LOVE'S BEEN A LITTLE BIT HARD ON ME

Chapter 15: Let's Spend the Night Together

Looking out of the taxi's window, Twilight grinned at the sight of the beach basking in the late afternoon sun they passed on the left. The gleaming white sand contrasted with the crystal blue of the ocean and the clear skies. A cool sea breeze brought the smells of the salt spray, coconut oil, and flowering blossoms in a mélange that was uniquely tropical and unmistakable. With a huge grin, she turned back to her herd-wives, and was about to comment on the aroma, when she noticed the three of them trying to stifle laughter. “What?”

“Nothing,” Spitfire replied, her mouth contorting from her efforts to not laugh.

“Everything's perfect,” Trixie added with an amused snort.

Cheerilee couldn't hold it in, though. She burst out into gales of laughter and pointed at her new alpha. “You look ridiculous with that junk on your face!”

Twilight brought a hoof to her muzzle and wiped off small smear of the zinc oxide she had put there shortly before the airship landed. With a little moue of anger, she jammed her wide-brimmed sunhat on her head. “Hmph! Just you wait until you're all down with sunburn, and I'm safe and healthy! Just for that, I'm not going to let any of you help me put this on.”

Holding up a bottle of suntan lotion in her magic, Twilight gave it a little shake. She pretended to ignore them as she put a generous amount on her hoof and slowly spread it on her other foreleg. They watched as the fur of her coat took on a slick appearance from the oil, the shiny highlight spreading onto her chest as she worked it in slowly and sensuously.

The others gaped at her display, instantly regretting making fun of her. She moved on to her barrel, making sure to spread an even coat of oil, not missing a single square inch of her svelte body. She had to remove her hat so that she could put her mane up in a ponytail, exposing the little-seen gentle curves of her neck. Twilight had to smack Spitfire's hoof away when she moved on to her flanks, making the stars of her cutie mark glisten and sparkle like the real things.

Standing to her hooves, Twilight laid her front half down on the seat so that she could have her forelegs free to massage the oil into her rump (and incidentally, show off her glistening marehood to her new wives). Being in the back of the cab, she felt confident that the gray mare pulling the taxi couldn't see her, and so had a lot more courage for what Cheerilee termed, “naughty stuff”. She took special care rubbing the oil into her pert little breasts, and moaned in delight, taking several minutes on that area alone.

Finishing with her hind legs, she sat down again and replaced her hat onto it's perch. Twilight closed the bottle with a flourish and put it back into her saddlebag, before turning to them with a grin. “How do you like- Hey!” She was stopped from finishing her thought by the sight of Trixie and Spitfire necking with Cheerilee between them.

Spitfire graced her with a smoldering look. “You didn't seriously expect a display like that to not get a reaction, did you?”

Trixie shot her the same look, coming up for air fresh from Cheerilee's mouth. “Indeed, Twilight. One shouldn't preheat the oven if one is not going to do any baking.”

Cheerilee just looked at her with a dazed expression and gave a shrug.

Giving a snort of disgust at her backfired plan, Twilight crossed her forelegs over her chest, than crossed her legs and looked out the passenger window. Her attitude changed considerably when she spotted their destination, Celestia's private Neighsau manor.

The taxi pulled up to the three story manor, and went around the huge fountain in the courtyard. Twilight hardly even waited for the vehicle to come to a complete stop before leaping out with a huge grin on her face. Oh, it's so good to be here again! Memories of the few times Celestia had brought her here when she was younger flooded back, and she danced a little in place. “Eee! This is going to be so much fun!”

They unloaded the bags from the roof, and Twilight paid the driver while they took the bags inside. As the dappled mare rode off, Twilight looked back at her. She looked kind of familiar... Shrugging off the thought, she walked in, and was overwhelmed by the familiar opulence once more. She grinned at her herd-wives as they gaped in awe. “Isn't it great?” She pointed out various features and gave them highlights of the events that happened to her. “Over there is the indoor fountain that the Princess once caught me throwing in bits to make wishes. There's the theater where we would have our movie nights. Out back is the pool where she taught me to swim so she could take me out to the ocean.”

She started walking upstairs, levitating the luggage along with them. “Up here's where we'll be staying. Down the hall to the right is the game room, but our room is to the left.” She opened the doors before her, revealing an enormous room. The floor-to-ceiling windows were open, allowing the breeze to blow in, unhindered by anything but the peach-colored gossamer curtains. A huge four poster bed big enough to hold a half dozen adult ponies comfortably was against one wall, and an armoire the size of an apple cart next to a vanity sat along the opposite. Potted palms scattered about added a little green to the tropical plantation style architecture of the house.

“Here's our room!” Twilight announced. “Of course, we're free to use any room but the Princess's but we pretty much have the run of the place.”

“How many rooms are in this place?” Trixie asked.

Twilight looked off in the distance as she tried to recall all of the information she remembered about the place. “Let's see, there's twelve bedrooms, four bathrooms, two half-baths, a study, a library, the garage with the sports gear and carriage, an exercise room-”

Spitfire put her hoof in Twilight's mouth, cutting off her recitation of the mansion's particulars. “We get it, love. It's a big place.”

Taking a running leap, Trixie jumped onto the fluffy bed with a fillyish squeal, and almost sank half a hoof into the bedding. So soft and absorbent was it, that she didn't even bounce up all that much. Rolling onto her back, she let out a giggle and propped herself up on her elbows. “It's so late in the day, and the trip was ever so tiring. What shall we do for the rest of the night?” she asked with a seductive grin.

“Seeing as we've already had a light supper,” Cheerilee said as she sashayed over to the bed and in one fluid movement, leapt on to it, and laid on her belly at Trixie's head, “I think we should find something to do around here.”

Spitfire nodded her agreement as she flew over to the bed, and laid down, practically draping herself over Cheerilee. “Yes, we've been good girls. I think it's time we had our... dessert.”

Twilight rubbed one forehoof along the other, and actually looked nervous. “Um... I uh... I had something special planned for this vacation- but only if you girls are totally okay with it!” she added hastily. “I mean, I want to be totally fair here, and I know we haven't talked about this or anything, but...”

“Well, go on, Sweetie. You've gotten our interests,” Cheerilee said.

With her hoof migrating to the back of her neck, Twilight's nervousness only increased. “I... Er... M-maybe this was just a bad idea. I mean, we already have got a lot on our plates as it is, and-”

“Twi.” Trixie's serious tone as well as her use of the nickname stopped her in her tracks. “You won't know until you tell us your idea. So, spill.”

Twilight licked her lips and mumbled something unintelligible. All three wives leaned forward, and Spitfire said, “Hon, you're gonna have to speak up. We can't hear you.”

“I WANT TO HAVE YOUR BABY!” Twilight shouted at the top of her lungs. She saw the stunned looks on their faces and took the opportunity to plow through while she still had the nerve. “Specifically, Spitfire's. I've crunched some numbers, and found that this staggering of the foals is feasible. It's only in the final three months or so of the pregnancy that the majority of growth is done, so I'll still be able to help should mobility become an issue.

“And Spitfire, you said you wanted to wait a bit before conceiving as well, so this is a perfect solution, as it will give you breathing space to arrange for time for your own foaling. And to be... perfectly honest, I've... I've been fantasizing about this for the past eight years or so.” She breathed a sigh of relief at finally getting her confession off her chest, but was too scared to look at her herd-wives to see their reactions just yet.

Wincing, she added, “I'll understand if you're upset about this, Cheerilee and Trixie, but...” She looked up to see them looking at each other, a whole, silent conversation going on with just their eyes.

“Are you sure about this, Twilight?” Cheerilee asked gently. “Staggering the births is one thing, but what about raising them? One filly is a big enough hoofful as it is, but three at once?”

Twilight nodded at her. “I've thought of that as well. My job is just down the road from home, and is pretty sedentary. Trixie is between jobs at the moment, and you're usually home by three, with Spitfire in a little after that, deployments and shows permitting.”

Trixie had an unreadable expression on her face, which spoke volumes to the ponies who knew her best. Twilight stepped forward and placed a hoof on her hind leg. “Please understand Trixie, that this doesn't mean I love you any less. I just...”

“Trixie knows this, Twili- Twi.” Her expression softened into a genuine smile. “She is not ignorant of the feelings you've had for our Wonderbolt for so long. It's just that she was not prepared for this, nor even considered it. But if you want this, then Trixie wants this as well.”

Spitfire smirked at her alpha. “We still have a rather large obstacle to jump over- or rather, a lack of one.” She rolled onto her side and lifted her free hind leg, displaying to all her distinct lack of the requisite equipment.

Twilight gave her a smoldering smile and pulled herself up on to the bed. “You think I haven't prepared for this eventuality, Hot Stuff?” Never once taking her eyes off the spread feast before her, the librarian's horn lit up in it's magical aura, as did the pegasus spread out before her. The tiny little nubbin of flesh that was her marehood's focal point slowly started growing. First longer, then in girth as well.

Spitfire's eyes widened, then lidded as the the new sensations overwhelmed her. Her expression softened as her new erection hardened. When the spell ended, a sleek, hoof long appendage dangled between her breasts, mostly erect. Looking down at it in wonderment, she prodded the tip with a hoof and let out a sultry moan of pleasure.

Smiling, Twilight laid down in front of her new herd-wives. “I take it then, that it meets with your approval?”

Spitfire traced her hoof along it's white and golden length. “This... is going to take some getting used to.” Her normally husky voice had taken on overtones that would make Berry White jealous. Her hoof reached the base where it met her marehood, and watched with amusement as it waved back and forth at just a touch. “But I'll manage.”

Cheerilee and Trixie were watching her with dangerous gleams in their eyes and licking their lips.

“So how do I, uh...” Spitfire trailed off, unsure how to word her question. “How do I... use it? I mean, I know what to do, but how do I... you know, go about it?”

Crawling forward in baby steps, Twilight replied, “Well, first of all, that's not going anywhere at half mast. We need you more... solid.” She said this last, as she leaned forward to lick the entire length of the stallionhood, lingering on the tip.

The Wonderbolt gasped as if stabbed in the gut. I've never felt anything like that before! As the unicorn continued her ministrations, Spitfire ran a hoof through her mane, relishing the silky smooth tresses of her lover. Twilight worked her way down Spitfire's length until she reached her marehood and licked at both sexes. She wrapped her tongue around the shaft, and worked it back and forth, letting the rough texture stimulate her lover.

Not ones to be left out, Trixie and Cheerilee took turns kissing the pegasus, taking the time for a brief tongue-wrestle as they did. Twilight came up for air and giggled. “Oh my! It seems that you're on a bit of a hair trigger, Love.” She tapped the penis before her with a hoof and smiled as it twitched and Spitfire let out a groan. Looking at her other herd-wives, she said, “Why don't the three of us take the edge off, so to speak?”

Catching on quickly to her plan, Trixie and Cheerilee wasted no time in joining Twilight for a quick snack at Chez Spitfire. Keeping their eyes on their target's face, Trixie and Cheerilee kissed and licked up and down Spitfire's pole, while Twilight busied herself with her marehood. It wasn't long before the pegasus's eyes crossed at the erotic sight of a triple blowjob being performed on her.

Twilight migrated up the shaft, letting Trixie have a taste of the sweet honey oozing from the pot below. She alternated her direction with Cheerilee's, going up when she trailed down and vice versa. Both made sure to lap up the precum that leaked from the tip with a swipe, just as Trixie gave an occasional long, broad swipe across the nether lips.

Trixie gave up the honeypot to Cheerilee at her prompting so that she too could have a taste of the sensuous nectar. It was only a few moments later when sensing that Spitfire was at her limit, Twilight grunted, and all three mares joined her on attacking the shaft. With a telling twitch, Spitfire erupted, sending rope after rope of cum over the faces of her lovers, all of whom closed their eyes and hoped that the next hot spurt would land on them.

When at last the last bit dribbled out, the mares opened their eyes to the erotic sight of their faces covered in the cum of their herd-wife. Unable to resist, they kissed and licked at each other, smearing the sticky substance across their faces as much as cleaning it off. When Spitfire opened her eyes and saw this happening, her softening shaft immediately reversed course and assumed ramrod rigidity once more.

With the last of it cleaned off (and the fur on their faces in complete disarray), the three mares looked to Spitfire, then at the cock before them. With a grin, Twilight assumed the position, letting her front half rest on the bed while her back half waggled in the air, her tail swaying back and forth seductively. Trixie sat up and held the purple rump steady and spread the cheeks wide, giving all an obscene view of Twilight's most intimate parts. Spitfire stood and placed her forehooves on Twilight's pert rump in preparation of consummating their long-held desires. Seeing that she would need guidance, Cheerilee was glad to lend a hoof. She laid down under Twilight, and with her unique viewpoint, was able to gently provide the aim necessary for Spitfire.

The teacher wasn't satisfied to just let her send it home all in one go, however. Instead, she brushed the cock across Twilight's lips several times to make sure that both were well lubricated, and to tease them both. She giggled every time that Spitfire lunged forward, but missed because she had moved it out of the path of alignment. Deciding that they'd had enough, Cheerilee aligned them and Spitfire rammed home, evoking gasps of pleasure from both Twilight and herself.

Unable to hold back, or use any of her famed finesse, Spitfire rutted into Twilight like her life depended on it. The moist, slick sound of her cock sliding in and out was punctuated by the fleshy slapping of her hips slamming into Twilight's rump. Their breathy gasps alternated with grunts of pleasure as time after time, Spitfire used every bit of her strength and endurance to show the mare in her grasp just how much she meant to her. “T- TWILIGHT!” she managed to grunt out.

“SP- SPITFIRE!” the unicorn replied with equal, breathy volume. Her slick walls inside grasped at the meaty intruder, refusing to let it go, and just as eager to welcome it back in with every thrust. Indeed, she clamped down so tightly, that they were dragged out just enough to be seen by the two witnesses to passion. “F- FASTER!”

Always eager to comply with orders, the Wonderbolt increased her tempo, augmenting the already considerable heat from their respective organs with that of friction. Feeling left out, Cheerilee strained upwards and licked at the joining of the two mares, causing them both to grunt in surprise and ecstasy. Trixie, of course, was not going to stand for this, and standing behind Spitfire, draped the front half of her body over the athlete's rump, and despite the rhythmic thrusting, managed to land her tongue on the mare's cunny and savored the flavor once more.

This proved to be too much for Spitfire, who once again began shooting rope after rope of cum deep into Twilight's pussy. Feeling her lover, her dream mare of the past eight years cumming inside her, Twilight was sent over the edge as well, loosing an unintelligible scream of rapturous delight, her tongue lolling out the side of her mouth mindlessly wagging with each buck from the pegasus.

Spitfire reached the very tip of her climax, and prodded one last time as hard as she could, leaving her cock in place. Both mares lost track of everything, and Twilight's wobbling rear legs barely gave Cheerilee enough advance warning before she collapsed on her belly. Twilight just let her legs spread out as she sank to her stomach, Spitfire riding her all the way down to the fluffy, cloud-like bed.

It took several minutes before either of them felt like moving again, and it came in the form of Spitfire wrapping her forelegs around Twilight's neck and breathing in her sweaty, post love-making aroma. The heady perfume sent one last spasm through her penis as she “soaked her wick”. Naturally, Twilight felt this, and it stirred her from her stupor. “Well, if that doesn't do it, I don't know what will,” she said with a smirk. She turned her head just enough to see the mare on her back out of the corner of her eye and added with a wink, “But then again, we have all week to 'try, try again', right?”

Spitfire could only groan as she rolled off of her.

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*(“)(“)

Plain Sight approached the concealed watchtower and climbed up the spiral walkway. When she reached to top and walked into the small hidden room, Limnear turned back and smiled at her. “Took you long enough to get back. Did the taxi owner give you any trouble?”

The mare shrugged as she walked up to the window and picked up a pair of binoculars and looked towards the manor. “Just the usual attempt at gouging that locals pull when they think they can get away with it. I did have to pay a little extra to have the back seat cleaned though.” Before Limnear could do more than raise a questioning eyebrow at this, she added, “And no, it's not what you think. One of them decided that the back of a cab was the ideal place to apply sunscreen, that's all. Stupid cabbie. The seat was pleather anyway.”

“Yet you still paid? That's unlike you.”

“Ah, I just wanted to leave him open as an option in case I need to borrow his cab again,” Plain Sight replied. “Couldn't do that if he was sore at me for something stupid like that.”

They sat in silence for a few moments as they watched the now quiet house. Of course it was Limnear that broke the companionable quiet. “Are you sure you're going to be okay with this? I mean, they were pretty wild in there up until a little while ago. I mean, freaky-deaky stuff. Spitfire was riding her hard, and I kinda doubt it's over yet. Can you really handle-”

“Why does everypony keep asking me that?” Plain Sight growled as she turned to the griffoness. “If it's not you, it's the Princesses. If it's not them, it's her brother. If it's not him, it's her father! Yes! I can handle it! I'm a big girl now! I have made my decision, and I will stand by it! I can handle seeing the pony I love in the hooves of another. I can handle seeing her lovey-dovey with another mare. I can even handle seeing her have wild, raunchy sex without me! I! Can! Handle! IT!”

Limnear laid a gentle forepaw on the mare's cheek. “But I can't handle seeing you suffer for it. You may think you hide it well, but I can see the want in your eyes. I can hear the pain in your voice every time you say her name. I can smell your desire whenever you catch sight of her. I can taste your tears every time we kiss. PS, you may not believe it, but this is tearing you apart; and it's tearing me apart seeing it happen to you!”

“Well, who asked you to be here!”

Limnear was taken aback by her words, but saw the tears streaming down the mare's face. Before Plain Sight could act, she rushed forward and enveloped her in a fierce hug. Unable to hold it in any longer, Plain Sight broke down and wept into the griffoness's fur. She wrapped her forelegs around her, returning the hug. “I- I- I just... I never had... the courage. I'm such a coward! I thought I could do it, Lim. I really did!” She sobbed into her friend's chest, seeking and finally finding the comfort for which she'd been seeking for so long. “I thought I had finally made peace with it, but I was wrong. Through the whole ceremony, the only thing I could think was 'that should be me up there'. If only I had the courage to tell her, it would have been me! I'm such a fool!”

Limnear held the mare and gently patted her head, cooing soothing nothings at her. When the crying had calmed down to mere sniffles, she said, “You're not a fool; and certainly no coward. You're a smart, brave being like any other who had the misfortune to fall for the wrong mare...” She turned Plain Sight's head up until they faced each other. “... just like I did.”

Plain Sight leaped up and planted her lips on Limnear's beak. Their tongues met, pushing and sliding against each other as the griffoness reclined until she lay on her back with the earth pony laying atop her. Plain Sight trailed a line of kisses along the beak, down her jawline, trailing her neck, and onto her chest. With great reluctance, Limnear let her grip on Plain Sight's rump release so that she could continue her trip, but refused to let her go completely.

Free to continue her trail of kisses, Plain Sight made her way down past the feathers, and into the fur. Here, she added licks and nibbles to the routine, since fur wasn't as restrictively dense as feathers. Limnear responded by arching her back into the attention and trying to keep Plain Sight's face in contact with her forepaws. She was afraid to say anything for fear of reminding her lover that she wasn't the pony for whom she was pining; and so, kept her beak firmly shut.

When she reached the junction of the griffoness's legs, Plain Sight flipped herself around so that her lover could have access to her own nethers, and hopefully return the favor she was about to grant her. Never one to waste time, she dived right into her pussy, licking, kissing, nibbling, and even using her teeth (covered by her lips of course) to pull at the labia, stretching them until they popped free and snapped back into place.

Limnear had been dreaming of this since they had broken up years ago. Stopping only to take a deep breath of the aroma wafting out of the steamy marehood before her, she stuck her conical tongue into it, eliciting a gasp of pleasure from the mare. She knew what Plain Sight liked, and just how to go about it. It helped that even for a griffon, her tongue was unusually long and agile. Plain Sight would often remark after their long-ago lovemaking sessions, that with a tongue like that, they'd never have a use for a cock; to which she would always reply “But I am part cock,” and stick that same tongue in her ear.

Plain Sight lifted her head from her meal, female cum dripping from her mouth, as her tongue lolled out the side of her mouth. She rocked her hips back and forth on her lover's appendage, delighting in the sensations that she had been missing for so long. Suddenly realizing that she wasn't holding up her end, she dived her head back into Limnear's snatch, virtually attacking it as she greedily lapping up her spend.

The room was filled with the sounds of lapping, and licking, and moaning, and gasping until as one, they crested to their orgasm and pushed each other over the edge. For many minutes, they laid there, gasping for breath and basking in the afterglow.

Limnear was unable to take the suspense any longer and asked, “So... where does this leave us?”

Plain Sight wriggled around until they were face-to-face and laid her head down on the griffoness's chest and sighed. “I need you, Lim. I'm not sure I can quit her without your help. I never stopped thinking about you either. If I'm not thinking about her, I'm thinking about you. You two are the two most important things in the world to me- no, you are the world to me. The air I breathe, the water I drink, the light of my life. I...” She choked back a sob. “... I was so lost when you left. I never meant the things I said to you, and even just thinking about them now feels like a knife in my heart.

“And then you came back into my life, and for an instant, I wished that it could be like it was before... before. Of course, I realized that it would never be the same, so I was cold and distant to you. I kept you at arm's length so that I wouldn't get hurt, but also so that I wouldn't hurt you.” She looked up and met the griffoness's eyes, tears in both of them. “Please forgive me.”

Limnear craned her head up and beak met lips in a passionate kiss. “As long as you come back to me, yes.”

Plain Sight sighed happily and laid her head down on the feathery ruff of the griffoness's chest. “Thank you,” she murmured softly.

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( . .)
*(“)(“)

The frontier soldier breathed a deep sigh of relief as he removed his helmet and placed it on the bar next to him. The bartender paused in his polishing of the empty mug in his hooves and looked at him with only half-raised eyelids. “Your usual, Pr- er, Captain?”

Blueblood wiped the sweat from his brow and nodded. “Yes, thank you, Shotglass.” He tried to stretch as much as the armor would allow as he waited for the mug of ice cold cider to fill.

“Well, if you just aren't the very epitome of 'had a long day', then I don't know what is.”

With a blush, Blueblood turned on his bar stool to see Cheery Jubilee taking the seat next to him, cosmopolitan in hoof. “G- g- good afternoon, Miss Jubilee,” he said in an uncertain voice.

Cheery Jubilee leaned closer and held his chin in her hoof, ensuring their eyes would meet. “Now honey, I've already told you; just Cherry or Jubilee is fine with me,” she said, her half-lidded eyes holding on to his wild and darting ones.

He gave her a nervous laugh and took a deep swig of his cider when it was placed before him. “I- I- I'm sorry Miss Jubilee, but it would hardly be proper to address a lady with such familiarity.”

“Ooo... a true gentlecolt. You don't find many of those around here in Dodge Junction.” Without looking, she took the cherry from her mixed drink and holding it in her teeth, plucked the stem from it. She pursed her lips and sucked the cherry into her mouth, smiling at the poor stallion who was unable to look away. “I wonder- you being aaalll the way from Canterlot and all- have you heard the news about the Princess's student?” She noted the wince that passed over his face, but chose to say nothing about it.

Blueblood nodded and looked down at his nearly empty mug of cider. Motioning to the bartender for another, he replied, “Yes. She was supposed to be married sometime last weekend.” He finished off the mug and set on the counter for retrieval. “I wonder who the lucky stallion was?”

“Oh, she wasn't married, Honey.” She also noted the sudden hopeful gleam in his eye and regretted bringing up the topic immediately. “She formed a herd. Took on three mares, all of them pregnant by her, or so the rumor mill says.”

Relief and despair seemed to settle on the errant Prince all at once. “Oh. Rumors. Well, you can't always trust them for reliable information.”

Cherry Jubilee mentally berated herself. I just seem to keep pushing the wrong buttons with him today! “Well, to be fair, the pregnancy part is just the rumor. The rest I learned from this.” She pulled out a newspaper and showed him the front page.

Blueblood put the paper down and facehoofed. “How could I have been so stupid? This explains everything!”

Cherry Jubilee was getting really worried now. “I- is there a problem, Dear?”

Blueblood shook his head as he sighed. “Just my usual thick-headedness, I'm afraid. Nothing to be done for it now, the damage was done long ago.” He took another drink and looked at himself in the mirror behind the bar. “You know, I actually requested that the Princess send me to the furthest reaches of the country as a frontier guardspony? I thought if I came out here, I'd be hitting two stakes with one horseshoe. I'd be out of reach from my father's plans, but most of all, I'd put some distance between us and hopefully forget her. So much for the last part.”

Cherry Jubilee finally saw an opportunity to ease the young Prince's burdens while perhaps making an opening for herself, and leapt at it. “Do you want to talk about it? Say, over dinner?” She saw his surprise at her question, and better still, that he was considering the offer. “I'm told that my cherry pie is the best tasting dish this side of the Swayback Mountains.”

With a sad smile, Blueblood looked at her reflection, then turned to face the real mare. “I think I'd like that.”

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( . .)
*(")(")

As Captain Lancer walked down the hospital's hallway at a brisk trot, her aide struggled to keep up, while also going through several reams of paper held in her horn's telekinetic grip. "Ma'am, Admiral Herring-Bone is still waiting for a reply to her message, and your meeting with the mayor is only ten minutes-"

Lancer turned left at an intersection, ignoring several soldier's salutes as she went. "I'll have a reply for the Admiral when I find out what our prisoner knows. As for the mayor, he can wait. There are more important things in this world than me personally telling him that nothing has changed since he asked me a hour previous." She came to a room whose door was flanked by a pair of guards, that came to attention when she appeared. "As you were, stallions," she said, acknowledging their salutes with a barely perceptible nod as she and her aide walked in.

She looked to the nurse once, who nodded and left, before walking over to the heavily bandaged up griffon. Though his left wing was in a sling, he was still secured to the bed with restraints to prevent any escape attempts. Lancer walked up, noting that his unbandaged eye focused on her. "Welcome back to the land of the living. I hear we have you to thank for bringing home a badly hurt mare of ours."

Auric took in her military uniform and nodded. He tried to speak, but all that came out was a weak screech-growl.

Lancer held up a hoof and shook her head. "Don't try to speak. The doctors say that you almost broke your neck in the fall and took on a lot of seawater. It'll heal, but it needs time and rest, right now. Polyglot, here," she nodded to her aide, "is going to cast a spell that will allow us to communicate telepathically. If that's okay with you, just nod."

Auric nodded.

Polyglot's horn lit up, and all three could hear one another's surface thoughts. Lancer thought, "What made you want to defy your superior and rescue the mare?"

"Cunning Eye is a beast. He takes what he wants with no regard for the suffering of anyone else, and sometimes does it just because it it causes suffering. He's not worthy of respect, nor command. Besides, she..."

"Yes?"

Auric blushed and looked away. "She reminds me of my little sister. Seeing her being... used like that made me ask myself what I would do if my sister were actually..." Tears formed in his eyes, and he tried to blink them away.

Lancer nodded and patted his foreleg. "I understand, completely. We'll let you recover while we decide what to do with you."

Auric turned back to the pony, a fierce look in his eyes. "That's not all. I'm not going back. I couldn't return, even if I wanted to. I'm already branded a traitor over there just for disobeying my commanding officer, send me back and I'll be shunned at best, but more likely executed or worse. I'm officially asking you for asylum, and in return, will tell you everything I know about him and his plans there, as well as the pony traitor who hired him to do all this."

Lancer pulled over two chairs for herself and Polyglot. As they sat down, notepad and pen at the ready in Polyglot's telekinetic grasp, she said, "Please, continue."

Author's Notes:

Man. Never again will I put two clop scenes back-to-back. That was just... well, I'm just glad it's over with. Prepare yourselves for another time jump, people. Next chapter is gonna be a long one.

The usual disclaimers go here. I own the arrangement of the words, Plain Sight, and Limnear. All else is owned by Hasbro and Lauren Faust.