Mirror Finale

Princess led me to the end of the driveway, where a small blue car was parked. A quick scan of my memory matched it to one that I'd seen outside Canterlot High on the night of her party, but I couldn't guess who it belonged to. I was still in a daze, and almost walked past it until she opened the door for me. I got in and stared at my feet while she strapped herself into the driver's side. She started the car, but we didn't move. She just gripped the steering wheel and stared straight ahead. "Twilight, talk to me," she said. "Are you going to be okay?"

I folded my hands and didn't look at her. "I'll be fine," I said. "I'm just being stupid. You deserve a better last day than this."

"No. Twilight." She glanced at me and put more weight behind her words. "Are you going to be okay?"

That was harder to answer. I took my time pretending to think, going over lists of names and events in my head, doing everything I could to avoid the real question. "I think," I said, electing for the answer she wanted, "as long as I have my friends, I'll be okay."

"...Good." She sighed faintly with relief. "I know you will be. I believe in you." She put the car in drive and we slowly peeled away from the curb, rapidly accelerating.

I distracted myself by watching the pavement roll by. Growing up, I'd always assumed that Shining Armour would be the one to teach me how to drive. Once he'd left, and with my general aversion to being in public, those lessons had simply never happened. Relying on my bike for everything had seemed preferable to asking my mom for help. "How did you get your license?" I asked, hoping envy wasn't creeping into my voice.

"I didn't. Applejack taught me."

"What?" A chill burst in my gut and I finally looked at her, bug-eyed. "Are you crazy? This is illegal! What happens if we get pulled over? What happens if you hit something? Do you have any idea what would happen to you if-"

Her face silenced me before her voice did. Her expression unfolded with the finality of a mask falling away, leaving a carefully restrained intensity in its place. "Twilight, I need you to not distract me," she ordered. She shifted up a gear and we lurched forward with a roar. "Because we are going to be going exactly the speed limit."

Ten nail-biting minutes later, the car came to a halt. I cracked an eye open and looked around in confusion, catching sight of a familiar basketball net with Flash Sentry's crest emblazoned on it. "Wait, here?" I said. "I thought we were going to check on-"

Princess was already getting out of the car. She moved with haste I'd never seen from her before, almost forgetting to even close her door as she rushed away. By the time I got outside she was rapidly ringing Flash's doorbell, a kind of mania coming unburied in her eyes as I caught up. "Princess?" I hesitantly folded my arm across myself, uncertain of whether to reach out to her. "Are you... okay?"

The door opened before I could determine if she had any intention of answering me. Flash Sentry stood there in his usual getup, his concern mirroring mine. "Twilight?" he said.

The next thing either of us knew, she was clinging to him. Her head pressed against his chest, her arms wrapped so tight around him that her whole body shook. Flash almost stumbled back, hesitantly putting his arms around her in kind. He looked at me; I gave him what I hoped was an equally confused look. "I just got your message," he said to her. "You had me worried. Is something wrong?"

"Wrong?" Her reply came out choked. "How could anything be wrong today? I'm finally going home."

One of her hands crawled up his side and to his shoulder, gripping him tightly. "All I've wanted since I came to this stupid world is to take my crown and go back to Equestria," she continued. "I just want my body back. I just want to see my friends again. And thanks to Shimmer, it's finally happening."

"Twilight..." He whispered to her, reflexively stroking her hair. "We don't even know if it's going to-"

"It is going to work. We've checked all our notes. We've filled all the requirements. All it will take is one small push to break through, and I'll leave this place behind for good. And then I'll be where I belong again." Her fingers traced around the edges of his neck, grasping at his skin. "I'll never feel sick to be in my own body again. I'll never drop something because I forget that I can't use magic. I'll never have to hide the fact that I exist or miss all the most important days of my friends' lives. And Spike won't die of old age in front of me, and I'll never have another nightmare about what's been happening without me, and I'll never have to see or even think about this stupid alternate world ever again."

Her hand formed a clumsy fist and beat weakly against his chest. "This is the happiest day of my life."

Flash held her for a moment, bowing his head in thought. He kissed her cheek and scooped her up, carrying her across the threshold. "Come on," he said, and disappeared indoors. I followed a few paces behind, closing the door behind me.

He settled in the living room, falling backwards onto a sofa and letting Princess curl up in his lap. I hadn't paid much attention to this part of the house on my first visit, and found that my eyes glazed over it even now. Everything was either a shade of white or brown and looked like it had come straight out of a showroom; the end table was bare, the sofa without a crease, the TV pointed in slightly the wrong direction. Even the carpet was suspiciously springy beneath my bare feet. Unlike Flash's messy loft upstairs, this was a room for looking at, not for living in. "My parents are working late again," Flash said, and his tone took a small step towards explaining this. "We can have the whole day here if you want it."

I crept forward awkwardly and sat against the sofa's arm. From here, I could see that Princess had her eyes tightly shut. "I don't hate you," she mumbled, refusing to take her head away from his chest.

"I know you don't."

"I love this world. I love everyone in it. I wish I could spend the rest of my life here."

"But you love your homeworld more. I get that. I've always known."

"I just..." She raised her fist and punched him again, even more weakly than before. "Why did you have to be so perfect?"

He didn't speak; he knew when not to. He just held her as a sob broke from her lips and she clutched at him with an intensity that I didn't want to recognize in myself. I shifted, wanting to look away but unable to. I wondered if either of them remembered why I was there.

But slowly, Flash looked up at me, and he gestured for me to come closer. I didn't want to; in fact, I almost fled. But Flash glanced at her, and then back to me, and I understood. "She needs you," he mouthed at me.

By the time I'd shuffled over to sit against his side, Princess was kissing him. She buried her fingers in his hair and pressed herself against his lips, his cheek, breathing softly onto him without even noticing me. I rested my head on his shoulder and watched them while they made out. She kissed him desperately, trying to bury her tears with passion, while he stayed gentle and gave way to her, holding her tightly in place. They were perfect for each other, him and her. Even in their darkest moments, they still brought out something beautiful in each other.

I'd been stupid to think that I could ever have that.

My fingers twitched. I curled them up and rested my hand against my sternum, keeping it firm and steady. If I didn't, I knew that I would reach out and touch Flash's chest. My traitorous eyes kept gluing themselves to his lips, and my cheeks burned with jealousy. I was awful for wanting him. I kept my head perfectly still, doing absolutely nothing that might distract him from devoting all of himself to Princess. Maybe it comforted her to know that I was there, but he didn't need me. He never would.

"I love you," Princess whispered to him. "I love you. I love you. I love you."

"I know," he whispered back.

"Don't let me go." She rubbed the tip of her nose against his and then crushed their foreheads together, leaking tears through tightened eyelids. "I won't leave you."

"You have to."

"I don't want to."

"You have to. And you know that I can't follow." He cut off her protest with another kiss and tenderly rubbed her back. "I always knew that one day you'd find a way to go back home," he said. "I've been preparing myself for this for a long time. I'm going to miss you. I'll never stop thinking about you. But as long as I know that you're where you belong, and that you're happy... then that can be enough."

"And what about me?" She sobbed and clung to him. "How can I be happy when you're so far away?"

"Then you can think of me, thinking of you."

She whimpered and coiled around him, planting more kisses on his cheek and neck. Her face came close to mine, close enough that her hair fell over me. I still didn't move. When our cheeks brushed she flinched back and opened her eyes, probably only just noticing that I was there. She stared at me, and I stared back blankly, feeling nothing. There was a kind of desperation in her eyes, something longing and pleading, but whatever she was trying to communicate with her gaze, I couldn't or wouldn't understand it. All I wanted was to remove myself from the situation as much as possible.

"Flash?" she whispered.

"Yeah?"

"In a few hours, this body won't exist any more."

In slow, jerky movements, Princess pushed herself off of him and stood up. She crossed the room at the same pace and, in a deliberate, exaggerated motion, drew the curtains closed. Still facing away, she started toying with the buttons on her shirt. "What happens to me doesn't matter any more," she said. "If there's anything you've wanted to do to me... to this body..."

She slid her shirt off, letting it fall to the floor. Her skirt followed. Her underwear was black and lacy, completely different from the plain stuff that I wore. Flash barely moved; I guessed that this was just as surreal to him as it was to me. "Twilight..." he said.

"Anything you want," Princess interrupted. "I'm yours." She turned around and tried to sway her hips seductively as she walked back. It still looked better than it would have if I'd done it - she actually had hips to sway - but combined with her face there was something awkward and off-putting about it. It might have been funny under different circumstances. "I've... been doing some research," she said. Her shaking voice hinted as to what this might have entailed. "I'll do anything you want. Any fantasy, any position, anything you want me to say..." Her voice dropped to a whisper. "...butt stuff..."

She dropped to her knees in front of him and started pawing at his pants. This display was definitely working for Flash; I could feel him getting flushed all the way through his shirt. But as Princess fumbled for his zipper, he pushed me off of him and grabbed her by the wrists. "You don't have to do this," he said.

"Please." She looked up at him with the same look she'd given me. "Let me give you what you want."

"I don't want this. I won't let your last memory of this world to be of something that hurt you."

"You don't hurt me." She shielded her face from him by pressing it against his thigh. "You never hurt me."

"Twilight, stop it." He stood up, pulling her into his arms. "All I want," he said gently, "is whatever makes you happy."

"What makes me happy is giving you what you want."

"Twilight, no." He crushed her against his chest. "This is your day. Not mine. Tell me what you really want."

She was silent for a little while, thinking while she held him. Then she spoke, as if from a great distance. "I want to pretend that this could have worked. That this wasn't a mistake. I want to look back on these past two years and not hate them. And I want to remember you as someone... someone I could have been happy with. Someone who would have been happy to be with me." She put a finger to his lips as he tried to protest again and looked up at him with big, watery eyes. "For one day, forget that I'm a pony. Forget that I'm your princess. One last time, just once, I want you to make love to me..." Then something sharp and burning came unsheathed in her voice. "The same way you made love to her."

She didn't look at me. But Flash did. Several long seconds passed and he turned his head, just enough that I could catch a glimpse of his eye, and shot me a look of such pure contempt that I withered back against the cushions. Not that he let me distract him. As I curled up into a tight, nauseous ball, wishing I could disappear but unable to look away, he grasped her tight and bent her back into the most intense kiss of her life.

Nothing else seemed to matter. I could actually see her mind go blank as she gave in to the kiss, her limbs going limp one after the other. He tore her bra off of her and roughly groped her. This wasn't how he'd been with me. "Is this what you want?" he growled into her ear.

"Yes..." she sighed happily.

Flash bent her over his arm and yanked her panties aside. He ran his fingers over her butt and thigh, still slowly and erotically, but charged with a pornographic urgency that was all new to him. I started to get flushed just watching. Every touch from him created a phantasmal tingle across me, and without thinking I squeezed my legs even tighter to cut off the heat growing between them. Princess was loving it, already swinging her hips to try to catch a touch where it mattered, and I felt sick as I thought about how much I wanted to be where she was.

Princess moaned as Flash finally made contact. She closed her eyes and let one of my stupid grins cover her face. Even though I couldn't properly see, I could still feel somehow every press of Flash's perfect fingers, rubbing her from behind and teasingly slipping inside her. She moaned appreciatively, but Flash's face was set. He sighed, a small sound as faint and alarming as the first creak of a collapsing tower; or, even more momentous, a sign that Flash of all people was finally starting to lose his patience.

The stimulation got to be too much for her. Breaking away, Princess dropped to her knees and started tugging at Flash's jeans. He helped her, exposing his erection to the air. My lips half-consciously parted at the sight. She didn't dive onto him right away like I would have, but instead started with his leg, slowly kissing her way up his thigh. When she finally reached his penis she extended her tongue and ran her lips all the way up one side, sucked the tip for just a moment, and then traveled down again to start on his other leg. I admired her restraint, but also knew that this was about more than pleasure for her. Inside her head, she was committing every inch of skin to memory.

Flash stood stiffly, obviously feeling torn. "You don't have to-" he started to say again.

"I want to." She kissed one of his testicles and breathed in deeply, taking him in. His shaft stretched a little longer as she measured it with her face, then began to caress it with her tongue. "These body parts," she mumbled in between sloppy licks. "They're the cause of... so many problems... but they feel... and taste... so good..."

Then she paused. Ever so slightly, with her tongue pressed against Flash's penis the whole time, she turned her head and looked at me. What little flushed motion I'd started up instantly froze. With a teasing smile on her face, she raised an arm and beckoned me closer with one finger.

I didn't want to move. I even tried to resist, clenching my legs as they rolled forward off the sofa. But I couldn't stop. Princess needed my body more than I did; it was totally under her control. She kept smiling as I came to her on my knees, then drew me up close to her and kissed my cheek. With a look of understanding, she held Flash's penis and pointed it toward me.

I felt a cold stabbing in my heart. So this was why she'd brought me here. Not for me, or even for comfort, but just so she could use me as a sex toy in her final fling with Flash. She'd just assumed that letting her and Flash use me for their pleasure would be more important to me than finally talking to my only brother again. But then - my thoughts darkened further - why wouldn't she? Sex was the only thing we'd ever been able to bond over. She was the one who had all the friendship, and magic, and the ability to make the world a better place. All I could do was make people scared and angry - even my family and so-called friends. The only advantage I had was a more cooperative body. As far as she was concerned, having sex was the only thing I was good for... for anyone.

Not that I hesitated. I took his penis in my mouth and started sucking like the slut I was.

Everything else was flung away to the back of my mind. In seconds, this blow job was my world. It wasn't the sensations that overwhelmed me, but more the intense closeness of it, the accepting of this precious part inside my head. I'd fantasized about this object of my lust for so long, and having it in such incredible proximity - being able to scan it from a nose's length away, tasting it with my tongue, feeling minuscule droplets of creamy warmth flow into me as I sucked him deeper and deeper - was erotic in a way that even intercourse wasn't. I grabbed Flash's butt and pulled myself onto him as much as I could without gagging, straining and yearning for the inches that stayed outside of me.

Flash moaned, and another drip of pre-ejaculate coated the inside of my cheek. I moaned back and lost myself in him even more. My lips curled and tightened, systematically searching for the optimal position to give pleasure, while my tongue swirled even faster. I started to slide my head back and forth along his shaft; wasn't that what girls were supposed to do? I wasn't sure, but when Flash made another noise I kept it up, determined to get this right for him. I was a good girl. I was a real girl. I had to be.

Princess came into my view again, sliding under my arm and kissing Flash's testicles where I couldn't reach. I subtly tried to nudge her aside. She got the hint but stayed cuddled next to me, starting to unbutton my shirt. As soon as it was halfway undone she reached inside to play with my breasts through my bra. I couldn't protest, not with a penis in my mouth, so instead decided to ignore it. She's just doing it for Flash, I decided, paying no mind to my stiffening nipples. She just wants... to put on... a show...

The heat was too much. I pulled Flash's jeans all the way to the floor and awkwardly tried to get them all the way off of him, never stopping my sucking for even a second. When he didn't respond, I let my gaze trail up. Flash was looking down, but not at me. His hand reached out behind me to cup some part of Princess, and from the contented little gasps she was making in my ear, she was more than enjoying his touch. I pulled myself off of Flash's penis and hung my head, stifling a cry that I didn't even want to identify. Don't let them see this, I ordered, setting my face. Don't ruin this for her.

This came just in time. The moment that I fixed a vacant grin onto my face, four hands grabbed me, lifting me and pulling my shirt the rest of the way off. A button pinged off against the wall and my skin was exposed. And then, without warning, Flash was on me. Suddenly his hand was on my butt and the other in my hair, raising me against him while he dropped to his knees, and his beautiful lips were on my neck, kissing me so gently I thought I would melt. More nimble hands unclasped my bra, and as soon as that was off his face slid lower, sucking on my breasts like only he could. Liquid warmth filled me as he crushed me down to the soft carpet, pressing into me.

I reached for him and missed, instead grabbing a handful of Princess as she bent over us. She put a fabric barrier between us by pulling Flash's shirt off, stripping him completely. The material fell over my face, and for a few moments I just lay there, greedily breathing in Flash's scent. When I finally took it off of me, Flash was beside me on his back. Princess lay on top of him, her bra hanging off one arm and her right breast in his mouth, smiling dreamily while both his hands stroked up and down her spine. All I could do was gape at them, losing myself again in feeling myself in her place.

Heaving, Princess rolled them both over, placing herself under him. His mouth roamed over her as she slid down him, now rough again, sinking his fingers into her soft arms. Princess fumbled down below, twisting her legs, and then teasingly raised her hand in front of his eyes with her panties hanging from one finger. A moment of understanding passed between them like lightning. Subtly, their breathing changed. Princess spread her legs, and Flash grasped her even tighter. Their lips met. A ripple passed through them both, starting at their heads and ending just before their legs, and at the moment of connection, when Flash slid decisively inside her, I felt something deep within me shatter.

I floated in red, unable to move, watching the proceedings as if it was on a screen. Flash and Princess humped madly at each other, each completely absorbed in the other's body. There wasn't any tenderness or what I wanted to call love in there; they rutted like lust-crazed animals. When they weren't sucking each other's faces they made borderline-inhuman noises, low, frenzied grunts from Flash, high-pitched whinnies from Princess. I barely recognized the boy I loved or the girl I should have been in either of them. These were just... bodies.

My finger slipped under the waist of my skirt. Without thinking about it, I shimmied out of the remains of my clothes, leaving me naked on the floor. I started rubbing between my legs, blandly getting myself more aroused. After all, wasn't I just a body too? Wasn't this all I was for?

Princess let out a particularly erotic yowl, which somehow caused everything to snap back. Flash blinked, and his breath caught in his throat. He leaped off of her, almost falling over backwards. "Whoa," he sputtered out, rapidly turning pale. "Whoa. I'm sorry. I got caught up in the moment, I wasn't thinking, I'm sorry-"

"Don't stop," Princess moaned, still grinding at the air.

Flash paused. Some colour started to rapidly return to him. "In a minute," he promised. He started to rise. "Just let me-"

In an instant Princess was up and clinging to him. "Stay," she moaned.

"I promise, I'm not going anywhere." He kissed her reassuringly. "I'm just going to get a cond-"

"Don't." She grasped him tighter. "I want to feel the real you."

He didn't seem to know how to respond to this. "I can't," he tried. "Twi, we agreed."

"It doesn't matter. Nothing's going to happen. Statistics are on our side. And even if they weren't, by tomorrow those organs will have shut down completely for another month." She clutched at her stomach, then returned her hand and face to his chest. "Forget about the future. We don't have one. For now, all I want is for you to let me feel you."

Flash stayed where he was. Slowly, he put his hands on her again, then gulped. "You're... you're really that certain, huh?" he said, a tremor in his voice.

"Yes."

"You're... really going to be gone."

As I watched, the muscles of his mouth performed a complex gymnastics routine across his face, compressing a hundred different emotions through a span of time too cruelly short to fully register. He crushed Princess against him, breathing her in like he thought she might turn to smoke at any second. "I'm going to miss you," he said.

"I'm sorry."

"I know I say I try to live each day like you might never come back, because that's the truth, but I..." His voice cracked. "I never could. Not even for you. I don't want to let you go."

I felt an emptiness in me. I'd known Princess for only a couple of weeks; moreover, I'd gotten used to the idea of the people close to me abruptly vanishing. My internal preparation for her departure had felt no more complex than snipping a few lines of code. Watching Flash hurt, watching this become real to him, filled that void with another well of guilt. Was this how I was supposed to be reacting? Wasn't I supposed to be feeling something for the loss of this other side of me? Or, deep down, did I really just want her gone?

I curled up on the floor while the loving couple caressed each other, this time more tenderly. Flash covered his face as a sob escaped from it. "Don't cry," Princess whispered.

"I'm not crying."

"It's okay if you are. But don't." She leaned up and kissed the wetness from his cheeks. "There'll be time to cry tomorrow. But I'm not gone yet. This is a happy time."

"I'm not ready. Why couldn't we have had a month's warning? Or even a week? It's not fair. Why did she have to drop this on us so quickly? Who does this Shimmer think she is?"

"It's not her fault, Flash. It's no one's fault. It's just the way things are."

"Well it shouldn't be." He rested his head on hers. "I won't know what to do with myself when you're gone."

"You'll always have our music. And I'll always be thinking of you. I promise. And besides..." She stretched out her arm toward me. "Only one of my bodies is going to disappear."

I blinked back to myself and scrambled for a better pose, one without my hand draped awkwardly between my legs. Not that it made a difference, since Flash didn't even look at me. He just stayed perfectly still, holding Princess close to him. "Okay," he finally said.

"Okay?"

"Okay. I get it." He looked down at her and, even with the wetness in his eyes, managed to smile. "Let's celebrate this body."

He stroked her face and dipped to kiss her again. Princess stopped him. She stretched out further and grabbed my hand, pulling me up to rest against his side. "All of my body," she corrected him.

Flash looked at me. His expression flickered, but my heart melted as his eyes softened and he smiled at me. "Okay. All of it," he said, wrapping his arm around me.

Together, we slid back to the floor. Flash kissed Princess, then me, then her, then me, juggling us beneath him. He slid down our bodies, planting kisses all the way. Princess hugged me, burying her face in my hair. My eyes were fixed on Flash. His strong arms grew more confident with every second. I held in a gasp as he rubbed his fingers down my back, actually feeling him instead of automatically blocking him out, reveling in the moment.

Princess giggled, a smile already back on her face. She held my head a little closer to her chest than I was altogether comfortable with and pushed Flash even lower, unashamedly groping his muscles. I cautiously did the same. Flash just kept descending, crawling backwards across the carpet. When he reached our waists he hesitated, running his hands over both of us, before gently pushing me aside and spreading Princess' legs. Tauntingly, his face disappeared behind her crotch.

Princess gasped and held me tighter. She straightened out and arched her back, moaning happily as Flash ate her out, leaving me wanting. Flash's hand found its way to my butt and pulled me closer, trapping me against her. Her bust jiggled just below my chin; her coarse leg kicked out and nestled between my smooth ones. All I could do was lie there, as close to the act as it was possible to get, feeling her heartbeat get faster after every lick and her thigh unwittingly rubbing me whenever she moved. I closed my eyes and pretended it was Flash's side I was pathetically clinging to.

But there was no escaping it. With another thrust and a screech, Princess arched again, dragging me down until my cheek was stopped by the curve of her chest. My lips brushed the top of her breast, sending a tingle through me as I somehow knew exactly how that would feel on my body, prompting me to kiss her more. She was so soft and smooth, like a doughy little cushion, that I couldn't believe that she had ever once looked like me. My tongue was halfway out of my mouth before I suddenly realized what I was doing and recoiled. In that moment, I caught Flash looking at me.

It was just a glance, but it was enough to freeze in place. When I didn't move, he lowered his gaze and vanished again behind Princess' pubic hair. I cursed myself, flooded with the desire to impress him, to earn some part in the affection he had for her. I looked down again and gulped. Her pert breast trembled slightly below me. Princess whimpered and rubbed at me, as though begging. My instinct was to shrink away, but that wasn't fair; she'd never shown any discomfort about touching me. Taking a deep breath, I leaned down and took her nipple into my mouth.

A strange warmth filled me right away. Princess moaned appreciatively, grabbing my head and pulling me onto her further, forcing more of her breast into my mouth. I just closed my eyes and sucked, almost on automatic. There was something primal about the act, yet almost masturbatory in the sensation; even though I knew that I should have been reassuring myself that I was Not Into This, all I could think about was how good this felt, and how good I knew I was making Princess feel. I flicked my tongue over her, feeling every lick like it was on myself, letting my mind descend into a golden suckling haze.

Suddenly her hands pulled me away and the next thing I knew I was kissing her, tongue and all, being bent back as she raised herself up. Caught up in the motion, I couldn't resist. The physical feedback echoed between us, drawing us closer and closer until I was the one who started grappling at her, needing more of this incredible sensation inside me. But this only lasted a few seconds before she broke away and then did the same to Flash, leaving me with my head spinning. I steadied myself on my knees and once again tried and failed to rationalize what had just happened, only knowing that my thoughts didn't matter as long as it made Princess happy. If she wanted it, I had no choice but to go for it.

I looked back when I heard whispering. Princess had her hands cupped over Flash's ear, grinning at me mischievously. The way Flash's eyes roamed over me, it wasn't hard to guess what she'd asked. "Are you sure?" he said, perhaps out of habit, because he'd already started moving before she gave him an encouraging push.

I spread my legs as Flash practically pounced on me, pushing me to the ground. Any fears I'd had about this meeting burned away or became unimportant. I hungrily grabbed at his chest and arms, kissing his neck while he kissed mine, taking in as much of his body as possible. His smell, his touch, the feel of his bare skin pressed against mine from end to end, all turned me on so much that anything else in the world had no meaning. In seconds I was wet enough for him to enter, but he still kept teasing me, grinding on me and touching me so much that I could hardly bear it. I humped at him back, but couldn't quite lift myself enough to get him to slip inside me. "Please," I gasped when the pressure became too much.

"Please what?" Flash said with a smile. I wondered if this was what Princess had asked him to do.

I stared into his eyes with a forced innocent smile and pure, perverted longing. "Please h-have sex with me," I begged.

Behind him, Princess happily clasped her hands, which suggested that this had been the right answer. This stopped mattering when Flash lifted up his muscular hips, letting me grab him, line him up, and pull him into me.

I opened my mouth and let my head loll as he completely filled me up. Nothing could compare to sex with Flash; his penis stretched and rubbed me in just the right ways, as though he'd been made specifically for me. He knew just what pace to set, just how long to make each thrust, just how to hold me as he started powerfully riding me. Sheer pleasure turned my lower half to yielding jelly underneath him. I smiled dreamily and wrapped my arms around him, pulling him closer.

Synchronous waves and ripples traveled along our bodies, settling into a rhythm that pleased us both. I let loose and shrieked like a harpy with every push, emptying my mind more and more to pull him further inside me. The carpet grew rough on my back as he nailed me to the floor. I could feel Flash's hot breath on my face, and Princess was running her hands and lips up my trembling leg, which I was in no position to analyze. Their own sounds of pleasure pushed mine further. I tried my best to clench around Flash's penis, sucking him in and massaging him inside me, determined to give him as much joy as possible. "Use me," I moaned to him between gasps.

He didn't stop, but he did slow down. "What?" he breathed back.

"Use this body. Let it make you feel good." I clung tightly to him, rubbing him with every part of me. All I wanted was for this feeling to never end, and that meant making sure he felt the same. "I want your cum in me," I whispered to him. "I want to be your toy. Fuck me Flash, fuck me so good... " I licked his cheek wildly, determined to be even more of an animal, even more his slave than even Princess. I was such a good girlfriend.

Flash was silent. He slid his hand between our chests, and at first I happily cupped my breast into his palm, but then he pushed me roughly away from him. My head hit the carpet hard, and all three of us stopped moving. Suddenly the only pounding was from my heartbeat, and Flash was looking down at me like I was the one from another world. "Flash?" Princess said from the vicinity of my thigh.

"Enough of this." He pulled out of me and straightened up, then yanked Princess away from me as well, pulling her into his arms. "This isn't about her," he said to her. "I'm here for you. Don't make me forget that."

"But-" Her protest was cut off by a kiss. Right away her eyes were closed and I could feel her turning to butter in his arms, melting away. I just lay there, my legs still spread, slowly collapsing in on myself. My lust-crazed breathing returned to normal, then even less than that. I sank back and waited for the floor to swallow me. I'd gotten my wish, at least; used and discarded, just like a toy.

Some form of self-preservation took over. I twisted around and crawled across the carpet, back onto the sofa. I made a pillow from discarded clothes and lay there, finally letting myself turn and watch. Princess was in her favorite position on her hands and knees, having the kind of sex I should have been having if I wasn't so stupid. Her and her perfect body were elegantly posed, mouth open in bliss as Flash took her from behind. Her rippling butt smacked back against him in perfect compliment to each of his thrusts. Their love was focused, contained, concentrated in on each other in perfect harmony. That was the one thing that I could never have.

I kept mindlessly watching, mesmerized. Princess rode him with her hips, forcing him back while she pleasured herself on him. For some reason, she was the one I couldn't take my eyes off of. She tossed her hair and grinned, her eyes still closed, her face utterly beautiful in the dim light. My hand worked back down between my legs and started to rub. I dreamed up every touch, every kiss, and tried to press that feeling back into myself. Occasionally my gaze flicked up to Flash, just to remind me that yes, he was the hot one, and he was the one I was masturbating to. But for the most part, my eyes stayed fixed on her.

And then all of a sudden, her eyes were on me.

For a moment we just stared - me rubbing, her getting pounded from behind, just mutually watching. Then she started to move. She dragged one arm along the carpet, then one leg, and lurched forward, dragging Flash along behind her as he tried to keep up his rhythm. Like this she crawled toward me, unbearably slowly, pulling her lover behind her.

Like we were in a trance, neither of us broke eye contact, but the look in her eyes changed as she got closer. She got lower to the ground as she approached, like she was almost bowing, and strained her neck to look up at me. She reached up and tentatively touched my leg, begging with her eyes, leaving me frozen. I didn't know what she wanted from me. Flash had no use for me; what more was there to it?

Things crystallized when she kissed me on my knee. She trailed her lips over my skin and tugged, sliding my leg off the sofa and pulling my lower half towards her at an angle. I stayed frozen, unable or unwilling to comprehend what was happening. She kissed her way up the inside of my thigh, pulling her curvy body further and further over me, then moved my lingering hand aside, and all of a sudden her lips were pressed against my-

Oh.

My.

God.

I grasped the sofa tightly and gasped, which quickly turned into something high-pitched and unintelligible. Princess held onto my hips and pulled more, burying her face into my crotch. She ran her tongue in rapid circles over my vulva and then slipped inside to lap at me like an animal. Every thrust from Flash passed through her and into me, vibrating me as she licked and sucked my most tender parts. My legs and hips uncontrollably twitched against her, and all my upper half could do was hold on. I craned my neck back hard into the cushions and cried out. This could not be happening.

Flash's technique had been steadily improving with each encounter, but Princess was something else. She knew exactly where to rub me, exactly how deep to go, the exact twisting motion of her tongue inside me that I liked the best. I managed to crack an eye open and look down at her only to find her still staring back, and my brain lurched as it again tried to process that it was another girl that was doing this to me. But it wasn't another girl, it was the same girl, and that just confused me more. I wanted to tell her to stop, but the conflicting thoughts left me paralyzed. All I could think about was how this was gross, and how it was wrong, and how it felt so unbelievably, amazingly good...

Another powerful smack against her rump bumped Princess up another half-inch, leaving her tongue making wet swirls over my clit. I moaned uncontrollably, grinding into her face. Her hands started to snake their way up my sides. Unable to stop myself, I grabbed them and pulled them up to my breasts, letting her tease and pinch my nipples as she worked. Somehow, the assault only intensified. Flash leaned in and grabbed Princess' breasts as well, thrusting into her in shorter, more rapid pumps, which increased the pace of her tongue in turn as she pleasured us from both ends.

Suddenly, her face slid away from my crotch. Princess' grip on me tightened and she pulled herself onto the sofa, dragging her body over me. Her eyes held that same desperate, pleading look. Her bare breasts sent tingles over me as her nipples dragged against my stomach, and then suddenly they were pressed against my own, squished together down a perverse horizontal mirror.

She stared at me for just a second and then shoved her tongue into my mouth. I kissed her back on automatic, still not fully comprehending why this was happening, just letting my body do the work. Flash found a comfortable spot with one leg on the cushions and started riding her again, rocking the whole sofa. Princess moaned into my mouth, filling me with her pleasure. All I could do was moan back.

Princess wrapped her arms around me, squeezing one hand under me to grab my butt. I grabbed hers in turn, feeling my fingers sink into the softness there. Envy flared in me and I pressed myself into her, wanting her body to be mine. Our downstairs parts were so close, almost touching, to the extent that when I lifted myself up to her I could feel the friction of Flash sliding inside her and catch brushes of his testicles against me. We pulled hard against each other, straining to rub together, lost in each other and the bodies that we shared.

After one particularly rough slam, Flash slid all the way out of Princess, and when he readjusted he thrust himself into me instead. I cried out in surprise and pleasure, never breaking lip contact with Princess. I lay in squirming bliss for a few strokes, wondering if it had been intentional or an accident, until he pulled out and moved back into her. Then, a few seconds later, he switched back to me again. We kept up grinding against each other as he made love to us both, switching at seemingly random intervals.

In her, in me, in her, in me; it ceased to make any difference. We were so close that both of us could feel what the other was feeling. We writhed against each other and him, making out the whole while, only breaking apart for air and to fill the house with our wild cries. Flash's loud, pleasured groans were almost inaudible within our own, perfectly timed with the thuds of the sofa slamming into the wall. I couldn't see his face, but he caressed us both, grabbing and fondling different parts of us every time he moved. He stretched all the way across us and used my shoulder as a handhold, expertly massaging me as he screwed my fragile body. But his rejection still stung in me, like he was still pushing me away. Was it me that he was having sex with, or Princess?

Princess pressed down heavily on me, pinning me to the cushions. She was constantly in motion, bucking her hips back even when there was nothing inside of her. When she wasn't kissing my mouth her lips were on my face, my neck, anywhere that she could reach. There was a passion in her that I'd never seen anywhere else, like she was trying to do something more than just physical. Despite all our similarities, she was still an enigma to me. Was it Flash that she was having sex with, or me?

I simply lay back and allowed this to happen. I was nothing; I had no right to dictate how these two should have sex, or even to understand. All I let myself feel was satisfaction that I still had a purpose to them. I wallowed in the pleasure of their combined efforts on me. Flash's penis filled my aching need whether it was in me or her, and I reached out to him as much as I could, brushing my fingertips against his arms and legs. But Princess was the one I could see, the one who I kissed, who my body rubbed erotically against. Of course, this wasn't about her for me. I was straight. She was straight. She had to be. But somehow we just kept pulling on each other, straining and twisting until our legs crossed and our clits rubbed and an electric tingle sparked through us like nothing else in all the world. It just didn't make sense. Was it Flash that I was having sex with? Or...

With a final yell, Flash slammed into us and held himself there. Princess and I screamed into each other and held tight, grinding furiously, while he ejaculated into us. Pulse after pulse, we dug our fingers into each other and rode out the explosion inside the three of us, hearts hammering in unison. An echo filled the house that seemed to take a very long time to disappear. It was only when our legs straightened and Flash pulled out that I was able to put any specifics together. Princess was the one he'd finished in; thanks to our gymnastics, he hadn't even been able to switch back to me again. I lay still, trying and failing to catch my breath, as little drips of him leaked out of her and splashed delicately onto me.

Twenty minutes later, our muscles finally gave out. The three of us rolled onto the floor and lay there, sweaty and spent. Flash lay on his back, with Princess and I mirrored on either side, our heads and hands nestled on his chest. My legs and back were sore and patterns from the sofa and carpet were imprinted on all three of us, but I still felt full and physically content. I rested calmly and murmured as though half-asleep, and felt Princess doing the same.

It hadn't been what I'd expected, but it was one heck of a farewell.

Identical fingers grazed my own. I opened my eyes and saw Princess looking back at me. She held my hand and smiled at me, partly hidden behind her hair. Then she pushed herself up and turned away from us. "You okay?" Flash asked, starting to lift himself after her.

She put her palm on his chest, keeping him from rising. "I'm fine," she said. "I'm just stretching."

Flash pushed himself up onto his arms. I had to tighten my grip to stay clinging to him, but he didn't seem to notice. "Can I get you anything?" he said.

"No thank you. Actually..." She leaned in and lightly kissed him. "This was nice. But just for a little while, I'd like to be alone." She smiled reassuringly. "I promise I'm okay. I just need to clear my head. You two just stay and relax."

Flash nodded. Princess turned, and Flash and I both admired the sway of her hips as she walked to the stairs. Then he sat up, shrugged me off of him like I wasn't there, and started to stand. Like lightning Princess was back in front of us, forcefully pushing him back down. "Stay," she insisted. "Stay with her."

She grabbed my hand and placed it back on his chest. I shrank down and looked up at him, fearful of how he would be looking back, but as before he ignored me completely. He just kept staring at Princess, his features slowly hardening. Her smile drained away in equal measure. "Please," she begged. "I want you to."

He shoved me off of him and stood sharply. "Well I don't," he spat. Then he pushed past her and stormed toward the stairs.

Princess floundered, trying to reach out for both him and me, but eventually broke and raced after him to his room. I sat up slowly and wrapped my arms around my knees. Something awful crept into me. I tried to curl up further to block it out, to bask in recent memories of Flash's touch just a little longer, but that just made it worse. I couldn't stop myself from thinking back, running my pedantic little mind over every thought that had passed through my petty little head, and by several points came to one inescapable conclusion.

I told him to... I wanted to...

Suddenly I felt sick and cold, lying there naked on the floor of a strange house. I covered my mouth to keep from retching and rolled onto my front. The wetness between my legs felt like it was eating into me, smearing further every time I shifted, reminding me of what I'd done. This was my last chance to set things right with Princess. She'd trusted me to be here for her. But, like always, all I'd thought about was how I could steal her boyfriend for myself. And because of that, I'd ruined everything. Again.

Stupid. Useless. Slut.

In the silence of the house I could hear everything that happened above me. Voices floated down from upstairs, echoing off doors and around corners. On automatic, I quieted and listened, crawling over to the stairs for best acoustics.

"Flash..."

"I don't want to hear it."

"Flash, when I'm gone, I want you to be with her."

A closet door slammed. "And I'm telling you no!"

"Please, just listen." She raised her voice slightly as he started to get dressed. "She's a gift. This way, you won't have to lose me. The two of you can keep going like nothing's happened."

"Like nothing's- Are you even listening to yourself? Do you seriously think this doesn't change anything?"

"I didn't say that. I know things are going to change. But that doesn't mean it has to change us. I'll still be here for you, and I'll still love you. It'll just be a different me."

"And what about me? Am I supposed to switch gears just like that? Do... do you think I think so little of you that I could pick up any girl and have exactly what we have with her?"

"She's not just any girl. She's me."

"No she-"

"Yes she is. Look into her eyes. Listen to the way she talks. Feel how she holds you. Haven't you seen the way she looks at you? She loves you, Flash. She loves you in just the same way that I do. Isn't that enough?"

"No, it's not. And also, no, she doesn't. You and her are nothing alike, and it's starting to feel like you're the only one who can't see it. I don't want her in my life, and if you weren't already leaving I'd be trying to cut her out of yours, too."

"What?" Now Princess was starting to raise her voice too. "How can you say that?"

"Are you only just getting this? Ever since you met her, everyone's been trying to tell you that she's bad for you. You're obsessed with her. All week you've been complaining about things she has that you don't, and now you're even trying to pawn me off on her because, what, she deserves me more?"

"No, Flash, no. You deserve her. She's the human me. She doesn't have the problems I have. She-"

"For the last time, she is not better than you!" A dull thud vibrated through the house. "She is a complete wreck. She's neurotic, she's manic-depressive, all she ever thinks about is sex-"

"That is not true."

"Isn't it? I've had sex with her more times than I've ever even talked to her, and she seems perfectly happy about that. Do you really think she could handle a real relationship?"

I clutched at my own stomach in agony.

"That's not fair. She's been doing that because I asked her to."

"It doesn't matter. The point is being with her makes you feel bad about yourself, and you just can't be with a person like that, even if you want to. And have you already forgotten what happened to Sunset? What about when she attacked Shimmer like an animal? She is not in control of herself. She's a bad influence."

"She's not bad, she's hurt. She needs help. She lost her family, just like I did, and-"

"No. Not just like you. You lost everything, and I know that still hasn't healed, but you stuck by your friends and you never hurt anyone. I don't think she even has any friends."

"Then you can be her friend! Don't you see? She's just like I was, before I found my Element. You can still find good in her. You can fall in love with me all over again. If you just give her a chance-"

"Twilight." The pause hung light, like the whistle of a mortar. "She raped me."

That was it.

That was the word.

As I cracked and started to cry, I heard Princess' voice tremble with a fraction of what was coming out of me. "That's not what happened."

"Yes it is. I thought that she was someone she wasn't and she took advantage of that. She took advantage of me, Twilight. You know what that makes her. I know you went through all your law books just to check."

Her voice warbled. "It w-wasn't like that. She was just confused, and-"

"I don't care! Not all of us have your inhuman forgiveness, Twilight. She. Did. Something. Wrong. She hurt me."

"But if you'd just listen-"

"I don't want to listen! Why do I have to be the one who listens?"

"She just wanted to feel loved!"

There was a loud bang, and something crashed to the floor. "Stop making this about her!" Flash shouted.

"She didn't mean it!" Princess wailed back.

They went quiet. "Yeah," Flash said. "She didn't. And Sunset didn't mean to break the mirror portal, right? And Adagio didn't mean to get herself banished, and Pinkie Pie didn't mean to kill Winona, and you... and you don't mean to tell me that my feelings don't matter to you, but you do, and I'm the one who has to deal with it. Every time. And I want to just let you sweep it all under the rug so that you can be happy and not worry about it, but every single time, the rug is me. And I... I don't want her to just be someone who'll walk all over me as well."

Nothing happened for close to a minute. If there was any noise from upstairs, I couldn't make it out over my own stuffed-up breathing. When Princess' voice finally did float down to me, it was muffled and cracked, like she was speaking through both tears and the fabric of a shirt. "You matter to me," she said.

"I know," Flash said back.

Then nothing again, for even longer. I dripped onto the carpet, feeling every moment stretch out longer than the last.

"I just didn't want you to be alone," she said.

"Just because I won't be with you doesn't mean I'll be alone," he said.

"I know. I mean... You were right. This isn't fair. We should have had more time. And I... I didn't want to hurt you." She adjusted in whatever position they were in. "My life was destroyed when the ponies I loved were suddenly ripped away from me. I didn't want to do the same to you. I just thought... even if it was a lie... maybe she could fill that void. I'm sorry. I never meant to say that you weren't special to me."

"And you're special, too. I don't want you to leave thinking anyone could replace you. No one ever could."

"Thank you." More silence, and the harshness of breathing. "Flash?"

"Yeah?"

"Can you just promise me one thing?"

"What's that?"

"Don't give up on her."

They moved apart. I tried to guess at their expressions. "I know she's in a bad place," Princess continued. "But she's still me. I know there's still good in her. All she needs is a friend to show her the way. Y-you don't have to love her," she quickly added in response to something I couldn't see. "You don't even have to forgive her. But if you could just support her, even if you have to fake it, then maybe someday, you can help her be the person she's meant to be. Someone who really is better than me."

"You're asking a lot."

"I know. But... we forgave Sunset."

"No. Not all of us. Just you."

"...Flash, please. This is the only thing I'll ask. She's important to me. You just have to trust me." She gulped. "And... and maybe, in a few years, you might start to recognize more of me in her. She can be someone who's kind, and loving, and gives everything for her friends. You'll start to see how beautiful she is. And even if she can never replace me exactly, maybe one day you'll find that she's someone who you... who you can..."

"Twilight."

"Yes?"

"There's another Flash Sentry in your world, right? Are you planning on hooking up with him as soon as you get back?"

A knife twisted through us both. Princess stuttered, went quiet, and then stuttered again. I could feel his stare, but the air was completely gone from her lungs. This was as good a response as any; no matter what she said, there was no right answer to this. "I'm going out," Flash said.

"Flash, I never..."

"I'll pick you up in time for dinner. I stocked up on bath oils for you. Relax and get some rest." His footsteps landed heavily, and a door swung shut.

The sounds solidified as Flash came downstairs, wearing a fresh shirt and jeans. His fists were clenched, his face set hard. He walked right past me, still hunched over naked at the foot of the stairs and sniffling to myself. Flash grabbed his jacket from a hook, slid on his shoes, put his hand on the door, and stopped. He stayed that way for several seconds and then exhaled deeply. "This isn't your fault," he said.

Peeking at him from behind my bangs, I saw him turn halfway toward me, staring at the floor. I shifted, just enough to indicate that I'd heard.

"This... this," he emphatically clarified, "would always have happened. If it wasn't you, she would have found something else to obsess over. There's nothing she hates more than a friendship problem she can't solve. I love her, and she's brilliant, but when she's upset, she... doesn't always think things through. She tries to make everyone happy and has to spend the rest of her life cleaning up her own mess." He waited. "But I guess you already know that."

I let my head drop. Flash sighed a second time. He turned and took a quick walk through the living room, then returned and put my clothes in a pile next to me. "Pinkie Pie's organizing a farewell party at Canterlot High for tonight," he said. "It won't be as big as last time. Around now, she'll be looking for people to help her set up. If you have a few minutes, I know she'd be happy to see you there."

I didn't move. A dozen different answers pinballed around inside me, but I kept my head down, unwilling to let him see my face. "Or you could stay here," Flash said, straightening up. "Someone should probably watch Twilight. And McCarthy knows she loves you."

In lieu of any responsible human being to manage my emotions, it was my analytical side that answered. "I think... I'll stay here for a little while," I croaked quietly, compromising. "Just a half hour or so. Then I'll come to the party. I think I know how to walk from here." This would allow me time to freshen up, and provide a time frame in which I wouldn't have to spend too long interacting with anyone. This was my preferred type of calculation.

"Okay." I braced myself for Flash to touch my arm, or brush my hair aside, or even lean down again and hug me goodbye. But he just turned around and walked to the door. He touched it again, paused like before, then opened it and got halfway out before he stopped. He stood there, sunlight streaming down on him. "Sunset wouldn't have broken the portal if Twilight hadn't provoked her," he said. "And everyone who was there knows it." Then he left, slamming the door behind him.

I stayed still for a while longer. After an arbitrarily long wait, I stretched out my aching limbs and picked up my clothes. All of them were crushed and wrinkled, even slightly damp in places, damning evidence of the day's activities. I went without them and walked upstairs in the nude.

Princess was sitting on Flash's bed, curled up against the wall in almost the same position that I'd been in downstairs. I stood awkwardly, wondering what she would do if the situation were reversed. Without a word, I crawled up next to her and sat beside her. She curled up even tighter into herself. I looked at my knees. Slowly, I put my arm around her shoulders.

And suddenly she was on me, this strange, alien creature, clinging to me tight and bawling against my neck. I sat stiff as a board and held her against me, feeling nothing but the perfection of her skin. From across the room, the poster of her and her dazzling rock band smiled down at us both.