Everyday Life With Guardsmares
Chapter 103
Previous Chapter Next ChapterLily Glamerspear
‘This is actually kinda hot.’
"HRAAAGH!"
"GRNNFH!"
With a diving attack, the Royal Engineer managed to get his long, powerful arms wrapped around Corporal Bound's barrel, and the two of them went tumbling down into the sand. The brown pony then proceeded to buck and thrash like a wild weasel, even as the larger biped clambered partially on top of her.
"...HNnnnnfggh!"
"Hurhhh!"
The struggle continued, accompanied by yet more, animalistic grunts on both sides.
Meanwhile, Ebonshield clopped her hooves together from the sidelines. "Yes, good! Shout with force! The shout will focus your energy, and also ensure that you breathe properly while fighting!"
Somehow, Honour managed to get her torso free, and kicked herself back up onto all fours, leaving Anonymous in the sand.
"HUP!"
... Only to flop right back down when he grabbed her left hind leg at the last second.
"... GRRrrr! Foal-of-a-bitch!"
It was nice to see the corporal on the verge of losing her temper for a change. To be fair, though, their Very Important Pony -- who quite obviously wasn't a pony at all -- was one slippery customer in the sandpit. Even weighed down by that bronze armor, he was fast on his hooves -- his feet, rather -- and he had a long reach, too. And when he did grab something, he had enough strength to hold on pretty good, too.
Which was not to say that the corporal was letting him off easy.
Behind the T-shaped slit in his helmet, Specialist Lily Glamerspear could hear Anonymous panting heavily, and the exposed parts of his body were absolutely glistening with sweat. It was so slick that he had to remember to wipe his hands in the sand every now and then to regain his grip.
"...Buck! Off! HRRAH!"
With three ferocious kicks, the fearless leader of their quaternion lashed out at the Royal Engineer's blackened-bronze armor, knocking the wind out of him and escaping his grasp yet again. Shaking his head, Anonymous paused a moment on one knee to regain his breath. A few hooves away, the brown earth pony, her chest heaving, and her neck covered with sweat-foam, waited for the next attempt on her physical liberty. After almost twenty minutes, Anonymous still hadn't managed to completely wrestle her into submission.
And that's what was kinda hot about this whole setup.
The spectacle gave Lily the thrill of combat and challenge -- combined with an impressive display of power, agility, and speed. And the air was full of animalistic grunts, moans, and shouts. The whole thing was semi-sexual, but the tension of wondering who would break first was what really pushed it over the edge. Would Corporal Bound end up in his grasp, immobilized under his firm, muscular body? Or would the savage predator finally wear from the hunt? The unicorn had to admit she was nursing a bit of a horn ante-glow from the whole thing. And it wasn't just because of those manaburn-induced fever dreams she’d had about her VIP! Though they certainly didn't help.
Neither did remembering just how much he could fill out a pair of swim shorts.
As Anonymous got to his feet, rolled his shoulders, dusted his hands with sand, and then flexed his arms impressively to ready himself for the next round, Lily ‘unf’ed internally.
"Unf."
And maybe a little externally, too. Well, at least Lily was being a little more subtle than Miss Rocketfeathers next to her.
"Ooooh!"
Sparkshower’s wings were out at full mast, and even through her bascinet-helm visor, Lily could hear her heavy breathing. The unicorn swore she could even see some of the pegasus’ ample tuft peeking out between the joints of her bronze full plate.
‘Cripes, next thing you know this mare is going to have her tongue wagging out like a dog.’
Lily decided to lean in and try to settle her down. After all, even though Anonymous and Honour were currently occupied with each other, and Ebonshield was focused on the combat, there was still the chance that somepony would notice her over here! The musicians of the Grand Hall of Stars' little orchestra were having coffee and chatting amongst themselves, but they were watching the fight, too. And Ignacio…
Well, he said he was going to take a nap, but that old goat seemed to be able to 'see' a whole lot for a blind bat!
"Psst... Sparks, you wanna settle down a bit?"
"Huh? Oh..." She lifted her visor, and Lily saw just how wide that poor, broken-hearted, thirsty mare's irises had grown. "...Uhm... Sorry. They've got a mind of their own sometimes."
‘Yeah, 'mind of their own.' Sure thing, mare.’
Lily rolled her eyes. "Well, at least try not to blurt out your excitement too much, you know what I mean?"
It's at that moment that Anonymous decided to make an energetic lunge at Corporal Bound, who had been circling around away from him.
"HRAAAAAAHH!"
"HUUUU!"
He managed to get his left hand on her left-flank armor, and Lily dropped her conversation with Sparkshower to watch the grapple unfold.
"...Raaaah!"
Honour shouted and tried to scramble forward away from him, but he managed to swing his other hand around and slap it noisily into her right flank.
"Mmmf!"
Lily bit her lower lip, while Sparkshower swooned.
"OOOoohhh!"
As Honour bucked and kicked, Anonymous' fingers struggled to find a piece of armor to grab onto, but in the meantime Lily had the sight -- and the sound! -- of that tantalizing little flank-clap to think about.
Yeah, she wouldn't say 'no' to receiving something like that while a colt was mounting her -- maybe not quite so hard, though.
The unicorn’s fantasy was interrupted by the scraping of oiled bronze on oiled bronze as Sparkshower leaned over towards her. "You know you're showing a bit at the horn too, don't you, Lily?"
‘Damn, is it actually visible?’
She glanced upwards and sure enough, there was a little bit of glistening, teal light at the top of her horn. Probably not enough for anypony who wasn’t sitting right next to her to notice.
Lily nodded. "Thanks, Sparks. But it's got a mind of its own sometimes, too, ya know?"
Artemis chuckled a little awkwardly. "Yeah..." Licking her lips, she looked back towards the combat. "...They're really going at it, aren't they?"
As she said that, Anonymous managed to get one of his hands on Honour's back armor, and with a ferocious shout, he pulled and flipped her over into the air.
"They sure are."
However, that impressive maneuver came at a cost, when the impact of her body into the sand caused him to let go with both of his hands, and Honour scrambled away from him once more.
Sparkshower took a deep breath and then whispered even more quietly. "You know... Anonymous is actually into... tackplay."
Lily was a bit too busy watching admiringly as the Royal Engineer got to his feet while facing away from her. She’d had a good look underneath when his armored kilt flared open just then. There was the same bulge she remembered from the Spa Dalecarlia. And filly, did he ever have some muscles on those thighs… a colt like that could buck her right in half.
‘Wait, did Sparkshower say something?’
"Sorry, Sparks, what'd you say?"
Breathing heavily, she repeated herself, staring at the spectacular hairless ape in the sandpit before her. "He's into tackplay. He told me yesterday."
‘What's this now?’
"Huh? 'Tackplay'?"
Licking her lips again, she explained breathlessly. "You know... tackplay. Saddles, stirrups, bits and bridles, that sort of thing?"
Lily had no idea what she was talking about. "You've lost me, Sparks."
Sparkshower sighed as the Royal Engineer started running after Honour, waiting for a moment to strike, shadowing her whenever she juked and dodged.
‘Yeah c'mon colt, get your big arms around that brown flank again…’
"I mean, when you wear a saddle and stuff... in, uhm, the bedroom."
‘The buck she just say?’
‘A saddle in the bedroom?’
The unicorn shook her head in confusion, forced to look away from Anonymous and Honour.
"What?"
Sparkshower stamped one forehoof awkwardly, shrugging her shoulders in frustration. "Come on, Lily, you... you don't know about tackplay? I know it's not exactly mainstream, but I thought you would know about it. With what you do and all. As a saltine, I mean."
‘What in the buck is she on about?’
Furrowing her brow, Lily shook her head. "Mare, I don't know what you think I do with my salt-lick colts, but it sure doesn't involve whatever you're talking about."
Artemis shrugged her shoulders again. "Haven't any of them ever, y'know, worn any tackle? Or asked you to?"
Lily shook her head again, as her confusion lingered. Tackle was for hitching up and pulling a cart; shouldn't a country mare know that, even if she was an airborne pegasus?
Looking embarrassed, Sparkshower scraped one armored forehoof against the other armored foreleg. "...No? None of them ever asked you to, uh... To call them 'master' or maybe to treat them as a... uh... a slave? Just in the bedroom, I mean?"
Lily shook her head again, slowly this time. "Listen, Sparkshower, when I'm rolling in the hay with a colt, it's about his long, stiff, you-know-what and getting that meaty thing into one of the two available places in me..."
She tilted her head a bit. "...Maybe three, if it's a special occasion." Rolling her eyes, Lily wiggled her butt involuntarily as uncomfortable memories came to mind. "Some colts get pushy about wanting that one, on account of how it feels for them, but I prefer to be able to stand up and walk around afterwards, ya know?"
Now it was her armored pegasister's turn to furrow her brow. "Really? It hurts that much?"
Lily answered as she turned her attention back to the fight -- nothing had happened yet, but she was sure it was about to, and she didn’t want to miss it. "If the colt is big, yeah. And I'm not really into it much myself."
A sly grin crept across her face, and she glanced sideways up at Sparkshower. "...Your old Huckleberry never tried to get in through your backdoor?"
Artemis shook her head. "No. He never really tried to get in at all. I had to start things, guide him. I mean." With another sigh, she shrugged. "...It didn't bother me; not really. I had fantasies, you know? And I would have loved to see them come true, but I was happy with him even if they didn't."
‘Geez.’ Feather Fally over there was kinda killing her ante-glow vibe from all that sweaty, grunty, close-combat violence.
Lily tried to switch her back onto some different tracks. "And this 'tackplay' stuff, it's one fantasy?"
That brightened the pegasus up, and the unicorn saw her eyes open up wide again. "Yeah. You really don't know about it?"
When Lily shook her head, Artemis continued. "Tackplay is when you use harnesses and saddles and stuff in the bedroom. One partner wears the tack, or maybe even both, and then it's like... one of the partners is more in charge than the other, you know what I mean? And they use the tackle to control the submissive one."
She started to get breathy, her irises dilating and her wings spreading further. "...I always fantasized about being strapped up, with a bit and bridle, saddle and stirrups, and, uhm..."
Sparkshower licked her lips before continuing. "...Forced to do what my colt wanted."
‘What the buck?’
Lily scrunched up her snout. "You want to be raped?!"
Instantly, Artemis’ armor clattered as she waved her forehooves dismissively in front of her. "No, no! It's not like that, Lily. It's..." She swallowed deeply. "...It's like acting, you know? Everything gets agreed on beforehoof. It's just playing out a fantasy."
The unicorn semi-unscrunched her snout, but she still had one eyebrow cocked in confusion. "And your fantasy is to be bound up with cart-tackle, and have the colt pretend to... force himself on you?"
As Lily tried to regurgitate what Artemis was telling her in her own words, a look of satisfaction crept onto the pegasus’ face. "Yeah..."
With another breathless sigh, she stared as Anonymous lunged, unfortunately ineffectively, at the corporal. "...I want to feel small, and maybe even helpless. I want to feel like my colt is so big and so strong and so dominant that he's completely in control and I couldn't resist him even if I wanted to -- not that I want to, I mean."
Sparkshower slowly heaved her shoulders up and down as the Royal Engineer let out another animal roar and recovered from his failed lunge into another just-barely-missed grab at Honour's hind leg.
"...And... I want to be told I'm a bad filly and that I have to be punished for being bad."
‘Okay now this is a whole new flavor of weird.’
"You? A bad filly? You're the most upstanding pony I've ever met, Artemis."
Sparkshower drooped her head down a little bit and raised her eyebrows pleadingly. "I know! I always look both ways before crossing the cold front, and I always say 'please' and 'thank-you,' and I always salute officers in the hallways."
Then she firmed up and the supplicating expression turned into a dark grin. "But what if I wasn't? What if I was actually a bad pony, not just for disobeying the rules of society -- but for disobeying my colt? My master?"
The grin turned into a kind of smile Lily had seen before -- usually plastered across some colt's face as she looked up from taking her first eager slurp of his meat.
"...And he'd have to correct my bad behavior. By pulling on my reins, or spanking my flank, or switching my plot, or even climbing on my saddle and riding me around. And then I wouldn't feel like such a big, strong, invincible heavily-armored Royal Guard pegasus any more."
Artemis heaved a sigh so big that Lily could even see her breastplate move.
The unicorn really didn’t get it.
"Sparks, you're scaring me a bit here. After all the excitement you got from being 'bucking invincible' with your fancy new lance and heavy armor, now you say you want to feel the exact opposite when you're with a colt?"
Lily’s poor, heartbroken, confused filly-friend just shook her head and shrugged. "Yeah. I guess it sounds pretty strange when you put it that way."
Now it was Lily’s turn to shrug. "Eh, I dunno... I guess I've heard of weirder stuff."
Her attention turned back to Anonymous, who was hunched down with his arms spread wide, having backed the Corporal up against the edge of the ring.
"...And you say Anonymous is into it?"
Artemis licked her lips again. "Well, I mean... I don't know how much, but he said yesterday he had experimented with saddle-play before he came here, at a 'tourist ranch.'"
‘What?’
That sounded like the kind of depraved thing you'd find on the outskirts of Las Pegasus.
"Hunh. I guess that makes the fight look a bit different to you, then."
Sparkshower nodded, and replied in a breathy voice. "...Yeah. Just imagine..." There was the sound of scraping metal as she tilted her head sideways. "...What if Honour was actually attracted to Anonymous, and she actually wanted to be captured, and that the chase was all a game they played, and that once she was good and caught, struggling helplessly but immobilized, that he'd mount her and..."
‘Okay, yeah, there's my anteglow going again.’
Lily thought she understood where Sparkshower was coming from now, but since she trailed off while biting her lip, Lily spoke up and finished the fantasy the way she’d want it to end.
"...And after satisfying himself, and pleasing her, too, they'd lie exhausted together, cuddling in silence, as lovers do?"
Artemis licked her lips and sighed. "Yeah..."
‘Nice.’
Just then, Honour broke to the left, and Anonymous lunged at her with outstretched hands. He got one arm around her torso, and managed to lock the other one together with it, driving the corporal down into the sand. She was kicking and bucking furiously, but the Royal Engineer managed to maintain his grip, enduring the blows to his chest all while tightening his bear-hug.
‘Buck, is he actually going to do it this time?’
Glamerspear and Sparkshower were both on the edge of their hooves watching the scene unfold, when suddenly there was an outburst from above. "Enough! I cannot take any more of this!"
Everypony -- including the previously idle musicians, to the clatter of coffee cups -- looked up to see Ignacio, the blind Balladeer of Ghosts, shouting down from between the curtains of his pulpit.
"...It is as if there is a hive full of ten thousand bees all living inside of my head! Sleep is impossible with that incessant buzzing jou are making!"
He angrily thrusted out his forehoof, and it was pointing straight at Lily.
‘Oh, buck, I forgot.’
The blind old bat could somehow 'hear' when she had her horn ready to go.
And now everypony was looking over at her, and her lit-up horn.
Anonymous had even let go of Honour and was getting to his feet, dusting the sand off of his armor. He looked around and saw Sergeant Ebonshield looking just as confused as anypony else, while Honour was still regaining her breath, so he nodded in Lily’s direction.
"Is something wrong, Specialist?"
‘Hoo-foal.’
This was almost as bad as being caught in her bedroom with a conveniently shaped cucumber.
Except it was by her studly employer, instead of her own mother.
"Uhm. No, nothing's wrong, sir."
The Royal Engineer shrugged. "Well, what's the meaning of Ignacio's complaint, then? Why is your horn lit up? Were you influencing the fight with magic?"
‘Wow.’ Okay, he must not know about unicorn horns.
She shook her head. "No, sir, I wasn't influencing the fight. Uh... my horn's lit up for the same reason that Sparkshower's wings are outstretched, ya know?"
The cream-colored pegasus in question went beet red. But she still didn’t quite have the willpower to lower her wings.
Corporal Bound, having regained her hoofing, looked between Glamerspear, Sparkshower, and a still-confused Anonymous, then grumbled and shook her head. "He doesn't know what that means either, Glamerspear. He's not from here, remember?"
‘Buck, that's right.’
He didn’t know about pony tufts, or pegasus wingboners, or unicorn anteglows.
Ebonshield cocked an eyebrow, and Lily got the sense that she'd cottoned on to the situation. She still stayed quiet, though -- which meant the spotlight was still on her and Sparkshower.
"Uhm, sorry, sir. It's just that, uh --"
‘Oh, Celestia, how can I put this in a not-too-embarrassing-for-anypony way?’
"...It's just that your, ah, wrestling match, with the Corporal has been pretty, uh, stimulating, you know what I mean?"
He didn’t look like he did.
Before Lily could think of a new phrasing, Sparkshower spoke up.
"Sir, you're a very powerful and handsome colt, and watching you chase the athletic and attractive corporal, and try to grab her and wrestle her to the ground, with all the grunting and panting and sweating you're both making--" She sighed, her outstretched wings bobbing up and down as she did. "...It's really very provocatively arousing, sir. Which is why my wings are outstretched and Lily's horn is lit up. It's an involuntary reaction, sir, but you should take it as a compliment."
There was the subtle way of explaining it, and there was the blunt way of explaining it, and then there was this 'bucking-invincible'-with-a-two-ton-bronze-hammer blunt way of explaining it.
Anonymous didn’t say anything, and Lily couldn’t read anything into his reaction other than maybe shock. Honour, meanwhile, had actually started to blush underneath her frown. Ebonshield just looks faintly amused. The musicians seemed to just be shrugging and going back to their coffee.
‘Thank Celestia their Equestrian isn't so good.’
‘I may as well wrap it all up now, then.’
Swallowing, Lily turned up towards the blind batpony who called her out. "Sorry to have disturbed your sleep, Mister Blazon, sir."
Ignacio whinnied and lowered his forehoof. "Hunh. All this magic, radiated for no purpose other than to show that the loins are excited?"
He shook his head, and the red tassels on his black face-mask jangled to and fro. "...Jou fascinate me, unicornio. Wake me when jou are all done, and we shall speak together." With a dismissive wave, he retired behind his curtain.
And yet, Lily still felt like she had that cucumber half inside of her with her mother staring down, aghast.
Anonymous cleared his throat and dispelled the silence.
"Ahem. Maybe we should take a little break."
On cue, the sergeant strode out into the sandpit. "An idea most excellent, Great Lord! This has been a display most invigorating and enlightening. I believe now that I may be able to teach you certain tricks additional to improve your technique."
When she reached the two in the pit, she gave a small bow. "But for now, yes, let us rest. I can see that you were close to catching the Corporal Bound by exhaustion alone, if nothing else."
Anonymous shuffled his feet uncomfortably, looking down at Honour, who was still pretty red-faced from Sparkshower's blatant admission of adulation. "I don't know... You weren't giving me a lot of openings, Corporal, even just now before the interruption. I was running out of steam."
Honour swallowed and shook her head. "No, sir -- but the sergeant is right. You pretty much had me at the end."
Ebonshield smiled. "Of course, of course. But I shall also give you some advice as well, CaporalCabo Honoria, privately -- so that the next time, even if our Great Lord has learned new tricks, you will be able to match him still. The scales must be balanced evenly for a contest true and fair!"
Still grinning, she waved a leathery wing out from underneath her black cloak in the direction of Glamerspear and Sparkshower. "...And perhaps afterwards, is there some other technique with which you wish to experiment? Possibly with one of your other attendants? I am open to teaching whatever skills the Great Lord desires."
That was a pretty explicit innuendo there that served just to embarrass Lily and Sparkshower further.
But, mercifully, the Royal Engineer either missed it or ignored it completely. "To be honest, I had a lot of fun fighting with daggers last time we were down here. The 'Icosapligi' mace that Bronzehorn made for me is very impressive, and I doubt I would need even close to all twenty of its blows to beat someone, but it is quite heavy for me -- and I think it would be good to have a backup weapon."
Ebonshield beamed, gesturing excitedly with her wings. "Yes, certainly! And the art of plunging something into the heart of another is one which I am most intimately familiar. I shall solicit Toledo on your behalf for your own pair of blades -- or a brace, even, for you could easily throw them also."
The sergeant glanced in Lily’s direction, and the enthusiasm suddenly drained from her face. When it was replaced with a stern look, the unicorn realized Ebonshield was not looking quite at her, but rather above her.
And above and behind her would be the main staircase for descending into the fighting pit.
Anonymous and Honour followed her gaze as well, and Sparkshower and Glamerspear both turned around to see what had their sergeant's attention. Lily realized it was a who, not a what, when a hooded figure at the top of the stairs spoke out.
"Pureza. First you deeshonourr yourrself, then you deeshonourr yourr house, now you deeshonourr the Gran Salón, and then you prropose to deeshonourr even los Rocas."
It was almost impossible to make out one black-cloaked batpony from another, but Lily would recognize that voice anywhere, and instantly she lit up her horn -- for real, this time.
Sergeant Ebonshield calmly spoke her brother's name.
"Marcos..." Throwing her hood back, she stepped out, interposing herself between the Royal Engineer and the new arrival. Then, with a sneer, she kicked up a shower of sand. "... If you have something to say to me, Marcos, come down into the pit and speak to my muzzle."
The new challenger threw back his hood as well, and there was a soft clattering of hoofsteps as a dozen more of his black-cloaked kin spread out from behind him, taking up positions in the gallery.
Marcos nodded. "Sí, Pureza. Ay theenk that ay shall."
‘Oh, buck.’
Suggested interlude music: Bill Elm & Woody Jackson - 'El Club de los Cuerpos', from 'Red Dead Redemption' [2010]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzks5cZK71c
