Ugh, gotta love that early morning grogginess after getting shot and drugged up so the doctors could perform surgery on you.

Cracking open my eyes in a dim light I could feel the beginnings of a new panic attack coming on, likely induced from being in another hospital room after suffering a wound of some kind. The only reason why I didn’t end up breaking down again was the head of red and yellow hair sleeping on my bedside, face down.

Both hands reached down, on gently resting on my injured leg and the other rested on the girl’s head to softly smooth out the cowlicks in her hair. Doing so had the intended effect of stirring the girl from sleep and as my hand dropped from the top of her head to her cheek, I could tell she’d been quite distressed about my condition.

“You- you’re awake!” Sunset exclaimed in whispers given the approximate time of night, judging by the lack of lights on to allow patients to sleep. “Oh thank god you’re okay!” she added, throwing herself onto my chest entirely to cuddle up as close as she could to me.

“Please, a nine millimeter isn’t going to kill me. Barely enough to stop me.” I replied comfortingly, doing my best to wrap my arms around the girl’s body with the restrictions bequeathed to me by my IV and ECG lines. “I’ve been hit with worse over the course of my service.”

“Probably but I’ve never seen anyone shot before!” Sunset whispered back, looking up at me through fresh streaming tears and large wet eyes. “I was so worried! All of us were!”

“All of us? Who’s us?” I inquired curiously. “And where’s Weiss?”

“Weiss is back in Equestria because she couldn’t come with you to the hospital without risking revealing her ability to speak. When I say ‘Us’ I mean Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie and Twilight. They all showed up to the bar we were at just as you collapsed from blood loss.” Sunset explained while calming down, rubbing her eyes clear with the heel of her hand. “They’re mostly all back at their homes but I'm sure they’d love to hear you’re alright.” she added, already fighting with her clothes to find her phone.

Placing a hand on hers, I held her up with a statement, “Let them sleep. I have no idea what time it is but it’d be best to let them have their rest.”

“Okay, you’re right. We should let them sleep.” Sunset mumbled as she tossed her phone to the nearby chair she’d up till recently been sitting and sleeping on. “So, how do you feel?” she did her best to put on a smile, hopping down from my bed to retake her seat on the chair in the process.

“Fine. Like I said, not the first time I've been shot.” I shrugged back. “Still can’t feel anything in my leg though.” I added, rubbing at my leg just above where I figured a number of stitches were sewn in.

“Probably still anesthetized from the surgery. Police are going to want a statement of what happened when they hear you’ve regained consciousness. Also, and I can’t believe I didn’t notice or ask about it before, the doctors wanted to know about your eye.” Sunset informed me, reminding me that all yesterday no one had said a word about my Dragon’s Eye. I’d personally figured that it had been temporarily removed when I crossed over through the portal.

“Ah, yeah. The one that looks like a reptile's eye right?” I asked for clarification, making Sunset nod in reply. “It’s a Dragon’s Eye, a bit of magic i’d received from Weiss back in Equestria. It let’s me see in the dark and apparently highlights gems just under the surface of the earth.”

“How’d you get it?” the girl requested curiously.

“Apparently Dragon Breath has different effects on gemstones when you breath on them. You take a Sapphire and breath it into the right eye and you get this.” I explained, motioning to my eye. “I’m noticing that it isn’t actually working right now, everything is as dark in the Dragon’s Eye as it is in my human eye.”

“Maybe it’s a lack of magic in this world that prevents it from working?” Sunset Shimmer suggested casually, sitting back in her chair and crossed her legs as she gazed at me.

“Maybe…” I sighed, sitting back against my bed again when I realized I had sat up sometime ago.

“So, to dredge up old conversations and slightly change them; what is going to happen for us?” Sunset approached the topic warily, looking slightly concerned.

“Us? What do you mean?” I turned my head to look back at the cuteness beside me.

“I mean, ‘Us’ us. What’s going to happen between us? I’m fairly certain we’ve established that we feel something for each other so the next logical step would be to establish a formal relationship, right?” miss Shimmer explained, nervously playing with her fingers in her lap.

“Well, I'd personally love for there to be an ‘Us.’ However, and I've talked about this before, the distance between us would be a bit difficult for me personally. Since I don’t have any way to keep contact with you between worlds and I can’t just uproot from Canterlot and move here because of my work and the fact that I have two dragons to deal with, not to mention a Princess who’s in love with me and has me keep track of the mythical creature population…” I found myself having to stop and pull in a large breath after my long winded explanation that I'm sure had thoroughly destroyed Sunset’s heart and my own soon to come.

“Right, so then we can’t be together?” Sunset’s eyes became downcast along with my own.

“I never said that. It’s just going to be difficult if we do decide to date.” I replied, trying to cheer both of us up. “It would be best if one of us could move to the other’s world and go about things that way but I don’t think either of us could do such a thing so soon.”

This perked Sunset’s head back up as an idea hit her. “What if I was to go back to Equestria? I am originally Equestrian after all so it wouldn’t be so difficult adjusting back to that life.”

“You’d be an equine again, though, remember?” I replied pointedly, making Sunset deflate back into her chair again. “Nothing against you being a pony again because I'm sure you’d be equally as adorable as you are now, but I've already established with Luna that I have no desire to engage in a relationship with a pony.” I explained calmly.

“So what if we had Princess Celestia or Princess Luna turn me back to a human when I get there? That’d work right?” Sunset offered supportively with a helpful smile.

“While that may potentially work, I'd have to see if either princess could do that in the first place. Additionally you’d be uprooting yourself entirely, leaving all your friends here behind for a guy you met yesterday.” I replied firmly, adding extra emphasis to the last bit.

“You’re making it sound like you don’t want to be with me.” Sunset retorted dejectedly, looking down at her lap.

“Now now, I never said that and I apologize for making you think such things. I’m just bringing up some points that I want to make sure you understand now before we do anything hasty.” I interjected, trying to keep spirits up and from fucking up my own chance at an actual relationship.

“So then what’re you thinking?” Sunset looked up from her lap at me again.

“You’ll stay here in this world until you’ve graduated. During this time I'll do my very best to try and get away from work as much as possible to come over and we can hang out and properly date. In the mean time I'll ask the Princesses if they have the spell we’ll need to keep you human when you come back over to my side and if they do, then you can start coming over to Equestria to hang out and go on dates.” I explained, organizing my thoughts as I spoke. I know what people say, don’t speak before you think but I’ve gotta say, I've been getting slightly better at it.

“And in that time, I'll let the girls know about our plans, explain what’s going on,” Sunset stood and crawled up onto my bed with me, cuddling into my body. “And after graduation we’ll see what happens and maybe I'll move over to Equestria full time.”

“Precisely.” I replied, wrapping my arms around her as best I could once more.

~~~

“So you fell in love with the first guy who came from the portal?” Rainbow Dash sarcastically, her hands on her tilted hips standing behind Rarity sat at my bedside currently trying to design some kind of fashionable hospital garb.

“No, I wouldn’t say-” Sunset replied defensively, laying on her back in my embrace.

“But that is kind of exactly what happened. I can’t imagine anything would have happened last night being so influential to you that you fell in love with him at the movies or at the bar.” Fluttershy meekly interrupted from next to Rarity in a second seat.

Once morning had come and the two of us newly coupled people had had a nap and answered the police’s questions, Rainbow Dash, Rarity and Fluttershy had come to visit the two of us and immediately deduced from our cuddling that we’d gotten together.

“Yes, considering how Captain only appeared late yesterday there really much room to say that you didn't fall in love at first sight.” Rarity added, looking up at us warily from her designs. “But don’t get us wrong, we still very much support this newfound relationship in it’s entirety.”

“Thank you girls, we appreciate the support.” Sunset smiled back, turning her head to plant a kiss on my cheek before I turned to face her and returned the favour to her lips.

“So how is the whole ‘dating between worlds’ thing going to work in the first place?” Rainbow inquired after a minute of silence and a nurse coming by to check on my leg.

“It’ll mostly take the form of me visiting a lot more often. We’re going to try and see if there’s any way for one of the Princesses on my side to find some sort of communication between us while we’re apart.” I explained calmly, whatever drugs in me working wonders to dull the pain of my leg. “At the same time I'm going to ask Celestia or Luna to see if they have a spell that will allow Sunset to remain human if she ever pokes over to Equestria.”

“Wouldn’t it just be easier if you moved here?” Dash placed both her hands on her hips, tilting them to the other side. Sunset and I shared a glance, having a quick mental conversation between us for a moment.

“Because of my work in Equestria, I can’t. Chances are your police authorities won’t take too kindly to someone owning a .50 calibre BMG rifle and a .357 revolver in their city. Unless I'm mistaken and you all have some sort of gun laws that allows such things?” I replied in questioning, looking to the girls for an answer. Everyone shook their heads in response.

“Right. And I'm not the type of guy who carelessly leaves a weapon like those lying around, even in storage, where somepony could get their hooves on them and use them for nefarious purposes.” I added with a yawn.

“So then what? You’re just going to do a sort of long distance relationship until something happens that you can come back over and stay here?” Dash suggested, slightly confused. Fluttershy seemed to be thinking for a bit then sudden came across an answer.

“Sunset’s the one who’s leaving!” she gasped, eyes wide. Rarity dropped her sketch and Rainbow Dash dropped her jaw.

“Now just hold on, I'm not leaving right away!” Sunset defended herself, holding her hands up to cut in. “We’ve still got a couple months till graduation. During that time we’ve decided to see how things fare between us and then when graduation comes around and we’re done high school, then we’ll start talking about me moving back to Equestria permanently.”

“But, what about us dear? You’d just leave all your friends behind?” Rarity asked solemnly, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy huddling in next to her to look persuasive enough for Sunset to decide against everything we’d spent hours on.

“Are all six of you going to remain here in this exact city long after graduation? Do none of you have hopes to go somewhere to make a life yourself or go to college or university?” I inquired, effectively bringing up a good point to crack their defenses.

“I am thinking about going to university for a sports major…” Rainbow Dash admitted, rubbing her arm shyly.

“And I was going to try and expand my business into the city itself, rather than just stay with the boutique I have now.” Rarity added just as shy, avoiding eye contact.

“I’m perfectly fine remaining here on the outskirts of town to stay with the animals.” Fluttershy timidly announced, hiding in her crossed arms.

“And I'm certain that the rest of your friends aren’t all going to be staying either. I’ll bet Twilight is going to go back to school after grad. Pinkie and Applejack will probably stay though…” Sunset added. “Look girls, the two of us have already established that no one is moving until after graduation simply to avoid things like this and to let each other prepare for such a move in the first place. It’s just going to be the next step in our lives that we’ll have to deal with.”

“I know, but you must think about how sudden such a move would be!” Rarity protested, standing from her seat to take Sunset’s hand.

“Let me reiterate, which is why it’s not for another couple months. These next few months will let us truly get to know each other and see what happens between now and then. Worst case scenario something happens and our relationship falls apart; Sunset stays here and I stay in Equestria.” I explained, settling Rarity back into her chair again.

A couple minutes of silence followed by a nurse coming in to check on me again, Rainbow spoke up.

“So, is he any good?” she asked sheepishly, making everyone’s face flush red.

“If you mean what I think you mean, then you should know that that hasn’t happened yet.” I replied pointedly, making Sunset bury her face into my chest in embarrassment. “Literally haven’t had the time or need to.”

“Riiight, with the bar then the shooting then here. Just figured something may have happened before we got here is all.” Rainbow shrugged in all casualness.

“Hospital room sex… Kinky.” Fluttershy of all people whispered, making everyone’s eyes and jaws drop in absolute shock. “What?”

“Well, I never!” Rarity proclaimed as Rainbow burst into a fit of laughter, collapsing to the ground clutching at her stomach. Sunset however, was chanting oh my god, oh my god, oh my god into my shoulder and I could almost feel the heat radiating from her red face.

“What?” Fluttershy asked again, slightly louder and only now turning red. “Oh, did I say that out loud?”

“Yeah, you certainly did.” I replied, stifling a laugh of my own at Fluttershy’s expense as the girl in question turned as red as Sunset’s hair was. “I promise not to say anything about it if you don’t want me to.”

“I would appreciate that, from everyone if you don’t mind.” Fluttershy replied timidly, looking to the rest of her friends as Rainbow slowly recovered on the floor.

“Are you kidding? I’m telling Pinkie and Applejack as soon as I see them!” Rainbow Dash replied, still wiping tears from her eyes as she called down.

“No!” Fluttershy shouted, nearly attacking Rainbow as she held the girl down with her tiny frame. I’m sure that if she’d wanted to Rainbow could have bench pressed Fluttershy, but the move froze both girls for a second before Fluttershy stood up again. “Please, we all have our secrets; I’d prefer it if this remained one of mine.”

“Hey, relax Fluttershy, I was just kidding. I won’t tell anyone, I promise!” Dash replied in all seriousness, her hands up in surrender.

“Thank you.” Fluttershy replied, fixing her hair before turning back to the rest of us.

“Well, I have got to say, I’m starting to see you in an entirely different light.” Sunset announced, still partially buried in my body.

“I’m sorry. I know it’s a disgusting habit/interest but I just can’t help myself!” Fluttershy replied, cowering into herself again, hiding behind her pink hair.

“OK, before we continue this conversation any further and risk confusing what we’re talking about, what exactly is it that you do?” Rarity demanded, offering a chance for the reclusive girl to explain herself.

“I write. I’ve never made anything of mine public nor have I ever wanted to draw attention to it, simply because of the… questionable material within.” Fluttershy explained, her hands in her lap nervously.

“You write Erotica?” my head would’ve slid backwards on my neck a bit had it not been for my bed but I was still just as surprised; even if the girls were more surprised than I.

Fluttershy silently nodded her head, looking ashamed for her interests.

“Fluttershy, let me tell you there is nothing wrong with your interests and hobbies. I can’t say I’ve ever been in similar situations as you, but you have to know that nothing you say or do will change my opinion of you. As far as I’m concerned you're a good natured, quiet girl who loves her friends.” my words seemed to lift the pink haired girl’s spirits enough that she was able to raise her head to look up at me with wet eyes. “You have to ask yourself, are your friends good or great friends if they criticize you because you write erotic material in your free time?”

“N- No, they would be supportive.” Fluttershy replied, looking at her friends again who seemed to have gotten my point. “If I don’t want to talk about it with my friends, then they should realize that there is most likely a reason for it and leave it be.”

“They’re both right, you know?” Sunset said, turning back to me. “You seem to have such a way with words.” she decided before giving me another kiss.

“Only most of the time.” I replied before returning the kiss once again. “I should tell you something right now while this relationship is fresh.” I added as an afterthought.

“You’re asexual so I'll probably not get any very often, I know; it’s fine.” Sunset filled in for me, though that wasn’t what I had in mind.

“Not what I was going to say, but glad to know you understand that fact.” I said, tilting my head to the side to get a better look at my new girlfriend. Wow, I've got a girlfriend after all this time again… Awesome.

“OK, then what did you want to tell me?” Sunset sat up and posted on her arm, looking worriedly at me.

“Just that because in my experience, the words I love you are very over played. Therefor, that is a phrase I will avoid as much as I can simply so that when I do say it, it’ll mean that much more. The same is said for a couple other words but you’ll figure them out eventually.” I explained, the tiny mental picture of digging myself a shallow hole popping into mind.

“I don’t mind, I'm not the type of girl who always pines for such reminders of affection. A simple kiss will be enough for me.” Sunset replied, a tiny version of her walking into view to refill my tiny hole after me. “But the other words you don’t say often, I’m curious about those.”

“Well like I said, you’ll just have to wait and see. I hope you’ll be able to identify them and understand the gravity of the word when I do use it.” I replied, giving a gentle squeeze of her arm from around her body, more or less single-handedly hugging her at the same time.

“Hey if there’s nothing else, I’m gonna go see about finding me some food.” Rainbow Dash announced, collecting her coat and aiming for the door. “Anyone else?”

“If you two don’t mind,” Rarity began, speaking to Sunset and I. “I think I shall join her.” I held a hand up in dismissal, letting Rarity collect her own fashionable coat, gloves, cap and scarf. I looked over at Fluttershy who looked conflicted.

“Feel free Fluttershy, if you’ve got other things need doing don’t let me hold you up. I appreciate that you all came out to visit.” I announced, all three girls waving good bye. Sunset took a deep breath and let it out slowly, getting comfortable.

“So, you keep saying, ‘very often’ whenever we’re talking about having sex. Explain to me how the asexuality works and how it’ll play into our relationship.” Sunset requested, tracing her finger over my chest.

“Basically it means that while I still feel arousal as is decreed by biology, I feel no sexual attraction or desire to engage in sexual activities. Since I understand that you may not be asexual as I am, you’ll still have such needs and desires so when I say very often I mean I'll try to help take care of your needs while not needing to take care of any for myself.” I explained as best I could, but then a nagging thought occurred to me.

“I suppose the term asexuality would be a sort of umbrella term. To be more specific I'd be what’s called ‘Gray-asexual’ as opposed to ‘Demisexual’.”

“What’s the difference?” Sunset sat up entirely, sitting cross-legged next to me.

“It mostly comes down to Gray-asexual people feel sexual attraction, but very rarely or to the minimalistic extent. Demisexual people are people who only feel sexual attraction to people who they’ve formed a close emotional bond.” I explained as best I could, trying to remember the little bit of information I'd remembered researching some years back when I'd finally put a name to my orientation.

“And you’re gray-asexual? Meaning that you do feel sexual attraction just not as often as normal guys? How often does it occur for you?” Sunset inquired, her hand resting lightly on my leg. I wasn’t entirely sure if she was trying to test me or not…

“Ahh… It’s been years since I'd felt sexual attraction to my ex when I was dating her, but that was my ex. I think it’d be best to say that it’ll be different for you, I just don’t know how different.” I replied, trying to avoid digging that hole again.

“Years? Wow. But you have had sex, right?” Sunset looked at me curiously.

“Yes, yes I have.” I chuckled, easing the tension in the air. “Though I'll be honest, with as little practice as I've had it’d be hard to tell.” I admitted, unable to recall the last time my ex and I had actually been sexually intimate.

“Okay, fair enough.” Sunset replied, looking down and playing with her fingers at the same time. Something was on her mind.

“Something on your mind love?” I asked, placing a hand on her knee appreciatively.

“I, uhm, I think it’d be fair to say that you’ve more experience than I.” Sunset admitted shyly, still avoiding eye contact though her hand rested atop my own.

“Meaning…” I had an inkling of an idea about what she was hinting at. “Sunset, if you're still a virgin, even at your age there’s nothing wrong with it.” I not so much as tested the water as I did just kind of skydived into the pool.

“I- I know. But think about it, I'm twenty-two and still haven’t given it up. Almost all the rest of the girls have already and are quite active, even my friends have been at some point or another.” Sunset replied, looking fairly ashamed at her innocence.

“Hey, hey. I only lost mine because it was a sort of ‘going off to the military so don’t forget me’ thing for my ex. I was quite content to have never given it up if I knew that she and I wouldn’t have lasted.” I said for reassurance to the girl. “There’s nothing wrong with not having had sex before.”

“I know… Just so you know, none of the other girls know about this fact. I’ve kind of been keeping to a lie that I’d been with a male in Equestria before I showed up here.” Sunset announced, twisting herself before falling back into my embrace again, wrapping her arms over her chest with my left trapped behind her.

“Fairly decent lie I suppose, no one can ask your fake partner if it was true since no one had a way to find out. I tell you what, next time biology catches up with me I'll try and make sure you’re around.” I offered, making Sunset chuckle in response.

“Thanks, but I think if and when we do go at it, I want it so that both of us want to; not just because biology says so.” Sunset replied, now calm and happy again.

“Excuse me?” A male nurse interrupted as he poked into the room. “Sorry to interrupt but I'm here to see if you’d like anything for lunch. I’ve been told that due to an incredible recovery rate you’ll be able to be released quite soon, so between you and me,” The male nurse dropped a laminated menu on my lap. “I’ll say go get some lunch from the cafeteria and I'll just mark down that you’d opted out or something.”

“That’s very nice of you to do that, thank you.” I replied, already looking over the menu before us. “Oh, before you go, did the doctor say when I'd be released?”

“Sorry man, no idea.” the nurse replied with a shrug, exiting the room again.

“Cool. Well I'm still going to be favouring this leg for a while as the stitches remain so it makes no real difference to me when I leave. I just wanna get back to Equestria and finish up my current projects; make some actual money for a change.” I remarked, gently rubbing at my leg above and around the stitches; being extra careful not to pull on them.

“And I should probably get back to my apartment and actually begin studying for finals. We’re already in the middle of mid-terms as it is but it’s better to be prepared.” Sunset added, sitting up to hop off my bed. “And you, sir, still have something waiting for you at my place that you need to get back into your world.” she decreed, pointing a finger at me accusingly.

“Yeah I know, I know. I’m probably going to need a lift from the hospital to your place, then back to the portal though.” I replied, watching Sunset look over the menu items again.

“Oh I never said I'd be leaving now, I’m just going for some lunch. What would you like?” Sunset explained, looking over the backside of the menu at the drinks offered.

“Right. Ahh, double cheese burger with a fried egg in it, over medium il vous plaît?” I requested with a raised eyebrow and a grin.

Sunset looked up at me and I began wiggling my eyebrows entirely, giving Sunset a rather entertained/disbelief face before she cracked up and turned away from the room. “Oh, and a Pepsi if they got it; Coke if not!” I called ahead as Sunset gave a parting wave from around the corner, still chuckling to herself.

~~~

Quite a few hours later, I’d been issued a single disposable crutch to use as I limped out of the hospital; the cold air refreshing my vigor in the process with Sunset under my other arm helpfully.

“How’re you doing?” she asked, watching my leg as I watched where we were going.

“Leg still hurts but I suppose that’s the great thing about being shot again.” I remarked casually, aiming for the yellow off-roading truck a ways away. You really could not miss that thing.

“Right, I suppose so. You’ll be okay when you get to Equestria?” miss Shimmer looked up at me worriedly.

“Oh yeah. Just gotta get through the portal then I'm sure somepony over there will have some kind of spell that’ll fix me right up, if at least temporarily.” I replied with a flick of the hand, waving off the nervousness in the air radiating from my girlfriend. “Who knows, maybe by the time I can come back to visit and go on our first date I'll be fit as the day I was killed.”

“And by that you mean…” Sunset dragged out in curious concern.

“When I showed up in Equestria.” I replied simply, filling in the gap for Sunset. “I was shot by the police for some stupid reason and appeared here.”

“Right, of course.” Sunset replied, looking back down at the ground. At this point we reached the truck in silence, with Sunset Shimmer unlocking the door to assist me in before taking her own place in the driver's seat. “So any idea how we’ll be able to stay in touch when you’re gone?”

“I figured there was something that let Twilight talk to you between worlds so I’d ask about that, see if the same could be done for us.” I sat back and got comfortable for the ride home, simply taking the opportunity to enjoy the truck again and ignore the blinding pain in my leg.

“Oh, the journal/diary thing that Twilight and I have? Yeah I suppose that would work.” Sunset replied, pulling onto a main street aiming for her place then eventually back to the gateway to Equestria. “You’ll have to talk to Princess Celestia about that, though.”

“Shouldn’t be a problem.” I mumbled, staring out the window half-heartedly; the vibrations, however insignificant they were, still caused rippling pain to shoot up and down my leg with each pothole we went over or each irregularity in the road existed.

“Are you sure you’re okay? You look like you're in a lot of pain.” Sunset looked over at me in concern. I replied by taking her hand in mine and gave it a gentle squeeze, using the contact to alleviate the hurt in me.

“I’ll be fine. Stitches are getting irritated. I can hold out until we get to your place.” I groaned through clenched teeth. Why did this hurt so damn much more than before?

~~~

We pulled into the underground parking lot a handful of minutes later and no sooner than we’d parked I bolted from the truck, glad to be rid of the constant pain. Now it was just a gradually fading pain as I rested my body against the VelociRaptor look-alike, just trying to endure till Sunset ran up next to me and took me onto her shoulder then lifted me up and off my throbbing leg.

“Thanks baby, I appreciate it.” I whispered through clenched teeth. “Holy shit I’m gonna have to stay at your place for a while longer to let my leg settle down again.”

“No worries. You take as long as you need then we’ll get you back to Equestria.” Sunset replied, aiming us for the elevator lobby.

Once we’d successfully gotten up to the third floor and into Sunset’s apartment I all but collapsed onto her bed, completely ignoring her clothes from the day before strewn about the immediate area.

“It’s really that bad huh? Would an ice pack or something help?” Sunset offered, already aiming for the little kitchenette and the freezer more or less across from me.

“Ice. Please.” I groaned out, only managing single words in my condition. I always hated the part where the numbing agent and drugs wore off entirely. I wanted epinephrine! Or Morphine! Something to get over this!

Or ice. Ice works too…

My world of raging fires burned down to embers as soon as the bag of ice hit my pant leg and I immediately relaxed, dropping down out flat on the mattress with what I figured felt like a bra under my head.

Reaching back to toss the whatever it was to the floor, I rested my head back again and folded my hands over my stomach in painless bliss.

“Oh thank you Sunset, you are a blessing sent from the heavens in a man’s time of need.” I calmly announced. My response came as Sunset crawled up next to me and once I had my arms out, she rolled right into my embrace and snuggled up close to me.

“Be sure to remember that next time we have to drive.” Sunset replied, resuming her finger tracing of my pectorals.

“Oh, fuck me that’s right.” I groaned, conflicted between the bliss that came with the ice and the subtle fear of the lack of ice again.

“When do you plan on doing that, by the way?” Sunset asked, looking up at me adorably innocent with her big shining eyes, her cute as fuck smile…

“Which, the fucking or the trucking?” I inquired, making Sunset chuckle.

“Pick one, both. Either?” Sunset looked back down at my chest again.

“Well, the fucking is more likely to occur once I'm healed and no longer in any pain. The trucking will be as soon as I find a way to find some morphine and numb my leg entirely. Where the hell did the bullet hit me again?”

“Rectus Femoris I believe they said. The bullet stopped just short of the bone itself which is why you’re not in a cast.” Sunset explained, still tracing my chest. “It’s such a shame that you’re injured. I could think of a couple things to do while I've got you like this.”

“And I'm sure that if I was in the mood for it, I could think up a couple dozen more on top of that.” I retorted, staring up at the ceiling in the early evening light.

“Of course you could.” Sunset grumbled, obviously put off by my lack of interest to do anything fun. “You know what, I think we need some kind of codeword to tell me when you're in the mood. I’m already getting the feeling that I'll be the one waiting for it and since you’ll be in Equestria so often I'll have to find something else to occupy my time with. Still, when we get whatever form of communication down we could use some kind of codeword that you’d say before you come over for a visit.” Sunset announced, halting her tracing to just let her hand rest over my heart.

“Perhaps, perhaps.” I mumbled back, my eyes closed and with the pain in my leg numbed I found myself gradually falling asleep under my girlfriend.

“Of course, we can talk about that when you come back to me.” Sunset’s head disappeared from my chest moments before I felt her crawl up further to kiss me. I beat her to it and planted a kiss on her forehead instead, making her grin gratuitously and go back to resting on me.

“Maybe you can check out one of Fluttershy’s works? Might help alleviate my lack of being here when you want me.” I suggested with a sigh, shifting around to get comfortable again.

“You want me to read some of Fluttershy’s erotic stories? Really?” Sunset’s voice was rife with disbelief.

“Sure. Depending on how good a writer and how creative she gets you might learn something extra; prepare yourself for the actual event. Surprise me when I get back?” I replied, wondering if I'd dug myself a grave with my words. “Anyways, I really hate to do so but I should get going now. My leg is thoroughly frozen through once again so it’d be best to get a move on before it thaws out.”

“Aww, and here I was hoping you could stay longer.” Sunset sat up with my, pouting.

“I want to, I really do Sunset. But like I've established, I've got responsibilities in Equestria that I have to get back to once my leg heals.” I explained, sitting up on the side of the bed with the ice pack resting on the covers for a minute before Sunset tossed it onto the kitchen counters.

“I know. Then get yourself ready to go while I go get the truck warming again.” Sunset instructed and reached around behind me to hug me over my shoulders before crawling off the bed to redress herself.

As Sunset spun out into the hallway I reached up into her closet to pull down my weapon and strap myself back in, the familiar weight hanging just under my arm where I could get at it before wrapping myself up in my coat again.

Stepping into the hallway I resigned to just closing the door, given that I had nothing to lock it with and I really wasn’t sure if Sunset was the type to lock her doors anyways.

A short limp to the elevator later and I could already begin to feel the effects of the ice wearing off as I rode downwards towards the truck that I absolutely loved and equally hated at the moment.

“That was quick.” Sunset noted as I hauled myself up into the truck and buckled myself in.

“Would’ve been quicker without the limping.” I remarked, rolling my head towards Sunset sarcastically.

“Well that’s what you get for trying to be the hero and getting shot.” Sunset fussed, pulling out of the stall and aimed for the exit.

“I wouldn’t say I was trying to play the hero. It was more like they called you a bitch and insulted the military, then the guy pulled a firearm and instantly became a higher tier threat.” I explained, sitting back against the seat to try and ignore the pain in my leg slowly returning.

“So then it was your military training that reacted and got you shot?” Sunset offered with a smirk.

“More like it’s my military training that prevented me from being killed.” I quipped, trying to massage relief into my leg.

Soon enough we pulled up in front of the school and sat in silence.

“Would you like some help?” Sunset offered, looking at me with hold hands on the wheel.

“Sure. That’d be much appreciated.” I replied, unbuckling myself to get out. Sunset accelerated her own disembark and rushed over to assist me walking to the portal.

“So this is it huh? You’re sure you can’t stay?” she asked me for the umpteenth time today. I pulled her into me, planting a frozen kiss on her freezing lips with a warm hug that lasted not long enough.

“I’m sure. First thing I'll do is talk to Celestia when I get back to Canterlot and see about that book.” I replied, stepping away and towards the portal trailing my hand from the side of her head. “Till next time, Sunset Shimmer.”

“I miss you already!” Sunset shouted as I forced myself into the portal.

Just before my head was swallowed I think I managed to shout out, “I love you too!”

~~~

“Can I just say a couple things now that your back?” Princess Luna politely requested as I dropped out the other end of the portal. Standing next to Princess Twilight with Spike on Twilight’s back and Weiss on Luna’s, I felt a little out of place without Eben riding on my own.

“Hi ladies and Spike, nice to see you all in good health.” I remarked sarcastically, leaning against the portal frame to favour my bum leg.

“Precisely. First day to another world and you get shot!” Luna exclaimed indignantly, stomping her hoof on the tiled floor beneath her in displeasure. “And then I hear that you’ve started up a relationship with someone on the other side! Also in the first day!”

“Really? Wow.” Twilight murmured to herself in disbelief. “Who is it?”

“I noticed you didn’t say ‘who is she?’” I pointed out as Luna looked at my leg in concern and began a spell to heal my leg.

“Well, you didn’t seem to be interested in anypony here so I briefly entertained the idea that maybe you were into males.” Twilight replied oh so casually. While she was wrong, I couldn’t help but credit her for her thinking.

“Nope, not gay. Also not into bestiality.” I added after a moment of thought and incredible relief in my leg as the meat in my leg sewed itself back up again with magical assistance.

“Best- oh, that’s why you don’t show that kind of interest to anypony. Got’cha.” Twilight looked like she had to take a second to process my words to understand the term. “Great thing about being an equine in Equestria is we don’t have to worry about such things.”

“No I suppose not.” I remarked, collapsing onto my backside as Luna worked on restoring my leg. Already I could feel the stitches being magically pulled out as the flesh felt like it was zipping up along the break.

“You still didn’t tell me who it was that you fell in love with. Assuming you did in fact fall in love with her and aren’t in some kind of strange human ‘I’ll see how I feel about you after dating you for a while’ thing.” Twilight laid herself down on the ground, Spike going down with her as Weiss crawled off Luna’s back to curl up in my lap.

“Please be a weird human thing, please be a weird human thing, please be a weird human thing.” Luna chanted to herself in a whisper barely audible to human ears, despite how close she currently was to me.

“Sorry Luna, but I totally love her.” I announced, placing a hand comfortingly on the side of Luna’s face. “And Sunset loves me back.”

“Woah, hold on!” Spike, Twilight and Weiss all jumped up in surprise as Luna more or less just flopped over onto her side, covering her face with her wings as she silently wept. “You’re dating Sunset Shimmer?” Twilight approached me rather suddenly.

“Did not see that coming.” Spike sat back in disbelief, having been thrown off Twilight’s back when she rushed me.

“I did.” Weiss announced, still laying in my lap belly up. I’d have tickled her stomach but having tried that already and failed, I resorted to simply sweeping her bangs from her eyes.

“I’ve gotta get back to Canterlot to speak with Princess Celestia about getting one of those book things that you and Sunset use to communicate.” I sighed, standing up with Weiss in my arms. “But first,” I approached and knelt down next to Luna’s head as she continued to weep her grievances.

“What do you want? Haven’t you done enough to me already?” Luna demanded, looking up through water stained feathers with equally soaked eyes.

“I wish to apologize to you. I know how you felt about me and I'm more than certain that you had held hopes that maybe I'd change my mind. I’m sorry I cannot give you what you wanted even after we’d already talked about where you stood with me. I hope that we can still be best friends during this new relationship of mine.” I calmly began stroking the side of her head and once she’d lowered her wings, I stroked her nose while ignoring the tears crossing over the bridge of said nose.

“I- I know. I thank you for your candidacy and your friendship. It’s just- this news hurts me more than you can imagine.” Luna whimpered, still shaking with tears under my hand.

“And I apologize for that.” I continued to try and soothe the distressed Princess as Weiss held up a claw, her cheeks puffing out.

“Incoming!” Spike announced, drawing everyone’s attention first to the purple and green dragon then to the white and gold one.

At that moment Weiss let out a belch, a swirl of purple smoke forming from her breath before anti-burning a book with a blank cover on it and a note pinned to the spine.

“Is that a book?” Twilight eagerly commanded, probably eager to check out the contents within.

“No it’s a bear.” I replied sarcastically, carrying the book under my arm to read the note.

Dear Captain.

Don’t bother asking me how I know, Luna will know, but I've sent you a book that you can use to contact Sunset Shimmer; much like Princess Twilight has. Simply write your messages to Sunset Shimmer like a letter and she’ll receive them. It would also be beneficial for you to explain to her that if she merely starts with “Dear Captain” that her message will go to you instead of to Twilight.

One other thing, by writing your name on the back of the cover you’ll permanently bind this book to you and prevent anybody else from being able to use it what-so-ever.

Pass on my condolences to my sister for me regarding her recent loss.

Princess Celestia

“Well that’s bloody convenient.” I remarked under my breath, cracking open the book to flip through the empty pages. “Anypony got a pen on them?” I requested, leafing back to the cover to write my name as Celestia had suggested.

“Wait, is that the book to talk to Sunset Shimmer?” Twilight tilted her head in curiosity. My shrug had her head back upright in amazement. “Wow, how’d she know you’d be coming for it?”

“She probably received a vision of the future.” Luna sombrely explained, rolling onto her stomach then sat up altogether, wiping her eyes off on the back of her hoof. “Which probably means she saw something powerful enough to affect the future.”

“She also said to pass on her condolences for your recent loss.” I offered, still looking for a pen or something. “Seriously though, pen anyone?”

“I'm just curious about why your book doesn’t have some kind of marking on it like mine and Sunset’s do. Our’s have our Cutie Marks on it yet yours remains blank.” Twilight announced as she levitated a quill and inkpot from a nearby table.

“Probably because I'm not a pony with a butt mark.” I replied just as sarcastically as I'd been maintaining since my return to Equestria. Taking the quill and dipping it into the ink, I lightly scrolled my actual name into the book earning a grin from me before slapping the book shut before anyone could see it.

All of a sudden, everybody's eyes went wide as they noticed a change in my hands.

“What?” I asked, setting the quill back into the ink pot held by Twilight’s purple magic.

“So, remember how you said you weren’t a pony with a Cutie Mark?” Weiss asked, getting close to reach up and take my book from my hands.

Spinning it around I came face to cover with what looked like a simple little kite shield divided into two colours and a boss: a red that strangely enough reminded me of Celestia, a midnight blue that looked like I had skinned the fur from the Princess’s body with Sunset Shimmer’s sun resting emblazoned into the boss.

“Well, I certainly have never seen that before…” I remarked, returning the book to my hands to gaze at the symbol. Opening up to the back of the cover out of morbid curiosity, I ran my finger over where my name had been, finding it blank again. “And my name’s gone.”

“You actually managed to write down your name?” Luna looked at me in surprise, her jaw hanging open rather unbecomingly.

“Yeah but it’s gone now.” I shrugged back, snapping the book shut with a hearty thud.

“Could you write it again?” Luna inquired hopefully, completely having forgotten about my new relationship with Sunset.

“Probably not. Now that everyone here is aware of this fact the universe will likely prevent me from doing so. Or as I’m writing the ink will turn invisible or something.” I replied casually, opening the book one more to the first page and retrieved the quill before writing,

Dear Sunset Shimmer

Hey good-lookin’, turns out Celestia had a vision or something of me coming to get a book thing to chat with you and sent it through Weiss ahead of schedule. Apparently all you have to do to write me back is start your message with “Dear Captain” and it’ll come directly to me. I figure the same would work if I was to write Twilight but ehh… That’s your thing.

Found out two things that are rather interesting: I was able to write out my full name on my book for a while before the book took it and monogrammed itself with the second interesting this, a butt print of my own. I’ll have to show it to you some time when I get back.

Miss you already,

Captain

Snapping the book shut again I dropped the quill into the still floating pot and sat against a nearby table for a minute.

“Hey so, not that this visitation isn’t fun or anything, but I'd like to get back to Canterlot if you all don’t mind.” I requested, making Spike and Weiss yawn agreements. “I’m sure we’ve all had long days.”

“Of course. I’ll see you three out then.” Twilight replied, standing up to move Spike onto her back with a wing. I picked up Weiss and carried her in my arms as she already threatened to fall asleep walking alongside Luna towards the exit of the castle.

“It’s been great talking with you and Weiss, Princess Luna. Shame you can’t visit more often.” Twilight bid the Princess now beneath me as Weiss and I rode on her back once we'd finally stepped outside. I’d opted to not take the motorcycle on the way here, simply because of the availability that Luna gave me to fly with her at the time. Now, the offer still stood but I suspected it wasn’t as much fun for Luna with me unavailable.

“Thank you for having us over. We shall do so again sometime, or we’ll host you in Canterlot for a social sometime soon.” Luna replied, already limbering up her wings for the flight.

“Absolutely. Oh, Captain.” Twilight gained my attention and I swept my silver hair back out of my eyes. “Speaking of your hair, I'll try and look into your appearance into Equestria and the resulting changes in your hair if you’d like.”

“If your offering, go for it. Don’t worry about obsessing over it since it doesn’t really bother me that much. If you find something, cool. If not, oh well.” I shrugged back, making sure that Weiss sitting ahead of me was still awake and that the book tucked away into my jacket was still secure next to my gun.

“Absolutely. I’ll send you a letter if I find anything.” Twilight announced as Luna beat her wings and we slowly ascended into the evening sky. “Good-bye, all of you!”

“Bye!” Weiss waved back, Luna waved a hoof and I gave a half-assed salute before Luna shot forwards and gained altitude, aiming for home.

End Of Slice One

Author's Note

Oh, the lack of inspiration to write the second half of this long assed chapter. Chances are the next few will go back to being a couple thousand words again, rather than the 8-9K words that these last two have been. So much easier to stay on topic.

Also, I'd like to get some opinions on something that would likely only actually show up much later on in the story, but I'm unsure as to whether or not it'd be well received by you all. Poll can be found here.

As always, Կենացը