FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

"This way!" Apple Bloom speeds off down the cavern, Applejack following close behind, taking shots at the creatures that were getting closer every minute. The floor, already slick from the smooth rocks covered in moisture, was already starting to glisten with ice from the windigoes, making finding footing even more difficult, and Applejack slips, tumbling to the ground.

Another twist in the caverns was ahead, and Apple Bloom takes cover behind a large rock, firing her heat ray and hitting the windigo directly in the chest, giving Applejack enough time to stand up and rush to her side.

"That won't hold 'em off for long." Applejack tries to collect her breath, looking around them for their options. "We've got to find a way out of here."

Apple Bloom levels a gaze at her, as if to say "you think?", but says nothing, scanning the open cavern mouths that radiated around the chamber they were in. They can already hear the sound of icy hooves and biting winds coming towards them, and the air temperature around them drops several degrees in the seconds they were hiding there. Then, Applejack spotted it, a small tunnel sloping downward, all but hidden by a rock on the opposite side of the cavern.

"Down here!" She trots over to the tunnel, looking down and tossing a pebble down the sloping tunnel, listening to it careen down it and echoing off what sounds like a large cavern below. Looking back to see that Apple Bloom is following her, she jumps in, hind feet first, heat ray aimed up the tunnel behind her. She tries to slow her descent, but ice is quickly racing her down the tunnel, and before long she can't slow her descent. With a small shriek, she falls out the other end of the tunnel, flipping over in the air and landing on her energy tank with a crunch. Apple Bloom follows close behind, and Applejack can barely roll to one side before she tumbles out of the tunnel, her torch extinguishing as she does, plunging them into total darkness.

The two of them huddle together, Apple Bloom pointing her heat ray up to the mouth of the tunnel they just exited, ears perked up and listening to the sound of hooves on ice. They hear them, echoing through the narrow chute, but they quickly trail off, leaving them with only the sound of their own breathing.

After a few minutes pass in silence, Apple Bloom whispers in Applejack's ear. "Did we lose 'em?"

"I'm not sure." Applejack's ears twitch. "There's no way they'll fit through that chute. If they do know we're down here, they must be lookin' for 'nother way 'round."

They sit in silence for what seems like hours, before finally Applejack nuzzles Apple Bloom. "If they are lookin' for 'nother way 'round, we should try'n stay ahead of 'em." Apple Bloom nods, silently, though Applejack feels the motion against her skin. In silence, she lights the torch from the flint and steel in her saddle bags, and begins scanning the perimeter of the cave.

"Oh uh." Apple Bloom's voice is flat, and Applejack already knows why.

"There's only one way outta here, ain't there?" Apple Bloom nods, pointing up at the chute they exited out of.

"And we ain't goin' out that way anytime soon." Applejack looks up, and sees what she means; the small chute they fell out of is already choked with a solid block of ice.

---

Applejack tests her smashed heat ray, but the storage tank is damaged and, rather than a concentrated ray of heat, merely a dull glow escapes the end of the nozzle. Still, the ruddy glow and trickle of warmth was enough to illuminate the cavern, so Apple Bloom extinguishes her torch to save on air. Her own heat ray was discarded in the small tunnel as the icy walls were beginning to close in on her, and was now frozen in that mass of ice.

The two of them explore the perimeter of the cavern, and Applejack yelps when she discovers a small trickle of fresh air emerging from between a pair of boulders, most likely the site of a collapsed tunnel that used to lead out of the cavern.

"Well, at least we won't run outta air." Apple Bloom tries to sound upbeat, but Applejack can hear the underlying note of despair in her voice. The boulders forming the cave-in are formidable, though that doesn't stop the pair of them from trying to move them. They put all of their strength to the task, but even that fails to budge the several tons of stone, and after several minutes they collapse in a heap, huddled near the malfunctioning heat ray, exhausted and rapidly running out of hope.

Applejack tries to relax. Her mind always worked better when she wasn't focused on the problem at hoof. So she tries to let her mind wander, her ears swivelling at the sounds of the cavern - the distant dropping of water, the tiny scrabbling sounds of insects, a distant rumbling that she thought might be the hoofbeats of the Windigoes, possibly still looking for their escaped, quarry, the steady beating of Apple Bloom's heart.

She leans over and nuzzles her once-younger sister, and feels a wetness on her snout when she disconnects. She hadn't even been aware Apple Bloom was crying, even her sensitive ears didn't pick up any of the telltale sounds.

"Never show weakness." Apple Bloom did a fair job of reading her sister's mind. "Not even when there's no hope."

"Now don't y'all go givin' up jus' yet. Ain't nothin' can lick the Apple Sisters when we put our mind to it."

Apple Bloom jerks her head towards the tunnel opening. "That's windigo ice. Even if the air in here were above freezin', windigo ice don't melt that easy. Even if we held the torch right to it, it would hold fast. Maybe if we still had a workin' heat ray, but..." Her voice trails off, and she puts her head in her hooves.

Applejack sighs, lowering her own head, laying opposite Apple Bloom, their snouts almost touching. Her breath feels warm against her face in the chilly cavern, and it carries with it the flash of a memory of their old life on the farm, Apple Bloom still just a blank-flank filly playing in the sunshine. A sudden notion strikes her.

"Say, Apple Bloom, y'all never did show me your cutie mark." Apple Bloom blushes slightly.

"Y'all really think this is a good time for that sorta thing?" Her voice carries a tinge of irritation, but her eyes show relief at the change of topic.

"What, I can't help it. My baby sister's all grown up, y'all think I don't wonder at the years I missed out on with y'all? It's a lil' thing, I know. But it would mean a lot t' me..."

Apple Bloom sighs, then a weak smile crosses her lips.

"Promise y'all won't laugh?" She seems slightly nervous.

"Cross my heart an' hope t' fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!" Applejack makes the motions that Pinkie taught her, in another lifetime.

Unsteadily, Apple Bloom stands up un begins slowly unzipping her fatigues, then slipping out of them, revealing more of the muscles built up over the years of hard fighting. Applejack had to suppress a gasp when she slid them off her flanks, nicely toned and decorated by a prominent cutie mark.

It depicted a shield with a sword crossing it, simple lines in dull grey. Behind them was a banner of bright red, that formed a striking contrast to her golden-delicious colored coat. Applejack felt tears of pride form in her eyes.

"My sister, a leader of ponies. I always knew y'all would find your special talent someday." She nuzzles her again, and feels the heat of Appleblooms blush against her face.

"Aw, shucks... I just did what had t' be done. I only wish..." Her voice trails off, but Applejack knows what she was going to say. I wish I could have saved more of them.

She does a little turn for Applejack to get a better look at the details of the cutie mark, and Applejack can't help but notice how beautiful a mare her sister turned out to be. Beyond the muscles that she built over the years of hard fighting and training, she has a regal element to her stature, a proud chest, firm flanks... Applejack shakes her head, dispelling the image of her sister's - she reminds herself - hindquarters, and returns her gaze to the frozen tunnel above.

"Are these windigoes just like the ones in the Hearth's Warmin' story?" Applejack asks, trying to seem nonchalant.

"Mostly." Apple Bloom follows her gaze. "They're organized, somewhat intelligent. They can't fly nearly as well as in the stories, but well enough that the pegasi can't just outfly them."

"What about the part about the 'power o' friendship'?" Apple Bloom scoffs.

"Trust me, if all it took t' fight back agin' those beasts was bein' all touchy-feely, we wouldn' be hidin' in caves and fightin' a guerilla war."

Applejack looks up again. "I know, it's jus'..." She leans over and nuzzles her sister again, casting a gaze upward to the tunnel mouth as she does so.

"Sometimes, stories have a grain o' truth t' them. Like, for instance, jus' now... the ice... dripped."

"Huh?" Apple Bloom jerks back, turning her head and looking at the tunnel mouth, just in time to hear the plop of a drop of water just in front of her. She looks back at Applejack, a puzzled expression on her face.

"Well, y'all said fire won't melt it. An' it was pure solid ice a second ago. But..." she takes a few steps forward, leaning against her sister with a comforting motion, watching the ice as she does so. She squints, and can just make out the surface of the ice start to shimmer, and a few droplets of water run down the front edge of the frozen barrier.

Apple Bloom looks sceptical. "It can' be that simple. I mean... I know the story as well as anypony. Y'all used to tell it to me ever Hearth's Warmin', but..." Applejack turns around and sits on the ground, watching as the surface of the ice turns solid again.

"Well, I've discovered sometimes the world is a stranger place then y'all might have thought. In any case, a few droplets o' water ain't gonna melt the tunnel any faster, or at least not fast enough for us t' get outta here afore we starve or freeze t' death..."

Apple Bloom sighs with resignation. Then, suddenly her ears perk up, and she takes a few steps closer to her sister. "Y'know, maybe there's somethin' to this 'power o' love' horseapples after all. Maybe we jus' need... more of it."

Applejack opens her mouth to ask what she means by that, but as she does so she is surprised to suddenly feel Apple Bloom's on hers.

Her lips are smooth, supple, and the kiss is tender, reminding her of nothing more than the good night kisses she used to give her when she would tuck her into bed at night, while she was still a little filly. She jerks back, giving her an incredulous stare.

"Y'all... y'all kissed me." Apple Bloom blushes profusely, sitting back on her flank and putting a hoof on her mouth.

"I.. I did." She says flatly. "I'm sorry, I.. I thought..." Apple Bloom looks away, her eyes closed in shame. Then they fly open again. "The tunnel!"

Applejack follows her gaze and immediately understands. The cave mouth is melting in earnest now, rivulets of water forming a puddle just below where it met the cave proper. "It... it worked? Quick, kiss me again!"

Apple Bloom looks at her shyly, but Applejack doesn't wait. She stands up and closes the gap between them, pressing her lips to her with enough force to send her backward onto the floor, her mane inches away from the puddle formed by melting icewater.

This time, the kiss isn't the tender kiss of two sisters, but has an edge to it, a desperation, and Apple Bloom returns it in kind, losing herself in the warm scent of apples in springtime and the comforting touch of another pony's body pressing against hers. Her reverie is interrupted when a stream of icy cold water begins to hit her in the forehead, and she pushes her sister away.

As if she only just realized what she had done, Applejack retreated sheepishly. "Apple Bloom, I..." She cuts her off with a hoof to the mouth.

"You said it yourself, AJ. When times get desperate, you do what you need to t' stay alive. We ain't gettin' outta here if we don't do this, and I for one choose t' live." Applejack nods slowly.

"But... you're my sister... it's wrong..." Apple Bloom shakes her head and sighs.

"Ain't nothin' wrong with lovin' your sister. Besides, it's not like either of us can get heavy if we..." She stops, suddenly horrified at the path her mind took. Applejack herself has turned a shade of red that made her look more like Big Macintosh. "Not that... I mean... I wouldn'..."

Applejack clears her throat, her expression becoming serious. "Sugarcube... have you ever... been with a mare?" Apple Bloom shakes her head slowly. "Have you ever been with... anypony?" She pauses, and then shakes her head again.

"I'm the leader of the resistance. Ponies look up to me. I have t' set the example. I can't take a pony, any pony, t' bed. Even if I ever did find the time..." She stops again, catching for the first time the expression on Applejack's face - not quite pity, but admiration mixed with sadness. She bites her lip.

"I don't want to think about it too hard, but the fact o' the matter is, that ice ain't gonna melt unless we not only feel love, but express it. It may be enough to kiss each other. But it might not be. Sis..." She stops, looking into Applejack's eyes.

Applejack finishes the thought for her. "It might be wrong, but in these time ain't much that's right. What I do know is that there are ponies who are countin' on you. There are ponies out there who need you to get out alive." She stands up, taking a few steps toward her. "I've never been so proud o' anythin' in my life as I am of you right now. My heart is so full o' love for you I feel it might break .Sugarcube, this ain't how I would've chosen for you to experience this, but I don't want y'all t' feel guilty or ashamed, y'all hear me?"

She nods, then wraps her forelegs around Applejack's neck, their snouts touching.

"I love you too, sis. I would have been lost without you. If you hadn't o' shown up when you did, I don't think we would have been able to hold out for much longer. But you've given us - given me - hope agin." She leans forward, tilting her head slightly, and kisses her, slowly, gently, opening her mouth to let her tongue carefully explore the recesses of her sister's mouth, Applejack's entering hers in kind.

They stay that way for a few moments, the tenderness slowly giving way to hunger. Apple Bloom hadn't realized how lonely she'd been until just that moment, as their tongues caress each other and their bodies are locked in embrace. She aches to feel her closer, to hold her tightly, to feel every inch of her body against her own.

Applejack gently lays her down, eyes watching her with love, and climbs on top of her, her hooves stroking her cheek and forelegs. Their kiss continues, the cold and darkness around them slipping away, until only their bodies remain, tongues and limbs entwined. Apple Bloom opens herself to her sister, exposing her chest and inner legs to her, inviting her to embrace and exploit her vulnerability. In that moment she doesn't feel like the leader of ponykind's last hope for survival. She is just a mare, in the embrace of the one she loved, waiting for her to save her.

Applejack draws back from the kiss, her sister reluctantly relinquishing her lips, and kisses her neck, then her shoulder, and the the crook of her foreleg. Apple Bloom lays her head back on the stone floor, closing her eyes, a soft moan escaping her lips, as Applejack's own meander along the sensitive spots on her body, down her chest, and into the warm crevice that her slightly spread legs exposed. She gasps as she feels a kiss planted directly above her marehood, and then another that gently brushes her lower lips. She feels a warmth begin to glow inside of her, one that starts at her chest and between her legs, that gradually grows to take over her entire body.

Applejack kisses her lower lips again. The mare she is kissing isn't the filly she raised almost as a daughter back on the farm. The mare she is looking at, spread out in front of her is somepony she admired and respected, somepony who survived and conquered, who saved her life on more than one occasion. A strong, confident, powerful mare who she respected as much as loved. And she longs to feel nearer to her, as she gently kisses her marehood again, the tip of her tongue teasing at the folds of skin already damp with anticipation.

Apple Bloom puts a hoof on the top of Applejack's head, feeling the soft strands of her ponytail against her hoof. She bites her lower lip as her warm lips cover her sex, a feeling like electricity shooting through her. It only increases as Applejack's tongue darts towards the folds, gently caressing them up one side and down the other. A sudden question enters her mind.

"A-applejack?" Her voice is quiet and tentative, not wanting to break the spell.

Applejack looks up, briefly, nodding without slowing the motions of her tongue as they slowly breach her lips.

"Have y'all... been with a mare a'fore?" Applejack pauses, then nods slowly, raising her head.

"Once or twice." She blushes. "Um, me'n my friends... we sometimes... experimented. Y'know..."

"You don't mean... the Elements?" Applejack nods. "Which ones?"

A funny expression crosses her face. "That's none of your beeswax!." As if to change the subject, she thrusts her tongue between the folds of Apple Bloom's sex, and the electricity shoots through her again, forcing a moan from her lips, and the question is quickly driven from her mind, as is all other thought as she laps gently at her sex, the tip of her tongue deftly finding and then teasing the head of her clitoris.

Each time she did, she felt her back arch, pleasure running along her spine and making her hindhooves tingle. Her eyes roll back, and she catches a glimpse of the tunnel mouth, ice melting as if under a hot sun, but is quickly overwhelmed by another wave of pleasure as Applejack begins gently sucking on her clitoris. She lets out an involuntary cry as she feels a hoof join the tongue, gently probing the rim of her marehood with its soft touch.

The cold stone floor melts away underneath her as she gives in to the sensations, the world around them disappearing until all that remains is their two bodies, Applejack's tongue reaching inside of her, swirling and teasing, darting to her clitoris and back to her opening, thrusting its way inside her. She presses her hips upward, to be closer to her, as she opens her mouth to moan with abandon. Suddenly, it's not enough for her to simply take the pleasure without supplying any of her own. She grabs a hold of Applejack by the foreleg and pulls her upward, using her back legs to push her so that she turns around. Applejack quickly takes the notion and, without disconnecting her tongue from her marehood, she positions her flank just above Apple Bloom's face, her own sex already glistening and swollen. Closing her eyes, Apple Bloom leans forward and extends her tongue, surprised and excited by the taste that meets her as she touches Applejack's underside. Nervously, but with an eagerness, she begins dragging her tongue along the opening, applying gentle pressure as she does so, exploring the passage with her tongue.

Applejack sighs at the touch, then continues her own efforts. Shudders that have nothing to do with the chill air pass down her spine as Apple Bloom's tentative touches caress her sex, and she presses her thighs towards Apple Bloom's mouth, encouraging her onward as she gently laps at Apple Bloom's own sex. Applejack lets out a sudden cry as Apple Bloom's tongue presses into her, finding her clitoris and darts at it. Waves of pleasure wash over her, overwhelming her thoughts and driving her to press herself against Apple Bloom, her tongue moving in excited circles, licking and sucking at her clit each time she passes over it. The sound of Apple Bloom's excited moans reaches her ears in a haze.

Apple Bloom feels herself being pushed toward the edge. Not yet she thinks to herself. It's not fair t' AJ. Trying to concentrate through the pleasure, she tries to imitate Applejack's efforts with her own tongue, and is pleased to hear a sudden moan as her tongue brushes her clitoris again. Having discovered her sensitive spot, Apple Bloom focuses all her energies on pleasuring it, licking and sucking, even gently biting at it. Applejack's moans become louder and more uninhibited. Unable to do anything but ride out the onrushing orgasm, Applejack lifts her head up and clamps her teeth around Apple Bloom's tail, cries of exquisite ecstasy escaping through her clenched teeth. As her cries reach a fever pitch, Applejack leans back and presses herself into Apple Bloom's face, desperately craving every ounce of contact, as the waves crest and she can no longer find the breath to cry out with, Apple Bloom's tail still in her mouth as she raises her face towards the cavern ceiling.

Apple Bloom feels the pain from the jerking of her tail, but the pain just causes more lightning bolts of sensation to shoot along her spine, and as Applejack's strangled cry reaches her, she suddenly finds her face covered in a salty liquid, and blushes underneath Applejack's flank, afraid she did something wrong.

But Applejack, having ridden out her climax, immediately consoles her without a word, but with a thousand kisses to her face and neck and chest, pressing Apple Bloom up against the cavern wall and into a seated position as she returns to her sex, eager to return the favor. Soon, all feelings of embarrassment are erased as waves of sensation wash over her, and she finds herself crying out, her hooves scrabbling at the rock floor for purchase as Applejack laps at her sex, her tongue caressing and teasing her clit as her hoof gently explores her sex. Rippling waves of pleasure course through her, overwhelming her senses as her back arches and moans of exquisite ecstasy escape her lips. Apple Bloom feels herself being pushed over the edge, and is almost hesitant to cross the threshold, but before long she climaxes, gasping for breath as the hot sensation of electricity overwhelms her. She hovers just on the edge of orgasm, the world disappearing into the intense joy and rapture she feels, until her reverie is ended by a hard metal cylinder hitting her square in the chest.

"Ow! What in the applebucking hay?" Apple Bloom tries to catch her breath, and watches as Applejack disentangles herself from her tail, staring at the cylinder that just fell from the ceiling. No, not the ceiling, the tunnel - the tunnel that is now completely clear of ice, dislodging Apple Bloom's heat ray and sending it sliding into the cavern.

Applejack stares for a moment, mouth open. "Well paint me pink n' call me Celestia, it worked!" Apple Bloom, face still red from her exertions, still panting for breath, holds out a hoof.

"Jus'... One sec sis... I gotta..." She looks down to the small puddle between her legs, unsure whether the melting ice caused it or not. Her head still buzzes with sensation, but a feeling of guilt gnaws at the corner of her mind.

"Sis, we... what we did.." Applejack places a hoof to her mouth.

"We did what we had t' do. No point n' regrettin' it now. A'sides," she winks. "Y'all were good." Apple bloom blushes, then stands up, thrusting out her chest.

"O'course I was good! I am the leader o' the resistance, after all." She grins, sliding the storage tank of the heat ray onto her back and eying the tunnel. It's high up on the cavern wall, but a good boost from her sister should get her there, and then she can turn herself around and help Applejack up and they can crawl to freedom. And then, when they get back to camp, she'll... She shakes her head immediately to clear the vision of what she intends to do to Applejack once they are in the privacy of her quarters.

No time for that now. We've got a war to fight.

But now they have a new weapon to use against the windigoes. She isn't sure how they can use it on the battlefield, but she hopes she'll have a chance to practice it in the bedroom at least, and often, to find out.

She looks at Applejack, who flashes her a grin, and wonders if she's thinking the same thing. She almost hopes so.