Breeding a Future Ch. 02

This is a short work of erotic fiction containing furry, or anthropomorphic, characters, which are animals that either demonstrate human intelligence or walk on two legs, for the purposes of these tales. It is a thriving and growing fandom in which creators are prevalent in art and writing especially.

****

Loving a Unicorn

Breeding a Future

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.