Wildfire: Lighting the Flame

by Dusk Melody

Rating: mature
Tags: Gore, Slice of Life, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Other, Romance, Drama, Original Character, Fetish, Violence, Sex
Length: 177319

A fire rages in Canterlot. Reserve Firefighter Wildfire is called to help her team. Today she learns you can't always save everypony. This is Wildfire's story. A story that will take her from the highs to the lowest low of her young life

Part 1 - Wildfire's taking her math exam. Everypony knows exams are boring and hard.

luckily for the reserve Firefighter a blaze breaks out in downtown Canterlot and she's called to attend. Unluckily Wildfire will realise the high price of trying to save everypony.

She'll also realise the power of her friends, and one mare in particular.

Part 2 - On her 19th birthday Wildfire wakes up to a very nice present from her marefriend.

Following a party at a funfair with her friends Dusk, Cyclone, Brightstar, Darkstar and Slingshot and her marefriend Air Raid the next day it's back to school for Wildfire. Luckily for the pegasus its her last year.

Unfortunately for Wildfire an accident in science class changes her life forever.

Part 3 - Following the accident in the science class Wildfire has to re-evaluate her life in Canterlot Royal Hospital. While her friends support her and try to help her, her father however has different ideas. Faced with a future caring for his handicapped daughter Cold Front contacts Helping Hooves Care Home and it's director, the unicorn Amethyst Glory.

Left in the care of the sadistic unicorn and her merciless staff Wildfire faces a dark and terrifying future in Canterlot. Told by her father that Wildfire is in Fillydelphia her friends separate to try and find her and bring her home.

Although as Darkstar is soon to learn to her cost, some things aren't worth the price she'll pay for trying to find her friend.

Triggers - BDSM, pet play, F/F sex, M/M sex, M/F sex, rape, watersports, hoofing, exhibitionism, nappy wearing, nappy usage, voyuerism, humiliation, abuse - physical and mental, mind break, depression

The sequel can be found here, Wildfire 2: Releasing the Flame

thanks to Swirlstar the Dedraeb for the awesome cover art!!

thanks to Zervon Tora for co-writing, and to An Alternate Universe for his awesome editing skills.

Published 2015-03-11 23:20:01 UTC
Last updated 2016-03-03 11:31:59 UTC

1.2 - Burned (Edited)

1.2 - Burned

For the second time that day Wildfire sat a desk wishing she was someplace else. Hot Spot sat opposite her, pen in mouth as he finished the last of his paperwork. The pegasus cast a glance at the ticking clock on the wall. Two thirty in the afternoon. Half an hour since the fire had been bought under control and finally extinguished. Thirty minutes since she’d said goodbye to Heatwave as Red Alert had driven him to the morgue. Thirty minutes since she’d spoken to anypony. Wildfire’s world had fallen apart, what was there to say? Now she sat facing her Captain in silence, as she had for the past ten minutes.

Eventually Hot Spot laid his pen down on the last sheet of paper and looked over his glasses at the pegasus on the other side of his desk. “What happened out there Reserve?” He asked quietly, his gruff voice neither hostile nor friendly.

Wildfire looked up at him once before looking away, at the floor, the walls, anything to avoid his piercing dark green eyes. ‘Reserve’…Hot Spot hadn’t called her that since she had signed up three years ago. Usually it was ‘Rookie’ or ‘Wily’. Studying the pattern on the carpeted floor the yellow pegasus opened her mouth to reply, but found she had to attempt it another three times. “You know what happened, Sir.”

Hot Spot took his time cleaning his glasses, watching Wildfire fidget nervously before placing them back on his nose. “I want to hear it from you Reserve.”

Wildfire wrung her hooves together, trying to marshal her thoughts to answer her Captain. “I – I brought the cloud as requested on my pager, I was making it rain like you ordered when…” Wildfire choked back her tears at the thought of her partner, “When H – Heatwave landed and asked if I needed help. We, we worked the cloud together…” Her voice trailed off, she didn’t want to say aloud what happened next.

“And, then what happened?” Hot Spot gently coaxed her. Wildfire couldn’t understand why he was so calm, why he wasn’t shouting at her. It’d be easier to bear if he were shouting, angry, anything.

Wildfire sniffed, rubbing her eyes with a hoof. “Then…then I heard their screams. That family screaming for help. I – I didn’t stop to think, I was in the air, I asked…I asked Heatwave to take over the cloud and I went to help them.”

“You. Didn’t. Stop. To. Think.” Hot Spot repeated her words back to her, punctuating each word. To Wildfire each word felt like a crushing hammer blow to her heart. “Did Heatwave warn you of my standing orders?”

“Yes Sir. He did, Sir.”

“What were my orders, Reserve?”

“Nopony was to enter that building while it was burning, Sir.” Wildfire’s brown eyes were glued firmly to the floor, her voice barely above a whisper.

“What did you do?”

“I – I…I hovered at the window, I heard the mare scream for help. Sir, I…I burst through the window and…”

“You disobeyed my direct orders Reserve.” Hot Spot cut across her defence.

“Sir, I…I couldn’t let them burn! I just couldn’t. I had to do something!”

“It wasn’t your call to make Wildfire.” The use of her name finally made her look up at her Captain. She wished she hadn’t. The disappointment on Hot Spot’s face was almost too much for her to take. “Yes you saved those ponies. You also put yourself in very serious danger and endangered the life of your partner. Chain of command exists for a reason, and you broke that chain today.”

A feeble “Yes Sir” was all she managed in reply.

“Now, I’m entering this formal reprimand into your permanent file.” Hot Spot extended his hoof across the desk. “Pager please Wildfire.”

“You’re suspending me Sir?” Wildfire used her left hoof to slide the pager off her right foreleg, and dumped it on the desk top between herself and her Captain.

Picking up the pager Hot Spot turned it over in his crimson hooves before putting it in the drawer of his desk. “Your Captain is suspending you Wildfire.” He noted the saddened downcast look on her face before continuing, “Your friend is suggesting you take as much time as you need before coming back to the team.” Hot Spot finished with a gentle smile. “Is there anything else?”

Wildfire felt her chest constrict at the thought of her partner laid on the stretcher, her heart a leaden weight. “Heatwave was my fault.” She confessed miserably. “I don’t belong on your team, Sir.”

To her very great surprise Hot Spot actually chuckled at her. Wildfire could count on one hoof the times she had heard him laugh. “Let me tell you why you’re wrong on both counts Wily. Heatwave had a medical condition that left him with a weak heart. That’s why he was your trainer. He wasn’t on active duty for several months. However that fire earlier was so intense I had no choice but to return him to active status.”

If Hot Spot’s words were meant to comfort the pegasus they had the opposite effect, only deepening her melancholy. “So…it was my fault then, when I asked him to take over on that cloud, I had no idea he couldn’t handle it…”

“And you wouldn’t have had any idea. I was the only pony he told, apart from his wife. He loved the job Wily, Heatwave practically begged me to keep him on in any capacity. Remember he was my friend a lot longer than he was yours, I didn’t have the heart to refuse him.”

“I still disobeyed your orders, Heatwave only went in the building because I asked him to. You- you don’t need a liability on your team Sir.”

Hot Spot looked directly at Wildfire’s flank. “You say you don’t belong on my team Wily? Your cutie mark says otherwise.”

Wildfire looked at her Captain, confusion on her face. “I don’t understand, what’s that got to do with it?”

“Wily I’ve been with my team for years. I flatter myself that I know them all rather well, both at work and personally as well.” Hot Spot then proceeded to list off the names of the ponies under his command, “Heatwave did, Red Alert; Inferno; Firefly; Smokescreen; Trailblazer. Each one would’ve followed you into that fire. There isn’t a pony on my team that would’ve let that family burn.”

“Then…”

“Officially I have to reprimand you, my hooves are tied. Unofficially I’m very pleased to say I couldn’t be prouder to have you serve on my team.”

“But, Heatwave…”

“Wily, please understand Heatwave was on borrowed time. His heart would’ve killed him eventually. Do you really think he’d have wanted to waste away in a hospital bed? No, Wily. Heatwave died doing the job he loved, helping the pony he loved. He would’ve preferred it that way.

“I – I loved him too Sir, Heatwave…he was a father to me.” Wildfire started crying again. Openly sobbing as they splashed onto the desk she wondered how she had any tears left to cry out.

Now it was Hot Spot’s turn to be confused. “Pardon me Wily, last I heard your dad was alive and well?”

Wildfire choked back her tears and let out a bitter laugh, “Heh, since mum died all he loves is the bottom of a cider bottle. Most of the time he’s too drunk to realise I exist.” She glanced up at the clock, which read two fifty. “About now he’ll be face down in the living room or passed out in his bedroom.” ‘If I’m lucky…’ she thought to herself, rubbing a hoof-shaped bruise on her neck that had nothing to do with flying through the burning building.

Hot Spot caught her rubbing the curiously shaped bruise, thankfully she didn’t notice him looking. “You alright Wily?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah…yeah I’m fine, just thinking…” ‘Damn that sounded lame.’

“Where did you get the bruise?”

“This? Oh I, err, I dunno,” ‘Think! Think of something! Tell him anything!’ Wildfire’s brain scrambled, sorting through her long list of excuses for her dad’s behaviour. Usually she had at least five ready to go at all times, but Hot Spot had caught her with her guard down, and now her brain was coming up empty. “I – I must’ve flown into something in the rescue earlier. Not looking where I was going.”

“Uh huh.” Hot Spot looked at her with a raised sceptical eyebrow. “Flew into something shaped like a hoof did you?”

“It must’ve been Summer, y’know, the little colt?” Wildfire’s brain latched on to the first plausible sounding thing she could think of, and ran with it. “Yeah, that little guy, when he held on tight…sure was strong, for a colt I mean.” Meanwhile her brain kept its metaphorical hooves crossed. ‘Please buy it…please’

“Hmm…” Was all Hot Spot made as a reply. Anypony could clearly see that bruise was much too large to be made by a colt. It was as plain as the muzzle on the earth pony’s face what was happening, just as it was plain that Wildfire didn’t want to admit it. He knew he’d get nowhere if he pushed. “Wildfire, I’d like you to tell me if any other ‘colt’ decides it’s alright to leave a bruise like that.”

Wildfire sighed inwardly. It was clear her Captain didn’t believe her, but she was glad he hadn’t pushed the issue. “I will Sir.”

“One last thing, plans for this afternoon?”

Wildfire brightened almost instantly, as if somepony had flipped a light switch in her. “I’m going to visit mum, read her my new poem, and see how she’s doing.” Just as quick a shadow seemed to cross her brown eyes, “Then I’ll head home, take care of whatever mess dad’s left before he passed out today.”

“Dismissed then Rookie,” Hot Spot smiled at her as she got up to leave his office. When she was at the door he added, “Don’t be a stranger just because you’re suspended.”

~

Wildfire trotted happily down the streets of Equestria’s capital city. The meeting with Hot Spot, while it hadn’t been all pleasant, hadn’t exactly been the roasted serving of her flank on a plate she had been expecting. True she was still upset about Heatwave, and while she would miss him in her life her Captain had gone a long way to reassuring her about the whole situation.

Carefully the yellow pegasus wove around the slower moving ponies around her. Some were families’ window shopping, little colts or fillies diligently pestering their tired looking parents for the latest whatever it was they wanted. Wildfire checked the clock outside a café as she passed. Three ten p.m. that gave her at least three hours until the scheduled rainfall later.

‘Heh,’ she giggled to herself, thinking of the absent Nimbostratus. ‘I know one part of Canterlot that won’t be getting any rain.’ Wildfire found her mind wandering as she trotted along, her saddle bags loaded with one of her most prized possessions, a real leather bound folder. A treasured gift from her mother, every poem she’d ever written from the age of ten was written in this folder. As it was there was a fresh sheet of parchment inside, along with her favourite calligraphy pen, also a gift from her mum, it was battered with teeth marks from years of writing, and while she had newer pens in her room, when it came to her poems it just didn’t feel right to use anything else.

Wildfire began humming to herself as she trotted towards the Cemetery at the far end of the Residential District, a habit she’d had for as long as she could remember. She only did it when she was really happy, and it was such an ingrained habit she didn’t realise she was doing it anymore, unless somepony pointed it out to her.

Line one is the time, that you, you first stayed over at mine.

And we drank our first bottle of wine

Wildfire skipped along the cobbled street as she hummed the first verse of a song called ‘Prettiest Eyes’ her favourite tune. A favourite of her mother’s, she’d always sing along to it when it came on the radio and to the skipping pegasus she equated that tune with feeling happy.

Reaching the gates of the cemetery Wildfire hit the first chorus, and without bothering to check if she could be overheard by anypony started to sing the words.

Now you’re older and I look at your face,

Every wrinkle is so easy to place.

And I only write them down just in case

That you’d die.

Take a look at these crow’s feet, just look,

Sitting on the Prettiest Eyes.

Sixty twenty-fifth of Decembers

Fifty-nine fourth of Julys,

Take a good look at these crow’s feet

Sitting on the Prettiest Eyes.

Wildfire was just about to hit the second verse with full gusto when thankfully, for those other ponies within earshot at least, the beeping of her phone alerted her to a newly received text message. Taking it from her left saddle bag she immediately blushed, her yellow cheeks flushing a fierce crimson at the name of the sender.

Air Raid.

In Wildfire’s opinion the nicest, prettiest lime green pegasus mare in Canterlot. Her oldest mare friend, Air Raid had the peculiar ability to make her lose the ability for coherent speech whenever she was around, which thankfully she was, rather a lot.

‘Saw your fire on the afternoon news. Awesome you rescuing that family. Proud of you my little hero. Party later?”

If Wildfire was happy before, she was fit to burst now. Air Raid, her crush, thought she was a hero! And she wanted to party, with her! Maybe today would be the day she admitted her years long crush and actually did something about it, or tomorrow. Fumbling her phone in her hooves Wildfire managed to reply on the fourth attempt that yes, she’d love to meet up later.

Presently, after not too much walking, Wildfire found the grave she was looking for. Not that she had to look anymore, she was sure she could find this headstone if she was blind given the number of times she’d made the journey. “Hi mum,” she said reverently as she pulled up the few weeds that were growing around the plot before sitting in front of the headstone. Wildfire didn’t need to but she read the carved letters anyway just as she always did when she visited.

In Loving Memory of

Silverbolt

1971 – 2018

‘Death has the swiftest wings of all’

“I bought you something.” Wildfire took a single yellow daffodil and placed it at the foot of the grave marker, clearing away the other older ones that were getting past their best. Every time she visited her mum, which was at least twice weekly every week for the past six years she always bought her a single daffodil.

“Busy day today mum,” Wildfire began, “Had a fire in the Residential District, a big one too. Hope you were watching, Air Raid thinks I’m her hero!” She stopped and smiled coyly at the stone. “No, before you start I haven’t asked her out yet, I will do soon, in my own time alright?”

Wildfire took a deep breath before continuing. “I don’t feel much like a hero mum, we lost Heatwave today. I know you’d have liked him.”

“Hey!” She exclaimed as an idea hit her. “He’s up with you right? Can you say hi from me? Let him know I’m sorry he had to go, and tell him I’ll miss him.” Wildfire looked at her hooves, embarrassed at what she asked next. “Could you maybe hang out with him, keep him company?” She sniffed away a little tear. “Thanks mum.”

Wildfire dug in to her saddle bag, retrieving the leather folder and her pen. “Wanna help me write something while I’m here? I’ll read it to you then you can show Heatwave ‘kay?” The yellow pegasus took her pen in her mouth and began to write, her beautifully crafted letters that she reserved for her poems almost an art in themselves. Occasionally she’d raise her head, think of a different line or word and put her pen to paper once more. While she was writing Wildfire didn’t notice the midnight blue pegasus walk behind her, sitting quietly a respectful distance away while she worked.

Twenty five minutes later she put her pen away. “Right mum it’s finished. Honest opinion alrighty? Tell me if you don’t like it.” Holding the folder open with a hoof Wildfire read aloud the poem she’d just written.

I stand alone with you in my mind

Your words taught me how to survive

Your strength never let me down

Now you're gone

I won't disappoint you daddy

But my tears will remain in my eyes

My heart will hurt forever

Sorry I never told you what you deserved

You cared for me and I took you for granted

You live alive in my heart

Thank you for loving me from the start

“Not bad Wily.” Dusk said quietly from behind her, making the yellow pegasus squeak in shock and surprise. "At least your mum has decent company up there now."

“Gaaaah! Horseapples D you nearly gave me a heart attack!” Wildfire stuck out her tongue as he sat there sniggering at her. “Warn a pony next time mate.”

“Sorry Wily, I saw your back was turned and I couldn’t resist, besides your mum said it’d be funny.” He got up and walked the few steps to sit beside her at Silverbolt’s grave.

Wildfire scowled at the stone, “Thanks mum, ganging up on me now are we?” Her scowl turned into a reluctant smile, before she giggled. “Guess it was pretty funny.”

The yellow pegasus then cast a sideways glance at her best friend as he tucked his wings away. “Royalty stalking me now are they?”

Dusk laughed at that, “Hardly Wily. It’s Thursday. Where else would you be?”

“Alrighty, good point you got me there.” She conceded as she packed her folder and pen back in her saddle bags.

Dusk laid a dark blue wing over her shoulder, draping it over Wildfire’s own wings as he nuzzled her neck gently. “How you doing, really?”

“What d’you mean?”

“Saw you on the news? Y’know, as in the ‘news’ programme on TV? You have heard of it right?” Dusk withdrew his nuzzle but kept his wing firmly over his friend.

“Har har. I speak sarcasm too D. I’m alright I guess, chat with Hot Spot helped some.

“We’re meeting up for a party at mine later, you in?”

Wildfire turned to look her best friend in the face. “You. A party. You are throwing a party. Air Raid put you up to it didn’t she?”

Dusk blushed. “Is it that obvious?”

Wildfire lifted a hoof to her chin in mock thought, “Well let’s see. Your idea of a party is studying for a math exam, and you don’t know one end of a party popper from the other.”

“Alright I’m busted, yes Air Raid suggested it’d be a good night, thought you’d need it.”

“By that you mean she badgered you and pestered you until you gave in and said yes? Wildfire sniggered as Dusk nodded. “How many times did she ring you?”

“Only eight.” Wildfire’s snigger turned into a full blown laugh. “The eighth time I gave in and told her she could use my suite however she liked as long as she stopped calling me.”

“Anypony else coming?” She asked, after her laughter had died down.

“Well I’ll ask Bright Star, you know he’ll bring his sister. Dark Star will almost certainly bring Cyclone.  It’s a foregone thing that Air Raid will ask Slingshot to come, that just leaves us, so seven in total.” Dusk finished counting off the list of possible attendees. “So, gonna finally ask her out tonight?”

“Yes…no…maybe, what if she says no?” Wildfire stuttered out.

“I don’t think she will. I reckon Air Raid fancies the fur off your flank.”

“Yeah right D.” Wildfire chuckled at her friend. “Air Raid could have the pick of anypony in Canterlot, what makes you think she fancies me?” Her voice was sceptical, however her brain was performing somersaults. ‘She might fancy me! She might fancy me!’

“Because the seventh time she rung she used the phrase; ‘That cute little pegasus deserves a party.’ That’s why.”

Wildfire’s brain had given up the somersaults and was now attempting barrel rolls in her head. ‘she called me cute…woot!’ “Alrighty then, I’ll come. And who knows, maybe I will ask Air Raid out.” Wildfire dug her phone out of her bag. “Let me ring dad, let him know what I’m doing.”

Dusk noted the time on his watch, it was fast approaching four p.m. “Wily Will he even be conscious this late in the day?”

Wildfire gave Dusk a ‘look’ which succeeded in shutting him up as she dialled her home number. Part of her hoped her dad would answer, the other part, the bit nearest her bruise, hoped he’d be passed out. She was about to cancel her call when it was answered on the eleventh ring, the slurred voice on the other end didn’t fill her with confidence.

“What?”

“Dad it’s me Wildfire…” She began, but was cut across.

“Huh…you is it…whadaya want now?” As he hiccupped down the phone Wildfire winced, she could practically smell the drink from here.

“I’m just letting you know I’m staying at Dusk’s tonight.”

“Do as you like…” Wildfire was sure she could hear him muttering something about pointless stuck up royals, but decided not to argue.

“Dad I got my cu…” Wildfire paused mid-word as her dad hung up on her, the dial tone ringing in her ears. “…tie mark today.” She stared at her phone for a few seconds, wanting nothing more than to launch it as far as equinely possible. For what felt like the millionth time that day she felt tears build up as she stomped a hoof into the grass.

"Bastard..." Once again Dusk was at Wildfire's side, nuzzling her neck as a comforting wing held her in a tight hug

1.3 - Dare! (Edited)

1.3 - Dare!

Dusk Melody rolled the eight sided dice, the number coming up eight. The dice certainly had not been kind to the young prince during this game, and he had started to suspect it was weighted. Sighing he admitted to the assembled group, “I’m a coltcuddler.” Before taking the dice again, this time rolling a three.

“C’mon Dusky, we all knew that already, tell us something we don’t know.” Bright Star piped up, the blue unicorn earning himself a raspberry from Dusk for his trouble.

"Cyclone, it's your turn." Dusk said, hoofing the dice over to the black coated pegasus.

The party for Wildfire was in full swing and had been going almost two hours when Dark Star had, to the great surprise of everypony present, suggested Truth or Dare as the next game to play. The shy unicorn had lit up like a Hearth’s Warming tree and had practically hid under the large round table but once voiced everypony had jumped on the idea. Order of play had been decided with a suit from the deck of cards they had used for poker just previously. Air Raid had gotten the ace, Dusk the two; Cyclone the three; Bright Star the four; Slingshot the five; Dark Star the six and finally Wildfire the seven. Using an eight sided dice to determine who was next whoever rolled the eight had to reveal a truth about themselves before rolling again. Fuelled with a keg of moonshine courtesy of Dusk’s mom the game had predictably gotten out of hoof rather quickly.

“Truth.” Cyclone declared as she took a mouthful of Luna’s finest liquor.

“Who was your first kiss with?” Dusk asked with a wolfish grin as Cyclone muttered something darkly his way.

“You Dusk, aged nine and a half, Palace Library.” She replied, flicking her turquoise mane from her eyes.

“No surprise you like stallions then D.”

“Buck you Wily.” Wildfire giggled as Cyclone rolled the dice, getting a four.

Bright Star put his drink down, thinking for a moment. “Truth please Cyclone.”

This time it was the bookish pegasus’s turn to deliver a predatory smile, which worried the unicorn somewhat. “Have you ever made out with your sister?”

Dusk couldn’t help but feel sorry for the timid unicorn, although that didn’t stop him laughing with the others when the white unicorn spat her mouthful of moonshine over the table. Dark Star’s white fur turned a fierce crimson as her brother answered.

“Yes,” He answered shamelessly, “Once when we were eight, and only because she was curious.”

Hoots of glee sounded out around the table, making Dark Star’s blush threaten to become permanent as her brother rolled a seven.

Wildfire looked at the dice like it was a traitor. “Dare.”

“I dare you to kiss the pony of your choice at this table.” Bright Star looked at her triumphantly, the dare earning more whoops from the friends, especially from Slingshot, the earth pony nudged Wildfire in the ribs as he dramatically puckered up.

“You wish.” Wildfire snickered at her friend as she trotted around the table. There was only one pony here she wanted to kiss, and she silently thanked Bright Star for giving her the chance. Standing in front of Air Raid she gave her long time crush a hopeful smile, which she was relieved to see answered with a wink from the lime green pegasus. Wildfire closed her eyes as she gently pressed her lips to Air Raid’s own. She had fantasized about this for years, and now she was actually doing it she wanted to take her time, to savour it. The yellow pegasus marvelled at the texture of the soft lips hers touched, and would’ve been happy to leave it there had she not felt a hoof caress her black mane, pulling her into a deeper kiss as Air Raid ran her tongue across Wildfire’s lips. Understanding the request she opened her mouth slightly, granting Air Raid access to her mouth. Slowly, carefully, she entered Wildfire’s mouth, pushing her tongue to one side and claiming the younger pegasus’s mouth. It wasn’t a forceful kiss, rather a steady domination that Wildfire was more than happy to give in to.

Eventually the need for air caused the kiss to be broken, and with flushed cheeks Air Raid laid a peck on Wildfire’s lips as she turned to go back to her seat, her progress somewhat hampered by her wings, which at this moment her spread almost painfully erect either side of her body. Hoots and whoops followed her as she found her seat, Air Raid’s being the loudest of the lot. Picking up the dice Wildfire noted with a smirk that Dusk’s wings were also spread wide.

Wildfire promptly rolled an eight. “Oh buck.” Everypony around the table sniggered, as she prepared to tell a rather large truth. ‘In for a bit,’ she thought nervously. “I have a crush on Air Raid.” She said as she proceeded to roll a six on the dice. Wildfire ignored the various sniggers, looking straight at her crush to see she wasn’t doing anything but smiling warmly at her.

“Dare.” Wildfire suspected it was the quantity of moonshine she had consumed that gave Dark Star her current resolve, but whatever the reason she wasn’t going to waste this opportunity.

“Alrighty, Dark Star, I dare you to tell us your fetish.”

Silence. The sniggers and jokes around the table died away to silence, and Dark Star was all of a sudden very aware of six pairs of eyes looking directly at her, boring into her very soul. “Um…o – okay,” the shy unicorn stuttered, “But e – everypony has to tell theirs too, if that’s alright, I mean…”

A chorus of ‘yes’s’ immediately went up from everypony present. “A – alright then…I like my coltfriend to hoof-cuff me and…s – spank me before we, you know, ‘do it’.”

Dusk sat open-mouthed at Dark Star’s admission. Of all the things he’d expected from the timid unicorn, that was low on the list. “Really?” He asked incredulously.

Dark Star’s blush was back in full force. “Oh yes. It makes me warm and tingly when he spanks me.”

“I like to watch as her coltfriend ties her up and spanks her.” Now it was Bright Star’s turn to get stared at. “What?” He asked, “It’s not as if I join in or anything, I just watch the show.”

“Dude, that’s still creepy as buck.” Slingshot commented from the other side of the table as he took a generous gulp of his drink.

“Alright, what’s your fetish then?” Bright Star asked, eyebrow raised.

“Socks, me and my marefriend both wear ‘em in bed.” Slingshot blew a raspberry at Bright Star’s snigger, “Least I don’t watch my sister getting bucked.”

“Preening is mine.” Dusk voiced his fetish to the group, earning a few nods in his direction. “Slingshot you up for giving me a preen?” He asked with a grin.

“I would, your majesty, but my palace door swings the other way.”

“I’m not too fussed about being tied up, but I like to be spanked too, with a good heavy book.” Cyclone piped up from her seat next to Dusk.

“You’re in the right spot then cyclone,” Air Raid giggled, “Dusk practically lives in the Royal Library. Just return a book late, I’m sure he’ll grant your wish.”

“Depends how late the book is…” Dusk snickered with a wink at Cyclone, whose wings promptly sprang out, to gales of laughter from the others.

“I do have one that’s a month overdue.” The black pegasus admitted with an excited shiver.

“Score for Cyclone!” Slingshot cheered.

“I like Hooves.” Wildfire said, and to the questioning glances she received added, “Y’know, licking and sucking them, it…turns me on…”

"Eww, gross Wily!” Dark Star pulled a disgusted face after taking another drink.

“And letting your brother watch you get screwed isn’t?” Dark Star immediately shut up, merely taking another quick sip of her moonshine.

“Okay, my turn.” Air Raid said, “I like to pee outside where somepony might catch me.” Then she quickly added before she could be interrupted, looking Wildfire square in her brown eyes, “And I love it when somepony sucks my hooves.”

Wildfire really wished Air Raid would look somewhere else as her wings once again flared out wide. ‘I love you…’ her horny brain wished her to say, instead of the gibberish she ended up muttering under her breath.

Dark Star rolled a five on the dice as Dusk returned with a tray of refills for everypony.

“Truth.” Slingshot requested as the earth pony took a deep swig of his moonshine, emptying half the glass and starting to sway happily in his seat.

“What are you afraid of?”

“We all sharing again?” Slingshot asked the group nervously. The ‘yes’s’ went a great way to boosting his confidence.

“I don’t think that’s how the game is played…” Dusk began but was cut off mid-sentence by Bright Star.

“Maybe not but it is fun, chill out Dusky.”

“Alright then, I’m scared of heights.” Slingshot admitted with a shudder as he emptied his fifth glass.

“What a shock, an earth pony scared of heights.” Bright Star chuckled to himself as Slingshot stuck out his tongue at him.

“I’m…scared of the dark…” Bright Star muttered as all eyes focused on him, erupting in peals of giggles.

“The dark? Really bro?” Dark Star was thumping her hoof on the table, holding her sides with the other.

Recovering herself Dark Star took a steadying drink of her moonshine before she said; “I’m scared of being caught, when I’m hoof-cuffed outside.”

“I’m scared of heights too.” Cyclone admitted with a blush, partially hiding behind her wing.

“Really?”

“Yes Dusk, not every pegasus loves to fly y’know.” Cyclone sniffed, trying hard to not be offended.

“Sorry Cyclone. I think everypony here knows mine…”

“Yeah D, you’re scared witless of failing a test right?” Dusk’s quiet blush was all the answer the table needed, fresh giggles erupting once more.

“I’m claustrophobic, any small spaces I can’t stand. Give me open sky and I’m fine.” Wildfire said as she shuddered at the thought of being hemmed in gave her the cold chills.

“You all might laugh,” Air Raid started, “I’m scared of thunder, well loud noises in general really.” Only Slingshot laughed, but was immediately silenced by a vicious elbow nudge from Wildfire.

Slingshot then rolled a one.

“Dare me.” Air Raid said defiantly, staring a hole straight through the earth pony.

“I dare you to ask Wily on a date.”

1.4 - First Date (Edited)

1.4 - First Date

Best. Night. Ever!

If Wildfire were to be asked the question then that undoubtedly would have been her reply. Best. Night. Ever. Not only had she got to hang out with her circle of friends at the palace she was here, now, flying above Canterlot on a date with her crush! She had a sneaking suspicion that Air Raid had set the whole thing up, but at this very moment Wildfire found she wasn’t too bothered. All that mattered to her was the fact that she was on a date with Air Raid.

The two pegasi had flown together side by side since leaving the palace balcony overlooking the mountainside city below them.

Wildfire laid her forehooves over the edge of the Cirrocumulus she and her date were laid out on, looking at the twinkling, sparkling lights of the city far below them. Air Raid was laid next to her on the floating cloud, a lime green wing idly draped over her shoulders and back, holding the yellow pegasus in a feathery hug.

“How high do you think we are Raid?” Wildfire asked, laying her head on Air Raid’s shoulder.

“Let’s see, this is a Cirrocumulus cloud, so easy twenty six thousand feet.” She angled her head to kiss Wildfire’s forehead, “Too high for you Wily?”

“Hmm? No, not at all, I’m just enjoying the view.”

“Yeah, Canterlot looks beautiful from up here.”

“Not the city, I meant the moon and stars.” The view certainly was breathtaking. The clear night sky was illuminated by the light of the full moon, the millions of stars shining against their black canvas. “I feel like I could just reach out a hoof and touch forever.”

“O brave world, that has such wonders in it.” Air Raid sighed, laying a series of gentle kisses along Wildfire’s jawline.

Wildfire giggled, leaning her head the other way to better expose her neck to Air Raid’s sensuous attack. “You…ahh…misquoted it you know…”

Air Raid lifted her muzzle from her partner’s neck, a look of mock indignance on her face. “I did not.”

“You did,” Wildfire whimpered at the loss of the kisses. “It should be ‘O brave new world, that has such ponies in it. The Tempest, act five scene one. Miranda says it to Prospero.”

Wildfire squealed with surprise as Air Raid rolled her over onto her back, beginning a trail of wet kisses that began under her chin and stopped at the base of her neck. “Aren’t we the clever little pegasus then?” She teased, bringing her head back up and gently kissing her lips.

“Only…hmm…with literature, I do suck at math.” Wildfire giggled as she returned the kiss, starting at Air Raid’s lips and planting a string of flowery pecks up the side of her face to her ear, which she nipped with the slightest pressure, earning herself a tiny squeak.

“Well, my cute little hero can’t be good at everything, can she?” Air Raid drew her left hoof across the leading edge of Wildfire’s right wing, eliciting a low moan from the yellow pegasus under her.

“I’m not a hero Raid.”

“Hmm let’s see.” Air Raid made small circling motions with her hoof over Wildfire’s extended primaries. “You flew into a burning building, almost burnt your feathers off and single hoofedly rescued three ponies from burning to death.” Air Raid’s hoof crept down her wing, barely caressing her secondaries with the lightest of touches. “I’d say that was pretty bucking heroic, wouldn’t you?”

“Uh huh…” Wildfire found she wasn’t in much of a position to argue the point, the part of her brain that wanted to deny the fact had long since surrendered to the part that wanted to lie in this caress forever more. Especially when Air Raid leant over her and began nipping and sucking at the very base of her right wing, targeting the sensitive bundle of nerves where the wing met her barrel.

“Gaaah…oooh Raid that’s sooo nice…” Wildfire whined happily, her arousal building with every deliberate nip and suck, every touch of a delicate hoof on a feather.

“hm hmm,” Air Raid murmured into her wing, “And I haven’t started the other one yet babe.”

“W – wait…stop, Raid, can you stop a minute, please?”

Immediately Air Raid ceased her ministrations to Wildfire’s right wing, and propped herself up to look the fiercely blushing pegasus in her brown eyes. “What is it? Don’t you want to?” She asked, her face full of concern.

“N – no, I do, it’s just…this is my first time.”

“With a mare?” Air Raid asked softly, no pressure in her voice.

“With…anypony…” Wildfire’s voice was tiny, barely above a whisper, her embarrassment threatening to turn her blush permanent.

“Hey,” Air Raid kissed her nose, and then kissed her lips. “That’s alright, we can go as slow as you like sweetie, I’m not going to rush you.”

“It’s not that I don’t want to, I do…want to do it with you I mean, more than anything.” Wildfire flustered, barely getting her words out. “There’s somepony I want you to meet first, if you don’t mind.”

“For you, anything. Who is it?”

“My mum.”

~

Wildfire and Air Raid landed just outside the cemetery, the clear full moon bathing the multitudinous head stones in an eerie light that went a long way to unnerving the lime green mare. Had she been alone there was no way in Equestria Air Raid would’ve gone in there after dark.

Wildfire confidently pushed open the iron gate, leading the way along the well-trodden cobbled path she knew so well. “Mum’s waiting just over here,” the yellow mare said to her partner walking hesitantly beside her, pointing the way with a wingtip. “She’s been wanting to meet you for ages.”

Air Raid wasn’t sure how she felt about that, if she was honest with herself it sounded a little creepy, but it was obviously important to Wildfire that they do this, and do it right. “I hope I make a good first impression Wily.”

A few minutes later they were stood before Silverbolt’s grave. “Mum, I’ve got somepony I’d like you to meet.” Indicating the other pegasus with a wing she continued, “This is Air Raid. You’ll remember I spoke about her before, and well, she asked me out tonight!”

Wildfire gave Air Raid a gentle nudge in the ribs, mouthing ‘go on’.

“Hey Ma’am,” Air Raid began uncertainly, ‘what do you say to a head stone?’ she thought to herself, “My name’s Air Raid. Call me Raid, most ponies do. I uh…asked your little girl out tonight, and err, Wily wants to know if you’re okay with it, with us dating, going out and…stuff.”

There was a moment’s silence before Wildfire tenderly nuzzled Raid’s neck, and said with a whisper; “Mum likes you, she just wonders what took us so long to get together.”

Air Raid released a deep breath she didn’t realise she was holding in. She was still unsure of this whole thing, but it felt weird, good weird, to have her mum’s ‘blessing’. “You visit your mum often then Wily?”

“Every Monday and Thursday. I come to see her, have a chat, unload stuff that’s bothering me, get her advice.” Air Raid shot her a sceptical look before she could stop herself. “I know she can’t really hear me silly, but I dunno, being here feels like being with her, y’know? Cuddling mum’s stone, it’s like getting a cuddle from her. I know it’s silly…”

Air Raid placed a foreleg over Wildfire’s shoulder, “It’s not silly. I get it, you want to be near your mum. How did she…?”

“Die? Mum worked with the Canterlot Weather Team. One day when I was twelve they were creating a storm and an errant cloud got loose, mum got hit by a lightning strike, she was dead before she hit the ground.”

“I’m sorry to hear that Wily.” She tightened the hug, nuzzling her cheek. “What else do you do, when you come to visit?”

“I write my poems.” Wildfire turned her head and retrieved her treasured book from her saddle bag carefully in her mouth. Taking it in her hoof she passed it to Air Raid, who took it in her own hoof.

“Wily, this book is beautiful.” Air Raid admired the black leather cover, ‘Wildfire’ embossed upon it in flowing gold lettering, the smell of it, the parchment pages was a sensation in itself. “May I?”

At Wildfire’s nod she opened the book, noticing it was split into three sections. Tabs at the side read ‘Heatwave’, ‘Friends’, ‘Mum’ and ‘Air Raid’. With a blush of her own she couldn’t help but notice her section was by far the largest of the four, making up almost half of the book on its own. Reverently she hoofed the book back to its owner. “Could you read me a poem, please?”

“O – okay…” Wildfire took the book back, and sat in front of Air Raid, hoofing through the pages to find one about her she particularly liked. Finally she skimmed back to the start of her section, selecting the first poem she’d ever written about Air Raid, when she had first realised her crush for the pegasus. ‘Okay Wily, you got this, no big deal. Your crush, your marefriend, wants a poem read in front of your mum. No, no big deal. I got this…’ She cleared her throat and began to read.

Your lips speak soft sweetness

Your touch a cool caress

I am lost in your magic

My heart beats within your chest

I think of you each morning

And dream of you each night

I think of your wings being around me

And cannot express my delight

Never have I fallen

But I am quickly on my way

You hold a heart in your hooves

That has never before been given away

Air Raid was simply speechless. Listening to the poem, to Wildfire pouring her very heart and soul through those beautiful words…there were no words to describe it. “Wily…that, that was by far the most beautiful thing I’ve ever heard. That was the first you wrote about me?”

Wildfire nodded, closing the book up. ‘She likes it! Raid likes it!’ Her brain was doing its own little happy dance in her head, thrilled beyond measure that she hadn’t just made a huge foal of herself.

“How long?” Wildfire shot her a questioning look to which she quickly added, “Since you wrote that, how long have you had the crush?”

“Three and a half years.”

Air Raid giggled, creeping close enough to give Wildfire a tender kiss. A slow, unhurried, loving kiss. “Silly filly, why didn’t you ask me out?”

“Because you’re older…and pretty, and…you’re just cool! I was scared you’d laugh or say no…” Wildfire’s voice trailed off as Air Raid once more kissed her lips.

“Can you read me another poem, please my love?”

‘She called me her love! She loves me! Air Raid loves me!’ Wildfire felt like all her Hearth’s Warmings had come at once. “I can do better than that,” Wildfire enthused, almost giddy with inspiration, “I’ll write you a new one, right now!”

“Wily, love, you don’t have to go to any trouble for me.”

“It’s no trouble, It’s a pleasure.” Wildfire rummaged through her saddle bag, locating her special pen. “Gimme a minute,” the excited mare mumbled around the pen as she sat back down and got herself comfortable.

Air Raid sat a few feet away, quietly watching her work, ‘no, not work, create art is what she’s doing.’ She thought to herself as she watched the exquisite mouth-writing take shape. Just ten minutes later she was done.

“Alrighty it’s finished. Be honest and let me know what you think.”

Air Raid nodded as she began her second reading.

I love you so deeply,

I love you so much,

I love the sound of your voice

And the way that we touch.

I love your warm smile

And your kind, thoughtful way,

The joy that you bring

To my life every day.

I love you today

As I have from the start,

And I'll love you forever

With all of my heart.

“What do you think?” Wildfire asked uncertainly as she started packing her book away, “it might not be very good, I literally just thought of it, I’ll understand if you don’t like it…I can change it for you…”

Air Raid waited in polite silence while Wildfire rambled on as she put away her book and pen before spear tackling her to the ground with a surprised squeal from the yellow mare, smothering her neck and chest in nips and kisses.

“Does that mean you liked it?” She asked with a barely supressed giggle as she recovered from the tackle.

“Duh! You really are adorable when you’re flustered you know Wily. I love the poem, I really do. Now, where were we?” Air Raid purred as she delicately nibbled her marefriend’s jawline up to her ear, giving it a long slow lick.

“W – we…ooooh that’s niiiice…can’t…do it here…hmm…Raid.” Wildfire managed to pant out through Air Raid’s sensuous nibbling.

“Why not sweetie?”

Wildfire propped herself up and pointed to the headstone with a hoof. “Would you do it in front of your mum?” She deadpanned.

“Oh…ohh I see.” Air Raid giggled, “I guess you have a point hun.” She looked about, thinking before her eyes lit up as she spotted a low floating cloud. “There’s a Stratus cloud about two and a half thousand feet up, up for it?”

~

‘Best. Night. Ever.’ The thought ran through Air Raid’s mind as the lime green pegasus laid back on the Stratus cloud, looking deep into Wildfire’s brown eyes. The yellow mare had gently pushed her to lay back, supported by the body of the cloud they were on.

From her reclined position Air Raid had both forelegs out to her sides and let the weight of her hindlegs naturally spread them, exposing her waiting sex to her marefriend. Wildfire didn’t go for the prize straight away though like she was expecting. Instead the virgin pegasus shyly took Air Raid’s left hindleg in her forehooves, bringing the hoof to her lips and raising her eyebrows in a silent request to continue, to which Air Raid gladly nodded.

Wildfire started by laying soft kisses along the hard outer edge of the toe, savouring the salty tang of Air Raid’s sweat. Gently she nibbled along the inner edge of the toe, the soft fur of her muzzle stroking the wide inner sole as she licked around the hoof’s white line.

“Like that?” Wildfire breathed the question into the sole of her lover’s hoof sending tingling vibrations up her hindleg.

“Hmmm.” Air Raid murmured in reply, her blue eyes were closed as she submitted to the waves of pleasure coming from her hoof. Her right forehoof snaked down her front, rubbing her teats as Wildfire continued with her hoof.

Wildfire grinned to herself as she started to smell Air Raid’s arousal on the air. Cupping the hoof she was working in her own right one she slid her left hoof up and down Air Raid’s hindleg, stroking all the way down to her inner thigh before moving it away again.

“Wiiily…” Air Raid whined as her hoof got tantalisingly close to her slick sex before being pulled away at the last moment. She tried bucking her hips upwards but there was nothing there. “Don’t tease…ahhhh!”

Wildfire placed her tongue on the splayed end of the sensitive frog of her hoof, gently increasing the pressure until Air Raid had gasped, cutting off what she was trying to say. Slowly, very slowly she drew her tongue in a torturous lick along its length before planting a wet kiss on the tapered point, eliciting further moans of pleasure from her marefriend.

Letting go of the hoof Wildfire kissed her way up the hindleg all the way to Air Raid’s inner thigh, breathing in the heady musky scent. Again she stopped just short of the target, instead leaving soft flowery kisses around the outer folds of her labia and slowly kissing her way down the other leg.

Air Raid squirmed under Wildfire’s teasing kisses, losing herself in the heavenly sensations she didn’t believe her inexperienced partner could provide. The yellow pegasus had reached her right hind hoof when she felt a familiar pressure from her bladder, those glasses of moonshine from the party requiring release.

“Wily…I…need to…gaaaah!” She groaned as Wildfire grazed her teeth along the inner white wall of her hoof, “Need…to pee…oooh” She was cut off by the wet feeling of Wildfire’s tongue swirling around the sole, gently flicking the point of the frog each time it passed.

Air Raid tried to hold her bladder as long as she could, but the built up pressure combined with the pleasure from her tongue-bathed rear hooves proved too much. Sighing in relief she relaxed her muscles, shooting a powerful stream of golden urine a few feet, soaking the surface of the cloud they were laid on.

A naughty idea occurred to Wildfire as she watched the seemingly never-ending stream gush forth from her marefriend’s urethra. Cupping Air Raid’s rear hoof in hers she bent her hindleg, angling her hoof across the stream, covering the outer wall of the toe and the sole with its owners own urine.

Bringing the soaked hoof back to her mouth Wildfire lapped at the hoof,  tasting her partner's warm piss on her tongue as she savoured the saltiness.  She began suckling on the white wall of the toe, earning further whimpers of joy from Air Raid.

A few moments later Air Raid’s stream began to lose its intensity as her bladder emptied. Lowering her head to her marefriend’s crotch Wildfire opened her mouth to take the last few drops on the pee as it splashed across her muzzle, licking her lips while she swallowed it down. Extending her tongue Wildfire licked slowly straight up the lime green pegasus’s moist slit, wiping the last traces of her pee with long slow licks that caused her to shiver and squirm with delight.

“Luna’s mane!” Air Raid exclaimed, feeling the heat of an orgasm building as Wildfire probed the soft inner walls of her tunnel with her tongue. What the yellow pegasus may have lacked in experience was offset by her sheer enthusiasm. Sloppy as her technique was it was having the desired effect, and Air Raid grasped the back of Wildfire’s mane, holding her head in place as she roughly bucked her hips forwards, grinding her sopping cunny into her marefriend’s face, almost forcing her muzzle deep inside her.

“Wily…sweet Luna I’m close…don’t stop…please…” She panted out through heavy deep breaths as she felt her walls contracting around the invading muzzle buried within her.

Angling her head upwards Wildfire found the swollen nub of Air Raid’s clit, hesitantly she took it in her mouth, wrapping her lips around it as she gave the nub a couple of hard sucks before flicking its surface with her tongue.

Air Raid’s world turned a bright white as her orgasm consumed her. “Sweet Goddesses!” She screamed into the night sky, her cum squirting into Wildfire’s waiting mouth.

Wildfire wiped the excess cum from her muzzle with a hoof, which she then in turn licked clean as she laid herself next to her still panting marefriend. “How was that?” She asked with a grin as she laid her head on Air Raid’s shoulder.

Air Raid didn’t answer straight away, she was still riding the afterglow of her orgasm and trying to get her breathing under control. When she was able she glanced at Wildfire. “That my love was amazing. Never knew you liked watersports though, that was soooo hot!”

“Me neither, till just then. It just seemed the thing to do.” Wildfire giggled in Air Raid’s hug, “Enjoy our first date?”

“It wasn’t bad, but It’s not done yet Wily.” Air Raid had a mischievous tone in her voice that didn’t go unnoticed.

Propping herself up on an elbow Wildfire gave her a puzzled look. “It’s not?” She asked, wondering if she’d done something wrong. ‘Unlikely,’ she thought to herself, ‘Raid sounded like she was enjoying it.’

“Nope, it’s not.” Without warning Air Raid rolled over, switching their positions on the cloud and pinning Wildfire underneath her body. “You made me cum, now it’s my turn sweetheart.”

Air Raid kissed her way down Wildfire’s trembling body, from her neck to just above her heated mound, stopping at the darkened pubic hair. “Close those beautiful brown eyes of yours for me.”

The yellow mare hastened to obey, the commanding edge to Air Raid’s voice sent a further shiver through her. “W – what’re you going to do?”

“You’ll see, or not, as the case may be.” Making sure Wildfire had her eyes firmly closed Air Raid gently spread her marefriend’s folds wide and looked upon her intact hymen. ‘Guess Wily wasn’t joking when she said this was her first time,’ she thought to herself.

Wildfire squeaked in surprise as she felt Air Raid’s tongue lap at her exposed sex, her marefriend’s saliva mixing with her own juices coating the inner walls of her tight tunnel. “hmm Raid…I like that…” She cooed happily, giving herself over to her ministrations. Just as she was starting to buck her hips she felt the wondrous tongue remove itself from inside her, leaving her shivering on the edge.

“Why…why’d you stop?” Wildfire whimpered as the waves of pleasure dissipated.

“That was just the warm up act sweetie,” Air Raid giggled as she spat on her hoof, liberally coating it in her glistening saliva. ‘Should be enough lube’. “This is the main event…” She teased as she placed the leading edge of her hoof at Wildfire’s entrance, not enough to penetrate her but enough for her to know what was coming next.

Wildfire felt the toe of the hoof resting on her sex, she had a very good idea what her marefriend had planned for her. She trembled in excitement, and a little in fear. Sure she’d pleasured herself before but she’d never had anything inside her.

“Are you ready for this Wildfire?” Air Raid asked gently, taking note of her partner’s nervous shivering.

Wildfire nodded, keeping her eyes closed. “Will, will it hurt?”

“You’ll feel a small sharp pain at first, then it’ll feel wonderful, like the best pleasure in the world.” Air Raid lowered her head to kiss Wildfire’s lips, “I won’t do it if you don’t want me to, I can do something else.”

"N - no...it’s, I’m, fine…I want you to, please…”

Air Raid kisses her lips once more as she applied a tiny bit of pressure to her foreleg, inching her hoof past Wildfire’s spread labia, breaking the hymen with one smooth, slow push.

“Oh…oww!” Wildfire squealed with the sharp pain she felt between her legs, her muscles tensing up with the warm sticky sensation trickling from her spread pussy as it flowed over the invading hoof and down the inside of her thigh. ‘I’m bleeding! That’s my blood!’

“Wily, relax, or it’ll hurt more sweetie.” Air Raid held her hoof in place, just barely inside her tunnel.

“I can’t…it hurts!”

Air Raid brought her other hoof over and started gently rubbing it around her marefriend’s hood, teasing her clitoris with half touches and near misses, wiping away most of the slowing trickle of blood in the process. Wildfire visibly relaxed with the sensuous circular motions, distracting her enough for Air Raid to slip more of her foreleg inside her.

‘Sweet Celestia’s mane she’s tight!’ Air Raid halted her pushing once more as she felt her vaginal muscles gripping her leg, instead pulling back out a tiny fraction, lowering her lips to plant several soft kisses around Wildfire’s hood.

“Ngh!...ahhh Raaaaid!” Wildfire squirmed with the renewed pleasure of her marefriend’s tongue against her, instinctively raising her hips, sliding further along the penetrating limb. She was no longer aware of the earlier pain, consumed with the overwhelming feeling of just how wonderful it felt.

Air Raid wrapped her lips around Wildfire’s sensitive swollen clit and suckled hard, thrusting her hoof forward, progress made easier with the flowing juices around her leg adding needed lubrication. Alternating between smooth licks and hard sucking Air Raid thrust deeper within her with each forward motion until to her very great surprise she felt the toe of her hoof touch her partner’s cervix. Withdrawing her leg a quarter of the way Air Raid thrust back in again, again tapping the closed opening of Wildfire’s womb.

“Cum for me Wily, spasm up and down my leg…” Air Raid cooed as she increased the pace of her sawing rhythm, pumping her leg into the wet whimpering mess that was her marefriend.

“Raid, I’m gonna…I’m close…”

“Cum for me…” Air Raid whispered right inside Wildfire’s ear, delivering a torturously long slow lick all the way up before nipping hard at the tip. This extra stimulation was the final push to tip her over her edge.

“AIIIR RAAAAAIIIID!!” Wildfire screamed her marefriend’s name into the night sky as the most intense orgasm of her life coursed through her body, her vision going bright white as her back arched from the cloud, her vaginal muscles clenching almost painfully around Air Raid’s knee deep leg.

“You alright sweetie?” Air Raid asked as she slowly withdrew her sopping hoof from her partner’s stretched snatch, laying down beside her and pulling her into a tight hug.

“Yeah…” Wildfire panted heavily, riding out the last waves of her climax. “I’m…fine. That was…wowsers!”

“I love you Wily.”

“I love y…” Wildfire never finished her reply, gentle snores sounding from her lips as her fatigue caught up with her, her chest rising and falling in Air Raid’s tight embrace. Air Raid giggled to herself as she watched her exhausted marefriend sleep.

“Be cheerful my love, our revels now are ended.” Air Raid whispered into a sleeping ear, laying a soft kiss upon it as she settled into the cuddle, content to watch the stars in the night sky while Wildfire slept beside her.

2.1 - Make A Wish (Edited)

2.1 - Make A Wish

Wildfire stirred in the bed in which she was laid. Groggily she opened her eyes, blinking away the remnants of her dream. Bleary eyed the pegasus searched for the alarm clock, which duly informed her it was five a.m. “Too early…” She murmured to herself, rolling over in the duvet, her foreleg searching for her marefriend. A moments fruitless search told her she was alone. Denied her usual morning snuggle Wildfire laid in the duvet debating her options.

On the hoof she could stay where she was, cocooned in the heavenly warm duvet. On the other she could get up and see where Air Raid had gone, and why she’d left her in bed alone. A second of contemplation later and she decided on the first option. Turning over with a grunt Wildfire found her partner’s pillow, which still retained her warmth and scent. Wherever Air Raid had gone, she hadn’t been gone long. Smiling to herself Wildfire buried her face into the pillow, breathing in the smell as she once more closed her eyes and pulled the duvet over her head.

Just as Wildfire was about to drift off into her slumber another scent assailed her nostrils, wrestling with her olfactory sense and beating it into submission.

No, the yellow pegasus thought to herself, her half asleep brain trying to fight back with reason. She always does this, and she always wins. Not today Wily. Today you sleep in. Don’t you let her win. Just as she was listening to the reasoned argument her tired brain presented, and was about to ferret herself deeper in the sheets her traitorous senses fired back with a devastating counter attack. She has coffee. Black coffee with two sugars. Just the way you like it. All you have to do is get up.

Wildfire did her very best to ignore this and concentrate on the warmth and comfort of the bed. Her resolve crumbled when she heard the clink of the cup and saucer as it was placed on the bedside table, the delicious coffee smell wafting under the covers.

No. She thought resolutely.

“Good morning sweetheart!” Air Raid chirped happily at the bundle of sheets and duvet that was her marefriend. “Is somepony awake?”

“No. Sleeping.” Came Wildfire’s muffled reply from somewhere under the sheets.

“If you’re asleep I can’t give you your birthday present.” Air Raid whispered to the bundle as she sprang onto the bed, her weight shifting the duvet to reveal a yellow ear.

“Don’t care. Sleeping.”

“Really?” Came the amused reply. Wildfire could virtually hear her smirk. “What’s this? Why it’s your phone! How did that get in my hooves?”

No…don’t give in…you’re sleeping… Wildfire could hear the muffled sounds of buttons being pressed, the keytones reaching her under the duvet.

“Let’s see…’I want your hoof in my pussy and your tongue in my ass’ aaaaand…send!” Air Raid licked Wildfire’s exposed ear and nipped the tip playfully. “I hope Darkstar likes the text you just sent her.”

She’s bluffing…ignore her…but…what if she isn’t? Wildfire struggled to extricate herself from her soft cocoon, throwing the duvet from herself as Air Raid sat beside her snorting with laughter. Wearing her best scowl she snatched her phone from her hyena of a marefriend and checked the message log, only to find nothing in the ‘sent’ box. Propping herself up against the headboard the rudely awoken mare crossed her hooves in a huff. “I hate you.”

“I love you too Wily.” Air Raid giggled as she placed a loving kiss on her lips. “Happy birthday baby.”

Wildfire took a drink of her coffee, savouring the sweet sugary taste as the much needed caffeine entered her system. As her mum used to say, the best coffee of the day is the one in your head before the first coffee of the day. “So, what’s my sexy pegasus got me?” She asked with a grin. “Whatever it is it’d better be worth dragging me from this cozy pit.”

“It’s a surprise…”

“C’mon Raid,” Wildfire huffed with impatience, “Y’know I hate surprises!”

“Oh…I think you’ll like this one Wily.” Air Raid sniggered, a devious twinkle in her grey eyes. “Hooves up, eyes closed.

“What? What d’you…”

“You heard me sexy. Get those hooves up and your eyes closed. Now.”

Wildfire hastened to obey, shivering at the stern authoritative tone her marefriend had adopted. Closing her brown eyes the yellow pegasus raised her forelegs above her head, wondering what in Equestria her birthday present could be. She felt something like a bracelet wrap around her left hoof, tugging it upwards. Nervously she opened her eyes as Air Raid secured a second bracelet around her other hoof, pulling on it she found her forelegs bound above her head, the bracelets joined to each other by a twelve inch chain looped through two holes in the headboard. Hoofcuffs?

Panicking slightly Wildfire struggled against her bindings, to no effect. Her forehooves were fastened securely. “R – raid?” She stammered, “What’re you doing?”

Air Raid ignored her marefriend completely, instead securing hoofcuffs around each of her hind hooves and linking them with a three foot spreader bar, forcing Wildfire’s hind legs apart. Turning her back to her struggling partner the lime green pegasus searched in her bottom drawer for a moment before uttering a triumphant “Aha!”

Wildfire’s eyes went wide as she saw what Air Raid had in her mouth. Along with a truly evil smile she had her favourite ten inch vibrator. In spite of her nervous state, she was acutely aware of the growing moistness between her spread open legs.

“Someponies getting excited.” Air Raid sniggered, taking the toy in her hoof and generously applying some lube.

“A – air R – raid…” Wildfire whimpered, unsure whether to be nervous or excited her brain attempted to be both at once.

“You’ve been a bad pony Wildfire.” Air Raid said, that stern tone back in her voice. “Pretending to be asleep when I bought you coffee in bed. Bad pony!” She slowly slid the vibrator into Wildfire’s wet sex, earning her a couple of groans. “Opening your eyes when I told you to close them. Bad pony!” She clicked the vibrator to the ‘low’ setting. “What do you have to say for yourself?”

“I’m sorry!” Wildfire squeaked as the vibrations started to flow through her, enough to get her started but not enough to get her off.

“I don’t think you are Wily.” Air Raid grinned as she turned the toy to its ‘medium’ speed, making the bound pegasus buck her hips. Wildfire could feel the pressure begin to build in her lower stomach, tingling waves of pleasure starting to spread across her body.

“I am…I’m sorry!” Wildfire whimpered, her juices flowing around the toy in her pussy as the vibrator started drawing her closer to her climax.

“You will be sweetie. You will be…” Air Raid switched the toy to ‘high’ with a devious smirk. “It’s five fifteen, I’m gonna go get breakfast ready. Shouldn’t be more than…oh let’s say an hour…maybe…”

“Y – you can’t leave meeeeAAAAAAAHHHHH!” Wildfire threw her head back against the headboard and screamed through her orgasm, wetting the bed sheets beneath her with her climax.

Air Raid chuckled as she kissed her marefriend’s panting mouth, nipping her bottom lip. “Try not to enjoy yourself too much while you think how sorry you are.” She planted another kiss on her nose, “Happy birthday Wily.” With that the lime green pegasus jumped off the bed and trotted out the bedroom and made her way down the stairs without a backwards glance.

“Air Raid!” Wildfire squeaked, a second orgasm fast approaching, “Air Raid!” She heard her marefriend’s hooves on the stairs, she knew she wasn’t coming back any time soon. Struggling futilely against her bonds the vibrator teased her second climax from her. Panting heavily she looked over at the clock, which read five twenty five. As sweat began to slick her black mane to her head and a third orgasm started to build within her Wildfire slumped against the headboard, the chains of the hoofcuffs pulling tight on her hooves. On the verge of cumming a third time her brain offered one last thought before it surrendered itself to the pleasure in her crotch. This is gonna be a long fifty minutes girl.

~ ~ ~

Fifty minutes later Wildfire was vaguely aware of the vibrator being turned off and slowly removed from her dripping wet tunnel.

“How many did we have?” Asked an amused voice on the edge of her consciousness.

“Whaaaa?” The semi-coherent thought was the best she could manage after the vibrator’s merciless assault. At this point she wasn’t even sure who was asking or what they wanted to know. She was just pleased the orgasms had stopped.

“I asked, ‘how many did you have?’.” Air Raid placed a gentle kiss on Wildfire’s sweat soaked lips. “Did you enjoy your present sweetheart?”

“E – e –eight…teen.” Wildfire managed to breathe out. “I…came…eighteen times…” Her head rolled back against the board, her breathing coming under control.

“Well,” Air Raid frowned at her, “That won’t do at all will it? You’re nineteen today after all.”

Wildfire barely had time to register what her marefriend had said before she felt a hoof at the entrance of her sopping sex. As wet as she was Air Raid had no trouble inserting her hoof all the way to her elbow in one smooth thrust, tapping Wildfire’s cervix in a matter of seconds. Pulling out to her fetlock she thrust in again, once more bumping the closed entrance to Wily’s womb.

“Ah ah aaaAAAAAHHHH RAAAAIIIID!!!” Wildfire screamed as she climaxed for the nineteenth time, her marefriend thrusting her foreleg in and out of her like a piston, further wetting the already soaked bed and her partner’s leg with more of her cum. “Puh…p…please…no more, I can’t take any more…”

“And that makes number nineteen!” Air Raid smiled as she started to unbuckle the hoofcuffs, releasing Wildfire from her bindings. Once freed the exhausted pegasus flexed her aching muscles, rubbing circulation back to her shaking hooves.

Summoning what strength was left in her forelegs Wildfire pulled Air Raid into a tight hug, showering her muzzle in soft flowery kisses. “Thank you thank you!” She kissed her once more on the lips, “I love you y’know, like, a lot.”

“That’s a coincidence, ‘cause I love you too.” Air Raid gave her a kiss of her own, before breaking away from the tight hug. “Now my sweaty little sex kitten, ready for the next part?”

“Wha…there’s more?”

“It’s only six thirty. There’s the whole rest of the day to go yet baby.” Air Raid scooped Wildfire up in her forelegs, spreading her wings and flying them both to the bathroom. “But first, a certain somepony needs a bath. You stink of sweat and sex.”

“Whose fault is that?” She asked dreamily, her head still a daze of sensations from the hour of orgasms.

Air Raid shouldered open the bathroom door with a smirk. "It's yours of course. Not like I have a spray can of Wily Funk."

With that the lime green pegasus flapped over to the large oval bathtub, and gently laid her marefriend into the waiting hot water, disturbing the floating rose petals as she settled on her front. Looking around the bathroom Wildfire noticed for the first time the nineteen rose scented candles scattered around the room as the blessed hot water soothed her tight muscles.

“Spread your wings Wily.”

Air Raid seated herself behind Wildfire on the outside of the tub, and ran her hooves up her back from the dock of her tail to the shoulder joints, slowly circling her hooves around the bases of her wings to stimulate the uropygial gland at the base of her tail. Lowering her hooves to the base of her tail Air Raid coated her hooves in the oily substance and returned them to her marefriend’s wings, spreading the diester waxes over the feathers. Starting with the primaries she made sure that each was coated in the oil that would help waterproof the feathers and keep them flexible. Symmetrically she moved each hoof to the secondary and tertiary feathers in turn until her task was completed.

Wildfire felt herself relax into the soothing rose scented water almost to the loss of consciousness. Sensual pleasure shot through her sensitive wings with every delicate little nibble and tweak that Air Raid performed, every minute realignment of a feather sent fresh spikes of bliss through the yellow pegasus. A couple of times Air Raid used her teeth to remove the tough sheath from a newly moulted feather, or to gently remove a damaged feather altogether.

“OoooaaAAAhhh…” Wildfire cooed as her marefriend used a hoof to stroke and tease the underside of the feathers while she licked, nipped and sucked the topsides into their proper aerodynamic positions.

Once she was satisfied the preening was completed Air Raid reached for the shampoo, and squeezed a generous amount over Wildfire’s back before using her hooves to rub it into her fur. A few moments later and the smell of the previous hour had left her marefriend’s coat, replaced with the lavender and jasmine shampoo. Dipping herself under the warm water Wildfire washed off the soap while Air Raid fetched a towel to dry her off.

“Ready for breakfast babe?”

A rumble from the vicinity of Wildfire’s belly answered her question for her. “What you got?”

“Well at Chez Air Raid this morning ma’am we have oatmeal, with milk and assorted fruit. And don’t worry, I’ve removed the peaches.”

“I knew there was a reason I love you.” Wildfire grinned as she towelled herself dry.

“That the only reason? ‘cause I can always put them back y’know.” Air Raid held open for her marefriend to leave first.

The short trip down the stairs to the kitchen took a few moments, and revealed the prize. One large bowl of oatmeal, various fruits around it and a pitcher of milk to one side. Flying over to the kitchen table Wildfire wasted no time getting started, much to Air Raid’s amusement.

“Go on, you get stuck in, I’ll make some fresh coffee.” Air Raid had just flicked the kettle with a hoof when a small forest’s worth of mail was pushed through her door. Noticing Wildfire rising from her seating pad Air Raid admonished her to sit and resume her breakfast. “Sit you, I’ll get these.”

Air Raid trotted over to the door and picked up the pile of mail in a wing as Wildfire resumed her eating. “Let’s see, birthday card, birthday card, bill, bill, birthday card, junk, birthday card.” The green mare sorted the days mail into piles on the kitchen table with a rueful smile. “Typical, you get all the good stuff, I get the bills. Good job our friends know you’re staying at my place.”

“Well, they say a relationship’s all about sharing babe, but in this case you can keep your bills.” Wildfire giggled around a spoonful of oatmeal. “Can you open the birthday cards while I finish this?”

“So, giver of sexual pleasure, awesome preening, relaxing baths and breakfasts isn’t enough? I’m your secretary as well now?”

“Oh hush you,” Wildfire attempted her puppy dog look, and batted her eyelids for good measure. “Pleeease hun?”

“Oh…alright.” Air Raid proceeded to rip open the four birthday cards. “You have cards from ‘Dusk and family’, Brightstar and Darkstar – they sent one from them both, Cyclone and buck me even one from Slingshot. I’m impressed.”

Wildfire put her spoon down, suddenly not very hungry. “There nothing from dad?”

“No babes sorry. You did tell him you were staying here, like, you did tell him my address right?”

“No,” Wildfire shot back, her voice dripping with sarcasm. “I thought I’d let him guess!”

“Hey,” Air Raid looked genuinely upset, “What did I do to bring out the nasty snarkiness?”

Wildfire dropped her eyes to the kitchen table, her ears slicking back. “Sorry Raid, I just thought, I dunno I hoped…that maybe my dad would remember this year that’s all…” She spoke to the table, a quiet voice barely audible as tears leaked from her eyes and splashed onto the table.

“Hey…” Air Raid trotted behind her marefriend and reared up, wrapping her forehooves around her neck in a tight hug. “It’s alright babes,” She planted a trail of kisses down the back of Wildfire’s neck. “Sorry to say it Wily, but your dad’s a drunken dick.”

“I know…but he’s family, all the family I’ve got since mum died.”

“Now I know that’s not true.” Air Raid switched to the other side of her neck, nipping little patches of fur. “You have me – you’ll always have me, then there’s Dusk and all the others. We’re your family too Wildfire.”

"Yeah, yeah i do don’t I?” Wildfire took one of Air Raid’s hooves in her own and gave it a kiss. “Thanks Raid you’re the best.”

“Any time sweet flanks. So what d’you wanna do today?”

Wildfire cocked her head in thought as Air Raid let her go. “I’m gonna go to the Fire Station, tell Hot Spot I’m ready to return to duty.”

Air Raid boiled the kettle a second time, eyeing Wildfire warily. This time with no interruptions she served up two steaming mugs of black coffee, the one with two sugars she hoofed over to her marefriend. “You sure you’re ready Wily?”

Wildfire took a sip of her black coffee as she considered her answer. “Yuppers, I’ve been off two months. I don’t want Hot Spot thinking I’m never coming back do I?” She giggled as she took another sip, “Besides, if I have to listen to you drool over that silly car once more I swear I’m gonna go insane.”

“Hey! That car is not silly, its an Audi R8, and I swear by the horns of Dusk’s mom and aunt it will be mine!

Wildfire rolled her eyes playfully. “Raid, you already have a car…”

“Yeah,” Air Raid interrupted her, beginning the cyclic conversation once more. “That’s a Quattro TT. It’s okay, but nothing like the one I want. And when I earn enough winnings, I’m gonna get me the R8.”

“Of course you will babes. And while you’re saving your race winnings for a one and a quarter million bit super car I’ll use the bits from my boring steady job to pay our bills shall I?” Wildfire smirked as she drained her coffee.

“See? That’s why I love you Wily, you understand me so well.”

“For a mare of twenty three you can be such a filly, you know that right?”

“And for a mare of nineteen you can be such an old grandmare.” Air Raid blew her marefriend a kiss as she gulped down her own drink.

“Well, one of us has to be the adult in this relationship y’know.” Wildfire laughed at the tongue her partner stuck out at her, almost falling off the pad she was sat on.

“Yeah,” Air Raid giggled around her empty mug, “That’s why we’re friends with Dusk sweetheart. He’s enough of a grown up stick in the mud for the both of us.

Wildfire shot a scowl over the breakfast table at her marefriend. “You leave D alone. He has enough hassle with that spazzball Blitzwing giving him grief every chance he gets.” The yellow pegasus slammed her hoof into the table, punctuating her point as the coffee mugs rattled.

“I’m sorry!” Air Raid held up her hooves in apology. “It was a joke Wily, honest it was. Y’know I love him really, right?”

“You very nearly just joked your way out of sexy times later Missy.” Wildfire admonished with a slowly returning grin. Deep down she knew her marefriend didn’t mean anything nasty by what she’d said.

“Anyway,” Said Air Raid with a sly grin as she picked up the coffee mugs and deposited them in the sink for later, “It’s a good thing you’re going back to work.” She kissed Wildfire’s forehead before continuing, “You’ll need to practice your math as you fly, school starts for you in two months don’t forget.”

Wildfire banged her head on the kitchen table. “Ugh! How can I forget that? I’ll be a happy pony when I leave at the end of this year.” She lifted her head and banged it again. “I hate math. I can’t do it, you know I can’t!” The yellow pegasus wailed in mock despair.

“It’s a good job you have enough beauty to make up for the lack of brains then sexy.” Air Raid sniggered as Wildfire blew her a large raspberry. “Hey babe,” The lime green pegasus said over her shoulder as she picked up her car keys in a forehoof, “You want a lift to the Fire Station? I wanna go do a few laps of the rally cross short circuit, and maybe try shaving a second or two off my hill climb record. Your stop is on the way.”

“Ride with you?” Wildfire laughed out loud. “After last time? You really think I’m getting in a car with you again?”

“What? I thought you enjoyed it…” Air Raid asked, an innocent smile on her lips.

“Oh yuppers I enjoyed it alright.” The sarcasm was dripping from Wildfire’s tone. “I enjoyed getting out the passenger seat and kissing the ground after! I never knew you could slide a car around a hairpin bend at sixty miles per hour. I’m soooo very glad you proved you can!”

Air Raid pouted. “It was three hairpins actually…”

“Right, so thanks for the offer babe, but I believe I’ll fly, if it’s all the same to you.”

“Spoilsport.” Air Raid giggled. “Don’t come home before four this afternoon will you? I’ve got another birthday surprise for you, and you being early will ruin it.”

“It depends…does this ‘surprise’ involve me hoofcuffed to the bed with a vibrator hilted in my pussy for an hour?” She asked with a smirk.

“Wildfire. It’s. A. Sur. Prise. You are familiar with the concept right sexy? As in, I don’t tell you what the surprise entails, otherwise it’s not a surprise?”

“Whatever. I’ll see you back here after four then sweetie.” Wildfire gave her marefriend a kiss on her lips. “Love you Raid.”

“Love you Wily.”

~ ~ ~

Leaving the house Wildfire spread her yellow wings, giving them an experimental flap before taking off, effortlessly rising a couple of hundred feet into the crisp morning air above Canterlot’s Residential District. Hovering in place she looked to her right, enjoying the view of the castle in the distance. Idly she wondered if Prince Dusk was up yet before shaking her head with a wry smile. Among the many qualities of her best friend early rising wasn’t one of them. A perk of being royalty, she supposed, you can get up whenever you like. Then again, Wildfire giggled to herself, Dusk has never been a morning pony. I could go and blitz past his window, show him the early morning he’s missing. Giggling she pushed the thought out of her mind. One, she wasn’t that mean, and two you just don’t prank your best friend. Well, not too often anyway.

Wildfire shifted her attention to a brick red four storey building that made up the Residential District Fire Station two miles away from where she was hovering. She grinned, her Captain’s twelve hour shift didn’t start until nine a.m., but she knew Hot Spot would be there already, seated at his impeccably neat desk working through a stack of paperwork. Thinking of Hot Spot made her think of Heatwave, which in turn made the familiar pang of loss and guilt stab at her heart, especially as she hadn’t visited him in over a week.

Her mind made up Wildfire spun around in mid-air and flapped her wings hard, soaring through the sky at a steady thirty miles per hour towards the Residential District Cemetery. Flying over the main gate the yellow pegasus angled her wings, steering herself in a gentle descent towards her destination at the western side of the Cemetery. As she neared the ground Wildfire saw an aged cream coated earth pony mare sat by Heatwave’s grave, the morning breeze blowing at her powder blue mane. Clear River, Heatwave’s widow. Wildfire recognised her from the funeral. For a moment the young pegasus was tempted to change her mind and carry on flying, not wanting to intrude upon Clear’s private time with her husband.

Hovering in place twenty or so feet above the ground indecision halted her while the young mare made up her mind what to do. Ultimately Wildfire decided to stay, and folding her wings she dropped the last few feet, landing what she hoped was a respectful distance from the gravesite.

“Excuse me ma’am, do you mind if I sit with you?”

The old mare looked up from her silent reverie, a smile of recognition playing across her muzzle. “Of course you may dear…Wildflower isn’t it?”

“Wildfire, ma’am.” She corrected as she closed the few feet between them and sat next to the older mare on the grass beside the grave. “I’m sorry if I’m interrupting anything.”

“Oh yes, that’s right, Wildfire. We met at Heatwave’s funeral.” Clear gave a little giggle, “You must forgive these old grey cells my dear, the memory isn’t what it was.”

“It’s no problem ma’am…”

“Clear River. Call me Clear. ‘Ma’am’ makes me feel older than I am,” Clear laughed, and Wildfire could’ve sworn she saw a definite twinkle in her eyes. “At my age that’s a risk I can’t take.”

“Okay ma’…Clear, I’m sorry, about Heatwave I mean. I – I didn’t know he had a weak heart. If I did I’d…”

“You’d have treated him different?” Clear asked as Wildfire nodded silently. “You knew him Miss Wildfire, do you think that’s what he would’ve wanted?

“Well, no, but…”

“But nothing. My Heatwave died doing the job he loved,” Clear River gave Wildfire a gentle nuzzle, “What’s more he died working with the pony he loved, and from what I understand he helped save a family from burning. He went the way he wanted to go, not wasting away in a hospital bed.”

“He…loved me?”

“Like you were his own flesh and blood my dear. I remember he’d come home from a shift and spend half an hour grumbling about how much of a pain in the flank you were, how you had to do things your way, how you never listened to a word he said.”  Clear River laughed as Wildfire’s face fell to the ground. Lifting her head up with a hoof she continued; “Then he’d spend the next hour telling my how much he admired and respected you as a pony and as a firefighter for the exact same reasons.”

Wildfire giggled, a shaky smile on her lips. “Heatwave was the best. I couldn’t have wished for a better partner Clear.”

“Heatwave said the exact same thing about you my dear. Now, was there something you came to tell him today?

Wildfire nodded, “I wanted to tell him I’m going back to work. I was on my way to see Hot Spot when I thought I’d come here first.”

Clear River smiled, “It’s about time. Heatwave wouldn’t want you grieving forever, he’d want you doing what you loved doing. And doing it well is the best way to remember him.”

“Yeah,” Wildfire gave Clear a nuzzle of her own, “You’re right. Thanks Clear. Speaking of remembering him, I’ve got a poem I wrote, if you’d like to hear it before I go see Hot Spot?”

“I would love to dear, Heatwave always spoke very highly of your poems.” With a little effort Clear River got to her hooves, shaking bits of loose grass from her coat. “In fact, he was surprised when your cutie mark was flames and not something like a scroll and quill.” The cream coated earth pony chuckled, “Maybe your mark was confused Wildfire?”

Wildfire grinned, nudging the chuckling old mare with an elbow. “I think it was,” She giggled along with the pony next to her. “I call this one ‘Memories’, and it’s for you partner.”

“Since the day the skies turned grey

It was then I thought of you

As the rain pondered upon my tin-roof

Tears from my eyes shown how much I missed you

It never crossed my mind that I'd feel so blue

That on that very day I'd lose a piece of you inside of me

Who would have thought it'd be you to leave so soon?

Leaving behind the ones you love and memories

I'm sure you've gone to a better place

Garnished with angel wings, halo, harps and other things

You're probably looking down from heaven up above

Sending out smiles with days of sunshine and showers of love

Not a day that goes by I don't think of you

How I wished you were still here to stay

All the fun and times we spent together

Your laughter and your smile you've always gave

These are moments I cherish and hold so dear

Moments spent and everlasting memories

Even though it's hard to accept the fact that you're gone

The distance between you and me are only...

Only temporarily!”

Wildfire finished her recital to find Clear River sat on her haunches beside her, smiling as she wept into a hoofkerchief. “I’m sorry Clear, I – I didn’t mean to upset you.”

“Oh you haven’t, silly filly,” Clear said between her sobs, wiping away her tears. “That was just perfect, thank you dear.”

“My pleasure Clear.” Wildfire spread her wings, giving them a little test flap, as was her habit. At the last moment she changed her mind, sitting back down next to the earth pony.

“Is something wrong dear?”

“No, I was just thinking.” Wildfire gestured with a hoof to a spot roughly three hundred yards to their left. “My mum’s buried just over there.”

“Silverbolt?” Clear asked as Wildfire nodded. “I recall Heatwave mentioned her once or twice. Struck by lightning wasn’t she dear?”

“Yuppers, seven years ago now, Canterlot Cloud Factory let an errant cloud slip through quality control. Zapped her while she was busy creating a thunderstorm. Dead before she hit the ground.” Wildfire recited it almost mechanically.

“Not my preferred way to go if I’m honest,” Clear put a foreleg around Wildfire’s shoulder, pulling her into a surprisingly strong hug for such an old pony, “Your mum died like Heatwave, doing the thing they loved to do. Be happy they both went that way Wildfire.”

“Yeah…yeah you’re right.” Wildfire smiled into the hug.

“Were you very old, when your mum left?” Clear asked gently.

“Twelve. Not long after my birthday. I was watching mum work.” A little tear leaked its way down Wildfire’s cheek.

“You saw it happen?” Clear River nuzzled her tenderly. “That must have been awful dear.”

“Yeah…” Wildfire closed her eyes, more tears rolling down her face as she conjured up the image of her mother falling. “Nothing as unnatural as a pegasus falling out of control. All that grace just a falling lump of fur and feathers.

“Do you visit her often?”

“Every Tuesday and Friday,” Wildfire wiped away her tears with a wingtip, “I stop by and say hi, see how she’s doing.”

“You’re a good girl. I can see why Heatwave adored you so much.” Clear gave her another warm smile. “I’ll go and say hello to your mum in a moment, if you don’t mind dear.”

“Course not Clear, mum’ll love the company.” Wildfire spread her wings once more, “Sorry to take off and leave, but I’ve got Hot Spot to see.”

“Of course dear, you go. Perhaps I shall see you next Friday morning, if you have the time?”

“Yuppers, I’d like that. Take care Clear River.” With her mind a lot clearer than it was a few moments earlier Wildfire pushed off from the ground, a few flaps of her wings carrying her easily through fifty feet of empty sky. Continuing with her ascent Wildfire turned to face the Fire Station and sped off for her meeting with her Captain. While the two months off had been welcome, after listening to Air Raid talk almost non-stop about that car she wanted Wildfire was more than looking forward to getting back to work. At least until school starts again, she thought with a grin.

~~

“Ow, ow, ow!…OOOOUUUCH!” Wildfire screamed in pain as the leather crop made contact twice with her left cutie mark and twice more on her right, the stinging pain lancing through her already sore and tender flanks.

Dancing on the tips of her hind hooves the yellow pegasus struggled against her bonds to no avail. She knew full well the ropes wouldn’t give, but she struggled anyway. Bent over the hardwood desk she had nowhere to go to escape the relentless swing of the damned crop.

The spreader bar kept her hind legs apart a full twelve inches past shoulder width, the attached hoofcuffs held her hind hooves on eight inch chains the legs of the desk. Extended in front of her on the desktop her forelegs were secured together by another pair of hoofcuffs joined by a D ring, which in turn had a chain looped through it extending down the side and under the desk to another D ring in the centre of the spreader bar. A knotted rope tied at the dock of her black tail was pulled taut by the clamps at the tips of her ears. The choice was easy, lower her tail and painfully pull her head back or ease the cramp in her neck by lowering her head and pulling her tail further up her back.

“The answer Miss Wildfire. Do you have it?” The unicorn stalked around the desk, watching the struggles of the bound pegasus as a predator observes its prey. Held in a glowing magical aura the crop gently stroked Wildfire’s cutie marks as its owner ceased her pacing behind the bound pony. “I’m waiting Miss Wildfire.”

“I – I don’t know!” What she did know was this was humiliating. Very humiliating. If the moisture and growing heat in her nethers was any judge, also a huge turn on. She had only been given twelve strokes of the crop, already she could feel the steady plick, plick, plick of her juices dripping from her exposed pussy.

“Pathetic Miss Wildfire. Absolutely pathetic.” The crop swished through the air, striking twice at each thigh, once on her labia and once on the pegasus’s exposed tailhole.

“Profess…AAAAGGGHHH!” Wildfire screamed as the crop smacked the ring of her anus, tears streaming down her face. The plick plick from her marehood had increased to roughly two per second, the sound and smell only adding to the reddening blush of embarrassment on her cheeks.

“We’ll try this again Miss Wildfire.” Her teacher’s cold voice echoed through the empty classroom. “Seven multiplied by eight. You have five seconds.”

Wildfire barely had time to register the question before the sadistic unicorn started her countdown.

"Four..."

Sweat poured down her face as she tried to work out the answer, try as she might, she just didn’t know.

“Three…”

Once more she struggled pointlessly at her bonds, the plick, plick, plick of her leaking marehood audible over the rattle of the chains.

“Two…”

The crop stroked her reddened flanks, massaging the areas already hit by the merciless teacher.

“One. Time’s up Miss Wildfire. Your answer?”

“I – I…I don’t know!” Wildfire buried her head into the desk, shame and humiliation burning her cheeks as red as her flanks. “I’m sorry…” She whimpered pathetically.

“You will be. Oh you will be Miss Wildfire.” Wildfire heard the crop drop to the floor behind her. Turning her head as much as she was able her brown eyes went wide as saucers as she saw a cane floating in the unicorn’s magical grasp towards her. “Fifty six. The answer is fifty six. What is it?”

“F – f – fifty s – six…” Wildfire trembled against the desk as the cane came to rest against her tender plot, the plick, plick of her juices now a uninterrupted stream creating a puddle between her hind legs. The swish of the cane was the only warning she got. A split second later the burning pain blossomed across her thighs as it hit below her pussy. She released an ear-splitting scream as the cane struck three more times, once on each cutie mark and finally at the perineum between her vagina and anus.

The unicorn stood in front of the bound pegasus. “Sixty divided by five. You have five seconds Miss Wildfire.”

Between her sobbing tears and intense pain Wildfire didn’t realise the five second count had gotten to ‘two’ already. She didn’t even know what the question was, let alone how to answer it.

“One…” The cane came to rest at the soles of her outstretched forehooves, bending with just enough flex to rub the sensitive frogs. Enough pressure to let Wildfire know what was going to happen next. “Your answer Miss Wildfire?”

No…no…p – please Professor…not there…please…” Wildfire begged as she tried to shift her hind hooves out of the growing puddle of herself spreading on the floor. She knew it never did any good to beg. Her teacher never listened. Only a correct answer stopped the punishment Wildfire knew she deserved.

“The answer is twelve Miss Wildfire.” The cane stroked up and down the soles of the pegasus’s hooves, from the bulbs to the toes, “Twelve strokes should help you remember hmm?”

“T – twelve?” Wildfire shook her head in sheer panic. “No, no please!”

“You will count them Miss Wildfire. Miss a stroke and we start from one. Understand?”

“Please…Professor…” The pegasus lowered her head, pulling painfully on her tail, “I understand Professor.”

“Then we begin.”

Wildfire braced herself as much as she could against the unbearable amount of pain she knew she’d be receiving in a matter of seconds. She knew even if she counted to twelve in one go she wouldn’t be walking anywhere anytime soon. Only she would, because she was released from the desk the unicorn would fasten a spreader bar to her wings, holding them open and making flight impossible. She would feel these twelve strokes for days to come. The humiliation would be exquisite.

The cane floated back away from her exposed hooves, hovering in front of her.

The cane started to move.

Wildfire felt the air move ahead of the cane.

Wildfire shut her eyes.

~ ~ ~

“Wily!” A voice that sounded nothing like the unicorn Professor called her name.

“Wily! There was that voice again, more insistent this time.

“Wildfire!”

Wildfire opened her eyes, then closed them again as the early afternoon sun caught her square in the face, causing her to squint against its intense light. Yawning herself awake she looked around for the source of the voice. She didn’t have to look very far. Sat a few feet away from her on the Stratos cloud was her best friend Dusk Melody.

“You!…You. Annoying. Pegasus!” Wildfire accentuated each word with a stomp of both forehooves into the cloud they were sat on, almost dissipating it completely. “Couldn’t you have waited, like, two more minutes? Would it have killed you?”

“Happy birthday Wily,” Dusk chuckled, ignoring his friend’s outburst. “The teacher dream again was it?” He asked with a smirk.

“How’d you know anyway?” Wildfire huffed, crossing her fore legs across her chest and doing her best to scowl at the infuriating Prince sat in front of her.

“Mom told me. You know dreams are kinda her thing right?” Dusk giggled as he brushed an imaginary mote of dust off his shoulder. “So, how far did you get?”

“That’s cheating! Could you please tell Luna to leave my dreams alone?” Wildfire grumbled, much to her friend’s amusement. “If you must know D, I was about to get my hooves caned.” The yellow pegasus narrowed her eyes at Dusk, “Why?”

“Oh nothing…” Dusk tried and failed to look innocent, a faint blush standing out against his dark blue fur.

“What? Tell me!”

“Mom and I kinda had a bet, how far you’d get in the dream before I managed to wake you up. Mom said you wouldn’t get to the hoof caning, I said you would. Looks like she won…hey!” Dusk ducked with a loud laugh as a piece of cloud came flying his way.

“You utter shit!” Wildfire scooped up more bits of cloud and flung them at her giggling friend, who was too slow to move out the way this time and they dissipated harmlessly as they impacted his coat.

“Are you finished?” Dusk with some difficulty brought his giggles under control, his shoulders still shaking in silent mirth.

“Hmph! You’re lucky I don’t throw the bit I was leaking on at you.” Wildfire cracked a smile in spite o herself.

“Eww! No thanks, if I start smelling of marecum then ponies’ll get the wrong idea about me.” Dusk sniggered.

“Yuppers, more fun to leave it here anyway.”

“Again, Wily, eww!” Dusk wrinkled his nose in disgust. “I’d hate to be the pony that gets rained on by this…” He gestured with a hoof to where Wildfire was sat with a smug satisfied grin.

“So, what d’you want, besides waking me up from an awesome nap?”

“Well grumpy, to wish you happy birthday, and to take you to that café down there for ice creams and coffee.”

“Go on then,” Wildfire chuckled, “I could go for something chocolate flavoured after that nap.”

The glide from the cloud to the ground only took the two pegasi a matter of moments, the two of them landing near the outdoor tables of the café. Hopping onto the seating pads they made themselves comfortable while they waited for the waitress.

“Had a good birthday Wily?”

“Yuppers, it’s been really good so far. Air Raid woke me up with coffee, then she tied me to the bed and made me orgasm for an hour while she got a bath and breakfast ready for me.” Wildfire laughed out loud as Dusk’s wings shot out either side of his body. “And you tell ponies you like stallions…”

“I do, but that’s still hot.”

“Afternoon Highness, what can I get you today?” The familiar earth pony waitress appeared to take their order, a wide smile on her face.

Dusk gave her a forced smile in return, “Hi Sugar Rush, two ice creams please. Banana and caramel for me, coffee, chocolate and chocolate sprinkles for the choccy junkie.”

“At once Highness, anything to drink?”

“Earl grey and a black coffee, two sugars please.” Dusk said, a slight irritation in his voice. “And Sugar, please don’t call me ‘Highness’.”

Sugar Rush grinned as she took the order, “You got it your Majesty…” The waitress pony sauntered off with a giggle as Dusk facehooved.

Wildfire snickered as Sugar Rush left them to fill the orders. “You always gallop into that hooves first D, every time.”

“I know, I know…still I wish ponies would just call me Dusk.” He nodded to Wildfire sat across the table from him, “You manage it alright.”

“Yeah…but I’m your best friend, plus I’ve held your mane out the way when you’ve been throwing up from too much of your mom’s moonshine.” The two pegasi erupted in giggles at the memory, “No way I’m using titles after I seen that D.”

"Good point Wily, and as I recall I’ve held your mane more than once too.”

“Touche.” Wildfire held out her hoof, which Dusk bumped with his own.

Dusk noted for the first time the pager strapped to the wrist of her right foreleg. “You went to see Hot Spot then?”

“Yuppers, I went to see him just before you found me on the cloud.”

“How’d it go?”

“Not bad actually.” Wildfire flashed him a smile. “He asked me if I thought I was ready to go back to reserve duty. I said I was, said I’d had enough sat on my plot at my marefriend’s house. Hot Spot took about two seconds to think it over before giving me this back.” She waved the foreleg with the pager.

“Here you are, your order your Majesty.” Sugar Rush said with a wink and a cheery smile as she placed the tray she’d been carrying on her back on the table. “Enjoy guys.”

Dusk took a spoonful of his ice cream as he watched the dark brown waitress trot over to another table, flicking aside her mint green mane as she served another customer. “Got anything planned for tomorrow night?”

“Not s’far as I know, why D?” Wildfire just managed to make herself understood around the mouthful of ice cream she was trying to swallow.

“We’re all going to the funfair tomorrow night.” Dusk took another spoonful of ice cream, taking the time to savour it before swallowing, “Darkstar’s idea, she thought you’d like it better than a regular party.”

Wildfire took a sip of her coffee, the heated drink overpowering the cold of the ice cream. “All of us are going?”

“Yep, all of us. Even Cyclone…”

Wildfire spat her coffee on the floor at that. “How’d you swing that one? Cy hates funfairs and you know it.” She eyed Dusk suspiciously, “Why aren’t we going tonight?”

“Because Air Raid wants you to herself tonight that’s why, something about a ‘surprise’ she has planned for you.” Dusk took a drink of his tea, “Before you ask, no I don’t know what it is, only that Darkstar’s helping her set it up.”

“Air Raid’s got Darkie in on it?” Wildfire whistled in awe. Her birthday surprise could literally be anything if the white unicorn was involved.

Dusk sniggered over his tea, “I don’t know if you should be excited or terrified.”

“Hey, Darkie isn’t that bad D, she’s just…eccentric is all.”

Now it was Dusk’s turn to spit his tea on the café’s patio floor. “Eccentric? You don’t say? Remember what she did last year?”

Wildfire laughed out loud. “Yeah, went for a party at your place, got wasted on moonshine and the next thing we remember is waking up in Las Pegasus, no idea how we got there and no money to get back.”

“Exactly Wily. Just…be careful if Darkstar offers you a drink, that’s all I’m saying.”

“I will, thanks D.” Wildfire finished off the last of her ice cream with a smile and a lick of her lips. “I’m gonna get off home D, it’s a quarter to four and I’m expected.”

“Have fun.” Dusk remained on his seating pad as Wildfire blew him a kiss before she took off, partly to finish his tea, and partly because somepony had to pay the bill. Again.

~ ~ ~

"Raid! I’m back!” Wildfire called out as she hoofed open the front door to their house.

No response. The house was totally quiet.

“Raid! Wildfire trotted from the living room to the kitchen. The house was just as she’d left it earlier that day. “Air Raid!”

No reply whatsoever.

“Air Raid!” Wildfire tried and failed to fight the rising sense of unease and panic in her gut. Something was off, and she couldn’t put a hoof on what it was. Having checked the entire downstairs and found nothing the yellow pegasus started to climb the stairs.

“Mmmm! Mmmph!”

Wildfire froze as the faint noise reached her ears. Something’s up there…something’s in our room… Wildfire tentatively put a hoof in front of the other and climbed the stairs. Whatever it was, it sounded strangely familiar.

“Mmph!”

Resting her ear at the closed bedroom door she heard it again. Cautiously Wildfire hoofed open the bedroom door and immediately had to stifle a giggle at the sight that greeted her.

*Poomf!* She was vaguely aware her wings had shot out, almost painfully erect.

There before her on the bed, gagged and blindfolded were Air Raid and Cyclone. Both were facing away from the door, their forelegs pulled between their hindlegs, hooves tied to each other with bright red ribbons which had the effect of raising their asses in the air. Both had their tails tied flat to their backs, fully exposing themselves to whomever opened the bedroom door. Both, she noticed with a lustful smile, had vibrators buried deep in their marehoods, a faint buzzing telling her they were turned on. As Wildfire carefully approached the bed she checked the setting, which was ‘low’ on both toys.

Just as she was about to make her presence known to the bound mares, a note between them caught her eye. Taking it in her hoof she gave it a quick read.

‘Happy birthday Wily, have fun unwrapping your presents.

Love, Darkstar

P.S. if you’re reading this at four p.m. they’ve been ready for forty five minutes. Enjoy!’

Sniggering loudly so as to alert them she was there Wildfire pulled the gag out of Cyclone’s mouth, the black pegasus instinctively flexed her jaw.

“Oh Celestia thank you! Darkie just left us like this for you!”

“MmmM…Mmmph!” Air Raid mumbled in agreement behind her gag, turning her head where she thought her marefriend was standing.

Wildfire stroked a hoof over Cyclone’s flank, causing her turquoise tail to twitch in its binding. “So you’re my surprise huh?” Smirking she ran a hoof slowly over Air Raid’s butt, playing with the base of her tail. “Who should I unwrap first?”

Cyclone shivered as the vibrator tormented her; “D – darkstar said whoever you unwrapped first had to help you pleasure the other, and wasn’t allowed to cum until you two had, at least twice.”

“Hmm…interesting rules. Soooo,” Wildfire asked in a singsong voice, “Who wants to cum first?”

“Hmm…HMMM…Mmmmph!” Air Raid was practically bouncing on the bed, furiously shaking her head, hoping her marefriend got the message and didn’t untie her first.

“Oh…unwrap me sweet flanks, that toy on ‘low’ has been driving Raid crazy for the last twenty minutes.”

Obligingly Wildfire started to remove the blindfold from Cyclone’s green eyes. Just as she laid a kiss on the black mare’s forehead her pager beeped. She was tempted to ignore it when it beeped again.

“Uh oh…” Wildfire’s heart sank when she checked the message. A fire. Great. Just what she needed on her first day back. With her marefriend and close friend trussed up like Hearth’s Warming turkeys.

“Mmm!”

“Wily, what is it?” Clyclone asked on Air Raid’s behalf, seeing as she still couldn’t.

“I’ve been called in. Three storey nightclub five blocks from here on fire, sounds pretty bad.”

“Mmm…Mmph!” Wildfire finally thought to remove the gag from Air Raid’s mouth. “Wily, thank Luna for that…look if you have to go you have to go of course you do…please, promise me you’ll be careful.”

Wildfire gave her blindfolded marefriend a gentle loving kiss on her lips. “I’ll be as careful as I can babe, I promise.” She kissed her again, “Thanks for my surprise, it was an awesome idea.”

“Just come back home in one piece.”

Wildfire was halfway to the bedroom door when Cyclone stopped her. “Um…Wildfire? Any chance you could untie us sweet flanks? This is getting really uncomfortable.”

Wildfire stopped with a grin and flew back over to the side of the bed the mares were facing. “I suppose I could untie you, or I could leave you here for when I get back.” She snickered at their struggles, then popped Air Raid’s gag back in place with a giggle. “I’ll untie you I think Cy.”

“Mmmmph!!”

Wildfire quickly worked to untie the black mare, sniggering at her marefriend’s renewed struggles. “Cy, can you keep Raid entertained for me while I’m gone?”

Cyclone crawled off the bed, stretching and flexing her limbs as life returned to them. “I’ll make sure your marefriend doesn’t get bored sweet flanks,” She said as she trotted over to the yellow pegasus and gave her neck a nuzzle. “I second what Raid said though hun, you come back safe okay?”

“I really have to go…” Wildfire turned and hurried towards the door, as she got there she heard Air Raid squeal as Cyclone turned up her vibrator.

2.2 - Trixie's Place (Edited)

2.2 - Trixie's Place

“Wildfire, over here with that cloud!” Hot Spot called out his orders without waiting for her confirmation, turning his attention to the two pegasi from the neighbouring Market District Fire Team; “You, Swift, Nightingale, Nimbostratus’ above and to the right, go!”

Wildfire hurried to carry out her order, scooting her own Nimbostratus over to the nightclub’s left side, positioning it thirty feet above the flames. A quick glance over at her fellow flyers told her they were ready, and with practised ease the three pegasi began to bounce and kick their respective clouds, hooves digging into the fluffy structures agitating them in such a manner as to cause a precise rainfall to occur.

“Inferno, Trailbreaker, your teams catch that rain and direct it at the base of the flames!”

Like a well-oiled machine Hot Spot’s ground teams, also bolstered by unicorns from the Market District Team caught the newly created rainfall in their magic and aimed the flow at the bases of the dozen individual blazes that had broken out over the doomed nightclub.

‘We’re doing it!’ Wildfire thought to herself as her own Nimbostratus neared half its original volume. A cursory look at the three storey building told her the flames were finally being beaten. ‘Took us long enough!’  At 1.27am the combined force of three fire teams had been battling this fire for just over seven hours now, the early morning lit up like Hearth’s Warming Eve by this monstrous fire.

‘Then again,’ Wildfire thought with a grim determined look on her face as she brutally bucked her cloud, ‘This wasn’t a normal fire, it was a magic fire’

Wildfire shook her head to clear her exhaustion. No point being tired when Swift and Nightingale were just as fatigued as she was, and with a smile she kicked harder at her Nimbostratus, sending gallons of rainwater at what was left of Trixie’s Place. Looking over at the nearest Market District pegasus to her Wildfire caught Swift’s nod and wink, which was basically saying ‘challenge accepted’ as the cream coloured stallion flicked his straw blonde mane and bucked his own cloud like it owed him a thousand bits.

“Wily!” Snapping her attention past Swift she barely heard Nightingale’s voice over the roaring flames as she called out to her. “Don’t let him beat you,” the chocolate brown mare yelled with a sly smile, “you’ll never hear the end of it!”

“Ha! First pony to put out these flames gets dinner from the other two!” Swift issued his challenge as he pounced on his cloud.

“You’re so on!”

“SWIFT! Watch out!” Nightingale’s panicked voice was drowned out by the explosion from within the second floor of the nightclub sent a pillar of superheated flame fifty feet into the night sky, directly under the stallion.

“Help!” The force of the blast obliterated the cloud he was working on and ignited his right wing, sending him out of control towards the ground.

In a split second Wildfire felt the explosion, heard Nightingale’s shrieked warning and saw Swift plummeting, his burning wing unable to provide the lift to save himself. The yellow pegasus reacted without thinking, launching herself from her cloud she accelerated to sixty miles per hour in the space of a couple of seconds as she dived after the falling pegasus.

Ten feet from the ground Wildfire caught Swift on her back as a secondary explosion sent a wall of heat and debris into her left side, knocking the two pegasi into a right barrel roll. Recovering quickly Wildfire landed with her charge near the medical tents and shouted for the earth pony in charge “Lifeline!”

Looking up from his current patient the cobalt blue earth pony doctor saw her land as Wildfire called his name. Passing over to his assistant he hurried over to the blackened yellow mare. “Wily,” He asked in his Trottingham accent, “that you under there?”

“Whatever Doc,” Wildfire ignored Lifeline’s sarcasm and filled him in on Swift’s injuries as he was conveyed from her back to a waiting stretcher provided by two ponies from Lifeline’s seemingly endless army of paramedics and nurses. “Severe burns to the right wing, lacerations, torn flight muscles.” Wildfire spared Swift an amused glance as the paramedics got to work, “and an empty wallet after I put out this fire.”

Swift’s retort was lost to her as Wildfire took to her wings, seeking out her Captain amidst the sea of ponies around the nightclub. A moment or two later she caught sight of his crimson coat trying to coordinate a group of earth ponies with hoses while at the same time reassuring Nightingale her partner was safe. “Captain!” Wildfire got his attention as she landed in front of the earth ponies, ignoring their mutters about ‘procedures’ and ‘protocols’. “This isn’t working Chief, every time we get close to putting the damned fire out another explosion causes even more to start, it’s like bucking Dragon’s Teeth!”

“I agree Wildfire.” Hot Spot’s deep calm voice washed over the young pegasus, calming her adrenaline fuelled nerves. “I’ve sent for back up from the Industrial District, they’re sending Sandstorm and Seaspray, and Princess Luna is sending Vacuum from the Castle Team.”

“What do you need me to do?”

“Take Nightingale and go to the Weather Factory. They’re almost finished preparing a class nine Cumulonimbus. Get it, bring it here, fast as you can.”

Wildfire went pale under her blackened and singed fur; “A Cumulonimbus? S – sir…I, I can’t…you know I can’t…”

Hot Spot spared her a moment to put a hoof on Wildfire’s shoulder, managing to find a place not fire damaged. “Rookie,” he started softly, “I know how you feel about those clouds, and I sympathise, but this,” Hot Spot pointed his other hoof at the unrelenting inferno that was Trixie’s Place, “has to be put out. Now I need you, Wildfire, the best damn rookie Heatwave ever trained, to go get me a cloud. Can you do it?”

“Sir, yes Sir!” Wildfire didn’t see Hot Spot’s wry smile as she took off into the black sky, Nightingale by her side, nor did she hear the words he spoke as they flew off.

“That’s my rookie.”

~ ~ ~

The flight to Canterlot’s Weather Factory, while not very time consuming, thanks to its close proximity to the almost out of control conflagration was, Wildfire noticed, mercifully quiet. On the way there Nightingale seemed disinclined to the notion of any conversation, maybe it was that they were both flying at their fastest speed or simply that the other pegasus had nothing to say. Either way Wildfire didn’t mind.

The quiet gave her chance to reflect on the fire they were currently fighting, and, if Wildfire was honest with herself, losing. It was only under control in the sense the combined Fire Teams of three districts had managed to keep it from spreading to nearby neighbouring properties. After several hours they were no closer to extinguishing the actual fire now than they were when they started.

Wildfire gave a loud snort. ‘What kind of dumb, witless, moronic plothole lets off pyrotechnics inside? INSIDE! And not just pyrotechnics, but self-replicating fireworks! Untested, unsafe self-replicating fireworks!’

Wildfire made a mental note that once the fire was finally under control she’d find this unicorn, this ‘Trixie’ and show her a good use of her fireworks that she’d just thought of that very moment. For what felt like the millionth time Wildfire shook her head at the sheer stupidity of it all as the events of the past several hours ran through her tired brain, also for what felt like the millionth time.

Earlier that week the nightclub’s owner Trixie Lulamoon, had spread it around Canterlot that her band, The Illusions, were starting their retirement tour in her own club. Of course tickets had sold out almost immediately. That’s why the club was packed beyond its safe capacity. Exactly how four hundred and seventy ponies could fit into a space designed to hold four hundred and four was beyond the yellow pegasus.

The fire started just seconds into the band's opening song, "Crescent Moon," when pyrotechnics set off by their earth pony tour manager Melody ignited flammable acoustic foam on both sides of the drummer's alcove at the back of the stage. The pyrotechnics were gerbs, cylindrical devices that produce a supposedly controlled spray of sparks. Melody used three gerbs set to spray sparks fifteen feet for fifteen seconds. Two gerbs were at forty five degree angles, with the middle one pointing straight up. The flanking gerbs had become the principal cause of the fire. The foam was in two layers, with highly flammable urethane foam over polyethylene foam, the latter being difficult to ignite but releasing much more heat once ignited by the less dense urethane.

Nopony had panicked straight away, the flames were initially thought to be part of the act; only as the fire reached the ceiling and smoke began to billow did people realize it was uncontrolled. Twenty seconds after the pyrotechnics ended, the band stopped playing and lead singer Trixie calmly remarked into the microphone an immortal line which the press had quickly gotten hold of, "Wow... that's not good."

In less than a minute, the entire stage was engulfed in flames, with most of the band members and entourage fleeing for the west exit by the stage.

By this time, the nightclub's fire alarm had been activated, and although there were four possible exits, most ponies headed for the front door through which they had entered. The ensuing stampede had led to a crush in the narrow hallway leading to that exit, quickly blocking the exit completely and resulting in numerous deaths and injuries among the patrons and staff. One hundred ponies had lost their lives, and about half of the survivors that had escaped were injured, either from burns, smoke inhalation, or trampling.

Wildfire shook her head sadly as she flew alongside Nightingale. There was nothing they could do for those ponies. Lifeline and his team of medics were treating those that had managed to get out. More than one surviving pony had told them a bouncer stopped people trying to escape via the stage exit, stating that that door was "for the band only." Again Wildfire shook her head. She sincerely hoped she never met this Trixie, but if she ever did, all she wanted was ten minutes in a locked room with no cameras.

~ ~ ~

The front door slammed shut signalling Wildfire’s departure as Cyclone gave the still bound Air Raid a devious smile; “What’s this I do see before me?” The black pegasus cooed playfully, “Why, ‘tis a pretty pegasus, all tied up with noplace to go…now, how should I entertain you?”

“MmmMMph!” Air Raid vocalised her desires as best she could around the ball gag, shivering as Cyclone gently ran her hoof down her back from her neck to her tail, stopping to caress her cutie mark.

“Such an eager toy I have under my hoof! Wily has you well trained doesn’t she?” Cyclone spanked Air Raid’s steering wheel cutie mark, watching carefully as the lime green mare squealed through her gag. “You like that Raid?”

Cyclone snickered as Air Raid practically bounced on the bed, nodding her head furiously.

“So, we’ll play a little game then…” Cyclone began as she unbuckled the gag from Air Raid’s mouth and tossed it away. “The rules. While we’re playing you’ll call me ‘Ma’am’ at all times, understand?”

“Yes.” Air Raid wasn’t really listening as she flexed her sore jaw, working life back into her aching muscles.

Cyclone narrowed her eyes dangerously, “Yes…what?” She asked in a low tone.

“Ma’am! Yes Ma’am!”

Cyclone gave her a warm smile. “That’s better. I won’t warn you again pet, next time you break this rule I’ll punish you. Understand?”

“Yes Ma’am, I understand Ma’am.” Air Raid also understood she was getting wet. Very wet. When she and Wily had played like this she was always the top, the pony in charge. Air Raid had to admit, the switch was quite refreshing, and a huge turn on.

“Good my little pet.” Cyclone trotted around the bed and proceeded to untie the ribbon that held Air Raid bound. “Now, it’s my understanding you like to race, and to win, correct?”

Air Raid fidgeted as she was let free, a few joints gave a satisfying ‘pop’ as she stretched them. ‘You’ve known me long enough by now Cy to know I hate losing.’ She thought to herself as she answered with a nod; “I hate losing…Ma’am” The ‘Ma’am was almost an afterthought but Cyclone let it slide.

“Then I give you ‘bronze’ as a safeword.” Cyclone couldn’t help but smirk in victory as Air Raid processed the word, the sheer distaste obvious on her face.

“Thank you Ma’am”

Cyclone leant in very close to Air Raid’s ear, her voice barely a silken whisper; “Say it.”

“W – what?”

Cyclone never moved her head from Air Raid’s ear as her hoof strike was intercepted the cutie mark on Air Raid’s flank. She ignored the squeal of pain as she kept her voice low and even. “That’s ‘what Ma’am’, and I said, ‘say it’. I want my little pet to show me she understands what she’s been taught.” Cyclone’s hoof hovered dangerously over her other cutie mark. “Now. Say. It.”

Air Raid had never felt so small in all her life. Or so turned on, if the slickness leaking between hindlegs was any indicator. She could smell her own arousal in the air, she was sure Cyclone could too. Chancing a glance between her legs she blushed as she saw the growing damp patch she was leaving on the sheets. “B – bronze…” Just saying her word made more of her arousal leak from her already wet marehood.

“Very good pet.” Cyclone stroked her hoof up her pet’s spine as she dragged her wet tongue up her ear to end in a sharp nip at the tip. “That was your reward.” Cyclone turned and hovered over to the seating pad in the corner of the bedroom near the vanity that Wildfire and Air Raid shared. Lowering herself down she dangled her hind hooves on the carpeted floor. “Now my pet, I want you over here and I want your tongue on these hooves.” Cyclone waggled her hind hooves for added emphasis.

“Yes Ma’am, at once Ma’am.” Air Raid slid off the bed to her hooves, and almost made it around the foot of the large bed when Cyclone stopped her with a raised hoof.

“Ah ah ah!” Cyclone stopped her in her tracks, a devilish smirk playing over her muzzle.

“Is something wrong Ma’am?”

“On your belly pet. Crawl to me, and be quick about it.”

Air Raid’s blush threatened to become a permanent fixture on her face as she slowly lowered herself to the carpeted floor. This was easily the most humiliating thing she’d ever done, and more than once on the way down she was tempted to say ‘bronze’. To her surprise her nose touched the carpet and she still hadn’t said it.

Gingerly she started to crawl towards Cyclone’s waiting hooves, her hard nipples getting even harder as they rubbed along the floor, the extra stimulus adding to her already dripping pussy. Still she refused to say her word.

Halfway across the bedroom floor towards her prize she could see the inner walls and sensitive frogs of Cyclone’s waiting hooves. Right now at this very moment she wanted nothing more than to wrap her lips around those beautiful black hooves and worship them like the pet she was. The cheeky little waggle from the black pegasus was all the encouragement she needed, and less than a second later Air Raid had assumed her rightful place beneath her friend’s hooves, her tongue darting all over the soles.

~ ~ ~

“Why don’t you like Cumulonimbus clouds?”

Wildfire buried her face in her right hoof as she flew – she would’ve used both forehooves but her left was occupied with steering the huge Cumulonimbus in front of her – and tried desperately to suppress a low growl in the back of her throat. If the flight to the Weather Factory had been blissful quiet the flight back had been audiable torture as Nightingale had found her tongue at last. And joy of joys once she was started off she had proved to be chatty…very chatty.

Wildfire failed utterly with her growl suppression. Without looking across at the chocolate coloured mare flying next to her she released her exasperated growl into the morning sky. “Leave it will you? It’s not important…” ‘Why do I get the chatty ones?’  Wildfire thought to herself as she doubted very much the subject would be dropped.

“C’mon, you can tell me, why don’t you like these clouds?”

This was the fifth time Nightingale had asked. Wildfire honestly couldn’t tell if her fellow firefighter was genuinely interested, stupidly oblivious or just plain trying to wind her up. At this point the yellow pegasus didn’t care. By her reckoning it was just after two in the morning, she had been working eight straight hours. Her yellow coat was a mess, covered in soot, grime and singed in more than one place. She was filthy, she stank something awful, she was tired, cranky, irritable and tired. The very last thing she needed was twenty questions from an overly friendly pony.

Unfortunately…

“I mean, if you’re scared of them fair enough I suppose, but I’ve never heard of a pegasus scared of clouds I mean it’d be like an earth pony scared of soil or a unicorn scared of magic…”

‘Celestia’s tits will she please shut the buck up!?’ Wildfire tried her best to tune out the noise.

“…If you are scared of them then you should really see somepony about it, like a shrink or something ‘cause its just not normal is it, a pegasus scared of clouds? Now if it was me what I’d do…”

‘Sun Goddesses salty ass crack she’s still talking! Please, please just shut up!’ The last of Wildfire’s fragile self-control was quickly being eroded, worn down by Nightingale’s incessant chatter. She could feel the fur on the back of her neck stand on end as her patience was quickly nearing the end of its rope.

“…Me and Swift had to see a shrink once when he was scared of…”

“Shut up!” Wildfire’s patience finally snapped. If it were possible her mane and tail would’ve erupted in fire. “Shut up! Shut up! For the love of every white hair on Celestia’s body shut the buck up!”

The effect of Wildfire’s outburst was immediate. The verbal tirade ceased so suddenly she was sure somepony had glued Nightingale’s tongue to the roof of her mouth. Casting her a quick glance Wildfire felt an instant pang of regret.

“I – I’m sorry…” Nightingale squeaked quietly, her bright green eyes on the verge of tears as she looked away from Wildfire’s furious look. “I didn’t mean to upset you, I just, babble around ponies I don’t know…I, I’ll just be quiet now.”

“Nightingale…look, I’m sorry,” Wildfire paused, taking a deep breath to organise her thoughts before she continued. “Thing is, my mum used to be a weather pony for the Canterlot Weather Team.”

“Used to be?” Nightingale started to interrupt but the look from Wildfire cut her off. “S – sorry, carry on, please.”

“Yuppers, she used to be.” Wildfire made sure she put as much emphasis on the ‘used’ as she could. “A few years ago when I was twelve the Weather Factory scheduled a class ten thunderstorm to last for five hours one afternoon. Mum’s speciality was crafting thunderheads, it was her job to create the lightning charge within a series of Cumulonimbus provided by the Factory once they were in place. This particular storm was to start over the school I was attending at the time.”

“What, what happened?”

Wildfire steeled herself as best she could, she didn’t like talking about this at the best of times with ponies she knew well, let alone one she’d only just met but she had yelled at her, and she figured she owed Nightingale an explanation. “The Cumulonimbus was faulty. Celestia knows how it passed inspection at the Factory, but as mum worked to build up a class ten lightning charge the cloud couldn’t contain it and it discharged all its energy in one huge lightning bolt that caught mum in her chest.”

“Wildfire, I’m…sorry, I had no idea. Your mum, was she, y’know…” Nightingale was beginning to wish she’d not asked.

“Yuppers, mum was dead before she hit the ground. I…I watched her fall from my class window.” Wildfire scooted over to the chocolate brown pegasus and gave her a gentle nuzzle to her cheek, wiping away her burgeoning tears. “Hey, you weren’t to know, and I’m sorry I yelled at you.”

“Apology accepted Wily.” Nightingale sniffed back a few tears and held out her hoof, which Wildfire promptly bumped with her own. “Now lets get this cloud where your Chief wants it so we can finally sort that bucking fire out.”

Wildfire flashed her a quick smile as the burning nightclub came into view. “Sounds like a plan to me ‘Gale.”

~ ~ ~

“M – Mistress…” Air Raid’s voice was barely audible as she whimpered into her cum-soaked duvet. The readout on the alarm clock on the bedside table said it was 9pm. ‘three hours!’ she thought to herself through a heady haze of pleasure and pain. ‘We’ve been at this three buckin’ hours!’

Not that the past three hours hadn’t been fun, Cyclone certainly had taken her marefriend’s instruction of keeping her entertained to her heart. No, rather the problem at hoof was one of soreness. Literally everywhere was sore to a greater or lesser degree. Her tongue from the half an hour of oral Cyclone had made her perform, her legs from being bound in all manner of configurations, her flanks from the spankings and most worrying, her pussy and clit were aching from the orgasms her Mistress had allowed her to enjoy. Fun as it had been, Air Raid was almost ready to use her safeword and call it a night.

Almost.

Her current predicament found her bent over her the foot of her double bed, her forehooves tied together and pulled up to her chest which were in turn tied securely to the intricate rope harness she was now wearing. ‘Darkie taught her to do this, definitely.’ Air Raid thought to herself as she made a mental note to get directions for later games with Wily. A four foot spreader bar held her rear legs apart, forcing her ungainly on to the toes of her hind hooves. A second longer spreader bar spanned her wings, secured around each wing bone and holding them wide open and quite immobile. The knotted rope around the braid in her tail held it tied to the black collar Air Raid currently wore around her neck.

Everything was bound just so, just enough to keep the lime green pegasus immobilised but not painfully so. ‘Comfortably uncomfortable’ just about described it. Again the thought of her safeword flashed across her mind. She was almost tempted.

Almost…

That would disappoint Cyclone after all her effort, and Air Raid didn’t want to disappoint her friend.

“Yes pet?” Cyclone’s voice, silky smooth, appeared at her ear, her warm breath making it twitch like she had ear mites.

Air Raid turned her head to look her friend in the eyes. “Are we about done, Mistress?”

Cyclone gave her friend a gentle kiss on her nose and lips. “One last game, then we can cuddle. You up for that pet?”

“Promise?”

Cyclone nodded the affirmative. “Promise.”

‘I could just say bronze and end it now…’ Air Raid pushed the thought to the back of her mind. Instead she flashed her friend a nervous smile; “O – okay…”

“Excellent.” Cyclone gave her friend another kiss as she got off the bed and rummaged around in her saddle bags behind her bound friend, who struggled in vain to see what she was doing. “Don’t go anywhere now, I’ll not be a moment.”

On the bed Air Raid could hear her giggling at her own joke. Tied up as she was Air Raid knew she definitely wasn’t going anywhere unless her friend and Mistress allowed her to do so. The feeling of exposed helplessness, of being powerless at the will of another pony sent a fresh wave of arousal through her body, momentarily making her forget her sore muscles. ‘I’m not powerless though am I?’ Air Raid thought to herself as she heard Cyclone struggling with something behind her back. ‘All I have to do is say bronze and it’s all over…’

‘Go on then.’ Her brain challenged her resolve.

‘What?’

‘You want to end it that badly…say it.’ Air Raid shook her head disbelievingly. Now she was arguing with herself. ‘I won’t think any less of you, nopony will…just, say the word.’

‘No’

‘Go on, we know you can’t take it. Say bronze. Go on, just do it.’ Air Raid had to fight back a chuckle. Now she was taunting herself.

‘No…’

‘Just say bronze’

‘NO!’ Cyclone had promised this would be the last game, and Air Raid believed her friend. Above all else she trusted her friend. Cyclone would look after her, would take care of her and most of all Cyclone would make sure she was alright.

“Ready pet?” Cyclone shook her from her reverie, effectively ending her inner debate, although to be fair there was never much debate. Air Raid was bent over her bed because she wanted to be, because she allowed Cyclone to bend her over her bed.

Breathing in Air Raid smelled a familiar waft of cherry lube and felt something hard poke at her labia, searching for the sopping entrance to her abused marehood. She had a good idea what Cyclone had in mind, and in that instant wanted nothing more than her friend’s weight on her back, to mount her and make her hers. “Rut me Mistress.”

“Oh I’ll rut you my pretty little pet, don’t you worry about that.” Air Raid could practically hear the smirk in Cyclone’s voice. In one fluid motion Cyclone reared up to stand on her hind hooves and entered Air Raid with the fake stallion cock strapped to her crotch.

“NaaaAAAaaHH!” Air Raid gasped with pleasure as Cyclone hilted the dildo inside her with one smooth thrust of her hips. Shifting her weight forward Cyclone hooked her forehooves around the spreader bar holding her wings open. Using the metal bar for leverage the black pegasus pulled out almost all the way before thrusting forwards again, burying the toy in her friends vagina.

“Y – yes M – mistress…” Air Raid panted with each hard thrust of the toy inside her. “Use me…aaAAH OwwwWW!” The bound mare could feel her tunnel being painfully stretched by a combination of the artificial cock and Cyclone’s savage thrusts.

“Beg for this cock you little bitch!” Cyclone snorted into Air Raid’s ear as she pulled back on the spreader bar to leverage herself as she mercilessly ploughed her friends aching pussy. The smaller end that was in her own marehood was doing its job as well, rutting her as she did her friend. The black mare began to lose herself as the pleasure washed over her.

Air Raid winced as the metal bar was roughly pulled back, the burning pain lancing through her wings momentarily distracting her from the pain in her nethers. “OooW Mistress…Cy – Cyclone please…”

Cyclone heard her name and lost in the moment she snorted, pulling harder on the spreader bar with her right forehoof while with her left she spanked Air Raid’s flank hard. Air Raid shook under the impact, her flank was still sore from an earlier game, and this time Cyclone’s hoof really hurt.

“Cy – Cyclone stop, please…”

Cyclone delivered another spank with her hoof, this time, whether intentionally or not, Cyclone’s hoof found a couple of earlier welts and a bruise just on her steering wheel cutie mark while a particularly hard thrust from her hips spread Air Raid’s flanks apart as the toy was forced in her beyond the hilt. The sudden intense pain made Air Raid’s rear legs buckle under the assault, which caused Cyclone to stumble too, pulling further back on the spreader bar, such that the lime green pegasus’s back was bent to a ninety degree angle.

“AAaaaArrrggHH!” Air Raid screamed in agony, tears streaming down her face, dripping and mixing with the sweat soaked bed sheets. “B – bronze…Cyclone, stop please, bronze!” She’d said it. She couldn’t believe she’d said it.

Immediately Cyclone stopped what she was doing and gently pulled the dildo out of her friend’s vagina, a mixture of worry and concern on her face. “Raid, Raid, you okay hun?” Gone in an instant was the domineering Mistress. The safeword had been used, the game was over.

“Ugh…Cy, it hurts…”

“Where?” Try as she might, Cyclone couldn’t keep the worry from her voice. Mentally she kicked herself for not paying closer attention to what her friend was doing and saying. Firmly Cyclone pushed that thought out of her head. Plenty of time for blame later, right now Air Raid needed freeing.

“E – every, w – where…” Air Raid gasped, pain still shooting through her aching limbs. “Wings, flanks, legs, back, snatch…it all bucking hurts

“Alrighty Raid let’s get you sorted shall we?” Cyclone decided to start with the wings, carefully unclipping the fasteners that kept spreader bar holding her wings open. Air Raid ‘aaaah’d’ as the bar was removed, instinctively flexing her tired wings and folding them back against her barrel. Next the black mare used her ever present pair of paramedic shears to make a few well place cuts in the rope harness, the ropes around her forelegs and the rope holding her dark blue tail to the black collar. With care so as not to cause any more harm Cyclone gathered up the cut pieces of rope and threw them in the waste bin beside the bed. Once this was done she quickly unbuckled the hoofcuffs around Air Raid’s hind hooves, moving the spreader bar aside for cleaning later. Lastly Cyclone unbuckled the collar from around her friend’s neck, tossing it next to the hoofcuffs on the floor.

“Air Raid, can you walk alright?” Now that all the binding’s had been removed Cyclone could see just how many bruises and angry looking red welts there were dotted over her body. “I, I’m sorry Raid…”

Air Raid tried to stand, but there was no way she was supporting her weight on her shaky forelegs, and just as little chance her sore wings were going to support her either. After a few failed attempts she slumped into the ruined bedsheets. “Nope…I ain’t going nowhere soon Cy.” Looking at the devastated look on her friends crest fallen face she cast her grey eyes downwards and erupted in genuine giggles. “Y – you look ridiculous Cy.”

Cyclone looked down and immediately started her own giggles. She’d left the fake cock strapped to herself. Quickly, and with a blush so intense it even showed up on her black fur, she discarded the dildo next to the bar and collar, for future cleaning. “Lie there Raid, I’ll run you a bath, ‘kay?”

“Uh huh…” Air Raid closed her eyes as she nodded her affirmative. Breathing deeply through the various aches and pains presently coursing through her body she was sure that bath or no, she’d feel the past three and one half hours for the next few days.

Air Raid could hear and smell the activity from the adjacent bathroom. There was definitely a mix of rose and jasmine in the air. Air Raid giggled to herself. ‘If she’s used all my rose oil I’ll kill her, as soon as I’m able. Then again if the jasmine is gone then Wily will kill her for me.’ Ten minutes later Cyclone came bustling back into the bedroom to find her friend where she’d left her.

“Still can’t move?” Air Raid tried to stand up but quickly gave up with a shake of her head. The black mare had tried to hide it before but the concern was etched across her features now. While loss of muscle and limb control wasn’t unheard of in bondage games, a good fifteen minutes had passed since they’d stopped. Cyclone was just glad her friend could move her legs at all.

“Alrighty, you leave me no choice my fair maiden.” Cyclone, as gently and carefully as she could, slid her head and neck under Air Raid’s prone form, balancing her carefully on her back as she walked them both to the bathroom.

“Sorry Cy, I’m neither…” Air Raid chuckled as she rested her head against the back of Cyclone’s neck and shoulder, burying her head into her turquoise mane.

“Hush you.” Cyclone giggled as they made their way over to the steaming bath. “Now, before I put you in, there are a few antiseptic, anaesthetic and other muscle relaxing oils in here.” Cyclone gently kissed Air Raid’s forehead. “I’m sorry if they sting a bit, but they’ll do you good, honest.”

“Fine,” Air Raid flashed Cyclone what she hoped was a winning smile as she was slowly lowered into the steaming bath. As soon as the welts on her flanks touched the water the stinging began, like thousands of acid tipped needles all over her body. It was painful, but not unbearable. “Aahhn!” She hissed as her breath hitched.

“You okay Raid?”

“I’m fine Cy, stop worrying, I’m a big mare.” Air Raid gave her a grin as she started sloshing the water about, making sure it covered everywhere it needed to. “Fair warning, next time we switch and you wear the hoofcuffs, deal?” She held her hoof out for Cyclone, who bumped it with her own.

“Deal. Now I’ll leave you to your bath while I go change the bed sheets.” Cyclone wrinkled her nose, “There’s too much ‘you’ on them, and I fancy a snuggle when you’re dried off.”

Half an hour later Cyclone had just finished making the bed as Air Raid appeared at the bedroom door. The mattress had been flipped, the soiled sheets had been safely deposited in the washing machine, though in Cyclone’s opinion a bio-hazard waste bag would’ve been a better place for them. Her equipment had been given a cursory clean and packed away for a more thorough clean when she was home. Looking up from the corner of the bed she was smoothing she saw her friend watching her. “Hey, how you feeling?”

Air Raid shook out her dark blue mane with a smile; “Hmm, better for that bath Cy. I still think I’ll feel today for a few days but nothing’s sore anymore, thanks to those oils.” She fluttered herself over to the bed and gave Cyclone a little kiss. “Now, somepony said something about a snuggle?”

Cyclone returned the kiss with her own, then frowned a little. “Hey…it’s ten thirty, Wily’s been gone almost five hours. Is she usually this long on a call?”

“Hmm, not normally no, but Wily always says every fire is different.” Air Raid gave Cyclone an uncertain smile; “I’m sure she’s fine…right?”

Cyclone hopped on the bed and motioned Air Raid to lie in front of her so they were spooning. “Raid, if there’s one thing that mare knows it’s her fires, ‘kay?” The black pegasus placed a flowery kiss on the back of her friend’s neck as she draped a black wing over her. “It’s her talent hun. Trust me, Wildfire will be just fine.”

Air Raid relaxed into the cuddle, nesting herself into the fur and feathers all around her. Her brain conjured up a one word reply as sleep overcame the weary mare.

“Yeah…”

~ ~ ~

“Raid?...Air Raid?”

Cyclone’s voice gradually brought the dozing mare to consciousness. “Hmm, what hun?” Despite now being awake Air Raid still snuggled back into her friend’s legs and wings.

“Your clock, it is the right time isn’t it?”

The note of panic in her friend’s voice finally made Air Raid open her eyes. Mindful of her earlier soreness she cautiously rolled over in the cuddle to look at the mare beside her. “Um…yeah, ‘course it is, why?”

“Well, I don’t want to alarm you Raid but its two fifteen a.m. and Wily still isn’t back from her call.”

“What!?” Fully awake and alert Air Raid sat upright in the bed. “What d’you mean she’s not back? It’s been over eight hours! Have you tried ringing her?”

Cyclone nodded, “Yes Raid, many many times while you were snoring and drooling into my right wing, Wily’s phone goes straight to voicemail everytime.”

“I do not snore!”

“Only like a buggering chainsaw.” Cyclone giggled at the outraged look on her friend’s face, “Okay, sorry!” She held up her forehooves in apology.

“Whatever, it’s been over eight hours, Wily should’ve been back by now Cy,” Air Raid wrapped her forelegs around herself as multiple scenarios flashed through her head, each one progressively worse than the one before. “Something’s happened to her Cy, I know it has!” Panic threatened to overwhelm her, “We were here bucking and rutting away like mares in heat and Wily’s in the hospital injured or in a ditch or she’s lying dead somewhere or…OW!”

Cyclone gave her friend a slap across her muzzle, not very hard, just hard enough to shut her up and stop the dangerous path her train of thought was running on. “Sorry Raid, but look, Wildfire knows what she’s doing. She’s a firefighter…”

“She’s only a reserve Cy!” Air Raid interrupted the black mare as she hopped off the bed and started pacing the bedroom.

“Yes Raid, Wildfire’s a reserve firefighter. She’s trained for this. It’s not just her job it’s her talent. You know she’s good at what she does Raid, look at that family she rescued a few months ago!”

Air Raid turned her panicked face to her friend, “Yeah, her partner died!”

Cyclone facehooved. “Alright, poor example.” She hopped off the bed to stand in front of Air Raid, putting an end to her pacing. “You got cable TV right?”

Air Raid blinked twice, not comprehending the relevance of the question at first. “Yeah, freesat on the flatscreen in the living room, why?”

The black pegasus fought the urge to facehoof a second time, opting instead to bop her friend on the nose; “Hello? Twenty four hour news? You can bet your last bit whatever Wildfire’s involved in it’ll be on there somewhere.”

No sooner had the words ‘twenty four news’ left Cyclone’s black lips her lime green friend had shot out of the bedroom so fast she could’ve sworn she’d teleported. Chuckling to herself Cyclone followed at a more sedate pace, taking a left at the bottom of the stairs into Air Raid’s spacious kitchen while the other mare hunted for the remote controls to the TV. She giggled to herself as exasperated shouts reached her ears. Cyclone found the whiskey and cider just as she heard the fourth ‘C’mon! They were right here!’ from the living room. “Raid?”

“Yeah…for the love of Celestia’s blessed nipples where are those remotes…oh!...Yeah, what?”

“You driving today hun?” Cyclone smiled as she heard the TV turn on. At last the obligatory remote hunt was over.

“I wasn’t planning on it why?”

Cyclone mixed up a tray of four cinnamon whiskey and apple cider as she heard Air Raid flicking the news channels. “Because you have two Fireballs in your very near future, Doctor Cyclone’s orders.”

“Yeah, thanks Doc,” came Air Raid’s reply from the living room. Cyclone grinned. Her Fireballs never failed. She picked up the tray in her mouth, and very nearly dropped it again when she heard Air Raid’s scream from the other room. “Cy! Cy get in here! Sweet Mother of the Goddesses look at that!” Cyclone hurried as best she could while balancing four full glasses on the tray. “Cy, get your black ass in here now! You need to see this!”

“What, what is it?” Cyclone mumbled around the tray in her mouth as she entered the living room. “Oh, oh my…” Her eyes went wide as saucers as she saw what Air Raid was looking at on the screen.

Air Raid took the drinks tray from her stunned friend, setting them on the coffee table. “Sweet Luna’s mane!” Cyclone exclaimed disbelievingly, “Wildfire’s working that?”

“Uh huh. I’ve just seen her bringing in a huge cloud with this brown pegasus.” Air Raid didn’t bother trying to hide the panic and concern in her voice; “Cy, she looks like she’s been through Tartarus twice, and stopped for a picnic both times.”

Cyclone scooted over to the sofa to give her friend a cuddle. “Hey, she’s flying, she’s fine. She’ll come home, don’t worry Raid.”

Air Raid bit her hoof in reply, her grey eyes glued to the TV screen.

"Yeah..."

~ ~ ~

Wildfire and her partner hovered above what remained of the blazing nightclub. “Nightingale, hold the cloud here, I’ll see where Hot Spot wants it.”

“You got it Wily.” Nightingale gave her a little salute as she descended to the ground.

“Captain…Sir,” Wildfire stumbled on her hooves as she landed in front of Hot Spot with a yawn and a shake of her head. “Class nine Cumulonimbus, ready for positioning, Sir. Orders?” Another little yawn escaped the exhausted pegasus, which did not go unnoticed by her commanding officer.

Hot Spot gave Wildfire a warm smile. “What you’re gonna do is help Nightingale place that cloud thirty feet above the nightclub. Then you’re going to go off duty and let Lifeline or First Aid look you over.”

“W – what?” Wildfire felt like the earth had been pulled from under her hooves, sheer disbelief overwhelmed her. “Hot Spot…S –sir, you can’t be serious, right?”

Hot Spot put a hoof on her shoulder in an attempt to calm her down. “Wildfire, you’ve been here just shy of nine hours. You’re clearly exhausted and you look like Tartarus. You need rest. The rest of us can finish this.”

“No!” Wildfire stomped her left forehoof into the ground. So upset was she that she quite forgot she was back talking her superior. Wildfire didn’t really care at this point. “You can’t shunt me like this Captain, please, it’s not fair!”

“Rookie, that’s enough!” Hot Spot’s reassuring smile gave way to a stern gaze that sufficed to quieten Wildfire down in an instant. “Nopony is ‘shunting’ you anywhere! Now you listen to me Rookie,” Hot Spot held her head up with his hoof, his smile returning.

‘Wish my dad would smile at me like that’ Wildfire thought to herself as she looked into her Captain’s steel blue eyes. ‘Like Heatwave used to…’

“Rookie…Wily, you’ve done an amazing job tonight, more than I expected of you. Right now you can barely stand on your own hooves, let alone fight this.” He pointed a hoof to the fire. “Position that cloud and then get checked over. I need unicorns for what I have planned anyway.”

Wildfire nodded her acquiescence, then stopped with a wry grin as she turned away. “By the way Sir,” she looked over her shoulder with a smirk, “You don’t exactly look a million bits yourself.” Hot Spot looked down at his own soot-blackened red fur, singed shoulders and burnt white mane and had to admit Wildfire had a point. Before he could think of a witty retort however she had spread her wings and taken off to re-join the chocolate brown mare waiting for her.

“Hey Wily,” Nightingale said in greeting as the yellow mare returned, “What’s the word?”

“Position the cloud thirty feet above the building’s centre, then go get checked out by the medics.” Even given Hot Spot’s sound reasons saying it out loud still felt nasty.

“For real? We’re done?” Nightingale didn’t even try to keep the joy and relief out of her voice.

“Yuppers, for real.” Wildfire seized the Cumulonimbus Cloud with both forehooves and helped her partner steer it into position before wheeling about in mid-air and heading for the medical tents.

“Aaah, a ball of soot!” Lifeline exclaimed with a low chuckle at Wildfire’s approach. “I’ve never treated one of these before!” The old earth pony doctor gave a shout over his shoulder to one of his assistants; “Nurse, I suspect there might be a pony under this soot. Better bring the jet wash.”

“Buck you Lifeline.” Wildfire shot back with the wittiest retort she could muster under the circumstances, she thought it was pretty good.

“In my wildest dreams perhaps Wildfire, on the bed please.”

Wildfire snickered as she pulled herself onto the bed. “Asking me into bed doc? I want at least dinner and a movie first.” She sighed as she laid back on the medical bed, smearing the green paper with a mix of soot and sweat. “I have standards.”

“Explain Air Raid to me then.” Lifeline sniggered as he began his examination, checking Wildfire’s wings and flight muscles first of all with a satisfied ‘hmm’.

“You leave Raid alone,” Wildfire winced as Lifeline slid a cobalt blue hoof under her back and checked her flanks with a few more ‘hmms’. “She’s very talented and I love her lots.”

“I’m sure she is Wildfire,” Lifeline laughed as he finished his examination. “Make sure she stays talented, I’ve got a hundred bits on her to win her next race.” The doctor turned and started scribbling some notes, “You’re done Wily. Apart from a desperate need for a bath and a few hours sleep you’re fine. Now, go home to your mare.”

“Yes Sir, doctor Lifeline Sir!” Wildfire gave him a little salute as she hopped off the bed and made her way on shaky hooves to the entrance to the medical tent, casting a backwards glance at Hot Spot orchestrating the end of the blaze.

“Monsoon, Tidal Wave, Vortex, on my order empty that cloud!” The three unicorns from the Industrial District Team got themselves into position as Hot Spot addressed the unicorns from the Market District. “Seaspray and Seafoam, when the water hits I want it turned to foam!” Seaspray gave a wink to his sister as they readied their spells. “Firefly, Trailbreaker, once the foam’s done I want a level ten force bubble around this building.” Hot Spot raised his voice, “Any other unicorn not assigned a task assist with the bubble!” Hot Spot then turned to the silent dark purple unicorn stood beside him; “Vacuum, once the force bubble is established, evacuate the air inside.”

Watching from the sidelines Wildfire had to admit it was a brilliant plan. Fires needed three things to propagate, fuel, heat and oxygen. Remove one of these things and the fire couldn’t sustain itself. Hot Spot planned to take out all three at once. Wildfire also saw how she and Nightingale were surplus to requirements.

“Everypony ready?” Hot Spot called out, to a chorus of ‘yes Sir’s’ from the assembled unicorns.

Wildfire turned and took off into the early morning sky as Hot Spot yelled ‘Go!’ behind her. The yellow pegasus didn’t spare the cacophony behind her a second glance as she slowly flew home. She was done, well and truly done. As far as Wildfire was concerned her immediate future involved a kiss from her marefriend, a long bath and a sleep so long her name would change to Rip Van Wildfire.

~ ~ ~

According to the digital clock on her pager the time was three eighteen am when Wildfire finally landed outside Air Raid’s house. It was funny, she’d mused on it earlier in the week, she’d lived here two months now. All their friends referred to it as Wily and Raid’s place, they’d even started getting bills in both their names. Somehow though, as happy as she was here, and she was very happy with Air Raid, it didn’t feel like her home. Wildfire couldn’t put a hoof on it, and she wouldn’t admit it to her marefriend but she felt like a squatter.

‘Maybe it’s because you aren’t wanted at your actual home’. Unbidden the thought left Wildfire’s tired brain, causing her hackles to raise in irritation.

‘That’s not true…’

‘Sure it is. Your dad loves his next drink more than he loves you.’ Wildfire snarled at herself. These thoughts always manifested themselves when she was particularly tired, usually waking her in the small hours. Thankfully Air Raid hadn’t noticed. Yet.

‘Shut up…’

‘Air Raid will leave you too y'know. She'll abandon you like your dad abandoned you’.

‘Shut up!’

‘Everypony leaves you. Ask your mum...oh, you can't. She left you...’

“Shut up! Shut up!” Tears streamed from her eyes as Wildfire screamed at their front door as she stomped her hoof in frustration. She couldn’t believe it, she didn’t want to believe it. Silently the yellow mare cursed herself for giving herself these poisonous thoughts. Wildfire also gave silent thanks to the fact that as it was so early there was nopony about to see her scream at her front door.

Or so she thought until the door opened to reveal a very worried looking Air Raid, and she noticed, an equally worried looking Cyclone behind her.

Air Raid rushed out to seize her marefriend in a crushing tackle hug. “Wily what’s wrong? We heard you shout.” She asked, concern etched across her face.

Wildfire returned the hug as best she could, mentally kicking herself that she had been overheard. “I’m fine…it’s nothing really I was just…arguing…with, myself.” She offered what she hoped was a winning smile before realising how ridiculous that sounded, even to herself. “Sorry…um, I’m really tired.” Wildfire exaggerated a yawn to prove her point.

Air Raid let go of her hug and draped her right wing over her marefriend’s body. “C’mon cutie, lets get you inside, we ran you a bath, figured you’d need one after tonight.”

“A bath…how’d you know…?” As Wildfire allowed herself to be lead inside the house she caught the scent of rose, lavender and jasmine oils from the bathroom upstairs. Suddenly a bath was the one thing she wanted most in all the land.

“The news,” Cyclone offered by way of explanation. “We watched it until Hotspot dismissed you, then we ran you the bath and got that ready.” Cyclone hoisted her saddle bags over her back and made her way to the open door; “Actually it was Raid’s idea. Look I hope you don’t mind me taking off Wily, I promised Skydancer I’d be back once we knew you were alright, and well, she’ll be doing her nut if I’m not back soon.”

“No problem Cy, thanks for keeping Raid company.” Wildfire pulled away from her marefriend’s wing to give Cyclone a kiss and a little hug. “Sorry about the soot hun, say hello to Sky or us when you get back to yours ‘kay?”

“Will do sweet flanks.” Cyclone gave Wildfire and Air Raid a quick kiss each and then she was gone, flying off into the early morning.

“Right you, let’s get you in that bath babes.” In much the same way that Cyclone had carried her to the bath earlier Air Raid slid Wildfire onto her back and carried her up the stairs to the bathroom.

“Raid, put me down, I’m getting you filthy!”

“So what?” Air Raid asked as they climbed the stairs. “Then we’ll both have a bath. Besides it doesn’t matter how filthy you are Wily, you’ll always be my pretty little pegasus.”

“Seriously. I look like Two-Face from your Batmare comics.”

Air Raid lowered them both slowly into the steaming hot scented water before turning to face her marefriend with a half-lidded smile. “Seriously. I’ve told you already I don’t care what you look like, I love you.”

Wildfire let her marefriend gently push her back till she was laid out in the oval bath, the water lapping at her chin. “You, you won’t ever leave me, will you?” Her chestnut brown eyes went wide as saucers as she nervously looked at Air Raid, only to see her smiling back at her.

Slowly the green mare lowered herself on top of Wildfire, until they were nose to nose in the bath water. Gently she gave her a kiss on her nose; “Wily, I. Love. You. I won’t leave you sweetheart.” Air Raid kissed her again, this time on the lips as she slid to the side to lay next to her marefriend.

Wildfire turned to her side and wrapped her forelegs around Air Raid’s shoulders. “For real?”

Air Raid turned in her marefriend’s legs and gave her another kiss, this time longer, more intense and passionate. Air Raid wrapped a foreleg around Wildfire’s neck, bringing her into a tight embrace as she tilted her head to one side, kissing her marefriend full on the lips. Wildfire returned the gesture, placing her own leg on Air Raid, running it through her mane as she ran her tongue across the older pegasus’s lips, asking permission to enter. The lime green mare granted it, parting her lips for her marefriend’s tongue as she ran her own over and around it, eliciting a few pleasurable moans from her. A second or two later Air Raid thrust forward with her tongue into Wildfire’s mouth, running it around the inside before briefly wrestling her tongue into submission. Finally the need to breathe forced them to break the kiss, their lips coming apart with a wet smacking noise.

The electricity of the kiss still between them, Air Raid locked her grey eyes onto Wildfire’s chestnut ones. “For realizes.”

2.3 - Revelations (Edited)

2.3 - Revelations

‘I’m in bed…’ Wildfire processed the thought as she opened an eye and took in her surroundings. ‘I don’t remember coming to bed. This duvet’s nice though.’ Lifting her head up and getting a proper look around made Wildfire giggle. The ‘duvet’ was in fact a pair of lime green legs and a lime green wing draped across her body that she was sure, when she rolled over, were attached to an awesome lime green mare.

Carefully doing just that so as not to disturb the said awesome mare, Wildfire smiled to herself, pleased that she wasn’t disappointed. Even though the mare in question was sleeping and currently making a noise like a chainsaw trying to cut through concrete, despite being repeatedly assured that she didn’t snore. ‘My left flank you don’t’, Wildfire leaned forward and gently kissed her marefriend’s nose. ‘Still love you though.’

‘Coffee. Need coffee.’ With that thought in her head, and a considerable amount of care and patience Wildfire was able to extract herself from the tangle of limbs that was her sleeping partner and make her way quietly down the stairs to the kitchen. With the kettle on and coffee and sugar in their two favourite mugs Wildfire investigated the fridge while she waited for it to boil.

The magnetic digital clock on the fridge door said the time was six in the p.m., that she’d slept all day wasn’t a surprise, given it was about four that morning when (she assumed) Air Raid had carried her to bed. A large, garishly bright poster pinned to the door by the clock caught her attention. The annual Canterlot funfair started today at seven thirty, and this year Wildfire was determined to go, seeing as how they’d all missed last years due to being stuck in Las Pegasus.

Just then the kettle boiled and Wildfire added the water to the mugs with a smile, a thought occurred to her as she did so. ‘Your marefriend’s taking you this year, just like a proper couple.’ Wildfire’s smile dipped a little then. She loved Air Raid with all her little heart, and while she was reasonably sure the older mare felt the same about her, there was a lingering doubt in the back of her mind.

Wildfire sighed as she hoofed the hot mugs onto a tray. The past two months with Air Raid had been the best ever. Living with her meant she didn’t have to go home and be around her dad, and the sex, oh Celestia’s blessed fetlock the sex…well, the sex had been amazing! In that regard the two months since that first time on the cloud had taught her more than she’d ever thought possible, and certainly Air Raid was an enthusiastic teacher, but…every time Wildfire had tried to talk about more, ‘relationshippy’ things, her marefriend would either grow distant, change the subject or just not bother answering at all.

Taking the tray in her mouth Wildfire hovered her way back up the stairs. ‘Is sex all she wants me for?’ The yellow mare thought sadly as she flew up to their bedroom, and to her sleeping mare. ‘Is that all I am to her, a bit of fun when she’s in the mood?’ Wildfire landed at the threshold of the bedroom and quietly trotted inside to put the tray on the bedside table. ‘Question is Wily, are you okay with being Air Raid’s sex toy? Do you want more or not?’ Wildfire looked at her mare asleep on the bed where she’d left her. Truth was she didn’t know what she wanted, and as much fun as it sounded, being a horny pegasus’s stress relief for the rest of her life didn’t sound like an ideal life choice.

Wildfire hopped up on the bed and laid on her side next to her marefriend. Snuggling her muzzle deep into Air Raid’s dark blue mane she kissed the back of her neck and breathed in her scent. As much as she wanted this moment to last forever she knew she had to wake her up. They needed to talk. And talk properly.

Reluctantly Wildfire nudged the mare next to her, to no response other than a deepened snore. “Raid.” Still nothing. “Raid!” Her marefriend rolled over to face her, but otherwise stayed asleep. ‘Fine!’ Wildfire leant over her and licked her tongue straight up Air Raid’s exposed ear twice, the second time nipping the tip hard. “Air Raid!”

“Hmm, hey…what the…!?” Air Raid started into consciousness, finding herself staring into Wildfire’s chestnut brown eyes. Rubbing her ear with a hoof she gave Wildfire a kiss; “Did you have to bite so hard?” She asked with a rueful smile.

“Well, in my defence, you were asleep, and I want to talk to you.”

“Yeah?” Air Raid sat up in the bed, reaching for the steaming mug of coffee with a sinking feeling in her gut. “What about?”

“Us.”

Air Raid groaned internally. Her sinking feeling suddenly sprung a leak a decided to sink all the quicker. Hiking what she hoped was a genuine smile to her face she asked, “What about us?”

“Well, where do you see us going?”

Air Raid casually checked her watch, six twenty five. Taking a sip of her coffee she placed the mug back on the tray as she considered her answer. “In about an hour I see us going to the funfair with our friends, unless you’ve got a better idea?”

Wildfire fought the temptation to scream in her face. She was doing it again! “Raid, stop it, that’s not what I meant, and you know it.”

Air Raid leant in close to Wildfire’s jawline and started trailing nips and kisses down her neck. “Actually, I’ve got a better idea, let’s blow it off and stay here, have some fun?”

Involuntarily a low growl escaped Wildfire’s lips. If Air Raid noticed she pretended not to. “Raid! No! Look I want to talk to you!”

“Uh huh…” Air Raid suckled down Wildfire’s neck to that spot on her shoulder she knew she really liked and nipped it in the way she liked. “You talk, I’ll kiss…”

This time Wildfire actually did scream in her face. “I. Said. No!” The yellow pegasus punctuated each syllable with a thump of her hoof to Air Raid’s chest that left them separated on the bed. “Why do you always do this?”

“Ow!” Air Raid rubbed her chest where Wildfire’s hoof had struck. “Do what?” She asked with a pout.

“You know what! Every time I try and talk to you, you either change the subject or try and sex me up!” Seeing Air Raid’s smirk then just wound her up even more. “Is that all you want me for? Fanny on demand when you feel like it?”

“What?” Air Raid lay on the bed, taken aback. Where in Tartarus had this come from? “I thought we were having fun Wily?”

“We are, we do…I just, I dunno Raid, I want more than to be your bit of fun, y’know?”

“Like what?”

Wildfire hopped back on the bed and took her marefriend’s forehooves in her own; “I want to marry you, have foals with you. I want to watch them grow up with you, I want to grow old with you. I want to have grandfoals and watch them play around us as we sit in rocking chairs and curse how old they make us feel!” Wildfire paused for breath, hopefully she looked at her marefriend, trying to judge her reaction.

What she heard next just about broke her heart.

“You want all that huh?” Wildfire nodded as Air Raid took a deep breath. “Then you’re going to be disappointed.”

“W – what d’you…”

Air Raid cut her off with a hoof to her lips. “I’m not the marrying sort, and I’m sorry Wily but I don’t want foals. Not now, not ever. I never have…” She looked away as her voice broke, unable to meet Wildfire’s hurt expression. “A – and I, I never will.”

As she looked away Air Raid had never felt so small and wretched in all her life. Not only had she broken her lover’s heart, she’d lied to her too. ‘This is okay,’ she told herself, ‘better she hate you for this lie than know the truth and hate you for the freak you are.’ “Wily, I…I’m sorry…”

“Sorry? You’re sorry!?” Wildfire let go of Air Raid’s hooves in a violent motion, throwing them away from her in disgust while trying to sum up in words her anger and despair. Air Raid had just crushed her hopes and dreams and she was sorry? Had Wildfire’s chest been a cannon she would’ve shot her heart at the mare looking away from her. No…something was off here. Way off, and she was damned if she wasn’t going to get to the bottom of it.

“Raid, what is it?” Her marefriend just shook her head, tears leaking from her grey eyes. “Air Raid, look at me…” Wildfire reached for her chin with a hoof and turned her head to face her; “Babes, what is it? What aren’t you telling me?”

Air Raid shook her head miserably, “Its, its nothing alright?”

“Raid, tell me, please?”

Air Raid gave a hiccupped sniff and took a breath to try and stem the flow of tears. “Just leave it Wily, you…you wouldn’t understand.”

Wildfire leant in close, almost muzzle to muzzle with the mare in front of her. Any other time the lime green mare would’ve gone for a kiss. "So make me understand." Air Raid just shook her head silently. “Fine.” Wildfire didn’t try to hide the venom in her tone. “Don’t tell me. See if I care.” Wildfire jumped off the bed and turned her back on the sobbing pegasus.

“Wily, Wily wait…”

Wildfire gave her a backwards glance over her shoulder. “It’s five past seven. Get ready, we’re going to the fair. We are going to have a good time, and when we get back we will talk about this, and if what you have to say isn’t the best thing that’s ever left your lips I won’t be here in the morning. Understand?”

Air Raid nodded meekly. “I understand.”

~ ~ ~

“Raid, what time is it?”

Air Raid checked her watch with a scowl and an audible sigh of exasperation. “Is nopony else wearing a watch? Brightstar it’s seven forty, about three minutes after the last time you asked.”

“Hey,” Darkstar took a step towards Air Raid, a frown on her face. “Who’s pissed on your primaries? My bro was only asking the time!”

“Darkie chill, it’s alright,” Brightstar smirked at his sister, “Wily was probably too tired after the fire to give Raid her mid-morning preen. No wonder her feathers are all flustered.”

Air Raid turned on the blue unicorn as Wildfire giggled. “What’s it got to do with you what we do or when we do it?”

“Raid, seriously, calm it down would ya?” Slingshot nudged her with a pink hoof, “We’re supposed to be enjoying ourselves, remember? You wanna spoil the rumble, sling your wings and come back in a better mood.”

Air Raid fixed Slingshot with a cold look as she swatted her co-driver’s hoof away from her chest. “Yeah, maybe I’ll just go ahead and do that!” She spat at him, “Not like I’m gonna be missed here.” She added just under her breath as she turned to go home.

“No.” Wildfire stopped her in her tracks with that single word. “No. You’ll stay, and we’ll all enjoy ourselves, just as soon as Cyclone gets here.”

“Pfft, whatever…” Air Raid sat on her haunches, a sour look on her face. ‘Not like I actually want to be here…she’s only gonna leave me later, why wait?’

“Guys…” Stood between Darkstar and Slingshot, Dusk Melody had his hoof to his eyes, blocking out the late evening summer sun as he squinted into the distance. “She’s coming now.” He pointed his dark blue hoof at the rapidly approaching black speck that was their friend.

“About bucking time…” Air Raid started to mutter before being shut down by five glares directed straight at her. ‘Whatever…let’s just get this over with…’ If she was going to be dumped, she’d much rather get on with it than drag it out.

Cyclone landed a few feet from the circle of friends with a beaming smile on her face, “Hey guys, sorry I’m a little late.” The black mare offered her friends each a quick smile as she straightened her plain red dress, a smile which became a wide grin as her gaze settled on Darkstar. “What’d I miss?” She asked with a wink.

“Oh, nothing much Cy, just Raid being a grade A plothole, nothing you haven’t seen before.” Darkstar sniggered as Air Raid shot her a particularly foul look. “Nice dress by the way.”

“Cy, you haven’t…have you?” Dusk asked incredulously, his pink eyes wandering to his friend’s flank.

“Certainly have Your Majesty.” Cyclone giggled as she gave her dark blue friend an over the top bow.

Darkstar touched Cyclone’s rump, getting a pleasant squishy sensation under her dress. “You actually have, too. Y’know that dare was a joke right? None of us actually expected you to do it.”

Slingshot’s smile faded slightly, replaced with a concerned look. “Cy, you don’t have to go through with this chick.”

Cyclone finished smoothing out her dress over her rump with a wing as she turned her turquoise eyes to the pink stallion. “Sure I do. I was dared, I’m doing it. Simple as.”

Dusk put a concerned hoof on his friend’s shoulder. “Shot’s right Cy, Blitzwing and his half-heads get hold of this you’ll never hear the end of it.”

Cyclone spat on the dirt floor; “Pfft, as if I care what that cock-womble thinks, says or does. Now, are we gonna go have some fun here or stand around flapping our gums?”

“Well said Cy,” Wildfire couldn’t quite hold in her giggle at Cyclone’s insult. Even Air Raid cracked a smile, she noticed happily. “What’s everypony plan on doing? The yellow mare asked as the group of friends entered the fun fair, each pony paying their entry fee. “Bet you’re on the rollercoaster right Cy?”

Cyclone sniggered as they entered the fair proper, the faint crinkling noise from her rump being quickly drowned out by the carnival noises from various game booths, rides and other attractions. “Oh yeah Wily, and then after that I’ll be racing Dusk to mach one.”

“Actually I fancy an exhilarating ride on the Tea Cups, followed possibly by a daredevil thrill blitz on the Carousel.” Cyclone quipped as everypony was still laughing from her first joke. “Who’s with me?”

Brightstar grinned as he walked beside his sister to Cyclone’s side. “I’ll join you Cy.”

“Really bro? Or are you hoping for a different experience?” Darkstar tipped an eyebrow at her brother, getting a wink in return. “Uh huh, I thought so. Watch him Cy. As for me I fancy something fast and exciting.”

“Too bad Air Raid’s already taken then.”

‘Not for much longer’ Air Raid stuck her tongue out at her co-driver. “Buck you Shot.”

“Hey Darkie,” Slingshot called out to the white unicorn, “You wanna ride the ‘Coasters with me?

“You know it Pinks, all night long baby.”

Dusk looked about the fair, catching sight of a few stages set up with instruments a short distance away, set aside from the smaller rides and prize booths. Pulling out a flyer for the fair from his saddlebag Dusk checked the performers, if he was honest it was a seemingly unimpressive list, until one name in particular caught his eye. “Guys I might go over to the stages, check out this unicorn singer called Vocal Chord.

Wildfire gave her best friend a little smirk, “On the pull D?”

Dusk blushed a little, a faint red colouring his fur, much to the amusement of the others. “Maybe, this Vocal does look cute.”

“Well good luck mate. Raid, let’s go over the game booths, I want you to win me something.”

Air Raid gave her marefriend a disbelieving look. “Why? You know that junk’s only worth a fraction of what you pay right?”

Wildfire pouted at her marefriend’s obstinacy, unsure if the lime green mare was being difficult on purpose or if she was doing some game where she pissed her off enough to get herself dumped. Either way Wildfire was determined whatever it was it wasn’t going to work. They were talking later, no matter what. But for now… “Because it’ll be fun, and I’d love you to win something sweet for me.”

Darkstar snickered beside Slingshot; “Maybe she can win herself a new attitude Wily.”

“Oh do buck off Dar…”

“That’s enough!” Wildfire exclaimed with a stomp of her hoof and a dark look at both Air Raid and Darkstar. “Now, you and Shot are on the fun rides, Cy you and Bright are on the foal rides for fuddies, D, you’re on the make at the stages. Me and Raid are gonna hit the booths.” Wildfire checked her watch as she received nods and ‘yes’s’ from her friends. “It’s ten after eight, so say we meet up at the photo booths about ten-ish?”

~ ~ ~

“That’ll be thirty bits Sir, Miss.” The carnie eyed the fully grown mare and stallion as their turn came to ride the tea cups.

Cyclone reached a hoof into her saddlebag and retrieved two small pouches of money as she and Brightstar took their seats in a brightly coloured pink tea cup, the hem of her red dress riding just above her knees. “There you go,” She smiled as she hoofed over the pouches to the waiting stallion.

“Bit big for this aren’t ya?” The carnie asked gruffly as he returned the now empty money pouches to the black mare. As if to prove his point two fillies and three colts ran past him to jump in the remaining pink and blue cup respectively as he clipped the safety chain across the entrance hole.

“Not at all, we just don’t care for the bigger rides.” Cyclone giggled as she gave Brightstar a wink. “We can have all our fun right here.”

“S’long as ya pay, whatever floats ya boat.” The carnie shrugged as he made his way over to the fillies, practiced wide smile in place.

Cyclone then gave her friend a mischievous smile as she toyed with the hem of her dress. “So…awfully nice of you to accompany me on this very dangerous ride,” she said as the ride lurched into motion, spinning at a sedate pace that wouldn’t have disturbed a sleeping foal. “Who knows what could happen otherwise?” Cyclone watched Brightstar lick his lips, noted with satisfaction the hungry look in his eyes.

“You know what I’m here for Cy.” The light blue unicorn’s yellow eyes were glued to the rising hem of his friend’s dress as he spoke.

“Do I now?” She asked with a wink, her left forehoof curled around the hem of her dress. “And what’s that?”

“Show me it.”

Cyclone smirked, “Here?” She asked as innocently as she could manage as the tea cup carried on its slow circular motion, “What if somepony should see?”

Brightstar smiled to himself as the carnie spun the tea cups around themselves so that they spun around as they carried on their course. He knew this game, and Cyclone knew how to play it almost as well as his sister. “Please Cy, please show me.”

Cyclone inched her dress higher up her thighs, noting with a satisfied smile the frustration on her friend’s face as she stopped just short of his prize. “Beg me Brightie.”

“Cyclone please, please show me what’s under your dress.” Brightstar smiled internally, he loved this game. The trick was not appearing too eager, while injecting just the right amount of pleading in the voice. “I – I really need to see, please…”

Cyclone raised a teasing eyebrow and fractionally raised her hoof as well. She knew how far to push. Just one more tease should do it. “Show you what, Brightie?”

“T – the nappy.” Brightstar whispered through dried lips, the excitement and anticipation just about killing him, “Please Cy, please show me the nappy you’re wearing.”

“Weeeeell,” Cyclone sang out with a smile, “Since you asked so very nicely I suppose I could give you a quick peek.” With that she hiked up the front of her dress to her dress to the level of her hips, showing off the nappy to her friend. Keeping her turquoise eyes on Brightstar’s yellow ones Cyclone watched his reaction as she ran her black hoof over the padded crotch between her hind legs. “You like?”

Brightstar nodded mutely, his reply dying on his lips. The question was of course entirely rhetorical, the flared head of his penis protruding from his sheath more than answer enough. So focused was his attention on the foolish garment Cyclone was wearing that the blue unicorn hardly noticed his friend take a pouch of bits from her saddlebag and drop it between her hindlegs.

“You’ve been a naughty colt Brightie, but you did beg ever so sweetly, so I suppose I can reward you.” Cyclone pointed her hoof to the dropped pouch of bits with a smirk. “Do be a love and pick those up for me, won’t you?”

In a flash Brightstar was on his knees on the floor of the tea cup. He could’ve easily retrieved the pouch with his magic, but that wasn’t how the game was played. Just as he picked up the pouch in his teeth he heard Cyclone’s voice above him; “Y’know, I have had a lot to drink today…” Brightstar grinned, he could practically hear his friend’s smile as she teased him. “Good job I’m wearing this,” She whispered as she patted the front of the nappy scarce inches from his muzzle, “I just can’t hold it any longer.”

Taking his cue Brightstar pressed his muzzle into the padded crotch of the nappy, took a deep breath and waited while Cyclone gently massaged her bladder with a hoof. A second or two later she spread her hindlegs and sighed happily as she released herself into the absorbent material strapped to her rump.

Brightstar breathed deeply as he heard his friend sigh, then smiled happily as he heard the faint hiss of her released stream filling the inside of the nappy, the clear cloud on the front turning to a dark storm cloud as it absorbed the pee within.

“That’s better…” Cyclone whispered happily to herself as she felt the ride starting to slow down. Tapping Brightstar on the shoulder the stallion removed his muzzle from her now squishy crotch and regained his seat opposite her in the slowing tea cup, only to be greeted by a fit of giggles from the black pegasus as she hastened to rearrange her dress.

“What? He asked innocently.

“You want to do something about that…” Cyclone sniggered as she pointed to Brightstar’s crotch, namely the erection that she judged was bigger than her lower foreleg, that was currently bobbing there at full mast. “You’ll scare the fillies walking around with that on show!” Cyclone lost herself in giggles once more.

“I daresay I’ll scare the colts too…” Brightstar snickered as he lit up his horn with a yellow glow and cast the invisibility spell is sister had taught him. He watched as the yellow aura surrounded his stallionhood and the spell started to take effect. While he wasn’t as accomplished at illusions as Darkstar, he was talented enough, which was handy, given that the carnie had unclipped the safety chain just as Brightstar’s impressive erection faded from view.

“Do come again,” The carnie pony’s gruff voice was dripping with sarcasm, “Always love giving rides to overgrown foals…” He added, his nose twitching suspiciously as he picked up the faint smell of urine. Shrugging he decided to drop the issue. There was no puddle in the tea cup, and he decided it was an over excited filly sat somewhere else.

“It’s a good thing Darkie taught you that spell mate.” Cyclone sniggered as they left the ride, the full nappy squishing slightly uncomfortably as she walked. “C’mon,” She pointed to the nearby toilets with her hoof, “You can change me in there.”

“Change you?” Brightstar asked, a puzzled look on his face.

“Well yeah, I ain’t walking round with a nappy full of piss all night am I?” Cyclone nudged him as they made their way inside the foal changing toilet, “I’ll get a rash, and besides, it’s making my dress bulge.” The black mare hovered over to the changing table and laid on her back, hindlegs pulled up wide. “So, get to changing!”

Brightstar snickered as he cancelled the spell around his groin, his stallionhood fading back into view. While not as erect as it had been on the ride, it was still an impressive sight. Taking his friend’s hindlegs in his yellow aura he lifted her ass off the table and used his hooves to remove the sodden nappy, balling it up and throwing it into a waste bin next to the changing table. “You got another you want on, or what?”

Cyclone nodded, “In my saddlebag, but not yet, I’ve got an idea for a game. Wanna play?” She asked as she hovered over to the toilet in the corner of the room and squatted on it as she landed.

“Sure Cy. What’s the game?” Brightstar asked as his cock started to harden again under Cyclone’s lewd display.

“Well, I still need to go, badly, but there was no way I was crapping in that nappy. So, my little voyeur, here’s the game. You get yourself all nice and hard watching me go, and then we’ll have ourselves a race. Whoever cums first wins. I win, we go on the Carousel next.”

“And if I win?” Brightstar asked as Cyclone started to relieve herself noisily into the toilet.

“We’ll go on the biggest rollercoaster here, twice.” Cyclone winked as she started to rub her hoof over her marehood. “Deal?”

“Deal.” Brightstar smirked at his friend’s head start as he cast a numbing spell over his stallionhood. This was a race he didn’t mind losing, he much preferred watching his friends get off before he did. ‘Besides,’ the blue unicorn thought to himself as he started to run his hooves over his length, ‘the Carousel really isn’t that bad…’

~ ~ ~

Dusk Melody sighed for what must’ve been at least the twentieth time since he decided to leave his friends and catch one of the live shows at the fair. Yes he was a Prince. Yes he was Princess Luna’s son. He had long ago accepted that no matter where he went or what he did there would be stares and whispers. Stares and whispers Dusk could handle. Or rather, ignore.

No, what the young royal stallion found really irritating, to the point of wishing he’d stayed in the castle was the attention. It had only been a few hundred feet since their group had separated to where he was now, stood amongst the small crowd in front of stage two, but the amount of ponies who had greeted him in that short amount of time was just crazy.

That wasn’t the worst though. No the worst part was how polite everypony always was. Everypony else around him was exchanging casual ‘Heys’ or ‘How’s it?’ or ‘Hi mate’s’, every greeting directed at Dusk was always a ‘Good evening Your Majesty’, or a nod with ‘Your Highness’. It thoroughly drove him insane. Twilight had warned him about this side effect of being a royal. He hadn’t believed her when she had said how annoying it would become. He did now.

This was why he appreciated his friends so much. Wildfire, Air Raid; Brightstar; Darkstar; Cyclone and Slingshot. Six ponies who weren’t afraid to just be themselves around him and not feel the need to stand on ceremony all the damn time. Most importantly they treated him like a pony. He was important to them, not his title.

“Evening Prince Dusk!” An excited chirp from the seating pad to his left snapped Dusk out of his reverie. Looking to see who it was this time the midnight blue stallion had to fight the urge to facehoof in frustration. He actually knew the mare sat next to him! Instead he forced the same old smile.

“Hey Mirage, enjoying the fair?” While not one of his close friends Dusk recognised the cream unicorn from school, they shared some of the same classes, though Dusk couldn’t quite remember which ones of the top of his head.

“Oh yes Highness, thank you.” Mirage gushed with a wide smile that made Dusk want to cringe.

Dusk Melody gave the unicorn a long sideways glance, and did his absolute best to mask the irritation in his voice. “Mirage, call me Dusk, please.”

“B, but…” The cream mare stuttered, a faint blush colouring her cheeks, “You’re a…Prince!”

‘Oh bucking well spotted you stupid dumb mare!’ Was what the royal pegasus wanted to snap in reply. ‘How in the wide world of Equestria does Mom, Aunt Tia, Twi and Cadey cope with this crap *ALL** the damn time?’* Dusk thought in exasperation as opened his mouth to once again remind her that he was just a pony, not an actual god.

Whatever Dusk’s reply was going to be was lost on his lips as the spotlights lit up the stage and a tall light grey unicorn stallion with a short spiked electric blue mane stepped through the curtain. Three other ponies stepped out behind him and took up their respective instruments, a green unicorn stallion stood behind the double tiered keyboard; a yellow earth pony mare played bass and finally another earth pony mare, this one a lavender colour, plugged in her electric guitar.

At the sight of the light grey stallion Dusk’s midnight blue wings shot out from his sides with audible *poomf!*‘Sweet Mother of all Ponies he’s beautiful!’

The light grey unicorn lit up his horn with a pale green glow and levitated the mic stand out of the way, stepping to the centre of the stage as he did so he spoke into his head mounted mic and addressed the small crowd gathered around stage two; “Hello Canterlot! I’m Vocal Chord…”

‘Holy Goddesses…his voice is as beautiful as he is…’ Dusk found himself barely paying attention as Vocal Chord introduced the rest of the band. The lavender mare with the guitar was called ‘Strings’, the mare playing bass was ‘Falsetto’ and the stallion on the keyboards he named as ‘Crescendo’.

“We’re The Roses, and we’re happy to perform for you tonight!

Dusk was vaguely aware of Mirage saying something next to him, but he couldn’t bring himself to focus on what she was saying. Once Vocal had finished the introductions the crowd gave a polite smattering of applause. Some clapped their hooves while others stomped theirs. Dusk managed both, leading the crowd’s applause as he stomped his rear hooves while clapping his front ones together.

“This is our first song for you, it’s called ‘Here and Now’.”

Dusk listened with rapt attention as Vocal Chord began to sing the intro while Falsetto and Strings provided backing vocals. He quickly picked up the beat, tapping his hooves in time with the music. While it wasn’t his first choice of genre, Dusk quickly realised he’d be quite happy if Vocal sang out the phone book. Vocal Chord began the first verse and Dusk was in heaven.

“time is running out on you and me

Cos nothings what it used to be

I guess I'm the only one to blame

But I promise you to make it right

Forget all the sorrows you bear within tonight

Believe in me when I say

Here and now I wanna be the one for you

In everything you want me to

Cos I couldn't live if were apart

Say there is something I can do

If I can make it up to you

For every time I let you down

And I promise you to make it right

Forget all the sorrows you bear within tonight

Believe in me when I say

Here and now I wanna be the one for you

In everything you want me to

Cos I couldn't live if were

apart

Here and now lets tear down the walls together

it's better late than never

I know that we could find a way here and now

Ill be there for you

Here and now I wanna be the one for you

In everything you want me to

Cos I couldn't live if were

apart

Here and now I wanna be the one for you

In everything you want me to

Cos I couldn't live if were

apart

Here and now I wanna fall in love again

And try to be the best I can

So give me a chance to win your heart”

As soon as Vocal finished singing the crowd went nuts, whooping and cheering like mad ponies, Dusk chief amongst them. Vocal smiled as he bowed to the cheering crowd, Dusk swore to all the Alicorns in the world that the singer’s green eyes met his as he swept the front of his mane from his eyes with a hoof.

‘He looked at me! Sweet heavens he actually looked at me!’

The rest of the forty five minute long set passed in a similar vein. Vocal belted out song after song to thunderous applause. After the twelfth song Dusk’s forehooves were sore from all the clapping and stomping, and his throat was feeling hoarse from all the cheering and whooping. He’d already made mental notes to get all of The Roses’ CDs as soon as he was able.

“Thank you Canterlot, you’ve been amazing!” Vocal took one last bow and swept himself off the stage to one last round of tumultuous applause.

~ ~ ~

“Hey Princey, can I join you?”

Dusk Melody looked up from his pint of Sweet Apple cider, an irritated look on his muzzle ready for the idiot pony who had the nerve to address him thusly. The irritation became a huge smile as he recognised the light grey unicorn stood in front of him.

“Vocal?”

“The one and only,” Vocal gave Dusk a little bow, “At your service my Prince. So…can I join you?” Vocal Chord sat at the table opposite Dusk without, the pegasus noted, waiting for an invitation.

Dusk smiled in spite of his initial irritation; “Take a seat, but call me that again and you’re drinking alone.”

Vocal took a mouthful of the cider he had held in his green aura before settling the bottle on the table. “Ahh, so you’re a ‘Highness’ or ‘Majesty’ kind of royal then huh?”

“What? No!” Dusk spluttered, “Just Dusk is fine, thanks, and how did you find me anyway? You stalk stallions in bars?”

“Pfft,” Vocal sniffed derisively into his cider bottle, “As if, Just Dusk. Trust me, it wasn’t that hard to find the cutest stallion at the fair, and this is a beer tent, not a bar.”

Dusk’s heart skipped a beat. Or several if he was counting. ‘He thinks I’m cute! He thinks I’m cute!’ “Y – you…you think I’m cute?” Dusk blushed so hard and fierce the red tinge could be seen through his midnight blue fur. “How d’you know I even like stallions?”

Vocal cancelled his hold over the cider bottle and leant over the table so his muzzle was inches from Dusks. “Firstly I know you’re cute, and second, you either like stallions or I imagined you drooling over me for the whole forty five minute set. Which is it Just Dusk?”

Dusk giggled, and was about to reply that no, Vocal hadn’t imagined a thing when he saw the one thing that made his blood run cold. His giggle turned into a low heartfelt groan as he saw the brown fedora, flanked as always by the two Diamond Dogs that were ever at his side, approaching their table. ‘Not now…Oh Goddesses not now!’ “Oh no, no no!”

“What?” Vocal asked as he noticed the sudden change in Dusk’s demeanour, saw the colour fade from his fur. “What’s wrong Dusk?”

“It’s him, it’s…Blitzwing…” Dusk’s eyes went wide as he squeaked out the name of his personal tormentor and full time bully.

~ ~ ~

“What d’you wanna do first?” Wildfire virtually bounced with excitement, her chestnut brown eyes trying to take in all the sights and sounds at once. “You wanna check out the game booths or go on a ride?”

Air Raid scuffed the ground morosely as she walked by her marefriend’s side. “I want to go home and forget today ever happened…” She muttered miserably.

“Well if you’re gonna be like that, I’ll pick.” Wildfire scanned the area, hovering a few feet off the ground in order to see above everypony in the crowd. She pointed a yellow hoof to a nearby game booth. “There!” She shouted excitedly. “Win me something!”

Air Raid scowled, “You really want some cheap carnival stuffed animal?” The lime green mare shrunk under the look Wildfire gave her.

“Fine, whatever Wily.” The mares made their way through the crowd to the booth. Air Raid searched through her saddlebag with a hoof, retrieving the money pouch and dumping the sixty bits on the counter. The pink carnie pony in the booth placed three well-worn hoofballs on the counter. Air Raid picked one up in her left hoof and tested the weight. “Which one do you want?”

Wildfire looked around at the various plushies, all depicting one of the Elements of Harmony or one of the four Princesses. Eventually she settled on a medium sized plushie of Octavia. “That one!”

Air Raid sniggered. “It’s a bit foalish, don’t you think Wily?”

“I like it.”

“Yeah, but Dusk’s mum? A Princess I can understand, and look, it hasn’t even got her cello.”

“Octavia is a Princess, technically” Wildfire stomped her hoof impatiently. “Just win it, okay?”

“As you wish, Princess.” The prize Wildfire wanted was in the middle tier, so Air Raid needed to knock over two stacks of cups with the three balls she paid for. She used her wings to balance herself as she pulled her foreleg back, set her sights, and threw.

Throw. Hit

Throw. Miss.

Throw. Hit.

Air Raid sullenly took the Octavia plushie from the pink carnie unicorn. “Here, one dumb plushie. I’m real happy for you Wily.” She pushed the plush pony into her marefriend’s forehooves and waited a moment while the yellow mare safely stowed her Octavia in her own saddlebag. Once her prize was safely secured away she nudged her shoulder. “Let’s get on a ride.” ‘And get this stupid night over with.’

Wildfire smiled and nodded. “Your turn to pick.”

Air Raid harrumphed as she looked around the immediate area, weighing the pros and cons of the rides she could see. ‘Why can’t we just go home already? If she’s gonna dump me just get it over with…’ Roller coasters were always fun, but the queue looked way too long. The spinning Wall of Death thing that pushed you against the wall? Maybe later, ‘If I’m not drinking myself unconscious from grief…’. Maybe the Dodgems? No, no, no. Wily would never sit with her in any kind of car after the time she took her up the Canterlot Hill Climb in her Audi TT. ‘Aha! The Twister!’

Air Raid pointed to her target triumphantly. “The Twister! That thing looks awesome!"

Wildfire’s face fell momentarily, but she hiked the smile back in place once more when her marefriend turned to face her. “Sure! That looks…great…amazing!” She hoped the shakiness in her voice went undetected.

Air Raid put her lime green wing around Wildfire’s slim shoulders. “What’s the matter, Wily? Scared of a little carnival ride?”

“N - no, I just…“

“Oh come on Wily, you flew through a burning building two months ago to save three earth ponies. Yesterday you were part of a team battling a huge nightclub fire. This…” She pointed a hoof at the Twister ride, “Should be easy! Don’t worry, I’ll keep you safe.” Air Raid’s cocky smile was present once more.

Wildfire felt her cheeks burn hot with a furious blush as she pushed away from Air Raid. “Fine then, you win sweetie, Twister it is.” She hurried towards the ride, wishing to Celestia her cheeks would resume their yellow once more.

Thankfully the line was short, but the wait felt as though it took hours. Wildfire watched with apprehension as the ungodly contraption shuttered to life, spinning and swinging its arms wildly. She flinched involuntarily every time a car passed their position in the line, fearing that it would move a few inches closer, shattering through the wooden fence that separated the spectators from the ride. ‘This is stupid,’ Wildfire thought to herself, ‘Raid’s right…I’ve flown through worse than this, I can do this…if only I could work out what’s eating Raid…’

Finally, it was their turn. They walked towards the monstrous machine, and Air Raid led her marefriend to an open car. She gestured dramatically, allowing Wildfire to seat herself first. Air Raid followed, taking the outer seat, and waited for the carnie to lock the safety arm into place. Wildfire glanced around at the other riders, watched them get ready and take their seats, all of a sudden understanding Cyclone’s reticence at these kind of rides. Still, it was Air Raid’s pick, and she hoped the ride would go some way to snap her out of this funk she seemed to be in. ‘If I only knew what caused it…’ She thought sadly.

After a moment of hesitation, the ride began to lurch into motion. Wildfire thought about closing her eyes as their first rotation began, but that seemed somehow worse than keeping them open. Their car slowly passed by another couple’s, a young mare and stallion, and Wildfire nervously took notice of the space between the cars. There’s plenty of space for them to pass by one another. There’s no way they’ll collide, right?

Suddenly, the Twister started to pick up speed. Wildfire suppressed a fillyish squeal, and clenched the bar in front of her with a grip so hard her hooves went white from the pressure. Air Raid laughed at the sudden burst of speed while her marefriend felt her heart leap into her throat. They spun past more cars full of laughing or screaming couples as they reached top speed. Suddenly, their car was on a collision course with the fence. It rushed towards them, but they stopped at what looked like mere millimeters from it. The centrifugal force of the ride caused Wildfire to slide down the bench and collide with Air Raid.

She looked up into Air Raid’s grey eyes for a moment before the ride swung them around again. Wildfire felt Air Raid’s strong foreleg around her shoulder as they nearly collided with another car. Suddenly, the fear seeped out of Wildfire’s mind. Suddenly, she was just happy to be there. She let a smile spread across her muzzle, and she gripped Air Raid’s hoof firmly. She began to laugh as they nearly collided with the fence once more.

Soon enough, the ride was over. They climbed out of the car, breathlessly laughing and stumbling. Wildfire’s head was swimming and her eyes couldn’t quite focus, but she didn’t care. She was too damn happy to care right now. ‘What’s more, Raid looks happier than I’ve seen her in a few days. Why, she has that look on her face when she’s just won a big race.’ Wildfire stumbled over her own hooves, but caught herself on Air Raid’s wing. Air Raid laughed a genuine laugh and held her marefriend with her wing, pulling her onto her hooves. Wildfire held onto the wing firmly, and blushed as she gazed into Air Raid’s grey eyes.

Air Raid leaned in, her lips slightly parted for the kiss, and…winced as she was knocked to the ground by a pink blur that resolved itself into the form of her co-driver as she looked up to see what had hit her. “Oomph! Slingshot you arse, what the buck’s wrong with you?”

“Sorry, no time…explain, Dusk…need help…” Slingshot gasped as his lungs filled with much needed air, “Come…you…quick!”

Wildfire glanced from Air Raid to Slingshot worriedly, wondering what in Equestria was going on as the pink stallion extended a hoof to her marefriend and helped her to her hooves. “Shot, what’s up?” She asked, concern on her muzzle, “What’s wrong with Dusk?”

“Blitzwing and his Dogs have got him in the beer tent!” Slingshot explained, “Look’s bad this time guys, Blitz has been drinking. A lot, by the smell of it.”

“DUUUSK!” Wildfire didn’t wait to hear anymore, Slingshot had barely uttered the word ‘tent’ when she was galloping off towards the beer tent at full chaff, her head down and black mane and tail streaming behind her, scattering startled ponies as she belted off.

Air Raid silently cursed herself as she gave chase after her rapidly disappearing marefriend. “Wily, wait!” She shouted ineffectually, ‘She’s gonna get herself killed…or worse…’ She thought as she neared the scene of the commotion.

The lime green pegasus froze at the sight that greeted her as she burst through the side of the tent. In the few seconds since Wildfire had left her she had managed to get herself caught in a tight headlock courtesy of the huge Diamond Dog bitch, Boudica, while the other Dog, Rex, had Dusk in some sort of reverse stranglehold.

Blitzwing had his back to her as he cheered on his cronies. None of them had noticed Air Raid’s sudden arrival. Looking between the three targets the pegasus quickly weighed up her options, saw her opportunity and took it without thinking twice.

“GaaaaAAAAH!” Blitzwing grunted with pain and surprise as Air Raid tackled him from behind, her shoulder impacting the middle of his back just below where his wings joined his barrel, the force of the impact sending the fedora flying from his head as the younger stallion went sprawling forwards into the dirt.

“You!” Blitzwing spat as he rolled over onto his hooves, a murderous rage in his eyes, “I’m gonna put you down you filthy slag!”

Air Raid gave him a feral grin as she reared to here hind legs, adrenalin surging through her body. “Come on then little colt, let’s have you.”

Blitzwing pulled his lips back in a snarl as he charged at the mare in front of him, the insult pushing all rational thought from his brain. Air Raid sniggered mockingly as she easily sidestepped the clumsy charge. What she wasn’t expecting was the swipe of the dark grey leg to the back of her own as he passed her, the hit taking the mare off her hooves and sprawling on her back, her wings failing to arrest her fall as they flared uselessly.

“AaaGGH, Shit!” Air Raid grimaced in as pain blossomed over her lower back and shoulders, the arms of her wings going numb briefly.

“Raid!” Wildfire managed to shriek through the vicious headlock Boudica still held her in. “Get up!”

“Ha!” Blitzwing spun around to see the lime green mare sprawled on the dirt in front of him. Grinning in triumph he advanced on the fallen mare. “Told you I’d put you down you rug munching dyke!” The dark grey stallion was three feet from Air Raid as she dug her left forehoof into the dirt, in what the stallion saw as an attempt to stand up. “Stay down. Your fag Prince is next, and you can watch what’s gonna happen to your mare.”

Air Raid smiled to herself as she dug her hoof into the dirt. What Blitzwing didn’t know was she had no trouble standing up. ‘Closer you little bucktard…just a little closer…’ Even though she was older by a few years Air Raid was in no doubt the stallion’s larger size made a straight fight a tricky prospect. Luckily she had no intentions on fighting a straight fight.

Blitzwing was just inches away from her prone form when Air Raid flung the hoof full of dirt at the stallion’s face. He reared up in surprised panic as he frantically rubbed his eyes to clear the blinding dirt. That was all the chance Air Raid needed. Lunging forwards she brought her right foreleg up as hard as she could between Blitzwing’s rear legs, impacting his balls and sheath with a dull thud that sent him backwards to the ground.

Quick as a flash Air Raid was on her hooves on top of the stricken stallion. Her left forehoof was just above his bruised sheath, the other holding his right foreleg down. Her left hindleg was planted firmly on Blitzwing’s right wing and her right hind hoof was stuck on his neck. “Your Dogs…call ‘em off Blitz, now!”

Blitzwing writhed under the angry mare, his attempt to throw her off unsuccessful, due in no small part to the intense pain between his legs and the pressure at his throat.

“Now Blitz, call ‘em off!” To accentuate her point Air Raid gave her hoof at his neck a vicious twist.

“Why…aaaaack!...why sh  - should I?” Blitzwing gasped out as Air Raid’s hoof made it hard to breathe.

“Because if you don’t,” Air Raid increased her pressure just a little, enough to make the stallion’s eyes bulge, “I’m gonna pretend your neck’s a gas pedal. Get me, you pathetic waste of feathers?”

“Y – you…eeeeeuuukk! W – wouldn’t dare…the d – dungeons…”

“Try me…” Air Raid stomped the hoof on Blitzwing’s wing hard, causing him to squeal in agony. “I’ll be out in twenty years, and I’d be doing Equestria a favour.”

“Actually…” Dusk breathed around whatever hold Rex had him in, “I’ll make sure you’re out in five.”

“So what’s it gonna be Blitz?” Air Raid gave another savage twist of the hoof on his wing.

“Ugh…f – fine…Rex, Boudica…drop!” The two Diamond Dogs that held Dusk and Wildfire immediately let go of their holds, their hulking forms suddenly unsure of themselves as they waited for Blitzwing to tell them what to do. Something that wasn’t forthcoming however as Air Raid still had him pinned to the dirt. “I *cough* I let them go, aaahk! Now let me up!”

Air Raid flashed him a devious smirk; “Say you’re sorry…”

“W – what!? Go to Tartarus you lezzing bitch!”

“Hmm…wrong answer Blitzey,” Air Raid sniggered, “Now, say. You’re. Sorry!” She used her left forehoof to slap both his balls and finally his perineum hard as she punctuated each word.

“Ow ow OW!...S – s – sorry!” Blitzwing whimpered through the pain at his nethers.

“Louder. I didn’t hear you, and neither did they.” Air Raid pointed in turn to Dusk and Wildfire.

“I’m SORRY!” Blitzwing cried out, tears of humiliation burning down his face as his cheeks lit up in a furious blush.

“That’s alright then, up you get.” Air Raid jumped off of the fallen bully and watched as his two cronies helped him up unsteadily to his hooves.

Blitzwing paused at the entrance to the beer tent, “I’ll get you all back for this, just you see if I don’t!” At that the bully staggered on his shaky hooves and had to be supported out the tent by Rex and Boudica as Dusk, Wildfire, Air Raid and the rest of their friends shared a hoof bump and a congratulatory pat on the back.

Dusk straightened the feathers on his ruffled wing as he shot Air Raid a complimentary nod. "Hey Raid, I never knew you could fight that well." He said with a grin as the last of his feathers were lined up properly.

Air Raid returned the nod with a smile; "I can't fight that well D, I just know how to fight dirty."

"Well whatever you call it, I'm glad you were here Raid." Dusk offered her a hoof bump, which she happily returned. "Probably shouldn't have rubbed it in though, you know Blitzwing won't let it go."

"Meh," Air Raid shrugged, "Whatever."

“Dusk, you alright?” Vocal Chord burst through the other side of the large tent at that moment, followed by Strings, Falsetto and Crescendo. “I went to get the guys when that lousy plothole started causing trouble…hey!”

The rest of whatever Vocal was going to say was cut off as Dusk tackle-hugged him hard, smothering his muzzle with kisses. “You came back! I thought you’d left me!”

“As if,” the light grey unicorn giggled, planting several kisses on Dusk’s snout in return, “I just went for help.” Vocal looked to the ground that still held the signs of the recent struggle, “Seems it wasn’t necessary though, you,” He nodded to Air Raid who was currently being likewise tackled by Wildfire, “Seemed to have things well in hoof Miss…?”

“Oof!” Air Raid exclaimed as her marefriend squeezed the air from her lungs, “Name’s Air Raid, and you’re Vocal, the singer Dusk was so eager to see?”

“That’s me.” Vocal gave Air Raid an easy smile, which the lime green mare returned happily as she kissed Wildfire’s muzzle.

“Would you all like to go back to my place?” Dusk asked, still entwined in Vocal’s hooves.

“The Castle?” Falsetto squeaked disbelievingly.

“Yeah, my suite’s big enough for all of us, and there’s a stocked bar,” Dusk gently kissed Vocal once more on the lips, “I mean, if you want to and all.”

Vocal gave Dusk another kiss and a smile; “Sounds good to me Dusky, you in guys?” He asked the other three ponies with him, who quickly nodded their agreement to go to the Castle.

“I’ll go get us all a taxi,” Slingshot trotted to the entrance of the tent, “I’ll go round up the others too, I assume we’re all going?”

Air Raid looked into Wildfire’s loving chestnut brown eyes as she hugged her tight, their earlier argument all but forgotten, and smiled a wide smile. She knew she owed Wildfire an explanation, and now was the time, while she was still feeling high from the brief fight. “No Shot, we aren’t coming. I’ve got something I need to do here first mate.” She gave her marefriend a kiss on her forehead before she whispered in her ear, “I wanna go on the Ferris Wheel next.”

~ ~ ~

“Forty five bits each ladies.”

Wildfire hoofed over the pouches of bits to the brown carnie stallion with a smile and lead Air Raid over to the bright red seat of the Ferris Wheel. The lime green mare stood aside and let Wildfire get seated first before hopping up and snuggling next to her as the carnie trotted over and secured the safety bar. “Five times around, keep your legs and wings inside the seat.”

Wildfire looked at the photo they’d just had taken of themselves at the photo booths as she snuggled up to her marefriend. “Raid?” She murmured happily as the Ferris Wheel started to move gently.

“Yeah?”

“We look good don’t we, all together?”

Air Raid couldn’t deny that. The seven of them together in the booth, faces all smiles, eyes all bright, Wildfire giving her the world’s biggest hug, yeah they looked good. They looked damn good. “Yeah Wily, we look good together.” ‘It was good while it lasted I guess…’

Air Raid sighed deeply as Wildfire safely stowed the photograph in her saddlebag next to her Octavia plushie. ‘If I don’t tell her now I’m not gonna…’ She removed her foreleg from around Wildfire’s shoulder, casting her eyes about for a place to start. Hesitantly she took a deep sighing breath as she reluctantly started to speak. “Wily, Wildfire…I need to talk to you, about earlier in bed.”

Wildfire put her hoof to Air Raid’s mouth as the Ferris Wheel reached the top of its first rotation. “Hush babes, there’s really no need, I love you Raid, and I’m sorry I yelled at you.”

Air Raid kissed the sensitive frog of Wildfire’s hoof, earning her a delightful squeal of laughter. She kissed it again just to hear that noise one last time before gently brushing the yellow hoof away from her lips as she took another heavy sigh. “No Wily, there is a need.” Air Raid slumped her shoulders in defeat, tears brimming the corners of her grey eyes. “See, there’s something I’ve been keeping from you, something I haven’t told anypony else, ever.”

Wildfire tenderly put her hoof on her marefriend’s own as she looked into her grey eyes. “What, Raid what is it?”

Air Raid turned her gaze away from those adorable brown eyes she loved so much and hung her head. “I lied to you Wily.” In answer to Wildfire’s questioning look she continued quietly as the Ferris Wheel rotated past its starting position and started upwards once more, “When I said I didn’t want foals with you. I do, I want them more than anything, I…I just can’t…” The tears at her eyes fell freely down her cheeks, staining her green fur. “I can’t have foals.”

Wildfire lowered her hoof to Air Raid’s belly with a faint blush; “Why…is, is something wrong, y’know, here?” She asked as she gently rubbed her belly fur.

To Wildfire’s surprise Air Raid laughed, albeit it wasn’t her usual laugh. “No Wily, everything there works as it should, or so I’m told anyway.”

Wildfire gave her a confused look, “Then…I don’t understand…what’s wrong Raid?”

“I…I…” Air Raid cried all the harder as she choked out the words; “I, c – can’t f…fly…”

“But…but you’re a pegasus, of course you can fly!” Wildfire raised her hoof to Air Raid’s shoulder, disbelieving of what she’d just heard. ‘How can a pegasus not fly?’ “We’ve flown lots of times!”

“Name one…” Air Raid muttered sadly as she wiped the salty tears from her muzzle.

“Well there’s…and then there was…then we…” Wildfire stuttered, trying desperately to think of a time she and Raid had flown together. Now she tried to think of it, she realised she’d never actually seen her fly. “Our first date, on the cloud!”

“I rode on your back, remember? I said it would be cute.”

Wildfire nodded slowly, “You, you really can’t fly, at all?” She watched as Air Raid nodded her head sadly; “But why can’t you? I don’t get it, how is it stopping you having foals?”

“The…the reason I can’t fly…” Air Raid’s voice was barely a whisper through her tears. Wildfire had to lean close to hear her at all as the ride completed its second loop and started the third, “I have Scootaloo’s Syndrome. It’s a rare birth defect, and I have it.”

“I’ve never heard of it.”

Air Raid sniffed heavily as her marefriend gave her what she hoped was an encouraging hug. “Of course you haven’t. it’s rare, like, affecting one pony in two hundred thousand rare.”

“What’s it…I mean, how does it, y’know…”

“Stop me flying?” Air Raid asked as Wildfire nodded. The lime green mare took a deep breath and began to explain; “My parents are earth ponies. My grandparents are earth ponies. My great-grandmother was a pegasus. Put simply Wily Scootaloo’s Syndrome means I have too much earth pony magic in my body and not enough pegasi magic. It means my bones aren’t hollow like yours, my flight muscles and primaries are underdeveloped and I have no wishbone. I can cloudwalk, that’s about it, I’m afraid. As to why I can’t have foals…well, there’s a fifteen percent chance I’ll pass it on to them too, and I just can’t risk putting them through this.”

Wildfire put a comforting foreleg around Air Raid’s shaking shoulder and pulled her in close for the tightest hug she could manage in the confines of the Ferris Wheel. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I…I wanted to…but, I was scared, I, I didn’t want you to leave me.”

Wildfire giggled softly as she raised her head up and kissed Air Raid’s wet cheek gently; “Why would I do that Raid?”

Air Raid wept onto her marefriend’s lips, who kissed them away as they fell. “B – because I can’t give you what you want, because…because I’m a…a flightless f – freak of a pegasus!”

Wildfire nuzzled her gently as she turned Air Raid’s head to face her. “So what?”

Air Raid looked at her, not daring to believe her own ears. “Wh – what d’you mean?”

Wildfire gave her a warm smile and another tender kiss, “This doesn’t change anything Raid, does it?”

“It d – doesn’t?”

“Of course it doesn’t you silly filly.” Wildfire giggled as she kissed Air Raid again gently, “In a few years I’ll be able to be inseminated myself, and in the meantime I have you…” Wildfire kissed her again, a third and fourth time, “All to myself, my bestest most awesomest mare ever!”

“You…you don’t think I’m a freak?”

“Of course I don’t Raid. So you can’t fly. So what? Did you need to fly to enjoy our first date on the cloud?”

“No…”

“Did you need to fly to give me the bestest birthday ever?”

“Well, no, but…”

Wildfire pressed on, hoping that Air Raid would see her point. “And did you need to fly to run me that bath and care for me when I got back from that fire earlier?”

“No I didn’t, but Wily…”

Wildfire shushed her with another forehoof to her lips. “But nothing Air Raid. You didn’t need to fly to do all those awesome things for me. I don’t care you can’t fly. You’re still my Air Raid and I still love you.” Wildfire kissed her nose softly.

“You…you really mean it, don’t you?” Air Raid gave her a shaky smile as the Ferris Wheel came to a gentle stop and the carnie stallion trotted over and released the safety bar on the ride’s seat.

“Yes I mean it.” Wildfire giggled as they left the ride and trotted side by side near the now closed food vans and away from the dwindling crowds. Looking up into the night sky Wildfire had an idea as she saw the few Stratos clouds floating a few hundred feet above them. “C’mon, I wanna go on a cloud.”

“Wily…you know I can’t fl…get up there…” Air Raid coloured up in a fierce blush.

“So?” Wildfire sniggered as she flared her yellow wings out wide. “Jump on…Dodo.”

“Hey!” Air Raid pouted as she duly hopped on her marefriend’s back, taking a slightly firmer hold of her neck than was strictly necessary. “You’re allowed one of those, and you just used it.”

Wildfire’s snigger became a full on belly laugh. “S – sorry Raid, I couldn’t resist…no more, I promise babes.” The yellow mare took off with a powerful flap of her wings, carrying them both up into the starry night sky. “Directions, Ma’am?”

Air Raid looked about with a smile as they flew steadily higher. Carefully she leant forward and whispered in her marefriend’s ear; “Second star to the right, and straight on till morning.”

Back on the ground the hulking form of Boudica emerged from the shadow of the closed food van where she’d been rummaging through the bins. The Diamond Dog couldn’t believe what she’d just overheard. ‘So the green pony can’t fly…’ She smiled an evil smile. How Blitzwing would reward her when he heard this.

~ ~ ~

“It’s a lovely night, Luna’s outdone herself tonight hasn’t she?” Air Raid observed the night sky as she snuggled up close to her marefriend on the cloud she had selected. They were both laid out, side by side, their heads resting on their crossed forelegs. ‘I can’t believe I still have a marefriend! She loves me!’

“It’s not as beautiful as you.” Wildfire gently nuzzled her marefriend’s shoulder before resting her head dreamily back on her legs, smiling happily as Air Raid shushed her playfully. “Air Raid?”

“Yeah?”

“Just earlier, why were you so scared to tell me about your ‘Scootaloo’s’ thing? Did you really think I’d leave you over something like that?”

Air Raid sighed deeply as she angled her head to nuzzle Wildfire’s cheek. “Yes, no…I dunno, maybe I guess…I was so scared Wily, more scared than I’ve ever been in my life.”

Wildfire nuzzled her shoulder once more, concern on her face. “But…why? I’m not that scary surely?”

Air Raid received the nuzzle with a soft giggle; “Don’t call me Shirley.”

“Oh ha, ha, ha. You know what I mean sweetie. Seriously, what got you so wound up we almost split up?”

The lime green pegasus rested her head back on her forelegs and closed her grey eyes as she took a brief moment to organise her thoughts and prepared to confront an old demon. “My mum.” She said finally, exhaling the breath she was holding.

Wildfire was puzzled, “Starburst? What’s she got to do with it?”

“C’mon Wily, you’ve met my mum, you know what she’s like.” Air Raid said quietly, her voice oddly flat toned, “Everything has to be the best. She desperately wanted an earth pony son. Instead she got a pegasus daughter. So, she got used to me being a pegasus, I had to be the best pegasus I could be. Nothing less would please her.” Air Raid paused as she took a breath, then carried on, her voice sounding more and more deadened the more she spoke. “Mum had my life all planned out. Junior Speedsters, Cloudsdale Flight Academy, Senior Speedsters, Rainbow Dash Stunt School, Wonderbolts Academy. After that it was to be Captain of the Academy then on to the Air Force.”

Wildfire reached up with her neck and gave her a gentle kiss at the base of her ear. “Sounds like it was all planned out for you.”

“Yeah.” Air Raid nodded sadly, “Only, it didn’t work out like she planned did it?” She couldn’t keep the bitterness from her voice as she carried on. “When I got to five and I couldn’t even hover off the ground I was sent around the unicorn doctors. I must’ve seen at least ten, all of them gave the same diagnosis. ‘Scootaloo’s Syndrome’. Mum wouldn’t accept it. I think she couldn’t accept it. I wasn’t the pony she wanted. I wasn’t going to allow her to bask in my flying greatness. She didn’t want to know.”

"Is that why you race, because you can't fly?"

Air Raid smiled, "That's why I race with the roof down, to get the wind in my mane. Believe it or not Scootaloo inspired me to become a racer." She grinned at the confusion on Wildfire's face, "Ironic I know, but you've heard of Scootaloo, world famous stunt performer? She's a demon on her scooter. So what she can't fly? She never let it hold her back from pursuing her dream and being as awesome as she could be. I decided I was going to follow her example and be my own kind of awesome. That's why I race Wily, and to show my mum I don't need to fly to be the best, I just do it differently to most other pegasi."

Wildfire raised herself up to her elbows so she could whisper in her marefriend’s ear; “I know how you feel babes.”

“How? How can you possibly know how I feel?”

“Your mum’s rejected you just like my dad’s rejected me since my mum died.” Wildfire licked her tongue up Air Raid’s ear to nip the tip softly. “I do know how you feel sweetheart.”

Air Raid snickered at the feel of her marefriend’s hot wet tongue on her ear. “Y – yeah…I guess you do sweet flanks, I guess you do. And sorry but your dad’s still a drunken wanker Wily.”

“Uh huh, and your mum’s a stuck up prissy bitch who can’t appreciate what she’s got.” The two mares both laughed at that, especially Air Raid, the tension leaving her body as she giggled happily next to Wildfire. “Is your mum the only reason you were frightened to tell me?”

The happy smile left Air Raid’s face as quick as it arrived. “No.” She said simply. “You started at the university the year I left. You didn’t know what it was like, living with the bullies.” Air Raid shuddered at the memory.

“But…I thought you didn’t tell anypony?”

“I didn’t. My mum was, is, friends with the lead bully. After a few drinks her tongue was as loose as a whore’s hind legs. After that, school was hell.”

“Like Blitzwing?”

Air Raid trembled unconsciously, fluttering her wings as she did so. “Oh…no…they were far worse than that arrogant plothole.” Memories of being held down while her wings were clipped passed through her mind. “And please Wily…I really don’t want to talk about that. Like, not ever, okay?”

“Okay babes, I get it, not ever.” Wildfire, still on her elbows, gave Air Raid’s cheek a soft kiss. “I promise you Raid, nopony will ever hear about this from me.”

“So…we’re okay…we’re good?”

Wildfire giggled as she pounced on her marefriend’s back and kissed her way up the back of her neck. “Air Raid, I love you more than life itself.” She carried on kissing up her neck to her ears as Air Raid tried to fend her off, “Don’t you ever forget that, sweet filly of mine.”

“N – no…ho ho no Ma’am, no I won’t…” Air Raid laughed as Wildfire hopped off of her back and stood up on her hind legs.

“C’mon Raid, I wanna dance,” She said as she held out her foreleg, beckoning her marefriend to get up and join her.

“Wily…there’s no music up here,” The older mare started to protest, albeit half-heartedly.

“I don’t care…c’mon, I wanna dance!”

“Wily…I can’t dance…”

Wildfire sniggered as Air Raid got to her hind legs and put her forelegs on the smaller pegasi’s shoulders. “You can’t fly either, Dodo, but you’re up here aren’t you?”

Air Raid stuck her tongue out at her sniggering marefriend, “I said you only get one of those. Now, lead me in this dance my fair maiden.”

Wildfire moved her hooves in the slow dance that Darkstar taught her, a memory of a poem came to her as she glanced at the stars over Air Raid’s shoulder. “Hey, do you remember that poem Dusk taught us, about his mom painting the sky with stars?”

Air Raid kissed her neck gently as she answered; “Of course I do Wily, it’s a lovely piece.”

“Recite it with me, as we dance, please?” Wildfire asked, her voice barely a whisper as they danced slowly on the cloud.

“Sure Wily, I’d love to.”

As both mares danced to a tune only they could hear, they started to recite the poem their friend had taught them;

“Suddenly before my eyes

Hues of indigo arise

With them how my spirit sighs

Paint the sky with stars

Only night will ever know

Why the heavens never show

All the dreams there are to know

Paint the sky with stars

Who has placed the midnight sky

So a spirit has to fly?

As the heavens seem so far now,

Who will paint the midnight star?

Night has brought to those who sleep

Only dreams they cannot keep

I have legends in the deep

Paint the sky with stars

Who has placed the midnight sky

So a spirit has to fly?

As the heavens seem so far now,

Who will paint the midnight star?

Place a name upon the night

One to set your heart alight

And to make the darkness bright

Paint the sky with stars.”

Wildfire grinned up at her marefriend as they finished the poem together. “I always loved that, I love it all the more now.” She hopped on to the tips of her hooves to kiss Air Raid’s nose, “Almost as much as I love you.”

Air Raid smiled down into Wildfire’s beautiful brown eyes and tenderly returned the kiss. “I love you too Wily, with all my heart.”

“Hey, you wanna head over to the party at D’s place?”

Air Raid thought for a brief moment, still held in her marefriend’s hooves as an idea wove its way into her head. A delicious, naughty, sexy idea that brought its own crop and hoofcuffs. “Nah, let’s go home.”

~ ~ ~

“M – m – my…my c – car!” Air Raid sat on her haunches on the kerb next to her Audi TT, her left foreleg gently caressing its ruined bodywork.

Wildfire sat next to her, her leg and wing draped around her stunned marefriend’s shoulder. “Raid…are, are you okay?”

Air Raid didn’t hear her, not really. Her focus was taken up by the murder scene in front of her. “My car…”

Following the dance on the cloud, Wildfire had flown them both home. Air Raid had that glint in her eye that promised sexy times when they got back, and Wildfire had made it home in excellent time, eager for what she had in mind.

Within seventy feet of the ground in front of their house however all thought of bedroom (or any other room) activities had fled both their minds. Air Raid’s car had been wrecked. All four of the six thousand bit whitewall semi slick tyres had been slashed, every piece of glass had been smashed, the hood had been forced open and every wire and valve around the prize winning specially tuned engine had been ripped out. Worse was the paint stripper poured over the rest of the car, eating into its bright red paint, ‘chicken’ and ‘dodo’ had been carved into the doors.

“My c – car…” Air Raid burst into tears as she laid her head against the ruined passenger door, “W – why did he have to k – kill m – my car?!”

Wildfire reached into her saddlebag next to her plushie and retrieved her mobile. “I’ll call the police babe, we know who did this.”

“Don’t b - bother Wily…we have no proof, and nopony round here will have seen anything. Just…just leave it.”

“But Raid…your car! We have to get him for this!”

Air Raid turned her tear streaked face to look at her furious marefriend; “We get him back, then what? What do you think he will do next Wildfire? Vandalise the house? Hurt me? Hurt you? You think he’ll stop at name-calling and wrecking cars?”

“No…well, I…but, we need to do something!” Wildfire gestured angrily between the ruined car and her sobbing partner.

“We will. You’ll call the tow ponies to get rid of this,” Air Raid stroked her car one last time, “And I’ll get a secure garage built while I search for a new car for next week’s race.”

“But…”

“No!” Air Raid stomped her hoof into the concrete of the kerb. “Let it go Wily! It’s just a car…a, a thing. That’s all. Just…let it go, please.”

“Okay Raid. You win. I’ll let it go.” Wildfire dialled the number for the tow service, silently dreaming up ways of making Blitzwing pay for hurting her marefriend. ‘Don’t think you’ve gotten away with this Blitz,’ She thought to herself as she spoke to the mare on the other end of the phone, ‘I’ll get you back for this, you just see if I don’t…’

Wildfire hung up her phone after she'd called the tow firm. "Raid, I need to call the police hun, for the insurance, if nothing else..."

Air Raid hung her head as she removed her hoof from her dead car. "Fine. Call them, whatever."

2.4 - School Hard (Edited)

2.4 - School Hard

Five…

Air Raid slid the gear stick into first with her left forehoof and engaged the Fiesta’s launch control system on the steering wheel.

“Ready?” Slingshot didn’t look up from his pace notes, flipping to the fifth sheet for the hill climb route they were about to undertake.

Four…

Air Raid’s only response was to flick the power switch on the dashboard, which gave her an extra hundred and fifty horsepower to play with.

“Windcharger’s three seconds in front of us. We can do this Raid. There is a three hundred metre straight half way in, before it you’ll come out of a long right banked three corner, drop out to second gear going in and upshift to fifth at the apex.”

Air Raid didn’t reply. Slingshot wasn’t expecting her to.

Three…

Air Raid gave barely a nod to indicate she’d heard her co-driver at all, she merely dumped her right hind hoof on the accelerator, she smiled as she felt the revs build up under her, the car seemingly coming alive around her, straining like a captive beast against the restraint of the hand brake.

“Do not short shift out of the second left two corner, the gravel will bite the tyres and slow us down.”

Two…

Air Raid watched the needle move up the rev counter as she pushed the accelerator with her hoof, her heartbeat seeming to equalise with that of the car as she nestled into the bucket seat, the racing harness tight against her chest.

‘Second place…’ She thought to herself as she stamped the accelerator again and the car roared, echoing her mood. They were in second place. This was intolerable to the competitive pegasus. ‘Three seconds’. They were behind by three whole seconds. ‘Might as well be three years, three decades’. The lime green mare knew she’d have to drive out of her fur to make up that much time.

“Ready?” Slingshot asked again, even though the pink stallion knew his partner was in her zone.

One…

Air Raid glanced over at Slingshot and gave him a wink, flooring the accelerator, red lining the rev limiter. Oh she was ready. Celestia’s flank was she ready. She gripped the steering wheel with her right hoof, and rested her left on the hand brake. The revving engine vibrating the chassis around her.

‘I’m ready…’

GO!

Air Raid heard the ‘G’ of the word ‘go’ and depressed the hand brake forwards and slid her left hoof down to the gear shift, the sole of her hoof resting on the moulded knob as the little supercharged Fiesta shot forward, already accelerating through twenty miles per hour as her left hind hoof worked the clutch pedal.

Three seconds later Air Raid was in fourth gear pushing eighty as she approached the first bend. She was in her element. There was no pony and vehicle, no driver and car. It was as if they were one entity, the car was an extension of her, she an organic part of the machine.

“Easy five left to twenty to over crest eighteen to fifty to gravel hard two left…” Slingshot didn’t look up as he called out the notes for the upcoming section. He felt rather than saw their progress, judging the gear changes and their speed against where they should be to give his driver the details she needed.

‘Easy five left...check’ Air Raid heard and dabbed her brake pedal with her right hoof as she turned the wheel into the wide bend. The rear engine Fiesta didn’t slow down but the tail heavy car did enter a shallow drift, throwing up a cloud of dust and loose pebbles as they took the corner at just under seventy.

Exiting the corner the pegasus saw the shallow eighteen degree jump and she pulled the gear stick back to third, easing off the accelerator so as not to lose too much momentum in the air. “Whoooo!” She cheered as they made the jump, immediately flooring the gas and pushing up to fourth for the fifty metre straight. ‘c’mon baby, we got this.’ The racer grinned as she saw the hairpin coming up.

‘Hard two left…check’ Air Raid kept the power on until she was on top of the hairpin then block shifted from fourth to second as she pulled the hand brake and turned in, taking the tight turn at thirty miles an hour. Just as she was about to lose control of the back end the lime green mare turned the wheel the other way, applying full opposite lock to counter steer out of the corner and passing the electronic section markers, which turned green as she drove through them. ‘Clean section’ she thought with a grin as she patted the wheel.

Slingshot was already on the next page of his notes as Air Raid drove them through the section marker. The pink stallion glanced at the stopwatches in front of him on the dashboard. One had Windcharger’s time, the other had their current time. ‘Two seconds down…’ They’d made up a whole second already! ‘We’re gonna win!’ Scanning the notes in a split second he spoke into the microphone of his helmet, giving Air Raid the directions she needed.

“Hard two right to long seventy easy right to ascend hard one left right double.” As always the earth pony never looked away from his notes. He didn’t press Air Raid for confirmation he’d been understood. He knew his partner well enough by now. Slingshot smiled as he felt the rear of the car dip, heard the engine growl in protest as she shifted down through the gears.

Slingshot prided himself on the role he played. Not for nothing did he have a reputation as one of the best co-drivers on the rally circuit. He smiled again, remembering the look on Blur’s face when he turned the unicorn down to race with Air Raid. He still couldn’t put his hoof on exactly why he chose her to ride with. There were better paying teams out there definitely.

‘Nah…money was never the issue…’ Air Raid had a drive, a burning desire to race and to win, to be the very best that he hadn’t seen in the other drivers. He’d driven himself once, but his career hadn’t taken off. Since partnering with Air Raid though everything had just come together.

Slingshot was jolted back to the here and now as Air Raid pulled the hand brake and slid the car around the first tight left hand hairpin to climb the forty five degree incline that lead to the right hand turn. He glanced a sideways look at his partner. A feral smile was on her muzzle, her mane was wild and free, sweat plastering the fringe to her forehead. It never ceased to amaze him how alive she looked when she raced.

Air Raid slammed the gear stick back into fourth gear as she powered the one point six litre Fiesta R2 out of the second hairpin, the first right of the double set. Accelerating up to sixty five for the brief straight section she thundered up into the second left hairpin, fully aware if she got it wrong at this point there was a one hundred foot drop off the side through scattered trees and boulders.

That was why she had the wide smile on her face. This wasn’t a game. There was no reset button here if she stuffed up the hairpin and buried the Fiesta in the rock face or lost control on the corner. It was Air Raid and her partner. Right now her universe consisted of nothing else.

Air Raid slid the rear wheel drive car around the bend, loose rocks and stones rebounded off the car’s bodywork as they ricocheted off the rock wall just a few feet to the right of the car. Once more she shifted up from second to fourth as she dumped her right hoof on the gas.

‘Shit! Shit! Shit!’ Air Raid cursed to herself as she felt the driving wheels spin on the loose surface, costing her a vital second of thrust, the power spinning from the wheels before they bit and gained purchase. The lime green mare thumped the wheel in frustration as she shifted to third to help the car up the slope to the last hairpin of this section.

Air Raid saw her opportunity. The outside of the hairpin was a wide bend. She smiled to herself, thinking it was a good thing Slingshot never looked out of the car window. It was risky. She knew the consequences if she got this wrong. She didn’t think twice. Still in third gear she lifted her hoof from the accelerator and as the car started to slow she turned the wheel to the left, out towards the sheer drop of the cliff face. Holding her nerve for the last split second she wrenched the wheel to the right, feathering the throttle as the car started to answer her command and it swung to the right. A loud grating noise and a slight resistance at the rear told the pegasus she’d left some paint on the unforgiving rock behind her.

Air Raid smiled, her gamble had paid off. Taking the corner wide with the Scandy Flick had meant she missed the apex by a few feet but more importantly it left her facing the exit of the hairpin exactly where she needed to be and at fifteen miles an hour faster than she would otherwise have been. She resisted the urge to whoop as she thrust the gear stick to fifth for the first time and powered through the section markers, which also turned bright green.

Slingshot checked the stopwatches as they drove through to the third section and his heart skipped a beat. Despite the slip up two turns back when the wheels had spun, they had made up another half a second on Windcharger’s time. They were just one and a half seconds behind first place. It all came down to this section and how his driver took it.

“Left fork to fifty straight to long easy five right banked to three hundred straight, centre obstacle at two hundred.”

‘Left fork…check.’ Air Raid saw the fork coming up in the path ahead, roughly forty five degrees intersection. Turning the wheel ever so slightly left she feathered the brake with her right hoof as the Fiesta shot down the straight, high walls of rock two feet either side reminded the pegasus that one twitch of the wheel here would be game over. Especially at this speed.

Emerging from the mini canyon Air Raid block shifted down from fifth to second for the tight entry to the banked long right corner, positioning them hallway up the bank angle. ‘Easy five right bank…check.’  Just before she hit the apex of the corner Air Raid shifted up through the gears to fifth and stomped the accelerator like it was Blitzwing’s head, actually hitting the bare floor of the Fiesta. Within the space of three seconds the car accelerated up to eighty, a second later a hundred. Air Raid was forced back in her seat as the car reached its top speed, the scenery around them becoming a blur.

“Centre it!”

Air Raid saw the road ahead had been narrowed, either side were two huge boulders, both easily ten feet high and wide enough to ensure only the exact centre of the gravel road could be driven on. The same second she realised this she also realised she had the car twelve inches over to the right and was currently approaching the boulder there at one hundred twenty miles an hour.

‘Centre obstacle at two hundred…bucking check!’ The lime green mare wrenched the wheel to the left just in time to clear the boulder, the loud crunch told her the driver’s side door mirror hadn’t been as lucky as the rest of the car.

‘That was close…’ Air Raid thought as she powered on through the obstacle to the section markers. She wasn’t surprised in the least when they turned bright red this time. She knew once the race was over Slingshot would have words for her. ‘Well…deal with that later…’ Right now the pegasus had too much adrenalin to care.

Slingshot checked the stopwatches as they passed the red section markers. His heart skipped two beats as he saw the readout. They were a half second ahead of Windcharger’s time! They’d done it! All they had to do now was finish. The pink earth pony tried to keep the excitement from his voice as he passed on the final pace notes for the last section. That they’d already won was the last thing his driver needed to know. He knew Air Raid. She’d get complacent and ease up. Slingshot wasn’t going to allow that. “Easy long five left to easy long five right to two hundred to easy long five left to finish.” The stallion smiled, ‘Tartarus even I was convinced then…’ “Pour it on Raid, give it the beans.”

'Pour it on Raid, give it the beans…CHECK!’ Air Raid allowed herself a savage smile as she kept her right hoof down hard on the accelerator. She turned the wheel just enough to follow the curve of the long wide bend. She didn’t bother with the brake. She just kept the car in fifth and trusted her partner.

Slingshot, by a sheer act of will forced himself to keep looking at the pace notes in front of him like it still mattered. He wanted more than anything to look out the window, to savour the motion blurred scenery whizzing past at one hundred and fifteen miles per hour. He wanted to relax in his bucket seat and enjoy the last section. He fought against it with every fibre of his being. If Air Raid caught him in her peripheral vision she’d know something was up. No…he’d be damned to the bowels of Tartarus before he let her blow it at this stage…

The earth pony spent the next few moments in concentrated silence. So much so he didn’t realise they’d stopped.

It still didn’t register when he heard the dull ‘clunk’ of Air Raid’s five point harness being released.

“Well? What was the time?” Air Raid spoke for the first time in four minutes thirty six point seven two seconds. Slingshot just looked over at her with a dazed expression.

“Pinks…what was the bucking time?” She grunted in frustration as she flicked off the car’s engine and reached over for the stopwatches. Realisation dawned on her, her eyes went wide as it sunk in through her skull to her brain. Four thirty six was almost a whole two seconds faster than Windcharger! They’d done it!

“We’ve won…”

Air Raid released Slingshot’s harness and pulled him out of the bucket seat and into a tight hug that made him gasp for breath. Letting go of the hug they sat there for a brief moment, driver and co-pilot, team mates, partners, just sharing the moment as the crowd outside the battered car went nuts around them.

“We won!” The two ponies exclaimed together as they shared a hoof bump.

~ ~ ~

Air Raid looked around the podium as the officiating stallion read out the results and presented the awards. Third, with a time only five seconds slower than her own was a unicorn stallion called Springer. He had driven a Fiesta R2 like her. The assembled crowd cheered and stomped as he stepped on to the lowest tier and was given the bronze. Second, and just two seconds behind her was Windcharger. The olive earth pony mare looked like she’d sucked a field of lemons as she stepped to the next tier and was awarded silver, also to thunderous applause.

‘This ain’t right,’ she thought as the stallion read out her name and time, calling for her to stand on the highest tier of the podium. Her wings fluttered with excitement as she stepped up. Her heart felt like it was going to burst. She, Air Raid, was the Canterlot Hill Climb WRX Champion…except she wasn’t. Not on her own she wasn’t. Her grey eyes scanned the front row of the small crowd, immediately she saw the three ponies she loved more than internal combustion. Her dad, Fire Prism, was beside himself stomping and cheering for her. Next to him was Wildfire, her marefriend of six months going absolutely nuts, whooping her little heart out, and then there was Slingshot. Standing there, genuine broad smile, cheering away, clapping his hooves like everypony else in the crowd.

Air Raid frowned as she bent her head to allow the officiator to hang the gold around her neck. She caught sight again of Slingshot.

In the crowd.

She stomped her right hoof in frustration as she grabbed the stallion’s microphone from his hoof. Nopony noticed until she spoke. “Hey…”

The crowd immediately silenced. Everypony looked to the lime green mare, caught off guard by the unexpected interruption.

“Hey…” Air Raid started again as the officiator stood dumbstruck holding the trophy. “I wanna say, while it’s great and all, winning this medal and that trophy, it wasn’t just me in that car. I had the best partner in Equestria sat by my side. This is as much his victory as it is mine. Slingshot, get your ass up on this podium partner.”

The crowd where still silent as Slingshot stood and made his way to the stage, a fierce blush colouring his pink cheeks. “Raid…what’re y…” He asked as he got close to her.

“Shh…I should’ve done this a long time ago mate.” She whispered, although as she still held the microphone the whole crowd heard anyway. Stepping aside she made room to share the podium and put her medal over Slingshot’s head. “Um…you can carry on now…” She said as she passed the microphone back to the stallion and the crowd roared, stomped, clapped and cheered their approval. They even managed to drown out the stallion as he gave Air Raid the gold trophy.

“Do I get that too?”

“Don’t push it ‘Shot.” Air Raid giggled as she nudged him playfully on the shoulder while the crowd still applauded. “You get the limelight and the shiny medal. I get the trophy and the sexy mare down there.”

“Deal.”

~ ~ ~

"AAAIIR RAAAAAAAAIID!” Wildfire clenched her brown eyes closed  while she bucked her hips hard and screamed her marefriend’s name to the heavens as she came long and hard, the juices from her marehood leaking out around the lime green foreleg currently buried to the knee in her vagina, soaking the cloud they were laid on.

“You know something?” Air Raid asked with a smile as she leant forward and kissed Wildfire’s forehead, tasting her sweat as she kissed down her closed eyes to her muzzle and nose.

“Wh – what?” Wildfire panted, her lungs gasping for breath as she rode out her climax.

“I never ever get tired of watching you cum my little lovely.” Air Raid smirked, slowly – very slowly – removing her left foreleg from her marefriend’s cervix.

“Oh ha…nggh! Aaaah! ...ha!” Wildfire’s hindlegs went into a spasm with the sensations of the retreating hoof as it slowly withdrew itself from her tunnel. “N – not f – funny!” The yellow mare wailed as she almost came for a fourth time that evening.

“Yes it is.” Air Raid giggled, wiggling her hoof as she pulled it out, earning her a few more gasps and groans, as well as an adorable pout. “Watching you squirm on the end of my leg like a worm on a hook is very amusing. To me anyway.” The older mare smiled, kissing Wildfire’s nose as she wiped her hoof on the cloud.

“I hate you Raid.” Wildfire crossed her forelegs and pouted hard.

“I love you Wily.”

“I love you too you sexy old mare.” Wildfire giggled as she propped herself up and launched herself onto Air Raid’s back, kissing the back of her neck just an inch above the spot that Wildfire knew her marefriend really liked.

“That was a very nice thing you did y’know…” Wildfire whispered into the lime green ear in front of her as she kissed lower on Air Raid’s neck, finding her sweet spot.

“W – what…th – the…oooooh…the sex?”

“No silly,” Wildfire giggled as she continued to kiss lower, towards the base of Air Raid’s left wing, “The sharing the podium with Slingshot. That was pretty awesomes.”

“Well…aaah…why…oooh…not?” Air Raid cooed as Wildfire continued to kiss her way down the back of her neck. “He…hmmm…earned it Wily. He put…hmmm…as much effort in as…aaah…I did.”

Air Raid tensed up under her marefriend as she kissed nearer to the base of her left wing. Her hooves dug into the cloud as she felt Wildfire’s muzzle get closer to her wing. ‘She’s gonna see…oh Celestia no…’ “W – Wily…what you doing?”

“I’m gonna preen you…”

"Wh - what? No…Wily y – you can’t…”

“Raid...” Wildfire paused, her lips at the base of her marefriend’s left wing, “What’s wrong babes?”

“N – nothing…” Air Raid lowered her head to the cloud, away from Wildfire’s eyes. “Nothing’s wrong Wily…”

“Let me preen you then babes. You always preen me, I never get to do you…hey, Raid…what is it?” Wildfire asked as Air Raid started crying into the cloud they were laid on.

“It…it’s nothing…”

“Raid you’re a rubbish liar baby. Please…please talk to me.” Wildfire rested a hoof on her shoulder, “Is it to do with you not flying?”

The lime green mare just nodded miserably, tears streaming down her face, matting the fur of her cheeks. “Yeah…something to do with that, yeah.”

“So tell me, let me help.” Wildfire stroked her hoof down to the base of Air Raid’s wing and saw her visibly flinch at the near contact. “Okay. Tell me or I’m going home. I mean it Raid.”

“Y – you can’t leave me up here…”

“Your choice. You tell me right now what’s up or you find your own way home.”

“Fine…” Air Raid sat up on her haunches and turned away from the yellow mare in front of her, spreading her left wing as wide as it would go. She then reached her right foreleg over her chest to her left shoulder and to the base of her left wing, spreading apart the point where fur met feathers.

“Raid…what…” Wildfire’s brown eyes went wide as saucers as Air Raid revealed a jagged ten inch scar that ran down the joint where the wing met her barrel. It looked deep and nasty. Wildfire reached out a hoof and touched the scar. Air Raid didn’t flinch this time, as she ran her hoof along the wound. She could see it was old, and that whatever had caused it had cut very deep, almost as if…no…surely, surely Raid wouldn’t have done this to herself? Would she?

“I was seven. I hated my body, and I hated my useless wings. I hated them because I couldn’t fly, I hated them for the way they made my mom look at me. I was an earth pony with wings right? So I decided to remove the wings.”

“Y…you did what!? Raid why would you do that?” Wildfire asked, concern on her face as she scooched forward to wrap her hooves around Air Raid’s back. “That’s suicide!”

Air Raid turned her head to glance at her marefriend over her right shoulder. “I was seven!” She exclaimed as she stomped a foreleg into the cloud. “How was I to know the upper brachial artery runs along the leading edge of the wing? I had no idea, I had the kitchen knife in my right hoof and looked myself in the mirror as I cut into myself.”

“Then what happened?”

“What do you think happened?” Air Raid sighed as she felt Wildfire’s legs wrap tight around her chest. “I redecorated the bathroom is what happened. Blood happened. Blood everywhere, spraying like a geyser from my wing. I knew something had gone wrong. I tried to get help, but I couldn’t get up. I kept slipping in the blood and I was getting weak.”

Wildfire kissed the back of Air Raid’s neck, nuzzling the hollow of her shoulder. “How did you survive? Sounds like you were bleeding out.”

Air Raid didn’t answer straight away, she clenched her jaw, grinding her teeth as she stared at the distance, taking in the breath taking scenery but not really looking. Presently after a few minutes she took a deep breath; “Mom opened the bathroom door and found me…”

“Well…that’s good though…right? Your mom called the ambulance…right?” Wildfire resumed her nuzzle when again Air Raid didn’t answer straight away. “Raid, she did call nine one one…right?”

“No.” The lime green mare’s voice was almost inaudible, barely above a whisper. “No. she didn’t Wildfire.”

“She…she didn’t?” Wildfire couldn’t believe what she’d just heard. She knew Starburst had precious little time for her daughter, but this…this was something else.

“No. Mom sneered at me, turned on her hooves and calmly trotted down the stairs. I lay there bleeding and I heard her say to my dad; ‘Fire Prism, you’d better call the EMT’s. Air Raid’s had a little accident.’” Air Raid sighed before continuing, “I must’ve blacked out, cause the next thing I remember is waking up in a hospital, dad asleep on the seating pad next to my bed.”

“I…I’m so sorry Raid…I had no idea…” Wildfire whispered in her marefriend’s ear as she tightened the bear hug around her chest.

“It’s okay Wily, really.” This time when Air Raid glanced at Wildfire the little yellow pegasus was sure there was a glint in her grey eyes, “See, the next day in the hospital after I had my psych evaluation I was watching the telly, a cable sports channel. There was this orange mare with a purple mane doing these insane stunts on her scooter. I watched entralled, she was like poetry the way she moved, in total control of her environment. It was only after she finished her run they announced her name; Scootaloo.”

“The one your condition is named after?”

“Yeah. I saw here on the screen. She couldn’t fly just like me. But…but she wasn’t letting it hold her back. There she was, entertaining a packed stadium, thousands of ponies watching her perform. I saw it and I wanted it, I wanted to be like her Wily.”

“Is that the real reason you race?”

“Yeah it is, and because I suck ass on a scooter.”

Wildfire burst out laughing at that, followed a split second later by the larger mare she was holding on to. Eventually after several moments of giggling fits, in which both mares had to break the cuddle so they could hold the stitch at their sides they came to rest side by side on the cloud, staring up at the darkening sky.

The panting yellow pegasus looked across to her equally out of breath marefriend before looking back up to the heavens, her mind’s eye connecting the stars to make a picture of Air Raid’s face. She smiled then as inspiration took hold of her, words and rhymes forming in her brain. She tried them out in her head a few times before she was happy with it and without looking at her partner spoke softly, knowing she’d be heard.

“The bird with no wings.

No where to go, no where to hide

from all the monsters in her dreams.

So she fought them all and lost to all

because without wings she could not fly.

Without wings she could not fight.

So she lost it all.

But when they left her, She got up,

and learned to live outside of her dreams.

A lost mare, she learned that within all her darkness,

her deepest secrets, her saddest thoughts,

She had a love buried deep within her.”

“Wily…that was beautiful…I don’t know what to say…”

Wildfire giggled as she finished her poem. "This is the bit where you say 'I love you Wily’. And then I say ‘I love you Raid’, and then we make out on this cloud.”

“I love you Wily…”

“I love you Raid…”

~ ~ ~

Nervoucited.

If Dusk Midnight Melody had to choose an emotion to sum up the way he felt right now then that would be it. Yes, nervoucited just about covered it. Flying low at two thousand feet he admired the scenery passing below him as he flew from Canterlot to Ponyville.

Ponyville. Quiet, sleepy little Ponyville. Home to just twenty thousand ponies, a wholly unremarkable little town were it not for Princess Twilight, the Crystal Castle and the main residence of the former Elements of Harmony.

Right now to Dusk Ponyville was the scariest place in Equestria. His powerful dark blue wings carried the pegasus on towards his destination. The closer he got to the town the bigger the butterflies got in his stomach. Every beat of his wings brought him closer to Ponyville… ‘And closer to him…’ Dusk thought happily to himself as his mind started to wander in mid-flight.

Dusk found his mind wandering all the time recently. Mostly since the trip to the fun fair last week. Ever since he’d met Vocal Chord that evening the young Prince found he was thinking about nothing else other than the tightness of his flanks, the line of his jaw, his velvet soft light grey fur, dark blue spiked mane and tail, his sheath…

Dusk blushed a fierce crimson as he flew, which momentarily distracted him from thoughts of his destination. Thoughts which came crashing back to him as he saw the town approaching in the distance. Ponyville was getting closer. Which meant he was getting closer to Ponyville. Closer to him. Closer to his stallion. Closer to the date he had with his stallion.

Dusk was so nervoucited!

He was also prepared. The moment Vocal Chord had hung up after having called him after the fun fair to arrange the date Dusk’s brain had overloaded. Thirty minutes later when he’d stopped hyperventilating, and his mum, Octavia, had almost stopped laughing at him hyperventilating he started to think.

Then he went to his suite to think in private, if only to get away from his mum’s incessant laughing.

Of course the answer had been his friends. Specifically those with partners. Or experience of having had partners. Upon reflection Cyclone had probably been a mistake as a first option to call. The moment he said he wanted dating advice for his first ever date the black mare had laughed as hard as his mum, at least until he hung up his phone.

Air Raid and Wildfire hadn’t been much more help, though he was sure his B.B.F.E, or best bestest friend ever, would have some helpful tips for him. And she did, after Air Raid had stopped laughing long enough to pass Wily her phone. “Be yourself” Wily had said. “Have fun,” she said.

While these ideas had seemed fine on the phone in Canterlot five days ago where there was wine, now he was very sober landing in Ponyville ten minutes before his date these ideas were just the craziest thing Dusk had ever heard. ‘Still, too late to worry now…’ the stallion thought to himself as he made his way to the hot air balloon stand.

Besides, he was prepared. After trying his friends and best friend, the light bulb had gone off and the solution had presented itself. Twilight. Dusk didn’t know why he hadn’t gone to the Princess first off. Twilight had never failed him with a problem yet, and she was the Princess of Friendship, and she had her marriage to Rainbow Dash too…

True, his cousin Cady was the Princess of Love, and she had the very hot and very cute Shining Armour, the very strong Captain who always seemed to make Dusk’s knees weak with just a look, but, well, Ponyville and Twilight were nearer. And Twi had a library. A huge lovely library. Full of books. And books were a source of reassurance to Dusk. Dusk trusted books.

As Dusk waited by the hot air balloon for his date to appear – he wasn’t worried, they had agreed four o’clock in the afternoon, and it was only three fifty two – he recalled with a smile bursting into the Crystal Castle five days ago.

~ ~ ~

“Twilight! Twilight!” Dusk burst through the doors of his science teacher’s library, a look of utter panic on his face warring with feelings of complete joy in his heart. Although Twilight, no, Princess Twilight, wasn't ‘technically’ his teacher during the University holidays, the dark blue pegasus still went to her with any problem he had, true most of those problems were homework related and nothing like this, but at this point Dusk was out of options.

And this was a problem and a half…

Frantically he called her name once more before the sound of clopping hooves from the stairs outside the library reached his ears. A small semblance of calm entered his being at the sound of her measured hoofsteps.

“Dusk Melody, what in the wide world of Equestria is wrong?”

Panic threatened to resurface, and Dusk flapped his wings in agitation, hovering a few feet from the floor of the library. “Twilight! Thank the sun and moon! Help…I need, please…help!”

Twilight took a deep breath, “Right. From the top, tell me what's happened.”

“Well, I…you see, I…” Dusk trailed off, still maintaining his panicked hover.

“Has something happened to Luna, or Octavia?” Twilight asked, fishing for clues as to what had wound up her top student.

“I…wait, what?” Dusk landed with a bit of a thud, confused slightly. “No, it's nothing like that, my parents are fine…no, this is worse, much worse…”

“Okay, is anything wrong with Celestia then?”

“No! Aunt Tia is perfectly fine! Everypony is fine!” Dusk raised his voice in annoyance, wishing Twilight would shut up about his family and let him start so he could finish.

“Well.” Twilight’s tone had turned noticeably chilly in the past few seconds. “What is it then that has you in this state?”

Dusk, in a barely audible voice that Fluttershy would have been proud of, opened his mouth, eyes firmly focused on the floor; “I asked him out…”

“Excuse me?” It wasn't that Twilight didn't believe what she’d heard, more that she didn't hear anything. “Say again?”

“I asked him out…Vocal Chord. I asked him out. On a date. With me. In five days. With me. On a date.”

“But…that's brilliant! Dusk I'm so happy for you!” Twilight halted her congratulations, upon noticing the glazed look in the young stallion’s eyes. “So…forgive me, but what's the problem?”

"The problem? I don't know what I'm doing! I've never asked anypony out before! I've never been on a date before! What do I do? What do I say? Where should we go?” Dusk’s wings flapped involuntarily, joining his right eye as it twitched.

Twilight chuckled, recognising much of herself in the pegasus’ freak out. Gently she placed a lavender hoof on his shoulder, “Dusk, calm down. Everything will be fine.” Seizing a book on a nearby shelf in her magical grasp the Princess levitated it over to where they were sitting and deposited it in Dusk’s hooves. “Here, take this. Read it, it'll help, I promise.”

Dusk glanced at the title of the book he had been given, and with a faint blush on his cheeks stored it in his saddlebags with a grateful smile at the Princess. “Thanks Twilight, I'm sure that'll help!” Wrapping his forelegs around her neck he brought his favourite teacher into a tight hug before flying out the open library doors.

“Good luck!” Twilight called after him, her only reply the slamming of the main castle door a moment to two later.

~ ~ ~

Dusk checked his watch, three fifty eight. Two minutes to go. Nervoucited didn’t even cover the way he felt any more. But, he reflected with a smile, he had read the book that Twi had given him, ‘Romance 101, The Novice’s Guide to Dating’, he had read it cover to cover several times over the past few days. He had taken its advice to heart. ‘Get to know your potential somepony as soon as possible’ the book had said. So, in his saddlebag was the means by which he’d do just that.

Dusk smiled confidently. Vocal Chord would be so surprised!

~ ~ ~

"Vocal..."

The noon day sun shone through the windows of the little one storey house, ricocheting its way around the bedroom until it eventually hit the closed eyes of the sleeping unicorn. With a sigh he rolled over in the bed and tried to ignore the sunlight and the accented voice that called his name.

“Vocal Chord…” Falsetto leaned against the door frame of her bedroom, her forelegs crossed and a little wry smile on her yellow muzzle. Uncrossing her legs the earth pony mare wiped her powder blue mane from her eyes and trotted over to her snoozing friend. She smiled at the sight of the light grey unicorn, all curled up in the doggie bed, looking for all Equestria like the best little pet in the world.

The bass player crouched and leaned herself close to her lead singer’s upturned ear, smiling as she took a deep breath; “VOCAL CHORD!” She shouted into the ear, and immediately giggled as the slumbering stallion jerked awake, spilling out of the bed onto the bedroom floor.

“Morning ‘Setto,” Vocal yawned himself fully awake as he groggily shook his head, “Was that really necessary?” He asked grumpily as he scratched his unruly mane and stretched, his muscles popping from being curled up in the pet bed.

“Good afternoon Vocal,” Falsetto sniggered as she started to busy herself with tidying the bedroom to some form of decency. “And yes it was necessary,” She continued as she carefully put her prized bass guitar back in its stand, “Somepony has a date with a Prince today, remember?”

Vocal dragged himself to his hooves, trying to process his backing singer’s sentence through the fog of sleep that still clouded his brain. He wondered why he was so light headed. He didn’t remember getting drunk last night, not to say that was hard proof he didn’t, but something felt off. Concentrating he tried to magically unlock the dog collar around his neck, and panicked when nothing happened. “’Setto, my magic’s not working!” The singer whined as he tried to work out what had happened.

Falsetto looked up from her cleaning, and idly wondered if it would constitute a breach of their roommate agreement to let him panic a bit more. ‘Maybe…but it would be funny…’ She thought to herself with a giggle. A moment later she took pity on her friend and trotted over to him and put a yellow hoof on his shoulder. “Chill out dumbass,” she grinned, the Vanhoovan showing in her accent.

“But…what…I don’t get it, why…” Vocal’s voice trailed off as Falsetto took his horn in her mouth. He was just about to ask her what he’d done to deserve this little treat when he felt her teeth grip something and twist, before she removed herself and spat what she had removed at his hooves.

“You forgot about the inhibitor again, stupid.” Falsetto giggled as she reached around him and unbuckled the collar. “Besides, good doggies don’t touch their collars, do they?” She bopped his nose with her hoof before carrying the collar to his saddlebag and resuming her battle with the forces of untidiness.

“Thanks ‘Setto,” Vocal started before a thought came thundering to the fore of his brain, “Wait…you said it was the afternoon! What time?” He asked as a new wave of panic threatened to overtake him.

“Relax pooch,” Falsetto sniggered at Vocal’s pout, “You have about two hours. There’s a hot bath in the bathroom ready for you, and cold scrambled eggs on toast in the kitchen.”

“Thanks ‘Setto.” Vocal grinned as he set off to the kitchen to find his food bowls.

Having decided the tidy war was won for today the yellow earth pony leant against her bedroom door and mentally counted down; ‘Three…two…one…’

Right on cue she heard Vocal Chord let out a whine of disappointment from the kitchen. “The eggs are on a plate. The plate is on the table. You will sit like a pony and eat like one, thank you very much.” Falsetto chided him, an undertone of frustration in her voice.

“But…”

“No ‘buts’ V!” She exclaimed, breathing through her nose for calm as she made herself a coffee. “You know the agreement. I indulge your little pet fantasy thing whatever it is, and when you wake up the next day and the collar comes off I get my friend back to talk to. I walked you and played fetch with you yesterday, so now you can be a pony for me.”

“Fine…” Vocal sulked as he started to eat his eggs and Falsetto joined him at the table with her steaming coffee. Vocal cast a look at his food bowls as he ate, and while he had to admit the cold eggs weren’t all that bad, ‘They’d taste better in my bowl…’ he thought to himself.

“So…” Falsetto started as she took a sip of what Vocal guessed was her seventh caffeine injection that day, “What’re you gonna be doing?”

“What? With Dusk you mean?” Vocal asked as he swallowed a mouthful of eggs without thinking, a good proportion of his concentration still lingering on the bowls on the floor.

“No, with his mom,” Falsetto answered, her voice dripping with sarcasm, “I’m sure Princess Luna would just love to walk you on a leash around the Royal Gardens.” She gave an annoyed sigh, “Yes I mean with Prince Dusk.”

Vocal stuck his tongue out and gave Falsetto a loud raspberry. “Well, Dusk said something about a hot air balloon ride, and a picnic on a cloud, so it should be fun.”

Falsetto drained her cup in a single swallow and gave her friend a solemn look. “Don’t buck this up V.”

Vocal answered her look with one of his own as he slid off the seating pad to go to the bathroom. “What d’you mean, don’t buck it up?”

“I mean, this isn’t your usual skanky groupie looking for a quick fumble with somepony famous, this is a date with royalty! So, like I said. Don’t buck this up.”

The unicorn paused at the bathroom door and looked over his shoulder with a grin; “No mom, I’ll behave mom!” Vocal Chord giggled as Falsetto stuck her tongue out at him and decided it was time to beat a hasty retreat to the sanctuary of the bathroom.

An hour later Vocal emerged from the bathroom, washed and scrubbed to within an inch of his life he had even spent a good twenty minutes brushing his fur. His unruly dark blue mane and tail were straightened for possibly the first time in his life, Tartarus he’d even polished his horn.

Falsetto put her book down, a rather racy ‘romance’ novel called Twilight’s Lover, and looked Vocal over as he exited the bathroom. To her great surprise she found her mouth hanging open. ‘Jeez…he’s really trying…buckin’ hell even I’d give him one…’

“Hey V, looking good mate, almost didn’t recognise you.” She trotted over for a closer inspection as he stuck his tongue out at her. “How’d you get your mane to behave?”

“Used your mane straightener.”

“Gee thanks. That’s that ruined then.” The earth pony mare aimed a swat at Vocal’s flank, which he easily dodged with a giggle. “Go on, get out and have fun with your Prince.”

“Yes ma’am…” Vocal paused at the door and levitated his saddlebag to him from the bedroom, but caught Falsetto’s questioning look as he laid it over his back. “What?” He asked, left eyebrow raised.

“You aren’t serious?”

“What?” Vocal asked again.

“You’re taking your collar and leash. Seriously, on a first date. With a Prince?”

Vocal Chord simply shrugged his shoulders as he opened the door with his magic. “You never know ‘Setto,” he grinned back at her, “I might get lucky.”

“Yeah well don’t think me or the band’s gonna visit you in the dungeons when you get arrested for being weird!” The yellow bassist yelled after him as he sauntered off down Mane Street towards the hot air balloon stand. “Ugh…he’s so gonna get arrested.” She thought as she shut her door.

~ ~ ~

“Dusk, babe, what the hay is this?” The light grey unicorn held the sheaf of paper in his magical field, scanning it incredulously.

“Well Vocal, It's, well…it’s a…questionnaire…” The dark blue pegasus’ voice trailed off through sheer embarrassment. ‘What was I thinking?’ He thought to himself.

“I can see it’s a questionnaire Dusk,” Vocal Chord said with a roll of his green eyes, “what I want to know is why my sexy coltfriend has given it to me.”

Dusk shuffled his hooves inside the wicker basket, closely inspecting the weave as he spoke. “It's a ‘getting to know you’ questionnaire.” The young pegasi explained like it was the most reasonable thing in Equestria.

“A getting to know…Dusk…”

“Um, yes Vocal?”

“This questionnaire has seventy five questions and more than twenty pages! You seriously expect me to answer all these? Really?”

“Well, if you wouldn't mind…”

“But babe we’re on a date! You're cute and I love you! Why do you need this?” The exasperated unicorn waved the papers at his coltfriend.

“Well, this book I borrowed from Twilight’s library said it was a good idea to get as much information about your new partner as possible…” Dusk trailed off again as the basket lurched into motion.

“Twilight huh? Hey, speaking of the Princess, thanks for getting her to cast the cloud walking spell. That'll be a help later. So, which book was this exactly?”

A fierce blush flared across the pegasus’ muzzle, turning his dark blue coat a bright purple. “Romance 101, The Novice’s Guide to Dating.”

“Oh Dusk Melody, what am I to do with you?” Vocal laughed out loud, throwing the questionnaire over the side of the hot air balloon basket with a wave of his magic.

“Hey!...mmph!” Dusk’s protest was cut short as Vocal leant in for a kiss, their lips pressing tenderly against each other as Vocal gently pushed his tongue into his coltfriends mouth, causing the pegasus’s wings shot out either side of his body with an audible ‘poomf!’. As the balloon gained height and Dusk relaxed into the deep passionate kiss the Prince found that he really didn’t care about the questionnaire after all. ‘Besides…’ He thought with a ghost of a smile as he kissed his coltfriend, ‘There’s two more copies at home…’

~ ~ ~

“Dusky?” Vocal Chord asked as a thought occurred to him, the unicorn reclining against the pegasus’s barrel, his head resting on the Prince’s wing as they laid together on the Stratocumulus cloud.

Dusk swallowed the mouthful of daisy and sunflower sandwich before he answered; “Yes Vocal?”

Vocal levitated over a cucumber and watercress sandwich and took a bite as he framed the question in his head. “Why don’t you have guards, y’know, when you go places?”

Dusk took a sip of his wine, mulling over his answer. Certainly his friends had asked the same thing, even his mom, Luna, had offered the royal guard many times when Dusk had gone out, or to attend some minor function or other. Every time he had refused the use of them.

“Like, take the fun fair last week.” The singer carried on when Dusk didn’t reply straight away.

“What about it?” Dusk asked, reaching for one of the strawberries on the plate next to them.

The unicorn finished his sandwich before continuing; “I get that you were hanging out with your friends having a good time and that, but, c’mon Dusky you got assaulted by that bully’s thugs. Yet even after that here you are again, flying about, trotting about, no guards or anything. So, why?”

“Because…” Dusk replied, having considered his response. “I hate being seen as something special that’s why. I’m not some prancing royal fop that thinks ‘commoners’ shouldn’t be within ten feet of me, or that everypony should bow and grovel as I walk past, or that they should put on airs and graces to appease me. Equestria’s got Blueblood for that.”

Vocal sniggered as he levitated his glass of wine and took a sip. “I get that too Dusky, and I’m glad you aren’t like Blueblood, but surely you can have some security, even if they aren’t near you all the time?”

Dusk smiles as he took another strawberry; “I don’t need security, I have Air Raid.” They both shared a laugh at that, remembering the lime mare stood over Blitzwing with her hoof at his neck.

“Seriously though,” Dusk said as the laughter died away, “I want ponies to think they can approach me. I’m not better than them, or more deserving than them, just because Luna’s my mom and Octavia’s my mum. I’m just a pony Vocal, and besides, Twilight doesn’t have any guards.”

“True,” Vocal giggled as he finished his wine and went for a refill, “But she’s an all-powerful immortal alicorn. You aren’t cutie. And Blitzwing approached you alright. What’s his deal anyway?”

“He’s a homophobic bully…”

“Yeah…I kinda worked that bit out for myself,” Vocal giggled as he floated over a strawberry, “I meant what’s his deal with you?”

“His family is old, Vocal, one of the oldest in Canterlot, even Equestria I daresay. They were Luna supporters, the whole lot of them. His ancestors lost a lot of influence when the Nightmare took my mom and aunt Tia had to send her away. They lost a great deal of their wealth, status and power.” Dusk took a breath before continuing on, thankful that Vocal wasn’t interrupting him. “When my mom returned and was cleansed by the Elements Blitzwing’s family was among those who called out for her to be sent back.”

“So you see, my cute unicorn,” Dusk smiled, “Being Luna’s son was never going to get me a Hearth’s Warming Day card from them, and being gay in Canterlot doesn’t help either.”

“So what?” Vocal Chord surveyed the three-quarters eaten picnic, trying to decide what to go for next, before settling on a chocolate dip for the strawberry. “What’s it matter if you’re gay in Canterlot?”

“Old families like Blitzwing’s, and Blueblood and some that are worse than them both, are the rule rather than the exception. Image and status are everything in Canterlot Vocal, anything that doesn’t fit the perceived ‘normal’ template is excised and removed. I’m protected to a degree by being royal, but I still have to mind how I act.”

“That sucks.” Vocal dipped a strawberry in the chocolate sauce dip and with a smirk floated it over to the midnight blue pegasus. “Open Your Majesty.”

Dusk was about to reply that he shouldn't be fed nor should he be addressed as ‘Majesty’ when he saw the smirk on the light grey muzzle in front of him. Swallowing the retort he opened his mouth and prepared to swallow the treat as well.

“Oops…” Vocal snickered as he ‘accidentally’ smeared chocolate on Dusk’s nose before trying again, this time inserting the fruit and watching as the pegasus swallowed it. Smiling the unicorn dipped another strawberry and sent it towards Dusk, again ‘accidentally’ missing. “Sorry,” he grinned as he leant in to the pegasus’s stained muzzle and proceeded to lick the chocolate from his fur.

Dusk melted into the kiss, running his tongue along Vocal’s lips, blushing slightly as he felt his wings extend out to their full span.

Vocal Chord edged closer to his date, wrapping his forelegs around the stallion’s shoulders, pulling him into a tight embrace. “See Dusky? We don’t need no questionnaire baby.”

Dusk kissed Vocal’s neck, cooing gently as the unicorn nipped his ear. “That…hmm…was a…ooh…good…ahh…idea…at the time…”

“Sure it was baby…” Vocal licked his way up Dusk’s ear again as he leant back, pulling the Prince on top of him on the cloud. “Sure it was…” The unicorn moved from his date’s ear and kissed him full on the lips. The pegasus fell on top of Vocal with a surprised ‘eep!’ and was about to resume the kissing when he caught sight of the singer’s saddlebag, forgotten next to their picnic.

“Vocal?”

“Hmm…yeah?” He asked between kissing and nipping his way along Dusk’s jawline to his neck.

“Wha…ooh…what’s…hmm in the…aaah saddlebag?” Dusk managed to ask as Vocal continued his assault on his jaw and neck.

Vocal pulled his muzzle away from the neck he was busy covering in kisses and glanced over at the bag, for a split second almost regretting bringing it, but this was a part of who he was, and he figured it was best to be upfront straight away with stuff like this. “Oh…it’s um…something I’m going to give to you.” He answered with a sheepish smile.

“Oh Vocal! You got me a present? I love you!”

“Well…it’s for you but I hope we’ll both get enjoyment from it…” Vocal levitated over the saddlebag, a look of apprehension on his muzzle. ‘Well…here goes nothing’ he thought as Dusk took the bag and peered inside. ‘Oh no…he hates it…Falsetto’s gonna kill me’.

Dusk flipped open the saddlebag with a hoof and peered inside its depths, wondering what in Equestria his date had given him, and his brain started to slide on a tangent of things he could get him in return. He was partway through formulating a list of potential gifts when Dusk’s hoof, fishing around the almost empty bag, found and gripped what felt like the only thing in there. Carefully he extracted his hoof from the saddlebag and found himself looking at what was inside.

A dark blue dog collar and leash. A metal identification tag on the collar read simply ‘Vocal’. As Dusk turned the collar over in his hoof he was aware of the unicorn watching him warily, judging his reaction.

Dusk, in turn was studying the dog collar, deep in thought. Of course he knew what it was for, he’d seen it all before at home. He smiled as he recalled memories of Octavia wearing a bridle and reins, and Luna leading her around the castle and the grounds, her tail tied to the headwear. His parents had never hidden their interests from him, it was just how life was. His mom, Luna, was the dominant one, and his mum was her sub. Coming home from school and seeing his mum in hoofcuffs and a ballgag was as natural as seeing her with her cello.

Now here he was, sat on a cloud, on a date – his first ever date, and his coltfriend had presented him with a collar and leash. A dark blue collar and leash. Dusk held the collar against his fur, the colour was almost a perfect match. The significance wasn’t lost on him. ‘Vocal wants to be my pet,’ He thought as he turned the collar over in his hooves. ‘What the hay do I do? He wants an answer, look at him, sat there watching me hold his collar…’ Dusk was at a loss as to what to do, ‘I could ask Twilight…Celestia NO! she’d recommend a checklist or something…I could go to mum…no…too straight laced.’ Dusk sighed as he pondered his options. ‘I guess there’s always mom…after she’s stopped laughing.’ Dusk sighed again, mentally ruling out Darkstar and Cyclone for advice, for the same reasons.

“Dusk…” Vocal inched forward and put a light grey hoof on Dusk’s own, his usually confident brash voice cracked and uncertain. “Say something, anything…please?”

Dusk looked up at Vocal Chord, saw the fear and uncertainty in his eyes, sitting there wondering if he’d made a mistake in sharing this most intimate thing with him. Dusk looked and smiled. ‘I can do this,’ he thought to himself, convincing himself, ‘For him, I can do this…’

“Dusky…”

“You wish to be my coltfriend or my pet?” Dusk interrupted him, looking him straight in the eyes. ‘I can do this…’

“Dusk…” Vocal smiled, feeling slightly more confident, “I want to be both, and I want you to be my coltfriend and my caretaker.”

“Caretaker? How do you mean?”

“Well…” Vocal took a deep breath as he started to explain, his smile wavering again. “When the collar goes on, I’m not a unicorn, I’m not a pony or a singer with a band. I’m a dog. A pet. I like to act like one, and be treated like one.” Vocal paused for breath, trying to gauge Dusk’s reaction. He hadn’t yelled at him yet or called him weird or sick so he carried on; “As a caretaker you’d be like my owner, do everything a dog’s owner would. Walk me, pet me, feed me, play with me…” Vocal shivered, “…and…discipline me.”

“I see…” Dusk tried to keep his voice even, to not give anything away just yet. “Do you have a caretaker right now?”

“Yes, um…Falsetto.” Vocal mumbled, his blush lighting up his face. “She um…she takes care of me.”

“Your bass player?”

“My friend. My best friend. Strings and Crescendo just don’t understand why I need to do this. They have the decency to not make snide nasty comments about it because we’re friends,” Vocal recalled the arguments and accusations as he spoke, “They made it clear they don’t want anything to do with that aspect of me.”

“What’s your arrangement?”

“During the week I’m her friend Vocal, we do band stuff, hang out, then the weekends, usually Friday night to Monday morning she’ll put the collar on me and I’ll be her puppy. It works for us.”

Dusk smiled at Vocal as he gave him a little kiss on the unicorn’s lips. “Friday to Monday huh?” He kissed Vocal again as he nodded. “Well, it’s only Saturday evening. You have some time to go yet pup.”

Vocal’s pale green eyes lit up with excitement, he could barely believe what he’d just heard. “Dusky…are you saying…?”

“Yes Vocal, my lovely cute stallion.” Dusk grinned as he embraced his coltfriend with a kiss, “I’ll happily be your caretaker, and, I’ve always wanted a puppy.”

~ ~ ~Wildfire slumped at her desk, her head in her hooves. ‘I hate Monday’s…’ She thought to herself glumly, pouting at the wooden surface in front of her.

As if arriving five minutes late to the start of the first day of the semester wasn’t bad enough, receiving her new timetable for the upcoming year had all but sealed the deal on a bad day. First period was her least favourite subject; Math, with her least favourite teacher; Professor Calculus. She was sure the forty year old earth pony mare hated her as much as Wildfire did her. ‘I really hate Monday’s…’

Wildfire’s present misery was compounded by the pony sitting one desk in front of her. Blitzwing. Given the bully’s proximity she was glad of the empty desk separating them. To his left was the hulking form of Boudicca, his diamond dog shadow. Wildfire looked to her own left, Dusk Melody was, of course, ready to get started. Notebook primed, pens aligned in size order on his desk. She grinned, somethings just didn’t change. To her right were seated Brightstar and his sister Darkstar.

Wildfire glanced around the class again, very happy indeed that Calculus was running late this morning. With any luck she’d be a bit later and she could skip Math altogether. She was only taking this dumb stupid class because Hot Spot had said she needed it to advance from Reserve to Full Firefighter. She saw Blitzwing lean across to his right and groaned inwardly. ‘Here we go,’ She thought, ‘I really, really hate Monday’s…’

Blitzwing leant over to the unicorn at his right; “I see Professor Calculus hasn't arrived yet. Must be delayed getting a primer for Wildfire at the foal school.” Hightower, the massive orange stallion to the right of Blitzwing simply nodded and chuckled at the jibe.

Dusk shot his best friend a look, concerned to see she was already grating her teeth. “Ignore it Wily...”

Wildfire tried to ignore the taunt, for all of three seconds before she bit and retaliated; “Ha ha Blitz, how's the fleas from your dogs?”

The dark grey pegasus grinned, knowing he’d got her. “Don't tell me you lost one?” He sniggered, leaning forward and getting the attention of the earth pony mare sat in front of him, “You can't even trust Wildfire to keep track of fleas.” He sat back in his seat with a smile as the rest of the class laughed.

Darkstar reached over and put her white hoof on her friend’s shoulder, in an effort to calm her down. “Wily, it's the first day of term, chill out huh?”

“Yeah Blitz, lay off Wily…” Brightstar added as he got his notebook ready for the start of the class.

“Lay Wildfire,” Blitzwing turned to face the blue unicorn with a nasty smile, “I don't think I'm her type, Brightstar, you're more her type I think.”

Boudicca turned her yellow eyes to Wildfire, snout pulled in a malicious grin; “I told you not to trust her with our fleas Blitzwing, as it would require she could count.”

Wildfire almost broke a tooth, she was grinding them that hard. “I can count, thank you!”

Blitzwing snickered at Boudicca’s quip. He was impressed, though he’d never admit it to his underling. “Wildfire you and your family are of no account, but at least one step above that nightmare pegasus.”

Wildfire felt her temper start to rise and her blood boil as the bully kept up his taunts. She slammed her hoof on her desk, “And what's that supposed to mean?” She asked angrily.

Boudicca sniggered, baring her fangs in glee, “Is she as bad at history as she is at Math?”

Blitzwing guffawed, oh but this was priceless! “I don't know if that is possible Boudicca, a rock can do better at math.”

To her right Darkstar sniggered behind her hoof, “Fair point he has you there Wily, you are pretty awful.”

“You have something to say about me Blitz?” Dusk asked as calmly as he could while Wildfire silenced Darkstar with a venom filled glare a Cockatrice would be proud of.

Blitzwing fixed the Prince with a hard look; “Other than the only reason you exist is because Princess Twilight failed to do her job?”

Wildfire lost it on her friend’s behalf, disbelieving that Dusk was just sitting there taking this. “How DARE you!”

Dusk kept his voice as even as he could, staring the dark grey stallion right back. “Blitz, my mother was cleansed by the elements, as well you know.”

The bully stomped his hoof on the floor, the only sign of temper from him so far. “A story spread by lies! Princess Celestia sent Princess Twilight to destroy the nightmare as her own sentimentality of being a sister wouldn't let her finish the job she started a thousand years ago! Darkness can only be cleansed by fire!”

Dusk put a hoof on Wildfire’s foreleg, holding his friend back. “You know…I think somepony's just sore because their family lost a lot after my mom was sent away. Got any of that land back yet?”

Blitzwing snorted in derision, fixing Dusk with a look of utter contempt. “I will not make the mistake of my ancestors by supporting a loser like you. A reckoning will be had and justice will be done.”

Dusk sighed, “It already has Blitz, you just can't see it.”

Wildfire angrily shook her friend’s hoof off of her leg, staring daggers at the hated pegasus. “You wanna pack up calling my friend a loser?”

“I'd rather double down as he is a loser born of a lost cause. No wonder he's gay, born of two mares.”

Brightstar nudged his sister with his elbow, “Darkie, should we...?”

Darkstar gave her brother a sideways glance as she got her own things ready for the class. “No, Brighty, we shouldn't. We should sit here and keep out of it bro.”

Wildfire’s eye twitched, and her hackles rose at the back of her neck. One thing she really hated was homophobes. “So what if he's gay? At least he has a somepony!”

“But that is the irony of it all.” Blitzwing laughed a nasty laugh, “You have each other, at least it must be celibate.”

Wildfire sneered at the pegasus, her breathing beginning to come heavy as she reached her limit. Deep down she knew Blitz was pushing her, she also knew she didn’t care right now. “If you must know he's with a unicorn!”

The dark grey stallion just laughed harder. “Oh, trying to borrow nobility by dating a unicorn?”

Wildfire pushed herself to her hooves, wings flared in anger, “He's a Prince you idiot, why's he need to borrow anything? Jeez, Raid must've hit you really hard!”

“Oh, genius, prince of what? Gay bars and nightmares?”

Wildfire’s muzzle pulled back in a snarl; “I swear Blitz, one more and I’ll finish what Air Raid started!”

Blitzwing’s eyes twinkled, he knew full well he had the yellow pegasus in the sole of his hoof, one more taunt and her semester would be cut very short. He made his move. “That stupid mare is far more earth pony than she is pegasus.”

Wildfire snapped. That was too much. The yellow mare leapt over her desk, her brown eyes full of fury.  “Shut your mouth! You don't know the first thing about my mare!”

Several things happened at once at this point. Blitzwing shot Wildfire a triumphant look as he shoved an empty desk between them and neatly stepped behind the towering form of Boudicca, whom Wildfire had forgotten about till now. Dusk yelled for her to sit back down, as Darkstar again told her bother to stay out of what was about to happen. Finally out of the corner of her eye Wildfire saw Professor Calculus enter the class room as she screamed at the slab of muscle in front of her; “Hiding? Raid's got more balls than you, you coward!”

“Cease and desist right now!” Professor Calculus stomped a hoof for emphasis, the chocolate mare surveying the scene in her class room, Wildfire, her least capable student,  on a desk with Blitzwing behind his ‘bodyguard’ for want of a better term. ‘Oh joy…just what I need…’ She thought to herself. “Ms. Wildfire, why are you trying to destroy one of my desks?”

“I'm not trying, Ma’am, I will if this bitch doesn't move!” Wildfire replied, not taking her eyes off of the diamond dog.

“Silence!” Calculus took a deep breath, stroking back her dark blue mane as she tried to forget the migraine hammering in her skull. “Off to Professor Water Colour's office now!”

“But...what...why?” Wildfire stomped her hoof in frustration, “He started it!”

“Aaand that's why we stay out of it Brighty” Darkstar whispered to her brother, who just nodded in reply.

“Now Ms. Wildfire!”

The yellow pegasus stomped her hoof a second time as she started to trot to the class room door “You're taking his side, already?

Calculus took her seat at her desk as she asked; “Boudicca, what started this?”

“You know her ma'am. She has always had it in for Blitzwing, probably because he is able to understand your lectures.” The diamond dog smiled a self-satisfied smile as she retook her seat.

Calculus looked in her desk drawer for some painkillers. “Mr. Blitzwing?” She asked as her search was proved fruitless. ‘Great…’ She thought to herself, ‘I need this…Wildfire along with everything else…’

“Pardon me for saying this Ma'am but maybe she is in heat.” Blitzwing smiled a smug smile as he glanced over at Dusk’s face.

“What!?” Wildfire turned in the doorway, outraged at what she’d just heard; “You filthy lying...” She snorted in anger as she stamped both forehooves. Dusk just muttered something under his breath as he facehooved. In exasperation Wildfire turned to her teacher; “Of course you believe it right?”

Calculus paused as she retrieved her paperwork for the lesson “Is there a reason you're standing in the hall Ms. Wildfire?” She asked, her tone icier than she intended.

“I'm learning more than being sat in your class, Professor.” She spat back.

Calculus just glared at her student, doing her very best to swallow her rage at this impudent little pegasus. “Do I need to add more to my report Ms. Wildfire or will you be trotting off to the vice principal’s office?”

Wildfire stood glaring right back at her teacher, “Fine! I'm going!” *She turned on her hooves and trotted off, muttering to herself.

Professor Calculus rubbed her temples with her hooves as the rest of the class looked at her to begin the lecture. “Boudicca,” She said with a sigh, “Could you please put that desk back. Everyone please be seated and we shall begin. If anyone wishes to bother, they may take notes for Ms. Wildfire.”

Blitzwing moved past Dusk, his gloating smile hidden from the earth pony teacher. “You going to make it through class without your marefriend to suck you off?” He asked in a low voice.

Calculus looked up from her desk, board eraser in her hoof “Mr. Blitzwing, please be seated.”

“Sorry Ma'am,” Blitzwing smiled, oozing false sincerity just for Dusk he added, “Just letting Prince Dusk know there was no hard feelings since Wildfire is one of his friends.”

Dusk sat at his desk, seething at Blitzwing in his chair. “Happy now are we?” The dark grey pegasus simply smiled and turned his back to Dusk, ignoring him for the rest of the class while the Prince busied himself taking Wildfire’s notes for her.

~ ~ ~

Wildfire paused at Water Colour’s door. She couldn’t believe she’d been sent to the Vice Principal’s office this fast. In fact she was certain it must be some kind of University record. She raised her hoof and knocked twice in her usual manner, before waiting to be admitted. Fortunately Wildfire didn’t have very long to wait.

“Enter.” The unicorn’s calm deep voice sounded muffled through the thick wooden door, and after a brief second Wildfire pushed the door open with her hoof and stomped into the office, her mood still sour.

Professor Water Colour glanced up from his mountain of paperwork and to see who had been sent to him. He had a shrewd idea of course, when he had received the email from Calculus. “Good morning Ms. Wildfire, not the way I was hoping to start this semester. I've received an email from Professor Calculus. What is your side of the story?”

Wildfire took a seating pad opposite the Vice Principal, “Blitzwing started it! Sir he was taunting me, Dusk and my marefriend!”

“I see. Professor Quill speaks well of you. Words, Ms. Wildfire. Did he threaten to assault you?”

The angry young pegasus harrumphed and crosses her legs “No...”

Water Colour gave Wildfire a long hard piercing look. “Did you threaten to assault him?”

Wildfire spluttered and stammered, “I...well I...might've said something like that....”

The Art teacher gave Wildfire a very deep disappointed sigh, “So Professor Calculus isn't in error when she put that in her email. Ms. Wildfire, it is far too early in the year to suspend you, would you agree?”

Wildfire hung her head, her anger spent, her adrenaline leaving her system. “No Sir...she isn't in error. And yes, I don't want to be suspended, Sir.”

Professor Water Colour took up a pen in his magic and started to fill out a pass as he addressed the pegasus sitting in front of him; “Very well then Ms. Wildfire as I agree. You will spend the rest of this period writing a letter of apology to Mr. Blitzwing, and you will turn that letter into Professor Quill who will review and report to me on its contents. Professor Quill will turn it over to Mr. Blitzwing, or he will recommend that suspension is the best course of action. If you decline to do this, then you will leave yourself with suspension as the only available course of action. Do you understand?”

Wildfire jumped to her hooves, fresh outrage coursing through her system. “Oh come on! An apology?” She whined, knowing she was beaten. “Fine, yes Sir, I agree to write the letter.”

“A wise choice Ms. Wildfire.” Water Colour offered her a smile as he levitated over the pass. “You are dismissed to the library for the rest of the period. Here is your pass.”

“Ugh!” Wildfire pouted as she took the pass from the Vice Principal’s magic field, “Thank you Sir.” She slid off the seating pad and turned to open the door.

The unicorn stopped her as she reached for the handle; “One last thing Ms. Wildfire. I know that words can cut as deep as a knife, but that knife is so dull you have to let it get past your skin. Please be sincere in your letter.”

Wildfire didn’t turn around, she just took a deep breath and lowered her head. “Yes Sir, thank you Sir.”

~ ~ ~

Dusk was a few minutes behind everypony else when he left Calculus’s Math class, due to him having to pack up Wildfire’s stuff as well as his own, and secure her saddlebag to his barrel. Bidding a good bye to the earth pony mare he was pleased to see Darkstar, Brightstar and Cyclone waiting for him in the hallway. “Hey guys…” His smile evaporated along with his sentence when he saw Blitzwing there as well, albeit minus Boudicca. “What do you want Blitz?”

“Ah, Prince Dusk, are you going to be a good lapdog and deliver Ms. Wildfire her notes?” The dark grey stallion leant against the lockers lining the hall wall, a cheshire cat smile plastered over his muzzle.

Dusk stopped, his muzzle scant inches from the other pegasus’s. “I bet you just loved that didn't you?”

Blitzwing just kept up his wide smile, utterly unconcerned that Dusk was inches away from him, in fact he did his best to appear as disinterested as he could. I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about. I was merely concerned you'd dumbed them down enough for her to understand.”

Dusk snarled and pulled his hoof back, ready to land a punch square on that infernal smile. He would have too, consequences be damned, if he hadn’t been stopped by a familiar black hoof. “Hey!” Cyclone yelled down his ear, “That is the last thing you need Dusky!”

Blitzwing raised an eyebrow at the black mare; “Seems I'm wrong on one account. I thought you surrounded yourself with idiot advisers so you'd look smart. Seems you have one semi-intelligent one there.”

“Get lost Blitzwing, don't you have cars to trash?” Cyclone glared at the stallion, her turquoise mane in her eyes.

“What an odd thing to say. I have a chauffeur.”

“Come off it.” Cyclone let go of Dusk’s leg to jab her left forehoof in forcibly in Blitzwing’s chest. “We all know what you did to Raid's car!”

“Raid…Raid…” Blitzwing put a hoof to his chin, deep in mock thought, “Oh you mean Ms. Air Raid. I wasn't aware she had a license let alone a car.”

“Bullshit Blitz!” Dusk yelled at his nemesis, his temper all but spent. “You know full well it was her car!”

At that moment Darkstar appeared at Dusk’s side so fast he was sure the unicorn had teleported, in face if he didn’t know she couldn’t, he would’ve sworn she done just that. “Leave it Dusk! C’mon Rosetta's waiting, we’ll be late for Languages.”

Blitzwing merely smiled at Dusk and sauntered past, trotting into the class with a grin and proceeded to ignore the three friends for the remainder of class, content with the friction he had caused, and hopeful that at least Wildfire would be expelled. As Professor Rosetta began her lecture on the Griffon Native Tongue he started to daydream about him and the rest of his family joining with their beloved Celestia when the Sun Goddess decreed it was finally time to overthrow the Nightmare that was Princess Luna.

~ ~ ~

After the Languages class with Rosetta Blitzwing was once again waiting for Dusk in the hall. News that Vice Principal Water Colour had not expelled nor suspended Wildfire had reached the dark grey stallion. He smirked, grateful for dumb stooges and smart phones. “You know, I really thought they'd expel that carbon dioxide emitter. Maybe I'll let her lay a hoof on me in Literacy.” He wondered loud enough for Dusk to hear as he walked past.

Dusk spun on his hooves to face the smirking bully, “You'll leave her alone! Just what is your problem?”

Blitzwing smiled, “You are the problem Prince Charming, you and you alone.” He carried on smiling as he trotted off to the next class before dinner, Literacy with Wildfire. ‘This’ll be fun,’ he thought to himself, the thought making him chuckle.

“Hey D, you seen Darkie?” Wildfire asked, the little pegasus all out of breath from running in the hall to catch up with her best friend.

Dusk paused, walking with his friend. “Yeah, she’s in the next class with me, History with Top Notch. Why’d you ask?”

“Me and Raid need her outside Calcy’s class room at dinner.” Wildfire buzzed her wings in excitement over what they had planned for the dinner hour.

Dusk smiled, “You two gonna go ahead with that huh?” The midnight blue stallion chuckled as his friend nodded enthusiastically. “Okay well I’ll remind her when I see her. You know if you get caught you’ll be in proper trouble right?”

Wildfire grinned, “Thanks D, and we aren’t gonna get caught, we got it all planned out.”

“Alright, I don’t think I wanna know the details, the less I know the better for when this all goes south.” Dusk turned to trot off to his class, but paused, putting a hoof on Wildfire’s shoulder. “Do not let Blitz get to you in class Wily.”

~ ~ ~

At roughly three minutes past the hour and with the rest of the Literacy class looking her way Wildfire burst through the door. “I-I’m…s-sorry I’m…late, Professor Quill.”

Velvet Quill placed his notes on his desk and looked up from his laptop at the out of breath young mare and smiled at his best student. “You have something for me Ms. Wildfire?” The pegasus stallion asked, his rasping gravelly voice almost unrecognisable.

“Uuuugh!” Wildfire groaned, audibly, as she approached the desk. “Yes. Yes I have, Sir.” She reached into her saddlebag and hoofed over the letter of apology she’d been forced to write.

Velvet Quill took the letter in his hoof and laid it on the desk next to his keyboard. “Thank you Ms. Wildfire, please take your seat.”

Wildfire trotted to her desk on hooves of air as Professor Quill introduced the class. She got out her very best pen and special notebook she reserved just for this class and waited expectantly for her teacher to reveal today’s assignment.

The pale blue pegasus stood and flipped his laptop’s remote control to make what was on his screen appear on the large white board behind him. He didn’t care for the older chalkboards like Calculus and Rosetta. Flipping a switch on a remote was so much easier. “Today class we will be doing poems of your own creation in the form of a Shakespony Sonnet.”

Wildfire grinned to herself and got to work, pen in her mouth already scribbling ideas and thoughts for her second and third lines as Velvet Quill was running the class through what a Shakespony Sonnet actually was. Wildfire was sketching out her ideas for her second quatrain while Professor Quill was detailing the fourteen lines, three quatrains and rhyming couplet for the last two lines.

My Mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun;

Coral is far more red than her lips' red;

If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;

If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.

I have seen roses damasked, red and white,

But no such roses see I in her cheeks;

And in some perfumes is there more delight

There in the breath that from my mistress reeks.

I love to hear her speak; yet well I know

That music hath a far more pleasing sound;

I grant I never saw a goddess go;

My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground

Any yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare

As any she belied with false compare.

Forty five minutes later Wildfire smiled and with a sense of accomplishment finished her Sonnet, which she just entitled; My Mistress, My Love, and happily dotted the last full stop.

With fifteen minutes to go to the end of the class and the start of the dinner hour, something Wildfire was looking forward to very much, the yellow mare heard Professor Quill call out Blitzwing’s name. “Mr. Blitzwing, would you please approach my desk.”

Blitzwing looked up from his half-finished Sonnet with surprise on his muzzle. Wondering what it was the Professor wanted the dark grey stallion nevertheless trotted up to Quill’s desk. Velvet Quill winged Wildfire’s letter to him. “For you review and comment if you wish, Mr. Blitzwing.”

Blitzwing took the letter in his hoof. “Thank you sir.” He turned on his hooves and trotted back to his desk to read the letter Velvet had just given him. Wildfire kept her head down as he passed her desk, determined as she was to actually finish a class today. Out of the corner of her eye the yellow mare could see Blitzwing reading through the letter with a scowl on his face.

A few moments later the pale blue pegasus stood and cleared his throat, not that anypony in the room thought it helped, “Thank you students,” he started, “That is all for today’s class.”

Blitzwing raised his hoof, attracting the teacher’s attention; “Professor Quill?”

“Yes, Mr. Blitzwing?”

“Concerning this letter,” He said with a smug smile, hoping to goad Wildfire in front of her favourite teacher. “I have to accept in full. Ms. Wildfire's prose is so eloquent that I'm positive any tabloid would be happy to have her services.”

“Yuppers,” Wildfire grimaced with the effort of being civil, “I’m…sorry Blitzwing.”

Blitzwing just trotted off to the cafeteria with a deep sigh, disappointed his effort to wind up Dusk’s best friend had gone straight over her dim uncomprehending little head.

~ ~ ~

“You two are gonna get caught!”

“Oh relax Darkie,” Air Raid sniggered, her wings already semi erect, “We’ve got it planned, c’mon, hurry up and cast the spell!”

“I will not relax Air Raid! You’re already breaking the law just by being in this damned building!”

“Come on Darkie, you’re always up for a prank, we’re just pranking old Calcy.” Air Raid giggled as she imagined the look on Calculus’s face when she found her desk.

“Yes, I like nice harmless pranks Raid.” Darkstar stomped her hoof, “This isn’t a prank, it’s stupid! You’re gonna get arrested, and you Wily,” The unicorn addressed the yellow mare, “You are gonna end up expelled!”

“Darkie, you gonna cast the spell or not?” Wildfire asked, bored by her friend’s reaction. “We’re wasting time, and somepony might see us.”

“Fine. Whatever. Just remember, I was never here, you never saw me, and I did not cast this spell. Are we clear?” As the two pegasi nodded Darkstar concentrated her power through her horn, silently channelling the words of activation and binding to fashion the invisibility spell. Finally with a flash of light and a fair amount of sweat it was done. “Now…the moment you touch, the spell will activate. The moment you separate, the spell will end. Oh, and being invisible does not stop you being heard or smelt. Be careful.”

“Darkie you worry too much…” Wildfire giggled as she opened the door to Calculus’s class room.

“Whatever…” Darkie turned and trotted off to the cafeteria.

Air Raid hoofed open the door to the Math class room and stood aside for Wildfire to enter, giving her flank a long hard look as she trotted past and to the large desk. Letting go of the door she followed the yellow mare into the class. “So Wily, my cute little mare,” she whispered seductively, “Now that we’re here, what do you want to do?”

“Well…” Wildfire draped her wing over the desk as she walked past, cogs and gears turning in her head as an idea formed. “I wanna eat you out on this desk.”

“Hmm…doesn’t that sound like fun?” Air Raid’s semi erect wings popped fully open at the thought, she could smell herself getting as aroused as she felt. “On the desk then my love.”

“Yes Ma’am.” Wildfire smirked as she pulled herself up onto the solid oak desk and laid down, getting  herself comfortable,  folding her wings to her barrel, her head facing towards the closed door, grinning  as she smelt her marefriend’s arousal.

Air Raid didn’t waste a second more as she hopped up onto the desk and placed her knees either side of Wildfire’s head. “Hungry love?”

Wildfire looked up to the lime green mares moist dripping marehood and nodded as Air Raid lowered her hips to her marefriend’s waiting muzzle, the moment of contact sealing the invisibility spell that Darkstar had cast on them.

The yellow mare got her tongue to work straight away, the moment Air Raid got herself within licking range. She lapped and nipped around the older mare’s labia, earning herself a few moans and groans from the mare above her.

“Aaahn! Oooh Wily…” Air Raid rocked her hips over Wildfire’s muzzle as she felt her tongue enter her dripping wet passage, she pressed down harder, almost driving the snout inside herself.

Air Raid’s marehood continued to leak her juices around Wildfire’s mouth as she drove her tongue as far inside her writhing marefriend as she could, she could feel the desk under head getting wet with the green mare’s essence.

“D – daamn Wily…hmmmm…AAAAH!” Air Raid cooed and let out a small scream of pleasure as Wildfire found her clit with her tongue and wrapped her lips around it, almosr bringing her to her peak…

As the door to the class room was opened by a chocolate coloured hoof and Professor Calculus trotted in, carrying her lunch bag in her mouth. She was looking forward to eating in peace. Her migraine was finally receding, and the teacher’s lounge was just too noisy for her tastes.

As the door opened Air Raid stopped riding the muzzle below her and tried desperately to remain silent, caught on the edge of a wondrous climax.

Wildfire looked up in horror between Air Raid’s thighs at Calculus trotting into her class room. ‘Oh buck oh buck oh buck…’

Calculus was half way to her desk when a scent hit her nostrils. She froze as she sniffed the air.

‘Oh no…no, no, no!’ Wildfire thought frantically to herself as she started to panic. Air Raid looked down at her between her hind legs and made ‘shushing’ motions with her hooves, willing the yellow pegasus to be quiet.

The chocolate mare looked around her class room, and moved closer to her desk, still sniffing the air. With a grimace she recognised the scent, and noted it was stronger nearer the empty desk.

While she was trying to remain silent Air Raid was very suddenly struck with the giggles, and as her shoulders shook she had to put her hoof in her mouth.

Again, Calculus looked around the room, trying to find any hiding pony. It was as she was looking around the walls she noticed a very slight haze over her desk, which with the strong smell all but confirmed her suspicions. With a deliberately hard throw she tossed her bag onto the desk, which bounced to the floor.

Air Raid winced as the lunch bag hit her flank hard, and despite herself she let out a tiny whimper. Keeping hold of Wildfire’s hoof she carefully removed herself from around her head.

The chocolate mare bent down to retrieve her bag from where it had landed on the floor while Air Raid motioned with her head to the door. Wildfire nodded in reply and the lime green mare gently lowered her hind left hoof to the floor as silently as she could. Wildfire followed suit but her hind hoof clopped on the floor as she lowered it. Glancing over her shoulder she breathed a sigh of relief as Calculus seemed not to have noticed.

Quietly the two mares tip-hoofed their way over to the closed door, their wings touching to keep the invisibility bubble in effect. Gingerly Air Raid reached for the door handle and slowly turned it, only to be greeted with a noise of metal on metal as the catch opened.

Calculus quickly lifted her head at the sound and grabbed her ornamental inkwell in her mouth and tossed it hard at the area of the door as it started to open.

“Ow!” Air Raid groaned in pain before she could stop herself, rubbing her sore shoulder with her with without thinking. The wing that was keeping contact with Wildfire. The wing that was keeping the spell active.

“Freeze!” Calculus yelled as the invisibility spell faded, revealing an ex-student of hers, snorting giggles like she was going to collapse at any moment, and Wildfire, quite possibly the least able mare she’d ever had the misfortune to teach, blushing as bright a red as her cutie mark.

Professor Calculus simmered on the very edge of rage as she addressed the two mares in front of her; “For some reason I'm surprised, yet I shouldn't be.” She sighed as she rubbed her temple, her migraine stomping back in full force. “So, did you pick my desk because of the rumours about me?”

Air Raid smiled brightly as she waved her foreleg at the Math teacher, “Hey Calcy long time no see, and she picked the room, not me.”

“What rumours?” Wildfire tried to look puzzled, if course everypony had heard the rumours about Calculus’s homophobia, but this didn’t seem the time to bring it up.

Calculus gave Wildfire a long hard glare, but chose not to answer. She reached for and toggled the intercom. “Could Principal Legacy and Vice Principal Colour please come to Professor Calculus' class as soon as possible please?”

Wildfire’s brown eyes went wide with panic, they were really in now. “Oh shit!” She exclaimed, “What was that for?”

The earth pony mare ignored the younger pegasus and spoke to Air Raid, her tone short and clipped. “Ms, Raid you are dripping on the floor, please go to the washroom, clean up, and return here. Please do so quickly.” Finally she turned her attention to her student; “Ms. Wildfire, please sit at your desk.”

“You could let it go y’know, just once.” Air Raid scowled at her old teacher as she made her way out of the door to the nearest rest room.

Calculus bent to retrieve her inkwell and returned it to her desk. “I do not trust my judgement at this time Ms. Wildfire.” She said tersely as she watched the yellow pegasus take her seating pad at her desk.

Wildfire slumped her shoulders as she sat down, deeply wishing she’d minded her friend’s warning. “You really hate me don't you Professor?” She asked as she tried to blink away her tear, determined to not look weak.

“That wasn't the rumour that I was speaking of, but your lack of effort does grate my nerves Ms. Wildfire.” The teacher sighed as pain lanced through her skull. “Hate is a strong word, but I wouldn't say you are on my Hearth's Warming Eve list.”

“But...but I do try!” Wildfire protested heatedly. Celestia knows she tried, “I really do! It’s just...it’s hard, Professor…”

Calculus took her seating pad at her desk and frowned at the young mare. “I haven't seen any real effort from you. Have you tried a tutor? Thought of dropping this class to attend a one on one private class? I've tried several methods with you Ms Wildfire and it seems you pay no attention or just don't care.”

“I can’t drop it Ma’am.” She explained, her eyes glued to her desk. “The Fire Team requires math. I dunno, its...the numbers all seem to jumble up on the page.”

“Then you need private tutoring, Ms Wildfire. But this,” She gestured at the top of her cum stained desk, “This is too much.”

Wildfire hung her head, deeply ashamed of her actions, ‘what had we been thinking?’ She thought miserably. “I'm sorry Professor, we didn't mean anything by it.”

Just then the class room door opened and Principal Last Legacy and Vice Principal Water Colour both walked in. Water Colour took a look at Wildfire and sighed a deep sigh. The Principal, a cream unicorn with a burnt yellow mane shot through with grey addressed the Math teacher; “Yes Professor Calculus?”

“I'm waiting for Ms. Raid to return Professor’s and then we can take care of this all at once.”

As if summoned by some ethereal force Air Raid reappeared in the doorway and trotted in to stand in between the teachers and Wildfire. “I felt my ears burning Calcy. Talking about me?”

Last Legacy nodded to Air Raid as she entered, before looking at Calculus expectantly; “Begin please, Professor.”

“It is rather simple.” The chocolate mare began, “I detected an invisible pony in the room, and it turned out to be these two having sex on my desk.” She concluded by pointing out the stains on her desk.”

Last Legacy’s expression was wholly unreadable as he looked at the two mares in front of him. “Who cast the invisibility spell?”

Wildfire pointedly avoided her Principal’s piercing gaze; “I don't remember, Sir.” She lied through her teeth.

“Me either,” Air Raid smiled as the Professor turned his gaze to her, “I didn't ask his name.”

“Very well. Professor Colour?”

Water Colour merely shook his head and sighed once more at the yellow mare. “Nothing to add, Professor Legacy.”

“Professor Calculus?”

The earth pony mare adjusted her seated position as she thought, “I'll leave this to you, as the offended party I should recuse myself.”

Last Legacy nodded, addressing the firefighter first. “Ms. Wildfire. Detention for you now. After school you will clean up this mess. Your parent will be informed as to why you are late. Nine day suspension starting tomorrow. You are off any extra-curricular team events for the semester. Do you wish to say anything in your defence?”

“I'm sorry Sirs, Ma'am...Professor Legacy...please don't tell my dad…”

Last Legacy pointed a cream hoof at the racer next. “For you Ms. Raid, you will be charged with trespassing and destruction of school property.”

“Please...” Wildfire whimpered, a look of genuine fear on her face, “Don't send a letter home, please…”

The Principal gave Wildfire a hard piercing look; “You should have thought of that before you committed this. Is there a reason you chose Professor Calculus' desk?”

“I thought it'd be a joke, Sir.” Wildfire replied in a very tiny voice.

“Seriously, you can't tell her dad,” Air Raid spoke, “Principal Legacy he'll kill her.”

Last Legacy cocked an eyebrow, shooting a questioning look to Water Colour, who just shook his head. “There is nothing on file.”

At that moment, a unicorn police pony stallion appeared, escorted by the university secretary, who promptly turned and left them all alone. “Ah…officer,” The cream unicorn nodded to the police pony, “Please take Ms. Raid in custody. Ms. Wildfire, report to detention.”

Air Raid looked at the police unicorn, knowing her time was short. She didn’t care about herself, she knew her parents wouldn’t give two bucks whether she was arrested or not, it was Wildfire she was worried about. “Wily tell 'em...now quick tell 'em!”

Wildfire sighed dejectedly. She knew full well what was waiting for her should she go home, that’s why she’d been living at Air Raid’s place since she got her cutie mark. “It's nothing, really…”

“Like buck it's not he beats her!”

Wildfire rubbed her neck, the last place her father had hit her. The bruise was long gone but its memory remained. Air Raid didn’t understand. She couldn’t say anything, she just couldn’t. “It was an accident…”

Water Colour trotted over and gently placed a hoof on Wildfire’s shoulder. “If you want to make a statement Ms. Wildfire, the police are here.”

“Raid...” Wildfire whimpered, afraid to meet her Vice Principal’s look, but grateful his hoof was on her shoulder. “I - I can't...it was just an accident, Sir…”

The Principal nodded to the police pony who was stood by Air Raid. “Officer please escort Ms Raid from the building. Charges are being filed.”

“Wildfire!” Air Raid panicked as the police officer nudged her with his hoof, “Come with me please Miss,” He said simply as he started to guide the lime green mare out of the class room.

“S – sorry…” Wildfire whispered as Air Raid was lead from the class room.

Air Raid dug a hoof through her saddlebag in the doorway, withdrew her house keys and threw them over the room to her marefriend. “Wily, don’t go home, stay at mine!”

None of the Professor’s moved to intercept the keys as they hit and bounced on the floor near Wildfire’s seating pad. Her marefriend had been removed by the time the yellow mare bent to pick up the keys. “Thanks Raid…” She whispered almost inaudibly as Vice Principal Water Colour nudged his hoof on her shoulder.

“Let’s go Ms. Wildfire, detention is this way.”

2.5 - School Hard 2 - School Harder (Edited)

2.5 - School Hard 2 - School Harder

“Raid?” Wildfire had lunged for her phone and by the second ring she’d got it on loud speaker on the coffee table in front of her favourite purple seating pad. “Are you alright?” She asked, a hint of nervousness in her voice. It was currently six in the evening, and she hadn’t heard anything from her marefriend since noon that day when she’d been carted off by the police.

“Wily, I’m fine, don’t you worry about me.” Just hearing Air Raid’s voice on the other end of the line had a calming effect on the yellow mare. “How was the rest of school?”

“Fine, I spent it in detention in the library.”

Air Raid giggled down the phone, “And I thought it was supposed to be a punishment,” She laughed, picturing her Wily sticking her tongue out at the phone. “Bet you were really cut up to spend the afternoon among all those dusty boring old books.”

“Hey!” Wildfire pouted, sticking her tongue out at her phone. “Books are not boring, petrol head! Um…how long, y’know…will they um…be keeping you?” Wildfire then bit her lip, unable to keep the quaver from her voice as she asked the question she didn’t want to. ‘Please don’t be long, please don’t be long…’ she thought as she awaited her reply.

“Oh, not long. Just overnight at the station…” The lime green mare could practically feel Wildfire’s sigh of relief down the phone. “I’ve got a hearing at eleven tomorrow morning…no, it’s not necessary for you to come, it’s just a formality.”

“I…I…” Wildfire trailed off as tears began to stream down her face, matting her yellow fur and leaving tracks as they splashed onto the coffee table. “I thought…I wouldn’t ever…see you again!”

“Wily…hey, baby look its fine, really. They’ve charged me with Equestrian Trespass, Wilful Destruction of Government Property and Endangerment to Minors. The solicitor says it’ll be a fifteen thousand bit fine and maybe some community service at the most.”

“You…you’re not being locked away?” Wildfire asked, utterly failing to keep the relief from her voice.

“Nah sweetflanks.” Air Raid taunted her playfully; “I’ll be home tomorrow night, so enjoy the bed to yourself while you have the chance.”

“A whole night of not hearing you snore?” Wildfire sniggered, picturing the look on Raid’s face. “Can’t you get arrested more often?”

“Hey! I’ll get you for that!” Air Raid chuckled as the police pony tapped her shoulder and mouthed ‘five minutes’. “Hey…Wily…” Her voice got all serious, “Why didn’t you tell them about your useless dad beating you up?”

“Because…” Wildfire didn’t have to think before she started to answer. “Because he’s still my dad, and I love him. Just like you love your mum even after she neglects you. Thanks for letting me stay here babes.”

“Hey, you’re my pretty little mare, I can’t be seen with you on the street with a bruise over your cute face can I?”

“Thanks Raid.”

“I mean it, I need you just perfect, that way when we go out you make me look better!” Air Raid nodded to the police pony, “Look I have to go Wily, I’m out of time. I’ll see you at home, so don’t worry…”

“Okay Raid, I…” Wildfire started before the line went dead, “…love you…” Wildfire clicked her phone off, ignoring the several unanswered texts and calls from her dad. Instead she trotted over to the sofa and snuggled up to her Princess Octavia plushie that her marefriend had won her at the fun fair last week. She knew she was only going to be alone for the night, but that was still one night too many.

~ ~ ~

Friday afternoon.

Four twenty five pm.

Cyclone looked at the clock on the wall of the art class for what felt like the millionth time in the last ten minutes. To be perfectly fair it probably was. If the black pegasus was honest she’d admit she wasn’t the slightest bit interested in Water Colour’s class. She’d tried for the last half hour to paint this still life set up in the middle of the room. How in the world was she supposed to concentrate on bananas, a wine bottle and a bunch of flowers when she was so close to spending her first weekend as a foal?

Four twenty seven pm.

She stomped a hoof in frustration. ‘Three more minutes…’ She thought as she looked around the class, Dusk and Brightstar were applying the finishing touches to what was undoubtedly a masterpiece whereas she’d barely put paint to paper.

Four twenty nine pm.

Cyclone was so eager to leave she’d got her saddlebags on already, her stuff long packed away.  When the Vice Principal finally dismissed the class at four thirty dead Cyclone was the first out of the door, like a greyhound out of a trap. Lost in her fantasies of a whole weekend of nappies, her booted onesie and a bottle of milk she didn’t notice her friends catching her up.

“Cyclone, hey Cy!” Dusk tapped her on her shoulder with his hoof as he caught up with her, making the mare almost jump out of her skin.

“Dusk!” She gave him a good natured shove with her hoof as she scowled at him for interrupting her little daydream, and for making her squeak like a filly, “You annoying pegasus, what do you want?”

“Alright, Crankypants, don’t get your nappy in a bunch,” he giggled as Cyclone’s scowl became an outraged pout, “Just wondered what you were doing for the weekend Cy, that’s all.”

“Yeah Cy,” Brightstar grinned as he sidled up to her other side as they approached the main doors, the blue unicorn held them open for his friends, “Got anything fun planned?”

Cyclone blushed a little as she thought about her foal supplies at home; “Well, as it happens,” she said as she trotted through the doors to the freedom of the afternoon sun, “I do have plans.”

“Like what?” Brightstar asked as he held the door for Dusk, who nodded his thanks.

“If you must know,” She said as her two friends caught her up outside, “I’m spending the weekend as a foal. Got me some nappies, a really cute onesie with booties and some toys.”

“Damn Cy…” Brightstar shifted uncomfortably on his hooves, his mind wandering back to the fun fair when he’d sat opposite his black furred friend in the tea cup; “I so wish I could come watch…” The voyeur absent mindedly licked his lips at the thought.

“Well, what’s stopping you?” Cyclone asked with a wink, the tea cup ride in her mind too, “I can leave the door unlocked if you fancy a sneaky peek.”

“I would, but me and Darkie are in Las Pegasus next week, we leave on the overnight express in about four hours.” Brightstar seemed genuinely upset as he explained, “You know how she’s the best dancer in her class right,” Dusk and Cyclone both nodded, “Well Professor Quick Step’s arranged for her to have an audition to join the Sapphire Shores Performing Arts Academy in Las Pegasus, and as our parents are off in Prance for their anniversary I’m her chaperone.”

“Oh yeah!” Dusk facehooved. What with the plans he’d made for his own weekend he’d quite forgotten about his friend. “Let us know how that goes, and tell Darkie we’ll keep our hooves crossed for her.”

“Will do D,” Brightstar sniggered at his friend’s reaction. “What about you, what you got on?”

“Oh, um…well,” Dusk stammered, “Vocal’s coming over for the weekend, we um…he er…wants to play puppy in the Royal Gardens, and well I…” He trailed off, not finishing his sentence.

“And you what?” Cyclone asked with a smile, “You don’t know what to do without a questionnaire to help you?”

Dusk blushed a very deep crimson, and shook his head as he deeply wished his mom hadn’t told all his friends about that.

“What you do, you adorkable little Prince, is get that collar on your pup, walk him proudly through the castle into the gardens and throw him a stick or a ball as hard as you can and have some fun!” Cyclone nudged Dusk’s shoulder with a grin, “It’s easy really D.”

“But what if somepony sees us?”

“What if they do? You aren’t murdering anypony!” Cyclone exclaimed, “We all have kinks Dusk! Vocal Chord’s chosen to share his with you. He obviously wants you to be a part of it, so embrace it and have fun. And come on, he went and got you a collar the colour of your fur. You know what that means.”

Dusk nodded, “You’re right Cy, thanks hun.”

“Anytime,” She smiled and gave him a wink, “Oh hey, Brighty, if you’d like I’ll send you a few selfies over the weekend?”

Brightstar merely forced his hindlegs together, squeezing his sheath and breathing through his nose, “I’d like that very much, thanks Cy.”  The stallion managed to squeak out as the three friends bumped hooves and went their separate ways.

~ ~ ~

By the time Cyclone had reached her apartment building in the upper east Residential District she was practically dancing on her hooves with excitement. Each step up the stairs to her third floor apartment bought a fresh swarm of butterflies to her belly.

Dusk would’ve said she was nervoucited.

She’d been preparing for this weekend since the night of the fun fair. Her friends had dared her to wear the nappy in public, and, having almost no inhibitions, she had been happy to do so.

That was just a silly dare. Getting Brightstar going because of it had been a bonus. Then she had done something she didn’t think she would. She had peed in it. She had to admit, that had felt good. Really good.

Really, really good.

These past two weeks the black mare had got everything ready for this weekend. A visit to the boutique in the Market District had gotten her measured up for a booted candy pink onesie decorated with little tornadoes. Cyclone had been giddy with excitement when she’d collected it, by a long way it was the best three thousand bits she’d ever spent.

Next a quick search of the internet had left her with a steady supply of adult sized nappies, again also pink, for a reasonable price. Her latest batch had come yesterday, just in time for this weekend. She’d been halfway out of her door to go to university when the mail mare had stopped her in the hall. Taking the delivery from her she’d bolted back inside and ripped the packaging off with her teeth. Breathing in the fresh nappy smell Cyclone hadn’t been able to resist slipping one into her saddlebag and carrying it around with her all day.

This last week Cyclone had become very good friends with the checkout mare at the Mothercare store in the mall. Almost every day after finishing university she had gone and bought supplies. For her new niece, of course. Her store cupboard was now fully stocked with foal wipes, talcum powder and skin oil. Next to that was a few tubs of powdered foal milk, and the several large bottles.

In her kitchen was her steriliser, her fridge held a few pre-made bottles, all ready for her to use. Her favourite purchases so far had been a large collapsible play pen, a bag of blocks with letters and numbers, and her set of Princess plushies.

Reaching her door Cyclone was so giddy with excitement it took her several attempts with her key to open it and let herself in. Shrugging off her saddlebag she left her textbooks where they fell in her hall and flew straight to her bathroom. She’d planned this for days, and now she was finally acting it out it was all she could do not to prance on all hooves.

‘Don’t rush it Cy,’ She thought with a smile, ‘You’ve waited two weeks, get a bath, get clean, then you can play…’ The pegasus struggled to contain herself as she ran the hot water and got her favourite bubble bath.

A quick trot to her kitchen and Cyclone had three bottles in her play pen warming up to room temperature while she had her bath. Returning to the bathroom she placed a clean fresh nappy on the closed lid of her toilet and hung her pink onesie on the door.

Smiling to herself in anticipation of the weekend ahead of her Cyclone slid into the hot steamy bubbles she felt the stress of the week seep out of her open pores like air released from a balloon. She hissed with pleasure as she settled herself in the bath, and started to hoof the bubbly water over herself. Cyclone took a deep breath and submerged herself for a few moments before re-emerging, her long turquoise mane slick to her neck and forehead.

The black mare laid back and closed her blue eyes, breathing in the hot steam. As she breathed deep, the stresses of the week evaporated with each exhalation. Dusk and Blitzwing’s silly feud, her History scores, the three late days she had…everything just seemed to float away on the tendrils of steam.

When she deemed herself properly relaxed she drained and climbed out of her bath, reaching a hoof for her towel, drying herself off before tying her mane in a ponytail, just like her mum used to when she was a little filly.

She placed the nappy on the floor, and positioning her rump over the middle she sat herself down, reaching a hoof for the talcum powder and sprinkling it on and around her marehood and upper thighs. Having made sure she was sufficiently powdered up Cyclone pulled up both sides of her nappy and after a few moments secured them around her waist.

Cyclone looked herself over, admiring her nappied rump, her turquoise tail sticking through the hole. Giggling, she bounced on the bathroom floor, relishing the soft crinkly padding of her nappy.

Smiling she reached up and pulled her pink onesie off of its hook, holding it open to slide the hooves of her hindlegs down to the bootied ends. She felt behind her for the holes for her forelegs and inserted them both together until her forehooves came through the elasticated ends, shrugging the onesie around her shoulders and feeling for the zipper.

Once she’d zipped up the onesie Cyclone stood and took a few seconds to look herself over. The black pegasus couldn’t help the feeling of sheer joy she felt as she took in her thick padded rump bulging out the pink garment. It was as if there was a pony in her head jumping up and down with pure happiness.

As she left her bathroom Cyclone pranced back to her living room, all the nervous butterflies in her belly erupting to sheer bliss as she turned on her telly, selecting her favourite cable cartoon channel.

Fluttering her wings Cyclone hovered herself into her playpen and cuddled her Mistress Marevelous plushie as she reached for her full bottle. She took the nipple of the bottle in her mouth and started to suckle, drinking the formula milk, gurgling happily as she watched the Power Ponies once again beat the Mane-iac’s evil scheme.

Cyclone finished her bottle as the cartoon finished, she cheered like the little filly she was as the day was saved once again by the heroic Power Ponies. The black mare swapped her empty bottle for her pink pacifier, suckling the nipple as she reached for her Radiance plushie.

Cyclone’s blue eyes started to droop with fatigue as the next episode started, her head nodding forward as she started to fall asleep. The babied pegasus flopped to her side, her head hitting her little pillow. She suckled the pacifier and snuggled up to her two favourite plushies as she continued her drift towards sleep, ignoring the slight pressure of her full bladder. Even if she wanted to get up to use her toilet, which she didn’t, she was now so wonderfully comfortable and content that the thought of moving was laughable.

A few moments later her eyes closed for the last time that evening, and soon little snores could be heard around the pacifier.

~ ~ ~

"Who's a cute little foal?" Air Raid smiled as she leant over the side of the playpen and stroked her friends turquoise mane away from her closed eyes, earning her a cute little whimper as the morning sunlight hit Cyclone’s eyelids.

Sufficiently disturbed from her peaceful slumber Cyclone cracked open an eye and noted, in her half asleep state, her friend stood over her. “Oh…hey Raid…” She murmured with a smile as she closed her eye again.

It took her slumbering brain a few seconds to catch up and process that little snippet. ‘That was Air Raid…Raid is here…in your apartment…stroking your mane…she called you a cute foal…’ Cyclone’s blue eyes shot open in shock and she sat bolt upright in her playpen, a faint blush thankfully hidden by her black fur. “H-hey, Raid…”

“Morning Cy!” Air Raid smiled as she took her seat on the sofa next to the playpen and took a sip of the coffee she’d made. “Take it you had fun last night?”

“Um…yeah, yeah I did…” Cyclone rubbed her hooves across her eyes and yawned herself fully awake, as a question popped into her head; “Don’t think I’m getting at you, but what the hay are you doing in my apartment?”

“Oh, right, sorry.” Air Raid smiled sheepishly, holding up a DVD case for her friend to see. “Wily wanted me to return this to you.” She explained, putting the copy of ‘Power Ponies the Movie 2, Return of the Mane-iac’ back on the coffee table.

“I see,” Cyclone grumbled as she reached for a full bottle in the corner of her playpen, “And you couldn’t wait till later?” She raised an eyebrow at her friend’s questioning look, “What? I’m hungry…ugh…” Cyclone winced as an unpleasant smell reached her nostrils, and to her dismay she found out it was her.

“Well, we would’ve come later, but Wily’s gonna be ‘tied up’ all day,” Air Raid giggled, as she raised an eyebrow at her friend’s breakfast choice, “And I used the key you gave me to let myself in. Y’know Cy,” The lime green mare smiled a genuine smile, “You do make a pretty cute foal.”

Cyclone put her bottle down and shifted uncomfortably in her waste, her soiled nappy bulging as she moved her rump. “Uh huh…well right now I’m a stinky foal.”

“So I smell…” Air Raid grinned, covering her nose with a hoof. “You finally got your head around using them then?”

“I was comfy.” Cyclone pouted as she stood on her hooves, her full nappy sagging in her onesie. “Didn’t want to move.”

“Hey Cy…do you um, y’know…want some help with that?” Air Raid asked with a blush on her face, pointing a hoof towards her friend’s smelly rump.

“E – excuse me?” Cyclone paused, her forehooves up on the top of the playpen.

“Well, you need changing, right? Her friend nodded, so Air Raid continued; “And foals can’t change themselves, right?”

“Right…so?”

“So…do you want Nana Raid to get you out of that stinky nappy and feed you that bottle?”

Cyclone found herself considering it. She certainly wasn’t embarrassed doing what she was doing, nor did it worry her she’d been caught, Raid did have a key after all, and they were friends. Good friends. Very good friends. And if she was honest with herself, having a caretaker look after her would take her fantasy to another level.

“Nana!” Cyclone held her hooves up to Air Raid, her mind made up.

Air Raid smiled, and hooked her hooves under her friend’s forelegs, and with a little surreptitious help from Cyclone’s wings, she gently lifted her out of the playpen and laid her on the changing mat.

A quick glance around the living room later and Air Raid had a clean nappy, talcum powder, foal wipes, a refuse bag and the pacifier ready at hoof. Pulling down the zipper of the onesie she freed her friend’s hind legs and lifted them up, raising her rump so she could unfasten the nappy.

“Air Raid…why?” Cyclone asked, breaking her character for a moment.

The lime green pegasus considered her answer very briefly; “Why not?” She asked in turn. “Remember Wily’s birthday? When she was called to the fire who played Mistress and had me crawling on the floor to suck your hooves? You did. You didn’t judge or criticise, you made sure we had fun.” Air Raid explained as she picked up the pacifier and placed it in her friend’s mouth, “So, if this is what gets you off, or what you like doing, the least I can do is help, right?”

Cyclone was almost moved to tears as Air Raid stopped speaking and held her breath while she opened up the nappy and got a hoof full of foal wipes and started to clean her waste from her fur. ‘This was more than I’d hoped for!’ She thought as she suckled on the pacifier, allowing her friend, no her Nana to change her.

"All done!" Air Raid gave her a warm smile as she bundled up the dirty nappy in the refuse sack and put Cyclone’s hind legs, complete with clean nappy, back in her onesie and zipped it back up. “Still hungry?” She asked, placing her foal on the sofa.

“Hungry Nana!” Air Raid’s heart melted as Cyclone gave her an adorable little pout and pointed to her bottle in the playpen. A thought came to her as she leant over to pick up the bottle, and she scooped up the two Power Pony plushies she’d seen her friend sleeping with. Sitting back on the sofa Air Raid gently pulled her foal across her lap so her head was resting at the elbow of her left foreleg.

“Want these?” Air Raid smiled, waving the two plushies a few inches away from Cyclone’s hooves.

“Want!” Cyclone strained to reach the plushies, “Mistress! Radiance! Me want, Nana!”

“Here you go then Cy, here’s your Power Ponies,” Air Raid giggled as she watched Cyclone snatch them both in a tight cuddle. “You know,” she said with a mischievous grin as she guided the nipple of the bottle into her foal’s mouth, “Masked Matter-Horn’s best…”

“Nu huh!” Cyclone exclaimed with adorable indignation, “Radiance!” Further comment was halted at that point as Air Raid re-inserted the bottle of milk, and Cyclone’s attention was fully diverted to drinking, happy and safe in her Nana’s legs.

~ ~ ~

Canterlot. Capital city of Equestria. Considered by most ponies to be the crown jewel of the land. If that was the case then those same ponies would’ve considered the royal castle, with all the luxury that came with it, to be the shining jewel of all. These were the ponies that ate up the daily news of political intrigue and court gossip as if they were actual sustenance.

Dusk Melody didn’t care for any of that. His favourite part of the castle had always been the grounds, specifically the royal gardens. As a colt he’d loved playing there with his parents, discovering the many statues, or exploring the menagerie.

It contained a wide variety of plants and animals that were carefully transplanted from their native lands all across Equestria. Phoenixes and Roks called this large expanse of greenery their home, chirping in the bushes and tall trees. The air contained fragrances from rare, colourful flowers. The tranquil atmosphere was free of any offending torrents of wind thanks to the high walls of ivy and hedge bordering the outer edge of the grounds.

During a special social event, such as the Grand Galloping Gala, the place would be overflowing with ponies, every one of them enjoying the scenery of the gardens as they spilled from the luxurious ball rooms. However, on quieter weekend where nothing was planned, the gardens were a much quieter place.

Dusk much preferred these quieter occasions. Occasions like this Friday evening, when he and his coltfriend Vocal Chord entered the gardens from one of the many side entrances from the castle itself.

Vocal had his head held high as he allowed Dusk to lead him around the large crystal blue waters of the lake. Dusk had his leash wrapped around his foreleg, every so often giving his pup a gentle tug to keep up the pace.

There were few ponies in gardens this time of the day, which Dusk was grateful for. While Vocal was perfectly happy being his puppy, if he was honest Dusk was having a harder time adjusting, despite Cyclone’s advice. Still, to those ponies who passed them by he gave a friendly nod, a courteous "hello", and walked past without another thought.

Eventually the two stallions found a nice patch of green grass to sit down on with a strong tree to tie Vocal up if the situation presented itself. The shade of the large oak tree kept the two cool from the heat of the evening sun.

"Look what I have for you, pup," Dusk smiled as he fished something out of his saddle bags. He pulled out a tennis ball and hovered it in front of Vocal's face for a few moments. He tossed the ball up in the air a couple times, getting Vocal’s attention.

Vocal crouched and wagged his dark blue tail excitedly as Dusk waved the ball in front of his muzzle, his pale green eyes focused on the ball. Without warning the pegasus threw it across the field, and with an excited yelp the little pup turned and galloped after it.

“Good pup!” Dusk reached down and scratched behind Vocal’s ear as the light grey unicorn dropped the ball at his caretaker’s hooves and danced around, whining for Dusk to throw it again.

“Woof!” Vocal Chord barked happily and ran after the ball as Dusk threw it a second time, a little further than before. Dusk couldn’t help but giggle as he watched his pup reach the ball, pick it up in his mouth and trot back with it, waiting expectantly for his ear to be scratched.

“Get it boy!” Dusk yelled as he waved the ball to the right before quickly throwing it left. He laughed as his pup went the wrong way before turning and galloping off after his prize. Vocal was so focused on chasing the ball he didn’t realise it was sailing through the air towards the lake. Dusk realised it a split second too late as his pup leapt through the air, neatly catching the ball in his mouth as the unicorn landed fifteen feet into the clear water.

Dusk couldn’t help a giggle as Vocal pulled himself from the cold lake water, looking somewhat like a drowned rat with his light grey fur clinging to his lithe body. Unfortunately he chose that moment to do what any pup would do, and shook himself violently to rid himself of the excess water. That in itself would’ve been cute. What was unfortunate was the water happened to spray over a noble looking stallion who was walking the edge of the lake.

“Wh – what in the world is the meaning of this attack?” The stallion spluttered, his monocle hanging from its chain as Vocal continued to wet his expensive looking suit. “Cease at once I say!”

Vocal then compounded the issue by jumping up at him, leaving two muddy hoofprints on the double breasted blazer.

“How dare you assault a pony of noble bearing in such a manner?” The stallion stomped an angry hoof at the unicorn, who shrank to the grass, his tail between his legs at being shouted at. “I shall summon a guard!”

Dusk facehooved and ran over, neatly inserting himself between the outraged pony and his cowering coltfriend; “I assure you Sir that won’t be necessary!”

“Prince Dusk?” The stallion took a step backwards as he eyed the Prince. “What is the meaning of this your Highness?”

“Sir my coltfriend meant you no harm, he was just, um…well he was just, being a puppy…” Dusk’s voice trailed off as a fierce blush of embarrassment coloured his cheeks.

“A puppy!?” The noble exclaimed indignantly, “What foolish nonsense is this your Highness? I have been insulted and my suit ruined by this…this ruffian! I demand you summon a guard immediately!”

“Or, or,” Dusk thought quickly, “You can take your suit to the castle housekeeping staff and I’ll make sure they dry clean your suit as fast as they can, how’s that?”

The noble stallion looked down his muzzle at the Prince, a sneer on his face. “That takes care of the suit, now what about the insult?”

“Very well,” Princess Luna chose that moment to calmly trot from behind the nearby marble statue of a rearing pegasus, “You’re a pathetic excuse for a noblepony whose head is so far up your plot your breath smells of manure.” Luna stopped a few feet from the stunned stallion, the merest ghost of a smile on her muzzle.

“P – P – Princess L – Luna!” The stallion stammered fearfully, immediately dropping to a low bow, getting more mud on the legs of his suit from the lake’s edge.

“Rise.” Luna surveyed him coldly as he stood up, not amused in the slightest. “I believe my son has made you a very generous offer to have your suit cleaned, correct?”

“Y – Yes, P – Princess!” The noblepony squeaked, all his bravado evaporated in the face of the alicorn.

“Then I suggest you thank him and take advantage of his kind offer before I send you on your way.”

"Y – Yes Princess,” The stallion turned to Dusk, “Prince Dusk, th – thank you, your Highness.”

Luna chuckled as the noblepony turned and galloped away towards the castle. Once he was out of sight the Lunar Princess turned to Vocal, who had spent the last few minutes whining as he cowed on the grass. “Hey…” Dusk watched as his mom lifted a shoed hoof and delicately scratched his coltfriend’s ear, his tail immediately starting to wag happily. “You’re just a precious little pup, aren’t you?”

“Thanks mom…”

“My pleasure Dusk.” Luna used her magic to stroke Vocal’s back and flanks as she moved her hoof to pet his mane, eliciting a series of happy little whimpers from the unicorn. “You have an adorable little pet here Dusk, don’t you ever be embarrassed of him, alright?” She shook her head at her son, who rolled his eyes in response.

“Yes mom…” Dusk joined his mother in petting Vocal, scratching his ear with his hoof. “What’re you doing out here?”

“Oh…” Luna smiled as she continued to stroke Vocal’s back, “Octavia’s busy with her duties so I thought I’d visit Sky Dive before I have to raise the moon.” She nodded over to the statue of the rearing pegasus as she flashed Dusk a mischievous smile, “If that’s alright with you, of course.”

“Well, yeah of course it’s alright…”

Luna sniggered, “Are you sure?” The alicorn’s sides shook as she tried really hard to hold in her giggles as she continued; “I can get you a questionnaire if you aren’t sure…” Luna’s giggles turned to outright peals of laughter as Dusk pouted at her.

“Go away mother,” Dusk rolled his eyes and gave a huge pout as he reached for the tennis ball. “I’m sure Sky will love a visit from a royal hyena.”

Princess Luna carried on laughing fit to burst as she trotted over to the statue and laid a hoof upon it, leaving Dusk to play with his pet.

As their playtime continued into the late evening Vocal panted happily in anticipation as Dusk teased him with the ball. His dark blue tail wagged as his eyes focused solely on the ball and not much else. Quite skilfully he even managed to leap up and catch the ball in his mouth without it touching the ground.

By the end of a few hours playing fetch, Vocal was out of breath, his hooves aching as he carried the slobber covered ball back to his caretaker. After depositing the ball close to Dusk, he plopped down next to him, still catching his breath.

Dusk reached a hoof over to his coltfriend and scratched his pup’s ear playfully, eliciting a cute little whine of happiness from the collared unicorn. Secretly Dusk was glad Vocal was so into this. It helped calm his own nerves.

Dusk lowered his hoof and rubbed Vocal's soft tummy fur as he rolled over, his head in Dusk’s lap. "Such a good boy! Yes you are! Yes you are!" He smiled at his unicorn, ashamed with himself that he’d ever been embarrassed to share this with his partner. Like Cyclone had said, they weren’t hurting anypony else. After a few more rubs, Dusk gave Vocal's warm belly a couple pats and pulled his hoof away.

They lazed away the next few hours under the shady tree and watched as the sun was lowered and the moon raised. Vocal rested his head on Dusk's lap as Dusk read a few pages of the book he brought with him by the light of the newly risen moon and the fireflies that darted about.

Dusk couldn’t help but laugh as he watched his pup chase the little flying insects, he never caught any, but the pegasus supposed that wasn’t the point of the game. He clapped his hooves and cheered as Vocal narrowly missed a leap through a group of fireflies, the insects narrowly darting aside in time to avoid the prancing unicorn.

Dusk closed his book as a raindrop splashed on the page. Standing to his hooves the pegasus called his pup back to him and clipped his leash onto the dark blue collar; “It's time to head back in," Dusk silenced Vocal’s whine of protest with a sharp tug of the leash and started to lead him back to the castle and his suite. “There’s always tomorrow pup, we have all weekend.”

As he started to trot at Dusk’s side, Vocal noticed how messy he had gotten from their late afternoon and evening in the gardens. Grass clippings clung to his grey coat as the fur around his hooves were tinted brown from the muddy ground. Small twigs and leaves had found themselves twisted in his dark blue tail.

Dusk gave Vocal a surreptitious look as he lead him back to the castle. He noted the amount of dirt that covered his pup's fur. "I think a cute little pup’s gonna need a bath," Dusk smiled at his pet as he gently tugged the leash.

Vocal merely gave him a lacklustre wag of his tail as he wearily trotted beside the pegasus. He loved his baths, but between playing fetch and chasing fireflies the unicorn was ready for his little bed. His ears pricked up, he had been a good pup, so maybe Dusk would allow him on the bed?

By Dusk’s lead, Vocal was guided back down the now familiar halls and into their suite where they made a beeline to the bathroom. Water was run and the tub's drain was plugged.

As the bath was prepared, Vocal sat on the cool tiled floor obediently, not moving an inch unless his master said so. Meanwhile, Dusk pulled some dry towels, pet shampoo, and a couple washcloths for scrubbing from the nearby closet. He stacked each item on the counter for easy access.

Once the water was turned off and the warm bath drawn, Vocal sat in the tub patiently, allowing his master to scrub him clean. He would occasionally move a hoof up to be cleaned, but for most of the bath he behaved himself and remained still.

Dusk reached behind Vocal’s neck and unbuckled the collar, laying it on the floor beside the bath, signifying he wanted to talk, and for Vocal Chord to answer, not the puppy. "Did you have a lot of fun playing fetch today?" Dusk asked, washing some shampoo off with a splash of water.

Vocal blinked a few times, coming back to himself, then nodded eagerly, "Yeah! You’re a natural throwing that ball. Hey, um…thanks for the bath Dusky."

“Well, can’t have you on my bed all covered in most of the gardens, can we?” Dusk replied, scrubbing some mud clumps out of Vocal's fetlocks.

"Really?" Vocal’s eyes twinkled as Dusk finished his bath, “I get to sleep with you?” He asked, stifling a yawn.

“I think so. You’ve been a really, really good pup Vocal” as he climbed out of the bath Dusk pulled him into a long slow kiss before reaching for the collar and slipping it back around the unicorn’s neck. Vocal was quickly pulled out and wrapped up in fluffy towels. Dusk took his time drying his puppy nice and thoroughly, making sure everywhere was rubbed, resulting in fluffing up Vocal's dark blue mane.

Once he was nice and dry, the two stallions trotted through the suite to the bedroom, where Dusk climbed onto the huge bed. Easily large enough to accommodate several ponies Dusk immediately found the middle and starfished his legs and wings out, relishing the soft warm comforter. Obediently Vocal sat beside the bed, awaiting Dusk’s invite to join him. Jumping up too soon was a sure fire way to earn his doggie bed back for the night, and that was the last thing he wanted, when he was so close to finally sharing his coltfriend’s bed.

After a few moments Vocal put his left forehoof up to the bed and let out a frustrated little whine.

Sitting up on the bed Dusk offered his pup an apologetic smile; “Oh…sorry pup,” He giggled, patting the bed with his hoof, “Up you come boy!”

Vocal let out a happy bark as he leapt up onto the bed, giving his Dusk a playful nuzzle before curling up next to him, head on his hooves as Dusk in turn snuggled up to him, laying a strong midnight blue wing over his stallion as they both drifted off to sleep.

~ ~ ~

Wildfire took a deep breath to steady her nerves as she stood in front of the class room door. She sighed as she rested a hoof on the door handle. So far her second day of school had gone quite well, although the classes hadn’t started yet.

She hadn’t seen hide nor hair of Blitzwing or Boudicca as she entered the main university building. This was a promising sign. Wildfire was certain they’d be waiting for her so they could pick up where they’d left off two weeks ago.

Trotting through the halls towards her Monday morning Math class she had smiled as she passed Cyclone and Darkstar having one of their gossip meetings as they leant against the lockers. Darkie was filling the pegasus in on her audition in Las Pegasus, and Cyclone was detailing her second weekend as a foal. Wildfire gave them both a nod as she trotted to Calculus’s class. As she had been there when Raid had looked after Cy she didn’t feel the need to revisit the scene.

At the class room door she checked her watch, it read fifteen minutes to the start of the lesson. Early enough, she hoped, that there wouldn’t be many ponies inside already. Another deep breath and she hoofed open the door she was at once relieved there were only two stallions inside, happy to see Brightstar again, and dismayed that Blitzwing was stood by Calculus’s desk, running a wingtip over the spot where she had pleasured Air Raid.

Blitzwing looked up from the desk with a sly grin as the yellow pegasus trotted through the door. “Professor Calculus has the shiniest desk in the school, but she won't tell us what she uses for a polish. Do you know what it is Wildfire?” He casually remarked as she made her way to her desk beside Brightstar at the back of the room.

Wildfire glanced over at the desk as she took her seat, her heart falling as the door opened and Boudicca entered, giving her a knowing smirk as she took her own desk. She could feel the heat of a deep crimson blush spread over her cheeks, “Um...it's...nothing alright?”

Brightstar gave the dark grey stallion a sour look, disappointed but not surprised that the enmity between them had started straight away. “You never heard of wood polish Blitz?”

Blitzwing left the Professor’s desk and trotted over to his own, his gaze never leaving the yellow mare, “Yes, but I understand this was a very special and hard to 'come' by polish.” He relished Wildfire’s uncomfortable little squirm, it appeared his source was correct, now to press his advantage. “Still it is nice to see you back Wildfire, you have fully recovered from your injuries?”

“Huh?” Wildfire dropped her saddlebag on her desk and spared Blitzwing a thoroughly confused look, “What injuries Blitzwing? What are you droning on about?”

He smiled as he mentally moved his rook to challenge Wildfire’s king. “Maybe I was mistaken. I heard it was splinters in your ass.” ‘Check…’ He thought as Boudicca barked out laughing.

Wildfire tried to ignore him as she got her textbook, notebook and pen out of her bag, but try as she might the taunting image wouldn’t leave her mind. She knew from the innuendos that somepony had told him, but only her friends and the Professors knew…  “Alright Blitz, who the Tartarus told you?”

Blitzwing saw the pieces of his little game move about on his mental chessboard as the door opened and in trotted Cyclone, Darkstar and the one pony he hated above all others, Prince Dusk. Truth be told he had no real issue with Wildfire or any of the others, apart from her being gay, but she kept her abhorrence generally to herself.

No, the goal was to bully and wind up Dusk, the insufferable offspring of that bitch Princess, and the best way to do that was get to his friends.

Darkstar was about to take her seating pad when Blitzwing moved his bishop to position. He looked the white unicorn straight in her yellow eyes, “Darkstar was kind enough to inform me.”

Darkstar froze, halfway between sitting and standing, “I never said buck all to you! Wily I didn't!”

Wildfire couldn’t believe it. She knew somepony, one of her friends, had to have told Blitzwing, but of all ponies she couldn’t believe it was Darkstar. “Darkie! What the Tartarus?”

Darkstar completed her sitting motion on the verge of tears as Wildfire turned her angry outraged face to her “Wily I didn't I swear!”

Blitzwing turned and took his own seating pad with a self-congratulatory smile, ‘check mate…’ he thought as he watched the fallout. Wildfire was so easy to play it almost took the fun out of it. Almost.

Wildfire was stood up, pointing an accusatory hoof from Darkstar to Blitzwing; “You blabbed to him? Why?”

Calculus paused outside her door, the sounds of an argument coming from within. She wasn’t in the slightest bit surprised to hear Wildfire’s voice, the mare’s temper was as hot as the blazes she helped extinguish. What did surprise her was the other voice. Calculus would’ve put her last bit on it being either Blitzwing or Boudicca, and, had she been a gambling pony she’d now be bankrupt. Hoofing open her door she entered as Darkstar of all ponies yelled out an outraged “I said I never!”

“Welcome back Ms. Wildfire, I'm glad to see you arguing with someone other than Mr. Blitzwing.” The earth pony said coolly as she took her pad behind her desk. Casting a glance at the unicorn she asked; “What did she do Ms. Darkstar?”

“Professor Calculus, Ma'am,” Darkstar stood and blinked away the tears at the corners of her eyes, “I've been accused of doing something I haven't done, Ma’am.”

“Yeah says you, traitor!” Wildfire spat from her desk.

Professor Calculus shook her head and raised a hoof to her temple. It was going to be one of ‘those’ lectures, she could tell. “That is quite enough Ms. Wildfire. You can settle your differences outside my class room! Please, sit down.”

Wildfire wanted nothing more than to tell the chocolate mare where should shove her class and continue yelling at her ‘friend’, but as it was her first day back, she really couldn’t afford any more grief, she instead gritted her teeth and forced out a “Y-yes Ma'am,” and retook her pad at her desk.

Blitzwing opened his textbook to the page Calculus indicated, ‘Modular Fractions’, and found he wasn’t really listening as the Professor started her class on the ‘Multiplicative Inverses of Modular Arithmetic’, he was more concerned in patting himself on the back for sowing the seeds of dissention amongst Dusk’s friends. He idly doodled in his notebook, resolving to see how far he could push it.

Dusk leant over from his desk beside Wildfire and quietly asked, “Wily, what's that all about? You know Darkie wouldn't ever...”

Wildfire interrupted her best friend as she tried to keep up with what Calculus was saying, her irritation only building as she was starting to get lost already. “Oh get lost D,” she hissed under her breath, “You heard him, and nopony else knows!”

After Calculus had concluded her class Blitzwing made sure he held back as the other students began to file out into the hall, on their way to their next class or their free period. The dark grey stallion made his move as Wildfire watched her friends leave the room and stood to leave herself.

Sidling up behind her just outside the door he asked in a low voice; “So, how much for that special polish?”

Wildfire rounded on the pegasus, rearing up as she shoved him into the lockers with both forelegs thrust to his chest. “More than you've got!” She yelled in his mocking face as her temper got the better of her, tears starting to stream down her cheeks. “Why don’t you ask Darkstar!"

Darkstar decided she’d had enough, and as her name came out of Wildfire’s mouth she took hold of her shoulder with a white hoof and spun the yellow pegasus to face her. “I told you already I didn't say nothing!”

Faced with the fuming look of her friends face scant inches from her own Wildfire entirely forgot about Blitzwing, who quickly waved off his diamond dog friend and quietly trotted away from the scene he had created as Wildfire raised her voice again at her friend. “Yeah,  well unlike you I can keep my mouth shut!”

Darkstar snarled, her own temper flushing her white cheeks, “One more crack Wily and you can ask somepony else to help you next time!”

Wildfire jabbed a hoof at her friend, “I wish I had, you gobby mare!”

“Hey now…” Brightstar interjected himself between Wildfire and his sister, holding her shoulder while he shot a look of pure venom at the angry pegasus. “We're leaving for Rosetta's class. Don't sit near us.

Dusk had watched the altercation dumbfounded. He couldn’t believe in the space of just over an hour three of his friends had imploded like this. “Guys! C’mon this is stupid, why're you fighting?”

“Ask her!” Darkstar spat over her shoulder, not bothering to hide her tears as she let her brother walk her away to their next class.

Before Dusk could even phrase the question however Wildfire had turned on him, “Don't you even start with me, Dusk, I'm not in the mood!” With that the yellow mare stomped off without a backwards glance, leaving a stunned Dusk sat in the middle of the hall as the other students trotted around him.

~ ~ ~

Blitzwing laid his pen down and chuckled, loud enough for Dusk to hear him at his desk next to him, but not too loud that he interrupted Rosetta’s lecture. “You're a lot like your mother Prince Dusk, surrounded by bad advisors.”

Dusk sighed, and paused in his notes on the Zebran language, and cast Blitzwing a sideways glance. “Well Blitz,” He replied, making a show of looking around, “I don't see them around now, do you? They're a lot like your wealth like that.”

Blitzwing couldn’t help but smile, he must really under Dusk’s fur for him to retort like that, usually his jibes went ignored. Excellent. “Yes, well when the abomination that she is today took control if did cost us everything, then it cost her our loyalty. At least what wealth I have today wasn't stolen off the backs of the ponies like yours.”

Dusk snarled, the fur of his neck rising, not many things annoyed him, but attacks on his friends and family did it. “So, your wealth was stolen then, from whom? You should be grateful mom let your family live, she doesn't like turncoats, sends her all…Nightmary.”

Professor Rosetta’s lecture was all but forgotten at this point, and it was a good thing both stallions were sat at the back of the class. A mare near the front put up her hoof to ask a question as the dark grey stallion jabbed the air between him and Dusk. “Turncoats! You're the turncoat. My family dedicated their lives to Princess Luna. It was the nightmare that changed that. You and your ilk dared to challenge the Sun Goddess and paid the price. A price I intend on you paying still.”

“You're delusional Blitz!” Dusk muttered, ignoring the hoof that was pointed at him as he tried to calm himself, “Keep that up you'll be in Canterlot asylum with the other ** Revisionists.”

Blitzwing was loving this. His plan was working far better than he’d ever suspected. It was all he could do to not clap his hooves at how much he was under Dusk’s fur right now. With any luck Dusk would hit him. The publicity would be priceless. “Yes I've read about the 'asylum's the Nightmare keeps. Places of torture to break the will of anyone that supports Princess Celestia as the true ruler of Equestria.”

Dusk actually laughed out loud, drawing Rosetta’s attention as he apologised for interrupting her lecture he hissed a reply. “You truly are stupid. “Your family lost their money not their brains. Torture was outlawed by Aunt Tia three hundred years ago!”

“Laugh all you want Prince Charming. Princess Celestia did, but the Nightmare doesn't think any rule her sister makes applies to her, and I'm sure you follow in her evil hoofsteps.”

Dusk leant in close so there was no chance that Blitzwing missed what he said next. “Keep on insulting my family and you might find out, pauper.”

Blitzwing chuckled at Dusk’s attempts to get back at him. The dumb Prince just didn’t get it, not at all. “Better poor and free than rich and enslaved. We will break you and your ill-gotten wealth will go to those that deserve if for their loyalty to the true crown.”

Dusk scoffed in the dark grey stallion’s face. “Well good luck with that. Mom's seen off bigger threats than an impoverished family of noponies in her sleep!” Dusk lowered his tone, as threatening as he could manage, “I don't know how you found out about Wily's suspension, but lay off Blitz.”

Blitzwing turned his attention away from the infuriated Prince, content that he’d stoked the fires of dissention. All he had to do now was keep them kindled. “I told everypony how I found out.” He smiled, not bothering to look at Dusk as he answered him. “I don't think I need to say any more about it.”

Dusk stared at him, long and hard as Rosetta began to wind up the class. “Darkstar never said anything to you and you know it.”

Blitzwing straightened his papers, putting them in his folder and raised a hoof to his chin, deep in thought. “Did I say she told me directly? I may have misspoke.” He snickered at the look on Dusk’s face, “Darkstar and Cyclone should be careful where they gossip. Anypony could overhear…”

“You bastard...y'know...Aunt Tia doesn't look too kindly on underhooved ponies like you.”

The stallion sniggered as he packed away his things. “Your 'Aunt' must have a pretty low opinion of you then. I can think of no one more underhooved. Too bad you don't have a real royal’s lineage, like Prince Blueblood.”

“Oh really?” Dusk grinned as he started to put his own things in his saddlebag, “You really think you're in Celestia's good graces? You think she looks upon your family favourably?” Dusk flashed him a nasty dangerous smile, “I might just have to change that.”

Blitzwing paused for a split second as he opened his bag. The thought of losing Celestia’s support sent chills through his being. Recovering quickly he decided to front it out. “Big talk from a small prince. I'm sure that Princess Celestia will not fall for your lies or deceit.”

Dusk caught the momentary pause and pushed a little harder; “Oh no? Sure about that are we? "Tickle us, do we not laugh? Prick us, do we not bleed? Wrong us...do we not revenge? All it'll take is a few little words from me...”

Blitzwing recovered his composure after a little mental kick to himself, and proceeded to roll his eyes at the Prince. “Dusk, I grow wearing of your droning and would have liked to have listened to Professor Rosetta. Are you happy you ruined her lecture?”

Dusk smiled as he finished packing his things away and Blitzwing did the same. “That's what I thought. Leave my friends alone or I’ll make sure Celestia exiles your whole bloodline.”

~ ~ ~

Lunch time rolled around much quicker than everypony was expecting that day. Blitzwing entered the school cafeteria and scanned the tables for his new best friend. He found Darkstar sitting alone a few tables away, Wildfire sat alone at the next table over and Dusk was with Cyclone at the far end of the row of tables.

Smiling to himself at how easily he’d managed to drive a wedge between Dusk’s supporters he trotted to the vending machine and goy himself a foul coffee. Making his way over to Darkstar’s table he briefly reflected that no matter how advanced technology became, vending machine coffee would always be awful. Blitzwing blamed the Zebras.

“May I sit here?” The dark grey stallion slid onto the seating pad as Darkstar looked up and nodded. As long she was able to eat her sandwich she didn’t care where he sat. “Darkstar, I want to thank you for keeping me in the loop. You are a true friend.” Blitzwing raised his coffee in a mock toast to the white mare.

Darkstar swallowed her mouthful of daisy and sunflower sandwich, not really listening to the pegasus opposite her; “Huh?” She asked, wondering what his game was now, “Whaddya mean now Blitz?”

Wildfire spat out her own daisy sandwich. The fact that Blitzwing had said it loud to be heard on purpose didn’t enter her head. Nor did she stop to consider her actions as she got up from her pad and stomped over to her friend. “Tell me I didn't just hear that?” She asked, spinning the unicorn to face her.

If this wasn’t so easy Blitzwing would’ve suggested ‘Wildfire Baiting’ as a sport for the next Equestria Games. “Can you leave us in peace Wildfire? You're not wanted here.” He smirked, taking a sip of his awful coffee.

“Wily, I dunno what...”

“You wanna pal around with him? Fine, ‘Darkstar’.” Wildfire interrupted her friend, spitting her name with as much venom as she could muster.

Blitzwing merely sat back and watched the implosion happen in front of him with a wide smile, mouthing the word ‘shoo’ as he made a shooing motion to Wildfire with his hoof.

Darkstar shot a look to the two pegasi, utterly confused, “Look, Wily…”

“You don't call me WILY!” The yellow mare cut across her friend again, yelling as she shoved her hard with her forehoof, so hard the skin turned red under her white fur. “Shoo me again Blitz, I'll knock you out!”

Blitzwing just sat there and laughed in her face as Cyclone appeared at Wildfire’s side, laying a black hoof on her shoulder, “Cool it Wily, he's playing you!”

“Mind your own Cy!” Wildfire angrily shook her friend’s hoof away from her and turned her attention back to the stallion, who ignored her and addressed the poor unicorn again.

“Of course Darkstar, you and your brother are welcome round anytime.”

“What the Tartarus are you on about?” Darkstar hissed as Blitzwing took another drink of his coffee, relishing his little floor show.

“Oh you're besties now? Thanks!” Wildfire yelled in her friend’s face as she reared up to her hindlegs and shoved both forehooves to the white mares chest, almost knocking her off her pad.

Darkstar recovered herself with an audible ‘oof!’ and leapt to her hooves, her muzzle inches from her friend’s, teeth bared in a rare snarl; “Shove me again Wildfire and you can shove your friendship up your ass!”

“I'll just leave you two fillies to sort it out.” Blitzwing grinned as he got up and moved away.

Wildfire watched him leave, her chest heaving as she breathed heavy, her temper boiling in her veins, “You gonna say sorry then, or what?”

Darkstar was stunned to be asked for an apology now, and her own temper rose, colouring her white fur a faint red; “What for?” She reared up and shoved Wildfire back as hard she could, “I HAVEN'T DONE ANYTHING YOU DUMB BITCH!” She screamed, finally drawing the attention of every other pony in the cafeteria.

Wildfire stumbled back a few steps, looking at the spot where Darkstar had shoved her. She didn’t care the slightest about the growing crowd of students, her temper finally snapped; “YOU KNOW WHAT YOU DID!” Wildfire screamed back as she pulled her left foreleg back and landed a hard punch to her friends’ chest, staggering her backwards and causing her to trip over her seating pad.

“OOW!” Darkstar exclaimed as she hit the floor hard.

“Stop this now!” Wildfire paused, snorting angered breaths through her nose as Professor Claves pushed his way through the crowd of students, the ponies parting and scattering to watch from their tables.

“You're Wildfire, aren't you?” The music teacher asked the yellow pegasus, taking in the scene before him. “Get your flank to Principal Legacy's office.”

Wildfire turned and stomped off without a second glance to her friend, shooting scowling looks to everypony who dared to get in her way. As her black tail disappeared through the doors Professor Claves addressed the mare pulling herself to her hooves; “Who are you?”

“I'm...D - Darkstar, Sir,” She stuttered, dusting herself down.

“To Vice Principal Colour's office if you please.”

Darkstar couldn’t believe this…not only had Wildfire snapped and attacked her for totally no reason, now she was being sent to the Vice Principal’s office. In four years she’d not seen the inside of that room. “But...but Sir,” She whimpered as tears started leaking tracks down her cheeks, “I haven't DONE anything!”

Professor Claves was unconvinced, “Save your tears for somepony else. I saw you shove Ms. Wildfire, and I saw her shove you harder.”

“F - Fine...Sir…” Darkstar slumped her shoulders in defeat and slouched off towards Water Colour’s office, her tail between her legs.

Cyclone watched her leave the cafeteria before retaking her seating pad opposite Dusk, a disbelieving look on her face. “What the buck just happened?”

~ ~ ~

Water Colour looked up from his paperwork as he heard the knock at his door. Of all the students at the university he never thought he’d be seeing this particular pony in his office. “Enter.”

The Vice Principal looked the unicorn over as Darkstar entered, shaking from her ears to her hooves and with tears streaming from her eyes. She looked as stunned to be there as he was to see her. “Ms. Darkstar I wish we were meeting under better circumstances,” He opened with a kind reassuring tone, “Professor Claves informs me you were seen shoving Ms. Wildfire in the cafeteria. I know that Ms. Wildfire has a bit of a temper, so why did you do this?”

Darkstar stumbled over her hooves to the seating pad offered to her and sat down before she fell down; “W - Wily accused me of something I haven't done, Sir. She's been accusing me all day!”

Water Colour smiled, “And what accusation is that?” He asked, hoofing over a box of tissues to the weeping unicorn.

Darkstar took a tissue in her yellow magical grasp and dabbed her eyes, “She...she accused me of telling Blitzwing why Wily was suspended, Sir.”

“Why am I not surprised that Mr. Blitzwing’s name involved.” Water Colour sighed before he continued, “In an earlier session with Ms Wildfire she told me you were one of her dearest friends.”

The unicorn sniffed, and wiped her moistening eyes again with a clean tissue. “I...I thought I was, Sir.”

“Violence will solve nothing, but Ms. Wildfire easily forgets that lesson.” The Vice Principal smiled, motioning for her to stand, “Try to refrain from shoving students. You are dismissed Ms. Darkstar.”

“Yes Sir...thank you Sir,” Darkstar got up to leave, and turned as she paused at the door, “I am sorry, Professor Colour.”

~ ~ ~

Wildfire muttered to herself as she stomped along to the Principals office, occasionally kicking the floor with the toe of her hoof. She was still seething when she approached Last Legacy’s door, outraged that it had been Darkstar of all her friends that had betrayed her. Grinding her teeth she knocked twice on the door, hard.

“Enter.”

Wildfire hoofed open the door with a stronger than necessary kick, and stomped into the Principal’s office, not waiting to be invited to do so before she threw herself on the pad, mashing it to get comfy.

Last Legacy watched this little drama show with a bemused expression. “Good afternoon Ms. Wildfire,” he said after he was sure the pegasus was comfortable. “Welcome to your second day of school, and your second visit with me.”

Wildfire looked all around the office, except at the unicorn sat in front of her. “Good afternoon...Sir.” The resentful mare just remembered her manners in time.

Last Legacy spared her the barest of nods as he read over the report Claves had emailed him from the cafeteria; “The report is that Ms. Darkstar shoved you first. Is that true?”

“Yeah! She...she...” Wildfire started hotly, her temper still bristling…but, she trailed off. No matter how upset she was she knew it wasn’t true. And she might’ve been many things, but a liar wasn’t one of them. “N - No, no it's…not true, Sir.”

“So,” the unicorn asked as he placed the report on his desk, “Did something happen before Professor Claves saw Ms. Darkstar shove you?”

Wildfire looked down at the floor, her voice all sullen. “Yes Sir, it did.”

“Explain please.”

Wildfire considered what had happened that morning up to the lunch break. A horrible sinking feeling settled in her gut as she realised she had been played. “This morning Blitzwing said Darkie told him why I'd been suspended. She denied it, but only she and my friends knew! We've been arguing all morning about it. Then in the cafeteria Blitz was making out like they're the best of buddies, I...I went over and I um...confronted her. I shoved Darkie twice before she shoved me, Sir.”

“After she did shove you did you knock her off her hooves?” Last Legacy asked when Wildfire paused for breath.

Wildfire nodded, sitting up on her haunches, the yellow mare finally saw the trap that Blitzwing had set up, the one she’d blundered blindly into. “Y - Yes Sir, I, I shoved her to the floor, Sir.”

“Well, this is the first incident with Ms. Darkstar so I'm sure that Professor Colour will be lenient on her. Does that bother you?”

Wildfire shifted uncomfortably on the seating pad, she hated that her friend had been punished because of her foolishness. “It...it bothers me she's been sent to the Vice Principal at all, Sir.”

The Principal gave her a long hard look. “Ms. Wildfire, shoving another pony will get you that. I'm happy to see you've made up with Mr. Blitzwing though instead of fighting with him. I do find it odd that Professor Colour would have gotten this report about you wrong though. He is usually quite reliable.”

“I haven't made up with him! I hate the homophobic plothole!” Wildfire stomped her hooves in frustration and anger, quite forgetting where she was at that point. “And as far as Darkie goes, I'm not a liar. I shoved her twice then she shoved me…” The young mare snorted, trying to get her breathing under control as she realised her omission; “Sir,” she added hastily.

Last Legacy regarded the pegasus carefully for a few moments as she regained control of her emotions. “Really, I thought Professor Colour had it wrong when he said you were best friends with Ms. Darkstar and antagonistic with Mr. Blitzwing since you believe Mr. Blitzwing and don't believe Ms. Darkstar, I thought the opposite was true.”

Wildfire looked away from her Principal, ashamed suddenly to meet his gaze. “We are...were, friends. I um…I dunno about now...I really don't…” She trailed off quietly as tears welled, stinging her brown eyes.

“Your penalty will be the same Professor Colour gave you two weeks ago. You will write a letter of apology to Ms. Darkstar and turn it into Professor Quill before the end of class. He will review it. You can refuse this with no penalty though as officially Ms. Darkstar started this incident.” Last Legacy rested his hooves on his desk as he thought for a moment. “I do believe you need to end it though.” He finished with a smile.

Wildfire dried her eyes with a hoof; “What do I do?”

The old unicorn sighed, rubbing his temples with his hooves. He swore he’d never understand the young, other than youth was wasted on it. “I do believe you need to decide who your true friends are Ms. Wildfire. But if you have never made a mistake, then maybe I can see why you can't forgive another. I recommend you write the letter. Professor Quill has told me the letter you wrote to Mr. Blitzwing was very professional.”

“I'm…” Wildfire sniffed back the last few tears as she dried her eyes, “I'm good with writing, Sir, and I have made mistakes, Hot Spot will tell you that, I'm scared I've blown it with Darkie.”

“It saddens me to see a friendship end over a misunderstanding. Still you can only do so much. The rest is up to Ms. Darkstar. Maybe you can still rally some mutual friends to support you. In the end it may be too late, then you need to make an effort to learn this lesson and not repeat it. Princess Twilight says that every pony should get a second chance before you declare them false.”

Wildfire nodded, finally managing a weak smile. “And we have been friends a long time. Thank you, Sir, thank you very much.” The yellow mare slid off her seating pad and began to trot to the office door.

“Ms. Wildfire,” Last Legacy stopped her as she had her hoof on the door handle. “One last piece of advice, no, I take that back. This is more a warning. While I would like conversation to be civil, I know that differing opinions can get heated, but I will not tolerate physical altercations. If you lay a hoof on Mr. Blitzwing for the rest of this semester not only will I suspend you for a month, but I will ensure you are escorted home. Do we understand each other Ms. Wildfire?”

Wildfire’s eyes went wide with fear at the very thought of being escorted home, to her dad especially. “No...no y - you can't escort me home...please Sir no!”

Last Legacy shook his head, there was something going on with his student and her dad. He made a mental note to follow it up at a future time. “Then heed my warning. Mr. Blitzwing is very good at politics and he has played you well. I will not have you taking revenge because of his actions. If anything you need to understand how easy it was for him to manipulate you.”

“I will, yes Sir, I'll mind your warning, just please…don't send me home!” Wildfire’s hoof trembled on the door handle at the very thought.

As the Principal scribbled out the pass for his student, he again made a note to check out her home situation. Whatever the case may be, nopony should be that scared to go home. “That choice is yours to make Ms. Wildfire. Here is your pass to the library, if you choose to write the letter, otherwise report back to your next class.”

Wildfire took the pass in a shaky hoof, “I'll write it Sir, I will.”

The unicorn got up and trotted round his desk to lay a reassuring hoof on his students shoulder. “You are dismissed and try to not pay me an official visit again today.”

“I won't, thank you Professor.”

~ ~ ~

“Wily, want a drink?” A voice whispered in her left ear.

Wildfire turned to answer, and found nopony there, just a glass of moonshine floating in a yellow aura. Smiling she took the glass in her hoof and turned back to the bar in Dusk’s suite. Without looking to her right she extended her wing and pulled the grinning unicorn into a hug. “Darkie…how long are you gonna keep this up?” She smiled, taking a sip of her drink, “I said sorry like, a thousand times already…”

“Oh I know you did, that wasn’t punishing you that was just for fun!” Darkstar grinned, lighting her horn again, and once more her voice sounded at Wildfire’s left ear. “You’re so easy to play you know…”

"Go away Darkie, before you make me regret spending the past week apologising to you.”

"You know you love me really…” Darkstar pulled herself from the feathery hug and sauntered away, swaying her hips as did turned to blow Wildfire a kiss over her shoulder.

“Git…” Wildfire muttered with a rueful smile and took another sip of her drink as she watched her friend flaunt her sexy hips while she trotted over to Dusk and played her trick again.

"Hey Wily!" Air raid yelled suddenly and without warning into her left ear.

“Whaaa!” The new unexpected voice to her left startled her once more, this time making her jump a clear three feet in the air, spilling some of the drink down her front. Hovering back to her pad at the bar she pouted at her marefriend. “Very funny Raid, is it bully Wily night or something?”

Air Raid sniggered, draining the last of her glass. “You’re only sore cos your pranks are rubbish.” Putting her glass back on the bar she leant forward and started to lick and suck the moonshine from Wildfire’s fur, causing the yellow mare to blush profusely as her other friends whooped and whistled.

“Raid…not here, in front of everypony!” Wildfire hissed as she tried to push the lime green mare off of her.

“Oh shush…” Air Raid giggled, licking her mare’s chest fur the wrong way and making it all stand up. “Nopony’s looking, except Brightstar. Right Brighty?” Air Raid raised her hoof to the watching unicorn as she kissed Wildfire’s nose.

“Right you are Raid, you carry on.” Brightstar nodded over to the two mares, the voyeuristic stallion crossed his hindlegs as he took a drink of his moonshine.

Over the other side of the room Darkstar decided to leave Dusk alone and trotted off to find a fresh victim, settling on Slingshot stood alone at the stereo, hoofing through a few cd’s. Lighting her horn she muffled her hooves and crept up behind the pink stallion, intent on pranking him next.

The white unicorn got to within a foot of her prey and was about to jump his flanks when… “Hey Darkie!” He turned and gave her a wink as he finished the beer he was holding in his hoof.

"What! How in Equestria did you hear me?” She stomped a hoof as she dissipated her yellow aura surrounding her hooves. “They were muffled!”

Slingshot sniggered as he put his empty beer bottle down. “You muffled your hooves but you forgot to muffle your giggles.” He chuckled, pointing to the cd he’d been holding, “And you were reflected in the cd.”

“Cheat…” Darkstar pouted playfully and reached a hoof to pull her escaped prank victim into a hug, wholly unaware of the stallion’s deep blush at the close contact.

“Dusk…what the buck is this?” Cyclone asked with a look of disgust on her face directed at the contents of her glass that Dusk had just poured for her.

“Well…” Dusk grinned at the black mare as she sat on her pad, the nappy on her rump crinkling and puffing under her weight. “Orange juice. Little foals love their juice Cy.” He giggled at the outraged pout on her muzzle.

“Nana Raid! Dusky’s being mean!”

Air Raid ceased in her licking of Wildfire’s fur to glance over at her friend being utterly adorable in her nappy. “It's alright D, the little filly can have one of whatever she wants, she’s been a good girl.”

“Beer please Dusky.” Cyclone stuck out her tongue as Dusk opened the drinks cabinet and proceeded to pour her her beer. “So…” She asked when her drink was placed in front of her a and finished off with her favourite pink straw, “What’s the occasion? Not that we’d refuse a party you understand…”

“Hmm? Oh…I dunno, this is Darkie’s thing, you’d have to ask her, hang on a sec,” Dusk got himself a moonshine from the keg on the bar as he raised his voice to the white unicorn, distracting her from her second attempt at pranking Slingshot. “Hey Darkie! What did you ask us here for?”

“Oh! Right! I never said did I?” Darkstar giggled as she put her moonshine down in her magical hold and trotted over to the far end of the suite, where a little stage had been prepared. “Right, well y’know how I tried out for the Sapphire Shores Dance school in Las Pegasus? I got a letter a few days ago saying I was down to the top fifteen candidates and they want me to dance again!”

Darkstar flushed happily as her friends gave her a round of whoops and whistles, mixed with a few hoof stomps and ‘alright’s’ and other encouragements. “So…I’ve developed a new routine, with a bit of a ‘twist’ I’ve added for good measure, and I want your honest opinions ‘kay?”

“Um…what kind of ‘twist’ Darkie?” Wildfire asked with her hoof in the air.

“It's an illusion spell Wily, called ‘Desire’. I’ll start the routine and cast the spell on you all. Then, if it works, you’ll stop seeing me and see the creature you most desire in the world dancing instead.”

“Well…that sounds interesting,” Dusk commented as he leant on the bar. “Need any music?”

Slingshot sniggered; “You offering Dusk?”

“Oh please,” Darkstar giggled, “Sorry Dusky your stuff’s nice and all, but unless you’ve got anything Vocal does, I’ll stick to my own cd. Bro, if you don’t mind?”

“Nah sis I got it.” Brightstar levitated a Republica cd out of his sister’s saddlebag and trotted over to the stereo system.

"Actually," Air Raid asked as she cracked open her third beer, “Speaking of Vocal, its Saturday, where is your little pooch?”

“Oh…mom decided she wanted to take him for his walkies tonight,” Dusk replied, a look of concern on his face, “Actually that was a few hours ago now, I should ring her, make sure they’re alright.” Dusk reached a hoof for his phone as Slingshot snickered at him.

“Yeah Dusk, I’m sure your mom is in real difficulty,” the pink stallion giggled at the thought, “Can you imagine a noblepony having the nerve to approach her and say ‘I say, Goddess of the Night and co-ruler of our land, do you mind awfully not walking that pony on a leash?’, she’d banish them to the sun!”

"You're right Shot, but even so I'll ring…” Dusk dialled his mom’s number as they all shared the joke and invented weird and wonderful punishments for all the nobles in Canterlot.

“Yes, son, what can I do you for?” Luna asked as she answered Dusk’s call, “You and your friends need more moonshine already?”

“No mom, we aren’t quite as bad as yourself and aunt Tia,” Dusk grinned, the images of his mom and aunt passed out for a couple of days in a drunken coma swam across his mind.

“Oh hush, Twi raised the sun and moon, nopony noticed, it's all good.” The pegasus could all but feel the giggle in his mom’s voice, “Whatever’s the matter then?”

"I just wondered where you and Vocal are, you've been gone ages."

“Walkies, dear.” Luna replied, and in answer to Dusk’s next question answered; “I admit I got carried away, and before we knew it we were down past the Residential District before your pup needed to relieve himself. Anyway we’ve been back about an hour, your mum saw him and wanted to play.”

Dusk felt mortified...they'd left the gardens and walked all the way to the Residential District... “Mom…you went where? Countless ponies must’ve seen you!”

“Oh…hundreds at least. Including this sweet little filly who came up and petted your pup while I chatted with her mother. I told you last week Dusk, you have nothing to be embarrassed about. Vocal enjoyed his walk. Anyway if you want your pet back I'm afraid he’s asleep, we did rather tire him out, the poor thing.”

“Alright mom, and thank you…” Dusk grumbled as he hung up his phone and turned to Air Raid. “Apparently Raid he’s all tired out over in mom’s suite.

“Aw…maybe next time you walk him to the Merchant District D?” The lime green mare sniggered as Dusk stuck his tongue out at her.

At that moment, Darkstar stepped out onto the little stage, and everypony’s mouth hung open, including Dusk’s. The white mare had donned her crimson socks with three black stars on them, a thin strip of crimson material that just about qualified as panties covered her rump and marehood, which it needed to as her tail had a knot at its base, lifting it up high. Faint purple eyeshadow completed her look.

Slingshot almost dropped his glass, “Sweet Celestia…”

“Y – Yeah…” Was all Dusk could manage in agreement.

Darkstar approached the pole in the middle of the stage and reared up to stand on her hindlegs. Taking the pole with a foreleg she started her routine, twirling around it as she danced for her assembled friends. A few seconds into her dance she flipped herself upside down, her body secured by her legs wrapped around the pole. As she spun she lit her horn and silently cast her spell.

Darkstar tried to gauge her friends reactions, trying to work out if her spell had worked or not. Nothing was different for a few moments, and as her heart started to sink she forced a smile and fell back on her practised routine.

It was around forty five second into her dance that Darkstar started to notice a change in her audience. Subtle at first, from the way they looked at her, the very way they stood or sat around the stage, the effect became more and more pronounced as she carried on her routine around the pole. By the time she was done they were all on their hooves, stomping and cheering, the three stallions were fully erect from their sheaths, and judging by the smell the mares were hot for her too.

Darkstar cancelled the Desire spell as the song and her dance ended. Out of breath she propped herself against the pole while she watched her friends slowly shake their heads as the effects of the illusion wore off.

“B…Bucking hell Darkie…” Air Raid whispered, her seating pad soaked wet through from her arousal.

“S – sis…sweet Celestia…” Brightstar didn’t bother trying to hide his erect member as he took several deep breaths.

“So…did it work?” Darkstar asked as she stepped down from the stage, her breathing finally under control. “Well, what did everypony see?” The showmare asked, levitating a beer to her in her magic. “I mean, I know it's a personal thing, I just wondered what I became for you all.”

Nopony answered straight away, they were too busy blushing and trying to hide the various signs of their excitement. Except Cyclone, who was panting fit to burst. “That, was, amazing!” The black mare enthused, her wings erect, as were the other pegasi’s, “I saw my old Nana, SugarBelle.”

"Really Cy? Your old Nana?” Brightstar sniggered.

“Well who did you see then, mr. ‘My sister gave me a raging boner?’

“A griffon female.” Brightstar admitted.

“I saw Vocal, in collar, leash and wearing a muzzle guard.” Dusk’s face erupted in a full crimson blush, and decided to deflect attention from himself, “How about you Wily?”

Wildfire shot him a nasty look as she cleared her throat, and tried to hide behind her wings, but they wouldn’t cooperate so she just squeaked out a name that nopony could hear.

“Squeak up Wily, we didn't quite hear that sweetie.” Air Raid sniggered next to her marefriend.

“I said I saw Calculus, alright?” Wildfire tried again without success to hide behind her wings. “With a crop, a blindfold and hoofcuffs…”

“Well…” Air Raid nudged her barrel as her friends laughed, “That’s given me a few ideas for later, but Calculus? Really? She’s like, fifty or something!”

“Oh shut up you…”

“I saw a Zebra mare, she was gorgeous!” Air Raid’s wings stiffened up again at the thought of the muscular stripy mare gyrating sensuously around the pole.

“What about you Shot?” Cyclone asked the pink stallion, aware that he hadn’t spoken up yet.

Slingshot didn’t answer. He drained his beer and reached for another, cracking it open and draining half of it.

“Hey…” Darkstar trotted over to the earth pony and laid a hoof on his shoulder, “It’s alright, you can tell us, whatever you saw can’t be worse than Wily’s new marefriend…” The unicorn gave an uncertain giggle, which silenced after Slingshot shook her hoof away.

“C’mon Shot, it's your turn, spill!” Air Raid called out, her wings finally under control.

“Will you all just leave it!?” Slingshot slammed his beer bottle down, “I saw Darkstar dancing alright? I watched her cast her spell, I saw her dance. Nothing changed. Nice prank Darkstar.”

“Wha…prank? No…no Shot it wasn’t a prank!” Darkstar’s hoof hovered in mid air, she wanted to comfort her friend, but she was mindful of the newly repaired friendship with Wildfire, and how that fallout had started. Instead she looked to Air Raid for help.

“Course it was a prank!” Slingshot stomped his hoof in frustration, “You’ve been trying to get me all night, well congratulations, Darkstar, you got me!”

“Don't be an idiot Shot, Darkie wouldn't get you like that, and we all saw something different, chill out!”

Slingshot snorted his derision and stomped towards the door of the suite. With the alcohol in his system he never even entertained the possibility that he’d seen Darkstar because she was what he actually desired. “I'm an idiot am I now?”

Darkstar followed him to the door, tears in her yellow eyes. “Slingshot, please! I'm sorry it didn’t work for you, come back please!”

"Get bucked, all of you..." Slingshot threw open the door, stomped through and slammed it shut behind him, leaving the other six ponies in a stunned silence.

The awkward pregnant silence continued for what felt like hours, the only sound was the ticking of the clock on the wall marking the passage of the seconds. Nopony seemed to even breathe.

Nopony heard Air Raid’s giggle break the silence, just as they didn’t really notice when she slid off the seating pad and slowly, hesitantly made her way over to the bar and help herself to another glass of moonshine.

The lime green mare turned and started to stagger back towards Wildfire and her wetted pad, when she passed behind Dusk and sniggered, rubbing his flanks with a wingtip.

“Raid…” Dusk flinched at the unexpected contact at his hindquarters, “What the hay?”

“Y’know Dusky,” Air Raid slurred as she used her wing to prop herself up on Dusk’s back, “I love…hic...how your moon shines...”

Dusk’s pink eyes went wide, the pupils dilating in panic; “W-Wait…I, I thought you liked mares?” The midnight blue pegasus stammered as his friends finally noticed what Air Raid had done and started whooping and whistling.

“Wh…what?” Air Raid shook her addled head, “Mares? Wait! I do! I…uh…I like your moonshine…is what I meant to say, that's what I said, meant to say…”

2.6 - School Hard With A Vengeance (Edited)

2.6 - School Hard With A Vengeance

Dusk Melody was bored.

Actually it was fair to say Dusk was very bored. He’d spent the last weeks’ worth of evenings hoofing his way through dozens of books borrowed from Twilight’s library and the Canterlot Royal Archives. Snapping one shut with a grunt of irritation he threw it to one side and reached for another in the huge pile of dusty tomes on his desk.

“What the hay am I doing?” He asked himself for what felt like the hundredth time as he opened up the next book in the pile. He hoofed through the pages of ‘Noble Genealogy volume three and asked himself that same question again. Celestia’s sake it was a sunny Saturday, his friends were having fun, his Vocal was curled up asleep in his pet bed at the side of the desk having been walked again by him mom and here he was in his suite sifting through hundred year old books!

“Ugh…this is hopeless…” He muttered to himself grudgingly. Although…it hadn't been totally pointless. Dusk had managed to track Blitzwing’s family tree right back to the year eleven hundred, a hundred years after his mother had been banished to the moon. Progress though it was he needed to go back to the very first stallion, the first of the family line for his plan to work.

"I'll get you Blitz..." He thought as he was tempted to give it up. The thought prompted him to reach for another book and go back through another fifty or so years of pony family history. Dusk resolved to keep looking. He had warned Blitzwing last Monday at university in Rosetta’s Languages class he’d make sure his Aunt punished his family if he carried on messing with his friends, and the midnight blue pegasus was determined to make good on his threat.

Groaning inwardly Dusk leant over and picked up his cup of almost cold earl grey tea. Without thinking he took a swallow and winced. Placing his chip back on its coaster he leafed back through more of Blitzwing’s family history, cross referencing families and bloodlines, tracing them back over the centuries. Absent mindedly he turned over a few pages in his hoof and froze.

There it was. On the ancient page in front of him in faded mouth writing was the barely legible script showing the start of the bully’s line. Baron Ravenwing, born to Marquess Ravenwing and Marchioness Midnight Moon in the year eight hundred and fifty three.

“Damn…” Dusk grinned. There was the name he’d been looking for. As he reached for his pen and a scrap of paper to note the names down he reflected how it was suddenly well worth spending every spare moment of the past week looking through enough dusty old books to give Twilight a small orgasm.

Grabbing another piece of paper he left a note for the slumbering Vocal. It didn’t seem fair to wake his pet when his parents had walked him all the way to the train tunnel that cut through Canterlot Mountain and back again. Gently the midnight blue Pegasus placed the note in the pet bed and gave his unicorn a soft kiss on his lips. Vocal Chord murmured in his sleep and rolled over as Dusk made his way quietly out of his suite and headed to his mom’s chambers.

~ ~ ~

Dusk nodded to the bat pony guards as he approached his mom’s door. He recognised the younger mare, Midnight Blossom, from her free time she spent in the royal gardens. Last Sunday she even worked up the nerve to ask if she could throw Vocal his ball. She returned his nod with a ready smile that earned her a frown from the older stallion, Night Watch.

“Your Highness,” Night Watch offered in greeting as he and his partner bowed and stood aside to allow him entry, “Princess Luna is expecting you.”

“Thank you Night Watch.” Dusk had to continuously fight the urge to call him ‘father’ on duty. Such informality mortified him, and Dusk had been taken to task over doing just that twice in the past.

Hoofing open the large doors Dusk entered his mom’s expansive suite. Immediately his ears picked up the most beautiful music coming from the main chamber. At once he smiled as he made his way through the small hallway, the sound of the cello getting progressively louder. Dusk always loved the way the music seemed to soothe his very soul when his mum played.

Luna was reclining on her sofa, her back to him as Dusk entered the main chamber of the suite. Beyond her Octavia was stood with her cello, eyes closed, utterly lost in the piece she was playing. His ear picked up the piece, Polonaise in C major, a favourite of his mom’s. And of his own, if he was honest. It was one of the first pieces Octavia had taught him on his violin.

“Mom?” Dusk announced his presence quietly so as not to interrupt the performance as he approached the sofa, though he was sure a bomb could go off and his mum would keep playing.

“Dusk!” Luna smiled and shifted on the sofa, making room for her son to sit next to her. “How nice of you to stop by, finally. We were going to issue a search party for you.”

"Mom…” Dusk rolled his eyes at his mom, who cut him off with a smirk.

“I mean, it's been so long since we’ve seen you, Tavi has to look at photographs to remember what her boy looks like.”

“Mom!”

“My apologies Dusk, to what do we owe the pleasure of your company?” Luna paused her teasing long enough to give her son a warm hug, “Did you find whatever it was you were looking for all this week?”

“Um…yes, actually I did,” Dusk shifted uncomfortably on the sofa and looked him mom in the eyes. She never really spoke of the time before her banishment, nor the period of time itself, which was understandable. Still, if Dusk was to get the evidence he needed, he’d have to ask. “Mom, do you remember an old noble family by the name of Ravenwing?

“Ravenwing…Ravenwing…” Luna tapped her chin with a hoof as she thought for a moment, then her face dropped as she remembered the family her son had asked about. She had hoped to not hear the name again. “Why in Equestria would you be asking about them?” She asked with a quiet terseness in her voice that Octavia immediately picked up on, the bow of her cello wavered ever so as she dropped a couple of notes of her piece.

Luna did indeed remember the Ravenwing family. In the years leading up to her fall, before the Nightmare had taken hold of her the nobles of the Ravenwing family had been foremost amongst her supporters. They had even gone so far as to celebrate her night. Every year on the winter solstice the family had held huge parties, dances and celebrations in her honour. The Ravenwing’s had considered themselves first amongst the ‘Lunaites’, as her supporters called themselves.

“Lulu…” Octavia had noticed her wife’s change in mood, the slight twitch in her eye that while silent spoke volumes. “Are you alright my love?”

"I'm fine Octavia.” That she had used her beloveds full name had given away that she was indeed, not fine. Inwardly she cursed herself. “Please, continue playing, pet.”

Silently Octavia nodded, took hold of her cello and drew the bow across the strings, “Yes, Mistress.”

“Mom…are you alright?” Dusk asked as he also noted the minute change in his mother’s demeanour.

"Hush Dusk.” Luna silenced her son with a wave of a hoof and took a deep breath before she continued. “The Ravenwing family were staunch supporters of mine, until I fell to the Nightmare. When I turned, they turned on me. They removed their support and gave it to Celestia instead. I…Nightmare Moon, wasn’t kind to them Dusk. I was betrayed. By those who by their own claim were my allies. I stripped them of much of their wealth and land. When I came back from the moon a relative of the family was one of the first nobles to request I be sent back. ” Luna blinked away a tear at the memories of those dark times.

"Mom…I thought…is there any chance, you could maybe restore the family? Dusk asked as he laid his hoof on his mother’s, suddenly wishing he hadn’t raised this subject.

“Restore them?” Luna asked incredulously as she shook off her son's hoof, an irritated scowl on her muzzle. "The matter is closed, and I do not wish to discuss it any further Dusk. Take it up with my sister, she’s the one they worship now.”

"Mom...please…"

“The matter is closed Dusk!” Luna sprang from the sofa and stomped a hoof on the carpeted floor, leaving a visible dent. “Now leave me be son!” Princess Luna turned on her hoof and stomped off to her bedroom, magically opening and slamming the door behind her.

Dusk glanced over to where his mum had been playing when he noticed the music had stopped. Octavia had put her cello away in its case and trotted over to the young stallion. The pegasus shrank back on the sofa, hiding from the look of thunder on his mum’s face. “Dusk…” The earth pony mare delivered his name with a rare venom, “Luna may not recognise the current bearer of that family name. I do.”

Octavia moved her muzzle scant inches from her sons. “If this is some infantile game you’re playing to score points with your little friends and Blitzwing then so help me Dusk I’ll never forgive you for upsetting your mother.”

Dusk looked away, unable to meet his mum’s intense gaze as an icy block of guilt wrapped in his gut. “Mum…I…”

“That’s what I thought.” Octavia turned her back on Dusk and trotted over yo the bedroom door. “Dusk,” she paused in the doorway, “You need to grow up and end this with Blitzwing or somepony you care about is going to end up hurt.”

~ ~ ~

“Ah…Dusk, good afternoon,” Princess Celestia looked up from her little table beside the large window. Her sun poured warm light through into her suite as she poured herself a cup of tea from the teapot held in her magic. “You’re in time for afternoon tea.” She indicated a seating pad opposite her, “Won't you join me?”

Dusk sniffed, breathing deeply of the scent that came from the teapot. He and his aunt had always shared a love of earl grey tea. He nodded, taking the offered pad with a smile, noting, not for the first time, how diametrically different his aunt’s suite was to his mother's. Where hers was decorated in black marble and tapestries depicting the constellations his aunt’s quarters were purest white shot through with gold sun decorations.

Dusk smiled as the alicorn poured him a cup, ‘Just like night and day,’ he thought, though he supposed, that was probably the point.

“So, to what do I owe this visit from my favourite nephew?” Celestia asked as she took her cup in her magical hold and brought it to her lips.

“Favourite above Blueblood isn't really saying very much auntie.” They both shared a little chuckle at that.

“No, no I suppose it isn’t,” Celestia’s giggles died away and took another sip of her tea, “Now, is there something I can help you with Dusk? Only…” Dusk saw his aunt's gaze drift towards the large stack of official notes and orders stacked on her table, “I do have paperwork to attend to before today's court session.”

“Sorry to take up your time auntie, I’ll be quick, see I wanted to ask you about a noble family…”

Celestia held up an alabaster hoof. “Dusk, let me stop you there. You’re playing a very dangerous game, asking about the Ravenwing family.”

Dusk took a sip of his own tea, wondering how he’d been called on it so quickly. “What do you mean auntie?”

Celestia shot him a look that screamed ‘really?’ as she lowered her delicate tea cup. “Dusk Midnight Melody. Accept that I know when my sister upset.” She levitated her phone from her bag to land on the table between them. “Accept as well that when my sister is upset that your mother and I talk.”

“So…you aren’t going to help me then?” Dusk asked, crestfallen that the past week with his head in half the archives had possibly been for nothing.

“I didn’t say that,” the solar alicorn started, the look of irritation still on her face, “It just depends upon what you want from me.”

"Well...the Ravenwing family, they supported mom, back before she um…” Dusk trailed off at the dangerous look on his aunt's face.

“Became Nightmare Moon, yes, I’m aware my sister had her supporters during the rebellion, and that some families found themselves on the losing side. The Ravenwing family especially fell particularly hard during the time of reparations.”

"Yeah..." Dusk took a deep breath and reminded himself it was for his friends that he was doing this, “About that…is there any chance at all you can restore the family to the status they held before?”

Celestia didn’t respond straight away, she merely held his gaze for ten long quiet minutes. Inscrutably she stared, her eyes seeming to bore to the depths of his being before she finally answered her nephew. “No. I cannot and will not restore that family. They openly supported Luna. It is for her and the Night Court to restore them.”

Dusk had to fight to contain his glee at his aunt's declaration. Here was just what had wanted to hear. He needed one more thing to make his victory over Blitzwing complete. “I um, don't suppose I could get that in writing, could I please auntie?”

Celestia gave him that dangerous look one more time as she floated over a fresh scroll and her pen. “I will take this moment to reiterate what Octavia told you. Dusk, you are using your position to point score with your friends.” She said coolly as she magically wrote out the declaration, “Use this and you will end up hurting somepony close to you.”

“I don’t know what you mean…” He lied shamelessly.

“Dusk…” Celestia sighed as she signed the scroll and floated over her wax seal, “You have never been very subtle, politically or otherwise.” She said as did dripped melted wax onto the folded scroll. “Like my sister you wear your heart on your sleeve.” Celestia pressed her seal into the wax. “I am over three thousand years old Dusk. I'm older than Equestria, and I've steered her through too many political games to mention. Coups, rebellions, invading nations, I've seen them all off and I'm still here.” She floated the scroll over to her nephew who took it in his hoof.

“I know when a game is being played Dusk. I can smell them like a fart in a car, especially one this amateurish.” Celestia looked away from the pegasus and floated over the first of her scrolls to authorise for court later.

“Aunt Celestia, if it's that much of a mistake, why sign this?” Dusk asked, more than a little confused.

Without looking up from her scroll the alabaster alicorn answered; “You are young, Dusk. Your mind is made up on a course of action that cannot be altered. You have in your hoof a weapon that could, if misused, destroy not only a pony but a family.” Celestia floated over her pen to sign something else, “I am not your parent. Your mistakes are yours to make, as are the consequences yours to live with.”

"Aunt Celestia...I…”

"I'm sorry Dusk, I'm busy. I've said all I am prepared to say.” Celestia floated over another scroll, “Thank you for sharing tea with me, and I hope you think long and hard over exactly what I and your mother have both said to you. Good day.”

~ ~ ~

The afternoon bell rang, signifying the end of the Monday lunch break. Blitzwing checked his schedule and smiled, Double Science was always fun, and more so as he was sharing it not only with Dusk but Wildfire ad well. Plenty of scope for winding them both up.

Today the dark grey stallion was feeling particularly confident. The head of the family had managed to secure a meeting with Princess Celestia herself, and they weren’t about to squander this opportunity. Not since the dark days when the Ravenwing Viscounts had been advisors to Princess Luna had the family been in the castle proper.

Blitzwing had the scroll under his wing, ready to show the Bastard Prince and rub it in his idiotic muzzle. Ravenwing were on the cusp of greatness again, and it was so close to finally happening he could almost taste it.

Blitzwing hoofed open the door to the Science class with a sigh, today being the third Monday was when Twilight Sparkle took the class. Not that he had anything against the Princess per se, it was her sudden rise to ‘something’ from nothing that grated his nerves. Still, she was at least tolerable, unlike Dusk.

Putting on his best smug look Blitzwing entered the class, and found to his delight Dusk and Wildfire sat on their pads at the back of the lab, absorbed in whatever pointless chit chat they occupied themselves with. He also noted there were apparatus and beakers already laid out and set up on their lab benches, the prep team’s work no doubt.

“If it isn't the illegitimate foal of night and disharmony and his marelover.” Blitzwing sniggered as he made his way over to their station, smug look still very much in place.

Wildfire looked up from her conversation with her best friend and glowered at Blitzwing, wanting desperately to smash that stupid smug look off his face; “Blitz why don't you just bu...”

“Well,” Dusk interrupted her, “If it isn't a pegasus who isn't as well supported as he thinks he is?” The midnight blue stallion asked, wondering what in the world could’ve given Blitzwing cause to look that smug. Whatever it was, Dusk was looking forward to wiping it off his muzzle.

“Pfft…” Blitzwing scoffed in response, “It is fitting that Princess Twilight is here today to see the end of what she should have finished years ago.” He pulled out an ornate scroll from under his wing and presented it to Dusk with a flourish, “Read, bastard, and see. The head of our house has been invited to the palace to address our grievances.”

“Good afternoon students!” Twilight entered the lab as Dusk scanned the scroll that Blitzwing had given him, the Princess all bright and breezy, excited for an afternoon of teaching and learning. She had her cue cards ready and her lecture prepared.

The rest of the class greeted their teacher while Wildfire leant over her desk, getting close to Blitzwing, “Yeah, I'd love to see you at the palace Itzy Blitzy.” She muttered as she got out her textbook from her saddlebags.

Dusk read and re-read the scroll that Blitzwing had given him several times while Twilight got herself settled and started the class. He was genuinely impressed as he rolled up the scroll and passed it back in his hoof. “Well that certainly is check, Blitz,” he said with a tiny smile, allowing the dark grey stallion his moment of victory.

“Check and mate.” The pegasus turned back to his own workstation, satisfied he’d just scored a major victory over the pony now behind him.

“Attention class!” Twilight called out in a clear loud voice, interrupting the conversation at the back of the lab, “Today we'll be working with hydrochloric and sulphuric acids. You’ll find them in coloured beakers on your stations. You’ll find safety goggles there as well. I must insist you wear these at all times.” The Princess put an emphasis on the last two words she spoke as she turned to face the white board and started to draw some diagrams.

Wildfire picked up her safety goggles in her yellow hooves and slid them over her head, securing the band just below her ears. “Ready D?” She asked as she started uncorking the acids in the beakers. Immediately she was hit by the smell of the sulphuric, the fumes hitting the back of her nose.

Dusk pulled on his own goggles, cursing that he wasn’t a unicorn when the band caught his midnight blue fur. “Ready Wily.” Leaning forward over their station he whispered to Blitzwing who was similarly getting ready, “Oh, Blitzwing? I think my king has had a regeneration.”

“You are an idiot.” Blitzwing spared Dusk a half glance of irritation, “There is no regeneration in chess.”

“Well, as my good friend Air Raid is fond of saying, "I don't like to lose"… Dusk fished with a hoof into his own bag and retrieved the scroll that his aunt had signed. Her warning, and the warning of his parents, was far from his mind as he laid the scroll on his station. “You’ll want to come round here to read this.”

Blitzwing feigned an eye roll as he got up and moved around to the front of Dusk’s station, a sneer of contempt on his muzzle, “Is it your letter of resignation?” His sneer disappeared when he saw Celestia’s seal on the scroll.

“No…” Dusk smiled smugly as the dark grey stallion picked up the scroll and cracked it open, “This is me changing the rules so I win. I believe that's check and mate.”

Blitzwing read the scroll through once then twice, and a third time as his eyes grew to saucers with the realisation of what he was reading. He read the signature at the bottom, and again a second time.

Princess Celestia had abandoned them. Ravenwing was a Luna matter. The realisation sunk in his family were effectively through. “Buck you!” He slammed his forelegs into Dusk, his wing reaching back to the station for something, anything to throw at the hated pegasus sprawled on the ground in front of him.

Dusk fell to the floor with a loud oomph, all four legs sprawling from under him from the impact of the incensed pegasus standing over him. “Gah!” He winced, biting his tongue as his head struck the hard floor.

“Hey!” Wildfire whipped off her goggles and roughly shoved Blitzwing aside, bending down to check on her friend. “D? Dusk…Dusk are you alright?” She asked, concern on her face.

“What's happening back there?” Twilight called over her shoulder, her attention still occupied with writing out the experiment.

Blitzwing’s right wing found and seized the beakers of acid, and, without stopping to look what he’d grasped, threw them at Dusk.

“What the...” Wildfire caught the movement of Blitzwing’s powerful wing in the corner of her eye, and in that split second turned to face the dark grey stallion as he threw the beakers, the glass beakers shattered as they impacted her face, spilling the two concentrated acids straight into her wide brown eyes.

Blitzwing didn’t waste a second. He barged Wildfire aside with a shoulder, sending her spiralling to the floor, too stunned to realise what exactly had just happened to her and launched himself on Dusk’s prone form, rearing up to slam down upon him with both his forehooves.

Wildfire laid there silently for a millisecond. A tiny fragment of time that seemed to stretch forever. The millisecond passed all at once a moment later, with an ear-splitting “AAAAGH!!!! AAaaaaAAA!!” Wildfire screamed as the concentrated acids start to burn into her eyes.

“What the...” Twilight turned to see what the all the noise was about behind her as another scream from Wildfire silenced the rest of the class.

“AAaaaaAAAAGH!!” Wildfire’s lungs burned from the screaming, she clutched her hooves to her face, unable to see as steam rose from her face, her eyes boiling away in her skull.

Blitzwing mounted Dusk’s barrel, the Prince still too stunned to react effectively. Rearing again he rained  down a series of punches to Dusk’s chest and shoulder.

“ENOUGH!! Twilight overcame her moment of indecision, finally grasping the enormity of that was happening. Seizing Blitzwing in her magical field she lifted him off of his mounted position as she quickly trotted over to the altercation.

Wildfire grovelled in pain on the floor, a sticky white mess dribbling slowly through her hooves grasping at her ruined face, “AAAAGH!! H-he-lp m-me!”

Blitzwing struggled uselessly in Twilight’s hold, trashing his limbs against the lavender bubble encasing him. “I will kill you if it is the last thing I ever do!” He screamed, pure murder in his eyes, his anger focused entirely on Dusk.

“W – Wildfire!” Twilight maneuvered herself around the workstation and froze in shocked horror at the scene that greeted her. Wildfire’s screams had dulled to a low whimper as she squirmed in a foul smelling puddle of viscous muck on the lab floor.

“It…b – bu - rns! Burns! AAIIIIEE!!” Wildfire tried to sit up but slipped in the mess at her hooves, the mess that used to be her face.

“Shh…” Twilight held her still and used her magic to wash out and cleanse the affected area of her student’s face. “Oh sweet Celestia!” The Princess swallowed back the bile that rose in her throat as she delicately cleaned out Wildfire’s face. She could clearly see empty scarred and pitted sockets, her eyelids melting together under the effects of the acids.

Blitzwing thrashed harder in Twilight’s grasp, fighting desperately to get to Dusk on the floor, utterly uncaring of Wildfire screaming on the floor. His entire focus was getting his hooves on the Prince. “Let me go you idiot and I'll finish what you failed to do!”

Dusk groaned on the floor, starting to come to his senses as Wildfire whimpered in excruciating pain.

Satisfied for the moment that Wildfire wasn’t in life threatening danger Twilight finally turned her attention to the struggling pegasus held in her magical hold. “Look what you've done to her!”

“Me?!” Blitzwing never ceased in his struggles to get to Dusk, foam started froth at his mouth as his temper flared again, “This is your fault you failed excuse for a princess!”

Twilight extended her magic, activating the intercom. “Professors Last Legacy and Water Colour to science lab two, medical emergency!” She lit her horn with a purple light, applying a painkilling magic to Wildfire’s melted face, and she whimpered in relief as the magic started to take effect. In anger she turned her gaze to the unrepentant pegasus still struggling in her magical aura. “Mind your mouth from here on, my little pony. Under my authority as Princess of Equestria I'm placing you under arrest, Mr Blitzwing.”

Blitzwing actually paused in his struggle and scoffed at the angered alicorn; “You have no authority! You lost that long ago you inept mare.”

Twilight glared at him and breathed once or twice through her nose, calming her anger to an even tone as she replied. “I said to watch your mouth. Anything you say or do will be used against you in court.” The lavender Princess cast a glance at Wildfire on the floor then looked back at the captive stallion. “Do you have any kind of apology to make?”

Dusk finally managed to get up, standing on shaky hooves. He refused to believe what his eyes were telling him. “What...what's happen...WILY!”

Wildfire heard her friend, and despite Twilight’s magic let out a pained mewling whimper. “D...” She gasped, lances of pure pain shooting through her tortured sockets as her skin started to solidify and form scars over them. “It hurts, it hurts!”

“Apologise? You're one of them. Usurped by the nightmare!” Blitzwing ranted, all reason seemingly driven from him.

Twilight took a few extra deep breathes before she spoke again. “Keep talking Mr Blitzwing. I will remind you again you are under arrest.” Out of the corner of her eye she saw Dusk stagger over and take Wildfire’s hoof in his, giving it a squeeze. ‘Where are those professors?’ She thought to herself with a grimace.

“D…Dusk…I can’t see…”

Blitzwing pointed an accusatory hoof at Dusk. “It was him! He did this!”

Dusk squeezed Wildfire’s hoof again, letting her know he was still there. A cold sense of dread and guilt started wrapping it's hoof around his heart. As he knelt beside his friend, his very best friend in the world his mother's and his aunt's warning came back to haunt him. ‘Somepony you love is going to get hurt’. Never in his wildest dreams did he imagine it would be Wildfire.

He had caused this. He, Dusk Midnight Melody. Just like his aunt had said. Point scoring in a pointless foals game. He paid no attention as Twilight used her magic to force Blitzwing to sleep, silencing his maddened ranting. He didn’t notice when Principal Last Legacy and Vice Principal Water Colour came barrelling into the science lab at full tilt, coming to a skidding halt beside the workstation.

All Dusk could focus on was his friend slumped against the cupboards, right hoof held across her face, grimacing and whimpering in excruciating pain with the remains of her eyes running down her cheeks, her boiled face starting to scar over.

The thought resonated through his conscious: he had caused this.

“Yes, Princess Twilight?” Last Legacy asked as he took  in the horrific scene unfolding before him.

Twilight shot the two teachers’ a grateful look, “Professors, Ms Wildfire needs an ambulance, and I need the police, please.”

Water Colour motioned for the other students to go to the cafeteria, and moved aside for done quiet as he pulled his phone from his jacket. “At once, Princess.”

“What happened Princess?” The Principal asked as he carefully moved around the mess on the floor to get a better look at Wildfire on the ground, his right forehoof over his nose to guard against the smell.

“I didn't see the attack, Principal Legacy,” Twilight answered in a shaky tone, “I only heard it. Prince Dusk?”

Dusk didn’t answer straight away, the enormity of just what he’d done momentarily robbing him of the ability to process his thoughts. Eventually, after several attempts to speak he found his voice. “M - Me and Blitzwing had a…a disagreement, he punched me to the floor. Wily got in the way and he threw the acid at me.”

Last legacy recoiled from the sight of Wildfire’s melted face as she started to panic. “I...I c-can’t see! W - Why c-can’t I see?”

“Shh Wily, it'll be ok, I promise.” Dusk tried sliding a hoof around her shoulder, holding the yellow mare close.

“Sweet Celestia!” Last Legacy exclaimed, getting over the shock he felt to lay a hoof on Wildfire’s other shoulder, “I've never known Mr. Blitzwing to be physically violent.”

Dusk didn’t look up from his friend as  he answered sadly. He felt every syllable of every word like a knife to his heart. “It was me Professor...we had a...difference of opinion.”

Wildfire squeezed Dusk’s hoof involuntarily, hissing as a lance of pain surged through her face. “Wh - what h-happened?”

Last Legacy gave Dusk a confused look, certainly issues and relations between Blitzwing and Dusk had been at best tense, at worse strained, but they had never been physical before. “But... but you never pushed the political issues Prince Dusk.”

“The ambulance has arrived,” Water Colour noted as he looked out the large lab windows, “I'll guide the paramedics up here.” Hovering a feet from the floor the Vice Principal flew out of the room down the corridors as fast as was safe.

“He...we...it's been building between us for many months, perhaps years Professor. We both snapped.” Dusk admitted, the admission doing precious little to assuage the guilt nestling in his gut. “Wily I'm so sorry.”

“D...I'm scared…”

“Shh…hey, the paramedics are here, you’ll be just fine, you’ll see.” He lied through his teeth, hating himself even more.

“Over there,” Vice Principal Water Colour re-entered the science lab, leading two unicorn paramedics and two police unicorns, a mare and stallion each. The pegasus stallion gestured with a hoof, first at Wildfire then at Blitzwing. “The yellow pegasus is the victim. The magically held pegasus is the perpetrator.”

“I’m Lime,” The female paramedic introduced herself as she shooed the Principal away and started to get to work. “Saline solution and gauze Bloodmoon. I'll start a drip. Does anypony know what caused the injury?”

“It was one hundred millilitres each of concentrated hydrochloric and sulphuric acid.” Dusk released his hold on Wildfire’s hoof while the medical ponies got to work, giving Lime’s partner room to start wrapping the gauze over her eyes.

“They were for an experiment, for the class.” Twilight supplied as the two police officers made their way over to her and her prisoner.

“I can’t see…” Wildfire started to panic when she felt the strange touch of the paramedic. “W - why can’t I s-see?”

The stallion smiled, and paused to lay his hoof on her shoulder. “I’m Bloodmoon Ms. Wildfire, I'm covering your eyes with a protective gauze bandage so you won't be able to see.” He spoke in a calm, smooth reassuring tone that instantly calmed the panicked mare.

Wildfire breathed deep heavy breathes, her lungs screaming with every inhalation, pain in her chest combining with that in her face. “It h-hurts…”

Lime gave her partner a look, and he nodded, floating over a differently coloured morphine bag for the drip for her to attach. Swapping out the bag she laid a hoof on Wildfire’s chest. “The pain should fade as the drip will have a stronger morphine dose in it.”

The two police ponies, a white unicorn mare with a black mane and a grey unicorn stallion with a white mane, approached Twilight, surrounding Blitzwing with their auras’. “Sergeant Revolver, your Highness, this is Constable Evening Star.” The white mare extended a hoof to Twilight, who met it with her own. “Could you please release him to us Princess Twilight?”

Twilight released her hold on the sleeping pegasus to that of the police. “It would be my pleasure, officers. It’s a standard level three sleep spell affecting him, other than that he hasn’t been touched.”

“Thank you Princess Twilight.” Evening Star helped his partner move the captive stallion and together they removed him from the room.

“Wildfire,” Lime, the paramedic, whispered calmly, “Please keep your wings folded. We are going to lift you to the stretcher.”

Wildfire nodded, keeping her wings tight to her barrel as she felt herself lifted up in what she assumed was Lime’s magical aura. “It doesn't hurt...” She sighed with relief.

Both paramedics secured her to the stretcher, Lime fastened the straps across her chest and forelegs, while Bloodmoon secured the straps holding down her hindlegs. Once they were happy their patient wasn’t going anywhere Lime nodded to her partner, who pushed the stretcher with his magic. “We’re rolling.”

“Dusk,” Twilight stopped the midnight blue pegasus as he started to trot with the stretcher. “Leave me your phone, I'll let Air Raid know.”

Dusk gave her a grateful smile as he hoofed over his phone to the lavender alicorn. “Thanks Twilight.”

Wildfire panicked, she tried to reach a hoof for her friend, found she couldn’t move and her panic increased. “D! Come with me, please!”

“I'm sorry there is no room for a passenger.” Lime said to Dusk as they wheeled through the corridors of the university while Bloodmoon did his best again to calm the agitated yellow pegasus. “We are going to Canterlot Royal Hospital, you can fly overhead or fly ahead.”

“Canterlot Royal.” Dusk galloped past the stretcher. “I'll wait for you there.” He called over his shoulder, barrelling through the main doors and taking off at speed towards the hospital.

With everypony gone and the lab empty Twilight Sparkle slumped to her haunches, alone amidst the chaos of the last thirty minutes. Her brain tried to catch up with what had happened. Luna’s son had been attacked, in public with witnesses; a student had been attacked and had suffered a grievous injury and her carefully prepped lecture lay in tatters.

She tried to think, to process what had happened. In her class no less, but try as she might her brain kept replaying the scene over and over. Twilight wanted to do something, anything, to help. The problem was there was precious little for her to do. The police had Blitzwing. The paramedics had Wildfire. No doubt the Professors’ were informing the various family members and keeping order in the school.

‘I know,’ she thought to herself, ‘I can tidy this mess, that’ll help’. If she was honest it would help her OCD too, but that was by the by. With a sense of purpose Twilight started to pick up the larger pieces of debris, starting with Wildfire and Dusk’s saddlebags. As she moved Dusk’s bag from the top of the workstation two scrolls, now missing their support, rolled off the work surface and fell to the floor.

Startled by the sudden movement Twilight caught the scrolls in her lavender aura just as they were about to hit the mess. The alicorn rolled them up to put them away, but as she turned her attention back to the prospect of cleaning her curiosity started to get the better of her.

Using her magic Twilight unfolded the scrolls and held them in front of her to read. She read Blitzwing’s first, her interest starting to wane after the first few paragraphs. She had read hundreds if not thousands of these type of thing, a request for the Princess to see the family for whatever reason. Certainly this was nothing remarkable, other than a request for House Ravenwing to meet with Celestia, when it should be Luna.

Twilight then kicked herself for not recalling the history of the House. Mentally she made a reminder to study up on it when she next had the chance.

Next she read the scroll that Dusk had presented to Blitzwing, that Celestia had written. Her eyes went wide as she read the line where the Solar Princess had denounced Blitzwing’s family as ‘A Matter for Her Royal Highness Princess Luna, Goddess of the Moon’. Reading on further, and putting everything in its context, the attack, while certainly not condonable by any stretch of the imagination, was at least understandable.

‘When one loses everything, one has nothing to lose.’ The alicorn thought to herself as she re-rolled the scrolls and tucked them away in her saddlebag. She had a feeling she’d need them later. “Oh my little ponies…Dusk…what have you done?” Twilight asked the empty classroom, her voice echoing in her ears as she began cleaning the lab.

Sadly the Princess levitated the fallen pieces of the apparatus to an adjacent workstation, and with a heavy sigh she vanished away the remnants of the broken beakers. She had been so looking forward to this class, as she looked forward to all the classes she volunteered to take. Glumly Twilight floated over a bleached cloth and started to scrub the floor, trying her best not to think about exactly what it was she was scrubbing up lest the bile return to her throat with a vengeance.

Finishing her task Dusk’s mobile phone caught her eye. Facehooving with an internal groan at forgetting her promise to Dusk she picked up the phone with her magic and scrolled through the contact list until she found Air Raid’s entry. With a heavy heart she hit the dial key.

Air Raid threw her saddlebag onto the passenger seat of her Fiesta and followed it in with a disgusted look on her face as she slammed the car door shut behind her. “Buckin’ Tartarus!” The pegasus screamed at her windshield, slamming her hooves into her steering wheel. Qualifying was hard enough as it was, without having to break in a new co-pilot. Not for the first time, since he had stormed out of Dusk’s suite, Air Raid cursed Slingshot’s name.

She had her hoof on her ignition switch as her phone rang in her bag. “What now?” The lime green mare asked herself, fishing a hoof through her bag to find her mobile. “This had better be bucking important Dusk…” Air Raid groused to thin air as she hit the answer key and flipped her phone to hooves free.

“What’s up Dusk?” She asked, irritably thumping the ignition switch and jamming her car into gear.

“It’s Princess Twilight, Ms Air Raid,” the alicorn corrected her, “Do you have a moment?”

“Princess?” Air Raid pulled her brake. It wasn’t just the fact that she’d never called her before that gave her pause, there was something about her tone that sent chills up the racer’s spine. “What's wrong?”

Twilight paused to gather her thoughts. Should she dress it up or just be honest? Ultimately she decided on the latter. ‘Applejack would be proud,’ she thought as she took a deep breath. “It’s Ms Wildfire...she…I’m afraid she's had a...accident, in my science class, Ms Air Raid.”

‘That can’t be good…’ Air Raid thought, “Is she alright?” She asked with a growing sense of trepidation. She hoped there was nothing seriously wrong with her marefriend, but Twilight wouldn’t be calling her if she had just cut her hoof.

“She's been taken to Canterlot Royal Hospital Ms Raid.” Twilight’s breath hitched, her voice faltering as she took a moment to steady her nerves. “B – Be pre…prepared, she'll need your support, Ms Air Raid, Ms Wildfire…she...she's been blinded.”

“WHAT!?” Air Raid forgot who it was she was talking to as she shouted down the phone. Taking her hind hoof off of her brake pedal she reversed out of the stadium car park. “I'm on my way.”

“Ms Air Raid I’m…” Princess Twilight Sparkle didn’t finish her sentence as Air Raid hung up her phone. “Sorry.”

~ ~ ~

Dusk was waiting on the paramedics as the ambulance pulled into the hospital’s emergency admittance bay. He trotted in with Lime taking care of the morphine and Bloodmoon steering the stretcher. They trotted straight through the automatic doors and down past the reception area to a closed off room, labelled simply ‘Emergency Theatre 03’. Lime shouldered open the door and they entered.

Dusk made to follow after them but was immediately stopped by a nurse. “I’m sorry Prince Dusk, you can’t go in there.” She laid a restraining hoof on his shoulder, and being an earth pony, it actually did restrain him.

“Look, nurse…” Dusk looked down to check her name badge on her uniform, “Lone Heart, that’s my best friend that’s just gone in there!”

Nurse Lone Heart removed her hoof with a sympathetic smile. “I'm sure she is, Prince Dusk, but you still can't enter.” She pointed an adjacent door, “You can view from the gallery if you wish.”

Dusk nodded, “Fine, thank you nurse Lone Heart.” He said with a grateful smile as he turned and trotted through the door to the gallery.

Dusk Melody took a seating pad to, well, get comfortable was probably the wrong turn of phrase. He recognised Lime and Bloodmoon, the paramedics that responded to Water Colour’s emergency call, though he didn’t recognise the third pony. He guessed she was the surgeon on duty, a rather severe looking pegasus, she had a crimson coat and a short cropped white mane. The half-moon glasses completed the ‘disciplinarian’ look nicely. Dusk suspected in this hospital she was the Princess.

“I administered the anaesthetic on the way here, Doctor Hatch,” Bloodmoon began, indicating the intravenous line connected to the cannula secured to Wildfire’s right foreleg. “She’s been asleep for just under seven minutes.”

“It was a mix of hydrochloric and sulfuric acids, one hundred millilitres of each.” Lime supplied to the surgeon as she used her magic to secure the stretcher to the fastening catches in the theatre floor.

Doctor Hatch paused in shock as she used a wingtip to delicately remove the gauze covering Wildfire’s ruined face. “What?” The surgeon gasped open mouthed, “Luna be damned this is bad.”

Ten minutes later Doctor Hatch had completed her examination. Scribbling some notes down she tossed her clipboard to a metal table holding some medical equipment that Dusk couldn’t even guess the usage of, and turned back to her patient with a sad frown that Dusk did recognise. “I can clean out the sockets and ensure there is no infection. Though given the extent of the damage, I don't think she can even be a transplant candidate now.”

“Oh sweet Aunt Tia...” Dusk Melody sat stunned on his pad in the gallery, the realisation of the enormity of what he’d done settling in his gut like a sickening lead weight. Not only had he ruined Blitzwing and harmed his entire family, in the process of his ‘point-scoring’ he had severely injured his best friend.

‘Somepony you love is going to get hurt.’ Octavia and Celestia had both warned him, and in his quest to hurt Blitzwing he had chosen to ignore them both. Now as he sat in the hospital gallery watched the surgeon and paramedics gently clean the discoloured fur around Wildfire’s destroyed face he found he didn’t have the words to describe the remorse he felt for what he’d done.

“Has anyone gotten a hold of her parents yet?” Doctor Hatch asked, not looking up from her work.

“Her dad...” Dusk groaned, mentally facehooving, “Oh crap I’ll have to tell her dad.”

“Princess Twilight has authorized any needed surgery.” Bloodmoon said to the surgeon as he wheeled over a tray of tools. “We didn't find any identification on her to give an address.”

Lime checked and adjusted the anaesthetic, “Prince Dusk accompanied us here. He is up in the gallery.”

“Very well, I'll do what I can.” Doctor Hatch scrubbed her hooves in the sink, and slipped on a surgical mask as she trotted back to her sleeping patient.

Dusk decided right then it was the right time to go and call Wildfire’s dad. Not that he was squeamish or anything, no…not at all. “I should definitely go call her dad.” He stood and trotted down to the hospital reception. At the door to the gallery he caught the doctor’s comment, “The scaring is heavy, and I doubt she will ever be free from some degree of low level pain.”

“Excuse me,” Dusk asked the receptionist with an apologetic smile for interrupting her, “Do you have a phone I can use please?”

The mare looked up and dropped her pen, stunned that a royal was speaking to her, her of all ponies! “Y - Yes sir,” she stammered, “P - Please use mine.”

“Thanks Miss.” Dusk gratefully took her phone in his hoof and reluctantly dialled his friend’s home number. He checked the clock on the wall behind the desk, two twenty five in the afternoon, there was a good chance Cold Front would still be compos mentis.

“Yeah…what?” The drunken slur he got by way of a greeting sunk Dusk’s hopes.

“Hello Mr Front, it’s Dusk, Wildfire’s friend, I have news about Wily.”

Cold Front dropped the half empty can of lager that he’d been holding in his magic and hiccupped down the phone line, watching with a twinge of regret as the liquid spilled out of the can. “What about her?”

“Sir, she's been in an accident at school.” Dusk tried to keep his tone even as he explained, in simple terms, what had happened to his daughter.

“So?” Cold Front slurred, reaching for another can. Finding it empty he staggered on unsteady hooves towards the fridge.

Dusk stomped a hoof and snorted in frustration, causing the receptionist to jump a few inches from her seat. “She's been blinded!”

“Yesh?” The drunken unicorn managed, after the third attempt, to open the fridge door and extract his ninth can of lager.

“You're gonna have to come look after her!” Dusk exclaimed, his anger barely contained.

Cold Front cracked open his can, staggering so much he spilled half before he had the chance to drink any. “Look after who?” He slurred as he slumped and leant against the open fridge door.

“Wildfire! Your daughter! She's at Canterlot Royal Hospital.”

“Yeah...” The unicorn swayed his way back to the couch and flopped down, his head hitting the armrest. “Why’s that?” He asked, his drink addled brain completely forgetting what his daughter’s friend had just told him.

“Just get sober and get here!” Dusk hung up and returned the phone to the reception pony, who was doing her best to appear like she wasn’t listening into the conversation, which of course she was.

Dusk merely shook his head, uncomprehending of how a waste of fur like Cold Front had ever managed to spawn a wonderful mare like Wildfire. He turned on his hooves and headed back towards the gallery, to be greeted by the surgeon and paramedics wheeling his friend out of the operating theatre. “Lime, can you take our patient to room two one four on the fourth floor please?” The surgeon asked, before turning her attention to the midnight blue pegasus.

“Prince Dusk,” the crimson mare adjusted her glasses and extended a hoof in greeting. “I'm Doctor Cross Hatch, could you meet with me in my office please? Ms. Wildfire will be out for at least one more hour.”

Dusk shook her hoof, that by now familiar sinking feeling returning to his gut after his brief conversation with Wildfire’s dad. “Sure thing, Doc, it's…bad, right?”

The surgeon nodded as her patient was wheeled away towards the large elevator. “Yes sir, very bad.” She said with a note of sadness, cleaning her glasses with a wingtip.

Dusk nodded, the feeling of dread in his belly settling for permanent residence. “I thought so...well of course I'll meet with you.”

Dusk fell into step and walked beside the surgeon as she led the way down a small hallway to her modestly sized office. Unlike the pastel shades of the rest of the hospital Cross Hatch’s office was a riot of vivid colour, except for the wall behind her that held all her certificates and diplomas. The other three walls were full of Zebra prints, wall art and other various tribal mementos.

“Memories of my internship in Zebrifica.” Doctor Cross Hatch noticed his interest with a smile as she took her seating pad behind her desk and laid her note filled clipboard upon it. “Close the door please.”

“Sure” Dusk hoofed the door shut and took the pad opposite the pegasus.

“Prince Dusk,” Cross Hatch said, studying her clipboard as the stallion took his pad, “What is your involvement with Ms. Wildfire?”

“She's my best friend.” Dusk replied, the admission doing nothing but increasing the leaden ball of guilt in his belly. It wasn’t necessary but he felt the need to elaborate. “I've known her since forever, Doc.”

Cross Hatch picked up her pen in her mouth and crossed off a couple of check boxes before making a little scribbled note. “Then you have no responsibility over her care?”

Dusk shifted uncomfortably on the pad he was sat on, “I wish I did, but no, I don't. There is her marefriend she lives with, Air Raid, and her useless drunk dad.”

Ticking off another checkbox she offered Dusk her best reassuring smile. She’d seen enough parents like that in her time. “She is of age so there is no reason to involve her father. Her mother?” She asked, taking up her pen again.

“Silverbolt, dead I'm afraid, for 7 years.”

“Very well, since Princess Twilight is involved in this case, can you report to her?” Cross Hatch asked, finally laying aside her clipboard with a crimson wing.

“Certainly I can,” Dusk answered with a grim expression. He had to ask his next question but he didn’t want to at the same time. Reluctantly he drew breath and asked, “So, how bad is it Doc?”

“Well, it couldn’t be much worse.” Cross Hatch removed and cleaned her glasses, a stalling technique she employed when she didn’t want to give out bad news. “She will need to learn a new life. I can't understand why both acids were out at the same time. Anyway, her eyes boiled and exploded in the socket causing severe damage to the ocular nerve. Because of this she is not a candidate for eye transplant surgery. The ocular bone did stop any damage to the frontal lobe of the brain from my exam. Tests will need to be run to be sure. She inhaled some of the chlorine gas and has minor scaring to her lungs. Over time that will heal. The heat burned away the fur around her eyes, but that should grow back as it is mostly second degree burns. No evidence of any third degree burns. I suspect she will be in a constant, but dull pain, for the rest of her life.”

Dusk Melody slumped despondently in the seating pad. What made everything worse was the knowledge that he, Wildfire’s best friend, had caused this. “Oh no...no, no...her eyes exploded? Sweet Aunt Tia, no wonder she was screaming...while I was holding her it was like she was melting...she'll have the scars for life as well?”

The surgeon nodded, once again taking a moment to clean her glasses. “There are no fur follicles at the back of the socket. She could have fur transplanted there after the healing is complete, but yes, the scaring will be there. You can hide it with cosmetics or she can wear mask of some sort.”

“Damn...” Dusk exclaimed almost under his breath, “Is...Is there anything else?”

Replacing her glasses to her muzzle Cross Hatch quickly consulted another page of her notes from Wildfire’s examination. “All of her face had some minor burning and fur loss for it, but all that should heal and disappear in four or five months.”

Dusk suspected the answer to this next question, but he asked it anyway. “And, there's no chance whatever of her being able to see, in any way?”

“Not medically.” The crimson pegasus replied sadly, “They are making advances in cloning technology, but that is still decades away. It may be possible to find a scrying enchanted item that will allow her some form a vision.”

“I see.” The midnight blue pegasus looked aside, finding the Zebrifican décor rather interesting as tears stung his pink eyes. “How long will she be here for, and what kind of care will she need?”

Cross Hatch consulted the last page of the notes she had made. “So to not risk ammonia from the lung scaring I recommend she stay here for at least a week. She will get physical therapy to prepare her for a sightless life. After that she should be placed in a facility for the newly blinded to train her in braille and how to move around using her wings.” The doctor reached into a drawer at the side of her desk and retrieved a leaflet on just such a facility. “One small benefit for a Pegasus. Flying is a much more difficult issue though. Is Air Raid a Pegasus too?” She asked, hoofing the leaflet over to Dusk.

“She is, although she has Scootaloo's Syndrome, if that makes a difference.”

“Oh my, that is a rare disorder.” Cross Hatch scribbled the note in the margins of her already packed paper. “In that case I'd recommend that Ms. Wildfire get used to being grounded like her partner. Manoeuvring using her wings as a guide will be even more important if she is to want any independence.”

Dusk smiled in spite of his maudlin mood. “Wily's independent alright.” His smile faltered almost instantly as a thought struck him. “Her job...she's a reserve firefighter with the Residential Fire Team...”

Cross Hatch smiled a rare smile. “With training she can do paperwork and dispatching.” She explained to the relieved Prince.

Dusk managed a sigh of relief. “Good, giving that job up would kill her. And the university? This was to be her last year.”

“If they are willing to do all course work via audio, she can go directly back. Otherwise she will need the training in braille to do written work.”

“Thank you Doc.” Dusk slid off the seating pad and stretched his legs. “Is there anything else I need to know?”

“It would be best if she stays with over the counter pain medication as they are not habit forming. If the pain is severe enough though a prescription could be made for a short term narcotic pain reliever.”

Dusk took a moment to shake Cross Hatch’s hoof. “Again, thank you. You said she'll be out for some time yet?”

The surgeon glanced up at her clock with a nod of her head. “Thirty minutes at the least, maybe up to forty.”

Dusk did a quick distance and time calculation in his head, factoring in his speed. “Alright, I'll go report to Princess Twilight at the university and I’ll be back in twenty seven minutes.”

Cross Hatch looked at the terminal on her desk. “She is in room two one four. Prince Dusk, I don't believe she knows she is blind yet. We will have a nurse in the room with you when she wakes up.”

Dusk paused in her doorway as the doctor’s pager beeped. “Thank you for everything Doctor Hatch, and I agree with you. I'll be sure to be here when she wakes up.”

The crimson pegasus exited her office with Dusk, a strained smile on her muzzle. “Well, another emergency has come in, a mare ‘accidentally’ fell on her stallion’s hoof.” She sighed audibly. She hated domestic violence cases. “Anyway, fare thee well Prince Dusk.”

~ ~ ~

“Hey, Prince Dusk, how’s Wildfire?”

“Dusk, what happened?”

“Hey, what happened in the science lab?”

“Is it true what I heard about Wily?”

“Is she really blind?”

These questions, and more besides, were fired at the midnight blue pegasus as he raced through the halls of Canterlot University. Mirage; Compass Star, Purple Weave, Daisy and Sunny Daze, he ignored them all, his attention directed solely upon his destination.

Scant minutes after landing at the University Dusk found himself at Principal Last Legacy’s office. Twilight’s muffled voice from within bade him enter and he did so, cautiously hoofing open the door.

“Principal Legacy, would you please be so kind as to give us a few moments?” Twilight asked with a polite nod.

“Of course Princess. Please, take as long as you need.” The unicorn stallion excused himself and closed the door shut behind him as he left his office.

“Now Prince Dusk,” Twilight began, turning her attention to the young royal, her tone all business, “I believe you have a report for me?” She asked in a clipped, authoritative tone that made Dusk feel like he was under inspection.

“Yes Princess Twilight, I have the medical report from the surgeon that attended to Ms Wildfire at the hospital.” Dusk reached a hoof to his saddlebag and pulled out the doctor’s written report and with a grim shudder passed it over to the Princess.

Twilight Sparkle took the doctor’s report in her magical hold and started to read, muttering to herself every so often at key words and phrases that stood out to her, highlighting such things as Wildfire’s specific injuries, her unsuitability for any kind of transplant procedure and the rehabilitation and aftercare the pegasus would need going forward with her life.

Once her read through was complete Twilight gave Dusk a look. One of those looks that he wanted to run and hide away from. The kind of look that said they weren’t done. “Do you have anything further to add, Prince Dusk?”

That sickened feeling was back in full force in Dusk’s belly, just from the tone of her voice he knew the next few minutes of his life wouldn’t be pleasant. He also knew he deserved everything he got here. “No…no Princess Twilight. I have nothing to add.”

"Oh really?" Twilight levitated the two scrolls from her bag and held them in her magic under Dusk’s nose. “You can explain these then, I assume?”

“I…um, well I err…the um, the thing is Twilight…” Dusk started to say, then as his answer died on his lips he found himself unable to meet the alicorn’s stern gaze.

“That’s what I thought Dusk.” Twilight’s voice dripped disappointment with every syllable.

"Twilight, I…I'm…”

“Save it.” Twilight cut across him, silencing the pegasi’s words. “I don't want to hear how sorry you are. You can tell that to Ms Wildfire, your best friend, when you see her. What I want to know is, why.”

"Why?" Dusk asked, confusion all over his face. “Why what?”

“Why,” Twilight responded, staring an icy cold stare straight through him that Fluttershy would’ve been proud of. “Why anypony in their right mind would show a scroll bearing the contents that this scroll does,” she indicated the scroll written by Celestia, “to a staunch Celestia supporter.”

"I...well I…I didn’t think…”

“I can only conclude one of two outcomes,” Twilight cut the stammering Prince off again, “You either didn’t entertain the idea of consequences, or you weren’t bothered about the consequences. Which was it?”

“I…I didn’t think…” Dusk trailed off lamely, his throat tight with the tears he was choking back.

“You. Didn’t. Think.” Twilight punctuated each word slowly and carefully, making sure Dusk didn’t miss her meaning. “Do you have any idea what you have done, what has resulted from you ‘not thinking’?”

“Yes, Twilight, I do.” Oh, Dusk knew alright.

“Do you? Do you really?” Twilight’s voice seemed to bore to his very soul. “Because of your petty actions, Prince Dusk Melody, an ancient noble family stretching back over fifty generations lies in tatters! Because of you, your best friend went through the most horrific experience I’ve ever witnessed, and will have to live the rest of her life blind!” With each sentence the lavender alicorn’s voice rose in pitch and volume, finally rivalling the Royal Canterlot Voice, “And because of you, you thoughtless pegasus, I’ve spent the last thirty minutes cleaning a mix of acids and I don't want to think what else off of the lab floor!”

“Twi I’m sorry!” Dusk cried, the tears finally welling over and spilling down his midnight blue cheeks.

“No. No I don't believe you are, not yet at any rate.” Twilight snapped scornfully. “I hope your little game was worth the price.”

Dusk didn’t answer, he merely sat in front of the Princess of Friendship and wept silent tears, his very core consumed with guilt and remorse.

“I’m telling you now, Dusk, that because of your involvement the charges of Actual Bodily Harm will be dropped, and I will use whatever influence I have to ensure that Mr Blitzwing of House Ravenwing escapes a custodial sentence and that he gets the very best care at the finest mental institution in Canterlot.”

Dusk sat dumbfounded, disbelieving of what he’d just heard. “You…you aren’t punishing him?”

Twilight Sparkle shot him a foul look. “How dare you ask such a thing? The situation wouldn’t have escalated were it not for your involvement, and I will not see a citizen punished unfairly, do you understand?”

“I understand, Twilight.” Dusk slid off the seating pad he was sat on and stretched his hooves. “I’d um…better get back, to the hospital, Wily’ll be waking up soon, and I want to be there for her when she does.”

"Dusk...wait.” Twilight stopped him at the door to the Principal’s office. “Your friend, Ms Wildfire…any help she needs, I’ll do whatever I can for her Dusk.”

“Well…can’t you cast a spell or something, fix her eyes?” Dusk asked hopefully.

Twilight shook her head sadly. “I’m sorry Dusk,” a single tear rolled down her lavender fur as she spoke, “Magic cannot fix everything.”

“But…surely…as powerful as you are…” Dusk started in desperation, only to have his last hope crushed.

“Magic can do many things Dusk…” Twilight looked sadder than Dusk had ever seen her in his life. “However even I can’t create something from nothing. I’m sorry Dusk.”

"But..."

“I said I’m sorry." Twilight said with awful sense of finality, "Without a functioning optic nerve there’s nothing I can do.”

3.1 - For the Grace of Demons

Dusk sat on his seating pad beside Wildfire’s bed, watching his best friend’s chest raise and lower rhythmically as she slept under the influence of the drugs she had been given. Again and again in his head he ran through what he would say to her when she woke up. For what felt like the millionth time the midnight blue stallion glanced up at the clock on the wall. The hour that Doctor Cross Hatch had predicted that Wildfire would be unconscious had come and gone thirty three minutes ago.

Again Dusk sighed into his hooves, secretly very grateful for the extra time that Wildfire was asleep. Shamefully part of him wished she would sleep and sleep and not wake up for a long time. At least that way he would be spared the awful, unenviable task of telling his best friend the life she knew was over, and it was all his fault.

The incessant unrelenting ticking of the clock seemed to echo around the hospital room, the only other sounds in the room coming from Eirene, the sand coloured earth pony student nurse who was busy checking Wildfire’s pulse and temperature and making notes on her clipboard. An almost insufferably cheerful mare, she had volunteered to work with Wildfire after she eventually woke up because she was hoping to specialise in caring for the visually handicapped.

“Hmhmm…” Eirene murmured around her pen as she wrote her notes, “Respiratory rate is normal at thirty nine beats pet minute, and temperature is normal at thirty eight point five degrees Celsius. Bandages all nice and clean, no leaking or bleeding.” The nurse flicked her dark brown mane out of her green eyes as she took a peek under the bandages and the gauze, “Scars seem to be setting nicely.” With her hourly checks completed Eirene placed the clipboard in the holder at the foot of the bed and sat on her pad opposite Dusk at the other side of the bed.

“Excuse me, Highness,” Eirene politely interrupted Dusk’s train of thought, her Baltimare accent derailing his self-pity.

"Just Dusk, please Nurse Eirene." Dusk corrected absent mindedly, not even having to think about the request.

Eirene blushed, “Excuse me, Dusk,” she corrected with an embarrassed smile, “I’m going for a coffee, would you like one?”

“Tea, earl grey, please nurse.” Dusk asked without looking away from the sleeping pegasus tucked in the bed.

"I'm awfully sorry Dusk,” the nurse smiled as she reached the door. “The best I can offer is foul tasting vending machine coffee, and the least said about the tea, the better.”

“In that case nurse,” Dusk allowed himself what felt like a rare smile, “Awful coffee will do nicely, thank you.”

“As you wish, Dusk. I'll be but a moment.” With a swish of her dark brown mane Nurse Eirene disappeared through the door to the vending machine just down the corridor.

“Yeah…” Dusk answered, still not looking up from his friend. Again he wondered how in the wide world of Equestria he was going to tell her what had happened. “I'm so sorry Wily.” He muttered as he squeezed her right hoof.

He was about to say something else when he was cut off by a squeeze of his own hoof. “Wily?” He asked quietly.

“Ugh…”

Wildfire squeezed the hoof that was holding hers again, this time a little harder.

"Ugh...wh - where am I?” She felt the comfortable softness of the bed under her, but it didn’t feel like her own at home, plus it didn’t smell of her marefriend, which put her ill at ease. She tried sitting up but the dull pain in her head blossomed into one that threatened to tear her skull apart so she gave that up as a bad idea.

“Wily…”

Dusk’s voice sounded from her right side, though she had never heard her best friend sound like that before. Turning her head in his general direction the very next thing she noticed a split second later was the dark. Why was it so dark? Wildfire had never experienced a dark like this. The blackness was absolute. Even the darkest room she’d ever been in had had some degree of illumination. Not like this.

Wildfire turned her head to the left then right again. No matter where she looked the darkness was total. Panic started to rise in her breast as a horrible realisation settled upon her.

She couldn't feel her eyes.

“Du…Dusk…” Wildfire croaked out, her brain registering the soreness in her throat where the ammonia gas had burnt her.

"I'm here Wily, don’t worry.” He said as he gave her hoof another reassuring squeeze.

“Dusk…wh – where am I? Why…why can’t I see anything?” She asked, his hoof doing nothing to quell the rising fear in her gut.

“Wily…there was an accident at school. You’re in Canterlot Royal hospital.” Dusk started to explain as the nurse came back in the room, carrying the three coffees on a tray balanced on her back.

“Dusk, here’s yours,” Eirene breezed as she took the handle in her mouth and passed the styrofoam cup to the stallion. “Wildfire I wasn’t sure if you’d be awake so I got you one anyway.” The earth pony placed the last two cups on the bedside cabinet on the left of the bed and took up her seating pad.

“How are you feeling Wildfire?” Eirene asked as she blew the steam off of her own coffee.

“Um…” Wildfire turned her head to the left, where she thought the nurses voice was coming from. “Dusk said I was in the hospital?” She asked uncertainly.

“That’s right, I’m your nurse, Nurse Eirene, or just Eirene, if you prefer.” The nurse winced as she sipped her coffee, and held a giggle as Dusk did the same. “I’ll be looking after you and providing the awful coffee.” She added with a snigger.

"Nurse...I just asked Dusk, but I’ll ask you, why can’t I see anything?” Wildfire asked, not at all sure whether or not she wanted the answer.

Dusk glanced over at the nurse, suddenly very grateful that somepony else was here to field this question instead of him.

“Wildfire,” Eirene started, only to be interrupted by the yellow pegasus laid in the bed.

“Call me Wily, please Nurse Eirene.”

“Alright, Wily it is.” The earth pony mare smiled at her patient. “Wily, the reason you can’t see is because the accident you had earlier today has left you blind.”

Wildfire lifted a hoof to her face and felt the bandages wrapped across her ruined visage. “AaaAAH!” She winced with the sharp pain as she touched on where her eyes should be, the sockets blossoming with agony. “I…I’m blind?” Wildfire asked, the fear clearly audible in her voice, “W – Will I recover?”

Eirene cast a nervous glance at Dusk, who picked up on the student nurses discomfort and took a deep breath, Wildfire’s hoof still held in his own. “Wily…you uh…you um…won’t recover. I’m sorry Wily.”

“What…I won't recover?” Wildfire asked, stricken and distraught at the news she had just been given. She didn’t want to believe it, believe that her life was over, that she was blind. “I’ll never see anything again? N – not ever?”

“No…” The admission all but crushed Dusk’s soul. “I’m so sorry Wily.”

“B – but…how…why?” Wildfire laid in the bed, confused as she tried to process what she’d been told.

“Blitzwing threw acids in your face, Wily. Your eyes…they um…the doctors say they exploded in your head.” Dusk explained, feeling sicker and sicker with each word, each syllable of each word, that he spoke. “I'm sorry…”

“STOP SAYING YOU’RE SORRY!” Wildfire threw Dusk's hoof back at him as her temper exploded. “I’M THE PONY WHO’S BLIND!” The pegasus screamed, not caring that her lungs and throat were burning raw, “WHAT THE HAY ARE YOU SORRY FOR?”

“Wildfire…please calm down,” Eirene put her hoof on her patients shoulder, causing her to jump in panic. “I'm sorry Wildfire, but you need to calm down.”

“Wily…” Dusk started, his head in his hooves as Wildfire started to take deep breaths. “It…it was my fault.”

“What?” Wildfire asked.

“Oh I’m sure Dusk didn’t mean anything by it Wily.” The nurse tried to intercept the outburst she could see coming. Sadly she wasn’t quick enough.

“Shut up, nurse.” Wildfire snapped, silencing the student nurse who ‘eeped’ as she turned her head in her direction. “Dusk,” she said dangerously, “What do you mean, it's your fault?”

“You weren’t paying attention in the science lab.” Dusk said quietly, each word ripped from him. “I showed Blitzwing the scroll that made him snap. It was all me, Wily. I…I’m so sorry.”

“So…he was aiming for you?”

"Yes....yes he was.” Dusk almost whispered, unable to look at his friend.

“Why?” Wildfire asked, her simmering temper barely held in check from her earlier outburst.

“Why what, Wily?”

“Why show Blitzwing that scroll? So what he won for that second. So what Dusk? You had to know how he’d react, D.” Wildfire demanded of her friend.

“Wily, I had no idea he’d lose it like that, I swear!”

Wildfire raised a hoof for silence and cut across the midnight blue pegasus. “You knew he’d react though, didn’t you?” She whispered as her voice threatened to give out, “You wanted him to react, you wanted him to rise to that stupid scroll. Well congratulations D, he reacted, and here we are. Was it worth it?”

“Wh – what?” Dusk asked, disbelieving of what he’d heard. “Wily please…”

“DON’T CALL ME WILY! GET OUT!” Wildfire screamed again, causing a doctor to look around the door frame, only to be waved away by Eirene.

“Wil…Wildfire…” Dusk couldn't remember the last time he’d used his best fiend’s full name. “You don’t mean that, please!”

“YOU DID THIS TO ME! GET OUT!” She screamed again, her hooves searching her bed for something to throw. Finding nothing she seized her pillow and threw that instead.

“Wily, what the buck?” Dusk exclaimed as the pillow missed him by a clear four feet to bounce off the walls to the floor.

“Prince Dusk…” Nurse Eirene stooped to pick up the pillow, “I think you should leave, please, my patient doesn’t need this stress.”

Dusk slid off the seating pad he was sat on, but made no movement to leave. “I'm not leaving!” He said with a stomp of his hoof, “We need to work this out.”

“GET OUT!”

“Your Highness, please…” The young earth pony mare took a deep breath and squared up to the Prince. “My patient has requested you leave. Um…please do so or I'll summon security.”

"Fine...I’ll go.” Dusk turned to leave and paused in the doorway. “Wildfire, I really am so sorry.”

“Just go Dusk.” Wildfire said quietly as she rolled over in the bed she was laid in, hoping she was facing away from the door. “Leave me alone.”

For a few seconds the only sounds were those of diminishing hoof-steps on the hospital’s marble floor.

For almost a whole minute after that there was utter silence in the private room.

“N – Nurse?” Wildfire whispered tentatively to the room, unsure if she was alone or not. She desperately hoped she wasn’t. She really didn’t want to be left on her own. Wildfire felt wretched for screaming at her best friend like that, whether he had caused her accident or not, Dusk was her friend, practically a brother to her. Emotion welled up inside the young pegasus. She had never wanted to cry so much in all her life. Her shoulders heaved and she snivelled into her second pillow but nothing happened. Try as she might no tears came.

Wildfire jumped slightly as she felt a hoof lightly brush her shoulder.

“I'm here Wily.” Nurse Eirene said quietly as she gently laid her hoof on Wildfire’s shoulder. “I'm not going anywhere, I'm right here, as long as you need me.”

“Nurse…” Wildfire whispered as she felt for and eventually found the earth pony’s hoof with her own, “I can’t cry, why can't I cry?”

Eirene moved around the bed to face her patient and without asking pulled her into a tight hug, closer than was strictly required for a nurse and patient, but the earth pony decided the situation called for it. “Well, I’ve read your notes that were provided by Doctor Cross Hatch, and I think I might know why you can't cry, Wily.”

“Why?” Wildfire asked in a small tiny voice.

“Well…I would tell you, but you might yell at me like you yelled at your best friend.” The earth pony teased, bopping the blind mare’s nose with her hoof.

"I won't, I promise.”

“Alrighty then. As I said, I’ve looked over your notes, and it seems that when the acids hit your face and combined together they released a out of heat and energy. Put simply Wily your eyes boiled then exploded.” Eirene paused to let that sink in for a few moments before she continued. “Evidence suggests you can't cry because you have no tear ducts anymore. They were either cauterised or severely damaged.”

“Oh…I see.” Wildfire said as she mulled over the nurse’s words. “So…what do I do now?”

Eirene giggled at her patient’s question and proceeded to answer it like it was the easiest thing in the world. “Easy Wily. You live. You live and you do whatever it is you want to do, because you aren’t going to let a little thing like being blind hold you back, are you?”

"Well...I…”

“No!” Eirene laughed out loud as she tousled Wildfire’s black mane. “I didn’t think you would! You’re a firefighter! You're a poet, you’re young and you're pretty!”

Wildfire couldn’t help but smile at the student nurse’s enthusiasm, even if she didn't feel it herself. “I…I guess you’re right, thanks Eirene.”

“Remember, just because you have to change the way you live, doesn't mean you have to stop living altogether.”

~ ~ ~

“Stupid damned traffic!” Air Raid groused as she pulled up outside the hospital’s main entrance. The lime green mare checked her watch and cursed again. “Buck! Two hours to get through Canterlot! Bucking rush hour!” Air Raid slammed her hooves into her Fiesta’s steering wheel in utter frustration.

"Damnit, Wily's gonna think I don't care!” Air Raid exclaimed to the thin air around her, killing her car’s engine as she placed her left hoof on her driver’s side door release.

Five minutes later and Air Raid was still staring at her door release as a familiar midnight blue blur took off into the early evening sky headed for the castle.

Fifteen minutes later and still Air Raid was sat in her car, one hoof on the door release and the other on the gas station flowers she had bought on her way over.

Air Raid genuinely had no idea how long she was sat there for, or for that matter why she was still sat there. She just couldn't bring herself to open the car door. ‘This is ridiculous Raid!’ She chastised herself impatiently. Even so she remained in her car seat, staring at her door release like it was holding her prisoner.

'Your marefriend is in there, somewhere, she needs you Raid!’ She thought to herself, trying to motivate herself to get out of the car. However instead of opening the door she sat back in her seat with a dejected sigh that seemed to echo through her car.

‘She’s blind though. She needs proper care. I didn't sign up to be a carer…’ Air Raid tried to justify herself to herself, which in the circumstances made her chuckle a mirthless laugh.

‘What did you sign up for then? A quick fumble? A bit of fun?’ Air Raid caught sight of her reflection in the rear view mirror and found she couldn't even look herself in her grey eyes. She knew deep down inside what the answer was.

Because she was still sat in her car and not in the hospital with her marefriend.

Air Raid closed her eyes as she laid her head back against the headrest, her blue mane spilling over her shoulders. Again she sighed as she tried to organise her thoughts in a way that made her feel a bit less wretched. She failed miserably.

“Hey!” The shout was accompanied by a series of sharp raps of a hoof on the driver’s door window that shook the lime green mare out of her reverie, as well as scaring her half to death.

“Hey!” Darkstar shouted again as she motioned for Air Raid to wind down the car window. “How's Wily? Have you been to see her already?” The alabaster unicorn asked as she stuck her head through the now-open window.

“Well…” Air Raid wanted to bury her head under her wing and die from shame. “Not…exactly, no.”

“Huh?” Darkstar cocked her head, seeing the cheap flowers on the passenger seat. “You haven’t been in to see her have you?” She added incredulously.

"No...no I haven't been to see her.” Air Raid didn’t look up at her friend as she answered her.

"Any good reason as to why not? I mean, how long have you been out here?” Darkstar demanded, the fur at the back of her neck starting to rise.

“I…I just don't know if I can do this Darkie, y’know, be a carer…” Air Raid’s voice trailed off under the fierce look that her friend shot her, and she fell to silence mumbling something about a blind mare and her career.

"Raid!” Darkstar yelled through the window, “Wily doesn’t need a ‘carer’, she needs her marefriend to love and stand by her!”

"I...I dunno if I can…”

“You don't know if you can…” Darkstar repeated incredulously. “Are you kidding me Raid? Seriously? Who was it who stood by you the most with your Scootaloo’s Syndrome? Oh yeah…that's right, that mare in there!” Darkstar punctuated her point by thrusting a hoof to point at the hospital.

"Darkie...how am I supposed to race with a blind mare in tow?” Immediately Air Raid felt wretched the second those words left her mouth. Was she really that shallow?

“You…you are unbelievable!” The white unicorn stomped her hoof into the Fiesta’s door, uncaring of the dent she had made. “What do you love the most? Wily or your career?” Darkstar stared at the lime green mare sat in her car and gave a cold mirthless laugh as realisation took hold. “Don't bother answering that, you’re still sat in your car when you should be by her side like she was by yours!”

"I bought her flowers!" Air Raid's reply felt as feeble as it sounded.

“A lot of good they are out here in your car, Raid.” Darkstar sneered in contempt at the self-pitying pegasus. “Give them here,” she said, and without waiting for a reply levitated the flowers in her yellow aura to float with the ones that she had bought. You didn't have to look hard to see Darkstar’s were better quality than those Air Raid had bought. “I’ll give her your bit store flowers shall I? Is this all she’s worth to you?”

“Hey!” Air Raid snarled as she shot her friend a nasty look, “I rushed over here from the track, they were the best I could get, alright?”

“Rushed huh?” Darkstar pushed herself up from the car door with a last sneer. “Doesn't look like you're in much of a rush now, does it?”

“Whatever you say, Darkstar.” Air Raid fired up the ignition on her car, slamming the Fiesta into gear and revving the gas pedal. “I don't have to listen to this from you of all ponies.” She snapped angrily as she secured her seatbelt across her body.

“And what’s that supposed to mean, huh?”

“Been to see your crazy old mom recently, Darkie?” The minute the words left her muzzle Air Raid knew she’d crossed a line, by the look of sheer fury on the unicorn’s face.

“How dare you bring my mom into this! This has nothing to do with Shining Star!” Darkstar flushed in anger at her friend. It wasn't that she was embarrassed by her mother, far from it. She and her brother Brightstar had never hidden the fact that their mother was currently residing in Canterlot Asylum, or that that’s where she was due to stay, at least for the foreseeable future. What hurt the most was that a pony that Darkstar considered a close friend had used her mother’s insanity as a weapon to deflect from her avoiding seeing Wildfire.

“Don't like it now the horseshoe’s on the other hoof do we?”

It was true, Darkstar hadn't been to see her mother for a few months, but that wasn't the issue here. “Air Raid…” Darkstar’s cool tone chilled the pegasus to her very core. “My mother can't even recognise me or anypony else, as well you know, but hey, thanks for bringing it up, friend.”

"I'm sorry Darkie, I can't do this.” Air Raid gunned her accelerator and drove off from the hospital in a screech of tires and the smoke of exhaust, leaving the outraged unicorn standing alone with the tyre tracks burned onto the road.

“We’ll see about that, Raid!” Darkstar stomped her hoof as she watched the car drive off down the street. Lighting her horn with a pale yellow aura, concentrating her magical power on the rapidly disappearing vehicle. “Raid…” Darkstar visualised the word in her head, projecting it further than she ever had before.

"What th…?” Air Raid jammed her right hind hoof on her brake pedal, performing an emergency stop in the flow of traffic that earned her the sounding of car horns from several passing drivers. “Darkie!?”

Darkstar stood immobile at the roadside, her eyes and horn glowing yellow with power. “I know you can hear me Air Raid.” She thought savagely, sending her voice to the occupant of the distant car. “Try not to run over any blind ponies on your way home.”

~ ~ ~

“Remember, just because you have to change the way you live, doesn't mean you have to stop living altogether.” Eirene smiled as she gave Wildfire a gentle hug, her hooves applying almost no pressure to the pegasus’s shoulders.

Darkstar stood outside the open door to room two one four and smiled at the nurses words. She knew next to nothing about this mare but the unicorn decided she liked her already. ‘Oh Wily, you poor little thing…’ Darkstar thought as she looked at her injured friend in the hospital bed. The bandages over her face hid the scars she knew were there. Quickly Darkstar stamped on her train of thought, that kind of sympathy was the last thing her friend needed. Like the nurse had just said, Wildfire needed to know that nothing had really changed, that she didn't have to stop being here just because of what had happened.

“Wily,” Eirene said her name warmly while breaking the tender embrace, “Look at me and tell me what you see.”

"What? You're asking me to look at you? Seriously?" Wildfire asked, grumpily crossing her forehooves in front of her.

Eirene just smiled, and in a tone that reminded the watching unicorn of a teacher explaining something very simple to one too stubborn to listen said, “You aren't looking at me correctly. Use your hooves Wily.”

Darkstar smiled, she really liked this nurse.

The earth pony took hold of Wildfire’s left hoof and slowly guided it to her own face, allowing it to settle on her cheek before letting go. Hesitantly Wildfire moved her hoof along the nurse’s right cheek, against the fur and below her eye. Gingerly, with the same touch that one would handle a delicate flower, Wildfire moved her hoof around Eirene’s eye abd up to her muzzle, her hoof finding her nose and upper lip. Moving it straight upwards up the bridge of her nose to her forehead Wildfire discovered her nurse was an earth pony. Moving carefully left and right from there Wildfire felt Eirene’s ears, her left she discovered had a notch missing from its outer edge.

“So…” Eirene said with a smile after the yellow pegasus had lowered her questing hoof, “Describe me, the way you see me.”

“Well…” Wildfire stopped and thought, considering her answer. “I dunno, um…I know you aren’t a unicorn?” She offered with a smile; she definitely hadn’t felt a horn.

“Good, you might want to feel a little lower then, to make sure if there are wings or not.”

Wildfire carefully moved her hooves down her nurse’s neck and along her back, noting with curiosity the little indented bit of her neck where it joined her collar bone. Starting on her back Wildfire felt well-defined musculature and the end of Eirene’s shoulder blade. So far nothing screamed ‘pegasus’ at her. Reaching the dock of her tail Wildfire moved her hooves down and worked her way back up the nurse’s flank. It was only when she reached her upper foreleg having felt nothing in between that she was sure.

“You’re an earth pony. You're a mare, because you have a less angular face than a stallion’s. Your left ear has a notch missing on it’s outer edge. You have a short muzzle with soft downy fur and two small moles on your right cheek.” Wildfire sniffed her hoof, catching a hint of a scent. “You use jasmine shampoo?” She offered hopefully.

“Spot-on Wily! Well done!” Eirene enthused, clapping her hooves together delightedly. “Although, how can you be sure I'm an earth pony?” She asked as her smile turned into a frown when she saw the edges of Wildfire’s mouth turn down. “Wily…what’s wrong? What is it?”

Wildfire looked down, her voice dejected. “I can't feel any stripes, just like touching you doesn't tell me what colour your fur is, or what colour your mane is and what shape or colour your eyes are. Just touching you doesn't show me your cutie mark does it? All I can do is touch you. Big deal.”

“Yeah Wily,” Darkstar decided that was the time to announce her presence and she trotted loudly into her friend’s hospital room, her hooves purposefully loud so Wildfire knew where she was. “It is a big deal.”

Wildfire automatically snapped her head to the right in the direction that the clopping of hooves came from, her frown instantly turning upwards at the sound of her friend's voice. “Darkie!” She exclaimed with a wide grin.

The clopping hooves stopped in front of the injured pegasus, and Darkstar lit her horn with a grin and a wink at the nurse, willing her to stay quiet. “When a simple touch is all you can do then yeah,” Darkstar started as she cast her spell and made her voice appear from behind the yellow mare, “It is a damned big deal.”

Wildfire jumped as her friend’s voice suddenly appeared on the bed behind her, causing the white unicorn to fall into a fit of giggles, and a second later Eirene and an outraged Wildfire joined the giggle fit too. “Hehehe…nice one Darkie,” Wildfire giggled, “Though I officially hate you and you’re bullying a cripple.”

“Pfft…” Darkstar finally said, recovering from her giggles. “I’ve got you with it before, I’ll get you with it again. And let's be honest, you never saw it coming before so nothing’s changed.”

Eirene giggled for a few more minutes before she too recovered herself. “Haha…oh…D –Darkie, was it? Oh that was a good prank.”

The unicorn gave a low theatrical bow. “Indeed, Darkstar, showmare, dancer extraordinaire and all-round awesome friend and pranker at your service. And you are nurse…?”

"I'm Nurse Eirene,” she quickly supplied, clapping her forehooves in delight. “You’re very skilled.”

“Oh yeah, nurse,” Wildfire sniggered on the bed, “She’s skilled alright.

Darkstar positioned herself in front of her blind friend and gave her a quick kiss on the tip of her yellow nose to let her know where she was standing. “Touch me Wily. Look at me, sweetie.”

Wildfire cocked her head in confusion. “But…but I know what you look like Darkie.” She said uncertainly.

“No sweat flanks,” Darkstar whispered with another tender kiss to her friend’s nose, “Look at me now, with your hooves.”

Gently and carefully Wildfire slid her hooves up either side of Darkstar’s chest up to her neck, feeling every bump and ting crevice in her skin under her surprisingly soft downy fur. ‘Was Darkie’s fur always this soft?’ She thought to herself while her hooves reached her jawline. Wildfire couldn't help but smile as she gradually moved her forehooves around Darkstar’s face, a mental image of her friend’s face starting to build up as she began feeling the curved definition of her cheekbones and the slope of her nose leading up to her forehead. Moving up either side of her friend’s head she felt her long tapering ears, which twitched when they were stroked by the explorative hooves of the pegasus.

“Hmm…”   Darkstar released a contented sigh when Wildfire eventually found the base of her horn, the toes of her hooves subconsciously starting to rub the magical appendage. “Aaaah…” She whimpered quietly as the frogs of Wildfire’s hooves began to slide gently up and down its length.

Straight though she was, Darkstar had to admit this was the start of an amazing horn-job.

“Um…Wily?” Eirene interrupted her patient with a tap of her hoof on Wildfire’s shoulder. “I think that’s enough touching now, don't you?”

“Huh?” Wildfire asked, “You want me to stop?”

“Please don't stop…” Darkstar whimpered as the stimulus of the rubbing hooves was removed from her horn. Playfully she pouted at the nurse. “I was so close! C’mon, a few more rubs would do it!”

“I said no, Darkie.” Eirene giggled at the frustrated unicorn. “Not in the least because it breaks a dozen hospital rules, I don’t know how powerful your illusions are. An uncontrolled horn-gasm could upset the delicate machinery and monitors who knows how far away?”

“Fine, I guess you have a point.” Darkstar acquiesced with a smirk and a pout directed at the nurse. “I'll sort myself out later.”

“Anyway!” Eirene exclaimed, changing the subject by picking up the bouquet of flowers in her hoof that Darkstar had bought in and placed on the bed when she had first entered the room. Holding them in front of the blind mare the earth pony smiled, “Smell these Wily, they’re beautiful.”

"Alrighty,” Wildfire leant forward until her nose brushed the flowers and giggled as the scent of daffodils, narcissus and daisies hit the back of her nose, making her sneeze. “Ooh Darkie these smell lovely! Thank you for bringing them, I love them!”

Darkstar smiled sadly as her friend enjoyed her flowers; she didn’t have the heart to tell her that they were from her when Air Raid’s had been so pitiful, besides which, Darkstar had made sure to dump those awful flowers in the first waste bin she had come across in the hospital. Grimacing slightly at the foul taste it left in her mouth Darkstar decided to lie instead. “Oh they aren’t from me, sweetie…” Darkstar was very glad at that moment her friend couldn’t see the disgusted look on her face, though she was sure Eirene had her suspicions, thankfully she didn't say anything. “Air Raid asked me to bring them in for you.”

“Air Raid?” Wildfire snapped her head up from the flowers and towards Darkstar’s general direction at the mention of her marefriend’s name. “You saw Raid? Why isn't she here, did she say when she was coming?”

“She uh…well, she…see the thing is, Wily, well the thing is…” Darkstar fumbled over herself, unsure of how to answer. Thankfully her new best friend stepped in.

“Air Raid phoned ahead and left a message while you were sleeping Wily,” The earth pony mare lied easily, picking up on what Darkstar had said with the flowers. “She sent the flowers with Darkie here as a sorry for not coming straight away, isn't that right, Darkie?” She asked with a pointed nod in the unicorn’s direction.

“Uh…yeah, yeah that’s right.” Darkstar decided then that she really, really liked this nurse, despite also hating Air Raid and herself for feeling the need to lie on her behalf.

“Aw…” Wildfire squeed as she smelt the flowers she believed were from her marefriend. “She’s so awesome! She knows how much I love daffodils!”

“Yeah…Raid really is something else alright.” Darkstar’s grumble went unnoticed by Wildfire who was preoccupied with investigating the flowers that the unicorn now held for her in her yellow aura. Eirene however, did notice the sour expression on Darkstar’s face and laid a hoof on her shoulder.

“You alright?” The nurse mouthed silently to Darkstar, who merely nodded by way of reply. Tapping her shoulder Eirene pointed a hoof first at Wildfire, then Darkstar and finally at herself before finally angling her head sharply at the window and mouthing “Us, walk, outside.”

Darkstar nodded with a smile, suddenly feeling the need for a whole load of fresh air. She’d never been prone to claustrophobia like Wildfire but right now the pegasus’s hospital room felt very constrictive and overbearing. “Hey, Wily, you wanna go for a walk?”

“A walk?” Wildfire asked with a foalish excitement, “Like, an outside walk? Can we, really?”

“You big foal…” Darkstar couldn’t help but giggle in spite of her soured mood; Wildfire’s excitement was just too infectious. “You’re blind, not paralysed, come on – march!”

“But…Darkie, I don't even know where the door is, or how to get outside, let alone actually walk outside, come on!”

“Your friend is quite right Wily!” Eirene exclaimed as she placed her hoof on Wildfire’s shoulder and gently guided her off of the bed to stand on her hooves. “After all, you aren’t an incapable. Like Darkie said, march!” She sniggered, her foreleg already starting to guide her to the door.

"B - But...I’m a victim…” Wildfire pouted playfully, in the manner of a filly being told she had double math homework, “Can't I be a little bit incapable?”

“Hey!” Darkstar stomped her hoof so loud it made Wildfire jump with shock. “What kind of attitude is that from Canterlot’s finest firefighter?”

Wildfire blushed a bright red, turning her fur an incandescent glowing orange. “Darkie…I don't even know if I can do my job anymore.”

“Well tough!” Darkstar stood close to Wildfire’s left flank and gave her a gentle nuzzle. “You’re not wallowing! Silverbolt wouldn’t let you, and neither will I!” Darkstar gave her friend another nuzzle as the trio started walking. “Besides, I’m not having your mom haunt me for being a bad friend.”

“Yeah,” Wildfire giggled, “Mom let you off for Las Pegasus. Keep on being mean and I'll tell on you.”

"And knowing your mom she'd haunt you for even thinking about quitting on yourself, now c’mon sweet flanks, lets go outside.”

~ ~ ~

Princess Twilight, who after exhausting her usefulness at the university found herself a loss as to what to do with herself, had decided to pay a visit to the palace, in the hopes of sitting for a while with her old mentor. Despite the fact it had been at least twenty five years since her ascension and therefore subsequent ‘official’ dismissal from the role of Celestia’s student, Twilight still sought her council from time to time, when something occurred that threatened to overwhelm the young alicorn.

Twilight hadn't sought out Celestia’s company like this for a good few months. Usually if something bothered her, Twilight would go to her marefriend Rainbow Dash for solace, and, more often than not the brash pegasus would give it. Then there were those rare times where Rainbow was unable to help; times like a student suffering a grievous injury in her class as a result, direct or not, of something she did or helped to arrange. Also she wanted to ask about the signed scroll that Dusk had in his possession.

As she landed in the palace forecourt with the intent of quietly slipping up to the east wing and the welcome sanctuary of Celestia’s suite however, a strong grey hoof had seized her roughly and pulled her into Luna’s suite. Recovering quickly from her initial shock Twilight fired up a minor repulser field to shake off whomever had hold of her. This turned out to be a very angry Octavia Melody.

“Twilight, lower this barrier right now!” Octavia snarled, her strong hooves pounding on the shield Twilight had erected around herself.

“Um…no!” Twilight gave a panicked squeak, “Not until you calm down!”

"Calm down? What in the wide world of Equestria were you thinking, Twilight?!” Octavia demanded, stomping a hoof hard into the marbled floor of hers and Luna’s suite.

“Octavia, please, I'm sorry!”

"Sorry! My son could’ve been blinded and you’re sorry?!” Octavia shouted at the top of her lungs.

The large ornate doors to the suite suddenly swung open, moved by a powerful dark blue magical aura, so hard they hit the gilded walls of the suite’s antechamber and leaving clear indentations of the handles in the walls. The audible force of the loud bang serving to stun the outraged earth pony mare into momentary silence. Luna stalked slowly into her own suite, her steps deliberate and measured. Her usual billowy ethereal mane and tail hung close to her body as she entered, the Lunar Princesses turquoise eyes sparking with barely restrained power.

“That’s enough, you two.” Luna didn't need to use the Royal Canterlot Voice. The weight of power and authority she carried in her quiet tone was more than enough to get the mares’ attention as she stepped closer to them.

“Luna! What she did…she put Dusk in danger!” Octavia thrust a hoof at Twilight, indicating the purple mare.

“Tavi…calm down, this isn’t Twilight’s fault.” Luna said in the same calm tone as before.

Octavia stood back from the shimmering purple shield that covered Twilight and took several deep breaths, her temper however did not lessen in the slightest. “Then whose fault is it?”

Luna took a couple of strides, bringing herself within hoofs reach of Twilight and her barrier. Chiding herself with a wry smile Luna reminded herself she shouldn’t be surprised that her entrance hadn't dissipated Twilight’s shield when it should have. With her studious nature and tendency to avoid conflict it was easy to forget just how innately powerful and magically gifted the young Princess actually was. Laying a hoof on the lavender dome it coruscated brightly where she touched it. “Please drop the shield, Twilight, we need more information before we even begin to assign blame in this situation.”

Keeping a wary eye on the still-simmering Octavia, Twilight nervously cancelled the shield she had summoned around herself. “Here Luna,” Twilight used her magic to open her saddlebag and levitate out the two scrolls she had brought from the university science lab. “I believe these have all the information you need.”

Luna took hold of the two scrolls in her own dark blue aura and floated them in front of her and Octavia; laying a silver horseshoe-shod hoof on her wife’s grey shoulder as she unfurled the first scroll. “Ravenwing’s seal…” The Lunar Princess noted to Octavia with a sigh, a sigh which only deepened as they both read through the parchment held in air in front of them.

Luna’s turquoise eyes went wide with realisation as she scanned the text. “They…the family…they have an audience with the Day Court this Friday…to restore the Ravenwing family to their former standing.”

"Luna..." Octavia nudged her wife with a hoof when she reached for and turned the second scroll over held in Luna’s magic. The broken seal around the scroll was clearly legible, as was the stylised sun at it’s centre.

“That’s Tia’s seal…” Luna proceeded to unroll the second scroll, only for Octavia to take it up in her hoof and quickly read it to the bottom, the part declaring Ravenwing officially a ‘Luna’ matter and more importantly, the part of the scroll bearing Celestia’s signature.

“I can see that, Tavi…” Luna said tersely, the implications very clear.

“Octavia, Luna,” Twilight began nervously, her voice bringing their attention unwelcomingly back to the lavender mare, “Dusk admitted to me that he showed this scroll to Blitzwing in my class before he threw the beakers.”

“And…it doesn't take a genius to work out that Blitzwing showed my Dusk his scroll first.” Luna surmised with a grim look in her face.

“Luna, the other day, Saturday, remember Dusk came to you asking about this stallion’s family.” Octavia added, her anger towards Twilight starting to fade in favour of a new, more deserving target.

"I remember, Tavi. Dusk came seeking a, well a weapon, I suppose, for want of a better term.” Luna hung her head, recognising her part in this tale, “I dismissed him out of hoof, asked him not to mention that family’s name ever again…if I had taken the time to explain…”

“There still would’ve been acid in my class, Luna.” Twilight acknowledged, “I’m sorry, what happened was clearly my fault.”

“Will you both stop? Please!” Octavia reared up to her hindlegs and brought her forehooves down hard on the marbled floor with a resounding crash that sounded like a cannon blast, silencing the two Princesses. “There’s only one pony at fault here and that’s Celestia!”

“Tavi…what are you saying?  My sister wouldn't…” Luna began for she was interrupted by her wife.

“Wouldn't she? How can you say that, Lulu! Look at this!” Octavia flung the scroll at the alicorn’s hooves, where it bounced and rolled to one side. “You wouldn't give our son what he wanted so he went to the next pony who could! How could she have been so damned reckless?”

Twilight gave a flicker of concentration and picked up the fallen scroll from where it had come to rest, treating it as a police pony would evidence. Floating it carefully back to her saddlebag she gave Octavia a resentful look. “I don't think Celestia intended to be reckless Octavia,” she said, coming to her old mentor’s defence. “I mean she probably had her reasons, but…”

"Her reasons?” Octavia stomped her hoof in anger at Twilight’s predictable defence. “I don't care what her reasons are! Wildfire is in the hospital, blinded! My son’s best friend! You've seen her about the palace, you know her, we all do! She isn’t just some random pony Twilight!”

Luna put a calming hoof on her wife’s shoulder, “Tavi, please, cal…”

“Lulu don't you dare tell me to calm down! Don't. You. Dare!” Octavia stomped a forehoof at her wife, so hard it scuffed the marble floor. “How in the world can you be so calm? Is it because it's not Dusk? Does that make it ok, Lulu?”

“Tavi…listen, please…”

“I will not listen!” The cellist stomped up to Twilight, who flinched involuntarily as she ripped the incriminating scrolls from the alicorn’s bags and angrily started to stomp out of her suite to the palace’s west wing.

"Um...Octavia? Where are you going?” Twilight asked, almost afraid of the answer.

“I'm taking this to Celestia, seeing as you two are seemingly incapable or unable!” Octavia snapped over her shoulder, not even bothering to turn around.

“Tavi, you can't just go stomping into Tia’s chambers unannounced.” Luna tried, ineffectively, to halt the earth pony.

“Can't I? We’ll see about that then, won't we?” Octavia slid the scrolls under her foreleg, trapping them against her chest as she exited the suite. “I'm your wife and her sister-in-law, I can go where I damn well like!”

~ ~ ~

“Celestia!” Having stomped her way angrily past the guards-ponies posted outside the Solar Princess’s suite, Octavia thrust open the large white marble doors decorated in gold with her cutie mark so hard one of the gilded handles shattered against the wall.

“Huh? What?” To say Celestia was surprised at the sudden violent entrance of her sister-in-law would have been an understatement…thoroughly shocked and stunned would’ve been nearer the mark. The white alicorn couldn't recall in recent memory of an instance where anypony had dared to enter her private chambers in such a manner. “Lady Octavia,” she forced a neutral smile, “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“You know what I'm here for, Celestia.”

"I'm afraid I don't.” Still smiling her practiced smile, Celestia put aside the scroll she had been working on and, sensing an imminent confrontation, levitated her quill and ink away from the mountain of completed paperwork stacked on her desk. “Please,” she invited, “Do tell me what I can do for you today.”

Octavia stomped right up to the desk and took both of the scrolls in her right forehoof and slammed them down hard on the desk, scattering parchments detailing land disputes, feuds and other official work that had literally taken her hours to complete all over the white marbled floor. “You can start by explaining these!” She exclaimed in fury.

Celestia blinked three times, staring at the two scrolls that the grey earth pony had practically smashed into her work desk. Of course she recognised her seal on one of them, the other she had no idea about. Levitating the one with her cutie mark seal on it in front of her she unfurled it and gave it a very quick look-over and instantly the Princess knew what had Octavia so upset. “I…I gave this to Dusk a day or two ago…”

“You admit you gave my son that scroll? Why, Celestia? Why would you?”

"Dusk came to me asking about this family, Ravenwing I think it was.” Celestia started to explain with a hint of worry in her voice. “I dismissed it as a matter for Luna, as it’s nothing to do with me. Dusk asked me for it in writing, it was no trouble to accommodate him.”

Octavia actually thrust her hoof all the way through Celestia’s desk, sending splinters of antique wood over the floor, so great was her temper. “You knowingly gave a teenager with a grudge a loaded gun? Do you have any idea what you’ve done?

“But…but I warned him…” The alicorn stammered as she backed away from the angry earth pony, stopping only when her large back was literally against the wall of her suite.

“You warned him!?” Octavia shouted as she advanced on the Princess. “His best friend is in the hospital blinded because of you! A family older than some cities in Equestria is ruined because of you! A young stallion is being committed to the asylum, BECAUSE OF YOU!” She screamed, picked up the incriminating scroll and threw it at her. “But that’s okay, because YOU WARNED HIM!”

"O - Octavia...p - please, I…I had no idea this would happen, I swear I didn’t!”

“Horse-apples you didn't! How dare you give my foal a weapon that could harm him! Is that why you banished yours, so you wouldn't hurt her as well?” The instant the words left her mouth Octavia knew she’d crossed a line. In all her time married to Luna she had never seen Celestia looking like she did right now. Indeed, if looks could kill the earth pony had no doubt whatever that she’d be a pile of ash right then.

"HOW DARE YOU!” Celestia screeched, her eyes ablaze as her voice reached Royal Canterlot volume, and her powerful wings spread at their full fourteen foot span. “Just because you are married to my sister do not think for a moment you have the right to mention Sunset Shimmer to me!”

“Celestia…I’m sorry…” All Octavia’s ire evaporated when the Princess began to leak tears from the corners of her eyes. That Sunset Shimmer had chosen to remain in the human world even after the estranged mother and daughter had repaired the bridges between them that long ago had been burnt was a constant source of suffering and pain to the white alicorn.

“SILENCE, Octavia!” Celestia snapped, then furiously wiped her eyes with the back of her foreleg; her wet tears glistening against her pure white fur. “I’ll see her again in a few months.” She said, thinking with a sad smile of the yearly four week visit that was now just around the corner. “But for you, right now, I will…”

“What in the name of Tartarus is going on?” Dusk Melody had raced up from the forecourt where Twilight had met him and hurriedly explained what had happened, he had pushed his way past his mom who was frozen like a statue at the entrance to the royal suite and now he stood in the open doorway staring in disbelief at the sight in front of him. “Mum…Aunt Tia…” Words utterly failed the young stallion. He hadn't believed his mom or Twilight when had landed back at the palace a few minutes ago. He had openly laughed at the very idea of his mum tearing strips off of his aunt. Certainly Dusk had never imagined he’d ever witness the scene he had when he ran through the open doors of his aunt’s suite; earth pony and alicorn at each other's throats looking for all of Equestria like they’re about to go to war with each other. A quick glance around the antechamber had confirmed it; the scattered scrolls, the destroyed desk and the two scrolls currently laid at his aunt’s hooves.

"Dusk…” Octavia started, caught like a rabbit in a car’s headlights under her son’s fierce gaze, “We were…um, just uh…having a chat, about those scrolls Twilight brought back from the university.”

"A chat? Really mum?” Dusk condescended to raise a skeptical eyebrow at his mum’s rather lame explanation. “Tell me, what kind of ‘chat’ required the destruction of a perfectly sound desk? Or would cause Aunt Tia to use her Royal Canterlot Voice?”

“Dusk…you don't understand,” Octavia waved a hoof at a quietened Celestia, “She had no business giving you that scroll! She has to be made to account for her actions!”

“Octavia, I…” Celestia began, only to be interrupted by her nephew when he stepped in front of the Solar Princess and faced his mother.

“Mum, you have to listen to me, it's my fault, okay?’ Dusk started to explain to the stunned earth pony, who currently had her mouth open. “I went to Aunt Tia for that information, I asked her to write it all down then I was the one who showed it to Blitzwing.”

“But…Dusk…”

"But nothing mum!” Dusk exclaimed with an annoyed stomp of his hoof, making a dull thudding noise on the marbled floor. “You warned me what would happen, Aunt Tia warned me what would happen. I chose not to listen, mum!”

“Son…you can't seriously blame yourself?”

“Why not?” Dusk asked his mother; “I am to blame, aren’t I mum? So Aunt Tia gave me that scroll, so what? She didn't bend my hoof behind my back and force me to use it did she?” Dusk took a deep breath, “Is what you’re doing to your sister-in-law any different than what I did to Blitzwing?” The midnight blue stallion then looked his mother and aunt in the eyes as he poured out his guilt. “I went to the hospital, I spoke with the doctor who treated Wily. I sat with her until she woke up and then I had to tell my best friend she was blind then, I told her it was my fault.”

“Oh…son, come here sweetheart.” Octavia reared up to her hind hooves and opened her forelegs to pull Dusk into a tight hug and proceeded to nuzzle her son’s neck.

“Mum!” Dusk blushed at the intimate contact, but still returned the hug with equal enthusiasm.

Celestia had recovered her regal stature, and waved to her sister to approach.  Luna also regained her composure during the reconciliation moved at Celstia's beckoning. Sharing a smile and a nod the royal sisters both joined in the cuddle-fest between mother and son. Edging around the snuggle pile Luna found her wife's ear and gave it a hard bite between her teeth.

“Aah…” Octavia gasped at the sharp pain in her left ear and rubbed her hind legs together as the pain sent a wave of pleasure through her body.

“You’ve been a very, very naughty mare, Tavi…” Luna whispered in the earth pony’s ear; “You’re going to get such a spanking in our suite later, I'll make sure you don't sit down for a week.”

Octavia shivered with delight, “Promise?”

~ ~ ~

“Where is she?” Cold Front demanded for the third time as he stood at the reception desk of Canterlot Royal Hospital – well stood would’ve been generous, leant against was more accurate.

“Where is whom, sir?” The nurse staffing the reception asked, also for the third time, her otherwise limitless patience being dragged to hitherto unplumbed depths by this infuriating stallion.

“Pegasus…mare…yellow, short, I think…” Cold Front slurred hesitantly, trying to desperately describe the daughter he hadn't seen for over seven months. ‘Is she a pegasus?’ He thought to himself, ‘maybe a unicorn? No…definitely a pegasus…’

Nurse Pureheart took a deep breath through her nose to steady her nerves then regretted it almost instantly as the overwhelming aroma of cigarettes and alcohol wafted through the security screen separating the two ponies. “Do you have a name, sir?”

"My name?" Cold Front asked stupidly as he staggered slightly to the left.

“No, sir…” Pureheart raised an arctic blue hoof to her brow and massaged her temples, brushing aside her royal blue mane and ground her teeth together to bite back the retort she desperately wanted to make to the idiotic stallion in front of her. Idly she wondered, not for the first time, whether she should’ve followed her sister to Manehatten. ‘Sure,’ she thought, ‘I could be on the coast helping my sister to treat that pegasus with the anger issues…but no…I'm here dealing with drunk stallions…’ Pureheart sighed internally and reminded herself yet again that she wasn't jealous at all of Sureheart. “Do you have the name of the pony you’re here to visit?”

“Oh…um…” Cold Front struggled to think for a moment before the name came to him in a rare moment of brilliance. “Wild…er, fire…yeah that’s it, Wildfire!” The indigo stallion smiled, proud of his recollection.

"Uh huh, just a moment, sir.” Pureheart tapped at her keyboard and in a few moments had Wildfire’s details flashed up on her monitor. ‘Oh…you poor bucking mare!’ Pureheart thought as she scanned the opened file. Checking the next of kin entry the earth pony did see a unicorn listed as the mare’s father. “Just a few security questions, sir. Your name and relation to Miss Wildfire please?”

“So…you do want my name then?” The unicorn asked, once again staggering against the screen.

"Yes please, for the security question, if you don’t mind?” Pureheart sighed, the Manehatten skyline once again filling her imagination.

“Cold…Cold Front. That’s my name.” He slurred, still leant with his head against the screen. “I'm…uh, I'm her fath…dad. I'm her dad.”

‘Really?’ Was Pureheart’s first thought, one the nurse quickly stomped on with all four hooves. A quick check later and she confirmed that however regrettably, this drunken mess was cleared to go in and see his daughter.

"Can I see her then, or what?” Cold Front pushed his head away from the security screen and swayed a little on his hooves. “I came as soon as I heard, earlier today.”

"Today?" Before she could stop herself Pureheart exclaimed; “Sir, this happened yesterday!”

“Today…yesterday…tomorrow, what’s the difference?”

"What’s the diff…” Pureheart shook her head and screamed internally at this idiotic stallion’s foalishness, and wished dearly that she could deny him access to his daughter on the principal he was a massive drunken plothole, but alas she couldn't. ‘I bet he's violent too…he looks the type,’ she thought nastily.

“Where is it then?” Cold Front slurred, repulsing the nurse even more. “Where you keeping my kid?”

“Room two one four, ‘sir’,” Pureheart spat out the last word, only too eager to get this poor excuse for a stallion out of her face and as far away from her as equinely possible. “Down the hall to your left and follow the arrows to the Snowdrop Ward.”

“Fine…” Without a word of thanks Cold Front turned on his hooves and staggered first of all to the right a few hoof-strips to the right before realising his mistake and veering to the left, hiccuping and muttering things she couldn't quite hear under his breath that the nurse couldn't quite make out, but what she was sure were quite derogatory. Silently Pureheart wished he wouldn’t find the room, looking as she did so once more at the transfer request paper for Manehatten General Hospital she had in front of her.

“Ugh…I can't do this Eirene!” Wildfire exclaimed in frustration. “This is way too hard!” She threw the paper in her hooves to the floor and crossed her forehooves over her chest.

Clicking her tongue Eirene bent and retrieved the sheet of paper, breathing through her nose and reaching eight on her calming ten count. “Now Wily, dear, this is important.” The nurse passed the sheet of paper, which contained nothing but a series of raised bumps and dots, back to the sulky mare in the hospital bed. “If you want to read and write ever again, you need to learn Braille.”

“Ugh! But…but…” Wildfire threw up her hooves, almost sending the paper to the floor again, but luckily the nurse caught it in time. “It's not easy when you can't see the dots!”

“No Wily it's not easy, nothing worthwhile ever is, now is it?” Eirene smiled with infinite patience. “You’re still thinking with your eyes, you have to see through your hooves.”

“Easy for you to say,” Wildfire groused, “You can see what you’re doing…”

“No, it's easy for me because I can close my eyes and read the bumps through my hooves. Just like you will before much longer.” The earth pony smiled and stroked her patient’s cheek.

“Yeah right,” Wildfire muttered under her breath, but still loud enough to be heard. “We've been at this for hours and I'm still only on ‘A to J’.”

“Wildfire.” Eirene allowed a slight hint of irritation into her voice. “Give yourself a chance. You've been blind barely a day. There’s no rush to learn all this.”

“Sure there is! I wanna write poems again and I need to learn this craziness to do it.” She grumbled as she ran her hooves over the raised bumps dotted across the paper in front of her. After a few hours of learning she had finally started to recognise the first few letters.

"So?” Eirene asked with a little giggle. “If that's what you want to do, then you know what you need to do, don't you?”

"Yes, mom…” Wildfire rolled her shoulders, which they had agreed was Wily’s method of rolling her eyes, and went back to the Braille alphabet sheet.

“Nothing to it, but to do it!” Giggling the two friends recited Eirene’s favourite motivational mantra. One she had repeated over and over to Wildfire since yesterday. Eirene really wished Darkstar would come back. That mare was just the optimistic friend her patient needed.

“Exactly Wily!” Eirene clapped her forehooves together with glee and tousled her mane in a good-natured condescending manner that earned her a raspberry from the yellow pegasus. “My…I think she’s finally getting it! Wait Wily while I write it in my diary…’September the twenty-first, two thousand and twenty-five. Wildfire learnt something!’”

“Oh har de har, har!” Wildfire raspberried her friend again as she scanned the page with her hoof. “I've got A to J sorted, it's K to Z that’s tricky, Eirene.”

“Okay Wily, remember what we learnt about Braille?”

“That it’s a matrix of six squares, some are filled with a dot or raised bump; in different combinations these denote the different letters of the alphabet.” Wildfire recited part of the introductory paragraph to the Braille sheet currently in her hoof.”

“Uh huh, and what’s the trick on the paper?” Eirene asked and waited a few minutes for Wildfire to answer. When she didn't the nurse supplied the answer for her. “Remember K to Z are the same as the others but with an extra bump in the lower left segment.”

“Oh yuppers…of course!” Wildfire ran her hoof over the letters and confirms it for herself. “Okay…yeah I get it now.”

“Nurse Eirene to E. R. Room seven, Nurse Eirene to E. R. Room seven, please.” The earth pony mare scowled up at the intercom.

“Wily I'm going to have to go.” Eirene clipped her hooves on the tiled floor to let Wildfire know she was moving away. Pausing at the door she called over her shoulder, “I want you to have written your name in Braille by the time I get back.”

"Oh come on!" Wildfire exclaimed, “I'm not at home and I get homework?”

“No excuses Wildfire!” Eirene snapped sternly. “There’s a pen on the nightstand. You have the paper. Now stop holding yourself back and crack on!” She gave an annoyed stomp of her hoof to let her patient know she was serious. “I won't let you fail yourself, Wildfire.” And, with that she was gone out the door.

“Stupid Braille…” Wildfire grumbled aloud while she ran her hoof over the paper one more time. Sighing she realised Eirene was right. Right now the only pony holding her back was her. With another lingering sigh the pegasus reached over for the pen, almost knocking over her water jug in the process. “Ugh…stupid pen!” She took the pen in her hoof and bought it to her mouth, scanning the alphabet guide for the W. Dabbing her pen on the paper Wildfire drew three vertical dots and then made a fourth dot in the middle of the three on the left side. “There! W!”

Wildfire was about to start the ‘I’, she had made the dot in the middle of the left column when she heard a series of clopping hooves against the tiles. Listening she tried to work out who it was. She knew from the haphazard footfall it wasn't Eirene. She suppressed the feeling of panic when she realised from the volume that the pony was getting closer. “Hello?” Wildfire ventured when the mystery pony didn't deign to reveal themselves. At first the pegasus assumed it was Darkstar returned for a visit and any minute now she was going to get pranked by her friend.

Wildfire was about to ask again, and tell Darkie to stop messing her about as she wasn't in the mood, when a very familiar scent hit the back of her nostrils. A scent she hadn't smelled for over seven months but one she was sure she’d recognise at the end of time itself. It was a scent sent straight from the depths of her own personal Tartarus. Sniffing the air she picked it up again, this time to her right side. The unmistakable aroma of day old stale bed-sweat and cigarettes mixed with the pungent whiff of alcohol left Wildfire with no uncertainty as to who this pony was. “Oh um…hi, dad…” She instinctively flinched away from the smell.

“High? No I'm not high I'm drunk…” Cold Front stated with laughter as he mounted the seating pad at the right side of the bed after two attempts.

“Dad, I meant…ugh just forget it, will you?” Wildfire was going to follow it up but decided it wasn't worth her effort. “Thanks for coming, I guess, it's um…it’s been a while, um…how’ve you been?”

His laughter at his own joke stopped, “Whaddaya mean? How've I been?” He snorted, and gave his daughter a contemptuous look. “It's been great without all your stupid nagging all the time!”

Wildfire flinched at the sound of her dad’s outburst, “Dad I'm sorry I just care okay? You're killing yourself!”

“You, care for me?” Cold Front gave a nasty drunken laugh, “You're never home just like your mother and you’re just as useless.” He glared at his daughter as she trembled under the bed sheets.

"I...I'm not useless!”

“Don’t you argue with me!” he shouted, “You’re just like your mother. Useless!” He finally focused on the mare in the bed. “What happened to you? You look like shit.”

“What, didn’t anyone tell you,” Wildfire shouted back. “I’m blind, and I’ll never see again!”

“Now you’re even more useless than your mother,” her father stated with a shrug of his shoulders.

“Leave mom out of this! She died trying to provide for us, and you’re nothing but a drunk...” Wildfire belted out before breaking sobbing.

“Don’t you dare talk to me that way, missy,” Cold Front shouted back. “No one gives a crap about you, but I’m still here!” Again he snorted, “You can’t even fetch my beer now.”

“Dusk was here,” Wildfire mumbled into her hooves, “And I’m sure Air Raid will be here soon.”

Cold Front spoke with contempt, “That bag of hot air was here? Must have took one look at you and left.” The stallion spat on the floor. “And that fillyfooling mare will leave you too when she sees just how useless you are.”

“Shut up!” Wildfire heaved her shoulders and sniffled, trying desperately to release this pent up emotion, “Shut UP!” She yelled between sniffles.

“Heh…can't even cry properly…” Cold Front slid off the seating pad, already bored with this visit. “Are you good for anything apart from being a waste of fur and feathers?”

“I’M NOT USELESS!” Wildfire screamed at her cruel dad.

“Sure you are Wily, you just can't see it.” He broke out in laughter at his own joke. He lumbered off the seating pad, and his uneven hoof-steps receded to the door then halted. From the door he turned to give her one last look. “At least your mother had the decency to die, but I’m going to be stuck with you. If you can’t find your way home don’t bother to call me.” With that said he turned his back on his snivelling daughter and left her room echoing to the despair of its lone occupant.

Muttering to himself Cold Front staggered from his daughter’s room, utterly deaf to her distraught sobs. Walking past a mirror on his way to the reception he paused and found he didn't recognise the haggard stallion staring back at him through bloodshot eyes. “Damn you Silver…” He swore, striking the wall with his hoof. “You did this to me…”

Pricking up her ears at the hoof strike nurse Pureheart groaned internally when she saw her favourite stallion return from his visit. ‘And, he’s punching a wall and talking to a mirror…’ Without thinking about it her hoof wandered to the transfer paper still on her desk. ‘I don't need this, Sureheart said all I have to do is call…’ She was about to summon the hospital security when she saw the large cleaner Lotus Stripes pushing his broom down the corridor towards them. “Lotus, can I borrow you a second sweetie?”

Leaning his broom against the reception wall Lotus gave the nurse an easy smile and a nod of his head in greeting. “Sure Nurse Pureheart, what do you need?”

Standing next to the gentle giant of an earth pony Pureheart couldn't help but feel reassured and safe. Right now he was just what she needed. As the green coated stallion stood a clear two heads taller then her she had to crank her head back just to look up at him; jerking her head towards the indigo unicorn currently swearing at the mirror. “Can you get rid of that please?”

Lotus looked over and grinned at the stallion. “No problem Nurse,” he winked as he hoofed his chocolate brown mane, shot through with cream stripes, out of his eyes and within a few long confident strides found himself standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the inebriated pony.

“Excuse me, Sir.” Lotus said, his low quiet voice clearly audible next to the unicorn’s cursing. “You're making a scene.”

“So what?” Cold Front turned to face the stallion and quietened down as his sheer size began to sink in. “What’s it to you what scene I make?”

"Come now Sir, I'm sure that the mirror hasn’t done anything to you.” Lotus looked down at the stallion and chuckled, his joke going clear over the indigo unicorn’s head.

Cold Front struggled to focus on the towering earth pony, his brain wrestled with the idea he'd been insulted, but he wasn't sure. Another second of two spent pondering it made his brain hurt. “I’m done with this place,” he slurred to the stallion next to him, “I need a drink…”

Lotus grinned a wide grin. Here was a problem easily removed. Flipping open the pocket of his blue denim overalls he showed the very top of a hip flask to the other stallion and gave another low chuckle when his attempt to take it with his magic fizzled and failed in a shower of blue sparks. “Ah, ah, ah…” He said in the manner of a carer scolding a naughty foal, “Yours once we’re outside.”

With that Cold Front followed Lotus out of the hospital without any further incident. The green earth pony gave Pureheart a nod to say everything was under control on the way out that earned him a simpering giggle from the relieved nurse. Outwardly Lotus smiled in reply, though inwardly he wanted nothing more than five minutes alone with her. He idly wondered as he walked if it would take that long to wipe the stupid smile from her muzzle. He dearly wanted to test his theory; it’d be a simple matter to get her to his storeroom and then…but no, Amethyst needed him here.

“Alright we’re outside, gimme the juice!” Cold Front demanded the second his hooves touched the front lawn.

“Alright buddy,” Lotus unscrewed the flask and passed it to the desperate unicorn.

“He…Hey!” Cold Front shouted out when Lotus pulled the flask from his mouth. “What's the bucking idea?”

“My name’s Lotus Stripes.” The green stallion said softly as he sat on his haunches on the short grass of the lawn. “Why don't you tell me what's up, then I might let you have a bit more to drink, hmm?”

Cold Front dropped ungainly to the lawn beside the much larger pony. “Cold…Cold Front…that's my name.”

“See? Now we’re getting somewhere.” Lotus chuckled, offering a bit more of the flask, which the unicorn accepted without question. “Now, what's up?” He asked quietly, pulling the flask away again.

Hesitantly and with many slurs Cold front told Lotus the whole tale, embellished here and there, he told him of his daughter’s blindness and how useless she was to him now and of course, how inconvenienced he was as her dad facing the prospect of having to look after her. The more he talked the more whiskey Lotus gave him, and the more he drank the looser his lips became. By the time the flask was three quarters empty Lotus knew just about everything about Cold Front, his daughter and his life.

Listening intently Lotus played the concerned understanding friend role to a tee, even going so far as to hang a sympathetic hoof over the unicorn’s shoulder. “Hey…” He spoke up eventually, his deep voice getting the unicorn’s attention, “Sounds like you have a problem, Cold Front.”

“So what else is new?” Cold Front snarled angrily. “Useless mare’s always been a problem.”

"I understand. I totally understand my friend.” Lotus grinned like an angler pony reeling in a prize catch. This grade A selfish idiot was just the pony Amethyst had him stationed here for. Just another little push. “I'd hate her if she was my kid too.”

“Told her not to bother coming home if she can't find her own way…useless bundle of feathers.”

“You did the right thing buddy, totally.” Lotus pulled his new ‘friend’ into a hug, “I can't imagine how hard it's going to be for you, for the rest of your life.”

“Hard…rest of my life? What do you mean, Lotus?”

"Well, just think about it. Your life is pretty much over, isn't it?” Lotus smiled a predatory smile that’d put a timberwolf to shame. “All you are now is her carer. No more booze for you, gotta be sober at all times, Cold.”

“Bucking useless burden!” Cold Front spat, feeling every word the earth pony had just said as a dagger to his very soul. “I wish she'd never been born!”

“If you really feel that way, I know somepony who can uh, shall we say, make your problem ‘go away’?”

“Go away?” Cold Front could hardly believe his luck. All his hearth warming eves had come at once. A few moments ago he was looking at a lifetime as a carer, now miraculously his future was cleared to do as he wished. “How can you make it go away?”

“Here, take this.” Lotus Stripes pulled a rectangular business card from another pocket of his overalls and passed it in his hoof to the indigo unicorn.

Cold Front turned the card over in his hooves to read the front of it. “Helping Hooves Residential Care Home…Director, Amethyst Glory.” He read out, his eyes managing to focus long enough on the words to read them.

“Hm, hmm. You ring that number, do exactly what Amethyst Glory tells you to do. Next thing you know, you’ll be living it up in the bars of Las Pegasus, not a care in the world.” Lotus chuckled as he hoofed over the hip flask. “Have that on me my friend.” The earth pony stood and turned his back on the drunk unicorn without another word; the evil smile he wore on his muzzle spoke volumes. Warden Glory would reward him handsomely for this.

~ ~ ~

Air Raid found herself trotting through the doors of Canterlot Royal Hospital in something of a fugue state. Part of her dearly wished she’d had the nerve to come yesterday to see her marefriend. That part of her felt utterly wretched and the phone call from Darkstar after her visit hadn't helped in the slightest. Then there was the other part of her. That little selfish nugget within her that didn't want to be here in the slightest. It was these conflicting thoughts and emotions that warred within her as she stepped into the reception. Her heart wanted to walk forward while her head wanted nothing more than to get back in her car and drive and drive and not look back until Canterlot and Wildfire were a distant memory.

Half way across the white marble floor of the entrance Air Raid froze, standing between the foyer and the reception area. Shamefully she looked back to the car park, her hooves itching to fire up her ignition and run. Her hoof took a step backwards towards the entrance. ‘I was a fool to come here’, she thought, taking another step back. Consumed by her thoughts she didn't notice the arctic blue earth pony in front of her.

“Excuse me, can I help you?” Nurse Pureheart asked, fresh from extended break she had requested after dealing with that vile drunken unicorn.

“Huh? What? Help me?” Air Raid was brought rudely back to herself, the nurse in front of her waiting politely for a reply.

“Yes, can I help you?” Pureheart’s practised smile started to slip a little as she sensed the presence of another idiot. “You seem a little lost. Who are you here for?”

“Um…I'm uh, I'm here for um…W, Wildfire…” The lime green mare stuttered when she replied, still desiring to be anywhere but here.

“Oh, Miss Wildfire?” Pureheart immediately brightened up. From her brief chats with Eirene the nurse had firmly decided she liked the little pegasus. “You want room two one four, down the corridor to your left. You're her second visitor today, Miss?”

“Oh right uh, Air Raid,” she murmured, not really listening.

“Air Raid…Air Raid…” Pureheart tapped her chin with a hoof, searching her memory for the name and where she’d heard it before. “Wildfire’s nurse says she’s been asking after you…” Her eyes went wide as realisation sunk in. “Her marefriend? You know she’s been here since yesterday, right?” Pureheart stomped a hoof in frustration.

“Hey…gimme a break, I've been busy alright?” Air Raid retorted.

“Busy? You do realise that with a traumatic injury it is important part of recovery that their loved ones are nearby.” Nurse Pureheart smiled, “At least you are here now and I’m sure you can provide better support than that drunk stallion that came to see her.”

Air Raid paused, stopped in her tracks. “Drunk stallion? So her dad’s been then?” Air Raid felt really sickened now, even that useless waste of fur had been here before her.

“Yes Miss Raid,” Pureheart smiled sweetly, happy to see that her ‘nurse-speak’ had produced the desired effect. “Her father paid Miss Wildfire a visit earlier today.”

“Oh…right, well um, thanks I guess…” Air Raid muttered as she turned on her hooves and made her way down the corridor, her walk barely reaching a trot; with every step the racer’s hooves seemed heavier than the one before it, until she was standing silently at the open door to her marefriend’s room.

“Damnit!” Wildfire exclaimed in annoyance. She'd written her name four times now and four times she'd mixed up the ‘E’ at the end with the Braille symbol for ‘I’. She was sorely tempted to throw her pen away and have done with the whole thing, but like Eirene had said, nothing to it but to do it. And, more than anything, Wildfire wanted to show Eirene she could do it. “Right…c’mon Wily, you got this, concentrate you dumb filly.” She chided herself and picked up her pen again to try a fifth time when her dad’s visit played across her mind for what felt like the hundredth time since he left.

Cold Front’s cruel words flashed across her brain like a spark to tinder. “I am NOT useless!” Wildfire emphasised to herself, using her dad’s jibe as motivation to try again. She wasn't sure when her nurse would be coming back from her emergency call, already it had been three hours going by the chime of the clock, but when she did come back Wildfire wanted to have something worthwhile to show her.

Air Raid stood motionless outside the open door, hardly daring to breathe lest her presence be given away. She saw her marefriend sat up in the bed wearing the dull grey hospital gown, her gaze almost instantly deaden to the bandages wrapped around her face. ‘Jeez…how bad is it?’ She thought to herself. She had been unable to get Dusk on the line yesterday and Darkstar wasn't returning her calls at all. Again the lime green mare had the urge to just go home.

“Excuse me, can I help you?” Eirene whispered quietly at the side of the pegasus, causing her to jump a clear two feet in the air in surprise.

“I’m uh…here to um…see Wily.” Air Raid whispered back, keeping her voice low so as not to disturb Wildfire who was still working at her writing.

“Well, go on in then, silly; she won't bite.” Eirene giggled, “I'm Eirene, by the way, I'm Wily’s nurse.”

“Yeah hi…I'm Air Raid…Wildfire’s…Wily’s marefriend.” The lime green mare muttered.

“Oh, you’re Wily’s marefriend are you?” Eirene asked, her mask of professionalism threatening to slip. “It's so nice to finally meet you. Wily’s been asking after you since she woke up. Yesterday.”

“Hey!” Air Raid snapped, “Don't start busting my ass, I'm this close to going home alright?”

“Then by all means do so Miss Raid.” Eirene said quietly, no anger in her voice. “I won't stop you, nor will I make excuses you either. My priority is sitting in that bed trying hard to write her name.”

“Whatever…”

“Miss Raid,” the earth pony started wearily, “I have just come from assisting a four hour emergency surgery. Do not ‘whatever’ me.” She said tersely as she turned her back to the selfish mare and trotted noisily into the room, making sure her hooves clipped on the tiled floor.

Wildfire immediately lifted her head up from her paper at the sounds of the hoof-steps and pricked her ears; she knew almost immediately it wasn't her dad come back. Sniffing the air Wildfire couldn't help but grin when the smell of jasmine hit the back of her nose. “Eirene! Look what I did, I did it, look!”

“Wow Wily, that's amazing work well done!” Eirene enthused, genuinely proud of her patients efforts while she had been gone. “Hey…did I mention my top student who’s done top work gets a surprise?” The nurse grinned back over her shoulder at the stock-still pegasus who śhook her head frantically.

“A surprise? I get a surprise? What is it?” Wildfire dropped the paper and clapped her hooves together excitedly.

Eirene giggled at Wildfire’s sudden excitement. “Let's see if you can guess, shall we? I'll give you three clues.”

“Oh come on I hate guessing games!”

“You’ll like this one Wily, I promise”. ‘I hope, at any rate’, the nurse thought to herself. “Now…your surprise is a pegasus mare, she’s green and she has a steering wheel cutie mark. Can you gue…”

“AIR RAID!” Wildfire clapped her hooves together excitedly, smiling a side smile towards the door. “Babes I missed you, where've you been? What’ve you been doing?” Wildfire gushed, too thrilled to let her marefriend answer, “It doesn't matter you're here now! I've missed you so much! C’mere, I wanna cuddle!” Wildfire opened her hooves and waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Ten minutes later and Wildfire still had her hooves open waiting for the cuddle from her marefriend. “Raid? Babes what's wrong?” She asked in a tremulous voice.

Eirene shot the immobile pegasus a nasty dangerous look and mouthed to her silently ‘Get. In here. Cuddle her. Now!’

Air Raid looked from one mare to the other and rolled her grey eyes, mouthing ‘fine!’, the lime green mare clipped her hooves hesitantly into the room towards the open forelegs of her waiting mare. “Nothing’s wrong Wily, I'm fine. I…I'm here for you sweetie.” Pulling Wildfire into a tight hug Air Raid buried her head into her marefriend's shoulder. Hidden by her black mane Eirene couldn't see the pained grimace she pulled as she smelt the acid-damaged scars under the bandages.

“Put your homework down a minute Wily,” Eirene pulled Wildfire’s black bangs from her bandages and noted the discolouration there. “I need to change your bandages and clean your scars.”

Air Raid instinctively pulled away from the all-to-brief cuddle and looked with a barely contained disgust at her marefriend’s bandaged face. “Y – You have to do that now?”

“Yes!” The earth pony stamped her hoof in indignation. “Yes I do.” Eirene seethed inwardly at this selfish mares utter lack of interest in what was supposed to be her lover. She shook her head; sadly she’d seen this too many times, especially here in Canterlot where a pony’s ‘image’ was everything. Smiling sweetly at the green pegasus she tried a different tack. “Actually, you timed your visit nicely. You can observe what I do for when you have to do this yourself.”

“Yuppers Raid,” Wildfire giggled, “You get to be my sexy home nurse!”

Air Raid stood stock still, her right forehoof still on Wildfire’s left shoulder, grey eyes wide as saucers as Wildfire’s eight words sank into her stunned brain…”You get to be my sexy home nurse!” What little smile had been on her face quickly slid to be replaced by an uncertain frown. “N – Nurse? I…I dunno about that…I'm not exactly trained…” Air Raid wrong silent as her voice trailed away to nothing. This was it, this was the end of her career. The great and talented Air Raid, winner of almost every major race Canterlot had to offer. She was young. Her career was a promising one. Now it was a good as over almost before it began.

“Rubbish, Air Raid.” Eirene snapped, the nurse very quickly approaching the end of her rope. “You don't need medical training to tend to Wily’s scars. Just watch me, and please, do pay attention.” The nurse then proceeded to tear the medical tape securing the soiled bandages at the back of Wildfire’s head under her black mane. With a practiced ease Eirene started to unwind the bandages, taking the time to explain to Air Raid what she was doing and, what to look out for when changing the bandages, where to apply a soothing cream and how tightly to reapply them.

Air Raid watched with a morbid fascination as Wildfire’s nurse slowly unwound the bandages covering her marefriend’s damaged face. Every single instinct screamed at her to run away, to get in her car and get as far away as equinely possible. No matter how hard she tried she couldn't get her hooves to obey her. She found her breath hitching at the sight of more and more burnt and discoloured yellow-brown fur as it was revealed. “It hurt, Wily?” She croaked out,  finding her throat had gone dry.

Wildfire turned her head in the direction of her marefriend’s voice. “Yeah Raid, it hurts. Only when the morphine wears off though babes.”

Eirene paused halfway through removing the bandages. “I'm afraid Wily will be in a constant amount of pain for a while to come yet Air Raid,” Eirene sniffed, pointedly using Air Raid’s full name. There was just, something, about this mare that didn't sit with the earth pony. Not at all.

Air Raid didn't like the sound of that very much. A constant amount of pain sounded like it needed a constant amount of care. Care, if she was totally honest with herself, she didn't know if she was prepared to give. The more she heard the more it sounded like her career was expected to at best be put on hold, at worst over. ‘It’s not fair! I've worked bucking hard to get where I am…why should I give it up?’

“Y – Yuppers…” Wildfire started then winced and hissed with pain as Eirene put a little too much pressure across the bridge of her nose. “It hurts like a bucker, but at least I have you to look after me…right?” She asked nervously when Air Raid didn’t reply straight away.

"Sorry Wily, my bad.” Eirene giggled as she unwound the rest of the bandages, “You can spank my flank after, okay?”

“That's what you said last time!” Wildfire laughed, forgetting that Air Raid still hadn't answered.

“Yes I know,” Eirene sniggered as she finished removing the bandages, “And, no matter how much I begged you still didn't spank me hard enough.” The nurse laughed at hers and Wildfire’s little in joke then she gave her a little peck on the forehead, an action that made Air Raid’s skin crawl under her fur, and stepped back. “There we go. We’ll let some fresh air get to those pretty scars of yours. Do you good before we put you on some clean bandages.”

Just before the earth pony stood back Air Raid reflexively turned her face away. ‘Pretty scars? Who’s she kidding?’ For an extra measure she clamped her eyes shut, having no desire to even look at her marefriend.

“Thanks Eirene!” Wildfire exclaimed with a wince as the room temperature air of the hospital room made contact with her now unprotected face. “Raid, babes, my nurse says I'm still pretty. What do you think, am I still something to wake up to?” Wildfire asked uncertainly, crossing her hooves under the bedsheets. ‘Please don't leave me…please don't leave me…say I'm pretty, Tartarus Raid, say anything!’

‘You used to be pretty…ugh how can I wake up to that?’ The thought shot through Air Raid’s brain. “You uh, you look just fine, Wily. Just fine.” She said through her closed eyes.

"Aw babes! You're so sweet!” Wildfire giggled, clapping her hooves together in delight from what she perceived was a genuine compliment.

Eirene was outraged by Air Raid’s attitude. Wildfire had told her all about this mare after Darkie had left yesterday afternoon and from she had been told about the pegasus, if anypony would be empathetic and understanding it would be her. Now confronted with the most unsympathetic, uncaring and downright selfish behaviour she’d had the deep misfortune to witness. It was all the infuriated earth pony could do not to erupt in a rage then and there. ‘Sweet, my left fetlock,’ she thought angrily.

Smiling dangerously Eirene decided it was time she ended this charade right here and now. She had seen this type of behaviour before and she had no doubt she’d see it again. Loved ones turning on or abandoning family or partners because the relationship wasn't easy anymore. Ponies like Air Raid made her sick. Still, having her eyes closed like that gave her an idea how to resolve the situation. She only hoped Wily wouldn't be too affected. She liked that pegasus.

“Wily, I'm just going to the other side of the room for your supplies, okay?” Eirene didn't wait for a reply before she clopped her way noisily around the bed. The earth pony smiled vindictively as she rounded the end of the bed and walked close to Air Raid’s tail. ‘Wily, forgive me…’ With that thought in her head the nurse walked past the pegasus sitting on her haunches and stomped her left hind leg down hard on her blue tail, impacting scant inches from where it met her dock. “Oops…”

“Aah!” Air Raid gasped more in surprise than pain and without thinking opened her grey eyes and found herself looking directly at Wildfire’s ruined face. Reflexively Air Raid staggered backwards away from the hospital bed, away from the injured pegasus. “AAAAH!” This time her gasp was one of fear and revulsion as she drank in the burned yellow of the discoloured fur around Wildfire’s face, the green / brown of the pitted acid marks, the melted and scarred flesh that stretched across her face where her beautiful chestnut brown eyes used to be. Air Raid tasted bile and vomit in her mouth as she looked in horror at her marefriend’s scarred tissue. She could see the sunken skin of the now empty eye sockets covered by the acid scars, and it was all she could do not to throw up in disgust.

Wildfire heard the sharp intake of breath from her partner sat by the left side of her bed. “Raid? Babes what's wrong?” She asked, turning her head slightly towards the sound of the gasp.

‘Oh Wily, what have I done?’ Eirene thought with her back to them both.

“AAaaaaAAaaaHHH!” Air Raid screamed. And screamed. For a full minute she screamed, unable to vocalise her emotions any other way. Finally after what seemed like an age the green mare ran out of breath and shuddered to a haggard awkward silence that, in the wake of the terrified scream, seemed to stretch for eternity. An eternity in which the only sounds where the breathing of the three mares.

"R – Raid…Raid…wh – wha…” There was so many things whirling around Wildfire’s brain that her questions all muddled and what came out of her mouth was a garbled mess.

“W – Wily…I'm sorry I can't do this…” Air Raid interrupted, standing to her hooves.

“Wha…what d’you…I don't understand….you said I was p – pretty…”

“I lied! Okay I lied! I'm sorry Wily but look at you…you aren't my mare…she was pretty; you…you just aren't.” She turned on her hooves and started to head towards the open door.

Wildfire heard the clopping of her hooves, “Raid…please, I'm still your Wily, come back…”

Air Raid didn't bother to turn around or even look over her shoulder as she paused halfway to the door. “I can’t do it Wily…I can't care for you. I have my career…my racing…you're hideous...I can't be seen with you looking like that…” Feeling thoroughly wretched Air Raid took another loud step away from her now snivelling mare.

"Raid please..." Wildfire reached with her hoof, grasping at the very air. "Come back, talk to me, please!"

Air Raid just carried on walking. “Sorry Wildfire...we had fun while it lasted. Fun’s over, babes.”

“Raid!” Now it was Wildfire’s turn to scream, as the sound of hooves receded away. “AIR RAAAAID!” Wildfire reached out further with her hoof, hoping to catch the retreating mare. “Come back…please, please come back!”

~ ~ ~

“Eeuurgh!” Cold Front resisted the urge to spit out the awful cold coffee he bad purchased at the hospital cafeteria. “Tasteless muck!” He groused to nopony in particular. For what must’ve been the seventh time since he had sat at the table he checked the clock. He was to meet this mare, this Amethyst Glory, in the cafeteria at twelve noon, and it was already five minutes to the hour. “Dumb mare’s probably messed me about,” he muttered under his breath. “Knew I shouldn't have listened to a mare.” Cold Front snickered to himself. Sat here alone in the hospital cafeteria that Thursday afternoon he felt a lot braver insulting Amethyst than he had been talking to her on the phone the

day before. He couldn't put his hoof on why but the mare unnerved him. There was something about her voice that made his fur stand on end. Still, the deal was all but done now.

The cafeteria clock began striking the first chimes of twelve and the unicorn stallion inhaled, about to curse Amethyst’s apparent tardiness when a small commotion at the doors caught his attention. A mare’s voice could clearly be heard, and it sent the same chills down his spine that it had on the phone. “I said ‘out of my way!’” He couldn't see her yet but the sense of power was overwhelming, even from here. “Pathetic mare!” The voice sounded in utter contempt before a resounding hoof stomp scattered the few ponies at the cafeteria doors.

Getting his first look of Amethyst Glory, Cold Front’s first reaction was to drop his jaw idiotically. Her coat was a similar lavender to that of Princess Twilights, her golden yellow mane, while it might’ve been long was scraped back from her forehead and held in a tight bun. Her clothes only promoted this severe look; a black pin stripe suit with white shirt covered her upper body, while a simple long black skirt hid most of her hindquarters, though from the broach on her left lapel the stallion guessed her cutie mark was a glowing amethyst crystal. A pair of black rimmed half-moon glasses and a set of black horseshoes competed her look; namely the look of a fifty-something austere mare that Cold Front knew instinctively it'd be next to impossible to intimidate.

The mare walked with a definite sense of purpose to the table where Cold Front waited. By the time the clock had finished chiming twelve the unicorn mare had taken the seating pad and was looking over the cafeteria’s menu, pointedly not paying the stallion any mind. A waitress pony quickly appeared and the lavender mare ordered a coffee for them both.

“You'll pardon me,” Cold Front sniggered his nasty laugh, “I didn't think we were here to share coffee.”

“No. I will not pardon you. It is clear you do not ‘think’ very often.” Amethyst Glory gave the stallion a very dispassionate look over her glasses. “Of course we are sharing coffee. This is a cafeteria.”

“But, but…” Cold Front stammered with a frown furrowing his brow. This just didn’t make sense. A deal such as this that they were about to sign together…well, the stallion expected to be behind closed doors at the very least, not in the middle of a busy cafeteria surrounded by a crowd of ponies.

Amethyst removed her glasses with her magic and rubbed her closed green eyes with a hoof while she tried to fathom the stupidity of this pony. “You would prefer a moonlit back alley patrolled by police and the Royal Guard, perhaps, hmm?” She sighed, “Look around you, Mr. Front, we are talking normally, we are acting normally; or as close to normal as you can manage I am sure. Nopony is paying us the slightest mind.” She spelled it out for him as she replaced her glasses on her nose.

“Oh…right…well, I suppose you know what you’re doing, Amethyst.” The indigo stallion took a sip of the coffee and offered the mare opposite him an encouraging smile, which she ignored.

“First of all it is Ms. Amethyst. Kindly do not address me common again.” The lavender mare rolled her green eyes. “Secondly of course I know what I'm doing. Do not presume me to be a fool. Now, tell me about the property I am buying today.”

Cold Front shifted uncomfortably on his seating pad at the table. Sure he’d physically and verbally abused Wildfire in the past, but property? That was a hoof-step too far. “I uh…I wouldn't call her property,” he said feebly into his styrofoam cup.

“I do not care what you call it, Mr. Front.” Amethyst sniffed derisively. “The pegasus is property, nothing more, nothing less. Now, I will ask again. Tell me about the property I am buying today?” She asked in the manner of one not accustomed to asking the same question twice.

“Wily isn't a…a thing, Ame…Ms. Amethyst…”

To the stallions very great surprise the lavender unicorn actually gave a bright tinkling laugh. “Please Mr. Front, do not make me laugh.” Amethyst’s demeanour immediately reverted to her stern visage. “It is a little late in the day to grow a conscience, Mr. Front. If you cared for it in the slightest you would not have dialled the number that Mr. Stripes gave you, and we would not be having this conversation today. Now. For the third time, and please, do not make me ask a fourth, tell me about the property?”

Cold Front quailed under the harsh gaze the unicorn mare gave him. “Well, she…um, it, is nineteen, has a yellow coat and a black mane. Sh…it stands about so high…” Had indicated a rough height with his hoof but again fell silent under the look he received.

“I did not request its life story, Mr. Front.” Amethyst levitated a manila folder from her bag and proceeded to sift through a small sheaf of papers. She settled on one and lifted it up to scrutinise it. “Now, I understand from Mr. Stripes that it is blind. Is this correct?”

"Um...yeah, yes that's right Ms Amethyst.” The stallion affirmed as he took a mouthful of his coffee.

“Excellent.” Taking a pen in her green aura she filled out a couple of boxes on a separate form while Cold Front drank his coffee. “That means more money from the state for a serious handicap. Now, does it have any other health issues I should be aware of?”

“No, not that I'm aware of, at any rate, Ms. Amethyst.”

“Hm…I suspect what you are not aware of would fill a small library, Mr. Front.” Amethyst smirked as she lifted her cup to her lips. “In good health apart from the blindness. Very good. Now, I understand from Mr. Stripes that it has friends and a marefriend?”

At this Cold Front brightened up almost instantly, his nasty smirk quickly reaffirming itself. “She…it, was close with Dusk Melody, but Wildfire threw him out Tuesday and he hasn't been back. As far as her marefriend is concerned Air Raid dumped her yesterday. She won't be an issue.”

"They are separated? You are quite sure of this, are you Mr. Front?” Amethyst asked with a raised eyebrow. “Now, I understand it worked as a reserve in the Residential District Fire Team. I assume this been taken care of, as per our conversation over the telephone yesterday evening?” She drained half of her coffee with barely a grimace at its bitter taste. Appearances must be maintained, after all.

“Oh…oh yeah they’re apart alright.” Cold Front sniggered nastily, remembering Wildfire pouring her heart out to him earlier that very morning. “Fillyfooling mare dumped her, stomped on her heart good and proper. As for her job, I took care of the fire chief Hot Spot earlier today.” The stallion finished his coffee looking suitably proud of himself.

“Explain, Mr. Front. What exactly did you do?” Amethyst enquired as she waved a hoof to get the waitresses attention.

“Well, what I did,” the stallion began with a chest puffed out with pride at his own ingenuity, “Was tell him she was gone and her she wasn't needed. How’s about that, then?” He grinned, clearly expecting a standing ovation from his audience for his brilliance.

Amethyst removed her glasses and rubbed the bridge of her nose in annoyance. Oh…how she’d love to give him to Miss Amber Leaves to play with, but two things held her back; namely he wasn't worth her time – Amethyst sincerely doubted he’d last more than thirty minutes - and, as much as she hated to admit it, if she wanted the state money she needed this stallion alive. “Details, you witless unicorn, I need details.” Amethyst hissed as she replaced her glasses and held up a hoof for silence when the waitress got within earshot.

Giving the pegasi waitress her order of two more coffees Amethyst turned her attention back to the indigo stallion sat before her. “Details, please Mr. Front.”

“Well…I met Hot Spot, the fire chief, here at the hospital. He'd come to visit Wildfire this morning. I stopped him going into her room, I brought him in here and told him she had resigned from her job in the reserves and was going to live with family in Fillydelphia.” Cold Front grinned, “And, this is the clever bit, I went in the room and told my kid she had been fired from the Fire Team, told her Hot Spot had no place for a blind pegasus.”

“And, you were convincing, yes?” Amethyst asked as she levitated out a new official form from her saddle bag and passed it to the stallion in front of her.

"Oh yeah, they both bought it alright. I had 'em hook, line and sinker.” Cold Front sniggered, then looked over the form he had just been given. “What in Tartarus is this for?”

"That, my dear Cold Front,” Amethyst Glory started as the orange pegasus mare bought over their coffees on a tray held in her mouth, “Is a legal document saying you willingly give the pegasus known as Wildfire over to the care of me and my staff from this day forth. It gives me alone guardianship over it and it also states that at no time shall you ever attempt to reclaim possession of it.” Amethyst's ears twitched and flicked at the proximity of the waitress. Silently she cursed herself; in explaining herself to this buffoon of a stallion she had risked being overheard by this orange mare. A shame really, as she was rather a pretty pony as well.

Using the pen Amethyst had slipped him with the form he hurriedly signed the document without bothering to read it. All he was interested in was the promised cheques, which he had yet to see. “There y’are, Ms. Amethyst, now where’s my money?”

“Ah yes, let us discuss your renumeration.” Amethyst allowed herself a tiny smirk at the confused expression on the stallion’s face. No doubt he was working out what she had said. “I have your Lloyds account details which were provided to me by Mr. Stripes,” the lavender mare levitated her phone from her bag and laid it in clear view on the cafeteria table. Lighting her horn once more her phone was surrounded by a green aura and screens flashed up quickly as options were selected. “As you can clearly see,” she said, activating a green ‘pay’ button on her banking screen, “The sum of twenty thousand bits has been deposited into your account.”

Cold Front’s eyes went wide as saucers. “Twenty…twenty thousand bits…”

“Yes, twenty thousand bits.” Amethyst said the figure like it was nothing. “Six thousand is an advance on the monthly payments you'll receive and fourteen thousand is to ‘encourage’ you to forget you ever had a daughter. Do we have a deal, Mr. Front, or shall I cancel the transaction?”

“No! Um…no, Ms. Amethyst that won't be necessary.” Cold Front’s wide eyes practically spun like gambling fruit machines that had just hit the jackpot. “We definitely have a deal.”

“Excellent.” Amethyst levitated the completed paperwork away neatly into the non-descript manila folder. Nopony in the hospital cafeteria had any idea that a pony’s future had just been decided in their midst. Not one of them had any clue of the dark future that awaited the pegasus in room two one four. “One last thing, Mr. Front, then you can show me the property.” She said, floating the full folder back into her saddle bag.

“Oh yeah?” Cold Front said distractedly, his mind already busy spending the money he’d just been given. “What's that then?”

“Mr. Stripes tells me Princess Luna visited it this morning and stayed for approximately twenty minutes. Is this correct?”

“Uh huh, Luna was here yeah, it was just after I caught Hot Spot that she turned up. I was with my kid when she came in.”

“Well?” Amethyst asked irritably, “What did the Princess want? Mr. Front the last thing I need is royal ‘interest’ in my property and my care home.”

“Oh…Luna stopped in to deliver a reward cheque to Wildfire, for saving her son, Dusk from being blinded. I have it here. Told her I’d deposit it in her Lloyds account tomorrow.” Cold Front levitated a crumpled up cheque from his own bag in his weak aura.

“Did she now?” Amethyst’s green eyes twinkled at the thought of acquiring more wealth. “And, how much was it rewarded?”

Cold Front smirked as he flattened out the cheque. “See for yourself, Ms. Amethyst.” He said, revealing the amount for five hundred thousand bits.

“You know…for a cut of ten per cent I can give you the name of a very understanding clerk at Lloyds bank, Mr. Front.” Amethyst smiled sweetly. Spend twenty thousand, earn thirty and gain a new piece of property. Today was turning out to be a very good day.

“And, Ms. Amethyst, why would I give you ten per cent of this?”

“Because, Mr. Front if you do not, you will never see a bit of that money. As it is, it can only be deposited into its account. My contact can remedy that problem for you.” Amethyst explained simply, in words she was sure even this stallion could understand.

“Hmm…a – alright…” Cold Front agreed. His greed persuading him that it was worth giving up fifty thousand bits to gain four hundred and fifty thousand in return. Of course it didn't bother him in the slightest that this was his daughter’s money.

"Very good Mr. Front, we are a clever stallion aren't we?” Amethyst giggled patronisingly at him. “At Lloyds ask for Steeljaw. He will take care of you and the ten per cent.”

“Steeljaw…got it.” Cold Front made a note of the name and slid off of the seating pad he’d been sitting on. “You want me to take you to her now?”

"To it, Mr. Front, take me to it.”  Amethyst corrected as she removed herself from her pad with decidedly more grace than the stallion.

The orange pegasi waitress watched the two ponies leave the cafeteria with a sense of dread and foreboding she couldn't quite put her hoof on. That lavender mare put the frighteners on her ‘something fierce’, as her grandfather would’ve said. Secretly the young mare was happy that at the end of today’s shift in the hospital she was flying to Cloudsdale to see her family. “You've had a lucky escape there Autumn Burst.” The waitress said to herself under her breath.

“Hey, Boss!” Autumn called to the sweating earth pony stallion behind the pass as she took off her apron and tossed it to the counter.

“Yeah?” He called without looking up from finishing the two dishes in front of him.

“You owe me three hours from last week. I'm knocking off early. Got family waiting on me.” Autumn grinned back as she reached the other exit to the cafeteria opposite the one Amethyst and Cold Front left through.

“Go on then, get!” Her Boss groused good-naturedly, “I'm too good to you mares. Hey Autumn, tell your little colt his uncle said ‘hi’, will you?”

“You got it Boss,” Autumn Burst flashed the stallion a warm smile before disappearing through the side exit.

Pausing at the open door to room two one four Amethyst was pleased to find the earth pony nurse that she’d heard so much about from Lotus Stripes thankfully absent. That was one ‘complication’ she could afford to do without. She already had that waitress to take care of. Sparing Cold Front the slightest of looks she whispered, “Leave us. You've served your purpose, such as it was. Now, go and make yourself remotely useful and sign it out at the reception.”

Amethyst Glory surveyed the yellow pegasus currently sitting in the hospital bed before her. ‘Hmm…a little small, but Amber Leaves can work with that.’ The care home director continued to scrutinise Wildfire as the pony tried to write something in Braille. Amethyst smirked as she tried through several attempts and finally succeeded in what she was doing. ‘It has spirit, I'll give it that much. I wonder how fast Lotus Stripes can beat that out of her?’ She wondered with an amused smile. ‘The blindness is something new, at least it’ll save on blindfolds.’

Clopping her hooves in a deliberately slow pattern to announce her presence she stopped just shy of the seating pad at the left of the bed. “Good afternoon, ‘Wildfire’.”

Wildfire looked up to the right where the sounds of hooves and the strange voice had come from. Something about that cold voice sent chills down her spine that she just didn’t like. “Hello? Who’s there, Darkie?” She asked hopefully.

“My name is Amethyst Glory. Remember it well, pegasus. I run Helping Hooves Care Home.” Amethyst explained, snickering at the confused look on it’s face.

"Hi Amethyst, um, sorry but I don't know what you’re doing here. I'm not going to any care home.” Wildfire replied, clearly this mare had the wrong patient.

“On the contrary. As of fourteen hundred hours today your father, Mr. Cold Front, signed you over to me.”

Wildfire looked down towards the bed, “Oh…” She whimpered uncertainly. “I see…”

"Oh, you'll see alright.” Amethyst stepped forward and raised Wildfire’s face up with a hoof so as to ‘look’ her straight in the face. “You'll see Tartarus by the time I am through with you.”

3.2 - Descent

“You did what!?” Cyclone screamed as she angrily launched herself at her friend with her black wings spread to their full span.

The black mare’s enraged scream broke the serene peace and quiet of Canterlot’s Royal Gardens. Fifty feet away a noble couple were disturbed from their walk around the edge of the crystal clear lake, the very lake where Dusk had encountered the noble stallion weeks earlier, causing the mare to raise her nose in the air; no doubt making an unsavoury comment about the four noisy ponies to her companion.

Fifteen minutes ago on this sunny late autumn Thursday afternoon the four friends had been arranged in a semi circle not far from the impressive statue of Sky Dive, the long-dead mare captured in a rearing pose, sharing a small picnic prepared by Darkstar. Her brother had chosen this spot for its privacy, not to mention beauty, given the close proximity to the lake. Cyclone, in her now trademark attire of simple red dress and pastel pink nappy, had bought the alcohol-free ciders they were drinking.

Air Raid had just helped herself to a sunflower and watercress sandwich when Darkstar, who had just eaten a daisy and wildflower one, had asked how her visit to see Wildfire had gone. Before she could answer however Brightstar and Cyclone had both said they were going to visit her tomorrow, the Friday, as that was the morning they both had free periods at the university.

Air Raid and her conscience had been hoping to avoid this topic and, at first anyway, until the white unicorn repeated her question causing the other two to look at her. Eventually after a few moment’s silence she took a deep breath and considered her reply. There was really no good way of saying what she had to say. Instead she decided on speed, like a band-aid being ripped off a wound. “I dumped her; I told her I wasn't ready to be a full time carer.”

Moments of complete silence followed this proclamation, broken only by the chirping of the birds as they nested for the coming night, and the gentle sounds of the ducks swimming on the nearby lake. Nopony spoke. Nopony made any sound at all. The three as one sat and stared with mouths hanging open in shocked disbelief. Slowly, very slowly, Cyclone got to her hooves and very carefully made her way around the picnic to stand in front of the lime green pegasus. “Say that again.” She said with a forced calmness in her tone.

Nervously Air Raid got to her own hooves, taking a step back away from her friend. "Cy, I…” she started but was quickly interrupted.

“I said, say. It. Again.” This time Cyclone took a step towards the retreating mare, causing the other two to stand as well.

“I…I dumped her, Wildfire, in the hospital. I left her. I walked out and I left her.” Air Raid’s voice was barely audible in the gardens, but the three ponies caught every word.

“You did what!?” Cyclone screamed as she angrily launched herself at her friend with her black wings spread to their full span.

“Hey now,” Brightstar said quietly, lighting his horn to catch the enraged pegasus in his yellow aura. “We should at least give Raid the chance to explain before you rip her head off.”

“Explain what?” Darkstar narrowed her eyes and stepped past her brother and the still-struggling Cyclone held in his glowing yellow magical hold to viciously jab her white hoof at Air Raid’s chest. “What’s there to explain, exactly? We all know what she did, don't we, Air Raid?”

Under Darkstar’s jab Air Raid retreated on to the closely mown grass of the Royal Gardens. She left the pebbled path with genuine fear in her grey eyes. The lime green mare couldn't remember seeing Cyclone or any of her friends with such angry looks on their faces. Angry looks directed specifically at her. Hastily she backed away until her hindquarters impacted the marble statue behind her. “Hey! I know full well what I did, alright?” She shot back, flaring her own wings in a defensive stance.

“How could you Raid?!” Cyclone continued to writhe and squirm uselessly in Brightstar’s aura. “Wily loves the bones of you, you selfish bitch!”

“Cy, I know, alright?” Air Raid snapped back, stomping a hoof into the grass. “I feel like crap for yesterday!”

Brightstar stepped beside the struggling pegasus he was currently restraining, wearing an uncharacteristic scowl. “Start talking Raid; and, make the explanation you're about to give a phenomenally good one.”

Air Raid balked under the blue unicorn’s intense gaze. Finding she couldn't retreat any further the lime green mare sat on her haunches beside the marble statue. “I um, well I ah…I panicked! Alright, I admit, I saw her and I freaked out!” Air Raid tried to defend herself against her friends, ‘well, not friends for much longer,’ she thought. “I do have a career you know!”

“You…” Darkstar took a step forward which became a full charge, her muzzle pulled back in a snarl of rage. “You heartless…aargh!” Words failed the white unicorn and she ended up screaming at her selfish friend as she ran at her.

“Stop.” Brightstar caught his sister in a yellow aura identical to the one that currently held the still-struggling Cyclone. “First of all, Raid, get away from Sky Dive’s statue. Luna catches you on it again you’ll have more than us to deal with. Second,” he said as he stepped backwards, pulling the two struggling mares with him to allow Air Raid the space to move. “Are you seriously saying to us, Wily’s friends, that you put your career above your marefriend?”

“No!” Air Raid took a step forward and away from the statue, heeding the stallion’s advice. “I'm not saying that…it, it's…look, it's complicated alright?”

"Complicated my flank!” Cyclone yelled, still fighting her friend’s magical hold, “You’d better hurry up and make it simple Raid, Brighty ain't gonna hold us forever!”

“They were talking about me being her nurse, taking care of her full time, I…” Air Raid blushed and looked down at the ground. “I was scared. I'm not ready, I can't deal with that…”

“So, when she came back from Trixie’s Place and you said you’d never leave her, that was ponyfeathers?” Darkstar snarled in utter contemptuous rage, “All those times she stood by you! Wily gave her virginity to you! Damnit Raid she loves you!”

“Wily loves you and you treated her like manure!” Brightstar snorted with a stomp of his hoof. “Get your pathetic flank back to that hospital and talk to her!”

Air Raid stepped forward, stomping her own hoof. As much as she knew she was in the wrong and deserved their ire, having her back quite literally against the wall raised her own temper. “Yeah? What if I don't?”

“If you don't I'll shove my horn so far up your ass ponies’ll think you're the new fifth alicorn!” Darkstar screamed.

“Oh yeah? You wanna come try it?” Air Raid’s lips were pulled back in a snarl, her wings wide.

“Nggh…” Cyclone could see where this was going to end, and none of them could really afford a night or two in Canterlot’s jail cells. She squirmed in Brightstar’s weakening magic. “Brighty, put me down and take Darkie home. I'll make sure Raid squares it with Wily.”

"Hmph!” Brightstar released Cyclone from his yellow aura then turned on his hooves and stalked away without a backwards glance, carrying his sister with him who directed a lewd gesture with her hooves at Air Raid as the two unicorns exited the gardens.

“Raid, listen I’m…” Cyclone flared her wings to fight the wobble of not bring held in her friend’s magic as she began, only to be interrupted by the other pegasus.

“Buck you Cy!” Air Raid yelled before turning her back on her black-coated friend and stomping off to her car, leaving Cyclone all alone in the secluded part of the Royal Gardens amidst the half eaten remnants of the picnic they had been sharing.

“Well…that went to shit, didn't it?” Cyclone muttered out loud to the marble statue next to her as she started to tidy away the paper plates, styrofoam cups and the other detritus they had left behind in their haste to leave. “Why am I always the one left clearing shit away?” She groused, dumping a small refuse sack in the nearby trash can. “I mean, would it kill them, to tidy up just once?” She looked at the inanimate statue and sniggered out a laugh. “Heh…sorry about that Sky. Hey, can we keep this argument to ourselves? Only I don't want Luna giving us nightmares for upsetting you.” Cyclone hovered a few feet off the floor and gave the rearing statue a peck on its lips. “Thanks Sky, I know I can trust you…” She giggled at her whimsy when the sound of an engine firing up and car tyres screeching shook her back to herself. “Oh…ponyfeathers!” She cursed, having little choice but to fly after the sound and try to catch it up.

Not for the first time in her life Cyclone cursed her fear of heights as she flew low, as low as equinely possible, over the Royal Gardens in search of her friend’s Fiesta. ‘Damnit…’ she thought irritably, ‘if I could get higher than ten feet off the ground I could find her straight away…’ A blur of movement (the characteristic white roof decorated with Air Raid’s cutie mark was a dead give-away too) off in the distance to her left caught her attention and she flew off after the quickly diminishing vehicle. Thankfully her friend wasn't driving very quickly and in the space of a few short moments Cyclone was able to catch up, flying alongside the driver’s side door. “Raid!” She yelled, “Pull over!”

If Air Raid heard the pegasus flying next to her she gave no sign of it, she kept looking straight forward as she wove in and out of the traffic on the road. Once she passed an electric Colt so close she almost took off the door mirror on that side, forcing Cyclone to swerve out of the way. A swerve that took her into the path of an oncoming eighteen wheeled goods lorry heading to the warehouse end of the Market District.

“Buckin’ hell!” The błack mare swore as the slipstream from the heavy articulated vehicle caught her inside wing and pulled her in towards the large trailer. ‘Shit!’ Flapping her wings she was able to fight the suction and level herself off, only to have to pull up to narrowly fly over an oncoming red Citroen. A few wingbeats and the blaring of car horns later and she was back flying alongside Air Raid’s racing Fiesta. “Raid!” She yelled in abject fear, “Pull over now or you’re gonna kill me!”

Thankfully, to Cyclone at least, her friend began to slow and she signalled to pull into a rest stop at the side of the main road she was on. ‘Merciful Goddesses!’ Cyclone gave silent thanks to the ether and landed on the sidewalk, more than happy to have all four hooves on solid ground; although she suspected she’d need a nappy change due to all the near-death misses she’d just experienced.

“What do you want now Cy?” Air Raid asked with a defeated sigh as she got out of her car and damned the door shut behind her. “You made your feelings pretty clear back in the gardens.”

“Yeah, about that. Look, I'm…I'm sorry Raid, alright?” Cyclone muttered, all of a sudden becoming very interested in her hooves.

“You're sorry?” Air Raid blinked disbelievingly at the black mare who had, barely a few minutes ago, been attempting to reconstruct her face with the business end of her hoof. “Yeah right. What’s changed in the space of five minutes?”

“Look Raid,” Cyclone muttered, still inspecting the ground, “I’m not saying I agree with what you did; but, I can kinda see why you did it, okay?”

“You can? Okay now I'm confused.”

“See, I know you told us all your mom wasn't exactly the ‘maternal’ type, and I bet it was kinda dumped on you all at once…so, yeah, I can see why you’d be hesitant to suddenly become a full-time carer. Even if it is Wily you’d be caring for.” Cyclone finally managed to look her friend in the eyes.

“Uh huh…and, you couldn't say this in front of Darkie and Bright?” Air Raid asked, the ghost of a smile on her muzzle. She had a rough idea what was behind this sudden change of heart.

“Are you joking?” Cyclone asked in reply. “And get jumped on by the angry twins? No thanks hun.” The black mare giggled before turning serious. “Like I said, I don't agree but I can understand. That said, I think you handled it about as badly as you could've ever done. From the sounds of it you were as subtle as a brick to the face. I meant what I said, Raid. You need to go back and settle things with Wily.”

Air Raid ran a hoof through her blue mane uncomfortably as she fidgeted on the pristine Canterlot sidewalk. ‘The street cleaners probably do a better job here because the castle’s right behind us,’ she thought with a grin, which quickly faltered. “Cy, suppose I go back, what in the wide world of Equestria do I say to her?”

“well, I'm no councillor, but I'd think saying ‘sorry’ is a good place to start, and then work it out from there. I'd do it real quick too, I think Darkie was quite serious on turning you into the fifth alicorn.” Cyclone sniggered at that, as did her friend.

"Alright, alright I'll go there in a sec. I'll even get decent flowers this time around.” Air Raid said, still sniggering at the younger mare’s comment. “Hey um, you wanna come with?” She asked hopefully, not wanting to face the world’s angriest and most protective nurse alone.

"Ooh…I’d love to, I really would, but I'm doing that thing for my dad in about an hour and I'm fairly sure it'll take the rest of the day hun.” Cyclone replied with a decidedly excited smile.

Air Raid raised an eyebrow. “Really Cy? You're going ahead with that?” She asked skeptically.

“Yeah, why not?”

“Because your dad wants you to pose in his filthy magazine!”

“It's not filthy, it's Playcolt, as you very well know!” Cyclone defended with a stomp of her hoof, as well as a raspberry aimed at her friend. “As an exec, dad’s promised me the centrefold for this month plus at least five other pages!” She almost bounced with excitement.

“I don't care if it is Playcolt or not. It's still filthy. And I can't believe Tropical Storm expects you to have sex, for Luna’s sake, Cy!”

“For the hundredth time, cloth ears, I'm not having sex! Dad just wants me in my foal clothes; my nappy, my onesie, the pacifier, playing with some toys…what's wrong with that?” The black pegasus demanded.

“What's wrong…what's wro…” Air Raid facehooved, “Cy, I know you’re an exhibitionist and have like, zero shame, but do you really want the whole of Canterlot seeing you like that, really?”

“Raid. It's not about having no shame. I'm doing it because it's fun. Look at those two stallions over there.” Cyclone pointed with a hoof at two stallions walking on the other side of the street. Smiling at them she lifted the harm of her red dress and flashed her rump at them, earning herself two long and loud whistles of appreciation. “See? What's wrong with it? So what I'm stood here in a nappy, it's not as if I'm beating puppies to death with a stick hun.”

“Ugh…fine.” Air Raid sighed, deciding it was best not to argue. “So, what's the real reason you flew after me?”

“What do you mean?”

“Come on! You don't fly into the path of oncoming traffic, especially you, so what d’you want?” Air Raid asked again.

“Well…there is something Raid.” Cyclone admitted, looking her friend straight in her grey eyes. “Tomorrow's Friday. Y’know, ‘play day’?”

"Cy..." Air Raid put her lime green hoof on her friend’s black shoulder with a genuine smile. “Cy, I know how much being a foal means to you. Whatever happened between us I'd never ever hold it over you or use it as a weapon. I'm your Nana. An argument doesn't change that.”

Cyclone sniffled, moved to tears, something which didn't happen very often. “You…you really mean that, Raid?” When the racer nodded she sniffled some more and reached a hoof into her saddle bag, pulling out two differently coloured liquids held in two glass vials. To her friend’s un-asked question Cyclone quickly explained. “Potions. The yellow one regresses my mind to that of a foal and the blue one impairs my fine motor control, things like co-ordination and balance, and it removes bowel control.” This time she did actually bounce as she secured the precious vials back in her bag.

Air Raid sat on her haunches with her mouth wide open, blinking once, twice then a third time as she processed what Cyclone had just said. “Cy…where in the world did you get those? I mean, are they safe? Are they even legal?” She asked with concern, thinking back to just a few months ago when she had been arrested at the University. “I'm not gonna risk being arrested again, Cy.”

Cyclone sat next to her friend, inching a little closer. “I got them from Zecora, you know, that zebra in Ponyville? I found her webpage on the ‘net. She makes these things, bespoke potions for any and all situations. And, before you ask, she’s totally legal. Got certificates and royal stamps coming out of every orifice.”

“I dunno Cy…you thought this through? Like, if you’re thinking like a foal, how do you know what’s safe or not?” Air Raid couldn't help but feel very skeptical about this course of action.

“Well…I don't, or I won't, that's the point Raid. You’re my Nana. You’ll have to watch me, y’know, like a foal.” Cyclone explained, somewhat nervously at the look she was getting from the green pony sitting in front of her.

“I…I dunno Cy, it's a big ask, hun…” Air Raid started, then faltered at the saddened look Cyclone gave her. “I…I’ll think about it, alright? While I go pull my muzzle outta my plot with a certain yellow pegasus.”

Cyclone couldn't help but giggle. “The great and modest Air Raid admits she has a plot big enough for her whole head?”

"Shut up you,” Air Raid smiled, before turning serious again as she reached for her door release. “Cy…what if it's too late? What if she doesn't forgive me?” She asked uncertainly, her resolve already waning.

"You won't know unless you try, will you? Just go and say sorry, Air Raid.” Cyclone said with a smile as her friend sat back in her car and closed the door. “Whatever you say just say it from here,” she leant through the window and tapped a hoof to Air Raid’s chest, where her heart lay. “Mean what you say, say what you mean. You'll be just fine, Raid. Remember, she does love you hun. Just say you’re sorry.”

"I'll bear that in mind Cy.” She smiled as she started her engine. “Enjoy your mucky photoshoot you big foal.” She smiled and pulled away before her friend could reply, laughing at Cyclone’s raspberry diminishing in her rear view mirror. ‘I'm coming Wily…I'm so sorry…’

~ ~ ~

Air Raid stood alone outside the main entrance to Canterlot Royal Hospital. For the third time in as many days the lime green mare had stood on this very spot. Apprehension and uncertainty coursed through her body, despite her talk with Cyclone. ‘Mean what you say, say what you mean’, she had said. Air Raid let loose a giggle. She couldn't help it. Ponies like Darkstar and Cyclone made it sound so easy, like the script of the latest Applewood blockbuster rom-com.

Standing at the hospital doors Air Raid deeply wished her life was a movie. It'd be so much easier if a pony off to one side of the set would holler ‘cut!’ when she was about to or had done something stupid; though deep down she suspected she'd never actually get anything done. With a heavy heart Air Raid pushed open the large double doors and entered the hospital’s reception. ‘Take two,’ she thought as she trotted over to the desk usually inhabited by Pureheart. The pegasus smiled. She liked that mare. Very easy on the eyes, all sexy in her nurses uniform.

So vivid were her thoughts about Pureheart she didn't the mare at the reception desk wasn't her. “Hey Pure, I'm here to see Wi…” Air Raid’s voice trailed off to silence as the seating pad spun to reveal not Pureheart but the stern glowering visage of the one mare she had been hoping to avoid. “Oh…” Was all she could utter.

Eirene spun in her swivel pad, diverting her attention from the paperwork she had been cross referencing and looked up at the pony that had distracted her, ready with the pleasant smile of the receptionist. A smile which very quickly disappeared as she gazed into the grey eyes of the one mare she dearly hoped to never see again. “You!” She gasped, her own eyes wide as saucers.

"Hey...um, Eirene, right?” Air Raid opened while the nurse was still too shocked to move. She still took a step backwards, in spite of the transparent window separating the two mares above the wooden desk. “Look…I don’t want any trouble…”

“You…don't…want any trouble?” Eirene was almost speechless with anger at the sheer nerve of the green pegasus to just stand in front of her at all. The earth pony nurse was very glad at that moment of the plexiglass keeping the two ponies apart; were it not there she had no uncertainty that she’d be over the desk and on top of the selfish pegasus, to Tartarus with her medical career. “Then…what is it you do want?” She asked through several deep breaths.

“Nurse…Ma’am, I just want to see Wily…please…” Air Raid reflexively took a step backwards, her hooves echoing on the white marble of the hospital floor.

“Well you can't.” Eirene snapped and turned her seating pad away from the lime green mare.

Air Raid stared through the glass for a second before tapping it with a hoof. “Please…I just need to see her for a moment, please nurse.”

“I already said, Miss Raid. No, you can't.” Eirene replied without bothering to turn back and face her.

“Nurse…just five minutes, please! You can come in with me if you want, just let me see Wildfire, please…” She begged, resting both forehooves against the glass.

This time the earth pony nurse did turn to face the desperate pegasus begging at her window. “No. I can't come in with you!” Eirene snapped, her voice rising an octave. “No, I can't let you see her. You want to know why?” She asked irritably. “She's gone! That's why!” The nurse almost yelled when Air Raid merely nodded her head.

“Gone?” She asked incredulously, “What do you mean, ‘gone’?”

"What in the name of Tartarus do you think I mean, Miss Raid?” Eirene asked as she stepped out from behind the desk and approached the green pegasus, her professional façade beginning to slide. “Wildfire is gone. Absent. Removed from her room. AWOL, vanished…and a whole load of other adjectives meaning not being here, Miss Raid. Do you understand yet?”

"Wily’s…really gone?” Air Raid said out loud, asking without really asking.

“Ugh!” Eirene snorted in frustration as she seized the pegasus by her shoulder and proceeded to drag her down the corridor, past the mirror that Cold Front had punched the day before and dumped her outside the open door of room two one four. “There!” She seethed, finally letting her go, “Do you see a pegasus in that bed?”

Air Raid looked where the nurse pointed; sure enough, the bed that previously had been occupied by her marefriend up to yesterday. Where before Wildfire had been sat there struggling to write in Braille, now there was nothing. Nothing but an empty room. The empty bed linen was pressed and ironed, her notes were gone, the ‘get well’ cards and other tokens that her friends had sent to her were all gone. Indeed, if she didn't know better absolute certain, she would have been convinced nopony had ever been in that room. “She’s gone…” She gasped, sitting on her haunches.

“Oh, well spotted, dull stone.” Eirene muttered, not entirely under her breath.

“But…but…I don't, um, I don't…she’s gone…where’s she gone?” Air Raid stammered, she finally accepted, given the evidence her eyes presented her with, that Wildfire was in fact not there.

“That, Miss Raid, is the question at hoof.” Eirene answered sternly, sparing the pegasus a sideways look.

“What d’you mean, that's the question?”

“Well, apparently yesterday afternoon, about three fifteen her father, accompanied by what the staff describe as an ‘intimidating unicorn mare’, discharged her and took her out of the hospital.” Eirene explained tersely as she turned on her hooves and walked slowly back towards the reception area without bothering to wait for the pony still sat outside the open door.

‘Her dad and an intimidating unicorn discharged her…they took Wily away…’ Air Raid thought to herself as she stared dumbly into the empty room. She only realised Eirene wasn't next to her when she turned her head to ask her a question and found she was alone in the corridor. ‘Ugh…’ she hastened to stand and quickly trotted after the earth pony nurse. “Wait up!” She called after the mare and slowed to a trot and again to a stop to stand next to her. “What did they say, anything?”

Eirene gave Air Raid a long hard piercing look, as if she was making her mind up to entrust her with national secrets. Eventually after a few moments silence she took a breath and said, “I wasn't there. This comes from Nurse Pureheart. She was staffing the reception desk yesterday afternoon. She's got the day off today otherwise I'd let her tell you.” The nurse’s stern look turned a little softer when confronted with Air Raid’s distraught look. “All I know is, Cold Front told Pureheart the unicorn was family, an aunt from Fillydelphia, and that was where she was going, to be cared for by her extended family. Pureheart said she didn't get the aunt’s name though, sorry.”

Air Raid listened to the earth pony nurse, she frowned as she filled her in on the events that had transpired since her disastrous visit the day before. Her frown deepened to a scowl when Eirene mentioned a unicorn aunt in Fillydelphia. In all the time she had known Wildfire, Air Raid had never ever heard the pegasus mention any family outside of Canterlot. “Eirene…Nurse…I’m sorry but that’s utter crap.”

To the lime green mare’s intense surprise Eirene smiled. “For once and on this subject we agree completely, Miss Raid.” She put a forehoof upon Air Raid’s shoulder. “In the two days I cared for her, Wily talked incessantly about her mother, her friends…you,” the nurse admitted the last with a shadow of a grimace. “Not once in all the time we talked did she ever mention anything about family living elsewhere in Equestria. I believe you, the question is, what do we do about it?”

“Well…” She began, returning the smile the nurse gave her with a tentative one of her own, welcoming the foreleg currently hung around her shoulder. “The first thing we do is I’ll ring the troops; Dusk, Darkstar, Brightstar, Cyclone and Slingshot. Then, we’ll all go to Wily’s place and have a chat with her dad. From there, I don’t know, to be honest. Wherever she is we’ll find her and bring her back. Then, when we have that mare back safe, I’m gonna get on my bended knees and apologise until I can’t speak anymore. After that I’ll do every single thing in my power to make sure she knows how sorry I am and to make it up to her for what I did.”

Eirene’s smile widened at the obvious passion in Air Raid’s voice. “Then, in that endeavour, I really do wish you the very best of luck,” she wrapped her other leg around the pegasus’s shoulder and pulled her into a warm albeit reluctant hug. “Find her Air Raid. Find her and bring her home.”

Breaking the hug as reluctantly as it was given Air Raid offered the nurse a determined smile. “You have my word we’ll find her…oh damn!” Her smile fell from her face and she cursed as she checked her saddle bag with her right foreleg.

“What is it, Miss Raid?” Eirene asked, curious as to the other mare’s sudden change of mood.

“About ringing the troops…” She trailed off, a bright blush colouring her green cheeks.

“…Yes?” The earth pony prompted with a raised eyebrow.

“I um, well I kinda left my phone at home…the um, ‘mustering of the troops’ will have to wait till I get back…” Air Raid gave an embarrassed smile to the nurse and started to turn to leave, only for Eirene to stop her.

“Here,” she smiled as she quickly scooted behind the reception desk and slid a phone under the plexiglass barrier. “Use mine; call your friends, find my favourite patient.”

Air Raid’s embarrassed smile turned into a wide grateful one. “Thank you, thank you so much!” Taking the slim black phone from the desk and flipped it open to reveal the number keypad. While not exactly the same as her own it was similar enough that she was able to operate it almost straight away. Trotting off to one side of the wide foyer where there were public telephone stalls the racer entered an unoccupied one and got to work dialling her first number.

“Hello?” The rich, clipped female voice on the other end of the line wasn’t the one that Air Raid was expecting.

“Lady Octavia?” She asked, the tiniest bit of disbelief in her voice; not that she’d never spoken to Octavia before, far from it, she just wasn’t expecting her to answer Dusk’s phone. “It’s Air Raid, I was hoping to get Dusk, is he about anywhere please?”

“Dusk? Air Raid thought she detected the smallest trace of reluctant reticence in Octavia’s voice as she spoke, though she couldn’t put her hoof on it. “Dusk is…’unavailable’ right now, Miss Raid, I’m sorry.”

“Unavailable? Pardon me, but how is he unavailable?” She asked, hopefully politely enough, given to whom she was speaking.

“Since he came back from visiting Miss Wildfire Tuesday afternoon Dusk hasn’t come out of his suite. Nor has he allowed anypony in, besides his coltfriend Vocal Chord.” There was a definite ‘tone’ to Octavia’s voice now, a tone that even Air Raid picked up on. “I’m given to understand there was an incident between him and Miss Wildfire at the hospital, yes?”

“You um, you could say that, yes.” Air Raid admitted. ‘Incident’ was a nice way to phrase it, from what Darkie had reported to them following her visit.

“Yes…” Sadness. Air Raid decided finally. That was the tone. A definite note of sadness in her voice. “So we gathered from Miss Darkstar on when she stopped by on Tuesday. It would have been nice to hear it from Dusk himself rather than be greeted by a slammed door of course but, Luna and I are just his parents, why would he speak to us?”

“Alright, Lady Octavia, thank you and sorry for disturbing you this afternoon.”

“You’re most welcome Miss Raid, I apologise for not being able to be of any assistance.” With that Octavia hung up, leaving Air Raid to mull over what she’d been told. That Dusk was still sulking in his suite had come as a surprise to none of them.

Air Raid smiled, offering thanks to the Goddesses that Darkie was a one-pony gossip express. Of course it’d been her that had gone to the palace after her visit. She imagined the unicorn waltzing past the guards as if she owned the place which, knowing Darkie, was precisely what she did.

Sighing she dialled her next number, only to be greeted by Cyclone’s typically exuberant voice mail message.

“Congratulations! You have reached Cyclone’s voice mail box. If you’re a hot mare, you may leave a message at the tone. If you’re one of Wily's friends, you may also leave a message at the tone. If you’re not a hot mare and not one of Wily's friends, call me back when you are!”

Air Raid couldn’t help but snigger at Cyclone’s voice mail message. By far the best five bits she’d ever spent ordering that. Of course, Cy had wanted to change it to ‘If you’re here to change my nappy, you may also leave a message,’ but they’d managed – eventually – to talk her out of it. She wasn’t really surprised Cy’s phone was switched off, after all she was doing that dumb photoshoot for her dad, still it would’ve been nice to hear a friendly voice before she rang Darkstar’s phone. Taking a deep breath she left her message, “Hey Cy, It’s Raid. We have a problem. Wily’s gone from the hospital and they’re not entirely sure where she’s gone to. Gimme a bell when you get this, we need to get together and work something out.”

Cancelling the call a second time Air Raid took a few moments in the telephone stall to steady herself and prepare for the third and final call she was about to make. Dialling Darkie’s number she was at least glad that as it wasn’t her number that would flash up on her friend’s mobile there was a very good chance she’d answer it, whereas had it been her own mobile number on the unicorn’s phone she was sure her call would be dismissed out of hoof. ‘C’mon Darkie…pick up, pick up!’

“Y’hello, who’s this?” Darkstar opened as she answered her phone.

Taking a deep breath to again steady herself she replied as confidently as she could. “Darkie, it…it’s Raid, no don’t hang up, this is important!” She added quickly, fearful that her friend would simply put her phone down.

“What exactly do you want Raid?” Darkstar tried and ultimately failed – although admittedly she didn’t try very hard – to keep the contempt from her voice as she spoke. “I’m halfway through practising a dance routine. In costume.”

“Aaahn…” Air Raid subconsciously whimpered a little at the thought of Darkie wrapping herself around a shiny pole wearing a corset and socks…the pegasus squeezed her hindlegs together for good measure, ‘just in case’, she told herself.

“Raid?” Darkstar asked, the amusement this time very evident, “Wherever you are, you’re drooling. Stop it.”

“I am not drooling!” Air Raid immediately raised a hoof and wiped the drool from the corner of her mouth.

“So…what d’you want Raid? Keep me talking anymore I’ll have to start my warm up bends and stretches again…” The unicorn teased, her earlier ire somewhat toned down after her workout, that and knowing she was getting the pegasus hot and bothered just amused her too much to be too angry.

“I’m at the hospital, I came to apologise to Wily, y’know like we ‘discussed’ earlier.”

“Uh…aaah…uh huh,” Darkstar made the noise suspiciously like she was stretching, which made Air Raid squeeze her hindlegs together all the tighter. “How did that go, exactly?”

“I haven’t been able to Darkie…there’s a problem.” Again like she did earlier back in the Royal Gardens, she spoke quickly, verbally tearing off the band-aid. “Wily’s gone.”

“Gone?” Just that quickly the amused humour was gone. “What do you mean, gone where, Raid?”

“I got here about half an hour ago; Eirene her nurse told me she was gone…” Air Raid paused, contemplating her next choice of words. None of them liked her dad a great deal, if at all. “Apparently Darkie, Cold Front arranged for Wily to go stay with her family, in Fillydelphia…”

“Horse-apples Raid,” Darkstar interrupted, “Wily hasn’t got any family in Filly. Anypony who knows her knows that, what’s that waste of pony fur and a horn done now?”

“Darkie…I dunno, we need to get together and go see him, to get some actual answers from the drunken scumbag.”

“Well, Bright and I have Uni until tomorrow, I know Cy is at yours till Saturday night, so how about the four of us and Slingshot meet up at Café Diem on Sunday lunch time and we’ll work something out?” Darkstar suggested as she tried to get all the times right in her head.

“Four of us? We’re not expecting Dusk anytime soon then?”

“Last I checked Raid he’s still sulking with his pet pooch, licking more than just his wounds I suspect.” Darkstar sniggered, though there was very little humour in her voice. “I assume you’ve tried to ring him?”

“… Yes, I have.”

“And, let me guess, Lady Octavia answered?”

“Yes, she did.”

“Then we can discount Dusk the Great and Sulky.” Darkstar said almost matter-of-factly, “So, Café Diem, this Sunday lunch time.”

“Yeah…” Air Raid agreed, before a thought crossed her mind. “Darkie, are we cool?” She asked nervously.

“Raid…yes, we’re cool. There’s nothing we can do for now till Sunday, so get in your car, get over here and be my willing audience while I practise my new routine.”

~ ~ ~

Wildfire stood trembling in the office of Amethyst Glory. Her hooves echoed on the cold ceramic tiles of the floor, though this wasn’t what was making the small pegasus tremble. No, what caused her to tremble were the cold metal shackles secured just a little too tight around the ankles of her four hooves – unlike the hoofcuffs she had enjoyed with Air Raid and Darkstar these were definitely not padded, the bare metal already starting to chafe at the skin under her fur – these in turn were held to the tiles by eight inch chains connected to D rings in the floor, these short chains held Wildfire’s forelegs a few inches wider apart than shoulder width. The heavy bare metal collar cinched around her neck was joined to the D ring in front of her by a twelve inch chain, forcing her head down in an awkward bowing stance just to get some slack.

From her heads-down position her ears flicked and swivelled, attempting to give her some details about her current environment. Sadly from the limited auditory clues she had to go with these were few and far between. She knew from her short visit to this room on the afternoon of her first day it was a roomy office, roughly twenty five feet square, with a desk and seating pads around it. She had been allowed a few moments to walk around the office, to ‘see’ it with her hooves and the tips of her wings. That was four days ago now, and as she stood shackled to the cold tiled floor on this Sunday morning, Wildfire deeply wished she was anywhere else.

Behind and to her right she knew Amber Leaves was standing, waiting, watching her. Wildfire knew it was the unicorn mare from the way she alternated from one forehoof to the other, probably a nervous habit, when she was stationary. Silently Wildfire was glad she was stationary and pacing her hooves. It meant she wasn’t whipping the fur from a pony’s back, and Wildfire had heard the screams that attested to her skill in that regard.

To her left and again behind her was the simply mountainous form of Lotus Stripes. There was no other way to describe him; the earth pony was just huge, and every square inch of him was muscle. Mean muscle at that. His slow, deep heavy breathing betrayed him to the blind pegasus. Very quickly upon arriving at the care home and being thrown into what was little more than a cell, after a quick inspection she had discovered her new living area was a ten feet by eight feet rectangle with a shelf that she assumed was a bed at one end and a toilet at the other. Quickly though Wildfire had learned the mistake of opening her mouth, especially to these two ponies, a rough lesson she learnt first-hoof when breakfast came on Thursday morning.

Standing outside her cell, Lotus banged on the metal door to rudely awaken the sleeping pegasus from her restless slumber. “Get up!” Was the only warning she got as the door was thrust open to clang loudly against the wall.

“Wha…what th…” Wildfire uttered, raising her head from the ‘bed’, following the two successive loud banging noises.

“I said ‘get up!’ you worthless pile of feathers!” Lotus Stripes roughly dropped the tray he was holding and kicked it over to the bed, slopping the water over the crispy bread rolls. “Breakfast.”

Sliding herself off of the bed to the floor she sniffed at the tray with disappointment on her face. Nudging the bowl with a hoof she sniffed, breathing in a deep breath she tried in vain to detect any other thing on the tray besides bread and water. There was none; and she was really in the mood for her usual bowl of oats…from Air Raid’s bowl, in Air Raid’s bedroom, in Air Raid’s house and eating it from between Air Raid’s hindlegs. “Is this all there is?” She asked with a loud yawn.

All she heard in response was three heavy set hoof-steps echo loudly on the tiled floor and the very next thing Wildfire felt was a heavy punch hit her squarely on the back of her head behind her left ear, the force of which sent her muzzle first into the bowl of rolls, scattering a couple onto the floor and spilling more of the water. “Oow! What the bu…”

“Ungrateful bitch!” Lotus Stripes aimed a hard stiff kick which connected with Wildfire’s abdomen, rolling her over on her side onto the floor, coughing and heaving for breath. “Thank Amethyst for this meal! I’ll be back to get the tray, there better not be any bread left when I do.”

Shivering in fear and shackled to the office floor of the care home director Wildfire recalled with dread what happened thirty minutes later when the earth pony stallion had thundered into her cell to collect the tray. Apparently she had missed a half a bread roll that had landed in the corner of the room. Three days later it still hurt her to breathe after Lotus had kicked her repeatedly in her gut; he only stopped kicking when she had thrown up. Twice.

“Nggh…” Wildfire winced in pain from the bowed position her body was forced into, the muscles of her thighs and calves screaming as her hindlegs were stretched; she desperately wanted to lift and stomp her hindlegs to relieve the agony in her joints, or to lie down on the tiled floor, anything to ease the pressure in her legs. “Aah…” She whimpered quietly, she knew better than to stomp her hooves, especially after the ‘lesson’ that Amber Leaves had given her on Friday afternoon.

Wildfire froze as the sound of stepping from hoof to hoof ceased. “Did you say something, Pegasus?” Amber Leaves asked dangerously, her eyes narrowed.

Internally Wildfire panicked. She recognised the threat in that voice. Her ears flicked in Amber’s direction to her right, picking up on the absence of the pacing. That wasn't good, especially for the pony in front of her. Hesitantly she cocked her head to her to her left, shivering as she heard Lotus’s breathing slow and get shallower. As much as she could Wildfire braced herself for the strike she knew was coming.

"I said, ‘did you say something?’” Amber asked again when she got no reply, this time Wildfire heard her take a step towards her.

Fighting through the pain in her back and thighs Wildfire forced her body still and shook her head ‘no’. She knew the reply Amber wanted. The yellow pegasus wasn't fool enough to reply vocally more than once.

"I thought not, Pegasus." Amber spat at her, figuratively and literally, her spit hitting the cutie mark on Wildfire’s right flank as she stepped back to resume her previous stepping from hoof to hoof.

For a few minutes the only sounds in the office were the pacing of Amber Leaves and the steady breathing of Lotus Stripes. To Wildfire the sound was pervasive, almost a sentient entity. If they were going to beat her she wished they’d get it over with so she could recover in her cell. Idly she wondered if her dad knew or cared that the care home staff he had signed her over to were abusing her almost daily. Probably not.

Just as she was about to force the issue Wildfire heard the door open behind her and the next sound she heard made her shiver all the more. There was no greeting, no pleasantries exchanged, just the ominous sound of horseshoes against the tiled floor. Slow, deliberate hoof-steps walked from behind her on her left side, around to the desk in front of her and she heard the pony take to the seating pad behind it.

Again silence. That all-encompassing silence. Wildfire knew she was being scrutinised. She could almost feel those cold dispassionate eyes all over her. Still the pegasus remained still and silent. Amethyst would speak when Amethyst was ready, and not before.

After a few seconds of further quiet Amethyst finally spoke. “Why has ‘Wildfire’…”  - Listening intently the pegasus was sure she detected a certain inflection when the director said her name, as if it was forced somehow. - “Been brought before me today? Mr. Stripes, can you explain please?”

“Yes Ma’am,” Lotus Stripes took a step forward, the hoof-step making the yellow mare flinch away involuntarily. “Yesterday and today it has purposefully broken two vases due to her clumsiness. On both occasions it walked into the same table, knocking over what was on it.”

“Is this true?” Amethyst asked, looking over her half-moon glasses at the chained mare before her.

“Yes…but…” Wildfire hesitantly replied, finding her voice at last. “But, Ma’am, they moved the table! How was I to know where it was?” This time the mare actually did stomp her hindleg in indignation.

Long seconds ticked their way past on the wall clock as Amethyst looked severely at her two members of staff. While both wanted to beat the insolent pony for having the nerve to complain, the director held them both in place with her gaze, no magic necessary. “I see,” she said finally. “We cannot have that, can we?” Lighting her horn she released the shackles holding Wildfire’s forelegs and neck.

Straight away the pegasus sat on her haunches, rubbing her left foreleg around her neck where thee heavy metal collar had been.

“Mr. Stripes, Miss Leaves, kindly apologise to…to ‘Wildfire’, if you please.”

Only the stern look that Amethyst Glory was giving the both of them made the two ponies utter the apologies requested of them, reluctant given though they were.

“There, that’s better.” Amethyst smiled, somehow managing to sound more dangerous than before. “Now, I believe this belongs to you.” She lit her horn once more, levitating Wildfire’s black leather poetry book over to her.

“This…is my book…” For the first time since getting here in this damned pit of a place Wildfire smiled as she held the book in her forelegs like a precious foal, feeling the textured cover with the frogs of her hooves, running them over the embossed letters on the front. Breathing in she smelled the parchment pages and even the ink on them. More than just a mere book for the first time in a long time Wildfire felt like her mother was here with her, and the home didn’t seem that bad. “Thank you Ma’am.”

“Here, have a pen and some extra paper. They aren’t parchment but, I hope they’ll suffice?” Amethyst asked, pouring on the sugar, much to the disgust of Amber and Lotus.

“Ma’am, thank you Ma’am.” Wildfire was genuinely grateful as the pen and paper were floated over to her.

“Now then, Miss Leaves, would you be so very kind as to escort ‘Wildfire’ back to her room? Carefully if you please, we don’t want any more ah…’accidents’, do we?”

"Yes Ma'am, Warden Glory,” Amber Leaves gave the director a deep respectful bow and ushered the blind pegasus out of the office, with considerately more care than she helped to bring her into it.

Lotus Stripes approached the desk with a bow. “Warden Glory…with respect Ma’am, why so cautious with this one?”

“It’s very simple Lotus,” Amethyst smirked a devious smirk as even now her plan began to take effect. “I am the carrot, you are the stick. Understand?” Her smile widened. “This one has spirit, I’ll grant it that much. But, we will break it just like we broke the ones that came before it.”

"Of course we will, Warden Glory, it's just a matter of time.” Lotus assured her with a wicked gleam in his eye.

“Time we do not have, Lotus. I want it prepped and ready for the Hearths Warming season. Filthy has placed his usual order and, above all else, we do not disappoint him, do we Lotus?”

“No, Warden, we do not.”

"Just think, Lotus, think how much more we can make from that one.” Amethyst’s eyes gleamed with bit signs. “We can tap the vein of the stuck up rich desperate to give to charity to assuage their consciences. If it does well with Filthy we can rent it out to any of the noble families looking for some fun.”

~ ~ ~

"Oh for buck's sake, damnit!” Air Raid slammed her coffee mug down hard on the low coffee table in her great room, snapping off the handle and cracking it open, leaking the hot contents onto the wooden surface and dripping to her hardwood floor. “It’s been a month now Cy, why haven’t we found her?” The lime green mare fumed, punching the table with her other hoof and sending the tray of freshly baked chocolate and cinnamon haycakes to the floor as well. “OOW! What do you think?”

“Raid, what I think,” Cyclone smiled as she shifted her position on her seating pad opposite her friend and carefully set down her own mug, “Is that you need to calm down. Seriously babe that’s the third mug you’ve broken since I’ve been here; and I’ve only been here four hours.”

“Oh ha, ha Cy,” Air Raid reached for the roll of paper towels she kept suspiciously close to hoof. “You know full well what I meant.”

“Yes hun, I know what you meant.” Cyclone sighed and reached a foreleg down to scoop up the spilled haycakes, helping herself to one as she did so. “I think we can’t do much more than we are doing; we’ve contacted the mayor of Filly, we’ve phoned the police out there, we’ve got in touch with the royal guard barracks out there, Tartarus Raid we even got Hot Spot to talk with the fire teams in Filly. Brightstar’s skyped his aunt and uncle over there, so…what more can we do?”

“Ugh…I know Cy, I know.” Air Raid groaned as she got up and trotted with her broken mug to the trash can. “It just feels like we should be doing more, y’know?” She asked rhetorically, dumping the fragments of mug into the can. “I just can’t shake the feeling she’s in trouble Cy.”

“Now there,” Cyclone smiled thinly as she took two vials; one blue, one red, from her saddle bag. “I know exactly what you mean. I can’t shake that feeling either babe.”

Trotting back to the great room and her seating pad Air Raid eyed the two potions warily. “Do you have to drink those things Cy?”

Earnestly the black pegasus nodded. “Uh huh. I’ve got a double dose for this weekend.” Cyclone had a glint of excitement in her blue eyes that unnerved Air Raid no end.

“Um…why, exactly? Not that I don’t mind being your Nana, you know I’ll do it, but won’t a stronger dosage make you even younger or something?” She asked uncertainly.

“No you silly filly,” Cyclone giggled, “I’ve got the age set around three years old. The stronger dose just means they’ll last longer that’s all.” She smiled, uncorking the two vials and setting them in front of her.

“And, why would you want that hun?”

“Simple,” Cyclone explained. “You’re leaving for that big race in Filly mid-week right? You’ll be gone for three weeks. I want to get my bits worth for this weekend, today and tomorrow, maybe even till Monday if they last that long, before you go. Is that cool?” She asked hopefully, bouncing a little on her seating pad. “C’mon Raid, please! Pretty please with a really big cherry on top, please!”

“Hehehehe,” Air Raid chuckled at her friend’s desperate begging. She did enjoy teasing the other pegasus. “Well, seeing as my little foal asked so nicely, I don’t see why not. I’ll take you to the park I think today, for a Saturday in November it’s pretty warm, so drink up it’s already mid-day.”

“Yay!” Cyclone shrugged off her saddle bag, she wouldn’t be needing that as Air Raid had her own already made up with the necessary supplies they’d need, plus as a foal she was unbalanced enough as it was without the added weight of her bag. As was now her custom she reached for the blue potion first, which in a few seconds would impair her co-ordination and bowel control. “Ugh…” She winced as the syrupy potion slid down her throat. “It looks like moonshine but it don’t taste like it.”

Air Raid took a breath and was about to comment when her friend cut across her. “Don’t start Raid, alright? I know what I’m doing. I trust this and I trust you.” Cyclone then swallowed the red liquid, grimacing even more than she had with the blue. Air Raid paid it no mind any more. This was the fifth time she’d witnessed it and bizarrely it was starting to get normal. Outwardly there was no sign of any change; there never was. Inside was where the potions were taking their respective effects. Already the red potion was starting to block and inhibit the flow of the neurons in her brain, slowing her thought processes and dimming her understanding.

“Cy, you know that stuff is narcotic, right?” The lime green mare picked up the now-empty vial that had held the red potion and gave it a sniff, crinkling her muzzle. She’d done a little digging into these potions, and didn’t like what she had discovered.

“Na…Nar…cot…ic?” Cyclone had tilted her head to one side, processing the long word syllable by syllable as if it was the first time she’d ever said it. Somewhere in the back of her brain she knew what it meant, but like a computer with a broken link, she couldn’t access it. “What’s that Nana?”

Air Raid sighed deeply and rubbed her temple with a hoof. It concerned her that the potions were already taking effect. Five weeks ago they’d had to wait a good fifteen minutes. Now it was practically instantaneous. “Cy…it means ‘addictive’,” the green mare let out a giggle at the blank look she received. “The more you have the more you want…oh, never mind.” She shook her head, realising she was getting nowhere fast. “C’mon little filly, let’s go to the park.”

"The park, the park!” Cyclone bounced happily on the pad she was sitting on, clapping her forehooves together excitedly like, well like a little filly, which at that point she was.

Air Raid smiled warmly as she wrapped the thick padded strap around her filly’s left forehoof, securing it with the velcro end. She attached a similar band to her own forehoof, this time her right one. Between them was an extendable plastic wire linking the two straps together. Air Raid had quickly learnt to her cost that this simple device was necessary when taking an actual foal for a walk, as she’d underestimated how fast her filly could run off on her own.

‘Oh damnit!’ She thought as she juggled her house keys in one hoof while Cyclone pulled eagerly on the other. Five weeks of doing this and she still didn’t know how real parents did it. ‘Real foals aren’t Cy’s size, that’s got something to do with it’, Air Raid sniggered to herself as she finally got her front door locked. Thankfully the park was only a few streets away from her place, with only one main road to cross. “Cy! Bad filly! Walk with Nana Raid or we go back.”

Immediately Cyclone stopped pulling on the hoof strap and contained herself to a trot at her Nana’s right side. “Sowwy Nana, I be good!”

“Good filly,” Air Raid smiled and extended her right wing over her friend for comfort as they approached the four lane wide main road; she’d also learnt pretty quickly that loud noises scared filly-Cyclone.

Cyclone in turn huddled close to her Nana while she pressed the button with her left forehoof that activated the crossing point. “Cars scawy Nana…” the black mare whimpered into Air Raid’s flank.

“Hey…hey, it’s okay little filly,” Air Raid whispered into Cyclone’s ear as the cars stopped and she guided her to the central reservation. “Tell your Nana what you’re gonna do at the park.”

Distracted from the speeding vehicles in front of her Cyclone giggled and clapped her hooves together. “Imma go on the slide and roundabout and the sand-box!” She babbled excitedly, making Air Raid chuckle at her.

“C’mon then little one,” still chuckling Air Raid steered her friend over to the other side of the street. “Isn’t the slide a little too high for my filly though?” She asked with a grin.

“Um…” Cyclone mumbled, her usual boundless confidence reined in by the inhibiting effects of the potions, “Maybe Nana. I play in the sand-box. That’s on the floor. Not up high.”

“Hmm…I think that’s a good idea Cy.” Air Raid agreed, removing her wing from her friend’s back and giving her a quick feathery scratch behind her ear. “Who’s a clever filly?”

Cyclone scrunched up her muzzle, looking thoroughly adorable as she mulled over the answer to the question. “Me!” She squealed, her eyes wide with barely contained excitement. “I’m a clever filly!”

“Yes, yes you are, my clever little filly.” Air Raid tousled her filly’s mane and removed the strap around her hoof as they passed through the open wrought-iron gates of the Residential District’s East side park. Thankfully, she noted with a cursory glance around, for a Saturday it wasn’t very busy. She assumed it was due to families starting their Hearths Warming shopping. “Go play Cy!”

“Yaaaaaay!” Freed from her restraint Cyclone shot off like a rocket towards the sand-box, making her caretaker giggle as she almost tripped over her hooves twice on the way.

Happy that Cyclone was headed for the sand-box Air Raid trotted over to one of the three nearby benches, the one only occupied by a lone middle aged unicorn stallion holding a newspaper in his pale blue magic. “Hey, sorry to bother you, is it cool if I sit with here?” She asked of the dark blue stallion sitting on the bench.

Looking up from his paper the stallion folded it away and smiled. “A good looking young mare asks is it cool if she can share my bench? Oooh I think I can stand that.” He gestured with a hoof as he magically floated away the newspaper into his bag. “I’m Diamond Mint, my lovely mare, pleased to meet you.”

"Air Raid and, while I might be lovely,” Air Raid smiled, taking a seat on the bench and making herself comfortable next to Diamond Mint, “I like mares. Sorry my handsome pony.”

“Alas! I’ve been shot down, oh woe is me!” Diamond drew his lower foreleg to his brow in a dramatic swoon. “How shall I ever recover from this heartbreak?” He asked with a wink to the pegasus sat next to him.

“Well, I’m not stopping you looking, if that’ll make you feel any better?” Air Raid returned the wink, swishing her tail suggestively.

“I say, that’s perfectly charitable of you Ma’am,” Diamond replied, affecting a perfect imitation of a stereotypical Canterlot accent only usually heard in comedy clubs - or the actual very upper classes. “But, as one’s dear Mama is wont to say,” the stallion carried on with a twinkle in his blue eye, “if you can’t play with the toy then don’t ogle the box it comes in.” He finished his quote, dropping the affected accent and laughing out loud which in turn made the pegasus next to him laugh as well.

“S-so…so y-you’re a d-dad?” She asked through fits of giggles.

“Why as it happens yes I am, is it that obvious?” He asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Hmm…no, but you do have a bag of foal supplies next to you, you reek of foal powder and you keep looking at that little light blue filly in the sand-box.” Air Raid giggled, “So, it’s just a guess…”

Diamond Mint laughed. "A proper little detective pony aren't we?" He asked rhetorically through a wide smile. “Yes, that little unicorn filly is my youngest foal, Cinnabelle; she’ll be three a couple of days after Hearths Warming. So, which one’s yours…hey…what’s that mare think she’s playing at?”

Immediately Air Raid picked up on Diamond’s change of tone and looked to where he was looking: the sand-box, now occupied by Cyclone and the actual filly. Her gut fell through her ass when she saw them there together. “Oh…um…yeah, that uh…that would be my filly.” She uttered with no small hint of embarrassment present in her voice.

“Your filly?” He asked incredulously, any hint of humour long gone. “Care to explain, Air Raid?”

“Well uh…she’s my friend; her name’s Cyclone, she’s nineteen and she attends Canterlot University. I’ve known her for about four years and she has a…well, she has a…adult foal fetish…” Air Raid’s voice got quieter and quieter until she was silent and looking at her hooves.

“An adult foal…wait…I’ve heard of that.” Diamond Mint replied, his tone softening a little. “My sister’s friend is into all that weirdness.”

“I’ll admit I don’t see the appeal of it but I wouldn’t say it was weird, mate.” Air Raid smiled, encouraged slightly by the stallion’s softer tone. “We all like different things don’t we?” She asked nervously as she watched them both playing happily together in the sand-box. “They uh…seem to be getting on alright, don’t they?”

“That they do, Air Raid.” Diamond said warily, not taking his eyes off of his filly and Cyclone busying themselves making a sand castle, both clapping their hooves, justifiably proud of their achievement.

“Yay Belle!” Cyclone clapped her hooves in celebration of their little sand castle standing in the sand-box. “You did it!” She started to press the slightly wet sand together with her hooves, fashioning a rough tower.

“You did too Cy!” Cinnabelle squealed with delight as she watched her new friend create this, in her eyes at least,  masterpiece.

"We did it both us!” Cyclone giggled as she fell backwards in the sand-box, knocking over her newly created tower.

“Aww Cy you tower!” Cinnabelle pouted at the loss of such a vital structure. What was going to keep the sand pony princess safe in her castle now?

“Nggh!” Cyclone grunted as she righted herself in the sand. “It ok, I build ‘gain.” She giggled and demonstrated her claim, pressing the crumbled sand back together.

“Ooh!” Cinnabelle gasped in wonderment and clapped her hooves together excitedly at the reconstructed tower. “You pretty clever Cy.”

Cyclone was having so much fun she didn't hear the ‘clever’ bit. The black mare heard the ‘pr’ of ‘pretty’ and looked up, smiling at her little friend. “Pwetty…I pwetty?” She asked, her eyes wide and her filly’s brain trying to process what she'd heard. Cinnabelle had called her pretty. She knew she was her friend; only friends told each other things like that. Something fired from somewhere in the depths of her mind, somewhere that ordinarily would've been tightly locked away. A spark of an impulse that connected with neurons in her head. She'd called Air Raid ‘pretty’ and Air Raid had kissed her. You call ponies pretty they kiss you. Ponies call you pretty you kiss them. The logic seemed very simple to Cyclone.

Cinnabelle had called her pretty.

Cyclone knew what to do.

“Hey!” Diamond Mint’s angry yell almost made Air Raid drop her mobile phone. Distracted from her call to Slingshot finalising details of the race and trip to Fillydelphia, she looked up and her jaw fell open. “What the buck’s going on?”

Cyclone with her lips very clearly pressed to Cinnabelle’s blushing cheek was what was going on.

‘Oh no, Cyclone! What've you done!?’ She thought, full of shocked disbelief. “Hey…Hey! Diamond I'm sure it's not what it looks like…”

“Not what it looks like!?” Diamond Mint had had shot to his hooves and in the space of heartbeats had angrily covered the distance between the bench and the sand-box. “It looks like your friend is molesting my daughter, is what it looks like!”

"Wh-what? N-no, no you aren't are you Cy?” Air Raid asked desperately, momentarily forgetting under stress that her friend had taken the potions.

“Daddy my friend did kiss me!” Cinnabelle squeaked happily, entirely unaware of the situation.

Cyclone looked up in confusion, unsure why her Nana and this stallion were shouting at her all of a sudden. “Belle says I pwetty. So I kiss her.” She finished with pride that made Air Raid facehoof.

“Yes Cinnabelle I know sweetie, I saw her,” Diamond muttered through gritted teeth, picking the filly up in his pale blue magical aura.

Air Raid put herself between Cyclone and Diamond, in an attempt to diffuse the situation. “Diamond, mate, can't we work this out?”

“What's to work out? Your pervert of a friend kissed my filly and you’re trying to smooth it over! I don't think so!” Diamond started to stomp away, Cinnabelle starting to whimper as she floated along next to him and Cyclone on the verge of tears in the sand-box as well. “You’ll hear from the police about this, Celestia help me if you don't!”

For a brief moment there was silence, a stunned silence, except for the low whimpers from Cyclone. Air Raid had one hoof to her head and the other one her friend’s shoulder. The very last thing she needed was more trouble with the police, after all it was only a few months since she’d been arrested at the University for ‘exposing herself to minors’, now to be involved in this as well? And, what of Cy? As far as she knew her record was spotless but something like this, it would follow her around for the rest of her life. “Raid? Air Raid, you there?” Slingshot’s voice sounded from the speaker of her phone however she was still too stunned to answer.

“Na…Nana…has I done a bad?” Cyclone looked up at her Nana Raid with quivering lips, her blue eyes full of tears.

“I…uh…hey ’Shot, I’ll…call you back bro, this is a bad time right now…just, carry on in Filly as you see fit, you know what you’re doing.” She hung up and squeezed her friend’s shoulder again with a thin watery smile. “Yeah sweetie, you did a bad, real bad.”

“B…Bu…But…” Cyclone stammered, starting to cry as she gave way to the tears she had been barely holding back. “I…I don’t mean to!” She howled into her hooves.

“I know Cy, I know.” Air Raid, with some considerable effort on her part, lifted the bawling pony onto her back and started to slowly walk back to her home. “Let’s get you home.” At the very least she hoped the damned potions would wear off before the police came knocking.

~ ~ ~

With closed eyes Amethyst Glory sat on her seating pad at her desk, her half-moon glasses folded in front of her on top of a small mountain of paperwork. Propped up by the elbows of her forelegs she massaged her temples with her hooves and the bridge of her nose with her magic in a vain attempt to alleviate the sheer amount of frustration she was experiencing. She let out a tiny groan, more than a whimper but less than a deep sigh, to give vocalisation to the emotions she was feeling. It wasn’t enough. Nothing she was trying was or would ever be enough.

The only other sound in the office, besides the never-ending incessant ticking of the antique wall clock was the low steady breathing of the titanic earth pony who was currently occupying the seating pad opposite the director. Lotus Stripes carefully looked up over at Amethyst in the middle of her self-calming routine, looking out of hand corners of his eyes like he was a colt afraid of being caught in wrong doing.

Eventually after roughly fifteen minutes Amethyst finally opened her eyes and ceased the rubbing of her temples, lowering her hooves and levitating her glasses back to her nose. Taking a deep breath she addressed the stallion in her usual measured tone. “Talk to me Lotus. Tell me it is finally ready. Make me smile Lotus, can you do that?”

For all his huge size Lotus Stripes found he couldn't look directly at the smaller unicorn mare sat on the other side of the desk. Studying his large powerful hooves he felt like he was back at school having his latest paper scrutinised by the teacher. He shook his head slightly, wishing he knew how Amethyst Glory did it; without even casting a spell she awed and inspired him in equal measure. “No, Warden Glory, I'm sorry to report it is still…resisting.”

“Still?” Amethyst shot him a look of disbelief. “It is still resisting? How? Explain it to me Lotus.”

“I…I cannot, Warden. She has such a strength of will and a tolerance for pain I haven’t seen in years, Warden.” He spoke quietly, though every word carried perfectly to the unicorn.

“Careful Lotus,” Amethyst cautioned him, “You almost sound like you admire it.” She balled up a couple of pieces of parchment in her magic and sent them flying into the trash can next to her desk. “You do of course realise what this means, yes?” She asked with a raised eyebrow.

Lotus Stripes actually hung his head. Truth be told he did admire that pegasus. She had been in the care home a few days shy of two months now; he had personally beaten her several times for anything from breaking a worthless glass vase to not eating her food. The first few times she had cried and complained, which had of course lead to more beatings. Ever since she had her book back though she hadn’t even screamed; Lotus had left her bleeding and bruised in her cell three times himself, but beyond the involuntary gasps of pained breath Wildfire took it in silence. Yes, he admired her. He admired her a lot. “Yes Warden, I know what it means…”

“It means, Lotus,” Amethyst interrupted, cutting across him with ease, “That with just two weeks to go to Hearths Warming Eve, It will not be ready for Filthy’s order. That means I will not be sending the blind pegasus I promised him and that means I have disappointed him. And, when I disappoint him it means hundreds of thousands of charitable bits from his idiotic rich friends do not get sent our way.” Amethyst’s face turned hard, with a particularly nasty look about it. “When I lose money I get angry, Lotus. When I get angry a pony gets hurt.”

Lotus lifted his large head with a shiver, at once hoping that it wouldn’t be him. “There is always Winter Wrap Up, Ma’am.” He said, hoping to improve the director’s mood.

“Winter Wrap Up…Winter Wrap Up…hmm…” Amethyst tapped her chin with a hoof, the jewelled gears in her head already starting to turn, ideas beginning to form in her mind. Perhaps Lotus had a very good point. Yes they had missed Hearths Warming. It was done, it was the past, there was no point moping about it now…now they had to salvage the situation…after New Years the Winter Wrap Up ball was the first event of the year and it was still ten weeks away. “Lotus Stripes. Let me make myself perfectly clear. I want it ready for Upper Crust’s charity ball. Are we clear?”

“As crystal, Warden Glory. As crystal…” Lotus went quiet, lost in his train of thought.

Immediately Amethyst caught the change in her most trusted lieutenant. “What is it?” When he shook his head absent-mindedly she asked again, a slight edge to her voice. “Lotus, what is it? If you have something to say, then say it.”

“Warden, what more can I do to her?” Lotus asked, not catching the twitch in Amethyst’s eye at the use of ‘her’ instead of ‘it’. “I beat her. On your orders I beat her. Again and again I hit her, I knock her to the floor of her cell and every time she gets back up. She gets up and she gets up until she physically can’t stand up anymore. She doesn’t make a single sound. Beyond breaking bones, what can I do to her?”

“It!” Amethyst exploded with fury, slamming her forehooves into her desk, scattering her neatly stacked paperwork in all directions. “It! It! It is not a ‘she’ or a ‘her’, it is a thing!” Lotus flinched and cowered under her tirade, alarmed at the wide-eyed almost crazy look on her face, her muzzle forming a vicious snarl. “It is mine! I own it! You will do to it whatever you have to, is that clear Lotus? It likes to defy you by getting up? Break its leg. If it still tries to get up, break it again!”

“It would be my sincerest pleasure, Warden.” In spite of the reservations the giant earth pony had just given voice to his eyes sparkled. To be given leave to turn his full strength against the much smaller mare…it made him salivate just imagining the screams he could tear from her. He licked his lips, picturing the scene in his head. Sure she was proud of getting up, proud of not uttering so much as a whimper. That would soon change. Autumn Leaves might be proficient with her whips and crops and scourges…he didn’t need such things. A stallion of his size all he needed was a well-placed strike of his hoof and that pegasus would be writhing in pain screaming his name like a favoured lover.

“Good…good, now…that’s better.” Amethyst sat back on her seating pad, forcing herself to breathe deeply she picked up the scattered papers in her magical aura, floating them back neatly in their respective places as she regained her outwardly calm demeanour. Casting a look up at the clock she smiled a nasty smile. “One O’clock. Its celery has just been served. I think you should go and ensure Miss Hazel Rose’s labour in the kitchen does not go to waste today, Lotus. As Lotus Stripes turned to leave the director’s office Amethyst levitated her telephone to her. “Make sure it understands. In the meantime I have to call its father. Jubilee reports the white unicorn is snooping around in our business.” She turned her attention to the phone and began to dial.

~ ~ ~

“Ngghhhh…” In her tiny eight by ten foot cell Wildfire grunted in pain from the bruises along her entire right side. She was sure at least two of her ribs were cracked on that side, not that anypony here cared. She shifted on her bed…ha! Bed…that was a laugh. She shifted on the hardwood shelf that was called her bed – there wasn’t even a mattress or sheets – in a vain attempt to get comfortable. Still, after forty nine days she knew better than to complain. The yellow pegasus smiled a thin humourless smile; Calculus always called her a slow learner, yet it had taken her just twenty one days to learn to keep her mouth shut. Her smile became wider. They hated it so much when she didn’t scream for them.

“OooOOW b-bucking hell!” Wildfire cursed when she moved, slamming her right forehoof into the bed to let the pain out. Quickly she shifted again, moving the pressure from her injured ribs. “Aaah…that’s better…” She sighed with relief as the pain slowly ebbed away. This was the only time now she allowed herself to show any kind of reaction. When she was alone.

Thing is…she wasn’t alone. Not really.

Allowing herself a small grin Wildfire reached her left foreleg under the bed and felt around until her hoof nudged the side of her book. Gripping it carefully she lifted it up to the bed and stroked the black leather cover. Wildfire didn’t need to see in order to know the details of this book. She knew every gold embossed letter. Caressing it like it was her own foal she felt the parchment pages and all the extra sheets of paper Amethyst had given her. She still didn’t know why the head warden allowed her this, the extra paper and the pen. These extra sheets were sandwiched between the inside cover and the first parchment page.

Delving back under the bed Wildfire swiftly located the pen that she had been given. Just an ordinary regular run-of-the-mill everyday pen. A ball point biro, ten a bit at any ‘everything for one bit’ store. For what must’ve been the millionth time she ran her hoof along it. For the millionth time she dearly missed her gold plated re-fillable calligraphy pen that her mother had given her with the book. She caressed the ordinary pen, imagining she could feel the engraving on the side that read ‘To Wily, Love You Always, Mum’. To have one without the other, the book without the pen, was like having one wing without the other. Still, right now, Wildfire knew she shouldn’t be picky. She knew at this point she was a lucky pony just to have her book.

Turning over the thick textured leather cover Wildfire carefully removed the fifty five paper pages. Almost all of them were full of her braille writing. Unlike the rest of her book she knew the wardens couldn’t read what she was writing here; it felt like her own secret language, although she wasn’t looking forward to having to ask Amethyst for more fresh paper. Stacking the sheets neatly together she placed them to the left of her to read afterwards. Reverently Wildfire turned the parchment pages, counting in her head she turned past the Air Raid section – in truth she was sorely tempted to tear these out, but the thought of desecrating her book was too abhorrent to bear – and the sections reserved for her friends. Reaching page fifty she knew she was at the right place. She felt the paperclip with her hoof; that tiny insignificant metal shaped object that held the second most important object to her in all the world.

“M-Mum…” Wildfire winced and drew in a sharp breath of pain as she sniffled and rolled her shoulders, the movement aggravating the sore bruised ribs that Lotus had left her as a parting gift from the day before, at the feel of the old photograph as she ran her hoof over it. “Mum I miss you…” She leant forward and kissed the photo of her mother. Again, she didn’t need eyes to see the picture, so ingrained was it in her brain. Fur the yellow of the most golden rays of Celestia’s most perfect sun kissing the yellowest freshest spring daffodils, the most perfect yellow in all the world. Fiery red mane and tail the deepest crimson red, cutie mark of five lightning bolts on her flank the same crimson colour as her mane. Then there were her eyes. Those perfect, perfect chestnut brown eyes; full of life, a life cut short by a stupid dumb faulty cloud, an accident beyond her control despite her years of skill. “I…I want my mum…” Hugging the open book to her bruised chest Wildfire sniffled in despair.

Laid there alone on her bed with her book Wildfire couldn’t help but smell the repulsive smell almost every time she breathed in. It had been there almost an hour now and for once it wasn’t her, not since she had used the toilet in the corner of her cell. It was the tray of what Hazel Rose, the care home’s head cook, laughably called food. The little yellow pegasus shuddered at the thought of eating what was on the tray. She’d never liked celery. Not ever. Air Raid had given her some once as a joke. Wildfire had almost left her on principle. Then again her bruises hurt all the more at the thought of what she’d have to endure if she didn't eat it. She didn't fancy another two days of no food and a beating.

Especially not from Amber Leaves. There were welts on her hind legs from three days ago when she had whipped her repeatedly with a bullwhip for not eating her celery. As Wildfire was quick to learn, Amber Leaves was very skilled with a whip.

The rumble from her days-empty stomach spurred her on, celery or not. At this point she’d consider anything, even the tray of food shaped hate that had been left through the one way hatch in the door. “Ooow buck it!” Wildfire groaned in agony as she pushed herself of off the small bed with her forelegs, her chest, ribs and abdomen aching with every movement. Staggering slightly to her shaky hooves she struggled to draw in shallow haggard breaths through her abused ribs. Slowly she made her way to the door, especially careful to not knock the tray with her hoof as she bent to pick it up in her mouth.

Limping back to her bed she laid the tray next to her precious book and slid back on it, wrinkling her nose at the thought of eating this evil stuff – if she was honest she’d rather eat the tray and leave the celery – Wildfire lowered her head to the bowl and took a hesitant nibble. To her very great surprise it didn’t taste utterly awful, just bad. Swallowing she smiled bitterly, ‘perhaps that’s what not being fed for three days does to you’, she thought sadly as she took another bite.

Before she knew it Wildfire had eaten more than half the bowl’s contents, disgusting as they were. As she ate her left forehoof found her book and holding it in her grasp somehow made the celery easier to swallow. Pausing in consuming her ‘meal’ Wildfire raised the hoof from her book and kissed it before laying it back on the cover. “Stay with me mum…please stay with me, I’m not strong enough on my own.” She whispered, pleading with a pony she logically knew couldn’t possibly hear her.

Still…like her grandmother used to tell her when she had been sat on her lap as a filly, “Wildfire, the universe is a big place. It is a complicated, wonderful, terrifying and majestic place. Sometimes, one day in a million days, the universe grants miracles.” Recalling her gran’s words Wildfire screwed up her muzzle and pressed her hoof to the cover of her book. ‘I need a miracle, mum…please…’

She had but one stick of celery left in the bowl when the lock turned and the heavy metal door of her cell swung open. Wildfire didn’t have to look to know who it was; he was betrayed by his slow deep breathing. Slowly she removed her hoof from the cover of her book. There would be no miracle today. Unconsciously her breathing became shallow and halted as she heard his heavy-set hooves get closer.

Peering into the food bowl Lotus Stripes gave a low dangerous chuckle. “Oh dear…still eating are we? Hazel will be disappointed.” Counting to ten he waited, an evil glint in his eyes as he drew it out. He loved to keep them guessing as to when and where the first blow would come. Roughly he seized her by the scruff of her neck and pulled her easily off of the bed, lifting her up until her scarred face was level with his own. “Ungrateful little bitch!” Lotus sneered as he spat in her face and threw her to the ground between the bed and her toilet. “Don’t get up you worthless ball of fur!”

“Oof!” Landing on her already bruised ribs Wildfire gasped as the air was forced out of her weakened body. Defying the giant pony the only way she could the pegasus struggled to her hooves and braced herself as best she could for the inevitable beating to start.

She didn’t have to wait very long.

~ ~ ~

"So Darkstar is causing you problems. So what? What’s it got to do with me?” Cold Front snorted down his phone receiver he held in his magical aura, an open beer in his hoof.

“The white unicorn is not nor will she ever cause me problems, Mr. Front.” Amethyst Glory said tersely in reply. The moronic stallion on the other end of the call was as obtuse here as he had been in the hospital cafeteria. “She is snooping; no doubt searching for her friend. I want you to ‘convince’ her to cease her endeavours.”

Taking a long drink from his now half empty bottle Wildfire’s father unleashed a loud belch. “Why should I bother? I got what I want, Ms. Amethyst.”

Levitating her phone from her ear Amethyst winced in disgust as the belch rang out. “You will bother for two reasons,” she said finally, unable to keep the contempt from her voice. “One, I do not dirty my hooves with such things and two, I expect you to handle this situation, unless you feel that no further deposits are needed in your account."

“What…wait…no more money?”

Amethyst smiled like the proverbial Cheshire Cat. Ponies were so easy to manipulate when you had them squarely in the middle of your hoof. “That’s right. Resolve this situation or the instalments will cease immediately.”

“How?” He asked as he staggered, almost dropping the phone he was barely managing to hold.

“I do not care how.” Amethyst snapped impatiently. Already she had wasted too much of her breath on this poor excuse for a pony. “Far be it from me to tell you how to conduct yourself. Talk to her, say whatever you like, make her listen. However Darkstar might not want to listen. You might have to be more…shall we say, ‘persuasive?’ Mr. Front. Work it out, I am sure you do not need me to connect every dot for you, Mr. Front.” With her point well made the warden hung up, not even waiting for him to reply. Just talking to such a waste of air made her feel contaminated. Sighing deeply she massaged her temples once more. Reluctantly – and she’d certainly never say this to anypony else – she admitted to herself that the daughter was worth a thousand of the father. ‘The mother must have been utterly exceptional,’ she thought with a determined smile.

~ ~ ~

Balancing the now-empty bowl and tray on his massive back Lotus Stripes let the cell door close behind him with a resounding clang of metal hitting metal before turning and locking it with keys held in a blood smeared hoof. Hanging the keys back on his belt he bought his hoof up, looking at the smears as he started to walk away from the locked cell and the wounded pegasus within. Breathing through his nose he gave a satisfied sniff, smelling the coppery tang of the blood that adorned him like a victory tattoo. And, what a victory it had been, to get her to stay down. Next time though she wouldn’t be smiling.

Wildfire smiled. Left sprawled on the floor where she had fallen last she smiled. Blood trickled from cuts in her face where she had been punched, the crimson trails starting to pool under her chin, but still she smiled. Her victory. Through the sniffles of pain, she still smiled. The little yellow mare laid on the floor with a foreleg bent out at an odd angle; an angle a leg was never meant to bend. She tried, she really did, with all her heart she had tried, but the leg just couldn't hold her weight. The many fresh bruises and welts on her back testified to Lotus’s best efforts to get her to stay down. She had defied him to the last, getting to her hooves time after time, until the last time when he had stomped hard on her left foreleg. He left her laying there, a victory, if a small one. No pain was going to erase her smile.

As she laid there bleeding and sniffling with the pain of her broken leg, her mind wandered. It wandered to the very first poem her mum had taught her as a filly. Wildfire found that poem in her head and her smile widened as she started to recite it to the empty cell.

'Hope' is the thing with feathers

That perches in the soul

And sings the tune without the words

And never stops—at all

And sweetest—in the Gale—is heard

And sore must be the storm

That could abash the little Bird

That kept so many warm

I've heard it in the chillest land

And on the strangest Sea

Yet, never, in Extremity,

It asked a crumb—of Me.

~ ~ ~

"Hey Java, can I have another coffee please?” Darkstar asked as she reclined on her seating pad at her favourite table. Café Diem had ten outdoor tables, however this one was her favourite. Situated so no matter the time of day it caught the sun, yet the awning from the window gave her the right amount of shade – and best of all – two potted perennial plants that coincidentally blocked breezes to the occupier of the seating pad. Many years ago Darkstar had laid claim to this pad. This was her spot.

“You can, Darkie,” Java replied with a grin as he ambled over to her table with a tray on his back. “If you ask me as if I were a zebra.”

“C’mon Java I’m thirsty!” Darkstar gave the cream coloured earth pony her best sexy pout.

“Pout all you want, oh sweet young unicorn.” He smiled, wiping his deep coffee brown mane from his sparkling green eyes. “It’s February, your exams are coming up and you need to practise. So, come on. Ask me properly.” Java chuckled, taking a symbolic step backwards.

“Oh bu…fine. Here goes. unaweza…i na…kahawa…tafadhali?” She asked hesitantly, reciting the zebran phrase she had studied.

“Oooh so very close my little protégé,” he grinned a wide grin, “But ‘can I have another coffee please’ is actually unaweza i na kahawa mwingine tafadhali?”

“I wasn’t far away Java!” The unicorn pouted again at the prospect of no coffee. “You’re showing off, just because you trained with the Coffee Tribe…”

“Oh no need to pout Darkie, you’ll curdle the milk.” The earth pony laughed at her raspberry as he laid the full tray in front of her on the table. “You weren’t far away, true, but you were far enough away that Professor Rosetta would’ve marked you down honey.”

Levitating the steaming cup of coffee to her lips in her yellow aura she blew the steam away. “Thanks Java, you’re my coffee guardian angel.”

“Thanks?” He asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Ugh…” she rolled her yellow eyes with a faux disgruntled look, “Shukuru, then.”

“That’s better. You’ll ace that languages exam yet, Darkie, you see if you don’t.” Java smiled warmly at her as he strode away to serve a family of pegasi that just walked into his café.

Darkstar watched the stallion walk off, happily trading banter with his many customers who were huddled inside the café. Granted not everypony wanted to brave the late winter / early spring sun outdoors, but to the unicorn it made no difference. This was her spot. Taking a quick sip of her hot coffee she smiled, ‘best surrogate dad ever.’ It was an unspoken thing between her and the middle-aged stallion. They hadn’t said it outright, there was no need to.

Taking a second sip of her favourite coffee – a caramel macchiato that she had not had to ask for – her iphone beeped to alert her to an incoming email. Swallowing the caramel flavoured coffee with a happy sigh she used her magic to scroll through her phone’s menu to the emails and opened it up. “Ooh it’s from Cy! No…no I mean ni kutokana na Cy!” She exclaimed with glee at hearing from her friend.

‘Hey Darkie,

It’s Cy, I’m just letting you know I’ve gotten to Cloudsdale okay. The cab ride took nine hours! I know the damn place moves but did it have to be half way to Vanhoover? I mean, come on! And, yes, before you ask I had the roof up and the windows closed. The trip was as dull as anything, but at least the cab had wifi, I was able to play that new Angry Parasprites game they’ve brought out. By the way, my highest score is four thousand. Beat that whitey.

My apartment’s okay…there’s really not a lot to it but it’s better than a hole in a cloud I guess. Here, I’ve put a few pics in the attachments. Honest opinion tell me what you think hun – don’t be too honest though, ‘kay? At least the rent is affordable, by that I mean it’s cheap.

I’ve got an interview with the head of the Uni over here in a couple of days, but I really don’t think they’ll let me in with my record now. Who knows, I’ll ask anyway. If they don’t accept me I guess I’m job-hunting.

Look…Darkie…I know we aren’t exactly neighbours but don’t be a stranger alright? Call me, Skype me, Facebook or whatever. I miss you all already. Keep in touch Darkie.

I hate being away from you.’

Darkstar closed her emails with a flash of her magic and floated her phone to the table to replace it with the now half empty coffee cup raised to her lips. Draining the remainder of the cup she licked her lips clean of the caramel flavoured drink and idly picked up her phone again, this time scanning through her downloaded photos. She flicked though them until she found several new ones that were flagged as unseen. “Ooh this must be Cy’s new place…let’s have a look…oh…oh my…” Darkstar wrinkled up her nose at the state of the cloudominium Cyclone had managed to secure. ‘No wonder the rent’s cheap Cy’, she thought as she scanned through the pictures of what appeared to be just a one-roomed studio flat. ‘Oh Cy…’

The white unicorn reclined on her seating pad basking in the few rays of sun that made it past the café’s awning and landed on her fur. It was a shame Cy had to move, but upon reflection it had been her own fault. After she had been arrested that had been the deal; leave Canterlot and the charges of child molestation will be dropped. As there had been witnesses that saw her kiss the little filly, she’d had very little choice but to move. What surprised Darkstar was the choice of location. ‘Oh well…it’s your own fault Cy.’

Sliding herself off of her seating pad and picking up the tray in her magic she trotted inside the café and down the doubled row of ten tables to the counter. “Hey Java, a refill please while I go to the mare’s room.” She turned to go having set the empty tray down but paused when she got no answer. “You hear me Java?”

“Hear what?” Java chuckled as he turned his back on his favourite customer to serve another pony. “I’ll hear you Darkie when you ask properly.”

“Oh come on Java! Every time, really?” She asked, slightly desperate both for the bathroom and for another caramel macchiato. He just carried on serving the other pony with an amused smile on his muzzle.

“You know the rule Darkstar,” Java chuckled as he gave the mare at the counter the drink she had ordered.

“Fine…um…tafadhali unaweza…i na kahawa?” She asked with a slight hint of frustration in her voice as she put the phrase together, hopefully in the right order this time. Judging by Java’s smile the unicorn had got it right.

“Oh…’please can I have a coffee’ now is it?” The earth pony smiled at her. “We have gotten polite haven’t we?” Sniggering to himself he turned and activated the barista machine. “Go take care of…whatever it is you need to take care of Darkie, I’ll leave your coffee at your spot.”

“Thanks Java!” With that the white unicorn uncrossed her hindlegs and made a dash for the mare’s bathroom, much to the stallion’s delight. She swore she could still hear him laughing as she reached the first stall and shut the door behind her.

Turning and seating herself on the white porcelain Darkstar heaved a gentle sigh at the fullness in her lower abdomen, the familiar feeling she got when her bladder was full. Spreading her hindlegs in the stall the white mare reached down and spread her labia open, amusing herself for the moment with the pretence that she was peeing for her brother’s enjoyment. ‘Brighty always did like watching me…shame he’s in Filly…’ she thought with a heavy sigh of pleasure as her sphincter muscles finally relaxed and her golden urine began to stream from her full bladder through her urethra. “MMmmm damn that feels good.” She murmured as her stream eventually started to end and with it her discomfort.

"Oooh my coffee!” Darkstar giggled, finally sliding off of and flushing the café’s toilet with her magic she re-emerged from the bathroom to see Java pointing to her spot outside.

“One extra-large caramel macchiato with chocolate sprinkles for my favourite studying unicorn.” Java grinned as Darkstar rushed behind the counter and gave him a tight hug. “Oof…it’s waiting at your spot Darkie.” The cream earth pony gasped through her hug.

“Asante Java, asante!” Darkstar yelled the zebran for ‘thank you’, virtually galloping outside to her table. The beautiful sight that greeted her made her heart melt with utter joy. Not only was there an extra huge steaming mug of coffee but there was also an amazing, gorgeous, fantastic caramel donut sitting on the tray like a queen next to a king. “Oh Java…I love you!” Sliding back on her spot she gave the donut a reverential lick, shivering with absolute pleasure. ‘Salted caramel…you sexy beast…’ she thought happily as she swallowed the flavoured icing.

Just as she was about to take a large – and thoroughly un-ladylike – bite out of the wonderful donut her phone rang. Seeing she was alone in her spot, nopony even sat next to her on the adjacent tables, Darkstar answered her call with her magic, automatically switching it to loudspeaker when she saw whom was calling. “Y’hello Raid, what’s up?” She asked, her tongue still a little heavy from the sticky caramel.

“Let me guess. You, Café Diem, salted caramel donut and a macchiato?” Air Raid’s amused voice sounded from the speaker.

“Uh…how’d you know that?” Darkstar answered with her own question as she floated the coffee to her lips in an attempt to wash the caramel from her tongue. Strange how it tasted slightly ‘odd’ this time.

“Shot, you want this one?”

A stallion’s voice came across the phone, just as Darkstar heard the sound of a powerful engine brought to life. “That’s your caramel voice Darkie.”

“I do not have a ‘caramel voice’ thank you very much Slingshot!” The unicorn tried to sound indignant and failed, so contented herself with another sip of her sweet coffee.

“Sure you do Darkie,” she could practically hear the smile on the pink earth pony’s muzzle, “It’s the same lusty voice Raid uses when she describes your dances…hey! Oow!” He grunted as Air Raid nudged him hard in the ribs with her hoof.

Giggling like a filly she set her mug down and wiped her lips, “Raid just dig you in the ribs sweetie?”

“Yes…and it totally hurt!” Slingshot whimpered like a terminally injured ninety year old.

“Aw…you poor abused stallion. Darkie kiss it better when you get back, promise.” Darkstar purred in the best sexiest ‘bedroom voice’ she could make, smiling to herself at the imagined effect it was having on the pony holding the other phone.

“Y-you’d better promise.” The semi-aroused whimper was evident in his voice, even a thousand miles away.

“Down boy,” Air Raid sniggered at the wheel of the car as she joined the freeway. “Just letting you know we’re starting back now, we should be back in Canterlot in roughly eighteen and a half hours, assuming the freeway’s clear.”

“Hmm…so one in the afternoon now, you should get back say oh…seven thirty tomorrow morning then.” Darkstar quickly worked it out in her head. “Hey…you driving now? Isn’t that dangerous Raid?”

“Nah…I got it on the hooves free Darkie,” Air Raid chuckled as Slingshot let out an indignant ‘hey!’

“I don’t think Shot likes being called your ‘hooves free’ Raid.” Darkstar laughed as she took another lick of the caramel from her donut ‘still tastes a little funny,’ she thought, but paid it no mind. “So hey, how was Filly?”

“Filly was awesome!” Air Raid cheered as she shifted up a gear, “We totally rocked it! Ten wins from fourteen races we got joint first over all in the tables!”

“Yes, I saw, very nice Raid well done and all that; I’m sure your trophy is very shiny and lovely.” Darkstar dismissed off-hoofedly, “That’s not what I meant. Any sign of Wily?” She asked eagerly, taking a nibble of the donut and not noticing the taste anymore.

This time Slingshot answered. “No Darkie, not a whisper. We thought we saw a small yellow pegasus the other week when we had some down time, but that was just a half look from our car, that’s why we called you then. We didn’t expect Brightstar to come out here as well just on a hunch.”

“Ugh…fine, I guess. What’s Brighty doing anyway?”

“He’s staying out here a bit longer hun,” Air Raid said with a suggestive tone in her voice. “He says he’s looking for Wily, but me and Shot think it’s got more to do with this sweet looking lady griffon he met while we were in this pub a couple of nights back.”

“He’s chasing a griffon?” Darkstar asked, taking another slightly larger bite of her now half eaten donut and washing it down with the last of her macchiato. “I’ll never see him again!” She exclaimed with a giggle.

“She’s nice; Moonbeak I think her name is. I got a picture of them both on my phone, I’ll get Shot to mail it you in a sec.” Air Raid grinned as she overtook a couple of slower electric cars. “Hey…how’s the search going back home?”

“Yeah…yeah it’s going alright…” Darkstar shook her head, fighting away a sudden feeling of room spinning nausea that washed over her. ‘Weird…’ she thought as she shook her head again. “I uh…I chased up that nurse, what’s her name, Eirene…well she put me onto this pegasus that works in the hospital cafeteria. I spoke to her and she described this purple unicorn that Wily’s dad met with. I did a little digging and she runs this care home in Canterlot. Raid I think I’m close, real close.”

“Darkie…be careful babe,” Air Raid subconsciously rubbed her muzzle with her free hoof while the other held the wheel, “Remember what happened to me before we left for Filly?” She asked, referencing the occasion a week and a half before Hearths Warming Eve when they had both pounded on Cold Front’s door demanding to know exactly where Wildfire was, just to get the door slammed in their faces, Air Raid getting a fracture of her muzzle as she was standing slightly closer than her friend.

“Raid…oooh…” The unicorn stumbled her words as the café spun again, “I uh…I’ll be fine…I, I got this sw-sweetie.”

“Darkie?” Slingshot asked with concern at the sudden slur in her voice, “You alright?”

“I…I think so…I’m gonna go…home I think, too many…donuts.” Darkstar found her hooves were shaking as she stood up from her spot.

Slingshot gave Air Raid a look from his passenger seat, a look of ‘what’s she into now?’ A look that did not go unrecognised as the pegasus put her right hoof down, speeding up her Fiesta. “I’ll call you later hun when we stop for a break.”

“Yeah…yeah Shot…sure thing…” Darkstar hung up the call, floating her phone into her bag with her yellow magic, which for some reason began fizzing as she tried to maintain the levitation. “What the buck’s wrong with me?” She asked aloud, shaking her head again.

“Ah!” Java exclaimed with a wide smile as he appeared at the side of the table. “I’ll just take your tray if you’re done Darkie, unless you’d like another, on me?”

“Uh…n-no, no Java…I um…I’m gonna go home I think.” Darkstar staggered like she’d had three glasses of Luna’s best moonshine. Which she hadn’t of course, not since Dusk had elected to shut himself away from the known universe.

“Hey…” the cream earth pony said gently, reaching out a hoof to steady the young mare, “You okay Darkstar?”

“Y-yeah…yeah I’m fine…” she murmured as the world spun again, making her feel sick. “I’m f-fine. Thanks for the coffee…and thanks for the caramel donut too…”

“Donut?” Java wondered out loud as he watched Darkstar stagger away, “What donut?” He gave a shrug of his shoulders and thought nothing of it, ‘probably just one of her pranks,’ he thought with a smile. Well, she wasn’t getting him this time.

Stumbling along the street Darkstar leant against the wall as the world continued to spin; she swallowed hard, breathing through wave after wave of nausea that threatened to overwhelm her. Another step and her vision swam again, the sidewalk and the street blurring together to be indistinguishable from one another. “Wh-what…what’s wrong with me?” Taking a further step she tripped over the curb and landed in the gutter, her head in her forelegs in order to steady the world and stop it from spinning.

“Ugh…bucking hell…wh-what…” So preoccupied was she with keeping the world in the right axis and the contents of her stomach on the inside rather than decorating the street that the stricken unicorn didn't notice the white transit van that pulled up alongside her with a screech of tyres.

“B…Buck…” Darkstar gasped as she struggled to stand up, only to find that her legs wouldn't do as they were told. Somewhere a long way away in her conscious she registered a door slamming somewhere very close to her, off to her right flank, from the direction of the road. Again she tried to stand only for her forelegs to turn to jelly beneath her, unable to support her own weight. She heard two voices coming from her right…voices she’d never heard before. They were stallions though, she was sure about that. Two stallions and they were getting close to her. ‘Oh good…help. They can help me…’

“It looks like the drugs are working.” She clearly heard one say to the other.

“Yeah,” she heard the other agree with a nasty sounding laugh, “How dumb do you have to be to eat any old ‘donut’?”

‘Oh shit…oh shit, oh shit…’ Darkstar registered vaguely the menace in the stallions’ voices. Through the fuggy haze clouding her brain she caught the hint that she was very suddenly in a whole world of trouble. ‘I've been drugged…they did this to me…’ struggling with all the effort she could muster the unicorn tried to crawl away from the two stallions who immediately burst out laughing at her futile effort to get away.

"Hey!” A third stallion’s voice sounded out, a little further away than the other two, "Take all day why don't you? We don't want anypony else on the street to notice us, idiots, hurry it up!" Darkstar froze in sheer terror. She recognised that voice. If she thought she was in trouble before she certainly knew she was now. Redoubling her efforts to crawl away she made it all of two feet before she felt a heavy hoof land square on her back, pinning her to the ground.

“He’s right, come on let's get her in the back.” As soon as she heard those words she felt a firm leg hook around and under her right foreleg, lifting her roughly off the ground and causing the whole world to spin out of control as she tried to focus on what was happening. Just as she started to slip and fall another equally strong hoof caught her under her other leg and lifted her again, forcing her towards the open van doors.

Realising finally what was about to happen Darkstar started to struggle against the stallions that currently held her upright. “Let…let me go!” She aimed a kick at the stallion to her left and a punch to the right, but drugged and held as she was there was precious little sting to the blows, and she was rewarded for her efforts by a swift punch to the side of her head that made stars explode in her eyes.

"Get in there you white bitch!” One stallion yelled in her ear, easily lifting her up and throwing her bodily into the back of the transit van while the other hoped up inside with her and pulled the doors shut with a resounding clang of metal on metal.

“Oow…ugh!” Darkstar rolled over in the back of the van, tasting metal and rust as her head banged off of the dirty floor. Landing on her back she saw the hazy shape of a stallion hove into her field of vision above her. Full of fear and panic the unicorn fired off a series of bright sparks and flashes from her horn. She tried to aim but found she couldn't even see straight.

“Nice light show.” Was all she heard from the stallion before a stern kick impacted her abdomen, making her retch into the filth of the van’s oily grimy floor.

Fighting to keep herself as alert as she could, which under the circumstances wasn't very alert, Darkstar attempted another spell. Concentrating she lit her horn and in her panic cast her invisibility spell, feeling the familiar lightness take her as she faded from view.

"Oh no...where could she possibly be?” Cold Front’s voice sounded, nasty with sarcasm as he lit his own horn, sending a wave of freezing cold through the back of the van that instantly had icicles hanging from the ceiling. It caught Darkstar and made her cry in shock, interrupting her spell. Feeling for her the stallion landed a sharp jab at the base of her horn that made her squeal, cancelling out the illusion. Leaning over her Cold Front wedged his hoof against her neck, keeping her pinned down. Lighting his horn again he floated over a small golden ring.

Darkstar’s yellow eyes went wide with fresh panic as she saw and recognised the gold ring for what it was. “N-no…no please…please don’t, please…”

“You’re at University, right?” Cold Front sneered as he held her head still and floated the ring down the length of her horn and secured it with a savage twist that made her cry out. “Time to teach you a lesson.”

3.3 - The Road to Tartarus

It was still dark when Air Raid got out of her Fiesta; locking her driver’s door she leant back against her car and shivered as a gust of late winter wind whipped over the almost empty hospital car park. Checking her watch she groaned at the digital readout like it was its fault she was standing here at five a.m. in the morning. Yawning she shook her head and trotted across the car park towards the main doors of Canterlot Royal Hospital, ‘I’m here again!’ She grumbled to herself as she extended her wings around her barrel for warmth. ‘They’ll be charging me rent at this rate...’

Sighing deeply, partly to hide another yawn, Air Raid thought back over the last twenty hours of her life. Yesterday midday everything had been normal. They, her and Slingshot, had called Darkstar to tell her they were coming home from their three month racing tour of Fillydelphia. Yesterday midday they had been laughing and joking, winding each other up, sharing in-jokes with each other.

Yesterday midday would be the last time anything would ever be normal again.

Walking with fatigue-induced leaden hooves Air Raid’s thoughts drifted to the phone call she’d received from Brightstar four hours ago. The phone call that had changed everything. It had been Slingshot’s turn to drive; she had been sleeping in the passenger seat when the royal blue unicorn had rung them. ‘The police have found a white unicorn mare dumped in Canterlot…’ he’d sounded distraught. She’d asked him what was up, after all there were many white unicorns in Canterlot. What he’d said next sent chills up her spine. ‘Cutie Mark Recognition Database says it’s Darkie. One hundred per cent match. Police says she’s been taken directly to Canterlot Royal.’ Air Raid had taken the wheel back following that call. Being just over halfway between Canterlot and Filly what should’ve taken them eight hours to drive she had made it in just under five. She didn’t care a damn about the speeding or the dangerous driving violations. She’d deal with those later. Darkie was all that mattered.

So here she was again. Walking through these too familiar doors.

Crossing the white marbled floor the lime green mare was almost like walking with muscle memory as she made her way towards the reception. As she walked she was quietly amazed at how many ponies there were in the hospital even at this ungoddessly time in the morning. Dancing to the left she just missed a stallion and mare carrying a colt, then immediately had to jink around a red unicorn with a bandaged eye just to get to the wooden framed desk. “Hi…” she yawned at the orange earth pony busy at the computer there.

Looking up from her already stacked up paperwork the nurse put aside her keyboard and pushed her glasses up her muzzle with a perky little smile that was at odds with the early hour. “May I help you?” She asked in a chirpy tone that matched her smile.

“Hey, Nurse…” Air Raid squinted through her fatigue at the mare’s namebadge, “Apple Turnover…you’re new, where’s Pureheart?”

“Nurse Pureheart works the day shift.” The receptionist sniffed as she shifted on her pad. “May I help you?” She asked again.

Air Raid kicked herself, ‘I guess it is unsociable hours’ she thought as her grey eyes began to droop. “I'm here for Darkstar, um…white unicorn, mare? She was bought in about three and a half-ish hours ago, I think.”

“And, you are?” Apple Turnover asked, tapping her keyboard and skimming through various windows on her screen.

“Oh…oh right, um, I’m Air Raid.” She stifled another yawn with her hoof. “I got the call from CMRD about Darkstar on the way back from Filly earlier.”

Apple Turnover adjusted her glasses once more and checked her screen, calling up the information. “Ah…yes, Darkstar…” she said finally after a few moments, “The police informed us you are acting in Brightstar's stead. I'm sorry to inform you, that Darkstar has not yet come out of surgery. If you can take a seat in the waiting room, I'll inform the staff you are here. Somepony should get you once she is out of surgery.”

“I got it, thanks for your time Miss.” Air Raid smiled and trotted across the white marble tiles of the hospital’s foyer to the adjacent spacious waiting room. Slumping on the nearest seating pad the pegasus leant her tired head against the wall and allowed her eyelids to drop.

Opening them what felt almost straight away she checked the watch on her right foreleg while she wiped away the drool from her mouth. ‘C’mon! Thirty minutes?’ she thought with a half yawn, half sigh, and wondered when this ‘somepony’ would come and get her. Grumbling to herself about hospitals and stupid waiting rooms she pulled out her phone with the intent of ringing Brightstar; ‘It’s only five thirty five…he’ll be asleep...’ changing her mind she started write out a text message instead. “I’m at hospital, no word yet.”

Almost instantly her phone beeped with a reply “No word? What does that mean?”

Air Raid sighed as she typed, whishing she had something more to tell her friend. “Means she's still in surgery mate, somepony'll get me when they're done.”

Her phone beeped; “She has been in surgery for three HOURS. What is happening!!!!!!!”

“Bright...I know...I know as much as you do. I've stopped a few nurses but I have to wait apparently.” That was a lie, but it was a little one, and as she was still wrecked from driving almost all night she didn’t feel guilty in the least telling it.

“It is so frustrating. Please keep me updated.” The lime green mare could almost hear the desperation in Brightstar’s text message.

“You got it Bright...hey, tell Moony I said hi...” It was a meaningless platitude, but right now it was the best she could offer.

“Sure…she is in a mood because of my mood.” Air Raid sniggered at that reply. A griffon in a mood wasn’t a thing she wanted to experience.

“So let her take your mind off it, I'll keep you informed.” When no reply came after ten minutes she put her phone back in her saddlebag and, deciding she was getting thoroughly bored with waiting she picked up the top five glossy gossip magazines and newspapers from the nearby stack, noting with an amused smile they were at least three months out of date. Skimming the Canterlot Centennial she caught the headline ‘University Student Blinded in Horror Attack’ and decided to pass in preference of a two month old Mayfair that promised to tell you how to cook the perfect Hearths Warming dinner.

Another thirty minutes later she was three quarters of the way through reading how to prepare a nut roast – as if she’d ever actually do it – when Apple Turnover appeared at the waiting room door with a polite knock of the door that made her jump a little. Hoofing open the door she walked in with a large steaming mug of coffee a tray on her back. “Sorry for disturbing you, my shift is over and the cafeteria doesn’t open for another hour. I figured you could use a coffee.”

“Thanks nurse, do you know anything about Darkie?” Air Raid asked as she gratefully took the offered coffee.

“I know it could be up to another hour, maybe even more.” She said softly, not unsympathetically.

“Oh, come on!” Air Raid exclaimed in helpless frustration. “Can’t you tell me anything?”

Apple Turnover had seen this reaction before of course, and to be fair she could entirely understand. Not being able to do anything was always hard on family and friends when a loved one was being operated on. She desperately wanted to go home to her bed but instead she smiled and took the pad next to the pegasus. “I can tell you the surgeon is Doctor Aqua Splash, she has been working on Darkstar since she arrived, and Doctor Splash is our best trauma surgeon. That should tell you something.”

“It tells me I best get a shit ton of coffee in me while I still can,” she took a welcome sip of the hot coffee and gave the nurse a half-amused smile, the accepting smile of one who knows deep down there’s no point arguing or making a scene, “Because I'm gonna be here for a while yet, right?”

Apple Turnover leant forward and with her hoof gently squeezed Air Raid’s own. “There is some good news, still.”

“Oh yeah?” Air Raid blew the steam rising from her coffee and yawned, “I could use some, Nurse Apple Turnover.” Raising the beverage to her lime green lips she swallowed some more, hoping the caffeine would wake her up. “I've been driving for fifteen hours and it’s now…stupid O'clock.” She finished, accurately reading out her watch.

“The good news is they haven't given up on her.” The orange earth pony said kindly as she stood from her pad to her hooves. “I’m going to stick around until I hear about your friend. Enjoy your coffee, I’ll bring you another in a bit, alright?”

Air Raid returned the nurse’s smile as she exited the room. “If know Darkie at all she won't let them give up on her.” She asserted definitely to the now empty waiting room.

Approximately forty five minutes later and Celestia had finally lifted the sun, bathing the land – and in particular this morning Canterlot Royal Hospital and its many patients – in a bright golden light, gently coaxing the dreaming sleepers to wakefulness. One by one ponies across Equestria woke up bleary-eyed to face the rigours of their day. All except one at any rate. Air Raid was fast asleep slumped half off of her seating pad, lime green head on the floor, mouth wide open, her tongue hanging out. The door to the waiting room opened and a neon blue pegasus with a purple mane and wearing green scrubs stained red with blood (and other bodily fluids) entered quietly. For a moment she was amused at the scene that greeted her, one of her favourite racers sprawled out with her right wing lodged in her mouth murmuring ‘MMmmm…Wily…’ leaning closer to her head the doctor said loudly in her ear, “Air Raid?”

Hearing her name Air Raid jumped up, snorting herself violently awake, a bright crimson blush spreading over her cheeks. “Yes!”

The doctor looked around at the others in the waiting room who were pretending they either weren’t looking now, hadn’t been looking at all or being very suddenly interested in the out-of-date glossies they were reading, some upside down. “I'm Doctor Splash, could you please follow me to my office?”

“Uh…sure, n-no problem…” the lime green pegasus proceeded to yawn herself fully awake as she followed after the retreating doctor, her still asleep brain trying to place her accent, her cold coffee forgotten on the waiting room table.

~ ~ ~

“Please have a seat, Miss Raid.” Doctor Aqua Splash absently pointed with her neon blue wing as they entered her office.

Air Raid took a moment to look around and collect herself as she took the indicated seating pad. The office was roomy, at least, and painted a two tone blue, with a darker cyan at the bottom and a much lighter eggshell blue at the top half separated by a wavy plum coloured divider. Whales and other sea life had been painted below, with various birds depicted above. Surprisingly Aqua Splash took the empty pad next to her on this side of her desk. “I understand that Darkstar's brother, Brightstar, has given you full power of attorney in regards to my patient. Do you believe the same?”

“Yeah...we talked it over on the phone,” Air Raid began, her now awake brain still trying to place the doctor’s accent. It definitely wasn’t Canterlot. “I understand and agree.” ‘This isn't good,’ she thought, ‘if she’s opening with that.’

“Do I need to candy coat this, or are you pony enough to take it straight?”

‘Trottingham!’ Air Raid cheered internally as she finally placed the accent. “Gimme it as it is, Doc. I'm not a filly.”

“Very well,” Doctor Splash said with a deep breath, “Whomever assaulted Darkstar didn't plan on her surviving. She was found in the Warehouse District. The police pony said it would have been Monday before she was discovered, but an anti-graffiti task force is why there were police there. She was medevacked to here. She was very near death.” The neon blue pegasus paused to look Air Raid in the eyes. “I estimate as near as an hour away.”

Air Raid listened quietly, her lime green fur going very pale, she was seeing Wily in her mind all over again. ‘Stay with it Raid…Darkie needs you…you got this…’ Absently she closed her mouth she didn’t realise was open, “Darkie...she, my friend was almost beaten to death?” She didn’t want to believe it.

Aqua Splash nodded sadly, feeling complete empathy for the other mare. “Among other things.” She said as she reached out her right wing and scooped up a clipboard full with many sheets of paper. “The police will want to talk to you; they don't have any leads. All they know for sure is she was placed there, but not attacked there.” She flipped the chart she held in her wing. “So, where to begin?” She asked, looking over the extensive chart.

‘No...no, no…’ Air Raid still didn’t want to believe it. She wanted this to be one of Darkie’s pranks, albeit a prank taken too far. “A-Amongst other things?” She almost didn’t want to know.

The doctor looked at the stricken mare with a great deal of sympathy. “She came in with four broken ribs, one of which punctured her left lung. We gave her eight pints of blood, thankfully at least she is a common blood type. Her left foreleg is broken in three places. Her left hind leg broken in two places. The jaw was broken and her left eye was damaged, but I believe we have saved her vision…”

Listening to this unsavoury laundry list Air Raid didn’t notice her mouth again hanging wide open, her eyes wide like saucers. “Oh...my...sweet Luna above!” She gasped, her hoof raised up to her still open mouth.

“I’m afraid there’s more; she was stabbed twice in the abdomen. Wound indicates it was a unicorn horn. We got DNA samples of that. All those wounds were made with the intent of causing her to bleed out. Slowly.” Aqua Splash emphasised that last remark.

Air Raid was stunned. To say she was pale was an understatement, she was practically white. “Th-that's it, right?” She asked, crossing her primary feather in hope. “I mean...I’ve seen injuries doing what I do for a job, but...buuuuck...” the lime green mare rubbed a hoof across her brow, trying to process it all.

Doctor Aqua Splash put her left foreleg gently around Air Raid’s shoulder, offering what comfort she could for what she was about to say next. “I’m sorry to inform you, she was raped by at least three stallions based on the DNA of the semen.”

“No. no, no...no…oh Darkie…” Air Raid’s ears were slicked back and she shook her head in disbelief as she started to weep. ‘It’s a prank…it has to be a prank…’

“Unfortunately we do know whose horn stabbed her.” Doctor Splash said gently.

Air Raid’s ears immediately perked up, “So...so the police are on the case right?” Subconsciously she crossed her other primaries.

“Air Raid, they weren't gentle and they fractured her skull when they cut off two thirds of her horn and used that to stab her; it was not found at the scene.”

‘They bucking did what!?’ For long quiet minutes that seemed to stretch for eternity there was silence in the doctor’s office as the distraught pegasus clung to the medic like a foal clings to its mother. “Say...say that again…” She eventually whispered.

“Whoever did this to your friend cut off her horn and used it to stab her.” Aqua Splash repeated boldly as she consulted her notes with a small shake of the head. What she hadn’t told her was the horn, made of a thickened keratin with a pliable, almost fluid, inner core, had been removed with the flat slicing edge of what appeared to be a kitchen knife. A dull kitchen knife. The amount of pain the unicorn had surely experienced must have been simply excruciating, like removing a leg with a penknife. No, nopony needed to know that. “Do you want to see her?” She asked, sliding herself from her seating pad.

Air Raid nodded, lost in a stunned silence. “Is...Is she awake?” She asked as she found her voice.

Doctor Aqua Splash shook her head. “I’m sorry, she is in a deep coma. It is hard to tell if she will ever come out of it, let alone when. Before you see her you need to know her right side was severely abraded, like she was dragged at a high speed. She is on her left side because of the punctured lung. There is a lot of bandages and casts do to the injuries. A machine is helping her breathe also because of the lung. There is a feeding tube and three IV's in place. She is not the pretty sight that I'm sure she was before this. Do you still want to see her?”

Again Air Raid nodded, “I...” ‘I could just go...NO! Don't you bucking dare...’ “I need to see Darkie, doctor.”

“Okay then,” the doctor shot her a fleeting smile as she held open the door to her office. “There is a small glimmer of hope in this. The stabs were located in a specific spot. She did lose three feet of small intestine, but both stabs punctured her womb. I was able to repair that. It shouldn't affect her if she ever wants a foal.” The neon blue mare stood aside to allow Air Raid to leave first then followed after her, putting a comforting wing over her barrel. “She is in ICU for now, and will be there for at least three days. She will be moved to a room after that if there are no complications.”

Subconsciously the lime green mare huddled into the doctor’s feathery hug, “And, that's…the good news?

“That and she is still alive.”

~ ~ ~

Standing at the door to ICU room two Doctor Aqua Splash paused to show her I.D. and name badge to the two impressively huge and imposing guard ponies that were positioned either side of the plain white door. Nodding to allow her and the lime green mare admittance the guards moved fractionally so that the doctor could open the door. Doing so she stood aside to let Air Raid enter first.

Cautiously, unsure of what she would see, Air Raid entered the ICU room. She was still hoping, albeit it was a long and far-fetched hope, that this was some kind of elaborate prank set up by the white unicorn. The pegasus went in prepared to yell and scream at her friend for taking this way too far. “Alright Darkie…” She said as she rounded the door, still holding to the belief it was a set-up, “This has gone on…on…oh…” her words died on her lips as her grey eyes beheld the scene. The misshapen lump lying on the bed covered in bandages and casts bore precious little resemblance to her friend. “Oh…Darkie…”

Doctor Splash was immediately at her side, her hoof again on her shoulder. “She looks better now than when I first saw her. You may touch her and talk to her, if you move a limb, only the right foreleg. I find the best thing for coma patients is physical contact and sound.”

Air Raid sniffled out a loud sob, tears starting to roll down her lime green cheeks as she reached for the untidy mop of her grey mane. “You…you can get up…Darkie, come on, the prank’s over, you win…” she tried one last time in vain, knowing in her heart she’d get no response. “Can I take a picture, for her brother? He'll want to see this.”

Aqua Splash smiled as she gently stroked her shoulder. “You may. I was going to ask if you want me to contact Brightstar or will you?”

Shaking her head Air Raid fished for and retrieved her iPhone from her saddlebag. “I'll ring him in a bit, Doc.” She blinked away her tears and steadied the camera on her phone and quickly snapped off several pictures of Darkstar lying comatose in the hospital bed. “How...” she whispered as she tenderly touched her right leg, “How... twenty-odd hours ago I was talking to her...she was in Café Diem, enjoying her macchiato...”

The neon blue doctor stroked her back between her wings, “Life can be very short, you should cherish every memory.”

“How...” Air Raid said quietly as she stroked Darkstar's hoof with almost no pressure, “How do you go from that to this in just twenty something hours?” She wiped away the tears cascading down her cheeks, but still more came. Looking at her friend laying there she noticed for the first time, probably because she was pointedly ignoring the severed stump of her horn, the gold and silver ring securely fastened in place. “Why is that 'thing' on her horn?” She asked, afraid of the answer.

“It’s there to prevent her from using magic.” The doctor consulted her notes, flicking through the many pages to check what a unicorn colleague had told her. “With a damaged horn a unicorn lacks control over magic; they may be able to regain some control, but this damage is very severe and even in a coma she might have an uncontrolled magic leak.”

Air Raid forced a smile, her hoof still stroking Darkstar’s mane. “That would be bad. Darkie’s talent was…is, illusions; powerful illusions, she could make you see and hear anything, and they were so real.” She said by way of explanation, recalling the time Darkstar had sent her voice to her when she had been driving away from the hospital. “Will she always wear it?”

“I’m afraid I can't answer that till she wakes up.” Aqua Splash put her clipboard aside on the nightstand beside the bed. “The police are treating this as an attempted ponicide so there will be a guard at her room. If you visit her in the ICU you will need someone from the hospital staff. Once she is in her own room you can visit as family. The police already have your details, they will contact you. Are you staying in Canterlot?” She enquired.

“Um…yeah, my place is in the Upper Residential District.” Air Raid stood and turned to leave but paused in the doorway, taking another look at Darkstar’s body. “We warned her not to do anything stupid, after what happened to me.” Taking a couple of steps back to her friend’s body she squeezed her white hoof. “I know who did this...I know where to find him…” Leaning close to her exposed ear she whispered, “He won't get away with this Darkie.”

“If that is true then please let the police handle it. I'd rather not have you in a bed next to her.” Aqua Splash gave her a concerned smile as they both left the ICU room. “Check in with reception when you come back. There are no restricted visiting hours for a coma patient.”

~ ~ ~

Sitting at a table in a corner of the now open hospital cafeteria Air Raid used her left forehoof to prop her tired head up and breathed in the heavenly scent of her black coffee with three sugars. The clock on the wall and the watch on her wrist confirmed to her it was a minute or two away from nine a.m. ‘Ugh…three hours…’ she thought as she took another coffee fuelled breath into her lungs. By now she was sure there was more caffeine than blood in her system. An hour’s sleep in two days the pegasus was beyond running on fumes. ‘Bright…I should call Bright…’ reaching into her saddlebag Air Raid first tried using her car keys to dial up Brightstar before she dug once more into her bag and pulled out her iPhone. Scrolling through her menu it took her three attempts to find her friend’s number. ‘Still be awake, please…’ she thought, fully aware that Brightstar would’ve been awake as much as she had been, as her hoof hit the green dial button.

“Yes?” Moonbeak’s shrill voice answered the call after just two rings.

Air Raid was so tired she almost called her ‘Bright’. Shaking her head and kicking herself with a smile she answered, “Hey Moon, it's Raid, is Bright about?” She asked as she took a sip of her coffee and shivered happily at the taste.

“He is, what do you need?”

“Can you tell him to fire up your pc? I've got some photos of Darkie I need to send him, and Moon...warn him they're...graphic.”

“Hold on.” Moonbeak said with an audible change in the pitch of her voice, becoming softer. “Let me ungag him and I'll have to hold the phone.” Air Raid heard the griffon’s paws on the wooden floor of their treehouse, then Moonbeak’s voice again, but faint, “Hi love it is the race driver and she has news about your sister, but I don't think it is good.” Brightstar’s voice sounded next, equally as faint, “Could you please untie me?” he asked as his partner assured him she would work on that while he spoke. Louder now the unicorn’s voice was clearer, she assumed the griffon was holding it nearer his mouth. “Raid! What is the news?”

Air Raid couldn’t help but snigger as she took another drink of her rocket fuel. “So, Moon took your mind off it then? Anyway...the surgery was six hours hun...the doc says whoever beat her...they didn’t want her to live.”

‘My sister is too tough to die that easily.’ He thought as his girlfriend began working on releasing the harness that bound him. “Did they say what happened?”

Draining her large mug Air Raid waved her lime green wing, signalling for another refill. “Oh yeah, they said alright...are you sitting or lying down?” She asked as the waitress came over and took her mug, she mouthed ‘two please,’ and the pony nodded. At this rate her bank balance was going to go on coffee.

“Flat on my back and hooves in the air, but Moon is getting me out of the harness.” Came the deep voiced reply, tinged with a definite hint of pride that the pegasus could identify with, like that time Cyclone had her in that rope harness.

“Alrighty, here goes,” Air Raid took a deep breath and readied herself. “She had; four broken ribs, front and rear left legs broken in three places, fractured skull, broken jaw, stabbed in the belly by a unicorn horn....”

“Buck!” Brightstar yelled, interrupting his friend the moment he heard ‘unicorn horn’, he struggled uselessly against the harness holding him. “Cold Front stabbed her!”

Moonbeak shot him a very disapproving look that immediately made him lie still. “Have they caught him?” She asked while the griffon worked her free clawed hand into the knots.

“There....Bright there's more hun.” Air Raid began reluctantly before she was again interrupted. Idly she wondered if there was enough coffee in the universe to help her right now. ‘Probably not…’

“Did she tell the police it was Cold Front?”

“No, because she can’t...” Air Raid smiled up at the waitress as the wonderful orange pegasus laid down a tray with not two but three coffees and a large cream scone, mouthing ‘on me, sweetie’. “She's in a coma, Bright.”

Brightstar’s anguished scream of ‘Noooooooo’ faded partway through the extended ‘ooooooooo!’

“How is she?” Moonbeak asked, her shrill voice raising an octave as her boyfriend called out faintly but audibly, ‘Give me back the phone and untie me!’

Air Raid sighed despondently, “She’s about as bad as you can be and still be alive Moon, give it him back, Bright needs to hear this.”

Moonbeak’s voice grew faint as the griffon clearly moved away from the phone yelling, “Calm down or I'll hang up!” To which there was a faintly whimpered, ‘sorry, please give me back the phone.’

“Raid, Is…Is she going to live?” Brightstar asked hesitantly, his voice was back at its full normal volume.

Air Raid took a moment to drain half of the nearest black coffee, swilling the sweetened drink around her mouth, relishing the strong taste as she mulled over her answer. “Honestly they're going hour by hour right now, if she makes it to tomorrow it's promising, but...hun...I wasn't done with her injuries.” She said, deciding to be as upfront as she could. ‘No sense in sugar-coating it…’

Brightstar’s voice came over all strained, “Broken bones, broken skull and stabbed, there's more?” He asked, unsure if he wanted to know what more there could be.

This time the lime green mare took the time to finish the rest of the coffee she had been working on. “Hun…she was raped; the doc found evidence of three different stallions and...”

“Th…Three?” The royal blue stallion gasped in disbelief.

“Yeah. Three…they'd, um, y’know...in her.” Air Raid tried to explain, without actually saying the words out loud, it was just too repulsive what had happened. “But, her horn...Brightstar they cut off her horn.”

The next few moments were lost in what Air Raid thought was the sounds of a tumultuous struggle, one that ended shortly and definitively with a loud thudding noise that the pegasus guessed was either a hand or the phone impacting a certain royal blue unicorn. “Hello you still there?” Moonbeak asked, notably slightly out of breath.

“I'm still here Moon,” Air Raid confirmed, hastily swallowing another mouthful of coffee. A little voice in the back of her head tried telling her she was drinking too much of it, and instead she needed actual rest as opposed to more stimulants, but she quickly drowned it with another full mouthful.

“Okay, Bright isn't doing too well.” Moonbeak understated, causing the pegasus to snigger mirthlessly - ‘you aren’t kidding,’ she thought, judging by the background yells and screams – “You said she was stabbed by a horn was... ah…was it...um...”

“Her own...yes it was.” The admission made Air Raid nauseous, the very thought that anypony, even a pony as utterly vile and disgusting as Wily’s dad, could do such a thing to another made her feel the need to vomit and never stop.

Air Raid moved her phone away from her ear as Brightstar’s yells of ‘I'll kill him. I'll kill him,’ momentarily drowned out the conversation, and she had to strain her ears to hear the high pitched voice of the griffon as she asked, “Who is the Cold Front he wants to kill?” Before she could offer an explanation Air Raid heard Moonbeak screech, ‘Shut up or you'll be tied up till next week!’ The silence that reigned afterwards spoke volumes.

“Um…he, he’s Wily's dad. You remember when me and Shot were first over there with you, I had a hairline fracture in my muzzle? Yeah that was him.”

“Oh, him...” Moonbeak easily recalled the time she had first met the racer, for the first week she had been unable to eat anything solid because of her muzzle. “Sweet Luna, I can't let him go kill some pony even if he is pond scum. Any evidence?”

Air Raid couldn’t help the bitter laugh as it escaped her throat. “Of course not. The three DNA samples weren't in the system. No witnesses either. If there hadn't already been police in the Warehouse District she'd be dead within an hour of being dumped there.”

Moonbeak clicked her beak, deep in thought. “I'll get my mom to sit for Athena, and my pet and I will be there early the day after tomorrow.” Sure, she’d lose Monday and Tuesday from her working week, but for Brightstar this was worth it. “Thank you, Raid, for looking after Darkstar.”

“Tell Bright on Silverbolt's grave I'll stay with her.” Air Raid said determinedly as she hung up the phone and wearily reached for her coffee, as much for something to do as to keep her awake. It was then, with half of her attention not being diverted by the unpleasant call she’d had to make, that she noticed the orange pegasus waitress literally hovering to her right. “Can I help you, Miss?”

“Oh…um, I’m sorry to um, bother you, I can see you’ve got a lot on,” she stumbled excitedly over her words, “But, my colt and I are huge fans of yours and I was wondering, if it wasn’t too much trouble, maybe you could, um…”

“Well…” Air Raid sighed inside. A fan right now was the last thing she needed, but she found it hard to refuse the mare. She had bought her three free coffees. “Go on then, who am I making it out to?”

“Oh thank you!” The waitress joyfully clapped her hooves. “We’ve watched all your races and exhibitions on Facetube!” Catching the weary ‘almost at her limit’ look on the lime green racer, the orange mare calmed herself down. “Sorry, it’s to ‘Autumn Burst,’ and my colt is ‘Sky Burst’.” She smiled a wide smile as her hero signed her napkin, her waitress hat, and posed for a few photos with her. Autumn Burst happily skipped behind her serving counter, imagining the jealous look on her little colts face when he checked his emails and saw the photos his mum had sent him. ‘Coolest mum ever, yay!’ Autumn even allowed herself a little celebratory hoof-pump, out of sight of course. Lost in thoughts of the joy on her colt’s face the next time she saw him, which was only two weeks away now, when the Junior Speedster’s Flight Camp had their spring break, Autumn Burst didn’t notice the large green earth pony on the other side of the counter waiting to be served. “Good morning Lotus, what can I get you?”

~ ~ ~

At precisely one minute past six in the a.m. of Monday the Friendship Express steam train from Fillydelphia pulled into Canterlot station. Excess steam billowed from the magnificent engine, framed against the darkness of the early morning and lit by the station’s floodlights. Guard whistles blew, signals were exchanged and the conductor opened the doors of the five carriages, spilling a crowd of ponies out onto the platform in a sudden buzz of bustle and noise. A good portion of the disembarking travellers quickly met up with family or friends and left the station to go about their day. As the crowd began to thin out one such couple, odd by most standards, alighted onto the emptying platform; the royal blue unicorn stallion carried two suitcases in his yellow magical aura as he walked a pace behind the dark grey furred flanks of the griffon leading him by the leash attached to the white and grey collar around his neck.

Moonbeak tugged on the leash to halt her stallion and pet as she surveyed the platform looking for the mare who was to be meeting them. For a brief moment she thought the she was late, then her sharp emerald green eyes caught sight of the lime green pegasus laid on one of the many benches on the now empty platform, her head propped up against a timetable sign next to it. “Raid,” she called loudly, “Over here!”

Air Raid snapped awake at the sound of her name and looked around to see who it was who had woke her up, then smiled as she found her two friends. “Hey!” She hurried over, looking very much like she hadn't slept since yesterday, or the day before.

“You look like crap Raid.” Moonbeak said bluntly by way of a greeting. “You driving us to the hospital, or are we flying?”

Air Raid raised a foreleg to her tangled blue mane and ran her hoof through the unkempt mess, snagging on a few knots. “Heh...fair enough…thanks Moony, nice to see you again too.”

“Raid can't fly, remember, Mistress.” Brightstar whispered discreetly in his partner’s snowy white ear.

“I've got us a cab waiting,” the lime green mare explained with a shake of her head, “We all won't squeeze in my car.”

Moonbeak winced at the whispered reminder, a large bright scarlet blush colouring her white feathered cheeks. “Good, I'm not that strong to fly two ponies.” She gently tugged the leash tight, “Lead the way Raid, and, ah…sorry for that.”

Air Raid sniggered at the older griffon’s fading blush. “Eh...it's no biggie, don't call me ‘Dodo’ and we're all good.” She pointed the rough direction with an extension of her left wing and proceeded to lead the way off the station. “I see you didn't waste any time getting Bright in a collar.” She added with a smile as the royal blue unicorn bought up the rear, keeping the leash slack and carrying the two bags in his yellow aura.

Moonbeak slowed her walk and spared her young lover an affectionate rub of her beak along his cheek, before playfully nipping his ear. “He spent the whole of yesterday talking about killing that unicorn. This is our compromise. I let him off the collar and he can do what he must.”

“I think it suits him,” Air Raid giggled as she checked out the two-tone dark grey and white collar. “I do like how it matches your fur and feathers.”

“Sounds like somepony's jealous...” Brightstar said quietly with a wink to the green mare…then gasped as his dom’s left wing flexed and struck him a hard glancing blow across his right cutie mark.

“When spoken to, at least in public, pet.” The middle-aged griffon emphasised her point with an extra tug on the leash.

“Yeah...” Air Raid watched the simple yet powerful display with an envious look in her grey eyes. She hadn’t played the sub since that time with Cyclone and her itch was getting desperate to be scratched. Coughing she forced her wings not to pop open, it had been that long since she had preened them she doubted they even could, “Look I wanna kill him too, but I also don’t wanna end up in bed two next to your sis.”

“Yes, but he is a unicorn, and you are not.” Moonbeak stated matter-of-factly as they arrived at the cab, one of only a few vehicles in the train station’s car park, as if that simple statement explained all of the pegasus’s reticence.

Pausing for a brief second at the cab Brightstar quietly, without need for instruction, surrounded the door handle in his yellow magic and opened it allowing his girlfriend to enter ahead of him.

“Thank you my love.” She rubbed her yellow beak across his cheek and got in, still holding the leash, giving it the gentlest of tugs to get her stallion in as well, and he obediently obliged.

“My, aren't we well trained?” Air Raid asked rhetorically as she followed the other two into the cab. “Canterlot Royal Hospital, quick as you like, please,” she instructed the driver.

“We know what each other likes.” Moonbeak settled down next to Brightstar on her side of the seat that ran across the back of the cab. “Isn't that right love?” She asked, draping a wing around the unicorn, as the cab lurched into motion.

“We do indeed.” Brightstar leant into the feathery hug and nuzzled the white feathered jaw. “But, Moon's right Raid, you do look like Tartarus just ate you up and spat you out.” He grinned at the suddenly indignant look on his friend’s face, speaking more freely now they were in the cab.

Air Raid looked away out of the cab’s window, her reflection staring back at her from the glass. She really did look a proper mess. Her lime green fur was un-brushed, with tufts sticking out at all angles, there were broken feathers spoiling the line of her wings and her mane really did look as if she had slept propped upright against a noticeboard (which she had). “Darkie doesn't care what I look like…” she muttered aloud as scenery whizzed past the window.

With concern on her face Moonbeak leant forward and put a clawed hand on her hoof. “The rest of us care, and if Darkstar wakes up to that, you might put her back in a coma.”

“I...I...” Air Raid stammered, about to unleash a retort she just thought of before she again caught her reflection, especially her blood shot bagged eyes, and found her comeback died on her lips. “Fine, I'll go freshen up later.”

“I saw the photos you sent,” Brightstar said with a smile, “I dunno who looks worse right now, Darkie or you.”

Playfully Moonbeak swatted one of Brightstar’s ears, “Forgive my stallion. He tries to be funny when he's worried.” She placed a tender kiss on his cheek before asking, “Any changes since you last talked to us?”

Air Raid smile and internally ‘aww’d’ as she shook her head. “No…No, other than her going from ICU later.” The dark grey and white griffon nodded and Air Raid stifled a long drawn out yawn before her eyes went wide, a lightbulb going off in her head. “Oh wait, yeah there is, they fitted her with a stronger inhibitor last night.”

At this Brightstar lifted his head from his girlfriend’s embrace, almost enough to pull the leash tight, his ears pricked up straight. “A stronger…why?”

“She was...'leaking'…” Air Raid began hesitantly as Brightstar questioningly mouthed 'leaking?’ she took a deep breath before continuing, “As in the whole floor of the hospital saw the walls dripping blood, 'leaking'.”

“An illusion I take it?” Moonbeak asked with a whole body shudder that shook her very feathers.

Brightstar leant further into the embrace of his girlfriend’s wing, “Damn...yeah...Darkie always was a powerful illusionist.”

Air Raid nodded, “Theory is she's reliving it, up here.” She said as she tapped her temple with her hoof.

“Perhaps she'll project the plotholes that did this to her?” Brightstar wondered hopefully.

“Maybe...” In truth Air Raid didn’t want to think about what other nightmarish visions might leak forth from her stricken friends damaged mind. If the incident last night had been any indication, Darkstar was on the road to her own personal Tartarus, trapped in the confines of her own mind. “So uh, how's little Athena?” She asked, changing the subject as much for her benefit as theirs. She really didn’t want to think about the horrors her friend endured at the hooves of the three…evil ponies, that did this to her. “Did your mom mind having her?”

“Oh, not at all,” Moonbeak laughed a shrill tinkling laugh, “She will spoil her and wait till we come back to wind her up and turn her over. Still, her love is worth the tornado that follows.”

Even Brightstar joined in the joke, his shoulders shaking as he laughed. “A hyperactive griffon high on chocolate and e numbers...and Athena's just as bad…hey!” He exclaimed as she dug her elbow into his ribs.

“It's a good thing my mom loves you, Mr. Depends on what she desires at the time.”

To Air Raid’s questioning look Brightstar sniggered, recalling when she had taken him to meet the old griffon. “Eго член, больше, чем его рога?” To the pegasus’s even blanker look he translated the Griffonian with a twinkle in his yellow eye, “She asked me if my cock was as long as my horn,” to which Air Raid clutched her barrel, erupting in a very much needed fit of giggles as she pictured the scene.

Moonbeak giggled, “It's longer, but that horn can do things his cock can't.”

“I'll bet…” Air Raid coughed and pressed a hoof to her chest in an effort to calm herself. “How's the little one in there?”

Subconsciously Moonbeak ran her free left hand over her belly, looking distinctly rounded after just a month – of course already having one kitten didn’t help either – “I don't think he has poked his eye out yet, so doing fine.”

“Got a name?” The racer asked, now genuinely interested.

“We were thinking Zephyr,” Brightstar replied as the cab rounded a series of two corners and began slowing down. “Looks like we’re here…” he grimaced and his girlfriend squeezed him tightly one last time as the vehicle pulled up to a halt.

Moonbeak’s beak hung open as she glimpsed the truly huge, imposing and ornately detailed façade of the Canterlot Royal Hospital. Easily bigger than any in Fillydelphia, she was sure it was as big as a few of the high-rises too. “Wow, this is big…” Brightstar just smiled as he magically opened the cab door and levitated up the two suitcases.

“Hmm…I guess it is,” Air Raid got herself out of the cab and lifted a hoof in thanks to the driver, who returned the gesture. “You kinda stop noticing after your hundredth trip.

Moonbeak nodded her understanding. “Thank you for watching over my new sister.”

Air Raid sighed sadly as she hoisted her saddlebag onto her back. “The very least I can do, Moon.” Her voiced tinged with a great amount of regret. “I'm not one for repeating my mistakes.”

Without thinking Brightstar whispered, “She means her ex-marefriend she left…”

“Silence pet.” Outside of the cab, in the burgeoning rays of the dawning sun, Moonbeak’s commanding voice had returned. “Lead the way Raid,” she said slightly softer, ignoring her pet’s meeped ‘yes Mistress.’ “I'd get lost in here.”

“You got it Moon.” Air Raid pointed with her wing, extending her primaries towards the ornately carved and decorated main doors. “It’s this way.” Having already been paid for the journey over the phone when the pegasus had made the booking it pulled off as the trio made their way over to the hospital building.

Four paces inside the white marble tiled foyer of the hospital Moonbeak reached up to her lovers broad neck and unhooked the leash from the collar, but pointedly left the collar buckled in place. “Know I'm with you Bright.” She said placing a clawed hand to his chest over his heart just hard enough so her talons pushed against his skin.

Brightstar mumbled something barely audible as both Moonbeak and Air Raid extended a wing each over his back from either side, practically holding him up between their supporting wings. “Likewise mate. Reception's this way, guys.”

Approaching the ornately carved wooden surround of the hospital’s reception Moonbeak hung back with her stallion held securely under her dark grey wing. She looked around in awe of the lavish décor, from the white marble tiled floor, the intricately carved limestone columns and the ebony wood everywhere. Even Fillydelphia’s two hundred year old town hall wasn’t as fine as this, by a long way. Even the Museum of Art wasn’t as luxuriously finished as this hospital…and she’d never ever seen as much marble in her forty year life.

Realising she was taking the lead Air Raid trotted up to the reception desk and peered through the safety plexi-glass, grinning as she saw it was the pegasus nurse, Pureheart. “Good morning!”

Looking up from her morning paperwork Nurse Pureheart returned the smile with a genuine one of her own. “Good morning Ms. Raid, I see you brought company today.”

“Yeah Pure,” the lime green mare indicated the griffon and unicorn stallion with a sweep of her wing. “This is Brightstar and his much better half Moonbeak. Are we okay to go through and see Darkie?”

Nurse Pureheart flicked through a couple of screens on her computer, in a matter of moments noting the time and logging the three visitors into the system. “Of course, I wish we could meet under better circumstances Mr. Brightstar. Ms. Raid, have you fully briefed him on Ms. Darkstar's condition?” She asked with a slightly raised eyebrow.

“As do I, nurse,” Brightstar said with a bow of greeting.

“I've given it to them as it is, nurse, yeah.” Air Raid’s smile slipped a little as Darkstar’s extensive laundry list of injuries flashed across her mind.

“Okay, just so you know they plan on moving her at nine,” Pureheart stood from her seating pad and waved the three down the hall. “You'll be asked to come back to the waiting area during the move.” Pausing she looked at the obviously distraught stallion. “Never lose hope, she is depending on that.”

“We...I...” Brightstar smiled and huddled back between Moonbeak and Air Raid, immediately getting the comfort he was seeking. “I won't, thank you.”

Trotting down the corridor, the huddled trio turned three corners and took a second corridor to the ICU room to find Darkstar, Moonbeak was simply astounded at the sumptuous luxury of the hospital. More than once she had to remind herself this was a hospital and not a hotel. Were it a hotel it would surely rival the best in Las Pegasus. Nearing the closed door Brightstar once again took the handle in his magic and opened the door with a polite knock, allowing his girlfriend and friend to enter ahead of him.

Nurse Apple Turnover was in the room with Darkstar when they entered, busy with her patient’s exercises, bending and stretching her white furred legs so the muscles didn’t atrophy from lack of use. Air Raid raised her hoof in greeting, “Hey AT, how's she doing?”

Pausing with Darkstar’s foreleg held mid-stretch in her own hoof the nurse greeted them with a ready smile. “Getting her twice a day mile in. Oh, you must be Brightstar,” she said with a nod of her head to the stallion, “I can let you have some privacy then.”

“I am, and thank you, nurse.” He muttered quietly as Moonbeak took precisely one pace backwards and wrapped her right wing tightly around the royal blue unicorn’s barrel while Apple Turnover finished positioning the comatose mare’s legs and took her leave, giving them the promised privacy.

For what felt like an eternal five minutes Brightstar just stood there in stunned silence looking at his sister. Now lying on her back she could’ve been sleeping were it not for the casts, bandages, multiple IV lines and the feeding tube in her throat, not to mention the pure platinum inhibitor ring she now wore around the base of her severed horn. So lost was he in his silent little reverie he didn’t notice Moonbeak nudge him closer to his stricken sister until she took her left forehoof in her clawed hand and laid it on top of Brightstar’s own.

This simple act broke the internal damn that was holding in his tears. Howling out an anguished cry Brightstar laid his head on his sister’s left shoulder and vented his grief as his girlfriend retightened her feathery hug. “Let it out my love,” she nipped his left ear affectionately as she placed her hand on top of Darkstar’s white hoof.

“I'll…I’ll rip…him apart…for this…” Brightstar gasped out between his cascading tears that rolled down his cheeks.

Air Raid walked around to Darkstar’s heavily bandaged right side and carefully laid her hoof on her shoulder. “Bright...you can't...” she said, alarmed at the venom in her friend’s voice, alarmed that he may actually carry his threat through.

“I said I'll kill him!” Brightstar exclaimed as he squeezed his sister’s hoof.

“No you won't.” Moonbeak said quietly and simply into his ear. “You can watch his execution, but you will not be the executioner. If not for your sister, then for me and the kittens.”

Air Raid pointed her hoof at the distraught unicorn’s chest. “You go after Cold Front and Moon and I'll be visiting you next, if you're lucky!”

“Lucky?” Brightstar raised his head and looked incredulously through his tear stained yellow eyes. “You call this lucky!?”

“Moonbeak,” Air Raid appealed to the griffon in frustration, “You tell him how being an hour away from us planning her funeral as opposed to us here worrying about her is lucky!”

Moonbeak looked Darkstar over, who at least was breathing on her own now, unaided by the machine by her side. “Lucky to have a brother like you that is here for her and would have avenged her. She doesn't need vengeance now pet, she needs someone to hold her hoof.”

“But...nggghhh...but...” Brightstar groaned in impotent anger, then he sat back down and once again took hold of his sister’s white hoof.

“Thanks,” Air Raid whispered to Moonbeak as she sidled around the bed to stand by her left side.

“Don't thank me.” She replied without looking away from the two unicorns. “I can't begin to understand his pain. I can only be here for the two of them.”

A thought occurred to Air Raid as she watched what was undoubtedly a bonding moment unfold next to her, “So you were talking about the kittens, you think you two are long-termers?” She asked with a smile, “I hope so, at any rate.”

Pulling Brightstar into such a tight hug it made the stallion gasp at the unexpected lance of pain, Moonbeak replied, “He's a keeper, and he puts up with my oddities.”

Air Raid couldn’t help but grin, “I think he likes your oddities just fine, Moon.”

“I love her.” Brightstar said simply, not letting go of Darkstar’s hoof.

“I love the three of you too.” Moonbeak tightened her grip on her stallion, allowing her stallion, her lover, her pet, to grieve in silence. None of them said anything else as the minutes ticked endlessly by on the wall clock. There was nothing to be said.

None of them noticed the time approaching nine O’clock, until Apple Turnover reappeared at the door with a discreet knock that almost went unheard. “I'm sorry but it’s eight fifty. We are going to move Ms. Darkstar. You will need to go to the waiting room while we do so. It is just to the left.”

~ ~ ~

“I'll have double expresso please, Bright.” Moonbeak requested as she got herself comfortable on the seating pad at their table in the hospital cafeteria, the very one in the corner that Air Raid had used Saturday morning.

“Raid?” He asked automatically as he got to his hooves.

“Black coffee three sugars, please babe.” She placed her own order with a grin as Brightstar obediently trotted over to the counter. Idly she wondered if her friend had always been this submissive and she just hadn’t noticed, or if it was a side of him Moonbeak had brought out. With a shrug of her lime green shoulders she supposed it didn’t matter either way, as long as they were happy, and they were certainly that.

“Welcome to Starcolts, how may I help you?” The perky serving mare greeted him with a practised smile which, unlike many others, actually reached her eyes and lit them up in turn.

Brightstar found himself smiling in spite of his mood, the mare’s – he leant forward to get a look at her nametag – upbeat attitude was somehow infectious. “Good morning to you, Cinnamon, can I get a double expresso, black coffee three sugars and a caramel macchiato, please?”

“Coming right up!” Cinnamon chirped happily as she turned to the coffee machine to prep his order. “Any pastries with that?” She asked over her shoulder.

“Bear Claw” Moonbeak called out as he turned around to ask that very question, and Air Raid chipped in with ‘same for me!’ Turning back to the counter again he couldn’t help but smile at Cinnamon’s grinning face. “Two Bear Claws please, Cinnamon.” He placed the order, wondering if there was a way to bottle her enthusiasm and sell it. If there was he’d be rich, definitely.

Back at their table in the corner Air Raid was about to ask the griffon something important about her photography business back in Filly when her phone started to ring. “Oh...hang on guys…” she muttered, making a mental note to ask later as she fished her hoof in her saddlebag – why didn’t she keep its contents better organised? – “Hello?”

“Is this Ms. Air Raid?” A stallion voice asked on the other end of the line in a perfect Canterlot accent.

Air Raid was about to reply when an unexpected yawn snuck up on her and she unleashed it down the speaker. “Sorry, yeah this is Raid speaking”

“This is Detective Hoofbeat with the Canterlot Royal Police. I would like to interview you regarding the assault on Ms. Darkstar.”

Over at the counter Brightstar was about to take their completed order when his phone rang out from his bag. Pausing with an apologetic look to the serving mare he answered with a “Y’hello?” in a manner reminiscent of his sister.

“Go for it,” Air Raid held in another yawn as she answered the detective, “We're at Canterlot Royal Hospital.”

Seeing both pegasus and unicorn were both distracted by their calls, which seemed important, Moonbeak slid from her seating pad. “I'll get the order.” She said, padding up to the counter with a nod to Cinnamon.

“Are you available at one p.m. today?” Hoofbeat enquired.

“Yep, we’ll be here,” Air Raid replied, certain she could hear the scribble of a pencil on paper.

“We can arrange for the interview at the hospital. They have a room for that.” Hoofbeat offered after consulting his notes. “I'll call you just before the interview, say twelve fifty.”

“Thank you, Detective Hoofbeat.” Air Raid sighed as she hung up her phone, her tired nose sniffing out her sweet black coffee.

“Is this Mr. Brightstar?” A mare’s voice asked with a distinct Fillydelphian twang to her voice.

“It is, who's this please?” He asked, holding his phone in his yellow aura as he came back over to the table and took his pad opposite the pegasus and next to his girlfriend once more.

“This is Detective Pencil and I would like to know if you'd be available for an interview regarding the assault on your sister?”

“Certainly Ma'am,” Brightstar answered the Filly detective, making room on the table for the tray of coffees and pastries Moonbeak was carrying. “We'll be at the Royal Hospital all day.”

“You're where?” Pencil asked, “Not in Fillydelphia?”

“No Ma'am, my partner and I are in Canterlot, visiting my sister.”

“Oh…” the detective said, sounding a little disappointed, “Will you be there for the rest of the day?”

“Yes Ma'am, all day.” Brightstar replied, they were indeed going to be in Canterlot all day. They weren’t scheduled to leave until ten that night, where they’d take the overnight express back to their home.

“Can you hold please?” Pencil asked.

“Of course,” he stated as Moonbeak placed the tray in the space her pet prepared for her, handing out the black coffee with three sugars to the lime green mare and the caramel macchiato to the unicorn, to nods and muttered thanks from them both in turn. Barely one minute later and Pencil’s voice sounded again in the earpiece of his phone. “Okay, Detective Hoofbeat will call you shortly to confirm. I understand that he spoke with Ms. Air Raid for a one O'clock appointment. Thank you, and good bye.”

“Alright, goodbye Ma'am.” He smiled to himself as Pencil hung up before he said ‘Ma’am’.

Taking his macchiato in his yellow aura the royal blue stallion raised his mug to his lips to take a welcome sip of the steaming sweetened drink. Just as he swallowed his first mouthful his phone rang again. “Y'hello?” The unicorn answered it, a little testily.

“Is this Mr. Brightstar?” A stallion with a distinct Canterlot accent asked.

“It is, Sir. Would this be Detective Hoofbeat?”

“Good Detective Pencil has filled you in. I'm interviewing Ms. Air Raid at the hospital at one, would you be willing to interview with her?” Hoofbeat enquired, his pencil again busy on his notepad.

“Of course, Sir.” Brightstar confirmed, taking a longing look at his hot coffee as Air Raid took great pleasure by taunting him by happily drinking hers.

“I'll call you at the same time right after calling Ms. Air Raid to confirm. See you at the hospital.”

“Thank you sir, we'll see you soon.” Brightstar put his phone away with a welcome sense of finality as he went back to his macchiato.

Moonbeak took a mouthful of her espresso and gave her stallion a telling look. “Try not to go yelling and screaming when they interview you, love.”

~ ~ ~

The ever-present Nurse Apple Turnover was there to greet them as the three entered the hospital’s almost empty coma ward. Besides Darkstar there was just one other occupant. “Ms. Darkstar is in room five zero one. There is a stallion in the room too, also in a coma; there are beds for two more. The stallion has been here for four months.” The upbeat orange earth pony explained enthusiastically to them as she showed them through the ward past four other rooms easily big enough to accommodate up to four comatose ponies. “You may meet his wife who stops in every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.” Apple Turnover explained casually as she led them to the open door of the room. When they had moved her they had at least placed Darkstar’s bed near the window. “This room is under video surveillance twenty four seven in case a patient ever moves.”

After she showed them to Darkstar’s newly located bed Air Raid stopped the nurse with a hoof. “Hey, AT, any chance I can get one of the beds? I don't want to leave her.”

“In this room or in the family quarters?” The nurse asked.

“In here, please.” The lime green mare answered without a seconds thought.

Apple Turnover gave her a reassuring smile, and laid a hoof on her foreleg. “I can ask, they will most likely say yes, as the stallion's wife stayed her for the first month and sometimes overnights on Fridays. You must know that if the beds fill you'll have to stay in family quarters.”

Air Raid nodded her agreement, “Of course AT, thanks.”

“I'll make sure it is okay, but I don't see a problem. Is it just you tonight?” Apple Turnover asked, looking at Moonbeak and Brightstar.

“Yes, it's just Raid.” Brightstar answered, casting a look at his girlfriend who nodded back. “We'll need to be home for the kitten tomorrow.

“We do need to be back, but we trust you to hold things down here Raid.” Moonbeak said, nipping her stallion’s ear as the nurse bustled out of the room. “Why don't you read to her Bright?” She asked with a little wink.

“That's a good idea love.” Brightstar walked over and sat next to his sister’s bed, taking the seating pad between her and the window. “Hey sis...remember that poem Dusk taught us?”

Brightstar started to recite the old poem as Moonbeak took the seating pad next to his and leant her body against his, wrapping her right arm around his left foreleg; in return the unicorn leant into her, his collar resting against her feathered chest. Listening to her friend recite the poem Air Raid had a very acute flashback to the fun fair when she and Wily had danced on a cloud to that very poem.

Brightstar finished the poem and sat up with a tiny smile on his lips. “And, that's how Luna makes the night sky…” he laughed, recalling what had happened the first time Dusk had told them the poem. “Darkie hated it at first, as there are no dark stars in the sky…”

Moonbeak rubbed her beak across his jawline as she sensed the change in his tone. “Princess Twilight the Arch-Librarian says there are dark holes in the sky though.”

Brightstar giggled at that, and at his jaw being tickled, “Oh yes...that perked you up didn't it sis?” He asked the unresponsive white mare in the bed. “Huge powerful dark holes in the sky...remember you loved that?” Desperately he nudged her hoof with a hard squeeze, trying to get any response from his sister.

“I’m sure she still does.” Moonbeak squeezed his royal blue hoof delicately with her hand.

“She's still the same Darkie, Bright.” Air Raid said kindly from across the bed.

“But...Darkie was never this small and fragile...with tubes everywhere…” Brightstar stammered, fresh tears threatening to take him. He always thought his sister was indestructible, the life and soul of any party, up there with Cyclone singing and dancing the night away with their group of friends. Seeing her like this, so very vulnerable and weak, was the most jarring thing he had ever had to deal with. As Moonbeak squeezed his hoof again, he took comfort from the gesture, Brightstar offered thanks to whatever deities might be listening that he didn’t have to deal with this alone.

~ ~ ~

Midway through the morning, at exactly ten twenty three in the a.m., had anypony bothered to check the wall clock, and Nurse Pureheart knocked politely on the door to coma room five zero one. “Ms. Raid, I have a note for you.” She said as she trotted quietly into the room, almost scared to make too much noise. “Conference room one twelve has been reserved for one p.m.”

Air Raid stretched on her seating pad and slid herself off to meet the nurse part way into the room. “Right you are, thanks Pure.”

Accepting the thanks with a grateful smile Pureheart bustled about the hospital bed, checking and double checking the numerous wires, tubes and hook-ups to the various machines arrayed at the head of the bed; and the IV tubes and drips, especially the catheter tubes that may have been knocked or kinked during the move. “Also, the Administrator has approved of you staying in this room as long as a bed is available. It is five hundred bits a night with three meals included.” She added, once she was satisfied that the move crew had everything set up correctly.

Back on her seating pad on the left side of Darkstar’s bed, Air Raid nodded absently. “Thank that pony for me, would you, please?”

“I will indeed pass that along Ms. Raid.” Nurse Pureheart said as she annotated the chart at the foot of the bed and left the room with a smile to the three around the bed.

Looking sadly at Darkstar lying immobile in the bed Air Raid sighed deeply. “You'd think I wanted to see every room in this place.”

“Raid,” Brightstar said gently, his hoof still holding his sister’s, “You don't need to be here every hour of every day.”

Moonbeak planted a tender kiss on her stallion’s cheek, “We are happy you're going to watch over our Dark, but do not neglect your life. You heard what the other nurse said about the wife of the stallion behind that curtain.”

“I'm not leaving.” Air Raid maintained, not shifting her grey eyed gaze from her friend’s bed. “Bits aren’t an issue, I can keep this room for ages.”

Moonbeak lifted her head from Brightstar’s, looking at the pegasus with a deep frown that furrowed her white feathers. “That's not the point, and we have bits to help cover costs if you wish them. The point is you didn't live with Dark before this, so you don't have to live with her now.”

This just made her feel worse rather than better. “No...I lived with Wily before, and I didn't put her first when it counted, now we're here.” Air Raid admitted with a slump of her shoulders.

Brightstar sighed an exasperated sigh, “This is different, Raid!” Turning to his girlfriend he begged her with his yellow eyes to appeal to her. “Love, tell her she can’t not race.”

Moonbeak patted Brightstar’s hoof with her clawed hand. “She's a grown mare, who I hope will not shirk other responsibilities for the sake of this responsibility. Doing this will not redeem yourself for what happened with Wildfire. Still, I thank you for being willing to do this.”

“Thanks Moon...” the lime green mare started before the griffon cut across her.

“Bright,” she said, her shrill voice alive with excitement and a twinkle in her emerald green eyes, “You should tell Dark about your Saturday morning, then tell her about the train ride here.”

This made Air Raid giggle with anticipation. “I wanna hear about that too!”

Brightstar smiled and leant forward so his muzzle was inches from Darkstar’s left ear. “Well sis, the shrill sounding griffon you just heard had me tied up in a rope harness suspended over our bed, before the Dodo on your right interrupted us…”

“Hey!” Air Raid interrupted, an indignant pout on her face, “I'll make sure she gets you for the Dodo comment when she wakes up.” She finished with a long loud raspberry that made the griffon chuckle.

Smiling wide and still leaning near his sister’s ear Brightstar whispered, “Moon's even got me wearing her collar, you always said I'd find a Mistress…” his voice trailed off as in his eye-line the pure platinum inhibitor glowed a bright yellow as it neutralised the magic emanating from Darkstar's severed horn, both pulsing in tandem with each other.

“Guys...look she can hear you…” Air Raid gave an awed barely audible whisper.

Within literally seconds of the inhibitor activating a bright yellow unicorn nurse, by the name of Sunny Hills, going by her nametag, entered the coma room, a clipboard with many sheets of paper held in her amber aura that matched perfectly her eyes.

Slightly panicked by the nurse’s sudden appearance Brightstar looked up from his position near his sister’s ear. “Nurse...is she…alright?” He asked with a panicked edge to his voice that made the griffon next to him squeeze his royal blue hoof.

Ignoring the unicorn for the moment Sunny Hills stopped in front of Darkstar’s bed and brushed her white mane aside as she studied the scrawled notes on the clipboard she carried. Laying it down for a moment on the crisp bedsheets her horn glowed brighter as Nurse Hills extended her magical field to fully surround the white mare. For a few moments she ‘hmm’d’ as doctors and nurses are wont to do before finally turning her attention to the stallion sat by the bed. “She is a rather powerful mage?”

Brightstar paused, considering his answer. Darkstar was strong yes, but not ‘strong’, strong. “She’s…powerful, yes, but not...'offensively powerful' as such…if that helps?”

“She was…is, naturally gifted with illusions, nurse.” Air Raid supplied helpfully.

Flicking through her notes Sunny Hills stopped at the third page and started to magically tick off a small checklist. “Hmhmm…would you say you are as strong, stronger or weaker than your sister?” She asked, pausing at an unchecked question.

Again Brightstar took a moment to consider his reply. “I'd say about the same, I suppose, I mean my illusions aren’t as good as hers, but I can teleport up to thirty feet and hold two ponies still at once.” He supplied as modestly as he could.

“May I scan your aura?” The nurse asked as she flicked to the next page of her notes.

“Of course you may,” as Brightstar nodded his acquiescence the amber glow that was currently surrounding his sister widened to encapsulate both brother and sister. The stallion felt a not wholly unpleasant series of tingling vibrations course up and down his body then eventually dissipate as Sunny then levitated a pen to the floor in front of him. Her glow left the pen, but not the two ponies

“Please pick that up for me?” She asked, her clipboard ready.

Brightstar nodded and lit his own horn as he concentrated on casting one of the basic elementary of all unicorn spells; focusing his magic on the pen he wasn’t entirely surprised when at first the pen didn’t budge. Smiling he gradually poured more power into the spell as he gauged the simulated weight of the pen. After a few moments he grunted slightly with effort – by now he estimated the pen’s weight at around ten tons - and with his horn glowing like a one hundred watt lightbulb he lifted the pen.

Scribbling some more notes Sunny Hill brushed her mane from her eyes, “Please put it back down.” She requested as she closed her clipboard with an audible snapping noise. The nurse offered him a smile as she watched him carefully lower it back down to the floor, where she took it up in her own amber aura. “Thank you and yes, your sister is fine. Her subconscious is hard at work though with your presence and voice. I'm going to have to requisition a level seven inhibitor; the level five she is wearing is leaking, but I don't think it is a danger. Please continue what you're doing.” She turned to leave, and then turned back. “Oh, did any of you have any questions for me?” She asked, almost as an afterthought.

“Will she need to wear that when she wakes up?” Brightstar asked straight away, glancing down at his sister. “Raid was saying earlier she made the walls appear to bleed.”

Sunny Hills quickly checked her notes once more, this time with a definite frown. “Oh, that isn't in my report. She needs to wear it now, after she wakes it will depend on what level of control she has as to what she will need to wear. Based on your strength she could wear a level five and overcome that to do some basic tasks.”

Now it was Brightstar’s turn to frown. Level seven rings were government regulated and hard to come by, most commonly found in jails. “You said a level seven, aren't they regulated?” He asked, then added with a slight sullen tone. “She isn't a prisoner…”

The nurse sighed, rubbing her muzzle with her yellow hoof. “Based on her strength and being in a coma, we will need to prevent any further use of magic. What she has now isn't doing the job. Yes it is government controlled, but luckily we are a government controlled hospital.” She explained testily, “Just takes more paperwork.”

Brightstar looked aside with an embarrassed blush. “I apologise, I didn't mean to be as snappy as that sounded.”

Sunny Hills shrugged with an understanding smile. “She's your sister, I'm staff. I understand. I have to remind myself of that, which is why I almost walked out before making sure you were okay.”

“Thank you nurse.” The stallion’s blush faded to a thankful smile as he felt Moonbeak’s clawed hand tighten on his hoof.

“You're helping her. That last spark shows she is in there waiting to come out. It will take time to get a level seven so I'll leave you to letting her know you're waiting for that.” Nurse Sunny Hills said with a brush of her white mane as she turned and trotted out of the coma room, being sure to close the door behind her.

“I've never seen you struggle so hard to pick up a pen.” Moonbeak teased gently.

Brightstar grinned, “It was an enchanted ten ton pen.” He said as he placed a kiss on his girlfriend’s feathery cheek.

“Meh…I can kick ten tons before breakfast.” The griffon replied nonchalantly.

“I know my love,” He extended his left foreleg around her shoulders and gave her a tight hug.

“You never said you were that strong Bright…” Air Raid finally commented, having briefly won the internal battle she had been waging to keep her eyelids open while the yellow nurse had been here.

“One doesn't always have to blow their own trumpet, Raid.”

“Yeah, that's my job.” Moonbeak quipped as she placed a tender kiss on her stallion’s cheek while the lime green pegasus erupted in a fit of giggles that almost made her fall off her seating pad, so violently was she shaking with mirth.

“See Darkie, she can laugh after all.” The stallion sniggered before he leant in close to her ear. “You should've seen me on the train, Darkie. Mistress Moon had my mane and tail all braided and tied up, a chastity on and we had a walk through all the carriages…twice.”

Moonbeak smiled and gave her lover’s ear an affectionate little nip. “He does strut so well, Dark.”

“I do my best for my lady,” Brightstar said proudly, “And, when I don't her wing reminds me to do better.”

“How long did you make him wear it?” Air Raid asked, recovering from her giggle fit and propping her head up with a hoof to stop it drooping forward.

“Till we got back to the cabin.” Moonbeak smiled at the memory, then at the pegasus. “There are certain duties he can't perform while he’s wearing it.”

“Sounds like you had a...eventfull trip…” Air Raid yawned widely as Brightstar blushed.

“It got us here.” Moonbeak cooed serenely as she adjusted Brightstar’s black mane with a claw.

“Same for going home?” She asked, snapping open eyes that felt like they were attached to heavy leaden weights.

Brightstar lovingly nuzzled along his girlfriend’s feathery cheek and jawline, “If I'm a very lucky pony, yes.” He said, planting a tender kiss on her beak.

“Still need to get through the interview after lunch.” She whispered, returning the nuzzle to Brightstar’s broad neck, above his collar.

“Luckily the…cafeteria food is…pretty good…” this time there was no disguising the yawns she let out as she answered.

“Do you think they will have any of Gustave le Grand's éclairs?” Moonbeak asked excitedly, a definite twinkle in her emerald green eyes. “I do so love the cream filling.”

“D-D...Definitely...” Air Raid’s grey eyes drooped all the way closed and she let out the biggest yawn yet.

“Seriously Raid, when did you last sleep?” Brightstar asked, concern all over his face.

“Huh?” The lime green mare snapped her head up, her tired eyes wide before they both began to droop again. “I…uh...Friday? Maybe? I had about an hour Saturday in the waiting room...”

Disentangling herself from her stallion Moonbeak gave the exhausted pegasus a stare as dangerous and sharp as her beak, then she pointed her left wing to the empty hospital bed behind her. “Bed now,” she ordered, her already shrill voice raising a couple of octaves, “Or I’ll have Bright use his stallion ways on you.”

Air Raid cranked her head away from Darkstar’s prone form to gaze longingly at the empty bed. She didn’t even realise her legs were moving her towards the bed until she was halfway there, then the rest of the way was an easy stumble to the inviting mattress. “Fine...I guess I can have a nap.” She murmured as she laid down, her eyes closing fully the moment her head touched the pillow.

Moonbeak kept a beady emerald green eye on Air Raid until the pegasus began to fall into the steady breathing rhythm of proper sleep, a state confirmed to all in the coma room when after ten minutes she started to snore.

“She's going to end up in here properly love if she carries on at this rate.” Brightstar began with a whisper then after a self-deprecating smile spoke at his normal volume. There was after all no need to whisper, not with Air Raid blissfully doing her impersonation of a broken ambulance mating with a chainsaw.

Moonbeak sighed, “You need to let her do what she wants. She thinks torturing herself like this will clear her conscience, even if we know different. You okay to skip lunch till after the interview? She needs her sleep.”

“Я в порядке, чтобы пропустить, если вы.” Brightstar said confidently in her native Griffonian, looking around to see it was just them before adding, “любовница.”

“Good pet,” Moonbeak smiled as she continued to stroke his mane, she did love it so when her stallion took the time to talk to her in her own tongue. “Do continue to speak to your sister. We both like that.”

Brightstar chuckled into Darkstar’s white ear, “Hey Darkie…we've finally convinced Raid to go to sleep,” he supported himself with a carefully placed hoof so as not to disturb the many wires and tubes under the bedsheets. “Well, Moon did. She used her 'Mistress' voice on her.”

Moonbeak sniffed in a haughty manner most affected when impersonating a Canterlot noble. “My primaries outrank her primaries.” She broke into a shrill tinkling laugh.

Brightstar joined in the laugh, “Between us sis I like her Mistress voice. You'll have to listen to Raid’s snoring in the bed next to you though, so, sorry about that.”

Still giggling like a little kitten Moonbeak leant next to the royal blue stallion to also whisper playfully in Darkstar's ear, “If you're listening to me snore you must be in my bed, and somehow you wore me out more than I you.” She carried on her giggling as the remaining third of the white horn flashed twice before being contained by the platinum ring.

“I've done that once or twice,” Brightstar smirked with more than a little bit of pride in his voice.

Moonbeak gently angled her head and placed a delicate little kiss upon Brightstar’s muzzle. “You do please me, my lovely young stallion.”

Returning the kiss with one of his own the stallion smiled. “We should tell Darkie about Gino's Steak House the other day.”

“You just want to see if that nurse runs in here again.” Moonbeak sniggered as she ran her taloned finger around the edge of her pet’s collar.

“Yes I do, true.” Brightstar giggled as his Mistress tickled his neck, “Y'know Darkie would've thought what we did was the best prank ever.”

~ ~ ~

Twelve forty nine, forty nine minutes after midday and Air Raid was still snoring away, her consciousness away in the Dreamscape. A Dreamscape created of her own mind, her own desires and dreams. A Dreamscape where she didn’t leave Wily, where she gladly gave up her career and stayed with the pony she loved, where she cared for her marefriend like the loving mare she was supposed to have been all along. And she was happy. So very happy. The happiest pony in Equestria, because she had her Wily, and Wily had her. Air Raid and Wildfire, like it was always meant to be.

The way it should have been all along.

Then the clock on the wall clicked its long minute hand to the next number along, reading twelve fifty and the wondrous Dreamscape shattered; falling away from her desperately grasping hooves in a swirl of colour and a blinding flash of light. At twelve fifty her phone rang, the discordant noise shocking her rudely awake in an instant.

“Shit! Shit, my phone!” Air Raid sat bolt upright in the hospital bed next to Darkstar as she snapped fully awake. “Shit where’s my phone!?” She panicked, launching a futile search of her bed for the ringing phone.

Smiling smugly Brightstar floated her phone out of her saddlebag and moved it over to her.

Plucking it out of the shimmering yellow aura with an almighty pout the lime green mare flicked the green button to receive the call. “Yes?” She asked, a little more tersely than she had wanted.

The voice on the other end was the perfect Canterlot accent of the officer from earlier in the cafeteria. “This is Detective Hoofbeat, are we still on for a one O'clock meeting?”

In reply Air Raid let out a huge yawn that split her face. “Yes!” She exclaimed as soon as she was able, “Yes we are, definitely.”

“Is Mr. Brightstar still with you?”

“Yeah, he's still here,” Air Raid confirmed as she attempted to straighten her mane.

Hoofbeat seemed genuinely pleased with this, “Good will he be there with you then?”

“Yuppe....yeah, he will…” Air Raid almost said one of ‘Wily’s words’ but managed to catch herself at the last moment.

“Hopefully you got a note.” Wherever he was Air Raid decided it was probably the car park as there was traffic in the background. “I have conference room one twelve reserved. See you there in a few minutes.”

Absently Air Raid nodded her agreement. “We did indeed, see you in room one twelve.”

“You may want to take a brush to your mane.” Moonbeak suggested as the pegasus hung up the call and tossed her phone back in her saddlebag.

Brightstar sniggered behind his hoof, “More like a chair, a whip and a lion tamers manual.”

Air Raid raspberried her friend as she once again delved into her bag, fishing about for her brush. Once again she pouted when Brightstar smugly floated it up from the nether regions of her other bag entirely. “He always this helpful?” She asked ruefully.

“Oh yes,” Moonbeak smiled, stroking a claw delicately over her stallion’s foreleg. “Even more so when he is needy.”

Taking the brush to her mane, a mane that hadn’t seen whisper of a brush in at least two days Air Raid tried to brush her unruly mop into submission. “When he...OOOW! Wants his sheath lock off...NGGGH! You mean?” In a temper at hitting two knots in a row she threw the brush on the bed.

“Oh let me...” Brightstar rolled his yellow eyes in mock exasperation and surrounded his friend’s blue mane in his magical field, using it to separate all the knots, tangles and even this tough little colicky bit that tried to deny him but failed.

Moonbeak looked on amusedly as her pet prepared the mane for brushing. “He does do a very nice job of preening too. Did you and the girls teach him that valuable skill?” She asked, genuinely interested as Bright’s preens were very good.

Air Raid smile with a brief nod as Brightstar obediently began to brush out her mane, using long slow deliberate strokes to finally get the mane under control. “He used to watch...very closely.”

“I'm still studying horn care…” Moonbeak replied, her shrill voice almost a husky whisper, “Very thoroughly I might add.”

“Oh...she's very thorough,” the royal blue unicorn smiled happily as he started braiding Air Raid's mane. As he worked the braid into her mane he cast a critical eye over her wings. Wings that hadn’t seen a preen in as many days as her mane hadn’t been brushed till now. “Hmm…no time for a proper preen, but I can get these looking like actual wings again, at the very least.” He lit his horn, his yellow magic encapsulated both of the pegasus’s wings, and a rippling shimmer later had all the broken and misshapen feathers lying in a heap on the bed.

“You look like you're among the living again Raid.” Moonbeak smiled as Brightstar completed the five minute makeover. “Let's get moving.”

Air Raid chuckled as she slid off the bed to stand on her hooves with a quick stretch. “Any more of that and he'll turn me into an actual girl.” She giggled as she fell into step alongside the griffon.

“Heaven forfend that should happen, Raid.” Brightstar said as he dutifully fell in line behind his girlfriend and Mistress.

Moonbeak giggled as they made their way down the short flight of stairs to the reception. “Good thing he didn't braid your tail or your marehood would be showing.”

Air Raid returned the giggles on the stairs, “I’m willing to share, but not right now...thanks Bright, you did a good job here mate,” she said appreciatively as she shook her wings and found all the feathers actually pointing the right way.

“For five minutes, yes.” He agreed from behind them as they exited the stairwell and walked over the white marble floor up to the reception.

“Hey Pure, where are we going?” Air Raid called out as they neared the ornately carved area and saw there were no ponies queueing up to be seen.

Without looking up from her small stack of paperwork she was currently entering into her computer, Pureheart pointed with her left wing down the adjacent corridor. “Down there first left second door on the left.”

Air Raid lifted her hoof in thanks before she realised the nurse hadn’t looked up. “Thanks Pure. Will we see you in the cafeteria later?”

“Maybe Raid,” the nurse replied, still not looking from her screen but with a detectable smile nonetheless, “Depends on what those ponies out there decide to do to get in here.”

“I'll get you a coffee if I see you?”

“Deal.” Pureheart agreed, moving the stack of completed paperwork further aside to make room for more.

Giving the nurse a smile she didn’t see Air Raid led the way down the corridor that the nurse had indicated to her on their way to the conference room assigned to them for the duration of the forthcoming interview.

“New friend?” Brightstar asked from his position behind them.

“Pretty much, Bright yeah.” Air Raid lead them around the left turn and up to the second door. “Pureheart’s pretty cool, got this ‘Shrink to the Stars’ sister in Manehatten she wants to go live with.”

They found the door to conference room one twelve open and a grey unicorn stallion with a turquoise mane and tail and wearing a police jacket already in the room waiting for them. As they entered the room he turned to face them, briefly showing his cutie mark of a horseshoe pointing up with a white quarter note inside.

“Detective, hello.” Air Raid greeted him as she walked into the room and around the desk, taking the seating pad furthest from the door and nearest the wall.

Hoofbeat stood and nodded respectfully to them, “Greetings Ms. Raid, Mr. Brightstar and…” he paused for a briefly, checking his extensive meticulously written notes, “Ms. Moonbeak. I'm Hoofbeat and I wish this meeting was under better circumstances.”

“At least I'm not being arrested this time.” Air Raid attempted a smile as Brightstar waited for his Mistress to seat herself on her chosen seating pad before sitting himself.

Once they were all sat the detective seated himself, flashing them all a warm reassuring blue-eyed smile. “We don't have a lot to go on so far, which is why we're having this interview. Ms. Darkstar was found in the warehouse district on 3rd Brick Way. Have any of you been there or know of Darkstar going there?”

“No sir,” Brightstar replied with a shake of his head.

“Not the Warehouse District.” Air Raid agreed, “She'd never go there on her own, and especially not in the freezing morning.”

Hoofbeat consulted his notes, flicking from one page to another. “She was found between an empty building, which was searched and hasn't been entered in months. The other building belongs to Office and More. I show no record of any of you working there.”

Brightstar’s temper flared just briefly, “No, look, we know full well who did this to my sister detective!” He exclaimed.

Hoofbeat shot him a quick look, “And whom might that may be?” He asked in his perfect Canterlot accent.

The royal blue unicorn leapt to his hooves, suddenly very irate, he raised his voice to a low yell. “Cold Front! Who else?”

“Wildfire's dad.” Air Raid supplied, “It was him.”

Holding his pen in his blue magic Hoofbeat began taking even more notes in his little book. “Probable cause?”

Air Raid sat up in her seating pad, her grey eyes meeting the blue. “Before Hearths Warming, he discharged Wildfire from here. He told us she was in Filly...”

“Which we know is rubbish!” Brightstar interrupted his friend, still on his hooves. “We all started to look for her.”

Air Raid sighed, “I looked in Filly, I had some races out there. We came back Saturday.” Hoofbeat listened in silence, taking note of every word the pegasus and unicorn spoke. “I thought I saw her out there, little yellow pegasus, and I told Bright, who went out as well to look.

Brightstar lowered himself back to his pad next to Moonbeak, “That's how it happened, detective.”

“Saturday, midday, Darkie called me from Canterlot as we set off to come back from Filly.” Air Raid elaborated, “She was excited; she said...she was close to finding Wily.”

“What motivation would Cold Front have to lie about his daughter's location?” Hoofbeat asked, his pen poised on a clean piece of notepaper.

“Because he's scum!” Brightstar yelled before the pegasus could answer.

“I don't know, detective.” Air Raid said, struggling with the memory of the last few days. “Darkie said she'd dug around here, and this orange pegasus in the cafeteria, must be Autumn Burst, told her how she saw Cold Front meeting with a purple mare from a care home.”

Hoofbeat’s ears pricked as she gave him more details. “Which care home? Do you have the name of the mare?”

Reluctantly Air Raid shook her head. “I don't know, just that she's a unicorn and runs a care home in Canterlot.”

“You have Cold Front's address handy?” Hoofbeat asked, his ever-present pen at the ready.

“Of course, Sir,” Brightstar quickly gave the detective their old friend’s address.

“There's something else, detective. When Darkie called she was at Cafe Diem, when she hung up, she sounded off...weird, like.” Air Raid told the detective.

“What time was that call made?” Hoofbeat asked, ready to take more notes. “We didn't find a cell phone on the victim.”

“It was about one p.m., here, you can check my phone.” Air Raid offered her phone to the detective to check and verify her claim.

“We are in the process of getting a court order for her phone records and to search her place.” Hoofbeat commented, quickly scrolling through the pegasus’s recent records and making another note. “Even with your permission Brightstar we still need the court order. We will be doing that search tomorrow. Do any of you wish to be there? Also the location is taped off in case any of you wish to go there today.”

“No, we'll be back in Filly, sir.” Brightstar supplied.

“I'm not leaving her side.” Air Raid stated in a manner that suggested it was not up for debate. “Yesterday, I spoke to Java, from the Cafe, he said Darkie had thanked him for a donut he didn't give her, and she seemed, drunk, she was staggering as she left there.”

Hoofbeat noted that in big with bolded letters. “Does Darkstar drink?”

Air Raid shrugged, “No more or less than the rest of us, but...when she started the call she was as sober as a priest on Sunday.”

“I'll have officers check all locations for probable cause so we can get search warrants. Did Darkstar have any enemies other than Cold Front?”

“No!” Brightstar exclaimed indignantly. “Outside of a few pranks, everypony loved her.”

“Any gambling issues, debt, and / or any illegal actives you may know of?” The detective asked, watching the two ponies for their reactions.

Air Raid shook her head, “Nope. Definitely not, no way.”

Hoofbeat sighed deeply, breathing out through his nose. He hated interviews like this. Family and friends were always emotional and unpredictable. “The job seems very professional. No fur or wing dander. Except for being raped. Even then we can't tell if that was from the same ponies that hurt her, or even if it was before or after the damage was done.” He paused for breath and turned the page in his book. “We do know it was to send a message. She wasn't meant to be found alive. Are any of you in possible trouble? Is there other friends of Darkstar that may have problems?”

Now it was Brightstar’s turn to shake his head. “We aren't, over in Filly, and Cyclone is in Cloudsdale.”

Air Raid leant forward on her seating pad, an action that immediately caught the detective’s attention. “I...well I...” she was about to tell him about the time Wily’s dad had broken muzzle but...she sighed a defeated sigh. “No...I'm fine, detective.”

Brightstar turned on his friend disbelievingly. “Raid, tell him!”

Air Raid shuddered as she relived the incident a few months ago. “Cold Front...before we left for the races in Filly, he broke my muzzle, slammed his door in my face…”

“And he used to beat Wily!” Brightstar put in, on his hooves once again.

“Cold Front assaulted you?” Hoofbeat asked, his pen ready.

Once again the lime green mare shook her head. “I-It was...an accident.”

“Bullshit Raid!” Brightstar slammed a hoof on to the table’s surface. “Tell him!”

“Did you or him file a police report on the incident?” Hoofbeat enquired.

“No, no I didn't, and I don't want to now.” Air Raid stated clearly.

“WHAT!?” Brightstar screamed, his horn firing multi-coloured sparks in anger.

Moonbeak hooked a claw into Brightstar’s collar and pulled him down hard to his seating pad giving him a vicious stare.

“You've given us some leads. I'll try to get a court order before we interview Cold Front, but probable cause of 'Keeping you from asking about his daughter' may not carry much weight. We'll run a check for any abuse reports to help back it up.”

“Wily never pressed any charges, detective.” Air Raid explained, “She was too scared.”

Hoofbeat lifted himself off of the pad he’d been sitting on and straightened his jacket, a signal the interview was almost over. “I'll still run his name for something, and maybe he has a file. We are treating this case as attempted ponycide and maiming of a unicorn's horn. Both carry very stiff penalties. I'll keep all of you informed of our progress, most likely in a weekly report.” He took his notepad in his blue aura and floated it away. “Thank you all for your time. I'm sorry to have taken you away from your sister for the short time you have here.”

Brightstar stood as well, “You're welcome, detective. Please, please find who did this.”

“We will put every effort into this.” The detective offered a hoof to the two ponies and the griffon, who each bumped and shook his in return, before making his exit from the conference room.

“Why didn't you press charges Raid?” He asked, rounding on his friend almost the moment they were alone.

Air Raid looked him in the eye, not flinching as she stared him out. “Because what happens if I do, huh, Bright?”

“He'll get caught, that’s what!” He yelled back, stomping his hoof on the floor in utter frustration.

“No, Bright!” She yelled back, “I'll get put in a coma in the next damned bed, or perhaps even a damn sight worse!”

“You can't run her life Bright,” Moonbeak said gently as she laid a comforting clawed hand on her stallions shoulder, squeezing just enough for him to feel her talons. “But, I'd expect more from you Raid. Still you have a lot to lose, even more now.”

“You heard him, the detective!” The lime green mare exclaimed, stomping her own hoof at her friend with a snort of fury. “Darkie was a message Brightstar! STOP LOOKING. And, it’s received and understood.”

“Hopefully he has screwed up and the police will take him down.” Moonbeak reasoned. “Now both of you stop shouting or I'll treat Dark to a spanking of you both.” She added with a twinkle in her emerald eyes.

Brightstar opened his mouth few times, “I...I...” he fell to his haunches, defeatedly crumbling. “I'm sorry love.”

“Yeah, me too, Moon.” Air Raid said quietly.

Moonbeak chuckled, “And I thought you'd both keep yelling. Let’s go back upstairs At least Dark won't talk back.”

~ ~ ~

“How’s your cheesesteak, darling?” The griffon asked pointedly, her shrill voice – usually calm and collected – almost high enough so that only dogs would hear it clearly emphasising each syllable. Narrowing her emerald green eyes she cut into her own cheesesteak, her knife poised to take a slice of the beef and melted cheese.

“MMmmm…” Brightstar murmured in reply, his attention clearly elsewhere, a tiny bit of drool leaking from his mouth to land on his own cheesesteak as he gazed off to the distance to the nearby bar.

Following his faraway stare Moonbeak saw to where he was looking and her powerful dark grey wings spread slightly in anger. Not only was he very plainly ignoring her and the expensive food, her date was busy ogling an attractive young-looking mare in a crimson dress who was currently commanding all the focus at the bar as she overly delicately sipped the glass of whatever it was she was drinking.

‘Hmmm…she’s gorgeous…so pretty…’ Brightstar thought as he stared, carefully taking in every inch of the pegasu’s flank hugging dress; the way it followed the curve of her back, the precisely placed holes for her perfect wings, the shimmering of the sequins as they flowed down over her flanks and around her mint green tail. So perfectly proportioned, everything just where it should be to excite the imagination and, Brightstar’s imagination wasn’t the only thing excited.

‘Perfect, pretty, hateful bitch!’ Moonbeak thought, glaring sharp pointy daggers at the utterly unsuspecting pegasus who was obviously deep in a flirtatious conversation with the middle aged earth pony stallion beside her. ‘Whore!’ The griffon stared hatefully at the mare from her seating pad at the table which had taken a month of waiting to acquire, and it wasn’t even one of the better tables at Gino’s Steak House, subconsciously she couldn’t help but compare her body to her own – especially as her date was undoubtedly doing the same. Slim and attractive in a dress that should’ve been outlawed as a dangerous weapon, Moonbeak couldn’t help but feel deep pangs of jealousy as she glanced down at her own four month pregnant body. Already not as slim as she’d like to be from having had one kitten, she was starting to show the rounded distended swelling of her second pregnancy, which she knew wasn’t going to do her figure any favours. Add to this the fact that this mare was clearly at least ten years younger than her and the griffon was fantasising about beating the pegasus to a pulp, closely followed by her date.

After another fifteen minutes she decided she’d had enough. “Brightstar…hello…Equestria to Brightstar!” Moonbeak’s high pitched voice squeaked in frustration as she waved a clawed hand in front of the royal blue stallion’s yellow eyes. “Hey! Brightstar I’m over here!” Again the older griffon waved her hand in front of the distracted unicorn’s face, this time reaching over the restaurant table with a heaving groan and slapped his foreleg hard.

“Wha…what, oow Moonbeak what was that for?” Brightstar rubbed his foreleg where he had been slapped, his wandering attention turned wholly back to his date; when it did he couldn’t help but shrink back on his seating pad and away from the very furious look he was now receiving.

“What was that for?” She squeaked, her beak hanging open in stunned fury, her sharp claws digging small trenches in the dining table’s surface. “We have been in this restaurant for an hour and a half and you have spent eighty of those ninety minutes staring at that orange pegasus over there in the crimson dress!”

Brightstar blushed a faint red against his blue coat at having been caught out. He had indeed been staring, though obviously not as subtly as he had first thought. “I wasn’t staring…” he defended lamely, his yellow eyes unable to meet his date’s emerald green ones.

“Not staring, really?” Moonbeak bristled, some of her white feathers standing up on end contrasting with her grey fur. “You were drooling into your cheesesteak for Luna’s sake!” The fuming griffon pointed out the little bit of drool currently on the top of the food.

“You’re imagining it, Moony.” Brightstar replied, a confident smirk on his muzzle. “You’re probably hormonal or something like that,” he said dismissively with a wave of his hoof as he picked up the cheesesteak in his magic and instead of cutting off a little refined piece proceeded to take a huge bite, his cheeks bulging outwards with the quantity of food he was eating.

‘Hormonal?’ Moonbeak almost choked on the steak in her mouth. Struggling to swallow she was so angry she bent the knife held in her right claw. “How dare you! Do you have any idea how hard it was to arrange tonight?” She pounded her fist into the table top, rattling the plates and cutlery, nearly sending their wine glasses crashing to the floor.

Brightstar actually deigned to look at his furious date, turning bored yellow eyes upon her. “Yes I know, by Celestia’s sweet fetlocks do I know!”

“What’s. That. Supposed. To. Mean?!” Moonbeak asked, struggling to keep her voice as even as she spoke, her temper simmering just under the surface, ready to explode as she carefully enunciated out each word.

“Well,” the unicorn sighed, putting down his cheesesteak and wiping his muzzle purposefully with the tablecloth, not the napkin. “I’ll tell you, shall I?” He asked dismissively. “How can I not know ‘how hard it is to eat here’ when all you’ve done for the past week solid is bang on about coming here? Every time you open your beak it’s ‘Gino’s this’, or ‘Gino’s that’ or ‘hey guess where we’re going?’ every day counting down like a Luna damned Hearths Warming advent calendar!”

Moonbeak had heard enough. Suddenly planting her balled-up claws on the tabletop the pregnant griffon thrust herself upright to her paws, looming over the dinner table with her distended belly resting upon it as she leant over and with a swipe of her right arm delivered a resounding slap to the left side of Brightstar’s face, the sharp points of her clawed fingers leaving little trails that began to bleed straight away. “Bastard!” She screeched, her already shrill voice practically inaudible, utterly uncaring of the other diners in the restaurant putting down their knives and forks to watch the unfolding scene that had been brewing for the past ten minutes. “I’m going home!” Leaning forward so her beak was inches away from her date’s nose she gave him the barest flicker of a wink just for him.

Sneering back at her Brightstar rubbed his hoof along the shallow cuts at his cheek and laughed, "Dear, do sit down you’re making a scene; ponies are looking at you.”

“Пусть смотрят!” Moonbeak yelled, her rage evident as she reverted to her native Griffonian tongue. “Я так роговой, я хочу тебя прямо сейчас!” By now the whole restaurant, including the staff, had stopped whatever they were doing to watch the drama as the irate griffon slapped her date’s right cheek – her second strike equally as hard as the first – before leaving him sat there alone at the table as she angrily stomping out of the building.

Gradually the other diners returned to their own food and conversations in the aftermath of Moonbeak’s eruption. Sighing happily at a job well done Brightstar lifted the remaining half of his cheesesteak in his magic, this time taking a more reserved bite, he didn’t know whether to be aroused or scared so he settled somewhere between the two.

Fifteen minutes later having finishing off his drink, and being grateful Moonbeak didn’t throw it over him like last time, Brightstar took care of the bill and left the restaurant to walk the three quarter of a mile back to the treehouse he now considered home.

He laughed out loud as he walked. ‘Treehouse’ was doing it a disservice, it really was; Moonbeak’s Fillydelphia house was a large open plan single storey four bedroom log cabin supported by the branches of three large oak trees. Larger than the house he had shared with his sister in Canterlot, Brightstar had fell in love with the treehouse ever since his girlfriend had taken him home after their first date at Gino’s Place three months ago when Air Raid had took the last photo his sister had seen before her attack. ‘Three months ago…’ Brightstar’s cheerful mood turned morose at the thought of his sister. His walk, already slow to give Moonbeak sufficient time to get home, slowed to a virtual stand-still and he leant against a nearby wall, doing his absolute best to fight back the tears that threatened to pour down his scratched cheeks.

Moonbeak had gone with him to see her the first Saturday after her attack. They’d only been together a few days, not even a full week. There had been no question, no argument. As soon as her mother, a griffon in her late fifties – Brightstar had been too polite to ask her exact age – by the name of Astraea had been able she had gladly minded her daughter's one year old kitten Athena. Sitting by his side in the hospital room, Moonbeak hadn’t said a word, she just gently placed her clawed hand on his hoof and sat quietly while he had openly wept at his sister’s condition. Nineteen years old he hadn’t cried like that since the age of fourteen when his mom had been committed to the asylum; he had cried that day though. For hours he’d cried; he’d begged Darkstar to get up, pleaded with her to wake up, he’d even screamed at her, anything to get at least some sort of reaction from his comatose sister and through it all Moonbeak sat without a word, just holding his hoof. He’d known then that evening on the way back to Filly he was going to grow old with her. She was a keeper for sure.

Thinking of Astraea cheered him up almost instantly. She had the unusual combination of razor sharp intellect and wit sitting happily alongside a foalish sense of humour and absolutely zero shame. She reminded him of an older lewder version of his sister and Cyclone put together in one glorious package. They had been dating for one month when Moonbeak had taken him to meet her mother. Brightstar had been so nervous, right up to the point she had opened her beak. Instead of introducing herself like any normal being she had spoken straight to Moonbeak in their native Griffonian, ‘Его член - дольше чем его рожок?’ Astraea had asked, which from his languages major at Canterlot University he had understood to mean ‘His cock - longer than his horn?’ Brightstar knew he was going to like this wonderful old lady. Of course, his reply to her of ‘Она не жалуется, когда я использую один из них,’ had all but sealed the deal, once she had stopped laughing long enough to welcome the unicorn into the family that is.

That had been the only time he had made Moonbeak blush, in fact she’d still had a blush visible through her white feathers in her car on the way back to the treehouse. He laughed at the memory of her swatting him between gear changes. “Did you have to tell my mother that ‘She does not complain when I use either of them’?” She had groused at the wheel of her saloon car.

Chuckling, thanking Celestia for the gift of Astraea and her ability to lift his spirits, the stallion started walking down the street towards home once more. He hadn’t taken more than a few steps when it occurred to him that he hadn’t called Air Raid for a few days – true Moonbeak’s photography business had kept them double busy, what with everypony wanting to get married in May - but still, no excuse for not thinking about her and Darkie. Lighting his horn as he walked Brightstar levitated his iPhone out of his saddlebag and dialled his friend’s number, confident she’d be up in spite of the hour nearing ten O’clock at night.

Air Raid answered by the second ring. “Uh…wh-what’s up, Bright?” She asked, her voice heavy with weariness like she hadn’t slept in days and a distinct sniffle that betrayed a hastily recovered bout of tears.

“No, what’s up with you Raid?” He asked, his left ear perked up at his friend’s tone. “You sound like you’ve driven through Tartarus the long way round. Twice.”

Air Raid sniffled and choked back a few barely held tears. “I’m fine. Totally absolutely fine.”

“Bullshit Raid. Tell me what’s up or I’ll get Moony to come and spank you again.”

Air Raid had to admit that prospect was tempting. A griffon’s spanking was like being flailed by several tiny knives, sharp enough to make you bleed but not too sharp that they caused lasting damage and, under any other circumstances the lime green mare would’ve jumped at the opportunity. “Oh…it’s, it’s nothing really, I’ve just had a falling out with Slingshot that’s all.”

Brightstar almost dropped his phone. ‘A falling out with Slingshot?’ He thought incredulously. “No Raid, that’s not ‘nothing’. What happened?”

“Um…well, ‘Shot, he um, paid a visit earlier; wanted to know why I haven’t been racing when we’re only a quarter way through the season. He was pissed we’d missed eight races off the Canterlot circuit, said the sponsors were gonna drop us, well me, if we didn’t start entering some. I said there was no way I was leaving Darkie’s bedside. We uh…had a ‘disagreement’. He said Darkie was nothing but a transparent attempt to make up for abandoning Wildfire. I um…I yelled at him to get out, and he did. He just left.”

“Oh Raid…Raid I’m sorry,” Brightstar comforted, “Hey, it’s Wednesday now, how about we drop Athena with her nan and come up on Friday for the weekend, give you a bit of a break?”

“I don’t need a break. I need to be here for Darkie.” Came the ever stubborn reply.

“Raid…I’m willing to bet you haven’t been out of that hospital in three months.” Brightstar asserted firmly. “At least Darkie doesn’t have to endure the food. We’re coming up on Friday, you’re going to go home and rest, even if Moony has to hoof-cuff you to your bed.”

"Bright I…thanks Bright.” Air Raid’s stubborn defence crumbled before the weight of her tears, like an old dam struggling to hold back the weight of the water behind it.

“Get some rest Air Raid, before they put you in a bed next to my sister.” Brightstar said kindly as he hung up. “We’ll see you soon hun.”

Brightstar rounded the corner onto their street and cancelled the call, floating his phone back in his saddlebag as he approached the base of the treehouse. Looking up he noticed all the lights but one were turned off, namely their bedroom. ‘Uh oh…that’s trouble…’ he thought, remembering the way Moonbeak had stormed from the restaurant. Suddenly he wasn’t sure if he’d left it too long coming home. Oh well…only one way to know for sure. Lighting his horn again he began to charge up his magic, igniting it in a bright yellow mini corona as he concentrated precisely on the treehouse, specifically the small circular area in the entrance hall reserved for teleportation, brought the image to his mind’s eye and imagined himself occupying that exact spot in space. Channelling his raw power she thought of the words of activation for the spell and the familiar sensation of being squeezed through a narrow pipe overcame the unicorn as she disappeared from the spot at the base of the largest oak tree with a bright flash of yellow light, leaving behind him a slight smell of ozone in the air.

“Ложиться. Теперь.” Moonbeak’s high pitched voice sounded the instant Brightstar materialised and his shining yellow aura had dissipated. Despite there being a good forty five minutes since they’d seen each other there was still a spark of anger in her voice that sent chills down the unicorn’s spine.

Stepping forward from the entrance hall into the darkened main room of the treehouse Brightstar felt the thick quilted carpet beneath his hooves – one of the reasons the treehouse was so warm – he hastened to obey his lady and laid down right there like she had ordered. That she was still talking Griffonian meant she was still pissed.

“Хороший мальчик. Копыта сейчас.” Moonbeak ordered with a quiet authority, unwinding a thin length of red silk in her clawed hands, though the colour couldn't be seen in the dark. Flapping her powerful dark grey wings she hovered over to the obedient stallion laid on the floor. “Good boy.” She smiled, her sharp yellow beak glinting in the half light as Brightstar raised his forehooves up in front of his head like she had requested. Hovering above him she slowly lowered herself down until she was straddling herself across his chest. Leaning forward she quickly looped the ribbon of silk around his forehooves, loosely tying them together. “You've been a bad boy tonight though, haven't you?”

Brightstar shivered with excitement as he felt the ribbon snake around his hooves. He could break it of course; as a restraint it was more symbolic than it was effective, which of course was entirely the point. He saw the shadowy shape of Moonbeak sitting on his chest, he felt her warm sex pressed against his fur, rubbing wet and moist against his skin. Slowly she ground herself against him, her labia leaving slick trails on his fur marking her passage. Every time she rubbed against him his sheath twitched as his member reacted to the stimulus, already the flat head was starting to emerge, followed by the rest of him as the griffon continued to tease him.

“Who was a naughty boy?” Moonbeak asked sternly, leaning back and sliding her wingtips along his inner thighs.

“I was…I was naughty Ma’am.” Brightstar answered immediately, the stern tone of his girlfriend’s tone making him harder by the second.

“What did you do?” Moonbeak writhed around on his chest, sliding lower to his belly where he felt her distended belly pressed to his flatter one, his now erect stallionhood resting against her buttocks.

“Nggh…I…I took my beautiful griffon out for a meal Ma’am…and I spent the night ogling a young pegasus.” Brightstar gasped as she raised herself up and moved backwards over his erect shaft, hovering her hindquarters just above it.

“Hmm…you are bad aren’t you?” He could hear the dominant sneer in her voice. “What do you say?” She asked as she rested her dripping wet sex against the underside of his penis.

“S-sorry Ma’am…” Brightstar whimpered pitifully. “I’m sorry for eyeing up that young mare! I truly am Ma’am!”

“Oh…you will be, маленький мальчик.” Without warning Moonbeak thrust herself downwards but instead of lowering herself gently onto his throbbing shaft she used her bodyweight to force it flat against his belly earning her a very satisfying yelp of surprise and pain then needy desire from her stallion as she rubbed herself along his length.

“AaaAAGH…AaaOOOW! I…I’m s-sorry Ma’aaaam!” Brightstar screamed as she crushed his erect stallionhood to his body a second and third time, the last time Moonbeak ground herself onto his balls, rolling herself around and bouncing her weight up and down on his tender pained nuts. His forelegs flexed instinctively, millimetres from snapping the delicate ribbon, but he knew that wasn’t allowed.

“MMmm…you know what?” She asked rhetorically, “I think you are sorry.” The griffon smiled in the half-light of the main room as she ground against his throbbing hard member one last time, drawing another pained whimper from the poor unicorn. “Would my little boy like a reward now?”

“Aaah…aah…y-yes, Ma’am…pl-please, reward me.” He groaned in delightful agony.

Frowning Moonbeak raised herself up fractionally and landed on his testes again, harder this time, making him almost break the ribbon. She knew he never would. “Stupid little pony. Ask me properly.”

“Ngggh…AAAAAGH!” Brightstar shook with pain under his griffon, he knew what she wanted and he knew she loved making him beg. “Я прошу вас вознаградит меня Сударыня!” He begged for her in her native tongue.

“That’s better, much better.” This time when she lifted herself up she gently took hold of his abused stallionhood, gripping it carefully in her sharp clawed hand Moonbeak guided the flat head to her wet vagina and slowly, very slowly started to lower herself down upon it. “You’ve earned this, for being such an obedient pony.”

“HmMMmmm…” He moaned lustily as he felt rather than saw her purposefully slow descent. After his torment she was trying to get him to buck his hip upwards, but the unicorn knew better than to try it. She would deal swiftly and painfully with any such attempt. ‘Luna above she’s so tight!’ He thought as he felt the moist walls of her tunnel stretch and expand to accommodate his length and girth within herself.

Moonbeak stopped at his medial ring and placed both of her clawed hands on his broad firm chest. Like that she held herself semi impaled on his throbbing cock for a whole five seconds, until she was sure her stallion was a heartbeat away from bucking his hips before she lowered herself the rest of the way to hilt herself upon him. As she did so with a malicious smile on her beak she dug her claws into the flesh of his chest.

“YEeaaARGH!” With the pain in chest causing wonderful endorphins to course through him and the sudden hilting inside his girlfriend Brightstar almost came right there. “Th-thank y-you…” He gasped as she started to ride him, pulling herself up over his ring then sinking back down to hilt herself once more.

“S-say…hmmm…say my ooooh…name!” Moonbeak groaned, the coppery scent of her stallion’s blood driving her almost to her peak, as well as from her grinding and teasing. Again and again she hilted on his shaft, her overdue climax starting to build in the depths of her core. “Say it!”

“M-Moon…aaaah…b-beaaaAAAK!” The unicorn screamed in pure ecstasy as he was ridden, already he could feel his balls begin to tighten, he knew his own orgasm wasn’t far away.

Leaning forward so her distended belly was touching his she lifted her claws from his bloodied chest and slid them up his body to close them around his neck. “Fuck me.” She snarled in his ear as her claws dug past his blue fur and pierced his skin again. “Трахни меня сейчас!”

“Uuh…aaah…uugh…” Brightstar gasped and struggled for breath as her claws tightened around his oesophagus, robbing him of air and making white stars explode in eyes as with her blessing he finally lifted his hips, bucking them hard to ram his cock into her, easily matching her rhythm. With each exhalation Moonbeak squeezed tighter, preventing the next breath he so desperately needed while at the same time heightening the sensations he was feeling with each deep thrust inside her.

“Ooh…B-briiIIIGHHHT…MMmmm…y-yeeEEES!” Moonbeak screamed her climax in her lover’s ear, her claws still tight around his neck as she sank down on him, riding out the tidal wave of pleasure she was feeling all through her body, her wings outstretched and fully erect.

“Ga…gaaAAAAH MOOOONY!” Finding valuable breath from somewhere Brightstar expelled it in a scream of his own as his penis erupted deep within her, coating her insides with his hot semen as it mixed with her own ejaculate that started to leak from her. “I…l-love y-you…” he gasped, the multi-coloured stars still blossoming against his retina as his intense climax subsided. One thing registered in his oxygen starved brain; she wasn’t letting go. He was really starting to choke. Really properly choke.

“R…Rose…”

Immediately he felt the claws lessen their hold around his neck and as he gulped down the delicious much-needed air the ribbon was removed from his hooves. His ear tingled as he felt warm breath of his girlfriend still above him; felt the affectionate nip of her beak at the tip of his ear. “You did so very well, my lovely amazing stallion.” She cooed, giving his ear a tender lick that made him shiver with prideful excitement. Still breathing deeply Brightstar drank in the sweet air, his body starting to tingle and itch as feeling slowly returned to him. Dimly he felt Moonbeak lift herself off of him, he heard the wet ‘schlopping’ sound as his spent stallionhood came free from her. Wondering exactly what she had planned next for him the royal blue unicorn whimpered as he felt two strong arms slide under his back and lift him up, pulling him close against a feathery chest.

“I think the bath will still be warm for you my love.” Moonbeak whispered in his right ear, the back of his head supported by the crook of her left arm as her right arm held him at the knees of his hind legs, his back resting just above her large belly. Nestling in her strong comforting embrace Brightstar felt them both rise up as her wings flapped, propelling them through the treehouse to the large bathroom.

As she opened the bathroom door with a kick of her right leg Brightstar couldn’t help but stir in his girlfriend’s arms at the sight that greeted him. The lights had been dimmed and almost every free surface – the sink, windowsill, the shelves, the large flat-topped sides of the bath – were covered in strawberry scented candles, creating a warm glow that permeated the spacious bathroom. As they neared the large double bath another scent tickled the back of his nose.

“Strawberry and kiwi?” He asked with a surprised smile, looking lovingly up into her emerald green eyes. “When did you have the time for all this?”

“Shh, hush now my love.” Moonbeak cooed gently as she lowered them both carefully into the heavily scented still-warm bathwater, the smell of strawberry and kiwi oils even stronger. Still taking the lead she pushed him gently backwards until his head rested against the bath, his bottom of his black mane floating in the water. Scooping up a handful of the water she poured it over the claw wounds on his chest, making him hiss slightly as she bathed him. “You've earned your favourite oils and scents. Enjoy them.”

“I earned them?” Brightstar asked with a grateful smile as he felt his tired muscles soothe and relax in the warm bath. “What did I do?”

“You, my clever blue lovely, played your part wonderfully at the restaurant that's what you did and,” she purred, stroking a claw delicately down his cheek to his neck, “You were a very good pony when you came back.” She finished, kissing her beak tenderly to his lips.

“Yeah…about the restaurant, Gino had a word after you left, he wants to know if we can knock it off for a while? Says he's getting of watching the show after the fifth performance.” Brightstar chuckled at the memory of the irate stallion as Moonbeak continued to wash his fur.

“Oh…I suppose we could,” the griffon smiled, “You need to heal before the next time anyway.” She said, kissing him again just as tenderly as before. “Bright…you um…you weren't really ‘looking’ looking at that pegasus, were you?” She asked, suddenly uncertain. At thirty five she knew she wasn't exactly a chick anymore, and that she was lucky to have a young toycolt like Brightstar.

“Moony…baby, there’s only one heart for me, and it beats in your chest. I won't deny that pegasus wasn't pretty,” he said as his lover’s face fell, “But you’re beyond pretty, you’re beautiful, and you're mine.” Brightstar smiled and pulled her into a cuddle next to him in the bath.

"Really? You were ages coming back, I um, I thought…maybe, y’know…maybe….”

“What?” Brightstar smiled up at her in the embrace, “That I’d rather be with a vapid depthless mare just because she’s young rather than be with the world's most perfect griffon?” The stallion smiled warmly at his girlfriend. “Besides, didn't you hear what Athena called me yesterday?”

Moonbeak looked down and blushed for only the second time since they’d been together. “Она называется тебя ‘папа’.”

“Exactly my love. Your little kitten called me ‘daddy’. You think I’m really gonna swap that for anything?” Pulling her back into the tight embrace the unicorn and griffon snuggled and kissed until the water turned cold.

~ ~ ~

“Mum! C’mon mum it’s the first day of school!” Fireflight buzzed her little wings happily, completely unable to hide her excitement as she bounced on her parents’ wide double bed.

“Ugh...” without opening her chestnut brown eyes Wildfire blindly reached her hoof out and felt around for her alarm clock, which was a difficult task under the orbital pegasi bombardment that her filly was currently unleashing upon her and her wife, who amazingly was still asleep. Blearily she cracked open an eye. ‘It’s still dark out…that’s not good…’ finally managing to focus the pegasus looked at the clock like it was its fault she was up. “Flight…it’s five a.m.!” She groaned.

“I know! I know!” Fireflight squealed with delight, landing a huge bounce on the concealed snoring lump next to her mum that was her mom Air Raid – who was either really asleep or a really good actor – who grunted out a loud snore and rolled over. “The whole day is almost over! C’mon, it’s school, I wanna go!”

Wildfire slumped exhaustedly back in her bed. “Sweetie…school doesn’t start for another four hours! Go back to bed…” ‘pleeeeease!’

“But…muuuum!” Fireflight landed on her mum’s chest and gave her a little nip on the base of her neck that she knew she liked and nuzzled her tiny muzzle in deep into her yellow fur, getting her wet nose right against her skin. “I’m too excited!”

Wildfire sighed in defeat. “Alright then, I’m up little one. Have you brushed your teeth?” She asked, propping herself up on her foreleg.

“Um…no mum.”

“Alrighty…well, have you at least had a bath then?” Wildfire yawned and stretched her wings as she sat up properly in the bed.

Her excited filly didn’t answer; Fireflight’s scarlet blush told her everything she needed to know.

“Yuppers, I thought not,” she grinned, wrinkling her nose playfully. “Go and run yourself a bath you smelly filly.” Wildfire giggled as she bopped her daughter’s nose with her hoof. “You can’t start school smelling like your mom after a day at the races.”

“Alrighty mummy!” Fireflight chirped as she took off like a rocket to the upstairs bathroom.

Wildfire rolled over on the bed, now fully properly awake and accepting that sleep had been robbed from her. “You…” She grinned into her wife’s exposed right ear, “Are an evil pony for not waking up with me.” She whispered, nipping the tip of her lime green ear hard. Very hard indeed.

“Ooow! Wily!” Air Raid grunted, her grey eyes still closed as she flicked her ear. “Too early. Need sleep. Make it up to you later.”

“I’ll wear my firefighter’s uniform; you’d better make it up to me.” Wildfire kissed her cheek as she heard the bathwater running. “I’d better go before she floods us again. You just go back to sleep like you don’t have a care in Equestria.”

Chainsaw-like snores were her only reply from the pony-shaped lump that was her wife.

~ ~ ~

“Alrighty…for the ninth time of asking, are you ready?” Wildfire asked her bubbling filly who was almost trembling with excitement as the wall clock announced the time of eight twenty five.

“Yes mum I’ve got everything, let’s go, c’mon we’ll be late let’s go!” Fireflight squealed as she pushed her glasses up her muzzle.

“Flight…we have twenty five minutes to make a fifteen minute walk.” Wildfire smiled as she placed a reassuring hoof on her daughter’s shoulder, trying in vain to calm her down. “We’ll be fine, you’ll see. Now, have you got your saddlebags?”

“Yes mum it’s here look!” Fireflight turned to show off her clearly visible bags slung over her barrel.

“Textbooks?” The yellow mare asked again.

“Yes mum! I have everything; textbooks, notebooks, pencil case, spare pencil case, spare glasses, everything!” The little filly pouted indignantly up at her mother. “You’ll want me to have spares of my spares next!”

“Hey little madam, no need to be sassy.” Wildfire extended a wing over her little filly and pulled her, bags and all, into a feathery hug. “You aren’t too big for a spanking y’know.” She added with a wink as she ushered her out of their front door into the bright Monday morning sun.

“Like the ones that mommy Raid gives to you?” Fireflight asked innocently as she cocked her head up at the (slightly) larger pegasus.

“Yes…” Wildfire blushed a faint red on her cheeks and smiled down at her little filly. “Though you won’t get the hoof-cuffs.”

“Aww!” The little filly stomped her hoof in adorable indignation as she walked beside her mother. “But, mum! I wanna try them they look fun!”

Wildfire paused on the path to the schoolhouse, a smile reaching her brown eyes. “They don't make them in your size, sweetie.” She laughed at the pout her little filly was making. “Grow a bit, then maybe we’ll get Santa Hooves to bring you a set for Hearths Warming, okay?”

“Okay mummy! I'll grow super fast you'll see!” Fireflight buzzed her little wings so hard and with such enthusiasm she left the cobbled path and landed perfectly upon her mother's back.

“I'm sure you will honey,” Wildfire couldn't help but laugh, not to be in any way cruel, her filly’s joy was just too infectious to not at least giggle with her. “Why I bet you’ll be the bestest growerer in Canterlot.”

Now it was Fireflight’s turn to laugh, giggling delightfully into her mother's black mane. “Mummy those aren't proper words, you made them up!”

“Of course I made them up sweetie.” Wildfire giggled to the little pony currently nestled tight to her back. “All words are made up at some point Flight, that’s how language evolves, honey.”

They walked along in silence for a good few yards, both ponies enjoying each other's company in the beautiful morning sunlight. “Mum…” Fireflight whispered, almost inaudibly into her mother's ear, “Mum I'm…I'm scared, a bit…well a lot, sort of…”

“Sweetie…you have nothing to be scared of…nothing…nothing…

It was no use.

With a deep sigh Wildfire carefully removed the pen from her mouth, laying it down on her paper so she knew where it was for when she needed it again. ‘Nothing to be scared of’, she’d written that line over a dozen times now in over a dozen different stories that she'd written about her little filly, and every time she'd gotten stuck at that line. No matter what the story was, she just couldn't get past that line. No matter what she wrote the line just seemed so fake, so…untrue, that she couldn't bring herself to carry on.

‘Nothing to be scared of…’ Wildfire gave a derisive laugh at those five simple words. Such a lie they were. “Nggh…” She grunted aloud as she shifted her body, leaning herself slightly more to the right to alleviate the pressure on her badly bruised ribs and the pain she felt in her abdomen. The stiff surgical cast around her whole right foreleg hindered her movement somewhat, and instead of pushing with her leg she had to use her body to roll herself over, which hurt her all the more.

'Damn thing...bloody damn thing...' She thought to herself irritably, mentally kicking herself. The moment she’d thought of the cast protecting the break of the humerus above the elbow and the radius below the infernal thing started making her itch again, and although Wildfire had worn it for a month already, the yellow mare knew she would need it around her leg for at least another two weeks. A parting Hearths Warming gift from Lotus Stripes, Wildfire was dreading her broken leg healing. Again she snorted out a laugh at that; here she was actually dreading her leg healing, dreading the day her cast was removed by the care home medic. She knew she’d only have a few minutes, maybe hours if she was really lucky, before either Lotus or Amber came to her cell and broke a different leg. If they were following the cycle her right hind leg would be next, same as always; Amber Leaves would hold her leg out straight in her magic while Lotus delivered the two blows that would easily fracture her femur and cannon bone. After the breaking she would be left on the floor of her cell for at least two hours before the medic came to set the leg.

And then six weeks later the cycle, the seemingly never-ending cycle, would continue.

Wildfire didn’t even know what they wanted from her anymore. If she stayed down, they beat her. If she stood up, they beat her. If she cried out in pain they beat her, but if she stayed quiet they still beat her. Regardless of how well she did or did not follow whatever arbitrary rule was given to her the result was always the same. Sometimes they didn’t even give her a reason, just enter her cell and beat her until they were tired then just leave, all the time with no comment at all.

Wildfire had stopped talking to her mum. Every day she asked for a miracle, for somepony to find her, to take her home…every day, nothing. Like Mistress Glory told her every time she spoke to her, ‘this is her life; this is her existence now, Wildfire was nothing. Less than nothing. She was her Mistress’s property, nothing more or less than an object to be used.’

After nine months of the constant rhetoric, Wildfire was starting to believe it.

Lowering her muzzle to the paper the yellow mare picked up her pen in her mouth and with her left forehoof felt amongst the sheets of paper for a clean piece. Eventually, after roughly ten minutes of leafing through page after page of paper filled with the regular bumps of her braille writing, pages and pages full of hopes and dreams (dreams of the foal she had always wanted to have with Air Raid), each one of them the strands of a future that she knew deep down would never now happen, she managed to locate a page that was half empty.

Placing her pen to make the first indent of the first letter Wildfire paused as she decided what this story would be about. ‘Fireflight, of course,’ she giggled to herself. ‘This time she can be a firefighter, like me…oooh we can team up!’

~ ~ ~

“Mr. Stripes, Miss Leaves, your reports if you please.” Amethyst said quietly, sifting through the small stack of mail she held in her magic, sorting them into several piles; one that warranted urgent attention, one that required a reply, one that was ‘read only’ and a fourth that was junk. Most of the mouth-written envelopes automatically ended up in the trash. She was about to deposit one such letter in the trash can beside her desk when Amber Leaves spoke up, diverting her attention and making her pause, and in doing so she recognised the writing on the envelope. This was beyond urgent.

“The new stallion in cell six is ready for breaking, Warden Glory.” Amber’s eyes shined with pride at a job well done as she gave her report.

“Really?” Amethyst couldn’t hide the surprise in her voice as she lowered her mail and looked over her half-moon glasses at her faithful lieutenant. “So soon?” Her surprise was justified, it had only been here two months.

“Yes Warden Glory. It has been denied sleep for four days now, my thornwhip and I have personally ‘entertained’ him for the past two days.” Amber Leaves was so excited she even stopped pacing from forehoof to forehoof. “I estimate one more day and he…it, will accept anything you want it to.”

“Very well, Miss Leaves.” Amethyst magically slit the envelope she was holding in her aura. “You have done well. Very well indeed. Make it happen, Miss Leaves.”

“As you order, Warden Glory.” The unicorn mare looked over at Lotus fidgeting subtly on his seating pad across from her and couldn’t disguise the smirk on her muzzle. “Unlike some here I get the job done.”

Indignantly Lotus opened his mouth to give his colleague a heart-felt retort when the Head Warden raised a hoof without looking away from her letter. “Ah, ah! Miss Leaves, we will not resort to foalish bickering. Not in my office. Now then, Mr. Stripes, my sources tell me the pegasus from the hospital cafeteria has returned from Cloudsdale this past week. I trust you are tying up this loose end?”

Now it was Lotus’s turn to smirk as the huge earth pony ran his hoof along the necklace he was wearing, brushing over the three matching pairs of orange primary feathers. “I am, Warden Glory.” His hoof paused over the three teeth dividing the feathers, one still had dried blood on it.

“So I see, Lotus.” Amethyst grinned as she watched the titanic earth pony admire his hoofiwork, “Mind you do not get lost in your work, I still need you clear-headed and present at the hospital.”

“Yes Warden Glory, I understand.” Lotus said, not a little reluctantly, thinking of the young pegasus currently languishing in her shackles holding her tight to the cold brick wall of the dank tiny space hidden under the floor of his supply cupboard in the Canterlot Royal Hospital, where she’d been for the past three days. “One more day please, Warden, her screams are such beautiful music!” He enthused, thinking of the day before when he had slowly taken his time with her. At the end of the session when she had been dribbling blood, before he had forced the gag back in her mouth, she had begged him to kill her, by almighty Celestia he had almost orgasmed on the spot.

“As you wish, Lotus. I want the pegasus in the ground by day’s end tomorrow.” Amethyst smiled remorselessly as she signed Autumn Burst’s death warrant. She didn’t know her name, didn’t know or care she was about to make an unsuspecting colt an orphan, or deprive a handsome stallion of his fiancé. Had she been asked the director would’ve admitted, somewhat callously, that she didn’t even know what the mare’s name was. Indeed, she only knew her coat was orange because of her primaries hanging from the trophies adorning Lotus’s massive neck.

Amethyst Glory went back to finishing the mail she had almost discarded had it not been for Amber’s comment. The director couldn’t help but smile at what she read.

‘Dear Ms. Glory,

I have dealt with the nuisance that was snooping into our business. Rest assured she won’t be bothering either of us again. Me and the boys worked her over good; let’s just say she won’t be tight for her future stallion, that’s if she ever wakes up at all.

HA!!

I’ve even sent you a little photo, with love from the back of my van. Hope you like it. It’s put her other friends off from even thinking of looking for W now. Speaking of her, if you can arrange for her to send me letters saying how well she’s doing, how she doesn’t want to see them again, how distraught they left her and how she’s moving on, that would seal the deal.

CF’

Amethyst’s smile went so wide it practically split her head in two. This was truly excellent news indeed, and the only downside of it from her point of view was that the letter was rather outdated – she put that down to him drinking - the unicorn in question was still in her coma even now, months after her attack, according to the report from Lotus.

No, what made her smile now was the idea of the letters. ‘How deliciously simple…’ Amethyst had to admit this was a wonderfully…elegant way of making it just ‘disappear’ from the face of the realm. Though she was loathe to do it, in this instance she had to give Cold Front his due. Admittedly her expectations of him were never high, but here he had managed to surprise her. Which didn’t happen very often.

“Lotus, Amber…regarding the property in cell seven. Change of plans. It’s taken us a long time, longer than usual,” she directed her pointed gaze squarely at Lotus Stripes who flinched on his seating pad. “No matter. I know we’re close with it now, after the ‘training’ was stepped up. I want you two, both of you, to keep on it; do not let up now we are so very close.” Amethyst grinned as a nasty idea swam through her head and she started scribbling out a note for her two subordinates. “Take this and go to it. Break its wing. Get it to write this down, make sure that IT writes it, that is very important. If it does not comply, break the other wing. Understand?”

“Yes Warden Glory!” They both answered in unison.

~ ~ ~

“There!” Wildfire smiled as she finished the last letter of her sentence, the last sentence of her little story. This time she had written Fireflight as a superhero, the sixth and newest member of the Power Ponies team heroically saving the day in Maretropolis. Reverently the yellow mare placed the loose piece of paper back on top of the others that were lying between the black leather embossed cover and the first parchment page. Taking the precious book in her mouth she slid off of her bed with a muffled grunt of pain at her ribs and nudged it with her muzzle so it was hsafely under her bed.

As her right foreleg was still tightly bound in it’s protective cast, and therefore inflexible below the rotation of the shoulder joint, the little pegasus spread her wings in the confines of her cell and flapped them to get her up off of the floor and back onto her bed. “Ooof…” she grimaced as she landed a little too roughly, bumping her cracked ribs against the wooden piece of wood she laid on.

“Ugh…” Wildfire wrinkled up her nose as she entertained the idea of eating the celery that was sitting in the bowl beside her on the bed.  She didn’t really entertain the idea of not eating it anymore, her ribs hurt her just too damn much. As it was she had been kicked and punched so often she couldn’t remember a time where she could breathe without wincing and grimacing in pain. “Just…let…m-me…breathe!” She screamed to the empty cell, lowering her forehead to the bed as she whimpered. Even reaching for the celery hurt her.

She lifted a piece of the celery to her lips and took a large bite, so hungry she swallowed it without chewing, as did she the next piece and the piece after that. Reaching for another piece of the despised celery her hoof scraped the bottom of the bowl; she hadn’t even been aware she’d emptied it. ‘If I’m lucky maybe they won’t beat me today…’ she thought miserably.

Taking long, slow breaths Wildfire found a rhythm that didn’t hurt her very much and settled into it, resting her head on both of her outstretched forelegs. As she rested her mind began to wander she thought back to the fire she had attended where Heatwave had died, to the dressing down Hot Spot had given her and to the visit she had paid to her mother’s grave. “I’ll never see mum again…” she sniffled with sadness at the thought of Clear River standing alone at her husband’s graveside, then going to see her mum in her place.

As she sighed deeply and gave a loud sniffle of despair the sense of hopelessness she’d been feeling for days now threatened to overwhelm her. Again she was tempted to give up. What was the point in resisting? All it was doing was earning her day after unrelenting day of agony. Bowing her scarred face to her forelegs Wildfire felt nothing but utter despair…then as she carried on breathing deeply a song came to her mind. An old song she and her mum used to sing along to on the radio together.

“Line one is the time

That you, you first stayed over at mine

And we drank our first bottle of wine

And we cried

Line two we're away

And we both, we both had nowhere to stay

Well the bus-shelter's always OK

When you're young

Now you're older and I look at your face

Every wrinkle is so easy to place

And I only write them down just in case

That you die

Let's take a look at these crow’s feet, just look

Sitting on the prettiest eyes

Sixty 25th of Decembers

Fifty-nine 4th of Julys

Not through the age or the failure, children

Not through the hate or despise

Take a good look at these crow.s feet

Sitting on the prettiest eyes

Line three I forget

But I think, I think it was our first ever bet

And the horse we backed was short of a leg

Never mind

Line four in a park

And the things, the things that people do in the dark

I could hear the faintest beat of your heart

Then we did

Now you're older and I look at your face

Every wrinkle is so easy to place

And I only write them down just in case

You should die

Lets take a look at these crow’s feet, just look

Sitting on the prettiest eyes

Sixty 25th of Decembers

Fifty-nine 4th of Julys

You can't have too many good times, children

You can't have too many lines

Take a good look at these crow’s feet

Sitting on the prettiest eyes.”

Finishing her song Wildfire rested her head back on her legs, the pushed away despair and feeling of unbearable hopelessness slowly started to return. Wildfire knew it was just a matter of time before they won, what was the harm in just giving in?

‘Heatwave never gave in!’ She chided herself, slapping her left hoof across her face. ‘Mum didn’t give in when she was trying to restore that cloud…’

‘Air Raid gave in when she dumped you…I told you she’d leave you, you worthless pegasus. Every. Pony. Leaves. A. Worthless. Mare. Like. You.’

Wildfire heard her own argument, just like she heard it when she had flown back from the fire at Trixie’s Place. Unlike that time though…the yellow mare couldn’t find the strength to argue back. She just couldn’t.

So lost in her thoughts was she that she didn’t hear the key turn in the lock holding her cell door closed. She didn’t flinch or bother to look up when she heard the heavy metal door swing on its hinges and hit the wall with a loud clanging bang. It was such a regular occurrence by now she was used to it. Staying perfectly still on her little bed she barely dared to breathe as she heard the slow methodical hoof-steps of Lotus Stripes enter her cell and walk slowly alongside her, stopping roughly where her left shoulder was. Still she stayed still. Then, when it seemed bad enough, she heard the lighter, more delicate steps of a pony that sent pangs of fear shooting through her enter the cell . ‘Oh no…Amber’s here!’

Now…Wildfire knew she was going to hurt today.

Without any kind of warning whatsoever she felt Lotus move a step to the left and towards her, seizing the back of her mane in his right forehoof the giant stallion lifted her bodily off of the bed, holding her balancing on the tips of the toes of her hind hooves as he held her painfully aloft.

“AaaAAH! I…b-but I a-ate it!” Wildfire squealed in fear and pain as her black mane was yanked back hard, forcing her to ‘look’ up to the ceiling of her cell. “I…I ate it all! I swear I did, please…please don’t hurt me please!”

“Shut up pegasus.” Amber growled in her right ear. “Do it Lotus.” She said as she lit her horn and levitated her bullwhip out of her saddlebag.

Before Wildfire could wonder what ‘it’ was that she wanted Lotus to do, and how much ‘it’ would hurt her, she felt the enormous stallion shift his grip slightly before his powerfully strong foreleg thrust her down towards the floor of her cell, or so she thought. The yellow pegasus braced herself, expecting the tiled floor to rush up and meet her, but it didn’t.

“YaaAAAaaARGH!” Wildfire screamed in pain as the thin hardwood edge of her bed impacted her already injured ribs; she definitely heard another one of them crack, sending waves of excruciating agony through her abdomen. Slumped bodily over her bed, supported by her knees on the cold floor, she whimpered pitifully trying desperately to inhale through her freshly broken ribs.

“I…didn’t leave…any…ate it all…” the injured mare gasped between pained breathes, Lotus strode over her hind legs to stand at her right side, the earth pony watching with detached satisfaction her attempts to just draw her next breath.

“Shut up, pegasus.” Looking at Lotus the sadistic unicorn gave him a nod of her head. “Hold it.” Amber ordered simply, her voice cold and even.

Without a word Lotus leant forward and took hold of Wildfire’s right wing, pulling it roughly the powerful stallion extended it outwards to its full span. Before the pegasus could utter a sound of complaint he slammed his left forehoof down hard on the tip of her wingbone, trapping her wing to her bed.

“Aaah…oOOW! H-hey!” Distracted momentarily from the intense pain in her ribs Wildfire tried in vain to free her trapped wing, each struggle sending spikes of pain down the length of the feathery limb.

Behind her Amber placed a hoof on Wildfire’s back, squarely between her shoulders and kicked hard, forcing her chest deeper onto the hard unforgiving edge of the bed, two more audible cracks emanating from her ribs. “I said ‘Shut. Up. Pegasus.’" Floating her whip into position Amber took aim at the thinner bones of the radius and ulna, and with a truly evil smile splitting her muzzle released her whip, the tapered tip cracking as it created a mini sonic boom as the weapon first broke the sound barrier then proceeded to break the wing.

Wildfire’s agonised screams could still be heard long after the wardens’ had closed and locked her cell door.

3.4 - In Purgatory's Shadow

“Trade Wind, over here! Cloudy Skies, five hundred feet up at your ten position! Quickly let’s move like we’re being paid for it!” Silverbolt smiled wryly to herself as she watched her team mates quickly react to and carry out her orders. Although technically not their boss in anyway the younger pegasi automatically deferred to her age and experience in most ‘on-the-job’ matters.

When the whole weather team was given the very daunting and dangerous task of creating a class ten thunderstorm that was scheduled to cover all of the Residential, Market and Educational Districts of Canterlot, Silverbolt’s team mates definitely deferred to her.

“Cloudy, no!” Silverbolt yelled at the top of her lungs and flew up to the young stallion’s level. “I said, your ‘ten’ position, not your ‘two’!” She didn’t want to scream, but she had to in order to make herself heard over the noise of the gale force winds howling around them.

Facehooving at his mistake, the third that day alone, the rookie slate grey stallion adjusted his position with a deep red blush creeping over his cheeks. “Sorry mum!” He yelled back, very thankful his light grey mane was cut short, stopping it being blown into his eyes by the raging wind. He was also thankful Silverbolt didn’t report his many mistakes to their superiors.

Silverbolt smiled. They all called her ‘mum’, just because at forty seven she was the oldest mare on the weather team. In a stark contrast Cloudy was just nineteen, fresh from Cloudsdale’s flight school. Just how the nervous young pegasus even graduated was a total mystery to the more experienced mare. Flying next to him, getting closer than was strictly allowed by regulations, given the strength of the winds whipping around them, she placed her yellow hoof on his shoulder. “Hey…just relax, and concentrate, okay?”

Cloudy smiled shyly and shot her a grateful look, “Um…thanks mum. I’m sorry, it’s just…it’s scary.” He meant it too. This wasn’t like the flight and weather simulators back in Cloudsdale. He had quickly learnt that no simulator could replicate the subtle buffeting on your primaries, or the unexpected cross wind, or the terrifying random micro bursts that could slam the unwary to the ground in seconds. More to the point, no weather simulator could make the young stallion feel this level of fear now he was faced with an eight hundred foot monster of a roiling black cloud that they were fighting to control. If he bucked it up there was no reset button.

“Cloudy Skies, I know it’s scary.” Silverbolt shouted over the noise. “It scares me too!”

The slate grey pegasus wasn’t expecting that. “It…it scares you, mum?” He asked incredulously, as if nothing was allowed to scare the experienced mare.

“Of course it does!” She yelled. “We’re creating a class ten thunderstorm! I’m terrified! Use that fear to make you sharper, faster, better. Now, get to your ‘ten’, and compress your section! It’s still only a class seven, we’ve got three more levels to go!”

Nodding somewhat reluctantly Cloudy flew off to his position and used his wings and hooves to mould the cloud, to force the edges back against each other just so, so that like dominoes one area of cloud would affect those near it. Running his hooves over the cumulonimbus he could feel the build-up of the static charge as they worked the cloud from different angles.

‘Luna damned rookies…they’ll be the death of me,’ Silverbolt thought to herself as she watched the young flier finally start doing his job. Casting a glance down below she saw Trade Wind exactly where she should be, the sky blue mare doing her part, compressing the cloud at its base. Flapping her yellow wings Silverbolt flew the three hundred feet up to the top, and started to trail her hoof in a groove around it, creating safe outlets for the excess lightning. As she worked she had to admit, Cloudy had a point. This cloud was damned scary. Still, they were almost done. Looking back at her work she saw the tell-tale flashes inside the cloud, felt the build-up of the charge. The cloud was behaving just as it should as it entered class eight status.

Circumnavigating the cloud one more time Silverbolt caught sight of the high school below her. She smiled a wide smile to herself as she hovered in place near the top of the cloud. The most precious thing in the world…no, the entire universe, was currently in that school, no doubt watching her right now rather than paying attention to her work. ‘Let’s see…it’s Wednesday at two p.m., she’ll have math.’ Silverbolt laughed out loud, the noise immediately lost amidst the storm around her. If she had math class then Wildfire would definitely not be concentrating. Frowning she got back to work with the cloud. It wasn’t funny. Already she and her husband, Cold Front, were scheduled to see her principal about it on Friday.

~ ~ ~

Sat at her desk in the classroom of the school, Wildfire was bored. Faced with this math problem she was very bored. Looking at it again she spat her pen from her mouth and grunted in frustration. ‘One hundred and twenty minus fifteen multiplied by five…who the buck knew that?’ The young twelve year old pegasus had been staring at this question halfway down her paper for the last ten minutes. If she was honest with herself she could look at it for half an hour and still be no closer to the answer. Of course it was the number’s fault for sliding around the page like that. How was she supposed to answer it when then question kept changing. It was so unfair.

Casting a glance over to her left she saw Dusk Melody hard at work, his pen moving across the paper so fast she could swear smoke was coming from the nib. He might have been her best friend of many years but at that precise moment she hated him with a passion she usually reserved for Blitzwing the class bully. Wildfire resented the ease with which the midnight blue pegasus just ‘got’ it, while after months of study she herself was no closer to understanding it than she was to unravelling the secrets of the universe.

It wasn’t that she was thick, far from it, but math and its associated gibberish was just that. Gibberish. Wildfire sighed as she picked up her pen once more, wishing some sort of answer would leap forth from her uncooperative brain. Another ten minutes and the best she had come up with was a doodle of her mum flying around a cloud, and a picture of Blitzwing being struck by lightning, his mane all stuck up and pointy.

With her head propped up by a hoof she looked up and out of the window she was sat at, she saw the storm being created outside and her mum’s team hard at work. Sighing despondently she dearly wished she was out there flying with the tiny yellow speck she loved so much, instead of being stuck in class room Tartarus. Entirely distracted by watching her mother, Wildfire didn’t hear the teacher calling time on the math paper.

‘Looks like a class nine…’ she thought worriedly to herself. Despite the numerous times her mum had assured her there was nothing to worry about, all those times her mum had held her hoof in the rain and kissed her ear, had told her to close her eyes and feel the storm, deep down Wildfire knew different. All those times they had stood together, wings and tails entwined as the rain had bounced off of them, she could feel the unbounded fury of the storm. The sheer unbridled power of the tempest. Her mum had promised her she could control it. Had promised her she could manipulate the storm.

Idly she started writing out a poem that had just leapt to her mind as she watched her mother mould and sculpt the cloud. Wildfire paid no attention to the teacher as he started to levitate the math papers back to his desk. Already the math problem was a distant memory, who needed to what one hundred and twenty minus fifteen multiplied by five was anyway? Watching the building storm she was completely inspired.

“she loved the rain

the splitter splatter sound

every drop makes

were music to her ears

she loved the thunder

the ferocity of its roar

gave her the strength

to hold on for a while more

she loved the lightning

the beauty of each stroke

containing the lethal power to hurt and kill

yet remain in inexplicable beauty

in short she loved thunderstorms

a mixture of rain thunder and lightning

just like her inner conflict of thoughts

and emotional turmoil

she compared herself to thunderstorms

not that she was a beauty

but she believed that

it depicted the words she wanted to say”

“Hmm…it’s good, but it needs an ending…it needs ‘something’…” Wildfire tapped her pen to her chin deep in thought as she gazed out of the window.

“What it needs, Miss Wildfire,” the math teacher said as his shadow loomed over her desk, “Is for you to direct your attention to the task at hoof.” His stern frowning gaze bored into her, earning her a few sniggers from the other ponies in the class. “Do you have the answer?”

“I…um, well…I er, it’s um…” Wildfire looked about her, wringing her hooves together she glanced around the class room hoping sudden inspiration would leap up and bite her blank flank. “I, um…it’s…” the yellow pegasus cast her brown eyes down at the floor. “I…I don’t know, Sir. I’m sorry…”

“The answer, Miss Wildfire, is forty five.” He replied as he turned on his hooves and walked back to his desk. “Coincidentally, it is also the amount of time you’ll spend in detention at the end of the day.”

~ ~ ~

“Damn!” Silverbolt swore to the roiling tempestuous heavens. Something was seriously wrong with this cloud. She hadn’t noticed at first, when the lightning charge they had been generating had been of a lesser intensity. As the thunderhead passed class eight things had started going south very quickly.

“Trade Wind! Get out of there you idiot!” She yelled as loud as her lungs could manage, and winced as a stray lightning bolt erupted from the charcoal grey monstrosity of a cloud, narrowly missing the sky blue mare by the barest of margins. Folding her wings she dropped the few hundred feet to barrel into her and carry her away from the danger zone.

“Mum!” Trade Wind shouted into her saviour’s yellow ear, “That cloud’s defective! It can’t contain the charge!”

“I know!” Silverbolt screamed back, her voice barely audible over the winds and the thunderous lightning. Her team was in serious trouble. “Get to the weather factory, get help, now!”

“What about you, mum?” Trade Wind asked, not prepared to move without her mentor.

“I’m going back for the rookie.” She yelled, giving Trade a good hard shove. “Now go! Get help!” Silverbolt ordered as several flashes of forked lightning burst forth from the base of the cumulonimbus and hit various spots on the ground, one strike hitting and exploding a clump of three trees in a shower of burning bark. “Now!”

With the second shove Trade Wind took off like a bullet from the barrel of a gun, her sky blue body disappearing into the heavily leaden skies in a matter of moments. Silverbolt sighed with relief. That just left Cloudy Skies. Turning to face the out-of-control cloud the experienced mare actually wet herself with fear. In all her years she had never faced anything like this. “Buck!” Reflexively she dodged a lightning bolt that seared her primaries as she flew about in search of the slate grey stallion.

High gale force winds buffeted her yellow wings, the turbulence almost making flight impossible as she searched for the young pegasus. A strong updraft caught her right wing and she rolled with it to the left, simultaneously diving to avoid another bolt of lightning. ‘I can’t keep dodging like this!’ She chided herself. Already out of breath she knew sooner or later she’d be out of luck too.

“Mum! Help!” Silverbolt caught the very faint scream from somewhere below her. Risking a momentary hover she scanned the lower levels of the cloud, and the sight made her blood run cold as ice in her veins. Roughly three hundred feet below her the safety grooves she had carved into the defective cloud were malfunctioning cloud were spewing out an arcing ball of lightning that had the stallion pinned to a small piece of the cloud.

“Cloudy…move!” She screamed in panic.

“I…I can’t…I’m scared!”

‘Buck! Buck!’ A split second of indecision tore at the older pegasus as she hovered above him. She could see that piece of cloud wasn’t going to hold much longer. “Clou…” she started to yell before a far greater danger presented itself. Near the surface of the cloud a dull glow appeared, created by the intense charge… ‘It’s gonna blow!’ Without sparing a moment longer Silverbolt folded her wings and dived, covering the distance in a matter of seconds as the glow grew brighter and began sparking dangerously.

‘Just a little further…’ Silverbolt was just twenty feet away now.

A lightning bolt shot out of the cloud, missing the cowering stallion by scant inches.

‘I’m coming…hold on!’ Silverbolt stretched out her forelegs and impacted the rookie pegasus in his barrel, dissipating the cloud and jolting him to flight. “Go! Get out and don’t stop flying!” She screamed as she shoved him hard, forcing his wings to work.

‘Right, my tur…’ Silverbolt angled her wings and turned herself to fly away from the monstrous cloud.

She never made it.

A tiny sliver of static electricity arced from the cloud and hit her between her wings, momentarily paralysing her flight muscles.

Frozen, Silverbolt turned in mid-air, her momentum carrying her around to face the cloud.

The sparking cloud, unable to hold it, discharged a class ten lightning bolt.

Paralysed there was nowhere for Silverbolt to go.

‘Wily…’

She barely had the time to see it coming. Within zero point two of a second the electrostatic surge hit the pegasus square in the chest, just inches below her heart. A microsecond later and one hundred and ninety thousand volts at over two hundred thousand amps blasted through her body.

Not even a second later it was over.

Silverbolt fell from the sky.

~ ~ ~

Ms. Raid, Our investigation to date. We followed up on the coffee shop where they remember Ms. Darkstar being there, but nothing usual about her. When pressed he did say she pranked him, which is common, with a comment on the free donut and coffee, while he claims to have only given her a coffee. We have requested that the hospital do a deeper toxicology test on Ms. Darkstar's blood from her admittance.

Mr. Front was not at home, but we did locate him in Las Pegasus. The hotel said he had checked in there last Wednesday. We were unable to speak with him at this time. Mr. Front has one 'drunken in public' citation, but no arrest record. There was no records in regards to Ms. Wildfire and Mr. Front. Most of Ms. Wildfire's issues were with the University.

We have sent the DNA samples retrieved from Ms. Darkstar to the Equstrian database, and expect it will take a few days for further information. Unfortunately, as expected, there have been no eye witness accounts for Friday night when Ms. Darkstar was found.

Will keep you up to date, Detective Hoofbeat, CRPD.

With a wide nasty devious smile on her muzzle Amethyst Glory logged off from her emails. This email, forwarded to her from one of the ‘associates’ of the moronic stallion Cold Front, made her Tuesday morning. That Cold Front had nurtured a lasting association with a pony within the Canterlot Royal Police Department was displaying a stroke of genius she had sincerely thought beyond him.

Whomever this ‘Nightstick’ stallion was, to Amethyst he was clearly the brains of his friends. She was pleased that this email confirmed, to her in any case, that the matter with the white unicorn was resolved. Closing down the police trail assured there would be no follow up investigations, effectively secured all possible loose ends. Of course, the forwarded email had been saved for future use, her security, in case there would be any repercussions.

With that piece of business attended to and taken care of, Amethyst turned her attention to the two other ponies in her office; her two lieutenants, Lotus Stripes, as ever sat on the seating pad to her right, and likewise to her left was sat Amber Leaves. Literally as different as chalk and cheese; Lotus, the huge green earth pony, sat immobile on his pad. For all intents he could’ve been a statue. Amber, the orange unicorn, on the other hoof was moving around on her pad, her forehooves stepping in place from one to the other in time with her heartbeat. The one thing they had in common was that neither of them were able to lift their heads and look the director in the face.

“Why?” Amethyst let the simple question hang in the air as she leant forward so her elbows of her forelegs were resting on her desk and her hooves were under her chin.

Casting a furtive glance at each other with a shake of their heads, Lotus and Amber remained silent. They both knew full well to what the director referred.

Upon receiving no answer, Amethyst scowled deeply at the two other ponies. “Why…” she asked again, in a dangerously silky voice, “Is it not broken yet?” Pausing for a moment she levitated her glasses off of her muzzle to clean them before delicately replacing them. “Furthermore…it has refused to write the letters I have requested.” Amethyst lowered her muzzle and looked at them both over her half-moon glasses. “I am disappointed. Very. Disappointed.”

Still Lotus and Amber sat in silence. An uneasy, worried silence. A ‘disappointed’ Amethyst Glory was something neither of them wanted. At all.

“Tell me,” Amethyst asked quietly, “What are you going to do to make me a happy pony?”

When Lotus didn’t answer, Amber Leaves cleared her throat, drawing the director’s attention. After receiving a raised eyebrow to continue the amber unicorn drew a deep breath as she phrased her reply in her head. “With respect, Warden, I believe we are taking the wrong approach with this one.”

Amethyst contemplated this for a brief moment she nodded to the other mare. “Elaborate, please, Miss Leaves.”

Fully aware of the hateful stare being directed at her from Lotus, and the scrutiny now coming from her boss, Amber almost balked. Doing her best to push the huge green earth pony out of her mind she instead focused on the intense stare of the purple unicorn. “Well…so far we have concentrated on physically hurting he…it.” She corrected herself just in time, “We have hurt it, threatened it, punished and rewarded it, to little or no result. It…It has quite a tolerance to physical pain I’ve rarely seen before, it’s like its proud, of what it can take.”

Amethyst sighed deeply as she cut across her. “I am aware of this, Miss Leaves. You have a solution, yes?”

“Yes Warden,” Amber nodded, “I…I believe I have.” She took another deep breath, “I think it’s time we concentrate on picking apart any mental issues it might have, phobias, fears, insecurities…and wear it down that way.”

“Hmm…” Amethyst considered this, “Your idea has merit, Miss Leaves. However, I need its will broken, not reduced to a vegetable.”

“Yes Warden.” Amber retreated to her seating pad and resumed her pacing from one hoof to the other.

“Now…these letters. I want them written by tonight. Mr. Stripes, take its left wing and break it piece by piece until it agrees to write them. When it has written them, and only when it has, you may use it to pleasure yourself.”

Now Lotus looked up and smiled his sick twisted smile. “Yes Warden.”

~ ~ ~

From her class room window Wildfire watched it happen. She saw her mum hanging uselessly in the air. She saw the cumulonimbus discharge its lightning bolt. Within a split second later she saw her mother illuminated against the huge charcoal cloud, saw her wings spasm out wards as the massively powerful electrostatic surge hit her mum square in the chest.

In less time than it took to blink her brown eyes it was over.

Wildfire watched helplessly as her mum fell from the sky.

“Mum!” Wildfire had leapt over several intervening desks to pound impotently on the double-glazed class room window. “Mum!” By now everypony in the class were pressed against the glass, avidly watching what was happening. “Mum pull up!” Wildfire screamed at the glass.

Silverbolt fell from the sky.

“Mum please!”

Lower and lower the pegasus fell, her wings stuck out at odd unnatural angles, the ground rushing up to meet her.

“Mum!”

From where the class room was situated on the first floor of the school building, Wildfire and the whole class had a clear view of the nearby sports field. Silverbolt dropped like a stone, lower and lower, until finally she hit the playing field. Wildfire felt her teacher’s hoof at her shoulder.

“Mum!”

“Mum!”

“Mum!” Wildfire jerked herself awake in her cell, lifting her head from her tiny shelf of a bed. Breathing heavily she shifted her weight to her left to relieve the pressure she felt on her cracked right ribs. Her right wing, broken four days earlier had, mercifully at last, been placed in a rough cast and bandaged tight to her barrel. ‘Took them long enough though…’ Wildfire though resentfully, thinking of the whole day they had left her whimpering on the floor of her cell.

Automatically upon waking up Wildfire reached her left forehoof under her bed and felt around for her book.  Nudging it with her hoof she smiled and pulled it up to her bed. With the memory of her mum’s death still in her mind Wildfire opened the black leather cover and flipped through the parchment pages of her book until she reached her mum’s section. She found the poem she had written out in her math class that morning so long ago. Simply titled, ‘Thunderstorms’, she lowered her head to the page and from memory recited the poem.

“she loved the rain

the splitter splatter sound

every drop makes

were music to her ears

she loved the thunder

the ferocity of its roar

gave her the strength

to hold on for a while more

she loved the lightning

the beauty of each stroke

containing the lethal power to hurt and kill

yet remain in inexplicable beauty

in short she loved thunderstorms

a mixture of rain thunder and lightning

just like her inner conflict of thoughts

and emotional turmoil

she compared herself to thunderstorms

not that she was a beauty

but she believed that

it depicted the words she wanted to say

she loved them so much

she chose to die on the day

there was a thunderstorm outside

pouring out things she never said”.

Only this time, the poem had its end.

“Why mum?” Wildfire asked bitterly into her book. “Why did you leave me?” She sniffled, her shoulders rolling with her grief. Silence. Of course silence was her reply. Nothing ever answered her, and she knew nothing ever would.

“AAAAGH!” In a fit of temper she seized her book and threw it to the floor of her cell. “I hate you! It’s all your fault!” She screamed as she heard the book hit the tiles. Slumping back to her relatively uninjured left side she thumped the wall with her hooves, overwhelmed with the anger and pain running through her. “Damn you mum!” She yelled as she thumped the tiles with her right hoof, causing it to bleed.

Just then she heard the metallic grating sound of the lock turning in her cell door. She didn’t whimper. She didn’t get up, gasp or flinch as she heard the door swing open. From the heavy thudding hoof-steps she knew it was Lotus who was entering her cell. She could tell he was alone, and from the quickness of which he slammed the door shut behind him she knew he was eager.

Her ears swivelled and followed the hulking stallion as he walked alongside her bed and dropped the food bowl in front of her. Breathing in through her nose she couldn’t smell the now-familiar celery. Sniffing at it again she wrinkled her nose and fought the urge to retch. Whatever the hay this was smelt truly awful. “Wh-What…what’s…this?” She asked hesitantly, bracing herself for a stiff punch that never came.

“You’ll see, little bitch, when you’re hungry enough.” Came the nasty reply to her left side.

“It stinks.”

Lotus chuckled, imagining what her screams would sound like in but a moment. “The dogs don’t complain, bitch.” He laughed at the noticeable hitch in the pegasus’s breath. “Now…” he said simply as he laid fresh paper and a pen under her muzzle. “You have letters to write for Warden Glory.”

“No.”

“I was hoping you’d say that.” Without any warning he moved his left forehoof across his chest, almost touching his right shoulder, and swiped it hard in a descending motion that impacted just behind Wildfire’s left ear. Momentarily stunned she wasn’t able to react when she felt his right forehoof seize the primaries of her left wing and drag them downwards to the floor.

“Aaah…” with a pained gasp she felt his heavy right hoof step on her extended feathers, trapping her wing in its outstretched position and keeping it taught. All too late she realised what was about to happen. Ineffectually she tried to struggle, but ceased almost immediately when slivers of pain shot up her wing bone. “N-No…no, please…please don’t, I…I’ll write!” Wildfire started to beg, desperate not to feel this excruciating pain again. “Please…I’ll write whatever you want, I swear!”

“Oh…I know you will, little bitch, and you’ll do it with another broken wing.” He smirked, watching the delicious sight of her squirming for a second more before he bought his left hoof crashing into her left wing.

~ ~ ~

One forty in the afternoon on Thursday the twenty fourth of September, and the warm autumnal sun shone through the double glazed windows of coma room five zero one, giving light and warmth to the two occupants inside. One, a white coated unicorn mare with a long grey mane, lay in her bed nearest the large window unmoving in the same position she had been in for the past seven months. The times Darkstar had moved was when the nurses had come in to exercise her legs for her. Nineteen when she had been admitted being only an hour from death following what could only be described as a most horrific attack, the first week of July had seen her twentieth birthday come and gone in the coma room. Though the birthday banner was long gone by now, the birthday cards from Air Raid; her brother Brightstar and now fiancé Moonbeak, Cyclone, Slingshot, even from the hospital staff Aqua Splash, Sunny Hills and Pureheart, were still there arranged on the window sill.

The other occupant of room five zero one was currently stretched out full length on her own bed, lime green muzzle deep in her lunch. Eating with the ferocity of one who hadn’t eaten in weeks Air Raid attacked her deep seasonal salad bowl of; cubed and roasted butternut squash, watercress, chickpeas, hazelnuts and crumbled feta with a vengeance. Against the onslaught of the twenty three year old pegasus the poor salad never stood a chance. Although her muzzle was splattered with little bits of squash, her blue mane was held out of the way in a high pony tail. She minded to keep up her appearance and keep herself looking tidy, ever since Moonbeak had bent her over her bed and spanked her lime green flanks a deep red.

Sparing her unconscious friend a brief sideways look from the depths of her bowl Air Raid smiled. After so many months the casts on her broken legs were gone, the bones all healed. The many bandages covering her numerous other wounds were all off, her abrasions had healed perfectly. Other than the stump of a horn poking through her grey mane and her fancy platinum inhibitor, it looked for all Equestria like she was asleep.

Turning her attention back to the now visible bottom of her bowl Air Raid spied out a cluster of hazelnuts and a piece of feta. Determined to scoop them all up she dived in. So determined was she to get this last mouthful she entirely missed the white unicorn flex her left forehoof and her eyelids twitch.

“Air Raid!” The lime green mare jumped so high she almost flew as the door to the room burst open and Nurse Sunny Hills rushed in, galloping straight to Darkstar.

Composing herself Air Raid looked up, the piece of feta in her mouth. “Whussup?” She asked as her friend moaned softly from her bed.

“Motion sensors went off.” Sunny explained as she busied herself around the bed, checking her pulse and temperature. “Quick, hold her, talk to her while I run her through her exercises.” Sunny instructed, her magic glow surrounding the waking mare.

“Darkie! Oh crap...Darkie it’s me, Raid!” She shouted, almost knocking her empty salad bowl to the floor as she bounced off of her bed and bounded over to her bedside. “You're ok!” Her voice was just shy of an excited yell in the white ear as she held her left hoof in hers.

Sunny Hills pushed a button on the wall behind the bed to activate the emergency intercom system. “Dr. Splash, Dr. Stormer to room 501A immediately, please.”

Tears of happiness were rolling down Air Raid’s green cheeks, a barely contained smile on her muzzle. “I can’t believe it! Darkie I knew you'd wake up!” In these brief short seconds she felt the weight of the past seven months-worth of worry, stress and uncertainty slough off her like a snake shedding its skin, all the doubt, fear and misgivings she’d had suddenly didn’t seem to matter very much right now.

Darkstar’s eyelids continued to flutter to a half open position, her yellow eyes struggling to focus on where she was. Lying there in a semi awake state the one thing she was aware of was the voice in her left ear. She couldn’t turn her head to see, but she knew who it was. “Uuugh...R-Raid...” she croaked out in a whisper, her voice not sounding like her own.

“Hmm…MMmmm…yep…” Sunny muttered to herself as she checked off some notes on the chart she held in her magic. “Breathing normal, pupil response normal. Caution her to not use her magic.”

Air Raid leant a little closer, squeezing Darkstar’s left hoof as she did so. “Sweetie,,,it’s me...listen, don’t try casting anything, alright?”

Darkstar tried to turn her head to the left to face her friend, “Raid…car...amel...Raid…” she groaned, her voice still sounding strange in her own ears.

At that moment, Dr. Barn Stormer, a pale blue unicorn stallion and duty physician, cantered excitedly into the room, returning Air Raid’s raised hoof of greeting. Over the past months he’d shared many off duty black coffees with the lime green mare in the cafeteria, and found her quite erudite and charming. “What have we here Nurse Hills?” He asked in a rich Vanhoovan accent as he came up to the bed, “Oooh, she is waking up, is she?”

Air Raid lowered her hoof from greeting the doctor and gave her waking friend a puzzled look, “Caramel, sweetie?”

Darkstar managed a brief nod, “Donut...was...uuuh...donut…”

“You want a donut?” Air Raid asked, making a mental note to buy Darkstar her own bodyweight in caramel donuts now she was awake and more or less herself.

Darkstar shook her head slightly, a grimace on her face. “No...Java...” she closed her eyes a few moments then opened them again, trying to focus on the strange room she was in.

Air Raid took her hoof again, stroking her mane, “Yes, hun. We'll go to Java's as soon as they let you.”

Darkstar sighed deeply, “You’re…not listening...” she finally managed to focus the room around her, to look beyond the edge of the bed, as she did so her yellow eyes went wide as saucers, her pupils shrinking in fear. “Nyati stallion!” She squeaked, her voice breaking as she tried to push herself back and away.

“What’s happening?” Dr. Aqua Splash asked as she entered the coma room, she noticed Dr. Stormer back up and step away from the bed, the barest hint of a frown on his pale blue face. “Oh, she is awake.” She smiled with relief in her eyes, grateful that was all the emergency was.

“Yes, and I've triggered a negative reaction.” Dr. Stormer quickly explained, “I'll let you take over Dr. Splash.”

Suddenly concerned for her fragile friend, Air Raid squeezed her hoof to try and reassure her everything was okay. “Darkie, it’s…”

“Kupata mbali! Kupata mbali na mimi!” Darkstar screamed in utter terror, interrupting and shaking her foreleg free from her concerned friend’s grasp and pointing it at the pale blue stallion.

“I'm sure that is Zebran,” Sunny Hills muttered, brushing her white mane out of her eyes as she observed Darkstar’s terrified reaction and scribbled fresh notes on her clipboard. “I can get her an interpreter.”

“She uh...languages was her Uni major...” Air Raid explained hesitantly, “Darkie, it's me, it’s Raid...sweetie what's wrong?”

If Darkstar heard the lime green pegasus at all she gave no sign, she just stared fearfully at the stallion as he turned and trotted out of room five zero one. “Get…away…from me…” she said quietly, breathing heavily between each word as Aqua Splash calmly and slowly moved alongside the yellow nurse at the right side of the bed, opposite to Air Raid, their backs to the window.

“He's gone, Darkie he's gone, sweetie…” Air Raid whispered, trying to calm the white unicorn down.

With her breathing steadily returning to its normal state Darkstar weakly pushed herself up to a half-sitting, half laying down position, her back supported by the large pillow under her. Hesitantly she looked, really looked, at Air Raid sat to her right. “Raid...the green one?” She asked, through a sudden fog of confusion. “And…not the green one,” she said confidently as she looked over at the note-taking unicorn nurse.

“I have it nurse.” Aqua said as she took the chart from her colleague with a definite non-to-subtle nod of her head in the nurse’s station.

“I'll be monitoring from the station.” Sunny announced as she exited the room with a flounce of her white tail.

Darkstar’s brow creased as she watched her leave, “Wait…wh...where's Wily going?” She asked uncertainly, confusing the nurse with her old friend.

Air Raid shot her a worried look, “That's not her, Darkie.”

Thoroughly confused, the white mare gave her friend a questioning look, “It's not? But…she's yellow?”

Air Raid gave her a look full of sympathy, “No sweetie...Wily's still missing.”

“Missing?”

Trying her best, but ultimately failing to hold a sigh of frustration, instead she smiled a fake smile to cover. “Yes Darkie, she's...still missing.”

“We need to find her…” Darkstar cocked her head, a look of confusion on her face, “No, no finding...but we need...NO! No finding, we know better...they'll hurt us!”

Air Raid was about to ask her what she meant when she saw Aqua Splash hold up a paper with 'ask her who hurt her' written on it. “Who...Darkie, who hurt you?” She asked.

Darkstar looked at her friend, “The donut...it was the donut! We didn't think, it looked so good, it hurt us...yes, the donut did it, NO....it was cold, so cold...winter came, and the cold hurt us!”

Lowering the paper and scribbling some more, the doctor held it up. 'Just talk to her. Want me to call Brightstar?'

Air Raid gave her a worried look. “Who...who's 'us', hun?” She asked, almost afraid of the answer.

Darkstar looked at Air Raid suspiciously, her yellow eyes narrowing, “Don't tell her, she'll hurt us...it's Raid we can tell her, DON'T tell her.” Seemingly arguing with herself she eventually glanced back at the worried pegasus with a wide smile, “There's just me, Raid.”

“Um...yeah, Doc...you’d better call Bright.” Air Raid said absently.

Moving to the far corner of the room, standing next to one of the empty beds, Doctor Splash dialled the contact number on her chart, hoping the pony would pick up.

Thankfully the phone was answered in two rings, “Y'hello?” Came Brightstar’s deep voice from the other end of the line.

“Mr. Brightstar, this is Doctor Aqua Splash.” She introduced herself, “I have news. Your sister is awake, but she is still trying to orientate herself.”

Brightstar could barely contain his joy, “Darkie's awake? Really?”

“Yes, just moments ago, Ms. Raid is talking with her, but she is still quite disoriented.”

“Disoriented, how bad?” Brightstar asked, his initial joy waning somewhat at the doctor’s tone. “Has she said who hurt her?” He asked, eager to know just who it was who had done this to his sister.

Aqua shook her head, even though the gesture couldn’t be seen, “No sir, nor do I expect her to do so anytime soon. It will take time to evaluate her condition now she is awake.”

“But...” he started before his voice went faint as his attention was distracted by his two kittens’ latest drag out fight. “Athena! You leave Zephie alone!” He yelled before lifting the phone back to his ear. “But…she's awake...surely she knows who hurt her?”

“Mr Brightstar,” Aqua Splash sighed deeply, it was never easy with emotional relatives, “She did wake up from a seven long comma just moments ago, so far she thinks she just left a coffee shop.”

Forcing himself calm, Brightstar apologised, “Sorry...sorry Doctor, how is she?” He asked as he heard Air Raid’s faint voice in the background ‘you're not an earth pony, Darkie, you can’t use your magic’; followed by his sister’s voice asking, ‘why?’ Then she spoke louder ‘why!?’

“She is panicked, I'm letting Ms. Raid bring her down, but we will use a sedative if she loses control.”

Brightstar didn’t have to think, “We'll come over,” he started before once again going faint as he just caught his daughter taking a swipe at her younger brother. “Right, time out ‘Thena!” The royal blue unicorn stated as he seized her in his magic. “Is there anything we should know?”

“Nothing I can add, I'm sure Ms. Raid will contact you.” The doctor said kindly, “It will take time to get a full evaluation. You've waited seven months, we should know something when you get here.”

Brightstar smiled in spite of how he felt, “Very true, thank you Doctor Splash, we'll get...” whatever he was about to ‘get’ was forgotten when he heard Air Raids’ voice, again in the background, ‘Darkie please, sweetie’ followed again by his sister, this time Darkstar sounded agitated, ‘Wewe si Air Raid! Wewe ni tricking us!’

“Very good then Mr. Brightstar.” Aqua Splash said calmly, giving no indication to the raised voices behind her. “I'll let Ms. Raid know that you'll be coming to Canterlot.”

“Is she alright?” Brightstar asked, full of concern for his sibling, “I heard her shout…”

At that moment nurse Sunny Hills poked her white-maned head back into the room and, with a brief nod from the neon blue doctor lit her horn, casting a spell that surrounded Darkstar, causing her to glow in her magical grip and then fall fast asleep.

“She is afraid, Mr. Brightstar.” She explained carefully, “She was in a coffee shop and now is here. She speaks Zebran very well, but you can hear she has calmed down.”

Walking straight to the now sleeping unicorn’s bed Sunny Hills held up a yellow hoof for silence before Air Raid could open her mouth say anything.

“She's good at most languages,” Brightstar said quietly by way of explanation, “We majored in them at Uni.”

“Very good then, I need to return to my duties.” Aqua said as she concluded the brief call, “I'll have Ms. Raid contact you. Bye.” Hanging up she finally turned to face back into the coma room. “Clear.” She said with a grateful nod to the nurse for her quick thinking.

“She is trying to force her magic past the inhibitor,” Sunny reported, “I had to sedate her.”

Aqua Splash trotted back over to the bed, replacing the chart at the end there. “Understood, she is panicked. I want a full CAT scan done now.”

Sunny Hills nodded, sending her mop of a white mane into her eyes, which she brushed aside, “Okay, I'll get her prepped.”

Turning to Air Raid, she asked, “What is your opinion? You've known her for a long time.”

Now that was a very good question, one the lime green mare wasn’t at all sure she had the answer to. “My opinion?” She asked rhetorically as she watched the nurse busy herself around her friend’s bed, “If she hadn't just woke up I'd say she was pranking us. That...” she pointed to Darkstar’s sleeping body, “I don't know who that is, but she's mad as a box of frogs.

“Hey…just because she is sedated, doesn't mean she can't hear you.” Sunny sneered with thinly veiled contempt.

“I’m sorry...it...she's, just not what I expected, that's all…” Air Raid apologised, looking away from the irate unicorn.

“Could it be magic feedback, do we think?” Aqua wondered aloud.

Nurse Sunny Hills nodded her agreement, “It’s possible, but this is more a self-denial coming to realization. I recommend…wait…” she trailed off as a thought struck her.

Aqua Splash smiled to her nurse as she had pretty much the same thought. “Yes, she seems adverse to stallions. Ms. Raid, I’m afraid I don't have her sexual orientation on the chart.”

Air Raid replied without thinking, “She...she's straight....but...what was all that 'us' stuff? It was like she was arguing with herself.”

Nurse Hills didn’t look up from her task as she made a few notes on her chart, “That confirms a negative feedback loop, what with the rape and her horn being cut off.”

Aqua turned to Air Raid and laid a comforting hoof on her shoulder. “Yes, she is trying to deny what happened to her. Sort of self-argument over reality. Nurse Hills, can you get me a list of mare psychologists please?”

“Yes doctor.” The nurse added another note to her list of ‘to do’ jobs, “Let me put a sedative in the drip so she stays down for a few hours.”

Aqua smiled, very grateful to have such an efficient nurse under her, “Thank you. Ms. Raid, now would be a good time to take a break and talk with your friend, Mr. Brightstar. As of now we can't really elaborate on what is going on. After the scan we may know more.”

“Yeah...I uh...I could use a cafeteria coffee I guess.” She stood from her seating pad with a reluctant smile. As much as she wanted a black coffee, the doctor’s hoof felt really good on her shoulder. “I'll call Bright while I'm there.”

“It will be about two hours to finish the scan and another one to two before she wakes again.” Aqua said gently as she stood with her.

Air Raid shifted uncomfortably on her hooves as she stretched her legs from being sat down for so long. “Doc...I’m sorry for my mood, it's just...waiting seven months and now she's asleep again.”

“At least you won't have to wait another seven months.” Aqua said sympathetically. “Now is the longer time of recovery. Will she be moving to Fillydelphia?”

That made Air Raid pause for a moment. Throughout these past seven months she had assumed, wrongly maybe, that when her friend awoke she would be staying with her. She hadn’t considered the possibility that she’d want to move. “Maybe, though she's lived in Canterlot all her life, I read on the Interweb it's good for coma patients to have familiar surroundings.”

“Yes, and family. If you can be family then it should be alright.” She said as another nurse entered the coma room to help get Darkstar ready to move. Air Raid watched them quietly as they both worked like a well-oiled machine; they didn’t get in each other’s way, they knew just what they were doing, and working as one they swiftly got the prep work done – Tartarus, a couple of times they didn’t even look at each other, they trusted themselves in what they were doing – as she watched Air Raid was reminded very strongly of the way she and Slingshot had operated together.

Air Raid snapped from her reverie, “I guess me and Bright need to have a chat about that,” she gave a sad smile at the thought of Slingshot, and how poorly their last meeting had ended. “Well, coffee time!”

~ ~ ~

Air Raid was still thinking about Slingshot as she trotted into the hospital cafeteria, idly she wondered if her co-driver had made good on his threat to find another driver by now. Deep in her gut she hoped he hadn’t. What they had wasn’t just driver and co-driver, they were a team. Further thoughts of the stubborn pink stallion were wrestled from her mind by that flighty Mistress known as ‘coffee’, especially the wonderful, delicious scents coming from the Starcolts.

“Hey Cinnamon!” She called out with a friendly smile as she approached the counter.

“Hi there, enjoy your lunch?” Cinnamon chirped happily, her face all smiles. “Black coffee and three sugars?” She asked, already switching on the machine to prepare the order without waiting to be told.

Air Raid grinned a wide grin, “Anypony would think you knew me, hun.” She looked about as a sudden thought struck her, “Hey...where's that orange waitress? Autumn...something...I haven’t seen her about for a while.”

Busy prepping the black coffee the waitress released a tearful sob, her tears rolling down her cheeks. “I don't know, no one knows. She never picked up her foal at camp...” she sniffed, wiping her face with her foreleg and slapping on a fake smile. “Let me get your coffee.” Another few moments later and Cinnamon served up coffee, still with the smile firmly in place, though it clearly didn’t reach her eyes. “Here you go, hot and fresh.”

Air Raid sniggered, “Just like me!” She was about to flash the waitress a smile when she could’ve sworn she sniffed again. “Hey...Cin, you ok, hun?”

“Yeah, I'll be fine, just thinking of Soft Wind. He's only six and staying with his aunt now.” She replied, collecting herself with a practised ease as she moved to the next customer, all smiles and sunshine. “Hello, what can I get for you today?”

“Damn...” Air Raid said aloud under her breath as she turned and took her coffee to what had become her table in the corner of the cafeteria; so regular a feature was she in the hospital. “I liked her too…a lot.” Taking her familiar seating pad, her spot, by the table she took a mouthful of her black coffee. ‘Gonna be fun calling Bright…’ she thought as the bitter sweet liquid slid easily down her throat, leaving its aftertaste in her mouth. Delving a hoof into her bag she retrieved her phone and scrolled through her contacts to Brightstar’s number. ‘Here we go…’ and pressed the green ‘dial’ button.

“Brighstar's phone.” Moonbeak’s high shrill voice answered the call after just three rings. “He's tied up at the moment and this is Moonbeak, how can I help you?”

Air Raid sniggered, her mood lifted instantly as she knew that the unicorn was most likely literally as well as figuratively tied up. “Hey Moon, it's your favourite pegasus!”

“Raid, it is good to hear from you again.” Her voice went faint then for a moment, which told Raid she was talking to somepony in the room, “Love, Raid is calling back. Yes I was coming, but we can do that later.” Then only slightly louder she said, “Here is Bright.”

“Thanks...hey Bright, I assume I'm interrupting something really fun?” The lime green mare asked, still giggling like a filly.

Brightstar flicked the phone to speaker, “Yes, but this is important, what's the matter?”

Finally recovering from her giggle fit Air Raid took a sip of her coffee, “They've sedated Darkie, they're giving her a CAT scan thing right now.” She explained, filling her friend in on what had happened.

“They tried that on Bright, but they could find nothing wrong.” Came Moonbeak’s voice dripping with sarcasm from the background, “They could find nothing at all.”

Quick as a flash Brightstar retorted, “I told them they were scanning the wrong area, but they insisted on scanning my head.”

Air Raid almost spat the mouthful of coffee she was attempting to swallow. “Anyway, you're coming over? I think Darkie should see you.” She said with a snigger, having won the brief battle to spit or swallow.

“I have a gig I can't skip on Saturday.” The griffon whispered in Bright’s ear, kissing up it to affectionately nip the tip. “You go, and the kittens and I will join you on Monday.”

“Alright my love,” Brightstar said as he gently returned the kiss, “Raid, I'll be on the overnight express. Hey…how was she, really?”

Air Raid took a good long moment to think about her answer to that, draining the rest of her mug as she did so. “She's....I dunno, Bright. One minute she's ‘Darkie’, our Darkie, then the next she's like that Gollum from that film Wily liked.”

“Really?” The royal blue stallion asked, his voice about to break with emotion as Moonbeak choose that moment to wrap her powerful dark grey wing around her fiancé, “Doctor said she was 'orienting herself'…” He said as he nestled into the warm feathery hug.

“Well, you'll see when you get here mate,” Air Raid replied somewhat vaguely, “I don't want to say anything over the phone now, she’s been out seven months, and it’s only been a few minutes.”

“I'll help you pack.” Moonbeak purred, having no intention of packing just yet as she tenderly nipped her stallion’s shoulder. “You getting a hotel for us?”

“MMmm…Yes, I'll get one sorted.”

“Hey...you can stay at mine?” Air Raid offered.

“Raid...no offense, your apartment is a huge wash basket of laundry without Wily.”

Air Raid was about to come back with an amazingly witty and pertinent retort when she actually remembered the state of her apartment. “Yeah...good point, well made…well if you're done trashing my place, I'll let you get back your sexy times.”

“See you in the morning, Raid.”

~ ~ ~

Three hours later and the late Thursday afternoon saw Air Raid shooting across the white marbled floor of the Canterlot Royal Hospital’s reception so fast she was practically a blur. Casting a glance upwards from her ever-growing stack of paperwork Nurse Pureheart gave her a welcoming wave from her desk as she drew level with it. Screeching to a halt she returned the wave and changed direction to head over to the receptionist. “Hey Pure!” She greeted when she was a few steps away, “Good afternoon?”

Pureheart nodded with a smile, “Indeed it is, Ms. Darkstar should be coming out of sedation in about thirty minutes.”

“Awesome!” Air Raid pumped her hoof in utter joy. “Hey Pure, look at these, I bought her something of hers.” Reaching a lime green hoof into her saddlebag she pulled out the set of crimson red silk socks with three black stars on the side and showed them to the nurse.

Pureheart giggled behind her hoof, “I'm sure they will appreciate that in the cafeteria.”

“Hey now,” Air Raid smiled readily, “Darkie'll do it to, she'll happily dance anywhere.”

“I look forward to that and the many, many coffees you owe me.” Nurse Pureheart gave a light tinkling laugh as she returned to her stack of work.

“Deal, Pure!” Air Raid flashed her a smile as she headed off down the winding corridors, by now she was practically on muscle memory autopilot as she climbed the stairs without necessarily looking where she was going, back to coma room five zero one. “At least...I hope she'll dance anywhere…” she thought aloud to nopony in particular as she alighted the fifth floor.

“Hi!” So lost in her thoughts was she that she didn’t notice a sun yellow shape appear so suddenly at her right side, so unexpectedly the pegasus jumped a clear foot in the air, and came down breathing hard. “After you check in on Ms. Darkstar could you please go to Doctor Splash’s office?” The shape asked as it manifested itself into the yellow unicorn nurse.

“Eeek!” Air Raid let out the shriek, though if questioned later she’d deny it, and immediately tried to cover with a smile. “Oh, um...yeah sure...is everything ok?”

Sunny Hills placed her hoof on the green mare’s foreleg, “I think it best if the doctor explains it, Ms. Raid.”

“Alrighty then,” Air Raid passed by the yellow unicorn with barely a nod as she once again entered what had been her second home. 'Once more unto the breach', she thought, a little sadly.

Darkstar was sleeping peacefully on her side, snoring ever so gently with her back facing towards the large window. Carefully, as if she was afraid her hoof-steps would wake her up, Air Raid walked up to the left side of the bed and took her seating pad there. As she gently stroked her grey mane she noticed the inhibitor was different than before. It was still platinum, but there were little gold lettering inscribed on the surface. “You're just trying to see how many of those you can go through, aren't you?”

There was no response from the sleeping mare, of course there wasn’t. Air Raid wasn’t expecting one, of course. By now after seven months she was used to sitting there beside her friend talking to herself.

Once more Air Raid reached her lime green hoof into her saddlebag and almost reverently laid the crimson red socks across her friend’s fetlocks. “I bought your socks...you remember your special 'desire spell sexy socks', right?” She remembered them, of course, and the dance Darkstar had performed back at Dusk’s suite. Without meaning to and before she realised she was weeping. That was the last time they’d all been together in their little group.

In spite of her melancholy Air Raid grinned as another memory came to the fore, one of them all passed out in a drunken pile in Dusk’s suite, all in one great pile on his huge bed. “Last time you slept that deeply we'd been at the moonshine all day, remember?” Her smile faded a little at the sheer lack of response. “Oh...please remember Darkie, please!” Stroking a hoof through her grey mane an idea came to her. “Here...this might help...” she carefully slid the silken socks onto Darkstars's forelegs. “See, just like old times, right?”

As Air Raid continued to tenderly stroke Darkstars's mane she was reminded of the night she and Wildfire had shared on that low flying cloud; it had been over a year now since that first date. “Oh brave new world

that has such ponies in it…” she whispered, thinking of the line from ‘The Tempest’ that she had misquoted. Wildfire hadn’t believed her when Air Raid had told her she had a literacy degree. With her mind on Shakespony’s play she leant to her white ear and recited one of her favourite passages, one she had quoted to Wildfire after she had passed out on the cloud.

“Our revels now are ended. These our actors,

As I foretold you, were all spirits and

Are melted into air, into thin air:

And, like the baseless fabric of this vision,

The cloud-capp'd towers, the gorgeous palaces,

The solemn temples, the great globe itself,

Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve

And, like this insubstantial pageant faded,

Leave not a rack behind. We are such stuff

As dreams are made on, and our little life

Is rounded with a sleep.”

Sighing deeply Air Raid slid off of her seating pad and turned to leave the coma room, wondering what the doctor could possibly have to tell her now. She highly doubted she could take any more bad news with regards to her friend; already she wasn’t the mare she had been before. ‘You selfish bitch…’ the thought came unbidden to her as she turned into the corridor leading to the doctor’s office. Was she selfish? For wanting her friend back? Perhaps she was. Was she selfish for feeling cheated that after investing so many months her friend wasn’t the same? Maybe she was.

So busy was she with internally debating with herself as to whether she was selfish or not that she didn’t realise she was face to face with the closed office door until she actually was. Reluctantly she raised a forehoof and hesitantly knocked on the door.

“Enter,” came the doctor’s muffled reply from within.

Cautiously hoofing open the office door Air Raid entered, walking as if each leg was attached to a leaden weight that was each hoof. “You wanted to see me, Doc?”

Aqua Splash didn’t look up straight away, she finished typing the bottom of the page she was working on before placing the sheet on her ‘done’ pile. “Yes, please have a seat,” she indicated one of the two seating pads on the other side of her desk.

Air Raid moved slowly to the seating pad nearest the far wall of the spacious two tone dark and light blue office, if her hooves were leaden before, now they were ton weights. Aqua stood from her own pad and moved from behind her desk to sit next to the lime green pegasus. “The CAT scan came back with nothing unexpected.”

Air Raid struggled to meet the neon blue doctor’s eyes as she spoke. “So, uh...what’s the score?” She asked uncertainly, “Sunny said had something to share?”

“Have you stopped in to see her before coming to my office?” The doctor asked as she laid a reassuring hoof on Air Raid’s own.

“Yeah, she looked like she did on 'moonshine day'.”

“The sedation is strong, she will come around in…” Aqua paused and looked up to check the wall clock. “About fifteen minutes. She has a level eight inhibitor on now. It has a feedback relief. Now when she tries to force her magic it will have a calming effect instead of an agitation effect like earlier.”

Air Raid smiled and relaxed somewhat, both from the relative good news and from the surprisingly soft hoof stroking her own, “Oh yeah, I was going to ask about that shiny new accessory Darkie was wearing.”

Reaching across her desk with a wing Aqua retrieved her clipboard full of notes. “Now...I have a list of mare psychologists for you to choose from; Ponyville there is Ruby Tuesday, Vanhoover there’s Lighting Bug, Las Pegasus has River, in Trottingham we have Black Quill and finally in Manehattan there is both Requiem and Sureheart.” Pausing, Aqua Splash tore off the piece of paper with the list of names and contact details on it and passed it in her hoof to the green mare. “After talking with Doctor Dreamweaver, a stallion here at the hospital, he recommends either Lighting Bug or Black Quill for this case. Just thought you should have a solid list to choose from. You can pass this to her brother also. Distance is the problem. He had nothing negative to say about Ruby Tuesday who is close.”

Gratefully Air Raid took the list and folded it away into her saddlebag. “Is there none here in Canterlot?” She asked, hoping that there would be.

Aqua shook her head for a definite ‘no’. “Doctor Dreamweaver wouldn't recommend any, as most here are stallions and, as we saw earlier, Ms. Darkstar has an aversion to stallions.”

Air Raid ran her free hoof, the one not being held by the doctor, through her blue mane and snorted out a short laugh. “Heh...no, I don't think Darkie would like that. It looks like being Ponyville then.”

“I'll give you all the contact information after we’re done.” Aqua flicked through another page of her notes and again she squeezed Air Raid’s foreleg. “Now as to why, which I'm sure you're wanting to ask.”

Now the lime green pegasus looked around a little uncomfortably. “That uh…was going to be my next question, yeah.”

Nodding sympathetically Aqua took a deep breath, “Based on the episode she had and results of the scan Doctor Dreamweaver believes she is trying to repress what happened to her by blaming it on a different mare. He wouldn’t say it is Dissociative Identity Disorder, but thinks there is a strong case for it. This can happen when a pony tries to disassociate themselves from a very painful memory.”

A little light bulb went off in Air Raid’s head, “That's why she was arguing with herself and thinking she was an earth pony?” She asked, getting a little confident now things were making sense.

“Again, we can't say that definitively. There was a lot of feedback from trying to force her magic with the level seven inhibitor and broken horn. I don't think she is aware her horn has been cut, or is aware on a subconscious level and thus thinks of herself as an earth pony now.” Aqua Splash turned the page over and consulted her notes, this time her breath hitched. She really didn’t want to tell the other pegasus this. “This…this leads me to believe she was awake when they cut off her horn.”

“Sweet Luna…damn...” absently without thinking she moved her right foreleg from the grip of the neon blue doctor and rubbed her hoof along the length of the ugly scar at the base of her left wing. “That must've really hurt.”

Aqua nodded sadly, deciding to keep the knowledge it had been severed with an almost blunt knife, to herself. “Yes, it is cutting into core nerve endings. So, for you it is important to observe, and to be very honest with her to the point of bluntness. How she moves forward is dependent on a lot of factors, but acceptance is a main one.”

Air Raid nodded without looking at the doctor, “I understand Doc, I can be straightforward and candid to the point of indelicacy.”

Aqua got up and made her way back around her desk to her computer. “I would expect no less.”

Air Raid smiled as she stood up from her seating pad. “Have you seen me race?” She asked with a cocked eyebrow and a confident smirk.

“Yes I have.” She said as she logged on her p.c. “I knew you when you first walked in.”

“Then you know I can be hard-hitting when I need to be, Doc.”

Switching through a few screens the doctor jotted down the email addresses and extension numbers of Ruby Tuesday and her staff. “You can always contact me or Nurse Sunny Hills.” She said as she slid the note over the desk. “She is a leading expert on horn injuries.”

Air Raid paused at the office door. “Um...how long will she be here, now she's woke up?”

“As long as she doesn't have a meltdown, she can leave tomorrow morning.” Aqua flicked through to the discharge screen and peoceeded to fill in the general details. “She will be weak and find walking difficult, but she needs to exercise. We did what we could while she was in a comma, but now she needs to put weight on those limbs.”

Still at the door Air Raid asked, “What if she freaks out at my place?”

“Easy, you can bring her back here. Just call nine one one.” Doctor Splash smiled as she filled out the preliminaries of Darkstar’s discharge. “I wish both you and Darkstar well. Don't hesitate to contact us if there is any issues.”

“Thanks, you too.” Then the lime green racer grinned as an idea struck her. “Hey, if you ever want a run up the Long Hill Climb, gimme a bell, my treat.”

“Thank you for the offer, but my administrators would freak over me doing such a thing.”

“So would my sponsors, that’s what makes it fun!” Air Raid giggled as she left the office to go back to coma room five zero one, hopefully for the last time.

~ ~ ~

Brightstar cursed the Canterlot weather ponies, cursed every single one of the whole brigade, battalion, division, he happily damned the whole weather system to the depths of Tartarus as he got out of his cab and stepped into the car park of the Canterlot Royal Hospital. Within milliseconds of exiting the cab he was soaked through to his very bones by the horrendous torrential downpour that hit the ground so hard it bounced knee-high into the air. Lighting his horn with a sigh the royal blue stallion surrounded himself in his bright yellow aura, his magic creating a shield against the staccato drum beat of the rain. Yawning deeply he checked his watch as he started walking slowly towards the imposing edifice before him.

‘Eight a.m.,’ he thought through the fog in his brain. While he was usually well awake by now, what with tending to the two kittens as well as helping his fiancé, lover and Mistress get ready for her workday, the well-travelled journey on the overnight express hadn’t been exactly restful.

Pausing just outside the hospital’s impressively carved white limestone façade Brightstar lit his horn a second time, summoning an extremely hot gust of air that dried him, his saddlebags and his dark grey-and-white collar while the incessant rain continued to impact his shimmering shield. Once the spell was complete and he was suitably dry he floated his phone from his bag and quickly wrote out a text for Air Raid. ‘Walking into the hospital now, meet you on the fifth floor.’

Sitting by Darkstar’s bedside up in room five zero one Air Raid on the other hoof had enjoyed a very pleasant night. Since the white mare had awoken from her sedation at five forty five in the p.m. yesterday afternoon there had been almost no incidents with the troubled unicorn. Now every single wire, tube and needle had been removed from her friend they were sat together on her bed watching the downpour outside. Upon hearing her phone beep the message alert she quickly read it with a smile and slid herself off of the bed.

Immediately Darkstar reacted to the sudden unexpected movement, reaching out a hoof for her. “Raid, where you going?” She asked, not wanting to be alone…she knew bad things happened when she was alone.

Putting her phone back in her bag, Air Raid quickly leant back to the bed and gave her outstretched hoof a bump. “I’m going to meet Bright, he's come to see his sis!”

The suspicious look Darkstar shot her friend didn’t go unnoticed, “Don't be long...yeah don't leave us like you did before, we remember...um, sorry…” she whimpered audibly, suddenly afraid that Air Raid would shout at her, as she pulled her hoof back to her mouth. To her immense relief the green mare simply smiled at her as she turned and left the coma room. ‘She’s up to something…it’s just Raid…DON’T trust her…’

Happy relief was evident all over Brightstar’s face as he saw his friend enter the hospital’s fifth floor reception area. Not as big as the ground floor counterpart it was just as lavishly decorated. “Hey Raid,” he greeted, “Where is Darkie?”

“Hey hun, good trip?” Air Raid asked as she returned the greeting with a bone-crushingly tight hug.

Extricating himself from the fur and feather filled hug Brightstar offered her a smile that in no way whatever reached his yellow eyes. “Long and I didn't sleep well on the train. Let's go, I don't want to wait any longer.”

“Bright…” Air Raid stepped in front of him and put a hoof on the broad dark blue chest, “Just a minute hun, I need to…to warn you…”

“What's wrong?” Brightstar interrupted her, his brain switching from ‘default’ to ‘panic’ mode. “Has something happened!?”

“Hey...ease off the gas there...nothing's happened.” She gave what she hoped was a warm comforting smile as she shook her blue-maned head, “It's just, Darkie, since she woke up, she's a little...unstable.” Taking a deep breath she continued to explain, “She either randomly switches to Zebran, or starts arguing with this 'other self' in her head.”

Brightstar eyed her warily, taking a miniscule step backwards. “Are you saying she is... is crazy?”

“Aqua Splash said it was something called…” she paused for a moment to remember what it was she had been told yesterday. She had been so bombarded with information and various ‘do’s and don’ts’ it was hard to sift through everything. “Ah, yeah, Dissociative Identity Disorder, that’s it. Apparently she's deflecting a repressed harmful memory...but yeah, she sounds pretty crazy, Bright.”

Brightstar fidgeted, his bodyweight pressing against the hoof at his chest in an anxious effort to push past his friend. “I need to see her so I can fix this!” He exclaimed, still panicking.

“How hun? This isn't a quick fix thing...she's hurt up here!” Air Raid used one of her wings, her left, to tap the side of her head.

“I don't care!” Brightstar shouted, little yellow sparks flying from his horn as his panic began to give way to anger.

Air Raid sighed as she moved her left foreleg from his chest and draped it over his shoulder. “I know hun, I know, c'mon.” Her left wing joined her leg, pulling the stallion into a hug. “Just...don't get too close too quick, alright? Unicorn stallions kinda 'set her off', if you know what I mean.”

‘Unicorn stallions set her off?’ The thought stunned the royal blue unicorn to his core. The implication was plain, of course. Brightstar knew just what was meant by that simple sentence. “I'm going to kill him.” He said quietly and simply.

Once more Air Raid sighed. They’d performed this dance so often over the past few months she knew the steps by heart. “No. You. Are. Not!” She thumped his shoulder hard, making him wince. “Bright...look, you can't go after him. We can't touch him. You saw that police email. He was in Las Pegasus with a mare that’s given him an alibi!”

“I don't care anymore!” Brightstar stomped his hoof, “He did this, even if he didn't do it in person.” He was about to stomp his hoof again when he sighed, all his ire seeping out of him like a squeezed sponge. “Fine, fine…I don't want my wedding to be in a jail cell.”

Air Raid gently rubbed her hoof and her wing up and down unicorn’s left side. “I know it was him, you know it was him. All I care about now is Darkie, you and Moon.”

For a few long moments the only sounds between the two very close friends were the sounds of Air Raid shushing and Brightstar weeping quietly into her shoulder. Minutes passed in this manner, the world turned around them, ponies moved past them paying them no mind. Presently Brightstar lifted his head, “I'm good, let's see my sister.”

Air Raid kissed his cheek, kissed away his tears. “Good boy,” she smiled and gave him a little wink. “Now…behave or I'll tell Moony on you.”

“Yeah right,” Brightstar smiled, drying his yellow eyes. “You just want a spanking for being a tattle tale.”

Blushing a very bright red Air Raid muttered, “Maybe,” and was still blushing profusely as she turned and led the way to the coma room.

“Announce me, Raid.” Brightstar whispered with a none too small amount of reticence as he paused and waited outside the room.

“I will...you talk to her as you come in, 'kay?” Air Raid replied as she trotted into the room, making sure she made her presence known, and that the white unicorn could see her well in advance on her way to her bed. Even though she was a mare she was wary of suddenly startling her. “Hey!” She smiled in the manner of one talking to a foal, “I said I'd be back, right?”

Darkstar didn’t return the smile. Briefly she looked at Air Raid as she entered the room, then she looked away out of the window at the pouring rain hitting the glass in a steady rhythm. “I told you she'd come back...so, she'll leave again, they all leave...stop it, please!”

Air Raid quietly took her familiar seating pad on the left side of the hospital bed, guilty that she was already feeling uncomfortable as she watched her friend turn her back to her and start muttering to herself under her breath, rocking back and forth on her bed. “Hey, Darkie,” she said, cautiously breaking the uneasy silence between them.  “I got a surprise, Bright's here, to see you.”

Darkstar snapped her head around at the sound of a new set of heavy hoof-steps to see who had entered the room behind her. The first thing she registered was ‘stallion’. Immediately ceasing her rocking motion she pushed herself backwards to her large pillow. Yellow eyes met yellow eyes and even though she flinched away she smiled. “B-Brightstar…” she whispered in recognition, her tentative smile widening a little.

“Hi sis, good to see you've woken up, sleepy head.” Brightstar greeted his sister with a cheery wave of his hoof as, following his friend’s instruction, he spoke to her calmly on the way to her bed. Drawing up alongside the pegasus he took the seating pad next to her, making himself comfortable. “Hey Darkie. Sorry Moon couldn't be here, she is coming on Monday.”

Darkstar stared at her brother, stared at him long and hard. Her eyes slid in and out of focus and she cocked her head as if in deep thought. “Moon…Moonbeak, she's...the griffon you left us for...NO, don't say that!” She snapped, her tone switching at the word ‘no’, becoming desperate, almost pleading.

“Aaah…” Brightstar paused, taken aback by the sudden switch in his sister’s manner. It was indeed as Air Raid had described, as if she were two ponies, both fighting to speak at once, both distinct and different, yet both of them living in his sister’s head, using her voice. “We, aaah…we are getting married and I'm hoping you'll come to the wedding.”

“Wedding? Darkstar smiled a wide genuine smile, looking for that split second totally at ease like her old self. “We'd love to!” And, just like flipping a switch she changed, “Depends,” she sneered nastily, “You gonna recite sappy poems there too?”

“Depends,” Brightstar retorted, “Are you going to write them for us?”

Darkstar gave her brother a nasty sneer, “Wildfire was the poet, get Raid to ask her...” almost straightaway a meeker ‘her’ replied, “Hey, that was mean...” beside her Air Raid sniffled at the cruel jibe about her missing ex, she looked away as she raised a foreleg to her eyes. “Raid, I'm sorry!”

Ignoring the distress of his friend sat next to him Brightstar leant closer, an eager gleam in his eyes. “That is a good idea, I'd love to ask Wily, do you know where she is?”

Subconsciously Darkstar pushed herself backwards away from her brother as he got closer. “W-we...I...I...f-found h-er...” she stammered as she recalled the fleeting memory of months ago, but then, “SHUT UP!” She switched, her muzzle pulled back in an angry snarl. “S-she's, Canterlot...” meekly she shook her head, oblivious to the worried glances that were exchanged to her right. “SHUT. UP!” She screamed, spit flying from her mouth before she took a couple of deep breaths. “H-Home...home…” she gasped clutching her head with her hooves before snapping her head up, “Hatujui! Nyamaza!” She yelled, her stump of a horn lighting as she tried to cast a powerful illusion. The light from her horn hit the platinum ring and the gold lettering flared brightly, absorbing the energy and redirecting it back down the core of her horn, the soothing feedback sending her fuzzy.

Brightstar stopped in his tracks “I haven't given up on her and I'm not giving up on you. I’m not sorry I moved to FIllydelphia, if you want you can move there too.” He said kindly.

With a slight swoon to her Darkstar looked at Brightstar with a blank expression. “Bright...Filly...when did you move to Filly?” Slumping back in her pillow she sighed happily, “She's quiet at last...”

Sensing something had changed in his sister Brightstar smiled, “I moved to be with Moonbeak and her kittens. I love her Darkie. I want you to be at the wedding.”

“I really would love to,” Darkstar said quietly, starting to sound at lot like herself after the wild outburst. “Bright…I'm...sorry about her.”

Brightstar moved forward off of his pad and took a step closer to the bed. “It's okay sis, I love you and want you to be a part of our life.” He said in his deep reassuring tone.

Much calmer Darkstar reached out with her right foreleg, stretching her hoof to touch her brother. “So...you make a scene in restaurants on purpose?” She asked with a smile as she searched her memory, remembering something she heard while she had been sleeping. “That sounds like fun.”

Brightstar grinned, pleased he was finally getting through to the pony that now looked and sounded like his sister. “Yes, I do, and it is fun for both of us. I like some discipline in my life.” Feeling more confident he stepped closer, his forelegs now on the bed itself.

Smiling like the cat with her cream Darkstar leant a little and gently stroked her brother’s royal blue cheek. “I...I'm glad you've finally found your griffon...” as she stroked his fur Darkstar’s eye twitched once then twice.

Watching the exchange between brother and sister closely Air Raid moved fractionally towards Brightstar, ready at a moment’s notice to pull the stallion away. “Bright, step back hun,” she warned him quietly.

Hearing the whispered warning Brightstar froze in place where he was, but didn’t retreat as Air Raid suggested. “I'm sure you'll find the one too Darkie, just give it time. So we going to your place when they let you out of here?” He asked calmly and smoothly, not once taking his eyes away from his sister.

“Bright...” Air Raid’s voice was barely audible now.

Darkstar shied away from the proximity of the stallion, recoiling and cringing as far back on the bed as she could go. “I...don't know...I don't want to be alone...” her eye twitched twice more, whimpering slightly she could feel herself waking up inside, the tumultuous, wild…’thing’ inside her head recovering from the calming effects of the feedback ring. There was nothing she could do about it…she couldn’t control it. This ‘thing’ that spoke with her voice and looked like her was just too strong. “WE are not alone, she has us, and we stand by us...” she growled indignantly.

Brightstar sighed in exasperation as this ‘creature’ returned, “Yes Raid?” He asked irritably.

“Who's hungry?” Air Raid chirped sparkily, doing a very good impersonation of Cinnamon from the cafeteria. “I know I am, and Darkie needs her exercise!” She said, hoping her exuberance would serve as a distraction to calm both of her friends, although she really did feel for the stallion’s irritation.

“I haven't had anything to eat today.” Brightstar’s stomach agreed with him, giving a loud rumble. “We going to the cafeteria?”

“That's what I was thinking, you up for a walk, Darkie?” Air Raid asked, pleased her distraction had worked.

Sitting up straight in her bed at the mention of food Darkstar smiled enthusiastically. “Yes, we think we can manage a walk.”

Not wanting to go out of his sister’s field of view as she got off of the hospital bed Brightstar moved aside and around to give her clear access to the door without going past him. Giving them both a nervous smile as she stood on wobbly underused legs Darkstar took her first step in seven months. Seeing her walking unsteadily Air Raid immediately moved to her left flank to support her.

Also noticing his sister in difficulty at once Brightstar stepped back towards her to take up her right flank.

As Brightstar got closer to her Darkstar instinctively stiffened up, her heart racing in fear. She breathed deeply, drawing succour from Air Raid at her left she eased up, relaxing as her brother got nearer to make contact with her side. Casting her eyes downwards she muttered, “But…he’s our brother…” stamping a hoof she snarled, “He’s a stallion!” Trembling slightly she looked downwards again, “He wouldn’t hurt us…”

Walking either side of her, as if they were tip-hoofing upon literal eggshells, Air Raid and Brightstar shared a look between themselves over the back of her head. Mouthing to each other they shared but a single word.

“Crazy…”

~ ~ ~

Six thirty in the a.m. of Monday morning. Half an hour before Celestia was due to raise the sun, the land was still shrouded in the darkness of night. Few ponies were awake at this time, save for the emergency services and the overnight trains. One such house that was could be found at the end of Mane Street in Canterlot’s posh Upper Residential District. To live here you told the rest of Canterlot you were either minor nobility or wealthy. Or both. The large four bedroom apartment that had its great room lights on belonged to a young mare who was very definitely the latter, despite her parents’ best efforts. A self-made mare from skill rather than inheritance, Air Raid really didn’t fit in to this neighbourhood in the least.

Though usually alone in her spacious apartment since her (ex) marefriend had suddenly gone missing, this particular Monday saw her sharing with two other ponies. One, Darkstar, was thankfully still sleeping up in the room she had chosen as hers – or ‘theirs’, as the case seemed to be – and the other, her brother Brightstar, who was currently looking as awake as Air Raid felt.

Both mare and stallion had been awake now for the better part of an hour, although they had shared barely a few words between them. Were it not for the stereo in the corner they would be sat in silence, neither of them wanting to discuss the elephant in the room that was the thankfully sleeping unicorn in the bedroom above them. While most of the weekend since her discharge from the hospital had been pleasant, Darkstar’s instability had been ‘trying’ on them both, to say the least.

The disc in the stereo, The Beautiful South, which had been Wily’s favourite band (and the only thing that found its way into Air Raid’s stereo since her disappearance), started to play a song called ‘Prettiest Eyes’ just as Brightstar’s phone rang. Reaching for the remote control she turned the already low music down slightly as the stallion picked up his phone in his yellow aura, a tremulous smile playing over his muzzle when he saw who it was.

“Hi love,” the relief in his voice spoke volumes. The three and a half days since he’d last seen his fiancé had felt like several lifetimes.

“Okay, it is all sorted out here and I'm on the train.” Moonbeak had been reluctant to leave the kittens with her mother again, Athena had been looking forward to the adventure of a long train ride. “Due in Canterlot about three in the afternoon.”

Nervously Brightstar stroked his hoof through his black mane, “Do you think you can take a taxi to Raid's place?”

Although he couldn’t see it he was sure her emerald green eyes had just narrowed dangerously. “Why aren't you picking me up?” She asked in reply, her shrill voice taking on a decidedly icy edge.

“Love, I would, but things are a bit…’touchy’ with Darkie.” He explained with the tactful use of the euphemism. Of course he had filled his fiancé in on everything that had happened, and while they had all agreed silently between them that Darkstar was crazy, none of them had said it out loud.

“Raid is there, and you know how ponies are with me.” Moonbeak said flatly, not in the mood for any backchat from her stallion after having to get Athena and Zephyr to her mother’s nest this early.

“Fine,” Brightstar caved, also not in the mood to really argue. “Fine, I'll come get you at the station.”

“I knew you'd see it my way love.” Brightstar could practically feel her superior triumphant smirk as she hung up the call, not waiting for him to reply. Usually this sort of thing would be sending the right signals to the right places, but not this morning.

“Moon twist your hoof Bright?” Air Raid asked with a little smile, speaking for the first time in almost an hour as her friend carefully lowered his phone to the table next to the empty coffee mug. “You want a drink of anything?”

Brightstar didn’t answer at first. His yellow eyes focused on a middle distance between the two of them, momentarily taken by his thoughts about his sister. It seemed unreal that family history was repeating itself. It was all happening all over again. “I'm worried Raid.” He said eventually, still focused on the table. “I think it is…best if Darkie stays here with you. I just don't know, with the kittens and her, at home.” He shook his head with a grimace, as if every word had cost him a piece of his soul to utter. “Coffee please.” It had…but he had his family to consider, not just his sister.

“Oh?” Air Raid asked with a raised eyebrow as she got up and trotted across the cream carpeted great room to the black tiled kitchen area to prepare the coffee, if she was brutally honest with herself she was secretly very pleased with her friend’s statement. “Well...I'm kinda glad to hear that mate really, I got used to being around her in the hospital.”

Brightstar followed her over carrying their coffee mugs in his yellow magical field. “She was quieter then…” he muttered under his breath, floating the two mugs over to the coffee maker just as the water boiled.

Hearing the stallion’s mutter, whether she was meant to or not, Air Raid turned to face him with empathy all over her muzzle. “I know what you mean...” she pointed a forehoof to the island in the middle of the kitchen. “Sit.”

Obediently Brightstar eased himself onto one of the seating pads around the black marble-topped breakfast island and rubbed his temples with both hooves. “It…has been a long weekend with Darkie talking...” the royal blue stallion trailed off to a deep sigh as Air Raid placed a steaming mug of coffee in front of him. “Thanks for the coffee hun.” He said with a grateful look.

Taking her own fresh mug of black coffee and placing it next to his Air Raid sat on the seating pad opposite her friend. “C'mon Bright, what's really up?” She asked as she reached over the marble and placed her hoof on his. ‘I have a shrewd idea…’ Air Raid thought to herself.

Brightstar nursed his coffee with his left hoof as he considered his reply. “I’s…It's just... I look at her and all I see is Shinning Star in that room.”

‘Bingo…’ Air Raid gave herself an internal pat on the back as her theory was confirmed. It gave her no pleasure, being right, it just meant she had as much of an idea as to what to do as Brightstar did. Namely none whatever.  “Yeah.” The lime green mare admitted as she sipped her coffee. “I was thinking something similar, if I'm totally honest.” She said, thinking of Darkstar and Brightstar’s mother residing in Canterlot’s Asylum.

“Well, enough of that.” Brightstar announced, firmly pushing thoughts of his mad mother out of his mind, “May as well get breakfast ready…”

Just at that moment they froze as they heard a loud slam echo through the apartment from behind them bringing a halt to any further conversation between them. Slightly panicked they shared a worried look, shaking their heads and shrugging their shoulders as they tried to work out what if anything Darkstar had heard of their talk. Another door slammed, this time the one from the bathroom, and Darkstar stalked quietly into the kitchen area. If she had heard anything of what her brother and friend had been discussing she gave no sign of it as she took the third empty seating pad at the breakfast island. Quickly recovering herself Air Raid slapped on a wide smile to her muzzle and tried to sound as cheery as she could. “Hey! Good morning!” She cheered, praying that her sincerity didn’t come across as fake as it sounded to her. “We uh, were um...letting you sleep, sweetie.”

“I was just about to make breakfast, would you like pancakes or waffles?” Brightstar asked, his own smile about as false as his friend’s was.

“Did you…um, sleep well, Darkie?” Air Raid asked, taking up the empty coffee mugs and taking them to the sink.

“Pancakes.” Darkstar muttered simply, shooting her brother a foul look that threatened to curdle the milk he was going to make the pancakes from. Pointedly ignoring Air Raid she looked down at the black marble island top as the stallion got up and floated out the eggs, flour and milk to start cooking the pancakes.

“Darkie...” Air Raid asked again, this time a little louder, “Did you sleep ok…”

Without looking up from the island top Darkstar quietly interrupted her. “Shut up...you two were talking about us…”

With his back to his sister and very grateful that he had something to occupy himself with, Brightstar replied, “Well yeah. I was talking to Raid about you staying in Canterlot instead of moving to Fillydelphia. You grew up here so it is more familiar to you.” He said as he flipped the first set of three pancakes in the pan.

“Liar...shut up!” Darkstar shouted, still resolutely looking at the marble top, “You don't want us, we heard...told you he'd hurt us…”

Air Raid sat back down and slowly reached her hoof out to the white mare. “D-Darkie, no...That's not what we said at all, hun.”

“Darkie, please calm down.” Brightstar sighed as he served the pancakes to a waiting plate and started to cook three more. “If you really want to move, then say so!” He exclaimed, angry that they’d been overheard earlier, and at how his sister was talking. He desperately wanted to grab her and shake her, but he knew that was out of the question. Instead he settled for slamming Air Raid’s cupboard doors as he put away the flour.

“Yes...we'll be calm, we’ll be quiet just for you.” Darkstar muttered sullenly. ‘They don’t want you. Not your brother or your friend. They hate you. They hate us. I’ll keep you safe…trust me Darkie.’

“Darkie...we were talking...” Air Raid said hesitantly, her hoof still on her friend’s being utterly ignored, “You can always stay here if you want to, you know that.”

“Okay then!” Brightstar called out, switching off the electric oven. “Pancakes are ready. You want maple syrup Darkie? We have strawberry jam also.”

“Maple syrup.” Darkstar murmured almost inaudibly, her yellow eyes glued resolutely downwards as if scared to look either of the other ponies in the eyes. ‘They hate us, you know they hate us…they’re scared of us…we aren’t normal…you’re a freak!’

Brightstar shrugged as Air Raid gave him a concerned questioning look with a nod to the sullen white mare. “Syrup it is then!” He said loudly, levitating up the three plates, knives, forks and maple syrup in his magical field. “We can eat in the dining room, get some use out of it.”

“Just cuz I usually eat here in front of the telly…” Air Raid stuck her tongue out at the royal blue stallion as she slid herself off of her seating pad and moved around to gently nudge the white mare’s shoulder. “C'mon Darkie, you'll feel better with a full belly.”

“We'd feel better if we were wanted.” Darkstar said petulantly as she stood from her pad and followed after the lime green mare towards the dining room. ‘Crazy…that’s what they call you. You’re crazy Darkie…’

Brightstar brought up the rear with the food and utensils floating in front of him. “We both want what is best for you, and that is to live with one of us.”

Upon entering the dining room Darkstar sloped onto the nearest seating pad to her and propped her elbow on the mahogany table to hold her head up. “What if we wanted to go home?” She asked, already sure of the answer she’d get.

Air Raid sat opposite her at the other side of the dining table and breathed through her nose, almost snorted, “You can't, we've discussed this!”

Darkstar wasn’t disappointed, she knew she wouldn’t be. “Because we're...crazy.” She said glumly.

“Raid, if she is that desperate to leave us then who are we to stop her?” Brightstar asked almost rhetorically as he floated the food to the table and magically set the cutlery beside each plate. “She is an adult.” He said, taking his own seating pad while shooting his ‘adult’ sister a sideways look that screamed he thought anything but, “But it will be you that's doing the leaving Darkie, not us.”

In silence Darkstar started to eat her first pancake, ignoring the knife and fork she picked it up in her much-weakened yellow aura and took a bite of it that way instead. Although the inhibitor siphoned off most of her magic, enough made it past the lower level ring to just manage a foal-level levitation…if she concentrated really hard. “We don't need them, go home...no, it'd be just us...” she argued straightaway, cocking her head as if she were talking to a pony next to her rather than in her head. “So? *I'll keep you safe*...no!...but...NO!” She shouted loudly, making the other two flinch as she thumped the dinner table with her forehoof. “Raid...we'll stay here, please.”

Halfway through his own pancake Brightstar tried very hard to hide the relief on his face. “You've made a good choice there sis. Raid is one fast pony.”

“Hmm…” was all the sound the white mare made as she picked up and ate her second pancake. ‘Your own brother doesn’t want you…who wants a crazy half-unicorn?’

“Yes!” Air Raid pulled a hoof-pump over her pancakes, “Girlie sleepover, every night!” She whooped with glee, genuinely happy to have another body in the house, even if it was a little wacko.

“Yes, I can just see it now.” Brightstar chuckled, rolling his yellow eyes at the thought as he picked up his pancake.

“Yeah…” Darkstar said very quietly. “We'll have fun.” ‘You see it the same way you see our mom in me…crazy little pony!’

“Um…anyway, Moon will arrive at three this afternoon.” Brightstar said brightly, catching his sister’s instant switch and wanting to change the subject. “We can go out for dinner if you’d like?” He asked optimistically.

“That's a good idea Bright,” Air Raid agreed, the lime green pegasus also glad of the subject change, “Darkie you can finally meet her!”

“We've met her...” Darkstar said simply, her tone strangely flat, devoid of any feeling. “We remember when we were asleep.”

“Sweetie, that's not what I meant...” Air Raid began before the troubled unicorn interrupted her.

“We know what you meant.” Darkstar said, cutting across her friend somewhat mechanically. “Don't want it....” she muttered as she looked at her third and last pancake sitting on her plate. “We want it over...hush! ...we've had enough!” She shrieked, sudden feeling re-entering her voice. ‘End it…we’re crazy…it’s for the best.”

Completely misunderstanding Brightstar thought she meant the pancake, “It's okay, you don't have to eat it all.”

“I'll take your plate, Darkie.” Air Raid offered helpfully, not wanting her friend to exert herself.

Darkstar held up her white hoof as she stood from her seating pad. “We can do it, Raid.” She said with a distinct grimace as on the first attempt of lighting her horn the magic puttered out like a snuffed candle, not making it past the inhibitor.

Air Raid shared a quick concerned look with the royal blue stallion, “Darkie, it's no trouble…”

“We said…” Darkstar muttered dangerously before stomping both forehooves in a violent flash of temper. “Sisi. Tunaweza. Kusimamia!” She her white furred muzzle pulled back in a snarl as she screamed, her bright yellow magic surging past the inhibitor, creating her old illusion of her voice sounding at a pony’s ear, this time it appeared at both Air Raid’s and Brightstar’s at once, stunning them both with her sudden vehemence. “We. Can. Do. It…” she gasped, all at once considerably calmer as she lifted her plate in her weakened magic.

For a few long, quiet moments neither of the other two ponies made a sound, they were hesitant to even breathe. Presently Brightstar released the breath he hadn’t realised he had been holding. “You have come a long ways with your magic, you um…you think you can take a second?”

Darkstar shot her brother a scathing look. “Of course we can.”

“I know you can, sis.” Brightstar forced a smile as he finished the last bite and left the fork off of his plate.

Struggling to levitate over the second empty plate, Darkstar floated it to her own she stacked them together. Squeezing her eyes together and shaking with effort she lifted the plates in her fluttering yellow aura and trotted to the kitchen as Air Raid finished her last mouthful, and shared a meaningful looks at Brightstar.

Brightstar looked back at her and over at the closed kitchen door with a shrug. “Her magic is coming back and that is a level five inhibitor she is wearing.”

Air Raid averted her grey eyes with a deep sigh. “Bright…I’m…I'm really worried, Bright.” She groaned while in the kitchen Darkstar despondently set the dishes in the sink.

“I'm worried too, but we need to give her time.” The stallion agreed, “I hope you understand but I'm happy she is here with you.”

“Bright, of course I understand, like I said, I'm grateful for the company.” Air Raid admitted, still looking away from her friend. “Since…since Wily it's been too quiet here on my own.”

Darkstar shook as she rested her head against the kitchen cupboard door, tears in her eyes. ‘I was right…they don't want us...I told you…’

“She will be safer here with you.” The royal blue unicorn asserted as he used his magic to float all the cutlery on top of Air Raid’s plate. He knew he was more or less signing over his sister to his friend, but he really didn’t know what else to do. He cast his gaze around the seldom used dining room, searching for inspiration from the hardwood wall panels or the deep red carpet. Nothing sprang to his aid. “I know Moonbeak would welcome her in Fillydelphia, but it is a strange city for her, Raid.”

Air Raid caught his meaning at once, and her empathy for him shot up a million degrees. “And, you have little Athena and Zephyr to think about.” The lime green mare gestured with a hoof to her friend. “You've seen just how easy it is to set her off, with it just being you and me.”

Crying now with her eyes open Darkstar shuddered as the tears rolled down her white cheeks. “Of course they don't want us...nopony wants us...” she gasped out in between each wet sob. ‘They don’t listen to us…they don’t believe us…they don’t care, they just want us quiet so we don’t upset them.’ As the poisonous little voice whispered in her head her hoof came to rest on a kitchen drawer, the one in which Air Raid kept her knives. Pulling it open she saw the long sharp stainless steel blade of thee carving knife glinting up at her. “We're just…a burden…” she cried through her tears of despair.

Brightstar nodded eagerly. “We would of course figure out something if we had to, but this is the best solution for her.”

Air Raid smiled over at her friend, “You know I'll look after her hun.”

“We...we're just a burden...” sighing deeply Darkstar channelled what little power she still had and lit her horn, lifting the knife in her unstable magical field. “Bright doesn't want us...we're crazy...we're mad...yes we are…” with that desolate, empty thought in her head the white unicorn reared up to her hind legs and put both of her forelegs on the black marble-topped work surface in the kitchen and rested the blade against the backs of her forehooves.

“Hun...she'll be safe here, and you know you can visit whenever.” Air Raid said reassuringly, then burst into giggles, “I'll even tidy up for you first.”

“We aren’t a burden…” Darkstar sighed as she slowly, very slowly, drew the knife in a long deep cut over both of her fetlocks. “shhh…it's the best way, Darkie, it’s done now.”

“I hear what you're saying, Raid, but you have a life too.” Brightstar smiled, “Take her to the track, and if you need bits we can send you some.”

Air Raid laughed out loud, “Take her? She can sit next to me on the hill run.”

“Aaaah...” Darkstar sighed with pleasure as she stood, almost mesmerized, watched the crimson blood start to flow from the long clean cut she had just made across her forelegs. “See Darkie? Doesn't that feel better?...y-yes...do it again…” she encouraged herself as she struggled to pick up the blood-stained knife in her magic and slashed her fetlocks once more.

Brightstar joined his friend in her laugh, both ponies in the dining room blissfully oblivious to the drama unfolding in the kitchen. “I think she'd like that, zipping around the track with some crazy mare.” He chuckled at Air Raid’s pout, “Might put Slingshot out of a job.”

Air Raid snorted out a laugh, “It might stop him being such a thorough ass though,”

“MMmmm....so much better…” Darkstar sighed, dropping the knife with a loud metallic clatter as she slumped to the tiled floor.

“Hey…” Air Raid’s laugh died suddenly on her lips, to be replaced by a look of deep concern. “Is it me...or has she been gone a while?”

The closed kitchen door did absolutely nothing to muffle the loud resounding clatter of the knife as it impacted the ceramic tiles of the kitchen.

Brightstar’s eyes went wide with panic. “Darkie!” Without thinking he immediately teleported to the kitchen, and a split second later Air Raid heard a panicked, “Ghaaa! Raid! There is so much blood!”

“What?” Air Raid leapt up to her hooves and galloped through the door to the kitchen. “Darkie!!”

Slumped and bleeding against the lower cabinet door Darkstar looked up at her brother dancing on his hooves in an utter panic, and at Air Raid’s stunned expression with a tired smile. “Sisi ni...si mzigo…”

“Raid…do something!” Brightstar shouted, now in a full panic.

Quickly sizing up the situation, ignoring the stallion for the moment Air Raid knelt in the growing pool of blood by the fallen unicorn and stroked her grey mane from in front of her eyes. “Bright, those towels, bring them over.” She instructed clearly and calmly, pointing with her wing to indicate the ones she meant. “I'll hold them tight on her, quick!”

With Air Raid knelt in front of her Darkstar muttered, “Sisi kupumzika sasa...” her yellow eyes began to droop, growing too heavy for her to keep open.

“Darkie no!” Air Raid yelled, her own panic threatening to take her. “Stay awake!”

Brightstar meanwhile, still prancing in a panicked dance that would, under any other happenstance be funny, was frantically trying to find the towels the green mare had asked for. “What towels!?”

Air Raid didn’t look up. She didn’t take her eyes away from the white mare, not once. “The tea towels, there, to the left of the stove!” She pointed again with her wing to the two cream towels. “Now!”

“What do I do?” Brightstar yelped as he finally grabbed the requested towels in his magic. “Raid, what do I do?”

Focused on the bleeding white unicorn Air Raid used her wings to hold Darkstar's cut forelegs above her head to hinder her circulation, slowing down the flow of blood. “Wrap one each around each leg, over the cuts, tight!”

‘So much blood!’ Obediently Brightstar used his magic to wrap the towels and help the pegasus support his sister’s legs. ‘So much blood…’ he tried without success to put the scene from his mind and detach…but there was so much blood…the royal blue stallion wobbled, looking unsteady.

Satisfied her friend was for the moment in no immediate threat with the towels magically tied tight around her fetlocks Air Raid at last chanced a glance over at her brother and saw him unsteady, “HEY! Snap out of it!” Noting the faint tinge of red already on the towels, she started to feel the panic. “Nine one one, now!”

Acting as if in a daze Brightstar released his hold on his sister’s raised legs and used his magic to float over his phone to him. “R-Raid…is she going to be okay?” He asked, a mix of fear and confusion in his voice as he dialled the emergency services.

“Sure!” Air Raid found the lie came remarkably easy to her lips as she knelt in her seldom-used kitchen, her lime green knees stained crimson with her friend’s blood, holding her legs up in the air. “Just get on that ambulance, we got this, right?”

Unsupported Darkstar’s head slumped forward so her chin rested on her chest as a tiny little trickle of red seeped from under the towel on her left leg. “Let...us...go…” she was so faint she practically exhaled the words.

“Help! Ahh, my sister is bleeding! Ahh, oh…” Brightstar flustered into his phone, almost giving in to his building hysteria as he hurriedly gave the operator Air Raid’s address – he had to try twice, the first time he gave them his Fillydelphia address – in the Upper Residential District. “Hurry!” He pleaded desperately. “Oh…oh I don't know…” to Air Raid he asked, “Is…she breathing?”

“Yep!” Air Raid called out, “She's still here, both of the crazy bitches!”

“We want…” Darkstar gasped as again her yellow eyes drooped to below half open, “Sleep...”

“NO!” Air Raid screamed, bringing her left hoof across her muzzle in a hard slap.

“Yes! I don't know, there is blood everywhere…” utterly distraught Brightstar slumped to the tiled kitchen floor, his fluttering aura barely able to hold his phone to his ear. “Please hurry, I can't lose her again.” The operator hung up but still he held his phone up to his ear.

“How long?” For a long few minutes the stallion didn’t answer, prompting Air Raid to yell out, “Bright! How long!?” Brightstar held on to his phone, staring off at something that wasn’t there, looking anywhere other than at his stricken sister. He didn’t answer, his mind wanting very dearly to shut down and pretend this nightmare was just that, and that he was still asleep in his chosen room at Air Raid’s house. “Brightstar!” She screamed the question this time as she squeezed the towels harder. “How. Bucking. Long?”

Recovering slightly Brightstar’s yellow eyes managed to focus on the lime green mare. “Soon…she said soon.”

Air Raid was about to chew out her friend for being so utterly and completely useless, wondering briefly if things would’ve gone differently had Moonbeak been here to command and direct him better than she herself had done, when the sound of distant sirens reached her ears. Sighing with relief that professional help was almost here the lime green pegasus bit back the scathing comment she had been about to unleash, “Bright, go out there and guide them in, 'kay?” She directed clearly, pointing to her door for emphasis.

Giving his friend an unsteady look, as if he’d just been pole-axed, Brightstar shook his head, trying to clear whatever fog was there. “I…I can do that…” With a considerable amount of effort the royal blue stallion heaved himself to his hooves and walked out of the upmarket apartment with the enthusiasm of one walking to his execution.

‘Luna dammit!…’ Air Raid thought as she turned back to Darkstar with an angry snarl. “Damn you Darkstar! What in the name of Tartarus were you thinking?” She spat, seriously fighting the urge to add a black eye to her friend’s current injuries. After seven months of sitting by her bedside praying for her to wake up, renting the next bed to her for over two hundred days that had cost her over one hundred and five thousand bits Air Raid was determined she wasn’t going to die here on her kitchen floor. “Darkstar!” She yelled in her face, roughly shaking her.

Jerking her eyes open Darkstar looked through the lime green mare rather than at her. “There's no light...they always say there's a light…”

“In here, quick!” Brightstar rushed into the kitchen with two paramedics following closely behind him; one, a pegasus stallion whose name badge said ‘First Aid’ and the other, a unicorn mare called ‘Blood Pressure’. Quickly they shared a look between them as they sized up the scene in the now cramped little kitchen.

“Victim is a...a…unicorn,” Blood Pressure stated matter-of-factly, taking Darkstar’s legs in her green magical hold as Air Raid moved out of the way to give them room to work and she managed to get a proper look at the stump of the white horn just showing through the grey mane. “What level is that inhibitor?”

First Aid made a couple of notes, “Looks like about two pints on the floor,” he said quietly, reaching into his kit. “I'll get the plasma ready.”

“Level five, Ma’am,” Air Raid replied as she moved around the breakfast island to stretch a comforting wing around the shivering Brightstar. “We've staunched the blood flow as much as we could.”

Blood Pressure spared Air Raid a cursory nod. “We have nothing higher, slit fetlocks?” She asked curtly.

Air Raid nodded, as grateful for her friend’s body heat as Brightstar was for hers. “Yes, Ma’am, both of them.”

First Aid worked quickly and quietly, efficiently inserting an IV line in a vein of Darkstar’s hind leg. “Got plasma and fluids in, Blood.” He reported to his team mate as the green magic intensified around the tightly wrapped towels, both now soaked through.

“Hmm…” she muttered as she quickly removed the hastily applied towels around Darkstar’s slowly bleeding fetlocks to allow her to apply gauze and bandages. “Double cuts.” She noted in her curt manner.

“She’s showing signs of shock.” First Aid commented. “Breathing is okay.”

“Damn…” Swaying slightly Air Raid squeezed her friend tighter in the hug and placed her hoof on the breakfast island’s marble top for support. “We, we had no clue she'd try anything like this.” The lime green mare shook her head and sniffed back a tear as her roiling emotions threatened to at last overtake her.

“I'll levitate to the wagon.” Blood Pressure stated as First Aid nodded in agreement, moving ahead of his partner to clear the path to the outside. Surrounding Darkstar in her green aura she gently and carefully picked her up and started to evacuate her patient. Pausing at the door she turned back to the shaking stallion and the pegasus whose lower hind legs were still stained red. “Canterlot Royal is the closest. You all can follow.”

“Thanks, Ma’am…” jolted to activity as the two paramedics left her house Air Raid untangled herself from the hug she had shared with her friend. Grabbing her car keys from the kitchen dresser she turned to see Brightstar stood where she’d left him, she doubted he’d even blinked. “Bright, in my car hun, c'mon, we know the way!”

“I can't do this.” He moaned as the sound of screeching tyres signalled the ambulance’s departure. To say he was stunned was an understatement. Brightstar was practically catatonic. “It's mother all over again.”

Torn between screaming out loud, walking out and leaving him stood in her kitchen or thundering over and seizing the immobile stallion by his grey and white collar Air Raid ultimately stomped her hoof hard into the ceramic tiled floor in an attempt to rid herself of the frustration she was feeling. “Keep it together Bright,” she said, hoping her tone was as kind out loud as it was in her head. “Get your phone, get in my car, we need to step on the gas!”

“I got my phone.” Brightstar hung his head, completely subdued and defeated. “I...I just want to go home.”

“Uuugh…” Air Raid let out a frustrated grunt full of annoyance, and at this moment, resentment, and she walked back to her friend, punctuating each hoof-step with a stomp of her hooves. “Bright, sweetie, I love you and I feel for you but get the buck in my car!”

“Okay…” Brightstar moved, albeit sluggishly, towards the open door.

Getting behind him Air Raid gave him an almighty shove with both hooves to the reluctant stallion’s flanks. “C'mon, the ambulance has left, we need to go!”

“Okay…” he muttered, barely moving after the impetus of the hard shove had died away. Growling in deep annoyance Air Raid shoved him again, this time not bothering to stop with just a shove, she pushed him roughly all the way to her Fiesta and even opened him the door. “Get in.” She said simply as she zipped around to the driver’s side door.

Sat side by side in silence for the first few moments of the drive, the only sound between them that of the monstrously powerful engine a few feet from their seats roaring as Air Raid revved it up through the gears, they started on their way into the autumnal Monday morning and ultimately to the hospital. Brightstar glanced over to the pegasus, who was absorbed with the slow business of getting them from the side streets to the main road. “Why?” He asked her simply.

Air Raid didn’t look back at him as she turned the wheel to steer the car onto the main road. “I don't know Bright, who knows what's going on in her head?” She commented as she hoofed the accelerator and finally moved up into the car’s fourth gear.

Brightstar slumped against his seatbelt, his head in his hooves. “I…I can't...I can't put her away like I did mom.”

Air Raid sighed as she drove, very grateful the traffic was light this morning. “Hey...it might not come to that.”

“Really!” Brightstar exclaimed vehemently, all of his frustrations busting forth as a dam bursts its walls. “You’re going to watch over her every second!?”

In response to this sudden outburst Air Raid jammed her right hoof down hard, causing a camera to flash as she sped up. “Yes! If I have to! Yes!” ‘Because I’m not losing Darkie like I’ve lost Wily and Cy…’ she thought with a grim determination.

Just as quickly as it had flowed so too did Brightstar’s temper suddenly ebb away. “I'm sorry…Raid, I’m sorry, I just don't know what to do!”

Sparing her friend the briefest of looks Air Raid gave him a tiny smile. “Hey, it’s cool. You did good back there, real good.” She wasn’t really surprised at how easy the lie left her lips. Truth be told he had been as much use as a chocolate engine cover, but now wasn’t the time for such honesty. “Not a lot we can do about it till we get to my second home.” She said as she screeched full speed around a corner.

“Is it okay if I just go back to Filly with Moon when she gets here?” Brightstar muttered as another speed camera flashed.

“Sure.” Air Raid replied without looking at the royal blue stallion. The question didn’t amaze her. She had been expecting something similar to this. “You gonna ring your lady when we get there?” She asked a little coldly.

Brightstar sighed in the passenger seat so often occupied by Slingshot, fully aware that with his previous question he had all but given his sister up. “Sorry, I don't know what to do.” He admitted glumly, “I don't want her to see Darkie like this. I just...I don't know.”

“Yeah well, you'd better think of something, we're here.” Air Raid replied bluntly. A little too bluntly, as she pulled into the car park and selected a space near to the entrance from the – thankfully - almost empty lot.

The lime green mare’s insensitivity lit the stallion’s fire once more. “You have no idea what it's like!” Brightstar snarled.

“What? What what's like?” She asked while killing her engine. “Accidentally hurting yourself?” She asked as she opened her car door and got out into the slightly cold morning sun. “I do understand actually." She said, thinking of the deep ugly scar on her left wing, her lasting souvenir of the time she had tried, thankfully unsuccessfully, to remove her useless wings.

Brightstar just sat there, seemingly unaware they had stopped or that the engine was turned off. “Watching someone you love going crazy.” As he said the word ‘crazy’ he began to cry.

“Hey...” She scooted quickly around to the passenger side and pulled open the door. “No, you're right. I don't know what it's like. I never will either.” Air Raid laid a hoof on his shoulder, “I’m sorry.

After a few moments of quiet sobbing Brightstar got out of his friend’s car and wiped a foreleg over his eyes to dry them. “I…I'm coming.” He hiccupped through a final sob before hitching the fakest smile the pegasus had literally ever seen.

“C'mon…” Air Raid pulled him into a very tight bone-breaking feathery hug. “Be strong now, cry later, ‘kay?”

Brightstar nodded with a hesitant smile that was a lot more genuine than the one before. “You don't need to tell Moon about my meltdown, please?”

“Tell her what?” Air Raid returned the smile with one of her own and nuzzled his cheek as she ushered him towards the hospital’s grand entrance. “I didn't see anything, I was busy earning new speeding tickets for my collection.” She snorted a laugh and opened the doors for him to enter first.

~ ~ ~

Twenty five minutes later in the waiting room of the hospital’s ER and Air Raid decided she was thoroughly and utterly bored. Bored to tears, bored to death, bored, bored and thrice bored. Even the trip to the vending machine outside for its awful coffee hadn’t supplied the change of scenery she had desired. Somewhat understandably maybe Brightstar had been sat in a moody desolate silence and when spoken to, when Air Raid had attempted conversation, had given nothing but monosyllabic replies causing her eventually to abandon the idea. In desperation she turned to the stack of out of date glossies and newspapers for her salvation, only to be disappointed there as well. The – by now a year out of date – issue of the Canterlot Centennial was still there, brazenly flashing its sensational front page headline ‘University Student Blinded in Horror Attack’. Morbidly Air Raid found herself actually reading it, drinking in the details as though they were blessed water after a trip to the desert.

Another twenty minutes passed in silence; without realising it Air Raid had read and re-read the passage about the actual moment Wildfire had been blinded at least seven times, possibly more. Having reported that Wildfire had instigated the attack by purposefully winding up Mr. Blitzwing, Air Raid had screwed up the newspaper and threw it across the room, resolving that if she ever met the reporter, a stallion called Gossip Column, she’d give him a story to report.

Ten long agonising minutes passed like ten unbearably slow years until eventually the waiting room door opened and a stallion she recognised entered. Air Raid was so pleased after nearly an hour of bored silence she could’ve tackled him and given him a huge sloppy kiss. Instead she restrained herself as Doctor Dreamweaver sat next to her. “Hello Ms. Raid” The pure white stallion greeted her with a smile, “Can you tell me what led up to this?” The psychologist asked gently.

“Oh, hey Doc,” Air Raid smiled and offered her hoof as he brushed his eggshell blue mane from his crystal blue eyes. “Well...” she sighed deeply. Having reflected on just that very thing this past hour she had a shrewd idea what had set it all off. “I kinda think it was our fault. Earlier, back at mine while we thought she was sleeping, we were talking about her.”

Doctor Dreamweaver caught this immediately, “What do you think she overheard?” He asked, his tone was kind but direct and to the point.

Again Air Raid sighed. She really didn’t want to admit what she was about to admit. She took a deep breath. “The...the bits…where we spoke about how…crazy we thought she was, and about how it was best she stay with me rather than go to Filly with her brother.” She said hesitantly.

“Have you thought about a therapist for her?” Dreamweaver asked, reaching into his saddlebag for his clipboard and pen to make notes.

“Yeah, I was thinking about that mare in Ponyville, Ruby Tuesday.”

Brightstar looked up from his stupor, finding his voice at last. “Raid…who is this guy, how is my sister?”

“Oh…right, sorry…” Air Raid gave a faint blush, “Brightstar, this is Doctor Dreamweaver. Doc, this is Brightstar, Darkie’s brother.”

Dreamweaver turned to face the obviously distraught stallion, “Hello Mr. Brightstar. I'm a psychologist here at Canterlot Royal.”

Air Raid scooted over to sit between the two stallions, laying a hoof tenderly on her friend’s shoulder. “Bright, he's recommended one in Ponyville we can take Darkie to...so uh, Doc, how's she doing?”

Dreamweaver scribbled some fresh notes in his clipboard then searched through it for some older ones. “Ah!” He exclaimed as he flipped the paper to the right page. “She is sedated for now; we have put a level six inhibitor on her too, the wounds were not too deep, blood loss wasn't too severe. Paramedics said you both reacted very quickly.” He paused for a moment to let what he’d just said sink in. Air Raid nodded quietly while Brightstar sat there looking sick. “As for her state of being though, I don't know. Ms. Tuesday is new to the practice. After studying the case history of the Archlibrarian Twilight, she wanted to work in Ponyville.”

“So…what happens next though Doc, when she wakes up?” Air Raid asked, “Her mum's in the asylum, has been for years, and Brightstar's on about heading straight back to Filly later today.”

Dreamweaver nodded, “Ms. Darkstar is going to need a lot of supervision until she has been evaluated.” He said as gently and kindly as he could.

Air Raid’s ear’s pricked up, catching what he’d just said. “What kind of supervision, exactly?” She asked cautiously, “We were discussing her staying with me.” The lime green mare said tentatively, “Earlier she said she wanted to stay with me.”

“The kind where she is not alone. At all.” Doctor Dreamweaver explained very simply. “After Doctor Tuesday has seen her, she will modify that. For now I personally consider Ms. Darkstar a high suicide risk.” The pure white stallion scribbled some more notes, these for the Ponyville psychiatrist. “She can stay here in the coma room until you meet with Doctor Tuesday, that way she is under direct and constant observation.”

Brightstar shot the doctor a deeply resentful look. “You think she is crazy?” He asked sullenly, looking for all Equestria like he wanted to be anywhere but there in that waiting room in that hospital.

“I think she has suffered from severe trauma and is deeply afraid of suffering more.” Dreamweaver replied in his curt, no-nonsense manner. “Sometimes, in that state, ponies don't see any real options.”

“So...what's the worst case scenario after Ruby sees her?” Air Raid asked, both wanting and not wanting to know the answer.

“The worst case scenario, Ms. Raid, is that she tries again and succeeds in killing herself.” Doctor Dreamweaver laid it out plain and simple, pulling absolutely no punches. “A bit less than that is having her committed to the asylum. Then, you can look at the other end of the spectrum, where she can live a normal lifestyle. Everything depends upon her upcoming evaluation.”

~ ~ ~

Seven in the a.m. and as Celestia raised the sun its golden rays illuminated the landscape across Equestria, invading their way into home and workplace, creeping unwelcome into the bedrooms of the night shift worker and the parent taking care of the night feed. In Las Pegasus, the famous ‘City in the Sands’ where nopony ever slept, the occupants of the Palomino Hotel’s Bella Suite were up well before the sun. Well, one of them was anyway. The large luxury hotel was the chosen venue for the 2026 Weather Conference and, as such, was playing host to just under two thousand pegasi chosen to represent the weather factories from every city in Equestria. It was a very big deal to be asked to attend the two day event; Cyclone just wished it’d start later in the day.

It had still been dark at six thirty when the alarm had sounded, rudely rousing the black mare from a delicious dream in which the Princess’s friend Fluttershy was her nana and she was her adorable little big filly. Grunting in frustration she rolled over in her bed, ignoring the alarm and the warm wet feeling in the nappy she was wearing in an attempt to return to the dream.

“First in the shower!” Clear Sky; her roommate, friend, colleague and all-round annoying morning pony yelled exuberantly as she cancelled the alarm with a hoof and slid out of her sumptuous bed, giggling at the sleeping lump in the bed beside her on her way to the en suite bathroom.

Cyclone yawned into her pillow and opened her bleary blue eyes. “It's all yours hun…” she muttered pointlessly to the now empty room. ‘Coffee’ she thought as she heard the toilet flush and the shower run. ‘Need coffee.’ The thought spurred her on to get up and eventually after ten minutes climbed herself out of the bed with another deep yawn, the heavy wet nappy sagging in her pink onesie. Peeling the all-in-one garment off of her she sat herself on the thick carpeted floor of the suite and changed herself into a clean dry pastel pink nappy as she heard the shower stop and the fur dryer come on.

“Ah that’s better,” standing now in her clean fresh nappy Cyclone sighed happily and quickly disposed of her wet one before her thought process returned to coffee. “Clear, you want coffee hun?” She asked, but got no reply above the sound of the dryer. Luckily she knew her friend liked it black and she hurried over to the small but lavishly equipped kitchen area to prepare it and a milky one for her.

“Is that coffee I smell?” Clear asked eagerly with a sniff as she emerged from the bathroom.

“Sure is hun, hot and fresh, like me.” Cyclone smiled, indicating the steaming black coffee with a hoof.

Clear Sky giggled, “Fresh all right.” Trotting over to the breakfast bar the light grey pegasus fluffed her bright pink mane into its naturally ‘unruly’ look that took no time at all to maintain, and made Cyclone wonder how she did it, before taking the coffee. “Thank you Cy.”

“You're very welcome,” Cyclone smiled as she blew the steam from her own brew and took a small sip. “It alright?”

Clear Sky took a mouthful of her hot drink and mulled over her answer. “Well, it’s better than the cafeteria.” She replied with a smile.

Cyclone rested her now half full mug on its coaster and sniggered, “It could pass through you and still be better than the cafeteria, hun.”

“Hmm, you may be right.” She agreed, taking another sip of her black coffee with a giggle.

Cyclone chuckled a moment longer before a thought struck her. “You looking forward to your presentation?” She asked, referring to the reason they were both here representing their respective departments.

“I am,” the Head of Cloud Production said with a smile, “Our cloud production is extremely economic and, our coverage of the farming community is spot on.”

“And, our...” Cyclone started then paused as she had to think exactly what her own report was about, despite only finishing it on the train from Canterlot the day before, “Ten year report thing...is pretty good too.”

Clear Sky giggled at that. “I was going to ask how your, Ms. ‘I'll do the report on the train’, presentation is turning out?”

“I've done it!” The black pegasus replied indignantly as she drained the remainder of her mug and took it to the sink. “I even made a little shiny power point thing with bullet points and everything!” She finished proudly, like a student announcing her completed homework.

“Any mention of Princess Twilight?” Her friend asked, putting her own empty mug in the sink as well, “You know when she came on the scene the on time went to one hundred percent. Say something about that or you'll hear from her. Once we worked the kinks out Cloudsdale’s held that for ten years now, and no other factory can match it.”

“Uh huh I've included her, don't worry.” Cyclone asserted as she flicked the coffee maker on again to make them both a second mug each. About what Misty said last night, I do know Twilight a bit.”

“So I gathered. I forget you grew up in Canterlot. Is she a reachable as she seemed last night?”

“Oh totally. When I was at Uni she was the science professor. Taught classes once a week.” Cyclone answered over her shoulder, rinsing their two mugs out.

“It’s hard to believe. I remember before her ascension when she came to Ponyville.” The light grey mare giggled like a little filly at the memory. “Dash was taken with her even then.”

Cyclone joined her in her giggle fit just as the coffee maker boiled. “Yeah, they’ve been together forever, alright. Not that I spoke to her much outside school.” She added, placing the cleaned mugs under the machine. “Now Luna, there's a fun pony.”

“I guess knowing Dusk would mean you'd know his mothers.” Clear agreed, taking the newly poured black coffee in her outstretched hoof, “Did Princess Luna do foal play with you?”

Regrettably Cyclone shook her head, tossing her turquoise mop of a mane about, “No hun, I've only been into it a year and a bit, my friend Air Raid was my nana the few months before I moved to Cloudsdale.”

Nodding, taking a drink of her coffee, Clear Sky pursued the subject. “After you wore that to work and Misty Morning said that it was no problem, I looked up stuff about it on the net. Seemed strange at first, but then it is a harmless bit of fun between adults.” She added with a giggle, “You do tune in well to actual foals though. Dawn really enjoyed playing with you and her dolls.” She said with a genuine smile, referencing the previous evening when they had visited her brother’s place in Las Pegasus and Cyclone had played with her niece.

The black pegasus gave a little shrug as she sipped her own milky coffee, “Well, between us and the gatepost I am a little incontinent, I uh...'experimented' with some zebra made potions back in Canterlot shortly after I got into the whole adult foal thing.”

“Zecora?”

“That's the one.” Cyclone agreed, “She made me these potions that regressed me mentally to about three. It was fun, mostly.”

“Zecora has been a fixture in Ponyville forever. She is very reliable too.” She said, draining half of her mug in a single swallow. “You ever gone back to her to see if she could reverse the effects?”

“No...” She raised her milky coffee to her lips then put it down again, looking away with sadness in her blue eyes. “I haven't been back since I had to move.”

“Silly Filly, Cy.” Clear Sky said as she drained her second mug of its contents. “You really should see her again. Let her know the side effects and I'm sure she can fix it.” Standing up she cocked her head towards the door and the elevator. “Ready for breakfast?”

“Sure thing hun,” Cyclone smiled as she emptied her mug. “I can use something more filling than my bottle. Besides, I kinda like using my nappies, makes me feel just like a filly.”

Clear shrugged, holding the door open. “It's your life.”

“To food!” The black pegasus grinned as her belly gave a loud rumble. “Hopefully it’ll be bigger than last night's offering.” She commented as they walked side-by-side down the short hallway to the elevator.

The light grey mare reached for the button to summon the elevator and raised an eyebrow, “You saying my brother didn't do a good job?”

Cyclone paused for a moment as the doors opened to admit them both to the spacious elevator, suddenly worried she had upset her friend with a careless remark. “Oh no, Clear, I just meant the food here last night at the mixer was tiny. The spread at your brother's place was awesomes.”

Laughing as they started to descend towards the lobby and the adjoining breakfast hall Clear Sky playfully nudged her in the barrel. “I knew what you meant, but it’s still fun to tease.” She snorted out a laugh at her friend’s return raspberry and draped her wing over her in a feathery embrace. “Aw…don’t be like that, you can plan your revenge over the breakfast buffet.”

~ ~ ~

“I’m bored!” Cyclone, dressed in a long pure white dress with white shoes and purple earrings and blue diamond necklace, slumped on her seating pad rolling her eyes in frustration.

“Look,” Clear sighed, equally exasperated at her friend’s incessant griping. “We had to come down early so we could catch security ponies and get these pads next to the Princess.” She explained, for what felt like the millionth time, smoothing down a wrinkle in the bright green dress with silver accents with a silver shod hoof with green accents.

“Fine…” Cyclone rolled her eyes and straightened her primaries, just for something to do as they waited for the first presentation, again for what felt like the millionth time. Truth be told after meeting her last night she was looking forward to seeing Twilight again, and she resolved to try and get some answers about Darkie.

“Good, and do try to keep your hooves off the Princess.” Clear Sky giggled from her seating pad numbered four. “I don't want the Captain going through me to get to you.”

Again Cyclone rolled her blue eyes, “I'll do my absolute best not to mount her the moment she sits down, hun.” She smirked, straightening an imagined wrinkle from her white dress.

“Somehow…that is reassuring.” Clear was about to add a little more sarcasm to her retort when she was cut short by the arrival of Princess Twilight and her wife Weather Captain Rainbow Dash. A pegasus stallion, clearly security from the ‘Stallion In Black’ suit he wore, entered with Dash and Twilight. Moving with a purpose he strode past the group followed by Rainbow Dash who took the fifth seating pad next to Clear, while Princess Twilight took the second seat on the right of Cyclone. There was a small commotion as the two noted dignitaries unassumedly walked in the hotel’s presentation hall and took their places.

“When’s your presentation CS?” Rainbow asked, settling comfortably into her own pad.

Even though Clear knew the schedule by heart she still checked the timetable anyway. “Two O'clock, RD.”

Rainbow Dash performed a picture perfect roll of her cerise eyes. “This is really cutting into my nap time, you know right, Clear?” She asked with a good natured dig of her elbow to her friend’s barrel.

Cyclone, who had stood up out of respect when Twilight had sat down, seated herself back on her pad with a nervous smile. Last night’s unexpected meeting at the mixer notwithstanding, it had been a good sixteen months since she’d seen the alicorn. “Professor Twilight, good morning, it’s nice to see you again.”

Twilight offered a smile to the young pegasus, “Good morning Cyclone, I trust you’re well?”

Clear Sky returned her cyan friend’s smirk with one of her own, “I’ll have you know my presentation on Cloud production is extremely entertaining.” She stifled a giggle as Dash muttered ‘Yeah, right.’

Taking a deep breath Cyclone opened and closed her mouth a couple of times as she rephrased her question in her head. “Um...Professor, if you don't mind, I want to ask you about Darkstar?”

“I'm sorry, Cyclone,” Twilight replied with a sigh, “But there really isn't a lot I can tell you.”

“Okay, I admit my talk is an insomnia cure,” the light grey mare chuckled, “But at least I'll be up there so you'll have two seats to nap in.”

Rainbow sniggered, “You know me CS. I need a cloud or an apple tree for good sleep.” She finished with a not-so-subtle wink.

Cyclone giggled at Clear and Rainbow’s friendly banter despite how she herself felt. It was rather infectious. “But...you can tell me something, right?” She asked earnestly, “I'm kinda out of the loop over in Cloudsdale.”

Twilight gave the black mare a rather pointed look that was so full of meaning Cyclone shrank back in her seating pad. “And, who's fault is that, exactly, Cyclone?”

“What are you talking about egghead?” Rainbow asked from where she was sat while Clear looked on with barely disguised curiosity.

“Oh, nothing for awesomazing ponies.” Twilight gave her wife a disarming smile. “Cyclone here was just asking about her friend Darkstar, you remember her?”

“The white unicorn, right?” Rainbow asked, to the alicorn’s confirming nod, “Ah, yeah, carry on. Anyway, happy to see you've moved up in Cloudsdale, CS. When will you take Misty Morning's job?” She asked with a twinkle in her eyes.

Now it was Clear’s turn to roll her eyes. “No time soon, Thunderclap is in line for that.”

“Excuse me, Professor,” Cyclone tried to get Twilight’s attention again as the presentation hall began to fill up with weather ponies from other factories all over Equestria, so too did the general hubbub of background noise increase as well, making general conversation difficult. “So um, about Darkie...how is she? The last I heard she'd woken up.”

Twilight hesitated for a moment, considering her answer as several managers and middle management ponies lined up for a brief meet and greet. “I'm really not sure I'm the one to tell you.” She replied finally, before leaving the black pegasus thoroughly exasperated as she started a conversation with a red coated stallion with a heavy Vanhoovan accent.

The rest of the morning passed in much of a similar vein. Clear Sky and Rainbow insisted on continuing their back-and-forth banter, one winding up the other with jibes of taking easy work now they’re getting older, and the other threatening to have them transferred to the Crystal Empire. At least four times Cyclone tried to speak with Twilight about her friend, and on every occasion she barely managed a few words before the next pony in the seemingly never-ending line would interrupt with what the frustrated mare saw as a pointless introduction and some inane crap about whatever aspect of the weather service they provided. Once when Twilight waved her away Cyclone was so infuriated she actually raised her voice to the Princess, prompting Clear to remind her of the use of the ‘indoor voice’ and that there was time in-between presentations.

A moment later and Twilight held up her hoof to halt the greeting line as Thunderclap, Clear and Cyclone’s colleague took to the stage to begin the first presentation of the day on the ‘Everfree Forest and the Way it Affects the Local Weather’. A few minutes into it and Rainbow leant in and started to tell Clear her anecdote about the time they had faced a Hydra…’I had to kick a hydra's ass when Twi went all crazy and charged it th...’ unfortunately the rest of what was no doubt a humorous tale was cut short by a glowing lavender horn and a matching band of power circling Rainbow’s muzzle, holding her mouth firmly shut.

Thirty minutes later and Thunderclap gave a deep bow, the dark grey stallion concluding his presentation with the proof of his claim that the weather in and around the Everfree is only getting wilder, causing Rainbow to sigh that meant ‘the egghead will want to spend a month in that forest.’

With the break in the presentation finally here at long last Cyclone once again started asking Twilight about her friend Darkstar, prompting Clear, whose curiosity was getting the better of her. “Pardon me Cy, but what is wrong with this Darkstar you keep asking about?”

Cyclone looked at her friend and took a deep cleansing breath, “A year ago, just after I came to Cloudsdale, Darkie was abducted and attacked. She was beaten almost to death, 'abused', and had her horn cut off.”

Clear gasped, hanging her mouth wide open in shock. “Woah, isn’t…isn't that like a major crime? I mean, I'm not up on modern laws, but don’t they execute ponies for that?”

“Not that I know of,” Rainbow said with a hint of regret in her voice, “And, that really pissed Luna off.”

“They should!” Cyclone stomped her hoof, her frustration getting the better of her in an explosion of temper. “Just go and arrest Wily's dad for buck’s sake! We all know he did it!”

Twilight gave a deep sigh from her pad next to the black mare, she’d had all this with Air Raid months ago. “Speculation is all very well, Cyclone, but we need actual hard evidence, not haphazardly thrown about accusations that cannot be proven.”

“Can't Darkie just tell everypony who did it?” Clear Sky asked from where she was sat, not really sure what exactly the problem was. Surely if she’d been attacked and assaulted then surely she would’ve told the police.

Twilight gave another, deeper more irritated sigh, rubbing the bridge of her nose with a hoof. “Miss Darkstar's testimony, even IF she could give a coherent one, is unreliable and inadmissible as evidence, you know that 'Miss' Cyclone.

Clear put her light grey hoof on her friend’s black one in a petition for calm. “Cy, this may not be the best time to argue over this, the next presenter is coming up.” She raised her hoof and pointed to the yellow crystal pegasus flapping up to the stage with the clipboard in her hooves. “Look it’s Short Feather,” she consulted her program, “She’s giving a talk on Crystal Empire weather patterns!”

Almost immediately before the crystal pony could open her mouth Rainbow Dash was up and flying to the buffet table, having decided she’d had quite enough of being sat still, she used her belly as an excuse to be somewhere else. Asking Twi what she wanted she’d said ‘anything but a quesadilla’…of course Rainbow resolved to bring her back two of them.

Once Short Feather had finished her presentation on the Crystal Empire’s weather and how it was affected by the presence of the Crystal Heart, Cyclone took the opportunity to get herself and Clear a dreaded cafeteria coffee. While otherwise universally reviled, at least here at the Palomino Hotel the coffees were as excellent as everything else. Flying carefully back to their seating pads with the hot drinks so as not to get any on her white dress Cyclone placed her milky coffee in the cup holder and checked her schedule as Twilight returned from her hunt of the buffet table. “It’s the Saddle Arabian, Kalifa Sana, next hun. You like Saddle Arabians…” she gave her light grey friend a not-so-subtle wink.

Mention of the Saddle Arabian presentation immediately got Clear’s attention, her ears and wings perking straight up. It was no secret in the office she had a ‘thing’ for them. She loved everything about them; their accent, their height and stature…especially how very tall they were, almost alicorn height. Her undisguised enthusiasm diminished somewhat though when a rather statuesque chocolate brown mare walked serenely out onto the stage. “Aww…It's a mare?” She sighed with a pout and went back to nursing her black coffee.

Two seats across to the right and Twilight was skimming her notes excitedly as the Arabian mare was getting her presentation ready. “My last visit to Saddle Arabia was very insightful. How they transfer the Warm Front from Cameloo for Winter Wrap Up is fascinating, not to mention all the ways they have to prepare cactus for eating is...oh…she is starting now. Shhh.”  Even though she was the only pony speaking she still shushed them when Kalifa began her talk on how the Saddle Arabians tailor a warm front temperature to meet the needs of the receiving party from twenty one degrees to twenty nine degrees Celsius.

To Cyclone’s left Clear Sky was losing a battle to stay awake while to her right Twilight was taking extensive and detailed notes on the technical talk. A little between the two, Cyclone was interested but also a little bored, she started daydreaming about Luna rutting her stupid in front of the whole crowd. Twenty minutes later the presentation continued on to how the Arabians insulate the front from losing heat while moving. Lost in her daydream the black pegasus barely heard Twilight mutter, 'That answers that question' and she scratched it off her notes.

Kalifa ended her talk to thunderous applause, led by Twilight clapping her hooves. “I can use this for the next Winter Wrap Up planning!” She said with a delighted smile as a rather official looking pony came on to the stage to announce an hour long break for lunch. “Cy, you and your friend want to join me for lunch?” She asked with an amused smile as Clear Sky was drooling on Cyclone’s shoulder, snoring gently.

Cyclone, while still awake, was herself far away in her lusty daydream. “Harder goddess...please I'm yours…” she murmured just loud enough for the Princess to hear. “Ahem...uh...yes, Professor...we'll join you.” She wiped away her own drool leaking from the corner of her mouth as Twilight giggled.

“Good, the Palomino has set me up with a private room.” She smiled as she gave Cyclone an amused look. “You may want to nudge Clear Sky, she’s made your shoulder all damp.”

Cyclone blushed so hard she was sure the alicorn could both see and feel it, even through her black fur. “You...uh, didn't hear all of that, did you?” She asked sheepishly as she dug her elbow into Clear’s ribs.

The Princess of Friendship merely kept up her serene smile. “Wouldn't be the first time I've heard such from your group. I wonder if those days will return.” She gave a little knowing wink as she got up from her seating pad and left with her guards.

~ ~ ~

“Well, the second day of the conference is going great!” Twilight smiled when they were all assembled in the small beige coloured meeting room just off of the main hall, containing a buffet table a million times more luxurious than the one outside, and that wasn’t exactly low end. “Here are your notes on the Crystal Empire, Clear. I'm amazed at the effect Cadence and the Crystal Heart is having on the weather zones. I need to talk to her about that and see if it can apply to the Everfree Forest.”

“Hey babe,” Rainbow grinned as she entered the meeting room having miraculously reappeared from her ‘mysterious’ absence. “How’s your day?”

Twilight gave her wife a sideways glance. “Lunch, which I see you managed to make it back for.”

“Wouldn’t miss food for the world.” She chuckled, looking over the five star private buffet with very hungry eyes. “Hey Clear, and ah…Cyclone…how’s it going?”

“Oh…it's going very well, Captain, thank you.” Cyclone replied with a slightly embarrassed smile when her stomach chose that moment to give a loud rumble, looking at Twilight though a more pressing thought struck her. “Professor...I um...want to ask you for a pass to enter Canterlot, to visit Darkie for a few hours, please?”

Twilight raised an eyebrow at Cyclone. “You want to see anypony other than Darkstar and Air Raid?”

Cyclone shook her turquoise-maned head by way of a reply, “No Professor, I um...I don't want to go anywhere else, thank you.”

Twilight lit her horn and in her lavender aura levitated out a piece of parchment from her saddle bags and along with it an enchanted quill. Floating them in front of her she quickly but carefully wrote out the note, being sure to include her own credentials. Creating a third magical field Twilight brought out her own personal seal, that of her cutie mark combined with Rainbow’s, and sealed the folded piece of parchment before floating it into the black pegasus’s own bag. “Make sure you wear something that covers your cutie mark. Use ground transport from the station to Air Raid's house. Only if there is an issue with somepony who is not law enforcement ask to see law enforcement and use this note. Otherwise there is no reason to use this note. Understand?”

Cyclone nodded without hesitation, a tremulous smile playing over her lips as the Princess placed the sealed note in her bag. “Thank you, thank you so much!”

“Maybe a visit from you will help her, and it will certainly help Air Raid.” Twilight floated away her quill and seal back into her bag next to all the conference notes she had already made and inspected the buffet “I'm ready to eat now.”

Walking along the table Cyclone sniffed, breathing in the wonderful smells of the prepared food. ‘Spring rolls!’ she thought with a hungry grin, pilling five of them on her plate while Clear and Rainbow both went after the two flavours of quiche on offer. Twilight on the other hoof went for the hayburgers and salads. For the next twenty minutes the only sounds in the meeting room were four hungry ponies devouring the sumptuous buffet. Cyclone went up another two times to restock on her beautiful spring rolls while Clear dug in like she’d never ever eaten before in her life.

“Now that was food!” Rainbow leant back in the pad she had been sitting on at the table, punctuating her statement with a delicate belch of appreciation.

“I do like what the kitchen turns out.” Twilight agreed, making several mental notes – complete with cross checks – to compliment the staff and recommend them to the other Princesses when they stayed here next.

“That was amazing!” Cyclone sighed contentedly on her own pad, patting the distinct bulge that was her belly, glad her white dress wasn’t form-hugging. “Dusky didn't do food very often, but to be fair the drink was good.”

Rainbow sniggered, “That’s because Dusk serves Luna's moonshine. We need more of that, Twi.”

“Oh…should I tell Applejack you don't want any more of her cider?” Twilight chuckled as her wife’s eyes went wide with shock at the mere thought of no more Sweet Apple cider and squealed a definite ‘NO!’

Cyclone joined in with a laugh of her own, “Now there's a drink that causes as many problems as it solves.”

Twilight paused as she considered getting another plateful of hayfries. “Are you sure you don't want to visit another pony when you're in Canterlot Cyclone?” She asked, already halfway out of her pad.

“Well, I would like to see my dad, I guess.” She replied, suddenly looking downcast as a melancholy thought took her. “Wily would be my first choice but we still don't know where she is.” She finished a little bitterly, thinking of her lost friend.

“Yes,” Twilight said, a definite arch to her voice. “And, her father stated she is safe and doesn't wish to reveal where since the accident. That is his privilege.”

“Uugh...” Cyclone groaned long and low, torn between a desire to stomp her hoof in frustration and not wanting to make a scene. Ultimately she settled for an angry mutter, “Yeah, it's his privilege alright…”

“I'm sorry Cyclone,” Twilight nipped her mutter in the bud immediately. “I know it is frustrating, but even I am not above the law.”

Cyclone lost her temper. She didn’t mean to, she couldn’t help it. Leaping to her hooves she stomped all four. “It's manure! We know she's not in Filly! She has no family there! You’re a Princess, can't you do something?” The black pegasus yelled as she stomped her hoof again.

The moment Cyclone started to raise her voice Rainbow was on her hooves. “Nopony yells at my wife but me.”

Twilight put a calming hoof on her wife’s shoulder. “Dash, it's okay. Cyclone, the fact that Cold Front told your group a lie as to where she is isn't a crime. Officially he is not saying where she is. He does have correspondence to show she is okay; I saw a letter three weeks ago. Wildfire’s braille has improved. Cold Front claims that Air Raid caused Wildfire emotional distress and wishes to keep her location secret because of that. By my requesting to see the correspondence is more than he has to give, but he gives it willingly and I have confirmed it is Wildfire’s hoof writing. You need to let it go and think about Darkstar.”

Cyclone struggled to breathe evenly, forcing herself to calm down with every exhalation through her nose. “I...I apologise…for my outburst, Captain, Professor.” She forced out through several long deep breaths.

“Who knows? Maybe Cold Front will change his mind and let you see your friend again.” Twilight said, not a little unkindly. “Trust, like the broken mirror, is a difficult thing to rebuild.”

~ ~ ~

“I wish you well too, Cyclone.” Twilight gave her a warm smile as the black pegasus got up from her seating pad to get up on the stage and deliver her own presentation, the one she had completed on the train the day previously.

“Thanks Professor,” Cyclone reached a wing to her bag and retrieved her notes as she made her way to the left past Clear Sky, who offered her a hoof-bump – which she returned, of course – and made her way up the steps to the stage. Looking out into the sea of assembled pegasi she readied the laptop, entering her user name and password to call up her prepared talk.

Giving Clear a little wink she flipped to the first slide of twenty as she introduced her speech on the ‘On-Time Record of Cloudsdale’s Seasons’. In her introduction she made sure to reference Princess Twilight’s key role she played in getting Ponyville’s first ever on time spring season started, and the roll-on effect it’d had on the cloud city’s own seasonal production. Cyclone smiled as that little reference earned her a roomful of applause, as well as a blush and a royal hoof wave from the Princess herself.

Giving a discreet nod in Twilight’s direction, Cyclone went on to talk about the beneficial effects of the weather being so on time, comparing it with previous pre-Twilight records and how its better now, and how, for the tenth year running Cloudsdale had managed to hold all the seasonal weather records in Equestria. She rounded it off twenty minutes later with a mention to all weather pegasi, and how everypony’s job was a vital contribution that every single creature benefitted from.

As the hoof-clapping applause and rumble of stomping hooves sounded across the presentation hall Cyclone took a low bow to soak it all in. The exhibitionist in her loved this, and she didn’t want it ever to end…that is until an olive drab stallion stood up in the middle of the hall. Pointing an accusatory hoof at the stage he proceeded to ruin Cyclone’s afternoon. “That is all well and good, but I'm with the Canterlot Centennial and I'd like to know why a foal abuser is even at this conference!”

The utter silence in the huge lavish hall following this statement was so complete that one could’ve heard a single hair fall from the coat of a pony at the far end and hear it land on the carpeted floor. A split second ago Cyclone was in her element owning the stage. Each and every pair of eyes in the room were flitting between her and the stallion as the colour drained from her, her black fur paling under the sudden scrutiny. “I…I’m not…one of those…” she mumbled, her tiny voice carried by the microphone she was wearing.

Haunted by a past more than twelve months old Cyclone didn’t notice Princess Twilight stand from her seating pad and face the stallion. “Your name, reporter from the Canterlot Centennial?” The alicorn asked calmly.

“I'm Gossip Column your highness, and I've seen the report!” The olive stallion identified himself with a flash of his I.D. badge that was affixed to the lanyard around his neck.

“Really?” Twilight asked, seemingly unimpressed, “So you have the arrest record on hoof?”

“I...I'm not...” Cyclone crumbled to her haunches as tears started to leak from her blue eyes. “I…”

“You certainly have the wrong pony!” Clear Sky leapt to her hooves, her indignant voice loud enough to cut over her distraught friend as she came to her defence, “I trust Cyclone with my niece!”

“No, she was released on a technicality!” Gossip answered the Princess, ignoring Clear completely.

“So…you have that release notice on hoof?” Twilight asked, fairly sure already what the answer was going to be, and she wasn’t disappointed when the reporter started to founder.

“Ah, well…no,” the olive stallion stammered before rallying himself with a comeback. “But, I did interview the stallion of the filly she abused!” He yelled a little louder, drawing the assembled crowd’s attention.

“So, you interviewed somepony with a grudge against pegasi?” Thunderclap came to his colleague’s defence, the dark grey stallion demanded as he flapped up to the stage to stand in front of the mare now crying freely behind him.

Completely unprepared for this level of defence Gossip decided to change tack, and decided to attack Cyclone from a different angle. “No, no, she was dressed as a filly at the time!” He called with the conviction of one who had just won a major debate as the black mare covered her face with her legs, her shoulders heaving with her tears.

“So you have issues with how ponies dress?” Twilight responded, quick as a whip-crack. “I suppose you think ponies wearing nothing is lewd?”

To say Gossip Column was stunned was an understatement. This kind of assassination was his speciality. “I never said it was lewd! Just that it is deviant for an adult to dress as a filly!”

“So you think Manesy was a deviant in 'The Baby'?” A random stallion shouted from across the hall, to a scattering of cheers and whoops.

“No that was a movie!” Gossip yelled with a stomp of his hoof, “This is real life!”

“Yeah?” Clear Sky shouted back as she flew up to the stage to stand on the other side of her crying friend while Thunderclap used his wing to help her to her hooves. “Well Cyclone is better in real life than you are with unsubstantiated claims!”

Losing his temper finally Gossip pointed his olive drab hoof at Cyclone as Thunderclap and then Clear Sky began to lead her from the stage. “She should not be free in polite society!”

“Polite society doesn't read your newspaper Gossip, so you have little room to talk about such things.” Princess Twilight said in the coldest voice she could muster, to the rumble of muttered agreement from the assembled ponies.

Rainbow Dash chose that opportune moment to burst into the hall, drawn from her sneaky nap on a cloud outside by the sound of Twilight’s raised voice “What the hay is going on in here?” She asked, immediately drawing herself up against Gossip as Clear Sky and Thunderclap both led Cyclone from the room, steering her through the large ornate doors that Rainbow had left open.

“To our room, Thunder, quickly.” Clear said as she draped a light grey wing over Cyclone’s flank to join that of the dark grey stallion, wrapping the quietly sobbing mare in a warm comforting feathery blanket. Blinded by her tears the black pegasus allowed herself to be guided by her two friends. As the doors closed behind them Cyclone heard Rainbow yelling at the damned reporter, heard the diminishing voice of the Princess calming the whole situation; all that ran through her mind was how fired she now was sure to be. Her four hooves felt like leaden weights attached to the end of her legs, holding her down just as sure as that day in Canterlot was going to hold her back and haunt her the rest of her life.

~ ~ ~

Many thoughts ran through Wildfire’s head as she stood trembling in the office of Amethyst Glory. Her hooves echoed on the cold ceramic tiles of the floor, though this wasn’t what was making the small pegasus tremble. No, what caused her to tremble were the cold metal shackles secured just a little too tight around the ankles of her four hooves, definitely not padded, the bare metal was already starting to chafe at the skin under her fur – these in turn were held to the tiles by eight inch chains connected to D rings in the floor, these short chains held Wildfire’s forelegs a few inches wider apart than shoulder width. The heavy bare metal collar cinched around her neck was joined to the D ring in front of her by a twelve inch chain, forcing her head down in an awkward bowing stance just to get some slack.

‘What have I done now?’ Wildfire thought miserably, not even daring to whimper into the tiled floor. ‘Then again…I don’t need to do anything, do I?’

Across the office on the other side of the desk and with closed eyes Amethyst Glory sat on her seating pad, her half-moon glasses folded in front of her on top of a small mountain of paperwork. Propped up by the elbows of her forelegs she massaged her temples with her hooves and the bridge of her nose with her magic in a vain attempt to alleviate the sheer amount of frustration she was experiencing. She let out a tiny groan, more than a whimper but less than a deep sigh, to give vocalisation to the emotions she was feeling. It wasn’t enough. Nothing she was trying was or would ever be enough.

The only other sounds in the office, besides the never-ending incessant ticking of the antique wall clock was the low steady breathing of the titanic earth pony who was currently occupying the seating pad to the right of the director. Lotus Stripes carefully looked up over at Amethyst in the middle of her self-calming routine, looking out of the corners of his eyes like he was a colt afraid of being caught in wrong doing. Sitting to her left in her usual position the unicorn Amber Leaves was, unusually, not pacing in place from hoof sat on her own pad. Just like Lotus she was casting nervous glances at the director.

The reason they were both sat so scared on their seating pads?

Amethyst Glory was angry.

Actually Amethyst Glory was very, very angry indeed. So angry was she that bright green sparks were shooting from the glowing crackling green nimbus of power illuminating her horn. Never before had she allowed herself to be this angry, this volatile, in front of her staff. Opening her eyes Lotus and Amber shrank back even more from the angry unicorn. Her bright green eyes were literally glowing with her barely controlled rage.

Forced into her awkward kneeling position, chained in front of the warden’s desk, even Wildfire could feel the sheer amount of magical power just a few feet away. ‘I’ve never ever known Mistress Amethyst this angry before…’ deep in her being Wildfire knew whatever it was that was about to happen, when it did, it would be bad.

Struggling to contain and focus the vast roiling tempestuous energy raging within her Amethyst Glory glanced from the cowering chained ‘thing’ in front of her to the stack of papers to the side of her on her desk. Selecting just the top-most piece of paper she lifted it in her glowing green aura. Turning it over and around she saw it was filled with hundreds of carefully placed braille dots. The writing on this paper would’ve been incomprehensible to her just a few months ago. However, since ‘something’ had been bought to her attention, she had taken lengths to learn.

Angling the piece of paper so the raised dots were facing upwards Amethyst levitated the piece of paper over to the bound pegasus.

Straining against her bonds, her muscles on fire from the awkward angle, the fur on the back of Wildfire’s neck stood up on end from the amount of magical power as the paper got closer to her muzzle.

Without bothering to be gentle Amethyst roughly pressed the paper against the yellow pegasus’s nose, rubbing the dots all over her, making sure she felt each and every letter on the paper. “Explain this.” She said simply, clearly, each syllable punctuated with a spark of raw power.

Wildfire felt the braille letter shoved roughly against her nose. She recognised it, of course she did. She herself had written this very letter something like eight, maybe nine, days ago. “It…” having not spoken in days, Wildfire’s voice sounded odd in her ears. “It…it’s the letter you asked me to write, Mistress Glory.”

“Read. It.” Amethyst ordered.

Wildfire’s blood ran cold in her veins. She knew her game was up. She knew she had been caught. “R-Read…i-it?” She stammered.

“Read. It. Now!” Amethyst screamed, stomping a hoof on her desk top as a wave of power from her horn scattered everything on it to the tiled floor, and Lotus and Amber shivered in fear on their seating pads.

Bowing her head in abject terror Wildfire hesitantly started to read the letter aloud.

“Hi everypony!

Everything is fine with me, I promise.

Like, I'm beginning to feel better out here in Filly.

Pain isn't as big of a trouble for me anymore,

Most of the time it just hurt a little, enough that with meds I can ignore it

Even if it's tougher at night, it works.

Ponies here in Fillydelphia are real nice, I’ve made a few good friends who

Let me hang out with them whenever I have time so I can learn about everything here.

Everything here is busy, learning my way about, I have plenty to do.

And, that's fun, to be occupied that is.

Spending time with my mum’s family is also pretty fun.

Everything here is okay, I love you all but I’m moving on with my life.”

Quietly, Wildfire finished her reading of the letter, quaking in terrified silence of what was to come.

“Very good.” Amethyst said, her voice barely audible. “Now explain this.” She said simply as she ran the first letter of each line slowly over the pegasus’s nose.

Barely able to stand now from sheer fright Wildfire was on her knees, trembling and shaking uncontrollably. “I…I…” she babbled incoherently, she lost control of her bladder, her urine spraying onto the tiles behind her. “M-M-Mistress G-Glory I’m so-sorry!”

“Read. The. Letters.” Amethyst’s voice was now a low snarl, that of a feral animal.

Wildfire by now had lost the ability to stand at all. Her bladder was still releasing as she started to recite the letters. “H, E, L, P…M, E…P, L, E, A, S, E…”

“Help. Me. Please.” Amethyst repeated slowly and carefully, spitting out each word with venom. “Help. Me. Please.” For a long, drawn out terrible moment, but for the clock, there was utter silence. Nopony spoke, nopony even dared to breathe, as the crackling sparks around Amethyst’s horn continued to flash.

“REeeaaAAAAARGH!” With a deafening, ear-splitting, roar that was a release of months upon months of pent up anger, frustration, resentment and hate Amethyst leapt from her seating pad and with a blinding flash of her green magic she split her carved mahogany desk clean in twain, sending the pieces into the walls of her office, leaving her a channel leading to the terrified pegasus.

Amethyst stalked forwards, each stomp of her glowing green hooves shattering the ceramic tiles into fragments under-hoof. Stopping mere inches from the chained pegasus her glowing horn lit the heavy metal collar cinched around the yellow mare’s neck, surrounding it in a bright green glow. With the slightest thought in her head Amethyst levitated the collar upwards with such force she ripped all the chains holding Wildfire in place from their mountings in the floor, and holding her just by her neck she bought the mare up to her face.

“Luna damn you Wildfire!” She screamed in her face, before her left forehoof connected in a viciously hard slap to the right side of the struggling mare’s muzzle, so hard it sent a tooth flying from her mouth. “I’m done with you!” Spit flew from Amethyst’s mouth as she screamed, “I know your true fear, Wildfire!” Her horn shone brighter, surrounding the whole of Wildfire’s body, chains and all, in her green aura, before sending the poor mare flying backwards across her office to crash through the double doors and out into the hall to land in a crumpled whimpering heap.

For a few short seconds in the aftermath of the outburst, the only sound was the clock, and Amethyst’s heavy breathing as she struggled to regain some semblance of her self-control. “Lotus…Mr. Stripes…escort that ‘thing’ to Room Thirteen. Now. Be quick about it or you will be in the next room, understand?”

“Y-Yes, W-Warden Glory, right away!” Willing some movement back into his unresponsive legs, Lotus Stripes rose from his seating pad as if in a stupor, he stumbled uncertainly from the devastated office to seize the ruined chains still secured to the shackles around the hooves of the fallen mare.

Back in the ruined office Amber Leaves sat in awed immobility on her seating pad, her stunned eyes wide as saucers, her mouth hanging comically open as her brain attempted to process the scene that had just played out. In her years working with Amethyst Glory she had never so much as heard her raise her voice, let alone react like that.

Chuckling nastily Lotus, the massive earth pony, dragged the somewhat insensate Wildfire behind him down the hall of Helping Hooves Care Home, heading towards Room Thirteen. He knew full well what was waiting for the pegasus in that room. He also knew that when it was released from that room it would not be the same. A tiny spark of sympathy deep within him hoped for her sake she would finally break from the experience. Another, louder spark hoped she wouldn’t. He did enjoy torturing her.

“We've reduced your rent, little bitch.” Lotus sneered nastily as he dragged her down the hallway. Wildfire heard his voice but didn’t really process what he was saying, she was struggling against the drag of the chains, to little avail. “Where you’re going will solve your storage problem,” He barked out a loud rough laugh as he reached a door marked simply ‘Thirteen’. “You'll have no problem sniffing your own ass in here.” He said as he wrenched open the door.

Twisting the chains in his right forehoof Lotus pulled Wildfire roughly up to her hind legs as he threw her bodily into the only thing in room thirteen; a three and a half feet square and two feet high wooden box lying on the floor in the middle of the room.

“Wha…what’s…happening?” Wildfire asked aloud, sense starting to return to her. She reached out a hoof and she hit the inside edge of the box she was sat up in. Wherever she was…it wasn’t her cell.

“Lie down, bitch!” Lotus shouted. Not waiting for her to comply he slammed one door shut with a dull thud, and then quickly shut the other on her muzzle, earning a muffled squeal from inside the box. Wasting no time at all the huge earth pony then slid two metal bars into their respective grooves at the top and bottom of the box, locking the doors shut tight.

Standing back he admired his efforts. Sealed tight in the box nopony would even know it was there were it not for the whimpered squeals now emanating from the two circular air holes cut into the tops of the doors.

Inside the box Wildfire had at last recovered enough from Amethyst’s violent expulsion to test the boundaries of where she was now. Extending her hind legs her hooves soon hit solid wood with a dull thud. ‘No…please, no!’

Starting to sweat and hyperventilate she raised her forelegs above her head and found nothing but wood there not mere inches above her. ‘No, no…no!’

Sweat began to pour from her body, her heart beat like a drum, feeling like a cannon blast in the silence of the box. Instinctively Wildfire tried to sit up. Her mouth went bone dry as her head didn’t make it more than six inches before she hit the wooden doors. Pushing her hooves upwards they too hit the doors. ‘I’m trapped…I’m trapped…I can’t move…no…no!’ Her fear was confirmed…she couldn’t fully stretch out in any direction.

Suddenly she felt the top of the box lurch upwards, as the bottom moved backwards. Wildfire shivered and trembled as chills ran up and down her terrified little body. After a few seconds the box stopped moving, coming to rest at what the pegasus guessed was a forty five degree angle. She jammed her hooves to her mouth as a wave of nausea made her retch.

Wildfire’s chest went tight, she started choking from abject fear and dread, she was sweating and nauseous…the sides of the box were getting closer, and closer…squeezing the very life from her. “Please…please let me out!”

“Hey little bitch,” Lotus Stripes sneered ignoring her, banging his hoof on the doors as he locked off the ratcheted winch holding the box at its new position, “We put a window in. Smile for your audience!” He laughed loud enough for her to hear, of course there was no window, but it didn’t know that.

“Pleeeease!” She screamed, thumping and scraping at the inside of the doors, doing nothing but making the earth pony laugh even more. “Let me out, pleeease!” She begged, barely able to breathe as she clawed uselessly at the doors…now she knew her terror was on display through a window! ‘No! What have you done? What were you thinking? NOOOOOOO!’

Laughing loudly Lotus walked slowly away, making sure his diminishing hoof-steps could be heard.

“Please let m…” Wildfire paused, from within the angled box she could hear the hoof-steps getting fainter and fainter… “Don’t leave me! Please! Come back, let me out!” In her blind panic she clawed at the doors until her hooves started to crack and bleed.

Leaving the door to the room wide open Lotus laughed as he walked away, Wildfire’s terrified screams sweet music to his ears.

3.5 - Out of the Darkness

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Epilogue - Into the Light

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1.1 - Fire! (Edited)

1.1 - Fire!

Wildfire slumped at her desk, holding her head in her hoof as she spat her pen out in sheer frustration. Staring at the gibberish in front of her the yellow pegasus was acutely aware of two very simple facts.

One; it was a very nice warm summer’s afternoon in Canterlot, which meant that time she could put to better use in a park writing her beloved poems in the lazy afternoon sun was criminally being wasted in this dusty old college hall.

Two; that this math exam was utterly beyond her. Oh, she had studied, of course she had. That simply made it worse in her opinion. Months of sitting through Dusk’s study evenings just compounded the indignity of not understanding the first thing on the page before her.

Brushing the bangs of her black mane from her chestnut brown eyes Wildfire once more picked up her pen and attempted to decode the formulae and equations of question 1. Ten minutes later she decided she’d have better luck if it had been written in Zebran.

Casting a glance over to her left she saw Dusk Melody hard at work, his pen moving across the paper so fast she could swear smoke was coming from the nib. He might have been her best friend of many years but at that precise moment she hated him with a passion she usually reserved for Blitzwing the class bully. Wildfire resented the ease with which the dark blue pegasus just ‘got’ it, while after months of study she herself was no closer to understanding it than she was to unravelling the secrets of the universe.

It wasn’t that she was thick, far from it, but math and its associated gibberish was just that. Gibberish. Wildfire sighed as she picked up her pen once more, wishing some sort of answer would leap forth from her uncooperative brain.

As she began to absentmindedly doodle in the margins of her exam paper her mind started to wander, her thoughts drifting to the pager permanently strapped to her right foreleg just above her hoof. She had never wanted it to beep and flash red more in her life.

Of all the things Wildfire had done with her life so far joining the Canterlot Fire Service as a reserve at fifteen was by far the best. She had been with them for three years now, and her Captain, Hot Spot, had all but guaranteed her a full time job with them when she left school. Unfortunately for her that was still two years away.

“C’mon…beep you bucking thing, beep!” Wildfire muttered, almost willing the pager to summon her, to release her from the math induced hell that was this exam, but the device remained resolutely silent, as if mocking her desire to flee the musty old exam hall. “Sure, you want me when I’m just in a hot bath or at the movies, but when I actually want you, nothing!” She thought to herself, her frustration manifesting itself as she idly kicked her desk with a hind leg.

Even a little, tiny fire would be a blessed relief at this point. “Seriously,” she thought to herself as she spat her pen out for a third time, “I thought the Princesses outlawed forms of torture centuries ago!”

Wildfire’s wandering mind meandered to her last call, a small fire in the residential kitchen of a two story building with a bakery on the ground floor last week in Canterlot’s Market District. Being only the second pegasus on the Fire Team ensured she was usually called, mainly because she was quicker on the wing than her team mate Heatwave. While the middle aged pegasus was extremely knowledgeable and full of advice when he had quite literally taken her under his wing, fast he was not. “Still, his experience is great on the training weekends.” Wildfire admitted to herself, plus she also kinda liked the old guy, in a ‘substitute father figure who actually gave a flying feather’ way too.

That bakery building fire had been a fairly standard operation, grab the nearest cloud, fly it over to the emergency and make it rain until the fire was out while the ground based team tackled the fire from ground level. Sometimes a second cloud was called for, in the case of the bakery, and that was when her speed mattered.

Beep!...Beep!…Beep!…

The shrill beeping of her pager wrenched Wildfire from her reverie, echoing throughout the examination hall, drawing everypony’s attention. “Yes!” She gave a silent cheer.

Holding up her right forehoof she politely waited the few seconds for the mediating pony to excuse her, which of course he did. Standing from her desk and the hated math exam Wildfire began to make her way to the doors of the hall, before she was stopped by a call from her least favourite pony.

“Look everypony! Blank Flanks are go!” Blitzwing, situated two desks behind Dusk laughed at his own jibe, Wildfire stalked past the bully without even a sideways glance, secretly elated that nopony else had joined in with him.

The fact that at eighteen she still hadn’t gotten her cutie mark didn’t bother Wildfire too much, she knew at some point it would appear, she just figured she hadn’t done something worthwhile enough to earn it yet. That didn’t stop it stinging when she was the last ‘Blank Flank’ in her class, and when idiotic morons like Blitzwing took joy in reminding her of the fact on a semi daily basis.

Still, she couldn’t worry about that now. Right now she had a job to do, and most importantly, she was free of the math exam. Or so she thought.

“Wildfire, please see me when you get back to reschedule your exam!” The mediator called after her as she quickly left the hall and the college itself. Rolling her brown eyes she quickly checked the typed message on her pager.

“Four storey building ablaze, Canterlot Residential District, West side, Third Street. Heavy Raincloud required, Urgent.”

Lifting her right hoof to her eyes Wildfire scanned the sky, she quickly selected a very pregnant looking Nimbostratus, left by the Weather Team for that evening’s scheduled rain. It looked a few hundred feet bigger than most clouds she had moved before, but Captain Hot Spot had said it was a four storey blaze. Spreading her yellow wings wide Wildfire gave a few powerful flaps, propelling herself into the air, quickly gaining the thousand feet of altitude she needed to contact the cloud.

Seizing the large Nimbostratus in her forehooves she grunted with the effort of moving it, steering the cloud towards the Residential District. From the college Wildfire guessed it was a five minute flight, though the sheer weight and bulk of her cargo would add precious minutes to her time.

A few minutes into her flight Wildfire felt sweat slicken her yellow fur, her leg and flight muscles screamed for relief, but still she flew, keeping her forty mile per hour speed. Breathless she grimaced with the effort, “Next time, Heatwave does the heavy lifting.” She promised herself with a grim smile. Although she grumbled, Wildfire loved it, fighting fires was the one thing she had wanted to do since before she could remember.

“Sweet Mother of Celestia!”

Wildfire slowed her flight to a hover, pure shock momentarily overcoming her at what she saw in the coming distance. Thick black smoke billowed hundreds of feet into the air, roaring flames licked hungrily at the outer façade of the building. This was by far and away the biggest blaze of her career, of that she was most definitely sure. Hastily the Firefighter redoubled her efforts to cover the last few thousand feet to the blazing inferno, her already tired muscles screaming in defiance.

Once she neared the emergency zone Wildfire pushed the cloud into a steep descent, levelling it off at one hundred feet above the ground, roughly fifty feet above the burning building. Leaving the Nimbostratus floating Wildfire hovered down to twenty feet, searching out her Captain. Thankfully after a moment or two Hot Spot found her, his gruff no-nonsense voice reverberated around the area, emanating command.

“Wily! Park that cloud above the building, make it rain ASAP Rookie!” The crimson coloured earth pony bellowed out further orders, getting a chorus of ‘yes sirs’ in response.

Wildfire added her own to the song, “Yes Sir!” She didn’t bother with the salute, merely turning in mid-air and hoofing the cloud over the blazing building. As large as the cloud was Wildfire seriously doubted it held enough water to combat a fire this size. Still, she did as she was told, leaping upon the cloud once it was in position and savagely bouncing around on the surface in an attempt to agitate the water for the rain.

“Need any help Kid?”

Wildfire looked up to see the most welcome sight of the day, her mentor Heatwave, the only pony she allowed to call her ‘Kid’ landed beside her on the rain sodden cloud ready to offer his assistance.

“Heatwave, thank buck you’re here! Quick, take that far side and get to making it pour!” Wildfire told him sharply, before turning her attention back to her own section of semi-agitated cloud. “I got this side!”

“Yes ma’am!” The older orange pegasus didn’t question his young protégé, he knew her well enough to know she had her section well in hoof, instead Heatwave went where he was directed and got to work.

With a loud crack the captured Nimbostratus finally gave up its water, a steady drizzle starting to unload on the blaze below. “Faster!” Wildfire shouted to her partner, who didn’t answer, merely doubled his efforts on his end as the yellow pegasus did the same, causing the rain to fall at double the speed, bouncing off the building’s roof with its force. Chancing a glance over the edge of the rapidly diminishing cloud Wildfire could see they were having an effect, but not much.

Then she heard the terrified screams from within the still burning building.

“Heatwave, take over!” Wildfire spread her wings to take off, and was already in the air when her partner called out behind her.

“Wily, no! Captain’s orders, nopony enters while it’s still burning!”

“Yeah…tell that to them trapped inside!” Wildfire shouted over her shoulder, dipping below the edge of the cloud and aiming for one of the fourth floor windows.

She knew she was disobeying direct orders, but at that moment Wildfire didn’t give a flying buck if Hot Spot had her flank on a plate after this, right now there were ponies trapped in that inferno. As she neared twenty feet from the building the young mare could feel the heat radiating from the fire. Despite the rainfall the blaze had lost little of its intensity. Flying nearer she could feel the very heat start to singe her fur, and for a split second she hesitated, hovering before the glass window.

“Somepony help us!” The pitiful scream of a terrified mare reached her ears and her mind was made up. Thrusting her hooves forward Wildfire burst through the window, ignoring the lancing pain as shards of glass dug into her sides. Looking around the inside was a black smoky hell, illuminated by guttering flames as they burned through from the floor below.

“Help’s here! Where are you?” Wildfire coughed as she took in a burning lungful of the acrid smoke, her vision blurred as it stung her eyes. Quickly hovering to the left she just dodged a falling beam covered in flames.

“Over here! Help us!” Wildfire put on a burst of speed, flying through the building towards the trapped ponies. Huddled in the farthest corner were a family of four earth ponies, a mare, stallion and two small colts.

Steam began to billow from Wildfire’s wings as she crouched in front of the colts, her makeshift fire proofing from the raincloud disappearing. She knew she only had moments before the intense heat ignited her feathers. “C’mon kids, let’s get you out.” The Firefighter coaxed gently, beckoning them with her hooves. To her dismay the colts, scared as they were huddled nearer to their mother’s legs.

Thinking quickly Wildfire asked the mare; “What are their names?”

“S-summer, and A-autumn…”

“Summer, Autumn, wanna go on a fun adventure and fly with your auntie Wildfire?”

The two colts hesitantly left their mother’s legs and took hold of Wildfire’s outstretched hooves. Scooping them up tightly she turned to face the broken window, readying her wings as her feathers began to smoulder. Over her shoulder she called to the two adults. “Follow me to the window, somepony will help you out.” Wildfire was out of the building with seconds to spare, flying under the Nimbostratus to cool herself down in the rain. Before she headed down she shouted to her partner who was still working the cloud. “Heatwave! Earth pony mare and stallion are following me, get one and get them out!”

Without looking back Wildfire glided hard and fast to the ground, depositing the two colts at her Captain’s hooves. For a brief split second she noted the look of fury on Hot Spot’s face. She knew she’d have Tartarus to pay once it was over, but she’d worry about that later.

Wildfire spun on her hooves and took off once more for the fourth floor window as she heard Hot Spot’s orders behind her. “Red Alert! First aid over here now! Smoke inhalation!”

Heatwave burst out of the window, sending shards of glass to the street below as Wildfire reached the second floor, carrying the earth pony stallion on his back. Coughing from the acrid smoke larger pegasus seemed dizzy on his wings as he addressed her. “Mare…at the…window…” Her partner coughed hard, and he fought to regain his breath before continuing, “Hurry, floor’s collapsing in…”

As if on cue a thunderous crashing noise was followed by an ear splitting scream from the fourth floor window. Hovering at the window Wildfire could see at least half of the floor had collapsed in, consumed by the raging inferno on the third floor. Luckily the earth pony mare had managed to cling to the window frame as the floor gave way, leaving her dangling precariously over the flames below.

Wildfire hovered as close to the window as she could manage, a mere hoof’s width away. Extending her hoof to the terrified mare she raised her voice to shout over the noise of the driving rain. “Take my hoof!”

The poor mare gripped the window frame tighter, jagged glass cutting into her forelegs. “I-I can’t! I’ll fall!”

“You stay there you’ll burn!” As if to prove her point the flames reached the mare’s tail, adding the smell of burning hair to the stench of the smoke. “Take my bucking hoof now!”

Spurred on by the flames licking at her tail the mare lunged her hoof towards Wildfire, who caught it and wrapped her own around it, and with a few powerful flaps of her tortured wings heaved the mare from the window as the rest of the floor fell in behind her.

Landing breathless on the ground the earth pony mare immediately hurried over to her family, the unicorn medic Red Alert on hoof to check her out. Wildfire looked around for her partner, “Heatwave! We did it, we saved them all!” The exhausted pegasus trotted over to her Captain, casting glances about for her mentor. “Captain Hot Spot, where’s Heatwave? I want to tell him we saved them.”

Hot Spot turned to face the tired Firefighter, a grim expression on his face as he placed a hoof on Wildfire’s shoulder. “He knows Wily, he knows.”

“Where is he then?”

Hot Spot removed his hoof and pointed to a nearby stretcher Wildfire hadn’t noticed before. On it was a body she knew only too well, though her mind refused to believe what her eyes were telling her. “No…no, he can’t be…Heatwave!” Her partner had never failed to answer her before, and as she neared the stretcher, seeing his still glassy eyed stare, she knew he never would again. Wildfire nuzzled Heatwave’s still cheek, her tears wetting his orange coat. “We did it partner…we saved them, we saved them all…”

As the distraught pegasus wept into her dead partner’s coat, she completely ignored the dull tingling sensation that spread across her flanks. She just assumed it was another burn to add to those she had collected today. It wasn’t until Red Alert tapped her politely on her shoulder that Wildfire bothered to look at her flank. Thirty minutes ago she would’ve been the happiest pony in Equestria at the sight that greeted her. Thirty minutes ago the stylised burning fireball would have been a joyous occasion, something to celebrate. Now though, looking at her cutie mark, Wildfire cried all the harder, knowing what it had cost her to attain.

Eighteen years she had waited for her cutie mark to appear, Wildfire would’ve gladly waited another eighteen to have Heatwave back.