**Author's Note**
Thank you all so very very much for following my story this far! I can't believe that we finally reached 50 chapters! I have so many likes and comments and views from all of you, definitely more than I ever thought that I would have!

To show my appreciation and commemorate reaching the 50 chapter mark I have had a special art piece put together which can be seen below! In addition please enjoy a bonus chapter being posted today! Both chapters 50 & 51 are now posted! So as always, thank you for reading!

Wonderful art by Rey Rosquete

The Heart of Pleasure
By Haunter Rayne
Ch 50 - Not a Dog's Day

When Rayne teleported back to the entryway of Maud’s home he was surprised to find a dramatic change to the ambience in the room. All around he saw small candles that were lit romantically. There were in fact so many that it concerned Rayne they might burn up all of the oxygen in the cave. But that was when his eyes fell upon a sight that almost made his hooves fall out from under him.

Maud was standing upright leaning against one of the banisters that supported the canopy over her sleeping area. “Hello there Rayne. Welcome home. I’ve been waiting for you.” She said with her monotone expression but the look in her eyes was more than lively enough to make up for it. “Did you enjoy your date tonight with Rainbow Dash? I made sure that I came home early enough from hanging out with Pinkie Pie to be here when you got back.” She said while stepping her way over to him.

If Rayne hadn’t already been aroused from his recent make out session with Dash this would have definitely done the job all on it’s own. She smiled when she saw the puffiness of his lips with told her he had managed at least some amount of headway with the pegasus mare.

- The Next Morning -

As the two awoke early together Maud looked up to see the stallion stretching beside where she lay.

“So what are you off to go do today?” She asked him.

Rayne was walking around their home now picking up all of the expired candles which had been left out over the night. “Well, it is finally one of the days that I have off from work. Seeing as I don’t have to rush on over to the day spa I figured that I would go do a little bit of hunting this morning. I haven’t done anything of the sort since Zecora was kind enough to escort me through the Everfree Forest. But I still have plenty of items on my list for me to go after. Also, I’m thinking that these excursions of mine are going to lead me to Gryphonstone soon but as for now there is no need for me to rush there. I mean I haven’t even found a Timberwolf yet. I had thought they would have been the first thing I ran into.”

He was speaking nonchalantly as he stared into Maud’s food storage but then turned away deciding to just pick something up while he was out. However that is when he almost jumped when he heard Maud shout. “Wait!”

He looked back in surprise as he saw her clinging to one of his legs. Instantly his tone softened as he said, “Maud, sweetie? What’s the matter? Why are you-”

“It isn’t fair.” She told him before looking up. Her voice was calm as ever but he could feel the emotion in her words. “I want to help too. You let Zecora go out with you into the forest. But then you haven’t given me another opportunity to assist you. I want to be of help to you too Rayne. I don’t want to just be convenient."

“Uh, well, okay.” He said having not known how strongly she felt about this until now. “I trust you Maud. And I have faith in you. I don’t question your resolve to support me and if it would make you feel better for us to do this together then I’m fine with it. I’m about ready to go now though. Did you have anything else that you were planning to do this morning?”

Maud thought to herself and she felt a bit guilty as she lied to him by shaking her head. “I’m sorry, but Pinkie will understand.” She whispered before walking over to retrieve the map she had made of her tunnel system. “Were you still interested in going after any Diamond Dogs?”

“Oh absolutely. It’s not that they are particularly important but they certainly have a set of skills that I wouldn’t mind getting my hooves on. I’ll want to let you know though Maud, when we find them I’m going to be in my… uh, other form. I haven’t shown it to you yet. But my intent will be to frighten them, not to frighten you.”

Maud nodded. “Then show it to me now. If I know what to expect then that will lessen the chances of me acting surprised later on.”

Rayne sighed and nodded but in truth he had been avoiding this. “It’s a panther Maud. It’s a giant black cat monster, partially of my own design. But just remember that it’s me in there. Okay?” She nodded and Rayne closed his eyes. In a puff of darkness his body shifted and after a moment Rayne felt the cool stone of Maud’s home underneath his broad feline paws.

Maud stared in disbelief at the powerful heaving chest and the long muscular limbs. The face of the beast chased the breath from her lungs as she stared at the long fangs that smiled at her. She had to blink several times to remind herself that it was not actually a mindless killing machine standing before her but Rayne who was the pony she trusted and felt strongly for. “Rayne, you… I’m sorry but that is the most terrifying thing that I have ever seen.” She whispered and it lowered the felines ears seeing the usual stoic pony actually display an expression of fear that was evident upon her face.

“It’s still me Maud.” Rayne told her as his heavy lungs reverberated the words out deeply. The were-panther stepped up to his pony lover and watched as she recoiled a bit but did not flee. He leaned against her while purring affectionately which proved enough to overcome her fears.

“You’re so softly.” She whispered in surprise as she felt along his fur, stroking him now like a large house cat.

“Heh, I think I preferred you being afraid.” He teased as his lengthy tail swished behind him. However that was when their interspecies cuddle was cut short. Lifting his head and tilting his ears down the passageway Rayne quickly called out, “There’s someone coming.”

Maud looked up and then quickly she whispered, “Rayne, I’m sorry I lied. I was supposed to meet Pinkie this morning.” She had barely finished explaining when she was suddenly scooped up into the air. Gripping the gray mare carefully Rayne leapt down into the chasm of cave tunnels that lay below Maud’s home. There they were engulfed into darkness before Maud’s visitor could see that they were there.

Coming from the cave entrance there was a loud squealing which grew louder and louder. Suddenly a bounding mass of pink fluff made it’s way to the center of Maud’s home before shouting out, “Tomorrow is today! Who's ready for some fun times at Sugarcube Corner? The answer is ‘you!’ I would also accept ‘Maud.’ Maud? Maud!?” Pinkie screamed at seeing that her sister wasn’t home. Refusing to give up though she shouted, “Oh, I get it! We're playing hide-and-go-seek!”

- Down Below -

“Are you alright?” The panther asked before spitting a light out from his jaws to float above them and illuminate the way.

After nodding the earth pony looked up to him curiously. “So you can still use magic even in that form?”

“That’s right. It seems to materialize from a focal point within my mouth just above my tongue. I’m not entirely sure of the science behind it, but it works. As far as my magic seems to be concerned, I’m still a unicorn even when in this shape.”

“Hmm.” She hummed hearing all that her practical mind really needed to for the situation. “Alright then. Let’s get to helping you. The Diamond Dogs should be roughly about forty minutes down this way.”

- Later on Back in Ponyville -

“Knock, knock, knock, knock!” Back in the Castle of Friendship Starlight Glimmer opened her door to find a pink pony that just invited themself into her bedroom as soon as the door was opened.

“Aha! Found you!” Pinkie shouted before hazardously rummaging through Starlight’s belongings causing the unicorn to use her magic to save a bucket, a book and a lamp from destruction. “Where's Maud? I've already tried Discord's dimension, Granny Smith's wax museum, and Yakyakistan! She has to be here!”

“Nope, it's just me. Reading.” Starlight pointed out.

Pinkie even went as far as to flip between the pages of Starlight’s book in search for her sister before sulking. “Story checks out… Or does it?! It does... But are you sure there's nopony hiding… in your closet?!”

“Pinkie, I don't have a closet. Is everything okay?” She asked her friend with a worried expression.

“No.” She pouted. “I was supposed to go birthday cake shopping with Maud today.”

“And ruin her surprise party?!" Starlight gasped.

“I wasn't gonna tell her why, silly. But now I can't even find Maud. I'm usually way better at hide-and-seek than this.” She said awkwardly with a sideways glance.

“Oh, she probably just found a new rock formation and forgot you two were gonna hang out. Tell ya what. You take care of the cake, and I'll look for Maud.” Starlight encouraged.

“Really? Thanks, Starlight!” Pinkie said with a bounce as she headed toward the door. However just before leaving she lifted the dirt from a flower pot in Starlight’s room and peered inside. “Just checking.”

- - -

Deep underground far beyond the reaches of Ponyville adjacent, several large beasts scurried about through a series of subterranean tunnel systems. Creatures with large forearms nearly the size of the rest of their bodies ran around digging for gems while panting from their gruff canine faces. In the center of a large sanctum near the heart of their territory three of the dirty beasts argued with each other in bitter voices.

“Finally my brothers, our collections of jewels and shiny stones is as large has it once was.”

“Hey, it’s wasn’t my idea to give away nearly all of our treasure. You were the one who thought it would be the best way to shut that annoying pony up!”

“That was years ago! Will you two PLEASE stop bickering over that and just get back to work?!”

All three of them were wearing matching black dog collars with diamonds encrusted around the rim. The tallest of the three wore a red jacket with an imperial topaz hanging from his collar. “Listen, we ALL were desperate to be rid of that obnoxious pony! I didn’t see you coming up with any other ideas Fido! You’re lucky that I, Rex, managed to think of a solution when I did!” All of their voices were gruff and nasally making a harsh contrast of sounds whenever they spoke.

The broadest of the three was Fido who stood with his legs spread out wide from his puffed up chest. “Oh be quiet. I still think that we should move our digging to be even FURTHER away from where the ponies live. We don’t want to run into any of those irksome creatures again. What do you think Spot?”

The third leader of the Diamond Dogs wore a gray jacket and no pendant just like Fido. Spot looked around and just shrugged, “I don’t care where we dig as long as we get to keep our gems this time. After that pony over there leaves I don't want to see another pony as long as I live. So starting now."

“What one?” Rex and Fido asked together.

“That one.” He said pointing behind them to a gray mare who suddenly came charging out from one of their passageways.

“Excuse me.” She said as she stopped in front of them and then proceeded to run passed them.

However she had hardly taken more than a few steps before Rex reached out to grab her and lift her off the ground. “Wait! Wait a minute you! I know you! You are that digger pony that lives at the other end of our tunnels!” He spat with disgust at the thought. “What are you doing running over here to our area? Did you think you would find something of ours that you would be keeping? Hmm?!" He snarled sinisterly. Now the other two Diamond Dog leaders punched their fists together getting ready to enact some punishment for her trespassing.

However Maud just shook her head as she hung in Rex’s grasp. “No, I’m not running to something. I am running away from something.” She explained.

“Oh? And what might you be running away from?” Spot asked, stepping close enough to her to bite her.

“That.” She said in her usual deadpan expression while pointing back towards the pathway she had come from.

After looking over all three Diamond Dogs saw a massive beast with extended claws and hungry fangs step out of the darkness. “HOLY SAPPHIRES!!!” The three shouted in unison as Maud was dropped and quickly forgotten about allowing her to scramble behind a nearby stone for cover.

“RRRRRAAAAAWWWWWLLLLL!!!” The panther roared as its scream reverberated off the walls causing the nearby creatures to cower with their tails between their legs.

“Guards! Guards!” Fido shouted as several bulky Diamond Dogs in tiny steel helmets came rushing over. “It may be big but it’s still just a cat! Go get it!”

“Why don’t you go get it?!” Spot asked.

“Oh shut up!” Fido responded as the three leaders cowered and watched their subordinates fight for them.

The first guard charged to tackle the feline to the floor. But his target suddenly moved quick as lightening, snapping it’s jaws like a Cragadile into the shoulder of the guard and wrestling it to the ground instead. Just then an orange light ripped it’s way out from the guard and into the panther’s mouth which the Diamond Dogs did not understand.

Two more guards approached and grabbed the panther around his forearms. “He, he, he.” Their captive sneered before suddenly disappearing into a puff of shadow and reappearing behind them. Then a mass of obsidian spread out from where the panther stood and wrapped around the legs of the two guards. Moving quickly the intruder leaned forward sucking the bright light from each of them as well. Now three of the Diamond Dogs lay collapsed as of their strength and energy had been taken from them.

“What is it doing to us?!” Rex shouted. “Stop going near it! Just smash it! Crush the intruder to death!” Looking over Rayne saw as three guards picked up several large boulders and then hurl them toward him from a distance. In response the black cat somehow curled itself into a round ball. Then even more confusingly to the Diamond Dogs they saw large barbs shoot out from its back and smash the boulders to bits as if the feline were also part Pukwudgie.

“It’s- It’s a monster! Run!!!” Spot screamed as he shoved Fido to the ground and then turned downwards quickly burrowing himself into the ground.

“No! NOOO!!!” Spot heard Fido scream as the fiery light shined across the top of the hole behind him. But then there was a rumbling as Spot tunneled through the dirt. All of a sudden there was a grinning black face which appeared through the soil right in front of him.

“AHHHH!” Came a muffled cry from beneath the ground and the remaining guards instantly stopped pursuing the invader out of fear. A moment later the panther was seen tunneling up through the dirt as expertly as a Diamond Dog with Spot carried along in tow.

“It can tunnel as well?!” Rex screamed realizing that he was now the closest one to the creature. He looked to his guards for help but they all took another step back. As Rex turned around again he saw a dripping pair of black fangs just inches away form his face. “AAAHHH-Oooiiii...” He collapsed backwards rather pathetically before looking upward and shouting. “Wait! Please! Let Rex reason with you! Rex heard you laugh, he did! Talk with Rex! Please don’t hurt us!”

Now the feline reared up proudly and stomped a paw to the ground. The dominating gesture wasn’t lost on the canines as they all bowed a head with their tails bent inward. “You listen to me well, for your lives depend on me not repeating myself.” The panther snarled and the dogs whimpered. “I claim this territory as my own. Everywhere that surrounds the pony village I intend to make MINE! The forest! The skies! Even below ground! If you want to live then you must GO! Take your small puppy army and find a new cave system to inhabit. Or stay...” He said before dragging Rex closer and draining him of his magic. “And live as slaves under my rule as you serve me!”

Feeling drained and now even more helpless Rex whined loudly as he shriveled before the shadow of the beast. “We will leave! We will not challenge you! The black cat is strong, stronger than us! Please just leave us be. Spare our lives!”

Suddenly the panther opened its mouth and several orange lights shimmered out before returning to the Diamond Dogs but only Rex, Fido and Spot. “By my grace I allow you the strength to run for your lives… Do not waste this opportunity.” He said coldly.

As the three joined back together is was Fido who complained, “Great, again we are robbed of our riches!”

But they all froze in fear as they heard the new ruler of these depths scream out again. “NO! You take your gems. I care not for your trinkets. This panther claims the territory by natural hunting rights. Leave what remains in the walls but take with you what you have already collected.”

Grabbing his two brothers by the back of their heads Rex made them all bow before saying, “Yes, we will! So very gracious is the black cat! So generous! Take them and go we shall. The area around the ponies we shall leave to you. You will not see the Diamond Dogs return to this place, we promise you!” Then several of the guards ran back, tying ropes around several large carts of gems and began hauling them away into the darkness while Rex, Fido, and Spot joined to help without another word.

Once they had gone the panther heard four shaky hoof-steps step out from behind a stone. “Wow Rayne. I didn’t realize you were THIS powerful. I’m not like Zecora but I can understand why she wanted to sleep with you in this form. It is… rousing to know that my boyfriend is so capable.” She said in her monotone voice but with a definate smile spread across her lips.

- A Little Later Back in Ponyville -

“I can’t believe I managed to order the cake just before that baker went out on their lunch break! I was so lucky that there wasn’t another pony just wasting time around ahead of me! Now, all I have to do is find Maud and then-” Pinkie ranted to herself before suddenly bumping into somepony else as she hadn’t been watching where she was going.

“Hello, Pinkie Pie.” Maud said in her usual deadpan tone.

“Maud! Found you! My turn to hide! Hee-hee!” She shouted before attempting to race off again. But knowing her sister well the gray mare managed to pinch Pinkie in place by her tail.

“I'm sorry I wasn't around this morning.”

“Oh, pssh. What are you apologizing to me for? I'm not upset, you silly-willy.” Pinkie lied not wanting to cause her sister any worry.

Not believing it for a minute Maud just continued. “The reason is I met somepony-”

Not paying attention to her sister at all Pinkie shouted, “Wanna hang out right now? I mean, I can see you're not doing anything with anypony else. Unless they're invisible or reeeeeaaaally small.” She said with a high pitched tone.

Getting a little frustrated with her Pinkie’s antics Maud spoke louder and with a firm tone to blurt her message out as best as she was able to. “Pinkie, the reason I've been so busy is that I have a boyfriend now.”

“A wha...?” Pinkie cheered in amazement.

“A boyfriend.” The monotone mare stared calmly now just happy to finally be heard.

“A whaaa...?!” Pinkie repeated still in her disbelief.

“A boyfriend.”

“A whaaaaa...?!” Pinkie nearly screamed as her excitement grew.

“A boyfriend.”

“That's so exciting! My sister, in love!” The pink pony cheered almost having hearts in her eyes.

“Technically, we're in ‘like.’” The gray pony clarified.

“Tell me everything!” Pinkie screamed leaning right into Maud’s face now. “Who is he? What's his favorite color? Does he like ice cream? If he were a bird, what kind of bird would he be? Wait. Is he actually a bird? Oh! I don't know, because you haven't told me anything yet!”

Feeling a little cheeky now Maud smiled before saying, “You'll like him. We have a lot in common.”

Still gushing at the thought Pinkie declared, “Well, I love you, so I know I'm gonna love your boyfriend! Oh, I can't wait to meet him.”

“You don't have to.” Maud said before pointing behind her in the direction of where Rayne had just dug them out from behind a large stone on the side of the road.

However Pinkie gasped as she jumped to the wrong conclusion. “He's a rock! And you love rocks, so it's perfect! Oh! Is Boulder jealous?”

Ignoring Pinkie’s knack for ridiculousness Maud specified, “No. Behind the rock. Rayne, are you back there?” She asked while hoping that he had remembered to shift back into his pony form by now.

“Of course. I’m right here. I was just giving you a moment to catch up with your sister.” The black stallion said as he stepped out into view.

“A wha-whaaaaaaaaa?!” Pinkie screamed in disbelief.

“Pinkie Pie, I’ve heard that you already met Rayne recently.” Maud said completing her introductions.

Rayne smiled charmingly before saying, “Yes, we've already met. Nice to see you again Pinkie Pie.”

“You?!” She shouted in disbelief.

“That’s right.”

“You?” She repeated, as she looked to her sister.

“That’s right.”

“You...” She whispered awkwardly, remembering that Rayne had previously been alone with Applejack in the orchard.

“That’s right.”

Realizing that she was coming across as a bit rude she nervously attempted to back-peddle. “I mean, haha, you! You, you, you!”

“That’s right.”

“I'm sorry. This just isn’t how I expected to meet my sister’s first boyfriend. Let's start over. Hi, I'm Maud's sister, Pinkie Pie.”

Chuckling to himself Rayne realized that Pinkie just had a certain way which she envisioned this going in her head for her to be comfortable it and he had no problem in humoring her. “Hello Pinkie Pie. Nice to meet you. My name is Rayne.”

“Sooooo... are you two... like official?” Pinkie asked, still feeling a little nervous about the situation.

Now Maud spoke up. “Yes Pinkie. We met shortly after Rayne came to town but we became official on the day that he took me to a rock show.”

“Oh! You're into rocks, too?” Pinkie asked.

Rayne just chuckled again, finding it cute how this interaction was going. “Oh yes. I’ve always found it cool how different rocks can change into beautiful gems. But wait, I thought it was more of a stick show?” Rayne stated towards Maud but he was just being playful to tease her.

“Wait, I thought it was a rock show?” Pinkie asked clearly not picking up on his humor.

Rayne was happy to point out, “It was a petrified wood show, which technically makes it a stick show.”

Maud then spoke up in her deadpan tone but with a smile on her lips. “Except that in the per-mineralization process of petrification, all organic material is replaced with silicates – i.e., rocks.”

Rayne was quick to follow up, knowing much more about the details now that Maud had offered her essence to him. “While retaining the original structural elements of wood - q.e.d., it was a stick show.” He said, again just to tease her.

Realizing that there was something going on that she was missing Pinkie jumped at the opportunity to rejoin the conversation. “I'm... really into sticks, too! They're great for hitting piñatas! Haaaaa...” She shouted after stringing a piñata up from out of nowhere and whacking it to pieces.”

“Pinkie…” Maud complained as candies dropped down all over Rayne’s mane.

“Oh! You wanna go first?” Pinkie asked, seeming oblivious to Maud’s embarrassment.

“Oh, no thank you Pinkie. I’ll be honest, I never really had very good accuracy with things like that. It’s a little embarrassing for me being put on the spot like that.”

“It is? I'm sorry. Oh, this is awful. I'm not being a very good sister. Let's start over. I'm Pinkie Pie! Nice to meet you!

At this Rayne couldn’t help but laugh because Pinkie was trying so incredibly hard to make this work for Maud’s sake. “Hello, Maud’s sister Pinkie who has never embarrassed me and who I only have pleasant memories about meeting previously.”

Wanting to help move the situation along Maud spoke up. “Rayne, maybe you could ask Pinkie for help in finding a pet? You did mention that you were curious about getting one after I had introduced you to Boulder." After this Maud reached into her pocket and pulled out her let rock to place on the ground.

Now Pinkie cheered with excitement. “Oh? Are you looking for a pet Rayne? Maybe one that likes to fetch?”

To this Rayne shoot his head. “I was thinking about it. But for now I think Maud has enough pet to go around. We already have our hooves full with the excitement that Boulder gets us into.”

Maud looked happy after hearing his comment and turned her pet rock slightly as if to imply that it were looking at Rayne. “Aw. Look at that. Boulder likes you.”

“Boulder is adorable.” Rayne said.

In a whispering tone Pinkie leaned down beside Maud and said, “He doesn’t even have a pet of his own?”

“Don't be rude.” Maud told her aloud.

Giving a deep sigh now, “I'm sorry, I'm sorry. One more time.” Pinkie grit her teeth and repeated, “I'm Pinkie Pie! Nice to meet you!” She over enunciated clearly showing that she was becoming frustrated.

But now the scene was beginning to make Rayne uncomfortable. “Pinkie, I’m sorry. I already consider you a friend and yes I’m dating your sister. But I’m not doing the introduction thing again.”

In response Pinkie just growled and gave kind of a snort.

Author's Notes:

So a lot happened rather quickly here. The chapter starts with a short but hot hint of clop. Maud seems as aroused as ever having seen Rayne spend time with another mare. Then later we see some more lines from the show as Pinkie struggles to get ready for her sister's birthday. However, things unfold both differently and the same seeing as Mudbriar never moved to Ponyville now. I do like how I worked in what Maud was doing over the last several days which made her so difficult for Pinkie to find.

And as for the Diamond Dogs, what did you think? I always wondered in the show how close Maud's home and the Diamond Dog territory were to each other. So being the protective boyfriend Rayne made sure to scare them off. And this was a fun combat scene for me to write, even if the fight was kinda one sided. It was a nice example of Rayne making full use of his new powers though.

And then the scenes from the show continue with Rayne being the boyfriend Maud introduces Pinkie to instead of Mudbriar. Pinkie remains standoffish though, not because Rayne annoyied her earlier but because she thought that Rayne was dating Applejack. She doesn't know how she feels about Rayne dating Maud now. Is he possibly cheating on Applejack? Or has he been cheating on Maud? She doesn't know.