A Second Chance at Love

In the Act

Kuray waited quietly outside the alleyway until the last traces of light petered out over the horizon before falling in with a few other low lives that were going where he was. They walked just in front of him towards the small discreet building, a dull hunger in their eyes; but Kuray, as strange as it was being a changeling, was probably one of the least strange ponies to walk through the door. The only difference was that rather than making a beeping for the bar or one of the platforms he made his way to the bathroom.

He shouldered open the door and picked the stall farthest from it, doing his best to ignore the stallion screaming his throat out from whatever horrors his drugged mind had conjured up. Kuray locked the door and in a bright green flash transformed into the owner of the establishment. He unlocked the door and almost made it to the door before he heard a whoosh behind him and somepony grabbed his mane and he disappeared leaving the stallion alone in the stall screaming something about bees.

"A strip club, you were in a strip club!" Sweetie Elle explained pacing the floor in front of the couch where Kuray and Dusk sat.

"I told you, I was there to help somepony, not watch some mares be whores for bits." Kuray replied aggravated. Sweetie Belle looked at him obviously unconvinced. "Why don't you believe me?" He said standing up.

"Because no one goes into that place for anything but drugs or cheep sex." She shot back, they both locked gazes clearly furious with each other. They stayed that way, arguing silently before Sweetie Belle broke his gaze and stormed upstairs and Kuray out the front door leaving Dusk on the couch alone.

"To be fair, the beer is good to, not just the drugs." He said standing up and walking to the kitchen for an apple before heading back up to his room; but as he reached the landing of the stairs he stopped in his tracks. He perked his ears up and listened closely and his heart sank from inside Sweetie Belle's room he heard her sobbing.

He gently nosed open the door, taking care not to let it creak as he did so. Sweetie belle lay with her head on her pillow and her back to hime. The covers on her bed were balled up around her. She was shivering from crying. Dusk took great care not to let the wooden boards creek under his hooves and was almost at the foot of the bed when the flooring betrayed him. Sweetie Belle's crying immediately stopped and her head whipped around to face him.

Her eyes were red and swollen and narrowed when her gaze locked with his. "What do you want?" She asked him, her voice was hoarse and harsh.

"Listen, I didn't meant for you two to get upset with eachother. There really are ponies there that need help."

"Why couldn't you have found somepony else to do it, why did it have to be Kuray. And why couldn't you have told me before hoof." She paused to take a shaky breath. "I never should have said those things to him."

"Kuray is the only hard core special ops pony that I know. I knew that if I wanted that job to get done that I'd have to trust him to take care of it for me." She opened her mouth to shoot back an angry retort but closed her mouth and let her head fall back onto the pillow. He took another step toward her but she lifted a feeble hoof, "just please, go." She said. Dusk wanted to comfort her, apologize better but he knew whatever he had to say wouldn't make her feel better. He simply nodded and left the room.

A good few hours later sweetie belle was sitting in the den her eyes felt dry and her body sluggish. She sat curled up on the couch with a blanket over her shoulders. There was a small knock at the door,and her heart immediately soared. She threw the blanket off her shoulders and hurried to the door. She turned the lock and pulled it open. Sometimes, it's nice to be right.

Before her on the doorstep was Kuray, looking as handsome as any pony ever had. He was wearing the same grey suit he wore the day he came back(how he got that out of the closet without her knowing she had no idea) with a single white rose in his mouth and a small heart shaped box. His small half way smile and big green eyes locked with hers and she lunged at him and wrapped her fore legs around his neck. He said something that was muffled by the heart shape box in his mouth. "I can't understand a word you're saying." She said smiling.

He let the box fall from his mouth before he spoke. "But wait, there's more." He said cheerily as he stepped away from her and several unicorns in in bright white shirts and khaki slacks walked past her and into the house followed by several silver trays and a small cardboard box. Sweetie Belle looked at him confused but he just beamed back at her and led her inside and to the dining room.

The room she had always used as storage had never looked this good. All the boxes and materials had been taken off and stacked neatly in the small closet at the back of the room leaving only a small table in its center. One of the unicorns spread a pristine white table cloth across it while another placed several small candles and plates. Two more unicorns walked in from the kitchen with large silver trays suspended in the air by their magic and they sat them down in the center of the table while the final unicorn lit the candles. After all of this they all stepped back from the table and watched as Kuray pulled out sweetie belle's chair like a true gentle colt before going over to them and whispering in the ear of the one in the middle. He nodded and turned to walk out flanked by the rest of the squad of unicorns while Kuray turned his attention to her.

"What's all this?" She asked, her cheeks glowed with rouge.

"My way of saying sorry for earlier." He replied sitting down across from her though the table wasn't very big.

"But all this isn't really necessary for me." A wide beautiful smile adorned her face.

"For you, everything is necessary." He said as he rand his hoof along her cheek.