needs proofread

Waltz leaned over the railing of the Beuty once more, drowning himself in thought, just as he was doing but moments prior. Then it flooded his mind like a tsunami, primariyl every bit of the few things him and Night have done. If they were done together. Damn. They didn't even get to share a single memory. It's so soon, though. They haven't really had this relationship yet. Nothing is certain.

"Night.", Waltz dropped down on deck over the railing. He landed beside the bat mare deftly.

"Yes?", she turned to him.

"Night, I can't let this go, and you know I can't."

"Listen Waltz. I don't want there to be an influence that makes me fall in love. I want to amke a friend. Then fall in love that way. I'm rather pissed that someone would try to pair us up before I even had a chance to meet you. My fate will not be decided for me."

"Well, it isn't."

"Aye, but yours be, lad.", Eldritch piped.

Waltz's mind paused, if for a moment, then kept the conversation rolling. "I-"

"No.", Eldritch interrupted, approaching Waltz so that he were standing face to face with the young stallion. "Listen. An' listen close. Ye hld that object in yer hand once. Ye witnessed aglow with bright golden light. Waltz, as much as I'd hate ta be the one ta drop the truth on ye, this be nay anythin' ye could fight. Yer fate be decided fer ye already."

"Well, I refuse to accept what my fate is.", Waltz countered. "I make my own destiny."

"Yeah? Well, this be a destiny ye c'nay change.", a new voice echoed overhead.

From above, James himself dropped onto the deck, rolling forward to a standing stop as his transport screamed across the skies, headed the exact opposite direction the Brass Beauty were headed.

"Methinks this be that lad ye were talkin' of but a few moments ago.", Eldritch scratched his chin.

"Aye. Er. At least I would assume. The name is...James the Kid.", he held a hand up, waving once to the crew.

"Ahhh....", Eldritch smiled. He chuckled. "I can see it, now."

"I be young, I be nay even a stallion yet! But, I'll run ye through as if I were. I'v killed plenty o' people already. Heartlessly. No remorse, not from the prince o' the pirates."

"Who knew that Waltz's best friend would be Jolly Roger's own son? 'is mother killed yer father.", Eldritch crossed his arms.

"And...I will readily forgive him.", James sighed, as if annoyed mroe than defeated.

"If it because it was glowing? Why would you accept something someone told you? Or much less. A chunk of metal."

James took a breath. "Because. Neither o' us have any control over how our lives will turn out, until we accept that we c'nay do anythin' apart and fight in this world together. Give ye me word, I'll be the most trustworthy ally ye will ever 'ave 'ad. More so'n yer father."

"My dad abandoned me as a newborn, and he didn't even care to find me. Or to say hello. Or even tell me he was alive. He didn't care to deliver that letter my mother gave him, in hopes that I, or he, would save her life."

"Aye. I know. Well, I know one half o' that story. Got the debriefin' from one o' yer captured shipmates, and me own second mate. Ye killed me first mate."

"Well, now that we are on the same page. Let's begin with this.", Waltz cleared his throat. "I'm a mute.", he pulled his collar off. It clung to his neck by a few thin strands of electricity for but a moment. Collapsing the objet, he dropped it in one of his hip pouches.

"And I be...", James paused fer a moment. "Jolly Roger's son."

"Not really that interestin'.", Eldritch added.

Waltz left but the next moment after, entering the cabin.

"Oi! I killed me own gunslinger trainer! Faster'n me own teacher! Bet ya yer life over me own, I could clear leather and blow yer head off faster'n ye could!", he challenged the old stallion.

Eldritch chuckled. "Sorry, but if I accepted that challenge, then I'd be decidin' Waltz's fate. An' he already expressed how much he wasn't in agreement with that particular subject, lad."

Waltz stepped out of the cabin, fanned his wings, and took flight. He was gone and tearing through the skies in but th every next second.

"W-wha...buggers!", James scoffed. "Where is 'e going?"

"He d'nay said anythin' 'bout 'is destination, so home."

"And where be 'is home?"

"Well, I d'nay know about whether or not he'd be happy with the fact that I told you afore he did. Where he sleeps means somethin' ta him. It be his sanctuary, tower o' solace. And the very place where he keeps a trophy of every dungeon he's spelunked, every treasure chest he's looted, every powerful enemy he has felled, all by his own hand and 'im alone."

"Where?", James asked.

"I will not tell ye. Least not where. But. I will tell ye where ta look."

James smirked.

"Thing is, what d'ye plan ta do? Looks like yer transport d'nay even gave the Beauty but a second's glance and should be out o' sight right now."

"D'nay worry 'bout that, old salt."

"Take a trip to the solo floating island irectly below the Sky-Marble restaurant. If'n ye know where that be, then ye know where ta find 'im. But that be as much s I tell ye."

"Ye basically told me where he is!"

"I did not. You need ta figure that out on yer own."

James hesitated for a moment, then pulled a flare gun from his side, and shot it off the side of the Beauty. It glowed a bright red. "Then I nay be hesitatin' ta pair up with me future husband."

"Remember, lad. Ye may never be married. The artifact pairs ye with whom ye would love the most, and the deepest."

"Every time I hear somethin' bout this bauble, I learn a little more.", James chuckled. "Now, if'n ye would excuse this young lad afore ye, I have ta romance a god who c'nay feel love."

"Ye knew?"

"Every god o' the wind that has ever lived has been known ta fly alone. Not this one."

"If'n ye change that, jus' remember, it wasn't you alone, but that artifact. Ye still have it, aye?"

James fished it from his pocket, tossing it to Eldritch. The old stallion caught it deftly, and it glowed a rather furious gold once Rose stepped closer to the aged stallion.

"Feh. I d'nay want this bugger anymore.", Eldritch back to James. "Give it ta someone else. Immortal kin, preferably."

"Will do!", James waved him off before taking off towards the same edge of the ship he fired a flare over. Vaulting over her railing, he came to a rolling stop in a skimmer that skipped past the Beauty going three times her speed, and it took a hard left, shining a bright repeating glare on the Beauty.

Eldritch nodded. "Good luck..."

"Eldritch, I...I can't wrap my head around..."

"Yer son jus' met the love o' 'is life, and 'e pushed 'er away."

"What? Waltz met the love of his life? Well, I sure hope I have a grandchild before I'm fifty. If it's any sign, his father was not sexually active. In the slightest. I'm talking about my head! I can't...I'm having troubles thinking properly...It's hard to hear my own thoughts..."

"Hmm. Letts see what we can do about that, lass.", Eldritch moved her into the cabin with an arm around her back.

Traveling at incredible magic speeds is...one of the greatest things Waltz has ever felt. The onslaught of harsh winds, watching teh land pass by like a blur below, tearing over mountaintops like their but small hills. Plowing through clouds is absolutely amazing when traveling faster than sound. The clouds don't stay together, they disperse, and when they do, there's a trail dragging behind him every cloud he passes through. It took but maybe a few minutes, but Waltz was most definitely home. the unmistakably familiar sky island floating over those shifting sand dunes...he almost sighed.

One backwards wingbeat was all it took, and he stopped right on the ledge of his clocktower, taking th enext couple steps slowly. It was so odd, traveling so fast, then coming to an abrupt stop. He could feel the rush receding, but it's still there. And will be for a short while. He began peeling off his armor. It's time to maintain his equipment and take a nice, scalding hot shower.

The first to come off was his grieves. They collapsed into linked flat metal rings once he undid them both, and pulling them off his feet was like a wonderful feeling he couldn't not savor. Rotating both ankles, curling his tows, it was a great feeling. Next were the upper part of the grieves, being plate metal. They unclasped and unfolded from his thighs, and he tossed them both aside, immediately beginning to undo his chest piece. That large chunk of metal was the largest piece of the armor, and thus the heaviest. It were as thick as two fingers beside one another, and made up of two pieces of metal sitting atop a plate metal abdomin piece. Covered his upper back and chest alone. The abdomin piece simply unclasped and fell to the ground.

As Waltz took off his metal gauntlets, he turned his hands to the last pieces of armor on his body. Both sleeves came off as easily as they usually did. Not so much to say about putting them on.

Just as he did, he wringed his wrists, then stretched hard. Each stretch he drew out long, and every bend, he took slowly. Then sat down on his bed to enjoy a moment of resting silence. The mirror across from him showed him exactly who he was. Your average, fit, young stallion. Grey coat, charcoal grey mane. He weren't nude, but he were close. The only thing he wears beneath his armor is a shirt and shorts.

James arrived at the island about that time. His small crew killed the afterburners, and then coasted on the efficiency jets, gliding around the island as he scanned everything. There were many places he would need to check. If Waltz were even here. But it was a single lead, and probably the only one he had. If he doesn't find Waltz, then it's a short trip back to the Beauty.

There were many places he could be. The active market place, jam packed. The docks, stealing a ship. Robbing a bank.

James's mind wandered through all of the possibilities. Then spotted something different from everything else. A building. With not a single glow coming from inside. And an old restored clock tower on top of it. The new wood was discernable from the old. Something told her he was there. Like a beacon in her mind shouting to her that that is where she should go. So she pointed to that singular building, and her skimmer plotted a new course, quickly coming to a slow stop in the street below.

"Off you go. I've got two more flares. Return to the ship."

"Aye, cap'n!", th esmall crew saluted her, then bolted, taking off.

The inn weren't locked. There weren't a single light inside. And and all places where candles sat, where they should be burning, sat instead cups of wax with not even a hint of a charred wick. The bar was only half-stocked, even with modern drinks, there wasn't even dust on a single surface, yet.

"Waltz, even if you run away, we'll find one another again.", James sighed, approaching and then climbing the steps to the seconds floor...and then discovering that there is no way to get into the clock tower above throught he main building. "Sharp. Keep your front door away from yer house. And when people come lookin fer ya...nice little inn under yer feet ta give ya some nice cover.", James devised.

He descended the steps quickly, then left, back stepping as she looked up at the clock tower. And then rounded the inn into it's dark alley. Nothing here can be climbed. Then again, he's a pegasus. He could just fly. So James looked further up. As he rounded the back, he found that there were a window that weren't boarded shut. Next...was just a small moment's time of figuring out what he would have to climb to get up there.

Waltz heard the sound of whirring jet engines just outside, yet, as he got up and looked out of one of the cracks between the boards of one window, it had already passed. No sign of anyone, and if someone passed by and dropped a person or people off, there is a dark, empty inn below. They won't find anything. He still drew his claymore from it's scabbard on his armor, and set it beside his bed, just before pulling his shirt off. he began undressing.

James stepped onto one crate, stacked an empty one on top a full one, then on top of that one, and quickly surveyed her surroundings to see if she could make any of this any easier. Nope. Nothing but the small, repetitive click of a magic fire-starter. Fire erupted right next to her, startling her before she realized that it was a magic-fueled water heater. Industrial. And having seen a recent absence of use until just now.

James let a well of excitement pass her by, then grabbed the ledge above her, pulling herself onto the edge of the roof. From there, she closed the gap from her and that open window, then stopped right outside of it. She turned her her head around that corner slowly, watching for anyone that could be there. She saw every bit of exactly what Eldritch told her. Trophies. Trophies. Trophies. Even a still-pulsing machino core just lying on a table. Then she spotted something pretty. A long time ago, her own father had her eyes removed and then replaced with magic copies. The result? A lot of pain and suffering. And the ability to see any hidden magic. What she saw was a long gleaming blade with a whole two enchatnments that made it look like a weapon worth wielding, and gave it a beautiful visage. Green large characters were emblazoned into the blade, glowing a poisonous shade. The second wrapped around the hilt, grip, and pommel portraying a deep shade of purple. If she couldn't see anything set before her, it would look like a dull claymore.

Waltz stepped into view, completely oblivious of his visitor, and grabbed a few clothes from his chest set at the foot of his bed. James blushed furiously, then looked away.

"Keep it together, not like last time!", she whispered to herself. then took a breath. Next instant, she heard metal glide across wood, and Waltz spoke.

"I don't know who you are, but I know you're there. Thieves are dealt with mercilessly!"

James poked his head around the window frame's edge, and put on a faux smile, "Heeyyyy!! I uh....it's just me. Alone. No one else."

"Well, you're literally the biggest liar in the world, so I don't believe you. To top it off, I know how valuable each and every one of the objects in this room is. You may not enter! If you do, I both can and will hurt you. Death is not guaranteed, but its very likely."

James sighed, looking away, then stepped into the windowsill itself, turning th eexact opposite direction of Waltz. Then pulled his bandana free, allowing his unkempt mane to fall around his shoulders. He tossed that curly mess back, then grabbed the hem of his shirt, lifting it up and over his head.

Waltz took that moment to toss a nice little bauble at th ewindowsill. It's magic stopped it dead center of the frame, and then filled it in with a wall of glowing white.

"That little object couldn't stop me if you overcharged it.", James pulled his belt free.

"I don't know why you're stripping, but I'm not ok with whats happening. You're not allowed in. Conversation over.", Waltz embedded the tip of his claymore in the wooden floors, then began towads the shower.

"Wait.", James smirked.

"I neither have the patience for carnal pleasure nor the patience for you. I'm not into stallions."

"Oh really? What about this young stallion?"

"Definitely not interested.", Waltz pulled th eshower curtain open.

"How about now?"

The voice was right behind him, now. Not directly behind him, but as far as the windowsill.

"James. If I looke back, and I don't like what I see, I'm going to throw you through that freshly boarded window, naked, into the busy streets.", he pointed to the windowsill which had sunlight filtering in through it. Opposite the only one that was open.

"Then I have no worries."

Waltz's interests no wpeaked, he turned sharply, and his expression tuned into one of pure surprise.

Before him weren't a nude stallion, but a nude mare. "James, I getting really uncomfortable with whats going on here!"

"It's not James, and it's not magic. My name is Jasmine. And has always been Jasmine. James the kid was never born, he was made. By me.", she posed for him. "And now, you are the only person in this world who knows I'm a mare. My dad would have made you the second, but your mother murdered him. Not really something we should be talking about, but now you know.", she slowly raised her arms up, then crossed them behind her head, winking and blowing a kiss Waltz's way.

Waltz turned around, and took a breath. He didn't even get to make it past the exhale before Jasmine strode up behind him, wrapping her lithe arms around his sides to feel every ripple of muscle on his front from bottom ab to the top of his pectorals. You can't see them, they'r enot pronounced. But Jasmine sure as hell felt them.

"There's a hot shower right in front of us.", she whispered in his ear. "Celestia knows I'm just as dirty as you are. And fifty times naughtier.", she bit her lip, pressing her small chest into his back.

"I-I-", he stuttered.

"Have never been with a mare before? Then I'll take lead.", she shoved im into the shower. "First. on your knees..."

Author's Note

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I'm not even writing this part. This isn't supposed to be for children, but it's not meant to have smut in it, either.