close to the artifact. "So tell me what happened between you two. I got the brief run down but I feel like I don't know the whole story." He asked as the two then recited the events of their coupling while several of the onlookers from the empire gasped at the tale. "Ah, so that's it." Rayne stopped them just before they were through. "The kiss... True Love's Kiss. The most powerful magic of all."

"But I thought Friendship was the most powerful kind of magic?" Twilight asked, sounding as if she had found a new research topic to study. "What is this True Love's Kiss magic that you seem to know about?"

Rayne just put a hoof to his forehead silently thinking to himself, "Oh please, PLEASE, don't let this be some 'Once Upon a Time' scenario where I brought 'true love' magic along with me from my world!" Shaking the thought from his mind he ignored Twilight and turned back to the couple. "Alright you two. Go stand in front of the heart a small space apart from each other."

They nodded but then Rarity looked back to nervously ask, "Wait a minute. Rayne you aren't about to marry us without telling us, are you?!"

Several ponies looked surprised at the thought but Rayne just laughed and reassured her, "No, not to worry. I'm just going to ask you two about your feelings." They nodded and watched as the heart was now almost a solid ball of light spinning seemlessly around in it's place. "Now Spike, do you honestly love Rarity? Not for fame or wealth or selfish desire. Do you love her?"

"Yes." Spike said simply while looking up at her. "At first I admit it may have been a bit of fascination on my part. I thought she was beautiful but I only really knew her on the outside. But it's become more than that now because I've gotten to know her personally and how she can be with others. I've seen her be kind and generous. I've seen her be stong, and weak. I've seen her make mistakes, I've seen her be less than perfect. And that hasn't stopped her from seeming perfect to me. I love her."

"Ohhh Spikey..." Rarity mused out feeling deeply touched by his words.

"And Rarity?" Rayne continued. "Do you love Spike? Do you know if your feelings are sincere? Are your actions not motivated by guilt, expectation, or any outside influence?"

Everypony, especially the crystal ponies in the growing crowd, all looked to her now. She didn't even blink as she said, "Yes, I love Spike. I have loved Spike for years. But I am sorry to say that my mind was not as wise as my heart had been. I have loved him ever since that day when we fell out of the sky together and thought we weren't going to make it. The day you gave me that fire emblem that I still treasure. But I thought my feelings had meant something else. I thought I loved you as a friend, that my feelings were a sort of innocent affection. And if recent events have shown me anything it's how I feel at the thought of losing you. Spike, you stopped being just a friend to me long ago and I am proud to say I know that now. I love you. Yes, Rayne I love Spike very much."

Rayne paused as his own gaze was drawn toward the group of princesses. He sighed feeling a sense of desire of his own but then turned back to the couple before any pony could notice. "Then with the longing to be with one another in your hearts, kiss as you did that day when you first realized that you loved one another. Kiss and accept that this love is true and meant to be." Rayne said as poetically as he could as if this really were a storybook novel.

The two didn't delay as their eyes closed and they leaned to one another. As their lips came into contact with each other they both allowed themselves to become lost in the feeling that all was right in the world as long as they had each other. Instantly the Crystal Heart began to shine like a beacon directly upon them. Several ponies gasped as the two of them began to glow and lift up into the air. Suddenly an image of Spike in his giant form was seen but it was only an illusion while the real Spike could be seen floating within. Soon the image changed as the giant Spike kept his shape but shrank in size. Then a large image of Rarity was shown before also shrinking in size.

The briliant display was enough to draw most of the empire in to witness what was happening. They saw the two Spike's and the two Rarity's kissing with one another. Moving as one, both Rarity's pulled their lips back and in a pair of voices they said, "I love you Spike."

The empire gasped and watched as the Spike's pulled back as well. "I love you too, Rarity." Their closer friends were shocked at seeing the giant Spike speak for the first time while still moving along with the real Spike. After that the illusions suddenly exploded into snow flake looking lights that drifted down toward the couple below. As each flake of light fell upon them Rarity saw purple scales appear on her coat while Spike saw white puffs of fur form on his hide. But as soon as the light faded they both returned back to normal as if nothing had happened at all. Meanwhile the Crystal Heart sat in it's perch seeming as normal as could be.

"What... just happened?" Spike asked in dismay. He looked around checking the spots where the lights had landed on him but all he saw now were his own normal scales.

"I have no idea darling. Are you feeling alright?" Rarity asked to him as she also checked herself over but didn't feel any different.

Now several of the others crowded around as they looked the two over themselves. Twilight teleported away and teleported back now holding a tape measure trying to take note of their bodies. "Hmm. Rarity you seem exactly the same but Spike if I'm not mistaken you seem to be one quarter of an inch taller than you were when I measured you a weak ago. We would have to be home for me to tell for certain but seeing as you've hardly grown that much in the last few years..."

"Really Twilight?" Spike said, sounding unconvinced. "Less than an inch and you're making a fuss about that being a difference?"

Rarity looked to Rayne but he quickly raised his hooves before she could even begin. "Oh no. Don't ask me. What I was focusing on was what might help to restore the heart. I could speculate but honestly have no idea what happened between the two of you." Rayne lied, not finding this to be the time or place for the conversation. "But, if I may draw your attention over that way... I think some ponies might want an explanation as to what they just witnessed." Now the group looked stunned seeing almost the entire Crystal Empire gathered in the street staring at the new couple in awe.

"Dear citizens of the empire! I, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, would like to..." Cadence stated, beginning to address her subjects as Rayne took this as the perfect opportunity for him to slip away.

Stepping off the side and out of everyponies line of view, he snaked his way around to stand alone behind one of the castle's support beams. Rayne gasped as if he had been holding his breath for an extended time. "Oh come on! How am I supposed to focus on anything except for her?! Why am I the only pony freaking out about this?! She is beautiful!" He exclaimed to himself out loud. Peering back around the column, Rayne looked to the group of ponies that were crowded around listening to the speech about Spike and Rarity.

But it was one mare in particular that was drawing his eye and Rayne once again felt like it was hard to breathe. "Ohhh. She's gonna have me singing some Moulan Rouge kind of love songs here if I can't get a hold of myself. Damn I knew she was gorgeous but... Oh man, I'm in trouble." He sighed and leaned against the crystal wall beside him like a lovesick fool.

Suddenly a roar of applause celebrating the dragon and pony relationship broke Rayne from his distraction. "Ugh, this is horrible. What I want is right there in front of me. And here I am hiding, you weak motherfucker! But... the timing isn't right. Everypony is distracted so I could walk up and talk to her, sure. But this is their time." He told himself, watching as the couple who he had set together enjoyed another kiss. "I'll have my chance. I'm not going anywhere and neither is she. I'll find another opportunity. Besides... for the next phase there is a different mare I need to be focusing on right now anyways. Because she will single-handedly be the key to everything I have been working to obtain so far..."

Author's Notes:

Phewww! Well wasn't this chapter just a big bucket of what in the hell? Haha. So to start off, I felt that it was time for everything to stop going so perfectly for Rayne. Everything's been justifiable so far but it's time for him to start facing some consequences, starting with he can't screw mares as hard as he wants without them being sore afterwards. Also, I thought it was cute how he was humiliated during breakfast as Starlight was told all about Rayne's 'magic dance' when he was watching Flurry Heart.

Okay so what are your opinions on the Crystal Heart scene? What do you think happened to Spike and Rarity here? This was an important event but you're not going to find out why for quite a long time, sorry. I dropped several hidden clues during this chapter. Can you find them all? ;)

Lastly, oooohh so who is Rayne so distracted by? Our protagonist is feeling twitterpated. But it would seem he has to put his feelings on hold to continue his secret mission. He has conquered Tirek and Sombra... could he possibly now have ill intent toward one of the main mares of the story?

**The reference to 'Once Upon a Time' relates to the TV show and the antics which took place during that story.