Love-Hate

It was all hazy when I awoke, groggy and lightheaded, and close to vomiting. What woke me up? Bleh, it felt like my skull was shrinking in on itself. I felt something beside me move, slowly at first, but then begun to yank at my sheets. Was it some kind of monster? Or assassin? I looked over to my left, perplexed, and tried to focus my eyes.

She looked at me back, with a blush on her cheeks. She was sitting up, the blankets covering her topmost parts, for some strange reason. We didn’t have tits. The blankets were pulled down just a bit more, to the top of my stomach, and she finally stopped. I noticed her rubbing her head and sighing, looking back at me; while I stared at her while not cracking a smile, but all the while being happy.

For a moment while she looked away, I lifted the covers up and noticed how red my penis was. Weird, didn’t burn y—OW. HOLY FUCK.

I made a hissing noise by sucking in through my teeth, and that caught her attention. She lay back down with a thwump, and stared at me for quite a while, not saying a word. I rested my head on one hoof, and stared into her eyes.

After a beat, she opened her mouth, and spoke. “Flux.”

“Hmmmm?” I sighed, but also asked, still in my dreamy, groggy-like state. Most likely came off as all happy that she was there. And I was.

She looked nervous, and antsy. “W-well, uh, did you use protection?” Definitely knew we did the do. I nodded my head slowly, and tilted it as a dog would. “What’s wrong, Ghostly?” I was still very tired.

“W-well, it’s just that, I wasn’t expecting to wake up next to you when I passed out… Uh, especially with my sore… Rear.” A blush came to her face.

“Oh! But, uhm, I know it looks bad, but I did say no at first. But then you kinda, yanked me by the tail and… Started sucking.”

Confusion was prominent in her expression, but she chose not to say anything. She didn’t say much, but I could feel that she wasn’t exactly angry or ashamed, or hell, it almost felt like she didn’t mind that we did it. In a good way.

“So. How did we come to uh, you know, fuck? Why am I here?” Ghostly started.

“Well, at the party, you took a sip of that drugged drink. I was afraid that –someone- was gonna take advantage of you, so I took you home. This is my place by the way.”

“Didn’t you take advantage of me, though?” She asked, with a sly grin.

“No, like I said, I said no at first. It was more like you took advantage of me.” Smiling right back, I started to get up for the door, to give her time to recuperate.

“Wait, did Cari’s girlfriend know about her rapey tendencies?” Ghostly asked. I suppose it wasn’t exactly hard to figure out who drugged the drink.

“Heheh… No. But I’m telling Lee the moment I can. It’ll be good fun. Now c’mon, get rid of that headache and come outside, I should probably get you to your own home.”

Ghostly let out a muffled ‘okay’ as she slumped back into her pillow, and rested up for a few hours. Later on, I had set out some water for her next to the bed, on the table. I’ve heard it was the best cure for a hangover, so, may as well give it a shot.

I sat alone in the living room, feeling both guilt and amusement. I took advantage of her, in a way, but really, she wanted me that bad? ‘She had enough control to not want Caritas, as I had learned last night on my walk home. It was hazy, but she asked for Ghost at one point, and she flat-out refused. I laughed pretty hard back there. So, does Ghostly honestly want me for me? Maybe she wants to date me? Hohooooh, man, I’m feeling pretty lucky right now. Maybe. Hope I’m right.’

I flipped on the television; it was in Russian on most channels but the news for some unknown reason. It was like that when I bought it and assembled it. Rather than ask someone for help in fixing it, I tried learning the language. I can only understand about half of what the characters on-screen are saying.

This weird show that was playing was called Sherlok Kholms. It was about some detective dude, solving crime and kicking baddies in the dick!

After some time, I heard hooffalls coming from the direction of my room, and I heard the cutest little kitten yawn emanate from the source. Looking back, I noticed she looked a lot more awake than before, despite her yawns.

Before I could speak to her and call her a cutie, she interjected.

“Hey Flux, wanna go out for some coffee? My treat.”

The coffee shop loomed over us as we walked through the glass doors of the place, its height blocking out the sun from our eyes and keeping us enclosed in darkness. It was the afternoon hours, so the place was rather empty, with a few regulars here and there. I didn’t take the time to notice the sign.

A neon thing was placed on the window, which read out ‘OPEN’ in big bold letters, while the lights would move around in a circle to advertise the place. I held the door for Ghostly, and she walked inside in kind, with me following just behind her. Her ass was pretty damn nice, if I do say so myself.

I thought she caught on that I was staring, as her tail swished to one side, but I quickly looked away with a slight blush. We sat ourselves down inside, meanwhile I got plenty of stares from the other customers.

“So, you want a…?” I started, and she finished my sentence for me. “A hot chocolate!”

She sounded incredibly happy when she uttered those words, and I couldn’t help but smile brightly at her. She handed me a few bits, and I went up to the counter to get our drinks. The cashier shrunk down as I approached, despite me trying to put on my best smile. I guess those fangs really do scare off some ponies.

He gave me the drinks for free. He said frantically, “H-hey man, it’s cool! Y-you can get them on the house, j-just please don’t suck the love from me!” Huh. Well, can’t complain, but I was truly offended at his overt racism.

I sucked half the love out of him when he wasn’t looking. Hey, a man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do. I looked back at Ghostly, and felt a smaller amount of love emanate from her. It was significant, but not her entire supply. Smiling sheepishly, I turned around and told the cashier what I wanted, and he immediately went and got them, nearly tossing them at me as he came back, and ducked under the counter.

A coffee for me and a hot chocolate, with mountains of whipped cream and a chocolate drizzle for her. My coffee was black this time, but still had a bitter pumpkin flavor to it, which I loved. She took a drink of her hot chocolate (which she was –very- eager to receive, so much so that she bounced up and down when she laid eyes on it!), and brought the cup down to reveal a whipped cream beard.

“So, why did you take me out for coffee, lovey? I mean, I should be making it up to you, not the other way around.”

“Iunno… I guess for being drunk? And, to make it up to you for genuinely trying to help me and keep me safe in my drunken state. You know how rare it is for a guy to do that? Rare.”

I blushed, and looked down at my coffee, thinking back a bit. It’s rare for me to be kind to just anyone. I wonder… Why I was so open and kind to her now, having just met her? I’m not usually like this. It’s almost like there’s some kind of connection, but, I can’t exactly place my hoof on it…

“Flux!” Ghostly said softly, and I jerked my head upward. She booped my nose with a whipped cream covered hoof, and giggled. I laughed heartily, and wiped it off, licking the tip of my hoof.

“Cutie.” I commented, without realizing it. Whoops!

She blushed at that, but before I had time to say a word about it, two large figures burst through the coffee shop’s doors. Shit, I thought, the Royal fucking Guards. Who had called them, and dubbayoo tee aytch, man?

“Ghostly. When I tell you to run, you book it with me.” I whispered, just as a guard came closer to me. I shot her a look to see if she understood, and she nodded at me in agreement.

“You, Mr. Chord. We know about your secret. I think it’s time you came with us.” The sergeant spoke gruffly, and seemed malevolent. I met with this particular one before, his name was Bastion. He was the first on the scene of the infamous Manehatten Power Disaster Number One. The first to see the ruins, and the first to see me climbing out of them alive. “Come on, you need to come with us, or you’ll make things harder for you and your girlfriend.”

Hah!

“Run.” I said that, as I jumped up and bit into Bastion’s throat deeply, causing him to bleed profusely but not enough to kill him. He cried and yelped in pain, begging his buddy to help, but I had already changed into my true form. The shock of it all scared the rookie away, and he sprinted away, in lieu of Ghostly, who had also disappeared.

Finishing Bastion off with a knockout move, I bandaged him up real quick with a towel, and ran for the hills to wherever Ghost had gotten off to. Hopefully she wasn’t too afraid of me after that whole spiel.

I could only expect it, though, it always happens. But, ya never know, so I went to find her, tracking her by her slightly weak love trail. I heard sirens off in the distance behind me, so I was forced to disguise myself as my pony form again, in hopes that they’d forget who to look for. I kept walking towards my apartment, because the scent was coming from around that area.

The sun was beginning to set, an orange-red hue with a dash of purple filling the sky. I could just barely see it over the buildings I was hiding behind, in alleys, but it looked pretty all the same.

Then I heard the screams. It was…

“GHOSTLY!!!” My voice boomed in an echo through the empty scene, and I heard more screams in response. It was coming from my apartment, and I could feel her love trail slowly fleeting. I spared no time, using the teleportation spell I learned in my first days. I arrived at my front door, and kicked it through, nearly making the steel door crumble under my panicked force.

“Ghostly, where the fuck are you?!” I yelled, as she shouted once more in kind. They were shouts of immense pain.

The storage room was where I discovered a bloodied Ghostly laying on the floor, and a stunned Caritas looming over her. Ghostly’s eye was bleeding like a fountain, and she was punching at her nose trying to brain herself. Caritas was grinning, but it quickly disappeared when she saw my pure rage on my face. My muscles tensed up, showing through my fur and making me look colossal.

“You bitch. You fucking whore.” I said under a fiery breath. Literally, as a small green fire spouted from my mandibles. Two spikes on either side of my face poked through, dripping blood onto the carpet. A large horn sprouted from my forehead, breaking through skin. Armor pierced through my joints and chest cavity, and a large glowing purple crystal gleamed in the sunset light.

I took a heavy step towards Caritas, growling loudly at her while Ghost moaned in pain off to the side. She looked more ethereal than before, somehow.

“Come closer. I have a fucking bone to pick right now, and it’s not gonna be pleasant.” I jammed my hoof into her knee, causing a loud snap, and I looked her in the eyes when they filled with fear. Then with anger.

“This is your fault, you tool! You just had to try and st-steal another one from me! Nobody loves you, Flux, just fucking get it through your thick skull! Nobody loves you and nobody ever will!”

I slapped her as hard as I could, hearing jawbone crunch under the force of my hit. Luckily for her, she healed rather quickly, but I placed another hit in the same place, crunching the already broken bones.

“If nobody loves me, then nobody gets to love you.” I said harshly. Growling came off from the side in Ghostly’s direction. Her screaming stopped a few minutes ago, I noticed.

“You’re an idiot, you know that! You blew up Manehattan twice, killed plenty of ponies, and you can never keep a lover for like, more than a week!” Caritas yelled at me, and I hit her in the throat, silencing her.

Ghostly lunged forward, and grabbed Caritas in a chokehold. “Wh-what?! That was supposed to kill you!” She yelped, as Ghost held her tighter.

“Well, you’re stupid for underestimating me then, aren’t you?” Ghost replied, an ice-cold chill to her tone. She froze a spike of ice to her hoof, and cut a line down Caritas’ collarbone, freezing the blood that dripped down.

“You’re naïve,” she said, “using a dangerous power to try and kill me? I’m not a defenseless little filly, Cari.” Her icy hoof cut further down, and she pointed it at Caritas’ eye. Caritas was silent, and I had wanted Ghost to stab her brains out, but I moved forward to stop her.

Caritas was thrust into my body, and I held her stable, while Ghostly readied her arm. “Thanks for holding her, babe!”

A loud rip resounded from Cari’s back, and screams were screamed into my shoulder, as she bit me. I jerked my shoulder, ripping out a tooth, and hit her in the jaw. Ghostly smiled from behind her, looking even more ethereal, and… Pardon the pun, ghostly. And misty. Two wings, that of a changeling, were held in her hooves.

I threw Caritas aside, probably breaking her nose in the process, and grabbed Ghostly by the shoulders. “Ghostly, what the hell is getting into you?” My grip was immediately released as she jerked my arm away, and she moved closer to me.

Tenderly, she brushed the bristly stubble of my beard, and she whispered to me. I felt strange, I wanted her, I still loved her, but… I felt as though she hated me. It was a love-hate kind of thing going on with her.

“Tell me how it feels.” She started lowly. “What does it feel like to love, but to never be loved?”

I clenched my teeth together, in hurt anger, and felt a fang stab my lip. I took a deep breath, and looked directly into her eyes.

“Tell me what happens when you get fired. Tell me what it feels like to be worthless, useless.” She didn’t stop taunting me, for an unknown reason, I wasn’t aware of any reason she’d be like this. I was scared, hurt, and most of all…

Angry.

“Ghostly, god-dammit, will you stop?” I inched forward a bit, and growled. She was unfazed, and kept taunting me about my failures and how I’ll never amount to anything. Finally having enough of it, I shoved her forward and pinned her to the wall. “If you don’t shut up… Bad things will happen…”

“Go on, get angry. Make the bad things happen, why don’t you show me how powerful you are! Or are you really just a weak man in a strong guise?”

I slapped her. Hard. Pinning her to the ground, I demanded Caritas get some chains from one of the boxes. At first she refused, but then I threatened her with a now incredibly pissed off Ghostly. She abided, after I slowly started to let go of her hooves.

Caritas chained her hooves down, and hammered in rivets to the floor to anchor them in, and I was able to get off of Ghostly without her jumping up to kill me. “Now…”

“What, you big oaf?” Caritas interrupted. I grabbed a fang of hers, and pulled her forward.

“Tell me what the fuck just happened.”