(You) are Anon, and you just arrived in Ampilly. After a long and quite boring commercial airship flight to Brossainc, you took the train to your final destination. The Ampilly train station was certainly not the grand, sprawling complex as seen in the bigger cities, though it still had its charm, reminding you of the small train stops you’d see in a wild western movie from back home.

It was (quite literally) the middle of February, and since you were in the mountains, you had a thick coat on you. The cold here clearly had nothing on what you’d be dealing with in Avtukia, for example. However, you figured that since you’ve found yourself in a world that had not invented antibiotics yet, you were not in the mood to take chances.

There was nothing of interest in the Ampilly train station except for a postal clerk. You could only see hippogriffs coming in and out of the station building, minding their own business. Leaving the warm embrace of the station building, you walked out onto the busy street. After a bit of walking, you found yourself smack-dab in the middle of the city.

Downtown Ampilly was a nice sight to behold, the sight resembling one of many idealized pictures of French cities. There were stores, housed in the ground floors of Victorian French “Haussmann-style” residential buildings which were lined up on either side of the pedestrian-exclusive street, selling all kinds of wares: from candy stores to mares’ clothing boutiques.

An establishment that caught your eye was a mercenary recruitment office nestled in between a gun store and a “patisserie”. You looked through the window of the store and saw an assortment of small bite-sized cakes. Failing to recall the last time you had tasted something sweet, you decided to satisfy your sweet tooth.

As you opened the door to enter the patisserie, the shopkeeper’s bell chimed, inviting out a pink-eyed green hippogriff mare wearing her chef’s whites out of the kitchen to tend to her new customer. She was visibly surprised to see such an alien creature like you.

“Bonjour… monsieur?” She said, reminding you that you’re going to have to put your elementary knowledge of the French, or rather, Cilarean language to use.

“You are an tourist?” The griffmare said in broken Equestrian as your brain was scrambling for two Cilarean words to put together. With a sigh of relief, you said: “Oh, you know Equestrian?” 

The mare replied with a nod and a friendly smile. “Oui… yes. Not much.” 

“Well then. Can I get a dozen of those… macarons?” You pointed towards the pastries you wanted.

“Dozen… douze?” She audibly counted from one to twelve in her native Cilarean on her claws. “...dix, onze, douze?”

You understood her, and replied with a “Yes.” The griffmare put on a glove on one of her claws before taking a pair of tongs into her gloved claw. As the griffmare neatly packed the macarons into a cardboard box, you took a second look at the pastries on display. 

You could see a few dozen rose-shaped small cakes, one half were red while the other were white. The trays the roses were laid in neat rows on were labeled “Spécial: « fête des roses »”

As the griffmare finished packing your initial order, she saw you look at the rose cakes. “Oh, the roses. They’re for the… what is the word… celebration of the roses.” You let her continue, preparing your wallet to pay for the pastries, “Every… quatorzième? In deux days, there is a celebration of love.”

You chuckled. You wouldn’t have been surprised if this world had its own equivalent of Valentine’s day. But the parallels going so far as to take place on the same day steered your mind away until the griffmare snapped you out of it: “Monsieur, will that be all?”

“Yes, madam.” You said, and the griffmare giggled. “Douze macarons… a silver coin, please” 

She took the glove off her claw before reaching out to you. You give the mare the coin before taking your box of cakes. You opened the door, once more hearing the chime of the bell, and stepped out of the store. The cold February weather reminded you to close the door behind you before continuing your stroll around town.

You decided to open the box of cakes right after leaving, with the intention to snack on them as you roamed. Suddenly, you spotted a shadow over you becoming larger and larger. As you considered turning your head towards the source of said shadow, you felt a claw land on your left shoulder. Shortly after, a familiar-looking blue arm reached around your neck before the creature behind this stunt pulled you up a bit into the air.

“Gotcha, Anon!” A familiar female voice exclaimed as you were dangling a meter or so above the street. The griffmare giggled before properly embracing you from behind before flying you higher, elegantly setting you down onto the roof of the building you were just in. By some miracle, none of your macarons have fallen out of the box you clutched for dear life, and your backpack with the limited luggage you had was still on you. 

You turned around to see none other than Ocean. Immediately after you turned around, she stood up on her hindlegs and went in for a hug. Being the bigger-than-average hippogriff mare she is, Ocean on her fours makes it so that she’d be on eye level with you. However, as she stood on her hindlegs as she held you in her embrace, this meant that you had a faceful of her chest.

Besides sending you to heaven for as long as it had lasted, the hug was also the catalyst that finally sent the macarons you barely got to taste to pastry heaven, as they were crushed in between your and Ocean’s hug. As the griffmare placed her head on top of yours, you let the crushed box of cakes hit the ground before returning the hug, wrapping your arms around her.

Ocean split from the hug in her unique way: jumping before flying a bit backwards and sticking a perfect textbook landing. “How did you even find me?” You asked her, flustered and still reeling from being swooped up into the sky.

“Oh, I saw you enter that patisserie. I couldn’t resist jumping you!" Said Ocean, still giddy from the little adrenaline rush she gave both to you and herself.

“Really?” You replied, surprised that she could clearly spot you from God-knows-where from.

“Yeah. I mean, Anon, you are quite easy to single out in a crowd of hippogriffs.” The griffmare said with a smug smile as she poked you on the chest with her claw.

“That’s fair… but I-” You said before being interrupted by Ocean.

 “Anon… How come a sharpshooter like you…” She reached out her claw towards your face before gently pressing two of her talons against it, really close to your eyes, “...have such bad eyesight? You can’t single out your *favorite* mercenary in a crowd?”

Her comment made you blush slightly, though you soldier on. “Well, I guess I just couldn’t recognise you in civilian clothes…” You said, your words causing the griffmare to put on a more genuine smile.

“Well, maybe you should get a good look in while you’re here. I’m on… a break, I guess you could call it.” Ocean swept her claw from your brow, across your hair, ending at the back of your head. You felt her pulling your head slowly up and down, forcing you to quite literally get a good look at her.

Ocean stopped moving your head around as your eyes met hers, her painfully smug smile failing to hide *something* in her scarlet eyes. You couldn’t exactly put your finger on it, though your subconscious was preparing you for a kiss.

That look was gone after a blink. “Sorry for the cakes, by the way.” Said Ocean, as she let go of your head, not before giving you a small head pat however.

“As a matter of fact, I was going to that same place to put in an order for a cake. I’ll get you something…” The griffmare looked over to the crushed up remains of the box of macarons, now on the ground. “It’ll be my treat!”

Before giving you a chance to respond, she jumped into the air, and took off. She then dove in to sweep you up from the roof, ending up in another mid-air embrace, though this time your eyes met hers. In a few seconds, the griffmare carrying you had perfectly replicated the landing from before, setting you down in full sight of the pastry chef griffmare looking at you and Ocean through the window.

Ocean took your wrist in a claw and barged into the same pastry shop with you in tow. "Bonjour?" The griffmare behind the counter nervously greeted Ocean, "Why are you doing this with one of my customers?" said the pastry chef. 

"Ah, Sugar, this monkey-minotaur creature is my coltfriend!" Ocean said before giving you a beaked kiss on the cheek, "...See?" 

The chef looked at you with suspicion, though her expression relaxed after finding that you were a blushing mess after that small peck. "Fine, then. I guess I'll give you that lover's discount. What would you like to order?" 

"I'd only like to order a cake for my birthday, something chocolate…" Said Ocean before turning her head to you, "And a couple of those rose cups for the gentlecolt here."

"The chocolate birthday cake will be done by tomorrow, as for the roses… it'll be 10 coppers for four." The chef mare prepared her glove and tongs as she saw Ocean take out her wallet. 

Ocean put two silver coins on the counter, both to pay for the up-front of the cake and for the roses she got you. The chef did the same song and dance, packing up the pastries in a box before taking the coins. Ocean took the rose cakes and receipt for the birthday cake she had ordered before barging back out into the streets, still dragging you along with her. 

"Coltfriend? Really?" You said, as you've been let go of, and given the box of cakes Ocean bought to make up for the macarons. 

"A discount is a discount, what can I say?" She laughed, opening the box in your hands and taking one of the red rose cups out of it. "Open up, coltfriend~!" she said, standing up on her hindlegs before holding the cake up to your mouth. Looking down on you, she put her other claw on your shoulder for leverage as you let her feed you the rose.

“Here we go! Good boy!” Ocean ruffled your hair, giggling. The cake was quite tasty, the sourness of the cherries and bitterness of the dark chocolate, and the sweetness of the sugary red coating all complemented each other very well.

Ocean seemed to have had her fun with you for now, getting back down on her four legs and waiting for you to chew up the cake she fed you, grabbing one of the cakes for herself. 

"So, when is your birthday, Ocean?" You asked her, breaking the silence as you finished the last cakes.

"On the fourteenth, in two days." Replied Ocean, much to your amusement. 

"I guess I'll have to get you two presents, then… " You chuckled, giving her a cheeky wink before leaning forward to gently say in her feathery ear: "...Marefriend~!"

"Oh, you want to play like that, huh?" Ocean whispered into your ear, prompting you to brace for the consequences of your actions, or rather, words. The griffmare reared to stand on her hindlegs, once again putting her claws on your shoulders. 

Then, Ocean jumped and her wings started flapping, keeping her entire body up in the air at eye level with you. You noticed the look of desire in her eyes from before, which made your legs tremble. Deciding to test the waters, you dropped the empty box you held and put your hands on her chest, slowly creeping up and around her neck. 

Continuing with no regard for onlookers and passers-by, Ocean put one of her claws on the back of your head and slowly pushed you towards her, the other claw sliding along the shoulder it was set on towards your head, its talons caressing your cheek. 

After Ocean seemingly got her fill of having you melt in her claws, she dropped back down on the ground, once again standing on her hindlegs. The griffmare extended her wings and concealed your head from any onlookers before leaning her head down to touch your lips with her beak.

Emboldened by the privacy provided by your “marefriend’s” wings and the feeling of her beak against your lips, you gave her beak a smooch. Ocean responded with a kiss of her own. It was short but passionate, just enough to set your heart ablaze.

"Want me to fly us out of here? I got lunch back at my house." Said Ocean, separating from the kiss, though still maintaining the winged curtain over and around your heads. 

"That sounds great, Ocean. Just scoop me up and take me away. " You said, and she did just that. She pushed you over before grabbing you in a sort of interspecies reversed gender role princess carry. Afterwards, she soared into the sky at a full vertical angle before leaning forward and heading home.

You weren't really able to do any sightseeing from above, though looking at the big, strong hippogriff mare that is carrying you home more than makes up for it. 

Ocean suddenly dropped in altitude before barging in through an open window, presumably into her room. She then set you down on her bed, which was the first time you've laid down on something comfortable in a week's time. You enjoyed the soft bed while Ocean had her back turned to you, closing the window she presumably flew out and back in from.

She turned back to see you enjoying her bed a little too much. "Save that for later! I gotta introduce you to mom and dad." She laughed, offering you her claw as if to help you up, which you accepted. "Come on, now!" Ocean pulled you up and you stood up from the bed. 

You took your backpack off and put it on her bed. The thick coat also came off of you and was placed on the bed next to the bag. 

Ocean examined your look for a final time before leaving her room to make the introduction. She quickly used a comb to fix up your hair from the wind and headpats she gave you, and then took your hand in a more romantic fashion, your fingers and talons intertwined, before exiting the room and heading downstairs to meet with her parents. 

As you went hand in claw towards what most probably will be a chewing out by Ocean’s parents, the eager griffmare still insisted on outpacing you, pretty much towing you in exactly the same way she did back in the patisserie.

She chuckled to herself, wondering what her parents’ reactions would be. You, on the other hand, remained relatively quiet, silently pondering on what to say to introduce yourself. On the way, you noticed plenty of militaria lining the walls: sets of armor, weapons of all kinds from firearms to swords.

You were dragged into the living room by Ocean. She was expected, of course, but you took the hippogriff on the sofa solving a newspaper crossword completely by surprise. The pencil fell out of the griff’s claws, hitting the coffee table before a feminine voice spoke out: “Ocean Twirl! Who or what is this creature?!”

“Mother, this is a friend of mine I found wandering around town! He’s the only one of his kind in this world or whatever, right?” She looked at you. As the conversation was in Cilarean, you weren’t able to understand anything. You simply stared back blankly at Ocean as she looked at you, expecting you to sound off.

“Ooooh! I’m sorry, Anon!” She said in Equestrian, before turning to her mother and continuing in Cilarean: “He only speaks Equestrian.” Her mother nodded, though her face radiated suspicion.

“So, what I wanted to ask is: can you introduce yourself to my mother?” Asked Ocean.

“Very well, My name is Anon, I am a human.” You turned to the mother, politely introducing yourself.

“Er… pleased to meet you, Anon. I’m Ocean Gale, Twirl’s mother.” She responded, extending her claw for you to approach and shake, a gesture which you honored.

The hand and/or clawshake seemed to have made Gale more comfortable. “Why don’t you two sit down, I’m curious to learn about… humans.” The mother said, gesturing to the empty space on the sofa next to her. You sat next to her, with the younger Ocean joining you.

“Coffee?” Gale offered you one of the cups from the stack of empties on the table. Besides the newspaper and the empty cup stack, there was a plate of biscuits and a warm kettle. “Yes, thank you.” You replied. The mother put the cup from the top of the stack in front of you, before grabbing the kettle and pouring the not exactly hot coffee into the cup.

Gale asked you as she poured, “Twirl mentioned that you were the only one of your kind, is that true?” 

“In this world, yes. I’m the only human. There’s a whole ‘nother world of us out there though.” You replied, using two fingers to touch your cup, checking if the contents are too hot to drink. It seemed that the coffee was pleasantly warm enough to drink, so you sipped. The coffee had a nice chocolate-y taste to it, along with a more creamy texture.

As you took your time tasting the drink, Gale asked you another question: “You came here from another world? How did you manage to do such a thing?”

You shrugged. It was the thousandth time someone asked you that question. At this point, you’d make something up, something so passive-aggressive yet veiled in humor sufficiently enough to warrant at least a smile from the creature that asked. However, as it was your… “marefriend’s” mother you were talking to, you decided to play it safe. “I.. went to sleep, and I woke up in the Avtukian tundra. I almost froze to death.”

“That’s where I found him!” Twirl proudly exclaimed in Cilarean, “Remember the job up north where the Tsar hired me and Silent to act like griffons for his little battle reenactment?” 

You only understood a few words, though Gale was quick to correct her daughter in manners. “Dear, please speak the language everygriff can understand.” The younger griffmare, against what you’d expect of her, apologized first to her mother and then you, before paraphrasing what she said before in Equestrian.

“Yes, I think you and your colleagues were rehearsing.” You chuckled before mockingly saying whatever Luanan Griffish (or Spanish) commands that came to your mind.

Twirl chuckled at your display. “Yep. We were getting used to the language until my cousin dragged you in.”

“...And you took whatever was in my pockets?” You poked at Twirl with your elbow.

“Hey, you helped me pawn your “phone” thing off to some unicorn at an absolute premium! I even got you some proper clothes as a thank-you!” The younger griffmare wrapped her arm around and pulled you to her.


“You mean you paid me my cut?” You pushed yourself deeper into her embrace, laughing.

The mother smiled at the sight of her daughter embracing you, “And how did he exactly become friends with you?” Gale asked her daughter.

You let Twirl speak her mind about you. “For a start, he’s pretty knowledgeable of our trade for a civvie. Not only that, he’s also a pretty good shot, he beat one of the Mechanist nerds we brought along with us in a target shooting match.”

You smiled, remembering the scene Ocean caused in order to get you in the competition. She was quite persistent about including you, to the point where she made quite a fat bet on you winning even your first match. 

“Really? My husband, Rapid, would like some new competition. You could ask him after lunch.” Said Gale. Her daughter interjected: “Now that I’d love to see. Two of the best sharpshooters that I know against one another… the best sharpshooters that are among the living, at least.”

“Sure, I’ll try and-” You were interrupted by Twirl: “Oh, and speaking of. Dad! You haven’t met Anon yet!”

You realized that her father entered the room wearing an apron on top of his normal indoor clothing. He laughed at the sight of his daughter with her arm wrapped around a “definitely-just-a-friend” visitor. Approaching you for a clawshake, he introduced himself: “Rapid Gust. Pleasure to have you as a guest, Anon.” As you shook his claw, you noticed him turning his eyes towards his daughter, giving her a wink before turning back to you.

“Anyways, lunch is ready, ladies.” He informed his family in Cilarean. He then turned to you, speaking in Equestrian, “I assume “little” Ocean invited you over. I’d gladly break bread with a *friend* of my daughter’s.”

The emphasis on the word “friend” made Twirl chuckle, inviting a suspicious look from her mother. “Are you and your father up to something again?” Gale asked.

Twirl just looked at her mother before turning her head towards you. You looked at her, asked her, “What’s going on?” until suddenly, the griffmare gave you a small peck on the cheek, right in front of mother dearest.

Gust stomped one of his claws against the floor, cheering and laughing. Gale gasped in the face of the sudden revelation, covering her beak with a claw, “I didn’t know you were friends like *that*!” 

Twirl tightened her hold over you, “We sure are!” She said, though omitting the fact that the decision to make you and her “coltfriend” and “marefriend” less than an hour ago.

“Well…” Gale looked to her happy husband, smiling daughter and her love and let out a small sigh, “...Even if he isn’t a hippogriff, as long as he is willing to continue the family, I'm fine with it. 

Continue the family? You looked at Twirl after hearing those words. She smiled back and ruffled your hair with a claw. “We’ll see if he’s worthy.” Said your marefriend.

Your train of thought has been stopped by Gust, calling everyone to the meal. As expected of a “French” equivalent culture of this strange world you’ve found yourself in, this wintertime meal in question was an onion soup. It was an acquired taste, the taste of onions was strong, but the umami-flavored contribution by the caramelized onions provided a nice balance to… just onion. 

The red wine Gust brought out helped with the fight against the onions in your mouth. You weren’t big on wine, you couldn’t describe it using snob nomenclature, however, it was safe to say that the wine in question was one of the better wines you’ve had.

Of course, you, Twirl and Gust cracked jokes about a variety of things, from the hot topic of the day: (You), Twirl’s new coltfriend, to more tame topics like sharpshooting and mercenary/military life. Gust and Gale were both fascinated at your knowledge, as much as how Twirl was when she met you.

You took the opportunity to challenge the father to a target shooting match, a move adored (quite vocally) by Twirl and met with a smile from her mother. Gust accepted, though you had to go with him to the gun store to buy some extra ammo for the occasion.

To top it all off, the constant reminders from Gale to keep their voices down at the table. It seemed like Twirl got her sociability from her father, with the pair of them not having a care in the world. Knowing Twirl’s other side, you would rather not go around finding out what trait she inherited from her mother.

You helped with cleaning up after lunch as a way to show gratitude before going out with Gust to fetch some extra rounds for the challenge. Leaving the two Oceans alone with a deck of cards in between them, you left for the town on foot, the father opposed to flying as he wanted to ask you about the finer details of your relationship with his daughter.

“Well, Anon. As Twirl’s father, I’d like to know a few things. You know how it is” He asked you. Interrupting your affirmation after only hearing a single word of it: “Sure.”, he continued, “First question, what do you see in her? What attracts you to her?”

It was a good question, it left you thinking in silence, though Gust kept piling on suggestions. He suggested the family’s wealth? Lust, maybe? You shook your head in disgust. “None of that, sir. The way she acts, though. Bold, outspoken, yet, past that surface layer, she’s a sweetheart in her own unique way.”

“Really? She caught you with her tough mare personality?” He laughed, “I thought nogriff would touch her with that, at least for something long-term in mind.”

“Well, sir, I think it was a case of love at first sight…” You paused for intended comedic effect, “Rummaging through my pockets like she did.” 

You got a laugh out of Gust. As he laughed, you continued: “We had fun together, first in camp for a good two weeks. Nearly became a Red Corsair mascot, though the bossmare didn’t want to pay me anything except for food and a bed, so I refused.”

“Go on.” Said Gust, prompting you to continue: “Her marauding didn’t win me over, as funny as it is in hindsight. What really did was the fact that she did not keep what she thought of me to herself. Direct, no hesitation, brutal honesty. At the same time, she was always there to talk with to pass the time. I found myself talking to her about the way my flightless kind wages war in the air for hours upon hours with childlike wonder on her face.”

“So you have self-respect, refusing that mascot “job” offer, and Twirl doesn’t have to carry the conversation with you when the topic is about her line of work. I like it. Did you part ways with her after breaking camp, or?” Gust paraphrased what you said, making mental notes, before asking.

“Actually, we went on a date the evening before she had to ship out to go home. Stopped by the nearest shooting range for a rematch, almost tied by one whole point in her favor that time.” You told Gust. The father asked: “You challenged her, too?”

“The first one was back at that camp, as a part of the big tournament the boss put together. Twirl blew me out of the water the first time around.” You replied.

“Very well. I have a feeling the match we will have is going to be fun.” Gust said, to which you replied with a simple “It sure will.”

“Anyways, we had some lunch together-” You were saying before getting interrupted, “And she paid for both of you?” 

“Yes, why?” You said. Your answer made Gust laugh hard, “That does it. You’re married now. You might not know it, she may not know it either, but trust me when I say this: the moment she started paying for you, your clothes, your meal, you two were pronounced husband and wife.”

“But… why is that so?” You asked, flustered at the fact her father basically sees you as an in-law now.

“Me and Gale taught her to follow us in our hoofsteps. Get as much money as she can get for retirement, just like how we did.” Said Gust, “The fact that she not only gets you a gift out of common courtesy, but also pays for a bunch of other things… you caught her eyes.”

“What now, then? Do I just… treat her as if she were my wife?” You said, still confused and flustered in equal measure.

Gust chuckled again, “If you’re really in it for the long run like you say you are, yes, you should. Just keep the tough mare personality in mind.”

You gave the father a cheeky smile, “As if I already don’t adore her for it.” You said. Gale nodded, “I’m glad you do… just… don’t go about it too fast. I almost screwed up my chances with Gale back when I was younger and dumber. I know the fire you have in your heart…” He tapped a talon against his head, “...Never let it take over control up there.” 

You replied with a simple “Yes, sir.” Gust paused, seemingly trying to remember what he wanted to say, even cursing his aging memory under his breath. It finally came to his mind: “How did you know where to find her after you parted ways?”

“She told me of this country, and this city. Come in a month, she said, and that was back in January.” You said. Gust was really out of reasons to not trust you, even with his fatherly instincts. He simply kept a smile on his face for the rest of the walk to the gun store, the same one that neighbored the patisserie from earlier. You followed him into the establishment.

The store wasn’t that busy, with a few black and purple clad mercenaries browsing the more expensive hunting rifles on the racks. You had a good look around yourself as Gust went to fetch a box or two of cartridges. Muskets, more muskets. Seriously, you could arm a regiment with the stuff lined on the walls. Looking at all these guns, you were reminded of Ocean. You really should get her one of her two gifts meant for the day after tomorrow.

You searched for something cool. Ocean definitely has dozens of muskets, rifles and whatnot, you thought to yourself. No, you needed something *new*. Suddenly, as if a light from the heavens was shining upon it, you saw a big brand-new revolver. It reminded you of those big Texas ranger big irons that needed a similar powder charge when compared to proper muskets.

Seeing this world’s equivalent of the desert eagle, you took it and as Gust was about to leave with his ammo, you stopped him.

“Hey, Mr. Gust. Does Ocean have one of these?” You showed him the revolver. He chuckled, “Son, your Ocean or mine?”

Whaaaaaaaaat? He really did stop you in your tracks with that one. He continued as you slowly snapped out of it: “I’m sure she doesn’t. Trust me, if she did buy one of those, I’d be the first griff to know.”

“Well, can I just… buy it? No paperwork or anything?” You asked.

“Nope. Just a signature.” You were left even more speechless. Gust laughed and patted you on your shoulder. First you get a tomboy hippogriff mare (not yet) wife and now you get the right to bear arms with the only limit being your wallet? You definitely died in your sleep and went to heaven.

“You’re going to buy this as a gift for Twirl, right?” He asked you, snapping you out of your trance.

“Yes, sir.” You said, which made him flick his talons against your forehead. “I’m not a sir to you anymore, just call me Gust. No “Mister Gust”, just Gust.”

You decided to bring out the big guns for this one. “Yes, dad.” The both of you laughed, causing every pair of eyes inside of the store to turn to you two.

You asked “Right, let’s buy this big iron, shall we?.” to yourself before turning towards the clerk at the counter. Gust followed behind you, saying something about acting as a translator. Approaching the griff with the revolver held by the barrel in your hand, you placed it on the counter. Before you were able to say anything, Gust already spoke out on your behalf in the local language: “This gentlecolt would like to purchase this six-shooter. A box of cartridges and primer caps for it, too, please.”

The clerk nodded as he turned to rummage through the big pile of cartridge boxes in search for the ones meant for your gun. He then put it all on the table before whipping out a fat book of gun models, numbers, names and addresses, tapping where you’re supposed to leave your mark with a talon before pointing to a fountain pen meant for this extremely limited amount of paperwork.

“6 gold for the revolver, and a half gold for the ammunition.” Gust translated the price for you. Fortunately, you came to Cilarine prepared, though now you found yourself stripped of the coin you set aside for amenities excluding a week’s stay at a mediocre hotel and enough equally mediocre chow to keep you alive though said week. You paid for your toys before finally leaving for home with Gust.
 
The walk home was brimming with conversation with the father. Mostly, he wanted you to elaborate more on “human aerial warfare”. You explained the topic to him in a much similar way to how you did to Ocean, “demonstrating” maneuvers with your hands for fighter planes as you went along the road home.

As you approached the chateau, the conversation between you two still went on, though the topic had changed to the similarities between this world and the one you came from. The topic centered around Valentine’s Day, in particular. 

“You celebrate it on the 14th as well? Wait… what do you call it again?” Gust asked.

“Yes. I call it Valentine’s day. And you call it? You responded.

“It’s the Day of the Roses here, and in other Hippogriff kingdoms south of us, like Liogne.” He cleared his throat, interrupting himself, “I guess it’s my turn to give a history lesson.”

“Go ahead.” You said, before the old Hippogriff stallion continued: “When Equestrian explorers and merchants came over and made contact with us Hippogriffs a few centuries back, one of the things we picked up from them was their Hearts and Hooves day. We call it the Day of the Roses, or “la fête des roses”. We changed the name purely because… well… the griffs of that time liked it that way, I guess?”

“I suppose it’d roll off the tongue better in your language?” You added to the conversation. Gust responded with a shrug, “Or, it may be personal taste. It doesn’t matter. We both know what that day is still about, right?”

“Yep! Showering the love of your life with gifts!” You excitedly say, looking at the wooden case in your hands, which contained the rather heavy six-shooter along with its ammunition.

“You might want to hide that box until the day comes.” Said Gust. You looked at him reaching for a keyring of some sort from his coat pocket, “Here, take this. It’s the keys to the shed out back.”

“You want me to hide this in some shed? You asked. Gust smiled and simply said, “That’s where the tools of the trade are held.”

“The guns, I’m guessing?” You took the keyring. It only had three keys on it, each labeled separately. You could make out what the markings meant: one for the door, and the other two for what you assume are gun safes.

“The ones we didn’t have space to put on our walls in the house, yes.” He laughed. How many guns would that turn out to be? You kept that question to yourself as Gust instructed you to do the following: “Get two of those matching long hunting rifles, and take the ammo I bought. I’ll get the girls and come to you.”

“You got it.” You said… and off you went. At a rather quick pace, too. You did want to make a good impression on Ocean’s ma and pa after all. Words are nothing if you’re incompetent in their eyes.

Coming around to the back of the house, you saw a perfect target range. There was a table before a low wooden railing, and a number of wooden targets. You’d think they are a good 100 meters away from the firing line, presumably represented by the wooden railing.

They already had targets painted on them, consisting of the bull’s eye, an inner circle and outer circle in white. The bull’s eye itself, along with the border and the ring separating the circles into two layers were painted in black.

The "tool" shed was conveniently right next to the range, too. Placing the ammo boxes Gust bought on the table, you approached the shed with the keys in hand. 

Unlocking and opening the door, you were pleased to see dozens of miscellaneous muzzle-loading smoothbore infantry muskets on racks placed all along the walls, except for the corner to your right, right after entering, as that space was occupied by the two pretty big gun safes. There were some muskets just stacked on a pile in a far corner of the shed, too. You’ve felt your soul ache for the mistreated muskets, though you had no time to do any spring cleaning.

You opened the safe marked with the number 2, and like what Gust said, there was a pair of absolutely beautiful flintlock hunting long rifles. You put the wooden case into the safe, stashing it among a larger, though similar-looking box. You assumed it contained a pair of dueling pistols, as there was a pouch of pistol caliber lead balls next to it.

Taking the two rifles, one in each hand, you left the shed. As you leaned the rifles against the table, you saw the family all come in from above. You idly watched the hippogriffs land, prepared to give the keys back to the father. 

“Hey, Anon! Need any help?” The father asked. 

"Only if you'd like to lock the safes and doors behind me?" You answered, offering him the keys. He quickly took them and did just that. As he did that, you opened the box to see neatly packed paper cartridges. Pouring them out of the box onto the table, you begin loading one of the rifles. 

As you were about to finish loading the first rifle, you wondered what was taking Gust so long. Grabbing the second rifle to load it, he came up to you, whispering: "I tried to stow your gift for Twirl a bit better." You thanked him as he took the loaded rifle that was leaning against the table. Instinctively, you warned him that the gun he took was loaded. 

You noticed Twirl smiling, most definitely admiring you loading the rifles. 

Gale cleared her throat and established the point system and rules. 10 for bullseye, 5 for inner, 3 for the outer. Hits on the ring separating the inner and outer layer count as a hit on the inner, as do hits on the outer border of the target count as outer hits. 10 shots each, higher points wins. Standard stuff, really.

The younger Ocean giddily watched as you two loaded your rifles. Meanwhile, the older Ocean waited for the shooting to start with a spyglass in her claw. 

"Challenger first?" Gust asked his wife, "Yes. Anon, when you're ready!" She replied. 

You just finished returning the ramrod back under the barrel. Taking aim at the target in front of you, you try and get a feel for the gun. It was quite front heavy compared to the muskets and rifles you've used with Ocean before. 

You sounded off with a “Ready!” before pulling back the hammer. Ready to fire, you put the front sight post right on the bullseye, before nestling said front sight post neatly in the rear sight’s notch. 

Emptying your lungs and bracing your mind for the loud noise, you pulled the trigger, and… BANG! Gale called out where you struck: “Inner circle, 6 ‘o clock” You figured that you’d need to aim a bit higher to strike that bullseye. Nonetheless, 5 points for you.

As you loaded, you heard Gust pull the hammer back on his rifle and, after a brief pause, a bang. “Ring between inner and outer circle, ‘11 ‘o clock” 5 points for him, though either the old retiree merc’s skills rusted, or his gun is worn out.

It was your turn again, and by aiming a tad higher, you’ve scored yourself a bullseye. Twirl cheered the both of you on throughout the match. For you, keep it up and for her father to catch up to you.

Some time passed, and you were on your last shot. You had 2 bulls, and 5 inners. Additionally, you also had a hit on the inner border which counted as an inner ring hit, and a hit on the outer ring. That ought to be 53 points. You were in the lead, as Gale had 51 points in total.

The tension was palpable. If you nail the bullseye, you’d win by default. The barrels were dirtied by powder residue, however. You’d need to be lucky to get it… and you didn’t. 57 points for Anon. Observing Gust as he made his last shot, you noticed him turning his eyes to you. You saw him slightly lift his barrel before firing. He overshot the whole target, the bullet grazing the very top of the target post. “Miss! No points!” Gust exclaimed, putting her spyglass on the table to give you both a round of applause.

Twirl had a different idea of congratulating you. As you turned to the small audience to lean the rifle against the table, the younger Ocean had damn-near jumped in front of you. She reared, spread her wings, and put her claw on the hand you held the rifle in. She put her other claw on your shoulder while taking the rifle away from you, using the rifle with its stock on the ground as a support as she slid the claw she claw she had on your shoulder around to the back of your head.

You read her like a book, and took matters into your own hands by getting on your tippy-toes and whispering in her ear: “This again?"

“Oh, you don’t want a kiss?” She asked, an evil grin starting to form on her beaked face. Before you got a chance to explain yourself, she gave you a surprise in the form of a push and headbutt. Your ass fell to the ground, but the “attacking” griffmare did not stop there. She returned to standing on all fours, stood over you, and with her free claw fastened one of your wrists to the ground, looking at you square in the eyes.

“Twirl, you *do* have a room, you know...” Said Gale, walking over to her daughter. 

“True…” Twirl replied, “...What do you say, Nonny?” She gave your nose a boop.

You erred, not knowing how else to respond: “Sure?”. That was the only thing Twirl needed to hear before scooping you up and taking to the sky, letting the rifle she had used as a crutch hit the ground, provoking the ire of her father. You understood her father’s lament, you'd also get ticked off by one of your better rifles hitting the dirt unceremoniously. “Sorry, pa!” She yelled out as she made her way to her room via the window.

She set you down on the bed… again. You chuckled and decided to poke her again… “This again, too? Seriously-” …and she’s now on top of you.

“How’s that for something new?” She giggled. Deliberately choosing to not hold you down to the bed, she bowed her head down to offer her beak for you to kiss. You gave her a smooch before she lifted her head back up and signaled you to scoot over with a claw gesture. Rolling over to your right, Ocean laid down right next to you, wrapping her arms around you.

Ocean held you tight as the two of you enjoyed each other’s company. “Y’know, Anon…” She started a conversation, “...While you were out with my dad, my mother sat me down and gave me a good talking-to about you.”

She started playing with your hair, twirling a bit of it around with one of your talons before letting go of it, only to start the same process over again. The griffmare continued: “I told her everything I liked about you…” she paused to chuckle, “...I would've told her everything I *didn't* like about you, though I couldn't come up with anything.”

You murmured to her to go on, and she obliged. “She said we're compatible. Just like her and pa… and I agree with her.” 

“Wait, how so?” You asked in response.

“Remember the way we hung out during our time back in Avtukia? We were inseparable. Sure, we started off on the wrong hoof with my cousin needing to protect your pockets from me, but when I got to know you, Nonny, you were like one of us back there.”

You chuckled, “Almost makes me wish to relive those few weeks all over again. You and your comrades are good company.”

“Damn right. It was more of a party than a job.” She replied. 

The conversation halted as you enjoyed the warm embrace you've found yourself in. 

“Anyways, Anon… I think we should try being a couple. Seriously.”...and here it is! You officially now have a tomboy hippogriff mercenary marefriend. A crucial detail is still yet to be answered, however. 

“What about your job? We won't be able to stay together unless I join up with you… and I doubt I'm qualified.” You pondered out loud.

“Well, you're already qualified to be a sharpshooter, that's for sure. When it comes to fitness…” She paused, it was obvious that she had something wacky on her mind. A cruel training regimen that'd just fuck your shit up until she deems you sufficient both sounds appealing and horrifying at the same time. 

You did voice that concern, though you only traded said concern with confusion as she answered: “Both of us will enjoy what I have in mind, Nonny~...”

“What was that tone, Ocean?” You asked, turning your head around as far as it can go towards the mare behind you.

“Oh, you know already. I love screaming at no-good slackers that haven’t lifted anything heavier than a feather in their lives.” Said the griffmare, raising her voice and shaking you back and forth as she said her piece. You chose to ignore the suspicious part, that was not directly mentioning what was in it for you.

“Riiight…” Your head fell back to its original position, steering the conversation away from the prospects of being the main focus of an 80s movie training montage, you said: “I could fall asleep like this… which reminds me, I still have to check in a hotel or whatever there is here…”

“Tsk, tsk, Nonnie…” She held you tighter, “We’re already sharing the same bed.”

Ocean continued, “And before you ask, I’ve been crammed in a ship sleeping in between two of the most insufferable hippogriffs for a week straight before returning home…”

The back-and-forth conversation continued for a while, you and Ocean enjoying the roles of little spoon and big spoon respectively throughout. The hour-long streak was broken by knocks on the door with Gust’s voice asking to be let in. With your marefriend’s approval, her father opened the door and entered the room.

His proverbial jaw hit the floor at the sight before his eyes. Closing the door behind him, he reared and stood above the bed, looking down on you and Ocean. “Had fun, there?”

He continued, looking around the room in a comedic manner, "The room does not need a renovation, so…” 

“You’re never going to let me live down the last time, aren’t you?” Ocean chuckled. Gust noticed your expression change: if “wait, what?” was a facial expression, it would be the exact face you were making then.

“I’m out of the loop? Gust?” You turned your head to him, only to be met with a shaking head. “Some things are best kept quiet, Anon…” 

“Well, don’t let me disturb you.” The father excused himself, leaving you two alone.

“I’m scared.” You broke the silence, chuckling. Ocean laughed with you, reaching around to boop you on the nose. “You should be.”

You spent some more time in bed with the hippogriff, until she got bored of just laying around. Ocean rummaged around in her room and found her chest of games. There were card decks galore, “spares” she said, but there were at *least* a hundred in that box. Under the layer of card decks, there was a smaller wooden box which contained the game she’d wanted to play. 

She put the box on the floor and sat down. When she started taking wooden blocks out of said box and putting together a tower of them, you put two and two together.

“Is that… jenga?” You asked.

She turned to you, “How do you know? This game isn’t even found on this continent!” 

You sat right across from her and started helping. “My world had this game, and it was popular where I’m from. Funny how the name is the same.”

“Well, this game is only found in the zebra kingdoms to our south. I was told by the merchant that the name meant “to build” in their language.” Ocean replied, appreciating the help, and the fact that she won’t have to explain the rules.

“Wait, how do zebras even play this game with hooves? The point of this game is being good with your fingers, as far as I know.” You asked.

“Zebras use two sticks, see?” She showed you the two chopstick-like wooden sticks. “I gave up on playing the zebra way, after some point I’d given up on these and used my talons instead.”

“So you’re playing the human way, now.” You said, as you held the last block in your hand. You put it in its place and the game can now begin.

After a few rounds, you packed up and decided to call it. You went down with Ocean to have a bite for dinner, then went out to spend the late afternoon out on the range once again, ending the day back in Ocean’s room, cuddling with her and snoozing into the next day.

THE NEXT MORNING…

You woke up with a jolt of adrenaline going from your gut up to your head as your marefriend, sitting on top of your groin as her claws were firmly dug into your shoulders. She was fully kitted out for war, just like how you met her. 

She was… not to be so rude as to judge a lady’s weight… pretty heavy. You figured you ought to not let her know that, as said weight is mostly muscle. Adding her cuirass, knapsack and other smaller bits and bobs of armor too, and she had your pelvis aching quickly after gaining consciousness.

“Wake up, Nonny! Hey!” She said, shaking you violently back and forth. Letting out a giggle and cutting back on the severity of the shaking as she saw your eyes immediately open wide in a panic.

“Get dressed, you have… I’ll spare you this time. Five minutes. You’re going on a ruck march with me.” She took her right claw off your left shoulder and rubbed your cheek with it. Aided by her wings, she jumped off you and landed on her all fours on the floor next to you. “Tick-tock, Anon~! You’re going whether you like it or not!”


Thanks to the adrenaline coursing through you, you were quick to acknowledge your “orders” and quickly rummaged through your bag for a new set of clothes, save for your coat. You quickly got out of your pajamas and put on whatever you fished out of your travel bag. As you were putting your coat on, you heard the griffmare exclaim to you through the door: “You’ve got a minute left!”

Shortly after, you opened the door and were greeted by Ocean handing you a knapsack. You took it, and holy shit it’s heavy. “What’d you put in here?” You asked her, trying to keep the straps not meant for creatures the likes of you around your shoulders. 

She said, helping you tighten the straps around your shoulders: “Rocks!” 

“Rocks?” You replied.

“Rocks.” She chuckled.

“Rocks…” You said as the knapsack was now firmly and comfortably fit on your shoulders, “You kidding?”

“Nope…” She reached around you and pulled one out of your bag. “...Voilà! Now. Follow me, and I’ll get us started.” 

And so, the struggle began… or at least you thought so until Ocean let you to the “toolshed” and gave you the biggest, most “fuck you and the five guys standing behind you (and also my shoulder)”-like caliber flintlock musket that could qualify as a small cannon if the barrel were on a limber instead of an appropriately-sized wooden musket stock.

“Here you are!” She giggled at the sight of you struggling with not letting the thing hit the dirt. “Ready for war!”

Taking a bit of pity on you, Ocean showed you exactly how to hold it. “Here…” She took the gun out of your hands, “...Reach your arm out, hand facing upwards…” Rearing on her hindlegs, she placed the definitely-not-a-cannon’s buttstock and held it up with both of her claws.

“...Now rest your elbow.” She pushed your elbow downwards with a talon of a freshly freed-up claw, “...like so… and…” The remaining claw pushed the gun over onto your shoulder. “Comfortable?”

You gave her a grateful nod. The sloped arms position she got you in had made your life easier for sure, though it certainly wasn’t a miracle cure. “I sure am now. Thanks.” You said, sloping the gun further back to allow your elbow to rest against your hip.

“Right.” She took her rifle and slung it over her back, over the knapsack. “Follow me!” She exclaimed, looking back at you and waving her arm forward. You quickly waddled to catch up to her, slowing to match your pace.

After some time passed, you’ve decided to start a conversation. “Is this what you had in mind?” You asked her, remembering the conversation about becoming a mercenary to stay alongside her after this vacation.

“Sure is. Half of it, at least.” She gave you a wink. It was anything but reassuring, though.

“Half of it?” You tried to ask but were shut down. “It’s a surprise!” she said. “You’ll find out!” she said. 

“Any question other than trying to get me to spoil what’s next, Nonny?” She asked you.

“Well, what’s bugging me the most is… do you really think I have what it takes to be one of you? No matter how much weight you lay on me, I can’t learn to fly like the rest of your comrades.” You asked.

“You don’t have to be a winged creature to do that, there are lots of worthy mud-stomping creatures that I work with, in fact. The Corsairs, in particular, have a lot of zebras.” Ocean reassured you, before continuing with a question of her own: “Say, do you *really* want to become a mercenary, or is this just to stay with me?”

You sighed, knowing that you’re a hair away from signing your ass off to a mercenary company. Still unsure, you muttered out: “It sounds nice, going on adventures with you, but err…” you paused. Her question really made you double-take your situation. 

“But what, Nonny? What’s up?” She asked, stopping the march in its tracks.

“I guess it’s a lot to take in at once.” You meekly replied, while taking the opportunity to rest your arm by resting the rifle’s buttstock on the ground as you held it pointed upwards.

You steeled yourself and spoke your piece, like a subordinate reporting to his general, looking right in her scarlet eyes. “The truth is, Ocean, that I love you, and I’d gladly follow you wherever.” You paused to gauge her reaction. She gave you a warm smile that spoke for itself as she let you pour your heart out to her.

“I think I’d even kill for you, but I’m getting quite ahead of myself here.” You let out a semi-nervous chuckle. 

“What’s the problem with just saying “yes”, then?” She asked, coming closer to you, putting a claw on the big gun resting in your hands before taking it and placing it down on the ground.

“I’m just not ready for that sort of life yet, and there’s so little time for you to prepare me… not to mention that I’m-” She interrupted you with a tender “shhh” and a talon on your lips.

“Don’t worry about that, Anon. There is plenty of time to prepare you.” She slid her talon from your lips to your chin, “supporting” your head as you looked slightly upwards into her eyes. You’ve spent a good half a minute looking into each other’s eyes before Ocean decided to get back to work. “We’re almost halfway done. You’re gonna have to earn your breakfast, so you better come with.” Said the griffmare.

She lifted the big gun up and helped you rest it against your shoulder. It’s been only 15 minutes so far. Having someone to talk to really does help with passing time, with hours seemingly gone in a blink of an eye. 

As you were back-tracking, Ocean remembered the spot where the two of you stopped for you to get reassured. “Oh, Nonny?” She called out to you, “...I love you, too.” The peck on the cheek she gave you shortly after sealed the deal. You were pretty sure in your choice to join her in her relatively selfish quest to get rich off of blood money and retire.

As Ocean went to take her armor off, you left the big gun and big bag of rocks you were lugging around for the past hour back in the shed, you immediately felt an air of relief around you… until you remembered that Ocean would definitely throw something else at you. The relief was quickly swapped out for a state of alertness of mind.

“Good morning, lovebirds! Using the front door for once, I see?” Gust said, looking up from the morning’s newspaper as you and Ocean entered the house. “I already prepared your breakfasts.” 

You exchanged greetings with the father as he turned his eyes back onto the papers, before following Ocean to the dining room. Two plates with omelettes were waiting for you, and in true Gust fashion, they’re very pleasant! You’d even dare say that he did it better than your grandma (just not in front of her, it’s not *that* good).

The two of you were starving after the morning ruck march, and quickly gulped it. It barely took you two two minutes to finish your meals. You two stared at each other for another minute, in awe of the complete obliteration of the egg dish that was before you, before breaking into a chuckling fit over the fact. Ocean quickly snapped out of it, shushing you. “Quiet! Don’t wake up my mother!”  She said, in a hushed tone.

Ocean elected to not stay for long. You could see it on her face that being quiet is simply an impossible task for her, and stood up from her chair. “Want me to show you around town, Anon?” She asked you. Feeling bored and with a lowered guard, you accepted her invitation to go on yet another walk, though without the whole carrying around a backpack of rocks and a big boomstick shtick.

Taking the same path you had walked down with her father yesterday, you were on the road to town. As you walked, you could see her give you the side-eye and a very cheeky grin. You turned to her and asked what’s up.

“Oh, nothing. Just that you unwittingly crossed the border into Vederoa with me back there.” She laughed.

“We invaded a country?’ Intrigued, you asked her to elaborate.

“The purple and yellow pole you leaned against to catch your breath? That’s the boundary!” She rubbed it in with a quick punch to your shoulder.

As you came to terms with this newfound information, Ocean continued: “Y’know, living this close to a border as porous as this, you ought to run into a nasty piece of work eventually.”

You let her go on, “You’re good with guns, sure, but what when you are caught without one?” She stopped, and turned her head away for a moment, before clearing her throat and turning back to you.

She quickly drew a small caplock derringer, similar to the one that sent “Honest Abe” to Jesus back in ‘65, startling you.

“Gimme your money!” She said, or at least something along those lines, in heavily accented Luanan. Catching you by surprise with the gun, a feeling of betrayal went down your spine. In spite of it all, you hoped that it was all a joke… and it was.

She aimed to the ground away from either of you and pulled the trigger, only for a click to sound. “I gotcha, didn’t I?” She chuckled before cocking the pistol again, “...The look on your face!” The chuckling turned into laughter.

“Could’ve given me a heads-up?” You asked. She replied promptly: “You don’t get one. You never do in these cases. Now…” She pointed it back at you, “Let’s try this again.”

“Fine… so, what do I do with a gun pointed at me, for starters?” You folded your arms, staring down the griffmare. She smiled and said: “Here, I’ll show you.” before giving you the pistol.

You pointed it at her, and signaled to start the demonstration. She feigned distress, made herself look smaller, and tossed some “practice” copper coins by your feet. As you bent downwards to take them, the hand that held the gun was quickly pushed over to the side, away from Ocean. You pulled the trigger out of reflex, though if it were loaded, she’d have been out of the way, and the bullet would’ve gone nowhere.

Before getting a chance to react, you’ve found yourself on the ground. The derringer was on the ground, and you were pinned to the cold grass by Ocean. “That’s how.” She pecked you on the nose before jumping off of you and helping you up afterwards.

You had one question though, and you asked it as you grabbed the practice pistol off the ground and gave it to her. “Can I expect the mugger to just… drop his guard for the money on the ground?”

“You sure can, Nonny. That trick ought to work if the failure in life that’s sticking you up is a chicken. Those guys sure love their money, probably the only thing we have in common.” She replied

“Hippogriffs and griffons have similar anatomy though?” You pondered.

“Except for how we look. We’re still taller and more menacing than them.” She replied, you immediately interjected: “*You* are taller and menacing than most hippogriffs too, might I add.”

“And that’s why you love me!” Ocean laughed.

You chuckled. She was right, nothing like a big, strong, tomboyish hippogriff mare to enjoy life with. “Right. Stick me up, already.” And you raised your hands in mock-surrender.

“Fine. Here. Your coin, claw it over now!” She waved it around, pretending to be a low-life highwaygriff instead of the hardened mercenary she is. She was reared up on her hindlegs, her wings extended for balance as her claws were occupied by “business”. Her height when reared added a intimidation factor to it all.

You did what Ocean did previously, and when she looked down to take the coins you threw to the ground next to her, you pushed the gun aside and, venting your frustration about being held up by her as some sort of prank, managed to push her to the ground. Your advantage was short lived, as she pushed you off of her, and back onto the ground.

“Close, I’ll give you that...” She smiled as she examined the situation. She had both of your hands in her claws, pinned on the ground. Your body was pinned even more so by the sheer weight of the quadruped on top of you. You could see a look of self-satisfaction on her, as if she has a thing for humiliating her sparring partners in hand to hand (Hand to claw? Claw to claw?) clashes. The more time she spent on top of you, the more you were into it yourself, though obviously being on the receiving end in your case.

Your attempts to break free, puny when put up against Ocean’s strength, entertained her. “I could do this all day.” She giggled in delight as she pushed your hands further, nearly burying them into the ground through sheer strength.

An idea to provoke your marefriend suddenly appeared. “Same…” You smiled, “...Being humbled… no, humiliated, by a strong and beautiful hippogriff mare-” 

You got yourself kissed. She plunged her head down and met your lips with her beak, your tongues rubbed off against one another as Ocean deliberately closed her beak down on your cheeks, drawing blood with the sharp tip of her beak. Meanwhile, you squeezed her claws that kept you pinned to the ground.

She violently separated from the kiss, scratching your cheek up a bit on the way up. You felt a pinching sensation coming from the little scratch, and at the same time, noticed a bit of red on the tip of her beak. 

“Did you scratch me?” You asked.

“Looks like I did.” Ocean slowly crept closer to your head before licking the cut clean. She raised her back up afterwards, licking her beak as she gave you a predatory stare with her scarlet eyes. 

“I like colts like you. So confident in yourselves despite my strength, lashing out like that… only for me to hammer them back into their place...” She rubbed her beak along the side of your neck, loudly inhaling and sighing in pleasure afterwards. “...Fuck, you got me worked up.” The mare moaned out.

“Put me back in my place, then.” You went in for the proverbial “kill”, though Ocean’s reaction was completely different from what you had expected. 

“Oh, you’ve spoiled it for both of us, now, Nonny~...” She relaxed her grip before standing over you, “...I can’t just let you get what you want just like that, now.” As she helped you up off the ground, she whispered into your ear: “It’s more fun when the both of us are pent up”

You quietly walked along with Ocean, trying to process whatever happened back there. You and your loud mouth got you hung out to dry, though when you thought about it more, not doing it outside might’ve been a good thing after all. Exibisionism wasn't really your thing. 

“Did I get your tongue too?” Ocean joked at your silence, “Or are you mad that you screwed yourself over instead of getting to screw me?”

“Maybe…” You muttered out, noticing her reaction afterwards: a villain-y, comically evil grin. You couldn't get yourself to say anything in time before the griffmare decided to rub it in, most definitely to forget about her own predicament. 

“Damn right you do.” She said, followed by an evil chuckle, “You should've kept your mouth shut, and now we both have to wait.”

“Until when?” You gave her a thinly veiled plea for mercy. The only response you got from her was “Tonight.” The desire in her eyes and voice to pin you to any appropriate flat surface and ride you until waist-down paralysis really showed as she set the date.

“You err… sure you'd be able to function until then?” You asked her, amused. 

“Oh, fuck no. Unless you get me a drink.” She paused, “And speaking of drinks, we're almost there.” Said Ocean, pointing towards the town. 

Eventually you two swept what happened on the way under the rug as you made your way to your final destination. 

“And here we are. The number one mercenary recruitment office!” She said, standing before a pub entrance. It had a comfy atmosphere, being nestled neatly into a street corner of a downtown residential building. The Clam’s Pearl it was called. As you entered, you noticed that it had a maritime theme to it. Signal flags hung from thin ropes on the ceiling above the uniformed barkeeper, wearing an old Crimson Corsair uniform. Ship’s wheels and portraits of famous Corsair ship captains, among other things, lined the walls as decorations.

There was a typical bar table against the wall, right in front of you as you’d enter. It was tall enough to necessitate hippogriffs to rear in order to lean on it, in lieu of chairs and stools. As many were at work, instead of drinking, the barkeeper was found relaxing by himself at his side of the table, with the only customers being a dozen workers having breakfast by the window side tables, having their work-related chit-chat.

Ocean took you by the wrist and towed you in a beeline towards the bar, greeting the barkeeper. Turning towards Ocean and you, he greeted her: “Ah, Ocean Twirl! You’re back!” Before leaning forward on the bar table to get a closer look on you, “And who is this?” The fiery orange looking griff asked.

“Oh, that’s Anon. I met him on the job in Avtukia. We should actually talk in Equestrian, for his sake.” She said, causing the barkeeper to apologize.

“Ah! Sorry, Anon!” He reached his arm out, introducing himself in a pirate-like accent, sans stereotypical pirate voice, “Burning Torrent. Happy to have you here.”  

Ocean released your wrist before rearing to lean on the bar table herself, allowing you to accept the friendly griff’s claw and shake it, returning the introductory phrases while doing so. “What brings you here?” You were asked. You pointed to the mare next to you.

“Ocean here. She invited me to… er…” Turning your eyes to her, she chirped out: “My birthday. Maybe something more.” She wrapped her arm around you and pushed you to her.

“Another victim, aye?” He laughed.

“Just give us a drink. Y’know what I like.” Ocean slid a silver coin towards Torrent. “Right away.” He replied.

As he got to work, you asked Ocean: “Oh yeah. What’s the big deal about that?”

“Let’s just say… I get violent in bed.” She whispered in your ear. Her arm, still wrapped around you, squeezed you against her body to make the message clearer.

“Holy shit.” You grinned, which intrigued her. “You into that sort of stuff, Nonny?”

“Maybe. The sample I got on the way here sold me on the idea.” You leaned your head against hers. “No takesy-backsies then, Nonny.” She reached for your head and patted you.

“I’m fucked, aren’t I?” You reached your arm around Ocean.

“Don’t get me wrong, you’ll be doing it, but *I* will be in charge.” She paused before looking around for Torrent. There he was, on his way with a full bottle of what she called “her mama’s cooking”. 

“Here you go, Twirl.” He said before leaning over, almost to the point of slipping and falling, to grab and slide over two glasses for you and Ocean to drink out of.

“Merci!” Said the griffmare,  cheerfully twisting the cap off and pouring the two of you a drink. 

Torrent was called over by the patrons who were seated when you came in, leaving you and Ocean alone to talk in relative privacy.

“Wait… it’s barely 10 in the morning, why are we drinking now?” You protested at the last minute.

“Why not? Not an enjoyer of a morning drink?” She asked.

“It’s seen as a trashy thing where I’m from, is all.” You still put a hand on the glass. If she doesn’t mind, why should you be worried?

“Believe it or not, I have a habit of just… not caring about things like that.” She chuckled.

Her response surprises you. “So, do you say something like “I’m sorry, it *will* happen again!” or do you beat them to death?”

Ocean laughed, “The latter, mostly… though it depends on a person to person basis.” She took her glass and raised it. “Santé!”

“Cheers.” You mustered the courage to bottom-up the glass, getting the bitter and intoxicating contents down you. Ocean on the other hand, she poured the glass into her beak in a blink. The one drink didn’t have an effect on her, either.

“I felt it go through me.” You told her, and she raised the bottle. “If you can feel something, you haven’t been drinking enough. Here.” Ocean poured another drink for you and then for herself.

“This one… and one more.” You said as you raised the glass before downing its contents.

She laughed. “Fine. You’re the one colt that I’d actually want to be sober for, so…”

“What?” You asked. 

“You heard me.” Ocean replied, chuckling as she poured you your last drink, “I think that’d be it for me, too, in that case.”

You cleared your throat in an effort to steel your nerves in the face of being threatened with a good time. “Right, err-” …before you were interrupted by her sheer audacity. Ocean left a space between her and the bar table that she eagerly pushed you into.

You were taken by surprise, getting handled by Ocean like that. Her upper body squished against you, her rising chest as she breathed, pressing you even more. Struggling to fill your lungs as your body was heavily pressed, in a whisper you whimpered out: “Ocean, calm it down a little!” You pleaded.

“You like it, admit it.” She said, taking the glass meant for you and put it against your lower lip. “Open up!” She beckoned you, and you did… well, you barely did, before she poured it down you. Surprisingly, most of it ended up where it was actually supposed to. “Good boy!” She put the glass down, and with the same claw patted you on the head.

“Here. Take my glass and do the same to me.” She nodded towards it, still on the table, by itself. You took the glass and put it against Ocean’s beak. 

Unprompted, she opened up, allowing you to pour the glass’ contents in. It started off smoothly, before the excess spilled off to the sides of her beak, getting her to quickly put her claw on your “feeding” hand and raise her head along with it in an effort to save the alcohol from being spilled, in turn forcing you to get on your toes in order to not stretch out your arm.

She gasped after letting you go, before you two burst into laughter. She swung around again, leaning on her side with only one arm on the table for support. “You’re so cute when you’re flustered…” She cooed, “When you’re scared, too. Damn it… everything about you is cute.” The drink had gotten a grip on the both of you by now. 

Ocean, if she weren’t up-front and honest enough already, became a gushing oil well of brutal honesty. You, on the other hand, reacted by going for a hug. Wrapping your arms around her, you buried your head into her chest and almost made her lose her balance. She tried to lean with her back on the bar table, though with her wings in the way, she slipped and fell on her flank, with you still latched on to her.

Whatever went on in your mind quickly faded away as you too slipped, fell and ended up on the floor with Ocean, your head resting on her stomach. Upon realizing what you’ve done, you immediately scrambled to stand up and help her up, though you were stopped by a pair of claws pushing your head against her. “Nope. Stay here.”

As you put your hands back on the mare, Torrent approached you two, looking down. “Are you two good?” He asked.

“Yes… why?” Ocean replied, looking up at Torrent.

“You’re on the floor.” He replied, a grin slowly forming on his beaked face.

“Oh shit, yeah. Anon? You’re gonna have to get up off of me.” She pushed you off of her before the bartending hippogriff standing above helped you up. 

You offered a hand to Ocean as she was halfway through getting up by herself. 

“If you’re gonna lay about on the floor like that, I might as well give you two a blanket.” He chuckled, before turning to the bottle given to you and Ocean, examining how much you’ve had.

“Huh…” He took the bottle, “Barely half?” Torrent turned to Ocean before putting it down. “Did I mistake you for your cousin Ocean, Madame Silent?”

Ocean laughed, “I called it quits, but it was for this colt’s sake.” She laughed, giving you a quick shoulder punch. 

“He’s got a lot to learn from you, then. Look at him! I’d say he was about to fall over but he already did!” Torrent said.

Ocean chuckled. “Wouldn’t say *he* fell over, but yes, he does have a lot to learn.” She then turned to you, “You’ll be breaking skulls *and* emptying bottles by the end of the year!” 

“Yeah, I’ll drink to that.” You replied.

“Well then, drink!” She poured you another shot and fed it to you without any protest from your part. Ocean laughed, putting the glass down. 

“We ought to stop now. How about you and Torrent get to know each other while I take care of some business?” She winked, with massive emphasis on the word “business”.

Before you had the chance to ask her about said business, Torrent came in. “You want me to foalsit this lightweight?” He complained as he took his usual place behind the bar, turned to you, and excused himself by simply stating “No offense, Anon.”

“Come on, now. It’s not babysitting! Anon is an aspiring Corsair!” She gave Torrent a polite smile. His demeanor immediately changed, “Oh, really?” The old griff examined you closer.

“Can’t fly… but a biped. Ought to put him on a boat then? He can’t really go on the same jobs you tend to take” He pondered.

Ocean paused. “I think I have an idea to remedy that, but that comes later. Gotta hurry!” And she’s off! Trotted right out of the door and took off immediately after leaving the building. You were now leaning against the bar, trying to find a topic to talk about as Torrent quietly washed glasses.

“Well er… Torrent?” You try to start the conversation. Successfully so, as you catch his attention. “You and Ocean are old friends?”

“I was the griff that trained her. They grow up so fast, don’t they?” He talked with you as he mechanically continued his chores, “What about you? Lovers, I take it?”

“Pretty much. It was pretty spontaneous, but I’m not complaining.” You said, looking at the bottle that remained on the table..

“How spontaneous?” Torrent put his last, now clean glass in its place and faced you, “Did she pick you out for a quick ride, or not?”

“We got to know each other when she was on the job up North, as she mentioned. Both of us were stuck in that training camp, for similar reasons.” You reminisced, continuing when asked by the barkeeper to elaborate: “Oh, I would’ve frozen my ass off, and she would’ve gotten her ass beat for wearing a Luanan uniform in the nearby town.”

Torrent laughed, “Ocean probably would’ve gone out wearing it to get into a fight.”

“No, no! You don’t know how much they *hate* Luanan griffons up North.” You retorted, “So, no leaving camp, period. And that’s on top of the fact that said camp was in the middle of nowhere, so we only had the Avtukian army reenactors practicing on their own in a separate camp, and they were very much into method acting.”

“Method acting?” He asked.

“Yep. We actually had some mock skirmishes to alleviate the boredom.” You replied, to Torrent’s amusement. “Card games can only do so much, huh?”

As you paused to reminisce more, Torrent interjected. “So, Ocean’s training you up to become a mercenary. How’s that going?”

“We started this morning, quite abruptly. She woke me up by rattling me around like some toy and loaded me with half my weight’s worth of rocks.” You laughed, “I like her methods, did she get them from you?” You asked.

“The waking up part? No. I figure that’s just how she shows affection. The rocks, though? A classic.” Torrent proudly smiled.

Suddenly, the barkeeper turned his head to look through a window into the street. A familiar mare pulled up with a cart with goods for the pub, namely cases of booze, and entered the establishment.

“Madame Gale! Good day!” He greeted the mare. It was Ocean’s mother.

“Good day Torrent…” She looked at you, “...and Anon?” Torrent interjected, “Twirl dragged him in here, wanted him to meet her old, now decrepit mentor.” 

“Very well. The goods are here, shall I bring them in?” She offered. Before Torrent was able to respond, you stood up-straight and offered to help.

Gale hesitated at first, as if she was debating whether or not to accept. Eventually, she accepted with a simple “Sure.”.

Going out and stretching your legs, you started taking random cases or boxes off the cart and bringing them into the pub’s storage room in the back. Torrent spent his sweet time counting out the coins to pay Gale. The absurdity of the currency that happened to be the international standard imposed by giant Griffonstonian merchant companies, and its non-decimal system struck you ever more, every time you passed behind the old griff doing the math for what would ordinarily be a minute’s work of counting cash.

When everything was done, you returned to the bar and once again leaned against it. Gale seemed happy with your help as she Torrent adieu until next time. The old griff also thanked you with a beer on the house. As you waited for Ocean to come back, you talked about Gale and her daughter. Being Twirl’s mentor and close family friend, he was bound to have knowledge about and even attachment to the family.

A Black Heart flying skirmisher in her time, she retired with her husband and raised Ocean to continue the mercenary lineage, as per Cilarean social expectations that mercenaries were expected to uphold. You learned from Torrent that the old griffmare was strict, and had high expectations for her daughter, instilling an extremely competitive mentality in Twirl.

The young Twirl was, despite all her achievements during her youth, too unprofessional for the ‘Hearts, the company her mother worked for. Her type was just right for the more individualistic Corsairs, however, and because of that the young griffmare found her place without any effort. Her induction into the Crimson Corsairs, however, would’ve been much harder if it were not for her tutor. And, while at first Twirl had to contend with her mother’s albeit well-masked ire, when she had proven herself to be a natural, Gale had no reason to complain.

Just when the work day for Torrent had started picking up pace, with patrons coming in from all walks of life which dwell in the city, you were left alone, munching on what resembled french fries, sitting at a table for two in a far corner of the watering hole you’ve found yourself in, Ocean came back to pick you up.

Her grin, coupled with her eyes pointed right at you as she approached, both excited, and spooked you, both in equal measure. “Guess whaaat~?” She reared, her claws planted on the table before you. You were at a loss of words, being abruptly and without warning broken out of a stupor of boredom, only muttering a “W-wha?”

“Mom’s still at work and Dad’s gone out to buy stuff for dinner!” She giddily tapped her claws in a rhythm on the table, with her hooves doing the same against the tiled wooden floor, “Guess what that means?”


“Ocean, I don’t remember… wait… oh.” You nervously smiled, “Oh!”

Then you remembered, going from wordless due to your mind being shaken up by the stimulation brought by Ocean’s demeanor, to wordless and a blushing mess. Ocean laughed in your face before displacing her claws from the table to your shoulders, leaning into your ears and in a not-so-hushed voice said: “I’m gonna fly you home, take you to my room, and we’re gonna fuck!”. Afterwards, she returned to her original position, claws back on the table.

Taken aback by her broad-daylight advance, you said in a shaky voice: “Damn, Ocean, I know subtlety is not your style but…”

She traced her right claw’s “knuckles” along your chin, “I know what I want, Anon, and I know that you want it too. There’s no point in keeping quiet about it.” 

She giggled, taking her claw off your face and with it took a fry out of your bowl before putting it vertically against her beak, sliding her tongue upwards along its length before circling around the tip. God, you wish you were that, how it’s called in this world, a Venidissian fry. Ocean noticed you admiring her innuendo. Chuckling, she threw the fry into her beak and gulped it down.

“Now, shall we?” She offered you her claw. Taking it, you were gently dragged out of your comfy corner seat before being further dragged out of the pub. Ocean then proceeded to sweep you off your feet by taking to the air, swinging around to carry you properly at a harmless altitude. The excitement ran through you, as your marefriend flew you back home.

Flying up to the locked window of her room, she held onto you with only one arm as the other was busy looking for her keys. After a bit of fumbling about, you were in! Now comes the final stretch: she crashed onto the bed with you still in her embrace, immediately poking at your lips with her beak looking for a kiss. 

You eagerly obliged her desire by kissing then licking her beak, which devolved into a decadently passionate tongue wrestling match which had no end in sight as both of you enjoyed the sensation of each other’s warm, humid breath clashing with your cold lip and her beak. Her claws scrambled from being nestled in between you and her bed in a rush to hold your hands.

You paid no mind to the nigh crushing weight of the griffmare that laid on top of you, nor Ocean the lack of air in her lungs, having no need to breathe for a good three quarters of a minute while enjoying the fight with your tongue. Eventually, however, both of you had to breathe. Ocean split off, gently so as to not scratch your face again, and started panting. “Told ya…” She wheezed, “...it’s better when we’re pent up.”

After you’d caught your breath, you replied: “Well, where’d we leave off from last time?”

“I was about to put you in your place.” She paused, smiling, “You’re a good colt though… so I’ll start easy.”

She licked her beak as she arched backwards, pressing herself upwards with one claw, using the other to unbutton your coat, though after finishing with the buttons, she paused. “I think we ought to get up for this.” She said, rising from the bed to sit on it, pulling you up by your hands so as to sit on your knees facing her. As she pulled the coat off of you, raised and waved your hands about to free yourself from the sleeves, to your partner’s delight. “Good boy.” She whispered, throwing the coat over to the side, landing onto the carpeted floor.

You put your hands around her as she went after your shirt, performing the same song and dance, exposing your upper body at the end of it, completely naked. Her leathery claws traced vertically upwards along your belly and chest. The griffmare chuckled, “Look at how soft you are! No wonder I got a good night’s sleep, you’re like a stuffed toy!”

“Let’s see, are you hard down there…” She reached for your member, still covered behind two layers of clothing. It was erect and already leaking precum, staining your underwear. “Shit, it’s as hard as a gemstone!” Said Ocean, before starting chipping away at your pants’ buttons. In one move, by grabbing at both layers of your clothing, she exposed you fully by sliding your garments almost to your knees, resulting in the sight of your erect, leaking member at full display greeting the beholding griffmare.

“So this is what it looks like for you humans?” She wrapped a claw around your shaft, stroking it a few times, “I like it. It’ll be a smooth ride without any annoying rings in the middle for sure.” 

Kind of weirded out by the comparison of your dick to an equine one, you tried to change the subject. “How about I undress you? I’ve been wanting to see you au naturel.” You slid your hands around, touching her still clothed chest. Fortunately, no cuirass to figure out how to take off, as she wore her red coat and a shirt, much like you. “Go ahead, Nonny.” She cooed, raising her arms as far upwards as she could, and further adding to the sheer majesty of seeing her like so by extending her wings.

You undid her buttons a tad faster, though her uniform red coat had certainly more of them which prolonged the process. As you went to take off a garment, the griffmare elegantly shook it off, leaving you to add it to the bedside pile of clothes she had started with yours. The mare went to spark  conversation with you as you’ve been unbuttoning her shirt: “Hey, Nonny.” She chuckled, “You a virgin?”

“Is that important? I-I know what I’m doing.” You responded. She could tell instantly, however.

“I can tell. You haven’t been clawing at my clothes to get them off the moment I had started on you.” She spoke as you finished quietly undoing the buttons on her shirt.

“Don’t worry, Nonny. I like it when a stud is timid in the sack.” She took her shirt off and entrusted you with it, before taking your member in her claw once again, “Lie down, now.” You were told, and so you did. Laying on your back, with your head resting on the pillows and your legs fully extended to allow your partner to finish undressing you by sliding your pants off, you prepared for what came next.

She took a minute to get her pants off before rejoining you on the bed. Embracing, rubbing your naked bodies against one another, you got a feel for her body. Bald spots left by long-healed scars were noticeable as you traced your hands along her toned, bright blue coated body. The feeling of her natural coat against your skin felt extremely arousing, as you put your chest against hers. You were there for each other, for every breath and every heartbeat for the few minutes you spent lovingly caressing each other. 

Ocean offered you her beak to kiss before sliding downwards to start off by servicing your member. She treated your penis to a tongue bath, licking it repeatedly starting from the sack and ending at the tip to lap up the precum that oozed out of you. Feeling her warm breath hit the thin skin of your parts only added to the pleasure, as her tongue moved to circle around your member's head. She put one of her claws to hold one of your legs down, while using the other to gently hold your shaft and balls while she neatly nested your member in her beak, using her tongue to cushion it at the bottom.

The griffmare went down your shaft, masterfully keeping her beak out of the way and letting her tongue do most of the work. Your member was soaked wet from your partner's saliva and the feeling of her warm exhales hitting your wet cock made you shudder in pleasure. Eventually, she got so far as to start taking your member into her throat. Having become comfortable with the feeling, she sped up fucking her own throat with the tip of your cock, her tongue still wrapping around the shaft as she reached the base. 

She paused after you'd told her that you were close, giving you a minute's respite before starting slowly again, though it quickly returned to where you left off, with your cock prodding her throat. It didn't take you long to get back on the edge again, and so you warned her. Ocean kept going until you let out a loud moan, letting her know that you were cumming. The griffmare pressed her beak against your crotch as closely as possible as your cock shot strings upon strings of cum directly into her throat. 

Your seed flowed over to the sides of her beaked mouth and along your shaft in unequal amounts as she slid her head upwards, exposing your still hard member coated in her saliva and your semen. After freeing your cock from her beak, as if she were crazed, she took it upon herself to clean your member with her tongue, lapping up every drop of your seed off of your shaft as she breathed heavily into it, keeping you stiff and aroused. Only then she elected to take a breather. 

“Phew! That was a lot!” She chuckled as she crept towards you, not to embrace, but to sit on the side of the bed, before reaching to pull open her bedside drawer “And you’re still hard? We’re going to have so much fun! C’mere and see what'dya wanna use!”

Rising to sit beside her, you saw quite a few items inside of the drawer that could and definitely were used as sex toys, though the sight of a leash awakened your inner sub once again. You laughed, “Wanna put me on a leash?”

“Sure can!” she responded, taking the leash before you two turned to face each other. With a delighted smile, the griffmare put said leash around your neck and tightened it. “Here we go. Not too tight, but not too loose, so that you don’t forget who owns you.” 

“Get off the bed, now. Give me space.” She said, and you followed your mistress’ command, standing up. The leash was long, and the mare did not pull on it as she assumed her desired position: laying on her back, her wings half-extended and her hindlegs fully raised. She tossed over the long, loose length of leash in between her thighs before completely closing in on it. Standing there silently as you awaited the pull of the leash that’d force you back in bed, you could see your partner, or rather, mistress’ mare pussy wink at you, dripping with desire for a thorough fucking.

Without a heads-up, she wrapped the excess length of the leather leash around her talons and reeled you in, pulling you forward to her. You landed face first into her toned thighs before receiving new orders from Ocean. “You’re now going to return the favor. Lick.” She demanded, before spreading her legs and exposing her scarlet eyes and convincingly crazed smile. 

Looking downwards, you noticed that her belly had no scars like the rest of her body, concluding that she really is a master of her craft. Further down, you saw a pair of teats. You just couldn’t help yourself and disobeyed your mistress by instead burying your face in her supple twins.

A quick tug snapped you out of worshiping her teats. “LICK!” She yelled out. “Y-Yes ma’am!” You replied before going down on her. 

Her marehood was soaked from all that anticipation, and her winks just pushed more and more of her fluids out, even flowing downwards onto the surface of her anus and tail. Giving her vulva and the occasionally winking clit a series of long upwards licks and kisses, you got a pleasured reaction out of your mistress. “Yes, Nonny. Just like that.” She sighed and moaned in pleasure, her long-awaited release finally coming.

Once indifferent to the salty taste, your pheromone-riddled brain convinced you to love it, and to want more of it. You buried your tongue deep into her cunt and rubbed her wet, soft, velvety insides. Her clitoris was under constant gentle friction with your tongue as you ate her out, until you hit the sweet spot. The mare you were eating out had tensed up and squished your head in between her thighs. “AAAAAH! That’s the fucking spot!” She yelled.

Your head was stuck in place, though you kept prodding and rubbing the spot with your tongue, making the mare squirm around. Putting your hands on her well toned flanks and massaging them, you intensified her pleasure even further. “ANON I’M GONNA-” She screamed as the long awaited torrent of smooth and lubricating mare cum unleashed onto your tongue and lips. 

Extremely aroused by her orgasm-induced wailing, you made an active effort to lop up as much of it into your mouth, continuing until her thighs let go of your head. You separated from her marehood, leaving a string of your saliva and her cum to your mouth as you did so. Ocean beckoned you to come to her with her leash as you tried to catch your breath, shuffling over to her on your all fours before getting to crash next to her. 

In between heavy breaths, she told you: “Don’t think I’m done yet, Anon, I can do this until sundown!”

“Oh really?” You responded, wanting to challenge her sexual stamina, “We haven’t even fucked properly yet!” Flipping about to get on top of her, getting a faceful of her fluffy chest, you waited for her response.

“Oh, I’ll show you.” She laughed before pushing you off and swinging you back where you were previously. Just like on the walk to the pub, the grass, she got on top of you, though this time you were naked, dead-set on fucking each other’s brains out and completely alone therefore free to do so with impunity.

Your member was neatly nested in between her teats as she scrambled for the leash. After taking it into her claw once again, she lifted herself up and onto your member. With both your cock and her pussy being thoroughly prepared by your respective partners, she slid it inside of her with no effort.

“Oooooh, fuck yeah!” Ocean moaned as she once again wrapped the excess length of leash around her talons, stopping at the point where the leash became tense, ready to be pulled when she deemed fit. Her other arm supported her body as she sat up straight in order to get as much of your dick inside of her as possible.

You put your hands on her waist and gave her a nod to let her know that she can start, if that even mattered with you on a leash. Slowly, she started grinding against your crotch as she took your entire length. You couldn’t help but moan, realizing how tightly she squeezed your member with her vulva while her wet insides suckled on your shaft.

Lifting herself up, you saw your shaft covered in her sexual fluids before she violently crashed down on your crotch, again, and again. You felt her winking clit rubbing against your cock as she bounced on top of you. Every downwards crash onto your crotch heralded a heavy exhale or a loud pleasured yell coming from the griffmare, and a creak from the bed. You couldn’t help but look her in the eyes and ask her to go faster, to go harder, which she gladly did.

The faster she went, the louder both of you were. Groans and moans were replaced by yells and screams as the bed’s faster creaking and slapping of flesh added to the decadently passionate and erotic cacophony performed by you and Ocean. 

The griffmare pulled the leash, dragging you up to her, though causing her to slow down her ride to a screeching halt. “C’mon Nonny, wrap your arms around me!” She egged you on. After doing so, she started riding once more, the cacophony picking up pace as fast as Ocean did. You moaned into her chest and enjoyed her sweaty, warm embrace as you held on to her. 

Ocean kept upping the pace, and you felt your climax getting closer and closer, until she finally went over the edge and came again, spraying her sexual liquids all over your shaft and crotch. The sensation of her rapidly winking, orgasming mare pussy squeezing you for every drop sent you over likewise, making you fill up the griffmare you’d latched onto with your cum.

“So warm…” She chuckled, head rested on your shoulder “You’re lucky you can’t knock me up… just yet.” Ocean suggested, wrapping her wings around you, electing to stay in this position for the afterglow.

“You’d want that?” You asked, catching your breath.

“Not now. Maybe when we get rich and retire.” She paused, enjoying the post-coital bliss, “...You *do* want me to train you for that, right?”

“Will err… will there be more of this?” You laughed, getting your face out of her chest and looking up into her eyes.

“Well, as long as you’re going to stick with me. That was fun. The best I’ve had, actually!” She giddily exclaimed.

The two of you paused the conversation to simply enjoy each other’s company, before quickly rushing to take a bath together before Gust or Gale return home. For all they know, at least until Ocean spills the beans to her dad over a few drinks, you were just playing that “dumb zebra brick game” as her mother put it.

SOMETHING SOMETHING NEW CONTENT.

After cleaning yourselves up, you and your marefriend, still naked, crashed on the bed and cuddled facing one another, with your forehead pressed on her chest as your head was held in place with one of her claws, while the other was placed on your lower back, pushing you to her from behind. You felt your skin glide along Ocean’s smooth, clean coat upon every tiny movement. 

The fresh and flowery smell of the soap gently caressed your sense of smell with tones of roses, though the sheets had the signature musky stench associated with sex, occasionally reminding you two of what had transpired mere minutes ago.

“Say, Nonny?” Said Ocean, breaking the silence, “Where’d you, as a virgin, learn to do whatever magic you pulled off with your tongue?”

You pondered exactly how to answer, “It’s simple, but complicated. I wouldn’t know how-”

“You’re one of those colts, huh?” Ocean interrupted you with a chuckle, “Must’ve been a good book, then.”

With her seemingly answering the question by herself, you conceded, “Putting it like that? Close enough, actually.”

Ocean sighed after reminiscing the experience, then chuckled while bowing her head down to rub her beak against your pate, “Never thought I’d fall for one of those, and here we are.”

Getting a small peck on your head, you smiled. “I still can’t get over how fast we went from being buddies to dating… to this.”

“Funny that you mention dating, we barely did, yet dad’s just about ready to pronounce us husband and wife.” Ocean replied, raising her head back up and closing her eyes.

“We sleep in the same bed! My life now is just one constant date with you until your dad finally gets around to doing so.” You sighed, silently pondering about how lucky you are to have her.

“Shit, you even get your lines out of these books.” She poked fun at you, and literally poked at your naked back with a talon.

“Hey, don’t blame me for being well-spoken-” Your retort was interrupted by the sound of a door on a lower floor opening. “Speaking of, I think that’s dad.” Said Ocean, “Better get dressed quick, Nonny!”

It was hard to bid adieu to Ocean’s naked embrace. You wouldn’t be lying if you told yourself that you’d be able to remain in that position, unclothed and cuddled up with her until hunger forced you off… which would’ve been the case, basically missing out on lunch in favor of a good time with your marefriend.

Putting on your pants was a matter of muscle memory, so you fortunately managed to get a final look at her toned, scarred body. She noticed you staring as she sat on the carpeted floor with her wings extended to put on her shirt, and winked at you. “Don’t think this’ll be the last time!” Ocean said, beginning work on buttoning up her shirt, but not before teasing you by showing off her physique while half-naked.

Having finished donning on your clothes save for your coat, you followed Ocean downstairs at a quick pace to greet Gust. There he was, sorting the groceries he bought out on the dinner table. “Hey, kids!” Gust greeted you, hearing you come, “I got what you wanted, Twirl.” said the smiling, happy father before turning to you specifically, “You’re about to taste a landlubber kitchen classic!”

“Can’t wait, Gust! How may I help you go about it faster? I’m starving!” You heard your stomach rumble as you asked that question. It seemed as if the mere mention of food made it audibly protest.

“How about…” He looked around himself. Seeing that he was almost done with sorting the groceries, he went to the ice box and gestured for you to come. “Take this nice cut of beef and that over there cutting board, I’m going to need you to dice this meat while I take care of the pasta. ” 

“Pasta?” You asked as you approached him, surprised. 

“What's the matter? Too good for foreign cuisine?” He said, turning to Ocean, “It's little Twirl's favorite, y’know?”

“Nothing! I like it too, is all.” You replied.

“Well, I like the stew that goes with it more, but sure.” Twirl also replied to her father. 

“Pasta completes the dish! That's how you feed more with less, dear.” He replied, looking back at you, “Anyways, son, do what I tell you, and we'll get this done quick.” He left it at that, though he still had something to say: “Oh! And wash your claws or whatever have you first!”

You took the frosted cut of beef out of the ice box (after washing your hands of course), placed it on a wooden cutting board and went to work. Meanwhile, Gust went to work making the pasta dough. Finishing your respective tasks at about the same time, he ordained himself “head chef” as he ordered you to get a pot and to follow his further instructions closely.

Putting the pot on an already fired wood stove, you were told to add a generous helping of olive oil into it, enough to cover the bottom of said pot. As the oil turned hot, you had diced a single big onion and a few carrots into tiny pieces and put them into the pot, immediately starting to sizzle and causing both ingredients to radiate each a smell of their own as they sauté’d in the olive oil.

With the help of a big wooden cooking spoon you mixed the vegetables for a minute until putting in the meat, mixing it around to make sure it cooks evenly as Gust went around the kitchen, putting in various spices one at a time for you to mix in. 

Using a can opener on a tin of tomatoes as he stood next to you, he noticed the scar on your cheek and started chuckling. “Looks like she got you good, huh?”

“What?” You turned to him, still mixing the contents of the pot. Your neutral expression turned embarrassed as he gestured along his cheek.

“I figure you had fun while I was gone?” He inquired. Naturally, as said “fun” had occurred not even an hour ago, you turned as red as a rose, as if he simply walked in on you and Ocean fucking each other’s brains out. Ocean was silently observing you and her dad bonding and had overheard his discovery.

“Yeah, we did the deed. The scratch was from the walk we went on after breakfast though.” Ocean spilled it out, even the specific detail about when exactly you got the scratch that got you busted. You decided to sigh and just stir the pot.

As Gust added the tomatoes to the pot, he poked fun at your embarrassment, turning to his daughter. “Look at him, his head’s still stuck in the clouds. You really did a number on him!”

You thought of a retort as you mixed the tomatoes in, watching the soft red fruits and their juices coating the previous contents red. “Are you two always open about this sort of thing or something?” You blurted out.

“Sure. I taught her to be honest and open about some things. Family business is one of them…” Gust laughed, “Just don’t tell Gale. She probably thinks her little Ocean got delivered to us by a stork after we kissed with a little bit of tongue.”

You and Ocean couldn’t help but join Gust in his laughter. The father continued, “Anyways, as a father, it helps to know at which stage you two lovebirds are at. One thing is hosting you for a night or two before you head off to wherever, and another is to expect you to stick around for a while.”

“Speaking of, Twirl? Will Anon be staying for long?” He asked, turning to his daughter to ask the question.

“Oh, he’s going to stay, and go with me. I’ll have to take some more time off to train him up.” She said, approaching you from behind, still focused on cooking, and took your free hand in her claw. “Is that right, Nonny?”

“That’s one way to recruit new aspiring mercenaries, Twirl.” He laughed as he poured hot water into the pot and took the reins of cooking away from you, letting you turn your attention to the griffmare.

“Didn’t you and mom meet in the same way?” She chuckled. 

“Hey now, I wasn't saying that was a bad thing. In fact, that was the best thing that happened to me! Besides, I was already a Corsair when I met her.” He said, tapping the wooden spoon against the pot before closing it with a lid, leaving the wooden spoon on one of the pot’s handles. 

“Right, this will cook for a while. Want to help us with making the pasta, dear?” Gust asked Ocean, inviting her to sit at the dinner table currently used as a sit-down workspace for multiple people. The large ball of yellow-ish pasta dough is sitting in a bowl, waiting to be molded into proper noodles. You and Ocean sat next to each other while Gust sat across you. 

In lieu of proper pasta making gadgets however, you three had to make do with the traditional substitute. Gust demonstrated to you how he had done it in camp or aboard a ship, revealing the story of how he met his wife as he went through the motions. 

Flattening the dough and cutting it into short, two finger (or talon, rather) wide strips, he took a sewing needle and wrapped the dough around it before sliding the needle out. You and Ocean helped by doing the same process. 

 “I did it with a bayonet, sometimes, too. Just make sure you haven't used it for its intended purpose before doing so.” He laughed before getting back on topic. “Anyways, where was I…”

“You were telling Anon how you met mom.” Ocean interjected, flicking a finished noodle into a bowl. 

“Right. I met her while on a job… in Griffonstonian Arondinia. The chickens wanted us to watch over their possessions, and they needed help on both land and sea.” He reminisced. 

The Griffonstonian possessions during that time were protected by hired help from the Black Hearts and the Crimson Corsairs, on the ground and sea respectively. While zebra raiders with their more agile lateen-sailed xebecs were the nemesis of the Corsairs, the Hearts had no such clear adversary. 

This monotony, despite being a safe source of income for those involved, didn't sit well with the younger Gale. When the Corsairs asked for more on board flying skirmishers to more effectively deal with the raiders, Gale was among the first to sign up for this escapade. It was aboard the same ship Gust was in that he met her. 

Gust and Gale kicked off their friendship much like how you and Ocean did: boredom that naturally came with being confined to a small space. The parallels you saw made you ask about what his career was like after getting together with a mercenary mare from a different company. 

“We tried to stick together as much as possible, on our own, doing independent jobs together.” He responded. 

“I suppose it'd be different for me. I'll definitely be joining the Corsairs.” You turn to your marefriend to be met with a reassuring wink.

Ocean quickly interjected, “Well, I like jobs that involve flying around, you can't fly, but…” She closed her eyes, as if she'd made a big decision, and smiled as she opened her eyes, “...I'll take you to jobs we can work together on, Nonny. We won't be going to war for your first job!”

As you talked, you three had finished making the noodles. Gust quietly went to put a pot of water to a boil before putting the noodles in. 

Gust worked, chuckling to himself before uttering a few daring words, “So, when's the wedding?”

Ocean laughed and put her claw on your shoulder, “Now that I think about it more…” She said, squeezing your shoulder with her claw, “I'd give it a year, at most.”

“Shit, Twirl, I was joking…” Gust paused, facing you two. You were as red as the stew that you helped cook while Ocean gave him a smug look. He continued, “Well, now I know.”

You were, on the other hand, shocked. “We're getting married?” You asked, turning your head towards her. 

“Why not? If you turn out to be a good mercenary, which I know you will, we might as well make it official.” She laughed, “Especially since there are some neat benefits to it.

“Like what?” You asked, curious. Her honesty about there being benefits to it made you chuckle. “Married couples pay less taxes to the bureaucracy.” She said. 

Your respective trains of thought had been interrupted as Gale made her return from overseeing the family business, just as everything had finished cooking. “Dear!” Gust greeted his wife, pecking her on the cheek. You and your… what now, fiancée? greeted her, still sitting at the table with your arms wrapped around each other. Gale returned the greetings, though with a simple “Hi.”.

The old griffmare looked at you and her daughter sitting next to each other, and smiled at the sight. It was as if she were looking back in time, with her and Gust sitting beside each other. Turning to her husband, she simply muttered out: “My love, I'm starving.”

“Take a seat, you came just in time!” Said Gust, “Kids, set the table for us, please?”

And so you got up, and stumbled around the kitchen, trying to find the plates. Eventually after finding them, you'd bring the plates to the table, with cutlery to boot. Only then you could finally sate your hunger. You poured the stew over a plate of pasta, and finally, food. 

It might’ve been the hunger, or the simple fact that you'd helped in its making, or even both, but you thought that an angel had come down from the heavens and blessed your tongue with an indescribable feeling. 

Gale seemed to have felt the same way, and commented after tasting the dish: “I still can't get over how good your cooking is.”

“I had some help.” He replied, nodding towards you. 

Gale chuckled, “You really are trying to impress us, aren't you, Anon?”

You paused to mull over your reply, using your full mouth as an excuse to say quiet for the duration. “Not necessarily. I simply want to help the family of my fiancée in any way I can, ma'am.” 

You now had all the griffs at the table looking at you. Gust and Twirl smiled, entertained by the sheer audacity of your choice of words, and Gale seemed skeptical. “Wh-what do you mean, fiancée?”

Twirl, in her infinite honesty replied: “Oh, I just told Dad. Anon and I are getting married if he becomes a fellow merc…” A devious smirk takes form on her face, “...And he will.”

“So…” Gale paused, putting her fork down, leaning it against her porcelain plate, making a clinking sound that ought to have been heard halfway around the world. 

The mother oh-so desperately wanted to add another question to the pile, however, her husband clearly noticed that something was wrong. “Gale, dear, what's wrong?” He asked. 

“They… they grow up so fast, don't they?” The mother muttered out before picking her fork up from the plate to finish her meal. The table became silent, as all four of you pondered the family's future with you likely in it, and it remained so until Gale asked you to go outside with her, to talk in private. 

You reluctantly accepted her request, and stood up to follow her. The old mare outpaced you as you tried to follow in her hoofsteps until she had stopped and stood by the front door, waiting for you. Stepping outside, Gale started questioning you. 

“Do you know what you're getting into, Anon?” She asked, a thousand yard stare piercing through your eyes, looking right into your soul. 

“Ma'am, I… what is the meaning of this?” You protested, growing even more concerned for her every passing moment. 

“Do you really want to become a mercenary, to kill, for my daughter's love?” Her direct tone cut deep into your skin.

She did not let you get a word out, however. She continued: “Do you realize how ridiculous that is? I saw things, I did things no creature should, for money. As a daughter of a mercenary family, I had no choice.”

Gale laughed, though with a helpless look in her eyes, “You get the money, sure. You comply with what's expected of you, yes. What griffs fail to mention are the nightmares. The faces. The sounds! You remember everything, and those memories will follow you into the grave.”

“Mrs. Gale… can you hear me?” You interjected. 

She looked at you in silence. “Yes, Anon.”

“Focus on your breathing, ma'am. Clear your mind, and look at me.” You pleaded. 

“Anon…” She let out a shivering sigh, “I don't want you to end up like me. You have a choice, and I didn't.”

You remained silent for a bit, figuring out how to say no to her pleas. She really wanted you to remain in civilian life, for your own good. 

“You're silent. You want to say no.” She laughed, “You love Twirl so much that you'd stain your soul for her. Go. I did what I could.” Gale turned to go back inside, until you stopped her.

“Gale, wait!” You exclaimed. The mare stopped, not facing you, replied: “Speak.”

“I have no choice, either. I have no home anymore, except for what little I left behind in Avtukia after I waited and finally got to heed Twirl's invitation to come here.” You paused. The old griffmare turned her head toward you as much as she could, considering that her back was facing you.

You took the silence as a cue to continue, “I'm sorry, but I love her. She is all I have in this world, and doing what you suggested is as good as me putting a gun in my mouth and pulling the trigger.”

Gale turned towards and approached you. Smiling, she said, “Very well. You have been warned.” She offered you her claw.

“We will be talking more about you and my daughter later. Until then, love her as much as she does you, and I know she would move mountains for you if need be.” Gale still had her claw out for you.

You firmly shook the mother's claw. “And not a word about this. If anygriff asks, I gave you my blessing, and that's it.” She said, in a threatening tone.

Quietly retreating back indoors, you sat down at your seat as Twirl and Gust were not to be found at the table. They had finished their meals and were heard playing a card game over in the living room, while yours and Gale's plates had cooled down.  

You silently finished the rest of the meal, and walked over to see what your… fiancée and her father were up to. “Nice of you to join us, Nonny.” Ocean greeted you, “Wanna play?”

“Finish what you started, I'll join in later.” You laid back on the sofa, silently pondering what just happened. 

Today was an emotional rollercoaster. Deciding that you wanted to join Ocean for her mercenary career, then her aggressive flirting with you before going home and “having fun”, and topping it off with a marriage proposal and… whatever the hell happened with Gale. You ought to respect her, though, as she thought you were just some lover boy that didn't know any better. 

“Ha! I win” Twirl's celebration interrupted your inner monologue.

“Nope, I just let ya!” Her father replied, chuckling.

“Hey, we’re three griffs… or two griffs and a human. Wanna play poker with us?” She asked you, giddily shuffling the cards. 

“I barely know how to play it. I prefer blackjack, there's more skill involved.” You replied, “Besides, what are we betting?”

“We split the big bowl of copper coins, and use ‘em as betting chips.” Gust pointed at said bowl, already on the table.

“Right. Expect me to be a pushover though.” You chuckled, and got comfy for the family game night.

As you’ve expected, you’ve been forced to “cash out” by grabbing another fistful of coins from the bowl at least half a dozen times. If this were a real poker game, you’d find yourself begging on the streets come morning. Gust eventually took pity on you and insisted on a few games of blackjack, or as it is called locally, “vingt-un”: the game of twenty-one. Admittedly, you’ve embarrassed yourself trying to explain what exactly you meant by “blackjack”, as such a name for this game did not exist at all. After mentioning the number twenty-one, however, everything fell into place.

“I’ll be the dealer. You two lovebirds have fun trying to break my bank.” Gust chuckled, shuffling the card deck as you and Ocean took a fistful of coins from the bowl.

The cards started to be dealt, and the game was off to a funny start. An ace and a nine for you, an ace being worth either eleven or one, depending on the player’s initiative.

“I guess I’ll just… not do anything?” You chuckled, taking a few coins from your pile and betting against the dealer.

Ocean was in a worse-off spot, however. A two and a four. “Hit me.” she called, and another card came to her: a nine.

In addition to the face-down card, Gust took a hit of another card, a king, counting as a ten.

“Standing, Anon?” He asked you and you nodded. He then turned to Ocean, “Twirl?”

“I’m doubling down.” Said the griffmare, doubling her bet and receiving a sideways-placed card: a six!

“Two, four, six and a nine. That’s a twenty-one.” Gust counted out the coins from the bowl, with Ocean swiping her winnings after.

The dealer then proceeded to give himself another card: a three. Ending the round, the dealer turned over his face-down card and revealed it to be a queen.

“A queen, a king and a three. Twenty three.” He said, giving you your reward.

This continued for a few rounds until you all called it a night. Ocean stood up, and gave you her claw to “help” you stand up, before taking you with her upstairs back to bed hand-in-claw.

“What a day, huh, Nonny?” She sat down on the bed, you next to her.

“It sure is a lot to take in. We’re really getting married?” You said, leaning against her with your head ending up on her neck. She leaned into you and turned her head to rest it on the top of yours.

“We’ll be living together for the foreseeable future, and I really like you, if you couldn’t tell…” Ocean poked a talon into your side, triggering a small reaction from you. 

“Oh, I could tell…” You put your hand on her back, massaging her along the spine as you leaned your head forward, her heart beating within your earshot as you snuggled. Since your head wasn’t supporting yours any more, she looked down and embraced you even more, holding you in place with her arm.

She grew quiet, before yawning, “Want to hit the hay. Nonny?”

Switching to your respective pajamas, you latched onto her after getting into bed. Her body warmth, soft coat and the warm blanket helped you doze off in record time.

THE BIRTHDAY

You woke up. Not to any wild shaking or anything of the sort you’d expect from your partner. Still latched on to her with both hands around her barrel, you woke up to her playing with your hair. “Good morning, Nonny!” Ocean said, “It’s a special day, so we’ll take it easy.”

“Good morning, love.” You replied, scooting upwards to give her a kiss, to start the day right.

“Wanna come with me to pick up the birthday cake I ordered?” She smiled. As if you possibly had it in your heart to refuse a good walk with her, you accepted. “Sure. Maybe we can get more of those heart-shaped cakes to share.”

“You want to relive your first kiss while we’re at it?” The griffmare bowed her head and pecked your nose with her beak, before raising it and continuing, “Now, now, Nonny. We don’t want to get out of shape. The cake will be enough, trust me.”

“Let’s get up, now…” You got up together, got dressed together, and came downstairs for breakfast together.

Stumbling upon Gale in the kitchen, making herself a kettle full of coffee, you sat down across from each other and waited for the apparently caffeine dependent mother to wrap up her business at the stove.

“Whaddya want for breakfast?” She asked you.

“I can cook us both eggs, just don’t expect them to be done like how dad does it.” You replied.

“Speaking of…” She turned her head towards the kitchen, “Mom! Do you know where dad went?”

Gale erred, “Gust is out shopping. He’ll be back in a couple hours.”

“Right.” Twirl turned her head back to you, “So you want to make us breakfast?”

“I sure can…” You responded, then an idea popped up in your head, “How about you go back to bed, and we have breakfast in bed.”

Twirl laughed, “You really are a hopeless romantic, you know that?”. The mare paused, however. She put on her signature devious smile. “Y’know, it does sound nice…”. 

You could tell she’s up to something, “Oh, that smile…” you paused, “You’re definitely up to no good.”

“I have an idea, yes.” She leaned her head forwards, supporting it with her claws, “You will have your breakfast in bed, alright, but…” the mare paused.

“But… what?” You interrupted the silence.


She turned her head towards her mother, still waiting at the stove for her coffee, before inviting you to come closer. Twirl whispered: “If you want your breakfast in bed, you’ll have to feed it to me… servant.”

You leaned back, smiling. “That sounds like a fun time.”

“Oh, it will be fun. I’ll be waiting in my room.” Twirl chuckled, stood up and went back up to her room.

You were left alone at the dining table, with only the smell of Gale’s coffee to keep you company. The silence was broken once again by the mother, however. “The stove is yours, Anon.” She said,

You thanked her and went to work on the eggs. After putting an oiled-up cast iron pan on the stove to heat up, you crack five eggs into a bowl and sprinkle some salt and pepper before scrambling them. You then proceeded to pour the eggs into the pan, immediately reacting with the heat as they hit the hot surface.

You certainly were no Gust, though, so no omelets would be had. The scrambled eggs would be divided into two portions in the pan before being taken out and plated separately. They looked plain, but that was the way eggs are prepared, a la mercenaire. A mercenary would even be lucky as to have pepper when in camp, though you figured the rough way of living would come in due time, opting to revel in the relative decadence of pepper on your eggs.

With a plate and fork in each hand, you started making your way to the stairs, though not before greeting Gale, enjoying her coffee in the same manner as when you were introduced to her by Twirl. She laughed upon seeing the plates in your hands, your destination being obvious.

Walking up to the door, and opening the door with an elbow, you come into the room to a sight that almost made you drop the plates. Ocean laid on her back, naked, in the middle of the bed. A white bed sheet only covered the region between her legs, leaving her well toned and scarred body for your eyes to feast on. Her head, upright, rested against both of your pillows. Her clothes laid in a pile on the carpeted floor.

“You’re finally here…” She said in a stern voice, though her smile betrayed her act.

Realizing what she is up to, you bowed. “Yes, mistress. Eggs, just like how you like them.”

Ocean chuckled, “Put them on the table…” 

You followed the order. As you were going for your plate, she stopped you. “Before we begin, I want you to undress.” The griffmare commanded, and pulled out the familiar leash out from under the pillows. As you were undressing, you put the clothes on the pile already “started” by Ocean.

“Good…” She chuckled. Now come and bow to me!” She prepared the leash. Playing along, you bowed over her, letting her put the leash on you. “Now, feed me.”

You started feeding her. She laid her head as far back as she could, her scarlet eyes looking at you, occasionally drifting down to take a short look at your half-erect member and balls hanging out. Her attention always turned back upwards as you reached your hand out to feed her with the fork. Ocean held a tight leash on you, essentially keeping you in one place until she deems it satisfactory to do otherwise.

Finishing her meal, she thanked you: “Very well, servant, you may eat now.” The griffmare said, loosening up the leash a bit

You went for the fork, until she pulled hard on the leash, making you stumble backwards. “Who let you stain your mistress’ cutlery with your lowly mouth? Use your hands!” She exclaimed, though quieter when compared to yesterday’s session in the sack. You were not alone in the house, after all.

You took the plate in your non-dominant hand, and standing before your mistress who once again has you on a quite tight leash, you used your other hand to take some eggs and quite uncomfortably put them in your mouth.

The control over you seemed to have worked her up. Ocean started squirming, putting her legs together in an effort to pleasure herself while maintaining the act, causing the bed sheets that covered her bits and teats to slide off. By the time you had finished your meal, the mare had a talon circling her marehood’s vulva.

“Good boy… Put the plate back, and climb on the bed next to me.” She shifted a bit to the side and patted the empty space next to her.

She tugged at the leash a tad to speed you up as you got in bed next to her. Laying on your back, she turned over to the side, and put one of her claws on your member. “I demand my morning rut, servant.” she purred, “You will not stop until I say so, understood?”

“Y-yes, ma’am!” You said. Your mistress loosened your leash to allow you to come around to sit on your knees before her rear as she returned to lying on her back once more. Her wet winking marepussy practically begged you to stuff it with your cock. She, however, did not have to beg you for it. “Put it in, *now*!” She exclaimed, adding emphasis to the last word with a sharp tug, almost sending you face first into her teats.

You took your cock into your hands, and scooted forward, putting your knees on level with her flanks before guiding it into your mistress’ wet, needy cunt. As your member’s tip entered, her pussy winked and rubbed against you. Leaning forwards, putting your hands on the bed for support and locking eyes with her, you thrusted into the mare, making her marehood wink as she took your length.

“That’s it… Good boy!” she tightened the leash. Tugging it, she said, “Come on, now. Please your mistress!”

You started with slow thrusts, using your entire length to pleasure her. Ocean breathed heavily as she raised the claw that held the leash high. “Fuck… faster, servant.” 

The griffmare’s marehood’s warm insides squeezed your member as you made deep thrusts into her, slowly increasing in pace. Soon enough, your faster thrusts started causing the familiar sounds of bed creaking and flesh slapping. Ocean started moaning into her free claw, “Yes, just like that. Keep going!”

Unfortunately, you couldn’t last long enough in the face of this overwhelming pleasure, and you slowed down as you pushed yourself over the edge. “Did I tell you to stop?” The mare said, pulling on the leash as hard as she could, making you fall over on top of her, “Keep fucking me, servant, or else!”

Ocean reached for something from the drawer of “toys”, and something suddenly stung you on the back. “Don’t you dare fucking stop!” The mare said, striking you again. You turned to see a whip in her hands, whose sight itself beckoned you to keep pounding her close to orgasming pussy. 

You sped back up again, though it wasn’t enough. Ocean gave you another strike across your back, not letting you off of her. She kept striking you with her whip as you hurried to up your pace to escape her wrath. Pushing yourself even closer to her, you felt her sweaty body rub off on yours as your waist kept moving back and forth as fast as it could.

Eventually, you’d reached the point where the strikes stopped, though were replaced by something sharper. As the griffmare got closer to orgasm, she wrapped both of her arms around you, leash still in claw, and buried her talons into your back. You almost shouted out in pain, though she pushed your head into her chest fast enough for you to be muffled. Despite this, your body kept going through the motions until her marehood winked and sprayed you with warm mare cum.

Your mistress’ orgasm sent you over the edge once again, though your second load was comparatively pitiful compared to the first, having been given no time to rebound. “Ah… hah… you can stop now, Nonny…” she moaned as she patted you on the back of your head. You, so tired from the frenzied fucking you’d given your “mistress”, immediately rolled over and very nearly dozed off.

Ocean laughed as she rolled over to her side and wrapped her arms around you, spooning you, “That was so good, Nonny!”

You were still trying to catch your breath. In between heavy breaths, you muttered out: “Anything for you, my mistress.”

“I appreciate it, but you can drop the act now…” She said,

Ocean kept talking, but everything turned to a blur. You almost fell asleep before being awoken. “Hey, don’t doze off on me, now! We still need to pick up that cake!”