A Night of Firsts

Rainbow Dash lay with her head resting in Lero's lap, tiny sighs of contentment escaping her prone form every few seconds.  Lero, her human stallion, carefully dragged the bristles of a finely crafted brush through Rainbow's mane, causing her to relax and melt deeper into his warm embrace.  It turned out that Lero really did like how she looked with her mane brushed and so Rainbow was more than willing to put up with looking a little more girly and spending the extra time for proper mane care.  Rainbow had been even more pleased to find out that she wouldn't be forced to master the difficult positions and movements required to brush herself, when Lero had asked if she would mind if he brushed her mane for her.  How did I ever get this lucky, to end up with a stallion this perfect? Dash mused to herself yet again, before the thoughts were slowly brushed from her mind by the slight tug and pull of Lero's ministrations.

Rainbow would never let anyone else know how much she liked these brushing sessions and was always careful to ruffle her hair thoroughly before going back outside; it kept most ponies from noticing the extra care that was being taken with her mane, and it made sure that her hair was once more in need of brushing any time that Lero wanted to fix it.

The feel of the fine bristles flowing across her skin and down her mane concentrated Rainbow's thoughts on the feeling of each motion before her mind drifted backwards to the day soon after her and Lero's first date with Twilight, and the story of how she had come to own it.  

Despite being extra careful to muss up her mane before leaving the house that morning, Rainbow's ears caught a startled gasp and a familiar voice cried out, "Rainbow Dash! Your mane!" As Rainbow cringed inwardly she looked back, knowing exactly who she'd see.  Rarity was practically hanging out of her window, wearing her fuzzy pink bathrobe with her hair done up in towels and rollers, as she openly gaped at the pegasus, "Oh you simply must come in darling and let me get a look at it," Rarity exclaimed, her voice pitched somewhere between excitement and scandal.

As little as Dash wanted to deal with what she knew was inevitably coming, avoiding it would be worse.  Rarity could be an incorrigible gossip, and if Rainbow didn't head this off immediately, her new mane-care regimen might end up being the talk of the town by this afternoon.  Flying down to the door to the Carousel Boutique, Dash timidly raised her hoof as her stomach flipped nervously within her as if she was preparing to go into a steep dive, but before she could muster the courage to actually knock, the door opened in front of her revealing Rarity's beaming smile.  Despite being interrupted in her morning preparations, Rarity had somehow managed to look just like her normal, stunning self by the time she had reached the front door.  How can she manage to do that without any discernible effort? Dash thought before trying to put on a nonchalant grin and saying, "Hey Rarity, fine morning we're having huh? My team sure did a great job last night." Rainbow's grin began to crack from the effort she was putting into it as she waited for the unicorn's response.

Rarity stood in the doorway, her grin widening and beaming almost like one of Pinkie's, as she seemed to almost drink in the picture of the nervous pegasus standing on her doorstep.  A rough gasp startled Rainbow who couldn't even look up to meet Rarity's gaze anymore, "My, my, Rainbow are you finally taking my advice and giving your mane the care it deserves?" gushed Rarity, the words spilling out like a proud parent at her foal's first steps.

           Before Rarity could even look properly surprised, Rainbow had pressed her hoof firmly into Rarity's mouth, keeping her from spreading that particular bit of gossip any further, as the terrified looking pegasus rushed them both inside. Rainbow slammed the door in their wake, a quick flip of a wing blowing the open sign back to closed and a swift strike to the bolt with a back hoof locking the store tight, so that they wouldn't be interrupted, as Rarity was forced up against a wall, perhaps a little harder than Dash intended.  A little squeak escaped around Dash's hoof at the unexpectedly rough treatment.  Rainbow's eyes darted around like those of a hunted animal, her heart beating hard in her ears as she relaxed her hold on Rarity, suddenly feeling all the strength leave her body, she pleaded, "You can't ever tell anypony about this! Please Rarity, please!" Rainbow's eyes watered as she looked into the calm face of her friend.

“This boorish treatment has wounded me deeply!” the unicorn swooned as if to faint, “I’m afraid I shall have to tell everypony how I was roughed up by your brutish ways simply for complimenting you on your mane, which you have obviously spent so much time and effort on maintaining.”

The pegasus lost all hope and hung her head, knowing that soon her secret would be out, and everypony would point and laugh at her for being a tomcolt that tried to look pretty.  Just before she could move for the door, she felt a light hoof upon her shoulder and Rainbow looked back into Rarity’s smiling face.

           "Oh Rainbow, relax, I would never dream of ruining that brash facade that you have built up around yourself," Rarity spoke calmly, the accepting smile never once leaving her face, "but even a brash, tomcolt can still treat herself like a mare from time to time, and take pains over her appearance.  Especially if it is to impress her special somepony."  Rarity put so much meaning into those two words; her smile widening as she watched a full blush creep across Rainbow's countenance.  Before Rainbow could recover, Rarity was alongside her stroking a hoof through Dash's mane.  "Oh my dear, this shows so much promise.  What are you using? Are you taking care of it each day?  Oh how I love these riotous colors. Have you thought of braiding your mane?"

           "Woah, woah! Rare, chill," stammered the pegasus suddenly overcome by the immediate shift in conversation.  Rainbow looked guiltily down, shuffling her hooves as she admitted, "I've just been using some Crest & Withers stuff that I found in the back of my cabinets.  I've been using it since Lero and my date with Twilight last week..." her response trailed off as her confidence unnaturally left her voice.

           "Oh no no no! That simply will not do!" Exclaimed the excited unicorn.  Rarity moved to a nearby bureau, rummaging through the drawers until she came upon what she wanted.  "Found it." she sang out, tossing a bottle through the air into Rainbow's surprised hooves.  Rainbow looked down at the colorful bottle to see a flowing script in a language she couldn't understand.  Catching the confused look, Rarity answered the unasked question, "That, my dear Rainbow Dash, is the best conditioner available in Equestria.  Simply work it into your mane after washing it, and leave it in for a couple of minutes before thoroughly rinsing it out." Rarity's eyes half closed at a thought and her smile took on a sly quality as she continued in a sultry tone, "You can even have Lero help you work it in.  I'm sure those fingers must feel luxurious while in the shower."

           Chuckling nervously, the pegasus began inching towards the door.  "Thanks Rarity, this’ll stay between just us right? Right?" The pegasus gave her a stare that would have been much more intimidating if she wasn't busy trying to make sure that you couldn't see any part of the bottle in her saddle bags, but after a gentle nod in return, a smile once again graced Dash's face and she raced across the floor to embrace Rarity in a hug before flying for the door, the open sign falling back into place in the wake of her passing.

           A couple of days later, Rarity had secretly passed Rainbow a small package discreetly wrapped in brown paper and tied with a, for Rarity, understated bow.  Rarity whispered the quick instruction to, "Open it at home with Lero," and then moved off so as not to draw attention to the exchange.  When Dash was home alone with Lero that night, she pulled the package out holding it in her hooves unsure of what it might contain.  Knowing Rarity it could be something wonderful and heartfelt, or it could be something designed to make Rainbow blush so hard that ponies would think she was Pinkie Pie.  Hesitantly, she undid the bow as Lero sat next to her, watching the unwrapping over her shoulder.  When the bow released and the paper fell away, the pegasus' wings unfurled in surprise as words failed her, her mouth hanging open as she took in her surprise gift.  Inside lay a truly beautiful and unique gift; it was a large brush, the handle made of pearl, dyed a light blue that almost perfectly matched her own.  Gems set into the handle were crafted into a perfect replica of her cutie mark and each bundle of bristles contained all the colors of the rainbow.  Tears ran down Dash's cheeks as she took in her new brush. This is a fancier gift than most I've ever been given, and it was for no special reason, and given in secret with nopony else knowing what she did but me, thought the overcome mare. I'm going to do something awesome for her.

           Seeing the brush, Lero asked, "Would you like it if I brushed your mane?"  Somehow Rainbow's heart flew just a little bit higher as she tried to answer, but couldn't force any words past her lips, so she simply nodded her head as she carefully lay down on the couch, her forelegs and head resting in Lero's lap, her colorful mane spilling out across her head and withers just waiting for the touch of that brush.  She felt his fingers comb through her hair, moving it into position and then the fine touch of bristles followed, feeling exhilarating against her coat, as Lero carefully brushed through her prismatic locks.

           Rainbow's thoughts came back to the present as her and Lero sat idly, brush moving slowly and surely, as they waited for Twilight's arrival, because tonight was special.  Tonight was --

           A knock on the door broke off her train of thought.  Rainbow slowly moved her front, so that Lero could get up and get the door, stretching out her muscles after such a relaxing session felt great and she groaned happily as all her muscles came back to life, her wings stretching out to their widest before she brought them back against her sides.  Rainbow turned towards the door, a smile creeping its way up her lips as she parroted what she knew was coming, "It's Friday, date night." the pegasus thought just as Lero opened the door for an obviously happy purple unicorn.

           "It's Friday, date night," said a chipper Twilight as she walked in the door, giving Lero a kiss on the lips before moving into the house, lightly brushing her tail along his side as she passed.  When Twilight walked over to Rainbow's side she nuzzled into her before placing her now customary kiss on Dash's cheek.  That act still hadn't stopped making Dash blush just a bit, and in return she smiled back before placing her own kiss, but not on the cheek this time, planted squarely on Twilight's lips, just a quick kiss, but now it was Twilight's turn to blush as she smiled happily and suddenly found herself looking shyly down at her hooves.  A butterfly or two took flight within Rainbow as she thought to herself "Well that certainly wasn't bad; Twi sure can be cute like that.  It's amazing that she wasn't already in a herd but I guess being a princess' protégé could certainly keep anypony busy."

           Twilight had said she would make the time to spend with Lero and Dash, and she hadn't been kidding.  Every Friday and Tuesday night had been date nights since the three had shared their first date weeks ago.  Twilight scheduled the free time out each and every week, allowing nothing, short of a direct threat to Ponyville, to get in the way of her date nights; she had even been helpful enough to arrange Dash and Lero's schedules for them so that all three would consistently coincide for those nights, and happily the following mornings as well.  They had yet to actually all three benefit from having the mornings together, but if Rainbow had anything to say about it, tonight would be different.

           The last couple of dates had gone rather well, but something or another had kept each night from ending with all three of them together.  While Dash certainly enjoyed how excited Lero had been after them, it didn't feel right that Twilight wasn't enjoying herself with them.  At first, Rainbow had realized that Lero was still a bit nervous about getting physically intimate with anypony other than herself, but she had sat the human down and explained to him, "Big guy, you've gotta stop holding back around Twilight.  I know that you're still a bit nervous, thinking that somehow I'll be mad, or feel left out if you get serious with Twi, but I won't.  You'll be helping to spread the same love that I feel from you, and every mare should be lucky enough to have a stallion as wonderful as you are."  Rainbow wrapped her fore-hooves around Lero's neck, looking him deeply in his eyes as she leaned in close, "I totally won't feel left out, because I’ll be right there with you, both of you, the whole way.  How could I feel left out when I'm surrounded by love like that?" Their lips closed the distance as they shared a slow, deep kiss; both of them were trying to shove every unspoken or insufficient word into the actions of that kiss.  

When the kiss broke, Lero finally responded, "I know it's foolish to worry, I love you and nothing is going to change that.  I'm so lucky to have you Rainbow."  No more words were spoken that night, but so many emotions still got through without being said.

           Their next date was going much better, Lero wasn't holding back that night, and things looked like they were finally going to end with the three lovers together in Lero's bed, when Twilight suddenly got jumpy.  She pushed Lero away just after the situation got heavy, sputtering apologies and excuses before hastily making her way out the door and into the night.  Both Rainbow and Lero had been a little concerned about the abrupt departure but it was already late and there was little they could do that night.  Dash’s first instinct was to immediately go after the unicorn, but Lero pulling her into his chest made her pause. "Did I do something wrong Rainbow?" Lero asked, holding the cyan mare close to him as if she might just run out the door too.  

Rainbow looked into his eyes, seeing the uncertainty there that she knew because of how well she knew him, "No, you did just fine," she consoled him pulling him tight against her as they lay down. Dangit Twi, letting your nerves get the better of you, again. "Don't worry, I'll make sure she's okay, first thing in the morning."  The pair held each other close all night, both worried that they might have just scared away their new marefriend.

           The next morning, bright and early, Dash was at the library.  She landed softly on Twilight's balcony, nosing quietly through the entrance there into Twilight's room, where a disheveled pile of blankets adorned the bed surrounding an even more disheveled looking pony.  Quiet sobs could be heard from the shuddering pile as the pegasus slowly approached.  "Um, Twi?"  A muffled shriek came from the pile as Twilight turned around to finally notice Dash standing in her room, Dash tried to continue as she shuffled her feet apprehensively along the floor, "about last ni--"

           "I know what you're going to say," Twilight got out between gasped breaths, trying her best to stop the sobbing that had kept her up most of the night.  Dash gave her a quizzical look, a bit glad that Twilight would apparently be so forthcoming about why she'd run out the night before.  "You want me to leave the... the herd," Twilight gasped out as the sobbing returned full force.  Suddenly, she found herself wrapped tightly in blue wings.  The force of the pegasus tackling her knocked them both onto the floor.  Dash clung so tightly to the crying unicorn that Twilight found it a bit difficult to breathe, but she wouldn't complain.  Twilight could tell from the sensation of Rainbow's tight embrace that she hadn't lost her friend even if Rainbow and Lero didn't want her in their herd.

           "Twilight, for an egghead, you can be really stupid sometimes." the pegasus chuckled just a bit as she held her friend.  A very irate sounding noise told her exactly what the unicorn thought of that comment though.  "What under Celestia's sun ever gave you the idea that we don't want you in our herd?"

           Confusion warred valiantly with hope inside of the violet mare, but she choked down the tears as she said, "Well, Lero wasn't giving me any... of the normal signs of being interested.  I was giving out every marely signal I knew and wasn't receiving any of the expected responses. I even sent out some that I was not supposed to give to a stallion I hadn't already been with, and when I didn't get a signal back I realized that Lero wasn't actually interested in me." Tears were flowing freely down Twilight's face as she buried it into her friend's neck, desperately seeking comfort. "He... he just knows that I'm your friend and was... was just trying to please you by acting interested in me."

           Rainbow had a pretty good grasp of what had gone wrong now, and the familiarity of the situation almost made her laugh, but she kept it down.  Twilight would not react well to it, and she was going to help her friend understand this. "Twi, dude, I wish I could make you understand how wrong you are."  Twilights eyes looked up, hope apparent in them that the next words out of Rainbow's mouth would make everything all right again. "He likes you, we both like you.  We never would have invited you to join us in the first place if that weren't true.  I mean what’s not to like?  You're smart, incredibly powerful, cute, and always certain that there's nothing out of your reach, nothing you can't overcome."  Feeling embarrassed, Dash stopped, looked down and just nuzzled tightly against Twilight's neck, feeling her friend return the gesture with her usual exuberance.

           After a minute, Twilight pulled away, her voice slowly returning to normal, but still hoarse from a hard night, "But then, why didn't Lero return my signals?  If he felt about me the way I feel about him, he should have been giving me the signals I was looking for."

           "I think I know what the problem is, but Twi, when I tell you... you're gonna feel foalish."  Don't you dare laugh Rainbow, you made the same mistake with him, and you'd feel terrible if someone had laughed about it, Rainbow still couldn't suppress a smile as she prepared the big reveal, "Twi, think about it.  What type of signals were you looking for?"

           The unicorn thought that was obvious and immediately launched into a lecture to show she had known exactly what to look for. "Why, of course I was looking for the standard behavioral responses that every stallion gi... ... Oh Celestia, how could I be so stupid?"

           The pegasus grinned as the lecture died midway through, slowly rubbing her hooves along Twilight's back as she held her.  "Don't worry Twi, it happens to the best of us, even I made that mistake and you know how awesome I am." She couldn't help but let out a light chuckle as she remembered it, telling the tale for Twilight of how on their first night she thought Lero was going to leave her with the worst case of the stiffies she'd ever had.

           The two ponies held each other for a little while longer before Rainbow helped get Twilight unwrapped from the sheets, and downstairs to get some water.  As they passed the main library room, Spike stuck his head up from the couch, "Oh... um, how are you Twilight?  You came in crying and wouldn't say anything all night.  Are... is everything going to be okay?" the young dragon stammered out while fiddling with his claws, "I was... uh, gonna send a message to Celestia this morning if you weren't feeling better."

           Well... thank, um Celestia that didn't happen.  An angry goddess convinced that we had led on and then shunned her favorite pupil could have been bad Rainbow thought before quickly reassuring Spike, "It's nothing to worry about buddy, just a misunderstanding over something, and it's all worked out now."  This seemed to reassure Spike who looked incredibly relieved as Dash ushered Twilight into the bathroom.  After some time to refresh herself, and a big glass of water, the exhausted unicorn went back to bed, on the fresh sheets that Dash had put on.  The unicorn pulled the sheets upto her chin, magically tucking herself in as Dash lightly kissed her on the cheek watching the now happy and contented unicorn fall quickly to sleep.

           With those previous flops in mind, Rainbow had resolved not to allow another opportunity to slip by her.  Tonight was going to be magical for Lero and Twilight, and Dash wasn't about to let something as small as misconceptions ruin it.

           While the pegasus had been busy off in her memory, Twilight had gotten herself squeezed between Dash's head and hooves and was watching the pegasus with a giddy little smile on her face. "Welcome back," the unicorn giggled, "where was your mind off to?"  Twilight wrapped her hooves around Rainbow's neck, pulling the pegasus' head into her chest.

           "Just thinking about tonight." the pegasus said, smiling at Twilight’s high spirits as she nuzzled against her, feeling the unicorn respond in kind.

           Twilight sighed happily as she asked, "what is so special about tonight?" her grin showed that she had a pretty precise perception what her playful pegasus partner planned, but she played along anyway.

           "Well..." Rainbow began, her rosy eyes twinkling with planned mischief, "Lero made something he calls ratatouille, which is a vegetable dish from his home.  He's getting quite good with these vegetarian dishes, so we should be in for a treat."  From the kitchen, both mares heard a distracted, "Almost ready." as the human finished preparing their meal.

           "Mmmm sounds tasty, what about after dinner?" the purple mare asked, "anything fun planned for that?"

           "Well..." she started again, eyes still alight with knowledge of what her friend was looking for, "Berry gave me a terrific bottle of dandelion wine as thanks for putting out that little fire that Pinchy accidentally started when she was learning to control her magic.  So I thought we'd all have a couple of glasses of that after dinner."  Twilight simply gave the teasing pegasus an exasperated look until she continued on, "After the wine..." the pegasus put an extra emphasis on this pause, shooting Twilight a sultry look that was good enough to make the other mare blush, "It will probably be time for you to go home to the library and for Lero and me to curl up and go to bed." The pegasus finished with a straight face, until Lero's hand came slapping down on her flank right as Twilight stretched up to bite at her ear.  "Ow! oh I see ganging up on me now huh?" The pegasus' smile was nearly a mile wide having pulled off a magnificent prank.

           Lero placed a plate, laden with delicious-smelling chopped vegetables, in front of both of the mares before sitting down with his own plate. "After the wine, we would be more than happy if you would stay the night with us tonight Twilight."  At these words the unicorn grew so obviously happy that she seemed to light up the room, and a few moments later the couple noticed that she truly was glowing so brightly that she lit the room.  Wow, it's easy to forget just how powerful of a unicorn she truly is they thought in unison, each shooting the other a smile at the display of unrestrained glee from Twilight.

The trio quickly tucked into their meals, the two mares complementing Lero on his culinary skill.  “This is very tasty Lero.  The vegetables are so tender and juicy, with the spices accentuating everything just right.” praised Twilight before relishing the taste  of another bite.

“Mhhmm, it’s really good.” mumbled Dash, her compliment slightly muffled by the big mouthful that she tried to speak around.

“Thank you girls, I’m finally getting down most of the analogues to the spices that I’m used to, so I’m able to make quite a few meals that are close to what I remember.” said the human, beaming at the compliments as the group all enjoyed the dinner.

Very little else was said, the sounds of silverware and enjoyment filled the cozy room while they ate, until everyone had finished and sighs of full contentment were heard all around.  Lero had just begun to get up to clear away the dishes when they were all wrapped in a magical aura and preceded Twilight into the kitchen, “Stay there and relax, I’ll take care of these.”

Lero moved to the hearth, lighting it against the night’s chill before seating himself on the couch next to Rainbow. “You all ready for tonight big guy?” the pegasus asked as she pushed herself up with her forelegs, resting against Lero’s shoulder, and draping a wing across his back.

“So long as I’ve got you with me Rainbow, I’m ready for anything.”

Oh geez, how sweet can a stallion be? Rainbow blushed at the unexpected compliment before leaning into a slow kiss, their lips meeting and that familiar feeling of butterflies fluttered through her frame I hope I never lose this feeling.  The pair continued the languorous kiss until the pegasus’ ears twitched to the soft sound of glass clinking and she looked over to see a smiling and heavily blushing Twilight, wine and glasses held aloft, as she stood and watched the tender moment.

The two of them are so wonderful together.  I hope that soon the three of us will all be that close.  Tonight Twilight, tonight you’ll all be together, all you have to do is not panic A beckoning hoof from Dash snapped Twilight out of her distracted thoughts and she trotted over to the entwined couple.  After giving Lero a light kiss of her own she tenderly nuzzled into Dash’s cheek, receiving an enthusiastic return of her affections Was that a little more than normal? Does that mean she wants me in the herd as much as I want to be a part of it? gasp Does that mean she wants to be with me too? Quiet brain! She doesn’t like mares like that, so don’t get your hopes up. That was a lick, I distinctly felt her lick my cheek! I said quiet, now settle down while I enhance the effects of the inhibitory neurotransmitter GABA while simultaneously weakening the excitatory neurotransmitter glutamine.  Three glasses of wine floated to their recipients as Twilight mounted the couch, keeping just a little distance from Lero, but inching one hoof forward until it brushed against his hand, a smile coming to her lips as his fingers wrapped themselves around the limb, stroking slowly along her coat.

The trio sighed in contented pleasure as they all took their first sip of wine, relaxing in their closeness and basking in the warm glow of the fire burning away in the hearth.  Light conversation blazed away as well as they sipped and discussed their week together.  Rainbow began to tell them about the new trick she was mastering, Lero nodding  along eyes half closed as he envisioned the trick, while Twilight made some insightful comments on the airflow and lift required to pull it off The egghead has really been studying, or maybe some of my awesome flight skills are just rubbing off. Lero and Twilight would sometimes move off on a tangent that left Rainbow feeling lost, but she was starting to understand more of their conversations than normal.  Hehe, maybe some of the egghead is rubbing off on me too.  I’ve got egg on the brain. she thought, with a little giddy giggle.

Rainbow sloshed around the last of the wine in the bottle, deciding that there was just enough for one last drink for each of them, she divided the wine between their glasses.  Lero picked his up as he said, “A toast, to the friendships we’ve made and the time we’ve shared; may they enrich us and grow ever stronger in the times to come.”  Three glasses were raised before they all consumed the last of the wine.  Sitting close together they all drank in the peace of the night as well, the crackle of the fire and soft breaths were the only sounds as Lero placed an arm over each mare, sighing as they pressed closer into his sides.

The three sat there together for long moments, just enjoying the feelings of closeness, until Rainbow’s hoof came up to rest along Lero’s jaw, lightly turning his head to meet her lips.  The two pressed together, his arm pressing her body closer as their kiss broke and started again.  A little sigh brought their attention back to Twilight, her head resting on the human’s chest, with a dreamy smile plastered across her blushing muzzle as she watched the lovers kiss.

“I think it’s time for Twilight to get a little attention too,” Dash whispered into his ear, “Don’t be nervous, I’m right here with you.  Don’t forget to let her make the first move.”  Alright, no more mess-ups, no more prancing around the subject.  It’s time to bring Twilight fully into our herd.  She placed kisses along his jawline as he turned to Twilight.

Twilight looked into Lero’s eyes, noting a hint of uncertainty that surely matched the same in hers.  This is it Twilight, this is the moment you’ve been preparing for, studying for, longing for.  Just remember this is just like a test, you’ve studied, you’re well-rested, you haven’t forgotten anything.  Just make the right moves and he’ll give you the right responses.  Just like a test, question and answer, move and countermove.  Oh Celestia, I’m taking too long; this pause is getting awkward. Kiss Him.  Wait, that wasn’t me that was... “Rainbow?” Twilight hadn’t noticed the pegasus shifting herself over, now with her side pressed against Twilight’s she again whispered right into her nervously twitching ear, “Relax and just kiss him.”

Twilight inched closer, watching Lero, seeing the care and acceptance in his eyes, his open smile with those exhilirating teeth. the distance between them closed, Twilight balancing high on her front hooves, their lips getting infinitesimally closer My lips approaching his, ready to finally do this.

This is taking too long, she’s stalling again. Rainbow thought in exasperation, suddenly pulling Twilight’s front hooves out from under her, the unicorn pitched forward with a surprised ‘meep’, her limbs flailing, trying to find purchase, and they did, right around Lero’s neck.

The unicorn clung tightly to his neck Oh thank Celestia, that could have been embarrassing if I’d fallen She felt soft movement against her lips and froze for a second as the realization kicked in   I did it! Oh yes yes yes yes yes!  she pulled herself closer as the kiss deepened, a smug looking Dash right there beside her.

Dash moved  closer, resting her side against them both as they kissed.  Dash stretched her head up to speak lightly into Lero’s ear, “That’s right baby, I’m right here with you, and I’ll be here the whole time.”  She lightly kissed his ear, letting her breath trickle out along the back of his neck.

Twilight could feel his fingers running down her spine, they slowly traced the muscles as she melted into him.  She nuzzled into his neck, waiting for him to do the same.  What’s wrong? He’s not nuzzling me back... why isn’t he nuzzling me back? Oh no, did I move too fast? But, but those... fingers... they’re still moving along my back and they feel so good.  Am I just moving too fast for him? I don’t want to pressure him, maybe I should back off a bit.

Lero felt Twilight tense up in his arms, her movements becoming unsure again.  His mind raced as he tried to think of a way to calm the unicorn. “Hey Twilight, are the stories I’ve heard about unicorn horns true?  I’ve heard a lot of secondhand jokes from Rainbow about them.”

“What?! Hey, I just hear them from Rarity, it’s not like I ask her to tell me them. She... she just likes to make me blush.” That same blush was now in evidence all across her face and chest and the pegasus could no longer meet their eyes.

The unexpected question, and sudden outburst, startled Twilight out of her spiralling uncertainty.  “Well, I have a fairly good idea what you’ve probably heard, since the same jokes and rumors always circulate, and like many rumors and tales, they’re neither completely false nor completely true.”  The violet unicorn was back in her element again.  Lecturing was a bit of a specialty, and this was a common enough subject of discourse and she was intimately familiar with the subject matter.

“Unicorn horns are mostly made up of bone, fused permanently with the skull, the bone is covered by a thin layer of skin and a felt like coat.  Touch it and feel.” She put her head down allowing Lero easy access to her horn.

“Are you sure?” he uncertainly asked.  After a slight nod of her head, Lero hesitantly reached out and pulled his fingers across her horn. “So I take it then that the rumors of horns being an erogenous zone similar to a penis are just that then... rumors?”

“Unicorn horns were used by our ancestors as a defensive weapon and in dominance displays.  It wouldn’t have been very good to have them be that sensitive if unicorns were cracking them together as hard as they could.”  Twilight giggled a bit at the thought of two unicorns charging each other, their horns meeting with a loud crack, and then both parties falling over as if they’d been kicked right in the groin.  “Once again though, there are grains of truth in the rumor.”

“When a unicorn is channeling magic for a spell,” Twilights horn lit with magic as she continued on, “we can feel the magic in ourselves and everything around us.  This extra sense, is what allows unicorns to control their magic rather than having it expressed without control like pegasi and earth ponies.  While channeling, our horns become extremely sensitive to touch, and this is where tales of extra sensitive horns stem from.”

“Oh yeah,” Rainbow perked up as she exclaimed, “that’s one of the only ways to reliably take out a disciple of the Still Way.”  Excited at the chance to showcase her knowledge in a subject that Twi was lecturing on, she gave the air in front of her an expert chop strike. “One quick hit to the horn while they’re trying to cast, and they’re out like Sleeping Beauty.”

“Wait, who?” asked Lero, a bemused grin touching up the corners of his lips.

“Sleeping Beauty, she’s a famous model.  Her special talent is always getting her beauty sleep, and she can’t be woken up.” Dash gave him an odd look when he stifled a laugh, “What? Is this another one of those weird coincidence things again?”

“A little bit, remind me tell you the story another time.” They both turned back to Twilight waiting for her to continue.

Twilight nodded, elated that her lecture was spawning secondary discussions, before continuing on, “Because of this ability to feel the essence of our surroundings, unicorns also have the ability to do... this.” Twilight’s horn faded and then glowed with a soft purple light that was an exact match for the color of her eyes. “Now, touch my horn again... softly please.”

Lero reached out his hand, once again stroking his fingers along the unicorn’s horn, but this time... he felt... nervous, excited, a desire to explain high level thaumaturgical theory concerning the formulation and early use of the empathy link, and an incredibly arousing feeling as his fingers lightly brushed up his horn to the very tip.  “Woah...” He brushed his fingers back down, luxuriating in the feeling as they went across his spiral fluting. He felt a deep affection for himself and Rainbow, questions of if it might be love, or if he even knew what love would be like when he felt it, and thrumming beneath it all, an aching desire building inside. As his fingers released his horn, the connection broke.

“That... was an empathy link.”  Her eyes wouldn’t focus completely, and she couldn’t seem to get her breath back.  I felt him, his feelings, his desires... oh his desires.  Well, I certainly don’t have to worry if he wants me now  Twilight’s eyes were half-lidded as she tried to continue on, “The link allows two ponies to feel what the other is feeling.  You get... tactile responses, emotions,” she looked between Lero and Dash, and her voice became huskier, “desires...”  Her thighs wouldn’t stop clenching together, and she couldn’t take it anymore as she launched herself bodily at Lero, tumbling them both down onto the soft cushions of the couch. She hungrily pressed her lips to his, this time having no doubt about the very enthusiastic response, when his arms went around her body trying to feel every inch of her coat.

Rainbow pumped her hoof in the air and cheered out, “Way to go, Twi! I didn’t know you had that in ya.” She certainly didn’t know exactly what had prompted the unicorn to make such a bold move, but she also wasn’t going to complain that things were finally moving along like they were supposed to.  Rainbow stood up, moving towards the passionate pair, she gave Twilight’s neck a long, deep nuzzle, smiling as she heard an extra, pleased moan come from the purple unicorn.  Dash moved down next to Lero, whispering into his ear, her voice thick with emotion, “I love you so much big guy.  What you’re doing right now, you’re making us both feel so wonderful.”  She placed a kiss and a little soft nibble just below his ear, getting the tiny, pleased shiver that she expected.  Rainbow looked at them both, pushing against each other with such passion, both eager to please the other, and her body was filled with love for the both of them.  Deep and full, it felt like it would break her and come spilling out as she watched the stallion she loved and the mare that had come to mean almost as much.  Pride moved in to nestle inside while she thought about how she had helped to spread that love to her unicorn friend, sharing the gift she’d found in Lero’s heart.  The human’s left hand dropped open on the couch next to Rainbow and she quickly moved to it, placing a couple of loving licks against his palm before she nuzzled her head into Lero’s hand.  She pushed hard against it trying to put all of the emotion she felt into that one simple gesture, and feeling it returned to her by his fingers, caressing her cheek.

Time stretched on between the three of them until finally Twilight and Lero broke apart, each panting and flushed, as they regained their breath and their senses.  “W-Wow...”, Twilight stuttered out, her blush showing intensely through her coat as she panted, her limbs lightly shaking in the wake of their embrace.  “That was... exhilirating.”  Twilight’s back legs clenched and released, trying to find an outlet for the feelings now smoldering inside of her, and somehow she still managed to look embarrassed, bringing a grin to Rainbow’s face, as she asked, “Is it always that intense each time? That was just like in the novels I’ve read.” A smile crept over Twilight’s face as her eyes glazed over a bit, “I think we may need more data points to be sure.”

Dash broke into fits of laughter from the cheesy line and the almost predatory look on Twilight’s face.  “Kissing is great and all, Twi, but next comes something even more fun.”, after waiting for the expected confusion on Twilight’s face and the dramatic tension to rise, Dash continued, “Now we undress him.  It’s like opening a present on your birthday, but you get to do it every time you’re feelin sexy.”

“Alright, but I don’t really see why this is supposed to be fun,” Twilight’s horn lit up as her magic began to pull Lero’s shirt over his head, but a quick flick of Rainbow’s tail broke the spell almost immediately. “OW Dash, we just talked about how much that smarts.” Twilight pouted as she rubbed at her forehead.

“Well of course it’s no fun if you just use your magic.” Rainbow tsked, finally reveling in being able to teach Twilight something. “It’s tons more fun to use your hooves and your mouth to get his clothes off.”  Noticing the sad look on Twilight’s face as she continued to slightly wince and rub at her horn, Rainbow realized she may have accidentally put just a touch more power into the flick than she intended and moved to comfort her friend, nuzzling Twilight’s neck before planting a little kiss at the base of her horn. “Heh, sorry Twi, but let me show you how much more fun it is this way.”

Rainbow nudged Twilight over to Lero and the three shared a quiet embrace before Rainbow began to show Twi just how fun getting Lero undressed could be.  With the two mares occasionally getting in each other’s way, it ended up taking considerably longer than usual, but that made it even more fun than usual, in whole new ways.  There was certainly more giggling and stolen kisses with Twilight in the mix.  A few times Twilight would catch Dash unaware with a kiss; every time she’d get flustered but by the end her grin felt like it would split her mouth from the intense happiness that it nurtured inside.

Once Lero was finally completely naked, all three of them were quite aroused from the endeavor.  Heavy breaths and heartbeats filled the close space between the trio while they all looked at each other, waiting for somepony else to make the first move.  Oh horsefeathers, they’re both gonna get nervous again if I don’t move this along. Dash looked between her two lovers, gauging which of them would need the right push, and where to apply the pressure.  Dash leaned her head into Twilight, letting her neck brush lightly against the other mare’s before she whispered into her ear, “Doesn’t Lero look great like that? He’s so sexy without a single thing covering his body. He wants you too, just look at the big lug.  See his eyes just drinking us in, and look at how hard we make him.  An check out his nipples, they’re more sensitive than he lets on, but I know he likes it when you give em a little lick.”

Dash’s husky voice seemed to fill Twilight’s head completely, each syllable rolling in and traveling as a jolt of sensation down the unicorn’s spine, causing her tail to twitch to the side, wafting the scent of her arousal into the air.  Twilight’s body gave an appetizing shudder when Dash finished whispering, and unable to shut off her brain even when it was fogged this deeply in arousal Twilight breathily murmured, “I-I was never sure if you were trying to prank me by telling me he had those.”

A laugh began in Rainbow’s gut but she quickly fought it down. That’s right, best prankster ever.  Rainbow’s breath rolled hotly across Twilight’s ear and Dash spent a moment just watching it twitch at every sensation. Celestia, she’s cute looking like this, just ready to tip over the edge and let her body do what it’s screaming at her to do.  Can’t get caught up like that right now. Dash felt her own body demanding that she satisfy its cravings as soon and as passionately as possible, and with monumental effort she fought it down.  This is about Twilight and Lero, I can’t be selfish right now, I’ve gotta make this the best night for both of em. A vision of the three of them writhing together in ecstasy flashed into her mind, temporarily stopping all other thought.  No, this is for them, not me. Jeez brain, I’m not even into mares like that...  Knowing that Twilight just needed one more itty bitty push, Dash let her lips caress Twilight’s ear as she encouraged her, “You can take the lead if you want, the big guy won’t mind, he’s not like other stallions that get pissy when they’re not in charge.  He likes it when a mare knows what she wants and takes it from him.”  Rainbow watched the little lavender unicorn fight with her nervousness for a second more before just tipping her over the edge, “Or.. he can take you.  He’s very good at it and he will make you cum again and again until even you can’t think anymore.”  Rainbow punctuated this with a quick nip on Twilight’s eagerly twitching tip.

Twilight’s nerves were finally unable to hold back the demands from the rest of her body, and her eyes became heavily lidded as she shot a sultry gaze over to Lero, who had been watching the exchange with growing anticipation.  Twilight stalked across the few feet between them exaggerating each movement just like she’d practiced.  Each hoof came slowly down in front of the other and her shoulders and hips swayed and rolled showing off the unicorn’s beautiful form.  Every eye was glued to her body as she approached Lero, a well timed twitch of her tail threw it over Rainbow’s crest making the pegasus catch her breath as the pheromone laden hair tickled its way over her sensitive withers.  Twilight took her time getting in front of Lero, giggling happily after seeing how much of an effect she had on both of her herdmates.  She placed a hoof gently against Lero’s chest, letting it play across his flesh and steadying herself as she leaned her head down to flick her tongue over the raised taut skin of his nipple, satisfying her curiosity when Lero took in a sharp breath, he let the unicorn experiment as much as she wanted as he leaned back on his elbows.  Twilight kept running her hooves along the titillating expanses of flesh that Lero usually kept hidden behind his clothes, noting in her memory every lick and touch, how it felt, and what reactions it created.

Dash moved slowly, her eyes closed, and her mind steeped in arousal as she followed the musky scents of arousal, hearing the giggles, gasps, licks, and moans of ponies in pleasure, doing what their bodies were made to do and having a lot of fun doing it.  As she moved past Twilight’s flank, Dash placed a quick nip on her cutie mark eliciting an adorkable little shriek that flowed into a lustful moan.  Dash pressed herself close to the pair, feeling them move and shift against the feathers of her wing, as she inched closer to Lero’s face.  A knowing smirk graced her features as she spoke, “Enjoying yourself there, big guy?”

Lero’s eyes met hers and she could read them like the newest Daring Do book.  She could see the lust, the burning desire, as well as the gentle love that he felt for her and the burgeoning feelings that were held for Twilight as well.  He hid it well, but she could also see just a tinge of uncertainty in the situation.  Insight flashed within her mind, He’s still not completely comfortable with the idea of another mare, but he doesn’t want to show it in front of Twi.  Dash leaned her head in to place a gentle kiss on his lips and she calmed him with a whisper, “I’m right here with you, love.  And I’m gonna be here with you the whole time.”  Dash felt Lero’s fingers grab hold of her mane as he brought their lips together again in a passionate kiss.  All of the things that needed to be said, but couldn’t be contained in words, were held in that kiss as their lips met again and again and their tongues danced.  Both of them relaxed into the kiss, feeling the slow and steady building of passion that they were so familiar with by now.

Dash felt teeth nibbling on her ear and moaned into the kiss, a loud ruffle accompanying the expansion of her wings as the pleasure filled her mind.  Luna’s moon, that feels incredible.  I’ve never had two ponies paying attention to me like this, it feels... heavenly.  But why is Twi doin that? She knows I don’t like mares in that way... but then why do I like this so much? Why do I suddenly want to turn and take her lips with mine?  Aw hay, may as well enjoy it.

Dash turned her head, pulling her ear free of Twilight’s grip.  The unicorn pulled back and Dash saw the mix of desire and uncertainty play across Twilight’s expression, she looked frightened that she may have taken things too far too quickly.  Before Twi could even begin to stammer out an apology, She’d look so cute blushing and stammering like that but I don’t want to put her through it, Dash pushed herself up, quickly trapping those beautiful lips with her own.  Startled by the bold move, Twilight squeaked in a near perfect imitation of Fluttershy before she realized what was happening and just melted into the kiss.  She felt like putty in Dash’s hooves only able to respond in moans as Rainbow’s tongue pressed against her lips, parting them and teasing her tongue to join in the play.  Twilight’s front hooves buckled and she slumped down on Lero’s chest as Dash’s legs wrapped around her neck, burying themselves in her dark mane, the kiss deepening and rushing them both along in its wake.

Both mares could feel the press of the other’s chest, and the rising and falling of Lero’s with each breath, however even the feel of his hands running along their coats, exciting all of their nerves with his teasing caress, was secondary to the press of lip against lip, and the play of tongues as they explored.  Rainbow couldn’t tell how long the kiss lasted, and she didn’t care.  When they finally separated, panting and flushed, a single strand of saliva connected their wet lips as the mares looked into their partner’s eyes, rose met violet and they could feel the synchronous thump-thump of all three of their hearts.  Dash pulled back a bit, disheveled and just a bit uneasy about what had happened as she stumbled over her words, “I y’know... um... I still don’t think of mares li-like that... I’m still bent y’know... but that kiss... was hot”

“I think so too.” chorused Lero, looking at the pair with a proud grin.  With that, the spell of the moment was broken and peals of laughter erupted from all three as they came down from their high and caught their breath.

Dash jumped up, flexing her wings as they relaxed a bit. “So, how about we move this party to somewhere a bit more comfortable for the next part, y’know like a bed.” Dash tossed a suggestive eye waggle to her stallion and mare as she moved with energy that seemed to pour off of her in waves as she urged the two into movement.  Dash grasped Lero’s fingers in her mouth, playing with the flexible digits as she pulled the trio towards the bedroom.  Twilight murmured happily in a near daze as Lero grasped and gave little tugs on her mane as they walked.

When they reached the bedroom, Dash leaped up, flapping her slightly stiffened wings once before alighting on the fluffy bedspread in a perfect landing, only to look back and see that nopony had been watching it.

Twilight was looking up at Lero, her eyes still partly glazed as she asked, “Mmmm, did Dash teach you about that?”  

The question floated around for a moment before Lero responded, “What’s that?” Lero was the ideal man of wit and reason, and not, at that moment, a bundled up mess of hormones and desire.

Twilight almost purred like a kitten as she stretched into Lero’s still grasping fingers. “What you’re doing right now... with your... fingers.” Twilight moaned out again, her flanks clenching and releasing in time with the pulls, “That is right where a stallion pulls with his teeth... when he’s mounting a mare.”

Lero’s grasp slowed as the words finally breached the walls that had gone up around his mind.  He blushed, it easily showing across his neck and chest, as he remembered the particular wrestling session when he and Dash had discovered, completely by accident, that pulling her mane right there was an extreme turn on.  Since then, distractedly pulling there during foreplay and sex had apparently become a nearly automatic response he realized as his fingers continued to grasp at Twilight’s dark and flowing mane.  “Oh, I didn’t know that was the reason, nor did Dash, we just kind of discovered it on our own.”  Lero’s other hand sheepishly grasped along the back of his neck as he revealed this.

“Dash,” gasped a nearly scandalized sounding Twilight before she gasped again for a completely different reason, “do you mean that you never did any studying about pony sexuality?”  The unicorn arched her neck up into Lero’s grasp, asking without words for him to pull harder, and melting when her request was granted.

Dash looked incredibly embarrassed, enough that Lero moved quickly to sit on the edge of the bed to comfort her.  His free hand cupped Dash’s chin as he brought her head up, looking with love and adoration at the first mare he’d ever loved with such passion.  “We’ve enjoyed finding out about pony sexuality together,” Lero spoke with care and conviction as he watched the uncertainty disappear from Rainbow’s eyes, finding an identical look of love and admiration that took its place.  “It’s a slower process than studying, but I’d have to say, most of the time it’s been far more enjoyable than a clinical text.”

Twilight realized that her words had unintentinally cut Rainbow Dash, and felt instantly sorry for her unthinking outburst.  “I’m so sorry Dash, I didn’t mean it like that... I-I just thought everypony took courses in school.” her voice drifted off uncertain how to mend the situation.  “I... I did a lot of studying to prepare for this too.”

A wry chuckle floated down to the abashed mare accompanied by, “You would study up for something like this, egghead.” Dash’s smile was evident in the comeback and let Twilight know that no lasting harm had been done.

“Hey, don’t you knock studying.  You’d be surprised by some of the tips you can learn in an issue of Cosmare, or the even more helpful 101 Bedroom Tricks to Surprise your Special Somepony  Twilight grinned trying to mimic Dash’s suggesting eyebrow waggle as she licked her lips.

Dash couldn’t stop laughing at the face that Twilight had made, her inexperience turning the cheeky and suggestive look into something absurd, but the point still came across.  Dash controlled herself and looked at Twilight who by this point had decided to try a look that she knew she could pull off, and the half lidded eyes and just barely visible teeth framed by full wet lips pulled up in a suggestive smile, spoke volumes about what she wanted to do at that moment.  

Rainbow’s jaw dropped open, Woah, that is sexy.  Stop it, you’re not into mares... right? Even her own thoughts seemed to doubt her conviction, which worried her but she pushed on through it. The stunned pegasus closed her mouth and tried to look as if she hadn’t been effected, but her voice cracking gave it away when she said, “Well, maybe studying isn’t a-all bad... maybe you c-could show me some of it sometime.”  Rainbow cleared her suddenly tight throat before continuing on, “Anyway, this night isn’t about me.  It’s about you and Lero.  So how do ya wanna start out?  Oooh you could try it Dolphin Style, Lero loves that one and we do it all the time.”

Twilight’s face blushed profusely as she looked down muttering into the carpet, “I don’t know if I can do it like that, face to face while I’m on my back... that’s so... k-kinky” her voice shook with uncertainty as she asked, “Can we just start out.... um normal, with him mounting me... at least for the first time.”

“Well, with the size differences an all, that can be a bit tricky but we found a great way to do it, but it feels a bit weird for the mare until he gets behind you and grabs you...” Dash drifted off for a moment reliving a pleasant memory or two before coming back to the present, “after all, every mare loves to feel their stallion over the top of em... every once in awhile... his body weighing you down... pressing you into the covers as he pounds into you... making you scream his name as you...” Dash coughed, realizing she’d started rambling, “Where was I? oh right, we found a way that works for it, but it can take a bit of getting used to at the start, but once it’s going... um yeah...”

Dash patted the edge of the bed, as she instructed Twilight, “Alright, get your front legs up here.”  

The bed was considerably higher than a regular pony bed, but not so high that it would be terribly difficult to get up, it would just require a bit of a jump or, as Twilight thought, perhaps a helping hand from Lero.  Twilight was easily able to get her front legs onto the bed, pushing forward until her shoulders met the edge.  She tried to climb up, but her back legs were unable to find any purchase on the side of the bed and simply kicked ineffectually against it.

Suddenly Twilight felt Lero’s strong hands against her flanks and felt him move behind her.  Her body froze, nervous and excited, she felt her muscles tighten and her entire body was like a charged crystal just waiting to be activated.  She felt his hands roam slowly over her cutie marks, feeling them caress the front of her thighs as they snaked around her body. Twilight let out a little whimper of pleasure as his fingers grazed the top of her mound shooting a little spark of pleasure up her spine.  Suddenly his hands grasped her thighs and she was lifted up and pushed forward on the bed until her back legs dangled straight along the side of the bed.  Her legs were flush with the side of the bed and she couldn’t move them at all.  For a second she panicked, feeling like she was falling back, but Dash was right there grabbing her front hooves and stroking along her legs.

“It’s okay Twi, don’t panic, just relax.  I got you.  It’s about to get real good.” Dash soothed the panic from the front of Twi’s mind but a kernel of doubt remained. “Twi,” Dash waited for the unicorn’s eyes to open and meet hers before continuing, “run some magic through your horn.”

“B-but you said you didn’t -” Twilight was stopped mid-sentence as Dash stroked her mane with a hoof, holding her tightly.

“Shh, don’t worry about that, relax and enjoy this.” Dash placed a kiss on Twilight’s forehead right at the base of her horn, giving a little smile as the horn in front of her began to glow with a deep red color.  The magic wasn’t really being put to use, just channeled through Twilight’s horn, causing a basic warmth and calming effect around her as the magic filled her and pulsed to her horn looking for an outlet.

Rainbow wasn’t sure about her sexuality right now, but she was absolutely certain that her friend needed her right now, and nothing was going to keep Dash from being there for her.  It’s not really different from Lero’s, so this should be pretty easy. Dash licked her lips and placed a slow kiss at the base of Twilight’s horn, and she was rewarded with a low moan from the willing unicorn.  Gosh, Twi must be really sensitive if just that much is getting to her, but at least she’s calm now.  Dash nodded to Lero, who had been waiting patiently behind Twilight, letting him know that the unicorn was ready.

Twilight moaned out with each touch of Dash’s lips.  A lot of ponies didn’t engage in hornplay at all, but Dash seemed to be a natural at it, placing soft kisses and caressing licks all along its length.  Just as Dash was tracing the fluting with her tongue, Twilight felt Lero’s questing fingers massage into her flanks and prayed to Luna that she could stretch out this night and never let this end.  

She felt those wonderful fingers trace their way between her thighs as Lero gently ran them across her wet slit.  Twilight had never felt anything like that, it was so different from a hoof that the two couldn't even be properly compared.  She moaned into the soft cover of the bed, which apparently was the signal for Dash to wrap her lips around the end of Twilight’s horn, and Twilight’s rational thought left the premises, putting up the “closed” sign on Twilight’s forebrain, and deciding that right now would be a great time for a vacation.

Lero’s fingers pushed their way into Twilight’s entrance, sinking easily into her warmth as her muscles contracted and pulled on Lero’s fingers, coaxing them deeper as Twilight’s moans grew into screams of ecstasy.  His fingers curled around, pressing into the walls of Twilight’s vagina, moving along until he heard a change in her pitch, or felt a strong contraction of her muscles, and he’d pay a little more attention to that spot, pushing in another digit and feeling Twilight squirm in his grasp.  Lero knew the cute little unicorn couldn’t take much more and decided to push her over the edge for the first time of the night.  Lero’s fingers curled in to press against one of Twilight’s most sensitive spots that he’d found, just as he wrapped his lips around her clitoris.  Lero felt Twilight’s muscles contract like a coiled spring but all she was able to get out was a weak, “I’mmm cuuuu--” before everything inside of her tightened and pleasure swept her away.  

Dash moved off of the horn just as the pressure released, spewing light of every shade in a powerful fountain.  Dash and Lero were mesmerized by the light show.  It was like watching the most intense firework display you’ve ever seen from only a couple of feet away.  Some of the magical expulsion coated Dash and it seemed to just melt into her coat, leaving a warm patch everywhere it touched.  

Twilight’s orgasm wracked her body for long seconds before it began to ebb, the last of the magical ejaculate ran down the spiral fluting of her horn leaving a bright trail against her lavender coat, and her excitement left a rivulet running down the back of her legs.  It was a minute before she could do anything more than pant as her body tried to grasp something that wasn’t there, shudders coursing through her body left echoes of the intense pleasure she’d just experienced.  When she finally got her breath back she looked up to see Dash wearing a huge grin on her face like she’d just finished first in another race.

“So, Sparkle, I’m gonna take that as evidence that I am in fact the best lover in Equestria.” Dash grinned, raising her hooves in mock victory before a sailing pillow knocked her off balance, causing her to tip over onto the bed.

“How about a little credit for your teammates, huh?” Lero said with a wry tinge to his voice letting Dash know it was just a game.

Dash appeared to think for a moment before saying, “You’re right.  Thank you tongue, thank you hooves, thank you beautiful wings, without the great work you all did I could never be named the greatest love-- Wah” Dash had to dodge another speeding pillow and foolishly took the time to close her eyes and stick her tongue out as she gloated.  She never saw it coming as Lero tackled her, the pair wrestling around on the large bed as Twilight just tried to stay out of the crossfire and recover, the night was barely begun, and this certainly would only be the first mind blowing orgasm of the evening.

The wrestling match went on for awhile with no clear victor, but lots of tussling, tickling, kissing, and pleasured moans while the pair rolled across the bed, piling up blankets and pillows as they moved.  Finally it culminated in Dash pinning Lero’s shoulders down on the bed, her hips trapping his own, and her back legs locking up his knees so he couldn’t gather the leverage to throw her off.  Dash ground her hips into Lero’s, exceptionally aware of how hard he was as it pressed between the lips of her marehood.  “Say it.” she growled out in a tone filled with barely suppressed lust.  Lero merely shook his head, keeping his lips tightly closed.  Rainbow shifted her hips again increasing the pressure against Lero as his rod slid along her slick petals pulling a moan from his lips as Rainbow bent over him again, kissing him and shifting her hips back and forth a few more times.  As the kiss ended, she growled out again, naked lust filling each sound, “Say it.”

Lero moaned, no longer able to take the teasing, “You’re the greatest lover in Equestria Dash.”

She gave one more pump of her hips, relishing the feel of Lero pushing at her entrance without going in, a sweet torture that she knew would just heighten the intensity of her first orgasm once she reached it tonight.  However, tonight wasn’t for her so she reluctantly released  Lero from her grasp, watching as his erection bobbed with every heartbeat and movement, seeing it glisten with her juices.  It took everything inside of her not to pounce back on top of him and ride him to their inevitable climax.  Instead she gave him a swat on the flank as he tumbled out of bed.  “That present isn’t for me tonight, there’s somepony else that’s been patiently waiting to get it” Dash looked over to Twilight giving her a little shake of the flank to tease her. “I know you were watching us, I could feel your eyes almost poking holes in our flanks.  Were you enjoying it?” her voice was so full of sing-song enjoyment that Lero had to quickly stifle a laugh.

Twilight had indeed been watching them the entire time, and while her body had recovered, her arousal never abated.  Even now she could feel the sign of her arousal trickling steadily down her leg, as she blushed and nodded.  Twilight gasped as she felt Lero grasp her tail suddenly, giving it a light tug.  She moaned knowing it wouldn’t be long now.  She could feel Lero wrapping her tail around his hand and moving it to the side, gripping her flank.  Twilight whimpered in anticipation, feeling his fingers dig into her flank and pull himself tight with her plot.  She could feel him rubbing against her lips and she knew, this was it, the primal feeling of a stallion ready and primed to take his mare, to rut her and fill her with his seed.  A passion and a need so deep that it went back beyond any known history.  She felt her body winking, trying to pull in that cock that she knew was just at her wanting entrance.  Twilight shook out her mane, giving Lero a sight as the lustrous strands were splayed out on the bed in front of him.

Lero pulled back from Twilight, feeling her try to push her hips back with him, but he held her against the bed, feeling her flank quiver against his palm.  She was more than ready and he lined himself up with her lips, pressing the tip of his penis in, teasing the mare beneath him as she mewled like a kitten.  She tried to force her hips back, to plunge herself onto his shaft, but she couldn't move an inch in Lero's strong grip.

Lero looked up, seeing Dash lying back against a pile of pillows, her wings were spread grandly beneath her and her legs were tucked up close to her body, all but the one that was teasing her own nether lips, just waiting for him to plunge into her friend before she would start in earnest.  She bit her lip, looking into his eyes and seeing the love and patience he held.  He was waiting for her, even after all the assurances, and everything they had just done, he was giving her one last chance to stop if she wasn’t comfortable.  Dash wanted this to continue, wanted it as much as anypony.  She wanted to watch her stallion please one of her closest friends, to take the pleading mare to the same heights of ecstasy that he regularly brought Dash to.  She nodded, watching Twilight’s face as her stallion finally penetrated her.

Lero sank slowly into Twilight’s gripping pussy, feeling her shake around him and pull him over and over until he was fully inside of her.  Twilight let out a throaty moan as Lero bottomed out, feeling gloriously filled as he kept himself buried in her depths.  Lero pulled out slowly feeling each inch of his dick slowly pull against her walls, feeling her lose control as she once again tried to force her hips back, to keep him in even a moment longer.  Lero pressed her down into the bed, giving a slow pull on her tail as he pulled out until just the head of his cock remained inside.  He could feel her entrance closing against his shaft, wrapping itself around him before he pushed back into her warm embrace.

Twilight was being driven to the edge of her mind by the agonizing slowness of Lero’s thrusts, teased almost to her breaking point as she hungered for him to pound himself into her, to reach her deepest places and stir up the most passionate sensations.  “Rut me.” she moaned out as Lero once again pulled himself from her pussy, leaving an empty space inside that begged to be filled again.  Still he proceeded with his slow rhythm, not changing his pace until Twilight screamed out, “RUT ME!” only to instantly feel Lero slam himself inside of her.  Twilight almost came right away from the sudden thrust, but managed to hold on as Lero began to pump into her with the passion that she had been craving from the start.  Her body welcomed the hard thrusts, trying to push back and meet each one, forcing him to push deeply in with each motion.  Her mind began to fuzz over in carnal bliss as she looked to Dash, seeing the pegasus working over her pussy with a frenzy matched by Lero’s forceful rutting.  Twilight caught her eyes, asking without words if Dash wanted to join in.

Rainbow’s hoof blurred over her pussy, trying to force the blunt instrument inside to meet the burning need that rubbing just wasn’t satiating. When she met Twilight’s gaze, watching her body shake with the force of Lero’s thrusts, seeing the look in her eyes, she knew.  She knew what Twilight wanted, and she knew what her body wanted.  In that look was the promise of pleasure for both of them, and in that moment, straight or bent just stopped mattering and Dash moved closer, offering her needy center to the lips and tongue of her closest friend.

Twilight wasted no time, pushing her muzzle between Dash’s legs and lapping eagerly at her dripping pussy.  The taste was incredible, with a sweet overtone and hints of spice.  Twilight pushed her tongue between Dash’s flushed lips, delving as deeply as she could go, as each thrust pressed her nose against Dash’s clit, earning cute little gasps with every press into that bundle of nerves.  Rainbow was flowing freely into Twilight’s mouth, finally receiving the kind of attention she desired.

Rainbow looked down at Twilight, buried deep into her crevice, to see those beautiful violet eyes looking up at her with pleasure and desire.  She grasped Twilight’s head pushing her harder into the open lips of her aching marehood.  Twilight was doing an excellent job, and watching Lero fuck her as hard as he could was pushing Dash closer and closer to the edge, she knew it wouldn’t be long before she toppled over it.  Watching Lero’s eyes as he took in the sight of Twilight pleasuring Dash was just the thing to push Dash into bliss.  She screamed out her pleasure as her legs flexed around Twilight, keeping her pressed hard to her quivering flesh as the orgasm rolled over her.  One orgasm was just the beginning for Dash, just an appetizer that made her hunger for the main course.  Every press of Twilight’s nose brought another shake of pleasure through her, drawing her up to the heights of another orgasm.  Twilight lapping up her juices as quickly as they would come out, started to send her almost immediately into her second orgasm.  As she shook from the pleasure she saw Twilight’s horn light up as she touched it to Dash’s thigh.

Suddenly the pleasure she was experiencing seemed like nothing, she could feel herself being pleasured by Twilight, and she could feel herself doing the pleasing as well, it was like being in two places at once, yet feeling each separately.  She could feel Lero slamming into her, feel the shock of each individual thrust as it wracked her frame, so similar to the feeling she knew intimately, yet distinct in its own way.  She could feel another orgasm building but couldn’t tell if it was her own or Twilight’s, but she knew it didn’t matter, they were both feeling it and it was going to crash into them before long.  The frenzied sex threw a haze over her eyes as she urged Lero on, asking him to fuck Twilight faster, to push them all over the edge.  She told him to pull her mane, and squealed in delight as she felt him tug hard against it.  He was pushing Twilight deep into the bed, rocking them all as he pushed, keeping his own orgasm at bay by sheer strength of will until he had satisfied his mares.  

They all seemed to move as one, each pressing and retreating in tandem with the others.  The pleasure drove them on in the desire to peak together, and it wasn’t far away.  Twilight’s eager licking, and Lero’s primal rutting were becoming too much to bear and Rainbow felt her body tighten up, she knew it was coming, and every movement pushed it closer.  Finally she screamed out, a primal thing that tore at her throat and let anypony within earshot know that inside they would find one incredibly satisfied mare.  Her body shook with the intensity as the two mares experienced their orgasms together, the intense sensations quickly overwhelming them both as Twilight’s focus faded and the spell broke.  The clenching of Twilight’s walls brought Lero off as well, as he emptied his essence into the unicorn.  He kept himself inside as Twilight’s body greedily milked him of every last drop, and then when everything he had was spent, he fell onto the bed, pulling Twilight’s limp body up the rest of the way.

All three of them were spent, and they cuddled together, letting restless limbs roam over their companions, feeling the last vestiges of intense orgasm prickle at their nerves and enhance every touch, until sleep finally claimed them all.

Dash awoke in the middle of the night, she was tangled up with Lero and Twilight so intimately that she could never move without disturbing the two of them, and so Dash lay there awake with her thoughts.  That was an incredible night, but what happened with Twilight?  We’ve always been friends, very close friends, but I’ve never thought about her in a sexual way until she joined our herd, and I never even considered actually doing anything with her until tonight.  Am I perhaps not as bent as I thought I was? Dash thought about some of the cute or sexy mares that she’d seen in the past; each one went into and out of her mind with barely a twitch, she could appreciate the beauty of them, but there was just no sexual attraction there.  Then her mind fell to Twilight as she looked over at the sleeping mare, her head resting on Lero’s shoulder and both of them wrapped in Dash’s wing, and she felt her heart surge.  There was the beginnings of love stirring within Dash’s chest, and an answering warmth between her legs.  The thought of being sexual with Twilight no longer seemed odd, in fact she was looking forward to doing more.  Dash may be bent for every other mare, but friendship and love would straighten her out for Twilight.

Dash snuggled back into Lero’s side, tightening the hold of her wing on the trio as she drifted back to sleep.  They all had the morning off tomorrow, and if their earlier performance was any measure, this night wasn’t completely done yet.  It’d be best if she got as much sleep as she could, so she’d be ready for her two lovers when they got up.

Silverwing (by AnonAuthor)

        Rainbow’s breath came in fast pants as Lero crushed his lips against hers, his hand holding the back of her head and pulling her close.  Her coat rasped against his nude body, his smooth skin feeling wonderful against her.  It reminded her of what it felt like to kiss his body, to nibble on it.

        The ropes were already tied around her ankles, holding her hind legs apart as she sat on the center of the bed.  She could feel the heat of Twilight’s body next to her, not touching her, but close enough that she could sense the unicorn’s presence as clearly as if they were in contact.  She panted harder as the kiss broke, Lero looking carefully into her eyes.

        They’d talked about this game for a while now, and they were finally doing it.  Twilight had been very interested in their description of their bondage game, and Rainbow had been wanting to do the role-playing thing again for what felt like forever, so it seemed only rational that they might combine them.

        Now that it was finally here, Rainbow found herself feeling far more nervous than she’d expected.  Because of the role-play, she was going to have to take the opposite role from what she normally did.  Ordinarily, she was the one in charge.  She might be tied up, unable to act on her own, but she could tell Lero exactly what she wanted.  When he did it, even with her tied up and unable to physically compel him to do anything, it gave her a tremendous thrill knowing that he’d still do what she asked even when there wasn’t even the possibility of her forcing him to do it.  (Not that she would, not in a million years, but they both knew she could if she wanted, given how much more physically powerful she was)  In this case, she would be pretending to be the captured Silverwing under the power of the warlord Ebonhorn and her consort (they’d changed his role, since having him be her son would be just icky) Hammer Strike.  They weren’t supposed to do what she told them to; quite the opposite.  She was expecting to have to convince them to release her, and until that point they were supposed to ignore what she asked them to do, leaving her utterly at their mercy.  The idea had been titillating, but now, with her rear hooves already locked in place, it was a little bit scary.

        Lero pulled back, watching her face carefully.  “Are you sure you’re good with this, Rainbow?”

        She nodded jerkily.  “Yeah, totally.  C’mon, let’s do it.”

        He didn’t move.  “Rainbow, you’re shivering.  I can feel it.”  She could believe it; one hand was resting low on her spine, while the other cupped the back of her head, and she knew how sensitive his fingers were.  He had to be feeling her trembles.  “You can stop this at any point.  Do you want to?”

        She knew that.  They were using an actual safe word this time, since Silverwing would be expected to protest to a certain extent.  They’d settled on her using his actual name, rather than referring to him as Hammer Strike; calling him Lero was going to be their code for when she felt uncomfortable or nervous and wanted to stop.  It would be instinctive anyway; they’d talked about it.  If she got scared, it would be natural for her to slip and say his name, which would stop whatever he was doing instantly; she knew that, she’d tried it once when she was tied up, asking him to stop, and it had been a thrilling validation of the trust she put in him that he had stopped instantly.  The same thing went for Twilight; using her name instead of Ebonhorn would tell the unicorn to stop immediately.

        Rainbow shook her head.  “N-nah.”  She cleared her throat.  “No, I don’t want to stop.  C’mon, tie me up the rest of the way, and we can start.”  She shivered a bit, unable to stop herself.

        “Okay,” he said quietly, as Twilight watched, her lip caught in her teeth.  “I’m going to do this slow.  Tell me if you get scared.”  Gently, he pushed forward, pushing her back, further back, until she started to lean backward.  With her weight that far back on her hips, there was no way for her to support herself.  Ordinarily, in this position, she’d wrap a foreleg around him, hug him to help keep herself up, but this time as practice she refrained.  She let him support her, trusted him not to let her fall backwards, and he didn’t.  She knew he wouldn’t, knew, down to her very bones, that she could trust him utterly and completely.  She’d never have suggested this game otherwise.  In spite of her nervousness, a corner of her mouth quirked up in a smile; she hadn’t just suggested it, she had to admit; she’d been pretty insistent about it.

        He didn’t disappoint her, holding her close to him as he gently lowered her back to the bed.  Her heart pounded as he carefully wound the rope around her forelegs, looping it around her wrists just above her hooves, and gently tightened it to the point where it would hold without being too tight.

        He tugged at the knot, making certain it was secure.  “That all right, Rainbow?”

        She swallowed hard, nodding.  “Y-yeah.”  Now was the part that she always found a little scary and a little fun at the same time.  She didn’t protest as he drew the rope up to the head of the bed, looping it around the bed frame and drawing it tight.  The rope pulled her forelegs up over her head, stretching her between it and the ropes that held her hindlegs spread out, leaving her body taut, immobile… and exposed, belly-up on the bed with her wings spread out stiff across it.  The familiar thrill of uncertainty raced through her, the illusion of danger sending adrenaline sparking through her veins while the comfort of Lero’s presence simultaneously reassured her, reminding her that despite that thrill of fear she was in no danger whatsoever.

        Lero tightened the knot, then turned back to his lover, laying his hand on her cheek.  The physical reminder of his presence helped a bit, calming her down just a trace, though she was still shivering with a nervousness she didn’t want to admit.  “There we go, love.”  His hand ran down her cheek, down her neck, down her stretched-out body and along the taut muscles of her belly, pausing down between her hindlegs to tease her before continuing down her thigh and leg, stopping all the way down to caress the base of her hoof.  Rainbow twitched at the sensation he drew out of her, the pleasure and anxiety mixing in an odd way.  “Tight enough?”

        Rainbow writhed, pulling at the silk ropes.  They gave slightly, as they were supposed to, but it was nowhere near enough to let her pull free, and the bed frame creaked alarmingly as the pegasus’s powerful muscles tested it.  That thrill of fear at being unable to move raced through her, but the warm presence of the two individuals she trusted more than anyone else in the world muted it, turned the racing, jagged-edged fear into the slightly smoother sense of excitement.

        Twilight looked a little alarmed at the creaking noise the frame made, glancing down at the bed.  “Um…”

        “It’s okay,” Lero said reassuringly.  “I reinforced the frame after the first time.  She broke it by accident.”

        Rainbow’s laugh was a little breathless.  “It’s tight enough,” she told her stallion, trying to keep her voice from quivering.

        His eyes were concerned.  “Are you sure you’re okay with this?”

        “Yeah.”  She tried to fight back her worry.  “Hey, can you kiss me real quick, before we start?”

        “Of course.”  He leaned forward, letting his lips find hers.

        She let her worry and nervousness pour into the kiss and wash away, let the touch of his lips fill the world for just a moment.  The lips of the one who’d sworn to always be there for her, who’d promised to be with her no matter what happened, moved slowly against hers, giving her that extra little bit of comfort and security she’d needed. His tongue moved against hers, too, the warm, wet, smooth feel of it reminding her of all the times they’d been together, the pleasure and the joy and the love that they’d shared.

        She felt a little better when the kiss ended, his hazel eyes bright as he looked deep into hers.  “Thanks.”  He smiled and nodded a little, wordlessly.

        She glanced over at Twilight, wanting just a tiny bit of reassurance from the other mare, too.  “Uh… Twilight?  Would, uh, you mind giving me one, too?”  She’d shared kisses with Twilight several times, and they’d planned to try getting intimate tonight.  She knew Twilight was looking forward to it, and, well, she was too.  The bond of trust and affection she’d built up with the unicorn had been generating more and more arousal when she watched the other mare with their stallion, and she’d agreed to give it a try.

        Twilight smiled.  “I‘d love to.”  She bent forward, and Rainbow felt her breath a moment before their lips met.

        As always, it was different from kissing Lero.  Twilight’s lips moved differently, her tongue and teeth felt different… not bad, not at all, just not quite what she’d grown used to.  It was hot, though, feeling Lero’s body next to her while Twilight kissed her, and the proximity of her lovers combined with her own helpless state made her pulse race and her arousal grow.  She was ready.

        “Okay,” she said breathlessly, as Twilight pulled away.  “Okay.  Totally ready now.  You guys can start whenever.”  Her heart sped up again, nervousness making her shake a little despite her attempts to hide it.  She hadn’t felt this nervous since… well, since her first night with Lero.  Honestly, not even then; this was a little scary.

        “All right, love.”  Lero caressed her cheek one more time before standing up.  “Remember, all you have to do is say my name.”

        Rainbow nodded, keeping her ears straight and facing forward with an effort of will.  “Got it.”

        Twilight and Lero got off the bed, leaving Rainbow stretched out across it, and stepped a short distance away.  Then they turned, approaching her with expressions of cool interest.  “Well, now, what have we here?”  Twilight asked, raising an eyebrow.  Her voice had changed subtly, and rang with confidence and power.

        “I told you, my dear, my forces captured her yesterday.  I brought her back so you could… enjoy her.”  Lero’s voice was calm and even, pitched a tiny bit lower than usual.

        “Well done, Hammer Strike,” Twilight said proudly.  “Goodness, I know she has information we need, but I almost want to forget that in order to play with my new little toy.”  She looked at Rainbow with hungry eyes, licking her lips lasciviously.

        “Enjoy yourself while you can, villain,” Rainbow said as she struggled against the ropes, fighting back her nervousness at the same time.  Silverwing wouldn’t show fear.  “You’ll not hold me forever.”  She looked up at Lero, trying to make herself look disappointed.  “I thought better of you, Hammer Strike.  I never thought you’d catch me through treachery.”

        The human shifted uneasily.  It was remarkable, how well he could get into the character of Hammer Strike.  “I’d warned you that I would overcome you by any means necessary.”  Rainbow’s heart was racing at the banter, how her lovers were setting up the scene before doing anything physical.

        “Mm.  Yes, well, that hardly matters now.”  Twilight stepped closer, running the tip of her hoof against Rainbow’s side, while the pegasus tried to squirm away and failed, the ropes holding her tightly in place.  Oh, wow, this was hot; Rainbow wasn’t sure why, but everything about this was turning her on.  She could feel herself warming up under her tail.  “Hm… what do you think, Hammer Strike?  The whips first, or the irons?” Twilight smiled wickedly.  “Perhaps I should force her to… serve me, while you try to wring information out of her.”

        Rainbow’s eyes went huge, and her body quivered with anxiety.  Those jagged edges of fear suddenly made their reappearance.  “Uh…”  She didn’t know exactly what they’d been planning to do, but she hadn’t expected them to want to actually hurt her!  Twilight reached out, rubbing her hoof along Rainbow’s belly, headed down toward her privates.  This was… way faster than she was comfortable with, especially combined with what sounded like the threat of pain.  Her eyes darted over to Lero, unsure of what to say.  She didn’t want to chicken out this soon, but there was nothing sexy or fun about getting hurt.

        Lero met her eyes for a second, and she relaxed just a trace.  He had no intention of hurting her or seeing her hurt, she could see it in his face.  “My lady Ebonhorn, might I have a word?  Away from the ears of Silverwing, here, this isn’t for her.”

        Twilight cocked her head.  “Of course, my dear consort.  You can have as many words as you like.”  She paused to trail the tip of her forehoof from Rainbow’s neck all the way down her belly, making the pegasus squirm against the ropes.  “I’ll be back for you, my dear.”

        They stepped a short distance away, and Lero said, keeping his voice low but just loud enough that Rainbow could hear it, “Twilight, what are you doing?”

        Twilight blinked.  “Isn’t this how we’re supposed to be acting?  I’m playing Ebonhorn, and she was going to torture Silverwing to find out what she knew!”  She frowned.  “Aren’t I supposed to be doing that, just with more sex?”

        Lero covered his face with his hand for a moment.  “Twi… we’re not following the story exactly.  Like how I’m not supposed to be your son?”

        “Oh.”  The unicorn blinked again.  “Oh!  So we’re not just altering the characters a bit, we’re altering the narrative, too?”

        “Exactly.  We aren’t going to hurt Rainbow.  Maybe allude to it, but not direct threats like that.  And another thing; you’re pushing way too hard.  Ease up a little.”  Rainbow felt a surge of mingled love and lust, muting the fear that had started to sprout.  He’d seen the other part of what was worrying her.  Goddess, but she wanted him right then; when he showed how well he knew her, she wanted to share the pleasure it gave her.

        “Aren’t I supposed to push, though?  Isn’t that what this kind of play is supposed to be about, pushing boundaries?”  Twilight looked disappointed.  “I was kinda hoping to, you know, be with her tonight.”

        Lero lifted the unicorn’s chin gently.  “She’s hoping for something similar, Twilight.”  Rainbow felt another surge of lust; she did want to try, to see if the pleasure she got from watching Twilight would extend to actually making love to the other mare, but she hadn’t said a word along those lines to him.  It made her tingle to have him read her mind like that.  She had hoped that this game would challenge her, push her to break through that final hesitation and try to enjoy sex with her other herdmate.  Oh, Celestia, she hoped they finished up and got back over here soon…  “And yes, we are pushing boundaries. But we can’t push too hard, and you’re getting a little too sexually aggressive.  If we push too far, it’ll make it uncomfortable, and she’s trusting us to have her pleasure in mind as much as ours.”

        Twilight smiled.  “Okay, I think I understand.”  She gave Rainbow a sultry look over her shoulder that made the pegasus’s heart pound harder.  “Let’s not leave her alone for too long.”  The two turned and sauntered back to the bed, while Rainbow tugged at the ropes, feeling them tighten around her hooves.  “Well, my pretty little thing,” Twilight purred in Ebonhorn’s voice, “my dear consort had some… interesting ideas on how we might make you talk.”

        “Do your worst, Ebonhorn!”  Rainbow growled, pulling hard enough to make the bed frame creak again.  Oh, this was amazing, feeling all helpless and immobile while they smiled down at her… “I won’t talk!”

        “Mmm… I think you will.”  Twilight trailed a hoof down Rainbow’s ribs, down to her hip, in a confident, possessive manner.  “You see, dear Hammer Strike here was quite well-trained, by the finest teachers in Diamond Glade, before they gave him to me as tribute.”  Rainbow gulped, simultaneously shivering in pleasure.  Diamond Glade, in Ebonhorn’s time, had been a notorious place of dark hedonism, the stallions born there turned into little more than sex-slaves, but they were supposed to be very good at what they did.  “He has numerous other talents, of course, as you well know.  He’s quite remarkable.  A very bright stallion, very brave, actually quite an able war-leader.  But when he’s alone with a mare… that mare is putty in his hooves.”  Rainbow shivered again.  Okay, this was where Twilight was headed.  And it was amazingly hot.  “There’s no need for whips, or branding irons; after just a few minutes, with him having full,” Twilight touched her, low on her belly, right between her nipples, “access to you, you’ll tell me anything,” she kissed Rainbow’s chest, “I,” another kiss, right on her belly, making the pegasus quiver hard against her bindings, “want.”  She smiled.  “Why, I wouldn’t be surprised if you begged to pleasure me in thanks.”

        “Never!” Rainbow cried, putting a little hint of uncertainty into it.  She looked over at Lero.  “Hammer Strike, how could you do this?  You’re honorable, you’re decent!  You’re better than this!  Don’t let her use you like this!”

        “I am her eager servant, as always, Silverwing.”  Lero knelt next to the bed, nuzzling Rainbow’s neck, kissing under her chin.  “Besides,” he whispered, “the chance to be with you like this is more than I can pass up.”  His hands stroked slowly along her exposed, stretched-out body, exploring every line of muscle, every taut curve of her while she struggled fruitlessly against her bonds, her body growing warmer and warmer from excitement.  She still quivered, still felt remarkably nervous, but her growing arousal was melting it away.  Having him touching her like this, feeling him focus on her pleasure even when he was indisputably not following her expressed wishes… she could feel moisture gathering on her vulva, lubricating her for when he would slide inside.

        “Let… let me go!”  Rainbow gasped, as Lero’s hands slid back up her body, ruffling her coat.

        “Not until you tell me what I need to know,” he responded.  “Where is your camp?” he whispered into her ear, as his fingers found the exquisitely sensitive spots under her wings.

        This was the game part.  They were supposed to try to get her to tell them where it was, and this was clearly the method they’d chosen.  Rainbow, for her part, was supposed to keep the location secret; she knew where it was, from the book, and she was supposed to hide it from them, no matter what they did.

        “I won’t… won’t… haaa… tell you…”  she panted, her body contracting and getting pulled up short.  She quivered under Lero’s touch, gasping in pleasure.  She felt her ears go back partway from the intensity of the feeling.  And he’d only started!

        “You won’t?  We’ll see.”  Lero’s voice was quiet, confident.  “I have a feeling you’ll come to see things,” his fingers hit a particularly sensitive spot, and she twitched and gasped underneath him, “my way.”

        Twilight stepped up on the other side, kissing at Rainbow’s neck the way Lero had.  “Let’s see how long she lasts,” she said with a chuckle.  “I’m betting you can make her come in no time.”  The unicorn blew softly in Rainbow’s ear, making her cringe and shudder before nibbling at the very point of the pegasus’s sensitive ear.

        “I’ll do my best.”  His hands stroked along her sides, then down her belly.  He caught both nipples between his fingers, gently rubbing and massaging while his mouth kissed her tightly-stretched stomach.  Rainbow tried to curl up to shield herself, but the ropes jerked her up short, leaving her to writhe impotently while he slowly pleasured her, working away at her open, exposed body.

        Twilight kissed her way down Rainbow’s neck, pausing at the hollow of her throat just above her breastbone, teasing the pegasus with her tongue while Lero played with her stomach and nipples.  Rainbow instinctively tried to pull away from the unicorn’s efforts, but the ropes held her tight, preventing her from moving away.  Twilight’s lips wandered to the side, her muzzle finding its way across Rainbow’s lower shoulder… and settling under her wing, in a spot that Lero’s prior attention had left achingly sensitive.  Rainbow tried to jerk away, partially because of the role she was playing and partially because a small part of her brain was fighting her, thinking only that this was another mare, that she didn’t like mares that way… but again the ropes held fast.  That gave her enough time to realize that this wasn’t just another mare, this was Twilight, the filly who’d become her closest friend, the closest thing she’d ever had to a female lover in her life.  Someone she trusted, just as much as she trusted her human stallion, and someone that she loved.  The thought let her fight past her reluctance, especially with the ropes keeping her from drawing away, and let the warm pleasure brought about by the soft touch of Twilight’s lips and tongue wash through her body.  It surged through her suddenly as she stopped trying to fight her way clear, feeling remarkably like a dam breaking.

        “Nnngh!” she grunted, as the pleasure built into almost a pressure in her hindquarters.  Twilight looked up at her, violet eyes gleaming eagerly and a flush spreading across her face as Rainbow stopped trying to actually escape and concentrated on simply pulling against the strong silk ropes.  “Let… let me… go…”  She writhed against the ropes, her muscles straining as they fought fruitlessly to pull her free, even though that was the last thing she actually wanted.  The sensation of fighting, combined with the pleasure racing through her body, made her start panting.

        Twilight smiled.  “Mm… should we let her go, my beautiful?”

        Lero chuckled against Rainbow’s belly.  “Let’s see how long she holds out first.”

        The unicorn looked back up at their captive.  “Well, prisoner, you heard Hammer Strike.  We want to see how long you can last before you come.”  She chuckled, licking an amazingly sensitive little place over Rainbow’s flight muscle.  “I don’t think it will be long at all.”  Twilight moved again, nibbling her way up Rainbow’s neck.  “Make her come for me, beautiful.  I want to see her come.”  The unicorn said to their stallion, before whispering in Rainbow’s ear, “Hold out as long as you can, and I’ll give you a present.”

        Oh, there was a new thrill.  Now she had a challenge.  A test.  New pleasure flooded her at the idea, and she fought it back, struggling against both the ropes and her own body as she tried to keep the pleasure at a low level, not high enough for her to orgasm.

        Lero’s hands slipped down her belly, down between her hind legs, in order to provide that challenge.  She groaned quietly as his nimble, soft fingers found her vulva, and started poking and probing, massaging gently and sending more warm ecstasy washing through her.  She bit her lip, trying to focus on the feel of that instead of the feeling of her lover between her legs, but Twilight saw it.  The unicorn shifted, moving away from kissing the erogenous zone under Rainbow’s wing and instead brushing her lips across the pegasus’s, teasing her with soft touches that kept her from focusing on the pain of her teeth catching her lip.  Rainbow made a wordless sound of protest, trying to turn her head away, but to her thrill Twilight didn’t let her.  The unicorn caught her head, holding Rainbow still with her foreleg while she kissed and nibbled at the pegasus’s lips, not giving her so much as a moment’s respite.  At the moment that Twilight caught her, Lero’s fingers pushed slowly, oh so slowly into her, and the ropes prevented her attempts to move her hips away from his touch.

        Oh, this felt amazing.  Not really the part where she was getting dominated; while it was kinky, it wasn’t her favorite.  She really preferred being on the other end of that.  What was great was the way they were going about dominating her; they were trying to seduce her, and focusing intently on bringing her pleasure.  Having both of them paying this much attention to her was a heady experience, almost eclipsing the physical pleasure it was causing.

        Lero changed his tactics.  Rainbow felt his fingers slip out of her, sliding around to gather up the lubrication that had spilled out as a product of her arousal, and then slide further down.  The pegasus felt sudden uncertainty surge through her as his fingers gently stroked her anus, touching and poking at the tight sphincter.  It felt almost shockingly good, pleasure shooting through her with every little poke of his finger against the tightly-closed hole, but at the same time it made her uneasy.  Their one prior attempt at anal intercourse had been more than a bit uncomfortable, and though she’d actually kinda liked having his fingers poking around back there, he hadn’t repeated it.  Mostly because he knew that having his penis pushed in there had hurt more than a little, and he’d been shy about playing with that hole again.  Was he thinking about doing it again, where she couldn’t stop him?  She didn’t think so…

        Rainbow moaned against Twilight’s lips as Lero’s finger poked harder against the opening of her anus, pushing gradually at first, then harder.  Her ears had laid flat back against her neck as the sensations enveloped her.  She bucked her hips against him, writhing in an attempt to get away, but he was inexorable, and Twilight held her head immobile, still kissing her.  Lero’s finger finally overwhelmed her resistance, pushing into her anus despite her best efforts.  More pleasure spiked through her at the tiny violation, the tip of his finger working inside her, while his mouth descended to her vulva.  There was no way she’d be able to hold out for much longer.

        Rainbow’s hips bucked again, involuntarily, her rear hooves curling while Lero’s finger worked slowly to widen her anus.  His tongue licked just as slowly, exploring every inch of her vulva, giving her occasional spikes of pleasure as the tip of it wandered underneath the hood of skin that shielded her clit.  The human pushed his finger further into her, his work at relaxing her sphincter bearing fruit as he was able to get deeper, and the pleasure of the feeling built.  She didn’t have anything else to focus on; Twilight’s body lay against her, the unicorn’s warm chest and belly rubbing up against the sweet spot under her wing, while she held Rainbow’s head trapped between her foreleg and her lips, and Lero’s body was hot between her legs, stimulating both holes relentlessly.  Despite her best efforts, she wasn’t going to be able to hold out much longer.

        “Well?”  Twilight whispered, “Feel like telling me where your camp is, yet?”

        “N… never…”  Rainbow gasped in a squeaky whisper, writhing against the ropes that held her as Lero’s finger carefully teased her anus further open.  She felt herself getting more control over it, figuring out how to close it around his finger and how to relax it so it gaped a bit when he pulled at it.  Not a lot, but his finger wasn’t that big.  Oh my gosh, this feels amazing.  How come I never talked him into doing this again?

        “I’m impressed,” Twilight whispered, her lips brushing lightly against Rainbow’s ear.  “You’re stronger than I thought, Silverwing.  Most mares would be telling me all their secrets by now.”  She laughed, the sound low and confident.  “She’s close to the edge, beautiful,” the unicorn said to Lero.  “Just a bit more, and she’ll go over.”

        Lero pushed his finger in and out, her anus clenching around it to get more sensation, while his tongue delved into her vagina.  She moaned quietly, climax rapidly approaching.  The pegasus was barely even pulling on the ropes, instead just letting them hold her while Lero and Twilight stoked the sensations blazing through her.

        Finally, she couldn’t hold it off anymore.  Her body convulsed in the grip of the ropes, her anus clenching down spastically on Lero’s finger and her wing inadvertently embracing Twilight, though Rainbow wasn’t about to complain about having the unicorn held close as the orgasm rocked her.  She came hard, the kinkiness of the game fanning her pleasure, and the feel of Lero’s finger in her backside pushing it even further.  She could feel it even amidst the ecstasy, the texture of it plain inside her with her sphincter closed tightly around it.  Her stallion’s tongue kept working, heightening the pleasure she felt even as she shuddered in the grip of her orgasm.

        She finally relaxed, panting, her muscles quivering.  That one had taken a fair bit out of her… and Lero and Twilight were only just getting started.

        “Oh, my,”  Twilight murmured.  “Goodness, I don’t know how many of those you can take, pretty little thing.  Sure you don’t want to tell me what I want to know?”

        Rainbow shook her head, swallowing hard.  “N-never.”

        Twilight smiled.  “Hm.  Well, it would be a shame to stop now, wouldn’t it?  Hammer Strike, dear, let’s switch.  I want a taste of Silverwing, and I think you could come up here and enjoy yourself.  You’ve earned a little indulgence.”

        Lero pushed himself up, his finger sliding away from Rainbow’s anus, and Twilight stepped around the bed to take his place.  Rainbow quivered; she was still a little uncertain about Twilight doing what Lero had been doing, but not enough to call it off.  “Hammer Strike,” she whispered, “You don’t have to do this.  Come with me.  Help me escape.  You’d be treated like a person in Thunderhead, not a consort.  Please.  Please.”

        Lero touched her cheek gently.  “It’s tempting,” he whispered back, “you… you’re special, Silverwing.  But Ebonhorn…”

        “Then let me wear her out,” Rainbow replied, also whispering.  “Let her exhaust herself with me, and when she’s done, you and I can get out of here.”  She glanced at Twilight, who she knew was listening and whose eyes were gleaming eagerly.  “Do your worst, tyrant.  I can endure.”

        Twilight didn’t need any further encouragement.  Flashing Rainbow a grin that was pure Twilight and not really Ebonhorn at all, the unicorn ducked her head down between Rainbow’s tied-down legs.  Twilight’s nose was soft, and her tongue lashed quickly against the pegasus’s vulva before Rainbow felt her friend press her face against her groin and push her tongue in.  Rainbow arched her back at the feel… it was still a tiny, tiny bit uncomfortable, having another mare between her legs like that, but wow did it feel surprisingly good, and her reluctance was vanishing quickly.  Twilight’s tongue was a lot longer than Lero’s and the filly went to work with a will.  And holy Celestia was she going deep, almost as deep as when Lero was rutting her.

        Rainbow met Lero’s eyes.  “I…nn… I’ll wear her out.”  She paused, trying to muster her voice. “Use… uh… use my mouth, Hammer Strike.”  Lero looked at Rainbow in surprise, and she fought to keep her voice steady.  “Your mistress wants… hah… wants you to enjoy yourself and… uh… I’m just a toy to her.  Do it.”  She licked her lips, moistening them.  “She told you to do it.  Shouldn’t you?”  She dropped to a whisper again.  “She’ll be suspicious… nnng… if you don’t.”

        Lero leaned down to whisper in her ear.  “Uh… don’t you think this is pushing it too far, love?”

        “It’s in character,” she whispered back, panting from Twilight‘s ministrations.  “C’mon, go ahead.  hah, hah, I’ll crane my head back, you just kneel up at the head of the bed and put it in my mouth.  You’re supposed to uh be kinda uncomfortable with it, so it’s fine.”  As long as it didn’t make him actually uncomfortable, anyway, but she figured he’d stop if it did.

        Frowning, Lero repositioned himself.  He knelt on the pillow as Rainbow had asked, and she had a good, close-up view of his erect member, his balls hanging down underneath it.  Rainbow craned her head back, laying the top of her head along the bed while Lero leaned over her body, his hands supporting his weight, and Rainbow opened her mouth wide.  The human gingerly moved forward, his member pointing straight ahead, and Rainbow stuck out her tongue to guide him into her mouth.

        He gingerly eased the head of his penis into her eagerly waiting mouth, and she gently closed her lips around it.  She wouldn’t be able to move her head enough to give him oral properly, so he’d have to supply the motion.  Rainbow wasn’t worried; even playing a character, there was no way he’d try to drive his penis down her throat, or choke her with it, or anything like that.  That just wouldn’t be him.  She was glad she’d gotten him to go this far, actually; she kinda liked giving him oral, and she wished he’d let her do it more.  He did it for her all the time, and he even brought her to orgasm regularly using his mouth and tongue.  He’d never once come in her mouth; she was a little curious about how it would feel, but she doubted he’d do it today, either.

        With his member positioned in Rainbow’s mouth, her lips wrapped tightly around it, he started moving.  He rocked his hips back and forth in a slow, gentle motion, being very careful not to push forward too much.  Rainbow enjoyed the feel of it slipping along her lips, the head of it pushing against her tongue, while his balls waved in the air in front of her eyes.  He was being very slow, very careful.  It wasn’t completely in character for Hammer Strike; under conditions like this, he would probably be a little bit rough with Silverwing, especially considering that Ebonhorn was right there pushing him to do it, but it was exactly what she’d expect from Lero.  Getting rough with her when she couldn’t get rough back would be pretty counter to what turned him on, so this kind of gentleness was pretty much expected.  She actually didn’t think she’d even consider doing this, using her mouth while tied up, for anyone but him, but for Lero she was more than willing.  Her breath came fast through her nose as she kept her lips fastened around him, and he moved slowly and gently.  She moved her head as much as she could, trying to get enough motion to fellate him properly, but he refused to push as far as she wanted him to.  He didn’t have to force her to deep-throat him, but he could get a little further into her mouth if he wanted to!  She contented herself with positioning her tongue so the head of his penis pushed against it on his thrust.  The corners of her mouth turned up in a smile as she worked; he might have been a little reluctant, but she knew he was probably enjoying this some.  He’d stop when he wasn’t.  He just... had to be pushed sometimes, into doing things that he was ambivalent about.

        Down between her legs, Twilight redoubled her efforts as Lero joined in at the other end.  The unicorn clearly didn’t want to be forgotten (not that that was likely) and was determined to make her presence felt.  And oh, was it ever felt, the surges of pleasure brought about by the unicorn’s tongue and occasional, very careful nibbles making Rainbow’s eyes first cross, then squeeze shut ecstatically.

        Oddly enough, even though this was technically a submissive position, Rainbow didn’t feel like she was being dominated.  Even tied down, with her stallion basically rutting her face, she felt more or less in control, which was hot.  She was moving almost as much as he was, sucking as much as she could, and she felt like he was actually serving her, especially since he didn‘t really care for having her suck him off like this.  Twilight was sort of serving her, too, as the unicorn’s tongue lapped inside her over and over.  She pulled on the ropes, trying to inch closer to Lero, to get more of him into her mouth as her pleasure built.  This was the first time she’d felt anything like this, the pleasure mounting in her hindquarters while she felt his member slipping along her lips, and she wanted more of it.  She wanted to feel him in her mouth while she came, and she kinda wanted to see what it would feel like if he came like this, but she knew he wouldn’t.  He was deeply uncomfortable with the idea of ejaculating into her mouth, or Twilight’s for that matter, and had flat-out told her that he would likely never do it.  He was okay with doing stuff like this for a little while, though, as long as it was fairly early on and he didn’t have to worry about being close to coming.

        All of that was okay.  This was great, though she was starting to wonder how it would feel when Lero and Twilight switched places, which she was pretty sure they were planning to do.  Then, she’d wind up finding out how it felt to be dominated, with Lero pleasuring himself between her legs and her face between Twilight’s.  Oh, man, the image of them kissing with her body between them like that…

        The pleasure suddenly spiked, and she made a muffled “Mmph!” sound around her lover’s member.  He pulled out immediately, scooting back to look at her.

        “Are you okay?”

        She nodded.  “Yeah, yeah, I’m fine.  I’m fixing to come, put it back in my mouth.”

        His eyebrows went up.  “Um.  Sometimes you grit your teeth when you come…”

        She shook her head. “I’d never, ever do that to you, not in a million years.  C’mon, please?”  She was slipping out of character a bit, she knew it, but that was okay.

        He gave her a slightly dubious look.  “Well, if you’re sure.”  Lero carefully repositioned himself, and Rainbow again laid her head back to take him into her mouth.  This posture made her feel so exposed; not only was her body stretched out and immobile, unable to stop Twilight from slowly making love to her with her tongue, but her neck was stretched out and vulnerable with Lero’s penis in her mouth.  Just as she had the thought, he emphasized it by gently running his hand along her exposed throat, his soft fingers tracing the delicate line of her windpipe.  It gave her a shivery feeling, and she tried to redouble her efforts, sucking as quickly and strongly as she could manage with her reduced mobility in an effort to show her appreciation.

        “Push your tongue in and hold it,” she heard Lero suggest to Twilight, “just keep it pushed in and wiggle the very tip of it.”  The unicorn followed his advice, pushing her muzzle hard against Rainbow’s genitals and shoving her tongue in as far as it would go.  The ecstasy of the feeling made Rainbow buck her hips in eager little motions, the feeling of Twilight’s nose against her almost drowning her in pleasure, added to the sensation of Lero’s penis in her mouth.  It tasted salty, and she could feel tiny drops of liquid oozing out of the tip and onto her tongue as it pushed in, slipping back and forth between her moist lips.  She could feel her mouth watering, a bit of saliva escaping from her mouth and slipping down him as he carefully thrust in and out.  Rainbow saw a single drop of it ooze down his scrotum to drip off of his testes.

        She fought against the ropes, wanting to grab Lero around the waist and pull him closer, to get him deeper into her mouth and feel the hot hardness of him against her tongue, but she couldn’t.  All she could do was grip him with her lips, not wanting to let him slip back out, and revel in the feel of him pressing against the back of her tongue when he pushed back in.

        Twilight’s tongue inside her finally proved too much to resist.  Her body quivered with a second impending orgasm, and she groaned quietly around Lero’s member.  She pushed her head as far forward as she could, and he stopped his motion, sensing what she wanted.  Moments later, Twilight pushed her over the edge, and her rose-colored eyes squeezed shut.  Her body shuddered and quivered, pulling as hard as she could and hearing the bed frame creak as another powerful orgasm wracked her.  Lero’s member felt wonderful in her mouth, hot, hard flesh filling her as the pleasure of Twilight’s tongue washed through her.

        Her body finally relaxed, and she panted around the intruding mass of the penis in her mouth.  Lero pulled back out, sensing that she needed a short break, and Twilight lifted her head from the pegasus’s spread legs.

        “Well, Silverwing?”  Twilight asked slightly breathlessly.  “Do you feel like talking now?”

        “N-…. no….” she panted, trying to catch her breath before they started again.  Yeah, like she was going to stop this now.  Not a chance.  Neither Lero nor Twilight had come yet.

        “Well, then, you’ve had a good time with us.  I think it’s time you returned the favor.”  Twilight’s hoof caressed her still-sensitive vulva, rubbing softly and making Rainbow arch her back.  “Hammer Strike, I think it’s time you had some fun.  Her mouth can be mine.”

        Lero glanced down at Rainbow, meeting her half-lidded eyes as she panted and fought to catch her breath.  She nodded, swallowing hard, and he matched her nod.  The human got up and moved around the bed, while Twilight mirrored him, moving around to Rainbow’s front.

        Twilight caressed the pegasus’s cheek.  “Well, my pretty little thing,” she said, still in Ebonhorn’s voice, “the free ride stops now.  If you won’t talk, then I can find some other uses for your mouth.”  The unicorn smiled lasciviously.  Wow, she was really getting into this game; she was holding to character better than either Rainbow or Lero were.  She turned around, lifting her long, straight tail and giving Rainbow a perfect view of her damp vulva and tightly puckered anus.  The unicorn smiled over her shoulder.  “You should know what to do.”  She turned back to look at Lero.  “I left her nice and wet for you, beautiful.”  Rainbow couldn’t see, but she felt Lero’s hands gently caress her inner thighs, rubbing her softly.  He lifted her, sliding some pillows underneath her hips to hold her a little higher, making her more accessible.  She felt her arousal building again, even before she felt the tip of his member at her achingly sensitive vulva.  His knees slid under her thighs as he got himself into position.

        Twilight had indeed left her nice and wet; her stallion’s member pushed into her with almost no resistance, slipping right in with a slight squish as the lubrication inside her did its job.  She gasped, bucking her hips a bit to enjoy the feeling of him in her.

        Twilight’s hips slid back, and Rainbow leaned her head forward to bury her muzzle in them.  She didn’t really know what she was doing; she’d never pleasured another mare like this, never really thought about the right way to do it, but she tried to do what she thought would feel good if she was in Twilight’s position.

        The thought of switching positions, of having Twilight bound and at her mercy, feeling the  unicorn’s face in her nethers while Lero rutted her, holding that slender lavender body pinned writhing to the bed while she and Lero pleasured themselves with her, filled her with a sudden rush of lust.  Oh, this was great, she had no complaints, even though the idea of being dominated like this wasn’t especially titillating to her.  It was still massively hot, knowing how much pleasure her lovers were taking in what they were doing, and knowing that she was giving them that pleasure.  The image would not leave her head, though, and the idea of kissing Lero over Twilight’s pinned-down body drove her to greater efforts, trying to give Twilight an echo of the pleasure her fantasies were bringing.  Only fair to share, and she also found the idea of pushing the unicorn to the peak was far more delicious than she’d expected.  The image of Twilight’s smile, the remembered feel of her lips as they kissed, the sparkle in her eye when she told some incredibly nerdy joke that Rainbow laughed at anyway... all of it was suddenly heating her entire body up like it hadn’t before.  Oh, she’d been totally right to play this game; pushing her boundaries had broken through her last bit of reluctance, and she was glad for it.

        Rainbow’s tongue flickered and lashed while Lero pushed in and out, and she heard Twilight making the loud groans she liked to make when she was feeling good.  The sound augmented the pleasure that Lero was bringing her as he thrust in and out.  She couldn’t see Twilight’s face, but she could see the glow of her horn as her arousal built, and see her ears suddenly swivel back and lay flat.

        “R- uuuuuhhh… Rut her h-harder, beautiful.”  Twilight groaned, grinding her hips back against Rainbow’s face.  Lero’s rhythm increased in both speed and force, driving himself into Rainbow over and over again with the smack of flesh against flesh.  She could feel the softness of his balls slapping against her, and every stroke brought new pleasure, as the ropes bit into her ankles, preventing his thrusts from pushing her across the bed.

        Twilight leaned forward, and the brief fantasy Rainbow had entertained earlier was fulfilled.  The unicorn kissed Lero deeply, her forehooves resting on Rainbow’s belly while Lero’s hands stroked the pegasus’s sides.  She lay beneath and between them as their lips fastened together, feeling her muscles writhe and their warm bodies press down on her.

        After the kiss broke, Twilight’s moans grew louder.  Lero’s hand found its way down to Rainbow’s clit, and he added the occasional stroke or tweak to the intensely sensitive little nub, stealing her breath every time he did.

        Reminded, she pushed her tongue into the little hood that hid Twilight’s clit.  The unicorn froze, her whole body tensing up intensely, as Rainbow teased it out of its hiding place and fastened her lips around it.

        Twilight came fast, as Rainbow had expected. The unicorn’s body bent down toward her, and a few drops of fluid squirted from her vagina onto Rainbow’s nose, dripping down the pegasus’s chin.  Twilight’s moans were so loud they were almost a scream, and Rainbow kept her lips fastened around the unicorn’s clit, sucking as hard as she could.  Twilight’s orgasm went on and on, the little sparks shooting out of her horn continually illuminating the bedroom and striking Lero’s body repeatedly.  Rainbow fought back a smile as she realized that despite their relative positions, the unicorn was completely at her mercy.  She was frozen in place, pleasure holding her completely immobile while the orgasms ripped through her.

        Rainbow kept it up until she came, which happened just a little while later.  Lust from knowing the power she held over Twilight combined with the pleasure of what Lero was doing between her legs, and it finally overcame her own resistance.  She gasped, losing her grip on the unicorn’s clit as her body lost coordination again, and Twilight slumped down against her, panting hard.  The unicorn collapsed over to the side, her legs still draped over Rainbow’s body but her own body lying on the bed, panting hard and gasping.  Her backside pinned Rainbow’s wing to the bed, the stiffly-extended limb quivering under Twilight’s hip.

        By the time Rainbow’s orgasm ended, Lero was getting close.  His thrusts were losing coordination, becoming erratic, a sure sign that he was about to come.

        He pulled out completely exactly when Rainbow had expected him to hilt himself in her, to her great surprise.  Breathing hard, he looked down, and she felt the tip of his penis poking at her anus.  Rainbow gasped, tensing, wondering if he was planning to slam it in, and she tried to writhe away, but the ropes wouldn’t let her.  She was about to protest, but decided to wait and see what in the world he was planning; she couldn’t imagine him hurting her.

        Instead of fully penetrating her, which Rainbow knew full well would hurt, he carefully pushed just the head of his penis into her.  Her anus clenched frantically around it, fighting to keep him from going any deeper, but he wasn’t trying to do that.  Instead, he wiggled it a bit, then bent his body toward her, supporting himself by resting his hands on her belly as he came.  Her eyes widened as he unloaded, feeling sticky globs of semen shooting into her anus.  It was so warm, and for some reason that was all she could think as he pumped the fluid into her.

        Rainbow was honestly shocked.  To pull out like that at the last moment, to chose to ejaculate into her anus instead of her vagina without even pushing it in very deep… that was one of the most submissive acts a stallion could perform.  It was saying he wasn’t worthy to give her foals, that his sperm was lower quality than she deserved.

        …And after a fraction of a second’s contemplation, it was completely in-character for the role he’d been playing.  Hammer Strike didn’t consider himself worthy of Silverwing.  He thought she was better than he deserved.  It was part of why she’d managed to talk him into releasing her and escaping with her; she’d felt he could be better, and he’d wanted to believe her.  If he’d faced the situation Lero had been in, he’d probably have done almost exactly the same thing, though he’d probably have tried to hide what he’d done.

        He pulled out and met her eyes, both of them breathing hard… and she realized that he knew exactly what it had meant.

        “Why?”  She asked, panting.

        “It seemed like what he would do,” he replied, breathlessly.  The human glanced down.  “Hold on a second, I’ll be right back.”

        He stepped out, leaving Rainbow tied on the bed with Twilight half-draped over her, both of them soaked in sweat.  Rainbow’s lips curved in a smile as she mentally ran over everything that had happened; that had been amazing.  She had no complaints whatsoever, though she was thinking about how it might be even hotter to have Twilight in her place.  It was actually pretty hot to have the unicorn breathing hard and nestled against her side like this, too.

        Lero came back just a few moments later, carrying a damp cloth.  He knelt down at the foot of the bed, and she felt the cool sensation of the cloth against her anus.  She gratefully relaxed, letting the fluid spill out and letting him clean her.  It actually felt surprisingly nice, feeling him gently clean her backside.

        Rainbow bent her head to the side, where her other lover lay collapsed against her, kissing Twilight’s exposed genitals.  It was something of a reach, but Rainbow was limber.  The unicorn twitched and squeaked, as Rainbow’s lips caressed her.  “Rainbow!” she gasped, “No more, no more, I give up!”  Twilight cleared her throat.  “I mean, I… Silverwing, you have impressed me.  I… I’ll release you in the morning.  Just please, let me rest!”

        Rainbow chuckled, relaxing against the bonds as Lero carefully cleaned her backside, flashing a smile at her when she met his eyes.  “Shall I consider you vanquished, then?”

        “Yes, absolutely.”  Twilight pushed herself up wearily, kissing Rainbow’s belly and giving her groin a slow, careful lick.  “You have cast me down, Silverwing, defeated me at… I’m sorry, Rainbow, I can’t think straight.”  She kissed the pegasus’s belly again, smiling.  “And thank you, so much, for giving me a chance.  Did you enjoy it?”

        “Oh heck yeah,” Rainbow said with a happy sigh, stretching a bit.  Pulling against the ropes like she’d done had been one heck of a workout, and her muscles were feeling a little sore.  “That was seriously, seriously hot, Twilight.  Surprised me.”

        Twilight blushed, looking a little shy.  It was both adorable and remarkably sexy.  “So… you think you’d be okay if I asked to make love to you again?”

        Rainbow grinned.  “Yeah, I could do that.  We wouldn’t even need the ropes next time.” She pulled a little, but not hard.  She hadn’t asked them to untie her yet; she figured she’d let them decide.  “Hey, uh…”  Rainbow bit her lip.  “Next time we do use the ropes, though… would you mind being the one tied up?  This was great, don’t get me wrong, but I could not stop thinking about what it would be like to be where you were, and having you where I was.”

        Twilight flushed more deeply.  “I… could try it.  Was it scary?”

        The pegasus chuckled.  “A little, at first.  Then it got hot.”

        “Speaking of hot,” Lero said, setting the cloth aside and running his finger along Rainbow’s backside, checking to make sure he’d gotten the mess cleaned up and sending a shiver of pleasure through her in the process.  “You haven’t asked us to untie you.  Did you want to come again?”

        Rainbow laughed, shivering again.  “Aw, you don’t have to…”

        Lero shot a sidelong look at Twilight, winking.  “What, really?  You don’t want both of us to work together, all to make you feel good?”  Twilight met the pegasus’s eyes, too, her eyelids lowered, and smiled.

        Rainbow’s whole body got hot at the suggestion.  Oh.  Wow.

        “And you know,” he said with a sly smile, “It isn’t like you can stop us.”  He glanced at Twilight again.  “Feeling up to it, Twilight?”

        “I did promise her a present, didn’t I?”  Twilight carefully untangled her limbs from Rainbow’s and stood slowly, careful not to step on her lover’s wing, and shifted around next to Lero so both of them were between the pegasus’s widely-spread legs.  It made Rainbow shiver, and lust surge through her, feeling their mingled body heat on her inner thighs.  Twilight kissed their stallion, looking at Rainbow while she did it.  “Hmm… ready for your present, Rainbow Dash?”

        An eager shiver gripped her body.  “Uh, yeah.  Heck yeah.  If you guys seriously want to, I am totally game.”

        They both bent down, pressing against each other as they sought Rainbow out.  Lero started nibbling, tiny light little nips along her inner thigh, while Twilight kissed and teased Rainbow’s privates.  Pleasure surged through her as she felt the sensations of two very different individuals, both working to pleasure her; Twilight’s coat was rough, while Lero’s smooth skin slid against her.  Everyone involved was covered in sweat by now, and the wet feeling added a new dimension of sensation.  Twilight and Lero’s lips met against Rainbow’s vulva, and her eyes crossed at the feeling, her head bending up and back for a moment before she conquered the reflex, looking down again to watch.  They kissed each other and her, their tongues sliding against each other and against her.  Rainbow couldn’t stifle a quiet moan, as both her lovers started carefully working their tongues around her.

        “Oh… m-my gosh, you guys… that’s…”  Rainbow couldn’t properly form words.  She pulled against the ropes, looking down to watch Lero and Twilight, their cheeks pressed together as they competed for access to her.  Rainbow had a sudden, vivid fantasy, about how it might work if Lero had decided to make love to Twilight instead; the two of them could be coupling while they did this, their bodies writhing together between her legs, their breath gusting across her, getting faster and less coordinated… that would be something for next time.  She would absolutely mention that fantasy when they were done; she was sure they would like it.

        Lero and Twilight’s motions suddenly slowed a bit, and they stopped playfully trying to push the other away in order to get to Rainbow.  Instead their lips met, and in unison they kissed her vulva. They both started licking slowly, cooperatively, helping each other out and guiding each other.  Their tongues slid into her simultaneously, and Rainbow had to stifle a whine of pure ecstasy at the feeling of it.  Both of them, gently spreading her open with nothing but their tongues, licking and probing and seeking the most sensitive parts.  She couldn’t get away from it, couldn’t do anything to mute it, she could just pull on the ropes and quiver as her lovers slowly, gradually brought her to her peak.

        She came, finally, and they worked to make it last.  Twilight shifted, pushing her tongue into Rainbow, while Lero moved to keep his lips flicking against her clit.  This was a long one, as Twilight worked to get her back for earlier, and when she finally relaxed, shuddering, the unicorn moved up the bed and draped her body half across her, laying her head on the pegasus’s chest.  “Good?”

        “Huh… huh… amazing…” Rainbow gasped, panting.  “Huh… okay, can you guys… huh… untie me now?”  Her muscles were cramping a bit from the exertion of fighting the ropes.

        “Of course,” Lero said, and his nimble fingers worked quickly to undo the knots.  It took him a little effort; she’d managed to tighten a couple of them pretty good with her struggles, but they finally came loose.  Rainbow relaxed with a sigh of relief, turning a bit to wrap her hindlegs around Twilight’s body and embrace the unicorn’s head with her forelegs.  Lero lay down next to her and did something similar, keeping Twilight snuggled between their bodies while he lifted Rainbow’s head enough to put an arm around her shoulders.  She cuddled up against both of them, feeling doubly relaxed after the strained tension of her bound posture and deliciously sated.  One of Lero’s hands found her foreleg, and started gently working on her slightly sore muscles, a light, one-handed massage that felt surprisingly soothing.  He liked to do that after their bondage games, and she had no complaints at all.

        Rainbow lifted her free wing, working it a little to make sure it was relaxed, and draped it over both of her lovers, glancing down briefly to make sure she wouldn’t be smothering Twilight by covering her face, and then letting her eyes drift slowly closed.  She luxuriated in the warmth of their bodies and in the closeness and trust she felt toward both of them.  Warm relief washed through her; this had gone exactly the way she’d hoped.  The budding attraction she’d felt toward Twilight had blossomed, something she’d feared would never happen.  She’d been afraid this would wind up like her other attempt to be with another mare, in discomfort and disappointment, but the close bond she’d already felt with the unicorn had allowed something beautiful to happen instead.

        Rainbow smiled, stroking both lovers gently with her wing.  They were going to have to try this game again sometime.

This wonderful story has been brought to you by the incredible mind of AnonAuthor.  Say thanks everypony.

Living the Dream (by AnonAuthor)

“Dash! Hey!”

Rainbow Dash glanced down at the street she was flying past, seeing a tall figure waving one long arm to catch her attention.  She felt strange for a second, like she wasn’t moving at all, but the sensation quickly vanished. She banked hard, swooping around and backwinging to land with pinpoint accuracy right in front of the tall human. Probably just wants somepony to talk to, she thought, glancing around at the ponies on the street. None of this bunch will.  Her mouth twisted sourly for a brief instant.  I wish more ponies would give the poor guy a chance.

Lero only had a few friends at the moment, though Rainbow had been trying to change that. It had upset her a little, those few times she’d seen through the stolid mask he wore and got hints about how lonely the poor creature felt. How alien he felt. It was kinda heartbreaking, and it was why she tried so freaking hard to make sure she spent some time hanging around him most days, as well as why she was trying to make sure to introduce him to ponies who might be willing to give him a chance. Like Lyra; she’d been a little surprised at how well the quiet, cheerful unicorn had taken to the tall biped.

“Hey, what’s up?” Rainbow was glad to be flagged down, actually. She knew he’d been a bit shy about seeking out the friends he’d made, even though all of them enjoyed his company. He kept saying he didn’t want to intrude, which was just dumb. She was happy to spend time with him, and so were Fluttershy and Twilight. Rarity liked him too; the elegant unicorn was quite taken by the human’s politeness and manners, though Rainbow preferred it when he was less formal. Lyra... Lyra seemed quietly fascinated.  It was subtle, subdued, as was Lyra’s  way, but Rainbow could see the curiosity and interest in the unicorn’s golden eyes whenever she was in the human’s company. Maybe she had kind of a thing for him. That’d be funny.

The pegasus glanced aside as she settled to the ground and folded her wings, feeling a gaze on her from somewhere. Three gazes, actually, from three mares; one cream-coated, and the other two sporting coats that were different shades of pink. They stared at Lero with wide, frightened eyes, like they did nearly every time the human passed them in the street. She’d gotten incredibly tired of seeing those three freak out about him over the last few weeks, and she knew it upset him a little to know that he could be so feared. And it was just stupid, anyway; he’d never shown the slightest desire to hurt anypony, quite the opposite.

Rainbow felt irritation rising in her throat. He didn’t need to be hassled by these dumb fillies, and he sure as heck didn’t deserve it. “Hey!” she snapped, “Why don’t you stare harder? I don’t think he’s eaten yet!”

She regretted it almost the instant she said it, and all three mares’ eyes got huge. “Oh, no! He could eat us!” one gasped. “The horror! The horror!” shouted another, before all three wheeled about and bolted down the street.  Oddly, none of the other ponies around reacted.

Rainbow covered her eyes with one forehoof, making a frustrated sound in her throat. You dumb bunch of goofuses. There’s three of you, and you’re all earth ponies. Yeah, none of you are an Applejack or anything, but you’re still like twice as strong as he is each. He’s got way more reason to be scared of you. You don’t see him freaking out and running!  Dummies.

She heard a snort, and then the human’s voice said dryly, “Well. Thanks for that, Dash. I’m sure they’ll be much less scared of me in the future.”

“Heh, with a face like yours, they can’t really help it.” Rainbow retorted, reflexively, not even thinking about what she said.  “Scary stuff.”  She grinned at him.

Lero chuckled. “You sure it was my face that scared ‘em? You had just landed…”

That made Rainbow giggle. This was another part of why she’d taken to hanging around him; he didn’t get mad when she reflexively insulted him. Like, not ever, which was unusual enough that it made her want to hang around all the time. He generally gave back as good as he got, and in such a good-humored way that she didn’t even get mad back. She hovered up into the air and shoved him playfully with her forehoof, conceding this exchange and making him grin, too. “So, didya need something?”

“Yeah, you got a minute?”

Rainbow cocked her head curiously, settling back down to the ground again. “Sure. What’s up?” She tilted her head, searching his face and trying to determine what kind of mood he was in. It wasn’t hard, but it wasn’t effortless either; with the immobile ears that framed his face, his expressions were subtler than most ponies were used to. Rainbow, fortunately, had experience in reading beings like that; her friend Gilda had the same thing, and her face had been fairly rigid besides. Lero’s face was at least as mobile as an average pony’s, and to Rainbow’s searching look he didn’t seem upset. Slightly uneasy, maybe, just a tiny bit, but she’d seen him looking that way often enough to not worry excessively about it. She hoped that she’d be able to set him at ease, though. She really wanted to; she knew that he wasn’t all that happy here, and she wished she could fix that. As far as anypony could tell, he seemed to be stuck here, and she wanted him to be okay with that. She kinda liked having him around, after all.

Lero shrugged and knelt down, bringing his eyes level with hers. He folded his hands across his knee, a pose that looked comfortable and relaxed while still looking slightly formal. An odd dichotomy. “I just wanted to say, you know, thanks.”

Rainbow frowned. “Uh… for what?”

He shrugged again. “Well, you know, you’ve helped me out a lot. Since I got here, I mean.” The human fidgeted a bit. “You’ve gone pretty far out of your way to do it, too. Taken hours out of your day, most days, and you’ve put up with my dumb questions without getting impatient.” Rainbow’s brow furrowed again. His questions weren’t dumb, he just didn’t know how things worked. Heck, he was smarter than she was, by a good bit, probably, and sometimes his questions made her think about stuff that had never occurred to her before. He might not be Twilight-smart, but not too far from it, and she didn’t mind answering his questions at all. Before she could interject and tell him that, he continued, his expression earnest. “I just wanted to let you know I realized you were doing it, and to thank you. I don’t want to take your help for granted. So, well, thanks, I really do appreciate it.”

Rainbow felt a pleased flush spread through her body. She wasn’t helping because she wanted attention, she was just doing it because he was a friend and that’s what she did for friends when they needed it. At the same time, though, she had to admit it was nice to be noticed and appreciated. Especially when she hadn’t been expecting it.

She gave the human a cheerful smile, letting the warmth she felt show. “Aw, I can’t help it, big guy. You’re just so pathetic…”

He grinned, and a hand flashed out to ruffle the pegasus’s forelock. She tried to duck, but he still managed to catch her, his fingers tousling the flame-striped hair between her ears.  She didn’t duck away the second time; sometimes she did, when she felt playful and wanted to lure him into roughhousing, but this time she just grinned and let him ruffle her mane.  The pleased feeling got stronger, a warm, happy sensation growing in her chest, and she stuck her tongue out at him. “You’re quick.”

“Thanks.” His expression turned more serious. “Honestly, though, I really do appreciate everything you’ve done for me. Fluttershy and Twilight have helped out a ton, too, but you’ve spent more time with me than both of them combined. I’ve heard you standing up for me, too.”

Rainbow blinked. “Uh, you have?” She thought those times she’d gotten into arguments with ponies who’d said nasty things about him, he hadn’t been in earshot. There’d been a fight or two, too, which she was sure he hadn’t heard about.  She hoped he hadn’t, anyway.

Lero gave her a sidelong look. “A couple of times. And now I’m suddenly wondering how many times it’s happened.”

Whoops. Evidently he’d learned to read her while she was learning to read him. Rainbow’s wing twitched in an attempt at a nonchalant shrug. “Eh, once or twice. No big deal.”

Lero’s look turned shrewd, and she winced mentally. That had to mean he’d seen more than that. Oops again. She’d guessed based on the fact that he’d said “a couple of times,” and she’d evidently guessed wrong.

“Once or twice, eh?”

Shoot, how many has he seen? How many had there actually been, anyway? Six, maybe, counting the nasty stuff Honeydew said. Oh, wait, eight. Haymaker and Grandiloquence had said some pretty mean things, too, though Twilight had been in earshot and had chipped in the second time. Hearing her verbally slap down Grandiloquence even more eloquently than the other mare could manage had been a pleasure to watch.

“Uh… maybe three.” Rainbow replied, hesitantly. “Forgot one before.”

Lero sighed, and she could see in his face that she hadn’t fooled him.  He knew it was more. “Wow. I’m sorry, Dash, I didn’t realize I’d be bringing you this much trouble…”

“Hey!” she interrupted, containing a sudden rush of anger. She wasn’t mad at him, she was just angry about the whole situation; the poor guy hadn't asked to be here. He hadn’t tried to get himself stranded. It wasn’t bucking fair for him to have to worry about ponies who didn’t like him just because of what he looked like! She jabbed him with the hard tip of her forehoof, “Don’t apologize. You didn’t do anything, big guy, and don’t you dare say you brought me trouble. You’ve been busting your flank trying to figure out how to act around us. It is not your fault that some ponies don’t like you, and it’s my call if I wanna pick a fight with ‘em when they say nasty stuff about my friend where I can hear ‘em.  It’s those jerks who decided not to like you that’re the problem, not you.”  Rainbow’s look softened a bit, and she poked him again, more lightly.  “I stand up for my friends, Lero.  And you’re one of ‘em.  Never forget that.”

He caught her hoof to keep her from poking him again. “I won’t.”  The human gave her a smile that warmed her heart.  “And I understand, Dash.” He shrugged. “I just wish you didn’t have to keep standing up for me, or that it didn’t keep happening behind my back, so I could defend myself instead of making you do it.”

Rainbow nodded, though she still felt a little angry. “I can understand that, big guy. Totally.” She realized that he was still holding her forehoof, because she meant to poke him again, but for some reason she felt curiously okay with that, and didn’t try to pull it free.  Instead, she met his eyes, letting him see her anger at the situation and her sincerity. “But you gotta remember, you don’t need to worry if stuff’s going on behind your back, ‘cause I got your back.” She grinned. “Besides, I can watch it better than you can, with those itty bitty eyes of yours.” They weren’t that small, but they were smaller than pony eyes, and it was a good way to tease him.

He laughed, releasing her hoof, and she grinned at him. She liked the fact that she could make him laugh, even when he was upset; it made her feel appreciated.

“Well, we can’t all have those big old headlamps like you’ve got,” he said wryly, pointing at her eyes with two fingers and aiming his own gaze straight down the lines formed by the digits, making eye contact with her in the process. She might make jokes, but she did like his eyes; small or not, they had a pretty color.

“Yeah, I guess we can’t all be this awesome.” She smirked.

Lero snorted. “Watch it, your head may get too big. Might screw up your flight profile.”

“Lucky I’m good enough to handle it anyway, then!” Rainbow shot back, and stuck her tongue out playfully.

Lero snorted again, lifting a hand in a gesture of concession. “You might just be.” He stood up again. “Anyway, like I said, I just wanted to say thanks. Figured you might like knowing that I really do appreciate all you’ve done for me, and now I’ll let you get back to what you were doing!” He flashed her another smile. “See you later today?”

They were supposed to meet up sometime after lunch, just to hang out and see what they felt like doing. She had no intention of missing that, especially not now. Rainbow hovered up off the ground so she could stay at his eye level. “Count on it, big guy!”

“Right.” Lero nodded, turning to go on his way. “Later, then!”

She hovered in place, watching him go as he went down the street, smiling to herself. It really was nice to be appreciated, nice to have her efforts noticed like that. She could still feel the phantom sensation of his hand holding her hoof, his fingers wrapped around and lightly gripping the soft base of it. There was a warm, happy feeling in her chest, a quiet, simple pleasure at being thanked when she wasn’t expecting it. Heh, guess he was paying attention.

Her smile got a little wider, remembering the way his eyes looked when he smiled. He did have pretty eyes. And a nice smile. And, well, he had a pretty nice backside, too, which she’d gotten a good view of as he’d walked down the street. She kinda wished he didn’t cover it up all the time; how bad could it be, anyway? I don’t think it’s bad at all...

Of course, better than any of that was, well, him. He wasn’t like any guy she’d ever been around; if he hadn’t told her he was male, she’d have guessed he was a mare, in spite of his voice. He sure acted like one. Made him tons easier to talk to, which was nice because she liked talking to him. Tall and patchy-coated or not, he was a good guy.

And he had a nice smile.

Rainbow’s eyes suddenly widened. She froze in place, her wings locking up in shock and dropping to the ground on all fours.  It seemed like the sky turned odd colors for a brief instant.

Oh, no. Oh, no, no, no. Oh, blast it, it had been a while since she’d had a real, actual crush, and she hadn’t noticed the signs of one forming until right now. She felt trapped between that warm feeling at the prospect of seeing her friend again this afternoon, and a chill. Her crushes hadn’t worked out at all in the past, and she was worried. Lero... he just clicked with her, like no one she’d ever found before. He didn’t get mad when she blurted out something insulting, he laughed at her jokes, and on the occasions that she pushed a joke a little too far, he didn’t get upset, just told her quietly that she was pushing it. A friend like that was someone to be cherished for a pony like Rainbow Dash.

And now this stupid crush threatened that. She always did something dumb when she had a crush, from saying something stupid and insulting without thinking about what it sounded like, to trying to show off in a way that had nearly hurt the poor guy that one time.  Sometimes it was a lot of dumb things at once. Argh, she didn’t want to lose him as a friend just because she had this crazy fantasy that he might be more.

The heck was she thinking, anyway? He wasn’t even a pony! He was some kinda tall, half-bald sasquatch thing.

But he had pretty eyes. And a nice smile.

Rainbow sighed, covering her face with a forehoof. Argh. It wasn’t working. She was trying to convince herself what a bad idea this was, but she wasn’t listening. She was still getting that warm feeling in her chest when she pictured his smile, could still feel his soft fingers holding her forehoof.

Rainbow’s head drooped, her eyes squeezing shut. She was doomed. Doomed, and she’d lose a friend she’d come to care for deeply in the process.

The words echoed in her mind, and her head snapped up. No. No, I’m not gonna give up that easy. I can deal with this. The few friends she’d had last time she’d had a disaster had told her she should have taken it slower, been more gradual in her approach. She could try that. Instead of driving straight for the goal, she could hold back some; that seemed like a good idea anyway, since she kinda hoped this crush would fade so she didn’t have to worry about losing her friend to a bungled attempt at a romantic advance.

Rainbow squared herself, tossing her mane and forcing her ears up and forward. Yeah, she could do this. Totally. She was Rainbow Dash, the most awesome pegasus around! She could do anything!

She tried to ignore the quiet little fear that refused to vanish.

        There was a blurring sensation, time passing faster and losing definition as she stopped focusing on it.  It was confusing, but not strange; almost expected.  The sun rose, and set, but little else registered; it was like a smudge of conversation and interaction smeared across her mind.

The next week or so was... awkward. Rainbow tried not to show that burgeoning affection, she really did, but she found herself getting more... tactile than normal. Bumping against him and hugging him more than she had before. Lero didn’t object; to her mild frustration, he didn’t even seem to realize she was doing it, which was both maddening and a relief. She even caught herself nuzzling him in greeting a time or two, pressing her muzzle lightly against the curve of his jaw, just under his ear, in that gesture that said, “I’m glad to see you,” in a mildly intimate way. It helped that she could fly; it would have been difficult to reach him and still make it look casual otherwise. It had been almost automatic, unthinking, just hovering up to him, hugging him with a foreleg, and following through with a light nuzzle. He’d even figured out a way to return the gesture, after a fashion, curling the first two fingers of his hand and gently, briefly rubbing the corresponding spot on the side of Rainbow’s face with the extended knuckles. It was more rigid than a pony’s nose would have been, and smaller, but it was a reasonably close approximation and felt very nice, and her heart had soared briefly the first time he’d done it.

Of course, then she’d realized that he was trying to mimic her body language, something she’d seen him do repeatedly as he tried to fit in. He mirrored her, and other ponies, trying to act toward them the way they acted toward him. It was almost crushingly disappointing, but she persevered; he hadn’t actually shot her down. He hadn’t actually noticed, and even though that stung, it wasn’t his fault. And more importantly, he wasn’t actually rejecting her. Best of all, it meant she hadn’t screwed up and, one way or the other, he was still her friend.

Of course, as it got harder for her to act normally around him, it got easier for other ponies to spot her feelings. Rarity was the first.

That blur again, things happening fast and losing definition.  Suddenly, it stopped, dropping Rainbow back into normality with a sudden lurch, like stepping off a step that wasn’t there, and she was in Carousel Boutique.

“Darling, you have to stand still, or I’m afraid I’m going to stick you!” The unicorn exclaimed around a mouthful of pins.  The pegasus felt confused for a second, but then realized that everything was normal.

Rainbow had no idea why she kept letting Rarity talk her into being a living mannequin, any more than she knew why Rarity kept asking her to. She had a sneaking suspicion that the dressmaker was deliberately picking the most challenging subject and trying to make her look good.

Her current effort was evidently intended to hide as much of its wearer as possible, and Rainbow chafed under the weight of the fortress of cloth. Even her mane was covered, though Rarity had fortunately left her face free; she was a little worried that she’d suffocate if the unicorn added any more cloth.

“I’m trying.” Rainbow shifted, trying to get comfortable, fidgeting her wings restlessly. There were even cloth covers over them, though the covers only hid them when they were folded; when spread, they would be out from under the outfit’s confines. “This stuff is heavy!”

“I would have thought it would be no burden at all for somepony like you, Rainbow Dash,” Rarity replied, in a transparent attempt to flatter her friend.

It worked. “I guess it’s not that heavy,” Rainbow said grudgingly. It really wasn’t, it was just awkward and chafed a bit, not to mention being a bit restricting. The pegasus didn’t care for being restricted, and had been fighting back slight nervous twitches since Rarity had started packing her into this thing.  Rarity hadn’t noticed; Rainbow had a lot of practice in suppressing and hiding her mild claustrophobia.

It might not be heavy, but that didn’t make it comfortable. “Come on, I’ve been here for hours already!” Rainbow complained. “I got other stuff to do!”

“It hasn’t even been half an hour, you’re overreacting.” The unicorn corrected calmly. She adjusted part of what Rainbow wore, shifting the cloth a tiny bit. “Goodness, Rainbow Dash, I only just finished getting you into this! Is that better? Where do you need to be, anyway? Some stunt practice?”

The alteration did make the cloth bind a little less, which reduced Rainbow’s mild anxiety by a corresponding amount. “It’s a little better,” the pegasus observed, working her hind leg to see how much motion she could get. “I did my practice and stuff earlier today, I’m just supposed to meet Lero at Crispy’s for a late lunch. He’s helping Stormy fix those doors, and he thinks he’ll be done late.”  She suppressed a grin, thinking of the small prank she’d played on him last time they’d met at a restaurant.  She’d picked the Bale, a specialty place whose offerings were all made from hay.  The expression on his face, as he’d tried to hide his dismay while scanning through the menu for something he could eat, had been howlingly funny, and subtle enough that Rainbow doubted most other ponies would catch it.  The grin got harder to hide at the memory of how he’d been desperately looking for something, not wanting to upset her, until he’d looked up and seen the expression on her face.  She’d seen amusement and aggravation in equal measure on the human’s flat countenance as she’d finally lost it, laughing delightedly at the success of her joke and pulling out the bag of sandwiches she’d brought for him and hid under the table.  The pegasus had never intended to leave her friend hungry, and she’d worked things out with the Bale’s staff ahead of time.  That had been a good joke.

Rarity smiled around the pins in her mouth, seeing the incipient grin on Rainbow’s face. “Ah, yes, your alien friend.”  Rainbow thought she saw Lero for a brief second, but he wasn’t here, so he vanished. Rarity sighed. “Such a pity to see someone with such lovely manners doing general fix-it work.” The unicorn cocked her head. “Have you thought about taking him down to the spa?”

Rainbow looked at the designer askance. “The spa? Why the heck would I take him there?”

The unicorn sighed. “Darling, think a moment. I know you don’t much care for the spa,” there was an understatement; Rainbow avoided the place assiduously, “but a lot of ponies like it. They like massages, dear, and these,” Rarity tapped Rainbow’s forehoof with her own, “just aren’t the best tools for that, though they do work well enough. But just think about how those paws of Lero’s...”

“Hands,” Rainbow corrected absently.

Rarity tossed her head. “Hands, paws, talons, whatever. They look delicate, but if they’ve got any strength in them...”

“They’re not ‘delicate’,” Rainbow interrupted again, “and they’re pretty strong, too! Everypony thinks they’re all breakable, but they’re not!” That particular view was one that drove her nuts; everypony knew that Lero wasn’t as strong as most ponies, and a lot of ‘em thought that meant he was fragile, too, especially the long, slender digits of his hands. He wasn’t, though; she’d roughhoused with him some without accidentally hurting him, she’d seen him get pretty rough-and-tumble in the hoofball games she’d pulled him into, and she’d seen when he worked on stuff just how strong those fingers of his were. It bugged her when ponies were so freaking dismissive of him. Heck, the first time she’d convinced him to go out to the hoofball field and show her what he’d got had been pretty darn impressive; he could tackle hard once she convinced him to do it full-force. She’d actually seen stars for a second; he was pretty heavy, and when he got going, the speed and weight combined with the way his height made him drop down from above made for a heck of an impact. He’d been worried that he’d hurt her wings with the way they’d tumbled after the hit, which had been kinda funny. She’d had to reassure him that pegasus wings were freaking tough, and while they could break or sprain it didn’t happen often, and it took a heck of a lot more than a little thump like that. She’d grinned and immediately told him that she wanted him on her team next time she played; he could throw nearly as well as a unicorn and hit nearly as hard as an earth pony, though he had to dodge a lot more since he couldn’t take the hits like an earth pony could. He’d been her teammate since then, and she thought their performance spoke for itself.

Rarity raised an eyebrow at Rainbow’s tone. “In that case, you should definitely take him to see Lotus and Aloe. I’m quite certain he’d make a wonderful masseur, and I think it would be more suited to his temperament than his current work.”

Rainbow’s mouth twisted.  There was a sour blare of trumpets that impinged on her consciousness. “He likes fixing stuff, Rarity.” And I don’t really want to have him stuck in the spa all day where I’d have to go in there to hang out with him.

        “Indeed, darling, but he doesn’t have to stop.  I’m sure the twins would give him whatever hours he wanted to work.”  She smirked a little.  “They’ve actually been debating with each other about going to talk to him; I overheard them the other day when I was there with Fluttershy.”  The unicorn adjusted something Rainbow couldn’t see, pinning the fabric with quick motion.  “It’s why I’m talking to you about it now.  You could make a better deal for him if you convinced him to go to them, showed the extra initiative.  Trust me.”

        Rainbow grumbled, unable to come up with a good counterargument.  He probably would do fairly well there, and she knew he’d be making way better money than he would currently.  It would just cut her off from him for a big chunk of the day.  Admittedly, it was a chunk of the day where she was generally already busy, but still, she liked having the option.  Mouth twisting, she made a mental note to mention it to him.

        Rarity chuckled.  “Honestly, darling, it will be good for him!”  She snorted.  “The way you’re going on, you’d think you wanted him for a saddleblanket or something of the sort...”

        Rainbow slammed a forehoof down abruptly, feeling a flash of anger.  Everything turned red for an instant.  “He’s not a saddleblanket, Rarity.” The pegasus snarled.  “Saddleblanket,” was a derogatory term for a stallion one only courted as an amusement.  “To keep the back warm,” as the saying went.  It was a pretty crude term, and an insulting one, and she was a little shocked to hear Rarity say it.

        The unicorn blinked.  “Goodness, I’m sorry.  That was uncalled for, even though I meant it as a joke.”  She tilted her head, regarding Rainbow closely.  “Darling, I may have been joking, but you aren’t, are you?  You’re quite serious.”

        Now it was Rainbow’s turn to blink, her anger dislodged by confusion.  “Uh, yeah.  ‘Course I am.  I don’t like it when ponies talk about my friend like that.”

        Rarity was still regarding Rainbow with intent focus.  “But you don’t think of him as just a friend, do you?”

        Rainbow felt her face flame under her cyan coat, and her jaw dropped while her ears went back.  “What?  No, no, I don’t... I mean, I’m not... I’m... he... no!”  She managed to stem the tide of babble as Rarity’s look grew more assured.  Rainbow stopped, cleared her throat, and forced her voice to be steady.  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” the pegasus said slowly.

        She was answered with a raised eyebrow.  “Darling, you’re not fooling anypony.  I’m not sure how I didn’t notice before.  You haven’t been doing a very good job of hiding it, have you?”

        Rainbow fidgeted some more, wishing she wasn’t imprisoned in all this cloth so she could be somewhere else.  “Seriously, I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

        Rarity heaved a gusty sigh.  “Fine.  Be that way.”  She gave Rainbow a sly look.  “Has he responded?”

        Rainbow lowered her head, her ears going back as she relaxed her rigid hold on her body language.  “I don’t think he’s noticed,” she replied in a small voice.  “It’s hard to tell.”

        The unicorn sighed again.  “Oh, dear.”  She tapped her chin with a forehoof.  “Well, darling, do you want him to notice?”

        “Kinda.”  Rainbow’s voice was still quiet.

        “Hmm.”  Rarity gave her an arch look.  “Why wouldn’t you want him to notice?  I’d expect you to just barrel in and sweep him off those two feet of his, dear!  This kind of hesitance just isn’t you.”

        The pegasus shrugged, her mouth twisting.  “You ever see what happens when I try to court somepony?  I always screw up.”  The words left a bitter taste in her mouth, while images paraded in front of her eyes.  Rainbow hated to admit failure.  “Something goes wrong and it ends bad, and it’s usually my fault.  He’s my friend, Rarity.  I don’t want to lose a friend ‘cause I did something dumb.”

        “Oh, my.”  The unicorn gave her friend a sympathetic look.  “A thorny situation, dear.”  She tapped her chin in thought again, and Rainbow actually felt a sense of cautious hope.  Of all her friends, Rarity was the one most likely to have good advice on this subject, and now that she’d managed to pry the information out of Rainbow she might be able to offer some.  “Hmm... I assume you don’t want me to make hints to him?  Suggest that maybe he ought to look at you in a different way?”

        Rainbow’s heart warmed at the unicorn’s offer, but she shook her head.  “No, I... I really don’t want to push.  Bad things’ve happened when I pushed.”

        “Not even by proxy.  I understand.  Hmm.”  Rarity adjusted the cloth contemplatively, and Rainbow noticed an immediate reduction in discomfort.  The unicorn really was good at this.  “Well, darling, to be perfectly honest, from what I’ve heard of where he comes from, he might prefer to be the pursuer rather than the pursued.”  At Rainbow’s puzzled look, she continued, “Well, they are reversed, are they not?  Stallions in most positions of power, et cetera?”  Rarity waved a forehoof airily, and Rainbow nodded.  It didn’t really make sense to her, but it was what he’d said.  “Well, then, it’s likely the norm for the stallions to be the ones seeking out the mares, isn’t it?  Instead of chasing him, you might be better off trying to entice him to chase you, darling.”  Rarity smiled gently.  “Though, just this once, you might want to try to lose the race.”

        Rainbow blinked.  It.. was a weird idea.  She could sorta understand the idea, but it... it felt wrong in her brain.  Like it didn’t quite fit.  And this felt weird, had Rarity actually said that?  She shook her head; it didn’t matter.  “How would I even get him to notice, though?”  None of it really made sense, but she was still willing to try.  At this point, she was willing to try nearly anything.  Especially if it could avoid the pitfalls and stumbles she’d run into before.

        Rarity sighed.  “I don’t think there’s really a good answer to that.  Just keep showing interest, and hopefully he’ll see it.”  She clucked her tongue.  “Honestly, though, I really do think you’d be better off just making an unmissable move of your own, Rainbow Dash.  That’s much more your style.  The two of you get along famously, I’ve seen that for myself, and I don’t think you’d damage your relationship by telling him how you feel.”

        Rainbow grimaced.  No, that really sounded like a bad idea.  A really good way to screw up again and lose the friendship she’d built.  Weird or not, confusing or not, she’d prefer to go for the alternative Rarity had offered.  “Yeah, maybe.  I’ll try your way first, though.”  Less chance I’ll mess up.

        “Have it your way.”  The unicorn adjusted the dress again.  “I would be glad to do what I can.  Subtly, of course.”  She winked.  “Don’t worry, Rainbow Dash.  This will work out.”

Again the world blurred, as her eyes watered at Rarity’s readiness to offer help.  She was getting almost comfortable with the sensation.  She noted, with mild puzzlement, that the room felt oddly cold, despite the fact that Rarity had her swathed in cloth.  She barely noticed it; she was a pegasus and she didn’t get cold, but it was notable, and a little odd.

        Rarity teased her about her crush almost endlessly from that point on.  Never anything overt, and nothing mean-spirited, just gentle little jibes that Rainbow understood were really intended to motivate her more than anything else.  She’d make little references when the two of them were with their friends that nopony else got, winked at Rainbow when she passed the pegasus and Lero in the street, things like that.

        Applejack picked up on it, too, and the orange mare thought it howlingly funny, though she confessed she didn’t see the attraction.  She teased Rainbow, too, but only when the two of them were alone together.  She didn’t want to actually embarrass her friend, just to poke fun at her.  It was still kind of annoying, but Rainbow appreciated the discretion.

        As for Lero, he continued to be oblivious, to the pegasus’s endless frustration.  She nuzzled him, hugged him, even wing-hugging him several times, but he didn’t seem to notice.  He hugged her back, yeah, and there was genuine closeness and affection in the gesture, just... not the right kind.  Rainbow wasn’t the only one with that problem; she’d seen Lyra make some tentative moves as well, but the tall human didn’t seem to notice her advances any more than he did Rainbow’s.

        What was the worst was when there was some misunderstanding that got her hopes up.  The first one was when they were sitting together on a bench, watching the clouds, and he’d idly put his hand on her back.  It was right in the sweet spot, on the soft, thin, lightly-coated skin over her upper shoulder blades.  His hand felt soft, warm... and good.  Her wings twitched involuntarily at the contact, and she felt a sense of shock mixed with pleasure.  It was awfully forthright, to just feel her up like that when they were in the middle of the street, and she didn’t want to ruin either his reputation or hers.

        “Dude!” she hissed in a whisper, “move your hand!”  She didn’t actually want him to, but she wasn’t exactly an exhibitionist, either, (not this kind, anyway) and she was seriously worried about embarrassing him.

        Lero blinked, but pulled his hand away immediately.  He continued to look confused as Rainbow glanced around, noting with some relief that they hadn’t been noticed.  “Er... Rainbow?  Did I do something wrong?”

        “It’s.... um...”  Rainbow cleared her throat, feeling blood rush to her face at the narrowly-avoided embarrassment.  “That spot, big guy?  Right between my wings?  It’s kinda... sensitive.”

        He blinked again.  “Oh, did I hurt you?”

        Oh, so totally the opposite.  She fumbled for words, trying to articulate her thoughts.  “No, no, I’m fine, uh, it’s not that kind of sensitive.”  He still looked blank, and she cleared her throat again, trying to figure out how the heck to put it.  “It’s like... it feels good.  Like, uh, the sex kinda good.  That’s one of the spots a stallion would, like, kiss and stuff if we were getting... uh... into it, if you know what I mean.”  Or a mare, if I was into fillies.  Her wings had spread a bit as she spoke, involuntarily, displaying her plumage.  She fought the feeling down, trying to calm herself and get her wings back under control.

        Lero went bright red, something he did when he was embarrassed.  Even under these circumstances, it drew a quiet giggle from Rainbow; he looked so funny when he did that. He stammered a bit before clearing his throat.  “Um.  I had no idea.  I’m so sorry, I hope you’re not upset with me.”

        “No, no, I’m fine.”  Argh, I was kinda hoping that was intentional.  “It’s just, uh, maaay not want to do that out in public.”  Hint, hint.

        He was still bright red.  “Right.  Got it.  Not doing that again.  I really, really am sorry.”

        “No problem!  I’m not mad.”  Rainbow grinned, fighting to hide a powerful sense of disappointment and keeping her ears up and forward with an effort of will.  I didn’t mean you shouldn’t do it ever!  Oh, man, she’d thought he was finally reciprocating.  She should have realized; he would never do something that blatant and sudden, and certainly not in public.  He was fairly private by nature; if he’d made a move that strong it’d be in private.

        She’d shoved the disappointment aside, into a mental box, and gone on with her day.  Lero was visibly relieved that she’d excused his slip, completely unaware that she didn’t actually object to it in the first place.

        Another blur, another shift.  Goodness, it was cold here, colder than it should have been in the sun.  Odd.  She had the brief impression that the clouds were moving oddly, and they were sitting together again.

        This next time was even more disappointing.  She’d gotten even more touchy-feely with him, even going so far as to occasionally drape a wing over him, which was actually a fairly intimate gesture and had gotten her a couple of odd looks when she’d done it in public.  Wait, disappointing?  Nothing had happened yet.  And shouldn’t he be snuggling a little more with the cold?  He always did that...

        She was lying with him under a tree in the park, her right wing covering his chest and belly and chatting idly, when his hand absently stroked her wing.  The odd sense of confusion faded immediately, washed away by the immediacy of her friend’s presence.  Again, she noticed how soft his palm was, and how flexible.  The gentle stroke followed the line of her feathers, smoothing them down in a warm, comforting moment that reminded her of preening.  She never let anyone else help her preen; most pegasi were fairly proprietary about their wings, and Rainbow was certainly no exception.  This, though... it felt nice, actually, and she certainly trusted him not to disarrange her feathers.

        Rainbow shot a look around, seeing nopony looking in their direction... for the moment at least.  “Hey, big guy... Uh, careful there.”

        “Hm?”  He blinked, looking down to meet her eyes, his hand stopping in its motion, but to Rainbow’s mild elation not withdrawing.

        “The wings, Lero.”  She glanced around, biting her lip. “Um.  Not supposed to touch a pegasus’s wings in public.”  She really didn’t want to say it, this wasn’t like the last time, and this touch was way more socially acceptable than the last one had been.  Some ponies did this in public, and few objected, but she wanted to make sure it was intentional rather than accidental, and he deserved to know what it meant.

        He blinked, and jerked his hand away.  “Oh, geez, sorry, it’s like the spot on your back, right?”

        “Uh... not really.”  She chewed her lip, bottling up her feelings.  Aw, man.  It was an accident.  She almost wanted to cry.  Maybe if I explain that it’s okay.  “It’s... different.  The sweet spot is a sex thing, the wings are more... I mean, it’s, well, sorta... intimate instead of sexy, I guess.  Close, but not in a sex way.  You know?”

        He frowned.  “I... see.”  It was plain on his face that he didn’t.

        “Look, big guy, it’s kind of a lover thing, that we shouldn’t really do out in public, y’know?” She put a slight stress on the words ‘in public’, hoping he’d catch it.

        He nodded, pulling his hand away.

        Part of Rainbow wanted to cry out, you could do that whenever you want to when we’re alone!  She stamped that part back almost viciously, working to keep her expression unchanged.  Shut up.  She snarled at herself.  You are why I keep screwing up.  I am not going to let you mess this up, too.  You are not costing me this friendship.  She did kinda wish that she hadn’t said anything, though.  That she could have just stayed there, enjoying the feeling of his hand on her feathers, letting that intimate feeling of connection deepen.

        Lero didn’t pick up on her thoughts, though, to her crushing disappointment.  This one was worse than the last; stroking her feathers like that did seem like the kind of display of affection he might plausibly show her, unlike the previous one.  Allowing another to help one preen was a gesture that a pegasus only allowed to very, very close friends or lovers, and it was heartbreaking to have it snatched away like this.  She almost, almost said something, but managed to stop herself at the last moment.  The trees around her seemed to bend with the strength of her confusion and tension.

        When they got up, she had to close her eyes for a moment to contain herself.  She’d hoped.  She’d so hoped that he’d finally noticed.  This was so hard.  But she refused to screw up again.  No, it wasn’t going to happen.

        They were supposed to have a hoofball game in a couple of days against Applejack and her brother.  Rainbow was a little scared that she might do something stupid after it; she always got dumb when her blood was pumping, and she was feeling really dumb right now.  Maybe Rarity was right, maybe she should do something instead of waiting.  She had an astonishingly vivid flash of how it felt for his lips to brush hers, a brief teasing touch before his lips opened, letting her caress his tongue with her own.  She blinked, shaking her head; she was getting ahead of herself.

        She’d have to see what happened.

        The pegasus frowned a bit.  Wait, it felt a little chilly, and if it was cold enough that she noticed it, then it was pretty cold... why was nopony shivering?  Celestia’s sun was high in the sky, it wasn’t winter...

        “Hey, Lero?”

        “Mm?”  He turned to look at her, and things started feeling stranger, like this wasn’t supposed to happen.

        “Are you cold, big guy?”  She knew he got cold in situations like this.  She could warm him up if he liked, draw him gently down to the sheets she could feel against her coat, gather him against her chest and wrap her wings around him to warm him up the way she always did, as he drew closer to her and she could see the walls of the bedroom and she let her eyes drift closed as his arms went around her...

***

        Rainbow awoke.

        The ache invaded her heart immediately.  She hadn’t dreamed about Lero in a while.  Hadn’t dreamed of how happy they’d been together.  Oh, it hurt to be reminded of it, of how the aftermath of that silly game had turned out.  How that day had turned into one of the happiest she’d ever had.  She wouldn’t have traded those years for anything, no matter how much it hurt now.

        The pegasus arose, getting out of the bed.  Twilight’s large form didn’t shift; she generally slept heavily, when she slept; Rainbow had had to get used to sleeping alone again, which hadn’t been easy.  Not tonight, though; maybe that’s why she’d had the dream.  The winged unicorn put one wing over her head, murmuring sleepily.  Rainbow didn’t try to wake her; no reason to trouble her.  She loved Twilight, dearly, and a good thing, too.  Twilight was pretty much all she had left; they’d lost Lero and Lyra to old age decades ago.

        Or... was it centuries?  Had it been that long?  Time had gotten weird.  It was hard to focus on it, probably because she’d just woken up.

        Rainbow walked to the window, looking out into the night.  It was cold.  She’d always liked cold nights; it made Lero snuggle a little more. The thought was another little pang in her heart.  She swallowed hard, just looking at the stars and trying not to think.

        Oh, she missed him.  She missed both of them.  She missed them so bad, so much that it felt like a hollow, empty place in her chest where the rest of her herd had once lived.  Where the little pieces of their hearts they’d gifted her had guttered out, never to warm her again.  Nights like this were the worst, when she woke up from a dream like that.  The worst.  It made her forget the loss, just for a little while, and made it hurt all the more when it arose again.  She breathed in slowly through her nose, trying to control the tears.  She’d had practice.  Lots of it, by now.

        She’d figured it would’ve stopped hurting by now.  It was always something of a shock when it came back.

        She stared up into the stars, thinking, remembering...

***

        And woke up.

        Rainbow blinked.

        Wait, that had been a dream?  Woah.  Woah.  That was weird.  It had felt so real.

        It was cold, just like it had been in the dream, but the warm arm around her told her that the rest hadn’t been true.  She could feel Lero’s warm body snuggled up against her back, her head pillowed on his bent elbow, his other arm wrapped around her body, his hand resting limply against her chest.  She could feel his breath on the back of her neck, where his flat face was buried in her multicolored mane.  She focused on it... this felt real.  There wasn’t that weird distortion, that sense of dislocation.  She could feel the time passing normally.  Rainbow relaxed; this was real.  She was awake this time.

        The cold, lonely ache that the dream had left behind slowly faded.  She brought a forehoof up to his hand, pressing it gently closer to her chest, feeling her heartbeat press against it and feeling his pulse through his soft palm.  Rainbow could feel his heartbeat, too, slow and steady against the sensitive skin of her back.  It was just the two of them in the bed; Twilight was visiting her family in Canterlot, and Spike was with her rather than being in his basket near the foot of the bed.

        The pegasus reached back with one wing, hooking it under Lero’s shoulder and using the leverage against his arm to pull him a tiny bit closer, a gesture that was so easy and practiced she barely had to think about it.  The human shifted with her, his arm tightening around her body and his face pressing into her neck as he snuggled against her.  She heard him murmur something wordless in his sleep, his breath warm against the skin under her mane.

        Rainbow felt her lips curl in a smile, the solid presence of her lover driving out the last wisps of lingering, lonely cold left behind by the dream, leaving warm, happy comfort in its wake.  She cuddled back against his chest, letting her eyes drift closed again, and sighed contentedly.  What the heck had that business with Lyra been?  The mint-coated mare had started to make a few tentative advances toward their little herd, but she hadn’t followed up on it.  Oddly similar to how Rainbow herself had acted in the beginning, come to think of it.  But that deal with her and Lero dying of old age while Rainbow and Twilight just kept on going?  No way that was going to happen.  There was no way she’d outlive him by decades or centuries.  And Twilight having wings?

        Nah, that was  crazy.  Just a crazy dream.

        Rainbow drifted back off to sleep, a smile on her lips, the memory of that... dream?  Premonition?  Whatever it was.  The memory of it faded away completely, forgotten like any other fleeting dream against the backdrop of Lero’s warm embrace, and the love it kindled in her heart.  She wrapped her wing around his arm, clasping it in a warm, companionable fashion and holding it close as her consciousness slowly retreated again.

        Her other dreams would be warmer.

The Weak Lyre (by Archonix)

There’s a lot I don’t remember about my life. Some I chose to forget, much I never thought to hold on to. Memory is a fickle thing at the best of times, but moreso when so much is so uninteresting, when you don’t want to remember something, or when it’s so damn-it-to-tartarus boring that you can’t help but let it slide in one ear and dribble straight from the other, with nary a moment’s pause in the folds of your mind.

There are a few things that stick around, though.

I remember the first time I played. I remember there was a good reason why I’d crept into the back of that musician’s workshop, but what that reason could be, I have no recollection at all, except that it was probably unpleasant.

Oh not in the way you might think, that dreary, clichéd anguish of a thousand and one badly written melodramas that start with the murder, or the kidnapped daughter, or the angst of nopony remembering your name. Unpleasant to that young filly would be bad weather at a picnic, or being yelled at by everypony for being underhoof at the wrong time, or for having the wrong mind that sought the wrong thoughts and spoke them in the wrong way.

I remember I was looking for something, some element that was missing from my life. Some sense of completeness. When I plucked that first string and that first note echoed forth, so pure and clear and bright as sun, I believed I had found it and I flung myself into it, body and soul, flesh and mind, until it was my very life and being. I became what I was and am still.

But I was not yet complete.

And as I sought fulfilment I remember I found the Still Way, the essence of the unicorn, the great path to enlightenment. I followed it to find the stillness in my music, but instead my music became the stillness in my art. I learned to wait. I became more, and less.

But still I was not whole.

To find a place in the universe and simply be, that is the essence of stillness. To find that single point where all flows toward and away from you, where every motion is made because it fits in perfect harmony with all that surrounds it, each act becoming a part of the infinite weave, the melody of life. Each note a single piece of the whole. Each silence, each beat, each step a perfect expression of that time, that place.

To be still, to be whole, to be where I was meant to be at every moment, to seek without seeking, to move without moving. To be the universe, and to be nothing at all.

Balance.

I remember balance. Something I never found, something I always sought, the lack of which had driven that young filly to see the world as unpleasant.

I remember you standing there, that day, on the edge of town. My orders were simple: to watch. To follow. To be your shadow.

You stood on hind legs, a tower of flesh and cloth, immobile and yet moving all the time, each muscle working with and against another to hold your truncated head aloft, limbs hanging aside. No tail, I’d thought. No obvious counterweight. How do you do it? And then you fell.

And you kept falling and stayed upright all at once. You moved, and each movement built on the last, momentum carrying you ever onward. Each step perfectly timed to follow all that came before, each motion exactly where it was meant to be. You would fall forever and always land on your feet. Effortless, perfect balance.

I remember that day.

*  *  *

“They keep asking me about his hands.”

Bon Bon looked up from her newspaper and frowned at her friend, framed in the front door of their home. She knew Lyra, knew she was prone to odd bouts of introspection at the strangest of times, but she usually waited until the door was closed. “Who?”

“The human. He-”

“No, Lyra, who asked about his hands?”

“He falls forever.” Lyra blinked and shook herself. She closed the door, a sheepish smile on her face as she turned to look at Bon Bon once again. “Sorry. I’ve been a bit out of it the last few days.”

“Lack of sleep, that’s your problem,” Bon Bon replied, returning to her paper. Somewhere within its pages there was a coupon for half off at Honeysuckle’s Sugar and Starch, and she would find it, even if it killed her.

Silence stretched across the room as she read, until Bon Bon realised that her companion hadn’t spoken. Or even moved. She looked up to find Lyra still in front of the door, staring at the wall with a strange little smile on her face and her tongue pressed between her lips.

“You didn’t answer the question.”

The mint-green unicorn shook her head.

“So, who?”

Lyra frowned, her jaw moving as she exercised whatever words she was about to say. She paced the room and finally paused by a harp she kept on display in the far corner, next to a photograph of her smiling family and their daughter proudly flashing her newly discovered cutie mark.

“Have you seen how he moves?”

“Lyra...”

“Okay, okay, Some journalist in the market noticed I was around him a lot and started asking me all sorts of really creepy questions.” The unicorn smiled and shook her head. “I must be getting sloppy.”

“It’s not exactly a huge town, Lyra, she probably just asked everypony close by to see what would stick. He’s quite the superstar.”

Silence again. Bon Bon continued to turn the pages of her paper, eyes seeking out her prize and failing to spot it. She idly scanned over an article about some local academics setting off for an archaeological expedition in Impalawi and a promise to keep in regular contact with Ponyville Elementary as part of some sort of science project. Behind her, Lyra absently plucked at the strings of her harp, somehow contriving to produce a perfect melody in less than a dozen notes.

Bon Bon put the paper aside and turned to face her friend. “What did you say?”

“Hm?”

“To the journalist!”

“Oh. Not much, really. I told her to go talk to Rarity if she wanted some real gossip.”

“Oh that poor mare,” Bon Bon cried, pressing her hooves against her face in mock horror. “I hope she wasn’t permanently scarred by the experience.”

A smile crossed Lyra’s face as her hoof and magic continued to tickle at the harp, drawing out another unforgettable stanza, weaving the notes around her words as she spoke. “I had a chance to speak to him today. Just a hello, how’s your day, enjoying the weather sort of thing, mostly just to keep him company until Twilight remembered where she’d left him again.”

“How nice.”

“He falls forever...”

“You said that before,” Bon Bon replied, returning to her newspaper. “And I still have no idea what it means.”

“It means he moves with the universe.”

“I have no idea what that means either.”

The music had stopped, swallowed up in whatever profound new thought Lyra had conjured in her oddly focussed mind. Bon Bon knew from long experience that she’d lost her friend for at least an hour to her odd meditation, those golden eyes fixed on some point distant in time and space as Lyra disappeared within herself. It was something Bon Bon had never quite been able to grasp; she’d studied the Still Way a little, though as an earth pony she would never be able to practice any of the magical side of it, but the meditative elements had proven quite useful as a way to unwind after a stressful day.

Lyra didn’t seem to follow any of it. She was a grand master of an art she never appeared to practice, prone to flights of fancy that made even the most esoteric mind look grounded and mundane, and yet she was more down to earth than any pony Bon Bon could think of. With any other mare it would have seemed contradictory, but for this unicorn it was just par for the course.

“I think I’ll make us some tea,” Bon Bon said, more for her own benefit than Lyra’s. It was doubtful the other mare could even hear her. With Lyra’s composition winding through her mind the earth pony moved to stand, but was interrupted by a foreleg pressing across her chest. “Lyra, what-”

“You find what you seek when you stop looking,” the unicorn said. She tapped the newspaper with her hoof and then sidled from the room with a smug grin on her face. Bon Bon frowned as she turned to look at the newspaper. The coupon - her coupon - was dead centre, in between an article about the price of real estate in cloudsdale and an advert for magically enhanced double glazing. She could have sworn she’d just looked at that page and found nothing.

“What-” Bon Bon paused. The coupon had moved just a fraction when she breathed against it. She carefully poked the slip of paper with her hoof; the already clipped coupon lifted from where her friend had neatly dropped it on the page. “Dammit, Lyra!”

*  *  *

She had her patrol, not that she’d ever call it that. As an auxiliary and an independent command, the route was Lyra’s discretion. In fact even the choice to make a patrol at all was her own decision, but one she chose gladly; it got her out of the house, let her meet friends and gave her the ability to shadow her charge without appearing to actually do so. She’d found a nice route that accounted for all of this and gave her enough exercise to justify a little indulgence now and then.

And so, cupcakes safely secured in her saddlebags, Lyra exited Sugarcube Corner to resume her trek along the main street, conveniently just when said charge and his new best friend came wandering around the corner, laughing away at some joke one or the other had told, as if it were the most normal thing in the world for a towering biped and a pegasus to be so close.

“Lyra!” Rainbow Dash reared and flapped her wings, grinning broadly. Was it Lyra’s imagination or did her wingtip brush against the human’s hip just then?

“Hi Rainbow, Lero, how’s the day?”

“Pretty good, thanks,” the human replied. He flexed his forearms behind his neck and looked up at the sky. “Rainbow tells me we’re due a storm but I don’t see it, somehow. A sky like this feels like it could last forever.”

“Just you wait, big guy, I’ve got two teams bringing a front over from Cloudsdale right now.”

“Seems like a shame,” Lero continued, his eyes lidded against the bright sky. Lyra felt an uncanny urge to follow his gaze. She forced herself to look at his face instead, trying to read his mood. He wasn’t upset, but he wasn’t exactly happy either. Probably understandable though; he was surrounded by strangeness.

It took a moment before Lyra realised how easily she’d grasped that.

“I think I prefer the sun to the rain right now.” Lero gently tweaked Rainbow’s ear with his hand as he spoke.

“Enjoy it while you can,” the pegasus chided. She flapped up to Lero’s eye level and poked him in the chest. “Two hours, tops, otherwise I’d be so on for that rematch. Anyway, I gotta go coordinate with Cloudkicker and Blossomforth or everypony’ll think I’m not doing my job. Catch you later!”

Lero rolled his head to watch as Rainbow Dash rocketed into the sky, eyes still half-closed and lazy grin on his face. Yet he seemed uncomfortable, his body tensing just a little as his pegasus friend disappeared toward the horizon. The realisation was enough of a shock that Lyra didn’t even notice when he’d turned away from her.

“H-hey, wait a sec!” Lyra trotted the short distance to Lero, rolling her ears as far forward as she could to hide an unaccustomed attack of nerves.

“Yes?”

“I never really got a chance to properly introduce myself,” she said, remembering just a moment too late how intimidating the human was up close, despite her abilities. Lyra resisted the urge to back away and put on her best smile. “You seem a little- woah.”

Lero had crouched down, folding his body in a single fluid motion that brought his flattened face level with hers, his forearms resting on his knees as he balanced impossibly on the tips of his feet. Now she backed off, giving herself space to see him properly.

“You seem a little tense,” the unicorn repeated, feeling ridiculously lame. Something about the human’s posture shifted just a little, tension and calm radiating from him in equal measure. The silence stretched, Lero regarding her with an odd, neutral expression.

Lyra opened her mouth to speak, but then thought better of it. Instead she sat down and smiled at the human, tilting her head just a fraction to match his posture. The action seemed to confuse him; he stretched his back just a little, looked around as if expecting somepony to say or do something, and then leaned further back on his haunches, head tilting this way and that as he examined Lyra. She tried to adopt the same neutral expression, but somehow she couldn’t keep the smile from her face.

With great care, Lero unfolded his legs and lowered his body to the grass, sitting opposite Lyra with those long legs crossed in front of him and his hands resting on his knees.

“You sure can bend...”

What a stupid thing to say. Why did you say that, Lyra? The unicorn’s ears spun as she looked for something to add to the topic, but no idea was forthcoming. Yet the human had either not noticed, or hadn’t minded the observation.

“Anyway, what I mean is, I’ve seen you around town for weeks but I’ve never had a chance to talk to you.”

“I think we spoke briefly a little while back.”

“That’s right. About the weather.”

Lero grinned and rubbed the back of his head as he saw the irony of their situation. “I didn’t quite get it back then,” he said, glancing up at the azure vastness. “I figured the whole ‘we control the weather’ thing was a bit of hyperbole until I saw Rainbow’s team setting up an overcast morning.”

“I get the feeling a lot of what we do is strange to your eyes.”

“You could say so,” Lero replied as he resumed squinting at the sky. He seemed to be looking for something. “Where I come from, weather just happens.”

“No control, no influence?”

“No nothing. Oh they say we might be having some sort of effect on it from pollution and the like, or maybe because we affect our ecosystems so much in some areas, but that’s hardly the same as pushing clouds around by hand. Er, hoof?”

“Hoof,” Lyra agreed, raising a foreleg. She waggled her hoof up and down a couple of times and then lowered it to the ground again. Lero watched the motion, frowning. Was he angry? No, he didn’t seem angry, just interested. Maybe. This puzzling out of his mind was kinda fun. She felt another smile and didn’t bother trying to suppress it. “Would you like a cupcake?”

“Uh, sure, I guess. Never say no to Pinkie Pie’s baking, that’s what Rainbow keeps telling me.”

“Good advice,” Lyra replied. She levitated a slender box from her saddlebags and followed up by retrieving a brace of cupcakes from the still-hovering package. One floated toward Lero, the other stayed nearby.

Lero reached out and gingerly plucked the sugary treat from Lyra’s magic, but hesitantly, his fingers pausing for a moment in the tenuous glow of her magic. Her aura flowed around them like water curling around a stone until he tugged the cake free.

He held the confection up to his face to examine it for a moment, then set it down on the grass at his side.

“I can see why everypony’s so fascinated by those things now,” Lyra said between bites of her own cupcake. Lero tilted his head again. If his ears could have moved, she knew they would have been flicking with barely hidden amusement. Lyra felt her lips part in a cheery grin.

“I could say the same about...” He waved his fingers in the air, wiggling them around where his cake had floated. “It’s like something from a fantasy story. I don’t think I’ll ever get used to it.”

“There’s no magic where you come from?”

“None at all. We have to rely on good old-fashioned human ingenuity, a healthy dose of technology, and these babies,” he said, holding up his hand again and spreading his fingers wide.

Lyra watched as Lero picked up the cake once again, holding it close to his snub little nose and taking a deep breath. He closed his eyes, a contented sigh passing his lips.

“And the cakes aren’t nearly as good,” he added, before taking a bite. Lyra couldn’t help but chuckle at that; this human seemed so eager to find the good in everything. She finished the last crumbs of her own cake and tucked the wrapper away in her saddlebag.

Status quo ante. Lyra contemplated the human again, munching contentedly on his treat as he watched Ponyville pass by around them. Every so often his eyes would dart back to the horizon Rainbow Dash had disappeared across and his chewing would slow just a fraction.

“Silver bit for your thoughts?”

He shrugged. That one was obvious, there was no mistaking the movement of his shoulders. No other reply though. Lyra turned to follow his gaze; a slender bank of cloud was just visible on the horizon, moving toward them at a steady rate of knots, carrying the promised afternoon rainstorm. Already a few of the clouds flickered with nascent lightning as the weather team charged up the storm’s finale.

“It’ll be one for the storm watchers,” she said, nodding toward the  approaching weather.  “I always enjoy a good light show.”

“Yeah, but half the fun was having one creep up on you. Don’t get me wrong...” Lero leaned back, planting his arms on the ground behind his body as he looked away from the clouds and turned to the bright blue sky directly above. “Knowing when the weather’s going to turn sour is nice, but I miss the days when the sky just up and surprises you. Warm days in the middle of winter, or a sudden break in the middle of a rainy week that gives you the chance to go out and really appreciate the sun for a little while. Or a shower out of nowhere on a hot day. This way feels so... I don’t know.” He laughed and put a hand over his eyes. “I don’t even know why I’m telling you this.”

“Because Rainbow Dash works on the weather team, and Twilight would spend an hour explaining exactly why everything is as it is, whereas I’m just a strange unicorn who gave you a cupcake and a friendly ear,” Lyra replied. She winked when he peered sideways at her from behind his hand, and stuck her tongue between her teeth. Lero huffed what might have been a laugh and shook his head.

There wasn’t much to add to that. Lyra stared up at the sky, but soon found her gaze drawn back to the surrounding town and its inhabitants, meandering through their lives and, not surprisingly, giving her and Lero a wide berth as they did so. They had started to accept him in their way, but she could still see the occasional pony stop at the sight of him and quickly change path, lest they come too close to the scary carnivore.

“What’s it like?” She risked nudging his knee. The human had been obviously touch-shy when she’d first seen him around, but maybe he was getting over that. “Having a storm creep up on you, I mean? Bearing in mind I’m not even sure how a storm could creep.”

Lero pressed his hands together and tapped the combined digits against his lips as he thought. “Fun,” he finally said.

“Fun?”

Lero nodded, his fingers still pressed together before his face. He grinned across them at Lyra and tilted his eyes to the incoming cloudbank.

“Fun,” he repeated. “Because you don’t know when to expect it, so it’s always a surprise. Even when they forecast the weather you don’t know exactly what you’re going to get. The fun is in finding out whether it’ll be a washout or whether the storm will pass you by. Or whether it’ll give you a lightshow,” he added with another, broader smile. “Nobody controls it, which means nobody can really predict it.”

“Sounds a little chaotic to me.”

“A little. It’s just how the weather works. How everything works.” Lero put his hands behind his neck again and looked around the town, just a hint of uncertainty in his eyes. “Tiny changes add up over time to make the difference between clear skies and a thunderstorm. Everything is-”

“Balanced,” Lyra cut in. Lero shot a surprised look at her, but then his face took on a more thoughtful cast. He nodded.

“That’s right.”

“Each part moving its own path, yet all appearing as a unified whole.”

“Now you’re getting a little too philosophical for me,” Lero replied. When he smiled, Lyra saw a hint of those teeth shining between his lips, but she felt no fear. In fact they made his smile all the warmer, as if he wasn’t trying to hide his nature from her. Shoulders relaxed, one leg stretching out now, Lero leaned back to stifle a huge yawn.

“I’m not boring you am I?”

“Oh no, no of course not!” The human rubbed his eyes with both hands and then shook his head. “I’m just worn out. Spent most of the morning chasing Rainbow around the park over there. She’s trying to teach me another one of your sports.”

“Speaking of Rainbow Dash...” Lyra nodded toward a spectral blur streaking toward them ahead of the clouds. She stood, taking a moment to settle her saddlebags, and smiled at Lero. “I think I’ll leave you to your fate. Thanks for the talk, I really enjoyed it.”

“Likewise. Apart from Rainbow and her friends, you’re the first pony who’s really taken the time for it. I appreciate that.”

“The pleasure was all mine,” Lyra replied. She glanced at his hands, then up at his face again and winked, just as Rainbow landed beside them. “See you around, Fingers.”

*  *  *

A concert. Her first in nearly two years. Lyra could almost feel her heart singing at the thought of a chance to exercise her art in public after so long. She’d improvised on street corners a few times, supplementing her guard stipend with a few extra bits, but there was something about performing in a packed concert hall - or even just a little stage in Rarity’s boutique - that appealed to a part of her psyche to which she so rarely had the change to cater these days.

But alone, always alone. She’d never been able to perform anything other than solo. It wasn’t that she thought herself better than other performers. She knew more than enough who were her superiors, as much as she was talented; she just couldn’t gel with them. Lyra’s habit of following the music where it would lead meant she often changed mode and metre in places other ponies found odd, and it was a rare musician who could keep up with her for long. She’d met three so far. All of them played in the Canterlot National Orchestra and all were masters of their craft.

Lyra wasn’t even being paid for this, not that she needed the money anyway. Just the chance to play was more than enough. Rarity had mentioned she was hosting a few Canterlot clients, Lyra had suggested a little background music to put them at their ease and things had sort of snowballed from there. And now here she was, seated behind her pride and joy, facing several ranks of seats Rarity had acquired from somewhere, moving through a quietly improvised melody to fill the air while she waited.

A little crowd was gathered on the far side of the Boutique’s enormous main display room, oohing and ahing over Rarity’s latest fashion line whilst the fashionista herself hovered around their edge, drawing out a pony here or there in a constant game of matchmaker as she sought the most beneficial - and presumably profitable - combinations of clients for whatever plans she had in mind. Lyra wasn’t particularly concerned about that; all she wanted to do was play.

And perhaps play for someone in particular. She glanced toward the door of the Boutique once again and smiled, knowing he’d be out there somewhere, walking toward them even as she thought.

Lyra hadn’t begged. She’d barely even had to suggest that Rarity invite the human to her soirée; the fashionista had almost exploded in giddy excitement at the thought of introducing her notorious client to the world of Canterlot high society, even in such a truncated and informal setting. Especially in such an informal setting, she’d declared, adding that the intimacy of the event would make the introductions so much easier.

The melody Lyra was playing dwindled as it reached a natural break; she let it flow away into the cool broad expanse between herself and the others as the sound of quiet conversation drifted by, hushed voices opining on the state of the nation and the fashions of the moment as the herd moved through its never-ending dance. Lyra watched them awhile, content to leave the silence and merely be, until Rarity approached. Her host’s bright laughter and casual movement belied the tension in her face.

“He’ll be here, won’t he, darling?” Rarity spoke quietly as she drew beside Lyra, a smile on her face the entire time, as if they were discussing the décor or the price of harp strings.

“I’ve never known him to be late if he could help it.”

“Assuming he wants to be here,” Rarity replied. Her voice was taut; how important was this evening? More important than she’d let on, apparently. “I would be unsurprised if, in the end, he chose to stay away, though that would be unfortunate. I didn’t overtly claim to my guests that he’d be here, but they’re all showing a keen interest in meeting-”

There was a knock at the door. Rarity’s head whipped around, a feral gleam in her eyes and her teeth bared in a grin that would have given a timberwolf second thoughts. She moved to the door as fast as her graceful pretence would allow and oh so casually cracked it open.

“Darling!”

The door was flung wide, admitting the odd shape of the human and his ever-present companion. Lyra couldn’t help but pluck out a little welcoming flourish as they entered, Rainbow Dash holding her head as high as Rarity at her most regal, Lero apparently trying to make himself look as small as possible.

“So good of you to come!” Rarity pressed her cheek against Rainbow’s and even deigned to do the same against Lero’s hand, the closest she could get to any sort of formal greeting without pulling him down on all fours. She wheeled on the pair, grinning broadly as she lead her new charges toward the others. “Everypony, it would appear we have another celebrity in our midst!”

Another celebrity? Lyra peered at the group but didn’t see anyone worthy of the title. She worked another little flourish into the improvisation she’d maintained since Lero arrived and let the music lead her into a minor mode. It seemed to fit the mood for, despite Rarity’s obvious cheer, the little group of Canterlot ponies had huddled together, all eyes fixed on the rather large predator that now stood between them and the only exit.

Or perhaps they were cowed by the subtly hostile glare Rainbow Dash was passing out to everypony she set eyes on. She seemed awfully protective all of a sudden.

Lyra let her music draw to a close again so she could dismount. She patted her harp on its broad sound box and made her way over to the crowd, Rarity’s trilling laugh rolling past as the fashion queen continued her introductions. And yes, there was Rainbow casually inserting herself between Lero and the other ponies, one wing lifting ever so slightly to touch his leg.

Interesting.

“Hey there, Fingers,” she whispered as she moved behind the pair. Lero twitched at her voice and turned just a little to flash her a nervous smile; Rainbow, feeling the motion, shot Lyra a curious look out of the corner of her eye.

“Oh darling, how terribly uncouth of me,” Rarity cooed when she noticed Lyra making her way around the edge of the crowd. She pulled the musician into a close hug and dragged her to the centre of the group, who seemed rather too relieved to have something other than Lero and Rainbow to focus on. “You’ve been working away in the corner all evening without any sort of acknowledgement, I really must introduce you properly!”

“I was quite enjoying the solitude, to be honest,” Lyra replied, deciding this crowd might just buy the aloof genius act. The knowing glint in Rarity’s eye was accompanied by that peculiar little twitch her ears gave when she knew she was winning a contract.

“Well I hate to drag you away from your art, dear, but we do have guests. Fillies, gentlecolts, this is Lyra Heartstrings, Ponyville’s premier harpiste and one of our finest civic treasures.”

“And a friend of mister Michaelides,” Lyra put in, just to see the reaction. To their credit, Rarity’s guests took the odd revelation in their stride, evidently used to a little eccentricity in their artists.

Lyra shot Lero and Rainbow another wink over her shoulder and pressed forward to the conversation. Meaningless fluff, the necessary part of helping out a friend and exercising her art, though she did find a good few minutes of conversation with another practitioner of the Still Way. Through it all, Lyra kept one ear on Lero. It hadn’t been a conscious decision but she didn’t fight it; even here and now, she still had a job to do.

She extracted a promise from her new acquaintance of a get-together later in the week, which tied in nicely with a trip to Canterlot and a meeting with her superiors that Lyra had been putting off for far too long. She had her expense reports filed but there was the matter of her commander’s signature, and-

“Well now, darling, are we ready for the main event?”

“Main- oh. Oh! I think I forgot...”

With her image now firmly established in the polite laughter of the crowd, Lyra backed away from the conversation and followed Rarity back to the little podium that held her clàrsach. The instrument seemed to thrum with energy as she approached, almost eager for her magic to touch it once again, though she knew it was just her imagination. Lyra seated herself behind the harp and rested her ear against its shoulder, before gently plucking the centre string with her hoof, just enough that the body of the harp resonated against her cheek. She closed her eyes for a moment and let the nearly silent tone move through her body. When she opened them again the seats were filled, every pony looking expectantly at her. A broad smile creased Lyra’s face as she looked over the crowd until her eyes settled on Lero, seated at the back with Rainbow Dash cuddled up next to him.

As so often happened, she found she was playing before she had even consciously chosen to do so. The melody poured out beneath her hooves and her magic, flowing freely, with only the lightest of guidance.

“I shall follow you everywhere,” she whispered into the song, each word becoming part of the whole. “Everywhere, to see where you shall go.”

As those first bars echoed forth she watched the reaction of her audience, noting those whose faces softened or whose ears relaxed. And then Lero. She saw that little crinkle at the corner of his eyes that felt so achingly familiar, the slight twitch of his lips and the odd tilt of his head that said he was, for the moment, content. Lyra closed her eyes again and leaned against the harp once again, mirroring his contentment with her own.

*  *  *

“You have no idea how much we appreciate this, Lero.”

“It’s, ah, not a problem.” Lero’s voice echoed strangely beneath Lyra and Bon Bon’s kitchen floor, the narrow space giving it a hollow quality as it emerged from the hole he’d cut in front of their sink. Bon Bon circled the hole again, peering down into the dim space.

“Do you need anything? A drink maybe? Another lamp?”

“Just a little- time,” Lero grunted. The pipework creaked and groaned under the ministrations of his powerful arms, followed by the clink of tools being set on the ground. He poked his head out of the floor. “That should do it!”

The sudden appearance startled Bon Bon and she bounced back with a quiet squeak.

“Oh. Sorry.”

“N-no, my- my fault, I should watch where I’m putting myself.”

She laughed nervously and forced herself to sit down while Lero dragged his tools back into the kitchen.

“That should be everything down there,” he said once he’d pulled himself from the hole. “Whoever did that plumbing-”

“That would be my mother.”

“Then she was very good at her job,” Lero replied just a little too quickly. He grinned nervously. “Age, that’s what it was. The joints had all corroded.”

“Oh there’s no need for that, I know mom was a terrible plumber. Her special talent was confectionary, like mine.” Bon Bon wiggled her flank just a tiny bit and grinned. “To be honest I’m surprised she ever got it working at all.”

Lero frowned as he replaced the floorboards. He picked up a hammer and then gave Bon Bon a quizzical look. “Forgive me for asking, but if her ‘talent’ was making sweets, why did she feel the need to do your plumbing?”

“She was a very self-sufficient mare,” Bon Bon replied, paying careful attention to the way Lero held each nail before hammering it in place. She’d never handled a hammer in her life - toffee hammers didn’t count - but even she could see he was much better at the task than most ponies. The idea that he would risk those delicate-looking fingers under a big lump of metal...

“It just surprises me,” Lero continued, talking and working at the same time. “I’d picked up the idea that those cutie marks of yours were pretty absolute. One talent and nothing else?”

“Well, like I said, she was self-sufficient. Mom always said walk a mile in another mare’s harness if you want to understand the world. She never really liked the idea that confection was all she’d ever do, even if she was so good at it. What if the market drops out, she kept telling me. You’ve got to learn other ways to feed yourself...” Bon Bon pawed gently at the floor, trying to decipher Lero’s reaction to what she’d said. It was like trying to read a brick wall. “As if everypony would suddenly stop eating sweets. Are you sure you don’t want a drink?”

“Sure, why not?” Lero hammered the last nail home and sat back on his haunches just as the front door slammed. “Just in time too,” he muttered.

“Bonnie? You home?”

“In the kitchen!”

“Did Lero make it?” The kitchen door popped open and Lyra poked her head through. “Oh, hey Fingers! Did you find your way around the rat’s nest Bonnie’s mom made of our plumbing?”

“Don’t worry, I figured it out,” Lero said as he gathered up his tools into a canvas bag. Not for the first time, Bon Bon found herself watching his hands with a little jealousy; she quickly turned away and reared up at the sink to fill a kettle.

The scrape of chairs meant Lero had taken a seat at the kitchen table. Bon Bon had to suppress a little giggle at the thought of the gangly human folding himself up on their furniture. She set the kettle on the stove and turned to lay out her tea-making set, a gift from all of her herdmothers on her eighteenth birthday.

“So...” Lero cleared his throat a few times. “So, your mother was a confectioner?”

“That’s right.”

“And a reasonable plumber,” Lero said. Lyra choked and Bon Bon could almost see the way she’d be biting her lip to hold the laughter in. “What I don’t understand is how she- well I’ve seen you guys at work all the time, but I can’t quite work out how an earth pony could, say...  solder pipework, or construct tools. Or make tea.”

“We get by,” Bon Bon replied as she carefully poured a measure of leaves into an infuser. She paused a moment to snuff at the tea and tutted quietly. “Smoky’s putting too much bergamot in again. I know what you’re trying to ask, by the way,” Bon Bon added as she continued to prepare the drink. Hot water into the pot, add the infuser, swirl three times...

“You do?”

“Yep. Why not just get a unicorn to do it?” She smiled over her shoulder at the human but couldn’t quite understand his reaction.

Lyra was giving Lero a sideways glance. Even from the first day, the unicorn had some sort of feel for the subtle way Lero showed his emotions. She didn’t look uncomfortable, which was a good sign that Lero wasn’t uncomfortable as well.

“The thought had crossed my mind. I know you’re very dextrous with your hooves and mouths, but unicorns seem to have a fairly big advantage when it comes to manipulating tools. I guess what I’m trying to ask is, if she wasn’t a plumber, why not take advantage of that?”

Bon Bon didn’t reply, unsure of how to proceed. She busied herself with the tea instead, using the excuse of her mouth being full to avoid having to answer, until the teapot was gently plucked from her mouth by Lyra’s magic.

“Lyra-”

“Bonnie, answer the nice man.”

“But-” She wilted under Lyra’s firm stare. “Fine... mom was a bit of a traditionalist.”

“Traditionalist?”

“She means tribalist.” Lyra placed the teapot in the centre of the table and gave Bon Bon an encouraging smile. “Not really in a bad way, no rude names or demands to throw us out of town or anything stupid like that, but she had very firm opinions about most unicorns.”

“She didn’t want to rely on unicorns because it made her feel weak.” Bon Bon circled the table and leaned her head against Lyra’s neck. “I never really understood why given we’re nearly always physically stronger than they are, but I guess she saw the way unicorns could use magic to do things that we find difficult or impossible... She loved Lyra to bits even so.”

“Oh. I didn’t realise you two were a couple.”

“We’re not,” both ponies shot back. They looked at one another and burst out laughing. Lero’s quiet chuckle joined them a moment later.

“It’s easy to make the mistake. We spend a lot of time together and I guess we are pretty tactile.” Bon Bon shifted her position against Lyra slightly and smiled. “I was always bringing her home when we were in college. We’re kinda like sisters.”

“Really friendly sisters,” Lyra added as she poured the tea, her magic deftly manipulating pot, spoons, lemon and a half dozen other items without any apparent effort, leaving Lero so obviously impressed that even Bon Bon could recognise it.

He picked up a teaspoon and held it between finger and thumb so that it dangled over his cup. “That never gets old.”

“Wait until you see Twilight flinging buildings around.” Lyra took a sip of her tea and smiled, whilst Lero’s eyebrows tried to climb to the back of his head.

“Buildings?”

“Oh sure! I’ve seen her do some remarkable stuff in the few years she’s been here. Bonnie, remember that thing with the Ursa?”

“I was trying to forget,” Bon Bon groused. The memory of the creature almost trampling her store - and wrecking her market cart in the process - was still fresh enough in her mind to give her shivers late at night. She made her way back to her seat, half way between the human and the unicorn, and tried to concentrate on her tea.

“I heard about that. Rainbow Dash told me the story a while back, something about a giant bear?”

Bon Bon nodded, any chance of forgetting the incident now thoroughly lost. “A giant magical bear on a giant magical rampage through Ponyville.”

“And I suppose Twilight Sparkle saved the day.” Lero spoke without any obvious expression. Lyra’s ears twitched and she stuck her tongue out at the human, as if he’d been making a joke.

“Her solution involved a water tower, a couple dozen cows and a lot of magic. A lot of magic,” Lyra repeated, tapping her hoof on the table for emphasis. “And she was the only one capable of doing it. We’d have been in real trouble if she hadn’t been there.”

“Sounds kinda scary.” Lero’s voice was subdued, as if he’d just realised something important. He looked at Bon Bon, frowning, one hand rubbing his face in a way that seemed to mean something, but she couldn’t work out what. He turned and fiddled with his tea cup for a while, fingers curling and uncurling around the thin china.

“Scary doesn’t begin to cover it.”

“How would you deal with something like that if there was no magical prodigy around?”

“Pointy sticks,” Bon Bon said. She laughed, knowing how brittle her voice sounded, and tried not to think about the inevitable outcome of that particular tactic. “Or we’d call for the guard and hope they got here in time, though Ursae are so rare that they almost never even venture near pony settlements. They’ve not really been a threat since before unification.”

“And before that?” Was he always so prying? No wonder Rarity liked him, he probably brought her loads of gossip. No, no Bon Bon, that isn’t fair...

“Before that...” Lyra shot Bon Bon a sympathetic smile. “Lets say that it took a long time for unicorns to earn the trust of earth ponies. We- they had a tendency to neglect their duty to protect ponies who were essentially their vassals.”

“You mean slaves,” Lero said, giving Bon Bon a narrow-eyed glance. He ran his finger around the rim of his tea cup.

“In a manner of speaking, I suppose. Ponies are no better or worse than any other species when it comes to exploiting others and rejecting anything not like us. We’re a herd species, it’s the sort of behaviour that kept us alive for millennia.”

“Pony evolution one oh one,” Lero replied, grinning. “I’ve had the lecture from Twilight.”

Lyra stuck her tongue at at him again, still grinning. “I doubt she would have had time to explain the more recent parts of our history. The wars and the divisions. All those empires and petty kingdoms that spent so much time fighting against one another.”

“And meanwhile,” Bon Bon put in, “Earth ponies were usually caught in the middle and had to fend for themselves.”

“I can see why that would generate a lot of mistrust,” Lero said. His voice was quiet; he seemed to be staring into some other place, lost in thought.

Bon Bon shifted uncomfortably on her seat and glanced at Lyra, who seemed to be quite content to have an audience. Guess Twilight’s not the only one who enjoys lecturing.

Without warning Lero stretched his arms out and placed his tea on the table. He gave Bon Bon another glance and smiled. “I’m sorry, I’ve probably overstayed my welcome. I should get going.”

“It’s okay.”

“I shouldn’t impose. Besides,” Lero added with a quiet chuckle. “Interesting as the conversation is, I promised Rainbow I’d teach her how to play some more human sports this afternoon.”

He made to stand when Lyra jumped from her seat. “Wait right there,” she said, before cantering from the room and leaving Lero and Bon Bon in an awkward silence. Lero frowned and fiddled with his cup.

“I feel like I’ve upset you,” he said, his voice quiet. Bon Bon felt a strange buzz of compassion in his voice, emotions that she hadn’t noticed before. She blinked.

“You haven’t. Mom’s kind of a sore spot, but I don’t mind that much. I should have reacted better.”

“Well. I’m sorry anyway. Poking fun at your mother’s hard work and then bombarding you with personal questions isn’t normally how I try and keep customers.”

Lero stood to gather up his tools once more and then paused, ducking awkwardly to avoid the ceiling even though there was no danger of hitting his head. He frowned at the kitchen door, and presumably at the unicorn somewhere beyond.

“Is she always like this?”

“It depends on her mood. Lyra’s always been a little unusual. She doesn’t really think like other ponies.” Bon Bon gathered up some of the tea things as she spoke, efficiently shuffling cups back and forth with her hooves, earning herself an appreciative noise from Lero. She smiled just a little. “If I didn’t know better I’d say she was born in the wrong time and place...” her voice trailed away as she looked at Lero with newfound curiosity. Stranger things had happened.

“Well, whatever she’s doing-”

The door popped open, admitting a triumphant Lyra with a grin on her face and a large, leather-bound book floating by her head. She dropped the book on the table and pushed it toward Lero. “Here. I want it back when you’re done.”

“What is it?”

“A book,” the unicorn deadpanned. Lero groaned and put a hand over his face. “Yeah yeah, laugh it up. It’s a history book. It covers some of the era we were talking about, especially the wars between the more prominent unicorn and pegasus states, but it also has a lot to say about the impact they had on everypony else.”

“That sounds interesting...” Lero picked up the book and turned it over to examine the cover. “The Gemwing Wars?”

“I’ve got a few more if you like. I’ve always had an interest in the topic, but the local library is more focussed on earth ponies and post-unification history, so I’ve tended to buy my own.”

“I appreciate it.” Lero hefted the book in one hand and then carefully placed it in his tool bag. He pulled the bag over his shoulder and gave both ponies one last grin. “Thanks again for the tea and the conversation. It’s nice to have another friendly ear to talk to.”

“It’s not a problem,” Lyra said, pressing her cheek against his wrist; a moment later her eyes snapped open as Lero gently pressed a knuckle just below her ear. Then, as if nothing had happened, Lero was pushing his way out of the kitchen, one hand retrieving Lyra’s book from his bag, the other casually swinging the door on its hinges as he hummed an unfamiliar tune.

As soon as the front door closed, Bon Bon turned to Lyra and tilted her head. “Did he...”

Lyra nodded. She looked over her shoulder at the door and snorted. “I didn’t expect that.”

“Should we tell him?”

“Um...” Lyra bit her lip. Was she blushing? “Maybe.”

“I’ll go and-”

“No! No...” Lyra’s lop-sided smile was back again. “I’ll go, later. Best to hear it from the mare’s mouth, don’t you think? Besides, you’d just get all embarrassed and not be able to tell him that he’s been as good as making out in public with every mare he touched like that.”

“Where do you think he got the idea from, anyway?”

Lyra’s eyes widened slightly. She grinned just a little wider, too. “I’m sure I don’t know.”

*  *  *

“All is ephemera. All fades away. Take the brush, write upon the stone. Ink shall fade, stone shall crumble. Each returns to the source.”

Lyra circled, eyes closed, her body moving through forms almost automatically as she followed her weekly meditation. She could feel the first twinkling of the sun on her back, striking between two trees that stood near the edge of the shallow depression she moved around, warming her legs and neck and flank. She smiled, just a little, as the heat penetrated her coat, and then moved once again.

“Climb the hill, circle the hill, every path returns to the foot. Return to the centre, pass through and return again.”

Another had used this place before her. A faint rut had formed under that mare’s hooves, a gentle, curving path that swept down and around the depression, speaking of years of dedicated motion through the forms. Though it demonstrated the previous user of the place had been meticulously correct in their devotions, Lyra’s hooves never followed the path, preferring their own steps, a series of motions that always ended with her facing away from the sun as it rose.

“River flows to the sea and all is one. Light burns stone to dust and all is one. Each returns to the centre of all. Today I forge a new path so that I might once again return.”

She opened her eyes and stared at her shadow, that stretched across the grass. The depression was behind her, a shallow pit of bare earth in the middle of copse. A brook flowed nearby, tinkling and chattering across a fall of smooth, grey stones as it curled around one half of her safe harbour and into a deep pool. Around her the grassy slopes of the Saddles rose in every direction, extending the impression of sitting at the bottom of a huge bowl; over the rim Lyra could just make out the border of the Everfree Forest in the distance, hidden behind its ever-present veil of mist. She glanced over her shoulder at the copse one last time and stepped out into the clear air of the day, satisfied, yet unfulfilled.

The journey back to town was relatively short, but today Lyra didn’t particularly feel the need to rush back to her responsibilities, preferring to meander with the flow of the land and see where it took her. Despite the proximity of the Everfree the air was quiet, with just the occasional buzz of insects and the sound of grass shivering in a light breeze to break the silence. Time seemed to almost cease its flow; the sky was cloudless, the valley she walked rising up in every direction. Grass-seed drifted in the air in a tiny, swirling flurry that seemed to halt in place before her eyes until the wind carried it away.

Lyra watched the little cloud of seed loft into the air as it disappeared into the vast blue sky, until she heard the flutter of wings behind her and felt the gentle thump of a pegasus landing in the grass.

Some pegasi thrust their bodies at the earth when they landed, as if to be sure they’d stay down long enough to conduct their business. Others approached it with disdain, barely allowing their hooves to touch the soil, holding their bodies as lightly as possible and always eager to be away into the sky again. Lyra had only met one that returned to earth as if to the grasp of a long-lost lover.

“Hello, Fluttershy.”

The pegasus squeaked in shock, her cautious steps through the grass interrupted for a moment. “How do you always know it’s me?”

“Magic,” Lyra replied, finally turning to face her new companion with as much humour as she could muster. Fluttershy’s ears flicked once, twice as she tried to work out whether Lyra was teasing or telling the truth, until her eyes came to settle on the unicorn’s face.

“Lyra, what’s wrong? You look, um, sad.”

“I’m a little down, yeah.”

“Is that why you’re out here? I like to come here to think, sometimes.” Fluttershy looked up at the sky and then turned her eyes toward the Everfree Forest. “It seems all the more peaceful, somehow.”

Lyra didn’t respond, preferring to let the warming sun stroke her body and the cooling breeze stir her coat. They stood like that for some time, not speaking, simply being. Lyra let her thoughts flow and Fluttershy did whatever a Fluttershy might do, until she broke the silence.

“Is it about Lero?”

Lyra’s eyes snapped open. The other mare was watching her intently, almost fiercely, at least as far as could be said for Fluttershy. The combination of adorable shyness and worrying intensity gave Lyra little room to avoid the question. She nodded, barely, and closed her eyes again.

“You mean you-”

“Probably before Rainbow Dash,” Lyra said. “But I don’t think he noticed. I was waiting to see how things shook out.”

“Oh. Oh m-my, that’s-”

“Life,” Lyra said with as much conviction as she could muster. “It’s simply how things are. I’m not going to fight fate.” She opened her eyes and turned to Fluttershy with her most cheery smile. “What are you doing out here anyway?”

“O-oh, well I, um, was looking for something.” Fluttershy had a cute way of glancing around when she was nervous, but the way she pointedly avoided looking at the Everfree Forest was a big hint.

“You wouldn’t be the first... is it something to do with Lero, too?” Fluttershy’s nod prompted a snort from Lyra. “He’s a popular topic these days.”

“I thought, if I had another look now, I could find out where he came from.”

“He looked like he’d crawled through a bramble hedge from what I remember,” Lyra said, thoughtful, her eyes pulling toward the forest without any prompting. She stroked her chin. “Scratches all over. Kinda nasty, especially for him.”

Fluttershy’s wings fluttered and her hooves started to dance, all of which added up to one very nervous pegasus. It was probably only her fear of heights that kept her on the ground. “There aren’t any brambles or thorny bushes anywhere near that part of the forest. And there was no path through to where we found him.”

“Like he walked out of a dream...”

Fluttershy’s ears dropped back against her head and she frowned. “More like a nightmare.”

“I guess you're right about that,” Lyra responded. She took another look toward the forest and shook her head. “I doubt you’ll find anything, Fluttershy. Whatever path brought him here is closed now.”

“I just can’t help feeling he might be lonely.”

“He was. He misses his family, anypony can see- well maybe not anypony... I know he does, though. He used to be out here looking for a way home every day until Rainbow-” Lyra’s voice caught in her throat. Why was this so hard to talk about now? She pressed on, ignoring the tight lump in her chest. “He’s loved, he’s learning to accept this place as his home. What would finding a way back do for him now?”

Fluttershy’s eyes moved back and forth as she stared at the forest, until she seemed to reach a decision. She lowered her head. “You’re right. I’ve seen how happy they are together. I-I just wanted to help in some little way.”

“We can help him by being his friends. He’ll need those more than ever, now everypony knows about his relationship with Twilight and Rainbow.” Lyra put a hoof on Fluttershy’s shoulder and gave her an encouraging pat. After the briefest of moments the pegasus flung both her forelegs around Lyra’s neck and pulled her into a hug. “What-”

“For helping me,” Fluttershy whispered. She rubbed her cheek against Lyra’s neck and just as quickly pulled away, wings flaring as she prepared for flight. “I have to go!”

Lyra watched the pegasus scoot away across the meadow, barely rising above the tall grass as she dodged around a single, lonesome tree in her haste to depart. The pegasus moved with such grace and artistry, it was a wonder Lyra had never noticed before. She touched her neck gently at the spot Fluttershy had pressed herself against, and smiled.

In another life, perhaps... but not this one. Here, her life was circling only one way, drawn to a place she hadn’t even known existed until recently, if only that place would allow her in.

Lyra glanced up at the sky, judging she still had enough time before her day officially started. She pressed her hooves into the soil and closed her eyes, adopting the opening stance of the Way. Head raised to the sun, foreleg tipped to the very edge of her hoof, she took a breath and began the journey back to her centre.

“All is ephemera. All fades away. Take the brush, write upon the stone...”

*  *  *

The door closed, blocking Rainbow’s confused protest outside, and Lyra fell against it with a heartfelt sigh that seemed to resonate with the entire room.

“I hate being right.”

Bon Bon looked up from her ever-present newspaper, a sad smile on her otherwise carefree features. “That bad?”

“Worse. All three of them and a friend of theirs. Glitter Dust, I think.”

“Oh, really? That’s a shame, she was a good customer.” Bon Bon carefully folded her newspaper away and laid it to one side. “And I suppose I’ll have to find a new supplier now, too.”

“No, the last thing I want to see is ponies siding against one another over this,” Lyra said, watching her friend as she sauntered across the room. Bon Bon rolled her eyes and nuzzled Lyra’s neck as she passed by.

“You’re such a dramatist, you know that?”

“Artist’s temperament,” Lyra shot back. She pulled a pouch from around her neck and tossed it onto the couch, then followed with herself a moment later. Bon Bon watched with a distracted half-smile.

“It doesn’t change anything though.”

“Bon Bon-”

“Lyra, you have your badge, I have my ‘do not serve’ board. And I’m not going to buy from a pony that treats other ponies that way, either.” She glanced across the room at the newspaper and sighed. “Even if she is having a three for two special on bulk purchases...”

“You barely even know them.”

“I could say the same. Drink?” Bon Bon disappeared into the kitchen, leaving Lyra to her thoughts for a few moments. The harpist-cum-guard pondered for a while and then thumped her hoof on the couch.

“Cider,” she called. The clink of bottles announced Bon Bon’s return a moment later, a six-pack dangling from her mouth. Not for the first time Lyra wondered just how non-unicorns managed to do so much without the use of magic. It seemed so awkward, somehow, clutching at things with their hooves and mouths, with none of the delicate touch magic could provide.

The thought was interrupted by Bon Bon popping a cap from one of the bottles with her teeth. She deftly passed the drink over to Lyra and turned to work on her own, biting the cap off with the minimum of fuss. Any burgeoning pity Lyra felt for the plight of the earth pony race was chewed off with it.

“So,” her friend said, once she was safely relaxed on the couch. “I take it they tried to do something dumb?”

“They were about to jump Rainbow Dash. Four against one.”

“Hardly seems fair.”

“I know. Rainbow looked just about ready to start gnawing on the scenery when I turned up, I was kind of surprised she hadn’t already laid into them. She’s learned a lot of self-discipline from somewhere recently.” A grin split Lyra’s face as she took a taste of her drink. The bittersweet cider pinched at her tongue and seemed to sizzle at the back of her throat, catching her by surprise for a moment. Bon Bon must have dug out the good stuff. “If she can rein in that temper of hers just a little more she could be a pretty good guardsmare.”

“Oh dear, you seem quite enamoured with the filly. Should I be jealous?”

“Of Rainbow Dash? Bon Bon, you know me better than that!”

“Perhaps not Rainbow in particular, but something about her. Maybe something related to her...” Bon Bon tipped back her drink and deliberately ignored the tongue Lyra stuck out at her. She sighed and smacked her lips. “Your silence seems telling.”

“Silence is where we speak loudest.”

“So you tell me. Often,” Bon Bon replied. “And with gusto.” She hopped from the couch to retrieve another drink. “Spend too long staring at a thing and it catches your eye, I suppose.”

“You could say that.” Lyra found she couldn’t tear her eyes from the bottle resting between her hooves. She cradled it for a few moments, waiting for something else to be said, before looking up at her friend. Bon Bon stared over her shoulder, smiling. “Bonnie-”

“Lyra. We’re hardly a package deal.” Bon Bon popped the cap from another drink and resumed her spot on the couch. She snuggled up against Lyra’s side as she spoke. “I have no idea what you see in him, but I’m not going to force you to stick around when you so obviously want him. Besides, I’ve known for months how you feel. The day you figured out Rainbow Dash had courted him, you locked yourself in your bedroom with that harp-”

“Clàrsach.”

“-and refused to come out until you’d played through an entire symphony. Which was very nice, by the way. You should try writing some of these things down.”

“Music dies when bound to paper.”

“I wish I could offer you something as profound in return,” Bon Bon replied. She nuzzled Lyra’s neck and sighed. Lyra leaned into the embrace and let out a sigh of her own, revelling in the warmth of close companionship.

“He might just complete me. Or he might just be my madness.”

“Great master say, life is like box of chocolates. Sticky on warm day, but smell nice.”

“Is that meant to be a complement? I’m touched.”

“It’s whatever you want it to be,” Bon Bon replied. She snuggled against her friend and closed her eyes. “Promise me something, Lyra.”

“Anything.” Lyra raised her drink and finished it off. She hadn’t realised she was that close to the bottom. “The world.”

“Nothing so grand,” Bon Bon replied. She took a breath. “Don’t let him slip away, okay? I know you,” she continued, before Lyra could respond. The unicorn tilted her head and frowned. “I know you, all right? You don’t like conflict, and that’s great, but it means you let things slide unless you’ve got no other choice. You could have had Lero weeks ago if you hadn’t waited.”

“I... I just wanted to see how things shake out with Twilight first.”

“And what will the excuse be next time?”

Lyra returned to staring at her drink. This was a side of Bon Bon she’d not seen for a very, very long time. She’d missed it. “I guess you’re right. But it’s still too soon.”

“It won’t be too soon forever, Lyra.”

“And you said you couldn’t be profound!”

*  *  *

The rotunda of the Town Hall was quite dark by the time the trio exited, talking quietly amongst themselves. Laughter echoed across the broad space, bouncing between the pillars until it reached Lyra’s spot by the rear stairs.

She hung back to watch her friends leave, partly to let them have their moment of peace together and partly because of the overwhelming sense of relief that flooded her body at the sight of that peace. She’d probably have done or said something she’d regret later if she’d gone to them now. The idea that she could lose control over herself that easily...

A smile touched her lips. There were times when it was right to feel that way. Control was as much an illusion as permanence, as was the idea that she could simply chase after them when there was business to attend, and paperwork to go along with it. The room they had just vacated had been set aside for her use for the rest of the evening so she quickly trotted over to the door, taking one last look at the retreating backs of her friends before she shouldered her way inside.

There was a desk within, and a few folders related to the case laid out on it, which immediately confused Lyra; she’d not asked for them to be brought down yet. The some-time guardsmare tilted her head slightly, ears working as she examined the room with renewed interest. Something moved the air, carrying a faint scent of cut grass on a warm summer’s day.

“I thought you’d left.” She smiled again and turned toward the source of the scent.

“Most of my little ponies would begin with something more formal.” Princess Celestia stepped out of the corner of the room, where she’d somehow contrived to hide in plain sight. She paused as Lyra turned to face her. “Please, remain standing.”

“Thank you, highness,” Lyra replied, though she hadn’t even thought to bow. “Might I ask why you’re still here?”

“Of course. I’m here to save you from your paperwork, auxiliary sergeant Heartstrings.”

Lyra glanced at the desk and its neat stack of folders. Topmost was the the folder that contained all her notes from the day, that would be compiled into a two page summary of the report she’d written as part of the investigation, and which she would post off to the regional Guard Command Headquarters along with her expense claims and her regular bi-weekly report.

Her gaze returned to the Princess, who smiled benevolently, as befitting a demi-goddess.

“Your commanders are already aware of my presence, they’ll assume you reported to me directly. After all...” Celestia paced around Lyra and moved to the window to examine the evening sky. “I am your sovereign, your commander in chief, and I have a rather personal interest in this particular incident.”

“Certainly, ma’am,” Lyra replied, just about managing to hide her smile again. Of course the Princess would be interested. “Is there anything in particular I should-”

“Do you trust him?”

“Do I trust Lero? Of course! He-” She paused and frowned. “Excuse me for asking, ma’am, but is this about Lero, or Twilight?”

Celestia smiled as she turned from the window. Smiled and then laughed, a sound that was said to have driven the most stoic of mares and stallions to weep in their oats and write terrible but heartfelt poetry. “Either you are very perceptive, Lyra Heartstrings, or I am far too easy to read. Shall we say it is the former?” The Princess flared her wings briefly, as if throwing off an uncomfortable cloak, and when she spoke again there was a subtle undercurrent to her voice that Lyra couldn’t quite identify. “I don’t question my student’s judgement even for a moment, but you might perhaps understand I do have some trepidation about her choice. She may well be the closest I have had to a daughter for a very long time.”

“I think I understand,” Lyra replied. She strode the short distance to the window and seated herself as close to the Princess as she dared. Informality, it seemed, was the watchword tonight, as a few moments later Celestia had seated herself similarly.

“Do you?”

“Ma’am, forgive me for saying so, but you’re experiencing something every mare has to go through at some point in her life. We all have to face the possibility of letting somepony go sooner or later.” Watching them walk out the door... “You probably already know what she’s let herself in for. It would only be worrying if you weren’t concerned for her.”

“I wonder if she realises what she’s let herself in for,” the Princess said. Her voice was so quiet that Lyra almost wondered if she was meant to even hear it.

“My experience is limited, but... but I expect nopony ever truly knows.”

“You may be more correct than you realise.” Celestia turned that smile toward Lyra again, and when she spoke next, her eyes danced. “The joy of love is the one pure state that time and familiarity can never tarnish, because it is experienced anew every day.”

“Clovis?”

“Cliff Cord.”

“I don’t think I’ve read anything by her.”

Celestia chuckled and shook her head. “That’s because he never wrote anything down, except in water, on stone. Cliff Cord believed to commit words to paper would destroy their meaning and tie them irrevocably to the past.”

Lyra couldn’t help but smile at the familiar sentiment. Silence filled the room, flowing between them as a soft breeze, warm but refreshing. There wasn’t very much to be said for the moment. Lyra watched the sky as the sun slowly eased toward the horizon and thought about movement and timing.

She felt the Princess stir beside her. “I seem to have lost myself in the moment, sergeant.”

“The moment is all we have, ma’am,” Lyra replied. Celestia gave her a curious frown and then nodded.

“I’d heard you could be a little cryptic at times. I shan’t keep you any longer, miss Heartstrings. Have a good night.” Celestia turned to leave. Her walk toward the door was slow and regal and her ears barely flickered when Lyra jumped to her hooves.

“Princess?”

“Sergeant?”

Lyra stopped then. For the first time in quite a long while she was unsure of herself. Celestia turned slowly, still smiling, her eyes dancing again. Of course she would know. She’d had thousands of years of learning to understand ponies. She could probably tell exactly what Lyra had for breakfast that morning just by looking at the way she walked.

“I- uh...” She took a breath. “Do you trust him?”

“Do-” Celestia laughed for the second time that night, and it was a laugh so pure that Lyra could only feel joy at hearing it. She’ll turn me into a poet yet. “As I said, I trust my student’s judgement on this matter, so yes. I trust him. You seem nervous, Lyra Heartstrings.”

“Oh, you have no idea.”

“I rather think I do,” Celestia said with some modesty. “Asking if I trust this human leads me to suspect you’re no longer quite sure of your own feelings on the subject.” Celestia stroked her chin; for just a moment Lyra saw the Princess’s tongue trapped between her teeth, exactly the way Twilight looked when she was thinking. “I further suspect you’re trying to ask me about something in particular, but have no way to start.”

“Well. Yes. But, you see, Twilight is... involved, and that makes things a little complicated, because that means you’re involved...” Lyra paused and bit her lip. When did she become so tongue-tied? “And you’re my commanding officer, which-”

“Sergeant, I have heard enough excuses over my long life to know that you, my dear little pony, are reaching for every single one in the book.” Celestia lowered her head just a fraction, still smiling, as she took a step toward Lyra. “You have a path before you. You seek knowledge of whether that path is the right one. You’re looking everywhere for confirmation of the that single desire in your heart.”

Lyra nodded, unable to speak. This was not remotely how she’d envisioned this conversation. Come to think of it, she’d never envisioned this conversation. This was going to be one for the diary, she thought, as Celestia raised her head again. The Princess regarded her for a few moments and then smiled warmly.

“You find what you seek when you stop looking, Lyra Heartstrings.”

And, before Lyra could speak, the ruler of all Equestria had walked out of the door.

*  *  *

In the future, when I think of now, I’ll say to myself: I remember that day.

Come to think of it, there are quite a few days more to remember than I thought, but the important moments are what truly matters. Those instances when a single push sends you down that path you know you must follow. When resistance is unthinkable, because it would put you against the universe itself.

I waited one more month, mostly out of habit, but my heart had already chosen its path, and you can’t fight the heart any more than you can fight the wind against your face. I had looked for the path I should take for so long; it was only when I stopped looking that I realised it was already beneath my hooves. I had courted you without even knowing it, my heart already chasing its desire, already returning to where it was meant to be.

The day was not especially warm or sunny, but that didn’t matter. Clouds couldn’t dull the brightness of your eyes or dampen your spirit. You stood above everything like a mountain, one that I no longer had any choice but to peak. The three of you together showed me what I was meant to be, who I was meant to be. Your freedom, your release and your balance are what I sought my entire life.

Finding you was easy. Finding these flowers, on the other hoof, was harder than you’d think, and expensive too. But what is cost? Just another marker of change in an ever-changing universe. It had been one final, tiny excuse, easily dismissed.

I will remember that I waited a little while, watching the sky, watching the world until you filled it. I'll remember Rainbow dancing around you, laughing in her freedom, Twilight huddling close while you hang on every word; and you, striding ever onward, releasing every one of those words, enjoying that freedom, using each to empower the other to greater heights. All three so lost in one another that you almost don’t see me.

But you do, you do, strider who falls forever, and you fold over me like a wave, washing away the last doubt and fear as you draw close.

And they know. They smile and move around me like all-encompassing arms that draw me to the centre of your life, while you watch with that bewilderment and that joy you take in experiencing the unknown and the new.

And then you understand.

And then you smile.

And I am complete.

Publisher's Note:  I just want to take this opportunity to thank Archonix for this wonderful addition to the side stories entry and to the greater story of Xenophilia itself.  For those not already familiar with his work, he is the writer behind The Xenophile's Guide to Equestria, which both myself and AnonAuthor have been helping him with.

As you can see from the quality of this chapter, he is a terrific author in his own right and, if you enjoyed this, I urge you to go and check out his other works as well.

Fish Out of Water (by AnonAuthor)

Disclaimer:  oops.  I had this finished and ready to publish when Saturday’s episode kinda dismantled a key point.  I’ll elaborate in an author’s note instead of spoiling, but yes, I recognize that a major element of this is inaccurate.

***

        “...Look, all I’m saying is that, for someone who seems pretty bright, she seems to get captured a lot.”

        Rainbow made a frustrated noise.  “Well, yeah, but she gets out of it!  Usually in some kind of totally awesome way!”

        Lero waved a hand.  “Even so, wouldn’t it be more awesome not to get captured in the first place?”

        They’d all been walking down one of the main roads just outside of Ponyville when the conversation had started.  Lero had just finished the third of the Daring Do books that Rainbow had been pestering him to read, and he didn’t seem to recognize how cool the heroine was.  Twilight and Lyra were watching the discussion in amusement.

        “What, and not give her a chance to get out and take the stuff the bad guys stole with her?” Rainbow asked, reasonably.  “Come on, dude, that was awesome.  You gotta admit that.”

        “I’m not denying it at all.  I just think it might have been more clever for Daring to turn the tables, especially in the second book.  She had an opportunity there that she missed.”

        Twilight cut into the discussion, clearing her throat to get Lero and Rainbow’s attention.  “She actually does do that in the next book.  She even thinks about what happened in  Mummified Mare, and how she could have done things differently, and captures the villain chasing her because of it.”

        Rainbow stuck her tongue out at the unicorn. “Way to ruin the fun, Twi.  I was totally gonna keep this argument going until he read the next one so I could say ‘told you so.’  She’s more awesome ‘cause she learns from it!”

        Twilight rolled her eyes with a long-suffering expression, and Lero chuckled.  Rainbow saw Lyra smile quietly, her golden eyes twinkling with amusement.

        A blur of motion caught Rainbow’s eye, and she glanced up.  A black-and-yellow shape was headed towards them, weaving low between buildings, and Rainbow’s mouth twisted.  Honeybee again.

        The Honey sisters had kept hassling their little family, even after Lyra had started courting them, though they’d been less obvious about it when the mint-coated unicorn was actually around them.  The pegasus sister, though, liked to buzz them periodically, regardless of who was around.  It was an annoyance tactic, but it worked.  She hadn’t knocked Rainbow out of the air again; that wasn’t easy to do anyway, and it had been almost a fluke that it had worked the first time, but it was still really aggravating.  Especially the time they’d been dressed up for a date; Twilight’s hat had never recovered from the trauma.

        Lero and Twilight had both urged Rainbow not to respond, telling her that the sisters were trying to provoke her, trying to get a response out of her, but darn it, enough was enough.   Rainbow had always had difficulty with not responding, which had gotten her into trouble over and over again in flight school.  By now, she had lost all of her patience with this garbage, and it was time to let Honeybee know that.

        Rainbow waited until the other mare was committed to her course, ignoring the puzzled look on Lero’s face as she shifted her attention and dropped out of the conversation.  Once Honeybee’s options narrowed sufficiently and she’d committed to an approach vector, Rainbow gave a single hard, uneven flap of her wings, pushing herself up and around in a twisting course.  She’d learned this move from Autumn Breeze, her Feather Leaf teacher, and she’d always been really good at executing it.  As Honeybee came in over Lero’s head, the tip of Rainbow’s wing struck hers in a glancing blow.  Honeybee wobbled suddenly, the combination of the light impact against her wingtip and the twisting vortex Rainbow had created around herself sending the other pegasus almost out-of-control, exactly the way Rainbow had intended.  She hadn’t hit hard enough to crash the other mare, just hard enough to hopefully express her... irritation.

        Honeybee veered off, still wobbling and losing altitude as she tried to regain control, and Rainbow snickered triumphantly.  Maybe you’ll think twice next time, she thought with a slight edge of smugness.  Or maybe she’d just hassle Lero and Twilight when Rainbow wasn’t around, but if she did that then Rainbow would find another way to express her annoyance.  Lyra would probably have some ideas on that front.

        Rainbow’s sense of self-satisfaction vanished when she saw Honeybee’s unsteady course carry the other mare out over a nearby small lake.  Oops.  Shoot, I didn’t mean to do that... get it under control quick, dummy.

        Honeybee almost managed it... but then her wingtip dipped into the water.  The drag grabbed at the pegasus’s wing, yanking it behind her while her body continued on, and Honeybee flipped forward, hitting the surface of the lake with a tremendous splash.

        Rainbow froze, a horrible stillness overtaking her.  Oh... shoot.  “Can... can she swim?”  

        Pegasi fell under one of two categories: those who could swim really, really well, and those who could drown really well.  There was pretty much no middle ground.  Rainbow herself, like most pegasi without the right talent, fell into the latter category.

        And as Rainbow stared at the surface of the lake, where the spreading ripples of Honeybee’s crash were broken only by bubbles rising to the top, she became horribly convinced that Honeybee fell into that category, too.

        “Oh, dear,” Lyra said quietly.  “Ah... I can’t swim.  Can either of you ladies?”

        Twilight shook her head.  “I can manage, but nowhere near well enough to pull off a rescue.”  She looked tense, and a little scared.

        Rainbow glanced around at the few stunned ponies she could see near the shore. None of them were particularly strong swimmers, nowhere near strong enough to go in after sompony.  “Uh, uh, uh,” she stammered in shock, “does... does anypony know where Pinkie or Raindrops are?”  Did I just kill Honeybee?!    Ohpleaseohplease, don’t be dead, don’t be dead, I didn’t mean it, I really didn’t!

        She was so distracted looking around that she didn’t notice Lero taking off at a run, headed for the lakeshore.  “Lero, wait!”  Twilight yelled.  The human didn’t so much as pause, his long stride carrying him quickly to the water, where he dove in with a surprisingly graceful leap, extending his arms out in front of him just before he hit.  “Oh no!”

        “Can he swim?”  Rainbow gasped, the sense of shock getting stronger.

        “I don’t actually know,” Lyra replied tensely, taking a step toward the water.  “I don’t think I’ve ever talked to him about it.”

        “He almost certainly can’t!”  Twilight exclaimed, her voice shrill.  “Most apes can’t!  They just drown!”

        Rainbow felt sick.  No, no, no, no, her mind babbled.  “Twi, can you grab him or something?  Anything?”  This was my fault!  This was all my fault!

        “No!  I don’t know where he is!  I can’t grab something if I don’t know its location!” The unicorn’s voice sounded nearly as frantic as Rainbow was starting to feel.

        “Woah,” Lyra interjected, “hold up, everypony calm down.  He’s not dumb, he wouldn’t have gone in if...”

        “I’m going in after him!”  Rainbow yelled, ignoring the mint-colored mare.  Impelled by guilt and fear, she powered forward, only to feel a slight twist to her wing that dumped her on the ground.

        “No!”  Lyra’s voice was firm.  “Listen to me.  You already said you can’t swim.  Don’t make it worse.  He wouldn’t have gone in if he couldn’t.”

        “But!”  Rainbow protested, pushing herself back to her feet.

        “No!” Lyra cut her off again.  “Look, do you trust him?”

        Rainbow blinked.  “Of course I do!  But...”

        “But nothing.  Trust him to handle himself.  You don’t want to give him two ponies to have to rescue.”

        She did trust her human stallion; he was a bright guy, and she knew he could take care of himself and usually had good judgement.  Even so, her instincts were screaming at her to do something.  Anything, even diving in to try to help even though she knew she couldn’t swim.

        Rainbow danced with tension, feeling half like she wanted to throw up, standing there watching the water for what felt like forever.  Her stomach was clenched so hard it ached, and she could taste sour bile in her throat.  She felt tears pricking at her eyes, fear and anxiety gnawing at her, made a thousand times worse by the feeling of helplessness.  She danced there on the shoreline, staring at the gentle ripples on the surface of the water, feeling her tension wind tighter and tighter and her nausea grow stronger and stronger.  It felt like they’d been standing there forever, and she knew, she just knew he wasn’t going to come back up.  Twilight had tears in her eyes, too, and even Lyra was gnawing on her lip with worry.  “He’s been down there a long time,” the mint-coated unicorn said quietly.

        Finally, she’d had enough.  This was my fault.  I’m not going to lose him down there and not do anything.  I can’t.  I can’t!  Her wings spread to launch her into the air, determined to do something to help even if she didn’t live through it.  She couldn’t let him just die in the lake, she couldn’t.  Maybe she could manage something, boost him up to the surface, shove him toward the shore, something, anything.  Rainbow braced herself, taking a deep breath, ignoring Lyra’s sidelong look...

        And Lero broke the surface, taking a deep, gasping breath of his own as he reappeared.  He hauled Honeybee up after him, the pegasus mare likewise gasping deeply, gulping desperately for air and coughing as the human pulled her head up above the surface.  Her forelegs paddled frantically, uncoordinated, and her wings moved sluggishly in the water.

        Rainbow was above them like a shot, even before Honeybee had started to struggle to keep herself on top of the water.  “Ohmygosh, Lero!  Lero!  What can I do?  How can I help?”  She hovered over them, looking for a way to grab him that wouldn’t drag her under.  It would be awkward, but she might be able to...

        “I got it,” he gasped.  “I can...”  He grunted, glancing at the coughing, frantic Honeybee, whose head he was struggling to hold up.  “Quit fighting!  Relax or you’ll drown us both!  I’ve got you!”

        Honeybee relaxed almost immediately, though her ears were still flat with terror and Rainbow could see her chest heaving with effort as she desperately pulled in air.  Ponies who knew they were in mortal danger without the right skills to help themselves got frantic, but when another pony who did have the right skills showed up to help it made the one in danger almost instinctively follow the other’s direction.  Knowingly or not, Lero had triggered that reaction, and regardless of the opinion Honeybee held of the human, her hindbrain was telling her to follow his advice.

        “Okay, good,” the human said, shaking his head to get water out of his eyes, and Rainbow could see his arm moving weirdly under the surface of the lake.  It looked like he was grabbing the water and pushing it down, but however he was doing it, he was holding both himself and Honeybee above the surface.  It was clearly an effort, and she was worried about what might happen if he ran out of energy.  No, she was terrified of what might happen then.  The tension that had loosened when he’d reappeared suddenly coiled all the tighter.

        “Please,” the yellow mare gasped, her ears flat with terror against her slicked-down black mane, “please, don’t let go. Don’t, please.”  She was doing her best to try to hold on with her forehooves to the arm he had around her chest, desperate to keep the lifeline he’d offered her.

         “I won’t,”  Lero shifted, trying to pull Honeybee a little further out of the water.  “Stay calm, I’m gonna head for the shore.”

        Honeybee nodded, still coughing and gasping, not even trying to speak.  Weird, she shouldn’t have been that close to being out of breath; most pegasi could hold their breath for several minutes.  Rainbow could see by the terrified look in the other mare’s dark amber eyes that she’d come really, really close though, so something had been wrong.

        “Dude, is there anything I can do?”  Rainbow wanted to both land and collapse with relief at learning that her stallion hadn’t drowned, and explode with the tension she felt seeing him fighting his way out of a situation she was helpless to intervene in.  He wasn’t out of danger yet; he and Honeybee were pretty far from the shore.

        Lero shook his head.  “No, I don’t want to risk pulling you in, too.”  The human’s body shifted, lying sideways in the water while keeping Honeybee on top of him, and his stroke changed.  Instead of holding them up, his arm reached out, pulling them strongly toward land.  She could see his feet kicking, blurringly fast, throwing churned water up to the surface.  They were moving, but it seemed like they were going at a crawl.  Rainbow knew swimming was slow, but this felt like watching a glacier.

        The pegasus glanced back at the shore, and could see Twilight and Lyra watching.  Twilight was leaning way forward, almost enough to fall over.  “Dude, Twilight could lift you out.  She can see you now, and if she can see ya she can get ya.”

        “If... I falter... then yeah... have her get us,” he gasped through the splashes, still pulling strongly for shore.  “Backup plan.”

        Rainbow watched them carefully, trying to figure out why they were going so slow, and had a sudden realization.  “‘Bee, fold your freaking wings.  You’re slowing him way down.”

        Honeybee nodded, a measure of the fear on her face fading as she finally really realized she was going to be okay, though her ears were still flat against her neck and her forelegs were clinging to the arm Lero had wrapped around her.  Her yellow-feathered wings disappeared from under the distortion of the water’s surface as she pulled them tight to her sides, and Lero’s speed increased immediately when that source of drag was removed.  “B-better?” she asked, coughing, trying to keep her head high enough that the water didn’t splash into her nose or mouth.

        “Yeah,” Lero replied shortly.  “Just stay calm.  I’ve got you.”

        Rainbow stayed right over them, looking for anything she could do to help, but nothing manifested.  Lero didn’t need the help; he was actually doing great on his own, even though Rainbow was terribly anxious about him being in a situation where she couldn’t do anything.  She wanted to be mad at Honeybee for starting this whole mess, but from the sick fear in the other mare’s eyes, it looked like she’d already suffered enough for that.  She looked like she might be crying with relief as they approached solid ground, though with all the water on her face it was hard to tell.  Rainbow really couldn’t muster a good, solid feeling of anger toward her right now.  She was more angry at herself; she should have checked where Honeybee’s flight path could have led.  It was stupid to have done that the way she had.

        Finally, he made it into the shallows.  The human turned, carefully setting the coughing pegasus onto her feet in water shallow enough that she could stand, and the two of them stumbled up onto the shore, as the ponies around them cheered.  A small crowd had gathered near the edge of the lake as the rescue had progressed, and Rainbow could see relief on the faces of everypony there.  None of them looked as relieved as she freaking felt, though, seeing him finally clear of the water.  The realization actually made her legs feel a little unsteady, knowing that he was safe, he was okay.  He was up on land, where she could help if something happened, and that was important.  The fact that she could help now if something else went wrong loomed huge in her mind.

        She landed next to him, noting as she did so that he’d lost his shoes, and heard Twilight and Lyra galloping up to them.  Behind her, Honeybee staggered onto the grass and collapsed, gasping.  “Dude... Lero, are you all right, big guy?”

        He nodded, breathing heavily. “Yeah, I’m fine.”  The human turned to Honeybee, who was still lying on the ground, her black mane plastered to her neck by the water cascading off of her.  “Are you okay, Honeybee?”

        “Yeah, I’m...” she was interrupted by another fit of coughing.  “I’m okay.”

        “You couldn’t hold your breath longer than that?” Rainbow asked in an acrid tone.

        The other pegasus shook her head.  Her ears hadn’t lifted at all; they still lay flat from tension and fear.  “Couldn’t... couldn’t get a breath.  Hit the water...” she coughed again, “facefirst, didn’t have time.  Too quick.”  She paused again, gasping. “Got water in my throat, was trying to find the top, couldn’t.  Didn’t... didn’t know where the air was.”

        “I think you got disoriented,” Lero said quietly.  “You were swimming sideways when I found you down there.”

        Honeybee closed her eyes, shivering.  “I couldn’t... couldn’t find up.  The water was tickling my throat, there wasn’t any air, I was about to start coughing underwater.  I don’t think I could’ve held it much longer.  I was so scared.”  She opened her eyes again and looked up at Lero, still gasping for air.  “I... You saved my life.  Why?”

        “Why?”  His eyebrows shot up.  “Look, I know you don’t like me, and I honestly feel the same way about you,” he replied, “If you’d been about to fall in a mudhole or something, I probably would have just watched, but that doesn’t mean I was going to let you drown.  I may not like you, but that doesn’t mean I want you to die.”

        Honeybee blinked in surprise, but Rainbow couldn’t hold herself back any longer.  She tackled Lero, grabbing him around the neck with her forelegs and around the shoulders with her wings, knocking him back into a sitting position.  “I thought I’d just lost you,” she whispered in his ear, squeezing her eyes shut.  She ignored the sensation of his sodden clothes squishing against her chest; it was completely unimportant next to the feel of him in her embrace.  Warm, (well, slightly chilly at the moment) solid, and safe.  The tension in her chest unwound almost explosively, driving her breath from her in a quiet huff.

        The pegasus felt Twilight join the hug, grabbing him from the back the way Rainbow had grabbed him from the front.  “Oh, I did too,” the unicorn whispered.  “You scared me badly, Lero.  I didn’t think apes could swim.”

        “You’re both just being silly,” Lyra observed quietly.  “He’s not that stupid; he wouldn’t have jumped in if he couldn’t get back out.”  Then she stepped close and laid her head on Lero’s shoulder above Rainbow’s wing, stroking his lower arm with her forehoof.  “All the same,” she whispered, and Rainbow could hear tension in the green unicorn’s voice, “I’d appreciate if you wouldn’t scare us like that again, Fingers.  I thought my heart was going to stop for a little bit there.”

        “Don’t ever do that again,” Rainbow whispered, echoing Lyra’s thought more emphatically while holding on to him with all four forelimbs as though afraid he was about to slip away.  “Not ever.  Don’t ever make me think I’d lost you again.  I’ll totally kick your butt if you do.”  The thought of losing him, especially to some stupid accident she herself had caused, gripped her heart in a vice, and she tightened her embrace fractionally.

        Lero’s arms went around Rainbow and Lyra, his hands catching and holding Twilight’s forehooves since she was behind him where he couldn’t reach.  “I’m sorry to scare you, ladies, but it didn’t look like anyone else was going to be able to help.  It had to be me, and I thought I needed to act fast.”

        “The...you were right.”  Honeybee had gotten her coughing under control, though she was still breathing hard.  One of the bystanders, an earth pony mare, approached the sodden pegasus, moving to help her to her feet.  “If you hadn’t been as fast as you were, I think I’d be dead right now.  I... thank you.  Lero.”  It was the first time Rainbow had heard the other pegasus use Lero’s name.  “I owe you, big time.”

        The hug broke apart, and Rainbow turned to glare at Honeybee, keeping herself between the human and the other pegasus.  “Yeah,” she growled angrily, “you do.”  She could almost sense both Twilight and Lyra joining in the glare.

        Honeybee ducked her head.  “I... look, I won’t buzz you again.  I won’t hassle you again, either.”  She let out another hard cough.  “I’m... sorry.  I really am.  I’ll try to find a way to pay you back.  Thank you.”  The other mare heaved herself to her feet with the other mare’s help and walked unsteadily away, head hanging low and leaning on the helpful bystander, through the small crowd that had gathered.

        Rainbow shook her head, dismissing Honeybee from her thoughts and turning back to Lero.  “Dude, are you sure you’re okay?  What happened to your shoes?”

        He shrugged.  “I’m fine, honest.  I had to kick them off in the water; shoes make it hard to swim.”  The human paused.  “Look, I really am sorry I scared all of you, but in the same circumstances, I’d do it again in a heartbeat.  Honeybee would be dead, right now, if I hadn’t.”

        Rainbow felt a chill at his words.  I almost killed somepony.  It would have been a total accident, but still...

        Twilight tossed her head in irritation.  “Why didn’t you tell me you could swim?!”  she asked, an acerbic tone creeping into her voice.  “I did research on apes, and I thought they were really bad at that!”

        The human blinked.  “The subject never came up, Twi.  And, uh, keep in mind that humans aren’t really like other apes in a lot of different ways.  We’re pretty good swimmers, for one, or at least most of us are.  I’m a decent swimmer by human standards, but I’m not that strong in the water, and I admit I probably shouldn’t have done that.”  He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.  “But, I mean, I couldn’t just stand by.  I may not be a lifeguard, but I can swim reasonably well, and it didn’t look like anyone else was trying.”

        Lyra, standing at Lero’s shoulder and gently rubbing his back with her forehoof, just smiled enigmatically, while Twilight made a frustrated sound.  “Urgh!  Look, let’s just get you back home and dry you off,” Twilight said, finally.

        “I could handle that!”  Rainbow volunteered.

        “Ah, no offense, but no thanks,” Lero replied.  “That cyclone thing you do isn’t all that comfortable, love.”

        Rainbow snorted.  “Aw, come on.  Don’t you like having your hair sticking out in every direction?”  That had been really funny the one time she’d convinced him to let her do it.

        “Yeah, I’ll pass.  No Einstein hair for me.”  Rainbow had no idea what he was talking about, but that didn’t bother her.  Lero pushed himself up to his feet, looking forlornly back at the lake.  “I would like to go get another pair of shoes, too; I suspect that pair is forever lost.”  He paused, and she could just barely see an edge of humor lurking underneath his expression.  “Or, you know, I like those shoes.I could just go back in and get them back...”

        “Don’t you dare!”  All three ponies exclaimed simultaneously, even Lyra joining in on the chorus.  Lero grinned, and Rainbow glared at him for just a moment before she couldn’t hold it anymore and started laughing, with Lyra and Twilight joining in a heartbeat later.

        Rainbow hovered up so she could fly along next to him, talking and laughing and feeling almost giddy with relief.  Lyra and Twilight fell in on either side, and the human didn’t seem to realize the guard formation the three mares had assumed around him; one above and two flanking the sides.  None of them wanted to take another chance.

***

        Rainbow actually ran across Honeybee again later that day, to her great surprise.  She was gliding over the town, headed for a quick meeting with the south sector crew, when she heard raised voices.  Curious, she banked and landed around the corner, a perfect location for eavesdropping.  Or for, er, satisfying curiosity.

        “-got a little scared, and now you’re gonna chicken out?”  The voice was Honeydew’s, loud and angry.  Not surprising; Honeydew got angry a fair amount.

        “You’re seriously gonna call me a chicken here, sis?”  The reply came from Honeybee, and was much quieter, though just as angry.  That was a surprise; Rainbow had never once heard either of the other two Honey sisters talk back to the eldest.  “Scared?  You better believe I was scared.  I would’ve died if it hadn’t been for Lero.  You wanna talk about scared, you try being under water, not sure where the surface is, without any time to take a breath before you wind up down there.  Until you do that, howsabout you shut your mouth?”

        “What, calling the monkey by name now?”  Honeydew sneered.  “What’s next, wanna be the monster’s bench like those three nags?”  Rainbow could feel her teeth grinding.  So I’m a nag and a bench now, huh, she thought angrily.  “Bench” was a slang term with a complex connotation; it generally referred to a mare that just stood there and took it without any kind of response, but it could also refer to one that basically just let a stallion use her.  Either way, it was not a proper description of her relationship with her herd, and the insults were starting to get her boiling.

        “Shut up, sis,” Honeybee replied, wearily.  “Look, I’m not gonna stop you, I’m just not gonna help anymore.  Quit calling me a perv.  Just ‘cause I don’t want to keep hassling them doesn’t mean I want to rut him.  And yeah, I’m gonna call him by name, and I’m not gonna be mean anymore.”  She sighed.  “I was getting kinda tired of that anyway.”

        “C’mon, ‘Bee.  You seriously gonna let those nags hang around while they’re sleeping with that monkey, and not mess with them?”  Rainbow bristled from the continued insults; again, Honeydew had managed to insult her, her stallion, and her herdmates all in one breath. Still, she stayed quiet, listening.

        Honeybee sighed again.  “Sis, seriously.  Yeah, it’s messed up, but I don’t think they’re gonna change their minds.  We might as well leave ‘em alone.”  The pegasus paused.  “I’m gonna get him something to say thanks, and then I’m not gonna mess with ‘em anymore.”

        “Say thanks?  Say thanks?  Why the heck are you treating this monkey like a pony, Honeybee?”  Rainbow ground her teeth, trying to stay silent.  Monkey.  I’m gonna pay you back for that, Honeydew.

        There was another pause, and Honeybee’s voice was quiet.  “Is my life really worth that little to you, sis?”  Rainbow blinked at the comeback.

        “...What?”  Honeydew sounded just as startled.

        “I asked if you really feel like my life’s that cheap.”  Rainbow could hear Honeybee swallow, hard.  “I think you’re missing part of this.  The important part.  The part where, if he hadn’t done anything, I would have died.” The pegasus spaced her words out for emphasis.  “No more Honeybee.  I wouldn’t be standing here talking to you right now.  You really don’t think that’s worth at least a thank-you gift?”

        Honeydew snorted.  “It was kinda stupid for you to be in the water, anyway.  You know you can’t swim.  Why the heck were you in there?”

        There was a moment of frozen stillness, and then Honeybee spoke in a cold voice.  “I was buzzing them, sis, like you asked me to, and Rainbow Dash spotted me.  I guess she decided she was sick of it.  So I wound up in the lake, because of what you wanted me to do, sis.”  It... was a little more my fault than she’s saying, Rainbow thought a little guiltily, I should have checked what direction she was headed before I did that.

        “Yeah, that was pretty stupid, huh?  Flying over the lake like that.”

        Rainbow could almost hear Honeybee grinding her teeth.  “You wanna talk about stupid, sis?  Are we really gonna have this discussion?  ‘Cause I know, between the two of us, which one is smarter.”

        “Yeah, maybe.”  Rainbow heard a snort.  “Okay, yeah, you’re the smart one.  Maybe.  Buzzing ‘em like that was your idea, remember.  But you’re being dumb now.  Didn’t we all agree the monkey was a freak?”  Keep it up, Honeydew.  You just keep on calling him a monkey.  I’m adding up every time you say that.

        “You know, I remember you ‘agreeing’ that, sis, and me just going along because I was lazy.  In fact, I seem to remember mentioning that the creeps that were sleeping with him were the pervs; he can’t really help it, right?  I just didn’t really argue when you flipped out about it.  Isn’t that more how it went?”

        “Well, yeah, but I thought you changed your mind, and you’re always lazy, ‘Bee.  You’d never do anything if I didn’t make you do it.”

        “Maybe I oughta change that, sis.”

        “What?  What is with this, ‘Bee?  You suddenly think it’s okay for ponies to hump monsters?  You turning into Mom or something?  I mean, you got her wings, maybe you got some more, too...”

        “Don’t you say that!”  Honeybee’s voice was a snarl.  “Don’t you dare, sis.  This has nothing to do with Mom, I’m not abandoning you two, I’m saying I can think they’re pervs and still think they’re, you know, real thinking folks, which has nothing to do with the... argh, whatever Lero is.  Especially when he saved my freaking life.  What the heck has gotten into you, Honeydew?”

        “What’s gotten into me is my sister betraying her family!”  The big earth pony snarled back.

        “Betraying?  Seriously?  You think me treating the guy that saved my freaking life like he can think and talk is betraying you?”  There was a pause.  “Honeydew...  what is up with you?  Have... have you always been like this?  Do you just have us hassling those fillies because you want to be mean?”

        “Of course not.  I just...”

        “Then can we stop?”  Honeysuckle interrupted.  Rainbow couldn’t remember actually hearing the younger earth pony speak before.  She’d snickered along nastily with her sisters when they’d ganged up to pick a fight with Rainbow, and the cyan pegasus had never imagined that she hadn’t wanted to.  She hadn’t imagined Honeybee acting like this either; it was coming as kind of a shock.  “It’s not fun being mean, Honeydew.” She sounded a little sad.  “I’ve lost some customers since we started.  Some of my favorites.  Bon-bon never comes to see me anymore.”

        “So it’s both of you, then?”  Honeydew growled, trying to hide a hurt undertone to her voice.  “Fine.  I’ll handle this on my own.  Maybe Glitter will help, since you guys won’t.”  Rainbow heard the big earth pony mare stomping off.

        “What the heck?”  Honeybee sounded upset and confused.  “What’s gotten into her?”

        “Nothing, she’s always like that.”  Honeysuckle, by contrast, sounded sad.  “She’s gotten meaner, ‘Bee.  You just don’t see it because you’re off on your own so much, and she’s nicer to you ‘cause you help her figure out how to do stuff.”  She paused, and sniffed.  “I don’t like hurting her feelings, but I don’t want to keep doing this.”

        “Geez.”  Honeybee paused.  “I... sis, do you think this is right?  I mean, it’s perverted to be humping some monster, but...”

        “But we shouldn’t be mean about it?”  Honeysuckle still sounded sad.  “I don’t think Honeydew’s right about this, ‘Bee.  They’re not hurting anyone.  We shouldn’t be trying to hurt them.”  She sniffed again.  “It was a little fun being mean at first, but I don’t like it anymore.”

        “Wha?  Uh, why didn’t you say something sooner?”

        “I... It’s me, ‘Bee.  You know.  I’m slow.”

        There was a pause.  “Oh.  Honeysuckle, I’m so sorry.  Listen, I’ll try to be around more, okay?  Don’t let Honeydew push you around, sis, you’re smarter than you think you are.”

        “Maybe.”

        The two sisters trotted off together, leaving Rainbow with something to think about.

***

        She kept an eye out for Honeydew, and warned Lyra too, just to be sure, but the big mare seemed to be sulking.  She didn’t make any move to hurt Lero, which was something Rainbow had seriously worried about after hearing that conversation.  When something like this happened, it always made her nervous, always reminded her of how fragile he was compared to most ponies.  Twilight had told her the Princess had personally spoken to Honeydew, and she could only hope that that would keep the angry mare from hurting her stallion, because she could do it if she caught him alone.  She could do it with an ease that chilled Rainbow down to her bones.

        Honeybee disappeared for a few days, too, which made it a bit of a surprise when Rainbow heard a knock at the door, and glanced out when Lyra opened it to see the black-maned, yellow-coated pegasus standing uneasily on the doorstop.

        “Oh,” Lyra said with a blink.  “Honeybee.  Did you need something?”

        “Um.  Yeah.”  The pegasus’s dark amber eyes darted from Lyra to Rainbow.  She looked a little tired, actually.  “Um.  Can I come in?”

        Lyra glanced over at Rainbow, and the pegasus tilted her head.  “Sure, c’mon in.”

        The unicorn moved out of the way, and Honeybee came in, still looking slightly nervous.  “I, ah, is... Lero home?”

        Rainbow frowned, sharing another glance with Lyra.  “Yeah, he’s back in the living room.  Did you want to talk to him?”

        “Er, yes, please, if that’s okay...?”  Honeybee trailed off, looking at Rainbow with a mix of hopefulness and discomfort.

        Rainbow shrugged.  “Sure, I’ll go get him.”  She turned and headed into the house, leaving Lyra to watch the other pegasus.  It didn’t look like Honeybee wanted any trouble, but the unicorn could handle any she might decide to make.

        She found him sitting with Twilight, looking at one of her magic books in confusion.  The unicorn was half-leaning into the human’s lap, pointing at part of the text with her forehoof.  “...is really advanced math, Twi,” he was saying as Rainbow came in.

        The unicorn giggled.  “Not that advanced.  This is an intermediate-level primer. I will admit that energy flow equations get a bit involved, but it’s nothing next to the advanced material.”

        Spike, sitting in the corner scribbling on a parchment, laughed too.  “Yeah, dude, if that bends your brain then the stuff on the fourth shelf is gonna explode it.”

        He shook his head.  “Way over my head.  Math was never my strong suit; I was a history major.”

        Twilight giggled again.  “Good thing you’re not a unicorn, then.  Oh, take a look at this, see, when you do Moonlight’s transform of the Chi-Theta integral, you can get the same effect on biological...”

        “Hey, big guy,” Rainbow interrupted, grinning to herself at having a chance to rescue him after all, “Honeybee’s here, she wanted to talk to you.”

        Lero blinked.  “She does?”  He glanced at Twilight, who shrugged.  “Okay, I’ll be right there.”  The unicorn got up out of his lap as he set the book aside (with carefully-hidden relief that Rainbow nonetheless spotted) and stood.  Rainbow waited until they’d disentangled themselves, and led the way back to the anteroom.

        Twilight glanced over her shoulder as they left.  “Oh, Spike, when you’re done there could you get my copy of the Annotated Articles on Alchemy from the library for me?”

        Spike waved nonchalantly.  “Sure thing, Twilight.”

        Honeybee looked up as they came in, sidling away from Lyra with a slightly uneasy air.  “Ah.  Um.  Hey.”

        Lero stopped, looking almost as uncomfortable as Honeybee did.  “Hey.  Rainbow said you were looking for me?”

        “I... yeah.”  Honeybee shifted in place, then turned suddenly to her saddlebags.  She flipped the top open and pulled out a large, paper-wrapped package tied up with string.  “Here,” she said through closed teeth as she gripped the string, “Gof thif for you.”

        He reached out, and she laid the package in his hand.  “You, um, may want to open it now.  It’ll keep, but not forever, y’know?”

        Blinking, Lero started untying the string.  He opened the package, not realizing he was holding it up too high for any of the ponies to actually see it, and looked at Honeybee in surprise.

        She shuffled her forehooves.  “Uh, I asked around town, and heard you liked fish, so...”

        “Is this what I think it is?”  Lero asked in surprise.

        Consumed by curiosity, Rainbow hovered up off the ground to look over Lero’s shoulder.  The paper had been wrapped around a number of large pieces of fish, something that looked like salmon except it was deep red in color instead of the pale pink she was used to seeing.  She wondered if something was wrong with it.

        Honeybee cleared her throat.  “Um.  Like I said, I’d heard you liked fish, I always liked salmon and I remembered... someone who liked it... saying that the best kind of salmon came from out in the ocean, so...”

        Lero still looked surprised.  “Yeah, it is, but I’ve looked all over the place for ocean-caught salmon.  All you can find around here is farm-raised.”

        “Yeah, that is the only kind around here.”  The pegasus fidgeted.  “I got some saddlebags with stasis spells on ‘em and took a trip out to Typhoon.”

        “Uh, wow,” Rainbow said blankly.  Lero glanced over his shoulder at her.

        “Where’s that?”

        Rainbow blinked, staring at Honeybee.  No wonder she looked so tired; the stasis spells on bags like that only lasted a couple of days.  She must have really hustled.  “Cloud city that stays over the ocean, it wanders around the east coast a lot.  That’s... kind of a long flight.”

        “Yeah.”  Honeybee closed her eyes wearily for a moment.  “I took a train out to Baltimare and back, didn’t fly the whole way.  It’s pretty close to there right now.”

        “Still, though.”  Honeybee helped out the weather crew sometimes, so Rainbow knew the other mare’s abilities, and endurance wasn’t one of them.  “Uh... you flew out over the ocean after what happened the other day?”

        Honeybee gave Rainbow a sullen glare, her ears turning back slightly.  “I’m not stupid; I flew out there with a flock and a couple of lifeguards, like any pegasus with a brain.”

        “Well, it sounds like you went way out of your way, Honeybee,” Lero interjected quickly, clearly hoping to avoid a fight, though Honeybee was just acting grumpy rather than actually aggressive.  He still had a little trouble picking up nonverbal cues from ponies he didn’t know, though he had gotten really good at reading the ones he was familiar with.  “This is very generous of you.  Thank you.”

        Honeybee actually gave the human a wan smile, the first time Rainbow had seen her smile in his presence.  It was a little strained, but it seemed genuine.  “I’m glad you like it.  I just... you saved my life the other day.  I wanted to show that I appreciated that.”

        “You didn’t have to,” he replied quietly.

        “I know.”  The pegasus shrugged.  “Look... my life is worth a lot to me.  I... really thought I was going to lose it, before you grabbed me and hauled me back up to the surface, and I know you did it even though we’re not friends.  This is just the way I came up with to say ‘thanks.’”

        He nodded.  “In that case, you’re quite welcome, and the gift is likewise appreciated.”  Honeybee smiled again and returned the nod.  Lero hesitated, looking at the fish.  “Um.  Would... would you like to join us when we cook this?”

        Honeybee froze, blinking and shooting a glance over his shoulder at Rainbow.  “Er... I’m sorry?”

        “What are you doing?”  Rainbow hissed into Lero’s ear.  Twilight and Lyra likewise looked shocked.

        Lero shrugged uncomfortably.  “It was a family tradition back home; if someone gave you a gift of food, you offered to share it.” He looked at Honeybee levelly.  “It’s just an offer, you’re free to decline if you like.”

        The pegasus’s eyes darted around uneasily, glancing at the other ponies in the room.  Rainbow noted that Twilight and Lyra looked surprised and a little uncomfortable, which was pretty much how she felt.  “I... uh.  Listen, I appreciate the offer, I really do, but I’m gonna have to say no.”  Apart from glances, Honeybee was carefully avoiding looking at any of the other ponies in the room, though she didn’t seem to have a problem meeting Lero’s eyes.  Rainbow thought it was a little odd.  “I mean, thanks, but I’ll pass.”

        Lero nodded, looking a little relieved.  “All right.  The offer was genuine, but I can understand if you don’t want to.”

        “It’s not you,” Honeybee blurted.  She looked abashed, realizing she’d spoken.  She sighed, covering her eyes with one forehoof.  “It’s... I never really had a problem with you.  I think my sister does, but...”  She shrugged.

        Lero frowned.  “Er, so what do you have a problem with?”

        “It’s us, big guy,” Rainbow whispered in his ear.  “Me, Twilight and Lyra.  She doesn’t like the fact that we’re... together.  With you.”

        “I’m sorry!”  Honeybee exclaimed, backing up a pace, “I just... I think it’s perverted.  Look, I’m not going to make a big deal about it anymore, I just think it’s messed up.  Argh, I didn’t mean to talk about this when I came over here, I was just gonna give this to you and go...”

        “But you don’t have a problem with me?” Lero sounded really puzzled now.

        Honeybee shook her head.  “No, especially not now.  I just... I don’t... It seems kinda wrong to me for ponies to be with... folks that aren’t ponies.”  She swallowed.  “Look, I... this really isn’t what I meant to talk about.  I’m sorry, I really won’t bring it up again.”

        Lero stood stock-still, and Rainbow could see the muscles in his jaw working.  Honeybee looked at him carefully, trying to figure out what his posture meant.  “I... are you upset?”

        He nodded once.  “Yeah, I kinda am.  It bothers me when people have problems with the ones I care about because of the fact that I care about them, for some odd reason.”

        “It’s... I... that’s not what I meant,” Honeybee said quickly.  She covered her face with her forehoof.  “Argh.  I told myself coming over here that I wasn’t gonna do this.  I didn’t want to start a fight.  I really didn’t mean to start a fight right in your house.”  She sighed, forcing herself to look around at the other ponies in the room.  “Look... can’t I disagree with what you’re doing without thinking that it makes you bad ponies?”

        Lero sighed.  “I guess we’re gonna have to agree to disagree here.” He glanced down at the package in his hands.  “Are you still sure you want me to have this?”

        Honeybee’s ears laid back.  “Are... are you turning it down?” she asked in a small voice, lowering her head and taking a step back.

        “I’m asking if, given what you said, you’re still sure you want to give it to me,” Lero replied.  “I mean, I’m certainly intending to share it.  Rainbow will almost certainly want some, and I intend to share it with Twilight and Lyra as well, if they want any.  If our relationship bothers you, will that upset you, too?”

        Honeybee shook her head.  “Um.  Why do you think I brought so much?”  She asked, quietly.  Rainbow glanced at the package again; there was certainly quite a bit there, more than enough for four or five.

        The three mares stayed silent, letting Lero carry the conversation.  Rainbow figured anything she said would probably be taken badly, so letting him talk instead seemed like a good bet.  “I’m not sure,” the human replied.  “Let me be blunt; are you upset at the idea that I’d share your gift with my family?”

        “I...Of course not.”  Honeybee backed up another step.  “Look... I gave it to you.  It’s yours.  It’s... I know it’s a pretty sad way to thank you for my life, but it was the best thing I could think of.  What you do with it is your business...” she swallowed, “but no, it doesn’t bother me that you’d share it.  I expected you to.  Like I said, that’s why I got so much, trying to make sure it’d be enough.  And, ah, thank you for the invitation.  It took me by surprise, and it made me say some stuff I shouldn’t have, and I really am sorry.  I didn’t mean to come to your house,” she looked around at all of them this time, including the three ponies in the apology, “and insult you, I really didn’t.  I, ah, I should go.  I’m sorry.  I really am.”

        “Before you do,” Lero interjected, lifting the package she’d given him, “thank you.  This is a very generous gift, and you went to a lot of trouble to get it.”

        Honeybee smiled again, her ears relaxing a bit.  “I’m glad that you like it.  And, ah, really, thank you for the invitation.”  She paused.  “M-maybe... some other time?”

        Lero glanced briefly at Twilight and Lyra, getting a nod from both of them, and Rainbow rested her forehoof on his shoulder.  To her surprise, Honeybee didn’t even blink at the gesture; she’d been half expecting to provoke the other mare.

        He nodded once.  “Some other time, then.”  It was pretty clear he was just being polite, but then, Honeybee was too.  The gesture was the important thing.  “Well, actually, I’ve got some ideas as to what I could do with this.  Twi, could you get Spike to meet me in the kitchen when he gets back?”

        The unicorn nodded.  “Sure!  I’ll go see if maybe he hasn’t left yet.”  She trotted out, and Lero turned and disappeared back into the kitchen.

        Honeybee cleared her throat, drawing Rainbow and Lyra’s attention.  “Uh.  Hey, before I go, there’s this one thing...”

        Rainbow raised an eyebrow and glanced over at Lyra, catching the interested glint in the unicorn’s gold eyes.  “What?”

        The other pegasus flinched slightly, but didn’t withdraw.  “It’s my sister, Honeydew.  I, ah, I’ve been keeping an eye on her, and I’ve had a couple of friends doing it too, but I need to talk to you two about it.”  She closed her eyes, drawing a deep breath.  “I’m... I’m afraid that she might try to hurt your, ah, hurt Lero.”

        Rainbow shared another glance with Lyra, feeling a coal of anger kindling in her chest.  She’d told Lyra about the argument she’d overheard, but having those concerns confirmed this way was unpleasant.  “Oh, you think so?”  she asked the other pegasus, a harsh edge in her voice.  “If she tries, she’s gonna regret it.”  She’d had it with Honeydew, she really had.  If she tried to hurt Rainbow’s stallion, then Rainbow was going to start breaking things until the other mare smartened up.

        Honeybee flinched again.  “I... please, don’t hurt her bad if she does.  I didn’t realize until recently, but she’s... I don’t know what’s gotten into her.  I think something’s wrong.  She hates him, though.  I’ve been trying to watch for the last few days, trying to make sure she doesn’t try anything but...”  She sniffed, “like I said, I had a couple of friends watching her while I was gone, and I’m going to be watching her as close as I can now, but I’m scared I’m going to miss something.  I don’t want her to hurt anyone, but...”  She sniffed again, ducking her head, “she’s my sister.  I don’t want her to get hurt.  Please, please, if she shows up acting crazy, please could one of you come find me?  I’ll stop her, I will, even if she’s angry she’ll listen to me...”

        Lyra looked troubled.  “If you’re seriously worried that she might get violent, then we need to do something now.  I’ll talk to the Mayor...”

        “No, please!”  Honeybee looked up, a panicked look in her eyes.  “I’ve been talking to her, I think I can keep her from doing anything like that.  I really do, she has to listen to me.  We’re pretty much all either of us has, us and Honeysuckle.  I’m just trying to warn you, you know, just in case, since I realized the other day that I was screwing up and now I’m scared I’ll do it again.”

        The two herdmates shared another look.  “Fine,” Rainbow growled, “we’ll give you a chance.  But if she tries something, I’m not gonna let her, and if she actually does hurt him, I’m not gonna hold back.  Got it?”

        Honeybee swallowed, nodding.  “I understand.  Thank you.  I’ll try my hardest to make sure that won’t happen.”  She heaved a deep breath.  “Okay, I’m gonna go now.  Thanks for hearing me out.”  The yellow-coated mare turned and left, and Rainbow and Lyra watched her go.

        The two mares shared a final uneasy look, before heading into the kitchen.  Lyra tossed her head slightly, indicating that Rainbow should take lead, which the pegasus was glad to do.  She walked up behind Lero, who was pulling stuff out of the pantry and handing it off to Spike.  Rearing up to be closer to his eye level, she caught his shoulder with her forehoof.  “Hey, big guy, got something to tell you real quick.”

        He blinked at her, but nodded.  “Hey, bud, can you get started on your own?”

        “Yeah, I think so,” Spike replied.  “Go ahead, I’ll wait if I run into a problem or somethin’.”

        The human stepped aside, and Rainbow quickly summarized what Honeybee had told her, ending with, “...so I just wanted to warn you.  Be careful, big guy.”

        He nodded soberly.  “I’m not going to let her scare me, but I’ll  remember and be careful.”  The human smiled at her.  “Thanks, Dash.  I promise I’ll watch my back.”

        She nodded, and let him turn to head back to help Spike.  Yeah, and I’ll be watching your back, too, she promised silently, glancing at Lyra and nodding.  We all will.

***