Noire and Arils

Before long, they were ready to head back, the ride was short after they’d said their goodbye to Oxyde, who had apparently gotten somepony to magically alter her pocketwatch to add “cooties” as an infection. Once they were back home, Noire yawned and lay down on the couch, magically pulling the blanket over her as she always did. The day had finally caught up to the unicorn, and she was on the verge of sleep before Arils lay down on the other side of the couch, resting her head on top of Noire, who immediately opened her eyes.

“Not happening.” She said, straining to lift the other pony up magically and plop her on another sofa.

“What gives!? Don’t tell me you don’t want to cuddle...” The other pony said, winking at Noire, who turned around.

“Not with my roommate I don’t...what happened last night was a fluke, there’s nothing between us at all.” Noire then buried herself deeper in the sofa as Arils sat quietly, trying to deal with a mixture of feelings at once before finally heading off to the bar. The detective stared after her for a moment as the door shut before convincing herself to get some paperwork done, trying her best not to think about anything pertaining to the pony that just left.

“What’s wrong Arils? Off your game today?” Hurricane Hoof asked as he wiped off the counter.

“Yeah...I guess...” The marron pony asked, the bartender hadn’t seen Arils hit on anypony all night, which he was almost sure meant something was up.

“Tell me what’s up.” He said, cleaning out a couple of glasses.

“I don’t know...Noire, you know, the pony that I brought last night? She and I are roommates and, as you probably guessed...”

“Yup, got it. But why’s that a bad thing? I’d think congratulations are in order.” He said, frowning.

“Well yeah, I kinda really like her, and I wanted it to be more than a meaningless fling but I don’t think she likes me back and now I’m all confused and I can’t do it with anypony else because then I’ll feel worse plus last night was reeeeally fun and now I’m stuck!” Arils said, finally letting out her thoughts. “I need to find a way to clean this whole mess up, but I’m not sure who to go to! Who would know Noire well...?” She asked rhetorically before the solution became clear.

Arils knocked on the Chief’s door as it opened promptly. “Arils? What in the hell are you doing here at one in the morning?” The yellow stallion asked gruffly, he was covered by a pink bathrobe and held a mug that read “#1 Boss”.

“Wow. Nice bathrobe ‘Chief’...bet it makes your masculinity really shine out, huh?” Arils shot out before the Chief glared down at her, making her re-think what she said and give him a sheepish smile. “Sorry, I guess I shouldn’t really make you mad if I’m coming over to your house to bother you about something.”

“Damn straight, I wear it ‘cause it matches my coat. Now what are you here for?”

“It’s about Noire...” Arils started, receiving a cocked eyebrow and a nod indicating her to continue. “Well, after last night, I’ve started thinking...and, well, I mean. Noire’s a great pony right? And after last night I’ve sort of started maybe...”

She then remembered that the Chief might not know what she was talking about. “Well last night Noire and I engaged in some...uh, some...”

“I’ve never known you as one to get tongue tied, normally you have a hard time shutting up. I’m aware of what transpired between you and my employee-slash-friend last night.” He said, still remaining stoically professional even though Arils caught the gleam of interest in his eye.

“Right. Well. Since then I’ve started thinking about Noire as a sort of more-than friend kinda thing, and not a ‘friends-thatbang-every-now-and-then’ think but a--um--as a...” the Chief sighed and sipped his coffee, grinning.

“I have about seven hours left to spare, and as much as I’d like to spend every minute of it watching you trip over your words like a filly out of kindergarden I regrettably need sleep. So I’ll speed things along by asking what the problem is.”

“Noire’s been acting weird since then, she seems flustered and sort of angry around me...and the angry part is normal but this is a different kind of angry, like a “You did something totally wrong and I’m mad at you for it” kinda angry. I mean, we just had sex! And last night she didn’t seem to mind, in fact she was asking for more! Well, to be honest, I could go so far as to say she was begging-”

“Nope. Stop. Too much.” The Chief said, giving her a sideways look. “I can fill you in a bit about Noire, but that’s all I can do. Her romantic life was always sort of a taboo topic between her and the rest of Equestria.

“Basically, that pony can handle a lot of things well, but Noire’s not very good at social situations. I’m not sure how you could talk to her about this, or even what her problems are, but I know someone who will.” He gave her an even wider grin. “Someone with a PhD who knows a lot more about ponies than we give her credit for.”

Arils’s eyes widened. “You don’t mean...” She only got a nod in response and an address scribbled onto a sheet of paper.