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His species, after all, is at stake too and the unicorns are fading by the day. Fortunately, it looks like something quite intimate may strengthen their herd in a most erotic fashion... Breeding magic has undergone much study and requires a devoted stallion and herd of willing mares to investigate further. And Christian is just the stallion for the job at hoof.\n\nAlas, their task is not so simple as to uncover what will make unicorns strong again: time is running out. The gryphon stronghold is gaining power as the leaves turn, gathering their strength for an inevitable attack. The unicorns are in a race against time to strengthen their magic and their herd before the gryphons annihilate all that they hold dear to them.\n\nPlease note that this romance novelette contains erotic scenes.\n\n\n---\n\nA re-published tale (I'm sure you remember it!) that I have also made available via Smashwords for those interested. Thank you for your support!\n\n\nThis story is available for purchase in full via Smashwords!\n\nSmashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/717079\n\n\nPlease note that there is another book before this one titled Loving a Unicorn: Heartbeat Passage, which I have not been able to upload to InkBunny as it contains a human character until a certain point in the book.\n\nThe details may be found here, on FA: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/28291996/","description_bbcode_parsed":"Transformed into a unicorn stallion, Christian has set his heart on saving the herd his sweetheart mare, Celeste, so loves. His species, after all, is at stake too and the unicorns are fading by the day. Fortunately, it looks like something quite intimate may strengthen their herd in a most erotic fashion... Breeding magic has undergone much study and requires a devoted stallion and herd of willing mares to investigate further. And Christian is just the stallion for the job at hoof.
Alas, their task is not so simple as to uncover what will make unicorns strong again: time is running out. The gryphon stronghold is gaining power as the leaves turn, gathering their strength for an inevitable attack. The unicorns are in a race against time to strengthen their magic and their herd before the gryphons annihilate all that they hold dear to them.
Please note that this romance novelette contains erotic scenes.
---
A re-published tale (I'm sure you remember it!) that I have also made available via Smashwords for those interested. Thank you for your support!
This story is available for purchase in full via Smashwords!
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/717079
Please note that there is another book before this one titled Loving a Unicorn: Heartbeat Passage, which I have not been able to upload to InkBunny as it contains a human character until a certain point in the book.
The details may be found here, on FA: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/28291996/","writing":"Loving a Unicorn\nBreeding a Future\n\nChapter One\n\n \n\nBirdsong echoed through the unicorn glade, a musical warble that no human hand could hope to reproduce. Pines and birches swayed under the whim of a gentle breeze, many miles from the nearest city. It was a place that humanity was yet to destroy and a tentative agreement with the localities kept most who wished to cause them trouble at a respectable distance. Few believed that unicorns even existed anymore and that was just the way the herd liked it, going about their business within their single storey abodes and meeting places.\n\nYet all was not quiet. In the garden of the unicorn king and queen, Celeste braced herself against Christian's needy thrusts. Clad in a harness that draped over her white withers, the attire would have been simple for her if not for the wildflowers entwined into the cotton, adoring her in a living creation. They were woven into the magical imbued material, which looped around her neck and curled around her horn, a decorative `bridle' hanging from her finely shaped face. Despite its appearance, it was far from delicate and stood up to the stallion's thrusts; Christian grunted as he drove into her, lost in pleasure.\n\nCeleste groaned and threw her head up as her stallion bred her, his magically enlarged length driving in past the medial ring. She shuddered and groaned, tail flagged and pushed to the side. The stallion grunted and scrambled for purchase on the mare as he slipped, irises rimmed with white.\n\nCeleste ducked her head, sides trembling with silent amusement: she wouldn't want to put him off. Although he had been a unicorn for several months, Christian was the first to admit that he sometimes found it difficult to keep his footing when mating. It only served to amuse her, as much as she claimed him to be as steady as a natural stallion.\n\nChristian slowed, breathing laboured as his muzzle dropped to lip at her mane and withers. But Celeste wasn't having any of that - they were far from done! The mare's head whipped around, violet eyes sharp in the morning light.\n\n``Come now, stud,'' she whinnied, her tone playful. ``Are you so tired so swiftly? I wish for you to breed me!''\n\nChristian flicked his ears but otherwise gave no indication that he had heard, thrusts increasing in force. Sides heaving, he let her take as much of his weight as their position allowed, and slammed in roughly. Celeste snorted, nostrils flared, and held firm against the pleasurable barrage, that twist of ecstasy roiling closer and closer with each and every thrust.\n\nA passing bay unicorn that Christian did not know on a personal level glanced at them through the open double doors that separated the garden from the village. Celeste caught his eye and winked, lips parted in a moan. In her distraction, orgasm claimed her and her forelegs half buckled, struggling to maintain her balance and composure as pleasurable ripples swam through her body. Celeste gasped, sides heaving as she panted, the haze behind her eyes oh so slowly diminishing. By the heavens, could her stallion mount a mare! Well, he had had the best mare in the village to train him, of course.\n\nIt only took a few more thrusts for Christian to spill his seed and the stallion's chest rumbled, tail flagging. Celeste rolled her head, working out the kinks from keeping it so stiff and arched through their liaison. Christian nickered and smirked, nuzzling her weathers as he slid backwards off his mare with a barely concealed spring in his step.\n\nClimax died down all too quickly as a flutter of movement in the corner of his eye drew his attention. High above, so high that they could have been mistaken for common hawks if he had not already known what to look for, were two dark brown gryphons. Their feathers caught the sunshine for a fleeting moment before they disappeared behind the trees so quickly that he could have doubted he'd seen them at all. He shook himself. Surely they were too far away to cause any harm? He could not be certain and could not bring himself to alarm Celeste and spoil what had been the most perfect of mornings. With a sense of foreboding, he nuzzled Celeste's rump, chasing away thoughts of unease with her earthy scent.\n\n``You're picking up some of my language choices, my love,'' Christian commented, if only to hide his unrest as his shaft softened. ``Soon you'll be talking just like a human with slang and all!''\n\nCeleste snorted and stomped, head high as she whirled to face him in a flurry of mane.\n\n``I would never do such a thing!'' She shook her mane off her neck. ``That is an abomination to even consider, Christian. How would I ever find myself speaking like one of your kind?''\n\n``I'm only teasing you.''\n\nHe lipped her neck and Celeste grumbled, swatting him with her tail.\n\n``Be that as it may, you have your studies to attend to.''\n\n``Already?'' He looked up at the sun gaining height in the sky. ``It cannot be time to attend quite yet.''\n\n``It is indeed the moment to delve into the scrolls. I believed you to be a scholar.'' Celeste tilted her horn, blue waves of magic curling from the point. ``Are you not enjoying learning?''\n\nCeleste eyed him up and down, tail clamped over her hindquarters. She shook off imaginary flies and snorted, waiting for an answer that the shuffling stallion was reluctant to give. He danced from hoof to hoof as if he could escape from this particular line of questioning if he wished hard enough. Yet there was no evading Celeste. Christian hung his head, silvery horn tipped down to the ground.\n\n``I am...'' Christian dragged the toe of his hoof through the grass. ``I only wish I was better at magic. I can't match up to you.''\n\nHer eyes softened and she touched her nose to his, sharing breath in a warm whuff of air.\n\n``Oh, Christian... It is not a competition,'' she reassured him, nosing his cheek. ``You will learn at your own pace. You have been remarkably swift considering your late introduction to the world of magic.''\n\nHe smiled, heart already feeling lighter even if he suspected her words were more to buoy up his spirits than reinforced with a strong element of truth.\n\n``I have?''\n\n``Of course.'' She smiled. ``You have been splendid, Christian. You should be proud of what you have learned so swiftly. You are already an asset to the herd's magical talents with your unique knowledge.''\n\nHe wanted to say about the gryphons, but steeled himself, pushing the thought away. If there had been gryphons, the best he could do about it was to continue with his magic studies. Every unicorn attending magic lessons was studying how they may protect the herd and ensure its survival, after all. It was a worthy cause - worthier than anything he had undertaken as a human attending university lectures. The stallion huffed. It had been too long since he'd seen his family, though he'd sent letters with Celeste's assistance. Perhaps he should...\n\nNo. Study had to come first if the unicorns were to survive. Magic was the life blood of the herd and he had to keep his head down and learn. He had to improve, he had to be better. The herd had to survive. Christian clenched his jaw. That was what he was there for, after all.\n\nNickering a farewell to Celeste, Christian trotted from the garden into the heart of the village where the younger unicorns gathered to study together under the guidance of a more learned stallion - a friend of his. He chuckled to himself as he went, earning himself some curious stares. Not all unicorns in the herd had gotten used to his quirks. Christian couldn't help but laugh though. He hadn't ever considered he'd have to go back to school as a unicorn.\n\nWould a schoolboy's cap be inappropriate?\n\n\f\n\nChapter Two\n\n \n\nChristian swallowed hard and looked straight ahead at the `teacher', trying to ignore the stares and nickers of the younger fillies around him. Although the most curious of the bunch were yearlings and older - close to being mares - they still fawned over Christian, the novelty in the herd. If he had still been human, Christian would have shrunk into himself and dragged the collar of his old jacket up under his ears, hiding all he could of himself. Ears pink with heat, he lifted his head out of the reach of one such filly edging closer and closer to him.\n\nHe missed that jacket.\n\nVale, the dun-coated teacher, had chosen an open-sided shelter for their lesson, allowing a refreshing breeze to kiss their coats as they studied. The unicorn herd milled about their business outside their shelter while the eager students clustered around tomes on magic, raised on stands so that they were placed a more comfortable height for reading. The unicorn teacher lowered his head to observe the magic of a black colt - the only colt in the class - as he screwed up his muzzle fighting to levitate a feather.\n\nSqueaking, a little grey filly sidled up to him, peering at the scroll unfurled before him. Her mind was not on her work, however, and, as she tried to put the magic he was learning the basics of into practice, lifting her friend's hair from her neck. Levitation should have been a breeze with the studies at her back, but her concentration was all too quick to slip with such a handsome stallion standing beside her and she zapped her friend's neck instead. Squealing, her friend snapped her teeth an inch from her neck and the grey filly jerked her head back, ears back as she sullenly bore her scolding.\n\n``Have you found yourself settled, Christian?''\n\nThe oldest of the fillies, a pretty white filly speckled with grey from nose to hoof, enquired sweetly. Some of the younger ones were as forward as Celeste and Christian tried and failed to clear his throat - it wasn't in the equine sound box to produce the noise - tail flicking as he gathered himself. The speckled grey filly fluttered her eyelashes and he desperately looked to Vale, the stallion a strong figure with his golden-brown coat, black tail and dark dorsal stripe running down the centre of his back. Keeping his gaze away from the teasing mare, he tried to pretend his sheath wasn't plumping with something he fought to deny. The tips of his ears turned pinker. What would Celeste think?\n\n``Er, yes, I'm settling well, Mira,'' he answered after a long pause. ``How have you been this past moon?''\n\nThe filly bubbled away happily, as eager to talk as she was to listen, and he allowed himself to be soothed by the gentle, innocent warble of her speech. Less formal than Celeste, she tripped over her words and tied her tongue in knots, although he could not have imagined any human of a similar age - what was she? Three years old? - speaking as eloquently as she did. Unicorns matured in body, speech and emotional maturity far more swiftly than humans, although they needed time to experience and learn much the same as humans required.\n\nBobbing his muzzle, he excused himself from Mira and joined Vale at the side of the black colt whose sides were dark with sweat.\n\n``Vale? Do you have a moment?''\n\nThe dun stallion raised his head, a smile in his eyes. His ebony horn glowed with a faint sheen of gold magic.\n\n``Of course, Christian. May I be of assistance?''\n\n``Oh, many things.'' The unicorn grinned. ``You know what I'm like with magic. Though I practice every evening, as much as I'm able, I still don't feel like I'm getting anywhere with it.''\n\n``It will come in time,'' Vale kept one eye on his charges. ``You have come into the talent with maturity when magic is, naturally, a force that develops with a unicorn.''\n\nHe shook his head, mane slipping to the other side of his neck. He wore it longer than most and it draped off the arch like a black waterfall.\n\n``I believed you were having more success with bodily manipulation during the course of our last session?''\n\nChristian hung his head.\n\n``I only managed to create one spot on another unicorn's coat, a change in their coat pattern,'' he confessed, ears drooping. ``I couldn't replicate it and the spot faded before we'd even left the hut. It was a fluke - I couldn't even do it on myself at home later.''\n\nVale pushed his nose into Christian's shoulder, nickering.\n\n``Come now! That is progress! You should be proud of what you have achieved. You have come far for a unicorn that was not born into the herd. We have great faith in you.''\n\n``Everyone keeps saying that,'' he grumbled. ``But I can't see it in myself.''\n\n``You will in time.''\n\nHis confidence could not be argued with, even if Christian did not believe the unicorn, who was only a few years older than him.\n\n``It was not only magic I wanted to ask you about today though.''\n\nHe glanced around to ensure that none of the younger unicorns were listening.\n\n``I was with Celeste earlier and...'' He hesitated. ``Vale, there were gryphons flying overhead. Again.''\n\nThe stallion nodded, all notion of good humour vanishing from his muzzle.\n\n``I understand your concern. They have been encroaching further and further into our territory.''\n\n``Do you think they know where the herd is?'' Christian flicked his tail, shifting his weight from hoof to hoof, finding no position comfortable.\n\n``Absolutely.'' The stallion's words made Christian's heart sink and he lowered his tone as he stepped closer. ``There is more to this quest of ours, our quest for the herd's survival.''\n\nHe cast a troubled look at the black colt, the prodigy of the class, prancing and showing off as he levitated his feather around the shelter.\n\n``There is less and less magical potential in the youngest members of the herd,'' he said in a voice barely above a whisper. ``It is not fair to the younglings to compare them to myself but even others studying with me exuded greater magic than what I have borne witness to here.''\n\nHe hesitated, eyes glassy. Birds sang outside the shelter, flitting through the trees, oblivious to the harsh glare of knowledge shared between the unicorns. Christian wished he could close his ears against the stallion's words, yet they were words he needed to hear. Perhaps he'd been playing at magic when he should have been fighting a war...\n\n``I am afraid that there is no hope for us. Magic is our life blood and, without magic...''\n\nVale trailed off, working his jaw as if to clear something from his mouth. Near the rear of the shelter, a filly laughed, though Christian could not tell who was so amused. Against his will, the thought of losing Celeste flashed through his mind and he snapped mentally at the threat, fight or flight instinct making magical sparks build up in his horn. It was the only time that his horn seemed keen to show magic, when he was emotionally strung out.\n\nThe unicorn shot the sparks upwards in a shower of blue, dissipating harmlessly against the roof. He wouldn't have wanted to scorch another useless hole in a shelter, at least if he didn't intend to. There had to be a way. He braced himself against a foe he could not see, hooves digging into the soft, bare earth.\n\n``If we build up our magic as much as possible,'' Christian tried, ``surely we at least have a chance at holding off the gryphons long enough for something more to be found?''\n\nHe was clutching at straws and he knew it, as hopeless as their plight seemed in the moment. He hadn't allowed the unicorns to transform him into one of them only to fall when the furlong took an uphill turn.\n\n``There was one tome I considered...'' Vale's ears perked up and he lifted both front hooves from the ground in the suggestion of a rear, excitement making his muscles twitch beneath the skin. ``Come!''\n\nHe trotted to a pile of scrolls cradled in a cotton sling that kept them up from the floor and protected from wayward hooves. Sifting through them, he lifted each one in turn with a purple glow of magic, and snorted as he found the one he was looking for, horn shooting off crimson and russet sparks.\n\n``Now here...'' He unrolled the scroll in midair, folding it back over itself so that it did not touch the grass. ``Here is something, Christian. I wouldn't wish to bore you with the intricacies - you must, of course, be looking to return to your studies - but here...''\n\nHe trailed off, eyes searching the inscribed letters for exactly what he was looking for. It had to be precise - it was always that way with Vale. Christian shifted his front hooves, doing his best to wait for the stallion to find his own words. He had a sense that there was importance behind them. Maybe he could uncover something more himself?\n\n``Ah!'' Vale threw up his head. ``Here it is!'' He read off the scroll. ``As magic flows through the herd like a river from the mountains to the ocean, unicorns are as much a part of magic as magic is of unicorns. One cannot exist without the other. The cycle of life must continue in order for the world and unicorn kind to survive. It has been this way since the first magical records were transcribed and shall be so until the end of time.''\n\nVale whinnied, drawing the attention of the nearest fillies, who looked his way with quivering noses. Christian blinked.\n\n``We know already that magic and unicorns are intended to co-exist,'' he said, head tilted to one side as he considered the scroll for himself. ``Forgive me, but this is hardly fresh information.''\n\n``Do you not see?''\n\nVale could not contain himself in his excitement, prancing on the spot and flicking out his fore-hooves as if he had become a colt once again, full of life and innocence. It was a shame his world had turned him to seriousness so soon.\n\n``The cycle of life,'' he repeated. ``Breeding. Magical breeding. Unicorn breeding!''\n\nChristian's eyes widened, nostrils shivering as if to whinny.\n\n``Then it is exactly as we suspected! Celeste was right all along! We do need more stallions in the herd!''\n\nChristian half-reared, pawing the air. He forgot the fillies watching and dropped back to all four hooves, hiding behind his forelock. Licking his lips, he pretended that he hadn't done anything out of the ordinary as Vale turned his head politely away, concealing his smile. The stallion bobbed his muzzle, pleased that Christian had come to the same conclusion.\n\n``I believe there is more to it than what the text says,'' Vale mused, snuffling over the worn parchment, ``but I cannot uncover any more from it at this time. I am too close to the subject. Would you care to think it over?'' He looked up, ears pricked. ``With your scholarly work at your back, Christian, you have a different perspective. A fresh pair of eyes may do us wonders in uncovering the truth.''\n\n``I will. May I take the scroll away with me? I assure you I will take immaculate care of it in your absence.''\n\nVale rolled the scroll with magic as his answer and offered it to Christian. His horn lit up and he reached to take it. As his magic touched the curling edge of the parchment, he hesitated, Vale waiting with his horn tilted.\n\n``Heh...'' He tried to rub the back of his neck with a hand he'd forgotten he didn't have any more. ``A bag of some kind may be more appropriate for me. I wouldn't want to damage it.''\n\nThe stallion had the good grace to not question his choice and, with some digging produced a cotton bag. Christian thanked his lucky stars that unicorns had learned long ago how to manipulate and use cotton. It made carrying items, at least for the time being, a great deal easier than if he had to conduct his lifting and carrying with magic he could hardly call upon. He dropped the loop of the bag over his head with a skilled flick of his neck and pushed the scroll into it.\n\n``As for the gryphons, Christian...'' Vale shot the fillies a deliberate look, the spotted lass immediately pretending to have not been eavesdropping. ``I cannot speak openly here but I am confident the king and queen shall have more information for you. If not of your own accord, they will shortly be calling you to meet officially.''\n\nHe shot Christian a look and the unicorn nodded, understanding the implication behind his words.\n\n``Of course, Vale. Perhaps it would be best if Celeste and I made our way to meet with them immediately?''\n\nHe tilted his head and Vale nodded.\n\n``Celeste would know their whereabouts better than any member of the herd, except perhaps for their advisors,'' he confirmed. ``You should go now - study can wait. But do come again next session, Christian.'' A smile gleamed in the corner of his eye. ``Your admirers, in particular, would miss you sorely.''\n\n``Excuse me.''\n\nA small voice drew their attention and the stallions started to see a white filly beside them. She stole upon them without making a sound and Christian swallowed hard, wondering exactly how much she had heard.\n\nVale recovered more quickly.\n\n``Yes, Karin?'' Vale smiled. ``What may I be of assistance with this afternoon?''\n\nThe filly swallowed and ducked her head, peering up at the older stallions through a haze of frizzy forelock. His eyes wandered and he was struck, not for the first time, how like Celeste she was. With the same silver horn and hooves, they could have been related, right down to the soft, pink muzzle. Only her eyes were different - a startling green like pools of moss.\n\nChristian smiled with Vale. It was difficult not to like the quiet little filly and her sweet disposition. He rarely saw her with her nose out of scrolls, though she was focused on her studies. Often rather close to him too. Christian's stomach churned.\n\nHe shook his head. A lot of the fillies liked to be close to him during their lessons. He was an unwelcome distraction, even if he did not like to be. Sometimes his studies were better carried out in the privacy of his new home.\n\nKarin peered around her forelock, slow to respond as her tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth.\n\n``I would like to learn about transformation magic, if only the beginning elements and components. It is beyond my skills at this present time to consider without further instruction, Vale.''\n\nChristian was struck by how formal she sounded even at a young age, although he had to remember that the filly was maturing. Her years did not make her any less intelligent, not with the time she devoted to her studies. Christian's smile warmed. He had to admire such dedication.\n\nVale blinked and glanced at his scrolls, withdrawing one from the sling with a soft murmur.\n\n``I have something here that may be of use to you, but allow me to first demonstrate for you. Do you think you can secure a volunteer for practice, Karin?''\n\nShe nodded and looked to Christian with the biggest, roundest, most pleading eyes he had ever seen on a filly. The stallion's head shot up and he looked from left to right, tail swishing.\n\n``Christian is just leaving, unfortunately.''\n\nVale had the quickness of mind to step in before things escalated and Christian made good his exit as Karin dropped her head. He nodded his farewell to Vale and made a beeline for the perimeter of the hut, pausing only once to check that his precious cargo was still tied around his neck.\n\nLeaving the shelter, Christian could not help but glance back at the despondent filly, forced to find another partner to practice transforming a living being. It did not have to be a unicorn in order for transformation magic to work, only that it was easier to use the natural magic of unicorns to practice transformation than force an inanimate object to change. Perhaps it would be better for her to try on a mouse or a vole rather than him. His stomach squirmed.\n\nChristian sighed, ears drooping. Something in his chest twisted. He should have given the filly more time - she meant no harm. He'd have to make it up to her next time they came across one another in their magic sessions. She didn't mean to come on so strongly.\n\nNow, however, he needed to speak to the king and queen.\n\n \n\n\f\n\nChapter Three\n\n``Christian? Why are you frightened?''\n\nThe stallion's tail flicked as they walked through the gently curving hallways of their home - the castle on the edge of the unicorn village. It offered them enough privacy that unexpected guests were rare and one of the first places that Christian had been able to become used to and trial his new body after his transformation. He would forever be grateful for a place to retreat to, the quiet, sweeping hallways and secluded rooms. The entire structure held an air of peace.\n\n``I'm not frightened,'' he snorted. ``How would you know if I was scared?''\n\nCeleste inclined her head, violet eyes darkening. There was no laughter behind them, only trouble.\n\n``You have clamped your tail down. You are not moving a single human inch.''\n\nOne of the curses of his new body. Christian licked his lips and brushed her muzzle lightly with his, reassuring her with the touch of his body. She pushed into him with a soft nicker, close to his side as they entered the reception room, which was airy and boasted a large opening through which they could look out over the elaborate, well tended gardens. A magical barrier took the place of a window, flickering and dancing in Christian's peripheral vision. If the unicorns wanted privacy, the `window' could be coloured with magic to obscure the interior from view. He supposed it could also be made soundproof. Now that was magic he would like to learn.\n\nThe king and queen entered the room on soft hooves, eyes dark and serious. Celeste was their mirror image, the whole family graced with a pure white coat and pink skin. Their horns rose silver from the centres of their foreheads as their like-coloured hooves gleamed and Christian was glad, not for the first time, that Celeste had also chosen to make him in their image. It made him feel like one of the family - a notion that he was sure had been deliberate.\n\nMoirin touched noses with her daughter, the unicorns breathing in each other's scents. The `youngest' unicorn stood still, unsure of what to do in the instance of family affection and thought with a pang of his own mother. She still didn't understand his choice to become a unicorn - he wasn't sure she even believed that he had become one. But he would see her again soon: he would make it happen. Christian smiled sadly. At least he had an adopted family of sorts in the unicorn herd. Caderyn snorted and greeted Christian with a flick of his tail, ears pricked.\n\n``Mother, father.'' Celeste bobbed her head. ``Christian has called us here today, although I cannot claim to know intimately the reasoning behind it.''\n\nChristian scuffed a hoof across the floor.\n\n``I meant to tell you Celeste.''\n\n``Time was short,'' she acknowledged. ``Yet I am keen to hear what it is you have to say in such secrecy. You have ensured our privacy for a reason.''\n\nHe nodded once, muscles shivering.\n\n``There's no point hiding it - there's been more and more gryphon activity. Have you not seen it?'' Christian paused and caught himself. ``Of course you have, I'm sorry. I meant more what is being done about it? I fear that, if we ignore this approach, we will secure our fate within months, if not weeks.''\n\nHe paused, eyes serious. Celeste gave a tiny toss of her head, nostrils flared.\n\n``Are we to turn and fight them?'' He asked honestly, voicing the question that had been running around his mind for weeks: it had had to come out sooner or later.\n\nMoirin shook her head and looked at the floor, ears slanting to the sides of her head. Her husband stepped closer, supporting her with the warmth of his body pressed to hers, a presence that Christian understood as comforting for unicorns. In all honesty, for him, Celeste was a bit of a radiator when holding the length of her body to his side. He'd never be cold in winter, that much was sure.\n\nCeleste stamped and snaked her head up, snorting and twitching her ears as if to listen out for a threat that may come at any time.\n\n``When did you see gryphons last, Christian?'' She demanded, ears back. ``Why did you not inform me? Were you in my presence?''\n\nHe'd never seen her ears go back before, except when chasing off the gryphons that one time by the lake, and that little fact alone was enough to glue his tongue to the roof of his mouth. Should he have told her? Should he have interrupted the moment?\n\n``I...er...well...'' Christian blushed, ears turning pink. ``It was earlier. In the garden.''\n\nCeleste blinked.\n\n``Then we were together. Why did you not tell me?''\n\nChristian groaned inwardly, staring at the wooden floor as if, with enough wishful thinking, it would gape open and swallow him up whole as the mare flicked her tail. The stallion gulped.\n\n``We were a little preoccupied.''\n\nNo, he couldn't quite get his tongue around the words but Celeste understood, eyes lighting up.\n\n``Oh, Christian.'' She pushed her head into his chest, transgression forgotten. ``You are a peculiar stallion. Why would you not say that we were mating?''\n\nHe squealed and backed away, ears flat and eyes wide. Moirin and Caderyn laughed, their whinnies breaking the crackling tension hanging in the air.\n\n``Celeste! How could you just say it like that? It sounds so...so crude! And in front of your parents!''\n\nThe mare snorted and flicked her tail, catching him a light yet stinging blow across his foreleg as she swung her hindquarters around. He jumped and shook himself as his mate's eyes sparkled, a smile dancing within the perfect, violet orbs.\n\n``Unicorn mating is hardly a private affair, Christian. It is a natural part of life.''\n\nCeleste tilted her head, considering him.\n\n``You are so strange sometimes, Christian. We had our first mating as stallion and mare before my parents. Do you not remember?''\n\nHow could he forget? The stallion held his breath and closed his eyes. It was a bad dream, nothing more. He would wake in the bed chamber with Celeste and not talking about mating in front of her parents. Just a dream. It would pass.\n\nUnfortunately, when he opened his eyes again, he was presented with the faces of his love's sire and dam, both barely restraining their laughter, sides trembling.\n\n``It was a wonderful ceremony,'' Caderyn added unhelpfully, unable to keep the grin off his whiskered muzzle, a tuft of hair curling from his chin. ``I did not believe that a freshly transformed stallion could breed a mare so many times and only fall from his hooves on a mere three instances - a truly impressive feat!''\n\nChristian rolled his eyes and shook his head, mane scratching a neck that darkened in crude patches of sweat. It was difficult to hide embarrassment as a unicorn but he still didn't understand how they could be so open about mating. He did it for Celeste's pleasure - she wouldn't allow him to say no, anyway, when his cock was dropping - and, true, that first time as a stallion he had gotten himself caught up in the moment. But it didn't come naturally to him. Surely he should be seducing his lady sweetly and softly to their bedchambers for a night of passionate lovemaking? And not being lovingly teased by her parents?\n\nUnicorns did not yet make complete sense to the former human.\n\n``Right, of course.'' His ears burned and, as the ground clearly was not going to swallow him up in the immediate future, he pressed on. ``Back on topic then. I spoke to Vale and he said that we could be right in thinking that we need to bring more colts into the herd - but fillies too now. We think that breeding will strengthen the herd and be the first key to our survival.''\n\nHe hesitated, a question in his eyes.\n\n``I'm not sure I'm up to the task. Even if Celeste becomes pregnant, it will be several months before a foal is born. And then another nine months, at the very least, again. It will be the same for all unicorn pairs mating. How are we to prevail?''\n\n``The answer is clear.'' Caderyn glanced at Moirin. ``Breeding with Celeste is not going to foal the number of unicorns we require to save the herd, you are correct.''\n\nChristian's face fell and he looked at his hooves, heart sinking as quickly as his hopes had risen. Every lead brought him to another dead end! Was there nothing he could do to save the unicorns? To save Celeste?\n\n``Then there is no hope? We must find another way?'' He said numbly, forcing his lips to form the words.\n\nThe king shook his head reassuringly, expression soft enough to draw Christian back from the edge of despair. He lifted his head, whuffing quietly as Celeste's lips brushed his shoulder. The concern in her eyes was as deep as his.\n\n``In a sense, we must venture down a different path, yes.'' Moirin was gentler in her approach, nudging her smirking husband to the side. ``I fear I must be upfront with you, however, Christian.'' She gathered herself, sides expanding in a deep breath. ``How would you feel about breeding other mares, Christian?''\n\nThe stallion blinked. Other mares? There was only Celeste.\n\n``Oh!'' Celeste danced on her hooves. ``Then we could bring more foals into the herd more swiftly with more colts beside the stallions!''\n\nChristian's jaw dropped but the unicorn family moved on without him, playing off each other's flow of thoughts with unerring accuracy and speed.\n\n``You always were swift to dive to the heart of a matter, Celeste.'' Her mother nodded approvingly. ``Yes, it is a conclusion we have already come to. Not only Christian but the other stallions of the herd must engage in as many mating sessions as possible to bring in more unicorns and more magic. There is no greater complication to it than that.''\n\nHe swung his head towards Celeste, panic chasing his hooves to shift and scrape obnoxiously over the floor - he forgot to pick them up in his haste. Surely Celeste would be outraged? Why was she nodding? The unicorn mare snaked her neck back and forth, excitement flowing through her body.\n\nShe brushed her horn against his, sharing thoughts through their mental, magical link, and he squealed. Backing away, he put his ears flat to his skull. How could she have so many thoughts going through her head? She saw him breeding mare after mare, evermore the stallion of her dreams, the saviour of the herd, her partner for life. He shook away the transferred thoughts of him with his cock bouncing, spinning up on to his hind hooves to take mare after mare, the very essence of stallion virility.\n\n``I can't do that!'' He blurted out, hooves splayed. ``I'm with Celeste! It wouldn't be right! I'm not even any good at magic! There's nothing in me that would benefit a foal and the magic of the herd especially.''\n\nHe threw the last bit in as his last hope but it caught Moirin's attention. The mare's horn lit up with a pink glow and she reached out a tendril of magic to caress his dished cheek.\n\n``But Christian...'' She turned her smoky gaze on him. ``You have exceptionally promising magical potential. Vale has spoken with me. It is locked inside, even though you are struggling to unleash it. It will come, in time. Yet it is there, waiting to be used.''\n\nChristian snorted and shook his head. That was laughable. Moirin was kind - too kind. She was only trying to make him feel better.\n\n``I speak only the truth, Christian,'' she insisted, pressing on.\n\n``Then what has Vale said?'' \n\nHis ears fell obnoxiously back to his skull and he flicked his tail, shifting his weight as the family of unicorns exchanged looks. The tip of Celeste's horn glowed violet to match her eyes and Caderyn nodded, somehow managing to put a grave edge into the motion. Christian lowered his head, ears drooping, and hid behind his forelock. Sometimes he could not help but feel like an outsider in their midst when they conferred amongst themselves, glances and subtle shifts of their bodies more than enough to convey their thoughts to one another. Yet he wanted to be one of them. Doubt flashed through his mind, pushing away brighter thoughts of his time spent living with the unicorns. Was he one of them?\n\nOf course he was. Christian shook himself, white hairs floating to the floor as they were dislodged from his coat. Celeste nickered and stretched out her head towards him, long lashes drawing his attention as she blinked slowly. Magic emanated from her horn in a sinuous tendril and she brushed his lips with the tip. He shuddered from the flash of warmth, which left a tingling sensation in its wake. She'd never quite used her magic in that way before but the warmth dropped down to his stomach where it spread, soothing tension from muscles he had not realised where stiff.\n\n``Vale has not spoken of you in anything besides a positive light, Christian,'' Celeste said at last, her gentle tone soothing to his ringing ears. ``He has only said that you have an incredible aptitude for magic, lurking beneath the surface. It only needs to be unleashed.''\n\nShe nuzzled his cheek, lips tickling over the short hair.\n\n``How we may release your magic, I do not know. Yet I trust Vale. He has an innate knowledge of these matters and, if I may be perfectly honest with you, my love, he has never been wrong as yet.''\n\nPutting her head alongside Christian's, she held his gaze with one eye. Smiling, she bopped him gently on the side of his muzzle, between the dish of his cheek and chin, and he felt himself smile in return.\n\n``I trust him,'' she said simply, needing no more words to convey her point.\n\nChristian pondered this and pushed the thoughts that told him he wasn't good enough to perform adequate magic for the herd right to the back of his mind. It took a colossal effort but he succeeded in squashing them down - at least for the time being. No doubt they would return to haunt him when sleep claimed him, dreams playing scripts of foals that would never be. But he could not focus on that. He had to be positive - he couldn't spend his time dwelling on whether or not he would be sufficient for the herd. He could only try. Christian snorted and shook himself.\n\nThe unicorn took a deep breath.\n\n``Tell me more about what you would have me do. Would this be okay with you, Celeste? It seems awfully...'' He cast about for the right words. ``Callous. It's callous for me to be with another unicorn. It's unfaithful. It feels wrong.''\n\nThe word was childish and simplistic but it was all that it boiled down to really. Wrong. It was wrong. How could he mate with another unicorn? Guilt nudged the back of his mind and he remembered the filly - well, mare - from his magic lessons, flirting and flicking her tail as if she wanted him to mount her right there and then. And little Karin with the sweet, kind eyes and pink nose, so like Celeste. He couldn't say that they didn't stir a need in him. Yet he didn't feel it was something he could voice aloud.\n\nCaderyn stepped forward, taking the floor.\n\n``If you accept this, you will have your pick of mares in the herd - usually ones without life mates already, unless there are some that put themselves forward. Some see it as their duty, although we have never requested it of those already with partners. You will be asked to mate with them as many times as you are physically able and they are willing to take you. The herd is willing to provide magical supplements to increase your virility and stamina for this feat.''\n\nHe grimaced.\n\n``With so few stallions, it became necessary to develop these potions simply to keep the herd alive. It is not our proudest magical creation.''\n\nChristian swallowed and glanced at Celeste as if for reassurance - could he do this? Was it right? - but the mare's eyes were glassy as she imagined. Noticing his look, she tipped her horn to his and shared her thoughts. Images of Christian - viewed as if through Celeste's eyes - flooded his mind and his skin prickled to see himself mounting a palomino mare, arousal drooling from her marehood. Another winked ahead of him, tail held high as her cunny clenched, two pairs of udders swinging beneath her barrel.\n\nIn Celeste's mind's eye, he mounted a bay mare next, catching her mane between his teeth, a masculine grunt rumbling from his chest. He pounded her like a stallion possessed until she cried out in climax and he dismounted, cock hardly softening as a stream of cum poured from her marehood, which held itself open in a slight, alluring gape. The brown coated unicorn looked back at him and stamped, nickering a demand for more even as her legs trembled.\n\nAnd then there was the quiet little Karin, head coyly lowered as she raised her tail and begged me sweetly to mount her, to take her, to breed her. She claimed she would have my foal and danced from hoof to hoof until the stallion in Celeste's imaginings reared up to let her bear his weight and pushed into her winking, needy marehood. He didn't know why Celeste had chosen that filly in particular to bring into the fantasy but his cheeks and ears burned to have her placed before him so sexually. The filly was sexually mature, of course, and couldn't really be called a filly. But she was so young and innocent in comparison to Celeste...\n\nHis thoughts wandered and he dragged his horn away from Celeste's with difficulty, embarrassed at the needy grunt that groaned up from the back of his throat.\n\nIt was difficult to press himself back into the mould of the situation at hand as the unicorn king and queen coughed quietly, reminding them of their presence. Caderyn's eyes brimmed with questions but his partner pushed his shoulder, eyes flashing a warning. Christian bit back a laugh. There could be a whole comedy show about those two, truly, ever the typical husband and wife in unicorn terms. Yet there was no question where their hearts lay.\n\n``Will you be able to complete this task, Christian?'' Caderyn asked seriously, muzzle wrinkling as he took a more serious measure of the stallion. ``It is a high task to ask of any stallion and not one we have requested so formally in the past. All stallions in the herd are asked to mate with as many mares as possible to keep the herd as strong as it may be.''\n\n``Even you?''\n\nThe words escaped him before he could call them back and his jaw fell slack. Caderyn had bred unicorns other than Moirin? Was he unfaithful? Why would any stallion not be as faithful to their mate as they could be? There was the need for foals, yes, of course, but surely that could be achieved with their life partner too?\n\nPanic fluttered in his chest and he backed away, tail pinned to his rump. Regardless of what Caderyn had or had not done, he could not betray Celeste like that. It simple was not going to happen, no way, no how. But Caderyn was nodding and Celeste giggled, lips quivering as she whinnied and followed Christian, butting her head into his shoulder. He winched as her horn clipped his withers and she murmured an apology.\n\n``Yes, even myself,'' Caderyn acknowledged. ``I perform my duty, although it is difficult for most stallions to sire foals - our seed does not often take - as you are aware. But this magical potential Vale has sensed within you...'' He mulled over his words. ``You may be the key to this, Christian. We can but try. You may be the hope we were searching for all these decades.''\n\nChristian couldn't disagree with that as the stallion echoed his own thoughts intimately. Celeste pranced, tail held high as she whipped around Christian in a tight circle, nipping at his tail like a foal at play.\n\n``It will be wonderful! I am sure this is what we must do!'' She cried, rearing and pawing at the air. ``Christian, it will be delightful to watch you! Though do not think that you will be able to shirk your `duties' with me.''\n\nShe cast him a flirty smile and winked her marehood at him, facing her parents so they could not quite see her openness, even if it was inferred. Swallowing, Christian struggled out to look as the mare burbled on in a stream of conversation, tail flicking back and forth so his eye was constantly drawn to her winking cunny. He could have cursed her in that moment, as much as he loved her, as his cock swelled within his sheath, plumping out obviously.\n\n``Christian, I already have several mares in mind for you,'' she gushed, more life in the fluid dance of her body than he had seen in days, if not weeks. ``Aisling has inferred that she would like to spend time with Christian and we are all understand what she means, do we not?''\n\nShe didn't wait for an answer and ploughed on.\n\n``There is also Nandag, Madisyn, Innis, Marsaili, Alina and, of course, Karin. None of these mares have taken life partners as yet.''\n\nChristian tried not to react when the filly's name was mentioned, something tightening within his chest.\n\n``They will all, I am confident, be interested in this proposition, this endeavour to bring magic and life back to our herd.''\n\nMoirin chuckled at her daughter, exhaling softly as the younger mare pranced and flicked up her hooves, showing off for her partner.\n\n``Oh, Christian!'' Celeste dropped a kiss on his cheek. ``It will be the most amazing event - a celebration! I shall count the minutes!''\n\n``We will have to secure potions ahead of time,'' Caderyn interjected. ``Do not forget that we must ensure Christian has everything he requires to complete the task. It is, however, a very pleasurable task.''\n\nHe caught Christian's eye and winked, his gaze portraying nothing but innocence even as Moirin squealed and poked her horn into his side. Caderyn and Celeste chuckled, the mare lifting her front hooves from the floor as she bobbed her muzzle. \n\n``Of course, I am confident we shall...''\n\nCeleste trailed off, head drooping as she swayed on her hooves, eyes glazed and unfocused. Christian rushed to her side, supporting her with the bulk of her body as her hooves splayed, tail lax over her hindquarters. Her father snorted and jumped, muscles shuddering as his daughter struggled for balance.\n\n``Celeste! What's wrong?'' Christian nudged her neck, trying to glean a response. ``Are you sick? Did you eat something funny? Should I call a doctor?''\n\n``What's a doctor?'' She said, eyes bleary. ``I am not unwell, Christian, I am sorry to frighten you. I only felt faint for a moment. I am quite well now, I did not mean to cause such a disturbance.''\n\nCeleste and her mother exchanged a look that Christian could not fathom as the older mare started forward, eyeing her daughter all over as if she was going to turn into a snake before her very eyes.\n\nCaderyn, on the other hand, was not quite so composed. The stallion danced and jumped from side to side, pushing himself off his hind hooves with the strength of a younger stallion. \n\n``Celeste, are you confident you are quite well?'' Her father stretched out his nose to her, reaching for her with tendrils of magic. ``This is most unlike you. Has something happened? Are you taken ill?''\n\n``Leave the poor mare alone, Caderyn.'' Moirin gently supported Celeste on the other side, keeping her between Christian and herself. ``She needs to rest a while. It has been a long day, has it not, Celeste? Were you not up at first light?''\n\nThe mare nodded sheepishly.\n\n``Yes, mother. I left the castle early this morning. I did not think anyone would have noticed. I tried to be as quiet as possible.''\n\nChristian started.\n\n``Celeste, why did you leave the castle without me?''\n\nThe mare licked her lips and looked up at him, abashed.\n\n``I wanted to think. The gryphon threat has been...how do you say it? It has also been preying on my mind. I needed to think and sleep deserted me too early this morning.''\n\nHe nodded. He could understand that, though he certainly didn't want her to worry. Caderyn snorted and, as if he didn't quite believe the mares, looked them over from head to hoof until Moirin chased him off with a snap and flick of her tail.\n\n``We are quite well, thank you, you old nag. Please, let Celeste rest. This is nothing that a good night of sleep will not cure.''\n\nCaderyn hoisted his head up high and shook his mane off his neck.\n\n``If that is what you claim...'' He trailed off doubtfully. ``Then please rest, Celeste. This conversation and the detail entailed may be undertaken at a later time when you are less fatigued.''\n\nCeleste exhaled slowly, a smile returning to her muzzle. She suddenly struck Christian as much older than her years, although they were technically close in age.\n\n``Thank you, father, I will make sure that I rest for the remainder of the day.''\n\nDespite her condition, she shot Christian a cheeky look, her tongue poking out from the corner of his mouth so only he could see.\n\n``And Christian shall take further steps towards saving the herd. He will have much to tell me of your plans and which mares will step forward by the next morning, if my instinct speaks correctly of this.''\n\nEnd story preview.\n\nChapters one through to nine of this re-published story may be purchased and read via Smashwords! Thank you for your support!\n\nSmashwords: HYPERLINK \"https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/717079\" https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/717079 \n\n","writing_bbcode_parsed":"Loving a Unicorn
Breeding a Future
Chapter One
Birdsong echoed through the unicorn glade, a musical warble that no human hand could hope to reproduce. Pines and birches swayed under the whim of a gentle breeze, many miles from the nearest city. It was a place that humanity was yet to destroy and a tentative agreement with the localities kept most who wished to cause them trouble at a respectable distance. Few believed that unicorns even existed anymore and that was just the way the herd liked it, going about their business within their single storey abodes and meeting places.
Yet all was not quiet. In the garden of the unicorn king and queen, Celeste braced herself against Christian's needy thrusts. Clad in a harness that draped over her white withers, the attire would have been simple for her if not for the wildflowers entwined into the cotton, adoring her in a living creation. They were woven into the magical imbued material, which looped around her neck and curled around her horn, a decorative `bridle' hanging from her finely shaped face. Despite its appearance, it was far from delicate and stood up to the stallion's thrusts; Christian grunted as he drove into her, lost in pleasure.
Celeste groaned and threw her head up as her stallion bred her, his magically enlarged length driving in past the medial ring. She shuddered and groaned, tail flagged and pushed to the side. The stallion grunted and scrambled for purchase on the mare as he slipped, irises rimmed with white.
Celeste ducked her head, sides trembling with silent amusement: she wouldn't want to put him off. Although he had been a unicorn for several months, Christian was the first to admit that he sometimes found it difficult to keep his footing when mating. It only served to amuse her, as much as she claimed him to be as steady as a natural stallion.
Christian slowed, breathing laboured as his muzzle dropped to lip at her mane and withers. But Celeste wasn't having any of that - they were far from done! The mare's head whipped around, violet eyes sharp in the morning light.
``Come now, stud,'' she whinnied, her tone playful. ``Are you so tired so swiftly? I wish for you to breed me!''
Christian flicked his ears but otherwise gave no indication that he had heard, thrusts increasing in force. Sides heaving, he let her take as much of his weight as their position allowed, and slammed in roughly. Celeste snorted, nostrils flared, and held firm against the pleasurable barrage, that twist of ecstasy roiling closer and closer with each and every thrust.
A passing bay unicorn that Christian did not know on a personal level glanced at them through the open double doors that separated the garden from the village. Celeste caught his eye and winked, lips parted in a moan. In her distraction, orgasm claimed her and her forelegs half buckled, struggling to maintain her balance and composure as pleasurable ripples swam through her body. Celeste gasped, sides heaving as she panted, the haze behind her eyes oh so slowly diminishing. By the heavens, could her stallion mount a mare! Well, he had had the best mare in the village to train him, of course.
It only took a few more thrusts for Christian to spill his seed and the stallion's chest rumbled, tail flagging. Celeste rolled her head, working out the kinks from keeping it so stiff and arched through their liaison. Christian nickered and smirked, nuzzling her weathers as he slid backwards off his mare with a barely concealed spring in his step.
Climax died down all too quickly as a flutter of movement in the corner of his eye drew his attention. High above, so high that they could have been mistaken for common hawks if he had not already known what to look for, were two dark brown gryphons. Their feathers caught the sunshine for a fleeting moment before they disappeared behind the trees so quickly that he could have doubted he'd seen them at all. He shook himself. Surely they were too far away to cause any harm? He could not be certain and could not bring himself to alarm Celeste and spoil what had been the most perfect of mornings. With a sense of foreboding, he nuzzled Celeste's rump, chasing away thoughts of unease with her earthy scent.
``You're picking up some of my language choices, my love,'' Christian commented, if only to hide his unrest as his shaft softened. ``Soon you'll be talking just like a human with slang and all!''
Celeste snorted and stomped, head high as she whirled to face him in a flurry of mane.
``I would never do such a thing!'' She shook her mane off her neck. ``That is an abomination to even consider, Christian. How would I ever find myself speaking like one of your kind?''
``I'm only teasing you.''
He lipped her neck and Celeste grumbled, swatting him with her tail.
``Be that as it may, you have your studies to attend to.''
``Already?'' He looked up at the sun gaining height in the sky. ``It cannot be time to attend quite yet.''
``It is indeed the moment to delve into the scrolls. I believed you to be a scholar.'' Celeste tilted her horn, blue waves of magic curling from the point. ``Are you not enjoying learning?''
Celeste eyed him up and down, tail clamped over her hindquarters. She shook off imaginary flies and snorted, waiting for an answer that the shuffling stallion was reluctant to give. He danced from hoof to hoof as if he could escape from this particular line of questioning if he wished hard enough. Yet there was no evading Celeste. Christian hung his head, silvery horn tipped down to the ground.
``I am...'' Christian dragged the toe of his hoof through the grass. ``I only wish I was better at magic. I can't match up to you.''
Her eyes softened and she touched her nose to his, sharing breath in a warm whuff of air.
``Oh, Christian... It is not a competition,'' she reassured him, nosing his cheek. ``You will learn at your own pace. You have been remarkably swift considering your late introduction to the world of magic.''
He smiled, heart already feeling lighter even if he suspected her words were more to buoy up his spirits than reinforced with a strong element of truth.
``I have?''
``Of course.'' She smiled. ``You have been splendid, Christian. You should be proud of what you have learned so swiftly. You are already an asset to the herd's magical talents with your unique knowledge.''
He wanted to say about the gryphons, but steeled himself, pushing the thought away. If there had been gryphons, the best he could do about it was to continue with his magic studies. Every unicorn attending magic lessons was studying how they may protect the herd and ensure its survival, after all. It was a worthy cause - worthier than anything he had undertaken as a human attending university lectures. The stallion huffed. It had been too long since he'd seen his family, though he'd sent letters with Celeste's assistance. Perhaps he should...
No. Study had to come first if the unicorns were to survive. Magic was the life blood of the herd and he had to keep his head down and learn. He had to improve, he had to be better. The herd had to survive. Christian clenched his jaw. That was what he was there for, after all.
Nickering a farewell to Celeste, Christian trotted from the garden into the heart of the village where the younger unicorns gathered to study together under the guidance of a more learned stallion - a friend of his. He chuckled to himself as he went, earning himself some curious stares. Not all unicorns in the herd had gotten used to his quirks. Christian couldn't help but laugh though. He hadn't ever considered he'd have to go back to school as a unicorn.
Would a schoolboy's cap be inappropriate?
\f
Chapter Two
Christian swallowed hard and looked straight ahead at the `teacher', trying to ignore the stares and nickers of the younger fillies around him. Although the most curious of the bunch were yearlings and older - close to being mares - they still fawned over Christian, the novelty in the herd. If he had still been human, Christian would have shrunk into himself and dragged the collar of his old jacket up under his ears, hiding all he could of himself. Ears pink with heat, he lifted his head out of the reach of one such filly edging closer and closer to him.
He missed that jacket.
Vale, the dun-coated teacher, had chosen an open-sided shelter for their lesson, allowing a refreshing breeze to kiss their coats as they studied. The unicorn herd milled about their business outside their shelter while the eager students clustered around tomes on magic, raised on stands so that they were placed a more comfortable height for reading. The unicorn teacher lowered his head to observe the magic of a black colt - the only colt in the class - as he screwed up his muzzle fighting to levitate a feather.
Squeaking, a little grey filly sidled up to him, peering at the scroll unfurled before him. Her mind was not on her work, however, and, as she tried to put the magic he was learning the basics of into practice, lifting her friend's hair from her neck. Levitation should have been a breeze with the studies at her back, but her concentration was all too quick to slip with such a handsome stallion standing beside her and she zapped her friend's neck instead. Squealing, her friend snapped her teeth an inch from her neck and the grey filly jerked her head back, ears back as she sullenly bore her scolding.
``Have you found yourself settled, Christian?''
The oldest of the fillies, a pretty white filly speckled with grey from nose to hoof, enquired sweetly. Some of the younger ones were as forward as Celeste and Christian tried and failed to clear his throat - it wasn't in the equine sound box to produce the noise - tail flicking as he gathered himself. The speckled grey filly fluttered her eyelashes and he desperately looked to Vale, the stallion a strong figure with his golden-brown coat, black tail and dark dorsal stripe running down the centre of his back. Keeping his gaze away from the teasing mare, he tried to pretend his sheath wasn't plumping with something he fought to deny. The tips of his ears turned pinker. What would Celeste think?
``Er, yes, I'm settling well, Mira,'' he answered after a long pause. ``How have you been this past moon?''
The filly bubbled away happily, as eager to talk as she was to listen, and he allowed himself to be soothed by the gentle, innocent warble of her speech. Less formal than Celeste, she tripped over her words and tied her tongue in knots, although he could not have imagined any human of a similar age - what was she? Three years old? - speaking as eloquently as she did. Unicorns matured in body, speech and emotional maturity far more swiftly than humans, although they needed time to experience and learn much the same as humans required.
Bobbing his muzzle, he excused himself from Mira and joined Vale at the side of the black colt whose sides were dark with sweat.
``Vale? Do you have a moment?''
The dun stallion raised his head, a smile in his eyes. His ebony horn glowed with a faint sheen of gold magic.
``Of course, Christian. May I be of assistance?''
``Oh, many things.'' The unicorn grinned. ``You know what I'm like with magic. Though I practice every evening, as much as I'm able, I still don't feel like I'm getting anywhere with it.''
``It will come in time,'' Vale kept one eye on his charges. ``You have come into the talent with maturity when magic is, naturally, a force that develops with a unicorn.''
He shook his head, mane slipping to the other side of his neck. He wore it longer than most and it draped off the arch like a black waterfall.
``I believed you were having more success with bodily manipulation during the course of our last session?''
Christian hung his head.
``I only managed to create one spot on another unicorn's coat, a change in their coat pattern,'' he confessed, ears drooping. ``I couldn't replicate it and the spot faded before we'd even left the hut. It was a fluke - I couldn't even do it on myself at home later.''
Vale pushed his nose into Christian's shoulder, nickering.
``Come now! That is progress! You should be proud of what you have achieved. You have come far for a unicorn that was not born into the herd. We have great faith in you.''
``Everyone keeps saying that,'' he grumbled. ``But I can't see it in myself.''
``You will in time.''
His confidence could not be argued with, even if Christian did not believe the unicorn, who was only a few years older than him.
``It was not only magic I wanted to ask you about today though.''
He glanced around to ensure that none of the younger unicorns were listening.
``I was with Celeste earlier and...'' He hesitated. ``Vale, there were gryphons flying overhead. Again.''
The stallion nodded, all notion of good humour vanishing from his muzzle.
``I understand your concern. They have been encroaching further and further into our territory.''
``Do you think they know where the herd is?'' Christian flicked his tail, shifting his weight from hoof to hoof, finding no position comfortable.
``Absolutely.'' The stallion's words made Christian's heart sink and he lowered his tone as he stepped closer. ``There is more to this quest of ours, our quest for the herd's survival.''
He cast a troubled look at the black colt, the prodigy of the class, prancing and showing off as he levitated his feather around the shelter.
``There is less and less magical potential in the youngest members of the herd,'' he said in a voice barely above a whisper. ``It is not fair to the younglings to compare them to myself but even others studying with me exuded greater magic than what I have borne witness to here.''
He hesitated, eyes glassy. Birds sang outside the shelter, flitting through the trees, oblivious to the harsh glare of knowledge shared between the unicorns. Christian wished he could close his ears against the stallion's words, yet they were words he needed to hear. Perhaps he'd been playing at magic when he should have been fighting a war...
``I am afraid that there is no hope for us. Magic is our life blood and, without magic...''
Vale trailed off, working his jaw as if to clear something from his mouth. Near the rear of the shelter, a filly laughed, though Christian could not tell who was so amused. Against his will, the thought of losing Celeste flashed through his mind and he snapped mentally at the threat, fight or flight instinct making magical sparks build up in his horn. It was the only time that his horn seemed keen to show magic, when he was emotionally strung out.
The unicorn shot the sparks upwards in a shower of blue, dissipating harmlessly against the roof. He wouldn't have wanted to scorch another useless hole in a shelter, at least if he didn't intend to. There had to be a way. He braced himself against a foe he could not see, hooves digging into the soft, bare earth.
``If we build up our magic as much as possible,'' Christian tried, ``surely we at least have a chance at holding off the gryphons long enough for something more to be found?''
He was clutching at straws and he knew it, as hopeless as their plight seemed in the moment. He hadn't allowed the unicorns to transform him into one of them only to fall when the furlong took an uphill turn.
``There was one tome I considered...'' Vale's ears perked up and he lifted both front hooves from the ground in the suggestion of a rear, excitement making his muscles twitch beneath the skin. ``Come!''
He trotted to a pile of scrolls cradled in a cotton sling that kept them up from the floor and protected from wayward hooves. Sifting through them, he lifted each one in turn with a purple glow of magic, and snorted as he found the one he was looking for, horn shooting off crimson and russet sparks.
``Now here...'' He unrolled the scroll in midair, folding it back over itself so that it did not touch the grass. ``Here is something, Christian. I wouldn't wish to bore you with the intricacies - you must, of course, be looking to return to your studies - but here...''
He trailed off, eyes searching the inscribed letters for exactly what he was looking for. It had to be precise - it was always that way with Vale. Christian shifted his front hooves, doing his best to wait for the stallion to find his own words. He had a sense that there was importance behind them. Maybe he could uncover something more himself?
``Ah!'' Vale threw up his head. ``Here it is!'' He read off the scroll. ``As magic flows through the herd like a river from the mountains to the ocean, unicorns are as much a part of magic as magic is of unicorns. One cannot exist without the other. The cycle of life must continue in order for the world and unicorn kind to survive. It has been this way since the first magical records were transcribed and shall be so until the end of time.''
Vale whinnied, drawing the attention of the nearest fillies, who looked his way with quivering noses. Christian blinked.
``We know already that magic and unicorns are intended to co-exist,'' he said, head tilted to one side as he considered the scroll for himself. ``Forgive me, but this is hardly fresh information.''
``Do you not see?''
Vale could not contain himself in his excitement, prancing on the spot and flicking out his fore-hooves as if he had become a colt once again, full of life and innocence. It was a shame his world had turned him to seriousness so soon.
``The cycle of life,'' he repeated. ``Breeding. Magical breeding. Unicorn breeding!''
Christian's eyes widened, nostrils shivering as if to whinny.
``Then it is exactly as we suspected! Celeste was right all along! We do need more stallions in the herd!''
Christian half-reared, pawing the air. He forgot the fillies watching and dropped back to all four hooves, hiding behind his forelock. Licking his lips, he pretended that he hadn't done anything out of the ordinary as Vale turned his head politely away, concealing his smile. The stallion bobbed his muzzle, pleased that Christian had come to the same conclusion.
``I believe there is more to it than what the text says,'' Vale mused, snuffling over the worn parchment, ``but I cannot uncover any more from it at this time. I am too close to the subject. Would you care to think it over?'' He looked up, ears pricked. ``With your scholarly work at your back, Christian, you have a different perspective. A fresh pair of eyes may do us wonders in uncovering the truth.''
``I will. May I take the scroll away with me? I assure you I will take immaculate care of it in your absence.''
Vale rolled the scroll with magic as his answer and offered it to Christian. His horn lit up and he reached to take it. As his magic touched the curling edge of the parchment, he hesitated, Vale waiting with his horn tilted.
``Heh...'' He tried to rub the back of his neck with a hand he'd forgotten he didn't have any more. ``A bag of some kind may be more appropriate for me. I wouldn't want to damage it.''
The stallion had the good grace to not question his choice and, with some digging produced a cotton bag. Christian thanked his lucky stars that unicorns had learned long ago how to manipulate and use cotton. It made carrying items, at least for the time being, a great deal easier than if he had to conduct his lifting and carrying with magic he could hardly call upon. He dropped the loop of the bag over his head with a skilled flick of his neck and pushed the scroll into it.
``As for the gryphons, Christian...'' Vale shot the fillies a deliberate look, the spotted lass immediately pretending to have not been eavesdropping. ``I cannot speak openly here but I am confident the king and queen shall have more information for you. If not of your own accord, they will shortly be calling you to meet officially.''
He shot Christian a look and the unicorn nodded, understanding the implication behind his words.
``Of course, Vale. Perhaps it would be best if Celeste and I made our way to meet with them immediately?''
He tilted his head and Vale nodded.
``Celeste would know their whereabouts better than any member of the herd, except perhaps for their advisors,'' he confirmed. ``You should go now - study can wait. But do come again next session, Christian.'' A smile gleamed in the corner of his eye. ``Your admirers, in particular, would miss you sorely.''
``Excuse me.''
A small voice drew their attention and the stallions started to see a white filly beside them. She stole upon them without making a sound and Christian swallowed hard, wondering exactly how much she had heard.
Vale recovered more quickly.
``Yes, Karin?'' Vale smiled. ``What may I be of assistance with this afternoon?''
The filly swallowed and ducked her head, peering up at the older stallions through a haze of frizzy forelock. His eyes wandered and he was struck, not for the first time, how like Celeste she was. With the same silver horn and hooves, they could have been related, right down to the soft, pink muzzle. Only her eyes were different - a startling green like pools of moss.
Christian smiled with Vale. It was difficult not to like the quiet little filly and her sweet disposition. He rarely saw her with her nose out of scrolls, though she was focused on her studies. Often rather close to him too. Christian's stomach churned.
He shook his head. A lot of the fillies liked to be close to him during their lessons. He was an unwelcome distraction, even if he did not like to be. Sometimes his studies were better carried out in the privacy of his new home.
Karin peered around her forelock, slow to respond as her tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth.
``I would like to learn about transformation magic, if only the beginning elements and components. It is beyond my skills at this present time to consider without further instruction, Vale.''
Christian was struck by how formal she sounded even at a young age, although he had to remember that the filly was maturing. Her years did not make her any less intelligent, not with the time she devoted to her studies. Christian's smile warmed. He had to admire such dedication.
Vale blinked and glanced at his scrolls, withdrawing one from the sling with a soft murmur.
``I have something here that may be of use to you, but allow me to first demonstrate for you. Do you think you can secure a volunteer for practice, Karin?''
She nodded and looked to Christian with the biggest, roundest, most pleading eyes he had ever seen on a filly. The stallion's head shot up and he looked from left to right, tail swishing.
``Christian is just leaving, unfortunately.''
Vale had the quickness of mind to step in before things escalated and Christian made good his exit as Karin dropped her head. He nodded his farewell to Vale and made a beeline for the perimeter of the hut, pausing only once to check that his precious cargo was still tied around his neck.
Leaving the shelter, Christian could not help but glance back at the despondent filly, forced to find another partner to practice transforming a living being. It did not have to be a unicorn in order for transformation magic to work, only that it was easier to use the natural magic of unicorns to practice transformation than force an inanimate object to change. Perhaps it would be better for her to try on a mouse or a vole rather than him. His stomach squirmed.
Christian sighed, ears drooping. Something in his chest twisted. He should have given the filly more time - she meant no harm. He'd have to make it up to her next time they came across one another in their magic sessions. She didn't mean to come on so strongly.
Now, however, he needed to speak to the king and queen.
\f
Chapter Three
``Christian? Why are you frightened?''
The stallion's tail flicked as they walked through the gently curving hallways of their home - the castle on the edge of the unicorn village. It offered them enough privacy that unexpected guests were rare and one of the first places that Christian had been able to become used to and trial his new body after his transformation. He would forever be grateful for a place to retreat to, the quiet, sweeping hallways and secluded rooms. The entire structure held an air of peace.
``I'm not frightened,'' he snorted. ``How would you know if I was scared?''
Celeste inclined her head, violet eyes darkening. There was no laughter behind them, only trouble.
``You have clamped your tail down. You are not moving a single human inch.''
One of the curses of his new body. Christian licked his lips and brushed her muzzle lightly with his, reassuring her with the touch of his body. She pushed into him with a soft nicker, close to his side as they entered the reception room, which was airy and boasted a large opening through which they could look out over the elaborate, well tended gardens. A magical barrier took the place of a window, flickering and dancing in Christian's peripheral vision. If the unicorns wanted privacy, the `window' could be coloured with magic to obscure the interior from view. He supposed it could also be made soundproof. Now that was magic he would like to learn.
The king and queen entered the room on soft hooves, eyes dark and serious. Celeste was their mirror image, the whole family graced with a pure white coat and pink skin. Their horns rose silver from the centres of their foreheads as their like-coloured hooves gleamed and Christian was glad, not for the first time, that Celeste had also chosen to make him in their image. It made him feel like one of the family - a notion that he was sure had been deliberate.
Moirin touched noses with her daughter, the unicorns breathing in each other's scents. The `youngest' unicorn stood still, unsure of what to do in the instance of family affection and thought with a pang of his own mother. She still didn't understand his choice to become a unicorn - he wasn't sure she even believed that he had become one. But he would see her again soon: he would make it happen. Christian smiled sadly. At least he had an adopted family of sorts in the unicorn herd. Caderyn snorted and greeted Christian with a flick of his tail, ears pricked.
``Mother, father.'' Celeste bobbed her head. ``Christian has called us here today, although I cannot claim to know intimately the reasoning behind it.''
Christian scuffed a hoof across the floor.
``I meant to tell you Celeste.''
``Time was short,'' she acknowledged. ``Yet I am keen to hear what it is you have to say in such secrecy. You have ensured our privacy for a reason.''
He nodded once, muscles shivering.
``There's no point hiding it - there's been more and more gryphon activity. Have you not seen it?'' Christian paused and caught himself. ``Of course you have, I'm sorry. I meant more what is being done about it? I fear that, if we ignore this approach, we will secure our fate within months, if not weeks.''
He paused, eyes serious. Celeste gave a tiny toss of her head, nostrils flared.
``Are we to turn and fight them?'' He asked honestly, voicing the question that had been running around his mind for weeks: it had had to come out sooner or later.
Moirin shook her head and looked at the floor, ears slanting to the sides of her head. Her husband stepped closer, supporting her with the warmth of his body pressed to hers, a presence that Christian understood as comforting for unicorns. In all honesty, for him, Celeste was a bit of a radiator when holding the length of her body to his side. He'd never be cold in winter, that much was sure.
Celeste stamped and snaked her head up, snorting and twitching her ears as if to listen out for a threat that may come at any time.
``When did you see gryphons last, Christian?'' She demanded, ears back. ``Why did you not inform me? Were you in my presence?''
He'd never seen her ears go back before, except when chasing off the gryphons that one time by the lake, and that little fact alone was enough to glue his tongue to the roof of his mouth. Should he have told her? Should he have interrupted the moment?
``I...er...well...'' Christian blushed, ears turning pink. ``It was earlier. In the garden.''
Celeste blinked.
``Then we were together. Why did you not tell me?''
Christian groaned inwardly, staring at the wooden floor as if, with enough wishful thinking, it would gape open and swallow him up whole as the mare flicked her tail. The stallion gulped.
``We were a little preoccupied.''
No, he couldn't quite get his tongue around the words but Celeste understood, eyes lighting up.
``Oh, Christian.'' She pushed her head into his chest, transgression forgotten. ``You are a peculiar stallion. Why would you not say that we were mating?''
He squealed and backed away, ears flat and eyes wide. Moirin and Caderyn laughed, their whinnies breaking the crackling tension hanging in the air.
``Celeste! How could you just say it like that? It sounds so...so crude! And in front of your parents!''
The mare snorted and flicked her tail, catching him a light yet stinging blow across his foreleg as she swung her hindquarters around. He jumped and shook himself as his mate's eyes sparkled, a smile dancing within the perfect, violet orbs.
``Unicorn mating is hardly a private affair, Christian. It is a natural part of life.''
Celeste tilted her head, considering him.
``You are so strange sometimes, Christian. We had our first mating as stallion and mare before my parents. Do you not remember?''
How could he forget? The stallion held his breath and closed his eyes. It was a bad dream, nothing more. He would wake in the bed chamber with Celeste and not talking about mating in front of her parents. Just a dream. It would pass.
Unfortunately, when he opened his eyes again, he was presented with the faces of his love's sire and dam, both barely restraining their laughter, sides trembling.
``It was a wonderful ceremony,'' Caderyn added unhelpfully, unable to keep the grin off his whiskered muzzle, a tuft of hair curling from his chin. ``I did not believe that a freshly transformed stallion could breed a mare so many times and only fall from his hooves on a mere three instances - a truly impressive feat!''
Christian rolled his eyes and shook his head, mane scratching a neck that darkened in crude patches of sweat. It was difficult to hide embarrassment as a unicorn but he still didn't understand how they could be so open about mating. He did it for Celeste's pleasure - she wouldn't allow him to say no, anyway, when his cock was dropping - and, true, that first time as a stallion he had gotten himself caught up in the moment. But it didn't come naturally to him. Surely he should be seducing his lady sweetly and softly to their bedchambers for a night of passionate lovemaking? And not being lovingly teased by her parents?
Unicorns did not yet make complete sense to the former human.
``Right, of course.'' His ears burned and, as the ground clearly was not going to swallow him up in the immediate future, he pressed on. ``Back on topic then. I spoke to Vale and he said that we could be right in thinking that we need to bring more colts into the herd - but fillies too now. We think that breeding will strengthen the herd and be the first key to our survival.''
He hesitated, a question in his eyes.
``I'm not sure I'm up to the task. Even if Celeste becomes pregnant, it will be several months before a foal is born. And then another nine months, at the very least, again. It will be the same for all unicorn pairs mating. How are we to prevail?''
``The answer is clear.'' Caderyn glanced at Moirin. ``Breeding with Celeste is not going to foal the number of unicorns we require to save the herd, you are correct.''
Christian's face fell and he looked at his hooves, heart sinking as quickly as his hopes had risen. Every lead brought him to another dead end! Was there nothing he could do to save the unicorns? To save Celeste?
``Then there is no hope? We must find another way?'' He said numbly, forcing his lips to form the words.
The king shook his head reassuringly, expression soft enough to draw Christian back from the edge of despair. He lifted his head, whuffing quietly as Celeste's lips brushed his shoulder. The concern in her eyes was as deep as his.
``In a sense, we must venture down a different path, yes.'' Moirin was gentler in her approach, nudging her smirking husband to the side. ``I fear I must be upfront with you, however, Christian.'' She gathered herself, sides expanding in a deep breath. ``How would you feel about breeding other mares, Christian?''
The stallion blinked. Other mares? There was only Celeste.
``Oh!'' Celeste danced on her hooves. ``Then we could bring more foals into the herd more swiftly with more colts beside the stallions!''
Christian's jaw dropped but the unicorn family moved on without him, playing off each other's flow of thoughts with unerring accuracy and speed.
``You always were swift to dive to the heart of a matter, Celeste.'' Her mother nodded approvingly. ``Yes, it is a conclusion we have already come to. Not only Christian but the other stallions of the herd must engage in as many mating sessions as possible to bring in more unicorns and more magic. There is no greater complication to it than that.''
He swung his head towards Celeste, panic chasing his hooves to shift and scrape obnoxiously over the floor - he forgot to pick them up in his haste. Surely Celeste would be outraged? Why was she nodding? The unicorn mare snaked her neck back and forth, excitement flowing through her body.
She brushed her horn against his, sharing thoughts through their mental, magical link, and he squealed. Backing away, he put his ears flat to his skull. How could she have so many thoughts going through her head? She saw him breeding mare after mare, evermore the stallion of her dreams, the saviour of the herd, her partner for life. He shook away the transferred thoughts of him with his cock bouncing, spinning up on to his hind hooves to take mare after mare, the very essence of stallion virility.
``I can't do that!'' He blurted out, hooves splayed. ``I'm with Celeste! It wouldn't be right! I'm not even any good at magic! There's nothing in me that would benefit a foal and the magic of the herd especially.''
He threw the last bit in as his last hope but it caught Moirin's attention. The mare's horn lit up with a pink glow and she reached out a tendril of magic to caress his dished cheek.
``But Christian...'' She turned her smoky gaze on him. ``You have exceptionally promising magical potential. Vale has spoken with me. It is locked inside, even though you are struggling to unleash it. It will come, in time. Yet it is there, waiting to be used.''
Christian snorted and shook his head. That was laughable. Moirin was kind - too kind. She was only trying to make him feel better.
``I speak only the truth, Christian,'' she insisted, pressing on.
``Then what has Vale said?''
His ears fell obnoxiously back to his skull and he flicked his tail, shifting his weight as the family of unicorns exchanged looks. The tip of Celeste's horn glowed violet to match her eyes and Caderyn nodded, somehow managing to put a grave edge into the motion. Christian lowered his head, ears drooping, and hid behind his forelock. Sometimes he could not help but feel like an outsider in their midst when they conferred amongst themselves, glances and subtle shifts of their bodies more than enough to convey their thoughts to one another. Yet he wanted to be one of them. Doubt flashed through his mind, pushing away brighter thoughts of his time spent living with the unicorns. Was he one of them?
Of course he was. Christian shook himself, white hairs floating to the floor as they were dislodged from his coat. Celeste nickered and stretched out her head towards him, long lashes drawing his attention as she blinked slowly. Magic emanated from her horn in a sinuous tendril and she brushed his lips with the tip. He shuddered from the flash of warmth, which left a tingling sensation in its wake. She'd never quite used her magic in that way before but the warmth dropped down to his stomach where it spread, soothing tension from muscles he had not realised where stiff.
``Vale has not spoken of you in anything besides a positive light, Christian,'' Celeste said at last, her gentle tone soothing to his ringing ears. ``He has only said that you have an incredible aptitude for magic, lurking beneath the surface. It only needs to be unleashed.''
She nuzzled his cheek, lips tickling over the short hair.
``How we may release your magic, I do not know. Yet I trust Vale. He has an innate knowledge of these matters and, if I may be perfectly honest with you, my love, he has never been wrong as yet.''
Putting her head alongside Christian's, she held his gaze with one eye. Smiling, she bopped him gently on the side of his muzzle, between the dish of his cheek and chin, and he felt himself smile in return.
``I trust him,'' she said simply, needing no more words to convey her point.
Christian pondered this and pushed the thoughts that told him he wasn't good enough to perform adequate magic for the herd right to the back of his mind. It took a colossal effort but he succeeded in squashing them down - at least for the time being. No doubt they would return to haunt him when sleep claimed him, dreams playing scripts of foals that would never be. But he could not focus on that. He had to be positive - he couldn't spend his time dwelling on whether or not he would be sufficient for the herd. He could only try. Christian snorted and shook himself.
The unicorn took a deep breath.
``Tell me more about what you would have me do. Would this be okay with you, Celeste? It seems awfully...'' He cast about for the right words. ``Callous. It's callous for me to be with another unicorn. It's unfaithful. It feels wrong.''
The word was childish and simplistic but it was all that it boiled down to really. Wrong. It was wrong. How could he mate with another unicorn? Guilt nudged the back of his mind and he remembered the filly - well, mare - from his magic lessons, flirting and flicking her tail as if she wanted him to mount her right there and then. And little Karin with the sweet, kind eyes and pink nose, so like Celeste. He couldn't say that they didn't stir a need in him. Yet he didn't feel it was something he could voice aloud.
Caderyn stepped forward, taking the floor.
``If you accept this, you will have your pick of mares in the herd - usually ones without life mates already, unless there are some that put themselves forward. Some see it as their duty, although we have never requested it of those already with partners. You will be asked to mate with them as many times as you are physically able and they are willing to take you. The herd is willing to provide magical supplements to increase your virility and stamina for this feat.''
He grimaced.
``With so few stallions, it became necessary to develop these potions simply to keep the herd alive. It is not our proudest magical creation.''
Christian swallowed and glanced at Celeste as if for reassurance - could he do this? Was it right? - but the mare's eyes were glassy as she imagined. Noticing his look, she tipped her horn to his and shared her thoughts. Images of Christian - viewed as if through Celeste's eyes - flooded his mind and his skin prickled to see himself mounting a palomino mare, arousal drooling from her marehood. Another winked ahead of him, tail held high as her cunny clenched, two pairs of udders swinging beneath her barrel.
In Celeste's mind's eye, he mounted a bay mare next, catching her mane between his teeth, a masculine grunt rumbling from his chest. He pounded her like a stallion possessed until she cried out in climax and he dismounted, cock hardly softening as a stream of cum poured from her marehood, which held itself open in a slight, alluring gape. The brown coated unicorn looked back at him and stamped, nickering a demand for more even as her legs trembled.
And then there was the quiet little Karin, head coyly lowered as she raised her tail and begged me sweetly to mount her, to take her, to breed her. She claimed she would have my foal and danced from hoof to hoof until the stallion in Celeste's imaginings reared up to let her bear his weight and pushed into her winking, needy marehood. He didn't know why Celeste had chosen that filly in particular to bring into the fantasy but his cheeks and ears burned to have her placed before him so sexually. The filly was sexually mature, of course, and couldn't really be called a filly. But she was so young and innocent in comparison to Celeste...
His thoughts wandered and he dragged his horn away from Celeste's with difficulty, embarrassed at the needy grunt that groaned up from the back of his throat.
It was difficult to press himself back into the mould of the situation at hand as the unicorn king and queen coughed quietly, reminding them of their presence. Caderyn's eyes brimmed with questions but his partner pushed his shoulder, eyes flashing a warning. Christian bit back a laugh. There could be a whole comedy show about those two, truly, ever the typical husband and wife in unicorn terms. Yet there was no question where their hearts lay.
``Will you be able to complete this task, Christian?'' Caderyn asked seriously, muzzle wrinkling as he took a more serious measure of the stallion. ``It is a high task to ask of any stallion and not one we have requested so formally in the past. All stallions in the herd are asked to mate with as many mares as possible to keep the herd as strong as it may be.''
``Even you?''
The words escaped him before he could call them back and his jaw fell slack. Caderyn had bred unicorns other than Moirin? Was he unfaithful? Why would any stallion not be as faithful to their mate as they could be? There was the need for foals, yes, of course, but surely that could be achieved with their life partner too?
Panic fluttered in his chest and he backed away, tail pinned to his rump. Regardless of what Caderyn had or had not done, he could not betray Celeste like that. It simple was not going to happen, no way, no how. But Caderyn was nodding and Celeste giggled, lips quivering as she whinnied and followed Christian, butting her head into his shoulder. He winched as her horn clipped his withers and she murmured an apology.
``Yes, even myself,'' Caderyn acknowledged. ``I perform my duty, although it is difficult for most stallions to sire foals - our seed does not often take - as you are aware. But this magical potential Vale has sensed within you...'' He mulled over his words. ``You may be the key to this, Christian. We can but try. You may be the hope we were searching for all these decades.''
Christian couldn't disagree with that as the stallion echoed his own thoughts intimately. Celeste pranced, tail held high as she whipped around Christian in a tight circle, nipping at his tail like a foal at play.
``It will be wonderful! I am sure this is what we must do!'' She cried, rearing and pawing at the air. ``Christian, it will be delightful to watch you! Though do not think that you will be able to shirk your `duties' with me.''
She cast him a flirty smile and winked her marehood at him, facing her parents so they could not quite see her openness, even if it was inferred. Swallowing, Christian struggled out to look as the mare burbled on in a stream of conversation, tail flicking back and forth so his eye was constantly drawn to her winking cunny. He could have cursed her in that moment, as much as he loved her, as his cock swelled within his sheath, plumping out obviously.
``Christian, I already have several mares in mind for you,'' she gushed, more life in the fluid dance of her body than he had seen in days, if not weeks. ``Aisling has inferred that she would like to spend time with Christian and we are all understand what she means, do we not?''
She didn't wait for an answer and ploughed on.
``There is also Nandag, Madisyn, Innis, Marsaili, Alina and, of course, Karin. None of these mares have taken life partners as yet.''
Christian tried not to react when the filly's name was mentioned, something tightening within his chest.
``They will all, I am confident, be interested in this proposition, this endeavour to bring magic and life back to our herd.''
Moirin chuckled at her daughter, exhaling softly as the younger mare pranced and flicked up her hooves, showing off for her partner.
``Oh, Christian!'' Celeste dropped a kiss on his cheek. ``It will be the most amazing event - a celebration! I shall count the minutes!''
``We will have to secure potions ahead of time,'' Caderyn interjected. ``Do not forget that we must ensure Christian has everything he requires to complete the task. It is, however, a very pleasurable task.''
He caught Christian's eye and winked, his gaze portraying nothing but innocence even as Moirin squealed and poked her horn into his side. Caderyn and Celeste chuckled, the mare lifting her front hooves from the floor as she bobbed her muzzle.
``Of course, I am confident we shall...''
Celeste trailed off, head drooping as she swayed on her hooves, eyes glazed and unfocused. Christian rushed to her side, supporting her with the bulk of her body as her hooves splayed, tail lax over her hindquarters. Her father snorted and jumped, muscles shuddering as his daughter struggled for balance.
``Celeste! What's wrong?'' Christian nudged her neck, trying to glean a response. ``Are you sick? Did you eat something funny? Should I call a doctor?''
``What's a doctor?'' She said, eyes bleary. ``I am not unwell, Christian, I am sorry to frighten you. I only felt faint for a moment. I am quite well now, I did not mean to cause such a disturbance.''
Celeste and her mother exchanged a look that Christian could not fathom as the older mare started forward, eyeing her daughter all over as if she was going to turn into a snake before her very eyes.
Caderyn, on the other hand, was not quite so composed. The stallion danced and jumped from side to side, pushing himself off his hind hooves with the strength of a younger stallion.
``Celeste, are you confident you are quite well?'' Her father stretched out his nose to her, reaching for her with tendrils of magic. ``This is most unlike you. Has something happened? Are you taken ill?''
``Leave the poor mare alone, Caderyn.'' Moirin gently supported Celeste on the other side, keeping her between Christian and herself. ``She needs to rest a while. It has been a long day, has it not, Celeste? Were you not up at first light?''
The mare nodded sheepishly.
``Yes, mother. I left the castle early this morning. I did not think anyone would have noticed. I tried to be as quiet as possible.''
Christian started.
``Celeste, why did you leave the castle without me?''
The mare licked her lips and looked up at him, abashed.
``I wanted to think. The gryphon threat has been...how do you say it? It has also been preying on my mind. I needed to think and sleep deserted me too early this morning.''
He nodded. He could understand that, though he certainly didn't want her to worry. Caderyn snorted and, as if he didn't quite believe the mares, looked them over from head to hoof until Moirin chased him off with a snap and flick of her tail.
``We are quite well, thank you, you old nag. Please, let Celeste rest. This is nothing that a good night of sleep will not cure.''
Caderyn hoisted his head up high and shook his mane off his neck.
``If that is what you claim...'' He trailed off doubtfully. ``Then please rest, Celeste. This conversation and the detail entailed may be undertaken at a later time when you are less fatigued.''
Celeste exhaled slowly, a smile returning to her muzzle. She suddenly struck Christian as much older than her years, although they were technically close in age.
``Thank you, father, I will make sure that I rest for the remainder of the day.''
Despite her condition, she shot Christian a cheeky look, her tongue poking out from the corner of his mouth so only he could see.
``And Christian shall take further steps towards saving the herd. He will have much to tell me of your plans and which mares will step forward by the next morning, if my instinct speaks correctly of this.''
End story preview.
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