Author's Note

Edited this chapter's name and added some more words. Be happy.

~Dragon

Chapter XXVIII, Part I- Starlight

The two sat there still locked in an embrace, tears flooding out of closed eyes. One gasped in short, frequent bouts as she cried, the other merely clutching her in silence. The night almost seemed to slow itself down, letting the duo have a few more moments that felt like horribly long hours.

The pair of emerald wings that obscured one of them lifted like a veil of feathers before folding at the sides of the owner. Other than Yuuki’s hushed, muffled sobs, all was silent. Not even the tears that could fall to the floor made a sound.

Then, Yuuki’s sobs grew quieter as the minutes dragged on. Eventually, she fell completely silent, only the tears that still came from her eyes serving as testimony to her distress in the darkness.

Even so, the embrace she and Nagare shared was not broken for a single second.

Nagare opened his eyes to see the stars shining beyond the window again. “Yuuki?” He asked, his saddened voice kept to a whisper. He used his wings to wipe away his tears.

Yuuki shifted a bit, her head moving as she looked up. “Yes…?” She inquired, her voice still riddled with hints of sadness.

“There’s…” The stallion paused and gulped hard, like a golf ball somehow got stuck sideways in his throat. Something else churned in his mind and body, but he could not put his hoof on exactly what it was at the moment.

Yuuki’s wings twitched, and for a minute, they rose into the air before falling back down as limp as they had been prior. She then removed her forelegs off of the green stallion and backed away a little bit to give him some personal space, arching an eyebrow as she waited for him to speak, taking the time to wipe away whatever tears were still present on her face with a hoof.

Nagare flared his wings wide suddenly, the starlight barely illuminating his frame. His front hooves touched the floor, only for a second, before being raised like a dog begging for food. Again, the odd feeling within him churned, and this time he shuddered a little bit as the feeling died down.

“You...you had something to say, right?” Yuuki inquired, her own wings flaring wide as if in response. Her ears twitched briefly, then rose up straight.

“Yes...I do…” Nagare trailed off, his tail swishing back and forth behind him. He flapped his wings once, then twice. Thanks to the starlight, Yuuki caught a mere glimpse of the stallion as he shuddered again.

“Then why won’t--” Yuuki started, only to stop as the stallion got off his rump, walked to her, and pulled her in for another embrace with his forelegs and wings. This time, however, her eyes widened in pure shock as her lips were locked with his in a fraction of a second. She was completely paralyzed once more, her mind screaming at her to reject this advance.

All she could muster the strength to do, though, was put one of her front hooves on his chest and try to nudge him away. Nagare immediately took the hint and was quick to break the embrace of lips and bodies. Raging blushes overcame the faces of the two, and both sets of ears fell flat on skulls.

Yuuki shook, a mixture of shock and embarrassment plastered onto her face. “W-w-w-w-w-w…” She stuttered before blowing a raspberry at an inability to form any other coherent words and trying to speak clearly again, “what was that for??”

The stallion nervously rubbed a foreleg with the other hoof, his own eyes wide as he realized just what it was he had done. The odd feeling churned inside once more, and his wings snapped shut against his sides. His face was redder than that of the mare he embraced.

Again, he acted without answering, once more pulling her into a hug. This time, he held her tighter with his forelegs. He gulped hard again, and he blinked a few times. “I...I...I want you.” He said, and only then did his own words hit him harder than a freight train. His eyes returned to normal, except his eyelids slanted halfway over them. Now, he felt horrible as his wings fell to the floor.

“But...why would you want me? I’ve already been degraded…” Yuuki trailed off, tears threatening to well in her eyes again. “...and I’m pregnant.”

“That doesn’t matter. You could either get the pregnancy terminated, or give the kid up for adoption and never speak of it again.” Nagare quickly pointed out, a bout of pain making itself known in his gut. “When...when has that ever…” He trailed off, gulping hard as he struggled to find words that eluded him.

Yuuki let his words sink in for a moment or two. “I...guess you’re right about that.” She said, her ears perking up. “But...don’t we have to visit a doctor first?”

“I’ll take you there myself if I have to.” Nagare replied, his wings slowly closing again. He broke the embrace, then turned tail and crept to the door. He turned his head towards the mare before jerking it a little bit. Yuuki sighed and walked towards him, making sure her hooves did not make even the slightest sound.

The duo made their way down the stairs, and towards the door which was then opened after a key was thrust into a lock and turned. They quickly set hoof into the dimly-lit streets after shutting the door behind them and glanced around. From what they could tell, nobody else had been out and about. Only the stars illuminated their path, and they began to walk to the north of town.

Slowly, the two went to their destination in silence. Neither said a word to the other, at first.

"Will they be able to get rid of it?" Yuuki asked, eyes welling up with tears again.

"They should be able to. They have medicines for that type of thing...or, at least, I hope they do here." The stallion responded dejectedly, a frown adorning his muzzle.

"What if they don't have the medicine?" The mare asked, a single tear streaking down her cheek and landing on the cobblestone. "What if...they can't give it?"

Nagare hesitated, the words of his friend sinking in. What if her fears weren't unfounded? For all he knew, the hospital may not have had the needed medicine. "Then we'll just have to settle for giving it to an orphanage." He answered, finally.

"But, the Quartet's running around...and I need to fight..." The purple pegasus murmured, another tear falling from her face.

"And if you can't fight, then it's more likely we're goners." Nagare finished for her, cringing at the thought. "I can't begin to imagine what they'd do to innocent bystanders if they're willing to...to..." He paused, anger swelling in his rushing blood again. "Or to the others...for that matter."

Yuuki hastily glanced around the darkened town, another tear streaking her face. The image of the Quartet destroying many things, innocent ponies amongst those things, raced through her mind. Of all the damage they could cause. The terror, the pain, the suffering, the cries for help...she stopped in her tracks, the possible scenarios playing out in their worst fashion within the very fabric of her mental gears.

The stallion also stopped, turning to his friend with worry flashing in his eyes. "We mustn't stall." He said, causing her to look at him.

"I know..." Yuuki murmured, her voice once more riddled with sadness. Fear was swelling in her eyes, and even in the darkness barely touched by starlight, her fellow pegasus could see it.

"Let's gallop the rest of the way. Perhaps it could take your mind off of..." Nagare paused, searching for words, "whatever's bothering you now."

The purple pegasus nodded, and both ponies then broke out into a mad gallop towards the hospital. The teens stopped dead in their tracks as they were about to pass the street with the gingerbread house, though, when a bright crimson glow flared like a lantern before them, a gold-pelted unicorn stallion standing just beneath it with a scowl imbedded in his muzzle.

His crimson set of eyes stared right at the mare, and as they did, his scowl became a twisted smile. He sighed before he spoke. “Oh, shouldn’t you avoid just walking about in the dead of night?”

Yuuki’s wings snapped open from sheer impulse, and her eyes widened. The dark purple feathers almost made it seem like something else had been standing behind her. “I refuse to be your plaything!” She cried out.

The unicorn rose one foreleg in surprise. His eyes then narrowed low, the scowl once more adorning his face. His jaw worked up and down, yet he could not form words.

Nagare also spread his wings wide, a scowl present on his own face. “You are not laying a hoof on another hair on her body, Maki!” He declared, stomping one of his hooves into the ground.

“What is this…?” Maki said at last, lowering his raised foreleg into the dirt. “You...you are with someone else, you filthy harlot?!” He cried, his horn glowing brighter as if resonating with his tone of voice.

“She’s not your whore!” Nagare hissed, his wings spread as wide as they could go. "I'm not letting you take her through another night of hell!!"

The stallion’s horn flared brighter still, and a crimson aura cascaded much of the area behind him. He took the building that looked like it could house a merry-go-round in its frame (the town hall) and set it behind himself as it quickly grew legs, head and horn. “So be it!” He cried as his most recent monstrosity roared like a dragon.