“Where is she?” I growled at the blue earth mare, my fingers digging into her throat. The pony’s gasps barely registered with me, her eyes bulging and her ears as flat as pancakes. This was the clumsy bitch that had damn near snapped Cloudchaser’s wing in half with that heavy ass trapdoor. It was taking all my mental restraint not to slam her head repeatedly into the gun deck wall. The realisation hit me like a brick, and I cursed, taking my hands away from her.

Fuck. That damned siren rage. I knew I shouldn’t be this angry, but I just had to know Cloudchaser was okay. The earth pony fell over a cannon, rasping out laboured breaths and clutching her throat with her hooves. The pitiful sight made me hate myself.

“S-She’s… in the… c-crew quarters,” the mare panted, still massaging her throat, her eyes wary.

“I’m… I’m sorry,” I muttered, half-forcing the words. “Thanks.” The few ponies that had witnessed my little outburst scampered away when I looked at them. I let out a sigh. A tired sigh. A shameful one.

Deeper and deeper into the bowels of the Thorn I trudged, until I finally came upon a passageway that led to a small door, which I opened, stooping below the low frame. The room was empty, save for a whole bunch of small wooden bunks. The only light source was a small lantern by the only occupied bed. Cloudchaser’s flight suit was torn, her feathers bent and her mane dishevelled. A quiet sob escaped her curled-up form.

“Cloudchaser!” Dropping to my knees, I knelt by the side of her bed, my jaw hanging. I didn’t even know what to say.

“Jack? Is that you?” she sniffed, rolling toward me. “Jack! No, you can’t be here!” she squeaked, her voice breaking through the tears.

I reached for her, needing to feel that she was okay, but she pushed my arms away with her hooves. “Cloudchaser, what’s wrong?”

“No, you should go! She’ll kill me, Jack-” she whispered, but I pulled her off the bed, capturing her frame to my chest.

This pony had given me nothing but trouble from the start, but I couldn’t stop myself from holding her close if I’d tried. “She won’t hurt you. She’d have to hurt me to do that, and she’d never hurt me. I don’t think she even can…”

“Oh, Jack. Why do you even care about me?” Cloudchaser sobbed, her muzzle buried in my neck. Forehooves and wings capturing my torso, the sobbing pegasus held onto me as though her life depended on it. “It wasn’t your fault Windrunner died. It was never your f-fault, but I b-blamed you anyway.”

I don’t know how long I sat on the floor of the dusty old crew quarters, cradling the pegasus in my arms. Cloudchaser eventually fell silent, her head resting on my shoulder, her barrel pressed to my chest.

“‘M sorry for trying to scorch you,” the mare croaked, after several minutes of silence.

I barely heard her. The gentle creaking of the ship, the semi-darkness of the empty cabin and the warmth of her feathers and fur was slowly beginning to lull me into a state of semi-consciousness after the fiasco that had taken place above deck.

“I was in heat… Should’ve left you alone,” she whispered, her muzzle gently nuzzling my neck.

“Doesn’t matter now,” I muttered. It didn’t feel like anything mattered at that moment.

Cloudchaser drew back, giving me a small smile, a small smile that highlighted just how pretty she could be when she didn’t have a murderous expression on her face. “We should go back topside,” she announced, giving me one final nuzzle, before stretching her wings and getting to her hooves. “Separately.”

“She won’t hurt you.”

Her wings snapped back to her sides, her expression hardening once more. “Jack, she’s a siren who thinks I’m trying to steal you away from her. She’d tear my wings off and set me on fire if she knew you followed me down here,” Cloudchaser argued, puffing up her feathers and giving them a good shake. Some of them were still a little bent, and her chest floof was matted with tears.

I rolled my eyes. “No, she wouldn’t.”

“Well, she might,” said a voice from behind us.

Cloudchaser span so fast her wings flew back out from her sides. Felix was trotting casually between the two rows of bunk beds, a menacing glint in her eyes and a smile on her face. The sapphire in her collar appeared even brighter than usual in the semi darkness. I frowned. There was only one door into this room, and she hadn’t used it. Could she teleport discreetly?

Cloudchaser let out a sort of muffled squeak and tried to bolt for the door, but ended up face-planting into a shimmering pink forcefield instead.

“Not so fast there, Cloudy. I think it’s time we all had a little chat,” Felix suggested. Her tone, whilst fairly civil, almost begged contradiction.

“I want nothing to do with him—I swear!” Cloudchaser yelled, pretty convincingly, as she backed herself into a corner, her eyes darting everywhere but the advancing siren.

Just a simple sentence, and the inexplicable affection for the pegasus that had manifested itself in me lessened somewhat. It wasn’t her words, more the conviction in her voice as she said them. It felt as though I’d just stepped through a waterfall. “You… You really mean that, don’t you?”

A pause.

Even Felix frowned. It took Cloudchaser a moment to figure out what I’d said, but the panicked indecision on her face was all I needed to see. I turned, the door giving a loud ominous creak as it swung open, my feet carrying me away without the aid of conscious thought.

I heard her shout. A protest at my leaving. I didn’t stop. I didn’t even look back.

The gun deck was empty as I passed between the cannons. The clatter of hurried hoof steps on wood sounded behind me, and I tried to find words, painful words to throw that feathery little mind-fuck of a pegasus, but it wasn’t her.

“Hey!” Felix barked, and I felt something hard and familiar poke me in the back. I turned to grab it.

Of course, it was her damned horn. “What?”

“I had a whole speech planned about sharing and herd culture and all that other polygamous crap, only for you to decide you don’t want her anymore? What gives?” she asked, meeting my glare with mock annoyance, though it was clear to see she was rather pleased, hence the horn abuse.

“I didn’t decide that. She did,” I countered, keeping my grip tight on her magical appendage. It became a real nuisance when she was in one of her playful moods. Like now.

“Like hell she did—she wants you more than I do,” she shot back at me, sticking her tongue out of the side of her maw as she attempted to wriggle free.

I scoffed. “No, she doesn’t. She said so herself-oww!” I rubbed the side of my ribcage with my free hand. “Will you cut it out already?”

“She only said that ‘cause she thought I was going to set her on fire,” she said, completely ignoring me. As per usual.

“Felix, stop!” I growled.

She grinned, before giving me a pitiful imitation of a pout. I slowly let go of her horn, giving her a tired look, seeing as stern ones had no effect on her.

I’d been heading for the trap door, but I found I wasn’t quite ready to go back up to the main deck yet. Not after the way I’d acted. Instead, I sat down on the floor, leaning against one of the broadside cannons. “I… don’t know if I can do this.”

“Do what?” Felix asked, the playful glint in her eyes finally relenting.

“This… herd thing.”

Felix paused. It was a long pause, during which she didn’t say anything, or even look at me. But there wasn’t a doubt in my mind that her thoughts were ticking a mile a minute.

“Uh… I was kinda hoping for your input here,” I prompted, when her impression of an inanimate object lingered. She knew more about this shit than I did, after all.

A few more seconds, and she sighed, the scowl on her face unmistakable.

“Oh, I’m sorry—am I boring you?”

“No, you idiot. You’re just making it really hard for me not to be a shitty pony,” she said, her tone irritable, yet she plonked herself down beside me, resting her chin on my shoulder.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Another sigh, as though it was obvious and I was just being difficult on purpose. “I don’t want to share you, Jack. Not with Cloudy, not with Flitter or Raindrops, not even with Buttercup. You saying this shit… Ugh… If only you could hear her right now.”

“Hear who?”

“Who do you think?”

“Oh…”

Another pause, and the soft, fine fur of delicate pony muzzle brushed over my neck. “Just think on it,” she sighed softly. “What would Raindrops feel, when you tell her ‘no’? What would Flitter say? You’ve only just met Bee, but I saw you looking at her last night.”

I felt a shiver run down my spine. “That’s a lot of ponies.” Not to mention an incomplete list. “I’ve only just come to terms with having you as my… my marefriend.”

Saying the word aloud sent another shiver down my spine, though this one was decidedly more pleasant. All denial and aversion to having a non-human as a significant other had abandoned me, given my reaction, or lack thereof, of uttering those words.

Felix seemed to almost guess my train of thought, giving me a wry smile. “Bet you never thought you’d say that, huh?”

* * *

“Are you three okay? You look like you’ve just seen a windigo,”

Jessica glanced between her colleagues, both of whom did indeed appear rather more pale-faced than usual. It was understandable, given the commotion that had just taken place. It was certainly clear now that Felix had some serious issues.

“Never mind us! What about Jack?” Jason exclaimed, waving his arms to the vast expanse of sky over the railing of the ship. This was one of the rare occasions his outward flamboyance was actually justified. “Felix nearly blasted him, then Raindrops threw him overboard… I thought they were friends,” he weakly finished.

“He’s fine,” Buttercup assured. “You all saw him go below deck just a moment ago, right?”

“That’s not the point, innit? Felix is a nutter,” Leanne shivered.

Jessica had to agree, if she was honest. Reginald didn’t go around melting solid metal cannons into boiling hot liquid, and she was almost certain the vast majority of other unicorns didn’t, either.

Buttercup seemed unfazed by such an accusation. She even laughed it off. “Well, yes. There’s no denying that.”

“But, she could’ve killed Cloudchaser-” Jessica added, but Buttercup held up a hoof.

“This is a tired old topic I’ve personally debated for years now,” the earth pony began, sounding quite tired herself all of a sudden. “Please forgive me if I seem like I don’t take it as seriously as others think I should.”

She sat on her haunches, throwing a brief glance to the nervous looking young mare filling in for her at the wheel of the ship before continuing. “Look, you’ve obviously figured out that Felix isn’t a normal unicorn. I mean, how could you not, right? I won’t tell you exactly what she is, because it’s not my place. But I can tell you that she belongs to a race of creatures that are inherently dangerous.”

Jason frowned, shifting uncomfortably on the cannon he was perched on. Leanne’s scowl deepened, but she didn’t say anything. Jessica merely gave Buttercup a questioning look. “Well, that’s not very reassuring,” she said, not really knowing what else to say. Her mind was ablaze with conflicting thoughts. Felix had seemed alright in the brief time that Jessica had known her, bar the odd hiccough, maybe. In fact, she would even go as far as to consider the unicorn a friend.

“Ahh, you haven’t let me finish,” Buttercup continued, gently nudging her Captain’s hat back upright after a particularly strong gust of wind. “Felix and her mother, they’re different. Let’s take what just happened as an example—she attacked Cloudchaser in a fit of uncontrolled rage, yes, but she missed. Now, I’ve known Felix for years, and fought by her side in a number of battles. She never misses when her horn is pointed at a griffin, or a war manticore, or an ursa… Well, I’d actually be pretty worried if she managed to miss an ursa, but that’s besides the point. What I mean to say is, she’s never hurt a pony. Even ones she doesn’t like.”

“So, you’re saying… she just wanted to scare Cloudchaser?” Jessica asked.

“Precisely. If you take Jack out of the equation, they get on quite amicably,” Buttercup concluded.

The ship gave a lurch, suddenly decelerating. Jessica had been so busy listening to Buttercup that she had failed to notice the gleaming white metropolis now gliding gracefully by the side of the ship. It looked even more magical up close than it had from the plane.

“Careful, Blossom! You’ll give everypony airsickness,” Buttercup chastised, trotting back to the golden wheel. “I’ll take it from here. Go and ready the mooring lines.”

Over the span of five minutes or so, the Thorn glided lower and lower over one of the vast ridges of the city. Warmfront, who had been tending to his flight scouting duties, finally landed on the deck, confident no-one was going to attack the ship in such close proximity to the capital. He reared up on his hind legs, joining Jessica leaning against the balcony.

“Impressed?”

Impressed? Such a conclusion would be an understatement. Just about everything in this city seemed to be constructed out of white marble, with nearly every building sporting a pole bearing little triangular flags of varying colours. It was such a simple thing, but it brightened the whole place up just that little bit more. Everywhere Jessica looked, there seemed to be something impressive to see. And the ponies… they were absolutely everywhere. Some of them gazed up at the low-flying Thorn from gleaming lime-tinted cobbled streets that were easily wide enough for a two lane road, but of course, there was not a car, truck or bus in sight. It was utterly bizarre, seeing a city as big as this, with absolutely no traffic, and no pollution. The air was as fresh as that of a country hamlet.

The gigantic ridges were a marvel all on their own. They had to be held up by magic—there was simply no way they would remain intact, otherwise. The ship was currently gliding over the lowest one, which was also the largest.

“I’ll take your silence as a ‘yes’, shall I?”

“Huh?” Oh, he’d asked a question. “Sorry, yeah… this… this is like nothing I’ve ever seen before.”

Warmfront grinned, apparently content to just let Jessica admire the scenery. Without even realising what she was doing, her fingers found his ears, and she’d already given him an absent minded scratch in thanks before she caught herself.

I really have to stop doing that. It was so easy to just pet him like he was an overgrown dog. Of course, he was anything but.

“Oh my days! Is that a market?” Jason practically screeched, prompting Jessica to throw a glance over the railing at a large white plaza full of rustic wooden stalls. The place was positively packed with ponies of all three races buying and selling wares. “I can’t wait to go shopping! That’s allowed, right? Where’s Spitfire? Someone ask her if we can go shopping.”

“On one condition,” said a voice, but it wasn’t Spitfire’s. Jessica turned her attention back to the deck, where Fleetfoot had just landed.

“What’s that?” Jason gleefully asked.

“We’re not expected at the castle until later on this afternoon, as the Princess still has her duties to attend to,” Fleetfoot began, speaking to the group as a whole. “So that leaves us a little free time. You can explore the city if you wish, as long as you’re accompanied by a Wonderbolt.”

“Aww, yeah!” Jason yelled in triumph. “Where’s Flitter?”

The corners of Fleetfoot’s mouth twitched, despite her professional stance. “She’s at the dock,” she replied, her smirk emerging as she pointed to a series of platforms up ahead. The Thorn began slowing down to a crawl as she finished speaking.

“Sweet!” With that, Jason shot down the steps to the main deck and began excitedly hovering around the gangway railing as it slid into place next to the polished wooden platform. Several ponies were already in the process of securing the ship with thick mooring lines, and Jessica was just as anxious to get out and explore the city herself.

“Feel like showing me around?” she asked Warmfront, already envisioning the two of them strolling happily together through the busy streets.

“Does an ursa shit on the plains?”

“What?”

Warmfront snorted, shaking his head and dropping back down to his forehooves. “Come on. Let’s go.”

* * *

Mien.

Felix smiled. It was a perpetual smile. The kind that lingers even when the voices in one’s head would just not shut the hell up. Well, one voice, anyways. One very smug voice.

Ours, Felix corrected, but her darker half was too busy purring away like a contented kitten to take any notice.

The marketplace was packed with ponies, most of whom were trying to get a good look at Jack, Jason, and Leanne. There were a few shouts of “Jewel?”, but most of the attention was on the new species in town. It was a good thing, really—as Felix was in no state to talk to anyone, let alone a bunch of ponies that idolised her.

After only twenty five years of being alive, she had stumbled upon something that the majority of her kind had to wait thousands of years to find. With pretty much zero effort, no less!

Her mother was going to have a fit when she found out.

“Are we done here?” Jack muttered, hands in his pockets as he sulkily observed Leanne and Jason fawning over a luxury hoof-stitched quilt. Many ponies were staring, whispering to one another and pointing their hooves at the three humans as though they were the main attraction at a zoo.

Mien.

That had been quite a different tone. Felix took a subtle step closer to her consort… Her actual freakin’ consort! She almost didn’t care that they were staring at him. The siren, on the other hoof…

Click.

Non!

One barely perceptible flash of her horn later, and the pap’s camera belched out a plume of purple smoke. “Maybe we should hurry things along, Jason?” Felix growled.

She all but smacked herself in the jaw with a hoof not a moment after the words left her mouth, the demonic rasp of her darker half having accompanied them in an eerie unison. You little bitch!

Jason went white, his eyes snapping to Felix, hands fumbling the bag of bits he was counting out. Coins spilled all over the stall counter, but she caught them in an instant with a simple summoning spell.

Can you not? They’re already scared of us, you little fucking harlot!

Felix cleared her throat. “Sorry, I just meant that my mother will be expecting us shortly,” she mumbled, neatly stacking the bits in front of him and avoiding his wary look. Even the salesmare looked a little shaken, her ears standing on end.

“Oh… S-Sure,” he replied, his stutter slapping her with a pang of guilt. The siren merely chuckled. Bitch.

Flitter chose that moment to lean into her side, a knowing smirk on her muzzle. “The old seapony giving you trouble?” she asked, quietly enough that all of the ponies trying their best to eavesdrop couldn’t hear.

Well, shit. That was brave. Even for Flitter. “Nothing I can’t handle.”

“Fifty bits is fine!” the salesmare squeaked, practically throwing the quilt at Jason and Leanne, just as three more paparazzi showed up.

MIEN!

“Come on. Let’s get going,” Felix reiterated. It was a wonder she could even hear herself over the semi-tantrum being thrown in her head. Another flash of her horn fried the film in no less than four more expensive cameras.

“Hey!” squeaked the owner of the first camera to bite the dust. Paps weren’t as stupid as they looked, it seemed. “What gives?”

Something snapped, the siren suddenly utterly uncontainable. An internal battle was fought and lost in a split second, with the next seeing the wide-eyed journalist bathed in the deadly blue glimmer of-

Puuuuuuuurrrrrr…

The soft, cool touch of human flesh encompassed Felix’s horn, and an intimate warmth spread the length of her spine from the point of contact, culminating unapologetically between her hind legs so forcefully that her tail gave a noticeable flick. “Silly pony,” Jack grimaced, with a somewhat forced smile.

It certainly shut the siren up, but Felix wasn’t so concerned about that as much as the fact she was currently burning the shit out of Jack’s hand. She pulled her horn from his grasp. “Idiot!”

“Just calm your crotch tits, a’ight?” he shot back at her, flexing his fingers with a poorly disguised wince. His palm now resembled a giant blister, and there was a noticeable smell of burning flesh in the air.

Instead of answering, Felix poured a stream of healing magic into her stupid human’s hand, simultaneously charging her horn for a more powerful spell at the same time. About five more cameras appeared in the crowd, but all their lenses managed to capture was a blinding flash of pink as the small group of humans, along with their chaperones, vanished from the marketplace in the blink of an eye.

Author's Note

Be on the lookout for any typos, eh?